#hmmm it’s in the DNA of it I wonder what that means

[loveandthings11]

Jeremy Strong for The Hollywood Reporter 3/27/23

Soooo- Kendall CEO? Maybe, maybe not. Or perhaps Logan is the one who gets what he wants but isn’t satisfied. We’re seeing that already.

[imaginethezeldaverse]

Ahhh I love your work! Every work of yours I’ve read has been absolutely amazing, you write so beautifully. I was wondering if I could maybe request a Revali x reader headcanons of Rito mating season or heat/rut? Have a wonderful day/night as well!

Hmmm okay, I think I can give you a few off the top of my head, sure! Since we're talking about a mating season, I'm going to write reader a female/afab/child-bearing capable perspective, if that's okay. There's a headcanon I have that will involve that aspect (so trigger warning for that too btw - I'll add it in in the tags but just an fyi!) I also added a little mini fic in there for funsies lol enjoy!

It's overwhelming for him. Being with you is the first time his heat has ever truly affected him before, so the experience engulfs the poor Rito man. It's a new experience for you both.

He's scared he'll hurt you - like...actually scared. For as headstrong as he can be and how well he carries himself, he very much is still a hero - and that means no harm comes to people that don't deserve it. Especially you - who he loves so dearly and would give his ability to fly if it came down to it.

His instincts are so strong he almost can't control them this time. There's a sensation in him that needs to breed you - take you over and over until he knows he's successfully put a child in you.

Should you decide to help him, he's definitely not going to be gentle. You'll likely sustain some scratches, rug burn, and a few hickies here from his love bites. He's giving in to inhibition here, running with something more primal and animalistic than either of you are used to. But if that scares you - please heed his warning and leave! He absolutely would not hold it against you.

Afterwards, he's very cuddly and it's then you'll realize that he's made a makeshift nest out of a bunch of soft things he owned: garments, shed feathers, even all of his scarves that he's owned through the years. He'll hold you to his chest (and his heart is beating FAST), his chirps and trills are quiet but against your body you hear him clear as day. It takes a few minutes for him to slip back into a less animal-like frame of mind, so forgive him if he doesn't answer any questions or respond to you coherently right away.

Normally Revali had never had an issue with mating season before recent - without a mate to call his own, the ruts were never something he couldn't handle. However, after falling for you, the creation of an unbreakable bond of love and trust changes things inside him. His Rito DNA senses the deep affection he holds for you and ultimately alters his internal biology to reflect as such. So when mating season comes around, you're both blissfully unaware at first. Until you walk into his hut and find him doubled over. The scent of you hits him right away, and in a very rough, shaky voice he begs you not to come any closer. But you can clearly see that he's sweating profusely, feathers fluffed and tousled. He's disheveled and groaning in what sounds like pain so immediately you're thinking he's injured...or worse.

When you try to approach him again he raises his voice to leave him alone. "Please!" he begs - and the red alarms in your head are blaring because he is not one to beg for anything - "I need you...t-to leave..." his head hangs and his chest heaves as he tries to keep a semblance of his decency intact, "I c-c-can't...pro...tect you..." You look at him confused, protect you from what? There's currently no danger! Scanning the room, you still don't understand. But then you remember, from a book you'd read a while ago that Princess Zelda has lent to you (just so you could understand Rito culture a bit better) - spring always meant mating season. Your eyes connect with the foliage that peeks just outside of Revali's window - an elder tree in full bloom. So Revali was-- "Let me help you," you offer, realizing now why he seemed so pained. You didn't think about the decision, didn't think about the repercussions - all you wanted was for him to no longer be in distress. The black pupils of this emerald eyes withered to slits. His breathing picks up, a few short huffs away from a hyperventilation. With the last shred of coherent thought he could must, he exhaled out, "I'll...hurt...you..."

Perhaps it was your bravery, or maybe your caring, stubborn heart that would shrug off your coat, laying it on the ground before him. Revali watches you through his exasperated panting, the erection in his lower garments straining terribly, though he's trying to hide it. The groan he lets out sends a chill down your own spine when you move to gently cup his beak in your hands. As soon as you understood what was happening, you knew the risk of staying there. "I don't care, Revali...I know what you need..." his feather take on a more purple shade as he flushes, "...And I want to help you."

You barely have time to undo the bodice portion of your dress when your hands release his face and you turn to undress, because he almost immediately pins you down. His rush on your body has you landing a little awkwardly on your chest and stomach, but it's soothed by the sensation of long, soft fingered-feathers caressing your sensitive skin. The Rito's beak pecks everywhere he can reach, even plucking at your sleeves to release more of your skin from your dress. You feel his taloned foot wrap around your ankle, not necessarily doing anything to you other than anchoring you beneath him. His winged digits pinch your nipples to stiffness: the combination of those pulses of electricity and the very obvious hardness poking at your backside have you gasping already.

His rut makes him impatient; you know this as you already feel fingers circling your entrance, half to rile you up further, half to make sure you're ready. But again - Revali is impatient, and so up goes your dress, over your hips. There's brief shuffling behind you and then just as you brace your hand around what would essentially be his wrist, Revali is already spreading your legs and sliding between them. The pressure of him inside of you has you keening, and you're thankful for the little bit of foreplay you were given, making you just wet enough to accommodate him. The wing that toyed with your chest was now crowding around your neck, pulling your body upright and flush against his chest as he took you.

Revali is far less than gentle, the rough huffs and deep chitters falling over your skin as he held you still: one wing wound very loosely around your neck, the other gripping your thigh for purchase. His beak nibbled at whatever flesh he could reach. "Re...valiiiiii" you whined out, breath hitching mid thrust. But he could not hear you, his mind so incensed with fucking you to fullness, more avian than anything else as he slammed his hips into you. Yes, he would bed you multiple times that evening, and in multiple positions no less, spilling his seed so deep inside you, even he wasn't able to get you pregnant - he was surely going to take you like he planned on it.

------

After all is said and done, you eventually wake upon a bed of soft clothes and feathers. As you look down you realize it's shaped meticulously, as though it was made to have a form. It was then you realize his need to mate had him go through all of the motions: including building a nest for his mate. You look up at your Rito Champion, the tufts of his feathers much more relaxed than earlier as he rests. Your fingers gently stroke his beak, and the pleased chirp he lets out warms your heart. His wings wrap around your frame a little tighter; your hands waft through the down of his chest. You've no idea if this means you'll actually conceive or not - but you do know you don't mind in the least. You love Revali entirely, you wouldn't have offered if you didn't, and you're hoping that making love to him through his rut was proof enough. His beak finds your temple, carefully nibble and peck at the strands of your hair as if to preen you - it makes you giggle, his animal instincts still showing out in small ways as he settles down into sleep.

You'd assess any repercussions of his rougher handling when you awoke later, right now it just felt good to be in his arms like this.

[suzukiblu]

Blink! Or stutter

"Hmmm," Lois says. "Sounds like a pretty deep drop, then."

"I definitely wouldn't be talking about my maternal feelings for Kon while he was feral if I thought he was actually hearing any of them," Clara admits. "That seems . . . unwise. And unfair."

"Maybe," Lois says. "Pretty sure you're gonna have to talk to him about them after this, though. I wasn't kidding about Twitter. The thing where you just very publically dropped in out of nowhere on the cranky and destructively feral nineteen year-old in pre-rut that everyone knows was genetically programmed to be a compatible mate for you while in pre-heat and then just took him up to the nearest convenient rooftop to nurse him is very literally trending right now. It is several kinds of trending, in fact."

"Of course it is," Clara groans, shaking her head as she makes a face. "For god's sake, what, people think I'd rut the kid on a roof in broad daylight while surrounded by cameras with telescopic lenses? Really?"

"Possibly it's more that they're hoping you would," Lois says dryly.

"I'd at least take him to my nest, Jesus," Clara grumbles, clearly disgruntled. "Even if I were actually a horrible enough person to take advantage of his programming that way, I'd have that much decency about it."

"Well, at least most of Metropolis knows that, but the world at large unfortunately does not," Lois says. "So yeah, honey, you're going to have to talk to Kon about those maternal feelings you've been having and about what he wants you to say when every single person in the world asks you to define your relationship with the three year-old clone based on your own DNA who looks like he fell out of a Playgirl centerfold and landed face-first in your S-shield."

"I suppose so," Clara sighs. "I just don't want to upset or embarrass him with any of this. Has there been any talk about him chirping?"

"Chirping?" Lois sounds surprised. "I haven't seen anything about that, no. When did he do that?"

"The moment he scented me," Clara says. "He stopped right in the middle of smashing up the block and just immediately chirped at me and–well, then he flew up and hugged me, actually. Like he was excited to see me, it seemed like. And then he started nuzzling my chest and chirped some more, and, well . . ."

"Oh," Lois says. "Yeah, no damn wonder you got milked up for the kid, then. Especially with your heat coming on."

"Pretty sure it was unavoidable, yeah," Clara says. "You should've seen his face light up when he saw me, it was unbearably adorable. I think the only thing that could get me to get milked up more efficiently than this situation did would be Kon or Jon just outright asking me to."

"Arguably, this was Kon asking you to," Lois says. "Chirping for you, hugging you, and nuzzling your chest? That isn't all that subtle a request, coming from someone who's currently nonverbal."

". . . oh," Clara says, blinking slowly. "Huh. Do you think so?"

"Honey, you've known the kid basically his entire life," Lois says. "Has he ever checked you out or made any kind of a move or even just smelled like he wanted to mount you? Ever?"

"No," Clara says, her voice a little slow now too. "He hasn't."

"Not even today, when he saw you while in feral drop and pre-rut?" Lois asks. "Not even a little?"

"It didn't even occur to me, to be honest," Clara murmurs. "That he might've reacted that way, I mean."

"Of course it didn't, you're his mom," Lois replies reasonably. "So who knows, maybe he'll be disappointed if you don't seal the deal on this adoption too."

[the-sky-queen]

Sonic, Silver and Shadow body swap

What shenanigans do you think they'll get up to?

Hmmm, depends on who's getting swapped where. Alright, let's say this:

Shadow is in Sonic's body

Sonic is in Silver's body

Silver is in Shadow's body

I think the biggest source of chaos would be watching each of the personalities of the Triple S Trio in the wrong bodies. XD Silver being all cute and excited as Shadow, Shadow being grumpy as Sonic, that kind of thing. And the powers would definitely cause trouble! Sonic's never had psychokinesis and Silver's never had THIS MUCH Chaos Energy at his disposal. I feel like Shadow might have a bit of a hard time with Sonic's raw speed, but since he's already fast, he'd get the hang of it pretty quick. And he'd HATE not being able to use his chaos attacks like he's used to. And also the fact that Shadow isn't invulnerable anymore and could get legitimately hurt, which would catch him extremely off guard.

Ooooooo I wonder how Silver would deal with Shadow's Black Arms DNA? I headcanon that Shadow has a few instincts and stuff as a result of that bit of his heritage, so it could be interesting!

OH AND! I wonder if stuff like phobias and mental stuff stays with the body or the mind of the person. Because if it stays with the body, then that means Silver has to deal with Shadow's trauma, Shadow has a sudden fear of water, and Sonic is deathly afraid of fire. >:)

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 193: Sae's Palace: Act 1

As Ren was on the train heading to school, she messaged the group.

Ren: I think we should meet to discuss Akechi’s list, and tackle Sae’s palace today.

Makoto: Good thinking.

Sumire: I’m a little concerned about everything.

Sumire: I mean, this isn’t a usual palace by any stretch of the imagination.

Yusuke: True, but we can’t afford to do nothing either.

Ryuji: I’m sure once we figure out our infiltration route we’ll figure out how to tackle things on this side.

Haru: I think we need some level of contingency.

Haru: I mean, the slightest error, and things will go to Hell in a handbasket.

Futaba: I think any outside factors might need to involve Riko.

Ren You’re right about that.

Ren: I think we should save all of this for when we meet up.

Ryuji: Right.

Ryuji: Seeya then

Ren: Seeya!

Ren put her phone away, and went to school.

After school, the Thieves were at Leblanc. Makoto took out the piece of paper Akechi gave her. “So, this is Akechi’s sus list,” She exclaimed.

Everyone looked over it. “Woah!” Futaba responded.

“I have to admit,” Morgana said, “that Akechi is no slouch.”

“But I’m not on this list anywhere,” Lena said.

“Well, yeah,” Ann said. “I don’t think he has a reason to suspect you.”

“Or maybe he’s blind because of your relationship?” Ryuji pondered.

“I don’t think Akechi would be like that though,” Ren remarked. “I mean, he still suspects me, despite how close we are.”

“Yeah,” Lena said. “I think he’d suspect anyone regardless of how close he is with them.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like he has any hard proof,” Jose said.

“Still, we should be cautious,” Yusuke said. “One false move, and we’ll play straight into his hands.”

“How does he know my online handle?!” Futaba wondered.

“Well, we did see him in Akihabara,” Ann said.

“Yeah, he said he was searching for information on someone who could take down Medjed,” Lena added.

“Hmph,” Futaba pouted. “I  guess it’s time for a name change.”

“Hold on,” Ren said. “Maybe not yet.”

“Huh?! Why not?” Futaba wondered.

“If you change your name and contact Akechi, he’ll know you saw this,” Ren said. “If we want to maintain deniability, you have to pretend not to have seen this list.”

“I guess…” Futaba said.

“Do we need to keep in contact with Akechi?” Haru wondered.

“I think randomly severing contact with him would be suspicious as well,” Morgana said.

“Besides,” Sumire said, “we have a lot of things on our plate. As much as Akechi stands against us, we need all the help we can get.”

“I guess that’s true,” Haru said.

“Oh yeah,” Jose said, “how are things coming along looking into what Riko sent you?”

“Well…” Futaba began, “the information my mother gave me will take some time. I understand some of it, but it is a little more advanced than I anticipated.”

“Well, what do you know?” Sumire asked.

“Hmmm,” Futaba pondered. “Some of it is stuff we know. The metaverse, its relationship to the real world, stuff like that. But there’s something I don’t quite understand.”

“What is it?” Makoto wondered.

“Well…” Futaba said. “There’s something in there about influencing the metaverse.” Everyone was shocked. “I think it has something to do with that mysterious figure of the SIU director we saw. But the process seems…confusing.”

“Maybe we can help,” Ann offered.

“Yeah, some of us have been doing this for six months,” Ryuji said. “Maybe we’ll know something.”

“Well… Hmmm,” Futaba reacted. “So, from what I understand, if you’re not someone like us who can access the Metaverse, you need this specific formula, and then you need to lace the formula with your DNA somehow, and give it to someone to ingest.” Everyone who was in Futaba’s palace went pale. “But I’m not sure how they would go about doing that.”

“Um, Futaba?” Ren said. “I think we know a way.”

“Huh?” Futaba wondered.

Ren continued, “We saw something like that in your palace.”

“You did?!” Futaba shrieked.

Ren nodded. “So, what happened was, the Will Seeds we found in your palace belonged to your mom.”

“Huh?!”

“Once we had all of them, we saw an image of your mom drinking a concoction, and then dripped some of her blood into your food so you ate it.” Futaba was starting to get dizzy.

“I don’t think she was trying to hurt you,” Ann said.

“Yeah!” Ryuji jumped in. “From what I remember, she was apologizing to you for doing it. She wanted you to be her light, or something.”

“How then?” Futaba said.

“The sphinx,” Morgana said. Everyone looked at him. “The sphinx that took the image of your mom. That was what she left behind in that moment.”

“But why didn’t it make contact in the intervening two years?” Jose said.

“If I had to guess,” Yusuke said, “it probably has something to do with Futaba shutting herself out from the rest of the world.” Futaba smacked Yusuke. “Ow!” 

“I think he’s right though,” Sumire said. “Remember, it took three of us to break the shell of the palace with the ballista. I imagine Futaba needing to reach out for help was a catalyst.”

“Plus, it was flying around outside,” Ren said. “I imagine that Futaba being in the pyramid hindered that a little.”

“Hmmm,” Futaba said. “Sorry Inari.”

“It’s fine,” Yusuke said.

“Maybe you could work on some tact,” Makoto pointed out.

“Perhaps,” Yusuke said. “But maybe Futaba working on her social interactions could be helpful too.”

“HEY!” Futaba protested. “I’m TRYING!”

“My apologies.”

“Like she said,” Ryuji added. “Tact.”

“Well…” Lena said, trying to steer the conversation back on track, “maybe we should relay that to Riko. See if she knows anything.”

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “It’s one thing to do it to someone you know, but these mental shutdowns are seemingly random at best.”

“True,” Morgana said. “Plus we should check in to see how things are going with Akechi.”

“Right!” Futaba said. “But don’t we have a palace to get into first?”

“You’re right,” Makoto said. “Let’s go.”

They started to leave, when Yusuke said “Hang on.” Everyone looked at him. “Didn’t Riko also send you information on the director?”

“Oh yeah,” Futba said. “Well, to be honest, the information seems, well, rather quaint.”

“Huh,” Yusuke said.

“He seems like he’s almost average,” Futaba said.

“Almost?” Haru wondered.

“Well, he is the leader of the Special Investigations Unit,” Futaba clarified. “Calling someone like that ‘average’ is a bit of a disservice. He has all sorts of connections to all sorts of people.”

“Maybe therein lies the game,” Morgana pointed out. “Maybe in one of his relationships is a secret of his.”

“Maybe…” Ren said. “This is going to sound a little weird, but I know one of his sons was arrested for murdering their wife.”

“I read about that too,” Futaba noted. “But that seemed a little removed from his purview.”

“But…if it wasn’t?” Ren said, trying not to involve Yumeko too much.

“Hmmm. Well, if it wasn’t...” Futaba pondered, “...I’m not sure.”

