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#personalized personality core carriers
nyctophiliq · 6 months
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✮ ┆ STEPPING ON YOU. valeria “el sin nombre” garza
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content warnings.           MDNI, nsfw content, female-bodied reader, pantie gripping/pulling, dacryphilia, fingering, degradation, finger sucking, manhandling (?)
author's note.                   uhm… just something quick, something small just to start off the madness- have fun reading :)
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valeria was only trying to get two drug carriers to stop wasting the product and arguing with each other, and continue their work when you stepped between the three of them. you remarked that they were fooling around in the middle of a lot of work, a busy day, and a very important deal. valeria just scoffed over all the times before you interfered with everything she did before inviting you to her office to settle the matter.
“who told you to show off your personality like that? be arrogant?”
her knee was between your legs pressing on your clothed core, hand squeezing your face and forcing you to look up at her. you shook your head, escaping from her grip and your head falling on her shoulder while letting a moan out that got caught halfway in your throat. valeria’s hand pushes past your tactical belt, her fingers playing with your panties before gripping and then pulling on them cruelly.
“m sorry, ‘m sorry.”
you sobbed, thick tears clinging to your lashes as you gazed up. valeria grinned at the droplets, wiping them away all while letting go of the underwear and pushing you onto the desk. you were soaking wet, two fingers easily slipping inside of you, squelching sounds filling the office as a result of her harsh trust.
you could hardly speak, your voice barely above a whisper but desperate for release you kept begging for her to go a little harder, a little faster. you cried her name out when she does, gripping her shoulders tightly as your walls clench and unclench around her fingers. she watched your eyes roll back as you cum hard, a cute little scream escaping you as you fall limp against her.
“here,” she mumbles into your ear, you hum as she pulls her fingers out of you, nuzzling into her neck. she nudges them to your lips, assuming for you to refuse. rather, you wrap your lips around teh digits and suck on them just like she wanted.
all that power got to your head when she appointed you as her second in command, the one with the name to deliver all her instructions and commands on how to proceed, which deal to take, and how to handle customers who are ignoring the warnings of payment. you needed to be stepped on and look at that… what an obedient little toy you became for her enjoyment.
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soaringwide · 29 days
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PAC: What hidden talent do you have?
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Hello with another pick a card reading, this time on the topic of ''get to know yourself better''.
This time the idea is to look into what talent of yours you are not fully aware off and could tap into and develop in the future.
By definition this might not be at the core of your personality since it is hidden, but maybe that's something you will tap into later in life. So I hope it's useful to you in some way!
How does that work?
Take a moment to recollect yourself, breathe, close your eyes if you need to, focus on the moment. Look at the 4 pictures and select the one that draws you in the most. Not the one you think looks cooler but the one that creates that pinching feeling inside of you. The one that makes you feel it has something to say.
It is possible to feel attracted to more than one pile, just as it is possible to only find parts of the reading relevant. Remember that this reading is meant for many people so it won't be perfectly applicable to your situation.
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PILE 1
Cards: The Nectar + The King (archetype) + 4 of Swords Rx + Empress Rx + Strength + The Hierophant + King of Cups Rx + the Protectress + The forbidden forest + yin and yang; 2 of Swords + 4 and 6 of Wands; Priestess Magician
There is definitely the idea of a latent, untapped ability.
To me it has to do with healing, as in, the ability to help people through their recovery process and put them on track to bloom and be abundant again. To remove barriers to healing.
The fact that it has to do with remediating what is poisonous for the person, transmuting something toxic into something positive, makes me think it has to do with magical or energetic healing.
Perhaps you will use your words like a fire-talker (not sure it's the right way to translate but "coupeur de feu" in the orginal french term as in those who can heal burns by talking fire out, among other things), or work on removing magical thorns with your healing touch. I'm getting strong hand imagery and holy words may be significant as well as carrier for background movements in the spiritual realms.
I'm getting you will be or are guided to do this by higher powers with this ability that can help others tremendously, somewhat relaying these healing powers into the world. Like a bridge between the healing spirits and our world, putting healing energy in motion.
There is the idea of a position of authority that must be embraced with humility, respect and reverence, in order to restore the flow and clarity of health, working in tandem with powers from the realms beyond and by learning to develop your own power and ability for leadership whilst staying true to yourself.
You have this undeveloped ability of perceiving the higher realms, harness their energies and transmute them into something not only healing, but also protecting for others.
You would need to go on your own healing journey to gather the missing parts of yourself (individuation process is another way to look at it) and rectify what is unbalanced to find a wholeness that will allow you to carry this energy over to others. I'm really getting that it's not just about picking up a skill but really going through a process yourself in order to reach that step and that's why you haven't reached it yet. With also the idea of learning to listen to guidance and understand your bond to these higher powers more, and let yourself be guided on that path.
I wanted to see if there was another message that wanted to come out and I saw that while this ability is not currently active, and even blocked by your current circumstances, there would be great success gained from going through this journey towards that path. It's a call that you have the option to answer and are encouraged to do so with the support of your spirits and god(s) and that would be a source of celebration and achievements.
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PILE 2
Cards: The Fool and Fear and Happiness + 7 of Cups Rx + Queen of Cups and 4 of Cups + The Magician Rx + Queen of Pentacles + 7 of Pentacles Rx
Your hidden talent has to do with performance arts, perhaps theater or dance, with the use of your body alongside your voice. You can pretend to be someone else again and again, endorsing different roles on different days and creating this artificial image for others to see.
You have the hidden ability to perform emotions so that it can be reflected in the heart of the audience. For example, expressing sadness or joy, the whole palette of emotions, and having that be felt by those who watch you. Relieving people in the lights of the stage.
I don't think it is about showing who you truly are but rather as I said, endorsing different identities and expressing something universal through that. You might not always feel passionate about what you are expressing, what role or piece you are given, but that's the nature of the craft. And in some way it allows yourself to explore your own thoughts and emotions by shifting perspectives, so it can be healing for yourself as well if you allow it to be.
By creating an artificial space for exploration of thoughts and emotions through your craft, you can shift people's emotional state and help them let go of what worries of preoccupies them. It is cathartic and the healing aspect of the arts. Ever watched a movie, cried for a while because it reminded you of something and felt lighter in the end? That's what you can give to people: freeing them of themselves for a short while. Allowing them a break from their own lives.
It's a trickery of some sorts, but the good kind of trickery because it is part of the game and the reason why people would come to you. It is to be willingly taken on adventure.
