#had the characters been allowed to use their brains and deductional skills

[lurafita]

Magnus discovers Jace's heritage

In today's episode of 'imaginary scenes that never canonically happened but still live in my head rent free':

Magnus: "So my dear shadowhunters, what's new? Catch me up."

Clary: "Valentine is Jace's father. We are siblings."

Jace: "And he injected me with demon blood while I was still in my mother’s womb."

Alec: "He disguised himself as Wayland for all those years he raised Jace in Exile."

Magnus, sighing: "... Where do I even begin... Okay. You two are aware that you look nothing alike, right?"

Clary: "Recessive genes can do that."

Magnus, sighing louder: "...Alright, Blondie. Strip."

Jace: "What, why?!"

Alec: "Uhm, yeah, what he said." (not that he is jealous that Magnus wants to see another man naked. No sir. He is very decidedly not jealous. ... he will find a reason to shuck his shirt in front of Magnus later.)

Magnus: "This institute is protected by my wards. As is Pandemonium, as well as my apartment, which is warded even heavier. All of which you have been present in. You have been to the Silent City and were in the presence of the silent brothers. There are exactly two ways to keep demonic blood from being discovered by either angelic runes like they are at the silent city, the silent brothers themselves, or my wards. One is regular contact with a very powerful warlock to cast a very complicated spell on you. As I doubt you have been seeing one for every month of your life, that leaves number 2. Which is a demonic mark, which can only be given by a greater demon, and can only be seen by those who know it and are actively looking for it. So, off with those drab clothes so I can take a look."

Jace: strips

Magnus: sees the Herondale birthmark, sighs and starts to write a fire message

Alec: "What are you doing?"

Magnus: "Informing the Inquisitor that she has a grandson. 'Congratulations, it's a boy!'"

[itsmaferart]

Twiyor parallelism #4 ··· Mutual trust

Warning: This post contains manga content

It's been a while since I continued with the Twiyor parallelism, and I feel it's a good time to pick it up again. Everything I say here is based on my point of view based on the manga content, so you are free to have a different opinion. That said, let's begin

I think a recurring theme in the fandom is the constant teasing we do from the beginning of why a spy and an assassin, the most lethal and dangerous people in their respective countries don't realize their identities? Yes, we've all laughed in Twilight's face for simply being one of the smartest men and not realizing that a normal wife shouldn't be able to knock over a cow -

oh come on, just look at the dumb face he makes.

But moving on from the jokes, I've seen so many people make their posts explaining why this happens, I feel it's a good time to give my own version:

Multiple answers:

I think for a lot of people the most obvious answer is that Spy x Family is a comedy, so a lot of the plot conflicts and resolutions don't really have to make sense. Basically any contradiction is valid, Twilight goes from being a genius to an idiot in a second to the next. In one aspect, such as espionage, deduction and plans, Twilight is intelligence, but in the face of incoherence such as his wife's monstrous strength or his daughter's manipulations, it simply seems that his brain stops working. As Sylvia herself would say: Is he a genius or an incompetent?

Another theory I've seen is that Twilight doesn't recognize a normal woman: Twilight is so used to strong women, be they spies like Sylvia or Nightfall that he doesn't distinguish the level of strength as something "strange". Twilight has not had a normal life, he lost his mother at a very young age. So he has had no interaction with everyday situations, which explains his occasional awkwardness in being a stay-at-home father and husband. So for him, Yor having colossal strength is the most normal thing.

The women he has been with during his missions surely had skills as well. Which, it is possible, given that Twilight has been everything from an agent of the armed forces, a mobster, a political figure, and so on. So it's not strange to assume he's been with women who come from dangerous backgrounds. And Yor would be the first couple with a "more everyday" life (being a city hall employee)

Personally, I think all of these answers and plots are correct, because they all work in and out of the story. Considering that the comedy of Spy x Family is so unpredictable, each plot fills in different implausible moments that occur. The characters are silly, smart, blind, deductive and have very abnormal views of what is everyday and what is not.

I support the idea that Twilight has a distorted view of the world, this is mainly due to the war, having been a soldier and then becoming a spy. He has not had a normal life, he is adapted to see the world as a spy: through intrigue, suspicion, and denial of his emotions. However, espionage has allowed him to develop exceptional social skills so that he can be liked by many people and know how to get the best out of them. Basically, Twilight's reflex is to "take advantage" of his relationships, this mental bias is so embedded in he does not hesitate for a second to take advantage of the slightest opportunity to seduce Yor —even though the strategy he applies is totally fallible. Twilight is used to the idea that relationships are "links to extract information and make his work more efficient". However, if it were so normal for Twilight for a woman to have such strength, I think she wouldn't be surprised by Yor's prowess or go to the trouble of saving ordinary people.

I think Twilight is aware that an ordinary civilian is vulnerable, and that Sylvia and Nightfall are trained combat agents. But he simply doesn't try to reason Yor's strength, since it doesn't have a solid connection to being an assassin (But I'll emphasize this in the next point). We add that Twilight is attracted to strong women: But this refers more to the emotional strength of a woman to overcome life's adversities and keep smiling. (Although I also think Yor's strength drives him crazy).

Even so

However, I think there is one reason, which seems to me to be the most important (and I think many people overlook). I am referring to the reason why Twilight personally does not suspect Yor, and her "peculiarities".

And that is…

Twilight trusts in Yor

Possibly many people feel that this is contradictory because of the times Twilight has distrusted Yor. But even knowing that, I think those moments of relapse only emphasize that Twilight trusts her, but his instincts as a spy prevent his from feeling safe with his family, so I'm going to review those moments:

Mission 2: From their first encounter, Yor showed signs that alerted Twilight to her peculiarity. For starters she could be among the first people to penetrate his guard completely, when he didn't even perceive that she entered the tent, and quickly caught Twilight's gaze. This made the spy reconsider his plans to "ask her to be his mate", worried in the face of a woman with such sharp instincts.

Paradoxically, however, Yor demonstrated a degree of naivety bordering on being "foolish" by being able to believe the most ridiculous lies Twilight could come up with. While, Twilight saw it profitable that their interest coincided as one needed a favor from the other, he seems unable to comprehend how such a naive woman could become insightful, causing a contradiction in the spy's logical mind.

Curiously, when Yor protects him with a kick, pushing the criminal away from Loid, far from reaffirming his suspicions, Twilight seemed delighted with this spontaneous act of hers. Her strength, far from being a threat to him, functioned as a defense mechanism.

.

Mission 14 - Being an SSS agent: Once they move forward with the marriage, and meet Yuri Briar, who turns out to be an obvious SSS agent to him, it makes perfect sense that Twilight is suspicious and feels that Yor may actually be an agent sent to set him up. It could be that the SSS was aware of his mission, (since they are spy hunters) and sent a woman to investigate him and play the role of wife. Which would coincide with Yor's very open attitude to accepting a fake marriage, despite the strangeness around Loid Forger.. It would not be unusual if Yuri at some point revealed his identity to his sister (although he has no desire to do so) and she just pretended not to know. All this detonated in Twilight setting up his wife, with Franky's help. Although all that theatrics ended in failure when Yor proved with actions and words his innocence.

The most important thing to note in this scene is that Yor was risking her identity as an assassin, exposing herself to the SSS for her brother and her husband. The reason for her being Loid's wife was to protect herself from the SSS, but she was willing to fight two officers or the entire organization if they laid a finger on her family. If they had been real police officers, the sight of a woman assaulting a police officer or covering up for suspected spies, Yoru would surely be questioned.

Even before disguising himself as a secret policeman, Twilight hesitates about wearing a wire or not, even though he is a spy. Still, Yor didn't mind if she was confronted by SSS members. She preferred to defend her fake husband, which makes Twilight dismiss his suspicions and feel enormous remorse. It's seeing someone, risking it to protect him.

.

Mission 67 Meeting Melinda Desmond: When Yor tells Loid the news that he has just met Damiand's mother, Melinda. Twilight has a few brief moments of distrust, raising the possibility that Yor is in cahoots with his target's wife. He dismisses this when he considers how illogical it would be for Yor to be telling him about their encounter, plus Anya quickly made a clarification.

Clearly, this suspicion has little basis in fact, as Yor has no idea who the Desmonds are, and has never shown any political interest. Her entire involvement with the Eden Academy has been at Loid's request, from the very beginning.

.

We also have briefer mentions like the nights Yor would come home very late with her hands full of cut and grim looks, and was reluctant to have dinner with them. Or that time after their date at the bar when Twilight thought Yor was setting him up in reverse to force him to do the skin trap. These times, though, were quickly dismissed

We can see, in each of these times, that there are patterns in Twilight's distrust: He has never had a conclusive clue that Yor is an enemy, much less a murderer. Twilight only clings to mere assumptions when Yor interacts with people dangerous to him: the Desmonds and the SSS. And leads him to believe that they are colluding with his wife to betray him (Something that surely could have happened to him in the past with his fake relationships).

Twilight's distrust of Yor stems from himself, and his greatest fear since starting the Forger family:

..."Getting attached and learning to trust other people"

Clearly, Twilight has been getting to know Yor and she has only shown him her most honest side: a sweet, maternal, tender, patient woman, with a positive, discreet vision, who puts love and family first. But she also shows him her most vulnerable side: she is shy, clumsy, unsociable, a lousy cook and very insecure.

That has caused Twilight to confide and show himself vulnerable to her on more than one occasion. For they, in part, share many insecurities, the same sense of responsibility and sacrifice. The truth is that feeling so much comfort with Yor has made him more sensitive, but it also makes him develop an unconscious fear that all that beauty is a lie, and he himself is falling. Feeling exposed to Yor, for the many times he has let his guard down with her.

Yor has been gaining Twilight's trust:

Yor and Twilight have had a strong emotional connection (whether romantic or not). It is the connection of two people who manage to fully understand each other even though their lives have been different. Twilight believes that Yor was a sex worker, in order to provide for her brother, and far from wanting to judge her, he understood that Yor has been a person who has sacrificed so many times to protect something she cares about. That Yor has the strength to overcome adversity and be able to keep smiling while thinking of another person's well-being. This sense of sacrifice makes Twilight empathize and be moved by his life, as he perfectly understands having to sacrifice yourself even if you don't get a direct thank you or reward. While Yor, she discovered someone who supports her, understands and far from playing her, praises all her actions.

This trust has grown more when they support each other in their roles as parents, or when they try to be a good partner for each other, appreciating every kind and sincere gesture they have for each other; and when they do their best not to make each other uncomfortable at any time.

Yor has really used the force to protect her family, never to abuse it (except for everything that has to do with her role as an assassin). Despite having the ability to kill those who mess with her, Yor represses her instinct and remembers not to abuse her power; and only allows herself to do so when she feels that her daughter (and most likely her husband) are in danger.

In conclusion:

I think Twilight's perception of Yor could be divided into two parts, one is influenced by his rational facet as a spy, as Agent Twilight; and the other, by the real man, (Redacted) Representing the conflict he has in learning to trust other people, and with that, learning to expose his emotions. Each of these facets coexist within the same individual and one often overshadows the other at certain times.

On the one hand, his spy side is always in conflict with Yor, looking for any crumb of suspicion. Despite having no reason to distrust Yor he always clings to excuses to prove to himself that he "should trust no one". Yor has so far proven to be the person Twilight can trust, but surely his doubts as a spy make him believe that letting his guard down in front of her puts him in danger. As that old saying goes.

"… Nothing so good, can be so true…"

And Twilight, in his facet strives to believe that that personality: sweet, kind and unconditional could turn out to be a trap. The spy seems to be afraid that Yoru might one day betray him, because he knows that deep down he is exposing himself to her. When Twilight thinks like a spy with Yor he usually fails, sabotaging himself and backing away from advancing their relationship.

However:

The real man, the boy who once existed, is learning to "trust Yor blindly" to the extent of talking about himself and his past with her. He knows that Yor and his strength are not a threat, and more than once they have managed to overshadow the spy in his head. Demonstrating his most genuine and sincere side to her. Twilight has shown that most of the time he is genuine with Yor, except for the lies about his work, but more than once he has shown that what he thinks about her is something that comes from his heart.

Twilight will be able to understand his real feelings for Yor when he can learn to trust her and perhaps some plot event will make him understand how important it is for him to have her by his side.

I think the most interesting thing is to know what Twilight's reaction will be when he gets to know Yor, in her assassin role, Thorn Princess and the importance that his feelings will have at that moment. And the reaction he may have when he gets to know the darker side of Yor's personality, who is much more confident, determined and really is a threat to her enemies.

.

.

What is your opinion?

Here is the previous part

[intpstyle]

Detective Conan Meta: Trauma, being seen & the Inner Child

Okay, so it’s 6AM and I woke up with this essay half-formed in my mind and I need to talk about DC. Yesterday, I saw a quote on tumblr that read

“to be loved is to be seen”

and it literally haunted my dreams. I dreamt of Shinichi being unable to tell Ran who he is for so long now (we won’t go into the half a year debate (in this post)) and it got me thinking about the unbearable loneliness of it all. Then I thought of Heiji and of how liberating it must be for Shinichi that some people do know him for who he really is - that some people see him, that some people are able to love him, all of him, because they’ve recognised him even when he looks like a child. And that got a chain reaction of symbolism going in my brain because THINK ABOUT IT, Shinichi is literally forced to live as his own inner child.

So, we open with this lovably weird 17-year-old (fuck no, in the manga he’s actually only 16) with barely any survival skills who’s been left alone in a huge mansion because his parents went adios, who doesn’t have a whole lot of close friends because he always found it difficult to connect with others because he’s so focussed on his detective work and who, when he finally manages to ask the love of his life out on a date and inevitably stumbles over another murder, claims that “you get used to it”, that corpses don’t affect him, that nothing really affects him and, worst of all, he actually means it. This is our protagonist. He’s All Grown Up. He always tried to be All Grown Up. Frankly, with parents like these, he always had to be All Grown Up. And it’s okay! Because he found something he loves doing (finding the truth, restoring justice, helping people) and he’s good at it and people actually love him for it (look at all these fan letters, Ran, look at them!)

And then Ran (bless you, angel child) starts crying because - because so many reasons. One, she’s still affected by what happened. Two, she sees the love of her life being strong - and he always has and had to be strong; it must be so bloody exhausting and he’s not even aware of how tired he is, but to ask him to take a break, to take a look at what all this death and suffering and loneliness really means, to take it in, to stop, would be to take the one thing away (apart from her, but she doesn’t know that) that keeps him stable and grounded and to risk having him fall apart. I don’t think she knows this consciously, but Ran is empathetic and has been around Shinichi all her life - this, I think, is the moment it really hits her that this brutality (a literal decapitated corpse that spews blood like a fountain on a roller coaster!!!) has become her best friend’s “normal”. She is scared. She is worried. And she shows it.

And then Shinichi (bless you, cool child) tries to play it down, to make her feel better, to show her that this is nothing to despair over. He, too, is trying to be considerate of this incredible girl who always takes on other people’s burdens and their pain and grins and bears it. But it isn’t all compassion - he frankly also does not have the tools to deal with someone being so vulnerable and innocent and, dare I say?, child-like. And what does he do? Does he stay and engage with her side of things? Does he hear her out and consider that he HAS become callous and somewhat addicted to shedding light on the dark sides of other people? That he feels uncomfortable feeling the light turned back on himself? No! No, of course not! He’s 16 and has the emotional range of a tea spoon (#relatable). Instead, he latches onto the next sign of mystery and turns back to his quest for truth where he feels safe and needed. He LITERALLY tells Ran to “go ahead” and that he’ll “catch up” and boy, will he ever (emotionally).

We all know what happens next: he bites off more than he can chew. He stumbles over a case that even he admits is “serious” and is LITERALLY hit over the head with the realisation that this - socio-economic corruption, systemic criminal organisations, being vulnerable and opening up to a loved one - is the world of adults and he is NOT ready for it. So he, like everybody else, is given the choice to call it quits or to choose life, start over and re-learn the things he missed out in childhood to become an adult. He becomes his inner child again (the first chapter literally ends with the dialogue

“You okay!? Can you stand up, little boy?”

“Huh?”

and he’s trying. He’s trying to stand up, okay?) and it smarts. In this old/new form, he is taken care of, but not taken taken seriously by the policemen (”You must’ve been scared”) and it freaks him out that they treat him (the master detective!) like a child again. At this height, he fails to get into his own house (some more symbolism right there) and he is not recognised by Professor Agasa until he shows him some impressive deduction work, demonstrating that this really is at the core of his character - he enjoys and is good at mysteries. That was never the problem. Neglecting just about everything else was (- the same goes for OG Holmes, I’d argue). Seeing how the situation he went through literally (damn that’s a lot of literally) turned Shinichi back into a child, Professor Agasa warns him not to inflict the same traumatic damage on others - especially since the situation is not yet resolved. (...but Agasa’s involvement is another can of worms)

There’s a whole other post in Shinichi’s choice to call himself “Conan Edogawa” and wearing his father’s glasses as well (aka trying to redefine his identity by viewing the world through the lense of the people he admired (notably his father’s frames without the lenses though!)), but the most interesting thing happens when Ran shows up. He tries, desperately, not to be recognised - not to be seen - by her in this form because it’s not HIM (it is though) and because it would involve Ran in danger; would put her in the adult world he couldn’t deal with and couldn’t protect her from, thus, ironically, infantilising her and (although in an attempt to be heroic, nonetheless still) limiting her agency.

