#its a process. not every one can be a winner

[cryptidiopathic]

Gonna go ahead and preemptively decline criticism on this one

[dd-is-my-guiltypleasure]

Everyone’s gone UFO crazy. Maybe The X-Files should come back

Chrissy Iley

MARCH 2, 2024

Starring in a poignant new film adapted from his own novel, David Duchovny reveals the heartache of almost losing his daughter... and why his most famous show could yet return

No wonder David Duchovny has written, directed and stars in his latest movie Bucky F***ing Dent... it’s based on his own bestselling 2016 novel of the same name. Poignant and funny, it examines a father-son relationship via baseball, with X-Files star David playing Marty the dad, who’s dying of lung cancer, and Logan Marshall-Green from Spider-Man: Homecoming as his estranged son Ted.

The real Bucky Dent went down in history for scoring an unlikely home run for the New York Yankees in a 1978 tie-breaker against arch rivals the Boston Red Sox, and the film’s title is how generations of Boston fans have referred to him ever since, a metaphor for heartbreak. Set in that same year, the film follows struggling writer Ted as he moves back into his childhood home when he hears his father is dying, prompting a whirlwind of dark revelations from the past. Meanwhile, Boston fan Marty’s health dips whenever his beloved Red Sox lose, so New York fan Ted orchestrates the illusion of a Boston winning streak...

Marty has transferred his feelings for an old flame (the secret love of his life, not his wife) to the Red Sox. ‘The intensity of fandom has always puzzled me,’ says David. ‘It has to be a kind of sublimation. My father and I liked playing baseball; my best childhood memory is playing it with him and enjoying the simple communication you can have through a game, but we didn’t share the fandom thing.

‘Marty’s transposed his feelings for this woman to the Red Sox, and the movie is really about the idea of losing. In America there’s a sick addiction to winning and winners, but most of us have to lose every day. Suffering makes us human - it unites us all.’

There’s a moment in the film when Marty is talking about a chest infection that almost killed Ted as a child. Marty says he begged God or whoever to take his lungs instead and let Ted live. ‘One thing I’ve never told anyone is that when my daughter was nine months old she got really ill,’ reveals David. ‘Her mother [actress Tea Leoni] and I had to face the fact we might lose her and I remember feeling so devastated, I didn’t think I could love anything again if she died.’

His daughter West, now 24, has since become a successful actress who seems to have inherited her mother’s stunning blonde looks and her father’s charisma. ‘I think she has a greater passion for acting than either of her parents ever did,’ he says. They also have a son Kyd, 21, and David says the hardest moment of his life was telling them he and Tea were divorcing ten years ago, as his own parents had done when he was 12. ‘It was far worse telling them than actually experiencing it. When you’re a child you just try to get through it, you don’t feel responsible. As a parent I felt at least 50 per cent responsible.’

Tall and thin with good skin and an easy charm, David seems untouched by the ageing process, although this role is a huge shift from the Lotharios he usually plays, such as bed-hopping writer Hank in comedy-drama series Californication. Does getting older bother him? ‘Of course, and as an actor you have to think of the different roles you’ll be offered. When I was writing this script I was thinking I’d play Ted, the son. We tried to make it four or five years ago and I was still going to play Ted, but then when it came to doing it I realised it just wouldn’t work, so I thought I’d play Marty. And that was exciting because it was very different.’

Californication won two Emmys and a Golden Globe, but was notorious for its portrayal of LA’s seedier side. Does he think it could be made now? ‘Certainly they would insist on intimacy coaches, but I don’t think it would be made now, for the wrong reasons. There was a misunderstanding about what it was about. It was meant to be funny, and it was meant to be about family and love. But what everybody got excited about was not that,’ he says, referring to the furore over the sex scenes. ‘In my mind the show was misperceived.’

Another of David’s roles that would spark a row today was a transgender FBI agent in Twin Peaks in the early 90s, when almost no transgender women were on TV. Again it was groundbreaking. ‘But if you’re playing a murderer no one asks you, “Have you murdered people?”’ he says. ‘It was just being an actor.’

David is, of course, best known for The X-Files, in which he played UFO-obsessed FBI agent Mulder opposite Gillian Anderson’s sceptical Scully. The series finally bowed out in 2018 after 11 series, but could there ever be another? ‘Maybe - it might even be more current now,’ he says, referring to the recent release of top-secret UFO files in the US. ‘I’m not personally interested in UFOs so it doesn’t make it more exciting for me to revisit The X-Files. It was a role I played but I wasn’t passionate about the subject. Maybe I’m the only one who isn’t.’

There was a brouhaha at the time about the huge pay discrepancy between David and Gillian, and I wonder if it would be difficult for him to work with her again. ‘As far as I know, by the end there was no difference at all between us, but Hollywood salaries are very weird,’ he says. ‘I’m going to London soon and I’ll see Gillian because she lives there now. I saw her in the West End doing All About Eve and I enjoyed it. She wished me luck with Bucky too.’

In recent years David has explored his passion for music, releasing a couple of folk-rock albums. So does he see himself as an actor, a director or a musician? ‘All of them, I’m an artist,’ he says. ‘I can filter stuff through a song, a novel, a performance or through directing. There are all kinds of ways of being an artist. I write best about dramatic things. There’s a way to deal with suffering to create art.’

Bucky F***ing Dent, Glasgow Film Festival, Wednesday. Visit glasgowfilm.org

[mortalityplays]

Only tangentially related to today's ask discourse but I was thinking about this- do you have advice on pushing more out of your comfort zone ie media? I feel like its really easy to say you like or want stuff thats making you uncomfortable or is less palatable to wide audiences etc etc but I have trouble going out of my way to actually experience things like that over more popcorn you know

a good way to start if you're intimidated is to look for curated recommendations close to your cultural comfort zone (I'm focusing on US/UK lists here but you can look for recommendations from museums, libraries, and national award bodies just about anywhere in the world). e.g. the BFI Sight & Sound list or the National Film Registry (for movies), Booker Prize or National Book Award winners for literature

Don't feel like you have to watch/read everything all at once, it's fine to skim for something that sounds particularly up your street and start there. It's also fine to jump right into something intimidating and find out what all the fuss is about! the absolute worst case scenario is that you're bored or underwhelmed and can pick something else next time.

a lot of my film knowledge comes from when I was at university. I discovered that there was an A/V library and viewing room on campus that I could use for free l, so I just looked through the catalogue and started picking out things I'd never seen that sounded interesting. every day between classes I'd go, pick a title, and spend a couple of hours giving it a try. I watched Blade Runner for the first time in a darkened basement booth with headphones on, and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, and Wild Strawberries, and Persepolis, and countless other weird and wonderful things. sometimes I picked something incredibly boring or something that annoyed me, but I always came away feeling good that I'd expanded my knowledge of what was out there.

once you do start finding new things you like, a whole other path opens up to you. you can dig deeper into the work of one writer or director or actor, look up interviews and find out who inspired them. if you loved a specific book, see if the author mentioned any direct influences, or if critics compared it to something else you might enjoy. you get to start building these maps in your head and getting a sense for where different things fit, and it becomes easier and easier to hunt for hidden treasures.

finally! if you can find a group of friends (or even just one person) who is interested in taking this journey with you, start a club. take turns to pick something you want to explore, share the journey, and discuss it as you go along. keep sight of your purpose, whether that's to broaden your horizons beyond your home culture, take on more challenging works, or just be better informed. take it a step at a time, and learn to enjoy the experience of exploration even when you don't like something. figuring out why we hated Lady Chatterley's Lover is some of the most fun I've had with our book club yet. introducing friends to The Left Hand of Darkness and getting hype about it with them was just as good. love the process and you'll change your life.

[roxxie-spirt]

Wyverns + the Divines

ALRIGHT ITS GONNA BE A BIG POST !! I did some visuals just so yall can have some eye candy~ anywho let’s get to it!

Wyverns are very magical / powerful beings , they’re also very, very, intelligent. They have cultures councils dialects etc and so when they went to discover the new realm they were trusting after discovering realm traveling via portals they couldn’t wait to greet the beings of this realm. Sadly their welcome wasn’t ideal, humans , werewolves, Witches, mei’fewa almost every being in the overrealm didn’t welcome the Wyverns with open arms. Which made the great Wyvern hunt era began which is actually before the Divine era! Wyverns weren’t outcasted by everyone of course , elves as well as some small groups of warlocks were opened to the Wyverns and wanted to be close to them! Wyverns decided to create a spell for other beings to be able to speak to them ( just cause I didn’t like that only the descendants of the divine were the only able to ) I do like the fact that Wyverns can reborn after a long period of time! So I am keeping that in, but there’s a way to interrupt that reborn process with strong magicks ..

