#joseph face reveal (REAL)!?

[goinghostie]

Context:

[xxmcr05xx]

Glory Box | Albert Wesker & William Birkin x f!Reader

Summary: Albert gets very jealous seeing F/N get all close with his unit, so fucks her in his office - also, William Birkin is there.

Warnings/Contains: Smut, jealous sex (initially), exhibitionism, voyeuristic William Birkin, office sex, nipple sucking, fingering (f!receiving), hickeys, squirting, praise kink, masturbation, oral sex (f!receiving), lowkey bisexual William, unprotected sex.

WC: 2,573

Posted On: 20/06/25, also on AO3!

Title Song: Glory Box - Portishead

Author's Note: I finally figured out how to use gradient texts omg life changer. Also finally got to upload; I've had no wi-fi for the past week, it's been horrendous. Also I have 2 exams that I haven't revised for so yay.

18+ MDNI!!!

Divider by @kodaswrld

Albert knew that this was a bad idea.

He gave into the pressure of his team's begging and nagging to meet his wife that they didn't think exist. Now, Albert, with a frown on his face, was holding his dear wife's hand to the S.T.A.R.S's headquarters.

"This is going to be a really bad idea, F/N," Albert grumbled, using his keycard to swiftly make his way to their breakroom.

F/N let out a small laugh and looked up at Albert with sympathy. "It's gonna be okay, Albert. I'm sure they're nice kids," she suggested with an empathetic tone.

Albert sighed, shaking his head, "They're a pain in the ass."

Holding his grip a bit tighter on her now, Albert opened the door to the break room, revealing the members of his Alpha team.

The first to notice was Jill, who gasped and waved excitedly. The others followed soon after, swarming around the couple.

Albert noticed that Chris had his hand out to shake for F/N, the woman smiled and shook his hand, "You must be Chris Redfield, right?" F/N asked.

Chris nodded, "Does our captain here talk about us?"

"Oh, yes he does, very much," F/N replied with a smirk, looking over at Albert, "he really likes you guys."

Albert frowned at her comment and crossed his arms, "You get five more minutes to talk to her, then we're out of here." The blond felt anxious as his team swarmed her with questions, he didn't like it - he even caught himself anxiously playing with his wedding band.

He noticed that Chris and Joseph kept whispering to each other, he could hear them.

'She's too hot for him.'

'Man, I would not be showing her off to anyone if I was him.'

He wanted to leave now.

Albert looked over at the pair and glared at them hard, giving them a 'I know what you're talking about' look. This instantly shut the two up as they stopped whispering to each other.

His teeth were grinding together; he could practically see them ogle her.

"So, F/N, what do you even like about our captain anyway?" Jill asked with a small smile. The question snapped Albert out of his glare, now looking down at F/N.

F/N thought for a moment before answering, "Well, he's gentle, he loves cooking with me...." F/N looked over at Albert and smiled, "he's real lovey-dovey-"

"Alright, that's enough," Albert cut her off, he held her hand again and turned around, "Five-minutes is up, we've got-to-go."

The small arrangement of members sighed.

"C'mon," Albert told F/N in a hushed tone, F/N pouted but nodded anyway, she waved goodbye to the rest of the Alpha team and followed Albert out.

The blond man groaned and ran a hand through his hair once he left the breakroom, "What a group of rascals..." Albert sighed and looked down, "I told you, they're all annoyances."

"Don't be so harsh on them, Albert, they look up to you."

He simply shook his head and started walking again, "C'mon, let's get going to my office." F/N nodded and rubbed Albert's hand, holding it in hers as they made their way to his office.

"Y'know, F/N," Albert started quietly, "I really disliked how some of my men were looking at you. Like you were some kind of cake on display."

F/N raised her eyebrows but grinned mischievously, "You were jealous, weren't you?" she asked, her grip tightening on him.

Albert rolled his eyes, opening his office with his keycard, "Why do you say so, dear?" Albert asked. He quickly locked the door behind them and sat at his desk, F/N followed as she sat on one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Well, you were glaring at Chris and, I think his name is Joseph. I swear you were shooting lasers at them."

He wish he could have.

"Hmm, maybe you're correct, but I cannot help it; you are a very gorgeous looking woman."

F/N smiled at Albert's compliment, placing her left-hand over his right, "I was very right in marrying you, Albert; I only want you in my life."

Albert pursed his lips, he looked over at the windows of his office before looking back at F/N. "You know, dear, no one comes through this part of the building too much..." Albert muttered.

F/N raised an eyebrow as Albert gave her a small smirk, "Are you suggesting we fuck in your office?"

He nodded.

"Oh."

"Oh, indeed, darling."

F/N's widened a little before she smirked, "You are such a pervert."

Albert got up from his seat and stood behind F/N, "Just be warned, darling, I'm still gonna fuck you even if anyone comes in," he whispered. He grabbed F/N's arm softly, guiding her to sit on his desk, then kissing her.

The couple closed their eyes at the touch, Albert's hand moved to softly cup her face. He moved away from the kiss a minute later and stared down at her with lustful eyes, "Baby, I'm gonna ruin you here."

Albert smashed back down onto F/N's lips, F/N moaned at the sudden contact, her hands sliding down to his waist. The blond man started to unbutton F/N's blouse.

"Mm... God, FN...." Albert huffed out in-between kisses, "you... you look so... hot." His tongue prodded F/N's lips softly, indicating that he wanted to feel her mouth.

F/N did as he asked and opened her mouth slightly, Albert's tongue slithered its way inside. He moaned at the sweet taste; he could taste the strawberry latte that she had just an hour ago.

His hands trailed away from the middle of her blouse, then pulling it down and onto the floor.

Albert finally moved away from the kiss, a small trail of saliva connecting their mouths.

"Dear, you are absolutely ravishing," Albert growled out, F/N laughed a little, kissing his cheek softly.

He then pushed F/N into the middle of the desk; he noticed that she was wearing the lacey blue bra that he loved a lot. "You're gonna kill me..." Albert huffed out.

F/N let out a soft whimper as Albert pulled the cups up and over her chest, revealing her tits to him.

No matter how many times they have sex, Albert will never get enough of her.

"You liking the view?" F/N asked, running her hand through his hair softly.

Albert kept his eyes glued to her chest basically, but still gave her a small nod. His mouth latched almost instantly a second later onto one of her nipples.

F/N let out a small moan instantaneously.

Albert's eyes closed softly; he wanted more of her, so he moved a hand down, expertly unbuttoning her jeans button and unzipping them.

The woman helped him out by shimmying them down. Albert hummed a small thank you, hand now trailing down from her bellybutton to the side of her panties.

His finger dipper underneath, feeling the wetness of her cunt.

"Hhuhgh.. oh God, Albert..." F/N moaned out, "you feel so so good." F/N rubbed the back of his head as a reward - Albert basically purred.

The blond's fingers rubbed her clit at a slow pace, F/N's grip got a bit tighter now, her hands gripping the roots of his head.

He could sense that she was getting overwhelmed but he loved it.

His fingers now dipped lower, middle and ring finger slipping in her cunt with ease. "Oh FUCK!" F/N moaned out, her body tensed up at the pleasure.

"You like that, don't you, dear?" Albert panted out, deciding to move away from her chest which was practically glowing and slobbered.

F/N let out a quite loud moan.

Albert felt so turned on by her. His mouth latched on F/N's neck almost instantly, leaving heavy trails of his love-bites across it.

When Albert moved away he heard the door open, the fingers that were inside of F/N tensed up, but relaxed once he heard William Birkin's voice.

"You were answering your pager so I-" William, who was initially looking down at some papers, paused as he looked up, his face warmed up.

Albert was still fingering F/N quite slowly, turned around and now facing William. The woman gasped and covered her mouth, letting out a muffled moan as Albert's thumb started to rub her clit softly.

"Sorry about that, William, as you see, I am a bit busy at the moment."

William gulped hard, he looked away from the scene in front of him as the door closed behind him. "I- I can leave-" William was interrupted when he saw Albert shaking his head.

"You can stay and tell me what I have to know," Albert cut-in, he gestured to the chair that was off to the side of the desk.

William fidgeted with the paper, looking over at F/N, but she was too indulged in the pleasure to give him an answer.

"Oh, okay," William sat by on the seat, keeping his eyes glued to the paper, "ba- basically, we have a new assignment given to us..." he trailed off once he heard F/N's moans growing louder.

Her hand was gripping the table harshly as Albert's fingers fastened their pace.

"... and um..." William felt uncomfortable, feeling his erection growing.

"C'mon, William, don't let me be a distraction," Albert encouraged, he gave the flustered man a small smirk before looking back at F/N.

F/N gave Albert a desperate look, legs shaking, "I- I'm gonna cu- cum," F/N stuttered.

Albert huffed, but continued at the same pace anyway, "What do you think, William, does F/N deserve to cum?"

William's head shot up when he heard his name.

"Me?"

"Yes you, William."

The man gulped and shrugged, "I- I guess she can..."

Albert smirked, his thumb applied more pressure on her clit, "Hear that, dear? William here said that you could cum, what do we say?"

F/N let out a high-pitched moan and looked down at William, "Th- Thank you!" she moaned out.

Not even a moment later, she felt herself cum.

She squirted all over his fingers.

F/N sobbed out a choked moan, her head leaning back.

"Good girl..." Albert praised, he kissed her cheek softly before pulling her down to her knees, "I think you deserve to suck my cock after that."

F/N nodded mindlessly, she wasn't fully recovered from her orgasm before unbuckling Albert's pants and pulling them down.

The other man's eyes widened again, he should feel uncomfortable, but everything just felt so right.

All three of them noticed Albert's bulging erection, but it was just too good to look away from.

"Fuck..." Albert huffed out as F/N gripped his cock softly, indulging in the taste of the pre-cum that was leaking from his tip, "what- what else did they say?" Albert asked William.

The man gulped, re-reading the sheets of paper, "we have a meeting on Tuesday, 8:30 am..." William muttered, Albert nodded, he let out a small hiss as F/N started to take the full length of his cock in her mouth.

Her eyes were closed and her hands were holding onto his waist.

"Pretty girl..." Albert whispered.

F/N bobbed faster from his praise, basically choking on his cock.

But as soon as Albert felt like he was going to cum, he pulled F/N away from him. "I can't yet, dear, I want to cum in you," He explained to a disappointed F/N.

Albert looked over at William, "If you want to masturbate here William, neither of us will care."

William sat in the chair, nodding, he felt flushed at Albert's forwardness, but supposed it wasn't all that bad. He unbuttoned his pants, pulling them down along with his boxers just enough for his cock to spring out.

His hands gripped the base cock and slowly pumped it as he stared at the couple in front of him.

F/N got up on her feet, being helped by Albert to bend over the desk. The blond man let out quiet, shaky moan at the sight of her dripping cunt, he pulled her panties down to her ankles and spread her asscheeks.

"You ready, dear?" Albert asked.

The woman let out desperate nods, whining out and wriggling her ass softly - she wanted to be fucked so desperately.

Albert granted her wish, he held his cock, jerking it a couple of times before slowly penetrating her cunt.

The couple let out a moan in unison while William whimpered.

"Feels good, doesn't it, love?" Albert whispered in F/N's ear, she nodded slowly and leaned her head on the desk, huffing out small moans.

After a minute to adjust, Albert began to fuck into her slowly. William eyed them from a distance, making sure that his pace and strength matched theirs.

Albert's hands gripped each side of her hips, admiring her ass rippling as he fucked into her.

"So good for me, aren't you?" Albert asked, F/N nodded, her eyebrows furrowing in pleasure, letting out moans that matched the strikes his cock gave.

William bit his lip, letting out a muffled whimper, feeling so turned on from the scene in front of him.

Albert groaned out, he squeezed his eyes shut in pleasure - he could feel F/N's walls squeezing against him, he was overwhelmed but he didn't stop.

"A-Aahh... Albert!" F/N moaned out, she peered over her shoulder to look at Albert, occasionally looking at William, "I need to cum so bad... please!"

He kissed down her back slowly before looking back at her, "You cum when I cum, 'kay?" Albert suggested, F/N nodded desperately, sweat dripping down her cheek.

William let out a strangled moan, the sound of F/N's moans were overwhelming for him.

Before he could even blink, William came, white ropes of cum shot into his hand - he felt slightly embarrassed. Albert looked over at William's hand, chuckling a little.

"Look at that, seems like William here came first," Albert informed.

F/N whined out shaking her head, "Don't- don't fucking care, just let me cum!"

Albert frowned at her words, but he was a caring husband so he practically slammed himself inside her.

That rough pace was all it took.

F/N felt herself tingle, she let out a few short bursts of moans before cumming all over Albert's cock. Albert, overwhelmed as well, followed soon after and came inside of her.

"F-Fuck! You're so good F/N, holy fuck- your cunt is so tight against me."

He could feel his warm cum cover her walls.

A moment later, Albert pulled out and huffed, breathing heavily as he started to dress himself and F/N.

"That is all, William, you are excused."

William nodded, he panted softly and wiped his hands with tissues that were placed in a box on the table.

The scientist waved and softly said his goodbyes before walking out of the office.

F/N was too fucked-out to even notice that William left.

Albert kissed her forehead and helped her change again, "You did good, dear, I'll get some of that nice Chinese food you like, 'kay?"

F/N hummed a yes, her mind fuzzy.

"Good girl."

[withthecolorizedkennedys]

Could you write a fanfic where the reader visits the Kennedy compound and gets hit on by whomever? It could be fluffy or smutty, either would be nice

Summer Tides

synopsis: When kick kennedy's english friend arrives for a summer holiday, her brother jack thinks he's found his latest conquest. between tennis matches, sailing trips, and sunset conversations, the real question becomes not whether she'll fall for his notorious charm, but whether he'll survive falling for hers.

word count: 3.3k

pairing: john f. kennedy x reader,

rating: e for everyone!!!

