#Breakout from Oppression

[soneblomsblog]

okay so my request is;

monster cha hyun su (in season 2) x reader.

the reader helped hyun su escape when those people tried experimenting on him, hurt him etc and when the reader was in danger his monster side saved us

(i’m so down bad for him 😭)

Warning: mention of guns/gunshot wounds, season 2 spoilers

Monster Cha Hyun-soo x reader

In the eerie silence of the laboratory, the stench of chemicals hung heavy in the air as you, determined and courageous, guided Cha Hyun Soo through the maze of confinement. His eyes, grateful and haunted, and confused as too why you're helping him. At first he didn't believe you he was hesitant but when you grabbed his hand and pulled him along with you.

"I won't hurt you" you said these words to him looking him in the eyes. He couldn't help but feel a sort of connection with you his monster side pulling at the edge of his mind

The flickering lights overhead barely illuminated the desperation etched on his face, a silent plea for freedom. As you navigated the dim corridors, distant echoes of approaching footsteps heightened the tension. The oppressive atmosphere bore down on you both, but your shared determination fueled the escape.

Suddenly, the silence shattered, replaced by the sound of alarms as the experimenters discovered your daring breakout. Dr. Lim probably behind everything as he always had a eye on you.

Panic set in as you griping Hyun Soo hand tighter you both sprinted through the complex, evading capture at every turn. His monstrous strength, became a shield against the relentless pursuit. As you reached the exit, a hail of gunfire erupted, catching you off guard.

A searing pain ripped through you, and you stumbled, clutching your wounded side. Hyun Soo's was relieved when they finally made it outside. Smiling he turned towards you but the smile dropped as he saw you standing looking like you saw a ghos, holding your side where the sight of blood started to coat your hand.

His protective instincts kicked in the monster inside him coming to surface at the sight of you hurt.

With a shout, he shielded you from further harm, his strength overwhelming the attackers. As the chaos subsided, he knelt beside you, the monstrous facade fading to reveal the haunted gaze of a man who had experienced too much.

His gentle touch met the wound, a mix of worry and guilt in his eyes. In that moment, the bond formed in the crucible of escape became something deeper. You, the person he least expected a scientist no less helped him escape, now found solace in his protective embrace, a silent acknowledgment of never letting you get hurt clouded his mind making Hyun-soo tighten his grip on you.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

So. Hear 5. Nika. Loony Tunes Luffy, if you will. Tell us your thoughts on him and any potential meta? 👀 I’ve been aching to hear it from you since we first saw him go Full Silly Boy.

it's hard to answer this, because i have so many thoughts. i'm just going to try and start from the biggest points and move down.

i like gear five a lot, and i think this development feels very appropriate as a culmination of both luffy's character and the themes of one piece as a whole because of how it interacts with three extremely dominant motifs that have reoccurred throughout the story: freedom, laughter, and the sun.

from the very beginning of the story, luffy has acted, in small ways and big, as an agent of complete freedom. from his first meeting with coby to his breakout at impel down to the liberation of wano, what luffy does is destroy systems that control and oppress, if only because they are in his way. every strawhat is somehow trapped and held back from pursuing their own dreams when they meet luffy, and he frees them all, along with hundreds of others along the way, whether he's inspiring shirahoshi to venture outside or crushing yamato's manacles. his talent for this has always seemed almost preternatural.

luffy is not necessarily a benevolent person; he doesn't care much about helping people in the abstract. he's selfish. he values freedom for freedom's own sake, not because of any greater moral convictions. he doesn't think much about the negative knock-on effects of things like causing a mass breakout at impel down, and he doesn't really go around seeking out downtrodden and oppressed people to free out of a charitable or selfless instinct, nor does he really do anything because it's the right thing to do. he's dismissive of the idea that he might be a hero.

but because he is a completely uncontrollable free agent, and he doesn't really want anything but for himself and everyone he cares about to be completely free, he constantly collides with the systems of oppression that control his world, and when those collisions happen, it is the systems that fail, time and time again, because oppressive systems always do eventually. they can't withstand the light of day. and because he lives completely confidently and unapologetically, he is constantly inspiring others to do the same.

so by the time we are told about nika for the first time, we already know that what nika is said to do is what we've seen luffy doing for more than a thousand chapters: he frees people, and inspires them, and makes them laugh.

i also find luffy-as-nika to be very interesting and thematically appropriate when positioned in opposition to the various antagonists in one piece who have declared themselves to be gods, frequently some of its most tyrannical and oppressive villains- enel, the celestial dragons, doflamingo. all enslave and imprison people, robbing them of their freedom.

nika is a god of slaves, and a creature of liberation. the natural enemy, as rosinante might say, of that sort of megalomaniacal 'god.'

one piece has also consistently connected the theme of freedom, as embodied through luffy, with the sun since very early on. the sun pirates, former slaves, used the symbol of the sun to wipe away the brand of the celestial dragons. (and aren't i curious to know what jinbei might know about nika- he never did answer who's who's question about it.) the fishmen more broadly view the sun as something to be reached when they are truly free. on wano, the coming dawn is understood as the coming liberation. impel down and the florian triangle, places of indefinite imprisonment, are lightless dungeons where the sun doesn't reach. the sun is freedom.

and luffy has always been thoroughly sun associated, from the visual of his hat to his origin on dawn island in the east blue, to his ship, the thousand sunny.

finally, one piece has always placed a great deal of emphasis on smiles and laughter (laugh tale, joy boy, roger laughed, etc)- but that joy must be real. it can't be forced. we're told again and again, through koala, dressrosa's toys, and most obviously the victims of the failed SMILE fruits, that to force someone to smile, denying them the right to cry, is nothing less than an atrocity. people can't be forced to be happy- they should be happy because they're free.

luffy in gear five is laughing nigh-constantly, but it's just because he's having so much fun. unlike the victims of the SMILE fruits, his endless joy is genuine, because in this form, he is completely free- nobody can stop him, and nobody can control him. as he says himself, he can do whatever he wants.

i know that some people felt this moment was in some way a deus ex machina, but it just didn't feel that way to me, because of how well it plays on the story's established themes and trajectory, as well as concepts like devil fruit awakening having been established hundreds of chapters back.

luffy is the sun, the sun is freedom, freedom is joy. i think it makes total sense.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The worst opening ceremony ever

That’s because you’re looking at it all wrong. The opening ceremonies are incomparable, for a whole list of reasons:

The economic and financial situations, both in the country that’s hosting and for the entire world.

The country hosts

The creative and production teams involved in putting on the shows.

Geopolitical tensions and issues of the times

The athletes involved

You’re expecting 2008 production value in a 2024 world that’s dealing with different economic crises, two very significant wars with WW3 breakout potential, and a rising far-right/return to dictatorship. It’s incomparable.

You have to look at the opening ceremonies as their own standalone unit. And when you consider last night’s spectacle that way, it was actually a tremendous success:

Arson shut down most of the French trains and there were enormous fears of what it meant for the ceremony, but it went off without a hitch.

It rained the whole time, but all the performers still made good performances, no one was injured, and everyone made it.

Celine Dion made her first major public singing appearance while dealing with a huge medical condition. If you don’t know the significance of Celine Dion to the French or the song that she performed, then just be awed by her commitment to turn up, IN THE FREAKING RAIN, on TOP of the Eiffel Tower to perform. Who cares if she lip-synced? It was raining! She showed up anyway, with every right to demand the performance be relocated to the flat ground under cover.

The athletes all had a good time and were excited.

The cityscapes during the torch relay showed off Paris’s incredible architecture and skyline. Name any other city that can do that and have it be so meaningful.

The bells of Notre Dame rang for the first time in 5 years, they gave credit to all the workers and trades/crafts that have been restoring and repairing the cathedral, and gave an homage to the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

There was a lady in a croissant costume. A CROISSANT costume!

They had a choir of headless Marie Antoinettes accompanying a heavy metal band that was performing AT the very same prison she was held captive at.

They lit a piano on FIRE and floated it down the Seine while performing “Imagine.”

They acknowledged France’s bloody, violent history without it being preachy or sentimental. (Watch the LA 2028 ceremony ignore the US’s bloody history - I guarantee you it’ll highlight our melting pot culture but it won’t even touch on the oppression, slavery, Civil Rights era, or how indigenous peoples were treated, much like the London 2012 ceremony didn’t acknowledge Britain’s bloody history.)

They highlighted all the ways that French culture contributed to the global community; music, literature, love, fashion and Coco Chanel pink, Louis Vuitton, the Eiffel Tower, croissants, the minions, and French people’s contributions to modern sport (as well as foreign success in French sport).

The homage to Assassin’s Creed, the Phantom of the Opera, and other famous masked French figures in the torch relay and flag-bearers.