“Well, what else can you tell us about his family?” Ryuji asked. “I mean, one of his kids murdered their wife. But is that a pattern, or is it just him specifically?”

“It is just him specifically,” Futaba said. “All the rest of his kids are married, and between the five of his kids, the director has 17 grandchildren.”

“What about his wife?” Yusuke wondered. “Do you know anything about her?”

“Yeah. Um, she’s dead,” Futaba said, solemnly.

“WHAT?!” everyone shrieked.

“She suddenly got sick and died,” Futaba said. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“How sudden was it?” Ren inquired.

“What do you mean?” Futaba said.

“Well…without giving too much away,” Ren answered, “I know the grandchild whose mother was killed, and they believe that he played a part in it.”

Everyone was stunned. Makoto spoke up. “So, what you’re saying is…?”

Ren nodded. “Maybe he killed his wife and talked his son through killing his wife too.”

“Hmmmm,” Futaba pondered. “Maybe.”

“Wouldn’t that be hard to prove though?” Jose asked.

“Probably,” Futaba said. “This is all speculation on our part.”

“But we’re not alone in looking through things,” Haru said. “Maybe Riko could figure out something we don’t know if we point her in a direction.”

“I guess that’s true,” Futaba said. “But I think we need to head into the palace first. Perhaps we’ll find something else there that’ll help us make our next move. Besides, I’ve only scratched the surface on these documents.”

“We have a little while as it is,” Makoto remarked. “I think that’s a smart idea.”

Ren nodded. “Then let’s head out.” Everyone else nodded, and they headed off to Sae’s palace.

Upon arrival, Futaba noticed the mysterious figure and analyzed it quickly. “Hmmmm. Still hasn’t gone in.”

“It’s waiting for us to make our move, right?” Morgana said.

“Yeah,” Futaba said. “But you can never be too careful.”

“Perhaps that’s something to think about,” Haru suggested. “We’re not only working to save Sae from Eris, but this guy too, right?”

“Correct,” Makoto said. “But how do we fight something like that?”

“Maybe your mom has something in her notes?” Lena offered.

“Maybe,” Futaba said. “But I’d need to dive REALLY deep into her notes.”

“I think putting off the heist until the last possible moment would be good anyway,” Ren said. “This is going to be different than anything we’ve faced before. We need to be as prepared as we can be.”

“I see,” Futaba said.

“Well, no sense in worrying right now,” Ryuji said. “Right now, we have to make our way through this place.” Everyone nodded. They made their way to the room they found themselves in last time.

They looked at the elevator. “We still need a member’s card,” Jose remarked.

“I doubt they’d just give us one,” Yusuke added.

“Well, maybe we can find one,” Ann wondered. “I’m sure there has to be a place here to get one.”

“Probably,” Futaba said. “I’d wager there’s a back room somewhere.”

“Well then, let’s get looking,” Ren instructed. As they ventured around, they found the back room behind some guards they easily took out.

Plastered all over the walls were slogans and platitudes about how women are superior to men, yet oppressed by them, and with the coming of Sae’s “New World Order” that was going to change. “OooooooooKaaaaaaay,” Ryuji said, nervously.

“So somewhere in here, we’ll be able to get a member’s card, right?” Lena wondered.

“Yeah,” Futaba said.

“I don’t think it’ll be easy to get there though,” Makoto said. “Sis is very protective of things.”

“So we just have to do what we usually do,” Ren said, stretching her arms to crack her knuckles. “Seems simple enough.” The thieves maneuvered through the back rooms of the fashion show.

After going through the deeper parts of the back rooms, Morgana’s ears twitched. “Hold on. I sense a Will Seed in the area.”

“Really?”! Haru wondered.

“Let’s see if we can’t find it,” Ann said.

They ventured on, only to see the Will Seed door behind some bars. “DAMMIT!” Ryuji called out.

“Wait!” Ann said. “Look!” She pointed out a scanner. “Maybe if we get a key card, we can get through.”

“It’d probably be helpful for the rest of the palace as well,” Jose said.

“Perhaps,” Yusuke said. “But we may need to find a plethora of these. Don’t underestimate a palace ruler’s paranoia.”

“Especially one who’s also been taken over by Eris,” Futaba added.

“Hmmmm,” Haru pondered.

“Well, it couldn’t hurt,” Lena pointed out.

“True,” Ren said. “But now we need to find it. Let’s keep moving.” They all nodded, and they kept moving.

Soon, they spotted a powerful-looking shadow. They managed to hide. “Say, do you think that they might have the keycard?” Sumire wondered. “They seem powerful.”

“Well, there's only one way to find out,” Ryuji said. “Unless you think we can get to the place behind them.”

“We could,” Ren said, “But I imagine we’ll cross paths sooner or later. Besides, we’re still relatively close to the Will Seed. Let’s not waste too much time.” Everyone nodded, and bum rushed the shadow. Despite it being a pretty tough fight, the Phantom Thieves won out.

Jose picked up a card. “Look!”

“Way to go Jose!” Sumire said.

“Well done!” Haru added.

“Alright,” Morgana said. “Now that we have that, we should be able to get that first Will Seed.” The thieves nodded, and headed back.

They presented the card, raising the barriers to the Will Seed Door. They pressed themselves further in, opening the Will Seed door and heading in. “Um, are you going to be OK Queen?” Sumire asked.

“Why do you ask?” Makoto replied.

“Well…this is your sister…” Sumire answered. “I know there’s a bit of a distance between you two, but this might get…”

Makoto sighed. “I know this probably won’t be easy, but we have to do this. Otherwise we can’t call ourselves Phantom Thieves.” Sumire needed.

“Well, let’s see what we’re getting into,” Ren said, picking up the first Will Seed.

Suddenly, the voice of a young girl crying started ringing through the room.

“What’s this?!” Yusuke wondered.

Suddenly, a gentle female voice came in. “Sae sweetie. Don’t cry.”

“Mom?!” Makoto reacted.

“But…but you’re…” a younger voice jumped in.

“And that sounds like sis when she was younger,” Makoto clarified.

“I know,” Aki said. “But I don’t want you to be sad, OK? Come here. … I love you. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t,” young Sae said. “I promise. … I’m going to miss you.”

“And I’ll miss you too. I’ll miss you, Makoto, your father…” Aki replied. “But I’ll always be by your side. … I’m going to need you to look after Makoto OK?”

“OK,” young Sae said.

“That’s my girl,” Aki said. She coughed.

“MOM!” young Sae called out.

“I’m fine,” Aki said. “I’m fine… Listen… There is good in this world. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t,” young Sae replied. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Aki said.

A door opened. “Alright,” said a man’s voice.

“Dad?!” Makoto wondered.

“I think we should let mom rest,” Nobuyuki said.

“But-” young Sae interjected.

“It’s alright sweetie,” Aki said. “It’s alright.” There was some silence, followed by a set of footsteps.

Young Sae started to cry again. “Mom! How could this happen?” She sniffled. “I’ll watch over Makoto. But that can't be everything! So for you mom, I’m going to be the best defense attorney the world has ever seen! So don’t you worry!”

“Huh?!” Ryuji wondered.

“Sis…?” a young Makoto asked. “Is everything alright?”

The sound of young Sae lifting young Makoto up filled the room, followed by young Sae saying “Everything will be fine. Because no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.”

The voices came to an end. “Huh,” Futaba reacted. “That was…something…”

“Yeah…” Lena added.

“But, um, what did she mean by becoming ‘the best defense attorney’?” Ryuji wondered.

“She’s a prosecutor, right?” Haru wondered.

“Well…” Makoto explained. “My mother was a defense attorney. And for a while, my sister wanted to be a defense attorney just like her.”

“What happened?” Jose asked.

“It's a little fuzzy, Makoto said, " but I think around the time my dad died, my sister wanted something a little more respectable and steady, since she also had to take care of me. She didn’t want anything weighing her down.”

“Well, I suspect that the existence of this palace proves that something is weighing her down,” Sumire said.

“I agree,” Makoto said. “Which is all the more reason to steal her treasure.”

There was a solemn silence before Ren instructed, “Let’s keep moving.” They all left, and kept pressing through the palace.

Soon, they came across another door that required the keycard. Once it was opened, “Ann rejoiced “Yay! It’s open!” They found themselves face to face with a vent.

Just outside the window were two tough looking guards. “Glad we don’t have to go through them,” Ryuji remarked.

“Being a thief has its advantages,” Morgana said. They all began sliding through the vent to get to the control room on the other side.

“Alright,” Futaba noted, “the terminal we need is just beyond there.”

“There seems to be someone guarding it,” Lena pointed out.

“Well, we can’t avoid every fight,” Morgana lamented. “Let’s make this quick.” The thieves ambushed the guard and took him out.

“BOOYAH!” Futaba called out. “Now it’s my time to shine!” She approached the terminal and began cracking. Once she finished, she presented two things. “First off, here’s a map of the building.”

Ren grabbed it. “Thanks.”

“But also…” Futaba hyped up. “Ta-da! A member’s card!”

“Good work, Oracle!” Yusuke congratulated.

“Thanks,” Futaba said. “I didn’t know what name to give it, so I went with Taro Tanaka.”

“Um, isn’t that a bit obvious?” Ryuji wondered.

“Well, they know we’re here,” Jose pointed out.

“True,” Futaba said. “She is practically challenging us. Then again, better to be safe than sorry. Hold on.” Futaba got to work making another card. “OK, this one belongs to a Shinji Nakanomatsu. How’s that?”

“That works,” Ryuji said.

“Um, maybe we shouldn’t make too many,” Haru said. “They might get a little suspicious.”

“Good thinking,” Futaba said. “Noir! Take the Taro Tanaka card and get rid of it.”

“Huh?!” Haru wondered. “Why me?”

“Well, this kind of stuff usually falls on the newbie of the group.”

“Hey come on,” Ren said. “We’re all equals here.”

“It’s OK, Joker,” Haru said. “I’ll take care of it.”

Ren was a little surprised, but said “Well, if you’re OK with it.”

“Great!” Futaba said, handing over the Taro Tanaka card.

“Look!” Ann said, pointing out another airvent. “We can escape through here.”

“It’d be easier than going through that whole area again,” Lena pointed out.

“Well then, let’s go!” Sumire called out. “We’ve got an elevator to catch!” They all flowed through the air vent, and with a hop, skip, and a jump, they were back to the floor with the elevator.

Once there, Ren took out the card and said “So we just present this, and…”

The elevator dinged. “Member’s Card Accepted! Floor’s Accessible: The Ground Floor (current Location), The Member’s Suit.”

“Didn’t she say she wanted to meet us in The Exclusive Member’s Suit?” Jose wondered.

“I could only do so much,” Futaba said. “You couldn’t get an Exclusive Member’s card from the back terminal.”

“Still, we can move up,” Ryuji said. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

“Good point Skull!” Ann said. “We just gotta keep pushing forward!”

“Well then, let’s push,” Ren said. They got onto the elevator and headed up.

Once they got to the Member’s Suit, they walked off and saw Sae, Riko, director Ono, and Sae’s guards. “Sis?!” Makoto yelped.

“Hm hm,” Sae chuckled. “We didn’t expect you to get this far.”

Sae’s Shadow manifested itself. “But then again, you pesky thieves always seem to outmaneuver Us.”

“Oh great,” Ryuji remarked. “More of this.”

Jose stepped up. “Do you wish to fight us here and now?!” he declared.

Sae laughed. “Silly thieves. You aren’t worth Our time yet.”

“You need to PROVE yourselves!” Shadow Sae said. “Otherwise, We won’t have a show on our hands. And We wouldn’t want that.”

Sae turned to Riko. “How are renovations coming along?” “Renovations are complete on this floor,” Riko answered. “They should be complete on the other floor soon.”

“Excellent!” Sae said. She turned to Ono. “You!” She yanked on his leash. “Lick Our feet!” The director whimpered. He got on his knees and did what he was told. Sae turned back to the thieves. “Right now, you aren’t even worth THIS much.”

“WHAT?!” Ann yelped.

“However, if you manage to make it through Our gauntlets,” Shadow Sae said. “Then We’ll challenge you.”

“Hm,” Ren smirked. “You continuing to underestimate us will be your downfall.”

“Tch!” Sae sneered. “You may have gotten lucky before. But you’re on OUR turf now!”

Shadow Sae jumped in. “So think twice before making your silly declarations!”

Sae snapped, and in the blink of an eye, she and her pose were on the elevator. “We’ll see you around. If you’re strong enough!” The elevator went up.

“And she’s gone,” Yusuke said.

“She’s getting on my nerves!” Ann remarked.

“Tell me about it,” Ryuji agreed.

“Well, like it or not,” Morgana said, “and I personally vote ‘not’, she IS right. This is her palace, and by extension, her rules.”

“Well yeah,” Ryuji said, “but I don’t want to lick her feet.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to,” Sumire said. “So long as we prove ourselves.”

“But what does that mean?” Haru asked.

Jose looked over. “There’s a kiosk over there,” he noted. “Maybe they have an answer for us.”

“Well, I don’t think we have anything better to work with at the moment,” Ren said. They made their way over to the kiosk.

“Ah, greetings!” the kiosk manager said. “We’ve been expecting you!”

“You have?!” Makoto wondered.

“Indeed,” the manager said. “As appreciated guests, we will grant you 1,000 Fashion Points. You may earn more through our Fashion Gauntlets.”

“Sae did mention something about that,” Yusuke noted.

“What can we get with these Fashion Points?” Makoto wondered.

“Why many things,” the manager answered. “Our most coveted prize is an Exclusive Member’s Card for a reasonable 50,000 Fashion points.”

“FOR REAL?!” Ryuji called out.

“50,000 hardly seems ‘reasonable’,” Sumire pointed out.

“Well those are the rules,” the manager said. “Take it or leave it. We also offer a loan service where we can let you borrow points up to your total amount.”

“I don’t wanna mess with that,” Ryuji said. “It seems troublesome.”

“Only if you can’t manage to pay it back,” the manager said.

“So, what would you recommend?” Ren asked.

“Well, on this floor, we have the Accessory Room and the Attitude Room,” the manager said. “For beginners, I’d recommend the Accessory Room.”

“Thank you,” Ren said. Ren motioned her group to regroup away from the kiosk. “So, it seems like we should do the Accessory Room first.”

“Are you sure we should be following the lead of some weird, conjured kiosk guy?” Ryuji wondered.

“I don’t think brute forcing our way through this palace will get us anywhere,” Morgana noted.

“Besides, it seems like Sae wants to challenge us,” Sumire pointed out.

“So we just take the challenge?” Lena asked.

“Seems like it,” Jose said.

“Hold on,” Ren said. “While I believe that taking on these gauntlets is the easiest way to proceed, I don’t think it’ll be easy.”

“What do you mean?” Futaba asked.

“Joker’s right,” Makoto said. “My sister may have invited us to challenge her, but since this is her home turf, she has no intention of fighting fair.”

“Well lucky for us, neither do we,” Yusuke remarked.

“So…we just have to cheat our way through this place?” Jose wondered.

“It’s probably better than playing it straight,” Ryuji noted. “No offense, but I don’t know how I feel about an ‘Accessory Room’ or an ‘Attitude Room’.”

“Yeah,” Ann remarked. “I know this is a warped fashion show, but this seems like a little much.”

“Remember, it used to be a casino,” Morgana said. “Maybe it has some of its old trappings.”

“So, it’s still luck-based?” Sumire wondered.

“I guess fashion is to to some extent,” Ann said. “But I feel like there’s something else going on here.”

“Well we won’t know for sure until we keep exploring!” Futaba said. “Sometimes the only way out is through.”

“Indeed,” Yusuke agreed.

“So the plan is to investigate and cheat if possible,” Ren surmised. “Alright, let’s move out!” They nodded, and moved on over to the Accessory Room.

Before entering, they stopped by the sign. Futaba took the time to read it. “‘Accessory Room Rules: Enter one of the chambers and offer a minimum of 25 Fashion Points. The judge in the room will ask if you are going minimalist or showy with your accessories. You then roll three dice. If you roll a 9 or lower, your style will be minimalist. If you roll a 10 or higher, your style will be showy. If you match your style selection with the dice roll, the judge will reward you with twice as many Fashion Points. If you don’t match your style selection with the dice roll, the judge will keep the Fashion Points you offered. A roll of three sixes will win no matter what, and also offer three times the amount of Fashion Points.’”

“That seems like a load of BS!” Ryuji called out.

“Maybe,” Ann said. “But it feels real to an extent.”

“I agree,” Makoto said. “Women, especially in high power positions, have to adhere to certain standards. If you don’t accessorize enough, people will look down on you for ‘abandoning your femininity’. But if you accessorize too much, people will say you’re ‘gaudy’ or ‘trying too hard’.”

“Woah!” Ryuji reacted. “I had no idea.”

“Of course not,” Morgana said. “Us men don’t have to worry about that.”

“But that sucks!” Ryuji said.

“I will admit, it is a little difficult at times,” Ren interjected, “but I find it fun when you find JUST the right accessories and show it off.”

“TOTALLY!” Ann agreed. “When you find make-up that REALLY compliments you. There’s nothing like it!”

“Indeed,” Yusuke agreed. “Why, not too long ago, I found some really good blush that brought out my cheekbones REALLY nicely.”

“Wait, you do this stuff too?” Ryuji said.

“Only a little,” Yusuke said. “I don’t go all out or anything, but if it looks good on me, I’m willing to try something.”

“Actually, a good number of guys at Kosei use make-up and other accessories regularly,” Jose said. “Although, some of it is for the theater department.”

“Huh,” Ryuji pondered.

“You know, you should be a little more well-versed in this area, Skull,” Futaba teased. “You know, after your little stint in Shinjuku.”

