#but it doesn’t need to reduce them to buddies either

[nightgoodomens]

I love the general disgust from the fandom, David and Michael whenever Crowley and Aziraphale are called buddies/friends etc in media.

[spicyicymeloncat]

Okay here’s another controversial “Green family take” tell me if I’m wrong.

“People who hate Harumi and Lloyd family dynamic ignore that Lloyd and Morro also shouldn’t have a family dynamic, when Morro did the exact same thing”

Because besties I agree I honestly think green cousins doesn’t make much sense either since yknow Morro and the whole possession thing, but at the same time if you look at canon, they just aren’t the same thing and yknow I need people to actually stop looking at Harumi as the girl version of Morro and the only reason we hate her is because she’s a girl.

Because she’s not.

Like yes I agree there’s definitely a lot of bias towards Morro, if he was woman he would be demonised to hell and back but since he’s man then he is adored, and vice versa with Harumi and sexism fucking sucks.

But Harumi and Morro are different guys. Harumi is portrayed as worse in canon in Lloyd’s eyes. Yeah Lloyd got possessed by Morro and that’s obviously bad tm but other than what people assume possession entails, Lloyd was never as shaken as he was with Harumi.

In s5, we never saw Lloyd be conflicted about the possession thing. He had no fear of Morro. We have no reason to believe that a ghost possession feels worse than being a sleep and maybe having a vague awareness of what’s going on. He barely mentions Morro after s5. And I will say I think this is a writing flaw, obviously it would’ve been cooler if Morro actually had some kind of impact on the ninja, but regardless this is the canon. Lloyd hates Morro but he’s not traumatised yknow. It’s not to the point that Harumi got to.

I feel like getting possessed should be worse than getting lied to, but Harumi did on top of it, start a cult in his name, Kill actual Characters (the royal family and Hutchins) and then kidnap Lloyd and his mother and his uncle and then resurrect his father removing vital parts of his father’s mind/personality/emotional cognitive abilities etc. on top of that she also nearly killed the ninja and wu (which Lloyd believed she did).

Somehow she was much more dangerous than Morro was, she was a much more successful villain.

Additionally I would say Morro has more of an excuse to be seen as family, even if I I’m less of a green cousins fan. Because Morro and Wu actually have a father son relationship, in which Wu was actually responsible over Morro. They had a normal albeit imperfect dynamic before Morro left. Regardless of Lloyd and Morro’s interactions, that dynamic was still present even in the very end.

It doesn’t mean and Lloyd and Morro have to be buddies, just because there’s a family connection doesn’t mean shit (this is the show of found family have we learned nothing? Blood connections don’t matter, only friendship).

But like in comparison to Harumi and Garmadon’s absolute parody of a relationship, where Harumi turns to the man who doesn’t remember what love is and asks him to be her father (at this point neither of them know what “father” even means), Morro does have a family dynamic and Harumi does not.

So in response to the original quote, Morro has a much more solid claim to any kind of family dynamic bc his relation to Wu is much more family esq, and also he was bad yeah, but the show portrays Harumi as worse especially in Lloyd’s opinion.

I just don’t like the argument that Morro and Harumi have done the same things, when the severity is definitely different imo and they aren’t just copies of each other. Imo it’s an oversimplification to reduce their characters down to each other.

[batfsm]

Speaking as someone who likes both Talia and Selina -

Your post about Selina is, frankly, a pile of bullshit, and I'd be fine with that (I've got no problem with someone not liking a character I do like), except you put it in the Selina Kyle tag. Someone could just as easily make a similar bad argument tearing down Talia, and I'm guessing you wouldn't be happy about seeing that in her tag. People don't repeat the "don't tag your hate" line as often these days but it's still general courtesy for a reason.

Also, that anon had a point, despite you ridiculing them for it. When you say that a female character who goes back to the earliest days of the franchise and has a rich and complex history "only exists to provide a love interest" and is "basically just a fuckbuddy"... well, you might not actually be a misogynist but you sure sound like one. The only difference between your post and something from an early 2000s dudebro forum thread is the absence of the word "whore". And despite you saying afterwards that "Bruce is a fuckbuddy too!" you never reduced him to just that, nor did you say Bruce is a meaningless and unimportant character because he's "just a fuckbuddy."

(Also, a similar argument could be made in regards to Talia. She was literally created to be a love interest for Bruce, and I have seen people reduce her - incorrectly - to "just Batman's babymama". It's a shit argument, but your reducing Selina to "just a fuckbuddy" is pretty much on the same level.)

I'm not trying to change your mind about Selina - if you don't like her, then that's your call - but I am trying to point out how you were being kind of an asshole.

I just saw this so I apologize for the lateness.

What's wrong with putting it in the damn tag? I'll go back and put anti Selina in it if it annoys you that much but I tag everything or at least try to. (I don't think I need to.)

If someone made an argument on Talia, which they have, I either read it and think about it or I scroll on past. Or I do both, read and scroll by. It's not that hard.

Christ, so because I made an opinion, and called her a fuck buddy I'm still a misogynistic? For Ra's sake! I never reduced Selina to that only.

I literally said this:

is that if you consider Selina a member of the family for basically being a ‘fuck buddy’, which I have read comics and yes, I’m not up to date but still, she is basically there to annoy Bruce and give him a partner other than his kids (from what I have read) and give him a love life, which he doesn’t need one,

Which I am not up to date with the comics but she was there basically to annoy Bruce and give him a love interest. Another one.

Selina's around to give Bruce a love interest, which he doesn't need. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are over done.

I like Selina. I don't like her and Bruce together. Like Dick/Babs. I like those two by themselves but not together anymore.

Give me the characters by themselves and I'll be happy to read about them. Don't make try to just make them reduced to being 'fuckbuddies' to each other. It turns people off.

I don't think I was being an asshole by stating my opinion but I guess people are to easily hurt these days.

[xanadontit]

Had a chance to catch up with D and quelle surprise: her husband made her cry ON Mother’s Day.

D has a rough relationship with her mom, who is very likely an undiagnosed narcissist. One of D’s longtime friends who is a therapist sent her a ton of articles and book recommendations and said “I don’t like to diagnose people I’m not treating but uhhhh... yeah.” She’s not a loving or involved grandmother either, and while D doesn’t actively limit exposure, she will not allow her kids to spend unsupervised time with her mom. Visits are usually just gatherings with her brother (the golden child) and his wife and son. 

D and her husband took the kids to Target to buy Mother’s Day cards for the grandmas and D was making jokes about how a lot of them weren’t applicable to her mom. “Thanks for all you do? Nope!” The toddler wasn’t registering this and the baby is, well, a baby. D wasn’t actively talking shit, just kind of laughing about the reality of the situation. As she and I have joked “If we don’t laugh we might cry.” In the moment her husband was gently scolding her but didn’t seem that upset.

For some reason on Mother’s Day the husband decided to yell at D in the car in front of their children about how she’s a disrespectful daughter and needs to model being respectful of elders/family members. 

Please take a moment and let the irony sink in. This was his pitch? Screaming at her to be kinder? K, bro.

Also bear in mind their big Mother’s Day plans involved 4 hours in the car to see HIS mommy and his family who at best ignore her and at worst say racist things about her and their children. D lets a lot slide in the name of maintaining peace and because she wants her kids to have grandparents in their lives (although I’d argue that grandparents who are racist should be cut off but no one asked my opinion). For Father’s Day he has a guys’ day planned with his buddies while all the wives tend to the children. So, you know, normal day. 

I’m coming to terms with the fact that this guy isn’t just an oblivious ass and is actually abusing her. Who yells at their partner 1) in a space where she can’t walk away and 2) in front of their small children and 3) to the point where she’s reduced to tears and keeps going? An abusive asshole, right? And why does he think he gets to dictate the terms of her 40+ year relationship with her mother? She’s a mess and doesn’t deserve all this consideration beyond the basic decency you’d show an acquaintance! Shut up!

Guess it’s good I’m seeing my cousin the therapist this weekend because I need some help here. 