They had an opera singer dressed as the French flag singing the national anthem from a sloped rooftop over the stadium in the rain. I had literal chills, y’all. It can’t get more patriotic than that.

Organizers made statues of important French women to display during the ceremony and they’re DONATING all of them to Paris after the Olympics! I don’t know if you caught it, but the male-to-female representation in Paris’s statues is 4.5:1 (over 200 male statues, just 40ish female statues). It’s an incredible start towards gender equality in Parisian and French history that a lot of countries could take a note from.

Les Mis! Who doesn’t love a good musical interlude?! Especially one introducing a segment paying tribute to the French Revolution. (And I must admit, I’m now kinda expecting LA 2028 to have a Hamilton nod.)

The image of Assassin’s Creed with the dove wings behind her as she walked up.

All the athletes running together for the final torch relay - more chills! (Usually that doesn’t happen.)

Raising the Olympic cauldron by hot air balloon so everyone could see.

That amazing light show from the Eiffel Tower.

and so much more.

Yeah, the can-can line was sloppy and the audio quality was poor, the parade of nations took forever (they always take forever though) and no one understood the order they were coming in (because it wasn’t explained until *after* the ceremony that the upcoming hosts are also at the end) and there’s a ton people offended by the threesome and the drag queens on the grounds of religious morality (you can see my reaction to that criticism in the earlier post below), but overall, all things considered? Considering the entire 4-5 hour show, in the spectacle that is Paris, with a terrible weather forecast, in the unprecedented geopolitical times we’re in?

It was a kick-ass opening ceremony.

[jeffrey-anderson]

Injustice in the Justice System: The Ethical Plight of Arkham Asylum

It is a common saying within Gotham City that you can set your watch off of Arkham Asylum’s regular breakouts.

Founded by Dr. Amadeus Arkham well over a century ago, this government-funded penitentiary has morphed from a well-meaning mental hospital to quite literally a house of horrors. Sanctioned as an asylum for the criminally insane in 19XX, Arkham Asylum has been affected by corruption and fraud every year since its founding - a reality only exacerbated by the breakout rates that have spiked by almost 46% annually since the Joker’s posting as a publicly known terrorist.

Anybody who lives in Gotham has been affected by the persistent breakouts plaguing the asylum. It’s been the Riddler’s bombings of the subway system. It was the threat of Gotham’s water supply being polluted by Joker toxin (only narrowly avoided by vigilante Batman’s interceptions). It was literally any Halloween these past few years. Take your pick.

Arkham Asylum is wholly an ethical nightmare. Its moral values and code of conduct have completely warped since its founding, and a lack of accountability has transformed it into an unethical hovel for anybody incarcerated there. Corruption runs rampant in the system. Any bribe of any size can be weaponised, and prisoners can do anything within and including escaping.

The poor legislation and the lack of accountability likens Arkham to the El Salvador gang jails. Both of them have death rates in the hundreds, and both do not receive programs preparing inmates for reinsertion into society. The two of them have inmates who are rarely - if ever - allowed outside.

These so called ‘reformatory’ institutions are unethical, unlivable hovels for anybody incarcerated. The abusive living situations make it a wonder any of Arkham’s convicts ever even consider choosing to stay within the prison walls.

Speaking of Arkham being an unliveable hovel - asylums throughout America have progressively gone out of style within the last forty years. However, Gotham is a city that leans more towards traditionalism - a view paired with and reflected throughout the city’s beautiful architecture and the scarcity of new bills, legislations and laws that are passed as a result of the city stagnating and being unwilling to create change.

This languishing, this lack of desire for movement and progress, is part of the systematic problems that threaten to topple Arkham. It is part of why it is inhumane.

Asylums have been going out of style for a reason - both sides of the system suffer. There is a relatively low rate of recovery from patients in asylums who are mentally unwell - even lower in Gotham City. Caregivers are pessimistic about their future outlooks because of the low success rates, feeding back into the cycle with no positive yield. This vicious pattern makes it nigh-impossible for anyone within the system to get any sort of fulfilment from it.

Although Arkham is officially a psychiatric ward, it houses patients who are arguably sane and yet are sentenced to life with the mentally unwell. Take Adam Bomb for example (article linked). Convicted of terrorism after trying to blow up the city, Bomb worked with criminally insane terrorist Firefly and thus was convicted of insanity beside him despite all claims that he was not mentally unstable.

It could be argued that these inhabitants aren’t perfectly sane, but an overwhelming amount of evidence from court records show otherwise. XX% of convicts in Arkham were allegedly intended to go to Blackgate Penitentiary, but couldn’t as a result of the overcrowding in the system. This whopping XX% percent of inmates, forced to live in padded cells and treated as less than human because of an insanity that they don’t have, live in an oppressive scheme which in turn makes it more difficult for actually unwell prisoners to receive the help they require. Furthermore, inmates who are criminally insane likewise suffer - the heightened risk of assault, dangerous gangs, and trauma in result of the organised crime fester a wholly unhealthy environment for the patients in the system who are meant to be there.

This misconduct is really highlighted in 20XX’s horrifically dubbed “Haunted House” breakout, where seven inmates (both sane and insane) attempted an escape. One of their psychiatric patients (a Ms. A. Smith) was killed in the panic after experiencing a psychotic break and subsequently attacking one of her fellow escapees after watching one of the sane male inmates assault a staff member.

The tragic events that transpired in the “Haunted House” jailbreak underline the desperation of reform required within our justice system. It is crucial that we address these issues within and around Arkham, as its current state has crossed lines and boundaries that even the worst cities throughout the globe have not passed.

Now, after considering these insurmountable problems, you may be wondering.

How is Arkham Asylum still standing?

Surely, some uncorrupted Gotham official is good, right? They would have seen the corruption, the abuse, the inhumane condition. Surely, somebody would have pushed for a change.

Well - you aren’t wrong. Arkham has been the focus of almost 15% of bills petitioned within Gotham City for eight years.

But there are good reasons why it is still functioning. Why nine out of ten of these petitions are rejected, despite the obvious poison to our society that it provides.

Arkham Asylum was made by a key founder of some of Gotham’s most foundational rules and regulations, Stuart Gordon. Nevada and Maine are the only other states to decriminalise sex work - but Gotham City, too, has special permissions under the state of New Jersey to abolish the law as a result of his work. Furthermore, Gordon pushed for Gotham to be one of the first cities (although highly debated and largely criticised at the time) to allow equal purchase and selling of property by minority groups within Gotham. Gordon’s lasting contributions to New Jersey’s sociopolitical landscape are likely partially why Arkham‘s presence continues to endure despite its increasingly intrusive existence in our modern society.

Arkham Asylum stands as a symbol of justice. Despite the rampant violence and a severe lack of accountability within its system, it is the most famous (and infamous) jail this side of America. When you look any closer at the system, its flaws and corruption reveal themselves to you in a disturbingly clear fashion. Yet when we think of the law, when we consider the justice system, Arkham is always the first to mind, given its wide discussion by people around the globe.

Arkham Asylum was a lot of money. A lot of money. For the first fifteen years of its construction, Gotham government’s annual transparency records reveal Arkham Asylum taking almost 40% of the budget allocated to police and law enforcement in its construction time. This rampant fund theft and poor budget of the government, exacerbated by the relative spike in crime rate during the years of its building, proves just how long they intend Arkham to stand. Why would the government put so much money into something that they didn’t intend to run in the long term?

These factors have made our authorities comfortable. Unaccountable. Stagnant. The level of ease that Gotham’s government holds about jailbreaks trickles down to regular citizens. They face no consequences from us as a result of our being excessively comfortable with the crime they permit.

If nothing is to change, we have a clear view on the future based on the long history we have with Arkham in the past. Gotham City’s complacency allows corruption to fester, and it leaves us citizens complicit in the tragedy of crime and disaster.

It is not too late to change course.

If we don’t stop this fraudulence now, it will be too late to change course.

The first step to change within others - our society - is change within ourselves and our standards. We must remind ourselves that this crime is not normal. Remind ourselves that we should not be comfortable. The disasters, the rampant crime and the rotating door of terrorists coming and going from Arkham is not something to be nonchalant about. We have to teach our children that the standards that Gotham’s bureaucracy sets for us isn’t acceptable, and that they should not be growing up with fear in their hearts and emergency exits in their minds.

Furthermore, it is imperative that we insist on more from our higher-ups. Allowing them to continue shrugging their shoulders and telling us that the establishment cannot be changed is only going to worsen the state of our city and justice system to the point of no return. We need to pressure new laws from them, so we can uproot the corruption that they have allowed to fester in our city for decades. We must demand new regimens for jails in order for us to be able to transfer inmates out of overstuffed systems and give resources to those who need it most.

Most importantly, we have to demand better, moral legislation. Regulations that seperate the harmless from the terrorists, and incite prisoners to remain in a prison that will not be cruel to them at every waking moment.

