#clus./booster

[gruesomehound]

[ID: two identically designed rectangular flags of 9 uneven horizontal stripes, 5 horizontal stripes that go from top to bottom as two thin, one big, and two thins. And the center of the flag has four rings in a small sphere behind the center stripe with light yellow, cyan, teal, and cool purple color rings and cyan, teal, cool purple, and light yellow color lines going from the furthest ring to the center. The colors go from top to bottom as dark purple, magenta, yellow, cool purple, and dark purple. Both of the flags have a symbol of a person with five small connected streaks with small spheres on the end which also has a double line of magenta to yellow to magenta blur color around it, there is a double conjoined music note on the person vector's head./end ID]

Breakfast by Dove Cameron songself

— A multiself term for a songself subset where one's self which has formed through/because of/from a song was specifically formed through the song Breakfast by Dove Cameron.

Own interpretation of the song for colors + check out @/enderluna's songself flag used here for this flag.

:? Tagging @radiomogai

[sl-walker]

From Little Rabbit, VI.

Getting domestic with Guy for a day wasn't entirely unprecedented; they'd been sleeping together long enough — since the start of summer, and very regularly since, so a little over three months (kinda, technically, relatively) — that there had definitely been days where they spent a few hours, or even a whole night, kind of masquerading as a couple. At least from the outside. That was how Booster knew the day manager (and the night manager, and most of the bartenders) on sight, and that was how Guy knew exactly how Booster liked his cheeseburgers and that he couldn't resist a bar pickle from the huge jar at the end of the bar (the likes of which could not possibly get more kosher dill, given where Guy sourced them from).

They even had sides of the bed, despite the fact that Booster hadn't actually stayed over too often.

But even if it wasn't unprecedented, this was a whole different level of it: Rani, sitting between them on the couch shoveling popcorn, occasionally asking them to explain some part of the game, and Guy and Booster watching the ALDS on TBS, since they both didn't think going to Detroit was worth it in order to see it live, sipping tea instead of beer in deference to head injuries and minors.

Whatever mental health or lack thereof, both men kept jumping off the couch when the Yankees scored, punching the air and otherwise getting caught up in it, and by the time they were in the top of the 8th and the Yankees were killing it in RBIs, Rani had already worked out all the rules and was joining in, turning the couch into a trampoline and forcing Guy to suspend the popcorn with his ring so it wouldn't turn into a buttery kind of confetti.

She was wearing a Warriors t-shirt for a nightgown and Guy had shown her the room she'd be sleeping in; she'd looked a little reluctant, but then Guy had given her the glowing flower-thing she'd been coveting and that had made her a lot more amenable to the idea. And then Guy had stuck about fifteen pictures of unicorns and — oh god — colorful bar-looking drinks on his fridge, though obviously not before he and Rani clued Booster in to what they'd been doing while he had his almost four hour nap.

"You didn't," Booster had said, upon viewing the first one, staring at Guy aghast. "Guy, tell me you didn't teach my kid how to tend a bar."

"I'm gonna get her her own apron. Kid's got some mad mocktail skills," Guy had said back, with a broad smirk, man-spreading on the couch and not breaking eye contact with Booster to ask, "Ain't that right, munchkin?"

"Rae-Rae said I'm not allowed to touch the good stuff 'til I'm twenty-one, but then I can learn how to and I can make loads of scratch," Rani had replied, not looking up from the coffee table, happily rendering something she'd probably mixed herself that looked positively toxic in color.

Booster rubbed his face, then watched her color for a long moment, running that statement on rewind in his head about, oh, ten times as he boggled at it. Then he had to ask, "Did people actually drink them…?"

"And they helped me name them, too!" Rani said, proudly, nodding.

Guy nodded along in almost perfect unison and it was right about there that Booster realized introducing them might have been a Mistake™.

[evecolourshock]

Or what if....

What if to do so is the ultimate taboo? You may hold anothers' disc, access it, use it if you must (always always with permission, a Monitor or Medic may go deeper as part of their function but never outside it), but to dock it? Much less merge it with your own? No. Never. That's too far. Too invasive, too blasphemous, to even contemplate.

Tron has never done well with avoiding things that are blasphemous. Especially not when it comes to Flint.

The first time he docks Flint's disc is an accident - they were cuddling, happy, safe on a rare cycle off, and he simply grabs the wrong disc. He doesn't have it connected long enough for anything to happen, but to see the world - to see himself - through Flint's eyes is an eye-opening experience and Tron wants more. It's far from the first bit of blasphemy he's done - good Grid, he loves a User, doesn't get too much more blasphemous than that! But it's what seals him being head over heels for this beautiful creature he dares love.

Splitting his disc to give Beck armour, when he and Flint are separated by a world and a screen and Clu, isn't quite as bad a perversion but if anyone else knew Tron would be in trouble. But damnit he trusts Beck, and wouldn't live with himself if he lost this kid who's so much like he was but with Flint's boundless energy and light. So, breaking the natural order (again) it is. The fact that he can now pinpoint and check on his the kid without needing to comm or visit is a bonus.

Rinzler does not care what the natural order is. There is his kid, he loves them and they have part of one of his discs so he knows they're safe, and there is a User he loves even more. That's enough for him. When he gets Flint back...

Rinzler is determined to woo Flint any way he can. Does Flint want his enemies dead? Rinzler can do that, and can even customize their deaths however Flint desires! Flowers? Let him research a bit, the archives should have something - he'll commission the finest glassblowers to make a display that will never fade, while he tries to find someone who can code actual plants. Chocolates? Again, more archive research, but he'll figure out how to make them somehow. A house, and someone to look after it? Rinzler will get whichever one Flint wants, and will be the absolute best househusband ever.

Beck thinks all of it's hilarious, until he's roped in to help. He did not need to know this much about his sort-of-dad's love life, please and thank you.

This time, it's Flint who accidentally docks his murder labrador of an undefined-boyfriend's disc, and is bowled over by how much Rinzler loves him - even the things he thought annoying about himself, Rinzler finds adorable. It's certainly a helluva confidence booster, though again it's not docked long enough for anything substantial to happen.

They formally exchange discs in a very private ceremony, each docking the other's discs to create and solidify a bond deeper than any seen before - Beck sort-of officiates, because he insisted someone has to and he's done a lot of research into weddings (somehow, Beck's more invested in the actual wedding celebration that Rinzler or Flint - he insisted on a formal celebrationnof some kind when they decided to make things official, and compromised on the wedding itself being just them but a massive afterparty and buffet with friends).

How doeees docking your disc to anothers impact you?? Do you only do it to bond in a formal sort of setting when becoming counterparts? Or is it more informal & as you're lying about in safety & calm, you nuzzle up to your sweetheart & dock the two halves of your soul as one? Does it impact emotions? Does it forge the bonds of relations or solidify whatever might've been? Does it matter if you are program or user? & it's always been in my mind that discs are near holy things. You don't touch anothers without permission or unless you are in battle. Your loved one might hold onto your disc, grasping it tenderly as you embrace after not seeing one another in a long while... or maybe you gently press a reassuring hand against their disc while standing on the defense, prepared to jump to action & reassure your other half that you are there?

I'd like to think the first time you do dock your discs together, it's a big thing... something ceremonial & official when you share parts of each other's circuitry too, but it becomes routine when being alone & something extra special when your together. Maybe it mixes your emotions, letting you feel what the other does - whether good, bad or indifferent. It helps you connect and literally forms bonds in your base programming.

I dunno just. Thinking about a certain program & wondering how it would go....

[thewertsearch]

PCG: AS OF NOW, YOU SHOULD ALL BE AWARE THAT THERE IS REALLY ONLY ONE TEAM, AND WE ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER. PCG: AND BY "NOW" I MEAN TIME LOCAL TO ME AS OF WRITING THIS. [...] PCG: IF YOU'RE READING THIS IN THE FUTURE THEN WHO CARES, IT'S PROBABLY OLD NEWS TO YOU. PCG: ACTUALLY NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT READING THIS IN THE FUTURE? PCG: IT'S LIKE ANY BULLETIN BOARD, YOU POST STUFF AND IT SITS THERE FOR A WHILE AND PEOPLE IN "THE FUTURE" READ IT.

Karkat really likes to ramble, doesn’t he? 

The guy could give Dave a run for his money - and now I really want to see what their conversations would be like. I think Dave would find Karkat hilarious. 

PCG: I WILL ASSUME THAT IT WILL CONTINUE TO STAY THIS WAY FOR THE DURATION OF OUR QUEST, AND THAT I WILL REMAIN AN IMPECCABLE LEADER FOR A SPAN OF HUNDREDS OF HOURS WHILE I GUIDE US ALL TO A STUNNING VICTORY. PCG: IN FACT, I DON'T EVEN NEED TO ASSUME. PCG: I BROWSED THROUGH THIS WHOLE BULLETIN IN ADVANCE, AND IT DOES APPEAR TO BE THE CASE. GO ME.

Karkat’s being glib here, but this probably is a serious confidence booster. 

It might be the first time in the comic that fate is on our heroes’ side - at least until Karkat scrolls down to the postgame chatroom. 

PCG: IN FACT, SINCE I'VE SEEN WHAT I WILL WRITE IN THE FUTURE, I WONDER WHAT IMPETUS I WILL HAVE FOR WRITING IT LATER WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO? PCG: I WONDER IF I COULD JUST COPY/PASTE IT... HOLD ON. PCG: DAMN. PCG: I GUESS THEY THOUGHT OF THAT? I DUNNO. I TRIED TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE BULLETIN AGAIN, BUT NOW THAT I'VE OPENED THIS ONE FROM THE BEGINNING, I CAN'T SEE THE WHOLE THING ANYMORE.

Karkat got a glimpse of his future messages, which will guide his future actions -  but like a Prospit dreamer, he’ll need to figure out the whole picture himself. 

It’s a clever way to split the difference when it comes to predestination - cluing people into their fates, while still allowing them to have original thoughts and ideas.  

PCG: WELL THANKS FOR THE HELP, SO WHEN DO I BAN YOU, FUTURE BOY? PTA: a few liine2 down, after ii pretend liike iim goiing two diie.

What? But you know you’re destined to die!

...well, I guess you also know you’re destined to come back, so that you can die again later. Maybe you’re trying to spare Karkat’s feelings, so that he doesn’t feel responsible for a death you know won’t stick. 

PTA: that horriible p2ychiic noii2e PTA: the voiice2 PTA: they're all goiing two diie PTA: oh 2HiiT iim bleediing PTA: 2hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit PTA: thii2 ii2 bad PTA: ii have two get her iin quiick

Wait - the Glub isn’t instant? You pulled Feferi into the session while your brain was melting? 

Do you have any idea how many rungs you just climbed on my tier list? 

