#i had lots of trouble doing Caesar

[nocturna1sea]

Barbie meme but CaeJose

Og meme undercut

Bonus: ​weird that here I’m confident in posting my drawings but since I kind of want to post it on ig I feel like it’s cringe probably bc my friends are most likely going to see it but who knows

Also I feel or it looks like I didn’t even try or it looks lazy work but I swear I tried my best although the only lazy part was doing Caesar’s part bc I actually drew him but since I didn’t like how it was coming out ig that’s why I suspended it for a bit

[ash-says]

hiii ! i love your post about being audacious 🩷 do you have any tips about improving people skills/ being more charismatic? thank youuuu 🤭

Hello girlll!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the audacious post. It's one of my fav tbh I literally came up with it while I was cooking. So coming to your question let me see how I can help you out tbh I share my opinions and what has worked for me so far. So practice discernment and take everything with a pinch of salt✨✨

Tips to improve People Skills/ Being more Charismatic:

1) Find your USP:

USP means Unique Selling Proposition. What makes you unique and I mean it in a personality sense more here. You can extend it to your looks but start from a personality trait cause it will be forever and very personal to you. Even if someone copies it, it will always be a cheap one.

I will elaborate on this with an example:

One of my ex colleagues was really good at socializing. He was 27 years old but I kid you not he looked like a 20 year old or even younger at times. He had a boyish charm and he used it to his full advantage. He literally had a child's energy and would jump here and there in the office, act like a literal child when not working. He had a refreshing energy to him the type that reminds you of your childhood days. Heck after a meeting with the CEO he used to watch cartoons to destress and made us watch it too so we could also relax but when it came to work he was smart, efficient and knew how to use his easy going socializing energy to generate sales. So you get my point right?? Find what attracts people to you or what value you can offer to them.

2) Knowledge. Education.

I personally swear by this. Be as disgustingly educated as possible. Know about various topics at least the basics of current trends or what's hot and some off topics. This adds dimension to your personality and helps you to hold a conversation with anyone. Plus you never run out of topics to speak on.

3) Confidence. No elaboration needed.

4)Sense of humour.

Why bore people to death by reciting the merciless nature of Julius Caesar when you could present it as a joke when something relatable comes up??? People are more likely to find you charismatic if you can make them laugh.

5) Master the art of Storytelling

This!!! Right here is a cheat code I tell you. You don't have much knowledge to speak on for now? Fine as you gradually work on it hold conversations by sharing bits of your life in a colorful way. Engage people with your life stories. Make them fun and a little dramatic. I am not advising you to lie. There's always a way you can convey something in an entertaining manner. Master it. I personally use it a lot and it's fun to connect with people cause they too loosen up and share their stories and then you link it up with your sense of humour by adding a nice comment or comeback.

Warning : Never share details that are very personal to you. Only share funny incidents and situations that won't bring you in trouble if gossiped about. Practice with discernment.

6) Learn positive body language and develop empathy. Empathy truly helps you in connecting with people on a deeper level and creating a bond based on trust and emotions.

7) Smile. Don't grin like a fool but when you see someone you know make a note to address them. Wish them good morning ,etc . Pass a genuine smile towards them. Be polite.

8) Be genuinely interested in other people but not in a nosy way instead in a healthy way. Help them out if you can. A good deed never goes to waste.

9) Have a positive outlook on everything. No one wants a pessimistic person around them. Even on days you can't. You know the mantra ," Fake it till you make it".

10) Support people. Be kind. Soft spoken. Know your place. Don't downplay yourself in front of people who are clearly not at your level and don't overestimate yourself in front of people who are professionals in those fields. Get a grip on how to act with whom. You won't know it until and unless you won't do it. Have a strong sense of self, be opinionated, confident and be witty. It's fun that way. Push your limits and don't be afraid to network with new people and talk to strangers. Who knows what will happen??

Possibilities are endless.

I hope this helps you out✨✨

[germiyahu]

One of the funnier things about Jesus is that he's often described as a "radical" and my classics professor literally said "it doesn't make sense for the Romans to execute him if he wasn't covertly calling for an overthrow of the government." I've spent most of my adult life hearing that Jesus was preaching zany dangerous world-upending ideas and he was just too badass and ~actually leftist the whole time~ to be left alive.

However, he was preaching "pray for your enemies, even if they persecute you," "if a Roman strikes you, turn your cheek and offer the other," "if a Roman soldier forces you to carry his equipment, offer to carry it an extra mile," "do not pray in public like those hypocritical Pharisees, pray in private God likes that better," "who are you to judge the Romans' specks in their eyes, you're actually worse if you think about it," "guys Caesar is the legitimate government of the Empire I think you should show the proper respect just pay your taxes," "hey I know I'm being executed but like let's take a moment to consider that the Roman soldiers feel bad about it, forgive them they know not what they do."

This is bootlicking shitlib cuckery if I've ever seen it. Jesus' philosophy for how Judea and its culture was going to survive Hellenization/Romanization was... "Be polite. Don't cause a scene. Keep your head down. Why be a rabble-rouser and make trouble for the rest of us? You're giving us a bad name. Romans are people too!"

He had some cool ideas like "sex workers deserve dignity," but I don't think he's actually the "role model," and "actually really wise Rabbi," that a lot of non Jews try to tell Jews he is (aka, how they should view him even if they don't think he's the son of God). And to be fair, a lot of his ideas were already held by other Pharisees/early Rabbis. Certainly Maimonides et al. would go on to independently come to some similar conclusions re: forgiveness and whatnot.

But Jesus was not a radical. Most scholars agree he was a member of the Hillel school of the Pharisee "political party." He was definitely not a Zealot. The Romans didn't execute him because he was calling for an overthrow of the government. They executed him because he was becoming too popular, and people were calling him Moshiach, which was an implicit threat to Roman supremacy. But Jesus himself was not telling people to firebomb their local valmartus.

I suspect if Jesus had been alive to see the Bar Kochba revolt, he would've "strongly condemned the violent actions of the rebels," even if he "sympathized with their pain." He was actively preaching, if not assimilationism, then meek submission. Martyrdom. If you suffer in silent dignity then your just reward will come. And I'm not claiming he was a race traitor or anything, this was an individual man's response to the ongoing trauma of his homeland being subjugated and exploited. These were his ideas about what to do about it.

But in essence, Jesus was the original Good Jew, and the Romans still murdered him. He spent all of his time as a public figure arguing that they should be accepted and loved and that their oppression of the Jews should be tolerated, and that one day the Romans would simply lose interest in being colonizers and the Jews would be free by being patient and understanding and not rocking the boat too much. And the Romans killed him anyway. Being a Good Jew will never save you.

[wardentabriis]

Anyway here's Wonderwall. Aka the brief snippet of Brutus and Cato in my Augustus novel.

-

“Marcus?”

He turns over his shoulder, expecting the general to have risen to follow him. Instead, the man before him--smaller, bonier, darker--is of a more familiar breed. The lines at the edges of his eyes crease as he draws his own cloak about him against the chill and places a hand on Brutus’s arm.

“It’s nothing, uncle,” he says.

Cato’s stern form almost disappears into the night as Brutus continues his trudge towards his tent.

“You did what was right,” Cato says.

Brutus stops. “I know.”

“I’ll...speak to your mother, if it comes to that.”

Cato is nothing like his sister. In the dark, he stands in armor that nearly drowns him, and Brutus begins to doubt that he is the only hope left for the republic. Perhaps he was handsome once, perhaps a shred of character and charm could be found in his rhetoric, or in a younger face; Brutus can never imagine him any less stern than he is now, even in his youth. Cato was born an old man.

Brutus shakes his head. “It won’t. I’ve never done anything I couldn’t talk her down from.”

As far as he knows, he reminds himself. Servillia holds grudges other places. Why not against her son? Even if motherly love were enough to overcome them at home, he is still unsure whether he will be entirely forgiven if he should return.