One voice can only do so much.

Many voices, speaking as a part of an undivided unit desiring wholly for change - that will get the government’s attention. That will make them feel the same discomfort we have been experiencing our whole lives. That will lead them to forging new change within this stagnant society, one which will better both the lives of AA’’s inhabitants and those of Gotham City.

Sign this petition, and stand with me. Stand with all of us who are appealing for a difference within a society. Help us create change that will last for generations.

-Jeffrey Anderson

[atopfourthwall]

Watching thru Star Trek Voyager for the first time. Do you like this series if so, favorite episode?

Posting my full thoughts below a read more because spoilers. But it's a mixed bag at best, favorite episode the two-parter Scorpion.

It's biggest issue is that it refuses to abide by its central concept: a Starfleet vessel lost 70,000 lightyears from home with few resources and in a place the Federation have never been to, made up of a mixed crew of both Starfleet and the Maquis - a rogue terrorist organization set on freedom from Cardassian oppression due to shitty treaties the Federation made in the name of peace.

Voyager goes for seven years and you would think with a premise like this, the ship should be a WRECK by the time it gets home - barely held together with duct tape, flickering lights and debris in spots because there just isn't time or necessity to deal with minor stuff like that when there are bigger concerns to deal with. You'd think the crew has gotten more lax, dirtier or with more rolled up sleeves and casualwear as the situation has made them less of a formal structure like a regular Starfleet vessel and more like a found family, maybe with a ton of alien crewmembers from the Delta Quadrant who have decided to join Voyager along the way because they (and the Federation by proxy) have offered something that wasn't present in their corner of the galaxy, something better and they want to join the mission back home. You'd think the ship itself would have changed in appearance as they've had to patch it with technology and because they don't have regular drydocks to replace lost/damaged systems and bulkheads. Sure, Star Trek has replicator technology, but I can't imagine Voyager has MASSIVE replication technology capable of creating HUGE swaths of the hull. At the very least, you'd think you'd see cracks in the hull hastily sealed up - maybe a kind of Kintsugi thing where the cracks are a different color because of special alien material used to keep it strong. You'd think those Maquis crewmembers, despite being former Starfleet, wouldn't be wearing Starfleet uniforms because why would they? They're here because they're stuck and what's Starfleet going to do if they haven't shined their boots? Throw them all in the brig for however long it takes to get home? More interpersonal conflicts between crewmen as they have to find a way to live together, have different approaches to solving problems, maybe deal with the crippling loneliness and despair that comes with thinking you may never make it home (either because of the dangers of space travel or just because it'll be 70 years on our current technology to get there).

But no. Nothing like that ever happens in Voyager.

Because it followed the pattern that had made Star Trek TNG so successful (despite it having a premise that DEMANDS more serialization), every episode the reset button is pressed. The ship is restored to normal, character development is rare or confined to a single episode. The few attempts at serialization are just… badly written (or just met with a shrug), which probably explains why they mostly dropped it in later seasons. You'd be forgiven for watching the first episode and then the last while thinking "Wow, not much changed except for Janeway's hairstyle."

Oh, but there WAS change… just not very much. A new cast member to replace one leaving… and a character brought on to be the breakout character - one of the few times we brought on new crew from this part of the galaxy - was shuffled away the episode beforehand because inexplicably some of his people were farther out than they ever should have been and he decided to stay with them because he met them for a few days. A romance between cast members that… was okay, but not great. Another romance introduced at the last second because they needed one of their characters to actually DO something because they had spent 7 years inventing boring hobbies and interests for him separate from his identity as fake-90s-Native American-whose-entire-culture-was-thought-up-by-a-fraud-who-tricked-Hollywood-into-thinking-he-knew-what-he-was-talking-about.

A lot of plots could have happened on any other Trek show. A lot of plots dealt with "Hey, maybe we'll get home THIS time!" and they of course would not. They invented a whole new way of propulsion that allowed you to be in every spot in the universe at once (and easily reversed the negative side effects by the end of the episode)… aaand then just pretended it never happened. The recurring villain enemies ranged from godawful to okay, but not fully realized.

Behind the scenes it was often full of office politics before actual quality. Whenever an episode needed some padding? Add technobabble. Have an ambitious idea for an episode? Nope, we're not interested in anything challenging. Do anything that might make the characters look bad or have more shades to them? Noooope. There were plans and ideas, things thrown out like, for instance, a year-long storyline where the ship would get as battered as I suggested… and it was shot down, turned into a two-parter with the reset button pushed hard at the end of it.

There's plenty to like about Voyager. Some really do love the characters and I like a lot of them, too. And there are plenty of episodes that I recommend and really enjoy and rewatch… but it's mostly wasted potential. It's telling that Ron Moore, who joined Voyager's writing staff after Deep Space 9 ended because he wanted to keep doing Star Trek, left after only 3 episodes… and went on to make the Battlestar Galactica remake, which for all its flaws did the Voyager concept considerably better and with all of those ideas I mentioned up top concerning the crew, the damage to the ship, the shades of grey, the hopelesness at times but still hope, etc.

[hawkinsthe3rd]

This is a Digimon Fanfiction I had based off a dream where Giancarlo Esposito was the villain. Please enjoy.

“Uh, hey, boss? I have some troubling newzzzz” the boss lowers his head, peering over his rimless glasses and gesturing for the digimon to continue, “One of the Digidestined has escaped her Hexalink…”

“Oh, Fanbeemon, I thought you said it was troubling news!” Giancarlo stood up from his desk and shuffled some papers with a wave of his hand.

“Is… izzzzn’t it?” The rotund little bee waddled forward and peered up at his partner’s gentle face, “the guardzz are mobilized and incentivized with some Honey to bring her back…”

“That’s all well and good, but you see…” the boss knelt down and rubbed the head of his fuzzy friend, “I’m not concerned with any breakouts. I already know which pod failed, and she’s been in here so long I doubt she’ll be any kind of threat to our operations. After all, she’s not a Digidestined anymore. Now she’s just a scared adult in an unfamiliar world. Nothing to worry about.” The boss stands and adjusts the lapels of his striped suit, “Could you ask Chiefbeemon to investigate what went wrong with her pod? While an escapee isn’t a big deal, I’m more concerned with why. Why now? Why her? My system is flawless, Fanbeemon. It must remain so.”

“Yes, sir. Right away sir. Pleazze remember you wanted to quash that rebellion at 1700 today, sir.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. Run along now.” Giancarlo returned to his chair, sitting and letting the smile fade from his face as he turned to the array of screens behind him. Sixty screens of status information, tuned to show the recurring nightmares each former Digidestined faced as the Hexalink siphoned off their power to fuel the Hive. Failure would not be permitted.

——————————————————————

As the rebel forces created the hill, they were shocked to see that their opposition consisted of just a single pair. One human, one Digimon. Their leader, Leomon, stepped forward and spoke with a gravel in his voice that would make roads jealous,

“I appreciate you making this easy for us. Today is the end of your reign, King Bee. For too long you have-“ The stoic digimon is cut off by the sound of gentle laughter,

“Please, that nickname is very silly. Just call me Giancarlo.”

“Very well. Giancarlo, you have kept us under the boot of oppression for too long. Today we shall take you down and bring your Hive crashing to the ground.” From the scabbard at his waist, Leomon drew a sword in reverse grip.

“Admirable conviction, mister Leomon. But there’s one thing you’ve forgotten to take into consideration. I’m not meeting you out here as a form of surrender. No, I’m here to show you that there’s a reason I’m on top. The gulf between you and I is so vast, you cannot even fathom it. I’ve stopped the cycle of Digidestined. There are no heroes coming to save this world. The only one who can do this…is me.”

With a flick of his wrist, Giancarlo produces a black and yellow digivice. With the press of a button, the screen came to life with the text, announced by a disembodied voice.

WARP DIGIVOLUTION.

At his side, Fanbeemon began to glow, rising up in the air as his stubby legs grew, lengthening into armored greaves. His arms extended and grasped a spear and shield forming from the glow around him as his chest and wings matched his new size. Finally, his head became encased in light, revealing an intimidating helmet.

The armored figure stood in Fanbeemon’s place, towering over Giancarlo and the rebel army. In one hand, a spear handle black, giving way to a yellow crossguard with red spikes, a blade of pure light extending from the center. In the other, a small buckler of black metal glowed and projected a pattern of hexagons before it.

“Vespamon, reporting for duty. What are your orders, sir?”

“Annihilate these fools, Vespamon. You have until 1730.”

[ragnarlothcat]

Writing Patterns (Tag Game)

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern!