There is also a highly democratic aspect of your craft, as in, in front of performance in the audience, everyone watches the same things, react to the same things, rich and poor, good and bad. You help people bond together by lowering the boundaries that separate us all for a while.
In any case it is a raw talent, as in, you're very much at the apprentice level at the moment. You would need to work on it consciously, nurture this talent to let it grow and harvest its rewards later on. If that reading resonates with you I think that would be a good thing to practice on a hobby level for the pure enjoyment and personal fulfillment of it, rather than in order to make money from it.
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PILE 3
Cards: The King, Protect your feelings, Knight of Swords Rx, 9 of Wands + King of Cups, Reflection Rx + 4 of Wands Rx, Renewal Rx + 8 of Swords Rx, Courage + 5 of Cups, Gloom Rx + 10 of Cups + The World + Intuition Rx, Sorrow Rx
Your hidden talent is to embody some of the noble qualities of the King, especially being a protector of the weak. You have the ability to stand up for what is right when facing a menacing majority and would step up to fight to defend what you believe in. You may have a tendency to be rash and impulsive when faced with something that doesn't sit right with you, because you want to confront that and rectify the wrongs committed. You will not take a defeat and will get back up again.
Your quality associated to that talent is that you are full of compassion and look at others with empathy because you have a great understanding of human nature and suffering, and you have a desire to protect that. You are devoted to help people and this helps balance the harshness of you combative spirit.
The caveat is that you might feel like it's a lost battle, or at least that you won't personally see the end of it in your lifetime. You feel like you're doing you won't be the one in the parade at the end of the battle because you will be long gone. What you don't see is that you can still help others in the present.
What you can give others with this talent is that your bravery is infectious. You lift them up, give them courage and they can free themselves in the moment. With you by their side they feel so much stronger.
And when faced with a loss, you are, again, here to help people grieve and be a shoulder to cry on, listening to their pain with empathy, which helps them tremendously.
And for the reason why it is hidden, I think the need just hasn't arisen at this stage of your life. You will need to reach a form of completion and to move on from the idea that things are perfect to the desire to put things in motion again and start a new chapter. A content heart doesn't strive for change.
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PILE 4
Cards: Aletheia, Wheel of Fortune Rx + The Moon Rx + 9 of Swords Rx + Queen of Cups + The Empress + Justice
You hidden talent is the ability to speak the truth on what's hidden and trigger changes for those you bring the news to. I see you being able to detect lies easily. It can trigger fears in others because they might not want to see what you reveal.
You are able to see through the confusion and pierce through the illusion, and thus, bring vitality back where there was just fog and stagnation. It might make you feel a bit lonely and isolated at times due to feeling misunderstood. I don't think you have come to term with that talent yet so you may fail to see the good in it.
Because your strong intuitive gift of being able to see your emotions so clearly can bring a lot of healing and clarity to people, especially if you wield it with kindness and compassion. You may get back a lot of love and consideration from helping others.
Because you can help people release who takes advantage of them by shining light on their lies, especially if they are over-dependant and attached to this person or situation.
As to why it is hidden, you may not believe that you deserve to speak up and that you have the right to do so and would feel like you're being manipulative when it doesn't have to be the case.
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connorsbonez · 1 year
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DC/DP Crossover Idea #44
Somehow Skulker is the one to acquire a de-aged Phantom and decides to just…take him along in his hunts?? Just strap him to one of those baby carriers and they’re good to go.
Like sure, he could just drop the welp somewhere in his haunt back in the Human Realm and wait till the kid is back to his normal form but that would require Skulker having to drop by the Human Realm often to check in on the welps status so it was just easier to carry him around till the boy changes back and they can go back to hunting him down. (He’ll change back, right?)
Of course, nothing is that simple when it comes to the Phantom boy, because due to him getting suddenly shrunk down his powers have decided ‘hey, you can no longer reasonably control me’. And it’s not usually a problem because Phantom is usually hanging out in a good old baby carrier that’s close enough to Skulker so his core kind of…helps stabilize the powers a bit??? Like sure, more often than not there’s a thin sheet of frost covering his body from where Phantom was, and every so often the boys limbs would randomly disappear or shoot out ectoplasm but that only really happened in the times that Skulker had to remove Phantom from his person and leave him alone to his own devices.
Skulker had quickly learned that he couldn’t just leave Phantom because 1. The welp was a natural wanderer and only being able to either crawl or barely float didn’t stop him, at all. 2. He was a trouble magnet and 3. All these got worse when the boy got bored, causing him to wander off and attract trouble
There totally wasn’t a 4th reason, nope, not at all.
To fix this problem, he put the welp into one of his cages (it got changed into a more child-friendly version, imagine a play pen with a top on it and there you go), perfectly baby Phantom proof so he couldn’t get out, and he even threw some baby ghost toys in there so he can entertain himself while Skulker went after his prey.
Eventually Skulker + Phantom find themselves in the DC universe for a reason of your choosing, maybe a group heard of the Infinite Realms Greatest Hunter and they needed his help to take a creature down.
Well, he goes and the group is greeted by a large robotic-looking man with solid green eyes and firey hair, and the white haired baby boy with glowing green eyes that sat happily in a baby carrier as he chewed on…ice that was formed in a doughnut shape and had a green tint to it? It wasn’t hard to see the sharp teeth dig into the ice that seemed to refuse to crack even a little.
They weren’t really given the chance to question the child, from both the lack of interest that the hunter had in answering and also the very reason they even tried to contact Skulker in the first place.
Some side-glanced the cage that suddenly appeared and now contained the small child who didn’t react to this like it was something normal for them. Some even tried to touch the cage, only to be quickly greeted by a shock of electricity, a clear sign to not touch the cage.
It’s only till after Skulker was able to deal with the creature that they needed him too, does he answer.
The problem is that Skulker forgot that these mortals weren’t from the Infinite Realms, they weren’t ghosts, and they also didn’t know how Skulker and Phantoms dynamic worked, as he wasn’t used to interacting with those who didn’t know all of those at least vaguely.
So maybe answering with “I’m waiting for him to grow up so I can have his pelt hung amongst the rest of my trophies.” And then immediately disappearing afterwards with Phantom wasn’t the smartest idea but hey, it’s not like Skulker knew.
