#can a humble tailor and a doctor ever...???

[stardewremixed]

Stardew Valley Employment Headcanons

I've been thinking a lot about how many folks in the Valley don't work. In some ways, it feels realistic. A small town that is clearly dying until the Farmer comes along struggles with unemployment rates. It could be related to high taxes (*side-eyes* I'm looking at you, Lewis) and competitive megacorporations (like Joja) undermining the local economy. However, I'd like to do a little headcanon for the residents and their job situation.

Under spoilers, because TL;DR.

Abigail - after graduating with a degree in art history, Abigail starts working out in her mother's fitness group. She starts swimming at the spa. And she starts a workout regiment with Alex. Of course, this leads her to finally join the Adventure Guild full-time, protecting the Valley and exploring the depths of the mines. She still jams from time to time with Sam and Seb. I also like to think she leads a local Scouts troop.

Alex - this man deserves to have an amazing job as a pro gridball player. However, while he waits, he could coach a local kids team at the Community Center. I can also see him work part-time stocking shelves at Pierre's General Store. Maybe he lifeguards at the Ginger Island Beach during the busy season or drives deliveries out to Sandy in the desert for Pierre. Or he could work with Robin. Mmm... this man, chopping wood... fantasies. He still sells ice cream in the summertime maybe on the weekends or at festival days (because come on, Pierre needs a little competition and I love the idea of pineapple ice cream at the luau and stardrop sorbet at the moonlit jelly fest). I also see him doing odd jobs around the valley until he gets more stable work at Pierre's or Robin's. Need someone to fix your leaky roof? Alex is your man! (Because Evelyn mentions George can't do it anymore).

Elliott - I still like the idea of Elliott's secret wealth and he escaped his family to become a writer. However, maybe he regularly submits poems and sonnets via various contests online under a pseudonym, and does a few freelance articles (maybe on small towns, fishing, romance, etc.). This man deserves to publish a masterpiece and make it on a bestseller list, then gets an agent, and of course, publishes a series. He still does readings in the Valley at the library and the Saloon because he always wants to remember his humble roots and the people who cheered him on when he was a nobody in the business.

Emily - She absolutely needs to start a side-business as the town tailor. It's kind-of already in the lore, but I could see her starting up an online business (maybe with the help of Seb) on an Etsy-esque site. Also, I can see her helping out on the farm for a little something extra when she's not working at the Saloon. Maybe tending to the flowers, watering plants when the Farmer is in the Mines or off on the island or in the desert for the day. She mentions she would like to do this, but Gus apparently frowns on a side job. Hmm... well, I can see this girl eventually leaving her job at the Saloon to pursue her sewing passion full-time. She totally hosts a yoga class in the winter at the Community Center.

Harvey - He is already a well-respected town doctor, but the man is so stressed that he is hardly ever in the Clinic (at least not without mods). I propose Harvey hires some extra help, an associate, maybe another nurse, and a receptionist to assist, especially if patients from surrounding towns (like he mentions) start visiting (i.e. expansions). And he teaches first aid classes at the Community Center.

Haley - Like Leah, she needs an art exhibit to showcase her photography. Unlike the other villagers, I don't see her staying in the Valley, eventually pursuing the work of a freelance photographer and traveling the world (like her absentee parents). She does make an annual trip back for the Flower Dance, her favorite festival. I have pursued Haley the least in game so I'm struggling to come up with more ideas here.

Leah - Speaking of Leah, she transforms the Valley into a premier art destination. She can teach art classes at the renovated Community Center. She teams up with Seb and Sam (and drags Elliott along for the ride, and the writing) to produce an avant-garde film about the art all around us in small towns. I also think she grows her own herbs and sells them at Pierre's, festivals, and the Farmer's Markets (as she gives me green witch vibes). Maybe she partners with Caroline (or the Wizard) to create some herbal potions and creams. And of course, she's still at it with woodworking, though these days she works on commission for those types of projects.

Sam - This man deserves to be a rock star. And I think he'd make a great solo artist. However, if his guitarist dreams don't pan out, he has options. In the vanilla game, he starts working with Gunther at the museum after JojaMart closes. It's a strange choice, but... I figure, maybe he minored in anthropology in college. He would absolutely give amazing tours of the museum, full of exuberant commentary, perfect for kids field trip days too. And I think he plays gigs in Zuzu City and at the Saloon regularly, and maybe even out at Sophia's winery (Stardew Valley Expanded).

Maru - Nursing just doesn't really seem to fit this woman of multiple interests. She finally pursues her passion of robotics and goes to work in a proper lab in a nearby City (doesn't have to be Zuzu - my headcanon is Pine-Mesa City or Grampleton from Stardew Valley Expanded). I think she makes regular trips to the Planetarium too. I could see her visiting the Valley on long weekends, and maybe taking the local kids club on a night-time stargazing event in the summer.

Sebastian - Please give this man a proper window in his basement, Robin! Okay, if he doesn't marry the Farmer, Seb moves out anyway and goes to live in the City for a while, to find investors for his indie game studio. In the meantime, he continues to do freelance programming work. And then, one day, he makes a breakthrough game that revolutionizes the industry. After making A LOT of money, he invests in a SAVE-THE-FROGS campaign, hires multiple developers and other staff, and starts working on his next big game. But he still makes time to jam with Sam and Abi from time to time, and of course, take long rides on his motorcycle.

Penny - This poor woman needs some love. Penny pursues her higher education and officially receives her teaching license. She is hired by the local school district so she can do more than just tutor. She can finally afford her own little apartment. She starts a kids club in the Community Center, and creates a summer reading program at the Stardew Library. And I like to think she takes a monthly trip to Zuzu City to shop in a big bookstore for fresh reading material when she has some down time.

Shane - Oh this guy is definitely a mess. If you don't "romance" him in game, he doesn't really turn his life around, and even if he does, it doesn't really point to recovery as it should, imo (without the help of mods). This man hates his job, and yet he feels stuck. I propose the following. After he recovers in therapy, completes rehab, and genuinely quits drinking (forever), and of course, loses his job at Joja (suck it, Morris!), Shane starts working at Marnie's shop and contracts out as a farmhand all around the Valley. Then he can be a proper godfather to Jas, and provide some actual service at the Ranch (when Marnie's off doing who knows what with you know who...)

I have thoughts for the other Villagers in the Valley too, but I'll save those for a different post.

#stardew valley #sdv headcanon #stardew valley headcanon #stardewremixed #sdv abigail #sdv alex #sdv shane #sdv sebastian #sdv elliott #sdv harvey #sdv sam #sdv emily #sdv haley #sdv leah #sdv maru #sdv penny #sdv townies

[calaisreno]

Nobody

663 Words / Prompt: Hero

No one ever calls John Watson amazing. As far as he can recall, no one has ever said he was extraordinary. 

His father laughed when he said he wanted to be a doctor. His mother said nothing. 

His sister came out when she was thirteen. John was ten that year, and learned from her experience that it’s better not to stand out. While Harry was being dramatic, having angry confrontations with their parents, making everyone love and hate her, John flew under the radar. 

At school, he stayed in the upper third. He worked hard, took part-time jobs to help with the bills, got regular haircuts, and never even considered a tattoo. 

Harry was a full-blown alcoholic by the time John started uni. He also drank, but kept his family history in mind and focused on what he was there for. 

His father was a gambler who always had a new plan; his mother poured her energy into charity and church. Harry seemed determined to fuck up in every way imaginable, as if she had a sacred destiny to be the black sheep. Blood was not destiny. John was the responsible one.

His army buddies gave him the nickname Three Continents. As a child, he’d spent a few years in Australia (one of his father’s schemes to get rich), but that didn’t really count. He’d grown up in Britain, travelled to the continent one summer. His luck with European women was nothing to write home about. When he left for Afghanistan, he didn’t have much hope for that continent, either, since most of the women there were Muslim. The nickname was ironic, not iconic.

In the army, he was commissioned as a captain. He took his office seriously, gave orders with confidence, not out of a sense of ego or pride, but because he was responsible. When you’re responsible for lives, you don’t let people down.

In essence, he was a humble man. 

When he returned home, he was a surgeon who could no longer do surgery, thanks to a shoulder wound that left him with nerve damage. He was a doctor with PTSD who couldn’t make it through the night without waking up in a sweat, hyperventilating. He had a limp. Women looked at him with pity, not interest.

And he began to suspect that dates with women weren’t what he wanted. His buddies might still call him Three Continents Watson, but there wasn’t any reputation to uphold. He often protested, I’m not gay, but his eyes tended to follow men rather than women.

That’s why, when he met Sherlock Holmes and agreed to share a flat with him, he felt fortunate to escape his tiny bedsit and move in with this odd man, who had somehow decided that John must accompany him at any hour of the day or night, usually to look at dead bodies. A man of eccentric habits, John seemed to have become one of them.  

It didn’t hurt that his flatmate was good-looking. Sherlock Holmes had high cheekbones, dark curly hair, and a lanky grace that was enhanced by the tailored trousers and jackets he wore. He spoke in a silky baritone. To John, at least, it didn’t matter that he was arrogant or even insulting. He was extraordinary. 

So when Sally Donovan frowned at John Watson and said, “Who are you?” he didn’t hesitate to say, “I’m nobody.”

But that same night, he carried his gun out into the night, chasing after a man, a murderer. He saw Sherlock about to accept the challenge, and his hand did not shake when he sent a bullet through two panes of glass, into the man’s chest.

John will never call himself a hero. They might exist, but he’s not one. 

He’s just an ordinary man who lost his limp when he began following Sherlock Holmes. 

And in that moment his only thought was that Sherlock Holmes had saved his life, and John wasn’t going to let him die. 

#mayprompts2024

[rpgsandbox]

Crafting & Alchemy — two brand new 5th edition supplements to make your mark on the world! Forge legendary weapons and armour using Hammer & Anvil, and brew fantastical and deadly potions and poisons with Mortar & Pestle!

From the award-winning team that brought you Adventures in Middle-earth, Broken Weave, A Life Well Lived, Uncharted Journeys, and Doctors and Daleks!

Legends speak of incredible magic items — dragon-slaying spears, unbreakable silver armour, elixirs that bring the dead back to life, and more. 

Songs are sung of these legendary artefacts. What of those who spent hours sweating by the forge, or over a cauldron of volatile ingredients? 

Crafting & Alchemy, make your mark on the world and create powerful magic items that will be spoken of until the end of time.

It’s time to give your character the equipment they deserve.

Forge your weapon to slay the monster plaguing your hometown, or brew a powerful elixir to save the life of someone you love.  Design and experiment, using magic and ingenuity to create something truly unique. Hammer & Anvil and Mortar & Pestle give you the freedom to create anything you can imagine and bring it into your 5e games.

Hammer & Anvil

Forge unique weapons and armour unlike anything the world has ever seen. Your great work may start as a humble longsword, but with the right equipment and materials, you will be able to craft a legendary blade capable of cleaving reality in two and summoning an ethereal being to serve by your side. 

Forge custom weapons and become a legendary weaponsmith with Cubicle 7’s new Weapon Forging system. 

Craft new armour for you and your party with our Armour Forging rules. Your tailoring and modifications will ensure a perfect fit for you and your allies!

Turn mundane gear into artefacts of legend with our Magic Item Enchanting rules! Use your arcane talents to enhance the weapons and armour you craft, or team up with a powerful spellcaster to create potent magical effects.

Mortar & Pestle

Brew poisons, potions, and elixirs for every occasion. Plant your own magical garden to grow the priceless herbs you need, or gather your party to hunt down terrifying monsters and harvest rare components.  

Our Alchemy system allows you to concoct a brand new range of bizarre potions. Mix reagents and refine alchemical components to create invigorating potions to bolster your allies. 

For more sinister adventurers, our new Poisons will give you a lethal edge. Prepare toxic venoms to make every strike a deadly one and leave your foes debilitated. 

Hunt monsters and harvest rare magical components to use in your concoctions.

Tend your own garden! Plant the seeds and watch them grow as you cultivate a range of vibrant and bizarre flora to use in your brews.

==================================

Kickstarter campaign ends: Wed, February 14 2024 2:00 PM UTC +00:00

Website: [Cubicle 7] [facebook] [twitter] [instagram]

#RPG #kickstarter #Dungeons and Dragons

[charaznablescanontoyota]

“marn, i missed sgdq 2022! which runs should i watch?”

hello and welcome back to another rec list curated by me and my very subjective opinions. a couple weeks ago was summer games done quick, an annual speedrunning marathon raising money for doctors without borders and also a great way to get into watching speedrunning. a lot of their content is tailored towards being both clearly explained and fun to watch for an audience outside the speedrun community, so you can jump in with basically no knowledge besides “this person is gonna play a game really fast”. here are my personal highlights that i think you should check out!

kirby and the forgotten land: it’s always great to see a game that’s just been released in the past few months hit gdq!! this was my first time watching a forgotten land run and my takeaways were that: a) this game is beautiful and b) the runner was having a GREAT time sharing it with everyone.

spyro the dragon: spyro is one of those early games that has a lot of weird cool movement tech that is still being discovered to this day, and the fact that it shows up at gdq every couple years with some completely new strats to showcase is awesome, imo.

phasmophobia: if you are staring at this link wondering “how the hell do you speedrun the co-op ghost hunting game that relies entirely on randomization and luck”, just trust me and click it. the ghosts did NOT want to cooperate with these runners at ALL.

pokemon emerald randomizer (evolution chaos co-op): i am not usually a person who has the patience to sit for all 3 hours of a pokemon run, and i figured i would just tune into this one for like half an hour while i got some other stuff done, but i was immediately enraptured. it’s a modded randomizer where your pokemon evolves into something random Every Time it levels up, with 4 runners passing the controller around on every evolution. the game was not kind to these runners. it’s one of the funniest things i’ve ever seen at gdq.

donkey kong country: tropical freeze: spikevegeta’s tropical freeze run from gdqx a few years back is still The speedrun i love showing to people, but this one is an INCREDIBLY clean run that is just a joy to watch. spike is also a GREAT runner/commentator who you’ll notice pops up on a lot of gdq commentary couches, he loves to explain not only what’s going on in the game but little anecdotes and fun facts about the community around the game/speedrun.

banjo-tooie: i love duck and hagginator’s banjo-kazooie race from 2019 and have watched it multiple times since it happened and i am happy to see duck back at gdq running banjo-tooie. :) the community around the b-k games seems really nice and if i had to pick a game to get into running myself this might be in my top 5 choices.

mi scusi: you should watch everything from this early morning silly block, i shotgunned basically all the vods for it and loved them all, but this one was the standout. a speedrunner who woke up way too early in the morning plays a spectacularly broken, floppy physics game that was a student project that is about [checks notes] a guy dealing with the mafia, stealing the world cup, and going to space. if you like this one, watch the rest of the silly block, esp turnip boy commits tax evasion and jimmie johnson’s anything with an engine.

stepmania/noitg doubles showcase: what if dance dance revolution was evil and the only way to defeat it was a 45 minute synchronized dance routine

happy’s humble burger farm: stressed runner makes burgers as fast as he can while janky jumpscare horror game tries to give him the worst rng imaginable. i watched this one kind of on a whim because i like teddyras (the runner) a lot and his commentary is like. laugh-out-loud funny. if you have an hour or less to kill and want to watch one of these vods, this is the one. if you like this, you should check out teddyras’s run of gone golfing, a similar janky horror game set at a minigolf course (sort of).

control: this is an all bosses run and something about hearing the extremely sparse 6 am crowd politely golf clap after every boss fight just took me out. also this game has SO many cool out-of-bounds skips and sequence breaks that are SO fun to watch.

mario 64: m64 is basically a staple game at gdq at this point and because it’s basically the grandfather of speedrunning they often try to dress it up with new challenges like the runner being blindfolded, or the game being randomized, or it being a race. this is not that. this is a guy playing regular vanilla mario 64 very nearly on world record pace, pulling off tricks that have never been successfully completed on the gdq stage before, and casually showing the audience completely new movement tech and clips that have been discovered while the commentators lose their fucking minds in the background. also he never died a single time in this run.

mario maker 2 relay race: two teams of 3 highly skilled mario runners go head to head in a blind relay race of 9 extremely fucking difficult mario maker levels. it’s SO cool to watch them figure out routing and strats in real time, and the level designers shoutcasting the race have some really great insight into the design of the levels themselves.

