#a TO who's undermined their boot since day one

[onlyhereforangst]

#oh bestie #you conditioned her to think that

[gatorlovebot]

Our chronic pain brain cells are sooo communicating rn. Ghost gets chronic pain the most out of everyone in 141. They’re all supportive, but ghost is the only one who gets it. Soap sometimes forgets about our limitations in his excitement (but he always always makes sure to reassure us and feels guilty. He ends up making a note on his phone that has what triggers us, what we can’t do no matter what pain level were at, and the things that helps us, and he screenshots it to make it his phone background). Gaz is trying his best, and he does good because he definitely has issues from hanging from a fucking helicopter, but it’s different, and talks to Price and Ghost for advice on how to help better, and does research online too. Price is caregiver (cough cough daddy) and has done all the research ever and has his own experience with aches and pains, but sometimes goes a lil too far and makes you feel weak or like a burden, and there needs to be a conversation. Ghost is just perfect. He knows chronic pain, knows the desire for help but also independence, and knows you. Best lover boy in the world.

I want all of them rn, they could put my icy hot patches on for me since I can never get them to stick properly on my own 🥺

🐶

i was hoping writing about chronic pain reader would bring you back to me 🥰

simon is the best lover boy and i will take no questions!! he just knows you. he doesn’t need to have notes and lists on his phone, he doesn’t need to have all your meds on standby, he never feels the need to do things for you, because he knows that you know your body. you’ve both with pain for years and he’s not going to try to undermine you by thinking he knows best.

ALSO since i wrote that post i have not been able to stop thinking about puppy simon trying to help you through a pain flare up.

maybe you came home from a long day and you didn’t really communicate with him how you were feeling, instead just focusing all your energy on getting yourself home. you breathe a sigh of relief when you finally get your key in the door, but then your face drops at the sight of simon sitting on the floor, waiting for you with his collar on.

any other day you would have dropped down to your knees to give him kisses and love after a long day a part, but all you wanted when you came home was for him to help you take off your coat and boots. you struggle with them on your own, huffing at him when he tries grab at your jacket sleeve with his teeth. you feel awful snapping at him, at the way his brows furrow in confusion, and then shame.

once you finally get yourself settled he tugs on your shirt sleeve towards the kitchen, reminding you that not only do you have to feed yourself but now you have to feed him. you try not to cry on the spot. but by the grace of god he has something cooking in the oven already, timer going with a little note on the counter that he must have written before he slipped into puppy space, his scrawl informing you that all you had to do was take the pan out of the oven when the timer dings. this time you do cry, and do your best to bend down to cover his nose in kisses, he luckily meets you halfway.

with a few minutes left on the timer he next takes you to your bedroom where he has loose, comfy clothes laid out on your bed to change into. he sits and watches you patiently, a noise of concern leaving his lips whenever a noise of pain left your’s. but deep down he knew that getting changed was something you could do on your own despite your condition, so he just sat and waited until you were done.

dinner was a breeze and one less thing for you to worry about in your state, serving up plates for the both of you and parking yourselves on the couch so you could rest your tired and sore body. simon stayed close the rest of the night, using his knuckles to dip into the painful spots of your lower back <3

[jmdbjk]

Jungkook is all grown up ~ Min Yoongi, June 13, 2022

So, I guess we’ve all had a chance to restart our hearts and get our big girl undergarments changed after seeing this:

Is this the “climax” of what Kookie has been working on since early February? He's had an agenda all this time?

Jungkook has been trying to break out of this BABY star candy, golden BABY, BABY highness, giant BABY villain bubble he’s been in forever. I feel called out, JK. Let’s not kid ourselves though. He’s been grown up for a few years now.

JK biases/stans have always been horny over him and see him as his My Time performance sex god. It took me a while to view Kookie in that light. The muscles, the boxing, the tattoos, the piercings do not tickle that "sensation" in me as easily as it does for the JK biases. I'm resistant to his "charms."

I do love him but Jimin is the one who makes me think and feel things I won’t detail here. As I said to my bestie the other day: "I don't know why I feel that way about that skinny little thing." Seriously, the idea of a bias is so interesting though isn't it? So, just saying, the following is my point of view as I think out loud....

When I first saw this image:

… for a split second my brain registered "Jimin" and then went "huh?"…. hmmmmm. Of course it also went, wow, naked. Also I thought, let's get it JK... bring it.

And then upon seeing the rest of the images and his behind the scenes video I had to sit with it and think about it... the other similarities in the other images: the spikes, the grainy photo effect... very intriguing. They (Jimin and Jungkook) really do play off each other don't they?

As I'm processing all of this, I think about what I know:

They have a team of stylists. They have a team for content. They have teams for each member. They have staff. It's the "big machine" that Namjoon mentioned once. And the big machine all work in tandem.

What I’m assuming:

The teams may work on all or some of the members. For instance some people on the style team may work on Jimin and Jungkook but not on RM’s team. We don't know though. Might be one team who works on every single one of them and individuals are just delegated to doing the tasks.

More specifically, and also for example… I know Bit and Boot (the hair stylists) travels with them overseas. So I am going to assume the Bit n Boot team consists of a point person and several others who style their hair. Or maybe they are one and the same person. Or maybe several stylists. I don’t know. I'm assuming more than one because when they are overseas they need others to tend to the other members needs elsewhere.

I know the wardrobe team in the past has explained they get samples from clothing companies or design houses and they catalog them for future use. They meet with the members (at the time I saw this information the solo era had not begun yet) and determine what sort of look or concept will suit a particular theme. This is a very creative process in my opinion. And this one particularly would be involved in the members' solo concepts because other than the actual set surrounding the subject, its the clothing that conveys the vibe and theme.

So all that being said… seeing JK’s images very similar to Jimin’s is so interesting to me. I feel 99% sure it was not a coincidence nor was it incompetence or the ridiculous claim of “plagiarism.” I saw JK's smile when he saw Jimin commenting during his lives. I saw it when he was watching Jimin on tv. I saw him say wait until midnight when something amazing is coming (SMF MV) so don't try to tell me now that he's undermining Jimin's work.

There’s something else going on here that we don’t know what the goal is yet but copying Jimin is not it. JK is conveying his concept. I am a big proponent of the members making the choices and decisions for their solo work. I am 99% sure this was done intentionally. But why?

HOWEVER. THAT BEING SAID. I recall how much Kookie has been watching Jimin over the years. At least ten years now. And I feel strongly that Jimin has influenced JK tremendously. I feel like JK has learned how to be empathic and he’s learned about work ethic (though putting that into motion for him looks much different than it does for Jimin). And if Kookie thinks Jimin is sexy when he does [insert whatever it is Jimin does that turns Kookie on] then he might try to emulate that? Remember, I'm just thinking out loud here.

Or are they really just flipping us the bird and doing what they know turns each other on? That would be a fabulous joke on us. I would love it, to be honest. Jungkook has been vocal in the past whenever Jimin has shown his sexy side and he's been pretty obviously obsessed with him in his lives lately too.

Anyway...

We may never know, it might be a mystery forever why the image concepts are so similar. We can make up all the theories we want (and we do) and make assumptions and “put two and two together” reading between the lines, but knowing exactly what was going through their heads is something we’ll never know unless they tell us.

Is there something in the near future that this is all leading to? I guess we have to wait and see… (don’t you hate it when someone says that?)

Maybe it will be for the long awaited Jikook collab? I had a video concept that I sketched out roughly for my bestie yesterday but now I'm going to elaborate on it: JKxJM collab, the MV opens with Jimin stepping out of his Like Crazy MV set with the mud splattered pants and JK stepping out of his Seven MV set in his oversized outfit and they start taking off their clothes but underneath each layer are their "look alike" clothes and there is layer upon layer they have to take off and its comical because there are so many couple outfits they've worn over the years, until finally they get down to the white tank tops and boxer shorts and then they break it down in the mother of all dance breaks that will break the internet and slough off the dead meat of the fandom and then when the song is over, they walk off the set arms over each other in a giggling fit.

Why hasn't BigHit hired me yet? My brain is full of these uniquely creative ideas that will never see the light of day.

[writingonesdreams]

Summary: The gang meets the person that will or won't authorise their dragon management licence. Intro to Cameron, the man who can read the mind reader.

Author's note: Very strong inspiring scene. Who is Cameron, what makes him special and how he can hit Skye right in the feels.

Snake Charms

They have all been nervous about this day.

The department for dragon management should send an expert to verify their licence. The person should go over their “headquarters”, see their interactions with dragons and how they were “stored” and accompany one of them on a mission to see how they could deal with a wild dragon on the ground. 

All reasonable concerns from what Skye could see. 

As expected, Hal was nervous. He didn’t really interact with people outside of them and anyone from the “outside” who was not to become a student made him suspicious and paranoid. His unease was buzzing in her head like a swarm of bees. He couldn’t even keep his aura in check, since he had to hold the Islands down. Outsiders usually only came to the one chosen Island, where the ground purposefully disconnected from the most sensitive parts of the Islands’ collective consciousness as per their deal with Hal. For visitors and newbies that came for testing. Only after passing this simplified inner harmony tester, could they set a foot on the actual Islands under controlled safe conditions. 

But this guy had to see their school and how they operated, without becoming a member. Getting a look at how they lived and worked, an unspeakable intrusion for Hal, especially since the person’s intentions and inner harmony couldn’t be tested by the Islands. Hal huddled in his big black coat, not even hands visible, black hair hiding most of his youthful face in a shadow, green eyes glowing a little too much. At least he seemed scary rather than scared. Great talent.

Leander refused to show any sign of discomfort, opting for a black shirt and his favourite leather jacket. He was sprawled on the couch, his screaming relaxation a little too forced to be natural. Zephyr didn’t pretend not to take it seriously, wearing a nice fitting suit, black curls neatly combed back and sea green eyes earnest and calm. When she got nervous from Hal’s disturbed emotions or angry about Leander’s expectedly unreasonable attitude, she just looked at him and calmed down. 

Skye didn’t want him to him know she needed calming down. So she spend choosing a blouse and a blazer today with exaggerated care. And she actually put a lipgloss on, oh the drama. It was illogical to be nervous about this. If she felt confident and prepared, then nothing could go wrong today and fear would be just getting in the way and undermining her belief in what she knew and worked on. 

On the other hand, not feeling fear felt like a terrible dare of fate to make things go wrong. 

She wished she could be so internally calm like Zephyr. He was the picture of perfection and professionalism and he would certainly manage to be polite and friendly and welcoming without trying to win any favours or licking anybody’s boots. Why were the rest of them even there? Best case scenario, Leander would be bored, Hal would be afraid and she would just be in the way. 

But letting him do this but also be a kind of admittance of incompetence, wouldn’t it? What, she wanted to leave him to do all the work? When it came to organising and making decisions about the academy, the subjects, the programm and the research, they let her decide. Or more like no one else was taking over, so she did and it felt good to be her own boss in these things. So she occasionally freaked out whenever she was doing the right thing for everyone and spend embarrassing amounts of time researching other schools, but that was a normal learning process, no?

She still wished that someone knew to encourage or compliment her, reassure her she was doing a good job at things. Or like, showed appreciation. Ugh.

Skye hated that feeling. That need for appreciation from others. It was so low and primal and emotional and stupid. She should be able to give herself everything, without depending on flimsy moods and unfairness of others. They couldn’t appreciate her part anyway.

And then the guy walked in through the door. 

He had messy chocolate brown hair, long enough to frame his face almost to his chin and with bangs stylishly falling into his forehead. Wearing a sand-coloured trench coat and a balck vest over a light blue shirt that highlighted his baby blue eyes, Skye got the impression he knew how to dress to impress. A guy who cared about his visage. That wasn’t a good sign.

He strolled in with a confident, almost cheerful step and offered them a toothy smile. “Hello, dragon school. Hah,” his gaze washed over them in a quick judgmental sweep, “I sure expected a bunch of old dudes. This is a nice surprise.” He winked at her.

“My name is Cameron Blake. Your future career now depends on whether I like you or not,” he grinned.

A stunned silence followed.

Skye could only manage confused blinking. Fortunately, Zephyr only smiled and shook his hand, like that wasn’t an absolutely outrageous thing to say. 

“Nice meeting you, Mr Blake. I’m sure we will be able to show you how reliable our dragon management is,” Zephyr said, unshakable control and perfect save as always and proceeded to introduce them all while she was trying to hide her outrage and nod politely to keep up with the rhythm of the conversation. 

They sat down on the blue sofa in the conference room opposite their guest. 

“So, tell me something about yourselves. And let’s start with the girl, I’m not really interested in a bunch of guys, no matter how young.” Cameron turned to her again, with such indulgent plain gleefulness, she wanted to slap him. She looked around her at the guys, wishing someone would call him out already. 

“Careful, buddy,” Leander growled, “she is taken.” He pointed at Zephyr, who was still a picture of calm perfection, looking on with a passive face.

“Oh really? And he needs you to speak for him?” Cameron smiled. “Kinda hard to take any of you seriously.”

Leander jumped up from his seat. “Alright, I’ve had it with you, you little-”

Zephyr stood up quickly to physically prevent Leander from hurling himself on Cameron…who seemed to have perked up with the escalation and leaned against the couch with crossed legs. “You shouldn’t talk like that to the guy your licence depends on, buddy.”

In that instant she also felt a sting of anxiety and barely held back rage from Hal, piercing her brain so strongly her forehead wrinkled. If Leander didn’t break him in two, Hal would. 

This was going nowhere. And the impossible guy was even enjoying himself!

Skye took a deep breath and stood up. The pressure in her head made it hard to think and she about had it with her own nervousness. She was so worried about such a jerk!

“I have an idea. What about you boys go and leave us with Mr Important alone,” she suggested. Zephyr and Leander froze in the middle of pushing each other and

Hal stood up and frowned. Are you sure? He asked her in thoughts.

I am. He will be easier to handle without this chaos around. 

Skye also sent reassuring waves Zephyr’s and Leander’s way with some iron underlining to make them go already. She was fed up with the situation and just wanted to let loose on this guy without them looking. 

Zephyr, as always, listened to her. He dragged Leander with him and Hal followed them out. 

When the door closed behind them, she seated herself back opposite Cameron, who now sported a puzzled frown over that neverending grin.

“Oh? That’s bold, even for me. But I’m up for any fun with a cute girl.”

Skye let the sharpness show in her smile. “I won’t tolerate that. We will talk business or we won’t talk at all. And no, I don’t care, if you won’t give me a licence. Maybe you should remember you are on the famous Flying Islands and that they are dying to kick you out, if it wasn’t for me holding them at bay.” 

His eyebrows rose. “A show of power then?”

“That’s what you are here for, isn’t it? To see the power that can be measured with dragons.” 

She touched the mind of the dragons in the garden then. Three were sleeping, but two responded, and eagerly leaped on the railing, shaking the building in process and shoved their heads through the sturdy balcony doors at once.

Cameron, to his credit, didn’t shoot out of his seat or start yelling. But the sight of two young energetic dragons putting their heads through the door and growling with joy did raise him from his relaxed position. His feet landed on the floor with a loud bump as his back tensed, ready to move, if needed. 

He obviously did have experience with dragons and he obviously didn’t feel quite safe in here. Her smile grew more genuine. Good. 

“You are a mind mage,” he said, dazed, eyes not leaving the dragon heads. The red one stretched her scaled neck inside and propped her horned head on Skye’s lap, dagger like teeth flashing in a dragon version of a smile. The blueberry violet one bend her neck above the couch and smelled the air in Cameron’s direction. 

“Impressed yet? Cause our dragons act like overgrown cats around us. They are really misunderstood creatures. Just want to be treated with respect,” she gave him a pointed look at the word. “You know now, why I’m not worried if you will give me the licence that doesn’t cover half of what I can do with dragons?” 

Cameron raised both his hands. “I give up. Yes, count me impressed. I never saw any mage treat a dragon like a cat,” but there was obviously no better word for what the red lady dragon was doing, “and by a mind mage no less.”

At least he didn’t just openly say the mean stuff he thought. He said the good stuff too. 

“Life is hard,” she sighed amusedly, leaning back, patting the dragon on the forehead. “People underestimate me all the time. But mind magic is the most powerful. Especially in my hands.” 

Cameron put his hands down and leaned back again, something like startled amazement on his face. “You are not exactly humble about it.” 

“No one’s gonna believe you,” she said, wrinkling her nose. It felt good, feeling so confident, not having to think her words through, not minding who was watching. Her dragons and magic at display, she completely relaxed for a change. The headache and anxiety were all gone and his open admiration was an unexpected bonus. 

“Let me guess,” he leaned forward. “You are usually playing the shy one, right? Like you did when the others were here? Don’t think I didn’t notice how scandalised you were at my words. But you expected the others to deal with me. Why?” 

“You admit you intended to scandalise me?”

“Oh, I absolutely intended to scandalise everyone. It’s my hobby.” 

She snorted. He was so shameless!

“I did end up dealing with you, didn’t I?” 

“True,” he nodded. “But speaking of that, is Zephyr truly your boyfriend? The serious one?  Cause he was the only one I couldn’t rile up, and by all rights he should have been upset.”

“That’s Zephyr for you. He doesn’t get angry.”

“Wouldn’t you like him to, though? At least, when it comes to you?”

A beat of silence passed. She looked down at the dragon head settled on her knees. She stretched her long snake-like neck all over the floor and settled her body on the balcony. 

“Is this some kind of interrogation?” she said.

“No. But you answered truthfully until now. And you liked it. Why not continue?”

“You dare suggest you know I liked it?”

“I dare suggest you don’t often say all that you would like. And I’m really good at reading people. As a mind mage, you gotta appreciate that.”

She held her tongue. Suddenly it wasn’t so fun anymore. The topic made her heart beat faster and sweat break out on her back. A small but familiar pain settled in her ribcage, right under the heart. 

“How can you stand it, being with such a saint? It must feel like being stretched on strings of perfect self-control all the time. Like being watched and having to watch yourself, to not destroy his impression of you.” Cameron’s voice turned surprisingly gentle.

That touched a nerve.

“What about you, then?” she heard her own voice getting hysterical. “We all wear masks. You came to provoke a fight with your clients, you make jokes and flirt and then get respectful, and then pretend like you care. You change your mask every second, like you have a one for everything.” 

“All the masks are me. I play, stab and pretend, and I change with every person I talk to, but no mask of mine is ever a lie. Just because you are suffocating under yours doesn’t mean they are the same,” he said in that gentle warm tone. Almost comforting. Patronizing.

“Some people shouldn’t be honest," she snapped. "Maybe most people shouldn’t. Who is interested in all the nasty stuff that goes on in a human mind? We don’t say the truth, cause we don’t want to hurt each other. Because it's the only way to get along."

Cameron hesitated. Then he propped his elbows in his knees, and said: "I would like to see your unmasked most nasty side."

Skye wanted to burst into tears. Instead she burst into one of her laughters. It was the kind of hysterics induced cover laughs that didn’t fool her, but usually did everyone else. She wasn’t even doing it on purpose anymore. Somewhere along the line she lost the ability to cry in front of people. Her throat closed up and her eyes were burning and everything was aching, but she was laughing regardless.

Cameron looked shocked, then horrified. He left his safe distance position on the opposite couch and tentatively sat down next to her. No, he didn’t seem fooled.

How unlikely. How rare. How precious was that?

