#cs-con-news questions

[sanjoongie]

FFF~ Day 7

♡Pairing: Choi Jongho x Reader (f)

♡Genre: Smut with no plot :)

♡Au: prisoner (inspired by the movie Spiderhead)

♡Word Count: 1,720

♡Warnings: aphrodisiac, dub con, hate sex, rough sex, breast manhandling, penetrative sex (no barrier), creampie, m and f orgasm

♡Rated: 18+ MDNI

♡Masterlist link~ | Previous Day~ Auralism, CS | Next Day~ Degradation, JWY

♡Dedication~@downtoamagicalland & @mejuii the unholy trinity beta team

New World prison wasn’t like the typical state prisons. First of all, it was privately funded. Secondly, it was a prison where a certain pharmaceutical company tested their experimental drugs. The prisoners, in exchange for freer living, agreed to be the test subjects of said drugs. Each prisoner sported a small pack that sent the drugs directly into their system. 

You, having been a prisoner there for almost a year now, had experienced most of the drugs. The rage-induced one was a bit of a blur, but the way that the room you had been locked in was beyond damaged and you came to panting,it  indicated you had a very satisfying ‘tantrum’. The drug that produced sadness had you crying over the smallest things but also dragged out your deepest despairs. 

But each time you had been tested, you had been in a room alone. Today, you were in a room with another prisoner and you weren’t happy about it.

Park Seonghwa, the lead scientist, leaned forward to turn on the mic and speak into it. “Prisoner Number Seven, you don’t look very happy to be here.”

“I’m not happy to be in a room with Jongho,” You clarified, derision coating your tongue.

Jongho scoffed in the chair beside you. “The feeling is mutual.”

Seonghwa took some notes. “I see. Would you say there is no love lost between you two?”

Jongho’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and anger. “She thinks she owns the place!”

“I really hope you’re not getting us to test the anger drug, Doc, because I might do some irreparable damage to this bitch,” You snorted.

“Irreparable?” Jongho shouted, getting to his feet, “I’d tear you in half with my bare hands?”

Seonghwa turned the mic on again. “Prisoner Sixty, please sit down.”

Jongho sat down but not without sending a glare your way. “What are we doing here, Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa was busy behind his glass in the opposite office writing something on a notepad. Nonetheless, he pressed his button to turn on the mic and answered. “If I tell you, Prisoner Sixty, then that would defeat the purpose.”

" 'Kay, then, what are we waiting for?" You demanded. You did not want to spend one more minute with Jongho than you had to.

"One final question," Seonghwa looked you then Jongho in the eye, "Given the chance, would you fuck each other?"

"Hell no," You and Jongho answered at the same time.

Seonghwa grinned, and it was a combination of excitement, curiosity and a hint of maliciousness. "Do you both consent to the administration of the drug and to all consequences that follow?"

You and Jongho nodded tightly.

"Then let the testing begin."

You heard the woosh of the drug being administered and gripped the chair arms. You expected perhaps fear this time. There was a tingle in your skin and you anticipated your adrenaline to spike. Instead, you felt your underwear flood and your nipples tighten.

"How do you feel, Prisoner Sixty?" Seonghwa inquired.

"No difference whatsoever," Jongho replied through gritted teeth.

You began to pant like a bitch in heat and pushed your legs together. That definitely didn't help things. You yelped at the sudden pleasure that gave you and Jongho’s eyes rolled your way. He looked fearful. Did he have a different drug than you?

"This doesn't work if you don't answer truthfully, Prisoner Sixty," Seonghwa reminded him.

"Does she have to be here?" Jongho whined and you frowned at him.

"You did indicate that you were heterosexual on your preferences, did you not? Perhaps I need to up the dosage if you're not feeling anything--"

"No! No. That's not necessary," Jongho insisted.

"Then please answer the question again," Seonghwa encouraged.

"Doc," You whimpered. Your pussy was practically tingling with anticipation of getting fucked. The doctor was actually quite handsome and his sugary sweet voice was doing things to you.

"Prisoner Sixty," Seonghwa snapped with frustration. It made your spine go ramrod straight, even though the tone wasn't directed towards you.

"It's taking everything in me not to rip off all her clothes and fuck her sweet tight pussy like it deserves," Jongho admitted, voice barely above a whisper.

"The fuck, Jongho?" You demanded. Your eyes went straight to his lap, however, and you saw he was sporting a raging hardon in his sweats.

"Like you aren't dripping right now, bitch," Jongho cursed at you. "If I was anyone else, you'd probably be grinding up against my dick, begging for me to take you."

"Prisoners, let me remind you that none of this is being recorded and we encourage all the test subjects to follow through with any and all urges that the drug prompts," Seonghwa intoned. He raised his eyebrows as if to say 'well? I'm waiting'. 

"We will never speak of this EVER," You emphasized.

"Agreed," Jongho said.

There was no flurry of clothes discarded, simply, pushing the clothing out of the way. Your shorts and underwear were moved to the side, your bra and sweater tugged up to your neck. Jongho kept all his clothes on except his sweats were down to reveal thick thighs that you had never noticed before. Jongho got distracted by your breasts, and started to manhandle them immediately. You moaned wantonly and arched your back to thrust more of them into his eager hands.

"Fuck these tits are everything," Jongho said in small wonder.

"Be more rough with them, god, didn't you threaten to split me in half earlier?" You complained.

Jongho squeezed and pinched and pulled and you cried out. "I'll split you in half with my dick," he mumbled before sucking a hickey on the swell of one of your tits.

"Not gonna happen if you're not inside of me, at all, Jongho," You said in a snippy tone.

"Well stop pushing your boobs into my mouth and maybe I'll get to it!" Jongho frowned and then sucked hard on a nipple, bringing almost half of your boob into his mouth. His teeth pressed down on the sensitive skin. Your hands went to both his shoulders to grab onto something.

"Fuck me or leave my tits alone!" You argued. "Now is not the time to see if I'm one of those girls who can come by having their tits played with."

Jongho looked up at you in fascination. "Some girls can come by having their tits played with?" He echoed you.

You rolled your eyes. "Dick. In. Side. Me. Now!" You barked.

"Hold your horses," Jongho grumbled, "I haven't sucked on a good pair of tits in a while, okay? Fuck me."

The both of you groaned in unison as Jongho sunk into you. His hands gripped your ass, preparing to guide you up and down on his cock. The noise of skin slapping against skin permeated the room. Jongho was soon flexing his pelvic muscles so you could bounce on him more efficiently. 

“Fuck, I knew your pussy was sweet for me,” Jongho moaned. His eyes were glued to where his cock continued to disappear inside of you. “You’re so fucking wet, I bet you could fit two dicks inside of you easily.”

“Jongho!” You scolded him, “How come your mouth can run so much when you should be focusing on fucking me.”

Jongho grinned up at you, cocky and confident at the same moment. “I’m just that good, Baby.”

You frowned at the nickname but then moaned when his cock hit your g-spot. “Oh god, just like that, please, I wanna scream when I come, harder, Jongho, harder.”

Jongho did exactly that, speeding up his pace as well. The two of you were a moaning wreck, focused on nothing but the meeting of your bodies so that the both of you could come. Well, Jongho was still watching your boobs bounce in front of his face, trying to figure out how he could suck on them and fuck you like you wanted. But the fucking won out. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Your breathy cries only spurred him on until he remained deep inside of you. Your cunt spasmed around him and you shut your eyes closed, not wanting to see his dumb face when he came. And come hard Jongho did, with a quiet grunt and his fingernails digging deep into the flesh of your ass. He came so much that his cum slowly began to drip out of your stuffed hole and down his balls. 

But that wasn’t the end.

When the drug finally ran its course through both of your systems, you had lost count of the amount of times Jongho had ejaculated inside of you and on you. Your orgasm count was lost between flashes of tongue and fingers. The high of being so fucking horny had consumed your pride. Embarrassment and anger washed through you and then you realized… Seonghwa had been there observing the entire time. 

You quickly rearranged your clothes, glancing at the window where Seonghwa sat. His head was down, his hand zooming across his page in note taking. You were the least of his concerns, it seemed.

“Doc? Can we leave now? Unlock the doors please?” You raised your voice to get his attention.

Seonghwa snapped out of it, but his eyes were unfocused and his cheeks were pink. “Ah. Yes. Certainly. Thank you.”

You sent him an uncertain look but when you heard the locks click, you made your way out of the room. You really didn’t want to--

“Hey!” Jongho shouted at you, taking a jog to catch up.

“Jongho,” You shook your head, “I thought we agreed to never talk about this outside of that room?”

Jongho pressed his pretty pink lips together. Wait, pretty? “I know but…”

“But what?” You snapped in irritation.

“I can’t help but think about your tits. I want them bouncing in my face again. I--” Jongho shook his head, cutting himself off, “I think there’s some side effects to the drugs that we don’t know about yet.”

You sighed. You had a feeling Jongho was right. After all, wasn’t lust and love two sides of the same coin, with a small edge separating them?

“Fine. When I’m done with my supper duties, you can come to my room. But be discreet about it, alright? And don’t mark me up next time! I hate that shit.”

♡Masterlist link~ | Previous Day~ Auralism, CS | Next Day~ Degradation, JWY

[kylo-wrecked]

SHIPPING INFO:// Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog

REPOST. DON'T REBLOG

*~Fair warning, unreliable munarrator~*

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

I don’t have fandom OTPs (though I do have ships I favor over others). As such, I don’t have true rp OTPs. I understand this isn’t the norm… my condolences. 

To jump on the… no, PULL, the bandwagon, like a mule, I say… *chin-hands* I cherish all the ships you see here, from the familial to the romantic to the sadistic (currently active or not).  Since I enjoy a variety of dynamics, I feel very lucky to have the muns and friends who’ve taken the time to write with me, especially over this last year. 

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

I like to feel things out through the writing and let the ships sail organically and perhaps also majestically along the Aegean... or straight into Charybdis; it depends. When the writing works, I find we’ll inevitably have conversations about where we want to set our sails. When in doubt or with a new mun, I try to follow your lead. Pre-establishing ships are something we have to discuss and plot. 

I don’t partake in pregnancy threads, nor do I read them. No exceptions.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

Mun can take or leave age gaps. The muse… In default aus, Modern!/Music!Ben’s around 30-34, and as (self conscious) public figures, I’m not sure either would date under 28. But Music!Ben is Music!Ben. Ex-Con!Ben is 34+ and, at any rate, would much rather any romantic interest be at least around his age. 

