#i'm not going into the ethics of the book but just- the Decision really hurts

[jacksmysterylabyrinth]

Something I felt while ruminating about Yuma has me really... kind of

...jesus...

*endgame spoilers*

He’s paranoid. As. Fuck. And being mentally cornered like that, is the major driving force behind opening up the Book of Death in the first place.

He had to force himself to undo all the life experiences up until he became Number One - how many years that was, who the fuck knows - but you already get an idea that Yuma is nothing if not stressed, all the damn time, so whatever it was that led him up to that title probably wasn’t a cakewalk either. Stress upon stress upon stress, and worse, with no one to truly put confidence in back then.

It meant that he also couldn’t trust himself to do what was necessary without turning to extreme, drastic means. Hell, Chapter 3 is enough to show that the Master Detectives can accomplish awesome things without the need for that book, just as long as everyone was on the same page and using their power. What’s more, there’s a very good chance that if Yuma had boarded that train with Number One’s memories intact, that he could have faked being drowsy in order to corner ‘Zilch’ and stop the massacre from ever happening. It’s still a tremendous risk, but hardly as risky as going in experience and memory-less. He could still use the cook’s identity without compromising his own, and yet?

This is what Vivia meant when he said that ‘it was already up to his neck’. Yuma had been ruined, in his heart and head. He still wanted to do right through that, but he was so blinded by his fears - whether of outing himself, endangering people he might get close to, betrayal, whatever - that he sought the help of a death god to guide him without his troubled memories. Because a contract with a supernatural being is likely to be more trustworthy than a fallible human.

What’s more, is this is such a human reaction to feeling cornered. Have you ever wanted to throw away your memories and start from scratch, only this time with someone who knows you by your side, to guide you through your fresh idealistic self to the place you want to be, rather than a jaded husk of a person who’s completely lost when reaching out to others? Redo your brain chemistry?

I feel like if I had that chance, I’d probably have taken it, too.

[lanawinterscigarettes]

Sweatshirt (Greg House x reader)

Summary: House gets jealous by a certain article of clothing you're wearing

Warnings: petty/jealous House (aka the best kind), heavily implied poly House x reader x Wilson in case that's not your thing, very mild and brief swearing

A/N: based off a random little thought I had. don't ask me when during the show this is supposed to be set because I have no clue

It was missing. Wilson's McGill sweatshirt was missing, and House was very upset. It was his turn to wear it, and although he could've sworn he left it balled up on his side of the bed before he left for work it wasn't there when he returned.

The thought popped into his head that someone might've stolen it, but that was just stupid. After all, who would break into his apartment just to take a sweater?

You, apparently, as he soon came to realize when combing back over his place to look for it. He hadn't noticed it on you at first when he walked in, but now it was hard to miss, like a bright red target painted across your chest.

He almost glared at the way you were casually lounging on the couch, reading a book as if you hadn't stolen from him. "You're wearing his sweater." It wasn't a question, rather a statement, which made sense due to how very obvious the fact was.

You looked up from where you'd been reading and gave him an unimpressed look. "And you walk with a cane. Tell me something I don't know."

The corners of his lips quirked upwards into an amused half smile, but he tried to push his fond thoughts of you to the side for the time being. "You know, it's my turn to wear his sweater."

Letting out a hum, you dropped your eyes back down to the book in your hands and lazily turned the page. "Technically, it's my turn, after you decided to hide it for three weeks so I couldn't wear it."

That was true, he did do that. It was for no reason other than to mess with you, but now he was really started to regret his past decisions, something that rarely happened, if ever.

"You stole it from me, right out of my very own bed," he tried a different approach, putting on a face of mock hurt and offense in hopes of swaying you and getting it back. "Shame on you."

"You stole it from me first." Damn it, you had him there. "I was just returning the favor."

House stood there in front of you for a few minutes more hoping you'd somehow break with no such luck. Sighing loudly, he flopped down in his armchair, giving you a dirty look. "You know, two wrongs don't make a right."

You glanced up from your book, peeking at him from over the top of it. "An ethics lecture coming from you of all people? Well, this oughta be good." Now, it was your turn to be amused, something that didn't bode well with his competitive nature.

Seeing as it wasn't going to happen any other way, he tried a more direct approach in order to get you to give it back. "I want it. I want to wear it. It's mine."

"Technically, no, it's not. It's Wilson's, and I'm borrowing it," you pointed out, appearing unbothered by the evil look getting thrown your way. "Go find something else of his to wear if it's upsetting you so bad."

"I don't want to wear something else, though," he whined obnoxiously, trying to get on your nerves. It was working, but not nearly enough to get him what he wanted.

"Tough, because I'm wearing it right now. You're just going to have to deal with it."

Part of you thought that maybe you'd won this argument when he got up and left the room, but that thought was soon diminished when he came back less than a few minutes later, throwing something at your head.

"Really?" You asked in obvious irritation while pulling the shirt he'd thrown at you off your head.

"Put that on, and give me the sweatshirt back. That way you'll still feel all cozy and close to your doting boyfriends without having to wear that specifically," he reasoned as he stood there, his hands resting on the top of his cane. He looked proud of himself, like he was a little kid who'd finally solved a puzzle.

Despite your annoyance, it was hard to keep the slight smile off your face. Still, you weren't going to let him win that easily. "I'm not wearing it because of sentimental value. I'm wearing it because it's comfortable."

He groaned loudly, becoming visibly annoyed. "Why must you always be so damn difficult?"

"Funny, I could ask you the same question," you muttered as you held up the shirt and took a good look at it. It was one of House's old band tees, which made you realize something. "Hold on, are you jealous because you don't get to wear the sweatshirt, or is it because I'm wearing Wilson's clothes and not yours?"

The obvious pout on his face quickly gave away the answer. "Just give me the sweatshirt now, and I'll promise I'll give it back later." He held his hand out expectantly, resulting in you throwing his shirt back at his face.

"Nice try, but you're going to have to pry this off my cold, dead body." You settled back into the couch with your book as he walked away, grumbling under his breath. It appeared as though you'd won the battle, for now at least.

End notes: I've never written for House before but I tried to capture his personality the best I could! Hope y'all liked the Hilson references sprinkled in lol

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[himezoro]

roronoa zoro's guide to relationship

before anything : tysm for your support on my first post!! i'm working on a long piece to celebrate starring the loml here. feel free to request anything your heart desires, i'll be happy to oblige ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

here's a headcanon of what a relationship with roronoa zoro would include in my opinion.

warning: gn reader, use of "you" and "them", sfw, but sexual intercourses implied! i'll write a dedicated nsfw one if you want to ;)

wc : 1,070k+.

being in a relationship with roronoa zoro would include :

being used as a body pillow. zoro is a heavy sleeper, and his s/o would be the best body pillow ever. he won't admit it, but he feels pretty sad when he's on watch duty and can't sleep alongside their s/o in their shared bed. if his s/o complains about being too hot, he would much prefer pouring an ice cold buck of water upon them rather than moving his body a little. his giant body won't move.

being teased about your habits. zoro is observant and likes a good laugh. so, he would pick on all the small (cute) things his s/o does that feel funny to him. you're sleeping with a stuffed bear ? he would tease you by arranging it in the most deranged scenes ever. you're hugging any of your newest purchase after buying them ? he would tease you by mimicking you with his bottle of sake. be prepared to be constantly teased on.

however, this man won't let anyone make fun of you, and would always defend your honor (even if that third party would make fun of the same things he teases you about). he would yell at luffy and usopp so bad if they dared pulling the smallest of prank on you (remember that scene where he makes luffy drink a whole glass of water at the baratie ? yeah he'll make him drink the whole ocean this time lol)

having his hand on the small of your back while you walk. when a crewmate mentions it to him, he just huffs and acts like "it's nothing". actually, he didn't even notice it himself, but the way his hand falls on your back so naturally is beyond any scientific reasonings. this gesture alone speaks volumes about his love and affection.