[conkniving]

july 16, seal harbour apartments ft. @b4rredteeth — benny

one day. one day was all it took. to shrivel up in embarrassment for how she begged for stella's forgiveness, shame for having broken their trust in the first place. to abandon work in favour of the company of a few beers stocking her fridge, which only led to crawling around her apartment for any single shred of addiction in which to partake. and to come to the conclusion of who was really to blame. far be it her own fault, a product of an illness she's been drowning in for longer than she cared to admit. no. the real fiend, the catalyst, was him. and finally, she could do something about the state of her grovel, the persisting fucking panic polluting her being. revenge, it tasted so sweet, but it was only a fragrance. fallon had to have the whole mouthful, to have bhaskar chanda gritting through her canines. the house arrest monitor felt as weighty as an iron shackle — for all intents and purposes, it was exactly that. the mistake laid in the allowance of the leash her parole dictated, and it bore no significance as she stormed the hallways of the infested apartments with the din of night to enshroud them. her figure was an omen — unkempt ebony hair shagging about her gaunt features, unblinking, fingers flexing, donning only a monochromatic fit of tank-top and jeans. noises abound at all hours of the complex and so she bade no heed to the inevitable thumps of her boots as they brought her to a doorway she knew once crossing the threshold would wreck further havoc. what did it matter anyway? since the whole goddamn disappearance was sensationalized, everything had gone to hell, undermined. it was stella's face, the expression in her eye, that was on fallon's mind as she brought knuckle to the numbered plate. the moment benny parted the door a fraction, fallon piston a foot for the handle and relished in the resounding CRACK of it against the man's countenance.

[colnerys]

lemme throw a tldr here — it’s just me ranting abt how much i hate dick berman and what he did to kira. also in terms of this blog i will have the divergences to stay more faithful to what nana visitor wanted vs what’s actually portrayed. anyways.

okay, i know i’ve been complaining about this a lot lately but in my defense, i’m also actively rewatching ds/9. full disclosure: i love w.or.f a lot. i relate deeply to his narrative of not feeling quite klingon and not fitting in with humans (the diaspora allegory hits y’all) but i really hate how he was introduced in ds9 as a way to directly undermine kira’s authority, and narratively, you can see him beginning to replace her in the place of the friend group. 

starting s4, you really start to see kira hanging out with dax, julian, and even miles waaaay less than she did in the previous season. instead, she’s replaced by w0rf most of the time —— as if they can’t have more than one “outsider” trying to integrate in the group. to top that off, he’s given the position of being defiant’s executive officer even though kira was the XO since the defiant was brought onto the show. in fact, it’s not even given much thought to it. you don’t see sisko talking to kira about the transition, you don’t see kira’s reaction to it. no, he’s just given that position despite the fact that kira has more experience with the ship, that kira knows the kinks of the defiant, and that kira has the most professional synergy with the engineering team (at least, at that point in canon). 

this makes me think about how nana visitor had anxieties and reservations about bringing w0rf onto ds9 because she didn’t want him to replace kira. w0rf was brought onto ds9 to bring up ratings, and it’s very obvious in retrospect too when we think about how worf’s life on ds9 is never brought up again after the show ended. 

on top of all that, they “physically” softened kira up. this is something we know happened because it was to please the men viewing the show, and the women who’re so into policing other women for not being “feminine” enough. not only do they change her uniform drastically — it’s just her’s too! other bajoran militia members still have their utilitarian uniforms! they have shoulder pads, belts, realistic boots for people who work on their feet all day whilst kira’s wearing fucking booties with heels all because nana visitor “walked like john wayne” 

paying close attention, i see them pushing kira away from her friends and pushing her more towards o/do as if to subtly set them up for a romance plot. to top that off, she has more notable interactions with fucking DUKAT than she does with dax, who we’re supposed to believe is her best friend. the same DAX who provided her with a sounding board of reason (ie. look at “duet - 1x18″). this is also the season where dukat begins to SHAMELESSLY and RELENTLESSLY hit on her, harass her even more than he already does. oh and the cherry on top? she’s paired with shakaar, who was most definitely a grown ass adult man that met her when nerys was a literal child. the obvious inclination of pairing kira with all these men who are significantly older than her starting this season is, as we know, a common and incredibly misogynistic hollywood trope. 

the producer, executive, writer who we shall not name being the main driving force of why kira was changed the way she was makes it hard to ignore the misogyny that drove this change. it’s not what nana wanted, but it was something she had to compromise on because she loved kira. still, i cannot help but to think about the amount of gross storylines that kira’s been thrown into / almost thrown into (ie. romance with .... du....kat)

whilst nana absolutely killed it at kira and did all she could to protect the integrity of her character, she was 100% a victim of 90′s misogyny and in some ways, even homophobia (bc never forget nana and terry wanted kiradax canon :)) 

[weakforarwen]

Arthur's Bane (Part 1)

God, this episode drags with all those useless Merthur scenes. They're the least interesting parts of the episode. In short:

Merlin was withdrawn and quieter than usual after the druid seer showed him Mordred killing Arthur. Arthur noticed and tried to comfort Merlin but it made no difference. Merlin wanted them to head back to Camelot, and Arthur wouldn't leave his men behind:

M: Arthur, without you, Camelot is nothing. All that we've worked so hard to create. Everything will be gone. A: Look, no matter what adversity we face, we stand for what is right. To betray our beliefs, Merlin, that is what would destroy everything we've strived for. I swear I'm going to rescue my men... or die trying.

One of these conversations should've been enough, but they had it on four separate occasions (at Queen Annis's, at a camp before Morgana attacked them, after the attack, and in the scene above).

Moreover, the writers continue to believe that peak humor is Arthur yelling out Merlin's name or acting like Merlin's an idiot. Was I meant to laugh when Merlin, Arthur's "fool", juggled to entertain Queen Annis and Arthur was shocked he could do it? Was Merlin missing a very obvious trap and getting him and Arthur caught up in a fishing net supposed to be funny? Haha, Merlin's such an idiot. Haha, Arthur and Merlin are so dumb they can't set themselves free?

Similarly, was I supposed to be endeared when Arthur threw his boots at Merlin after they had a heart to heart?

Really? Was this the best they could do?

The highlight of this episode is clearly Queen Guinevere. She made quite an entrance. Arthur had Merlin look for the Queen who was apparently nowhere to be found (and, of course, Arthur wouldn't look for her himself), but she turned up on her own, walking down the stairs all regal-like. She was late to the council meeting, presumably because of Sefa, but Arthur still said she was right on time. It's sweet that he wouldn't start a council meeting without his Queen, although, traditionally, those aren't the type of events Queens attended. But Arthur and Gwen were different. Arthur trusted Gwen the most and didn't wish to rule alone, and Gwen took her job seriously so she was very much involved in the governing of Camelot.

But they still had very different roles. Arthur was their sovereign and had maximum authority; Gwen's judgement was valued and she had her own responsibilities, but she wasn't Arthur. I don't think she would've felt comfortable imposing herself too much as the Queen. She wouldn't have wanted to undermine Arthur's authority, just like Arthur had rarely disagreed with his father in public. Gwen trusted Arthur quite a lot, so she deferred to his judgement most of the time, unless she believed he was unequivocally in the wrong or needed her perspective. I understand why she was so careful. She wasn't brought up to rule like Arthur; she didn't have his knowledge or experience, and wouldn't want her ill-formed opinions to steer Arthur wrong.

But that doesn't mean she didn't voice her opinions or concerns. Though she was quiet, she was really observing, judging, learning, taking mental notes, carefully weighting her options; we've known this about Gwen since season 4, that she thinks before she speaks (eg. the deleted Arwen scene in The Wicked Day or her and Agravaine in The Darkest Hour).

As such, Gwen first weighed the pros and cons of voicing her concerns or sharing her ideas, especially in public (she spoke more freely around Arthur), and, when she felt certain that doing so would benefit Arthur or Camelot, she spoke up. It was Gwen who suggested that Arthur should approach Ismere through Queen Annis's lands to have the element of surprise. It was a very clever suggestion that everyone agreed to, and clearly not for the first time. Still, although Arthur hadn't hesitated to take her advice, Gwen had hesitated to give it. She was silent for some time, deep in thought, before she finally, carefully, spoke. She was visibly relieved and happy that she was right. Even after three years, Gwen was adapting to her role, gaining confidence. Arthur had decades of experience on her and still leaned on others for advice and often made the wrong calls. Imagine how much worse it would've been for a former servant.

Something I've noticed, and mentioned multiple times because it bugged me, is that Gwen was often concerned for Arthur's safety but didn't always voice those concerns; or she did and we just didn't see it... I believe that was because Gwen knew to pick her battles.

Arthur was stubborn when it came to defending his ideals as Gwen very well knew. She knew he would never leave his men behind so she didn't even ask him to. However, she did voice her concerns to Arthur in Another's Sorrow, because he hadn't just been motivated by doing the right thing (helping an ally, stopping someone else from losing their father); he'd been seeking vengeance. So, Gwen kept silent whenever Arthur went on one of his dangerous missions, despite her fears, but on the condition that his motives were pure.

However, despite her cautiousness and inexperience, Gwen was not afraid of leading her people and stepping up her game.

This episode had two goals: 1) foreshadow Arthur's death and who would cause it (Mordred, Morgana), 2) show that even without its King Camelot would be in safe hands because Gwen was more than up to the task.

For three years, Gwen had sat on all of Arthur's meetings, watching and learning about war and governing, building relationships with the knights and the members of the Round Table. Furthermore, due to Arthur's many absences, she had also led the meetings and taken up his duties. Arthur, at his core, was a knight, a warrior. He valued his men as much as he valued Camelot. It was a matter of honor and pride for Arthur that he could not send his men out to fight alone knowing they'd die, and he could not order his men to do anything he wouldn't be willing to do himself. As such, Gwen was often alone, and had to rule alone.

We saw in this episode that Queen Guinevere was confident, firm, decisive, and looked to no one for answers. She understood right away there was a traitor in the castle, and being highly observant, quickly figured out who it was. She arrived at that conclusion alone, and crafted a plan to catch Sefa's father alone too. She told no one of her plan; Elyan and Gaius were shocked by her decision to execute Sefa. But Gwen was strong and confident enough to give out such an order, even if she had no intention of seeing it through this time.

The scene of Sefa being dragged into the throne room and kneeling before her sovereign reminded me of the times Gwen had been in that same position. Even Sefa's dress reminded me of one of Gwen's.