[moonlit0sunshine-blog]

✨WEBTOON recommendations ✨ pt.1

Introducing a series where I attempt to seduce you with aesthetic mood boards to check out my favourite comics on LINE webtoon

𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝟏𝟎𝟏

.-.-----.--.-.-.. .---------.----

🌷 Adorable and endearing characters

🌷 Meme worthy comic panels

🌷 Swooning rom com plot line that you cannot read without your cheeks beaming

🌷 A mood booster comic series to read when you feel down

[evecolourshock]

"We might actually leave a comms repeater here and head home - finally got an encrypted signal booster working so Eve can contact us directly." Tron shrugged lightly. "She's, I quote, meeting up with an old friend and attacking the defences around certain government officials' budgets, and could be a while." I want to hold you, to kiss you, to stay up late and spend time with you. I want to be with you, no matter what form that takes. He tried to broadcast down the bond, unsure if Clu could hear him or feel the river of love that accompanied his words.

"Clu? It's okay. I don't expect perfection." Alan told him gently. "Doing your best is good enough. If the only place you can ensure is safe is the Sanctuary you're in? That's fine. If you can ensure the safety of even one person outside of that? Even better, but that's a bonus not a goal, as long as you can honestly say you tried."

"And you could never be a disappointment or a letdown, to me or to Jet. You're kind and gentle, a fantastic leader and even better person, and you do your best to do what's right. Everything else... some of it might matter, but it's all peripheral, and hinges off that core of who you are."

🔪 (for Clu - it's fake!)

"Act scared - there's an Occupation patrol less than a block away, I'm using a chromatic distorter to hide our circuits so we're less distinctive but neither of us wants them to catch on so for sparks' sake play along! What are you even doing here, anyway!" - Eve, System Resource Allocation Monitor

"What the-Who the frag even ARE you and what do you want with me!?" He didn't need to act, he actually was scared.

[nerdyfangirl67]

The Way She Loves - Criminal Minds Reader Insert

Pairing: Spencer x reader

Warnings: fluff!!, not much else I believe

Word count: 865

Requested by: Anonymous

“Helloo😌😌 could you do a follow up to “the way she walks”? I loved it😩💗”

A/N: This is a sequel to The Way She Walks, but can (maybe?) be read alone if you prefer. Enjoy! And as always, I am taking requests! :)

YOUR POV:

Six months. It had been six months since that first debriefing in the conference room. And in that time, two things had happened.

The first had come as a surprise to you. Hotch had started asking for you to join more and more debriefings, and finally, two months later you were officially asked to join the team as a profiler. You had been ecstatic and had fit in with the rest of the team like you had been working with them for years.

The second came as no surprise to you. Rather it was something you had felt for a long time and you had finally come to the realization that you were indeed in love with Spencer Reid.

Your crush had been intense when you hadn’t seen Spencer every day at work but now you saw him all the time and you worked closely with him. This intense crush quickly turned into something stronger and more permanent, something you had come to realize was love.

What you hadn’t figured out was how obvious it would be to everyone, everyone except Spencer. JJ had figured out in a matter of days and your own blunder (when you had simply said “That’s why I love him” under your breath at the round table as he spouted off facts)  had quickly clued Penelope in on how you felt. Morgan had figured out shortly after because of how you acted around Spencer. Rossi had known all along, it seemed, and Hotch had called you into his office, simply questioning if your judgment around Spencer was still solid, which you had assured him it was. Spencer though, regardless of the obvious glances from Morgan and the not so subtle pushes towards Spencer from JJ, still hadn’t found out. 

You had tried to tell Spencer on more than one occasion, but more often than not, you had ended up spitting out some random thing that had popped into your head, like how you believed Stairway to Heaven was a piece of musical genius, or how you secretly thought that Hotch was an amazing golfer, despite not having any real evidence to back that claim up. Each time Spencer looked as though he wanted to call you out on your poor excuses, but he simply replied with “That’s interesting Y/N” or “I’d never thought about that.” 

SPENCER’S POV:

Whenever she looked at me, I could see it in her eyes, ever since the day she realized it herself. She loved me. That’s not something I took lightly or as an ego booster either. The way she loved me was different. She didn’t give me the same look that JJ or Penelope did. Theirs was a look of sisterly affection and ‘motherly’ love.

No, Y/N looked at me the way I had only ever seen when Hotch looked at Haley. Her beautiful Y/E/C eyes told me more than her mouth ever had, and although I had been waiting for her to say it herself, I knew that if all I ever got was her promising look of love, it would be enough to make me the luckiest man alive.

There had been several times when I had thought she was going to tell me. Each time though she had given me some random piece of information that had been floating around in her mind. And every time I had to force myself not to call her out on her sudden change of subject and demeanor. 

I had finally decided, after weeks of these fruitless conversations on the most random things, I would tell her how I felt instead. I too had been sitting on the secret of my feelings for her. To me, it felt as though I had been in love with her since the first time she had sat next to me in the conference room. 

YOUR POV:

You finally decided you were going to tell Spencer the truth about how you felt. The timing couldn’t get more perfect (he was walking you to your car after work on a Friday evening). Both of you were floating on the team’s most recent success (you had just got back from breaking up a large child smuggling ring). And you couldn’t be more ready to tell him (or at least that is what you kept telling yourself).

Spencer held the elevator doors open for you, waiting for you to join him before allowing the doors of the elevator to close. You suck in a deep breath, mustering up all the courage you have before turning to him. 

“Spencer, I-” He effectively cuts you off as he moves into your personal space, his face now only inches from yours. He leans forward, his lips a breath away from yours. 

“Tell me, Y/N.” His voice, husky and low, sends a shiver down your spine.

“I-I love you.” You stammer out before Spencer is pressing his lips to yours in a slow, passionate kiss. You don’t hesitate to kiss him back.

“I love you too.” He murmurs gently on your lips. You hug him tightly in response, relaxing into his arms as you have wanted to for months.

[aurification]

you're the sun, you're the day. the light that guides me.

WORD COUNT: 4115 WHO: @txdkxrd, rani carter, skeets, mentions of darkseid WHEN: two weeks ago WHAT: time travel gone wrong leaves the carter family stranded in an alternate universe NOTES: speech in bold is rani and italics is skeets TRIGGERS: mentions of war, death, depression

MICHAEL CARTER: Nothing has felt right since his best friend died. Michael has experienced tragedy before and saw it with his own eyes as cities burned and innocence is lost. Nothing could have prepared him for the day Ted would die. Maybe his way of coping with the grief wasn’t healthy, his sister tried to make him understand why his actions were inappropriate.  He would travel into the past for only a few hours at a time to spend time with Ted. Who was too smart to be fooled by seeing a version of Booster with more experience than they remember. 

Four years ago Darkseid invaded the planet Daxam in the 31ST CENTURY and Michael tried to stop the war but there wasn’t much that could be done except help the Daxamites try and evacuate or get to shelter. He ended up bringing a young child back to Earth with him. Rip wasn’t much thrilled by having a nine-year-old Daxamite living with them now but informed Booster that he was a father now. It took some time to wrap his head around this but quickly became thrilled about having a daughter. Rani seemed to really look up to him and that never changed over the years. 

Now, Michael may keep up on being in shape but doesn’t shave as often anymore. He puts too much thought into taking care of his daughter who just turned thirteen a few months ago. Michelle gifted her niece an old Goldstar uniform for emergencies only. Jaime and Skeets didn’t think it was a good idea but far as birthdays go it couldn’t have been better. The ache of Ted being gone for so long still lives within him but it doesn’t seem like a loss that you can ever get over. He tells Rani all about their adventures and what kind of man Blue Beetle is like. He talks about how they would have gotten along well because Rani is a little genius and likes helping out around the lab when Rip is home. He thinks that Ted and Rani could have had a special relationship by bonding over coming up with new inventions. Which always never made sense to Michael, only wanting to know how something works not how you build it. He was the only one who regularly took care of his headstone too. 

Something goes wrong though and Skeets informs Booster that Rani followed them dressed in her newly acquired Goldstar uniform. 

“I can help you, dad! You can’t keep doing this on your own!” She would tell him, always trying to get Michael to let her be his sidekick but he never budges. He doesn’t want Rani being put in danger but that’s what happens. The creature finally found them and crashes through part of the building in it’s path. He doesn’t have time to try patching into his comms to see where Batman is. He does what any parent would do and focuses on getting Rani out of the situation. He uses his time-travel circuitry to get the three of them out of there and to be somewhere safer. The safest place he could think of and hasn’t been in years. His best friend’s lab. Both Michael and his daughter pull off their goggles which are dangling around their necks as Skeets hovers over their head. 

<Sir, you might want to turn around.>

“Not now, Skeets.”

<It’s most urgent.>

Booster signs, turning to see what the big deal is. Rani hides behind her father’s tall stature unsure what to expect. Apparently in his moment of panic they were resorted to an entirely different timeline. The year is the same but something leaves the blonde speechless. Ted walking into the lab and Michael feels his eyes water but tries to pull himself together before they’re noticed. “Teddy...” He says finally when their gazes meet. 

Rani steps out from behind Booster, in just as much shock. The teenager tugs on his arm knowing how this must feel for him. “Dad?” She asks while looking between the two adults.

TED KORD: Teddy had a lot to be getting on with these days but his mind occasionally drifted back to Booster. He’d been his best friend back in the days of the JLI; they’d bonded over being the jokers of the team, both seeing the value in each other that was rarely seen by other people. Of course, even the best team ups couldn’t last forever and Teddy was one of the few who understood the amount of work Booster did keeping timelines in check and there was a reason he couldn’t tell anyone about it. In fact, the only reason Teddy had put it together in a combination of tiny clues from talking with Booster and his own smarts. So when Booster left he didn’t question it, no matter how much he missed his best friend he knew life needed to go on. So, for years, it had. The ban came into effect and Booster wasn’t there. So, Teddy poured all his knowledge and time into Kord Inc. and pulled his somewhat mediocre company out of a rut and made it a real world competitor on par with several branches of Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries. He’d also found Jaime and taken the boy under his wing in El Paso; he was a good kid and damn if Teddy didn’t think he’d be so much better than he ever was and probably save the damn world many times over.

It was hella busy and of course he’d poured that same obsessiveness into his own health as well. Sure doctors told him that his heart couldn’t be fixed and didn’t warrant a translate, yet, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make himself as healthy as possible. So he dieted, constantly, and worked out (too much) to try and help himself out. Truth be told he was in better shape than he’d ever been in his life (BMI readouts and body measurements didn’t lie). But he still looked in the mirror and saw many imperfections, too many of them. Ones that made him pale in comparison to folks like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. He couldn’t help but wonder why they’d even invited him into the Avenging League. Not that he was complaining! Getting involved with them reminded him of why he’d loved getting into the hero game. So he’d pulled the worst Blue Beetle out of the closet and back into the field. He couldn’t wear the spandex again though. Seven years away from it had clued him into how, well… unappealing it could look. The spandex hood certainly did him no favours. The description ’human condom’ had been used by some particularly uncharitable news reporters.