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carionto · 5 months
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Extreme Stress Testing
Human vessels are almost uniformly diverse. This is normal among civilians in most civilizations, but what baffles us is the fact their military craft of all sizes are equally uniquely designed and decorated. Now, we've seen how they love to tinker and attribute personality to their ships, but that's still a process that takes time and effort.
Take their fighter craft for example. Not even a week passes after one is printed and officially tested that it gains a whole new paint job and numerous panels and devices are replaced. After a bit of backroom negotiation in a bar where we politely kept to the only drinks that wouldn't kill us outright - tea. But still not too hot, it's miraculous how Humans can ingest near boiling water and be perfectly fine after a short while.
Anyway, we were allowed to "ghost" how a fairly young Quick Response combat group - Sparrow Swarm 12 - initiated three new fighter pilots and their freshly minted craft.
The Cruiser-Carrier hybrid ship, Hilda's Halberd, ferried the squad plus guests to the outer edges of Sol's Oort Cloud. At these distances, even the Sun is just a slightly larger dot in the pitch black darkness of space. However, wherever civilization goes, light follows, and with a flick of a switch of its powerful flood lights, Hilda's Halberd became the brightest spot for a million kilometers.
What it illuminated, however, was quite a terrifying sight to behold. A graveyard of ships and debris, deliberately left alone by the OCC by request of the military. We became quite worried as we got closer to the field, but thankfully the cruiser-carrier stopped a good few thousand clicks away. Then the fighter squadron launched straight for it.
Thanks to the flood lights we could clearly see the entire spectacle. We wish we couldn't.
The new pilots were bumped, literally physical ship-to-ship contact by the veterans all the way as they approached the, what the captain called - a "race track". It was horrifying all the way there. Sparks and sparkling micro-debris from the now not-so-pristine ships flew off with every bump and crash. And Human ships are bulky, even the smallest ones have much greater mass than normal, so impacts like those would easily destroy most non-Human ships of equivalent scale.
With numerous bruises and "cosmetic" damage!? (we would immediately send any ship in similar condition to be fully repaired and refitted) they arrived at the actual initiation grounds. Then the carnage begins. They're told to make it from one end of the field to the other WHILE EVERYONE ELSE IS SHOOTING AT THEM WITH LIVE AMMO!!!
It was beyond terrifying. Even as far as we were from the actual carnage, when Human ships discharge their weapons with intent - Space. Quivers.
It was over in a minute.
All three, now, by all measures anywhere else in the Galaxy, hardened combat veterans, made it. Just. How they were able to maneuver so swiftly and change trajectories without the Human within dying from all the g-forces is beyond us, and how the attackers were able to keep up with their chaotic movements, quite a learning experience for how decisively they would beat us as we are now should we ever become foes.
After everyone was back on Hilda's Halberd, the squad cheered and had a small feast, while the rest of the crew went about as normal and began to make way back to the core of Sol. The next day each of the tattered ships had their pilot and an engineer working on it, talking about all the technical aspects and things like how it "felt when the left wing was shot off and I bumped into an asteroid", and other nightmarish things.
One of the pilots simply smiled as she looked at her ship and then the engineer and said "Dragon horns".
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alexthescaredenby · 17 days
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i finished the KOSA
On the Subject of Safety 
Blaine/Alex Smith 
A paper on the harmful effects of the Kid’s Online Safety Act (informally known as KOSA) on the internet as a whole, as written by a minor. 
Censorship. Control. Tyranny. All of these will come to pass if we allow the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to become law and cause the internet as we know it to cease to exist, completely and utterly. KOSA is a new bill that has been introduced by senators Blumenthal and Blackburn, which has the stated goal “to protect the safety of children on the internet” (found on the official website of the United States Congress, here.) This is either a lie, or an incredibly misguided attempt to do what it says it sets out to do. Though it is more likely a lie, or at the very least not the entire truth. First, I must note, if for no other reason than posterity and comprehensiveness, that the bill was introduced by both a Republican senator (Blackburn) and a Democratic senator (Blumenthal). It was also backed by twenty-one Democrats (Lujan, Baldwin, Klobuchar, Peters, Hickenlooper, Warner, Coons, Schatz, Murphy, Welch, Hassan, Durbin, Casey, Whitehouse, Kelly, Carper, Cardin, Menendez, Warren, Kaine, and Shaheen) and nineteen Republicans (Capito, Cassidy, Ernst, Daines, Rubio, Sullivan, Young, Grassley, Graham, Marshall, Hyde-Smith, Mullin, Risch, Britt, Lummis, Murkowski, Lankford, Crapo, and Hawley). That totals forty-two supporters of this heinous piece of legislature. Considering that there are one-hundred Senators, if you do some simple math, you will realize that fifty-eight Senators did not support KOSA. In the context of this monumental decision, that is a frighteningly close vote. If this bill were to pass, nearly all online fandom presence would be completely eradicated, and online privacy, as well as personal autonomy, would become nonexistent. And so, I say it again, KOSA supporters are just barely not the majority in the Senate, by a margin of sixteen individuals. Even though the rewrite of the bill is a slight improvement, at it’s core, KOSA is still a harmful internet censorship bill that will damage the very communities it claims to try protect. 
In this bill, a “child” is defined as any person under the age of thirteen, and a “minor” is defined as any person under the age of seventeen. A "parent” is defined as any legal adult who is the biological or adopted parent of a minor, or holds legal custody over a minor. “Compulsive usage” is defined as “any response stimulated by external factors that causes an individual to engage in repetitive behavior reasonably likely to cause psychological distress, loss of control, anxiety or depression”, “Covered platforms” are defined as “an online platform (i.e. Snapchat, Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), online video game (i.e. Helldivers 2, Halo, Mario Kart, Civilization 6, etc.), messaging platform (i.e. Snapchat, 4chan, etc.), or video streaming service (i.e. Twitch, YouTube, etc.) that connects to the internet that is used, or is reasonably likely to be used, by a minor” with the exception of “an entity acting in its capacity of: a common carrier service subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, a broadband internet access service (as such term is defined for purposes of section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation), an email service, a teleconferencing or video conferencing service that allows reception and transmission of audio and video signals for real-time communication, provided that it is not an online platform, including a social media service or social network; and the real-time communication is initiated using a unique link or identifier to facilitate access, or a wireless messaging service, including such a service provided through short messaging service or multimedia messaging service protocols, that is not a component of or linked to an online platform and where the predominant or exclusive function is direct messaging consisting of the transmission of text, photos or videos that are sent by electronic means, where messages are transmitted from the sender to a recipient, and are not posted within an online platform or publicly, an organization not organized to carry on business for its own profit or that of its members, any public or private institution of education, a library, a news platform where the inclusion of video content on the platform is related to the platform’s own gathering, reporting or publishing of news content or the website or app is not otherwise an online platform, a product or service the primarily functions as a business to business software or a VPN or similar service that exists solely to route internet traffic between locations. 