[33max]

For the turkey dinosaurs world, maybe a time when Daniel loses his temper and max hears it and gets scared? Like not at max, but maybe he’s on the phone or talking to someone and doesn’t realize Max was near him at the time

Hello, thanks for your prompt! I really loved writing this ♥️

cw nsap, angst, 662 words

Daniel slams his thumb onto the end call button on his phone, briefly considering throwing the fucking thing across the room too. The thought of having to order a new phone helps him refrain, his sister is pregnant and he would never forgive himself if he missed any news because he had stupidly chucked it in a fit of rage.

It’s unfair. He’s rightfully angry, he’s supposed to have enough time off to fly back to Australia and see his family during the summer break. Even if it won’t be summer in Australia, he’s desperate to see his family, his nephew, and his mama. It’s not fair that they can take it away from him like this because a sponsor is threatening to reduce their contributions to the team. They need Daniel to help save the day, Lando can’t do it by himself. Fuck.

He knows he was rude. He knows he shouted and swore down the phone. He’s definitely going to have to apologise when he’s next at the factory. Right now, though, he can’t think about anything other than how pissed off he is at his team.

After spending a few minutes gathering himself together, Daniel leaves his office and goes to find Max. He doesn’t like leaving Max on his own for too long when he’s regressed, he knows that Max can occupy himself and that he’s generally a good boy but… Daniel just likes to be there in case anything happens.

“Maxy?” Daniel calls out when he can’t find Max in the open-plan part of the apartment. He’s not on the sofa, he’s not playing on the floor, not trying to raid Daniel’s fridge for snacks that he shouldn’t eat.

There is no reply.

“Max?” Daniel tries again, a little bit louder this time. He peeks into their bedroom and en-suite, Max isn’t there either.

He tries not to panic, but there are only so many places Max can be and well… he’s not there.

Max’s dinosaur toys are still on the floor where he was playing with them when Daniel left the room to take the call. Max’s beloved lion plushie, Mr Roar, is on the sofa - a blanket covering him. Max has clearly tried to tuck him in and if Daniel wasn’t so panicked about losing his little then he would find it very sweet. Everything is exactly where it was when he left, except for Max.

It hits him all at once, Max overheard him on the phone. He knows where Max will be.

“Buddy…” He says softly as he walks back into their bedroom. “You’re okay.”

He kneels on the carpet and then bends down to look under the bed. Just as he thought, Max is curled up small, his hands covering his ears to drown out any noise, big eyes damp and wide. Daniel feels like a piece of shit, like the worst caregiver ever.

“Any room under there for one more?” Daniel asks, doing his best to shuffle under the bed next to Max. It’s far from comfortable, but then Max is pressed into his side and of course, it’s worth it. Max presses one of his ears against Daniel’s chest and keeps his hand firmly covering the other, not ready to expose himself to the rest of the world yet.

Max doesn’t like it when people shout. He doesn’t like it when he’s in his normal adult headspace and tenses up the moment any conflict arises around him, but when he’s little it’s worse. When he’s little he will hide from it. Daniel had to find this out the hard way when they first started this side of their relationship, it’s something he knows how to deal with now, he just wishes he wasn’t the cause of it this time.

“You’re such a good boy, Max,” Daniel tells him, kissing the top of his head. He doesn’t need to say it, but he thinks Max will need to hear it.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Champion Marnie

"What’s my favorite type?  Dark, of course!”  Marnie you had four alts and zero Dark-types.  What is your response to this?  Apparently catching Galarian Moltres.  That’s a pretty good answer.  And I really like this dress, this is my favorite look for her.

General Overview Champion Marnie is a Master Fair with some absolutely batshit firepower.  500 base special attack is always absurd.  Fiery Wrath is a more powerful Dark Pulse.  She gets Protect for some reason.  Her trainer move is +6 special attack, +4 speed, +2 evasion, and Endurance, but she loses 10% HP.  Which kicks off her Mind Over Matter 4 passive that grants 40% more special attack.  Note, this is not a 40% damage buff.  Meaning this scales to 20/20, includes Dark-type gear, and potential matched theme skills.  Hitting over 900 special attack with her is not just possible, it’s likely routine.  But of course, there’s more.  A lot more.

Her other passives give +3 crit on entry, Head Start 1, 40% recovery when she first hits under 50%, and then also +3 stacks of special moves up next when she hits that same HP threshold.  This then leads to her Buddy Move, Buddy Fiery Wrath.  When a sync move is used, this move activates.  200BP.  Hits all foes.  50% chance to flinch.  Piercing Blows and Extend Range but also the flinch chance isn’t reduced with multiple targets either.  Also it ignores all passives that would reduce damage or prevent crits.  So it’s the midpoint between SST Red and SS Lysandre, a powerful AoE nuke that cannot be stopped, and is repeatable use but not spammable.  Oh, and keep in mind, Galar Spirit.  This move will truck stages.  And that’s before grid adds sync and move damage multipliers for being under 100% HP, and adds Super Preparation 9 on Protect for no real reason.  Marnie’s damage is really, really good.  Oh, but don’t get it twisted.  Damage is not all she does, for that Endure effect?  3/5 grid offers her the ability to guarantee a second Endure.  With that and Protect, we have another Ash situation on our hands.  Marnie is at that level, no question in my mind.  Sure, Buddy move doesn’t reach the same single-target DPS, but she’s also wildly more disruptive than Ash is, and has less competition in the type.

If there is a reason to not acquire Marnie, and there’s...there’s really not a great one...it’s the buddy move condition.  If it were the same as SST Red, then there would be no question.  But its inconsistent use means that she doesn’t truck every Legendary Arena, and therefore must play by some of their rules.  The fact her buddy move can miss is a particularly notable limitation from being impossible to stop, as it means this doesn’t remove the threat of Cresselia or Latias.  There’s also something to be said for gauge issues.  Even with +4 speed, a four-bar spam can be hard to supplement for dual strike.  But I’m also being wildly nitpicky.  Marnie’s damage is nothing short of ridiculous, and the fact that all of it comes with a coin flip or better odds to flinch really makes her quite the disruptive powerhouse as well.

EX and Move Level? Marnie is, thankfully, a return to Master Fairs that function at 1/5 just fine.  After the frogs, I was worried.  Her only love in 3/5, aside more more multipliers, is Aggravation 2 on Fiery Wrath.  Which is nice.  But you know what stops attacks better than flinch?  Killing them.  It’s also worth noting that, with her power, the buddy move is probably gonna clear sides.  So EX is also not a requirement at all.  She’s that good at what she does.

Team 1: C!Marnie, SS Cyrus, SS Brendan You ever just want to see how far you can push the numbers?  Cyrus provides Zone, SS Brendan has special defense debuffs on his main move.  Go ham.

Team 2: C!Marnie, Anni Raihan, Sawyer/Cheren Marnie has Head Start 1 in her kit, and that means Anni Raihan fast-ramping is a possibility.  Mind Boggler 9 also means debuffs to special defense, if you need them.  Sawyer is a Dark-type support for theme skills, and can supplement another potential flinch, while Cheren is listed to bring up the fact Marnie is so strong you’ll probably still win anyway.

Team 3: C!Marnie, Brycen/Lisia, Cheren/Evelyn Anti-Latias, potentially Anti-Cresselia.  The main thing to keep in mind with Marnie is that she can miss, and otherwise checks no gimmicks.  As such, you really, really want to be on top of evasion debuffing against fights that try to play that game.  Brycen is the F2P champ of this with Haze, while Lisia offers an interesting role as a tank tech unit that can probably last long enough given Marnie’s abilities.  Cheren is actually relevant here, as he has Full Heal to clear out status against Cresselia, but in the case of Latias who is more likely your threat, I’m bringing up Evelyn because of Gradual Healing and defense boosts to take Latias’ repeated hits and Sure Crit +4 Earthquake.  Granted, Evelyn is likely a poor choice, but I couldn’t think of a support that gave everyone Gradual Healing and was a better fit.

Final Thoughts Marnie’s one of those units that defines what it means to be a striker, due to her ridiculous offensive threshold.  However, I think it’s also interesting that Marnie got such a good flinch rate too.  We see this pretty often, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen it take the form of such wild numbers.  Usually it’s like...Dark Pulse or Iron Head.  Respectable moves, but nothing near damage numbers like she’ll be pumping out.

