#What is Quick Commerce

[icemunmun-spicy-scalpel]

From The Vault

Thinking of adding some more delivery boxes to my Fresh Forward Delivery Mod!

The mod has about 74 boxes at present but its been almost 2 years (?) since I made this and its time to make more types of boxes!

Fresh forward service - place your order and a freshly prepared box will be delivered the next day!

Ready Forward service - Box of the Day will be delivered within the hour. Quick Commerce! Choice is random and you will have to be satisfied with whatever is trending/in stock for that day

Wonder what I can add to this 🤔

Link to the mod

[keferon]

Odds of Survival Part 3

Unstoppable forces meets immovable objects.

Or Prowl finds new reasons to be concerned.

———————————————————————

While Prowl had destroyed the bombers attacking their end of the bridge, the other side had no such saving grace.

The opposite end of the sky bridge had broken off from the Commerce Tower and was now swinging downwards, creating a miles long ramp to obliteration.

There was a 4% chance Prowl could technically survive the impact. However he’d almost certainly be reduced to a sputtering spark trapped in a compacted pile of scrap that had once been his frame. Without instantaneous medical intervention, he would most certainly perish even in the event of the 4% survival chance occurring.

4% halved to 2% when Tacnet registered Jazz magnetizing his hands to Prowls frame.

Tacnet spun wildly and without traction. Whatever actions Prowl could have taken to mitigate the incoming damage was removed by Jazz’s inescapable hold. Every possible strategy terminated instantly in a flurry of error messages as Tacnet tried to factor for the impossible.

Physically, Prowls servos moved on their own, driven by some core deep coding for self preservation that had him frantically clawing at Jazz’s back for either a hand hold or escape as Tacnet spat out a single coherent plan:

(Brace For Impact)

The Praxian briefly wondered if he’d crash before they crashed.

The mechs jolted as Jazz made contact with the bridge turned ramp. A fountain of sparks spraying from his pedes as Jazz hit the bridge upright and began skating down the buckling surface.

Jazz wasn’t just passively sliding along either. Prowl felt powerful legs tense and thrusters make quick adjustments to narrowly avoid lethal splinters of braking pipes and metal sheets.

Odds of Survival 5%

Odds of Survival 6%

Prowl watched the impossible as Tacnet slowly ticked upwards. Through some stroke of insanity, Jazz was controlling their descent. Analyzing the white mechs motions, Prowl concluded they were practiced. Unbelievably, Jazz somehow had previous experience with similar circumstances.

On what Fragging planet does somebody regularly go careening down incredibly steep slopes at high speeds with only their own athleticism to keep them alive?!

Skill alone wasn’t enough however, because Jazz was slowly loosing control. As the sky bridge swung inexorably downwards, their ramp was steadily becoming steeper. Prowl could feel one of Jazz’s legs beginning to involuntarily shudder under the continued strain. The obstacles kept coming faster and faster, the visored mech barely keeping pace.

If he dropped me, Jazz has a 23% chance at saving himself.

Prowl caught sight of a chunk of bridge breaking outwards that spanned the total width of it. No getting around it. The jagged edge lifted just high enough to bisect him just below the wings. Prowl turned away.

Jazz leapt.

The deafening vibrations of metal on metal grinding suddenly stopped. An instrumental segment filled the gap.

Gravity ended their short reprieve.

This time when they collided with bridge, Prowl felt Jazz land wrong and then suddenly the sky was whipping past his optics.

Stars, moon, bridge. Stars, moon, bridge. Stars, moon, bridge. Stars, moon, bridge.

Tacnet greedily took in their current velocity, rate of rotation, and angle of the sky bridges decent to inform Prowl that Jazz and his combined weight would land on his helm.

Thank you Tacnet, I hate you.

Jazz shifted and Prowls vision went white.

Despite Tacnets certainty to the contrary, Prowl was not unconscious or dead.

ERROR, moon, ERROR. Stars, moon, bridge. Stars, ERROR, bridge, rubble. Stars, moon, bridge, rubble.

They were flipping through the air again.

Jazz landed on his feet this time but couldn’t stop their rolling. Prowl felt fast painful scrapes against his servos and peds.

Stars, bridge, rubble. Stars, bridge, rubble.

Tacnet took in their velocity and rotation again. Calculating their distance to the wreckage at the end of their fall.

Impact Survival 74%

Impact location Doorwings 87%

At least his doorwings were already offlined.

By then, the two mechs were no longer bouncing, but rolling fully across the remains of the bridge. Prowl locked himself around Jazz and braced for impact.

Collision was instant and deafening.

Prowls sense of balance was rubber banding. The instant stop after what felt like vorns of spinning out of control was just as disorientating as the fall itself.

In a lapse of memory, he onlined his doorwings.

Prowl remembered why he left them offline a click too late and sucked in a vent.

Except. They were functioning. The edges stung and the tip’s were badly chipped but both sensors were fully operational.

Blunt helm trauma. He must be having a severe processor malfunction. Prowl unlocked protesting joints and looked over his shoulders at his doorwings.

They were only lightly damaged, fully functional, and only a servos width from the pile of rubble he was being held above.

A black and white arm extended past his wings, buried wrist deep in the wreckage.

Jazz still had a death grip around his waist, visor pressed into Prowls shoulder.

“Jazz?” Prowl tried. If he put his vocalizer against his audial, the sound should carry. The music played out its final notes, leaving the silence of the moon in its wake.

“Jazz?” Prowl tried a little harder, pulling at the servo still magnetized to his back, unhooking his peds to kneel on the rubble. They had fallen into the 90 degree crook of the second cylindrical extension. The bridge had come to rest at last, kicking up enough moon dust to obscure their survival from any searching quintessons. For now.

Jazz slurred something in his native language, before repeating in common, “Gimme a click. I’m gonna throw up real quick.”

Prowl flared his wings, scanning the area. It was a relatively short drop to the moons surface. Once there, Prowl could transform and carry the both of them at speed to the outpost. Clearly, Jazz had no trouble holding onto him.

Speaking of, Jazz finally, slowly began to uncurl from Prowls frame.

He looked terrible. His visor had splintered crack’s across one side, the isolated fragments independently flickering. One horn was stuck pinned against his helm, sparking where shrapnel was jammed into the gap. He was visibly wobbling, and even with an em field Prowl could tell he was badly disoriented.

Jazz stared at Prowl for a while, before looking to his hand still buried in rubble. He tried pulling it free gently and when that didn’t work, got a completely ruined and mostly toe-less ped braced next to it and yanked

Jazz’s hand came free. At the same time something important looking snapped and fell out of his shoulder. The limb going limp.

Prowl didn’t have the bandwidth to process that at the moment.

Instead, he plucked up the chunk of shoulder into sub space. Tacking that onto the growing list of injuries they’d both needed tending to.

Cautiously, Prowl reached up to gingerly touch the back of his helm, fully expecting to feel exposed and crushed circuitry. Instead, he felt several dents, aligned in parallel. Very tender, but most certainly not as damaged as it should have been.

How?

Tacnet answered by mapping the contours of the dents, drawing Prowls optics to the back of Jazz’s obliterated servo.

The remains of the sky bridge shuttered.

Odds of Survival 45%

Prowl got Jazz’s attention and began pulling him towards the ledge they’d need to descend. Effectively deaf, probably blind, down an arm and forced to walk on two severely injured peds, Prowl only felt some relief when he finally wrangled Jazz to rest on top of his alt form.

Watching him struggle down the ledge was utterly disturbing to watch. Jazz limped along as if he was completely desensitized to pain, behaving as if he was more annoyed by his injuries than agonized.

Package secured, Prowl gunned it for the outpost. Even injured, he trusted Jazz to stay magnetized to his frame with whatever he had left to hold on with.

Out of the dust cloud, Prowl was intimately aware of how exposed they’d be. Confident he wouldn’t loose Jazz, Prowl focused entirely on plotting the most efficient route to the outpost.

The moment it came into view, Prowl pushed his engine past the redline as he registered sniper shots firing just past and above them.

Pursuing quintesson wreckers 78%.

Sure enough, a dead wrecker crashed into the moon dirt a short distance to their left.

Prowl managed a drifting slide past the out post gates, losing exactly enough momentum to match the speed of a running mech, then transformed back to root mode in the same maneuver. An exceedingly useful technique when chasing criminals and a damn effective way to shoulder someone on your roof through a door in the most efficient manner possible.

[Bluestreak, I’ve made it inside the outpost. I have an injured mech with me.]

[Heya Prowl! I saw you tearing it up out there with your backpack buddy! I’ve got a few more stragglers to take care of but you’re welcome to use the medic case I’ve got with me in here. I’ll ping the door for you.]

The primary medkit should be in the outpost storage closet. That is unless Bluestreak pulled it into his snipers nest to tend to his own injuries (22%). Or because Bluestreak pulled it there to force Prowl to bring his “backpack buddy” within conversational distance (92%).

He felt a tap at his shoulder, “Are we safe here?” Jazz yelled in the thin atmosphere. Visor flickering worse than before and visibly making an effort to stay balanced upright on eviscerated peds.

Priorities.

Prowl ignored his annoyance. He hit the trigger to pressurize the airlock and pulled Jazz’s good arm over his shoulders to stabilize the other mech. He had easily a dozen lines of questioning queued up in the backlog of his processor, every single one tagged with Jazz as the subject line. As much as Prowl itched to piece together the puzzle of why he was “Like that.” It’d have to wait until they were both in more stable condition. At least now his vents could actually do something to start cooling his overstressed processor.

“For now. We are somewhat safe.”

Prowl muttered quietly in addition, “Against all odds.”

———————————————————————

Bluestreak, seeing Prowl with some very obvious hand prints and very specific paint scratches: “What in the pit did he do to you?”

Bluestreak, seeing Jazz walk in after him with a broken arm, busted horn and an utterly torn up paint job across his back: “What in the pit did YOU do to him?!”

Either one or two parts left, next up Jazz pov.

-SSTP

OH HELL SSTP LET ME HOLD YOUR HAND REALQUICK THIS IS A FIVE STAR MEAL FOR MY SOUL FKKDJFG I JUST. I NEVER FUCKING GET TIRED OF THE WAY YOU WRITE I know I'm probably repeating myself at this point BUT IT'S JUST WHAT MY TRUTH LOOKS LIKE OKAY. EVERY TIME I SEE AN ASK FROM YOU AND START READING IT I GO "Oh M A N the author cooked so hard they should've made Ratatouille 2 about this way of placing words."

[bbyseok]

genshin dragon men : calling him handsome

♡ pairing: zhongli, neuvillette x gn!reader

♡ a/n: this was originally supposed to also have wriothesley, dan heng, blade, and jing yuan, but i ran out of ideas. if you’d like to see something for them, please lemme know lol

———

zhongli — flattery, you swallow me.

the former archon is rather composed in nearly every waking moment you’ve seen him. he carries himself with an aura of calm confidence, whether he’s dealing with business on behalf of the wangsheng funeral parlor or spending his time leisurely alongside you.

he has a way with words; speaking oh so eloquently on a variety of topics.. from today’s weather to the latest tale of liyue’s history he’s been wanting to spew.

zhongli doesn’t get flustered often, if not at all. which makes sense for a man like him. having had many experiences in his six thousand years of life, it’s not really surprising.

but let’s just say that you’re feeling rather.. determined to see what blushing looks like on the funeral consultant. his stoic expressions do nothing to deter the handsomeness of his facial features, but you’re sure you can make him even prettier.

it’s like any other day in liyue harbor: bustling streets full of commerce, clear skies overhead, and calm waves from the sea.

zhongli had proposed to you earlier in the week that you spend a day with him. “i enjoy your company,” he had said without batting an eye and knowing that those words easily had your heart racing, “even if we are simply doing nothing at all.”

you have yet to see him so far, waiting beside a food stall and trying to catch sight of his presence amongst the crowd. you shift on your legs, moving to lean on the stall and crossing your arms. ah, there he is.

dressed in his usual attire of brown, gold, and black, he catches your eye quite easily and begins to approach you. his strides are long and he’s quick to almost reach the spot where you’re standing.

and here’s your chance!

before he can speak and greet you, you take a deep breath, flash up your own smile, and say right as he closes the distance in the most suave voice you can muster, “hi, handsome.”

you’re expecting a reaction of surprise from him, of course. he’s no stranger to compliments, but he’s not used to them as brazen and blunt as this—especially from you.

but you still certainly don’t him to stumble and nearly fall at your feet. zhongli’s footing stutters ever so slightly and he has to regain it as he stands in front of you, clearing his throat with eyes that seem to widen for only a couple of heartbeats.

and you were right: he looks even prettier with the faint pink dusting over his cheeks. it’s barely visible, but it’s there. and it’s there because of you.

frankly, he feels like a silly fool, fumbling like that. even though his current status is one of a mortal, he had stood boldfaced during countless events in the middle of wrath and destruction, and these mere words from you has him acting like some- some teenager!

zhongli clears his throat again, trying to confirm that he hadn’t misheard you. “pardon?” he coughs, amber eyes sparkling with curiosity and a hint of mirth.

your smile is the same as before, tugging at the corner of your lips subtly. “hi, handsome,” you repeat cheekily, speaking as if you just hadn’t witnessed him trip oh so elegantly. you straighten your form so you’re no longer leaning on the stall. “was wondering what was taking you so long.”

his eyes are watching you closely, and he seems to have regained his usual composure, even with the blush still lingering on his cheeks. “ah, i apologize,” he muses, “i failed to realize the time.”

and then, it’s his turn to flatter you. because the feeling is mutual, is it not? your boldness should be repaid. after all, flattery is an exchange that goes both ways.

zhongli grasps your hand within his gloved one, lifting it up to brush his soft lips over your knuckles with delicacy that makes your heart skip a beat.