Now let’s get into the divine warriors or the Wyvern hunters. Believe or not Esmund was the one who started to Trend of hunting the Wyverns within the group, at first Esmund fought of the Wyvern out of protecting Enki and Kul’zak. Then the thrill of it was something he hadn’t felt before.. Now Esmund and the rest were all in their mid teens to say the least ,t hem hunting down Wyverns were all for sport and for the prices Wyverns went for. During the Wyvern hunting era it was very difficult to actually uphold an actual body of a Wyvern since their bodies would disappear out of thin air it seems. So if you were able to capture a Wyvern and harvest their scales, feathers, bodily liquids ( any . Yes. Any ) , or more they went for top dollar. ( fun fact: Kul’zak as a gift for his friends actually made armor out of the scales of the Wyvern and for the ladies he gifted them feathered Woven dresses which would actually be the cloth Aphmau wakes in when she’s awoken in mcdS1) Anyways , yes the Group would trap, hunt, and profit out of this practice. Irene and Enki out of the group were magically gifted, out of the name of well research Enki and Irene wanted to see what exactly they can use the Wyverns in the sake of their magical properties. While prodding a Wyvern for blood , Irene had the urge to just… sip.. and she did just that , suddenly she felt a sharp rush in her body she felt stronger she felt like her abilities were heightened. Enki kept note of that. Esmund helped the two in their researched by collecting more and more Wyverns . Yeah uhh this isn’t exactly the story the divine warriors told anyone but it’s the truth. Over the span of a few years , they done it. They discovered how to create relics or at least a prototype of one, Shad was the first to test it out. It definitely worked he was stronger faster and he even began to use magic which he had none of before then. Now how they made the relic or the prototype wasn’t an easy task , Enki practically drained an adult Wyvern till it just died on its own. Irene and Enki do eventually figure out how to contain the soul of the Wyvern, in doing so as punishment by nature Irene and Enki ( I might make it all the warriors but I need some inspiration)bear a mark of their shame. To others these are holy divine marks told by the winners but to Wyvern kind they know the truth, Irene and her descendants will bear the darkened marks formed on her body and Enki bearing the horns and tail of a demon. As for the others they don’t need to worry about generational shame from the Wyverns but they still hold powerful relics. I’ll probably talk about the relics in another post but for now let me continue. When the hunters/divines turned into their 20s they wanted to turn their life around.. at least move on from the hunting of Wyverns and into helping the world, after Irene and Enki got punished they decided erm maybe that wasn’t the best move 🙄. So they released the Wyverns they captured on the condition they will never speak ill in their name ever or else. Which is why a chunk of history is kinda muddy of course some spoke of their story which is how the ‘ rumor ‘ of the divine warriors not being so divine… happened but how did Irene and Enki make some of the Wyverns trust them? It was purely of gaslighting that oh! We didn’t steal these Wyverns souls.. they gave it to us! As an offering of friendship. Shad managed to convince the councils of some Wyverns that what he preached was truth and gifted them their own relics (made out of a different material not Wyverns ). That’s all for the divine warrior portion for now …((I will make a post about the warriors in the future they aren’t JUST assholes dw))

OK LAST POINT!! Which is mainly Laurance n garroths connection to Wyverns :3 this one might be shorter than the previous one. How ungrth and Laurance met is a fairly simple one, ungrth as he did his patrol on guarding his kin. He heard a small cry in the distance of the forest, for ungrth it sounded like a hatchling and so he went out to find the source and he saw a small little 4 year old Laurance lost in the woods separated from his family ( bio ) who at the time didn’t know were gone. Ungrth was hesitant, he knew how humans were he know how cruel how selfish they were. After all he was there during the great hunting era. As he attempted to fly off , Laurance cried louder and louder. Something about his cry’s broke ungrth heart , he told himself this one time he’ll help a worthless human. He landed and walked over to the small boy who was curled up , when Laurance heard the sounds of leaves he darted his head up seeing a huge wyvern overhead. Laurances green eyes stabbed back into ungrth green eyes. In that moment ungrth forgotten his hatred for humanity, seeing a young man’s eyes as green as his suddenly just melted the heart of this wise wyvern. Laurance wasn’t afraid and ran to the Wyvern crying for ungrth. Ungrth couldn’t talk to him unless he said the spell, without hesitation he did . Ever since Laurance and ungrth were family. Ungrth eventually found out about Laurances bioparents passing and he was actually going to let Laurance into his clan but of course it was prohibited and ungrth gladly turned his back on his kin to be with the human he loved . He eventually found Laurance a great family to be with. I LOVE UNGRTH AND LAURANCES FOUND FAMILY RELATIONSHIP OK 😭( the Zvhals and ungrth are tight no worries.

Now for Garroth! So the romeaves actually never gave up Wyvern hunting. In honor of Edmund their ancestor! Garte fought a Wyvern and now it was for the oldest Garroth(age 14) to fight one as well, but Garroth hated this practice. He’s done his research on Wyverns due to Zianna wanting her sons to be educated and thought this was something for the dark ages to do but Garte demanded for Garroth to go out and slay a Wyvern. Garroth with his tail tucked between his legs shamefully went out to find a Wyvern. Hell in this day n age it’s fucking rare to find a Wyvern, Garroth was tempted just to take the tail of a bearded dragon . It’s been days since he went out he was actually going to do his plan B if he couldn’t find a damn Wyvern until.. he heard crash in the woods. Garroth went to find the cause and it was.. a small Wyvern , it was Raven , he was injured badly and arrow throw his wing . It had a cross ok it was one of his kingdoms ( Plot twist Zane(10) did it he was gonna prove that he was better than Garroth but anyways he couldn’t find the body so womp womp ) Garroth saw Raven hell this was his chance he can just mercy kill this Wyvern.. but it didn’t need mercy it just needed medical help. Garroth went up to Raven his sword out , Raven was going not back down from a fight but.. Garroth couldn’t do it he just couldn’t he fell to his knees crying. Fuck Raven was confused, Garroth told him he wasn’t going to hurt Raven but that’s crocodile tears to Raven. It took hours for Garroth to gain ravens trust, and I’m not saying like 2-4 I mean like 6-9 hours of just talking to Raven even though Garroth knew he wouldn’t hear anything back from Raven since he knew of the contract that Raven would need to do in order to speak. Raven after hearing this, huge 14 yr old finally submitted and allowed Garroth to help him. Raven gave Garroth some of his feathers and scales to show his father so Garroth wouldn’t be shunned by his father out of some form of empathy. Now Raven didn’t give Garroth the ability to speak to him until season2 when he came back from the Irene dimension. Either way Raven trusted Garroth from now on helping him send messages when asked as a thanks.

[moonshynecybin]

Marc not being with Vale in Austin is fine because Vale crashed anyway and it's been a week since Argentina and Vale is still processing what Marc said (and it's not like they picked each other 100% of the time when things were fineTM, so, anyway)

Marc not picking Vale in Sachsenring, though? After the moment they had in Barcelona? Definitely feels wrong and Vale burns with jealousy (which was Marc's plan all along) (Vale goes out that night and picks up someone and it's the least satisfying one night stand he's had in forever) (and he's fully the one to blame for it)

I think it also shows Vale that Marc is not as desperate as he might have thought (and let's face it, there was obviously something satisfying thinking he had the upper hand there) and it fucks him up a little too

context on this post!! go read it...

see in my brain im thinking marc is enough of an all-or-nothing dichotomous little guy that he DOES choose vale every time he can... idk how that would work out with the rules of podiums but i have been tortured by enough gifsets (wait a minute you made some of those. find them here friends) of his 21 year old self wallpapering his room with valentino merch (and his own merch like he WAS doodling mr marc marquez rossi <3 in all of his notebooks rip king) that i think the first time he chooses anybody else is post ARGENTINAAAAAA 2018. down horrendous. down catastrophic. down so bad we might have to send him to the medical center so they can declare him medically fit to ride anyways. and thats not as fun for jealousy stuff anyways bc by then vale has realllllllly entrenched some narratives in his brain and would simply repress that <3

so!!! this au hath been set in the 2016 season where marc is half agony half hope.... one word from you would silence me forever.... so marc is um. winning a lot, and choosing valentino every time like. please talk to me. and as youve said initially its like i have nothing to say to you!! you betrayed me!! and then as it goes on a gradual thawing and they are having like. intense tender fraught winners room sex the ENTIRE time like insane people. marc fully lowkey like once he unblocks me the wedding is back on... and then as youve said in catalunya vale picks marc and blows his back out and theyre both soooo kind of. tired. of pretending that they dont like this so i think there IS a moment where marc tells a dumb joke and vale laughs (SEX LAUGHERS TILL I DIE) and then his eyes get all soft and marc leans in and its a very sweet kiss and a very sweet moment and they both think. maybe..... marc's breath caught in his chest vale's thumb on his cheek....

but this is rosquez the GOATs of motorsport divorce (no one tell me the brocedes lore shhh) so i think vale makes an offhanded comment in front of marc about picking up or something. maybe talks to uccio and blocks marc's number after he tries to call him afterwards... SOMETHING happens that pisses marc off idk what. and the next time he wins in germany hes like fine. okay. i wont choose valentino he clearly doesnt want me to. so he chooses dovi and they dont fuck but they do let everyone THINK they fucked (dovi is lowkey sad about this. cal crutchlow known marc fucker and p2 this race is despondent that he didnt get chosen.) and vale feels LITERALLY INSANE... sitting at home thinking about marc with dovi... cant get it out of his head....

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Hey there! I'm trying to think about how Tav and the party are taking care of the githyanki egg, pre and post hatching. What could they even feed a baby while camping on the road??

I have had this for so long! thank you for your patience. I had to research Gith eggs, only to find specific details about Githyanki eggs are not provided in official D&D lore.

So, Im gonna go off of a few things. It looks thick as hell, and requires some kind of special conditions to hatch? the best we can tell, they are incubated while sitting in acid. In game, the only way to get it to hatch without giving it up is to have it in Laezels inventory at the very end of the game. So Im assuming it sits in stasis and after all is said and done, she hatches it (outside the Astral Plane, as their eggs cannot hatch in the Astral)

In this ask, Id say it would require that the Gith at Rosymorn were right, and this egg only needed "a little more time", and perhaps it began the hatching process already in the acid when Laezel takes it.