The telegram from Kick had arrived in April, just as the daffodils were pushing through the soil in your family's garden in Hampshire.

SUMMER AT HYANNIS STOP FATHER SAYS BRING FRIEND STOP YOU MUST COME STOP SAILING AND SCANDAL GUARANTEED STOP

Your mother had raised an eyebrow at "scandal" but relented when your father, charmed by the diplomatic connections of Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, pronounced it "an excellent opportunity." You'd met Kick Kennedy during her family's London season, when you were both attending finishing school. She was brash where English girls were demure, competitive where they were accommodating, and utterly unconcerned with appearing proper. You adored her immediately.

Which is how you found yourself, on a bright June morning, stepping off the train at Hyannis Station, squinting against the Massachusetts sun that seemed somehow more assertive than its English counterpart.

"There you are!" Kick's voice cut through the station noise as she bounded toward you, tanned already and wearing a blue-and-white striped dress that matched the nautical flags snapping in the harbor wind. She embraced you with American enthusiasm. "I've been dying without you. It's all politics and prayers at breakfast, and the boys are absolutely insufferable."

"How many brothers are actually here?" you asked, gathering your suitcase. You'd met Kick's elder brother Joe Jr. in London—handsome, serious, groomed for politics—but the others had been just names in Kick's stories.

"Just Jack and Bobby and Teddy. The little ones are terrors, but Jack's the one you need watching for," she said, giving you a significant look as she led you to the waiting automobile. "He's decided he's irresistible this summer. Keeps asking when you'd arrive."

"How would he even know who I am?"

Kick rolled her eyes as the driver loaded your luggage. "I made the mistake of showing him that photograph from Claridge's. He's been like that ever since." She lowered her voice to a murmur. "Joe's off with Dad in Washington, so Jack's been strutting about like he owns the place. Thank goodness you're here to deflate him a bit."

The Kennedy compound revealed itself through a screen of pines—white clapboard buildings with green shutters facing the sea, surrounded by manicured lawns that rolled down to a private beach. Cousins darted across the grass, their voices carried on the salt breeze. It was exactly as Kick had described: America distilled into one privileged enclave.

The car had barely stopped when the front door swung open and a tall, lean figure loped down the steps. He moved like someone accustomed to being watched—a rolling, deliberate gait that suggested both athletic grace and the awareness of it.

"That'll be Jack," Kick muttered. "Right on cue."

He was taller than you'd imagined, with chestnut hair sun-bleached at the temples and a smile that transformed his face from merely handsome to something more potent. He wore tennis whites despite the lack of racquet, and a faint sheen of sweat suggested he'd been playing earlier.

"Miss Kick Kennedy," he drawled, "returning with your long-promised English rose."

"This is precisely why I didn't want to leave you two alone," Kick said, but there was fondness beneath her exasperation. "Jack, this is—"

"I know exactly who this is," he interrupted, extending his hand to you. His grip was warm and firm, lingering just a moment too long. "The girl who told the Duke of Norfolk his opinion on Auden was 'embarrassingly derivative.' Kick hasn't stopped talking about it for months."

You felt heat rise to your cheeks. "He was being condescending."

"I'm sure he was." Jack's eyes—blue with flecks of amber—crinkled at the corners. "I've been waiting to meet the girl who can silence titled Englishmen."

"She can silence untitled Americans too," Kick interjected, nudging her brother aside. "Come on, I'll show you to your room before Jack convinces himself he's being charming."

As Kick led you up the steps, you glanced back. Jack Kennedy stood watching, hands in his pockets, with an expression of amused interest that suggested he was already plotting something. Against your better judgment, you found yourself curious about what it might be. ━━━━━━━━━

The tennis courts at Hyannis Port gleamed white in the morning sun, the chalked lines startlingly bright against the green. You'd agreed to a doubles match only because Kick had insisted it was the quickest way to integrate into the Kennedy social rhythm.

"The teams need balancing," Jack announced, appearing at your elbow as you adjusted the borrowed racquet's grip. "Eunice plays like a professional, and Bobby cheats. You're with me."

Kick snorted. "Subtle, Jack. Really subtle."

"I'm being practical," he insisted, but the glint in his eye betrayed him. "Besides, how else will our guest learn the Kennedy way of tennis?"

"The Kennedy way?"

"Win at all costs," Kick and Jack chorused, then laughed.

You soon discovered that "Kennedy tennis" involved creative interpretations of the rules, relentless trash-talking, and an alarming level of competitiveness. Jack proved a focused partner, calling out encouragement between points and strategizing during changeovers with an intensity that seemed comical for a casual game.

After you missed a straightforward forehand, he positioned himself behind you, one hand lightly on your waist.

"You're rotating too early," he said, his breath warm against your ear. "Keep your shoulders square until the last moment." His free hand guided your arm through the stroke. "Like this."

You were suddenly, acutely aware of his height, the solid warmth of him behind you, the way his fingers splayed against your waist through the thin cotton of your tennis dress.

"I think I've got it," you said, stepping away.

He didn't move immediately, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Just being helpful."

"If you two are quite finished," Kick called from across the net, "some of us would like to actually play tennis."

Jack winked at you before returning to position. "Ready to demolish them?"

Against all probability, you made a good team. His athletic prowess compensated for your rusty strokes, and you discovered a shared ruthlessness that Kick later declared "frankly disturbing." When you won the deciding point—a perfectly placed lob that Jack had coached you on—he lifted you briefly off your feet in celebration.

"A natural Kennedy," he declared, setting you down but keeping his arm around your shoulders. "We'll make her an honorary member, won't we, Kick?"

"God help us," his sister replied, but she was smiling. "Another competitive maniac is exactly what this family needs."

As you walked off the court, Jack's hand brushed yours—accidentally, perhaps, though you doubted anything Jack Kennedy did was truly accidental. The contact lasted barely a second, but it lingered like sunburn on your skin. ━━━━━━━━━

The family picnic on the beach was orchestrated chaos. Servants laid out blankets and wicker hampers while younger Kennedys darted between them, snatching sandwiches and disappearing toward the water. Rose Kennedy supervised it all, dispatching her brood on various errands that somehow resulted in an orderly arrangement of food, drinks, and sunbathers.

Jack materialized as you were settling onto a blanket, situating himself beside you with practiced nonchalance.

"Lemonade?" he offered, handing you a sweating glass. "Made with sweat and tears. Mostly Bobby's tears, after I thrashed him at sailing yesterday."

"You're awful," you said, but accepted the drink.

"I prefer 'persistent.' Awful suggests I might grow tiresome."

"Who says you haven't already?"

His laugh was genuine. "You wound me. And after I saved you the best spot on the beach."

"I wasn't aware this spot had been reserved."

"Everything good in life requires advance planning," he said, leaning back on his elbows, his body a diagonal line of tanned skin and white linen. "Speaking of which, I've entered us in the sailing regatta next weekend."

"Us?" You raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall volunteering."

"You're the only one I trust not to capsize us deliberately," he said. "The Kennedy competitive streak runs deep."

Before you could respond, he reached for a bowl of strawberries that a servant was distributing. He selected one, perfectly ripe, and held it out to you.

"Taste of summer," he said, his expression serious for once. "Cape Cod berries are the best in America."

Before you could take it from him, he moved it toward your lips, clearly intending to feed it to you directly. You froze, caught between the rudeness of recoiling and the intimacy of accepting.

Kick's groan broke the spell. "For heaven's sake, Jack." She snatched the bowl from him. "Stop terrorizing my friend."

"I'm being hospitable," he protested.

"You're being transparent," Kick retorted, but there was more amusement than censure in her tone. She handed you the bowl directly. "Don't encourage him. He's insufferable enough already."

Jack affected a wounded expression, but his eyes never left your face as you bit into the strawberry—sweet and sun-warmed, juice staining your fingers. You met his gaze deliberately as you licked them clean, a small victory when his smile faltered momentarily.

"See?" Kick muttered. "Now you've done it." ━━━━━━━━━

The sailing trip was Jack's idea, naturally. He'd appeared as you sat reading on the veranda, declaring the afternoon "too perfect to waste on dead Russians." Before you could defend Tolstoy, he'd whisked you down to the docks where a sleek sailboat waited, its white hull gleaming against the blue harbor.

"The Victura," he said, helping you aboard with unnecessary attentiveness. "My personal escape vessel."

"From what are you escaping?"

He smiled, untying lines with practiced efficiency. "Expectations, mostly. Family comes with plenty of those."

You watched him work, noting the ease with which he handled the boat. His usual performance gave way to genuine competence as he raised the sail and took the tiller, guiding you smoothly away from the dock.

The wind caught, filling the canvas with a satisfying snap. Jack adjusted the sail and settled beside you, one hand on the tiller, the other braced against the gunwale inches from yours.

"Have you sailed before?" he asked.

"On the Solent, a few times. Never alone."

"You're not alone now."

You glanced at him sharply, but his expression was guileless as he guided the boat into deeper water, the Kennedy compound growing smaller behind you.

"Worried I'm kidnapping you?" he asked, noticing your backward glance.

"The thought had occurred."

He laughed. "Relax. I don't have provisions for a proper abduction. This is just..." He gestured at the expanse of blue surrounding you. "The only place where nobody's watching."

Something in his tone—a rare note of earnestness—made you study him more carefully. Without the audience of his family, Jack seemed less performative. The wind ruffled his hair, and he squinted against the sun's glare.

"Do you mind it?" you asked. "Being watched?"

He considered this, adjusting the sail slightly. "It's all I've known. Dad has plans—for all of us, but especially Joe. I get to slip under the radar sometimes." A grin crept across his face. "Which has its advantages."

"Such as?"

"More freedom to pursue personal interests." His gaze was direct, unambiguous. "Like showing beautiful English visitors the best views in the Cape."

You rolled your eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. "Is this your usual routine? Sailing and flattery?"

"Nothing usual about it," he said, suddenly serious again. "I don't bring many people out here."

The boat sliced through the water, carrying you farther from shore than you'd intended to go. You should have felt concerned, but instead found yourself relaxing into the rhythm of the waves, the steady presence of Jack beside you, his shoulder occasionally brushing yours as he adjusted course.

He began pointing out landmarks—the lighthouse, a distant island, the curve of the Cape—and telling stories of childhood adventures. His gift for narrative was evident; he rendered his siblings as distinct characters in an ongoing family saga, mimicking their voices with uncanny accuracy.

"You should write," you said when he finished a particularly vivid account of a childhood prank.

He looked surprised. "I do, sometimes. Nothing worth reading."

"I doubt that."

A smile spread slowly across his face. "Maybe I'll show you. If you promise not to judge too harshly."

"I make no such promises."

His laugh carried across the water. "Honest, at least." He adjusted the tiller, bringing the boat around in a wide arc. "We should head back before they send out a search party. Kick already thinks I'm a terrible influence."

"Aren't you?"

"Absolutely," he admitted cheerfully. "But even terrible influences know when to retreat strategically."

As you sailed back toward the dock, he drifted into a quiet sort of thoughtfulness, his profile sharp against the fading light. You found yourself watching the line of his jaw, the way his forearms flexed as he steered, steady and sure.

He caught you looking and held your gaze without his usual smirk or quip. And in that stillness, something passed between you. Not words, but a sense—like maybe, underneath all the charm, there was something else taking shape.

Then he grinned, breaking the spell. "Race you back to the house?" ━━━━━━━━━

"'...and do tell your charming friend with the pretty eyes that I look forward to meeting her properly when I return.'" Kick finished reading Joe Jr.'s letter with a dramatic flourish, lounging across her bed in a silk robe. "Can you believe him? He's never even spoken to you, and already he's staking a claim."

You sat at her vanity, brushing your hair before dinner. "He's only being polite."

"He's being a Kennedy," Kick corrected. "Dad practically invented strategic courtship."

From the chaise lounge by the window, where he'd installed himself uninvited twenty minutes earlier, Jack snorted. "Bit late, isn't he?" He was leafing through one of Kick's magazines with feigned disinterest, but his eyes flicked up at Joe's mention. "Besides, I thought you were bringing her here specifically to distract me from getting into trouble."

"That was before I realized you'd be one," Kick replied. "Now I'm just hoping she escapes with her reputation intact."

You met Jack's gaze in the mirror. He offered a half-smile that managed to be both apologetic and not at all sorry.

"My reputation survived finishing school with you," you told Kick. "I imagine it can withstand a few weeks of Kennedy attention."

"Few weeks," Jack echoed softly, almost to himself. Something in his tone made you turn toward him, but he was already rising, tossing the magazine aside. "Better get dressed for dinner. Mother hates tardiness almost as much as she hates Protestants."

"Jack," Kick admonished.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Just reporting facts." At the door, he paused, looking directly at you. "Save me a dance later? Kick's convinced the new gramophone player to work."

After he left, Kick groaned and flopped back on her bed. "I've created a monster. I never should have mentioned you were coming."

"He's just amusing himself," you said, though you weren't entirely convinced. There was something in the way Jack looked at you sometimes—a flash of sincerity beneath the practiced charm—that suggested more than casual diversion.

"That's what worries me," Kick said, studying your face. "You're actually falling for it, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Hmm." She narrowed her eyes. "Just remember—Jack collects interesting people like some boys collect baseball cards. He's fascinated until he isn't."

"You make him sound rather fickle."

"Not fickle," Kick said, her expression softening. "Just... young. We all are." She sat up, suddenly businesslike. "Now, wear the blue dress tonight. It makes your eyes look dangerously intelligent, and that always confuses the boys." ━━━━━━━━━

The final days of your visit acquired the dreamlike quality particular to endings—each moment sharper, more saturated, weighted with the awareness of its impending conclusion. The Kennedy routine had become familiar: competitive morning activities, leisurely afternoons, evenings filled with music and debate and laughter.

Jack sought you out constantly, with increasingly transparent excuses. I need a partner for charades; I found a book you must read immediately; The view from the east lawn was particularly spectacular at sunset, and wouldn't you like to see it?