I move all over Dark!Ren’s timeline. Sometimes he’s he’s a 40-something-year-old cyborg who absorbed all his knights and roams wild space for fresh meat.  Sometimes, he’s a deranged 25-year-old still-kind-of-a-kid on a leash holding a bunch of other deranged kids on leashes. His primary interest is the Ren. You do the math. 

Are you selective when shipping?

Romance/sensual/sexual: Yes and no. No, because I like to ship. Yes, because consent, communication, compatibility, and chemistry are what make a ship fly. (Quadruplex, bitch!) We’re not getting to That Side of Neverland on nothing but pixie dust. 💅

Familial/platonic: Trick question, we still have to have the four Cs. 

As a side note on romantic ships, so long as we keep things PG-13/fade to black, we don’t have to talk all the time or often. We can sail side by side in silence while our muses figure things out.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

‘S’all about the motion of the ocean, na mean? If it gets kinky and implicit, we can keep it on the blog. If it gets kinky and explicit, we whisk it off to Discord. This only happens if we have a bond. This has been a PSA… 

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

My muse has as many connections as I can write/keep up with. They can be seen right here on kylo-wrecked.tumblr.com for free! Read more—no jk. 

There is invariable potential.

@etoilebleu, @itmeanspeace, @ifyoucatchacriminal, @lastxdragon, @silverjetsystm, @valkxrie, @brooklynislandgirl, @nightmarefuele , @mayxthexforce , @chromium-siren , @smokinmirrors are some muns I ship with romantically. Sometimes, the ships are in a questionable state. Sometimes, they're toxic. Sometimes the ships are made out of lies. Sometimes, they're not even ship-shaped; who knows? They all have flags, and the flags flap proudly.

Famships with @desireandduty and @shadowedlights (exploring with @mnolith / @destincd).

Muses my variants are still getting to know (because I am slow, etc.): @bewitchingbaker, @smolcuriouskitten, @corinnebaileyrp, @southern-belle-outcasts (Nilza), @protectmypeople (lol).

Come one, come all.

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

Gone corporate: let’s have a quick check-in to see whether we’re aligned.

How often do you like to ship?

Gone automation: I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Please try again later. *dial tone*

Are you multiship?

Yes, and as many muns have said before me, I ship across verses. Picture it: me on a good day, potentially you, shipping across the universe… 

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

More-or-less. I’m here for juicy writing of all types. 

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

I’m a near-fandomless sham. Something broke in me, idk. I can think of the most erotic scene I’ve seen in a movie in quite some time, but it’s controversial and doesn’t belong here teehee. 

Finally, how does one ship with you?

We write a little. We talk a little. The rest we’ll make up as we go along. I don’t love plotting myself into corners when the sea we write on is fluid. Feels weird, man. 

tagged by:  my @brooklynislandgirl

tagging: thief it and tag me

[kazoosandfannypacks]

"Wishing it Wasn't" by kazoosandfannypacks

Chapter 13/18: The Showdown Pairing: CaptainSwan Rating: General Word Count: (1K/19.5K) Summary: Season 2 Canon Divergence: When Neal tells Emma he has a fiancée, she claims to have a new boyfriend of her own, and blurts out the first fairytale name she can think of: Captain Hook. Killian agrees to this ruse, but when feelings grow between the two, will the con be more than they can handle? Chapter Summary: Killian and Emma attempt to catch Greg and Tamara and bring them into custody, but a wrench is thrown in their plans when David brings backup. Tags: season 2, canon divergence, gun violence in later chapters, angst with a happy ending, fake dating, mild character death, mildly anti neal Author's notes: >:} Taglist: @zahara @kmomof4 @jonesfandomfanatic @booksteaandtoomuchtv @jrob64 @tiganasummertree @anmylica @teamhook @undercaffinatednightmare @gingerchangeling @lonelyspectator @caught-in-the-filter @ultraluckycatnd @cs-rylie @pirateprincessofpizza @pawshapedheart [if you'd like to be added to or removed from this list, hmu in my dms or askbox!]

Also on Ao3!

 Emma and Killian stood across from the warehouse, just out of sight.

 "Are you sure you want to do this?" Killian asked.

 "Absolutely." Emma said. "If there's something bad going down here, it's my duty to stop it."

 "Just be careful, love." Killian said. "She's a dangerous one, and once she finds out we're onto her…"

 "I'm always careful."

 "Then, right this way."

 They entered the cannery together, Emma clutching her gun in both hands but hoping she wouldn't need to use it. All she needed to do was find Tamara and Greg and bring them into the sheriff's station for questioning- and she hoped things wouldn't get too messy.

 Emma followed Killian's lead through the warehouse, hoping her trust in him wasn't misplaced. He held up a hand as they got to a door and she froze, hearing voices in the next room over.

 "Are you sure it was wise to trust the pirate?"

 "Relax, Greg. He wants his revenge just as much as we want this. He'll come through."

 "He'd better. I need to know."

 Emma and Killian's eyes caught each other one last time. Killian nodded, and put a finger to his lip, reminding her to wait quietly until the opportune moment. She nodded in return, and he left for the room they were in.

 "Good news." Emma heard Killian's unmistakable accent lilting through the walls. "The Queen is with our reach."

 "You've got her?"

 Emma picked up a crowbar off the floor.

 "I will have her. She's arranged to meet me at the library; there's something there she needs, and she's convinced I can help her."

 "Then it's all falling into place."

 "Aye. Storybrooke is soon to be history."

 What she overheard told her she wasn't wrong about Killian this time- Tamara and Greg were in league, and they were dead set on destroying her town.

 Just then, there was a sound on the other side of the building, like that of a door loudly opening.

 "What was that?"

 "Were you followed?"

 "I didn't think I was, but I could be wrong. They must've used the back door to try to get the jump on us."

 "Well, let's not let them get it."

 Emma ducked around the corner, hearing Hook's footsteps close behind her. He ran past her, and she waited until the following footfalls were right next to her- then turned suddenly, crowbar held out above her head.

 She heard a loud thud and looked down to see Greg unconscious on the ground.

 "One down." Emma thought. She stepped into the next hallway and saw Tamara stopped dead in her tracks.

 "Emma!" Tamara said in her usual feigned singsong voice. "I'm so glad you're here. This man tried to…"

 Emma didn't lower her makeshift weapon. "Don't play dumb, Tamara." Emma said. I know you're in on this."

 "I don't know what you mean!" Tamara said. "This man…"

 Emma stepped over him. "This man is your partner. I don't know what you think you're doing…."

 "Running!" Tamara said. Before Emma could chase after her, she threw something down on the ground that filled the hallway with smoke.

 Emma turned around to see Killian coming back behind her and threw him a pair of handcuffs.

 "I'm going after Tamara!"

 Killian caught the cuffs on his hook.

 "Good luck, Swan!"

 She looked over her shoulder as he walked towards Greg with the handcuffs, then covered her face and ran through the smoke.

 At the end of the hallway, she saw her dad, waiting for her just like she'd planned, just like she'd arranged when she called him in as backup, and she saw Tamara as well, as per the plan.

 But what she'd planned on was her dad to have her in custody. Instead she saw Tamara in Neal's arms.

 "What are you doing here?" Emma asked. "Get away from her!"

 "When your dad got a call and said you needed help, I happened to be nearby and thought I'd help." Neal said, "and it's a good thing I did. What's gotten into you?"

 Emma hadn't mentioned Tamara when she called her dad for backup, at risk of looking like a jealous ex, but after chasing Neal's fianceé down the hallway with a crowbar without any kind of forewarning, she realized in hindsight it was probably a bad choice.

 "She brought me here to attack me." Tamara whimpered. "She said I don't deserve you and called me an intruder."

 Now Emma wasn't thankful Neal didn't have her superpower, because that was the most bogus sob story she'd ever heard- but he was eating it up like a hot slice of New York pizza.

 "She's trying to destroy Storybrooke." Emma said. "I know I sound crazy- and I'll admit, I probably look it, but you have to believe me. She's trying to destroy magic, and she's gonna destroy this town to do it."

 "What's she talking about?" Tamara wept into Neal's shoulder. "Why does she keep talking about magic?"

 "You sicken me." Neal said. "Imagine, inventing this entire messed up narrative in your head- all for what? What ever happened to not being jealous?"

 "I'm not jealous, Neal." Emma said. "Tamara is bad news. You have to trust me." But in his eyes, she saw no compassion, so she turned in despair to her father. "Dad?"

 "Now, Emma," he said. "I'm sure we can get this all worked out. You've been under a lot of stress this past week, but if you just put down that crowbar, I'm sure…."

 "You don't believe me either?" Emma asked.

 "I want to." David said. "But I still think we might be rushing…."

 "You don't believe me!" Emma said. "None of you believe me!" She backed towards the hallway she'd come from, unsure what to do, but running out of options. Her dad, who she'd trusted enough to tell about her desperate fake boyfriend plot, thought she was insane, and the man she'd once trusted enough to go to jail for thought she was a monster. With nowhere to turn, she gripped the crowbar tighter in her hand, but reminded herself as well of the gun strapped to her side. She was unsure what she'd do if any of them tried to stop her, but she knew it was her job to protect the town, no matter what.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Viability Speculation - July 2023

DeNA: Establishes right away that Summer is for female protagonists.  First Lyra, then Gloria, then Hilda.

DeNA: Creates Variety Scouts for all the less popular characters, killing any hope of alts for all but the most popular of options.

DeNA: Introduces Master Fair reruns, each signaling the next batch of new characters they’re about to drop.  SS Lusamine predicts Alola VA, SSR Cynthia predicts Hisui, and now Archie predicts Hoenn.

Literally everyone: “Okay so it’s May.  There’s a May alt.  It is definitely May.”

Tate and Liza.

DeNA, I hope whoever pitched this idea is running the company now, because not only is this the best long con I’ve seen, this is also the funniest way to build this up I’ve ever seen.

Summer Tate They gave Jirachi to Tate.  After all this talk of May, Wally, and Lisia, they gave it.  To Tate.  I am in love with this decision.  Sincerely, outside of the nichest of fans of these two, is anyone actually happy here?  Is it just me and @megazardx2?  Well too bad, fuck y’all, my boy is thriving.

Tate not only got Jirachi, but avoided what I thought was the guaranteed pain of Doom Desire as a two-turn move.  No.  It turns out that’s a passive now.  Every other attack he throws out gets another stack of damage.  While we don’t know how much, the way it’s written sounds like NY!Dawn and Oricorio, so I am fully expecting 100%.  When this bonus damage activates, a random stat among the seven gets boosted by 2 stages, and the opponent’s special defense drops by 2.  It’s a slow process, but special defense debuffers have my life, so I’m happy.  Flash Cannon is okay damage, Thunder Wave is optimal Gauntlet shenanigans, and Charm is...present.  Trainer move is a classic +4 Sp Atk/+3 crit, and sync requires lowered attack.  So already his kit is wonky.  Charm is sync setup, but then you’re not debuffing with Doom Desire, which takes time on its own, and you just know there’s paralysis multipliers in the grid so there’s that angle too.