making you talk about the smallest of things. roronoa zoro is not the most chattery in the whole crew, but he lives for listening to the voice of their s/o. he would ask you to read a passage of the book you're reading, talk about what you liked and disliked for hours, the latest gossip on the Sunny, anything would make him happy. his head would naturally fall on your lap as he daydreams while rocking on the sound of your honey-like voice. (he would love hearing your voice in bed)

being trusted, valued and respected. zoro would give his all to his s/o. this man is so focused on his dream and his loyalty to luffy would mean so much, that choosing commitment means he would respect and value his s/o for their personality, experiences and ethics. the second he decided it was the right decision, after a lot of introspection, his heart would be left into your hands for you to do as please. he's also really careful as to not push your boundaries, and always asks for consent for anything. anyone with eyes can see how much he adores you and values your existence.

being constantly protected. even though he respects your abilities, he cannot help but keeping an eye on you anywhere, at any times, even when you're not around. he's on high alert, constantly on watch. during combat, he would go rampage if someone dared to touch you, and i'm not talking about being hurt. if that were the case, zoro would not even be able to look at you (in scared of being too "softened") before destroying the enemy with pure sadism.

being kissed all the time when you're alone. this boy hates PDAs, which could be one of the reasons why his has his hand on your back so no one can really see lol. that does not mean he won't look at you with love and adoration in public, offering you a quick and genuine smile or wink when your eyes lock. but when alone, zoro reveals himself as a passionate lover. he would kiss you endlessly until your breath runs out, and would kiss you again when he's given the "go". his kisses would be long, and he would trap you in his huge arms the whole time, running his hands through your waist, hips, legs and ass. he won't say it, but he loves it when you cup his face during the kiss or run your fingers through his green hair. bonus if you grip on his shoulders during intimate moments, where he would kiss you harder and a tad rougher. with him drinking a lot, be prepared for some amusing kissing sessions where he could kiss you with his mouth full of sake (unless you're not drinking, which he would totally respect!!)

him showing off to sanji just to fuck with him. hell, he would lick your whole face in front of the chef if that could set him on fire. that would make him laugh his ass off.

having heated arguments. zoro is stubborn and can be impulsive. if he's in a cranky mood, he may raise his voice at his s/o for nothing important, but he would be feeling so sorry after that. he would shyly apologize in what feels like a whisper, but he would give you some space for a little time before doing so.

being told "i love you" when he thinks you're sleeping. zoro is not chatty, and again, you know he loves you, and he knows he does. anyone with eyes can see that. but sometimes, when the rythme of this life gets too crazy, or when he feels the need for you to hear these magic words and for him to vocalize his feelings, he would say "i love you" in the most intimate way possible, in the crook of your neck when you're sleeping, before pressing a kiss to your temple. little did he know, you heard it every single time. he would also say it during really intimate and slow make out sessions and intercourses. however, he would often thinks "i love them", at the most random times when he's looking at his s/o : seeing them eat ? shower ? dance ? reading ? he's loving them all the time. 24/7. (he just needs the courage to say it each time he thinks it, but then he would look like sanji and he can't have that)

being his. zoro won’t admit it but he loves knowing you’re his, and having the others know it as well. he is so proud of you, and proud to have such an amazing partner. and he would have no shame in saying he’s yours.

don't start me but zoro would be the type of guy to say "i'm not taking a shower unless it's with you" lol.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Red-teaming the SCOTUS code of conduct

Tomorrow (November 18) at 1PM, I'll be in Concord, NH at Gibson's Books, presenting my new novel The Lost Cause, a preapocalyptic tale of hope in the climate emergency.

On Monday (November 20), I'm at the Simsbury, CT Public Library at 7PM

Last April, Propublica's Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski dropped a bombshell: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had been showered in high-ticket "gifts" by billionaire ideologue Harlan Crow, who subsequently benefited from Thomas's rulings in the court:

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

This was just the beginning: in the coming days and weeks, more and more of Thomas's corruption came to light, everything from the fact that his mother's home had been bought by Crow, to the fact that Thomas's adoptive son went to a fancy private school on Crow's dime:

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-private-school-tuition-scotus

The news was explosive and not merely because of the corruption it revealed in the country's highest court. The credibility of the court itself was at its lowest ebb in living memory, thanks to the two judges who occupied stolen seats – Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett. One of those judges – Kavanaugh – is a credibly accused rapist. Thomas is also a credibly accused sexual abuser:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/01/30-years-after-her-testimony-anita-hill-still-wants-something-from-joe-biden-514884

Then, this illegitimate court went on to deliver a string of upsets to long-settled law, culminating in the Dobbs decision, which triggered state laws that force small children to bear their rapists' babies:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/health/abortion-bans-rape-incest.html

That was the context for the Thomas bribery scandal, which was swiftly joined by another bribery scandal, involving Samuel Alito's improper acceptance of valuable gifts from Paul Singer, another billionaire who brought business before the court:

https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court

This string of scandals and outrages naturally prompted public curiosity about the Supreme Court's ethical standards, and that triggered fresh waves of incredulous outrage when we all found out that the Supreme Court doesn't have any:

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/why-doesnt-the-supreme-court-have-a-formal-code-of-ethics/

When Congress made tentative noises about providing minor checks and balances on the court, the justices erupted in outrage, telling Congress to go fuck itself:

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/supreme-court-ethics-durbin/cf67ef8450ea024d/full.pdf

Chief Justice Roberts went on whatever the opposite of a charm-offensive is called (an "offense offensive?"), a media tour whose key message to the American people was "STFU, you're hurting our feelings":

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/roberts-defends-high-court-against-attacks-on-its-legitimacy

To the shock of no one except billionaires and Supreme Court justices inhabiting the splendid isolation from societal norms that is the privilege of life tenure, America didn't like this. The Supreme Court's credibility plummeted. A large supermajority of Americans – 79%! – now support age limits for Supreme Court justices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/18/the-people-no/#tell-ya-what-i-want-what-i-really-really-want

Support for packing the Supreme Court is at an historic high and gaining ground, now sitting neck-and-neck with opposition at 46% in favor/51% opposed. Among under-30s, there's a healthy majority (58%) in favor of appointing more SCOTUS justices.

As Roberts' wounded bleats reveal, SCOTUS is very sensitive to its plummeting legitimacy. After all, the court doesn't have an army, nor does it have a police force. Supreme Court rulings only matter to the extent that the American people accept them as legitimate and obey them. Transformational presidents like Lincoln and FDR have waged successful wars against the Supreme Court, sidelining its authority and turning it into an unimportant rump institution for years afterward:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/26/mint-the-coin-etc-etc/#blitz-em

Now the Supremes are working their way through the (mythological but convenient) five stages of grief. Having passed through Denial and Anger, they've arrived at Bargaining, with the publication of the court's first "code" "of" "conduct":

https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf

It's…not good. As Max Moran writes for The American Prospect and The Revolving Door Project, the proposed code amounts to "security theater," a set of trivially bypassed strictures that would not have prevented any of the scandals to date and will permit far worse in the years to come:

https://prospect.org/justice/2023-11-17-supreme-court-objectivity-theater/

The security framing is a very useful tool for evaluating the Supremes' proposal. The purpose of a code of conduct isn't merely to prevent people from accidentally misstepping – it's to prevent malicious parties from corrupting the judicial process. To evaluate the code, we should red team it: imagine what harms a corrupt judge or a corrupting billionaire would be able to effect while staying within the bounds the code sets.