A day after leaving the Monastary and getting to the Shadowlands, the egg hatches and Xan is born! Which horrifies EVERYONE in the party! No one expected this, it shouldn't have been possible considering the conditions. Everyone discusses trying to bring Xan back to the monastery, but at this point they cant really turn back and they already know that those Gith might not be friends.

Over two terrifying days, everyone experiences Parenthood. Newborn gith eat (????) but lets assume it can be provided.

Though Laezel has stated in game that she does not want to make children, she canonically rises to the occasion if Xan is with her after the game, so Im going to say she becomes immediately protective. This is her kin, her race, and no one is more qualified to understand what to do than her... except, a baby is MUCH different than your average Gith, and so she cant really do this alone.

Gale and Wyll would rise to the occasion in the caring-for-Laezel department. She can't sleep, but refuses to let anyone else hold the child for the first little while. So Gale brings her meals, and Wyll tries to take over her chores, which she rages against while claiming that she can do it all herself.

When she finally blacks out from trying to do everything alone, the companions pick up Xan and take turns rocking him and cleaning him and cuddling him- there is so much danger in the Shadowlands that none of them can outright refuse to help, because its all hands on deck for all tasks on rotation, and with Laezel finally sleeping, someone has to hold the baby.

Astarion holds "it" at an arms length and has a staring contest with him until someone takes pity and removes the child from his reluctant care.

Karlach gets so excited to help and is very entertaining, playing games and cooing and giggling with Xan- but she cant pick her up.

Shadowheart eventually finds a way to take over caring for Laezel, and when that happens,

Wyll is really the winner here. Hes got that baby strapped to him in an expert swaddle wrap. He figures out how to feed the kid while fighting off a stray shadow creature with his other hand. He kisses the baby on the head every 5 minutes.

Finally, when the Gith come in the night to warn everyone, maybe they have to take Xan with them, with the promise that Laezel may re-aquire him when all is safe (or as is the other option, he may go to live in the Astral Realm at a Gith monastery)

[authorhjk1]

December Special

(I will update this post regularly)

Hi everyone!

I'm planing on writing exactly five chapters throughout December, which means every Sunday. You guys can send me requests until November 12th. After that, we will decide together, which of the requests I will write. Everytime I get a request for this event here on Tumblr or on Wattpad, I will put it on the list in this post.

You can request anything, it can be completely different from my story. The requests, which I've already gotten and didn't add to this list, will appear in the actual story I am currently writing.

I will not write anything about minors (obviously) and I will only add requests, which I am comfortable with (If I am just not into a certian kink, it is hard to write and I think the smut will suck then).

I will sort the requests by groups/ soloists. You can put in more than one request. I'm also reserving one chapter for actresses only, since I feel like there not as many smuts about them (But I'm afraid I don't know that many).

Update:

I will structure the voting as followed:

Everyone has four votes aka I will do four polls, since there are four chapters to be picked. The voting will take place from the 12th of November until the 26th. You can still send me requests during that time, but be aware that the people who already voted might not look at the poll again, until it's decided. I will encourage the people on Wattpad to vote on Tumblr, so that everyone is able to follow the process. But if that's not possible for some, I will allow dms or comments.

I will not announce the winners. I like to keep it interesting so prepare to be surprised ;) The order of the chapters will be decided by me.

The release dates will be:

December 9th

December 16th

December 23rd

December 30th

Please bear in mind that I might not live in the same timezone as you, which means the updates might be delayed for some. I will also notify you, if I will not be able to finish a chapter until the deadline, but I will do my best that this will not happen. Of course you never know.

IU:

You meet your exgirlfriend IU at a high school friend's wedding. After the memories of your school times come back, the two of you sneak off.

Dreamcatcher:

After just being hired by Dreamcatcher Company, you are already tasked with shooting Jiu's and SuA's special clip. Jiu knows that you are an Insomnia and that SuA is your bias. Maybe you will get to shoot another type of special clip with the two of them, thanks to Jiu.

After another exausting week, Gahyeon visits her boyfriend, who is currently living on Jeju island. Once she gets there, she realizes, that he is cheating on her with someone else. As she walks in, Gahyeon sees SuA,who is already bouncing on top of her boyfriend.

Red Velvet:

You and Irene are coworkers with a special history. The two of you tried out more kinks and positions and places than even married couples. But some things are still missing. Luckily, Irene has a friend, who is working in your company as well. Kang Seulgi. The young intern, who got hired a couple of weeks ago. You were planning on welcoming her properly anyways.

Being a demon has its up and downs. But there is one thing you will never get tired off. People who summon you. Either for fun, or because they are convinced that there aren't any supernatural beings. Or, In this case, three gorgous women, who want to experience more than just meaningless sex with strangers. Joy, Seulgi and Yeri have only one thing in mind, while they summon you.

(G)-idle:

You have worked with a couple of idols already. THey are often models and embassadors for brands after all. Now you are tasked with filming a small video to promote Jimmy Choo's newly designed dress. The woman who appears in your studio is no other than Cho Miyeon.

Itzy:

Yuna has always been quite kinky. But her Christmas present for you this year is on another level. It's Ryujin. She is kneeling on her bed, wrapped in red lingerie and a bow like a gift. Her hands are tied behind her back, while her eyes are covered with a red blindfold.

Le Sserafim:

You have already tried everything. Drinking warm milk with honey, listening to music, reading a book. Nothing. Working out, spending more time on your job. Nothing. Even after bringing that girl home last night, Yunjin, you vaguely remember her name, didn't help at all. You still can't fall asleep. It's late at night and you are lying in bed once more. Sleepless. THen, your doorbel rings. That must be your neighbour. Chaewon. After telling her about your insimnia, she said she might know something.

Twice:

Going to college is already hard enough, considering your background. Bad grades, devorced father, stepmother and stepsister and so on. The only reason you got in was because of your scholarship. You are not a good student. But a talented football player. And now everything becomes even more difficult. While trying to learn for your upcoming test, someone nocks on your door. Tzyuy, your stepsister. Her and her mom, Jihyo, seemed to have gotten in ahuge fight once again. Can you cheer her up?

Girls Generation:

The one thing you love most about your job is the fact that you see beautiful women pretty much every day. Being a photographer enables you to make them take almost any kind of pose in any kind of outfit. Of course, when you started your career, you never thought about it like this. Until you meet Im Yoona.

Cross groups/soloists:

IU's and Kang Seulgi's competition started, when they caught each other, having sex backstage during an award show, a couple of months ago. At first, it picked up slowly. Random challenges, send via text on the kakaoTalk app, answered by pictures as proof of the accomplished mission. Now, the two of them are tied, desperate to come up with something new. Luckily, IU and Seulgi have alot of fans, who are more than happy to help them out.

One thing idols do best is taking pictures. For Istagram for Facebook, you name it. And Jini is no exception. But this time, unbeknownst to her fans, there is a reason why she only uploaded pictures with her upper body visible. Reading the comments afterwards makes her smile. If only they knew what was going on.

Idols are always stressed, overworked and tired. On top of that, they can't even relax properly. They have to be carefull about heir food, words and actions. And one thing, that some people might neglect, is sexual satisfaction. That becomes a problem for Karina, Jihyo and Eunbi. Having bigger breasts only adds to their problems. Due to stress, their milk production starts to rise. When three of them invite you to join their pre-Christmas party, they obviously have ulterior motives.

December is always hectic for you. Luckily, you are sometimes able to blend out the real world and immerse into kpop. You are a member of a few discord channels and Reddit communities. One night, you see there is only one other person in one specific chatroom. The two of you send each other spicy pics and gifs of your favourite idols, like you usually do. Suddenly, you receive similar kind of pictures from an unknown number. Pictures of Kazuha. Asking your online friend about it, he actually is experiencing the same, but with pictures of An Yujin. What is this about? And what is the last picture you receive? A condom? What is going on?

You immediately harden at th sight of your coworker in her stage outfit. Karina looks like a holy being as the makeup artist finishes her job. She looks up at you through the mirror nervously. You are not supposed to be here. You are perfoming soon as well, your own group is getting ready in the next room. But sometimes, like today, Karina gets stressed and worried before her perfomance. The two of you sneak off, finding a closet that seems perfect for your purpose. You freeze in the door as you see Irene between Taeyeons's legs.

Actresses:

You knew this might happen. You read the script of your new role in the upcoming kdrama. And yet, you are surprised, when your co-star pulls you aside after filming that day. Seo Yeaji's face can switch in a heartbeat. From a cold and emotionless mask, to an adorable, cute smile. While she asks you, if the two of you could practice that one scene, her face shows a new expression. Lust. It's quite a spicy scene after all.

Hong Chayoung is a very skilled and succesful lawyer at the law firm Wusang. Being the Babel Group's legal representative, she does everything to win against the opposition. You used to be a member of Park Seokdo's Ant company. After having a rough time, you decided to start an honest life. But Chayoung is afraid you are going to spill Babel's secret in the upcoming trial (No spoilers for "Vincenzo", hoping for a season two!!!)

[sterlingarcher23]

Max's memories are forshadowing: ElMax & Lumax

Inventive foreshadowing creates a sense of unity in a story even when the audience may not be consciously aware of the foreshadowing and payoff., David Trottier

Sort of. The happy memories actually give us the basic structure of Max's character arc in regards to relationships in Season 5. (As far as there is scene material because I think there's something else.)

Now the first thing is Lucas & Max from S4, but then they start to show us several scenes but completely out of order.