And this is where the irony really kicks in - because Ran finds it much easier to talk to this raw, vulnerable version of himself that he doesn’t allow her to see as a “grown-up” 16-year-old. It is now, as a child that asks straight-forward questions, that he learns that Ran really does love him and that she knows the good (dependable, brave & cool), as well as the bad (full of himself, bit of a jerk and obsessed with mysteries) sides of him better than he does. At the very moment, he, touched by her vulnerability and wanting to open up, decides to tell her the truth, he is again reminded of the Men in Black by Kogoro falling down the stairs like a sack of potatoes and he (dependable, brave & cool) decides not to involve anyone in the mess he brought upon himself until he can stand up to the world of adulthood that he shrank from.

The beauty of the series is that Shinichi slowly realises, bit by bit, drop by drop, excruciating chapter after excruciating chapter, that the way for him (an INTP) to become an adult is precisely by letting others see him as he is and thus forming lasting, real and dependable relationships (by developing his Fe). This tragically begins with Akemi Miyano (a first step and another reminder that he is not capable enough yet), is slowly built up with the Detective Boys (who are honestly so important for him), continues with Ai (#bestpartners, for both of whom Professor Agasa, the eternal child-inventor, is a safe haven where they can catch up on what they missed out on, Ai obviously much more so than Conan), reaches a really, really sweet high with Heiji (#bestbromance), a rather dissatisfying conclusion with his parents (who, and I cannot stress this enough, decide the best way to convince their traumatised son that his life is in danger is to point a literal gun (okay, it’s a pistol) at his face in disguise) and climaxes with Eisuke Hondo (at which point he is confident enough to proclaim who he is even while still in the form of a child (although that doesn’t make the context of the situation any less stupid (thus proving that he IS still a love-struck teenager at the end of the day))). tl;dr By being both the professional adult “Sleeping Kogoro”, as well as the cooky child “Conan Edogawa” at once, Shinichi can play with both facets of his teenage life until he reaches a level of stability that allows him to integrate the child mind into his adult mind - and that will be the point at which he’ll be able to fully become (not just temporarily play the role of) Shinichi Kudo.

PS: It is also interesting to compare Ai’s and Shinichi’s approaches to being stuck in their childhood selves. Shinichi, not as scarred and slowly building up a network of people he trusts, is eager to move on and begs Ai to give him the temporary antidote as often as he can - he WANTS to grow up and be a grown-up so badly. There is so much (Ran) waiting for him there.

Ai, on the other hand, is much more cautious and warns him not to jump the gun. To her, much more scarred and still rather alone, this is an invaluable second shot at life and she is as careful with it as she humanly can, constantly worrying and on the look-out that someone could drag her back to the prison of responsibilities and obligations. That’s why it was SUCH a pivotal moment for her when she used and realised the use of her adult form when she saved the Detective Boys from the fire. She, too, is slowly connecting the two halves of herself but I suspect that it’ll take her an entire childhood to do so. (Also, interestingly, as an INTJ, she puts down her roots in a very different way from Conan. She cherishes her new relationships and protects them fiercely, but the real signs of her settling down ever-so-slowly is her growing willingness to reconstruct her internal moral system (Fi) and to acquire and find security in material possessions (Se), like her designer handbags and her little football-man-phone-strap.)

[eclecticanalyst]

Studying “A Study in Emerald”: Sixth and Final Post

Additional Thoughts: The Doctor, The Myth, The Legend(s)

Remember way back in my first “Emerald” post, when I said that the bit about the detective’s shoulders was the first direct hint about the identities of our “heroes,” but with a little asterisk? Well, this final post brings us back to my caveat. Strictly speaking, the shoulder description is the second direct hint.

If you know your canon inside and out, have internalized the defining features of the characters in their original form, you should have been tipped off about the twist on the very first page of “Emerald,” even before the detective and the narrator move into Baker Street. Because this story doesn’t just weaponize the canon (though it does do that quite well, as I have explained in earlier posts). It weaponizes the myth of Sherlock Holmes—the way he and his associates have come to be known as exaggerated and slightly warped versions of how they are in the stories.

Watson is not a crack shot.

It’s more accurate to say, really, that Watson may or may not be a crack shot, but we never get that as a definitive aspect of his character in the canon. In the popular imagination, when Watson is not reduced to simply standing around asking Holmes to explain his deductions, he is positioned as the guy with the gun, the man of action to Holmes’s man of intellect—which is a faulty conception. If you actually read the stories, then you know that A) Holmes has a gun with him fairly often, although not quite as often as Watson does; B) Watson is more often found threatening someone with a revolver than actually firing it; and C) when Watson does fire his gun, often Holmes is right beside him also firing off a round. In both The Sign of the Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles, Watson and Holmes fire at a target together, and it’s never made clear whether one or both of the shots hit the intended target, so we have no indication of the two men’s comparative skill level with firearms. The only instance of Watson both firing and firing alone is in “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,” where he runs up and shoots the dog that is mauling Mr. Rucastle. I imagine this takes some skill with a revolver, as he manages to shoot the dog and not shoot the man, but as it was at close range and the dog is on top of Mr. Rucastle, I believe (based on my extremely limited knowledge of firearms) all that this tells us is that he is competent when it comes to gunplay, not necessarily a crack shot. The reason the masses picture Watson as the gun-toting one is because A) Holmes is often requesting that Watson bring his revolver or asking if he has it, so the image of Watson with a revolver in hand has stuck with people; and B) Holmes so obviously brings the intellectual strength to the pair that it’s easy to assume that all Watson has to offer is physical skill to complement it.

Yet that dichotomy—Holmes is the brains, Watson is the brawn—is quite inaccurate, if you take a look at the original stories. Holmes brings a good deal of his own brawn to the pair: he boxes and fences and is strong enough to bend pokers with his bare hands. Watson, for his part, is quite intelligent—the fact that he is a Doctor of Medicine is often overlooked in terms of its significance. This aspect of his identity—something only achieved through years of study, which he makes plain to us at the very beginning of A Study in Scarlet—plays a much larger role throughout canon than his aim. See how many times Watson mentions helping someone recover from their wounds or checking someone’s injuries. See how many times he mentions being busy with his medical practice right before he gets sucked into a case. Watson is many things (something which too many adaptations forget)—first and foremost, however, he is a doctor.

The narrator of “A Study in Emerald” bemoans his lost status as a crack shot on the very first page and brings it up multiple times throughout the story. It is the whole of his self-identity, and the fact that his shoulder is healing toward the end gives him hope that he will regain his “deadshot” status. Moran’s whole claim to fame is being a crack shot (“He was the best shot in India, and I expect that there are few better in London”)—therefore it should be clear, going off of the canon alone, that the narrator is Moran, and not Watson. But because Watson is enshrined in the popular imagination as the one most likely to fire a gun while Holmes is off being brilliant, that little hint slips through the cracks. If this were truly just “Sherlock Holmes in a Lovecraftian world,” and the narrator truly was Watson, he would not be preoccupied with his ability to fire a weapon. Also, you’ll notice that it is Watson’s training as a Doctor of Medicine that allows him to dispatch the Prince of Bohemia so effectively. His specialized knowledge is what makes him an asset to Holmes in this universe, in keeping with the fact that being a doctor is the one major thing that Watson has on Holmes in the original canon. Watson’s status as a doctor makes him just as deadly in “Emerald” as Moran’s marksmanship makes him in the original stories—and with “Emerald” Watson occupying the place of canon Moran as the associate of the genius criminal, that means “Emerald” is treating being a doctor as the primary aspect of Watson’s identity, just as Moran being a sharpshooter is his. Gaiman could have had the doctor kill the prince with a gun, staying perfectly in keeping with Watson’s established practice of carrying a revolver—but he chose instead to have Watson kill with knives and a medical professional’s precision. This highlights the major difference between the two men, an important thing in a story that hinges on their similarities. As I said in the previous post, Watson and Moran have a great deal in common, but Watson’s being a doctor sets him apart in a way that tells us he wants to help his fellow human beings—“human beings” being a key specification to make in “Emerald.”

The thoughtfulness evident in Gaiman having Watson’s murder weapon of choice be a knife rather than a gun runs throughout the entirety of “A Study in Emerald,” and I believe that is why I was so taken with this story. It’s very easy to make a Sherlock Holmes pastiche that is recognizable as such. An “elementary” here, a “game’s afoot” there, a smoke of a pipe and some rapid-fire deductions, maybe a mention of Baker Street, and the job’s done. But that often reduces Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to surface-level depictions of themselves, more concerned with the most iconic aspects of the characters than who the characters actually are. “A Study in Emerald” is a story where the characters’ identities are the whole point—if you take away the trappings most associated with them, and give them to their mortal enemies, are they still the same people? Gaiman explores that by employing both major and minor details from the canon, with those minor ones turning out to be the most important. And while he’s weaving these details together, deploying them at precisely the right spots in the narrative, he also manages to create a compelling alternate world that could host its own set of stories I would be eager to read.

[flutteringphalanges]

Bad Moon Rising

Summary:  “Am I in Hell?” Agatha’s voice was hoarse, a hint of fear in her tone. “That depends on your definition,” Dracula answered. “Perhaps.” His fingers felt cool against her burning skin, the fever raging through her body. “If you’re going to kill me, then do it,” she mumbled. The count chuckled, gazing into her eyes. “On the contrary,” he smirked. “I’m going to save you.”

((In which Dracula cares for a gravely ill Agatha))

Characters: Agatha Van Helsing/Dracula

Rating: T

Read on FFN and AO3

A/N:  Thank you so much for all of your reviews/comments/kudos/etc! You guys are the best! Now, as promised, the next chapter!

                                              Chapter Two

Fevers are a troublesome thing. Fickle hallucinations leading one to doubt their sanity. Even then, would her imagination be so cruel as to conjure up the specter that was Dracula? Unless she was indeed dead. Perhaps in Hell. No. The Damned wouldn't be tortured so. Before her he truly was, in ungodly flesh, the count himself. How she yearned for death to find her.

"Somewhat lucid I see," the vampire replied, looming over the nun. "I dare say you had me worried back there. Ah, Sister Agatha Van Helsing, a true martyr to the cause."

"What exactly do you want with me?" She whispered hoarsely, the physical act causing her great pain. "I'm dying."

"Of course you are," Dracula said with a smile. "It's rather fascinating watching a human body break down. But," he paused. "Your absence wouldn't be much use to me if you were just a husk. I'm a man of science, of reason. Not, I dare say, a mortician."

"So you are going to transform me into a vampire?" Agatha scoffed weakly. "Or drain me of my blood? To learn everything there is to know?"

Dracula clicked his tongue, moving to the other side of her bed. "Agatha, Agatha, Agatha...For someone so educated, as you put it back at the convent, you really do lack the deduction skills. Transforming you, blessing you to become my equal, is not on the current agenda. What is, is a chance for me to study you from a different angle. I," he grinned. "Am going to save you."

"Save me?" She inquired, entering into a fit of coughing. "S...save me? Is that code for something?"

"I assure you it's not," Dracula responded. "Think of it as...a favor. I do something for you, and you owe me later. Quid pro quo." He leaned over, mere inches from her face. "You are an intriguing specimen, Agatha. Something so valuable shouldn't go to waste."

"No," she said, surprising how firm it came out. "I'd rather die than be in your presence."

The vampire seemed to think for a moment before clasping his hands together. "Alright then," he exhaled. "I can't keep you against your will. You're free to leave if you'd like."

She eyed him suspiciously. "You wouldn't try to stop me?"

He shrugged. "No, it would be a loss for sure. But then again, I suppose I could find someone as interesting. I have lived for centuries."

Agatha inhaled, watching the still expression on his face as she tried to force her body off the bed. Her legs betrayed her. Limbs too heavy to move. Just the mere attempt of leaving sent shock waves of pain to every nerve. She was weak, incredibly so. She knew Dracula was smiling. Knew that he was well aware of her condition and hated him even more. Agatha was trapped whether she had the will to escape or not.

"So you'll be staying then?" He inquired, false innocence in his tone. "A good thing too, a storm is coming. It'd be a shame if you were to be caught in it."

"I despise you," she hissed, her head beginning to ache. "You disgust me."

"Bold words," he smirked. "But not the first time I've heard them. Now just rest and leave everything to me. Consider me your physician if you will." He swatted away a fly that flew too close to Agatha. "And please, pardon the insects, they come with the territory."

Agatha tried to open her mouth to counter his words, but she found herself unable to do so. The room spun around her, the flames engulfing her once more. She tried to fight the fever, battle the consciousness that came with it, but it was in vain. Dracula watched intently as she slipped away, pulled by the welcoming emptiness that was sleep.

Dreaming, a state much like purgatory. Being trapped between two worlds, consciousness and a stage of sleep that is deep and thoughts non-existent. Even though she was gravely ill, Agatha knew she was no longer awake. That this wasn't real. That the woman standing before her, expressionless, arms folded, was a trick in her mind. She was dead after all. Mother Superior.

"You've found yourself in quite a difficult situation, Sister Agatha."

"It's nothing I cannot handle," the nun said, feeling rather exposed by the blinding white light that surrounded them. "I just have to keep level headed."

"Brains before the Lord?" The older woman inquired, tilting her head. "Have you considered reaching out to your true calling?"

"If God had sought to help me, would I not be where I am now?" Agatha replied. "Would he have left me in the belly of the beast like I am now? Death at the door, prey to a monster?"

"You've always been one of surprises, Sister," Mother Superior answered with a thin smile. "One of my favored pupils despite your lack of faith. And where has it led you?"

"To my impending demise? Is that what you are trying to say? That this is a result of being forsaken? Your attempt to patronize me hasn't brought forth any desire to repent my ways," she frowned.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways, Agatha," the woman stated. "Perhaps He is presenting you with a challenge. A test if you will. Facing your greatest foe. The question is, will you accept? If you truly wish to learn about Count Dracula, you have been given the opportunity."

As much as Agatha hated to admit it, perhaps the old woman was right. Perhaps this was a chance to learn more about Dracula. Though she would be made to suffer through it, would it be worth the outcome? Had she much of a choice? She swallowed, feeling the heat of the invisible flames licking at her skin.

"Observe him while he believes he has the upper hand?" Agatha implied.

"Precisely," Mother Superior smiled. "God works in mysterious ways, Sister Agatha. Perhaps you'll begin to see."

Agatha.

The nun looked to the older woman, noting her lips were no longer moving.

Agatha.

The voice sounded distant, but soon grew closer. The ground around her began to shake, the image of Mother Superior drifted away. Agatha stumbled, trying to hold her ground as the bright light disappeared from around her.

"Agatha, wake up."

The former nun gasped, her eyes shooting open. Her body trembled, head throbbing as she caught sight of Dracula standing before her. If her eyes didn't deceive her, he almost looked slightly concerned.

"You were talking in your sleep," he commented. "Incoherently."

For the first time, she noticed a rag in his hand. When he approached her side, Agatha attempted to shy away. If she had the strength, she would've swatted it away as he placed it on her forehead. Cool. Wet. It was soothing to her burning flesh. Part of her wanted to sigh, but the other, more reasoning part didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Instead, she remained still, her eyes locked on his.

"Were you having a nightmare?"

He sounded genuinely curious and it made her skin crawl. Agatha said nothing, trying to slide deeper under the covers. She was exhausted. So tired. Dracula standing there eyeballing her like a prize chicken wasn't helping. She remembered her dream. The advice her brain "Mother Superior" had suggested. Learn about him while he thinks he's doing the same.

"Do vampires dream?" She inquired.

"Anything with a mind dreams, Agatha," the vampire exclaimed. "A dog. A monkey. Perhaps even a flea. If one sleeps, one can dream."

"And if I were to tell you I had a nightmare, what would you say?"

"To only hope that I was a part of it," he smirked. "But the feeling would extend if I was in your dream also."

"Then you'd be disappointed," she mumbled, bleary eyed. "Now if you'd be so kind, if at all possible, I'd like to go back to sleep. I'm feeling rather weary of your presence."

"But of course," the vampire smiled. "How rude of me. Rest well, Agatha Van Helsing, I'll keep an ear open if you need me."

"I won't," she muttered.

"All the same," he smirked. "Sleep tight, don't let the bats bite."

Agatha watched as the vampire left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar much to her displeasure. She allowed her eyes to close, trying to focus on the cool cloth on her forehead. She would be the one victorious in the end. Even if it took her last breath. A new fire burned deep within her, spreading along with the fever. Competition.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

‘The Absent Father and Spider-Man’s Unfulfilled Potential’: Rebuttal Part 3: George Stacy

Master Post

My rebuttal to Fettinger’s 2006 essay continues here. His essay eventually began listing off potential father figures to Peter to see how Peter might fare under their guidance. As such I felt it appropriate to partition my rebuttal per character. In this instalment we will check out his examination of Captain George Stacy.

Fettinger begins by claiming that early MJ learned Peter’s identity via observation rather than deduction like George Stacy did.

This is true in one sense because Parallel Lives establishes she found out by observing Peter enter his home an Spidey leave it.

But it is untrue in another sense because prior to that retcon it was presumed and essentially canon that MJ DID deduce the truth like George did.

·         Fettinger continues to detail Peter and George’s history claiming George was in the wrong place at the wrong time getting crushed by debris from Doc Ock and Spidey’s battle.