Thankfully, his grid provides a form of Overwhelm 9 that I assume takes Doom Desire into account as well given how it’s listed as a P-Move?  That or it’s only active on P-Move.  Either really good or really bad, but it specifies attack so no -3 Atk Charm.  Brainteaser’s nice, Rising Tide is fantastic, Fortuitous and another +1 on P-Moves is nice, Static Shock 5 is predictable, apparently another +1 to a random stat when he uses a status move, Natural Remedy and Quick Cure, Hit and Heal on trainer move, Ramp Up on Charm.

Tate is...interesting.  I’m not sure what else to say about the lad.  I think the kit is ultimately acceptable, but there are some oddities in his self setup.  Oddities that Lucian completely solves.  Sincerely, Lucian covers his DPS, his sync condition, and even assists Rising Tide.  Will Lucian ever stop winning?  But moreover, Tate is Steel-type, and raises the question...is this better than what’s currently available?  Base Gloria’s expansion is to die for, Palentine’s Marnie and her Zone don’t really work well wit him given his special focus (first among the Steels to be bad with her, by the way), and we also have Rose this month, who...well I’ll get to that one.  Tate just has competition, and I think the tradeoff is going to be one of utility.  Tate will be better in Gauntlet than CS, no question.  But I think Lucian does mean he has a home in CS.

Summer Liza I had to look this up, but apparently Celesteela does have comparable attack and special attack.  I always assumed it was special dominant.  Complaint redacted, this is all upside.  That said, two Celesteela before a single Nihilego.  I’m not mad, I’m furious.

Summer Liza and Celesteela come in as a Flying type Striker.  After P!Elesa, this may raise some concerns.  Be at peace, my child.  Flying Shift Giga Impact be upon you.  This is a double-edged sword.  4-bar spam Normal with 90 accuracy means big DPS numbers, but the tradeoff is she’s slow as hell, and has no other damage aside from sync.  Iron Defense and Protect are defensive tools, very unusual for a Striker.  Her trainer move raises accuracy +1, crit +3, then raises attack by how much defense is raised.  Okay, so she uses Iron Defense, then trainer move, then she can spam.  That’s slow.  Oh, except she gets Free Moves Next and +2 defense for each status move used.  So she sets up defense +4, boosts with trainer move, then throws out a free Giga Impact.  Any +2 to defense off a defensive ally like, oh I dunno, Skyla, suddenly gets her to cap.  That’s respectable.

Grid offers Super Victory (I love this stupid move on high DPS pairs), Tough Cookie (free money), MGR9 (Ghetsis strats), Towering Force and Team Sentry Entry for perfect self-sufficiency, HP Advantage 4 which is odd, Protect Physical Boost Up 3 for +3 physical moves up next AND Status P-Moves Up 2 for another +2 off either status move, which means Protect is a goddamn +5 physical moves up next stack on its own, Tough Sync 3, Piercing Gaze for some reason, and got dang Vigilance.

Liza.  You fucking did it, girl.  You actually did high Flying-type DPS without a dumb gimmick.  I legitimately didn’t think we’d ever see the day.  Sure, the gauges are a problem, but it’s nothing that can’t be solved by speed boosting, and Skyla is literally right there.  On physical stages, that’s a free win.  Masked Royal also fixes all her issues, doubles down on survival against physical stages, and debuffs defense for her.  Guys, Liza’s really good.  We actually got a really good Flying type Stiker who isn’t just good for sync.  And it’s Celesteela.  This is my daughter now.

Rose Steel Striker, okay.  Good luck competing with Gloria for...oh holy shit.

Iron Head, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Hit the Gas 5, Max Moves, and his main passive makes all of his moves and Max Moves AoE.  Fucking suck it, Victor.  It doesn’t even let moves suffer a DPS drop, he just does that.  As an added bonus, how about we pull in some SS Giovanni, and make his Steel moves stronger while also making them never miss?  Bro, Rose, what the fuck, man?  Keep in mind that Iron Head is a goddamned 30% flinch rate, and it’s AoE now.  His only flaw is that, despite his trainer move being Eusine-esque in its immediate capping of offense, it drops speed by 2.  He was already painfully slow, and with Hit the Gas 5, Rose is looking to end a match really fast, or die trying.  Which...hey, massive points for thematically appropriate sets.

For Grid, Rose is a Pokefair, and I need to talk about the 5/5 Grid first.  He gets Free Moves Next on every hit while the field is a Steel Damage Zone at 5/5.  This is, by far, the most lifechanging skill I’ve seen on a 5/5.  Rose wants to buff, pop Max Move, then hopefully not deal with anything past that point.  This lets him continue past that point.  This is the off-type node.  It’s that good.  But, it’s also on a timer.  Once it leaves, it never comes back.  So I don’t think it’s all that worth it.  Defense Crush 9 on AoE is hilarious though.  Impervious is...fine.  The speed drop being blocked is nice but eh.  And extra power on his Max Move is...fine.  I don’t think it’s necessary, and frankly it being at 4/5 kinda invalidates his 5/5 tools by clearing faster.

The rest of his grid is Double Down 2, Interference Immunity, Haymaker and Furious Brawn, Iron Head MGR9, MAX Super Preparation which is obscene for on-type, Double Down 2 and a 50% sync bonus when the Steel damage field is up, Sync Freebie, Max Countdown 1, and some Sandstorm stuff including Surging Sand 3 and Sands of Time 2.

Rose is...really fucking good, man.  As much as I shit on Victor constantly, his AoE Max Move does put in a ton of work, and is a major selling point.  Rose copies that entirely.  While his base attack is lower than Victor’s, and his speed is a major issue, Rose makes up for it with much more efficient self-setup and frankly much better multipliers.  Rose is free, Victor needs support.  And I think Steel is a type in much greater need than Grass, while the backup of Rock and Ground, two types fairly notorious for a weaker presence, makes Rose particularly valuable as an offensive pick.  But he’s very SS Giovanni-esque, in that if supported correctly, he’ll clear just fine.  But if he’s not...he’s going to fail.  Badly.  Like, I don’t even want to think about how bad this guy has it in Gauntlet.

Oleana Hey kids, did you get Emma?  No?  Okay, here’s a do-over.  Oleana and GMax Garbodor come in with Gunk Shot, a tremendously powerful Poison-type move.  Love me some good Poison DPS.  Move Gauge Boost is a choice, Venom Drench is interesting, and her trainer move is +4 Atk/+3 crit/+2 accuracy, and a -1 sync cooldown.  Which is good because you want her Max Move early, as it applies Poison to all foes.  Sorry, Toxic.  Yeah, her passive bumps up her Poison status to Toxic, my bad.  Oh and she hits the foe with Rebuff after the Max Move, by the way.  And that Venom Drench?  Yeah, any stat debuff from a status move on a Poisoned target is tripled.  Two turns to max debuffs, and she’s an offense debuffer; I know several people about to go ballistic over this one.  Statistically, she’s relatively slow and could be better on attack, 350s isn’t great for a starting point in this day and age, but it’s Poison so like take what you can get, girl.

4/5 gives Ruthless Toxin to randomly debuff the foe by 2 (not affected by passive), and Max Move Team Defense Down 2 (again, not affected) 5/5 gives Soften Up, and Venom Drench Twofer for free moves. Regular grid has Toxic Power 2 and 3, Virulent Toxin 2 and 5, Ramming Speed (???), Move Gauge Boost: Pep Rally 2 (aaah), Hit and Heal and Berserker 2 on trainer move, Potent Toxin for more Toxic damage, MAX Shielding for defense, Staggering 1, Posthaste 2, and Power Play.  That last one is real nice.

Oleana is very good.  Is she as good as Emma, though?  In CS, I’m going to say no.  It is very hard to compete with “I can perform a denial on turn 2 with hilarious consistency.”  I don’t suspect Oleana will be able to do that, but who knows, maybe she will with Max Move.  I think Oleana’s definitely top 2 contender for Poison damage, though.  This feels well above H!Iris.  And the debuffing is very nice, very efficient, and works well with some of my favorites.  So I’m...admittedly very tempted here.

Variety Mallow Ugh.  Variety Scouts.  They’re not even Elite Four, so there goes consistency in that regard.  And it’s Mallow.  I’ll be honest, I don’t like Alola’s cast much, and don’t really like Mallow.  To make it worse, they gave her Shiinotic.  I mean...props for picking one of my least favorite Pokemon ever.  At least Lurantis is still free to be on a good sync pair.

Grass support.  Giga Drain, Stun Spore, X Sp Def All, trainer move is 1MP, +4 Sp Atk/+2 Crit/+1 Accuracy for the team.  She debuffs attack when hitting with her Giga Drain, restores more HP when the foe is paralyzed, and has Status Immunity.  Statistically, she is fine, with bulk hovering around the 300 mark.  Grid gives Master Healer, MGR9 on Giga Drain, Shielded 1 on X Sp Def All, Endurance, Revenge Boost, debuffing special attack from a healing move, Pep Rally on trainer move (1MP, that’ll help), Team Sharp Entry, Stalwart, Quick Cure, Synchro Healing, and a 50/50 to heal again when hitting a paralyzed opponent.

Listen, how do you feel about Variety Agatha?  That’s your litmus test for Mallow, because they’re functionally identical.  Both are rapid buff bots with 1MP trainer move, both want status to heal themselves but can’t heal allies almost at all, both have some means of debuffing as desired.  Personally, while I love Sp Atk/Crit buffers, I feel like Mallow kinda sucks.  I say this knowing full well she’s going to be a Gauntlet solo aficionado with these tools.  But I don’t like Mallow, and I hate Shiinotic, and the kit is not doing anything new.  Easiest skip of my life.

Variety Kiawe Kiawe brought his dog.  Apparently, following Crobat, the second Pokemon to three forms is...Arcanine.  DeNA, come on.

Ember, Will-o-Wisp, Fire Spin, trainer move gives +4 Sp Atk/+2 crit and accuracy.  Tech nuke is based on burn, instantly gimping his Gauntlet career.  He is CS focused, and to emphasize this, he gets Extend Range to have moves apply to all foes.  In addition, if the foe is burned, he debuffs special attack by 1, and if trapped, special defense by 1.  ...hey yo Bede, how you doin?