Geolocation is defined as “information sufficient to identify a street name and name of a city or town.” Individual-specific advertising to minors is defined as any form of targeted advertising towards a person who is or reasonably could be a minor, with the exception of advertising in the context of the website or app the advertising is present on, (i.e. an ad for Grammarly on a dictionary website), or for research on the effectiveness of the advertising. The rule of construction is stated to be that "no part of KOSA should be misconstrued to prohibit a lawfully operating entity from delivering content to any person that they know to be or reasonably believe is over the age of seventeen, provided that content is appropriate for the age of the person involved". To "know" something in the context of this bill is to have actual information, or to have information that is fairly implied or assumed under the basis of objective circumstances. A “mental health disorder” is defined as “a condition which causes a clinically significant disturbance or impairment on one’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior. “Online platform” is defined as any public platform that mainly provides a means of communication through the form of a public forum or private chatroom (i.e., Discord, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, TikTok, etc.). An “online video game” is defined as any video game or game-adjacent service, including those that provide an educational element, that allows users to create or upload content, engage in microtransactions, communicate with other users, or includes minor specific advertising (i.e., Happy Wheels, Adventure Academy, Meet Your Maker, etc.). “Personal data” is defined as any data or information that is linked or could reasonably be linked to a minor. A “personalized recommendation system (PRS)” is defined as any system that presents content to a user based on date and/or analytics from the user or similar users (i.e., a like-based system, a view-based system, a “for you” system, or a “people that watched also liked” system). Finally, “sexual exploitation or abuse” is defined as: coercion and enticement, as described in section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, child sexual abuse material, as described in sections 2251, 2252, 2252A, and 2260 of title 18, United States Code, trafficking for the production of images (child pornography), as described in section 2251A of title 18, United States Code, or sex trafficking of children, as described in section 1591 of title 18, United States Code. 
Before I continue with this paper, I would like to draw attention to the fact that nowhere in the defined terms does it define any form of physical, mental, or emotional violence towards minors, only sexual abuse or assault. This will become important later. 
Continuing with the bill, we arrive at the actual regulations, policies and laws proposed by the bill. Here begins Section 3 of the bill, or “Duty of care”. This section includes regulations on the online platform used by a minor, and the duties of it and its owner(s), creator(s), moderator(s), or manager(s). In this section, it is stated that a covered platform must, to the best of its reasonable ability, limit the following harms or dangers to any person who is known to be or reasonably believed to be a minor: 
Anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, suicidal disorders, and other similar conditions. 
Patterns of use that promote or encourage addiction-like behavior. 
Physical violence, online bullying, and harassment of the minor. 
Sexual exploitation or abuse. 
Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol. 
Predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing, or other financial harms. 
With the exception of: 
Any content that is deliberately, independently, and willingly requested or sought out by the minor. 
Any platform that provides resources or information to help mitigate the aforementioned harms to the minor. 
Again, I call attention to the fact that although physical violence is now mentioned and prohibited, it is done so by burying it in the middle of a wall of text. With as touchy of a subject as this is, one would think that more attention would be drawn to it. 
And now we get into the meat and potatoes of this rotten bill, with Section 4, or “Safeguards for minors”. In this section, it is stated that any covered platform shall provide any user who is known to be a minor or is reasonably believed to be a minor, with easy-to-use and readily accessible “safeguards” such as: 
Limiting the ability of other individuals to communicate with the minor. 
Restricting public access to the personal data of the minor. 
Limiting features that increase, sustain, or extend use of the covered platform by the minor, such as automatic playing of media, rewards for time spent on the platform, notifications, and other features that result in compulsive usage of the covered platform by the minor. 
Controlling personalized recommendation systems for the minor, and giving them the option to either opt out of the system entirely or to limit the types of content shown through the PRS. 
Restricting the sharing of GPS data of the minor sufficient for geolocation. 
As well as the options for the minor: 
Delete the account of the minor, as well as any data or content associated with the account, effectively removing any trace of the account���s existence from the platform, and the internet at large. 
Limit the amount of time spent on the platform. 
A covered platform shall also provide parents with the following tools: 
Requirements: 
The ability to manage a minor’s privacy and account settings, including the safeguards and options established under subsection (a), in a manner that allows parents to: 
View the privacy and account settings of the minor. 
In the case of a user that the platform knows is a child, change and control the privacy and account settings of the account of the minor. 
Restrict purchases and financial transactions by the minor, where applicable. 
View metrics of total time spent on the platform and restrict time spent on the covered platform by the minor. 
The bill also states that any minor(s) affected by the aforementioned systems should be given clear, prompt, and easily understood and accessible notice of if the systems have been applied, in what capacity they are applied in, and how they are applied.  
Default Tools: 
A covered platform shall provide the following tools and systems to both minor and parent(s) of that minor, and have them be enabled by default: 
A reporting mechanism, which is readily available and easily accessible and useable, to report any incidents or crimes involving the minor(s), as well as confirmation that such a report is received, and the means to track it. 
To respond to the report in a timely and appropriate manner, within a reasonable timeframe. 
An understanding and appreciation of the fact that a reasonable timeframe is: 
(A) 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks) after the receipt of a report, if, for the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged more than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States. 
(B) 21 days (about 3 weeks) after the receipt of a report, if, for the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged less than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States. 
(C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), if the report involves an imminent threat to the safety of a minor, as promptly as needed to address the reported threat to safety. 
Accessibility : 
With respect to the aforementioned safeguards, a covered platform shall provide: 
Information and control options in a clear and conspicuous manner that takes into consideration the differing ages, capacities, and developmental needs of the minors most likely to access the covered platform and does not encourage minors or parents to weaken or disable safeguards or parental controls. 
Readily accessible and easy-to-use controls to enable or disable safeguards or parental controls, as appropriate. 
Information and control options in the same language, form, and manner as the covered platform provides the product or service used by minors and their parents. 