“a beauty such as you should not have to wait.”

———

neuvillette — oh, how the water stirs.

the chief justice of fontaine is a man of an honorable reputation. your hear nothing but good—and sometimes mysterious—things from the people of the nation.

being an assistant of the iudex, however, does allow you to see other sides to him. while he is strict and stern, almost immovable, in the court, he is also kind and tender to those he seemed fit to receive such treatment from him. (the melusines are a prime example.)

whatever he seems to be doing though.. he nearly always wears almost an emotionless expression on his alluring features.

now, there are many words that you can use to describe neuvillette’s appearance with: ethereal, striking, breathtaking even. but the last thing you want is to overwhelm him and embarrass yourself.

so you’ll start small, you decide. a short and honest compliment because the iudex’s assistant is allowed to compliment him sometimes, right?

today’s routine is quite normal so far—you help sedene and any of the other melusines that have tasks around the palais memoria before preparing to greet neuvillette and help him out with his papers and any other duties.

you can tell he has arrived when everyone takes a look and hushes down; the entrance hall of the palais memoria is usually quiet in ambience but even more so with the chief justice now present.

“good morning, monsieur neuvillette,” you greet him as well as he approaches, and he gives you a polite smile in return, cane stamping on the floor gently.

he says your name softly and shakes his head. “ah, i’ve already told you before. you can simply call me neuvillette— i insist.”

you chuckle in response and nod. first name basis with who is essentially one of the most powerful beings of the nation is nothing short of nervewracking. you don’t let it get to you though, gesturing to the door. “ah, right. sorry. shall we head into your office?”

neuvillette nods and walks. you move to follow him, but there’s a sudden tugging on your clothing and you look to see sedene behind you.

the melusine giggles, perhaps in a knowing way. “monsieur neuvillette seems to be quite fond of you, if i must say!” she says in a hushed voice.

you flush, waving her statement off. “oh, sedene!” despite feeling slightly embarrassed, you’re flustered as well. eventually, you head into neuvillette’s office, hoping he doesn’t notice anything amiss.

you settle into routine easily; briefing him up on any upcoming trials and cases, smaller notifications from the people of fontaine, and of course—situating his seemingly endless stacks of paperwork.

after a while, neuvillette now seated at his desk, he emits a soft sigh and bids you thanks. “thank you. that’ll be all for now.” his ever glistening gaze rests on you. “i do wish you a pleasant rest of your day.”

okay, you can do it. it’ll be fine. just tell him he looks good and leave! why does it seem like his eyes are boring straight into you? they’re unreadable as ever, leaving you to simply wonder what will go through his head when you say what you want to say.

nonetheless, you take a quick, deep breath and go for it. “you look handsome today, neuvillette,” you tell him, a sincere smile tugging at your lips.

he doesn’t say anything, and the brief silence that hangs in the air is nearly startling as he simply continues to stare. you clear your throat quickly and look away. “well, you look handsome every day, but i just wanted to let you know now and well-”

you’re rambling, great. “um, i’ll be taking my leave now, monsieur!” you awkwardly dismiss yourself and hurry out of his office, missing at how the tips of his ear subtly burn with a different shade of color.

you don’t even bother glancing at a curious sedene as you usher your way out of the bulding. oh, archons! how are you going to face him now?

unbeknownst to you, all that is left is the hydro dragon in deep contemplation, papers still completely untouched since your departure.

it is only when sedene enters the room with her clipboard does he stir, and he blinks at her appearance. his brows furrow, still deep in pondering.

“monsieur neuvillette, is everything alright?”

there’s a pause. for a rare moment, the chief justice allows himself to be hesitant and genuinely curious aloud.

“sedene.. am i… handsome?”

(it’s safe to say that for the rest of the day, fontaine has nothing but a sunny sky.)

[jymwahuwu]

BARKINGN WOOF WOOWF DOES HE LIKE DOGS?? I CAN BARK!! GOOD HEAVENS MR. RECA. MISTER MISTER!! HELLOOO SAILORRRR!!

cough cough, my apologies for that outburst but here are my thinking thoughts on Mr. Reca..

Thinking of him holding you in a headlock to make sure the camera could capture your face. Maybe press down on your tongue with some of his fingers so the camera can capture those lil mewls and such.

He loves to keep going until he sees that doe-eyed blank stare you get whenever he goes too far. Face tear-stained while you drool mindlessly against his fingers. In fact, he always tries to get that one clip in whenever he wants to record(which is always.)

Bondage but it's him tying you up with old film from your previous commercial/scenes of you in other movies. Just so he can see the before and after his special films. He loves you dearly, look at how footage he kept of you from your previous acts!!

(Also on a more romantic topic, thinking him of making roses out of his favorite film tapes of you on the first date. You don't know because it's pitch black but they're actually from the films that you have acted as a romantic love interest. He's very sweet..when he's not insane me think.)

I passed out…Mr. Reca…his movie-related kink, and the way he expressed his love…😩💖💖💖

cw: yandere, dub-con, obsession, humiliation, oral sex, ooc because the official plot has not been released yet

Headlock may be a little rough, but that's the way to get your face on camera! He enjoys making low-budget movies for his own entertainment, without any regard for commerce but only his art and desires. The camera is right in front of you. Are you a little too shy? His arms were draped across your neck, holding your face in place as you bounced on his cock. Now you can't avoid the camera no matter what. He presses his thumb against your tongue as you swallow those sobs. No reason to hide them!

Mr. Reca doesn't show restraint. He pushes you to your limits to see how far you can go. Disappointing that you only need 5-6 orgasms to be brainless. The dazed look on your face is priceless (eyes melting out of focus, tears all over your face, and trembling legs. No quick reaction, just a subconscious whimper as your lips wrap around the cock). He often fails to part with these precious films and adds plots that have no obvious connection. In a movie about human loneliness in the universe, the scene of your orgasm is played. This is what happens at film festivals and cinemas. Anyway, if the audience complains, he will say it is a montage.

He keeps every movie that includes you. Those are his treasures. Even with the technology here, he still keeps these physical movie discs in his collection box. There are handwritten marks on it, such as: "1:15:32 blowjob part", "A must-see during the holidays", "3 hours without breaks version" and so on.

This stems from Mr. Reca's romantic moment. He created a CD collection of movies about you, decorated with fresh flowers and a cosmic gemstone.

Tucked inside is a card:

"To my favorite actor, legend, and sun. (Beautiful cursive writing, but at the last word, the person who wrote it seemed a little emotional, and the ink melted) Only when the sun shines on him, the moon will glow.”

[mariacallous]

Last week, President Donald Trump finally unveiled his tariff policy — an incoherent bolus of sky-high taxes on goods from every inhabited country and some small islands which are home only to penguins.

The tariffs are so high, and so obviously nonsensical in development and implementation, that they caused a terrifying stock selloff. The market lost $6.6 trillion in two days, the biggest two-day wipeout on record. (And the selloff is set to continue this week.)

Trump’s tariffs will cost the average American family $3,800 a year. They are set to devastate supply chains for small businesses. As other countries crank up retaliatory tariffs, farmers are going to face major barriers to selling on the world market. The administration’s conflicting messages about why the tariffs are in place, and under what conditions they will remain, have only added to the chaos and confusion.

The only thing that seems certain at this point is the likelihood of more, and escalating, economic devastation.

Trump’s decision to single-handedly hobble the world economy and immiserate tens of millions of Americans has presented his fellow Republicans with a stark choice. Do they continue to kiss his orange butt and slavishly nod along to every nonsensical whim of their idiot Golfer King as he leads them into a recession and almost certain electoral apocalypse? Or do they defy him, splitting the party and opening themselves to a primary challenge … and possible electoral apocalypse?

The good news is that some GOP senators and members of Congress are actually disturbed enough by the prospect of their voters starving in the street that they have taken steps to push back against this grotesquely self-destructive trade policy. The not so good news is that the pushback is hesitant and half-hearted — and the majority of the party remains ready to torture and impoverish their constituents for the greater glory of Trump.

The tariffs, and the quick slide into economic calamity, have sparked real resistance. They’ve also demonstrated just how craven and/or hypnotized the GOP has become, and the extent to which most Republicans would do anything — literally anything — rather than point out that the emperor is wearing a grotesque meat suit made of the skin of his constituents.

Revolt of (a few) Republicans

As they are wont to do, many Republicans have gotten on their bellies to grovel and spout the usual Trump-flattering balderdash, either because they are desperate to propitiate their master or because they are genuinely fools.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been leading the charge of the sycophants. In interviews he’s blathered that Trump’s trade policy would force other countries to “stop picking on us” and bleated, “Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing.”

Some of Lutnick’s fellow Republicans do not, somehow, find his mix of whining and wheedling persuasive.

Shortly after Trump announced his one man assault on the world economy, the Senate passed a bill on a straight majority vote to end the 25 percent emergency tariff declaration against Canada, which Trump had already announced before his latest round of additional bonus tariffs.

The bill was sponsored by Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia. All Democrats voted for it, as did Republicans Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski. It passed 51-48.

“We're not at war with Canada," Paul said, sounding about as sensible as he ever has. “They're an ally that buys more of our stuff than almost any other country in the world.”

The vote was largely symbolic. Senate Democrats, led by minority leader Chuck Schumer, cravenly caved and gave Republicans the votes they needed to pass a continuing resolution which funded the government, but also stripped Congress members of the ability to bring bills to the floor to vote on repealing presidential emergency declarations.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, the high priest of Trump enablers, will almost certainly prevent the bill from ever coming to the floor. Even if it were to pass, Trump could veto it — and it’s very unlikely Republicans could find enough votes to overcome a veto.

Despite these barriers, Democrats — and some Republicans—are trying again. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley — whose farm state of Iowa will be devastated by the tariffs — has joined with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell to cosponsor a bill that would claw back the oversight power Congress has recklessly ceded to the president on trade over the decades.

Per the Grassley/Cantwell bill, the president would need to notify Congress within 48 hours of new tariffs, explaining the reasoning behind them and estimating economic impact. Congress would have 60 days to approve the tariffs; if they failed to do so, the tariffs would expire.

In addition to Grassley, the bill is cosponsored by four other Republicans: Jerry Moran, Thom Tillis, McConnell, and Murkowski. Add in Paul and Collins, who voted for the Kaine/Paul bill, and that’s at least seven Republican votes — enough to pass the bill on a simple majority, though not enough to overcome a filibuster.

There have been other signs of Republican unrest too. Nebraska moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon has said he plans to introduce a House version of the Grassley/Cantwell bill. Normally solid Trumpists like Ted Cruz and billionaire executive branch arsonist Elon Musk have also both expressed skepticism about Trump’s tariff policy.

Profiles in (not quite) courage

Republicans are publicly criticizing Trump. They’re also introducing and voting on bills to curtail Trump’s tariffs. This matters. It means the media has more room to portray the tariffs as actually bad, rather than simply defaulting to easy “R said/D said” both sides narratives.

In addition, open dissent by a significant number of Republicans helps break the collective action problem. Trump can target one or two GOP dissenters, but it’s much harder to excommunicate nine or 10, including co-president Musk. A quorum of people speaking up makes it possible for even more people to dissent. This is how you build up to effective resistance.

But while effective resistance is dimly visible somewhere in the future, we have not arrived there as of yet. Again, there aren’t enough Republican dissenters to pass Grassley/Cantwell over a filibuster, much less a presidential veto. And it’s unclear that the GOP anti-tariff caucus has the stomach for more aggressive tactics.

Would the GOP anti-tariff caucus be willing to join with Democrats to sink the Republican reconciliation bill with all its billionaire tax cut goodies unless and until it includes provisions stripping Trump of tariff power? Would Bacon and other anti-tariff House Republicans withhold their votes in the House?

Given that we’re facing what could be the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, you’d like to think that the answers there would be an easy “yes”. But, considering Republican fecklessness, it seems more than likely that Grassley, Paul, McConnell, Tillis, and the rest will throw away their leverage the minute they have to actually oppose Trump directly.

Congress has a great deal of power to restrain the president — in theory. In practice, many congresspeople and senators are true believing cult members, and those who aren’t are extremely risk averse. They don’t want to take controversial votes or be responsible for anything. They certainly don’t want to oppose the president of their own party even when that president is obviously a callous fool hellbent on demolishing the economy and with it farms, small businesses, and consumers, all for reasons he and his minions aren’t able to articulate coherently.

