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avelera · 10 months

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Headcanon: ADHD Hob and Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

So I went down the rabbithole on ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria (and found this lecture that legit made me tear up if you have or think you have ADHD, go listen to it here) and it got me thinking, as everything is wont to do, about Hob Gadling and how if he had ADHD, which I think there's lots of fun in-text hints at that at least allow that interpretation, what are some other ways that could manifest besides his ebullient and never-ending love of life in all its endless variety?

So as sufferers of ADHD know, it's not all fun and games. The flip side of living with a dopamine-starved brain that's always seeking out new experiences and seeing the world through that lens is that other emotions slam us hard too, like rejection sensitivity dysphoria aka, "the most minor criticism can feel like an actual knife in the chest, no I don't mean mildly bummed out, I mean full on fight-or-flight brain meltdown because someone told you a comma is in the wrong place in your manuscript (not that I'm speaking from personal experience yes it's that dumb)".

ANYWAY, so I'm thinking about Hob and RSD and specifically 1789.

Specifically the line, "It's just how it's done," referring to horrific practice of human trafficking and how Hob basically shrugs while, to his minor credit, looking suddenly uncomfortable and guilty, about the fact he actively profits from this industry, and the way he cringes in on himself when called out kinda seems to indicate that he knows it's a vile practice and isn't super comfortable with being reminded of his fact by someone he respects, like Dream.

A couple notes on that little exchange between Hob and Dream:

1 ) The face Ferdinand Kingsley-as-Hob makes in that moment is absolute textbook adult ADHD rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Namely, the point where you know criticism hits you like a knife in the heart, particularly from people you respect, and you just have to cover that flinch of literal physical pain with a careful poker face.

The way Hob's tone suddenly goes cold and with his very genteel, received-pronunciation manners he levels Dream with perhaps the closest he's ever come at this point to lashing out, "You're giving me advice...?"

I'm not saying that canonically it's RSD, or that neurotypical people don't suffer pain and disappointment when receiving disapproval, but to my eyes at least, Ferdie Hob takes Dream's comment very seriously, much more so than the comic counterpart did (who needed multiple nudges before he even realized what Dream was trying to tell him about getting out of the shipping business and still seemed a bit clueless about why Dream would want that or care by the end).

2 ) Going into proper headcanon territory, I personally chart Hob's journey from destitute to wealthy slave trader as the product of someone who stopped giving a shit about others after everything he suffered in the 1600s. To be perfectly clear, this is not a fucking excuse for it, it's an examination of motives.

Because technically, after everything Hob suffered in the 1600s, he could have emerged with more empathy for the plight of others. But clearly that didn't happen. From an entirely human motivation level, that leads me personally to the conclusion that since no one helped Hob when he was at his lowest (not even Dream, though I dearly wish it was otherwise and wrote extensively on what would have happened if he had) that led him to the belief, put simply, that fuck the world so long as he got his. Why should he care about anyone else if no one cared about him?

But to go back to the topic of this essay, RSD, there's an additional element to that theory on why and how Hob leaned into not giving a shit about others, and that missing factor from what's described above is the element of everyone is doing it. Specifically worded as, "It's just how it's done."

Another really fascinating lecture I listened to on ADHD talked about how the most common trauma reaction ADHDers have to their sense of rejection, shame, and guilt that comes the way our brains react to the world is by hiding. And that also got me thinking about 1789 Hob in this context.

Because Hob as we see him in 1589 is loud in his happiness. He's sitting there, bold as brass in the middle of the White Horse, showing off his wealth with a banquet, loudly declaiming about how he pretended to be his own son twice, worked in the Tudor shipyards (what would have been 50+ years before) and just how he spent the last 100 years working his way up to his knighthood. The man does not have an ounce of caution in him. But, he is also by far the happiest we ever see Hob (up until Dream ditches him in the middle of their date).

This is important because to my eyes, Hob is living openly and unashamed and with only the barest hint of caution typified by pretending to be his own son every couple decades. The way he describes his last 100 years sounds like an ADHD dream, basically getting a boat load of money from Caxton's printing press (basically the first tech startup unicorn of the modern era) and then running around wherever his interests took him where he also made money hand over fist, kept climbing, and eventually reached the point where he could purchase the acclaim and regard of a member of the (albeit minor) nobility. All of this after being born a peasant. That's just validation and money and prestige and getting to pursue your special interest and live as your authentic self all over the place. And I do mean authentic, Hob doesn't even seem particularly worried about talking openly in the White Horse about being 200+ years old, a strong case could be made that he's not that careful in his personal life either.

So anyway, Hob has this amazing century literally followed by the worst century imaginable, filled with the sort of horrors that can tear a man's soul asunder. Losing his family, his beloved wife in childbirth with their new baby, his adult son, his home, his money, everything he spent a century building. His title and name are gone too because of the nature of how he lost it with the accusation of witch craft, which also means he can't just fake being his own son again to get it all back because they're explicitly going to notice that this time.

And how did this all happen? Because Hob got noticed. He lived there 40 years, overconfident is his own words. Which is a wild thing to say about a bunch of witch hunters showing up at his door! He blames himself for being drowned as a witch. On the one hand, I imagine he has to think that way because otherwise he has to admit to the sheer brutal randomness of life, so in a way he's trying to take control of the narrative by blaming himself.

But it also smacks of ADHD again because ADHDers very commonly shift the blame onto themselves after years of their unique nervous system response making them a round peg in a square hole of wider society. We learn over and over that the mistakes we make are our fault, because of "laziness" or "apathy" which isn't apathy at all but deep agony over our inability to accomplish tasks in a neurotypical way without the support we need, but I digress. But it sure sounds like Hob may have been paralyzed by grief for literal decades and then blamed himself for not getting the mental spoons together in that context to move on and reinvent his life after losing his wife and child. Which would be a very ADHD thing to do.

So after this absolutely brutal smackdown by reality for living too openly, too loud, too ADHD, getting paralyzed by the powerful emotions he felt (if we follow the headcanon) over the grief and loss in his life, what is Hob's next step?

Hiding.

Blending in.

Not rocking the boat.

And again, not excusing it, there's plenty of other industries he could have gone into to blend in that didn't involve human trafficking. That said, if he went to sea, which we know Hob did on many occasions from the comic, it would be seen by his peers there at sea as a normal way to make one's fortune, and then.... well, we have as evidence that this is his current peer-group the sort-of pride with which Hob announces how he's making his fortune these days in the "shipping business", as if he's expecting Dream's approval.

That to me, reads a bit like the people pleaser/social chameleon aspect of ADHD. Hob is expecting to be praised for being successful by Dream the way he would likely be praised by his peers in the shipping business or among the wealthy privileged men of England. He's so steeped in that world now that he's clearly taken aback when Dream takes the (at the time more radical but not uncommon) stance of, "This is wrong."

And Hob knew it. But he was blending in. He was going along with how things are done. He wasn't rocking the boat. He has other hints at trauma responses too, "salting money around the world" in case there's political upheaval, for example. This is not the loud, boisterous Sir Robert Gadlen untouched by loss or trauma. He has been humbled and tempered and, indeed, made afraid by what happened to him.

This sort of wild swing towards protectiveness? Again, also ADHD. As the lecturer I linked first noted, ADHDers are textbook defenders. They are always defending themselves from the world that can suddenly, unexpectedly, plant a knife in their heart because of a perceived rejection. From a world that wants their brain to work in a way it doesn't, so they have to come up with myriad painful coping mechanisms to fit in, blend in, mask, and function. Hob was forced to protect himself after the 1600s, so he did, with money, and with not caring about other people, and with insulating himself from privilege, and becoming a social chameleon.

1589 Hob tries to earn back Dream's interest, but he doesn't fawn. Dream shows interest in Shaxberd and Hob, already starting to get irritated, tells him no, Shaxberd is crap.