Bede, laughing: “He needs two different statuses for -1?!  PEASANT”

Grid debuffs attack of a burned foe, lowering speed of a trapped foe, Power Play and Interference Sync 5, MGR9 broadly for some reason, Terrify 2, Stationary Target 3, Scorcher 2 and Pokey Trap 5 for passive damage, Team Sync Regen, Propulsion 9 on trainer move.

In summation, Variety Kiawe is a statistically average Fire-type tech with slow-acting debuffs requiring two distinct forms of status condition and status change, impacting his point totals wildly in CS and having poor choices for Gauntlet as well, all while debuffing far slower than Bede.  Did I miss anything?  No?  Garbage.  NEXT!

Lodge Irida Lodge Irida comes in as a...Tech?  She’s a Tech?  I was fully expecting Support.  Well, Fire type, so that doesn’t bode well.

Fire Fang, X Atk, Flare Blitz (oh no, it’s just like the main series), trainer move is Sp Def +1/Crit +2 and gradual healing.  Sync multiplier is burn.  Oh no.  Standfast 9 (whew), Aggravation 2, and Hostile Environment 2.  Girl, you locked your sync on a 30%, why?

Grid has First Aid 4, Aggravation 2, Double Down 3 (OH NO) and Scorching Sync 5 (OH NO), Hostile Environment 2, Superduper Effective 2, Burn Synergy 3, and a Standfast 5.

Okay.  I don’t really know what I expected.  But Lodge Irida’s not exactly good.  High BP moves with recoil can work, we’ve seen what Lodge Gloria does, but Flare Blitz has the misfortune of positive conditions that hinder total DPS in exchange for a slight burn rate.  I’m sorry, even at your best it’s a 50%, that’s not reliable.  The issue with Fire Fang is that Staggering caps to 50%, but it can only activate one condition at a time, so you can’t use it for disruption and setting up her burn.  In Gauntlet, Burn is bad by default, while in CS, unless I’m misremembering, the only spread Burn is from H!Morty.  “And the new Kiawe!”  I am not pulling for that clown.

Yeah, this is gonna be messy.  Irida’s going to live and die by her DPS.  Sync’s condition is too difficult to achieve, and frankly, her multipliers are pretty atrocious too for a Tech, being a measly 80% and partially locked to on-type.  I’m really unimpressed.

Blue (Grid Expansion) I’m gonna be honest, Blue got basically everything he ever wanted.  Ramp Up 2 on trainer move, and a full 150% sync multiplier.  Granted, hit with the same Sync Power Flux bat as Caitlin, but at least it’s not a locked to on-type situation.  His DPS was always respectable, albeit post-sync, so this works.  If there’s any particular flaw, it’s that self-setup still requires three turns.  Ethan had a lot of trouble with this, effectively needing sync to perform a denial and thus not working so well with Support EX.  Blue has similar concerns, but the mega evolution made that mandatory anyway, so it’s not like he misses out on much.  Without a good sense for his new damage output, I’m tentatively going to say this rules.  Karen only got the Sync Power Flux, and she’s frankly insane.  Then again, her DPS was directly tied to a high flinch rate, so I kinda feel like she got it a bit better than Blue just by design.  But this seems wholly respectable.  I don’t have Blue at EX, which is a shame because that’s really what you want here, but I imagine his fans will be pleased.

Dojo Gloria (Grid Expansion) What do you offer a sync pair that’s this powerful?  Apparently miscellaneous tools.  Interference Immunity and Impervious are cute but wholly unnecessary.  Restoring Strike is good for solos, but CS doesn’t really help much.  The big victory is the 5/5 Head Start 1.  Gloria is a fast-ramp all by herself now.  If you care.  I don’t.  3/5 is perfectly sufficient, everything in her expanded grid is like...okay.  There wasn’t much room left to improve though, if we’re being honest.  Would’ve liked to see Ripple Effect 4, but it’s fine.

Clair (EX) Oh my god, thank you.  I love Clair, I’m so glad she got something.  Unfortunately it sucks.  All of Clair’s damage is in DPS.  Her only multipliers are the 100% bonus damage to her Draco Meteor for Rain and Paralysis.  Her sync is borderline negligible.  It doesn’t exactly help that her favorite partner, SS Kris, needs first sync for MP Burst, so she’ll rarely see use from this.  It’s nice, but it’s the kind of occurrence that’s like listen, DeNA, just do a windfall of the story pairs getting EX.  There’s no reason to hold off.  Most of them can’t even do anything with it.

[wordforwordbiblecomic]

July Newsletter: Discounts, new Book of Judges and more

We’ve got news on the new edition of Judges, discounts, blogs and more this month

New Judges with more pages!

In September, we will be officially releasing the new version of The Book of Judges. This new edition features the NIV translation but also even more pages! Now, I know what you’re thinking but we didn’t add anything to the biblical text, we spread the existing panels over more pages making it so the pages are not so cramped and the illustrations are larger, we also lightened up the images as our first edition was very dark.

In this example below, the top left page is the original page, which becomes three pages in the new edition including two new panels and verse reference numbers in the corners.

If you can’t wait until September you can preorder it via the UK online shop and pay postage to your location and you’ll receive it before the official release. (Note: Kickstarter Backers of Song of Songs who added Judges will get this new version)

The new Judges graphic novel was showcased at the American Library Association Convention of over 10,000 librarians last month and this month will be at the Christian Product Expo in Kentucky.

Discount!

If you are ordering books direct from us (via the UK online shop), you can now get a discount when you spend £50+ you’ll get 25% off! Just enter the discount code FIFTYQUIDPLUS at checkout. Includes books, t-shirts and digital items!

(T&Cs: Offer works on direct purchases from the UK, not available on US and Canada domestic delivery which is handled by our distributors).

Patreon Hangout

On Saturday 15th July, we’ll have one of our Patreon Hangouts, a Zoom call between myself, some of the team and our patrons will be there to chat, answer questions and connect. The talk will likely be around the new title The Book of Acts which has started production but won’t be Kickstarted until next year. To get the inside scoop, see pages before anyone else and join us at the hangout, become a patron today:

The Gathering

We had a great time at the Gathering in June despite nearly melting in the sun. I did some sword training and we saw dozens of men make a first-time commitment or recommitment to Christ on the weekend. Welcome those that joined the newsletter at the event.

Blogs

I wrote a couple of blogs on the research I’ve been doing recently, I showed the top one to Dr. Mark Woolmer (our history consultant and history lecturer) and he said he’d have given me a First for the essay if it had been submitted in his class which made me happy

In this blog, I explore the question of whether the Golden Calf of Exodus was likely a statue of an Apis Bull?

https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/blog/was-the-golden-calf-an-apis-bull

In this blog, I ask if Moses was tall.

https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/blog/wasmosestall

Kickstarter Update

The creation of the Song of Songs is complete and the digital copies will be sent out to you very soon. They've had their first round of proofreading and corrections are being added. Once the second round of proofreading is complete will be sending it out, before the end of this month.

They'll also be heading to the printers in the next month or so in good time for delivery to backers by the end of November (or before). They will be released in shops in March 2024.

Prayer

Books in libraries: As you saw above our book was featured at the ALA con. Please pray with us that libraries really discover the benefits of the Word for Word Bible Comic and decide to stock them all across the USA. Spanish editions: We have some potential leads to getting distribution of our Spanish editions in Latin America and Europe. Please pray we can get these books into the hands of Spanish speakers very soon!

Technical issue: We have had some trouble with the ISBN registration on Amazon and other places for the new books. Some progress has been made since last time but please pray this is miraculously sorted out very soon so it does not hamper sales.

[erin-bo-berin]

Our baby looks so exhausted in that photo with him and Joseph. I hope tomorrow people are respectful to Joe at the con and don't ask him asinine questions like about his hair, Maika, who he hopes Nancy will end up with.

I want him to enjoy himself and have a great time.

Do you thinking filming on Cold Storage has already wrapped?

We never got new photos on the set of Joe and Georgina as Tracks and Naomi.

The book itself barely even gives us a decent description about what Teacake looks like and I was hoping we would get a glimpse of Joe as him.

I hope it goes well too 🥺

No I believe it doesn’t wrap until sometime in mid May I think? We’ve got a few more weeks I think. I’m dying for CS content though 😭

[lamilanomagazine]

Cosenza: violazione della normativa ambientale sulla gestione dei rifiuti

Cosenza: violazione della normativa ambientale sulla gestione dei rifiuti. Nel rispetto dei diritti degli indagati, da ritenersi innocenti fino ad un definitivo accertamento di colpevolezza con sentenza irrevocabile, al fine di garantire il diritto di cronaca costituzionalmente garantito, si comunica che è al vaglio dei Magistrati della Procura della Repubblica di Paola (CS), diretta dal Procuratore facente funzione Dott. Ernesto Sassano, la posizione di sei persone in merito alle indagini sulla gestione irregolare dei rifiuti urbani del Comune di Fuscaldo (CS), affidati nel 2020 in appalto ad una Ditta esterna del settore. L’indagine trae spunto dall’attività di verifica effettuata dalla Polizia Stradale di Paola (CS), in relazione ai controlli effettuati sugli autocompattatori che eseguivano la raccolta dei rifiuti solidi urbani all’interno del territorio comunale, disperdendo rifiuti e liquami lungo le strade, in violazione delle prescrizioni specifiche della normativa ambientale. Tale attività di verifica veniva estesa dalla Polizia Stradale di Paola (CS) a tutti i soggetti della filiera di gestione dei rifiuti, in particolare individuando in contrada Centacque, all’interno di un’area privata di 4000 mq. adiacente alla SS.18, il centro di stoccaggio dei veicoli che effettuano il servizio di raccolta dei rifiuti urbani e dei rifiuti ingombranti, raccolti nel Comune di Fuscaldo, trasformata in realtà anche in una vera e propria discarica abusiva a cielo aperto. Nel citato sito, infatti, venivano rinvenuti a terra ed in cassoni poggiati sul terreno rifiuti differenziati e indifferenziati, con sversamento di liquidi inquinanti al suolo, oltre a rifiuti speciali pericolosi quali elettrodomestici, vecchi apparecchi elettronici, lastre di eternit e accumulatori al piombo di autoveicoli oltre ad un modesto quantitativo di farmaci scaduti, evidenziando una irregolare gestione del servizio di raccolta e smaltimento dei rifiuti, non conforme alle norme ambientali. L’area in questione, su provvedimento dell’Autorità Giudiziaria è stata posta in sequestro in attesa di bonifica.... #notizie #news #breakingnews #cronaca #politica #eventi #sport #moda Read the full article

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[ouatsnark]

Colin did mention later in panel that when both him and Emilie were asked fave scenes to film with Jen he said when Emma killed him, their wedding and first date. He generally does talk nice about CS. Once everyone went ooh when he said hook Belle ship he did say bet you didn’t think I’d say that then later when someone brought up fanfic mentioned hook and Belle with it to. He’s starting to remind me of how Lana acts at cons now. I miss them not Being able to talk about show now.