#marn's guides #speedrunning #sgdq #sgdq2022 #games done quick #FINALLY I CAN POST THIS LOL

[sugar-petals]

— ✕ things levi does to get ur attention

pairing: levi ackerman x tea shop!reader/oc ☕️

genre: hc | some v peaceful slice of life 

↳ in which a certain staple customer tries 101 indirect ways to get the tea shop lady to notice him (which she already did, but anyway). the oblivious mf just can’t say it directly.  

warnings ⚠️  brief innuendo, cursing, ptsd mention. otherwise none, just fluff.

✖︎ caro’s note: i imagined it like this — with both of them at similar ages, written in 3rd person POV, retired!levi-centric. he uses both a wheelchair and cane here. it’s very much set in the far future.

more levi writings 

— ⌜ courtesy ⌟

Levi tips well, if not the most generously. It’s really a lot. Not that he’d ever fully notice or admit it. His mentality: Every 20 minutes spent in here means another tenner, so what. There’s not much else he’d splurge his pension on. The Ackerman household is (you guessed it) as spartan as can be, nothing has changed in that regard. The survey corps already paid him above his means back in the day, he couldn’t spend most of it being so involved in… well you know all these things. Levi knows that personal money means nothing in war, but basically everything when he can have a piece of cake on a Sunday morning. Prepared by her, that is. So he’ll take full advantage and allow himself to lean back a little. Also: He’s always ready to donate for children in poverty which has a little piggybank on the tea shop counter. Nothing he could appreciate more, it’s a huge concern to him for reasons we’re all familiar with.

The whole money thing is not really motivated by power and class. As you’d expect from a guy who came from humble backgrounds and never cut these roots entirely. Levi simply enjoys gift-giving in all shapes and forms. Plus: He’s aware how the economy needs a boost and cash to go around up in here. Yes, he considers it a present just like he sees being handed tea as one. Money is very puzzling and special to Levi who never had a hand on it in early life. Now that he reaps what he sows from doing the very most, he’s a little uncomfortable saving it, or sitting on it like a treasure dragon. Levi has many an edge in his behavior, which he tries to keep in check — and the motivation for them fades over the years since peace arrived — but greed isn’t one of them. Exactly because he finds money a precious opportunity, he thinks it should be with a person he finds precious to begin with.

That he’s generous and thinks keeping money ain’t that important to him is pretty automatic. Levi’s hoarding millionaire energy is pretty low. Is he a sugar daddy? Well... more like a charitable grandpa with a tea addiction. He keeps as much as he needs for the coming months or potential big repairs, doctor visits and whatnot, but really wants to support the café — „I’ve blocked this table long enough today“ is what he’ll mumble when he’s slipping her a whopping 60 bucks. Of course he didn’t block it. There were enough free seats for everyone, at least six of them. And him sitting there is not exactly an inconvenience. He’s in high regard, never causes trouble, remains a magnet for new customers, and looks just mighty fine and dapper so what more do you want. Regardless, Levi will reach deep into his tailored pockets and enjoy spending his (probably desinfected) coins well on something that matters to him a lot.

— ⌜ acts of service ⌟

During rare occasions, we’re talking once a week, if some customers act strange, rude, or enter the shop just minutes before closing time with a huge request which is every retail worker’s number one nightmare — his inner policeman awakens. Sharp critic and experienced leader he is, Levi can get any inappropriate person to do whatever the situation requires (translation: leave the shop) within two sentences or less. Either by a stinging analysis or making them feel vastly self-aware, or both. The tea shop lady has already developed a laid-back attitude about staggering drunkards and sexually suggestive guys since Levi handles it for her with impeccable foresight and effectiveness („Get lost… Ugly stinking brats!“ — that simply does the trick). He knows that these people are miserable, but they shouldn’t take it out on the tea shop and make its kind owner work overtime.

So, his presence immediately de-escalates offensive situations and destresses everything. Not one person tried to talk back yet. They all run for the hills. Levi knows very well that she can tell them off or dump tea on their heads herself. But that would be a waste of valuable material, and it’s more fun to see Levi disintegrate perverts, delayers, idiots, and dudekarens. He never considers it time wasted while she gains in peace of mind and focus on her passions. Win-win. Nobody with funny business dares to visit the shop anyway ‚because Levi Ackerman reads the newspaper there‘ and people know that Mikasa shops for crispy baguettes on Sunday which could be repurposed as baton swords if she wanted, so. 

In other words. Levi coincidentally gets her favors and attention by being preemptive about the atmosphere in the shop. We all know his zeal and indirect ways of loving someone with acts of service. He considers it his responsibility to guarantee that someone he likes will be unfazed. And because Levi is a man like a brand cuz he’s a Capricorn, he carries that attitude everywhere. Call it flirting by integrity and making sure she’s never bothered again. He’s really making himself useful and that’s a good damn thing. It’s been years, but you can’t take the protectiveness out of him so why not let him do all the work. Ole man still got it, friends, he still got it.

That Levi steps in as the good reliable guy is funny knowing his past philosophy has been: ‚what terrible world, I’ll be the monster then‘. The change of mind appears to be genuine, and fueled by outside circumstances anyway. Levi has no reason to be a bad boy on duty. First, because he’s not a boy anymore, and two, there is no need to really get your hands dirty in ethically complicated war games that feature humans becoming titans. It seems like the Ackermans have enough wit to go with the times. They probably don’t even realize. But he’s been motivated towards good for long and that doesn’t actually change. Levi thus has less of a need to seem and appear good (i.e. tweaking his character) but more of a natural reflex to get rid of harmful influences without putting the whole house block into shambles.

Levi is by all means not a 100% model citizen (a hairstyle model yes, but you get the point), he simply says ‚oh fuck me‘ too often (Freudian slip) to be considered one, but he’s seriously doing good work and also made progress with his PTSD. The tea shop is a calming environment, Levi reading and eating there just has a safety factor with low triggering moments, if at all. Especially the pleasant smells of cinnamon and oolong and coffee are very far from putrid titan breath — fucking yikes — as you can imagine, so Levi appreciates that and naturally blocks anything trying to disturb the little paradise. Very vigilante justice, but also a natural deterrent for weird customers. And yes: He does want to have an irreplaceable role in her life and channels it that way. It’s akin to his eagerness to leave a clean table and empty plate.

 — ⌜ his appearance ⌟

Not just being the shop’s innofficial anti-annoyance bouncer is Levi’s rather um subconscious attempt to dally with her. He’s also flexing his body outright. Starting with good posture because a captain always remains a captain. Then, going on with perfume, hair wax, carved cane, accurate shaves and always a signature suit and tie. Which he wears a lot for most other occasions anyway, but for his tea shop visits he’ll check his appearance twice and thrice. Levi never slacks, he’d scold any other guy for wearing unsightly jeans if they were a thing. And yes… he wonders what kind of guy she prefers often, visually. Well he thinks, being well-groomed is already half the formula (he’s right). That undercut has a 5 millimeter shave sharper than his blades back in the day.

A nice navy color tux ensemble goes a long way and he insists that being in a wheelchair is no excuse. It’s just the way it always was: He wants to be presentable and goes many an extra mile for sure. Anti-moustache zone, heavy deodorant, and those rippling abs are going strong. So, imagine the waistline, ugh. It’s banging. The thighs and upper arms, too. Levi’s fit as hell, what did you expect. It’s not like he wants to outright say I can wind in your sheets all night. Rather… he’s trying to convey that he’s taking care of himself. His ‚i-will-find-you-and-i-will-bathe-you‘ reputation and inherent hygiene regimen would already speak for itself, but he does want to show it off a little. Again, that’s not something he does consciously. Levi’s innermost impostor syndrome thinks and insists that he mostly flies under the radar when it comes to serving body.

Levi isn’t very convinced of the mysterious sex appeal that others attribute to him either, he rather goes by his own standards and pushes them to an extreme. Motto: „Tch… Only a trim man is a proper man.“ Insults someone uses are telling, ain’t they: Stinking and ugly is the last thing he tolerates, after all, and wants to be someone to look at, someone practicing what he preaches, too. His consistency is very hot if you ask me. In fact, he desperately wants to be her type and dream guy if he’s honest. So Levi listens closely when she compliments him on his shiny shoes or pleasant scent. His heart skipped a beat the last time she pointed out how nice his black tie is. Levi knows every method to make an expert knot to make it look stylish, by the way. 

If he’s out there brewing and concocting his own skin lotions I’d not be surprised. Little does Levi know that if a girl just loves your smell, you really don’t have to worry and your wooing game is A+. Nevertheless, he invests in perfume, a little luxury. Everything she compliments him on becomes a staple in his wardrobe, even though he experiments sometimes for something new. He irons it all to perfection anew. Levi is at the point where he says to himself, come on old man, don’t you bore her, give it your all, You Only Levi Once. 

There are different scarves and watches and socks and razors and shampoos and nail clipping styles he gets into regularly. Dandy Levi, imagine that. Or rather, gentleman, his attitude is not poshness 101. The aesthetic effort is very appreciated and doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s not like Levi could ever camouflage himself, a lot of people look at his wheelchair in the first place, and with that handsomeness and great hair he’s always eye-catching. Carrying himself that certain way is just so distinguishing and also really fits into the café which has a bit of a retro vibe going. He’s at home here, he came home, he feels like home, he wants it to be his home, let’s not beat around the bush. 

— ⌜ being proactive ⌟

Levi’s other automatic mode gears him towards caring about her business more than needed. Again, this guy isn’t nosy or tries to show off his power, he is just fucking hopeless and psyched up to see her. Communicating in his language so to speak. „Good morning. There’s a cobweb at your window“ is a frequently-heard sentence when he buys croissants for breakfast. After noticing a dozen things to polish, he takes it upon himself to whip out a little cloth from his suit to quickly sweep the area within split seconds. Most guests are wide-eyed at the thought of being expected to clean as well. But Levi goes „Eh eh, sit down. It’s already taken care of. Just don’t spill your coffee and create a fuckin’ hassle. Same for crumbs, you heard. Okay, then.“

People do stay alert, ready to scrub, and I guarantee you that nobody will ever litter the shop and the pavement in front of it, but the obvious fact that Levi isn’t taking it too seriously anymore is a cause for relaxation. The tea lady takes care of the venue well, but she’s sometimes busy baking so Levi will sneakily dusts the underside of his table before he pays and leaves. It’s all too typical, but he wants her attention by being neat and observant. Part of Levi’s value system is that he thinks only men who look after their environment are truly good for a woman. His philosophy is always not to be lazy, although there’s another part of him that just wants to sit at his table in silence and rest. Which isn’t hard for him to do, introverted as he is.

In those cases, he tries to keep his munching and slurping unobtrusive. Also for the reason to get her attention. By being mannered (coming from a guy who never holds his tea cup by its handle, thus being the least invisible person in the room). Funny how he’s big on morals and manners when his body is so— mhh. Immoral, almost. I don’t think he’s informed about just how eye candy he is. Even that accurate cake forking style is pretty hot. The way he stirs the milk in counterclockwise, too. But we digress. Levi likes to be a little proactive, then. Can’t blame the guy, things aren’t very orderly after these devastating times, so he helps where he can and where his cane allows him to reach. The man might be her undercover waiter and maintenance worker without actually working anymore. Real talk, he’d do anything for her without any loan.

— ⌜ so... does she notice, then? ⌟

The ironic thing is. How does one not know and pay attention to Levi Ackerman. He’s so famous, even haters’ entire existences revolve solely around him being him. Levi knows like 2 people on the street but the whole street knows Levi. Of course the tea shop lady has noticed him, and not just because she’s a good and jovial senpai sparing him a mercy glance. Nah, there’s way more. His antics are always positively amusing (y’know, inducing a sweet chuckle) and in character, often congruent with rumors about him. Levi is simply an authentic guy who lives up to what people say and what he says. She’s not very bothered that he targets the rowdy cobwebs she missed. Better publicity if your shop window is spotless, duh. And Levi dusting tables is just a cute and attentive thing to do. 

Not to mention how good-looking he is at his staple spot, eating in style like that. Flying under the radar is not a cleanly gentleman’s effect. Levi Ackerman is the 5′2 David Beckham of the Attack on Titan world. And a raging unintended comedian on top of it. Ignoring him is virtually impossible. She knows very well why he comes to the café daily, too. Our man’s ever-shy flirting technology is just very very obvious. Extra perfume when he’s not headed anywhere else on a rainy Tuesday? Come on. Levi’s extra tips are well-spent and invested, and she always has his favorite tea brands in stock just because. Doesn’t he behave like her partner already? Only a matter of time until the universe is catching up y’know. She’d like this gentleman in her life.

Truth be told, he’s there so often when nobody else is, that includes ungodly Monday hours, even during thunderstorms or beach weather — it’s basically dating. Levi’s not at the point of buying flowers. But he’s deliberating about it and the day will come when he comes to the store with a white bouquet bigger than half his body or something. It’s not like you can’t read it in his face how much he admires he hell out of this lady. She’s already chatting him up about the headlines and local administrations regularly, and whether the new cake recipe could use some tweaks because Levi has the sense of taste of a gourmet chef. He knows her cat’s name and brushes out its fur on his lap. These three could be up to something without a doubt. Levi with his tea shop lady is a match made in cozy croissant heaven.