And you can tell in 1789 that Hob is thinking about that day again when he gets Dream's disapproval, because who does he reference? That lad, Will Shaxberd. He's fearing rejection and abandonment again, or at least it's crossed his mind after Dream's admonishment. But this time, Hob is fawning more, very nearly flirting. He's trying to play the game better this time, trying to keep Dream's interest, social chameleoning the subject onto safer topics, things he thinks will interest Dream, as Shaxberd so clearly did, so let's talk about him if that's what you care about. Again, another ADHD social chameleon, people pleaser aspect. We are nervous empaths, we are constantly picking up a bazillion signals both real and imagined. And we're so fucking terrified of that RSD knife in the heart, we become people pleasers to avoid it. After the shipping business brag fell through, Hob pivots to talking about Dream and what, in his experience, Dream seems to like and talk about favorably.

So anyway, many many ADHD-esque rambling words later, there's a few more little details I'd add to the list of "possible ADHD behavior, not just the fun parts" for Hob Gadling. Is it canon? Maybe not. But it does make for a great headcanon, in my opinion.

#hob gadling #the sandman #sandman meta #adhd #omg this got so long lol that's perfect fits the subject huh

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thedarkcircuswritings · 2 months

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SPOILER WARNING: CRK - The Cookie Laboratorium

Shadow presents to the... the notes of my reaction of The Cookie Laboratorium story!!~ Enjoy, enjoy! Too long didn't read: A lot of cookies = autism

*Romantic music starts playing when seeing Butter Roll Cookie*

Also is that a tiny piece of Dark Enchantress magic? Is he possessed? A part of the Cookies of Darkness??

666 steps,,, 😭Love the reference, but Pomegranate, girlypop, wtf, plz tell me you had breaks

This does make me wonder, since White Lily is out of sleep aka her fairy coma, how does she and Dark Enchantress work as separate beings now? The original we saw was a memory, but White Lily is now awake in Beast Yeast… If they see each other or touch each other, do they just fuse??

Pomegranate sounds like she’s constantly about to pass out, somebody plz put her down for a nap

So the researchers ARE part of the Cookies of Darkness? Never thought I’d see a magic-oriented group be part of alchemy and science now

MATCHA’S ADORABLE I LOVE HER

KIDNAPPING?? HELLO??

Butter Roll, stop being a himbo omg

POOR LICORICE COOKIE

Also. Licorice autism hc. 🥺 He hates sticky and goopy textures, as well as powdery stuff. He also hates getting dirty, probably the type to wash his hands three times. Special interest would definitely be magic!

Do you think raw cookie dough is just gore for the cookies? In human terms, it’d be just a bunch of human meat or something

Poor Matcha 😭 Pomegranate, be nicer to your autistic sister (Pomegranate is probably also autistic)

POISON MUSHROOM HAS A CAP ON HELP??

Wait does that mean that cap is their hair or

WHY IS EVERYONE BULLYING POOR MATCHA, LEAVE MY AUTISTIC BUDDY ALONE

MATCHA CAN CONTROL TEA LEAVES AND STUFF- THAT’S SO CUTE I bet she can read tea leaves too as predictions

Matcha meltdown :c

BABY COOKIES HAVE BEEN MADE, I REPEAT, BABY COOKIES HAVE BEEN MADE!! WE FINALLY KNOW WHAT A NEWBORN COOKIE LOOKS LIKE!!

#🎪shadow rambles!#cookie run #cookie run kingdom #the cookie laboratorium #cookie run kingdom update #dark enchantress cookie #dark enchantress crk #pomegrante cookie #matcha cookie #licorice cookie #poison mushroom cookie #butter roll cookie

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pearwaldorf · 11 months

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we need to talk about Rahaeli

This is slightly tangential to the dumpster fire that is OTW, but it is something I think is important to also take into consideration.

If you're following the comments on the OTW announcement posts, you may have seen reference to Rahaeli (Twitter) aka synedochic (DW) aka Denise. She is a co-founder of Dreamwidth, where FFA is hosted.

Denise is a Fandom Elder, in both the descriptive and derogatory senses of the term. She's been around forever, since the pre-Livejournal days. She has no hesitations about throwing around that Fandom Elder status, in the same way somebody like Franzeska or astolat or anybody else in the clique that founded OTW would.

Perspective from older fans is absolutely valuable, I want to emphasize. You want people who were there to explain why we are concerned about restrictions on explicit/queer/legal but "morally objectionable" fanwork, or how younger fans embrace purity rhetoric. But it's different the way Fandom Elders wield it, the implicit assumption that because they are older and have Seen Some Shit, they automatically have some sort of wisdom to transmit to the young'uns.

Denise knows a great deal about social media moderation, anti-harassment measures, and the legal obligations surrounding the discovery of CSEM/CSAM* on sites you're responsible for administrating. That expertise is extremely valuable when explaining to people why/how everything with OTW is very very concerning.

She also knows fandom very well, and exactly how to calibrate her words to push buttons. I remember her meltdown about Cohost, another social media site that looked like a viable competitor to Dreamwidth at the time. Here is a summary of it I wrote at the time.

I'd like to get into criticism of the part of that Twitter thread where she throws a random non-sequitur into an already extremely long thread. (I know this is already a long post, please bear with me.)

At this point, she's gone on about OTW, their gross neglect of volunteers, Rebecca Tushnet, and a bunch of other stuff for like three or four screens. They are all things we should rightly be appalled by, so we're on her side for saying things that need to be said. We are probably also getting a little tired and not reading things as closely as we should. I think this is absolutely deliberate.

She then pivots the thread to EndOTWRacism (hereafter EOR) with what seems like an offhand comment about how she doesn't agree with their goals. She wrongly characterizes the end goal of EOR's campaign as a desire to moderate fic on AO3. This is patently false and is explicitly stated on their call for action under What Do We Want. They want AO3 to come up with anti-harassment policies and content policies for abusive and racist fics (what some people would characterize as troll fics), which are clearly written to degrade and harm fans of color**. We are not talking about fics with bigoted stereotypes or racist characterization.

EOR links heavily to work by Stitchmediamix, a well-known and outspoken Black anti-racist advocate in fandom. They write a column about race and fandom for Teen Vogue, and have been the target of incredible amounts of harassment. Denise thinks it's biased and kinda weird EOR does this.

The reason EOR relies so heavily on Stitch's work (and that of Dr. Rukmini Pande) is because very few people actually write about this stuff. It's horrible, thankless work that doesn't get you good attention but needs to be discussed anyways. (Acafandom, such as that which gets published in OTW's journal Transformative Works and Cultures, is racist as fuck, but that's a whole other topic.)

Here we see yet another impossible standard white fans are never held to, the one where non-white (but especially Black) fans must be ideologically pure with no lapses in temper or frustration. Whomst among us would be able to respond with perfect grace every single time they were set upon by racist mobs?

We depart from the Twitter thread here because Denise has made a statement on Dreamwidth about why she included all the stuff about Stitch when she was making a critique of EOR. The summary of the post is basically "A bunch of people told me stuff, I saw screenshots, but I won't even share redacted ones, so just trust me OK?"

I don't know Stitch (we have corresponded exactly once) or follow their work***, but I feel like if there were actual evidence they send harassment towards other fans surely it would have come up on FFA by now. The nonnies don't like them over there, and I suspect anything that proves they have actually done anything of the sort would be like throwing chum to piranhas.

Probably the most galling bit of Denise's post is this:

Under no circumstances should anyone use my writing, my own arguments, or my repetition of the concerns of the fans of color who have reached out to me, as an excuse to engage in racist harassment of Stitch or of anyone involved in the EndOTWRacism protest.

She knows exactly what she's doing. It's like dangling a steak in front of a hungry dog and telling it "Please don't lunge towards it because I'm telling you not to."

The second most galling bit is the way she, a white woman with a great deal of institutional power, justfies pointing even more racist harassment towards a Black fan known for continued anti-racist activism even though it makes their life hell and calls it solidarity.

Fuck that noise. As Dr. Pande says, there are many ways to discuss incidents like this without identifying individuals. Denise could have posted a person's account, in their own words, of their harassment experience. Even in an attempt to demonstrate faux solidarity she denies POC fans a voice.