Gwen knelt before the King of Camelot 4 times. Twice with Uther, when she was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death, and twice with Arthur, after the cheating and during her coronation. But she didn't have to kneel before Arthur for long: he immediately told her to rise in Lancelot Du Lac and helped her up when she became Queen. Thus, the scene between Gwen and Sefa was more similar to the times Gwen was brought before Uther, including the sentence she received. That's why the scene is shocking.

However, their circumstances were different. Sefa was punished because her actions cost the lives of men, not because she and her father were druids, and Gwen also had irrefutable evidence against Sefa, unlike Uther when he sentenced her to die. And, still, although conspiring to kill the king was treason, Gwen didn't want to kill Sefa because she understood her position.

It's also worthwhile to notice that Gwen could've postponed Sefa's judgement. She could've let Arthur take care of it. But she knew she had to act fast, because Arthur's life was on the line. She willingly took up the responsibility of sentencing Sefa.

I wonder what Gwen thought of Sefa's father and the plights of magic users. Did Sefa's actions convince her that Arthur's attitude towards magic was right? She was never too keen on magic.

Sefa: He only wants what's rightfully his. Were he a physician or a warrior, his skills would be revered. But sorcery! He deserves respect like any man. G: Respect is to be earned! It cannot be bought with blood. Your treachery cost the lives of many good men.

This scene reminded me of when Merlin asked Gwen if she would kill Uther as vengeance for her father, and Gwen said she would not, because that would make her no better than him. Gwen is more virtuous than Arthur. He wanted to kill Carleon for killing his father, even if he himself had killed Carleon's son.

These are the only good Gwen episodes of the season. I admire this Queen Guinevere, and I see servant Gwen in her as well. Unlike in the rest of the season, this episode's Gwen feels familiar to me. She was still warm and kind, like when she spoke to Sefa as a friend, or smiled at Sefa and Merlin's awkward interest in each other, but she was also aware of her new role. She knew it was up to her to take charge and lead her people in Arthur's absence.

Gwen's so different from Arthur in so many ways; the way she treated Sefa, her servant, for one. She asked Sefa to sit with her and even offered her the Queen's food. She spoke to Sefa like a friend, taking note of her mood, of how she was adjusting to her new role, praising her work, asking about her love life.

Gwen cared about the small things. She watched over the castle and its people. Arthur cared, but he didn't really notice his servants. Gwen even noticed Sefa leaving the castle at night.

Where Arthur was hasty and hot-headed, Gwen was careful and level-headed. Arthur would've forgiven (but not pardoned) Sefa for betraying him, but he wouldn't have seen beyond her betrayal. He wouldn't have thought to use the girl to get to her father. Maybe someone would've suggested it, but it probably wouldn't have been him. I don't believe Arthur would've sentenced Sefa to die, but he would've wanted her out of his sight immediately.

Arthur expected loyalty from people. All his life he had relied on others. He had his servants to do everything for him, he had his knights to watch his back, and he even had his father to support him. Arthur always had some form of a support system. He trusted people easily because he needed to trust people - for example, he needed to trust his knights with his life in battle. To him, people existed for him.

This is why Arthur was easily deceived or manipulated.

But Gwen didn't grow up relying on anyone, aside from maybe Tom, and her mother before she died. She had to look out for herself, for her father, for Elyan. She had no support system. She was a servant, invisible to most. But that also meant she could observe everyone in secret and learn their true nature. Gwen, unlike Arthur, knew how to read people. She wasn't easily deceived or manipulated. Arthur was coddled and told what he wanted to hear, he didn't know how to see past the lies.

Furthermore, Gwen didn't just live for the present. Like Arthur told Merlin this episode, "a warrior learns to enjoy each day as it comes". That was Arthur's issue. He thought like a warrior, when he really was a King; he couldn't take his life lightly when the future of Camelot depended on him. But Gwen saw the big picture. She waited and supported Arthur all those years because she believed life would improve when he became King.

Gwen was bolder than Arthur. It was perhaps a bit cruel to use Sefa to find her father (Sefa watched her father die and knew it was because she'd been followed), but Gwen's quick thinking helped Arthur, and showed she had vision, that she could be proactive and not just reactive, like Arthur.

Curiously, I think Queen Guinevere was a bit of a mix of Arthur and Uther. Like Arthur, she was compassionate, fair, kind, loyal, a believer of equality, and of the opinion that a sovereign should be respected, not feared, and that respect should be earned, not forced. However, she was cautious and not as trusting as Arthur, firmer, more guarded, more proactive, more independent, more shrewd than Arthur, thus a bit closer to Uther in that regard - not that Uther would've had the foresight to use Sefa the way she did, blinded by magic as he was.

Before I sign off, was Merlin actually into Sefa? It kind of looked like it, but I'm not sure. It's not the first time Merlin had looked interested without being interested - ie. Gwen and Morgana in season 1.

Also, the Diamair being a black woman/alien, hiding underground because her kind had been used and abused by white people, was a bit... The white High Priestesses and druid seers were respected for their knowledge and sight, but the Diamair were hunted? The druids were also hunted but they lived in communities...

Lastly... Arthur said he valued the lives of his men which was why he had to look for Gwaine and Percival. But, in order to save his Knights of the Round Table, he sent many less skilled men off to their deaths. Didn't he see the irony? I understand that he had to fight for his men, to show their lives had meaning to him - but we all know he wouldn't have done it for anyone else. To defend his ideals and find his friends, he risked the lives of men who had no choice but to undertake such a dangerous mission (and without a Merlin to keep them safe). Were those men's lives not important to Arthur? Or were they replaceable to him, unlike the Knights of the Round Table?

[jfbuckley]

Two for the price of one!!

What a travesty!! I forgot to publish my football correspondent’s masterly report on our victory at Luton. SHAME on me!! But first, you will have to read his thoughts on our lamentable performance against Fulham…

hi - united have done well recently but with the exception of the 3 goal victory v west ham the general feeling has been that united have been winning in spite of themselves and that success has been largely due to the deficiencies of the opposition and a bit of Lady Luck

fulham are poor travellers and have not won away since the opening day and last won at united in 2003 so despite the loss of shaw and hojlund due to injury one felt united would have enough to win

united made a slow start and similar to recent opponents fulham had a lot of the ball and created some opportunities which were either squandered or required onana to make some good saves - at the other end debutant forson was not having much of an impact but neither were senior pros like rashford and fernandes - united had rashford at no.9 and garnacho on the left and forson on the right - if it were down to me i'd have had mctominay as a straight replacement for hojlund but mr ten Hag disagreed

the match meandered into the 2nd half and half way through fulham forced a corner - the cross went over lindelof and was headed by bassey into the body of a colleague - bassey pounced on the rebound and smashed in the opener

united tried to rouse themselves but in truth didn't look like scoring - i was saying as much to a fellow fan when Fernandes crossed and leno pushed it aside only for the lurking maguire to equalise on 89 minutes - with 9 minutes of stoppage time to be added on it seemed written in the stars that a trademark late winner would arrive

it duly did and the celebrations on the field were joyous and prolonged - unfortunately the majority of the crowd did not share the same feelings because it was the visitors who found the net - a united attack had petered out when lindelof miscontrolled in the box though he prevented a fulham goal kick by putting the ball out for a throw near the corner flag - a long throw found traore who sped away from eriksen and maguire and raced into the united half - he found iwobi at the corner of the box - a clever jink made space and he clipped the ball into the corner past the wrong footed onana -

thats the trouble with late goals the opposition can score them as well - united have won this way at fulham a couple of times in the recent past - this time the boot was on the other foot - i also recall united levelling against palace thru dan james after 89 minutes only for van aanholt to grab the winner

no one was bad for united - trouble was that no one was good - it was all bang average and another let down for the supporters whose hopes of a top 4 finish had been raised only to be undermined yet again by a hugely underwhelming performance

post match ten hag praised his players for their character and spirit and that the bigger picture looked good - maybe he or i need to go to  specsavers

in midweek it is the cup at forest followed by city on sunday - a win in the former and a loss in the latter seems probable -defeat in both might have jim ratcliffe contacting someone like graham potter - we shall see

bye

—————————-

hi - thus far in 2024 results have been kind to united and they have yet to taste defeat - luton promised to be a venue where united ought to achieve the victory that is necessary if top 4 ambitions are to be realised

luton kicked off and their first attack was repelled when casemiro whacked an aimless clearance downfield - defender bell tried a backpass but made a complete hash of it and hojlund collected, drove forward and drifted wide of the keeper before making it 1 - 0 after 30 odd seconds

a few minutes later a garnacho shot from a corner was cleverly diverted into goal by hojlund's chest and united were 2 up - it was reminiscent of the fast start at newport

unfortunately just like at newport united allowed the opposition back in the game - luton halved the deficit on 14 minutes - luton pressed and harassed united - an unsettled casemiro gave away numerous free kicks and may have been red carded - just like at newport united were grateful for half time

luton dominated possession in the 2nd half but it was united who made - and squandered - all the chances - garnacho, fernandes and dalot all just had the keeper to beat but failed miserably - keeper saved well from rashford - fernandes also shot wide when just faced by the keeper -luton hit the top of the bar with a header from the last corner of the game - united hung on fairly comfortably as onana didn't have to do much after the early flurry of goals - luton had huffed and puffed but couldn't blow united's house down

so another win for united but there are still concerns to be addressed - it is a strange thing to say but the time to worry as a united fan is when the team takes a 2 goal lead - sensible game management is absent as 11 individuals try to get into the scoring act - it is frustrating as the same pattern is repeated - it seems an impossible dream that united will be able to shut up shop and see out a 2 - 0 win

on a positive note mainoo was marvellous - always cool, calm, composed and collected - evans performed splendidly as a 2nd half sub

in a couple of weeks it is city away - would i take united having a 2 - 0 lead - oh yes i would - as long as they came after 89 and 90 minutes that is

bye

[buruniuk]

[noblemaurer96]

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[outzenortiz12]

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[thevoidfishsminstrel]

Lena let out an undignified squeak as she grabbed hold of the bookshelf beside her in an effort to not land on her face.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

Lena turned, wiggling her foot back into her heels properly, before freezing, eyes widening at the caped figure now scrambling to her feet.

