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warwickroyals · 8 months

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queen rosalyn was mentioned in a recent post, so: can you give us any lore about her, her family, and how they managed to marry into sunderland royalty? if louisa had ended up queen, do you think she would have resisted and opposed rosalyn's politics once she reached majority?

This is actually a very helpful question, anon! Thank you for not getting mad since I took forever to answer <3

Uh, under the cut is a shit ton about the American Civil War and that means talk about slavery, so read at your own risk.

So, Rosalyn as I've made it clear was a Daughter of the Confederacy, like, a literal OG one a la Varina Anne Davis, born and raised on a plantation in South Carolina during a very contentious time. She had a very charmed childhood (like completely obvious to the horrors of slavery and raised as a true Southern Belle), but everything she loved became threatened by the inevitable Civil War and what she saw as the threat of Northern aggression.

Rosalyn in my head has always been similar to Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh's character from Gone With the Wind), she was absolutely stunning, at least appearance-wise. Sunderland and the USA are right next to each other, so it was typical for Sunderlandian royals to venture into the USA for both political and social reasons. I'd like to imagine that Rosalyn met her future husband Louis at a ball in Maryland.

Now, Louis IV, as I've mentioned before, assumed the throne at 15 years old and was of a rather weak constitution. Due to his poor health, he was used to being babied and pretty much always got what he wanted. So, giving this kid basically absolute power was bound to cause issues. For Louis, it was love at first sight and Rosalyn's family, realizing Louis's position, urged her to pursue him. They had a whirlwind Romeo & Juliet-style romance, heavily manipulated by the Southern planter class, who correctly predicted international opinion turning against slavery, and wanted to ensure Sunderland would remain at the very least neutral during a Civil War. There was no better way to promote their interests than a puppet Confederate queen who had a king wrapped around her fingers.

Basically everyone in Louis's inner circle begged him not to marry Rosalyn: Parliament, family, friends, etc. But Louis married her anyway, Sunderland lacked the proper checks and balances to prevent it (they'd fix this later). People were outraged and opinions about Queen Rosalyn ranged from dismissive to downright murderous. In Sunderland, she became a scapegoat for the coming war in America. The more things worsened in America, the more she was resented. The whole nation held its breath when she became pregnant in 1859, and rejoiced when the child turned out to be a girl.

Sunderland really lucked out with Louis's early death. For one thing, he died before the Civil War started and for another, he died before he could father a son with Rosalyn. Both prevented Rosalyn from really doing any damage or having any institutional power to promote Confederate interests. She had been Queen for just under three years. She fled Sunderland with her infant daughter mere weeks after Louis died, fearing for her life. The new king, Louis's cousin George, was fully intending to make an example of Rosalyn and Louisa if they came in the way of his accession, so it was a smart move.

However, the home Rosalyn returned to wasn't the same. Several of her brothers died during the Civil War, and Big Dick William Tecumseh Sherman marched his soldiers straight across South Carolina, destroying any plantations in his path. Suffice it to say, Rosalyn kind of lost it after that, she never recovered and became a recluse until her death.

As for Louisa, she was referred to by Southerners as the Queen of Sunderland for most of her life, but it was more sarcastically than with any real deference. She never attempted to take back her birthright and actually signalled her loyalty to King George several times. George, as a result, left her to live her life in the USA. The cousins were even on friendly terms until Louisa's death.

Lousia was still raised in the South and her mother probably spoon-fed her a wrapped education based on the pro-South Lost Cause narrative (Here's an amazing video about what that means, but it's basically the myth that the Civil War was not centred on slavery, like, "States Rights" and all that BS), but Louisa rejected appeals to becoming a spokesperson for Neo-Confederate groups. She was a very private person and valued a life out of the spotlight.

Now, had she become queen she would have almost certainly been separated from her mother and raised by the State with George serving as regent until she reached adulthood. Rosalyn would have had little power to do anything about it. There was no chance of Louisa being a Confederate sympathizer without getting assassinated. Plus, after the Civil War, there was no Confederate States to represent anyway.

#warwick.answers #anonymous

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aliveandfullofjoy · 1 year

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Well, it may be a few days late, but it's here! One of my favorite new year traditions: my ten favorite new-to-me films of 2022!

This year was particularly challenging for me, but we made it through, and thanks in no small part to these beautiful films. They're wildly different, but they all moved me and got under my skin in ways I couldn't shake, so please consider this a strong endorsement for each of them!

The same rules as always: no movies from this past year (2022) or the year prior (2021). Every other year is fair game.

01. After Life (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 1998; Japan; 119 mins.) “I was part of someone else’s happiness.”

It starts with a great premise: After death, people get one week to select one memory from their lives to hold onto for the rest of time. I knew I was always going to love After Life because I tend to love Kore-eda’s films. This is almost certainly his most compassionate film (which is saying something, considering compassion is pretty much his whole deal), and, as usual for him, the actors all give terrific performances. What I wasn’t anticipating was how much After Life ends up being, of all things, a love letter to dramaturgy. It goes back to the film’s very premise. The memory people keep forever isn’t really their memory – not exactly anyway. It’s a performance, a reenactment painstakingly crafted and filmed by the people who work in this bardo. When the client selects their memory, the storytellers begin building it as a narrative, as something with a script and a clear arc. I can imagine some people finding this to be depressing, but it almost sounds like my dream job.

Side note: I watched this film about a week before my birthday, and at the time I was also playing a lot of the gorgeous video game Spiritfarer on Nintendo Switch, which is all about ferrying wayward souls to the other side. Turns out my capacity for cosmic yearning and spiritual angst knows no bounds.

After Life is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

02. Jackie Brown (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1997; USA; 154 mins.)

“I’ll send you a postcard.”

Tarantino is a hit-or-miss filmmaker like no other for me, but holy cow, y’all, when he hits, he hits. Everything about Jackie Brown comes together as gracefully as possible, and it’s stunning, frankly, that it was only Tarantino’s third feature. It’s pulpy, it’s twisty, it climaxes with as thrilling a sting as I’ve ever seen, and every scene – every second, really – feels effortless. To watch Jackie Brown is to feel safe in the hands of a storyteller at the top of their craft. Since I’m a sap, it helps that this is most likely his most tender film: every character is so well-drawn and well-realized, and every actor is doing great work (Bridget Fonda, Micheal Keaton, a weirdly against-type Robert De Niro), but the film’s three leads turn in career-best performances. Pam Grier makes Jackie a heroine for the ages, Samuel L. Jackson is a terrifying and magnetic tour de force, and Robert Forster, the heart of the film, is breathtakingly decent in a typhoon of violence and crime. The three performances, rich enough on their own, are at their best when they’re sharing the screen. It’s nothing short of electrifying.

Jackie Brown is currently available on demand.

03. Barry Lyndon (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1975; UK/USA; 185 mins.)

“Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now.”

I’m glad I finally crossed Barry Lyndon off my watchlist, even if it’s clearly the kind of film that rewards multiple viewings. Kubrick’s meticulous world-building has rarely been more accomplished or authentic than it is here. The sprawling world of Barry Lyndon stretches beyond the edges of the screen, with a huge cast of great character actors giving superb performances. The film’s legendary design work is every bit as staggering as its reputation suggests: John Alcott’s jaw-dropping cinematography, Ken Adam and Roy Walker’s extravagant art direction, and Milena Canonero and Ulla-Britt Söderlund’s gorgeous costumes. It’s also surprisingly funny! A genuinely magnificent piece of work from a master filmmaker.

Barry Lyndon is currently streaming on HBO Max.

04. F for Fake (dir. Orson Welles, 1973; France/Iran/West Germany)

“Our songs will all be silenced. But what of it? Go on singing.”

At least 80% of F for Fake is footage of Orson Welles stream-of-consciousness monologuing about art and culture and history and making himself chuckle in different fields and parks and cafés while wearing little hats and jackets. Naturally, I loved it. A strange, poetic, and fascinating magic trick of a film, further proof that Welles was truly in a class of his own as a storyteller, a filmmaker, an illusionist, and a self-made myth. What a gift.

F for Fake is currently streaming on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel.

05. There Was a Father (dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1942; Japan)

“There’s nothing to be sad about.”

Yasujiro Ozu is rightly regarded as one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, but I’ve long had a pet theory that he was one of the great dramatists of the 20th century. All of his films play out as carefully plotted chamber dramas, their enormous emotional power hidden in the smallest, most subdued interactions between its characters. There Was a Father is as bleak and beautiful as any of Ozu’s films, and maybe the most gutting. At the heart is frequent Ozu collaborator Chishu Ryu, who gives a stoic, honest, and shattering performance as a man whose worldview left him detached from his family and emotionally numb. It’s hard to imagine this being approved by the Japanese national censors during World War II, but thank goodness we have it.

There Was a Father is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

06. Betty Tells Her Story (dir. Liane Brandon, 1972; USA; 20 mins.)

“I guess I still haven’t solved the way I felt about that. The uncomfortableness of being praised for a prettiness I never had, but, you know, kind of excitement about feeling very special suddenly. And it’s gone.”

A short masterpiece of solo storytelling. Liane Brandon fixes her camera on Betty, who recounts a story about buying and losing an expensive dress to wear to a gala. She tells the same story twice – once for the factual sequence of events and once to describe the way she felt as it was happening – and the contrast is amazing to watch. Wherever Betty went after telling Brandon her story, I hope she was happy. Betty Tells Her Story was just inducted into the National Film Registry, ensuring this devastating, empathetic, monumental piece of filmmaking can be preserved forever. Thank God for that.

Betty Tells Her Story is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

07. Donkey Skin (dir. Jacques Demy, 1970; France; 90 mins.)

“Donkey Skin! What a beautiful name.”

What a treat. Donkey Skin easily stands alongside Jacques Demy’s earlier musicals The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort as some of the most blissful films in the genre. As with his other films, the production values are off the charts, including some truly outrageous costumes, and an exquisite score from Demy’s frequent collaborator Michel Legrand. The cast is great, too, including the always magnetic Catherine Deneuve, an endearingly goofy Jacques Perrin, a brooding Jean Marais, and high-camp MVP Delphine Seyrig. The humor is delightfully weird, it looks and sounds amazing, and there are a handful of truly inspired musical sequences. It’s a magical film.

Donkey Skin is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

08. Shoes (dir. Lois Weber, 1916; USA; 50 mins.)

“Whatever happened, life must go on. Whatever boats are wrecked, the river does not stop flowing to the sea.”

Lois Weber’s Shoes must be one of the most affecting melodramas in Hollywood history. Anchored by Weber’s beautiful direction and a haunting performance from twenty-year-old Mary MacLaren, the film becomes something of a neorealistic fable in its depiction of an impoverished young woman doing whatever she can to get enough money to buy a much-needed new pair of shoes. The characters feel authentic and Weber’s depiction of poverty is unflinchingly raw, but the simplicity and intimacy of the film are its strengths. A landmark American film.

Shoes is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

09. Edward II (dir. Derek Jarman, 1991; UK; 90 mins.)

“My father is deceased. Come Gaveston, and share the kingdom with thy dearest friend.”

A transgressive, furious film that beautifully draws parallel lines between the late 80s and early 90s and Marlowe’s source material. Everything about Jarman’s Edward II is bleak as hell, boldly queer, and utterly fascinating: Tilda Swinton playing a spurned sociopathic queen in elaborate costumes! Men screaming in the pouring rain! The realm everyone fighting and dying for being a pitch-black labyrinth of concrete! What’s lasted for me, though, is the utterly stunning sequence where Annie Lennox(!) sings Cole Porter’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” while Edward and Gaveston part ways. A beautiful puzzle of a film.

Edward II is currently available on demand.

10. Detour (dir. Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945; USA; 66 mins.)

“That’s life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.”

This is one lean, nasty noir. Clocking in at just over an hour, Detour is a relentlessly paced and relentlessly mean thriller, one that puts a fittingly mopey Tom Neal in a runaway car in the opening minutes and never, ever lets up. He’s joined (if not supported) by Ann Savage, who gives a truly venomous performance, practically spitting every lethal line she has. It’s bleak, it’s powerful, and it’s gorgeous in its own hellish way. I’ve never connected with film noir quite as much as I would like to, but this is as perfect an example of the genre as I’ve ever seen.