Lucas "I'm right here" (at her bedside - S4 or 5?), Swallowing the red Skittle/the ghost like Pac-Man mid flight ("You were wearing that yellow benny's burgers t-shirt and it was so big it almost swallowed you whole")=consumption of a ghost, followed by the linking sequence, going back to S2 apso out of order, the boys meeting the killer & Lucas and Dustin teaming with Max, the ghost trap, photos of ElMax, like frozen in time (Doctor Who=single moment in time). Lucas and Max when he calls her Madmax (like Mad Max Rockatansky), again ElMax together ....

...even Mike appears (a talk between him & Max like Kota and Lucy having a conversation?), foreshadowing the movie date, ElMax hugging, Lumax not unhappy and, Highfive! Winners.

Lover in the mind - lover in the physical world.

Lucas speaks to the dying (physical), El speaks to the going (mind).

Both have patterns that need another verse in order to rhyme bc of a tiny change midway through (similar to a certain D&D bridge puzzle😉)

Elumax Endgame.

Byler on the left, ElMax on the right, both when Will or Max respectively, have their possession phase.

Oh, and the movie date scene is a basic story writing technique: a promise. And this needs a payoff. The question isn't IF but HOW. (And how you get abilities is been established in Season 4.)

It's you and me won't be unhappy.... Promise, progress, payoff.

So, they made a promise, are now (with the revival) in the process of a progress which will be added through the way how Max will wake up....

...and this will get a payoff. Simple. Right now, most can't imagine how, given the circumstances even though the writers gave us the rules for doing it and every foreshadowing possible that will lead to a payoff. Max can't feel nor see - both! So, either both will be mended or none. Excluding one is bad writing. - So, its both. We learned how, therefore it's not a Deus ex machina, and we will learn why. Max only needs to take his, I mean her medicine. Darn pronouns.

That payoff is only possible through ElMax and note how they use sequences with them in which they are physically close to one another after the mall scene in which they link, like they are...inseparable.

Here separated...

...after this they are combined. Linked. "Love goes through the stomach"

It's all One and One for all = 11

A bit dated (admittedly)

[dominoblues]

Seto's behavior throughout the manga/anime and DSOD is perfectly understandable if you realize that this teenager never had a chance to behave like one.

I remember when i was 15, 16, 17 years old growing up in an abusive environment and dealing with such a delicate moment of our lives, my only means to vent was to get angry at my mom, to scream, to say horrible things too. But it was all part of the process to grow up, to detach myself from those toxic bonds, to build up my own personality. I had the freedom to do that, luckily.

Seto didn't. He had it for the worse. Being orphan meant for him to be the 'adult' who takes care of his brother, so he found himself in the position to actually start thinking like an adult (whatever that meant for him). Something that i consider against nature itself. A kid has to be a kid. Has to live like a kid and fuck responsibilities. There will be time for those. Not for Seto.

On one hand he had to deal with the pain and anger of being alone in a moment of life where parent's guidance should be mandatory. On the other, he couldn't even show his suffering because the idea of Mokuba seeing him as 'weak' was intolerable. And as a cruel joke of fate, things got only worse.

Growing up in a strict and violent environment meant for him to devise ways and strategies to survive to the best of his abilities. There’s a thing that happens when you grow up under the thumb of an egotistical megalomaniac person (unfortunately i had some experience with this): your entire personality gets crushed under their authority. You don't have the strength to fight (this is in fact what an authoritarian person wants: to cut away any chances of rebellion. It has happened historically with slaves too). Your only thought is to survive.

Seto didn't have a mean to focus is rage on. Or, worse, he focused everything he felt on his hatred of Gozaburo, turning him into his archenemy, and on the idea of revenge, of finding a way to win with his genius over his adoptive father. Still, that's not what a teenager should do. Hate blackens a person's soul, it makes you fall into a dark path which will be very difficult and painful to get out from.

Cherry on top: Seto acts on his plans of revenge but they take a turn he didn't mean for. He witnesses his archenemy killing himself. After spending five years trying to grasp himself on the only thing that would make him go on every day, he loses it. He loses the only thing that have kept him going. He loses the center of his hate. Can you imagine how horrible all of that must have felt on the mind of a fifteen years old boy? It was like losing every reason to keep fighting. Every reason to keep living.

And he didn't have anyone, anymore, to be angry at, to vent to like you would expect from a perfectly healthy teenager. Except his brother. Not because he wanted. But because he needed to. Mokuba was the only other human being there with him, so it's really no surprise that he was unfortunately the one who had to become a vessel for Seto's frustration and anger, the one upon which Seto had to toss all his dark emotions.

I still believe it was an act of self preservation on Seto's part. If Seto hadn't done that, the only alternative for him was probably death. This is where the path of obsession starts. Now the only goal that Seto has, it's to be the best at every thing. To always be the winner. Again, this is not what a sixteen years old boy should think about.

So when Yugi/Atem comes along and manages to beat him when Seto thought he was unbeatable, this starts a downward spiral of madness throughout death-T that has its conclusion in the mind crush. I think the mind crush is a metaphor of death. Seto's defeat in death-T was actually the death of his old self (to lose is to die, after all).

What i find interesting is that the mind crush didn't cure him of his obsession to win over Yugi/Atem. And i think the reason for this is in fact his own (not so positive) way to be a teenager and to deal with his issues. I feel like the constant approval he is looking for from Atem is not different from that of a young boy or girl to look for approval and/or acceptance in others while growing up. it's part of the shaping your own way with your own rules. It could go sideways if you do not receive the right guidance.

Which I think is what happened to Seto in DSOD. Once again, life deprived him of his only purpose: challege and win against Atem. He inevitably reverted to the state he was when Gozaburo died, culminating in him leaving for the afterlife. I think Transcend Game makes this clearer. There Seto stated first, "I'll enter duel links and rule over it as a king." A few pages after, he stated, "I'll challenge him again and put an end to the dead king", and after that, "If that place is endless darkness I will assume that darkness myself". He was clearly set on a path of self-destruction.

Again, I think the theme of death/rebirth applies here too, but in a different way. In DSOD Seto in the end accepted the loss to Yugi. He had in fact moved on. Which for him could only mean that loss was not a reason to die anymore. I think the only reason he left for the afterlife, was not over an obsession to win but to challenge Atem as a final step to put everything behind and being reborn again.

A transition from an angry teenager to an adult. In a not so mentally stable way, but well he had to deal with the tools that were at his disposal. He's Seto Kaiba for a reason.

This is my take out of Seto's actions. Maybe it's a projection of my feelings because i went through a similar path too in the past. I wish he had a better life.

[vergess]

So a friend reblogging this interview tips post, which is a perfectly fine post with advice that is useful or whatever.

But I desperately need hiring managers to stop acting like the livelihood and continued survival of their interviewees is "playing the game." It's not a game; it has never been a game. It's people's survival. Our lives.

I understand that to management it's about showing team spirit. But to everyone else, management just said that I need to buy new clothes if I even want to be considered a meritorious applicant, regardless of my skills, experience and attitude.

Because every single thing I own is "ratty." That is to say, it is worn out, thread bared, and has stains/rips embroidered over. That's what being a poor person looks like.

"Oh just spend $20 on a shirt and pants."

I'm also fat. Button down shirts that won't be an Obscenity charge are $40. Pants are $60. I have 37 dollars to my name and I still have to buy medicine and shelter.

And remember: this expense is for the lottery chance that I may get hired. It is NOT an expectation presented AFTER an offer.

I get to pay for new clothes for russian roulette.

I should spend everything I have and more to buy one outfit for interviews and really, really hope that this time I get the job. Even though interviews are notoriously biased against fat people, POC, queer people, and women.

Management also just said I need to prove that I know about the company atmosphere from personal, unpaid, off the clock research above and beyond the application and interview process.

That I should self teach, BEFORE so much as an offer is made.

Meanwhile literally hundreds of my applications are thrown away on a weekly basis (I do about 15 applications a day most week days, and have been for multiple years now). The reasons for this are varied. Sometimes its because my name sounds too ethnic (I've had so many interviewers compliment me for not being Black which they thought based on my name). Sometimes they think I'm over qualified for every single job within 55 miles of me, as though having a college degree means I can photosynthesize instead of needing a home.

Often it's simply because companies lie all the time about whether they are actually hiring, posting dozens of fake job listings. That way they can tell their overworked and underpaid staff, "Oh, the reason you have 3 doubles a week is because of all those lazy unemployed assholes that don't want to work."

The fact that there is a "game" where the loser may become homeless or dead at all is deranged. The fact that the losing players all have to smile, and cheer, and cooingly tell the winners what a Good, Good Job they did is significantly more disgusting.

And let me be clear: the OP of that post is a hiring manager. That shit about "ratty clothes" is entirely under the hiring manager's opinion. There's no way to know what a given hiring manager thinks of your clothes, though if you're visibly poor, fat, or nonwhite chances are they would think you look unkempt in a full 3 piece suit with garters.

That shit about "show me you did independent unpaid labour to prove your loyalty to a company that isn't even hiring you yet" is ALSO under the manager's absolute judgment. You have NO way of knowing what stupid tidbits of information are the "right" ones to recite. You could memorize every piece of information that company has ever published and you STILL would not know which trivia is the Right Answer.

Same with the "ask me a question" shit.

There is no right answer. Interviews don't check for skills, abilities, experience, or even team cohesion.

They are vibe checks. They exist to give hiring managers a way to disqualify IMMENSELY qualified candidates over their own unexamined bigotries.

And btw? We have the science to prove it. It's called "implicit bias."

If you have an accent, are fat, aren't white, are visibly disabled or queer in any way, etc? Your inability to get a job is not because you "didn't play the game."

It's because the "game" was rigged to fuck you over from the start.

[impossiblescissorspeachpaper]

All’s Fair in Love & War

A little early Christmas gift to all of the wonderful humans I’ve met from the ACOTAR fandom this year. I’m truly so grateful for every single one of you & love that I can call so many of you friends. It’s often not a hospitable place to be a part of & Elriels in particular cop a lot of bullshit from some nasty corners of the fandom, but as a little token of my love, please enjoy some family shenanigans. It’s ridiculous and fluffy and I hope it puts a smile on some faces this silly season ☃️🍭

3 brothers x 3 sisters. Fluff. 2.4k words

Cassian sat a few seats away from Elain, a scowl on his face at having been banished from the centre of the dining table his family were all gathered around. He’d knocked the gentle Seer with his wing for the final time when she had snapped and exiled him to the far end of the dining room. His family were seated around the table, all manner of icing, piping bags, candies, marshmallows, spatulas, chocolates and fondant spread across its dark surface as their annual gingerbread house decorating competition was underway.

They paired up in teams for the competition, each duo vying for the coveted first place and subsequent bragging rights for the entirety of the following twelve months. They’d decided in their first year of running the competition that it would be more of a challenge to break up the couples, so they had paired off by the males’ drawing names from a hat.

Cassian had drawn Elain, chuffed that he had picked arguably the most talented baker of the bunch. Azriel had drawn Feyre’s name— still a fair opponent— her artistic abilities giving them a slight edge with icing patterns. Rhys had in turn been paired up with Nesta, and although he loved his mate above all else, he couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle at the sour turn both their faces took when they realized they would be team mates.

When Feyre and Azriel had won that first year, pandemonium had broken out. With Azriel’s intense competitiveness and Feyre’s abilities with a fine paint brush, along with all the little details she was able to include in their design, they had been the clear winners as announced by lengthy deliberations from Mor once she had returned from her visit at the Winter Court. Incensed by the decision, Rhys had cried favouritism on Mor’s part, so she had been judging the houses anonymously ever since.

Year after year, Feyre and Azriel found a way to win. If it wasn’t her fondant snowmen sculptures winning the judge over, or the intricately scalloped roof she had painstakingly iced last year, her sheer talent with a paintbrush always gave them the edge they needed to win. Azriel also had the steady hands of a seasoned healer, his nimble fingers expertly building increasingly elaborate gingerbread houses, using exact amounts of icing to glue all the walls and levels together as Feyre decorated.

Rhys and Nesta usually ended up squabbling so much they often wouldn’t get much done. Nesta, Cauldron bless her, would try for the first forty-five minutes and then get frustrated with the delicate busywork, settling on eating the chocolate covered hazelnut wafers as she barked orders at Rhys instead. To her credit, she usually spent hours in the library beneath the House of Wind in the lead up to Solstice researching books on baking and decorating and would use that knowledge to direct Rhys from the sidelines. Inevitably he’d grow cranky with her orders and shout—

“If you actually helped, Nesta, we would get more done!”

Cassian hid a grin behind a fist. Right on cue. He loved when they started to crumble. And then there were two…

Cassian glanced over to Elain where she was meticulously piping icing stalactites onto the latticed roof of their three-story gingerbread house. Usually, she allowed him to help with the decorating process, but this year after he had helped assemble the three-storey structure, she had banished him aside, claiming she was sick of losing and his fingers were just too big. Whatever the Hel that meant. He didn’t think his decorating skills were that bad. He had at least been able to stick the chocolate buttons or peppermint candies on mostly straight in the past.

This year, instead, she had plonked him down on the corner of the large dining table in Rhys and Feyre’s River manor and set him up with all manner of coloured fondants, instructing him to fashion little pine trees and snowmen they could decorate the outside of their house with. Fine. He could do that. He had even made little Illyrian wings for some of his snowmen, standing them besides little piles of snowballs. He wanted to win this year, but more so, he wanted Elain to have this win too. He knew how competitive Azriel could get, and he surely would be merciless in his gloating, even with her, when it came to matters of winning.

Glancing up from his busywork, he spied Azriel quietly watching Elain, his hazel eyes narrowed in wariness, sizing up her handiwork and no doubt deeming their entry worthy competition this year. She had already completed the sides of the house, having used a paint brush and yellow and orange paints to decorate the windows she had piped icing around, giving the house the illusion of faelights glowing invitingly within. She had since moved onto the roof, Elain’s face set in an expression of unwavering determination, her tongue peeking out the side of her mouth as her hands steadily pipped on the white icing in long strokes.

Azriel’s face gave absolutely nothing away as he unleashed one lonesome shadow to twirl lazily around Elain’s arm, its shadowy form caressing the smooth skin of her hand before darting up to her neck, dancing along the column of her throat. Elain paid it no mind, but he didn’t miss the small catch of her breath as that sneaky shadow laved along her neck, Azriel’s eyes now glazing over with heat he reserved solely for his wife. The dirty cheat. The rule was no powers to assist in decorating. Cassian supposed this was him doing the exact opposite.

Having watched enough underhanded displays of exploitation from his brother in his efforts to secure first place, Cassian unleashed the protective shield of his siphons, a dull crimson barrier arcing around Elain and their gingerbread house, causing the lone shadow to skitter back to its master.

Azriel’s attention snapped to him, a sly gleam flashing across his eyes as he realised what his brother had witnessed him do. Cassian just cut him a crooked smirk back, making a point to bolster his shield to protect them from more meddling shadows.

Sensing a slight tug down his bond, his gaze flitted to Nesta, her glassy eyes turning solid once more before she gave an almost imperceptible nod, Rhys smirking at her side. The rat bastard. He had no doubt Rhys had just given Nesta instructions, their secrecy reeking of espionage, his mate and brother no doubt having just devised a plan to unravel Elain and himself.

His wings bristled, and snapping them tightly into his body once more, he watched as Nesta stood up from her seat and leaned across the table, reaching for the red icing in front of Feyre. Her grey sweater draped low at the neckline, giving him a clear shot straight down her top, her luscious breasts tantalizing him from across the room…thoughts of her salacious dips and devastating curves swirled around his mind, the way she felt in his hands, pinned beneath him…

“Cass!” Elain hissed, knocking him out of his sex drunk stupor, his shield having slipped whilst distracted. His bastard brother knew his weaknesses, and Nesta clearly was not above playing into them either. He mentally shook himself, strengthening his shield once more before scowling at Rhys who was chuckling from his seat. His mirth didn’t last long however, as the very next moment a bubble of ice-cold water burst as it collided with the side of his face, Nesta squawking indignantly beside him, having received the same punishment.

Once his shock subsided, Rhys bellowed a laugh, shaking his head like a dog and spraying droplets of water everywhere. Azriel, eyeing him disgustedly, threw up his own cobalt shield to protect their gingerbread house from getting wet.

His High Lady’s face was the picture of faux innocence, but he knew her brand of magic. That drop of Summer Court magic like a shimmering stone nestled amongst the endless river running in her veins.

Well, well, well. It seemed like the gloves were off now, the stakes now sky high as their efforts at coming out on top grew more belligerent. No one was playing fair.

Elain didn’t let a single emotion show on her face— no doubt having taken pointers from Azriel himself— but with whatever affinity she had over her beloved plants, Cassian had spied a solitary vine of ivy curling its way across the parquet floor toward Feyre.

Elain, having projected those mysterious powers of hers to manipulate the potted ivy sitting innocently on the windowsill, had no doubt guided the plant to wrap up Feyre’s legs, because her younger sister had just leapt from her seat as if it had caught fire. A shout escaped from Feyre as that mischievous vine scuttled away, recoiling back into its decorative pot.

“Elain!” Feyre cried out indignantly, “You know that creeps me out!”

Elain just chuckled, her doe eyes flashing to her sister before settling resolutely back at the task at hand.

“Your partner started it,” she responded somewhat demurely, hands still steadily pipping her roof.

“He’s your brazen husband! Was anyone expecting anything less?”

“Not at all, Feyre darling. We all know Azriel likes winning at any cost,” Rhys interjected.

“Oh really, oh magnanimous one? Used any daemati powers lately?” the Spymaster deadpanned.

“Oh, come off it Az, it doesn’t take a genius to know Cassian thinks purely with his dick,” Nesta retorted.

Cassian dropped the brown fondant he had been shaping into a log and pointed an indignant finger at his mate. “I resent that!” he spluttered.

In answer, Cassian was only met with five sets of incredulous gazes. Eyebrows hitched high on foreheads or hooked in scepticism turned his way, before his families’ gazes all too casually slid back to their various tasks.

“I’m a General, for Cauldron’s sake. A little respect…” he grumbled, only half resolved to concede to their claims.

Nesta, turning a sly look towards Rhys, indicated to him with a slight tip of her head and narrowing of her eyes. Cassian understood the gesture when the dining room was plunged into darkness, Rhys’ night kissed shadows swallowing the light, their sight with it.

“RHYS! You dirty—,” he heard Feyre shout from across the dining table before blasting away his darkness with her Day Court glow, his eyes squinting against her shining form, snuffing out the midnight blackness.

His High Lord and Ladies’ magic swirled above them all ominously, each trying to smother the others power as the supernatural clouds stormed through the dining room. Azriel took advantage of the distraction and speared his shadows toward Elain’s gingerbread house, Cassian flicking his shield up around them once more just in time. Elain narrowed her eyes in her husband’s direction. Meanwhile her vines had been sent off again, the ivy silently curling toward the shadowsinger, Azriel so far none the wiser to the twisting creepers preparing to strike behind his back.