An array of books and magazines were spread out on the floor, presumably the culprit of her latest near death experience. It was as though National City’s newly revealed superhero had been sitting in between the bookshelves on the library floor… studying?

Lena clutched the cheesy romance novel she had been too busy reading to her chest as Supergirl looked at her in concern.

“Miss?”

Lena’s brain finally restarted and she cleared her throat, straightening her blazer. “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You’re sure you’re not hurt?” Supergirl was wringing the edge of her cape in her fingers, looking far too nervous for someone who was suspected to be the strongest being on Earth by several sapphic blogs that Lena most definitely did not read.

“I’m fine.” She reached out to put a hand on Supergirl’s forearm in an impulse comfort gesture. “I promise.”

Supergirl seemed to relax slightly, some of the tension seeping from her shoulders. She held out a hand. “I’m Kara.”

Any tension that had left her immediately returned tenfold, eyes widening in panic as she froze.

Lena bit back a smile and took Kara’s hand, shaking it despite Kara’s lack of movement. “Lena. And don’t worry - your secret’s safe with me.”

Kara deflated, running a hand through her hair. “Alex is going to kill me.”

Lena laughed and patted Kara’s bicep (definitely the strongest being on Earth). “Maybe you should stop saying names now.”

Kara grimaced. “Oops.” She looked like she was about to say something else but stopped and looked at Lena again. “Wait… are you Lena Luthor?”

Lena straightened up, careful mask falling into place to try to hide the way her heart sped up and her throat constricted. “Yes.”

But before she could launch into her speech about how she was different from the rest of her family and only wanted to help, Kara lit up, crouching down to shuffle through her piles of literature until she came up with an issue of a science magazine from a few years ago.

“I just read your article about sustainable building and how we can introduce cost-effective eco-friendly measures to construction to reduce the damage done to the environment and promote a symbiotic relationship with nature.”

Lena blinked.

Kara almost poked herself in the eye before redirecting the movement to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sorry, I just thought it was really interesting. You’re probably tired of people asking you about your work.”

Lena’s eyebrows rose. “No I… I don’t mind.”

Kara smiled and Lena found her heart racing for an entirely different reason. She redirected her attention to the books scattered on the floor.

“So what’s National City’s resident superhero doing studying civil engineering, first aid and… veterinary science on the floor of the library?”

Kara blushed and knelt down to start scooping up all her things. “Sorry - I know I should have been at a desk I just got carried away.”

The pile of books was up to Kara’s eyebrows when she stood up and Lena laughed, taking the top third of them from her. “And I shouldn’t have been reading and walking. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

Supergirl shrugged, toeing at the worn carpet with her red boots. “I’m new at the whole superhero thing. I don’t know where to freeze breath a building to hold it up or how to save someone who’s got water in their lungs from almost drowning. The other day I rescued a snake from a tree and tried to wrap it up in my cape to keep it warm and the owner told me ‘thanks, but reptiles are cold-blooded so they don’t warm up like that.’” She pouted at Lena. “The owner was a ten year old.”

Lena bit back a smile. “So you’re trying to learn how to be a better superhero?”

She shrugged and bit her lip. “I just don’t want to mess up.”

Lena considered her for a moment. “You know, I happen to have degrees in a few different kinds of engineering. And I made everyone at L-corp, including myself, take a first aid course when I took over.”

Kara looked as though she was trying to contain her hopeful expression. It wasn’t working very well, although that probably wasn’t surprising since her motto was ‘hope, help, and compassion for all.’

Kara bounced on her toes excitedly. “Would you help?”

Lena grinned and gestured to the left with her head. “Come on, I know which desk is the best in the library.”

———

It became somewhat of a routine after that. Every Saturday, Lena would go to the library as normal, pick out a new cheesy romance novel for the week and some kind of thick science book to hide it underneath, and then meet Supergirl in the back corner of the library, at the desk hidden behind the spare computers from the 90s where no one would find them.

Kara would normally already be there, pouring over texts and making notes in coloured pens and highlighters. Lena had bought her a rainbow of folders and dividers for each of the aspects of superheroing she was trying to improve in, and they had spent one very unproductive but fun day labelling and decorating them. They were now covered in random doodles, squiggly multicoloured patterns, and stickers that Kara had found in a rotating rack by the front desk, immediately claiming were essential for her learning.

During the week, Lena would keep an eye on any news of Supergirl, getting some strange looks from Jess when she walked into her office to see Lena cheering as Kara did something they’d worked on together. At the weekend she would listen to Kara excitedly retell those same events until the librarian came over to shush them. She seemed to be the only person in National city that wasn’t completely charmed by Supergirl, and it always led to half an hour of Kara pouting and asking Lena why the librarian didn’t like her.

It was a few weeks before Lena got there first. She frowned, checking the surrounding isles of books for any caped figures but they were all empty as usual.

She sat at their desk and opened up the book she had randomly grabbed off a shelf, putting her latest romance novel inside it to covertly read. It was called ‘Lost and Found: A Love Story’, the back of it claiming it was about a woman who ‘drops her scarf at a train station but ends up finding something much more meaningful in the woman she bumps into at the lost and found.’ It was exactly as awful as it sounded.

Kara bounded up to the table about 20 minutes later, a coffee cup in each hand and a satchel slung over her shoulder that made her cape bunch up awkwardly. She beamed at Lena and set a coffee down in front of her.

“Guess what I just did.”

Lena slammed the books shut inside each other, scrambling to put her arms over them and rest her chin in her hand casually. “What?”

Kara either didn’t notice or didn’t care, rounding the desk and putting her bag down on it with a grin. “I laservisioned the supports of a broken crane back together using some metal from a billboard and now it’s totally fine for use again.”

Lena’s eyebrows rose. “What happened to the crane in the first place?”

Kara’s cheeks heated and she looked away, rubbing the back of her neck as she mumbled, “I may have flown into it a little bit.”

She scowled at Lena as Lena started laughing but it was undermined by the way her lips tugged up.

“Oh!” Kara lit up and started rifling through her bag. “I brought you this.”

She held out a book with a bright smile. Lena’s eyes widened as she looked down at the cover of what was very clearly another cheesy romance.

“It’s my favourite love story. It’s a bit like the one you’re reading at the moment but better, in my opinion. I thought you might like it.”

“What?” Lena scoffed. “I wasn’t reading a romance. I was reading…” she glanced over to check what book she had picked up, internally filling with regret as she read the title, but she had already committed to the facade. “The rhyming dictionary.”

Kara was very clearly trying not to laugh. “Ok. Well I’ll just leave this one here. And in case you didn’t know,” she leaned closer to Lena’s ear as she climbed into her seat, and whispered, “I have x-ray vision.”

Lena blushed, refusing to look at Kara’s smug grin. She cleared her throat and moved her books off to the side, along with the one Kara had put down, as casually as possible, and attempted to change the subject.

“So you remembered about weight distribution in support structures?”

Kara paused in taking folders and notes out her bag to turn to Lena excitedly, rambling on about her save, gesturing wildly with her hands.

Lena picked up her coffee as she listened with a soft smile, absentmindedly taking a sip.

She frowned down at the cup. “Is this my usual?”

Kara paused in her rambling. “Yeah. Does it not taste right?”

Lena shook her head, staring back down at her perfect coffee, cheeks heating at the heart drawn in latte art that Kara probably didn’t even have anything to do with. “No I just… I didn’t know you knew my order.”

Kara grinned, raising an eyebrow (Lena should never have taught her how to do that). “Perhaps you’re not as elusive as you think, Lena Luthor.”

———

Lena arrived at the library one Saturday to find Supergirl staring at the front doors like she might set light to them any moment.

“What’s wrong Supergirl? Lose a fight with a door handle?”

Kara turned to her with a pout, pointing at a sign hanging on the other side of the glass. It read ‘Library closed until 23rd due to water damage. Apologies for the inconvenience.’

Lena sighed.

“Where am I going to get my books for this week, Lena? I’m never going to understand civil engineering without them.”

Lena bit the inside of her cheek, the rational part of her brain at war with the part that was helpless to the superhero’s pout. It had to be one of her superpowers because Lena would never admit she was actually soft.

She tore her gaze away, trying to seem casual. “I actually have some engineering textbooks at my apartment. I guess you could borrow them if you wanted.”

Lena squeaked as Supergirl crushed her in a bear hug, lifting her a few inches off the ground. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

Lena laughed, trying to turn it inconspicuously into a cough when a passerby gave a slightly shocked and confused look at the sight of a Luthor and a Super laughing on the library steps. Kara dropped her back to her feet, stepping back with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I got excited.”

Lena shook her head with a smile. She turned to go but as she went to gesture for Kara to follow, her hand caught against Kara’s. Her brain misfired and decided in the split second where her index finger hooked onto Kara’s pinkie that the best course of action was to commit to it and simply hold hands. In an attempt to make it seem less affectionate and more practical, she walked off quickly, dragging Kara along in the direction of her apartment.

She could feel Kara’s smile like rays of sun behind her. At least her hair was down to cover up the heat that was creeping up the back of her neck.

Her apartment was only a few minutes from the library. She had to slap Kara’s hand away from the elevator buttons before she pressed them all, marveling at how many floors there were.

“So this is where you live?” Kara looked around the hallway, panicking when she snapped a leaf off of a decorative plant, while Lena unlocked the penthouse door.

Lena pretended not to see her discreetly dropping the leaf into the plant pot but raised an eyebrow at her. “No, Supergirl. I just decided we should come and stare at this random person’s door.”

Kara ignored her, walking past into her apartment and looking down at the city below through the large floor to ceiling windows. “Nice view. I should take you flying sometime - it’s even better from up in the clouds, especially at night.”

Lena closed the front door, trying not to think about romantic flights and being cradled in strong arms. “I’ll go get the textbooks.”

She moved towards her home office, Kara trailing behind in interest. The engineering textbooks were over in the left corner and she scanned the alphabetised section for the ones she wanted.

Kara ran her fingers over the spines of books until Lena was done. She smirked at Lena, letting her hand trail teasingly down the bookshelf before she left. Lena blushed as she realised why. Kara had found her fiction section, over half the books in which were very clearly a certain genre.

Lena groaned and followed her out.

They spent the entire afternoon on the floor around Lena’s coffee table, going through the textbooks, laughing over Kara’s constant puns, and eating the seemingly endless supply of snacks Kara produced from her bag. It wasn’t until the sun had started to set that Lena realised how long they’d spent simply telling jokes and stories.

It was alarmingly easy to just be around Kara. Strangely, Lena didn’t think she minded.

———

Lena frowned as someone knocked on her door. It was a Saturday morning and she was just about to leave to meet Supergirl at the library.

She only grew more confused as she opened the door to see a fluffy white cloud panting happily at her and squirming in her direction. A head poked out from behind it, looking just as happy.

“Lena, hi! Sorry to just turn up but the mean librarian lady threw me out because apparently you aren’t allowed to play fetch in the library.”

Lena stared at the woman currently holding a large puppy in front of her, familiar blonde curls pinned back and glasses slipping down her nose. “…Kara?”

Kara blinked at her for a moment before she seemed to realise. “Oh! Right. Sorry - this is what I look like normally. When I’m not being Supergirl I mean. Alex said I wasn’t allowed to wear the suit all the time because it had to be washed.”

Lena nodded slowly, trying to reconcile the image of this Kara with Supergirl and to not think too hard about the implications of Kara being comfortable enough around her to show her her civilian identity. “Right. Why do you have a dog?”

Kara lit up. “I saved an animal shelter from a fire and they let me adopt this guy. Isn’t he adorable?”

Lena looked at the matching faces of excitement. “Very cute. But why is he here?”

Kara shrugged. “Well I couldn’t leave him after I’d just adopted him so I thought he could join us for our study session?”

Lena crossed her arms and Kara pouted. It was somewhat undermined by the puppy licking her face and making her giggle but Lena was still helpless to resist.

“Ok but he better not mess up any of my stuff.”

“Yes!” Kara grinned, wiggling the puppy excitedly, his ears flopping about.

Kara kissed her cheek on her way into the apartment and Lena’s heart skipped a beat. The puppy licked her in an attempt to join in but even that didn’t stop the way her heart raced.

They settled on the couch, facing each other as Lena quizzed Kara with flashcards. The puppy alternated between curling up in Kara’s lap and zooming around Lena’s living room, falling over his own paws.

“Ok, last one. How do you treat a sprain?”

“Ice it with my freezebreath, wrap it so it’s compressed but not cutting off circulation, keep it elevated.”

Lena grinned proudly. “That’s it! Done.”

Kara threw her hands in the air in delight, squealing as she propelled herself forwards to tackle Lena to the couch. She pulled back just as quickly, pushing up to brace herself over Lena.

“Sorry. I got excited.”

All the breath had deserted Lena’s lungs and she stared up at Kara. A light flush rose on Kara’s cheeks, pale pink against the deep blue of her eyes, bringing out the freckles that dusted her skin.

The flashcards slipped from Lena’s grasp as she surged up to meet Kara’s lips. Kara’s arms almost buckled but she caught herself. And then she was kissing back.

Lena’s hands slid up Kara’s back, practically pulling Kara down on top of her.

They were both breathing hard when they pulled apart, eyes closed and foreheads rested together.

Kara was smiling softly down at her when she finally opened her eyes. She had shifted to hold herself up on one hand and one elbow, her free hand gently stroking back Lena’s hair.

She looked like she was about to say something when she did a double take over the armrest of the couch behind Lena and her soft look turned into a wince. “What was it you said about the puppy not messing up any of your stuff?”

[damonalbarn]

Hey I was wondering if you knew the article that Justine spoke about suzi in?!

It was in The Guardian in 2000. Here you go:

Sweet revenge

In the mid 90s, Justine Frischmann and Damon Albarn were the First Couple of Britpop. Then he used a Blur album to rake over their break-up, while she languished in obscurity amid rumours of heroin addiction. Now she's back with a new album, and it's her turn to exorcise her demons.

Caroline Sullivan

Friday March 24, 2000

As Alison Moyet once said, it's hard to write a decent song when you're happy. Rock bands thrive on romantic turmoil in their private lives, without which they would be reduced to padding out lyrics with football scores and the weather.

Thus it was for Blur's Damon Albarn in mid-1998 when he sat down to write what would become the 13 album. His eight-year relationship with Justine Frischmann of the chart-topping Elastica, whom he once described as **"the only person who's ever been completely necessary to me" **had just ended, at her instigation. Pained and humiliated, he decided to exact revenge by exposing their most intimate details to public scrutiny.

The outcome? Embarrassment for Frischmann, a number one album for Blur and a bit of a result for Albarn.

Break-up albums are by definition both embittered and yearning - in the case of Marvin Gaye's vindictive Here, My Dear, they're just plain nasty - but 13 got more up-close and personal than could be considered gentlemanly. Albarn portrayed his former partner as neurotic, even slipping apparent drug references into the single Tender: "Tender is the ghost, the ghost I love the most/Hiding from the sun, waiting for the night to come". Frischmann was the ghost, supposedly, who was on the verge of being consumed by what one music paper euphemistically called "the darkness at the heart of Elastica".

Frischmann's response can be found on a song called The Way I Like It, which appears on Elastica's first album in five years, The Menace (out next month): "Well, I'm living all right and I'm doing okay/Had a lover who was made of sand, and the wind blew him away".

This is unlikely to be her last word on the subject. As she ambivalently begins her first round of interviews since 1996, she's finding that everyone has the same three questions. Why did Elastica nearly sabotage a promising career by taking so long to follow up their million-selling debut? Had Frischmann taken leave of her senses when she walked out on Mr Britpop? And what about the drug rumours?

"One journalist said to me, 'Dahling, I heard you were on heroin - Mahvelous!' " she says with some amusement. "Drugs are around, but I'm not that interested and never have been, although there have been elements of party animal in my band. The rumours are a lot to do with rock'n'roll mythology, where people want to believe you're having a more exciting time than you are."

The only drugs on her person today, as she perches on the edge of an armchair in her publicist's north London living room, are Marlboro Lights. Her other indulgences are two cups of herbal tea and a Cadbury's Flake cupcake, which she nibbles with well-bred pleasure. Her dark eyes are clear, and her long, tanned body is a testament to the virtues of a daily swim in a pool near her Notting Hill home. Only Elastica know whether they really succumbed to heroin and hedonism after their self-titled debut made them more famous than they'd ever expected to be, but if they did, Frischmann, 30, seems little the worse for it.

Given the current predominance of damnable boy bands, the Britpop mid-90s are beginning to seem like a halcyon period for English music. It was a time when the underground went overground, and a self-described "little punk band" like Elastica could sell 80,000 albums in a week.

More than a few loser guitar groups saw Britpop as a licence to print money, but Elastica, led with cool elan by the androgynous Frischmann, were one of its gems. The Blur connection was a marketing godsend (Frischmann and Albarn met on the London indie circuit, she as guitarist in an early line-up of Suede and girlfriend of frontman Brett Anderson, he as a cherubic baggy hopeful), yet the spiky-haired Elastica LP embodied that euphoric time like nothing else.

Frischmann, guitarist Donna Matthews, drummer Justin Welch and bassist Annie Holland were unprepared for the album soaring to number one in its first week. When they signed their record deal, Frischmann, whose great-grandfather was a conductor of the Tsar's orchestra at the Summer Palace in Byelorussia, was five years into an architecture degree at London University. A liberal north London Jewish upbringing - her engineer father built the Oxford Street landmark Centrepoint - had instilled expectations of success, but the reality of being photographed in the supermarket and having her rubbish stolen was a shock. Fiercely independent, she also resented her unsought role as half of Britpop's First Couple.

There was more. Two of Frischmann's musical heroes, The Stranglers and Wire, decided that two Elastica songs were suspiciously similar to two of their own tracks, and won royalties. Meanwhile, there were malicious rumours that Albarn had done much of the work on the record. He hadn't, but he did find Justine's success in America, where she was substantially out-selling Blur, hard to endure.

"It was very hard for him to deal with and he's very confrontational," she says, with the flattering openness of someone who prefers interviews to be more like conversations. She admits she often says too much, but in an era of image control and spin, her honesty makes her a one-off. Not that she's likely to land herself in it too badly - she possesses the intellectual ammunition to look after herself, which must have been instrumental in attracting two of rock's more articulate stars, Albarn and Anderson.

She's been accused of being a professional rock girlfriend, though it was probably they who were lucky to get her. She spent the cab ride over reading the Sylvia Plath letters in Monday's Guardian, and muses on the irony of the poet's subjugating herself to Ted Hughes when she was the more gifted. (Her new boyfriend, by the way, is an unknown photographer, "though that'll probably change, because men seem to get famous when I go out with them".)

"I reacted the way a lot of women do, by being passive," she continues. "He put a lot of pressure on me to give up Elastica. He said, 'You don't want to be in a band, you want to settle down and have kids.' " In so many words? "In so many words. He kept putting on pressure till I started to believe him." She adds bemusedly: "I've met his new girlfriend, and one of the first things she said was that he wanted her to give up travelling with her work to stay home with the baby [Missy, born last autumn]. I'm surprised he's got away with being thought of as a nice person for so long."

After 18 months, during which they did seven American and three Japanese tours, Elastica came off the road to record company demands for an immediate second album. Annie Holland's response was to quit the group, while Donna Matthews became renowned for hard partying on the nocturnal west London scene. They lethargically recorded some demos, but their heart wasn't in it. By 1997, when a second album should have been ready to go, Frischmann and Matthews were barely speaking, and there was nothing useable down on tape.

Holland's replacement, Sheila Chipperfield (of the circus Chipperfields), was deemed not good enough and left by mutual consent. By 1998, their continued lack of productivity was being likened to the Stone Roses' lengthy and ultimately self-destructive holiday between their first and second LPs.