This is inaccurate. A child  was in the wrong place at the wrong time and Stacy sacrificed  himself to save said child.

·         Fettinger goes on to postulate that if George had lived we would’ve seen something akin to Civil War 2006 (I will get into that in a minute) where Peter unmasks.

He goes on to say something that’s perfectly true, that whilst George would’ve guarded Peter’s secret for a while if Peter and Gwen continued to grow more serious he wouldn’t have allowed Peter to marry Gwen if he didn’t tell her the truth. What is entirely inaccurate is his assessment that marriage was the ‘logical’ conclusion to his and Gwen’s relationship. As I, and others, have detailed before, Peter and Gwen’s relationship was NOT a rosy one at all and had more than a few problems for various reasons including their immaturity. Marriage was NOT the inevitable endgame for them, splitting up (sooner or later) was.

·         Fettinger continues that George would have pressed Peter into joining the force and worked to rehabilitate Spidey’s reputation behind the scenes by making Spidey and the law accept and understand one another better.

This is another perfectly organic extrapolation upon George’s character. However, presuming he’d have succeeded in charming either side is incredibly questionable, various members of the law enforcement of the Marvel Universe actively dislike superheroes for simply making them look inadequate.

And as for Spidey understanding the ‘limits’ the law enforcers have to face...what has that got to do with anything; especially Peter’s unfulfilled potential?

Over the course of Spider-Man’s career hasn’t his vigilante activities, which have been OUTSIDE the bounds of the law, proven themselves to ultimately be more effective in the cases he’s tackled than the activities of regular law enforcement?

Spidey’s powers and anonymity render him essentially incorruptible to people like the Kingpin. His bending of the law to acquire information has shut down major crimes. These factors do not apply to the police. So why would Spider-Man NEED to understand what law enforcers face? His methods are clearly much MORE effective.

Or did I miss those issues where the regular police prevented Doc Ock from nuking New York city? Hell in ‘Secret Wars II’ Spider-Man did egregiously more to help people when a whole building was transformed into gold than the regular law enforcement (whom the Kingpin had an arrangement with).

·         Fettinger continues by arguing that Peter would’ve unmasked like in Civil War #2 and would’ve become the vanguard of a legitimate superhuman police force.

Putting aside how badly that worked out for everyone in hindsight, that is NOT a good thing (see all the countless abuses of power perpetuated by the police). It also opens up his family and friends to countless dangers that the authorities are NOT equipped to protect them from (super villain prisons clearly suck shit). AND he’d be handcuffed by certain limitations of the law, the likes of which he’s been bypassing for years to great effect. And how exactly is this him NOT FULFILLING HIS POTENTIAL!?????

·         Fettinger continues by claiming Peter’s investigative and intuitive skills might’ve been improved by Stacy’s tutelage making more use of his brains than his brawn.

Spider-Man ALREADY uses his brains during fights and is a perfectly competent investigator.

Fettinger is painting Spidey as a guy who just punches things out to solve the situation when that’s not true, he’s capable of deductive reasoning and all other sorts of mental gymnastics. He’s used his brains to outsmart villains on COUNTLESS occasions, including in Amazing Spider-Man #2!!!!!!! So why does Peter need to ‘improve’ his investigative skills? They clearly work just fine.

That’s it for Captain Stacy. Next up…the Jackal!

Master Post

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey there! With the Atlas Arc ahead of us, there is still the possibility of Oscar joining Jaune, Nora and Ren to form the new Team JNPR, hopefully honoring Pyrrha's memory in doing so. With a blank canvas to work with, how would you envision that potentially awesome moment of growth for Oscar and JNR?

*Will Smithpose* Have you by chance read this post I made about myinterpretation of Jaune asking Oscar to join JNR, Al?

Theway how I originally envisioned this is Oscar proving himself to work well with JNR on the actualbattlefield. I pictured Oscar at some point temporarily going downtrying to protect Jaune from an oncoming attack only for the two boys to end upteaming up against a horde of Grimm that showcased their comradery.

Coming off thetension that was introduced between them back in V6, I’m hoping the CRWBY spendV7 building up to the concept of Jaune ultimately asking Oscar to join his team byhaving moments sprinkled throughout the season where Oscar proves to be a good fit with JNRespecially in the eyes of Jaune, as the team leader.

If Oscar joins JNR, I don’t expect the team to be renamed to ORNJ. I’vehad folks mention this to me and I actually firmly believe that it would holdmore meaning if the group is reborn with their original team name. According to the team naming system, it is usuallythe initials of the team leader who appears first. If the team became ORNJ, itwould imply that Oscar is the team leader and personally, that’s not what Iwant for Oscar’s integration into the JNPR team.

Idon’t want Oscar to replaceJaune as leader…unless it’s a situation where he’s been fighting with theteam for severalyears and there comes a time when Oscar has become amore mature and experienced huntsmen whereJaune strongly believes that Oscar is worthyenough to take his place as leader. I see Oscar becoming a team leader as a rite of passagehe has to earn over an extended period of time of fightingalongside his peers and proving himself to his teammates especially Jaune asthe original leader.

It’s not something Iwant to just be given to him automatically after he first joined. That wouldn’tbe fair.I would actually love it if Jaune becomes a mentor to Oscar and starts nurturing his tactical skills.As we saw in V6,Jaune was visibly impressed with Oscar’s deduction about the missile launcheron Cordo’s mechazord canon.

I would love to see more moments likethis where Jauneactually includes Oscar in building strategies; picking his brain forideas and utilizing the kid’s keen sense of observation. Jaune acknowledgingOscar’s potential and thus encouraging him since he genuinely sees a talent in the young former farmhand that he wants to helpdevelop would be great since it’d be a lovely nod to the old dynamic between Jaune and Pyrhha. Back in Beacon, Pyrhha was the seasonedwarrior who extended a helping hand to Jaune because she saw and believed inhim. It’d be awesome to see a ‘the student has now become the teacher’ momentwith Jaune towards Oscar with the Arc boy offering to train Oscar on how to be a proper strategiston the battlefield.

It’sa good way of developing the brotherhood between Jaune and Oscarand I’d very much love to see that.

It is for this reasonwhy I also don’twant anyone else to give Jaune the idea of letting Oscar join JNR. I don’t want a scene for V7 where Ruby dropsthe concept to Jaune. I wouldn’t mind if it’s Nora who first mentions the idea to Jaune though.

Since Nora is a member of JNR, it’d be pretty sweet ifthe thunder goddess is the one to vouch for Lil Cute Boy Oz and encourage herteammates, particular Jaune to give the kid a shot. It’d also be a good signthat Nora has also been observant of Oscar’s skills as well which could beinteresting. I’m down for Big Sis Nora lookingout for Oscar too and/or she and Ren acting like Oscar’s surrogate parents, adopting him into their unit.

Ialso don’t want JNR to ask Oscar to join at the start of V7 either.I would much prefer for us to spend the volume watching this progress. We couldhave Nora subtlyplant the idea in Jaune’s head at the start of the volume and thenspent the duration of the story watching Jaune silently scope out Oscar and seeif Nora’s assumptions about Oscar were correct while forming his own judgementof the kid. V6 subtly dropped hints of Oscar inevitably joining JNR.

I also liked that ittouched base on JNR finally accepting Pyrhha’s death and gaining a renewedsense to move on from the past and start anew all within the same episode thathighlighted Jaune coming to value Oscar. That’s one of the things I actuallyappreciated about V6 C9.

I want moremoments of the CRWBY subtly nudging Oscar closer to JNR and showing how well he fits in with them. As of V6,we’ve definitely had more shots of Oscar being together with JNR which is anice hint.You’re not subtle CRWBY but I appreciate where you’re going with this.

We’vealso had hints of the JNR squad each coming to like and appreciate Oscar intheir own way. For e.g. Nora’s happyglomp after reuniting with Oscar in Argus and Jaune’s acknowledgement ofOscar’s skills especially come off of their over Ozpin.

Nothingwith Ren yet but…soon. As a matter of fact, what if… Ren is the one to surprisingly encourage Jaune in letting Oscarjoining JNR? That’d actually bequite nice and fitting of his character. Ren is rather observant one of the JNRtrio; not to mention that Jaune trusts Ren’s word and judgement since they alsoshare a sound brotherly relationship. I’m sure if Ren vouched for Oscar too,Jaune wouldn’t hesitate to consider it; especially with Nora backing him. Now I’mactually picturing both Ren and Nora pushing for Oscar’s induction with Jaune stillbeing hesitant about Oscar taking Pyrhha’s spot. I actually quite like thatnow.

Ren and Nora pushingfor Jaune to take Oscar into JNR and V7 is all about Jaune mostly being the oneto come to terms with letting someone else fill the spot that Pyrhha used tohave---that could be the finalchapter in Jaune officially moving on from his griefwith Pyrhha. V4 was the first chapter. V5 was the second and V6 was the third.Now all that’s left is for V7 to seal the deal. I would love that.

Do you alsoknow what would be funny? If as soon as the heroesarrive in Atlas, there’s a funny bit where JNR decide to start scouting fortheir newest member and do this thing where they hold auditions for anyone inAtlas Academy willing to join up with them? That could be hilarious.

Perhaps… in Atlas, our heroes are actually revered as well… heroes for survivingthe Fall of Beacon? Or at least  thereare some students of Atlas who treat JNR and RWBY as celebrities while othersare rather condescending for allowing their academy to fall; proving just how inferior Beacon was toAtlas. I mean Cordo’s behaviour alone was enough to imply that Atlesians couldbe rather arrogant. So it’d be interesting if this attitude stains some of its studentsand huntsmen as well.

It’d be interesting if JNR decide to take ona new member after Pyrhha. However, Jaune isn’t completely open to the idea asyet especially in regards to letting Oscar join. Imagineif…there is still a bit of tension with Jauneregarding his feelings for Oz that starts to taint his view of Oscar for asecond time since Argus. But throughout V7, Oscar works hard to validate himselfto Jaune and in the end, Jaune comes to accept Oscar.

Though he still has his misgivings over Ozsince he somewhat blames him for what became of Pyrhha, Jaune has learned to differentiatethe two souls and will to at least trust Oscar. He then affirms that trust inOscar by asking him to become the newest member of JNPR and therefore, histeammate and comrade on the battle lines which Oscar, of course accepts. Definitely loving thisconcept, right here. I want V7 to continue this.

I want V7 toshow more scenes of Oscar bonding with Jaune, Nora and Ren individually andtogether as a group before he gets asked to join. I want Oscar’s inauguration into JNPR to come at the end ofV7 after going through a full seasonhighlighting how well he works together with Jaune, Nora and Ren both in themost subtle and in your face kind of ways all culminating in him fightingalongside the three older huntsmen in a group tag team that finally cements himas the right candidate to become JNPR’s newest member.

Itwould be nice if Oscar joining JNR to reform JNPR becomes the focus of hisstory for V7. That would awesome! But as always, for now it’s just a theory butI hope it happens. In the meantime, I hope this answers your question, Al.

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[sustraiii]

TEAM ZRCN ARC 2 - CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2 is here and we’re catching up with Wisteria following her mission. Not much happening in this chapter, but we do get some more information on the people Wisteria is really working for. Keep your eyes peeled for more information on the family in the coming chapters!

Some credit/thanks to @jaguar-knight for letting me briefly reference one of his characters in this chapter too!

WISTERIA

After just over a week of laying low, Wisteria was beginning to go a little stir crazy; it didn’t help matters that the apartment she had rented out was small enough without the presence of two other people. Wisteria had now wished she’d made more of a case to borrow one of the residences her employers owned, at least they were of a more comfortable size, with plenty of room for three people to hold up. On the other hand, she couldn’t exactly use any of the many residences the Rossi’s owned - they were strongly against the idea of letting anyone outside of the ‘business’ being allowed to enter them.

Luckily, they were not opposed to coming out to buildings they didn’t own, as the three of them were soon graced by the presence of two members of the family or at least people who worked for them anyway.

Laurel and Sparrow were merely two of many spies the Rossi’s had working under them, a role which Wisteria and Nieve had found themselves in originally until they decided Wisteria had better uses elsewhere and managed to form a deal to get Nieve promoted as well. Wisteria didn’t even know if Laurel and Sparrow were their real names. For the sake of anonymity, anyone who worked as a spy for them was given a codename of sorts. Wisteria had memorised their names a long time ago - Laurel, Sparrow, Biggs, Twinkle, Fletcher, Razzle and Dazzle, Cosmos, Hurricane, and Fudge.

It had only been a brief visit, mostly for the two of them to confirm that they had successfully retrieved the asset. A fact which made Wisteria scoff rather loudly after they had left, shaking her head at the audacity of that family.

Since then the three of them had been left alone, waiting to hear news on if they were okay to finally meet back up with Farron in Shizukana. They had watched the daily news reports, but there was barely anything mentioned about the raid, besides a small segment the day after the raid had occurred. That was until today, when Farron finally reached out to them, informing them they were due a visit from Nightlock regarding the situation.

Wisteria had turned the bedroom into a makeshift office for the occasion, setting the briefcase on a fold-out table as if to show it off, and generally going around the apartment ensuring it looked reasonably neat and tidy.

She and Nieve had been talking in the bedroom when Ulysses peaked his head in, and let them know he had arrived. Whilst he went to let the man in, Wisteria hurried to get comfortable behind the desk.

“What do you think he’s like?” Nieve asked, scratching her chin as though in deep thought.

“If he’s anything like the rest of Farron's friends, then I’d say he’s about as smart as a bag of rocks,” Wisteria replied.

Nieve chuckled at that, and then the two were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Ulysses informing them that Nightlock was here.

“Let him in,” Wisteria instructed. The door clicked open a moment later, with Ulysses holding it open for Nightlock to step inside, and for Nieve to step out of the room.

Nightlock paused in front of her, his gaze travelling over her, before a smirk formed on his lips. “So you’re the one responsible for the attack on the lab?” He shook his head in amusement. “Colour me surprised.”

“Careful!” Nieve suddenly warned from behind him. He turned to see her paused in the doorway, practically glaring at him. Despite her expression, she spoke in a fairly light-hearted tone. “You’re playing with fire.”

And with that, she finally left the room. When the door shut behind her, Nightlock turned back to face Wisteria. “Cute guard dogs.” He commented.

Wisteria moved her lips as if laughing sarcastically, but no sound came out. “Very funny.” She made a habit to follow this with an exaggerated yawn. “Farron told me you had news for us.”

“Straight to business, ay? I like it.” He nodded his head in approval. Upon getting little to no reaction from Wisteria, he cleared his throat awkwardly, before continuing. “You’ll be happy to know the company is dropping the case! Considering there’s no video footage, and only the testimony of a somewhat confused guard, it’s doubtful they would have had much of a case anyway. I’m presuming you wiped the footage when you took the security systems down?”

Wisteria breathed a sigh of relief at the news, visibly relaxing in her chair. ”Well, I didn’t personally, but yes, we wiped the footage when we hacked your system,” Wisteria told him. “We’re not amateurs you know.”

“Clearly,” He was quick to say, indigo eyes meeting her own. She held his gaze unflinchingly. “You’re not the usual sort Farron has working for him. Besides Lunick, the rest barely have two brain cells to rub together between the lot of them.”

Wisteria laughed a that. “Couldn’t agree more.” She then tilted her head, shooting him a mock sympathetic glance. “You must think pretty lowly of yourself to imply you barely have two brain cells.”

“Oh, well there’s a key difference between me and them,” Nightlock said with a clear tone. Despite his tone of voice, his expression suggested he had been ruffled by her comment. “Do you know what that is?”

“Enlighten me.”

“I don’t work for Farron. I work with him. He is not the sole person I’ve made mutual understandings within the past, nor will he be the last. It’s wise not to keep your eggs all in one basket don’t you know.”

Wisteria nodded her head in mock understanding. “So, now that you’ve shared your information with us, do you need to be here any longer?” She asked, making a gesture towards him. “I do hate to cut this short and all, but we do have places to be.”

Nightlock stared at her for a long moment. “Someone with your talent should not be working for someone like Farron. He will only drag you down I am sure of it.”

“Let me guess,” Wisteria cut in, tapping a finger against her chin, “you have a better offer for me? A “mutual understanding” as you put it?”

“Well, not me personally, but I do know someone, who could put your talents to some use.” He explained, watching Wisteria to see if she was following. “I know of someone who could truly utilise your skills. He’s a wealthy man, with connections high up in Atlas, and would no doubt pay you handsomely for work. From what I hear, he’s quite the threat himself - to his enemies at least. The two of you together would make quite the team. You know, you’ve probably heard of him before, his name is-”

“Pass.” Wisteria simply said, raising a hand to cut him off.

“You’re not going to let me finish what I was saying?”

Wisteria arched a brow. “What part of pass do you not understand, Crocus?”

That threw him. The man took a step back, clearly thrown by the fact she knew his first name. A hand went to his tie, nervously adjusting it, before he spoke again, “How do you know my name?”

“I did my research,” Wisteria told him flatly. “There were two people working for the lab named Nightlock, and as one of you was a woman, I made the logical deduction.”

Nightlock seemed oddly offended at this. “So you’ve been snooping on a friend? I doubt Farron would be happy if he knew.”

“Don’t flatter yourself by calling us ‘friends’. I hardly know you.” Wisteria said, rolling her eyes as she did. She stood up from her chair, slowly striding towards him. She stopped in front of him, and rested a hand on his chest; his heart was beating fast deep inside of him, a fact which made her smirk. “Next time I would advise that if you don’t want your real identity to be known, you choose a codename that isn’t your fucking surname. Now, I’ll ask again, are we done?”

He hesitated a moment before moving his head in a slight nod. He made a step towards the door, gripping the handle, before turning to address Wisteria once more. “Since you declined my offer, I take it you’re happy working for Farron, even though we both know he’ll only end up dragging you down?”

“More or less,” Wisteria admitted with a shrug. She stepped back and propped herself against the fold-out table. “Besides, who says I’m working for just Farron? As you said yourself, it isn’t wise to keep all your eggs in one basket.” Wisteria gave him a wink.

Following that tidbit of information, they left it that, and Nightlock finally made his departure. Wisteria didn’t usually like to imply that she worked for someone else when on jobs like these, but to hell with it. Besides, she doubted Nightlock would tell anyone about this, at least not Farron anyways. They had a far more tenuous relationship than she had anticipated, with Farron clearly valuing their partnership more than Nightlock did, if Nightlock’s general lack of faith in Farron was anything to go by. If anything, he would probably be chuckling away to himself, that someone Farron valued dearly had been double-crossing him this whole time.

Shortly after Nightlock had left, Wisteria packed the fold-out table away into a wardrobe and then grabbed the briefcase and stepped out into the living room. Now that they had the all clear, they could finally carry on with the mission and meet up with Farron in Shizukana. Luckily, Wisteria had had a boat on call for the past three days, so she only needed to make one small call before they could head on out.

Nieve and Ulysses were waiting patiently on the sofa, though their ruffled clothing suggested they had not been sat so far apart a few minutes ago.

Resting a hand on her hip, she gave them a playful smile and said, “Pack your things ladies, we’ve got a boat to catch.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 052: “I Was Almost Too Late”

Previously on BnHA: Tomura’s gang of Noumus wreaked havoc on the city. Fucking Endeavor showed up to lend Gran Torino some support. Deku realized Iida was in trouble. Iida got all kinds of fucked up by Stain and tearfully monologued about how much he loves his brother. Stain was not moved and went in for the killing blow. Then my boi Deku showed up with the clutch last minute save.

Today on BnHA: Deku shows off his big hero brain and rad deductive reasoning skills. Iida is all, “DEKU, DON’T INTERFERE!” even though he’s just lying on the ground waiting to get murdered. Deku tries to hold off Stain using full cowl and it’s briefly the coolest thing ever, but then Stain grazes him with one of his blades and Deku gets paralyzed too. Stain is all, “you’re cool so I won’t kill you,” and yet again tries to kill Iida. Yet another U.A. student shows up before he can actually do so, because Iida apparently has a backup quirk of summoning main characters whenever he’s about to die.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 126 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

um... what

[frantically checks chapter number like three times even though it’s printed right there]

lol what. is this a dream?? a flash forward? DO WE HAVE TO GO BACK KATE

WAIT A SEC. this is a color page! and 52 weeks in a year = 52 chapters in a year = it’s been one year in real time. that’s what they’re talking about

well, congratulations! but don’t fucking confuse me like that you assholes

GASSSSPP

POPULARITY POLL

I PREDICT TODOROKI AT NUMBER ONE, FOLLOWED BY DEKU, FOLLOWED BY BAKUGOU, FOLLOWED BY ALL MIGHT, FOLLOWED BY... WELL IN A JUST WORLD IT’D BE MY BEST GIRL OCHAKO BUT I GUESS WE’LL SEE

oh lord now there’s a two-page spread, and okay I have to risk spoiling myself because this page deserves to be viewed in color

okay found it

I just really love Bakugou’s pose and Aizawa’s grumpy sleeping bag face in the back. also Momo getting her drink on

WHERE THE FUCK IS THE POLL. DO I HAVE TO GO HUNT THAT SHIT DOWN. SHIT. I’LL DO IT LATER

(ETA: didn’t realize this was just the poll announcement and I still had to wait 10 more chapters for the actual results lol)

all right so flashback to Deku running with a 5% One for All speed boost to get to Iida before anything bad happens

he’s thinking about the coincidental appearance of several new Noumus in the same city where the Hero Killer had previously been rampaging about. and he’s wondering if it’s a sign that said killer and the League of Villains have teamed up

good instincts there Deku

and of course he’s realized that Iida went after Stain, since all the signs point in that direction. he’s read enough comics to know when a young hero has gone running off on his own on an ill-advised quest for vengeance

back to the present! Deku is all YEAH I WAS FUCKING RIGHT

(ETA: Deku saying “bingo”, which he does in English, with that satisfied “FUCKIN’ KNEW IT” expression, may be my favorite moment in this entire arc, and I mean that unironically. love it)

Iida looks totally shocked to see him and can you blame him?? he was literally about to die and all of a sudden fucking Deku shows up out of nowhere to punch the strong villain guy in the face? Deku who was supposed to be off on his own internship miles and miles away? and who wouldn’t have had any idea that Iida had gone off on his solo vengeance quest?

just goes to show, don’t underestimate the main character’s propensity for sniffing out trouble and getting involved in the middle of it, Iida

(ETA: since I’ve complained a little about the suspension of disbelief required for some of the coincidences in this arc, I just want to clarify that this is not one of those moments. I actually really like that Deku’s logic was explained, and that he didn’t just randomly stumble across Iida, but was actively looking for him after narrowing down his search radius)

anyway so Stain’s rebounding now and he does recognize Deku from Tomura’s photo

Deku is so fucking smart

can we all agree that even without One for All he still would have made a great fucking hero. worst case, he would have been like the most legendary detective of all time, probably

Deku asks Iida if he can move. good, he’s not dumb enough to try and take this guy on alone if he can help it

but the problem is Iida can’t move. apparently Stain’s quirk took effect when he was cut

shit. so... lol Deku! better not fucking get cut. time to put those new One for All skills to the test in a trial by fire

Deku considers just carrying Iida (he’s strong enough now lol), but then he sees the other hero guy lying there nearby, and he can’t get both of them

and now Iida is putting in his two cents, and. wow guys. this is easily the dumbest thing anyone has ever said in the whole series up until this point

JUST LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE, FAM. IT’S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, IIDA

Stain seems to admire Deku’s heroism, but he says that it’s his duty to kill these guys, and if Deku’s going to stand in his way, well then. you can see where this is going

what happened to that whole “I don’t kill kids, the people I kill all deserve it, this is for the good of society” and all that other shit

and he says “the weaker of us will be culled” with a scary face. and Deku looks intimidated because he can see that this guy truly believes the bullshit he’s spouting right now, and he knows that makes him extra dangerous

but when this guy says “the weaker of us”, I don’t know if he realizes that there’s a good fucking chance that’s actually him

also, I’m still half-expecting Todoroki to show up if this gets bad. though part of me hopes it doesn’t happen since it's so tropey. if he was hanging out with Endeavor, it’d make more sense for him to team up with him and Gran. or maybe join the fight against all of the Noumus downtown

Deku is reaching behind him and clicking something. it looks like his phone; I wonder if he called for backup

he’s realizing now that he’s on his own. but he’s also saying that he needs to “buy some time” so I hope he did call for help

Iida is screaming at him but dude, you really expect Deku to just leave you? I know you’re not thinking straight, but that’s suicidal at best and borderline insulting at worst. I hope Deku chews you out later

oho!

okay, two things I like here! number one, quoting one of All Might’s better lessons. and number two, THE FUCKING SMILE OMG. this is easily the most AM-like he’s been to date and it looks good on him, damn

look at Iida’s face

fucking relax?? you’re really killing my buzz here. just wait. Deku’s got this

probably

so Deku’s charging at Stain and Stain’s bringing the sword out! BOY YOU BETTER DODGE THAT SHIT OR ELSE IT’S A ONE-HIT KO WITH HIS QUIRK

YESSSSSSS

ALL RIGHT SON LET’S DO THIS

Stain thinks to himself that Deku made the smart move by getting in close, so he can’t use his long blade effectively. but now he’s pulling out one of his knives!

AHHHH YESSSS NOT SO FAST MOTHERFUCKER

(ETA: holy shit you can actually see two tiny droplets of blood by Deku’s arm, though. that’s so cool that you can go back and pinpoint the moment when he gets grazed and doesn’t realize)

I’m honestly starting to get a little nervous as to what’s going to happen, because so far Deku is making this look fucking easy, and I figure that in order for the suspense to be maintained, surely something has to go wrong soon, right?

then again

lmao every time Stain tries to hit him he’s fucking gone. pretty safe to say he’s got the speed advantage here I think

AND HERE HE COMES NOW WITH THE SMASH

EVEN AT JUST FIVE PERCENT, THAT SHIT STILL LOOKS LIKE IT HURT

oh my god

sure!! because why would Deku ever come up with his own fighting style when he could just keep ripping off Bakugou’s playbook until the end of time?! I love this so much

anyway, so that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, so naturally something terrible is about to happen I assume?

OH FUCK ME FUCKING SHIT

Deku’s trying to figure out what’s going on -- “did he graze me?”

I can’t tell for sure but it seems like there is indeed a sliiiight teeny tiny cut on his upper arm. fuck

although now Deku is thinking “no that’s not it! it’s blood!” and I have no idea what he’s talking about?

Stain’s walking up to him all calm. he says Deku lacks power but did a good job tracking his movements

see Iida, now if you want to freak out, I will allow it

oh shit??

never mind Iida

shit he’s walking back towards you!!

Stain please don’t kill Iida right in front of a paralyzed and helpless Deku oh my god

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh snap

WHO CALLED IT?! YEAH THAT’S RIIIIGHT

WHY SO SURPRISED, DID YOU NOT SEE THIS COMING

LMAO MEANWHILE I ONLY PREDICTED IT BECAUSE I KNEW FROM THE ANIME THAT HE DID GO TO INTERN AT ENDEAVOR’S AGENCY. IT’S THE ANIME’S FUCKING FAULT. I SHOULD STOP WATCHING FOR A WHILE, BUT I JUST LOVE THE SOUNDTRACK SO MUCH, AND IT’S SO MUCH FUN TO SEE THESE SCENES IN ACTION DAMMIT

ANYWAY!!!

OHHH MY GODDD

DEKU HIT HIM UP IN THE GROUP CHAT I CAN’T I’M DONE FOREVER

SO THEN HE DID KNOW HE WAS COMING. MAYBE HE JUST LOOKS SO SHOCKED BECAUSE OF THE STRESSFUL SITUATION HE WAS IN ONLY SECONDS EARLIER

ALSO, LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME MOTHERFUCKER IN HIS NEW FUCKING COSTUME

hey google play Arsonist’s Lullabye

BONUS:

Ochako’s meal plan wtf

she doesn’t eat

what the fuck did I just read

what the shit I don’t even get it. how’s it supposed to be funny. is it making fun of diets or making light of poverty wtf

whatever. I may honestly delete this bonus section, since it contains absolutely nothing of value and just ruins all that cool shit Todoroki and Deku just did

(ETA: well in the end I didn’t delete it. I’m not gonna post any of the rest of these segments though. they’re pretty terrible and it’s easier for me to just pretend they don’t exist)

[eddygould]

Renaissance: The Dark Cult

Renaissance: The Dark Cult is a fictional action-adventure videogame. The main feature of the game world is that alchemy is a real chemical science. In this case, magic does not exist at all, and all the principles of the work of alchemy are explained by the characteristics of the biochemical structure of Earth.

The Plot and Gameplay:

Rome, Papal States, 1521. The Four Years' War is about to break out, golems are fighting in the Colosseum, alchemists are trying to find the philosopher's stone, and High Renaissance artists are working on their masterpieces. The protagonist Santi De'nilzo graduates from the Medical Faculty of the University of Sapienza and moves to the outskirts of Rome to his elder brother Gilberto. He is a sly artisan-alchemist with great relations to artists, inventors, and some scammers. Shortly before the events of the game, he was receiving threats from strange people who, he believes, belong to the same organization. Meanwhile, there are kidnappings and ritual killings in the city, which gives rise to rumors about some kind of "dark cult". Together with his friends, Gilberto begins an independent investigation into which he draws the protagonist.

In the sewage system of Cloaca Maxima, Hemera, a society of non-conformists, thieves and scammers who rejected the emerging manufacturing work and organized their own society of independent creators and artisans, resides. Most of them are poor, but prideful. The church treats alchemy with caution, considering alchemists to be sorcerers, but at the same time secretly uses their developments. Some alchemists, however, deny magic and rely on a scientific approach, but many of them use the esoteric picture of the world for simplified systematization. The scientifical difference between the game world and ours is the presence of aether, one of the forms of dark matter, which began to stand out after the Big Bang and has been reacting with matter at the subatomic level, allowing the plastic change of matter, including organic one. Thus, the creation of artificial life has become one of the most promising discoveries of the Middle Ages. Arabs have made golems, and soon they were imported to Europe. Despite the fact that these creatures did not possess self-awareness, they were easily trained as dogs. In 1520, the famous alchemist and iatrochemist Paracelsus went to Rome, where he was able to grow the first homunculus, making a real breakthrough in alchemy.

From the point of gameplay, the game is a third-person adventure with elements of interactive cinema and a free camera, something resembling games by Telltale. The player has to solve riddles, use stealth, alchemy skills, and fight both in close and in long-range combat. Hemera plays a role of the hub with the tasks given by its inhabitants. Nearly all missions take place in open spaces, where in addition to the main goal, which can be achieved in various ways, there are NPCs that give "quests in the quest", as well as secret passages. The system of such "micro-tasks" allows the player to study the game world more thoroughly, find more information about the cult and learn the secrets of alchemy. After each successful micro-task, the player is given some experience points, which accumulate into leveling points. These points can be spent on 3 branches of the skill tree: Oratory, Alchemical Knowledge, and Military Skill. The level of each branch depends on the playstyle. For example, in a stressful situation, the player can either literally "talk the enemy to death”, make a special alchemical mix and blind them, or simply knock them out. There is a separate parameter called Deduction, which is filled after the successful execution of a deductive (usually secret) micro-task on the level. The higher the deduction level of the character, the faster Santi will find a cult. Thus, it allows the player to skip some parts of the plot and achieve the necessary ending. Another important aspect is Hemera's attitude to the player. If they pass all side quests, their reputation rises, if they ignore them — the attitude quickly falls, and Hemerans want to have less and less to do with the protagonist.

During his adventures, Santi will visit the Colosseum, return the blind alchemist who has allegedly been to another world, his healing treatise, solve the mystery of the dark cult, and much more. The game is divided into acts (chapters): "Arrival", "Falling" and "The Cult". The first chapter begins with the reunification of Santi, "Falling" with the abduction of Gilberto, and "The Cult" with the burning of Hemera by the priests. After a tipping point in "Falling", the player can become the new leader of Hemera, if they have reached the required level of respect, as well as Oratory. The same thing happens in chapter 3: it depends on the reputation of the player whether Santi's comrades will help him solve the last mission. Following the footsteps of his brother, the protagonist finds the base of the cult, located under the church. Bypassing the guards, in the dungeon he sees exhausted Gilberto who reports that the leader of the cult, using a special machine, pumps out all the liquids from him and a couple of other prisoners. Studying the lab, Santi finally meets the antagonist. He turns out to be a man named Velimir, a Russian alchemist who almost 200 years ago brought out the elixir of life and gained longevity with the side effect of rotting alive. Earlier Velimir had lived somewhere in the vicinity of Novgorod, and after meeting with some Arab merchant he became interested in alchemy. Subsequently, he became a skinny, charred, literally black creature with a naked skull, and therefore served as a real prototype of the character of the Slavic folklore Koschei, horrifying brave adventurers who often visited his hut to kill him and become a hero. These heroes were sent by his wife, who ran away from him because she thought that his mind had been captured by evil. The brain of Velimir continued to function, but he seemed to be burning from the inside, receiving incredible pain all the time. The alchemist had set a goal to get rid of the suffering and left his native land. All these 200 years he was travelling and learning the secrets of alchemy of various nations, gathering cults and burning cities, collecting wisdom and knowledge bit by bit. He visited the Great Ming Empire, Tibet, India (Kashmir), Persia and the Ottoman Empire, developing his own ideas of alchemy and philosophy. It was he who pursued Paracelsus, trying to elicit from him the secrets of homunculi growing. In Rome he met the European alchemy. Gaining wisdom from the best monks, Velimir eventually developed his own concept of gaining immortality: in order to achieve that it was necessary to create an aetheric apparatus that works on primary and secondary fuels. The device consists of three fuel tanks (with three sub tanks) and one central and sealed capsule with water for immersion. Water evaporates and turns into aether which soaks the body and is inhaled by a scientist, after which he becomes a new form of life. The primary fuel was salt, mercury and sulfur, the secondary one was the elixir of life, the homunculus and the philosopher's stone. After entering the main hall, the protagonist starts a conversation with Velimir, during which the game checks the player’s perks. If Santi has developed Oratory, this can lead to the first ending. If he has developed Oratory and Alchemical Knowledge — to the 2nd, and so on.

Endings:

1) Oratory. The player reveals all the secrets of Velimit and convinces him that his ideas are worthless, and the people whom he killed or sacrificed to his experiments were lost in vain. In fact, all this time he was trying to get rid of the pain by inflicting pain on others. If successful, Velimir agrees in his inconsistency and adequately accepts death by the hands of the protagonist, dissolving the cult before this.