[shippertrash37]

hii what do u think about all the weird theories on why rina won't and shouldn't happen? it's become quite rampant since 301 so i'm curious to know ur thoughts on the "interesting" (straight up bullshit) theories that have been flying around

heyyy!!! thank you so much for the ask!!!

~••~

i’ve been in the hsmtmts fandom since the beginning, so i’ve seen a fair share of theories in this fandom. some are fun/carefree, some are delusional, and some just make you scratch your head a bit. i’ve seen the countless arguments made by antis why rina shouldn’t and couldn’t possibly be together since season 1, yet here we all are. rina is still very much a possibility and still being explored narratively after years of people thinking otherwise.

i’m all for reading other people’s theories and opinions that may oppose mine, but when some of them have no basis or ignore actual canon/confirmed things, it’s hard for me to take some things seriously.

in regards to “weird/interesting” theories, i’ve seen a few. there’s the “ricky is ryan and is only going to serve as a plot device for pw” one that makes zero sense to me. ricky is THE main character of the series and he’s not going to be reduced as a plot device for a pairing that involves a character that is more than likely going to have a significantly reduced role in future seasons (and that isn’t ej slander, it’s just pure logic. the show follows high school drama kids that attend east high. ej has graduated). they wouldn’t have rina’s story continue from 1x05 onwards to just be used as a way to make another character jealous AGAIN and have the conclusion be that they’re better as platonic buddies without giving them a fair shot at a romantic relationship. that’s why the door has never been fully closed between the two of them romantically. lastly, tim has always talked about the characters not being direct adaptations of the hsm characters. there were similarities drawn here and there in season 1, but they’ve fleshed out these characters and their storylines to be independent from the ones in the movies. just because they’re doing some hsm2/camp rock songs, doesn’t mean they’re following their plots down to assigning each hsmtmts character a dcom character to parallel in s3.

adding onto that quickly, i’ve also seen the “pw is shane/mitchie in cr2 and troyella in hsm2 and will prevail just like those two couples did respectively.” there are some major differences in all 3 of those couples dynamics that i don’t feel like i need to get into, but some things i’ll highlight are: 1. those are dcom ships, pw is a tv series ship. 2. the foundations of each couple are completely different. 3. they all don’t share all the same problems. they vary in magnitude and the way one couple/charcter deals with something isn’t the same as how others would. 4. shane/mitchie and troyella didn’t have a ricky in their situation.

last theory i’ve seen is ricky/jet or ricky/val becoming a thing. i love a good, harmless crackship or non canon ship, so i don’t mind people shipping either of those pairings. shipping should be fun and get you excited about new content. i do look at people sideways though when i see them being a huge advocate for single!ricky and/or ricky x therapy (cue MAJOR eye roll) in response to being anti rina and then proceeding to ship ricky with other characters. like you don’t have to like rina, but don’t be hypocritical. i can’t take you seriously when you can’t even take your own takes seriously.

~•~

anywho, sorry for the length of this and i hope i actually answered your questions. i do get a bit rambly at times 😬. if there’s a specific theory you wanted my opinion on that i may not have touched upon, please feel free to lmk.

[angelic-writer]

For the headcanons Chzo Mythos High School AU Victor

Victor is the kid who was on the honor roll, getting good grades on all of his subjects. Math is the only subject that Victor has a bit of trouble on, especially Trigonometry. Philip likes to tease him lightly on this, but he understands that Trig is a really hard subject.

Philip: Trust me, buddy. When you end up getting to learn Calculus, you're gonna need a triple shot latte.

Victor: I'd rather jump in the river Thames than learn about Calculus.

Victor is the student council president with Adam as the vice president. His peers are like "Who voted for this snippy man?" "All of us, dumbass." "Why though?" "Dude, do you think I know that?" At times when the work is too much, the two friends take a break to go out at night, have a smoke or two. Victor tried giving Adam a smoke one time, but it didn't go well so he stopped.

Victor has a bad habit of jumping into rivers. He doesn't know why he does it. Maybe it's the thrill or the adrenaline rush he gets from it. Adam gave Victor a bottle of vodka one time and he got really drunk. In his drunken state, he decided to jump in the river. Like "Wouldn't it be cool if I jump in this river?" and Adam is like "No?? Don't do that???" Despite Adam warning him, Victor jumps in the water. Since alcohol causes people to become disoriented when they're in the water... Well, let's just say that Victor almost drowns and Adam has to save him. That incident resulted in them making out. They both agreed to never bring it up.

Victor is considered to be the goth kid in school. He likes to listen to emo music like Radiohead and Linkin Park.

In addition to health class being one of the classes in the honor roll, Victor carries a litany of epi-pens in his backpack. Why so many considering how expensive they are? Well, he comes from a rich family and his uncle works as a doctor. He tends to keep an eye on his friends who have allergies, mainly Simmons who just can't stop himself from trying to eat peanuts.

As mentioned before, Victor's parents are rich and are considered one of the most prolific families alongside the Somersets and Quinns. You'd think having a family like that would be great for Victor. Well, the problem is... His parents are, let's just say, conservative. Long story short, Victor was in the closet for the entirety of his high school years.

Sometimes, he would get overwhelmed with everything. His schoolwork, his parents’ expectations, his confusion over who he is. It’s a lot to take in for a teenager. So, he’d vent to either his friends or one of his classmates, Leslie. They understand what Victor is going through, them discovering themselves as either agender or nonbinary. To please both of their parents, they decide to pretend to date each other. Victor will get the “girlfriend” he wanted and Leslie would have someone who appreciates them for being “feminine.” When they’re in the vicinity of their parents, Victor would use “she/her” pronouns to address Leslie, Leslie would dress in more feminine clothes and Victor would compliment them, telling them how beautiful they are. Both of their parents are very happy that their children are becoming more “like them” and started talking about possible wedding plans for them.

It destroyed Victor. This isn’t what he wanted. He doesn’t want to live in a lie just to please his parents. He’d rather die than conform to his parent’s expectations. Eventually, they decide to “break up” with each other, but Victor goes overboard, telling them that he hated being with them, that every time he had to lie to his parents, it made him want to die more and more. Every day of living with the fact that he is not like his dad was torture.

“Sometimes... Sometimes I wish I’d died in that river. I wish Adam didn’t save me!”

When he sees that he reduced Leslie to tears, he tries to apologize, but Leslie says it’s fine. They’ll be okay.

Later, Victor calls his friend group and is like “Okay, I’ll stay with one of you guys.” And later, Leslie sent him a text saying “Don’t worry too much about me. I’ll be okay. We needed to sell the act and to be honest, you aced your performance. But now, I’m really concerned for you. I think maybe you should see the school counselor. You don’t have to tell your parents about anything. It’ll be confidential between you and him.”

“To tell you the truth, I enjoyed going out with you, Victor. Even if it’s a lie, I really did like you. But I know that’s not what you want. So, hopefully we can still be friends?”

Victor texts back “Yeah. Of course we will.”