Thanks for the tag, @tennessoui! This is going to bring me embarrassingly far back in time (I have not been posting at the same rate I once did!) but:

“I suppose it’s too much to hope you’ve learned anything from this experience.” (knows best)

Anakin likes to think he has many virtues. (civic duty)

Obi-Wan wakes up suddenly and incompletely, his dreams clinging to him like grasping tentacles ready to pull him back under. (Only Poetry or Madness)

There’s something wrong with Obi-Wan. (from a certain point of view)

“A good feeling about this season, I have.” (The Bottom of the Ninth - technically this fic starts with a quote, but Mickey Mantle wrote that so I'll stick with my dialogue)

When Anakin wakes up it’s to the taste of mud, the ache of recent exertion and the realization that he is not alone. (Guiding Light)

On balance, Anakin must admit that the breakout of the clone wars has been a bad thing. (I'd Do Anything for Love)

It’s a dark and oppressive Thursday afternoon when it all begins. (I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good))

“I must congratulate you, Anakin.” (praise you)

It’s with visions of sugar plums and mistletoe dancing through his mind that Obi-Wan finds himself in Cody’s visitor chair one sunny Tuesday morning. (Here Comes Santa Claus)

So I've led with dialogue at least three times, which is weird 🤔 I don't remember making the conscious decision to do so, I guess I just felt like skipping the preamble? I've also started with a character waking up twice which I know is illegal but sometimes (like in the amnesia fic) it makes sense!

Tagging @renlyslittlerose, @amadwinter, @palfriendpatine66, @artemisthehuntress, @intermundia (sorry if you've already been tagged!)

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS! Back at it again with the ask. More world building questions this time because they’ve been chewing on my brain for a bit here.

-

In this world where the Marines are hunting pirates more than ever, how many small-time or strong but still vulnerable pirates join up with emperors? I don't know if they were even emperors at the time of Roger's execution, or they were created as the smaller, more inexperienced wave of new pirates broke themselves on the end of Paradise. But how many do you think joined up for protection? Whitebeard would be popular, aside from his more laid-back nature, or maybe that comes later with more age. At least he won't take your life force as payment to be under him, and most have no chance of moving up ranks in Big Mom's crew unless you're married and/or family, so basically stuck being indentured servants whose payment is life energy. Or with Kaido, who, if you aren't strong enough, will, if you're lucky, laugh at you, then kill you, or if you're unlucky, torture you and then kill you. Either way, it's slim pickings, and a lot of would-be pirates or older crews who made a living on the down low or were building strength die or are captured and then die. The sea must be empty in this timeline. Maybe people banded together instead of going to any of the emperors; they lose some freedom, but it's better than being forcefully integrated into the other crews.

Not to mention, when the breakout happens, those lone traumatized pirates are going to book it to the Grand Line asap. The Four Blues are probably militarized hell zones, but on the Grand Line, there's some hope of freedom. And Whitebeard, greedy meddler that he is, will definitely Shanghai some of them in an attempt to bring them into the family, like he did with Ace. Unlike Ace, these people are ready and willing to die before being kidnapped again. So they'd either A. Kill themselves once they found out they couldn't leave. B. Kamikaze their way out, hoping to kill as many as they can before they die. Or C. Hunker down for an opening to mutiny. Getting together like-minded individuals who are dissatisfied with being held captive. (Could bring in black beard with this.)

In this AU where the world is cracking down on pirates, what's going to happen to the Warlord program? Is the World Government going to crack down on pirates full stop, or is the Warlord program going to change? Maybe the Marines make more deals with lower pirates to bring in other pirates in order to have some freedom or lesser sentences. I can see betrayal being a big issue in this world, and most free pirates would be incredibly untrustworthy. You don't know who will sell you out for a buck.

But if the Warlord system is still in place— Doflamingo, I could see taking advantage of the system again. Boa Hancock, I could also see; she's in it for her island and her people, and the prison work camp the government set up would hardly ruffle a feather. She already understands how the World Government works; she knows slavery is still alive and well, and it's only when it's shoved in people's faces that they give a shit. Kuma, from what we know of his background, probably doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. But Jinbei... I'm torn because, on one hand, he understands the horrors of the World Government being an oppressed minority; on the other hand, he's still trying to integrate fish-people into the wider world as a whole. So I see him being pissed about Loguetown, but probably not enough to quit. But definitely one of the straws that make him quit in the future.

Also, also, also, Arlong? I don't know if Jinbei could give Arlong the same protection he could give him in the same timeline. Maybe? I don't know.

Anyways what I’m getting at in a lot of herd mentality going on in this au a very us versus the them vibes not a lot of individualism and the chooses that can be made are between six wrong ones and six worse ones. No wonder and revolutionaries are so tempting in this au.

World building is my jam LET'S GOOOOOO! It roughly halves. Half of whatever is left of the pirates go into hiding and the other half finds whatever place they can with the Emperors (the title of Emperor only came into being after Roger's death, so in this AU, perhaps the marines derisively create the 'Emperor' title to single out the strongest pirates still free) and the small percentage that neither hide nor join up, would yeah, try to make their own bands or strike it out alone, and very few of these would make it. The ones that do get thinned out even further by those of them that join the revolutionaries. Whitebeard would get the most of them, Big Mom is the second choice for magnanimity, and Kadio is the last resort unless they're bloody desperate. (and they are) The sea is a ghost town for the two-three years the Loguetown pirates are in captivity, everyone is trying to simply stay alive and stay free, and the Emperors wouldn't engage the marines openly. So the Grand Line would be everyone's go-to place even before the breakout, the free pirates/Emperors would retreat back there as the marines overtook the Blues (militarized hellzones indeed). So when the breakout happens, all the Loguetown pirates run smack into everyone else on the Grand Line. Now, Whitebeard, seeing as how he's going to collect a fair majority of the free pirates, he'll be inspired to keep on collecting via all the fresh new blood. That feelings of the 'collected' pirates are mixed. So that will make some chaos for Whitebeard in the short run. Suicides/kamikazes/various attempts at mutiny, all yes. The plan was for Blackbeard to form a secret fledgling fleet out of people from the Loguetown breakout he lured in, so him swiping up Whitbeard's discontents fits right in. Which. Not good news at all. One thing that's going to happen after the Loguetown breakout is that Mihawk/Shanks are going to be aided by the revolutionaries, and then in the near future after that, Shanks is going to confirm the existence of the one piece and form the Red-Haired pirates. This, along with seeing Shanks free, serves to embolden every pirate out there and pull the ones in hiding back out into the seas, which kicks off the search for the one piece. So you'll get a lot of pirates beginning to form independent crews again/actually leaving the Emperors. And the seas start to slowly fill up again.

The Warlord program will stay around, although it gets pushed back into the shadows. The Warlords will be used mostly to go up against the Emperors and bring in free pirates, so the Marines don't have to risk their own forces. The marines do offer pirates the opportunity to sell each other out, and those that do mostly get grouped into troops to supplement the Warlords. So when you have faces you recognize hunting you down, maybe even your own defecting to the marines, there would be a lack of trust. Hm. Doflamingo is self-explanatory, so is Kuma, and Boa and Jinbei have something they need to protect enough to remain Warlords. The marines/world government would offer Jinbei lucrative privileges for the Fishmen, maybe even a full integration into society at large, so he feels utterly obliged to stay a Warlord. Up until Luffy appears. Under the concession Jinbei is being given, it's possible he'd be able to offer Arlong what he did in canon, maybe even moreso. Anyways what I’m getting at in a lot of herd mentality going on in this au a very us versus the them vibes not a lot of individualism and the chooses that can be made are between six wrong ones and six worse ones. No wonder and revolutionaries are so tempting in this au Yeah. Exactly so. Either you go to the only refuge out there, or you die. Not much else. So, when Shanks gets free, he begins the start of restoring that lost individualism. He brings in the one piece and the revolutionaries. He suddenly opens more choices. He brings something like hope. Which paves his way to becoming the influential Emperor he does become.

[pare1dolia]

[Flesh and Blood TCG] An Analysis of Maxx "The Hype" Nitro

(aka Blorbo Bleebus from my Card Game) (we're in for a long one boys)

Note that this is, primarily, going to be a story analysis rather than a mechanical one. As much as I love Maxx's mechanics, they're pretty straightforward in terms of the Mechanologist hero class. One of these days I'm gonna build him, I swear.

Part 1: The Background of Maxx Nitro

To begin, the guy's an orphan. He's taken into Rosario Orphanage, of which there are many in the city of Metrix, at the very young age of six years old. However, even at this very young age, Maxx shows an aptitude toward destruction. However, it's not just destruction that he's got an aptitude for; he's also exceedingly good at chemistry.

"While the other six-year-olds were making mud pies in that open sewer they called a playground, I was making potions in the janitor’s cupboard. Yeah, too young to be messing with chemical compounds, but I was never one to be age appropriate. Chucklate Bistink was my most successful concoction, especially when heated in the canteen oven. Cleared the whole place for days. Orphanage management had to put us up in a hotel while they deodorized the place."