Kick observed it all with amused resignation, occasionally running interference when her brother's attentions grew too obvious, but mostly letting the situation unfold with the fatalism of someone watching an approaching storm.

On your last evening, you slipped away from the family gathering, needing a moment alone before the whirlwind of departure. The sky was smeared with sunset colors as you walked along the path to the small dock where fishing boats bobbed in the twilight.

You weren't surprised when footsteps crunched on the gravel behind you.

"Running away?" Jack's voice carried on the evening air.

"Just breathing," you replied, not turning around.

He came to stand beside you, hands in his pockets. The golden hour light softened the angles of his face, catching in his hair and turning it bronze at the edges. Neither of you spoke for a long moment, watching the water turn from blue to silver as darkness fell.

"I've been thinking," he finally said, uncharacteristically hesitant.

"A dangerous pastime."

His smile was quick but faded almost immediately. "I was wondering if you might write to me. After you leave."

The simple request caught you off guard. You'd expected a final flirtation, perhaps a bold declaration or attempt at a kiss—not this quiet uncertainty.

"You want me to write to you?"

"Is that so surprising?" He looked genuinely perplexed.

"I rather thought I was just this summer's distraction."

He winced. "Kick's been sharing her theories, I see."

"She's protective."

"She's right, usually," he admitted. "But not about this." He turned to face you fully. "I like you. Not just because you're pretty, or because you're Kick's friend, or because you're new and different. I like how your mind works. I like arguing with you. I like that you don't let me get away with anything."

The naked sincerity in his voice startled you. Without his usual armor of charm and wit, Jack Kennedy seemed suddenly younger, more vulnerable.

"I might write," you said carefully. "If I have something worth saying."

His smile returned slowly. "You always have something worth saying. That's rather the point."

The breeze picked up, carrying the scent of salt and distant rain. Jack stepped closer, near enough that you could feel the warmth radiating from him.

"I'm leaving for Harvard in the fall," he said. "It would be nice to have someone to tell about it. Someone who sees me, not just the Kennedy name."

"Is that what I do?"

"From the first day. It's terrifying, actually." His smile turned rueful. "No one ever accused me of enjoying discomfort, but I find I don't mind it with you."

The compliment, if that's what it was, held none of his usual polish. It felt raw, unplanned—and all the more powerful for it.

"I should get back," you said, suddenly uncertain. "Kick will wonder where I've gone."

"Kick knows exactly where you are," Jack replied, but he made no move to stop you as you turned toward the path. "Think about it? The letters?"

You paused, looking back at him. In the gathering dusk, with the sea behind him and the wind ruffling his hair, he seemed both familiar and strange—the charming boy who'd greeted you that first day, and someone else entirely, someone you'd only glimpsed in quiet moments between performances.

"Maybe I will," you said. "If you promise not to be insufferable about it."

His laugh carried across the water. "Now that," he said, "is a promise I definitely can't make."

You smiled despite yourself and walked back toward the house. Just before you reached the garden path, you called back over your shoulder without turning around:

"By the way, Jack, I already asked Kick for your Harvard address."

His startled laugh carried across the water. You kept walking, biting your lip to keep from grinning too broadly, quite certain you'd managed the impossible: leaving Jack Kennedy momentarily speechless.

Let him stew on that during his fancy Harvard autumn.

As Kick would say: game, set, and match.

[pankowcrumbs]

It all started at a party X Will Poulter Chapter 2

Chapter 1

MasterList

Will Poulter Masterlist

Y/N's POV

Eventually, Florence moved the party to the kitchen under the guise of needing dessert which turned out to be a box of store-bought profiteroles she’d “plated with style.” Everyone scattered into smaller groups.

Will next to me again.

Close.

He leaned against the counter beside where I stood, slicing into a sad-looking profiterole with a butter knife.

“You alright?” he asked softly, with that damn tilt of the head that made it impossible to lie.

I laughed under my breath. “You just told a room full of people you fell for someone at first sight and looked straight at me. So no, I am not alright.”

He grinned. “Fair.”

I braved a glance at him and instantly regretted it. His eyes had that spark again. Mischief and something softer. Something quieter.

“I meant it,” he said.

Those three words landed with a thud somewhere in my chest.

“Okay,” I said, barely above a whisper.

“Okay,” he echoed, like it was a promise.

There was a pause not the awkward kind, but the kind that makes you hyperaware of everything. How close you’re standing. How your arms brush. How your heart beats faster than you want it to.

Will leaned down, voice even softer now. “Would you maybe want to go out sometime?”

I blinked. “Like… actually?”

“No, metaphorically,” he teased, then nudged my elbow. “Yes. Like actually. Just the two of us. No chaos jars. No Joseph glaring at me from across the room.”

I smiled wide, uncontrollably. “I’d like that.”

His grin turned downright boyish. “Good. Because I was this close to writing my number on a profiterole and dramatically sliding it across the counter.”

I snorted. “And I would’ve eaten it and accidentally ghosted you.”

“Tragic,” he said. “But memorable.”

Just then, Florence shouted from the other room, “Y/N! Will! We’re doing karaoke and Jack’s trying to rap Eminem again, please come save us!”

He gave me a look. “Ready to face the chaos?”

I nodded. “Only if you duet something awful with me.”

“Oh, I insist.”

He offered his hand.

I took it.

And just like that, we walked back into the madness still laughing, still flushed, but now… something was different.

Now we had something real brewing.

And I couldn’t wait to see where it went.

I checked my reflection for the fourth time.

Hair? Not too try-hard. Outfit? Casual, but still cute. Makeup? Not smudged yet. Nerves? Oh, absolutely skyrocketing.

The text Will had sent earlier still glowed on my screen:

"Dinner at mine? I promise no tequila or intrusive question jars. Just food and good company (hopefully you)."

I’d stared at it for a solid five minutes before typing back: "I’ll bring dessert. And I expect a dramatic apron reveal."

Now here I was, clutching a brown paper bag with overpriced macarons and a bottle of wine, standing in front of Will’s front door, trying to remember how breathing worked.

It opened before I could knock.

And there he was Will Poulter. Wearing a ridiculous apron that said “Grill Sergeant” even though I knew for a fact we were having pasta.

“You weren’t kidding,” I said, grinning.

He bowed slightly. “I never joke about aprons.”

I stepped inside, and instantly, everything smelled like garlic, tomato, and something warm and rich and homemade. There was music playing softly in the background some 70s soul playlist that made the room feel cozy, lived in, inviting.

He took the bag from me, peeking inside. “Oh, fancy. Look at you, showing off your macaron privilege.”

I laughed. “I panicked and bought the first pretty thing I saw.”

“Honestly, same. With the pasta. Hope you like carbs.”

“I only date people who support my pasta addiction.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Guess I passed the first test.”

Will poured us both a glass of wine, then went back to stirring something in a pan while I sat on a stool at the kitchen island, chin resting on my hand, just watching him.

Not in a creepy way. Hopefully.

He caught me looking and smirked. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said, too quickly.

He stepped closer. “Come on. Tell me.”

I gave in. “You just… you look comfortable.”

He blinked. “Like, in a literal sense? Or…?”

“No,” I said, smiling. “Like yourself. Like this is you being you.”

Something flickered in his expression. Something gentle. “It is. You bring that out, I think.”

Before I could turn into a melted candle, he turned back to the stove. “Okay. Dinner in two.”

After food and laughter and too much wine…

We ended up on the couch, both of us sitting too close to be casual and too far to be intimate. That awkward first-date space where you both know what you want but you’re still dancing around it.

He was telling me a story about filming some chaotic scene when I caught myself staring at his mouth instead of listening. I blinked, shook my head slightly.

“Sorry, what?”

He laughed. “Did I lose you?”

“Just for a second,” I admitted.

He tilted his head, studying me. “You nervous?”

“A little.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you,” I said, honestly. “And I don’t want to screw this up.”

His eyes softened. “You couldn’t. Even if you tried.”

There was a beat thick, warm silence between us. Then he reached out, slowly, letting his hand brush mine before sliding his fingers between mine completely.

My breath hitched.

“Okay?” he asked, voice low.

I nodded. “Yeah. More than okay.”

And then finally he leaned in.

It wasn’t some firework, orchestra-blaring, spin-the-camera kind of kiss. It was quiet. Deliberate. The kind that makes your shoulders drop, your heart slow, your stomach float. The kind that feels like home.

He pulled back just slightly, resting his forehead against mine. “Told you. Time slows down.”

I smiled. “You really remembered that?”

“I remember everything you say,” he whispered.

And maybe that was cheesy. Maybe it was the wine. Maybe I was already in too deep.

But I didn’t care.

Because this? This was the start of something real.

I hadn’t known a first date could feel so… easy.

Will's POV-

From that night on, it was... us.

Sort of.

We didn’t tell anyone right away. But the group caught on fast. You can’t share those kinds of glances at a dinner party without someone Florence Pugh blowing the whistle.

“You’re so dating,” she hissed one night at a pub, sliding into the booth beside me.

“We’re... seeing where it goes,” I offered.

“Which is code for dating,” Jack said, already stealing chips from my plate.

Joseph grinned. “Have you planned the wedding or should I start shopping for suits?”

Y/N was pink-cheeked beside me. But smiling.

So was I.

Y/N’s POV

The soft launch became an accidental hard launch when someone (ahem, Andrew Garfield) took a blurry group photo at game night and posted it.

I wasn’t even looking at the camera.

I was looking at Will.

And he was looking at me.

Cue Instagram comments exploding.

“THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER 😭” “Tell me I’m not imagining this chemistry??” “Will Poulter got the girl in real life. I’m not okay.”

Within hours, my DMs were flooded, and so were his.

Some people were sweet. Some were... not.

It was a lot.

Will was calm about it grounded in a way I wasn’t used to. “It’s noise,” he said gently, fingers grazing mine. “But it doesn’t change us, right?”

I nodded.

Mostly because I wanted to believe him.

Will’s POV

The first bump in the road came during an event.

We weren’t even seated next to each other, but a reporter found a way to ask about her. Not us, just her. Implying she was a distraction. A headline.

I brushed it off in the moment. Laughed.

But later, when we were back in her flat, she asked, “Did you mean that?”

“Mean what?”

“What you said. That it’s ‘just a casual thing.’”

I froze.

“I didn’t...” I ran a hand through my hair. “I was trying to deflect. Not define us.”

“But that’s what they’ll run with.”

Her voice was tight. Not angry. Just... tired.

I stepped closer. “You really think I’d cook for someone, kiss someone, look at someone like I look at you if it was just casual?”

She looked up at me, eyes glassy. “I don’t know. I just… I want to be proud of us, not hidden.”

That hit me.

I cupped her cheek. “Then let’s stop hiding.”

Y/N’s POV

So we did.

We posted a blurry group photo.

And then a clearer one. Of him holding my hand.

Then a video of Will trying to flip a pancake and hitting the ceiling.

We started saying us without flinching.

And when Florence dragged us to a trivia night at a local pub with the group costume theme: ‘iconic pairs’, we showed up as Ross and Rachel. Joseph nearly cried laughing.

Will’s POV

There was still chaos.

Andrew managed to break a stool mid-laugh. Jack got cut off after challenging the bartender to a dance battle. Florence kept insisting we were all part of her social experiment. “You’re welcome for your love story,” she declared.

But when I looked across the table and saw Y/N smiling like really smiling I knew it was worth it.

The awkward headlines. The social media noise. Even the brief fight that left us both quiet and stubborn for half a day.

Because every time I looked at her, I didn’t feel the chaos.

I felt calm.

I felt home.

Y/N’s POV

Later that night, just the two of us again, I curled up on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

“You’re not going to run if I get overwhelmed again, right?” I murmured.

His arms tightened around me.

“Only thing I’m running for is late-night snacks.”

I laughed softly.

Then I tilted my head up and kissed him.

Because whatever this was it was real.

And I wasn’t going anywhere.

[darkmaga-returns]

The conversation started with a bombshell: Pfizer's COVID-19 shot is now being blamed for causing as many deaths as World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War COMBINED.

This news comes from a disturbing study co-authored by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

The study revealed Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA shot may have killed over 470,000 Americans in 2021 alone.

Researchers found that individuals who received Pfizer’s injection faced a 36% higher risk of all-cause mortality—excluding COVID—compared to those who received Moderna’s shot.

The study, which is still in pre-print, analyzed data from over a million Florida Medicaid recipients. When extrapolated nationally, the estimated death toll from Pfizer’s shot alone exceeded 470,000 in just one year.

That number rivals the total U.S. military deaths from World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War—combined.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH called the findings “a minimal estimate,” warning the real toll could be EVEN HIGHER.

[ringsofpowerconfessions]

"I think killing off Adar so soon was a mistake. Not only he was super entertaining to watch, but I felt his death was kind of rushed and anticlimactic. I wished the show could have done more with his character, at the very least reveal his true identity before killing him off. He died without us knowing his real name, backstory, … Sure he would never survive a face off with Sauron, but they could have postpone that to next season. And while I liked Joseph Mawle in S1, I think Sam Hazeldine knocked it out of the park. His interpretation of Adar really make me like this character."

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Note: This post has been sitting half written in my drafts since January 6. I don't typically post about the Newsies musical, but I'm finally coming back to this because @witawwy-ponyboy-curtis expressed a similar idea in this post which has prompted me to break my silence on Katherine. Enjoy!

---

It's fairly common knowledge at this point that the Newsies stage musical character Katherine Plumber/Pulitzer was named after Katherine Ethel Pulitzer who was in fact Joseph Pulitzer's daughter. However, the real daughter of Joseph Pulitzer was born in 1882 and tragically died in 1884 from pneumonia just four months after her second birthday.

Nothing about Katherine the character is really "inspired by" the real Katherine except for her being Pulitzer's daughter. In fact, the real historical inspiration for her story is Nellie Bly:

"Notable People," Newsies Production Handbook, page 16.