“Oh yeah!” Haru giggled. “You looked so good in those pictures.”

“Hey!” Ryuji barked. “Those guys handled my outfits and stuff, while Joker did my makeup!”

“I guess that’s true,” Futaba said.

“Buuuuuut it wouldn’t hurt to learn a little bit,” Ann said. “I mean, if you come to one of my fashion shows, knowing a little something could be beneficial.”

“Well…” Ryuji said. “Maybe… But only if I don’t have to get into it!”

“Deal!” Ann said.

“Anyways!” Makoto said. “It seems like this is probably rigged.”

“Or left up to chance at best,” Lena said.

“So we have to figure out a way to tip the scales in our favor!” Makoto continued.

“Lucky for us, that’s our specialty,” Ren said. “Let’s have a look around.” The team moved out through the area.

On one end, Haru reported “I found a door to a back area. But it is locked, and there’s no way to open it from this side.”

On the other end, Jose said “I found a vent! Perhaps we can sneak in this way.”

“Good finding, Sunshine!” Ren called out. “It seems like no one’s watching, so we can go!” One by one, they funneled through the vent, and found themselves in the back room.

“Alright!” Ryuji cheered. “Now all we gotta do is find some way to rig the game!”

Makoto nodded. “Let’s go!” They made their way through the back room of the Accessory Room.

After some trekking, they managed to make it to the room behind the chambers. “So, this is it: the belly of the beast!” Yusuke remarked.

“Hang on!” Lena observed. “Look!”

She pointed out the shadow behind the scenes. “They think they’re going to stylize just right. NOW! Take it all from them!”

“So they really are cheating,” Futaba muttered.

“Sis…” Makoto said, worried.

“Well, now that we’re here,” Ren instructed, “we can turn the tables. Right, Oracle?”

Futaba nodded. “Should be easy enough.”

“But first,” Sumire said, “we have to deal with the current cheaters!”

Ren nodded. “MOVE!” They rushed the shadow behind the cheating. With the successful ambush, they managed to take out the shadow relatively easily.

“Alright!” Ann shouted.

Ren looked at the console. “Oracle? Would you like to do the honors?”

“Heh heh heh! With pleasure!” Oracle said. She began hacking the console. Once she finished, she turned to the others and said, “OK! I thought it’d be weird to rig all of the games, so I only rigged one of them, and the rest of them have the normal odds. I went ahead and marked the room on the map for us.”

“Good thinking,” Makoto said. “If sis finds out, she’d probably send everyone to deal with us. And we couldn’t handle that.”

“Well, since we know which one will be helpful to us,” Morgana said. “Let’s play the game!” They nodded, and left.

At the end of the hallways, Haru found a locked door. “Oh! I think this is the door I noticed on the other side. And look! There’s a keycard reader!” Ren nodded, and opened the door. They were back in the Accessory Room front area.

They made their way to their own personal cheating chamber. “Alright, let’s see how this goes,” Ren said. She went up to play.

“Good evening,” the judge said. “How many Fashion Points are you putting on the line today?”

“1,000,” Ren answered.

There were audible gasps. “Heh heh,” the judge said. “Somebody’s confident. No matter, I’m always willing to serve some humble pie. Now tell me, how do you plan on stylizing today?”

“Let’s go flashy!” Ren said.

“Bold in every sense of the word, I see,” the judge said. “Let’s see if you’re bold enough.” The dice rolled. It landed on triple six. “Urgh! I don’t believe it!”

Ren chuckled. “My winnings?”

“Er, of course madame,” the judge said. Ren’s Fashion Points now accumulated to 3,000.

“Good,” Ren said. “Now again.”

“You think you’ll get lucky twice in a row?!” the judge said. “There’s bold, and then there's foolhardy!”

“Are you saying no?” Ren intimidated.

“Er, of course not!” the judge said. “Still flashy?”

“You know it,” Ren said.

“Very well,” the judge said. The dice rolled. Triple six again. Ren’s Fashion Points now were at 9,000. “I don’t believe it…”

Ren giggled. “Well, you take care now.”

“Er, yes,” the judge said. The thieves left.

“Are you sure you want to leave?” Ryuji whispered.

“I think we need to keep looking around,” Ren said. “If we wanted to just get through the palace, maybe, but our aim is a little more than that.”

“Right,” Ryuji siad. “Let’s move on to the, ummm, Attitude Room, I guess.”

“I am unsure of how this will work,” Yusuke said.

“”Yeah,” Lena said. “What do you think it means?”

“I think it’d be better if we just go,” Ann said. “It’s not worth it to just stand around speculating.” The others nodded, and they headed out.

Once they got to the door to the Attitude Room, Futaba read the sign. “‘Attitude Room Rules: Approach an Attitude Machine, insert the required Fashion Points, and pull the lever. If you get three matching moods, you win. If you don’t get three matching moods, you lose. Rewards are dependent on what mood you get.”

“The Hell?!” Ryuji said. “This is JUST a slot machine! And what do they mean about having ‘matching moods’?”

“Well,” Makoto jumped in, “women are sometimes considered moody by their male peers. If they display different moods throughout the day, it looks bad on them. I guess this is a reflection of that?”

“But if this is how women are treated,” Lena wondered, “why is Sae subjecting us to it?”

“I imagine that she’s been subject to it on too many occasions to count,” Makoto lamented.

“Oh…” Lena said.

“But also,” Futaba interrupted, “maybe this has to do with her ‘New World Order’. Maybe once she’s in charge, she’ll subject men to this kind of treatment.”

“Hmmm,” Yusuke pondered. “I think that’s a fair assessment. I mean, you’ve seen how she views the director now.”

“Right…” Makoto said.

Ryuji and Morgana jolted. “Umm, I don’t wanna do that…” Ryuji said, nervously.

“Y-Yeah!” Morgana said. “Let’s save Sae!”

“Oh brother…” Futaba whined.

Haru giggled. “Don’t worry your pretty little heads. Everything will be fine.”

“Thanks…” Ryuji said.

“Anyways, we should get going,” Ren said. They entered.

Once inside, they saw a bunch of “Attitude Machines”. “So, do we just play them?” Ann wondered.

Ren shook her head. “They’re probably rigged too. Besides, if we were guided to the Accessory Room first, there’s probably something juicier than these in here.”

“Good thinking,” Sumire said.

Ren nodded. “Let’s explore the area a little.” The thieves nodded, and went about searching the area.

At the end, they spotted a door. “Hmm,” Jose pondered. He walked up to it and tried opening it. “It’s locked.”

“Well, there’s probably another way in,” Morgana surmised.

Jose nodded. “Maybe another air vent somewhere.”

“Let’s look for one,” Ann suggested. They went back and found one on top of one of the walls. They snuck through, and found themselves in more back rooms.

“Well, here we are again,” Ryuji remarked.

“Third verse, same as the first,” Lena added.

“Well, let’s not just stand around,” Ren instructed. “Let’s move!” The thieves moved through the back rooms with ease.

As they were going through, Morgana noticed something. “Hm? I think the second Will Seed is around here somewhere.”

Ren nodded. “Let’s keep an eye out.” They searched around, and soon found it. They entered.

“I wonder what we’ll see next,” Jose pontificated.

“I don’t know,” Lena said. “But I doubt it’ll be as heavy as last time.”

“We can only hope,” Yusuke said. “But I don’t assume it’s anything good.”

“Well, we still have to face the music anyways,” Makoto said. “Right Joker?”

“Right,” Ren replied. She went up and grabbed it.

“Hello there,” the director’s voice rang out.

“The director?” Futaba said.

Sae’s voice picked up. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“Isn’t that her boss?” Haru wondered.

“Maybe this was from before,” Yusuke rationalized.

“You must be Sae Niijima,” the director said. “My name is Hiroto Ono. I’m the director of the Special Investigations Unit at the prosecutor’s office, and a friend of your professor’s. He’s told me quite a lot about you.”

“What does it concern you?” Sae mouthed back. “I’m studying to become a defense attorney.”

“Of course, of course,” Ono said. “I’m familiar with your mother as well. Why, I’ve fought her court more times than I can count. … I’m…sorry for your loss.”

“It’s fine,” Sae said.

“But back to my original point,” Ono said. “While it is true that you are studying to become a defense attorney, it might be beneficial to work in the prosecutor’s office for a little while.”

“Why do you say that?” Sae asked.

“Come on!” Ono retorted. “I know you’re no fool. You know that prosecutors have a 99% success rate in this country.”

“Is that true?” Ryuji wondered.

Makoto nodded. “It is very stacked in the favor of the police and prosecution.”

“But that doesn’t seem fair!” Ann protested.

“It’s not,” Makoto said. “But sis has told me she wanted to remedy that.”

“Still…” Ann said.

“Your point?” Sae’s voice continued.

“Well, I’m just saying,” Ono replied, “you might not get a foothold in if the odds are stacked against you. It’d be worth it to establish yourself a bit beforehand to help show confidence. Not to mention it’s a little more secure than just starting off as a defense attorney.”

“What’s in it for you?” Sae wondered.

“Hm,” the director grinned. “I know just how talented you are. I don’t want a mind like yours to be wasted, whether it’s playing for my team, or the enemy.”

“So, you consider defense attorneys to be the enemy,” Sae sniped.

“It’s a playful rivalry,” Ono said. “Here. This is my card. I don’t need an answer right away, but I’d like to hear from you.”

“Thanks,” Sae said.

“Well, so long,” Ono said. “Oh, and good luck on your test.”

There was a long silence before Sae went “Hmmmmmmmmmm.”

The voices ended there. “Well, it wasn’t as heavy…” Yusuke said.

“But I don’t feel good after listening to that,” Lena finished.

“So, the director wanted to bring her in,” Makoto said.

“You didn’t know?” Morgana said.

“Well…” Makoto said. “I don’t know all the specifics. But I know that she and the director began talking when she was in college.”

“So, that was her in college then,” Jose said.

“I believe so,” Makoto said. “From what I know, she decided to go along with it, but assured us that it was only temporary.”

“‘Us’?” Ryuji wondered. “Has Sae’s Shadow form infected you too?”

“No!” Makoto said, angrily. “I meant…me and my dad.”

“Ah,” Ryuji said. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

“But she’s still a prosecutor,” Sumire remarked.

“Again, that’s because of my father’s death,” Makoto said. “Like I said, keeping this job was more secure for her after his passing. Not to mention taking care of me.”

“Queen…” Haru said, mournfully.

“Well, it seems like this whole thing is taking its toll on her,” Morgana said. “So we gotta free her from her chains!”

“Hm,” Ren smirked. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. Let’s keep moving.” The thieves nodded, and moved on.

They soon found a strange terminal. “Oh hey!” Ryuji said. “Can you crack this Oracle?”

“I’ll take a look,” Futaba said. “Hmmmm.”

“What is it?” Jose asked.

“It looks like,” Futaba began, “this is part of a network. It’s not on right now, but it seems connected to a greater system. I think if I can activate it, I can make the necessary arrangements.”

“But we need to activate it first…” Ann said.

“Correct,” Futaba replied.

“Let’s keep this area in mind for now and keep going,” Ren said. The thieves moved on.

They soon found another air vent that let them out in a room with a giant “Attitude Machine.” “Woah!” Ryuji said. “THAT’S a big machine!”

Lena was surprised. “It costs 5,000 Fashion Points to just play it?!”

“Yeah, but look!” Jose assured her. “If we win the jackpot, we get 50,000 Fashion Points!”

“IF we win,” Makoto said.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t crack this,” Ren said. The thieves began their search.

They soon found a terminal on the side of the machine. “Alrighty then!” Futaba said. She began cracking. “Hmmmm. Ah! I see!”

“What is it?” Yusuke wondered.

“THIS is the main terminal,” Futaba said. “From here, I can activate the other terminals.”

“And from there, you can hack this machine?” Makoto wondered

“Precisely!” Futaba answered.

“I take it the one we found in the back room is one of them,” Sumire said.

“Correct!” Futaba said. “The other one is at the front of the Attitude Room.”

“Well then, let’s activate those terminals,” Ren instructed. They decided to head back to the front first.

On their way, they found the locked door Jose tried to open. “Huh,” Jose remarked. Ren unlocked the door. “How peculiar.”

“Well, I guess they don’t let just anyone back here,” Makoto said.

“True,” Yusuke said. “Even if it is rigged, the chance at that many Fashion Points is too much to just give away.” They kept moving.

They found the terminal at the front. “How’d we miss this?” Ryuji wondered.

“I assume it’s designed to blend in,” Makoto said. “We were so taken in with what this room is that we didn’t notice it.”

“Well now that it’s here, it’s mine!” Futaba said. She began hacking. “Alright! This terminal is under my control!”

“Now time for the other one!” Sumire cheered. They made their way back into the back rooms and found the other terminal.

“Alright!” Futaba said. She hacked away. “BOOYAH! Both terminals are now mine!”

“So, what now?” Lena asked. “Do we just spin and win?”

“Not quite…” Futaba admitted. Everyone was confused. “I could only get the giant ‘Attitude Machine’ to be 8:2 odds of paying out,” she admitted.

“So, it’s just left up to luck?” Makoto said.

“Well, the odds are in our favor,” Sumire said. “All we need now is just a little faith.”

Ren nodded. “Let’s head over to the machine now and press our luck.”

“Maybe don’t phrase it like that,” Morgana said. Regardless, the thieves moved out.

Once they got there, the thieves stood and stared at the machine. “Do we pull it?” Lena wondered.

“We have no other option,” Sumire said. “Joker?” She gave Ren a peck on the cheek. “You do the honors.”

Ren nodded. “Thanks for the luck, sweetie.” Ren inserted 5,000 of her Fashion Points and spun the machine. The first slot landed on a 7, with the word “Themselves” inside. “Huh?” Ann wondered.

“I guess the ability to ‘be themselves’ is the jackpot,” Makoto said.

“That’s…depressing…” Ryuji said.

The second 7 came up. “Could it be?” Yusuke wondered.

The third 7 arrived. “WE DID IT!” Lena cheered. The noise rang through the Attitude Room.

Ren smiled. “Well, it seems like if we stay here longer, we may get caught.”

Morgana nodded. “We have enough. Let’s move.” The thieves all left the Attitude Room, and gathered in the lobby of the Member’s Suit.

Ren approached the kiosk. “Hello there.”

“Hello,” the manager said.

“We’d like an Exclusive Member’s card,” Ren said.

“Do you have the Fashion Points?” the manager asked.

“Certainly,” Ren said, presenting her card.

The manager looked it over. “Very well then.” He got out a card. “Here you are.”

“Thank you,” Ren said, with a smile. She turned to her team. “Let’s move.” They started making their way to the elevator, only to see a powerful shadow sanding in their way.

Over the speakers, they heard Sae say “My my my. You really are a tricksy bunch.”

“But still,” Shadow Sae remarked, “you’re no match for Us!”

Ren grew determined. “Is this part of your ‘test’ too?!” she asked.

“Hm hm hm,” Sae chuckled. “You’re more clever than I first thought.”

“Heh heh heh heh,” Shadow Sae said. “Cheat as much as you want! But when faced with a real opponent, you can’t afford to back down!”

Makoto steeled herself. “Why are you doing this?!” she called out.

“Why?” Sae answered. “WHY?! Because once you VERMIN are dealt with, We can FINALLY make the changes this godforsaken country NEEDS!”

“We want that too!” Makoto pleaded. “We can help if you just listen to us!”

“THAT’S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE!” Sae snapped.

“Yeah,” Shadow Sae agreed. “If you want to prove yourselves to Us, go ahead! But We won’t listen to you miscreants until then!”

“Sis…” Makoto saint, resigning herself. She took a deep breath. “Well, if it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight YOU’LL GET! BRING IT ON!” The thieves challenged the shadow. Despite the shadow’s overwhelming power, the thieves managed to win the fight.

“Damn Queen,” Futaba remarked. “Are you doing OK?”

“I’m fine,” Makoto said. She sighed. “Well, as fine as I can be.”

Haru placed her hand on Makoto’s shoulder. “I know it’s difficult.”

“Noir…” Makoto said. She sighed again. “Thanks.”

“Well, now that that’s sorted,” Ren said, “let’s move on up.” The thieves nodded, and made their way to the elevator.

Ren presented the Exclusive Member’s Card. “Exclusive Member’s Card Accepted. Floors Accessible: Ground Floor. Member’s Suit (current floor). Exclusive Member’s Suit.”

“I don’t suppose that even when we get up there, we’ll just get to meet with Sae,” Yusuke remarked.

“I don’t think so either,” Makoto said.

“Well then, we just gotta work our magic again, I suppose,” Sumire said.

“But what kind of trapping will we find in the Exclusive Member’s Suit?” Lena said.

“No use in speculating,” Ren said. “Let’s just move on up.” They got in the elevator and rode up to the Exclusive Member’s Suit.

Once there, Ren and company noticed a big wall and an attendant. “Welcome to the Exclusive Member’s Suit,” the attendant said. “Do you have a reservation?”

Ren was confused. “Well then,” Makoto said. “Let’s go.” She started walking.

“Wait!” Ren called out, grabbing her arm.

Then, something very peculiar happened. Makoto turned back, but she was phasing through the attendant. “What?”

Everyone else was freaked out. “WHAT IS THAT?!” Ryuji yelped.

“Is something the matter?” Masked.

“Um, Queen?” Futaba asked. “Do you see a giant door?”

“No?” Makoto said. “Do you?” Everyone nodded. “Huh.”

“You, um, also,” Morgana said, “kind of…in…someone…”

“What?!” Makoto yelped.

Ren pulled her away. “So, we see someone guarding a giant door. But not only do you not see it, it doesn’t even seem to register for you.”

“How very odd,” Yusuke said.