Seen in that light, the code is wildly defective and absolutely not fit for purpose. Its most glaring defect is found in the nature of its edicts – they are almost all optional. The word "should" appears 53 times in the document, while "must" appears just six times:

https://ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accountability/supreme-court-code-of-conduct-hilariously-fake/

Of those six "musts," two are not pertinent to ethical questions (they pertain to the requirement for a justice to get prior approval before getting paid for teaching gigs).

When the code of conduct was rolled out, the court and its apologists pointed out that it was modeled on the ethical guidelines that bind lower courts. In the wake of the Thomas revelations, these guidelines were a useful benchmark to measure Thomas's conduct against. The fact that other federal judges would have been severely sanctioned or even fired if they had engaged in the same conduct as Thomas was a powerful argument that Thomas had overstepped the bounds of ethical conduct.

But as Bloomberg Law discovered when they compared the lower courts' codes to the Supremes' draft, the Supremes have gone through those lower court codes and systematically cut nearly every mention of "enforce" from their own draft. They also cut the requirement to "take appropriate action" if a violation is reported.

If you are a bad judge or a bad donor, all of this is good news. Nearly everything that it condemns is merely optional, which means that if a judge can be convinced to ignore a rule, they won't have violated the code. What's more, even widespread rulebreaking doesn't trigger an investigation. That's a very weak security measure indeed.

But it gets worse. The Supremes' code also omit key definitions found in the codes that bind the lower courts. The most important definition to be cut is for "political organization," which the lower courts define expansively as both parties and "entit[ies] whose principal purpose is to advocate for or against political candidates or parties." That definition captures "nonprofits, think tanks, lobbying firms, trade associations, grassroots groups" – the whole panoply of organizations whom federal judges must maintain an arm's length distance from in order to preserve their objectivity. Federal judges may not lead, speak at or donate to these organizations.

By omitting this definition, the Supremes open the door to involvement with precisely the kinds of PACs, thinktanks and other influence organizations funded by the billionaires who have benefited so handsomely from the judges' rulings.

What's more, the Supremes carve out an explicit exemption for speaking to "nonprofits, think tanks, lobbying firms, trade associations, grassroots groups," and to serving as a director, trustee or officer of "a nonprofit organization devoted to the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice and may assist such an organization in the management and investment of funds."

As Moran points out, this exemption would cover – among other institutions – the far-right Federalist Society, which satisfies all those criteria. That means a Supreme Court justice could sit on the board and raise funds for the FedSoc without raising any issues with this code – not even one of those squishy "shoulds." Nothing in this code would stop Clarence Thomas or Thomas Alito from accepting lavish gifts, private jet rides, or luxury tour buses from billionaires with business before the court:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/justice-thomas-267000-loan-rv-forgiven-senate-democrats-104303972

As Moran writes, these definitional vacuums are a well-understood class of weaknesses in ethics codes. Congress gets a lot of mileage out of this ruse – for example, by narrowly defining "lobbying" to exclude things that most people understand that term to mean, Congress engage in improperly close relations with lobbyists while still maintaining that they hardly ever talk to a lobbyist at all:

https://www.politico.eu/article/jeff-hauser-opinion-watergate-european-union-qatargate/

The same ruse goes for campaign contributions – if you want to accept a lot of campaign contributions that would fall afoul of ethics rules, just narrow the definition of "campaign contribution" until all the money you're receiving no longer qualifies.

Moran closes by calling on Congress to formulate a real, meaningful code of conduct for the Supremes, one that orders Supreme Court judges not to accept corrupting gifts and to maintain the arm's length neutrality that the rest of the federal judiciary is required to keep. Rather than this new code of conduct constituting proof that SCOTUS can be its own oversight, its gross deficiencies should put to rest any question about whether the Supremes can be trusted to regulate themselves.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/17/red-team-black-robes/#security-theater

Image: Senate Democrats (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Supreme_Court_Building,_July_21,_2020.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[tenderhungering]

Have you noticed how women are used in the film? Their suffering, grief, ambitions and even deaths. It all benefits the men.

yes, i have! i think it was during the first time i watched with two of my friends that we mentioned how fucked up it seemed to bring in lilly. she was an abused child in circumstances that june describes as inhumane and now she's supposed to come on and chat about said abuse.

to better delve into this though, i'm going to do a little ramble on each female character (i've been meaning to this regardless so this question has me excited!)

Lilly

as i mentioned before, lilly, to the public, is an abused child who has been rescued from a cult and is now the subject of dr. june's book. i believe that june really did care for lilly but she in a way, was still benefiting from her by writing about her. something to study while parenting. reminds me a bit about parents who write about raising troubled children.

jack brings them onto the show almost because he knows how shocking this is to audiences, to have survived what lilly did. i think that fear and shame but also desire kiss on the mouth. the public both fears the occult but want to learn more, there is some sort of fascination with the idea of someone being in it and being able to get out of it (would people do the same?). lilly is a spectacle. she is to go from not knowing the outside world to standing in front of the camera and expecting to behave like a typical girl her age. it's almost like she has to prove herself well-adjusted after her trauma.

june explains to her that everyone having a demon inside of them, acknowledging that lilly's might be a little more literal but because the demon serves as a stark reminder of her time in the cult, it's similar to someone working around their triggers. everyone has hurt in them. like a therapist helping you work with carrying that hurt rather than just suppressing it. clearly the demon leaves lilly exhausted, upset and feel not like herself. she's crying after her scene and asking june as to why she's hurt her, and apologizing for whatever happened when Mr. Wriggles was there. she is not in control of her actions. but jack wants more. he's momentarily sympathetic but realizes that it's getting him higher ratings. the more hurt is displayed, the happier than the media is.

even in the final scene, when the demon possesses her, we can see it in her face that she's distraught. confused. but all the camera does is zoom in on her expression,

June

june is so intriguing to me as a character because it's almost as though her instinct toward things is a calm and collected behavior, one that thinks of the ethics of it, whether anyone will get hurt, but her decisions are so easily swayed by jack. and he knows exactly what to tell her too. Everyone finally take you seriously. It is the 70s so there's no surprise that misogyny is rampant (though the 70s did introduce the second wave of feminism, she may be a representation of challenging attitudes as well). june is a very passionate woman in her studies, she'd be considered an expert in the field but this is almost immediately dismissed as soon as she's introduced as a doctor. you call yourself that. is that what you believe you are? can you prove you are?

i think it makes june feel better if everyone has a distance from lilly - hence writing a book about her. you can know lilly through the pages. you don't need to make her suffer for views then, you can educate yourself on what was happened to her and understand she's hurt more than necessary. she might've felt the need to write the book for them both. lilly need to be understood and emphasized with as more than just a "child of d'abo". but jack invites her with the idea of simply talking about said book, one of her biggest accomplishments and instead wants to treat them like some sort of circus act. do a trick for me, june! you know how to! it's not enough that you tell me you know, you have to show me, you have to prove yourself to me, the camera makes it real.

it is that logic that sometimes makes her feel inclined to prove herself. and sometimes this is at the cost of her own morals.