☞ cosplay picture: hakken | ig: _hakkencoser_

© submissive-bangtan 2017-2021. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate. 

#levi #levi fluff #levi x reader #aot #snk #aot x reader #levi ackerman #levi headcanon #levi hc #snk hc #snk headcanon

[meettheprivate]

Pet Headcanons [TF2 X SO]

Because I am that person.

Absolutely on board with a pet no questions asked: Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Engineer

Hesitant at first but will comply eventually: Demoman, Heavy, Sniper, Medic

Non: Spy

--

Scout: Has always wanted a pet, but with so many brothers his ma saw no reason to have yet another animal in the house. If you ask for a dog he will just be ecstatic! He’s always wanted a Boston bullterrier, or maybe a Rottweiler. Something cute but tough just like him! He may complain if you ask for a cat though, and absolutely no birds - traumatic memories of a certain dove come to mind.

Soldier: Let’s be honest, Soldier has a soft spot for cuddly things - he just doesn’t show it, like, ever. Sure he would much rather have a bald eagle as a pet, but that’s illegal and you (being the smarter of the two of you) have to deny him his right to possess an illegal pet. When you come to a compromise of a dog, he’ll say something to the tune of, “I want the fluffiest, softest, squishiest one they have.” Because he doesn’t want a dog that makes him think of the eagle he couldn’t have. He’d also accept a cat, as long as it’s the biggest asshole they have - which isn’t too hard of an ask.

Pyro: Admittedly, you’re reluctant to ask Pyro if they want a pet with you, as you’re kinda worried they might do something crazy while in Pyroland to your precious new addition to the family. So you recommend a sturdier pet, like a calico cat. You figure the cat can escape if necessary, and ya’know, they’ve got nine lives (right??). Surprisingly, you find out quickly that Pyro and your cat have formed such a tight bound that they can communicate to one another. Turns out Pyro can make cat friends easily!

Engineer: This sweet man is no stranger to owning pets. When he was growing up, his family had the sweetest pupper out there: a Golden Retriever named Austin. You decide to surprise him one day by bringing home a golden Labradoodle who you’ve humbly chosen to name Bee. He immediately falls in love with the sweet pup and goes to work to build the dog everything from a bed, toys, their own fancy collar, the works! He even made a metal dog tag shaped like a bee. You start to wonder if he loves the dog more than you - don’t worry, he loves you more than before for getting Bee, but he may love Bee more. Also, don’t be surprised if one day he comes home to surprise you and Bee with a little corgi puppy - so Bee can have a little sibling!

Demoman: There are a number of reasons why he is reluctant to getting a pet; they’re a lot of work, they can be messy, and they crave attention. He likes dogs, but doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of one, and cats? They remind him of his mum a bit too much. But when you suggest the wild card that is a parrot? SOLD. You both pick out a parrot that matches his team colour and happily take the sweet birb home with you. Demo adores his new friend, because now he feels like a true pirate king. Plus, the bird listens to his drunk ramblings, how could he not love his new friend?

Heavy: Unlike the others, he has never really had a connection to animals in any way. He used to eat bears to survive, he lived in a gulag, to say concept of a pet was abnormal was an understatement. When you ask, he at first shuts you down immediately, saying he’s too big, and he’d worry about hurting the poor creature. However, you show him the wonderful word of BIG puppers and he’s intrigued, but only slightly. Then you show him a Saint Bernard puppy, and then a full sized one. Heavy finally agrees when you tell him how it is near impossible for him to hurt the sweet big boys, just so long as he doesn’t try to ride one. When you bring your new pup home, Heavy immediately falls in love.

Sniper: It doesn’t take long to convince him. At first he says no because he doesn’t like normal pets like cats, dogs, birds, etc. But then you throw out the crazy idea of getting a pet wallaby (which is legal in some areas). The man was in TEARS. Now getting the wallaby was no easy feat - let’s just say it pays to know SAXTON HALE! - and when you finally got your joey you both were so pleased. The best part? It was cheap to feed your new pet as they primarily eat grass! A free lawnmower anyone? However, now Sniper’s asking if you’d be on board with getting a koala too. What have you started?

Medic: His doves are his babies. He thinks you should view them as your babies too and stop fantasizing about getting more pets. That is until you suggest the crazy idea of...Mice. Yes, mice plural. He thinks its a crazy idea, but then thinks about the irony of a doctor, a man of experimental science, and a whacko having pet mice and it just sounds so comical and crazy that he agrees to it. So now the med bay is filled with dove and mice excrement. Delightful. Medic also decided to name each of the mice after his teammates. For some reason he always liked to play with “Spy” by moving him around in his hands. Don’t tease mouse Spy.

Spy: Two words: Pet. Hair. Does he think animals are cute? Sure. He once thought about gifting Scout a bunny to prove a point. But he refused to own one himself, less he ruin his perfectly tailored suit by getting it coated with fur. He offers to buy you anything else to make up for this though, so at least he feels bad for rejecting your request? Also he doesn’t know why, but he feels like he’s begin rocked on a boat or something right now...Maybe it has something to do with Medic’s new pets somehow.

#tf2 headcanons #tf2 x reader #tf2 x so #tf2 #team fortress 2 #Cryo's Writing #tf2 scout #tf2 pyro #tf2 soldier #tf2 engineer #tf2 demoman #tf2 heavy #tf2 sniper #tf2 medic #tf2 spy #team fortress 2 x reader #team fortress 2 x so #reader insert #tw mice #tw mouse #tw rat #tw rats

[hannigramficrecs]

AU

Provenance by drinkbloodlikewine, whiskeyandspite [words: 62,735]

A delightful AU about a rare book dealer, an owner of a high-end coffee shop, and murder. This does involve Hannibal Lecter, after all.

I Am Not A Morning Person by stratumgermanitivum [words: 14,852]

I Am Not A Morning Person opened at 4:30 AM. Usually. Their menu was obscene and ever changing, and they offered shots of tequila in their coffee to anyone with an ID. Hannibal fell in love with their grouchy baker anyway.

Fruitful by Everett_Harte [words: 11,629]

An AU where they both meet several years before the show, start dating, and get married. And bang, a lot.

Teen Hannibal Ficlets by emungere [words: 10,927]

AU where Hannibal never meets Lady Murasaki and is somehow found by Will Graham and Will raises him instead. As Hannibal gets older he becomes obsessed with Will and so Teen Hannibal tries to seduce Guardian Will who is just like oh god someone save me.

Ticket Pocket by geneticallydead [words: 1,669]

Hannibal needs a new tailor. He finds Will Graham.

Taste by emungere [words: 4,575]

Hannibal is a tailor (and may or may not also be a serial killer) and Will comes to him for a new suit.

Professional Help by xzombiexkittenx [words: 1,969]

There's a stranger in Hannibal Lecter's house, peering out the window through the scope of an L115A3 bolt-action rifle.

Black Rock Mountain by bokunojinsei [words: 23,964]

Will is a hitchhiker with questionable hobbies. Hannibal is a man who has questionable motives. When Hannibal drives by Will who just so happens to need a ride, things quickly take a turn from the questionable to the downright depraved.

Lazy Coffee by lonelywalker [words: 1,104]

The baristas of Baltimore are dropping like flies. Why? Because they just can't get Dr. Lecter's coffee order right, and he's very particular. One day, an awkward young man with "Will" on his nametag changes Hannibal's life.

Page Six by ThisBeautifulDrowning [words: 66,839]

Crime reporter Will Graham's column on page six of the Baltimore Sun garners him the attention of many: fans, hobby detectives, the FBI...and others. Hannibal cut off a piece of meat with surgical precision. “I find your company rather engaging.” “Maybe I don't find you all that engaging.” Silence. Hannibal grinned. “I see that it will take more than one dinner to earn your forgiveness. Challenge accepted.”

How To Save A Life (The Cannibal-Friendly Handbook) by Kittendiamore [words: 3,463]

There’s a man looking up at Will, who has clearly been distracted from - Oh. Throwing limbs into the river. Human limbs. Lovely, he thinks sarcastically. Then he thinks it again because it actually is kind of lovely. The man looks confident. At ease with what he is. He’s kinda hot, too. Or: Will tries to jump off a bridge but ends up offering himself up to a cannibalistic serial killer...as you do.

Never Conquered, Rarely Came by thisisthefamilybusiness [words: 3,242]

Will is in an abusive relationship but can't see a way out - he's tried to leave before, but his partner is in law enforcement and always manages to track him down while pretending to be the understanding, forgiving, loving type. One day, Will stumbles across an ad in the Classifieds of the cleverly worded cannibal-seeking-fresh-meat-but-veiled-as-private-cooking-classes type, and decides to answer. Hannibal is pleased when his ad bears fruit, then surprised when his intended dinner apparently knows exactly what he's in for

Triage by ErisPhoenix [words: 5,469]

Cop Will and ER doctor Hannibal

The Ripper and the Black Dog by HigherMagic [words: 16,249]

A 'Mr & Mrs Smith' Hannigram story.

Money Where Your Mouth Is by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles [words: 3,792]

Will Graham is a dancer in a strip club trying to earn enough money to pay rent when he catches the attention of Hannibal Lecter, a man and a predator willing to pay any price for what he wants.

Late Shift by Sugarmouse [words: 4,307] 

Hannibal is nearing the end of his shift in the ER when one of the students makes a mistake with the dog bite victim in room four.

Our Stars are the Same by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened [words: 42,578] 

Someone's moved into the old creepy, supposedly haunted, mansion down the way from Will Graham and his family. Will never expects to befriend the new family's son.

Moorings Built on Sand by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened [words: 100,289] 

Will and his dad are moved to Germany for the foreseeable future and Will is surprised when he befriends a boy a few years older than him who seems to be mute.

Fix All My Broken Things by xstarxchaserx [words: 16,177]

When Will is introduced to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist is only supposed to be a client for him, just a couple of small repair jobs and nothing more. Will isn't prepared to fall headfirst into feelings, operas, and murder, but there's something lurking behind Hannibal's cool facade. When Will discovers it, his entire life will change.

The New Boy by TigerPrawn [words: 11,904] 

(Hannigram + Spacedogs High School AU) Nigel recently moved to a new school after being kicked out of the last five he'd attended. He just wants to keep his head down and get through senior year so his parents will let him work in their profitable family business. When he's asked to play guide to another new student - strange little Adam Raki - he thinks he might have found help in passing his classes. If he can keep his mind on his studies around his new friend...

I'll Will My Wild Eyes Bright by HigherMagic [words: 24,398] ]

"You would do well to remember that people like you are best seen and not heard," Mason says sharply. "Our new friend is far less forgiving than I am, if the rumors are even half true." Will nods, and resists the urge to pet over his face and wipe Mason's scent away. "I want you to kill him, Will. Whatever it takes. Will you do it?" "Of course, Your Majesty," Will replies, nodding. "I am your humble servant."

Ero̱totropía by drinkbloodlikewine, whiskeyandspite [words: 49,243] 

Will is 16 when he finds himself given to an older man to be mentored and apprenticed in the art of war and horsemanship. It is traditional, and all would be well, had Will not run his mouth to this particular general in the public baths not several hours earlier...

The Aesthetics of Pleasure by exarite [words: 2,056]

Hannibal Lecter did not watch porn. If he did, though, it would certainly explain why the man waiting in line with him looked incredibly familiar.

Out of Order by HigherMagic [words: 7,346]

Hannibal's car breaks down on a long road in the middle of West Virginia. In his quest to seek help, he ends up at an abandoned gas station, with a little house and a large barn. Living there is a man, Will Graham, who offers to take a look at his car and drive him to the next town so he has a place to stay. Hannibal cannot resist digging into Will's mind and personal life during the drive, learning that Will teaches remotely for the FBI, and in particular, lectures on the Chesapeake Ripper.

The One That Got Away by whatacunningboy [words: 4,694] 

Hannibal Lecter had this macabre air to his name. Everyone knew who he was and in what he specialized in—assassination was his trade and no one questioned it. He could make anyone disappear with a simple trick or two. He never missed a target, he was quiet, and swift. Yet, he missed the biggest target of all.

Ethics & Aesthetics by fragile-teacup [words: 106,330]

Pride and Prejudice omegaverse AU

Inconvenient by fragile-teacup [words: 69,621] 

England, April 1815. Hannibal Lecter, the third Earl of Raven, gets more than he bargained for when accepting a bet from a desperate man leads to him being saddled with the man's dilapidated estate - and son. Will Graham is eighteen, hot-headed, and unnervingly intriguing. As for Will, the idea of having to spend time with the person whom he holds responsible for his father's untimely death is anathema. And yet, when circumstances leave him with no other choice, he is forced to adapt. It does not help matters that Hannibal Lecter is most annoyingly attractive...

4 (25/25)

#hannibal au #hannibal fanfic #hannigram fanfic #hannibal #hannigram #au

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who Series 13: Jodie Whittaker Leaving Rumours, the Next Doctor, and the Future

https://ift.tt/2SweahO

Jodie Whittaker is fast approaching that three-season milestone at which most Doctors pull the inter-dimensional rip-cord and eject themselves from the TARDIS. Speculation has swirled around her, as it does for most Doctors, from the very start of her tenure, and now, more than ever, there’s the strong scent of Regeneration in the wind. So, will Whittaker leave at the close of series 13? And if so, will any of her companions remain to bridge the gap between eras? Might showrunner Chris Chibnall also hang up his sonic-shaped pen? The BBC is playing its cards characteristically close to its chest, so divining the answers to these questions is not unlike trying to unlock the mystery of the Doctor’s real name.

There was an ample reminder of the BBC’s zeal for secrecy when Who-newcomer and beloved Liverpudlian John Bishop – cast last year as companion Dan – was rebuked for revealing during an online Q&A that his character, too, would be Liverpudlian. If the BBC don’t want you to know that a Liverpudlian might be playing a Liverpudlian, then this is going to be a bumpy ride. But let’s strap in, brace for impact, and see what’s (or Who’s) out there…

Jodie Whittaker on leaving

Everyone has their favourite Doctors, and not-so favourite Doctors. Jodie Whittaker is not alone in having had love and scorn heaped upon her in equal measure, a phenomenon that has touched most actors to have taken on the role, with the possible exception of Tom Baker and David Tennant, who stand as almost deified in their respective eras.