It's interesting to note that Nellie Bly worked for Joseph Pulitzer at The World and that was she known for her exposés. By going undercover as a patient, she unearthed the corruption of a woman's mental asylum in New York City. Of course, she also retired from journalism in 1895, four years before the events of Newsies.

But, keeping Nellie Bly in mind, it's extremely irritating to me that, in adapting Newsies, Katherine's story didn't draw more from the woman who actually inspired her. Katherine being revealed as Pulitzer's daughter is an unnecessary plot twist. And the fact that the basis behind it is that Pulitzer had a daughter named Katherine who died when she was two seems extremely disrespectful to the real Katherine Ethel whose family was long gone by the time Newsies came along and didn't have any say in how their daughter would be remembered.

So what if Katherine Plumber wasn't Pulitzer's daughter? What if instead Katherine was simply a middle or upper-middle class young woman? She's still determined to establish herself as a serious reporter, and she still works for The Sun. The difference is that Joseph Pulitzer has no connection to Katherine and has also never read her writing before. That is, until she reports on the strike going on against him. (Remember how Nellie Bly worked for The World?)

Instead of Katherine's plot twist being that she is Pulitzer's daughter, Pulitzer reads the article she wrote on the strike for The Sun. He's outraged by the story she writes, but impressed by the skill she possesses. Then, before or after he threatens/bribes Jack, he also approaches Katherine and offers her a job at the World in exchange for her ceasing reporting on the strike.

Katherine, maybe as a result of Jack scabbing, reluctantly decides to take the deal. She doesn't want to betray the newsies who have become her friends, but from where she stands, the strike is falling apart already and working for The World could make her career. Not only does this twist make for a much more serious 'betrayal,' but it also mirrors how Denton faced losing his job in the original 1992 movie if he didn't stop reporting on the strike and allow himself to be reassigned back to his previous job as a war correspondent. It also ties back to Nellie Bly because she worked for The World.

And with this new, high stakes betrayal, Jack isn't the only person affected by it. Just like in the original film, David faces a double betrayal by the two people he trusted and relied on and is forced to carry on the strike alone.

Finally, with Jack and Katherine on the outs and David rightfully pissed, who's left to fix things? (Drumroll please!) cue Sarah who is left with her brother’s anger and a spark of hope among her fellow child workers that is quickly dwindling and in danger of being snuffed out. She understands that the strike is bigger than just the newsies because sees the strike mostly as an outsider, she sees how the strike is impacting the city and how important it really is. So, like in the movie, she’s the one who finds an article written by Katherine and possibly confronts Katherine with it, telling her how they can’t just roll over and take this because Katherine herself had revealed the importance of the strike so thoroughly in her writing.

Hearing Sarah’s side of the story calls Katherine to renewed action. Her making amends with Jack and introducing the idea of the Newsies Banner can remain mostly unchanged from the stage musical, except of course for the nature of her 'betrayal.'

Because she accepted Pulitzer’s offer to work for The World, no one bats an eye when she shows up requesting keys for the basement and Katherine’s very first article for Pulitzer (printed by The World’s own printing press) is an exposé on Pulitzer’s bribery, the exploitation of child workers in nyc, and the corruption in the refuge (once again as a nod to Nellie Bly).

And just like that, Sarah is back, David gets his lost-in-translation character development, and Katherine Plumber's story gets closure.

[reality-detective]

Inside the Deep-State Cloning Labs: Clones, Doubles, Actors, and CGI—The Greatest Show On Earth 🍿

Biden was already old. Gray hair. But look closely: Hair style. Complexion. Nose structure. Chin. Mouth. Does it all align? Or are we staring at something far more sinister?

The excuses keep coming: Plastic surgery. Aging. But is that enough to justify the glaring differences? No. It’s time to pull back the curtain.

The Cloning Agenda Unveiled 👇

Reports suggest Biden isn’t Biden. A clone, failing before our eyes. His voice altered, his features disintegrating, and yes—his ears seem to be falling off his face. This is no accident.

The Kamino Corporation—a shadowy operation behind these clones—was allegedly approached by the DNC in 2019. By April, Biden’s clone was ready to run for office. The model? A T-1000, initially flawless but now deteriorating rapidly. And it’s not just him. Sources suggest Marjorie Taylor Greene herself could be another clone—crafted from the same tech.

Widespread Clone Recall in Progress 👇

The cloning company is now recalling their T-series models after mass failures. Nancy Pelosi, Olsen twins, Guy Fieri, Boris Johnson, Tom Brady—all suspected clones. The fix? A sinister "patch" of hydroxychloroquine and adrenochrome, designed to slow cellular decay but incapable of erasing character flaws.

Executions, GITMO, and Replacements 👇

Tribunals authorized by Trump’s Executive Order have reportedly been running since 2019. Charges? Treason, crimes against humanity. Results? Executions. Clones and doubles now serve as placeholders, masking the truth until the public awakens to the depths of their depravity.

Inside the Labyrinth: Revelations from a Deep-State Scientist 👇

Captured in 2023, a cloning scientist unveiled the horrifying scope of the operation. These clones, designed to live only three years, are summoned back to reclamation centers before their programmed expiration. There, they’re dissolved in acid and replaced by new facsimiles.

He revealed that Joseph Biden has had three clones released since 2012. The real Biden? Some speculate that possibly he was eliminated under Obama’s regime. Each clone is equipped with a microchip—a GPS, health tracker, and a recall system ensuring secrecy.

The Rabbit Hole Runs Deep 👇

This conspiracy is not just about politics. It’s about control, deception, and domination. The exposure of these clones forces us to confront the hidden hands pulling the strings. Who else among us is real?

Stay Vigilant. The storm is here.

We’ve waited for years… and now it’s here. The Deep State’s downfall has begun, and nothing can stop it now. 🤔

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - It's Just a Prank

A random SDJ thought popped into my head again, and I needed to inflict it on y'all. Don't worry, stripper Joseph is still coming, but I just had to share plot bunny as soon as it appeared.

Imagine if Ian didn't really cheat on MC, but instead it was all just a very dumb and cruel prank.

There's a trend online for people to pretend they're cheating and film their partner's reaction to walking in on them. Picture a scenario where Ian's new friends at his fancy college talked him into pulling the prank on MC. They're aspiring actors after all, and that means they're going to be very keenly aware of the latest trends. Filming pranks and posting it would show off their acting skills.

I can just imagine the sort of things being said by Ian's friends to peer pressure encourage him to pull this kind of prank.

"It'll be fun! It's not like you'll actually be cheating. No one gets hurt."

"It's the latest trend. Everybody's doing it. We've all done it to our partners, and it was hilarious!"

"See? What'd I tell you? In every video, even the person getting pranked is laughing their ass off about it too."

And so on and so forth. It's "harmless" and it the prankster gets to enjoy the little thrill of seeing their partner jealous for their sake. It might even have an additional allure if MC isn't usually the jealous type, and Ian was always secretly curious what it'd be like to have them get possessive over him. It'd certainly be a confidence boost to someone with low self-esteem to see his partner fight for him.

Naturally, it all goes to hell. I doubt many MCs are going to easily bounce back from being pranked like that.

I know my girl Alice wouldn't. It'd be a huge violation of trust and feel like just bullying on par with the "friend" that pretended to ask her out, only to laugh in her face that she was "stupid" to think they were serious. They'd always gloat to their friends afterwards too, because this sort of prank was always some sort of dare. No one would ask her out if it wasn't a prank or a dare.

Something like this, so cruel and done thoughtlessly for the sake of winning favor with new friends, would severely damage Alice's trust and ability to feel safe with Ian.

It'd be even worse if it was filmed. Imagine MC going on a trip to visit Ian, only to be surprised by this "prank." The person pretending to be the affair partner could even make it more "realistic" by stripping some clothes from themselves and maybe Ian too and making noises before MC walks in.

Alice would be gutted by such a scene. First she would freeze in shock and horror. Then it'd be revealed as a prank, Ian smiling awkwardly as he hopes the joke lands while the "affair partner" laughs about it being a prank... only for Alice to flee the scene.

Of course Ian and the "affair partner" would give chase, insisting it was a prank. There'd be tears and begging of course. Alice wouldn't be able to even handle seeing the video that had the proof that it wasn't real. In the moment, it'd almost feel worse that Ian intentionally inflicted this pain on her to... what? Gain internet points? Be seen as cool by his new friends who have been taking all of his time from her for a while now? How can she believe that the video really was just supposed to be something they were supposed to laugh about later?

Even if it was, how was Alice supposed to laugh at the sight of her betrayed face and treat it like a cherished memory?

Ian would no doubt bring up the arguments his friends used to pressure convince him to do it. If MC is the type to spring surprises/pranks on him, it'd seem almost expected that he pulls pranks in return. It'd certainly would be a good defense for him to use to soften what he did.

Alice mildly surprises Ian with surprise hugs/licking/biting and maybe a little friendly teasing/pranks, but it's nothing even close to this scale. Comparing the two would make it even worse in her mind, as if Ian is blaming her for being hurt, even if he didn't intend it to be that way. It certainly was a common defense from bullies that got called out on making her feel like shit... and Ian knows it.

Hell, Ian suffered that sort of bullying too. A part of him likely felt like doing this sort of prank was wrong the whole time, but his friends were so convincing. He didn't want to let them down. He was finally actually fitting in, being accepted and not rejected...

"So hurting me was better than disappointing your new friends!?"

Needless to say, I think this would be grounds for a breakup with most MCs and a lot of groveling afterwards from Ian to try and get back together. It's all his fault, and he'll have to atone for it.

Hey, I think this might be a good narrative to take for people who want to ship their MCs with Ian but aren't comfortable with the fact that he cheated. It'd be coming short of crossing that line that a lot of people find unforgivable, but still be pretty damaging and unquestionably his failing that he needs to make amends for. It also fits in with his arc of trying to fit in and be popular with his new group of peers in the modeling/acting industry.

Hell, you could even blend the two possibilities. It was originally a prank, but Ian wound up actually cheating. They were "trying to make it seem real" only for it to wind up actually being real after he got carried away with the role and his "sinful" urges. Method acting can go a bit far after all...

Either way, Ian certainly did give in to temptation of another and betrayed his partner in the process.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 23 "wetwired" thoughts

the previous episode was SO good. but, it is true, i was distracted by the dog. it was SUCH!! a perfect episode. EXCEPT for that one thing. so i hope that today, i can face this episode with a clear head, free of judgement based on the fate of little dogs.

well, boy, i did face this episode with a clear mind, and wow. wowza. another AMAZING ep... and i will keep the angst from this episode in my heart forever and bottle it and take a nice long swig when i need my msr feels, which is basically always. wow. an exclamation point doesn't even feel APPROPRIATE, it just needs to hang in the air for a bit. (wiping tears away) wow....

let us go back to yesterday's notes, which shall commence below:

reading the episode description... so this one features murders linked to a device that alters television signals… huh. man, too many people i know don’t even have cable anymore. this simply would not work in the modern era. imagine if hulu or tubi or something made you kill people though lmao that would be silly to imagine.

we open with a guy digging a hole in the woods. always a promising start. seems he’s in an orchard of some sort? and the music is very very creepy. 

okay, so just as you suspect, this dude is burying a dead guy. sometimes your gut instinct is correct and tropes are not meant to be subverted. but the dude who is burying him says “your killing days are OVER” so is this actually a justice arc??? hmm. it is not clear. man, it would be hard to dig a hole like that.

shovel murder man is at home washing the blood off. but then someone else approaches him and he kills THAT GUY TOO WITH THE SHOVEL?? huh? what is going on. 

police at da guy’s house. everyone has the same face as the dude he just killed??? so they tase him. and then the faces go back to their REAL faces. now what is going on here!!!!!!!!!!

as the real faces return, the man realizes he killed someone named sarah!!! and he seems sooo upset by the fact that he killed sarah!!!! poor sarah :(

so does the tv make you see other people’s faces on the bodies of random people….? omg that’s insidious...

we now shift to a different scene, one where mulder is sitting in his car at 2 am. doing what???? waiting for some guy!!! he was waiting TWO HOURS for this guy!!! who is this guy...? it's giving blind date/drug deal.

the man who enters his car gives him a newspaper clipping about the murders we just saw. and mulder came here after getting AN ANONYMOUS EMAIL in the middle of the night??? this is crazy because literally so many people want him dead and this would have been a very easy way to accomplish that goal. wow. seriously, no self-preservation instincts on this guy.

mystery man says he has no obligation to explain what is going on, but if mulder walks away from it, more people will die. so no pressure!! xx

cutscene to a hospital, where mulder is watching our murderer through glass, while scully comes in saying that she is sorry she is late, but “the beltway was a parking lot”. beltway refers to interstate 495! thank you wikipedia i love your services!

murderer is named joseph. and he claims to have been killing the same guy over and over again, and that he wouldn’t die. which seems pretty awful.

OH! and the week before, in the same town, a babysitter attacked the kids she was watching because she thought they were WOLVES??? omg that is horrific??

they’re talking to the physician, dr. stroman, who says perhaps this was provoked by amphetamine abuse. then joseph starts SCREAMING. he sees a guy on the TV- miriskovic- sorry y’all idk my post-soviet history 💔 (update: i googled it, i don't even think that guy was real because all the results are links to wikis on this specific episode... reveals how little i truly know)

anyway, seeing that guy's face on the TV seems to have triggered the screaming situation. does he have trauma from the country he used to live in and seeing references to it makes these things happen…? that would be a wild episode. put me in the writer's room and let me cook.

scully quickly picks up on the fact that this case is Weird, and mulder admits it came from some random guy, which makes her suspicious. but they go to the crime scene, and, like always, he lifts the crime scene tape up over her head, and it’s very charming despite the lack of sensibility in going down this whole rabbit hole.

the minute they get in, they hear screaming and a gunshot! but it’s just some kids watching TV??? eating popcorn in a crime scene??? LMAO WHAT?

mulder kicks them out and scruffs one of the boy’s heads... ohhhh he needs to be a father so bad huh... like i have been saying this since s1 he just has a Need to tease and spoil children. well, we can unpack that another time. there's crime afoot.

so he watches the tv and it starts to go all static-y because a guy outside is fixing the wires. scully finds a TON of tapes and they’re just shelves and shelves of cable TV shows!!!