Minnie

my beautiful wife,,,

i love minnie. so much. i've written a bit about how i think she was prior to her death in other asks but i never quite touch so much on how much she was exploited by both jack and the industry.

to be ill is a personal affair. and it was on all the tabloids whenever minnie was diagnosed with cancer (even if she did not smoke! i mention this because while smoking might contribute to lung cancer, it did feel like an odd mention that they'd pay so much attention to whether or not she did? it might've been to emphasize how sudden this all was but i'd also like to throw in that perhaps she was also just taking care of her voice! she was in theatre.) she has no privacy to mourn the gradual loss of her life. some people believe the cult was implied to be the one who had made this illness manifest for her which is awful in its own regard and more so when one considers the fact they did it to get to jack. almost as though minnie is an extension of himself and not his own person.

jack inviting her to the show could very well be done just because he wanted to invite his wife (though it does feel a bit odd he waited till she was sick to do this. maybe it was some sort of public gesture of affection, they both live to entertain, it's their job) but there's something saddening about the ordeal. it's almost as though knowing minnie was sick was not enough, the public had to see her in order to have some sort of confirmation. and the immediate comment about inviting her over being followed how even then, this wasn't enough to surpass johnny carson is morbid to say the least. almost as though minnie had just been used as a way to gain better ratings. sympathy ratings. i don't want to remove any agency of minnie, it might have been her decision to go on the show but the public's reaction to is that is what is more concerning.

even her death was simply a sacrifice. she was nothing more than a missing puzzle piece to have jack move forward (or downwards?). something that would benefit jack. as all the women in the film have been. each with such distinct personalties and motives to what keeps them going (or who are still amidst figuring out what they'd want out of life) being only part of a larger scheme where men are the benefactors. the grove only allowed men. the cult birthed sacrifices from their women. women are a stepping stone. a chess piece. something that needs to bleed for someone who demands it.

i love writing about how compelling these characters are! so sorry if sometimes my ramblings feel leaning more towards just dissection rather than downright analysis! i hope it gave some insight though!

[timewarpagain]

I am so sick of people trying to lecture others about being involved/interested in this whole mess. "PaRaSoCiaL ReLaTiOnSHiP" this "Entitlement™️" that, "yeah lol I like the Try Guys but I Don't Get why people care so much about-".

First of all, stop feigning ignorance as if the concept of gossip or community is foreign to you, you just come off as a try hard. I highly doubt you've gone your entire life without engaging in some sort of gossip or news that you heard about but didn't directly involve you. Like yeah we get it you're socially enlightened and Not Like Other Fans.

And you're right to an extent that fans aren't "entitled" to know every detail about a person's personal life. But considering the implications of the rumor (before it had been revealed to be true), the people involved, the fallout, and the very messy way the attempted coverup had been handled by the creative team, it's natural that people would be curious about what's going on. Like, you might have a point if this was some rando on the street or some lesser-known celebrity, or even one of the other Try Guys, but that doesn't really apply here. Ned's whole persona/Brand was built around him being a wholesome man in a group of guys who break down toxic masculinity and don't care about any preconceived notions about what it means to be a guy. Ned unabashedly loving and doting on his wife and child[ren] was a huge part of this. So many times in the media you get men who really seem like they don't care for their wives: the "Ball and Chain", "marriage is terrible", "Wife is a Nag", etc. crap, not to mention the amount of men who think that doing the bare minimum of parenting deserves praise or referring to taking care of their own kids as "babysitting".... but Ned wasn't like that. He outwardly cherished Ariel and their kids and never missed an opportunity to talk about them.

Ned cheating broke that sort of trust that he built with the viewers, destroyed the Wholesome Family Man image he projected, screwed over the Guys and their company, and most importantly hurt Ariel and their kids. And you could make the argument that we shouldn't be surprised by this because we didn't know everything about Ned's home life, and that private relationship issues should stay private, and to an extent I agree. However, that doesn't really work here because of multiple reasons.

If you remember the Paula Deen scandal, it's very similar to what happened here (and before you start screeching at me I'm not saying racism and cheating are the same thing). Paula Deen's image was that of a friendly and warm Southern grandmother, but when it was revealed that she'd used racial slurs in the past, it damaged that image and Food Network had to let her go. Ned's persona of being a devoted husband and caring family man is pretty much destroyed, and retroactively sours all the previous videos with or about Ariel and his kids. Second, he made no attempt to try and hide that he was cheating. He was out in public at a Harry Styles concert for fuck's sake. Did he really think no one would recognize him?

You can bitch and complain about "entitled fans" and "HE DOESN'T OWE YOU ANYTHING" or whatever, but that doesn't apply here. They've marketed their family, marriage, and children into videos, podcasts, books, and shows. You can’t make a career based on people’s investment in your relationship and then beg for privacy when you fuck it up. And considering that they also have a Patreon, I think the viewers have a right to know who they're giving their money to so they can make an informed decision about where it goes.

To add onto that, not only did he cheat on Ariel, but he cheated with an EMPLOYEE that he was the supervisor of, which is a legal and ethical nightmare. And his actions affect nearly everyone: Ariel and the kids, Alex's fiance, the company that now has to do some insane damage control and rebranding, lost his job, and destroyed his friendship with Keith, Zack, and Eugene.

Over a fling.

[alwaysalir]

Hey friend, your opinion is valid and I'm not even disagreeing with you but I think you're being a bit unfair to Penelope because of Debling with people unhappy with rumors of Colin having orgies or whatever it was.

This is in a time where a woman can't even be found alone with a man without severe consequences and she will be being courted by a dude while not knowing Colin has even developed feelings for her. She's not doing it to hurt him and nothing indicates so far that she is.

Just like anything he does while traveling isn't done to hurt her. Sure, I think people are probably overreacting, especially since the most we've really seen of any leading man with another woman is them leaving a bed for the most part or the implication of sex, etc, so I don't think it will be much of anything outside of something narratively speaking that he is a "man" now for the time period they're in.

In all actuality, we know Colin doesn't care about women he's sleeping with while traveling (allegedly sleeping with) (which may actually be a large part of the issue? people tend to think in today's standards/ethics instead of the historical context), he is going to fall in love with Penelope and marry her but I can also see the perspective of someone just seeing it as Colin whoring about while Penelope is still hurting from the end of last season.

I think they even mention in the book he had slept with women while traveling? Either way, I would guess if it's in there at all it's for the narrative of showing him as a man grown with new experiences because we all know Penelope will not have the ability to have any of the experience(s) that he has.

I don't think Debling means much more than a vague parallel to s1 but with a much happier ending for them this time.

I am so sorry for my essay, I got carried away feel free to ignore me.😩

Hi there

I’m honestly not upset at all about Penelope and her decisions. I understand where she is coming from. All of my annoyance about the Debling situation is directed towards the fandom and the writers.

I mean we literally had the show runner claim Debling is perfect & Pen chooses Colin bc of a childhood crush. To me that’s diminishing polin’s love story in favor of a character that’s literally a plot point.

As for Colin possibly being a rake I think it is highlights the double standard in this fandom. The fact is people want Colin to exist for Penelope only and him having any kind of experiences outside of that completely ruins that so you have all these people acting like it’s the end of the world when it’s not

[potatosteinsillustrations]

The LGBTQIA+ Collective deserves more than being hidden and obscured.

While a bit of old news let's talk about this: A friend of mine passed me this link (read the articile it is actually really good) a couple of days ago and we landed on the same conclusion: How lame it is to see Epic half assing this.

Pride is a ceebration but also a rallying event to demand basic human rights for a collective and as such corporations shouldn't half ass their "support" by hiding any references to the LGBTQIA+, it is such a retrograde move that hurts the collective a lot, more than they think as it empowers the alt-right.

Epic's message is clear: they aren't willing to commit, they just want to cash in... Which is a horrible way to celebrate the diversity of their fanbase. It says a lot of the company's (not talking about employees, more on that bellow) stance on basic human rights: they don't care enough to commit. Epic decision to obscure and hide the collective is tactless in an era in which LGBTQIA people are harrassed and stripped off their rights. This decision most likely has nothing to do with the people in the company which are employees, this kind of stuff is usually a decision made at the executive levels, I don't think most Epic employees would agree this was a good celebration of the LGBTQIA community.

With all this said it comes as no surprise after the poor handling of 2021's Rainbow Royale:

I stopped doing Fanart of the game around that time and later I uninstalled both Fortnite and the Epic Store app from my computer mostly because of the CEO's lax moral compass which allows him to side with transphobes just because they were briefly against Apple (FWIW I don't own Apple products nor do I care about 'em)

Pro PR tip: You never, ever side with book burning, homo/transphobes, alt-righters.