“Why do you suppose that is?” Jose asked.

“Hmmm,” Morgana wondered. “I think it has something to do with Sae’s cognition.This must be a part of the real world we don’t have access to, but should.”

“And also,” Haru continued, “a part of the world where Queen DOES have access to.”

“Right…” Lena said. “But what fits the bill here?”

“Well, we know this place is a courthouse,” Ren said, thinking aloud.

“That’s it!” Makoto said. “This area must represent the courtroom itself! I’ve watched my sister work before, but I don’t think anyone else has been in the courtroom.”

“So, we just gotta watch a court case?” Ryuji said.

“I guess so,” Futaba said.

“Not only that,” Morgana pointed out. “We’ve gotta watch a trial Sae is running. SHE needs to see us there.”

“Oh yeah…” Ryuji said.

“Maybe we can ask Secretary when her next trial will be,” Sumire said. “If we’re lucky, we can catch it.”

“Hm hm. Excellent idea Violet,” Haru said.

“Plus, you can compare notes, Oracle,” Ren said.

“Right,” Futaba nodded.

“So, for now, we gotta head out,” Makoto said, “and come back in once we’ve seen a trial.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lena said.

“Well then, let’s go,” Ren said. They headed back down the elevator.

On their way down, Haru wondered. “Hmmmm.”

“What’s wrong, Noir?” Lena asked.

“I’m just curious,” Haru answered. “We only saw two of the Will Seeds. I wonder what else lies in store.”

“Oh,” Lena said.

“Do you have any idea, Queen?” Morgana said.

“I imagine it has something to do with my father’s death,” Makoto said. “But I don’t think I can give specifics.”

“Sorry,” Morgana pouted.

“You’re fine,” Makoto said.

“Well, that’s just another mystery we’ll have to unravel,” Ren said. “For now, let’s rest up, and prepare for what’s to come.” With one last group nod, the thieves left the Fashion Show, and headed out into the real world.

[alittleillusionmachinee]

13, 39, 41, and 58 for the fexi ask :)

Thanks boo!!

13: sends more memes to the other?

Lexi for sure! That man barely knows what a meme is lmao

39.  Season?

Maybe unconvential, but I'm going to say "winter" in SoCal, but I mean it more like the festive season. I'm guessing Kitty would try and do it up a bit for Fez & Ash when she was around, with a tree and a couple of gifts, maybe a little prayer before serving up a nice meal. But since she had her stroke, Fez hasn't experienced that joy in a long time (not to mention Ash). So when Lexi comes into their lives, she makes sure to do it big! #1 because she's a theater kid, how can she not, and #2 because she wants to ensure they have a special, memorable Christmas. She goes above and beyond decorating every square inch of that house, making Fez get on a ladder to hang lights outside (I can picture him clearly with a cigarette in his mouth grumbling about it, but secretly being really pleased). Maybe she throws in some Jewish traditions for them as well (I'm not Jewish except by DNA so I'm sorry idk what those could be yikes lol). And then, of course, it's the lead up to NYE, which is an extremely special holiday held near and dear to both of their hearts!

41.  What do they do on their first date?

Hmmm this is a tough one since they kind of skipped a lot of steps before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend in everything except name lol. Maybe piggybacking off the idea that Fez isn't too sure about how to be a boyfriend except for what he's seen in movies, I'm going to say dinner and a movie. I know that might sound boring, but it's extremely high school, and that's basically what they are - high schoolers. Plus, it's clear they've bonded over watching at least one film together, so I can see going to the cinema becoming their thing.

58.  What reminds them of each other?

At this point, probably anything and everything! They're so enamored with each other, I'm sure like, a dry leaf would start a moony eyed gaze lol. But I think Fezco's store is essentially ruined for him now, in the sense that he'd think about her presence there every time he walked in, and same with his living room and bedroom. Lexi's such an internalized person that I think Fez is just simmering in her thoughts at all hours. She'd go to the store with Suze and wonder if the detergent they buy is the same as his, or what his favorite kind of apple was lol.

[maguro13-2]

Club FIRESTONE : Reopen Pt.3

Kohaku : So you see, Tamaki. Senku's doing a project with someone named Julia Chang.

Tamaki : Julia Chang, that Native American Chinese fighter girl from Tekken? Senku doing a project with a fighter from Tekken? I never thought she would be so concern of having a forest in Arizona to be in danger of the encroaching desert, wasn't exactly the idea of how America and other countries consumed by agriculture?

Kohaku : Probably the only things that you a Firefighter who was trained of putting out fires and get everyone safety had something with that pyrokinesis ability, correct?

Tamaki : Correct.

Kohaku : Yeah, so don't get hazing on Senku's project. I wonder what's currently working on today?

[Cuts to show Senku and the guys next to the catapult]

Senku : For the last 3,700th time, we did not ordered a Catapult!

Ginro : Oh come, Senku! You said you want a cheaper invention to buy with. So we decided to order one with tons of money.

Senku : That was the college funds that you spent on! What makes you think that ordering a catapult was seriously a good idea!

Suika : Why don't we just put something on it and launch it somewhere else, maybe that would be considering the dumbest idea around here. Too bad, Kohaku isn't here to see this incredible invention.

Kohaku : Hey, guys. I heard you were going to invent something cool. What are you planning on doing with the Tongass National Forest being restored with some kind of "Data Disk"?

Senku : We're gonna show this to the whole world with this (shows the Tongass Rejuvenation Data Disk) We will give this Julia Pronto and show the world the Tongass would be rejuvenated in no time. We took samples from it's to gather it's DNA and once we put that little DNA into the ground, boom! The Tongass National Forest would be restored at peace once more.

Kohaku : Wow! You mean you can really do that?! With somebody perfect of saving a forest!? That's an amazing way something like you should know about helping the forest to keep the planet strong. But the planet kept on getting weaker after that.

Senku : True. Humans are so greedy and arrogant they want money to turn those trees into paper. If people know about the sin of greed, we would also giving them the greed if they want. That president Trump is such a dork, knows nothing that he would destroy a beautiful forest in Alaska's Panhandle.

Kohaku : "Trump"? Did you say "Trump?

[Mistery - Seirou Okamoto]

Senku : Yeah. You know him?

Kohaku : Trump is officially the worst president of the country ever to be elected. He orderded the people to build a wall over Mexico and the states of the west and pacific, including Texas and California. Rumors believe that the president is making a logging order which deceives the Tongass National Forest, making it his "only" target. I can't forgive that stupid president for attempting of destroying an entire forest like that. We gotta do something about this!

Senku : You're right, but we can't just monkeying around like this, it's time that we need attention to the people to heed the warning about the Tongass being destroyed. We must be prepared in action.

Kohaku : I better tell Tamaki about this and to make sure that...(notices Tamaki went into the shack, realizing) She just went into the shack, did she? I better go talk to her if she's okay about the forest. (Walks to the shack)

Ginro : What's she worried about?

Kinro : Probably having a feeling with some girl talk to that cat-girl. Seriously, what's with Kohaku and her friends that is a cat girl?

Ginro : Beats me. She's Kohaku and being called Gorilla is no problem. Or at least.

Senku : What are the odds having Comfort for that Fire girl meant for her? [Thinking] Hmmm...

[Cuts to Kohaku and Tamaki inside the Shack]

Kohaku : Hey, Tamaki. What's wrong? Is there something the matter?

Tamaki : Kohaku. We need to talk.

Kohaku : What is it?

Tamaki : It's about my past. And you're not going like this one.

Kohaku :(in shock) "Your past"? ...No way.

~ The Sad Story of Tamaki Begins ~

[freechildflower]

Welcome to TN. Firing squad. Isn't that for TRAITORS LIKE TRUMP AND THE REPUKES. HMMM

POLITICS

COMMENTARY

Stockard on the Stump: I’ll take the firing squad for $100, please

SAM STOCKARD

MARCH 24, 2023 5:00 AM

A group of journalists looking at the chair in which Gary Gilmore sat when facing the firing squad in Utah in 1977. (Photo: Getty Images)

Tennessee is a few steps from bringing back firing squads, something that hasn’t been used as a form of punishment since the Civil War, mainly when soldiers refused to follow stupid orders such as “Run into the face of that cannon fire!”

This time, it could be for Death Row inmates, those folks who occasionally are found not guilty through DNA testing after they sit in prison for 30 years – mainly Black men. 

Regardless of that possibility, the Legislature is advancing a bill that not only revives Old Sparky, the electric chair, but would line up Department of Correction officers with rifles and have them open fire on the inmate.

Oddly enough, the only person the sponsors could find to testify in favor of the bill this week was one of the sponsors, Republican Rep. Dennis Powers of Jacksboro, who informed the Senate Judiciary Committee it is merely designed to give Death Row inmates another option – sort of like picking peach cobbler over blackberry.

It’s not secret Tennessee is struggling with the protocol for lethal injections and was forced to put executions on hold. Thus, the much simpler method of a deadly bullet.

The only person to testify in favor of a bill to bring the firing squad back as a method of executing people in Tennessee was sponsor Dennis Powers, a Jacksboro Republican, who said the bill is designed to give inmates a choice in how they die — like giving someone a choice of peach or blackberry cobbler

Sen. Frank Niceley, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, explained it succinctly when asked what happens if the inmate flinches and doesn’t die when shot.

Niceley, a Strawberry Plains Republican, told senators that can’t happen because the inmate is strapped in a chair and has a target on his heart. Niceley pointed drugs and electricity have different effects on people and sometimes don’t kill them.

“Four bullets through the heart affects everybody the same way,” Niceley said. “I think it’s more humane actually.”

Under questioning from the apoplectic Sen. London Lamar, a Tennessee Department of Correction representative said the state is “officially deferred” on the bill, meaning it doesn’t take a position. 

Asked if anyone in the department has expressed interest in shooting somebody, the spokesman pointed out the bill hasn’t become law yet.

But just give them time. Powers told the Senate Judiciary that in Utah, the last place someone was executed by firing squad, 32 people volunteered when only five were needed.

It makes you wonder if correction officers have a hyper-sense of duty or simply want to shoot somebody.

Lamar, a Memphis Democrat who is accustomed to reading news about people getting killed, as most of us are, complained that it cost Utah $1.5 million to construct a firing squad chamber and another $165,000 for 30 days of training leading up to the execution. 

She also noted that South Carolina’s firing squad law was found unconstitutional and likened it to using inmates as “dummies in a gun range,” near legalization of first-degree murder.

Tennessee, where three out of five ain’t bad: Capital punishment methods include hanging, lethal injection, electrocution, shooting by firing squad, and gas chamber.

“This is not humane by any means,” she said.

But alas, the Senate Judiciary voted 5-2 with two abstaining to send the bill on to Finance, Ways and Means. It comes with a $50,000 price tag and is likely to go “behind the budget,” where the House version went. That means it can’t get a final OK until the money is approved.

The next question is whether Gov. Bill Lee will go along with this if it passes. He hasn’t vetoed a bill in more than four years, and he called for a hold on executions last year when the Department of Correction discovered lethal injection protocol had been violated. 

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said Thursday he doesn’t favor firing squads but wants to hear from the sponsor – that would be Niceley – before making a final decision, though he noted the state’s current methods for executing people are “adequate.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton pointed out several states are passing similar legislation. Only five have legalized the method.

“It’s not forcing anybody to do anything against their will. I don’t know who would take them up on doing that, but … if that’s the option someone wants to take, that’s their right to take, I guess,” Sexton said.

No doubt, we are becoming a more gun-friendly state all the time, with thousands of guns being stolen from cars and used in horrible crimes. 

Still, legislation is moving that will lower the gun-carry age in our permitless carry state to 18.

Meanwhile, the House approved a bill Thursday allowing people to shoot bears declared a nuisance on property adjoining the Smoky Mountains National Park.

First, the property owner must notify the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency before he or she can shoot the bear. Otherwise, he or she can only poke the bear.

Which could lead one to believe, in Tennessee, it seems, no matter what, someone or something is gonna get shot.

We don’t need no stinking Children and Youth

Less than a week after the Tennessee Lookout reported on legislation designed to dissolve the state’s Commission on Children and Youth, the bill was dropped for the session.

But if you believe plans to kill the commission are dead, you’ve got another thing coming.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who was carrying the bill for the governor, said in a statement it is “initiating important discussions that highlight issues the Legislature has long had with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, which largely stem from the commission’s lack of accountability to taxpayers through the legislative oversight process.”

“Under the oversight process, lawmakers – who directly represent taxpayers – have the authority to ensure government organizations are efficient, effective and responsible with tax dollars,” Johnson said.

. . . initiating important discussions that highlight issues the Legislature has long had with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, which largely stem from the commission’s lack of accountability to taxpayers through the legislative oversight process.

– Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, on his bill to dismantle the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth

The commission’s budget is around $6 million, mostly for personnel. 

Johnson forgot to mention that the commission’s job, in part, is to hold the state accountable, mainly by working independently to provide lawmakers with information they need to make solid decisions.

The Franklin Republican, of course, also failed to point out the only reason this came about is that someone in the governor’s office got a burr under their saddle after the commission’s report on children showed Tennessee has the worst foster care system in the nation.

This is not news.

So while the Legislature might be investing $190 million in the Department of Children’s Services to raise case workers’ salaries and provide more places for foster kids to stay, DCS is still screwing up.

The department recently pulled children away from a Georgia couple in Coffee County after they were stopped for for shaky reasons and then arrested for possession of weed. Is anyone surprised they were Black?

DCS hasn’t had the resources for a year and a half to keep foster children from staying in state offices, but it has enough time to harass this family. 

If this weren’t so embarrassing, it would be funny. But they aren’t joking.

Democratic lawmakers, who are highly critical of the plan to dissolve the Commission on Children and Youth, believe it is still on the chopping block. 

The agency is up for a sunset hearing next year, a situation in which lawmakers could refuse to let it continue operating. 

Kylie Graves, a policy specialist for the commission, said the agency was never contacted about the governor’s dissolution plan or whether the commission should take a new direction.

The commission’s chairman received a phone call the Friday before the legislation dropped and nobody knew the changes to be made until Monday, March 13.

“And still don’t know exactly why or what the logic is behind this,” Graves said.

The state could renew the commission’s job of conducting quality reviews of state custody child cases, which was eliminated about 10 years ago through budget cuts. Other groups could take on the task, too.

“But we do think as we’re investing all this money and hoping to see better outcomes in DCS, there’s substantial value in having a third-party outcome review team looking and making sure we’re investing wisely,” Graves said.

What’s good for the goose …

With great contempt, the House adopted a resolution Thursday calling for an Article V Constitutional Convention to put term limits on members of Congress. Forget the fact that a term limits bill on Tennessee legislators died in committee earlier this session. Career politicians are bad only when they’re in D.C.

“We see the dysfunction in Washington,” Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, said as he criticized uncontrolled spending and other assorted problems in Congress. 

In the past, efforts to push for a constitutional convention have been cast aside as the efforts of right-wing nutjobs, mainly because reasonable people worry that once delegates arrive at such a convention they’ll try to change the entire U.S. Constitution.

Congress can call a convention with a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate. Or, the legislatures of two-thirds of the states can direct Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments. Then, 38 of 50 states would have to ratify a constitutional amendment.

Rep. Chris Todd, R-Jackson, who voted for term limits for congressmen, after voting against term limits for state legislators. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Todd contended that the convention would be contained to the question of term limits, and at an earlier committee meeting said anyone who went outside the scope could be fined and jailed.

Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, remained unconvinced.

“Once you start opening it up, it’s Pandora’s box. … They act like we don’t live in a great country. They keep acting like they hate D.C. … We’re taking a lot of money from D.C., and we’re a receiver state. It’s unfortunate we keep having these conversations,” McKenzie said afterward.

The resolution passed 66-27 with three abstaining.

The camel’s buttocks … 

… are in the tent.

When the Legislature barely passed Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program in 2019, opponents argued it would only be a matter of time before private school vouchers would start spreading to school districts other than Metro Nashville and Shelby County.

It happened quicker than they thought. 

The program, which was approved on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court after it decided Metro Nashville Public Schools isn’t part of Metro Nashville government, is barely under way and Hamilton and Knox counties are being thrown into the mix.

Ironically, the only way to pass the bill four years ago was to remove those from the equation.

Fast-forward, and Hamilton legislators asked for their school district to be added this year, and recently Knox lawmakers – or at least some of them – did the same.

Republican Reps. Michelle Carringer, Jason Zachary, Justin Lafferty and Dave Wright, all of Knox County, are co-sponsoring House Bill 433, the vehicle for adding Hamilton. 

The week in education legislation:

Charter schools, which passed in 2019 predicated on only being in Shelby and Davidson Counties, move on Knox and Hamilton Counties.

A bill pushed by Gov. Bill Lee to give teachers raises stalls, likely because of another Lee-backed bill to prohibit automatic union dues deduction fro teachers’ paychecks.

Ironically, Zachary was the tie-breaking vote for former House Speaker Glen Casada in 2019 but he did it only after Knox County Schools district was removed from the bill.

Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson called the move “absolutely premature,” because the state doesn’t know how well the program will work in Tennessee. Data is available showing it doesn’t do well in other states.

Yet Tennessee is plunging ahead.

Johnson blames the donors and “dark money” involved in privatizing public school money.

“We always knew that was getting in that first step. They will expand it to every state. They eventually will expand it to other income brackets,” Johnson said.

Under the current plan, low-income students can receive about $8,000 in voucher money to go toward private school tuition and other expenses. Once a new state K-12 funding formula kicks in, that amount is likely to double – all in the name of school choice.

It’s such a good deal for privateers it wouldn’t be surprising to see this go statewide sooner than later.