Republican dissent is a hopeful sign. The hard limits on it, though, given the magnitude of the crisis, are a bleak reminder of how we ended up in this nightmare to begin with. Any successful resistance is going to require a fair number of Republicans to abandon their orange idol. It’s good to see them starting to do that. But it’s undeniably grim that the fate of the nation rests to any degree at all on these, gutless, spineless, christofascist quislings.

[delayeddrabbles]

eat the rich - college gf + frat!rafe

A/N: while i know reader/YN ships are more popular, I want to try this as a named OC and see how much traction it gets. Shout out to @lolasangelz for writing Gigi so well that it gave me the confidence to turn Nat back into an OC rather than write her as a reader. (Gradient: Text Color Fader: Red to Blue)

headcanons:

This is set loosely in s3, Rose makes Rafe go back to Chapel Hill to finish his Commerce degree before she'll let him come back to Cameron Development. The pair of them are still fighting over the company after Ward's death.

Nat stumbles into Rafe's room drunk during a party, mistaking it for her best friend's. She then judges him on how barren and lifeless his decor is and he kicks her out, not in the mood for chit chat.

Nat is studying a PPE so they share an Economics class. For someone so reckless with money, Rafe is surprisingly good at it. They become study partners.

They didn't plan on becoming a couple. What started as a quick blow job in the library to clear Nat's head during midterms quickly became an actual friendship.

Nat had been with her ex for a long time and so she was supposed to be in her slut era when she met Rafe.

Nat is trying to date again, but Rafe somehow always gets in the way. He waltzes into her living room with the spare key when she's making out, or he'll call her for a ride home when she's out for a drink.

They're sneaking around the frat house so her ex Jon doesn't find out.

Nat forces Rafe to go hiking even though he hates the outdoors.

Nat complains about the spoiled rich kids who come to the gym she works at, forgetting who it is she's talking to. Rafe offers to just pay her to be his PT so she can quit, but she refuses.

They have a running joke of sending each other terrible songs that could soundtrack the situation. Rafe looks miserable at a party and Nat will send him I Hate it Here by Taylor Swift and revel in the sigh it produces. Leave by JoJo somehow becomes code for ditching an event and hooking up.

Nat and Barry get on like a house on fire and Rafe hates it.

Rafe's mom died of breast cancer. Nat's mom is in the army and was away a lot.

Rafe is always making sure she gets enough sleep and stops working to rest or have fun. Nat is always making sure he eats properly and meets his deadlines.

Nat is fully comfortable admitting he's hot, but not that she worries and cares about him. Rafe is the opposite, he'll happily make her a cup of tea or let her sleep over, but will get stubborn when it comes to admitting she has any kind of power over him. Despite this, he's always the needy, touchy one with a finger subconsciously tracing the outlines of her tattoos, regardless of where they are on her body.

Rafe makes fun of Nat for playing Mahjong at the old folk's home.

Nat and her bff Aden make fun of Rafe for being the most stereotypical frat boy finance guy type they've ever met

Both of them are always getting into fights and having to be extracted by the other.

Rafe avoids talking about money and politics, not wanting any conflict. Meanwhile, Nat is dragging him to picket lines and protests, and people complain that he's too tall in the crowd.

Rafe will turn any political debate she tries to start with him into a dirty joke or play devil's advocate. He likes to remind her that she's a hypocrit for sleeping with him and watch it piss her off.

Both of them are loners. Nat doesn't have a lot of friends her own age, and Rafe has only just gotten back to Chapel Hill and hasn't retained any old friendships.

Nat won't touch anything stronger than tobacco and alcohol. Growing up around her brothers' older friends on the barracks who partied way too hard and struggled with combat PTSD has made her overprotective of her brain chemistry.

Nat is one of the first people in his life to have ever bought him an extravagant, expensive gift. Usually, that's his job, but she works extra shifts and saves up to replace his watch that got stolen.

[marlynnofmany]

Little Legends

Eggskin leaned out of the medbay with both scaly hands full of disassembled electronics. “Are you free to run a quick errand?” they asked with the air of someone hoping the answer was yes.

“Sure,” I said, stopping in the hall. “Did something break?”

“I thought it was fixable, but no.” Eggskin rotated a couple pieces and fit them back together, revealing what looked like part of a medscanner. “Waste of time. At least this isn’t the good one for diagnosing, just the one for checking boxes. But we do need a replacement if you can get it.”

I mentally ran down the list of stores I’d spotted on this space station. “Yeah, I think I saw an electronics place that should have those. And we’re not going to leave for a while yet.”

“Excellent, thank you.” Eggskin looked relieved. “I’d go myself, but I have several other items in need of a tune-up.”

“No problem. I’ll let the captain know, then be right on it.” With a wave from me and further thanks from Eggskin, I headed off to find the captain.

Warm light spilled from the crew lounge as I passed. I mentally patted myself on the back for moving my sun lamp in there for everybody to enjoy. Humans may need their vitamin D, but Heatseekers craved warmth, and didn’t always want to ask for it. Paint was currently curled up on the biggest couch, along with Telly: a pile of mottled orange scales and mismatched fur. The cat had also started in just my quarters but moved on to spend time in the rest of the ship.

They looked awfully happy there in the light of the tiny, hovering, artificial sun. Maybe I’d bring a book in and take a seat on the other couch later. Right now, I had a bio-scanner to find. And while it would have been perfectly ironic for Captain Sunlight to be basking in the lounge as well, she was elsewhere.

I found her in the cargo bay, double-checking a new stack of boxes with Zhee. She held a clipboard in her scaly yellow hands while he moved things with his shiny purple pincher arms. They were a study in contrasts. When I told her where I was going, she was glad to hear it.

“Eggskin said there was something wrong with that scanner,” she agreed with a nod. “I wondered why they were using the good one earlier. Go ahead; I’ll make a note of the payment.”

“Righto.” I left the pair of them to rearrange the boxes, trusting that the captain would remember to note the payment later. Her memory was good, and she’d been in charge of the finances even before getting promoted. (The previous captain had only been good at delegating. When he got politely booted off the ship for incompetence, everyone agreed that Sunlight should take over. She hadn’t felt like giving someone else more work to do when she was already familiar with the ship’s record-keeping, so she just did both.) (She was good at both. It worked out well.)

I was good at other things, and one of them was recognizing when human-run stores were likely to have quality products. Luckily there was one such store in the nearest commerce sector.

I left the ship and strolled along a moving sidewalk at a delightfully fast pace, passing station-goers of a range of species, many of which were content with regular walking speed. One Mesmer rushed past in a blur of coppery bug legs, exoskeleton liberally decorated with metal inlays and their attitude suggesting they were late for a flight. The various Heatseekers, Frillians, and others gave them a wide berth.

The hum of a high-end jetpack made me duck, worrying I’d get accidentally kicked in the head. But no, it was higher than I’d thought. And the human using it only had one leg, which probably helped my odds anyway.

I wonder if that came from the same place I’m going, I thought. It seemed likely, since my destination was just coming into view past the big media store. Under the space station’s vaulted ceiling and silver-and-blue color scheme, the “Earthly Electronics Emporium” was an eyecatching collection of green circuitry. The big front windows had a whole section on jetpacks and hover-belts. I wondered if they were made by the same manufacturer as the ones Captain Sunlight had been looking into for a client.

Possibly. But we didn’t want to wipe out all the stock in this place, not when the client was content to wait while we gathered the rest of their order from the planet we were scheduled to visit next.

All in good time. Right now, bio-scanners.

I stepped off the moving sidewalk with a careful eye for momentum, and I didn’t stumble. Upholding human reputation, go me. With my head high, I entered the Earthly Electronics Emporium.

It was very green inside too. Not quite as bright as the outside, but somebody had really decided to lean in on the color scheme. I strolled between green shelves designed to look like circuit boards, on green tiles that glittered with LEDs, under ceiling lights that were mostly white, just with enough green paint around them that they could have been green too. At least the labels were easy to read.

There were a few other people in the store: mostly a group of humans chatting by the counter. It sounded like one was teaching the others a space shanty, which just made me smile.

Then I found what I was looking for, and I grinned in triumph. Got it. Let’s see here … “Good for everything from fleas to termites to truly exotic problems.” That sounds promising. I read the label thoroughly, and decided it was exactly what our courier ship needed for checking the crates we brought onboard. We hadn’t had to deal with an accidental infestation yet — well, not one that a cat or two couldn’t solve — and we didn’t want to.

I took it up to the counter.

When I got there, I was surprised to recognize the guy singing the shanty. When he caught sight of me, he broke off with a smile. “Hey, good to see you! Thanks so much for the advice; the animal calls and the caffeine went perfectly.”

“Awesome! Good to see you too!” I set down the scanner so I could return the handclasp-and-hug while he introduced me to his friends, including the guy behind the counter.

He told them, “This is the one I told you about, the human who’s done everything!”

“Well,” I said humbly, getting immediately talked over as Oscar told the others about how his large and intimidating alien crewmates had been disappointed that he didn’t live up to all the stories they’d heard about human antics, which had all, somewhat embarrassingly, been about me.

“But then she told me that imitating animal calls was impressive — and it was; I called in things for them to hunt, and they were amazed — and she’s the one who told me that the Mighty were lightweights on caffeine.” He grinned while they all chuckled. “You already know how that went!”

I was privately glad to see him so animated and social, since the only other time we’d met, he’d been pretty dejected about his lot in life. I asked for details on his adventures and he was happy to tell them, with the other humans chipping in to add that they touched base regularly now, since Oscar’s ship was making regular stops at this station, and most of them lived here.

“Are you staying long?” Oscar asked me. “You should really meet Aster. He’s been writing songs about human stuff, and he’s probably got some of your legends in there. He just started one about caffeine, thanks to me!” He beamed in pride.

“That’s great! I’d love to, but we’re leaving in a little bit,” I said. “Maybe next time we stop by.”

“I hope so! His songs are really good. I was just telling these guys about the new one. Have you heard it yet?” He launched into a melody. “Thiiiiis pirate ship was the scourge of the spaceways, stealing goods with their threats and their gunplay. The scariest ship that you ever did see … Until they met the skunk.”

I snorted and covered my mouth, eyes wide. I didn’t want to say it, but somehow he guessed.

“Don’t tell me,” Oscar declared, stopping the song. “Somehow that was you too.”

“Not directly,” I protested. “And maybe there are other skunks out there! Keep going.”

He sang the rest of the song, which told the story of some foolhardy pirates who didn’t believe the rumors of a merchant vessel with a hazardous Earth creature onboard. They wound up having to abandon their ship and let it fall into the nearest sun, ending their days as “the smelliest ne-er-do-wells that planet had ever seen.”

I applauded along with everyone else. “That is a great song! And I don’t know if that’s the skunk I knew or not. I did give one to a human on a merchant ship. But it had its stink gland removed, so maybe it’s a different one.”

An older woman laughed. “Or maybe Aster took some storytelling liberties with the song. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Oscar shook his head, still grinning. “Maybe!”

Then it turned into a storytelling session about skunk anecdotes, and while I could have happily enjoyed that conversation for quite a while, I did have a ship to get back to.

The guy behind the counter rang up the sale for me, charging it to the ship’s account successfully. “What a great name,” he said, reading off his screen. “Gotta love a ship called Slap the Stars.”

I told him, “It was named after the human tradition of high fives!” That derailed the conversation even further, and it was with real regret that I had to leave.

A couple of the others said they had places to go as well. Casual hugs for everyone, and suddenly it was like being back home for the holidays. After several tight embraces, I realized I’d been missing that and not realized.

I said goodbye to my fellow humans and promised to check in next time I was in town, then took the bio-scanner back to the ship. The moving sidewalk was just as quick in this direction.

Paint and Telly were still in the lounge when I passed. I gave Eggskin the scanner, checked in with the captain at the cockpit, then grabbed a book from my room.

“Mind if I join you?” I asked Paint.

“Sure; there’s plenty space!” She uncurled enough to wave at the broad expanse of couch.

Telly made a feline “Mrrp,” then put her head back down.

I found the sun lamp’s controls on the table, next to the box of accessories, and turned it up just a smidge. Then I lay down between Paint and the back of the couch, with my book above her head.

She made happy noises about the extra warmth, and Telly mrrp’d again.

From the door to the hall, something hissed, then Zhee’s voice complained, “Why is it so bright in here?”

Paint didn’t look up as she declared, “Basking is a time-honored form of enrichment.”

“I fail to see the appeal.”

“Hang on,” I said, sitting up long enough to grab an effects adapter from the box on the table. I’d checked before; these would stay in place even with just half of the cover. I clipped on the most colorful and glitterific galaxy adapter to the far side of the sun lamp, turning half of the lounge into a space disco that any self-respecting Mesmer would love.

Zhee was no exception. “Now that is lovely,” he said, clicking his way into the room. “Why didn’t you do that to start with?”