"I didn't think Elastica were going to continue at that point, and we did kinda split up," she says, absently stroking her publicist's cat. Frischmann is a cat person; she's owned a tabby called Benjamin since she was 10. "Unconditional love," she coos. The pet's place in her life is so assured that prospective boyfriends are subjected to his feline scrutiny before she'll go out with them.

On top of everything else, in early 1998 her relationship with Albarn was in trouble. Frischmann retains enough of the indie ethic to detest the phenomenon of celebrity couples, and was dismayed when they became one. "I really hated the tabloid interest, and I went out of my way not to be photographed with him. Only about three pictures of us together exist, I think. In many ways, I think the media interest broke us up, because it made me feel the relationship was quite ugly, and I had to get away from it. There were other factors, too, obviously, because we were together for eight years, and I finally felt it was better the devil you didn't know, really."

Albarn's ego seems to have been severely undermined by having a girlfriend who was nearly as successful as he was, and something of a sex symbol to boot. Despite adopting a resolutely boyish T-shirt-and-jeans uniform, she's thoroughly feminine, a mix that got her voted fifth most fanciable woman in a lesbian magazine.

"I'm completely heterosexual, so I didn't know how to take that. It scares the shit out of me, the idea of being with a girl. I'm glad I've narrowed it down to half the people in the world."

She seems to view Albarn with indulgent exasperation these days, simultaneously praising his intelligence ("The Gallaghers just couldn't compete") and ticking off his flaws. "Damon adores being in the press, and sees all press as good press. He orchestrated that rivalry thing with Oasis. He really wanted kids, and I didn't feel our relationship was stable enough. He was a naughty boy, and he wasn't the right person to have kids with. I had this cathartic moment..."

At which point they split up. Albarn wrote 13 and then met Suzi Winstanley, an artist. "She was pregnant within three months," Justine observes wickedly.

Of the acclaimed 13, she's tactful, describing several songs as "really lovely". She studies her cigarette for a while before adding, "but I'm cynical about selling a record on the back of our relationship". But you're doing the same now. "It's true, but at the time I had no right of reply."

Elastica finally pulled themselves together last year, just as the music industry was about to write them off (their American label had already "very kindly let us go", as she puts it). Holland rejoined, Matthews went to Wales to sort out her life and the band banged out an EP and played the Reading Festival. Things came together quickly after that. They spent the last £10,000 of the recording budget on re-recording a dozen tracks, finishing the album, after years of procrastinating, in six weeks. They've called it The Menace "because that's what it was like to make".

It's dark and resolutely uncommercial - all wrong for 2000's pop-oriented climate. It's unlikely to match the success of the first one, which is fine with them. Call it (though Justine doesn't) their White Album. Its 70s punk aesthetic brings to mind angry girls such as the Slits and the Au Pairs, although the defining mood isn't anger so much as catharsis. None of the songs is specifically about Albarn, she claims. "The dark feeling is due to the sense of isolation, tasting success and getting frightened by it. I was questioning whether I wanted to be in a band any more, and there was no one I could ask for advice. Getting success and everything you ever dreamed about is hard to handle, and makes you question everything."

She's better prepared for success, if it comes again, this time. Already the privacy-preserving barriers are in place. The next interview of the day is with Time Out magazine, which wants a list of her favourite restaurants. "I'm not telling them where I eat," she says reflexively. "I'm gonna lie."

[astaroth1357]

Brothers Finding Out a Lesser Demon with a Crush is “Moving In” on MC

You know, I like to show the good sides of our boys a lot… But how about the ugly for today? Let's let them just being mean, nasty, possessive little demons, huh? 

Full disclaimer: I almost didn’t post this because I received an answer post from @diavolosthots that ended up being distressingly similar to this idea about 3/4th of the way through drafting it. I’m posting it anyway because of the time I’ve already sunk into it but in exchange I will absolutely encourage you to read from @diavolosthots if you aren’t already. They’re a big reason why I’m making content to begin with and I love what they’ve done. Warning: their blog is a LOT less fluffy than mine (they probably wouldn't be into my stuff 😅) and has NSFW content so be prepared for that going in. If that’s not your thing then just give them a pass, cool?

Check out the Masterlist for more!

Warnings: Violence, Bullying, Cyberbullying, Cannibalism(?), Murder, Yandere-ish

This is all for the purposes of fantasy and in no way an endorsement for these behaviors in real life. Be nice (and smart) with your lives, my friends.

Lucifer

Is honestly offended for them.

Don’t they know the caliber of demon MC rubs elbows with every day? Do they honestly think they’d stand a chance? Any one of his brothers would be more deserving than some lesser demon suitor and that even INCLUDES Mammon.

But of course, the real reason they’d stand no chance is because he wants the MC too and he’s not planning on sharing with or losing to someone who isn’t even worthy to be stuck under his boot...

He may lay down some… “discreet” hints for the poor demon to look elsewhere.

Things like advising Diavolo to make some emergency changes to the classes at RAD so they no longer share any class together or watching the demon extra closely for any minute slip up he can flag them for. If he could have them expelled for a dress code violation, he’d do it no sweat.

Okay, "discreet hints…" Flagrant misuses of power… Same difference right?

He may never come right out and say they should leave MC alone (why dignify the guy with such a response?) but if looks could kill then his “competition” would be utterly decimated by now. Especially if he ever catches the two in the same room... Yikes.

Mammon

Oooo buddy, he ain’t happy. He doesn’t even like sharing with his brothers and now some rando wants a piece too?? Nuh-uh. No way.

Takes the more direct approach and just confronts the guy when the MC isn’t around. It's good for the demon that Mammon doesn’t like resorting to violence if he doesn’t have to. Heated words and a threat or two will be exchanged then they can go their separate ways.

That can be the end of it if the guy backs off (as anyone with sense should). But if not…

When he makes a threat, and he’s serious about it, Mammon makes good on them.

He’ll come back to the House one night a little beat up, maybe with a few nicks and scratches. Of course he’ll want the MC to play nurse for him and he’ll be delighted if they accept (even if his tsundere ass won’t say it).

The lesser demon apparently dropped out of RAD the next day. No explanation given. He didn’t even step foot back on the school grounds to do it...

Of course, everyone’s sure there’s no relation between the two. I mean, this is the same Mammon we’re talking about… right...?

Leviathan

It’s a miracle he even found out but now that he knows he’s pissed. He’s not the Avatar of Envy for nothing.

Look, he might be a shut-in and not worth all that much but he’s got to be better than some lesser demon guy! He’s the third born and he has a freaking navy for crying out loud!!

Will likely leave his room for the first time in who knows how long to follow the MC to RAD. Once he’s got a face to the name, that’s all he needs for his hatred to really get going...

He will make this dude’s life a living hell with the best tool a shut-in has, the Internet. 

He’ll dedicate a freaking week to digging up dirt on this bozo then start releasing it out to everywhere he frequents. Not a single sock of that dirty laundry is getting left out. All of his most embarrassing secrets are laid bare for the Devildom to see.

He’d cover his tracks, of course, so nothing can be traced back to him. The MC is probably none-the-wiser to who’s spreading all this hot gossip but his brothers know right away.

Once the dude’s social life and pride are in utter ruin, he’ll invite the MC over for a movie marathon to celebrate! He might even get a little more cuddly than usual... His MC is with him and that’s how it ought to be.

Satan

Pffft… That’s cute. Real cute they think they stand a chance. He’d wish them luck but he also kind of wants to stab them so…

On the one hand, he knows he probably shouldn’t waste his time but on the other he just can’t resist the call to absolute devastation that his inner rage is forcing on him...

His new goal is to utterly undermine the new competition in every way, mental and physical, which means he will take every opportunity he can to demonstrate just how much on another level he is. 

Gets nitpicky and corrects the guy’s every move. If he says something wrong in class, he’ll berate him for it. Make a social faux pas? Well now the whole school is going to know about it.

Doesn’t stop there, though. He will do everything in his power short of throwing the first punch to try and instigate a fight with the him. He knows that if he technically starts it then the punishment will be on him, but the other way around he can say, “Hey, he’s the one who punched Wrath incarnate. What was he expecting would happen?”

Any resulting fight between the two would be a very one-sided bloodbath. He will not hold back at all and stop when he damn well feels like. The guy will be in whatever the Devildom equivalent to a hospital is for weeks...

If the MC tries to ask him about his behavior, he’ll gaslight them and change the subject. He doesn’t really like indulging in the more violent side of himself in his day-to-day life but some things just can’t be helped, can they?

Asmodeus

Honestly not as bothered as the others are. He knows they stand zero chance, so why worry? It’s bad for the skin.

But that doesn’t mean he’s going to sit back and do nothing. Oh no, a zero chance could always become a one, even five percent chance if you’re not careful.

Asmo’s preferred method of ridding competition is like a mixture of Satan and Levi, but Oh. So. Much. Worse.

Lesser demons can be astonishingly easy to charm without them noticing and he is the best charmer of the family. He’s pretty popular to start with but suddenly he’s talking to almost everyone he comes across until, well, he’s got the whole school listening.

From there it’s child’s play. Suddenly, the demon’s friends won’t talk to them. People stare and whisper about them in the hallways, is what they’re saying true? Doesn’t matter. Asmo could feed them anything and they’d believe it.

He’ll make sure they feel isolated, alone, and hated by everyone they speak to and they won’t even know why. Going to RAD at all will be like walking into a prison. Ideally, they’ll just stop going, and then tada! Competition no more.

Of course, he could just charm the competitor to look elsewhere, but then who’s going to be the example to the others? Nobody needs any more “Zero-Chancers” popping up around the MC, right? You’re welcome, sweetie~! 😘

Beelzebub

He’s trying not to be that guy, he really is… but since the MC is involved… Really? You actually think you got a shot there, buddy?

Probably going to be the brother most likely to try and let the guy down gently at first, but make no mistake he will make sure he knows it’s a lost cause.

If the other demon still insists on being a competitor though… Alright.

MC pretty much goes under his “protection” from that point on. If they’re at RAD at all, Beel is not far behind. Not exactly looking outright intimidating but always just…. there.