It’s clear, though, that Jodie Whittaker has loved every moment of being the Doctor, and of being embraced by the show’s fandom, telling the Telegraph in November 2020: “If you bump into a Whovian, it genuinely makes both of your days. There’s something emotional, poetic and very humbling about being in the show, because you’re a little tiny jigsaw piece of something that is so precious to so many people.” It’s perhaps understandable, then, that her response to the speculation around her departure was to say: “To even question an end point would be too upsetting.”

Or, to parrot one of her predecessors: “I don’t want to go.”

Where’s the evidence?

Over the last eighteen months, rumours that Jodie Whittaker will be leaving after season 13 have been endlessly shared and repeated. These rumours were reported as fact by some media outlets earlier in the year, though the BBC has steadfastly refused either to confirm or deny them. It does, however, seem more likely than not that 13 will be 13’s last; a supposition based upon the ‘Who Rule of Three’ and the unignorable sound of drums gathering pitch and pace across the internet.

In the hunt for ‘evidence’, dead-ends and red-herrings abound. IMDb currently reveals no projects rumoured or in pre-production for Jodie Whittaker beyond her TARDIS tenure, but, then, actors keeping contractual secrets would be fools to release their schedules onto one of the most comprehensive entertainment databases ever to have existed. So no help there.

The Mirror newspaper recently reported that the front-cover of the 2022 Doctor Who annual would be Doctor-less for the first time in its 57-year-history. Could this be a clue? Not likely. The people at Penguin Random House – the annual’s publishers – made it clear that the thirteenth Doctor will feature heavily throughout the publication.  So whether the new cover is simply a radical redesign, a yielding to the purchasing power of this era of the show’s vocal detractors; or a shrewd marketing move designed to have the product promoted for free in the press, it doesn’t actually tell us very much about the likelihood of the 13th Doctor’s exit.

Peter Capaldi’s Trouser Clue

We might, however, be looking for clues in all the wrong places. Peter Capaldi deduced that he’d be handing over the TARDIS keys to a woman a few days before the BBC officially broke the news to him: thanks to his tailor.       

At a New York Comic Con panel in 2017, Capaldi told the audience: “I went into Paul Smiths, which is a very wonderful clothes shop in London where I buy my suits, and everybody knows me in there. And they said, ‘We just got a call,’ they said, ‘from the Doctor Who office saying, ‘Can we have a pair of [Peter’s] trousers, but with a waist size thirty?’ … And I thought, ‘Well, that can’t really be a man with a thirty-inch waist. That must be a lady then’.”

Staking out Jodie’s tailor probably won’t prove fruitful, though. Knowing the BBC, they’ve probably plugged that potential leak by sub-contracting Jodie’s wardrobe out to a mute grandma living alone in a fortress atop the Himalayas.    

Read more

TV

Doctor Who: the behind-the-scenes causes of regeneration

By Mark Harrison

TV

Doctor Who: Which New Doctors Are Now Canon?

By Chris Farnell

Will the Doctor Regenerate in 2022?

Series 13 will consist of eight episodes, set to begin airing later this year. The Mirror reports that there will be two specials in 2022, although it isn’t clear whether these will be in addition to this year’s 8,  or whether we’ll see a split of 6 episodes in 2021 with the 2 specials being held over for 2022. A special – Christmas Day, New Year’s Day or otherwise – has become the traditional arena for regeneration, so if Whittaker is leaving, it’s likely that her final scene will come at the end of that rumoured second special.

Many think that the greatest evidence for Whittaker remaining as the Doctor until at least 2023 is our proximity to Doctor Who‘s upcoming 60th anniversary. After all, it would seem a shame to bow out before a big milestone, and it could be daunting to saddle a new Doctor with spearheading such a significant celebration. Still, the timey-wimeyness of it all means that even should Whittaker leave in 2022 there’s no reason she couldn’t make an appearance in an anniversary episode, perhaps alongside a few other previous incarnations. And 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the BBC itself, so it’s hard to imagine that the show won’t be doing something extra special to mark that, given that it owes its very existence and longevity to the broadcaster (Michael Grade notwithstanding). Whenever she leaves, 13 could easily have her cake and eat it.

Will Chris Chibnall leave after Series 13?

When Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole left at the end of ‘Revolution of the Daleks‘, Mandip Gill’s Yaz stayed behind. Yaz has been one of the new era’s most underdeveloped characters, so it made sense that she would get her chance to shine and grow in a less crowded environment, sharing companion duties only with John Bishop’s newly teased Dan. But as her character and her story seems so intrinsically linked to the Doctor herself, with the promise of more in-depth exploration to come in series 13, when/if the Doctor leaves, will Yaz’s story also draw to a close? Will only Dan remain with a foot in two TARDISes? All speculation at this point, and it very much hinges on which direction the writers take Yaz in this next clutch of episodes.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall – a lifelong fan of the show and, prior to his appointment as big chief, a long-standing writer for both Doctor Who and Torchwood – has been at least as divisive a figure in Who fandom as 80s helmsman Jonathan Nathan-Turner. Rumours regarding his possible departure have circulated with just as much frequency as those surrounding Whittaker. When asked about series 13, Chris Chibnall told the Radio Times: “I do know I’m coming back for a third season. Yeah, absolutely.” Within those words, if you look hard enough, exists the implied absence of certainty around future seasons, but perhaps that’s getting rather too Da Vinci Code about the whole thing.

While the stewardships of previous showrunners Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat spanned two Doctors each, this doesn’t mean that Chris Chibnall is guaranteed a crack at the 14th Doctor. Should Chibnall leave after season 13, among the writing team perhaps only Pete McTighe – who wrote ‘Kerblam!‘ And co-wrote ‘Praxeus‘ – has the experience to take over as showrunner, given his stint over-seeing the award-winning Australian prison-drama Wentworth. 

How might 13’s Regeneration Happen?

Each of the modern Doctors has met their end in the service of some great sacrifice, either to protect a companion or to save if not the universe then at least a world within it. It’s unlikely that 13’s exit will be any different. It’s simply a question of against whom or what she’ll be fighting when her time comes.

Though it may be too soon for the Master to be directly responsible for the undoing of yet another Doctor so soon after 12’s John-Simm-shaped downfall, it’s likely that the Master will at the very least influence the direction of 13’s regeneration. Sacha Dhawan has expressed enthusiasm at the idea of returning, though nothing, as you would expect, has yet been confirmed. Or denied.

The revelations in ‘The Timeless Children‘, controversial though they proved for some fans, are perhaps too epoch-shaking and era-defining not to play a part in 13’s swansong, and it may well be that the shadowy Division – the Time Lord’s very own version of Starfleet’s Section 31 – will be complicit in the Doctor’s fall.

Another question presents itself: now that the Doctor knows she has infinite regenerations, might it make her more reckless? Might she start to see her body more like an easily changeable suit than a thing of flesh and blood? Might she regenerate multiple times before becoming the 14th Doctor, a la The Curse of Fatal Death, and what on earth would we call the 14th Doctor – who wouldn’t really be the 14th Doctor at all – if that happened?          

Who’s in the running for the next Doctor?

Many of the same actors tipped as possible replacements near the end of Capaldi’s run have reappeared in the Regeneration rumour mill, including firm favourites Michaela Coel, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Michael Sheen, David Harewood, Richard Ayoade and the indefatigable Kris Marshall. Joining them this time are Line of Duty alumni Kelly MacDonald and Vicky McClure, and It’s a Sin front-man Olly Alexander. It could be that one of them, or none of them get the call. The next Doctor could just as easily be Jo Martin’s fugitive Doctor, who’s been hiding in plain sight all along.

Really though, as with all things connected with the show at this stage of its cycle: Who knows?

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Doctor Who Series 13 will air on BBC One later this year.

The post Doctor Who Series 13: Jodie Whittaker Leaving Rumours, the Next Doctor, and the Future appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3h7A1nM

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello! I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but have you watched the Alita Battle Angel movie? If not, the synopsys is that an old doctor finds a cyborg bust in a scrapyard of trash that is dumped everyday by the floating city above, called Zalem. In your latest musing you mentioned something about trash being dumped from Atlas. What would you think if Upper Atlas were similar and it would dump trash in a scapyard, in Lower Atlas? And the workers there making use of it however they can?

‘SupYellow.Always a pleasure to hear from you so no worries there fam. Unfortunately I have notseen Alita.But I definitely want to since I’ve heard positive things about it; both themanga and the recent film adaptation. Despite knowing jack about the series, Ido like the idea you present here. 

It wouldn’t surpriseme if something like that were possible with Atlas. It’s funny. Folks keepreferring to Atlas by Upper and Lower. Wouldn't Upper Atlas technically be just Atlas while the lower sector is the remnants of Mantle?

That’swhat I assumed it was. The lower city being Mantle below, unless I am deeplymistaken. I like the idea of Atlas dumping their trashinto Mantle with the People of Mantle living the life of scavengers;only managing to survive due to their resourceful nature by crafting workingmachinery and equipment from whatever scraps of and parts they managed tosalvage and/or pilfer from the junkyards dumped from Atlas.

It’dbe interesting if Atlas has become rather snobbish and discriminatory towardtheir Mantlese brethren over the years to the point that they don’t even donate their broken or unused materials to Mantle’scitadel, only granting them use of whatever they can scavenge from the massivepiles of junk they dump into their kingdom periodically. Like the rich andelite only granting charity to the poor by allowing them to take what they canfrom their trash bins for the week and considering that an act of generosity.

Imagine if … the Atlesians are the typeswho have grown so spoilt from their riches that they no longer see worth in their products anymore. To Atlas, it’s allabout advancement.Forwardever, backward never and when theold outdates the new, the old is disposed of so that the new can rise up andthrive. Take over even and lead them successfully towards a bright future. Itwouldn’t surprise if that is the mantra of Atlas because that is precisely whathappened with Atlas and Mantle’s history. Atlas rose up to the point that it overshadowed Mantle and rather than aid those left behind intheir predecessor kingdom, it seems that Atlas has lost all touch with itsroots.

Allthe more reason why I’m digging the concept of the People of Mantle being scavengers—thegood kind who see worth ineverything around them, since their generations have been forced to survive onso little for so long and thus become more adaptive and more appreciative ofwhat they have and cherish.  And becauseof that, they are able to make wonders with what bit they can use from the UpperWorld.

Thisalso makes me think of a really cool hunch I have concerning Penny Polendina’sfather/creator. For the sake of my musings, I’m going to refer to him as Dr. Japheth Polendina until his official canon name is revealed. If mymemory serves correctly, Gepetto isthe Italian form of the name Japheth whichis a name of Hebrew origin meaning ‘expansion’.  

I think Japheth is afitting pseudo-name for Dr. Polendina since my assumption is that he is a greatand well-renowned scientist and inventor in Atlas whose inventions hascontributed towards the kingdoms’ advancement. Makes sense, right? Beyond that,another theory I have is Dr. Polendina is unlike a lot of Atlesians . Itwouldn’t surprise me if Dr. Polendina, like many from his generation (MariaCalavera and Nicholas Schnee) was born after the Great War and contributedtowards Atlas taking over from Mantle.

Howeverunlike other Atlesians who seem to have discarded theirMantlese heritage and traditions, Dr. Polendina still holds stubbornly onto his.I like the irony of Dr. Polendina being old-fashioned despite being the inventor of so many creationsthat helped Atlas move forward. I think that could be a cool contrast to hischaracter. I like the idea of Dr. Polendina being a smart yet modest and humbleold man (maybe even a lil cuckoo for coco puffs), who doesn’t just create foradvancement but rather help humanity because he genuinely sees wonder and value in everything around him. Despite it being a traditionhis younger associates don’t understand and have tried to beat out of him foryears, y’know since they all mostly consider him a fossil and only keep himaround for his unique genius. Nonetheless Dr. Polendina sees worth in everything—includinga lifeless robotic husk he treated and loved like a daughter. That’s my theoryfor Dr. Polendina if you or anyone who were ever curious.

Ithink an anon-ninja once asked me what elements of Gepetto/Pinocchio I think will be incorporated in V7. Well I thinkthat’s one of them. I’d love to think that Japheth also shares a history with Arthur Watts.I can’t help this nagging hunch I have that Arthur Watts was probably the formerapprentice of Dr. Polendina who he loved like a son.

Inthe Pinocchio tale, Geppetto was an elderly woodcarver whoseemed to not have any former children of his own hence why he createdPinocchio and wished for him to be a real boy.

Imagine if it was the same for Dr.Polendina. Whatif… Japheth was a man who had dedicated his life so much toadvancing Atlas that he never got the chance to have the thing he wanted morethan anything—a family or at least someone to love him like one. Picture Japheth living a depressing life where he losttouch with his former family in Mantle and the closest thing to a family he hadin Atlas was a former apprentice who he cherished like the child he never had whoended up betrayinghim before disappearing entirely,believed to be dead (i.e. Dr. Arthur Watts) and lastly, Penny—the android heloved like a daughter but also ultimately lost.

Ican go on and on about my theories for Dr. Polendina but that’s the theory Imainly wish to share here. As you brought up Alita, it made me think ofsomething interesting. I have this Penny-centric theorywhere as soon as our heroes arrive in Atlas, they soon discover, much toRuby’s shock and disgust that Penny was made into a line of sentient service androidswho was being mass produced and sold to the People of Atlas.

Picture Detroit Become Human but with just Penny asthe sole android series. RWBY Chibi S2 kindof teased the concept of Penny being sold as a doll. So what ifthat will be the case for V7? What if…in current Atlas, Penny is now a popular brand of service androiddolls sold to the Atlesian public to perform many different roles insociety. Picture Penny being like the Barbie Doll of Atlas exceptthat she’s a life-sized sentient machine. Picture all kinds of Penny models beingsold each programmed with a series of different functions tailor made to fitwhatever role her user/buyer bought her to perform.

Imagine Ruby standing in acity populated with different Pennies—-Waitress Penny, Nurse Penny, Traffic Cop Penny, TourGuide Penny, etc.—who all look and sound just like Ruby’s Pennybut isn’t her. And what’s even more horrifying to Ruby is what Penny’s legacyhas dissolved into. Back in V3 I believe, Penny told Ruby that she wasoriginally made to protect Remnant. She was made to be a hero. The first of her kind tobe used to protect humanity.

Imagine howmuch of an insult it would be if this is what Ruby finds out Atlasdid to her friend after she was murdered. Not remember her as a hero butbasically a living toy to beused and abused as her consumers feel.

That’sinsane!Which is all the more reason why I want this theory to come true. I was askedlong ago by a FNDM fam about how Ruby would feel if she saw Penny locked away insidesome pod inside a laboratory. I never got around to actually answering that questionbecause Tumblr buried the original response post I was going to edit. If thatuser happens to read all of my answer posts, here is my answer to your questionnow.

