#def to warm as a permanent solution

[raineydaywrites]

thrall (def.) a state of servitude or submission

I’m doing @febuwhump this month! Day 1: Mind control

Lucretia hadn't expected the design of her relic to be so prophetically symbolic But some days now, it felt like her staff was the only thing still holding her up.

She couldn't rest though. She had to keep looking. Most of the relics weren't active constantly, but they tended to cycle in and out of usage. She didn't know what happened to them in the in-between periods, and she didn't particularly want to.

If the cycles continued as they normally did, then the next one to activate would be Lup's. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, as some people on the plane had named it, whispered in both awe and horror. Lucretia had always found the name poetic, but ironic, and very accurate to Lup herself.

The Gauntlet was bad, but it was predictable, and Lucretia appreciated that. The Gauntlet would appear, along wide its Phoenix, and they would find someone to burn to the ground. Often, the person in question would be despicable in some way, but the Phoenix could never seem to keep the anger and flame contained to them alone, and whole cities would burn with them on occasion, often filled with innocents.

The awfulness of each primary target made Lucretia wonder if some part of Lup was still there, within the Phoenix, but she kind of hoped not. Because if Lup was aware of herself, then it would absolutely kill her when she remembered her collateral damage.

It was horrible, that her best case scenario was the brain death of her loved ones, but at least that would mean that they weren't suffering.

Sometimes, she swore that Captain Davenport was still there, but those moments never lasted long before he fell back into fantasy and illusion and his own mind.

They hadn't expected this, when they'd made their devices. They had known that their relics would have a thrall effect, but they had thought that their familiarity with the Light of Creation and their exposure to their objects during the crafting process would immunize them to the effects of their device and each others'.

They had been wrong.

They had put their individual fraction of Light into their objects together, intending it to be a show of solidarity and support.

Instead, it had ensured that none of them were safe from the thrall.

Lucretia knew that she herself was being influenced by the thrall of her Staff, but she had largely been able to retain her sense of self through it. Her device focused on abjuration- protection- and she had already been willing to do just about anything to protect her loved ones and the innocents of this plane, no thrall required. Besides which, her love for her family kept her sane. She needed to protect them most of all, and that focus and goal kept her mind where it was supposed to be.

She had made a list of potential targets for the Phoenix when next she rose, and her Seekers would keep an eye for any sign of trouble, so that she could arrive and do her best to safeguard the innocent civilians surrounding the target.

If she put up enough barriers and shields, then many of them could get out safely, and Lup, if anything was left of her, would know that she hadn't killed everyone. And eventually, the Phoenix would burn herself out, and the fires would die too. Not long after that, Barry would arrive to revive Lup, but the Phoenix would still go dormant for a while afterwards.

It was disconcerting to see Barry now. They had all gotten used to the sight of their liches, but it was more alarming to see him when he was so clearly empty. The Phantom wasn't Barry in the same way that the Phoenix wasn't Lup. And it made him feel wrong to look at.

Still, she was grateful for him. He and his device were the only reason that they weren't dead. Their devices could absolutely wreck through their wielders, and Barry kept it from being permanent.

The other devices tended not to be as lethal as Lup's Gauntlet, but they could be.

Merle was the next most likely to be killed by his device, because his new role as Guardian of Nature left him sowing creation and destruction in equal measure, and sometimes it ripped him apart.

Taako was probably only still alive because of Barry's actions. Every time Lucretia saw or heard about him now, he was different, but one thing remained the same. He was no longer made of flesh and bone, but gemstones or precious minerals or expensive fabrics. Whatever material had caught his fancy recently. It must be Barry's Bell that kept Taako's soul in that ever-changing vessel.

Captain Davenport and Magnus were the only two that hadn't died from their relics, as far as Lucretia knew at least. That didn't mean they weren't still suffering.

Davenport's illusions had not damaged his body, but they did seem to have dragged his mind somewhere else. He didn't seem to be aware of anything around him. She supposed the upside to that was that his device was no longer hurting anyone else.

Lucretia had been brought back by Barry a time or two as well. Her Staff didn't often hurt her very much, but it did put a strain on her body and mind, and sometimes she simply collapsed from it. The first time, she had thought that was it. She had failed her friends and this plane.