“It’s civil war,” Cato nearly spits. “I thought it might end up this way. You’d think Caesar would have had enough civil war after the last one nearly skinned his hide. Pompeius...he should know better, but it’s what he had to do.”

Brutus nods.

“I hear Cicero will be joining us.” Cato places his arm on Brutus’s shoulder and guides him towards the soldiers’ tents. “Seems the last good men in the senate have all fled for refuge here. Sailing a winter sea is a less terrifying prospect than a Rome pissed on by that bastard.”

“A shame they didn’t leave many to support them at home,” Brutus says.

Cato scoffs. “I’d rather they were out here dying like men than stuttering against Caesar and his lot. Shows a great deal more spirit than staying safe in their villas. To die for Rome; that, my boy, is how a man should want to go.”

A wind blows across Brutus’ face, and the numbness in his extremities becomes a burning, prickling sensation. The air smells of sea salt and bird shit and fish bones. He doesn’t know if it’s better or worse than the smell of the camp once he and Cato are in the midst of it.

“When do we sail?” he asks.

“A question better asked of Pompeius Magnus himself,” Cato laughs. “Should have inquired when you had the chance.”

“Should have,” Brutus reiterates, perhaps only to himself.

“I imagine we’ll wait it out a few days, see if we can grab any more stragglers on their way out of Rome. There are bound to be more, can’t be that all the good men have already fled.”

Maybe they have. And if so, Brutus isn’t certain what will be left of the republic when all is done. There seem so few here, hardly enough soldiers to defend themselves, even with the knowledge of more troops on their way or across the sea.

Cato bends forward to look at Brutus’ face. “You were always a troubled child. Your poor mother never knew what you were worried about. Not as if there isn’t enough to concern yourself with now.”

“There is...certainly quite a bit.”

Cato frowns. “I didn’t think your mother gave you enough room. To do anything more than politics and philosophy, I mean. Not that you aren’t a fine enough politician. But the boys your age started their training for war early. I never got the impression she had much faith in you in that career.”

Against his better judgement, Brutus laughs. “To be fair to my mother, neither did I.”

“At least you know how to hold a sword and stab.”

He shrugs. “Maybe.”

“I hope so.” Cato slaps him on the back. “I hope you can return to what you’re suited to after all this nonsense. But perhaps you’ll have gained yourself a better reputation, fighting for the republic at the side of one of its greatest generals.”

Among the strong stench of soldiers’ garments left out to dry, sweat, burning, food long since turned, Brutus knows the scent of his own tent. Cato would not approve if he knew, but it is difficult to leave behind all the comforts of home. Namely, a bit of perfumed oil to keep away the bad air.

“Good night, uncle,” he says, pulling back the flap of his tent.

Before he ducks his head to enter, Cato grasps the sleeve of his tunic and pulls him back.

“Try not to harbor too much resentment.” Cato looks back towards the campfire, which Brutus has long since lost sight of. “We do what is right, Marcus, whether we agree with the methods or the people who execute them.”

He looks over the harsh lines of Cato’s face, as if he will find a response etched there. But he doesn’t. He can’t. And so he gives a weak smile before cutting himself off from the rest of the camp. The glow inside his tent is nothing but weak moonlight, which shows little but the outlines of his belongings and his bedroll. The heaviness of sleep is already upon him when he undresses and lies down. It is not difficult to fall into it.

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews- A Courtesan of Rome

Welcome to the fifteenth official Cadybear's Reviews post! Ironic that this is the fifteenth. Unfortunately this is about 10 days late for Ides of March this year. Today I'll be talking about A Courtesan of Rome, which I have ranked on the "Platinum Tier" at 9 stars out of a possible 10. My last playthrough of this story was around November-December 2021.

I’m rather fond of this one. 

This is one of the few MCs where it makes sense for them to have a lot of pre-set aspects about them, and for the record they did do a fantastic job establishing it via the flashbacks. And even then, they also manage to give us enough player agency by allowing us to choose her motives, methods, and goals. So it’s a very neat and fair balance between pre-set and flexible. 

This is also one of the few pointfully genderlocked books– while male courtesans did indeed exist in Ancient Rome, they’d likely have had vastly different experiences to that of female courtesans. Chances are, the male MC version would have so many dialogue changes that it’d basically be an entirely new book. Don’t get me wrong, I’d definitely love to see a male MC version of this story, but I can understand why PB would genderlock it. 

Admittedly the story can drag at times, and the “8 years ago in Gaul” flashbacks can be a bit of a trudge (granted they do set up the story well), but it is worth it. My only real problem is that according to some fans who are history experts, this story does stray a lot from historical accuracy. But I guess not every periodical story is gonna be perfectly historically accurate. 

That, and also the way they handled Xanthe is just… not good. Other people have explained it better, but basically, in a general sense, Xanthe isn’t much different from MC. Both are courtesans as per being victims of human trafficking, both are forced to rely on seduction to survive and overpower men– but the story villainizes Xanthe, while MC is pushed as heroic and morally grey/complex for the exact same shit. All because… Xanthe is kind of catty towards MC?

I didn’t think much of it in either of my two playthroughs, but I’ve seen other people bring it up and looking back… it’s too major to ignore. It’s hypocritical at best, and has some very troubling (racist) implications at worst. Especially in a book that’s meant to be an empowering periodical womanhood story. So it did end up bringing the book down a tier. 

We rightfully bitch about the cheap “straw loser villain woman who exists solely to have exaggeratedly bad behaviors solely to make the MC seem better” and “pitting women against each other just because they want/do the same thing” tropes all the time in Choices stories like TNA, FCL, and TBB; and while I do still rank those books much lower due to having more objective problems overall, the trope is much more unforgivable in this book given the context. 

However, while the story does have some pretty major problems, it does also have a lot of good aspects going for it that did make me mostly enjoy it. But who knows, my opinion might change after a replay. 

I will also say, it’s really fun to diamond mine this one for OG HSS Book 2. Getting to stab Caesar and then taking down Principal Isa right after. So I do have a bit of a soft spot for the book in that regard. 

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Hi! I’m curious on what you thought on the accuracy of Suetonius. I was researching Augustus for a project and came across this article called The Sincerity of Augustus (or smth along the lines I don’t really remember) and in it the author states that what Suetonius had said about Augustus’s personal life and actions that was in contradiction to his morality laws at the time is propaganda and gossip at best. And he brings up how the files that Suetonius used was biased against Augustus because they were from the upper classes/Senate at the time and they were not happy with Augustus in power. However I also read that Suetonius is generally believed to be accurate and I see a lot of people cite him in their arguments. I guess my question is also what does “generally accurate” mean and what does that extend to? But sorry for the long ramble and thank you so much!

Suetonius' Twelve Caesars is valuable and useful--if you know how to read him critically. A few things to keep in mind:

Iulius and Augustus are much better researched and more balanced than the biographies that follow.

Suetonius is not trying to mislead you or write propaganda. He's earnestly telling you what he thinks is true.

However, he is opinionated, and his judgment of an emperor often biases how he portrays him, or which facts/anecdotes he chooses to include.

He can be overly credulous, like when he claims a ghost stole Julius Caesar's trumpet...

Iulius, 32

...Or when he believes the story of Caesar getting suspended from his office as praetor for starting trouble, even though the Senate didn't have the authority to do that at this time:

Iulius, 16

Suetonius is also a great example of why citing sources is so important in nonfiction. If he names a specific person or text as his source, you can often guess whether a story was true based on what we know about that source. For instance, Suetonius' story of Caesar eating perfume oil comes from Oppius, a friend of Caesar who supposedly witnessed the incident himself, and it's too weird to sound like propaganda, but it could easily be a stunt, joke or accident (Caesar: "I meant to do that!"). So I think it's probably true.