Distracted by his brothers displays as they duked it out with their lady loves, Cassian had missed Nesta sneaking up behind him on cat-soft feet and launching herself at his back, her torso flung over his shoulder heavily as she tried to tackle him off his chair to the ground. His wings snapped out at the attack, knocking Elain over in the process, causing her bewitched vines to spring forward toward Azriel, wrapping themselves like a boa around his shoulders.

Shouting and profanities echoed around the room as full mayhem broke loose. All six of them were so thoroughly entrenched in the utter chaos, that they hadn’t realised they had company until a distinct clearing of a feminine throat sounded from the archway of the dining room.

Standing at the entrance, Nyx clutching one of her hands as his violet eyes grew wide at his parents, aunts and uncles displays, was Amren. A feline smirk was splashed across her face at having caught them all knee deep in their perfidious treachery.

“If only the rest of Prythian could see how the Night Court leaders all behave when doors are closed, hmm Nyx?” Amren tutted to the five-year-old at her side.

Just like smoke dissipating in the wind, the various displays of magic winked out from around the room. Elain, hair in disarray, peeked out at Amren from behind the chair she had landed besides, her vines slackening around Azriel’s shoulders just as his shadows seemed to retreat in shame. Nesta in turn sheepishly lowered her feet back to the ground from her position draped across Cassian’s shoulders, his arm looped around her hips in an effort to fight her off. Several candies and spatulas clattered toward the dining table again as Feyre and Rhys’s magics dissolved, the items having been swept up in the commotion of their powerful squall.

Amren’s silver eyes slid around the room once more before turning on a heel and stalking back out of the dining room with Nyx in tow, a murmured “Idiots” slipping through up-tilted red lips as they meandered away.

Once Amren and Nyx were out of earshot, Rhys turned to Azriel, a shit eating grin upon his face. “I can’t believe you stooped so low,” he chuckled. “Feeling a little threatened this year, brother?”

Azriel seemed unperturbed by the barb. “You’re the one who suggested to Nesta she use her… assets to distract her mate, Rhysand.”

“A good warrior will use any weapon in her arsenal to ensure victory,” Nesta retorted staunchly, picking dirt from beneath her nails.

“Yeah well, we don’t all have giant boobs, do we,” Elain grumbled darkly.

“Oh, okay High Queen of the Florae. Strangled anyone else lately with your army of enchanted shrubbery?”

Elain had narrowed her eyes at her sister’s name-calling but had the good sense to look marginally remorseful at the near strangulation of her husband.

“I didn’t mean to,” Elain protested, looking over at Azriel, alarm evident in her bright eyes, “Cassian, the great buffoon, knocked me off my chair and ruined my concentration!”

He splayed his arms out wide at Elain’s jab. “I was trying to protect you! And besides, I can’t help the giant wingspan, Ellie.”

Cassian shot her a wink and a crooked smile. Elain just scowled in response.

“I think Cassian is just pissy at not being allowed to decorate this year,” Rhys interjected with a conspiratorial smirk on his face.

Azriel exhaled a short breath through his nostrils, crossing his arms across his broad chest. “Agreed.”

Cassian cut a contemptuous glare towards both his brothers. “Losing becomes neither of you. Illyrian babies indeed.”

Feyre squawked a laugh at their expense, Rhys narrowing his gaze, his violet eyes ablaze.

“All is fair in love and war, General,” Azriel crooned conspiratorially, before his shadows shot out once more, spearing in five different directions, causing a menagerie of defensive magic to erupt across the dining hall once more.

Every man for himself, then.

*******

A/N: Not my usual tag list, but instead just some of the people in this fandom that i have loved getting to know, and a few that have made me smile and persevere in this weird place. No pressure to read the fic, but just know that your positivity and existence in the fandom has put a smile on my face🥰: @offtorivendell​ @tswaney17​ @fawnandshadows​ @nikethestatue​ @ultadverb��� @dottielovegood​ @123moiaussi​ @lesolehabitantdelalune​ @alwayssara​ @merymoonbeam​ @cassianfanclub​ @thefangirlofhp​ @casuallivi​ @wingedblooms​ @silverdreamscapes​ @batboyazriel​ @thesistersarcheron​ @the-laughing-bubble​ @swankii-art-teacher​ @reverie-tales​ @mrspettyferr​ @leiaamidala​ @pagemasters @shedoessoshedoes @nightcourtseer @sakurakittypeach​ @duskcowboy​ @nitecourtnik @karomdr-blog @gentlehearted-kingslayer​ & countless others here and on other platforms ♥️

Also, a special thank you to OTR. When I posed the question of theories around physical powers Elain may have, I’m not sure you thought I would take your plant power crack theory where I did, but thank you for for sharing 😊🌱

[sixthwater]

Hello! Due to a change in my life I've become quite busy, but I'll try and get some pacs out every once in a while. Also working on a few projects (with and without people), so look out for that! I've wanted to do this one for some weeks now, but it's just short messages that your guides or angels wanted to deliver to you, pretty straight-forward haha.

(Left → Right / Pile 1 → Pile 4)

Decks Used: Trickster's Journey, Tarot Familiars, Arcana of Astrology, featuring Sea Melodies & Language of Flowers

Disclaimer | Pinned | Tip Jar | Paid Readings

Pile One

Cards: X of Cups, The Lovers, Trickster Rx, II of Wands, IV of Swords, Ace of Wands, Ascendant, Pallas Athena

I can’t ignore the song that popped up. It reminded me of fan-art that a friend made decades ago for hxh; it was for the chimera ant arc from Killua’s ‘perspective’ and how, despite how much pain each side was going through, he would stay by his side as long as he could.

This pull is hinting at you being in a position of looking at your life and the possibilities ahead of you, but not authentically. Resembles someone quadruple checking their path or getting someone to tell them what to do with their life. The message here is not ‘just go out and live your life’ — while that is inherently true, it’s more along the lines to have a breather and take it day by day. They want you to find yourself, and through finding yourself you will find your path. I don’t know why I keep wanting to bring in The Magician, but this pile has undercurrents of its energy as well. It’s not so much manifestation, but it’s not giving up on your dreams or your desires — they’re on pause until you can figure yourself out. I wanted to cry as soon as Shake It Out started playing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a lot of pent up frustration here. There is a rebirth coming for you guys, the timeline is going to be different for all of you. However you cant be born anew if you aren’t being authentic. Some advice/help might come from friends and family, but it’s all about exploring externally and internally. You might have been searching for this for quite some time...and honestly no amount of astrology or pick a cards will give you a definite answer, but spending time with yourself and figuring out what brings you joy will give you the direction that you need. You might be annoyed hearing this, but don’t rush the process and enjoy the ride, Sure Fire Winners is your end result after this frustrating trip.

Songs: Figure 8 – Ellie Goulding, Twin Machines – DBMK, What We Life For – American Authors, Shake It Out – Florence + The Machine

Pile Two

Cards: Death, VII of Wands, Wheel, III of Coins, Queen of Cups, VII of Wands, Eros, Pallas Athena, Third House

Interesting set of cards. I’m also having difficult describing your energy. You’re not being stubborn or combative, but you feel like people aren’t giving you the time of day or listening to you, which causes you to be stubborn or a solitary individual which makes people believe you’re not co-operative — is the best way I can describe it. A little of it feels reminiscent of being a push-over, but that’s sprinkled in?

Regardless, good news is on the way, but you have to meet it halfway. This is a learning experience for you, whatever it might be (work or higher learning). It’s definitely one of those lessons that will keep repeating until you learn it, so pay attention when it pops up. You need to sort what topics or issues you legitimately care about and refuse to budge on, and what can be sacrificed. This is a key element when working with others, because it’s a quality that is often balanced when dealing with others. People seek you out because you bring something to the table for them, but if you’re going to be stubborn or not shine to the point that they can simply find anyone, then you lose out. That’s where your double Seven of Wands comes in. This could manifest in people either questioning why they’re working with you, commissioning you, or you not budging for what you want to keep within a project. This could also be you proving some people wrong? Either way, it’s a message to stand your ground and not be overwhelmed by those trying to knock you down. There’s also a high chance that there will be a nurturing mentor to help you through this or they will give you some advice that you’ll carry with you long after this. With the owl staring at me on the Queen of Cups I’m moved to think this’ll be a figure that comes in. I think they’ll probably remind you of third house themes which is to balance listening as much as you’re talking. Sometimes what you’re so frustrated by or trying to figure out will be answered before you even have to ask it. Or maybe someone has a good idea that you haven’t thought of and you should give it a shot before brushing it off. The main message here is collaboration and working with people, knowing when to stand up for things and to just let things go, and becoming a new person after this. The skeleton in Death is holding an old skull and even on the Seven of Wands it’s a little chick that just hatched; there’s a lot of beginnings after this uncomfortable period but you will learn a lot about yourself and possibly learn a lot of new skills! (From all the songs, maybe this is your first job?)