But then Barry had arrived- the Phantom had arrived, but he looked so much like Barry in that moment, smiling warmly at her and extending his hand to help her stand. He'd asked if she'd like to continue living.

She hadn't been sure that the truthful answer was 'yes', but she'd given it anyway. She had no other choice.

It had been easier when she'd had Magnus to help her. They had founded the Bureau together, sought solutions to save their friends and protect this plane at the same time, and she'd had a lot more hope of success then.

He'd resisted the thrall of his device at first- the only one of them who had managed that feat. He'd told her that the Chalice had offered the chance to go back and change the past, but he'd been unwilling to do so, as it would cause him to lose his relationships with them- his new family- and it would mean he couldn't have saved all the planes that they'd helped along the way.

That initial rejection had saved him from being thralled, but the Chalice had still whispered to him that he could use it to save the rest of them from their devices. It had tempted him often, and Lucretia was very proud of how long he'd held out against it.

But then, he'd fallen in love with a woman who had joined their Bureau, and he married her, and then, she took him to visit her hometown, and they hadn't come back. And that had been the straw that broke Magnus' back. She hadn't seen him since, but she knew that the Chalice had been activated.

Apparently, the full force of the six remaining devices united against one man as they had been against Governor Kalen was terrifying to behold, but Lucretia had no active memory of it, and couldn't confirm, but she did know that the place where Kalen had died no longer existed, completely obliterated by the force of their combined assault.

Her Bureau didn't know the full story of the devices, but they knew that the people wielding them were not acting of their own free will. It had been important to Lucretia that they know that, because it would kill her if either her friends or her employees got hurt because they got into conflict with each other.

As she laid her head down to sleep, her Staff slipped from her fingers, but it didn't go far. It couldn't do so while still exerting influence over her, so neither of them would let it.

She felt her mind drifting away, and didn't realize where it was drifting until she opened her eyes to see Barry smiling at her.

"Hi, Lucy," he greeted, voice warm and inviting.

She nearly sobbed at the greeting. It had been so long since anyone called her that. Her employees were kind and they respected her, but they didn't really treat her as an equal. And she was so used to being the whole crew's baby sister, that the role reversal was even more isolating.

"Would you like to live again?" Barry asked, coming close to her and grabbing her hand.

She nodded, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He held on just as tightly to her.

"No exchange needed, of course. Family discount," Barry's voice chuckled into her ear. His body rumbled with his laughter, and it put her at ease.

"I miss you," Lucretia said. She generally tried not to think about that, because it would kill her to think about it too often. But she missed her family so much.

"I'm right here," Barry responded.

"Are you?" Lucretia wondered. It was hard, to see him like this. Because either he was really here and himself, which meant that all of them had retained some sense of self through this and were therefore suffering, or it meant that the Phantom was manipulating her by using the image of a member of her family, and that would mean that her family was truly gone entirely.

There were no good options, and Lucretia was tired of it.

She stayed like that for a long time, breathing in the presence of someone she could at least pretend was family, until Barry pulled back gently.

"It's almost morning. Time for you to get up," he said.

"Okay," she said, voice breaking only a little.

"You got this, Lucy. It's not the first time you've been alone remember?" Barry said, with a sudden intensity that she hadn't seen from the Phantom before. "We're countin' on you again. I trust you."

Lucretia woke with tears on her face, but her body felt lighter than it had in a long time.

She left her room quickly, and got back to work.

[summertime-children]

Do you have any childhood headcanons for KnKd bc honestly it doesn't get enough love

Heeeyy, this ask has been in my inbox forever OTL (though to be fair anon, it isn’t my record), but I do~ happen to have some childhood hcs for knkd, so without any further prolonging, here they are :3 (these are my own mixed with general fandom headcanons and well, canon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯):

 - They both have sweet tooth, so they often fought over last cookies and such (Kano always let her win though)

 - I may not be a big fan of this trope, but it was love at first sight yo (even if they didn’t know it yet)

 - There is this moment in the fifth novel (agh I can’t find it, but it was in the third chapter, somewhere at the end I believe) when Kido says, before giving Kano scarf, that she was looking at him for quite some time? (not very subtle thing to say to your new crush Kido, but lucky you this dork focused on the part how he didn’t see you instead, anyway) What I’m trying to say is that no one can convince me that she wasn’t staring at him bc of his cat resemblance. She was just looking at him from a distance being all like “Why does this boy look so much like a kitten? Why is it so adorable? What kind of witchcraft is that?”  