Honestly, I actually think he's always played to whomever he's on stage with? I seem to remember him giving a similar answer about Belle before and I think once he said Regina & Hook did it in her carriage which isn't grounded in canon either since Hook looked absolutely not interested in her advances but mmmkay. lol. But don't quote me on this cause I don't have the receipts & it's been a long time. Anyone know????

I am sorry things seem to be changing at cons! If you wanted you could maybe look at these answers as being "funny" new answers to the same old questions ...? cause I'm sure that's tiring too.

[cs-con-news]

Will Colin O’donoghue and/or Jennifer Morrison come to London?

Neither are in London but Jen is booked for Wales Comic Con December 1-2 and Colin is booked for Enchanted in Birmingham in June

[csmeaner]

Man, Just Take Grems Out to the Back 40

tl;dr Up here since it’s long

post related

Just get out of Grems. The staff doesn’t give a shit about you and don’t even have it in them to pretend to care like most CS staff do. Densy’s so tight-fisted that you’re unlikely to be able to get much out of her ARPG. It’s unlikely she’ll fix the Cypherus problem and I’m 50/50 on if she’ll ever finish that precious “lore”. She’s a nasty customer and I guarantee she’s talking shit about you if you dared to speak up in those screenshots.

Just leave. I promise you that there’s another funky dragon-looking species out there with an owner who will appreciate you and listen to reasonable criticisms.

Grems: Ruining a Good Thing

Densy’s (AKA MrGremble or Densetsugin for anyone searching) 20K hijinks hurt the species. It was the first big blow that would have been recoverable if Densy had been anyone else but herself since Grems were still quite popular at the time. 

I won’t go too deeply into this. Most of us already know the story, and the rest can find it in a bunch of places. Needless to say neither Densy’s nor Caravan’s story feels complete, and Densy’s is especially egregious since she waited for something like a year before coming out with obviously-curated proof against someone who could no longer defend herself.

Again, this is something Densy could have come out of with only a few scratches. She made a series of terrible mistakes, but people love a redemption arc.

Densy paid 0 attention to her community’s concerns. Remember that very polite document outlining what could be improved in Grems? archive.ph/Qk20n

The latest screenshots from the Grem Discord show the staff as thin-skinned, lazy, and disengaged. You walk on eggshells around them. It’s exhausting and downright abusive to make your community do that all the time. I think only Celestial Seas and Chowlings are worse.

Of course, also, Soyu-k/k-es-tressier, Densy’s long-time friend, was outed for having art with non-con, pedophilia, and incest (which they found “hot” as late as 2020/1). Densy removed Soyu-k from a mod position, but Soyu-k is still allowed to participate in the group.

Which brings up some salient questions: you’ll ban just about anyone who crosses you, but you won’t ban someone who left non-con, pedophilia, and incest out for the world to see until they were called out for it? Just because you go way back? Where, exactly, are you located from a moral standpoint?

Silence is consent and approval in matters such as these. Grems are no longer popular enough to tank this one. Anyone who bothers to read the callout (ie: anyone other than Soyu-k’s bootlickers) won’t accept the “but it was 10 years ago!” excuse, as if this shit has an expiry date.

The group no longer has any good designers on staff. The popufurs that propped it up have gone fishing. Nobody on staff keeps track of current trends or even what makes a good design in an enduring, classical sense.

The group is simps and people with Stockholm Syndrome playing Weekend at Bernie’s. It’ll be awhile before they give up, especially if an ARPG swings ‘round and it’s not too disappointing. I’d give it another two years. Maybe three if the ARPG is amazing. We might see a new Densy cash machine in that time.

Densy has been like this for as long as I’ve known her (Densestugin days, around the “Doggers” and Shadow Cats times). She’s always been a selfish, cliquey, stuck-up crybully and she’s stuck in her highschool mean girl days.

Just get out. Densy doesn’t appreciate you and just wants more of your money.

[lovebecomeshim]

hello! your zutara posting today has finally motivated me to ask this question because I came to atla very late(last year, to be specific) and I Love It Very Much but am 1000% out of the loop as far as why what remains of fandom (at least that I've seen among my friends) is so very strongly zutara. I'm not opposed to it per se I just don't really know what has driven it to apparently be such a popular ship? can you help me understand and maybe convert me a little bit?

Hey!! Your ICON! :D I can try but I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be; however I AM sure someone a lot more competent will be willing to add to this. Either way, I’m glad you asked because my plan was to drag down as many people as possible with me.

*smacks the hood of zutara* this baby can fit so much mutual love and support!

This got so long, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to put it under a cut on mobile and it already got deleted once so I’m scared to mess with it lol. Moving on.

I’m gonna start this with a disclaimer that im on mobile so formatting is tricky and I’m also really new to atla in that I only completed my first watch through in like 2019??? So some of my info is all just based on what I’ve picked up from Discourse 👀 so anyway the sparknotes version: zutara was wildly popular from the beginning. To the point where the atla crew internally disagreed on which ship should be endgame. (Ex. Bryke [showrunners] asked the writers to rewrite The Southern Raiders to make Zuko seem less ideal for Katara than Aang [which failed, depending on who you ask]; the animation team purposefully created a visual parrallel between Oma and Shu in the Cave of Two Lovers and Zuko and Katara in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se in the Crossroads of Destiny; etc.)

The ship was popular enough that Bryke actually chose to display zk fanart at a con for the sole purpose of mocking the fans, but that’s neither here nor there. The entire episode Ember Island Players, while a love letter to/parody of the whole show, was an opportunity to address zutara’s viability as a canon pairing (while, again, mocking zutaras for romanticizing that catacombs scene). Point is! It’s always been popular but with it not being endgame, there’s got to be something that’s given it staying power.

And that’s honestly got to do with three things: their dynamic, thematic cohesion, and potential.

(You know what... you know what, it’s four things. The fourth is they’re so aesthetically pleasing together and individually. Like, they’re just good looking people [specifically when they’re grown but they’re also cute kids] and that absolutely doesn’t hurt) (but it’s not the Point, it’s just nice to point out sometimes)

The dynamic is hard to get into without also looking at the canon pairings, but I think I can do that without unnecessary bashing. It’s just that part of the magic of zutara is really highlighted by what they give to each other that their other relationships don’t.

First off, it’s classic enemies to (would be) lovers. The absolute truest form of it. It’s not too different from how CS started out: a rogue antagonist with a job to do—but no personal vendetta against the future love interest—who is deeply and emotionally invested in his personal storyline (revenge/redemption) with little regard for how it effects other people after his entire life and genuine good nature are marred by suffering, and a fierce warrior girl with a strong moral compass and her own personal investment in stopping him (protect her family and save the world doing it). Obviously frustration and animosity grew between them by the nature of them being on opposing sides, but that just lends itself to the sweetness of their later reconciliation.

The thing is that while they’re wildly different on the surface (he’s a hot-headed prince of a fascist regime who is trying to capture the Avatar to please his father; she’s a nurturing daughter of the chief who is trying to protect and train the Avatar in order to topple his father’s throne) they find out that they have so much more in common both in their experiences and their personalities.

(What follows is an excessive use of the word “both” and I’m sorry about that)(I can edit it. I can do that. That IS an option............)

They both have an innate sense of justice that they are determined to see done (zuko, at the war meeting, sticking up for the Earth Kingdom kid when the guards torment his family, choosing not to steal from the pregnant couple despite his circumstances, abiding by his word to leave the SWT should Aang come willingly, etc.; katara, literally.... at any point). They both have pretty one-track minds at accomplishing certain goals once they’ve put their mind to it, regardless of a lack of support in that endeavor (it goes without saying I guess, but zuko’s entire hunt; katara’s determination to get the earth benders to fight back, her determination to absolutely destroy Pakku until he agrees to teach her, etc.). They both lost their mothers at young ages. Their worlds are war-torn and traumatizing to them both, if in different ways, but that ultimately forces them to grow up too quickly to be wholly independent individuals. They both have issues with their fathers (for WILDLY different reasons, but). They both hold extreme prejudices that they need to learn to overcome (which ties into thematic cohesion)(bit like Lizzie and Darcy in that way but magnified by a million). They’re both extremely emotional and empathetic—which can and often does result in loud outbursts. Katara’s a bit better adjusted and can temper her anger for longer than S1 Zuko can, but they both feel that anger deeply and have no compunctions expressing it (Katara is, usually, more justified, particularly in S1. Again, S1 Zuko is severely maladjusted but at the point when they could’ve feasibly become a couple, he’s so much better off with the way he carries himself). They both struggle with feelings of inferiority in their bending abilities when confronted with prodigal benders like Aang and Azula, but have the work ethic required to double down and become two of the most powerful benders in the three remaining nations. This is a little more minor but it is a parrallel that appeals to some shippers that they both have these alter egos in the Painted Lady (notably fire nation coded) and the Blue Spirit (water tribe coded) that are pretty different from who they are day-to-day and are useful in accomplishing a purpose that they as themselves cannot.

(I’m.... I just realized that this could potentially get very long. Should I have made a slide show with bullet points??????)

Anyway, similar. I know there’s more but there’s literally so much to love about zutara that I’ll drive myself a little crazy trying to compile all the ways they’re similar. (Just gonna say that at this exact moment I went back to add more similarities.... so okay then)

Once they’ve reconciled, we see how all of these things only lend themselves to a deeper intimacy together than they share with literally anyone else. There’s a steady partnership that positions them as the mom/dad of the gaang, while also providing the support necessary to allow the other to not have to carry so much responsibility. A lot of zutaras will point out how zuko is actually depicted doing the more domestic chores that are normally relegated to Katara once he joins the gaang, since the others in the group are two 12-year-olds and sokka. The one that sticks out the most is how he makes tea for the group and then serves them, while Katara is able to just relax with her friends around the fire. Fanon expands upon this a lot to Zuko helping with the laundry or the cooking or whatever else needs doing since he, as a once-refugee, is used to doing his own domestic tasks. Before Zuko joined, Katara was the one mothering everyone, sewing for them, cooking for them, etc. She’s always tending to the needs of the group, and that includes emotionally. She does the emotional labor for the gaang 99% of the time, but when she’s the one falling apart, she’s usually doing it alone and without the comfort that she normally provides for others. Until Zuko. And that’s before they’re even friends.