This quote from the story System Failure gives a really good bit of insight on this. At the age of six, the age of a first-grader in our world, Maxx was capable of taking chemicals from the janitor's closet and making very, very potent stink bombs at the very least. But, there's something else that is brought to light, and that's how Maxx seems to describe Rosario.

Given his disdain for "the system" to begin with, there's some obvious bias in the language he uses to describe the orphanage. However, it doesn't seem entirely uncalled for, either. As discussed later, Rosario seems to be a privately-owned business, and their true nature is exposed later as a hub for experimentation.

"Turns out the Rosario Hills Institute runs most of the city’s orphanages. Not out of the goodness of their hearts. The orphanages are gathering grounds for their “subjects”. Special kids like me. Kids with unusual talents. At first, I thought it was a bit of a lark. My own room, good food, a decent bed, and attention from some very interested whitecoats. Then the tests started, the prodding and poking, the scans and samples. I soon discovered that special isn’t all it’s cracked up to be."

Maxx discovers this through personal experience, somewhere between the ages of eight and ten. This was after he taught himself how to hack into computers very adeptly at the age of seven. At this point, it's very obvious that while he's almost always had a want for dismantling defunct systems, there's a definite reason for it: Rosario Hills Institute input not only a fear of, but an anger toward systems that are supposedly there to help.

That doesn't mean he's completely unsympathetic to people, though. As the story of System Failure progresses, in Maxx's breakout of the local prison, he shows more concern to "humaniforms" (read: non-robotic lifeforms) than he does to robots. This extends even further to calling emergency services for any humaniforms that were injured within the initial breakout.

This leads to our next part.

Part 2: The Philosophy and Paranoia of Maxx Nitro

Synthetic Futures takes place before the prison breakout of System Failure. In the opening scene, Dash and Maxx are having a discussion on how best to overhaul the systems that dictate life in Metrix. This is already a fascinating scene to me, because typically individuals like Maxx aren't given the time of day in fiction of this kind.

Dash asks if Maxx wants to overthrow the healthcare system, the public transit system, even the sewer system. Maxx responds with a no to all of these, and eventually follows it up with:

“The oppressive systems, Dash! You know, the ones that exploit us, grind us down. Like the enforcers.”

Which leads to this next part:

The mere mention of the e-word makes the anarchists twitchy. Particularly Maxx. He leans forwards, changes to a harsh whisper, like that’ll fool any half-decent surveillance device. “They’ve been tracking us all for weeks now.”

And this illustration of Maxx, which accompanies the passage:

Notice how bloodshot his organic eye is. The scraggly lines for stubble across his jawline, or even the way his hair isn't quite fauxhawk, but rather just a mess of uneven bits. While this could have just been a purposeful way to make him seem "crazy," given the background as discussed in Part 1, there are a few assumptions and headcanons that can be made here.

First off: Maxx's philosophy is to help humanity while breaking down the forces considered oppressive, such as the police unit known as enforcers. This also includes megacorporations such as Cogwerx and Teklovossen, and by extension, more than likely the Rosario Hills Institute. Privatized systems that say they want to help, but also cause intense problems for anyone involved.

Second off: He's intensely paranoid. It's likely he's been losing sleep over the possibility of surveillance, and he really has no way of knowing how to mitigate that. Again, given his background, it's almost to be expected; he's been poked and prodded enough. Never again.

Part 3: Conclusion

So what does all of this leave us with?

Maxx Nitro was a victim of a system that not only failed him, but also the people he grew attached to during very traumatic experiences. This led him to want to destroy these sorts of systems, which exploit vulnerable people to create something profitable. (Sounds familiar.)

This led him, in his adult life, to be intensely paranoid because of the desire to break these systems and start anew. That being said, he doesn't actually seem to want to hurt anyone. Nobody organic, at least.

Does that mean what he's doing wouldn't have consequences? Of course it would. He's kind of a morally grey character, but in my opinion, he's on the lighter side of grey than others in the Flesh and Blood roster.

I dunno. I just think he's neat.

[soapkaars]

I'm searching a few ideas to characterize a Dutchman who migrated to the United States in 1933 and accidentally found a job in Hollywood (the current year being 1941 - this man just had his breakout role). He has a story pretty similar to Lorre's and his persona is largely inspired by his role in "The Mask of Dimitrios". Do you have, by chance, any interesting suggestion?

Sorry I made you wait! Ooh this is a tough one. So you're talking about a professor van Leyden type?

It really depends on what exactly you're looking for or what you want to tell. If you're looking for a reason a Dutch person may find themselves in the US, it might be for a number of reasons - from the more familiar (star-struck, wanting to make it big in pictures) to the mundane (set up a farm in Iowa, immigrating to avoid tax collection and/or debts) to the spicy (political dissident - anticolonialist fighting against Dutch occupation of Indonesia).

If you're looking for a 'typical' background of a Dutch person similar to Lorre's character for Van Leyden, there's a lot you can do. Cornelis*/Cornelius may live in Amsterdam, but wouldn't come from there originally, as many Dutch people tend to move from the countryside to the city (literally, from the East of the country to the West of the country, which is where the more urban areas are) to develop themselves, look for more intellectual pursuits and/or opportunities, etc. My personal headcanon for van Leyden has always been that he was born somewhere near Amersfoort from German-Jewish immigrant parents and he moved to the slightly more tolerant city of Amsterdam to escape the oppressive black stocking-wearing Calvinist communities back home.

If you want to know the broad strokes of what defines a Dutch person and makes them different from an Englishman or a German person, a rough stereotype you could use to build off on or contrast your character to: We're a tiny country not just in how much physical square meters we have (three hours travel is long for a Dutch person!) but also in attitudes. I say this as a Dutchman myself: there's a very provincial/country bumpkin way of being that gives a lot of Dutch people a weird naiveté and bluntness compared to their European counterparts. There's the classic 'you don't get to be the boss of me!' that you find a lot with Dutch people - it's not that we're so anti-authoritarian (we do still have a monarchy, for example) but there's a huge distaste for formal and external displays of status in favour for more subtle displays. Also Dutch people are like German people in the sense that we're very protocol driven and we want to do everything 'by the book' - there's a strong sense of 'we all agreed to do it this way, so there's no use in doing it differently' and a lot of Dutch people I know can genuinely get very upset when other people don't do it in the specific way they think is 'correct'.

A person like Cornelius van Leyden probably would be a bit of an odd duck in Dutch society. Which is why he's living in Amsterdam! That city used to be (and still is, in my opinion, but way too expensive now) one of the few cities where there was a more lax way of being in comparison to the rest of the country. A lot of Dutch stereotypes non-Dutch people have come from there! In comparison to Amsterdam the rest of the country is much more strict and less open (with the exception of The Hague, but I come from there so I'm biased). We have a sort of division of the country where there's the 'randstad' (Edge City - Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht - a very urbanised area where most of the wealth and finances used to be historically, and where more open attitudes used to flourish) and everywhere else (generally referred to as 'The East', 'the provinces', or 'the countryside' - all of which aren't very accurate names, but most Dutch people will know that you're referring to anyone who isn't from the Randstad)

Anyways, let me know if you were looking for something specific, and if this ramble was useful to you in any way!

*I always tend to 'correct' Cornelius' name to the more common 'Cornelis'! Also I used to know a guy called Cornelis and he hated it when we called him 'Corny'

[monsterkissed]

it is amazing to look back on how much utter bullshit and how many garbage ideologies just proliferated wildly during ace discourse and how many of them have stuck around and how many of them people have noticed are worrying but can’t track back to when they broke into particular circles. “saying minors can be asexual implies Normal minors have sexual feelings and only a sex pest would do that” survived in its curtailed form, but even tho i see a lot more pushback on “queer is a terrible awful slur nobody should use” i don’t see as much acknowledgement of that being one of its big recent breakout moments. the moment it was posited that asexuals could be Included In The Acronym under that ever-problematic Q people lost their entire shit about the word.

“but tumblr user monsterkissed that’s not right, the queer-slur thing is actually the pet rhetoric of the movement commonly known by a T an E an R and an F!” yes i am aware, guess which side of the whole asexual debate they overwhelmingly favoured? they were up to their ears in it, the exclu motto might as well have been “please tell me if i reblog anything from a t*** uwu it keeps happening for some reason.” this was incredibly common knowledge at the time, though if you pointed it out people would quickly inform you that it this was “grouping oppressed people in with their oppressors” which was a very bad thing to comment on, but apparently a perfectly fine thing for said oppressed people to actually do

i will say tho, i haven’t seen “the word ‘gatekeeping’ belongs exclusively to trans people and anyone else using it for anything else is literally cultural appropriation” which is probably a good sign but does make me a little sad because it was by a long way the only funny take to come out of the whole thing

[the-great-lightwood-bane]

bludgeonings of chance

Chapter 1 of 2 (Chapter 2)

Malec | Rated general | tw canon-typical and hunger-games-typical violence

Day 14: Failed escape | “I’ll be right behind you.”