The bill also states that no part of the previous statements should be construed to prohibit or prevent a covered platform from blocking, banning, filtering, flagging, or deleting content inappropriate for minors from their platform, or to prevent general management of spam, as well as security risks. It also states that regarding PRSs, it shall be illegal for a covered platform to alter or distort any analytics or data gathered from their platform with the purpose of limiting user autonomy. Also included in this section is that no part of KOSA shall be construed to require the disclosure of a minor’s personal data, including search history, contacts, messages, and location. Also stated is that a PRS for a minor is allowed under the condition that it only uses data publicly available, such as the language the minor speaks, or the minor’s age, and that covered platforms are allowed to integrate third-party systems into their platform, if they meet the requirements laid out in the bill. 
And now our train arrives at Section 5, “Disclosure”. This section includes rules regarding the disclosure of policies, rules, and terms to a user that is a minor or is reasonably believed to be a minor prior to their registration with a covered platform. 
Registration or Purchase: 
Prior to registration or purchase of a covered platform, the platform must provide clear and easily understood information on the policies of the platform, its rules, regulations, etc. As well as any PRS used by the platform, and information on how to turn it and the parental controls on and off. 
Notification: 
Notice and Acknowledgement, Reasonable Effort, and Consolidated Notices: 
In the case of an individual that a covered platform knows is a child, the platform shall additionally provide information about the parental tools and safeguards required under section 4 to a parent of the child and obtain verifiable parental consent (as defined in section 1302(9) of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501(9))) from the parent prior to the initial use of the covered platform by the child. 
A covered platform shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirement described in subparagraph (A) if the covered platform is in compliance with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) to use reasonable efforts (taking into consideration available technology) to provide a parent with the information and to obtain verifiable parental consent as required. 
A covered platform may consolidate the process for providing information under this subsection and obtaining verifiable parental consent or the consent of the minor involved (as applicable) as required under this subsection with its obligations to provide relevant notice and obtain verifiable parental consent under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 
Guidance: the FTC may assist covered platforms with compliance with the rules and regulations in this section. 
A covered platform that operates a personalized recommendation system shall set out in its terms and conditions, in a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner: 
An overview of how such personalized recommendation system is used by the covered platform to provide information to users of the platform who are minors, including how such systems use the personal data of minors; and 
Information about options for minors or their parents to opt out of or control the personalized recommendation system (as applicable). 
Advertising and Marketing Information and Labels: 
A covered platform that facilitates advertising aimed at users that the platform knows are minors shall provide clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand information and labels to minors on advertisements regarding: 
The name of the product, service, or brand and the subject matter of an advertisement; 
If the covered platform engages in individual-specific advertising to minors, why a particular advertisement is directed to a specific minor, including material information about how the minor's personal data is used to direct the advertisement to the minor; and 
Whether media displayed to the minor is an advertisement or marketing material, including disclosure of endorsements of products, services, or brands made for commercial consideration by other users of the platform. 
Resources for Parents and Minors: 
A covered platform shall provide to minors and parents clear, conspicuous, easy-to-understand, and comprehensive information in a prominent location regarding: 
Its policies and practices with respect to personal data and safeguards for minors. 
How to access the safeguards and tools required under section four. 
Resources in Additional Languages: 
A covered platform shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that the disclosures required by this section are made available in the same language, form, and manner as the covered platform provides any product or service used by minors and their parents. 
That concludes Section 5, and now our next stop is Section 6: “Transparency”. This section includes protocols for public transparency for covered platforms, including public reports on the status of potential harm to minors on their platforms.  
Scope of Application: the requirements of this section shall apply to a covered platform if: 
For the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged more than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States. 
The platform predominantly provides a community forum for user-generated content and discussion, including sharing videos, images, games, audio files, discussion in a virtual setting, or other content, such as acting as a social media platform, virtual reality environment, or a social network service. 
Transparency: The public reports required of a covered platform under this section shall include: 
An assessment of the extent to which the platform is likely to be accessed by minors; 
A description of the commercial interests of the covered platform in use by minors; 
An accounting, based on the data held by the covered platform, of: 
The number of individuals using the covered platform reasonably believed to be minors in the United States; 
The median and mean amounts of time spent on the platform by minors in the United States who have accessed the platform during the reporting year on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis; and 
The amount of content being accessed by individuals that the platform knows to be minors that is in English, and the top 5 non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform in the United States; 
An accounting of total reports received regarding, and the prevalence (which can be based on scientifically valid sampling methods using the content available to the covered platform in the normal course of business) of content related to, the harms described in section 3, disaggregated by category of harm and language, including English and the top five non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform from the United States. 
A description of any material breaches of parental tools or assurances regarding minors, representations regarding the use of the personal data of minors, and other matters regarding non-compliance. 
Reasonably Foreseeable Risk of Harm to Minors: the public reports required of covered platforms under this section shall include: 
An assessment of the reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to minors posed by the covered platform, including identifying any other physical, mental, developmental, or financial harms. 
An assessment of how personalized recommendation systems and individual-specific advertising to minors can contribute to harm to minors. 
A description of whether and how the covered platform uses system design features that increase, sustain, or extend use of a product or service by a minor, such as automatic playing of media, rewards for time spent, and notifications. 
A description of whether, how, and for what purpose the platform collects or processes categories of personal data that may cause reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to minors. 
An evaluation of the efficacy of safeguards for minors under section 4, and any issues in delivering such safeguards and the associated parental tools. 
An evaluation of any other relevant matters of public concern over risk of harm to minors. 
 An assessment of differences in risk of harm to minors across different English and non-English languages and efficacy of safeguards in those languages. 
Mitigation: The public reports required of a covered platform under this section shall include, for English and the top 5 non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform from the United States: 
A description of the safeguards and parental tools available to minors and parents on the covered platform. 
A description of interventions by the covered platform when it had or has reason to believe that harms to minors could occur. 
A description of the prevention and mitigation measures intended to be taken in response to the known and emerging risks identified in its assessment of system risks, including steps taken to: 
Prevent harm to minors, including adapting or removing system design features or addressing through parental controls. 
Provide the most protective level of control over privacy and safety by default. 
Adapt recommendation systems to mitigate reasonably foreseeable risk of harms to minors. 
A description of internal processes for handling reports and automated detection mechanisms for harms to minors, including the rate, timeliness, and effectiveness of responses. 
The status of implementing prevention and mitigation measures identified in prior assessments. 
A description of the additional measures to be taken by the covered platform to address the circumvention of safeguards for minors and parental tools. 