Which is WHY people romanticize the catacombs of Ba Sing Se so much. Katara is verbally attacking Zuko out of her own righteous anger but also her own prejudice when Zuko, surprisingly, chooses to be vulnerable with her. He’s been on a journey that’s opened his eyes a bit, but he’s never actively chosen to expose the rawest parts of his past to anyone. But for some reason he chooses to do that with Katara of all people. While she’s yelling at him. He sees her humanity, and for once can look past his prejudice and empathize with her. And this time, when she breaks down, she gets to be comforted. Katara normally talks about her mother when she’s trying to explain to someone else that she sees and understands they’re pain, as a form of comfort to them. Here, Zuko uses the exact same tactic. He sees her and he understands. And for zuko? He’s not being shut down. He’s allowed to articulate his pain regarding his mother without being ignored and made to internalize it, and he’s allowed to process how he feels about his scar out loud without being told that he deserved it. And then he lets her touch his scar, something we’ve seen him actively avoid before. He’s completely open to her and she’s completely open to him and all it took was one five minute conversation. She was about to use the little bit of Spirit water that she had, that she was saving for something Important, to heal the scar that still daily causes him pain just because they had, somehow, connected.

Plus there’s the whole parallel to the star-crossed lovers forbidden from one another, a war divides their people—

And then zuko messes up, he regresses, he gets what he wants and he HATES it. And the sense of justice he had as a child has been restored to him against his will and he can’t think of anything he wants to do more than the Right Thing, so he joins team avatar. Before he does that though, we get to see his relationship with Mai, which is where comparison really comes in. And what we see is Zuko, fresh off of his encounter with Katara in the catacombs, trying to be emotionally honest with Mai... and getting shut down and dismissed. Which is just how Mai is and it’s fine, but not for Zuko. Still, he keeps trying, and he keeps getting ignored or scoffed at or yelled at. Which is really a larger symbol for how he doesn’t fit in his old life anymore, but again that’s about thematic cohesion. He tries to articulate his anxieties about returning home, he tries to make romantic gestures, he tries to explain how morally conflicted he’s feeling—and Mai diverts to some kind of physical affection to shut him up and a parting comment that is pretty much always, in essence, “I don’t wanna talk about this.” So they don’t. On the other hand, once zuko and Katara are friends, we see him again emotionally distraught and caught up in his anxieties about facing Iroh, and it’s Katara who comes to him and listens to him and comforts and encourages him.

Similarly, we have Aang clamming up and getting uncomfortable whenever Katara shows any negative emotion, usually resulting in him making excuses or running away. Or, in the case of the Southern Raiders, lecturing her on how she needs to just let go of her anger about her mother’s murder. People have talked this episode to death and usually better than I ever could, so imma... keep it brief. There’s a serious disconnect between Aang and Katara in his ability to empathize with Katara and her needs that has her tamping down her vulnerability and amping up her anger. He tells her that he was able to forgive his people’s genocide and appa’s kidnapping (petnapping? Theft??), which is blatantly not true but also not an entirely equal parrallel to Katara’s situation, and continues making these little remarks throughout the episode. But it’s Zuko that Katara opens up to. It’s with him that she’s able to talk about the most traumatic day of her life, and it’s with him that she’s able to get the closure she needs, cementing their bond as friends and partners. This disagreement between Aang and Katara is then... never resolved. They just never bring it up and hear what the other is saying.

There’s a fic called The Portraits of Ember Island that has a line that so completely sums up the heart of the matter for why people love their dynamic. For context, zuko has woken up early to help Katara with the cooking and they spend the whole time just letting one another talk, and zuko stops to ask why she always just lets him talk. And so she stops to ask why he’s always helping, and it goes as follows:

There’s just... so much mutual support! Trust! Intimacy!! And it just continues like that from the Southern Raiders on, listening to each other, advising each other, watching each other’s backs! And then! Literally saving each other’s lives!! I will never be over the last Agni kai. Not ever. Zuko may have been willing to jump in front of lightning for anyone, but he actually did it for Katara. And in a show, that’s the thing that really matters. It’s a fulfilled trope usually exclusively applied to romantic pairings, and it ended up applying to Zuko and Katara. And then she ran out into the middle of a fight with tunnel vision just to get to him.

Also!! Also Zuko pushing Katara out of the way of the falling rocks at the Western Air Temple!! And Katara catching him as he fell from the war balloon that he fought Azula on!! Before they’re even getting along, they’re the ones reaching for each other. They come to this place of equal ground, as partners, who watch each other’s backs, call each other out but still listen attentively and understand, and provide the support that the other has been sorely lacking up until they knew each other (whether that be from lack of effort or lack of understanding from others, or an unwillingness to accept it for themselves).

Then, trailing along under the surface of this, we see the themes of the show totally embodied by Zuko and Katara as individuals and in their relationship to one another. There’s a YouTuber, sneezyreviews, who has a, like, 2-hour explanation on why she not only loves zutara but also believes that their endgame would’ve actually elevated the writing of atla to new levels particularly because of thematic cohesion and resolved character arcs. It’s the zutara dissertation I never knew I needed, and it’s funny and eloquent and effective, so I’m just going to sum up her section on thematic cohesion to the best of my abilities and then link it for whenever you have the time. And I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you want a full understanding of what makes zutara so great and gives it such longevity.

Guru pathik has a line that goes something like this: separation is an illusion; things that seem different are just two parts of the same whole. Iroh also tells Zuko something similar: balance and strength are achieved when the different nations come together and influence one another and celebrate what makes them each unique. And this lesson is a massive central arc that both Zuko and Katara go through, moving past a black-and-white, good guys-vs-bad guys, us-vs-them mentality and into a greyer, more nuanced view of the world. Zuko sees the fire nation from an entirely new perspective and while he still loves and hopes for his nations future, he surrenders his blind loyalty to them in exchange for an unflinching loyalty to peace and love. Katara too had to come to terms with the fact that cruel people exist in the earth kingdom and water tribes, while some fire nation citizens are just regular, kind people who also need and deserve to have someone speak on their behalf. And this is honed in directly on how they view each other. They grow in their individual journeys to be open to the humanity in the other and then, once they’ve found that, they’re able to grow more in compassion for others in a beautiful feedback loop. And this is all matched in the symbolism repeatedly and intentionally associated with them in canon: sun and moon, fire and water, yin and yang, Oma and Shu who found love despite their warring nations. Their individual arcs are completed in each other and complement the themes of atla beautifully.

The canon pairs... just don’t. Which, again, is fine. But the very things that give atla longevity and popularity are anchored in zutara. Kat@ang doesn’t accomplish this. They’re... nice. Sweet. Especially when you erase a good portion of their interactions in S3. It could’ve been just a sweet love story. (Personally, the dynamic between toph and aang accomplish the same thing that zutara does, with complementary personalities that fulfill the theme of opposites blending in harmony) M@iko, on the other hand, is less sweet but I think wasn’t even supposed to last. Zuko’s relationship with Mai seems to represent his relationship with his old life as a whole. He can’t be emotionally vulnerable, he’s goaded into abusing his privileges, his agency and opinions aren’t respected. They just don’t have common ground with which to discuss anything that matters, so they don’t. As far as themes, the relationship doesn’t fit with atla. It’s zuko returning to and sticking with what is (on the surface) like him, what’s expected. Fire nation with fire nation. Fluid water bender with the flexible air bender. Like with like, separated from what is different and challenging and complementary.

And all of these things combined of course lead to the potential for the ship. I don’t know how familiar you are with the post-atla canon but... well, miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me”, miss “I don’t want to heal! I want to fight!” ends up living quietly in the SWT as a designated healer who turns a blind eye to the water tribe civil war happening right outside her front door. Which can be fine! People change! Some people just wanna stay inside. I just wanna stay inside! But the potential future for zutara is so much more satisfying, with Katara becoming the most unconventional Fire Lady the uppity old cads who are stuck on the old ways have ever seen. Fanon has her serving as a voice for the other nations within a kingdom at the point of its biggest political upheaval, as a confidante to Zuko who can actually help him while he’s trying to figure out how to move forward and make reparations. They have the opportunity, together, to accomplish what they both have set on their hearts to fight for: positive change that lends itself to harmony and balance. And the steambabies! A popular headcanon is that their firstborn daughter, the crown princess, is actually a waterbender, which causes such an uproar among the people who are adamantly clinging to the old ways. It’s just a future full of potential to be forces for good together, full of trust, intimacy, joy. The exact era of peace and love and balance that zuko announces that he intends to ring in with the start of his reign as Fire Lord is, again, magnified by the very personal zutara relationship. And we love to see it.

tl;dr zutara isn’t for everyone. Some people just don’t vibe with it. Some are nostalgic. Some love the canon they grew up with. Some have been disappointed for years. Some just see themselves in other characters and want their happiness instead. Whatever the reason, that’s fine. But for me, I love the way these two, from the moment they give each other a fair chance, are able to lower their walls and prejudices to see the other for the kindred spirits they are. They see each other’s humanity, and their response is to pour out love and support and compassion. I love that they’re a power couple in battle. I love the symbolism and, honestly, soulmatism that colors their every interaction. I love that they embody the whole storyline of atla in their relationship and how it develops, which is notably why their seasonal arcs always culminate in each finale with how they relate to one another. I love that zuko adopting a waterbending move is what actually saves his life and then katara’s. I love the chemistry! And I love the future they could’ve had, instead of the ones they were given.

So, in conclusion: I just think they’re neat and I hope you do too, at least a little bit. Even if it’s just respectfully from a disinterested distance cause you do you. And now here is the video I mentioned. I’m sorry this post got so long and then I gave you an even longer homework assignment, but I can’t recommend it enough. She says it all better than I can.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

"Wishing it Wasn't" by kazoosandfannypacks

Chapter 7/18: Like Everyone Else Has Pairing: CaptainSwan Rating: General Word Count: (1.1K/19.5K) Summary: Season 2 Canon Divergence: When Neal tells Emma he has a fiancée, she claims to have a new boyfriend of her own, and blurts out the first fairytale name she can think of: Captain Hook. Killian agrees to this ruse, but when feelings grow between the two, will the con be more than they can handle? Chapter Summary: Killian and Neal have a hostile heart to heart conversation. Tags: season 2, canon divergence, gun violence in later chapters, angst with a happy ending, fake dating, mild character death, mildly anti neal Author's notes: I hope you guys enjoy the banter in this scene as much as I do! Taglist: @zahara @kmomof4 @jonesfandomfanatic @booksteaandtoomuchtv @jrob64 @tiganasummertree @anmylica @teamhook @undercaffinatednightmare @gingerchangeling @lonelyspectator @caught-in-the-filter @ultraluckycatnd @cs-rylie @pirateprincessofpizza [if you'd like to be added to or removed from this list, hmu in my dms or askbox!]