Iulius, 53

And if Suetonius quotes a letter or book, like the writings of Augustus, then the quote is almost certainly real, although the book itself might be biased:

Augustus, 51

On the other hand, it's hard to tell where the lurid allegations about Tiberius' sexual abuses on Capri came from (Tiberius, 42-45). Suetonius doesn't tell us where he heard of it, or how his source could have known such details from an isolated island a hundred miles from Rome. It's more likely that the allegations reflect rumors from people who didn't like Tiberius, perhaps from Caligula in his early attempts to distance himself from his predecessor. We should be cautious whenever Suetonius neglects to cite a source, especially for stories that are hard to prove or disprove.

He does try to name each emperor's good and bad points honestly, especially in his earlier biographies. But his bias is still pretty thick. In Iulius, Suetonius believes that Caesar's overweening ambition motivated his entire career, and to support this theme, Suetonius names several examples of Caesar plotting to overthrow the government long before he crosses the Rubicon. On closer examination, most of the anecdotes are impossible to verify, or don't make sense. Like the time Caesar was supposedly plotting against the very government he'd just been elected to:

Iulius, 9.

Caesar was ambitious, like all Roman senators, but sabotaging his own job would've been counterproductive. Suetonius himself then describes how busy Caesar's aedileship was, which implies that Caesar had always planned to use the office to its fullest.

Other biases in Suetonius' work don't come from Suetonius himself, but from multiple waves of propaganda influencing the stories he had access to. It's likely that Tiberius' miserliness and depravity were exaggerated by Caligula to contrast with Caligula's own largesse, and Caligula in turn was vilified by Claudius' regime. Emperors that die naturally tend to be remembered as neutral or positive, while those that get assassinated/overthrown are usually demonized to justify their killings. This is not just a Suetonius problem, though. You'll find it in many classical texts.

What I'm saying is, Suetonius is valuable, and he's earnestly trying to tell you the truth. He's also a lot of fun to read! But you have to think carefully about what he says:

What are his biases? What story is he trying to tell, and are there holes in it?

How plausible is the story given what else we know about the circumstances?

Does he give you a source for that story, or is it just rumor or received opinion?

Do our other sources support or contradict it? Try cross-referencing the story with Cicero, Plutarch, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, Appian, Flavius Josephus, and Velleius Paterculus. (Each of whom is also biased in a different way!)

What biases might've influenced the available texts and popular views of Suetonius' time, and thus Suetonius' own views?

Even if Suetonius gets something wrong, the fact that he thought it was plausible can still tell us a lot about how Romans in his era viewed each of these emperors.

I'm kind of surprised to hear someone claim Suetonius' sources were biased against Augustus, since Augustus is by far Suetonius' favorite of the twelve Caesars. But I'd have to read the article and compare it with Suetonius' biography to form an opinion of that.

[jennyandvastraflint]

Xena Reactions S3Ep4. Aka WOAH THAT'S A LOT OF TRAUMA FOR MY POOR GABRIELLE Part 1 😭

Ffs why is Ares here AGAIN

OH who is THIS

Discord?? She kinda 👀 (gosh her outfit)

Ares you are so mfing UGLY I hate your stupid beard

Call him out, Discord 😍

GABRIELLEEEE

Hehe she's doing philosophy

Gosh Xena is silly silly

HER SLAPPING GABRIELLE TO STOP HER

BRITANNIA

CAESAR. FUCK.

Oh that did something to her. Poked that trauma, hu

Damn her listing stuff

"You know her?"

Why is there a dude with only one god again

"And to destroy Caesar" EPIC MUSIC. OHOHOHHH. She's gonna go REVENGE

"Xena doesn't hate Romans. Just Caesar."

Damn, Xena actually telling Gabrielle stuff? 😂

"The gods I know are trouble enough"

Sdbfhhdhdd HE MATERIALISED AROUND THE SWORD

Jesus Ares, fuck YOOOUUU

oh I hate this Ares whispering in her ear. I'd genuinely rather have Joxer here compared to Ares... Like if I had to choose. Preferably I want neither.

Is this Gabrielle's boyfriend of the week 😑

GABRIELLE BELIEVES IN LOVE TO XENA THO

I love Gabrielle teaching sb what Xena taught her

GABRIELLE GENTLY ASKING WHAT'S UP ❤️

I love them talking 😊

They really said Damn we got a ship now, let's put like four episodes on a boat!

How's the view from up there

Ohhh, is she sending morse code

"Yes, sir. They're headed north" ehdhdhd

A chariot again. Damn makes me nostalgic for Callisto

OH A HOT WOMAN

Damn Xena and that woman definitely fucked in the past. They have divorced sapphics energy

I dearly love that you actually see something in these night scenes. As opposed to new shows

GABRIELLE NOOOOOOO!!!!

I love women btw.

"Because your hatred for him won't allow you to be elsewhere" Oh she read her like a scroll of parchment

AHHHHH XENA LIKE "No that's impossible"

Oh shit she's about to murder someone bc her gf isn't here (*cough* Xena and Vastra are so alike-)

oh fuck yea...

And her ex kneeew

"Nooo." ough

Stop manhandling Gabrielle my babygirl

Pls she's so FEISTY😍😊

YUCK. CAESAR

Hi Karlchen.

OH. GABRIELLE IS TRYING TO SELL HERSELF SHORT SO SHE CAN'T BE USED TO BLACKMAIL XENA

Shit r they gonna threaten to crucify Gabrielle

Ohhh, is Xena gonna infiltrate

EW. STRAIGHT AGENDA (I knooow it's just a cover but still)

Eepy Gabrielle

Uh oh. I hate how smart Caesar is...

NOOOOOOOOO THEY PUT GABRIELLE UP

NO. NOPEEEE NOT THE BROKEN LEGS That's so fucked up

Xena's gonna save her

HA. She knew they were gonna bring them there.

Haha, Caesar's dumbstruck face

GABRIELLE CAN YOU MAKE BIGGER HEART EYES AT XENA

"Timing. We've got to work on timing."

HER CATCHING GABRIELLE 😍

She split his spear!!!

AHAHA FUCKING LOSER GOT HURT.

Rip his banner!!!

Oh, now his massive ego is scratched

NOT GABRIELLE APOLOGISING FOR BEING CAPTURED 😭😭😭

Awww, poor thems

Oh fuck they're taking the temple

Their shield formation and Xena just jumps them... 😂

Mmmmm... Not sure I like that. I'm calling the temple is a trap honestly... This went too smoothly

Oh Xena is enjoying this TOO much

And of course Ares is back.......

Ares stop shouting.

"Trust me, Xena!" "Based on what?" YES

Uhhhh why does this have the vibe of sacrificial virgin.....

Is their one god Chaos

Innocent blood? OH FUCK Gabrielle's blood innocence isn't it

NOOOOO, GABRIELLE

Mmmmmmh...

O_O GABRIELLE STABBED HER. SHE JUST KILLED FOR THE FIRST TIME

This is gonna let the god come out

WTFFFFFFF

I hate this guy

GABRIELLE MY POOR GIRL 😭😭😭

SHE'S SCREAMING, SOMEONE GO HUG HER. XENA!!!! YOUR GF IS IN DANGER

Oh she is enjoying that revenge on Xena bit too much

"That's where Gabrielle is" HUAGGHH

SHE HUGS HER. SHE HOLDS HER AWWWW

"No, Gabrielle, you couldn't"

"Accidentally!!!" "No, I stabbed her"

POOR GABRIELLE!!! SHE'S HIDING BEHIND XENA. PROTECTIVE XENA.

"What have you done to her, you BASTARD!?" She's big mad

Oh fuck. They wanna welcome that god and there's a battle about to begin outside

GABRIELLE!!!! FIRE. MY POOR BABY

Xena is so frightened for her gf

She's hovering over flames

Damn what a thin stone wall

HOLD ON GABRIELLE

Xena was scratched :(

BOOB KNIFE!!!