And lemme be clear: I'm not saying Sweeney is a homo/transphobe, I'm saying I can't see eye to eye with a person who is willing to put his beliefs in human rights topics on pause to side with a transphobe. The fact that he is more willing to be vocal about his fight against Apple, to defend Elon Musk and Twitter blue and on the other side actually being OK with hiding and obscuring the very community they are supposedly celebrating with Rainbow Royale tells me I don't want to use his store and products, at all.

And it is ironic that he has the nerve to say this:

I'm not saying you should cancel Epic or its CEO, stop doing fanart or uninstall anything from your computer/console, I made that decision for myself and I'm no one to tell you what you do. You do you without remorse (as long as you don't harm anyone around you).

What I'm saying is: Epic do better dammit. Epic's history with the LGBTQIA is one of employees doing their damn best trying to celebrate a collective they actually care for but marred by stupidly short sighted executive decisions that affect a collective which has in recent years seen how they rights are stripped from them via brute force and are suffering constant harrasment and attacks from the alt-right. TL;DR if you are a company or corporation you aren't forced to celebrate Pride, but if you are going to do it, DON'T FUCKING HALF ASS IT, the LGBTQIA collective deserves more than being hidden and obscured. This is your reminder that... 1) Corporations aren't your friends 2) You shouldn't form parasocial relationships with 'em 3) Vote with your wallet 4) There's no ethical consumption under capitalism

[funkymbtifiction]

In need of help to find my type

Hello, I have a question after seeing the post about how different Enneagram stances manifest in making decisions. I did an Enneagram workshop a couple months ago and was typed as a 3w4, I believe it be accurate since it has greatly helped me understand myself, and explain complexes I've had since I was a child. One of the coaches recommended me to get into MBTI as a self help tool, trouble is I see contractions in myself that make it difficult to settle on a type. I got a couple books on the subject and have been searching online but the only thing I can be certain abut so far is that I use Fi/Te vs Fe/Ti. I came to that conclusion because while I'm regarded as logical and dislike emotionalism (it clouds judgement), I could never ignore the morals/ethics of a situation. Living in peace with my conscience is a no brainer. I also have displayed individual values that differed from my family since really young, and I hate when people try to "change my mind" and go against my principles, peer pressure has never had an effect on me. I won't preach to people about how they should live their lives, that's presumptuous and invasive, but I demand the same respect in return.

Healthy Fi and Te, yes.

While I enjoy mastering systems I deem trustable and useful I found that reading the ITP chapters on your book made my brain hurt. To me their way of thinking is convoluted and unnecessary, and there's way too much trust put by Ti on deduction and their own ideas about things, which can be very divorced from reality and subjective. By logic and in theory a lot of things should be true but aren't, because reality is not perfectly logical. If something doesn't work throw it out is what I think, I don't like wasting my time. I just don't understand why they'd take so much time and what sounds like a torturous  thinking process to get to conclusions that to me seem obvious.

Strong Te.

You said the aggressive types repress feelings, but how does that work for the F types in the MBTI? 

ENFPs (since you asked) are very driven when 3s -- image-conscious and goal-oriented, but also firmly aware of their own feelings and motivations and desires; they don't lose themselves in others like a Fe-using 3 might. Strong Te. Immense drive and ambition, but also somewhat inconsistent (being Ne-doms).

[...] I got your book to help speed up the process. Of course I read the whole thing, but it was easy to eliminate the Fe, Si, Ni, Ti and Se dom types. I could also confirm I'm an Fi/Te user, as I found myself highlighting most of what was said in every FP/TJ type chapter related to values and identity.

I would say Fi and Te, but not to rule out FiTe over TeFi unless you would allow your emotions and ethics to override your objectivity. 3s are objective, but feeler 3s often 'overdo' low Te and become callous (in their mind, and in others' minds) rather than having a nuanced sense of objective logic -- why something is factual or correct (TJ), as opposed to bulldozing people to get things done (FP).

I also highlighted a lot from the ENTJ chapter, so tertiary Te seems likely. I don't believe it can be higher because I have issues with discipline and long term commitment to things, I'm impatient with results.

Issues with discipline how? The specifics are important. The ENFP way of life, which is to get all excited about this life-transforming new thing I am going to do, but not see immediate results, and then two days later you are bored with it and chasing after something else (like: I want to lose weight, but I don't want it to take 6 months, it needs to happen in two weeks!)... is different from the ENTJ "I want immediate results" tert-Se tendency to over-live in the moment, leap on things without fully thinking them through, and live a life of great opportunism. A Te/Se user can be very impatient, because they are losing their grip on Ni to develop (or fall into) "here and now." I WANT RESULTS, HERE AND NOW. If I don't get them, I get distracted!!!

I used to be single minded in relation to my future goal when very young, but once that fell apart I became so heartbroken, lost and directionless (definitely disintegrated into 9) for a long time. Now I'm getting back into track by pursuing education in another area, but with a "let's see where this takes me" mentality. I'm open to different opportunities leading me in a different path, as I have different interests I might pursue professionally.

Is it possible this was/is Ni but now that you have found out things don't always work according to plan, you are using Ni in a more flexible way than you used to? Are you a specifics person (Ni) or a "no clue, I will know it when I get there" person (Ne)? What did the chapters on writing tell you? Transpose writing into other things you want to get done -- do you have specific, long-term hunches, a specific vision of what you want, or sometimes need technology to catch up to your ideas (like the guy who invented Netflix -- he knew streaming would become a thing before he even started mailing DVDs; that was to get his foot in the door, so Netflix could be on the cusp when people finally had fast enough internet to support streaming)? Or are you more of a general hypothesis "wing it while I do it" Ne user?

Reading the ENFP chapter the things I related to were: transcontextual thinking, reading a situation way beyond the obvious and trusting my analysis and theories, being able to entertain myself with my imagination in boring situations, always looking at the big picture and seeing most things as connected.

This is general intuition, just as easily Ni as Ne.

The things I couldn't relate to were: I'm not nearly as flippant about ideas/opinions as they are described like. Yes I can do an 180º quickly, but there's gotta be a clear new evidence or happening that trumps what I knew before. The part about changing your own theories and reversing your positions and convincing yourself of the opposite sounds pretty bizarre to me, in fact I have great difficulty dealing with people like that in real life. I think it's because I like knowing where others stand, and that attitude brings up inconsistency and contradiction, things I'm not comfortable with.

This could be Ni opposing a Ne way of thinking, because it's inconsistent and you want a specific trajectory and conclusion to become more permanent. It also suggests, by insisting there be evidence, that your judging Te is stronger than you think.

I'm not bored with reality or think of it as mundane. I'm realistic and not idealistic, I'm okay with the limitations of reality and working within it. I don't look to change the world, only to adapt to it.

That sounds like Te/Se to me. Read the ETJ sections again. I think there's something along those lines in there, where it talks about you don't invent something and sell it to them, you find out what people want and give it to them.

I'm not really interested in nourishing other people's potential, I'm focused on my own trajectory. I'm careful with which ideas I adopt...

*buzzer sounds* Not a Ne-dom. Ideas stick to us like flypaper. We don't have to envision them, we collect them, indulge them, and then abandon them when they're no longer interesting. It takes a lot of time and skill for us to learn not to run away with ideas, or pile them onto our existing ideas, rendering our opinions wildly inconsistent.

I easily cut off  from my life anything or anyone who offends me or whose presence doesn't benefit me. <- strong Te.

I did consider being an IxFP since my Fi is more rigid making me not inclined at all to experiment in a "I'll try everything once" way as much as ExFPs are described. I know what repulses me just by hearing about it, no need to live it out. But I'm a 3 so I can't relate to the resistance to external standards and rejection to rules of inferior Te, or the comfort with extreme subjectivity of dom Fi. So what do you think: does being a 3 account from what I can't relate to in ENFP, or is IxFP more likely?