Detour is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and Prime Video.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order): At Land (dir. Maya Deren, 1944); Bright Star (dir. Jane Campion, 2009); Brown Sugar (dir. Rick Famuyiwa, 2002); The Cameraman’s Revenge (dir. Ladislas Starevich, 1912); Cops (dir. Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1922); Daybreak Express (dir. D.A. Pennebaker, 1953); The Dover Boys at Pimento University (dir. Chuck Jones, 1942); A Fish Called Wanda (dir. Charles Crichton, 1988); Full Metal Jacket (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1987); Inside Man (dir. Spike Lee, 2006); Inspiration (dir. Karel Zeman, 1949); Ivan’s Childhood (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962); La Ciénaga (dir. Lucrecia Martel, 2001); The Last of Sheila (dir. Herbert Ross, 1973); Les Diaboliques (dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955); Les Vampires (dir. Louis Feuillade, 1915); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (dir. Robert Altman, 1971); The Meetings of Anna (dir. Chantal Akerman, 1976); Nitrate Kisses (dir. Barbara Hammer, 1992); Pépé le Moko (dir. Julien Duvivier, 1937); Police Story (dir. Jackie Chan, 1985); Portrait of Jason (dir. Shirley Clarke, 1967); Postcards from the Edge (dir. Mike Nichols, 1990); Pyaasa (dir. Guru Dutt, 1957); Reluctantly Queer (dir. Akosua Adoma Owusu, 2016); The River (dir. Jean Renoir, 1951); The Secret of Roan Inish (dir. John Sayles, 1994); The Slumber Party Massacre (dir. Amy Holden Jones, 1982); Speed (dir. Jan de Bont, 1994); The Story of a Three-Day Pass (dir. Melvin Van Peebles, 1967); 13th (dir. Ava DuVernay, 2016); Wasp (dir. Andrea Arnold, 2003); You Were Never Really Here (dir. Lynne Ramsay, 2017)

And finally, some miscellaneous viewing stats:

First movie watched in 2022: Bright Star (dir. Jane Campion, 2009)

Final movie watched in 2022: The Thin Man (dir. W. S. Van Dyke, 1934)

Least favorite movie: Garden State (dir. Zach Braff, 2004)

Oldest movie: Cinderella (dir. Georges Méliès, 1899)

Longest movie: Les Vampires (dir. Louis Feuillade, 1915 – 422 mins.)

Shortest movie: Western Spaghetti (dir. PES, 2008 – 2 mins.)

Month with most movies: December (26)

Month with fewest movies: April (8)

First movie from 2022 seen: Turning Red (dir. Domee Shi, 2022)

Total movies: 190

Yay! Movies are good sometimes! Good stuff!

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anthrcpophagi · 9 months

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SUMMER of JULY 1990. Camp Ameewagan, Catskills, NY, USA

The night air is cool, a bit too cool for a summer night in the Catskills. Maren knows it’s an omen of something bad to come, but she’s determined to make the best of this summer. Maybe even make a friend. Luke was nice, and she hadn't done the bad thing in a while, not since Penny Wilson. And if she started getting the urge she could run off and sneak back into the girls’ cabin before anything could go wrong. It sounded like a fool-proof plan, or at least she wanted to convince herself that it did.

The sticks and dead leaves crunch beneath her sneakers, a graveyard of summer scattered across the forest floor as autumn slowly creeps upon them. She follows Luke, following his scent more than his body. The night is dark and all they have is a little kerosene lantern Luke stole from the storage shack. But he smells like cedar and bubblegum, like sweat and excitement, and she follows it like a shark with blood in the water.

His tent sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the trees and flora. It’s nothing fancy, but Luke’s smile would make one believe otherwise. His pace quickens as he nears the tent and Maren hurries along after him. She watches as Luke holds open the tent flap for her, ushering her in like a true gentleman. He’d probably seen his father do the same for his mother and he knew it was only fair to respect a lady. Maren had never truly known respect, but she bows her head in thanks and slips into the makeshift hideaway.

He follows her in and as soon as the flap closes, he turns on the lantern, almost as though he timed it to perfection. The light wasn’t very bright, a dull flame that flickered on its last breath, but it was enough to illuminate the patterns on the walls of the tent. The outer layer was a ratty blue tarp that he'd probably stolen from the storage shack, too. But the interior had more personality. The inner layer was a mixture of old Superman bedsheets and Batman beach towels draped over a metal skeleton of what she could only assume used to be a much more sophisticated tent than this. He beamed as she took in the sight of his secret hideout, the light just bright enough to reflect off the edges of his features, rounded cherubic cheeks and a smile with missing teeth. The innocent cheeks of youth, the timestamps of age. It was contagious and Maren actually smiles back at him.

“I like you, Maren. I never shown anyone else this place before.”

She knows it’s a compliment so she nods and smiles gratefully, but there’s a churning in her stomach, a seed of dread bubbling up from her molten core. She doesn’t pay attention to what he says as he rambles on about his summer so far and the things he plans to do between the end of camp and next year’s camper orientation. It’s only when he mentions his father that she tunes back in, like a radio signal, a part of her desperate and eager to live vicariously through someone with two, loving parents.

“My Dad’s gonna teach me to ride a horse next summer. Says I’m not tall enough now, but I should be come next year. He'll get me boots and everythin'.” His smile is wide and it’s obvious he’s waiting for some kind of validation from Maren, but all she can imagine is her own father teaching her to ride a horse. This faceless spectral in her memories holding her hands as she clutched the reins. “Because I’m gonna be a park ranger. Gonna ride horses and protect the animals and forest.”

Maren blinks, and her confusion must be clear enough because he continues. “Like a superhero of the woods. Makin' sure people are camping right, and the animals are safe from hunters and poachers. You know what poachers are?”

She shakes her head.

“They’re people who hunt animals for bad reasons. They kill the innocent animals because they want to, not ‘cause they need to, like the cavemen used’ta.”

“Poachers are bad guys?” She asks as she watches Luke grab a lukewarm Sprite can from his little blue cooler. How long it’s been stashed out here she couldn’t tell, but she could tell by the dripping water that clung to the can that it’d been long enough.

He cracks open the can of soda and brings it to his lips. He takes a sip, carbonated water dribbling down his chin before he wipes it off with the back of his hand. Maren cringes, but he must not see it because he holds out his hand and offers her a sip, ever the gentleman. She shakes her head again, but all she can focus on is the rising warmth in her chest, a gnawing sensation that she couldn’t quite place. She knows she should leave, that she should get back to the girls’ cabin before her counselor notices.

“I should get back. I don’t wanna get in trouble.” The tarp beneath them crinkles as she moves toward the exit, desperate to slip away before the monster inside of her gets too loud.

But Luke grabs her arm and the look on his face is pure and beautiful and his eyes are too sparkly for her to say no.

“Please stay. Just a little longer.”

Maren doesn’t fight against his hold, not that she needed to. Luke Vanderwall was a gentleman, after all, and his grasp on her was gentle, but pleading. She doesn’t sit back down on the tarp, but she doesn’t continue her trajectory to the outside either. Instead, she watches as he rips open a bag of Doritos and offers her a Dorito from his stash of snacks, his fingertips caked in cheese dust and dirt.

Her nose tickled with the overwhelming mixture of aromas. She could smell his sweat and the wet dirt beneath them. She could smell the cheese and citrus scent of the Sprite can, emptied and cast aside. She could hear his heart pounding, the blood of a nervous child pumping as he speaks to a girl he likes.

Maren retreats back into the tent, letting the flap seal the two kids inside once more. As he holds his hand out, Maren knows it’s coming, something bad. Something really bad and she knows she should run and leave now before the bad thing happens, but Luke stares at her with his sparkly eyes and red cheeks and she clenches her fists with defiance. But it doesn’t last long.

In the blink of an eye, she leans forward and wraps her mouth around the triangular chip, a gesture that might’ve been sweet if not for the sweat on her brow and the way her lips enveloped his fingers as well. She bites down, and she doesn’t know if the crack she hears is the corn chip or his bones, but his cry of pain makes her think the latter.

He tries to pull back his hand, scared of the pain but not necessarily of Maren, but her jaw is locked and there's no escaping fate now. Not for either of them. He should be scared of Maren. But there’s hardly any time for the fear to grow because without any further hesitation she’s on top of him, legs straddling his little body as she devours his fingers one by one, moving from wrist to forearm to shoulder until all that was left was the Dorito crumbs on the tarp floor and an eerie silence that felt deafening.

She’d done it again. Just like before, with Penny, but now she was old enough to remember, old enough to know it was wrong. She knows she should feel bad, should cry or scream but all she can do is smile, little giggles bubbling out from her bloodied lips as she feels the adrenaline rush through her. She feels light, like a feather floating down from the heavens, but she knows the feeling won’t last forever.

Come morning, everyone will be looking for little Luke Vanderwall and they’ll never find him. Because she hadn't left anything to find, devouring him bones and all. The camp will shut down early, the parents will be called to come rescue their children, and Mama would know exactly why and what happened. And she will be so mad.

#you could’ve been something someday ( luke ).#the truth won’t set me free ( headcanons ).#violence tw #gore tw #q

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anthrcpophagi-moved · 1 year

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📼

Send 📼 to see an early childhood memory of my muse’s

SUMMER of JULY 1990. Camp Ameewagan, Catskills, NY, USA

“I like you, Maren. I never shown anyone else this place before.”

She shakes her head.

“They’re people who hunt animals for bad reasons. They kill the innocent animals because they want to, not ‘cause they need to, like the cavemen used’ta.”

“I should get back. I don’t wanna get in trouble.” The tarp beneath them crinkles as she moves toward the exit, desperate to slip away before the monster inside of her gets too loud.

But Luke grabs her arm and the look on his face is pure and beautiful and his eyes are too sparkly for her to say no.

“Please stay. Just a little longer.”

#you could’ve been something someday ( luke )#the truth won’t set me free ( headcanons )#gore tw #blood tw #answered #long post #okay i know the gif doesnt /really/ fit but its exactly baby maren and you cant convince me otherwise

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leonbloder · 2 months

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Being An Evangelist For The Right Reasons

I've been thinking a lot lately about the state of the Church in the U.S., which is what you do when you're a pastor. I've read many books and articles about the decline of the Church in the U.S., which probably isn't good for my mental health.

Honestly, it keeps me up at night sometimes to think about it. The news could definitely be better.

I recently attended a governing body meeting that I serve on as a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister. There was much discussion about the future of the Church and declining attendance, membership, and engagement.

The vast majority of the church leaders gathered there that day lead churches with less than 100 members and less than 50 people in worship each Sunday. I discovered that one pastor in a discussion group with me had maybe two members left in her church.

A few years ago, a study revealed that over 4,000 churches close their doors yearly. That number is about to go up.

Even the so-called mega-churches are feeling the pinch. They bolster their flagging numbers by poaching members from smaller congregations, but that well will eventually run dry.

The problem that no one within the Church wants to admit is that millions of people have become disillusioned with the Church in the U.S., and millions more have such bad feelings about the Church they aren't willing to even try it.

Emerging generations are rejecting the Church at a rate higher than previous generations. They cite as their reasons that the Church is too exclusive, misogynist, homophobic, and not all that interested in making the world a better place.

They also find a massive disconnect between what they read about Jesus and what they see in many churches they attend.

Fr. Richard Rohr wrote about this recently and gets right to the point of why the Church seems to have lost its way:

At this point in history, when most people can read Jesus’ (and the Bible’s) clear and consistent bias toward the poor, the foreigner and the marginalized it can only be ignored with a culpable blindness and ignorance. Most Christians have been cafeteria Christians when it comes to this. Usually, they will markedly emphasize something else (often a sexual issue) to divert attention from what Jesus did not divert attention.

At this point, you might wonder: "Where's the good news, Leon? This Devo is a real downer!"

Here's the good news: This bad news provides a massive opportunity for churches and faith communities that want to live out the Good News, the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When a faith community leans into Jesus' teachings and example, choosing to follow the Great Commandment to love God and everybody, it can become a beacon for people hungry for something more.

Recently, I conversed with a young woman in her mid-twenties who joined my church. She told me she had been drawn in by our message of inclusivity and how we put our faith into practice.

She shared that it was important to her to be able to ask questions about faith, the Bible, and what it meant to be a Christian without fear of judgment.

"I never knew there was a church like this." She said.

Those words both encouraged me and haunted me. On the one hand, I was elated that she felt the way she did and wanted to be a part of our faith family.

On the other hand, I was grieved because thousands of churches seek to be the same kind of community the young woman described, but far too many people can't imagine they exist.

If you are part of a faith community that is seeking to truly follow Jesus, you need to share that with as many people as you can. Find ways to connect with people who may have given up on church because they can't imagine a church like yours is possible.

Be an "evangelist" in the best sense of the word, and don't be afraid to share the Good News that God is still speaking, working, and using faith communities to heal the world.

May it be so, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.

#presbymusings #dailydevotion #leonbloder #dailydevo #christian living #leon bloder #faith #spiritualgrowth #spirituality #dailydevotional

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castle-dominion · 1 year

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c2x24 the last episode

THIS IS THE SENSUAL VIDEO THAT WAS PLAYING IN THE WASHROOM AT THE FANCY RESTAURANT I’M GETTING A JOB

My mom. “You got in I’m so proud of you! ... What did you get in TO though?”

That’s how I got into college lol but it was harder Illegal fireworks? Don’t you work with the police? Don’t they have a poster saying there’s a reward for bringing in illegal fireworks? Oh yeah this is the usa... I guess it really is convenient to have a 21y/o on each floor...