His new costume was much simpler, it consisted of some fitted cargo pants with several pockets, his own utility belt, a skin-tight t-shirt with the beetle emblem, fingerless gloves and his trademark orange goggles, he’d not been able to give them up. And that was how he was currently dressed in The Bug monitoring the city, with NOVA now pushed out it was much easier to do. He was shocked when an alert triggered that had been programmed to detect one missing best friend: it had been years since it went off. Booster. And he wasn’t far!

He synched the tracker to the tech in his gloves and jogged out of the Bug to the outskirts of the city, only about ten minutes so he wasn’t out of breath when he arrived (take that crappy heart) and when he arrived Skeets was already trying to tell Booster he was here. Teddy smirked and waved at the little robot who bobbed up and down in response. Then Booster was finally turning to see him and wow that’s a beard. He grinned, why was Booster looking so dumbstruck, “Were you expecting Guy instead?” He asked with a chuckle, but then the teenager spoke and what did she say!? DAD!? “Boos… Who’s the teenage girl?” He asked with a raised brow.

MICHAEL CARTER: It was no secret that Michael changed after Ted died. He continued exercising regularly but allowed his facial hair to grow out to a very visible blonde beard and mustache. Which isn’t something that he ever decided to do before but the traumatic loss of his best friend made him stop caring about being clean shaven. Booster let himself go in at least one regard — but over time began trimming it to at least pretend that he has it together. His daughter doesn’t know anything different. There are pictures of him without it but has never seen it with her own eyes before. Another thing that Michael stopped taking care of was his suit. It had always been Ted who did repairs and sewed the fabric back together. Rip started taking it upon himself to fix the Booster Gold suit and that’s something they never talked about it. Something unspoken because maybe Rip knew Ted wouldn’t want Booster to do that to himself.

Small reminders were all over the place and surrounded him after it was revealed that Kord Industries had been left to him. Some people didn’t understand why — Michael included since he doesn’t know anything about running a business. He didn’t want to let Ted down since he must have believed in him to make the decision and be confident in it. Booster worked hard on making sure the company would continue to thrive even if he left to travel through the time stream. Keeping his memory alive is important and maybe that’s why Jaime ended up being taken under his wing. The kid was important to Ted — considering that Jaime is his legacy after all. The blonde might not be the mentor the teenager wanted but was the only one left to teach him in a way that would make his best friend proud.

Despite having all this responsibility Michael never quite got over the loss. Michelle might argue that going into the past to observe a time when Ted is alive wasn’t healthy. She always told him that won’t help him move forward and maybe she was right. He stopped after Rani came into his life because he needed to set a good example. It was never in his plan to become a father but sometimes the universe gives you what it thinks you need.

After crash landing and destroying his time travel device in the process, Booster planned on sitting his daughter down to try making her understand why it wasn’t the time for being a hero. He wants her to have a normal life, after everything they’ve both been through one of them deserves it. Rani is young and no thirteen year old should be fighting monsters and crime. If anything happened to her too ... that might completely break him. The already shattered pieces scattering across the floor in a way that would be impossible to piece back together. This thought is forgotten after the Ted of this universe walked in. He just stares, not caring that this one is younger ... only that he’s still alive.

Everyone’s voices pulls him out of his thoughts, needing to explain himself. This Ted’s Booster must not have any children which is interesting. He doesn’t see another version of himself around but keeps it in mind for later. Michael doesn’t joke as often, maybe grown up a little and locked away part of his personality after his own Ted died. “When has anyone wanted to be alone in a room with Guy?” The tug on his arm from Rani reminds him, and looks between the two of them. He doesn’t know how long they’ll be here but it’s going to be a while. It wouldn’t be easy fixing technology from the future and maybe he wants to be selfish by spending time with his best friend. The blonde takes a step forward, an arm wrapping around Rani as they approach Ted. He never thought that this would happen and needs to try not getting choked up about it. “Teddy. This is my daughter, Rani.” She smiles and waves at him. ”It’s nice to meet you!” Although there’s more to that story that can be triggering for the teenager so he sends her off with Skeets to look around to give the adults some privacy. Michael watches her for a moment before turning back to Ted.

“She’s a Daxamite. Darkseid invaded her planet four years ago and killed her parents. She was only nine at the time and didn’t have anyone else. I wasn’t going to leave her alone ... I couldn’t save everyone but I saved her. I adopted her soon after bringing her to Earth. She’s a sweet kid and so smart. I know what you’re thinking ... I’m the last person who should be a father. I try to do right by her.” Michael sighs for a moment as he explains. Rani however is in the background hovering in the air next to Skeets with her legs crossed.

Booster scratches at his beard for a moment. “My sister gave her an old Goldstar suit as a birthday gift and ever since Rani keeps trying to convince me to let her be my sidekick. I just want her to focus on being a normal teenager ... normal as one can be with the powers similar to Superman anyway.” He pauses for a moment. “She showed up when I was helping deal with something in New York with a few members of the Justice League. I tried getting her out of there but ... my device brought us here instead. It got broken in the process so we’re stuck. I’m not sure what to do, Teddy.” He doesn’t have any money and nowhere to go. He can’t ask Ted to give him anything because it wouldn’t be fair, would it? He has his own Booster probably waiting for him somewhere.

TED KORD: Teddy was struck by Booster’s new look. It wasn’t that he looked bad (not that it was his place to comment unless he was trying to get a rise out of the other guy) but Booster had always been so fastidious about his appearance and that had included making sure he was clean shaven twenty four seven. Teddy was pretty sure he’d only even seen him with a fine five o’clock shadow like twice and both times it had been because they were on a mission that went over a day. So he couldn’t help but clock it and spend a few moments taking it in. It made him look… older. 

Maybe he was older? He couldn’t be sure how much time Booster spent away (a day for him could be years for the other and vice-versa after all). The retort, while on point seemed to take a little bit too long and lack a lot of Booster’s usual zeal, enough to have Teddy frowning and wondering what’d happened to his friend. “No one ever.” He responded with a small smile, though the concern was probably easy to read on his face. Both would’ve continued but the teenager with him caught Teddy’s attention again and seeing how she clung to Booster was yet another surprise.

D-DAUGHTER!? Teddy was pretty sure that short circuited his mind for a good five seconds, his eyes wide staring at the pair and trying to catalogue similarities in facial structure, mannerisms and other indicators. She was too old! Even if Booster was a little older he wasn’t THAT old! Eventually he manages to raise an arm weakly and offer a “Nice to meet you too Rani.” In return. Not the best of greetings but he was trying to deal with a pretty earth-shattering revelation here!

“Oh my god you pulled a Batman.” He said quietly, not wanting Rani to hear, his eyes still fixed on the girl floating in the air with Skeets who offered Teddy a little flicker of his lights before turning back to the girl and doing as Booster said to occupy her. “You’re a father.” He repeated, “You. A parent. Of a super powered teenager.” He took a deep breath, “Okay. Okay… Okay, this is a thing that’s happened.” And Booster clearly loves her, that much is easy for even him to see.

“Michelle? Boos… how long have you been away for?” She was nine, that girl had to be in her teens so at least four years. What the hell!? “Oh sure yea, wanting a powered kid to be normal, that works out well.” He deadpanned, finally getting a sense of himself back. Fortunately, Booster telling him the predicament he’s in flicks his ‘look after Booster Gold’ switch on and he can somewhat function again. “Well the solution to that’s simple.” He smiled, “You and Rani can stay with me. I’ve got an apartment in the city and The Bug too, we’ll fix up your tech and help get you and Rani back to wherever you gotta be in the time stream. I’m not about to let you both go when you’re in a bind. You my bud.” He clapped Booster on the shoulder, having to reach up to do it. “Plus, your suits a mess man, you gotta take better care of it. I’ll fix it up for you when we get to my place.”

“Rani!” He called to the kid, taking charge of the situation, “You and Booster… Your dad are gonna stay with me for a little while, okay? Skeets, the Bug’ll give you the details and I’ve got a changing bay for you in there too.” He’d made one in case Skeets ever needed a nap in the Bug, even machines gotta catch their Z’s. “C’mon I bet you’re both hungry. I’ll order some food, you can both have the good stuff and I’ll have a crappy salad. Rani and you need to shower too, you’re both looking a little… less than clean. She can borrow some of my clothes and I brought some of yours with me when I moved up here.” It had felt wrong not to bring his ‘Booster Draw’ to Star City with him.

“Don’t worry man. This’ll be fine.” He grinned up at Booster, “So long as no one’s died, it can be fixed.”

MICHAEL CARTER: The beard originally manifested from his depression roughly seven years ago after all the memorial services that they held for his best friend. He couldn’t bring himself to care about being clean-shaven anymore when the grief felt so suffocating. He usually took so much care of his appearance — styling his hair a certain way, skincare treatments, and the obvious task of shaving any facial hair that grew overnight. He continued to lift weights as any kind of distraction but that would end up being only temporary. The sorrow always came back twice as strong. Eventually over the months Michelle would sit him down and express her worries. He couldn’t continue going on sabotaging himself and traveling back in time to see Ted from a distance. He never interacted with him but instead treated it as a way to replay memories. It wasn’t healthy but Michael missed his best friend. Nobody seemed to understand how unfair it was to have the ability to change an outcome but be told, ’no this is the way it has to be.’ His sister stuck around so Michael wouldn’t be alone and maybe that makes all the difference. He might have spiraled more if it weren’t for that. There was quite a lot of drinking after it settled in that the universe won’t let him save the Ted Kord from his universe. When Rani came into his life it thrilled Michelle to have a niece. They were a little family and can’t imagine how worried she must be when they disappeared.

There was shock written all over both of their faces. He always dreamt of what this moment would feel like. Those first few years were spent leaving his door unlocked waiting for Ted to walk in with some grand excuse for his absence. Maybe they would laugh about it but that never happened. Instead Michael needed to learn how to exist in a world without him. It doesn’t ever get easier, he thought that was bullshit but figured out how to live with it. He became a mentor for the first time in his life which had been interesting, never trained anyone before. He would respect Ted’s last wishes and become the new GOLD AND BLUE with Jaime.

He could tell immediately that the other version of himself wasn’t a father since the reveal resulted in such a surprised reaction. Maybe nobody would expect him of all people to raise a child but ended up being a natural without even realizing it at first. Her planet had been invaded, parents murdered, and having nowhere else to go. Michael wasn’t going to leave her alone, not when she was holding his hand every second they tried to flee from Darkseid. “I know! I can’t believe I’m a knockoff Batman now.” He jokes softly, despite the fact it’s not completely true due to how different the two heroes are. “It was unexpected but the best thing to ever happen to me, Teddy. She’s thirteen now … and I’m just trying to be the kind of father Rani deserves.” Michael knows that he isn’t perfect but wouldn’t change anything about the situation.