“there must be hundreds of videos here”, she says, to which he asks “anything good?” <- idk why this made me giggle. it sounded like he was gonna put one in and chill for a bit lmao

scully starts to wonder if seeing the cable news, like joseph had recorded, was what triggered his episode back at the hospital. ooooh! a theory!!! 

cut to mulder watching a tape in the bed of his motel, making an absolute pile of sunflower seeds- this dude is gonna attract mice or something someday omfg- and also he has a cola which is peak american culture. LMAOOOO he has a HUGE pile of tapes on the floor i’m crying... my type A self could NOT deal with him!

he says he watched 36 hours of bernard shaw and bobbi batista and is now also ready to kill someone as scully welcomes him into her room, which also has cola but is much more nicely organized! she found something weird on the tapes from late april, each a night when he committed a murder 

AND WHY DID MULDER GET ALL COZIED UP ON HER COUCH?????? hooooooly fuck i have never seen such a baby girl of a man

OMFG??? all the reports from the murder nights feature that miriskovic guy!!!

so did seeing violence make him violent? mulder says no, and that theory assumes that “americans are just empty vessels, ready to be filled with any idea or image that’s fed to them like a bunch of pavlov dogs, and go out and act on it” oh if only this man could see the news lately……… insert ben affleck smoking a cigarette image here to describe the things we see in our current age. mulder you would not believe.

he’s really bashing her theory, but she’s saying maybe he was high and seeing these things sent him on a spiral- makes sense to me

he is leaving to go get some sleep (after admitting he can’t explain what is going on!!! which always endears me) but scully says she is going to watch the rest of the tapes… a herculean task for our girl

middle of the night and it’s still tape time for scully, but she hears the phone ringing. she hears mulder having a conversation. and he says “no, she doesn’t” which is weird… that is suspicious… what doesn't she...

scully chews her ice which is so funny because me too sometimes. she has chewed all of her ice and must fetch more. and get a cola ofc!!! nothing more american than a cold soda iktr!

but she sees mulder in his car??? lighting up with cig man???? HUH??? and handing over a tape? omfg this is crazy. i assume she is hallucinating though, because no way….

cutscene to a lady named helene watching “the price is nice” (lmaooo) and washing some dishes. but the soap in the dishes starts to look funny- and everything is glitching around her!!! she sees a man outside in a hammock… kissing a woman!!! and oh, she is furious!! she gets her SHOTGUN?? this has escalated very fast. and we hear some shooting!!!

scully is still very visibly disturbed. mulder is reporting the murder, but she seems like a shell of herself. she checks the ash tray in the car, and there is no ash… she notices the car has been moved and he says he got a paper…. why do you ask…. “nothing. it’s nothing” OHHH THIS IS JUICY

so the crime scene has a very bloody hammock. and a dead man, who the wife claims he saw in the hammock with a blonde. but the only other creature at the scene was a dog!!!

OH!!! the hammock man wasn’t even helene's HUSBAND??? this really is LAYERED!! she killed the NEIGHBOR thinking it was her husband, who wasn’t even in town!!!!!! how do you mess this up so badly?

despite the fact that scully is clearly suspicious of mulder, she is sharing the umbrella with him in their usual fashion, and the sense of tension this produces is delicious 

they go to investigate the crime scene and mulder finds some sort of bike and immediately climbs upon it while proclaiming that television does NOT cause violence (LMAOOO HE IS SO WEIRD i need him.) 

they find a bunch more tapes and AGAIN the same guy is messing with the cables outside while they're investigating!!!! mulder is in chase mode!!!! but he cannot chase this dude in the van!!! no man, even a track star such as him, can outrun a van carrying secrets!

scully is trying to fast forward the TV and she looks out to see mulder climbing the pole…. average day for a man like him. he finds a weird cable scrambler in there. she wants to send it to the crime lab, but he says he’ll do the analysis, and she should go interview helene the murderer. OH... she is so suspicious, she just wants to go home…. scully :((( mulder is deeply confused as to why she is being so weird 

so he takes the thingy to the lone gunmen, who say it looks like it’s used for blocking premium cable channels, which i didn’t even know was a thing, you learn so much with this show. but it doesn’t block anything!!! HOWEVER, if you compare a tv with the machine and one without it, the one with the machine is slightly different. hmm...

“you know how television works?” “yeah, you click it on, you have a picture” <- the man who said that line went to oxford btw

it seems that this cable blocker thingy is adding some sort of frequency, but they can’t tell what… hmm.

mulder on the road. scully calls and only asks “where are you” in this very flat and creepy tone and OH i’m scared!!!!

he tries to explain that there is some sort of signal being introduced to the tv- he even says she might be right about the tv inducing violence theory! but she isn’t answering… she hears a clicking, like they're being listened to, and she says he never went to the detective…. let’s wait and talk on a landline, he says.

despite being in his car many miles away, he can tell that there is something very wrong with scully. he says don’t go anywhere, he’ll be right there, and redials after she hangs up. it's very much echoing when she said something similar to him in his crazed gargoyle quest.

but she is so scared, she rips the phone out of the wall and takes it apart!!!! and then the lamp too, and the table. she is checking everything for any sort of bugs!

holy hell, we have never seen her like this before... but i’m actually gagged because she is usually relatively stoic and seeing her paranoid is so different, but it also feels very natural??? she is acting her ass off here as she rips up everything in this motel room. big shoutout to GA, i love your work.

and the static that set in helene's vision earlier is setting in hers now!!! she hears a car pull up and drops to the floor…. she hears a man say “she’s in here” and a pounding on the door. 

OMFG someone tries to open the door and she FIRES 4 SHOTS RIGHT AWAY??? but it’s mulder!!!!

(author's note: i was thinking after i finished the episode, and we know that she is a good shot- remember how she hit just the right angle to knock mulder out but not kill him at the end of s2? so she is either SO out of it that she cannot even aim straight, or there is a tiny tiny tiny part of her that still thinks that mulder isn't worth killing. please mull over which option brings you greater angst)

he’s coming in with his gun and his hair is blowing in the wind and he can’t FIND HER!!!!! it was really very dramatic. hair blowing in the wind has this effect.

cutscene to scully’s mom’s house, and we see a picture of young scully on the table... AWW stop she’s so cuuuute and one of missy as well 😭😭😭

OH! it’s mulder on the phone calling mrs. scully in the middle of the night!!! NOOOO he has to tell her that he doesn’t know where she is :( NOOOO poor mrs. scully has gone through too much. he feels SO bad breaking this news, that he even apologizes for hanging up right away, something he never ever does. he must be in deeeep distress to do such a thing.

and why does he hang up?? because SKINNER IS HERE!!! he’s leading a manhunt for scully, and mulder is saying she shouldn’t be hunted like a convict… but skinner says dude SHE FIRED FOUR ROUNDS AT YOU AND SOME RANDOM GUY last night!!!!

despite this, mulder insists that he can get her to listen to him if they just keep her safe; she’s suffering from some sort of paranoid psychosis. skinner is being quite patient as he tries to explain that the video tapes made her do it. skinner says well... you better find her before these guys do.

GASP!!! he’s putting up the x on his window! and doing that thing where he bounces his basketball because he cannot relax!!! stop i'm emotional!!!!!

the lone gunmen call to say they found something on the tape…. and it induces electrical activity…. MIND CONTROL???

but why wasn’t he effected?

! MULDER LORE REVEAL ! HE’S RED-GREEN COLORBLIND???? THIS IS AN INSANE LORE DROP TO GIVE NEARLY 4 SEASONS IN??????

wait, is this just for plot purposes, or is DD actually colorblind and they decided to roll with it? because now i’m gonna be looking at all the red-ish things we see on screen (like his tie he is grabbing to emphasize his point) and wonder, can he see that? how does this impact his tie selection process....

okay that really threw me off guard. man, i was getting to think we'd never get another lore reveal, which is a shame because i quite like formatting those facts in that way. good to know we could get more at anytime!

he gets a phone call from maryland state police. the lone gunmen ask if she’s okay and he says no, he has to go and ID the body. WHAT!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! he is trying to keep composed. holy fuck………..

(heavy breathing as i grab your shoulder and squeeze) hey man. hey. he was trying so hard to be strong.

so he pulls up to the morgue and stops before he gets out of the car, and holds his head above the wheel STOP I’LL CRY???? i’ll cry… what are they putting him through??? losing her again……..

(i mean i have SEEN gifs of scully in seasons past this one, so i know she's gonna pull through, but HE doesn't know that, and must be reliving the worst days of his life AGAIN, and aughhhhh!)

but the mystery guy from the start of the episode that give him the info on the muders pulls up and says get in right now!!!!!! mulder is furious, he says he’s busy. in a shocking display of insensitivity, mystery man says he does not give a fuck. mulder is yelling that this is all his fault. mystery man says “they” are destroying the evidence, and they’ll finish it by tomorrow if he keeps searching for her, but he kicks the door shut and ignores him.

(omg…. he loves her enough to break him out of his bloodhound mode… the dogged ahab-like quest for answers and revenge… i’m getting flashbacks to his conversation with missy in one breath…….. realizing he needs to put the ones he loves before his need for revenge sometimes..... wow)

so he walks into the morgue, and the dude in there says they found a body nude and shot in the forehead.

he closes his eyes to try and brace himself before taking a peek, to prepare to see her lifeless, probably reliving those many hours by her bedside when she was in the hospital, trying to imagine her shot in the forehead, the scully he knows and loves with her dry humor and her teasing smile and caffeine dependency, the her that is so full of life, lifeless…

but it isn’t her. PHEW!

despite this being good news that he has to share- she's not dead! her mother isn’t answering her phone…. so he goes to her house. and i'm thinking, oh my gosh, did she do something rash in her grief?

but mrs. scully answers the door and claims dana isn’t here. he bursts in and says he needs to see her right now. omg, he saw right through her lies.

(also, it always feels weird to refer to her as dana, but moving on)

NO!!!! she has him at gunpoint and says he’s here to kill him!!! poor guy looks so flabbergasted… and her mom is trying to get her to please put down the gun, and he’s trying to explain what is going on!!! he is so singularly locked into her…. 

“he’s lied to me from the beginning. he’s never trusted me” “scully, you are the only one i trust” AUGHHHHH (rips my clothes off of my body in biblical levels of grief) 

“you’re one of the people who abducted me” AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (rips off not only my clothing but also my hair as i experience emotions that rival what job from the bible went through)

she’s CRYING, and saying he killed her sister while her mom gets between him and the gun… and she’s saying she knows she’s safe here, that’s why she came here, and to put the gun down. and she falls into her mother’s arms sobbing. 

WHAAAAAAAAT. and he had to watch all that… oh my scully oh my goodness my poor scully…

timeskip a little bit. he shows up to the hospital where scully is with her mother, and mockingly puts his hands up in surrender, because he is so STUPID and he always has to make a joke, and i love him so terribly, so so so terribly, because he loves HER.

she's laying in the bed, and he shuts off the tv and asks how she’s feeling. she says she is ASHAMED- as if being a victim of mind control was a personal failing. scully, i want to yell, you have NO REASON to be ashamed, let me take all the shame from you and carry it elsewhere. she says it was like the world was turned upside down.

and he makes ANOTHER stupid joke about the world being out to get him, and now she knows how he feels-

before leaning in and explaining how joseph, the first murderer on this case, became convinced he was killing the bosnian war criminal who people called “the modern hitler”, which was especially important to him because both of his parents survived the holocaust. hence his line about the killing days being over!!!

and helene was scared her husband would cheat on her. so somehow the TV signal turned their worst fears into a living nightmare. 

OHHHH HER WORST NIGHTMARE IS HIM BETRAYING HER. HIM BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR HER GOING MISSING AND LOSING HER AUTONOMY AND MEMORIES... wails into my shirt. 

(this reminds me of that episode in s2- irresistible- when we learn her biggest fear is that humans are capable of terrible horrific things and grasping to trust despite that knowledge. we’re seeing that again right here. how uncertainty seeps in)

THEY CALL HIM THE CANCER MAN!!! wow very official canon recognition of the name (yeah it’s happened before but it happened again so that is cool) anyway she says she saw him giving cancer man the tapes and reporting.

he says that maybe cancer man was behind this, but then he whispers “why don’t you try and get some rest?” and there is something in me that melts so entirely as he leaves her to sleep.

(perhaps it is the fact that hurt/comfort and whump are my favorite tropes. because is there anything more intimate than letting someone see you at your most vulnerable, and them choosing to love you at it? is there any feeling more cutting than seeing your loved one suffer and knowing you’d stop the world for an instant of their relief? the terrible desperation of both parties, the wordless connection upon recovery, someone being the last thing you see before everything fades to black and then the first person you see when you return... yeah. it’s cathartic. but also it makes me want to yell and cry. pls give me all the hurt/comfort content)

so the doctor found high serotonin levels in her that maybe can be associated with mania, but now they’re back to normal. he asks if someone in her situation would be diagnosed with amphetamine abuse, and she says no. then he quickly calls the hospital where joseph is staying… what is he cooking in there…

he wants to talk to joseph's doctor, dr. stroman, who left behind only a number from the motel…. and he had JUST checked out…. so he’s going through his stuff. and asking about his calls. and he DOES find a cigarette in his room but a lot of people smoke so… try not to jump to conclusions juni… but the cigarettes mean one thing in this show!!! was this innocent-looking doctor behind such a cruel experiment?!

he calls and has the last number the doctor called get checked from the folks at the lab… so he goes to visit the place of residence and creepy music is playing. the dude from the cable company we saw before rolls up!!! he walks right inside the house, so mulder peeks inside. it seems the people in the house set up a trap of some sort, as they are talking about “him” showing up at 7.

he bursts in after hearing gunshots and both of the men in there are dead!!! shot in the head!!!!

who is there... but X???? X says he HAD to kill those men- he just hoped mulder would get them first. and oh, mulder is YELLING AT X!!! he is letting him HAVE IT!!! he says he is a coward, he was too scared to unveil the situation with the mind control TV murders himself….. he says X NEVER risks his own life, but he sure does make him risk mulder and scully’s.