Honestly, I'd say NTJ. I see strong Fi but it's not stronger than your intuition, your awareness of reality, or your Te. ENTJ?

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 3

I’m very sorry if I’m pushing these out too soon. I can’t undo them as they come out. Whenever I’m off this week, I hope to work on other projects. This one kind of establishes something pretty important to me, even though a lot of it is perspectives from the characters and it shows some of Chase’s less flattering traits, but don’t worry. I’m not gonna do him dirty in the long run. I’ve already began on the next chapter and that one they’ll begin getting into more of the work. @kiddangers @sunbeameyes @just-a-j-reallly

The P Word

"This is like that scene in Romeo and Juliet," Chase said. Charlotte knew that he'd been there, so he didn't startle her, and she didn't pretend to not know he was there.

"I sure do hope not," she told him, "They had a bad time."

"I've honestly always wondered why it's considered a love story and not a horrific one," he said and levitated himself up to the terrace.

"Because of the people in charge," she said with a slight smirk.

"Is that your answer for anything, now?"

"Anything wrong with the world," she told him, shrugged her shoulders and looked at the moon again. "And it isn't my answer so much as THE answer." She turned to look at him again. "If you're concerned about your capsule, I promise you it's fully functional. We just made sure to program it to keep you in slumber mode until your body reached optimal equilibrium." She poked him playfully on the chest and told him, "You don't get enough sleep."

"So, you're making me?"

"The capsule is making you, but yeah…" she looked bothered suddenly. "If you want to undo it, you can override stasis mode."

"No. It's fine."

"It's just… important to me that you don't feel like I'm trying to force my will on you, be it this, or anything else. I just want you to make the best decisions for you, yourself."

"I get it… and I appreciate it, more than you know."

She smiled and glanced at her bedroom. She had enough of the moon, for now. She picked up a basin of water that he hadn't previously noticed from on the rail and headed inside. Chase followed, unsure of how to broach the subject… She poured some of the water into a tall, transparent and smooth glass on her nightstand and the rest into a canister that had "Moon Water" on the label, with drawings of the moon and stars stickers decorating it. She gave him a curious look as she put the canister away in an armoire. "What's on your mind? 

He thought for a moment while she also put the empty basin away. "I came to apologize, but there's no good way to do it. I feel extremely silly for what I said earlier." She paused in front of the armoire, closed the doors and smiled at him. 

"I've had people that I care about much less say much worse things to me."

"I don't want to be a person who says bad things to you," he told her. "I don't want to be a person who says ignorant things or intolerant things. I misspoke and I wasn't fully thinking. I should never open my mouth unless I've processed things. I hope you can forgive me."

Her eyes were glazed over and she nodded her head, "I've forgiven terrible stuff to people I didn't love. Don't worry about it." He smiled at the insinuation that she loves him, even if she only meant as a friend. "I'm used to being misunderstood, and I knew that it didn't come from a place of malcontent."

He reached out for her hand, allowing her the chance to take it, which she did and he stared at her. "You can always tell me what's on your mind, even when I hurt you. Especially when I hurt you. I hated not knowing what I said or how it was affecting you. Just seeing you look at me that way… you're one of the few people that I don't disappoint. I don't ever want to do that unchecked."

"I didn't respond because I didn't want to put words between us that I couldn't retract. Then, I'd be feeling like I guess you must be." She laughed a little and strummed his hand with her thumb. He was always impressed by how smooth her skin was. How perfect it felt to his heightened senses. He didn't frequently use or need that one. Mostly, it was for precise science in special conditions. But, whenever he had the opportunity to touch Charlotte, he naturally used it. She had the least amount of dead cells on her than anyone he knew, a fact that she told him was because she exfoliated religously. Praise whoever was responsible for that! Her… he guessed, now that he thought about it. 

"I'm feeling better now. I like it when you let me hold your hand."

"I'm not "letting you hold my hand." WE are holding hands. This isn't some favor that I'm handing you. It's a mutually beneficial show of affection between friends." She noticed the flicker of something in his eyes. It was brief, but they'd been gazing at each other, so she couldn't have not noticed. It was because of her use of the word "friends," but that's what they were. And he was one of her most valued ones. He loved that, he did. But, he wanted more. She knew he wanted more, but she didn't know if he was ready for everything that came along with somebody like her. She could be… a lot, and he still had so much social disconnect.

Changing the subject, he wondered, "Will you tell me? What you were thinking?"

She sighed. "Just that it was unpleasant to have to hear something like that from you. I have a lot of things that people have tried to get me to shove down. Everything that I do has been policed my entire life, same for my ancestors. I.. have so many things that I've had to learn to love about myself, to accept about myself and to work through for myself because of the fact that for as long as I could remember, somebody, anybody, sometimes everybody wanted me in a box. My race, gender, sexuality, romantic affiliation, relationship culture, spirituality, practices, ethics, culture, upbringing… every facet. So, to hear that you felt like I couldn't understand having that happen and processed for me was… hurtful." 

He moved his free hand to cup her face and they stared at each other. She whispered, "How else did you figure I seem to understand you so well?"

"I'm sorry," he said. He placed his forehead against hers and confessed, "I think I was so frightened by the mission that I panicked and forgot my senses. Of course, I don't actually think that about you. I just… I don't like to admit when something seems impossible to me. Changing the world, in the way that you described… the probability of success…"

"Will rise more and more with each assignment and each recruit," she finished his statement to try to help appease his fears. "I can guarantee that." He nodded his head, but didn't move it from hers. "I promise," she reiterated.

"Even if I knew that I would die trying, I would still say yes to you," he told her, as his other hand moved to cup the other side of her face.

"Why is that?" She asked, curiously, not teasingly.

"I can't say no to you…" he said and leaned forward a little bit.

"I can say no to you… when it's for your own good." She backed her face from his lips and his hands, but took them into hers, "I'm asking you as a qualified and trusted partner in the effort. Not as a woman that you care about, abusing that knowledge. I wouldn't lead you on to get what I want from you, Chase. I also wouldn't pretend that we want the same things."

He gently pulled his hands out of hers and nodded, "I understand. You.. don't want me. That doesn't change anything. I'm still here for you." She smiled, sadly. It wasn't that she didn't want him… "Is it because of Max?" His jaw clenched when he said this name.

"Not.. really. It's because of you. You're very committed and pure. Very sweet and loyal." 

"Aren't you those things, as well?"

"Yes, but… not necessarily to one person at a time…" she bit her lip and tilted her head, "I'm… polyamourus, Chase. I am comfortable being involved romantically with more than one person. I prefer it, and I'm used to it. It's not something that I ask of other people, and I've never gotten the feeling that it's something that you would be comfortable with."

"You… have multiple partners…" he said.

She nodded, "I am most comfortable with multiple partners, and I have to warn others when they show serious interest in me, or make a move… I'm not going to suddenly just want to be with one person monogamously, just because I have strong feelings for them. I have enough passion to have strong feelings for everyone that I have them for."

"And do you have them for Max?" 

She laughed and covered her forehead, "Chase, it isn't about Max. It's about ME."

"I know, but do you?"

"Yes. I love Max, very much and I have for years," she said, nodding her head.

"And is he okay with.. your… relationship desires?" 

She covered her mouth as she answered, "I feel like you're still focused on the wrong thing. The question you need to ask yourself before ever getting as close to me as you almost did is if you are okay with it." She reached for a book of matches and tucked her hands in between her legs. "I'm patient and rarely lonely. You don't have to answer it for me. You have to answer it for you. And if it turns out that you still… want to say yes to me, we can talk about it at that time." 

