#-well. usually not the fittest in these scenarios

[blitheringbongus]

Redscape week day 1: explosions/building/redstone

Apocalypse au!

1/2/3

//TW Explosion, The gaining of a facial scar, blood, gore (?), crying, badly drawn wounds

Comic continues below ⬇️

[naffeclipse]

I absolutely adore every AU you come up with, but I was actually curious if you had already or were considering writing a traditional DCAxReader? Hopefully I can kick this art block soon because there is so much fanart I want to draw of your stories :) Hope your week is going well! (besides the roof disaster ^^;;;)

On another note... AUs are my brainrot and I keep thinking about that post about the large bed... and spoopy ghosts. Clipgeist? No running away from something that can follow you to the ends of the Earth. Poor Y/Ns just can't catch a break lol

I have a few canon stories with the DCA x Reader on my Ao3 but nothing as grand or long as my AUs! I do have a 'canon' story plotted but I don't know when I'll write it. Hopefully one day!

Ah, that's so exciting! I hope you can chisel that art block down hehe 

It's going good (aside from the roof ;-;) I have this week of school before we go on break for Thanksgiving and it can't come soon enough!

Shaking your hand so hard rn!! I love AUs! And a spooky ghost one? Oh ho, I've always wanted to write a domestic monster scenario!

Perhaps Y/N moves into an old, old house with steep roofs, pointed arches above the windows and doors, and a lovely porch. It's two and a half stories tall (the half story is attic space under the roof rafters) with a four-story central spired tower! All dark wood and even darker interiors. You can't desire if it's Dracula's castle or a fairytale home for the happily ever-after-ed prince and princess. It's even got a secret underground tunnel! What more do you need when flipping a home? You love restoration and you intend to keep all its gothic charm while updating it to be, well, livable.

It's also incredibly cheap! Like, stupid cheap, for something that should be incredibly pricey for its prestige style and historical value. Not that you've ever looked a gift horse in the mouth, but even you have second thoughts before ultimately snatching up the house key.

The first night is always unsettling—maybe you hear a voice whisper in your ear despite it being dead silent and there's not a soul for miles, but you'll brush that off as getting spooked by old ghost stories your brain conjures up within the ornate decorated rooms.

From there, things get stranger and stranger still. Your paintbrush is moved and you know you didn't set it there because of the wet paint dripping onto the floor. The electricity is ever fickle, turning off at the most opportune moments during the night, like when you swear you saw a figure standing at the end of the hallway, all thin and scraggly with a ghostly smile and an inhuman head framed with wavering energy that almost seems to glow like embers in the dark!

Still, you continue your repairs and restorations, sometimes softly talking to yourself out loud and talking to the house like it's a wounded animal you intend to restore back to its fittest with all the love you can pour out of your heart. Places need love, too.

The most obnoxious thing is that you can't access the tower—the door is always locked, and no matter what key you try, it refuses to budge. You don't dare risk causing damage by prying it open, but you swear you'll get into that tower one day. There's got to be treasure inside with how mysteriously it stands, just out of your reach. Though, you've mostly put it aside for now. Whenever you jingle keys in the lock, you swear you hear a voice grow angry with you, and the hallway becomes so cold you can see your breath.

So, yeah, you're saving that for later.

The pivotal moment of you even considering a haunting is one night when you find yourself overwhelmed and stressed from the ever-growing list of chores and how everything is falling apart faster than you can fix it. You dissolve on the living room floor into thick tears. You're usually so put together, even when alone. You hate crying. There's no one to hold you together except yourself, so why fall apart in the first place?

Your little moment of getting it out is interrupted when a quilt falls over your shoulders. A soft, heavy quilt of midnight skies and dotted pale blue stars that was never in this room.

You leap to your feet, quilt falling away, and call out in classic horror victim fashion, "Who's there?" but no one answers. In frozen terror, you stare at the room, expecting something, anything to jump out or scream at you, but it's so, so quiet. All is still, like apologetic comfort.

That couldn't have happened. No draft, no forgetfulness could explain how a quilt was draped over you as if by a concerned friend.

You stare at the quilt and decide that you've had a long day. You go to your room, unable to relax even once you're under the covers, feeling something cold and misty above your bed.

When you wake in the morning, that starry quilt is draped over your lying form. You did not put it there.

Something or someone else tucked it around you.

[chrollogy]

we’ve all seen the cute scenarios of chrollo nursing his darling back to health if she’s ill, but do you think Chrollo could ever succumb to a little flu? apparently the general consensus is that he has a really good immune system so he doesn’t get sick much, but wouldn’t it be cute for a darling to feel his head and feed him soup☹️

more chrollo !!! thank you nonnie >< it is indeed cute to see his lover taking care of him too !!

I can definitely see it being very rare for Chrollo to get sick, especially after growing up in Meteor City where it’s the survival of the fittest there so he often falls as the one who takes care of his significant other. But he’s a human after all, so when Chrollo does get sick he tries to brush it off as mere exhaustion on the first day to not worry you.

Though, by the second day of sickness, his whole body is extremely heavy, he feels like he’s glued to the mattress, not to mention how warm his skin feels paired with chesty coughs here, and there. Of course, you’re there at the first sign of his symptoms—one feel at his warm forehead, and you’re already chopping up ingredients to make him a comfort soup.

Chrollo is the type to be nonchalant about things, and that includes him being sick as well. So at first, when you offer to feed him in bed with the soup you made, he’s stubborn, and meekly refuses the spoonful of soup. To top it off, he says he’s ‘not sick’ but clearly his words contradict his current state. Eventually, Chrollo caves in, and lets you spoon feed him (after bickering back, and forth), and he thinks to himself that being taken care of isn’t too bad. He’s always so set on taking care of you that sometimes he doesn’t let himself be taken care of, and when he finally stops to let that happen, it shocks Chrollo as to how much he actually enjoys it.

After he makes this discovery, Chrollo allows you to nurse him ‘til he gets better like he usually does with you—whether it be feeding him, applying a cold towel to his forehead or simply reading one of his favourite antique novels to him, Chrollo accepts them with open arms. I also feel like he’s the type to become a bit clingy when he’s sick; he’ll also wear his heart of his sleeve more, albeit, not by choice. Chrollo would want you to stay by his side ‘til he gets better which usually ends up with you spending almost the whole day in bed with him, his arms never leaving your figure.

Or, if you manage to escape from his arms, and ignore his stubborn pleas, Chrollo will make sure to follow you around the house, even if it meant sacrificing a little energy just to be with you. In the kitchen? He’s behind you with arms wrapped around your waist. In the living room? He’ll lay his head on your lap while you watch TV, maybe he’d even ask you to stroke his hair while he falls asleep to the sound of the show you’re watching. At the end of the day, he’s just a man needing extra love, and attention from his lover despite not openly admitting it. ><

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

Fighting and all that jazz

Do you wonder why when there is a fighting scene and the background music is somewhat contrary to what is happening on the screen? It is called soundtrack dissonance. I have here three examples that PA Works made use of this trope. What is a soundtrack dissonance?

“Soundtrack dissonance, which appears in the background music of a movie scene, is a phenomenon of using songs or compositions that contrast with the general sentiment of the situation. A sad scene usually uses a slow tempo of sad music to match the mood of the scene. However, sometimes, in order to play background music that follows a depressing, sad, or anxious scene, there is a case of inserting music with an opposite atmosphere such as bright music, exciting music, fast-tempo music, or magnificent music.” ( x )

“Cowboy Bebop,” “Taxi Driver,” and countless other media utilise beautiful music like jazz or classical to accompany, mostly, a violent scenario happening on the screen.

On the 8th episode, rewatching the dubbed version and reliving Rei’s distress, there is a shootout between Rei and Kaji, an endless running from different platforms. I love, love the chaos that is transpiring here. One can feel the tension that is already building up. The survival of the fittest. The jazz music that plays in the background is so upbeat, almost positive, but urgent. The cymbals clashing in the midst of exploding gunshots blended well. And as soon as the music stops playing, it ends with an annoyed Rei on the floor breathing hard defeated on the first round of his showdown against his mentor Kaji Satoru.

Another example is the new rendition of the series’ main theme. Instead of “Buddy Daddies” you hear “Daddy and Daddy.” It is playing as they open the art nouveau-styled entrance door and bullets come flying through them. It is almost comic, fast-paced while the duo at first thrown back by surprise.

They have been doing this in a number of their fighting scenes but these three and the first gunfight scenes from the first episode stand out as they are a fleshed out examples of the trope.

This particular track bears the same background music that was playing when Kaji and Rei were fighting at the pier before the former fell on his death.

Ogino here was asking K his last words till Rei came in to save his partner brandishing a knife to kill the older assassin. Ogino subdued Rei perhaps due to the latter’s exhaustion and miscalculation therefore losing the momentum only to be picked up by K (the knife and the will to kill Ogino) and then in the end, Rei giving Ogino a headbutt that would catapult him to his death.

With the release of the first dvd/blu-ray edition the soundtrack’s first volume is also included. So far I am enjoying it. As expected another volume came out.

Music director Katsutoshi Kitagawa of Round Table and his crew have done a good job delighting us with their music soundtrack playing around with the theme song using it a motif.

[lilyblackdrawside]

With the weekend upon me, I took some time today to clear Trial 4 of the currently running Trials for Navigator. Which turned out to just be the easiest of all of them. Basic aside, I cleared the other three versions of it first try.

This one got a bit long. My impressions under the shortener.

Trial 1 - Survival of the Fittest featuring best guy Pancho Salas and Big Ugly + High Priest was actually kinda troublesome for me. Probably/Likely largely due to stubbornness, but I also really didn’t vibe with its Decoder Squad.

„Work Hard, Get Paid“ might be true in some parts of life, but when 30% of my squad is Standard Bearer Vanguards and all non-Vanguards eat all DP all at once, it really throws me off.

I liked it though. Good vibes in both stage parts, I should’ve probably just brought a Medic and Tank to tank Pancho instead of doing my damndest to burst him down. When an enemy punches even through Hellagur, I tend to throw out all notions of facing it in melee combat.

Trial 2 - Blood and Terror with Tola, Dikaiopolis and the Damazti Cluster was pretty alright. Wave 2 was the only one here that gave me trouble, mostly because it’s such a cramped space. I did clear Orientation and Spectacular first try, but it took quite some time both times because I let him refresh his phase one. Eventually brute force and some luck won out there.

Seeing Damazti Cluster as the third boss had me a bit worried, but there weren’t any problems there really. They just don’t do much damage and the Yan Decoder Squad bonus was well enough to cover any kind of desired healing.

On that note, this squad is just busted. You get three very strong operators and a super strong bonus that lets you fly without Medics or a defensive Limiter Unit, freeing up precious squad slots. (Not that I’d have brought Medics otherwise either.)

Trial 3 - Deep in Danger hosted by Bishop Quintus, The First To Talk and The Endspeaker actually kinda sucked, once again solely because of Wave 2.

The First To Talk is just really annoying. I made a good effort to stop the creep droppers in phase one from dropping their creep outside of the little box and it worked out pretty well on all versions of the trial. Had I not done that, I can imagine the dodgey fellas being quite annoying on Wave 2.

But then again, I did have Erato and Gnosis who bring very reliable control to handle them.

On that note: Erato. She clears this one. TFTT and Endspeaker are both not opposed to sleepytimes and with the Overcharge Limiter Unit, Erato has enough SP to permanently sleep an enemy. Just don’t give her +23 ASPD, that’ll ruin her rhythm. Due to that, Wave 3 was a total nothingburger. The Endspeaker aside, there's nothing potentially threatening. Maybe if they had enemies that spread creep, then the handsy guys would be stealthed and that's be rough.

The Rhine Lab Decoder Squad is probably really good, but I lack the operators to utilize it. For some people, this Decoder Squad might just be the most powerful. I could see a glimpse of its strength in Trial 3 and if you can load up your squad a lot of RL operators, it’ll probably go well.

Trial 4 - Path of the Faithful led by Father Agenir, Andoain and Zaaro wasn’t troublesome at all. I actually saw this coming, because Zaaro isn’t a big deal, Father Agenir is easy to handle too and Andoain once again sits on Wave 2 so in the worst case Scenario I could just optimize against him, beat him, lose on Wave 3 and then brute force him with the Entitative Program. But in the end I didn’t even have to do that, because the Yan Decoder Squad is that powerful. I went with a bunch of my usual Snipers as offense: May, GreyThroat, Totter and Fartooth.

Fartooth did a great job here both with handling Andoain, where she deals great damage even through his reduction field while bypassing evasion and for Zaaro, where she has two great sniping spots - one where he waits in the top left corner and one for his final approach on the right.

Totter was instrumental for handling the sneaky guys, and also helped out with damaging the bosses. He has good per-hit damage with S2 as long as there’s only one enemy, so he’s always useful.

May... does May things. With the Overcharge LU she has a perma slow on S1, which worked great vs Andoain to keep him longer in Fartooth’s range. I also sicced her on the dog in Wave 1 together with Totter and did it again with the big dog in Wave 3 who just gets nowhere while slowed like that.

GreyThroat... I mean, she just shoots people. She did decent damage to Agenir, not enough to kill him in Spectacular and Ultimate, and then did good damage to Zaaro Phase 1 where I slowed him with both May and Elysium (+ def debuff) to the point that she could unload two rounds of her S2 with only three tiles of Zaaro being in range. This was enough to clear his Phase 1 in all but Ultimate Trial, where he was left with some 10%. Good job.

As for the Limiter Units... I only used the Overcharge one. You get 0.5 SP/s per stack, so 1.5sp/s after a minute of being deployed and that’s just stupid.

There’s nothing in this lineup that has nearly as much value as this.

I did consider the Recovery Boost for Trial 4 before I went into it, because together with the Yan Decoder Squad you’d get some disgusting sustain but I stuck with Overcharge for looking at it and then I saw that the stage moves super far with each Wave, which would’ve made it impractical anyway. You’d only get anything out of it on Wave 3, but only for left operators and that’s just not the part of the map where you take damage. Offense always wins in the end. (Except for Kirsten, I’ll stall her for 20 minutes any day.)

Recovery Boost gets really strong at level 3 with 45% Sanctuary and 40% increased healing, but I found that I pretty much always pulled my whole squad after each wave with maybe one or two exceptions, which usually included Skalter who doesn't get anything out of it. Good idea, but not the right stages for this one.