The offer live with him makes him feel happy but the hand on his shoulder is all a confirmation that Ted is really here. He wasn’t disappearing before his eyes and it takes all of his willpower not to start tearing up. The blonde just wishes it were possible to express how much he missed him without making this weird.  “You really wouldn’t mind? It would help us out since we really need something stable right now. I have to warn you …” The safety of his daughter comes before anything else. “While the power sets of Daxamites and Kryptonians are identical … their weaknesses aren’t. She becomes severely weak when coming in contact with lead instead of kryptonite.” What he has come to understand is that this could be fatal in some instances. “There’s no cure created for it yet.” He mentions that so Ted has the information too if they’re living together but knows any version of his best friend might take it upon himself to try looking into it. Maybe it also makes him emotional knowing that after seven long years his suit will be repaired from the best one for the job once again. Nobody ever sewed it back together quite like Beetle does. “Thanks … you know me, can’t sew to save my life.” Which is followed by a light chuckle as well.

Rani comes back over to join the adults, smiling brightly as Skeets isn’t too far behind. “Sleepover! Can we order pizza?” Her feet landing on the ground at this point while looking up at the two adults in the room. “Only a salad? Eat pizza with us!” She insists, not quite understanding the reason behind Ted not wanting to eat something greasy.

<You are always good to me, Mr. Kord. I look forward to catching up with the Bug.> Skeets responds with as much enthusiasm as one can expect from a robot.

The blonde just stands back admiring what was happening, getting a little emotional at the sight. He spent many sleepless nights daydreaming about this and now it’s real. He takes a step forward, trying not to get choked up and ruin the moment. “We could use a shower. I’m still covered in some alien guck.” He makes a disgusted face for a moment, sticking his tongue out instead as an attempt at bringing out his humorous side. The banter that’s always exchanged with Blue Beetle is one of a kind. Although the words that come out of his mouth next leaves Booster’s smile fading again.

“Y-yeah. I’m sure this will be —” He turns around for a moment, pulling his visor off his face to wipe away some tears that can’t be held back. The reminder that his best friend died and thee was nothing that can be done to fix it. Thee’s a second chance standing in front of him but that can’t erase the trauma from that loss. He can’t do this here, not now. He puts visor back on and faces everyone again. “Sorry, something was in my eye.” You’re a good actor so this lie wouldn’t raise any red flags. 

“So … you know any good pizza places?”

[synthient]

Could you elaborate on what you mean about Death T re stanning and fairness? It sounds interesting and I'd love to hear about it if you don't mind sharing.

ajhfakj hoo boy. Okay.

So some time around the summer before last (judging by the point where the first baffled and frustrated readmores start showing up on this blog), I read Death-T. It made me feel…some kind of way. An…unpleasant kind of way.

Here’s the thing about me: I can’t just let myself have an emotional reaction to a piece of fiction. I have to, first, pick apart my own emotions to figure out why I had that reaction, and second, pick apart the story to figure out how it works and how it made me feel that way.

On the Feelings Front, I’ve isolated two main causes:

1. I have a brain that Needs Things To Be Fair. That doesn’t mean I can’t handle unfairness in a piece of fiction. Unfairness creates conflict, and conflict is what makes for good storytelling. But it does mean that I need the story to be aware of its own unfairness. I need the unfairness to be the point. Otherwise I start vibrating at high speeds and shaking my fist at clouds.

2. I’m a Kaiba stan. I accidentally got emotionally attached to the Funny Card Game Boy from the Funny Card Game Show. 

There’s the feelings part. That leaves the “picking apart the story” side of the equation. And I’ve been trying to do that in nice punchy little one-or-two-paragraph text posts for the past year or so, but I don’t think I’ve ever really done the argument justice that way. So I guess that leaves only one option: writing a giant wordvomit essay on Yugioh (1996-2004).

Why This Is A Death-T Hateblog: The Masterpost

An important note: I like being able to back up my thoughts with Evidence From The Text, but I’m specifically working off the (Viz translated) manga. You can read Cards with Teeth here, Capumon here, and Death-T starting here if you want to check any of my facts or draw your own conclusions. Keep in mind that the Toei anime made pretty huge changes to the s0 Kaiba storyline, and the DM anime skipped most of it entirely–if you’re more familiar with those continuities, there’re some major differences in the manga.

(Also this thing probably reads better on desktop. I think the formatting got screwed up on mobile)

How We Got Here

Before we can actually dig into Death-T, we need to start at the very beginning (♫a very good place to start♫). So that means taking a look at “The Cards with Teeth (Part 1)” and “The Cards with Teeth (Part 2).”

For its first 8 chapters, the Yugioh manga chugs blissfully (if repetitively) along with an episodic, conflict-of-the-week formula. No overarching plot. Next to no sense of continuity. No trading cards in sight.

Then this asshole shows up. 

His name is Seto Kaiba (or “Kaiba,” at least–not sure if this is just a Viz thing, but my copy of CwT never mentions his given name). Not that he bears a whole lot of resemblance to the Seto Kaiba we later come to know and love (and/or love to hate).

Almost none of his most defining traits are there yet. There’s no mention of Mokuba, no mention of Kaibacorp, no indicationthat he’s especially rich (besides the fact that he’s carrying around a wholebriefcase of trading cards), no reason to believe he has a specific obsession with Blue Eyes (he just thinks it’s a strong card and it’d help him win tournaments), and no sign of any special hacking/strategy/hand-to-hand-combat/etc. skills (the kid is hilariously incompetent). 

This dude was never supposed to be a recurring character, and it shows.

But anyway, let’s run through the basic series of events:

- Kaiba wanders into the game shop looking forbooster packs. Yugi recognizes him as an acquaintance from school (not as a famous kid CEO, and not as a recent transfer student)

- Kaiba happens to notice the Blue Eyes card lying out onGrandpa’s counter (in this version of events, he hasn’t been stealing rare cards for months before this, he didn’t creep on Yugi’s conversation and followhim home, he had no idea going in that the Blue Eyes was there, and he didn’t already have the other three)

- He offers to trade all the cards in his briefcasefor the Blue Eyes (although he doesn’t tell Grandpa to name his price—again,the millionaire CEO element isn’t a thing yet)

- Grandpa refuses, so the next day Kaiba comes up with alaughably badly thought-out plan to steal the card

- Shockingly, Yugi notices that the “color copy from the catalog” isn’t the real deal. He gently tries to confront Kaiba about it in private

- Kaiba (without showing an ounce of the cool head you’d think you’d need to take over and run a company) panics, starts stammering and unconvincingly denying it, and then smacks Yugi with his briefcase

Annnd then Part 2 plays out like a standard s0 chapter.

“Yami Yugi” takes over. They play a shadow game. Kaiba cheats by slipping the stolen Blue Eyes out of his sleeve (Atem’s like “That’s my Grandpa’s card!” and Kaiba straight up goes “Whaaat, nooo, that’s my card that I, uh, found on the street just now.” A teen genius criminal mastermind, everybody). The shadow magic gives him a spritz from its metaphorical Karmic Cat-Training Spray Bottle and makes his Blue Eyes dissolve (I’d like to think that was Kisara going “I’m not mad, just disappointed,” and Memory World tries to retroactively make that connection, but it’s pretty abundantly clear that nothing about this series was planned that far ahead). He loses. Yadda yadda yadda.

And then Atem goes in for the penalty game.

To recap: 

Some random 10th grader from Yugi’s school stole a trading card, hit someone, and was generally kind of a jerk. As punishment, he was trapped in a hyper-realistic illusion of being ripped apart and slaughtered by half a dozen monsters at once.

Y…ay…?

Let’s Stop and Reflect for a Sec

In theory, I shouldn’t be that much more upset about Cards with Teeth than I am about any other part of s0, right? It’s not like the manga framed it as horrific and wrong when Atem set off an explosion in some teenage bully’s face a couple chapters ago. Giving us the vicarious pleasure of punishing our bullies in over-the-top, Carrie-style ways without actually exploring any of the consequences is, like, the early manga’s whole thing.

But even taking into account the fact that I already had an attachment to this Nasty Bowl Cut Boy thanks to the anime, I do actually think that there are at least two factors that set CwT apart.

The first is that Atem’s karmic punishments are usually…well, karmic. If he inflicts physical harm on someone, it’s because they already inflicted or tried to inflict roughly the same amount of harm on Yugi & co. If the crime was relatively minor, then he only gives out a minor punishment–like, say, when the homeroom teacher was Just Kinda Mean, all he did was allow the class to see her without her makeup on (…setting aside the Let’s Get Into Gender Politics-ness of that chapter).

There’s even a few cases where you could argue that the punishment is too light to fit the crime. Ushio beat Jonouchi and Honda half to death and tried to murder Yugi with a knife, and all he got was this lousy t-shirt an illusion that made the trash on the ground look like money.

In another chapter, the villain of the week tried to rape Anzu, and the only punishment he faced was having his side business exposed as a scam (Let’s Get Into Gender Politics).

Yet in CwT, we see one of the most harmless villains in all of s0 (no prolonged beatings or attempted murder? unheard of!) receive what’s arguably the most horrifying penalty game in the whole manga. At least when that guy got set on fire, it was over fast.

And that brings us to factor number two: Kaiba is the first penalty game victim in s0 who comes back. 

Capumon: Gotta Catch ‘em All!

Well, technically he doesn’t come back in person, at first. Someone else shows up to fight in his name.

Oh hey Mokie. How’s it going?

Rather understandably (imo), Mokuba wants the guy who tortured his brother last week to face some actual consequences for it.

Now here’s an interesting opportunity that the manga has set up for itself. Is it going to dig deep into the balance between defending yourself vs lashing out and causing undue harm? Is it going to remind us that most of the penalty game victims so far, whatever their crimes,have been children? Is it going to demonstrate that when you take out your anger on someone, you don’t just hurt your immediate target, but their loved ones as well?

Nah, who am I kidding.  

Hurting or inconveniencing the Good Guys in any way is Bad. Anything the Good Guys do is Good and Justified. Using magic to stick an already-hurting eleven-year-old in his own personalized hell? Good and Justified.

Before he’s shoved screaming into the Giant Vending Machine Capsule Where Bad And Naughty Elementary Schoolers Go To Atone For Their Crimes, Mokuba mentions that the other penalty game he heard about “made my brother go crazy!”

He also drops a hint of things to come with all the subtlety of an anvil. So I guess by this point, the numbers had come in and the card game chapter had proved unexpectedly popular enough that a sequel was in the works.

Death-Twink? Death-Tastic?Death-Two: Electric Boogaloo?

I’ve been pretty hard on Cards with Teeth and Capsule Monsters Chess so far. But you want to know the truth?

On their own, they aren’t necessarily that bad.

What really matters in a story isn’t the literal events: it’s how those events are framed. At the moment, we’re only midway through an incomplete storyline. Maybe we’re supposed to be horrified. Maybe we’re supposed to be questioning whether or not the hero is really in the right. It all hangs on what these chapters are building to.