Xena is so sexy honestly

"Great at WHAT?" OH SHE'S THROWING HIM IN AND SAVING HER WIFEY

"I got you, I got you" Aaaaaaah

THEY'RE SO CLOSE. XENA IS SO PROTECTIVE OF HER

Kaboom

OUGH THEY'RE SO

"It hurts inside" OUGH sobbing. Gabrielle got me sobbing

Damn those are some CGI'd ruins

Also they really just abandoned the supposed A plot of the battle. That was SO smart tho. Like, from a story perspective. It was brilliantly executed.

[kikokus]

Sanji Since the Time-Skip, Part Eight (Chapters 810-813)

…So it’s been almost nine years. I’ve recently gotten back into One Piece and am caught up with the manga again, and since I’ve had some requests to continue this series (and there’s obviously been a lot of Sanji content in that time!) I thought I might as well go and do that!

This covers the few chapters of Zou but there’s actually a lot of great Sanji character moments within those four chapters so it seemed to make sense to keep it as its own section. As before, standard disclaimers apply.

[Part One] // [Part Two] // [Part Three] // [Part Four] // [Part Five] // [Part Six] // [Part Seven]

Let’s see if I still remember how to do this...

So not only does everyone seemingly accept that Sanji’s the obvious choice to fill the position of captain in Luffy’s absence, there’s actually an entire chapter named after ‘his’ crew which really emphasizes the point that we’re supposed to look at him as taking that leadership role for the time being.

And, because of that, most of the examples in this part have something to do with Sanji stepping into said leadership role, and that starts here once they can clearly see the city’s been destroyed and Sanji’s first reaction is to leave the others behind where it’s at least relatively safe and go off by himself to make sure he doesn’t put them in any danger.

Chopper threatens Caesar a lot during this part as well but with Sanji here you can tell how much emotion there is behind his words and how angry he is because at this point it’s not even a request anymore, it’s just an order. I really do like how this is set up because the reveal with Sanji’s new wanted poster being ‘only alive’ is before this, but there’s really no other indication as to what that means and once you find out more about his birth family it makes sense why he’s able to take charge as easily as he does. 

But for as emotional as he’d been with Caesar, he recovers very quickly here and is the only one to point out that they shouldn’t let their guards down just because it seems like the enemy's gone. Caesar also tries to deter him from deciding to help the Minks by painting them as hostile towards humans and really, all Sanji has to go on right now is Law’s word that his crew is there so he has to make a decision on the spot as to whether trying to save them is a good idea.

Sanji being observant is nothing new but at least in this case we really don’t see what Wanda’s holding until he warns Nami so it’s revealing it to us as readers, too.

I like that this is stated so plainly because the last time we saw Sanji he was very adamant about escaping with Caesar and not letting Big Mom get her hands on him since that was the promise he made to Law, but now that Doflamingo’s been taken care of he sees that as going along with the fulfillment of said promise. He’s also obviously weighing the option of whether or not Caesar’s worth all of the potential trouble both to his crew and to the Minks (and being snarky while doing it, which I always appreciate.)

Though I think he quickly realizes that it’s not quite that simple as just handing Caesar over and being left in peace, and I feel like by this point it’s probably hard to keep track of all the people Luffy’s picked a fight with but Big Mom’s obviously a significant one and Sanji’s not ignoring that.

This is about the most authoritative we see him when it comes to giving orders and it’s very brusque while also keeping Nami and Chopper safe and shutting down any sort of wild ideas Caesar might have. The focus on the panel of him looking down at Bege and giving that little cocky nod is also some pretty great foreshadowing but has another purpose in showing us how easily he can slip into that sort of role when it’s needed.

Sanji doesn’t really have to say this because conceivably this negotiation doesn’t involve the Minks outside of Pekoms being there but once again it speaks to his inherent kindness that he doesn’t want to cause them any more trouble after what they’ve already been through.

This is more just about how well Sanji knows Luffy and knows that he would never agree to becoming a subordinate of one of the Yonko, but at this point I think he’s still trying to find a way for all of them (except Caesar) to get out of there safely. It’s also interesting that earlier we get Brook talking about vaguely about the Vinsmoke family and Nami remembering that Sanji had told them before he was born in the North Blue so it wasn’t as if he was afraid to share that part of his past, but that was as much as he was willing to divulge.

Sanji’s expressions in this chapter are so telling, and I think it’s very effective considering that we don’t know exactly what’s happening but we can tell from his reactions how serious it is and because he’s not saying anything one way or the other that’s all we have to go on. But this is where it turns from him wanting to escape with everyone to him realizing that, now that he’s been told Zeff’s in danger, that’s no longer an option and it’s more about getting the others out instead. There’s a panel directly after where he lights a cigarette which is a very classic ‘I need some time to think’ move from him as well.

That little sad smile says so much…he’s accepted his fate and is saying goodbye in the only way he knows how, and I think he’s being honest here: he never intended to hide anything because, for him, he’s left that part of his past behind and cut all ties with his family so he didn’t consider it a factor or something to dwell on but now circumstances have made it impossible to ignore.

His dialogue goes with what I was saying earlier but I really put this here because it shows him using Observation Haki again and while he can’t say for sure that it’s the Minks, he knows they’re likely the most powerful beings left on the island and he’s willing to take that chance if it means getting the others to safety. I’ll also point out that through this entire section he never even tries to frame it as just ‘getting Nami out’; he wants all of them out of there and goes so far as to hug them (even if it’s with the excuse of making it easier to toss them all out at once).

Sanji’s definitely taking a chance here but even with the little he’s been told about the current situation it’s one he can afford to take because it’s not as if he doesn’t know what Judge is like and he can already infer that Big Mom has some sort of use for Caesar so threatening him is about the easiest way to make his point and gain the upper hand for just long enough to do what he needs to.

And I think Sanji’s also banking on Bege being smart enough to realize that, too (which he does) so while there was a lot that could have gone wrong he’s managed to accomplish his goal of making sure the rest of the crew is safe. If you look closely at some of the panels in this section there’s these little double curved lines around Sanji which are usually an indication of trembling/shivering but even though he’s obviously emotional he’s still holding it together enough to at least make it seem like he’s in control.

I’ve seen some comments that after so long Sanji should know the crew would back him up regardless of what trouble he’s in but Sanji’s nothing if not consistently self-sacrificial and this time, because it’s dealing with a part of his life that’s existed since long before he met any of them, I think he truly does see it as something he needs to do on his own. His smile still hurts me, though.

…And that’s the end of this section! That…probably went on longer than it needed to but I guess it proves that almost a decade later I still have a lot to say about Sanji so please feel free to like/reblog if you found this interesting at all and we’ll…see about working on the next part…

[neopuff]

Little timeline I've been using in my GenRex fics. I know there's only supposed to be one year between Six finding Rex and Promises, Promises, but I don't like that it's such a short amount of time so I made it two years lol It's fine, I can ignore canon sometimes (slams my head thru drywall) I'm good at that it's fine

Rex is presumably 14 when Six finds him. They celebrate his 16th (or ?) birthday in Nov 2010, but when Caesar arrives they would learn Rex's real birthday (I picked April 'cause I wanted something earlier in the year) and so Rex would be 17 in S3

I also really want Rex to have had a blackout at some point while at Providence. I would've liked it to be earlier but the timeline really doesn't work out lol I mean it doesn't really work in timeline anyway but I don't caaaaaaare. Six says "You only remember the last 18 months" in Wasteland, which I assume is letting the audience know that 6 months have passed between Promises, Promises and Wasteland but I'm just shortening up that timeline. They can rebuild Providence HQ faster than that it's alright

Some notes:

One would've been an EVO for more than 5 years in Divide By Six but I figure it's okay to round down. 5 years sounds more dramatic than 5 and a half years

(Plus Caesar says he missed five years in Mixed Signals even though the Nanite Event was five years prior to The Day That Everything Changed, which means characters are doing a lot of rounding)

A Family Holiday would be Beverly's 18th birthday

This isn't referenced in the above image but I put Holiday at 33 and Six at 35 (start of series). Noah calling her 28 doesn't make her actually 28, he is a 16 year old boy he doesn't know how old women are

Holiday and Six got in less than a month of dating before Six Minus Six lol

And Six got about 2-3 weeks to get to know Rex before Lions and Lambs

Uhhh hmm. Anything else? Sorry I typed this all once and lost it all so I'm trying to remember what else I had.