[lookwhatilost]

saulposting time!

i really, really loved “nippy” tbh. i’m not sure why people on reddit are so angry about it – i guess since point & shoot and fun & games felt a bit more like brba episodes, and the latter ended with the saul goodman jump cut, people were expecting a concurrent timeline situation. i’m happy they didn’t end up going in that direction with it. gus and mike’s endings were perfect, and i feel like the gaps between kim leaving and becoming saul don’t need to waste time with expositional details.

like, we know that jimmy is like this now because no one is around to discourage this sort of behavior in him anymore. we know that he bought caldera’s black book off him. it’s probably fair to assume that francesca’s decor was swapped out in favor of the kitschy constitution decor because it’d matter less if his customer base wrecked it. after a while, it just becomes splitting hairs.

i think this is one of those episodes that people’s opinions will improve towards when it hits streaming honestly

going off the information available – the episode title being announced as “breaking bad” and the promo pictures, it’s likely that this is referencing gene and jeff, or maybe jeff and his buddy.

here’s my ending prediction: jeff and buddy try to pull off a similar heist without gene’s guidance and get caught. they make a deal for a reduced sentence while in custody on the condition that they rat gene out. he’s eventually arrested based on this. kim, having moved back to nebraska, hears of this, studies to pass the nebraska bar (assuming she hasn’t returned to law already, given how much time has passed), and represents him in court. she ends up getting him a reduced sentence.

it seems like a sensible ending to me, but there’s also a lot that it doesn’t account for. for one, the nebraska football fans narrowed the timeline down to october 2010, so that puts us around a month after walt dies, and a few weeks before the birthday phone call to francesca. gene’s been in hiding for around 7 months at this point, so maybe the call is from him? just to check in with how things are going on her end legally. i don’t know if it makes sense for kim to be calling him. i feel like that would take away from the gravity and seriousness of their breakup if they’re still marginally in contact. maybe it’s huell? kuby?

and then the walt and jesse cameos. i genuinely don’t know how they could be organically integrated into the series unless it’s one of the following:

1) we get an episode dedicated to what kim has been doing these past 6 years. at some point during this, she catches a news program about the heisenberg manhunt and the associated parties, being jesse and saul. i’m presuming she’s mostly moved on with her life at this point. maybe she’s remarried. she turns to her spouse and says something to the effect of “holy shit, that’s my ex husband”

2) we see a flashback scene that’s relevant to what exactly jeff was doing in abq. he crosses paths with walt and jesse at some point.

3) jeff solicits gene’s help for more schemes. gene gives jeff a warning: “remember that chemistry teacher i told you about?” and it’s a condensed retelling of the events of breaking bad from his perspective. think “bad blood” from the x-files, with an emphasis on comedy. come to think of it, gilligan wrote that one. it would also make a lot of sense for the character. saul didn’t exactly think highly of them: “you two suck at peddling meth”

i’d be happiest with option one or option three. either way, jeff is certainly going to be a linchpin for the final act of the show. i’m also fond of the theory that marion knows more than she’s letting on.

i still don’t understand why gilligould and company announced those cameos at all. it could have been a nice surprise, provided it’s executed properly, but now so many of the fans are just getting impatient and they’ll be disappointed if it’s not everything they built it up as in their head. i think it’d really suck if they did an el camino type thing with them.

some other stray thoughts:

- this seems to be a bit of a callback to how we were introduced to jimmy. slipping jimmy moves to abq from chicago and is trying to live a more honest version of his life after getting into legal trouble, gene moves to omaha from abq and is more or less trying to do something similar, albeit with less choice in the matter and higher stakes. he dips his toes back in the water with the kettlemans, he dips his toes back in the water again with jeff. so, will jimmy accept this as one last hurrah and bury it? will he turn himself in?

- there was a s6A promo where we see gene back in abq. so, it begs the question, what exactly is he doing there? is he surrendering or is this business on jeff or marion’s behalf?

- i’m like 90% sure tom schnauz is trolling with the title. remember when everyone thought black & blue was a negro y azul callback, and since it’s the brba episode that preceded better call saul, they were so damn certain walt and jesse would show up in the next episode? pepperidge farm remembers.

- not a fan of the theory on reddit that jeff was a former member of jack’s gang, that he’s aware of walt’s meth money, and enlists gene to help him find it. i don’t want the nazis to be a last minute bigbad AGAIN. it felt slipshod the first time. but it would explain the abq gene promo? ugh fuck.

- i still wish they’d done more with spooge. maybe spooge is part of the bad crowd dafjldjfldjafhk

- i wonder what the deal is with neal honda’s character? maybe we’ll see him in the kim episode? i can’t imagine there isn’t going to be a kim episode.

eh, i suppose this is enough for now. i can’t wait for monday hah 😸

[frederiksen98mccollum]

Hunting your best is very important in discovering a partner, employment and lots of other important matters in your life. However, a lot of people don't know standard trend suggestions that might get them to seem significantly better inside their daily lives. Continue reading for some easy and functional trend ways to keep yourself hunting wonderful.

Appearance on the inside style periodicals to get a solid idea of what you must be wearing with this year. You don't need to get outfits that specifically complement exactly what the most up-to-date style is. Nevertheless, you may kind a style that may be very related so men and women may know you happen to be up-to-date with the latest style. When you are not too large, you need to be cautious about putting on sweaters which can be too much time. Whilst you do not desire to wear an issue that is really simple which it is similar to a cropped best, sporting some thing with a lot of span will simply allow you to seem to be much reduced than you actually are. When you have extremely dry skin, you really should implement moisturizing lotion before using your preferred aromatic items. This will help the cologne or fragrance keep lengthier in your physique. It would work a smart idea to utilize an unscented cream, so the smells don't contend or develop a new, unexpected scent. Put on light shades whenever you go out on a bright and sunny summer day. Gentle hues reflect the sunlight and may help you stay colder. Dark shades often preserve warmth and can make you hot. Clothes in bright white is considered the most suitable for a hot time in the summer since it reflects gentle the ideal. A great trend hint is usually to learn how to develop your own fashion sense. You don't desire to just mirror someone else and backup their type. Think about what's vital that you you for example comfort and ease or good taste, and then little by little develop that which means that your style is exclusive for your needs. Opt for your style shopping buddies sensibly. Your buddies could make looking for the most recent trends fun and exciting. However, if you deliver a colleague having a very competitive buying streak, she may tempt you into purchasing outfits that either don't suit you properly or are beyond your financial budget. Help make designer dresses buy online by yourself time along with your demands under consideration. A single excellent design idea would be to check not simply the surface however the inside of a outfit for a way well it really is come up with. High quality sewing and supplies that are utilized on the inside of a outfit may well be a great signal which it was put together properly which the designer recognized what they had been performing. Don't make trend impulse buys. Once you acquire on impulse, you usually make bad selections. The garments may not suit and also you hoped, or it doesn't genuinely assist anything with your wardrobe. Before making the purchase consider if you actually need it, and when you have products which can compliment it. Make sure whatever you put on the clothes suit you properly. This is especially necessary for people who are smaller in stature. Huge clothing come up with a particular person appear messy. They create an overweight individual appear larger sized as well as a short particular person look reduced. Be sure you purchase garments which fit you properly or get them changed. When you are a mom, style is probably the very last thing in your thoughts, But know that it must be easy to look great and sensible concurrently. Whether using the youngsters to the recreation area, sports events or other celebration, liven up your look with a nice T-Tshirt, knee-span skirt and a couple of toned sandals! Adding amount to your head of hair can certainly hurt it and then make it become broken. Never give your hair two various composition when styling it. Instead of hunting funky and edgy, you will likely seem indecisive. Gown suitably for the body. What entire body characteristic do you like very best? Don't center on your cleavage should your very best feature is your thighs and legs. Long thighs and legs look fantastic with pumping systems and a skirt. To keep it uncomplicated, use what really works! If you dress in leather, take care of it. When you purchase a leather material garment, question the salesman what type of dog was adopted for doing it and exactly what the tanning process was. Discover the particular care actions you should get equally just after purchase and also over the life time of your garment. As was mentioned previous, developing a enthusiastic feeling of style will assist you to seem your very best. After looking at the tips and advice covered in this post you should not be misplaced in terms of style. Utilize all you have figured out and increase your personal look and design.

[borderturkey7]

Travel Safety For Your Dog

  One thing that I know for sure is that people need to stop transporting their dogs or driving around with their dogs loose in their vehicle. You wouldn't do it with your kid. So don't do it with your dog, It's just not safe and it doesn't make sense When somebody's involved in an accident. There are basically three collisions.

The first one is the vehicles colliding The second one is the body inside the vehicle.

You know whether a coat strikes a steering wheel or something like that and the third is the organs colliding with the inside of the body. And if you can affect number two by limiting the movement, which is exactly what a seatbelt does for a person or a crate, could do for a dog, then you can dramatically affect number three And it's really really important. You see all too often dogs sitting in a back window, or you know maybe -- Or on the driver's lap ( laughs, ) Or on the driver's lap, It's incredibly dangerous and people just don't realize it. So we wanted to talk a little bit about a couple ways that you could make sure your dog's safe. While you are driving around in your car.

What we try to do with our dogs - and we got a lot of them - is we keep them in kennels secured kennels that are secured to the vehicle as well?