Esposito why do you look like a normal cop today? Ryan, you too!

Ryan did u get a haircut?

How much information are you allowed to ask from Agent Gray?

How is there an address in the middle of a river?

Captions were wrong, “wallet” should have been in quotes

Unless he doesn’t have a car bestie.

Funny how Gina hasn’t called him since he got to work. It would be funny if they were on a case & he had to be quiet but then Gina called him.

Ryan was so cute when he showed them the 5k euros & then “AND” he says all bright-eyed, then he brings out a gun lol *gives the gun to esposito immediately* This spy stuff is honestly p cool, & they must have had a good bomb tech making the pens.

Oh there, they do contact the spy places.

He flirts with her all the time, she probably assumed this was “another” joke... another try to get into her pants... I’d assumed that he genuinely was inviting her from the start

Poor gal, still looking for a new place to live.

I mean, you already know this is my liveblog of my rewatch... So obviously there are going to be spoilers...

The thing is, Hans Brauer seems like the kind of guy to be hosting the game, not playing it, judging by his character. & then he shoves castle into the wall very realistically. Caldwell also seemed very genuine when running away from the assassin. He has no idea the gun is real! He’s a great roleplayer tbh But is it really how the game works that he’s going to get a phone call telling him to leave? Is it like “You lost the game & this is basically taking you back to your last checkpoint” or smth? Castle is enamoured. I’m assuming you called Jordan Shaw? (& Agent Gray?)

What was that camera whip? With the sound? “Yo Beckett” *fwoosh*

I like how she can clear the rooms while she gets Castle (a non-cop) to open up the drawers

KR: Hey, that gun-- RC: *blasts right past Ryan* KR: ... *paper he was holding just waves vigorously in the airstream*

I love the way his demeanor just Turned Around real quick there. Confidence in roleplay is not the same as IRL. Super useful actually.

Interesting, the book cover says “murder” in mirror image...

Alexis really is a teenaged girl. I love her. Poor castle. He really is like my mom.

MR: “James Patterson called, he’s going to be a bit late for the poker game.” RC: “He’s probably going to use the time to write another book” XD imagine being able to write an entire book in the 30 minutes you’re going to be late. Then again, Castle hasn’t written much so that’s where it’s coming from

HOLY CRAP THAT IS NOT WORK APPROPRIATE OMG Y’ALL R GOING TO THE BRIG

I feel bad for her, she’s a female cop & when she gets a book written inspired by her she’s written for sex appeal. For someone who boasted the praise of the depth of his female characters, Rick kinda sucks.

It’s really neat to have the offshore account. I think it really would make things more fun

“mais oui” is NOT THAT HARD TO TRANSLATE. Come On. Captions are super important. I hate it when they do this.

True. My father had not the first clue about selling cars, but his first business was based on relationships so Dad got the job anyways. Of course, then covid happened & eventually he got fired but still.

Hey... demming Hey... castle

SAD, going beach-housing & just lying to castle? I mean you’re right he probably WOULD take it better than “yeah I’m beach housing just with another man, the one I’m actually with” Altho ig she didn’t have it set in stone. She said she would check into it. He said take a break like it was a relationship,, the showwriters did that on purpose. She really is his work wife Poor Ryan & Esposito, they just walk in on this heavy conversation & Beckett looks like she got her heart broken

Xenophobia...?

On nice, Lanie said the death was 23.00-1.00 but we know he was alive at 23.30 & midnight now. Cool

wow acab. That must be a good impression on the ukrainians for the usa /s.

Castle was SO afraid that there would be ukrainian kids with fake IDs who are used to drinking at alexis’ summer program

hhhh Esposito layin down the FEELS. (castle’s tho, not his own.) Going away party <3 (I love his little faces) How many episodes have there been? about 50? 25 last season 25 this one? Yep that’s 50 books’ worth.

Patterson is so right. “Personally I’d spend more time writing & less time hanging out with your cop friend.”

I love beckett’s jelly beans but it’s also so sad

DX she thought he was going to confess his feelings. & not in the “let me in your pants” kind of way but the “I genuinely enjoy your company & want to take you out on a date” kind of way. Then he talks about murder & you can see her face fall

Oh my goodness. RC & me: So-- so, let me get this straight. Your alibi for your friend’s murder... id you were do--,, doing his wife.??? Lmao “Are you serious? My house is too nice.” & I mean they weren’t having sex anyways,, but like wow Aww esposito gives beckett a coffee

JE: Except it was warm enough to leave the windows open. KB: Oh no KR: *eyebrows furl but eyes go wide & mouth opens* JE: Oh Yes. The next-door neighbours distinctly remember the sounds of (in floaty voice) “loud passionate love-makinig” coming from the open window. RC & KB: *disbelieving faces* JE, taking a sip of his coffee: Kept em up till well past midnight.

Oh. I remember the end now. At least she doesn’t need to be a wife anymore. Just a mom. ...And a dad too now I guess. Nevermind, it is NOT any better. (it was a joke in the first place) That’s actually,,, really, really sweet. Hmm, all the hallmarks of a pro hit, but it was just an american gun owner... I’m surprised he didn’t own more. I would have expected beckett to say “You are a registered gun owner, among your many many guns, is a glock 45.”

Roy Montgomery ftw. “Too bad they had to die because people were scared to say how they really felt.” *eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji* beckett

fdskahkljdsfhk RC: I need to run but I will be back in time for that little surprise party the boys are throwing me Not much of a surprise XD but he must have learned a thing or two about how to be a detective in his time here. You know what, he should get a license to carry. (Actually no he shouldn’t but for the sake of the show.)

She really does like him. This episode bro.

TD: It’s Like A Real Restaurant Grade Cappacino Machine You know, I was in the special needs class in high school & the teachers in that class had a coffee machine right in the room. Of course there was another one in the teacher room but shush. Actually that reminds me, it was a GCL program & we all had to see our TAs before first block. Mine was in my special needs classroom, other students had classrooms, one group had the teacher’s break room. I had a friend who told me that some of the students would steal the teachers’ lunches sometimes. That was nasty bro.

I’m alexis fr. I would love to bring my mom along. Would she really be ok alone for that long? I’m always with her, sometimes we are mother & kid, sometimes we are roommates, sometimes I parent her. ALEXIS WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT.

At least kate & tom are being adults about it.

RC: It was very emotional. Yeah there were a lot of tears. Um... Alexis was fine btw. (KR, JE, RM, LP all laughing) (There are a Lot of open beer bottles btw. So many.) JE: I’ve got to say castle, we’re going to miss you around here. RC: Yeah, I’m going to miss you too KR: You’re still leaving the coffee machine though, right? RC: I can’t have you suffer in my absence! RM: that’s good LP: We could really use one of those down in the morgue. (Does he still owe her? Spa certificates, cash, & jewelry?) RM: With castle gone, I just hope our clearance rate doesn’t drop. (All laugh again, including Beckett who is walking in) RC: Oh look who’s off duty! KB: Yeah well castle I’m not all work. LP: Don’t get into a drinking contest with her; she can take you. RC: Thank you. KB: Oh I don’t need a drink to take him. (In a fight she means. Not in a sexy way.) LP: Ooh! What’s gotten into you? KB: Castle do you have a second? RC: Of course (KR & JE are watching & probably hoping they’re going to confess, actually lanie is too) KB: Look... I know that I’m not the easiest person to get to know &... I don’t always let on what’s on my mind... But this past year, working with you... I’ve had a really good time. RC: Yeah, me too. KB: So I’m just going to say this &... & then fuckin gina comes in & I’m not going to transcribe the rest bc it is sad But I’ll let you know that as soon as another woman is on the scene everyone who has been watching from the party room stands up & looks shicked, concerned, or angry Castle, at least hug her, man, at least HUG HER Oh yay hug-- no, wait. Handshake. Atamiskaw. Screw you bud. & then he raises his drink to everyone in the party room & doesn’t hug them or shake their hands? Why??? At least it ends with “see you in the fall” from both of them But still, everyone in the glass looks like they’re going to cry

#castle 2x24 #castle 2x24 spoilers #castle s2 spoilers #castle 2x24 quote

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kendrixtermina · 3 years

Text

Edelgard and “meritocracy” - an essay

In this essay I wish to adress the common argument that “meritocracy bad, therefore edelgard bad” & the logical leaps therein.

Before we begin, I’d like to stress that she doesn’t even use the word “meritocracy” & they’re not even looking at it’s modern definition but reacting to the way it has been used as a fighting word to denigrate the poor specificically in the post reagan modern USA & then assuming Edelgard means the exact same thing by that without bothering to examine what she actually says & in what context.

Modern capitalism & the way it uses rhetoric of merit as an excuse is bad & with its reduction of human value to their moneymaking ability, definitely inherently ableist, I agree totally.

But 3H does NOT take place in the modern world. Progress is always relative to what came before. It*s progress away from entrenched problems.

It’s a total failure to even imagine a world different from the sucky one we live in - that’s exactly what tolkien meant by that saying that if we’re prisoners we have a duty to escape.

Edelgard doesn’t live in a capitalist society nor is she bringing about capitalism (if anything Claude’s the one talking of free trade & giving the merchants what they want, though he is almost certainly playing them much like the church)

And the main component of capitalism - factory owners, rich elites who owns large swathes of companies or real estate - is nowhere to be found.

In our world that cropped up because industrialization made owning factories, offices, trade etc. more lucrative that just owning the land, so factory owners replaced landed lords, essentially promising the peasants freedom if they helped them overthrow the kings but granting them only in a limited manner - the flawed inequal democracies that resulted were a compromise between peasants and factory owners.

But by and large the nobles are very much in the same niche as the factory owners today - they own the land and get special trade privileges (the means of production), they often abuse the populace with impunity, the peasants are very poor.

Edelgard cracks down on corruption & special trade privileges even during the timeskip.

And like the rich of our world, they have a self-mythology propaganda justification based on merit. Yes, there is the “by the grace of god” argument, too, but crests give you extra fighting power, and if you look at the Ferdinand support for example you do see that Fodlan’s nobles - especially the adrestian ones - see themselves as a honed elite that is trained from birth & therefore better at ruling.

Not quite the same argument a modern billionaire uses - who is very invested in convincing you that they didn’t get their power and wealth by their birth - but a myth nonetheless.

Edelgard’s not bringing “meritocracy” as in brutal competition opposed to caring social safety nets, but as opposed to unearned privilege.

If you wanted to compare that to any kind of sociohistorical context, you might look at Napoleon’s peasant liberation or the implementation of civil service examinations in ancient China.

That wasn’t an all good thing - In the same way that Europe is very impacted by the legacy of rome both good & bad (there are persisting bad attitudes toward war, authority and agriculture for example), east asia still has a lot of education obsession causing pressure & unhealthy work habits to this day.

But if you compared ancient china before the reforms to ancient China after it definitely got better, by ancient china standards.

We couldn’t expect the people back then to come up with all advances up to our exact modern values at once (not can we be sure how much of our values will stand the test of time)

Considering that Fodlan’s ideal of merit is basically what Lorenz, Ingrid and Ferdinand are embodying for their respective countries, and that she stocks her inner circle with very different leaders, it is no stretch to say that she wants to shake up the social ideas of what even counts as merit, to make ppl value other things that crest power or elite upbringing, the same way we might say today that hey, cleaners are valuable actually.

Edelgard is basically doing her world’s equivalent of taxing the billionaires - reducing the power of what the overprivilieged class happens to be, & it’s obvious from her talk of how she despises inequality that she would hardly be for rule of factory owners.

When Edelgard says that she wants to make Fodlan more merit-based, that has to be taken in the context that she lives in a world where your birth determines everything, incompetent nobles can be as lazy as they want, and no one cares how competent you are if you lack a crest, title or both.

If she looked at our world, she would quickly see through the propaganda that it is supposedly “merit based” and object to how wealth and national origin obviously dictate wealth & opportunity while talented people go to waste in sweatshops.

Now of course there have been arguments even against “perfect” meritocracy - one is the devaluation of working class jobs.

To this one could answer that this is more a flaw in how merit is conceived. Historically there have been societies that exahlted blue collar work, artisans or farming.

The second argument, however, is not so easy to get rid of: That is devalues people who can’t just go & produce like machines, especially the unemployed, the sick, the mentally ill, the disabled…

But at this point we’ve got to lean back & get our definitions straight, & make it clear what we even mean by “meritocracy” -

Because if we’re just talking about the basic idea that competency should be rewarded, I don’t think too many people disagree with that. We might see a problem with valueing the competency of a doctor or lawyers dispropottionally over the competency of a cleaner or a bricklayer, but we all, by and large, want the people who prepare our goods and services to be competent. Maybe we wouldn’t exalt it over all over qualities, but most of us admire skill.

Of course the problem with the political rhetoric of “meritocracy” is that it goes beyond just rewarding skill, first with the afore mentioned rewarding of only some skills, but mostly with the reversion or overemphasis of the above: Saying that skill is the only thing that matters (to the exclusion of any inheent human value) & that those who don’t have it are worthless.