He made himself comfortable with a media screen while I settled back into place with my book and cuddle puddle.

Mur’s voice said from the hallway, “Why is it so bright in here?”

Zhee said, “Enrichment.”

Paint said, “You can join us if you like.”

I smiled. “I have a great new space shanty that I think you’ll enjoy.”

~~~

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.

The sequel novel is in progress (and will include characters from these stories. I hadn’t thought all of them up when I wrote the first book, but they’re too much fun to leave out of the second).

[david-talks-sw]

"The idea of it..."

This is obviously a reference to the ol' argument:

"The Jedi weren't bad but the Jedi Order as an institution needed to go."

So as a quick reminder I thought I'd point out:

1) George Lucas describes the Jedi's eradication as a sad thing, not something sad-but-necessary:

"[The] Jedi getting killed through the Order 66 of the clones is just done as one of those kind of inevitable pay offs in terms of getting rid of everybody, the Emperor is getting rid of all his enemies, but there’s a certain inevitability of it all and a sadness to it.  - Revenge of the Sith, Director’s Commentary, 2005

2) Out of 770 George Lucas quotes, I've never seen him refer to the Jedi Order as "an institution" once.

He does refer to the Republic itself as an institution.

"[In The Phantom Menace one of the many storylines is] the story of a young queen who's faced with the total annihilation of a people, and how she can get a sluggish political institution to pay attention to what's going on." - Premiere, 1999

He might be referring to the Senate instead of the Republic as a whole, but the point stands: he's not talking about the Jedi.

Which tracks with what Lucas defined as Dooku's reason for leaving the Order: his disenchantment with the Republic/Senate, not the Jedi themselves.

But let's go slightly further:

The Jedi Temple was designed as a place of worship that would contrast with the corporate coldness of the Senate.

Also, the Jedi were originally designed as a more organized police force. As the script evolved, they were turned into peacekeepers, diplomats.

Mace's room was redesigned so as to not convey that the Jedi were mired in bureaucracy and protocol.

And when describing the political situation of the Prequels, Lucas doesn't blame the Jedi, but rather the corporations and Senate:

"But as often happens when wealth and power grow beyond all reasonable proportion, an evil fueled by greed arose. The massive organs of commerce mushroomed in power, the Senate became corrupt, and an ambitious named Palpatine was voted Supreme Chancellor." - Shatterpoint, Prologue, 2004

Wow, it's looking like not only is the "Jedi Order as an institution needed to go" narrative not a thing per Lucas, but

3) Lucas went out of his way to make it clear that the Jedi aren't the issue, here, the Republic/Senate is.

So how did we get this narrative?

Well, it comes from a generation of fans and Star Wars creators who were not the target audience.

You know the type. It's the kind who, when asked if they like the Prequel Trilogy, will respond that they liked...

... but not the execution.

AKA they disliked the Prequels, but then EU books and The Clone Wars came out and provided them with enough material to form a headcanon justifying why they didn't like the Jedi, despite wanting to: it's because the Jedi are meant to be disliked! Totally!

The Jedi failed as an institution is an idea that comes from authors who wanted to engage with the material (it IS Star Wars, after all) but not the narrative that George Lucas had crafted, whose work then influenced older fans who preferred the author's retconned version of the story to the original one.

The rest is history.

As Prequels producer Rick McCallum put it:

"The myth begins on paper. During preproduction, filming, and postproduction, the myth becomes visible through the work of hundreds of dedicated people. Following the film's release, the myth becomes public and the public makes it its own." - Rick McCallum, Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

[mask131]

Just a quick reminder of something, because I saw people talk about this on recent posts...

So, I made a TON of posts explaining why it is important to remember that the Roman gods are not the Greek gods per se - as in, the Romans had a different view and perception of the Greek gods, and so ended up creating yes, mostly equivalents and counterparts to the Greek gods, but with their own religious and cultural significance slightly different from the Greek deities - each culture having its focus on a different thing. (Aphrodite became more of a motherly and national goddess, Hermes became suddenly very merchant and commerce obsessed and not much of a thief anymore, Poseidon's rule extended to all waters not just the sea, Ares became a god of peace and agriculture?) Etc, etc.

However I now see people taking this way further than it should. I am not surprised because that's what people do on the Internet, you tell them one thing and they extrapolate it all.

But so you know, the difference between Greek and Roman gods is only valuable and interesting by the times of the Ancient Greek and Romans themselves.

When you go by the Renaissance, or by the modern eras that followed it, you'll notice that all paintings and books and sculptures are about the Roman gods - Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Venus, Mercury, Vulcan and whatnot. Does it mean they are about the Roman gods? NOT AT ALL! They're all about the Greek gods mainly, but mixed with some Roman elements.

That's something some people are apparetly not aware of, so I'll try to briefly summarize it for ya... By the Middle-Ages, people knew of what we call today the "Classical mythology" mostly and mainly through the Roman texts and authors. Later by the Renaissance some of the Greek texts and authors were rediscovered, shared around and used a lot - not all though, as the rediscovery of Ancient Greece would be slow and steady, and we still find new fragments of Greek texts today! But here's the gist: the Roman texts and legends having been there before the Greek ones in people's cultures and heads... By the Renaissance and forward, the Roman names of the gods were the one used by default. For them these names were the famous and recognizable ones, and almost the "truest" of their names... Even when depicting entirely Greek myths and legends.

Because that's the subtle trick of Renaissance and all that would follow: the Greek texts and legends being THE big piece everybody was talking about and discussing about, the gods depicted in the arts and fiction by these eras were mostly and mainly their Greek versions. But, due to the "I was here first" and pre-eminence of the Roman literature and culture in Europe, these Greek identites and personas of the gods were refered to by their Roman names, and the Greek myths coexisted with the Roman legends. And that's the whole point: throughout the history of modern Europe, the difference between Roman and Greek god does not matter because they were conflated and unified into one and same set of entity, and people didn't care about the difference.

Which is what led to today's belief that "Roman gods are just the Greek gods by a different name" - and also led to stuff like this horrible thing I experienced as a teenager when the teacher supposed to teach us about Latin, when talking about the Roman gods, just handed to us a description of the Greek gods and told us to just swap the Greek names with the Roman ones (this teacher was an AWFUL awful teacher, not mean, but very bad at her job).

Because yes, that's the irony: you'd think that because people were more familiar with Roman mythology and the Romans personas of the gods during the Middle-Ages and the Renaissance, the Roman gods would have overshadowed the Greek ones, but in effect that's the reverse. The Roman gods being erased by the Greek gods: which is why people still think today Mars is a bloodthirsty war god, or that Minerva has all the attributes of Athena, or that Mercury was just as much a god of thieves as of legal business. The main problem today isn't to highlight the purely Greek things - because the Ancient Greeks have won this historical battle. The problem is pointing out how the Roman gods had their own unique thing on the aside that the Greek gods did not.

In conclusion: yes, you can use paintings of Jupiter to illustrate an article about Zeus, because at the time they were made, the artist probably was thinking about Zeus but just used a different name.

[neros-w]

What element is your Vision? (and how do you guess)

(ao3 version, with bonus in the end notes!)

!!!SPOILER WARNINGS FOR ALL QUESTS (event, character story, Archon, and Interlude Archon) PRIOR TO 5.6!!!

A Vision (or a god’s eye or gaze, in the original CN text) has no proper origin within the game’s lore.

The people of Teyvat are unsure whether Vision bearers are natural elemental beings (see: Volume 1 of Breeze Amidst the Forests) or those deemed worthy by the Seven. But, upon a quick analysis, one may be able to pinpoint what element a character will be able to get within their given region.

There are jokes among fans in the community about the loss commonly experienced by Anemo Vision holders, some going so far as to claim that the loss is usually the death of a sibling figure with an Electro Vision (this is… circumstantial). But there is some truth to this!

Before I get into it, this is what’s gonna happen:

I’ll point out several factors that might go into what element a character’s Vision is going to be based on my observations,

These parameters are entirely characterization-based, meaning that little to no information about a character will usually result in a toss-up or an unclear assignment.

These parameters ignore aesthetics/color palettes, positions of power, or their reputation from outsiders’ perspective.

This is all based on my understanding of the story elements as a whole and are subject to inconsistencies due to lack of information or being debunked by Hoyoverse moving forward (it is Version 5.6 at time of writing).

Spoiler warnings have been tagged, this is your last chance!

Section I: The Aspects of a Vision

From what I’ve gathered, there are three (3) main aspects that a character’s element will depend on: where they live/came from, how they deal with their hardships, and where on their journeys they are.

1. Regional ideals

This is the oft-ignored aspect of Vision assignments because, generally speaking, these seem to be a little vague and wishy-washy and rarely ever tackled explicitly within the narrative. I’ll explain their involvement in Section II in full detail.

Mondstadt: Freedom

Poetry/ballad

Freedom

Resistance

There is an emphasis here on Freedom, but the guiding principles’ idea of freedom differs from the Archon’s, which is a holistic freedom that involves the fight for freedom (resistance) and the desire to speak about these fights and ideas of freedom (poetry/ballad).

Liyue: Contracts/commerce

Prosperity

Diligence

Gold

Liyue’s understanding of commerce is not wholly business-oriented. The prosperity found in the exchange of diligently made goods and diligently enacted services is the ‘commerce’ Morax speaks of.

The understanding between an exchange, the connection made between one or more individuals, unspoken or explicitly discussed. Gold is not Mora, moreso the hearts of each Liyuen, their pride in their occupation and craft.

Inazuma: Eternity

Transience/the fleeting world

Elegance

Light

The irony of Inazuma’s national ideal is that it is at odds with the nation’s principles, showing the thematic conflict between the Archon and her people. Everything changes (transience), so one must make the continued decision between base wants and needs (elegance), to always pursue the higher purpose instead of stagnating or settling for less (light).

“A sealed eternity may, perhaps, look magnificent, but its essence is death,” so says the Philosophies of Light (like, the talent book), the so-called ‘yearning’ of the land of thunder.

Sumeru: Wisdom

Ingenuity

Admonition

Praxis

Sumeru’s wisdom lies in enacting knowledge (praxis), embodying and teaching it (admonition), and synthesizing it with your own lived experiences (ingenuity). A want and willingness to learn and grow is at the heart of every Sumeran’s goals, even if they don’t know it.

Fontaine: Justice

Fairness/equity

Justice

Order

Justice is blind, in Fontaine, but only in the way that morality plays a large part in enacting the law (equity). Serving this appeal to morals (justice) brings order to all.

This is the most wishy washy of all the national/regional ideals thus far (it gets worse from here on), as it fails to be properly emphasized within the Archon Quest. It’s properly represented by individual character stories, but fails to be synthesized as a whole, a common problem to the region’s writing and characterization.

Natlan: War

Rivalry/contention

Kindling

Conflict

Natlan’s alleged ideal is one of war but what it really means is a meek difference in opinion.

The name of the region’s base principles are misleading as well. Upon reading each, the principles mostly point at a ‘confidence in victory and learning in failure’ (rivalry/contention), the ‘espoused benefit of sacrifice’ (kindling), and ‘sincerity and being true to one’s motivations’ (conflict). A far cry from the more aggressive actual meaning of the words war, contention, kindling, and conflict.

Snezhnaya, Nod-Krai, and Khaenri’ah are still up for debate, as we have little-to-no verifiable or consistent information on each region’s ideals, whoever in the region has Elemental Authority, etc.

(Our only case for Snezhnaya is Tartaglia, as Arlecchino received her Vision as Peruere (see: Arlecchino Character Stories, Vision), and Wanderer received his Vision after erasing Scaramouche. That’s not really a big enough sample size for any theorizing.)

2. Elemental ideals

The one thing to note here, before everything, is that it’s easy to pinpoint the element of a character when considering who holds (or held) Elemental Authority.

So, consider the beliefs, motivations, and ideologies of every being that held onto a Gnosis that still had its Authority when it comes to that element.

(The only exception for Hydro is Furina, who accepted her Vision from Neuvillette fairly recently after Focalors gave him his Authority back. Every Archon thus far (barring Ei) has been holding onto their Gnoses since the Archon War.)

With that out of the way…

Anemo. Choosing freedom in spite of loss.

Yes, it is still ‘losing someone makes them Anemo,’ but the overgeneralization of a death of a close friend or relative harms interpretations. Wouldn’t that make Diluc Anemo instead of Pyro? Or Kaveh? Or, god forbid, Dori?

A loss so substantial that it changes and almost engulfs one’s entire life is the key. This is why we can still include Sayu whose master left her, Sucrose whose friends abandoned her, and Lynette whose equal standing with Lyney was severed when he became her protector when joining the Hearth.

It is their choice to commit to continue living freely (as much as they can) to tell the tale that makes them Anemo.

Examples being: Kazuha choosing to venture further instead of clinging stubbornly to revenge. Xiao choosing to be part of Liyue’s peaceful modern day in spite of the losses he’d accrued during its time of strife. Jean choosing to fight for Mondstadt despite her loss of self as she continues on Vennessa’s and the Gunnhildr legacy. And well, the guy himself, Venti choosing to live on and tell the tales his friend lived through and look up at the sky he always yearned to see despite his overwhelming grief.