And over the years we learned that plastic crates, plastic car crates are even more safe than wire crates, because wire crates can bend if you do get in an accident.

You can take it one step further as well. If you wan na pay for the expense of one, you can actually get crates. I believe the brand is Gunner that have been proven to be accident.

Proof They're a little bit big and bulky, but they can be very, very safe for your pet And I think that we can both agree that they're well worth the investment For sure. That'S a good point. Nowadays, cars are created to take a lot of impact, There's a lot of folding up and there's oftentimes there's a little bit of intrusion into the passenger's compartment. Basically, best seat cover for dogs is some of the metal folds into the passenger compartment. In an effort to try to reduce the trauma of the impact And being in a crate, will keep your dog safe and sort of give them that extra layer of protection that they need.

So that they come out, uninjured

The other thing is airbags: Airbags are engineered and designed to soften the impact in a motor vehicle collision and airbags can deploy into the driver's compartment up to 24 inches. There'S airbag curtains, There's airbags that come out of the passenger side out of the doors out of the steering wheel. And if you have an unrestrained pet involved in a motor vehicle accident, I mean imagine what that airbag would do to them. The dog can't choose for itself. You need to make sure that you are transporting that dog safely and do your best.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, you wouldn't allow your child to be free inside a vehicle. While you are driving along, You shouldn't allow your pet to be free either.

Last and important thing while you are riding with dog is your dog seat cover. Take your four-legged friend with you. Enjoy a clean back seat Forget about dirt, dog hair, sand and dust in your car after traveling with your pet-friend. Easy to clean. Quickly remove dirt, dust and liquids with a damp cloth, and get rid of pet hair with a vacuum cleaner.

I am using a dog seat cover called Travel Buddy manufactured by Owleys and I am very happy about it. I bought that online at the best price at www.automerchmart.com. Two things I love about them are they deliver free and in 1-4 days across United States.

 See how benefitial it can be: Deep storage pockets Store favourite toys and care supplies in two pockets of this dog seat cover for the convenience and comfort of your dog on the road.

Damage-proof materials A six-layer build is waterproof and plastic-thickened sidewalls protect against teeth and claws.

Keep your pet safe 4 headrest attachments, 2 seat anchors, and a non-slip bottom keep the cover in place, while the seat belt holds your pet for his protection and comfort.

Be a super-parent for your dog Forget the stress of traveling with your furry friend and make it easy and enjoyable with Owleys let your dog car seat cover take care of car cleanliness.

Unique multi-purpose fit This dog seat cover will fit any car model with seat headrests. Use the cover all over your back seat or luggage compartment, or unzip it in the middle and use only half of it, freeing space for other passengers or pieces of luggage.

Anti-slip bottom coating A PVC layer on the bottom of this seat cover holds it securely and prevents slipping even in leather car interiors.

Strong & durable fastening This dog seat cover attaches to the car seats with metal hooks and durable textile straps. Velcro secures the zippered sidewalls.

[timbremediablog]

5 Tips to Improve Employee Induction Training/ How to Improve Induction Training for New Employees

The first day at work for any employee feels like a race well won that started on the day they first applied for that job. For employers however, the games have only just begun. In fact, the games began right from the time the employee was selected to join. The next stage - employee induction training -  is a precarious time for both company and new employee, one that will either forge strong bonds or one that will soon drive them apart.

Gone are the days when companies simply employed a one-size-fits-all onboarding process involving long lectures, reams of boring company & product brochures, and little to no interaction with co-workers. A time when employee induction or onboarding was a mere formality, and when HR’s only role was to handover strict instructions to new employees. Such apathetic assigning of roles & responsibilities just doesn’t fly in today’s work culture. In today’s work environment, the employee has taken over the customer’s role as King.

Research shows that the benefits of a good induction process are actually quite substantive. A 2008 study by the Aberdeen Group showed that the best-in-class onboarding processes improved retention rates by 100%, reduced ‘time-to-productivity’ by 60%, and ”increased the completion rate for induction tasks and activities” by as much as 57 percent. An article in Harvard Business Review observed in 2018, “with up to 20% of staff turnover occurring within the first 45 days of employment, a standardized onboarding process is essential.”

An effective employee induction programme benefits both the employee and the organization. Your new hire feels welcomed, settles in comfortably, and has a smooth transition into his/her new role. When new employees are well-adjusted, they’re unlikely to look for other opportunities, and your company’s retention rates improve dramatically. Here are some broad commonalities that can be found across all well-structured onboarding processes:

Communicating Company Culture: This is your all-important first impression, where you communicate your organization's values, mission and culture. Good onboarding is not just about ‘what to communicate’, but ‘how to’.

Meeting The Team: Who are the founders of the company? Why did they start it? This is the part where you explain to newcomers why it is important for them to be a part of your company’s mission. Some organizations use a buddy system, where the recruit is assigned an induction buddy who they can turn to for help or advice. 

Policies & operations: A good employee induction/onboarding process includes a highly effective and easy-to-recall brief on company policies and operations. For instance, what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate, the right attire at the workplace, HR policies, sensitising on gender issues, etc - all things newcomers need to know before they get started.

Personalizing the onboarding process - like a personalized note from the CEO or HR - adds a human touch, which goes a long way in ensuring that employees feel welcome. And remember not to rush the induction, or pack in too much into just one day. Give some breathing room so the newcomers can absorb the information. Follow-up with them at regular intervals -3, 6, 9 months- and, at the end of the first year, request the employee’s feedback on the effectiveness of the induction process.

Here are 5 tips to improve your employee induction training and ensure new employees feel welcome and productive right from day 1 -

Customize your induction programs based on roles, seniority, needs and complexity of your new employees. It is a good idea to define different ‘personas’ to classify them under, and then design different onboarding processes to suit each of those personas.

Leverage technology to effectively engage new employees and keep the induction process light, convenient and fun for them. Presently, an emerging trend is that more companies are using audio & video podcasts as an effective tool to enable ‘micro-learning’ - by breaking complex topics down into short-form, stand-alone soundbites or short videos that can be viewed as many times as necessary, at the new employee’s convenience.

Engage employees right from the day they accept the offer letter to make them feel special and eager to begin working on day 1. A lack of engagement is often detrimental to companies, and can encourage the new recruit to accept other job offers, even from your biggest competitors. Be sure to keep communication lines open with them so they feel involved and excited to be a part of your organization.

Build a sense of community to create a feeling of belonging for your new employees. Informal meet-ups, team lunches, snacks breaks, and other light team-building activities can help to break the ice. The buddy system is another helpful tool to help newcomers feel comfortable, and answer any questions or doubts they might have.

Having a clear roadmap during employee induction training creates a clear path for new employees to tread on in their initial days or months in your organization. A structured way forward gives new recruits something they can look forward to each day and use their unique skills to chart out their own progress - making them more efficient and productive in the process.

Many companies in India and the world over are leveraging Timbre Media’s decade-long expertise in content & technology by having their own customized audio and video podcasts to boost employee engagement.

Right from planning their podcast strategy to providing the technological infrastructure needed, these podcasts powered by Timbre Media have truly revolutionized their employee induction & training. Podcasts are indeed a powerful tool that can boost your employee engagement by creating the right conditions to propel your HR department’s simulation and gamification drives.

We create meticulously researched and structured content in the form of virtual modules, radio shows with sound bites from existing employees founders and senior leaders that ensure unity of voice and communication. Our services provide great flexibility – from quick-burst capsules to long-form podcasts that cover serious topics like POSH, or multi-episode series that cover broader categories. These radio and podcast solutions make the communication between recruits and organizations interactive and mutually beneficial, adding value to your employee induction services.

Depending on the objectives of your company’s induction training for new employees, Timbre Media customizes audio and video solutions that represent your company’s unique culture, diversity policies, code of conduct, perks, milestones, marquee events.

Timbre Media has come to be known as the preferred podcasters for India Inc., and for good reason!