As it turns out–as Mokuba just helpfully clued us in on–they were building to Death-T.

And that’s where the shit hits the fan.

Over a dozen chapters after we first met Kaiba, a whole bunch of completely-unforeshadowed facts about him are suddenly dumped on us all at once. He’s rich! The kind of rich that allows for limo rides, a giant mansion, and flouncing around in a fur-lined cape like feudal European nobility! And he’s the president of a company, even though “Whaa?!! But he’s still in high school!” Speaking of which, apparently Kaiba “hasn’t been at school recently.”

The Death-T arc opens with Yugi and Jonouchi attending the world’s most awkward sleepover–the host never shows up, and they don’t even get to paint each others’ nails or watch movies. Also Mokuba tries to murder them in the night, but you know what? If someone tortured my brother, “made him go crazy,” and left him huddled in the house feverishly working on a bizarre project and refusing to go to school for the next few weeks, I’d probably poison them too.

The morning after the sleepover, we learn another new Kaiba Fact…

Ever since the Experience of Death happened, he’s been having horrible recurring PTSD nightmares about it. As you do. When you get tortured.

(This is why, even though I know intellectually that it’s Not That Deep and people arejust having fun, I still get a little skeeved out when I see jokes about howDeath-T happened “just” because Kaiba was that mad about losing a card game or “just”because he had a crush on Yugi and he didn’t know how to deal with it. I’malways internally like “Nnno, I’m pretty sure it was the torture?”)

So far we’ve been shown in pretty brutal detail that our “hero” psychologically broke a fifteen-year-old for no good reason. The manga’s going to have its work cut out for it if it really wants to do a convincing redemption arc for its protagonist. And there’s no way it could possibly try to spin that random act of torture as an acceptable thing, right?

…right?

Crime and Punishment

That’s one of my first big problems with Death-T: to me, it reads as a way of trying to retroactively justify the Experience of Death.

That seems to be the purpose of suddenly giving Kaiba all this wealth and power that was never hinted at in Cards with Teeth. See, he wasn’t just some random high school kid who had the bad luck of crossing someone with magic powers; he was (however improbable that is, as the story lampshades) a high school-aged CEO. He’s so ludicrously powerful that he can torture an old man in front of a live audience and get away with it. Punching up looks a lot better than punching down, doesn’t it?

And you can’t really fault the hero for torturing someone evil, can you? Kaiba used Grandpa’s sanity as a blackmail chip! He ran experiments on human test subjects! He wants to kill Yugi and everyone he loves! Surely a little torture is no worse than he deserved.

There’s only one one problem with that: the Experience of Death happened before Death-T. There’s no way Atem could have known any of this was coming. The audience couldn’t have known it was coming. Takahashi didn’t know. Chronologically speaking, the Experience of Death wasn’t revenge for Death-T. It’s the other way around.

Best Served Cold

So Death-T is a form of eye-for-an-eye vengeance: “Yugi” beat Kaiba at Duel Monsters and tortured him, so now Kaiba’s gonna beat Yugi and torture him, using his own perfect virtual recreation of “Yugi’s” penalty game (oh yeah, that whole “the average person goes insane in about 10 minutes” thing? Kaiba was able to program that detail from personal experience).

But wait! This isn’t really eye-for-an-eye! Kaiba’s going after Yugi’s loved ones, not just Yugi, and that’s worse than what Yugi did to him! And even if it was proportionate, revenge is bad and wrong. That’s how you get endless back-and-forth chains of vengeance and generational blood feuds and stuff. Two wrongs don’t make a right!

And those could all be reasonable points, except…

This entire story is about how great and badass eye-for-an-eye justice is.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if you could take everyone who ever hurt you and make them suffer even worse” is practically the thesis of Season 0. You can’t make something look awesome when the protagonist does it and then turn around and make it seem evil and inexcusable coming from anyone else.

And while Kaiba does wind up targeting Yugi’s friends, that wasn’t part of his original plan. He’s surprised when random people start jumping out of the bleachers/the Kaibacorp employee roster and insisting that they won’t let Yugi do this alone. The writing uses his surprise as proof that he just doesn’t understand The Power of Friendship, but it’s also evidence that his original target was just Yugi.

“If you’re gonna side with my torturer, then you can have the same fate as him, I guess.” It’s not even that far outside the logic Atem’s been using all this time. Just because there’s only one main gang member who personally hurt his friend, that doesn’t mean that Atem won’t rope every random mook who gets in his way into the death game too. (Granted, this doesn’t really apply to Kaiba’s treatment of Grandpa. Or the offscreen experimentation/blackmailing. Or Mokuba, but…we’ll get to that).

…But like I said before, the big issue isn’t the events. It’s the framing. Maybe the point will ultimately be that if penalty games are wrong when the bad guy does them, then they’re wrong when the hero does them too. Maybe this is all leading up to a big reexamination of Atem’s moral code and some much-needed character development.

Maybe. Let’s keep going and see.

*Great Gatsby comic voice* Baby? What Baby

Death-T runs for 14 chapters, but Kaiba isn’t actually there for, like…half of them.

I mean, he’s technically there? Occasionally? He’ll show up long enough to dramatically play chess for a panel or so, or to stick his head on a TV monitor and provide some Helpful Death Game Hints. But for all practical purposes, he’s pretty much absent for the entire middle section of the story arc.

And, uh…let’s just say I 100% understand and respect the DM anime’s decisionto go straight from Grandpa’s heart attack to the final duel and skipeverything in between.

If Kaiba’s real goal is to beat Yugi at Duel Monsters, then all the death games leading up to that one are basically filler. And they manage to be just as contrived and nonsensical as any anime filler arc, without a fraction of the fun.

It’s largely a tonal issue. The writing swings wildly between grimdark dramatics, sentimental conversations about friendship where everyone hugs and cries (tbh that’s one of the few redeeming qualities of the arc), and “comic relief” where the “““comedy””” is all either bodily function jokes or sexual assault jokes (L̠̤̯͍̦e̮̪͎̞t's̞̮̳̱̰̦̲ ̲G͖͉̹̻̯͉͖e̜̝̗͓̟͚t̖͚ ͚̰̞̮̝̫͎I͓̜̦̳̭͚͎n̪̪͈t͍̥̰̼o͚͎͇̣̘̝ ̪̼̜̣̳G͈̠̫e̳̝̗̪ṋ͚̞͎ͅd͔̙͓̯̹e̯̺̯̩r͔̣̲͔̳̗ ̘͙P̖̦o̩̺͖͎̞̬l͎̺͕̹i͇̣̼̦t̰i̬̰̝͙̗̝c̜̼̺̪̲̞s).

Honestly, in terms of the “stanning and fairness” argument, there’s not much to talk about here. It just adds insult to injury that not only does Death-T throw my fave under the bus, but it’s really badly written.

The Mokuba Thing

Okay, let’s fast-forward through the filler zone and stoppp…here. 

In the context of the anime, where we know (and see multiple flashbacks demonstrating) that their whole life has been an “us against the world” story, this scene is tragic. Seto’s trust in people has been eroded so much that he even thinks Mokuba is conspiring against him? Their love and support for each other, which has survived through so much hardship, has finally cracked under the weight of this latest trauma? There’s a lot of dramatic and tearjerking potential there.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that most of us bring our baggage from the anime with us when we read the manga. The vast majority of the western Yugioh fandom did start with DM. 

But if we look at this purely in the context of the manga–if we can pretend, for a second, that none of us have ever heard of the anime–this is the first time we see the two of them interacting onscreen. And none of those touching flashbacks of Seto comforting Mokuba and defending him from bullies and promising to be his father exist here. All we ever really learn about their relationship before this point is “They used to be a little closer when they were younger. Source: one (1) photo of them playing chess.”

So instead of serving as the tragic lowpoint of their relationship, this scene sets the baseline for it: Mokuba desperately wants to make his brother happy and earn his approval, while Seto responds with dismissal and cruelty.

In the anime (and to a certain extent in the later manga), Mokuba’s purpose in the narrative is to humanize Seto. But in Death-T, he serves the opposite function. Every interaction they have is an opportunity for Seto to kick the dog and prove what a monster he is.

And it’s all downhill from here.

………………

…So.

I have…mixed feelings about this.

On one level–a meta level–I think this scene serves the same purpose as taking that random high schooler from CwT and suddenly giving him ridiculous amounts of money and power and mustache-twirling levels of villainy. It’s a way of making the Experience of Death seem retroactively justified (and also a way of making the upcoming penalty game look fair).

On the other hand. It’s. 

Horrific.

This scene is supposed to make us hate Kaiba, and it does it’s job really really well.

Personally speaking? I’m of the opinion that trying to hurt the child under your care as badly as you conceivably can is a “don’t pass go, don’t collect $100″ kind of deal. There’s no coming back from that. There’s no fixing or salvaging this relationship.  

(God, this whole thing is wrapped in so many layers of fantasy that I’m not even sure what the real-world equivalent would be. Trying to beat your child not quite to death?)

Mokuba should not have had to continue living with his brother after this, any more than the Ishtars should have had to stay with their dad or Seto should have had to stay with Gozaburo. Mokuba forgiving Seto for this isn’t touching to me, it’s gut-wrenching. Every “heartwarming” brotherly moment in the later manga (all, like…2 and a half of them) feels hollow and sad.

As far as I’m concerned, this scene doesn’t “complicate” their relationship in any interesting or meaningful way. Their anime relationship already has plenty of complications–their sometimes unhealthy co-dependence, the fact that Seto is still a kid himself and he’s not really equipped to be a parent,Mokuba’s difficulty understanding that Seto can’t just “go back to who he was” before his trauma, the times when Seto is too caught up in his own pain to really be there for Mokuba, the manipulation involved in Seto’s takeover plan, etc. This just makes their relationship outright child abuse.

But hey, they hugged that one time in Duelist Kingdom, so it’s fine, right?

ExODiA iiiIIIIT’s not pAHsible

The final duel happens. The big Blue Eyes vs Exodia showdown.

*Bill Wurtz voice* So that’s pretty nifty, I would say.

It’s..? A genuinely cool and dramatic duel. There’s a reason it’s one of the, like, three Death-T elements the DM anime actually bothered to keep. Not much to say about it.

Sure was a whole lot of buildup just to end things with one (1) deus ex machina instawin card, tho.

The Tragic Backstory

So if all this happened because of a penalty game, what do you think the solution could be?

Did you say “another, even harsher penalty game”?

Ding ding ding!

This time, instead of torturing the fifteen-year-old, our hero puts the fifteen-year-old in a vegetative state as he begs for mercy.

Yaaaayy! 