Geo. Pride in one’s experience/niche/passion.

Every Geo character is proud of what they do and how they do it, almost boasting and arrogant in their pride. Ningguang in her position as Liyue’s wealthiest and the Qixing’s Tianquan. Arataki Itto with his oni heritage. Albedo as an alchemist and/or Khemia practitioner.

This pride is the driving force of their character, the core to all their choices. Other aspects remain secondary, almost trivial. It’s why Noelle who is proud of her position as maid is Geo but Bennett who is proud of his adventuring is not.

This is exemplified, really, by the way Zhongli is in constant awe of the minutiae of regular everyday Liyuens, of the legends, songs, crafts, strategies, weapons, etc. that his hardwork as a warmonger had produced. Yes, it makes him seem a little self-centered but hey… he helped make all that.

Dendro. Letting one’s past guide every future.

Dendro characters are shaped by their learned beliefs.

Often they gain their Visions when paying forward an act of kindness, letting it shape their motivations (Collei, Kirara) or finally eliminating any room for doubt or uncertainty that once plagued them earlier on in their lives (Baizhu, Tighnari, Kinich).

Often their motivations are in service of higher purposes, altruistic in spite of their perceived self-benefit (Alhaitham, for example, whose egoism leads him to believe his acts of pursuing correctness and truth are only in service of himself. He is [often] incorrect [or outright lying]).

It’s difficult to properly pinpoint their oh moments, because you have to dig through every single bit of their stories to properly pin down why what they did earned them their Vision.

Our best example is Rana, who received her Dendro Vision when finally remembering all she’d forgotten from Arana, whose teachings from childhood she still espoused and embodied in her adult life despite the memory wipe.

The other best example being, well, Nahida herself, whose literal accumulated knowledge becomes so powerful it can power cities and timeloop experiments and fortify rocks from earthquakes, etc. That’s on top of [gestures vaguely at Greater Lord Rukkhadevata] that. I think you get it.

Pyro. Forging one’s own legacy.

Pyro has to be the easiest because of the veritable deluge of Pyro characters in the game.

Often Pyro characters are passionately pursuing a goal to reckless abandon, motivated by parental figures or mentors who are either gone or otherwise preoccupied.

Amber wants to be an Outrider because her missing grandfather was an Outrider.

Bennett wants to be an adventurer because all his dads are adventurers.

Diluc wanted to be a knight because his father had always wanted to be a knight.

Gaming chose his own path because Yip Tak had chosen his own path as well.

I could go on and on, but you can see how easy to verify it is. I think you get the picture.

The keypoint, as always, is reckless abandon. It doesn’t matter when they receive their Vision, but often Pyro characters will be in dogged pursuit of their passions that they’d end up in significant danger one way or another.

These aspects are also present in Mavuika. As disappointed as I am with the trajectory of her arc, I can’t deny that her reckless desire to save Natlan by turning herself into a battery like Xbalanque did all those centuries ago is what shapes Pyro as an element.

Hydro. Salvation in sacrifice.

Because Focalors had held Authority for so long, it is very easy to understand why sacrifice ended up defining Hydro characters.

Many Hydro characters have a facade to uphold, one they choose out of necessity. And often, they use these facades to enact their own means of justice, sacrificing their true selves to save everyone else.

Ayato’s story quest is the best example of this outside of Fontaine’s fifth act. Ironically considered the worst character story quest, it showcases a young man who has to play into a facade stuck on so well, it’s impossible to see where the Inazuman politician starts and Ayaka’s brother ends.

Electro. Choosing duty over love/the self.

Similar to Hydro, because Yae Miko held onto the Electro Gnosis for so long, it’s hard not to see why Electro characters have to choose their duties over their love or passion or selves.

Often this choice of duty is an act of love, like Yae Miko choosing to maintain Ei’s wishes in spite of the solitude.

Lisa gave up her spot as the Akademiya’s best and brightest to be a librarian in Mondstadt. Cyno chose to be the General Mahamatra to keep his oath with Hermanubis rather than raising Collei at home. Kujou Sara chose to protect her home within an inch of her life.

Fischl is an interesting asterisk to this, choosing to be the Prinzessin out of love for the craft, but also out of love for poor lonely Amy. Without the Prinzessin, there is no Oz, and Amy would be all alone.

Probably the most interesting outlier.

Cryo. Solitude and yearning.

We don’t know enough about whoever is holding Cryo Authority or Snezhnaya. But one thing Cryo characters do have in common is a gaping yearning in themselves. For belongingness (Kaeya, Shenhe, Ayaka, and yes, Aloy), for the correct, best version of one’s self (Chongyun, Layla), for a lost future (Qiqi, Wriothesley).

I’ll keep an eye moving forward for this one, but I hope this makes sense.

3. Constellations and fates

This is really less of a factor and more of a consideration with regards to how the elemental assignments are justified within the game’s lore.

What does that mean?

Plainly put, every character’s constellation is a point in their development that coincides with when or how they were chosen by the element they have (given that they weren’t born an elemental, like some of the Archons and dragons).

This is what solidified my theory that characterization is one of the primary bases for how elements are chosen for each character. A character’s dreams (their Vision) have a clear trajectory based on a plot (their fate). Their goal is self-actualization.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Vision bearers lose their Visions (their dreams) when they finally reach their goals. But it does explain why many Vision bearers are able to live as though nothing’s wrong when they’re apart from their little Vision baubles.

Examples being:

Kuki Shinobu

Arataki Itto

Diluc Ragnvindr

Jiangxue (from Wangshu Inn)

(Apparently, this should include a lot of unnamed characters that joined the Watatsumi Army during the Vision Hunt but… we don’t know any of them and honestly that’s such a thematic and ideological hot mess that I don’t even wanna touch it.)

A recent example of a Vision bearer conquering their fate, so to speak, would be Hu Tao, whose fate was actually achieved in the Lantern Rite event for 5.3.

There’s even a scene between her and Zhongli (clip below; timestamp: 20:28) in the quest that recited all of her constellations in sequential order. My friend Alina made a wonderful breakdown of this scene and the sentiments it lost in translation.

Hu Tao achieving her C6 in this cutscene (clip below) means that she’s achieved her fate.

Section II: The Case Study

Though predictable to many, I will be doing a case study of the one character who everyone knew was going to be playable but whose element no one really expected: Wanderer.

Prior to Inversion of Genesis, when Scaramouche was defeated at the end of the Archon Quest, there was no doubt in anyone’s minds that he was going to end up playable. And true to everyone’s expectations, he was.

But due to a) his aesthetics, b) origins, and c) general vibe, people were convinced he was going to be Electro.

So, let’s play devil’s advocate.

Name(s): Kabukimono/Kunikuzushi/Scaramouche/Wanderer Place of Origin: Inazuma Current home: Sumeru Species: Puppet

Information from

Yae Miko (the end of the Inazuma Archon Quest);

Raiden Ei (voicelines);

The Husk of Opulent Dreams artifact set;

Scattered notes around Tatarasuna;

Katsuragikiri Nagamasa

The description from Shakkei Pavilion; and,

Scaramouche’s own monologue about his own past (Sumeru Archon Quest)

(OPTIONAL) Unreconciled Stars event story quest;

(OPTIONAL) Kaedehara Kazuha’s story quest;

(OPTIONAL) Hues of the Violet Evergarden event story quest;

Scaramouche was a vindictive guy seemingly shaped by his lack of heart.

He was abandoned by his mother, rejected by the first few people he felt he belonged with, and was still actively hurting in his grief for his first family.

His first community, though initially accepting, had rejected him after his pleas for his mother’s assistance during Tatarasuna’s time of need were turned down (at least, in his perspective). After a misunderstanding about whoever killed Katsuragi, then-Kabukimono adopted the name Kunikuzushi and massacred the families of the five gokaden related to Niwa Hisahide (and also in an effort to attract his mother’s attention).

What happens after these historical events is already known to most players– his involvement with La Signora in Inazuma’s civil war, his escape to Sumeru with Il Dottore, and becoming the Shouki no Kami.

From these events and from his own admission, there are no traces of him choosing duty out of love.

If the argument is for his demeanor after being defeated by Sumeru, Traveler, and Nahida, then I would have understood. Let’s say, maybe he chooses his role as Nahida’s prisoner to be repentant with grace, but then… for who? For love of what?

On the other hand, from his version of the events, he is a person whose grief has been fueling his rage against the gods (his mother) for centuries. His grief for his relationship with his mother, his loss of innocence, first friend, first little brother.

By his own admission, it would be easy to verify that he’s Anemo.

So let’s fast forward because, yes, that does mean he’s Anemo, but how does that prove that he has a Sumeru Vision?

Well, consider the conditions under which he got it.

Scaramouche deletes himself when he finds out that the anger that had fueled him for centuries was based on nothing but a lie. Kunikuzushi had massacred all those people for no reason, had ripped his companion’s heart out of himself because of his ignorance.

It’s a cowardly decision to choose to try repairing everything by erasing yourself.

And when Scaramouche comes back as the Wanderer— just as lost and listless as he had been the day his mother abandoned him– he wants to learn all of it, his bitter platitudes, his vindictive anger, his massacres, his crimes. He repents, wanting to learn more, by paying his actions forward.

So, he receives a Sumeru Anemo Vision. His talent books, his guiding principle? Praxis. Embodying his knowledge of an erased past for the betterment of the future of his victims and (more importantly) himself.

Section III: Thought Experiments

To round this out, let’s try out some ideas on some characters whose backgrounds we do know about.

Let’s say… Durin.

Name(s): (Mini)/(OG) Durin Place of Origin: ??? / Simulanka Species: (Toy) Dragon* Current home: Sumeru/Mondstadt

Information from

The Skyward weapon series;

Festering Desire;

Albedo’s story quest;

Summertide Scales and Tales event story quest;

Interlude Archon quest Paralogism; and,

The Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event story quest

(OG) Durin was created by Rhinedottir and, due to unforseen circumstances, released to Mondstadt during the fall of Khaenri’ah 500 years pre-canon. This was a time when the Abyss was encroaching on all corners of Teyvat similar to the Natlan Abyssal Invasion.

Durin, like Elynas, was not aware that he was trampling on humans and rampaging like a mindless beast. Dvalin and Barbatos subdued him, the fight ending with Dvalin injured and Barbatos exhausted. He has since been buried beneath the snow of what is now called Dragonspine.

But dragons don’t die.

Enter: Mini Durin, a fictional character a witch from the Hexenzirkel created to give Durin a satisfying conclusion, even if it is fictional.

Mini Durin has much of the same arc– being born with no knowledge that he’s behaving like a mindless beast, tearing up the landscape, and trampling all over the place. But there is no Barbatos or Dvalin in Simulanka. He ends up becoming Simulanka’s villain, fearful, embittered, and lonely.

So instead, Andersdotter gives him a king, a fairy, and a hero, all of whom hear his hearts desire to be with the people who are so scared of him. These people give him the body he wants and now we have Mini Durin, who has not only self-actualized but also has become a real being that exists in Teyvat.

So fast forward, in Teyvat, after absorbing the negative emotions of a scorned fellow Rhinedottir creation, Subject Two, the still-not-dead Durin begins creating copies of Mondstadters in an effort to do what Subjecet Two couldn’t do: kill Albedo.

In order to remedy this, Albedo asks for a grant the means with which to give Mini Durin a humanoid body, have him absorb OG Durin’s essence, and make it so that Mini and OG Durin’s want to exist (and coexist) with humanity balances out Subject Two’s scorn for Albedo.

In summary, Durin is a being full of yearning to coexist with humanity– Mondstadters specifically. To share that his birthplace and mother are all beautiful, that he was created with love and consideration, and that he himself is a beautiful soul.

I have two options, all under the assumption that Neo Durin is going to absorb everything that previous Durin remembers (+ Subject Two’s Albedo hatred):

Cryo (Solitude and yearning) - Mondstadt (Ballads)

This was already my initial bet because it was most likely. I know, we have like 5 or so Cryo units in Mondstadt already, but since much of his past is shaped by his yearning for connection, it’s hard not to see why he isn’t going to be Cryo.

Him being a(nother) Ballads user is because of the whole “spread the word,” idea they added from his POV in Festering Desire’s description.

Electro (Choosing duty over love/the self) - Mondstadt (Freedom)

Guess two is kind of a cope take (I really want an Aggravate buffer). But not for nothing!

Choosing to atone even as an entirely new and separate being from Durin, as Mini Durin did in Simulanka, is a freedom he’d willingly choose so long as he can coexist with humans, make friends, etc. He’ll forever be bound to the Durin of the past, but there will be people who love him as he is and that, itself, is freedom.

But those are my guesses. What are yours and what are the justifications? I’d love to know what you thought of these parameters and what your personal theories are!

[cloveroctobers]

Hello, I was wondering if you could write angst with Luca from the bear where Luca spends more time at the cafe than he does at home. And him and reader possible get into an argument about it? It can end however you see fit. - ✨

SITUATIONS — LUCA [Summer Requests]

A/N: angst you want? Say no more! I tweaked it just a bit so it ties in with s3, and it’s shorter than what I typically write but I hope you still like! ✨

WARNINGS: language & uncertainties in a relationship.

𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆

“Do I need to be worried?” You spit out, feeling your heart hammer in your chest as you stand a great distance from the bonfire.

No matter how far you and Luca walked off, it was evident to your friends, old friends of his, and new friends that your conversation was anything but good.

You were beyond frustrated with Luca and that was rare. The both of you did pretty well at voicing exactly what may be going on with each other but ever since you chose to continue to follow him back to the states, back to Chicago, you gradually saw the change in your boyfriend of five years. It’s only been a week into month two. Some called you crazy for picking up your life yet again to be right beside Luca but love will make you do things others might not understand.

“What are you on about?” Luca’s brows curve in awards in confusion.

Folding your arms in defense you swallow, “Luca, you showed up almost two hours late here with her, with Sydney. I called you repeatedly after looking at the spaces nearly all day and it took your sister to show up to the new spot, to tell you to respond to me; that’s only because she lives on that side of town.”

Luca took a three month leave from Brimstone’s Gate and since your slowly growing e-commerce pottery business: Whimsy Glazes was mostly online, you were able to pick up and go as well, although the rental space you paid for in Copenhagen carried all of your supplies and equipment, you considered opening up a physical business once Luca voiced after a month being in Chicago, that he would contemplate moving to the states for a change and to be closer to his sister.

Again it felt like you were making the sacrifices to be here with him and not once did he ask you but it was started to feel like a given. Like you were expected to just follow and maybe that was your first mistake once you left New Zealand behind. That’s where the two of you met for the first time, you’ve been settled out there since after you graduated university but Luca showed you another piece of the world once he came into yours.

New Zealand was for you what Copenhagen was for him and now he wanted a change but did that also include a different path from you as well? You never had doubts about your relationship even making it this far and not to say that it was a spotless relationship but this situation was talking to your gut more than ever now.

Luca deeply inhales as he responds, “I truly apologize for that love. Time got the best of us and I’m bad with keeping my phone on silent…that sound’s like excuses I know and I’ll do better.”

Digging your fingers into your forearms you state, “see that’s the thing…I had a feeling you would say this to me but you’ve been at Shapiro’s spot constantly.”

Luca loved to give Chef Shapiro shit since he tended to be snarky, always observant along with being opinionated and pushy—or persistent according to him. Once his found his own space, got it inspected, made the changes, and started planning out the interiors, Shapiro was quick on looking for employees. He even considered Luca but it seemed like the now buzzed haired blond (for the season—his words, something else he recently changed as well) was also holding out much like Sydney.

So you heard.

Ultimately she made her decision.

“I alternate,” Luca interrupts, “between the bear and Smudges—I mean—The Blue-Chandelier Bistro—sheesh that’s still a fucking mouthfull isn’t it?” He attempts to lighten the tension but you’re not backing down which makes him sigh, “Babe, I’ve never given you a reason to be worried about us have I?”

Shaking your head you look away from his stare out into the darkest of the navy ocean, “No but it’s been five years and the way you’re around her reminds me of how you first approached me: Slightly awkward but talkative, curious, a glimmer in the left eye of yours.”

Luca’s shaking his head, reaching to grab your chin so that your focus is back on his, “No, don’t do that. I love you, only you. I feel like you’re looking for something that isn’t there. Syd and I are mates and I thought you two got on well too.”

“I like Sydney.”

That was not a lie. She was thoughtful, passionate, funny even, and you related to her on experiencing not being heard in spaces especially in art school. It’s what drove you to have your own business and be your own boss. You genuinely wanted to see her succeed and you wouldn’t be pointing the fingers at her. Call it insecurity or the purple devil (like you often did) but somewhere beneath it all the signs felt like they were becoming more clear.

“She brilliant.” Luca comments in admiration and you slowly nod your head, “I give credit where credit is due and over this short span of time, we’ve connected.”

“And spent a lot of time together.” You add, “Which you’re supposed to do with your kind of field, I get it. There’s a group chat that I’m not part of with you, Sydney, and Marcus and I just feel excluded majority of the time. I start to think: Is it because I’m not a chef so I wouldn’t get it?”

It couldn’t be because you still hung out with other chefs with and without Luca and although you understand that it was healthy to have separate moments from your partner…the pull was becoming evident and you weren’t sure how Luca didn’t see that.

Luca says, “No. I didn’t think you wanted to be in the chat honestly. I’m completely fine not being in yours with your friends.”

“Because you hate them but there’s not a single friend that you have that I hate. I tend to like who you have around because I trust your judgement.”

Luca scoffs, “but you don’t trust me when it comes to Sydney? Which I don’t appreciate by the way. I wouldn’t do that to you, to us. Not when we’ve been together for almost six years.”

Sometimes saying the amount of time spent together feels like a safety net, to remind yourselves that it’s been a good minute, that the love should still be there and it is. However it would be foolish to say that ever since the days flew by in Chicago that the changes were beginning to feel real. Luca had the opportunity to rebuild the gap in his relationship with his sister, consider a life here, view what the cooking atmosphere would be like in the Windy City permanently as he ran down the list of restaurants to tour, taste test, and cook in.

Life was a bit slower in Copenhagen and now this was starting to feel like a consequence and it shouldn’t be, not when you love someone this much.

“…if there’s something there, you need to tell me—

“But there’s not!” Luca finds himself yelling and that’s something he never wanted to do in a relationship. That was his rule, to talk things out and not to shout in order to be heard.

It was what reminded himself of his parents. The arguments would be so loud and long that he would knock on his older sister’s door to hide in there for the night. She would turn the tv up so loud and their night would turn into a whole slumber party of watching movies and playing games until their eyes called them to sleep. He always ended up crashing first while his sister, Georgina would sneak out to grab snacks because she knew Luca would wake up hungry once the house has gone quiet. They were once siblings that provided comfort while dealing with the loss of their parent’s union.

Luca rubs at his jaw in vexation, beginning to pace while your heart continues to pound inside of its cage. He clears his throat as he turns back to you, “I’m sorry for raising my voice and I’m sorry for making you think that there’s anybody else. I know being here means that we both have to find our footing again but I don’t have doubts.”

“That we’ll make it?” You quiz, wondering how the man you loved could be clueless.

Luca frowns, “We don’t need to make it, we just carry on like we always do.”

“I don’t think that’s working for me though, Lu. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” You sigh, “there’s things going on for the both of us separately but what is there together?”

Luca goes silent at this. He wasn’t sure at first what you meant by this but as he starts to think, you only share moments at night in that cold stale hotel bed together and by then you’re both too tired to carry full on conversations. New information was only shared in passing before you’re both out the door again. There should be more than this like it once was but this can’t continue on if it feels like things are at a standstill.

“Then we’ll do whatever we need to do to get back where we should be.” Luca decides with determination in his eyes, “neither of us are quitters right? Don’t tell me you’ve given up?”

Your throat felt heavy with tears as you managed to get out, “…I’m scared Luca.”

“Good,” Luca exhales with a laugh as he pulls you into his arms, “that means you still give a shit about me and that’s a bit of a relief, I won’t lie.”

You sink into his arms, echoing his laughter you lock your arms behind his back squeezing your head against his chest, “I don’t think I can ever stop even if you don’t decide to stay.”

Luca feels his heart ache at your words because he didn’t believe that this was an end of an era for you two but now that it’s been brought to his attention, he realizes this situation is just as deep as you were experiencing it and he was willing to fight for it with you.

Saying goodbye didn’t sit right with Luca, since he tried to stay in long relationships and figured out what relationships entailed his time, energy, and heart. You were always worth it to him and he never wanted to imagine what life would be like without you.

So he kissed the top of your head mumbling, “I’m not going anywhere.”

That was a promise Luca intended to keep and you chose to believe him…unsure if this would be a mistake on your part underneath it all.

𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𓇼࿔*𝜗𝜚°❀⋆

Continue with my summer anthology writings & prompts here.

[thehypnone]

I just got a BUNCH of new followers this past hour because of my masks lol so I wanted to make a quick post about them that's up to date

all the necessary (and more) information is here, in a google doc. I'm currently working on making a website with an e-commerce and it's probably going to get launched somewhere in the summer after my break (more about it explained in the doc). I will also start a newsletter in place of my wishlist sign up to be more efficient. what I'm doing now was honestly just a curious attempt at seeing if it would work and, clearly, it does work, so I want to take it further. yes I'm going to be making more masks from ghost to expand my my product range. it might even end up a full on proper business, but that would only be possible in 1,5-2 years. I also invite you to follow my other socials, because tumblr is a platform I mainly use for my writing, not for my "business". my insta is for that, it's all linked in my bio/introduction post here. anyways, I'm rambling lmao welcome

[heyy-lovey]

Let's talk about the spending bill they are proposing and i'll break it all down for you. Right now they are proposing to cut medicaid/medicare by $880,000,000,000 dollars, yes with a b. Food assistance programs like food stamps and wick by $230,000,000,000 dollars. And a $330,000,000,000 dollar cut to education when America reads on a 6TH GRADE LEVEL. 54% of the population in the U.S. reads on a 6th grade level and they want to cut down on the education system when people can't even read or write a proper paragraph. Also only 47% of the population can name all 3 branches of the government, this is scary. Now let's talk about what they are putting all this money to, these funds will be allocated to $4,500,000,000,000 dollar tax cuts to the ultra rich. Now how do we know it's for billionaires and not us? The US senate a couple days ago was going at it until around 4 am over a budget resolution. That conversation (and I use that word lightly) between the democrats and republicans in the senate showed who this tax cut is for. Connecticut senator Chris Murphy said in a tweet around 4am. “It's 4am - still debating republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway. We offered an amendment to say no tax cut for those making over $10m. Every republican voted no., so we tried $100m. Every republican voted no. So we tried $500m! Every republican no. see what's going on?” Now who does that leave? Billionaires. The house of representatives proposed a spending bill that's all public knowledge just goes on congress.gov. So they wanna cut 880 billion dollars from the committee of energy and commerce. Now while that is a large number just please understand that the committee of energy and commerce has the broadest jurisdiction of any committee in congress. Basically they oversee a lot, examples being: food and drug safety, public health, also medicaid and medicare. Now because their focus is very broad that it can be argued that medicaid and medicare isn't what they are going after, after all 90 million americans are on medicaid or medicare. Specifically, cuts to medicaid/medicare would disproportionately impact red states. Red states receive more federal funding than they have ever contributed in general so cutting any sort of federal funding is going to have a detrimental effect on the people, specifically health care though. Red states have higher proportions of low income aging populations that rely on medicaid. So shutting it down is not only going to stress those red states and republican communities but it's gonna hurt their children who overwhelmingly receive medicare more than any other type of state. It's also going to hurt hospitals that rely on medicare/medicaid people, those hospitals that serve disproportionately low income families (who usually have bare bones medicaid). You would think Tr*mp wouldn't hurt these maga men, women, and children right? Well the evidence says otherwise, he would and is. Like right now he is. Please understand this. His very first day in office he rescinded an executive order that was written and law by Biden that actually strengthened the protections of medicaid. In tr*mp's first term ever he had tried many times to hurt medicare/medicaid funding so don't think that this is a new thing, he's been trying for a long time. Often many red state people are blinded by racism over it being called “obama-care” when that said obama care has been saving them. Red states are willing to lose access to healthcare over the fact that it has been labeled as “obama-care”. $230,000,000,000 dollars is getting ready to be cut from the committee of agriculture, now this doesn't just include farms and such but it is food stamps, SNAP, and wix. Now lemme mythbust real quick, the welfare queen myth. It is found that white people are the largest recipient of food stamps, snap and wix. And it's by A LOT. white people are counted for 60% of the population on SNAP, while all versions of poc are put into one category together that can be broken down even further with black people only taking up 27% of SNAP via the U.S. census.

[cherrycola27]

Red, White, and Bradshaw

A Red, White, and Rooster Sequel

Series Warnings: Language, alcohol consumption, political inaccuracies. Mentions of and acts of terrorism, death. Allusions to and full smut. Banner Credit @thedroneranger

Masterlist Next Part

...........................................

Chapter 1: Designated Survivor

At thirty-nine years old, you'd lived quite a life. You had been married to the man of your dreams for almost a decade. You had four beautiful children with him. You had been the First Lady of the United States, and you were currently the Secretary of Commerce for Bradley's successor, President James Hamilton.

Though you had worn many hats during your time in Washington, you never lost sight of who you were. After his time as president came to an end, Bradley supported your political career. He was more than happy to take a back seat from the spotlight and be a stay at home dad to your kids.