OH YES a pre-Providence Rex timeline with a focus on his amnesia blackouts. Here we go:

Late 2004/Early 2005: Rex has an accident in Abysus. His family infuses him with nanites to help save his life. Rex has his first mini-blackout (not full amnesia, but he starts to have trouble remembering bits and pieces) due to the accident or the nanites it's hard to say. While his body adjusts to the nanites, he has a bunch of mini-blackouts and starts forgetting important things. He starts keeping a digital notebook around Feb/March 2005

April 2005: Nanite Event - Rex blacks out due to the shockwave/trauma/both. He turns into the Giant Robot EVO Thing and flies out of Europe. Heads in a random direction and ends up tired and without memory in Hong Kong. He still has his digital notebook and it's kind of the only thing that keeps him sane

Mid 2005 - Mid 2008: Rex in Hong Kong. He starts working for Quarry because he needs to make money/get food somehow. He also meets the Hong Kong Gang one-by-one and they become good friends, though Rex is secretive and anxious and paranoid. Incident with Scarecrow doesn't help.

Mid 2008: Rex knows he has family in Mexico thanks to an early entry in his digital notebook and decides he wants to find them. Quarry agrees to help Rex get to Mexico if he makes a deal with him. Rex hasn't blacked out in so long and is feeling confident about finding his family (Quarry told him he had a contact in Mexico City who would help Rex out) so he doesn't think he needs the notebook anymore. Quarry keeps it as collateral.

Nov 2008: Rex gets to Mexico but he is lost and scared and Quarry lied about having anyone there to help him out. Rex has another blackout (combination of stress and guilt) and turns into the Giant Robot EVO Thing again. Six finds him and brings him to Providence.

Aug 2009: Rex has another blackout while training with Six (something similar to what happened in Frostbite). Holiday and Six don't realize this is a Thing with him so they just start over from the beginning. Training is easier and faster now that they know how Rex's powers work and they're prepared for everything. Six gets Rex some goggles, Holiday gets Rex some gloves.

[baptaincarnacles]

Fandom Crossovers

Humanized, as always :D

Barnacles, Zane, and Martin are the Trouble Trio.

So, I'm going to be doing incorrect quotes.

---

Martin: So, out of curiosity, what's the scariest thing you two have experienced?

Capt. Barnacles: I've nearly drowned, watched the people I care for most become injured, almost fallen from a high ledge, and oh! Lost my former crew.

Zane: I believe- if my calculations have calibrated correctly, the most fear I've gone through is remembering I've wiped out an abundance of population. I had been manipulated and had my memories erased. It was a rather gruesome realization.

Martin:

Martin: I was going to say my power suit malfunctioned, and I turned into a tree. Now I feel bad.

---

Zane, cooking: This is nice- your ship. The technology is admirable.

Martin: You'll have to credit that to Aviva and Koki. They get everything done around here.

Capt. Barnacles: *crosses arms behind back, looking rather serious* I heard your team has their own Octopod.

Martin, freezing: *slowly* Yes?

Capt. Barnacles: I've seen it. It looks like it'll get the job done, but the ship lacks most... How do I put this?

Zane, spinning his head around: I assume you intend to tell him it lacks practical and daily use. Where theirs is designed for singular missions, yours is designed to withstand the elements of many climates.

Capt. Barnacles: Well, of course. It has pods for all necessities. We certainly don't lack in those aspects. It has sufficient engineering, working heating and cooling, a launch bay, and various vehicles designed for any terrain; my crew does an outstanding job.

Martin:

Martin: Never let Aviva hear you two talk like that- I love listening to you talk about technology and the fancy stuff, but- she is a competitive inventor and will try to surpass your technologies.

Zane: Your brother has fangs due to his power suit altering his DNA. Most of Ms. Corcavado's technology is still experimental. Since you started wearing it, it appears your strength has skyrocketed, your sense of smell has improved, and some genetic alters have significantly affected your hearing.

Capt. Barnacles:

Martin:

Zane: Did I say something wrong?

Martin: No, but a lot of things make sense now.

---

Zane, staring at Zach-bots: This is rather amateur technology. I've not seen any android quite like this.

Martin: If the androids in your universe are programmed like you? I'm a little intimidated.

Capt. Barnacles, crushing one of the Zach-bots: What's with your realms and antagonistic heathens? The only thing my crew ever has to worry about is nature and what she brings.

Martin:

Zane:

Martin: We-

Capt. Barnacles: It was rhetorical.

-

Zane, using his elemental power in front of the other two for the first time:

Martin: Oh my- what in the creature world? *excited laughter* I've never seen- you just? How?

Zane: I was gifted with this extraordinary ability. I was designed to protect those who cannot defend themselves. I was seen worthy by the former elemental holder. It's for good.

Capt. Barnacles, staring at the ice: *visibly overwhelmed* That doesn't make any more sense.

-

Martin, lying in the grass: Sometimes I think about those little mini figures in the Night at the Museum and crave that kind of friendship.

Barnacles, staring over: Jedediah and Octavious?

Zane, brows furrowing: If you're referring to Jedediah Strong Smith and Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, I don't quite see where they'd be friends.

Martin: Oh- it's a movie where the two are little wax figures that come to life at night- with some magical Egyptian tablet.

Zane: But that makes no sense. (As if his realm does)

Barnacles: Neither do your elemental powers, yet here we are.

Zane: Hm.

[tdalejandro]

Hi. Welcome to me overanalyzing bonsar. Part 2. TTA spoilers

First of all, I would like start with the fact that Julia pointed out that Caesar and Bonnie didn't even talk since he got back. Ough. I KNOW Bonnie was overthinking it. Why is Caesar avoiding them all of a sudden? ESPECIALLY with what they said to each other during Bonnie's elimination in TTA. "You're my person, Bonbon" to being avoided? God I would overthink that too if I was Bonnie.

PLUS, it was at minimum 4 days since Caesar showed. 4 days of just. Waiting. Anxiety. What does Bonnie say to Caesar? Does Caesar even want to talk to Bonnie? If they watch the episodes, that means Bonnie saw what Caesar said during the found footage episode. "I just wish I could've done better for Bonnie. I don't know if what we have is platonic or... whatever. But I'd like to figure that out together,"

And GOD that's bad. From the "You're my person, Bonbon" to the "I'd like to figure that out together" and then Caesar shows and. Just doesn't talk to Bonnie at all? Oh my god I would cry. I would scream. Bonnie was definitely overthinking it. Did they do something wrong? Was it something they said? Why is Caesar avoiding them? Does he care more about hosting the fucking aftermath than them?

I don't think it helped that Caesar made it such a big deal about it during the aftermath itself too. From the start, him with the booing and the picket sign. Caesar was spending all his time from the moment he showed up planning to overtake the show from Patrick and Kitty. I don't doubt at all that Bonnie was the first person he thought of when he arrived, but he wanted to give them their safe. Think about the things he said to them. Avoid them himself because he wasn't entirely sure how to even start the conversation.

But he wanted to take over the aftermath. He made sure that Kitty was able to enter the aquarium. He probably found the questions laying somewhere, which is how he was able to get the videos of the teens answering the question of who slays more between him and Julia. How he knew that there were a lot of questions for him. (I sent those ofc). How he knew about my question for him and Bonnie.