But if the dude so much as enters a room with them he’ll be sure to stare him down and mention that he’s hungry a little louder and a lot more often.

To the MC that may just be typical Beel, but everyone else there knows Beel has swallowed lesser demons whole in the past. And for a lot less reason than this...

When Beel gets territorial he can be a subtle about it, but terrifying nonetheless.

Belphegor

Would laugh in their face and give zero shits about it. 

Like, even as the weakest sibling he could snap them like a toothpick and that’s not even getting to how they probably know jack all about the MC anyway. What even is this idiot??

Starts pulling some casual “pranks” on the guy to grief him at first. Little things like tripping him up with his tail or taking his things and hiding them in inconvenient places.

The lazy part of him hopes he’ll get the message and back off but that sadistic side really hopes he doesn’t so he’ll never talk to him directly...

When, of course, the dude doesn’t back off because he doesn't know he's supposed to, his pranks start escalating. A textbook in the school pool suddenly becomes an explosive curse put on their backpack. A kind of homicidal passive-aggression, if you will.

By some unholy miracle the guy manages to last a couple days after a barrage of progressively lethal murder attempts pranks, Belphie’s inner laziness and frustration will finally get to him and he’ll cut the passive from his aggression.

Much like with Mammon, everyone finds out that the demon dropped out of school quite suddenly. But he’s also seemed to have gone dark from all his socials and his friends can’t seem to find him anywhere... 

Concerns were raised with Lucifer but he doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about starting an investigation... It’s not the first time he’s covered for his brothers after all. 🙄🤷‍♀️

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

👀 me looking at you tags-

YOU WANT SOME SHIT ON THIS???

DO YOU? ALRIGHT, LETS FUCKING GO.

Breakdown didn't belong here. He didn't belong with the higher ups, anyway. Breakdown belonged deep under ground with the vehicons. He embodied the term 'dirt digger', and he wore that like a badge of honor. It was why he knew he didn't belong with all of these bigger bots. Not bigger size wise, but bigger as in...well. More important. Soundwave, ex gladiator and possibly scariest guy he'd ever seen. Makeshift, creepy back stabbing shape shifter. And of course, Megatron himself. Revolutionary, mighty in strength as his ideals. Breakdown was just the hammer guy. No one gave him the time of day, unless it was for bossing him around.

Except one. Knockout. Knockout was...well. Great was his first choice, but that word didn't feel like it was enough. Knockout was their only medical professional, AND he was a scientist. Pair that with his good looks and charming personality, he was lucky Knockout even looked at him. But he did MORE than that. He chose to have him as his personal partner, someone to trust and work with.

"And he's got no clue how much that means to me."

He muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway. He called Knockout earlier, and asked him to meet him at a specific spot at a specific time. He wanted to give him his gift. Breakdown adored Knockout. He took him seriously, he knew what he could and couldn't handle, and not once did he keep him out of the loop or undermine him. Knockout...treated him like they were equal. It was why Breakdown worked so hard every day, why he was up before many, getting things ready for Knockout.

"You got this. You got this."

Breakdown never knew nervousness like this. He was usually the one to charge headfirst into things. But this required a delicate touch he wasn't sure he had. But he had to TRY. Even if Knockout was standing there, just around the corner. Even if, through the reflection on his mirror, he could see his features. Cherry red paint that glistened, long, tactile claws that both harmed and healed, and his face. Primus, he had such a nice face. White, illuminated by the prettiest red optics he'd ever seen. And his lips. Knockout's lips were something he paid attention to a lot. He took a deep breath, fumbling with the tickets in his hands.

"Just ask him. He's been wanting to see this show for months, just ask him. He'd love it."

He loved scary movies. The more bloody and crude, the better. Breakdown spent forever getting his hands on these (YOU try getting tickets to a human movie, especially when it's the biggest showing since cubed energon), he HAD to ask him out, or Knockout would never forgive him. He turned the corner, and froze.

Starscream.

Starscream was one of the mechs he was VERY intimidated by. He was a small mech sure, but he was clever, crafty, and. Well. Everything Breakdown wasn't. He was intelligent, being a former scientist, a leader, given that he commanded his own trine, and he KNEW he was all of things. Confident to boot. If his personality wasn't enough, Starscream was gorgeous. Long, slender legs. Long, well kept claws. Slender wings that even Megatron himself jerked off to. Breakdown respected him, tremendously. A mech who, sized be dammed, got what he wanted, through trickery sure, but he got it. He stared at them as they talked, clearly having not noticed him yet.

"I'm just saying, Starscream, you'd benefit having a time away from 'foiling Megatron'"

"Why do I feel like you'd waste my time?"

"Because you underestimate me. We're alike, Screamer."

Starscream scoffed. His face was huffy, like a moody cat, and Knockout loved it, Breakdown could see it on his face. That smirk was special. He knew it was.

"How am I anything like a grounder?"

"You know what you want."

"And just what do you think I want, doctor?"

"Everything. You, Starscream, want everything."

Starscream chuckled. Knockout knew Screamer so well. Knew how to woo him with words of wiggle under his paint. Why wouldn't he? They WERE alike. Starscream was incredible, powerful. He wasn't anything like Breakdown. He thought about interrupting them, starting to feel uncomfortable with how Knockout was really laying on the charm. That wasn't new. What was new, was Starscream actually acting interested. He froze upon Starscream holding out his claw hand to him.

'Don't take him, please. Starscream, please don't take him from me. I'm begging you, please don't take him from me'.

"I do. I'm impressed doctor, how you seem to read me like a book. It's as if you've been wanting something from me."

"That's another thing we have in common, commander. I want everything."

Knockout cupped his hand in his own, and brought it to his lips. If there was any hope, Starscream would hold a face of disgust. But he didn't. Starscream smiled. Breakdown suddenly ducked behind the corner, slapping his hand over his mouth so they wouldn't hear him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, thought I heard something. Come, doctor. We want everything, we shall take it. From the cold hands of any mechs who trifles with us."

Breakdown stood there, watching as Starscream mumbled things into Knockout's audial as they walked away. Knockout had forgotten him. Knockout, the only mech who made him feel this sort of cowardice. He watched them In silence as they disappeared down a corridor. Of course Starscream could take his Knockout from him. Starscream saw what he wanted, and took it. No matter how much Breakdown begged. He did deserve him anyway. Breakdown was a spineless, lowerclass mech.

He didn't deserve someone as incredible as Knockout.

[beardedmrbean]

SAN FRANCISCO – Residents in the liberal Bay Area told Fox News they're ready to boot San Francisco's progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin, who's facing a recall election.

"Let me see … bang, bang, bang, you break something and … out the next day," said Johnny, who works the docks at Fisherman’s Wharf. "Yeah, the DA has got to go."

"That’s how a lot of people feel about it, because he’s not doing a job, and everybody is pissed off about it," he continued. "Where is our protection?"

More than two-thirds of likely voters said they would vote to oust Boudin, according to a poll published in March by Recall Chesa Boudin, a campaign leading the effort. Recall supporters say Boudin's policies have made San Francisco less safe.

PROGRESSIVE SAN FRANCISCO DA CHESA BOUDIN TO FACE RECALL ELECTION

"A lot of voters who voted for him actually felt duped, felt like it was a bait and switch," Richie Greenberg, a former Republican mayoral candidate and spokesman for the Recall Chesa Boudin Committee, told Fox News.

Stand With Chesa, a group funded by San Franciscans Against the Recall of Chesa Boudin, touts the DA’s achievements, including "decarceration," ending prosecutors’ requests for cash bail and reducing the jail population by 50% in the first quarter of 2020as the pandemic took hold.

The anti-recall effort denied Fox News' request for an interview with Boudin.

This is the second time the Democrat has faced a recall attempt since taking office in January 2020. The first effort failed to gather enough support to put the recall on the ballot, falling short by about 2,000 signatures.

Boudin during his election campaign pledged to "focusing on reducing recidivism rates rather than increasing conviction rates," as well as "end the rampant racism that plague every step of the process today."

SAN FRANCISCO'S LEFT-WING DA ON DEFENSE AFTER PAROLEE ACCUSED OF KILLING 2 WOMEN

"He never told the voters that he was going to protect drug dealers," Greenberg said. "He never told anyone … that he was going to simply let virtually anyone that was arrested with egregious crime out." 

Fatal and non-fatal shooting incidents jumped 33% from 2020 to last year the San Francisco Chronicle reported in January. Homicides rose from 48 to 56. In 2022, property crime is up 10.4% from this time last year.

Calls to oust Boudin reached new levels in January 2021 after a parolee was accused of killing two pedestrians while driving intoxicated in a stolen car on New Year's Eve 2020.

The San Francisco police union said at the time that the suspect, Troy McAlister, was free on parole after striking a plea deal in April 2020 for a robbery. The union also said Boudin's office failed to prosecute McAlister's multiple arrests in the aftermath, including one just days before the December incident for alleged car theft. 

Paul, who lives across the bay in Oakland, called San Francisco a "train reck."

"It’s getting progressively worse over time," Paul told Fox News. But he added that he understands the need for restorative justice.

"You’ve got to have balance in it all," he said.

Clay, of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, said the city is stuck in "neutral."

"Someone needs to actually do something," Clay told Fox News.

"We haven't had an effective prosecutorial office for more than two years," Greenberg said. Boudin "being recalled out of office will have an immediate effect."

During a recent interview with a local Fox affiliate, Boudin said: "San Francisco remains a safe city, and when we have tragedies, it is despicable that folks like these Republican donors are exploiting those tragedies to promote fear and undermine confidence in our government."

He specifically called out a leading donor to the recall effort, San Francisco billionaire and Republican William Oberndorf, and challenged him to a debate.

"Voters deserve to hear what his vision for public safety is," Boudin said.

Greenberg told Fox News it’s "hogwash" to claim the recall is a Republican effort, despite GOP donors.

"Here in San Francisco, there are so few Republicans compared to Independents and Democrats," he said. 

The recall vote is set for June 7.