 - I’m pretty sure Kano is the one that always could handle Kido’s powers the best. I’m also pretty sure that others are able to find her too when she disappears, but I would dare to say that he’s the only one that is able to see through her powers (he’s the only one to do it in canon anyway).

 - In fact, that’s how it’s been from very beginning

“continuously followed after her” ? when her powers were uncontrollable and she disappeared all the time? one day after they met? That’s not even dedication that is sheer talent 👌👌👌 (and innateadmiration)  

 - She definitely started talking to him not bc he annoyed her, but bc she warmed up to him (she was impressed too!)

 - Also being at the subject:

She did turn to him to help her with her powers yo

 - Maybe not much “childhood headcanon”, but I like to think that they never officially made up after they one big fight (from before they got adopted). It was pretty much implicitly and it was made pretty damn obvious that no grudge was held and they obviously get along well, but up to this day Kano still in his momets of doubt convince himself that Kido still hates him (since she never really took that back) [I’m dying to here any of your “making up” headcanons though, guys!!]

 - Kano’s admiration for Ayano is obvious not only for us fans, but pretty much for everyone. Kido tended to be jealous of her.

 - Once when Kido had nightmare she went to Ayano’s room to sleep with her. When she get there she noticed Kano was already asleep beside Ayano. She wasn’t happy to see this, but she just clambered into the bed from the other side to sleep next to Ayano as well when the older girl (naturally) let her, being for some strange, unknown (to her) reason slightly mad at Kano. The next morning she wakes up to Ayano’s smiling face looking at her from beside the bed and only then she notices Kano’s arms wraped around her tightly

 - Obligatory wedding headcanon! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ (yup, Ayano would held fake wedding ceremonies for them and they just played along allegedly to make their big sis happy)

 - This one hc is a bit sketchy cuz I’m not sure how it works, but hey Japanese is pretty damn difficult language, especially when it comes to kanji and I imagine that Kano’s mom didn’t put much time to teaching him this or even enough time as opposite to orphanage staff or Kido’s earlier family. Kano still was pretty good self-taught, but where I’m coming with this is that he was a bit behind with reading. I bet he tried to hide it from others though, but one day Kido sees through him and exclaims in front of everyone “Kano can’t read!” and not even his powers can hide how embarrassed he is. She later makes fun of him bc of it, bc one it’s nice to be sometimes on the other end (plus at times she can be a punk like he is) and two I think that, especially as a kid, Kido was a person that wasn’t quite able to understand a concept that if something is obvious or easy for her, does not necessary have to be for others. But later Kano is really gloomy about it and (maybe after a talk with Ayano) she realizes she was kinda mean and to make it up for him she sits down with him and help learn

 -

Kido is the only one that knows Kano is afraid of dark?? (he def asked her to go with him out of everyone)

 - Next one is one of my ultimate hcs and it’s either childhood headcanon or regular one depending on wheter Mary lived with them since childhood or not. But anyway here it comes: When Seto first met Mary she was afraid she’d turn him into stone if she’d looked him in the eyes since she’d never used her powers before. You can only imagine who she firstly used it on. It was by accident, Kano made fun of her for something and then she angrily locked her eyes on him, freezing him on spot. Everyone freaked out, because no one knew how it worked and basing on her ancestors Mary herself assumed it’s permanent. Ayano agitatedly ran around trying to find any solution at random, not coming with anything sensible, Mary broke to tears apologizing rapidly for what she did bc she didn’tmeanttodidn’tmeantto, Seto still in shock and terrified of what happened to his bro, subconsciouslywent to defending-Mary mode, not processing grief yet and then Kido… She started crying and went to Kano’s froze form, embraced it while still sobbing loudly, not being able to believe what just happened… Apparently correctly though, as ten seconds later Kano asks confused what happened, why is everyone screaming and Kido why are you hugging me? Three seconds later Kido punch him in the stomach for making fun of Mary (andeveryoneworried)

 - Mary was teaching them all how to make flower crowns! Kido at first was pretty bad at it as opposite to Kano, so whenever the five of them would have “sessions” where they would make together flower crowns, Kano would make additional one and give it to Kido. She would take it as a gesture of mocking though which to be fair gave her only more determination to teach herself making it well. After some practice, when she was finally satisfied with results, she gave him a flower crown to see a color from his face fade, but it just brighten up instead and he was all like “Woah, amazing!! You did it!? Yourself!? Is it really for me!!? I can keep it!??” leaving her a bit confused, but mostly flustered

 - Seto to Mary in whatever circumstances: “You look cute, Mary!”