How he knew to throw it away.

Caesar wanted to host. The fact that he literally attacked Patrick for it proves that he wanted to host. He was so prepared for it, willing to do anything for it, and part of it happened to be avoiding Bonnie. Which definitely was not the move on his part, because I have no doubt that Bonnie was just scared. Wondering why Caesar didn't talk to them. Sure, they've could've found him themself, but they know he's been busy, planning to take over as the aftermath host, so maybe they didn't want to bother him. To burden him.

The romcom episode proves that Bonnie has trouble just talking to other people. Opening up to other people. Letting people getting to know them. "'It’s hard,” they protest, looking at their lap. “I don’t want to burden anyone.'" And here, the one person who just gets them, the one person who understands them, the person who motivated them throughout the entire first season of the damn show, avoiding them? Bonnie felt horrible. I know that for a fact.

So, queue Julia's takeover as host. I don't remember if Bonnie and Julia had any beef on TTI, as I never finished my reread of it. Whoops. I'm guessing it's more of a mutual dislike for each other kind of thing. But for Julia to go all and find out Bonnie's name? Obsessed much. Maybe I should finish the TTI reread to figure out if they had something more than just a mutual dislike.

ANYWAY, sorry Bonnie and Caesar for making you guys talk about it on camera. I NEEDED to know. In Universe TTI River definitely has a parasocial relationship with them.

The fact that Bonnie was upset that the question was in the trash. Ohhhhhhhh </3 BONNIE IM SORRY FOR ASKING IT I JUST HAD TO KNOW. I NEEDED TO KNOW. I NEEDED MY BONSAR BACK. GOD Bonnie, after being avoided for at least 4 days, gets hit with MY question? Being thrown in the trash? Can you imagine how they felt? Did Caesar even want to them to them? Talk about it? And why does this random ass person who they don't even know what them to talk about it on camera??

Maybe Caesar came across my question early on. He read it, and didn't know why I wanted to know his and Bonnie's business. I mean, I don't blame him bc It was a weird question and I sent it in a moment of desperation when Caesar got eliminated. He thought about Bonnie when he read it. They don't need to deal with that on camera. That is something they need to talk about on their own.

How Julia found out about the question, it beats me. I don't know. Maybe she saw him throw it out. But she was using the knowledge of my question against him, and him taking over the aftermath set her overboard, leading to her using my question to get him to talk.

They are a mess. The start on the conversation. They're assuming things about each other. Because they never talked about it. "I know you like dealing with things on your own." Do you Caesar? Do you really know what? Or are you assuming that you know that about Bonnie. “I just figured you would need some time to adjust to… well, everything." Assuming again. Caesar thinks that the things that apply to him apply to Bonnie as well. But does Bonnie really think that? He wouldn't know because he hasn't spoken to them since Bonnie's elimination. He read my question, assumed that Bonnie wouldn't want to deal with it, even though he does because of what he said during the found footage episode, and then threw it out.

“You seem to know what you’re doing most of the time.”

They're assuming things about each other. Bonnie assuming that Caesar, not wanting to talk to them. Caesar assuming that Bonnie doesn't want to talk about their relationship. And yeah, Caesar is right. They don't know a lot about each other. They have known each other for a couple of months max and a lot of it was them not even spending it together. Caesar was out episode 10 of tti and Bonnie made final 5. But god damn the way they formed this relationship, it's something deeper than friendship, deeper than romantic. I've said this so many times before, but they really are soulmates.

And so, my question was the push they needed. Because without it, they were never going to talk about it. Well it was going to be brought up one way or another, but I feel like my question was the push they needed to get the ball rolling.

And Julia having the roses be brought out. BOOOOO JULIA THEY ARENT ROMANTIC BOOO THIS ISNT A LOVE CONFESSION BOOOOOOOOOOOOO

But Caesar saying they aren't maxchela. Saying they aren't shalovin. Because they aren't! They are Caesar and Bonnie, and the relationship between the two of them is something that only needs to make sense to the both of them. Comparing it to maxchela, shalovin, fucking patulia, that doesn't make any sense. Because they are just so different from the other tti pairings from the way that Joner wrote them.

"What are we?"

“I don’t know,” Caesar says, almost confidently. “I’ve been avoiding the subject because I don’t know! But does that really matter?”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Bonnie says, standing in the peanut gallery.

God. This is the only thing that matters. They don't know what they are, but that's okay, because they don't know together. They can explore the unknown together, because they have each other. And if the end of the journey has them set a label to their relationship or still have it be set as "I don't know," that's okay. Because they did it together.

“We don’t have to be anything!” Caesar insists, the handcuffs rattling against the radiator. “And if we are, maybe we’re something new entirely.”

The thing they are. They are Bonnie and Caesar. They aren't friends. They aren't lovers. They aren't partners. FUCK I know I say they're soulmates, but if they don't call themselves that in canon, who am I to fight that? As far as they know, I'm just someone who is a little too interested in their relationship.

The thought of putting this into labels scares Bonnie. Why do people want them to label their dynamic? Why does in Universe River care so much? Why do people want them to talk it out? But they don't matter. The only person who matters is Caesar. Because this is theirs and Caesar's relationship, after all. As long as they understand what they are, they don't need to share it with everyone who asks about it.

“But… you’re important to me,” Bonnie continues. “And I’m pretty [CENSORED] tired of trying to put words to that.”

Bonnie said fucking.

That's all that matters. They don't need words to show the way they feel for Caesar. There are different ways to express the love you have for another person. Words are just one way. Words are even a limited way to show the love you feel for someone. Because clearly, the way Bonnie and Caesar feel for one another, it's simply something that words cannot describe. But that's okay, because like I keep saying, they are the only people who need to understand what they have. Not me, not in universe tti river, not anyone in the cast. Only them.

Well I do understand the bonsar dynamic but also this isn't about me.

And. The co-host scene. GOD. Of COURSE Caesar would be extra. Getting down on one knee, holding Bonnie's hand. "Will you be my co-host?" GOD IOJ{FIUD HIUDF. IM DHGjkDHJKDGjfgerg It's so stupid but it's just so Caesar. That's what they are. Co-host.

I mean they're soulmates to me but now their relationship DOES have a label. Co-host. Which is so fucking funny. That's the only label they need. Because as long as they have each other, that is the only thing that matters. I know I keep bringing that up, but GOD it the biggest part of their relationship. No one but them needs to know what they are.

And so. I cannot wait for the next aftermath. The bonsar co host. The fucking. Patulia rivalry that they will god. God Patulia is so fucking cursed.

I'm not ending this with patulia. Bonsar sweep, forever and for life. Co-host. Bonsar co-host sweep. I cannot wait for this. I cannot wait to see where this goes. Joner I hope you know how much I think about them. It's insane.

[genshin-impact-writings]

Hot chocolate+Kokomi for the December event pls?

Thank you ^-^

-question anon

It's Day 19 of JJ's Advent Calendar! Thank you for your request! <3 It was nice to write for Kokomi again, so I hope you enjoy this one as well. :)

Day 19: Kokomi + “hot chocolate”

The holiday season came with a lot of responsibilities for the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island: There were festivals and celebrations she needed to plan and supervise, people she needed to listen to when they talked about their hopes and desires for the new year, and on top of that, she also had to take care of the ongoing negotiations with the Tenryou Commission to ensure that everyone could enjoy the holiday season without having to worry about old differences. 

And you would be lying if you said all of this didn’t worry you. You knew Kokomi, probably better than anyone else, and she was so used to overworking herself that she sometimes forgot that it wasn’t normal to fall asleep at her desk. So, you had made it your mission to make her free evenings as pleasant and relaxing as possible.