Reasonable Inspection: when conducting an inspection on the systemic risk of harm to minors on their platforms under this section, a covered platform shall: 
Consider the function any PRS on their platform. 
Consult relevant parties with authority on topics relevant to the inspection. 
Conduct their research based on experiences of minors using the platform that the study is being conducted on, including reports and information provided by law enforcement. 
Take account of outside research, but not outside data for the study itself. 
Consider any implied, indicated, inferred, or known information on the age of users. 
Consider the presence of both English and non-English speaking users on their platform. 
Cooperation With Independent, Third Pary Audit: To facilitate the report required by this section, a covered platform shall: 
Provide directly or otherwise make accessible to the third party conducting the audit all: 
Information and data that the platform has the access and authority to disclose that are relevant to the audit. 
Platforms, systems and assets that the platform has the access and authority to disclose that are relevant to the audio. 
Facts relevant to the audit, unaltered and correctly and fully represented. 
Privacy Safeguards: In this subsection, the term “de-identified” means data that does not identify and is not linked or reasonably linkable to a device that is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual, regardless of whether the information is aggregated. In issuing the public reports required under this section, a covered platform shall take steps to safeguard the privacy of its users, including ensuring that data is presented in a de-identified, aggregated format such that it is reasonably impossible for the data to be linked back to any individual user. A covered platform must also present or publish the information on a publicly available and accessible webpage. 
And now the next stop on our tour is Section 7: Independent Research on Social Media and Minors. This section details the interactions between the FTC and the National Academy of Sciences in the months following the passing of this bill, if and when it passes. It states that the FTC is to seek to enter a contract with the Academy, in which the Academy is to conduct no less that 5 separate independent scientific studies on the risk of harms to minors on social media, addressing: 
Anxiety, depression, eating and suicidal disorders. 
Substance use (drugs, narcotics, alcohol, etc.) and gambling. 
Sexual exploitation and abuse. 
Addiction like behaviors leading to compulsive usage. 
Additional Study: after at least 4 years since the passing of the bill, the FTC and the Academy shall enter another contract, in which the Academy shall conduct another study on the above topics, to provide more up to data information.  
Content of Reports: The comprehensive studies and reports conducted pursuant to this section shall seek to evaluate impacts and advance understanding, knowledge, and remedies regarding the harms to minors posed by social media and other online platforms and may include recommendations related to public policy. 
Active Studies: If the Academy is already engaged in any extant studies regarding the topics described above, it may base the studies required of this section off said study, if it is otherwise compliant. 
Collaboration: In conducting the studies required under this section, the FTC, National Academy of Sciences, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consult with the Surgeon General and the Kids Online Safety Council (KOSC). 
Access to Data: The FTC may issue orders to covered platforms to gather and compile data and information needed for the studies required under this section, as well as issue orders under section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)) to no more than 5 covered platforms per study under this section. Pursuant to subsections (b) and (f) of section 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46), the FTC shall also enter in agreements with the National Academy to share appropriate information received from a covered platform pursuant to an order under such subsection (b) for a comprehensive study under this section in a confidential and secure manner, and to prohibit the disclosure or sharing of such information by the National Academy. 
Next is a short Section 8: Market Research.  
Market Research by Covered Platforms: The FTC, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance for covered platforms seeking to conduct market- and product-focused research on minors. Such guidance shall include: 
A standard consent form that provides minors and their parents a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand explanation of the scope and purpose of the research to be conducted, and provides an opportunity for informed consent in the language in which the parent uses the covered platform; and 
Recommendations for research practices for studies that may include minors, disaggregated by the age ranges of 0-5, 6-9, 10-12, and 13-16. 
The FTC shall issue such guidance no later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this Act. In doing so, they shall seek input from members of the public and the representatives of the KOSC established under section 12.  
As we pull off interstate 8 we come into Section 9: Age Verification Study and Report. This is where the writers evidently started pounding shots of tequila at their desks, as some of the regulations in this section are completely asinine. Here we are told about a mandatory age verification system. Gone will be the days of being born in 1427 as a kid, now our age will be known to any covered platform. Is that what you want? 
Study: The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the FCC, FTC, and the SoC, shall conduct a study evaluating the most technologically feasible methods and options for developing systems to verify age at the device or operating system level. 
Such study shall consider: 
The benefits of creating a device or operating system level age verification system. 
What information may need to be collected to create this type of age verification system. 
The accuracy of such systems and their impact or steps to improve accessibility, including for individuals with disabilities. 
How such a system or systems could verify age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data security and safeguarding minors' personal data, emphasizing minimizing the amount of data collected and processed by covered platforms and age verification providers for such a system. 
The technical feasibility, including the need for potential hardware and software changes, including for devices currently in commerce and owned by consumers. 
The impact of different age verification systems on competition, particularly the risk of different age verification systems creating barriers to entry for small companies. 
Report: No later than 1 year after the passing of KOSA, the agencies described in subsection (a) shall submit a report containing the results of the study conducted under such subsection to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives. 
Section 10: Guidance. 
No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this Act, the FTC, in consultation with the KOSC established under section 12, shall issue guidance to: 
Provide information and examples for covered platforms and auditors regarding the following, with consideration given to differences across English and non-English languages: 
Identifying features used to increase, sustain, or extend use of the covered platform by a minor (compulsive usage). 
Safeguarding minors against the possible misuse of parental tools. 
Best practices in providing minors and parents the most protective level of control over privacy and safety. 
Using indicia or inferences of age of users for assessing use of the covered platform by minors. 
Methods for evaluating the efficacy of safeguards; and 
Providing additional control options that allow parents to address the harms described in section 3. 
Outline conduct that does not have the purpose or substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice, or of causing, increasing, or encouraging compulsive usage for a minor, such as: 
Minute user interface changes derived from testing consumer preferences, including different styles, layouts, or text, where such changes are not done with the purpose of weakening or disabling safeguards or parental controls, such as the following, are exceptions to this: 
Algorithms or data outputs outside the control of a covered platform. 
The establishing of default settings that provide enhanced privacy protection to users or otherwise enhance their autonomy and decision-making ability. 
Guidance to Schools: No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this act, the SoE, in consultation with the FTC and the KOSC established under section 12, shall issue guidance to assist to assist elementary and secondary schools in using the notice, safeguards and tools provided under this Act and providing information on online safety for students and teachers. 
Guidance on Knowledge Standards: No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this act, the FTC shall issue guidance to provide information, including best practices and examples, for covered platforms to understand the Commission’s determination of whether a covered platform “had knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances” for purposes of this act. 