Andy and Elle were now seven, Leo, whom you were pregnant with at his second inauguration was five, and Wren, your fifth anniversary vow renewal oops baby, whom you loved very much, was three.

Your two boys were the spitting image of their father, and your two daughters were like mini versions of you. Out of all of them, Elle and Leo had definitely inherited your can-do attitude and "bossy" personality, as Bradley would say, while Andy and Wren shared his laid-back vibe.

Your family was your pride and joy, but you were also proud of the fact that you never had to sacrifice your love of business and politics to have them. You were blessed with a supportive husband who recognized how hard you worked.

When President Hamilton had first offered you a cabinet position, you were hesitant to take it. How could you raise a family and serve? Being First Lady was one thing. This was an entirely different level.

Bradley listened as you told him about your worries and assured you that he would do everything in his power to support you if you wanted to make this career move. "You supported me when I need you. You helped me follow my dream, and now it's my turn to help you." Bradley had told you as he held you in his arms one night.

The next day, you accepted the offer, and after a relatively quick vetting process, you became Y/N Wiseman-Bradshaw, Secretary of Commerce.

The first few months were an adjustment. You spent many sleepless nights venting to Bradley about how you thought you'd made a mistake and that you should quit. He would listen to your concerns and encourage you and soothe your worries each time. He celebrated all of your victories in your new position, both big and small. Everything was going well—too well.

.............

It was a quiet night in Washington D.C.

President Hamilton was about to give his first State of the Union address. You were in a secure, undisclosed location with your family. You had been chosen as the designated survivor. You thought it was silly, really. What were the odds that every single person ahead of you in the line of presidential succession died at the same time?

But you also understood the importance of it. You appreciated a good backup plan.

You were relaxing in some leggings and a well-worn, oversized Georgetown hoodie, staring at the TV when Bradley joined you.

He had an old Navy shirt and some flannel pants on. He'd just tucked the kids in bed before coming to watch the State of the Union with you.

He wrapped his arm around you as the two of you shared a bowl of popcorn.

"Oh my god, did I look that stuffy when I gave my speehes?" He asked as the two of you listened.

"No, Dearest. You looked exceptionally handsome." You told him. He laughed as the two of you continued to watch the screen. Everything seemed fine—normal even.

Until it happened.

A large boom shook the safe house just as the live feed of the address went black.

You and Bradley looked as each other with panic in your eyes.

"Bradley, go get the kids." You told him. He was out of his seat and racing down the hall before you could finish your sentence. You quickly flipped through the TV channels to see if you could figure out what was wrong. The sound of sirens and helicopters blared from outside. Whatever this was, it was serious.

Just then, Dante, the head of your security team, burst in the door. Mrs. Bradshaw, we need to move all of you now." He said in a protective tone. "Dante, what's going on?" You asked him. He didn't respond.

Just then, a news flash came over the TV, and your heart sank. Your children came running into the room and gathered around you as Bradley followed behind.

"Oh my god." The two of you said in unison. "Bradley, they blew up the Capital." You said in disbelief as you watched the screen. You couldn't believe your eyes. In the spot where the beautiful building had once stood was nothing but a pile of burning rubble.

"Dante, I need you to get the Seresin's on the phone right now." You demanded. "Mrs. Bradshaw, we need to get all of you out of here now. We will call them from the car." Dante said. You wanted to protest, but he was grabbing your arm and hauling you out door as more members of your security team escorted Bradley and your children.

You looked back over your shoulder just in time to see a banner flash stating that there would likely be no survivors. Your heart sank as you thought about all innocent men and women who lost their lives— your parents included.

Suddenly, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Andy and Elle sat on either side of you in the car while Leo and Wren clung to Bradley.

You were vaugly aware of him telling you that they had reached Jake and Jaycee. The Seresin's and their three children were fine, and more security would be sent to them.

Bright lights from police, fire, and military flashed through the streets of D.C. as Dante navigated them. You were sure someone was talking to you, but you didn't hear what they said. You felt like you were underwater.

You didn't register yourself getting out of the SUV or the fact that you were being taken through a back passage of the White House. It was only when Chief Justice Inglewood was asking Bradley to hold the Bible and for you to place your hand on, that you snapped back to reality.

"Wait, what's going on?" You said as you looked around the room.

"Mrs. Bradshaw, you're the designated survivor." Chief Justice Inglewood said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

You still hadn't processed what was going on.

"Honey, you're about to take the oath of office. You're going to be the president." Bradley said to you calmly.

You took a deep breath as Justice Inglewood looked at you. "Please place your left hand on the Bible, raise your right hand, and repeat after me." She began. You didn't even have time to process what Bradley had said before Inglewood started the oath.

"Do you, Y/N Wiseman-Bradshaw, solemnly swear to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of your ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?" Chief Justice Inglewood asked you.

That's when the reality of the situation hit you like a ton of bricks. The president, vice president, and everyone else in the Capital tonight were dead. You swallowed thickly as your children huddled close, not sure of what was happening, but aware enough to know something was off.

You took a deep breath and looked at Bradley for reassurance. He nodded his head and smiled.

"I, Y/N Wiseman-Bradshaw, do solemnly swear to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." You affirmed in a shaky tone. You felt like you were going to throw up. You tried to swallow, but your mouth was dry, and your tongue felt like sandpaper. You were vaugly aware of someone taking pictures in the background as you spoke the words.

"Congratulations, Madame President. I wish this could have been under better circumstances." Justice Inglewood said as she shook your hand.

You thought that it was odd that she was shaking your hand and congratulating you. You were here because hundreds of people had died, not because you won an election. You did deserve this.

Your hands started to shake as tears pricked your eyes. This was wrong. All wrong. You felt like you couldn't breathe. How the hell did you end up here?

Your husband turned to you and saw the fear in your eyes.

Bradley immediately pulled you in for a hug before cupping your face in his hands. He could sense the terror running through your body as the severity of the situation set in.

"Oh my god, Bradley. I—I—what am I going to do?" You said as tears threatened to fall from your eyes.

"Right now, we are going to tuck the kids in and read them a bedtime story. Then, you are going to go with Dante to a secure conference room and talk with the department heads that weren't at the State of the Union. You are going to figure out a way for us to get through this because that's what you do best, honey. You solve problems. Tomorrow morning, you are going to drink way too much coffee, put on a suit, and address the nation. You are going to let them know that we are down, but not out. You are going to show them how strong their president is. But most of all, you're going to do your best. That's all you can do." Bradley tells you as he kissed your forehead.

Dante doesn't give you time to respond or to help Bradley with the children before he is whisking you away again.

"Go get 'em; Madame President. I love you." Bradley said as he ushered you to go. You nodded and followed Dante.

You couldn't believe this was happening. One minute, you were enjoying a quiet evening. The next, you were thrust into a position you weren't even sure you wanted and knew you weren't qualified for.

"Oh my god." You said to yourself for what seemed like the hundredth time this evening as the weight of everything settled over you.

You were no longer Secretary Wiseman-Bradshaw. You were President Wiseman-Bradshaw.

Life as you knew it would be forever changed.

Dante and your other Secret Service team members stopped outside a door. Dante went ahead while you waited behind. Moments later, he returned and said,

"Madame President, they're ready for you."

Taglist: @daggerspare-standingby @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @hecate-steps-on-me @roosterscock @roosterbruiser @roosterforme @seresinsbabe @startrekfangirl2233 @soulmates8 @xoxabs88xox @avengersfan25 @blackwidownat2814 @loveforaugust @mak-32 @cottagecori @amysteryspot @heyimmadisonn @sunlightmurdock @lewmagoo @cassiemitchell @die-cunt @shipinabluebottle @malindacath @violyn20 @imawkwardlysoc @books-for-summer @blackroseboulevard @recordblues @desert-fern @luckyladycreator2 @katieshook02 @samhapner6 @sebsxphia @roosters-girl @diorrfairy @je-suis-prest-rachel @mizzzpink @a-linabean @amklibrary @gretagerwigsmuse @jstarr86 @actuallyazriel @krismdavis @bradshawsbaby @wkndwlff @dakotakazansky @multifandomlover4life @princess76179

[ardentrob]

TAROT INSPIRED POKEMON "The Lovers"

Picking up this series again with the intent to finish it. More art/info under the cut! (There's also a Youtube video if you'd prefer to hear me chat about 'em in my dulcet tones ❤)

________________________________________________________ A quick intro to this shindig: This project is about taking tarot cards (specifically the Major Arcana) and interpreting their meanings and symbolism into a Pokemon/Fakemon line. Today's Arcana is The Lovers! Based off of the Pamela Colman Smith art in the RWT, the card seems to play a lot off of Relationships and Duality:

The artwork depicts several examples of """opposites""" at play: Masculine and Feminine (The two humans), Impulsivity and Deliberation (Tree of Life/Tree of Knowledge), Conscious and Subconscious (Humans/Angel; Earth/Heavens) These conflicts, these dual forces, are representative of our own struggles internally and externally: It's not that one side should win or reign over the other, but that Both can and should find Balance; Harmony. Balance your inner conflicts and stand firm on what you Will and Won't tolerate. With that in mind, I decided to take those notes and use the snake present in the scenario as base for the line: While this whole scene is a very apparent reference to the Garden of Eden, I wanted to play a more sympathetic angle for the line since we already have a few more "villainous" serpents in the canon Pokedex.

Panaceasp (Panacea + Asp) JP: Hebii (蛇 (へび; Hebi; Snake) + 医 (い; I; Doctor)

Our first stage takes inspiration from the Rod of Asclepius: The motif of opposing forces works really well when we apply it to Medicine, since "the dose makes the poison", and Grass and Poison often represent Healing and Withering respectively. The intention with this one was to portray a creature out of balance: Its pose is errant and unevenly wound around its mobility aid, with one eye open and the other shut.

For Moveset: This little guy gets a signature move! Painkiller is, for all intents and purposes, a Poison type version of Pollen Puff: Damages opponents, heals allies in a Double battle. Beyond that, Panaceasp mixes strong attacking options with a bunch of useful Status moves, capable of inflicting Confusion, Toxic, and Paralysis while also keeping its own teammates healthy and status free. When traded to another player with High Friendship, Panaceasp evolves into:

Emissymm (Emissary + Symmetry) JP: Shishatai (使者 (ししゃ; Shisha; Envoy/Emissary) + 対 (たい; Tai- from 対称; たいしょう; Symmetry/Second Person)

The final stage of this line takes us from Asclepius to Hermes; from Rod to Caduceus; from Cane to Crook (or crozier!) Unlike the rod of asclepius, the caduceus is used erroneously as a symbol of medicine and healthcare. It is actually more a symbol of negotiation, used to represent commerce and trade more appropriately than medicine. According to Greek myth however, the staff of hermes was said to possess the ability to revive the dead and bring the dying a gentle repose, so it's a tangential fit for the initial medicine theme. More importantly, the caduceus is also a great symbol for balance and harmony; It's even featured on the Two of Cups Minor Arcana, which shares quite a few themes the Lovers as a whole! In this case we're presenting it as a two-headed winged serpent, where it relies on being "fully balanced" to even function properly.

Regarding its Moveset, we expand and replace a couple of its Level-Up options: Upon evolving it loses Shed Tail in exchange for Pain Split, and nabs some tasty new support options like Revival Blessing, Perish Song, and Wide Guard. While you have Leaf Storm + Contrary to take on a more sweeper-type role, there's some fun cheese to be had with the ability otherwise: Skill Swap contrary to a teammate and boost them with Strength Sap (or Feather Dance), run Scale Shot for a Trick Room team, etc. Beyond its moves, Emissymm replaces Shed Skin for Synchronize: Not the best ability trade-off, but since you're immune to Poison/Toxic, being able to threaten the return of a Burn or Paralysis is a decent defensive option to have in your pocket. Its Liquid Ooze ability also becomes a bit of a cheeky joke, as the caduceus is also used to represent the element Mercury, which is quite poisonous to ingest. (This is also why Emissymm gets access to Steel-type coverage à la Flash Cannon!)

Finally, a full-body view of the shiny palettes. Since I took some inspiration from alchemy regarding Emissymm's biology, I thought I could bring it all back around by going with a White/Red colour scheme, in reference to Rebis, or "Dual Matter"; The union of the Red King and White Queen; The ultimate reconciliation of opposing energies. Anyhow! That's it for now. I'm thinking of taking a swing at Strength next, but I suppose we'll see!

[firadessa]

Quick thoughts on Bleakwatch Chronicles: Tink and the Lost City (spoilers of the heaviest amount)

And on the Ring of Belief riddle, I will reveal more about Silvermist's quest soon, then I will do more riddles on the other character quests and general post. Just know that Silvermist's early characterization is not what it seems for a Water fairy!

General thoughts of Book 1

Worldbuilding:

-The touches of worldbuilding are just extremely well done. The writer really dug deep in the movie lore and did a good job bringing magic to the movie universe. Zach remembered the moonstone being the source of pixie dust and how it transmuted pixie dust from the moonlight. Even touches like Bartleby being a Tinker Bell type who wanted to prove Tinkers had a place and had a private audience with Clarion to do so. (unlike Tinker Bell's fuck around and find out approach) Supposedly.

-Bleakwatch is a capitalistic society, with a commerce system. There is a lower and upper class, the aeronauts with the suppressed talents with magic bracelets. Suppressed who suffer from "dust deperivation" meaning their wings are brittle, and do not have touch with their talent. Then there's an upper class with technology with an artistic side. It is very interesting these undertones in an 8-12 *Disney Fairies* book when you see Tinker Bell question what being a fairy really means to her and how different Pixie Hollow is from Bleakwatch/Clockwork Capital. How she is surprised by the commerce existence. but it just shows how much the author realized how much could be done with the original movie series. including using deleted concepts and a supposed early plot rumor from the early Pirate Fairy (Mythical Island) into the story. It makes me think he recieved archives and art from now defunct Disneytoons. A while ago I thought how a flying machine could be involved in Tink Meets Peter, because like how did Peter become an elf sprite thing in this universe? It's up to question what kind of adventure could have happened, so I imagined Tink building a flying machine for him, a regular child later turned mythical.

-Bleakwatchers do not trust the Never Fairies and view them as "rustic" hippie types, Quin teases her with these stereotypes even though it would be better for them NOT to know about Never Fairies. It's to control them. Think about it. Like its not even city/country in the way you'd expect as they are characterized literally as nature folk who run their society poorly. I believe this is the one of the strongest concepts in the book. I believe this society (or rather Bartleby) believes human society is the best way to run society, to decieve and lie and put up a front. Knowing he was a mastermind behind the talent supression, I think he was able to manipulate the magic as a Tinker and was a rogue* fairy like Zarina. I believe he was a Tinker, but his analytical mind wanted more and he wanted to manipulate the talent ceremonies in Pixie Hollow and wanted to "fix" things that were not objects. There is a ruse happening here, and I believe Bartleby got in touch with magic manipulation (fairy magic is a thing stated in TLT) behind talents and such and figured out to way to basically start his own society by basically creating his own moonstone that can transmute light into (blue) pixie dust. He seems the type to believe certain talents are better than others, yet lies and acts shock letting Maddox, his proxy (I dont know how that term is really used) take the fall for him. Maybe between books we will see Bartleby take more of the authoritative position (aka rise to "full official dictatorship"), and play 4d chess with the fairies of Bleakwatch/CC. Maybe he will release Maddox, and we will find out whether or not he was in on it or not. Do they have like... a magic crystal ball that predicts the rebellion of the fairies and who is loyal to who? How will this unfold.

-Not traditional steampunk which I love! It is very fairycore, natural steampunk. It feels both a fairy society and a humanistic society, combining both attributes. They feel like they are repressing their fairy selves, but it shows up in their architecture, industrialization, and overall consumption habits. Feels like an improvement from what we could have had.

-Very happy to know finally what happens with the laughs that don't make it to Pixie Hollow. But also, very sad.

-There's the idea clearly shown of repression vs freedom. The people of Bleakwatch and to an extent the elites no one can trust themselves and each other. Everyone is out for themselves. Yet those eccentric Never Fairies, are able to realize their truest selves and use the tools of nature to the advantage such as insects as commonly used as alarm clocks, volleyballs, lighting etc. Yet, Bleakwatch only uses a little but of fireflies and bioluminsent mushrooms heavily, and Bartleby has a connection to mushrooms with the Golden Dustcap. And they don't believe the Pixie Hollowians are accomplished and hardworking, that division is already sown.

-Dream talents and shadow talents as the "new talents" is getting me taking notes.

-The fairy doors, and how all the bracelets lead to Bleakwatch is interesting because the upper class fairies dont wear them and presumably live only in the capital, yet they are an integral piece of technology for the Bleakwatchers.

-The key to the talent bracelets was cold to the touch when Tink touched it and gave her a literal shock, almost like it has a security system or some arcane power

-The bracelets show "true self" when unlocked, oddly

-Bracelets reminding me of those Disney magic bands

-Gnome lore is cool, but probably a time issue with Big Ben maybe... him

Bartleby:

-Pixie Hollow exiles are canonically a thing? Was Tink almost one then? I suppose so, but it seems like the condition for exile is being 1. rejected by your talent group 2. leaving after feeling rejected by society. Maybe we will see shall it truly means to be a Pixie Hollow exile in book two.

-Dream manipulation/dream dross. Oh my gosh. What is with that. What does he know. Will this connect to the greater Peter Pan/DF lore of Never Land basically being a dream pocket dimension. Will they finally explain the connection to Neverland as like the magic pocket dimension and the Mainland and the oceans as lost human objects always appear there. I really hope they expand on that in a future installment.

-Disabled villain trope?? Bartleby has mechanical wings and has others do his work for them. But his wings almost seem prosthetic, and this makes sense as his weakness surviving in the human world, when Quin's makes *their wings go fast. (edit: to be honest I'm not even sure if they really explain what's going on with the wings)

-Bartleby might be more powerful, and possible a Tinker that can manipulate fairies, magic, and society. I believe she views Clarion is so sensitive, especially with the whole Milori thing which happened when Pixie Hollow was "very young".

-Weirdly conservative energy from him. He calls Tinker Bell a "reformer", this slip up shows his nature as an antagonist. And he uses the term "isolation" from PH instead of "protective measures"

-He called Pixie Hollow a Never Land colony (🤔🤨‼️💭⁉️)

Maddox

-I call the nature of his birth into question heavily, and believe he is either a creation of Bartleby (through dream energy) or his accomplice, a very talented dust keeper just like Zarina who worked with him closely. The parallels of Tink and Terence and her and Zarina to them are very high then.

-He is an interesting character, who seems to pride in "necessity" and "necessary evils"

-He takes a liking to Quin, perhaps he has some perceptive ability because he seems to pick them out as someone who will be loyal but also confused. I don't see any romantic undertones there just condesention.

-He targets people who he believed are the most useless in the society, and calls out garden and water talents but words it differently, calling water "water shaping." Humanization or just blatant ignorance?

-Seemed to have direct control of the talent ceremony, and limited the amount of talents a fairy could be. Dust talents play a crucial role in arrival day

Quin

EDIT: (2/7/25) Forget all the times I used she/they for Quin please! I was mixing them up with another character from Tinker Academy. Somehow. I was tired just like them. As evidenced how many times I repeated myself with just different wording...

-Best character here to me no question

-The unloyal soldier

-Heavy shipping material with Tinker Bell

-Definition of "keep your friends close and enemies closer"

-Wants the best for everyone, but is tired and exausted

-Leader of the Flutterpunks, emotionally fragile, untrusting, confused

-A dreamer who won't admit it

-Backstory was especially interesting

-Six is a crowd hmm

-Flutterpunks are family

-Has a weird "business relationship with Maddox", but its not an equal partnership and *they are basically being spied on and making unfair trades. Possibly Maddox playing with his food, believing the Flutterpunks could desent one day

-Attached to their coat and pocket watch named Little Ben, given by Maddox to "pay off a debt"??

-"Even a stopped clock is nice twice a day." Stop. OMG.

-Modified wings for speed (?), shows how talented they are as a fairy

-Will write Tinkquin fanfic now.

-Calls Tinker Bell "sprocket" which is just so cute

-Got a cool little fairy loft

Danveers and Darwin

-Cuties

-Same but different trope (i eat that up)

-Their wings didnt glow because of the talent supression, meaning talents and wing glow are of the same magic.

-One is a shadow talent and one is a light talent. Is shadow a natural byproduct of living on the mainland?

-Fashion oriented

-Twintuition

-Fira and Iridessa as sibling dynamic

-One of my favorites

-A package, do not seperate

-Light talents hair has a natural glow and shadow talents have a natural aura in their hair

-Easily scare

-The glue in the group

Ozwald

-Nerd who overanalzyes

-Perceptive

-Book smart

-Scribe talent, specifically code breaking?! Good non nature talents focused on for once. And I wish he was just called a cipher talent or something but its movie universe rules so

-Dismissed as the nerd in the group (by the twins mostly) and just wants someone to listen to him, who's intellectually curious

-Nickname is Oz to who he lets in

-Gives paper hairclip to tinkerbell, even when they didnt have a good haul which could mean... things

-Enjoys mystery novels, which might not exist in Pixie Hollow bc no robbers ig??

-Close to Quin

-Tink makes a comparison to scribble

Axel

-Hate the way he was written, or at least Tink's narration of "even feeling this" as a very stoic guy. It's giving the quiet kid phenomena from many US public schools, when extroverted kids are surprised when people who dont normally talk actually do and are all surprised when it's common for someone in that environment to just not want to talk cause it sucks to be there. As a result, i initially hated many aspects of how he was written as Tink was always surprised when he expressed any sort of emotion. He was always feeling a certain way, but TB was always surprised that he was which just took me out of the story a few times

-Described to be sort of a "gentle giant"

-Theatre enjoyer

-Wanted to see the masked singer who rebelled, who is likely Elmira

-Dream talent, possibly secretive and naturally perceptive because of this

-Private fairy who keeps to himself, independent

-Works out possibly to fight back and protect himself

-Mechanical hand?

Elmira

-Voice was supressed as a singing talent

-A storyteller singing talent allegedly who sung tragic songs, storytelling is considered unnessary

-A key player in this story (get it)

-Seems to be related to Elips from early Pirate Fairy rumors

-Hoping she isnt forgotten because of the lack of official art

-Can work a plane despite being a music talent

-Knows more but has a plot related injury

Tinker Bell

-Just taking it all in

-Ignorance and culture clash

-Trying to blend in

-Made me actually interested in her character

-Awkward

-The right way to do a Tinker Bell solo story (looks at TLT who used friends as plot device instead of a little world dressing..)

-Rule breaker who's curious

-Invented balloon carriers which are used throughout the hollow

Other characters

-Clank and Bobble show up at the beginning and were very cute

-Someone told me they were setting up Clank and Tink but i really dont see it, he just complemented her literal bedhead (also thanks for lending me your book scans!)

-Terence is Tink's best friend. He's in the friend zone honestly because Tink is a natually anxious person and so his he. They will not be canon ever on that basis I'm sure

-Friends are mentioned and show up in the end. Certain characters id if they found out she was going to the mainland alone, would tie her to her bed. Love it

Comparisons to other media

-The story reminds me heavily of the story of Arcane, havent played LOL at all but in Arcane there are two societies of the rich and poor and the way both are described in the book reminds me of Arcane, and I'll basically be calling this Fairy Arcane now. Quin specifically reminds me of Vi, of meeting an outsider and not understanding what to do in this sort of society suffering from exaustion. The ambassors and higher power reminds me of Maddox

-Bartleby reminds me of Belos from the Owl House, and Maddox feels like his Golden Guard. Got control of his (own) society basically to have others speak his messages with his own agenda, having his inner circle receieve all the benefits. And Tink reminds me of Luz here in this scenario, being manipulated. So does Quin, who reminds me of Amity too.

-Bartleby reminds me of Principal Reverend from Monster High's Haunted movie. In this movie, the worlds of the ghost world and monster world are far apart. Reverend is being punished and uses chains on everyone to make her punishment easier, and lies who she is. The ghosts are afraid of the "solids" from the monster world. When Spectra, a ghost investigator tells her about Monster High, a multiple monster school she calls Monster High a "progressive" school with a sneer under her breath. Tink is also like Spectra here, fish out of water.

-The fashion sense of many Bleakwatchers reminds me of the Capital from Hunger Games, and of the elaborate looks as the colors are very saturated, it seems like the beauty and the shopping confuses people. A lot of people dress boldy but also do very difficult technician work, it seems to be a lot like our society and I think that's on purpose.

Overall thoughts:

This is a wonderful book with a confusing marketing campaign and unfortunate release timing. It has so much depth, and if I have to emphasize, for a book of it's kind and it does a lot to elevate the existing material. I was surprised at the "French" clothier fairy a little. I loved the use of imagery and was surprised on the twists in turns, expressions (one I feel like didnt have a family friendly equivalent which is funny- they say "just jam it" like jammed gears and i was like wha). I would give the book a number rating of 9.9 out of 10 and a star rating of 4.8 stars. I'm confused on the illustration aspects especially with what we have and what we don't. I hope with AI taking such a strong hold in the industry, AI wasn't considered for imagery in the book to which there is very little.

What I wish will happen in the next installment(s)

-Tinker Bell and company being a private investigator team in Pixie Hollow

-Involvement of Zarina and another character

-Fixes and expansions on Pixie Hollow lore

-Lore for islands outside of Neverland past the second star

-Expanded Pirate Fairy lore

-Expanded Lost Treasure lore (like the mirror shipwreck etc) and fairy magic

-Battle between the others

-Close calls

-Bleakwatchers in balloon carriers and seeking refuge in Pixie Hollow

-More illustration

-Others seeking refuge in the hollow

-Getting caught by humans

-Expansion on dream and shadow talents (an early reader who got it said they were to protect them from humans, dont know where they got that from)

-Fairy rebellion

-Flutterpunk secret society

-Bartleby lore

-Pocket watch lore (both human sized one and little Ben)

-Talent expansion