Today, you had greeted her with a cup of hot chocolate – her favorite drink since you had introduced it to her a while ago – and a collection of holiday themed short stories you had picked up recently. Kokomi was snuggled up against you, sipping on the hot chocolate, while you read the stories to her, hoping that it would take her mind off the troubles she had to encounter today.

With a quiet sigh, she rested her head on your shoulder. “You’re doing so much for me. I hope you know how thankful I am.”

“Of course,” you replied softly and nuzzled her hair. “You take care of Watatsumi Island, and I take care of you. After all, someone has to make sure that you don’t pass out from constantly overworking yourself, right?”

Kokomi giggled and took another sip of her drink. It tasted like home. 

Taglist: @kaeyas-beloved @caesars-bubbles @genshinparty @the-gayest-sky-kid @ajaxstar

[goatpaste]

how is esidisi and suzi q's friendship in this au?

so not to be too crazy and doing whatever i want with suzie or whatever

but i like to imagine suzie was some poor orphan street rat kid that got herself into a lot of trouble until she was taken in by Lisa Lisa.

Lisa had been keeping her under her care since she was 16. Suzie isnt a Hamon warrior and can never seem to get it quite right with a very clumsy nature and being more inclined to hands on regular street fighting or weaseling her way out of most situations, but she does have the basic down so she can keep herself safe and not a liability on the island.

To "make up" for not being able to learn Hamon like the others, like caesar who Lisa also took in at a young age and trains and care for like a son next to Suzie. Suzie has taken up caring for the island and Lisa Lisa who she somewhat see's as an adoptive mother. Suzie isnt super skilled in house work either but is doing her best and Lisa (and everyone else on the island) loves and cares for her and appreciates all the hard work she does.

then after the fight between joseph and esidisi, they dont kill him. Instead they opt to hold onto him much like santana keeping his brain in a jar until they can decide what to do with him. Suzie took it onto herself to watch over the seal on Esidisi's jar and generally watch over him (which has led to her almost dropping his jar more times than anyone can count) But over the time in her care esidisi likes to talk to suzie and teach her things like cooking and other tricks for making her work easier. they weirdly get along and by the time they would return Esidisi back to the other pillar men as the end of my au, they would be weirdly sad about parting ways, and secretly very happy when suzie ends up marrying joseph and wham. Suzie is esidisi's favorite child in law for sure.

[delafiseaseses]

OK, so, I have developed a probably odd viewpoint on the best overall outcome for Primm in New Vegas.

So, what do I apparently think is the best outcome for Primm now? 

An Independent Ending where you’ve sided ‘em with the NCR.

Now, firstly let’s just show what it says in such an ending “Despite NCR's pledge to support Primm, they abandon the town after their loss to the Courier. Independent again, Primm operates much as it had before the Powder Gangs arrived, full of ups and downs.”

So, why am I saying that that is the best ending? Well, it’s simple: self-determination. Who becomes Sherriff of Primm post-NCR? I don’t know, I didn’t choose them. The people of Primm did.

Now, a lot of you may say “But Primm Slim is the best option.” and I agreed for a long time. In a choice between Meyers, the NCR and Primm Slim, Slim wins by a landslide, no question, but there was a shockingly salient criticism of him from Beagle of all people “... the law to him is a set of logic. Not everything is black and white, not sure a robot can ever understand that.” and this is, like, we all know Slim isn’t the most... sentient of robots in Fallout. Sure, Beagle is saying this mostly from annoyance of losing his job, but he’s right on the other two, for Meyers he says “He's a good sheriff but a hard man. He doesn't abide by anyone slinking by the rules. I guess there won't be any trouble, but the man's law is hard.” and for McGee he says “He's rude. Just don't tell him I said it. Primm has a sheriff now, just not as supportive as I would've hoped.” and, yeah, Sergeant McGee isn’t a nice man.

Of course, Slim’s endings are good “Primm Slim proves to be an able-minded, if not able-bodied, sheriff for Primm. Due to his slow speed, some crooks get away without a scratch, but Primm continues to prosper under his watchful robotic eye.“ or in a Legion ending “Not understanding the gravity of the Legion's imminent takeover of Primm, Sheriff Primm Slim valiantly attempts to resist Caesar's will.” no word on what happens to Slim in the latter, but from what we hear Primm Slim is a good enough sheriff.

But, times change and an eternity under the law of a Protectron running a pre-war law enforcement routine is... a questionable idea, y’know? A Protectron who doesn’t even know the name of Primm.

I don’t know how the residents of Primm choose their Sheriff in the ending I’m advocating and their the Sheriff is basically their head of state. I don’t know how McBain got the job, either. What I do know, is that them making that choice seems right to me. Return Primm to a pre-Powder Ganger government system. Undo the damage of the NCR on the town.

Sure, for the weeks or months between My Kind of Town and the Second Battle of Hoover Dam the town suffers under McGee and the NCR’s system, but after that, they reclaim their self-determination and while that means ‘ups and downs’, that freedom to actually choose as people, that matches my values the best of all the options.

One day I’m gonna look at all Primms endings, there’s some real interesting ones, but that’s for another time. I’ve expressed my probably odd idea on ‘the best option for Primm’, hopefully well enough for the perspective to be understood.

[chantylay]

Since it’s Happy Murder a Bitch day I decided to actually tell some people whomst the Caesar was at the time of his murder, since a lot of, you know, ‘para-historical’ facts about Caesar go around, although the memes are funny. So the first thing to note is that our bitch Gaius Jules Salad was not the first dictator the Roman Republic had within his lifetime. Sulla, another bitch, had taken power in Rome by force and made himself dictator whilst Salad boi was a young man, in a bitter power struggle with his opponent, Salad boi’s uncle (also Gaius because Romans are shit at names). This resulted in a lot of bloody political purges and violence and bad shit and was generally regarded as bad. Since Salad boi was, ya know, Sulla’s archnemesis’s nephew he got the fuck out of dodge and went into the military instead of becoming a priest, which he was initially, and became very good at the le stab. Anyway after experiencing the shitty clusterfuck that was Sulla and other Gaius’s rivalry, Salad boi got into politics, and got a reputation for two things: being an anti-corruption campaigner, and having a squeaky voice that sounded like what happens when an Italian man completely smashed on red wine huffs a bunch of helium. Since he was fucking over people who were fucking over The Poors this got him a lot of political support from said The Poors. He also ordered lavish games and other expensive shit to get him more support from The Poors, which was expensivus on his walletus so he got into a lot of debt. To get out of such debt, he became politically indebted to one evil fucko named Crassus, who was having a political spat with another fucko named Pompeius. So anyway because Caesar is very popular (he’s also the governor of Spain at this point and did some conquesting thereabouts, which also got him political points because This Is Rome and conquest=good to the average Roman because the rich fuckos get more slaves and the poor fuckos get more land to live on that isn’t made of urban decay, poverty, and rat feces) he gets made consul. Basically co-president, because the Romans decided that one president was Not Enough so they had two. At this point because he was the president and evil fucko Crassus was his money daddy, he basically went up to Pompeius and said in a voice that would make Mickey Mouse cry ‘yo how about we all rule this bitch together because that Sulla shit was terrible’. So they do and the three of them are basically Rome’s political overlording Big Men at that point. This was unpopular with The Aristocrats because Caesar favoured policies like ‘what if we gave the poors more land so they don’t fucking starve’ to which The Aristocrats responded ‘But my slaaaave plantations’ to which the Big Men replied ‘we have swords’. So the policy went through. However Caesar was still big fucking in debt and although his money daddy Crassus was staving the debt collectors off, he still needed a payout. So naturally, Caesar decides to commit a massive genocide, enslavement, and conquesting on all of Fronce the available nearby Celtic people to get rich quick because he was still in control of an army. This worked and was a catastrophe and made him a fuckwad of epic proportions. This unfortunately did not make his testicles drop and his voice got no deeper. There’s a bunch of history wankers who like to go on about how good of a general and politician Caesar was here but in reality he was pretty mid and got by on genocide, getting lucky, and abusing Rome’s political allies among the Celtic states. Oh yeah that meant he was in biggums trouble because he’d abused Rome’s political allies and conquested a bunch of people who were meant to be Rome’s friends. Ooops. Money tho. Whilst he was conquesting his money daddy Crassus was killed in Epic Style by the Persian Parthian Empire trying to do his own get richer quick scheme, and Pompeius, being the voice of The Aristocracy in the Big Men alliance to Caesar’s The Poors and Crassus’s ‘I’m Rich’, was Not Happy, also because Caesar had outstripped him in power. In the ensuing political struggle, Pompeius and The Aristocracy faction stripped Caesar of power, yote him from Rome and declared him Publicus Enemius Primarius. So naturally Caesar invaded Rome with his army because fuck those bitches, and said something along the lines of ‘I always roll 20s’. His enemies, not expecting such a move (for some reason? the man had a fucking army) lol noped out of Rome and fled Italy. After a brief civil war that Salad boi nearly cocked up but Pompeius cocked up first, Pompeius legged it to Egypt and was assassinated by the 15-year-old Greek Pharaoh for being a bitch. During this time Caesar was made temporary dictator, a position he resigned from and was elected co-president again instead, because it was kind of redundant to have a 1-year dictatorship when you can just be elected co-president. Anyway he beat the shit out of that fifteen year old for assassinating his former Big Men buddy and banged the kid’s sister, who was also the new Pharaoh, and honestly a more competent ruler than Salad boi. ‘I always roll 20s’ was seeming to be a pretty good statement at this point. Team Salad-Poors then proceeded to beat the shit out of anyone still trying to be Team Aristocracy and There Was Peace. People were so happy about There Was Peace that Salad boi was made a 1-year dictator. For 10 years in a row. Also because The Aristocrats probably had brown togas, despite Caesar declaring that ‘all will be forgiven, I really don’t care that you guys all supported my Best Friend and fellow Biggus Mannus Pompeius, hwo is dead, over me’. So anyway with his newly gained massive political power he undermines every other political institution in Rome to increase the size of his salad his own political power to institute Massive and Sweeping Social Reforms that basically centralised provincial political power to make governing the Roman Republic’s Empire easier, gave governors term limits, got rid of a quarter of Rome’s private debt (which made The Poors very happy), cracked down on various corruption issues, passed restrictions on the purchasing of luxury goods (which made The Aristocrats very upset), made a child tax credit (kinda), did a bunch of land reform and repopulation efforts after all the wars, and extended the political rights of The Poors Not Of Roman Origin Whomst Were Not Slaves. Also he made the calendar less shit so it was the same day every year at the same time. He was then made Dictatorius Foreverius because at this point he basically ran Roman politics and was more popular with the average Roman than if he had singlehandedly invented pasta and meat sauce 1000 years early. This made The Aristocracy, uh, mad, because then none of them would get to be Rome Co-President and all these reforms benefiting The Poors were not benefiting Them. So basically Salad boi shows up to the Senate on the day of Halfway Through Mars’ Month Day, and is fucking stab-stabbed to death-fuck by all the Rich boi Senators on the STEPS of the Senate (not in the debating chamber like in all the paintings, they did this in public) and declared they had Brought Peace To Rome and Brought Freedom And Liberty because the dictator was dead and now they could go back to the old ways of fucking The Poors over and rotating who got to be Rome Presidents. So naturally they had just started the Biggest Fucking Political Bloodbath In Roman History Up To That Point Which Few Of Them Would Survive. Happy Stab A Salad day!

[heliodorwrites]

An exhaustive fic progress report of all my current WIPs for those interested (edited because I forgot some):

Stranger Things fic:

nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone - I actually have most of chapter 5 written and know how the chapter will end. I'm just stuck on the scene where Max goes over to Dustin's house. I'm still not sure how close to canon I want to play it. One day I'll rewatch Stranger Things and get back to this, but I think I need to practice writing mystery and action some more so I can really do justice to bringing my plans for this fic to life

The Dragon's Bride - So in the covid brain fog I forgot where this fic was going last year. I wasn't keeping detailed notes about it so I'm just kind of trying to recreate what I want to do with this before I post anything. I have been working on the second chapter though. Overall I want it to have soft Ghibli film romance vibes

JJBA fic:

Houses of the Holy - The orphanage chapter is so hard to write. Why did I think writing out Caesar's whole life story was a good idea??? He doesn't even meet Lisa Lisa until chapter 3! Making up backstory from scratch is haaaaard. My hubris knows no bounds.

had to fall in love - ah band au my beloved. I fucked up the timeline and haven't felt like fixing it yet. I might just pretend I meant to do that all along and just keep writing. Then I could fix all the dates and ages at the end. This fic is a hot mess but It's fun.

Wonders Never Cease - this sci fi au is even more of a hot mess. God I'm a disaster. Don't look at me.

Unpublished WIPs/ideas (also JJBA):

Hotel CA - Caejose pwp set in a world where vampires have overrun the world. Caesar is the leader of a little group of humans taking shelter in an old hotel with a crumbling sign. Joseph sneaks in to Caesar's suite disguised as a woman in the hopes of seducing Caesar into a false sense of security before he reveals his identity. Of course Caesar knows it's him immediately and is curious to see how far Joseph is willing to take his ruse.

Bring 'Em Back Alive - a post-PHF five-years-later fix it endgame Fugiomis fic where Fugo and Mista team up on a murder mystery mission in a Passione-run nightclub where the ghosts of their shared past are disturbed and they fall in love with each other. I'm having trouble juggling the OCs for this one. I think I have to write a more immediate post-PHF fic to establish the villains' motivation better. The playlist is already up on my fandom Spotify though I may change some of the songs around.

i wanna be a slut - this one is named after a Pansy Divison song. It's basically just modern no stands au poly!mista fic where not all Bucci gang is dating each other but Mista ends up either dating or friends with benefits with all of them. Not much angst just Mista gets to be happy and carefree and have a lot of love in his life.

idk what to call it yet I've been calling it figure drawing au or michelangelo nudes - Modern au, no stands. After Mista gets fired from his latest job because his manager hates him, Fugo offers to pay him in cash if he agrees to model for a project Fugo is working on. It's all so Pretty Woman that Mista kinda can't help but fall for Fugo, who is gorgeous and sensitive and brilliant, but Fugo is such a sad lil rich boy he can't imagine Mista wants him for anything more than his money. Mista's just so handsome and so good at living in the moment defying expectations to do whatever the fuck he wants; he's everything Fugo wishes he could be. I just want to write the Fumis romcom of my dreams where Fugo is a PhD student and polymath good at different forms of art and science and Mista's a himbo. I deserve this.

another college au draft where Mista and Narancia are roommates who don't realize they're pretty much dating. Giorno invites all his friends to a house party at his mudad's house. Narancia gets drunk and finally makes a move on Fugo, who gets offended Nara seems to be trying to cheat on Mista with him. Idk this one might never see the light of day tbh but you know I love the Torture Dance Trio so maybe

I do not have time to write all this. Knowing me I'll just come up with more ideas tho lol.

Edit: WAIT I FORGOT TWO OF MY DRAFTS

Phantasmagoria - Fugio gothic horror au where Fugo's parents give him to Dio for mentorship and Fugo quickly learns Dio doesn't actually practice law all that much and his house is fucked up. He meets a cute boy he only ever sees wandering the halls at night

Uh the draft is called Gothic Horror Pillar Men in my drafts but it's more of a bodice ripper type story. It's about Joseph being locked in his grandma's estate awaiting his upcoming marriage and interacting with the strange men who prowl the courtyard looking for something at night. Not sure if I'll ever finish this one but idk. The wedding rings play into it a lot but they're not poison in this au or like inserted into Joseph's body.