Limitation on FTC Guidance: No guidance issued by the FTC with respect to this act shall: 
Confer any rights on any person, State, or locality; or 
Operate to bind the FTC or any person to the approach recommended in such guidance. 
Enforcement Actions: In any enforcement action made to a covered platform in violation of this act, the FTC: 
Shall allege a violation of this act. 
May not base such enforcement action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices that are alleged to be inconsistent with guidance issued by the FTC with respect to this aact, unless the practices are alleged to violate a provision of this act. 
And now we’re almost on the home stretch, with Section 11, otherwise known as Enforcement. This section outlines, you guessed it, the enforcement of this act. 
Enforcement by the FTC: 
Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices: A violation of this act shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. 
Powers of the Commission: The FTC shall enforce this act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this act. 
Privileges and Immunities: Any person that violates this act shall be subject to the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and immunities, provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
Authority Preserved: Nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the authority of the FTC under any other provision of law. 
Enforcement by State Attorney General: 
Civil Actions: In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in a practice that violates this act, the State, as parens patrie (de facto parent of any citizens unable to defend themselves) , may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district court of the United States or a State court of appropriate jurisdiction to: 
Enjoin that practice. 
Enforce compliance with this act. 
On behalf of residents of the State, obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation, each of which shall be distributed in accordance with State law. 
Obtain such other relief as the court may consider to be appropriate. 
Notice: Before filing an action, the attorney general of the State involved shall provide to the Commission: 
Written notice of that action. 
A copy of the complaint for that action. 
Exemption: Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to the filing of an action by an attorney general of a State under this paragraph if the attorney general of the State determines that it is not feasible to provide the notice described in that clause before the filing of the action. 
Notification: In an action described in subclause (I), the attorney general of a State shall provide notice and a copy of the complaint to the Commission at the same time as the attorney general files the action. 
Intervention: On receiving notice, the Commission shall have the right to intervene in the action that is the notice's subject. 
Effect of Intervention: If the Commission intervenes in an action under paragraph (1), it shall have the right: 
To be heard with respect to any matter that arises in that action. 
To file a petition for appeal. 
Construction: For purposes of bringing any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of that State to: 
Conduct investigations; 
Administer oaths or affirmations. 
Compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence. 
Actions by the Commission: In any case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for violation of this act, no State may, during the pendency of that action, institute a separate action under paragraph (1) against any defendant named in the complaint in the action instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for that violation. 
Venue; Service of Progress: 
Venue: Any action brought under paragraph (1) may be brought in either: 
The district court of the United States that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 
A State court of competent authority. 
Service of Progress: In an action brought under paragraph (1) in a district court of the United States, process may be served wherever the defendant: 
Is an inhabitant. 
May be found. 
And now we are going to hear about the Kids Online Safety Council we’ve been hearing so much about in the last few sections in Section 12: Kids Online Safety Council. 
Establishment: No later than 180 days (about 6 months) after the enactment date of this act, the Secretary of Commerce shall establish and convene the Kids Online Safety Council to provide advice on matters related to this act. 
The Kids Online Safety Council shall include diverse participation from: 
Academic experts, health professionals, and members of civil society with expertise in mental health, substance use disorders, and the prevention of harm to minors. 
Representatives in academia and civil society with specific expertise in privacy and civil liberties. 
Parents and youth representation. 
Representatives of covered platforms. 
Representatives of the NTIA, the NIST, the FTC, the DoJ, and the DHHS. 
(6) State attorneys general or their designees acting in State or local government. 
Educators. 
Representatives of communities of socially disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637)). 
Activities: The matters to be addressed by the Kids Online Safety Council shall include: 
Identifying emerging or current risks of harm to minors associated with online platforms. 
Recommending measures and methods for assessing, preventing, and mitigating harms to minors online. 
Recommending methods and themes for conducting research regarding online harms to minors, including in English and non-English languages. 
Recommending best practices and clear, consensus-based technical standards for transparency reports and audits, as required under this a ct, including methods, criteria, and scope to promote overall accountability. 
And now for Section 13, Filter Bubble Transparency Requirements. Almost to the end! 
Definitions: In this section: 
The term “algorithmic ranking system” means a computational process, including one derived from algorithmic decision-making, machine learning, statistical analysis, or other data processing or artificial intelligence techniques, used to determine the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of content from a set of information that is provided to a user on a covered internet platform, including the ranking of search results, the provision of content recommendations, the display of social media posts, or any other method of automated content selection. 
The term “approximate geolocation information” means information that identifies the location of an individual, but with a precision of less than 5 miles. 
The term “Commission” means the Federal Trade Commission. 
The term “connected device” means an electronic device that: 
Can connect to the internet, either directly or indirectly through a network, to communicate information in the direction of an individual. 
Has computer processing capabilities for collecting, sending, receiving, or analyzing data. 
Is primarily designed for or marketed to consumers. 
Covered Internet Platform: The term “covered internet platform” means any public-facing website, internet application, or mobile application, including a social network site, video sharing service, search engine, or content aggregation service. Such term shall not include a platform that: 
Is wholly owned, controlled, and operated by a person that: 
For the most recent 6-month period, did not employ more than 500 employees. 
For the most recent 3-year period, averaged less than $50,000,000 in annual gross revenue. 
Collects or processes on an annual basis the user-specific data of less than 1,000,000 users (about the population of Delaware) or is operated for the sole purpose of conducting research that is not made for profit either directly or indirectly. 
Input Transparent Algorithm: The term “input-transparent algorithm” means an algorithmic ranking system that does not use the user-specific data of a user to determine the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform, unless the user-specific data is expressly provided to the platform by the user for such purpose. 
Data Provided for Express Purpose of Interaction with Platform For purposes of subparagraph (A), user-specific data that is provided by a user for the express purpose of determining the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform: 
Shall include user-supplied search terms, filters, speech patterns (if provided for the purpose of enabling the platform to accept spoken input or selecting the language in which the user interacts with the platform), saved preferences, and the current precise geolocation information that is supplied by the user. 
Shall include the user's current approximate geolocation information. 
Shall include data affirmatively supplied to the platform by the user that expresses the user's desire to receive particular information, such as the social media profiles the user follows, the video channels the user subscribes to, or other content or sources of content on the platform the user has selected. 
Shall NOT include the history of the user's connected device, including the user's history of web searches and browsing, previous geographical locations, physical activity, device interaction, and financial transactions. 