Get in touch with us at contactus@timbremedia.in or visit our website to find out how your organization can take advantage of corporate podcasts to enhance and augment your employee induction to deliver great results, even during this difficult phase.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Hot take but the people who makes jokes about how Shigaraki and Dabi are disgusting for not showering or taking better care of themselves really forget that:

At least 70% of Dabi's body is covered in burns and I'm saying this as someone who had relatives getting terrible burns: you have to be double careful with those injuries if you don't want one to get an infection.

One of the treatments for that shit involves daily peeling the burned parts to avoid them from getting contaminated and then apply the medication it needs.

By the way, I bet Dabi's inmune system sucks because he needs to take antibiotics constantly. I bet he's constantly getting sick. Someone buy this guy some multivitamins please. I'm worried.

For what we know, he's also having a terrible time processing food and getting the nutrients he needs to keep himself alive. His poor stomach.

But let's keep the focus.

Dabi probably cleans his wounds regularly. He needs to apply something to prevent infections, he needs to replace the staples, etc.

I actually thinks he needs to clean his clothes a lot because they can contaminate him too.

When it comes to Shigaraki, we have seen him changing outfits and dressing nicely as soon as he can. He's clothes are usually comfortable and practical.

I mean, he's wearing cut hands of real dead people not because he likes the aesthetic. There's a whole deal in the manga on those hands symbolizing his development and being directly linked to his traumas.

Really, for the people who think everything can be cured with beauty products: that's shit, pal. Emotions and traumas can generate physical responses. I think that's the case of Shigaraki's scratching, which means it won't go away just by applying some medicine. It can tone down, but won't dissappear.

The representation they give is amazing because it's very very important to understand there's a whole deal of people who doesn't have the time or the money to have perfect skin and it doesn't fucking matter. They deserve to live as much as anyone, they deserve love and appreciation and there are more people like that than there's people with precious wonderful skin care.

That's why it hurts so many people when artist just erase their scars and burn marks and scratches. They don't have to "heal" or "erase" those to be happy or live healthy.

Both Dabi and Shigaraki represent people with chronic conditions. It's more likely they'll never heal from it— well, they obviously can because this is fantasy and anything can fucking happen and be valid, but I guess you understand my point.

It's so funny how Dabi and Shigaraki were the two first to call out each other on their looks. That's recognition, buddy. They realized the other was dealing with something similar, even if subconsciously, and that's why it was okay at some level. They were okay with it.

The rest of the League just adapted. They even got scared when Bakugo blasted the hand off Shigaraki's face. It was Shigaraki who stopped them and told them it was okay at some level.

And oh my fucking God they are poor.

The conditions they live in are precarious as it's best, specially for people with wounds that are constantly reopening. I don't know if you know how poor people live but spoiler alert, they can't exactly pay for A+ treatment and psychological help and other stuff.

When you're living in such misery, small things like dyeing your hair or playing videogames can help a lot. You don't feel the need to be beautiful so other people can admire you, you don't own society shit, so you'll better do what you like if you want to find a reason to stay alive at all.

And don't even get me started on the jokes about them being incels or whatever. This is something way more personal for me but I'm tired of such complex characters being reduced to sexual matters. I couldn't care less about sex and being honest, knowing that the manga has said absolutely nothing about it, we're not even sure they do give a fuck either.

I apogize for my language.

Have a nice day.

And keep this all in mind.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Familial headcanons for Riddle, Vil, Malleus, Trey, and Lilia taking care of their child after they catch a a cold please!

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Riddle sticks to a strict schedule when it comes to looking after his sick child. At certain intervals, he comes in to change the washcloth on their head or to retake their temperature. He even has alarms set on his phone to make sure he never falls out of line!

He takes several other precautions to make sure his kid is comfortable! Riddle sets out a box of tissues, a glass of water, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and all other health or hygiene related items on his kid’s night stand. That way, anything they’d realistically need will be in reach.

Riddle brews fresh lemon tea with a touch of honey to help soothe his child’s sore throat. He’ll take a cup as well, chatting with his kid while they share the pot and sliced sandwiches.

Riddle makes them take their medicine with a spoonful of sugar (“It helps the medicine go down,” he explains.) He personally dislikes bitter concoctions too, so he wants to make the experience of swallowing medicine a bit more pleasant for his child.

He’ll sit by their bedside and make sure they keep up to date with their schooling and homework, despite being sick. Riddle’s a good teacher, so his child won’t fall behind or struggle with their assignments!

The first thing Vil makes his child do is change out of their current outfit and into something more light, like a night gown or a T-shirt and shorts. That way, their breathing won’t be restricted—there’s form and function considered.

He encourages them to engage in mild to moderate exercise to help “sweat” a cold off and temporarily relieve nasal congestion. Vil will pitch in, serving as a coach, cheerleader, and work out buddy for his child.

He keeps a close eye on their condition and announces frequent water breaks to keep them from overheating. Vil also keeps a bowl of water with a damp washcloth nearby so he can consistently wipe sweat off his kid’s skin.

He puts his knowledge of magic pharmaceuticals to good use by brewing a little home remedy to help cool a fever and reduce other symptoms. Vil also makes sure his kid eats plenty of fresh fruits and veggies to help their immune system fight off the cold!

Vil doesn’t believe aromatherapy is a replacement for medicine, but he does think it can help you relax. He prepares a vial of scented oils (citrus, lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, etc) to be diffused in his sick child’s room to help them sleep well.

Malleus pulls out all the stops to make sure they’re comfortable in bed. There’s lots of thick blankets, silk cushions, and cute plushies for his beloved child!

He has his royal chef prepare a veritable feast for them, including several hearty soups and stews. If his kid finds the solid food too hard to chew or to swallow, Malleus will take a knife and fork to personally cut the food up into more manageable chunks.

He has read that temperature control is very important for the ill, so he’ll pay close attention to that. However, because thermostats don’t exist in the Valley of Thorns, Malleus has to guesstimate when the temperature needs to be adjusted. This leads to him offering to either breathe fire or summon ice storms to conjure a more agreeable temperature for his child.

Since his child is fae, their magic can get out of control when they’re sick. To remedy this, Malleus suggests they suck on ice chips to help temper their internal temperature, and therefore keep their fire breathing in check.

Malleus purchases a virtual pet toy for his kid to play with while they’re in bed. “It is a companion that will always be with you, in sickness and in health,” he chuckles. (It has connective capabilities with his Gao-Gao Dragon-kun, so their pets can interact with one another!)

Trey plans a menu of foods that are soft, bland, and easy to swallow. Not only that, but he’s sweet enough to serve the meals on a trey tray in bed, complete with a little decorate vase with a rose in it—just to bring a smile to his child’s face.

Trey really dotes on them and acts especially attentive when they’re sick. If his kid asks for something, he immediately rushes out to grab it for them, and if they so much as kitten sneeze, he’ll appear at their side with a box of tissues.

He keeps a window open so they can still get fresh air, even if they can’t exactly be as active or explorative as they usually are. If the window has to be closed because of chilly or rainy weather, Trey will at least draw the curtains back so his kid can still get some some sunlight.

Instead of candies for their pockets, Trey hands his child cough drops until they make a full recovery. (... Though he'll still nag them to properly clean their teeth, since cough drops are also full of sugar.)

He’s not very creative outside of the kitchen, so he’s kind of at a loss on what to do with his kid when they’re stuck in bed. Trey attempts (I repeat, attempts) to sing to amuse them, but it ends up backfiring on him. The lyrics he ad-libs are so stupid that his kid laughs super hard and flies into an uncontrollable coughing fit!!

Forget buying medicine, Lilia will make you a home remedy with fresh ingredients plucked from the garden, plus a mortar and pestle to grind it all up. Just like the good ol’ days!!

... As it turns out, Lilia’s remedies are just as bad as his “cooking”. It all tastes awful...! Salt water mouth wash, raw garlic and rosehip paste, a strong mint and citrus juice... (His kid waits for Lilia to turn his back before they dump the remedies into a nearby plant pot.)

Speaking of “cooking”, you bet that Lilia’s going to want to cook for his bedridden bundle of joy! He throws every nutritious thing he can think of into a slow cooker and lets it sit for several hours before serving it up. “Eat up, kufufu. I made it with lots of love, just for you!” (He offers to feed it to his child himself, doing the whole cutesy “here comes the plane/magic broom” thing to encourage them to get it all down.)