First I want to throw out the thought that this is a product of the production/profit orientation of capitalism, but one could of course imagine, as many sci fi authors have done, a non-capitalistic society that is still obsessed with merit at the exclusion of those who are not oriented towards productivity & care more about fun & relationships than producing, or those who can’t produce because they are sick or disabled.

So now we must ask ourselves the question: Which of those views does Edelgard actually hold?

Cause I want you to notice that they’re not the same. “Skill should be rewarded & jobs should be done by competent people” is not the same position as “Skill is the ONLY thing that matters and if you don’t have it you are worthless”

In one position, skill is a good quality, in the other, it's a prerequisite to worth.

Most of us here probably agree that skill is admirable (we like and reblog pretty fanarts), but not that the unskilled are worthless.

Looking at her superficially I could perhaps see how someone might suspect her of the latter - She gravitates to & surrounds herself with skilled intelligent people and she’s obscenely superpowered.

It’s an misunderstanding that Dimitri makes in-universe, he accuses her of “only benefitting the strong”

But note that her answer to that is that she wants to empower the weak to no longer be weak & decide their own lives, instead of accepting charity. (Contrast with how Dimitri romanticizes abyss, for example, even as Claude points out that locking the poor underground is hardly help.)

Of course she can say many things, as rulers often give florid speeches.

But let’s have a look at what she actually thinks. How does edelgard actually act towards people who struggle or aren’t productivity oriented?

This is one of her lecture questions from part I:

“When one professor lectures many students, some will inevitably have trouble keeping up, while others will get too far ahead in their studies. I wonder how this problem might be solved…”

Her favorite answer is “lectures should be optional”.

Which part of that sounds like a bell curve type eugenicist “only skill & intelligence counts” kind of person? She wants the struggling students to be taken proper care of, not just the good ones.

Look at the speeches she gives to Petra & Lysithea about not giving up on themselves & wanting them to move forward from an empowered mindset. Look at how she tells Lysithea to take it easy & not overtax her body. (Not "don't whine & keep working")

Look at Bernadetta - very much an ‘unproductive’ individual with great struggles & limitation. Does Edelgard dismiss her as a weakling? Not at all. Not even in the C support. She makes sure to stress her good qualities when introducing her, makes an effort to be more patient so as not to scare her, & they become good friends.

Look at the Linhardt support - at first she mistakes his behavior for youthful lazyness (He’s 16 after all) & wants to get him to apply himself, but when she realizes that he just has different priorities, she respects that, & works to get him the exact sort of position that he wants. No “suck it up!” or dismissing such a different lifestyle. Nor does she chide him for hating fighting at any point.

Edelgard does everything in her power to accomodate people so they can do their best. She sees the value even in strange unsocial people that society would dismiss. She found a job for someone like Jeritza & helped him, she doesn’t hesitate to make Dorothea a general or Manuela the prime minister no matter what people say or if they don’t act like typical politicians.

Also, when she talks about choosing her sucessor, she wants them to be brilliant/competent yes, but also kind and 'an outsider' (ie, impartial) - hardly a PoV of "if you are skilled you can do whatever you want and if you aren't no other quality matters". She's prizing kindness & objectivity just as highly, something which is absolutely reflected throughout all her actions & behaviors towards others.

She doesn't devalue living quietly & low key without making waves - in fact, that is her dream life, which she deems superior to achievement and ambition, which are to her just tools to archieve good aims.

She couldn’t be further from having a narrow definition of what a “valuable” person is, she is all ABOUT empowering people to take control of their own lives, no pity-driven charity, no paternalism, none of that. This is one of my favorite traits about her, so I can’t help but get mad when people accuse her of being the exact opposite.

But maybe the biggest argument is abyss. This is where the genuine underclass lives, poor, struggling, traumatized, refugees etc.

Edelgard isn’t as vocal during Cindered Shadows as Claude - she can’t blow her cover & just isn’t as expressive personality wise. But she’s the one who makes everybody swear to take care of Abyss no matter who wins.

And her route is the one where, instead of telling you that they lost people, Hapi tells you that they’ve all been pretty much fine over the timeskip.

If you want to help the struggling & the poor and those who don't have "conventional" skills, you should back edelgard.

#edelgard #edelgard von hresvelg #three houses #fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses #fe3h

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kthynes · 3 years

Text

meet cute

pairing: chris evans x fem!reader

request: What about Chris meeting a cute girl at target. It's 10 pm and the reader is with a good friend buying some food. The reader is not from the USA she is from Germany and visit her friend in the USA. Chris and the Reader catch the Same thing and he can't keep his eyes of her even when she is younger than him (22years) - anon

warning: none, just marshmallow fluff

a/n: I honestly think there's so much sweetness and anticipation in first chance meetings. If I were to ever bump into Chris irl then this is how I would want it to pan out. Thanks for the request, anon! Stay lovin' folksss.

ALSO that look, that mf look. I'd die.

-:-

America is nothing like Germany or any other country you've visited in the past. Aside from economic differences and views in politics, you find that everyone here is generally accepting, a bit aggressive, but kind enough to overshare their thoughts. There is a jovial atmosphere that you find yourself attesting to and then there's also the glaring culture shock that assaults you left right and center. It has definitely been a happy adjustment.

"Becky Jane price check to cash five! Becky Jane price check to cash five." A woman hollers over the intercom as you and your good friend, Mia giggle down the aisles. You are in America visiting her for the first time after a long time. She's well settled, attending UMass, living her best life and you couldn't be any happier for her.

"So what should we make for dinner?" She turns to ask you.

"Anything is fine with me, I mean it's getting kind of late now and I'd be okay with cereal." You point to a box of Cocopuffs and your friend shakes her head.

"That's not the first meal you're having in America Y/N." She chides you before coming up with one of her better ideas. "C'mon let's go over to the produce section, we can grab some ingredients for my world famous spinach and feta lasagna!"

You laugh but a part of you is tempted to stay, still enticed by the large array of sugary breakfast cereals. "Actually you go on ahead I wanna look around here for a bit."

Your friend rolls her eyes. "Fine if you're really hellbent then we can have cereal for dessert. How does that sound?"

"Perfect." You smile at her as she shakes her head and trolleys down the narrow aisle way.

There are so many options and while standing in the middle of the aisle you can't help but take in the rows of corrugated and colorful boxes, all brandishing a character or mascot of some sort. You finally settle on one box, reach over to grab it but then come up short when another hand does the same. You gasp and unsubtly retreat in unison, there's that assurgency that parallels your feelings of embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Oh I'm sorry!" You say before getting a better look at the man standing right next to you.

"No that's alright." He chuckles as your eyes shamelessly widen. It's him. The all American ass man himself, Chris Evans. He seems unreal. A simulation almost as he's idling around in a fitted red plaid flannel, dark blue jeans and a NASA cap that has seen better days.

"You can have it."

"Er, um, are you sure?" You ask and he nods, playfully bouncing his brows at you with an immobilizing grin.

"Yeah I can settle for something else." He eyes the shelf and then picks out a box of Special K, fibrous and healthy.

"Oh no don't, here take it." You joust him with the box and his head drops, laughing softly.

"It's fine. I'm better off with this stuff anyways." He says while sticking around, edging for some more conversation as his eyes inconspicuously drinks you up. You bob your head up and down and purse your lips, flustered to even properly smile at the actor who looks proportionally the same in person, if not even more breathtaking.

"I'm Chris by the way. But I'm sure you already knew that." He states out loud and you nod slightly while closely holding onto the last box of Captain Crunch. "And you must be?"

"Y/N." You say softly and his face turns up with appreciation. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl he thinks to himself.

"Nice to meet you Y/N. I'm guessing you're not from around here." You both walk the back aisles, perusing through at a snails pace.

"How'd you..." You falter.

"You have a slight accent." Chris admits, pointing to his mouth to gesture the lilt he's been carefully in tune with. Your mouth forms into an 'o.' "But it's cute though."

"Oh!" Your voice goes up a register and then back down again when you laugh at his double sidedness. "Yeah I'm not."

"That's cool, where are ya from? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Chris holds to himself, making sure that he wasn't overstepping any boundaries by making casual conversation.

"Germany." You state without any pressing objections.

"Ahh best known for Stollen and beer and not to mention, muesli." Chris comes off a worldly man as he factualizes this statement to you as if you weren't aware of the lifestyle itself. "Which makes you very deserving of that box of Cap'n Crunch."

"Oh yeah?" You quirk a brow in questioning.

"For sure. It's an American delicacy and right, have at it." You giggle upon hearing this and Chris finds it scintillating to hear. Wow.

"Well thank you for being so thoughtful Mr. Evans." You sweetly add.

"Of course, always a gentleman." He says with a large hand pressed against his chest, proving to be an honorable man.

"Have you ever been to Germany?" You set forth with another ask and he shakes his head no.

"No I haven't really travelled around Europe like that but I would love to." Chris pipes for you to mentally take note.

"You should go when you get the chance, it's lovely."

"Like yourself?" Chris flirtatiously rebuts.

"At most."

"So what brings you to America?" He ponders.

"My friend lives here and I thought I'd come down visit her for the holidays before going back to college." You tell him and he understandably nods, feeling a pang of disappointment course through him when he realizes that you're probably young if he'd gotten his vague calculations correct.

"That's great. And is that her?" You both approach the front of the store where it's wide open and there are no shelves keeping you two hidden away. You notice your friend Mia giving you a quizzical look of disbelief, as her eyes dance between you and Chris who's used to fan behavior at different paradigms.

"It is and now I'm not going to hear the end of it." You face him with an apologetic look, cueing to Chris that you had to go. He took this in good stride while nodding with solemnness. "I should get going."

"Okay, sure, yeah."

"It was very nice meeting you, Chris." You lightly touch his arm as your thankful way of departure.

"Likewise." He answers with his eyes looking down at you and holding you in place for a split second. First goodbyes were just as ungiving as last goodbyes, especially when there's a sense of unknowingness in being reunited again. There's that chance you forcible take in hopes that the universe will have a timely plan and alignment.

"Y/N?" Mia impatiently calls for you from across the threshold and there is some shared awkwardness in letting go.

"You should..." Chris starts, eyes closing slightly as you back away.

"Right, okay well bye!" You yelp before spinning around, tight on your heels and trudging towards your friend who is now looking at Chris with big, bulbous eyes. Mia's mind races, pieces and panders like any inquisitively gossipy best friend that could've been plucked straight from a 2000's rom-com. She sputters right as you appear in front of her.

"What just happened? How'd you... Y/N, that's Chris Evans!" Mia profanely surmises just as you drop the box of cereal into the cart. "You were talking and smiling and being all cute with Chris Evans!"

"I know. Don't ask."

"I have to because he's eyeing like a hawk Y/N!"

"Oh shit, he is?"

"See for yourself m'dear." She snickers.

You turn around and notice that Chris is waiting in line but his eyes are fully on you as the smile on his lips broadens. There's a substandard twinkle in his blue irises that thanks you for your time - surely an impactful encounter that has him slightly enamored by you in clear focus. And that is enough for you to be contented, knowing that you had an unconventional meet cute with Chris Evans.

Imagine that.

#chris evans fluff #chris evans x reader #chris evans

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earthflaxmachina · 2 years

Text

wen-ciety reupload

this is a repost of the first essay from my website. 9/12/21.

OK this is the first manuscript thing ever cool. I'm gonna be talking about various aspects of the world in which Wence Boys is set. Many of these aren't that important to the story, but it's still fun to imagine what a world where (most) animals evolved into bigger, biped organisms.

First thing's first, there are absolutely 0 humans in this world; apes are still just apes, but more civilized. Secondly, microorganisms are still microorganisms, it would have to be some fucked up futuristic setting if they had working arms and legs - that said, there are plenty of Wence people who are less physically evolved than others, since (season 1 of) Wence Boys is meant to be set in 2019, hence the Boys being listed as slightly younger than they would be now. And I gotta clear this up - the world in which Wence Boys is set doesn't have a name, I'm not good with those, so let's just call it Earth2.

Take these two for example:

So Jeff is an East Pacific Red Octopus, he has 2 fully-evolved arms and 4 tentacle arms. This does not mean at some point he'll have 6 fully formed amrs with fingers and stuff, it's more of a generational thing. There are probably other octopuses with more fully formed arms, just not his bloodline - yet. Luciano's bloodline, for example, is very evolved! They're all super tall, lean, and can breathe on land, with his gills basically acting as "nostrils" on his neck.

Is this important? Not really. But it implies the existence of people without legs - just a fish tail (like a mermaid lol)! In that world this would probably be considered a disability on land, which means there would be accommodations to make Land more accessible, e.g wheelchairs. Similarly... water tanks for fish who cannot breathe on land, special glasses for colourblind dogs, etc. I don't know where I'm going with this, it's an interesting thought though.

So does that mean there's ableism? - not exactly: on an interspecies level, no; within a species, maybe. At least with physical handicaps, there isn't many issues - the animal kingdom is enormously diverse, there would have to be a hundred accommodations for communal areas to be accessible to *everyone*, not just the disabled. An example would be the delivery thing for giraffes in Zootopia. In short, no - Earth2 is a diverse world (there are roughly 9000 species of birds!), and so everyone is different and respects each other's differences and works towards a world where they can all coexist within 1 civilization.

The geography of Earth2 is the same as Earth. Unlike Earth, this USA is actually run by animals native to that area, with the exception of immigrants. Wence is the name of the state the Boys live in, the Earth equivalent would be California - meaning Wence Boys directly translates to California Boys.

Where do they get food? Here's the thing, when you die in Earth2, you're either chopped up and prepared for the markets, left to decompose somewhere, or donated to science. It is randomly selected by the folks at your city hall, some exceptions apply.

1) You're food - your body is cut up, organs are harvested and off to the grocery store it is. People are still animals, so they still abide by food chains. Some animals cannibalize, others don't, however this is taboo now. Apex predators rarely get eaten, an exception might be whales, who are sometimes eaten by Orcas. Again, you could theoretically try eating something that would've eaten you thousands of years ago, but it would be pretty awkward, given they even sell it to you. This means there are *rarely* burial traditions for people, excluding apex predators.

2) You rot - this is the only occasion for burial traditions, you get put in the dirt and decompose. This is a control measure to keep the food chain balanced. Cremations are never a thing.

3) You're donated to science - there is no kind of consent form needed, the ethics pretty much stopped at corpses getting turned into food.

Since there isn't a statistic to the total number of animals there are in the world, I don't really have a frame of reference for what percentage of the global population of Earth2 is mincemeat.

That's it for now, I hope you had fun reading, lol.

#log #wb

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janiedean · 3 years

Note

crack prompt inspired by all the tvd talk on your blog: damon, jaime, tony stark all walk into a bar alone and end up drunk oversharing ~~

(if you wanna include ships in it anything with delena/dalaric/bamon; brienne; pepper/bruce/strange/rhodey is okay lmfao so pretty much anything goes, i just want them being each other's therapist because the timeline collapsed for some time and their universes interacted somehow lmfao)

*spins the wheel* AAAND hello anon we can absolutely try that u__u

ten years on tumblr anniversary prompt post | buy me a coffee | commissions open

Well, now I really did bite off more than I could chew, Tony thinks as he shakes his head and hopes that he and Bruce didn't fuck up the entire fabric of reality.

Well.

He's not in New York and he wasn't in the span of five seconds since they got the machine turned on, but - but well. Bruce isn't here, so hopefully he'll figure out where the fuck he ended up. Maybe we should have been sober when trying to work out that whole different timelines and multiverses thing.

Now, damage control. He should probably try to not go anywhere, but in case he actually just... teleported somewhere, maybe he should just ask where he is. He glances at his back. He's in front of a bar named Mystic Grill, which... okay, shitty name, but he could be anywhere in fuck-all-middle-of-nowhere Idaho for all he knows. He takes out his cellphone, and there is zero reception.

Bad news.

He sees a blonde kid with a police badge coming up the road, so he clears his throat and stops him.

"Uh, officer?"

"Hello," the kid says, "I don't remember seeing you around here."

Yeah, because I'm not from this world, most likely. "Eh," Tony lies, "I was driving my car but it broke down outside town and the way I got in, there wasn't a sign. Would you mind telling me where exactly I ended up?"

"Mystic Falls," the guy says, "I didn't know the damned State of Virginia now took us off the maps, too." That was sarcastic, Tony can hear it, but.

He's sure that there is no such place where he comes from.

"Right," Tony says, "I'll, uh, be out to find a mechanic then."

The kid gives him instructions to reach one, Tony thanks him and lets him go. Well, he can't certainly go anywhere now, but at least it seems like they fucked up just his -

"What the fuck," he hears from his left side -

Just in time to see a blonde guy wearing a white armor and a white cloak fall through a portal just the same as his own, that disappears a moment later. The blonde guy has green eyes, Tony notices, is lacking a right hand because he has a rather heavy golden prothesis on it that looks tacky also for his own tastes and looks completely out of his depth as he moves to his feet.

"Uh," Tony says, "I imagine you aren't from... here."

"Certainly not," the guy says, sounding... near hysterical, as he takes the surroundings. "What - what are those things anyway?" Cars. Oh fuck, he's looking at cars. "How are you dressed? What - what are these houses?"

"Er," Tony says, "humor me a moment. What's your name and where do you come from?"

The guy rolls his eyes. "Jaime Lannister, and I come from Westeros, thank you very much, now where the hell am I?"

... Great, Tony thinks, now it's not even someplace where the USA exist. "Er," Tony says, "in another world. Listen, it's my fault, I, uh, sort of caused it, and my colleague will most likely fix it, but it's really better we don't go anywhere so he can locate us more easily. Tell you what, can I buy you a drink while we wait?"

"Another world?" The guy blurts, and then - then he stares at Tony, then at his surroundings, then rolls his eyes again.

"You know what," he says, "I've had a shit long day. What can this be on top of fucking undead Catelyn Stark? Buy me the fucking drink."

I'm not doing drunk science anymore, Tony vows to himself as they walk inside the place, and he really hopes he can spin some story as to why the guy with him is wearing bonafide armor -

"And who the fuck are the two of you now?"

So: Tony had not taken into account that there would be just one person in the bar and that this person would be of course not human because no one human could pin the two of them to the wall in a split second and hold them there with such strength, and that's how he finds out that pretty guy with blue eyes, dark hair, pale skin and homicidal face is a damned vampire.

Except that the moment Tony explains it - Jaime or whoever he is is just keeping his mouth shut, wisely - the guy stares at them, and then more, and then -

"With everything I've seen in the last years," he says, "honestly, that's not even the most fucking stupid. So, you just want to lounge around until your friend shows up to fix whatever the fuck you did?"

"Er, yes?"

"Whatever. I'm Damon. I can cover your drinks and compel the bartender to forget your face. I sorely fucking need some myself."

He lets them go, but then - "Get that armor off," he tells Jaime, "this isn't New York City."

"I can't just leave my armor around!"

"Just leave it in the bathroom and take it back later," Damon shrugs, and then nods towards what's most likely the bathroom.

Jaime shrugs and goes, muttering something about maybe having drank too much milk of the poppy, and Tony doesn't want to know whatever the hell that is.

"Listen," Jaime says later, wearing an attire that's still obviously Middle-Ages-like but at least doesn't stand out too much, sipping at the bourbon Damon shoved at them, "I'm choosing to think I'm making this all up, but if I'm not, how long will it be before I can go back where I come from? Because you dragged me away from a rather fucking delicate situation."

"No idea," Tony shrugs, "but he's good at his job. And he was less drunk than me. We might get you back at the point you left."

"And what would that delicate situation be?" Damon asks. "Entertain me."

"And why should I tell you?"

"First, I bought you that alcohol and you're definitely enjoying it. Second, this is my town and I could tear your throat open if I wanted to." Fuck. He just showed fangs at the both of them. What the fuck. "Also, my murderous former girlfriend who is the cause of all my problems just finally fucked off this planet for good after possessing my current girlfriend who looks like her but really is the whole contrary and my best friend just came back to life after being dead for a whole lot of time and it's a complicated situation and I need a distraction or ten."

"That... sounds like something," Tony mutters, sipping at his alcohol. It's good, at least.

"Believe me, it is. So, what's the poison from Middle Ages here?"

"Ah, fuck that," Jaime says, takes a drink, and starts talking.

Half an hour later, Tony thinks that he and Damon are equally staring at the guy with the same disbelieving face.

"... Was that the undead woman that got you like this?" Jaime asks, blinking. "Considering that he seems like he's some kind of living dead, that's a tad hypocritical."

"No," Damon says, "that's the least of my problems. How haven't you frenched this Brienne person already?"

"I frenched?"

"Dude, he's from the Middle Ages," Tony takes pity on him. "He means put your tongue in her mouth."

"I - what - she's not - I'm not -"

"Listen," Damon cuts him, "I've been there. I mean, thinking I couldn't live without an arse who didn't give a fuck about me, which you admitted. But you do realize you spent at least five minutes of your charming tale describing us exactly how this Brienne of yours is ripped and has pretty eyes and was about to die for you?"

"Yeah, uh," Tony says, "let it come from someone who had the right people in front of him for ages and didn't let himself go for it, you really don't wanna drag it any longer."

"That's - she's a knight, that's not -"

"Oh, sure, all knights are shit where you come from, you said that, but suddenly someone would rather hang than kill you and you're here jittering because you got sucked here while she's dealing with a zombie that wanted you dead but I have to think you don't wanna french her?" Damon rolls his eyes again, pours himself another drink and honestly, Tony has cut down on the alcohol lately but he's gonna just make a damned exception. "Please."

"He's right," Tony says, "and also, let it come from someone whose dad was loaded on money and fairly shitty and still way better than yours, whatever he said about you is wrong."

"How do you know -" Jaime starts, half-blanching.

"Told you," Tony shrugs, "loaded on money, shitty father, at least I missed out on the shit sister. Honestly, man, just fucking drop her like hot coal and follow your gut. And let it come from someone who's fucked around a lot to get distracted, if you wanted to bone her in that bath then you're into her."

"I -" Jaime goes red in the face, finishes the drink, "it's not like it ever happened with anyone else before, it was a mistake, most likely -"

Damon gives him a look that looks halfway worried.

Tony thinks he just matched it, except even more worried.

"My vampire friend," he says, "are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"I'm afraid so," Damon says, and then looks back at Jaime. "Newsflash," he goes on, "if you get hard looking at a naked woman most likely you find her attractive. Also, you can find more than one person attractive in your life. And let it come from someone who's been there in the sense that I thought I could only love fucking Katherine, you really don't want to keep on doing it."

"I didn't say I wasn't done with Cersei," Jaime replies, somewhat weakly.

"Good," the two of them reply at the same time, and Tony has to snort.

"Look at that," he says, "for once I'm the one with the healthiest relationship history sitting at a table. Who'd have thought?"

"Fuck this," Damon says, "I'm getting more bourbon."

"Please," Jaime says, and - well. Seems like when Bruce comes to collect him, Tony won't be sober.

"Wait," Jaime says, "wait, wait, wait, she possessed your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, well, as if," Damon shrugs, "honestly, sometimes I think I should have just run away to New York after deserting."

"You deserted what?" Tony asks.

"The fucking confederacy," Damon shrugs. "Well, what are you staring about? I'm a vampire, I've been around ages, I'm from fucking middleofnowhere Virginia, you think I got drafted with the unionists? But I disagreed and I hated it and I never wanted to go, so I fucking deserted. I hope you aren't here judging me, or -"

"Please, I used to build weapons for the army and stopped when I realized it wasn't what I wanted to be, and honestly, that just means you have a conscience, so -"

"Wait, you did what," Jaime says.

"Deserted. An army. Back in the day. Risked my neck for it, and I came back and met Katherine and honestly I should have just gone North, but -"

"Hm," Jaime says, drinking, and then - "you don't regret it?"

"No," Damon says at once, "best decision I ever took. Why, you want to do that, too?"

"Sure he wants to," Tony says when Jaime doesn't immediately reply. "Let me guess, not just your army. You want to desert the whole shebang, don't you?"

"I don't know what a fucking shebang is, but yes. So what?"

"Well, if you want my been there done that advice, do that," Damon shrugs. "From what it sounds like, your entire world is collapsing because of zombies anyway, what do you have to lose? Your sister? You're better fucking off without."

Jaime stares down at the glass, then knocks it down. "Can I have another?"

"Sure," Damon says, and generously tips it.

"So what," Tony says, "now that your best friend you had a thing with while your girlfriend was with your brother is back to life you're having trouble adjusting?"

"She also hadn't been possessed by my murderous ex until then," Damon shrugs.

Jaime just looks at them, then drinks some more. "Who am I to judge on that anyway," he says, "but that sounds like a lot of work."

"You wouldn't believe," Damon shrugs, knocking down some more of his bourbon. "Never mind that Stefan won't get over brooding instead of fessing up to the girl he is in love with now, but it's not like I hadn't expected it."

"Tell him to," Jaime says at once. "I let my father fuck things up for my brother once and I hate that I ever did, just - don't."

"This is getting fucking eerie," Damon says.

Tony, who is currently feeling very thankful he doesn't have siblings, takes another sip. Then -

"Man, if it's complicated just date the both of them. If they both like you and aren't the kind of super monogamous people that can't handle a threesome once in a while, they won't have a problem."

"... And what do you know?"

He shrug. "Well," he says, "my steady girlfriend was in front of my eyes for years. Took us a while to get over ourselves. The guy I was doing drunk science with, well. Was an instant hit and I didn't let myself drag it in the centuries and guess what, we have a nice lovely arrangement where I'm with both of them, they commiserate about how much of an idiot I can be and sometimes we all occasionally have sex. It's grand. You should try it."

And I really hope Bruce shows up soon.

"Huh," Damon says, "maybe it has merit. For me. Not for you."

Jaime sputters. "I said nothing!"

"You shouldn't even think about threesomes. I can see it in your face you're not the type. And certainly not including your sister."

"Fuck you," Jaime replies without meaning it, "I was not considering that." Huh. Now he sounds offended Damon implied it. Maybe he really will fess up to the other one when he's back.

"Then it means this enlightening talk has enlightened you," Tony grins. "Mind telling us more about that hand?"

"And why?"

Tony shrugs. It's not like he doesn't have time to waste. "What if I could help you with that thing?" He says, nodding towards Jaime's stump, and then - well. Time to test if he can summon the armor here, too.

"God," Damon says a while later, "I'll have to compel that poor bartender so hard, but fuck this is something."

Sure it is, Tony grins. "Hey, I managed to fuck with quantum reality, I'm not the first idiot that passes by."

"Seven Hells," Jaime says, "I have no idea what it is you're putting on me but if it works half as well as that thing you have, I'm going to show back up in King's Landing just to show my sister who has the useless hand now. If she didn't get herself killed."

"Well, now that is one reason I could approve of," Tony laughs, "and don't fucking move."

Sure, building a prothesis from the rests of whatever nonfunctioning electronics the bartender had lying around is... somewhat a challenge, but as stated, he has time to waste and it's not like he's wanted anywhere soon.

"By the way," Damon says as he watches him tinker around with the toolkit he found him in the backroom, "do you need advice in the whole I fucked up and want my brother to forgive me department?"

"What if I do?" Jaime replies through his teeth. "Because now that would distract me from how much this entire thing is fucking hurting."

The more they talk while he tinkers, the more Tony decides he's absolutely glad he was an only child and that his father only fucked one son up.

"You're doing this while not even being fucking sober?" Damon knocks back more bourbon. "You sure you don't wanna stay here and turn into an immortal? You'd be useful."

"Thanks but I like my life as it is," Tony snorts. "But if you need tech tinkered with, you can ask while I'm here."

Jaime is just staring at the steel-colored hand coming to life while Tony puts piece after piece together, his throat working up and down.

He drinks some more. "Fuck, if only I had such a thing when I realized what the fuck Aerys had turned into."

"Wait, who's Aerys now?" Damon asks.

He hadn't told them that part in detail.

When he's done and Tony is at the fourth finger, he kind of wants to hurl, but mostly -

"Do we really have to stay here," Damon says, "or you think we could sneak him to a VA? I can compel them to just hear that he's talking about Vietnam or something."

"He's not old enough for Vietnam, but you know what, I think we could risk that."

"What in the Seven Hells is a VA?"

"Someone I really could have used in the nineteenth century," Damon sighs, and then just as Tony moves to the last finger -

"Tony, what the hell is this?"

Turns out, where Bruce comes from it took him two days to figure this out. He also immediately spots three different improvements Tony could do to that hand, and when he hears the entire shebang he raises his hands and says that he can send Jaime right back when he left at any point and he and Tony, too, but he supposes that if they want to compel the VA before they leave it's not like he's in a hurry, and wait, vampires?

Damon ends up asking him if the threesome thing is really working out as well as Tony says.

While he does, Tony manages the finishing touches on the sort-of-steel-and-iron-hand he cobbled up together, and thank fuck Bruce showed up because he had been the one studying how Barnes's arm worked, back in the day, and gave Tony the pointer he needed to make sure the entire thing was... well, connected to the nervous system without needing to rip Jaime's wrist open.

"Right," he says, "try to move the fingers."

Jaime holds them in a fist.

It works.

"Seven fucking hells -"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a genius. Just keep it out of too many lines of fire, but if you're from the middle ages it should withstand most stuff. You're welcome. And go french that knight of yours instead of waiting, really."

"I think in between him and you, you've made a case. Uh, thank you, I -"

"Nonsense, I was the reason you're here, I might as well have helped out. Hey," he says, "so, what about a last round before we drag him to the VA and Bruce here settles everything?"

"I'm so down for it," Damon says.

"Do I even have a choice," Bruce groans, but then he does sit down at the same table and lets Tony fill his glass.

"Oh, don't look like that," Tony says, "after all I didn't destroy the universe and made some friends, it could have gone worse."

"Wouldn't know about that, but I could have done worse, too," Damon says, and orders more bourbon.

"I sure as the fucking Seven Hells will never manage to explain this to anyone," Jaime says, "but I guess I'm not too disappointed, either."

"Tony," Bruce groans, "did you manage to somehow end up with two people with - never mind. Of course you did. We're never doing drunk science again, hear me?"

"Maybe so," Tony agrees, though... well.

Maybe he will want to check on them, once in a while.

But he can think about how to convince Bruce to make sure they can later.

For now, he'll enjoy his last round.

#tony stark #jaime lannister #damon salvatore #ten years anniversary promptfest #... this was LONG #jaime x brienne for ts #my fic #god idk what happened anon but i hope you enjoyed this mess #tvd for ts #anti jaime x cersei #only slightly less toxic than chernobyl's ruins #anti katherine pierce #my stuff

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 3 years

Text

Back at it again with my self-indulgent comic posts. This time! It’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #3, perhaps the most tonally-distinct entry yet, with shades of The Twilight Zone.

Spoilers!

So, as mentioned, this issue is the most deliberate in terms of both its pacing and its tone, IMO.

What is that tone, you ask?

To quote Alex Danvers, from “Midvale”: Hello, darkness.

THE STORY:

Kara and Ruthye are still looking for Krem Clues in the alien town of Maypole.

(Which is actually just Small Town, USA, complete with vintage 50s aesthetics.)

But the locals are clearly hiding something! So Kara and Ruthye continue to investigate, and they eventually discover what it was that the residents of Maypole were so keen to keep hidden.

Genocide, basically.

As I said, this issue struck me as very Twilight Zone; a genre story involving the build-up to a dark twist, all set against the backdrop of an idyllic small town. (Think, like, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” but instead of focusing on the Red Scare, it’s classism and racism.)

The wealthier blue aliens kicked all of the purple aliens out of town, and when space pirates showed up to pillage and plunder, the blue aliens made a deal with them: the lives of the purple aliens in exchange for their safety.

Which is where the episodic story connects to the larger mission; it was Krem who suggested the trade, and then joined up with the Brigands (space pirates) when he was freed by the blue aliens.

The issue ends with no tidy resolution to the terrible things Kara and Ruthye discovered, but they do have a lead on where to find Krem, now, as well as Barbond’s Brigands.

KARA-CTERIZATION:

Ironically, it’s here, in the darkest chapter yet, that we get the closest to what might be considered ‘classic’ Kara.

Which I think comes down to that aforementioned deliberate pace--this issue is a little slower, a little quieter. It gives the characters some room to breathe.

That’s not to say Crusty Kara is gone. Oh no. She is still very much Crusty. XD

But anyways. A list! Of Kara moments I loved!

I mentioned a few of these in a prior post when the preview pages came out: I like the moment where Kara blows down the guy’s house of cards, and I like that the action is echoed later in the issue when she grabs the mayor’s desk and tosses it aside. A nice visual representation of the escalation of Kara being, like. Done with these creeps. (Creeps is an understatement but you get the idea.)

Another one from the preview pages: Kara explains to Ruthye that her super hearing won’t necessarily help her detect a lie, especially if she’s dealing with an alien species she’s not familiar with.

It not only reveals her level of competence and understanding of her super powers, it also shows that, you know. She’s a thinker. She’s smart.

Amazing! Showing, rather than telling us, that Kara is smart! Without mentioning the science guild at all wow hey wow.

(Sorry, pointed criticism of the SG show fandom.)

Anyways.

I dig the PJs!

And Kara catching the bullet! Not only are the poses and character acting great, it’s also a neat bit of panel composition:

We start with Ruthye’s POV, and then move to the wide shot of the room. The panel where Kara actually catches the bullet is down and to the side of the wide shot panel--we move our eyes the way her body/arm would have to move to intercept the bullet. Physicality in static, 2D images!

Also, like. It’s a very tense moment, life-or-death, but. Ruthye’s wide-eyed surprise at the bullet in Kara’s hand? Kind of adorable.

I was pretty much prepared for the page of Kara shielding Ruthye from the gunfire to be the highlight--it was one of the first pages King shared and I was like, ‘yeah, YEAH.’ But, shockingly? The TRUE highlight of the issue?

Where do I BEGIN?!?!

EVERYTHING. About this moment. Is lovely.

From Kara holding Ruthye above the bench to explaining the concept of a piggyback ride, to telling her:

“I’m going to hold my hands here, and these hands can turn coal into diamonds, so they’re not going to let go. I’m going to keep you safe.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG.

Ruthye’s narration--about how Kara had avoided flying as she was concerned it would freak Ruthye out--just adds a whole additional layer of YES, GOOD, YES, and her line on that splash page is great: “You see, all that time, she was worried about me.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG. AGAIN.

To say nothing of the STELLAR ARTWORK.

And SPEAKING of that stellar artwork, Evely and Lopes continue to knock it out of the park. Each issue is distinct and beautifully crafted, a true joy to look at.

Before I jump into more of the art, a few final notes of character stuff in general.

Ruthye is the one most affected by the experience in Maypole, as she can’t comprehend how a society of people that look so nice and gentle and peaceful could have been party to such a horrible act.

One of the big criticisms of the book thus far is that Supergirl is not the main character, and I guess I can agree with that observation. Typically, in Western media, the main character is the one who goes through the most change in the story.

And, yeah. That’s Ruthye.

As I was reading the end, where Ruthye sits on the curb and Kara hugs her, I was imagining how the scene would’ve played, had King stuck with the original idea for the series: Kara as the one learning to be tough/experiencing all of this for the first time, and while I think that could certainly work...

I continue to appreciate that King literally flipped the script; that Kara, especially in this issue, is like, ‘I’ve seen this, I know this,’ as opposed to being the one going through a loss of innocence.

*Marge Simpson voice* I just think it’s neat!

Because Kara’s been a teen in DC comics for so long--ever since she was reintroduced to the main DCU continuity, actually--so this is all brand new territory, here. Having an older Kara who’s SEEN SOME STUFF.

(Alsoooooo, since Bendis made the destruction of Krypton not just inaction and climate disaster, but rather, genocide, and the subtext of a Kryptonian diaspora text, the waitress’ derogatory comment regarding the the destruction of Kryton, as well as Kara picking up the bad vibes the entire time, suggests not just a broad commentary on discrimination in all its forms, but specifically allegorical anti-Semitism. The purple aliens being forced out of their homes and into substandard living conditions, then the blue aliens--their neighbors and once-fellow residents--essentially allowing the space pirates to kill them, making them literal scapegoats, Kara discovering the remains of the purple aliens, and Ruthye’s horror at the ‘banality of evil’...yes. A case could be made, I think.)

(Which would probably require a post unto itself and a lot more in-depth discussion, nuance, and cited sources.)

(Should mention that King has brought up that both he and Orlando--the other Supergirl writer he talked to--are Jewish, and for him personally, that shaped his views on Kara’s origin story.)

I guess my point is that this issue is perhaps not as out-of-left-field as some might think, and just because there isn’t as obvious an arc for Kara, doesn’t mean there isn’t some sharp character work at play.

(I could be WAY OFF, of course, and I’m not suggesting it’s a clear 1:1 comparison. I’d actually really love to hear King talk about this issue in particular.)

Anyways.

Here’s the final page, which I think works, because as I mentioned before, there is no easy answer/quick wrap-up to the story of Maypole:

THE ART:

I mean. How many times can I just shout ‘ART! AAAARRRRRRRRRRRTTTT!’ before it gets old?

I dunno, but I guess we’re gonna FIND OUT.

There are some panels in this issue that I just. Like ‘em! From a purely artistic standpoint! Because they’re so good!

Like, I just really love the way Kara is drawn in that top panel. Her troubled, confused expression, the colors of the fading light, the HAIR.

Evely draws the best hair. I know I’ve said this before. I don’t care. I will continue to say it, because it continues to be true.

The issue I find myself running up against when I make these posts is that I really don’t want to post whole pages, as that’s generally frowned upon (re: pirating etc.) but with something like this, you just can’t appreciate it in panel-by-panel snippets.

(Guided View on digital reading platforms is a BANE and a POX I say!)

Anyways.

LOVE the implied movement of the cape settling as Kara speeds in and stops.

And, obviously, Kara flicking the bullet away is just. A+.

And the EYES, man. LOPES’ COLORS ON THE EYES???!?! BEAUTIFUL.

Also, should note the lettering! The more rounded letters for the ‘WOOSH’ of Kara’s speed (and, earlier, the super breath) work nicely, and contrast with the angular, violent BLAMS of the gunshots.

And, I gotta say, the editor is doing a really great job of not cluttering up the artwork with all the caption boxes. Which is no small task.

(I assume the editor is placing them, as editors usually handle word balloon/caption box placement, but I suppose it could be Evely? Sometimes the artist handles it. Either way, whoever’s taking care of all the text, EXCELLENT WORK! BRAVO!)

Okay I think that’s everything.

Ah, nope, wait.

MISC.

Just a funny observation, more than anything else: Superman: Red and Blue dropped this week, and King had a story in there, “The Special” (which was very good, btw.) Both Lois and the waitress swear a lot so I’m beginning to think that this is just how King writes dialogue for any adult character who isn’t Clark. XD

This is absolutely a personal preference but when Kara was like, “And my name IS Supergirl,” I was like nooooo. I know King is trying to simplify all of the conflicting origin stories and lore but I LIKE KARA DANVERS, SIR. XD

It’s almost assuredly a cash-grab/an attempt for DC to get all the money it can out of a book they don’t have much confidence in, but I like the cardstock covers! Very classy, much Strange Adventures.

(OH my gosh, can you imagine that issue 1 cover with spot gloss???? Basically the only way you could possibly improve on it.)

Okay NOW I’m done. For real. XD NEXT TIME: Kara and Ruthye go after Krem and the Brigands!

#supergirl: woman of tomorrow #long post #dc comics #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #kara zor el #comic thoughts #comic opinions #just occurred to me I should be crediting the creative team in these things #I think thus far I've included every title page?#still #will try to be better about that going forward

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emiewritesthings · 4 years

Text

locked down with you (1)- jay halstead

jay halstead x fem!reader

summary: a series of scenarios between y/n and jay whilst they quarantine together

requested?: nope but requests are open :)

warnings: language but basically just fluff

a/n: still being in lockdown has made me think about what it would be like to be living with jay during these times. the following is just a strange combinations of scenarios i have thought about. not sure i how i feel about them :/

masterlist

day 1 of lockdown

“is that the last box?” jay called out as he reappeared from his room with a sweaty brow and a large smile on his face. he wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to seeing your clothes hung up beside his own in his wardrobe, or your shows lined up beside his by the door. it was strange, but it felt... natural.

“i think so, wow is it sad that my whole life can be packed up into 5 boxes?” y/n asked, collapsing onto the sofa breathing out heavily. jay let out a small chuckle, before he joined her, melting into the cushions that supported their bodies.

“well that’s not true, that was just your clothes, you still have an entire apartment of things waiting for you back home.” he corrected, with a smug smile pointed. the pad of it flicking her nose, making a childish giggle escape her parted lips. “but who knows by the end of this thing you might need to bring those over too.” jay hummed, leaning closer to her with lustful eyes. in a matter of seconds, his lips pressed lazy kisses against her neck, the sensation taking y/n’s body to a new level of euphoria

“just give it a week, halstead. you will be so sick of me you will have to kick me out.” she challenged, watching as he pulled his lips away from her skin for a moment. allowing their foreheads to rest against one another, eyes both equalling challenging the other to make the next mood. in a moment of weakness, it had been y/n to lean forward, igniting the warmth in their chest.

“if anything, i don’t think i will be able to let you go.” his breaths were rugged, only parting to say the last few words before he reconnected their lips. his hands respectfully running over her body, admiring the way it curved and held its unique shape.

he sure could get used to this.

day 3 of lockdown

“jay!” y/n whined impatiently as she threw her head back to demonstrate just how tired she was becoming. a strange ache running up her spine from the position she was currently sat in. her back arched as she rested against the arm of the sofa. her fingers pinching a pencil as she looked between her sketchpad and the angelic man sat a few centimetres away. “i thought i told you not to move.”

jay’s eyes narrowed in confusion, as he looked up from the pile of paperwork he had to complete by the end of the day. seeing his girlfriend sat in a large hoodie that she had stolen from their wardrobe and a pair of shorts, a look of boredom and frustration etched on her features, he had to question what the hell was going on.

“what are you talking about?” jay asked, in all honesty, he had been so focused on his work that he had tuned the woman out. from the look of art supplies spread over the floor, he could only assume she was occupying her day off with fulfilling her craving to be artistic.

“you know what, it doesn’t even matter anymore,” she sighed, closing up the book in her hands. “it was stupid anyway.” she muffled into the sleeve of her sweater, attempting to walk out of the living room towards the kitchen, a place she had labelled her ‘happy place’ from the moment she stepped into the apartment. slight guilt seeped into jay’s mind as he pushed himself away from the sofa cushions and wrapped her up in his bulky, warm arms.

“i’m sorry.” he apologised, arms trapping her in what only could be described as a bear hug. from her small frame, jay managed to rest his chin on the top of her head, until he brought his face down to kiss her cheek softly. “i’m sorry. i’m sorry. i’m sorry.” he repeated between each.

y/n felt her mood slightly, reminding herself of the effect the man had on her. she felt like mush in his hands that he was able to sculpt in whatever way he wanted and she had no objections.

“now what do we have here?” he spoke more to himself as he took the sketchpad from her hands, his fingers playing with the edge of the pages until he stopped on a page with a rather large sketch. the pencil lines were faint, but it didn’t take jay a moment to recognise the large image illustrated on the page. “holy shit, y/n.”

feeling her cheeks heat up, she tried to hide her face with her sleeves. she didn’t like to share her work with anyone, with fear that she would be laughed out of the room. but listening to jay’s taken aback tone made the butterflies in her stomach jump without any consideration for y/n’s wellbeing.

“i know it’s not the best, but-.” she attempted to denounce her clear display of talent by breaking out the embrace, but jay only held onto her tighter. using what control he had to turn her around to face him. he had placed the sketch on the coffee table, so he could focus fully on the beautiful woman standing in front of him.

“it’s amazing,” jay assured, his gaze diving deep into the soul present behind the beautiful colours of y/n’s eyes. “you are amazing, i’m sorry i’m so busy.” y/n didn’t need an apology. she knew that jay’s job was much more demanding than her own. it just seemed being forced to do nothing didn’t feel as good as when she chose to do nothing before any of this quarantine business was mentioned.

“do you want some help?” she offered, not wanting to intrude. her teeth brought in her bottom lip to bite in anticipation worried she had crossed the line. jay’s hand reached up to rest on the side of her face, his thumb resting on her chin as he brought it down to rescue her lip.

“you are the best, you know that?”

“ugh, come on, romeo.”

day 9 of lockdown

“okay-.” y/n began as she entered the bedroom, her body wrapped in a towel and her hair leaving water droplets behind her. it was sometime in the late afternoon and jay was laying on their bed. his attention had been caught by a book y/n had brought, but it had been stolen when she had entered the room.

“i don’t know what you’re about to say but i know it’s going to be a bad idea.” jay discouraged, he knew her. he knew her more than anyone else in this world. the way her voice had raised slightly at the end and she was currently avoiding eye contact with the detective, telling him that she was about to make to offer a foolish plan.

“no fair, you have to at least hear me out!” she whined like a child, searching around for her bras that were normally flung in different directions, thanks to a little too happy detective. jay watched her with a loving grin, she made him feel so alive.

“okay, proceed.” he gestured as though he was king of the castle ordering his servants around. flicking her middle finger up at the man, disappearing into the bathroom once again, but her voice could still be made out.

“i want to dye my hair!” jay couldn’t see her face, but he could imagine the little hop she had done in excitement at telling him about her idea. “or maybe shave my head, you know, since lockdown could go on for the rest of the year, it’s not like anyone will see it.”

letting out a deep chuckle, he waited until she reappeared to respond. her body, cladded in sweats (for once ones that belonged to her), collapsed down beside him. curling into the side of his body. she stared up at him dazedly, trying to read the thoughts behind his eyes.

“it’s your body, your choice,” he shrugged, his right hand coming to his side so he could grab ahold of her own. when interlocking their fingers, he made sure to run his thumb over her knuckles comforting. “i don’t care if you shaved off all your hair and your eyebrows whilst wearing a potato sack, you will always be beautiful to me.”

“i love you.” she hummed, leaning up to kiss his lips.

“i love you too.”

day 16 of lockdown

“y/n hurry up it’s on!” y/n heard as she grabbed a few beers from the fridge. as she reached the living room, she grinned at the sight of kevin, kim, adam, will, natalie on the computer screen.

“hey guys!” she squealed, giving jay a beer before putting the rest on the coffee table that the computer currently rested on.

“oh shit, now i owe kevin 10 bucks.” adam whined, his image slightly pixelated from his poor connection. frowning, y/n looked towards jay that was equally as confused. they then turned their gaze towards kevin, who wore a large smug smirk.

“ruzek here betted me 10 bucks that you two would have killed one another by day 14.” y/n let out a snort of laughter, throwing her head back in amusement. of course, kevin had bet in their corner, had it not been for him, jay and y/n wouldn’t have been together in the first place.

“honestly i wouldn’t have blamed you, y/n,” will spoke up, “it takes a saint to deal with jay’s slobbiness. i think i have only ever seen jay clean his room twice, mom always took pity on him.” will chuckled, making jay cower in embarrassment. y/n had seen first-hand jay’s ability to create a mess in a matter of minutes. a stray sock here, an empty pizza box there. before she knew it, they were eligible for Hoarders USA.

“shut up, will, are we starting this quiz or what?” jay changed the subject, trying to get over the embarrassment of being laughed at by their closest friends. in an attempt to cool him down, y/n hooked her pinky around his. offering him a soft smile when he looked up in her direction.

“hope you guys are ready to lose.” she teased, turning back to face the screen. jay watched the way she acted so freely, a kind smile never slipping from her face, her touch soothing his soul. at that moment he couldn’t help but think ‘this will be the woman i marry’

day 34 of lockdown

“-alright, alright i think he’s on his way. i’ll see you later.” y/n rushed out as she jumped off her position sat on the edge of the bed. her heartbeat was thumping against her chest as she shoved her phone back into her pocket, aware the sound of water had fallen silent.

it was jay’s birthday and y/n had been planning it for the past two weeks. unfortunately, it was well known that y/n y/l/n was awful keeping secrets. it was as though when she knew something, good or bad, she felt an immense amount of pressure, which ended in her exploding and spilling all to the one person she normally wasn’t meant to. but she was determined that this would be like the other times. she had gone the extra mile in avoiding conversation with jay, knowing one slip and her whole plan was ruined.

“hey, baby!” jay yelled, y/n’s body jumped in shock. his footsteps growing nearer until he appeared in front of him. his muscled torso on show as his bottom half was hidden away by a large grey towel. jay noticed y/n’s jumpy behaviour immediately, his eyes drawing nearer as he examined her face. “what’s wrong?”

“wrong? with me? pfft, nothing’s wrong with me. absolutely nothing. w-what’s wrong with you?” she rushed out, leaning her weight against the dressing table until her hand slipped and she quickly caught herself before hitting her head on the wood. jay shook his head in amusement, he had been worried for the past few days that he had upset the woman. she was unusually quiet, which normally indicated that something was wrong, considering she hated silence.

“doesn’t matter.”

seeing jay withdraw from her made her want to reach out, but her mind already ticked over to something else. running into the guest room, she reappeared with a shoe-like box. not knowing what to say, she shoved the box in his direction innocently. jay pecked her lips lightly, taking the box and taking a seat as he ripped the sparkly paper she had found in a random drawer.

removing the box lid, he peered into the box with curiosity. in a matter of seconds the teasing look fell from his face, replaced with a loss of words. in the box resided memories that up until that moment had been in the back of jay’s mind. letters that the pair had sent back and forth all those years ago when he had been enlisted in afghanistan. photos from jay’s police academy graduation, dates, christmases anything that held a sentimental feeling y/n wished to recreate.

“y-you kept all this stuff?” he asked, his fingers grabbing a small blue teddy bear that’s fur was slightly matted from the dust that had tainted its texture and colour. the very bear y/n had brought jay the time he had broke his arm back when they were kids, she had forced her mother to buy the bear from the giftshop knowing that it would cheer the boy up. she was right, of course she was right.

“of course i did,” she whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder, watching him study each individual object. “throwing away any of this stuff made me feel like i was throwing a bit of us, you know?” y/n felt stupid, but only the slight blush on her cheeks gave it away to anyone that looked close enough.

“thank you, thank you for everything.” snaking his arms around her, he brought his chest close to his chest. sometimes he felt like they were still the kids that would climb through each other’s windows just so they could hold one another and remind the other they weren’t alone. “i love you so much, i’m so happy i have you in my life.”

the tears brimming in y/n’s eyes were not missed by the detective, he didn’t miss anything she did. she was like art to him, something beautiful, at times a little misunderstood, but beautiful nevertheless. lifting his head to connect their lips, the two took their time, slowly allowing the lust to push its way through. before it could progress any further a loud blare made them jump apart.