Songs: Something Good Can Work – Two Door Cinema Club, It’s Time – Imagine Dragons

Pile Three

Cards: X of Swords, Page of Swords Rx, X of Wheel Rx, Empress Rx, Queen of Wands Rx, VII of Wands Rx, The Sun Rx, Mars, Waning Gibbous Moon, Eighth House

It’s pretty obvious where you are right now, so I’m not going to get into it — I don’t believe you want me rehashing it either. You are being urged to rebuild your confidence little by little and push for what you want in your situation. I think a good portion of this though is sharing how you feel. Being comfortable with expressing your emotions or your darker issues with others instead of trying to hold onto all of this. It doesn’t feel like a shadow trait, more like bad news/a situation, but you need to lean on someone to help you. I’ve been re-watching Regular Show and this is similar to the episode where Skips was ignoring his stress killing him and everyone had to force him to deal with it and let them help. Usually I see The Sun reversed as shining too bright to the point of exhaustion or just being a little gloomy but it’s resembling The Star reversed, which worries me. You just need to take it slow and work on yourself, but absolutely you need to rely on others and don’t feel like you’re too much or you’re not meeting standards that society or you set for yourself. We all need breaks or we all get tired, it’s impossible to be in top shape all the time, so give yourself some time to get back up there. Yes, sitting in your sadness is not helpful, but you need to be able to go through it’s motions so you know what you’re purging in the first place. I’m going to pull some more clear advice/upbeat cards for you guys:

Reflect, Optimism, Azalea, Jonquil

Reflect: Peer into the endless ocean and see what peers back  Optimism: After each rainstorm, there will be clear skies  Azalea, Temperance: Find balance and be centered  Jonquil, Power: Take hold of what you know is yours

Songs: Fall to Pieces – Avril Lavigne, Love Die Young – Eric Nam, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Grip! – Every Little Thing

Pile Four

Cards: VI of Wands, Strength Rx, IV of Wands, VII of Cups Rx, King of Pentacles, The Hierophant, Solar Eclipse, Chiron, Leo

Experiencing impostor syndrome right now, or not wanting the spotlight on you despite...accomplishing something worth celebrating honestly. I’m weirdly taking strength quite literally, like feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders and being crushed by it. The imagery looks as such and its between two celebratory cards — or ones that can show being celebrated or being in high regards in immediate surroundings. I know you want to, but don’t run back to a ‘shell’ or what’s safe. Try and make new safe spaces or make a routine to soothe yourself, because you should embrace your wins and take pride in what you did. I don’t know what you guys did, but more opportunities are coming your way, so embrace the new and change. It might keep coming or it might just be some fun new experiences for this time in your life. Make sure to tread carefully and whatever you say yes to; you want to say yes to. Don’t just agree to whatever. There are signs of looking for a community or mentor to lean on or stick by, and it’s encouraged as well. There’s a mix of taking on this new energy because it’ll be good for you or your future (experiences or just in general), and grounding yourself because you’re in a flight reflex right now. This might be due to a past scar, because the wolves look as if they’re protecting something but ready to hurt me, and I love wolves as well as this card. Either way, you should be celebrating with everyone else the milestone you accomplished, being mindful of your next steps, being open to change, and I’m wishing you the best.

Songs: When the Levee Breaks – A Perfect Circle, Raging (ft. Kodaline) – Kygo, Have Faith In Me – A Day To Remember

[cicaklah]

I went to a professional webinar (by which I mean I cleaned my kitchen while listening to it on my phone) and wow did I not miss academic bullshit.

Being in industry is so fucking humbling every day to the leftover academic parts of my brain, because the things people SAY about industry are not the problems WITH industry or IN industry but people with no industry experience can just stand up and say shit??? I ended up turning it off after one of the speakers just said something that was almost identical to something I once argued with a professor about like, five years ago, and the interviewer just was like 'wow what a good idea'! It wasn't! It was facile and simple and also ABSOLUTELY opening up an actually a-political process to political WHIMS and also fundamentally misunderstands the entire concept and use-case for the QALY omg flames on the side of my face.

The irony is that you'd think arguing with professors would be the thing that would make you a GOOD academic. Like I once argued with a nobel prize winner at an LSE event because he was Wrong and he didn't argue with me, just made a dismissive comment.

I know I need to go to more therapy for my post-academic-arguing-disorder but every time I get on a call with a client and they say 'we want to do this' and I get to say no, you can't, because its bad, lets do THIS instead is basically therapy enough.

that and the 3x salary. that also helps.

anyway fuck academia, fuck phds, burn the academy down.

[quidfree]

who do you think is mischaracterized the most in the bnha fandom?

the bigger the franchise the bigger the fandom the bigger the range of interpretations, so everyone gets a good deal. probably i’d say golden trio are the worst offenders bc theyre the biggest characters so the most people care about them.

as to who is the ultimate winner… hmm. there’s a lot of nice/mean/deadpan going on with the trio.

izuku i think can get woobified/edgified to the nth degree, when in fact he should be a nice mix of genuinely shonen good guy empathy bleeder and unhinged self-sacrificial relentless weirdo. like izuku is so fucking strange really. when you think about it. but in the most 😀 im just a little guy 😀 way. no he should be bawling while beating someone into pulp and destroying his bones in the process. he still called his middle school tormentor kacchan 😃 like he is… very fun. deeply sincere despite it all (even in his grimdark era).

shouto gets made sooo boring sometimes, and not just when people reduce him to being this type of anime guy -> 😐. shouto is also deeply charmingly weird. hes deeply Noble and kind and good and all the sort of disney prince traits but hes also an angry antiestablishment teenager but hes also an awkward kid but hes also bluntly funny. i think of all of them hes maybe the hardest to get right tho so i have some sympathy for the way he often gets boiled down to only some of the traits, esp bc they get played for comedy. what does grate me is when people start taking the comedic bits as his entire real personality. and ignore how seriously fucked his upbringing has been in favour of other peoples angst.

maybe katsuki takes the win tho. like obviously. people love to either dumb him down to the extreme FUCK OFF IM ANGRY AND AN ASSHOLE or go in the other direction so he's actually a sensitive, kind soul who loves to a) blush b) talk about feelings c) raise children or something idk. and then theres the sadboi version. and the edgelord. there are bakugou haters and bakugou ride or dies. all of these takes are boring and wrong, and actually in a rare twist canon is 100% (...ish) good and true when it comes to him. he contains multitudes and they're all, like, on page. im not even going to go through them horikoshi does this very plainly for us.

actually scratch that you know who gets mischaracterised the most? endeavor. yeah that's right it's been too long since i went on one of these tangents. idc that canon has directly caused this with enji’s storyline i legitimately think that choice was a mistake and i dislike that every popular media has to have its villains explained or redeemed now. canon can do as it wills but there are some things that i just don’t want to move past. hes not a grouchy dilf who's earned forgiveness he was a grown ass man married with kids treating every member of his family like dirt for years. i do not care that he started wising up in canon his youngest child is like 16 by then it took him what TWENTY YEARS to get a grip? this man was so caught up in his ego about being number 2 he married a woman to breed a rightful heir, fully neglected the two kids he considered unworthy of that role, isolated the other two to push training on them from infancy, coped terribly with the mental strain this was putting on them, and didn’t think to reconsider his choices when a) one of them lost it and vanished into the void b) his wife snapped and disfigured the youngest, etc etc etc. i will not stand for the ret-conning this man is a loser.

[inventors-fair]

Revision Commentary: Process over Product

So as you all can imagine, this is going to be a little different.

Instead of selecting a group of three winners and three runners and leaving two entries high and dry, I'm going to do a bit of a reflection. In all honesty, this contest was supposed to be just that—a reflection. Take a step back, look at your old cards, look at how Magic has changed, and go from there. The wording may have been esoteric, and I do apologize for not extracting my vision as precisely as may have been necessary. In retrospect, Magic players do love themselves some precise wording.

All of these cards, for whatever they're worth, show significant growth. I recognize the usernames, I recognize the design techniques, and I recognize the places we've been. Honestly, I can't believe we've had so many random contest ideas already. It feels like we run out of space, and then bam. Hence, throwbacks like this. But all the same...

Allow me to go through and do a little digging into the process. The ideas here are all wonderful and part of the point of this contest was to praise growth. We all grow over time, but recognizing that is hard to see. Let's all take a look-see while we're here!

@bergdg — Ashmouth Fiend/Ashmouth Crown

This card feels radically different than its origin, and also radically cleaner. There are two options: playing the trampling devil, or running out the equipment. The only place where I'd see minor gameplay frustrations are where you want a cheap creature but you get the equipment instead—but maybe that plays into the set, or this is a one-off card and there's artifact interaction! Giving trample AND having more of a madness payoff feels awesome on the flip, and hey, maybe you just want a devil too.

When you mention it clicking, I feel that too. Innistrad's DFCs and weird transformations are abundant, and I'm glad that you leaned into it for this revision in a fresh way. Sometimes stretching a card feels weird, but in this instance, it's 100% justified. You've upped both power level and complexity while remaining in the contemporary uncommon zone. Now I wonder if the demons are being all beat up in Innistrad-hell and the devils are taking over, so our next return will be a devils-in-the-playground kind of set. Innistrad: Devil's Kingdom. Ooh-hoo-hoo...

@bread-into-toast — Dovin, Consulate Inspector

In the right deck with the right protections, this card feels grindy, frustrating, oppressive, complicated, and instrumental to control. I absolutely love it. When comparing this to your previous entry, the flavorful feeling of Niko showed them with their shard powers, sure, but this Dovin feels connected to all sides of his desire for control. He's a big judge of your opponents' cards, but if your cards aren't fulfilling their potential, you can send them back too! Arrest or dismiss, those are the moods.

Oddly enough, I'm feeling Aftermath vibes from this card. What I mean by that is that there's this central flavor that happens to vibe with a specific play pattern. A love of the character... Okay, well, it's Dovin—a strong understanding of the character has led to a card where that understanding meshes with gameplay unquestionably. This is a card that would possibly be too slow in the right aggro environment, but he's got four toughness and card advantage. What's not to appreciate? From your side of the table, anyway. Cohesion is key. This is fantastic.

@corporalotherbear — One-Up

It's a little more specific, a little more specifically punishing, and feels so flavorfully sexy that every theatre kid just made it an auto-include. Compared to the pseudo-Ancestral of your previous version, I can see how this card is a little close to home without being actually there, and keeping the flavor/color while changing pretty much the whole vibe (by whittling down the flavor, no less) is pretty masterful. As a card, it's for sure a commander/limited staple in the right build; FWIW, I'd've made it "This spell costs X less to cast, where X is the number of spells your opponents have cast this turn" but there's no precedent.

What I really love is how much this makes the caster feel like a Prismari student. There's no time manipulation, there's no realities colliding, but there sure is a kid with a complex and some fireworks ready to wreak havoc. How much better can you get? If this card had been submitted to the previous contest that long ago, I would have advocated for it to hell and back. But we really can only see how awesome our progress is with growth. You took risks and this card is evident of how they can pay off with balance, flavor, and gameplay comprehension.

@hypexion — Vasilisa, Flame Event

Spectacle indeed has moved from being on ten cards to being on...eleven! Wow, but that contest. I remember sitting in a twin bed in someone else's house as I was house-sitting for them, cracking my knuckles and letting my eyes unfocus because we had, apparently, over fifty entries... Memories, dawg. If I was being stricter about this contest, I'd want to move away from the spectacle a little and ease out of drafting as-fan. Maybe that would eventually make for a better card, but I can get how tying it all in is important to you.

I also still do like the Gorgon typeline. "Flame Event" (heh) didn't quite make sense until I read it aloud, and you know how much puns can pack a punch. As for evolution, that first ability is absolutely devastating. Adding mana instead of reducing costs can perhaps be limiting, but with the number of cards that allow for big stuff to impact the board more, I'm terrified. How easy is it to lose five life? Lava Axe typal deck, here we go. It feels bigger, it feels more fun, and what more can be asked. You and spectacle can make yourselves as comfortable together as you can be. Just don't be surprised when they run out of steam.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Discard the Remnants

So, uh. What...contest was this for again? This is why I asked for y'all to include, because now I don't know on what it was supposed to be an improvement, heh. But let's back up for a second. My first thought is that this card is excellent and a bend that could be fine in the right set. My second thought is "wait, from what angle are we seeing the chute and the fire pit." My third thought is that I wish I could remember all the contests we've done in order to jump-start my brain, because this is quite specific!

Wording-wise, did you consider Turn to Slag? E.g., "Destroy target creature. Exile all permanents attached to that creature." Or maybe there needs to be a condition that the creature actually dies/leaves the battlefield, but all the same, the "then" might not do it. I think the flavor text is 90% there; my vote would be "When death just isn't enough," even if it's a random taste thing from my wording. Is getting rid of equipment too much of a bend? I would say it's super iffy. The environment decides. Let me know what contest this was for, though, so we can talk further. 

@nine-effing-hells — Kindled Hate

Looking back at my commentary for your card, I can still see how it's a clever idea, and more clever than I saw at the time. Giving your opponent's kill spells flashback is still a bad idea, unless your spells are better, but they've printed weirder things. Looking at this card, you absolutely took the commentary to heart, and this card is far more simpler and I think kinda neater in its own special ways. Again, the center of this contest revolves around that notion, so my own heart is warmed.

How does one use your creatures and resources, how does that work... There are an oddly limited number of options, but this card encourages a board state with a lot of creatures, absolutely. Using them needs to be masterful. Especially at sorcery speed, you can maximize your damage with proper planning. Shame it doesn't hit planeswalkers, but to be honest, doubling your four damage by playing on-curve to nuke your opponent's board is insanely powerful and probably fine as-is. I love how this card deals with a board state and I love the different ways you could flavor this in art. A+.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Vivien, Skalla's Last Ranger

Alright, but this card is kinda genius flavorfully. Vivien attacks, seeks the wilds, then—gasp! A marvelous beastie! It runs alongside her (tapped and attacking), and to strengthen the bond, she has to tap into her resources and knowledge of the planes in order to secure them together. The size doesn't matter because it's her attacking that gives the creature its strength.

Upping the power level was the right idea. I think the only weird wording is a corner case here. I'd have it say at the last line that the creature gains the ability of "At the beginning of your end step," etc. and there are a couple reasons, but that ability would just be better insurance. Everything else is costed well, powerful, scary, and strong. I don't know much about Vivien's backstory, but this was a year and change ago, so who knows what was happening then. I barely remember yesterday. Oh, but I'd remember being smacked in the face by Vivien and a giant monster, that's for sure.

@squeezyboi — Deep Dive

Ah, a URL change! And also, congrats, I think this is the oldest someone's gone back. How the days have passed us by. Regardless, you certainly took the advice to heart. Flavor text fits, art direction is vivid and tingly in all the evil ways, and the ability speaks to the balance of the covert and the coveted. The only question I have is whether this is a blue card or a black card. See, this puts reanimation straight into mono-blue, theoretically. That's a big break.

Black, however, can mill as much as it needs to. This should be, in my opinion, a black-based rare. Reanimation is a huge tool in limited and constructed alike! Milling is awesome, and stealing things even more so. Here's what I'd want to see: I wanna see ten Idealist cards at rare where they're mono-colored and have a leaning in either direction. Like, if this was in RTR, one green card has white idealism that destroys an attacking thing, and another green card has black idealism that creates Zombie tokens. Y'know? This opens up doors, and that's half the battle. It's definitely an improvement and it's definitely a pumped-up design.

That's all for now! I'll have something broader for y'all next time I see you.

-@abelzumi

[semperintrepida]

If Kassandra didn't have access to any of her superpowers, how do you think she would fare against Lara Croft in a one-on-one fight? What about Nadine from Uncharted or Abby from the Last of Us? My opinion changes depending on if normal weapons like guns or bows are allowed. If no weapons are allowed, I honestly think Abby would win, but no one else would. If normal weapons are allowed, it gets more complicated. I would be interested to hear what you think.

ooh, great question! And one that's difficult to answer—as you pointed out, it really depends on the situation.

My glib answer is that as a writer, I could show any of these characters defeating any other in a realistic way that you'd believe. That's my superpower.

So without going back to you and asking for more specifics, the best I can do is walk you through my thought process for writing a believable action scene between two characters.

(Lots of talk about writing action scenes after the jump!)

The first thing I think about is the situation and setting: Where are they fighting? When are they fighting? What universe are they in? Are they in our reality as we know it, or the mostly-realistic-with-a-dash-of-fantasy worlds of AC: Odyssey or the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, or somewhere else entirely?

The situation and setting are crucial. Kassandra and Lara fighting in a traditional dojo would be much different than having them fight in a pine forest, or the war-torn Athens of AC:O, or a mining base on Mars. As Kassandra says to Kyra in The Breaking: "I'm surrounded by weapons." The setting determines what unconventional weapons might be at hand, if any, what cover is available, what bystanders or dangers might need to be accounted for.

Once I've established the setting of the scene, I start thinking about weapons in more detail. Do the combatants have formal training? What kinds of weapons and how much actual combat usage? How does the universe they're in treat weapons? As much as I love AC:O, that game puts all types of melee weapons on equal footing regardless of reach (length). It works within that universe because the game is consistent about its combat, but in the real world a dagger is no match for a polearm and that's fact.

Weapons tilt the table. Think of the moment in the Tomb Raider reboot where Lara gets that first gun. Her opponents could have 20 years of martial arts training and outweigh her by 50kg, but that doesn't matter a whit against a ranged firearm. The gun is the equalizer.

Setting matters. Weapons matter. Only when those parameters are sorted do I consider the physical abilities and hand-to-hand combat experience of the respective fighters. There are so many what-ifs to consider, and making everything fit together makes for a good logic puzzle. (And I haven't even gotten into the characterization aspects of writing action: not everyone has a killer instinct, and that matters!)

But let's go back to your original question and simplify things by thinking of the most basic scenario for unarmed combat: a bout taking place in the real world, in a neutral location like a dojo.

Even without superpowers, Kassandra is an impressive physical specimen. She has the strength to overpower opponents and the advantage of reach. She'd have a disadvantage in endurance, however, since all that muscle mass she's carrying is going to need energy to move it. (A good example of "strength vs endurance" affecting muscle mass can be seen in sprinters vs marathon runners.)

We'd also have to establish which Kassandra is fighting: young Kassandra (as we meet her in Kephallonia) or Kassandra at the top of her game, winner of the Olympic pankration and honed by at least five years of fighting damn near every mercenary and soldier of renown in ancient Greece.

To defeat her in unarmed combat in the real world, an opponent would have to:

outmatch her in physical ability and have just enough hand-to-hand combat experience to use it to their advantage, or

equal her in physical ability and hand-to-hand combat experience, or

have so much more experience that they could overcome all of her other advantages

That's a tough ask, and I don't really see Lara, Nadine, or Abby having enough hand-to-hand combat experience to pull it off, even against a young, less experienced Kassandra. I think Abby would come the closest, and if she went off and studied a bunch of hand-to-hand styles intensively for several years she'd make it an even fight.

So, to recap: it's definitely possible to contrive situations where one of them could defeat a non-superpowered Kassandra. I'd choose a setting and weapons that would support the challenger's strengths, and adjust Kassandra's experience accordingly.

Setting matters. Weapons matter. Experience matters.