2) Oratory + Alchemical Knowledge. If Santi has these two branches well developed, he can convince Velimir that his machine cannot exist, understanding that, in theory, it would cause great harm to the city and the reality itself. He insists on some miscalculations and, winning his confidence, says that for Gilberto’s release he will help him. "Repairing" the machine, Santi breaks it, and Velimir gasps in poisonous vapors. The protagonist frees Gilberto and escapes from Rome.

3) Alchemical Knowledge. Seeing Santi's extraordinary knowledge of alchemy, Velimir offers the protagonist either to help him with the machine in exchange for the release of Gilberto, or die. When choosing the first option, the character is forced to help the antagonist, and when choosing the second one, the battle will begin. However, the cultist deceives the character and pumps out all the fluids from him, starts the machine and ascends to the aetherial state. In the final scene, it is shown how the half-dead Gilberto lies on the ruins of the city and sees in the sky a greenish flash which blinds him.

4) Battle. With necessary level of Military Skill, the player enters an open battle with Velimir. In order to win, Santi needs to deal with two golems and four cultists. Successfully defeating enemies and killing Velimir, the protagonist destroys the machine and frees Gilberto who is planning to rebuild Hemera in the future.

5) Collapse. The player does not have time to stop Velimir, or dies in battle, and the antagonist successfully starts the machine, ascending to the state of the aether itself. The final scene is almost the same as in the ending of Alchemical Knowledge.

[kantianfashion]

Morality and Meat

In regards to the ethical consideration consuming meat, it is important that we identify the animals whose death is necessary to produce our meat (therefore we will not consider animals who may suffer similar treatment as these meat producing animals, because they can potentially continue to live their life) and their capacity for sentience and pain. Internationally the variegation of animals of whose flesh we can potentially eat from is quite abundant, ranging from alpacas to alligators, but for the sake of this essay I’ve chosen to isolate a few, more culturally commonplace in consumption and in likelihood to inducted into factory farming (in America), animals to analyze: pigs, cows and chickens. Pigs have been documented as being intelligent, emotional and show signs of complex cognition, which implies them having sentience. In respect to the abilities of emotional cognition in pigs, Marc Beckoff references a study from "Thinking Pigs: A Comparative Review of Cognition, Emotion, and Personality in Sus domesticus." in which

“naïve test pigs were exposed to pen mates who had been trained to anticipate upcoming rewarding events or aversive events. When the naïve pigs were placed in the company of the trained pigs they adopted the same emotional anticipatory behaviors as the trained pigs with the direct experience.”

This study demonstrates that not only can pigs empathize with the emotional and behavioral propensities of other pigs, but that they can competently use predicative cognition to respond emotionally to the anticipation of the future. Pigs are capable of thinking socially, playing with others, sensing their environment, being curious, learning skills, perceiving time, being spatial aware, memorizing information, having self-awareness/personality and being complex intellectually. Given that pigs express such a high aptitude of intellectual comprehension of their environment, it is no surprise that their ability to suffer pain is far more complex than a simple physical sensation and be the result of negative emotional interactions or the recollection of a negative stimulus given certain circumstances(Beckoff). Cows, like pigs, have an abundance of scholarly literature supporting their abilities to perceive their environment intelligently. Cows can be pessimistic or optimistic dependent on experience, solve puzzles and then show signs of excitement for being able to control their future rather than simply fulfilling a biological function, and even discriminate between people who have treated them “roughly” (although I should note that this skill could be skewered by the color of the clothing the person was wearing). Although it isn’t known whether or not cows have self-awareness, we do know that cows-like pigs- can feel a variety of pains that don’t limit themselves at the physiological threshold(Hugo). On a similar note, when asked during an interview whether chicken and turkeys feel pain, Dr. Ian Duncan, Professor of Poultry Ethology at the University of Guelph, responded:

“Absolutely. It is indisputable that poultry are capable of feeling pain. All poultry species are sentient vertebrates and all the available evidence shows that they have a very similar range of feelings as mammalian species. Poultry can suffer by feeling pain, fear and stress.”

In this same interview, he noted the public’s tendency to underestimate the intelligence of these animals and the fact that they exhibit distinctive personalities(Ducan). John Raphael’s article “Who You Calling Bird-Brained” corroborates this, as well as speaks to chickens possessing the ability to communicate through both gestures and 24 specific vocalizations, understand ordinality and use deductive reasoning(Raphael). In 2011 a study that observed hens observing their chicks experience a mild negative stimulus (an air puff directed at them) triggered a physiological and behavioral response indicative of  “one of the essential underpinning attributes of ‘empathy’”(Edgar).

After we have established the depths of which these animals can experience sentience and pain, we should consider the ways in which they are used to produce meat. The most widespread form of producing meat in the US is through the use of factory farming. Factory farming is a large scale industrial process in which a farm raises select animals in surplus quantities in order to produce the most amount of food with the least amount of cost deficit, which means working with Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or having some kind of feed management, and possibly choosing to supply animals with certain hormones or antibiotics. In order to save on costs factory farms’ pack animals in confined areas that allow for disease to be easier communicable, physical and psychological stress that sometimes lead deformities to develop and an overall lifestyle that is deprived of dignity. Another factor considered when trying to maximize production with the least funds is how animals are fed unhealthy food, which causes digestive discomfort, alongside being pumped up with antibiotics and hormones in order to increase production mass. In order to prevent infighting amongst animals and the spread of disease farmers often engage in needlessly painful practices such as debeaking chickens, dehorning cows and tail docking both pigs and cows. Not only is factory farming harmful to the animals that endure it, but it also has a negative impact on the consumers whose reliance on meat can be exploited by the few large companies, tolerance to antibiotic-resistant microbes can be hazardous to their health, and environment is taking a significant toll with 37% of methane production, 2.4 billion tons of CO2 and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water being wasted, coming from factory farming. Free-range farming mitigates these major issues by providing healthier alternatives in food, environment, treatment and general aspects of lifestyle. Although free-range farming may surmount factory farming in the circumstances it provides for its animals, both ultimately see animals as means to an end and slaughter them through stun gunning, hanging or cutting (all of which cause great pain within the animals subjected to them)(Martin, Gallego, and Scruggs). Now that we have set the precedent for understanding animal sentience, pain and the means in which to convert them into meat, we can examine the questions, is eating meat, factory farming and some people eating meat while others do not, ethical from multiple philosophical perspectives. Let us first interpret what these questions mean in the context of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Virtue ethics being contingent mainly on individual character achieving eudaimonia rather than consequences or rules surrounding an act, will not supply us with an absolute answer on whether we should eat meat. However, it is of considerable value to realize that the ultimate goal of virtue ethics is achieving eudaimonia which means “human flourishing” and Aristotle even states in Politics that:

“It is evident then that we may conclude… that plants are created for the sake of animals, and animals for the sake of men... for our use and provision; the wild, at least the greater part... As nature therefore makes nothing either imperfect or in vain,...she has made all these things for men”(Aristotle).

Therefore the consumption of animals has no inherent detriment attached and only becomes wrong for some people to eat meat if it isn’t done in moderation or is an act that isn’t ruled by wisdom. One can argue that by eating animals one isn’t promoting the flourishing of their humanizing attributes because animals display certain characteristic that we identify as being “human-like” or intelligent. To this Aristotle would argue, because animals cannot reason at the same degree as we do and because hunting, factory farming and then as a result eating animals relies on a wisdom ruling process, that eating animals is in fact actually a humanizing attribute. Therefore according to virtue ethics eating meat, factory farming and the notion of eating meat not being applied consistently to all people are all morally permissible. Kant in a similar fashion as Aristotle, also rejects the idea that animals cannot fathom the world as deeply as man and are only to serve man stating on the matter: “Animals are not self-conscious and are there merely as a means to an end.  The end is man.”. So one may assume that Kant like Aristotle would find eating meat and factory farming both morally permissible, but it is necessary to descry this quote using the context that it was not common knowledge during the 1700s that animals had the degree of sentience we now know them to have. Our duty towards animals, according to Kant, is as follows: “If any acts of animals are analogous to human acts and spring from the same principles, we have duties towards the animals because thus we cultivate the corresponding duties towards human beings.”. Observing animals empathize with each other, experience emotional pain, and demonstrate the ability to react emotionally to future events, dictates that we must act with compassion towards animals, not out of direct obligation towards the animals themselves, but to our fellow human beings. On this matter Kant furthermore states:

“If he is not to stifle his own feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.  We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals...Vivisectionists, who use living animals for their experiments, certainly act cruelly, although their aim is praiseworthy, and they can justify their cruelty, since animals must be regarded as man’s instruments; but any such cruelty for sport cannot be justified.”. In this quotation the answers to the questions of whether eating meat or factory farming is morally permissible comes from the interpretation of two phrases “aim is praiseworthy” and “cruelty for sport”. If one’s “aim is praiseworthy” then they are justified in enacting cruelty on animals. So do the conditions of cruelty that factory farms provide have a “praiseworthy” outcome? Generally we assume they do, because they provide a surplus of food for large masses of people, who to Kant have the utmost consideration in the matter, but is the cruelty inflicted on the animals “cruelty for sport” what about eating meat in general? In this essay I will take the phrase “for sport” to mean an action taken that is both not necessary and done with enjoyment. I believe both factory farming and eating meat can both easily fall under that category in today’s society. Obviously eating meat is not necessary as evidenced by the growing population of vegetarians and vegans in the world and the choice to eat meat is one that is done with a certain sense of enjoyment. Although those who chose to eat meat may not actively think about how their enjoyment of consuming meat means the enjoyment of cruelty towards animals it still remains. An example of the cognitive dissonance people have with enjoying meat, but not the means in which it took to create it can be embodied by my mother. My mom very much enjoys eating all kinds of meat, it’s an important part of her lifestyle and culture, but when someone reminds her the thing she is eating once was alive or what means were necessary in order to produce it she either can no longer eat the meat or makes a conscious effort to disassociate those thoughts completely. So if one is completely naive to the fact that animals suffer in order to create meat products does this make them immune to the moral obligation of not engaging in “cruelty for sport”? Hypothetical yes, but realistically the vast majority of people who eat meat understand that there was cruelty involved in the creation of the product that they are consuming. Because the aim of factory farming is to feed people who enjoy unnecessary (there is no medical need for anyone to eat meat) cruelty towards animals, factory farming unlike we assumed early is actually not morally permissible, nor anyone eating meat. Unlike virtue ethics and kantianism, utilitarianism considers all beings on equal footing. Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick were all early proponents in the establishment of utilitarianism as a philosophical theory and all of them argued on behalf of counting non-human entities towards sum total of happiness. Utilitarianism relies on the Greatest Happiness Principle (GHP) which states that actions are right to the extent that they promote happiness; wrong to the extent that they promote the opposite of happiness. Factory farming and eating meat as we have settled above cause more distress to the animals involved in order to be outweighed by the pleasure from those who consume them and therefore are not morally permissible. Hypothetical if there was a way in which the death of a few animals could be outweighed by the overwhelming delight of hundreds of people than we could justify eating meat, but realistically no matter how tantalizing a piece of meat, the satisfaction of its consumption could not outweigh a lifetime of suffering. Personally, when it comes to adopting a stance on whether it is morally permissible for some people to eat meat, while other don’t, I find that my believes are a confluence of both virtue ethics and kantianism in the sense that necessity is defined by one’s pursuit of eudaimonia. “Cruelty for sport” in my opinion is alway morally impermissible, because it inherently promotes the disregard of dignity towards something, and what it relies on is the act itself being unnecessary. What is ‘unnecessary’ is not only whatever doesn’t draw from your basic needs (water, sustenance, shelter, etc.), but whatever does not align with your personal maxims which aim to achieve eudaimonia. What I believe separates us from animals is not our strong genetics (if so why shouldn’t aliens with stronger DNA eat us) nor intelligence (if so why shouldn’t we eat babies), but our ability to conceive constructs of morality. Our ability to perceive, interpret and fully immerse ourselves within ethics is what makes the choices of a human being so valuable. As human beings we give the world meaning and therefore choose whether or not the death of animal is morally meaningful and why it is not so. Being human we can also make choices that act against our instinct of self preservation and interest in order to follow suit with our ethical constructs, which is a trait that we don’t yet have enough evidence in present in animals. Even the emotional complexity of animals as cited above could be “ a case of over-interpretation and personification” where “authors anthropomorphize the animals, or compared them to humans when they shouldn’t have”(Hugo). Personally I am a vegetarian, because I find the death of animals for my seeking of eudaimonia unnecessary and believe that because the products they produce that can be acquired through means that don’t make suffering necessary, I am justified in eating cheese, eggs and drinking milk.

Citations

Bekoff, Marc. “Pigs Are Intelligent, Emotional, and Cognitively Complex.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201506/pigs-are-intelligent-emotional-and-cognitively-complex.

Hugo, Kristin. “Cow Science: Cattle Are Intelligent, Emotional and They Have Eureka Moments-So Should We Be Killing Them?” Newsweek, Newsweek, www.newsweek.com/cow-cattle-animal-intelligence-science-personalities-emotion-697979.

Animal Rights . www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/animal%20rights.htm.

Ducan , Ian. “Poultry Sentience and Intelligence .” Poultry Sentience and Intelligence, UPC, www.upc-online.org/thinking/sentient.html.

Edgar, J. L., et al. “Avian Maternal Response to Chick Distress.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, The Royal Society, 22 Oct. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3158930/.

Raphael,John,NatureWorldNews. “Who You Calling Bird-Brained? Chickens Smarter, More Self-Aware than Previously Thought.” Nature World News, 4 Jan. 2017, www.natureworldnews.com/articles/34832/20170104/who-calling-bird-brained-chickens-smarter-more-self-aware-previously.htm.

Martin, Ally, et al. “Factory Farming .” sakai.allegheny.edu/access/content/group/44591-PHIL-140-00-17FA/More%20Resources/Presentations/Factory%20Farming%20Phil%20140.pdf.

Gallego, Joe, et al. “Factory Farming of Animals.” sakai.allegheny.edu/access/content/group/44591-PHIL-140-00-17FA/More%20Resources/Presentations/Factory%20Farming%20of%20Animals.pdf. Scruggs, D'avian, et al. “Factory Farming .” sakai.allegheny.edu/access/content/group/44591-PHIL-140-00-17FA/More%20Resources/Presentations/Factory%20Farming%20Presentation.pdf.

Aristotle. “Introduction.” The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries, The Literature Network, www.online-literature.com/aristotle/politics/1/.

“Utilitarianism .” Animal Ethics , www.animal-ethics.org/utilitarianism/.

[osakaso5]

Tenn Kujo TRIGGER Police Rabbit Chat Part 2: Heaven's Brain

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Tsumugi: Kujo-san, good work. As we discussed earlier, I've sent the script and data for "i7 Police 2" to you..! 

Tenn: Good work. 

Tenn: I'm sorry that I didn't contact you earlier. I'll look them over. 

Tsumugi: Don't worry about it, I'm the one who's sorry for trying to reach you at such a busy time. 

Tenn: Can I ask you something? 

Tsumugi: Yes! 

Tenn: Will we be okay with all these nonsensical plot points? 

Tsumugi: While there's some unusual elements, it's still a serious story  at its core..! 

Tsumugi: But if you have any points of note, do tell me ><

Tenn: They're all points of note. Oh well, at least I can relax knowing that my complaints will be heard on this shoot. 

Tsumugi: I'm really sorry... 

Tenn: It makes things easier. 

Tenn: And I hear you were kind enough to make compromises and explain the more confusing plot points to the actors back when you filmed i7 Police 1. 

Tsumugi: Right, we try to be careful not to make any progress before the actors understand what's going on..! 

Tenn: In that case, I think it'll be fine. 

Tsumugi: That's good..! 

Tenn: So, I'm a boy detective? 

Tsumugi: That's the theme for your costume, but your actual character is a high-ranked officer, with a commanding role in the international police! 

Tsumugi: Within the international police, "Three Radiant Guys", or "TRG" for short, is known as a brilliant team of investigators. 

Tsumugi: You're the rookie with masterful deduction abilities, "Heaven's Brain". Gaku-san is a loose cannon, but he's also a skilled sniper by the name of "Eagle Eye", and Tsunashi-san is an ex-SAT agent who now leads the international special forces, "Dragon Claw"! 

Tsumugi: Yuki-san and Momo-san, Gaku-san and Tsunashi-san's old partners,   belong in the criminal organization Dyna R. 

Tsumugi: They're "Hundred Claw", an unrivaled martial artist who uses knives and is said to be invincible, and "Thousand Eyes", a terrorist hacker who can infiltrate any machine and is wanted all across the globe! For reasons unknown, they defected from the police force and became wanted fugitives! 

Tenn: What a backstory. I'm starting to feel even  more complicated about this. 

Tsumugi: Heaven's Brain,   TRG's rookie genius, joins the group to search for the pair's whereabouts, but it turns they were remodeled into aliens, and he's actually their former superior who's also an alien. 

Tenn: An alien. 

Tsumugi: Yes! 

Tenn: We come in peace

Tsumugi: Take us... to your leader... 

Tenn: Hey

Tenn: I just snorted. 

Tsumugi:

Tenn: Don't make me laugh. 

Tenn: I didn't think they'd change me into an alien, too. 

Tsumugi: Don't  you like it..? 

Tenn: I don't really care what planet my character's from. 

Tsumugi: If you have any other questions or concerns, let me know! 

Tenn: Is Riku's character a captive from the start? 

Tsumugi: Yes. Since we're still not allowed to use actresses, he plays the part of the heroine. 

Tenn: That's what happens when you market your group with a pure image. 

Tsumugi: TRIGGER does a lot of work on romance dramas, after all... 

Tenn: If this was just us, there'd be a romance for sure. 

Tsumugi: I wonder which one of you three the heroine would end up with? 

Tenn: If you were the heroine, who'd you choose? 

Tsumugi: Huh!? 

Tenn: It’d probably be  one of the two Mr. Most Desired Embraces. My character would be the young and reckless guy who has pure feelings for the heroine, but gets rejected and matures as a result. 

Tenn: But in reality, I can be just as unpredictable as those two. Should I show you my techniques? 

Tsumugi: Your jokes are going to give me a heart attack one of these days..! lol

Tenn: ^^

Tsumugi: Just to get us back on track, could you answer this questionnaire about the show? ><

Tenn: Yes. 

Choices/outcomes:

1. Is there anything about your character that resembles you?

Tenn: The way he tries to keep his cool when there's trouble, I guess. I may not be able to solve cases coolly like my character, but I try my best to have an objective point of view at all times. 

2. What if you were actually Re:vale's superior?

Tenn: I've been able to come this far because I had Re:vale to aspire to. If the positions were  reversed, I'm sure I'd have to be working all day  and night just to stay ahead of them. 

3. What if you'd only recently joined TRIGGER?

Tenn: I can't even imagine TRIGGER being any different from how it is right now. I guess the fact that we discuss our views openly would stay the same, though. 

Tsumugi: Thank you for your answers..! 

Tenn: Gaku and Ryu have started working on heir roles. By doing muscle training, anyway. 

Tsumugi: So I've heard. I'm glad you're taking the time to work on your characters... 

Tenn: Those two seem really fired up for this. I'm pretty excited, too. Thank you for giving us this opportunity. 

Tenn: By the way, have  you heard from Momo-san  and Yuki-san? 

Tsumugi: Re:vale? Not in particular, is something  wrong? 

Tenn: they've been coming to me for daily advice. 

Tsumugi: Advice!? 

Tenn: Gaku -> Yuki -> me <- Momo <- Ryu

Tsumugi: Is that an  air flow chart..? 

Tenn: It's the current composition of our relations. 

Tenn: The ones at fault here are the script that deals with all these delicate issues, as well as Gaku and Ryu, who keep avoiding me. 

Tsumugi: So you do mind not having a partner... 

Tenn: I don't. 

Tenn: Momo-san's here. I'll go greet him. 

[holidaysat221b]

Part One of the List of Sherlolly Prompts as of 5/8/2018

Here is a link to the very informal Sherlolly Prompt FAQ

Below is the list of prompts submitted to @holidaysat221b. Where possible, we have tagged the submitter so that credit can be given if a prompt inspires someone to write a fic or create a piece of art.

Some submissions were specifically labeled as Art prompts, and they have been separated into their own category. However, if you are a fic writer and one of the art prompts calls to you, go for it. Likewise, if one of the other prompts makes you want to draw, have fun with it! Prompts that have been filled at least once will be noted with a link to the fic/art, in case that influences your decision to work with one.

We only ask three things:

1) If you use one of the prompts on this list, please remember to credit the prompt and prompter somewhere in your fic summary/art description or in your notes.

2) Please submit an ask or message @holidaysat221b with a link to your work, the prompt you used, the prompter, and how you want to be identified (in cases where your Tumblr and fic/artist name are different). This will allow us to share your work with our followers and tag the prompter (if possible).

3) We have set up a Sherlolly Prompt Collection on Ao3. If you are planning to post your fic or art on Ao3 and would like to add it to the collection, please do. As of this moment, the collection is open and unmoderated. Please remember to credit the prompt and prompter in your fic/art notes.

On to the Prompts as of May 8, 2018

Art

Art prompt:  (I’ve wanted this like burning for five years, I’ll never give up asking)  Sherlock and Molly, the cake scene from Sixteen Candles".   Only in the morgue and Molly’s wearing the lab coat.  -   @sunken-standard  (Prompt fill - Sherlolly // Sixteen Candles by @simplyshelbs16xoxo)

Art prompt:  Potter!lock.  Don’t care if it’s student Sherlock and Molly in their house robes, teachers, wizarding professionals, a recreation of the Order of the Phoenix group photo with Sherlock characters instead. Whatever.  Just as long as it’s Potter!lock.  -  @darnedchild

Art prompt:  Molly and Sherlock’s first real date gets interrupted by a case. Are they dressed up for a fancy evening, or wearing something more suited to fish and chips and a walk around the park?  -  Anonymous

AU/Works that do not/will not fit in with the series current on-screen canon

Sherlock: A TV series featuring a hot guy with awesome deductive skills, his best friend the doctor, the exasperated detective inspector, the sweet landlady, and the pathologist. And no, the pathologist isn’t in love with the hot guy.  -  The Silent Fangirl

A post TRF fic, where Sherlock takes Molly with him, but they return to London a couple years later than in canon because Molly got pregnant along the way (or even twice), so now they are three/four of them instead of two? -  @mychakk

“We had chips. She liked me.” – Sherlock in TLD. What could have been had he and Molly gotten chips in TEH: A kick to Tom’s butt. Happy greeting (a hug at least!) at the end of TEH. Quite a lot of sex with Sherlock instead of Tom. Molly the best man’s date. A (sophisticated. Or not) Molly/Janine cat fight for Janine hitting on SH moments. Dancing, so much Sherlolly dancing (and no leaving early). Probably no Shezza (Shezzer?)—which, hmm, is a shame (But maybe they’ve their own not-being-on-a-sex-holiday-but-sexing-a-lot time). A real proposal to Molly. Molly at family Christmas, maybe even a Christmas wedding. Solving CAM without the threat of exile sharpens Sherlock’s deductive abilities. No Norbury as Molly’s already expecting their first offspring, so Sherlock doesn’t taunt needlessly. Mary as the Sherlolly baby godmother as she’s alive! Culverton Smith is taken down by the duo of Mary and Molly while the latter gives birth there (because the ladies are awesome, plus Mrs H tackles him down). John is so impressed he doesn’t look at any other women. Molly’s big heart brings Eurus from her metaphoric plane the moment she steps into 221B, plus baby Holmes wins her heart too. The Holmes family reconciliation and Eurus is in therapy instead of being a multi-killer. Baker Street Boys Team continues while Baker Street Girls Team gives them a run for their money. Mycroft asks Lady Smallwood out himself to her astonishment and internal squealing. Mummy Holmes gets more grandkids than she could’ve imagined. And basically, everyone walks happily into the sunset. The End. Please note, some things can obviously be modified.  -  @mychakk  (Prompt fill - Turn Right by sunken_standard)

AU: Molly runs away from home when her parents try to arrange a marriage for her. She wants to pursue a life that involves science and marry for love if she ever gets married at all. She meets Sherlock, who is being pressured by his family to marry a nice girl they found for him who loves science as much as he does. It will be interesting when they figure it out.  -  @shadowyqueenbeard  (Prompt fill - Uncertain Terms by geekmama)

AU. Instead of dying, Mary actually does hide from Sherlock and John effectively and they don’t find her. Still wracked by guilt and worried he’ll never see her again, John still imagines her in his mind and Sherlock still goes after Culverton Smith … possibly both to save John and because maybe Smith knows something about where Mary went? To solve the mystery and bring Mary home, Sherlock and Molly team up.  -  @rooneykmara

Uni!lock Sally wakes Molly at 2 am because her junkie boyfriend of dorm 221b is streaking across campus calling her name, so she better stop denying that she’s his girlfriend.  -  @escaily

To cover her butt during New Year’s Eurus lies and tells mummy that Sherlock has a wife, and Mycroft borrows her ‘Sherlock’s wife’ excuse whenever he wants to avoid sticky topics during holidays. The lie gets bigger the more Sherlock avoids family meetings. Until December when Sherlock finds out he’s married to a forensic (E), sex addicted(E), petite (E), intelligent (M), very forgiving (M) paragon of virtue (M). Now he needs to find a stranger that fits the description before Christmas.  -  @escaily

Rock Royalty AU. That AU in which Mary drags Molly into an edgy rock concert of her favorite band “Baker Street Boys” even though everybody and their mother knows that indie acoustics and hippie music is Molly’s thing. Enter Sherlock Holmes lead band member, (the type of Rock Star that sings ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ while high as a kite) famous for his electric violin solos, addict past and cold attitude. He tries deducing the girl less likely to throw herself at him out of all the fans and finding that one concert goer who doesn’t get turned on by his music. Turns out that Molly the ‘I-said-I’m-not-a-groupie’ pathologist in training is actually an interesting girl when she’s not covering her ears, even if Sherlock needs to educate her on the finger points of violin appreciation. Basically a fic where the Rockstar wants to turn this hater into a fan but actually ends up falling for her instead.  -   @escaily

The Do Over/ Time Travel Sherlolly fic that I NEED. Let’s pretend that a destroyed Molly went to sleep the night of the infamous phone call wishing she could do it all over again, and overnight she wakes up back in Season 1 first ep. If you could get a do over, erase all the bad things that have ever happened with the person you’ve always loved, even if it meant never having the good, would you do it? Especially if said person just broke your trust over the phone. The moment with the riding crop, all the late nights at the morgue, chose to avoid that awful Christmas party (showed up with a boring date), change shifts the day ‘Jim from IT’ asked her out and not offer her help when Sherlock needed to fake his death. Of course, fate still keeps throwing her together with Sherlock no matter what she tries. “You’re not MY Sherlock, you wouldn’t understand,” she whispered at last. “And what did your version of me have that I don’t?” “Many things, I know you think you can’t be a better person, but my Sherlock was.” Or something around those lines where slightly-younger Sherlock feels jealous of TFP Sherlock, because in any version of history Sherlock will always end up falling in love with Molly and she’s already so attuned to his quirks that he resents the ‘other him’ for having so much time with her.  -  @escaily

Crossovers/Works set in or inspired by another specific fictional universe (ie Potter!lock)

I’d really like to see a Daemon (from the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman) version of Series 3/TAB/Series 4 (any or all of those), especially when it comes to the ILY scene.  -  Kay

iZombie!Sherlock – Think of this, if Sherlock gets infected we have: 1) Sherlock with white hair 2) Sherlock getting brains from Molly “for experiments” 3) Sherlock getting different attitudes (hippie brain = hippie!Sherlock) 4) Paler than normal pale Sherlock 5) Sherlock with red bloodshot eyes.   Also:  If Molly Hooper gets infected, it’s like she’s the Liv Moore of Barts.  Lestrade as Clive (and relieved to be not only depending on Sherlock to solve crimes).  Sherlock deduces Molly’s hair color and tan (because Molly can’t show up to work with white hair, even whiter skin color, and very slow pulse rate).  Major asshole Boss being the one shipping tainted Utopium to Britain.  -  The Silent Fangirl

Superwholock!Sherlolly  -  The Silent Fangirl

Doctor Who!Sherlock - Molly Hooper as a companion  -  The Silent Fangirl

Me Before You!Sherlock  -  The Silent Fangirl

Molly Hooper as “Mary Reilly”.  -  @darnedchild

Dracula!lock, but maybe mix it up just a little.  Sherlock as the object of Dracula’s affections (Mina) and/or Molly as the vampire expert (Van Helsing)?  - @darnedchild

Sherlock and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.  Molly Hooper as Lady Molly from “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” with her crime solving partner Mary (Morstan).  (Note from Mod -   “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” used to be available via BBC Radio 4 Extra on demand, you may still be able to find it online somewhere.)  -  @lullikiish

A Hades and Persephone AU with Molly as female Hades (the unrequited love at first, the proximity with death) and Sherlock as a male Persephone (the curiosity, the lack of eating).  Irene would be a great Poseidon (the chaos provided by the ocean, the sailor knots).  As for John, he would be a great Hermes!  -  Kay

Gimme “The Full Monty”, baby. Surely someone can find a reason to have Sherlock, John, and Greg get their kits off? Or Molly, Mary, and Sally? Mrs H could give professional pointers and tips to whomever you’re planning to get starkers.  -  Anonymous

A Sherlolly version of “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Sherlock gets to see what his loved ones’ lives would be like if he never existed, realizing the positive impact he had on them when he was alive.  -  @simplyshelbs16xoxo  (Prompt fill - Strange, Isn’t It? by SimplyShelbs16)

Something similar to “The Ransom of Red Chief”, only in this version the kidnappers have figured out that Molly Hooper is a pressure point for Sherlock Holmes. They take her captive, intending to blackmail Sherlock or hold Molly for ransom; but Molly Hooper is having none of that nonsense. While Sherlock works to save her, Molly finds ways to torment, injure, and outwit her captors. Whether she escapes on her own, finds a way to let Sherlock and John know where she’s at, or ends up driving her kidnappers crazy to the point that they give up and send her back is up to the author. Could go humorous or dark very easily.  -  Anonymous

Clique/Sherlock Crossover - After the events of TFP, Molly Hooper (who is actually Jude McDermid) decides to go back to Edinburgh, broken-hearted & bound to continue the “family business” after years of running away from it. Gone is her long hair & colorful jumpers: she completely changed her look & have every information about Molly Hooper destroyed. Years passed, she forms the Solasta Women’s Initiative, much to her brother’s delight, until a horrific event brings Sherlock Holmes back into her world again. It’s more of a Sherlolly/Judelock mash-up where Sherlock wants to know why she left, who she really is, & how he’s still madly in love with her. Molly/Jude is more like she’s finally embracing the life she thought she never wanted, until she realizes that she can never forget the love she has for Sherlock. Can she be Jude & love him as well? Can Sherlock accept her true reality, or does he only love her as Molly & not Jude. Throw in a nice mystery/thriller plot too! Oh yeah Mycroft, who knew Molly is Jude from the beginning but decided to let Sherlock figure it out on his own, is determined to stop this union at all cost. Pls include all the girls & guys in Clique, especially Holly since she’s a badass off to take down Jude and her “girls” no matter what! It’s a crazy plot but if you’ve seen the 1st 2 episodes of Clique, it screams for a Sherlolly crossover fic! Thanks for reading this uber-long fic prompt!  -  @violetjersey

A reversed Potter!lolly with Sherlock being the Muggle-born, while Molly’s the pureblood witch (the likes of Luna Lovegood). Sherlolly, of course.  -  @mychakk

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” – because I always think of the movies when I see Mizjoely’s U.N. Owen tag.  -  @darnedchild

We know Molly can keep other people’s secrets. Maybe Molly has a few secrets of her own, i.e. her very secret collection of FWBs. Because honestly, you think she would just sit alone in her home every night, year after year, quietly pining for a romantic relationship with Sherlock? And what a surprise when Sherlock and their friends find out…maybe at Sherlock and Molly’s wedding? Crossover possibilities depend on FWBs selected…Q (James Bond), Loki (Avengers), Doctor Strange, etc.  -  @rubyred7531

Crack!fic based on an episode of “Friends”. Sherlock marries Janine. (Maybe for a case, or because Molly is still engaged to Tom.) Unfortunately, he says Molly’s name during his wedding vows …  -  @shadowyqueenbeard

“Two Mules for Sister Sara”, but with undercover Father Sherlock (or Brother Sherlock if you want to go that way). You could go with the original western cowboy period or make it modern. You can keep it PG -or- you could go for that priest kink M/E rating.  -  @darnedchild

Reverse “Runaway Bride” AU, where Sherlock is getting married to Janine and Molly to Tom at some venue with space for lots of simultaneous events. Then they both get dumped in the altar. And it’s a meet cute of two people commiserating about how annoying it is to be the jilted ‘acceptable’ fiance in a rom com.  -  @escaily

Period pieces/TAB

Victorian “Hooper”lock—Molly in disguise as “Hooper” the man, and they work together on a case and sparks fly. They flirt and all, and Sherlock can’t figure out right away that she’s a woman, and I think it might not even bother him that much.  -  @lullikiish

TABverse – After the whole bride thing Molly Hooper asks Sherlock to help her create a new Alias for herself, something ‘detective proof’. The thing is that Sherlock doesn’t approve of the nurse Alias, or shopkeeper, or the governess one, or the maid costume (brothel girl disguise almost kills him). For Sherlock her new persona will just have to be the wife of someone with status, someone like him.  -  @escaily

Song fic/Inspired by lyrics

Song Fic:  Adele’s “Water Under the Bridge”  -  @darnedchild  (Prompt fill - Water Under The Bridge by SimplyShelbs16)

Song Fic:  … I would love something based on “Samson” by Regina Spektor please.  -  @chelle812

Song Fic:  Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally”  -  @darnedchild

Song Fic:  Texas’ “I’ll See It Through”  -  @darnedchild  (Prompt fill - And I’ll See It Through by darnedchild)

Song Fic:  … I’ve got a quote from a song.  “You only know you love her when you let her go.”  (Note from Mod - The song appears to be Passenger’s “Let Her Go”)  -  @flowerstar5  (Prompt fill - Turn Right by sunken_standard)

Song Fic: Angst.  Based on the ABBA song “Knowing Me, Knowing You”.   Sherlock and Molly have tried to have a serious relationship, but it just didn’t work out.  -  @shadowyqueenbeard

Song Fic: 8 Seconds “Kiss You”  -  @shadowyqueenbeard

OT3/Sherlock, Molly, and ?

A case involving wine and stolen spatulas leads to Mycroft Holmes being attracted to Molly Hooper. Too bad Molly’s had enough of the Holmeses, and Sherlock mooning over her really isn’t helping. (Molly Hooper/Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes)  -  The Silent Fangirl

Molly wants to meet The Woman. Irene and Sherlock are still friends, and Molly is curious. Much to everyone’s surprise, Molly and Irene hit it off fairly quickly. (Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper/Irene Adler)  -   Anonymous

When Sherlock is injured and stuck in a cast up to his thigh, Mary and Molly find out JUST how grumpy he can get. They end up putting him by a window with binoculars, his pain medication, snacks, juice and his mobile. What happens next?  (Molly Hooper/Sherlock Holmes/Mary (Morstan)Watson)  -  @penaltywaltz

[jacensolodjo]

Pairing: None Characters: Sheres, Jango Fett Warning: Nada Genre: Action Summary:  Mostly musings on training for the Alphas. Notes: I’m sure most of this is boring but I tried and hey that’s what counts right

The trees had to be at least twenty times taller than he was, who was about 1.83 meters. He fought to ignore how closed in he felt. Instead, he made his way to the sniper nest that was on the ground rather than up on one of the trees. It would have been too common to expect a sniper to grab the high ground. He did not like being predictable.

He pulled open the ‘roof’ of the nest then dropped down inside. It was little more than a nicely dug hole, with a firing slot in the side of it and cut into the ‘roof’. Once the ‘roof’ settled back down into place, the top of his hair almost brushed against it. He could not go prone in it, but he didn’t want to be either. Instead he sat, waiting with his cheek resting against the butt stock of his rifle almost like using it as a pillow. He made a few corrections, did a few tests on easy to pick out targets to be sure everything was up to snuff scope wise. Once down, he put his helmet on and the suit’s system sprang to life the second it was secured.

He had of course known the common joke about how he had inherited all the patience and left none for the other Alphas. He liked to think of it as the Alphas were simply more hotheaded than he was, rather than he was more patient. But that did not mean he did not get annoyed, or bored. Normally he would have had Hyran as his spotter, to take over watching and waiting while Sheres rested his eyes and mind. But he had to do this himself. Alone. Solo. A singular Alpha, without the support of brothers. A situation he hoped never to come across again. It was easy for his mind to drift. There were tricks he had come across, and some that Jango had taught him, that kept a sniper fresh throughout the hunt. It generally meant they played little imagination games, something that other Alphas like 17 had scoffed at and thus revealed they were not suited to be snipers like Sheres.

Even Jango only had so much to teach him, though. Mainly because Sheres had rocketed past all expectations, had overtaken his progenitor in skill with a rifle for the longshots. 

He was the best at reaching out and touching someone, the ultimate irony for someone so touch-starved of the regular variety. 

Though, Sheres wouldn’t exactly say he was the absolute best sniper in the whole army. But he didn’t need to when it was one of the big things that Cyclo liked to brag about. About how his little brother was the best out of the 100 Alphas which meant he had to be the best of the whole Grand Army. Sheres had long since given up thinking about where the Nulls would place in a sharpshooting contest. And given up even longer trying to point out there had never been any actual test of skill between the two groups much less between the Alphas and the rank and file. Just because they were Alphas didn’t mean there couldn’t be a rank and file trooper that was better at the sniper hunt than he was. But then, Sheres did have some Alpha-pride that absolutely refused to believe that. Saying as such was another matter, though.

It was only when a tiny flickering screen in the corner of his helmet’s HUD sprang to life that his mind returned to the present, to the here and the now. He imagined if he didn’t scrub out the scents he would be able to smell the dirt around him, the foliage that covered his scent from any would-be attack akk dogs or similar. As it was, all he smelled was his own sweat and plasteel of his armor. It took a split second to adjust his attention to the small camera broadcasting in real time to him. But it was almost too slow to catch the sight of a boot that blended rather well in the foliage, same as the sniper hide he was in. Almost, not quite. 

He cycled to another camera in time for that same boot to come into view, and then its twin. A third camera gave him a shot from the waist up as one lone trooper crept along. But Sheres knew he should never assume there was just one. He had always gone by the idea of one visible, but three more invisible. 

His fourth and final camera soon had the full profile of the intruder. That was when he toggled away from the feeds then stripped off his helmet. He knew he had just committed an act that would have been highly frowned upon, something to be disciplined for. If he had been a normal Infantryman anyways. But he was an Alpha, he had leeway on how he did things including wearing his bucket or not. 

A couple of adjustments and his prey entered the killzone crystal clear through the scope. His brows furrowed when the other trooper paused then looked around, like a skittish ewok. But he couldn’t dally, he had to call it in.

“Target acquired. Permission to engage?” His voice sounded rough in his helmet, his throat a little dry. He’d forgotten to stay hydrated for the past few hours. Ah well. Something to remember not to repeat later.

“Close the deal, Alpha-8.”

“Weapons hot. Repeat: weapons hot.”

The last word had barely finished leaving his mouth before there was a sharp FFFT sound as he took the shot. His opponent took it right in the brain stem and dropped like a sack of meilooruns. Or at least, would have had a severed brain stem if it had not been simmunition. Rather, the shot had given a jolt which had caused the other trooper to collapse.

“One down, Overlook.”

“Good work, Alpha-8.” 

It was a voice that was similar to his but not quite. And older, with something of a rusty rumble that his did not quite manage. And, maybe, if he wasn’t simply hoping, there was something close to paternal pride in there. 

He was just about to give a quick thanks before a green and olive drab splashed trooper suddenly stepped into his field of view, nearly stepping on his downed squadmate. Sheres did not allow himself to wonder why that trooper had made such a dumb mistake, instead he went for the kidney tap that then gave him better sight on the killshot to the heart from behind, a shot that would have needed to slide between the very small space afforded between the scapula and the ribs if it had been real. It didn’t matter either way, as the trooper dropped. 

“Two down,” the count was automatic. If he’d had an actual spotter, it would’ve been tallied by them then sent ahead. Instead, it was a direct link to his training sergeant. 

And that was when suddenly his entire field of vision was obscured by smoke. He swore internally before pushing back from the firing slot but keeping the gun in place to prevent another detonator from entering his hide through it, just in case the remaining troopers had zeroed in on his location. 

It was also when he realized perhaps next time he should build a blind that was on the ground not below it. The only way he could leave at that moment was to pop the roof off. Something to also remember for next time. 

He felt more than heard the footsteps on top of his sniper nest. He waited until the sounds were no longer on the false roof/floor of the forest before shoving it open. He was faced with what he hoped was his final opponent. The clunk-thud of the roof caused his opposite number to spin around, gun drawn and at the ready but yet still too slow to stop the sniper from using his backup blaster pistol to score another kill, this time between the eyes. 

Once that hit registered and he had given the heads-up to his progenitor, everything sort of… stopped. The trees disappeared, most of the ground around him disappeared. It was all a simulation of course, but the best simulation of a forest similar to Endor or Kashyyyk one could get on a water planet.

The brothers he had ‘killed’ slowly clambered to their feet as Jango entered from a side door. 

“Well, ner vod, congratulations on earning the top place in sniping evals. I never would’ve thought to look under my feet, but now that you have it’s just one more strategy we can prevent the enemy from employing.”

“Predictability gets you killed,” Sheres mentioned by rote. It earned a slight chuckle.

Jango’s hand clapped down on Sheres’s shoulder that was still covered in the training plasteel and the pauldron that told all of his position as an ARC.

“Though I really should deduct points for the missing kama and bucket removal, I’ll let it slide.”

Sheres knew by then that Jango had to say that, it was in the regs. But it was also not the first time his lack of kama had been brought up. It made him smile slightly. 

“Anything that gets the job done, right?”

Jango laughed at that, his own code turned against him. 

“C’mon, time to get something to eat. Orar squad, great job. Don’t feel too bad about losing everyone in this sim, you were going after an expert marksman after all,” as he spoke, Jango led the way out of the simulation room and down to the mess in ARC country. Sheres removed his helmet then clipped it to his belt as he walked, leaving him as barefaced as his fellow ARCs. Though the base mold was Jango, nothing in the universe could have stopped them from slowly branching out to have their own faces on top of it. Each one could be pegged as related, but the differences kept them from uncanny valley ultra-identical territory. 

It was the unpredictability of those changes in life, even for cloners who had conquered the art of it, that made them so wonderfully human and diverse. Cloning a genetic template was nowhere close to copying a piece of flimsi and pasting it elsewhere.

One thing was predictable about them: they were always hungry after a good training simulation. 

And so they ate their fill and no one thought of the future because they were far too focused on the idea behind Shereshoy’s namesake: don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today. Seize the day, for you may not be here tomorrow. Thinking about the future wasn’t going to do a shab’la thing. Only your actions, now, did.

[youdecode]

How To Make a Wish Come True

Peering out through the cracked glass of an old wooden window, she gazed at the stars wondering how to make a wish come true. Infinite twinkling stars transmitted their message by sparkling brighter.

Do you want to know what they whispered through that glimmer?

They conveyed that answer is within you. Yes, you know how to make a wish come true.

Let this article show you the magic which is within you. Magic through which you can make countless wishes come true.

AND ? Who does not want to learn how to make a wish come true? Or any improvement in life? Everyone does right.

One needs better health, special love, financial independence, and whatnot. The list goes on and it should go on. The only limit is which is set by our mind.

You know we have been programmed with several mathematical and scientific formulas but we are not equipped with the formula of life.

Several people are missing this formula in their life which is extremely simple but incredibly powerful.

Without further ado let’s dig in that formula which you need to use to make dreams come true.

Step 1 : Focus on the wish & its power

You might be already aware of the fact that we experience  60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day.

Yes, a lot right.

And out of these thoughts, a decent number makes up your wishes.

That wish can be as small as I wish to catch the bus or as big as I wish to conquer the world.

You Wish but then you most likely ignore because sadly Newtonian concepts of this world are ingrained in our heads. Where the dimension of time restricts us. We have a past, present, and future.

We wish for something for the future but then by comparing it with our present we just dump all the hopes down in dashes. By ignoring these wishes, we are in essence killing the possibility of making it true.

One does not focus on the wish because it seems too good to be true.

Thanks to this lack of focus, one does not get the dreams fulfilled. Being mindful of the wishes is the first milestone towards their fulfillment.

We all are aware of a fact that where attention goes there energy flows. The problem with the majority of us is that we do not let that energy be created.

Magic of energy to make a wish come true:

Have you ever seen the law of gravity?

No, right. But you know that it exists. Similarly, the law of attraction exists which is a secondary stage from the law of vibration. But as there is no formula for it, we fail to recognize it.

The law of vibration is the law of energy. Don’t worry I will not get scientific here, as we have had a lot of that!

Simply, everything is energy. I am energy. You are energy.

And we constantly transmit energy. If you convert your wish or desire into a strong intention then the magic begins there as you will be vibrating out energy.

Step 2:  Know the formula [get the ingredients]

The wish should never be an idle thought rather the formula is simple:

Intention + Emotion = Manifested Wish

 Activate Intention [Faith]

The intention is simply a focused thought. You need to combine this intention with any of the positive emotions.  Let’s work on its application with a clear cut example. You wish to manifest $10,000 in a week.

First of all, detach from this comparison of your current situation which will do nothing but laugh at you as if you are auditioning for a comedy show.

It will laugh so hard that it can even make you the winner of the show.

So do not become the contestant for that very audition instead activate the faith.

How can you activate faith?

Simply do not expect or hope for the wish to come true instead know that it will come true. Knowing is the highest level of faith, as you would not question what you know.

By now you have sorted one ingredient of the formula which is the intention in this example of manifesting money.

Activate Emotion [Feeling ]

What about emotion?

Experience the feeling of abundance. Feel that you already have $10,000 into your bank account and they will continue depositing. Feel joy.

Feel prosperous and financially independent. If you are like how can I feel when I do not have that yet then let me tell you a secret.

You think that you will feel prosperous [the effect] when you will get the money [the cause] but the law of attraction does not work like that. Your mind is limiting itself.

The subconscious mind is trained in such a way that it works on cause and effect, as that what you have always learned. But this law does not apply to real life.

You can feel prosperous without depending on the occurrence of money. You can feel loved without the physical presence of a true lover in your life.

You can feel anything as what you feel is a choice. Yes, the feeling is a choice. You need to permit yourself as of now you have set the conventional rules.

The rules like not feeling happy as nothing cheerful happened. Instead, feel happy then cheerful happenings will follow. The lifework on this inverted cycle where effect becomes the cause of the actual good.

So feel the effects as if they already happened. Feel the positive emotion of being financially independent at the moment. Now you have both the ingredients of intention and emotion at your deposit.

    Step 3:  Game of Subconscious Mind Make a Wish Come  True

[cook the recipe]

Heard a lot about subconscious already? Or completely clueless? Either way let’s dig into it!

Understand the subconscious :

Why to understand subconscious mind? Because you have to connect with infinite intelligence through your this mind. If you do not know what subconscious mind is then it is that large chunk of your mind which controls your life.

The interesting thing is that one mostly programs the subconscious mind in a way that it negatively affects life.

The subconscious mind does not have the power of choice but it has the power of turning thoughts into reality. This deductive mind will not analyze whether a thought is good for you or not. It will simply act on it.

There are several ways to understand your relationship with your subconscious mind. If you are a screenwriter then the subconscious mind is that versatile actor who will just act upon the dialogues provided and give life to the character.

If we compare the scenario, then the dialogues are your strong thoughts which you input and the acting of actor is the creation of reality.

The more conventional example would be that of a ship. Where you are the sailor and all the engines are the subconscious mind, just acting upon your instructions.

If you will not be mindful of what you are feeding into your mind then you will be only responsible for not realizing your life. Don’t blame the poor subconscious! Instead, befriend it.

Reach the subconscious mind

Now that you know the formula, you understand the subconscious, all you need to do is create your reality by feeding it to your brain. This feeding process is vital as formula alone would not work on its own.

You need to put in a bit of effort. Half the task is already done, the rest is what I call the feeding process.

Let’s see how to connect with the subconscious mind who has all the power. Several ways are taught in neuro-linguistic programming of communicating with the subconscious mind.

You will find people saying that you can not connect with this mind directly without letting a thought pass through the conscious mind.

But I disagree. It is often misunderstood that the only path to the subconscious mind is through the door of a conscious mind.

But there are some uncommon ways which are extremely powerful to reach the subconscious mind. If you try to connect with the subconscious through consciousness then there will be a lot of hindrances.

Why? Well, your conscious mind is your biggest enemy as it operates with logic.

Yeah, you heard me right.

I am in essence suggesting that logically become your enemy.

When you make a wish then your conscious mind logically tells you why your wish is absurd and why you should stop pursuing the wish. It will not tell you one reason but a list of reasons.

Continuing that same example of manifesting $10,000 in a week. Your subconscious mind argues, “Why do you think you even deserve that?”

“You do not have any skill or any such luck. How can you forget your past ?”

Yes, “past” the favorite tool of the conscious mind, it will just use it every time against you. So be ready.

You will now be questioning that if your conscious mind will never allow the input of intention + emotion into your subconscious mind then how will you be able to manifest the wish? How you will make a wish come true? Well, the idea is simple: take another route.

You can not always reach a destination via road, sometimes you have no option other than booking a flight and travel via plane.

You will do the same here. Take a ship or plane as there is much traffic (the unwanted chatter of conscious mind on the road! And the signal is always red . . okay I will stop, you get the picture)

3 Tools to Reach Subconscious Mind

The tools which I have found to be the most effective are affirmations, and journaling. I explain the right way of deploying powerful technique in my courses which will open soon.

Remember there is the right way of doing everything. But I have told you the secret tools. Either get value from the course or search yours. But these tools are extremely powerful.

Affirmations will not work if you simply keep saying I am manifesting 10,000 dollars at the weekend but it will work if you are repeating it with intensity and conviction.

I dig deeper into affirmation in the course as it is impossible for me to explain through a post.

Similarly, journaling is a powerful technique that can transform your life, if done the right way.

IT CHANGED MY LIFE. If you have heard that there is no right or wrong way of journaling then let me share my experience: there is.

I have been journaling since 13 years of age. I used to journal like, “dear diary! . . .”

There is nothing wrong with this but this is not the answer to how to make your wish come true. I have invested more than 7 years of life journaling. I have learned a lot from my experience and a lot from the online courses which I took.

I so believed in the power of journaling that I did not take one course but more than three best-paid courses on “journaling for manifestation” alone.

I channeled all the knowledge, related everything, and devised a missing link which is vital for journaling the TRIPLE G’s. Get the idea here. Then self-hypnosis is yet one.

There are so many things that go into each technique for making a wish come true. If you are not yet ready to invest in yourself and your magical future. Then no worries, I’ve briefed the basics below.

Perform all these techniques of journaling, affirmations, and glass technique(optional) before sleeping and after waking up. These times are valuable. As your mind is in the theta state (for simplification assume that in this stage the negative logical chatter of your conscious mind is the least).

When you are sleepy and when you just wake up, the subconscious mind is highly active. This is the right time of feeding the formula/ingredient we have been discussing above.

Journaling

Open up your journal and write down your wish in the most detailed way possible. The key to make a wish come true is journal as if you have those $10,000. Write about how you are spending them right now. Every detail.

By writing and scripting, you are in essence making your script concrete. I can not stress enough that by writing down you are directing the intentions towards the universe.

No matter how many wishes you have in a day, just follow the formula of intention + emotion and write it down. The power lies in the repetition of this writing process for manifestation. Again be mindful of the time when you are scripting.

Affirmations

Repeat the affirmations for the focused wish before sleeping and waking up. Build a mental picture and visualize while uttering the affirmations.

Glass of water technique

Apart from the techniques briefed above there is a famous glass of water technique for making a wish come true. I have not personally used this technique as I heavily rely upon affirmations, the right way of journaling

But I believe this technique works because it involves the flow of energy which is the law. So to make a wish come true just take a glass of water (any type of water).

Next, rub your hands together. This rubbing of hands is activating the field of energy. Now, you need to place each hand near the glass without making contact (keep your hands around it).

Keep your hands in the position and say out the wish aloud. You can keep your wish short here.

Remember to attach emotion with the intention as emotion will boost the vibration and energy flow. Visualize your wish and then drink the water quickly.

This technique transfers the energy of the wish into the body. Keep the timings the same as mentioned for journaling.

Again I just read about this technique somewhere, but I believe it works. And trust my belief is the key. Anything can work, only if you believe it will.

 How to make a wish come true:Wrap Up

Congratulations on finishing the guide about how to make a wish come true!

Remember everything is created twice. When you are making a wish you are creating it once and then when you are feeding it to your brain and acting upon it, you are creating it in reality.

Another small trick for how to make a wish come true. Comment your wish below while feeling it. Make it something concrete. Write, “ I wish for . . .  And I believe I will get it”

By doing this small act, you will be setting out a powerful intention, from where all the magic begins. MAGIC IS WITHIN YOU.

  The post How To Make a Wish Come True appeared first on You Decode.

[richardlowejr]

How Has Writing Changed Your Life? [Roundup]

Writing has changed my life dramatically. It’s given me a purpose for living and let me fulfill my passion while making an income.

I wondered how writing has affected other people, so I asked a few of them:

How has writing changed your life?

Here are their unedited responses.

Click on a photo to go directly to the author’s Facebook page.

Kyle Waller

Writing changed my life because it saved it from a knife dancing too close to my throat in my own hand. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, I mean every word. No, I won’t redact it because it’s the truth. I should not be alive to write this, my Depression should’ve been the end of the story back in 2009 when I was thirteen. Writing is one of the things, one of my core passions, that kept me going. The days were dark, but the nights of solace by a candle and a dimly lit computer, creating my universes, my characters and fashioning a world from nothing- it was serenity in a sea of entropy- my one saving grace. I shouldn’t be here to tell you about my novels coming out that bring Mental Illness into the spotlight, but here I am. I share this all freely because we lose people every, single, day, that we don’t need to. Everyone knows someone who battles with Mental Illness… I will tell my story, the world will hear it, and if it saves but one life, then all the effort is worth it. In short: I write because I do not have a choice.

Facebook: Kyle Waller

Clare Flynn

Unexpectedly it has provided me with the income I’d been hoping my pension would bring. So I’ve not needed to draw my pension. I realise this is unusual and I’m very grateful. I wake up each morning happy and raring to go. I love writing and telling stories. I particularly love getting emails from readers telling me how my books have affected them. Sometimes I wish I’d started this long ago – but I have no regrets and I loved my previous professional life. But I don’t have time to do all the painting I planned!

Website: Clare Flynn

Chris N Jerri Schlenker

I started writing in retirement. It has grounded me and given me purpose in that I hope my writing is touching lives in a positive way. I strive for my writing to be inspirational. One of the best compliments I ever received was from a lady telling me they were reading my book Sally to a bedridden relative and it was giving her such pleasure. She was recounting her own past to them. Writing about Sally was one of my main reasons for beginning my writing journey. Sally lived from 1858 to 1969, born into slavery. I met her when I was 8 in 1961.

  Bonnie Dillabough

This is an interesting question, since from my standpoint I can hardly remember a time when I wasn’t writing. So has writing changed my life? I do know this. That I can’t imagine a life without it and my imagination is pretty active.

When I was 8 years old I wrote a 28 line rhyming poem entitled, The Christmas Alphabet, which I then performed for the church Christmas party. I was particularly fascinated by poetry and music, so it seemed a natural thing to write songs. I was never the one to count the number of words in my assigned stories in school, since my stories always exceeded the minimum number of words.

In high school I was named the Poet Laureate of the school in my freshman year. My winning poem was featued in a yearly publication called “The Albatross”. In my senior year I wrote a musical play based on the stories of Dr. Seuss.

Over the years I have written newspaper articles, stories, plays, songs, blogs as well as many reports and whitepapers.

How has writing changed my life? From a young child it enabled me to indulge my creative flights of fancy. It allows me to express things that I can do in no other way. It allows me to organize my thoughts and draw the pictures that my lack of artistic talent wouldn’t allow otherwise.

It gives me great satisfaction to see my words on paper and makes me happy when my words have a positive impact on someone. It allows me to keep a record for my children and grandchildren.

And, now that I am finally writing a novel, it allows me to hopefully give others the joy I feel when reading books by the authors I love.

Website

Jo-Anne Blanco

Writing has always been a part of my life, one way or another. As a young child, teenager, student, then as an English language teacher and university tutor travelling and working around the world, I had always written stories, essays, and diaries of my travels, although I never published anything until last year. Writing is part of my being, part of myself; the epic historical fantasy series I am currently writing has been over a decade in the making. My father’s illness and having to give up my teaching career to become a full-time carer led to me taking a correspondence course in creative writing, which in turn gave me the courage to embark upon the novel writing I always wanted to do. The greatest way in which writing has changed my life is that it has helped me develop this new courage to put my work and myself out into the world like never before.

Before I published my first novel, I had no internet presence, no social media accounts. I never posted on internet forums or the like. I was never afraid to travel the world, to go backpacking in the remotest areas, or to live and work in countries where I knew no one and didn’t speak the language. Yet I was still chronically shy, deeply insecure, and lacked confidence in myself and my abilities. Writing and publishing, networking and making contacts, and gradually reaching readers and reviewers who like my work is helping me overcome my insecurities to become a more confident and complete person. I am now acquiring new computer and tech skills of which I was previously unaware or which I believed I would be unable to master. I love my work, I love my book series, I love my protagonist and her supporting characters, and I love that the new-found confidence writing and publishing has given me is finally allowing me to share them with the world.

Website: jo-anneblanco.com

Bjørn Larssen

Writing saved my life. I used to work as a blacksmith until spine injuries ended my career. The pain was so excruciating that despite maximum doses of painkillers I could still only sit in one position…which luckily allowed me to use the laptop. I started working on my first novel on January 1st, 2017. Since then the pain has largely disappeared, but I will never be able to forge again. If it weren’t for the writing, I don’t know whether I would be around. It allowed me to escape my body and immerse myself in stories.

It doesn’t end there. When the pain allowed me to get on a plane, I visited Iceland for research for a few days. I did not expect to fall in love with the country to the point where I spent all of April 2018 there, made friends, saw as much as I could, and became determined to move there one day. Because there is so much left to be seen. Writing gave me a reason to live, and then showed me how fantastic life still can be despite the fact I can’t work at the forge anymore. What was my plan B became a huge part of my life. I am finishing the first novel, drafting the second, outlining the third. Two years ago I thought this was it for me. Now? I have to go on living, I am busy, there are so many more stories I’ve got to write!

Blog: www.bjornlarssen.com

Stephen Schneider

So far, writing hasn’t changed it much other than keeping me busy and a lot of free time being taken up with writing, I haven’t published yet but am close

Website: sa-schneider.com

Christopher Kaufman

That’s a difficult question to answer. I have been writing and composing music all of my life. It is what my life is. The question might be, how would ‘not’ having been a creative artist changed my life? However, I would then have no answer because it would not have been my life at all!

Website: soundartus.com

  Robin Leemann Donovan

I’ve always been a control freak, working hard to maintain a tight reign on as many aspects of my life as possible. When I started writing my first novel, I designed a process and built a timeline, allowing myself little leeway. As the writing progressed it became evident that I was not controlling the process, rather the process was controlling me. I would often find myself at points in the plot where I didn’t know what would happen next, yet I kept writing. I would often look back and be surprised at what had been written, sometimes an event that didn’t exist a few minutes earlier, and sometimes a memory from deep within my brain that found its way out and onto the page. That is probably why writing novels is one of the most relaxing things I do. I let myself go and let my subconscious take over – and I love the freedom it gives me.

Website

Donna Leigh Mysteries

Facebook

Paty Jager

I don’t worry as much anymore. I know that sounds strange, but early in my marriage my husband was a truck driver. Every time he’d be gone for several days, I’d have accident scenarios running through my head all day long. If family were coming to visit, I’d have visions of bad things happening to them. When I started writing, all of that went away because I had an outlet for my imagination.

Website Blog Facebook Page Amazon Pinterest Twitter Goodreads

Lionel Snell

I was quite good at writing stories at school – until I went for maths and higher maths at A level. My writing went to pot, because I had been drilled in a system of communication where every statement can only be a logical deduction from the previous one. Different from science – where the initial statement has to be one that is objectively ‘true’ and the final story also has to ‘prove’ itself by producing results under laboratory conditions.

In writing there is much less logical constraint and, in fiction writing, the initial statements do not even have to be objectively true. In that sense, maths is more like fiction, because you often begin with a statement that is pure fantasy, such as ‘consider a perfect circle’ – where the atomic structure of matter says that there can never be such a thing as a perfect circle. But writing, like science, does need to ‘prove’ itself – not under laboratory conditions but in the reader’s mind or life.

So if I write: “Let us create a garden as they did in Findhorn, by consulting the local devas” then I am starting like a mathematician, not like a scientist (who would require proof that devas ‘exist’). But, unlike a mathematician, the final test would be whether the reader liked what I wrote and, above all, whether following my idea and acting ‘as if’ devas existed resulted in a really super garden.

That is the way I learned to write, and how it changed my life.

Website

Wendy Jones

For me writing was a lifesaver, or at least saved me from dying of boredom. Terminal boredom. I took early retirement on health grounds. For someone who worked every hour God sent, this was a bit of a shock. I started writing a book and my life changed completely. The first book was a step on my future journey. Little did I know just where that journey would take me.

In the past four years I have published nine books, edited two and have another coming out in the next two weeks. I have written books for adults, young adults and children, spoken at national and international conferences, started my own crime conference, Crime at the Castle, and present a radio show. I am also the President of the Scottish Association of Writers, secretary of the Society of Authors in Scotland, webmaster for the Association of Christian Writers and Scottish convenor of the Crime Writers Association. I have made friends too numerous to mention and I can honestly say I am no longer bored.

Website

Amazon Author Page

Twitter 

Facebook

Roz Morris

To be honest, I don’t know. I’ve always written, so you might as well ask what I did before I breathed. When I was at school, I wrote, but nobody else did so I thought I was peculiar for enjoying it. Later there was a phase when I wrote but thought I wasn’t doing it ‘properly’ because I did not have the means to become an author. And then, reader, I married an author. Suddenly every new person I met had a book they were writing. That was what I needed.

So I don’t think writing changed my life. I think my life gradually caught up with the writing.

Where to find me – Twitter @Roz_Morris

Website Book

Sydney Segen

As I drove to work one morning in Southern California, time suddenly stood still. An ultra-bright image of dazzling skies flashed in front of my eyes, and a compelling idea popped into my brain: I would start writing children’s novels. Weird? Yes. But it did happen, and I did quit my day job, and I did become a writer.

My career careened among fascinating clients: Zondervan Publishing House, San Diego Zoo, American History Museum, Scholastic, Aneuser-Busch, Inc., The White House, and more. I’m still having so much fun that it’s hard to believe people actually pay me to have a good time. Of course, there were times with no work; I took a ten-year hiatus to work at the University of California; life happened, and I wrote my way through it. Writing not only changed my life, it became my life. And now that I’m old, I just won’t quit.

Facebook: Hope After Trauma and PTSD; Truth Be Told Website: SydneySegen.com

Blog: http://sydneysegen.com/blog/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1984917153/

Helen Prochazka

There are so many ways that writing has changed my life. I love that being an indie author has:

Enabled me to start a new career that can be a global one… in a job that has no retiring age.

Taught me patience and persistence… especially when dealing with software and technology.

Given me the intense pleasure of achieving a long term goal… then realising the work doesn’t stop when the book is published.

Shown me that the days of being an introverted quiet achiever are over… I need to put myself out there to succeed.

Allowed me to discover that I could write poetry… The Mathematics Book contains 14 mathematical poems.

Taught me to be humble in the true sense of the word… and learn to accept compliments graciously.

Given me the opportunity to fulfil my childhood dream of working as a graphic designer… albeit an unpaid one.

Let me interact with indie booksellers… and finding that they are passionate big dreamers just like indie authors.

Exposed me to new people and ideas, even when home alone… it’s akin to travelling.

Provided me with a chance to make a difference… particularly to maths phobic adults!

Facebook Website

Brenda Haire

Writing has changed me and my life in so many ways. My book, Save the Butter Tubs!: Discover Your Worth in a Disposable World is a very personal journey of discovering my worth through writing my grandmother’s story. I absolutely feel I am doing what I was called to do. My goal is to help others discover their worth and transform their lives and legacy.

There was a significant time in my life where I felt absolutely worthless. I still have days, moments where I have to remind myself of whose I am and that He has called me to something bigger than myself. My worth isn’t determined by what I do, it is determined by my Creator. Just like the value of a Van Gogh painting isn’t determined by whose house it hangs in, but by the creator.

I believe that our gifts are the way our soul expresses itself and I am thankful to be able to fully express myself through my writing, speaking, and coaching. For the first time, I feel fully alive! I am doing things I once only dreamed about!

Brenda Speaker, Coach, Author of Save the Butter Tubs: Discover Your Worth in a Disposable World

http://www.BrendaHaire.com http://www.facebook.com/brendaahaire http://www.instagram.com/brendaahaire http://www.twitter.com/brendahaire http://www.pinterest.com/brendaahaire

Walter Boomsma

Writing has changed my life by making me a clearer thinker and a better communicator. But I also think it works both ways. Good thinkers and communicators are destined to write. Good writers are destined to become better thinkers and communicators.

http://wboomsma.com

      James Lawless

It has made me more sedentary and sometimes gives the feeling that while you are analyzing life, you are not always living it.

Website

        Erin McIntyre

Writing has added a new dimension to my life and reinvigorated my childhood imagination. It may take away most (okay, all) free time when not at the day job, but it’s certainly worth every moment. Knowing I’ve built a world for others to lose themselves in is the greatest reward and fills me with a true sense of accomplishment.

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  Bronwen Griffiths

Writing has given me a purpose in life and even though I often write about difficult social issues such as war and refugees, writing has made me a happier person. Perhaps it’s because writing enables me to immerse myself in the subject and find resolution – which sometimes cannot be found in ‘real’ life.

My website is at: www.bronwengriff.co.uk

Here you can find my blog posts, flash fiction and poems.

  Dixie Maria Carlton

How has writing changed my life? This is a question I ponder from time to time. Usually when I’m talking with others about the difference between being a professional speaker or thought leader, and a professional writer. As a writer, I’m able to locate what’s really in the deeper recesses of my mind and bring those thoughts and ideas to the front, and either share them or refine them.

Writing affords me the opportunity to explore topics of non-fiction and to develop my story telling skills in fiction. I get to get things out of my head and into something tangible what ever it is that I’m writing at any time and for any reason. When you consider the popular idea of doing that which you love and would do without reward because it is an integral part of who you are, for me, I realise that quite simply, I am a writer.

Now, I’m blessed to work in a way that helps other writers to bring their words to life, for the benefit of others. To explore their stories and how best to share them. What a privilige, what a joy that is!

www.authorityauthors.com.au

  Carol Cooper

For a start, I have a notebook to hand at all times, even by my bed, in case an idea pops into my head. However, the most significant changes have been in my working routine.

As a writer, I’m able to work for myself and pick my hours, deadlines permitting. I can choose my workplace too. All I need is a bit of quiet and comfort. Writing is the ultimate portable occupation, especially if, like me, you use pencil and paper for the first draft.

But it’s not all lounging about on a comfy sofa waiting for inspiration to strike. Writing is, as the saying goes, ten per cent inspiration and ninety per cent perspiration, and I believe in working at it just as in any other job.

There’s also been an effect on those around me. As a doctor, I’m used to complete strangers describing their symptoms. Now that I’m also a writer, people seem compelled to share their life story, begging me to include at least some of it in my next book. I haven’t yet, but maybe one day I will…

facebook author page (fiction) Carol Cooper’s London novels https://www.facebook.com/onenightatthejacaranda/ instagram https://www.instagram.com/drcarolcooper/ website www.drcarolcooper.com blog Pills and Pillow-Talk twitter @DrCarolCooper

Author information

Richard Lowe Jr

Owner and Senior Writing at The Writing King

Richard is the Owner and Senior Writer for The Writing King, a bestselling author, and ghostwriter. He's written and published 63 books, ghostwritten 20+ books, as well as hundreds of blog articles.

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