A little backhanded slap

When Gov. Lee said during his State of the State address he wanted to raise starting teacher pay to $50,000 by the time he leaves office, he received a standing ovation. He forgot to mention that his bill would prohibit automatic union dues deduction from teachers’ paychecks.

It doesn’t seem like a big thing to have to go down to the credit union or bank and ask for a bit of your pay to go to the Tennessee Education Association or Professional Educators of Tennessee. But it is a jab.

Thus, Lee’s bill to raise starting teacher pay was postponed Thursday in the Senate.

Word on the street – or in Capitol halls – is that lawmakers aren’t enthused with increasing pay and taking a punch at teachers simultaneously. It also seems a bit disingenuous. 

The bill could wind up being separated into two parts, one for pay and one for hammering teachers. After all, we love our teachers, but only to a point.

Stay off TikTok

They tell me this type of social media is really addictive, so much so that people send their friends TikTok stuff in the middle of the night. Everyone has that friend who just can’t sleep.

(Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

But the Legislature will have none of it, apparently because it’s owned by a Chinese company. 

With an eye to the Far East, the House passed a bill Thursday outlawing TikTok on state networks, including university networks, which is really a shame because college kids love those silly TikTok videos. And we don’t want them having any kind of fun that will benefit the Chinese.

My God, next thing you know they’ll be making all of our cheap tools and other crap. How else is Wal-Mart going to survive?

“The preacher man says it’s the end of time.”

REPUBLISH

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

SAM STOCKARD

Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state's best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. He has led the Capitol Hill bureau for The Daily Memphian. His awards include Best Single Editorial from the Tennessee Press Association.

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Tennessee, where three out of five ain’t bad: Capital punishment methods include hanging, lethal injection, electrocution, shooting by firing squad, and gas chamber.

Item 1 of 4

[blythebitez]

BITEZ//

Mahito // Jujutsu Kaisen

SFW//

TW: toxic relationship

//Mahito is incapable of love. An emotion so overbearing as love being in a curse’s soul is rare at it’s self, down right almost IMPOSSIBLE. So it’s no surprise that Mahito is incapable of love.

//Just because he is human shaped doesn’t mean he’s an actual human. Don’t forget that. He doesn’t love you but he is- INFATUATED with you. Don’t get me wrong, you’re just another toy for him to play with until he gets bored.

//But... YOU’RE HIS TOY UNTIL HE’S FINISHED WITH YOU! Don’t try to leave him, run away, or have someone else behind his back. He’s the one who gets to decide when it’s over.

//That being said, he does enjoy a good chase. So if you do plan to run do it in a fun way! Pull out all the stops! Be willing to die! Do something reckless! It makes him want you even more! The more you fight, the probability of him keeping you alive longer goes up.

//He loves your expressions! He thinks they’re the funniest thing in the world. He would twist his head back like an owl if you called him to see your look of fear. He’d completely shame you just to see you cry. Then comfort you trying to get you to smile through your tears

//If his toy does break before he’s finished playing with you. He’d shrug it off, he’d be sad at your death but only because he wasn’t the one to kill you off.

//As much as he’d like to deny it human affection is fun to him, and it makes him feel warm. So he’ll demand it from you.

//Once he’s on you HE DOESN’T LET GO. he’s always so close, always hugging you, always cuddling you, basically a leech on your side.

// At first he kissed you to see your reaction. If you got uncomfortable you just showed him a weakness and he’d exploit it. Kissing you every chance he got.

// It wasn’t until he found out he enjoyed it he continued doing it, disregarding your feelings

//He enjoys reading with you. He hasn’t been around long and reads with you next to him on his chest.

//He doesn’t need to sleep but he’ll spend his time watching you sleep. Just to see your expression in the morning when you see the different colored eyes staring back at you and a crazed smile.

//Dates are rare. He’d probably only go on one for the experience after reading a romance novel. He’d take you somewhere fun like the beach or an amusement park!

//(If he gets bored he’d probably kill a few people out in the open)

//You better answer his texts on time! And by on time I mean in the next five seconds no matter what you’re doing. He’s impatient and he’ll spam you or he’ll find your location and take you back home with him.

NSFW// (Fem reader)

TW// Breeding kink // Public sex // Sloppy sex // Spit play // Non-con // Choking // R-O-U-G-H

//Upon... Discovering how humans reproduce he gets curious and starts wondering if a human shaped curse and a human can have a little soul born of their own.

//So, he’ll test it out on you. Since his discovery he’s been drilling at your pussy for days. Getting every single drop of his seed inside of you, filling you whole. With his seed. 

//Most of the time you’ll overflow and gush all over the bedsheets. Mahito loves to watch his seed try to escape your hole. He’ll grab and squeeze your ass cheeks just to see it gush out. only for his fingers to shove the hot liquid back inside of your abused hole.

//Mahito’s Dick was veiny, lengthy, and girthy a pattern of stitches running along it. But it barely keeps it’s original form when it’s inside of you. He likes to be as close to you as possible so he’ll expand inside of you to hear your strains and grunts of pain. He’s done all different types of forms, he likes to experiment!

// Dragon shaped, Tentacles, Hell he’s even formed two and filled you with both at once.

//Soon fucking you became a daily activity for him, not just to see if you could bare his little soul but. Sex was FUN! Mahito’s sex drive skyrocketed since his first time with you. Now it seems he can’t keep his hands to himself even in public.

“N-Not now Mahito! We just did it twenty minutes ag-”

shoved in an alleyway, in broad daylight. The human shaped curse had his hand on your throat and held you against the wall grinning to himself. His grip was loose and gentle for him, but it was bone crushing to a human being. He deprived you of using your vocal cords. 

“I wouldn’t care if it was five seconds ago~! I want to have some fun~!”

You felt his quick hand lift up the end of your skirt and push your panty to the side. A wide smile spread across his face seeing his seed he left in you from earlier. In curiosity he dipped his finger in the mixture of his sloppy seed and your wet juices.

“Hmm~! So good~”

Feeling your slick walls spread open you gushed, nothing but air leaving your lips due to the hand around your throat. You groaned your eyes rolling to the back of your head, his girth and length was inside you once again. around the fourteenth time since you opened your eyes today. Your pussy pulsed against him, begging for release. The soreness and mix of pleasure was to much to handle. He put pressure behind each thrust. Leaning over you, His hot breaths, moans, and giggles in your ear. 

“Hmmm~! My little toy feels so nice! I Love feeling your guts move for my cock~”

“HMM~! That’s it! Suck my cock in with your pretty little pussy~”

He was drilling you faster than a rabbit in heat. Your walls cried and squealed when they parted for his thick length. Your face began to change color begging for air as your fingers wrapped around his hand trying to regain your breath. Tears forming from the corners of your eyes out of pain and embarrassment.  Mahito smiled groaning against your ear seeing you silently beg for air. 

“Let me spit in your mouth and I’ll let goooo~!”

He sung in your ear, as if you had a choice. It was let his DNA slide down your throat or death. It wasn’t like he hasn’t filled you with his body fluids before. You quickly nodded and the male released you giving you a second to breath. You felt his length slide out of you, Your legs trembled and shook. You took a breather thinking he was done.

Only to feel your back being slammed against the brick wall. You were lifted onto the dirty lid of a garbage can. His hands held your legs down and he slammed his lips onto yours. He forced his wet muscle into your mouth, His long tongue sliding down your throat and choking you with his transforming body. His tongue explored your mouth, his hands running up from your legs. They traveled up your belly, over your chest and cupped your plump cheeks that were filled with his tongue. His tongue ran rampant and wild in your wet cavity. 

suddenly he pulled away with a smirk on his face, the long string of saliva connected the both of you. His cheeks puffed up, you closed your eyes knowing what was coming. Once more he slammed his lips against yours and forced your mouth open with his hands.

Squish

Your eyes were filled with disgust staring up into his Different colored hues. His own filled with lust, and glee. He watched as you were forced to swallow his nasty glob of spit. He pulled back a smile took up his face as he leaned forward into your face. both of your noses touching as he looked into your eyes filled with tears. 

One hand gave your head a pet and the other wiped your face clear of tears.

“What a good little toy~”

[softlyjiminie]

oh kitten! | p.j.m

⇢ pairing(s): park jimin x cat hybrid!reader, mentions of panther hybrid!jeon jungkook x cat hybrid!reader.

⇢ word count: 2.4K

⇢ genre: smut, fluff, hybrid!au.

⇢ summary: no one expected park jimin to come home with a hybrid, let alone a female cat hybrid. innocent as can be, sweeter than sugar, she was the apple of jimin’s eye, but little did they know, how good she could be.

⇢ warning(s): please read! heavy smut, pwp, dom!jiimin, sub!reader, oral sex (female receiving.), fingering, male masturbation, light exhibitionism,  master kink, corruption kink, degredation kink, god kink if you squint,  mentions of pet play, light choking, spanking, cum play, breeding kink, unprotected sex - please wear protection!

⇢ author’s note(s): happy new year friends! it is i, your favourite jimin luvr back with a very special gift for miss @fantasybangtan​, gia hit me with this very wonderful and steamy gift, so in my new years haze I managed to throw this little steamy one-shot together! please enjoy this very smutty fic hehe.

no one expected park jimin to come home with a hybrid, let alone a female cat hybrid. jimin already had plenty of girls wrapped around his finger before her, so why did he need a hybrid? the short answer was that he was lonely, looking for someone to take care of and fill the empty space between work, college and parties. but jimin had seen the look of happiness on yoongi’s face that one time,upon seeing his girlfriend  bring in their excitable german shepard hybrid; taehyung  (of course with the permission of their boss seokjin, some establishments didn’t allow hybrids on the premises.)

namjoon, his old roommate had moved out after getting his own cat hybrid, jungkook. the panther hybrid had many lazy tendencies, sometimes aggressive and possessive which had ultimately led namjoon to leave. in other words, jungkook was lazy and mean as fuck. however, he did have his adorable moments. then there was, hoseok who frequently volunteered in a shelter for hybrids. it had been him, the jubilant man,  who helped jimin to find the right hybrid for his home, but the older male would have never suspected his blue haired ‘bad boy’ friend to go for the most innocent little short hair he’d ever seen. 

oh kitty, if hoseok knew how innocent and good she really was. 

YN’s back was arched, dark fluffy tail wrapped around her thigh as she held her ass up high for jimin to see. with dark eyes, jimin nudged her thighs apart with his own, just so he could get a view of her pretty, creamy little pussy. her ears were flat with submission too, making heat crawl down his spine. “look at you kitten,” jimin cooed lowly, crescent moon eyes heavy with seduction. “all spread out for me, like a good little girl.” 

he hummed in satisfaction, watching her tail twitch and ears flicker to place his movement. YN knew he was right behind her, her modified hybrid DNA meant her keen sense of smell could detect his growing arousal and the denim that prevented it from filling her up. she let out a quiet mix between a whimper and a purr, burying her face into the fresh cotton sheets as she wiggled her hips in an attempt to get jimin’s attention. 

hands on her waist stilled the motion, causing YN to glance back over her shoulder to gauge his reaction. jimin smirked, shuffling down the bed with her ass still firmly in grip. the tattooed man yanked at her hips with bruising force,  bringing her sopping heat closer to his face once his knees hit the floor. nose just inches away from her swollen nub, jimin’s  hot breath fanned over YN’s throbbing core and sent her senses into overdrive. “tell me kitten, what was it that you did so wrong? tell master so he can give you what you need baby.”

his voice dripped with mockery, testing all of her self control. jimin had her trained well, to be a good pet, not only when but if he desired it. he loved to see YN on her knees when he came home from a busy day, mouth open and ready to take his fingers spiralled with tattoos. he loved it. she adored it.

“i t-touched myself,” she mewled after jimin pressed his plush lips against her core in a sloppy kiss. he hummed, as if asking her to continue, causing her fingers to grip the sheets. “because the heat, m-my heat was too much!” 

the tattooed man licked a stripe along the length of her dripping cunt, the overflow of her arousal sweet on his tongue. jimin was addicted, senses overflowing with all of her. “what else sweetheart? elaborate for me.” 

“’called taehyungie ‘n hoseok t-to help with my heat-, oh my god!” she squealed when jimin’s skilled tongue slipped past her entrance, feasting on the heavenly nectar that gathered there. YN was sinful, without even trying, her innocence turning the man on beyond compare. corrupting her, tainting his little angel.  jimin moaned into her core, loving how she desperately cried out his name. letting a inked hand run through his teal tinted locks, jimin lifted himself off of his knees and begun to  sooth her whimpers, smoothing over the curve of her ass. “they said- oh my - they said no so i called kookoo to he-help! jimin!” 

the tattooed man growled into her cunt, possessively at the other hybrid’s name. memories only driving him to push his tongue into her pulsing hole, he smirked against her, drawing patterns on her desperate cunt as she cried out. before adopting YN, jimin knew next to nothing about owning and taking care of a hybrid, let alone about their reproductive cycles. so when his kitten fell into her first heat with him,  jimin panicked and immediately took to calling namjoon for advice. 

jimin remembered his face being bright with a red when his little, sweet, innocent kitty begged him to fill her up with his cum. because, sure, park jimin had been with girls before but this was YN and YN was his precious little baby. jimin had never seen her in such a state before, tears pooling in her beautiful, doe eyes like she was in pain. desperately needing something, someone to take the edge off.

namjoon offered up jungkook to help take care of jimin’s darling kitten and of course, he was sceptical. jungkook wasn’t gentle, he couldn’t take care of a little thing like YN. 

but oh how jimin was wrong. 

never in his life, in his time with YN had he heard her scream such filthy words, begging for jungkook to stuff her full of his load and breed her till his heart content. of course the panther obliged, groaning and barking orders into YN’s ear as their skin slapped against each other. 

and so it became a regular occurrence from then on, jimin making a home on the living room couch as jungkook took her round after round after round. YN’s moans  like a sweet melody filling the void of the apartment, causing jimin’s cock to harden in his sweatpants. he should have felt bad, bad for touching himself to orgasm whilst listening to YN being pounded away. it wasn’t until recently, when jimin had confessed his feelings (and jealousy), that he started helping her through the heats. making his name, jimin , the name that she chanted like a mantra.

“minnie, it hurts,” YN gasped, a slur in her words after he’d neglected her cunt for too long. with a teasing smile, jimin withdrew his face from her heat, replacing his tongue with a finger, slowly pumping it knuckle deep within her red hot walls. jimin grinned cockily in delight, feeling her walls take him in like a glove, pushing her (or rather his) sweater over her ass and up to her chest. 

kissing a trail up her back, jimin smiled against the expanse of her skin, reaching her neck and biting down just hard enough to form a love bite. he wanted YN’s skin to shine with his work, painting blue and purple hues across her skin like the night sky. “i know angel,” he murmured softly, millimetres away from her sensitive cat ears. “i’ll take care of you baby, i’ll fill you up so good, fuck you raw and then feed your tight little pussy my cum, would you like that kitten?” jimin’s voice was raspy in her ear, making YN’s chest heave at the thought of jimin inside her spasming walls. a fresh set of tears watered in the cat hybrid’s eyes as jimin’s finger curled, bringing her closer to the edge. stars formed behind cat-like irises as she teetered over the brink of orgasm, the knot in her stomach desperate to uncoil.

but just as quickly as it came, it stopped. “or would you rather kookoo?”

jimin’s whisper was hot against her kitty ears, causing them to twitch as she almost sobbed into the pillow with a shake of her head, moaning out for something, anything. “what about him, kitten? would you prefer if he fucked you like this? tossed you around and filled you up with his seed? hmm?“ jimin spoke harshly, landing a spank to YN’s ass. “i bet you would, all you can think about is being filled with cock and cum, bet you’d take anyone in that filthy cunt of yours.” 

“no, no, no!” YN cried, grinding her ass back into jimin’s jeans, leaving a wet patch at his crotch once she realised he had moved there. “i-i want you, i want you minnie please! don’t want him, don’t want koo, only you...”

the blue haired boy smirked lightly and sat back on his knees, slowly manoeuvring to unbuckle his belt. the clink of metal clanking on metal made the kitty moan in wonton as her ears swivelled at the sound. “say it again.” Jimin commanded, stripping off the rest of his clothes, the scent of his arousal filling his kitten’s nose. “beg for master, darling.”

“please, please i need you, m-master please- ” she didn’t need to say much before he was swiping the swollen, burning red head of his cock along her soaked slit. jimin shuddered above her, easing his thick cock between her folds as he encased the kitten between his arms. his bare chest moulded perfectly with the slope of her back, her ass resting comfortably at his hip. “hmmm minnie...”

in return, jimin gave an experimental thrust of his hips, whimpering into YN’s hair when she clenched around him. “fuck kitten, alway s’fuckin tight for me.” he moaned, thrusting in again, just to hear her little mewl’s of pleasure. the head of jimin’s cock caught on her wet walls, dragging against them as he repeatedly pushed in and out of her hole, abusing the sensitive area by rolling his hips into her constantly.

jimin lifted himself from her back, hands settling on her hips as he pulled her as back onto his cock, watching her cheeks jiggle with every movement. YN’s face was pressed deep into the pillows as she cried out his name, grinding back onto him like her life depended on it. “m-minnie please...” 

“please what kitten?” jimin panted, kissing up her spine again but never slowing the pace of his hips. “what is it that you want, hm? is my cock not enough for you?, greedy girl. want me to go faster? harder?” 

the blue haired male punctuated his words with swirls of his hips, his bright red tip prodding at her g-spot, eliciting a series of purrs from her kitten lips. he ravished the back of her neck once more, pausing his movements to let her roll back onto him feverishly, her cunt clenching right around him as her orgasm drew near. “h-h minnie, oh!” her purrs grew louder, moans reduced to mumbling his name and sighing once the weight of his body was on top of her again.

jimin’s thrusts became erratic, the force behind them more powerful. YN squeezed around his cock, purring for him and sending the vibrations going straight to his dick. “you gonna cum kitten?” he groaned into her hair, caging her in underneath him as he focused on thrusting deep. thick fingers fumbled to flick at her swollen clit with one hand, the other pressed lightly on her neck, forcing his thumb into her hot, wet mouth. “gonna make a mess of my cock?”

“yes! ’m so close,” she slurred, biting into the fabric of the pillow to control herself.

jimin nipped at her ear. “cum for me baby.” he growled, squeezing his eyes shut when she contracted around him one final time, arching her back to rut against him. jimin helped YN ride out her high as she milked his length for all he had, the tightness of her heat becoming too much for him. “where do you want me?”

“c-cum inside me, fill me with your kittens. breed me.” she purred, breathless as she swivelled her hips over his cock, the man above her practically sobbed as he gave a final two thrusts, filling his baby up with his thick hot seed.

jimin felt his arms give out as he collapsed to the side, not daring to crush his precious angel with his body wait. closing his whiskey eyes, jimin stilled to let his breathing calm, only cracking an eye open when YN moved over to give his inked arm appreciative kitten licks. “good? you’re okay, right princess?” he hummed in concern. 

“mhm! thank you jiminie, i think it’s settled for now. could i have some water please?” YN smiles shyly, the dimples in her cheeks returning. jimin chuckled, the switch of her personality reminding him of how innocent she could be and if he wasn’t so tired he knew his cock would have stirred again. with a shake of his blue hair out of his eyes, jimin nodded and sat up, leaning over to grab a bottle of water from the emergency supply under the bed. “thank you!” 

after the first few heats that he’d helped YN with, jimin quickly realised that both she and he would need replenishments if YN were to stay healthy and he were to keep up his stamina to satisfy her. it was a good thing that he could never get enough of her. the inked man watched with tired eyes as YN gulped down the water, trickles falling down the corner of her mouth and dripping onto her bare chest as she swallowed it down easily. 

wonder what else she could swallow like that, jimin thought. a small cough caused him to shift is gaze from his hybrid’s chest and up to her, innocent eyes. “you’re staring, minnie.” YN whined, with a pout on her lips. 

“you’re beautiful, is staring a crime?” he countered, moving to press a kiss where the water lay and followed to trail back up to the corner of her mouth. YN shifted on her knees, gasping quietly at the soft touch. jimin grinned widely against her supple cheek, biting it softly as he sensed another hot rush flooding through her. YN was so responsive to him, and only him. 

it was a privilege that he loved.

“no, but if i didn’t know any better, i would think you were the hybrid in heat...” she gasped, eyes rolling back as jimin moved his hands to cup her breasts. 

“whaddya say baby, another round?” 

“please, master.” she nodded, already moving to straddle jimin’s lap, ready for another round in the sheets. 

oh, what a good kitten she was. 

[bigskydreaming]

Tarn the Uncaring and his Locus Vile remain creepy as fuck, but I can’t help but feel that this Hellions issue would be a lot more impactful if we had any clue whatsoever what Tarn and his ick squad’s powers actually are. Its the same gripe I have with the last Wolverine issue and that Arakki pirate guy......I feel like the writers are making all these new Arakki characters but aren’t bothering to figure out what they can even do beyond just make them look bad-ass or intimidating or whatever and just be vague as to their actual capabilities.

For the most part its not a big deal, but I do think sooner rather than later we do need an ACTUAL clue about what the hell Tarn and the rest of the Great Ring’s powers are, given that its been well established that the Arakki ONLY let omega level mutants sit on their ruling council, so like......I think they should have bothered figuring out what the Great Ring’s powersets are before introducing them at least, and I feel like a big reason for the vagueness is that so far....even the writers only have the vaguest idea about what most of them can do. I mean, the only ones we know for sure are Isca and Lactuna or whatever her name is....and we have a reasonable sense of what the fish dude’s powers are and they’re fairly epic....and Idyll’s powers obviously are precognition related, so....okay y’know what, I take it back. 

Of the Great Ring, the only ones we don’t really have a sense of are Tarn and the other random dude whose name I forget, and Tarn’s obviously have something to do with genetics/power manipulation.....but every time I see that giant caterpillar mutant, Xili or whatever his name is, I’m just like....okay we saw him in action but I still don’t get how his power works even a little bit.

Anyway, Hellions was an interesting issue, I enjoy seeing Sinister’s fuck-ups come back home to roost and all the Hellions finding out just how badly he screwed them on the Amenth mission, and I am intrigued by the mention of Chimera towards the end of the issue. I’m guessing all of this is building up to the reveal of Sinister’s first experiments in creating the triple-powered mutants we saw in Powers of X a hundred years in the future - and that series did mention that the first Chimera were ‘grown’ in the Vats of Mars, which is now Arakko, home of.....the people Sinister just admitted to stealing the DNA from to create these Chimera. So it all fits. 

What I’m curious about is how much of this is just leading up to the same events that already played out in Moira’s last failed lifetime, versus how much things are going differently this time around. Like, we’re finding out about the Chimera being created already, which would seem to suggest events so far aren’t playing out too differently from the last time around, given the references to them being made on Mars....BUT in Moira’s last lifetime in Powers of X, like, it was clearly referenced as MARS having been where the Chimera were first made.....while ever since the Hellfire Gala, the books have all been pushing really hard that the planet’s name is Arakko now. So what I’m wondering is if Moira’s last lifetime - where she was allied with Apocalypse for at least part of it as well - if Arakko and its mutants were ever successfully retrieved from Amenth....or if Mars was simply a Krakoan colony in that past lifetime, and the Chimera we saw a hundred years in its future were just the results of Sinister’s experiments with mutant/Krakoan DNA, with him never having had access to Arakki mutants or Tarn’s own experiments with mutation.

Because if the latter, then that would suggest that the key difference this time around, and the potential game changer for the future, is not actually Krakoa itself, but Arakko’s presence and the Krakoa/Arakko alliance, spread across two planets.

Hmmm. Must ponder more.

As for the new X-Men issue, it wasn’t bad but it was mostly meh. It felt like a lot of just action sequences with Duggan narrating how they all used their powers together to defeat the Annihilation Wave, and like....yawn? The mutant synergy idea is fine conceptually, but they are milking it WAY too hard, its like we get it, can you do something with the actual STORY rather than just being like look what happens when these two mutants use their powers at the same time? LOL. For what its worth, what story there IS in this issue is intriguing. I mean, the idea of Gameworld and its bets on the fate of Earth is pretty interesting, and Dr. Stasis is shaping up to be a dangerous threat, especially with him seeming to be on to the Krakoan resurrection capabilities (uh, not that they’ve been all that subtle about it, tbh), and allied with Orchis - thus them knowing about the great Krakoan resurrection engine as well, lmao. Like, they probably really should have put a bit more effort into keeping that under wraps awhile longer instead of just being like: 

"Oh Jumbo Carnation famously was murdered a few years ago with it all over the news and now we’re making a big deal about him designing all the outfits for our highly publicized Hellfire Gala, and you want to know how that could be possible, Mr. Reporter? Uh...look! A squirrel!”

Also, that plus the big fight between the Locus Vile and the Hellions on Krakoa after Ororo specifically WARNED Tarn that she was going to fuck his shit up if he tried to retaliate against Sinister - and that Isca and the rest of the Great Ring promised to back her on, lololol, its kinda funny that they all seem to hate Tarn as much as the rest of the Quiet Council all hate Sinister - anyway, all that has me wondering what the official policy on dead Arakki mutants is. I assume given that they’re mutants no fundamentally different from Krakoan mutants, that like, ever since they emerged from Otherworld, there’s no reason that Cerebro shouldn’t back up their consciousnesses as automatically as it does any other mutant’s....so is Krakoa sharing its resurrection technology with Arakko at all? Assuming of course that once they saw how Krakoans did it, they don’t have specific mutants of their own capable of matching the capabilities of the Five and doing the same for them. 

BUT then again, the idea of resurrection seems to fly pretty heavily in the face of Arakki culture, so I don’t imagine on the WHOLE they’re all that interested in it in the first place.....BUT BUT, that doesn’t mean that INDIVIDUAL Arakki mutants aren’t interested. And given that we know now that it was Solem who was pulling strings in Wolverine’s solo title and X-Force, and that he was behind stealing the Shi’ar logic diamonds, which are used in resurrection, and he seems to have aims towards stealing the Cerebro Sword from Mikhail in Russia......from what we do know of Solem, it would make perfect sense for him to be interested in resurrection, given how many of his own people want him dead (especially after how he fucked over War in X of Swords), and I can’t imagine Solem being all that interested in like, applying for Krakoan citizenship just for that perk if he felt he could finagle resurrection on his own terms instead.

Or that he thinks they’d even offer it to him at all at this point, given that Emma, a key figure on the Quiet Council, is personally gunning for him to get payback for what he did to Christian and the Marauder (yesssss, this is one Emma + Wolverine teamup I’m here for lololol). Course, I can’t help but think, you know who else would want payback for Christian, and who might be extremely helpful in going after a notoriously dangerous Arakki warrior with adamantium skin? Oh, idk, Christian’s boyfriend, the omega mutant capable of freezing anything so cold it can shatter with a touch....even vaunted adamantium. I’M JUST SAYING. We saw Bobby get his vengeful on after Kate was killed, and him applying that same energy towards going after someone as dangerous as Solem on Christian’s behalf, would be like....potentially the most interesting thing they’ve done with him in years.

Like, I know it won’t happen because it probably hasn’t even occurred to the writers, since most of them barely even acknowledge that Bobby and Christian are IN a relationship, but how fucking great would it be to have Solem smugly convinced that he’s a match for Logan only for him to be like “the useful thing about NOT being a loner loser like you and actually having friends and people who like me, is sometimes it pays to have a bigger gun than yourself on speed dial.” Cut to....Heeeeeere’s Bobby! You know, the dude who just singlehandedly gave your spiffy new homeplanet its ice caps. And whose boyfriend your pirate patsies tossed overboard and left for dead when stealing his ship.

Solem: Aww, fuck.

[thebibliomancer]

Justice League Indispensable: JLA #222: Beasts II: Death Games

January, 1984

I’ve noticed over two-hundred and twenty plus posts that villains love being tall and dangling heroes from their fingers.

That tactile sensation... It must feel amazing. And a little squirmy.

Not much else to say about the cover. Except that Hawkman’s legs seem to not exist.

Anyway.

Last time on Justice League: the Justice League have been dealing with a lot of weird animal/people hybrids. Has Dr. Moreau finally been adapted into DC? Probably not. But Flash, Elongated Man, and Hawkman all get badly injured in separate locations by these Ani-Men. And Firestorm catches a catgirl named Reena robbing the Empire State Building. She asks him for sanctuary so he takes her to the JL Satellite to spill the beans on the Ani-Men.

This time: Superman is in the hilarious position of interrogating catgirl Reena who has forgotten how chairs work.

Just sitting on the table. Probably getting hair everywhere.

Firestorm tells Superman to chill out with the hardnosed animated Justice League approach (I mean, he doesn’t, but animated Superman also needed to chill out, amirite?) because Reena volunteered to help.

Reena says she has no choice but to trust the League and that she’s lived in DAILY TERROR for the past few months.

She asks if any of them have heard of Repli-Tech?

Dang, shame Batman is off having recently formed the Outsiders because I bet he knows all the companies. All of them.

Ooooorrrr Aquaman does?

Aquaman: “Repli-Tech Industries... They were one of the first of the genetics companies to go public on the stock exchange, weren’t they? I remember they made quite a splash a year ago... But I haven’t heard anything about them since.”

Oh, Aquaman, you punster, you.

So Reena lays down some exposition about how Repli-Tech was a hilariously mismanaged company, where the executives forced a rapid capital expansion beyond its market niche and how a recession just bankrupt the overextended company.

But despite the dismay and panic of the other execs, hilariously mustached CEO Rex Rogan had a daring plan to save the company!

Rex Rogan: “Dr. Lovecraft and his genetic discoveries were the basis for our initial success, developing new forms of medicine -- new fertilizers -- even new fuels! He’s come up with a way out for all of us, involving a new, experimental form of DNA manipulation. It could kill us -- but the alternative is disgrace, financial ruin, and imprisonment.”

Oh, sure. Of course. Why not trust a guy called DR. LOVECRAFT.

But due to faith in Rex Rogan, CEO, or just fear of prison, the whole board all agrees to this wild plan.

And the wild plan?

Dr. Lovecraft uses SCIENCE to put them all in cocoons where they are transformed into furries.

Rex Rogan Maximus Rex: “We are reborn -- we are above the beasts, and above mankind! We will do more than merely survive -- we will conquer -- we will rule!”

Then with company guards also enhanced by Dr. Lovecraft, Rex has them steal a whole bunch of shit which is used to protect Repli-Tech from bankruptcy.

Huh.

Uh. I don’t really get how becoming furries was an essential part of this plan.

If the plan was just to steal a bunch of shit to make up for poor financial management. But live your best lives, Repli-Tech board of directors.

Anyway, having super hunky animal powers is handy when the superheroes inevitably become involved which oops look its happening. It happened last issue and this issue so good thing they had turned themselves into furries.

(Do the Repli-Tech board of directors not have to make any public appearances? They’re a publicly traded company, apparently.)

Also, Maximus Rex buys a warehouse to turn into an arena for some death games where humans fight beast-men for the amusement of the rich and powerful like politicians and corporate executives.

Not really sure how this specifically saves the company but I think that’s more of a personal project for Maximus Rex, lion hunk.

The blood sport did make Reena start thinking that maybe Rex was the asshole.

‘Uh no shit’ chimes in Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman who determine now is a good time to interject that Reena is just as much of a monster for sitting idly by as people were killed in blood sport.

Firestorm, Superman, and Zatanna counter ‘hey lets hear the rest of the story, mkay?’

Reena grew unable to stomach all the death and as luck would have it Rowl, one of the Repli-Tech guards recently transformed into an animal hunk also found the whole situation gross.

He helped Reena escape but wound up captured himself.

He did manage to high kick a scorpion man though. So that’s something.

Anyway, Rowl getting caught is why Reena was breaking into the Repli-Tech office in the Empire State Building. She wanted to find evidence!

Hawkgirl: “I don’t believe it. Not a word. She’s obviously a plant -- she said herself, she was Rogan’s mistress, that she always did everything he told her. Why should we believe she’d turn against him?”

Firestorm: “Look at her, Hawkgirl -- me, I believe her.”

Aquaman: “We can’t ignore what she’s told us, Shayera.”

Even Superman goes yeah lets believe the catgirl. And I’m sorta wondering about all the male Justice League members believing the catgirl while two out of three of the woman leaguers are like uhn uh I don’t trust that darn cat.

But we shortly see that Reena was telling the truth about Rowl, if nothing else.

Guards at the Arena snooze gas Rowl to drag him from his cell into the Arena.

A Guard: “Y’know, I used to be friends with this guy, when he was still human. Rex gives him a chance to be something special, and he goes and blows it helping some damn cat.”

Rowl comes to in the center of the Arena with the crowd roaring for his blood.

He tries to talk to the crowd, win their sympathy by saying he used to be human like them but they’re rich dicks who want to see someone horribly murdered for their amusement.

Trying to talk to them was a non-starter. And Maximus Rex even mocks him for trying.

Maximus Rex: “Human you may have been -- but you were never like them. Smell the air: it’s so thick you can taste it -- the oily sweat of a blood-hungry mob! They want a death, Rowl... They want your death!”

Maximus Rex asks the crowd what Rowl deserves and they chant DEATH and KILL HIM so Maximus Rex jumps down to the Arena floor to see to it personally.

He’s kinda like Roman Emperor Commodus from the historically adjacent movie film Gladiator who liked to gladiate instead of just watching Gladiator gladiate.

And unlike movie Commodus, Maximus Rex is no slouch.

Right off the bat, he blocks Rowl’s ultimate technique, a jump kick.

Poor Rowl is doomed.

And he doesn’t even know it yet. He manages to hit Maximus Rex once and thinks he’s winning.

Rowl: “You’re just as you were in the boardroom -- you’ve no stomach for a real battle! We used to laugh about you, Rogan, down in the ranks! All of us -- we called you a gutless wonder!”

Maximus Rex retorts by disembowling Rowl.

Maximus Rex: “So, Rowl... Which of us has no stomach now?”

Savage af.

Then he knocks Rowl down and RIPS OFF HIS HEAD TO SHOW TO THE CROWD??

Geez! This is a gory story! I mean, we don’t see anything really except for some dark blue blood but geez!

A lion man just ripped off a jump-kicking wolfman’s head in a gladiatorial arena for the ultra rich!

You’re bonkers, superhero comic books!

RIP Rowl, Justice League #222 (1984) - Justice League #222 (1984).

Back at the Justicey part of the plot, 22,300 miles above the Earth, the League receives an emergency message from Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

Or he says he’s Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

He looks like Tony Stark, that Ironman guy from Marvel.

Anyway, he got the JL’s top secret broadcast code from a device on Hawkman’s uniform.

Yeah. Hawkman. Remember how he was attacked by a giant scorpion last issue? Well, he’s in the hospital with an acute case of too much scorpion venom in him. And Dr. Toby Stark fears he may not last the night.

Hawkgirl is understandably upset and wants to rush to his side as fast as possible. And since the League has cool teleport booths, that’s... still not that fast because the booths only go to other booths and Cairo Hospital doesn’t have a booth.

She also asks Wonder Woman to go with her.

Superman wonders if Hawkgirl is maybe too emotionally torn up to go see her scorpion’d hawkguy.

Zatanna: “I won’t stop her, Superman. Will you?”

WHILE GIVING AN EXPRESSION THATS LIKE ‘please do not drag me into drama.’

Reena tries to commiserate with Hawkgirl but Shayera is having none of that.

Hawkgirl: “Your people did this. If Katar dies -- you killed him!”

Oof.

Zatanna tries to contextualize Hawkgirl’s outburst by explaining that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are just super close but Reena says she understands because she and Rex were that close.

And that despite everything she still loves him and it makes her feel like shit.

Oof.

Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl arrive at Cairo Hospital and Dr. Hamid tells them that Hawkman isn’t the only one who got scorpion’d.

Dr. Hall and his students were attacked by giant scorpion man to rob some archaeological relics they found. Several of the students are in the hospital after being stung and two have already died.

As for Dr. Hall, why he’s just plum gone missing. (Because he’s Hawkman)

From his hospital bed, Hawkman weakly (because of getting scorpion’d) apologizes for the argument they had before he left for Cairo and Hawkgirl claims she doesn’t even remember the fight. Because nothing makes you put aside hurt feelings like possible death by scorpion.

Dr. Hamid tells Wonder Woman that Hawkman is very likely to die unless they can get some giant scorpion man venom to develop into an anti-toxin.

And while they walk by, a random janitor mopping the floor reports the presence of the Justice League members to his ring.

HMMM.

I think that I suspect that this humble janitor is in fact actually a plant for the Rex Squad.

Yup.

Yuuuup.

That janitor was up to no good.

With two Hawks down with sleep gas, its left to the Rex Squad unit leader to handle Wonder Woman.

ITS A HECKIN RHINO MAN!

Of course, a hero as strong as Wonder Woman isn’t going down to a single rhino punch.

It takes a second whole punch to knock her out.

Womp womp.

Rhino Man: “Gas her and shove her in the ‘copter with the others, Mac. The boss wants ‘em all for a little TV show he’s planning. Way I hear, it’s gonna be a ratings smash!”

Rhino puns.

About an hour later, the Justice League subteam nicknamed Sit On Their Thumbs is still in the satellite wondering why Wonder Woman hasn’t called to tell them how Hawkman is doing.

But gosh darn it, if they don’t hear from her in two more minutes in time for the regular hourly check-in, then they’ll just have to do something maybe!

But they get a signal from Hawkgirl’s code and Aquaman main screen turns on... to reveal a big sneering lion man who is not Hawkgirl at all.

Reena: “oh god... he’s found me.”

Maximus Rex, full incoming ham: “Yes, Reena, I’ve found you. When this is done, you’ll suffer the fate of all who betray me. But first, tell your new friends who they face! I am MAXIMUS REX, LEADER OF THE NEW ORDER!”

Firestorm: “Y’know... Somehow, I’d already guessed that.”

Snrrk.

But Maximus Rex warns them not to mock his lionness and has the camera swung over to reveal that he has Wonder Woman and the Hawks as his hostages.

Hawkman is definitely going to die (from being scorpion’d) but Maximus Rex is Magnanimous Rex and instead of immediately killing them, he’s going to turn them into furries too.

Maximus Rex: “I think the Amazon would make a very proper pig, don’t you?”

Man, this guy must have loved the “This Little Piggy” episode of Justice League Unlimited.

Buuuut he won’t turn them into furries and make them fight in his Arena if the Justice League do him some small favors.

First thing, turn Reena over to him.

Second thing, “I want your full cooperation with my plans.”

When Superman tells him ‘obviously no’ Maximus gets mad.

Oh, Maximus the Mad. That’s a catchy name for him.

Maximus Rex: “In the hours to come, you will regret this decision, Justice Leaguers. My new order is the future. You cannot turn the tide of destiny. It will sweep over you... Draw you under... Drown you in the sea of history! Ours will be a struggle to the death -- your death! HA HA HA HA”

He is.

Frothing a little.

And as the mad lion lad continues just belly laughing on this collect call, Superman shakes his fist determinedly.

Superman: “Enjoy it while you have it, Maximus. We’re bringing you down.”

I mean, sure, half of the League is captured or in the hospital already from tangling with these Ani-Men but the League is probably due for an upswing, right?

Or maybe they’ll all get captured and I’ll get to see what the Justice League’s fursonas are.

My guess for Superman is the noble capybara, friend to all.

Follow @justice-league-indispensible or @essential-avengers​ which is my real liveblog. I’m sorry, this has all been a lie. A jape. A delightful jest. An April Fool. Like and reblog maybe. The more notes this gets the more I go oh no look at what kind of response Justice League gets and I’ve backed the Avengers horse, the April Fool turns out to be me! That’ll show me.

[botanyshitposts]

Hi! I was wondering what you know about how chloroplasts divide; do they do so independently of the plant cell or when the cell divides as a whole? We're doing cell division in AP Bio and my teacher isn't 100% certain what all goes on. Thanks for your time! :)

hmmm...i haven’t heard any specific info on this, but it’s my understanding that the chloroplasts and mitochondria are so deeply integrated into the cell that they’re controlled by the cell-cycle control mechanism along with everything else, just like ‘normal’ organelles are. according to the textbook i have for cell bio, the S phase of the cell reproduction process only refers to and checks for the cell’s proper replication of nuclear DNA; to me this implies that the DNA found in mitochondria and chloroplasts is replicated in G2, which would mean the replication of the organelles themselves takes place in the same stage.

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 73

Warning, PLEASE CHECK TAGS IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THEN DON’T READ. | Tag lists are closed | INBOX OPEN.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

BEFORE YOU READ THE CHAPTER: Very dark themes. You have been warned. Kylo Ren is Not Nice.

Chapter 73: Behind Glass Windows

You didn’t remember being told that you were now docked on earth; you didn’t remember even getting ready to go down to the surface, but you were now watching behind the windows of your eyes as you were in the shuttle being brought down. You could hear and see everything you normally could, but you were behind the glass of your eyes. You couldn’t interact with your world, he was doing that for you. It was like watching a movie about yourself where you couldn’t control anything unless he let you.

You watched as you departed the ship when it made it to the surface; you were now in D.C. you could hear Mitaka say that your family was brought here, for your safety.

You knew your crown was adorning your head, you could see as everyone around you bowed or saluted in your presence. But you were stuck, watching this nightmare unfold before you. You saw them, your parents, your siblings, and their spouses and kids. All a mix of terrified and confused. Your body stopped in front of them, but they did nothing other than stare at you.

You heard Mitaka’s usually timid voice attempt to be confident. “It is the law to bow to the Empress when you are graced with her presence.”

You watched as your older brother attempted to dispute this, “But she’s our sister.” You knew they didn’t want to give you the same respect you had always shown them. You could see the internal struggle within your family. They were terrified to be in this position, but they also believed that being related to you granted them exceptions. It did not.

“I will say it once more. It is law for you to bow in front of the Empress when she graces you with her presence.” Mitaka’s voice was a bit agitated at the blatant disrespect for you. He might be timid in many ways but he loved rules, and what the First Order stood for, and this was showing disrespect in the face of it all.

You watched as your family looked confused and shared looks with each other but they eventually complied to the law. Bowing awkwardly to you, their Empress.

Your mother spoke up, “May I ask why we weren’t invited to your coronation? Your wedding?” Her voice reminded you of all the women in stores who demanded things from workers, that same annoyingly trying to be important tone.  

You didn’t know how to answer but words came out of your mouth anyway, words you couldn’t stop. “You were not invited simply because you are not important enough. You may be the people I happen to share DNA with, but you are not my family.”

Your mother gawked, but your father spoke first, “Now I know you don’t really feel that way.” You could see in his eyes that he was trying to deescalate the situation, trying to reason with you, but you weren’t in control.

The ugly black creature speaking for you, “I am the Empress, you do not have the privilege to tell me what to do.” You could feel its hold on your brain tightening with every word.

“You know that I wasn’t trying to do that,” your father’s voice was reflecting the worry that was plastered across his face. Of course you knew that but that didn’t stop the controlling force on you. You saw your head cock to the side, contemplating their existence in this world.

The monster roared, but your voice masked it. “Execute them.” You watched the creature vibrate with glee, overpowering you, and your wishes.

“M’lady? They are your family,” asked an officer who was in the room, Mitaka staying silent. You could see the hints of concern on his face, knowing something was wrong, that this wasn’t like you.

You watched as you turned to him. “They have wronged the Empress. Execute them.” You then walked away. Your back turned as you heard their confused yells, the education failing them, panic setting in.

You watched the fear in his face, “The children too?” You could hear the unease in the young officer’s voice. You wanted so desperately to tell him no. You watched as you turned back around to face the officer that dared to question you.

“Yes.” Was the answer you gave.

You began to walk away, down the hall to who knows where. You sure didn’t as you weren’t in control of your body, your mind. You were screaming and pounding against the glass that seemed to be preventing you from doing anything. But you watched as the tendrils moved in front of it and around you, being burned by the dying embers around you. You wondered if there would be a way to stoke the fire somehow. But it was just you, the glass wall, the dying embers, the tendrils, and blackness. You knew you had no control anymore, but you were fighting for your life.

You heard a voice speak on the other side of the glass. “Empress, I have some things I would like to catch you up on.” It was General Parnadee. She was here talking to you, in person for the first time in weeks.

You turned to face her. “Yes, general you may proceed.” The words were out of your mouth, you wanted to scream at her to let her know that you weren’t all right. That you needed help. That you were trapped inside your own mind.

She eyed you carefully like she always had, analyzing the situation before her like the expert tactician she was. “It seems someone you knew previously to the annexation to this planet is in coercion with the resistance. I was wondering if you would like to overlook the interrogation. Maybe provide some insight? Or speak yourself?” Her eyes gauging you every movement.

You could see the black creature fill with glee once more. Excited with the possibility of witnessing an interrogation. Its inky threads dancing across your brain. “Yes, I would. Lead the way general.” Shaping and molding the parts it had yet to fully seize.

She eyed you for a moment. You wondered if she could tell that something was off. Hearing yourself speak, you didn’t quiet sound like you, like yourself. You sounded like a different person had access to your voice, because technically that’s what this was. You weren’t controlling you; you did not have power over your body, your mind, you even wondered if you had power over your soul at the moment.

You were lead to a room in the lower levels. It did feel like an interrogation room, when you stepped inside you saw your former boss, Scott, strapped down to a chair. It looked like a torture device, complete with a small black drone droid flying about.

You wanted to know what he was doing here, why he was here. But the creature spoke for you. “You looked relieved Scott? Were you expecting someone else?” You could feel your eyes narrowing at him. The creature turning you into a hunter before its prey. “I’m just glad it’s you and not the supreme leader. I’ve heard the rumors. What he can do to the mind.” You could hear the exhaustion and fear in his voice, and the small sense of relief. The creature narrowed in on the fear.

You felt your head cock to the side. “What rumors?” The creature turning you into a hyena before a dying animal, circling him in the chair.

You could hear the frustration in his voice, obviously, you weren’t displaying the reaction he wanted. “I know you know. That he can tear into someone’s mind. But I know you will get me out of this, I know you know I am innocent. I’ve never done anything to you or the First Order. All you have are lies about me.”  You wanted to believe him, suspecting what the outcome of all of this would be if he was found guilty, but you didn’t have control.

The creature mocking him now, “You see that’s where you are wrong. I know you aren’t innocent Scott. I remember being in the conference room when you said: ‘Well we’re fucked, We are all surely fucked. Who are these people to think they can just take over like that? Do they think we are just going to sit by and let them brainwash us? Let them take everything from us?’ Did you think I forgot that” Your voice now sounded like something out of a horror movie, some fake female sounding voice that came from a monster.

Scott’s eyes were wide. “That doesn’t mean anything surely you know that right? I’m innocent. Please, you know I have a wife and kids.” He could see there was no good outcome for him. He would have to face his death.

“Hmmm yes I do.” The creature teased him, looking for the final kill. “But unfortunately for them, they will have to pay for your actions, just as you will.”

Panic, fear, horrification were just brushing the surface of what he was feeling about what the creature was suggesting. “What does that mean? Please take me and not them. Kill me and let them live.”  

Your head list to the other side. The you that was in control was really toying with him now, like a cat before her already caught prey. Which he was, strapped to the chair, helpless and in tears, afraid for his life. “Yes, you should be grateful that I am unable to tear into your mind, but know this I show the same amount of mercy as my husband. Which is none.”

You turned your back to him and walked out of the room, but not before telling the guard that Scott and his family were to face public execution, as examples of traitors to the first order.

You walked past the general. “I will be present for both executions, I would like them to happen as soon as possible.”

She looked at you, you could see it in her eyes that she knew something was wrong, “Yes, Empress. We are having them in an hour. I have been informed by your ladies-in-waiting that you have been requested to change for the executions.” You were different, and she could tell.

You simply nodded and headed down the hallway. You did not know where you were going, but you ended up in a bedroom where Adlez and Olivia-Rose were waiting, with your new gown for the execution.

“Are you all right m’lady we heard what happened,” asked Olivia-Rose.

The entity spewing harshness, “News travels quick.” You voice came out with a menacing tone. Both of them looked at you and each other, Olivia-Rose was terrified but Adlez was analyzing you. You had never treated them like this before. You knew it would only be a matter of time before the black monster in your head would mess up enough for them to want to do something about it.

But the creature blacked you out, ending any and all conversation, taking you to the execution before it allowed you to see through the windows of your eyes once more.

On the top of the front steps to the Lincoln Memorial, one of the very images that used to define freedom, is where the execution was taking place. The Lincoln statue was removed, in its place was a red banner with the First Order Insignia, its bright red color was like blood against the pure white marble.

It was more than just your family and Scott being executed, there were others lined up, but they didn’t matter to the part of your brain you couldn’t control. You wondered if you could stomach what you were about to witness. What he was about to make you witness. The death of your family.

You felt yourself step forward to address the crowd; you knew once again that the words coming out of your mouth were not your own. “Citizens of Earth, the people before you today have committed the act of treason against you, against the most gracious First Order. I stand before you today as your Empress. Showing you firsthand that I stand behind what is done here, the examples these people will be to you all. Break the rules, cause disorder and you will be eradicated. We will be pure, we will have order, we will be better.”

You stepped back; you knew all eyes were on you, but you were numb to it all. Not feeling the pain that was so clearly in your heart, in your soul. You watched as an Executioner ‘trooper stepped forward. Through the voice distortion, you heard names and the crimes they committed. You watched as Scott went first, his crime being a spy and conspiring with the Resistance. You watched as they forced him to kneel in front of everyone next to a ‘trooper with a laser axe. You watched on horrified at the falling of his head, but the crowd that gathered in front of you was living for it. Shouting various encouragements to the executioners, saying disgusting things to those who were lined up. Next was his wife and two kids, their crime was failing to report a conspirator of the Resistance. Your body not following your will, forcing you to watch, breaking you.

But you weren’t prepared for what you were about to witness next, your family. Your mother, your father, your brothers and sister with their spouses and kids lining up together, a stormtrooper holding each of them, an executioner next to them waiting, waiting for the announcement of their names and crimes. You could see the fear and tears on their faces, some of them trying to look at you, trying to show you their dying eyes. The children and babies not knowing what was happening. What you were about to let the First Order do, knowing you couldn’t stop what was about to happen.

Their death, and your isolation.

You watched as the axes fell in sync; you were alone now. Your family was gone, Kylo on the other end of the galaxy but controlling you. Allowing. No. Forcing this to happen. Forcing your isolation. Forcing their death. The rest of the execution was a blur, the tendrils seemed to decide that you have had enough of being forced to witness things. You didn’t remember the rest of the day, or the next few days as a matter of fact. The inky blackness was all you saw.

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: Why Does Everyone Keep Forgetting the Daleks?

https://ift.tt/3g81nbE

A scene that did not appear in New Year’s Day’s Doctor Who Special, ‘Revolution of the Daleks’.

SCENE: EXT. 10 DOWNING STREET, A PRESS CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD

PRIME MINISTER JO PATTERSON: …and so I introduce to you, our new, fully automated defence drones!

A “DEFENCE DRONE” GLIDES INTO VIEW.

JOURNALIST (RAISES A HAND): Hello, Jeff Typeface, Daily Exposition. Sorry but, um, isn’t that just a Dalek?

PM: A what?

JOURNALIST: A Dalek? About twelve years ago they transported the entire planet through space then rounded humans up in the streets and exterminated them?

PM: Hmmm. Doesn’t ring a bell.

ANOTHER JOURNALIST: Yeah, and a few years before that a bunch of them came flying out of Canary Wharf?

PM: Sorry, I’m completely drawing a blank.

JOURNALIST: Come on! They murdered one of your predecessors!

PM: Excuse me, but you can’t honestly expect me to remember every single British Prime Minister that suffered a violent death over the last two decades. We all know this job has the life expectancy of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

PM’S ADVISOR: Actually, Prime Minister, talking of your predecessors, Winston Churchill did try this exact same plan with a very similar looking contraption during the War, and I hear that went badly.

PM: I mean, I’m sure I believe you. I’m just saying this is all news to me.

JOURNALIST: Very well. Moving on, how will these “Defence Drones” help us deal with the Covid-19 pandemic?

PM: See, now you’re just making words up.

Doctor Who has always been a series that points and laughs at fans who want to try and piece together a consistent continuity across all its stories, but even by Doctor Who standards, forgetting an entire global invasion barely more than a decade ago (y’know, just before most of the show’s viewers were born, you absolute fossil you) might seem like a stretch.

Of course, the real reason Jo Patterson couldn’t remember the Daleks is that unlike say, the MCU, where weirdness layers upon weirdness to create a world that almost counts as alt-history, Doctor Who is, on some level, always reaching to be set in “our” universe. The key conceit of the show is that you might turn a corner, find a blue box, and suddenly be whisked away through space and time to a world of adventure. Which doesn’t really work if the British town squares of the Doctor Who universe all feature memorials to the victims of the Daleks and diet pills have to be tested for Adipose DNA.

But at the same time, Doctor Who just loves a great big Hollywood space invasion, and making these two core ingredients of the show mesh is a nightmare for continuity.

Let’s, for instance, take a look at the life of recently departed Doctor’s companion, Ryan Sinclair.

Life of Ryan

Ryan was born in 1998 or 1999. As a child, he attended Redlands Primary School at around the same time London was hit by a “terrorist attack” when shop windows dummies started shooting people. A year later a spaceship crashed into Big Ben, although this was later dismissed as a hoax. That Christmas Day, when Ryan was around eight years old, every human with O negative blood got up in a trance and went and stood on a tall building while a gigantic spaceship hung over London.

Still Ryan is a kid, he doesn’t watch the news, maybe nobody in his family is O negative and let’s face it, news of a lot of this stuff probably doesn’t get as far as Sheffield.

However, even in Sheffield he would have seen the regular “ghost shifts” that appeared all over the world, and at nine years old he would have been traumatised to have his home, like so many others, invaded by Cybermen before they all got sucked away by something.

His family make the wise decision not to turn on the news that Christmas, so he doesn’t hear about the “Christmas star” attack, or later that year a hospital being teleported to the moon, and while he probably remembers grown-ups getting very excited by Harold Saxon getting elected, fortunately most of his tenure as Prime Minister was erased from history.

Read more

TV

Doctor Who: Which New Doctors Are Now Canon?

By Chris Farnell

TV

Doctor Who: the genius of making the Cybermen an ideology

By Chris Farnell

Ryan would have noticed when CBBC was replaced by a giant eyeball shouting that “Prisoner Zero Has Escaped”, and, shortly after turning ten, he definitely would have noticed when the entire sky was set on fire to prevent a Sontaran invasion.

And then of course, the Earth was teleported across space, planets filled the skies, and Daleks roamed the streets rounding people up. He would have been about the same age as future astronaut and Mars colonist, Adelaide Brooke at this time, and she was profoundly affected by the experience.

After that it’s possible the government may have rounded up him and his classmates to offer up to the 456.

To round the year off, Ryan actually turned into Harold Saxon for a bit. This was probably, on balance, the worst Christmas of the lot.

2011 was largely uneventful except that nobody could die.

Ryan went on to see the Tenth Doctor light the flame at the 2012 Olympics, was briefly into that whole “mysterious black cubes” craze before they got banned for some reason, and while he was in high school the entire Earth was covered in dense forest overnight but that disappeared, and nobody ever mentioned it again. The Cybermen invaded again. Then, not long after Ryan left school, the entire world was taken over by a species of really gross looking mummified monks who claimed to have always been in charge, before they also disappeared overnight.

Not long after that, Ryan met the Doctor for the first time and was shocked, shocked, to discover that aliens exist.

Cracks in Time

Steven Moffat did give us one handy explanation for why nobody in Doctor Who remembers the Dalek invasion, or the giant steampunk Cyberman that invaded Victorian London, and probably much more. In ‘Victory of the Daleks’ the Doctor tries to persuade Winston Churchill that using his own force of Daleks to secure the country was a bad idea, and he turns to Amy, who would have seen that invasion, to back him up. She has no idea what’s he’s talking about.

Later it’s revealed this is because the TARDIS explodes, destroying the entire universe with it. The cracks in time left by that explosion erased all kinds of events from history, including, handily, anything that would cause the human view of the universe to deviate too far from the real-world status quo.

Of course, that does leave some problems. Adelaide Brooke, again, clearly remembers the Dalek invasion and it was a moment so formative and influential on her eventual Fixed Point In Time that even the Dalek she saw (who, I remind you, was working on a plot to destroy literally all existence) didn’t dare exterminate her because of its influence on the timeline. And since it’s not implied the crack in time could bring anyone back from the dead, it does make you wonder what history says happened to Harriet Jones (former Prime Minister) and all the many others killed by the Daleks.

But maybe you don’t need a giant retconning Crack in Time?

Because while the Doctor has often waxed lyrical about humanity being indomitable, creative, and curious, there is also a lesser innate human quality the Doctor sometimes mentions: our absent-mindedness.

The Forgetfulness of the Daleks

As well as the Dalek incursions in ‘The Stolen Earth’ and ‘The Army of Ghosts’, there was another Dalek visitation of Earth in the ironically named ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, which was set in 1963. During this adventure then-companion Ace points out she doesn’t remember anything about Daleks invading in the 1960s. The Doctor replies, “Do you remember the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster? Or the Yeti in the Underground? Your species has an amazing capacity for self-deception.”

Likewise, nobody remembers dinosaurs invading London, or the other time shop window dummies came to life and started killing people, or when the Earth encountered its exact twin. Without any cracks in time hanging around, Doctor Who falls back on an old staple of fantasy and sci-fi- that humans just ignore anything that doesn’t fit into their worldview.

As we’ve already mentioned, this turns up a couple of times in the new series as well. In ‘In the Forest of the Night’, the entire planet is overnight covered in forest for reasons that we’re not going to go into too closely because that story’s a bit of an embarrassment to be honest. As the forest disappears at the end of the story the Doctor says it will be forgotten outside of fairy stories, because that’s “a human superpower”.

It can even work two-way. In ‘The Lie of the Land’, the entire Earth is taken over by the gross-looking and mysterious “monks”. Using a psychic link, the monks convince humanity that not only are they humanity’s generous benefactors, but also that the monks have always been here, guiding human evolution. This is of course a lie, as the monks are actually one of the very few aliens not to have guided human evolution at some point.

After the Doctor does his thing and the monks’ statues are torn down, someone passes by the ruins of one and wonders what it was. Already, people are forgetting.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Which, if you think about it, is a Doctor Who story in itself. Imagine being an alien visiting Earth. Humanity must seem like the Silence, but in reverse- as soon as they stop looking at you they forget you exist. The Doctor really ought to take a look at that some time.

The post Doctor Who: Why Does Everyone Keep Forgetting the Daleks? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3bcKfBX

[thepurplebutterflythings]

Kitty Cat & Tweety Bird (Part 13) - Jason Todd

Gif: Oliverbruce3 on Tenor

Word Count: 2.0K

Paring: Jason Todd (Titans) x (f)Reader

Summary: A sudden unexpected guest in Wayne Manor in the middle of the night leads to tensions for Y/N.

Warnings: N/A

A/N: This is a little series I am doing about Jason Todd in Titans. I don’t know Comic!Jason very well so I’m taking all of this from the show, and at the moment he hasn’t been in very often, so please forgive any mischaracterisations.

Tagging: @bella-0104-123 @ninergirl1d @httpfandxms @rosybrock @attackonnat @reclusive-chicken-nugget   @demoiselle-en-detresse00 @young-psychos @thesleepykaijuu @thescottpack @nightlygiggles @rougestorms @sinon36​ @acvrosstheuniverse @friedchickening​ @chillybabe​

________________________________________________________________

Y/N’s bedroom was closed to the kitchen and so when there was a loud crashing noise, she woke up quickly. Sitting up bolt right and looking around, she started shaking Jason to try and wake him. She was certain someone was in Wayne Manor, someone who wasn’t supposed to be. Did Joker tell someone who she was? Was it Penguin? Riddler? Bane? Someone else?

“Jason,” she said waking the heavy sleeper.

“Hmmm?”

“There’s someone in the house!”

“It’s probably just Alfred,” Jason mumbled before dozing back off.

Y/N huffed and climbed out of the bed, grabbing her whip which was on the chair in her room and crept down stairs. If she had to deal with an intruder alone, then so be it! Despite its age, the stairs of Wayne Manor didn’t creak or make any noise, so Y/N knew she had the element of surprise on her side. As Y/N was around the corner from the Kitchen, she heard the person in there.

“Did he really move where the bread is kept?” said the person, “oh, now it’s on a lower shelf, but when I was 13 and couldn’t reach, that was my problem!”

Slamming on the lights, Y/N came round the corner and flicked her wrist with the whip in it and wrapped it around the intruder’s wrist. The intruder, who Y/N saw was a man, stared at the whip wrapped around his wrist in shock, but before he could do anything about it, Y/N pulled on it which sent the man flying towards her.

“Gotcha!”

The man jumped to his feet and came towards Y/N, so she ducked and swiped his leg out from underneath him, resulting in the man face planting on the ground. He leapt back up and swiped at Y/N’s face, which she wasn’t quick enough to dodge and so got a fist to the jaw. Y/N kneed the man in the crotch, causing him to groan and fall to his knees. For the first time, Y/N saw the man’s face. He was relatively young looking with large round brown eyes and brown hair that fell in front of them.

“Let me guess,” the young man scoffed through the pain, “Bruce’s latest arm candy?”

“Huh?”

“You’re his bed warmer, right?”

“No!”

“They all think they aren’t, but they always are,” he groaned getting to his feet and shuffling to the kitchen and sitting on a stool. “Though I didn’t think he’d bed something so young.”

“Ew, gross,” Y/N grimaced. “He’s my Dad, creep!” Y/N folded her arms. This caught the young man’s attention.

   “Bruce Wayne is your father?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “now, who the fuck are you?”

“Dick, Dick Grayson.”

“The adopted guy? One from the Circus?” Y/N frowned and tilted her head to the side.

“He’s spoke about me?” Dick chuckled darkly and smirked.

“In so many words,” Y/N shrugged.

“Now, New Wayne, what’s your name?”

“Y/N,” she said.

Dick nodded and sighed, shifting in his seat as he looked Y/N up and down. He could see Wayne in her, but there was something else about her that struck him with familiarity.

“Let me guess, Selina Kyle is your mother?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve crossed paths with the thief every now and then.” The way he spoke told Y/N that not only did Dick know that Selina was Catwoman but that Bruce was Batman. “Mind getting me some ice?”

“Sure,” Y/N sighed grabbing the pack from the freezer and chucking it at him. “And she’s not a thief anymore,” Y/N stuck her chin up, “her and the Sirens are vigilantes working with Bruce.”

“Sure, how long will that last?”

“Now I’m glad I kicked you in your cock now!”

“Y/N, pumpkin, what’s up?” Bruce said coming into the kitchen only to see Dick sitting there, holding ice against his genitals, “do I want to know?”

“Your daughter here has assaulted my penis,” Dick huffed.

“Well, you punched me in the jaw!”

“Cause you attacked me without warning.”

“Cause you snuck into my home for some reason!”

“Your home? I grew up here!”

“Well, me and Mum live here now!”

“Really, Bruce?” Dick turned to the older man, “you invited Selina Kyle and your apparent long-lost daughter to live here?”

“First, there is no apparent about it, she’s my daughter, and second, I want her and Selina here.” Bruce insisted, “Anyway, you moved away and cut contact off with me, so you don’t really get a say in this.”

“Were you ever planning on telling me this?”

“What did I just say, Richard?” Bruce sighed, “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I needed to get something from my room, if I still have a room here,” Dick said, “cause it seems a lot of things are different now.”

“Well, Dick, you damn well know we have more than enough empty rooms in this house for you to keep yours,” Bruce sighed, “anyway, if you checked your mail, you would find an invite to the Gala where you would have been introduced to Y/N, officially, and not by her kicking your crotch.”

“Oh…”

“Nice to meet you,” Y/N shifted awkwardly. “You coming to the Gala, then?”

“Sure…”

__-

“I can’t believe that Dick broke in,” Jason said as Y/N and himself got a coffee to go the next day, walking to Wayne Enterprises. “And that you kicked him in the balls!”

“Honestly, the least surprising thing about any of this should be that I kicked him in the balls!”

“You’re right,” Jason chuckled, “doesn’t really surprise me really.”

“The most surprising thing about the whole thing is that Dick Grayson is going to be coming to the Gala!”

“Seriously?” Jason’s jaw dropped as he turned and stared at Y/N. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I think the ‘breaking and entering’ is perhaps the main thing to focus on here…”

“Y/N!”

“Okay, okay, I’m not too comfortable with Dick being at the Gala,” she confessed as they stood outside the café.

“What’d you mean?”

“Jason,” Y/N sighed, “you should’ve seen how he reacted to me last night… it was so… tense and uncomfortable. Why the fuck would I want to repeat that?”

“I mean, he’s technically your brother…” Jason shifted, “you and him could probably spend a bit of time together. You might have to do Christmas Cards with each other.”

“Like fuck will Richard Grayson be coming to Wayne Manor for the annual Christmas secret santa,” Y/N scoffed, “I will put money on me never seeing him again after the Gala!”

“Hey, come on, you and he haven’t even really talked yet, Kitty Cat, give him a chance,” Jason took her hand in his.

“I thought you and him weren’t exactly buddy-buddy either after that acid guy,” Y/N pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point here,” Jason said, “you had a less than ten minute conversation that began with you kicking him in the dick, you can’t really blame him for being a little off about the whole thing.”

“And he assumed I was a fuck buddy for Dad,” Y/N said.

“Hence why you weren’t your best self either,” Jason chuckled, “look, I know I’m probably not the best person to take advice from, especially about getting on with people, but try with Dick, okay?”

“Okay…” Y/N sighed and nodded as she looked at Jason’s pleading face. “But if he says one more thing about my mother or aunties, I’m going to drop kick him into the swan ice sculpture!”

“I expect nothing less!” Jason said, kissing her forehead before they entered the café.

___-

The tenseness between Y/N and Dick as they sat alone in Bruce’s office was so thick that not even the sharpest blade ever could cut through it. Dick sat himself on the windowsill, looking anywhere but Y/N, while she sat in one of the chair, her main focus being on her sudden interest of the carpet pattern, tapping her foot on the floor as they waited. Bruce had to see to a matter, leaving them alone. They were supposed to talk about the incident from the previous night, and neither of them had uttered a word as they waited for Bruce to return.

“Okay,” Dick finally said, looking at Y/N, who lifted her head and met his gaze, “the silence is giving me a fucking headache now; we got to say something.”

“Gee, not even a hello?”

“Come on.”

“You come on!” Y/N huffed, crossing her arms, “you first accuse me of being a one night stand for my father, insult my mother then wonder if I’m lying about being his daughter!”

“You can’t blame me. Selina is a criminal!”

“WAS, WAS, WAS, WAS!”

“Alright, was!” Dick snapped, “but still, considering her history, you can’t blame someone for wondering!”

“Well, Dad put a rush on a DNA test to PROVE IT!” She hissed. “And I don’t care for your constant jabs at my mother and aunts!”

“So we got off on the wrong foot,” Dick shrugged.

“Understatement!”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Dick admitted, “I was an ass.”

“All I was looking for,” Y/N smiled awkwardly, “and I’m sorry. I was a bit of a bitch. Also sorry for kicking you in the crotch!”

“Apology accepted,” Dick chuckled.

“Why did you break in anyway? Why not knock on the door?”

“Me and Bruce aren’t exactly on the best of term… didn’t know if I was welcome.”

“Well, I think recent events have changed Dad a little bit,” she teased.

“God, hearing someone refer to Bruce Wayne as ‘Dad’ is so weird!”

“Imagine being the one who says it!” Y/N said, “It’s a real 180 from calling him ‘Boss’,” she chuckled a little.

“I can’t even imagine what went through your head when finding out Bruce was your father.”

“I vaulted the fence at Wayne Manor and ran all the way to Auntie Harley’s and Auntie Ivy’s house across Gotham,” Y/N told him.

“YOU VAULTED THE FENCE?”

“Dude, my mother is Catwoman and I was partly raised by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy,” Y/N listed, “come on, I was trained since birth for gymnastics. I went to nationals!”

“Well done,” Dick nodded in approval.

“I heard you did trapeze stuff?”

“Yeah, my parents were circus performers,” Dick smiled at the memory, “kinda like you really – trained since birth.”

“Maybe we got more in common than we think,” Y/N suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” Dick smiled in agreement.

___-

When Bruce came back, he was taken back to see Dick and Y/N talking, but he went along with it anyway.

“I got the results from the DNA test,” Bruce said calmly, “confirmed it. Y/N is my daughter and I am her father.”

“Sorry to waste your money like that,” Dick said.

“Got plenty to spare,” Bruce chuckled.

“What did Mum say?” Y/N asked curiously.

“She understood why I did this, but she did give me that ‘I-fucking-told-you’ look,” Bruce chuckled, “but I never doubted it for a second!”

“Thanks, Dad,” Y/N smiled.

“What are you two talking about anyway?” Bruce asked curiously.

“Childhoods,” Y/N said, “Kinda similar in a sense really, aren’t they?” Y/N looked at Dick, who nodded in agreement.

“Really?” Bruce smiled, “may I ask how?”

“Basically spent our childhoods on the balance beam, literally,” Y/N laughed.

“Oh yes,” Bruce nodded, “Circus,” he pointed at Dick, who nodded, “Selina,” he pointed at Y/N.

“I like that Selina is her own label,” Dick chuckled, “Could’ve said nationals, could’ve said gymnastics, but you said ‘Selina’. That’s brilliant!”

“You’ve met my mother, right?” Y/N turned to Dick, “cause if you met her, then it makes sense.”

“I don’t know her well, but we’ve crossed paths.” Dick shrugged, “I don’t know her as well as Bruce clearly does.”

“Moving on,” Bruce changed the subject, “I was hoping we could all come to a civil agreement, but it seems that you two have already done that yourselves.”

“I think we’re getting along alright,” Y/N smiled, “right, Dick?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, smiling, “she’s not to bad when she’s not kicking my crotch.”

“He’s alright when he’s not breaking into my house and attacking me.”

Bruce started laughing and shaking his head. Dick and Y/N were the only people who could meet by beating each other up and end up getting along.