Lilia’s bats help him look after his kid! The bats take turns watching over the sick child, and quickly fly off to seek Lilia if they’re in need of something, or if they sense the child’s condition is worsening.

He sits by their bed and relays stories to help them fall asleep, since he knows stuffed sinuses can make that difficult. (Did he tell you about the time he attended a ghost wedding? How about when he hunted down Malleus for Beans Day?) Lilia offers to sing as well, but his kid stops him before he gets the chance to, since they know it will only keep them awake!!

[libertybri]

Companions and a sole who might as well say "fuck" as often as breathe?

Companions-

Cait

“An’ ‘ere I was thinkin’ I had a foul mouth. Think ‘ye got me beat, lad/lass.” She chuckles at her competition and doesn’t really mind the swearing as it doesn’t affect her.

Codsworth

“Some things never change, mum/sir/xir!” He doesn’t mind the foul language from his master, and almost finds comfort in hearing it as often as he did before.

Curie

“Oh my! You are under great stress, no? Perhaps some rest will help you, madame/monsieur.” She doesn’t quite understand why Sole feels the need to swear so often, but assume it is due to stress and only wants to help out in any way she can.

Danse

“That language is not appropriate, solider.” He narrows his eyes as he lectures Sole… once again. Truthfully he can’t stand how often Sole says the word.

Deacon

“Need some new words, buddy? I could come up with a few.” He is slightly annoyed with Sole’s vast amount of usage for the word, but pretends he doesn’t care of course. He just hopes they can work through it.

Gage

“Heh, ya sure do got the mouth of a raider, boss. Ain’t no denying that.” He doesn’t care how often Sole uses the word, it doesn’t bother him one but.

Hancock

“Frustrated? I’ve got just the thing you need, sister/brother.” He assumes automatically that Sole’s usage of the word is out of pure frustration, and well… he knows a fix for that.

MacCready

“Frick is a good substitute, you know. You should try it sometime.” He’s not usually one to lecture someone on their potty mouth, but growing fond of Sole means he wants them to meet Duncan one day and he is absolutely not allowing that language around his son.

Nick

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume you had sailing experience if your past life, kid.” He makes a joke out of Sole’s ‘sailor mouth’ and awkwardly laughs it off as Sole’s great usage of the word makes him slightly uncomfortable.

Piper

“How about ‘aw man!’ or, ‘darn it!’? No?” At first, she wouldn’t mind it but after learning how often Sole uses the word, she becomes slightly agitated with them.

Preston

“Mind toning down the language a bit, General? There are children in the settlements we help you know. Wouldn’t want them to pick up on it.” He’s respectful when telling them off, but side eyeing them the whole time.

X6-88

“Perhaps you should expand your vocabulary, ma’am/sir/xir.” He doesn’t really care, but offers a solution anyway as if Sole had a problem.

Extra NPCs-

Desdemona

“I’m not usually one to judge someone’s vocabulary, but perhaps you could do with some expanding of yours.” She is definitely judging and wants to hear the end of Sole’s ‘fuck’ usage.

Edward Deegan

“That’s your word of choosing? Hm…” He doesn’t understand Sole’s delight in using the word, assuming there is a deeper stress to it instead.

Glory

“Yeah, fuck this. Fuck that. Great word, isn’t it?” She doesn’t realize that Sole uses the word often unironically, but it doesn’t quite matter to her. She doesn’t mind either way.

Jack Cabot

“I may have some books around here with greater adjectives you could pick up on.” He reduces their usage of the word down to a lack of knowledge for greater adjectives, and decided he wants to help them.

Magnolia

“Oh, someone as beautiful as yourself shouldn’t be using such foul words, don’t cha think?” She finds Sole’s great usage of the word to be quite repulsive.

Mags Black

“I could give you a list of new words to use, if that would held to expand your vocabulary, Boss. Just a suggestion, though.” She doesn’t mind the word, but finds herself getting bored of hearing Sole say it so often.

Mason

“Man, I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘fuck’ as much until I met you. And that’s sayin’ something coming from the Pack and all.” He’s genuinely impressed with how often Sole can use the word.

Maxson

“That type of language is intolerable onboard the Prydwen, solider.” To him, swearing was fine, but swearing as much as Sole was just repulsive and he would not allow it.

Nisha

“My, oh my. What a bad mouth you have on yourself, Boss.” She’s actually delighted with Sole’s usage of the word, finding it to be somewhat amusing.

Sturges

“Heh, maybe ease up a bit on that word, General. It’s got it’s uses occasionally.” He doesn’t like when Sole says it so often, plain and simple.

Tinker Tom

“It’s kind of odd how often you say that…” He suspects something of Sole’s ‘strange’ behavior, not relating it to anything in particular.

Travis Miles

“You, uh, sure have a mouth on you… um…” He doesn’t really know how to respond to Sole’s vast usage of the word, but doesn’t particularly like it.

William Black

“Er… you know there’s other swear words, right? Personally, I like ‘damn’. Has a nice ring to it.” He doesn’t care that Sole uses the word often, but does find it a bit odd.

[delimeful]

hold my body down (2)

chapter 2 of this fic!

warnings: arguing, mild violence, cult mentions, mild gore mentions

-

Virgil stared at the man, his mind blank. What?

“That’s-- great?” Roman tried, his voice cracking in the middle with bewilderment. The human beamed, beckoning with his hand. Roman reached out and Virgil slapped his hand back, glowering at him.

“What have I said about accepting help from random friendly men?” he hissed, eyeing the stranger warily. Roman flushed, shoving him slightly, but notably didn’t try to move forward again.

The man-- Patton’s smile didn’t falter, but his hand dropped slightly. Virgil refused to feel bad. For once, he was completely sure that his level of paranoia was necessary for the situation.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Patton said, folding onto his knees to sit on the edge of the bag’s opening. “I can just explain from over here. I would come to sit in the bag with you, but last time I did that I got held hostage and Logan put a ban on interacting with terrified strangers without his direct supervision.”

“That, uh, seems rather fair,” Roman offered, still wildly out of his depth. Virgil rolled his eyes, a hand on the hilt of one of his daggers in case the stranger made any sudden moves.

“Who’s Logan?” He asked, eyes flickering up to what little he could see through the opening.

“Oh, he’s the one who rescued you!” Patton said cheerily. Virgil broke out into a cold sweat immediately.

“Rescued?” Roman echoed in disbelief. “Are you talking about the giant? Because I’m pretty sure he just abducted us against our will.”

“No, no, it’s not like that!” Patton insisted, only confirming Virgil’s theory that he was probably brainwashed and/or had Stockholm syndrome. Or both. Or a variety of other, worse options, such as yet another cult member or another giant in disguise.

“Easy, Virgil.” Roman laid a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. “Uh-- Patton, was it? If we’re not being… y’know… kidnapped and imprisoned, do you think you could back up so we can get out of the bag?”

“Of course!” Patton answered, popping back to his feet. “I’ll be right out here, take your time! I’m sure the last couple of hours have been rough.”

Virgil tried not to snort. Rough was one word for it. His amusement died a quick death when Roman began moving towards the opening. He latched onto the other man’s arm like a steel trap. “I don’t trust this.”

“You don’t trust anything,” Roman retorted automatically before softening. “It’s okay, I’m just checking to see what’s out there. Won’t even get out of the bag, on my honor.”

Virgil reluctantly followed him, grabbing onto him tightly as though he could keep anything out there from hurting him by yanking him back into the bag.

Roman ducked his head back under the cloth a moment later. “Okay. Bad news, there is absolutely a giant still out there. Good news, he’s all the way over across the room, reading a book. He is steadfastly ignoring both us and Patton, who waved at me.”

“What.” Virgil clutched at his hair. “What is going on?”

“I suspect we’ll have to ask Patton that. If we want answers, we’ll have to go get them,” He said, patting Virgil on the back encouragingly. “Don’t worry, my Dark and Stormy Knight, I’ll keep you safe.”

“My job,” Virgil grumbled, not releasing his grip on Roman’s wrist as he led the way out of the bag.