Also on Ao3!

Killian smiled at Neal, who glared across the table at him while the girls were in the bathroom.

 "Something wrong, Neal?" Killian asked. "Or would you rather I call you Baelfire?"

 "Neal's fine."

 "What's wrong?" Killian asked. "Oh, is this about me selling you out to Peter Pan?"

 "I got over that." Neal said. "It's what you did before that."

 "The part where I rescued your mother from a loveless marriage?" Killian took a calculated sip of the drink in front of him.

 "The part where you tore apart my family."

 "That's not how I remember it." Killian said, setting down his glass. "I remember her coming to me, begging to be rescued from being 'lashed to the village coward.' And I remember telling your father if she wanted her back, all he had to do was fight for her- and I might've let him win too- but to leave a treasure like her with someone who didn't care enough to fight for her?" He leaned forward. "That would've made me the villain."

 "You ruined my life."

 "Your parents were a sinking ship from the beginning." Killian said. "I just sped it along."

 "You don't even care what you did to me, do you?"

 If not for Baelfire, Killian would've called himself the hero of that narrative. But every time he thought back to the poor little boy who he saw in the tavern all those years ago, he saw the eyes of a would be Lost Boy- and those same eyes across the table from him now.

 "Of course I do, Bae."

 "Neal."

 Killian nodded. "Of course I care, Neal. Your mother and I wanted to come back for you when you were old enough. Do you know what her last words were before your father ground her heart into dust, right in front of me?"

 "No."

 "She said she was sorry. She said not a day went by that she didn't regret what she did to you."

 "Liar." Neal said. "My mother didn't care about me. She only cared about herself."

 "How dare he say such a thing!" Killian thought, about to strangle the insolent brigand sitting across from him, "Milah cared about him, about my crew, about me- Milah cared more than anyone else ever could."

 "Watch your tongue, lad." Killian said. "I've killed men for saying things half as heartless about her as you just did."

 "It's a wonder what Emma even sees in you." Neal muttered as he took a sip of his drink.

 "Funny." Killian said, ignoring his own certainty that Emma saw nothing in him. "I was about to ask the same question. What could Emma have possibly seen in a stubborn jerk like you?"

 "I'm a stubborn jerk?" Neal asked. "You literally just threatened to kill me."

 "Yes, for being a stubborn jerk." Killian said. "And at least I fight for those I love. How did your story with Emma end exactly?"

 Neal avoided eye contact. "I gave her up. Tried to give her her best chance."

 "You abandoned her like everyone else has. When things got hard- you left her." It was Killian's turn again to take a smug sip of his own drink. "The crocodile doesn't fall far from the tree."

 Before the fight could get too heated, Emma and Tamara came back, and Killian and Neal smiled like they hadn't both been about to commit a murder.

 For some reason, just seeing Emma calmed him down, reduced his boiling blood to a simmer. He quickly got up from his seat and pulled out her chair for her.

 "Thank you, Killian." She said.

 "Anything for you, love." Killian said. He pushed her chair back in, then sat down next to her and put his arm around her again, finding a soothing comfort in her arm under his hand.

 Emma rested her head on his shoulder, and he smiled, though not at her. No, he smiled at Neal, Swan's ruse having proved Killian the better man between the two.

 But even as he held her, even as he pretended he'd won her heart- even as he pretended he was only pretending to like her- he had to remind himself it was fake, that Swan didn't really consider him the better man.

 To be honest, he wasn't sure she thought much of him at all.

---

 When they'd finished eating and the waitress brought the checks, Killian volunteered to cover them all.

 "You don't have to do that." Neal said.

 "Nonsense." Killian said. "I've recently had a successful business venture, and see no reason not to share its spoils with such pleasant company."

 Emma and Neal made eye contact- they both knew the 'business venture' he spoke of was probably illegal.

 "Are you sure?" Tamara asked.

 "I insist." Killian said. He took the tab to the other counter to pay for it away from the others- Emma knew this was so no one would see him paying in gold doubloons.

 "He's quite the charmer." Tamara said. "Where did you guys say you met?"

 "I did some traveling recently." Emma pulled whatever pieces of their history together she believably could. "My mom and I went to go visit… Germany. Where she grew up. Killian travels a lot for work, and we stumbled into each other- one of those lucky accidental meetings- but when he realized I was new to the area, he showed us around and bought us drinks. We really hit it off, exchanged numbers, and about a week later he came to Storybrooke to be with me."

 "How sweet." Tamara said.

 "He really is." Emma turned to see him walking back over and smiled at him- smiled an almost real smile.

 "Well then, love." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Should we be off, then?"

 "Oh yeah." Emma said. "Henry's probably waiting up for me."

 "Wouldn't want to leave the boy too long, would we?" Killian asked, and Neal looked away.

 "Oh yeah," Emma smiled, understanding Killian's angle, "ten years was more than enough time."

 "Neal should know all about that " Emma thought, watching Neal squirm in his seat, wanting to shrink lower than the table.

 "It was lovely getting to know you better." Emma held a hand out to Tamara.

 "Absolutely." Tamara said. "Maybe we can do this again sometime."

 "For sure."

 She shook hands with Neal as Killian shook hands with Tamara, then watched a tense glare between the boys as they shook hands.

 Then, Killian took his jacket off the back of his chair and placed it over Emma's shoulders.

 "Thanks, babe." She said, pulling the jacket closer around her.

 He kissed the top of her head. "You're welcome, love."

 He wrapped his left arm around her and they left the restaurant together.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Eusine

Ah, Eusine.  Morty’s friend chasing after Suicune.  Apparently he’s just gonna show up with it now, and in shiny form.  Masters fulfilling all the Johto dreamers.  But now that he’s caught his dream, he must answer the question everyone faces when succeeding at such an all-consuming life goal.  What next?

General Overview Eusine comes in as a Water-type striker, which is a pretty loaded category. Eusine offers some interesting tools, including Whirlpool for Trap damage, and Blizzard as coverage.  Ice being such a rare offensive typing, this is a helpful option to have.  Whirlpool also kicks off his natural multiplier, a 50% bonus to move and sync damage against trapped opponents. Think Lysandre's Burn multiplier, but for Trap. Eusine also packs interesting tools in Piercing Gaze, so Whirlpool and Blizzard will never miss, and Recharging Strike, so his AoE attacks pay for themselves in CS.  To add to the fun, Eusine has three other excellent selling points.  First, his Buddy Surf is spammable no-penalty AoE with a 20% flinch rate.  While the flinch is negligible, the damage is quite good, being 160 base power.  Second, his trainer move is Anni Lillie but better, immediately capping all offensive needs and applying Condition Nullification to the party. Lastly, this guy's grid is insane.  2/5 packs everything you need for a really good Blizzard DPS set, and 3/5 offers up to 200% more sync damage, for a whopping total of 250%, and up to 60% more move damage for 110% total.

Eusine's cons are few, but notable.  First, while Buddy move is spammable, he needs to attack twice to activate it, which means you're not realistically getting any attacks in until he's under 50% HP.  Second, his Buddy move is just kinda okay for 4-bar damage, and because it's already no-penalty, damage doesn't compress, making his single-target DPS much worse. This is exacerbated by the Recharging Strike struggle of getting only one bar back in Gauntlet, on a guy with relatively limited speed control.  The slowing down of his DPS is also notable because you need to be re-applying Trap constantly.  Without it, he's not dealing the same amount of damage at all.  Lastly, he does have serious sync issues.  The major multipliers he has access to still do not push him above SEUN Siebold, and because he's a Striker, EX hits all foes, negating the benefits of Buddy Surf.  Which, outside of the spread damage, is a really bad Buddy move. 20% is a horrible flinch rate, even if it is AoE.

All that said, I promised I would talk about this in the Adaman breakdown, and Eusine is a great time to do it.  Many players have (correctly) identified Eusine as the sync pair to skip.  However, they cite his typing as the reason. Water is plentiful, we don't need more Water.  That's not the point.  Setting aside that off-typing has been a thing since the 0.5 anniversary when SS Red dropped, we have Gauntlet streaks, limited CS, and another new mode next month, all encouraging repetition of types and skills.  A sync pair's overall effectiveness matters more than type, and by effectiveness, Eusine is good.  If you like him, pull for him, he'll put in the work.

The bigger question to ask yourself is whether you have the resources.  Yes, Eusine is very good.  But is he as good as perma-Sun/Grass Rebuff/Def debuff/phys tank Adaman?  Is he as good as HailZone/triple debuff/special tank Irida?  Is he as good as Silver's Tech nuke and rapid-fire debuffing?  To me, the answer is no. Eusine offers the least compelling tools of the month, and that's the reason to skip.  Don't be fooled by the notion that type oversaturation still matters.  It doesn't, and hasn't in a very long time.  It matters less now than it ever has. The real question is whether his tools are better than his immediate competition, including the rerun of a top support in SS Morty.  And personally, I don't think he is.  He did a good job, but he's still the last winner.

EX and Move Level Eusine’s EX is almost hilariously unnecessary given how his DPS works, but his sync is also so good that it’s like...the added stats are really nice, you know?  So I’m torn on EX but ultimately it is very unnecessary.  Move Level is, as a result, also unnecessary.  DPS is mostly confined to his natural passive.  2/5 is useful for Blizzard, while 3/5 is useful for the sync power that will carve a serious niche for Gauntlet.  I will caution, there is absolutely nothing in his 4/5 or 5/5 grid worth talking about.

Team 1: Eusine, SS Kris, SS Ethan This is the team.  For all his faults, Eusine combos beautifully with the Johto trio, getting 80% move damage bonus and matched theme skills.  Kris gives little stat benefit, but does provide Rain and stacks of moves up next.  SS Ethan also provides AoE trap effect, which is divine.  The only problem is how slow Eusine is to access his buddy move, and how this means he’s effectively wasting Kris’ charity.  You have to kinda delay Kris’ decision to spam trainer move.

Team 2: Eusine, Irida/Lucian, BP Morty Blizzard focus.  Irida is the best pick, thanks to Mind Games and the Zone/Hail combo, although Lucian with debuffs is a solid option as well.  All you need then is BP Morty for defensive support.  This is the benefit of Eusine; he literally wants nothing out of his support.