   *everyone except Kido turns to Kano in expectance*

   Kano: “A-ah you too, Kido!”

 - it’s Kano’s job to compliment Kido and no one questions it. It’s the rule

[flauntpage]

Trust the Prosthetic: Four Observations from Raptors 114, Sixers 109

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  A little bit of botched injury news to go along with a blown 22-point lead.

Last night was an early Christmas gift for Sixer fans.

There were four of us sitting at a table in the media room during halftime and one writer looked up and said, “they’ll probably lose by eight.” He was right, just off by three points. You just got the sense that a big letdown was coming, and it did.

Why, then? Why the letdown?

I saw a combination of turnovers, some missed shots, and unnecessary fouling. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan went 6-9 in the third quarter and Delon Wright was 4-4. The Sixers regressed to the norm after shooting 58% in the first half.

Brett Brown’s explanation:

“They jumped us, they just crawled into us. It’s not like they double-teamed Ben or used blitz pick and rolls. They got physical, and you know that’s what the NBA does and I burned two timeouts to try and get us stronger. There’s no magic bean, there’s no magic play. It’s body-body-ball stuff, if they come up and press you’re going to have to back them off and create space and possibly expose fouls, like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan do. But when you look at it, they went a little smaller, they switched out on everything, they got up and in and they went on an offensive tear and made a bunch of threes. I don’t know the exact number, it felt like 10-of-11. It just felt like that, and I think that type of mentality to me sort of set the tone for the period.”

Toronto was 5-8 from three in the third period.

A word on the coach:

I’m not the type to call for someone to be fired in December. David Fizdale and Earl Watson were in toxic player-related situations, which is why they were removed, be it their fault or not. Jim Curtin always said, “players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games,” and I think that describes Philadelphia appropriately. It’s easy, knee-jerk reaction to rip the coach when you blow huge second-half leads, but I’ve said before that Brett Brown doesn’t have Joel Embiid, he doesn’t have Markelle Fultz, and the remaining players are a 21-year-old rookie who can’t shoot and a bunch of role players.

We’re compiling a body of work that right now includes four throwaway years that I don’t even count as part of Brown’s tenure here. Are you judging him on what he did with Hollis Thompson and Jerami Grant? As far as I’m concerned, this is year number one, with injury and communication concerns that are out of his control and a roster with little depth. I need 40 games of healthy Markelle Fultz before I can even begin to make a legitimate judgment here. If Brown does get fired, it would either be at the end of the year or in the midst of a similar start next year.

So I think we compile positives and negatives from a larger body of work and then evaluate it at the end of the season. What, you didn’t expect them to win a playoff series, did you? Let’s not pull a 2016 Eagles here and think the squad is off to the Super Bowl after a surprise 3-0 start. I think most of us pegged them for .500 or right around that mark. They were going into the season with a core of young stars that had played 31 combined NBA games. They got off to a strong start and we stupidly adjusted our expectations based on a miniscule sample size.

Now, don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely rip Brett Brown for letting his team waste 10 seconds before fouling at the end of last night’s game. What exactly was Jerryd Bayless doing there? Stuff like that from a veteran is inexcusable, and we write it down, log it, and come back to that when evaluating the coach and that player somewhere down the road.

Also inexcusable were some of the bogus foul calls Toronto received at the end of the game. The Raptors went 32-35 from the free throw line while the Sixers went 10-14.

This one was particularly egregious:

Where's the foul? http://pic.twitter.com/gH7ldSrmfZ

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) December 22, 2017

I guess they thought Simmons fouled the guy with his left forearm after the shot.

Shrug.

Some guy was yelling at media row after the game:

“Somebody write up how the Sixers are getting hosed! Every single game. Every call goes against them. Somebody’s gotta write it up!”

Anyway, I need to see what Brown does with a healthy Simmons/Embiid/Fultz for a meaningful chunk of games before I’m ready to bring in some Colangelo retread hire. I know “measured” isn’t how we do our takes in Philly, but let’s please just give it a try.