I am glad Denise can contribute her technical and legal expertise to explaining precisely how the OTW has been negligent in their responsibilities to their volunteers and how they are noncompliant with important laws regarding extremely harmful material. I regret she has undermined this important work with unnecessary detours into racism and incitement of harassment.

I am extremely angry about having to make this post. It's another pile of shit on top of an already giant dumpster fire. But apparently upholding racism and white supremacy is still something people in fandom are going to do, even as an important organization within it burns down around our ears.

*There is a difference (cw: duh) between the terms! I did not know this until yesterday.

**I'm not getting into definitions or hair-splitting about this because it's not the point of this post.

***If you are interested in actually reading Stitch's work, here is a great place to start.

#otw fuckery 2023 #racism in fandom #otw #organization for transformative works #ao3 #archive of our own

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americqnheartss · 5 days

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mmmmmm niche tbosas boba shop au with references to my hometown... write yourself please </3

here are the long awaited deets 🕴

since boba shops don't need 24 employees (can't fit all the tributes, womp womp), their neighbor will be a retro burger joint!!! the tributes from each shop go back and forth, visiting each other on their breaks. howeverrrr the main focus is, of course, the boba shop.

bonus: the mentors as snobby legacy students at the prestigious university that always dwell between the shops for a taste of culture.

what i have so far:

hy's mother, which i'll name gen, has owned the tea house since the early 2000s. it's called "heaven's tea house" (get it?? b/c... in the original book, they're all dead--)

the burger joint is gonna be named "rena's burgers" (after the arena... i'm original, i swear) and it's ran by wovey's chipper old dad, which he inherited from his grandpa

romance is more of a subplot, but it's still there! i'm focused on the ~power of friendship~

i just want them to be goofy ffs...

character tidbits b/c ik that's what we're here for:

lucy gray, mizzen, dill, and teslee as the new hires

hy owns the shop now with coral as the manager. their dynamic so far reflects that of dina and glenn from superstore

aka he's super apologetic and can't say "no", while coral CAN say "no" and so much worse if provoked enough

treech as the emo british immigrant barista that the high school girls giggle about (shout out @crazycriter for britreech)

lamina rolls her eyes when they fangirl over him, so much so that they might freeze in the back of her head

mizzen and bobbin have unwarranted beef with hy and he doesn't know why. they don't either. it just became their thing

the mentors are big tippers. like, $50 casually dropped in the little bucket, and the workers all have to pretend they're normal and chill about it so they don't freak out their regulars

juno and urban are regulars and big tippers BUT they're super specific about their orders so they kinda dread them

dennis fling's bereals when he's in the cafe include silly little pics with the employees (shout out to @zippiedippievippie for this idea hehe)

i've planned a meltdown for sol. don't ask. she's a woman in stem and that's a canon event

#tbosas #ao3 #the hunger games #eddie is writing (swear)#barbequeue!#fic: employee of the month

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euphorial-docx · 2 years

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reasons why timothee chalamet characters are autistic because i’m autistic and said so :)

first up is paul atreides because he is the most obvious:

soft spoken. isn’t very loud most of the time

uses sign language to communicate sometimes

doesn’t show a lot of emotions until he’s extremely stressed and/or upset. when he feels a lot of negative emotions (sensory overload?), he lashes out (meltdown?)

only hangs out with older people. and i know this isn’t really by choice, but he still prefers that company

often referred to as “mature” for his age. a lot of autistics know about that very well lol

has a strong sense of justice (even if he’s wrong sometimes, but let’s not get too into All That)

spends a lot of time alone, and in darker environments. does that boy ever turn any lights on?

struggles with his tone when speaking. the most prominent example of this is his difficultly learning the voice, which is all about getting the right tone and cadence

subtle facial expressions, or complete lack thereof. he’s a very difficult person for others to read

hyperfixations (fremen, arrakis, etc etc)

very observant (source: him being aware of the hunter-seeker very quickly)

next up, it’s my boy elio perlman:

difficulty reading other people. basically the entire book and movie is him trying to figure oliver out

very skilled at specific things, such as music, history, and languages

infp (infps are autistic. i don’t make the rules.)

likes controlled environments, such as his home or places he’s been to before

his little spin thing that he does all time? looks like a stim to me. also plays with his jewelry a lot, which could also be a stim

introverted (not that all autistics are introverted, but it can be a trait)

small friend group

just overall Vibes. there’s not a very long list for him, so the source is just trust me bro

lastly, kyle schieble:

monotone voice

strong sense of justice (in his own way?)

anxiety maybe? he has a lot of paranoia, which can indicate anxiety

like elio, a small friend group

and like paul, very subtle facial expressions. very hard for others to read

doesn’t seem too interested in school. perhaps he just doesn’t find it interesting, or maybe he struggles with it

very blunt

doesn’t like small talk. likes to have “smart” conversations (“smart” is used very liberally lol)

that boys posture… it might just be timothee, but yeah that posture is not The Best. and he sits in very odd positions sometimes

doesn’t seem to understand social cues. he’s not very aware when he’s made ladybird uncomfortable or sad

difficulty understanding when he is in the wrong

drawn to the arts (aka his band, music, and reading)

weak long term memory (literally forgot that he told ladybird he was a virgin… which was a lie, but let’s not get into that right now)

deep thinker (“deep” is also used liberally)

accidentally funny. like he doesn’t mean to be, but other people (ladybird) seem to think he’s joking when he’s really not

#i could probably add more but i’m tired and lazy #timothee chalamet #dune #paul atreides #elio perlman #kyle scheible #ladybird #cmbyn #actually autistic #autistic headcanon

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like-rain-or-confetti · 1 year

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Rouge reaction to mad scientist vigilante who's borderline crazy and the only people who's stopping them taking over the world or going completely apeshit are their fellow vigilantes aka the batfam

They have techs that are so futuristic that some would believe that it's alien even though the vigilante made it from scratch and by themselves

Thinks of their techs as their own kids, probably would beat the shit out of you if you ever destroy it and believe me when I say that's not a good thing for you (they have a rocket hammer. *Softly* Don't.)

I took this opportunity to delve into an idea I've been playing around with and I had a great time. Also catch the references and you get brownie points!

You were definitely out of the ordinary, perhaps a bit more eccentric than most but your intelligence was of no debate. Most couldn't figure out your technology that you made. In the modern world, tech was made to be aesthetically pleasing. Even Edward Nygma had a flare of design in him. Hence the colour green in and around everything. Little did people know that appearances meant nothing to you. Fuction was everything. Even then, the devices resembled nothing to their counter parts. They were designed by a mind that didn't work like most others. You tended to get under the rogues skin as your creations became more and more daunting. Such as the AI robots that look like Kristen Kringle or Gilda Dent, making them horrifying. The Alice robot that's a trap to lure the Mad Hatter. You certainly didn't make it easy. Not to mention you put your heart into the craft. Then there were other things like the large heavy hammer that had rockets making it throwable to longer distances. This was only you with the restraints of the batfam.

The Riddler: Not a fan. Number 1) You seem pretty smart and he doesn't want the challenge. Number 2) YOU MADE AN AI ROBOT DOUBLE OF HIS EXGIRLFRIEND HE STRANGLED AND LET IT LOOSE IN GOTHAM TO FIND HIM. "Why am I the problem in this city?" No, he's genuinely asking anyone who can hear him in this moment. How is he the problem when theres a guy and a group of followers dressed like bats beating people up and they're buddy makes ROBOTS THAT LOOK LIKE REAL PEOPLE THAT HAVE SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THE ROGUES. Plus you act like you have a few screws loose. How is he not the normal one? Ugh. He's just so done with you already. Your intelligence is overhyped and he hopes the Kristen Kringle AI kicks you in the shin. Hard. Suddenly hell snap with rage. "Why am I the problem in this city!?" He bellowed.