OH! he is holding X at gunpoint. all X is saying is that he failed, and that mulder needs him. so he walks out, confident he won't pull the trigger. and he doesn't. 

WHAT! i need to kind of just let that sit for a second. i need to figure out this X fellow, but i get the sense i never will…. he failed… because he chose to try and save scully…….

cutscene to skinner’s office, where mulder is giving him a report. and scully walks in and says that dr. stroman DIED IN 1978!!! when skinner asks about the killer, mulder jumps in and says he remains unknown… oh, skinner is def gonna pick up on that….

so now we see X in a random back alley. getting into a car…. WITH CANCER MAN?????? X REPORTS TO CANCER MAN??? he asks if he has completed his work, and X reports that he has cleaned out all the personnel, everything is removed, but mulder still has a device. and mulder’s source has been eliminated. but the source’s source remains unknown. oh, he’s def lying through his teeth.

OOOOOOH this episode was SO good.

oh man, my brain is racing in a bunch of different directions. scully breaking down and sobbing into her mother’s arms…. scully convinced that mulder is a traitor, that he did those terrible things to her…. mulder so scared that she was gone, bouncing his basketball, getting a call from the police department that he had to go identify her… choosing her, even in what he thought was death, over following the Truth… the sick and twisted relationship he has with X, and X with Cancer Man, and Cancer Man with the world… it’s making me think of how mulder broke into his house that one time, was going to kill him over what he did to scully, and cancer man had the nerve to say he liked mulder… OOOH my brain is just racing racing racing. 

poor scully… how scared she was, how horrified afterward… 

other things that are on my mind, in no particular order: the bond between scully and her mother; mulder being all babygirl on that couch; mulder hopping on that bicycle and picking up some random doll from the murder victim's house; how haunting scully's voice was when she asked him over the phone where he was; their cola drinking; mrs. scully trusting mulder no matter what; how he tried to cover the grief in his voice when he told the lone gunmen he had to go identify her body; how he kicked the door shut of the mystery man, damning the investigation to pay his respects; how his head hovered above the wheel of the car before he got out to do that; how X uses and uses him to no clear end, and what is HE doing reporting to cig man, and what was that random doctor doing conducted fucked up experiments on random people; and scully's miraculously bad aim; mulder's conviction he could talk sense into her (spoiler: he could not); her shame at being convinced he had been the one who abducted her; how terrifying that must have been; and his stupid jokes when he walked into her hospital room, with the sincerity he tries so hard to outrun and outfox breaking through in his whispered why don't you get some rest?

so needless to say, i see why this one is a fan-favorite. this is certainly one i will be revisiting in the future when i need something strong. i have a million things to think over that will stick with me Forever, and i am in no rush to move on from this. in fact, i took these notes yesterday, but in the process of editing them tonight, i have decided i am not ready for the season finale and will have to save it for tomorrow because i'm still feeling So Many Things. so stay tuned to see how that goes, because whew!

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Tobias Menzies has a memorable face and many roles worthy of it. Maybe that's why he's been playing tough guys, anti-heroes, complicated men who don't know where they'll come out for over 25 years.

Now add another role to the list: superproduction on Formula 1 alongside Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, shot on real circuits during the breaks of the Grand Prix.

Actor, reader, swimmer in lagoons and of a reserved character, moves with the same elegant restraint as many of his characters: "I think the secret of a good performance is not to reveal everything, that there is more inside than what is shown," he says. Her future, just like her outlook, is promising.

@icon_elpais

NEW ICON NUMBER TODAY FREE WITH EL PAIS 💥

Text: Brenda Otero Photography: Charlie Gray @charliegraystudio Direction: David Bradshaw @verydavidbradshaw Makeup & Hair: Chad Maxwell @chadmaxwellhair (A Frame) Production: @adrianasuarezproducer

📸Charlie Gray @charliegraystudio

F 1 The movie 🏎️ 🏁 🎬 directed by Joseph Kosinski you will finally see #TobiasMenzies in a major studio film.

Tobias is a terrific actor, he absolutely embodies each character. A chance with right parts and the idea that they are opposites only makes it better.

#F1 The Movie, only in cinemas June 27

#TobiasMenzies

Posted 7th June 2025

[beardedmrbean]

A Oregon antisemite has been sentenced to five years in prison for phoning in phony bomb threats to Jewish hospitals on Long Island and livestreaming the chaos as it unfolded, federal prosecutors said.

Domagoj Patkovic, 31, terrorized medical workers and patients during a months-long spree in 2021, calling in threats to Jewish health care facilities in Nassau County and across the Big Apple — falsely claiming he had planted C-4 explosives throughout their buildings.

Local police responded to the scene in several instances and conducted bomb sweeps. 

Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital was partially evacuated and placed on lockdown that September after his bomb hoax made under the alias “Abrahimavich,” according to court documents. 

Patkovic, of Portland, claimed to have hidden explosives in maintenance closets in the hospitals and vowed to blow the building up — all while live on Discord, a social media site popular for real-time voice chats, gaming communities, and increasingly, extremist content and fringe groups.

When a 911 operator called the number back, Patkovic — still in front of a live audience on Discord — doubled down on the threats and confirmed his identity. And in at least one case, even flipped the camera to reveal his face.

The neo-Nazi eventually confessed to participating in swatting and bomb threat calls with others, according to prosecutors — while also identifying himself making the “Sieg Heil” Nazi salute over a man’s unconscious body in a picture from an unrelated incident.

He was arrested last August and hit with a 23-count indictment.

“[Patkovic] endangered patients and diverted precious law-enforcement resources to advance his hateful agenda against people of the Jewish faith,” said prosecutor Joseph Nocella Jr. 

“His actions fed a rising tide of antisemitism in America.”

Patkovic pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to issue bomb threats and conveying false information about explosives. No explosives were ever found in any of the hospitals. 

He was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in federal prison.

[duhragonball]

Stardust Crusaders Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 183-192

Last time, the boys finally made it to Egypt. So they're home free, right? Well, not really, because they crossed the Red Sea into the southeastern tip of Egypt, and now they have to cross the entire country to get to Cairo.

But that shouldn't take too long, right? After all, the Tarot-themed bad guys are pretty much all defeated. Right? You're shaking your head, are you saying they added more Major Arcana?

One of the things I really enjoyed about Part 7 were all the wide shots of scenery, but I should have known Part 3 had plenty of the same.

All right, so first thing's first, the boys meet up with some guys from the Speedwagon Foundation, who provide them with some provisions, a new robot hand for Joseph, and a new ally. Only Joseph and Avdol know who it is, and everyone else is astonished to find out it's a dog. Say hello to Iggy, whose Stand is named after the Fool card. Iggy immediately starts dry humping Polnareff's face and farting. Come get this work, Dio.

Speaking of Dio, the Speedwagon guys have some intel on him. They spotted nine people leaving a building where Dio is suspected to be hiding, but that's about all they know. It's a safe bet that they're Stand users, but the only Tarot cards left are the Emperor (Hol Horse) and The World, which Kakyoin presumes to be Dio's Stand. Avdol has no idea what to make of this.

Okay, time out, real quick.

So I think this is kind of a mistake. The Tarot thing in Part 3 was a neat idea, and it seems like a good way to organize and name all the major characters in the story. Six good guys versus Dio and fifteen henchmen. It works.

But now we're down to the end and suddenly Araki pulls the rug out from under the audience and reveals nine more henchmen we have to deal with. They have a whole other theme, and when we get through with them, there's still another henchman we have to deal with, and that guy's just named after pop music references because Araki was over it, I guess.

So we end up with six good guys taking on twenty-six bad guys. Is that a problem? Well, I can't complain much, since Part 3 is one of my favorites, and a lot of these Egyptian Stand battles are classics.

Still, it feels like we're dragging things out for no particular reason. Most of these battles are really short and simple, and maybe if there were fewer of them, there'd be more room for the characters to develop a bit before they get beaten down. Hell, Avdol's only been in two Stand battles since the story started. Kakyoin's helped out a few times, but his only solo wins are Tower of Grey and Death Thirteen. It just seems weird to have so many enemies in this story only to use most of them as fodder for Jotaro.

Then again, that may be the point of Part 3. Araki introduced the Stand concept with this story, and it does feel like much of the action is designed to demonstrate the width and breadth of what a Stand could be. So rather than have a handful of Stands in longer battles, Araki crammed as many Stands as possible into Part 3, just to showcase the variety.

But getting back to the Tarot, somewhere in the middle of watching the anime series, I realized that one of the Enemy Stands would be named "The World", and that's when it finally hit me that Dio was the Za Warudo Guy from various memes in 2006-2007. Back then, I used to see stuff from the Stardust Crusaders OVA, as well as the video games, with Dio's over-the-top offense. The time-stopping, the road-roller throwing, the knife tossing, the WRYYYYYYYYYY-screaming, etc.

What I didn't know was how in the hell anyone was supposed to beat the guy. The memes were all about how insanely OP the guy was, and it seemed like a joke instead of a serious story. And yet here's Joseph Joestar and his pals marching off to Egypt to pick a fight with this guy. They're doomed. They're fighting their way to Cairo just to die.

And that's the kind of tone that was set for my introduction to Stardust Crusaders. It kind of fucking rules.

As for the mysterious new Stand Users, the gang doesn't have to go far to learn more about them, since one of them has already been preparing an ambush. His Stand moves water around. It makes a water-hand to attack this Speedwagon guy, but usually it just slashes at people like a knife. For example...

Kakyoin gets taken out first, and he barely had a chance to do anything. This looks pretty horrific, and it does take him out of the story for a while, but he miraculously recovers. We'll go into that later, but for now, say goodbye to Kakyoin, because he'll be riding the pine for the next several arcs.

The enemy doesn't introduce himself until the end, but for the sake of clarity, this guy's name is N'Doul, and his Stand is called Geb. He's blind, but that doesn't slow him down much, since he uses some sort of echolocation to detect his targets. You take a step, and he can somehow hear that and knows to send Geb to attack that spot. I assume this is part of Geb's ability.

However, Geb has a weakness, in that Iggy can smell it coming before it attacks. I suppose this is because it uses water to hit things, and dogs are good at smelling water. So getting the drop on Iggy might be impossible for N'Doul. On the other hand, Iggy's not much of a team player, and he seems fine with leaving the others to die.

Avdol nearly figures out how to beat Geb by dropping his bracelets on the sand to simulate footsteps. When Geb attacks, he singes it with Magician's Red, but doesn't score a clean hit. Geb, however, slashes Avdol's throat, which looks like a fatality, but no, he's fine after this.

So with two men down and no idea where to find the Stand User, Jotaro makes a break for it and grabs Iggy. N'doul doesn't understand what he's up to, but Jotaro has figured out that Iggy can smell Geb before he attacks. So he's hoping to use that to his advantage. Even if Iggy doesn't want to cooperate, he'll have to warn Jotaro or they'll both get killed.

But Iggy tries to escape using his Stand, the Fool. It's kind of like Geb except it uses sand instead of water, and it seems a lot more versatile. Maybe Iggy's just more creative. Here, he makes a pair of sandy wings to glide over the desert. This way, N'Doul can't find him, and Jotaro has a harder time keeping up with him.

N'Doul is confused for a while, until the Fool loses altitude, and Jotaro has to use Star Platinum to bounce them back up into the air. That's enough for N'Doul to figure out that they're airborne.

All N'doul has to do is wait for them to come back down again, but Iggy isn't going to make him wait that long. He drops sand down to the ground, which allows N'Doul to guage Jotaro's exact position and altitude.

But before Geb can attack, Jotaro goes on the offensive. He's already gotten close enough to spot N'Doul, so now he just grabs Iggy and throws him at N'Doul using Star Platinum.

This forces both of them to use their Stands to protect themselves from the collision, which gives Jotaro time to get close to N'Doul without getting attacked.

And so, once N'Doul gets his bearings, he discovers that Jotaro is right behind him. From here, it's just a matter of which one can strike first.

But Star Platinum is all about speed and precision, so it's not too surprising to see Jotaro win this. Geb manages to knock off Jotaro's hat, but that's all.

Jotaro doesn't hit N'Doul hard enough to kill him, but N'Doul attacks himself with Geb to kill himself anyway. He expects Jotaro to interrogate him using Joseph's Hermit Purple, and N'Doul prefers to die than to betray Dio's confidence. As N'Doul explains it, his Stand allowed him to commit crimes at will, and he was totally free to do as he pleased, but Dio was the first person to see value in N'Doul, and he seems to take this very seriously.

Before he dies, N'Doul gives Jotaro his name, and the name of his Stand, and explains the theme behind his group. The nine Stand Users are named for the Egyptian Gods of Prosperity, known as the Ennead. N'Doul claims that the Ennead mythology was the basis for the Tarot, but the connection seems kind of flimsy to me.

The best link I could find is the French occultist Ettailia (real name Jean-Baptiste Alliette). I thought his psuedonym was kind of cool until I realized it was just his last name spelled backwards. It looks like Ettailia was the one who got the ball rolling on using Tarot decks for divination and occult purposes, and he took inspiration from contemporaries who claimed the Tarot was the Book of Thoth, i.e. a mystical tome of ancient Egyptian wisdom. But this all happened in the 18th century A.D. millennia after the Ennead were worshiped in Egypt.

Then again, the characters in Stardust Crusaders who take the Tarot seriously would probably buy into the Egyptian connection, even if the Tarot deck itself seems to have originated in Europe. And it would certainly suit Dio's aesthetic, since he clearly enjoys living in Egypt and the counsel of fortunetellers like Enya Geil.