Strategy Expansion seems neat, but I don’t think you need redeployment time reduction in a game mode where you can just strategically pull your operators before you end a wave so you have everyone available on time for the next one. You can also find enemies to stall with one operator to recover DP and redeploy time. Having +3 Deployment Limit is pretty good, but I was never wanting for it even with Ling. You’d have to go super Summoner mode to get anything out of this one. Not saying it’s bad, just the most niche of the four.

Experience Acquisition seems... limp. Like, you get +40% ATK. Okay, now what? While you’re sitting at +40%, I’m activating skills five seconds after they’ve expired and get way bigger buffs and utility from them because I’m using the Overcharge unit. And you have to work for your +40% buff too. Dunno, this one doesn’t look great.

Overcharge I’ve already talked about. It’s easily the best one here. You can’t argue with having 250% SP regen.

And that’s that. Quite enjoyable once again, looking forward to the next one hopefully being more painful!

[georgiaheartsdilfs]

Can you make a banter between female reader and Kol? They never get along but something happens and they team up and work together. They argue cause they like each other or something on those lines ? Thankies.

Bickering | Kol Mikaelson x Reader

my masterlist ↪M A S T E R L I S T

"y/n, darling, what're you always doing here?" the naive younger brother says walking into the Mikaelson Mansion, "well, kol you'd understand that, you're family think i'm one of their own. It's sad really, they prefer me over you." I mumble looking up from my book.

Kol stares at me with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, he visited the Mikaelson Mansion... rarely, mostly the times when he woke up from the coffin Niklaus has trapped him in.

"we know why they like you better, you've slept with all of them including my sister." Kol says with an annoyingly sleek grin "are you accusing me of being a whore, or, your family of sharing the same girl?" I say, closing my book and tossing it on the table infront of me.

"neither" he says sitting down reaching for a glass on the table and filling it up.

Klaus and Elijah were out dealing with business, Kol didn't want to go with them but then again he forgot I existed until he walked into the room. Rebekah went off to do something, she's in her own planet, Freya i have no clue.

"just didn't think my family would welcome some as narcissistic as them into the family" he shrugs taking a sip out of the glass, his tongue licking his lips to clean off the taste of liquor.

"that's cheap since i treat them more like my family than you, mr 'if the world was building i'd still hold my own instead of helping my family'" my voice was bitter, watching as he refilled his glass crossing one leg over the other.

"survival of the fittest, darling, surely you'd know if you weren't leaching of my siblings." he chuckled "atleast I am able to survive more than one lifetime without a dagger in my heart" I scoff and he jumps up angrily.

"control yourself, Kol." Elijah storms in "We both know that original or not I'd smash you over." I retort and Elijah chuckles "As much as I'd love to see that happen, I urgently need your help finding Niklaus." Elijah says leaning against the doorframe, adjusting his cufflinks whilst looking between Kol and I.

"Klaus? I thought he was with you?" I question Elijah "He was, but you know Klaus, unpredictable." the older brother huffs, usually Elijah would find Nik by himself but given that he's come back to me and Kol, it must be urgent.

"fine" I sigh "I will not." Kol says casing Elijah and I to look at him weirdly "you ever wonder why you get a dagger every other Wednesday, maybe that's why." I say shoving past him grabbing my coat off the desk.

Elijah leads me to the car when Kol stops him standing in front of the door "If I'm finding Niklaus I demand that you prevent the dagger in my chest the next time he gets angry." Kol says pointing at Elijah "You have my word." Elijah says before Kol moves out of the way.

The car ride was silent, Kol sat in the back "do you have any clue where Niklaus is?" Kol say sitting forward "He was with Aurora and Lucien." Elijah says calmly yet his grip on the wheel tightens.

"Klaus will be fine, worst case scenario, Lucien and Aurora ran away with him in the trunk if not he's in Lucien's stupid penthouse that smells like old human blood." I clear my throat adjusting my position soon as it was uncomfortable.

"Nothing wrong with a bit of old blood darling, loosen up." Kol laughs "If I kill you, it'd be old blood and certainly not old blood i'd enjoy consuming but old blood i'd enjoy hunting." I mumble.

"You can't possibly think of fighting the first vampires sired from our family do you?" Kol scoffs "If I can best you and Marcel in a duel I can beat darling Lucien and Aurora, if worst thing comes to worst I'll die but I'll do anything to get further away from you." I say, Elijah was probably sick and tired of our squabbling but he knew what he was getting himself into.

We pull over in front of a massive building, which just so happened to be the building Lucien was staying in "i'll check, Lucien still thinks I hate your guts." I point between them "if you get yourself killed, y/n, so help me." Elijah says "I'd be able to live with it." Kol says folding his arms.

Storming into the building, heading towards the elevator. This building was fit for Lucien, he was materialistic yet simple, rich yet poor somehow.

Pressing the button to his floor I wait as the doors close.

The elevator goes up and within seconds the door opens, walking to the penthouse door knocking on it to be surprised by Lucien "Y/n!" he says with a smile.

"I don't suppose you've come looking for Klaus, because he isn't here." he says excitedly, for some strange reason.

"Oh come on Lucien, as if I care where Klaus is." I mumble "May I come in?" I ask him, a female walks towards the door with a smile "you may come in Ms Y/n." she says with a smile as I walk in.

"So what do you want?" he says walking over to his table "Y/n!" Klaus yells and I spin around "Oh hey Nik" I wave to him turning back to Lucien "Where's Aurora?" I ask Lucien who shrugs "Doing what that beautiful monster does best." he says unfazed by his words.

Turning back to Klaus who I hadn't seen in a couple of hour, he looked battered and bruised to say the least. "What is Nik doing here exactly?" I ask spinning back to Lucien who pulls out a bottle of blood "Well, I need information of course y/n, he is the only one who knows." Lucien points the bottle at Klaus.

He looked like he was hanging by a thread, very much alive, but still hanging on.

"Y/n what are you doing?" he said rattling the chains holding him up "oh god" I huff, Lucien hands me a bottle of blood and I vamp over behind him snapping his neck "he was never the brightest" I mumble watching as he falls to the ground.

"DON'T SHE'S STILL HERE" Klaus yells as I look down to notice a wooden spear digging through my stomach, I pull it out "Oh Aurora, it's the heart." I turn around and she her as she attempts to drive the stake through my heart.

"I've fucked it." I mumble pushing her off as hard as I can, I still couldn't quite shake her. Pushing harder against my arm, the stake aimed at my heart, I finally push her off me "Get off me" I dust myself off and she falls back onto the table.

She yells running towards me, her hand raised with the stake still at hand. I regret telling them to wait, I'm just lucky the both of them had been invited in before I did.

Aurora grabs me by the hair pulling me down, she mounts me like a horse once again attempting to drive the stake through my heart. Klaus yells at her and she looks up.

I look at Klaus confused at I feel the wood pierce through my skin only to be pulled out "here I was thinking you could hold your own darling." Kol said with a smug look.

Standing up I dust off my arms "here I was thinking you wouldn't believe me for once." I chuckle shaking it off, he looked like he had seen a ghost yet he still proceeded to restrain Aurora, my heart reaching into her chest cavity.

"y/n, come on don't do that, you're far better than that, i mean you're better than anyone and everyone in this room." she says trying to rescue herself "if I was better than anyone in this room, which i'm not, i'd have found the way out of this hell." I mutter to her before ripping her heart out.

My chest stung, the wound only just healing as Aurora fell to the ground.

Elijah rushes in to save Nik and Kol walks over to me grabbing my by the wrist "that just hit your heart, are you ok?" he says scanning every visible body part "I heal, i'll live." I roll my eyes.

As her body desiccated, I stare at her pettily kicking her now truly dead corpse "Y/n" Klaus said holding his wrist "I tried" I shrug and he sighed in relief.

"they wouldn't stop bickering the whole car ride." Elijah says helping Klaus up, I start to feel dizzy and I fall back "y/n" Kol says worried catching me and I pull out an injection "i did feel... high" I mumble before blacking out.

Opening my eyes, looking around to find every alive Mikaelson sibling was standing around me with their arms folded. "y/n?" a voice says "did i escape this ghastly place or am i awake?" I mumble rubbing my eyes.

"you're still here love." Klaus said chuckling, he had time to clean up, as did everyone "how long did it last?" I ask and they all look to Kol who seemed to stay in the same clothes since I last saw him "a day." Kol went on "or 7 of them." he clears his throat.

"a week? god i feel so energized." I rub my head "well dying does that to you." Hayley says and I look around "What? I was already dead..." I question them.

"Aurora injected you with the enhanced serum, and whilst we were driving you home darling you decided to flatline on us and then moments later you woke up before falling into a bloody coma." Kol said in a disappointed tone "you sound disappointed that I made it. Then again you were the one that saved me." I snicker and all of his siblings look towards him.

"great one." he sighs shaking his head "oh they don't know" I say pointing between them.

A couple of minutes later all of them walk out of the room except for Kol. "Why are you still here?" I ask him as he sits the end of my bed "because i'm waiting for you to drop dead." he says peering at me.

"thank you for saving me, Kol." I mumble and his eyes widen "come again" he says raising his ear "i didn't exactly want to die yet... i still have things to do on this hell." I clear my throat adjusting my position uncomfortably.

"thought so" he crossed his arms looking out m window "although i think you have a reason for saving me" I say "like?" he asks "you're in love with me obviously" I say and it sounded like he choked on any and every piece of saliva in his mouth.

"i'll never love someone who couldn't best me in a killing spree, besides that will only happen when hell freezes over, darling, get some rest." he says standing up.

"you're so in love with me." I mumble pulling the blanket up "if i am, as are you." he says staring at me with a dull expression "fuck off" I chuckle and he laughs "exactly." he says before exiting the room.

Although, he didn't leave the room exactly. He closed the door and then rested his forehead against the door, then he sighed, it was more of a gut wrenching, disappointed sigh like he had something to say but didn't.

Then he walked off, walked away, further until I couldn't hear his footsteps any longer and although I felt nothing before, I could hear it, my heart was beating faster than it ever had before.

It was odd because, years ago I wouldn't have thought about Kol saving my life, hell, yesterday I wouldn't think he would've saved my life.

Jumping out of bed, swinging my door open running towards he direction of his footsteps as he was walking out of the mansion I grab his hand "you saved me... why?" i ask him, his eyes watered "i thought you were going to die?" he says confused "you made it obvious you didn't care." I say still holding his hand.

"look darling, i was listening in and right when I heard Aurora's footsteps I knew I couldn't let you die, it was a sudden change of mood." he says before walking away.

my heart beat even faster, he couldn't let me die.

Kol Mikaelson, out of all vampires couldn't let me die.

"i love you" I say to him as he stops in his tracks.

"it's a sudden feeling, you left the room and my heart wouldn't stop beating rapidly and all I could think about was you." I huff, Kol looks at me confused "maybe you do need more rest." he says walking towards me grabbing my hand.

"you love me too Kol." I say "that's why you saved me" I didn't really think about what I was going to say, I didn't even mean to say 'I love you'.

Dragging me up to my room, slamming the door behind us he looks at me before letting go of my hand and running his through his hair.

Looking out his window, I realise that he really did have feelings for me that's why he pulled me back up here.

Without a second thought he spins around cupping my face he places his lips on mine, and it was perfect.

He pulled away before walking out "what- what does this mean? for us?" I ask him as he holds my door knob "it means whatever you want, darling," he winked before walking out.

God, he's so dramatic for no reason.

[earthbovndmisfit]

How do you think Speedwagon would have reacted to Giorno? On one hand, there's that whole mess with Dio, but on the other... Giorno acts so much like Jonathan sometimes. He even has Hamon-like powers

I love to think Speedwagon might have seen himself in Giorno too. They'd probably be friends!

(Also I replied to your ask a while back, I hope you saw it!)

I'm gonna clarify this first since it's gonna play a role in my answer but, despite the fandom often considering Giorno as "Jonathan's son too", in reality and canonly, Giorno is Dio's son. Araki has confirmed this in some interviews, and also every canon Giorno bio also specifies that he is Dio's son (he is biologically a Joestar since Jonathan's body was "used" merely as an instrument, and also officially/legally because Dio became a Joestar when he was legally adopted by George I in PB).

With that established, I feel like Giorno and Speedwagon would get along incredibly well! Speedwagon would be SHOCKED at first because, well, it was thanks to Dio surviving again and stealing Jonathan's corpse that Giorno eventually came to exist. He would be very wary at first too due to Giorno being Dio's son and all the potential implications of that (I mean, the Brando family isn't precisely known for being friendly and kind). Sooner than later though, Spw's acute nose would tell him that, unlike Dio and his rancid vibes, Giorno seems to be a good kid. Once he learns about his background, the fact that Dio """"surprisingly"""" never was part of his life, Gio's relationship (or lack thereof) with his mother, and etc, I feel like Speedwagon would come to feel sympathy for the kid and, like you said, he'd come to see himself in him to some extent. I headcanon that Speedwagon was orphaned as a child, so he definitely knows the pain and suffering that comes as a result of missing one or both parental figures, being thrown into the world on your own and having to grow up quicker than most and having to fend for yourself from such a tender age. It is also implied that he went through several bad experiences with people from upper classes, loathing them to the point where he doesn't mind cutting a bitch down to shreds for something as "simple" as setting foot in his territory and etc, so its safe to assume that different forms of abuse have been a constant in some points of his life, similar in some way to what Giorno had to face since he was a child as well from his neglectful mother and step-father, feeling like he was all alone and no one to look after him.

Then there's also the fact that both have resorted to crime as a result of their less than fortunate backgrounds and also their approach to that as well. Survival of the fittest is one of the best ways you can describe what living in Ogre Street is like, and it was kind of a similar scenario for Giorno despite the latter growing up in a less hostile environment in general. Giorno and him both seem protective of those who they hold dear, showing a deep sense of gratitude towards those who selflessly help them and, eventually, using their acquired power to ensure the wellbeing of others, usually their loved ones. They are also both very determined guys, hard working, coming across as friendly/amicable if you're on good terms with them but having this "no shit taking" policy that they stick closely to, ready to throw hands if they have to.

And lets not forget that Speedwagon would definitely remind Giorno of a very special certain someone....

Not only because of their general looks and appearance, but also in some aspects of their personality, traits and flaws, the fact that they're both some gang lords and etc.

