#and that's just a true fact man i just have zero work ethic because of it. its embarrassing how many of my problems are attributed to it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shinydelirium · 3 years

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Kiro’s Rumors and Secrets: Discarded Light (Season 2 Chapters 6-9) Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

So I lied when I said I was gonna translate and post Kiro’s Season 2 chapter 12, lol. But rest assured, it will be next. Just wanted to include this R&S after translating chapter 8-9 to provide some more insight into Kiro’s character from an outsider’s perspective. Although it’s also a pathetic excuse to delay the chapter 12 translation cuz I know it’s gonna hurt just as much as the first time I read it T_T

Anyways, enjoy~

This “superstar” is always beyond everyone’s expectations.

[Chapter 1]

The giant, reinforced concrete extends high into the sky, and the spotlessly wiped glass reflects the neon and dilapidated crescent moon in the distance.

Ah Liu perched on the top of the building, aiming at the silent building opposite him.

Soon, the 8 o’clock bell and a sound in his earphones rang at the same time.

“It’s time to start.”

Ah Liu tightened the rope harness, confirmed the safety of the landing point, and jumped down into the bottomless abyss between the two buildings.

Ah Liu is a bartender, a kind of superficial meaning.

Although he is indeed employed by the owner of Mondlicht bar, his work is not just about bartending and wiping glasses.

“A guest will come in the afternoon, and you will be in charge of collecting it.”

In the bar, the man behind the counter hummed a small tune and placed the wine glasses on the shelf as usual, attached to the task at hand without raising his head.

Ah Liu nodded and when he got up, he heard the man add another sentence.

“This time it’s a long-term big deal. The employer’s status is a bit special, so be more cautious.”

Ah Liu has done many assignments, but the boss reminded him as if this is first time.

This means that the employer is really not good at talking.

The owner threw a report from the counter. Ah Liu took it and looked up in surprise after a few glances.

“What is this person?”

The owner knew what he was thinking, and smiled amusingly.

“When you see him, you will know how kind and compassionate my reminder is.”

Ah Liu put the file on the table suspiciously. The knife in his hand gave off a silver light, feeling a bit funny.

The man on the file has brilliant blonde hair and his blue eyes seem to reflect a clear lake along with a pure smile.

Even Ah Liu, who doesn’t know the entertainment industry at all, knows the person in the photo.

Kiro, the most sought-after superstar of the Inverted Smile Film and Television Company.

His smile appeared on the electronic screens in the streets and alleys as well as on the packaging bags of the new potato chips in the convenience store, making it difficult to miss for anyone who passed by.

Why would such a person who stands at the top, shining and dazzling, pay a big price for a piece of information?

Ah Liu glanced at the file. The paper listed the employer’s request and the price.

The price is irresistible, and the request is worthy of this astronomical price that is suffixed with many zeros.

“The work content of other people has already been arranged, so please prepare.”

Ah Liu made a rough estimate of the time and energy required to take this big arrangement, and then thought about his fortune, and neatly put the file into his pocket.

“It seems that for a long time, we have to work for this Mr. Kiro.”

Soon the appointed time arrives.

When the door of the bar was pushed open, Ah Liu involuntarily glances over.

The person who came in wore a black hat and was dressed up very simply. He walked straight to the bar, threw an envelope to the owner, and then reached out and took off the hat, revealing his golden hair.

“As agreed before.”

He said the words briefly, as if he didn’t want to say more.

If he hadn’t already known his identity, Ah Liu felt that the star’s temperament at the moment was more suitable for this bar than him.

The owner nodded, put away the envelope, and raised his chin towards Ah Liu.

Ah Liu leaned against the bar, turned the knife in his right hand, raised his eyebrows at the guest in front of him and said hello.

In fact, generally speaking, the attitude towards guests should be a little more polite, but Ah Liu was inexplicably teasing. Perhaps because of the other person, or perhaps he was just curious about the true appearance of the superstar hidden under his handsome face.

However, Kiro’s expression was plain and straightforward.

“My request, you should know everything.”

It was completely different from the reaction he expected. Ah Liu pulled back his shoulders and put away his knife.

“Almost. Although it’s a bit tricky, it can be done.”

It was probably the first time Kiro saw someone who dared to speak so directly. He raised his eyes and reminded him not to be serious.

“Think carefully, don’t accept the task so quickly.”

“We are in this business, and we have to do it to the end after receiving the customer’s order. Although this task is not my responsibility alone, but since it’s within the scope of my work, I will definitely do it for you.”

Ah Liu was frank and extended his hand towards Kiro.

“I will follow you in the future.”

Probably out of respect, Kiro held the hand that was stretched out, but that’s all. He didn’t seem to want any contact other than trading with the person in front of him.

“How it’s done, I will tell you later.”

After he said this, he didn’t stay any longer, so he turned and left the bar.

“Why did you find this star? He’s a bit different from what I thought.”

Ah Liu turned around, tapped his index finger on the table, making a clicking sound.

The owner slowly handed him a glass of wine and smiled meaningfully.

“He’s really not any ordinary star.”

“As for what kind of person, you will know soon enough.”

[Chapter 2]

Ah Liu is a practitioner with a sense of professional ethics.

Although he found it very difficult to understand the employer’s, Kiro’s, request, he paid enough for Ah Liu to add ingredients to the menu shamelessly. While eating instant noodles, he made preparations very rigorously.

When Ah Liu completed all the preparations, Kiro also came as scheduled, with a laptop computer.

Ah Liu didn’t think Kiro could help him with his work, but half an hour later, his impression of Kiro was completely overturned.

Kiro asked for some relevant information, then turned on the computer with familiarity, tapping the keyboard quickly with his fingers.

Soon, lines of complex codes flashed across the screen like some kind of fluorescent green tide with special beauty.

Ah Liu stared at Kiro’s movements dumbfounded and couldn’t help but utter a hometown dialect.

“Yo, how are you so good?”

Ah Liu knows that when employers choose a place like theirs, it means that they need to deliver a little more or less of their own secrets and trust.

But….it’s already hard being a star right now, do you have to have to work part-time on the side too?

The security system on the screen was easily hacked, and the red warning turned into a green traffic sign. Kiro stopped typing until he locked a certain area on the outskirts of Loveland City.

“Found it.”

He stretched his waist and habitually reached near the computer as if looking for something to drink.

When he didn’t feel anything he gave a soft “huh”. His extended hand stiffened for a second, and then quickly retracted it, speaking nonchalantly.

“I have locked a few addresses that appear to have logged in to the server, but the specific locations need to confirmed.”

“How is it on your end?”

Although shocked by Kiro’s hacking skills, Ah Liu did not forget his work, and pointed to the surveillance screen in front of him.

“The monitoring software is installed, but there is no movement yet.”

“I suggest waiting for another two or three days to take a look.”

Kiro nodded, put away the computer, put on his hat and mask, and left quietly.

Ah Liu stood up, moved his shoulders and inadvertently walked towards the window.

Next to a vending machine on the corner downstairs, Kiro, wearing a black hood, was bending over to drop coins and soon a bottle of green soda rolled out.

He was a little far away, but Ah Liu still saw the drink clearly.

The green apple flavor is very high in sugar, and young girls are unwilling to buy it, so they are always not able to be sold.

Kiro finished drinking in one breath. His eyes raised slightly, showing a satisfied look. He threw the plastic bottle into the trash can briskly, then turned and left.

Ah Liu once again became curious about Kiro.

[Chapter 3]

He didn’t meet Kiro again until a long time later.

During this period, Kiro did not take the initiative to contact Ah Liu, and he has been diligently monitoring the marked area while waiting for Kiro’s news.

The days of waiting were a bit boring. It wasn’t until one time, on the convenience store TV news that Ah Liu learned that Kiro was involved in a “wounding incident” and revealed his identity as an Evolver.

Ah Liu slurped the instant noodles. On TV, Kiro looked directly at the camera and generously admitted his hidden identity.

He swallowed the instant noodles, wondering what he was doing.

Although he didn’t have much contact with Kiro, he knew very well—this person would not be so reckless and willful, and that he might have his own reasons behind this incident.

After that, a while later, Kiro’s company also underwent some trouble, and he himself claimed to retreat for creation purposes.

In the silence, Ah Liu disassembled and reassembled the pistol bought from the black market in the dark. The screen beside the pistol showed clues that he finally tracked down.

Hunter game.

It’s time to contact his employer, he thought.

In the dark, the cheerful and broad bells rang—

The so-called hunter game, even though Ah Liu never heard of it before, Kiro specifically called him to investigate since it was also related to what they had checked before. Naturally, Ah Liu concentrated all his time and energy into it.

When following Kiro’s clues, he slowly became more aware that there was a behemoth showing his minions in the darkness.

But it paid off, and finally someone bit the hook that had been cast before.

Ah Liu stuffed a pistol into his waist, holding his cell phone, and dialed Kiro.

The phone picked up after a few rings.

“What’s up?”

“I found a building where the other party had been active. I’m going to explore it tonight. If I’m lucky, I might find something.”

Kiro on the other end paused for a moment, inhaled and quickly stopped talking.

It seemed that Kiro was not the only person on the phone. Ah Liu vaguely heard another person speaking to Kiro and his voice rose naturally.

“Savin, I’m really not stealing snacks. If you don’t believe me, then come and see for yourself.”

“Hey—wait, come back later. Now I’m bitter. As soon as you interrupted, the melody of my new song is gone.

“I never told anyone that you hid my three boxes of snacks and two refrigerators of carbonated drinks. So inhumane….”

The voice gradually became quieter, and it was probably the person named “Savin” who finally left Kiro alone.

Ah Liu felt that Kiro was really weird.

Obviously, he has the warmth of light that ordinary people can’t touch, but he had to turn around and go to the darkness.

He wanted to ask why, but held back.

Employers have their own secrets to some extent. Keeping to their duties and not asking too much is the best way to stay out of this circle.

After a while, Kiro’s calm voice came from the phone again.

“Send me the address and I’ll find you.”

“I’m fine by myself. You don’t trust me when I say this?”

Ah Liu felt that Kiro didn’t trust his capability. He repeatedly emphasized that his business potential was very good. His performance ranking has been ranked first.

But Kiro still insisted on working with him and Ah Liu couldn’t help but send Kiro the location of the building.

[Chapter 4]

Under the endless night sky, Ah Liu received Kiro’s signal.

He stood up and flung himself into the opposite building with the help of the rope. After he rolled into the room and came to a stop, Ah Liu suddenly held his breath.

There were no clues left as expected. The whole room was empty. The huge glass windows were opened and the cold moonlight showed the man’s brilliant blond hair and the timed explosive device in front of him.

“Was it successful?”

“It seems that someone expected this visit and left us a gift.”

Kiro’s expression was very calm but when Ah Liu saw the detonator under his feet, he couldn’t help sucking in a cold breath.

Kiro seemed to be indifferent, tapping quickly with both hands on the computer and laughed coolly.

“Although the internal structure is complicated, it is still flawed…”

“How long will it take?”

‘Five minutes.”

Ah Liu glanced at the time displayed on the screen and the countdown just reached five minutes.

“The risk is too great.”

Ah Liu crouched down, took out a wire from the portable tool bag beside him and gently inserted it into the bomb.

“Leave it to me, it will be done in a minute.”

He specializes in surgery. Ah Liu is best at disassembling and reassembling various complicated equipment. He moves cautiously.

Kiro didn’t say anything, he stopped hacking and switched to another interface.

There is nothing in this world that can come and go without a trace. No one can be completely invisible.

The ability of top hackers is to dig out some seemingly and completely irrelevant content from the vast data stream, and continue to piece together and combine them until they restore the trajectory of something generated, assembled, grown, and disbanded.

Every day, the flood of information carries everyone’s joy, anger, and sorrow, surging through the city and no one can stay out of the matter.

The people who had been in this room carefully avoided all information channels, but it was precisely this carelessness that allowed Kiro to find their exact address.

The computer snapped shut and Kiro briefly breathed out. At this time, Ah Liu also successfully analyzed the data of the detonator and shut it down perfectly.

“It’s done.”

Ah Liu stood up and looked at Kiro.

“What are you going to do with this thing? Take it away or keep it here?

“Since they gave such a ‘big gift’, how about a ‘return gift’?”

Kiro turned and walked towards the door hidden in the dark. Ah Liu picked up the device that had turned into a pile of scraps on the ground, and walked to catch up with Kiro.

After coming out of the building, Ah Liu stopped when he passed a small alley.

“Hold up.”

He shouted to Kiro and dropped a few coins into a battered vending machine.

With two crisp ‘plops’, accompanied by mechanical electronic sounds, two cyan bottles of carbonated drinks were held by Ah Liu.

He handed Kiro a bottle but didn’t move to take it. His voice was a little cold.

“I don’t like being spied on by others.”

Ah Liu laughed a few times, trying to pat Kiro’s shoulder, but was subtly averted. He didn’t feel embarrassed, so he touched his head instead.

“Shouldn’t a celebrity be used to being watched by others?”

Probably when he was immersed in darkness, no one would exactly associate him with the dazzling star on stage.

Kiro froze for a moment, then took the carbonated drink from Ah Liu’s hand.

“By the way, when the device was dismantled, how could you be sure that I could do it? Weren’t you afraid we would all be blown up?”

The person in front of him showed a slight smile. Although it was shallow, it was indeed Kiro’s smile.

At this moment, he seemed to be covered with light and shadow, and the sun and moon were equally magnificent.

“It was just a gamble.”

“It turned out that I was right.”

He finished his drink in one breath and walked around the corner with his hands in his pockets.

Ah Liu suddenly felt that Kiro was very interesting. If he worked with him, he would probably gain a lot of things that he hadn’t encountered before.

Thrilling enough, but also exciting.

For men, true friends should be like this.

In the bottom of his heart, he listed Kiro as a friend who had already had a “friend for life and death”, so he shouted to him.

“I’ll study the internal structure of the device when I go back. I’ll tell you the results but it will take several days.”

The person in the distance did not answer and disappeared into the depths of the night.

[Chapter 5]

It took a lot of effort to crack the device, and several days had passed by the time Ah Liu got all the analytical data.

Kiro sent the other party’s real server address. Following this clue and the special materials of the installation, Ah Liu has been busy for a long time. He also managed to get a sense of the so-called “Hunter Game” in his mind.

At this moment, perhaps somewhere in this world, a silent survival game is being staged.

Although he is used to fighting and killing, the nature of the incident is completely different. He feels it is necessary to tell Kiro immediately.

But the phone call couldn’t get through.

After waiting for a while at Mondlicht, Ah Liu got up and decided to go directly to Kiro.

One minute late, one more minute for risk of exposure.

However, Kiro had a deal with him, and the less people knew, the better. Instead of alerting the security guard, Ah Liu walked to the gate of the backyard with his waist bent.

The security system of the gate is complicated and difficult to understand.

When Ah Liu was scratching his head to study how to crack it, he suddenly heard Kiro’s voice.

He was sitting cross-legged in the yard with a mobile phone, a golden retriever in front of him.

Not knowing what the person on the other end said, Kiro spoke briskly, with a smile that could not be contained:

“Wait for me to show you the mushrooms I’ve grown these days! This one on top of my head is new!”

“I wrote a song at home these last few days and I will send it to you when I make the demo.”

“When the ban is lifted in a few days, I must have a big meal!”

“Do you have anything you want to eat?”

……

He naturally exudes the aura of a “little sun”. The grand light not only comes from Kiro, but it also seems to come from the person on the other end of the phone.

It turned out to be so, Ah Liu suddenly realized.

He has always wondered why Kiro had so many contradictory points, but the bright star walks in the dark, intersecting with people of his identity.

Now he found the answer.

Because even the stars that live above the clouds have a future that they want to gaze at and protect forever.

Suddenly, there was a shattering sound—

Ah Liu looked forward immediately. He didn’t know what was said on the phone. Kiro stood up instantly, holding the phone tightly, his eyes were full of fear and anger.

Next to him was a glass that has been broken into pieces.

This was the first time Ah Liu saw this look on Kiro’s face.

He seemed to have noticed something and without hesitation, he pushed aside the branches of the tree and walked straight out.

Since seeing Kiro’s first side, Ah Liu has not been accurate in all of Kiro’s predictions. But this time, he confidently wants to try again and he has a hunch that he will not be wrong.

And that is—

Kiro is a person worthy of his trust.

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years

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Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat - Chapter 4

Summary: Veterinarian Olivia Tran has zero time for bullshit. After becoming a mom at age twenty three, the one thing she wants is a good life for her daughter Vanessa. Her ex didn’t want anything to do with her nor the baby and she decided that man are officially banned out of her life. But then she meets Henry Cavill at her clinic and her ban slowly starts to crumble apart. Henry on the other hand is looking for one thing: a family. And when he meets Olivia Tran, he finds just that.

Henry Cavill x Olivia Tran (ofc)

Warnings: None

Wordcount: 3.3k

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Three weeks pass by. Three whole weeks of Henry hoping he bumps into his favorite pair again, but no luck. After that time he saw Olivia and Vanessa on the curb and the four of them went to the park, was also the last time he saw them.

He seriously regrets not asking Olivia for her number, so he could arrange more of those kinds of “dates”. He already has an excuse: “Kal needs to be around kids more and since Vanessa doesn’t have a dog, it’s a win-win situation, honestly”.

After Vanessa fell face first into the mud, the two of them left, because she was in need of a bath and Kal was too, because he thought it would be funny to roll into the dirt as well.

These weeks passed agonizingly slowly. The fact that he wasn’t working, isn’t helping at all.

It did gave him the time to realize one thing though: he is falling for someone he barely knows. Google searches for Olivia Tran didn’t bring him a lot, except one of the things he already knew: she’s a veterinarian at Animal Clinic Westside. No social media whatsoever, something that he finds pretty rare and unique.

But finally the day he has been looking forward to has arrived. He is sitting in the waiting room of his favorite animal clinic. He hasn’t seen her yet and he sure hopes that she’s even working today and if so, that she is going to help him out. If she isn’t helping him and Kal, then it’s the universe telling him she is not the one for him.

If she does help them, he needs to ask her out, because he doesn’t know if he can’t endure time apart from her again.

While he is waiting with Kal, Henry looks around at the other animals, even the creepy bird who hasn’t stopped staring at him. For a second Henry is afraid that the bird will recognize him, but he shakes off that thought before he can think about it even more.

A door opens and he hears: ‘Kal?’

He noticed how in this clinic (and maybe elsewhere too, he doesn’t know), they call in the patients by the names of the animals, instead of the owners. He is eternally grateful, not wanting to draw attention that he is in fact Henry Cavill.

He looks up and sees his favorite vet standing in a doorway. He can’t help but smile. He notices a bright grin on her face and from that alone, this day can’t be ruined if it’s up to him.

Besides, he needs to ask her out now.

Henry stands up, tugs Kal’s leash and walks over to the doctor. Olivia steps to the side, letting him and Kal go into the room first. he smells great, he thinks to himself. Like lavender, he didn’t notice that before.

‘We should weigh him first,’ she says, placing her clipboard to the side. ‘He does look slimmer already.’

‘I’ve been restraining myself,’ he laughs. ‘It’s just really hard to say no to this face.’

‘Weak,’ she comments, chuckling in the process. Henry knew he missed her, but after that comment left her lips, he didn’t realized how much he missed her. ‘Come on, Kal, get your fat ass on the scale.’

Henry places his hand over his mouth, but a loud laugh leaves his lips anyways, especially when Olivia looks at him with a playful look on her face. She checks the screen and claps her hands when she hears a soft beep, indicating the scale is done measuring Kal’s weight. ‘Good boy, Kal, you lost three whole kilos already.’ She presses a kiss on top of his head and looks up at Henry. ‘You’re not as weak as I expected you to be, mister Cavill.’

Henry smiles, as he’s taking in her appearance. Those two times he saw her, she was already breathtaking, but there is something different about her today. Is she wearing lipstick? He notices her hair isn’t in the usual bun. Her wavy locks frame her face and when she runs her fingers through it, he has to look the other way, because damn, she is beautiful and this isn’t the time to faint.

‘Anyways,’ she says, a blush appearing on her cheeks, probably because Henry kept gawking at her, ‘this big boy needs to get his shots today.’

‘I do have to tell you, he isn’t the greatest with needles,’ Henry warns her.

She nods. ‘Aren’t you projecting your own fears on your dog?’ she jokingly asks him.

He wonders if she’s like this with other clients or if she strictly reserves this for him. He sure hopes it’s the latter, though he feels a bit attacked, because it may be true, that thing she said about projecting his own fears on his dog. ‘No, he really doesn’t like them,’ he says nonetheless.

Olivia prepares two shots for the big canine, who keeps staring at her, but letting out a small whimper. ‘I know, baby,’ she says to Kal in a higher voice, ‘it may be scary, but it’s over before you know it.’

She sits next to him, pats his head, while Henry crouches down near the dog as well. He can’t help but stare at her. She is so pretty and the way she is comforting the dog, he falls even more in love with her.

When she grabs the syringe, Henry swallows hard, while Kal’s entire body shakes with excitement.

Olivia glances at him, before she sticks the needle into Kal’s thigh. He doesn’t even whine, but Henry rubs his own face. ‘Are you okay, Henry?’ she asks, but he doesn’t hear what she says anymore, because he passes out.

≫≫≪≪

Henry wakes up in the corner of a room, his back pressed against the wall and his legs sprawled out in front of him. Kal is no where near him, while Henry swore they were together before he fell asleep.

He had a nice dream, of the beautiful doctor at the animal clinic. He dreamed that they were sitting in the park, her head against his shoulder, as they watched Vanessa and Kal play. It was nice to dream about her like that, just like he did that in those three weeks he didn’t see her.

He tries to remember where he is and when he looks around, he sees he is at the animal clinic. The examination table, his own dog sitting next to doctor Olivia Tran, who walks up to him and crouches down in front of him. ‘You’re up,’ she says with a chuckle. ‘For such a big guy, I never assumed you’d pass out like that, simply because I was giving your dog a shot.’

‘Oh fuck,’ he mumbles, rubbing his face, a sad attempt to cover his flushed cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘No need to, it was kind of funny, especially when I had to drag you around this examination room and had to explain to the assistant that the loud thud she heard, was the owner that collapsed and not the overweight dog,’ she laughs, handing him a paper cup filled with some water. ‘Here, drink this.’

He takes a tiny sip, still embarrassed of what happened to him. God, did he really just pass out in the examination room because his dog was getting a shot? ‘This is really painful,’ he chuckles, hoping it helps him not to feel the shame he is feeling right now, but it’s not working at all.

She places a slender hand on his calve, causing him to hold his breath because of the sudden touch. Him passing out like that, does have his perks come to think of it. ‘Listen, it happens to the best of us. The first time I had to help deliver a lamb, I threw up and passed out in my own vomit, in front of the entire class, so honestly: it’s okay.’

Olivia stands up again and holds out a hand. He carefully places his in hers and she pulls him up, though he mostly pushes himself up, because he is afraid he’ll drag her down. Not that he would compla—

No, he can’t think like that, not when his jeans is already this tight. Later tonight he can think about the possibilities that came with her pulling him up.

‘Thanks, Olivia,’ he says.

‘Are you feeling okay? You want something sweet to eat, before you hit the road again?’

That is so thoughtful of her. ‘Maybe some sugar would be of help,’ he says.

‘Perks of having a six year old,’ Olivia says, rummaging through her purse, ‘I’m always prepared for emergencies.’ She hands him over two candy bars. ‘You can have those, Vanessa doesn’t like them anyways.’

‘How is Vanessa doing, by the way?’

Henry might not know Olivia very well, but what he does know, is that something happened.

‘Is everything okay?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, it’s just that her teacher continues to pester me about how Vanessa should change her work ethic, which I think is too much to ask of a six year old and… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you with this. You probably don’t even care.’

‘No, I do care,’ he quickly says. Way too quickly.

Olivia sighs deeply. ‘I’m just worried about my girl sometimes. Comes with becoming a parent I guess.’

He wishes he could agree. ‘Listen, it might be extremely inappropriate, but I have to ask.’ He can hear the wise words his common sense is screaming. Abort mission. Don’t do it, Cavill. For the love of God, don’t ask the gorgeous doctor out on a date. ‘Would you like to go out with me? Like… Tonight? For dinner?’

Olivia crosses her arms in front of her chest. Why isn’t she saying anything? ‘As in a date or as a thank you for saving your dog?’

She is not making it easy for him and he has to give her props for that. That’ll teach him from asking cute women out, who just smiled at him and were nice to his dog. ‘A date,’ he says, all of the sudden not too sure about this action anymore. ‘I know it might be weird, because of what you do for a living and how we met, but I… I’m really interested in you.’

‘In me as a person or what’s in my pants?’

Well both, but he can’t say that, without looking like an absolute creep. ‘In you as a person, what kind of man do you think I am?’

She chuckles. ‘A man who is afraid of needles and can’t say no to his dog,’ she tells him. ‘I’ll go out with you tonight. Can you remember my number or do you want to put it in your phone?’

≫≫≪≪

It took Henry about three hours to go through his entire closet, just to find the perfect outfit for tonight. He didn’t want to look like such a try hard, but he also didn’t want to look like a slob. He eventually opts for a simple black sweater with some fitted jeans and his Chelsea boots. It’s casual, yet it has a fancy streak to it. He grabs the grey blazer from the hanger and while he checks the pockets, he hears Kal whimper, who lays flat on his bed. ‘We’re going out tonight, bud,’ he tells the large canine. ‘You are going to keep Vanessa and her babysitter company, while I’m going out on a date with Olivia.’

He still can’t believe this is happening. He asked the doctor out on a date and the most bizarre thing of it all, was that she said yes.

Olivia Tran said yes to him.

He would lie if he said that he wasn’t nervous. In all honesty, he is about to die from his nerves.

He checks the clock and realizes he should leave his place now. He clicks his tongue, causing Kal to follow Henry downstairs. He puts on Kal’s leash and when he closed off his place, the two of them get in the car. He hums along with the song on the radio, as he drives to her house.

In the past he went on tons of dates. He likes dates, getting to know someone and finding out whether or not they are compatible. But there is something different about this date. He wants to get to know more about Olivia, but he is afraid that once she gets to know him, she’s not interested in him anymore.

He parks his car in front of her house and he takes a deep breath, trying to procrastinate the moment that he has to walk up to the door. Kal whines, as if he knows where they are and he sees that as a moment to get out of the car. The two of them walk up to the door and he rings the doorbell.

‘Mommy,’ Vanessa says from the other side of the door, ‘Henry is here.’

‘Do not open the door!’

‘But mom…’

‘Sweetheart, what if it’s not Henry, but a pervert?’ Olivia asks.

‘Oh my God, Olivia, the person on the other side of the door can hear you!’ he hears a different female voice scream and he can’t help but chuckle. He wondered what kind of household Olivia would have and somehow this situation seems fitting.

‘Mom, what’s a pervert?’ Vanessa asks.

‘A disgusting human being,’ Olivia explains.

‘Is Henry a pervert? I thought he was Superman?’

‘Olivia, I mean it,’ the other woman says, ‘people on the other side of the door can hear you two.’

The door finally opens and he sees both Vanessa and Olivia standing in the doorway. ‘Hi Henry,’ his already favorite duo say in unison.

‘Hi there,’ he says with a smile. It’s six in the evening and Vanessa is already in her pajama. From the looks of it, it’s light pink with bears on it.

Kal pushes past him, to give the little girl a lick on her cheek, causing her to giggle.

As endearing as that sight may be, he can’t help but look at Olivia, who wears a grey plaid pants paired with a black shirt that hugs her upper body. The outfit shows off her godly proportions. He even sees a hint of tattoos on her arms, but she grabs a coat and it covers them up before he can see them properly.

But if he saw it correctly and she does have tattoos… That’s almost unfair. She is already beautiful, but add tattoos in the mix and that gives him enough to dream about tonight.

Another woman appears in the doorway and she hums in approval. ‘It’s such a shame that I wasn’t on call when your dog started to throw up,’ she says with a smile. She extends her hand and says: ‘Hi, I’m Belle.’

He saw her earlier today. She is another vet and when he was paying for the appointment, she bumped her hip against Olivia’s and they shared a look, one that best friends share. Guess Belle is the certified baby sitter. He quickly shakes her hand. ‘Nice to meet you, I’m Henry.’

‘God, you were right, Olivia,’ Belle says, ‘he is even more handsome in real life.’

Henry detects a fire red blush on Olivia’s cheeks, but she looks down and slips on a pair of boots that have a heel, something he hasn’t seen her wear before. He wants to take in her entire appearances, glancing her over more than once, but he restrains himself, since he doesn’t want to look overly eager.

‘That must be a sign that we need to go,’ Olivia says, before she pinches her friend in her side. She leans down, to give Vanessa a kiss. ‘Be nice to auntie Belle and Kal, okay?’

‘Okay, mommy,’ Vanessa says. ‘Can Kal sleep in my room tonight?’

‘He can,’ Olivia says.

The little girl smiles and looks up at Henry. ‘Is that okay with you too, mister Henry?’ she asks. ‘Kal is your dog.’

‘He can sleep in your room,’ Henry says, touched by the fact that she actually thought she should ask him about this. Olivia is raising such a lovely and polite girl. He truly admires her.

While Olivia rummages through her purse, Belle crouches down and whispers something in Vanessa’s ear.

‘Okay, I’m ready to go,’ Olivia says with a smile.

‘Enjoy your night,’ Vanessa says to the both of them, as Olivia steps out of the doorway. ‘And you two shouldn’t have too much fun.’

Henry nearly chokes on his own spit. ‘Belle, I swear to—’ Olivia wants to say something, but swallows the words before she can express her true feelings. ‘I love you, Vanessa,’ Olivia says to her daughter.

‘I love you too,’ she says to her mother. ‘Will you give me a kiss when you get back?’

‘Of course, angel.’

Vanessa smiles. ‘Bye, mister Henry,’ she says to him.

‘Bye sunshine,’ he says to the young girl, who starts to beam with happiness when she hears her new nickname. He doesn’t know where “sunshine” came from, it just slipped out.

Olivia and Henry walk to his car, but he can’t help but notice how she keeps looking up to him. He opens the door for her and he watches her get in. He waves to the two—three, if you include Kal—in the doorway, before he gets in himself.

‘I’m sorry,’ Olivia says, the second the door closes.

‘No need to,’ Henry laughs, starting his car. ‘It was funny.’

She snorts, while she waves to Belle, Kal and her daughter as he drives off. ‘Well, leave it to Belle to embarrass me.’

‘She a close friend?’

Olivia nods. ‘Very close friend. When I found out I was pregnant with Vanessa, she was there for me when no one else was. She forced me to live in her house for a while, even after Vanessa was born.’

Henry frowns. ‘I thought it was just your ex who wasn’t there for you.’

She sighs. ‘Well, my parents and two brothers weren’t too keen on me having a kid out of wedlock. My mom kicked me out seven years ago and since that moment, no one has tried to contact me. I haven’t seen them ever since.’

This is un-fucking-believable. He knows for sure that, had this happened within his family, his brothers would be over the moon to be an uncle of yet another kid and his parents would love another addition to the family.

And her family just kicks her out?

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he says and he means it from the bottom of his heart. ‘Were you close with your family?’

She shrugs. ‘Growing up I was. Not really with my mom, but with my father and brothers I was super close. I thought that they would love it, a little bean added to the family. Guess I was wrong. But you know, I have Belle, so that’s enough for me right now.’

Right now. That means the door is open for someone else, right? Or is he trying to read something that isn’t there?

‘By the way,’ she says, ‘how did you come up with “sunshine”?’

Why does Henry feels like he just got caught? ‘Just slipped, I guess. I’m so—’

‘Don’t you dare apologize, Cavill,’ she interrupts him. ‘I love the nickname and did you see Vanessa’s face?’

He does actually. He recalls the way her face lit up with happiness and pride.

Olivia looks to the side and when he stops for the traffic lights, he meets her gaze. She smiles. ‘I’m really happy we’re on this date,’ she says. ‘And maybe I’m a bit rusty in the whole dating department and is what I’m about to say way too blunt, but I need to tell you that you look really handsome tonight.’

Maybe that is too blunt, but Henry doesn’t mind. He doesn’t mind at all. His hands get a bit clammy. ‘Thank you, Olivia. Allow me to be just as blunt.’

‘Surprise me.’

‘You look stunning and I’m really happy that you agreed on going out with me.’

A/N: Don’t worry, the next chapter will cover their date 😉

Taglist: @thelastsock // @flhorah // @sausagefest1996 // @laufeysodinson // @xxxkatxo // @memoriesat30 // @henrythickcavill // @crimsonrae // @henryobsessed // @madbaddic7ed // @summersong69 // @lyrafraiser // @peakygroupie // @coldmuffinbanditshoe // @mary-ann84 // @thereisa8ella //@crazyandanonymous4u // @xuxszx // @emmaofgreengabbles // @jimmypagesandbrianmayshair // @onlyhenrys

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill x oc #mister cavill your dog is kinda fat #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill x Olivia Tran

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unbridledartist · 3 years

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The OC list

Not Necessarily in order of my most well loved characters:

Zero!

This boy is my arcane trickster that just wants to be a wizard! He really doesn’t like the rain and his reversible clothes to make thieving easier~

Attien!

Funky elf boy of questionable ethics. As I have said before he is a mage, he practices necromancy to a probably very unhealthy degree. His familiar is a snake called Iris. He has no practical skills unless it is done with magic. Extremely over-dramatic.

Zachary is a Mage trying to not be a mage and failing

He is a character I have created for my fiction Of Blood and Bodies, that takes place in the Dragon Age universe! @livjnoodles drew him for me~ <3

He is a mess and a mage and trying really hard not to get attached to people for a lot of reasons. I am sorry this is super vague. He is scared of horses and spiders though! He also kinda works as a mercenary and odd job doer extraordinaire.

Art by liv!

Story found here

Chi

I have had this character for years, since grade 9, I think, and that would have made me 13-14 and I am 26 turning 27 at the time of making this post, how fun. She has gone threw a lot of changes since then.

Roman Blackwall

MY NERD AND HOW I MET LIV! He loves books, was a half vampire and had a Thrush familiar that could shape change into a deep gnome, named Carrion. Roman was the only true neutral person in the party and it led to some interesting occasions of “why are you doing that?!” because murder hobos.

Bonus @livjnoodles Drawing of him~

Del

My first ever d&d character who will forever hold a special place in my heart. He was a draconic sorcerer~

I do not have any art of him, i never really drew him...

Corlin Tyrell

I love my little lord boy! He is a teenage mess though soooo fun times. He is for a game of thrones game that I tentatively play right now because of Anxiety. Liv drew him for me though~ <3

Art again by liv~

Gabriel Rossi

My dude is for a story that was written back in my first year off college because I was stressed AF and needed an outlet. He is for the KHR story and i am proud to say I am re-writing this story ^.^ Story found here

Also Zachary but not the Mage

This guy is for a game called Cosmic Patrol XD gosh it's fun to play. Very loose, very silly. He is a tech guru and made a super computer at 8 and a ship engine to go with it!

Larp Characters because these count:

Coal AKA Birds

This was a character that I played in larp called Dystopia Rising for a while before it became too expensive to go. He was my big soft boy that could eat people and did in fact eat eyeballs on more than one occasion. Also organized tea times while at games with him it was fun.

Doctor Maxwell

Also for Dystopia Rising, I was finding Birds to be to warm *his costume required full skin coverage* So I started to play this strapping man. He is technically a sentient undead. >.> but also a MD doctor!

I have also had characters for Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf the Apocalypse! I do not remember their names…

The old but maybe i should go back to:

Jessie

Back in the day I watched naruto…. She exists and needs a new name and stuff because let's be honest this is weeb trash. I do however still like her character design.

Other OC’s that exist but I have no real attachment to anymore:

Grimselit

A golem that is also a mime

Immeral

My former drow bard. He was a cause of a lot of anxiety so I stopped playing him. Not a fun time. Though in the time that I did play him I did learn a lot about Fake It Till You Make It. Though Immeral as a character is horrible.

No art for him

Sanya Alexieve

A pathfinder monk that i can’t even remember what he was for. He was a snake man of some kind

nadda no art

Imal

A ifrit fire dancer! He was fun to play and had a really cool tattoo

#ALL THE OC'S #OCs #oc #oc's #art #here they are #I have more i am sure #i just forget they exist #d&d #pathfinder #larp #dystopia rising #Naruto #KHR #katekyo hitman reborn #Reborn #game of thrones #dragon age

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alternatefandom · 4 years

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The Three Faces of Furuya Rei, or: what moral philosophy does Furuya Rei subscribe to?

Furuya Rei is a fascinating character that can be difficult to understand. This is complicated by the fact that he presents three very different faces to us. Our very first impression of him was as the kindly waiter and detective, Amuro Tooru; next we are shown the antagonist, Bourbon, and last, we discover the driving force behind them: the undercover agent, Furuya Rei. These three personas act in a very different way, especially Bourbon, making Rei’s true motives and morality somewhat opaque to us. In this meta I will analyze Rei’s actions and motives in order to discern the true school of morality that he believes in.

There are three major theories of morality; virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and deontology. However, in this meta I will be brush on ethical egoism as well. Let us first talk about the relevant theories.

Virtue Ethics is first and foremost concerned with character. Here, we judge right and wrong based on whether or not it is virtuous. A person’s action reflects on their character; a virtuous person will do virtuous actions, and vice versa. Therefore, virtue ethics defines virtuous actions as the right action.

Utilitarianism, on the other hand, defines right and wrong based on the consequence of the action. It is concerned with outcomes; in utilitarianism, the end justifies the means. As long as the action results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people, it is right.

Lastly, Deontology defines right and wrong based on what the duty of the subject is. It is concerned with motives; as long as the person was trying to fulfill their duty, then it is right according to deontology. What the duty itself is, of course, subject to argument.

Now out of these three moral theories, which one does Furuya Rei follow?

To analyze this, I will be including materials from the Zero the Enforcer movie as well. This is because in my opinion, we don't actually get much insight into Rei's motives in the manga; we are told what he wants, but we’re not really told why, at least not enough to explain how he justifies his actions for himself. Now let’s get to the analysis itself.

First things first, I think we can safely say that Furuya Rei doesn’t subscribe to virtue ethics. In his debut as Amuro Tooru, in the private eye case, we see him allow Banba, a murder suspect, to destroy exonerating evidence. We also see him create a wrong deduction that almost damned an innocent man. With what we know of his deductive capabilities, as well as the fact that he had all pieces of the evidence and knowledge required to solve the case from the beginning, it is highly implied that he deliberately risked Banba’s freedom just to test Kogoro. Hardly the actions of a virtuous man. It should be noted, however, that in this case, Rei had still maintained control of the situation, thereby allowing him to keep the worst-case scenario from happening; as a PSB member, he would still be capable of exonerating Banba later.

I deliberately did not mention the Detectives’ Nocturne case, the Mystery Train case, as well as the Elementary Teacher Assault case, as I don’t believe that the evidence presented in these cases can conclusively point to Rei’s true intentions. There are always possible alternative interpretations that makes his actions possibly virtuous. However, I will mention the Zero the Enforcer movie. This movie clearly lays out that Rei is definitely not a nice person, and doesn’t mind that other people knows that about him. He deliberately framed Kogoro as a terrorism suspect; fabricated evidence, bugged Conan’s phone, and was generally manipulative. Thus, from the evidence, we can conclusively say that neither manga!Rei nor movie!Rei follow the school of Virtue Ethics.

The second school of ethics we will analyze is utilitarianism. In utilitarianism, the end justifies the means. For Furuya Rei, ‘the end’ would probably be the downfall of the Black Organization, or, taking it further, the safety of Japan and its citizens. I have seen some people take the point of view that Rei had wanted to kill Sherry in the Mystery Train, so that she wouldn’t produce more works that could be used to harm innocents; if this is true, then he would definitely be an utilitarian. However, I’ve argued before that Rei had not intended to kill Shiho and instead had wanted to spirit her to safety, as she is a valuable lead into Elena Miyano’s whereabouts. Therefore, the Mystery Train case should not be taken as evidence that Rei is an utilitarian.

As there is no evidence that Rei is an utilitarian, one way or another, one could argue that we could take Rei’s willingness to do morally-questionable things as evidence that he thinks it will lead to a better outcome for everyone, if not for one notable case: Akai Shuuichi.

In my opinion, utilitarianism is a very rational and cold moral philosophy; it is a moral school perfectly suited to geniuses, masterminds, and detectives like Rei. However, when it comes to Akai Shuuichi, we see Rei display zero reason. There is no obvious rationale why taking Akai out of the game would result in a better outcome for all, and Rei doesn’t even attempt to explain it; nonetheless, he continues to hunt Akai without any sense of guilt, which implies that he thinks hunting Akai is the correct course of action (note that I don’t necessarily think that Rei wants to kill Akai, despite what he said--more on that later). This implies that Furuya Rei does not necessarily believe in utilitarianism.

This brings us to the last major ethical theory: Deontology. Deontology is concerned with duty; it takes motive into account more than the actions itself. And Rei has so kindly told us which duty he has dedicated himself to in the Elementary School Assault case.

That’s correct; he’s dedicated himself to his lovely, lovely Japan. Conan said it best:

“I was sure that since he said that to the FBI investigators... those beliefs!”

It becomes even clearer if you look at the Zero the Enforcer movie. There, Rei clearly states what he thought of his job to Kazami.

In other words, our job isn’t always nice or even legal, but we have to finish it because it’s our duty.

If we take the point of view that Rei subscribes to deontology, a lot of his action becomes immediately explainable. He cuts contact with his old friends all to make sure they were safe, but he risks returning Hiromitsu’s cellphone to his older brother because he feels that it’s his duty as Hiromitsu’s friend. Arguably, he hunts Akai Shuuichi out of duty to his fallen friend, and yes, to his country. Akai, after all, was not only involved in Scotch’s death; he’s also operating illegally in Rei’s territory. This would explain why Rei brings PSB agents instead BO agents into the Scarlet Showdown; if Rei intended to kill Akai one way or another, bringing BO agents is definitely the way to do it. This is because bringing PSB means Akai would fall into PSB custody, and there Rei cannot do whatever he likes with Akai; he must answer to his superiors in the PSB. I believe that despite what Akai said, here Rei had only intended to arrest Akai.

So why, then, did he say that he wished to kill Akai, right in front of Okiya Subaru’s face? This brings us to my last theory: it’s because to figure out how to act, Rei aligns each of his three faces to a different moral theory.

Amuro Tooru, quite obviously, follows virtue ethics. He is polite, kind, always helpful, always cheerful. He does not do morally questionable things; he is an upstanding member of society.

Furuya Rei, as we’ve discussed, is a deontologist. He is dutiful to his friends and country but now he has no friends left so really it’s just his country. His ‘lover’ is Japan itself, and he is willing to do anything--anything--to keep her safe.

And Bourbon? Bourbon would probably loosely follow ethical egoism. It is out of the question for Rei to create an absolutely amoral persona for Bourbon--it would unnecessarily conflict with his deontologist morality. However, to fit in the Black Organization, he needs to create someone who would do terrible things without needing to justify it with ‘duty’ or ‘the greater good’. Someone who wouldn’t just do anything that’s asked of him too, so Rei could reasonably rein Bourbon in. Rei would probably style Bourbon as someone who looks out for his own interests, and only his own, whatever that may be.

And so when Rei wants to hunt down Shuuichi Akai, Bourbon would say that it’s because in his interest to do so--because he bears a grudge against Akai, perhaps, and as an organization member, murdering Akai is the only way to resolve it. Bourbon would investigate Okiya Subaru and corner him, but Rei wouldn’t bring the Organization into their confrontation. Bourbon would threaten Okiya Subaru with death--but Rei wouldn’t pull Okiya’s collar down and condemn him right then and there. Because at the end of the day, the one holding the wheels is Rei, not Bourbon, and whatever he may say, Furuya Rei is a dutiful police officer, and he believes in justice.

#dcmk #detective conan #meta #dcmk meta #amuro tooru #tooru amuro #furuya rei #rei furuya #bourbon #yes i made this meta because i can't justify furuya wanting to kill akai #because for some reason he brings psb agents to the scarlet showdown #he also never exposed okiya subaru when he really should have #which leads to this long spiel about morality where i sort out my thoughts about furuya #i need to sort out my priorities

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

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Superior is INDEFENCIBLE! Part 1: Why MJ SHOULD have known ‘Peter’ was an imposter in Superior #2!

Part 2

I wanna talk about some of the comments made regarding Superior Spider-Man #2 on this podcast. It starts at the 18 minute mark.

The person who voiced the comments under discussion also had some follow up in a messageboard regarding the episode.

So first let’s define what those comments were. Basically it’s all a defence of Mary Jane’s obliviousness to Doc Ock pretending to be Peter in Superior #2. I say defence it’s more of a finger wagging/pointing at the people who had a problem with it and were calling it out.

Mary Jane Watson is not real so stop getting upset about her potentially being raped

If Doc Ock did rape her that wouldn’t be Marvel claiming that it’d be okay to rape people because Otto is a villain

He calls out someone who claimed that Doc Ock ‘technically’ raped Mary Jane by tricking her

If no one is having sex with anyone it is not rape

He tries to justify MJ’s obliviousness like this: Imagine being in a relationship with someone for many, many years. You guys break up and spend a lot of time apart not even in contact with one another and then a few years later you see each other again and hang out regularly in the same social group. There is still an unspoken distance between you two because you weren’t intimate to the same degree as you were when you were together. In that amount of time someone changes. In this case Peter he has had a lot of crazy Avengers adventures since he and MJ broke up. He’s a financially successful member of HORIZON labs, a fact that surprised MJ and hurt her because he did it without her. And now when MJ and peter were back together there has been a few years between the last time you two were together and Peter has done a lot of growing without you. Even though you hung around as friends you don’t act the same way around your friends as you do with an ex that you were now getting back together with.

He goes on to argue that MJ is noticing some differences in Peter that she is commenting upon.

He continues by addressing MJ’s deduction of Peter being the Chameleon in Spec #245. He claims that there were big differences between that situation and Superior #2. Chameleon didn’t have Peter’s body, he was merely using a hologram of it so there’d be ore subtle differences. At the time Peter and MJ were married whereas in Superior #2 they were not. Otto could address any subtle difference MJ noticed by simply bringing up something only Peter would be aware of.

During Spec #245 and the Clone Saga Peter and MJ were more in tune with one another since they were married

‘Chameleon can't make himself as tall as Peter is....same weight....the voice will be similar but can't be 100 percent the same....Ock can though.’

So let’s unpack all this.

“Mary Jane Watson is not real so stop getting upset about her potentially being raped”

I trust I need not go into a detailed explanation about how emotional investment into fiction works.

Instead let’s consider this from a moral perspective. Many if not most female characters in Marvel and DC had gotten the short end of the stick and MJ circa 2013 (when this issue was released) perhaps more than many.

99% of the time rape in superhero fiction, especially to women, legitimately comes from a place of sexism or misogyny. The understandable sensitivity of the topic is such that it’s utterly repugnant to had milked it for cheap tension the way Marvel had done at the time.

And to do it with such a beloved and iconic character, the leading lady of the Spider-Man universe no less. No, that was simply out of order.

That’s not a ticking time bomb that should even BE in a Spider-Man story in the first place.

The PRINCIPLE of the matter is what most people were upset about.

“If Doc Ock did rape her that wouldn’t be Marvel claiming that it’d be okay to rape people because Otto is a villain”

Again, most people were not concerned over this.

What they were concerned about was the damage it’d do to MJ and Otto as characters were Marvel to go through with it and indeed the damage it wound up doing to Doc Ock specifically because he attempted to rape MJ. Until a retcon is employed it will be forever canon that Doc Ock WOULD had raped MJ by deception if given the opportunity; a concept this poster denied on another thread just FYI.

But why would fans feel such a way? Why is Doc Ock doing that somehow worse than attempted mass murder with a nuclear bomb or orbital space technology?

Because everyone reading super hero comic books is totally awwere that death is not only reversible, but that within the context of DC and Marvel’s defined morality systems rape is a special kind of evil.

TVTropes lists off some infamous examples:

“Identity Crisis: Dr. Light was evil, but he wasn't evil until it was Ret-Conned that he had raped Sue Dibny in the JLA watchtower. Following the retcon, it's become standard practice to write Light as a serial rapist. Quoth Plastic Man: "It's like that's his power now."”

“He calls out someone who claimed that Doc Ock ‘technically’ raped Mary Jane by tricking her”

Okay. If someone did say that then they were in the wrong.

But Otto was still exploiting and violating Mary Jane’s sense of trust and emotional intimacy by preying upon her feelings for Peter.

Worse he violated her in other ways (in terms of privacy if nothing else) by accessing Peter’s memories of being intimate with Mary Jane.

The closest real world equivalent to this would be breaking stealing someone’s property breaking into it for the express purpose of seeing private photos given to them by their lover which you proceed to masturbate over…Whilst the person you’ve stolen from watches in horror and yells at you to stop…

Except in context it’s even worse than that because Otto literally feels the sensation of Mary Jane’s body in spite of her never giving him consent to do that.

Maybe you could argue that is not rape or sexual violation. But it’s unequivocally some form of serious ethical violation.

“If no one is having sex with anyone it is not rape”

Even if we said this statement is technically accurate (which can be debated depending on what counts as sex), the issue is one of violation which can take many forms beyond just sexual violation.

“He tries to justify MJ’s obliviousness like this: Imagine being in a relationship with someone for many, many years. You guys break up and spend a lot of time apart not even in contact with one another and then a few years later you see each other again and hang out regularly in the same social group. There is still an unspoken distance between you two because you weren’t intimate to the same degree as you were when you were together. In that amount of time someone changes. In this case Peter he has had a lot of crazy Avengers adventures since he and MJ broke up. He’s a financially successful member of HORIZON labs, a fact that surprised MJ and hurt her because he did it without her. And now when MJ and Peter were back together there has been a few years between the last time you two were together and Peter has done a lot of growing without you. Even though you hung around as friends you don’t act the same way around your friends as you do with an ex that you were now getting back together with. “

This is the big one that needs discussing. First of all here is another poster who had some astute comments:

“While you made a good case for why Mary Jane would realistically not figure out right away that her beloved "Peter" was really Doc Ock, there were, however, two very big strikes against this. In the first place, Dan Slott himself has repeatedly acknowledged that Mary Jane knows Peter better than anyone else.”

This is totally true and it even precedes Slott’s tenure too. She offered Peter insights into himself towards the end of BND and encouraged him to get with Carlie.

Early into Slott’s run she advised him to tell Carlie to truth.

She was able to inspire Peter into action during Spider-Island by pointing out he was still special in spite of everyone possessing his powers.

She reaffirmed his uniqueness after the crisis was resolved.

And she set his mind straight at the end of that story. In fact her big take away from this story was a greater understanding of Peter because of her experiences saving the city with his powers.

She continued to connect with Peter and offer clear insights into his deepest inner nature in the ‘’I Killed Tomorrow’ arc.

She was one of the few people in ‘Ends of the Earth’ who had absolute faith in Peter to save the entire world from the Sinister Six. She was so confident that she exploited the lowered real estate prices due to the crisis and purchased a nightclub.

In the immediate aftermath of ‘Ends of the Earth’ she was again a confidant who offered him advice and understanding over his inner problems. Specifically his guilt regarding Silver Sable’s ‘death’ during the crisis.

She did this again in the ‘Alpha’ storyline, this time zeroing in on stuff connected to his childhood and Uncle Ben’s influence.

Now, we can (justifiably) take issue with the specifics of the above. We could argue they were out of character or misinformed or what had you.

But the point is that Slott was framing Mary Jane as the person both closest to Peter and the person who didn’t just comparatively understand him best, but who simply got him on an incredibly deep level.

And yet when inconvenient for the plot all that went out the window.

So Mary Jane was clearly contradicting Slott’s own personal definition of her.

The astute poster continued.

“After all, she has known Peter was Spider-Man practically since day one, has been in a continuous on-again, off-again relationship ever since they first met, and has lived with him for years. This is someone who, by all accounts, has been intimate with Peter on every single level. Even after brief periods of separation, someone who has been that close with someone else is going to know things about them that other people would not.”

Again this is very on point. Prior to Brand New Day (let alone Superior) and across at least 5-10 years of their lives Mary Jane had known Peter Parker when:

He didn’t know she existed

He knew she existed but hadn’t met her

They had been acquaintances

They had been friends

They had been casually dating

The had been going steady

They had been serious

They had been drifting apart

They had drifted apart and become exs

They had been becoming friendly again

They had become friendly again

They were friendly but had awkward sexual/romantic tension

They were friendly but had not-awkward sexual/romantic tension

They had become confidants

They had become BFF

They were BFFs/confidants who had not very subtle romantic/sexual tension

They had been the above and were falling back in love

They had been the above but had fallen back in love but weren’t dating

They had been the above, had fallen back in love and were practically dating but in denial about it

They had been the above, had fallen back in love, were practically dating but only barely in denial about it at all, to the point where they were making each other breakfast in bed and locking lips

They had admitted their feelings to one another and become engaged

They had been married

They had been married and had major tensions

They had been married and separated

They had been married and were trying to maybe patch things up

They had been married and were back together and patching things up

They had been married and had successfully patched things up

And amidst all that they’d been expectant parents, grieved a miscarriage, she’d seen Peter pushed to a breaking point due to grief or mental instability.

Amidst all that Peter definitely changed. But outside or the above mentioned extenuating circumstances, he had literally NEVER acted like he had been acting whilst Otto was in control of his body.

In fact the Peter Parker she would’ve met again during the 1980s after they broke up the first time would’ve gone through FAR more growth and changes than the Peter between OMD and Superior. Shit it was during this time period where MJ was explicitly said to had been able to read Peter like a book.

Bear in mind this was when they hadn’t spent years of their life together and when she didn’t know the details of how/why he became Spider-Man. It was even written with the intent that she didn’t know at all. And Peter had not yet learned MJ’s own origins and thus become more emotionally intimate with her either.

Equally it can be argued that Peter had changed and grown much more between between their trial separation under Mackie and their reconciliation under JMS when he’d become a school teacher, told Aunt May the truth and considered his powers having mystical roots.

Yet he didn’t act this drastically differently.

He is literally not even talking the same way he used to before.

Even if you act differently among friends or colleagues than privately with your partner, the idea that MJ believes that because of Avengers adventures Peter suddenly speaks totally differently is ridiculous. It’s even more ridiculous when you consider how she can observe him speaking similarly outside of interactions with herself.

Not to mention she is friends and roommates with Peter’s most recent ex-Carlie Cooper and observed their interactions whilst they were dating. Peter didn’t act this way and Carlie could confirm that for her.

Additionally, let’s consider MJ has some psychology and acting training, meaning she’s very good at getting inside people’s heads to understand them. A great example comes from ‘Soul of the Hunter;

And she was able to sense something was fishy about Norman Osborn when she met him. This occurred when she didn’t know he was the Green Goblin and Norman himself had amnesia and didn’t know it himself.

Plus she’s extremely socially savvy and so you would imagine she’d be great at picking up on subtle behaviours like body language, etc. Even if Doc Ock had Peter’s body he would be unlikely to carry himself the same way simply because he’d had no idea how Peter would had carried himself in the first place.

So MJ wouldn’t need to had been married or living with Peter for a while to pick up on the nuances of Otto’s behaviour; not that he’s even being nuanced or subtle in the first place.

But it goes even deeper than this.

Peter and Mary Jane were not like a regular couple. And no that isn’t some Disney-esque miracle love at first sight nonsense either, it’s simple psychology.

As the astute poster noted, the length of time MJ has known Peter and been close to him would mean she’d be able to see through Otto.

But it’s not just that they were friends, confidants, lovers or life partners during this time.

Peter and MJ are one part romantic couple, one part war veterans.

In real life soldiers who fought side-by-side with one another, especially if the situation was very traumatic, forge an extremely potent mental/emotional bond. This is obviously accentuated if there was a pre-existing positive relationship, like if they were friends or family.

A very good albeit fictional example would be the relationship between Captain America and Bucky in the MCU.

Peter and MJ already had a generally positive relationship before they began to fall in love with one another. And they were one another’s best friends by the time they were married. Under Slott’s pen it was also clear that they were one another’s closest companions prior to Superior.

The deep bonds between them would’ve been accentuated through shared tragedies and deeply personal experiences. These would have included their respective origins which echoed one another’s lives growing up. But more poignantly it included enduring emotional pain and trauma together.

Gwen’s death which was the catalyst for their romance.

‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ which forced the pair to confront their greatest fears now that they were newlyweds.

The death of their child, which is an experience that can often result in the ending of a couple’s relationship. In Peter and MJ’s case they grew closer as a result.

Their life on the run after Peter’s identity went public and Aunt May was dying in a coma. Peter and MJ had options of escaping the situation at the cost of their relationship but instead reaffirmed their commitment to one another.

These are just some of the myriad of traumatic and testing life experiences Peter and MJ shared together. Experiences that they helped one another get through. The pattern of behaviour for the two of them was clear. Emotionally or mentally traumatic situations made them grow closer. And quite apart from traumatic situations there is an element of physical danger heavily involved in this too.

There have been countless times MJ has been rescued by, or relied upon Peter to rescue her from danger.

Peter himself has been rescued by Mary Jane’s physical intervention.

And like him she’s been more than willing to make sacrifices in her life for his sake. This can be something like her career opportunities but have also included risking her life to see him from harm.

But more frequently her presence in his life as ben an empowering force that has enabled him to save himself, a fact he has actively attributed to Mary Jane.

So yes. Peter and Mary Jane are incredibly comparable to soldiers. Just soldiers who happen to also be in love with one another too.

It’s not just the mere existence of these traumatic bonding experiences either but the high frequency with which they have occurred. Any one of the things Peter and MJ have had to endure might have broken the strongest of couples, the best of friends. But so many of them? Seeing their lover/friend Gwen Stacy, their mutual friend Harry Osborn, their brother/friend Ben Reilly and their baby die? All within a 10 year time span?

No.

It is just absurd to strictly apply how the majority of regular couples behave to these two.

And it is equally absurd to argue that they within a mere year or two (during which time they were still in one another’s social circles half the time, still close friends, still confidants, AND had underlying romantic feelings for one another) that they’d fall so far out of synch.

Absurd that MJ could be so blind as honestly presume merely having adventures with the Avengers or becoming a successful scientist could have changed Peter so drastically. And changed him drastically only within the context of private romantic moments, not whilst he was interacting with anyone else.

Absurd that either of them could genuinely not tell an imposter when they see one. This in fact came up during the marriage more than once.

Obviously we have the Chameleon situation, but MJ within like a month of living with Peter she could easily tell (on a dark rainy night no less) that Kraven the Hunter wasn’t the real Spider-Man.

Sure, he was way more violent than Peter normally is. But in a then very recent arc Peter had gotten pretty violent when MJ was threatened.

And for the record MJ didn’t realize ‘Peter’ was an imposter after she witnessed Superior Spidey deliver a similarly violent beating in Superior #6.

During the Clone Saga Mary Jane confronted one of Peter’s clones and deduced him as a fraud.

However she immediately recognized Peter when she saw him. For context she was running for her life at the time, Aunt May’s funeral had been (at best) two days earlier, Peter had been arrested for murder immediately after the funeral, she’d been abducted (twice) by a scary new villain called Kaine and as far as she knew Peter had been locked up in jail, unaware of her plight.

Rationally it made no sense for her to presume the Spider-Man in front of her was the real guy. And yet she just knew because of the bond between them.

Shit, Aunt May deduced the Chameleon (who is a MASTER of disguise) was an imposter in spite of him being far more subtle than Otto was. She could tell simply because she had raised Peter, in spite of being in the dark about him being Spider-Man for years.

The astute poster corroborates further corroborates my points:

“Likewise, as I believe Zack pointed out, the changes "Peter" underwent since Amazing Spider-Man #698 weren't exactly subtle. In fact, by the end of Superior Spider-Man #2, Mary Jane essentially acknowledges that Peter has changed so much that it seems as if he's become a completely different person. Given all of her past experiences with Peter and how intimately involved she was in his life, wouldn't it stand to reason that she would logically conclude that if Peter is acting like a different person, then maybe he actually is a different person and not Peter?”

Let’s move onto the next bullet points.

“He goes on to argue that MJ is noticing some differences in Peter that she is commenting upon.”

“He continues by addressing MJ’s deduction of Peter being the Chameleon in Spec #245. He claims that there were big differences between that situation and Superior #2. Chameleon didn’t have Peter’s body, he was merely using a hologram of it so there’d be ore subtle differences. “

“‘Chameleon can't make himself as tall as Peter is....same weight....the voice will be similar but can't be 100 percent the same....Ock can though.’”

I know I’m adding the final point here but it seemed appropriate.

Let’s consider the fact that Chameleon was merely making I seem like he had Peter’s body whilst Otto id in fact have Peter’s body. Thus MJ would pick up on the subtle differences.

Well first of all MJ would be picking up on various subtle and unsubtle behavioral differences in Otto as I spoke about above.

Second of all this mentality does not fly. Partially because I am honestly struggling to remember a time in canon that anyone noticed physical differences between Chameleon and the genuine articles. Maybe I am forgetting something, but IIRC he impersonated Jameson and managed to fool both his old friends, colleagues and family members (including his wife).

Additionally the idea that there would even be subtle differences is extremely questionable because Chameleon at the time could perfectly recreate anyone he wanted. His powers and technology was such that he was able to simultaneously disguise himself as Peter Parker AND cast a secondary hologram of Doc Ock. He isn’t just wearing a disguise or hologram but rather physically transforming his body and clothing into a perfect replica of his target. These abilities are detailed in ASM #307.

He basically just needs to get a good enough look at his target and he can totally become them.

In the story in question he had Spidey rendered unconscious, unmasked him and even had the time to drug, imprison and disguise him in an effort to make him believe he was someone else.

So yes, Chameleon 100% could’ve perfectly replicated Peter’s body. Height. Weight. Pimples. Everything sans his powers.

This means there were no physical differences MJ was picking up. She just figured it out the moment he kissed her and she knew the truth.

So MJ could tell Chameleon was an imposter in spite of him having identical lips to Peter due to his powers. And yet MJ couldn’t tell Otto was an imposter when he kissed her in ASM #700.

This should be enough to call bullshit on the OP because of the sheer goddam number of times MJ must have realistically kissed Peter before.

But let’s say for the sake of argument that in the Chameleon story it was only because MJ had kissed Peter in recent memory that she could tell the difference. That she wrote off Otto’s kiss as there having been such a long time since they’d kissed that maybe it would just naturally feel different. This argument is critically wounded because less than a year before ASM #700 (in-universe) MJ and Peter did share a kiss in the deplorable ‘One Moment in Time’ storyline.

Oh and let’s not forget that MJ was able to deduce Peter from his biologically identical clones!...Twice!...Under stressful life and death circumstances!...Whilst pregnant!

��At the time Peter and MJ were married whereas in Superior #2 they were not. Otto could address any subtle difference MJ noticed by simply bringing up something only Peter would be aware of.”

Yes MJ and Peter were married when she recognized his imposters. I’m going to address that point later as it’s more relevant there.

As for the latter point though it holds no water.

Yes, Otto could bring up something only Peter would know about, like how he once proposed with a crackerjack box.

But Mary Jane is aware that she lives in a world of shape-shifting Skrulls, mutant telepaths and A.I. intelligences based upon the brain patterns of human beings. All of these concepts have included the imposters having private memories from their subjects.

Looking like someone else AND having access to their memories or private information is totally possible.

Not to mention an imposter could simply keep their subject locked up and torture them for information.

Ah, but none of those things originated from the Spider-Man brand. Surely it isn’t fair to use the entire Marvel universe for context because then nothing would ever make sense.

Okay, then let’s confine this to just Spider-Man specific characters and concepts.

Alien symbiotes are shape-shifters that form telepathic bonds with their hosts. They can often control their hosts’ bodies too. So not only might a symbiote be controlling Peter but it could very well be someone else with a symbiote, one who has bonded with Peter and thus has access to his memories.

The Winkler device was a machine that could brainwash people but also cause them to become irrational and violent. Ned Leeds and Captain Stacy were among it’s victims. It is possible Peter has been brainwashed by that or a similar device, hence he’s acting out of character but he’d still remember intimate things Either way it’d be a cause for concern.

Peter’s robot parents were shape shifting A.I. creatures, and the one based on Mary Parker actually risked her life to save Peter because she genuinely loved him. So, she had artificially inserted memories that could recreate a feeling as potent as love.

And here is the big one…fucking clones.

Peter’s clones have his memories up to the point the DNA sample from his body was separated. But the Jackal had methods of actually updating the memories of clones so they’d be identical in mind as well as body. This is how Ben Reilly, in spite of being grown from DNA donated before Gwen’s death, had all of Peter’s memories from after that point.

Not only does MJ know that but for a long time she believed the man she married was a clone and that Ben Reilly was the original Peter Parker. As a result the man she was involved with from 1975-1995 looked and acted identically to the man she’d been dating prior to that. He remembered when MJ shut the door after Gwen’s death. He remembered the first words MJ said to him. He remembered their first kiss in the airport. He remembered all this stuff even though he wouldn’t have been the real deal. The fact that he turned out to be the genuine article eventually doesn’t matter because Ben Reilly knew all that stuff too.

So his knowledge of private information is absolutely not proof he is the real Peter Parker.

“During Spec #245 and the Clone Saga Peter and Mj were more in tune with one another since they were married”

Mostly I’ve already addressed these. First of all MJ was clearly in tune with Peter prior to Superior as witnessed by all the Slott stories above.

And for other reasons listed above she and Peter wouldn’t have fallen out of tune with one another to the point where MJ could be so gullible. Additionally, they were clearly still mostly in tune with one another on both other occasions they broke up and became reacquainted with one another. I refer you back to how MJ was said to be able to read Peter like a book following their first break up. Again, this was when she was written to not know he was Spider-Man. That changed with retcons but even so she didn’t know how, when or why he was Spider-Man. He didn’t know her own origin and they hadn’t had nearly as many of the serious and intimate life experiences they’d have later in life.

However, more poignant proof can be found when we jump to the JMS run. To be clear between OMD and MJ’s reintroduction into ASM over a year elapsed and then we can guesstimate another year elapsed between then and he start of Superior. But Peter and MJ were interacting in that second year, as witnessed in those Slott stories.

In contrast Peter and MJ had been drifting apart and not been seeing too much of each other face-to-face between ASM v2 #1-13. This was due to various factors, chiefly MJ’s busy modeling career, Peter’s Spidey work and the fact that they were both keeping secrets at this time. They had also been drifting apart emotionally too.

In ASM v2 #13 MJ was seemingly killed in a plane crash and presumed dead for six months.

Six months where she was locked in a room, all alone. Her abductor never even spoke to her most of the time.

She even, developed PTSD as a result.

It was heavily implied upon her return that the time between ASM v2 #1 and her return had been almost a year.

Shortly after her return she and Peter separated and we don’t know how long elapsed between then and their eventual reconciliation in ASM v2 #50. However long it was, Peter and MJ only saw one another face-to-face once for at best maybe 6 hours tops; and that’s being incredibly generous. They also spoke very briefly on the phone to one another. On one occasion Peter tried to call her but hung up.

So that’s at least a whole year in which they had been seeing little of one another, drifting apart and had zero contact for over 6 months. So you know, that would mean they had less time together than prior to Superior. They’d have been less in tune here than at the start of Superior.

And yet in the issue they reconcile they are still in tune enough that they finish one another’s sentences and are thinking the same thing.

They also fall back fairly easily into their old habits together even though they took it slow. They weren’t trying hard to rediscover how one another had changed.

Again, it can be argued that Peter had actually internally changed and grown far more between his first and second break ups with MJ and their respective reconciliations than between OMD and Superior.

I’m not trying to say that Peter and MJ wouldn’t have been comparatively more in tune whilst they were married than at the start of Superior. Just that they would’ve remained mostly in tune and not have been so out of tune that MJ could’ve been fooled as easily as she was.

The proof of this can be found in ASM #604. For the first time in over a year Peter and MJ get a chance to talk following their separation. They are still so in synch that they can speak in unison.

All in all…sigh.

See this guy?

He used to be ‘on side’. He used to be a PeterxMJ shipper. He talked about doing a petition to prevent OMD before it happened. He used to speak out against the badness that was BND and Slott’s run but over time he gradually drifted into being…well look my inner angry emotional assessment would say he’s a traitor. Perhaps that is not the technical term. He basically became someone who would never speak about the marriage other than to bash ‘fanboys’ (as he’d call them in a needlessly aggressive and petulant tone of voice) for still being concerned with it. Whether that was not ‘being over’ the erasure of the marriage or for basically talking up MJ’s importance.

To speak personally about this for a moment, I used to look up to this guy.

No seriously his work on this and another podcast along with his essays in the late 2000s and early 2010s were partially a revelation to me.

Back in 2012 when I discovered his work the idea of actual in-depth analytical essays on Spider-Man was still pretty new to me. The idea of someone not talking broadly on the characters but diving into the details of the narratives and following them sequentially? Man, that shit was an inspiration for some stuff I do here and on other blogs. I’d still recommend some of his earlier works.

His understanding of continuity I once thought unparalleled. Now days, and especially just looking at the above, not so much. It helped me to learn more about the history of these characters and stories.

It seems that I discovered his backlog at the wrong time because I think he had already drifted farther out to become, well, what you can see above, by the time I started listening to that podcast.

I thought that surely these guys, who must clearly know about the subject than I do will call out this crap for what it is. Surely he would? And on Superior #2 most of them did. But he did not.

I remember in 2013 struggling to process that. I looked up to him. I thought that since he knew so much about Spider-Man and so much more than me that he could not be wrong. So either I was wrong or he was wrong which called into question everything else he’d said about the subject matter. Everything else I’d taken his word for was called into question.

I’m older, wiser, uglier and less forgiving now.

I see the situation for what it was.

Someone who used to be good at their job slipping, becoming interested in other things and for personal reasons seemingly getting frustrated with (unfairly) with certain other people and having that taint their stance going forward.

And it feels so wonderful after 7 years of this being at the back of my brain to finally let it out.

I think one more post addressing Superior #2 ought to do it though.

P.S. He got huffy about MJ noticing Peter said toodle-loo to her in Superior #10.

So Peter saying a common phrase he could’ve picked up anywhere (even in the months between issues #2 and #11) is more worthy of complaint than the immeasurably more obvious shit from Superior #2.

Part 2

#The Superior Spider-Man #Superior Spider-Man #Peter Parker #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #spider-man #Dan Slott #otto octavius #Doc Ock #Doctor Octopus #chameleon #The Chameleon

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jyndor · 4 years

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so I was talking to my friend @timelordthirteen about some shit and I decided to just share with you all about the importance of actually explaining shit instead of just saying it. the Left, I am looking at you bitch (ily bitch but)

lol would put a read more but tumblr's being a petty little bitch today ❤

shitposting is fun. dunking on asshat right wingers is fun. you know what is not fun? seeing people not understand the basic terminology that we use in the ~discourse*

but. if we are going to use terminology, if we are going to inject regular old laypeople conversations with (imo) unneccessary amounts of academic terms, then we should try to use them correctly** because in many cases misusing them means we as leftists do not have a full understanding of what the fuck we're on about. this dilutes both the meanings of these terms and their purposes. I know I am wordy as fuck and can be hard to understand sometimes (thanks adhd) so what I am about to say is a little ironic, but clarity is fucking important when it comes to strategy and organizing.

so I am going to examine some commonly misused concepts and terms today. yay.

1. THEORY, PRAXIS AND FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYSIS weeee yes I am fun at parties tyvm

what is a framework? a structure, in this case, for analyzing some bullshit we deal with irl. that's it lol but I use it a lot so I figured I'd define it here. examples of frameworks are: intersectionality, marxism, queer theory. seriously, if you can think it, it has already been analyzed through the queer lens.

what is theory? ideas, knowledge in the abstract based on looking at shit happen and analyzing that shit. it is useful because it can help us articulate what we are going through in our shitty lives. this is why I often recommend people learn about chomsky's manufacturing consent (theory of why we get the info we get from the media tl;dr), not because I think chomsky is the ultimate leftist grandpa but because this site needs some media literacy lmao. and btw, this clip narrated by amy goodman is a great, trippy little 4:30 min long video that explains the basics of manufacturing consent so you don't have to open a book or use drugs!

theory can help serve as a framework to understand what the fuck is happening to us irl, but imo is kind of an incomplete understanding of shit without lived experience (aka - theory v praxis). this is one reason why we should listen to marginalized groups on their own shit and not talk over them - because all of the research and theory in the world does not make me a Black woman living in Flint (aka - ground up organizing v technocracy). it is not about being nice, or politically correct, although we should be nice and we should care about people just because they're people. if you understand the why of listening to marginalized groups, you understand that it is mainly about communities knowing their own problems best and therefore having the best solutions for those problems.

2. MARXISM, CAPITALISM AND OTHER BUZZWORDS (and leftists need hobbies)

so marxism is a framework for socioeconomic analysis observed by mr kpop himself, karl marx (and his sugar daddy friedrich engels). because leftists love to argue, there are so many kinds of marxism, and if you ever feel like you are shouting into the void too much, just look up some arguments between stalinists and trotskyists. it's just... magical. no, I am not defining tankie here.

as many people smarter than I am have said (read: kwame ture seriously watch this video it's iconic), karl marx did not discover socialism or invent it or whatever, he observed capitalism and saw how shitty it is, like any other sane person would do. the point of marxism is not karl marx (which he would say) or tankies or fuckin guillotines***

things that marxism is:

- an analytical tool for looking at the world

- a theory which was used to develop the basis of different kinds of post-capitalist economic systems like communism and socialism

things that marxism is not:

- a system of economics or government lmao marx did not govern dick

- scary

marx looked at capitalism and said "this is definitely gonna fail someday because it's clearly unsustainable, I mean the proletariat is bigger than the bourgeoisie who owns everything uh yeah so I can do basic fucking math. if I have one capitalist and fifteen hundred workers, eventually that capitalist is gonna lose his damn head because he is gonna hoard all that wealth and his workers are gonna get pissed that they don't have their basic fucking needs met. lmao now put on some kpop, freddy" or something. idk that might not be a direct quote.

what is capitalism? (besides horseshit) a system of economics where industry is privately owned. and yes, this includes publically traded corporations because they are still owned by individuals (shareholders) even if they aren't privately owned by one person or a group of partners. truly a nightmare to live in, and we hate to see it.

what is the proletariat? well, the working class. and the bourgeoisie is the owner class, the capitalist class. the rich.

and this is something else that we need to discuss, tumblr. if you are going to say "eat the rich" please understand who you are talking about. we're not talking about random actors or musicians, or doctors or lawyers, even if they make better than a liveable wage. even if they often have zero class consciousness, meaning they don't ~see class, like colorblind racism for classism.

anyone who has to sell their labor for wages and is not part of the owner class is working class. this includes people who cannot work for any multitude of reasons (disability, can't find work, caretaker, etc) and also white collar workers who might be well off in relatively high paying jobs because they don't own the means of production, or capital that is used to produce shit. so yes, that rich actor who is a part of a union is actually part of the working class in marxist theory. when we say eat the rich, we mean jeff bezos, not john boyega. jeff bezos owns the means of production. john boyega is a working actor who is in a union.

this is important not because we shouldn't get pissed off when actors and celebrities do tone deaf shit like singing about imagining no possessions in their mansions while people starve during a pandemic. they need to put their money to good use, have some class consciousness, instead of asking fans to donate to causes that they could fund. but they are not the bourgeoisie until they start owning the means of production. and there is no doubt that many of them do, which is why we might eat gwyneth paltrow but we won't eat john boyega.

and by the way, eating the rich is metaphorical, a reference to french revolution-era philosopher jean-jacques rousseau's quote: "when the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich." obviously I don't even need to explain it but I will anyway. basically, the people will forcibly redistribute the wealth of the rich if they have nothing else. this is why there are some very smart capitalists who are in favor of reforms and raising taxes, because they recognize the danger to their necks in not providing for basic needs of the working class. no, "eat the rich" does not mean be pro-cannibalism. but there are many capitalists who would prefer to die than lose their hoard so

oh, and one last thing. "no ethical consumption in capitalism" is tossed around a lot and it's a million percent true, but I need all of us to understand that it is not an excuse to support harmful practices but it is also not meant to shame consumers. it is rather an understanding that we as consumers are not responsible for the monstrous impact of capitalism. we live in it, we have no choice but to consume, and sometimes (most of the time) that means we have to buy shit that was produced in unethical ways. unfortunately supply chains being what they are, all consumption causes harm in some way.

it is a reminder that individual actions are not going to have the impact of collection actions. this is why plastic bag bans, though well-meaning, are not going to have the same impact on climate catastrophe as, say, banning fossil fuels would.

I am a vegetarian and I can recognize that I am doing a whole lot of nothing by not supporting factory farms, and when I was a vegan I wasn't doing much either. boycotts without mass support don't have much evidence of working. this is why bds exists - boycott divestment and sanctions. boycott, meaning don't support goods from various conpanies connected to something, divestment, meaning get companies/countries/institutions to remove their money from something, and sanctions, meaning getting countries to penalize a country for their bad behavior until they comply.

this is what the anti-apartheid south africa movement did and what palestinian rights organizers support for israeli apartheid.

do not allow legislators to put the burden of fixing the ills of society that capitalism created on consumers' shoulders.

3. INTERSECTIONALITY (because it deserves its own section)

I don't have as much to say on this as I did the last bit because holy shit capitalism, man.

intersectionality, a term that was coined by law professor kimberlé crenshaw in the late 80s to serve as a framework for people to critically assess how legal structures impact Black women differently due to class, race and gender. it is not incompatible with marxism (in fact marxism has been argued to be a form of intersectionality).

intersectionality can and should be used to examine why the Black queer experience is unique, for example. I also want to acknowledge that professor crenshaw isn't the only person to come up with intersectionality; sojourner truth spoke about it even if she didn't coin the term, for example. patricia hill collins, another influential af Black feminist academic****, created frameworks for viewing intersectionality. also you can read her book black feminist thought here for free.

intersectionality has been used - improperly - by liberal feminists***** to excuse bad behavior from leaders who pretend to care about women while creating and enforcing legislation that harms women. anyone who stans politicians at all needs help. it has also been misrepresented as essentialism, which it is also not (essentialism is the idea that everything has some assets that are necessary to its identity) because intersectionality isn't saying that every Black queer woman has the same experience, just that Black queer women might experience similar issues because of a system that negatively views them as Black and queer and women.

intersectionality does not excuse kamala harris for prosecuting poor moms of truant kids.

okay if you guys have things to add please do because I want us to educate each other instead of always talking shit. both is good.

* I am not calling out people for not being academic enough or not speaking english or not reading enough theory because LOL I am a 2x neurodivergent college dropout who radicalized by working retail and not by hearing karl marx talk dirty to me. also, not everyone speaks english like, I am truly not shitting on people.

** I recognize that language is fluid and ever changing, and that is a good thing. But diluting terms that serve specific purposes is not ever going to be good.

*** and I don't want to dismiss intra-leftist theory discourse (🤢) because I know how annoying it is to hear bernie sanders lumped in with liz warren, or bernie sanders lumping himself in with post-capitalists lmao of course I get it. but twitter discourse is not dismantling capitalism so ANYWAY

**** actually crenshaw built on collins' work (black feminist thought) and the collins built on crenshaw' work we love to see it.

***** I should go ahead and define liberal feminism as well as rad fem and terf and shit because people use them all very very loosely, especially terf (not every transphobe is a terf but every terf is a transphobe, it's like the rectangle/square thing). but I am exhausted with this so next time.

#marxism #word vom #intersectionality #kpop idol karl #truly apologize for my mess

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goldenuwuswriting · 5 years

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Siren’s Song

A/N: Just in case you haven’t heard this man’s heavenly vocals: A video or two! Also credit to @ncttrinities for feeding into my zero self-control and helping plan this. I might be slightly wh*pped for him.

Pairing: Nakamoto Yuta x Reader

AU: Siren! and College!

Summary: Sirens don’t exist or do they?

“Sirens were originally Persephone’s three handmaidens. When Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his wife, Demeter gave the handmaidens beautiful golden wings so they could search the earth. They eventually gave up, making Demeter mad and causing her to curse them to an island.” Professor Nakamoto lectures alongside the powerpoint made by his TA, Johnny. You took this Greek Mythology 101 class for the easy A or so you thought. Professor Nakamoto grades based on how much effort you put into the assignment and how much you participate in class.

“Time’s almost up for today, so your assignment for this week is to write your own siren myth.” The professor always had assignments like that. You thought that he set the class up like that to see how much the students retained from his lectures, but little did you know that he was hiding a big secret.

Professor Yuta Nakamoto was a siren and trying to teach that sirens don’t exist. The curse was just that in his opinion. The man literally looks like a god and could have been an Idol but had decided to teach to protect his secret. Johnny, his TA, came from America and was just as handsome as Yuta. Johnny was older than Yuta, but messed around and never graduated college and was the only one in the history department who knew Yuta’s secret.

You, on the other hand, were halfway through a Master’s degree in History. You were trying to take all of the credit hours you could, just to graduate early and start your life. Midterms were a few months away, so you had to make at least an A on them to give you a little wiggle room for the finals.

Johnny, being the greatest TA bless him (bless me achoo), hosts a study group and has office hours in Professor Nakamoto’s office before and after class almost every time.

You had a question over the study guide that Johnny had handed out, so naturally you went to office hours to ask before heading to your next class. There was something magical about the voice you heard coming from Yuta’s office. It was so pretty and drew you in. Your feet kept moving towards the door, as if they weren’t controlled by your brain. You reached out for the door handle and turned it. Something compelled you to keep walking into the office, where Professor Nakamoto was sitting in his chair and singing under his breath.

Yuta was shocked. You weren’t supposed to hear his ‘true’ voice. He quickly cleared his throat and asked you what you needed. You were frozen for a minute, as all of the gears in your brain started to move again, you remembered why you were there.

“I have a question on the study guide that Johnny made. Do you know where he is?”

“I don’t know where he is, but I could probably help you since I am the professor.”

You wanted to laugh at yourself for being such an idiot. “The question asks for the differences between harpies and sirens. Is it for the modern idea of sirens or the original idea of them?”

Yuta looked at you confused, shouldn’t you be questioning him on the fact that he is a siren (the answer is yes but you are too tired to realize it). He looked at you for a moment before answering, giving you his perfect, healing smile. “Its for the modern idea of sirens, Y/N. You’re the only student who caught that.”

“Alright, thank you and see you in class.” You took off towards your next class, mind still piecing everything together. Professor Nakamoto can’t be a siren because they don’t exist, right? Your next class went on for what seemed like hours.

Yuta was freaking out. He called Johnny, hoping the sentient tree would answer the phone.

“Hello?” Johnny’s disembodied voice flowed through the phone.

“I, uh, may have done something stupid and exposed myself.”

“Nakamoto Yuta, What did you do?”

“I may or may not have been singing under my breath and Y/N got captivated with my ‘true’ voice.”

Johnny sighed and Yuta could picture the taller man rolling his eyes.

“You want me to convince them that their mind is playing tricks on them, don’t you?”

Yuta just hummed in response.

Johnny hung up on him, not before telling him that he should be more careful.

You were finally dismissed from class. Johnny had texted you and asked if you want to meet up at a café near campus. It was about a 15 minute walk from the building you were at. The only thing in your head was the sound of Yuta’s voice. The voice that mesmerized you, the one that belonged to a forbidden object, and the one you couldn’t have. The more you thought about your professor’s voice, the more it dawned on you that he might be a siren. You walked towards the café, pulling your jacket closer to your body, trying to get as warm as possible while walking into the wind. The fall weather was your favorite, but it still had its downsides. You pushed the door open and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of fresh roasted coffee beans and fresh baked goods.

Johnny waved you over to the table he was sitting at. Your TA had two cups of coffee in front of him of which he handed you one. You gladly accepted the bean juice and took a sip. The two of you exchanged greetings and talked about random topics.

“Johnny, how much do you know about Professor Nakamoto?”

“He’s like my best friend, why?” Johnny was concerned about what you were going to say and it showed.

“I want an honest answer. Is he a siren?” You whispered those sentences. Perhaps you were going crazy with all the credit hours you were taking and the disturbing amount of sleep you were losing due to it. Everything about the professor seemed to match the exact creatures he was teaching about, obviously there were small differences.

Loud Laughter broke you from your thoughts. “You honestly can’t believe that, Y/N. Sirens don’t exist and he is not one. I think you need to take a break from your course work or take a long nap.”

“I guess so, but no one should have a voice that pretty.”

Johnny helped you with a few questions on your study guide before it was time for him to go help Yuta get set up for the Introduction to ancient civilizations class. You decided to head to your dorm and sleep as Johnny suggested.

The nap was just what you needed. Your roommate woke you up and asked if you had notes from your english class that they could borrow. Your phone’s screen lit up displaying the current time and a message from your best friend, Kun. Kun is the mom friend. He brings you food and takes care of you, so it’s no surprise when he texted you asking where you were and why you weren’t in class today.

Johnny had met up with Yuta and practically clowned him for letting you catch on.

“I didn’t know that they was there.”

“Well, It would take a genius to figure out that students are going to stop in during office hours.”

“If you’re so smart, Johnny, then why aren’t you a professor?” Yuta was becoming dramatic. He picked this habit up from a few of the freshman students. The students called themselves the dream team.

You weren’t prepared for class on Monday, knowing that you had to take the chapter test. Johnny had warned you that the professor had a project planned but he was picking the partners. You asked him to put in a good word for you, so that you would hopefully get paired with Dong Sicheng, who goes by WinWin and happens to be the professor’s favorite. WinWin was a cutie and very babie so you understood why he was the favorite. A plus to working with WinWin is that he was friends with Kun as well, so study snacks would be made for you both.

The test was easy, probably because Johnny had explained everything to you when he asked you to get coffee. Yuta had waited for everyone to turn in the test before explaining the project, which was to come up with and market a product as business entrepreneurs (Johnny’s idea after writing an essay at 3 am and drinking red bull). He started to call each pair.

“Dong Sicheng and Mark Lee.” There goes your chance at a decent grade, Mark was the only other student who wasn’t a freshman and had a great work ethic. “Y/L/N Y/N and Huang Renjun.” You have heard that Renjun was a responsible boy who loved art from Kun constantly talking about him and Sicheng. Kun also said that Renjun and his three other friends referred to themselves as the dream team and they did everything together.

The said boy came up to you and introduced himself and gave you his number. When class ended, you marched up to Johnny.

“I thought I asked you to make sure I was partnered with Sicheng.”

“I tried. Professor said no multiple times.” Johnny was trying not to smile at the memory of teasing Yuta.

“What would he say if I ask him? I really don’t want to work with a member of the self-proclaimed ‘dream team’.”

“He would most likely say no and to get over it, but you can try. He’s in his office.”

Johnny was sending you to war with a dangerous (read: Soft) enemy. Johnny immediately texted Yuta a heads up after you stormed out of the classroom. Yuta had anticipated someone was going to be upset at the partner choices, he just didn’t think that it was going to be you.

You furiously rapped on the door to Yuta’s office and waited for him to tell you to enter.

“Y/N, what can I do for you?” The male had asked in a sing- song tone. The cadence of his voice quickly quelled your anger.

“I wanted to know if I could switch Renjun for either Mark or Sicheng.” You smiled at him, silently praying to whatever gods or goddesses existed that he says yes.

“I’m sorry, but partner pairings are final unless one partner is doing more work than the other.”

You exited the office in a slightly better mood than before, which Johnny noticed when he passed you in the hall.

“Yuta, was Y/N just here?”

He nodded.

“They were furious after you assigned partners and then is suddenly in a better mood after talking to you. What happened?”

“We had a great conversation, that’s all.”

Johnny shot him a look that conveyed his thoughts. Yuta was slightly annoyed that the elder could read him that well.

“I just charmed them a little. Y/N might be short but They’re kind of scary.”

“I know, but we’ve had this discussion. What happens when they figure out that you are in fact a siren. Y/n already asked me if you were.”

Yuta knew that Johnny was right. He should probably stop while he was ahead. You were too pretty to die and he really didn’t want to move again.

You messaged Renjun and asked him to meet you at Kun’s after okaying it with him. Kun was already working on snacks for the three of you. Three hours later and Renjun never showed up, Kun tried calling him but the boy never answered and Kun knew the boy didn’t have class until tomorrow. You already texted Johnny and told him what happened and that Renjun hasn’t shown up. You made sure to ask where the professor was, hoping that this would get you a new partner. Your favorite and only teaching assistant informed you that the was hour left in Yuta’s office hours. The walk from Kun’s dorm to the office to you about thirty minutes compared to the usual hour. The anger boiling in your system at the freshman kept you warm and was what caused you to practically slam the office door open.

The Japanese man had heard angry footsteps coming down the hall, so he started to sing in order to calm the anger. It worked after a while and you could feel the anger melt away as waves of relief washed over you. The song continued and something about it compelled you to start walking towards your professor. You closed the distance between your lips and Yuta’s. The kisses were filled with passion and need.

“Get a room!”

That phrase startled you. Yuta grabbed your waist, not ready to let you leave, and looked at the source of the interruption. Johnny was standing at the door, rolling his eyes. You didn’t even notice the glare that Yuta shot him.

“Get Out, Johnny. Office hours are over.” (WiNk WoNk)

#nct yuta nakamoto #NCT #nct 127 au #nct 127 imagines #NCT 127 #yuta x reader #yuta nakamoto x reader #nctau #nct fanfic #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #kpop fanfic #kpop au #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios

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cienie-isengardu · 5 years

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What is up with Shirai Ryu?

Or, is Hanzo a hypocrite?

While looking through various MK11 intros, I’m kind of tired about the whole “honor” stuff that Hanzo and Kuai Liang and so many other characters like to talk. Mainly, because honor is very unspecified term whose meaning (thus the line between acting honorable and dishonorable) will change from one person to another. And as much I love cultural clashes between characters of different clans / fraction or realms, Hanzo’s talks about Shirai Ryu make me wonder what the hell is going on with his clan right now?

Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu were rival clans for ages, but the japanese ninjas - and the whole ninjutsu created by them - has its roots in Lin Kuei teaching. Bi-Han called himself thief and assassin and we know that ninjas played similar roles through the ages. Stealing, killing, doing all dirty job someone paid for, it was what Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu did for years. The two fractions of course vary in clan traditions and family matters, but I think we can all agree that morally wise, assassins and master thieves aren’t the common image of honorable men, right?

Of course, both Hanzo and Kuai Liang decided to reform their respective clans, pledged to serve Earthrealm as the protectors rather than working for anyone who can afford their service. Thus both grandmasters reject job offers from gods & Outworlders alike; reject offers that would pose a danger to their home realm. What is nice and all, but clan has its own needs; there are people who must be feed, clothed, sheltered, medically equipped, armed with the right equipment and trained. This of course cost a lot money and maybe the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei do have the right funds accumulated over the centuries. But as far as MK11 intros are concerned, Sub-Zero most likely did not change completely Lin Kuei. Of course, Kuai Liang’s clan is meant to be protectors of Earthrealm, but there is still (rogue) Frost who is proud to be an assassin. And since she joined the clan between MK9 and X, the fact she is so aware of the clan history, the feud with Shirai Ryu and assassins traditions may imply that at least to some degree Lin Kuei is/was still involved in “old bussiness”. Whatever the case - Lin Kuei still training assassins who just don’t work anymore for “outsiders” or Frost (with Noob) being a rogue " remains of ancient glory”, both versions are representing the better and the darker sides of Sub-Zero’s fraction.

Hanzo on another hand, as solely representation of Shirai Ryu in MK11 game, seems at times as, well, deluded person. Especially when intros aren’t clear if that was supposed to be P.O.V of current or past Hanzo.

First, let me quote little backstory provided by MK: Mythologies Sub-Zero:

Scorpion is the code name for a modern day member of the Shirai Ryu named Hanzo Hasashi [...] He learned this technique from his own father, a ninja himself who forbade his son to become a member of this ancient group of assassins and wanted him to accept the trappings of modern day life. But the lure of quick money and his own wish to afford his wife and child the finest in life force him to join the Shirai Ryu.

His latest mission leads him into the heart of China, home of the rival Lin Kuei and location of the Shaolin temple where his mission is to steal the sacred Map of Elements.

So, Shirai Ryu are ancient group of assassins, the last mission of Scorpion was to steal the sacred Map of Elements from Shaolin Temple and Hanzo wasn’t forced to join the clan, he did it mainly for money to afford his family in finest way.

After coming back to life, Hanzo made great effort to redeem his clan and became ally to other heroes. At the same time, he himself says Shirai Ryu are not bound to Special Forces (U.S.)’s laws what results in fact Sonya Blade keeps eye on Hanzo and his clan. Probably attacking SF’s base and killing captured Quan Chi is/was still fresh in her mind. Anyway, the real question is, what Shirai Ryu does? What kind of jobs the clan takes, from where Hanzo get money to cover needs of his ninjas and funds to rebuild destroyed years ago home? What Shirai Ryu ninjas do between crisises threatening safety of Earthrealm?

The reason why I wonder such things is tied up with Hanzo’s character banters, particularly with other merceneries.

Scorpion: Why seek out my clan?

Kano: You're a clan of assassins, ain't you?

Scorpion: You refer to the Lin Kuei.

It is hard to tell, if Scorpion here is the younger or current version thus if he talks about old Lin Kuei (a true statement about clan of assassins then) or refer to Kuai Liang’s one clan that was supposed to change for better. Whatever the case, if clan of assassins is what refers to Lin Kuei, I’m sorry, what Shirai Ryu is or was then? Because it was assassin clan too not so long ago and Hanzo himself joined and worked for such group.

Kabal: The Shirai Ryu hiring, Scorpion? Scorpion: We're family, not mercenaries.

Not mercenaries, said a man who was once hired to steal sacred Map and did it solely for money (or maybe even satisfation/chance to kill Lin Kuei). Even if Hanzo is speaking only about current situation of clan, it still does not answer are his ninjas involved in illegal jobs or are they just train in case of emergency?

This statement (and other intros with Jacqui anc Jax) makes it clear to join Shirai Ryu means became part of the clan for good. But frankly, that still does not mean that family unit like ninja clan can’t (couldn’t) be mercenaries. I mean, mercenary is person primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics and you know, taking jobs like assassination or theft is, well, dark side of mercenary profession. Soo, did Hanzo’s statement “not mercenaries“ was purely about joining the clan (not hiring unknown people) or as a whole, no more doing illegal stuff by his clan to gain money?

Erron: I thought Shirai Ryu were mercs. Scorpion: You understand little, Black. Erron: I've killed people for being less rude.

This one is similar to the previous intro but I feel this time the focus is more on the past of Shirai Ryu, since Erron (as hired gun by Shang Tsung / Shao Kahn) lives for one or two hundred years so he may be familiar with old!Shirai Ryu ninjas reputation.

Of course, Hanzo may be right, Black (and us, for that matter) as outsider, does not have insight into internal clan traditions, ethics or internal matters thus the lack of understanding may lead him (and me) to incorrect conclusion. Maybe Shirai Ryu for ages served Japan in a way Special Forces serves now USA? Maybe they worked always for their homeland’s well being? We don’t know. But then if Shirai Ryu aren’t/weren’t mercs, how else one should think about ninja clan that send his own warrior to Shaolin Temple in foreign (hostile) territory to steal sacred artifact while being paid by some weirdo (Quan Chi)? Like, how that was more honorable than, let’s say, Erron working for Kotal?

Scorp: There will be no deal, Kano. Kano: Gotta make a buck, mate. Scorp: The Shirai Ryu are not criminals.

Hanzo says his clan members aren’t criminals. I sorry, aren’t attacking Special Forces, the supposed allies, isn’t sort of crime? Even if two years passed since then, Shirai Ryu ninjas went to foreign country and attacked its army (who were at times helping refuges from Outworld). Of course, they weren’t motivated by greed or bad will, they were following their grandmaster. But Hanzo literally put his own need for revenge above needs of other heroes, including dead ones. Oh, and let’s no forget that past!Hanzo attacked Shaolin monks and killed who knows how many of them. Indeed, no criminals, ha!

Scorpion: The Shirai Ryu do not respect thieves. Kollector: I collect only what is due Shao Kahn. Scorpion: It is robbery, nothing more.

Sorry, what was your last mission again? Stealing from Shaolin Monks some precious map for some dude Quan Chi? I’m sure Shirai Ryu would never respect thieves! Riiiight.

Hanzo of course may talk about reformed Shirai Ryu, but that would look, once again, like he keep silent about past sins. Unless he really believe his clan never did anything dishonorable.

It’s hard not to wonder how exactly Hanzo reformed Shirai Ryu is he alone seems to ignore his own deeds. Mercs are looked down, so are thieves or in general, people working for money. As much as I can agree than Black Dragons - especially Kano - are the worst kind of scum, it would be actually nice to learn more about Shirai Ryu ethics or how ninja define honor. We know that for Hanzo, his “clan's honor is priceless” but he himself did a lot questionable stuff through the course of all games.

My biggest problem with Scorpion and his talk about honor (or in some causes, how pretty quick he is to accuse others of lack of thereof) is the contrast with Kuai Liang. Sub-Zero is the one willing to admit faults of his clan while Hanzo rarely acknowledges such in Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero is the one trying hard to estabilish Lin Kuei as protectors of Earthrealm AND ally to other heroes, while Scorpion for a long time freely(?) keep himself and his clan isolated. Of course, both grandmasters treat Earthrealm’s best interest as priority, but between them two, it’s Kuai who is seen actively protecting Earth while Hanzo often was the source of problems, like killing capuring Quan Chi. Mind you, I don’t think Hanzo was wrong to assume as long as evil sorcerer will live, Earth is in danger (though, since Quan Chi is demon(?) shouldn’t he reborn in Netherrealm at some point?). But attacking your supposed allies and destroying the one chance to save fallen and enslaved comrades because Hanzo knows better does not strike me as the most honorable thing.

Once again, what is honor in Mortal Kombat? How Hanzo or Kuai Liang or Raiden or anyone define such matter?

I keep wonder about that, because Hanzo talks a lot about how Shirai Ryu are honorable while other merceneries are just thugs and all. What sounds a bit like hypocrisy when one look at Scorpion’s own history. Especially when younger!Hanzo is involved, because he is still the prime example of Shirai Ryu ninja working not-so-long-ago as assassin and thief.

But yeah, sure, everyone is greedy bastard and thug, even if said person is doing the same stuff like (old) Shirai Ryu did.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 11 #shirai ryu #hanzo hasashi #my analysis #erron black #kano #kabal #i'm the only one tired with the talk about honor non stop #while there is little how characters define honor?#what ninja makes more honorable than erron working for kotal for what? decade or two?#mind you i don't think hanzo is bad character #quite opposing i like this little hipocrisy of his #it makes him flawed #human characters #i only wish mk games would stop over using so much honor in intros #because after so many of character banters the honor sounds bombastic like hell

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captaindaddykru · 5 years

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you hurt the ones you love (i don't believe that)

for @obviesbellarke based on this photo ;)

Raven has always prided herself on her work ethic. She didn’t come from much, her parents did not plan on having a child which about described her relationship with them, and she worked part-time jobs ever since the goverment allowed her to. (Since they put her in the system and the system failed her, she felt like she could pretty much do whatever she wanted to the system. So sometimes she repaid the cards they dealt her by doing some not so legal hacking into college databases to slightly change rich frat boy GPA’s and make some extra cash.)

It paid off, because now Raven works for NASA and she didn’t even apply for the job. They asked her to come work for them. Who can say NASA asked them to come work for them? Raven Reyes can. Why? Because she is a certified genius who worked her way through high school, and college, and a master degree, and still managed to look halfway attractive, get in thirty minutes of exercise a day and keep a semi-active social life throughout it all.

She loved her job. She did, but—but it also meant long days, a lot of overtime, even more time spend on business trips and conference calls. If it wasn’t for her boyfriend Zeke working in the same building as her, she’s pretty sure she would never see him either since she barely ever goes home. She just happened to luck out and get the most amazing, understanding and supportive friends in the universe.

Besides, after spending half her life ‘being friends’ with Finn—who fucked her over and ghosted her after mere nine days apart at different colleges—Raven has come to learn what real friendship is. Emori tags her in a meme at least every other day, Harper brings over fresh vegetables from her and Monty’s garden whenever she looks extra pale and Clarke dutifully keeps her up to date on all her favorite shows she has zero time to watch. They’re as real as it gets.

Hence, when things start to cross over from a strong work ethic to borderline workaholic slash inevitable burn-out and her boss Sinclair forces her to take two weeks off, she is disappointed when the first three people she asks to hang out on her first free Saturday night that year already have plans. They barely hear from her in months beside a quick ‘what’s up’ in their group chat before she falls asleep on her couch every Saint Glinglin and they have the audacity to not keep their nights free in case she might ask them to hang out sometime? Assholes.

Since Emori and Murphy are out of town (probably robbing a house or something, she still doesn’t know what they do in their free time), and Harper and Monty have dinner with her parents, Clarke is up next. Raven texts her asking what she is doing that weekend, opening up a bottle of wine before padding over to her living room without a glass. She deserves the entire thing. Raven starts up Netflix on her smart TV while she waits for her friend to reply.

Twenty minutes deep into an episode of Homeland, her phone buzzes annoyingly on the armrest.

CLARKE [8:51 PM]:

who’s number is this?

RAVEN [8:54 PM]:

very funny griffin. drinks on saturday?

It takes a surprisingly long time for Clarke to answer her text, even though she isn’t a notorious bad back-texter unlike her boyfriend. One time like two years back, Raven asked Bellamy if he wanted to chip in on Murphy’s birthday present and he still hasn’t replied to this day. She’s pretty sure he isn’t even aware of the fact iMessage exists.

Raven has almost single-handedly finished off a bag of Cheetos before her phone buzzes again. She unlocks her phone to find a photo of a pregnancy test staring back at her, balanced precariously on what she assumes is Clarke’s knee, like the night terrors she used to have in middle school, terrified to end up like the other girls in her neighbourhood, sure a boy even looking at her could knock her up.

RAVEN [9:08 PM]:

so no drinks then???

The reply comes faster this time, Raven sure that Clarke was just jumping for her to something. Anything.

CLARKE [09:09 PM]:

i just found out and my first instinct was to grab a bottle of beer, i’m fucked

She’s not sure what Clarke wants from her here—that one always had more up her sleeve than expected—a congrats or a condolences, so she settles on the safe middle of comic relief.

RAVEN [9:10 PM]:

who’s the father?

CLARKE [09:10 PM]:

seriously?

RAVEN [9:11 PM]:

what? thought you two went to that swingers club the other month

CLARKE [09:14 PM]:

that was a teacher’s conference. he begged me to come

RAVEN [9:15 PM]:

i thought YOU begged HIM to come and now we’re in this whole mess?

A reply doesn’t come for two minutes, and then three, and when the clock ticks closer to five minutes, Raven decides to dial her number. It switches over to Facetime, but the screen is black, static commotion of the phone being moved around the only sound between their two devices for a good ten seconds. Finally, she asks, “Clarke?”

“I didn’t plan for this, Rave,” is the first thing out of her mouth, and Raven has to bite back a smile. Clarke is such a in-the-closet neurotic mess and she missed it. The screen turns very bright, then finally she can make out her friend. From the looks of it, she is on the floor in her bathroom, mascara smudged lightly under her eyes, wavy hair a mess on top of her head. “I haven’t even finished school yet. My NCLEX exam isn’t until next month—“

“Sound like perfect timing to me,” Raven snorts, keeping her tone very bored. Is this all she has? Are these her best arguments? She’s off her game. “You’ll ace the exam, get a few months of nursing experience at the hospital and then you can go on maternity leave. Your mom owns the surgical ward, I’m pretty sure she can make it happen.”

She watches Clarke draw her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead on top of them for a moment before looking back up at her phone. She does look wrecked. Raven hesistates for a second, then inquires, “Have you told him?”

“No,” Clarke replies, and then she is quiet for another second. She sounds softer this time, “What if he doesn’t want this?”

Raven almost cackles out loud. That loser would do anything for her, even if he didn’t want a baby with her—which seemed very unlikely—he would probably go to his grave swearing it was all he ever wanted. Besides, Bellamy has a few years on Clarke, is a well-known mother hen and is practically smitten with his sister’s toddler. (The only pictures he ever posts on social media are either of Clarke, his sister, that bratty little Octavia look-alike, or the three of them together—which was probably Nirvana by his definition.) He was more than ready, Raven’s sure that his old man primal hormones are just off the charts.

“Fat chance,” Raven settles on, instead of manic laughter because she’s a good friend, eyebrows practically disappearing into her hairline. “You’re talking about Bellamy Blake? The same Bellamy Blake who, when you introduced him to me and I told him I would kick his ass if he ever hurt you, said he couldn’t wait to have your babies someday?”

Clarke scrunches up her nose in disbelief, and Raven wonders if she needs to get her sight checked. Does she not see how that buffoon looks at her? “He said that?”

“Yep,” Raven drags out, seemingly unimpressed.

“He was drunk,” she argues, brushing her off as she runs a hand through her tangled blonde hair.

“That makes it more true, Clarke, not less,” Raven replies without skipping a beat, can’t help but sound a little tiny bit judgemental just because of who she is as a person. There’s more silence, Clarke chewing on her thumbnail as she stares off in the distance and Raven sighs, softening her voice. “No offense, but why are you complaining to me about this, babe? It isn’t like you to be this insecure.”

Was this not the Clarke Griffin who marched up to their arrogant orange-President-affliated professor and told him he might be an art teacher, but she was an artist? It was a popular meme around their college for weeks, black sunglasses and a animated blunt photoshopped onto her yearbook picture and plastered around the halls. The same Clarke Griffin who punched through a glass window because racist campus police let her go and took Monty into a interrogation room alone after catching the both of them with some weed brownies and still has the scar to prove it? Was she not the Clarke Griffin who got everyone to sign a petition to get Kyle Wick kicked out of school when he tweeted out a sexually suggestive picture of Raven?

“Because you know he’ll be excited,” she presses, aggrevated, blue eyes dark as she stares at her camera as if she can stare straight into Raven’s soul. “And I can’t break his heart and tell him that—”

“That what?” Raven cocks an eyebrow, figuring it’s time for some though love now. “You dont want a baby?”

“No—“ She tries to get it, but Raven doesn’t relent, keeps pressing, “That you don’t want his baby?”

“No!” Clarke blurts out harshly, cutting her off as her eyes brim with tears. “That I didn’t plan for this!” She swallows tightly, and Raven just watches her, chest heaving up and down erraticly, blue eyes darting from left to right as she tries to get her thoughts together. “You know what happened when I started medical school, why I had to drop out,” her voice finally breaks, lip trembling. “This time, I was going to better. I was going to do it right.”

“You had a nervous breakdown, Clarke,” Raven snaps, tired of the sugarcoating. She was so hard on herself, and Raven still feels the slighest pang of guilt at that because she used to encourage that quality in her, held her to even higher standards. Maybe at first because she was jealous of her, of the golden girl who got everything handed to her. When she realized that wasn’t true, it was more because Raven knew she could be brilliant. Then after everything went down, she realized Clarke had already been brilliant all along. “You were making eighteen hour days, Lexa broke your heart and then your dad died in your arms. I think not having a breakdown over that would’ve qualified you as a sociopath.”

Clarke quickly wipes at the wetness trailing down her cheek, like she is trying to keep Raven from seeing, hugging her knees closer to her chest. Quietly, she sniffs, wondering, “What if it happens again?”

“It won’t. Because you’ve learned you can’t plan everything because life comes at you fast,” Raven says, authoratively, like she’s reading it from the pamphlet her therapist got them back then. “—and to communicate about how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. Eat enough vegetables and sleep enough hours.”

Clarke takes a deep breath, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand as she lets herself nod. Raven can’t help but press, “Isn’t that what you and Bellamy use as foreplay? A good old fashioned emotional conversation?”

Clarke scoffs. “No, like talking shop doesn’t get you and Shaw going.”

Raven lifts a shoulder, indifferent. She’s not going to sit here and pretend like him being able to name every component of a Harvey Davidson motorcycle in alphabetical order doesn’t get her all hot and bothered.

Clarke wipes her palms on her jeans-clad thighs, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “What if I’m not any good at this?”

“Then the child will have the most awesome aunt to fall back on,” Raven smirks, and luckily, Clarke finally cracks a smile too. “You’re Clarke fucking Griffin. If this is something that you want—“ She drags out the last word, pausing to get her confirmation (she’s pretty sure it’s something she does want, deep down, but it doesn’t hurt to check before she rolls out the whole peptalk), and reluctantly, her friend nods, corners of her lips turned up almost shyly. “If it’s something that you want, you’ll succeed at it. You care about everyone, Clarke, to a fault.”

Raven finds herself smirking again, pretending to be half-distracted with re-tightening her brace. “And I know it’ll be hard to care about that baby knowing it’s Bellamy’s—“

“Shut up,” Clarke deadpans, and her eyes look brighter, clearer. Tentatively, her hand comes to rest on top of her lower belly, fingers flexing on top of her shirt for just a second. Raven can’t help but smile, happy for her friends. It’s what they deserve.

“You should really call him,” Raven pushes, pursing her lips satisfactory, “He’s going to be so salty you told me before him.”

“Probably,” Clarke snorts, just the slightest bit of nervousness flashing across her eyes before they soften as she says, “But, thanks, Rave. I’m glad to see NASA lets you out on probation every six months.”

“It’s NASA though,” she responds—a little boastful, because it’s NASA, she gets to be boastful—then stretches out her free arm. “Also, mocktails Saturday?”

Clarke beams. “Deal.”

(The next time Raven gets a text from Clarke, it’s a photo of a ring on her finger.)

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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How Donald Trump silenced the people who could expose his business failures

https://wapo.st/2F3H3rF

"As a businessman, Trump used threats & intimidation to keep his true financial situation from being accurately reported on, including efforts to stay on the Forbes list by threatening to out a closeted gay executive. Past is prologue." Joyce Vance

Jonathan Greenberg's latest Trump expose in today's Washington Post; how the deceiver in chief suppresses the truth and truth tellers. #DontheCon, #ImpeachTrump

How Donald Trump silenced the people who could expose his business failures

By Jonathan Greenberg | Published June 14 at 6:00 AM ET | Washington Post | Posted June 18, 2019 |

How did Donald Trump, a self-serving promoter who lost billions of dollars for his investors, convince the world that he is a financial genius? It wasn’t just by fabricating tales of his success. It was also by bullying and silencing people who could have stopped those deceits — particularly reporters and Wall Street analysts — forcing all but a very few into a conspiracy of silence.

These tactics, which form a core element of his politics, were something I saw him hone firsthand in the 1980s and 1990s as Trump’s company was imploding.

I was the lead real estate wealth estimator for the Forbes 400 list in its early years. Trump called me twice in 1984, posing as his fictional “VP of finance” John Barron and professing the kind of riches that ought to land him on the list, despite failing to document them. So when a New York Times exposé last month showed that Trump had lost $1.1 billion between 1985 and 1994, I looked back at my archives and began calling old colleagues to compare these figures with what Trump was telling journalists three decades ago.

First, I turned up three never-before-published letters from Trump to Forbes from 1989, in which he claimed to be worth $3.7 billion. We now know that he reported losses of about $100 million that year and that he was treading near insolvency. Then I started to contact other people who had collided with Trump in those years. Journalists told me how he’d tried to block their reporting on his empire — by making up ethical scandals about them, furnishing fake documents and, in one case, threatening to expose the private life of a closeted media executive. Wall Street analysts witnessed a campaign of intimidation that began when Trump got one of them fired for (correctly) doubting his casinos’ ability to pay off their debts.

Even while he was suffering tremendous financial setbacks — and precisely because he was suffering those setbacks — these efforts show Trump in the desperate act of spinning a mythology about himself (rich) that would sweep aside the facts (broke). And he did it by imperiling the livelihood of his doubters, silencing them and inducing a chilling effect both in the press and among the very people who are supposed to protect investors from terrible gambles like Trump’s businesses. If this self-promotion scheme had failed, Trump would never have become a reality-TV-starring symbol of business acumen. He would have skulked off into anonymity or ignominy, just another failed real estate developer and speculator.

Instead, he fooled the world. Although he’d struggle for the rest of his career to get most legitimate banks to extend credit, the gambit basically worked: It turned him, rather than his empire, into the product, enabling decades of tabloid coverage, countless eponymous goods from casinos to steaks to airlines, dozens of film and TV cameos, and ultimately his image-defining show, “The Apprentice.” It made a man with limited business savvy and less money than he claimed into someone famous for having a surfeit of both. These early (and shockingly impudent) fabrications built one of the greatest brands in American history — one that made Trump a household name and, eventually, president.

In mid-1989, as his real estate empire was secretly drowning in debt, Trump wrote three letters to Forbes Senior Editor Harold Seneker, who was responsible for overseeing the wealth list. The first, dated April 25, 1989, came with two deceptive documents: One was similar to the outrageously inflated listing of the value of his assets that Trump gave to Deutsche Bank as he sought a loan in 2014 to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. The 1989 file noted that the sums listed were “NET OF MORTGAGES OR DEBT,” and it showed $3,734,000,000 for the total value of Trump’s empire. This figure included “cash and cash equivalents” of $693 million and marketable securities of $214 million.

The other attachment was a “review of the statement of financial condition” letter from Richard L. Robbins, an accountant and senior vice president at accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co., dated April 10, 1989, attesting to the fact that, as of Nov. 30, 1988, Trump possessed $700,125,000 in “cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities . . . and the remaining cash proceeds from bond issuance and capital contributions.” In his signed letter accompanying these documents, Trump summed it up by writing: “I know that you would be the first to agree that anyone with in excess of $849 million in cash ($700 million plus $149 after paying off the St. Moritz mortgage) is not a person who is ‘highly leveraged.’ Additionally, being a student of financial history, I have relatively low amounts of financing on my assets and, more importantly, personally guarantee nothing.” Robbins declined to comment for this article.

Why was the Arthur Andersen “review” done five months before its Trump account executive sent the letter? Because, unbeknownst to Forbes, just eight days before Nov. 30, 1988, Trump received $675 million in cash proceeds from a junk bond that Merrill Lynch sold to unlucky investors, with all of the funds earmarked for acquiring and completing the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Trump shouldn’t have claimed this as his own cash, as he appeared to be doing. But that’s what he told Forbes, and anyone else who would listen.

Still, Seneker suspected that Trump’s cash position was overstated, so he wrote back, asking why Trump had listed only assets and not debts. Trump replied the next month with more lies. “My cash balances are high because I am fiscally conservative. The debt which I have is against individual assets and is not personally guaranteed.” He was claiming that the properties themselves and the Trump Organization were the collateral backing up his assets — that he had no personal liability. In truth, Trump was on the hook for $125 million at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, according to “Trump Revealed,” an investigative biography by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher of The Washington Post. This was part of a package of personal guarantees totaling $900 million that would come crashing down around him as his Atlantic City projects imploded.

Knowing that the final estimates for the Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people were calculated in August, Trump sent a third letter in July 1989 bragging that the Plaza was worth double what he paid for it and that his Atlantic City casinos were worth more than $1.5 billion each. Forbes had spent several years radically overstating the value of Trump’s holdings, as recent reporting has shown; the magazine accepted too many of the mogul’s claims. That year, Forbes estimated his worth as $1.7 billion, even though Trump’s leaked tax returns show a $100 million loss, meaning any investor who could have seen them would have viewed Trump’s real estate empire as a money-losing liability, not a group of income-producing assets. (Trump now says these losses reflected depreciation, not the value of his holdings.)

The next year, 1990, would prove to be the year the facade collapsed. But with an eye toward salvaging his future reputation, Trump waged a startlingly effective campaign to suppress the truth about his failures as a businessman. That effort took several forms.

That spring, Forbes Senior Editor Richard Stern and contributor John Connolly prepared a cover story based on a document leaked from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which showed the debt load of all of Trump’s properties, as well as a Wall Street analyst’s calculation that the Taj Mahal needed to net $1.3 million every day just to stay afloat. The reporters estimated that Trump’s true net worth figure was less than zero.

On the Monday of the week the story was to be published, Stern met with Trump to seek a comment he could include in the article. The mogul exploded, threatening to sue Forbes. On Tuesday, “orders came from on high” to change the story’s estimate of Trump’s net worth to $500 million, Stern recalls. “I got into a shouting match with [Jim] Michaels,” Forbes’s powerful top editor, Stern says. “Forbes bent. We had to jigger the numbers to give Trump a positive net worth.” (Michaels died in 2007.) Connolly says the cover line was also changed, from “Is Trump Broke?” to “How Much Is Donald Really Worth Now?,” which is how it appeared on May 14, 1990.

Michaels told Connolly this was because Trump was threatening to embarrass the Forbes family by claiming that publisher Malcolm Forbes, who had died a few months earlier, ordered a hit piece because Trump had supposedly blocked the 70-year-old magazine owner from bringing two male companions under the legal drinking age into the Plaza Hotel bar. (A gay news magazine had outed Malcolm Forbes shortly after his death that February, though the claim was not widely circulated; Trump possessed a much louder megaphone with which to humiliate the Forbes family.) Stern does not recall this and believes that editors simply feared a Trump lawsuit.

Even then, Trump was not satisfied with his victory. Connolly and Stern’s story interrupted the mogul’s narrative around the opening of the world’s largest casino. Trump retaliated by making last-minute changes to the text of his August 1990 book, “Surviving at the Top,” to recount the alleged bar spat and say that Malcolm Forbes “lived openly as a homosexual . . . but expected the media and his famous friends to cover for him.” After editors removed him from the annual Forbes 400 in late September (estimating that his net worth by that time had fallen below the $260 million cut-off), Trump elaborated on his accusation in a Los Angeles Times op-ed headlined “Forbes Carried Out Personal Vendetta in Print.” Trump wrote that, after the supposed bar incident, Malcolm Forbes “called and screamed at me, saying that I’d treated him shabbily, embarrassed him publicly — and that he would get even with me,” Trump wrote. “It was only a few weeks later that I got word that Forbes magazine was planning a cover story on me.”

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toonstarterz · 6 years

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BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #143

So in keeping with the recent trend of bringing back older characters, Watamote goes for a throwback and puts the OG trio into the spotlight. With Kii-chan, we got to experience how Tomoko managed to rekindle a previously strained relationship (somewhat). Will the Tomoko-Yuu-Komiyama team finally become a true circle? Or is it destined to exist as an awkwardly shaped, but cohesive oval?

Chapter 143: Because I’m Not Popular, The Three Of Us Will Study Together

As always, Komi’s looking damn fine with her patented punk/goth style. Those open-shouldered skull shirt, slick choker, asymmetrical skirt, and striped leggings all come together to make her look like a total rockstar. It’s delightfully contrasted by the fact that’s she’s a pervert with a baseball obsession, but being fashion-conscious does help to round out her..unsavory side.

But, Yuu, sweetheart, as much as a skater dress looks good on you, you could do without the spikes. Granted, I’m hardly an authority on fashion, and in some circles, I’m sure it looks great. But it’s doesn’t seem as...flashy as she usually presents herself. Perhaps it’s because she’s with Tomoko and Komiyama that she doesn’t feel the pressure to be overtly stylish, and is more comfortable with something more subdued.

Man, the throwbacks just keep on comin’. What’s next, are they going to find Tomoko’s Yandere Boys Verbal Abuse CD hiding in her room?

Friendly reminder that Tomoko is, was, and will always be a piece of shit.

That said, Tomoko isn’t the type to be mean just for the heck of it. Her usual targets like Komiyama and Yoshida are only targeted because it’s been made apparent that they can handle it. With Komi-something, Tomoko knows that she’s not utterly irredeemable, which is why she takes any opportunity she can to milk Komi’s indecency. Because otherwise, she’ll be the bitch, and that’s a line even Tomoko won’t cross.

This chapter should be titled, “-the four of us will study.”

Speaking of which, Yuu and Komiyama have never seen Tomoko’s big plushie before, right? They probably think that it’s evident of Tomoko’s hidden cute side but if they ever found out about all the questionable things Tomoko does to the poor thing, that idea is sure to be shattered.

I suppose I should address the elephant in the room and ask what the hell is it with Yuu and her incessant sweating? Not even down her face or anything, but it flies off her body. Could this be her unique way of expressing hidden anxiety? That’s a scary possibility, to be sure.

No, there’s supposed to be beer cans everywhere with inebriated kids playing footsie under the table that quickly escalated into necking and–oh, wait, this is reality. My bad.

Ah, so these are the friends that Yuu-chan often brings up but we’ve never really seen before. They certainly look like a lively bunch, though that’s really all one can say from a single panel. Granted, if Yuu's school does have relatively inferior academics, then I imagine there’s a bit more goofing off going on here than actual studying.

Same here. That’s the reason yours truly goes off to work at the local cafe rather work at home. Too many distractions and external stimuli at your abode, and no one to hold you accountable for slacking off.

Not entirely sure if this is a joke lost in translation, but apparently Komiyama is humming a ditty about the Chiba Lotte Marines, namely infielder Nakamura Shougo. That’s actually kinda cute.

Got nothin’ to say. Itou just looks adorable here.

This, however, is decidedly NOT cute.

As the series’ resident purevert, Komiyama’s crush on Tomoki has always fluctuated between two extremes: innocent, schoolgirl affection and disturbingly fetishistic lust, and this line about, um...licking Tomoki’s eye circles falls way into the latter. For the record, I’m generally nonjudgmental about one’s unharmful sexual preferences–to each their own, you know–but given Komiyama’s history, I’m genuinely concerned for Tomoki’s wellbeing should the girl ever get her paws on him.

Itou is canonically the strongest character in the whole series. Those powers of perception were gained through unfathomable amounts of mental destruction.

Self-awareness? What self-awareness?

Is this going to be running gag now–Yuu innocently “complimenting” Komiyama with a between-the-lines insult?

I dig it.

Some may call it slacking, I call it strategic half-assery.

Ah, so Tomoko is officially aiming for a liberal arts school. For a girl who used to have zero prospects after high school, it’s uplifting to see Tomoko with an actual long-term goal in mind. It really is the only thing she’s reasonably passionate about, and the “starving artist” lifestyle actually fits pretty well with Tomoko’s approach to the world, so good for her.

Poor Yuu is never going to make it in the “real world”, is she?

Checking out the play-by-play when you’re supposed to be studying? Sometimes I forget that Komiyama actually has a cute side.

You know, given all the times when Tomoko and Komiyama are shitting at each other, these little bits of politeness between them are much more poignant. Sure, they’re being conscientious about it since Yuu’s there, but I can see this happening even if she wasn’t. See, Tomoko and Komiyama tend to mirror each other–insults are reciprocated with insults, and friendliness is reciprocated with friendliness. Even when they swing far on one side, something always pulls them back into equilibrium.

This would’ve been a good spot to put a gag here, with Komi expecting a strikeout only to explode with joy in front of her friends when the Lotte’s make an unexpected comeback. Instead, Nico Tanigawa goes for realism, validating the more pessimistic side of Komiyama. As for why they chose this route, I actually believe its to set up a little arc for Komi. As of now, baseball and Tomoko are her saving graces, and neither is looking good right now. Ultimately, this could lead to Komi facing the reality that dreams don’t always come true, and learning to accept that.

Yuu was definitely fishing for an answer to Nemo and Katou, and the fact that Tomoko doesn’t tell her right away is actually a good sign. Back in the old days, Tomoko would jump at the chance to “brag” about Yuu, her then-only friend because she was so insecure about their friendship falling apart. Since then, she’s made a number of meaningful friends, so that need to brag is long gone.

I love seeing characters describe other characters they’ve barely interacted with. Komi does see Nemo as a girl in the “sorta-in-crowd” so it makes sense that she would see her as “flashy”.

Says the girl who also dresses super fashionably.

Shocked, but not resentful. It’s uplighting to see Komiyama take Tomoko’s relative popularity in stride, and it’s a feeling that’s been there since the Kyoto Field Trip Arc. Despite having very few friends herself, she’s never thought poorly of Tomoko when the girl gained more friendships. If anything, it made Komiyama see her in a slightly better light now that she knows Tomoko isn’t completely irredeemable.

I could almost swear that Komi is doing that on purpose.

Cuties.

Everybody’s Golf is that PS4 game, correct? Good taste, this girl.

Shit, Tomoko, at least take her out to dinner first.

But it actually makes sense for why Tomoko brings it up like that. She knows that she’s at that stage in her relationship with Yuu that she just can’t casually molest her anymore (not that she should have been doing that in the first place, but still). Tomoko, the perv that she is, still has those shitty desires, but she’s more tactical about it. Like a politician.

Lol! Tomoko is such a jokester!

...right?

This harks back to those times when Tomoko fantasized about being an arms dealer/mercenary. Naturally, that’s a far cry from wanting to be a golfer, which is much more grounded in reality. Even Tomoko’s reasons about the payload and being a woman carries merit. Sure, it’s ultimately a fleeting interest, but at least her dreams aren’t so...how should I say, destructive anymore.

Even deeper into the realm of reality is her interest in being an esports streamer. Being a millennial, it’s a perfectly understandable desire that fits into Tomoko’s work ethic and personality. Sure, her last experience as a streamer was an utter failure, but now she’s got a good grasp on what it really takes to be one. My guess about Komiyama doubts stem from her thinking that female streamers become popular largely on their sex appeal, which Tomoko evidently does not have by most accounts.

Tomokitis (noun) – a rare disease characterized by an irrational lust for little brothers with baggy eyes named Tomoki. Prolonged exposure to Tomoki will worsen the lust to the point where mere proximity will trigger it. Those afflicted are forever hopeless.

As freaky as Komiyama is, I’m more impressed that her thirst for Tomoki overrides any disgust she may have at the possibility of being related to Tomoko. Well, Tomoki is basically a drug for her at this point, and junkies have accepted far worse to gain their fix.

Sploosh.

In the rare possibility that the universe decides to hook up Tomoki and Komiyama, Tomoko is going to make one hell of a cockblocker.

Shoot, even the cat gets a return appearance. Nico Tanigawa are really putting out all the stops lately with the nostalgia, ain’t they?

If memory serves, there isn’t a scene in the manga that shows Yuu being particularly interested in cats, so this was actually pulled straight from the anime. You know, that scene in the last episode where Yuu chases down a mentally broken Tomoko only to suddenly stop and pet a kitty? If they're willing to reference anime-original moments like that, then Nico Tanigawa must have fond memories of their anime adaptation.

Is Yuu taking about the dog or Yoshida? :p

Okay, so the dog. Wonder how she’d take to being compared to a pig?

First Pineapple-chan, and now Yuu-chan. It seems pretty mandatory that anybody outside of the loop would think that Yoshida was bullying Tomoko. Of course, once you realize that Tomoko has done things that would get her on the front page of a #MeeToo article, all bets are off.

Has Tomoko ever been this upfront about how she harasses Yuu? It was always my assumption that this was an unspoken reoccurrence between the two of them. At least the physical stuff anyway, as Tomoko is known for making “jokes” about getting Yuu knocked up. The poor girl really is too sweet for her own good.

While Yuu may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, that doesn’t mean she’s clueless about the sexual world (she supposedly lost her virginity after all). I’m sure she’s aware that most people wouldn’t tolerate Tomoko “accidental” groping, hence why she questions how someone could not bully her for that.

It’s pretty ironic how even though Yoshida is probably the most transparent character in the series, Tomoko still can’t figure out if she’s friends with her. That might be Tomoko’s fault somewhat as she’s the type who needs things spelled out to her, and given that Yoshida is more of an “actions speak louder than words” girl, you can see the barrier there. At some point, one of them’s going to have to take that first step and say it to the other’s face if this friendship is going to go places.

Poor Yuu. The first friend of the series is the last friend to see Tomoko’s growth.

This has been a headcanon of mine since the very beginning of the series, but I’ve always felt that Yuu Naruse had this inner sadness to her. That underneath her beautiful looks and kind personality was a girl who suffers more than she lets on. Remember, Yuu’s personality is fundamentally the same as it was in middle school, despite all the outwardly changes she made in high school. What Tomoko once called a “debut” could have actually been a survival tactic. Yuu never likes to be a bother, and her way of hiding her emotions isn’t always healthy, whether it’s holding back tears about a terrible beach, or making her friends sing for an hour at karaoke. And heaven forbid her breakup with her ex-boyfriend was uglier than she let on. Worse yet, Yuu knows her weaknesses, which only makes her self-deprecating moments hurt even more.

Perhaps I’m talking out of my ass, but hey, Yuu deserves an overcomplicated character analysis just like all the others.

And as always, Yuu, the angel she is, always puts Tomoko before herself...

I find it admirable that Komiyama is so secure about her social life. Her tiny circle of friends and lack of some Tomoki lovin’ have never truly brought her down, and she can even make fun of herself for it. It’s much different from Tomoko’s rampant self-consciousness of the earlier days, Some may argue it’s a lack of shame as opposed to self-confidence, but Komi is clearly making the best out of it.

Hikari, eh? Other than reminding me of a certain Pokêmon character, I wonder if that’s a joke about how Itou “lights up” when she unleashes her powers of observation.

...

So, um...fujoshi anyone?

The prices one pays to be a friend to Kotomi Komiyama.

All in all, this was a fairly easygoing chapter, as most chapters with the OG trio are. With the emotional rollercoaster that Golden Week had provided us, it’s nice to wind down a bit and reflect on the past. That’s not to say that this is a “recap” chapter by any means. Simply that this self-reflection exists to guide our heroines into the next stage of their young lives. It may be as simple as making a new friend over a perverted Skype call, but if there’s only one thing this series has taught us, it’s that the simple things are just the start of something greater.

#watamote #watamote review #chapter 143 #no matter how i look at it it's you guys' fault i'm not popular!#tomoko kuroki #yuu naruse #kotomi komiyama #tomoki kuroki #hikari itou #review

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thought-corner-blog · 5 years

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My Hot Take on Morality

Morality is a very very very sticky subject that few people want to fully delve into (including myself for a very long time) because if one comes to the wrong conclusion, that can be VERY stressful. What do I mean by the “wrong” conclusion? I mean an answer that explains why people do the wrong thing, but doesn't explain why people do the right thing. Or explains why people do either, but doesn't explain why one should do the right thing. Coming to the conclusion that nobody has any choice in it at all can also be quite stressful. This subject is a source of anxiety for a lot of people, myself included, but I've been thinking about it more because of some pieces of literature that I've been forced to read for school. Yes, the thing that prompted me to seriously think about the issue of morality is a high school literature course that I had zero choice in taking, and yes it is pathetic. But I'm thinking about it now, and here's what all of my thinking has got me to.

First of all, why does it matter? Now don't worry I'm still going to cover this issue (I know you were probably shaking and shitting in your boots out of fear of me not rambling on and on about an issue that only really pretentious and/or old people remotely give a rats ass about). This hypothetical question is mostly just to assuage my own anxiety. What I mean is, if we have no choice in anything, and we're just a bunch of pissing, cumming, sweating, expostulating, hugging, fucking, loving, angry, deranged animals who learned to speak on a moldy, stone space ship spiraling through the universe, why does it matter if I have all the answers? I still want to know, but it's more for the sake of sating my curiosity. Now it's more that I want the answers, not that I need them. Enough about me, though, what even the fuck is morality? What is justice? In this essay I will attempt to answer these questions.

Let's start by exploring the idea of free will in relation to determinism, because it was the conclusion I reached about this subject which lead me to even write about this at all. And this time I'm actually going to use a source (pretty crazy right? Gonna go all out and use MLA like a big-boy writer). The source is an excerpt from Not Guilty: a Defense of the Bottom Dog by Robert Blatchford, relating to a defense of “hard determinism.” There's a lot to unpack in this excerpt, and a lot of things that I agree and disagree with, but lets start with what I agree with. So Blatchford (I'm not sure how to feel about that last name cause it's kind of bad-ass but it's also sort of nonsense) claims in this excerpt that man is not responsible for having a “virtuous” or “cruel” nature, because these things are dictated and influenced entirely by “heredity” and “environment.” Before we get to the big fat and in Blatchford's claim, lets look a bit deeper into this statement. Blatchford says this claim is very difficult to refute, and I agree. No human being has any control over the different things that make them up. If different environmental and genetic factors led to a person becoming virtuous, it's not as if that person had any control over those factors. Let's take an extreme example: Hitler. Before I say anything about Hitler, I want to make it clear that I hate him. He sucks and is a very awful shitty person and he makes me wish hell existed so that he could go there. But the thing with Hitler is, he had no control over the factors which led him to become a deranged sociopathic piece of radio-active pig meat, and he didn't even believe that he was a deranged sociopath in the first place. This is true for everyone. Obviously I am oversimplifying the human condition, but you get my point: humans do not choose to be initially good or evil, and evil people generally don't even think that they're evil at all.

I don't disagree with Blatchford on this point, but I reject his interpretation of these facts. Blatchford claims that this inability to choose one's own nature means 1). That human beings cannot be held responsible for their actions and 2). That human beings have practically no free will in making moral decisions. The reason I disagree with this is because there is no way that a child molester does not deserve punishment, and there is no way that people are completely bound to a fate of enslavement to their heredity. But how can this be if a child molester was born with a lust that is stronger than their virtue? Something that is completely outside of their control? Well this is where we need to define what justice is.

And this is where my Hot Takes come in, which should be taken with a very large grain of salt because I have absolutely no philosophical expertise (but honestly, neither did most ancient Greek philosophers. A lot of them were major dipshits but they are practically worshiped by modern day thinkers. I would also like to note that this statement is substantiated by absolutely zero facts). Here is my personal definition of justice: justice is an equal and opposite reaction to injustice. It is the representation of a battle between two sides who both believe they are doing what is reasonable. Those on the side of justice are individuals who's virtue is stronger than greed or ambition, and those on the side of injustice are individuals who are won over by self-satisfaction at the sacrifice of others. Do people have any choice in whether or not their virtue is stronger than their need to satisfy the self? Sort of. This is another place where I disagree with Blatchford, and it lies in the area of free will, which is a different topic so I'm going to start another paragraph to talk about it.

Blatchford's view on free will is much too rigid. He views humans as mechanisms following out a protocol which was programmed into them through development by outside factors and “heredity.” I agree with Blatchford in that I think that human beings cannot choose what they want. I cannot choose whether or not I like tomatoes. I also cannot choose whether I initially want the best for the world or not. Nobody can control their heredity or their environment. Blatchford believes this means that nobody has any choice in the decisions they make, and his rhetoric makes it seem pretty reasonable at first. But when you just strip away all the bullshit and look at the “if then” statement made to reach that conclusion you realize that that's a pretty big leap. IF human beings cannot control the factors which assemble the parts of their character THEN they cannot make any ethical decisions at all. What the fuck? Now that's some dumb bullshit right there. In my oh so humble opinion. The reason this is some dumb bullshit is because Blatchford assumes because some choices are omitted due to an individual's nature, there are no choices that can be made at all. Let's use a much too simple and fallacious metaphor to dissect this claim. Let's say that I have the choice between butterscotch ice cream and chocolate ice cream. Blatchford is essentially claiming that because actual fecal material is an omitted choice by nature, we don't really have a choice in anything at all. Yes, human beings cannot choose their nature, and they cannot choose what they want, but they can choose to do what they want, and to change themselves however they want, and this is determined by the nature of a human being, something that human beings cannot control. It's assumed that the collective “you” is the factors and building blocks which make you, and the things which went into turning you into who you are. You have no control over these factors, but you are yourself (that's sort of a given). The collective you can choose between two paths, and can choose what to become, and can choose what to prioritize in life, and can choose between chocolate and butterscotch ice cream, goddammit!

Bottom line: humans can decide to do what they want but they cannot decide what they want. Some people are born wanting one thing and others wanting another thing. This is called virtue or lack of it, and justice is an equal and opposite reaction to injustices acted out by people who were born with lust or greed or ambition which was greater than their virtue. Thus it is a constant battle between two combating sides who both think they are doing what's reasonable.

Also here’s the name of the picture I used to write pretentious words on: Nocturne:Blue and Gold- Old Battersea Bridge,1872-5,J.M.

Works cited:

Blatchford, Robert. “A Defense of Hard Determinism from: Not Guilty, a Defense of the Bottom Dog.” University of Washington, 1918.

#philosophy #writing #blog #morality #existentialism #atheism #essay #free will versus determinism #why do i have a fucking blog on tumblr #human nature

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esthersnippe · 6 years

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Becoming a Digital Nomad: A quick and dirty guide to UpWork

(My “office” on the Isla of Flores in Guatemala)

Freelancing is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.

Although now I have moved off of freelancing and am more of an independent contractor, I still pick up a few freelancing projects ever quarter.

Because it is simply a great way to make money. Loads of people are leaving their office and opting for something more flexible: according to the FreshBooks Self-Employment Report, potentially 27 million Americans will leave the traditional work in favor of self-employment by 2020. This shift would triple the current population of full-time self-employed professionals bringing the total number of workers to 42 million.

And that’s just in the US, imagine what these figures look like globally.

I’m guessing if you are here reading this, we’ve talked about it already and I have sent you the link, so you are pretty sold: but let’s review:

You choose your hours. No bosses saying “You’re ten minutes late!” or having to suffer through another 8-hour shift that just never seems to end. You pick when you work. If you are hungover and can’t bring it to the table: that’s your call. (But warning: you will not get the money if you don’t work.)

You choose your projects. After the first couple projects (which is a bit of a mad and dirty dash, I am afraid) you get to start to get choices. Storytime! Once I was working for this American Museum Tour company. At first, they were loads of fun, and they even flew me to New York City multiple times, and I got a paid trip to Switzerland. Things were great, until the point they weren’t. Then I began to hate it with the passion of a thousand suns. So one day, I just quit. The next day, I found another project, and they paid me more money, and were a better company. It was bloody easy. Stop suffering. Pick a project you like and only stick with it until/if you stop liking them. (Note: I have been with the new client for 3 years, and they are still a dream to work with.)

You get paid real money. There is this idea that if it happens on the internet, maybe there is something sketchy about it. This could be true in some cases: but in this case, you get actual money (ok, sometimes it is in a different currency then the country you are living in, but you can turn it into your currency) that goes into your actual bank account and you can actually buy and pay for things. For sitting at home. Doing stuff on your laptop.

You can learn new stuff on the job. I definitely didn’t start out with all the skills I have now. I started off as a modest internet researcher, and through time, worked my way up to having this whole jetpack of skills that clients not only want, but need. Don’t feel daunted about not being able to do everything right away. Start with a good project, and be a sponge. Learn as much as you can, because these skills are valuable (remember the part about making real money?)

You can go anywhere in the world. As long as they have wifi, and your clients are ok with you being in a different timezone? You can go anywhere. Since working as a freelancer, I have travelled to, get this, 30 countries. Screw waiting around for a two-week vacation. Go see the world. And make some money while you do it.

Now, here comes the part where I bring that excitement down to a reasonable level.

There are some hard truths about freelancing I am going to be frank about.

The first is that it is real work. You’ve got to be dedicated and you absolutely have to have a rock-solid work ethic. If you don’t, you will not get very far, because this is not the kind of job you can “float by” on. People will drop you like a hot potato the second you stop performing. And there is no safety net. You will have to hustle your own projects for the first bit: people will not be chomping at the bit to get you. In fact, they will probably, most like, almost definitely ignore you for the most part. There are literally 12 million users on UpWork: if you aren’t hustling, you aren’t going anywhere. Apply for ten positions a day. Get up at 4am for a Skype interview. Be charming af. Follow up, then follow up again. Don’t let them forget you, and if they don’t hire you, ask why and then get better. You’ve got to get your own work. Lastly, you are probably not going to make mad money right away. The money is there, and you can have some of it, but you are probably going to have to do a bit of grunt work first, and I am talking up to 2-3 months at a low rate. But keep at it. There is a bunch of money and magic at the top of the mountain.

Still with me?

Ok. Let’s get into it.

Why UpWork?

So, when I first started freelancing, I signed up for a few different Freelancing websites that were around at the time: oDesk, Elance and Freelancer. There were others I looked at, like Toptal and Fivrr. But I couldn’t see how people could make actual money to pay bills on Fivrr, but didn’t have high enough skills or experience for Toptal. I got work within a few weeks of signing up for oDesk, and after seeing the cut that Freelancer was taking after one project, stuck with oDesk. oDesk merged with Elance, they changed their name to UpWork, and here we are.

That being said: I love UpWork. At one point, one of my clients asked me if we could leave UpWork, and he would pay me directly. I agreed. That is $1000 I will never get back. He was a nice guy, but at that moment, I was screwed over, and there was nothing I could do. UpWork protects you from that happening.

Secondly, with the sheer amount of freelancers on the site: clients are simply drawn to UpWork. They aren’t just looking for the cheapest: they are looking for the variety.

Note: I am not longer using UpWork, and work 100% on my regular clients and referrals. But there is no way I would have gotten there, or gotten so many skills, without UpWork, so I still think it is the best place to start.

Setting up your profile

Here are three great articles on how to set up a great profile:

Enhance Your Upwork Freelancer Profile for Greater Success

How to Create an Upwork Profile That Gets You Clients, FAST

Sample: Profile

I am not going to rewrite what they’ve said. Because that is a waste of time (hurray for understanding time management!)

But here are my top 6 tips:

Upload a profile picture where you look good. I mean real good. Don’t be an a** about it either. Clean, professional, and hot. That’s all. No party hats or dogs or sunglasses or duck-facey, off camera looks.

Pick 5 skills. Even though they let you have 10: be clear about what you can and want to do. Now, on the topic of skills: you do not need a journalism degree to be a writer. Or a photography degree to manage an Instagram account. Think about the kinds of things you like. Are you a grammar nut? Put those skills to work as an editor. Do you speak multiple langauges fluently? Become a translator. Do you love spreadsheets? That is a freaking skill, (wo)man! Are you generally a happy-go-lucky, I-can-get-shit-done kind of person? Be someone’s personal virtual assistant. You do not have to be defined by what you’ve already done, focus on what you like to do.

Watch out for typos. I was hiring for this client once, and found a woman who was amazing. We had a skype interview and I was ready to sign on the dotting line, but at the last minute, my client looked at her profile and found a typo and said “No.” Simple as that. I was gutted, because she was really fantastic. Have someone proofread your profile, because it’s that easy for potential clients to move on to the next person.

Don’t worry about tests. Very few clients look at them. Or care. Even if you are in the top 5%. They are nice, but also, kind of a waste of time.

Fill in your profile so that your bar goes up to 100%. Just do it. I know it’s work, but you’ll get more clients.

Set a reasonable rate for how long you’ve been on the site. Yes, I know you’d love to be paid $50 and hour, but if you’ve got zero experience or hours, you are not going to get clients. Honestly, start at $7-$10 an hour. Then after your first 100 hours, you can bump your rate up to what you think you should be getting. Why 100 hours? Because it puts you in a different search category: a better one. Wait...what are these search categories? Well, when a client is looking for someone, this is what it looks like:

See that massive jump in the number of Freelancers (the bracket number) on the “Hours Billed” section? That means your competition decreases by more than half, and you can start to get more choosy about your gigs.

On getting hired

Remember that thing I said about hustling? Yep. You’ve got to do that.

But here are some more tips.

Apply, apply, apply. Then apply some more. I don’t even know how many proposals I wrote in those first few weeks, but it was a lot. And here’s the thing, you can’t cheat. You’ve got to read the position, and write to them personally. All the low-end people cut and paste and never move ahead. Put some soul into it, especially at first.

Start small (I mean cheap): Although your insides might be screaming “I AM BETTER THAN THAT.” take 1-3 low paid one-off projects. Get a five-star rating and use it to propel yourself to the next freelancer level.

In the interview process: be as attentive as possible. This means responding right away to messages, and being available for interviews even if the hours are weird (remember the 4am comment? Yeah, I did that once). Follow up with them, and then follow up again. Be impressive.

On working as a freelancer

Wow! Have you gotten a gig? Good job! You rock! From here on in you are kind of a free agent, and it is between you and your client, but here are some tips.

Get really good at online communication. This means responding to emails quickly, and being clear. This means if at any point you don’t understand what your client wants: you ask them before charging them for work they didn’t need or want or is incorrect. Give them your email, Facebook and Skype, and ask them how their team communicates (Google Hangouts? Slack? Basecamp *gulp*) then be there.

Download the time tracker and stick to working when you are working. It takes three seconds to turn off the tracker, check your Facebook, and then turn it on again. But once you get a screen grab of you hanging out on Facebook, it looks bad. Also, I have come to suspect (from being caught more than once) that UpWork automatically looks for you slacking off, ie. Facebook.