Scarecrow: ... actually kind of a fan. You earned his respect. You at least did your research on everyone. That's a nice change. The hammer thing he doesn't really get because...well are you hoping someone will give you it back after you throw it. Now that'd be something. Throwing a hammer only for it to come back. You two could make a great team with a mind like yours. Bringing fear to Gotham with the faces of those who have departed from the living and doubles of living people? It sounded magnificent. Although you were quick to emotional meltdowns. That wasn't exactly beneficial but regardless, it didn't take away from your work. You'd make an excellent criminal. He'd even go as far as to say your work is far beyond Edward's robots. He senses a jealousy in Edward. That wasn't surprising. He should be jealous in Jonathan's opinion. You made him look like a child with his riddles and mechanics.

Two-Face: Listen, sometimes you're cute when you freak out, beyond that? No. Not a fan. Turns out he also didn't appreciate seeing an AI robot of his ex-wife. He noticed how quickly you grew upset and found that rather questionable. Concerning even. Regardless, it was oddly personal. The robot didn't just look like Gilda. It spoke like her. It knew dates. Really personal things. It was unnerving to say the least. He tried not to give you the satisfaction, even though you weren't around. He understood how Jervis could be fooled. When he saw 'Gilda', he knew it was designed to be her spitting image but small flaws deterring it from being a perfect copy. You can't teach an AI to feel the emotions, only copy what they see. There was a dead look in the eyes, empty, unfeeling. It was the same skintone as Gilda but didn't have skin. When hit, it broke like glass. Shattering upon the force revealing a mosaic of colours and wires underneath. It really brought on the notion that just because somebody can, does it really mean that somebody should?

Black Mask: You are the reason nerds should be beaten up. He is absolutely serious. I reckon he's actually a little scared of you. Have you done anything to him directly? No, but he's been around when you freak out and he knew what you were capable of. Some people just deserved it and you were a perfect example of why. You clearly didn't fear him or anyone as you should. He certainly wasn't going to be your toy. No one fucks with Roman Sionis! He isn't going to risk you finding out anything about him either. He didn't know how you found out such personal details about people but he wasn't eager to be the next. He usually cleared off the moment there was any inclination of your whereabouts and he often hid from your creations. Only ever coming jn contact with your hammer. Thankfully the wall between you took the brunt before his arm could be crushed under the hammers size and weight.

Deadshot: Not cool. First, you're a freak and a geek. So not much in common. Second of all, you built a robot of his daughter so he's pissed at you. You made it harder to shoot because all he could see was his daughter. He's also fairly certain that you are not sane. You threw a tantrum when one of your robots got broken by a rogue! Slap bang, on the ground, kicking and screaming like a toddler and the CRYING. Jfc the CRYING. You sobbed like he had shot your child. If anyone had the right to be angry and distraught, it was definitely him!

#props to you if you caught the reference #and the other reference #batman #batman villains #request #batman scenarios #the riddler #scarecrow #two face #black mask #deadshot #edward nygma #jonathan crane #harvey dent #roman sionis #floyd lawton

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crossdreamers · 11 months

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How TERFs are ruining the lives of cis women

Nat Guest tells a fascinating story over at twitter. A security guard harasses a cis woman because he thinks she is trans.

She is referring to the Southbank Centre, a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames. The center has all gender restrooms during the Pride celebrations.

Natalie writes:

I was just on my way back from the loos in the south bank centre & I passed a woman with short hair on her way down. Security guard started yelling at her questioning her gender. She yelled back then continued.

She was cis, not that it matters. He started interrogating me on her gender when I got to the top of the stairs while still yelling down the stairs to her. She's a woman, I said repeatedly, she's a woman. Not that it matters but she's a woman.

THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS MELTDOWN SEASON AT THE SOUTH BANK LIKE COME THE F*CK ON. I explained to the bouncer why this was so unacceptable & as he tried to apologise to me, he reached out & patted me on the head (!!)

Our girl comes out of the loo and explains to him too. She heads back to her pals so I assure her I have called for a manager and will detail the situation.

The manager arrives!!! And of course agrees that this is not acceptable and also that all toilets at the SB centre are all gender anyway. My point: obviously you're not training that well enough.

Anyway it shook us both up. This is what TERFs want to happen outside bathrooms where people are literally just trying to have a wee.

"It was a mistake, we've had all sorts coming in trying to use the toilets today," the security guy said. Yes!! You have!! They are all gender toilets at a queer festival during pride month in a public space!

I also walked by multiple public street urinals in Central London today - which, I note, TERFs who claim to want cis women to be nowhere near a penis, are not campaigning against.

I love the south bank centre and always see it as an open and safe space - and I know those in charge want it to be - so this was particularly jarring.

I have muted this now but if you are a weird little person with weird little questions you're very welcome to phone the venue, 020 3879 9555.

Note that the event Natalia is referring to is a session with Christine and the Queens AKA Redcar. He is now using male pronouns.

#trans #transgender #queer #lgbt #lgbtqa #ftm #transmasculine #transphobia #terf #culture

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qqueenofhades · 1 year

Note

Thoughts on Biden possibly leaning into Dark Brandon? The 404 page on the Biden re-election site is a Dark Brandon meme, and he trotted Brandon out at the Correspondent's Dinner… If he wants to use it as an effective PR strategy to connect with both the young voters and the progressive ones, he'll have to not only reference Brandon, but actually BE him sometimes. By which I mean, pushing certain very specific progressive policies that a lot of people think he's weak on - Labour rights (and how ridiculous is it that Biden of all people is seen as weak on labour?), Queer rights, and Libraries among them - and not being so nice to the opposition all the time, which when the opposition is diving directly into fascism, is frustrating sometimes - dismiss McCarthy's bs 'budget' out of hand to a reporter, stuff like that. And once they see how much of a response Dark Brandon gets, from some of the traditionally hard-to-engage voters, well... they're already leaning into it and the Republicans have been mindlessly obstructionist since the Obama days - why not go hard? So... yeah, I'm cautiously excited about a potential weaponisation of the Dark Brandon meme by the Biden admin, lol.

I mean, as you note, the White House Correspondents' Dinner was the other night, and it looks like he definitely made a lot of Dark Brandon jokes. I know that they're aware of the meme's popularity among Biden supporters and the way it quickly got turned around on the trolls, so like you also said, I hope they lean into the substance as well as the style. Aka, we like Dark Brandon because he gives no fucks and unapologetically does things that send the GOP into a shrieking fascist meltdown. (Admittedly, it's not like that's hard, but still.)

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #plus he HAS been dissing the gop budget at every opportunity #because yeah

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nerdyenby · 1 year

Text

Green time :D I’m watching Sniff

Pregame

Sniff’s doing a fundraiser yall, be sure to stop by and show support

I love aers hat and makeup and outfit and everything so much you guys

She’s so stimmy today, love that for him <333

Sniff taking their adhd meds, winners pov time!!!

Nonbinary truthing Kirby, so real

Purple team dressing as purpled 😂😂😂

Lowkey overstimulated by Sniff’s overlay but we power through it

Noooo I need a PayPal account to donate :((

They wanna be Purpled so bad lol

Late sands my beloved

Rocket Spleef Rush

Gotg3 references in chat <333

I love rocket spleef

Sniff popping off :))

GREEN IS BUSTED WHAT???

PURPLED MVP!!

SNIFF 34th!!! Fist in air /pos!!

Early meltdown my beloved

TGTTOSAWAF

Purpled and Walli yelling are so roommates, I only learned they were roommates yesterday but it’s just so obvious /pos

Aww Sniff not finishing cliff was so rough

She’s popping off tho

Purpled and Walli dynamic duo fr

Gonna be honest I’m really missing bubbles because I haven’t watched Red or Walli before so I have no idea if Red’s just really quiet or if I can’t tell them apart or both

Purpled cheering on Scar as! he! should!!

These first two games went so fast, I swear

“We’re 36 points off of first” “Oh. We’re a’ight”

Team vocal stimming session my beloved <333

Walli calling Purpled “Purp” :((

Parkour Warrior

In case I haven’t said it yet, Purpled is a freaking superb igl

Oh Shadoune going through it :(

Purpled and Sniff teams are always such high school art class vibe and Walli being there just turns it up to 11

I know “Wallibear” is his name but it just sounds like a pet name when Purpled says it to me

SNIFF FIRST-TRYING THE HEAD HITTERS??? THATS MY STREAMER!!

I’m gonna need sniff to stop being so hard on themself, you’re doing great king <33

1ST!!! $100 to Asian American legal fund!!!

Them getting dunked and clumping in a corner and saying they’re an octopus my beloved

Parkour Tag

This event has gone so fast 😭😭😭

SNIFF SURVIVOR!!!!

“I pledge allegiance… to the green geckos” so true

That fakeout lmao

“Watch out watch out” Red I’m sorry but that is the least helpful comm possible 😂

We love the assigned decisive person in the friend group (aka Red)

Purpled just freaking toying with RyGuy oh my god

Purpled hyping Sniff up <333

YESSSSSS

Sniff dub!! And their team hyping xem up <333

Don’t underestimate red team!! I’m calling some combination of green, red, and yellow in db

Purpled motivational speech based!!!

Grid Runners

Best game time :))

“You didn’t wanna participate in the group piss, you hate us” Sniff and Purpled are so funny together

THAT CANAL RUN HOLY

Purpled’s comms on that sculpture we’re so good holy crap

“Uppies” is so… /pos

Uppies my beloved!!!

They KILLED that bridge!!!

Purpled is such a good team leader/hypeman ;-;

Yes!!! Hype yourself up too, my man!!!

Oh no H….

“Who else uppies?” REAL

Oh blue’s chances are gone, not completing grid is a death sentence :(

Another $100 to Asian people!!! We win these!!! (I’m not Asian but we stan charity :))

GREEN INSANEEEEEEEE

SNIFF 23RD!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA /pos

The coin differential is terrifying

“What are we throwing?” “Not the game, I’ll tell you that much” so true Purpled!!

Meltdown

Red is an absolute clown /pos

They’re so busted you guys

“It melts down real fast, heh, meltdown” real

THEYRE INSANE!!!

Sniff is too powerful when he remembers to take her meds

Purpled running around screaming his head off my beloved

HOLY HELL PURPLED IS INSANE!!!

“I don’t wanna shoot Scott, he’ll say I’m homophobic” “I’ll vouch for you, I’ll say you aren’t” Sniff and Purpled <333

That was so freaking surreal

MORE MONEY FOR ASIAN AMERICANS!!!!<333

Gonna write an apology letter for my predictions placing them so low, I thought they were a 4th place team but all these teams are so balanced I ended up bumping them down

Red and Sniff whispering encouragement to each other when they’re in the same call

The queerness leaving Sniff’s body as they send their gayness to purpled so he can destroy in pride 23

Survival Games

They’re wild

How does Purpled have a stack of arrows????

That airdrop was rigged lmao

That was so chaotic but they handled it so well

Red popping off!!

Nah man, sands is the way to go

Sands of Time

Hell yeah :))

They’re so chill I love them <333

Sniff is such a good sandkeeper, they’re sweeping the room and killing all the mobs, it’s so satisfying

It looked right at the green vault 😭😭😭

First out, rip

3k is plenty good, they might lose first but I think they still got it

They’re safe :))

SIX MF THOUSAND???????

RED AND GREEN, WHO CALLED IT????

Don’t look at my prediction post, I was a different man five hours ago, I called red and green in the first half :))

Dodgebolt

Lowkey rooting for red because diversity win but also gay people and charity so I’m happy whatever happens :D

CAP 1v3!!!

Ah this is so nerve wracking

Sniff gotem!!

Nooooooo Ollie 😭😭😭

Jojo v Purpled this is a nail-biter

Congrats red!!! Massive L to English speakers everywhere!!!

Purpled saying it’s sick that the Spanish team won and he hopes to see more multilingual teams in the future <333

This was such a good team, it was so freaking great

Walli might have the best opening score since season one actually, lemme check that

“Doesn’t it suck when you’re the best” Sniff 😂

This event went so fast, this was an amazing team :))

#mcc 31 #mc championship #snifferish #purpled #wallibear #redvelvetcake #caps cw #nerdy’s mcc reactions

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aforrestofstuff · 2 years

Text

Chapter 164 (redrawn version) Expert Review™️

It’s been a hot minute! I’m in the middle of a heated custody battle with Cain over our 37 kids and Pokémon card collection and that’s kinda been weighing on me a bit so I didn’t have the energy to write these.

Anyways, I did write a review for the first version of 164 but then ONE ran into Murata’s office screaming “ERASE THAT SHIT!!!” so I deleted it and here we are. I hope Murata doesn’t upload another chapter before I post this otherwise I’m gonna have a real fucking shit-my-pants meltdown. Like some real fucking episodic type shit.

I’m gonna get started before I need to call one of my emergency contacts.

Oh dude ooooh dude Garou is so starved for affection and appreciation that getting just a crumb of it was almost enough to make him abandon everything oooooh dude it almost makes me wanna hug him but then I just think about the time he stole my Capital One Platinum Credit Card and those evil thoughts go away.

Um um um something something African proverb: “A child not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

Really fucking hamfisting it here, like—Garou’s entire rampage from Silverfang’s dojo since day one has been him screaming “I want to be accepted, I want to be loved” and his jealousy towards the heroes for garnering that acceptance and love… after getting just a tiny bit of what they get, it was almost enough for him to figure out what he really wants. But of course, he’s still angry. So he’ll keep fighting. Keep trying to bring the world into despair, not knowing that it won’t make him feel any better.

I’m sure if he were given time to cool down, he would find that he’s just looking for affection. I’m guessing that’s what they were going for before they SCRAPPED the Saitama sit-down arc. Saitama was probably gonna talk him down, give him what he wants, tell him what he really is, and Garou would slowly crumble back to being human instead of being punched back into one. Or he’d get pissed, flip the table, and a social worker would have to intervene. We’ll never know!

And I mean, I’ve seen some criticism of that before the redraws—people saying it’s too OOC of Saitama to wanna sit down and talk to Garou and I mean… kinda? It’s not like Saitama’s never been selfless before. Sure, he’s not Superman-levels of patience, but he’s been really kind! Giving the credit to the other heroes for defeating DSK, letting that kid keep his cash after the hero costume fashion show contest super bonanza whatever, saving that one dude from suicide with his gay little chopsticks…. I don’t think it was too hard to believe that he’d also want to help Garou.

GO GO GADGET ASS JETS!!!!

Ok I know they’re not coming out of his ass but that would be really funny—AND ALSO…. WHAT’S MURATA’S WHOLE DEAL WITH DRAWING MOTHERFUCKERS TRANSFORMING INTO JETS AND SHIT???? I’m not engineer but that doesn’t seem super realistic (I say as I’m reading a comic book full of superheroes and women who never complain about back pain despite having tits the size of Wyoming).

It was really stupid when Psykorochi did it and it’s a little less stupid now because at least we got the whole mountain-smashing attack or whatever thing (I’m not gonna go back and look at the name because it was probably really gay) so WHATEVER I guess but it doesn’t make a ton of sense okay SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF OR WHATEVER IDK ugh I feel like a greasy nerd complaining at comic-con when I’m really just a greasy nerd complaining in my bedroom.

Speaking about the aforementioned mountain attack (or whatever), Murata really removed the big titty elf woman and my sweet cheese my good time boey Boros 2.0 (AKA Murata’s ripoff of my sweet Xanados), so thats kinda a bummer. But I’m sure they’ll probably crop up later? Maybe? Please? I’m so upset about this LMAO

And “dimensional seal”? I assume that’s to keep “that bastard” in, yes? Perhaps in some sort of space jail? Could they be referring to this thing?