  1) Simmons’ Shooting

20 points on 9-14 shooting with a 2-3 clip on shots of 10-feet or more.

He was much more aggressive last night getting to the rim and looking to “score the basketball.”

Two clips:

and this one:

Smooth, right? That second shot, he’s stopping and popping and working off a screen. If he adds that to his game on a consistent basis, the Sixers’ pick and roll becomes so much more dangerous. The high/low game with Embiid is respected and he can pull defenders further from the rim in addition to how he attracts crowds collapsing at the net.

Ben looked good scoring but had some frustrating rookie moments highlighted by a 4 to 7 assist to turnover ration.

There was one point where the crowd went crazy on a phenomenal defensive effort against Serge Ibaka, only for him to turn the ball over on the ensuing possession and commit a foul on the other end. Best and worst of Ben right there.

  2) Third quarter

The Sixers actually started strong in the third and extended their lead to 76-54 by the 9:09 mark.

People say, “well, how can you blow a 22 point lead in the third quarter! That’s bad coaching!”

Have you ever watched the NBA? There’s 21 minutes remaining in the game at that point. That’s 43.7% of the entire contest. Of course a team can get hot and close the distance in that time frame, especially when they have two superstars on the floor.

There was a mini-period within the Toronto run that exhibited the reasons why the Sixers struggled down the stretch:

They went 0-1, had a shot clock violation and two shots were blocked. They committed 4 fouls and 4 turnovers and gave up a pair of offensive rebounds. The 22 point lead was down to 8 in less than four minutes and continued through a timeout taken midway through it.

Basketball is a game of runs, always has been. It doesn’t excuse the mistakes, but it’s wrong to think that any lead is safe at any point in the game.

  3) Embiid nonsense

How does a guy go from “questionable,” to “probable,” to “out” in less than eight hours?

He looked fine on the court pregame, shooting a few shots and dancing around a bit.

This is what we were told afterward:

Brown: Embiid went through warm-ups and didn't feel comfortable. It's that simple. Half hour before game we learned that he wasn't going to be able to give what he felt helps the team so we decided to rest him

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) December 22, 2017

Okay.

It’s ridiculous that Brown has to be the messenger for this news. The Sixers don’t need to sit the medical staff in front of the rabid Philadelphia sports media, but how about a press release detailing some specifics of Fultz’s shoulder rehab or Embiid’s back/load management? That stuff goes a long way in the goodwill department. They are very close to losing casual fans that came back around this season.

This isn’t hard.

  4) The supporting cast

19 and 7 for Robert Covington, who shot the ball well early, then kind of flattened out in the second half. He finished 6-16 and 5-12 from three-point range, adding 3 offensive rebounds.

He left the game early in the first quarter, then came right back, with some people insisting that he had to use the bathroom. I don’t know. I didn’t ask him post-game if he needed to take a crap. I think we’ll just let that one go.

But whatever he did helped, as he finished the first half 4-6 from behind the arc.

He was even getting stuff like this to go down:

Robert Covington gets the toilet bowl shot to drop http://pic.twitter.com/QAtr9vNlxt

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 22, 2017

As for Dario Saric, he finished with 19, 10, and 9, one assist short of his first career triple-double.

People ask, “why can’t Dario do that when Joel Embiid is on the floor?” Well, he can’t do it when Embiid is on the floor because Embiid gets the bulk of the touches, shots, and rebounds while also being the defensive centerpiece around the rim. Saric plays some stretch-five in the fourth quarter of games where Embiid is unavailable, and he’s also getting more minutes in general, too, which is why his numbers go up when Joel isn’t out there. Embiid is a ball-dominant big in both possession and hitting the glass, and the offense runs through him when he’s out there.

Remember, Saric began the season on the bench. He’s been much better as a starter but personnel groupings are always going to affect contribution, and you see the difference when the superstar conduit isn’t out there. If anything, fans/media should be ecstatic with the way Saric performs when Joel is absent, instead of asking, “why doesn’t he do that all the time?” It’s like asking, “why doesn’t Trey Burton always have these kinds of games?” Why? Because you’ve got a Pro Bowl tight end already on the field.

Anyway, merry Christmas to our loyal Crossing Broad readers.

Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah.

  Trust the Prosthetic: Four Observations from Raptors 114, Sixers 109 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv