#to avoid being held into higher standards

[cringefail-clown]

No one asked yet so I feel the need to see, thoughts on dirk and jake?

my friend youve just stepped into a Projection Landmine

DIRK:

JAKE:

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Civil Unrest

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

History books often talk about important events through the eyes of those with hindsight. Written in ways that make readers question how the people who actually lived through the events themselves ask how they could not have seen it coming from a mile away.

Yet for those who lived through such trying times the sequence of events were never so neat and orderly as “Point A” and “Point B”. They came on like a silent wave that could not be heard until it crashed against the foundation of society and tore everything it struck down into the dirt.

One such point of history was the day the Pentarki people experienced their first case of civil unrest.

For context in Pentarki society when a judicial ruling is handed down it could not be altered. There were no challenges, no reviews of inquiry, or appeal process to a higher form of political body for a different ruling. The end result was set in stone and there would be no argument. While strange to other space traveling societies who had several checks and balances for Pentarki it made complete sense.

To obtain a position in the judicial branches of society a Pentarki needed to be highly intelligent, well versed in social laws and history, and have some aspect of a moral code. It was through these foundation blocks that a near incorruptible governing body was created to hand out rulings for criminal cases.

The Pentarki had spent generations under this type of organization and whole heartedly believed that the process was secure; never questioning a ruling or lashing out in outrage.

That was until the day humans began migrating to their world.

Being one of the most adaptable species in the known universe, humans had a knack for setting up shop on just about any planet they came into contact with. On the Pentarki homeworld they found that despite the lethal levels of gases encircling the planet it was on average warmer than any other planet resulting in a steady stream of humans in search of said warmth.

Humans in contrast to Pentarki’s had a very different perspective of organized governing. They believed that laws and people could make mistakes and if needed, could be altered to reflect the current nature of the times. This alone was enough to ensure the Pentarki avoided dealings with humans as much as possible; at least until the “Night of ten thousand Fists.”

In a standard ruling, the governing body decided in the case of a little Pentarki child getting injured by a Pentarki enforcement officer that the officer was not at fault. Situations like this were rare but not unheard of and the enforcement officers were almost never marked for fault. While the Pentarki people had expected as much, they had not taken into account the overly passionate nature of the new human citizens who had moved to the planet.

Within hours of the ruling there were large scale protests in the streets, primarily composed of humans. They held signs and chanted dissenting slogans against the governing body that made the ruling. Enforcement officers were dispatched to try and contain the protests, but their presence only seemed to further enflamed the protestor’s anger. Pentarki enforcement officers were not trained for this type of civil disturbance as protests were all but unheard of in their culture. In an attempt to disperse the crowd the officers attempted to arrest the ringleaders who were using megaphones to rile the crowds. This backfired as the humans became further violent and began attacking the enforcers. They swarmed them from all sides and the officers were quickly consumed by a tide of human bodies.

From there things devolved rapidly as the protests turned into full blown riots. Any symbol of authority was defaced or destroyed while enforcing officers were targeted on site. Store fronts were destroyed, monuments defaced, and public destruction in general skyrocketed as several cities became consumed by anarchy. It took a full fifteen hours before order was finally restored and only then as a once in a lifetime reversal of the ruling was issued.

This action shook the Pentarki society to its core. Through open violence a ruling had been changed for the first time in their people’s history. There was open resentment towards the humans who many viewed as shoehorning their own beliefs into society, but there was also a newfound sense of disappointment of the ruling body as they were now seen as not as stalwart as they once were.

From that moment onwards many worlds were far more hesitant with allowing humans to settle on them in great numbers.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Gotta admit to some confusion with the “Max is a sexist” takes? If it’s rooted in how he assumed Marinette didn’t know how to play the game, I could see a bit of merit even if there could be other reasons, especially since it happens in line with Kim’s more expressly sexist attitude of surprise. But when he loses, he congratulates her, and his upset while clear is framed as being completely due to losing his spot in the competition.

Ignoring how his anger was a part of his own private thoughts which HM exploits, Max as an Akuma targeting Marinette instead of Adrien always seemed to me to be due to the fact that she is the one who replaced him. Yes, they both beat him, but Adrien winning didn’t lead to Max losing his spot, Marinette winning did.

Also, the lesson of the day seems squarely centered around how Max deserves to play because he’s the one who really wanted the opportunity, which is why Alya as the writer’s mouthpiece scolds her beforehand about taking it seriously and cinched when Marinette explains why she’s surrendering her position. And while I’m not arguing the episode itself as whole doesn’t contain sexist elements, I feel the writers attempt to avoid that reading by having Adrien surrender his position to Marinette because she is the better player.

For Max, is there perhaps further context than Gamer that I’m just missing? Because I don’t nearly see the same amount of “Kim is a sexist” takes, and unfortunately Max being Black does put him at risk of being held to higher standards than other non-Black characters.

I will do my best to walk through the episode and explain why it makes Max read as sexist to a lot of people. (Or, at least, this is why I think people reach this conclusion. It's why I reach it.)

It's true that Max's reaction to Marinette wanting to play is potentially a little sexist because he assumes that she doesn't know how to play:

Max: The rules are elementary, You battle each other's robots with your own and... Marinette: Please... Every time you win, you loot its items and gain XP, which upgrades your mech. I'm not a noob, thank you very much. Max: Ah, sounds like you have a sufficient amount of knowledge. Let's see if it's enough to beat me.

It's hard to be sure, though, because we don't know if he tried to explain the rules to everyone. I still think it's fair to read it as sexist because it's paired with other characters acting like Marinette can't play, but I also don't think this is a big enough issue to call Max the clear problem of this episode. If he is being sexist, then he's far from the worst one in that scene and his initial reaction to loosing is excellent and without a hint of sexism!

Max: I accept this defeat. I relinquish my position at the tournament. Congratulations, Marinette. And Adrien.

It's also not even remotely sexist that he's upset by his loss and goes on to rant about it as soon as he's alone:

Max: I should've been going to that tournament. I was the chosen one! I worked so hard for it! This is Inconceivable!

While it's not sexist, I would argue that this reaction is something that he needs to work on. If Max wants to be in competitions, then he has to own the fact that he may lose them. This is an issue that we'll get to in a minute. First let's talk about what happens while Max is an akuma.

Even though Adrien and Marinette are together when Gamer attacks, Gamer is only out to get Marinette. He is obsessed with the idea that Marinette should have lost and doesn't care about the Adrien loss.

(Suddenly, the Gamer's robot appears. Marinette and Adrien notice it.) Marinette: Tell me this isn't some kind of publicity stunt for the tournament! Gamer: Well, well. Marinette, let's see who's victorious this time. Adrien: Doesn't look like a publicity stunt to me.

Gamer: Game over, Marinette! Marinette: How does he know my name? Max! (the Gamer's robot fires lasers at her) I guess he really did want that spot in the tournament!

While this makes sense since Marinette is technically the one who cost Max his spot, it doesn't change the fact that this obsession and the earlier framing of Marinette's win make the focus of the episode Max's reaction to Marinette winning. That means that the episode's ultimate lesson will be about the validity of Marinette's win.

This is where Max's part in the sexism really kicks in. Not in the pre-akuma stuff, but the post-akuma stuff. That's where this image comes from:

[Image description: Max and Marinette standing outside of the tournament arena. Max has a sad expression and is refusing to look at Marinette who is awkwardly standing behind him]

As you can see from this image, we don't see post-akuma Max apologizing to Marinette for blaming her when she didn't do anything wrong. Nor do we see post-akuma Max just generally owning his loss, promising to work on taking losses better in the future, and saying something like, "I'll just have to do better next year." Instead, we get post-akuma Max pouting and refusing to even look at Marinette.

This is hardly the behavior of a good loser and yet the story completely validates it. We go from Max pouting to this:

Alya: You bent over backwards to be in the team and now you wanna pull out? Marinette: It's just that I feel so bad for Max. And well, it just wouldn't be right. Alya:(stops her) You're doing the right thing. But honestly, it's not like you get the chance to play with Adrien everyday... Marinette: ...Max? I've thought about this a lot, and... Well, I think you should be playing tonight, Max. Max: What? Marinette: Don't get me wrong! I love gaming, but it's not my heart and soul. This is your baby. It's your tournament, Max. I don't wanna take that away from you.

The appropriate reaction to Marinette's offer is for Max to say, "No Marinette, I'm sorry, I'm behaving terribly. The school is supposed to be represented by the most skilled players. That's you and Adrien, not me. I lost fair and square. I'll work on my skills and get a spot next year." This is how you show character growth and emphasize that Max has moved on from viewing himself as the "chosen one" while unfairly blaming Marinette. Instead we get this:

Max: I don't know how to thank you.

While Max certainly isn't saying anything awful like, "damn right I should be playing you stupid girl," this ending still validates his anger towards Marinette and implies that his behavior was perfectly fine. That it wasn't wrong for him to ignore her until she gave him back "his" spot. That's the sexist element. We should not have seen Max rewarded for treating Marinette poorly and making her feel guilty for daring to win a videogame.

It's important to note that this all happens on the day of the tournament, meaning that it's been days since Max lost and yet he's still mad at Marinette. That's not a great look. At the very least, he should be equally angry at Marinette and Adrien by now. Instead, his anger is still shown to be focused on Marinette as if she is the one and only source of his problems when, in actuality, it was his double loss that cost him his spot. Marinette only knocked him out of the running because Adrien won first. If the order was reversed, then would it be valid for Max to be angry at Adrien? According to the show, I think that the answer is "no." At the very least, I don't see how you can argue that it's clearly "yes" based on what we were given. Adrien's win is treated neutrally by everyone and Adrien letting Marinette play is treated as him being kind while Marinette letting Max play is treated as her righting a wrong.

As others have pointed out, when it comes to Max getting akumatized, what difference does it make if Max loses to Marinette in the preliminaries or to someone else in the main tournament? Do you really think that he'd be fine losing at any point in this competition when he thinks that he's the "chosen one"? At what point is it not cool to hold onto the anger of losing in spite of all your hard work? And why does Marinette's motivation matter when it comes to Max's feelings? He had no idea that she was only playing because she wanted to be Adrien's teammate. All he knows is that she beat him fairly and that she now feels bad about that for some reason.

It's really important for kids to learn that hard work doesn't always lead to a win, but this episode doesn't teach that. Instead it says that it's totally fine for Max to feel wronged and that you should only compete in tournaments if you want to win for the "right" reasons, whatever those are. If you're going to go this route, then at least give Max a noble cause to contrast Marinette's selfish one. As is, he's just as selfish. It's not like he wanted the prize money to save his family from poverty! As far as we know, there is no prize money! He just wanted bragging rights.

What's even more bizarre is that Adrien gives us the lines that Max should have given:

Adrien: Go on, Marinette. You're a hundred times better than me. You belong on the team. Win the tournament for the school. I know you can do it.

What even is this mess? The episode didn't establish that Marinette was better than Adrien! We did get this exchange:

Adrien: Wow! We won again, thanks to you! Marinette: Yeah, um, yes we did. Adrien: We? That was practically all you. You're amazing, Marinette. I guess you wouldn't even need me. I'm so lame compared to you... Marinette: Um, no no no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean... I'm lucky, that's all.

Leading to Marinette giving Adrien her lucky charm, but this isn't Adrien losing to Marinette. It's just Adrien being impressed by her skills when their team won a match. We never once see Marinette beat Adrien.

There's also the fact that the rest of the episode is focused on Ladybug and Chat Noir gaming together against Gamer, proving that they're the dream team, not Marinette and Max. The logical ending of this plot is for Marinette and Adrien to do the same thing on the civilian side because they're the dream team no matter which side of the masks they're on. Instead we validate Max's anger towards Marinette and tell the little girls at home that it's wrong to show off to boys. How feminist?

It would have played so much better if Max initially took Marinett's spot, but changed his mind after Adrien's line since Adrien's logic isn't unique to Marinette. It applies to Adrien as well and logical Max should have seen that. Why is it right for Adrien to give his spot to the better player while it's fine for Max to take a spot from those who beat him? Shouldn't the best players be the ones to represent the school? Especially when those players have actually been practicing together while Max hasn't done any co-op training? The lesson here makes no sense at all!

It's definitely true that Max isn't the only one who comes across poorly in this episode. Kim, Alya, and Rose's reactions to Marinette's initial win all also play into the "A girl? Playing video games? No way!" issue. Alya and Tikki play into the, "Marinette was in the wrong to ever play because we must be good and virtuous in our motivations and not do things to impress boys" issue. Both of these elements exacerbate how Max comes across by setting a sexist tone to the episode, but that doesn't change the fact that Max completely failed to learn a very valuable lesson, unintentionally making him look like a bit of a sexist loser even without the sexist leadin.

Max's sexism is also heavily exacerbated by some real world issues that are going to impact the way that people view this episode, so let's skim the surface of those rabbit holes because I think we have to acknowledge them to really understand why this episode bothers people.

I'm going to give you some studies here to back up what I'm saying because, when it comes to these sorts of claims, I want to give you something you can evaluate for yourself. I don't want to just talk about known issues as if they're hard facts without any proof and I prefer studies to opinion pieces or articles that mention studies without the details for you to evaluate. However, I will note that I'm limited in what studies I can access because many research papers are stupidly price locked and my public library's research database is pretty limited, so I'm stuck between that and what I can find for free online.

Feel free to reblog this or to send me an ask with suggestions of better studies or books on these topics or even on the topic of the way that black people and characters are held to higher standards because that's certainly a very real issue that's important to keep in mind! We all have unconsious biases from things like the media we watch and the only way to become aware of these biases/learn to look for them is for someone to point them out and for us to do some learning. Like I'm trained to look for sexism by my experiences, but picking up on subtle racism is much harder since I don't have a lifetime of experience to pull from. There are lots of great resources out there, the trick is finding them and maybe even accessing them as I certainly found when I was looking for studies. I'm far from an expert on gender or racial studies. My hobby research field is history.

Issue One: Female Socialization and Those Precious Male Feelings

It is a documented phenomenon that women are socialized to be nurturers. They're taught to prioritize the feelings of others - especially men - over their own wants, needs, and successes. One study on this topic focused on how success effects intimate relationships and noted that:

We find that climbing the societal ladder has positive associations with women’s well-being and relationship outcomes... however, these associations reversed for women who surpassed their partners in social status. ...Among women with higher status than their partner, traditional women intend to adjust their behavior to fit the gender norm (e.g., thinking about reducing work hours in favor of their time at home), whereas egalitarian women did not, but felt guilty toward their partner.

In other words, this study found that women have happier relationships when they don't do as well as their male partners. When they do surpass their male partners, they either try to compensate for that success or tend to feel guilty for failing to compensate.

While this study was about romantic relationships, I don't think that it's a stretch to apply it to platonic relationships, too, especially since we're talking about the messages a TV show is sending to young girls. That's where Gamer comes in. What does that episode have Marinette do when she surpasses her male friend Max? She feels guilty and compensates for daring to be better than him, reinforcing a pretty ugly gendered stereotype.

This type of thing goes beyond interpersonal relationships. It's a well-known issue that women are looked down on when they act too "masculine" in the workforce:

Numerous studies have highlighted that female leaders are evaluated less favorably than their male counterparts when engaging in identical behaviors. For example, using a job-hiring paradigm, past research demonstrated that female candidates who violated the modesty prescription by self-promoting during an interview were evaluated as less likeable and less hireable than self-promoting male candidates.

Gamer was not an instance of Marinette doing something questionable to get close to Adrien. It was her taking her hard-won skills and using them to show off to her crush so that they could get closer, a thing that Adrien was clearly 100% okay with.

This episode should not have been an instance of Marinette being show to be in the wrong. A show that aims to empower little girls should never include an episode where a girl is chastised for daring to self-promote, but that's exactly what Gamer does. It says that Marinette was wrong to put her wants over Max's feelings. What kind of girl power show sends this sort of message? How do you take a woman fairly beating a man and make it a bad thing?

If anything, the message of this episode should have been focused on Marinette being told to NOT feel guilty. After all, that's the far more likely issue for young girls to face. They will have lots of people reminding them to treat others kindly. The message could have also been about winning gracefully and been fine, imo.

Issue Two: Gender Discrimination in Male-Dominated Hobbies

It's a well documented fact that female gamers have long been treated as outsiders by the gaming community as this study discusses:

The researchers played against 1,660 unique gamers and broadcasted pre-recorded audio clips of either a man or a woman speaking... Findings indicate that, on average, the female voice received three times as many negative comments as the male voice or no voice.

Since most of that study is behind a paywall and I don't know if you can access it, I'll also give this openly available study that looked a subset of the recordings from the initial study as it gives you some fine details of what they saw. I think that this second study is a little weird in terms of what it's trying to argue, but the hard data and the research methodology seem fine and that's what I want to focus on here:

We show that lower-skilled players were more hostile towards a female-voiced teammate, especially when performing poorly. In contrast, lower-skilled players behaved submissively towards a male-voiced player in the identical scenario. This difference in gender-directed behavior became more extreme with poorer focal-player performance... Higher-skilled players, in contrast, were more positive towards a female relative to a male teammate.

There's also this study which was free through my public library, so hopefully you can find a way to access it, too, if you want to read the whole thing. For the purposes of this post, I'm just going to highlight some of the statistics and cases that it talks about during its introduction:

Recent studies have suggested that sexual harassments in online games are committed mostly by male gamers against female gamers. For example, in South Korea, one of the countries with the largest per capita gaming populations, players who play the female character Mercy in Overwatch are commonly called by an online slang, Bo-Rcy, which literally means ‘Mercy played by female genitals’ and connotes that women are incapable [of playing] the game. Also, a female professional gamer has been falsely accused of using an illegitimate tool simply because her win rate was too high for a woman.

33% of female gamers experienced gender discrimination, and 57% experienced severe sexual harassment after disclosing their genders. Furthermore, 64% of female World of Warcraft players answered that they experienced various in-game sexism such as exclusion (i.e. removing women from the game-play) or gendered flaming (i.e. using derogatory language specifically against female gamers) Also, a report documented that women are exposed to worse forms of online harassment (e.g. stalking, physical threats, etc.) and that about 44% of Internet users, regardless of their sex, agreed that online gaming is ‘more welcoming toward men’. Overall, it can be concluded that ‘video game culture is actively hostile towards women in the private as well as the professional spheres’

In other words, by having Max only ever blame Marinette for his loss, Gamer has Max acting like a tame version your typical woman-hating gamer who can't handle the fact that they've lost to a girl. This is something that I've seen myself and is part of the reason that I lost interest in online gaming. I even know one girl who had to change her in-game name because it openly acknowledged her gender and got her a ton of harassment. Of course, the guys that we played with blamed her for choosing such a harassment-inviting name because heaven forbid that a woman openly play videogames!

Conclusion

Sexism or no sexism, Gamer undeniably validates Max behaving poorly. The perception of that poor behavior is simply exacerbated by existing gender issues. These real-world problems are why people look so negatively on Max's actions. While his behavior is far from the worst gamer rage that I've ever seen, it does represent a classic, sexist issue in gaming.

If it weren't for all of the complexity around the real-world treatment of talented women in male-dominated spaces or the issue of women being taught to prioritize the feelings of others, then this episode would just be one of those episodes with a nonsense moral. For example, it would still be bad if Adrien was in Marinette's spot, it would just no longer be sexist.

However, we don't live in a world without those issues, so this episodes comes across as hella sexist and Max is the main victim because he's representing some major gendered issues that woman have to deal with. I can name so many real world moments that this episode reminded me of and none of them are happy memories. Every single one of them involves someone telling me to put a man's feelings over my own desire or comfort. This is not the kind of messaging I want to see in shows aimed at young girls.

All that being said, I don't think that Max was supposed to be read as sexist. The writers just did him dirty and made him look terrible when he could have been a wonderful lesson on taking a loss with grace and treating female gamers with respect. After all, as we've already acknowledged, Max did start out handling his loss reasonably well. The rest of the episode just completely undoes that initial good reaction, making it so that a lot of viewers will only remember Max being a pouting sore loser who gets rewarded with the thing that he wanted while Marinette feels guilty and gets lambasted by others for daring to want a spot on the team. I am not surprised that the credited writers for this one are a pair of dudes. I sincerely hope (and assume) that this was them being oblivious to a gendered issue and not anything more malicious.

[pommunist]

I’m sorry but the fact your trying to say Quackity is a CEO of a corporate company is sooo fucked. QSMP is funded by only one man. QSMP’s team was made by one man. The project was put together by one man. QSMP does even fit the qualifications to a corporate company and it is Quackity’s very first project. Is there problems yes I’m not denying that but Quackity has made it clear he is trying and you seriously cannot be comparing him to fucking Amazon. Like the two arnt remotely similar. I think people hold QSMP to a higher standard because it’s so public but the difference between Amazon and Quackity is that Amazon has been running their company with a huge team of multiple people to make decisions for 30 years Quackity is a man who put together a team but is still largely making the decisions and has been doing it for a year. The man has a lot to learn I admit that but you can’t expect the same amount of perfection you get from a corporate company. Before you demonize Quackity we should let him try to actually learn get better and improve.

hey anon ! I don’t remember having referred to Q as the ceo of a corporate company but if I did and it’s inaccurate I’m sorry ! I’ll admit that I’m not super familiar with business-related english terms and what each of them specifically encapsulates, maybe owner of the company/face of the brand is more accurate ?

I agree that Qstudios isn’t Amazon however I don’t think QSMP is being held to an higher standard because it’s public. In fact I think that everyone, be it a huge corporation, a small business or someone on the Internet launching a project, from the point they start hiring people and having workers under their care, should be held to the standard of treating these workers fairly. And it’s not just my personal opinion, it’s also the legal standard in many countries.

A lot of businesses start with just one or a few people, and when it grows, it’s up to them to make sure everything they’re doing is in accordance with the law and that their workers aren’t being mistreated in the workplace/work environment. Obviously this is a lot of work in itself, especially in a international project because with each new country you hire someone from you basically double the number of norms to abide to, and would be overwhelming for just one person. That’s when it also becomes your responsibility to hire or at least contact lawyers, HR people, to help you navigate through this.

To me, this isn’t expecting perfection, it’s expecting the bare minimum.

Also please don’t assume I’m trying to demonise Quackity, I don’t have any intention to paint him as this big evil guy who woke up every morning thinking "hehe another good day of exploiting young people and make money off of them" as that is not how I view him and I hope my posts so far have not conveyed that idea.

My own take is that he had a great idea for a project but severely underestimated the amount of work and research that would actually have to be done to achieve it, didn’t take the necessary steps to help avoid this whole mess, wasn’t mindful enough of people working for him and on top of that, hired some bad people who enforced their toxic idea of what management should be.

[livingdiarrhea]

Aziraphale is so INFURIATING because if I had a friend who ended genuine arguements with “I forgive you” instead of…apologizing, or talking??? I would go insane.

It’s so interesting to me, the dynamic between Aziraphale and Crowley, because Aziraphale sees himself as inherently better than Crowley, but also meaning he should be held to higher standards. He adores Crowley, of course, but he s still clearly sees himself as inherently better and more moral, solely because he’s an angel, while Crowley sees the two of them as more or less equals, it’s just that he recognizes that Aziraphale is still sort of a brainwashed (not literally, like cult-wise) from heaven. (Crowley’s side is is sort of one I relate to). There’s always this unspoken tension between them and their opinions of each other, and it’s just *so* interesting. They’ll address it briefly, and drop it again. Even when they make up, they don’t actually talk about this issue. Crowley will try to bring it up, Aziraphale doesn’t respond, Crowley drops it.

Aziraphale loves his moral standards, he loves being pure, he loves being good, he needs to do exactly what god says (and in season 1, “god” included more of the angels as well, but his ideals do loosen quite a bit after the angels act like assholes). However, being with Crowley repeatedly challenges his moral standards in every single way. It’s why he’s usually the one who distances first, or makes a remark to purposefully distance Crowley and place himself above. From vibes alone, his remarks aren’t even intended to make Crowley feel inferior, it’s just him regurgitating his moral code hntil Crowley storms off so Aziraphale can avoid an actual counterargument to his points (for example: the “we aren’t even friends, I don’t even like you” is very very obviously a lie. And not even that hurtful of one, because it’s so obvious, it’s just annoying. I was screaming at my phone to shut up during this moment.)

This conflict of ideals is also why he’s so elated to give Crowley the opportunity to come to Heaven. To him, the only flaw with Crowley was that he wasn’t an angel. This seemed like the perfect solution, to have the guy he wants, while still being in alignment with his values. Obviously, Crowley’s “rebellious” nature is part of him, it’s a core part of him, but one Aziraphale doesn’t want to accept. That’s ultimately what the downfall of this idea was (also again; the angels?? HUGE assholes to both of them).

It mirrors the experience of being relatively non religious and having a very religious friend/lover. Which might have been the entire point (I have no media literacy). The main difference is that Aziraphale and Crowley just have set “this is good” , “this is bad” and “this is my side” already established, so it’s less taboo for Aziraphale to belittle Crowley’s demon kind (again, the idea that ‘he is better’) and Crowley to make a remark about angels (which tends to come off less condescending). Generally, this sort of dynamic wouldn’t be very acceptable in many places.

Anyway, personally, Aziraphale, is CONSISTENTLY super infuriating, but he’s charming, he grows on you, like a fungus. He’s more annoying on the show, but also more endearing, Michael Sheen’s smile could melt a heart of coal. He’s also just very interesting as a character, and his dynamics and situation surrounding him and Crowley. I really love him. And I hate him. He’s so complex, I’d even argue out of everyone (including Crowley) he’s the most complex character.

[yveltalreal]

hey youve talked about cyclizar racing a bit? how does it work?

okay so! theres like two major types!!!!!!!!!

the first types are speed races! all the races you see on tv or that are set up on legal courses and race centres and just that are held in general are of this type! a speed race tends to be a straight dash for the finish. quick sprints, or like a couple laps on a basic circuit. sometimes there are a few simple obstacles like some twisting turns or a few small jumps or a little bit of slippery terrain or a small wall to climb. nothing too intensive and even then obstacles are still kinda rare to see outside of higher level racing. this is the worst type of race because its boring and it sucks this is the only legal type (thankfully this will change hopefully)

the other type are technical races (sometimes called danger races or skill races depends on the group) these are the most popular type for illegal races. theyre characterized by unconventional courses that take paths through places like city streets, caves, and forests, weaving through a variety of natural and man made obstacles, many of which are dangerous and require a degree of skill and practice to go through safely. while speed race courses are rarely open during storms, many technical races are planned around harsh weather, with staying low and using as little metal gear as possible while avoiding getting swept away by pouring rain being part of the challenge. because of this, most illegal racers have a fast flying pokemon known as a scout pokemon that keeps an eye on the track. speaking of which, technical race tracks arent always as well defined as speed race tracks. shorter races will have a whole planned route, while larger ones may span entire neighbourhoods or more and instead just have a set of checkpoints that must be reached in a specific order before getting to the end. there are a few other variants of technical races i can talk about but overall theyre just a more fun and dangerous race type and im surprised but excited that the cyclizar racing federation has decided to potentially make official rules for them and open official tracks. obstacle based racing is super fun compared to just. trying to reach the end quickly and requires you to move your body with ur cyclie so much more and its sosososo fun.

also i guess i should talk about racing gear. speed races will always use racing gear. its standard cyclizar handlebars and seats just setup more for racing and being a bit more aerodynamic. technical racing on the other hand has no rules. race with whatever you got. most racers will use complete custom gear, modified rapidash tack (so a bridle, reins, saddle, maybe a blanket. i use this) or just standard racing gear. you technically also ride bareback for technical races since theres not as much rules but bareback cyclie riding has always been for more lax rides and you will fall off lol.

registering for speed races requires extensive history of your cyclizar. it must be a pure cyclizar so no hybrids. dna testing resules are required if they dont say its a pure cyclizar then it wont get in (so a cyclizar/rapidash hybrid wouldnt be allowed to race. if one somehow caught one of those crater fuckers it wouldnt be allowed either). lower level races and casual shit do occasionally allow hybrids IF AND ONLY IF it is proven that the hybridization gives no real benefit in a race. i think school races might also allow hybrids under the same rules?? idk. anyways. mid level and high level races require it to be a pure cyclizar (sometimes with racing breed pedigree) and often ban wild caught cyclizar from competition. after that theres also the standard health checkups one would have just for a riding license that make sure its a healthy size and has enough strength to be ridden, as well as the actual riding license that says you can ride the cyclizar around like. in public and stuff.

tecynical racing requires none of that just have a cyclizar and i guess make sure its healthy. you dont ened a riding license but you should have one so ur less likely to get arrested and also cause just. that confirmation that you and your cyclizar are able to ride.

also to clarify by technical racing illegality its like. there are harsh cyclizar riding trails that are just as dangeorus as technical racing but theyre legal cause ur supposed to go one at a time. if multiple people are racing at once it gets a lot more dangerous cause both people and pokemon can get seriously hurt. its not anything serious of a charge its more a misdemeanour you're probably just gonna get written up and end up with a fine unless youre a repeat offender

[fallow-hollow]

Hi may I request Pattadol with gn tall-man reader where she crushes on us when she and canaries came for their work? I really want canaries to tease her(ye even slowly rehabilitating Mithrun) I can imagine her trying postpone their departure to at the very least confess before leaving after everything's done, coming up with weird reasons until her new job given by the Queen allows her to stay a bit(by elf standards) more.

deadline extension

ft… pattadol, the canaries

tags… pining, fluff, open-ended, reader is a tallman, the canaries being nosy, marking as spoilers but honestly there isn’t much

word count... 1654

notes… WE’RE SO BACK BABYYYYYYY if you cannot tell by my blog theming, i love pattadol, so of course i’m gonna be super excited to write for her as well!! i started this request a while ago and only finished it up recently, so I apologize if it strays a bit from the prompt by accident!! i live to create good side characters fics for you guys <3

Being as high strung as she is, there’s no way Pattadol will react well to this.

Most of her interactions outside the Canaries are purely for work purposes, and since her team never stays in one place for too long, making friends with the locals was never a priority of hers.

Truth be told, though, it only really takes one compliment to have her smitten. All her coworkers pretty much never take her seriously, so it’s a nice change of pace for someone to actually listen to her for once…

“This dungeon is currently in what we would call stage four.” The other Canaries stood a slight distance behind Pattadol, most appearing generally disinterested in a speech she had most certainly given many times before. “We separate the life cycles of dungeons into five stages from beginning to end. The fifth is the most dangerous, so we do our best to avoid it at all costs, which is why we do our best to seal the dungeon during the third or fourth stage.”

The whole time she spoke, you stood at attention, enraptured by her words. “So dungeons are like their own living organisms, then?” A bright spark danced in your eyes, burning brighter when fed this fuel of information. “I’ve never seen another adventurer think of dungeons as much except for a dangerous place with money to be made.”

She watched the way your fingers flexed while you held the hilt of your sword, but never quite unsheathed it. In fact, she’d been so engrossed by your body lactate that she squeaked in surprise when you continued.

“Your knowledge is very impressive. I see now why the elves of the west have such a widespread reputation!” After a pause, the corners of your smile rose just a bit higher to add, “however, I’m sure your individual merit is just as evident.”

“Ah!” Behind her, Cithis smirked when the shorter woman’s ears perked up. Trying to show humility at your praise, a pale hand waved in front of her. “Such is expected of someone in my position. We are all here to ensure the safety of the public!”

Though, she highly doubted there was another member of the public as pleasurable to serve as you were.

You come back each day with more questions, and, time permitting, she’s happy to answer. At times, she will have to wave you away when she’s busy with other matters, and the disappointed look on her face almost makes her wish she hadn’t.

Before any of them catch on, her coworkers are mostly either annoyed at her getting distracted or relieved to have even a moment away from her watchful eye and strict attitude.

The first to realize what’s going on is pretty much a tie between Cithis and Mithrun, though I’d say Mithrun realizes just a bit earlier, but doesn’t say anything to the others, of course.

The captain’s gaze was practically drilling holes in the back of her head, so much so that she feared she’d start getting a headache sooner or later. With no warning, he appeared at her side, and she wasn’t sure if he used teleportation or if she was simply that distracted. Nonetheless, Pattadol feigned composure and looked at her superior attentively.

“Is there anything you need, captain?”

Her expectations were some sort of order, needing directions, but certainly nowhere close to what actually fell from the captain’s lips.

“Don’t get distracted.”

If she wasn’t so busy standing stock still in embarrassment, she would’ve demanded to know what he was insinuating. Not like she needed to, of course. The subject of his statement immediately came to mind, and all she could do was furrow her brow and clamp her mouth shut.

Oh, she was doomed, wasn’t she?

As much as she wants to be, Pattadol isn’t subtle. It doesn’t take long for the rest of her coworkers to get the picture. The teasing was strong at first, happening nearly every time you two were near one another, but I think they’d get bored eventually. After all, they’ll be gone after the dungeon is sealed, and you’re a short lived race! The idea of the two of you getting together was pretty much impossible in their minds.

The rapidly approaching departure was both a blessing and a curse to Pattadol. On one hand, she wouldn’t have to endure these treacherous feelings getting in the way of her duties, and soon, the judgmental gazes of her coworkers would shift their focus away from her love life and back to her just being a “stickler”. After all, she wouldn’t even see you anymore!

But on the other hand… she wouldn’t even see you anymore.

To her own shock and horror, she actually starts looking for reasons to stay.

Now, Pattadol is literally the furthest thing from dishonest one could imagine. She would rather die than lie to the queen of all people, but if there’s something like, say, some damaged runes that can’t be read but could easily be done after the dungeon is sealed, she’ll choose to do it now under the guise of due diligence.

The other Canaries will definitely notice her demeanor changing, but a slower pace definitely isn’t a bad thing for most of them, so as long as the job gets done, they won’t exactly object.

She was supposed to be gone, wasn’t she? A confused expression took over your face when you caught sight of the long, blonde hair and the green cape. To you, she was unmistakable.

“Hey, weren’t you supposed to leave this morning?” The reaction to your voice was near instant, with Pattadol’s head turning just a split second after her ears perked up in recognition of the sound. Though she was smiling, there was a hint of something apologetic in her eyes.

“Well, we were,” a stray lock of hair was moved into place as she spoke. “We ended up finding some tunes on the walls that were partially damaged, and even once the dungeon is sealed, they’ll still be of great interest to the queen, so her orders were to restore and decipher them to the best of our ability while we were still present in the area. Decided that it would be more efficient.”

After that long string of words, she inhaled deeply, and you couldn’t help but notice her cheeks were slightly flushed. It looked good on her.

“So you’ll be here a little longer?” Even if she hadn’t specifically requested more time at this location, she couldn’t have said no to you. Not like this, when your eyes were so hopeful and your smile so contagious.

Grinning now herself, she acquiesced to your unspoken wishes. “Of course. We value doing our work thoroughly and properly.” Your eyes met once again, and the both of you knew that wasn’t all that she had to say.

“That aside, I’m glad to be here. I’ve wanted to speak with you a bit more…..”

A confession would likely be meticulously planned out by Pattadol, each word carefully handpicked into a linguistic bouquet that could express how she feels.

Your acceptance would shock her, really. In her mind, there was such a large gap between the two of you, and considering her position, there was little chance of anything truly working out in the long term.

Trying to reassure her that the two of you could make things work might fall on deaf ears at first, considering her emotional state. Writing letters was always an option, of course, but it just didn’t feel right to do that to you. You deserve someone who could be with you every day! She wouldn’t want you to spend your life waiting for her while she was overseas carrying out the bidding of the queen….

Many nights were spent deliberating her predicament, pacing back and forth in the Canaries’ quarters while muttering to herself. So many, in fact, that her coworkers decided to help her for their own sanity.

Pattadol, was, of course, against it at first, and even more against trying to bargain for more time, but soon enough she realized that she’d have absolutely no peace of mind if she left, either.

“W-we can’t do this!” The other Canaries ignored the frantic waving of the guard’s hands, signaling in every way physically possible that she wanted this all to stop. “It’s dishonest, it’s against the code! And- and it wouldn’t even work! Better to spare me the heartache!”

From the bottom bunk bed behind the panicking blonde, Lycaon propped himself up on one arm. He observed Pattadol with a largely unamused expression, waiting for a quiet moment to say his piece.

“So you’re saying…” he waited for his superior’s head to turn towards him before continuing. “…that if you left this lover of yours as soon as humanly possible, you would feel little heartache and get over it quickly?”

The look on her face, crestfallen and lost, said all that he needed to know.

Feeling defeated, Pattadol could only hang her head and sigh. “….Just don’t do anything outrageous, please?”

The methods aside, with Mithrun’s influence as captain as well as his lack of fear towards behaving out of line goes quite a bit farther than Pattadol, who was only really willing to use believable excuses. She’s practically tripping over herself to thank them, but most of them are just happy to get a break from nonstop work. Except for Mithrun, probably, who might even try to get reassigned down the line to get back into a dungeon sooner, but that’s Mithrun for you.

When she sees you next, she’s elated, telling you that she’ll now be here for a much longer time with you! Sure, it’s only a measly ten years, but it’s something! Perhaps you can work out something more down the line?

…Huh? Why do you look so confused? Did she say something strange?

[ell0ra-br3kk3r-writes]

The Phoenix and the Crow

part thirty-two

pairing: kaz brekker x fem!reader

genre: neutral

el's thoughts: again, thank you for being so patient with meee!! from a writing aspect, i'm almost done with the series! and it's wilddd i'm currently finishing up chapter thirty-five and my heart hurts knowing that i'm kinda almost done..

masterlist

Y/N stared silently at Kaz while he watched Inej intently, his bitter coffee eyes glittering in the light from the dome.

Inej explained how the costumes would be their masks. How the Fjerdans would only see a Suli lynx and a Kaelish mare. Not people, not even really girls, just lovely objects to be collected.

“It’s a risk,” said Kaz.

“What job isn’t?”

“Kaz, how are you, Matthias and Y/N going to get through?” asked Nina. “We might need you for locks, and if things go bad on the island, I don’t want to be stranded. I doubt you can pass yourselves off as members of the houses.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” said Kaz. “Helvar’s been holding out on us.”

“Have you?” asked Y/N.

“It’s not-” Matthias dragged a hand over his cropped hair. “How do you know these things, demjin?” he growled at Kaz.

“Logic. The whole Ice Court is a masterpiece of fail-safes and doubled systems. That glass bridge is impressive, but in an emergency, there would have to be another way to get reinforcements to the White Island and get the royal family out.”

Y/N and Jesper shared a smirk at the sight of Matthias’ baffled expression.

“Yes,” said Matthias in exasperation. “There’s another way to the White Island. But it’s messy.” He glanced at Nina. “And it certainly can’t be done in a gown.”

“Hold on,” Jesper interrupter. “Who cares if you can all get onto the White Island? Let’s say Nina sparkles Yul-Bayur’s location out of some Fjerdan higher-up, and you get him back here. We’ll be trapped/ By then, the prison guards will have completed their search and are going to know seven inmates got out of the sector somehow. Any chance we have of making it through the embassy gates and the checkpoints will be gone.”

Kaz peered past the dome to the embassy’s open courtyard and the ringwall gatehouse beyond.

“Wylan, how hard would it be to disable one of these gates?”

“To get it open?”

“No, to keep it closed.”

“You mean break it?” Wylan shrugged. “I don’t think it would be too difficult. I couldn’t see the mechanism when we entered the prison gate, but from the layout, I’m guessing it’s pretty standard.”

“Pulleys, cogs, some really big screws?”

“Well, yes, and a sizable winch. The cables wrap around it like a big spool, and the guards just turn it with some kind of handle or wheel.”

“I know how a winch works. Can you take one apart?”

“I think so, but it’s the alarm system the cables are attached to that’s complicated. I doubt I could do it without triggering Black Protocol.”

“Good,” said Kaz. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Jesper held up a hand. “I’m sorry, isn’t Black Protocol the thing we want to avoid at all costs?”

“I do seem to remember something about certain doom,” said Nina.

“Not if we use it against them.” Y/N spoke up causing Kaz to give her a nod. “Tonight, most of the Court’s security is concentrated on the White Island and right here at the embassy. When Black Protocol sounds, the glass bridge will shut down, trapping all those guards on the island along with the guests.”

“But what about Matthias’ rout off the island?” asked Nina.

“They can’t move a major force that way,” Matthias conceded. “At least not quickly.”

Kaz gazed out at the White Island, head filter, eyes slightly unfocused.

“Scheming face,” Inej murmured.

Y/N nodded. “Definitely.”

“Three gates in the ringwall,” Kaz said. “The prison gate is already locked up tight because of Yellow Protocol. The embassy gate is a bottle neck crammed with guests—the Fjerdans aren’t going to get the troops through there. Jesper, that just leaves the gate in the druskelle sector for you and Wylan to handle. You use it to engage Black Protocol, then wreck it. Break it badly enough that any guards who manage to mobilize can’t get out to follow us.”

“I’m all for locking the Fjerdans in their own fortress,” said Jesper. “Truly. But how do we get out? Once we trigger Black Protocol, you guys will be trapped on that island, and we’ll be trapped in the outer circle. We have no weapons and no demo materials.”

Kaz’s grin was sharp as a razor. “Thank goodness we’re proper thieves. We’re going to do a little shopping—and it’s all going on Fjerda’s tab.”

~

Y/N looked at her strange crew, barefoot and shivering in their soot-stained prison uniforms, their features limned by the golden light of the dome, softened by the mist that hung in the air.

What bound them together? Greed? Desperation? Was it just the knowledge that if one or all of them disappeared tonight, no one would come looking? Maybe Nikolai would send a few troops to search but that was out of duty. Y/N had no one to shed a tear and mourn her life. She had no family, no parents, no siblings, only people to fight beside. And she knew that was always something to be grateful for, too.

It was Jesper who spoke first. “No mourners,” he said with a grin.

“No funerals,” they replied in unison. Even Matthias muttered the words softly.

“If any of you survive, make sure I have an open casket,” Jesper said as he hefted two slender could of rope over his shoulder and signaled for Wylan to follow him across the roof. “The world deserves a few more moments with this face.”

Y/N was only slightly surprised to see the intensity of the look that passed between Matthias and Nina. Something had changed between them after the battle with the Shu, but she couldn’t be sure what.

Matthias cleared his throat and gave Nina an awkward little bow. “A word?” he asked.

Nina returned the bow with considerably more panache, and let him lead her away.

Inej gave the inferni a soft smile and slipped the recognizable pair of black leather gloves into her hands. The Suli nodded towards Kaz and slipped away to wait for Nina.

Y/N turned to face him and walked to his side.

“I have something for you,” she said as she held out his gloves.

He stared at them. “How-”

“I got them from the discarded clothes and gave them to Inej before she made the climb.”

He pulled the gloves on slowly, and she watched his pale, vulnerable hands disappear beneath the leather. They were trickster hands—long, graceful fingers made for prying open locks, hiding coins, making things vanish.

“When we get back to Ketterdam, I’m heading back to Ravka right away.”

He looked away. “You should. You’re too good for the Barrel anyway.”

She hummed and closed her eyes tightly in frustration. She didn’t know what she expected from him but she wanted more.

He reached down to hold her wrist. “Y/N.” His gloved thumb moved over her pulse, tracing the top of a burn scar she got when she miss caught her first flame. “If we don’t make it out, I want you to know … ”

She waited. She felt hope rustling its wings inside her, ready to take flight at the right words from Kaz. She willed that hope into stillness. Those words would never come. Hope is dangerous.

She reached up and touched his cheek. She thought he might flinch again, even pull away from her. He let her hand cup his cheek. His skin was cool and damp from the rain. He stayed still, just barely leaning closer to her warm touch.

“If we don’t survive this night, I will die unafraid, Kaz. Can you say the same?”

His eyes were nearly black, the pupils dilated. She could see his dazed gaze focus back onto her, still not pulling away. She knew it was the best he could offer at the moment and she nodded softly.

She dropped her hand. He took a deep breath.

Kaz had said he didn’t want her prayers and she wouldn’t speak them, but she wished his safe and sane nonetheless.

Matthias stood a few feet away from the pair, grabbing the Inferni’s attention.

“Let’s go, Kaz.”

~*~

taglist: @katherinereid @littlecat21 @jahayla-parker @maliciousbrekker @brekkershadowsinger @brekkers-desigirl @clunaes @wonderland2425 @bookloverfilmoholic @karensirkobabes @bookworm-center @el-de-phi @so-get-this-sammy @skittleabyss @crispy-croke @cometsghost @auttumnsayshi

[radioactivewisdom]

Do you think that so many women are dumb because they can afford to be? Since so many women hide behind their "hubbies", and are 9 times out of 10 the collaborators, not the pioneers, there's not that much at stake for them, so they can cruise through life avoiding bigger responsibilities?

I mean, I am not the only who sees how allergic many, many, many women are to accountability, right? Even calling them out on the most basic things, like making the observation that a woman's position in sexual intercourse is risky (pregnancy, disease) and dangerous (male violence) leads to being shit on by them, apparently that makes those of us who point it out into misogynists, and all sorts of other evil labels that they can vaguely apply. It's quite a mindfuck, pardon my French, to be denied basic truths viciously by basically any woman I attempt to confide in.

And many people have this image of motherhood that it's overly caring, involved, the protector from the father's violence, but in my family and acquaintance circles, the women are not the dependable, but the dependent, dependent on their husbands, ofc. When I was a little girl, I used to feel ashamed to be female due to how humiliating they made it look. It's a bit ironic, because people nowadays say that it's men who lack role models, but in truth it's always been women whose "role models" were limited to upper class prostitutes and mentally-deficient tradwives. Idk, it really unnerves me that women are painting themselves as good people, when all they are is spineless, and would be doing the exact same things their husbands are doing if they weren't so cowardly. The mentality is certainly the same, but the wife lacks the willpower, and the job falls on the person who has just a bit more reason to self-assert, the husband, I mean, his "masculinity" is on the line, is it not? Just something I've been thinking about lately.

And as a last note: thank you for your blog, radio. It's probably one of my favorite corners on this website, I always check back in whenever I find the time <3 :)

Absolutely. Despite all of the complaining, embodying this world’s ideals is the easiest route to take. There are social benefits and rewards to being a “feminine” woman, which includes marriage and motherhood. Many women are just envious that they aren’t allowed to be as openly degenerate as men, and much of the “equality” they’re after is behaving just as badly. This is why they want consequence free sex because men get to just walk away from it, so why shouldn’t they? Anytime a terrible mother is brought up, they’ll chime in and say “but men are worse parents! why are we held to a higher standard?” An accountability free life if what they’re after, even though they’re supposedly superior to the sex they claim isn’t held responsible enough. I LOVE what you said about women being the ones who lack role models. So true, we’re surrounded by women who try and encourage us to be just as dumb as them. I understand why many girls are upset in youth and even fear womanhood because of what they’ve seen. Women can only have the moral high ground because they’re comparing themselves to the lowest of the low. Funny that they’ll chatter all day about how men are so beneath them because of their bad behavior, but don’t you dare think you’re better than them for choosing better. Thank you for sending me this and allowing me to share it. There’s so much wisdom in your words! I’m glad that my postings are ones you look forward to :)

[triannel]

Hello, I'm here to share some theories and even some character analysis on the triangle guy. I haven't read the book yet and I really am trying my best to avoid spoilers. My notes/theories and even analysis of him may be a bit all over the place so apologies in advance. I'll get the book in a few months but for now, as a distraction I'll theorize, maybe doodle and even write headcannons of the guy. I didn't expect myself to be interested on a dang triangle lol

Theories:

•He's considered as a lower being by his worlds standard. Refusing to believe that, he pushes the idea that he is not at all as they say he is. Hating the hierarchy, and his situation he looks for a way out of his miserable reality.

In the end, all he finds suitable is to leave the entire dimension he used to reside in. But to do so he discovered that, to gain access to a higher plain of reality, the passage had to be opened from the other side.

Unfortunately, he does not have the power to communicate outside his dimension. But refusing to surrender, he slowly turns to desperate acts. Greedy, selfish acts that hurt and destroy.

Once he had his taste of power, he became worse than the beings who mistreated him. "Liberating" his world, he burned it to the ground.

Nothing more, than a pile of ashes. His once beautiful home has now turned to ashes. Refusing to let himself feel guilt he pretends to be filled with joy, lying to himself that his actions did not affect him at all, starting a facade to only fool himself.

•Or perhaps he accidentally destroyed his home. Creating a gateway, forcing something that isn't supposed to be in the dimension. The gateway ignites a fire unlike any of them had ever seen, with his newfound powers, he survives it all, leaving all that cannot persist to suffer.

Watching it all burn away, his face stretched in horror, but shaking his head he just starts to laugh as tears slowly roll off his eye.

He liberated his home, well he thinks so... The little moments of beauty and happiness now burned to ashes.

•Perhaps most of the beings that are superior to him treated him so badly he held a grudge to them. Maybe he never really did plan to kill anyone, but once one of the superiors caught on what he was trying to do, they tried to ambush him. Losing his sanity he burns his home down, including the innocent, and the weak.

Analysis:

•One weakness is that he assumes too much about a being. A few of his shortcomings stems from the fact that he simply assumes and does not judge his enemies in an objective manner at times.

•He struggles with letting himself be vulnerable, of course it should be expected by him to act that way. He knows that many beings are out to get him, but he never lets it haunt him.

•Because he knows he cannot truly trust anyone, he often feels lonely, but still he tries to not feel so, as it only hurts to think about it. Surrounding himself in beings that he considers are fun to be with, he tries to compensate with aquaintances or, as he likes to call them, his henchmaniacs.

He has fun with them, treating them slightly more superior than the others. But still abusing them in the end as he feels they are still pointless.

He does not let himself trust them, and in turn, it shortens his view of them. Seeing them nothing more than being pawns he treats them like the others, but still letting them have a slight bit of his favor to let them feel empowered.

The relationship he has with them is abusive, he knows this but he just does not care, because in the end why should he. He's superior and they're inferior, he has the right to do anything over them.

•He is a narcissist. Only caring for himself he hurts others in the process. He will do anything to get what he wants. He needs to taught a lesson that he cannot forget, for it to have a lasting effect, it needs to be from someone genuinely kind and empathetic. Someone strong enough to see through the layers he's trapped himself with, someone strong enough to go through the pain and still making him see that it's wrong. Someone who will understand, someone strong enough to still show kindness despite everything he's done.

•He'll do something sometimes if it envokes positive feelings or if it fits with his intricate planning. He's a strategist, smart enough to know what is necessary and what is not. He does things for a reason, most of the times there's a reason. But regardless sometimes he just does things just for the fun of it.

That's all I have for now, I'll probably add more to this sooner or later. Most indefinitely after reading the book and probably before reading it

[singlesomethinginstyle]

Good Girl, Bad Boy

Part 1.

That’s what we’re raised to be. We’re all decent people, aren’t we?

Girls, especially. 

This is the expectation cast on women right from childhood - when playtime is slowly replaced by chores, classroom rowdy behaviour is punished harshly, higher expectations of both behaviour and performance dangled on our heads. 

Girls, right from childhood are held to higher standards. 

Boys play. Girls have to play nice. 

Our earliest toys are not rowdy action figures, they’re tea sets, household kits and kitchen sets. Instead of play-acting hero stories, we’re taught games where we play-act a household, hold play-weddings and pretend to have kids, perform rituals and marry off said kids. 

Girls are rewarded for learning chores and getting organized at an early age - it’s an expectation. 

For a guy - they’re just rowdy boys - what can you expect? If they exhibit the same behaviour, it’s the sign of genius. 

When it comes to schooling, the same expectations carry over, except with an undercurrent - girls are consistently held to a higher standard of behaviour, excellence, performance. It is also subtly dangled over their heads to be grateful for every ounce and opportunity of educational advancement allowed us, thanks to the schooling system, because your mothers and grandmothers surely didn’t have these, did they?

Most desi women have been given the opportunity to study because the law and the systems of our countries says they should, not because individual pairs of parents assessed their children and believed a certain type of education and opportunity means better growth for this child. 

And the underlying denominator that leads them to this kind of thinking is the idea of a woman as Paraya Dhan - Literally - someone else’s wealth. The current patriarchal models followed by desi societies (most of them, pardon me, as I am not aware of how some matriarchal communities function) is that once a woman reaches a certain marriageable benchmark, she is eventually shifted to another family which becomes her sole focus. 

Her new family earns the benefit of her education, her salary, her expertise or her past achievements. Her skills are put to use for the benefit of the family she marries into. This is even a prominent point of negotiation when arranged marriages are formulated - Can the daughter help her parents financially or should it all go to her husband and in-laws? Can we avoid a dowry if she promises to dedicate her salary to her in-laws?

The marriageable benchmark for desi women in modern times is being defined as = 

[ age of majority + childbearing ability+ household skills + education & degrees + Money & earnings she brings into the new family ] 

And meeting this benchmark means attracting in-laws who are also of a similar or higher standing which benefits the families coming together. So much so that, some girl-parents overstretch their means to make sure their daughters hit benchmarks beyond their means - expensive schooling, international education with crippling lifelong debt and similar choices, with this equation in mind. Mind you, given so many government schemes, parents begin saving for their daughters’ marriages right from when they’re toddlers, such as the famous Sukanya Samriddhi scheme. Is it a stretch to imagine that the average girl-parents have already charted her future when she begins to walk?

And to achieve these benchmarks, the average girl child is subject to stricter standards of behaviour, social compliance, educational standards by teachers and achievement benchmarks. 

They’re rewarded, reinforced and supported all the way into college and university, until the shackles and expectations of love and marriage start to descend upon adulthood, 

So much that even guys begin to notice at an early age - but their registering of the problem is different. 

Guys at an early age realise they can get away with a lot of things because, well, boys will be boys. 

Scraped knees, broken neighbour’s window? Psshhh.. No biggie

Fireworks in the classroom? Lines and running in the grounds thanks to the PE teacher. 

Playing cricket in the halls? Kneel down or stand outside the class. 

Bunking classes, smoking and drinking? Suspension for 3 days (aka the holiday they wanted). 

Are any of these really punishments? Where is the reward for good behaviour and the genuine consequences for the bad?

From an early age, boys are exposed to the boundaries girls are, but instead of expecting compliance, they’re expected to test them. A lot of their behaviour is excused as boyish yuva ka josh. 

However, there is something to be said that they notice the attention and discipline with which the average girl is groomed for long-term success from day one. And I kid you not, it is discipline and success. Girls are raised, equipped with crucial survival skills right from childhood but the same is not the case with guys. 

They notice the outcomes - girls are believed over boys when something happens. The word of a girl is prioritized when something goes wrong. Acting out is not even an expectation laid on a girl. Guys notice that girls are EXPECTED to succeed, while for them, SUCCESS is a bonus or a happy accident but not a pre-requisite. 

Most guys do not have the same careful behavioural grooming, exposure to tailored influences with the long term goal of seeing them win in the olympics, join the army, become a diplomat, run a business or become the CEO of a tech company. They’re allowed to grow wild until adulthood hits them hard, and then they have to scramble. 

A lot of this is the result of wilful pampering at home - where traditional roles dictate that the Son of the family takes responsibility for the family. In a sense of collectively misguided thought, parents tend to pour more love (read: pampering) into the Son - by excusing his behaviour, allowing his childish explorations, giving into their rebellion or wilfulness, funding their lavish lifestyles, in the hope that their Raja Beta would turn around and do the exact same for their aged mother and father - host them and pamper them in their old age the same way they pampered their dear son. 

This trend continues till adulthood - they’re still living with their mothers, their jobs, porn and dating being the only adult outlets in their lives, while they wait for said families to find eligible girls for them to marry. They haven’t done a thing to develop themselves as individuals with something to offer other than a dick and a paycheck or a personality that consists of cheering at cricket matches. 

Which brings me to Adulthood.

Nearly every woman I’ve met who has some degree of self awareness has envisioned a plan for her future. She has survival skills that involve everything from chores in the house to tasks for the household. They know what age they want to or are going to marry and how much it will cost the family, they know what investment plans they want to make so they become financially free. 

They know what hobbies and side gigs they want to nurture, they know what their career graph will look like, and what they want to do. They even have calculated the cost of going abroad and living in various countries to make any of these happen. 

Most guys on the other hand, have no clue. They’re still living at home, obsessed over the latest gadget or new internet guru, have no implementable life skills, can’t make a cup of tea or run a load of laundry to save their lives, have no clue how to develop their personality, or have an investment plan for themselves, family, elders or even themselves. They have no idea what to do when marriage is on the horizon, or when building a life requires foresight and action. 

So at the same age of 25, a woman has already planned 50-90% of her life out in various aspects and is already making arrangements to realise them while a man has discovered the joys of a disposable income and has no thoughts beyond the cricket match he can finally splurge on without his parents’ nagging. 

At age 30, a woman has her retirement planned, she’s building skills both at home and professionally, accomplishing the way she’s been taught to excel since childhood, while a man has discovered that his parents are not going to live forever, responsibility is not just a word in the dictionary, it has meaning, and the opposite sex does not find his lack of a personality or inability to build a future, attractive. 

Is it surprising anymore that girls, are told to lower their standards by the likes of Sima Taparia and many other meaningful aunties with miserable marriages, and just pick a guy to marry?

The keyword here is lowering standards. How can any clear thinking self-respecting woman entrust her future to someone who does not have his shit together at the BARE MINIMUM? And yet, due to the realities of desi society and the nagging biological clock, we are expected to lower the BARE MINIMUM standards.

We’ve been taught since childhood to hold high standards, while men have been taught the opposite. 

They’ve been waited on, and cultivated as princelings by families, with the expectation that a suitable girl will simply fall into their laps when the time comes. 

Is it really that necessary to lower your standards? 

Ladies, let me ask you. 

Do you deserve this clueless, aimless, personality-less skill-less complete bubble that most guys come from? When a job has stringent requirements from you for 8 hours a day, your landlord has requirements he needs you to meet even for a few months, why not for the rest of your life?

When you have been raised to meet certain standards all your life, it is not a stretch to expect your partner to have similar if not complimentary skills to yours. 

Marriage is not a zero-sum game. If you bring something to the table, your partner at the very least needs to bring something similar to offer.  1+0 = 1 1+1 has to become either 2 or 11.

So HAVE ALL THE EXPECTATIONS you can. Because you will only get what you ask and settle for. And it’s only when you have the right set of expectations that you can find someone who vibes at your level, if not exceed it.

Because marriage is a traditional institution despite all attempts to modernise it, equip it with laws, ideals and so much more. 

Expecting a guy who steps up IS NOT A BIG STRETCH. 

—--

But I know most of you desi women will give in and accept whatever comes your way and term it on par with what you deserve. So let’s do a little exercise to help you figure out what you are worth. 

WHAT YOU ARE WORTH

Do this on paper, or if possible, Word, or Google Docs, or Powerpoint. Open up a document. This is going to be LONG. 

Step 1: Find a nice picture of yourself that YOU LOVE and think you look amazing in. Say something nice about yourself.

Step 2 : list down your qualifications and professional skillsets, and everything you are doing work-wise. Starting a side gig? It goes in. Learning pottery? Goes in. Somebody complemented your writing skills at work? Goes in. Saved group projects in college from dying a miserable death? Goes in. Played a sport, led people or won medals? Goes in. For each Skill Item you have listed - make a column and name the demonstrated skill - such as project management, pottery and ceramics, athletics/sprinting, engineering, public speaking, poetry, and so on. 

Step 3: Make a list of every occasion people have thanked you for helping them in some way. Any way. Be it - overcoming bullies at school, dealing with a creep, solving problems at home, tutoring, editing a newsletter, etc etc,  Whatever you have done to help someone - list the occasion. And then, name the value or the quality it represents - like - courage, or honesty, or street smart thinking, and so on. Those are values that you hold and have demonstrated as an individual. These are your DEMONSTRATED PERSONAL VALUES

Step 4: Make a long list of LIFE skills you have. Cooking? Laundry and housekeeping? Driving? Dealing with legal and government systems? Time Management? Childcare? Conflict resolution? Research? Balancing family accounts? First aid? Ayurveda? Yoga? Every single thing. And yes, planning a puja at home or that diwali party in the family does count. That's Event Management.

Step 5 : Open up job portals in your country, and for every item you have listed in your professional skillset - find job listings and salaries attached to it for 1 year. Add that number next to each item. 

Step 6 : Do the same with your LIFE skills - for every skillset, there is a professional doing a job - so list their annual salaries next to it. 

Step 7 : Add up the sum total of the salaries from both your professional skills and life skills - That is your QUANTITATIVE PERSONAL WORTH for 1 year. Step 8 - See all the qualities you’ve listed, like leadership, time management, accounting and so on? Make a long list of these, and do a search for these skill sets on JOB portals. Find the top-paying jobs that pay for a combination of these values and skillsets. It will be in millions or lakhs. Add that to your Quantitative Personal worth. 

Step 8 : To your list of DEMONSTRATED PERSONAL VALUES, add a list of dos and don’ts. These are - Behaviours you will ACCEPT AND WELCOME (dos) and Behaviours you will absolutely deny, abhor, condemn and get angry at (Don’ts) For example - Being casual and unserious can be a DO for me, but Betrayal is a DON’T - which means, I greatly value loyalty as an individual. Make these lists and define them. 

Now, your demonstrated personal values and the DOs and DON’Ts you list out signal the type of people you are okay with welcoming into your life and the type you cannot accept. THESE are your moral standard. THESE are your benchmark for friends, family, and life partner. THESE are your personal boundaries. Write them in your diary and stand by them uncompromisingly. 

Step 9 - Back to your Quantitative Personal Worth. Multiply it with the average Desi woman’s life expectancy. It has been calculated to be between 67 - 70 years. That’s your worth as an individual at the BARE MINIMUM. That is your poverty line, and no person you welcome into your life can go below this line, or treat you beneath it.

Now, looking at this list, ask yourself, my dear lady.

Do you really think you ought to settle?

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Sorry, Wrong Comms! : Hunter x Medic!Reader [Chapter 5]

Warnings and Information: Intended audience is 13+ (18 if you squint). We cry like men in this house because we’ve learned (slightly) better coping mechanisms almost a year after Order 66 in this AU!! Mentions of medical stitches and paraphernalia. Writing love letters is tricky business. Fluff. Angst. Pining/Hunter having a slight panic attack if you squint. Mostly Star Wars swearing. Use of Mando'a. Occasionally jumping character-focus with no show of Medic!Reader since she’s gone home for the night, so it’s “Oops! All Batchers” Hours with passing mentions of Medic!Reader. 

As this bantha has been beaten to death by now, “RIFE with my headcanons” really applies here in this chapter: Lots of my headcanons about unofficial “Clone Culture” on Kamino are gonna show up briefly (one line is suggestive of masturbation and another is suggestive of toxic masculinity standards). Tryin’ real hard to avoid certain fanon characterizations of the Batchers. Intentional and unintentional trickery; only 50% of these siblings are getting any decent sleep tonight.  Maybe grab some tissues?

Word-count: 5,022

Echo's told me that Wrecker's told you that I-

No, this was just going to get messy and long-winded if he dragged his vode into it on how he found out into his fifth draft... Erase.

Guess I should cut the chatter: I've been made aware that you now have an idea of how I feel about you when I was under medical observa-

On second thought, that wasn't necessary to bring up, the medic would know the "when". Erase.

-of how I feel about you. Echo encouraged me to tell you the full truth myself. So that's what this letter is meant to do, [____]. It'll be easier to lay down a foundation for a later conversation in a letter first… if that's what you want.

He gingerly eased his back up higher along the headboard of the bed with a tray of salted crackers in his lap and tried thinking back to the results from the Holonet while everyone else had dinner at the time, earlier in the evening. Something about removing the pressure being asked to have a verbal conversation with someone by proposing the option to find an alternative method of communication if desired… Tech had been pretty thorough in finding several wordy, but helpful articles. Pretty quick to find them as well, come to think of it.

If not, then maybe we can communicate this way for the time being. I'll leave that up to you. But it's important that-

Crosshair or Tech had interrupted his train of thought as he deliberately typed out each word. "Hunter; I don't hear you eating." 

"Not hungry, vod."

"You're going to remain in a state of nausea even with the anti-emetic tablets if you do not eat anything while you are taking the medicine that was prescribed to you as per the warnings on the label." Crosshair didn't talk like that. Only one brother it could possibly be. 

"Just come in, Tech…" The goggled Clone entered the room quickly, an assortment of items in a crate under one arm. Things [____] left with them from her medbag to pad out the Batch's medical arsenal until the shops opened in the morning. Snap-activated cold packs. A new temp reader. Gauze and bacta. "I brought a few nutrient paste tubes with me to leave them by your bedside in case you woke up in the middle of the night; no mess and nothing to chew. Well come to think of it, perhaps the reason you haven't and don't feel like eating is a sore jaw after all the… No matter. Here." 

Tech offered Hunter one of the more palatable flavors of nutrient paste, and he quickly realized that as Tech held this one out to him (the way he'd seen several Regs pass back General Skywalker's lightsaber to him after another of his infamous shenanigans), all of the tubes were the most palatable flavors to Hunter. 

Hunter's exclusive line of nutrient products! Omega joked once. Tech had been teaching her what he knew of the various manufacturers that produced these types of rations while they were deep in hyperspace to keep her occupied. Crosshair, who had been a royal grouch after lying in the mud banks for hours in wait for their quarry to acquire some credits, could be heard chuckling in his rack at Omega's joke (and didn't deny doing so when Echo dared to tease him). That'd been the mission that made the Marauder's exterior hull muddy and the eventual reason they'd hosed it down with [____]'s help after being splashed with the hose when Wrecker had become distracted by the rare bird. 

"Thanks, Tech…" 

"You're welcome. I'll put these away." Tech swept up the tray with untouched crackers after Hunter moved it to his bedside, and was ready to slip out of the room before he was stopped. "Uh, wait. I'd like your help with something because I trust you won't tell anyone." 

"Except, if it was your stitching, I would tell [____]. That was a promise earlier, if you recall; not a threat." Tech reminded him, careful to keep his cadence neutral and gentle. Hunter reluctantly, hesitantly gave his word that he would reach out to the good doctor, or Tech so he could, if anything happened to his stitches before she stepped out into the street and went home for the night, one of Crosshair's many pistols tucked into her waistband as a compromise when she insisted she'd get home just fine without an escort. (She'd first have to stop by her clinic and finally close down the building, anyways; she didn't think it would take long enough to warrant the company and insisted that everyone stay home.) "And since you do not appear to have torn any, I would hypothesize it has to do with more research." Tech concluded, eyes darting over every un-inked inch of the gauze on Hunter's shoulder longest. 

Together, before the grown woman went home, Omega and [____] had added one doodle each to the medical wrap with the fabric marker. Omega's was a big butterfly to sit on top of an exotic flower from Kashyyyk drawn by the medic. A perfect, complementing addition, even if the species wasn't native to the homeworld of the Wookies; a fact his sister realized too late, but decided that she'd ignore the matter of accuracy in the end. It mattered far more than Hunter had sat still as stone with his eyes closed so sister and friend could surprise him with the collaboration, and had warned both they'd have to wave off the nearest art exhibits soon enough with a teasing tone but sincere smile. That he was honored to wear the artwork. 

Tech had already taken several pictures of the joint-effort "doodle" for the days to come that someone inevitably dreamed of the day's dreadful "what if we lost Hunter?" experience as a happier reminder.

We didn't lose him, and here's the proof.

Hunter sighed after the long silence between them, rousing from his thoughts at last. "Partly. Do you have your datapad?" Of course Tech would, they both knew that. Hunter gestured to his own equipment, sighing. "It would make this go a lot faster if I had some help figuring out how to write this karking thing. I've tried writing about five different versions and I swear each one sucks more than the last. I don't know what to say."

Tech blinked, quietly puzzling out some thoughts before speaking. "You're writing a romantic confession." 

Got it in one, as usual. It was hardly surprising to Hunter anymore, just a comfort to know that Tech often had him figured out so well in times like these. "Yes… But," he paused, considering, "I may want a proof-reader, secondary to the company and help." Maybe if Tech was simply just there with him for the most part, Hunter could stall less if he had someone to find the right answers for the best possible outcome. He would tell [____] the truth about how he felt, and how he could be rather avoidant at times when he was uncomfortable, and just hope for the best. There was a chance she may not return the same feelings or the desire to remain friends should she not after such a serious declaration was laid bare to her. 

Hunter didn't believe she would cut their friendship over that, but it was a real possibility he had to keep in mind. Something like that wouldn't be enough to stop her just because she got along with all of the Batch fairly equally. She was personable and nurturing, she had found the perfect profession for her out in the galaxy. She would always have some place to help, someone who needed her, somewhere to go and do the grisly work that came with the occupation… 

She… would always make new friends if a confession was not reciprocated and he made her so uncomfortable she... She…

"Stars, Hunter… you're in quite deep for her, aren't you." The half-question hung heavy on his shoulders, feeling the weight of it around his neck, and the warmth of his brother's hand as it carefully clasped his upper arm once he'd joined Hunter on the bed. His eyes burned with the threat of tears in the anxious silence before Tech's tender gesture of comfort. "K'uur… take a deep breath, now. I'll just take the nutrient paste and set it here for the time being so it doesn't burst open. You're going to be alright, brother."

A promise, a reassurance, a mantra. The "analytical babbling" would be inappropriate to offer Hunter right now when he just needed the silence, but not the solace, to take as long as he needed to cry for perhaps the first in a very long time since they were… cadets. Tech just silently sucked in his teeth and surmised his brother was still so overwhelmed and out of sorts after the ordeal of raiding a prisoner transport ship with Captain Rex went terribly wrong. The bomb that had gone off when Hunter got in-range was not one of their own, and the injuries… Tech didn't want to make mental comparisons to the gory detonation injuries he witnessed in other soldiers of the GAR, when there had been such a thing. Now it was the Imperial-something. 

Stop. Run a mental checklist.

Modified Omicron-class attack shuttle. The Havoc Marauder. He needs to pay for the docking fee in the morning. More urgent than that, make sure that Hunter gets sleep tonight using one and a half of the sleep inducers at minimum. More urgent than that still, by the time Hunter was settled, help him with the fifth draft to give him some peace of mind. Just a few minutes would probably suffice as Hunter would have been thoroughly spent… using energy he didn't have. Oh he'd be an exhausted shell in the morning, strictly prohibited from using adrenaline stims by [_____]. Smart woman. It would force him to rest.  

Let's have a peek at his datapad.

The first draft had strong undercurrents of typical Clone psychobabble that standard, nat-born citizens of the galaxy found… concerning. But there was a good snippet in there about a quarter of the way in about explaining his enhancements (and Tech paused to memorize his brother's words regarding him) before copying this selection into the bottom of the fifth draft that would probably prove helpful to their friend. The second and third were almost nothing but poetry and half-formed thoughts. With some careful sentence surgery, Tech could tell Hunter was now watching as he forged his brother's style of wordsmithy impeccably. 

"I've been practicing." Tech admitted softly, mindful of how close the shell of Hunter's ear was to his face. "It's a long story for another time. Here," He reached out beside him to the bedside furniture and plucked the tube of nutrient paste off the immaculate surface before carefully tearing away the perforated edge with his teeth to open it for his brother. 

Hunter was tiring fast, curling in on himself, into Tech's side, with the fatigue, but he should have at least half of the tube before he succumbed to the inevitable crash. "Just half of this will be enough for now. Stop me if at any time you want me to splice the sentence differently." Hunter's head was now planted under Tech's chin, cheek resting on his chest as he nurses the ration. 

Tech could work through however initially uncomfortable this was for him for however long it took. With obvious exception of Wrecker among their tight knit squad, he didn't typically consider himself or his brothers to be especially strong in the love language of touch like this. Like children. Not anymore. With acceleration in age and growth and the desired obedience for an army of their scale, they don't exactly get the childhood a nat-born has. Growth jars, training, blasterfire. That was their "childhood". He was grateful for his ability to stay calm when faced with these emotions, otherwise a rocketing heartbeat would have tipped off Hunter and interrupted his peace. To soothe himself, Tech habitually resituated his goggles, and for good measure, adjusted the crisp new bandana Hunter had donned since losing the other with a feather-light touch. Hunter bristled, uninjured shoulder curling to his ears. 

"K'uur… easy, Hunter." It sounded like a mumbled apology under Hunter's breath before another stripe of nutri-paste was applied to his tongue and the gradual droop of his good shoulder. "Don't be: I should have warned you. My apologies. Now… let's see what this fourth draft holds." Stars, it was rife with material. Perhaps even some of his best, in the sense of great emotional appeal. Why Hunter loved [____]. The trust, the respect, and… the guilt. Shame. Guilty of fearing the clinic and the shattered cross that indicated healers. Feeling shameful for not being explicit in his words and using those 'I trust you, burc'ya' or 'I have a great amount of respect for you despite my discomfort with the profession' phrases; or the other ways he'd thought of thanking her for helping him and his family at every odd hour they came to her and never did and felt guilty for it phrases. 

He'd read it over later, realizing that when he had used the hand previously around Hunter's shoulder to adjust his goggles and brother's bandana, he'd never removed that hand from the top of Hunter's head and had mindlessly been stroking the first two fingers through richly textured hair. (If he drifted his middle finger just a bit lower than it was now, he'd find the soft ridge of the scar from the process of removing their inhibitor chips.) He'd sent Hunter to sleep without the drugs, feeling the start of the sleeping 14-breath cycle typical to him against Tech's own body. 

Tech supposed he'd be kept in place with a sleep-adhered brother for some time now, and picked up his own datapad once Hunter's tube of nutrient paste (seventy-five percent consumed, he noted) was plucked from sleeping fingers and his drafts backed up and individually saved. He wanted to look over the schematics of the transport ship he'd nabbed in the meantime until he felt it was the right time to wiggle out of this arrangement and leave his brother to sleep. Might as well. Leave too early, before he reached deep sleep, and he may inadvertently wake Hunter.

Tell Hunter now while he was largely undistracted and turning on the amber-toned screen setting so he could study those schematics. "Sleep well, ner vod."

May he stay asleep…

Tech had gone to check on Hunter nearly two hours ago. Crosshair had no illusions that after fifteen minutes, Tech was not likely coming back to finish their game of Sabacc, so he'd grabbed his weapons kit and taken to tending to his 773 Firepuncher. There wasn't much to clean, as usual, but it killed some time just in the event Tech might be coming back and excused himself for being a while and rejoined him. 

Maybe he'd just forgotten and gone to bed after he'd tended to Hunter, off in his own galaxy. It was known to happen, no matter. Crosshair would say something in the morning once he was back from paying the docking fees and making a run for more blue milk, once Crosshair scribbled down a note on Tech's notice board. 

'Easy to keep track of our necessary supplies and goods as they deplete if we have a centralized location in our housing for writing these things down. It can also serve as our chore rota.' Tech religiously checked it every morning and every night, even when no one had added anything of importance beyond a silly doodle or removal of an item from the running list.

Nerd: Two blue milk along with the med supplies, don't forget. Credits: counter under my helmet. Took care of laundry. - C

That would do it. He'd go check on Hunter, then turn in for the night. Echo turned in earliest of the Batch with his strict early-fall-early-rise sleep regimen, and Omega and Wrecker were bunking together in Omega's room so she could hopefully get distracted enough with Wrecker's help to make falling asleep far easier… so she wouldn't dream about hearing that explosive going off around the corner of the ship and-

Taking care to soften his footsteps down the hall, he gingerly eased the door to Hunter's room open and peered in. Well, looks like he found Tech. And just under the crook of his arm, curled tight like a sick child in a parent's bed, was Hunter, his head planted on Tech's chest. Fast asleep. He'd probably had Tech trapped long enough that he'd fallen asleep upright in Hunter's bed while keeping him company. 

Two 'odd-vod' just… cuddling, dare he say.

It was an endearing sight, honestly, if he had to give it a word. Two of his brothers huddled together like groups of worn out cadets in the halls of Kamino after hours spent in the training centers, too tired to make it back to their pod rooms or the mess halls or wherever they had to be yet. Vod looked out for vod. Youngest cadets were always afforded a little more time to do things and older batches of Clones stalled the long-necks as necessary. Creative, believable excuses for the cadet team's tardiness by their "Den Brothers". Encouragement during battle sims. Mock espionage or stealth missions to distract from especially violent surges in the perpetual storm outside the cloning facility. Secret rounds of group trivia during lights-out. Older brothers finding ways to show the mischievous youngsters how to be more subtle, more sneaky, if they were going to view prohibited material for natural urges. A series of rota across the whole of the cloning facility for who would be 'Feeling a little blaster-happy, boys… Think I'll log another hour or two at the artillery range to get it out of my system. Someone buff up my helmet for me, yeah?' and not easily missed or suspect in order to help the cadets refine their skills. Captains and Commanders holding unofficial lessons on the down-low. 

Manage your credits smartly. 

Listen to me, little brothers… The reason the medics keep taking down your fitness posters in the training centers is because they're trying to look out for you. Those models are dehydrated and on crash diets. Unhealthy. Don't aspire to be like them. They're not taking them down to be cruel, your brothers are just trying to make sure you're healthy. A bit of fat on those bones is good; you shouldn't look a vac-sealed ration.

Yes, the Force really does work in mysterious ways, but sometimes General Skywalker is full of bantha fodder. "A disturbance in the Force" my left ass cheek… sometimes the place just has a bad vibe that has nothing to do with the Force!

Here's what I think we should have done differently to capture the Seppy's outpost in the xxxx system. … Yes I admit I complained about this to General xxxx already but what's done is done. 

Vod looked out for vod. Deactivating the bedside lamp bathed the room in total darkness, and with his sharpened sense of sight, the jarring lighting shift was quickly adjusted to with a couple of measured blinks. Crosshair scooped the light blanket Hunter had flung across the room from his bed in an episode of overheating (it had hit the wall he shared with Crosshair) just last week, and draped it over slumbering siblings with a feather-light movement. He picked up Tech's personal datapad and captured an image of the two of them using night vision, being sure to hear that muted klic! of a successful capture before carefully navigating it back to the main HUD and laying it beside Hunter's on the bedside. 

Vod looked out for vod. Crosshair, careful to hold his breath as he hinged at the waist, bent forward and loosened the strap of the goggles to lessen the friction of removing them from around Tech's eyes. Setting those neatly on the proper datapad, Cross next straightened up the bandana and tucked away more unruly sections of hair before he would feel the first tugging, instinctual urges to breathe from his lungs. 

These two were typically light sleepers after the really bad missions; today was certainly one of 'em. It didn't look like Hunter had needed to take the short-term prescription to induce a night's sleep, so perhaps he was truly that exhausted, and that unwell, still. When [____] would come to return his DC-17 in the morning before she opened her clinic for the day, Cross would decide if he'd tell her not to be surprised about the 'extra' capsule in the canisters when it came time to return them then, or later. 

Smart thinking to sign them up to use the clinic's durasteel use-and-return canisters, Tech. No canisters to be found by those snooping around trash collection units in this dodgy spaceport that might use them to make the Imperial Army aware of their location for a large sum of credits.

Vod looked after vod, after all… a mantra he'd eventually come to be grateful for since Kaller. The ordeal of nearly losing Hunter today put a lot into perspective for Crosshair suddenly. Things he'd buried away and compartmentalized for a very vague idea of "another time" that more meant "never. ever."... 

No time like the present, he supposed. Cross bid his brothers a whispered goodnight and ducked from Hunter's room, stepping into his own for a moment with the intention to shed half the mock-civvies, change into his nightshirt and plant himself at the foot of his bed to begin contemplating, but he was struck with another thought as his eyes skimmed the calendar tacked to the wall above his tidy desk. 

Uh oh. The end of the week may not be the best time in case Hunter's little assignment went sour…

"Echo… Echo!" The ARC was slow to turn over in his bed, trying to figure out what had woken him. Maybe he was just imagining the monolithic, but paradoxically gentle aquatic beast with a gaping maw calling his name as some falsely-concocted feeling it was one of his brothers waking him for… something from his subconscious. "Echo!!" Nope. Not the water creature he was just swimming with in the undertow of an ocean planet. It was Crosshair. 

"Oh, stars. What is it now…?" he moaned. He was in the middle of a damn good dream for once in a long time, and all of the Domino Squad had been there, swimming alongside him and this giant of the deep seas. Feeling so fluid and free and… Fives. He'd been dreaming of Fives. Fives wanted to tail this creature with oar-like fins and bioluminescent spots and Echo had yearned to follow Fives. Follow his brother. The other half of the Domino Twins since they lost Droidbait, Cutup and Hevy at the Rishi Moon station when they were all just Shinies. 

And the white-hot fury flared and burned in those pale eyes beneath squeezed brows for a moment, a sharp look the sharp-eyed brother wouldn't have missed even in the dim light of the room. Clone Force 99 had long ago learned that they did not wake Echo without good reason when they had downtime and shore leave. Before Crosshair made a carefully calculated statement he was waved to stand down, and against all his impulses, Echo swallowed down that venom and the weary sigh took its place. 

"What's wrong with Hunter?" Something had to be wrong. The others had probably tasked Crosshair with waking him so he could get up and either stay with Hunter or go retrieve help. A torn stitch? Was he refusing to take the medicine again? Was he even supposed to take any at this time? "Wh-what time is it?"

Whatever time Crosshair gave him didn't completely register with Echo, but what did was the reassurance that Hunter was fine. "Tech's got Hunter handled; fell asleep on the bed with him- real cute and all, but listen: I'm sorry to wake you, but I need your help with something. About what you said earlier to Hunter."

Echo bit back a yawn and propped himself up on his good elbow just slightly. "What about it…?" 

"Why does he need to tell [____] by the end of the week?" 

That did nothing to abate the worry or answer his question. What was the marksman getting at? "Look, if I didn't give him a hard deadline, he'll stall-"

Cross balked, interrupting him. "You don't know?" 

"Know what?" Echo snapped, sitting up now and carefully peeling back the weighted blanket [____] had gifted him several months ago. (Every bad night he looked at it, he would recall the way Wrecker boomed "It's like a permanent hug?! Tha's awesome!! That'll help Echo so much!" as she explained why she thought the way-too-kind gift would benefit Echo's insomnia and myriad of other nocturnal troubles after a week of bruise-like dark circles under his eyes. He'd been dreaming of Domino Squad: horrible, dark dreams that time that led him to be afraid to sleep, something his immune system could not afford like it once did…)

"That's her birth-day!" came out in a whispered hiss, "So I'm not sure giving him until the end of the week is a good idea!" 

[____]'s birth- Oh, no. Kriff kriff kriff! He'd forgotten that! 

Seeing that Echo now had the same violent realization he did, Cross gave a jerky, nodding gesture in a silent 'see?!' to his brother. "I think we need to consider another time. Or, you need to help me find a way to scope out how she feels about him before then. If she doesn't feel the same way he painfully does if he's putting what I think he's putting in that little letter of his I saw him writing while he sat out on the game after dinner… it would make for a very uncomfortable rest of the day. We can't do that to the kid on her birth-day, Echo." 

They needed to come up with a plan. "No… no we shouldn't, that wouldn't be right." Echo agreed. "Just… give me a minute to collect myself before we start talking, please." 

"... Right. Right of course." The younger man with tight gray curls of hair looked so guilty; often interrupted eye contact, curling and uncurling fingers, the tight, shallow inhales. 

"I know you're sorry, it's o-"

What was interpreted as an excuse was cut down with a clipped voice. "Don't give me that shit, Echo. You're right to be angry at me. Allowed." 

Well, he certainly still was, but the reasoning was different now. "Don't worry, I don't need your permission to be angry, Crosshair. But as I was going to say it's okay, you don't need to let your guilt get the best of you and treat me like kriffing glass." He was a damn ARC, made of sterner stuff that made the little brothers on Kamino look like they met a celebrity from their favorite pieces of holo-media they'd managed to get their hands on. That starstruck glimmer in a cadet's eyes seeing older brothers, decorated and painted war heroes, coming back for a taste of home before their next assignments and campaigns. 

Did Crosshair ever look at an older brother, a seasoned soldier, like that when he was a cadet? Or did he regard those men with envy because he didn't think the likes of him would ever get to be like them? Like him, Echo?

A regular Clone cut from the largest damn bolt of cloth the galaxy had ever seen; up until the Citadel, at least.

He knew Crosshair was still looking at him with a lot of guilt as Echo mentally braced himself to get up out of his bed he wasn't terribly fond of, and he wanted to do something about it. Maybe, if he could be convincing enough… he could find a believable excuse to give Crosshair the embrace he felt the brother needed. "Awh! Kriffing hells…" when he was "ready" to get up, he faked the seizing grind in one of the bolts of his right hip. A bolt he knew needed lubricant soon. He grumbled darkly for good measure, playing up the unsteady hobble as he pretended to fail at finding his feet flat underneath him. "Dammit not now!" 

Steady hands and strong fingers caught Echo as he anticipated, an arm of the marksman flung around his chest to keep the cybernetic soldier from falling forward and a firm grip on the residual limb of his right arm came around from behind so his scomplink wouldn't smack into anything in the panicked flail. "I've got you, brother." Crosshair was allowed to believe he helped Echo find his footing before Echo slung his good arm around his younger brother and held him close, feigning the pause to gather his nerves. If he was too bold, too impatient, Crosshair would catch on and Echo would lose the opportunity. "Th-thanks." 

"Don't mention it." There was no dismissal or downplaying undercurrents to the coolly given reply. It was just Crosshair for of course I'd help, you're welcome that the Bad Batch came to know and understand and move on from without a second thought.

But not after today, and not before they would set a plan in motion together in the dead of night, like old times in the Clone Wars. So the trap was sprung; with both flesh and cybernetic arm, Echo carefully fit his limbs against the warmth of the brother of another squad and only rumbled in a fond and careful voice the words similar to ones he had once spoken to the brother he had been closest to so many times it was forever etched into the fleshy tables of his heart and tongue. 

"Heh. Don't think I will. Just doing what any good brother does, Crosshair. Vod looks after vod."

Taglist: @dragonrider9905 @ladytano420​

Note from Frost: If you would like to be added to the taglist that is currently just specific for Sorry, Wrong Comms!, (I may start a taglist for all Star Wars related fanfiction projects that will be marked accordingly with #frostfics in the near future if there is interest) don’t hesitate to shoot me an ask or a comment loves. 🩷

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[seraphtrevs]

It's a little frustrating sometimes seeing fandom's reaction (and I mean fandom at large, not specifically fandom on tumblr) to Jesse's involvement with Drew Sharp's death versus their reaction to Kim's involvement with Howard's death. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we, as the audience, have come to know and love Howard, and she was being very mean and unfair to him right before his death.

But the amount of blame given to Kim versus Jesse in those situations really doesn't make any sense. What Kim did to Howard was awful, but by Howard's own admission not something that was going to ruin his life. There was really no way that she could have anticipated Lalo's appearance, let alone his murder of Howard. The two incidents were completely unconnected. The same thing would have happened if they were on good terms with Howard and he just happened to be over for dinner that night.

Meanwhile, Jesse was actively committing a crime at the time of Drew's death. The death of an innocent witness was a very foreseeable consequence of their plan. They thought they had planned a way around it, but the fact that they made a plan specifically to try to avoid it proves that they went into the situation knowing that was a risk.

And Kim's "crimes" up until the point of Howard's death have been pretty minor - I think the worst part of the Ham scam was drugging Howard. But Jesse at the same point had killed someone (Gale) and been involved in several other deaths, on top of manufacturing a dangerous drug in the hopes of getting people addicted in order to make himself rich, without caring that it will kill some of them. Kim is in no way a morally worse person than Jesse. In fact, it's pretty ridiculous to even put them in the same ballpark

A big part of it is that the audience knows and loves Howard by that point, and Kim had been cruel and unfair to him prior to his death. Meanwhile, we don't know Drew Sharp at all, so his death doesn't hit as hard.

But it's also misogyny. I saw people arguing against any defense of Kim - that she was unforgivable. Meanwhile, I don't think I've ever seen anyone claim that Jesse was directly responsible for the murder of Drew, even though of the two situations are similiar, and even though Jesse arguably bears more responsibility because he knew this was a potential outcome. People even accused Kim defenders of letting her off too easy just because she was a woman

But the opposite is true - Kim is seen by some as more guilty than Jesse BECAUSE she is a woman. Women are thought of as naturally more moral and therefore held to a higher moral standards - men can't help themselves, but women can, and therefore are twice as guilty of any crimes. No one says Jesse is as bad as Walt, but I have seen takes that Kim is (although less so now that the finale aired).

Even in this post, I found myself several times hedging, making sure to point out that I know that what Kim did to Howard was very bad and she was very wrong to do it and she should have to face consequences. I never feel that urge when talking about Jesse, because I know no one is going to wag their finger at me about it. Why is wishing well for Jesse not controversial, but wishing well for Kim is?

[koneko-pi]

Potion Pandemonium

The strangest things can bring people together.

Mean to be a series, idk how long. This is just a self-endulgent, chaotic filled story that may get a spicy ending, we'll see where it goes. I usually like to include my moots in these kinda things, so if you wanna be a little easter egg in here lemme know, but if it's weird, then ignore me...

Summary: Someone slips a special potion into the drinks at a large party and Briar is left to deal with it.

Part one.

Violin and piano played elegant tunes in a ballroom, to set the mood. With ceilings up high, held up by pillars, decorated in roses brought in by the Roselie family. Floating lanterns drifted overhead, casting warm glows down upon tables decorated in gold silverware, clear glasses and a variety of drinks or food. People dressed in ball gowns and suits milled about or danced with one another across an open space.

It was an elegant and sophisticated party to say the least, with the majority of the attendees being nobility. Anyone who wasn't was a magic knight that had been extended an invitation simply because of their occupation. Normally most of them didn't show, not wanting to be watched or judged by those in a higher class. But Nozel couldn't help but notice how many more commoners seemed to be here compared to last year.

He watched a few of the green mantis linger around the wine glass tower, talking quietly to each other as if trying to egg one another on. A couple of black bulls were also attempting to flirt with girls who obviously didn't want it, or were trying to control another friend from stealing more food than was necessary.

And yes. It did cause them to get quite a few stares from the nobility who actively tried to avoid them… He wasn't sure why they bothered to be there. No… that was wrong, he could think of one very simple reason, and it was the free food.

He sighed heavily, wondering why he himself bothered to attend. The party was meant to be a kind of… get together for the holiday: Three-Leaf-day. A day where one would give a gift to another who may have brought faith, hope or love into your life. A holiday for couples. So naturally most nobles attended in hopes of mingling with one another to find a life partner.

Something Nozel rarely ever thought about.

Sure, it was a necessity pushed upon him by family members. He was head of the Silva house after his father retired early with the death of his mother, and so it would be his responsibility to make sure the bloodline of Silva continued. His siblings could find favor with someone and have their own spawn, but it wouldn't be the same. After all, Mimosa and her brother were certainly not held to the same standard as either he or Fuegoleon, despite being cousins. They were a branch family. So him finding a wife was far more important in the eyes of their older family members, and other nobles, than say…. Solid or Noelle.

His own father had recently been pushing for it after unsavory rumors about him had been spreading around. He clicked his tongue in irritation at the memory of Solara having to come all the way to his office just to tease him over it. Sometimes he wondered what Fuegoleon saw in that woman. But she made him happy… so he wasn't about to complain too much, not unless she made visits like that regularly. He wondered for a moment if the pair of them were actually here.

"Are you going to be standing here off to the side the entire night?" A deeper, gravely tone came from Nozel's left and he had to take a deep inhale to mentally prepare himself for this encounter.

Nozel uncrossed his arms and turned to the man speaking to him. He was pale, with blue eyes that seemed to lack any form of emotion, sunken in cheeks and long hair that was white from old age. "Hello, Father." He greeted him with a small bow.

"You didn't answer my question." Lord Silva huffed in disapproval.

It had been a long time since Nozel had actually gotten along with his father. He had never really seen much of him to begin with in his adolescence, he was much more attached to his mother. But after she had passed away the gap between him and his children had only grown, leading to any of their meetings becoming unwelcome or uncomfortable. Nebra and Solid didn't even want much to do with him now.

"I'm not one for parties." Nozel responded dryly.

"How else will you meet a woman?" The man narrowed his eyes on his son. "You spend all your time in your office working. This is the only time you get out and even then it's when I force you."

Nozel did not want to deal with this right now. His father always had a way of bringing about a headache in him, especially with this specific conversation topic.

"There's actually someone I want to introduce to you."

Ah, the throbbing intensified.

Nozel watched the man gesture to a young black haired woman in a blue dress. She came walking up to them with all the grace a young noble girl should have, with chin held high and elegant movements. She grabbed her dress and gave a curtsy.

"Anna Lockheed." She greeted them. "It is a pleasure."

Nozel wasn't sure how to respond. He was too busy focusing on the ever intensifying pain at the base of his skull.

"She's the eldest daughter of lord Lockheed." His father added. "A large supporter of the Aquadeer. His other children have joined the squad but she has been looking to settle down."

"Ah."

His father glared at the obvious disinterest he was giving them. But Anna seemed undeterred. "I do apologize for this Lord Silva." She smiled kindly at him. "I know how inconvenient these kinds of moments can be within families, but even so I would still enjoy spending the evening with you, getting to know you."

Nozel clenched his jaw as he debated his next course of action. Surely he could accept this offer and be forced to waste his evening at a party he didn't want to attend with a girl he didn't care for. But his father would be placated. Or, he could do what he really wanted to do, which was tell his father to buzz off and that he wasn't looking to get married anytime soon. No matter how polite a young lady may pretend to be.

Luckily though it seemed the second option was more within his sight as he recognized obnoxiously long chestnut colored hair over by the wine tower. Any excuse to get away from this uncomfortable situation was good enough for him.

"Sorry but something seems to have come up." Nozel bowed to the young lady, now wide eyed with surprise, before swiftly turning around and making his way over to the table.

"Nozel-!"

"I didn't think you would be attending such a party." He asked the young woman, mostly to drown out the sound of his fathers angry cry.

Briar Rose turned to him. He had expected her to be even a little bit surprised he had bothered to acknowledge her presence there but she seemed rather relaxed. Maybe even a little tired.

"Ah well… When you live in Julius Basement you tend to get invited to nice things." Her tone held a hint of bitterness to it. When Nozel glanced around them he saw a few nobles quickly turn away from watching them, mostly other women suddenly hiding behind their fans or starting a sudden conversation with their partners. It was obvious to him that she had already been the target of others ragging on her presence in the party, but unlike some of the bulls who could let harsh words slide, like water off a duck's back, she was getting miffed. And likely had moved over to this table to drown her sorrows, even if just a little bit.

"You didn't have to come." He noted as he reached for a glass flute full of dark red fluid.

"I am well aware." The brunette glanced over her shoulder into the crowd of lingering nobles. "But not showing up would make us look worse than they already assume."

She must have been referring to her "squad". The group of researchers not often given credit for the advances and efforts they put into not only protecting the kingdom, but pushing its creative boundaries. Nozel came to develop an odd respect for them over the last few months working with Briar. The kingdom really wouldn't have as many useful magic tools as they did were it not for their hard work.

"What about you?" She asked as she turned to look at him. "You don't strike me as a ball kind of man."

He felt like he should have been offended, but honestly it was true. "My family demanded I attend."

"Oohh..?" She didn't smile, but the small squint of her eyes was enough for Nozel to see she was amused. "And how do you like it so far, have you gotten to dance with a lovely lady?"

Nozel let out a scoff and looked away in disapproval. Which was enough of an answer to prompt a small chuckle from the woman. "A shame." She sighed. "You look a little dashing today."

His head whipped back to her, stunned that she had given him a compliment. Normally the two were like a couple of cats ready to start a fight. Perhaps they had finally gotten comfortable with one another?

Or she was waiting for her next chance to push one of his buttons.

He couldn't help but glance down to his own outfit though. A blue and gold vest over a white top with puffy sleeves. His usual high collar and the silva emblem clasped his top buttons together. He wasn't super dressed up… perhaps she just liked things simple.

She however seemed less so, her dress was floor length and was decorated in white, gold and purple. It seemed foreign based on its design. She had her signature matching earmuffs on as well.

"Well…" He wasn't really sure how to take her compliment. Instead he brought his glass to his lips to take a drink, but as soon as the fluid entered his mouth he began sputtering and coughing.

"Nozel?" Briar's eyes went wide with surprise as he struggled to breath for a moment. She quickly took the glass from him and moved to pat his back a few times.

The man swallowed what he could of the liquid in his mouth then controlled his coughing. "I'm okay-" he held a hand up to her. "I'm okay…"

"What was that about?" Briar asked, her face now changing to utter confusion. "That came out of nowhere."

"I was just shocked by the drink." Nozel took several clean inhales of air to make sure his windpipe was clear.

"This?" Briar lifted the glass and looked it over. It looked like wine to her.

"It's sweet, it caught me off guard..."

She raised an eyebrow at him before she took a sip of his glass.

He gave her a look of mild disgust to share the same glass as him, but he was glad his reaction wasn't too far fetched as she managed to swallow one mouthful before she recoiled away. "My god it's like liquid sugar!"

Nozel turned to the table and all of the other glasses. He picked up another and gave it a quick sniff, his nose being assaulted by the same sickeningly sweet scent. "What is this?"

"I thought it was supposed to be wine." Briar's tongue swiped across her lips as she also looked irritated, which was surprising. The woman consumed copious amounts of sugary treats daily, so what was it about this drink that had even her in a state of disgust?

They glanced around at the others, and while no one but them was currently drinking, there were plenty of unfinished glasses across tables.

"Whoever picked out this drink clearly made a mistake." Rather than leave the unfinished glass Briar turned to a potted plant nearby and dumped the rest of the drink into its dirt. Leaving the now empty glass on the table. "What now? I was kind of looking forward to a drink."

Honestly, so was Nozel. He could still feel his fathers burning gaze on the back of his head and a glass of wine would have been nice to dull his senses.

"Want to see if the kitchen is nearby?" Nozel glanced at Briar as she already had turned to walk away. "I mean unless you'd rather dance or something?"

"No." He responded quickly. At least this way he would be out of the crowd. "Please, lead the way."

Finding the kitchen had not been hard at all. Asking a servant for directions and flashing Nozel's status was all the pair needed to get proper directions. So now with a new Wine bottle in hand and a few clean glasses they walked down a hallway looking for a place to settle and drink peacefully.

The hallway was as nice as the ballroom had been. A crimson carpeted floor with wooden walls and a carefully carved baseboard. A couple of paintings hung on the walls of important individuals but neither mage really cared to stop and look.

"Rosé wine?" Briar read the label in a curious tone. She was more distracted by the bottle in her hand than anything.

"The Roselie are famous for that wine." Nozel told her as he watched her closely.

"Charlotte's family makes wine?"

"You don't know?" They turned down the quiet hallway, not really sure of their destination at this point. "It's how they got their status. They own almost all the vineyards in the Noble realm."

"I see…" the brunette held the wine glasses out to Nozel, who took them, and then began trying to pray the cork out with her fingers.

"Don't be a savage…" he sighed and held his free hand up, liquid metal coming to form a corkscrew in his palm.

"Oh." She stared at it before smiling and taking it. "Thank you~"

"...You're welcome…"

With swift stab, twist and pull Briar had the bottle freed to let the aroma of bitter wine overtake them. "Oh now that smells much better than the other wine."

"Aren't you a little impatient?" Nozel criticized her despite holding both glasses out, which she filled.

"Well if the Roselie family provided all the drinks tonight I want to see if this is any better than that liquid heart attack in the ballroom." The woman took her glass and clinked it against his before taking a drink. "Oh, and it is." Much better, how wine should properly taste.

And while Nozel wanted to take a proper drink of good wine himself, he found himself distracted by her glass. More specifically, the lipstick print she had left behind on it. She didn't usually wear makeup…

His eyes flicked up to her face, still reading the bottle's information, and he saw she was decorated subtly with makeup. A bit of eyeshadow that was just a few shades darker than her eye color. A swipe of eyeliner, dusting of blush and the soft pink color of her lipstick, now smudged slightly from her drink…

"Hey Nozel-" she turned to him suddenly and it wasn't till then he realized he had been leaning towards her. Their noses almost touching as she stood there mildly shocked to find him up in her face. "Uh…"

But he didn't move to back away, his mind felt anxious over what he was doing, it was abnormal for him. 'Was she always this pretty, or smelled this nice?' Was it perfume? It smelled just like a flower garden…

His body refused to move, if anything he leaned in a little more.

And she didn't stop him…

Whomp-

Crash-

The pair jolted apart, eyes wide and faces flushed as they both turned to look at a door. Whatever atmosphere between them had broken immediately after hearing something break beyond the walls.

"What was that?" Briar asked, and she wasn't quite sure if she was referring to their moment or the sounds they had just heard.

Nozel took the opportunity to separate himself from her, now feeling in his right mind, and advanced on the door. His hand quickly closed on the doorknob and forced it open.

There was the sound of bickering women in a small study but as soon as Nozel made his presence known they silenced themselves.

"Charlotte?" Briar peaked in behind Nozel, her breath across his neck sent an odd shiver down his spine and he quickly side stepped so she could have room in the wide doorway.

The bickering women in question were Charlotte Roselie, dressed elegantly in a blue gown with flower embroidery, and a black bull Briar recognized as Cybil. A purple haired woman in a form-fitted black and gold dress. They both looked furious for whatever reason, their shoulders heaving from what must have been an intense argument. Between them was a flower vase, utterly shattered with flowers all over the floor and water soaking into the carpet. An end table was not too far either, knocked over from whatever spat they must have been having.

"...what is going on?" Nozel asked, he slowly moved to put his wine glass down on a nearby cabinet.

"None of your business." Charlotte snapped at him with a nasty tone, much to his surprise. He always knew she was aggressive towards men, but she always held respect towards her fellow captains at the very least.

Suddenly being talked down to by her made his blood boil. "Well it seems to have gotten out of control." He nodded towards the broken vase.

"I said it's none of your business!" She raised her voice even louder, this time throwing mana into it.

"You dare…" The Silva's lips pulled back into an angry snarl as he too began to raise his Magic.

"Okay!" Briar quickly slipped between the two of them, hands up to deter either side form stepping any closer or starting a fight. "No need to act like Animals…"

"Oh why not?" Cybil giggles from her place off to the side. "It's all Charlotte's good for isn't it?"

"What did you say!?" The blonde turned back onto her previous enemy, eyes blazing with blue fury.

The other woman laughed. "Did you not hear me this whole time? All your good for are fighting, running and screaming. It's no wonder why Yami will never notice you."

"Oh my god-" Briar's eyes went wide.

"What did you say!?" Charlotte practically shrieked.

"You treat him like crap!" Cybil shouted back at her.

"What do you know!?"

Cybil took a step over the broken glass to jab at the noble woman's chest. "You call him names, be little his manhood and scream and run just at the sight of him sometimes!"

"I'm just SHY!"

"I CALL IT BEING RUDE!"

Suddenly both women were at each other's throats, grabbing at one another's hair and clawing at dresses, all while screaming and hurling insults at each other. It was jarring for both of the others to watch, Charlotte was NEVER this petty.

"WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU?!" Briar quickly jumped into their fight, grabbing one and yanking the other away with enough force to toss Cybil onto the couch.

"Don't TOUCH ME!" Charlotte howled as she suddenly struck Briar across the face.

The woman was so stunned by the sudden action she didn't have time to react to the net of Silver that suddenly snatched up, wrapped around and pinned the Blue Rose to the wall.

"NOZEL-!" Charlotte seethed and writhed in her prison.

Briar whipped around to look at Nozel, who looked livid. His eyes wide and ablaze with fury as he had a hand up to control his magic. "Don't you touch her." He hissed through grit teeth.

"Serves you right!" Cybil howled as she got up and tossed pillows at the trapped Rose.

"Hey!" Briar snapped a hand towards the other mage and vines grew from the couch to grab and hold her down into it. "Enough of that, you're not teenagers! Nozel!"

She turned back to her companion who seemed to only be getting angrier as he was shouting at Charlotte. Was even he loosing his mind!?

"NOZEL!"

Briar grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to look at her. Wide eyed and stunned, Nozel froze on the spot. All his attention now on her. He heaved to catch his breath but was slowly calming down.

Briar waited, ignoring the still bickering women behind her when she noticed something. Her hands came up to cup his face and, whether Nozel realized it or not, he leaned right into her touch. She used her thumbs to pull down on his lower eyelids as she glanced between both his eyes, his lavender irises now shimmered with flecks of pink and red.

"What on earth…" she gasped softly at the sight. It was both alluring, creating some feeling deep in her, like she was magnetized to him, and also frightening because something was going on.

"Briar…"

The way he said her name sent a chill up her spine, and not in the scary way. She suddenly jabbed him hard in the side to knock him back to himself. The man kneeled over in pain before the brunette swiftly moved to Charlotte.

The Captain almost bit her before she managed to grab hold of her head to check her eyes too. Blue with pink and red, but a lot more of it.

"Unhand me!" The rose snapped as she jerked her head away.

Briar knew she wouldn't have to check the last woman to know she was probably afflicted too. She quickly scanned the room before her eyes settled on a wine glass, the other one broken next to it. She lunged across the room to snatch it up and took a sniff.

Disgustingly sweet.

"What were you talking about?" She spun back around to the women.

"What?" Charlotte snapped.

"Your conversation! How did this fight happen?" Briar pointed between the fighting women with the glass.

"What is going on…" Nozel groaned, looking angry now that some of his senses were returning to him.

"You!" Briar pointed at Cybil who squeaked. "What were you discussing?"

"W-we were talking about Yami…"

"Okay??"

"And how I didn't think Charlotte was a good match for him…"

"Oh and you're any better?!" Charlotte called angrily.

"Better than you!"

The pair were once again hurling insults at one another.

"They both like Yami…" Briar thought out loud as the gears started turning in her brain. She was really scared of the conclusion she was coming to.

"Nozel, watch them!" Briar pointed at him as she put the glass down and rushed for the door.

"What is happening!?" He called after her.

"I'll be back, it's urgent!" She was already rushing down the hall, back towards the ballroom.

As she hurried through the decorated archway she didn't see too much of a difference yet. People were still idly chatting and dancing, though the crowds appear to have thinned out quite a bit….

"Where is it…" she looked around, ignoring the odd looks she was getting from others as she pushed through crowds to make it back to the wine table, its surface now covered in even more half empty glasses. But she cared less about that at the moment and more about…

Her hands grabbed hold of a large flower pot. Her wide eyes staring in disbelief at it. The once white roses were now blooming a brilliant shade of shimmering pink.

"Damn it!" She cursed and spun around to look at the people all going about their business behind her.

"Love potion…"

[karume-selfshipper]

My Hero OCs

A quick run down of all my OCs within MHA. Just some basic character stuff and how they would fit into the world.

My OCs are all typically blondes with blue eyes. No pictures for most of them just yet, I'm better at making characters and writing than drawing... 4 child OCs (at the start of the canon) 8 adult OCs.

Inari Yagi

Quirk: Rebound- Allows the user to leave faint after-images to absorb blows and store power. Unfortunately the user must release the stored power all at once, this can leave the user's muscles bruised and bones broken if over-charged.

Hero Name: Shadow Nova

Notable Relationships: All Might (Father) Shoto Todoroki (Vanilla BF and Ex [pre grad]) Shinsou Hitoshi (Best Friend and future BF [post grad]) Mirai Sasaki (Honorary Uncle and first person she saves)

Plot Basis: As All Might's 14-year-old daughter, she heavily influences the plot. Her personal problems and plot line deal with the social pressure of being perceived as "The Next All Might" and learning to ease up on the lofty expectations and impossible standards she sets for herself.

Tohikana Yagi

Quirk: Beast Shifter- The user can transform into various animals as long as they know the animal's musculature.

Hero Name: Triphibia

Notable Relationships: All Might (Father) Mezo Shoji (eventual BF [post grad])

Plot Basis: As All Might's 14-year-old daughter, she barely influences the plot. Yet her personal plot shows just how much is stacked against her, yet she refuses to give up on her dream. Despite all of the pressure she has in her life; she keeps up a bright, jovial attitude at all times.

Nanori Yagi

Quirk: None

Notable Relationships: All Might (Father) Mei Hatsume (Rival) Shoto Todoroki (eventual BF [2 or 3 year pre grad])

Plot Basis: As All Might's 14-year-old daughter, she manages to attend U.A. Due to her lack of a quirk, she is only capable of being in the Mechanics classes or General Studies; of which she chooses the Mechanics course. Though she can't do much to influence the plot, she's still held to a higher standard than most.

Aiko Imari

Quirk: Tempered Glass- The user has the ability to heat, cut, and create glass with their hands. Creating glass requires the materials (often found in the surrounding area) to create glass; this leads to other forms of glass (e.g. obsidian glass) in the right situation.

Hero Name: Occutrum

Notable Relationships: All Might (secret Father) Eraserhead (captured her and struck a deal to avoid jail/juvie) Tenya Iida (biggest hater and eventual BF)

Plot Basis: As the 14-year-old child of a notable villainess, she had to fight to survive and strike a deal with Erasurehead right before the school year. Being so isolated, she does what she can to keep her distance and minimal hope for her future.

Danica "Dani" Grey

Quirk: Star Knight- An older, arcane-based quirk that allows the user access to the power of the Western Zodiac-centric skills and attacks. Some of the star signs can be a bit difficult to use due to the user's own star sign.

Hero Name: Zodi Knight

Notable Relationships: All Might (old friend and eventual BF)

Plot Basis: An older American Pro Hero who decided to soft-retire as a teacher in U.A. Barely a year younger than All Might, the two attended college together, though they never knew each other's real names. Despite their running joke from how well they worked together as rookie Heroes, Dani has her eye on a specific, quirkless teacher ;).

Chelsea Rogers

Quirk: 2-D -Allows the user to merge with walls in a graffiti-esk style and move within the flat surface.

Hero Name: Speed Paint

Notable Relationships: Midnight (GF) Erasurehead (BF) Present Mic (Friend and awkward poly partner)

Plot Basis: She has little to no bearing on the plot as her entire story is crack-poly shipping at its finest.

Minnie Stewart

Quirk: Cryptid Enhancement- The user has traits based on local legends and an increased strength proportionate to the cryptids the user resembles (hers specifically is wolf hybrid with large deer antlers)

Hero Name: Dego

Notable Relationships: Fatgum (semi-rival and eventual BF)

Plot Basis: Not much, save maybe Vigilantes and Team Up Mission (if I ever read them). Though more background, not main plot relevant. More or less to explore a possible dark/petty side to Fatgum

Dorothy "Dora" Johnson

Quirk: Demonic Kinesis- The user develops demon-looking traits (horns, wings, tail) and has a powerful form of telekinesis that allows them to perform difficult and intricate tasks even when they can't see what they're doing.

Hero Name: Spectrold

Notable Relationships: All Might (eventual BF) Star and Stripe (mentor/boss)

Plot Basis: While she is a teacher at U.A. after being legally sued out of America, she offers a close look at the dark underbelly of a Hero society. Being the daughter of a well-known villain she has suffered an uphill battle due to her quirk being exactly like her father's.

Lindsey Powell

Quirk: Gecko- The user looks similar to a gecko and has the ability to stick to walls, ceilings, and flat surfaces. (Specifically looks like a colorful, spotted gecko)

Hero Name: Spotty

Notable Relationships: Present Mic (eventual BF) Erasurehead (reluctant friend) Midnight (co-conspirator/prank friend)

Plot Basis: Fun little side character that has little to no influence on the plot. An American Hero who relocated for a supposed temporary time frame, but found something she liked and decided to stay.

Audrey Foster

Quirk: Drider- User has traits of a spider. (Specifically traits of a tarantula)

Hero Name: Fuzzy Legs

Notable Relationships: Erasurehead (eventual BF/reluctant BF) Present Mic (annoyance... sometimes) Midnight (also sometimes annoying)

Plot Basis: Another side character with little to no influence on the plot. Another American Hero (me thinks there's a pattern... No its just me trying to self-insert "properly") who came to Japan to get away from the harsh amount of Hero work she had as the only Hero in her area. Though she didn't leave until there were more up-and-coming Heroes in the area.

Katherine Turner-Yagi

Quirk: Chem-Trail -The user can rearrange the chemical components of objects into other items with similar compositions. Any attempt to make something without the necessary materials will drain the surrounding area and deposit any excessive materials.

Hero Name: Catalystic

Notable Relationships: All Might (father) Present Mic (BF) Erasurehead (reluctant BF) Sir Nighteye (best friend from high school and ex) David Shield (honorary uncle) Mellissa Shield (friend/sister-like)

Plot Basis: All Might's half-American adult daughter who he has had quite the fight to have any kind of custody (50/50 until she turned 13 then All Might got full custody). Otherwise, she's a side character with little to no influence on the plot except being in a poly-ship with Aizawa and Yamada.

Margret "Maggie" Moore-Yagi

Quirk: Glyphs- The user has a host of abilities based on the color of the glyphic circles. & Premonition- The user sees brief glimpses of the future, both good and bad outcomes.

Hero name: Circa

Notable Relationships: All Might (father) Sir Nighteye (eventual BF) David Shield (honorary uncle) Mellissa Shield (friend)

Plot Basis: Very little to no influence on the main plot. (there's a whole other post about her background...)

[renthony]

So I’m watching Stephen Universe for the first time ever (at some point when it was still on the air or just after it ended I watched the first episode or two on a pirating site but got bored watching it alone and gave up). And last night we watched the episode where Stephen unlocks his room in the Temple?

Holy shit! That episode literally ends with:

“Are you mad at me for liking the way the book ended, Connie?”

“No, Stephen, of course not, it’s just a book!”

And people seriously sent death threats over shipping in this show?!?!

People tell me that I'm "too invested" in Steven Universe discourse, but I'm not one of the ones who participated in a mass harassment campaign against the Crewniverse that resulted in at least one person deleting their Twitter account to avoid the constant death threats from the supposed "fans."

My interest in Steven Universe discourse is entirely from the perspective of media by marginalized creators being held to significantly higher standards from the viewing public. Shit like the mass harassment campaign against Jesse Zuke over Peridot shipping wars is a perfect example tbqh.