I really feel like the connection would be almost immediate (once they get past the "shocked" stage), not forced, and 100% organic. They would get along really well, and I can see Speedwagon going fucking bonkers once he sees what Golden Experience can do (and I can't help but think it would be a similar case with Jonathan lol), if he somehow manages to see stands as, sadly, only stand users can see stands, but heeeeeeey, it's a bizarre universe so, who knows? Maybe they can find a way?? There's the stand arrow after all...

@untitledfredd8

[hatsukeii]

hi hi, i have a levi scenario request! so, the reader is known to act on an instant, driven by intuition, which makes her valuable soldier. but when she meets her crush levi at night while they both can't sleep she just suddenly kisses him without thinking about whats driven her to do that. and idk, levi's just perplex but he didn't dislike it. dk how to wrap it up, so u can choose! i hope this is alright! :)

Yoo that’s acc a really good prompt thank you!

I’m naming the fic after a song and YOU CAN’T STOP ME-

Scrawny// Levi x reader

Word count: 1900+

Warnings: Mild swearing

Summary: Due to severe insomnia, you decide to wake your captain up and make him spar with you.

“Captain. Caaaaptainnnnnn. Leeeviiii. Levi Heichouuuu. Captain Leeeeeeevi-” An irritated grunt sounded from inside the room. “Name and business. Make it quick.” You gave yourself a little victory pump, an idiotic smile now plastered on your face. “(Y/N) sir! I need some help!” The door was whipped open by none other than your fuming captain, his permanent scowl looking extra pissed. “What in the actual name of hell are you doing here? It’s past midnight, get your ass back to bed, and out of my office.” The wooden door was slammed in your face, startling you a bit as you let out a yelp and jumped. You huffed out, pouting a bit as you placed an elbow on the door, continuing to knock relentlessly. “Heiiichouuuuu. Pleaaaaaase help meeeeee. Levi heichouuuuuuuuu. I can’t do it aloneeeee, it’d be pointlessssssss.”

How did you get into this situation?

Well.

You were initially going to stay put and just roll yourself to sleep, or at least try to. But the boredom became way too much for you to bear very quickly. Your mind debated between the sensible option, which was to just wait for the sun to rise, or to just get some training in. Specifically, get someone to spar with you. Everyone in your cabin was fast asleep at this ungodly hour, soft snores from the girls filling up the cozy space. You continued to toss and turn, forcing your eyes shut and trying to relax. You stayed still for about five minutes or so, before a loud snort resonated throughout the room, jolting you awake from your short lived peace. Groaning in annoyance, you glared towards the direction of the unwomanly sound, landing your eyes on Sasha, who was sound asleep in a weird position. It was already 1am. You had to wake at 5am. You weren’t about to get any sleep anytime soon. Insomnia’s an actual bitch. Following your thoughts, you practically rolled out of your bed, trying to comb down your terrifyingly disheveled hair, before changing into some workout clothes, slipping on your shoes, and waddling towards the office of one person you were certain would be awake at this time- Captain Levi. Everyone in the Corps knew of his terrible sleep schedule, so you were positive he was still awake and working. In addition to that, you would rather die than admit it to the other cadets, but you were completely whipped for Levi, so just getting any form of time alone with him would be a blessing to you. Even if it was just to spar.

“Heichou please help me, I can’t stand it any longerrrrrr, I’m gonna die of boredom, do you feel me Levi heichouuuu-” The door you were leaning on so comfortably swung open, catching you off guard. You started to fall, nothing around being useful in supporting you. All Levi did was walk out of the way and watch your tiny body fly towards the hard wooden floor. “Jesus brat, what the hell do you want from me?” You stood up rapidly, dusting yourself off, before scratching your head. “Can you spar with me?” Levi’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. “Are you serious right now?” You timidly nodded, chuckling dryly in a terrible attempt to alleviate the tense and awkward vibe of the situation. “(Y/L/N). You disturb me, at 1am, while I’m doing paperwork, to spar? Couldn’t this wait for tomorrow? Go back to sleep, this is an order.” He proceeded to walk back into his office, hand reaching out for the door handle. You laughed lightheartedly, keeping the door open with your foot. “Levi heichouuu, I’m sure you know how big of a bitch insomnia is, will you help a fellow poor sufferer out? Pretttty pleaaaase?” There was no way Levi was about to reject that request. How could he when you were acting so cute? Your whiny ass could melt even the coldest of people, himself included.

The minute you joined the Survey Corps, Levi already had his eyes on you. According to the information Shadis gave him, you were an extremely valuable asset when it came to scheming and fighting. Your intuition was like none other. It was impressive. Perhaps even more impressive than Sasha’s. During battle, your pure gut instincts have saved many soldiers. Most of them knew the name (Y/N) as the insanely accurate fortune teller. You knew exactly where titans would be, and how they would attack. That combined with your logic, made you an excellent tactician. What brought you down, were your physical skills. You were never the fittest person, often times collapsing after only five laps around the training area. You barely passed the ODM gear test, and almost broke a bone sparring with Connie. CONNIE. Since then, Levi has noticed you skipping dinner and training in your free time, whether it was just normal working out, or practising punches and kicks. He had initiated conversations with you before, usually starting off serious, but those talks usually turned into dumb arguments over questions like whether you could eat medicine with tea, or whether Eren was actually dysphoric. As months passed by, you became one of the few people that managed to get close to Levi. Although the captain may not show it, he had to admit, he has grown quite fond of you with time too.

“Good lord, fine, you scrawny ass brat. I’ll spar with you for an hour and an hour only. No buts. Consider yourself lucky I’m actually giving into your ridiculous request.” You beamed, jumping up and down like a child seeing a cotton candy machine, then crossing your arms over your chest, giving Levi a fake pout. “Thank you so much cap! For the record, I’m not scrawny!” He only grunted in response, letting you drag him to the training grounds. On the way, you sensed something off. No, scratch that, there was just a weird vibe. It was like something waiting to happen, but you couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was exactly. You were skeptical for a bit, before you let it go and took it as sheer paranoia.

“(Y/L/N), you’re getting better.” You were completely drenched in sweat at this point, your muscles aching like crazy. You two had been sparring for about thirty minutes only, and somehow you were already worn out, whilst Levi was still completely fine, not a single drop of sweat evident. “C’mon cadet, you can do better than this. You asked me to spar with you, bring it.” You huffed out, panting like a thirsty dog, arms on your knees. “Yeah, hold on, just give me one second to just-” You took in a few deep breaths, before stretching your arms and legs, getting into a fighting stance again. “Okay, I think I’m all good captain.” Levi sent out a tiny smirk, charging towards you without warning. He sent a punch toward your jaw, missing by mere centimetres as you dodged it, grabbing his arm, knocking him off his feet, and throwing him to the ground. “Whooo! I finally won! Once!” You cheered a bit too early. Within seconds, you were flipped over again, the captain’s lean figure now hovering over you in a straddle. “Guard up until the opponent either passes out, dies, or surrenders. That’s rule number one of fighting. That was a pretty impressive throw though, I’ll give you that.” You sighed in defeat, tapping out quickly. “Seriously? You’re going to give up like that? That’s not the (Y/N) I know.” You thought about that for a second. “You know what captain? You’re right.” Smirking evilly, you got into a guard position, kicking your legs up to wrap around his chest as you rolled over, hovering over him in a mount.

Maybe you were dumb. Or maybe you were too immersed in the fight. But you didn’t realise how close you and Levi were until then. Your face burned multiple different shades of red as you went silent for a few moments, Levi staring at you in confusion. “Oi, what did I tell you about not being distracted during a fight?” He tried to shift into a better position, when your hand came down onto his collar. Should I do this? You were about to take a huge risk. Your brain was desperately trying to stop you from doing god knows what next. However your heart was throbbing, messing with your thought process. You felt that weird, tingly vibe in the air again, this time paying close attention to it instead of just ignoring it like the last time. Maybe this is the world’s way of telling me to do this thing? Is it? You pondered over the thought, staying as still as a statue. “(Y/F/N)? Did you listen to a word I said-”

You know what? To hell with your doubts and worries.

Grabbing the soft fabric of his shirt, you harshly pulled him towards you, attacking his lips with your own as you refused to let go, squeezing your own eyes shut. He was audibly shocked, giving out a tiny yelp as you continued to kiss him. His hair tickled your forehead, his breaths tickled your face, the fact that you were kissing your captain tickled every single little thing inside of you. For a few moments, you could hear your embarrassment buzzing in your own ears, before you finally pulled away, lowering Levi back down to the ground as you let go of his shirt. Your eyes widened at what you just did, your entire body going hot as you took your time to let the fact that you just kissed your hot, badass, midget captain sink in. Your hand went up to cover your mouth as you gave a muffled scream, getting off of him immediately and apologising profoundly. “U-uh I think that’s probably enough sparring for tonight, I’ll go see if I can go back to sleep now. Goodnight cap!” You screamed as you ran back to the cabin, completely flustered and feeling very hot. Slamming the cabin door close, you looked around, to see a tall figure sitting up from her bed, turning on a lamp. “(Y/N)...? What are you doing in workout clothes? And… why are you all red and sweaty?” You jumped, cursing a bit at Mikasa’s question as the other girls started to wake up from the noise that you made. “I- uh, it’s a long story….” Ymir smirked, before placing an arm on your shoulder. “Don’t worry. Get changed, and we’ll have all night to talk about it.” The other girls agreed, sending you evil looks as you grabbed your sleeping clothes and proceeded to clean up and change, your risky move from just now still circling your mind like a hive of annoying ass bees.

Meanwhile, Levi could not comprehend what the hell just happened. Did she just kiss me? He fixed his collar, which was now dirtied and wrinkled as he scrunched his nose at the disgraceful sight. “Tch, that brat, running away as if I would be on her ass for the rest of her life as a soldier after she did that.” He let his hand go up to touch his lips, seemingly fascinated by how he didn’t resist or anything. He was beyond confused. Never in a billion years did he expect to be kissed by someone in the military, let alone someone in his own squad. He tried to ignore his cheeks that were feeling warm as he dusted himself off, standing up and walking back to his office, mumbling to himself.

“Why’d you run away so quickly (Y/N)? I didn’t say I disliked that or anything.

Hoe hoe hoe I have finally finished this req! This was so fun to write oh lord I was laughing to myself-

This one goes into the short kings clan👑👑

Hope you liked it anon🥺👉👈💕

Tags:

@burnt-tomato @lydzisanerd @bokutokoutarou @trashcanweeb @izzyphantomgamer @artsamber @ewfilthymundane @macaronnn @sunshines-and-tatertots @for-ests @inlwlevi

Idek why I can’t tag @ewfilthymundane but I’m soRry

[projectnoah]

Burmese Pythons in the Everglades: How an Invasive Species is Hurting Native Wildlife

As of February 2013, scientists estimate anywhere between 30,000 and 150,000 Burmese Pythons exist in South Florida. As you may have suspected, Burmese Pythons are not native to Florida. They are native to Southeast Asia and south China.

The problem? The pythons are completely decimating populations of native wildlife. A study conducted by Michael Dorcas, a herpetologist at Davidson College in North Carolina in 2011 documented “severe declines” in mammal sightings. The 2003 to 2011 surveys compare mammal sightings to data from surveys conducted in 1996 and 1997 – before the python was breeding in the wild.

As the population of pythons has spiraled upwards in the last decade, mammal observations have declined by the following percentages:

87.5% bobcat decline

94.1% white-tailed deer decline

98.9% opossum decline

99.3% raccoon decline

100% rabbit decline

100% fox decline

Not a single rabbit or fox sighting was found. Furthermore, the impact of the invasive species on rare animals is unknown. It’s unclear whether or not the python is consuming the Florida panther. It’s quite possible, as these snakes eat leopards in their native habitat of Southeast Asia.

As per above, the pythons aren’t picky eaters. They will often eat any animal they can find. Even large numbers of birds are being consumed. Over 25% of the pythons found in the Everglades contain bird remains.

The above-listed mammals simply have no instinctive defense or fear from a large carnivorous snake. As a result, they fall easy prey. Before the Burmese Python in early 2000, the last large snake to live in this region was 16 million years ago, when a boa-like snake became extinct.

The study does report that certain animals, like turtles, may thrive as a result of this ecological distortion. Raccoons routinely prey upon turtle eggs. With severe declines in raccoon population, turtles have the potential to grow at a higher rate. Of course, this argument assumes the python doesn’t eventually turn on the turtle as food sources dwindle.

In addition to the above report, the National Academy of Sciences published a separate report suggesting bird and coyote populations are also threatened due to the invasive species.

“Survival of the Fittest” Argument Rebuffed

Some counter that survival-of-the-fittest dictates the pythons should spread, as they are simply more powerful predators than their prey. They argue there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this scenario as it simply represents natural selection playing course. But this argument makes little sense as it runs counter to how ecosystems function.

Burmese pythons in their native habitat in Southeast Asia do not cause a 90+% decline in the population of their prey. And neither do large carnivorous snakes like anacondas in the Amazon. Populations of predator and prey evolve together over time and live in balance. Prey develop natural instinctive defenses from these predators. The animals of the Everglades have no natural instinctive defense from these large snakes.

It’s worth noting a further element of tragic irony in this story. While the pythons are spreading like rabbits throughout south Florida, they are endangered in their native habitat of Southeast Asia. Back home, they are hunted for their skins and captured alive for sale abroad as pets.

How did they get here?

Between 1996 and 2006, roughly 99,000 pythons were imported into the United States as pets.

It’s believed the pythons began breeding in the wild as a result of two primary causes: irresponsible pet owners releasing them and the animals escaping their loosely-kept cages as a result of hurricane or stormy weather.

As for the former, these snakes grow to an average of 12 feet. Pet owners likely grew uncomfortable with the health risk and financial burden of securing and feeding a 12-foot snake in their home. After not wanting to deal with these challenges, many released them into the wild.

As for the latter, in 1992, Florida’s Hurricane Andrew was responsible for destroying a python breeding facility. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, other less severe storms likely enabled snakes in loosely secured cages to escape during stormy weather.

Here’s a brief timeline of how the population began to spiral out of control:

2000: A breeding population was confirmed in the Everglades.

2001-2005: 201 pythons observed or killed in the Everglades.

2006-2007: 418 pythons seen or killed in the Everglades.