Anyway, the fight's over, Jotaro wins again, and Iggy is nice enough to fetch his lost hat. But Iggy made sure to spit out his gum all over the hat as a last "fuck you" to Jotaro for forcing him to fight N'Doul.

Speaking of the Book of Thoth, we meet the next two Ennead guys when the Joestar Group takes Kakyoin and Avdol to the hospital. These are Oingo and Boingo, and they're brothers. Boingo, the younger brother, has a Stand called Thoth which takes the form of a comic book that predicts the future. Together they use this to do various shenanigans.

For example, Boingo's comic predicts that Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff will go to a cafe and drink poisoned tea, so all Oingo has to do is infiltrate a cafe and make sure to poison the tea when they inevitably show up.

This is a weird arc, because the two sides never actually fight each other. This is more of an exploration by Araki of the concept of Fate. It's a recurring theme throughout JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that Fate is more than an abstract philosophical construct. Rather, Fate is a genuine, tangible force of nature, and it cannot be denied for long. The villains try to cheat or manipulate Fate, because Fate always seems to bend towards justice.

For example, there's plenty of cafes in this town, so there's no reason for the good guys to pick the one in Boingo's comic. Indeed, Polnareff chooses one at random by tossing his cigarette on the ground and seeing which one it points towards. But this leads them right to the cafe in Boingo's comics, where Oingo is waiting for them, disguised as a waiter.

But why should they drink tea? I mean, they order it at first, but suddenly Joseph gets paranoid, and suggests they avoid drinking anything unless it comes out of a can or a bottle. So he changes the order to three Cokes, and he specifies three cans just to be extra sure no one poisoned them.

But Polnareff doesn't see how anyone could possibly have been expecting them to come to this particular cafe. After all, they chose it at random, and if Joseph's that worried about it, they can just go to another one. Except... the one they go to is on fire, thanks to Polnareff's misplaced cigarette. This convinces Joseph to just go back in and order the tea like they were going to do from the start.

Again, there's no conflict here. Everything proceeds exactly as Boingo predicted. The only tension is with Oingo, who knows Boingo's Stand always tells the truth, but he still has to live with the suspense.

In any event, Oingo and Boingo's plot is foiled when Iggy starts a ruckus nearby, and the Joestar party goes to deal with that before they can drink enough poisoned tea to get killed. The comic book only showed them holding the cups to their lips. It never actually said they would die.

This is the main weakness of Boingo's Stand. Thoth's predictions are absolute, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the interpretation, and they only show so much of the future. If you want to know what happens next, you have to wait for more images to appear, and you might miss an opportunity. For example, another sequence in the comic predicts that the boys will meet a guy and decide to mug him for no good reason. This turns out to be a huge mistake, but Thoth doesn't tell them that until later.

In the meantime, they go ahead and mug the guy when they meet him in real life. I mean, why not?

When I watched this arc in the anime, I wondered why the scenes from the Thoth comic were rendered in such a wildly different art style. It seemed eccentric at first, more of a whimsical choice than anything else. But now that I'm reading the comic version, it seems much more obvious. Araki has to draw the prediction, then draw the same events all over again when the prediction comes to pass. So the change in style is to keep things from getting too repetitive. Also, it's clear which panels are the prediction and which ones are "real" life.

Finally, the boys hit paydirt, as Thoth shows them planting a bomb in an orange and using it to blow up Jotaro. The comic even shows Jotaro getting exploded, so that's it, right? They're guaranteed to win now! All Oingo has to do is prepare a bomb and hide it in the good guys' car while they're not looking.

However, Joseph and Polnareff catch him in the car, so Oingo's only chance is to use his Stand, Khnum, which lets him change shape.

The good news is that Oingo fools them without any trouble. His disguise sucks, but Joseph and Polnareff are dumbasses, so they fall for it anyway. The bad news is that it works too well, because now they want Oingo to get in the car and ride with them. You know, in the car, where Oingo planted the bomb. The bomb that's destined to blow up in Jotaro's face. Or maybe, just a guy who looks like Jotaro. Uh-oh.

So now Oingo is in deep shit. He can't convince them to let him out of the car without arousing suspicion, and Polnareff keeps making his anxiety worse with his usual himbo banter. He asks Jotaro to do his cigarette trick, and Oingo freaks out because he doesn't know if he can. Fortunately, Pol demonstrates. You just flip a cigarette into your mouth. That sounds really painful, but doable.

Except Jotaro can do the trick with five cigarettes at once. This is a pretty awesome scene, because it immediately sets up the lore that this is what the Stardust Crusaders have been doing on all those long days of travel. Jotaro does tricks with cigarettes and teaches Polnareff how to do them too. Anyway, Oingo manages to pull it off, but just barely.

Finally, Polnareff starts getting ready to eat the booby-trapped orange, and Oingo panics and claims he has to go poop. He runs out of the car, and he seems to be home free, when Polnareff decides he doesn't want the orange after all and tosses it out of the car.

And Oingo steps on the orange before he can change back to normal, so it blows up in his face, his Jotaro-like face, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Joseph and Polnareff don't even notice.

Boingo rushes to his brother's side, and swears revenge. Oingo pleads for him to reconsider, since Boingo is so timid, especially on his own. But before they can do anything else, that guy they mugged comes back with a posse. Turns out he's rich and he hired some guys to help him get revenge.

Eventually, Polnareff and Joseph arrive to meet the real Jotaro, who has no idea what's been going on. They're meeting up at the hospital to visit Kakyoin, and an ambulance pulls up with Oingo and Boingo in it. Joseph and Pol sort of recognize Oingo's clothes, but they don't really want to know, and they just move on with their day.

[jackson-imbecille]

Dpcaw24 day 3: Bleeding out in an alleyway

Danny Phantom/American Dragon: Jake Long

AO3 FFN

While going to take the trash out to the dumpster, Jonathan Long finds something unusual on the ground in the alleyway.

Fic under cut

It was Monday at the Long household, and that meant trash night. Since his lovely wife Susan had been the one to cook dinner that night, it was Jonathan's job to clean the kitchen. And of course, that meant it was his job to gather up all the trash bags in the kitchen and take them down the alleyway to the shared dumpster. Or at least, he thought it was shared. They had been putting their trash in it for five years, so if nobody had gotten onto them by now about it, that probably meant they were fine.

It was kind of chilly out tonight. Not that he was complaining though. Sure, it meant that they’d have to start bundling up soon, but it also meant that all the best holidays were coming up. In not too long he’d have to find a costume to wear and get the spooky decorations out from storage. Wouldn’t that just be a treat! And then he could get out the candy pot and make some of his famous (in his family’s eyes anyway) caramel apples! But he could worry about all that later. Right now he just had to focus on making sure he didn’t trip on anything on his way to the dumpster.

He really wished he had done this before the sun went down. During the night, this alleyway was as dark as the devil’s nostril. But at least this way they’d be getting rid of all the trash collected that day instead of having any left over. And since they’d be empty already, maybe he could scrub down those trash cans. They were probably due for a good wash.

He made it over to the dumpster without tripping on anything and whistled as he swung the bags up and into it. He turned to go back home, but something on the ground caught his eye.

There, lying in a puddle of green liquid next to the dumpster, asleep with his face against the wall, was a teenager. Small little guy, probably around Jake’s age if he had to guess. “Heya kiddo, I don’t think this is the best place to take a nap.”

The kid didn’t move one bit. Jonathan crouched down to the ground next to him. He wondered why a kid was out here asleep on the ground. Did he not have a safe place to stay? Why choose to sleep here of all places?

“Kiddo?” He reached out to shake the kid awake by the shoulder, but quickly yanked his hand away. It was like he had just dunked his hand into Lake Louise in January. “Holy cow you’re cold.”

He shook the kid’s shoulder again. He was starting to get real concerned. It just wasn’t normal for anyone, teenager or no, to be this difficult to wake up. And then there was the temperature thing. “Kiddo, wake up.” Still no response. Something was very wrong here, he could feel it from his liver to his bones. He flipped the kid over onto his back, revealing a gaping wound on his chest.

“Jesus Mary and Joseph!” Jonathan jerked back, his heart was beating a million miles a minute and his stomach felt like it was training for a gold medal in gymnastics. He was startled so badly that it took him a minute before he was able to realize that the blood coming out of the kid was bright green, just like the puddle around him.

Jonathan put a hand on his chest and started to slow his breathing. “Okay, wow. Okay.” He pulled himself off the floor and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Oh that just about gave me a heart attack. This is just a movie prop isn’t it. Well that’s absolutely terrifying.”

He studied the thing, taking in its whole appearance. Out of curiosity, he crouched down in front of it again. The white hair didn’t look plastic, and when he touched it, it felt almost real. Upon closer inspection, he could see the baby fat on its cheeks squish down where its face lay against the floor, its eyebrows had a real sense of depth to them and didn’t look painted on, and there was an unmistakable rise and fall to its chest.

“Pretty realistic prop huh, It almost looks like, like it’s breathing.”

“Oh my gosh.”

[nerdragenewvegas]

Just genuinely curious to get opinions on this one from an Ex-Mormon. I'm a witch and the OC(not a Courier Six) I made for Fallout NV that meets Joshua is also a witch. She is also a Mutant(not super tho) with enhanced speed/strength, & a Psyker with vast elemental telekinetic capabilities that are hampered by her having hyperthyroidism. Her mutation strain and abilities can drain her badly if she's not prepared enough with backup energy beforehand. If you'd like to know more and need more info pls DM me if it helps. I just wanna know how you think Joshua would react to meeting her, the things she'd do to help whilst in Zion(from giving herbal remedies out to protecting others with her abilities), and her beliefs(which are akin to my own and revolve around a mix of witchcraft, Jungian psychology, and alchemy as a general philosophy).

(Look at me trying not to overdo it and I end up still saying a crap ton lol)

I mean, if Joshua was someone who actually put doctrine and the rules of his faith into proper practice? That could be an issue. Not so much the psyker stuff (I don't know what the LDS church's stance on Psyker abilities would be if they were real because... they're not, so it's one of those things that's never come up lol) but the witchy stuff. I don't know if I could accurately comment on the mutation stuff because honestly, I kind of feel like the second mutated enhancements enter reality, the Church's policies are likely to be like 'that's fine as long as you were born with it and use it for god, I guess.' If I had to really guess, I think at most, Joshua's reaction oir 'position' to her enhanced abilities would be that they are gifts from Heavenly Father and that they should be used in service and to honour God and do His works. (What Joshua thinks qualifies as 'God Honouring,' though, is a whole other question...) The church is very big on our talents being blessings from God and thus should also be used to further God and Christ's works. Ie. If you're a talented artist, you should commit some of that time to painting religious artwork. if you're good at basketball, use your talents to donate your time to teach children in need as part of charity works. The current stance that the LDS church takes on witchcraft or the 'occult' is that it 'focuses on darkness and leads to deception. It destroys faith in Christ.' The LDS church currently considers:

"Such activities include (but are not limited to) fortune-telling, curses, and healing practices that are imitations of the priesthood power of God (see Moroni 7:11–17)."

However, I'd be remiss to not mention that old mate Joseph Smith was actually quite into the 'occult' himself prior to him having his little incident with the Angel Moroni. He actually made a living for a while as a 'treasure seer' and claimed he could see hidden treasures or gold or valuable stones without digging by placing a seer stone into a hat, sticking his face inside and having all revealed to him. This, coincidentally, is how Joseph Smith later claimed he was able to translate the 'reformed egyptian' language of the Golden Plates into what we now know as the Book of Mormon. (No, I'm serious.)

Mormonism actually has a lot of practices, beliefs, and superstitions lifted from old American folk-religion. For example, sacred garments (the magic underwear, yes, yes,) has 'sacred' symbols stitched into them that sit over significant parts of the body. Mormons are warned against swimming on Sundays as it's believed that Satan can more easily reach a person through the water on the Sabbath. Mormons are also encouraged to try and use herbal and natural remedies where possible (although it is really stressed that they aren't replacements for actual medicine or healthcare by any means. Mormonism does not believe in or practice replacing scientifically backed healthcare and medicine with 'prayer' or faith healing.) A lot of Mormons believe in 'the evil eye,' which is something that has been passed down since before their ancestors arrived in America to enter the church. A pretty surprising chunk of the Pioneer Mormons were actually new to America and had immigrated from Europe and the UK in order to join the Church, and they brought their old superstitions and practices with them!

And all this without getting into Temple practices, which are witchy as all shit if you want to look into that!

So there's a level of irony there, definitely, and I think if your character got to know Joshua well enough to have those kinds of conversations, he might find that their beliefs have more in common than he initially realises.

That being said, though, when it comes to Joshua specifically, it's important to remember that for all his religious torment and passion and fire, he's a fucking terrible Mormon in practice. The entire point of Honest Hearts is that Joshua is simply using his faith as a justification and weapon to get his revenge against Caesar and the Legion. Joshua knows in his heart that he, as an individual, doesn't really have a right to demand a crusaid of revenge against Caesar without being just as bad, and Joshua, like Caesar, wants his victories to also be moral ones. So, Joshua weaponises his faith. It's not him wanting to wipe out the White Legs to get to Caesar, it's God telling him to. You can't criticise Joshua or his motivations, because it's God's ordinance and God's will! And, honestly, this is something Honest Hearts got bang on fucking correct about Mormons! Mormons (and a lot of people of other faiths, too) love hiding behind 'God's will' to avoid accountability for themselves! 'I'm not homophobic -- God is just very clear about hating the sin!' 'I have no problem with trans people, but God was very clear about designing our bodies to be perfect in his eyes from birth!' The meaning is always the same -- don't blame me, blame God.