Get your hours in. If they have given you hours, they expect the work to be done. Coming back without the work done with excuses and worse, not having filled up your hours? Bad. Remember the thing I said about them dropping you like you’re hot? Get the work done in the hours they’ve given you, or talk with them and discuss with them why you need fewer hours. That is far better than simply coming up short.

Getting good feedback is important. Even if this means swallowing your pride from time to time. Here is what they are going to rate you on:

But wait: why is there public feedback and private feedback? Well, you know how you’ve got that job success thing on the side of your profile? Over time, you get secret points. Those secret points work up to you being featured higher when the clients use the search tool. Also, you’ll get some cool perks in the future, like the Premium Freelancer program.

Lastly, and most importantly: GETTING PAID So, I have to be honest here. I have never fully figured out the timing of the payments. It goes through my PayPal, and whenever it hits a $1000 of earning, it goes into my bank account. There is a bunch of information here though. If you’d like to talk to me privately about payments (ie. Taxes and other trickier areas) feel free to message me.

I hope this gives you enough to get started. As I said before, freelancing is an amazing option if you are done with the office and dream about doing something slightly more, slightly different and have the gumption to do it. If you have any questions, want me to review your profile, or just want to talk more about freelancing— shoot me off a message, I love helping people get one step closer to freedom, be that fiscal or philosophical.

PS. Here is the list of countries I’ve been to while working as a freelancer: Austria, Belarus, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, El Salvador, England, Faroe Islands, France, Guatemala, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States.

#upwork #freelancing #digital nomad #making money #independent contractor

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arabellaflynn · 6 years

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I've made an interesting discovery: The Eccentric is quite possibly the only person I've ever met who understands jealousy even less than I do. The Eccentric is, as implied by his pseudonym, very eccentric. Mrs. Eccentric has made the occasional crack about him being from the Land of No Boundaries, but that isn't actually true. A lot of them are just in strange places, such that if you try to go casually lean on one expecting to find it in the usual spot you may end up tipping over and falling into a big confusing void. He is aware that he wants weird things out of life, and negotiates for them very directly, probably because he's realized that this is so beyond the norm that nobody is ever going to give him what he wants unless he tells them what it is. The first thing he made clear when we started talking about dance lessons was that he is VERY married, he was NOT looking to step out on his wife, and he did NOT want me to feel like I was being creeped on. I appreciate this. Anyone who looks female and does social dance gets hit on annoyingly often, and if someone thinks their creeping is being successful, then "sure, let's dance" sounds a lot like "Netflix & chill". The second thing he made clear, though, is that he wants a lot of emotional engagement from his regular dance partners. A lot. He kept telling me I should look at my partner with 'passion' ("...or derision, you know, whatever you're feeling." That got him a sort of fond amusement, which was more or less where I was at the time). I summed up his novella-length explanation as duende once and he seemed to think it was pretty accurate. It intensely personal, it is very intimate, and it is specifically what he is looking to get out of this. I looked all that over and went, well, it's definitely a weird shape for a relationship, but I have a high tolerance for weird, and I am personally comfortable with where all of those lines are drawn. So sure, let's dance. There are, broadly speaking, two big problems with entering into this dynamic:

I like this a lot.

Wives and girlfriends generally don't.

You would think this man would drive me batty; he is extrovert-squared and extremely high-energy, especially in crowds. Last time I saw him I put an hour-long entry in my calendar, immediately after the event, that just said "buffer for [Eccentric] chatter", and I did in fact need it. But when he's dancing, 100% of this chaotic energy turns into hyperfocus and goes into the dance and his dance partner. It is strangely calm, like being in the eye of a hurricane. Being an introvert, I do best in interactions that are as close to one-on-one as possible. My brain is terrible at filtering the environment out, so the less random shit I have to process, the more likely I am to engage in the kind of meaty conversation that will result in my bonding with you. Normally I try to do this by moving to a quieter location, but apparently it can also be accomplished by just making sure you are eleventy billion times more salient than anything else in the room. Not altogether unlike using high-powered laser beams to force molecules ever closer to the stillness of absolute zero, now that I think of it. The rest of the world really does go away. I would go mad if I had someone all up in my space like that all the time. Romantically, platonically, metaphorical head-space, literal living space, doesn't matter. I need an uncommonly large amount of alone time or I will lose my mind. But I need moments of it to feel like I'm connected to the world. I spent a lot of my early life lacking it so badly I didn't even realize it was an option. I know Shakespeare wrote that thing about, "'Tis better to have loved and lost," yadda yadda, but Shakespeare was a jackass sometimes. I've been through plenty of emotional trauma, and hands-down the worst thing that has ever happened was finally finding out how it felt to connect with other people, and then grinding through a year or two where there was literally nobody in my life who was willing to give that to me. This is a thing that I want so hard I am incapable of being objective about it. I want it so hard that I don't trust myself to spot warning signs that someone's about to get mad at me for it. It doesn't matter much when I get those 'BFF connection' moments with one of my straight woman friends; their partners just go, "Gosh, my special lady found herself a new bestie! Super!" and think about it roughly never again. Gay men are also pretty chill. I dislike the term 'fag hag', but there's a reason that's a thing. If you happen to be a gay dude who prefers a more emotionally-open style of friendship, the easiest way to get it is still to befriend a bunch of women. To the best of my knowledge, nobody's husband or boyfriend has ever thrown a tantrum over me. [I've never had trouble with my bisexual friends, oddly. I presume that's because they date people who have made their peace with the idea that, while their partner might theoretically try to bang anyone else on the face of the Earth at any time, they're probably not going to bother.] I'm perfectly capable of being friends with straight men, but it's often more trouble than it's worth. I spend a lot of time being anxious that my existence is going to upset their partner. My 'I'd like to be somewhere quieter so I can focus on the conversation,' looks a lot like 'I want to be away from witnesses so I can get up to something underhanded,' if you are afflicted with a certain kind of emotional astigmatism. It's really hard for me to be secure in a friendship if there's always that nagging voice in the back of my mind, reminding me that our next conversation might be all about how, "my wife says I can't talk to you anymore". So, to get back to the topic sentence I typed about nine miles ago at the beginning of the blog entry, I figured if he could be weird and name things normally left unspoken, so could I. I had a chat with his wife, which turned out less, "So, uh, you okay with watching your husband put his mitts all over me?" and more, "When you refer to your husband's dance partners as his 'girlfriends', how much of that is snark?' (Answer: Not a lot. So far as I know, he's not literally dating any of them, but in terms of emotional investment? Pretty much. Also, I am now on the list.) In the circles where I run, the list of Things A Married Man Can Ethically Get Up To is isomorphic with the list of Things His Spouse Says He Can, so all I really wanted to know is whether she was cool with the weird boundary arrangement, and she is. I then pointed out to the Eccentric that the amount of emotional entanglement he wants from a dance partner is way beyond what most wives would be happy with, and yep! well aware! Then I commented that it had probably gotten him into a lot of trouble with a lot of girlfriends before he worked out how to handle it, and NOOOOOOOOOOOO. According to him, at least. There was a ranty bit of monologue about jealousy delivered in the traditional literary format of the Engineering people, 'This Makes No Sense To Me, Therefore It Is Stupid'. What I took away from that conversation was that there probably had been relationship trouble at some point(s), but it ended with a breathtaking quickness. The trouble, or possibly the relationship, depending on her reaction to him putting his foot down. You will be okay with his dance-girlfriends or you will not be his regular-girlfriend anymore. My policy has long been that the first one who insists on making my affection into a competition will immediately lose, but that if someone else is trying to make one of my friends choose, I will opt to bow out. I have a bunch of feelings about this, but they're mainly along the lines of frustration and sadness. There are so many connections I'm not allowed to have because it will make some other person feel bad. I don't feel this way and I don't like it at all, but I try to remember that other people do feel this way and they don't like it either, and avoid putting them in that position. Fighting for someone else's attention just makes everyone miserable. I don't know that I've ever met someone who is so openly contemptuous as the Eccentric is, of the idea that someone in his own life would try to apply the jealousy argument to him, and think it was going to stick. Mrs. Eccentric would not be Mrs. Eccentric if she did not think all of her husband's various attachments were endearing. Moreover, this whole arrangement seems to be what he is meta-going for with all of this. I've met a bunch of his other partners (dance partners. Although, perhaps notably, he always leaves off the "dance" part when speaking of them) and we all seem to be of a type, up to and including his wife: Self-sufficient to a fault and headstrong to the point where we all at least started out backleading like crazy. He likes leading us because he likes feeling trusted, and the way he makes himself trustworthy is by negotiating all of the weird boundary settings out loud, and then sticking to whatever everyone agreed on. Anyone outside who wants to tell him it's inappropriate can go kick rocks. I still don't fully trust all this. Not because of anything anyone here has done, but because I've had many hard lessons in how much people lie to themselves about what their boundaries actually are, and how I am infinitely less important than whoever you are sleeping with. The only thing that's going to fix that is a sufficiently long stretch of time where nobody tries to start shit. from Blogger https://ift.tt/2JDoM3N via IFTTT -------------------- Enjoy my writing? Consider becoming a Patron, subscribing via Kindle, or just toss a little something in my tip jar. Thanks!

#IFTTT #Blogger #Unsolicited Advice

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fantroll-purgatory · 6 years

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Crypha Castan

@persephoneanmystery

(Okay, so we’re getting into “writer’s special interest” themed trolls I guess? If I get too technical, just let me know! She’s kind of… flat. I think her concept is so well defined that I have trouble deviating from it to flesh her out. You ready for six straight Prospit dreamers? I… don’t think I am. Let’s go!)

Her character and theme is definitely really straight forward and tightly knit. I don’t know if I’d describe her as flat, though! Still, I’ll play around in the guts of her profile to see if we can tug anything out.

Universe: Beforus!

Name: Crypha Castan

“Crypha” comes from Cryphonectria parasitica, the fungus that causes Chestnut Blight! It’s one of my favorite named fungi because “Cryphonectria” just… sounds like a good super villain name. “Castan”, perhaps fittingly, is from Castanea dentata, the American Chestnut, a reference to this one’s ability to just… absolutely devastate things when she puts her mind to it.

I love this a lot. Ruthless and destructive, a true blight. Ready to bring the world down. This also reminds me of an analysis of 1984- a fun fact about chestnuts is that they’re a symbol of honesty and justice, but in the book their repeated reference is used to symbolize the mutation of from the old world order of justice to new world order of injustice. Maybe I’m just flaunting my AP skills here, but the historical literature linking of chestnuts and totalitarian regimes is a fun note here!

Age: Roughly 7 Sweeps

Theme/Story: Crypha’s always been a leader since the day she was spawned, she likes to say. Something of a genius when it comes to keeping things alive, she decided to study to become a naturalist. She runs her lab (that she likely shouldn’t have but… details) with an iron fist, and her understudies know better than to get in her way. Once Crypha sets her mind to something, there’s no stopping her. Her lab’s focus? Molds, creeping and blanketing.

Strife Specibus: Flaskkind

Crypha doesn’t like to get her hands dirty, but when push comes to shove, the girl can whip up a mean cocktail. She’s tried acid, explosives, mind control pheromones… All of em have some efficacy when applied directly to a fool’s forehead.

I love that. Very rude, to just splash something in someone’s face. Excellent fighting strategy, though.

Fetch Modus: Hangman

Crypha keeps her modus relatively simple, but it’s got a twist. She can’t ever choose what item she’s taking out. The hangman just simply gives her the amount of letters in the item’s name. She sometimes just memorizes everything that’s in there as a mental exercise. If the man is hung, her item is crushed and thrown out at her.

Blood color: Cerulean/Blue

Crypha certainly embodies the blueblooded idea of “doing the most harm”. She’s ambitious and devoted, and she knows she’s good what she does. In fact, she often believes that there’s nobody else out there that can do it her way! This leads to her underestimating everyone around her, and overestimating her ability. Atop of this, she’s seethingly jealous of anyone she thinks is getting credit for something she’s good at, and therefore she should be doing. Really, the worst combination of traits for a PI.

Symbol and meaning: Perhaps ironically-

SCORSCI, THE FIXER

Trolltag: [AA] adamantineAscomycete

“Adamantine” is a mythical kind of metal (I’ve often seen it in video games as a sort of off-blue color to boot) that’s impossible to break. Crypha believes herself to be impenetrable, hence the tag. To avoid going all mycologist up in here, “Ascomycetes” as a type of fungus with a wide set of traits (mostly defined my shapes of fruiting bodies and types of sexual stages and-) that many plant pathogens are grouped under. Both Cryphonectria and Cordyceps are Ascomycetes!

Beautifully fitting.

Quirk: Crypha talks like a damn saturday morning cartoon villain, always capitalizing her M’s and laughing ominously at the end of her sentences hehehehehe….

Special Abilities (if any): While she possesses the classic Cerulean Mind Control powers, Crypha has fine tuned hers into a weapon of mass destruction. Or so she thinks. One of her biggest experiments is being able to turn fungal spores that affect insects into ones that can affect Trolls. She’s been successful, but it has drawbacks. She has to craft them beforehand, but once directed they’re relatively easy to program. The problem is once she turns them on, the troll in question is helpless to do ANYTHING she hasn’t programmed. She has to be incredibly specific in what she says or it could be interpreted by the troll’s “inferior brain” as something else.

I know I helped brainstorm this idea, but it’s still so cool and the drawback is so fun to imagine in action. And her frustration when things just don’t go her way? Beautiful.

Lusus: Crypha’s been told it’s a great honor to have a Leafcutter Queen as a Lusus. She doesn’t really see the appeal. She doesn’t do a lot of like, parenting. She just sits and eats fungus all day and hatches the mindless workers that actually do the day to day work around their massive underground fungus garden of a hive. She has to give her a little credit though- her Lusus certainly ignited her love of mold, taught her the importance of letting the grunts handle the labor, and has given her basically infinite specimens to experiment on! The amount of ant corpses outside her hive that have been overgrown with parasitic fungus is… too damn many.

It’s no wonder she’s interested in picking up a higher place on the hierarchy, considering she’s got such a ruling class mother. The ant thing gives me another idea, though…

Interests: Mycology, Pathology (Specifically of Insects, like Trolls), Bartender Mixology, The Ethics of World Domination, The Ecological Necessity of The Hemospectrum, High Society Rules of Engagement

We can probably add a mild biology interest just because she’s working with implementing mind control on Physical Beings. And maybe she could be just a little interested in Marine Parasitology. Y’know, just in case seadwellers start frustrating her plans.

Appearance: Crypha is never seen anywhere without her lab coat and goggles. Always gotta practice good laboratory practices, even in the field! ….Even at home. Her wardrobe is intentionally spartan and plain, she doesn’t like colors outside of grey and black. Even Cerulean is a bit too bright for her eyes. She loves turtleneck sweaters more than she’d like to admit, and her hair is always a mess because she very rarely styles it. She just pulls it back to keep it away from her equipment. She’s always got this oddly faraway look to her- like she’s not looking at you, she’s looking through and past you. It’s deeply unnerving.

Personality: Crypha’s a dreamer and an ambitious dreamer. It’s not enough for her to just think about doing amazing things; she intends to go out and make them a reality. The problem is that her big plans are of subjugation and control. She wants an army of mindless but well-trained zombies to do her bidding. What bidding? She… hasn’t gotten that far yet. As someone so obsessed with protocol and propriety as she is, it’s odd that she doesn’t always think so far ahead. She never knows just what she’s going to do with the things she makes and achieves. She just knows that she wants them, and she wants them now, so god damn her if she’s not going to have them NOW. Crypha doesn’t really have “friends” because she’s not the kind of person who would want them. To her, there are people who are beneath you, people who should be beneath you, and Crypha herself. It hasn’t escaped the notice of many of the people around her that she’s insufferable and somewhat scatterbrained, but if you cross her, watch out! That girl can turn from zero to six thousand degrees Kelvin in an instant.

Most of my recommendations are going to come in here, since you’re dissatisfied… so I’ll talk about the idea that the ants gave me here, I guess! So, you know how worker ants are called “Drones?” Well….. I was thinking about what you said, about her attempting to Destroy Through Life, and how she hasn’t quite gotten that down yet. So on top of the attempts to take control of people’s brains, maybe you could give her a pointed interest in trying to craft new creatures? The drones are a tool of the hierarchy and help out the people who are above her, after all. So maybe she makes a habit of nabbing any that come out her way and experimenting on them in some interesting ways? Ways that usually involve failure and/or destruction, but still. It’d be a way of creating doom, actively tearing these things apart. I’m just thinking… weird, smushed together creatures like the Amalgamates in undertale. Hell, maybe she even grabs a troll corpse or two to throw into the mix every once in a while. Her hive is a little bit nightmare fuel.

Maybe you could expand that temper and make her a little prone to histrionics? Just because she wants things her way and she wants them NOW, and she’s not so fond of when other people’s needs are put above her own, and it’s not fair, it’s not FAIR-. What I’m saying is maybe she could be the fit-throwing type, a gracelessness that kind of embarrasses her afterwards but it feels a bit necessary when her emotions are running high and her prospitan emotionalism meets her scorpio intensity meets her life-i-ness.

Title: Prince of Life

Active Classes That Remain: Maid, Witch, Thief, Prince,

Passive Classes That Remain: Sylph, Page

Princes dance around using their Aspect because they are so innately tied to their Aspect’s opposite. Crypha’s a wonderful example of when a Prince goes power mad. She’s a destroyer of deviation, a destroyer of innovation. She rules her lab with an iron fist, refusing to let any opinions or facts reach her ears that didn’t come from her own mouth, even when it’s to her detriment. She’s surrounded by death and decay, the end of Life, the inevitable Doom of all things.

She’s not a true Doom player, of course. That ego and self-centered streak of hers is all Life, all the time. Crypha is so certain that she knows what’s best for literally everyone that she wants to program their brains with mind control spores and puppet them like some kind of biological marionette show. She destroys their Lives through another form of Life.

Like any good Prince, she rejects anything to do with her Aspect subconsciously. She’s a stickler for rules and restrictions, and sets those upon herself as much as she does everyone else. She’s much better at the whole “Destroying Life” part than she is at the “Destroying Through Life” part, but she’s getting there. And woe betide anyone who gets caught in the aftermath of that.

I LOVE this for her.

Land: The Land of Forests and Overflow

Crypha’s hive gets picked up and thrown at the ground, destroying a set of ancient looking redwood trees in the process. They extend all the way towards the the featureless, white sky, and it is here that Crypha realizes she has a really big fear of wide, open spaces. She retreats into her hive as thunder rumbles, and then that same sky opens and rain comes pouring out.

Her hive is swept away like a leaf in the river, as a deluge is unleashed upon the world. This is no ordinary monsoon, this is something biblical and world ending. It drives Crypha insane immediately. What kind of season is this? This doesn’t make any sense!

She must leave her hive immediately if she is to get anywhere. The corpses of ants surround her and something pings in her mind. Soon, she’s paddling around on an exoskeleton raft, using a leg as a oar, composing rules for proper boating as she does so. Something is drowning this place, doing as it pleases.

It needs to learn its place in the hierarchy.

Dream Planet: Prospit

Prospit Dreamers tend to be a bit bubbly, energetic, and optimistic people. Crypha is none of those. She’s not a Dersite because she possesses none of Derse’s dissatisfaction. She believes that she is the best, and that’s how the world works. She doesn’t question it, she merely goes with it. She’s the kind of person that if she doesn’t have a defined set of rules for how the world should work around her, she panics- flailing and gasping for air.

She also seems like she could secretly be the capricious type, so it fits.

Design:

Horns: I wanted them to look a bit like antennae and a bit like pictures of cordyceps sprouting off of nats, so I gave them some protrusions and caps. I usually don’t do this many branches, but this was an aesthetic exception.

Hair: I wanted to make it as messy as you’d said, so there’s lots of flippy and overlapping clashing bits. I put her hair up in a bun to keep it out of the way, but also because I could vaguely make the bun look like an ant butt.

Goggles: I edited them from Eridan’s glasses if I’m being honest. I tinted them with Cerulean just to put that barest pop of color in there.

Eyes: I wanted to make sure her pupils were small for that faraway, creepy look. I gave her really low set eyebrows so she could look slightly Villainous.

Mouth: I wanted to make her look mildly smug and gave her some teeth shaped a bit like a pincher.

Top: A lab coat, but in a slightly dark grey. She’s also in a sweater, as you said. I made her symbol relatively small and shoved it in the corner. I wanted her to have her symbol and blood color somewhere on her design, but wanted to respect that she’s not fond of bright colors. So it’s just very, very tiny.

Pants & shoes: Edited from Vriska, I wanted to keep them relatively simple. Grey slacks and some black square-toed lab shoes.

She’s so deliciously evil!

-CD

#persephoneanmystery #crypha castan #crypha #castan #ceruleanblood #cobaltblood #review #redesign #cd review #submission

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