2009: 5,000 – 180,000 estimated by South Florida Water Management District

It’s difficult to know exact population numbers over the last decade as these animals are difficult to spot. The above numbers are based on sightings and killings of pythons. The bottom line is that from early 2000 to the present, the population of breeding pythons in the Everglades spiraled to well over 30,000.

More on the Python’s Biology

The severity of this proliferation is better understood after learning about certain aspects of this snake’s biology.

For starters, the Burmese python routinely lives 25 years or more. Astonishingly, the record life span for a python in captivity is 47 years!

Females typically lay one clutch of eggs per year, usually in the spring. Each clutch contains somewhere between 12 and 36 eggs. But much larger numbers have been recorded. This August 15 report from the New York Times included finding a 17-foot python with 87 eggs.

These key aspects of the python’s reproductive behavior, combined with the prey’s lack of natural defenses, have led to a perfect storm of ecological collapse for the land-dwelling mammals.

Some Good News: Pythons Can’t Survive the Winter

I was thrilled to learn some apparent good news in this otherwise awful story. The consensus among herpetologists appears that the python cannot survive through a winter beyond south Florida.

An initial USGS study by Reed Rodda in 2008 claimed the pythons could expand as far north as the southern third of the United States. But that study appears to be an outlier.

Consensus among snake biologists is that Burmese pythons are unable to withstand a winter beyond south Florida.  An experimental closure in South Carolina kept a number of pythons over winter. All of the animals died, as they could not properly acclimate to the change in climate. When it gets cold, these pythons simply die. The study did note, however, that the pythons could survive extended periods of temperatures lower than southern Florida.

Python's inability to survive winter, however, may very well be the only good news with regards to their ability to spread throughout the region.

Research in an early 2012 issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology report concluded that pythons are able to tolerate salt water and can therefore travel through marine and estuarine environments like bays or inlets. The open seas are also a possibility. Prior to the report, it was hoped that the pythons would die in saltwater and would therefore be primarily limited to the freshwater of the Everglades.

The snakes can therefore travel along the southeastern coastline and would only be limited by climate restrictions. Worse still, many climate biologists and snake herpetologists claim this climatic range is quite suitable habitat and very similar to that of Southeast Asia.

Burmese Pythons and the American Alligator

One animal in the Everglades appears able to pose a threat to an adult python. In a battle between the Burmese Python and an American Alligator, who wins? The answer: it depends. Both animals have been found to prey on one another. A large alligator can kill and eat a medium-sized python. And the opposite holds true for a large python.

To be fair, newly hatched juvenile pythons are vulnerable to predation by birds and other animals; but that doesn’t say much as the young of any species are always vulnerable.

Back to the alligator-python battle. How is it decided? The battle is often decided by two main factors: the respective size of each animal and the caliber of the first strike. If the alligator secures a swift bite at the python’s head, the snake’s neck will snap and it dies instantly. The python, on the other hand, aims to wrap itself around the alligator, as it would any other prey. After securing a full wrap, it suffocates the animal and then eats it whole. For a successful alligator hunt, size is key for the snake. The larger the python, the greater it’s chance of successfully wrapping itself around the alligator. Pythons are not venomous and must wrap around their prey to secure a kill. Naturally, small and medium-sized alligators are more vulnerable.  

Some sensational pictures have showed up online of battles between the python and the alligator.

There’s even a grotesque story of a python’s stomach exploding after attempting to consume an alligator too large to digest. Its body rejected the meal outright and the snake died a gruesome death. For any remaining survival-of-the-fittest arguers out there - no, ecosystems are not supposed to function in which a predator’s remaining food source causes its stomach to explode.

If there’s any silver lining here, however small, some predation of the python is good and healthy.

Size becomes a key-determining factor of survival between what will inevitably be the two significant remaining animals. Over time, as evolution runs its course, natural selection would favor increasingly large alligators and pythons.

Yes, what was previously a balanced and varied ecosystem of rabbits, foxes, bobcats, deer and opossums in the Everglades is now becoming a battle between larger-and-larger pythons and alligators.

Public Hunts to Raise Awareness

In February of 2012, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initiated a 30-day hunt to raise public awareness on this issue. Around 1,600 people from 38 states participated in the hunt. 68 pythons were killed. 68. Assuming 30,000 are in the wild, the low end of figures, 68 represents .2% of the python population. The primary reason for this low number is that the snakes are notoriously difficult to locate.

A more recent hunt, as part of Florida's 2016 Python Challenge, took place this past January. 106 pythons were captured this past year. This represents an improvement from 2013 but hardly puts a dent in the total number in the wild. Cooler temperatures have forced snakes into open spaces and assists hunters in finding them. In addition, hunters are improving their hunting skills.

Florida's approach appears to be containing the snakes as the solution. This hunt represents one of the first steps in the process. And the hunt also was meant as a way of doing some introductory research on where the snakes are located.

The Nature Conservancy also launched a Python Patrol Program in 2008 where citizens are trained to alert authorities of snake sightings. As part of the program, wildlife officials then move forward with capturing the snakes. The program was effective in the Florida Keys and then was expanded mainland to the Everglades with support from the National Park Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In total, 200 python capture responders are trained.

This python patrol program is unquestionably a step in the right direction.

Preventing the spread of these animals is an enormously challenging undertaking. I have no idea how it can be done. These animals are excellent swimmers and travel extensively through marsh, swamps and river valleys. They also travel by land and are great climbers with prehensile tails.

Worse still, a challenge exists with Florida’s proposed attempt at containment. Reducing the population of pythons decreases the competition for remaining food resources. As a result, the pythons that do remain become healthier, stronger and more fertile. And in the end, the population continues to grow at high rates. Yep, decreasing the population in the short-term might actually cause it to spike in the long-term. The brutal reality is that preventing the spread of these animals appears nearly impossible.

In Conclusion

It's a tragic situation for all the native wildlife defenseless from these invasive animals - bobcat, deer, opossum, raccoon, rabbit and fox. When these animals run out, it seems any remaining animals would be vulnerable as the pythons basically eat anything.

My point isn't a sentimental one in favor of one specific animal over another; I have nothing against the pythons. It's simply an appreciation for ecological balance, sustainability and life. The situation now is completely imbalanced and unsustainable. It's truly tragic to see the devastating consequences humanity can have on an ecosystem because of some people's misguided desire to own as a "pet" a 12-foot wild snake.

In January of 2012, the federal government announced a ban on the import of the Burmese pythons, South African python, North African python, and yellow anaconda. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar acknowledges the severity of the crisis when he uses the word "forever" to describe how long the ban would last.

Apparently, the law was held up in bureaucracy for nearly two years by the reptile industry. Furthermore, environmentalists were pushing for 9 species of non-native snakes to be included in the legislation but only 4 were listed.

Thank you to the federal government for finally getting this right. Naturally, this ban represents progress and is a good thing.  

At the same time, the ban seems monumentally overdue, at least 7 years too late.  With populations of many native mammals down 90+% and the most conservative estimate pinning 30,000 pythons breeding in the wild, the damage is done and irreversible. While good and necessary, this ban is a bit like administering a vaccine to a patient that died years ago. Perhaps, we will learn faster next time.

[comicteaparty]

May 4th-May 10th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 4th, 2020 to May 10th, 2020.  The chat focused on Dead City by Michelle Parker and Jey Pawlik.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Dead City by Michelle Parker and Jey Pawlik~! (http://topazcomics.com/deadcity/welcome/) You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until May 10th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I don't know how long these are in the queue, but wow, "infectious outbreak that focuses on characters coping with limited resources while self-isolating from anyone contagious" is hitting awfully close to home right now...

Miranda

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked how it jumped right in. It didn't feel the need to explain the outbreak, the history of it, what the symptoms are, etc. It simply showed a zombie, showed a non zombie, and the stage was set. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? I think the Vending machine incident and Mikael ust straight up getting naked to take a rain shower. 3. Who is your favorite character? I like Mikael and his personality. He's just very blunt and to the point 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? So far there are only two, but their interaction, while simple, says a lot about their personalities and experiences with the outbreak so far. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! Black and white is usually hard for me to read, but this one does it well. I love Mikael's freckles. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? How people handle crisis 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? It's so simple, but even with few words, you can tell a lot about the character's and where they've been and what's brought them to where they are now. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? Drawing the characters to show without having to tell.(edited)

RebelVampire

@Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn) I looked out of curiosity. This was submitted January 13th. So it's a big happy coincidence.

Queenue

Oh man I love Dead City! It was nice to refresh myself on the comic since I last read. I will say, the artist handles black and white beautifully. This is such a great comic with such a limited palette (almost pure b&w with some spinkles of gray). The style reminds me of really great classic American comics, and I dig it a lot. And as an intimate character study of two guys struggling in a post-apocalyptic world, it is fantastic. JP is my fave character as I find him really relatable. Overall, I feel his and Mikael's relationship was well built up and realistic. All of those cute, quiet little moments between them really make this story. One of the major themes that I gather is that humanity endures, even in the face of the apocalypse. The end of life as we know it isn't the end of us, we can still thrive, and even fall in love when the world's falling apart. That's kind of a theme in a lot of zombie media, but Dead City really hits on this. While I kind of wish there were more zombies in the comic (lol), I understand that it's mostly a romance/character-driven story. But, it also tackles the issue of isolation in these types of situations in a really genuine way. You get the feeling that these characters are the "only two people in the world" and that they felt so profoundly alone before they found each other. That's powerful writing.

But it also knows how to use humor and light-hearted character moments to lighten the mood, which I like. I've never seen a piece of media in this genre that wasn't super dark and gritty and that's one of the things I love about this comic. And, I don't know if I can pick a favorite moment, but I do like their whole time spent in the suburban house just lazing about, drinking wine and trying on the previous owners' clothing.

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning of the comic begins kind of typical to a zombie story. Where character A meets character B but then oh no trust issues cause survival of the fittest. And then the story just completely deviates from it in a lot of ways. I really kind of like how it used the tropes to establish the setting quickly, before becoming its own thing. My favorite moment in the comic so far has probably been when Mikael froze and JP had to step up and take action against a zombie. I actually wasn't sure JP had it in him tbh, so for me that was a cool moment of just seeing another side to this character. I also liked seeing confirmation that nah, Mikael has been affected by the scenario and the whole has-it-together vibe isnt entirely accurate. My favorite character is probably JP if not for the fact I see myself in him a bit more just for the fact he never quite feels like he knows what he's doing and is just kind of winging it. Considering there's really only two characters, it's obviously JP and Mikael. Their relationship builds up in a very organic way that feels natural, so it's really enjoyable. As for the art, what I like the most is the attention to detail. Like Mikael's freckles, the fact JP's facial hair grows, etc. Those small things really just kind of give the comic that extra bit of polish that's really nice. As for a theme the comic explores, I think I enjoy most right now the human need for connection. Cause sure Mikael didn't trust JP at first (and possibly vice versa), and yet, are you really going to turn away perhaps one of the few ppl left? I think this story really captures that need for people to have someone else in their life.

As for the story's overall content, what I like the most is just how un-zombie of a zombie apocalypse this is. Sure we see them, but overall they aren't the focus. I also like that the zombies aren't treated as like this OP always have to worry about thing. One line that super sticks with me is Mikael noting the zombies got slower cause they're, ya know, dead and rotting. So I like that there is this hope that maybe it won't be a forever thing. As for the comic's strengths, again, probably the premise where it's a zombie apocalypse but that is so far from the focus it makes it really unique and stand out.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think JP and Mikael’s relationship will be able to last, or will the situation of the apocalypse get the better of them? In what unexpected ways do you think their relationship will be challenged despite the situation?

10. JP and Mikael’s backstories are both decently vague, so what sort of theories do you have surrounding them? Do you think we’re in for a shocking truth bomb that may drive a wedge between the two?

11. Given what we know about the world at the moment, do you think the apocalypse will last forever, or might things get better someday? What do you think will happen if JP and Mikael run into more survivors?

12. What story moment about the harsh realities of survival hit you the hardest? In contrast, what moment about human connection hit you the stronger? All in all, what do you think the comic says about connecting with other people, even in survival situations?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

I think JP and Mikael's relationship will last. But, what I think will challenge their relationship is the idea that maybe the apocalypse won't last forever, or things won't always be super dire. Cause I think that forces them to reexamine who they were as people in the past and talk about that a lot more than they do at present. At present I get way more of an impression they're living in the now, so once the past and future can be relevant again, I think that will prompt some interesting discussions. I don't have anything concrete at the moment regarding background theories. However, I do think there's a dark edge to Mikael somewhere in there that will make JP go "I'm not sure if I like that." Given my opinions above and it being mentioned the zombies aren't as fast as they used to be, no. I actually think we're already seeing the signs that as long as humanity can whole themselves up somewhere and implement proper containment procedures, things will get better. As for more survivors, I actually don't forsee that being an issue anytime soon. And if they do meet other survivors, that is when I expect something super bad more zombie apocalypse like will happen cause humans are the most trustworthy bunch in this genre. I think the moment for harsh realities of survival that hit me the strongest was really when they realized they had to move and couldn't stay in one spot forever due to factors beyond their control. It's really hard to leave a place you feel safe, so that hurts the heart that they really didn't have a choice. As for the moment of human connection, it was when the freezing scene happened and Mikael was upset someone he knew was a zombie. Cause I didn't get the impression they were super duper close, and yet that hurt was too real. As for what the comic is saying, I think it's a message about how regardless of situation, we need to feel connected to others - even more so in survival situations.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

jestershark

13: I think seeing JP and MIkael's relationship change and grow over the course of the comic has been a delight so far and I think it's going to continue to be interesting into the future. 14. I wish more people were reading it! It's definitely got all sorts of hooks...

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I've loved reading Dead City! I really like how this story feels like... progress? Like a lot of zombie survival stories are about the protagonists slowly falling apart as more of them get picked off, but this felt... hopeful. Like, the two get better at surviving as time goes on. Especially given how JP & Mikael's relationship is such a major part of the story. The fact that they can find love in the zombie apocalypse shows that there is hope for humanity after all.

RebelVampire

I am most looking forward to them dealing with more zombies actually or survivors. Unfortunately, resources are gonna become scarcer as time goes on, so I'm interested to see how they change to deal with that. My final words are that this comic is super unique in its storytelling and, to me at least, is a beautiful story about human connection and how there is always hope even when humanity is struggling

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Dead City this week! Please also give a special thank you to Michelle Parker and Jey Pawlik for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Dead City, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

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[mx-bright-sky]

(I mention one of my fics here, but reading the fic is not necessary to understand the meta)

In my fic Green Lightning, Nedzu is a larger and more present character than he is in canon. It is well known to those that read the fic that, even though he has justifications for his actions, he is more of an antagonist than a reliable mentor figure. This has lead to some people coming to the conclusion that Nedzu seems to be out of character. However, this is because of the people we see interacting with Nedzu in canon contrasting with those we see interacting with Nedzu in Green Lightning. Nedzu puts on an act in most of his canon interactions. If you look at things in canon with a critical eye, it is clear that Nedzu is canonically less "nice" than he lets on.

(Or, Nedzu is canonically a stinky rat bastard, the meta)

I will note that most of these are criticisms of UA overall, but as the principle he holds the most power and we’re given no reason to believe that he is not in charge of these decisions. Even if he didn’t make these decisions himself, he ultimately could have stopped them from going through, and that’s just as bad.

First of all, he almost completely disregards the safety of the Hero Course students. Many of them have quirks that can hurt them if they ““go beyond; Plus Ultra”” and yet the school doesn’t discourage that. In fact, it praises them for doing so, and if they don’t do the absolute best they can do despite risk of physical harm, it’s seen as disgraceful. This is clearly shown with Kaminari constantly going over his watt limit. When Kaminari uses too much of his quirk he short circuits himself and goes brain dead for a while. This is treated sometimes as a minor nuisance but mostly as a joke. However, it is entirely possible that the way he is constantly short circuiting himself does have a permanent and negative effect on him, and it could even be said that it contributes to how he is portrayed as having lower intelligence. Another big indicator of this lack of care for safety is admitting Izuku into the Hero Course. I love Izuku and I want him to be a hero, but putting him in the Hero Course after how the entrance exam was irresponsible and extremely negligent. From the entrance exam it is clear that, while powerful, Izuku’s quirk badly damages him when he uses it. The better route would have been to put him in the General Education department and keep an eye on him and see if they could help him learn to control his quirk in a less destructive way, but they don’t do that. They put him into the Hero Course because he has amazing destructive power. And you can say “But Mel! He only had rescue points! They didn’t let him in for having power!” Consider this; they gave him seventy rescue points. That’s quite a lot. Yes, he saved Uraraka and it was very heroic, but I do not think that he would have scored as many points if he had a different quirk. They put him in the Hero Course because of his power, despite how it hurts him. It is clear that on multiple levels, Nedzu does not care about the safety of the students. Why? He just wants strong heroes, and he doesn’t care about the means acquiring them. UA probably only produces the top heroes because the top heroes are the only ones who make it through UA. 

There is another concern that, while seemingly being an isolated incident, also shows disregard for the students. At the end of Sports Festival, Bakugou is chained up and forced to go to the award ceremony despite not wanting to go. This, while treated as a joke, is not okay for several reasons. First of all, this is on live television and in front of a stadium of people. It is humiliating to chain Bakugou up like that and force him to go, no matter what the context. On the same point, this is part of the reason why the villains targeted him. While his anger issues definitely contributed to it, the villains probably theorized that, due to this mistreatment at the Sports Festival, they could manipulate Bakugou to go against the heroes. And at the end of the day, there’s the fact that Bakugou shouldn’t have to accept the win if he doesn’t want it. They could have given it to Shouto even though he was technically only second place. The whole Sports Festival situation was handled very poorly, and it just shows further negligence on Nedzu’s part. Why? It’s possible he wants to try and “tame” Bakugou and make him behave instead of caring about his actual learning and growth.

Yet another show of negligence in teaching is the hiring of All Might as a teacher. Don’t get me wrong, I love All Might, but it is blatantly obvious that he is not suited to being a teacher. He’s an excellent hero, but he is just bad at being a mentor. This is presented as a joke by the source, but yet again, it’s a serious issue. He should have started by training the Hero Course students basic hand to hand combat, but instead, he launched them right into battle training on the first day. The worst is the final exams, though. All Might uses incredible brute force and could have seriously damaged Bakugou and Izuku because he didn’t hold back on them. But Nedzu hired him anyway- and by certain dialogue scenes it seems like this is something he has been asking All Might about for a long time. Being a good hero doesn’t make you a good teacher, but Nedzu ignores this. He should have at least made All Might learn how to be a teacher before hiring him, but he didn’t. And, why? The only reason he would have is because he wanted the number one hero to teach at UA. Not because he wanted a good teacher, but because UA is famed for having pros as teachers. He did it for the popularity, for being able to claim that they have the number one hero working there, as a way to “prove” that UA really is “better” than every other hero school. 

Even in the show itself, it’s addressed (if only for a single episode) that the way the entrance exam is structured is flawed. It prioritizes people with physically strong quirks, and anyone who has a quirk that is any other kind of strong is just thrown under the bus. In addition, it excludes people with support type quirks. Recovery Girl, who is an incredibly helpful retired hero, could not have passed the entrance exam. There is no way that Nedzu doesn’t know this. There is no way that this is a new problem. There’s more problems with the entrance exams than just quirk discrimination, too. What about how these people taking the entrance exam could very easily be injured in this scenarios? Recovery Girl comments to herself after the entrance exam that Izuku was the only one with serious injuries, but what about Uraraka? If Izuku hadn’t been there to help her, no one would have; everyone else was running away. She was trapped in rubble, and the zero point robot was going to run right over her. Would they have stopped it from doing so? I doubt it. There are plenty of other potential injuries from the entrance exam as well- all the rubble, robots, and even other students being reckless with quirks they don’t have full control over could easily lead to serious injuries. Nedzu could change the entrance exam, UA certainly has the money to, but he doesn’t. Why? Again, it’s weeding out the weak, it’s survival of the fittest. He wants top pro heroes, and support types of heroes don’t become top pro heroes.

This is definitely more of a societal thing than, but Nedzu definitely is one of the contributors to the problem; discrimination against quirkless people. In the first episode when the class is laughing at him and asking how he expects to get in to UA despite being quirkless, Izuku meekly protests, “They got rid of that rule.” Which means that, previously, quirkless people were outright not allowed to attend UA. Not even just systematically where it’s incredibly hard to get in if you’re quirkless; quirkless people were banned by the school’s rules themselves, plain and simple. This is blatant discrimination against quirkless people. And even though they apparently “got rid of that rule” it is still very evident that quirkless people cannot pass the Hero Course entrance exam. If Izuku never got One For All, it is doubtful he would have passed. Once again, the evidence shows that Nedzu does not look like a good guy here. But why be prejudiced against quirkless people? The best answer is that he just wants to follow the crowd so that he doesn’t stir controversy, but the worse and more likely answer is that Nedzu thinks quirkless people are useless just like the rest of society. 

So, if I have all this backing my characterization of him, the disregard of student safety, the treatment of Bakugou in the Sports Festival, hiring All Might, the entrance exam, and discrimination against the quirkless, then why do so many people seem to believe that I’m making Nedzu be out of character? I think the answer is right in the essay itself. It’s that most of these are treated as a joke. They’re not treated seriously by the narrative, so no one thinks “Hey this is actually really wrong, who’s allowing this?” Another thing is that people don’t really consider that Nedzu is behind all of this, as the principle of UA. If they look at one of these things individually and decide it’s wrong, they usually don’t look into it and decide that it’s Nedzu’s fault. They call it out as wrong, rightfully so, but they don’t get to the root of the problem. (I suppose the root could also be the society itself, but Nedzu conforms to that society.) In canon, Nedzu is only shown being the “silly animal principle uwu” who says things like “Am I a mouse? Am I a bear? Who knows!” And then the Kamino arc where UA needs to get the press of their back’s while they rescue Bakugou, Nedzu is there once again, and I’m willing to bet he only does the things he does and says the things he says to save face. 

The only other conclusion besides “Nedzu is a sneaky rat bastard” is that Nedzu just doesn’t notice these problems or realize that they’re problems. But ignorance goes against Nedzu’s entire character, so this isn’t really a conclusion at all. 

(everything else applies to my fic Green Lightning, so if you haven’t read it, this might not be something you’ll understand)

In canon, Nedzu interacts with people who he wants to put on an act for. He needs these people to believe that he cares about them as individuals and not just strong heroes (you could push it and say that strong heroes are to stop villains and “for the greater good” but tbh if Nedzu’s job is being the principal of a school that makes heroes, I think that running out of villain’s would be bad for his business, hmmmmmm I just thought of that oh no)

In Green Lightning, Nedzu has been shown only interacting with Sora and Izuku; both people that he has leverage over. Though it hasn’t been mentioned in the fic, Sora is only at UA because Nedzu let him in to help with the traitor problem. He doesn’t care about acting in front of Sora, because if Sora says anything he can kick him on the spot. Nedzu also knows that Izuku is a vigilante, and is only keeping him around because that could prove useful to weeding out the traitor. If Izuku didn’t do what Nedzu asked, Nedzu could expel Izuku and quite honestly it’s possible that he could get Izuku arrested for being a vigilante. Even if they did speak out, Nedzu could very easily discredit them because they’re children and Nedzu is the principle of UA. 

So no, Nedzu isn’t out of character at all, thank you, bye

[cclkestis]

survival of the fittest

character(s): ruthless!connor x fem!reader, nines

word count: 3k+

warning(s): death, mention of blood, angst(?) - it’s a hunger games!au so you probably get the gist

a/n: OKAY SO this was supposed to be a drabble inspired by this (shoutout to @imaginovator and @the-darklings for that!!) and instead I may have gotten carried away just a smidge whoops - this isn't properly proofread or edited because I am sleepy but I hope I've at least attempted to do this idea justice and yeah enjoy my nonsense I guess?? Disclaimer that I also haven't read or seen thg in a couple of years so I apologise if I've made mistakes with things!!

–

That ominous, haunting boom shook the air around you not for the first time since that glaringly bright fake sun had risen in the sky.

Another one was dead. Another wasted life. Another chance for you to hope that maybe this time it was him.

If only you could let yourself believe that someone else might have managed to get the upper hand over him – how could they possibly hope to, when the other tribute from his district had been felled by his own hands. Did she anticipate him betraying her like that so early on, you wondered, unable to even begin imagining what it would be like to have that one person you might have been able to trust turn around and stab you in the back – literally.

The crack of a branch sounded below you, eyes snapping down to scan the ground for the source and desperately keeping your fingers crossed that it was an animal of some sorts.

It had been two days since you'd eaten something that wasn't berries or plants and you were well aware that you wouldn't last long if things continued that way. Neither of you would last long unless you could find something decent to eat.

In reality though, you were more hopeful that it was anything but another person or creature dead set on tearing you apart and leaving you for dead.

The softest of breaths left you in a sigh as a familiar figure passed below you, yet still you hesitated.

You had to be sure that it wasn't the bastard who'd been hunting you from the very beginning of the games. The brother of the one who held your heart, intent on doing whatever it might take to come out of this Hell as the victor.

He paused below you, so still that for a moment you might have imagined he'd fallen prey to some horrific trap of the arena if you'd simply stumbled across him in such a position.

And then those dark eyes you adored were turned upwards, finding you easily among the branches as if he knew exactly where you would be. You didn't understand how he was somehow always aware of where you were, but you weren't complaining. That uncanny ability of his had saved your life on more than one occasion.

Seeing him looking up at you like that, a distinct lack of emotion gracing his features, you'd never been happier to see him alive and in one piece – despite the blood that stained his hands a shining crimson.

Four days ago, the sight of that ugly red had you wanting to throw up. Now it brought you a strange sense of relief, which perhaps disgusted you more. It had been only days, and already you barely recognised yourself.

But at least you had Connor.

Hearing your name called at the reaping would forever be one of the worst moments of your life – however long your life might last for now – but it was nothing compared to knowing what was going to be quick to follow.

“I volunteer.”

You can't even remember whose name was drawn out of the other bowl now, only the pain that came with realising what Connor had done – and realising why he did it.

For you. It was always for you.

It had taken years for you growing up to finally start worming your way past the harsh, cold shell of a man that he was – although if Connor was being honest, there was something inexplicable about you that drew him in right from the very beginning.

A burning curiosity had been lit in him, a desire to figure out just how you were managing to tear down his carefully crafted defences without even trying. He wanted to see you happy and safe – things that were hard to come by in your district – no matter what that might cost.

He would go to the ends of the Earth for you – words that he'd spoken to you himself in one of the quiet moments you'd shared, with lips touching and breath shared between you. How you wished there was time for more of those moments.

Those softly spoken words and the threat they held were perhaps what made him the most dangerous person in the arena that had become your prison.

You weren't consciously aware of your decision to climb down from your perch in the branches, your only desire being to feel Connor's arms around you in that moment. And he didn't disappoint.

“You're alive.”

With your simple statement as one of his hands tangled in your hair and held you against his chest, it felt like an invisible weight was lifted from your shoulders. You hadn't wanted to acknowledge the fear that hearing the cannon had brought you – the fear that someone might have gotten the better of him.

“I told you – Nothing is going to happen to you. I'll always come back to you.”

He pulled back to study your features, a bloodied hand gently grasping your chin, smudges of red smearing in a stark contrast against your pale skin. Tilting your head up as he met your gaze, you were reminded how Connor was the one person who always saw right through you

You had no doubt he would easily be able to read all of the emotions you were trying so hard to lock away upon hearing those words from him.

They filled you with a hope that you desperately needed, a reassurance that you weren't alone in the terrifying scenario you'd been thrust into. Yet with them also came a looming sense of dread that couldn't be ignored.

You had no doubt that he meant what he said – that he intended to keep his promise of keeping you safe no matter what. If he succeeded in that, it would bring you both to an end you didn't want to think about.

There could only be one of you walking out of this torment alive. Neither of you had brought it up, but you both knew what was more than likely to happen if you two remained after all of the others were dead and gone.

An unspoken understanding of what Connor was planning to do. The idea of what he was willing to do for you was more painful than the thought of meeting your own death. But arguing with him would be pointless, you knew without a doubt that his stubbornness would always outweigh yours. He would restrain you so you wouldn't be able to stop him if it came to it, of that you also had no doubt.

You will be the one emerging on top, if he has anything to say about it. Never mind the fact that it wouldn’t really be you walking out at the end. How could you possibly hope to keep going after that, especially when you already felt like you'd lost yourself.

“(Name), look at me.”

The instruction was sharp, leaving you no choice but to obey as you forced yourself to really look at him. His usually blank expression had softened a little, but that softness didn't reach his eyes. You knew you should be more on guard, asking the important questions – like whose blood he had on his hands, or whether he'd found anything useful whilst you’d been split up.

You couldn't though, and Connor seemed to realise that you were on the verge of spiralling off into the thoughts plaguing your mind – any edge of gentleness was scrubbed from his face as his cool lips slammed against yours, the hand previously in your hair slipping down to wrap around your waist and pull you tighter to him.

Suddenly, you were able to forget just where you were. All you could think about was Connor and the safety that came with him as he stole your breath from you, actions relentless as he walked you backwards until rough bark scraped at your back.

Chest heaving when he finally pulled back just enough to let you breathe, you almost missed the next words that he spoke.

“Do I have your attention now?”

His question was serious, but you could've sworn there was some of that rarely seen amusement in the mix somewhere too. It was enough to jolt you back to the reality of what was going on.

“Did you find anything?”

Another question directed at you, this time one that you responded to with a shake of your head.

“No luck, did you- “

Silencing yourself the second Connor's head whipped around, you felt your blood run cold as voices echoed through the trees far too close for comfort.

“We need to move. Now.”

He didn't need to tell you twice. You'd only had one proper encounter with the Careers thus far and it had been a close call – the sound of a knife ripping through flesh was still all too fresh in your mind, and it wasn't something you wanted to hear again let alone be on the receiving end of.

Besides, the Careers meant that he was nearby. Nines. You were sure that couldn't possibly be his real name, but then again, the people in the richer districts had different ideas of normal names.

Not that what they called him mattered, at the end of the day. He was brutal, trained his whole life for this one moment. And he wasn't about to let you or his brother stand in his way – unfortunately for you, that wasn't just a fact. It was a promise. The icy words had plagued you from the first time you'd met him in the training room.

You'd never asked Connor how he and Nines had come to end up being raised in two completely different environments – admittedly, you were afraid to ask. There was a darkness that took over Connor’s perfect features any time his brother was even hinted at, giving you enough information to know that nothing good had happened between them in the past.

“You can't run forever, little rabbit – he can't protect you from all of us.”

That same icy voice was taunting, now, as you took off through the trees with Connor hot on your heels. There was no point in being quiet, all you could hope to do was outrun them until they got bored – for Nines and the Career pack, this truly was a game. You were fighting for your life – Connor was fighting for your life – whereas they were simply playing to win. For the honour. Killing meant nothing to them, not if it got them the glory they'd been training to earn all their lives.

A whistling sounded off to your left and was promptly followed by a dull thud and the glint of metal as the thrown knife lodged itself firmly into a tree just ahead of you. He wasn't just taunting you with his words now – you'd seen Nines working with knives in training.

He never missed.

Too late you realised that the knife was intended to force you right into their trap. Your terrified shriek was mingled with a snarl of anger from Connor as you crashed to the ground, ropes tangled around your legs and only seeming to tighten as you scrabbled at them with desperate fingers.

No. No, no, no.

You couldn't go down like this.

A weight slammed into you, your head connecting with the ground as you felt the knees pinning your shoulders and the edge of a blade on your neck, digging into the soft skin with enough pressure to draw a whimper from you.

“How disappointing. I really thought you were going to put up more of a fight- “

The girl – Alison? Anna? Amanda. – pressed down further with each word, leaving you certain that this was it for you until surprise flitted across her face a fraction of a second before she slumped forwards like a puppet with cut strings.

Another cannon shot sounded.

Silence surrounded you for a moment before her weight was pulled from you and a figure cast her aside as if she wasn't a living person just seconds before. Blinking, you felt yourself relax the smallest bit at the figure looming over you.

Until he crouched down in front of you, revealing the steely eyes that spoke of nothing but bad intentions.

“What a waste,” You realised then that he wasn't looking at you, but at the unmoving body beside you. “She didn't listen.” Almost lazily, those eyes were turned towards you, a hand casually reaching out to stroke across your cheek as he ignored your flinch. His fingers came away damp – with tears, you realised suddenly. “You two are mine.”

“Don't fucking touch her.”

You'd never heard Connor so livid before. He didn’t even need to raise his voice, the anger clear in the surprisingly low words. Trying to turn your head to seek him out, you were stopped as Nines grabbed a fistful of your hair and stopped you from moving anywhere.

“You're not really in a position to be making demands, brother – and I'm starting to lose interest in this chase we've had going on.”

The monster in front of you didn't look away as he spoke, seemingly amused by the way you shrunk back under his harsh gaze and how unsettled you were by his eerily calm approach to everything that had happened over the space of the last few minutes.

“Besides, I don't understand why you're so attached to her – don't you realise you'd be so much better off without her? Without such a…weakness.”

“Why don't you stop playing games and just get this over with.”

Light sparked off metal again in response to your words as another knife came too close for comfort – although this time it was to free you from the ropes binding you before you were hauled to your feet, Nines towering above you as he held you firmly in place.

“Tell me, (Name) – is it a brave rabbit who challenges the wolf, or a stupid one?”

Your reply – “It's one that's already dead.” – was on the tip of your tongue when a gurgling sound interrupted the conversation.

Connor was on his feet. The tribute who'd been holding him down was not so lucky. Of the other three in the Career pack, the closest one to him made a move towards him, stopped only by Nines lifting his free hand in a gesture to stop.

Stalking towards you both, Connor radiated an aura of danger that had every nerve in your body screaming at you to run. And how you would have run, if you weren't being forced to stay where you were by a grip far stronger than you could hope to fight.

As if reading your thoughts, Nines shoved you away from him and into the waiting arms of one of the other tributes as he stepped forwards to match Connor's movements, the two of them circling each other. The tension in the air was suddenly through the roof, watching these two predators coiled and ready to pounce.

But that wasn't the only change in the air. Something was wrong – something that you couldn't initially put your finger on. Connor felt it too, you realised, watching his every move and not missing the way his gaze flitted towards the sky and then towards you for the briefest of seconds. The flash of concern you registered on his face was not reassuring, but somehow you understood.

You both needed to get away from there fast.

It was then that Nines lunged, like a coiled spring being released. Your heart jumped to your throat, but Connor was just as fast – just as deadly, despite having nowhere near the same training that any of the Careers had.

Their collision was a distraction you could take advantage of – and you did just that. Throwing your head back, there was little time for you to be satisfied by the crunching of bone or the whoosh of breath you heard as you wrestled the knife from your captor's hands and wasted no time sinking it into his leg.

If only you had the chance to celebrate that small victory, but it would seem the Gamemakers had other plans as the world seemed to explode around you, electricity striking the ground with enough force to send you all flying in different directions.

You hit the ground for a second time, although this time it was much worse. There was a lingering charge in the air, building and warning of more danger to come. Your ears were ringing and eyes struggled to focus in the aftermath of the strike, but you did feel a hand on your wrist and another on your upper arm guiding to your feet and prompting you to move.

Connor must have avoided the worst of the blast, you realised, as you were urged to move. It was difficult, with your head spinning and legs shaking uncontrollably, but this might be your only chance to get away from those intent on seeing you dead.

Maybe the Gamemakers weren't quite ready to see either of you dead yet, which really wasn't a comfort. It no doubt meant there was worse to come.

A crackling filled the air behind you, the flickering light bouncing around the forest alerting you to the second strike without any need for looking back. Still, you glanced behind you, regretting it when you stumbled and your knees hit the ground.

Before you could catch a breath, you were jerked up again, hands clutching at Connor's forearms as you drew in a breath and found your voice.

“Connor, please – just give me a minute.”

You hated the way your voice sounded so pleading as you tried to blink away the spots clouding your vision.

“We can't afford to stop,”

A supporting arm wrapped around you, fuelling the sudden disgust that flooded your system at the contact and in response to the horror that would have floored you if he hadn't been holding most of your weight.

“I can't have my brother catching up to us again, can I now? But don't worry, little rabbit, we're going to have a lot of fun, you and I.”

–

Tagging: @connorshero @finding-jericho @wecanbe-heroes @deviantsupporter @connorfixinghistie @feminist-violinist @becomingrk800 @mynahx3 @liveloveandbekind (I may have forgotten some people who asked to be tagged because it's been a while, so please just yell at me if you want to be added <3)

[clove-teasdale]

survival of the fittest

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

A/N: not a challenge but has background, some detective clove and rp~ Sorry for any mistakes in writing or typos, I was done with revisions and probs missed some stuff lol. there are mulan and batman (and slight marvel) references. italics section in the end is past. word count around 3k. enjoy! ft. rp with @maya-edwards  & little wilson

[edit--some slight changes were made/added in the last section]

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

One earbud in, I tapped the pen against my notebook. 6 Twos in the last Selection. Gradually less than our current 10.

I’d found the list of old Selected in a magazine published over two decades ago. I doubted ripping off the page was allowed considering it was from the library, but it wasn’t an actual book so I sneaked it out anyway. The possibility of someone noticing was extremely low after all.

I kept the page folded and clipped in the back cover of my notebook in case I needed it later, but had already made my own version of the list on a fresh page. I wanted to work through it even with other people around, so I knew I had to make it visually confusing. For once my love for complicated plans came in handy. 

The list consisted of name abbreviations. Carmen Zoraya becoming C.Z and so on. Next, to each name, I added caste number and week of elimination. 

C.Z-3-W8.  R.D.J.-2-W12 B.M-5-W3

Getting the information had taken me hours of reading in the library, but I’d managed. I went through different magazines, hidden between some pillars and a bookshelf to avoid being spotted by other girls that frequented the area. Organizing the old issues by their dates had probably been the biggest challenge–sitting on the carpeted floor, my back to the bookshelf and dozens of magazines on my lap.

I focused mostly on reading eliminations to get the crucial information out, but I hoped to go back later in the week to read about the dramas that had ensued during those months. Maybe that would give some extra insight otherwise dismissed when looking only at the bigger picture.

I wasn’t sure why I was still working on this. A gut feeling? Many psychologists debated there was always information and data our right brain was taking in, no matter if our left brain was busy on something else. The body registers the information even when your mind stays unaware. If that were true, what had I noticed besides the already obvious? I couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. I had enough spare time to work on it.

Running through the names again, I added strikes under Threes. I was in the eighth strike when I caught a girl approaching from the corner of my eye. She was the embodiment of nervousness, eyes searching the room as she clutched a book to her chest. There was an empty spot next to me, but she hadn’t noticed it yet when Victoria walked behind her. The TV sensation hadn’t even batted an eye in her direction, but the girl with the short afro was startled nonetheless.

The book was soon in the air as she juggled it around in an attempt to catch it. She wasn’t as swift as a coursing river though and it fell to the ground pretty quickly. 

She sighed, shoulders slumping in disappointment. I stared in silence, making sure others hadn’t paid much attention to the event before stating, “I think you dropped something.”

She was startled once more, but this time by my voice, a groan leaving her lips as she realized the spectacle had had an audience. “You saw all that, didn’t you…”

“Does it make it any better if I say no?”

She reached for the book and once standing, nodded a little, a worried frown as she said, “A-actually yes…”

I raised an eyebrow at her fear, unsure of the reason behind it, but settled with an “Okay,” and went back to my notes. I knew the best thing was not to make any further comments.

“Can I, uh- Can I sit here?” She asked after a moment.

I stopped in the middle of adding another strike to the number of Threes and considered the question. Staring at my notes without context made no sense as expected, so I figured it wasn’t a problem. “The seat is open to the public, you may sit.”

Whether she understood my slightly joking tone or not was hard to tell, but she cleared her throat and sat down either way. “Thanks…”

I’d seen her around before. Maya was her name if I remembered correctly. Sometimes she seemed kind of lost. Not like she didn’t know what was happening, but more like she wasn’t sure why she was there or what her plan was. A combination of shy and awkward was very likely.

Easy targets tend to know what they are. Wilson’s face crossed my mind at the thought. I took the single earbud I was wearing off, then went back to counting Threes. “No need to thank me. You didn’t need my permission to sit there.”

“Uh, well…Maybe you didn’t want company or- maybe it was taken?”

“Whether I want company or not should not scare you away from taking a seat that is there to be used by you.”

She frowned, considering my words. “I suppose not?” A moment of silence. “Sorry?”

I paused my count. So one of those people. Looking up, I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why sorry?”

Her own logic caught up with mine as she stuttered, “Uh-well- I don’t know…” 

Trying to run away from embarrassment, she quickly opened her book and pretended to read. Too bad she wasn’t good at pretending. 

I smirked down at my notes and said, “I see you have the ability of reading upside down.”

Her blush was unmistakable as she closed her eyes, realizing she was holding the book incorrectly. She tried to fix it, turning it over quickly. “No-Yes, yes, very entertaining, I can tell you.” She cleared her throat at the end and my smirk didn’t leave.

“Mhmm, I bet so. What did you think about the love interest killing his sister?”

“It really uh, turned the story ‘upside down’…”

I snorted at the pun. “Of course… you do realize that doesn’t happen though?” Taking the book from her and reading the page at the bottom I pointed out, “Page 56. The love interest isn’t introduced yet.” Also, there was no sister. Closing the book, I handed it back with a smug smile. Her smile in return was awkward.

“Well, it was worth a try? Sor– I mean, eh the book is nice then? Haven’t read it yet.”

“I figured as much, but yes, it’s a decent one. What made you pick it up?”

“I dropped it? So… Then I picked it up again?” She frowned and a head tilt followed. I frowned too, not getting what she was talking about at first, but then laughing at the mistake.

Once she realized what I meant she was quick to explain she hoped to get some knowledge on palace rules and etiquette considering the setting of the book. In theory, it sounded like something good, but it wasn’t going to be enough and she actually had access to books about the subject in the library. I suggested those for later. She pointed out they were boring in a small voice and I couldn’t disagree. I did tell her a novel wouldn’t help much, however.

“I know, I know…” She pouted, but soon curiosity took over her features. “What are you doing though?”

I stared at my barely understandable handwriting. I had the potential to make it neat if I bothered to try, but half the time I didn’t and especially not now. “A… personal project I guess.” I shrugged it off as I closed the notebook. “Nothing too important.”

“O-of course! I didn’t mean to uh–…” She vaguely gestured with her hands in the air when I waited for her to continue. “You know, to be rude.”

“It’s alright, not that big a deal, just something I don’t think I’d be able to explain.“ A partial lie. I didn’t want to start havoc just because I’d run a couple of numbers that could technically still be coincidental. Thankfully, I usually pulled off keeping things to myself pretty well. “You’re Maya, right?”

“Yes! And you’re Clove.” She smiled, taking another second to remember to offer a hand for me to shake. 

I nodded at the name and accepted the handshake. It wasn’t a soft grip, but slightly wary. She could use a little confidence. “You know, you shouldn’t be so frightened by them. They won’t bite you.”

I hadn’t mentioned Victoria’s name, but she got what I meant, biting her lip and trying to joke to dismiss my comment. I wasn’t too impressed. “I mean it.” I opened my notebook, this time on a random page, and started doodling a spiral pattern out of habit. “They seem like they’ll hurt you but if anyone was that mean sabotage would already be happening.  Worse case scenario maybe one of them is that petty, but you’d have to piss them off for real to worry about it.”

Maya nodded. “It sounds logical… Thanks anyway.”

That smile was more convincing than the previously given, even if she changed the subject after it. 

It took a few seconds for Wilson to stop laughing. “Oh wait, you’re serious?”

Even if he couldn’t see it through the call, I rolled my eyes at him. “You talk as if I can’t make friends.”

“Well, I mean… you can, but you hate them most of the time.”

That got a snort from me. “I don’t hate them. I just don’t trust their intentions.”

“Same difference. Clove Teasdale doesn’t make friends.”

That was a partial truth. I had various friend groups during high school and middle school, but none of them stuck with me. I was that person people wanted to be friends with, but not for any good reasons. It was because we fitted or because it was expected. Other times it was just convenient. Sometimes I wondered if maybe it was me though. Maybe I didn’t know how to be a good friend. That or I had really bad luck.

People at Mt. Rainer High School always seemed to strike some drama no matter what the clique. More often than not, about something I couldn’t understand, but whenever I gave suggestions to make things less complicated I was ignored, an annoyance, or horrible for not supporting a side.

When groups fractured I took a step back. Better alone than in a mess. Wilson had never understood why I’d give it all up and move on so fast, but I didn’t blame him. He knew that it was a smart choice to avoid drama, yet wished he could have that choice himself. He didn’t. He wasn’t really liked around school and therefore had only one friend...Which wasn't that different from me except I could pretend more.

Students liked to say it was because he was kind of a nerd. He knew as much as I did that it was because of his previous Caste though, even if no one would admit so. It was kinda dumb. As dumb as the caste system itself–trying to set a number with the life you’ll get–forcing a talented artist to become a teacher and a physics genius to be Picasso.

Not everyone could pull off a Da Vinci and be good at whatever they were put in. Many people failed because of that. Others were like Wilson’s mother, giving up the life she was born in for a life as a Three with whom she fell in love with. That left Wilson as nothing but a Two by chance. Terrible, dreadful chance that he never even asked for and would probably give up to get his parents back.

I leaned against my chair and got back to our conversation. “Statistically speaking, most people that stay friends are from college so…”

He pretended to be offended. “Ouch.”

”You’re decent enough. But as I was saying, I’ll try to befriend some of the girls. This isn’t school.”

“Hmm, you’re right. Everyone here sucks.”

“Even Graciela?” I teased, remembering the name I’d gotten out of him a few days ago. He scoffed back at me.

“No, she hasn’t been corrupted yet.”

“Now you just have to actually talk to her.”

He laughed for the second time. I was silent. “Oh, you’re serious again.”

I shook my head. “You’re a lost cause, kid.”

It was the middle of freshman year when we met for the first time.

I was placing books in my backpack, my head making a list of the homework for the next day when Cooper pushed him into a set of lockers feet away. I turned my head in the direction of who would one day be the future varsity quarterback as he took care of the new wimpy kid. 

Cooper wasn’t really original, trying as hard as possible to go for the popular-jock-bully stereotype as soon as the school year started. Intimidating middle schoolers and stealing lunch money he didn’t even need. It was hard to ignore sometimes, but I did.

Pressing my lips together, I watched as he stepped away to laugh at the boy, inciting his two friends to join him on whatever joke he’d made. Obviously, they did. Cooper’s father was a high ranking officer in the military. He had everything he needed to be on a high pedestal in school one day, which was annoying. 

I was on the list of few who ever stood up to him since we’d once been friends. That is before he filled his head with air. The brief moment I got to look at his new prey was enough to recognize the black haired kid holding tightly onto the strap of his backpack with a clenched jaw. 

His eyes darted from Cooper to the floor around him, head hidden between his shoulders. I’d seen that face in a million pictures around Mrs. Grayson’s house after my chess classes with her. It was her grandson, the one she always referred to as little robin. Apparently, the kid ran around saying “holy cows, Batman” more than he should when he was seven.

She told my parents he would move in with her soon, being the legal guardian his parents’ had asked for. “Car accident,” she’d mentioned. I had already spotted him in our algebra class a few times that week. He seemed advanced enough to take it before high school which only made him a bigger target.

Cooper nudged him, “Come on, that was hilarious.” Little Robin didn’t seem to have the same spirit Mrs. Grayson always talked about now and only gulped, averting his gaze. Cooper didn’t leave him though. “Cat got your tongue or something? I’ve never heard you say anything in class.” He towered over him, making him press his back even closer to the lockers.

I narrowed my eyes at them and walked over. I hadn’t precisely told Mrs. Grayson I would keep an eye out for him, but I felt like I needed to on her behalf. Sometimes she’d served as a babysitter of sorts when my parents traveled together. She was good to me. 

I elbowed Cooper’s friends out of the way and they gave angry glares until they recognized me. They decided to step away instead so I stood behind Cooper and tapped his shoulder.

“What-” he paused mid-sentence as he turned around, eyes locking on me, annoyed for the split second he realized I wasn’t one of his friends. Jaw clenched, he stood up straighter and then mumbled my name between a gritted-teeth smile. “Anything I can help you with?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, flatly.

He offered a charming smile. “Oh, just asking the genius for some tutoring classes. You know how bad I’m at Algebra. I thought I might as well ask him to teach me some stuff. Right George?” He elbowed the kid for a sign of confirmation.

I was pretty sure his name wasn’t George, yet Little Robin didn’t correct him either as he spared me a glance himself. There was a pause long enough to tell Cooper was lying. And though I knew that much already, in the end, the boy thought it was wiser to agree halfheartedly to the lie. Survival of the fittest. He wouldn’t disagree after Cooper established himself as an authority so firmly.

I remained silent, thinking of how to turn the situation around. The kid was new, he didn’t know what to do. It was like a game of poker. Bluff even if you don’t have the upper hand.

“He can’t tutor you,” I stated, earning a confused frown from both.

“And why is that?” Cooper crossed his arms, puffing out his chest. Good thing this wasn’t a matter of physical strength, and if it were, a strategy could give leverage either way.

“Because I asked him to tutor me already.” My turn to lie.

The boy blinked, trying to read between the lines of our conversation while Cooper narrowed his eyes at me. “I didn’t think you needed help with math, Clove.”

“Well, I do, and he promised to help me out.” I looked at the boy. “Right kid?”

Again he only blinked. 

Your turn to join the game Robin, don’t disappoint. It took him another second, but his eyes lit up with understanding and he stood up straighter. “Yeah, I um…I did.” 

Cooper glared at him and the kid broke eye contact, however, didn’t slump against the lockers anymore. Then the glowering was at me. 

I only raised my eyebrows in response, inciting a move from Cooper. His lip twitched, jaw set as I stared up at him. He knew better than to make a scene. I’d tied his hands. He couldn’t force Wilson to tutor him if I claimed he’d agreed to tutor me first. Bringing in a teacher to ‘settle the situation’ was possible if I wanted too. There was no way for him to win.

Knowing how to pick his battles, he turned around to leave but I stopped him. “Wait.”

“What?” he groaned.

I crossed my arms. “Did you take any money from him?”

His eyes flashed as he swiveled around. I waited. He let out a breath through his nose before placing a grin on his face to hide unwillingness. If there was something Cooper hated was letting others know someone had been able to push his buttons.

He turned to the boy, taking a few bills out of his pocket, and forced his voice to sound friendly. “Hey, thanks for lending me the money kid, but turns out I might not need it anymore.” 

The boy stared at the money like it was on fire, but accepted its returns when he noticed my head gesture and the jock’s angry gaze. 

“Happy now,” Cooper muttered afterward. I shrugged and he stormed off as soon as he could, followed by the other two jerks. Once they were gone I looked back at him.

“You okay?”

His head snapped back in my direction. “What just..”

I didn’t let him finish the question and simply announced, “He lost the game.” 

His mouth opened to reply. Nothing came out and I glanced at my watch. If I didn’t get moving I’d have no chance to eat. “Stay out of his way and you’ll be fine.”

“Um… y-yeah, alright. Thanks.”

I nodded. “Clove Teasdale.”

“Geordi Wilson.”

George would have been better… I sized him up. His uniform was in pristine form: shirt tucked in, vest ironed to perfection, hair combed neatly and shoes as shiny as they could be. Not bad by any means, but definitely like he was trying too hard. He would need some help to survive around here.

I turned around to leave. “Stick with Wilson, kid.”

[timelyshot]

Marrying a Nigerian Bride as a Transactional Affair, and a Society That Prioritise Money Over Morals and Values

If money is the least of your problems, you have a 100 percent chance of living the best life in a money conscious society like Nigeria. Like every other thing you can use money to acquire, marrying a Nigerian bride, also taking into consideration all the customs and tradition you have to observe, having the right amount of money is the major determinant in wether the wedding will hold or not. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); You can singlehandedly determine the time and duration and manner in which you want the wedding ceremony to run because you can lift the financial weight of marrying your Nigerian bride. There are other stakeholders who should normally have their say concerning the whole event, but everybody looks around only for the money bag and they act accordingly. This frequently thrown-around statement best describes this scenario: “money stops nonsense.” Love don't cost a thing? Who ever said ‘love don’t cost a thing’ had better wake up from their ‘Lala land’ they are snoring away to. Nigeria is one “world” I know money turns around in its own axis, because you can get virtually everything done with money here. There are other challenges that money cannot solve though. But having liquid cash can make them seem nonexistent as people only value you by how much money you can doll out, not so much as other qualities or values you might possess. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The moral decadence Who would want to develop good virtues and values when, while growing up, it seems only the people who possess certain amount of money and wealth the Nigerian system work for. Because you know it is survival of the fittest, a jungle, you had better from your tender age, start looking for all available avenues to make this money — no one cares in the society how you made it — they are just waiting to praise God for how he has blessed you and, also having faith your kind financial breakthrough will happen to them, too. Rich vs not so rich

What do you think will be the outcome when you have a civil case with a much richer opponent and the police had to be involved. Like an auction goes to the the highest bidder, you might as well look for a relative who is more richer than your opponent to come to your aid if you don’t want to lose out before it even gets to the court. You know auctioneers would naturally favour the highest bidder. That is why you’ll see someone who is richer than you tell you they will deal with even when they are the one at fault. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Even on the street Do you just wake up in the morning feeling like you owe everybody in Nigeria some money. From the courtesy visit from the beggar who waits on hand for you to collect your change from the commercial bike man, so that you can put it into good use by handing it directly to him. To the street boys that stay on you like guided missile until you come up with some kind of magic that draws some naira currency from you. To the bus conductor who holds on to your change long enough, even after entreaties from you for your change, so that you forget and he can ride home with someone’s money he stole without using a gun. Buy your way to good grade You are about to finish school and you realise you have ‘worked really hard’ maintaining a low cgpa from you 100 level to 300 level. To get yourself a higher cgpa is just a matter of applying your money in the right places, and all you have to do is just feel accomplished. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); That job can be yours. Where is the money? Looking for your dream job? Hey, save enough money, we have a market out there where the juicy jobs are sold to the highest bidder. What is the whole essence of getting trained in the university in the first place anyway. You can buy voters too You are a politician. You can ditch your manifesto. We don’t have that much education to care about what’s in it for us in the next four years. Who cares about them anyway. You know how well you and your colleagues in your political class have mismanaged the economy to a halt, hence earning us the ‘prestigious’ title of ‘poverty capital of the world.’ Therefore, the only way you see yourself winning an election is sharing money to the electorate who have been disenfranchised for so long and just want to satisfy their immediately want. They are usually the people who have suffered under repressive economic policies, looting and mismanagement by their leaders. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Skull miners on the prowl And there are those who withdraw their own money from the dark spiritual realm. A place where the unfortunate is sent to by way of killing them and severing their body parts and using it for money rituals. You see and hear cases of missing persons, and when they are found, they are usually dead, hands, eyes, private parts, heads missing. You wonder what ferocious beast is lurking around doing this — people like you with pretty and handsome faces everywhere — they are looking for money. Relationship between the transactional side of marrying a Nigerian bride and a society that prioritise money over morals and values The groom, the bride, and both their families are an integral part of a society that cares more about money than other things of value which a healthy society yearns for. So there is no gain saying when I conclude our culture and traditions as regards the wedding ceremony; only puts serious pressure mostly on the groom to make available money every step of the way in a typical Igbo or Yoruba wedding.

As an outsider who is experiencing a Nigerian wedding for the first time, instead of observing and appreciating the rich culture and traditions that a typical Nigerian wedding has to showcase, all that can be beclouded by the intense and vigorous involvement of making one payment or another at every step of the way during the ceremony. This is direct reflection of what is generally obtainable in a society prioritise money over morals and values. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The transactional aspect of marrying a Nigerian bride Nigeria as we know has three dominant tribes: Hausa/Fulani to the northern part. Igbo to the eastern part. And Yoruba to the south-western part of Nigeria. All the weddings ceremonies that hold from all other tribes, about 300 of them, in Nigeria are influenced in part or whole by these three major tribes. Therefore, I am only going to dwell these three starting from the Hausa-Fulani tribe.

The Hausa-Fulani Sharo wedding festival What fascinates me about the sharo wedding practice, is the fact that you have to go through life threatening pains, in a flogging bout with your opponent, in order to prove yourself worthy of the bride. They say love is pain. This time around it is not emotional pain; this is you getting beat up with cain by the other suitor contesting for the bride against you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); On one occasion a suitor lost his life on the account of subjecting himself to a flogging match with an opponent who, unintentionally target the back of his neck and it was light out. On getting to the hospital, before they could attend to him, he was already dead. He paid the ultimate price for a transaction affair of marrying a Nigerian bride. The Yoruba igbeyawo

It is a tradition in the Yoruba wedding (igbeyawo) that the groom with your friends and family must meet their waiting in-laws at the venue of the ceremony. The time between getting to the venue of the “igbeyawo” and actually meeting the bride’s family, is riddled with hurdles of sundry payments which, many are times, bore out the groom and his family. It is payment galore within that period. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); And when the groom and his family eventually meet their in-laws to make official request for the hand of their daughter in marriage, they are subjected to various other payments that have no receipt. Marrying a Nigerian bride does not involve you having a receipt, sorry. At a point, the bride’s parent will return the bride price back to the couple emphatically stating that they are not selling their daughter into marriage and they wouldn’t want any harm to come to her. However, prior to the date of the “igbeyawo,” the groom must have spent a fortune checking every item on the list of things required of him by the bride’s family. One thing you cannot take away from the Yoruba in-laws is that they can be flexible and accommodating of the groom’s financial inadequacy. Don’t bank on that though. Be prepared. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Marrying the bride from Imo state The Igbo people are some of the most business oriented people In the world. A typical Igbo man wakes up in the morning thinking of profit and loss, and his day-to-day activity has to be something that brings in money. If it will not result to some profit for him, forget it, he has no business dealing with you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The same goes for the Igbo father who is giving his daughter out to marriage. Such a man knows what have many daughters mean — payday upon payday. A suitor who is aware that his bride-to-be is from mbaise, Imo state in the east, “has to buckle his belt” properly so that his trouser don’t fall off. Because, the things he’ll be asked to buy (the list), the amount of money need for it is no child’s play. When it is not affordable

In some instances, suitors have had to postpone the traditional marriage because they could not come up with the amount of money needed to take up all the requirements for the wedding.

For those intending couples who see this as barrier because of the groom’s financial state, and they don’t want it to stop them from being a couple, they go ahead living together as man and wife. However, the husband is always reminded that if he doesn’t come to do the things required of him, the kids he has with their daughter are not his yet; they belong to the bride’s parents. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Conclusion Nigeria is one society where amassing stupendous wealth puts you on a level where you feel you are invisible to life challenges of a regular citizen. You can get away with many and everything as along as you know the price to pay any opposing force or entity. The cultures and traditions we claim to uphold and cherish are nothing without money. Especially with the traditional weddings, when there’s no application of money, it may turn to an event with bad bloods and counter bad bloods. Read the full article

[stevepatricklewis]

5 Killer Cycling Workouts

5 Killer Cycling Workouts

So you don't have a lot of time, but you still want to make progress. As cyclists, we tend to think it's not worth doing short workouts because our goals are to ride fast for many hours. Okay, here's the trick from less time training to get the most gains. Hard to go. I don't mean picking up the pace a little bit, but I'm really going tough. Sprints, hill assaults, other difficult intervals and circuit exercises that require a lot of oxygen and produce a lot of lactic acids. The cumulative oxygen debt will overwhelm the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems which will lead to improvements in both. High-intensity cycles and off-the-bike cross-training exercises often increase the body's growth hormone and testosterone levels, resulting in better body function without cheating. When we age these hormones decline so it will aid fat loss, regeneration and growth of new red blood cells by spiking them up with exercise. It will literally turn back the internal clock of your bodies, helping you to feel and act younger. Not bad for short workouts like that. Sufficient of the preamble. You read that because you want results, so on to the workouts. You'll want to warm up at least 10 minutes before doing the workout because of the duration of my workouts. As you get fitter, for optimal performance you will need a longer warm-up, but a quick one will do to reduce the chance of injury from trying to cold these workouts. Tabata Interval Blocks The basic interval of Tabata is becoming well known. The basic premise is simple, repeated 8-10 times, 20 seconds hard/10 seconds. 8 repeats is a block of 4 minutes. If you're pushed for time, do a fast warm-up and then 10x 20 seconds of hard sprints with 10 seconds of easy pedalling between the reps. This is a 5-minute workout. Don't be fooled by the length of time. Even the fittest competitor will have an excess of training if each phase is performed at maximum effort. Because of the intensity level, this is best done on an indoor bike trainer. I did it outside, and I loop it all over the road at the sixth or seventh interval. If you have a little more time to work with, then I recommend that you do a few blocks. After you have warmed up, do 8x Tabata intervals (4 minutes) then a 4-minute recovery and do it again. Two blocks of Tabata intervals overload just about every system in the body, and it takes only 12 minutes. As you get fitter, you should try adding another package when you want a big training load. 20 minute Time Trials Some of you might be familiar with threshold repeats of 20 minutes. These are an intensity level up. You can do them indoors or out, but if you find outdoors a 20-minute long climb to a headwind for the lucky people living in the mountains or level terrain. You don't want a break from the terrain so try to find a road that doesn't have downhills. The rest is quite straightforward. In 20 minutes, cover as much distance as possible. A variation of these I use for my customers is a time trial of 12-15 km as it takes about 20 minutes for most fit cyclists. If you picked the right pace your legs will burn, but you can barely keep the pace going all the way. Because lactic acid accumulates faster than your body can absorb it, it really hurts the last 5 minutes. This will increase your aerobic capacity and boost your ability to process lactic acid. These are really good for getting a sense for pace if you do time trials in competition as well. Go out too hard and blow up your legs. Go too easy and you're not going to be as quick as you can. Mini Velmax Intervals Velmax intervals are a simple but effective workout for 25-40 repeats that we usually do. In this scenario, you're going to do 20 to suit the mini in the time limit. If you don't have a power metre, the cycles are pretty simple 30 seconds at 135 per cent threshold power or 8-9 out of 10 perceived exertion. The time for recovery is 30 seconds. So at the beginning of every minute, you go hard and recover within 30 seconds. It's pretty easy to keep track of how tired you are. The first few are complicated but doable. Everyone after that gets harder until the last few feel like their legs will fall off. While you have to recover properly between this type of workout, if you put in an honest effort, they really bring results quickly. Full Body Circuit Workouts Sometimes without equipment, you consider yourself, but you still want to get a workout. At occasions, certain types of exercises will be used to support the rest of the body. Some muscles are hard hit by cycling, but others are neglected. It will affect your performance on the bike if you lack muscle endurance in the core and upper body. A strong core can make the pedals both seated and stand more efficient. While I'm showing you two exercises, when it comes to programming cross-training workouts, there are almost endless possibilities. You'll need nothing more than a pair of stupid bells to do these workouts. I suggest a set of 20 lbs for guys and a set of 10 lbs for ladies. Do a Google search for "CrossFit workouts" or do a search for the name of each exercise if you don't know how to do the exercises. Most of the exercises include YouTube.com videos. A few suggestions on how to do them before we get to the workouts. Do each exercise in order and start at the beginning once you've been through one circuit until you've completed the number of rounds you've scheduled. The goal is to get the workout done as quickly as possible while keeping the workouts in good shape. Unless you have to rest, don't rest. This type of workout will have a lot of lactic acids and will cause you to huff and puff. That's a good thing. That type of exercise leads to increased growth hormone and testosterone output in your bodies. For those of us over 30, these hormone levels are decreasing. The rise would result in easier burning of fat, faster recovery and increased performance. Workout 1 3 rounds 20 Thrusters 20 Sumo Deadlifts 20 Burpees Workout 2 3 rounds 10 Curls Dumbbells 20 Dumbbell Swings 30 Bodyweight Squats Work at your own pace when you do the above workouts for the first time. Give yourself between workouts for at least 48 hours. Every time you do them, try to improve your time. These are hard but efficient. This can be done in as little as 6 minutes depending on your fitness level. Overview By counting every minute and overloading the system, with very little time spent training, you can get great results. As a rider, if you concentrate on winter quality with a longer, mild ride once or twice a week, you will see a major improvement as the spring comes around. The lack of time is merely an excuse. 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[theanthropist]

A Treatise on Morality

The Cooperative Advantage

Just based on the physical characteristics, alien biologists would easily dismiss humans. The only natural-born physical talent of humans is endurance running, useful in chasing down fast prey until they collapse from exhaustion, but not something that explains our status as the uncontested dominant lifeform on Earth. Even mentally we aren't that superior: raise a child without teachers, and you will get a dysfunctional animal. Octopuses manage to learn tool use on their own, something feral children are unable to do. A lone human is simply not made to survive in the wilderness.

Our mental capabilities flourish in groups, however. A child is taught and supported by their elders until she is old enough to do her part to help. Information and skills pass along from person to person, groups organize and coordinate to achieve what none could do alone, the victims of misfortune are helped, and they in turn help others. A tribe of Homo sapiens is a formidable force on the savannah. This seems at first blush to run counter to natural selection, in the usual narrative represented as fierce competition. Survival of the fittest. But nothing about the rules says you can't work with others. Ants, bees, dolphins and wolves show how cooperation can give an advantage to the individual. This bears a striking resemblance to what humans call morality.

Getting an advantage as an individual however doesn't explain true self-sacrifice, like giving your life for someone. This apparent conflict is resolved by the concept of the "selfish gene": if one of your genes makes you sacrifice yourself to save two of your siblings, or children, who also carry the gene, the gene gets an advantage, even if you personally don't. Drone ants are infertile, but evolutionarily successful, because they help their mother, the queen, to reproduce.

Making morality to be about evolution and self-interest might rub you the wrong way. Should we only do a kind act once we know how it helps us? Should we only sacrifice ourselves for blood relatives? No, of course not. Natural selection doesn't care, it doesn't judge. If you refuse to maximize your reproductive fitness, the only consequence is that your genes will be very slightly less common in the human population. Not much of a sacrifice. Your desire to be good is still just as authentic, even if it has roots in selfish natural processes.

Honor Among Thieves

While the advantage of cooperation explains why animals would act morally, it doesn't explain why animals or people would ever not act morally. Wolves and ants and humans fight with other members of their species constantly. This too, must bring some advantage. Predictably, theft, murder and rape are all desirable to the perpetrator. To capture this dynamic of when it is and is not desirable to act morally, we are going to play a little game. Or more like it, we are going to overanalyze a game.

You and your accomplice have been caught for a crime. The police only have enough evidence to put both of you in prison for a year, so your interrogator offers you a deal: snitch on your accomplice, they get five years and you go free. You quickly figure out that they were probably given the same deal, and if you both snitch, you're both getting around three years.

Should you snitch, or should you stay silent?

The mathematics are clear: if your buddy stays quiet, you should throw them under the bus. If they snitch, you should take them down with you. One should always snitch. Yet if you both snitch, you both get three years instead of one year. This is the problem known as prisoner's dilemma: in some situations, the win-win scenario is leaves both parties vulnerable to betrayal, and is thus unattainable.

Once you know what to look for, the abstract version of this game plays out everywhere. Parallels can be drawn to nuclear disarmament and climate change. A part of addiction can be seen as a prisoner's dilemma game between oneself now and oneself in the future. Even choosing whether to do dishes in a shared apartment can be modeled by the same mathematics.

Shooting for the win-win scenario can only be achieved if one can trust the other player to cooperate. To develop trust, one needs to know the other player, to play repeated games with them. This works the best if there multiple different repeat interactions with different other players. Kind of like in real life.

In this situation, if the win-win payout is big enough and there are enough cooperative other players, a strategy known as "tit-for-tat" dominates: start of cooperating, then mirror the other player. This ensures the player will only get fooled once before retaliating, while working together with anyone willing to cooperate. This is what we see with morality too: benefit of the doubt is moral when given once, and stupidity when given much more than that. When someone commits a heinous act, we punish them to disincentivize them or anyone else from committing such an act.

Morality is game theory instantiated on biology. Not all morality models the prisoner's dilemma, of course, games such as stag-hare (in which cooperation is better when others cooperate) and hawk-dove (in which cooperation is better when others betray you), or even wholly other abstract games with a similar structure can often be found. It all however follows the same principle.

Morality under this view is an absolute mathematical concept instantiated in the fuzzy real world. Often a cooperative choice in one game is a betrayal in another, and without a clear view of the payout matrices, moral problems can quickly become unsolvable. This is however only a question of imperfect knowledge, not moral subjectivity.

Hume's Guillotine

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher in the mid-1700s. He is my personal favourite philosopher. One of my favourite ideas from him is known as Hume's Guillotine, one of the most metal terms in philosophy.

Hume had observed that people of his time, when arguing for any standard of morality, often used premises about what is to argue what ought to be. Hume simply asked what they were doing, what logical warrant was there for such a leap. Modern philosophers, with a few exceptions, conceed that there is none. You can't just suddenly introduce a term in a logical argument that does not previously appear: otherwise you could introduce any term and wreck the structure of logic itself.

A way to make the term "ought" (everyone says "should" now, but the terminology is 300 years old, just go with it) make sense and be usable is to define it in terms of goal-oriented behaviour: you ought do X if doing X advances your goals. This founds the otherwise vague word in the empirical concepts of goals and ways to achieve them, while retaining the most important property of the word: if one is convinced they should do X, they also feel somewhat motivated to do X.

This definition has some consequences: if someone doesn't enjoy sushi, they ought not eat sushi, no matter how freaky you find their distaste. While this might seem reasonable, the same goes for enjoying murder: if one enjoys murder and doesn't care for the myriad of repercussions such an act would have, it makes no sense to say they shouldn't murder.

The concept of "ought" is thus separated from the concept of what is moral: morality, under this view, deals with objective empirical and mathematical facts, while what you ought do depends only on your goals. The general confusion between these two results from people having very similar goals, including that of acting morally; it is less difficult to see that a perfectly rational AI whose only goal in life is to make as many paperclips as possible can't be made to care about morality; that would interfere with making paperclips!

None of this means you shouldn't act morally even if you don't value morality for its own sake. The very reason morality evolved was that cooperation was advantageous to the individual. Being motivated by the threat of punishment is also a reason to stay in line. But if these don't motivate someone, you could just as well debate morality with a crocodile.

Conclusion

This moral philosophy has been hard-fought for me, and I do not know of many others who hold a similar view. I hope it works as a jumping off point for you, and as an antidote to both moral relativism and various supernatural theories of religion. As a philosopher I am merely a hobbyist, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Links:

Morality as Cooperation, a proper scientific paper on the scientific view on morality my position largely hinges on.

Evolution of Trust, a fun little game that explores the specifics of the game theory of morality.

Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Moral Naturalism, which has strongly inspired my views.