So, how would Joshua actually feel about the Witch stuff? I think it depends when your courier meets him and when he finds out (and how he finds out.) Before his real come to jesus moment at the end of Honest Hearts? Knowing him? He'd probably find a reacharound way to make it acceptable enough for him to try and have her use it to his benefit -- a logical loophole (Mormons love those) or a piece of scripture that can act as an excuse. But afterwards? That's more complicated. He'd likely be adverse to it -- he'd be happy to abide her presence (if not hospitable as always,) but he'd likely request that she not discuss or go about practicing it in front of the Tribes or even himself. If she must practice it and can't abstain, he'd probably ask her to find somewhere away from the camps to do so.

Joshua's a bit of an intellectual, though (at least when it comes to nerdy shit; emotionally I think he's a dumbass) and I don't doubt his passion for his faith and/or his curiosity would get the best of him after a while. If they were ever alone and the mood was right, he'd probably try and pose a polite question about her beliefs as 'genuine curiosity,' but try to steer it into a moment for him to share his testimony with her -- which is probably likely to end in a friendly ("friendly") debate, depending on your Courier. Joshua is pretty stubborn so I doubt he'd let it go as a one time thing, so I don't think your courier would be off the hook after one time, either. But, with enough time and discussion, he'd probably come to accept it, even begrudgingly, if he could see how it helped the Courier or how the Courier's beliefs were able to help others.

thanks for coming to my ted talk

[convenient-plot-device]

An essay I wrote for school on Strange New Worlds' problems with ableism, complete with bibliography:

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has numerous problems, from its retooling of the Gorn into knockoff xenomorphs to its erasure of Spock’s Jewish roots to its overreliance on nostalgia, but its most glaring flaw is its painful undercurrent of ableism. The conflation of disability with death, the ignorance and tacit pardoning of eugenics, and the disposal of multiple disabled characters come together to weave a harmful and ignorant pattern in the show’s writing.

Christopher Pike’s character in Strange New Worlds is defined by disability. The dilemma he wrestles with in almost every episode is the looming specter of his future disability, which was revealed to him via time crystal in season two of Star Trek: Discovery. In the twelfth episode of season two, “Through The Valley of Shadows”, Pike must harvest a time crystal in order to send the life’s story of a dead alien to the future to protect it from an evil artificial intelligence intent on destroying all life in the galaxy. When Pike touches the crystal, he sees visions of his future, in which he is caught in a deadly radioactive explosion and left with severe burns and full body paralysis, able to move and communicate only through a specialized wheelchair. “The sequence ends with a final linked pair of nightmarish shots, a centred close-up of the older Pike’s face beginning to melt as he screams matched with the younger Pike’s own horrified scream as he falls backward into the present moment,” (Muredda, Angelo). As Muredda says later in the same article, this portrayal imagines disability as “a terminal point, something to scream about in terror, and the embodied sign of no liveable future at all.” The depiction of disability as a horrifying fate, and of the disabled body as an object of disgust and/or fear has a long history in the genres of horror and science fiction; previous and current Star Trek series are not immune to this. The Borg Queen, who appeared most recently in Picard, is missing most of her lower body and uses a robotic replacement to walk— her prosthetic spine is used as an object of horror and disgust when she first appears in First Contact (1996).

While Strange New Worlds had the opportunity to break this pattern and defy ableist stereotypes with Pike, they chose instead to follow the path Discovery had laid for them. Despite the fact that it is made very clear that Pike will be disabled, not killed, by the explosion he will be caught in in the future, every character within the narrative speaks of Pike’s fate as if he is going to die. Pike says, less than twenty minutes into the pilot: “I know how and when my life will end.” This writing decision mirrors the real-life belief that disabled peoples’ lives are akin to “a fate worse than death” or “not worth living,” a sentiment which has led to real deaths: “. . . [early in the pandemic] this belief — that we’re just surviving, not living, and thus have limited quality of life — lead to forced DNRs being put in the files of disabled people in the UK and lead directly to the death of a disabled man, Michael Hickson,” (Lloyd, Kelas). Hickson was denied treatment for pneumonia in Austin, Texas due to his doctor’s perception that he “didn’t have much of a quality of life.” He was put in hospice against his family’s wishes and died at the age of 46. (Shapiro, Joseph). For Strange New Worlds to equate Pike’s disability to the end of his life is irresponsible and reinforces the cultural biases that led to the death of Hickson and continue to impact the quality of treatment disabled people receive the world over.

Christopher Pike’s initial appearance in the original series episode “The Menagerie” was actually very progressive for the time; despite the limited communication of the blinking-light system in his wheelchair and his ending being living out the last of his life in a virtual reality where he could walk again, he was still a disabled person on television in a position of power.

When Pike first appeared, the Ugly Laws were still in place in much of the United States. Someone visibly disfigured/disabled was not to be seen in public spaces, at the risk of fines or jail . . . Captain Pike’s appearance in The Original Series was revolutionary. Here was not just a visibly disabled person, but they were someone Spock respected and cared about enough to risk his career for. [Disabled people] didn’t have a great existence, but they had one, and Pike was still valued as a person. (Lloyd, Kelas).

It would have been quite easy for the writers to modernize Pike’s portrayal to further disability representation in the way Pike first did: @hard-times-paramore has written an alternate ending (a mixed media series titled “The Captain’s Chair”) for Strange New Worlds in which Pike goes on to captain a new starship after becoming disabled, assisted by an interpreter, a caretaker, and futuristic medical technology. This alternate ending carries the message that disabled people are still people, who can and should be allowed a place in science fiction, as opposed to the current message sent by SNW, which is that significant disability is akin to a death sentence, even in a fantastical future.

However, there is more to Strange New Worlds’ portrayal of disability than just Captain Pike. The show is also very preoccupied with genetic augmentation and the Federation’s attitude toward it. While this is far from unique among Star Trek media, unlike other Trek properties which have covered this topic (Doctor Bashir, I Presume?, Chrysalis, Space Seed, Affliction/Divergence, etc) Strange New Worlds does not acknowledge the real-life equivalent to science fiction genetic augmentation: eugenics. SNW portrays genetic augmentation as a neutral practice targeted unjustly by the Federation because of outdated prejudices, with no examination of what genetic augmentation is a stand-in for. While the original series (in “Space Seed”) first introduced the Federation’s ban on genetic augmentation as a justified protective measure against the breeding of warlike “superior ambition” among men of “superior ability,” Strange New Worlds portrays genetic augmentation as an unjustly discriminated-against trait whose origin and consequences mean little to nothing.

Strange New Worlds’ main conduit for their genetic augmentation plotlines is Una Chin-Riley, the first officer of the Enterprise. She is a member of an alien species called Illyrians, who genetically modify themselves to suit the environments of planets they colonize. She herself was genetically modified as a baby, and is thus legally barred from joining Starfleet— however, she lied on her application to Starfleet Academy to get in. The plots revolving around her concern her arrest for violating Federation law and the subsequent trial, which is used as an extended metaphor for discrimination against, and the fight for civil rights for, marginalized groups. “Ad Astra Per Aspera,” the episode covering Una’s trial, is intentionally vague with its metaphor, to the point that just about any marginalized group could be represented by it. This episode is, on its face, fine. It argues against discrimination through allegory quite adeptly, discussing the concept of “passing” as part of a non-oppressed group and broaching the topic of systemic oppression. However, it has one glaring flaw in its base: the stand-in it chose for real-life oppression. Genetic modification, unlike other fantastical attributes that can be used to metaphorize oppression, has a bloody real-life history involving the deaths and sterilizations of millions of people. Strange New Worlds, however, appears ignorant of this fact: not once does the topic of eugenics come up in any of their episodes about genetic augmentation. Not once does the topic of disability come up, either. This is either an unwillingness to engage with the realities of what those who seek to change humanity’s genes have done and continue to do, a grave oversight, or mere ignorance. Whichever one it is, this omission of eugenics from the narrative of genetic augmentation is one that cannot be ignored. Its omission reads as a tacit endorsement of genetic augmentation at times, such as when Una and La’An say, in “Ghosts of Illyria”:

LA’AN: All my life I've hated augments. Hated what people thought of me because I was related to them. Understanding why they were outlawed in the Federation. The damage they did. They almost destroyed Earth.

UNA: [. . .] My people were never motivated by domination. Illyrians seek collaboration with nature. By bioengineering our bodies, we adapt to naturally-existing habitats. Instead of terraforming planets, we modify ourselves. And there's nothing wrong with that.

By ignoring the part eugenics plays in Star Trek’s portrayal of augmentation, and instead portraying the issue as a matter of prejudice based off of the fictional event of the Eugenics Wars— when augmented “supermen” became dictators and killed millions in conquest and war— Strange New Worlds completely fails to examine the real-life implications of their metaphor.

What makes this episode’s flaws worse is that another Star Trek series already portrayed the potential expulsion of a genetically augmented person from Starfleet, handling it with better understanding of the eugenic undertones of genetic augmentation, and it did so in 1997. In the season five episode of Deep Space Nine, “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”, it is revealed that Julian Bashir, chief medical officer of Deep Space Nine, was illegally genetically modified by his parents as a small child and is in danger of being thrown out of Starfleet because of this revelation. Throughout the course of the episode, the audience learns that Bashir’s parents chose to modify him because he was intellectually disabled as a child. His mother believed that his life would be better if he were “normal,” while his father wanted a successful son and believed that intellectual disability was inimical to that end. The episode expresses, through Julian’s anger at his parents, that modifying a person to rid them of perceived “undesirable traits” is wrong, but that it is also wrong to unilaterally bar people from Starfleet based on a decision that was made for them by eugenicist parents. This message is far more clear than “Ad Astra Per Aspera”’s, especially on the subject of disability and eugenics. Strange New Worlds’ complete neutrality on and/or tacit approval of genetic augmentation/eugenics, in contrast to Deep Space Nine’s nuanced examination of the topic, is glaring.

The specific problem with Strange New Worlds’ neutrality on genetic modification is that for a species to be changed on a genetic level for any reason, traits must be eliminated. In a science fiction setting, this can be accomplished by simply changing the genetic structure of a consenting adult with a futuristic medical tool, rather than through violence as in our reality, but this, too, presents ethical problems. What is considered a problem to be cured? Who makes that decision? What happens to those who don’t want something modified out of them? What happens to any children they may have? Who gets to have control over technology with the power to eliminate or introduce genetic traits at will? What place do disabled people have in a society built off of achieving peak physical performance in a given environment? Strange New Worlds attempts to answer none of these questions. It acknowledges none of them. And this silence leaves disabled people out of the conversation completely by not even considering them. Today, in Denmark and Iceland, almost 100% of fetuses with Down Syndrome are aborted; the law in Iceland even specifically states that abortion is permitted after 16 weeks only if the fetus has a “deformity,” which Down Syndrome is specified to count as. (Quinones, Julian; Lajka, Arijeta). An entire anti-vaccine movement was begun in Britain because parents were so afraid of having a child with autism and chronic digestive disease, a child like me, that they risked their children dying of measles. This is what real-life genetic engineering looks like, and Strange New Worlds has failed to acknowledge that. I, at least, consider that a failure of writing, empathy, and allyship.

Strange New Worlds’ portrayal of disability is not relegated to Pike’s fate and Una’s augmentation, however. The show has several other characters who either are disabled or become disabled at one point. Rukiya, Dr. M’Benga’s daughter, is treated less as a character and more as an object for the emotional development of her father, a position many young disabled girls occupy in fiction. “[This story] centers Dr. M’Benga, and his pain, and his struggle, and doesn’t grapple with what Rukiya’s going through.” (Lloyd, Kelas). Rukiya has an untreatable terminal cancer, and is kept in a state of suspension in the transporter buffer by her father while he searches for a cure. Her story ends when the Enterprise enters a sentient telepathic nebula with the power to warp reality, and it offers to keep Rukiya within itself so that her disease will not progress and she will be able to grow up. M’Benga decides that this is the best option, and so relinquishes Rukiya to the nebula. She is never seen again. “She is disabled, and then she’s removed . . . The disabled person was put into [a] box and left behind, like so many disabled people have been put away in care homes and institutions and left behind.” (Lloyd, Kelas). Jax agreed, saying: “It just felt like she was poofed away for convenience. Like, ‘There! The problem is gone! The terminal illness or the girl? Both! Don’t worry about it!’”

The only other disabled main character on SNW is Hemmer, who is a member of a blind species called the Aenar. “While the Aenar cannot see, they believe that their telepathy gives them a ‘superior’ awareness of their surroundings compared to sighted people (Vrvilo, 2022). Because of this, the Aenar are highly criticized by the disability community as falling into the ‘magically disabled’ trope.” (Harris, Heather Rose). Bruce Horak, the actor who plays Hemmer, is blind himself, which is a genuinely good decision in terms of representation and support for the disabled community. However, Hemmer dies in the penultimate episode of season one. This decision was not received well by disabled fans: “It just kind of felt like a kick in the teeth. I finally found some good disability representation played by a disabled actor [who] isn’t a one off character, and they die in the first season.” (Jax). Both Hemmer and Rukiya are left behind by the narrative of Strange New Worlds, and with them, so too are disabled perspectives. The crew of the Enterprise is now entirely able-bodied, and the only remaining character whose story directly concerns disability is Pike, who repeatedly asserts that his life will end once he becomes disabled. This state of affairs is the embodiment of being spoken for, and being spoken over.

There is a saying in the disabled community: “Nothing about us without us.” This saying means that abled people should not attempt to help, treat, or speak about disabled people without involving disabled people in their efforts. Disabled people are often denied autonomy over their bodies, medical care, relationships, and lives; to deny them a part in operations meant to help them is to further deny them dignity and respect. This is what Strange New Worlds is doing by writing disabled stories with no disabled writers in the room— while they did well by casting Bruce Horak to play Hemmer, it is not enough to have disabled people in front of the camera. They must also play a part in writing, directing, planning, and all other work behind the scenes if Strange New Worlds wishes to tell their stories. In order for Strange New Worlds to rectify their pattern of ableism, they must listen to disabled voices.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: