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mantisgodsdomain · 11 months

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[Image Description: Screenshots of a discord chat. Participant's names have been censored. Full transcript below cut.]

Blue: ...new thought thinking about how vi and hoaxe are direct narrative foils

Purple: owo???

Blue: just!!! thinking about narrative foils in general kabbu's got the beast, a traditional antagonist in the way of directly hindering what kabbu's trying to do leif has a more abstract foil in the zommoth, with the horror and dread of "is this what he would have become?" in one of those "scrooge looking at his own grave" things he actually has two, one in the form of the watcher to a lesser extent but vi? well she doesn't appear to have anyone ...except hoaxe

Blue: two neglected outcasts going down drastically different routes in search of the same goal they both want to live cushy, comfortable lives, being accepted and revered, but they go about it in different ways vi has something to prove, both to others, and herself. she accomplishes it through greed, not even after the money as much as what it represents: power, a power she's been deprived of her whole life. bees don't get the power to choose what they are, they even barely get to choose who they are, and she wants that to change and hoaxe, disoriented from being thrown abruptly into a whole new world, down to different water and sky, seeks survival, and survival means power. he wants to survive, and he sees his opportunity in the form of the crown, throwing away everything he had for a shot at what he thinks will save him from suffering in this strange land and he succeeds. but in doing so, he ends up becoming the antagonist to everyone else, not knowing how to handle suddenly having all this power, and goes to war to try to seek the next step, because… well, what now? it wasn't built up to, his mind hasn't registered himself as "i am safe and will survive" yet, it all happened so fast and that instinct to live still remains, even if he's no longer under any threat

Blue: so, what's the next step of continuing to live? seeking everlasting life.

Blue: the difference between hoaxe and vi is that vi could adjust to her steadily increasing fame and fortune, handling it well and responding properly to suddenly having more influence on the world, while hoaxe threw himself head first into it and went crazy with delusions of what he was supposed to do now one was earned, and thus was prepared for. one was a random chance, and it was like winning the lottery. what now?

Purple: this is excellent

Blue: vi and hoaxe's parallel is that vi had a plan, hoaxe didn't, but so many of their actions are similar both are willing to kill for their goal both can be incredibly antisocial both are, by far, not good (moral) characters

Blue: vi seriously considers leaving kabbu to die twice (and a half, considering how she tries to run at the end), shows no compassion for leif when he was possibly dead or injured throughout chapter 1 (web scene and post-river scene, since leif didn't wake up for a while), and managed to get kicked out of a place that canonically hosts blackmailers, gamblers, murderers, and peddlers kabbu outright calls her vile she's possibly the furthest thing from a hero that isn't a villain, but she manages to grow as a person and learns how to use her newfound power that she was always after properly hoaxe on the other hand, he was thrust into a position of absolute control with no prior experience, no one showing him how to rule, and no one offering him guidance and someone to fall back to when it got too hard the thing about hoaxe and vi? if vi was put into hoaxe's position, offered a chance to get, not just power, but revenge on the hive? she would take it, and she would go exactly the way hoaxe did she'd see no problems in having the mentality of "a queen is not meant to serve! a queen is meant to be served!" because all her life, she's been pushed into a role "for the queen" without barely ever seeing her, she's locked behind giant guarded doors after all, plus the whole "obey your mother, mother always knows best" culture would start to ingrain itself as "the queen is absolute", and if she had the opportunity to control the hive more than queenhood ever could provide? she wouldn't hesitate to take it

Blue: and hoaxe? if he had someone to put his trust into, to be honest with and even look up to to a point, someone he could truly confide in and get help in achieving his goals of having a safe, comfortable life? i doubt he would have ended up different to vi in the end of things

Blue: love it when the hero and villain are effectively the same person

Purple: this is So Very Neat and i adore it

Blue: bug fables is a glorious goldmine of "they didn't plan any of this, did they."

Purple: it really do be just gotta. get cohered a bit

Blue: love these bugs. they'd hate being compared to each other so much

#we speak #bug fables spoilers #bug fables #writing #long post #just remembereed we've never posted this fucking thing #anyways. bug fables tag look at this ramble from september

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facelessxchurch · 5 months

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Oh no I know they already dropped him but I meant why they dropped him. The style of the comic book was very fnaf or maybe a better term would be “kiddie horror” it’s a style obviously meant for children (and possibly also to be done quickly) which despite having a primary audience of literal children I don’t think is what derek wants for the series.

Specially when compared to what appears in the grimoir.

Haha, ok so here is the thing. I put on my conspiracy theory tin foil head in a private chat and was like "imagine if Landy kicked PJ Holden bc he didn't like sharing the the spot light" bc Holden did get to be at some signings alongside Landy and sign stuff too.

But then I watched the Forbidden Planet TV interview and omg I think that theory is actually correct??? I even feel like this interview is what was the biggest reason for Holden to get gone. The interviewer was clearly far more interested in Holden than Landy and you could see how bitter Landy was about it, like, he wasn't hiding it at all.

Here is the link to the interview.

So here are my notes from that interview below the cut bc it got kinda long:

These were written before I got the ask, so I just wrote down stuff that got my attention in the order they showed up instead of just stuff relating to this ask.

Landy's cat is named Groomer. [Fitting]

The interviewer is more focused on Holden than Landy in the beginning.

Holden and Landy were following each other on Twitter but had barely spoken. It just happened that about the time Holden was open for more work, Landy got the OK for an SP comic. So Holden getting hired was a coincidence.

We have it confirmed that the SP comic only got the OK from HarperCollins bc the "Heartstopper" comic was successful and now every publisher wants a comics department. SP/Landy were chosen as their first graphic novel bc Landy already had comic experience writing for Marvel.

"Bad Magic" takes place in the middle of the gap between book 15 and 16. It's a 6-year gap, so that's 3 years after UtE.

Originally the plot of the comics was going to be intertwined with the books. He MIGHT still do that. But for now comic readers should be able to follow the plot of the comics without having to read the books.

Landy is certain the book readrs will read the comic bc "they are hooked".

The interviewer doesn't ask follow-up questions about what Landy just said. Instead moves to Holden and compliments his creature design then asked him how it was to handle pre-establed characters like Skul and Val.

Holden: everybody sees a different version of Skul in their heads since he hasn't really been physically represented apart from covers and tie in merch [aka contradicts himself]. The challenge was making him emote since visually that's harder than just writing it [unfortunately the video did not show Landy's face at that part]. Valkyrie is a harder character to get right apparently.

Holden got little notes for all the monster designs. Apparently, there were histories to each monster but they didn't really get into that. [surprising, I thought the designs were random tbh]

[this segment starts at 23:31] Landy was unprepared for the comic thus Holden didn't get the whole script at once. It's implied Landy was still writing chapters while Holden had already started drawing the pages. So on Landy's request he had to go back and edit previous pages to make "tiny alterations". At some point "they" told Holdens they needed an extra page in every chapter bc they needed the page turn to be on a certain page since they hadn't taken into account that every chapter break would be a page. Landy sent a panicked Email to HarperCollins to suggest putting in an extra page. At that point they were already halfway through. Fortunately they could use a 'moment' from each chapter and expand it over the corresponding chapter break page.

=> AKA the comic was badly planned.

Landy says he doesn't know how well his books sell (in this particular case BD) bc he will be disappointed if it doesn't meet his expectations. He doesn't even follow sport, named the example on refusing to watch a rugby match with Ireland's team bc he doesn't "do disappointment". He "hasn't got a clue how they are doing". [a lie so he doesn't have to disclose the sales are bad? or is he really that immature?]

He thinks the readers have embraced "Bad Magic".

Interviews says their (Holden and Landy) creative chemistry was good and the artworks and designs were brilliant, once again praising Holden more than Landy.

Holden seemed more excited about the comic. It was well visible behind him the entire time and in the end, he showed it off excitingly. Landy did not display such enthusiasm.

Landy was giving death glares every time Holden got attention instead of him. He seemed really unhappy here when Holden tried to include him in the conversation.

I guess Landy hopes rotating artists will prevent the artist(s) from outshining him. But I do worry it will cause him to choose an bad artist on purpose. I could see him tanking his own series for petty ego reasons, believing his writing alone is good enough to save the comics. Not how comics work. Also his writing is shit and gets worse with each new book, so there is that.

#skulduggery pleasant #SP Bad Magic #SP Comic #interview #meta

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takerfoxx · 3 years

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The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 1, "Stranger Tides," First Impressions!

Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's whaler's life for Luz!

Now, if you'll recall, a common problem I ran into while reviewing season 1 is that while I was definitely enjoying it, it was so episodic that I often found it difficult to find something new to say about each episode. There wasn't a whole lot carrying over from one episode to the next that I could really sink my teeth into and fill out a full review, with the plot not really kicking in until the final two episodes.

Fortunately, I did not have that problem here, and now that season 2 has started, I have PLENTY to say about its debut episode.

So, this is what you'd expect for the first episode of the new season, an episode basically intended to bring everyone up to speed on how the characters are dealing with the ramifications of the previous season and introduce a few new elements that will set the tone for the season to come.

And basically, things at the Owl House are...not really great. I mean, sure, everyone got away and it looks like Emperor Belos hasn't really made their recapture a priority (most likely deliberately), but thanks to Lilith deciding to share Eda's curse to neutralize it, they both have found themselves powerless. They're not completely without magic, but what they have left is so meager to be practically useless. All expect for Eda's detachable limbs. Those still work. For Luz, as she never had magic to begin with and had to work extra hard to get around that handicap and find ways to keep up with everyone else, that means she's suddenly the breadwinner of the family, the one with the most power despite living with two (previously) notoriously powerful witches, and thus has taken up bounty hunting (sort of ironic, if you ask me). For Lilith, that means coming to terms with losing literally everything important to her, from her power to her position as the Emperor's Coven's poster girl, having been replaced by a spoiled teen prodigy (and oh, ho, ho, we will get to him!) as well as her own feelings of guilt for having cursed Eda in the first place.

Actually, guilt is the main motivator in this episode. Luz feels guilty for having gotten Eda trapped and that Eda now has to prioritize what little money they have for Luz's sake, which motivates her to take on more and more dangerous bounties to try to make it up to her. And Lilith feels rotten for the curse and that the fix ended up sapping Eda's powers, so she's driven to find some way of making herself useful, which fills out this episode's A-plot and B-plot.

Meanwhile, Eda herself is...handling things like a champ, actually. Sure, she's not thrilled about losing her power, nor does she care for the sudden dip in respect from the locals as a result, but she's not wallowing in self-pity. No, she's working and innovating, finding ways to adapt and keep ahead of the game. And to rip off the Empire too, because fuck those guys.

So anyway! Let's start with our A-plot: Luz the bounty hunter. She's doing her best to keep her spirits up and keep food on the table, but bounty hunting is a tough job and because everyone knows that Eda is powerless, the bondsman has no problem ripping them off because he knows he can get away with it. Furthermore, with the portal gone, Luz's messages to her mom aren't getting through, which is weighing on her mind.

Okay, we already know that Luz's mom is probably going to get involved this season. I predict that at some point, Emperor Belos completes his repairs of the portal, and when he does, all those unsent message will suddenly spill out all at once, giving good ol' Mama a heart attack.

Sort've serves her right though, because, you know, G-RATED CONVERSION THERAPY!

But anyway, she overhears Eda talking about eschewing her booze in favor of getting Luz food she can actually eat, so she resolves to make it up to her by taking on the biggest bounty of them all, which so happens to be a magical creature called a Selkie-dama, which requires her to join a ship that's setting out to do that so she could get a cut.

A ship that just so happens to be under the command of Lilith's replacement, who also so happens to be the mysterious spy working for Emperor Belos that we met last season, whom we will get to!

Anyway, they fortunately rush through the bit of Luz proving herself to the crew, because who cares, King finds out agent's private room (in a reveal that calls back to a similar scene in Gravity Falls) and gets captured, and they find the Selkie-Dama, in which Luz shows us how far she's come by utterly wrecking shit.

Unfortunately, the bounty is stolen by a mysterious figure, and Luz isn't about to get ripped off again, so she goes after them, only to find that that SURPRISE, it's Eda, who figured she'd cut out the middleman and just steal the bounty directly, because you have to admit that that does make sense.

But anyway, none of that matters, because that's when HE finally is properly introduced.

Hear that? That's the sound of thousands of thirsty fangirls (and quite a few fanboys and fanenbys as well) shrieking.

Meet the Golden Guard. Yes, he's arrogant. Yes, he's sassy as fuck. Yes, he's voiced by Zeno Robinson. And according to his brief appearance in the OP...

HE'S A PALE-HAIRED PRETTY BOY, Y'ALL!!!

So. We now have this season's small antagonist.

And since Luz is the only resident of the Owl House with any real power (Hooty aside, but we'll get to that) and now with Amity as Luz's close friend (more on that later as well), that makes him Luz's new rival! Ooooh, I can smell the Enemies to Lovers fics already!

Yeah, it's gonna be a HUGE ship, but that's no prediction, everyone knew that anyway.

But while I doubt they're actually going to get together (though count on our bi-queen Luz getting smitten once she sees his face), I do smell a redemption arc for this guy. I mean, why would they make him so likeable otherwise?

Yes, he was a jerk, but he was a jerk in an endearingly entertaining sort of way.

But beyond that, I do note that he also has a tech-powered staff (seems to be the same one that held the palisman that Belos fed off of last season, but with an upgrade), and wields the same flesh-based magic as well. Now, his ears do show that he's not a human, but I still wonder if all that tech magic (which has to be manipulating the flesh of the Titan itself) is either a crutch for the magicless or a shortcut for those who want power fast.

Also, in addition to slotting in as Luz's rival, he also has taken Lilith's place as the face of the Emperor's Coven and also uses Eda's "BYYYEEEEE!!!" catchphrase, he's set up to be a foil to just about everybody!

Anyway, he's not here to take them out just yet, but instead forces them to kill the Selkie-dama. They don't, of course, and instead trick him into thinking that they did, but it does show that 1. Emperor Belos is content to leave them be for the moment, and 2. Emperor Belos is seeking the destruction of magical creatures. Huh.

Also, called it on Luz becoming Eda's teacher when it comes to glyphs.

But speaking of rivals and ships, the question over all of this is Amity, who's been MIA with a broken leg for a while. No doubt she's not going to be upset about Luz being stuck in the Boiling Isles, but if Luz does start crushing on Prettyboy Golden Guard, I can see her feel all sorts of upset about that. I still thinking that Lumity is endgame, but now she's got to work for it, and there is going to be angst.

Anyway, our B-plot has Lilith trying to make things up for Eda, by putting together a scrying potion to spy on the Emperor's castle. Nice, will probably be important later, but the real important part, in addition to her getting over her pride (not an easy thing) was the surprisingly touching friendship she's building with Hooty of all people! I didn't see this coming, but they honestly have some great comedic chemistry.

And honestly, I can see it. Lilith's first introduction to Hooty was him opening a can of whoopass on her and her men, and now he does it again to save her from the fire bees. Sure, he's weird and annoying, but he's strong and competent as hell, something that she would naturally respect. I honestly like what they have building, and the Lulu and Hooticifer nicknames were adorable.

And now, onto our brief glimpse of Belos, who still managed to steal the whole damned episode with just a few words. We see he's gone that long, white hair thing going for him, so not a rogue palisman. So, human or shortcut-exploiting conman. Regardless, just as he seems content to leave the Owl House be despite Luz having the key (which will definitely be important later), he also seems aware of the scrying, and has no problem letting it go on.

Okay, this season is shaping up to be a great one. And next episode is an Amity episode, in which her parents meet Luz, so let's fucking GOOOOOOOOOOO!!! on the Lumity teases and oh God NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! on the awkward cringe comedy that is sure to result!

#the owl house #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #golden guard #hooty #amity blight #lumity #reaction #spoilers

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theclaravoyant · 4 years

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For the ask thing, what is something you wish would happen in the show with the 13th doctor but hasn't yet? Fun scenes, sad scenes, character stuff?

Oooh, interesting ask, thank you!

Fortunately this season has been Delivering Hard on all the delicious delicious angst and the darker side of the Doctor that I craved last season so that has been AWESOME and Jodie has been absolutely destroying me which I love

but some things I would like to happen…….. oh there’s so many idk if I’ll ever be ready for her to leave. at the moment the top one few would be, in no particular order;

Literally any iota of a sign that she’s romantically and/or sexually interested in women. I try not to harp on about this, I really do, but I don’t intend on letting it go either. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not expecting her to suddenly become all kissy and cuddly and grand-romantic when that’s clearly not what she’s going for in this regen (although….. it could always be the trauma/mask that she lets down at some point but lets not get too soft about her or ill melt) but given the prominence of romance, sexual references, kissing, flirting, relationships and implied relationships that the Doctor has had with women particularly in New Who, it really genuinely not-in-a-shipper-way hurts me that, now that it would be unescapably gay even to those who pay 0% attention (instead of just sort of, vaguely queer or in a throwaway manner), they’re avoiding even the slightest reference. I’m really not okay with that.

Having said that, and on a less serious note…. Thasmin - They would be so cute and badass and Inescapably Queer that my heart would explode okay. But I’ve been burned so many times before that I’m struggling to believe the hints, even the major ones like “my person’s a little bit different” (WHAT THE H CHIBS GIVE A GAY SOME WARNING), will turn out to actually be romantic. The amount of effort I’m putting into Not Getting My Hopes Up at this point is frankly ridiculous. I’m hoping that with a little bit more space next season, fewer(?) or different companions and less exposition needed it will be time to shine but in the meantime…

[Image ID: a gif of Rebecca Bunch from “Crazy Ex Girlfriend”, holding a handful of corn kernels up to the camera and singing about ‘love kernels’, end ID]

3. Meeting (or at least mentioning) an old companion or positive influence from the pas - I love all the twisted shit coming up to torture the Doctor but come on, give her a break!!! Or at least… hurt her in a slower, more bittersweet kind of way. I would love a Donna reference for example (how has there not been one in so long??) or River (my hearrrrt) or a more explicit reference to Bill (HOW did she not come up explicitly in that WHOLE cyberman plot i know the doc is repressed as hell but damn…). I hadn’t imagined Jack before he made a cameo earlier this season but now I’m genuinely excited for the two of them to meet! It’s a great way to keep in touch and remember our old faves and also, tie the Doctor’s lives together. (Plus I’m a sucker for the bittersweetness ngl.)

4. Confronting her past and the people that did it to her - I am ALL FOR the healing and restorative, empowering approach the Doctor is taking to what they were put through as the Timeless Child. HOWEVER I’m going to be kinda let down if all that build up was Emotionally Resolved that fast. And allow me to point out, the Doctor’s reaction as we’ve seen it thus far was primarily directed at the Master and his expectation of how she would react. If, for example, she ran into Tecteun or discovered that more children were being put through this, or was put through something similar again with those memories now in her head, I think that would be a different story.and/or on this note I would also love to see her react to something Gallifreyan *other than* Gallifrey itself, something that hasn’t been as irrevocably tainted by the ‘Time Lords are evil and corrupt’ realisation long before the Timeless Child realisation. Perhaps her name or language, or bedtime stories, or Granny Five. How does she feel about those things now?(and/or… I would also love to see Thirteen all ragey and powerful in Time Lord garb. idk how to make that happen, or why, maybe she’s confronting Rassilon and/or Tecteun? *marge simpson meme voice* i just think it would be neat)

ask me stuff; anything you’re curious about

#doctor who #thirteen #thirteenth doctor #dw spoilers #ask me stuff #captainlgordon #q word #wow the queer really jumped out of me in this one didn't it

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cryptnus-blog · 6 years

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Ripple Admits Its Expedited Banking Network, xRapid, "Hasn't Gotten There Yet" | Crowdfund Insider

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/06/ripple-admits-its-expedited-banking-network-xrapid-hasnt-gotten-there-yet-crowdfund-insider/

Ripple Admits Its Expedited Banking Network, xRapid, "Hasn't Gotten There Yet" | Crowdfund Insider

For several weeks, the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, has been publicly calling out Bitcoin.

The Ripple vs. Bitcoin rivalry goes all the way back to 2012, when Ripple’s founders developed the company’s services specifically to service the banks and cross-border remittance firms Bitcoin was created to circumvent.

To finance Ripple operations and theoretically give access to one of its forthcoming payment networks, Ripple created its own cryptographic token, XRP, pre-mined a bunch and released it onto exchanges in September 2013.

The networks Ripple has been building are all designed to expedite institutional money transmissions. Garlinghouse has claimed that XRP-facilitated cross-border transactions are;

“A thousand times faster…and a thousand times cheaper than Bitcoin transactions.”

XRP is now the world’s third largest exchange-traded crypto product and has a market cap of almost $22 billion.

On Tuesday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told a packed audience at a conference in Boston, “Bitcoin is really controlled by China.”

He has also taken shots at Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, after Wozniak told CNBC June 4th that he, like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, hopes Bitcoin becomes the currency that unites the globe

Garlinghouse called the notion “absurd”:

A number of prominent people, even Steve Wozniak, has said that he sees a world where Bitcoin is the primary currency. I think that’s absurd. I don’t think that any major economy will allow that to happen. By the way, it doesn’t make sense…(Bitcoin) is not going to be the panacea that people once thought it would be.

Garlinghouse also reportedly told the Boston crowd June 12th, “About two and a half years ago, (the CEO of) one of the biggest banks in Australia stopped by the office,” and said, “‘The smartest thing you’ve done is not have ‘bit’ or ‘coin’ in your name. I’ll take it!’”

According to Garlinghouse, Ripple now has more than half-a-dozen pilot customers trialling a beta version of its xRapid expedited payment network, including Western Union, MoneyGram and Mercury FX.

He said these clients, “are finding that xRapid is saving them between 40 and 70% …So xRapid is doing exactly what we thought. We expect to go into production with that product…very, very shortly.”

But a series of recent news items suggest that Ripple products are faltering in pilot tests.

On June 13th, the CEO of Western Union, Hikmet Ersek, told Fortune Magazine that so far, XRapid has not reduced remittance costs at the company.

“We are always criticized that Western Union is not cost-efficient, blah blah blah, but we did not see that part of the efficiency yet during our tests.”

Ripple’s vice-president of product, Asheesh Birla, countered that Western Union has spent most of the last 6 months setting up the xRapid system and has only run 10 test payments.

Birla said the company will not experience significant savings until it reduces using it’s legacy systems and moves more of it’s business onto xRapid.

But on the same day, Reuters reported that two key Ripple staff- Chief Cryptographer, David Schwarz, and Senior Vice President of Customer Success, Marcus Treacher- have both admitted publicly that the Ripple company’s beta systems are not, in fact, ready for production.

“I will concede, we haven’t gotten there yet,” said Schwartz.

It seems that Ripple systems, too, have so far amounted to less than a banking panacea:

“The feedback from the banks is you can’t put the whole world on a blockchain,” said Treacher.

“The feedback from the banks is you can’t put the whole world on a #blockchain” Click To Tweet

There may be more troubling news on the horizon for Ripple.

Important comments made by SEC officials in June suggest the company may be sitting in SEC crosshairs for issuing XRP, which the regulator may consider an unlicensed security.

Yesterday, while speaking at a Yahoo Finance event in San Francisco, the Director of the Division of Corporate Finance at the SEC, William Hinman said the SEC does not consider bitcoins and ether securities because they are issued by decentralized networks.

Ethereum Rises on Positive Comments by the SEC

Hinmann said nothing to exempt Ripple.

Similar comments were made by SEC Chairperson Jay Clayton in early June when he stated unequivocally:

If you have and ICO or a stock and you want to sell it in a private placement, follow the private placement rules. There’s no secondary trading…If you want to do an IPO with a token, come see us, file financial statements, file disclosure, take the responsibility our laws require and we’re happy to help you do a public offering.

SEC Boss Jay Clayton Says Crypto Tokens Traded and Used to Fundraise are ALWAYS Securities and Thus Regulated

Clayton also said that statements on the securities status of particular crypto products would be forthcoming from the SEC.

Ripple is currently being sued by a disgruntled investor leading a class action suit claiming that Ripple was issued as an unlicensed security.

Cryptocurrency Ripple Facing Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Violation of US Securities Law

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theclaravoyant · 7 years

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High school AU: popular Bobbi has a crush on adorkable Jemma. Only problem is that Jemma hasn't realized she's gay yet.

AN ~ This was so much fun! I hope you like it.

Rated T for some sexual references, but it’s mostly fluff & mutual (& eventually resolved) pining

Currently accepting Pride prompts! here’s my askbox.

Read on AO3 (~3500wd)

Suddenly I See

“Shh – it’s Jemma’s turn.”

At Stanley High, the word of Bobbi Morse was law, so the students around her hushed. Bobbi leaned forward a little in her seat as Jemma Simmons, in jeans and an unassuming pale-pink t-shirt, stood and stepped up to perform. She laid a copy of the play from which she was reciting at the front of the stage, but of course, she didn’t need to double-check it. Katherine’s monologue from The Taming of the Shrew spilled from her lips in a lilting chant, word-perfect and faithfully emphatic. When she ended it on her knees with her hands raised up to an imaginary Petruchio, a murmur went around the room and the class halfheartedly applauded, as they had done for everyone else.

Well, most of the class applauded. Bobbi didn’t even clap once, though one hand absently drifted in an attempt to do so. The other one was too busy digging into the material of the seat, reminding her to be cool.

Lincoln elbowed Bobbi.

“Shut up, Campbell,” she muttered.

“Mr Campbell,” called the teacher in a crisp tone. “Perhaps you have something you’d like to share with the class?”

Raising his eyebrows at Bobbi mockingly, Lincoln obediently got out of his seat and jogged down the stairs, turning to bow up at her just as mockingly, before nodding a noncommittal apology toward the teacher and taking to the stage for his rendition of Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. His monologue was a bit more bumbling than Jemma’s, in terms of word-perfection, but it was delivered emotively nonetheless, and Lincoln was her friend, so Bobbi applauded properly at the end of it - even if her eyes did keep drifting down to Jemma all the while.

While Bobbi was thus distracted, the gangly form of Antoine Triplett climbed over the row of seats that had separated them, and dropped down into Lincoln’s now-empty place.

“Hey now, what’s that face?” he wondered, prodding Bobbi with a finger.

“I’m going to do it,” Bobbi swore, her eyes fixed on Jemma. The bell rang – she was running out of time – she twisted in her seat. “I’m going to tell her how good she was.”

“Was she good though,” Trip mused, “or just English?”

“I don’t know,” Bobbi retorted. “Was your Othello good, or just Black?”

“Damn, jumping out of the gate fast with that one!” Trip exclaimed. “I’m just looking out for my girl! What’s the first rule, Bobbi? Your first rule? Never fall for the straight ones.”

“She’s not –“

Bobbi cut herself off. Her heart sunk. It was all well and good to imagine, but Jemma wasn’t out and in fact, as far as Bobbi could tell, hadn’t even thought to question the idea that she could be anything other than straight. In terms of her actual sexuality, that didn’t mean much, but in terms of Bobbi’s dating prospects, it meant a lot. It was an elephant in the room that would be incredibly poor form for her to point out. She’d helped many a fledgling gain their little gay wings, but the beginning of the journey was a path Jemma’s own feet would have to find.

Bobbi told herself this whenever she was overcome with the desire to grab Jemma and make out with her against a locker.

It was becoming less and less effective.

In fact, Bobbi was even starting to weave a story in her own head of a queer Jemma, based on their interactions, and the things that Bobbi had seen and imagined; nebulous possibilities fuelled by subtext. She was, more and more, getting her hopes up, and her first rule was collapsing under the weight of a crush with such potential that she had not even realised how far she had taken it until now. Until this moment. Until she watched Jemma, laughing and content with Fitz and Daisy down the front of class, utterly unburdened by this crush, or by the tumultuous self-inspection that came with questioning oneself intimately. She was happy, and Bobbi was happy, but also frustrated, because she couldn’t tell Trip that she hadn’t broken her first rule after all.

(Well. She couldn’t tell him yet.)

They hurried to next period in their own groups, and sat apart, like they always had, until the teacher rearranged them.

“Jemma Simmons – Bobbi Morse.”

Jemma squirmed with glee, and packed to change desks so hurriedly she almost dropped everything before she pulled her head in. Of course, in that moment, even she was not sure why she was so excited to be partnered with Bobbi. It was not as if they had not worked together before. It was not as if there were not half a dozen people of comparable ability in their class (though, she would argue, none on the same par of neatness or commitment as the two of them were). It was not as though Bobbi would consider it a memorable experience, either; in fact, Jemma found herself rather nervous that it would go badly. For all her intelligence and general likeability, she had a penchant for being blunt and, when she tried to steer away from that, “off-putting” or “suffocating.” It was a balance she had always struggled with but one that, for some reason, seemed especially important today. She must refrain from putting her foot in her mouth for the course of this two-week assignment. She could manage that, right? Yes. She and Bobbi would be friends, if it killed her.

(Friends. Later, she’d laugh about that.)

Friends could admire the way Bobbi seemed to look like a professional in the school-issue lab coats, right? It was purely aspirational. The rest of their class tended to look like bumbling children in oversized, overly generic white jackets. Bobbi looked like a proper Doctor, and one that Jemma would trust with her life. In a totally platonic, professional-admiration-based kind of way.

Friends could admire Bobbi’s handwriting too, of course, and smile at the little loops it made, right? Jemma wondered: how did she have time to write like that? Had it been bred into her? Genetically engineered? It wasn’t as if Jemma had the most chicken-scratchiest penmanship, of course, but when Bobbi wrote, she oozed perfection and Jemma couldn’t entirely quantify what it was. It just felt like anyone who could write both that level of content quality, and aesthetic quality, was worth mooning over.

Friends could admire the way Bobbi’s eyes looked, too. Couldn’t they? Of course they could. It was a matter of objectivity. Not only were they bright and intelligent, but they were an unusual and pleasant shade of blue: it was only natural to find them attractive. Bobbi’s face was made of bold shapes, with a strong jaw-line and cheekbones, and her eyes stood out. Her face was aesthetically pleasing. That was just a fact.

Right?

Not for the first time, Jemma’s eyes trailed down to the rainbow Pride flag pin that Bobbi kept on her pencil case. She herself had always admired Bobbi’s – well, her pride, Jemma supposed. Her out-ness, her confidence with it, and the way the school seemed not to mind about it all that much. No doubt she’d faced her fair share of demons, probably, but Bobbi was one of the popular girls here – even amongst guys, which Jemma found fascinating… had found fascinating… now was starting to find fascinating in a whole new light. Bobbi, everything Bobbi, had seemed unattainable just a few days before, but unattainable in a conceptual, personality-trait kind of way. Like the kind of person who had her life way too together to be real. But now, once it had entered her mind, another thought lodged in Jemma’s brain that maybe, her fascination had been related to the fact that Bobbi had been unattainable in other ways, too. Surrounded by her clique, and so high-achieving and beloved and athletic at the same time, and a social butterfly on top of that – Bobbi was enviable in her own right. But smart, fit, charming? Were those not all desirable traits too?

Jemma shook her head and twirled her pencil between her fingers, trying to draw herself back to the task at hand with a few rapid-fire conclusions. She had dated boys. Quite liked a few of them, and quite liked their advances too. She had never dated girls, or looked at one sexually really, except for objectively, but everyone did that, probably. She had a few female celebrity crushes, but didn’t everybody? So she wasn’t gay. Ipso facto, she didn’t have a crush on Bobbi and never had and never would and all that unattainability rubbish was just her getting up in her own head again. Damn psychology.

(Fortunately for her, Jemma would later recount, it is not that easy to kill an idea.)

Jemma shoved her eyes back to the board somewhat forcefully and Bobbi lowered her own, twirling a pencil absently as she stared. She sighed. She had been hoping, always hoping, and though somewhat prepared to be let down, it still hurt a little each time it happened. Each time Jemma looked, and then looked away; each time it seemed like there was a question, or even just a breath, on the tip of her tongue, and she did not let it fall. Bobbi was frustratingly sure now, that she was not imagining things, but Jemma seemed just as frustratingly sure to keep said things to herself. Sometimes, Bobbi daydreamed up a collection of haphazard, farcical scenarios designed to trigger in Jemma a rom-com-like revelation, but the thought of forcing it – whether she was imagining things or not – made Bobbi feel predatory and wrong. There was nothing to do but wait it out and see how things developed. Her crush was her own problem, not Jemma’s. And besides, Jemma clearly had enough of her own stuff to sort out.

Even if she was taking so long about it, and dancing so painstaking close to the truth, that Bobbi wanted to snap a pencil.

It wasn’t all frustrations though. Bobbi did allow herself some pleasantries in her own head, and complex bundle of attractions aside, Jemma was great to hang out with. She was smart, in lots of ways and on lots of topics, and she was energetic and kind for the most part, and she loved to talk. She was honest, about the good and the bad, and sometimes she was blunt to the point of rudeness to which Bobbi, though she’d struggle to admit it, could relate. Bobbi loved her, in ways that could not clearly be divided into friendship and romance. She loved the way Jemma’s eyes lit up when she got excited, because it was beautiful, but also because it meant she was happy. She loved the way Jemma tucked her hair behind her ears, both at the same time, whenever she was nervous or needed to concentrate. It just felt very her. Bobbi loved the care and enthusiasm with which Jemma distributed cupcakes to Bobbi’s group one lunchtime. Half of them were made with applesauce instead of butter, Jemma told her. Fitz had bet her they wouldn’t taste as good, so she wanted a blind test. Scientifically rigorous; fluffy and adorable. The eternal dichotomy of Jemma Simmons.

(The cupcake test was definitely not, Jemma maintained, an excuse to spend more of the day with Bobbi. And she definitely did not, she insisted, spend the rest of the day thinking about the way Bobbi had licked the soft pink icing off her lips, or how much Jemma wished those lips had been her own.)

Bobbi, of course, swiftly resigned herself to daydreaming alone about that icing and how good it would taste on Jemma’s lips. She dreamed about how Jemma’s pupils had dilated at the sight of it, and how much more it would’ve taken – not much more - to make her weak at the knees. She dreamed about spending a lazy morning baking with Jemma, dancing around in their pyjamas and making a mess of a fantasy kitchen she must have pulled from a movie or advertisement she’d since forgotten. Sometimes they had a dog, for some reason. She didn’t question it. It was only a daydream, after all. A stockpile of fuel for her unquenchable crush - not that she was trying that hard to quench it: if she only had two weeks, she was going to make it count.

But as those two weeks came to an end, Bobbi gathered her dreams and fantasies to one side, and committed herself to enjoying their last few days together for the fun and challenging assignment and vibrant friendship that it was. When the night of the science fair came at last, and it was time to present their project, it all flew by, flawless and fast. Too fast. Afterward, when the gravel crunched under her tyres as she pulled into Jemma’s drive to drop her home, Bobbi held her breath.

“Well… thanks for the lift,” Jemma said.

Her voice sounded a little shaky and wistful, but maybe that was just an effect of the silence, and Bobbi’s own mind. Or maybe she could feel it too – that slight ache that was now making a home in Bobbi’s chest. An ache full of the knowledge that they could have had so much more and that they were about to watch it slip away. Tomorrow, they’d return to their normal seats in biology. They’d return to their regular groups at lunch, and to sitting on opposite sides of the theatre in drama, and to their pre-This patterns of after school lives and extra curriculars. They’d return to how it was, which had been fine, but hadn’t been all it could be.

Still, Bobbi smiled.

“No problem,” she said, but the words left her lips just as Jemma took in a rush of air and blurted:

“How did you know?”

Jemma startled herself when the question came out, but her fingers refused to reach for the door handle and her body seemed determined to hold her here until she’d got some kind of response. First, Bobbi took a moment of silence to turn the car’s engine off (and to lock away her crush; it was not the time or the place for it). Then she looked back at Jemma with more longing than she meant to, and with a smile.

“Know about what?” she asked, because know about me, or know about you? felt like it would send Jemma running.

“Know about –“ Jemma stumbled through it. “You know, that you liked girls. How did you know? And, when? Why? What does it feel like?”

Not the questions of somebody curious, or looking for a thread to pull. No. These were questions Bobbi herself had asked, on more than one occasion, and they made her smile deepen.

“It feels amazing, first of all,” she said. “Although, there’s a lot of doubt involved too. I’m working on it, but sometimes it feels like there’s something to prove.”

Jemma felt her heart swell and shrink again, in a moment. Bobbi had answered a question she hadn’t thought to ask, and Jemma knew in that moment that Bobbi had seen through her. Strangely enough, though, it didn’t make her want to run. Rather, she felt like reaching down into herself and pulling out more of herself, of her soul, to show Bobbi. She listened instead.

“I guess I’d say I knew,” Bobbi continued, “a long time ago. Well, not that long. Middle school. My first kiss was a girl, even though my prom date was a guy. He dumped me the day before the dance, and my friend found me alone outside ‘coz I’d still gone for some reason, and we ended up kissing. Just a little peck on the lips, really, but it was a kiss. I was twelve. It opened up a door for me, I guess, and I went exploring through it, and here I am. But not everybody knows that young. And not everybody knows with a kiss. Sometimes it’s a lot more conceptual and harder to figure out. It’s like, you think you want that girl’s dress, you know, but then actually it’s more like… you want that girl’s dress on your bedroom floor.”

She laughed, and Jemma found herself laughing too. She’d been expecting this conversation to be a lot heavier, and while it certainly felt significant, with every piece of advice Bobbi offered, her heart felt lighter and lighter. Bobbi didn’t ask her to share her own feelings and talk through them – for which Jemma was grateful, although she did offer the occasional tidbit – but they talked for a long time about the nature of different forms of attraction and the complexity of figuring it all out. It seemed simple and complex both at once, Jemma thought to herself, and as Bobbi talked her through some of the labels – the complexities - she felt the acceptance – the simplicity – settle in the back of her heart and her mind.

I like girls.

I like Bobbi.

I like girls.

I like Bobbi.

Does she like me?

“…and – oh, shit,” Bobbi cursed. “I’ve got to be home by midnight. Sorry to kick you out, but I’ve gotta go.”

“It’s no problem,” Jemma assured her. “I should be getting inside too. Thanks for the talk.”

“Anytime.”

“But- um, don’t tell anyone at school about it, okay? I’m still thinking through it.”

“Sure thing. Take your time.”

Jemma sighed, relieved and satisfied, and got out of the car, gathered her books, and strode up the drive with a spring in her step and a grin on her face. Bobbi grinned after her as she started up the car, and tried not to fist-pump the air as she drove away.

It didn’t go back to the way it was before – not quite. How could it, why would it, after that? Jemma did go back to spending more time with Fitz and Daisy, but she smiled at Bobbi when they passed in the hall, or sat across the room from each other. Bobbi put in the Good Word of a Popular Girl on Jemma’s behalf when she wanted something, and helped pull sway in the Student Council elections – in return, she jested, for some more of those applesauce cupcakes, which Jemma was happy to provide. They danced around each other for a while, a pleasant equilibrium of mutual crushing, while Jemma sorted herself out. Bobbi slipped her resources and kept her secrets. Jemma told Fitz and Daisy, and when she was ready, came to school with three little star badges in a row on her pencil case: one pink, one purple, one blue.

At a gesture from Jemma, Bobbi took the seat beside her instead of her usual in biology. Their partners swapped without a word, if perhaps a bit of a grin. Nobody questioned the ways of Bobbi Morse, but the rumour mill was in full swing by now. This bit of gossip was one of the juicier ones in the saga so far. Watching the other students murmur excitedly, Jemma tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. Bobbi shook her head.

“Ignore them,” she said, and nodded at the stars. “You figured something out?”

Jemma beamed, and felt her chest expand a little.

“I’m still tossing up between yellow and purple,” she said, “but it’s early days, so I’m happy.”

“Well, that’s good.” Bobbi found herself blushing, cheeks burning with the question she’d been hanging onto for so long. Instead, she asked: “What’d you get for production? Happy with that too?”

“Lead.” Jemma grinned smugly.

“Of course,” Bobbi agreed. “I’m stage manager.”

“Well, you know what that means.”

Jemma’s tone was laden with possibilities that captured Bobbi’s attention like the smell of freshly baked goods on a windowsill. She almost laughed at Bobbi’s expression as she expanded on her offer:

“Lots of after-school stays… Long rehearsal hours together - I’ll be called a lot, after all. And I might need a ride. A few rides, in fact.”

Jemma raised an eyebrow, and Bobbi caught on.

“Some of those rehearsals go to six, seven o’clock,” Bobbi mused. “We might have to get dinner together sometime.”

“That we might.”

“I guess it’s settled, then, isn’t it?”

“I guess it is.”

“How are you feeling?”

Bobbi laughed a little, watching the blush creep up Jemma’s cheeks instead of a verbal answer. That dizzying validation: Bobbi remembered it well, so instead of probing Jemma further, she intertwined their fingers together below the desk. Their hands hung together until the teacher walked in, when they reluctantly crept apart and back to work. A few of the students behind them snickered with laughter, but this time Jemma didn’t seem bothered. She sat taller, as attentive as ever, and the class launched onward, with the pleasant pressure of Bobbi’s grasp still tingling in her fingertips.

#simmorse #simmorsefic #aosfemslash #aospositivitynet #aosficnet2 #happy pride!#prompt me stuff #clara's fic tag #Anonymous

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