Chase was not the first person who she had to break this news to, and because she was in high demand and full of qualities, she knew that he wouldn’t be the last. She hated seeing him look so crestfallen, but he was not someone that she would ever lie to. She loved and respected him too much to do that. 

She saw him out and went to light her handmade incense, and a white candle. She laid down to rest, trying to release the energy of having to sort of let him down gently. She wished that hadn’t happened, but also… Chase was the type who was very territorial and jealous - she had seen it for herself from almost the instant that he had met Max, and to pretend like she could believe he would be fine with sharing her wouldn’t be fair to her or to him. She tried to focus on the positive things in her life and gave thanks for those. Confident that she would find peace in her dreams, she fell to sleep for the night.

.

In the morning, Charlotte got up, took the water from the nightstand and threw it off of the terrace. It splashed against the ground and she took the glass back inside, grabbed the basin from her armoire, and she washed the glass in it. When it was clean, she put it away, dumped the basin over the terrace, as well, cleaned it out and put it up. She cleared her nightstand of her sleeping spell and replaced it with an orange candle with flowers and crystals in it. That, she lit, now for her morning ritual. 

Silence. Affirmations. Visualization. Exercise. Reading. Scribing (Journaling). The entire process took about an hour and when she was done, she would always cover the candle with a see through snuffer. It was big enough to cover the entire candle and she would pick up the candle dish, step outside and open the lid to let the smoke out into the air. 

Once back inside, a shower, moisturizing, styling her hair and getting dressed were up next, and she topped it off with a few spritzes of her custom fragrance blend of ylang ylang, jasmine, vetiver, and sandalwood in rosewater from a fancy, old fashioned perfume bottle with a squeeze pump through a nozzle. 

Charlotte practically pranced through the courtyard to get back to the guys. She came through the doors, the sunshine blaring through when they opened, and saw Max and Chase, standing awfully close to each other’s faces. They would’ve almost looked like they were ready to kiss, except their expressions were the opposite of that sentiment. “Good morning?” She said. Chase continued to glare Max down, but Max scoffed, took a step back and looked at Charlotte. His own glare melted away and his eyes brightened. She was all glowy… Beaming and shit. Her skin was radiant, her eyes were twinkling, her jewelry sparkling, and her hair gleaming. But, her expression was bothered. He didn’t want to be a part of dulling this image. 

“Good morning!” He cheered, with a smile. “Ready for breakfast?” He asked, pointing finger guns at her and shaking them. 

She looked at Chase and Chase avoided looking at her at all. Then, she remembered the last time that they spoke. What had happened, and she wasn’t sure if him avoiding looking at her was because of that or because of whatever TF she had just interrupted. “So… Is no one really going to tell me what the heck is going on?” Chase and Max both looked at each other…

.

Max got up pretty early. For some reason, his brain was usually a go anywhere from 4 am to sunrise (he just would wake up and have to record multiple ideas, or realize that he figured out an equation for a gadget while he dreamt, or just be filled with the energy to have to think of something new that he could tackle next. 

If he had it his way, he’d never wake up early, but his mental processing and creative juices had other plans. He always woke up before the world did and he was always filled with urgency to do things when he did. Some of his best brainstorms occurred upon waking up with a start. Today was no different. He got up, began recording notes for several of his experiments in progress, checked his website and answered some questions from science heads that followed his gadget series, and sketched some designs for new ideas in his project sketchbook, and when the sun began to come up, his mind began to settle down enough for him to not lose excitement, but to focus on getting ready for the day. (This usually happened much later in the day, but anytime that he was spending at Charlotte’s, his body knew to chill out sooner, so that he could see more of her). He couldn’t really explain it, but maybe it was desire based. She was the only thing that he wanted more than to create and invent, so he was able to taper that passion whenever he knew that he would be able to see her sooner, if he did. 

She usually arose either with the sun, or after it peeked into her windows and warmed her back to consciousness, so he tossed the sketchbook aside and grabbed some clothes into his fist to wash up. 

Max generally liked to soak in a bath, then wash off in the shower. It was kind of a waste of water, but it was what he enjoyed doing. Plus, Charlotte being the super nerd that she was, she had her bathrooms set up like those prefect ones in the books, and he just felt like a little kid having a blast in a huge bathtub with these ridiculous soaps faucets. The scents would fill the entire room and he knew this was the height of luxury and that he needed to memorize every single sensation for whenever he was back in his lesser bathtub. 

After the shower, his hair was pretty much just wet and tousled. He heated his hands with his heat breath and ran them through the coif, flirted with himself in the mirror, summoned his phone to himself and strutted out of his guest chambers towards the lab. He was singing to himself and scrolling through, liking Charlotte’s morning posts, which were usually something inspirational for her fanbase and sometimes something artsy like a burning candle or a bird that landed on her terrace or something. She usually posted 3 things, and it was generally right before she left her quarters, because she tended to leave the phone behind whenever she was on a break. He was liking those and bumped right into something, lost his balance and dropped his phone when he almost fell. He groaned as he caught his footing and looked up to see Chase. “Are you drunk?” Chase asked him.

“What? I was looking at my phone. What’s your excuse? You have super freakin’ senses. None of the five let you know that I was right in front of you?” Max snatched his phone from the floor and checked it for damage.

“Maybe you’re just so insignificant that you didn’t register to any of my senses!” Chase snarled at him. 

Max furrowed his eyebrows and slipped his phone into his back pocket. The last time he’d seen him, they’d been fine. What the hell was this moody shit in front of him? “Excuse you?” Max asked. “Can you repeat it with your big boy voice? I’m afraid my hearing isn’t as good as yours is supposed to be.”

Chase wanted to escalate this. He wanted a reason to fight with Max, but also… That wouldn’t prove anything but that he was childish, and also that he was exactly what Charlotte thought he was when she rejected him last night. “Look. I didn’t notice you, okay? That's that.”

Max stepped closer and shook his head, “No. Not okay. You could’ve said that in the first place and I wouldn’t have had anything to say, but you called me insignificant? Because I bumped into you in the hallway? I don’t feel like that was called for.”

“I’m sorry,” Chase said. 

Max folded his arms and just sized him up. “What’s your problem this morning?”

“No problem. Simple mistake. My fault,” Chase said. 

Max was still studying him. His body language was all messed up. He looked tense and a little fidgety, and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. “What happened last night when you went to apologize to Charlotte?” Max asked, actually concerned, but Chase got super defensive.

“None of your business!” he snapped.

Max laughed and that just pissed Chase off more. He knew he was being childish and he knew that Max was more than likely laughing at the discomfort of the situation and the absurdity of his behavior, but still… he had not enjoyed his morning and the last thing he wanted to do was even look at Max, much less to bump into him, and now he felt scrutinized by him. Max rolled his eyes, stepped aside and muttered, “Whatever she did, you deserved it. Freakin’ weirdo…” He was going to walk away, when Chase turned him around and both of them were on the ready to attack. 

Max wasn’t sure how or why they got to this place, but if Chase was going to attack him, he certainly was about to defend himself. “Walk. Away. I swear to god…” Max said through his teeth. Their noses were practically touching. Neither flinched. Chase wasn’t sure what he planned on doing… The smart thing would be to just walk away. What was he gonna do? Fight, in this brand new castle? Over like… school type stuff? 

“Good morning?” he heard, off to the side. He flinched at the sound of her voice. He forced himself not to look at her, though he could imagine her face and he felt like she probably knew that he was just here, in a bad mood trying to bring down Max’s day, as well. And… she probably would lose so much respect for him. Max was right. He did deserve for her to turn him down. He was unsure of why he had even let himself for a moment think that she might not. 

“So… Is no one really going to tell me what the heck is going on?” 

He looked at Max to gauge if he looked like he might say exactly what was on his mind. Max was the type to just tell the truth, even if it sucked. Chase felt panicked. He had been messing up this entire time and today was avoidable. He chose to make today this way. Max lifted his nose and looked down towards Chase. “A misunderstanding that you interrupted in time,” Max said. He rolled his eyes at Chase, put his hand in the small of Charlotte’s back and led her towards her kitchen, “I am craving quiche! Quiche good for you, Bionic Boy?” Max asked over his shoulder.

“Sure,” Chase said, in a low voice, trailing behind them. Charlotte turned to look at him. She really wanted to know what had just happened. He couldn’t even think of a way to ever explain that. Maybe she would leave it alone? Because, he’d embarrassed himself enough for one trip.

.

Chase left Charlotte’s quarters frazzled. He couldn’t believe he’d made such an ass of himself and he just wanted to vanish at the moment. He should probably go home. He looked at the missions. Skylar seemed to be doing just fine getting things done while he was “away on business.” He shot her a quick text asking if they needed anything.

“Good to go!” She texted back almost immediately. He checked the reports, and everything looked good, as she had already stated. He couldn’t chill himself out. He was worried about what Charlotte might say tomorrow. Did he mess up something? Did he make it weird? Wouldn’t it be even harder to watch her around Max? Max… She loved him. She said that she did. She didn’t say that he was one of her… prospects, but she did love him and that much was clear, just from seeing them together. And, it was mutual. And… they knew each other for like… seven years, or less, but, still… More than twice as long as Chase had known her. What kind of love did she have for him? Was it the same as the “love” she had for Chase?

He should get into his capsule and rest. The stasis mode would put him to sleep. He couldn’t SLEEP though… He needed more information about polyamory. He turned off stasis mode, climbed into the capsule, washed up, dressed for bed and then began reading every single article, ebook, script to movies and storylines in shows - every single thing that he could find on polyamory. He wound up more confused and more frustrated than whenever she gave him a soft, short definition. He had collected too much information. Some of this was unreliable, and some simply not the way that she was, some of it was ill-conceived or poorly executed and now, ALL of it was in his head and he wouldn’t be able to fact check each of these details against her life, nor would he be able to forget what he had read. He was upset with himself by the time he fell to sleep and as upset by the time his alarm woke him up, because he had not put the capsule back into stasis mode.

Grumpy and tortured by the information, he got out of the capsule and decided to exercise, maybe blow off some of the steam that he had nobody to thank for but himself. He heard an alert on his phone, but ignored it, in lieu of a morning workout routine. Afterwards, he looked at the phone and saw that Charlotte had posted something whenever she got up. Max had liked it. He put his phone away and got ready for the day, making yet another masochistic decision to scan through the two’s social media pages for each other. There were less than seven years, but close to it. Many adorable and cozy photos, a few of them very very close. Some kisses shared that could be casual, could be something else… Basically, a ton of fuel for his jealousy. 

He continued going through each account and saw flirting in comments, suggestive replies to posts and other stuff that let him know… Nope… He certainly couldn’t share her with somebody else. She was right to point that out. 

For crying out loud, he couldn’t even  handle reading through past exchanges that he couldn’t even confirm were anything other than the flirtatious banter of two great friends. 

But, sometimes, Chase would let his thoughts get away with him and make him paranoid and completely irrational. THIS was one of those times. 

He thought about how comfortable Max made himself, not just in Charlotte’s home, but her personal space. He thought about the fact that he was regarded as a rebel and a bad boy of herodom, but all he had seen was an obedient puppy dog with heart eyes and uncontrollable smiling. That wasn’t the demeanor of a friend one loves. That was the demeanor of a friend with benefits, and while Charlotte was well within her rights to do whatever she wanted with whomever, Chase hated the thought of her wanting that with Max and not even so much as a kiss with him! As though the gods hated him in this moment, right as he was simmering in thoughts he fabricated for himself, storming down the hallway, reading when he should just close it all out, he ran headfirst into Max. 

The latter had just been strolling around like he owned the place and got all pissy about this accident. It wasn’t like either of them were paying attention, so who did he think he was that this had to be Chase’s fault? Who do you think he is? He’s the king of this fucking castle. He’s loved. He’s comfortable. This is his domain. He belongs here. She wants him. You’re an imposter and you’re in his space…

But, Chase had to defend himself. Even if it wasn’t Max who was telling him these things, it was Max who was causing him to tell himself these things and he couldn’t take it right now. By the time Max told him he deserved it… Deserved her rejection? Deserved to be in this state of confusion and mental chaos? Deserved to fall in love with someone who told him that she couldn’t let him? He felt like FINALLY. Finally, he could turn the anger he was feeling into something justified and he reached out to grab Max and turn him back around, surprising even himself when he did and making Max’s anger match his. Yes. Yes, now BOTH of us can be super mad. It was slightly a relief whenever Charlotte appeared, because she cut through Max’s tension, at least. The obedient puppy dog with the heart eyes was back and… Chase didn’t know where the hell he was. On the crazy train, apparently. It wasn’t even like he could blame Spike or even either of the two people here. Neither of them did anything to him. He did this to him, and he was disappointed in himself for doing it all. 

“So… Is no one really going to tell me what the heck is going on?”

Max’s deflection was great for him. He wouldn’t keep pushing. He would have breakfast, let them know he wasn’t feeling well, return to the capsule on stasis and get the proper rest that his body needed for equilibrium. It was a wonder that he wasn’t glitching!

Because of his super hearing, he heard her ask, “What was that Max, be honest?”

“I wish I knew. Dude flipped out on me over basically nothing. I don’t think it was about me, honestly. I think it was about you. Last night, he said he was gonna apologize. Last I saw him, I thought we were gonna be cool and this morning, completely different story.”

Charlotte sighed and said, “I had to have the talk with him last night… The P word talk.” 

Max blew a gust of wind out and nodded his head, “Okay, that is a rough one. I’ll give him THIS once, because of that, but… I don't know, Char. I don’t know.”

Charlotte turned to look at him and he avoided eye contact. “Chase,” she said softly. He looked up to see the two of them waiting for him. Now that he knew that they knew what was wrong with him, at least to an extent, he felt a little better, a little bit more ashamed. 

But, he fell into step between the two of them and Max started asking about what ingredients they would be okay with for the quiche. Chase owed him an apology, too, but he was fine with just saying, here and now, “Hey… Sorry that I was acting that way. I don’t know what came over me this morning. I was just jaded and wanted to bring somebody into my misery.”

Max laughed and said, “You’ll find that it’s pretty tough to do that to me, but don’t worry about it. You seem like you had a rough night. I assure you, my breakfast quiche will fix that.”

“Okay,” Chase said, smiling, in spite of himself and everything else. Max threw an arm around his shoulder as they walked and at first, it made Chase jump a little, but he didn’t toss it off of him. Instead, he decided to finally act like he had some good sense and just listen to Max go on about this perfect quiche of his that nobody else can make quite like him. 

Max was right. Chase felt a thousand times better after eating and fell to sleep on a fuzzy couch in the lounge. “Can he hear in his sleep?” Max wondered.

“No. He’s inside of his mind when he sleeps. Sometimes, he has a dream, but mostly, it’s numbers and coding,” she said and strummed Chase’s hair. 

“Do you think he’ll be able to put his feelings aside for the sake of the work?”

“Yeah. You did,” she said. 

Max raised his eyebrows, “ I did? I don’t recall that. I recall powering through, because you were back in Dystopia with your boys and that was that. I didn’t have a choice. I was there to do work that I believed in. Chase doesn’t believe in your work.”

“Not yet. We’ve gotta show him some results. I can keep him occupied with something less hard to swallow, in the meantime.”

Okay… So, what’s our first assignment, to prove to him that he belongs in this thing, with us?” 

“It’s gonna sound a lot like a horrible thing, but in the long run will be a great thing,” she said. 

He winced, “Tell me.” She smiled...