Team 3: Eusine, Tech Gyarados, Skyla Budget Water.  Tech Gyarados sets Rain, and has a solid flinch rate to help disrupt.  Skyla has defense and speed.  You can probably get away with BP Morty, but I'm trying to give options that do unique things.  In this case, Skyla is a better partner for a lot of Gauntlet stages, due to how limited Recharging Strike can be there compared to CS.

Team 4: Eusine, Lodge Adaman/Kali, Tech Gyarados/Surge Gauntlet structures.  Lodge Adaman isn't a terrible partner to Eusine, offering the defensive buffs and a bit of speed on the side, as well as fixing up issues of Cobalion's -2 special attack.  Alternatively, Kali can be used for Stat Leech strats with Latias.  Tech Gyarados is a general flinch bot that also supplies Rain for Adaman, while Surge is an option to paralyze and debuff special attack against Tornadus and Uxie.  Eusine's trap effect is super valuable for Uxie, and Piercing Gaze answers Latias' evasion crap nicely, so long as other stats are debuffed.

Final Thoughts Eusine is fine.  I think he's even pretty good.  His Ice DPS is surprisingly high, all things considered, and his Water damage isn't terrible either, although calcs do show his sync below SEUN Siebold and DPS is below Kris.  It's the AoE thing that sells him, but like a lot of sync pairs with this no penalty DPS effect, his single target damage tends to be less surprising.  At least his sync is strong to compensate in Gauntlet.

[teamhook]

Chaste Love :: The 40 Year(ish) Old Virgin CS AU for CSMM

Thank you @ultraluckycatnd for being the amazing patient beta she is!

Thank you to the @captainswanmoviemarathon and the CSMM Discord shipmates!

JUST TO CONFIRM NO CHEST HAIR WAS HARMED IN THE WRITING OF THIS CHAPTER

|AO3| |FFN|

Arthur had walked by and caught the whole thing. As soon as Emma and Henry left, he approached Killian's workstation with a wide smile. "Killian Jones, are you befriending the son to get in with the mom? I never thought you'd have that in you."

Killian scoffs, "I would never."

"That was the hot girl I was helping the other day right? Damn, she is looking good, but I don't deal with kids." Arthur shudders.

Killian glares. "She is a beautiful lass, I admit, but I would never use the lad for nefarious intentions. He is a good kid."

"Well, if you are interested, you should go for it. Maybe she will pop your cherry. She obviously has experience."

Killian shakes his head. "Whatever. I'm going back to work as you should too."

"Hey Killian, go for it!" Arthur laughs as he watches the other man disappear into his workspace.

Later before the end of the workday, Arthur saunters back to Killian's work area. "Hey, Killian. How about we take you out for a makeover? If you are interested in the lovely lady, this will help your chances."

"We? Who is we exactly?" Killian asked cautiously without rejecting the offer.

Arthur grinned. "David, Robin, and myself. We are taking you for a makeover, maybe get you some clothes. I know, a leather jacket to make the ladies swoon and fall at your feet. Or knees, if you know what I mean." Arthur's eyebrows waggle.

Killian's nose wrinkles in disgust. "I don't know. I like the way I dress."

"But do the ladies? Killian, come on. We can wax your chest hair. I have it done all the time and the ladies love it," Arthur says as he mentally made a list of what needed to be done.

Killian wonders for a moment if perhaps a lovely blonde would be attracted to such changes.

Hesitantly, Killian agrees. After work, he goes shopping with Arthur, David, and Robin. The men argue amongst themselves on what would be a better look for Killian.

Killian stands idly by as he waits for them to agree on anything. He wanders off to see if anything catches his eye. When he told his brother about the proposed makeover over the phone, Liam had urged him to accept the offer and added, "Have some fun little brother, and open your heart to the possibility of love." Killian knows his heart was open after meeting Emma; he just doesn't know how to close the deal.

Soon, the group of men stood outside a Spa and Salon while still arguing about the pros and cons of waxing Killian's chest. Arthur claims that women preferred it. Robin and David argue they preferred a natural look. They did agree that back hair was not appealing at all. While Killian wavers with his decision, Arthur goes in to get his own chest done. A short time later, Killian says firmly he will not do it once the men witness Arthur going through the procedure. The screams and curses heard would make anyone blush.

The next day, Killian enters work with a bit of pep in his step. It was a little crazy how much new clothes could build confidence. He's still wearing his glasses, but he has an appointment with his eye doctor to finally take the plunge and get contacts. He will finally call the blonde goddess that has captured his heart and ask her out on a date.

When the whole day at work consisted of pining and longing, he knew he had it bad.

"Jones." Arthur enters Killian's workspace and snaps him out of his daydream. "We should hang out tonight. I know this place and a lot of hot, desperate, horny women hang out there and with your makeover, I'm sure you can easily convince one to do you the favor and make you a man."

Killian rolls his eyes. "I'm not going out to get laid."

"Killian, do you really want that hot mom to have to teach you about the birds and the bees? She already has one kid, I doubt she wants another one."

Killian Jones has never been a night owl or a partier. He isn't opposed to a good time, but his definition of one differs from others. But his brother's words still rung in his head to have fun, so he agreed to a night out with Arthur. He wishes David and Robin could accompany them to help him if Arthur got too pushy, but they both had ladies of their own. When they got there, the singles bar was swarming with people and the music was too loud. Killian already hates it. Why would anyone subject themselves to a place like this? Arthur keeps pointing out women to him saying they look like a good time. Killian gives a shy smile and an awkward wave while Arthur prefers the nod. While at the bar, a redhead approaches Killian.

"Hello," she slurs. "You are very pretty. How about we get out of here and you show me what's underneath those tight pants," she leers as she looks him up and down.

Killian is speechless; he never thought a woman would approach him, much less ask to see his most private appendage. Sadly, Arthur overhears the conversation and hisses, "Go for it! She wants you, remember the mission." Arthur nudges him in her direction.

They reach his car and she pounces, only to miss his lips. She tries again, only to be stopped by Killian. "Lass, I don't even know your name yet. How about we have a cup of coffee?"

He puts space between them and she looks at him confused, turning a shade of green. "What, is it you don't like the ladies?"

He gently steadies her. "I do like the ladies, but you are drunk. It would be bad form to take advantage of your state."

She rolls her eyes and tries again for the kiss but instead, she throws up the content of her stomach on his shoes.

Killian stands still until she finishes. She looks up and wipes the vomit from her mouth. "I knew it. You don't like women. What a waste of such luscious lips." She shakes her head as she walks away to a man that resembles a monkey and lunges at him. He welcomes the attack and they leave in his car.

Killian looks down at his shoes and shakes them off. He opens his car door and takes out a trash bag to put them in before he drives home. He just wants to put an end to the night so he can put it behind him.

Days after his night out, Killian keeps dodging Arthur's questions. He stays in his space all day. The only time he steps out is to go use the facilities. He feels ridiculous having to avoid the man, but he would never hear the end of it. As he is about to sneak out to go get something to eat, he hears his name being called out on the store paging system. Killian turns around to the little information station and his eyes land on Arthur.

Bloody hell. Should he lie and say he did do something with the redhead? He can't help the grumble that escapes his lips. Arthur puts down the PA microphone and walks over.

"Jones, so tell me, how was the redhead? She looked crazy and the crazy ones are amazing in the sack!" Arthur asks with anticipation of the dirty details.

Killian scratches behind his ear. "She..." he winces, "went home with another guy."

"How did that happen? She left the bar all over you. How did you ruin it?"

"She was drunk and she threw up on me and I'm just not the type of guy who takes advantage of women in that situation," Killian says and walks away. He is not going to be ridiculed by Arthur for being a gentleman.

It has been a long day and Killian has no idea what Arthur has told the guys, but David and Robin both approach him with a small smile as they mumble 'better luck next time'.

Cruella stops him before his shift ends to simply say, "Killian, I would gladly take you to bed, and no one has to know. I know tricks." As she walks by him, she squeezes his ass.

Killian yelps and turns beet red. He can't get out of there fast enough.

At home, Killian stares at the card Emma had given him the first time they met. He picks up his phone and dials her number. The sound of her voice on the line makes him panic and he hangs up. How did he ever think he could do this?

Tagging:

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Cosenza: Cooperazione tra personale della Questura di Cosenza e funzionari dell’ ADM - Ufficio dei Monopoli per la Calabria per il contrasto del gioco irregolare.

Cosenza: Cooperazione tra personale della Questura di Cosenza e funzionari dell’ ADM - Ufficio dei Monopoli per la Calabria per il contrasto del gioco irregolare. Nei giorni scorsi, personale della Questura di Cosenza (personale dell’U.P.G. e S.P., Squadra Amministrativa della Divisione PASI e del Commissariato di P.S. di Paola) in cooperazione con i Funzionari ADM dell’Ufficio dei Monopoli di Cosenza hanno svolto una vasta operazione in tutto il comprensorio della provincia di Cosenza, volta alla verifica degli apparecchi di gioco illegali. Nella fattispecie, 9 le sale giochi controllate, circa 50 gli apparecchi di gioco sottoposti a verifica di cui 20 sono risultati alterati e sottoposti a sequestro. Delle suddette apparecchiature alterate, ammonta a circa 10 mila euro il danaro posto sotto sequestro poichè frutto dell’illecita attività di frode informatica; la presenza di una doppia scheda (cosiddetto clone) permetteva di inoltrare solo dati parziali così da alterare la giocata ed eludere la corretta trasmissione dei dati inerenti le giocate a danno sia dei giocatori che dell’Erario. L’ ipotesi di reato è dunque frode informatica, per la quale risulta indagata la titolare di una ditta individuale sita in Tortora (CS) dedita alla gestione e al noleggio di tali apparecchiature presso vari esercizi commerciali della provincia di Cosenza oltre che in Basilicata. Gli Uffici in questione provvederanno al recupero dell’imposta evasa ed eleveranno le sanzioni amministrative previste dall’art. 110, comma 9, lett. f quater, del TULPS, stabilite in euro da 5.000 a 50.000 per ciascun apparecchio rinvenuto oltre alla chiusura da trenta a sessanta giorni degli esercizi presso i quali sono stati rinvenuti gli apparecchi di gioco manomessi. La suddetta attività testimonia la costante sinergia tra le istituzioni deputate a garantire la legalità in tale settore e l’attenzione rivolta alla repressione dell’esercizio abusivo in materia di giochi e scommesse al fine di prevenire il grave fenomeno della “ludopatia” e dell’usura a cui sovente i giocatori vittime devono ricorrere, certamente favorito dai contesti di illiceità come quello sopra rappresentato.... #notizie #news #breakingnews #cronaca #politica #eventi #sport #moda Read the full article