Which, I mean… it’s probably God. It looks like God… it’s really big like God…. and it would make sense that Blast and his Justice League would be really concerned about this seeing as though stopping God from committing fuckery is their whole deal (and also the fact Blast just “happened” to appear once Saitama poked a small peephole into this Thing’s jail cell)… but if that’s God and he’s been imprisoned in someone’s basement this whole time, then who the fuck has been fucking with Homeless Emperor and getting jiggly with it on the moon? Or, is this a sorta “awake and dreaming” situation where the God everyone has been seeing is just a projection by this Thing and he won’t reach his true power™️ until he breaks through the aforementioned “dimensional seal?” I’m super confused dawg! None of this shit was in the Bible!

Also this whole thing seems kinda sacrilegious but I’m not enough of a Christian to care lmao hell yeah I’d love to see Saitama clock this dude. If OPM gets a sequel then he should fight Jesus next.

Like 90% of this shit happened because God has one-sided beef with Saitama and everyone else just keeps getting in the middle of it with their Main Character Syndrome and I think that’s the funniest shit ever.

Lmao God is so fucking pissed at Saitama for breaking the rules (or just his limiter I guess) and becoming too powerful so now he’s brewing up all these fake ass haters in hopes they’ll be able to stop Sai. This is toooooo funny. I love the idea of God as central antagonist to OPM; that’s both hilarious and terrifying at the same time because there’s only one person capable of going up against him. Is that where this is going? Is that gonna be the Climactic End to this series way down the line? Saitama fights God? Because I mean… there is realistically no other being in the universe capable of giving Sai the thrill of a fight anymore. He has to fight God at this point. He’s already at the top of the mountain, the only thing left to do is reach for the heavens.

And I was wondering why God doesn’t just bloop Saitama out of existence or get down there and fight him himself since he hates his dog ass so goddamn much and I suppose that rounds us back to him not being at full power due to his imprisonment in the Dimensional Seal (which is basically just the phantom zone). This is all speculative, by the way. I’m not allowed to talk to Murata anymore.

Anyways, Sage Centipede, Evil Natural Ocean, and possibly even Psykorochi and Homeless Emperor were all sent by God to take out Saitama’s broke ass by proxy and if you don’t think that’s the silliest shit ever then idk what to tell you. I love it though. It makes perfect sense.

Now Garou is one of God’s artificially created Saitama Haters and he looks kinda cool I guess idk. Boy’s got mad hips for a celestial being I’ll tell you what.

OOOOOOUUGGGHHH I HATE GOD’S DOG ASS FOR PLAYING WITH GAROU LIKE THIS!!! BOY IF YOU DONT GO STICK YOUR HEAD IN A SEWAGE DRAIN PIPE RIGHT NAAAOOOOWWW!!!!!!

Multiple things to be said about this:

1. By Biblical standards, Garou is now considered a prophet.

2. I am aware this may not be Thee Abrahamic God™️ from the Bible but it’s really funny to think so and I’m gonna keep making jokes about it.

3. By Biblical standards, Garou is now also considered to be heavily concussed and dying from internal bleeding.

4. Even while Garou is Biblically concussed and witnessing A Religious Event, he still wants to beat God’s ass.

5. God ignores Garou wanting to beat his ass, which is hilarious. “I know you’re going through a lot right now so I’m gonna ignore you said that… take my hand and beat that bald dude’s ass for me.”

6. Garou wants so badly for Silverfang to be proud of him that he willfully takes “his” hand in this severe moment of weakness. Reminds me of Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda (okay, everything about Garou reminds me about my boy TL because their stories are so similar) where, in his final fight against Master Shifu, Tai says “everything I did was to make you proud.” And when Shifu gives him an ounce of adoration, he wavers for a minute. KIND OF LIKE SOMEBODY ELSE WE KNOW…. OOUUUGGHH

7. God is a bitchass motherfucker for exploiting this and he better keep his doors locked tonight.

Edit: food for thought… what’s gonna happen when God takes his power back? I mean, we know Garou’s not gonna die or anything but like… oooooh spookyyyy. Oh shit. What if Garou does die lmao

In conclusion: GARFIELD, ARE YOU /J OR /SRS!?!?!!?!?!?!!?!?

In conclusion part 2: still peeved we lost the comedy gold of the Saitama sit-down arc and my legal grounds to sue Murata for stealing my OC (this is a joke please), but I do think overall this works a bit better. The Monster Association Arc has largely been drawn out way too long and I kinda just want it to end but I’m sure a lot of the pacing issues will be ironed out in print. And if they aren’t, fuck it! I’ll violate my probation and fly to Japan to stick ONE’s nose in it (this is also a joke please). Have a good weekend. It’s Pride month, by the way. You’re gay.

#one punch man #opm #garou #Saitama #psykos #meta #blast #Boros #meme #Silverfang #Zombieman #Genos #child emperor

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twh-news · 7 months

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Loki Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Wolfe Among Us

This review contains spoilers for episode 2

★★★★☆

In the second episode of Loki season two, Loki and Mobius try to track down Sylvie.

Loki and Mobius hit the darkened streets of the Sacred Timeline in episode two of Marvel’s Loki, as they attempt to track down Sylvie by tracing the movements of a TVA deserter.

X-5 (rapper and Blindspotting star Rafael Casal) has made quite the life for himself on Earth in the 1970s as Hollywood A-lister Brad Wolfe, and it’s one that he really doesn’t want to give up, so Mobius and Loki have to give chase like proper magic time cops at the premiere of his new movie, Zaniac. (If you look closely during this opening scene, you’ll also see a poster in the background for Kingo’s latest movie! Always refreshing to have an Eternals reference in one of these shows.)

Also refreshing is Casal as the arrogant X-5 aka Brad, and his “mummy’s boy” attitude makes him supremely punchable. When Loki and Mobius finally haul his ass back to the TVA, it creates an interesting dynamic in the interrogation room. Mobius assumes that the sneering, entitled X-5 will easily be able to push Loki’s buttons, but it’s the eternally-chill Mobius who loses his temper when Brad questions his reticence to find out what kind of life has been stolen from him by He Who Remains and the TVA. Looks like Loki is setting up a curious arc for Mobius in season two – he was really sensitive about that whole deal. Nice to see Loki take time out to chat with Mobius after his meltdown, but that key lime pie looked really gross honestly.

Regardless, I would absolutely watch these two sit talk about literally anything every week. I love their friendship. There have been some comments about Hiddleston’s performance in season two so far, noting that he’s completely stopped being the Loki we’ve grown to know and love, and that Loki could now be any other “normal” character as played by Tom Hiddleston. I get where they’re coming from. The show has gone to great lengths to re-shape this variant of Loki for his hero’s journey, but I do sometimes miss the edge Tom used to give the character. When we see Loki “perform” as his old self in this episode, the glimmer in Tom’s eye just serves to remind us how much fun he used to be. (I rambled on a bit more about this here.)

Loki gets that groove back (briefly) when he and Mobius are forced to figure out the mods on Brad’s TemPad without OB’s help. Luckily, Casey is a TVA guidebook superfan and he helps them figure out that the TemPad isn’t blocking the TVA’s tracking system, but since they’re no closer to breaking X-5 or finding Sylvie, they decide to try torture and ….yeah, I don’t know. I don’t like Brad, but the “box crushing” torture was kinda rough and I didn’t really love seeing it play out well for our “good guys”. You mileage may vary!

The “temporal aura” exposition between B-15, OB, and Casey is also kinda rough. Seeing Casey fan out over OB’s guidebook makes it easier to swallow, but the mechanics of the Loki plot were definitely easier to follow when they were coming from a cartoon clock. Unfortunately, Miss Minutes has absconded with Ravonna Renslayer to lord knows where. There’s certainly no sign of the pair this week, but Loki, Mobius, and their Brad-shaped prisoner do finally find Sylvie. She’s working at McDonald’s in her branched Broxton timeline and seems pretty content, if a little lonely.

Things are awkward between Loki and Sylvie, but I really don’t miss the romance plot between them. If that’s still cooking in season two, it’s at such a low level that I don’t have to acknowledge it at least. The sexual chemistry between Hiddleston and Di Martino is still missing and presumed dead, unlike General Dox, the loyalist who gets taken back to the TVA alive after committing countless genocides. Sylvie, however, chooses to stay in Broxton and sling burgers, but in the closing moments of the episode we see she still has He Who Remains’ TemPad, which is really advanced TVA technology that can twist time in a different way. I wonder what she’s planning to do with it?

Overall, this was a solid second episode of Loki, with only a few wobbles. It wasn’t as compelling as the premiere, and lacked its kinetic pace, but I found the ongoing story so entertaining that it didn’t bother me too much, and I’m looking forward to episode three next week. Fingers crossed, Miss Minutes is back and just as terrifying as when we last saw her!

#loki #loki series #loki season 2 #review #loki spoilers #spoilers #den of geek

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naminethewriter · 8 months

Text

How It All Began

Chapter Five: Library Visit

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Story Summary: Remus, son of a simple fisherman, had worked hard to become the captain of his own pirate ship. And in his humble opinion, it was going great! His crew was small but reliable and they had just stolen something that could them some nice cash from a military vessel they happened to cross on the open sea. They just needed to hide it somewhere until it was safe to sell. How lucky for them that they come across a nice, uninhabited island.

Little did Remus know just who he would find on that little piece of land and how it would change his life entirely.

Content Warning: Books, Minor Violence, Threats, Piracy, Breaking In

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remus loathed libraries. He always had. Which kinda sucked because he loved learning, but in a library, you had to be quiet and mostly still and he just couldn’t do that for the life of him. He learned better through listening anyway. So standing in the entry hall of the biggest library he’s ever seen made him feel kind of sick.

The place was huge. Three floors full of books, marble columns supporting the upper floors. The main hall was long and open towards the ceiling, with the second and third floor stretching from balconies on either side about 10 feet apart. It was a pompous place that had already done them a great service, as much as Remus loathed to admit it.

After presenting his crew with the instructions Janus had given them, Remy had supported Remus’ hunch about the ‘Ever-Frozen Isle’, while both Sloane and Missy agreed with Patton on the volcano bit. Corbin had been the one to identify the ‘Mouth of the Ocean’ as a giant whirlpool somewhere in the northeastern seas. Remus had heard about the phenomenon before, the thing was apparently a few miles wide and had swallowed countless ships that were unlucky enough to get too close to its rapids. He just never knew that it was referred to as a mouth, though he could see where the name came from.

So, after they had sold the Admiral’s seal (to Patton’s relief and the crew’s monetary benefit), they set off to Marblerock Port, a huge trading city about five days travel from their location. Once there, Missy and Toby had gone off to party, drink and maybe find some material to fix up their ship (not that it necessarily needed improving, Missy was just a tinkerer). Corbin, together with Sloane and Elliot had gone to the library for further research into their clues. Patton had tagged along on their first day, trying to help out when, according to Corbin, he had seen a worker have a bit of a meltdown when she dropped some books. Always willing to help, Patton had offered to assist her and apparently did such a good job that he was asked if he could come back the next day. Quite a few people that normally worked in the library had gotten sick and they needed to fill their vacancies somehow. Patton had refused at first, but Corbin nudged him to at least consider it and, after consulting their captain, they decided that an inside man could be helpful. So, Patton accepted the job for the few days they planned to dock.

Which turned out to be very fortunate for them, since some of Patton’s new coworkers were quite chatty and with his innocent demeanor, Pat had soon found out that Woodsworth’s book was indeed still in the library’s archive, though under restrictive access.

Why Logan had told them about the book also became clear once Corbin had figured out which volcano the note spoke of: Coal Black Peak, named for its ash covered crater that painted the mountain’s tip black, located about half a day’s journey into Siren territory. They had found it by connecting Glacier Paradise (the Ever-Frozen Isle) and The Swirl of Doom (aka the Mouth of the Ocean (whoever named it had a flair for the dramatic apparently)) on a sea chart. In the middle of that line, they then located the island where Coal Black Peak stood.

Sailing through Siren territory and surviving wasn’t unheard of, but it certainly wasn’t easy or a smart thing to do. If that book Logan spoke of had some information that would help them not anger a bunch of immortal beings known for sinking ships, then it would be worth getting. Which led to why Remus himself was currently standing in the library, along with Remy and Toby. Corbin and Elliot were already inside as visitors, Patton was working, Sloane and Missy acted as lookouts and Emile had stayed on the ship.

The plan was rather simple:

Locate the head librarian that they knew was working the floor today from Patton. Apparently, they were very severely understaffed.

Have Patton, Corbin and Elliot shoo out every other visitor under the guise of 'closing early because of official business.' While only Patton had the authority to do so, Corbin and Elliot could claim that they had been asked to help and if they weren't taken seriously, they could send Patton their way.

Get the head librarian to the back by asking about the history section.

Threaten her with guns they smuggled in to get her to take them to the restricted section and retrieve the book.

Patton and the others make sure no other employees interfere.

Tie the librarian up so she can't call the cops on them, leave her to be found by her colleagues later.

Bail back to the ship and get the hell out of the harbor quickly.

If they are tailed, let Toby shoot them down until they aren't tailed anymore.

Easy-peasy. Trying to blend in with the crowd was super annoying (Remus had to comb his hair – yuck!) but it worked well enough that they weren’t being stared at while walking through the shelves to find the head librarian. Patton had described her as a stern-looking and blunt older woman with gray, shoulder-length hair. She was supposed to be mostly at the front but when Remus and the other two had entered, there was only a young man behind the counter, who was in the process of checking out another visitor.

Remy and Toby had separated from him then. They were still in view, all three of the mulling about close to the entrance waiting for the woman to return from wherever she had gone. Remus idly played with the locket around his neck as he pretended to read the titles of the books in the shelves in front of him. Logan would have probably gotten a kick out of the place. He just found it suffocating. Thankfully it didn’t take long until Remy spotted the librarian first, giving the other two a signal before approaching her with a kind smile.

“What can I do for you, young man?” The woman fit Patton’s description to a tee and her voice just made it more obvious, firm and to the point while remaining appropriate for a library. Remy explained to the woman that the three of them were tourists and very interested in records of the local history, when Remus spotted Patton on the balcony above them. He gave him a nod, which he returned and then hurried off to tell the other patrons to file out.

“Hmph. Finally a tourist with a little sense. You’re actually come to learn something about our history,” the head librarian said when Remus tuned back into the conversation.

“Oh, of course, it’s fascinating,” Toby smiled. To the woman it must look friendly, Remus could see that Toby really just wanted to knock her out and get the whole thing over with. “I’m sure just this building alone can tell an interesting story.” The librarian looked far too pleased about the comment and, predictably, started telling them all about its construction, former uses and the extensive collection it now hosts while leading them deeper into the bookshelves. She was too distracted to note the number of people heading towards the exit.

They arrived at the history section conveniently located close to the entrance to the archives. The woman continued talking, even as she stopped at the relevant shelves. The trio let her. The longer she talked, the more patrons would get out of the building.

“…and I’ve held this position here for the last thirty-four years,” she finished with a smile. “Anyway, enough about me–“ Remus hadn’t even noticed that she had switched over to talking about herself at some point. “It’s the local history you’re interested in. These shelves should contain everything you could want to know about the subject, from out city’s founding to the renovation efforts of the last five years.”

“Great,” Remus said in the fakest happy voice he could muster. “I just have one more question for you.”

“Of course, I am happy to help,” she smiled. She didn’t notice Remy slipping behind her, gun in hand. Toby was next to her, ready to shut her up if she tried to yell. Remus pulled out his own pistol and pointed it at the woman’s chest.

“Would you be so kind and take us to the archive to retrieve Woodworth’s book about Sirens?”

The woman’s eyes were wide as saucers as she first stared at the weapon pointed at her and then Remus’ smile. She tried to take a step back, but Remy simply pushed his own gun against her.