Some fun facts about the Mind Crush that we don’t actually learn until Duelist Kingdom:

1. It lasted for 6 months

2. Mokuba spent that entire time alone, in the big empty mansion, with no parental guidance or adult supervision except the butlers and maids, caring for his brother’s comatose body 24/7

3. When Atem put Kaiba in that coma, he had absolutely no idea if he’d ever be able to wake up or not. He thought he could, maybe–Kaiba’s pretty strong, right? But he also finds the idea that Kaiba died in his coma and came back to haunt him perfectly believable. “Fixed,” dead…eh, it was kind of a coin toss.

But wait, the story’s not over yet! First we have to find out Why Kaiba Is The Way He Is (“Because your buddy tortured him last month” isn’t enough of an answer, apparently).

This is communicated in the most natural way possible: Mokuba just starts monologuing about all his brother’s deepest darkest traumas to a bunch of strangers his brother hates.

The claim that Kaiba’s backstory is “more complex” in the manga than it is in the anime has always confused me, because this is…it. These three pages are the whole backstory. I mean, in Battle City we do get one more passing line of dialog about how Kaibacorp used to be a weapons manufacturer and Gozaburo “sold Seto’s soul to the military industrial complex,” but other than that… The anime took these bare bones and fleshed them out significantly, but from a pure manga canon standpoint, it’s not a whole lot to work with.

But there’s still enough here to rub me the wrong way.

For one thing, this sequence is almost an exact parallel to two later moments in the manga: Pegasus’s backstory dump at the end of Duelist Kingdom, and Malik’s backstory dump mid-Battle City. In both of those cases, the purpose of the scene is to take a villain whose motives seemed cruel and inexplicable and finally reveal the reasons behind his actions. We’re supposed to be seeing these characters in a sympathetic light for the very first time.

But Kaiba’s motives in Death-T, uh, weren’t exactly a mystery. He already made it pretty explicitly clear that this was about the torture. So as a narrative tool, Mokuba’s monologue:

1. seems a little superfluous

2. seems like a way of taking any responsibility out of the protagonist’s hands. Kaiba didn’t snap because of anything Atem did, he just had a bunch of fucked up baggage that Atem couldn’t possibly have known about or accounted for. Who knew some people take it badly when you torture them??

3. seems to suggest that we weren’t supposed to be sympathizing with Kaiba before this point. If this is the big “oh, now that I know why he did it, I guess I feel a little bad for him :(” moment, then that means the part where he got tortured…wasn’t?

And, as always, there’s the issue of the framing.

The grace note of the monologue–the thought it leaves us with, the intended takeaway–isn’t “If only he hadn’t gone through years of abuse, in circumstances he had no real control over because he was a child.” It’s “If only he hadn’t brought all this upon himself by cheating.”

Even if we ignore the fact that it’s physically impossible to cheat at chess (which seems like kind of a big oversight for a gaming manga, but oh well, That’s Yugioh Babe)…

How can you possibly present a ten-year-old cheating at a board game in a desperate gambit to get himself and his brother out of an orphanage as his start of darkness?

Yet that’s exactly what the writing does. This is a story about how games “reveal the true hearts” of their players and bring karmic retribution down on anyone who doesn’t respect the game and follow the rules. The implication is that the child abuse Seto suffered was karma. He rightfully earned it by cheating at chess, just like he brought the Experience of Death upon himself by cheating at Duel Monsters.

Oh yeah, speaking of which…

Wheel of Morality, Turn Turn Turn, Tell Us The Lesson We Should Learn

What was the outcome of Death-T? What impact did it actually have? 

Did it bring about any big moral reckoning? Any questioning of the heroes’ values? Did Atem learn the difficult but important lesson “torture bad”?

Nnnnope!

Death-T is immediately followed by a series of episodic chapters that take us right back to the status quo like nothing happened. Atem keeps merrily handing out penalty games all the way up to the very end of Duelist Kingdom. When he does finally stop doing them, his decision has nothing to do with Death-T. It takes a comment from Pegasus about the Millennium Items having an “evil intelligence” to make him wonder “wait…I’m from a Millennium Item…I’m an intelligence…could evil…maybe include…torture????”

And even after the manga lukewarmly reverses its position to “torture sort of bad I guess,” it never really does anything with that revelation. None of the past penalty games are ever reexamined. No apologies are made. The Experience of Death is quietly swept under the rug, and the Mind Crush, when it’s brought up at all, is framed as noble act that “fixed” Kaiba (because “if you make someone suffer badly enough, you can hurt them into being a better person” is a great message).

Basically, we learned nothing from Death-T, nothing changed, and our takeaway is supposed to be “Atem was 100% in the right and Kaiba was 100% in the wrong, and also he’s an evil monster who deserved everything he got.”

Guess I Need A Satisfying Conclusion of Some Kind Even Through Death-T Didn’t Really Have One, Huh

Wow.

That was…a whole lot of words of Death-T rage that I apparently had in me zjkghzkkf. 

I tend to feel less justified about constantly harping on Death-T then I do when it comes to, like, the racism in Memory World, or the series’ general Miss O’Gyny. It’s not like “magical vigilantism” is exactly a real-word social issue that’s being reflected in this piece of fiction. I realize a lot of my anger pretty much boils down to “hey,, ! thats…my fave. stopp...being mean to him >:(”

But I also feel like the issues in Death-T aren’t limited to Death-T.

The manga has this…this thing where it wants to be able to pinpoint a few clear, unchanging moral rules (“cheating is bad!” “graverobbing is bad!” “patricide is bad!”) and just apply them neatly to every situation, without having to take into account any of that inconvenient stuff like “what were the circumstances of this specific situation,” or “how many choices were actually open to this person,” or “how much harm was done by this choice compared to its benefits in terms of basic human well-being.” Yet at the same time, that moral absolutism is somehow coupled with a reluctance to apply any moral judgement to its protagonists at all. 

The two points where that becomes clearest are Death-T and Memory World. And I feel like even when people acknowledge the issues with those arcs, they still want to be able to write it off as “oh, that was just a problem with the early chapters, it was fixed as the writing matured,” or “oh, that was just a problem at the end because of the mad rush to finish the story before it got canceled, it was never a thing before then.” But it’s not an isolated problem. It’s there at the beginning of the story, it’s there at the end, and it’s baked into everything in the middle.

…but anyhow. 

hey,, ! thats…my fave. stopp...being mean to him >:(

[calgymnasticsclub]

Spring Semester Information

Hello Flippers!!

We have some exciting announcements as we approach the start of the new semester! Please read this in its entirety, and as always, don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

NEW MEMBERS: 

Our Free Trial Period will occur during the next two weeks (January 31st-February 11th) for new potential members to check out the club! Practices during this week will be on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday from 8:30-10:30pm. 

During this trial period, we will have an organized carpool, and those interested will only have to pay a carpool fee for that week. Carpool fees will be $10. This fee will be collected prior to arriving at carpool, through either our venmo (@calgymalumni), or our paypal (calclubgymnastics@gmail.com). No other fees will be needed for new members until the trial period ends. 

Prior to your first practice, all members, returning and new, will be asked to fill out this google form with our new Club Terms & Conditions, add proof of vaccine and booster to this google form, as well as make an account on the Ultimate Sports Connection website, which can be done here.

Carpool meets at 7:50 across from Cafe Strada (by the fountain). Please have carpool paid and forms filled out (see above) prior to arrival or you will be turned away!

RETURNING MEMBERS: 

Our Spring semester practices will officially begin on Monday, January 31st. Dues will be collected on this date prior to attending practice, through either our venmo (@calgymalumni), or our paypal (calclubgymnastics@gmail.com). Feel free to pay now, or on your first day of practice. 

Note that returning members do not get a trial period; all dues must be paid prior to arrival! If you are planning to use carpool for the semester, the carpool fee will be $75 flat fee to cover driver expenses. Drivers will be compensated $5 for every day they drive.

Prior to your first practice, all members, returning and new, will be asked to fill out this google form with our new Club Terms & Conditions, add proof of vaccine and booster to this google form, as well as make an account on the Ultimate Sports Connection website, which can be done here.

Carpool meets at 7:50 across from Cafe Strada (by the fountain). Please have carpool paid and forms filled out (see above) prior to arrival at carpool or practice (if you don't carpool), otherwise you will be turned away! See the Discord section below on how to access the carpool chat (#carpool) to add yourself to a carpool list.

All-CLUB MEETING:

Our All-Club Meeting - mandatory for all existing and new members - will occur on Friday, February 11th, at 7:30pm. We will meet at the University Grove sign next to Oxford Street and then head over to a residence for the meeting. During this meeting, we will discuss club structure, fees, carpooling, general rules, as well as answer any questions that arise. We will also have sign-up sheets passed around for carpooling, our email list, payment links, etc. An option to call in via Zoom will also be available, with a zoom link sent out to the email list prior to the meeting. If you cannot make this meeting, please let myself or another officer know as soon as possible. After the meeting we will be hosting a club social on a members roof terrace (location of the meeting); everyone is welcome, but not obligated, to stay after the meeting for the social.

SOCIALS:

We also have some additional club socials coming up, where we want to see all your lovely faces! These are open to all members and will be used to encourage new members to join the team. We highly encourage all returning members to come and meet the new folks!

--The first social is being held on Tuesday, February 1st at 7PM, where we will meet at Sather Gate, and then get Boba as a team! 

--The second social is being held on Friday, February 4th, at 7:30pm, where we will meet at Yogurt Park (2433 Durant Ave) then get yogurt as a team! 

-- The final social is being held after the All-Club Meeting on Friday, February 11th at ~8:45PM (once the All-Club Meeting ends). We will meet prior for the All-Club Meeting (7:30PM) and walk to the location as a group.

NATIONALS:

Next, National's season is here and registration is currently open. If you are interested in (or considering) attending Nationals, please fill the Nationals 2022 Interest Form ASAP. If you do not register before TODAY (1/30/22), you will need to compensate for the NAIGC fee increase. If you are unsure, but are considering attending, please register, as it is easy for us to request refunds. For Nationals funding information, please see our previous email sent on 1/17/22.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS:

Lastly, we want to let all our members know about the precautions we will be taking this upcoming year due to COVID. Vaccines and boosters, which are already required for students, will be required for any existing and new members looking to join the club. This google form will be required for all members, where you can upload proof of vaccination. 

Additionally, masks are currently required at all times in the gym, and will also be required in any carpooling or event that is organized through the club. If you, or any housemates, test positive, please alert Gabe and Justin immediately via Discord, so others in contact can be notified immediately. Your information will be kept private. Finally, we will be observing quarantine regulations and ask that you do not attend practice for 10 days after a positive test.

DISCORD:

All information about upcoming events, fundraising, and how to sign up for carpool are all sent on discord. Please add yourself to the Discord ASAP and use your real name as your user name.

I know this was lengthy, but we can't wait to see you all and we want to ensure complete clarity! As always, please reach out with any questions you may have!

Stay Safe & Happy Flipping!