Rubyreacting to a rebuilt Penny being locked safely inside a pod? Ahahaa! How about I giveyou something grimmer?

Ontop of Atlas mass producing Penny and treating her like a plaything rather than the heroshe was meant to be, you wanna know my theory for what they did with originalPenny?

Myhunch is that originalPenny is put in the trash. Meaningthat after her body was returned to Atlas, there was a meeting between themembers of the Atlas Council debating on whether or not the military projectPenny was born from should be terminated or not. Even though Ironwood is the mainauthoritarian from Atlas that we’ve met so far, I’d like to think there is another topleader calling the shots whoIronwood actually serves under.

Ifthe Atlas Council is anything like Vale’s, then there are at least threemembers on the council governing the Kingdom. From what I remember back in V4,Ironwood says he holds two seats on the council. This leaves the third and lastseat and it’s here where I think we’ll have a new authoritarian character who Ironwoodlistens to.

Basicallyit was this Atlas Council Member introduced and signed off on the idea ofturning Penny into a doll to be sold to the public.  I don’t know of any puppet masters in any knownfairy tales but perhaps this Councilman, as I’ll refer to him in mymusings, could be based off of the Coachman from Pinocchio. In the 1883 book TheAdventures of Pinocchio, the Coachman was a villain who kidnapped children tobring them to Toy Island in which the bad children turned into donkeys.

IfFNDM fam thought General Ironwood was a cross due to his deep authoritarian waysand leadership then imagine someone worse than Ironwoodbut lacking the compassion. Picture… the Councilman being the type to make ajackass out of the General Ironwood since Ironwood generally has torun everything by him and the Councilman has Ironwood wrapped around his pinkie,especially now that he hasn’t been well—psychologically. I actually kinda digthis idea.

Sothe Councilman convinces Ironwood that the best way to dissolve the mess the Vytalescapade left on the military and the People of Atlas following Beacon is to turnPenny into a doll series—allowing her to fulfil the purpose she was made for.Serving humanity by serving humanity as a service doll. There are even Penniesbeing used by the military.

WhileDr. Polendina wouldn’t sign off on something like this—imagine it being oneof those uncomfortable scenarios where one’s hand is forced because they arebacked into a corner by people trying to either bullyor manipulate them. In the case of Japheth, it was both theCouncilman trying to bully him into doing his job for the military and Ironwood,though sympathetic towards the doctor and his loss, still trying to somewhatemotionally manipulate the man into doing as he and the Councilman ordered byusing Penny and the reasons she was made in the first place as his motive.

It’snot a nice game but in the end, against his wishes, Dr. Polendina had no choicebut to hand over his research and the original body of Penny and concur as themilitary—mainly the Councilman did what they pleased with her.

Andin the end, once they were done, they didn’t even have the common courtesy toreturn Penny to her father. Instead, like many things in Atlas, Penny wasdiscarded and her remains ended up in the junkyards near Mantle. I even have away RWBY canincorporate Monstro into the Atlas Arc. You know how in Pinocchio,Gepetto got swallowed by the giant whale?

Wellwhat if…at some point, the heroes visit Lower Atlas on their voyage towards Mantle. Mytheory is that at some point during the Schnee Family Affairsstoryline of the Atlas Arc, Weiss will go in search of her missing grandfatherNicholas Schnee and her searches will take her and her friends down from Atlasinto Mantle’s depth. During their voyage, the group end up in the junkyardsbelow.

Apparently,people aren’t allowed to go in the junkyards. Part of it is due to Atlas being stingy towards Mantle even with their junk and anotheris for the reason that there is a massive Grimm known to roam the junkyards.That monster is GrimmMonstro—a colossal land whale type Grimm that burrows undergroundand swims through the sea of garbage in the junk piles looking for anyunsuspecting victims to rise up and swallow.

I have this idea where Ruby andOscar are swallowed alive by Grimm Monstro and it’s in the belly of the Grimm where Ruby discovers Penny’s originaldestroyed body. Perhaps…as a better alternative, that’s how she and Oscargot swallowed in the first place. Ruby spots OG Penny while in the junkyard.Goes off on her own to retrieve her despite Oscar’s initial warnings that somethingfelt off about the junkyard however Ruby ignores hisadvice. Ruby makes it to Penny’s body in time for Grimm Monstro to rise up.Oscar jumps in to rescue Ruby. The two try their best to outrun the giant Grimmbut end up getting swallowed alive. That could be FREAKING EPIC!

Little Red Riding Hood and PrincessOzma working together to escape Monstroand save themselves plus Pinocchio is a future RWBY episodeI’d love to see for Atlas. YES PLEASE! Sign my ass up!

Andif all that comes true, we could even get Ruby and Oscar working together to revive original Penny.

Ifmy theory about Oscarawakening his inner mechanic and inventor comes to fruition, imagine Ruby begging Oscar to help her revive her formerfriend using his skills. Knowing and fully understanding how much this means toRuby, Oscar accepts and the two rosebuds get to work together. I would lovethis so much!

Ithink this could be really cool especially if after Penny gets successfully restoredthrough Oscar’s know-how, she starts calling Oscar ‘brother’. I’ll give you three veryimportant reasons why I love this idea.

Firstly,I’ve seen some fans comparing Oscar to Penny so me, being the proud Pinehead and Polendiva (Penny Polendina fan) that I amstarted to dig the idea of Penny and Oscar having a brother-sister dynamic.Like after Oscar helps rebuild her, Penny starts treating him like he was her big brother.Not father since Dr. Japheth is her father.

Secondly,I like Penny calling Oscar ‘brother’ because of the obvious, very on the nosecall back to FMA. Come on! You know how much I love those.

Andlastly, I love this idea because it appeals to another Pinehead headcanon I have where Oscar becomes an apprentice under Dr. Polendina anddevelops a father/son bond with the old inventor. I did say I wantedOscar to have a godmother type character who adopts him in Atlas. Perhapsinstead of a fashion designer, it’s an genius inventor who acts as hisgodfather.

Penny andDr. Polendina both adopting Oscar into their family = HELLA FREAKING YES.

You know my mantra. #EverybodyAdoptsOscar

I’dlove to expand more on this idea some more but I think I’ll save it for anothermusing. This response post is long enough. But for what it’s worth, I hope youlike my answer Yellow.Let me know what you think if you can pretty please. Would like to hear yourthoughts on my thoughts.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #penny polendina #rwby theories #rwby v7 theories #rwby volume 7 #rwby v7 #yellow-eyed-green-crocodile #pinehead headcanons #squiggles pinehead headcanons

[ismedicalschoolworthit-blog]

Is Medical School Worth It?

Hi! I recognize you! You and i are more alike than you recognize, and i'm glad which you’ve determined this blog put up to help you to your quest to reply a burning query that you’ve been asking your self greater often than now not, as of past due. in the course of your life, you’ve been residing behind the shadows of the antique pretense of, “once I develop up, I want to be a…” however unbeknownst to you, is medical school worth it on your front door, and it’s time to begin making a few adult selections! let me start off via commending you for taking step one inside the right path, with the aid of being self-conscious, and internally reflecting on where to go from right here! Like maximum people like-minded beings inside the global, past, present, and future, those of us who stroll into a cloud of fairy dust, and begin nurturing the dream of becoming a physician, have undeniably held onto this aspiration and imaginative and prescient for as long as we may want to consider. 

We’ve tailored everything in our lives to satisfy the direction of this dream, from our birthday offers of a plastic stethoscope to our Halloween costumes, our excessive faculty and college courses, our more-curricular and volunteer activities. whether or not you’ve been inspired by a member of the family who's a physician, a medical doctor that confirmed you limitless compassion, care, and kindness in some unspecified time in the future in your lifestyles, whether you’re bewildered through the ever-evolving international of medication itself, otherwise you’re from the camp of souls that have fantasized approximately being your favorite health practitioner individual in a outstanding scientific-associated tv.

Pros of pursuing a profession in medicinal drug

Allow us to start out by way of listing a number of the overarching professionals to pursuing a profession in medicinal drug; first and foremost, from a societal point of view, physicians are very notably regarded and respected. Secondly, the scientific career affords a exceptional deal of monetary stability, and Physicians are humbly aware that they can start and quit their days knowing that they may be continuously and undoubtedly contributing to the overall health, health, growth and betterment in their communities. there is certainly an countless variety of additional pros related to pursuing a career in medicine, but there's a reason this query has been gnawing at your mind for a while now, and i guarantee you, i was proper in which you had been earlier than I selected to pursue the route to becoming a physician. I implore you to enroll in me as we reflect on what many may additionally view because the cons of pursuing a existence and profession in medicinal drug, because the overarching downsides can be too hard to overlook. ultimately, the answer to the question, "Is clinical faculty well worth it?", relies upon for your very own priorities, reasons for pursuing medication, and capability to address the challenges that include choosing this precise path to your vocation.

[aokardosarchive]

Trident Task # 5: 

Basic Character Questions

First name? Nael Thiago Surname? De La Fuente Middle names? Alvarez Nicknames? Nael, the Disney prince, el inocente Date of birth? February 21, 1988 Age? 30

Physical / Appearance

Height? 6′2″ Weight? 176 lb Build? Muscular, athletic built. Hair color? Brown. Hair style? Short, black locks (tends to be wavy when long). Eye color? Chocolate brown. Eye shape? Close set eyes. Glasses or contact lenses? Requires reading glasses (but hasn’t had one since arriving on the island). Distinguishing facial features? Which facial feature is most prominent? Eye crinkling when extremely happy. Which bodily feature is most prominent? His round, perky ass. Other distinguishing features? Does a six (6) pack count? Skin? Tanned, smooth Hands? The left and the right - complete set Make up? For photo shoots and royal functions: concealer. Lip balm and sunscreen for daily use. On the island: sunscreen (whenever he can get some). Scars? One by his lower right back (sword-fighting accident), and numerous cuts up and down his left and right arms (post-torture) Birthmarks? One on right knee and one on left eye Tattoos? Two -- a coloured ‘sweet’ cherry tattoo on his right buttock cheek, and a white ink arrow tattoo on his right rib cage Physical handicaps? None Type of clothes? Suits, slacks, ankle boots, leather shoes, long-sleeved polos. // on the island: plain t-shirts, khaki shorts, swim shorts, sandals How do they wear their clothes? Tailor-fit, tight clothes to emphasise form. What are their feet like? (type of shoes, state of shoes, socks, feet, pristine, dirty, worn, etc) Clean, nails cut as much as possible, wears sandals on the island, or barefoot. Race / ethnicity? White (of Spanish descent) Mannerisms? Subscribes to traditional royal mannerisms (such as bowing and hand-kissing), fidgeting fingers, anxious swallowing. Are they in good health? Yes, Nael is health-conscious. He eats right as much as possible, and works out daily. Do they have any disabilities? Post-torture: Nael is currently suffering from anxiety.

Personality

What words or phrases do they overuse? He says “si” a lot. Do they have a catchphrase? No. Are they more optimistic or pessimistic? Optimistic. Are they introverted or extroverted? Extroverted. Do they ever put on airs? Unfortunately, yes. What bad habits do they have? Smoking, binge-drinking, over-indulgence. What makes them laugh out loud? The simplest of things (even the most plainest of jokes) can make him laugh. How do they display affection? Hand-holding, hugs -- he isn't shy to show affection. Mental handicaps? Anxiety. How do they want to be seen by others? He wants the best and the goodness in him to always be seen. How do they see themselves? He sees himself as unreal, sometimes. How are they seen by others? He is often seen as the 'epitome' of a prince. Strongest character trait? Comforting other people, being their rock. Weakest character trait? Opinion can easily be swayed or influenced. How competitive are they? Not quite. Do they make snap judgements or take time to consider? He prefers to think things through rather than act hastily. How do they react to praise? Bashful smiling, blushing. How do they react to criticism? Anxious gazes, fear (sometimes). What is their greatest fear? To be seen as as waste of a human being. What are their biggest secrets? His bisexuality, his rotation of hook-ups, his incapability to settle in one relationship. What is their philosophy of life? “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” When was the last time they cried? To Aaron @aaronherzog, after opening up about his torture. What haunts them? The voices in his head telling him that he will never be good enough and that he's only trying hard but people can see right through him. What are their political views? Quite liberal. What will they stand up for? For his constituents, for the people. Who do they quote? Whoever captures his interest, his essence. Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy? Indoorsy. What is their sinful little habit? His hook-up rotation. What sense do they most rely on? Sense of sight. How do they treat people better than them? With utmost care. How do they treat people worse than them? With excessive understanding. What quality do they most value in a friend? Trustworthiness. What do they consider an overrated virtue? Honesty. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be? The need to be liked. What is their obsession? To be liked by as many people as possible. What are their pet peeves? Arrogant, violent people. What are their idiosyncrasies? Gets attached way too easily to people, easily impressed.

Friends and Family

Is their family big or small? Who does it consist of? The royal family of the de la Fuentes is quite small. King Matias runs the country, Queen Lucia oversees most philantrophic works, Nael is the successor of throne, Principe Vasco @vascoxdexlaxfuente and Princesa Paula @delafuentepaula are still taking their lessons and have yet to take up their official tasks. What is their perception of family? Family is everything to Nael. His parents had raised all of them to value family and love in the best way possible. He is nothing without his strong familial ties. Do they have siblings? Older or younger? He has siblings younger than him -- Vasco and Paula. Describe their best friend. Nael's best friend in Argentina is a man named Philippe. He is his childhood best friend growing up, a bond maintained and sustained to grow up until today. Philippe is an architect who is always thrown off with Nael's royal stature, and keeps him humble. Ideal best friend? Preferably a fellow royal who understands what it means to be on a position that benefits and harms you at the same time. Someone whom he can spend hours upon hours end just talking. Describe their other friends. Principe Luka @luka-rossi is a fellow royal whom he has practically grown up with, as well as Princesa Laela @laprincipessalaela and Princesa Maddalena @maddalenaofitaly. The two Italian princesas are practically family. Principe August @augustofmonaco is a dear friend from his reckless days, but he still manages to keep in touch. Principe Aaron @aaronherzog is someone whom he can confide in, and constantly seeks for companionship. Princesa Lola @lola-gutierrez holds a special place in his heart despite their past. Emily @emily-windsor is a pirata whom he adores dearly and has develop a steady mentor-mentee relation with. Describe their acquaintances. Nael likes to make fast friends of nearly everyone he can. And by everyone, he means everyone. Do they have any pets? Yes. His shih-tzu, Kaia, is a royal dog, cared for and pampered by the de la Fuentes and the royal household. Who are their natural allies? Primarily, the Italian Rossis. He is also natural allies with royal families from nearby Hispanic and Latino countries. Who are their surprising allies? At the moment, Principe Niklas @niklas--johansson​ of Sweden.

Past and Future

What was your character like as a baby? As a child? As a baby, Nael was a doted on first heir. He was quite fussy, and was demanding of attention from either his parents or the nannies. As a child, however, he had learned by then to command the attention of nearly everyone in the room, by simply being his angelic, well-mannered self. Did they grow up rich or poor? Rich. Did they grow up nurtured or neglected? Nurtured and loved. What is the most offensive thing they ever said? In the heat of the moment, he had fired a staff member and called them a bitch after they had rudely berated and chastised his own guest in the palace. What is their greatest achievement? Proposed and opened up his first school with a specialised, improved curriculum. His school is a free-for-all education program for the underprivileged youth. He firmly believes in education being power. What was their first kiss like? Shy and chaste. What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved? They didn't realise that they were in love with them at that time. What are their ambitions? To prove himself as a king worthy and capable of leading his people, that he not be detested as a monarch. What advice would they give their younger self? Stop trying to get validation from others. What smells remind them of their childhood? Freshly printed books, freshly baked banana bread, vanilla. What was their childhood ambition? To be a doctor. What is their best childhood memory? The lavish balls thrown for festivities' sake. What is their worst childhood memory? Realising the severity and gravity of his title. Did they have an imaginary childhood friend? No. When was the last time they were crushed with disappointment? When he was taken and tortured by the piratas. What past act are they most ashamed of? Allowing he and Princesa Lola @lola-gutierrez​ to be caught by the paparazzi. What past act are they most proud of? Representing Argentina in the UN 2017 summit in lieu of his father. Has anyone ever saved their life? Yes, many times by his guards. Strongest childhood memory? One day, in particular, stands out the most as it was the day when they spent a day out in the park and went for ice cream without their guards. Nael did not know that the guards had merely kept their distance from them that day. To him, it was the first time they could go out as simply mother and son, and not as royals.

Love

Do they believe in love at first sight? No. Are they in a relationship? No. How do they behave in a relationship? Nael feels strangled when in a relationship. He is loyal, but feels like he is limited. When did you character last have sex? With Aaron, just before the fire. What sort of sex do they have? Vanilla, passionate sex. He performs for the pleasure of his partner, above all else. He prefers light BDSM, but anything too harsh turns him off. Would bend over backwards just to make sure that his partner is satisfied. Has your character ever been in love? Yes. Have they ever had their heart broken? Yes.

Conflict

How do they respond to a threat? Unkindly. Will resort to violence if necessary. Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue? Tongue. Fists are last resort. What is your character’s kryptonite? Brightly-coloured hues, blue eyes. If your character could only save one thing from their burning house, what would it be? Save the dog. How do they perceive strangers? With openness. What do they love to hate? Nael is a sucker for trash celeb magazines. He hates them, but will buy them still just to see what they have written about. What are their phobias? Spiders. Being alone. Disappointing his family. What is their choice of weapon? His words. What living person do they most despise? Nazis. Have they ever been bullied or teased? Teased about his sexuality, yes. Where do they go when they’re angry? To their room, or the garden. Or to a coffee shop. Who are their enemies and why? His enemies are mainly the bigots who trash his name because of his sexuality.

Work, Education and Hobbies

What is their current job? Crown prince of Argentina What do they think about their current job? Having been trained and taught all his life, he feels as if he should be ready to be king. He does not have a say in the matter, so he merely accepts it as it is. What are some of their past jobs? Nael once worked part-time in the university library in the UK. What are their hobbies? Reading, swimming, researching on various topics, watching the news. Educational background? Nael studied in the University College London and graduated with a degree in Politics and International Relations. Intelligence level? Quite knowledgeable. Unfortunately, his intelligence takes a backseat in favour of kindness. Do they have any specialist training? Mostly for royal training. Do they have a natural talent for something? Socialising with others. He's practically a great host on his own. Do they play a sport? Are they any good? Nael plays soccer, but he's only alright as a player since he cannot train as much. Nael has played rugby before, but once his parents found out, he was practically banned from playing the vicious sport. What is their socioeconomic status? Royalty.

Favorites

What is their favorite animal? Cats, oddly enough. Which animal to they dislike the most? Insects. What place would they most like to visit? Antarctica. What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen? The Tango Buenos Aires Festival 2016. What is their favorite song? La Vie En Rose by Daniela Andrade Music, art, reading preferred? Reading. What is their favorite color? Black. What is their password? Pr1nc1p3Th1ag022 Favorite food: Dulce de leche on helados. What is their favorite work of art? Fuente de las nereidas (Lola Mora) statue in Av. Dr. Tristán Achával Rodríguez Who is their favorite artist? Banksy. What is their favorite day of the week? Saturday.

Possessions

What is in their fridge: his personal mini-fridge has yogurt, chocolate bars, and milk in it. What is on their bedside table? Glass of water, rings, iPhone, iMac laptop, iPad. What is in their car? Change of clothes for casual, semi-formal, and formal occasions. A stash of emergency food and water. What is in their bin? Receipts. What is in their purse or wallet? Cash, ID cards, three (3) credit cards. What is in their pockets? Lip balm, iPhone, wallet. What is their most treasured possession? His dog.

Spirituality

Who or what is your character’s guardian angel? Nael's guardian angel is most likely a white butterfly, whispering in his ear or something. Do they believe in the afterlife? Yes What are their religious views? He is a Christian. Although if anything, he isn't as practicing. The religion is mainly to be seen as a model in amongst the conservatives. What do they think heaven is? Just another place to go to. What do they think hell is? A place to go to, as well. Are they superstitious? Yes. What would they like to be reincarnated as? A puppy. How would they like to die? In his sleep, peaceful. What is your character’s spirit animal? He does not have one. What is their zodiac sign? Pisces.

Values

What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? To treat a person like they are trash. What is their view of ‘freedom’? Freedom is to soar and be yourself, with no limits. When did they last lie? He last tried to lie to Laela @laprincipessalaela​ about his injuries and disappearance. What’s their view of lying? It is only allowed if it is to protect the ones you love most. When did they last make a promise? To himself, that he was to survive and get out of the dungeons alive and sane. Did they keep or break their last promise? Kept it.

Daily life

What are their eating habits? Nael is mindful of his choices. He prefers his protein and potatoes a lot. Craves for carbs constantly. He often indulges in sweets or treats though. He likes to keep eating every now and then. Do they have any allergies? None. Describe their home. Nael's room in the argentinian palace has a minimalist, black and white look. The furnitures are quite modern compared to the rest of the household. In there is a huge flat screen TV, a love-seat, his vanity dresser, his work table, and his king-sized bed. A wall in his spacious room is a top-to-bottom shelf filled with books and awards. His walk-in-closet is connected to the next room filled with his clothes, shoes, and accessories. His bathroom has a soaking tub, a waterfall shower, and a double sink. He has his own balcony, with two loungers on it and a view of the gardens. Are they minimalist or a clutter hoarder? Minimalist, as much as possible. He sorts through his things on a monthly basis with a staff member to clean through. What do they do first thing on a weekday morning? Breakfast in the dining room. It's a daily tradition to see each other regularly on week day mornings for the de la Fuentes. What do they do on a Sunday afternoon? If there is no function to attend to, he will be at his father's office, conferring about the week's news and happenings. What do they do on a Friday night? Nael will most likely be at his condo complex, spending the night with his hook-up rotation until the next day, unless he has a function. What is the soft drink of choice? Root beer. What is their alcoholic drink of choice? Champagne

Miscellaneous

What is their character archetype? (Innocent, Orphan, Hero, Caregiver, Explorer, Rebel, Lover, Creator, Jester, Sage, Magician, Ruler) hero. Who is their hero? His parents. What or who would your character dress up as for Halloween? A Greek god, most likely. Are they comfortable with technology? Yes, incredibly so. He has Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. He also has quite the following there. If they could save one person, who would it be? Vasco. Heaven knows he might not be able to save himself. If they could call one person for help, who would it be? Paula. She knows exactly how to help him. What is their favorite proverb? The classic “Don't judge a book by its cover.” What is their greatest extravagance? In his youth, he made a purchase of two (2) luxury yachts in one night. The next morning, his father made him return them. What is their greatest regret? Not having had pursued medicine. What is their perception of redemption? Redemption is achievable, attainable, so long as one makes the effort. What would they do if they won the lottery? Invest half in the schools he plans to put up and invest half in stocks and bonds. What is their favorite fairytale? Tangled. What fairytale do they hate? Snow white. Do they believe in happy endings? Si. What is their idea of perfect happiness? Being in a luxurious paradise with the one/s you love and cherish. What would they ask a fortune teller? Would my life actually make an impact to the world? If your character could travel through time, where would they go? To the past. To be specific, the day his parents met. What sport do they excel at? Table tennis. What sport do they suck at? Soccer. If they could have a superpower, what would they choose? Teleportation.

#trident;task #task005

[abaikgirl]

Loki, Asgard’s UN Representative

So I had this idea of what if after Avengers 4, after Thor defeats Thanos, settles the remainder of Asgard on earth and brings Loki back to life, Loki becomes the right hand to the throne and handles all diplomatic and foreign relations for Asgard (because he’s so sly and silvertongued and Thor is actually perfectly awful at diplomacy). So of course Thor chooses Loki to represent Asgard at the United Nations meeting and Loki goes in guns blazing to make things better for his people and takes advantage of the fact that everyone is terrified of him to do whatever the hell he wants. Anyways, it was kind of a one shot I wrote in a hurry, so enjoy!

“And now we call attention to the newest member of the United Nations-the sovereign nation of Asgardia, represented by Loki Odinson, All-Brother and advisor to the throne.” Although the words were said with decorum, there was a quiver in the voice of the UN head that betrayed the fear all in the room felt at having a former super villain present with them. 

Loki rose from his seat at the back and gracefully walked to the microphone. Despite being a thousand year-old Norse god from space, he wore a simple but expertly tailored black suit that lacked any ornamentation except for a single gold lapel pin that had an elaborate knot design etched in it. His shoulder length hair was slicked back in soft curls and his smile was warm and gracious as he looked at the diplomats before him. Despite themselves, his refined appearance and elegant movements made many of the women and men in the room feel a rush of attraction. This wasn’t done by any magic because upon hearing that King Thor had appointed his brother Loki as Asgard’s UN representative, the leaders of the world reached out to Doctor Strange who was more than happy to put up anti-magic charms all around the main chamber to prevent Loki from getting out of hand. So no, this wasn’t magically induced attraction and trust, this was Loki doing what he did best—winning people over with his silver tongue and good looks. 

“Citizens of the world, leaders of earth,” he began. “I understand many, if not all of you, are quite disturbed at the thought of having me be a part of your council. Considering the horrendously bad first impression I made, I can hardly blame you. However, you may put your worries to rest as I come as a humble representative of the Asgardian people to work in unity to find solutions that not only benefit Asgard, but all the nations of Earth.”

Loki allowed a pause, smiling warmly at the representatives half of whom looked ready to eat out of the palm of his hand and the other half looked entirely unimpressed with his eloquent “I’m good now” speech. Undeterred by their doubting expressions, he continued. Looking down, he pretended to be consulting notes even though he had the entire speech fully memorized and prepared, but the need for assist made him look more human and thereby more accessible to the mortals around him. 

“The first topic Asgard wishes to bring before the United Nations is the abolishment of the Sokovia Accords.” For a moment, the contented lull he had induced on the crowd was broken and there was a flurry of urgent murmurs. Loki, undeterred by this rush of sound, continued. “Considering the fact that the accords seek to control and condemn Asgard’s leader, All-Brother Thor Odinson, Rightful King of Asgard, it cannot continue to be a functioning part of the world government and we move to have it abolished immediately.”

General Ross leaned forward to speak into his microphone. “With all do respect, Mr. Loki, the accords seek to prevent out-of-control vigilantes from running amuck in other countries. To abolish it is to put the world at risk.” Loki’s grin widened, turning colder and steelier as his bright green eyes settled on the general like a wolf that had spotted its prey. “And you would know all about putting people at risk, now wouldn’t you, General Ross?” There was a glimmer of fear in Ross’ eyes and Loki savored it as he continued to fix his gaze on the weak man before him. “After all, you were the one who led a military detail against an unstable and uncontrollable element, known as the Hulk, on a public college campus, endangering hundreds of innocent bystanders by your clumsy and bullheaded antagonization of said Hulk?”

Ross began to sweat and broke his gaze to look at the representatives around him for support. “That was—”

But Loki didn’t allow him to finish and plowed on. “I also recall you captured the Hulk after he had changed back into Bruce Banner only to release him on the unsuspecting population of Harlem to quell the rise of another unstable element—a member of your own team no less.” Loki let out a short, breathy laugh. “In all honesty, under the accords as they stand General Ross, you should be equally restrained and scrutinized for such reckless endangerment of human life that you accuse the Avengers to be guilty of.” Ross attempted to defend himself but Loki had already turned his attention back to the assembly. “Ladies and gentlemen of the United Nations, I am not here to say that my dear brother couldn’t use a bit of restraint. I, of all people know how reckless he can be. But as someone who once marched on the city of New York with the intent of conquering it, I can say with full confidence that the world is better protected with the Avengers and groups like them being given free mobility in emergency situations.”

This statement gained Loki some traction as the other delegates began to whisper amongst themselves that he had a very good point. After all, Thanos had wiped out half the universe only a few months ago and it was good that the Avengers had ignored the Accords and sprung into action to change that. 

General Ross could feel his position quickly slipping and stood up. “Now, hold on. We can’t just let this…super villain come in here and overthrow important legislation for the selfish reason of allowing his brother do whatever he likes.”

“First of all, these accords affect the leaders of two sovereign nations,” Loki interjected. “Both Asgard and Wakanda are led by those who have risked their lives to save the world, so this is not only affecting my brother, but also King T’Challa whom I understand has only recently opened the borders  of his country to the rest of the world. I would think it unwise to impose illegal and discriminatory legislation on their leader at such a delicate time. And second,” Loki gave General Ross a smile that dropped the temperature of the room a few degrees, “that’s reformed super villain to you.”

A deathly silence followed, broken only by Loki’s renewed cheerful tone. “All those in favor of abolishing the accords?”

No one dared to tell Loki he wasn’t authorized to initiate voting on a policy and it was almost unanimous.***

When Loki left the chamber, Thor was waiting for him and making conversation with T’Challa and his entourage. In all honesty, Loki adored Wakanda. Maybe it was the technological advancements, or the centuries of unbroken tradition or the all female royal guard—but it reminded him of home. Of course, the Wakandans did not share his same sentiment and as he approached they were guarded and reserved. It would take a lot for them to stop seeing him as the pawn of Thanos and start seeing him as a Thor saw him—a hero, a prince and an ally of Asgard. 

Thor saw him and gave him a wide smile. “Brother! I saw the recording of your meeting. A true victory!” Thor clapped him on the shoulder and Loki returned his smile.

Turning to the Wakanda leadership, Loki gave a small bow. “King T’Challa,” he greeted. 

“I appreciate what you have done for Wakanda and the Avengers,” T’Challa said, “But as I was just telling your brother, I still do not trust you to always do what is best for the whole.”

“I’m hurt,” Loki replied, but his playful smile didn’t match his words. “After all, I’m a diplomat now and that means I will always do what is best for Asgard and her allies. Are you one of our allies, King T’Challa?”

The Wakanda king frowned at Loki’s tone and stared at him for a few moments, appraising him. “I am an ally of Thor’s,” he responded in a careful tone. 

“Well then, it seems that, like it or not, you will have to learn to trust me.”

Thor nervously looked from Loki to T’Challa, waiting for some further arguing and when none came he laughed. “It’s good to see you’re making friends, brother.” Turning to T’Challa, he tried to look more serious. “I assure you Man of Panthers, I trust Loki with my life. He has fought by my side in many battles for the good of Asgard and the universe, and I know he would do it again. You have my word, he is trustworthy.”

T’Challa looked as surprised as Loki did. T’Challa knew how important and binding oaths were to the Asgardians and no matter how often Thor expressed his admiration and trust for his brother since the destruction of Asgard, Loki didn’t think he would ever get used to it. 

Brunnhilde approached them, her Valkyrie armor looking as out of place in the sleek modern UN building as Thor’s kingly attire, but if she noticed she didn’t show it. Loki watched how the crowd parted around Brunnhilde as she walked and he smiled, wondering how the UN would like it she were Asgard’s representative instead of him. After ten minutes they would practically beg to have him back. 

“All-Brothers,” she greeted, with a secret smile. Heimdall had coined the title, back on the ark. Thor was pretty sure he had said it in jest, but somehow it stuck and now that was what everyone called them. Thor and Loki, All-Brothers on the throne of Asgard. “If we plan to make all of the appointments of the day, we had better go,” Brunnhilde informed them. 

“Of course,” Thor replied with a boyish smile. “Until next time, my friends.”

T’Challa crossed his arms in the Wakanda salute which Thor, Loki and Brunnhilde returned. 

Brunnhilde led the way to the slab of concrete the UN had laid especially for them. It was still freshly singed from their arrival and there was no doubt it would only continue to be worn away with further usage. Loki thought back on his conversation with T’Challa and frowned. “They still don’t trust me, brother,” he grumbled.

“They will,” Thor replied. Lifting Stormbreaker to the sky, he opened the bifrost and with a flash of light they were taken home to Asgard. 

Thanks for reading. Should I write more? Let me know!

Special thanks to @the-spastic-pen for pre-reading.

#loki #avengers 4 #marvel fanfiction #thor #valkyrie #loki drags general ross #abaikgirl

[agrippaspoleto]

Unable to perceive

Read on AO3

This little ditty and the accompanying drawings were inspired by "Wait a minute" by @i-am-a-bit-squeemish, which I still can't stop squeeing about. This fluffy nonsense is for you, dear. It takes place right after Julian leaves Jadzia's door.

There was someone at his door. He realised this because that someone was pacing and what was that hollow sound? Somebody was trying to break into his quarters and they didn‘t even try to be silent. This was beyond rude. Garak grabbed his disruptor and told the computer to open the door.

Later he would blame the lack of sleep for the surprised squeak he couldn‘t stop from escaping as his arms were suddenly full with a certain oblivious Starfleet Doctor. Who was only wearing his pyjamas. Curious indeed.

„Hello Garak, is this a phaser or are you happy to see me?“

Garak gaped at the lanky doctor in his arms, who didn‘t seem to be in a hurry to leave his embrace.

„Really, Doctor? It seems all my teachings have been wasted on you, if you think a line like this would work on me...“ Garak huffed indignantly. Inwardly he was amused and guardedly delighted. It seemed as if the good doctor wasn‘t as oblivious as he had thought.

„Come on, Garak. I just realised an hour ago that you have been flirting with me when we first met. Give me some slack.“ answered Bashir with a pout.

Garak released the doctor roughly from his embrace and took a step back, bruskly. Bashir stumbled, surprised by the tailor‘s action.

„You just realised that?“ Obviously the good doctor was as oblivious as he had feared. Probably even worse. „We have been having lunch for three years now and you‘ve just realised that I have been flirting with you when I first approached you? What do you think I have been doing the last three years?“

It was too early for this. Garak rubbed his eye ridges in despair and realised that he still had the disruptor in his hand. He went to one of the cupboards and put it away.

Before he could turn back he felt a pair of hands on his hips and a light kiss in his hair.

„I am sorry, Garak. I‘m not used to being persued. Especially not in the Cardassian way.“

The tailor sighed and leaned back into the embrace.

„I should have known that Cardassian subtlety would be lost on you, my dear. The fault is mine in thinking that you would understand my intentions.“

Now it was Bashir‘s turn to huff.

„I can hear your smirk, Garak. You could have just told me, you know...“

Garak turned his head to look the doctor in the eye, still smirking.

„Now, Doctor, where would be the fun in that?“

The doctor‘s eye roll was fond and exaggerated at the same time.

„My name‘s Julian. Say it with me. J-U-L-I-A-N. Come on, I know you can do it.“

Garak‘s expression turned to mock confusion.

„You seemed to have returned to a slightly infantil stage. Are you drunk, dear?“

„Yes, drunk on love!“

„Seriously, I have no idea why I like you, Doctor.“

„Because you think I'm gorgeous, you want to kiss me...“ The doctor‘s voice was singsonging into his ear. Very off-key.

Garak sighed again and turned in Bashir‘s arms.

„I guess I should be thankful. You could be quoting that damnable Shakespeare at me.“

Bashir chuckled.

„To be honest, Shakespeare isn‘t my first choice either when it comes to love poetry. I would go with the poems of my Arabian ancestors. That language is just made for poetry.“

For a moment Julian‘s eyes (and yes, he was Julian now) seemed to see far beyond the former Terok Nor and it sorounding stars. He had never seemed more beautiful than in this moment, eyes glowing and lips curled into a small yet radiant smile. After a moment that could have been a second or an hour he leaned in and his nose touched Garak‘s. Julian‘s next words caressed the Cardassian tailor like the morning sun of Cardassia Prime on a first true Summer day and yet warmed him deeper than that sun ever could.

„Unable to perceive the shape of You, I find You all around me.

Your presence fills my eyes with Your love, It humbles my heart, For You are everywhere…“

They kissed softly, unhurried. It seemed that they had all the time of the world.

Later when they layed in bed together, just feeling each other‘s closeness, both not ready to sleep, Garak started chuckling.

„I still can‘t believe that it took you three years to realise that I flirted with you.“

Julian sighed fondly.

„You‘ll never let me hear the end of this will you?“

„Nope.“

End note:

Julian cites first Miss Congeniality Gracie Hart and then "The Shape of Water" poem which seems to be a translation of a work by a Persian poet known as Hakim Sanai who lived in the 11th and 12th century in today's Afghanistan.

Medieval Arabian poetry is one of the most beautiful things human beings have ever produced. Sadly I can only read them in translations since I haven't yet had the chance to learn the language, but that would definitely be worth it alone for these poems.

#garashir #one shot #star trek ds9 #my fic #general rating #pure fluff #elim garak #julian bashir #getting together #clueless chief medical disaster #it's reall to early for this shit #there are also illustrations #agrippa writes #agrippa draws #long post

[unheardradical]

How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting...

SkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... SkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting Community Ribald knitters teamed up with a neural-network creator to generate new types of tentacled, cozy shapes. A SkyKnit design as interpreted by michaela112358, a Ravelry user Ravelry / michaela112358 ALEXIS C. MADRIGAL | MAR 6, 2018 | TECHNOLOGY Like The Atlantic? Subscribe to The Atlantic Daily, our free weekday email newsletter. Email SIGN UP Janelle Shane is a humorist who creates and mines her material from 1 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... neural networks, the form of machine learning that has come to dominate the field of artificial intelligence over the last half-decade. Perhaps you’ve seen the candy-heart slogans she generated for Valentine’s Day: DEAR ME, MY MY, LOVE BOT, CUTE KISS, MY BEAR, and LOVE BUN. Or her new paint-color names: Parp Green, Shy Bather, Farty Red, and Bull Cream. Or her neural-net-generated Halloween costumes: Punk Tree, Disco Monster, Spartan Gandalf, Starfleet Shark, and A Masked Box. Her latest project, still ongoing, pushes the joke into a new, physical realm. Prodded by a knitter on the knitting forum Ravelry, Shane trained a type of neural network on a series of over 500 sets of knitting instructions. Then, she generated new instructions, which members of the Ravelry community have actually attempted to knit. “The knitting project has been a particularly fun one so far just because it ended up being a dialogue between this computer program and these knitters that went over my head in a lot of ways,” Shane told me. “The computer would spit out a whole bunch of instructions that I couldn’t read and the knitters would say, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever read.” The human-machine collaboration created configurations of yarn that you probably wouldn’t give to your in-laws for Christmas, but they were interesting. The user citikas was the first to post a try at one of the earliest patterns, “reverss shawl.” It was strange, but it did have some charisma. 2 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... Shane nicknamed the whole effort “Project Hilarious Disaster.” The community called it SkyKnit. The first yarn product of SkyKnit, by the Ravelry user citikas (Ravelry / citikas) The idea of using neural networks to do computer things has been around for decades. But it took until the last 10 years or so for the right mix of techniques, data sets, chips, and computing power to transform neural networks into deployable technical tools. There are many different kinds suited to different sorts of tasks. Some translate between different languages for Google. Others automatically label pictures. Still others are part of what powers Facebook’s News Feed software. In the tech world, they are now everywhere. The different networks all attempt to model the data they’ve been fed 3 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... by tuning a vast, funky flowchart. After you’ve created a statistical model that describes your real data, you can also roll the dice and generate new, never-before-seen data of the same kind. How this works—like, the math behind it—is very hard to visualize because values inside the model can have hundreds of dimensions and we are humble three-dimensional creatures moving through time. But as the neural-network enthusiast Robin Sloan puts it, “So what? It turns out imaginary spaces are useful even if you can’t, in fact, imagine them.” Out of that ferment, a new kind of art has emerged. Its practitioners use neural networks not to attain practical results, but to see what’s lurking in the these vast, opaque systems. What did the machines learn about the world as they attempted to understand the data they’d been fed? Famously, Google released DeepDream, which produced trippy visualizations that also demonstrated how that type of neural network processed the textures and objects in its source imagery. Google’s David Ha has been working with drawings. Sloan is working with sentences. Allison Parrish makes poetry. Ross Goodwin has tried several writerly forms. But all these experiments are happening inside the symbolic space of the computer. In that world, a letter is just a defined character. It is not dark ink on white paper in a certain shape. A picture is an arrangement of pixels, not oil on canvas. And that’s what makes the knitting project so fascinating. The outputs of the software had to be rendered in yarn. * * * 4 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... Knitting instructions are a bit like code. There are standard maneuvers, repetitive components, and lots of calculation involved. “My husband says knitting is just maths. It’s maths done with string and sticks. You have this many stitches,” said the Ravelry user Woolbeast in the thread about the project. “You do these things in these places that many times, and you have a design, or a shape.” In practice, knitting patterns contain a lot of abbreviations like k and p, for knit and purl (the two standard types of stitches), st for stitches, yo for yarn over, or sl1 for “slip one stitch purl-wise.” The patterns tend to take a form like this: row 1: sl1, k�, k1 (4 sts) o row 2: sl1, k�, k to end of row (5 sts) The neural network knows nothing of how these letters correspond to words like knit or the actual real-world action of knitting. It is just taking the literal text of patterns, and using them as strings of characters in its model of the data. Then, it’s spitting out new strings of characters, which are the patterns people tried to knit. The project began on December 13 of last year, when a Ravelry user, JohannaB, suggested to Shane that her neural net could be taught to write knitting patterns. The community responded enthusiastically, like the user agadbois, who proclaimed, “I will absolutely teach a computer to knit!!! Or at least help one design a scarf (or whatever godforsaken mangled bit of fabric will come out of this).” 5 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... Over the next couple of weeks, they crept toward a data set they could use to build the model. First, they were able to access a fairly standardized set of patterns from Stitch-maps.com, a service run by the knitter J. C. Briar. Then, Shane began to add submissions crowdsourced from Ravelry’s users. The latter data was messy and filled with oddities and even some NSFW knitted objects. When I expressed surprise at the ribaldry evident in the thread (Knitters! Who knew?), one Ravelry user wanted it noted that the particular forum on which the discussion took place (LSG) has a special role on the site. “LSG (lazy, stupid, and godless) is an 18+ group designed to be swearing-friendly,” the user LTHook told me. “The main forums are family-friendly, and the database tags mature patterns so people can tailor their browsing.” Thus, the neural network was being fed all kinds of things from this particular LSG community. “A few notable new additions: Opus the Octopus, Dice Bag of Doom, Doctor Who TARDIS Dishcloth, and something merely called ‘The Impaler,’” Shane wrote on the forum. “The number of patterns with tentacles is now alarmingly high,” she said in another post. When they hit 500 entries, Shane began training the neural network, and slowly feeding some of the new patterns back to the group. The instructions contained some text and some descriptions of rows that looked like actual patterns. For example, here’s the first 4 rows from one set of instructions that the neural net generated and named “fishcock.” 6 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... fishcock row 1 (rs): *k3, k2tog, [yo] twice, ssk, repeat from * to last st, k1. row 2: p1, *p2tog, yo, p2, repeat from * to last st, k1. row 3: *[p1, k1] twice, repeat from * to last st, p1. row 4: *p2, k1, p3, k1, repeat from * to last 2 sts, p2. The network was able to deduce the concept of numbered rows, solely from the texts basically being composed of rows. The system was able to produce patterns that were just on the edge of knittability. But they required substantial “debugging,” as Shane put it. One user, bevbh, described some of the errors as like “code that won’t compile.” For example, bevbh gave this scenario: “If you are knitting along and have 30 stitches in the row and the next row only gives you instructions for 25 stitches, you have to improvise what to do with your remaining five stitches.” But many of the instructions that were generated were flawed in complicated ways. They required the test knitters to apply a lot of human skill and intelligence. For example, here is the user BellaG, narrating her interpretation of the fishcock instructions, which I would say is just on the edge of understandability, if you’re not a knitter: 7 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... “There’s not a number of stitches that will work for all rows, so I started with 15 (the repeat done twice, plus the end stitch). Rows two, four, five, and seven didn’t have enough stitches, so I just worked the pattern until I got to the end stitch and worked that as written,” she posted to the forum. “Double yarn-overs can’t be just knit or just purled on the recovery rows; you have to knit one and purl the other, so I did that when I got to the double yarn-overs on rows two and six. The SkyKnit design “fishcock” as interpreted by the Ravelry user BellaG (Ravelry / BellaG) This kind of “fixing” of the pattern is not unique to the neural-network- generated designs. It is merely an extreme version of a process that knitters have to follow for many kinds of patterns. “My wrestling with the [SkyKnit-generated] ‘tiny baby whale Soto’ pattern was different from other patterns not so much in what needed to be done, as the 8 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... degree to which I needed to interpret and ‘read between the lines’ to fit it together,” the user GloriaHanlon told me. An attempt to knit the pattern “tiny baby whale Soto” by the user GloriaHanlon (Ravelry / gloriahanlon) Historically, knitting patterns have varied in the degree of detail they provided. New patterns are a little more foolproof. Old patterns do not suffer fools. “I agree that an analogy with 19th-century knitting patterns is quite fitting,” the user bevbh said. “Those patterns were often cryptic by our standards. Interpretation was expected.” But a core problem in knitting the neural-network designs is that there was no actual intent behind the instructions. And that intent is a major part of how knitters come to understand a given pattern. “When you start a knitting pattern, you know what it is that you’re trying to make (sock, sweater, blanket square) and the pattern often comes with a picture of the finished object, which allows you to see the details. You go into it knowing what the designer’s intention is,” BellaG 9 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AMSkyKnit: How an AI Took Over an Adult Knitting... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/... explained to me. “With the neural-network patterns, there’s no picture, and it doesn’t know what the finished object is supposed to be, which means you don’t know what you’re going to get until you start knitting it. And that affects how you adjust to the pattern ‘mistakes’: The neural network knows the stitch names, but it doesn’t understand what the stitches do. It doesn’t know that a k2tog is knitting two stitches together (a decrease) and a yo is a yarn-over (a lacy increase), so it doesn’t know to keep the stitch counts consistent, or to deliberately change them to make a particular shape.” Of course, that is what makes neural-network-inspired creativity so beguiling. The computers don’t understand the limitations of our fields, so they often create or ask the impossible. And in so doing, they might just reveal some new way of making or thinking, acting as a bridge into the future of these art forms. “I like to imagine that some of the techniques and stitch patterns used today [were] invented via a similar process of trying to decipher instructions written by knitters long since passed, on the back of an envelope, in faded ink, assuming all sorts of cultural knowledge that may or may not be available,” the user GloriaHanlon concluded. The creations of SkyKnit are fully cyborg artifacts, mixing human whimsy and intelligence with machine processing and ignorance. And the misapprehensions are, to a large extent, the point. ABOUT THE AUTHOR is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He's the author of Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology. ALEXIS C. MADRIGAL  Twitter  Email 10 of 10 3/10/18, 5:37 AM

[tanishador-blog]

Ten Interesting Chinese Novels

 1) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

“In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys are exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, they find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.” (Goodreads)

2) The Joy Luck Club

“In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. With wit and wisdom, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters. As each reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined” ( Goodreads)

3) Waiting

“Ha Jin draws on his intimate knowledge of contemporary China to create a novel of unexpected richness and feeling. Waiting, PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author Ha Jin draws on his intimate knowledge of contemporary China to create a novel of unexpected richness and feeling. This is the story of Lin Kong, a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting claims of two utterly different women as he moves through the political minefields of a society designed to regulate his every move and stifle the promptings of his innermost heart.

For more than seventeen years, this devoted and ambitious doctor has been in love with an educated, clever, modern woman, Manna Wu. But back in the traditional world of his home village lives the wife his family chose for him when he was young--a humble and touchingly loyal woman, whom he visits in order to ask, again and again, for a divorce. In a culture in which the ancient ties of tradition and family still hold sway and where adultery discovered by the Party can ruin lives forever, Lin's passionate love is stretched ever more taut by the passing years. Every summer, his compliant wife agrees to a divorce but then backs out. This time, Lin promises, will be different.

Tracing these lives through their summer of decision and beyond, Ha Jin vividly conjures the texture of daily life in a place where the demands of human longing must contend with the weight of centuries of custom. Waiting charms and startles us with its depiction of a China that remains hidden to Western eyes even as it moves us with its piercing vision of the universal complications of love.” (Goodreads)

4) Shanghai Girls

“Pearl and May are sisters, living carefree lives in Shanghai, the Paris of Asia. But when Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, they set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides. As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.” (Goodreads)

5) Peony in Love 

“In seventeenth-century China, three women become emotionally involved with The Peony Pavilion, a famed opera rumored to cause lovesickness and even death, including Peony, the cloistered daughter of a wealthy scholar, who succumbs to its spell only to return after her death as a "hungry ghost" to haunt her former fiancé, who has married another.” (Goodreads)

6) Big Breast and Wide Hips

“In a country where men dominate, this epic novel is first and foremost about women. As the title implies, the female body serves as the book's most important image and metaphor. The protagonist, Mother, is born in 1900. Married at 17 into the Shangguan family, she has nine children, only one of whom is a boy, the narrator of the book, a spoiled and ineffectual child who stands in stark contrast to his eight strong and forceful female siblings. Mother, a survivor, is the quintessential strong woman, who risks her life to save the lives of several of her children and grandchildren. The writing is full of life-picturesque, bawdy, shocking, imaginative. Each of the seven chapters represents a different time period, from the end of the Qing dynasty up through the Japanese invasion in the 1930s, the civil war, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao years. In sum, this stunning novel is Mo Yan's searing vision of 20th-century China.” (Goodreads)

7) The Kitchen God’s Wife

“Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949.” (Goodreads)

8) Empress Orchid

“To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor's wives. When she is chosen as a lower-ranking concubine she enters the erotically charged and ritualised Forbidden City. But beneath its immaculate façade lie whispers of murders and ghosts, and the thousands of concubines will stoop to any lengths to bear the Emperor's son. Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasuring a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch, drawing the attention of dangerous foes. Little does she know that China will collapse around her, and that she will be its last Empress.”

9) Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas

“The brutal realities of the dark places Su Tong depicts in this collection of novellas set in 1930s provincial China -- worlds of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction -- belie his prose of stunning and simplebeauty. The title novella, "Raise the Red Lantern," which became a critically acclaimed film, tells the story of Lotus, a young woman whose father's suicide forces her to become the concubine of a wealthy merchant. Crushed by loneliness, despair, and cruel treatment, Lotus finds her descent into insanity both a weapon and a refuge. "Nineteen Thirty-Four Escapes" is an account of a family's struggles during one momentous year; plagued by disease, death, and the shady promise of life in a larger town, the family slowly disintegrates. Finally, "Opium Family" details the last years of a landowning clan whose demise is brought about by corruption, lust, and treachery -- fruits of the insidious crop they harvest”(Goodreads)

10) Death of the Red Heroine

“A young “national model worker,” renowned for her adherence to the principles of the Communist Party, turns up dead in a Shanghai canal. As Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau struggles to trace the hidden threads of her past, he finds himself challenging the very political forces that have guided his life since birth. Chen must tiptoe around his superiors if he wants to get to the bottom of this crime, and risk his career—perhaps even his life—to see justice done.” (Goodreads)

[heroesandvillainsofmbti]

ENFJ: Julian Bashir, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENFJ – the Giver, the Mentor, the Believer

It’s encouraging finally to see an Fe-dom character in Star Trek who’s a good guy. As a nerdy sci-fi show, I think Trek prefers Thinkers over Feelers, and most of our heroic Fe-users have also been Introverts (McCoy, Worf, Troi). Till now, all we had in the Extravert category were Janice Rand and Edith Keeler, and they weren’t around long; and Quark’s kind of an anti-hero. We also have two ENFJ Trek villains, with more to come on DS9. Bashir himself started out extremely unlikeable, a brash, arrogant Extraverted Feeler on a crew run by moody Fi-users. Some fans never got over that. Some, like O’Brien, found a lot to love and respect about our young doctor.

(Some of us just thought he was cute, but that’s beside the point.)

Dominant Function: (Fe) Extraverted Feeling, “The Garden Fountain”

Doctor Julian Bashir wants to save the world. Or, worlds. He wants to help every sick or injured person he meets, whether they want his help or not.

Charismatic and charming in ways that infuriate his crewmates when he first arrives on DS9, Bashir eagerly talks up his own intelligence and accomplishments as if waiting for applause. He lets the unimpressed Kira know what a sacrifice he made by taking this assignment “in the wilderness.” He often mentions the one question he got wrong on his final medical exam, which made him second in his class instead of first—it’s later revealed that he missed the question out of fear of appearing too perfect, and to hide his genetically engineered nature.

Even after all his embarrassing behavior in the first episode, Bashir shows he’s ready for the job by jumping in to treat the injured during an attack, and commanding Odo’s assistance.

After that, even as he’s growing out of his youthful arrogance, Bashir continues to throw himself at situations where a gallant healer is needed.

He helps neutralize biological weapons called Harvesters to end a long war. He stays by Garak’s bedside to get him through withdrawal despite all the abuse his patient spits at him. He insists on trying to fix both Melora and Sareena, two different disabled women with whom he becomes romantically involved. He works to cure the Jem’Hadar of their white addiction, a whole planet of the Blight, and the Founders from their wasting disease, even though they’re the enemy. He’s driven to stop Sloan and Section 31 because of the corruption and evil they represent inside the Federation.

He’s both heartbroken and outraged when he and Sisko are trapped in a Sanctuary District in 21st-century Earth, where the homeless are segregated from society and forgotten. The Starfleet officers can’t interfere without damaging the timeline, which Bashir understands but can barely tolerate.

Julian’s need to be admired fuels his talkative nature and constant humble-bragging, and also makes him an easy target for Garak. The simple tailor flatters the young doctor’s ego to get his help with some covert business, but little does Garak know that Bashir’s friendship is sincere. The two enjoy each other’s conversation over lunch for many years, and despite Garak’s endless secrets and deceptions, the Cardassian exile finds Bashir a steadfast and dedicated—if sometimes too trusting—companion.

Julian initiates his friendship with Chief O’Brien, mostly by pestering and badgering him to hang out. Bashir sees something admirable in the older man, and wants his respect and guidance. He screws it up a lot, but once they’re stuck on a few adventures together, Bashir wears him down. Their friendship becomes one for the ages, and though it takes seven years for the Chief to admit his affection for his best friend, the effort is well worth it to Julian.

Bashir is estranged from his parents, because they subjected him to illegal genetic engineering to repair the mental and physical disabilities he was born with. This left him with the feeling of being unwanted, that all his accomplishments were an attempt to prove himself worthwhile. They finally settle the matter after Bashir’s father voluntarily goes to prison for their crime, and his mother gives a lovely speech declaring that what they did was out of love, not shame.

Auxiliary Function: (Ni) Introverted Intuition, “The Labyrinth”

In a nifty contrast to his insecurities, Bashir also has a lofty opinion of himself and his abilities. His aspirations fuel his messiah complex. There’s no disease or condition he doesn’t absolutely believe he can heal, and he applies himself with obsessive focus.

Bashir idealizes his assignment to DS9, seeing the whole thing as an adventure that he hopes will make him a hero. It does, eventually, but only after his fantasies of living in a rugged environment clash with the real thing. Bashir has equally inflated ideas of what the spy life is like, and he enjoys playing James-Bond-style stories in the holosuite. Garak, the real-life spy, is not amused.

While the Ne-dom Garak enjoys the idea of multiple truths in any story he’s telling, Bashir wants to get to the singular truth that explains who Garak really is. He’s not satisfied with “especially the lies” being as true as the actual truth. Still, Julian enjoys his philosophical conversations and debates with Garak over lunch, and is disappointed when Chief O’Brien just wants to eat and run.

Bashir’s idealism, while making him naïve at times, also makes him a quintessential Starfleet officer. He shows shock and disappointment when people like Sloan of Section 31 preach a more cynical view of the world. He always sees what could be, and what could be better. This makes him willing to make peace with enemies and work to cure the incurable.

Tertiary Function: (Se) Extraverted Sensing, “The Kitchens”

Bashir’s impulsive and rash in his youth. He goes through girlfriends casually, and remarks to Chief O’Brien that he hates the idea of settling down. He runs his mouth off and can’t seem to shut up even when it’s good for him. He’s athletic and competitive, and ready to make Quark a lot of money by beating O’Brien at raquetball.

Julian cools off during his tenure at DS9. The reality of this “wilderness” teaches him a lot of wisdom and humility. He can’t save everyone, but he becomes smarter about trying. He becomes more carefully skeptical thanks to Garak, and more down-to-Earth thanks to O’Brien.

He stops idealizing Jadzia Dax, and lets her live her own life. When her successor Ezri shows up, Julian is able to take a chance on a new romance. He’s careful not to see Ezri as a Jadzia substitute, but rather appreciate her for who she is as a real, separate person, and to enjoy their time together as it happens in the moment.

Inferior Function: (Ti) Introverted Thinking, “The Laboratory”

Julian is intelligent and hard-working, and scores high in all his classes. Once he sets himself on a medical challenge, he’ll analyze data and run experiments till the wee hours to find results. When he repeatedly fails to cure the Blight—even making it worse through his efforts—he despairs of ever succeeding, and decides he’s an arrogant failure. Jadzia helpfully advises him that it’s even more arrogant to assume there is no cure just because he can’t find one.

One of Bashir’s biggest human fix-it projects is the Jack Pack—a group of genetically engineered humans who didn’t turn out quite as well as he did. He nurtures and cares for them, hoping to find a way to re-integrate them into society; but when they start running the numbers on the Dominion War, Bashir gets sucked into their mathematical pessimism. He declares to Captain Sisko that the Federation must surrender or face obliteration, completely forgetting the human element that may unpredictably change his calculations.

Once it’s public knowledge that Julian is genetically engineered, he’s able to let his higher intelligence show without holding back. For a little while, he becomes colder and more analytical. Garak accuses him of turning into a Vulcan.

This doesn’t last long, as Bashir’s natural empathy and charisma warms him back up soon. He has a heart-to-heart with Captain Cusack, and at her memorial reassures his friends that he does indeed care.

#MBTI #Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #Julian Bashir #Alexander Siddig #ENFJ #cognitive functions #Fe-dom #Fe #Extraverted Feeling #Ni-aux #Ni #Introverted Intuition #Se #Extraverted Sensing #Ti #Introverted Thinking