“what the-.” jay began, watching as y/n pushed her way off the seat and running out the door. hesitantly he followed, leading his way out of the house until he found y/n grinning childishly.

“happy birthday, man!” pulling his eyes away from his girl, he found the familiar cars driving slowly down the road. the lights on the large black cars blaring as kevin leaned out the front car, whilst adam and kim leaned out the second. with the confusion seeping into the feeling of surprise, he felt y/n leave his side before reappearing. this time, her arms held out a large cake that had clearly been homemade considering the way the lettering that spelt out ‘happy birthday, jay’ slowly got smaller towards the end.

“you did all this for me?” he asked astounded, despite y/n being the most affectionate and loving person he knew.

“of course i did,” she responded as if it was the most ridiculous questions she had ever heard. “i meant what i said jay, i love you. this is the least i could do considering all you do for me.” the heart to heart was rudely interrupted by the blaring of a car horn.

“you guys can do your thing later, just blow out the candles!” adam complained, earning a thwack over the arm by kim. “i mean, totally up to you, buddy. happy birthday!”

jay chuckled, as he took in a deep breath and blew out the many candles that sprinkled over the sweet treat. before he ignored the cheers of his friends and kissed y/n passionately.

“this might just be the best birthday ever.” he grinned.

“happy birthday, baby.”

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nerdygaymormon · 4 years

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Let’s talk about Suicide

LGBTQ individuals are at higher risk of suicide and other mental health issues than the general population. It’s important for us to be able to speak about these things.

I also need to put a disclaimer, I am not a professional mental health expert. I’m sharing what I have learned from my own experience from having been suicidal and from helping people who’ve contacted me in their darkest moments.

It’s okay to talk about suicide. Talking about it does not give people the idea. Plenty of people get to this point of wanting to end their life without having anyone bring up the subject. In fact, not being able to talk about it makes it harder to deal with. Silence creates a sense of shame about feeling suicidal. Talking about suicide gives people information and helps them better understand and be open about their feelings.

Suicide isn’t so much wanting to be dead, it’s not knowing how to live with the circumstances in your life. The situation that a person is dealing with is so hard they don’t see a way for things getting better, they don’t see options to improve their situation. Death is a way to not have to deal with these hard things and feelings.

Suicidal ideation is when someone has thoughts & feelings of wanting to be dead because they don’t know how to deal with their life. Active suicidal ideation means having a plan, taking steps towards ending their life. Passive suicidal ideation means wanting to be dead without making plans towards that path.

Even when someone isn’t actively thinking about doing something to end their life, it’s a problem. Wishing you were dead is a clear indication something isn’t right.

Suicidal ideation includes when someone wishes they could be diagnosed with a disease like cancer, something that would allow them to die in a way that’s okay for their family because that seems preferable than sharing with their family that they’re gay, or whatever other impossible thing is going on in their life.

Another form of suicide ideation is when someone wants to escape and get away from their life, like running away and cutting all ties with everyone they know and starting over again where no one can find them.

Perception is not reality. People who are suicidal have often told me they are a burden to their parents. I guarantee that is not how their parents think of them.

Often they don’t want to say anything to people about being suicidal for fear of how those people will react. And it is possible some individuals would react badly, but most will respond with care and concern.

Talk to someone. Talk saves lives. Find someone you trust. If this is too scary, if it’s too vulnerable to tell someone you know, then contact a suicide hotline. The hotline will let you get these thoughts & feelings out without judging you, they’ll listen and then guide you through resources you can access. When life feels overwhelming, having someone help us see the next step can be so helpful.

Being able to talk about what’s going on in your mind can help you to frame it and get perspective on it, which can help you learn how to move through it. It can make feelings that feel so big and scary to look manageable once they’re put it into words.

We can feel like we should be able to handle things ourselves, but none of us can do that, we need human interaction.

If you see something, say something. We put a lot of pressure on those who are struggling to tell somebody. My personal experience is I was willing to talk, I was wanting to talk, I just needed someone else to ask. My perception of being a burden or of how they might react kept me from volunteering that I needed to talk, but I was trying to drop hints, hoping someone would ask.

If you see someone who is having a hard time, or you know some of the possible warning signs of suicide, go ahead and ask them directly if they’re feeling suicidal.

You can identify what signs you saw or what they said that caused you to be concerned. Be direct, ask if they’re feeling suicidal, and that you’re someone they can tell. They won’t be offended. If they’re not suicidal, they’ll tell you. They might not tell you they’re having suicidal thoughts, but they will know you offered to be someone they can talk to.

If you haven’t seen specific warning signs, but they’re going through something that is really stressful or intense, like an LGBTQ person being outed publicly, you can say to them, “a lot of people in this situation consider taking their own life, is this something you’re considering?” This type of approach may make it easier for someone because it’s about the situation and a reaction that many people have to the situation, it wipes away moral judgement or the idea they’re weak for having these thoughts.

It’s okay to feel the way you feel. It’s okay to be tired. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to have a hard time getting out of bed. This is a process and won’t be solved in an instant. The things which got you feeling suicidal take time to handle. Be patient with yourself because your life is worth it. Be kind to yourself. You don’t need to have life all figured out.

Have a plan. One of the first things my psychologist did was ask how much sleep I was getting, what was I eating, and what sort of exercise was I getting. These each have an impact on mental health and can be some of the first steps we take towards better mental health.

I also had to create a safety plan which included being aware of the warning signs that my mental health was going downhill, and what actions I was going to take when I was feeling suicidal, or headed towards that way. If those actions didn’t work, I had 3 people identified whom I could contact. I had to carry around that plan with me for several months as I worked on things because when I was in the middle of those dark thoughts & feelings, it was easy to forget the steps in my plan.

There is a phone app called My 3 that can help you create a plan for yourself.

If someone tells you they’re feeling suicidal, that can feel like a heavy weight, somehow you’ve got to save them. The thing is, you don’t have the power to save them. They have to save themselves.

You are there to sit with them in the darkness, you’re a person to whom they can share their thoughts and feelings, you are there to refer them to others who can assist them, you are there to push back against those ideas that they are a burden to those they love and that their life is not worth living. Make sure they know that you value them, you love them for who they are. You are part of their support network, a human connection.

If you know someone who survived an attempted suicide, don’t pretend it didn’t happen. People feel awkward and don’t know what to say. I think there’s two ways to talk about it.

One way is to express your own feelings. “When I learned that you were in the ER being treated for actions you took, I was a bit stunned, and also sad because I imagine how lonely you felt in that moment and didn’t feel like you could call me or anyone else.”

The other is to not treat it like it’s a shameful secret. Suicidality is a health issue. If someone was home from surgery, would you pretend the surgery didn’t happen? Of course it’s okay to say you hope they’re feeling better, ask how they’re doing, and so on.

If they don’t want to talk about it, they will let you know. Chances are they don’t have many people who are willing to talk about this incident and these feelings and so they may be relieved to have someone to talk with.

Wikipedia has a great list of suicide hotlines by country. Check it out for you or someone you know who needs help.

I live in the United States and here’s some resources for people who live in the USA.

#tw suicide

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i-am-vpelno · 3 years

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BRYCE MOSELEY MIGHT BE MAGNIFICENT CURTIS WHO MIGHT BE A ROGUE RACHE BARTMOSS AI CRACK POT THEORY

Okay from the top make it pop it’s a whack ass theory, it takes a lot a reach of thought but it’s an interesting query.

Let’s start with some facts and reasonable assumptions before I jump into it. By 2013 Alt Cunningham was the best Netrunner in Night City and just about done with the Soulkiller program. Rache Bartmoss was also the most prolific and paranoid hacker in Night City. He believed that mega corporations were using tech and info to oppress people. Now, an assumption. Who’s the say they hadn’t met, at the very least they had to be aware of each other. The same year, the Netwatch US Branch was created.

2021, after sealing himself inside a hollowed out fridge in the middle of nowhere so he could monitor the Net and prepare the Data Krash, Rache Bartmoss died after the life support to the fridge failed. This triggered a virus that hacked into every data cache, classified file, and, unintentionally, artificial intelligence programs. Suddenly the Net was flooded with untethered AI and every corporation’s secrets laid bare. Another part of Rache’s virus was a his own RABIDS AI. It’s not clear how far the AI went to conform to Rache’s personality but there are rumors that they killed netrunners in order to gain more bandwidth.

Through the 2020’s society attempted to recover from the Krash by returning to internet less data storage and methods of performing tasks previously rendered obsolete by the Net. However, as time went on, countries began individually recovering by creating their own versions of Net. This meant that several different “Internets” existed for different countries and Mega Corporations that all had their own perplexities such as boundaries in Cyberspace that shifted depending on which Corporation had control or even if the weather didn’t allow for the boundary to reach that far. The Net most important to this theory was Pacifica. This Net that arose covers the entire Pacific Ocean as well as *Australia*, West coast of the USA, Japan, Russia and Hong Kong. It’s boundaries are flexible and strong enough to compensate for other Nets when they’re having issues.

Now I know that this is dense and I’m not an expert but read closely. Imagine if Google didn’t just control your browser settings but could see your history, what you searched, controlled what you saw AND could send you to jail at any time your activity seemed suspicious. This is the problem with the current state of the Net. Constant supervision and tailored search results, kind of like what we have now except theres no ad blocker or VPNS and the only way to access the free unmonitored stuff puts you at risk of getting fried.

In 2023 Johnny silverhand destroyed Arasaka’s access point to their Net, Mikoshi, freeing Alt.

This is where Netwatch comes in. No one really took the company seriously until a figure called Magnificent Curtis arose. Previously known as *Rocky*, Curtis nurtured a strict and effective team that lead to Pacifica becoming the nose secure, fair and pleasing version of the Net out there. Curtis is known to be a calm perfectionist with a lethal edge. The name Rocky could either be a reference to the fictional boxer, the slang term “Rock” which means to beat the shit out of someone’s head specifically, or Rocky from ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ a fictional character created by a mad scientist to be the sexy version of Frankenstein.

2030 A mysterious vlogger called UR (you are) pops up with the company Ziggurat. The company is quickly allied with Night Corp and immediately begins producing their own high quality Nets all over the world.

Sometime in the 2040s the Blackwall is finally created by Netwatch. An insanely dense firewall meant to keep the AI in. It’s rumored that the only way they were able to complete the Blackwall was with the help of untethered AI that also wanted to block the corrupted Net for some reason. This is when Alt becomes trapped beyond the black wall.

2043 UR spreads their popular Nets to Netwatch source England and Australia. By the 2070’s there are rumors and claims by Sandra Dorset that Night Corps has an AI focused on brainwashing employees into complacency.

Now that we have that out of the way, here’s how it connects. If we can assume Rache and Alt knew each other, we can also assume he might’ve lifted some ideas for RABIDS. Rache’s AI we’re meant to carry out his will and also would’ve ended up untethered by his own virus. We know that at least one of his living colleagues, Spider Murphy, who held a similar world view to him believed that what he’d done was a mistake. Let’s assume that Rache would’ve agreed, then the AI would’ve agreed too. Then let’s say two of the AI decided they needed to fix this mistake. Maybe they highjacked some borg bodies or one of the gangs who wanted the AI’s to be free provided them with bodies. They called one Rocky because he was a Sexy Frankenstein and the other UR a play on God’s I AM from the Bible. I think it would be neat if Rache was the real founder of Netwatch, the inside being the best place to protect people from corps. Anyway, Rocky and UR join Netwatch, possibly revealing their true identities and gain trust by helping create the new Nets. Rocky finds his calling, UR is left unfulfilled. They find Alt after Mikoshi is destroyed in 2023 and see that she’s bent on absorbing all the data she can to destroy Arasaka. UR and Rocky, now Magnificent Curtis, work together with Netwatch to create the Blackwall. UR leaves soon after and creates Ziggurat, he is the AI brainwashing Nightcorp employees. Meanwhile, Curtis is spreading Netwatch to every corner of the Net proficiently. In one of these corners there is whispers about the VooDoo Boys trying to get in contact with Alt. Fearful about what they might unleash, Magnificent Curtis goes undercover as Bryce Mosley to take care of the situation himself.

The Magnificent Curtis name could be a reference to the magnificent seven movie, a cowboy film about a ragtag group of gunslingers hired by less fortunate people to take care of a group of outlaws.

A comment V makes comparing Netwatch to villains who think they are heroes is misinterpreted by Bryce Mosley. The Western genre is full of tropes that are similar to Rache Bartmoss’ experience being an outlaw fighting for the right reasons. The slang term “cowboy” means a sexy deckjockey, I think that could be related to how Rache saw himself.

UR could be Mr. Blue Eyes. The mind control of Night Corp’s employees is eerily similar to the Peralez case and the Crystal Palace heist could be a way for the AI to gather more data on humans or use the Crystal Palace as some sort of mind control beacon.

Told you it was a crack pot. Hope you enjoyed!

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk 2020 #cyberpunk red #bryce mosley #rache bartmoss

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