[systemadministratorclu]

And then Clu stood over him, his robes covering almost all but Rinzler's face, so the enforcer could actually see that the Admin was in the exact same battle-ready stance Rinzler used in the Games, his discs out and ignited, a dangerous fire in his eyes, so strong they started to glow gold like his circuits.

Something was different, though. Rinzler could feel the power radiating from Clu. The air around him crackled with it. What looked like gold lightning sparked around his discs and his hands. He was waiting, just waiting to strike.

Pavel, oblivious to the situation, walked in griping at Dyson, only giving a high pitched shriek when the door slammed behind him.

And he saw why Dyson had called him.

And for once, the sadistic commander.....

.......Was absolutely terrified.

His booster disc upgrade was useless against Clu's enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes, and he found that out fast. He was getting tired, but Clu wasn't even exerting himself in the fight. Not even when Dyson joined in.

All the while, he erected a protective energy field so the couldn't get to Rinzler. The two fought harder, getting closer to Rinzler, and Clu's power seemed to build, until.....It was like a miniature explosion, any remaining blocks or restrictions on Clu's code (even the ones his User had placed) shattered with the force of his will, the shockwave of the Admin returning to his full power knocking them backwards against the wall. He threw up a field around them as they lay stunned and instead rushed to Rinzler's side, his eyes back to their soft blue that Rinzler knew.

"Rinzler......no...." he carefully lifted him into his arms, his hand drawing up glittering free code from the Grid. At Clu's will, it swirled around Rinzler's wounds, solidifying into a perfectly placed patch bandage as Clu held him, tears sliding down his face.

"Please," he sniffed, "please don't leave me."

Clu hated the Games anymore. Hated having to watch his people killing each other, and no one caring about so much death. It hurt him inside, and he always felt sick afterward. As soon as he could, he ran from the sky box, his cape fluttering behind him. Not that anyone would care, the event was over. He could leave.

But he also wanted to be alone. He didn't really know where he was going, but he ducked into a dimly lit room and shut the door behind him. They wouldn't search for him for a while he knew.

A sound made him freeze where he stood. He was not alone in here.

"H-Hello?" He called softly into the near darkness.

The enforcer's broken purr was the only sound in the room, something he couldn't stifle or hide, constantly rattling in his chest. He'd just come from the games himself, though of course he'd been on the other side, the architect of the death Clu was so hesitant to witness. Not that he had any choice. Rinzler rose fluidly to his feet, unsure why Clu was there but bowing slightly to the admin anyway, his posture cowed. His body was shaking slightly, though, just barely noticeable in the dark. It wasn't often anyone so much as touched Rinzler in the games; he was far more skilled than any of the strays and nobodies the Occupation threw at him for execution. But this time they'd tossed in a captured member of the resistance, and something about them had made Rinzler hesitate. A flicker of recognition, maybe, and it was just enough for them to land a blow before Rinzler derezzed them, too. He was injured, but even after the match was over they never healed him - just left him to figure it out.

[theultrablog]

The first successful in person campaign I ever ran was Dungeon World. And I have Dan Harmon to thank for it. It was 2013.

After getting fired from Community at the end of season three, Dan decided to do a national tour of his podcast. The documentarian, Neil, was looking for a connective tissue for the story, and was curious about what LA fans were doing while the show toured. To that end, he staged a listening party at my friend Costa's house. We also played one of the largest games I have ever run, with eight players. It was notable because the barbarian, the least inhibited character, did most of the exploring; because they rushed ahead and touched everything while the other characters debated. I managed to finagle one of the players into a new campaign, and after session or two I had a real winning adventure.

After everyone was prepped, I asked the players why they had journeyed to the dwarven city of Duerlagg. One of them told me it was to get Lockfire Root, an expensive herb that only grew underground.I started with this:quote:

The underground city of Duerlagg is a marvel. Four hundred years old if it’s a day, it’s hewn from the innards of the World’s Teeth mountains. Its avenues are broad, named after the city’s great leaders. None are revered greater than Morias Bronzebeard, who founded Duerlagg centuries ago.It is currently on fire.

Albino lizardmen had invaded the city, and the only ones who could stop it were our heroes:

Silk Keldar, Thief Extraordinaire. By his own admission, "[He's] not evil!"

Watson Barrow, Inventor; tall and crazy. He’s player drew many of the things we encountered in the index cards still hang on my wall.

Oria, Half-Elf Markswoman (whose art is also on my wall);

and

Bottle Sticks, The Halfling Shaman with a secret.

[Art from Watson: "The Impaler". ]

The group worked together to slay a lizard patrol. The peril was constant; the lizard archers aimed their obsidian arrows at the group, the spear-lizards attacked the party's weakest members, and Oria's arrows blew up in her face. Luckily, with some quick thinking and use of cover, as well as Watson's Magnetic Booster, allowed them a swift and relatively bloodless victory.

(Except on the Lizard's part. Silk stabbed one in the spine, and used it as a shield against the archers. Bottles tripped an opponent and Watson launched a clockwork-booted curbstomp. Oria killed two with a ricochet arrow; Silk slit the throat of one that Bottles was wrestling with.)

The heroes continued into the smoky city, only to discover the Grand Embassy was on fire. A dwarven bucket brigade wasn't making much progress. With little magical or godly power, the players were stymied...

Until Watson applied his superior brainpower! He looked through the market for a cartload of fertilizer and a keg of dynamite, and, using the well the bucket brigade was drawing from, created a crude rocket. He aimed at the cave ceiling...and a rain of dust descended. The soot and fertilizer snuffed the exterior flames, greatly pleasing the bucket brigade (until they discovered that the well had been well and truly dispoiled). The gang learned from the guards that people were still trapped on the 3rd and 8th floors.

As the adventurers broke into the embassy, they found a spiral staircase, partially blocked by fiery timbers. Oria went up first, slipping past with half-elven grace, to find one of the doors barred from her side! On the opposite side, she heard a voice, one that she'd soon recognize as

Sir Lucia, Dwarven Paladin!* (And fifth player.)

Sir Lucia had a group of Nobles with him. Just as he was to suggest going downward, the timber collapsed the staircase below!

Lucia and Silk lowered ropes to help their companions. While Bottles was the last one up, the rope caught fire behind him...which Sir Lucia bravely put out.

As the party continued up the stairs, ambassadors in tow, they were stopped by a GIGANTIC, 400 pound lizard. Sir Lucia skewered the beast with his sword, but was thrown backward onto the inventor and the Half-Elf. Silk slipped by and stabbed the beast repeatedly in the kidneys.

Here, Silk had two choices: he could let the beast tumble backwards onto him, or he could let it stumble forward, down the stairs, and onto the party...

The party was unhappy to see the beast ROLL forward! Oria swung onto the railing, Watson used his cowardice and his electric-buffer to avoid it, and Sir Lucia rolled backwards.

A stroke of luck bounced the monster off the stairs, OVER Bottles entirely, and into the crouching Lucia, who deflected the creature down into the stairs below.

Silk was unapologetic. That is, he didn't admit to wrongdoing.

---

The 8th floor was the executive dining room. As Silk shook down the nobles in exchange for rescue, Lucia demanded the Sous Chef tell him where the leader was.

The Sous Chef wouldn't; Lucia insisted.The Sous Chef finally took him into the kitchen, opened a large drawer, and revealed the head chef, now a collection of white attire and body parts.As the Sous Chef started a tale of woe about his wife's adultery, Sir Lucia slew him on the spot. (As was his want; Sir Lucia, it was determined, was a paladin of Krugdon, the God of Combat and Bravery. He suffered not the evil to live.)

Oria found the root in the chef's pantry (hoping to get Lockfire Root.) Watson stumbled into Oria’s scheme, and gave her a simple command:quote:

Split it.

The party looked to see how to get nobles down, and came up with a plan: They'd create a series of ziplines down the street, and use dishrags to tie people, two handed, onto the ropes.

Of course, the dishrags didn't hold out; in a moment of caring, Oria shot a rope-arrow to a falling Half-Elf delegate, saving the woman's life, and evacuating everyone (bar one sous-chef).

---

The party was beset by options at this point. Silk pawned his stolen goods to a war profiteer, Sir Lucia began his daily prayers, Watson pontificated on founder Morias Bronzebeard's feats as an inventor, and Bottle Sticks was visited by a vision...One of his ancestors was actually dwarf! He snuck into a side alley and talked to the man, a toymaker, about how he had one thing to pass on...buried in the depths of his toy shop, down in the Undercity. Oria watched on from the shadows as the halfling spoke to empty air.

Meanwhile, Watson was stopped by Corrine Bronzebeard, descendant of the city's founder. She, and her men of Bronzebeard's Legion, admired his fighting prowess, and wanted his word at court. King Helkasser wanted to withdraw, seek aid, and retake the city later. Corrine wanted to stay and fight, down to the last dwarf if necessary. Watson agreed to give his word.

The group decided to find the great item in the toy shop, deliberately not telling Silk what it was.

On the way down, they boarded open elevator, one of two that plumbed the city's depths. The party thought quickly when attacked by carrion birds, and again Watson's genius played out; he rigged the elevator to accelerate but stop safely. It was dangerous, harrowing, and nearly killed them...But they survived the landing.

The store was guarded by a huge lizard patrol, who the party waited out. The lizards took the other elevator back into the city. The toy store was unguarded, except by a otyungh, safely caged and crated.

What happened inside the store? How would Oria betray Sir Lucia, and how would Silk be the noblest of all?

Find out in part 2:Please stop booing the heroes.

More art: this piece is from the archer Oria, for an unrelated animated series I was working on.

*Who had just arrived to the gaming session! And independently chosen the boon "Immunity to Fire" before being clued in that it was in a City on Fire.

[nutrawins]

It isn't simply outside energizer and furthermore won't simply bring the hormones directly into all your body unnaturally. If you know someone who might want to add this formula to their sex life, make sure they read this too. To buy Javelin Pills supplement right now, click any of the links on this page !

If you want to make sure that you're getting the lowest possible Javelin Pills cost, order today since the price is only going to rise over time. Here is everything the Javelin Pills formula contains: As men get older (past age thirty) their bodies begin to produce less and less of it. By the time you hit age fifty, the amount of testosterone your body produces has significantly decreased.

The most important factor is testosterone It's the hormone that regulates male sex drive, strength and even muscle mass. To buy Javelin Pills supplement right now, click nay of the links on this page! When it comes to your sex life, the last thing you want is to accidentally purchase an inferior product.

Taiwan : In 2002, Taiwan bought 360 Javelin missiles and 40 launcher units for $39 million. Qatar : In March 2013, Qatar requested the sale of 500 Javelin missiles and 50 command launch units. FMS sale to the Georgian military consisting of 410 Javelin Missiles, and 72 Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) includes 2 Javelin Block 1 CLUs to be used as spares was approved for US$75 million.