Everything was huge. He should have expected it, seeing as this was a giant’s home, but it still threw him off. They were on a huge table, in a huge living room, and the giant was indeed across the room with a huge book, pretending like they didn’t exist. From this distance, Virgil could actually take in all of him without feeling like he was going to pass out.

Patton was sitting a few feet away, and beamed at their approach. Virgil barely tore his eyes away from the giant long enough to nod distractedly at him. “Hi again! Are you guys okay?”

“We’re… fine,” Roman said, uncertain. “I think we’d just like to know what’s going on?”

“That’s totally understandable!” Patton replied, sympathetic. “I was pretty jittery after Logan first brought me here, too!”

“Oh, great,” Virgil muttered to Roman. “Serial kidnapper.”

Roman shot him a look before turning back to Patton. “He brought you here? Could I ask… why?”

“The same reason he brought you two here! I was in danger.” Patton glanced over to the giant with a fond smile before leaning in secretively. “To be honest, I think he was even more worried than I was! I was sort of stabbed at the time, though, so I guess that makes sense.”

“How were you ‘sort of stabbed’? You’re either stabbed or you’re not!” griped Virgil, who was possibly feeling more snappish than normal after one of the most stressful experiences of his life.

“My goodness, you were stabbed?” asked Roman, who had always been a sucker for a dramatic tale.

Patton tugged up the edge of his shirt, displaying a nasty-looking scar that curved around his side and stomach. In Virgil’s professional opinion, there was nothing ‘sort-of’ about a wound like that; it had been meant to kill. “Yeah, the people you met in town, they’re a cult! And they wanted to do a blood sacrifice for the monsters in the woods, and I wasn’t exactly well-liked, so…,”

“They stabbed you and left you for dead?” Virgil finished, a bit of anger leaking into his voice despite his determination not to sympathize with this guy.

“But I didn’t die!” Patton waved his hands a bit as though in celebration. “All the monsters in the woods had already been scared off when Logan moved here, and so he was the one who found me and helped me recover!”

Roman glanced over at the giant again, a speculative look in his eye that Virgil absolutely did not approve of. He scowled, his grip on Roman’s wrist tightening slightly.

“Right, and he just did this out of the goodness of his heart?” Virgil snorted dubiously. “I wouldn’t believe that from another human, let alone someone with a literally huge advantage over us. If your story is true, why didn’t the cult try to gut us? For that matter, if he’s not into human sacrifices, why wouldn’t your buddy over there just tell them to stop? Or, y’know, not kidnap us in the first place?”

“Well, hold on--,” Patton tried, but Virgil was on a roll.

“How do we know that this isn’t some elaborate setup? If he has the magical capabilities to heal a mortal wound, then wouldn’t it be easy for him to enchant a captive into believing that he’s just doing what’s best for him? Before, you said there were other people brought here-- what happened to them? Do you even know?”

Across the room, there was a sharp clap as the giant firmly snapped his book shut.

“They left,” Logan said firmly, the first words that they’d heard from him. “And if you continue to harangue my housemate, I will ask you to do the same.”

“Logan,” Patton said, a little exasperated.

Virgil felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of those huge, dark eyes locked onto him, but he plastered his best snarl on even as he dragged a protesting Roman partially behind him. “We’d be glad to leave, but someone put us on a table ten times our height!”

“Virgil,” Roman tried, but Virgil didn’t have the luxury of not paying attention to the pissed off giant in front of them.

“There’s a staircase down to your left,” the giant informed him coldly, “so if you are intent on watching your companion die from organ combustion, you have my utmost permission to leave.”

Logan!” Patton chided, a lot exasperated. He turned back to them. “He doesn’t mean it like that, I promise.”

“Really?” Virgil snapped, crowding Roman back further. “Because it sure sounds like he just outright threatened to kill us if we leave.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose before rising easily from his chair and reminding them all just how big he truly was. “This is why I let Patton handle the talking. I don’t know why humans always insist on making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

Virgil’s heart jumped into his throat as the giant approached, a thousand potential ways they were going to die flashing before his eyes. Behind his back, he flashed Roman a hand sign that meant ‘run for it’, and then released his friend’s wrist to draw one of his knives threateningly.

It was a pointless effort, but he’d known since setting out with his prince that one day he’d die for him.

Sure enough, the giant moved with that same uncanny speed he’d shown in the clearing, and simply grabbed Virgil’s forearm between his fingers as easily as one might scruff a cat, preventing any stabbing.

When Virgil immediately went to grab for another knife with his free hand, he found himself abruptly lifted and maneuvered, and couldn’t help letting out a startled yelp. The giant had essentially flipped him onto his front and settled one hand on his back as a weight, leaving him pinned and the giant firmly out of stabbing range.

More concerning was the fact that he could now see Roman, who hadn’t moved more than a few steps, and not just because he was a stupidly loyal, headstrong idiot. The prince seemed almost dazed, his skin shiny with sweat as he glanced between Virgil and Logan. Something was wrong. “Roman--!”

“You’re beginning to feel it, aren’t you?” Logan said, his cold tone thawing slightly as he looked down at Roman. “The cult of that town has only grown more... inventive with every cruel sacrifice they attempt. Rather than physical injuries, they’ve turned to blood curses, which has made my life exceedingly difficult.”

“Blood-- Blood curses?” Roman managed, looking more pallid by the moment.

The giant set a free hand down, palm up in offering. “I can reduce the effects. If you give me sufficient time, I can unravel the curse entirely, though brewing a countercurse will likely necessitate a drop of your blood.”

“Why go to the trouble?” Roman asked haltingly, meeting Virgil’s frantic gaze for only a moment. “What do you want in return?”

Logan sighed. “If you insist on applying such intentions to my actions, you can call it compensation. It is because of my presence that the cult continues to leave ‘offerings’, and thus your current state is my fault.”

“Then why not just do it?” Roman asked, staring at the offered hand with clear suspicion. Virgil was almost proud.

“Patton has gone to great lengths to teach me manners for interacting with smallfolk,” Logan replied dryly. “The first of which being ‘don’t grab.’”

There was a brief moment of silence as they all looked to Virgil, who was still pinned and sorely wishing he was in biting range of Logan’s hand.

“Manners don’t apply if someone is trying to stab me,” Logan added, a beat late.

Patton waved from where he was half-hidden behind Logan’s arm. “It’s true, my lessons did make an exception for stabbing!”

“Let him up,” Roman requested, his voice lacking its usual bravado. He still appeared concerningly ill. “He won’t stab you, right Virgil?”

Virgil grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath, before sighing and going limp. “All I want is to protect my prince. If you actually mean to help him, I won’t stab you.”

“Now that stabbing is off the table, I’ve gotta say, it’s knife to meet you,” Patton chimed in, his grin audible in his voice.

“Patton, please,” Logan groaned, lifting his hand off Virgil to instead massage his temples in exasperation. “You’re going to disturb our guests.”

“Aw, are you sure? I think my jokes are stabsolutely hilarious!”

Virgil ignored the ridiculous byplay between the two of them to scramble to his feet and hurry to Roman’s side, ignoring the way Logan moved his arm slightly to be between him and Patton. “Roman, are you okay?”

“Are you? You’re the one who just got gently tenderized by Bignoramus over there for the second time today,” Roman countered, matching Virgil’s whisper.

“Fine, stupid question, clearly neither of us are okay. Are we really doing this, though? We could still run.”

“I’m… not sure we can, actually.” Roman’s hand hovered over his chest, face drawn tight with pain. “They definitely did something to me, and I doubt either of us will figure out how to fix it or get aid in time. … Look. This may be my only option, but you don’t have to--”

“Can it, Princey,” Virgil cut in, dragging a hand through Roman’s hair roughly and ignoring his resulting squawk. “Where you go, I go.”

“Even there?” Roman asked, tilting his head toward Logan’s palm somberly.

Virgil looked over to Logan, watching the attentive way he was listening to Patton speak and contributing words of his own. The giant could have done away with any of them at any point, and he hadn’t. That wasn’t enough to really trust him, it could still all be part of some scheme, but... it had to count for something.

If it was the only thing that could help Roman, Virgil could push aside his fear and his anger.

“Even there,” he answered, and led the way onwards.