“This doesn’t have to escalate,” Remus informed her calmly. “You get us the book and nobody gets hurt.”

“You—you can’t threaten me!” she squawked. “We are still during opening hours! There are many people here who will notice my absence!”

“Oh, weren’t you informed?” Remus asked, acting innocently. “The library had to close early today. All patrons were asked to leave.”

“As if my staff would fall for such a trick!” Her eyes darted between Remus, his gun and Toby next to her. She hadn’t even attempted to scream yet, Remus had to give her that, she seemed to realize there was a reason that Toby kept his hands free.

“Look,” Remus growled, now growing impatient. “I’m not some cliché villain that will tell you his entire evil plan if you stall long enough. I know you know where the book is. I know you have the key to the archive on you and I know the door down there is right around the corner here. You will bring us down there now, you will give us the book, or I will shoot you and then my crew will burn this building down to the ground, capiche?” Terrified, the woman nodded. “Great. Then, after you.”

Remus stepped aside and Remy poked his gun into the woman’s back to get her to start walking. Flanked by Remus and Toby, she led them to the locked door labeled ‘Archives’. With shaking hands, she pulled out a keyring and opened the door. Behind it was a staircase leading down, wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. Remus took the lead, Toby put a hand on the librarian’s shoulder and guided her forward. Remy took up the rear, pulling the door behind him but not closing it fully.

When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, they were greeted by a massive array of books that rivalled what they had upstairs in the open library, though the lighting down here was much worse. With the shelves reaching up to the ceiling it was hard to tell just how expansive the collection was.

“If you think you can lead us around in here in circles to buy time, you should forget it. I know this should take you no more than ten minutes to find and I will keep track of time.”

“Of—of course,” the librarian stammered. “It’s this way.” She started leading them through the bookshelves, Remus taking note of the turns they took and making a show of glancing at a pocket watch he had stolen at the market earlier that day. He usually didn’t bother with clocks. Eight minutes in the librarian stopped.

“It’s here.” She motioned to a safe embedded into the wall in front of them. It was a big iron door that probably had a whole room filled with banned books behind it.

“Well then, open it.”

“It’s— uhm, it’s complicated and I can’t really – well not alone at least – I…”

“Shut up,” Remus growled. “I’m not dumb. And I know you’re not dumb either, so if you really hadn’t been able to open this alone with what you have on you, you would have told us about it upstairs, because if we shoot you right now and leave, no one will know about it until your corpse has already started to rot. So–“ He leaned close to her face and grinned. “Open this door, get the book and stop wasting my time.”

She was wise enough to not open her mouth again and simply nodded, fumbling with her keys again. She had the safe open in less than a minute and Remus motioned for Remy to wait for them outside, he didn’t want to give the librarian a chance to lock them all inside. Remus took a look around the room while Toby hovered over the woman’s shoulder as she located their book. Few of the book spines told him why they deserved to be locked in a dusty room, never to be read, but he figured most of them were there for stupid reasons.

“H—here it is!” Remus turned around to see the librarian pull a book out of the shelves and hand it to Toby, who immediately held it out for Remus to take without taking his eyes off her. She visibly swallowed. Remus took the leatherbound tome and quickly leafed through it. It seemed legit.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” he asked with a grin. Frightened, the woman shook her head. “Good, then let’s get out of here. Toby, keep a hold of her.” Toby did as he was told and Remus left the room, Remy nodding at him as he stepped out before filing in at the back again, gun ready. Remus took the lead back himself, pretty much to show off to the old lady that she couldn’t have made him lose his way down here if she’d tried. Once they were close to the staircase, but not in sight yet, he stopped.

“Tie her up and to a shelf. We don’t need her anymore.”

“You can’t leave me here, I’ll–” she started protesting, but Remus quickly shushed her as Toby pushed her arms together behind her back, firm but not hurtful, while Remy pulled out some rope.

“We’ll make sure someone else will come down here before the end of the day. We just need you to not make a ruckus until we’re far away.” Before she could try and argue again, Toby pushed her down by her shoulder until she sat leaned against the corner of a shelf which Remy then tied her to.

“You are an enemy to academics everywhere,” the woman spat as they moved away from her.

“Me?” Remus laughed. “I’m not the one who locks books away because they don’t fit with the narrow worldview I’ve built myself. From what I understand this book–“ He pat the bag at his side where he had stored Woodsworth’s book for now. “–shows a way to coexist with Sirens, or at least that they aren’t the monsters they are made out to be. But you and your like don’t want to hear that. You want everything to stay the same, to blame them for the shit you do. You piss me off.” Remus spat next to her, making her flinch before walking away, Toby and Remy close behind. Upstairs, they left the door to the archives open slightly and calmly walked out the front door, passing Patton on the way, who nodded at them.

Back in the fresh air, they made their way into an alleyway close by where Sloane was waiting for them. Remus handed the bag with the book over to him and the man quickly left. Sloane was the fastest out of all of them and hadn’t been an active part of the heist, so he was their best bet to transport their newly acquired cargo back to the ship where Elliot, Corbin and Emile should await him. Missy should have seen them leave the library and be on the way back as well and Patton would end his shift and push for someone to check the archives before closing.

Everything had worked out just fine.

Remus loved simple plans. They just worked.

With a satisfied smile, he made his way back to the ship, Remy and Toby by his side, joking about something or other already. Remus was so lucky to have them in his crew. He wouldn’t trade them for all the riches in the world.

~~~

“Jan? I’m back!” Janus was lounging on the ground of his ‘room’ when he heard Virgil calling.

“Wonderful!” he hummed back, using magic instead of having to raise his voice because he didn’t feel like exerting himself. He had gotten a break from doing work for the Council and he fully intended to make use of every moment.

“Still in lazy mode I see,” Virgil commented as he swam in, floating above Janus with a smug smile.

“I am relaxing, Virgil, something you should learn about sometime.”

“Oh, shut it.”

“You came in here to talk to me, don’t blame me that I acquiesced with your request.”

“I didn’t request anything.” Janus, who had had his eyes closed thus far, opened one of them to look at his friend. Virgil didn’t seem to actually be upset though, so he went back to dosing on his moss.

“Then what did you come here for?” he asked with a yawn.

“I thought you would be interested in hearing about what the status of the pirate was.”

“There’s a development? I would have guessed he would take longer to figure things out.” Janus didn’t open his eyes again, but his voice showed his interest. With a grin, Virgil floated down, stopping next to him without actually lying down.

“Oh, on the contrary. Not only is he on his way to the volcano, but he also somehow got his hands on some protection runes that he had his people carve on the belly of their ship. They’re a bit outdated but should let them cross our territory without drawing our kin’s ire.”

“Huh. Maybe he’s smarter than I thought.” Janus’ tone sounded bored and uninterested, but Virgil could see the smile tugging at his lips. He was trying to mask how invested he’d gotten. What else could Virgil do but tease him about it?

“Oh, stop trying to sound nonchalant,” he grinned. “You like him.” Janus sputtered, sitting up and staring at Virgil in offence.

“I do not! He’s filth! A typical human, a violent one at that!”

“Please! If that were the case, you wouldn’t have given him the quest in the first place!”

“I wanted to see how bad he could screw it up! I didn’t think he would get anywhere!” Janus’ protests were weak, especially since Virgil could watch the skin of his right cheek turn red in embarrassment.

“Stop denying it, Bananaconda! You’re interested! It’s not a bad thing.”

“I am not interested! He’s human! I hate humans!” Janus hissed, trying to act offended but Virgil could hear his voice falter. As much as Janus didn’t want it to be true, since he was put in charge of supervising Logan, he had slowly learned that not all humans were bad.

“You’re going soft,” Virgil teased with a grin.

“I am not!” Janus fumed.

“You so are!” Virgil laughed and Janus lunged at him. He dodged out of the way and took off into the tunnels, Janus close behind. As he continued to flee, Virgil wondered what other changes the humans would bring. And while he usually hated change, he couldn’t help but look forward to it.

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