In 2002, a single Javelin command launch unit cost $126,000, and each missile cost around $78,000 (equivalent to $111,000 in 2019). Also, Javelin launchers and missiles are expensive. In the event that the launch motor malfunctions and the launch tube is overpressurized—for example, if the rocket gets stuck—the Javelin missile includes a pressure release system to prevent the launcher from exploding.

The MPWH does not add weight or cost and has a lighter composite missile mid-body to enable drop-in replacement to existing Javelin tubes. Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance. Laurence A. Levine, MD, professor, Rush University Medical Center and director of male sexual function and fertility, Chicago.

(Have you tried or considered trying a male enhancement product? But Lamm says these remedies may be appropriate for men who have experienced a decline in sexual performance but do not suffer from a diagnosable sexual problem. Thousands of years before Viagra, men were consuming everything from horny goat weed to powdered rhino horn in hopes of boosting sexual performance.

For young men with sexual performance problems and no signs of physical problems, Boyle may prescribe counseling and a low dose of Viagra as they work out issues of insecurity. Your doctor might be able to prescribe something that can really help, or least provide a valuable dose of perspective about what constitutes "normal" sexual performance. Ultra X Prime Supplement - 2020 Review, New Male Enhancement..

I'm not just talking about that pertaining to Javelin Male Enhancement, although this is a big part of this. It is nasty stuff.Javelin Male Enhancement takes the guess work out of Javelin Male Enhancement. By virtue of what do specialists have low cost Javelin Male Enhancement Review steps?

Some more Javelin Male Enhancement Review might be fine for most advocates. ORDER YOUR BOTTLE OF Javelin Male Enhancement TODAY! Javelin Male Enhancement supports optimal brain function, improving focus, mental clarity, and memory recall.

Javelin Male Enhancement has several virtues against cancer. It is how to maintain your Javelin Male Enhancement Review. Javelin Male Enhancement Review is as fine as baby hair.

My mind is buzzing with Javelin Male Enhancement theories. If your Javelin Male Enhancement is awful, Javelin Male Enhancement doesn't work anyhow. In the past I have heard of similar Javelin Male Enhancement on TV. That was kind of spliced together.

Call it denial, although Javelin Male Enhancement Review can weather many storm. All of these supplements are made of 100% natural ingredients. They will improve the blood flow to the penis, boost your stamina and allow you to have a more intense orgasm.

All of the ingredients have been carefully selected to boost testosterone, sperm production and give you stronger and fuller erections. They are made of 100% natural ingredients that are well-known for their positive effects on male function. Do Javelin male enhancement pills REALLY Work?

You should improve your sex life not make it even worse as a result of poor judgment and choices. The real deal sexual potency booster is supposed to enhance not only your sex endurance and drive but also to improve your overall health. This particular herb belongs to the group of flavonoid, which can boost energy, stamina, and improve overall performance, while at the same time intensifying sensations.

This product comes with powerful natural ingredients, which are scientifically proven to deliver the optimal results. Plain and simple, Extenze is an effective natural male formula with a unique design. This as a male enhancement herbal supplement with one hell of a reputation based on its remarkable effectiveness.

Its formula includes only the most powerful ingredients, which are specially designed to boost your testosterone levels. This is one of the top class male enhancement pills, which has become immensely popular among the guys all over the world. Viasil is a solid high quality product and potency enhancer from all natural ingredients.

Since the product is all natural, it is safe to consume daily, however it is recommended to take a short break after 3 to 4 months of consumption in order for your body to not become immune to the pill. This fabulous representative of the male enhancement pills has been around since 2009. Due to its massive popularity, VigRX Plus is the most frequently counterfeited male enhancement product on the market today.

So, VigRX Plus represents the old product with a new and improved formula. Here are the male enhancement pills with the best ratings that are available in the market:

Read More - https://www.nutrawins.com/javelin-male-enhancement/

[gingersnapwolves]

Kouri rewatches Sense8 2.04

Lito’s dramatic freak-out in the museum will forever be one of the best parts of this show

As much as I love Bug and I’m glad he got clued in and his reaction was hilarious, I can’t believe we got to see his reaction but we didn’t get to see Hernando and Dani’s (presuming that Lito does actually clue them in at the end of this season, like he says he’s going to).

Poor Kala and Capheus just want to live in peace

This might just be the chemistry nerd in me but it amuses me that they say an androgen booster would inhibit emotional connection, since androgens are just male hormones…

Lito: “I think maybe he was a lover” like everyone else has not already figured this out lmao

“The only thing I hate more than rhetorical questions are stupid rhetorical questions” I aspire to give as few fucks as Mrs. Cho when I get old

I love this scene with Lito and Raoul’s father. I hoped it meant Lito was going to take a more active role in the larger mystery. As much as I adored Lito’s storyline in season 2, I’m still really sad he didn’t.

Seriously though can you imagine the degree of WTF Raoul’s dad must have felt watching this creepy-ass video after Raoul disappeared

The first time I watched this, I assumed that Detective Mun was Woo-Jin, from Sun’s flashback about her first time, but then I noticed that his first name is Kwon-Ho and now I’m just confused.

I still have no idea what’s going on with Jonas but I’ve gathered that nobody does so that’s okay.

[aurakaura]

Beyblade-The Next Step 16

-Tray prepared himself for his battle with Suemally, the two awaited the refs call to start-. (Referee) “The following match will be first to 3 points wins now if both bladers are ready the battle will begin in 3...2..1″. I launched at an angle as I wanted to travel around the arena tis time, (Suemall) “Tigerious hit him with Rotational Claw Fury”. (Tray) “Booster Blast” both of our attacks collided but she over power us with ease, (Suemally) “Now strike him again”. Ugh...an ordinary attack sent us flying out of the arena, (Referee) “Ring Out to Tigerious, the first point goes to Suemally”. I was hoping to claim an early point with pure offense but it looks like my opponent beat me to that goal. “The second battle shall now begin” this time I will take the centre and focus on surviving. (Suemally) “Hit him with Rotational Claw Fury again” (Tray) “Energy Wave” I used my attack to slow her down a bit so that Totorius could dodge. She kept trying to hit us with attacks but we dodged them and it looked like she was losing a lot of energy.

(Suemally) “Furious Fang Dance” I think she is weak enough now to counter attack, (Tray) “Energy Star”. The attack hit her but it was not enough to burst her some how...I guess I can just go for it next round. (Referee) “Ring Out Totorius, Tray ties the match with 1 point each now third battle begin”. Once again I took the centre and she charged right at me, (Tray) “Booster Blast” I was feeling more confident so went for the first attack. (Suemally) “Claw Guard Stance” wait....she can use defence techniques too? did she switch to defence last battle?

That must be why I couldn’t burst her, but in this most Totorius has an even more of an advantage as she is limiting her power. (Tray) “Hit them with Energy Wave” as long as I hold the middle spot I can force her to waist as much stamina as possible by circling around. My attacks won’t do much damage but she is currently lacking the power to break through my attacks. (Suemally) “You are such a fool, I’m sure you have clued in on Tigerius being a Balance type. But what you fail to get is it can switch modes mid battle, now Furious Fang Dance”. (Tray) “Energy Star I won’t let you break though”, (Suemally) “A pointless effort you waisted too much energy on your attacks before” -split-. I...I failed once again, (Referee) “Burst Finish to Tigerius, with that Suemally wins the match 3-1″. UUUGH what is wrong with me....I let myself think I had the advantage just to get out smarted by her. If I hadn’t waisted so much energy on attacks and avoided colliding with Tigerius in attack mode I could of went for the burst.

(Orashula) “Wow I can’t believe you beat him that easily Suemally, I guess he doesn’t have the potential I thought he did”. (Suemally) “Yeah he is nothing but a reckless amateur” I wanted to argue back but it was my own stupid decisions that cost me the two battles I lost. The rest of my team tried to comfort me but I was not in the mood....why do I keep failing? (Host) “Suemally due to winning this event you shall now have the honour of facing Cipher”. I guess I should stick around for this battle and see how well she does against this guy.

[themegamenarablr]

Where To Get Excavator Attachments

By Joseph Perry

In large scale operations, from commercial to industrial, the nifty applications of contraptions such as cranes, backhoes, and excavators are very great indeed. However, since these are large scale and heavy used equipment, it might not come as a surprise when they break down. Nonetheless, they can be easily fixed. That is, if you have the right excavator attachments. In this day and age, it is all about innovations. Whatever gizmo and contraption are in use nowadays, the nub of the matter is that they have been spruced up and innovated as much as possible. That skates across most aspects, form usability to safety to the comfort of use. They have to be as adaptable as possible. When certain parts and attachments get replaced, there might be a bit of worry regarding whether theyll perform up to par as usual. Many benefits come with attachments. First off, they save space, and they really optimize each single equipment to become the investments that theyre cut out to be. However, theres all the right and wrong ways to optimize excavators with attachments. In the end, it could be a productivity booster or else a lost investment. Youll have to settle with one that is optimized to its standard. For example, you may bring to the consultant the type of material that youll be dealing with. After all, excavators can differ in their function. Some cut, while other demolish, pulverize, et cetera, et cetera. Make them know your requirement in cycle times, as well as the equipments specs. That includes the configuration, lifting and weight capacities, configuration, model numbers, and so on and so forth. These are basic information. There are many kinds of parts that can be found in the excavator. For example, theres the jaw. The subcategories in this are considerable. For example, there are those used in pulverizing, demolishing, sharing, cutting, or crushing. You will have to pick different types depending on what use you have for it, as in cutting steel or else crushing concrete. The main point of the matter is to go for something that offers a wide range of bundles that offer great returns and versatility. You must be clued in, so do your research. For instance, you will need to know about the size classes, which can potentially be different by manufacturer. Get yourself an excavator that can navigate in and around existing structures and tight spaces. Quality materials will surely vamp up the excavators performance. Like, the flow of the carried material to the conveyor may be smoother and more streamlined and consistent. It will also define its capabilities. Such is the case with the wheel saw. With the proper materials, you may vamp up the extent of its dealings, from being able to cut not just through asphalt surfaces, but also through rock and concrete. The main thing to keep in mind is that these are all heavy duty appurtenances. Therefore, youll want to make sure that your equipment is as versatile as possible, across the board in its applications. In getting your accessories, take advantage of it. Make it a case of aiming to increase the versatility, capability, and efficiency of your equipment. With that in mind, youll be able to accomplish tasks better and faster. After you have heard the talk and gab of experts, its down to you to do the demos. The basic thing to consider is if the excavators and attachments match the bucket. That is for smooth operation. Know the capabilities and also the limitations of the contraption. Once you own it, you have maintenance to keep in mind. When you dont see the wear and tear, then it will be adverse to your productivity, energy efficiency, and everything else. Thus, always be in the know.

About the Author:

You can get a detailed overview of the things to keep in mind when purchasing excavator attachments at http://bit.ly/2ZAV7Bo right now.

Where To Get Excavator Attachments amaraweb http://bit.ly/2LrQhDE via IFTTT