Summary: “Your precious rebellion won’t last long when it sees its two best leaders trying to kill each other in the Games.”

aka my Hunger-Games-inspired AU, ft. Malec being in love, lots of angst, and a mandatory happy ending.

A/N: omg guys I'm posting today's fic ON TIME FOR ONCE—

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

The City of Glass, the First City, the Nephilim’s precious Alicante, shone bright in the afternoon sunlight. 

Standing on a hill beside the city, though, Magnus’ eyes didn’t linger on the glass towers or graceful buildings, so different from Idris’ five other cities. Instead, he focused on the barred entrance to Alicante’s dungeons. 

Alec came up beside him as he stood there, and came to a stop at his side. “Seen anything?”

“The guards rotate every four hours,” Magnus told him. “Two at this entrance, probably two at each corner. The prisoners for the Games are on the other side of the prisons, pretty heavily guarded; our first priority will have to be the ordinary prisoners.”

“As we suspected,” Alec said with a small sigh. Magnus knew he wanted to free everyone, but that wasn’t always practical. “We’ll have to see how it’s going once we’re in.” 

Magnus nodded. “Tonight.”

~

Magnus and Alec’s temporary camp, just beyond the peak of the hill so that they were out of sight of the city, was quiet that evening. 

Breaking out the fifty or so prisoners in the First City’s dungeons was dangerous, but necessary. Nearly all of those fifty were, like Magnus and Alec, members of the Seventh City — the secret resistance movement which aimed to overthrow Alicante. Unless the prisoners were freed, the Seventh City would lose a fair portion of its people and its secrets might be endangered, which was an unacceptable risk for an organisation that worked on a need-to-know basis. 

But thanks to Alicante’s security measures, such a breakout would be dangerous for the breakers-out. In fact, Magnus and Alec had realised that it would be nearly impossible for any team they could put together to get in, overpower every guard they encountered, and get out safely with all the prisoners — the disturbance would bring every soldier in Alicante down upon their heads. The only way was if the team sent in was small enough to go unnoticed until the prisoners were out of their cells, and still capable of keeping the guards away until the prisoners were out of the prison entirely. A large group would set off alarms and be trapped before they could escape; a small group would be unable to defend the prisoners on the way out. 

Unless the small group was particularly powerful, which was why Magnus and Alec had decided to come on the mission. Not only was Magnus the most powerful warlock in the Seventh City, but he and Alec fought together with terrifying ease — they clicked in battle as they did in everything else, and they were far stronger together than they were apart. The two of them were the prisoners’ best shot. 

Izzy, Jace, Cat, Raphael, and Ragnor had all protested, but Alec led the Nephilim contingent of the Seventh City and Magnus not only led the warlocks, but was respected by all the Downworlders. Their family and friends couldn’t stop them from doing what was necessary. 

Still, the fact remained that Magnus and Alec might not make it back, and they didn’t talk much throughout the afternoon and evening. 

When night fell, Alec pulled Magnus into a kiss, and they headed off towards Alicante.  

~

The dungeons were divided into seven sections — one for the prisoners for the Games, and then one for each of Idris’ six cities. Like the cities, the Nephilim segment of the prisons was nicer and less oppressive than the others. The segment for faeries was full of iron; silver glinted on the werewolves’ section; religious symbols decorated the vampires’; the warlock segment had magic-suppressing cuffs hanging from the walls. The segment for mundanes was plainer and less well guarded, but dark and crowded; mundanes were after all the most numerous group, and Alicante filled its prisons with all the city’s Sighted mundanes. 

Magnus was only half-focused on his surroundings, the other half maintaining the complex spell required to hide their presence — not just from sight and sound, but also magically, since alarms would go off if the sensors detected warlock magic here. The spell was near-impossible without centuries of practice; Magnus was the only one in the Seventh City capable of holding it for long. 

Alec was keeping a lookout for him, and had guided them along the route they’d planned out to avoid guards. Now, though, they were directly in front of the cells where the prisoners were kept, which meant that the most dangerous part of the operation was about to begin. 

At the same time as Magnus dropped the concealment spell, Alec sent arrows into the guards standing nearest to them, then took their steles and traced the rune to unlock every cell in each of the segments. Alarms blared, washing the halls in flashing red lights; the noise level of the prisoners abruptly increased. “Follow us,” Magnus called out, amplifying his voice so that it could be clearly heard above the hubbub. 

The chase began. 

Guards poured in in spurts from other hallways, and Magnus killed them as they came with controlled bursts of magic; Alec took out those he missed with arrows, unerringly accurate as always. The crowd of prisoners had to be shepherded along, and several were weak and stumbling, but so far, they were managing to keep the guards away. 

Still, the stream of guards was increasing, and Magnus exchanged a glance with Alec. They were only halfway out; the prisoners needed more time. Magnus knew he could give it to them; Alec knew what he planned, and clearly hated it. 

“Go on,” Magnus said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“You better be,” Alec told him, and then he was off, chivvying the prisoners along while Magnus stayed behind in the midst of a growing crowd of guards. 

Magnus waited one moment — another — until Alec was out of sight, and then he thrust out his hands. Magic leapt to his command, free to kill with all the viciousness he had to restrain around his allies, and the guards dropped like flies. 

More came around corners and approached, but warily; his outburst of magic had frightened them. It’d also bring all the guards towards Magnus, which had been the intention — more guards attacking Magnus meant fewer guards attacking Alec and the prisoners. Hopefully, he could delay them long enough for the prisoners to get free — and hopefully he’d be able to follow Alec out, afterwards. 

The next wave of guards was too many for him to kill easily, though, which meant he needed to move. There were two options: the hallway to the left, leading to the exit, leading to Alec; and a hallway on the right, leading deeper into the dungeons. 

If Magnus followed Alec, then the guards would follow too, and they might catch up with the prisoners before they escaped. If Magnus took the other hallway, there was every chance he wouldn’t find an exit in time — it was Alec who knew this place, not Magnus. 

Desperate times, desperate measures. 

I’m sorry, Alexander, Magnus thought, and turned right. 

~

The guards followed. 

Magnus killed them with blasts of magic, but his power was finite, especially amidst all the adamas that coated Alicante, and the guards seemed infinite. No matter; they were after him, not Alec and the prisoners, and that was the most important thing. 

He didn’t know if Alec had escaped yet, if they’d made it out; he hoped Alec wouldn’t risk himself trying to wait for Magnus. All he could do was fight on, taking turn after turn at random, killing all the guards he could. Eventually, he’d be overwhelmed, but until then, he would destroy as many of them as possible. 

Then, Magnus saw something that made him stop short: a red-fletched arrow protruding from one of the guards’ necks. 

The guard fell, and Magnus saw Alec, bow raised another arrow already flying through the air. He sent a blast of magic at the guards approaching from behind Alec, then turned and knocked back the guards following him, which gave him time to run up to Alec. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Alec said, perfectly calm, and sent another volley of arrows over Magnus’ shoulder. Magnus launched back into the battle, magic twisting around Alec’s weapons like two sides of a coin. They always did fight better together. 

“You are ridiculous,” Magnus told Alec, ducking so that Alec could fire an arrow through the space where he’d been a moment earlier. 

“You said you’d follow me,” Alec returned with a huff. “You weren’t showing up, so I got the prisoners free and sent them off before coming back for you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Magnus said. “There are too many of them.”

Alec didn’t reply because another wave of guards descended upon them, but Magnus saw his lips compress — he couldn’t deny the truth of that. 

~

Alicante’s many clock towers were tolling midnight when Magnus and Alec were dragged, bloody and chained and beaten, into Consul Dieudonné’s office. 

Inquisitor Valentine Morgenstern was there, too, which only made sense — everyone knew he held the real power here. Dieudonné sat in silence while Morgenstern stalked forward. 

“Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane,” he said coldly. “I’d say I’m impressed, but you’ve lost now, so I don’t think I will.”

Magnus grinned despite the blood in his mouth. “We killed a good many of your guards, Morgenstern. Don’t sound too superior.”

Valentine’s backhand caught him full on the face, and Alec hissed his fury as Magnus’ head snapped sideways. The blow stung, but Magnus ignored it and smiled insolently at the Inquisitor. 

“You have, however, undermined our authority,” Morgenstern went on. “And that must be repaired — preferably in the upcoming Brocelind Games.” He paused, a small smirk ticking up the corner of his mouth. “I think it’ll do you two good to play this year. We’ve never had a Nephilim in the arena before, but this one’s been so corrupted by bedding a Downworlder that he barely counts.” The smirk widened into something dark and gleeful. “Your precious rebellion won’t last long when it sees its two best leaders trying to kill each other in the Games.”

~

Of all the First City’s methods of suppressing the other five, the Brocelind Games were the cruelest. 

The rules were few. Twenty prisoners from Alicante’s dungeons were thrown into an arena together. The last one left alive would receive an official pardon from the Consul himself. 

It was broadcast to every city except the Mortal City, where mundanes were left in the dark about the existence of the other races. In Alicante, the Games were watched with avid interest; the entire population did almost nothing except place bets on winners for the duration of the Games. 

For equality’s sake, the numbers of prisoners from each city were different. Magnus could remember when there’d been two from each, but the warlocks kept teaming up and killing everyone else, then killing each other, which was apparently too anticlimatic for watchers (and caused difficulties with the bets). So now there was only one warlock, representing the City of Lilith; two faeries, from the City of the Fair; three vampires for the City of Night; four werewolves from the City of the Moon; and ten mundanes from the Mortal City. 

And, this year, there would be a twenty-first competitor: a Shadowhunter. 

Magnus didn’t know who the other competitors would be, but there would likely be at least one from the Seventh City. He’d have to kill people he knew, people who’d followed him as a leader of the Seventh City. 

Worse, he would be pitted against Alec. 

That was why Valentine had put them both in the Games; that was why he’d changed the rules to admit a Shadowhunter. He wanted the world to see the Seventh City’s best hopes fighting to the death in the arena — to watch their last hopes be extinguished. 

Valentine knew what they were to each other — everyone had heard of Alec Lightwood, son of Valentine’s closest followers, who’d betrayed them all for a Downworlder he’d fallen in love with. When Alec had chosen Magnus, it had made Magnus hope for the first time in far too long; it had made the downtrodden of this world hope again, and the Seventh City had grown dramatically in the following years from both Shadowhunter and Downworlder recruits. If they killed each other in the arena, that hope would die out like a candle flame in the wind. 

The Seventh City could survive Magnus’ death; he didn’t know if it could survive Alec’s. Magnus wouldn’t survive Alec’s death, either. 

He’d kill himself first, if that was what it took to get Alec pardoned.

[luuurien]

RAYE - My 21st Century Blues

(Pop Rap, Contemporary R&B, Pop Soul)

Now an independent artist and in full control of her artistry, RAYE’s ambitious debut album is a messy but lovable collection of introspective pop songs where her many different goals coalesce into a larger whole that doesn’t quite ever make it clear what she wants to do. By trying to do a little bit of everything, My 21st Century Blues struggles to say much at all.

☆☆☆

Rachel Keen has done lots in her years as a musician, yet it’s not until now that she has been able to release her debut. Signed to Polydor at 17, they put strict limitations on what she could do with her career and refused to let her release her first album, trapping her in the world of singles and EP’s that stifled her artistry and made it impossible for her to gain enough traction to meet their qualifications at all. Now, after parting ways in 2021, she has the independence and power to release her debut album My 21st Century Blues, recounting everything she couldn’t say in her time with Polydor and what the future of her music as RAYE might look like. In concept, it’s a massively empowering and artistically exhilarating moment for Keen, her refusal to distort her vision for the industry leading her to absolute freedom and the ability to do whatever she likes in every part of her music and say whatever she’d like. In its full 47 minutes, though, My 21st Century Blues has trouble saying anything specific, Keen jumping from statements on her time under an oppressive label to personal struggles and her encounters with abuse to sweet love songs with abandon, touching upon many topics but never finding a throughline to connect them all. In turn, the album can be a bit of a drag to sit through even if its songs tend to be well put together and enjoyable to listen to, My 21st Century Blues presenting itself more like a collage of how Keen bounces between genres and ideas than anything else and losing out on the full emotional punch of many ideas when one is so isolated from the next (on occasion, the songs themselves are just kind of bad overall). It’s not a bad debut for Keen by any means, but she makes it hard to figure out exactly what she wants to achieve as RAYE in the future. In its strongest moments, Keen melds her detailed and passionate songwriting with production weighty and detailed enough to match it. Largely produced by Keen herself and pop heavyweight Mike Sabath, Keen takes advantage of his boisterous and dramatic style without succumbing to the pitfalls of the one-dimensional radio pop he’s previously had a hand in (you can find him on tracks like Meghan Trainor’s Wave and Shawn Mendes’ It’ll Be Okay). Keen’s often conversational vocal delivery in her songs lends itself to these thick, blurry blocks of instrumentation, the Ibiza house of Black Mascara darkened by a tense rap verse that directly confronts a man who’d spiked a drink in the past that brings depth and greater weight to the oppressive vocal layers and thumping four-on-the-floor, while breakout single Escapism indulges in whining G-funk synths and a fantastically heavy drum groove perfectly fit for the seductive and venomous bender she goes on after a breakup and the regrets that come the morning after, Keen’s range as a performer broader than most and allowing her to bounce around different genres without sacrificing her personality or storytelling in the process. Her writing can, at times, feel like it’s a hammer stamping every emotion straight down onto a song even when the production and her vocals imply subtlety and detail - I’m thinking particularly of Body Dysmorphia and how it discusses eating disorders so plainly even when the drowsy beat pines for something less linear and the self-described “...love song to {her} addiction” Mary Jane where Sabath’s minimalist production causes lines like “You're a stone cold bitch in the morning, aren't you?” or “And I bought three bottles 'cause I tend to drink you dry” to lose any impact when Keen’s singing them so straight - but overall the two of them find a strong balance between mainstream-friendly pop songcraft and the sinister energy Keen’s looking to unleash after years of being locked under a label. When she lightens up the production with pop soul numbers like The Thrill Is Gone and Worth It, it undeniably feels like a comfort zone and lacks much of the scene-setting the rest of My 21st Century Blues thrives on, but she makes great use of these smoother soul numbers to provide breathing room in the tracklist and show off her powerhouse vocals (especially in the finals chorus of Worth It). The unevenness in style and tone throughout My 21st Century Blues affects the album as a whole, but on a track-by-track basis and looking at Keen’s raw talent as a producer and vocalist, there’s lots to love about everything she brings to the table here. But this is still a 47 minute listen in full, and with that Keen’s broad stylistic strokes and scattered pacing throughout the album causes it to drag in ways that feel strange when much of the album is always steadfastly moving forward. There’s a disconnect in feel from track to track when it seems like each song doesn’t have much of a connection to the next, most notably in the core of the album where dark ballad Ice Cream Man is situated between the woozy pop soul of The Thrill Is Gone and spiky rap cut Flip a Switch, Ice Cream Man stuffed between two tracks with no relation to it and causing so much of its emotional weight to be smothered as a result, Keen giving you no time to process the story of abuse and reclaiming her power in one of the album’s most vital moments. Keen has referred to the album during interviews as “songs I’ve had for years but was never encouraged to share,” and though hearing so many sides of Keen at once is often beautiful, it turns the album more into a collage than a singular listen, fit for you to pick some favorites from rather than sit with from front to back when no one feeling is able to be engaged with for longer than three or four minutes at a time. These songs all feel particularly charged in their individual lanes - drama laden R&B, swooning pop, infectious UK rap - but My 21st Century Blues never finds a way to unite all these ideas under one goal, and when the topic matter and mood of these songs shifts so wildly, it’s difficult to gain much of an emotional connection to the album as a whole. For what it lacks in clarity and meticulousness, My 21st Century Blues brings vibrance out of every side of Keen’s artistry, showing off not only how comfortable she is in trying new things but how she can modulate between styles and keep the foundations of her music intact. She’s refused to let the industry mold her, and part of the joy of this album is hearing Keen prove to both herself and the label she left how invaluable her talents are and how much she can do when given the opportunity. She’s inventive in her approach to modern pop and R&B blends and how she can fuse those ideals into whatever she likes, be it brooding house-pop or a gospel finale about shaking ass, My 21st Century Blues encapsulating a little bit of everything that makes RAYE - that alone makes it more than worth a bit of your time.

[sleepymarmot]

Beau Willimon, writer: Tony leads the charge and ultimately does a pass and polish on everything, so I can’t take full credit for [Kino Loy], but here’s some insight into how he came about: [Cassian’s] goal was to just disappear with money in his pocket. What the prison forces him to do is confront the oppression of the Empire in a completely unavoidable and seemingly inescapable way, and it’s going to maybe change his feelings about where his place in the Empire is and taking action. At first, this is just a guy who wants to get out of prison, you know, it’s not necessarily ideologically, he just wants freedom. And we needed someone to represent complicity within the prison that would, on a very functional level, be almost like a tour guide. You need to have some authority figure.

But isn’t it interesting if that authority figure is one of your fellow inmates, and he’s complicit in what the Empire is doing? And he has a journey of his own, where he goes from that complicity in that delusion of hope toward freedom at the hands of the Empire to essentially becoming a rebel, right over the course of three episodes. That’s part and parcel for what Andor’s journey will be during the course of this entire series. And it flips the tables where Andor becomes [Stellan Skarsgård’s] Luthen. He’s the one recruiting this guy.

So that character is starting to develop as having a real depth and a real arc. And it made sense by the end of it, that the guy who had been a leader on the floor of his factory room should also be the leader of the breakout. Andor is smart enough to realize that this is a guy who always has authority and that people will trust and, and so rather than getting on the PA, he recognizes, if we really want to succeed, it’s got to be Kino. And that, you know, that’s really fun, because you get to create a starring role for this guest on the show and give that moment to him. And of course, Andy Serkis knocked it out of the ballpark.

— The oral history of Andor’s prison, one of Star Wars’ most frightening creations

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 1/4

Thank you all for an incredible 2022! We hope you had amazing holidays, and we can’t wait to spend 2023 with you!

Children Of The Black Sun #1 -  Dario Sicchio & Letizia Cadonici

"It is not difficult to be happy under a blue sky. But it takes a lot of courage to be strong even under a black sun."

Over the years, a black sun has risen twice. A dark dawn whose rays have done terrible things to people's minds, driving them to all sorts of horror. Twelve years have passed since the last time and the world still fears the return of that inexplicable phenomenon. But fear is not the only legacy of those terrible days. All the women who got pregnant under the influence of the black sun have given birth to babies with some... peculiarities. White hair, ashy skin, abnormal proportions, and eyes as red as fire: the Children of the Black Sun. Brightvale is a small town like many others. 

Here the Children of the Black Sun are treated with particular contempt, especially in the days leading up to the anniversary of the two disasters. The hatred of their fellow villagers, terrified of a possible return of that horror, will push these kids to unite and embark on a hallucinatory journey to discover themselves and their true nature. But is the black sun really about to return?

Gangster Ass Barista #1 -  Pat Shand, Renzo Rodriguez, Conor Hughes, & Fin Cramb

Trinity used to live a life of crime, but now she has left behind her old life and works at a coffee shop. Unfortunately, making ends meet isn't easy to do with a minimum wage job. Not to mention the fact that customers are beginning to get on Trinity's nerves, and it's getting harder and harder to not let her old tendencies take control.

When Trinity's past comes calling, it's like the famous quote: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"  

I’m Kinda Chubby And I’m Your Hero GN Vol 1 -  Nore

Honjiro is a rookie actor trying his best to land a breakout role, but he fears that his weight stands in the way of his dreams. One day, he's surprised by fan mail full of sweets. The package came from Konnosuke, a local pastry chef-Honjiro's first major fan! As Konnosuke supports Honjiro's work and gives him new confidence to face the stage, will their relationship grow beyond just aspiring star and fanboy?

Mosely #1 (of 5) - Rob Guillory & Sam Lotfi

In the hyper-technological world of the later 21st century, Mosely is a bitter old janitor on a mission from a higher power-to unleash holy Hell upon the "too big to fail" Tech Gods. Can one man bring down the corporate powers who've used their vast influence to oppress an all too complacent human race (and hopefully win back the favor of his estranged family while he's at it)? Mosely's taking up the Holy Hammer and you better believe he's gonna smash some $h!t until he sets mankind free!

Potions Inc TP Vol 1 - Erik Burnham, Stelladia & Natasha Alterici

The call of adventure always seems to hang up whenever Randelgast Jones tries to answer it, leaving him facing the dull future of working in his family's successful potion shop. But when a powerful artifact is stolen from his parents and puts them under a terrible curse, Ran finally gets the quest he's been after his whole life. He and his siblings set off to find the missing artifact - and its trail leads them from their homeland of Primaterra to the very strange realm of... Seattle, Washington. 1992.

Spy Superb #1 (of 3) - Matt Kindt

It's John Wick meets Wes Anderson in this mystery-thriller about a secret organization that's developed the perfect spy. Who is the perfect spy? A spy who doesn't even realize they are a spy. AKA the "useful idiot." This particular useful idiot is named Jay. Jay is sent on missions without even realizing he's on a mission. Until he picks up the wrong phone with the wrong secret intel and now Russian hit-squads and elite assassins are after him. But Jay believes he was a sleeper agent-and really is the "spy superb". His complete obliviousness and lack of survival skills may be the only thing that saves him in this globe-trotting espionage tale . . . where nothing is what it seems . . . but also . . . kind of actually is what it seems.

Trojan #1 (of 4) - Daniel Kraus, Marco Lesko, Laci & Jeff Dekal

Once upon a time, we lived alongside Legends. Creatures of myth. Centaurs, fauns, gorgons, kelpies, gnomes, and more. They were spectacular. Majestic. Powerful. Peaceful. Pure. In comparison, we were ugly. Weak. Warmongering. Rotten. Is it any wonder we could not live alongside them any longer? After driving these Legends to the fringes of society, an uglier form of mythos takes shape in the form of rumors of live snuff shows for dark web high rollers. When a mysterious young woman, Nessa, enlists the help of a hacker to take a tour of the grisliest corners of the Dark Web, she sets in motion a war between those who peddle to mankind's darkest fantasies and a world that transcends imagination. Trojan is fantasy thriller full of wonder and horror in equal measure.

The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse TP -  Cavan Scott & Andres Ponce 

St. Lilith's is a secret hospital for supernatural creatures. The personnel are overworked, the facility is underfunded, and all operations must be kept hidden from the public. A place, and a life, Dr. Nat Reeves thought she left behind. Until a wounded woman (with a tail) appears on her doorstep.

Whatcha scooping up this week to start the new year right, Fantom Fam?

[kramlabs]

What is the greatest fear for the controlling archons of our world?

The answer is: the plebs discovering how flimsy the substrata of their control, the machinery of it all, really is. The elites have worked tirelessly to establish the illusion of a grand, impermeable monolith—that irreducibly oppressive panopticon of unspoken ‘rules’ and social limits, Overton windows, and statutory ley lines known only to them and meant to deliberately obfuscate us—a towering obelisk emblemizing the totality of their control. They do this through fear, social programming, and mass media hypnosis triggering traumas on our grasping minds wired through perpetual distress and wrapped in agonizing tension. They erect labyrinths of legal codices to browbeat us into submission with the inexhaustible weight of their esoteric jurisprudence. All meant to convey a sense of crushing weight, to endow us with a futility of purpose in the face of such colossal structures; the System, the Order, their interlacing web of socio-political-economic supremacy.

But it is their ultimate parlor trick, the impregnable carapace concealing the soft flesh of the beady-eyed crab enfolded in the darkness within, terrified that its shell may be getting brittle by the years-long flay of salted winds. The concept thereof is of the most esoterically unspoken in our daily life, but not by virtue of iron-clad restrictions or guardrails, per se, but rather due to its patent incommensurability; in other words, few know how to semantically even define, describe, or discuss this ‘veil of the unseen’ beneath which our society bustles like a flock of stochastic pigeons.

Because of this impenetrability, we remain blind to the controlling threads of our world, which furl into the darkness above our heads. There are few people with the intellectual virility and analytical incisiveness to discuss this matter in any genuinely revelatory way, as opposed to playing at sophistry and subversion like a double agent.

One of the few with the moral-psychological heft that I’ve seen enlarge on this topic is Eric Weinstein of the ‘intellectual dark web’ fame, just days ago on the Chris Williamson podcast. Those wanting a rare glimpse behind the curtain should hearken to the segment below, which I’ve cut for length:

What he ominously alludes to is a series of secret foundational agreements undergirding our world, whose gossamer fragility belies their expansiveness such that they require an iron-clad enforcement mechanism to prevent any presumptuous young parvenus from wittingly or unwittingly resetting them. In this case, as Eric points out, that upstart happens to be Trump. What he inadvertently reveals extends much deeper than that, and lifts the veil on the centuries’ old esoteric hierarchy over our lives.

There are a series of old agreements, he intimates, which in some cases can be reduced to mere ‘handshakes’ between no-longer-extant parties, that underpin the stability of world markets and act as levees against the breakout of global war—or so goes the framing. Many of these explicit and implicit compacts were made in the post-war era and can only endure if they are not repeatedly challenged by some upstart with ‘fresh ideas’ every four years. You see, the caprice of the masses cannot be allowed to put at risk the foundational structures of society; as such their upkeep requires a kind of ‘silent authority’ to maintain the world’s institutional stability in order to ‘keep us all safe’.

But therein lies the crux of this invisible tyranny: it is reconciled with the characterization of being some great Katechonic force, keeping the ever-leering collapse of civilization at bay for our sakes. Closer examination, however, reveals it to be nothing more than the Great Lie of the generational elite for the continuity of their power.

A real-world example of this is given in an excellent article by the ever-insightful Alex Krainer:

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