Shall NOT include inferences about the user or the user's connected device, without regard to whether such inferences are based on data described in clause (i) or (iii). 
Opaque Algorithm: The term “opaque algorithm” means an algorithmic ranking system that determines the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform based, in whole or part, on user-specific data that was not expressly provided by the user to the platform for such purpose. 
Exception for Age-Appropriate Content Filtering: Such term shall not include an algorithmic ranking system used by a covered internet platform if: 
The only user-specific data (including inferences about the user) that the system uses is information relating to the age of the user. 
Such information is only used to restrict a user's access to content on the basis that the individual is not old enough to access such content (i.e., not allowing a 13-year-old to access pornography). 
Precise Geolocation Information: The term “precise geolocation information” means geolocation information that identifies an individual’s location to within a range of 5 miles or less. 
Search Syndication Contract, Upstream Provider, Downstream Provider: 
The term “search syndication contract” means a contract or subcontract for the sale of, license of, or other right to access an index of web pages or search results on the internet for the purpose of operating an internet search engine. 
The term “upstream provider” means, with respect to a search syndication contract, the person that grants access to an index of web pages or search results on the internet to a downstream provider pursuant to the contract. 
The term “downstream provider” means, with respect to a search syndication contract, the person that receives access to an index of web pages on the internet from an upstream provider under such contract. 
User Specific Data: The term “user-specific data” means information relating to an individual or a specific connected device that would not necessarily be true of every individual or device. 
Requirement to Allow Users to View Unaltered Content on Internet Platforms: Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be illegal: 
For any person to operate a covered internet platform that uses an opaque algorithm unless the person complies with the opaque algorithm requirements. 
For any upstream provider to grant access to an index of web pages on the internet under a search syndication contract that does not comply with the requirements of paragraph (3). 
Opaque Algorithm Requirements: The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a person that operates a covered internet platform that uses an opaque algorithm are the following: 
The person provides notice to users of the platform: 
That the platform uses an opaque algorithm that uses user-specific data to select the content the user sees. Such notice shall be presented in a clear, conspicuous manner on the platform whenever the user interacts with an opaque algorithm for the first time and may be a one-time notice that can be dismissed by the user. 
In the terms and conditions of the covered internet platform, in a clear, accessible, and easily comprehensible manner to be updated no less frequently than once every 6 months: 
The most salient features, inputs, and parameters used by the algorithm. 
How any user-specific data used by the algorithm is collected or inferred about a user of the platform, and the categories of such data. 
Any options that the covered internet platform makes available for a user of the platform to opt out or exercise options under clause (ii), modify the profile of the user or to influence the features, inputs, or parameters used by the algorithm. 
Any quantities, such as time spent using a product or specific measures of engagement or social interaction, that the algorithm is designed to optimize, as well as a general description of the relative importance of each quantity for such ranking. 
The person makes available a version of the platform that uses an input-transparent algorithm and enables users to easily switch between the version of the platform that uses an opaque algorithm and the version of the platform that uses the input-transparent algorithm. 
Exceptions for Certain Downstream Providers: Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to an internet search engine if: 
The search engine is operated by a downstream provider with fewer than 1,000 employees. 
The search engine uses an index of web pages on the internet to which such provider received access under a search syndication contract. 
Search Syndication Contract Requirements: The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a search syndication contract are that: 
As part of the contract, the upstream provider makes available to the downstream provider the same input-transparent algorithm used by the upstream provider for purposes of complying with paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 
The upstream provider does not impose any additional costs, degraded quality, reduced speed, or other constraint on the functioning of such algorithm when used by the downstream provider to operate an internet search engine relative to the performance of such algorithm when used by the upstream provider to operate an internet search engine. 
Prohibition on Differential Pricing: A covered internet platform shall not deny, charge different prices or rates for, or condition the provision of a service or product to an individual based on the individual’s election to use a version of the platform that uses an input-transparent algorithm as provided under paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 
Enforcement by FTC: 
Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices: A violation of this section by an operator of a covered internet platform shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
Powers of Commision: Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the FTC shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this section. 
Privileges and Immunities: Except as provided in subparagraph (C), any person who violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
Common Carriers and Nonprofit Institutions: Notwithstanding section 4, 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdictional limitation of the Commission, the Commission shall also enforce this act, in the same manner provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph, with respect to: 
Common carriers subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto 
Organizations are not organized to carry on business for their own profit or that of their members. 
Authority Preserved: Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law. 
Rule of Application: Section 11 shall not apply to this section. 
Rule of Construction to Preserve Personal Blocks: Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or prohibit a covered internet platform’s ability to, at the direction of an individual user or group of users, restrict another user from searching for, finding, accessing, or interacting with such user’s or group’s account, content, data, or online community. 
Skipping over Section 14, as it is incredibly short (don’t worry, it’s one line, and I’ll say it at the end), we arrive at Section 15, or “Rules of Construction and Other Matters”. 
Relationships to Other Laws: Nothing in this Act shall be construed to: 
Preempt section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g (about 2.72 lb), commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”) or other Federal or State laws governing student privacy. 
Preempt the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or any rule or regulation promulgated under such Act. 
Authorize any action that would conflict with section 18(h) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(h)). 
Fairly Implied on the Basis of Objective Circumstances: For purposes of enforcing this act, in making a determination as to whether covered platform has knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances that a user is a minor, the FTC shall rely on competent and reliable empirical evidence, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including consideration of whether the operator, using available technology, exercised reasonable care. 
Protections for Privacy: Nothing in this act shall be construed to require: 
The affirmative collection of any personal data with respect to the age of users that a covered platform is not already collecting in the normal course of business. 
A covered platform to implement an age gating or age verification functionality. 
Compliance: Nothing in this act shall be construed to restrict a covered platform's ability to: 
Cooperate with law enforcement agencies regarding activity that the covered platform reasonably and in good faith believes may violate Federal, State, or local laws, rules, or regulations. 
Comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory inquiry or any investigation, subpoena, or summons by Federal, State, local, or other government authorities. 
Investigate, establish, exercise, respond to, or defend against legal claims. 
Application to Video Streaming Services: A video streaming service shall be deemed to be in compliance with this act if it predominantly consists of news, sports, entertainment, or other video programming content that is preselected by the provider and not user-generated, and: 
Any chat, comment, or interactive functionality is provided incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on provision of such content. 
If such video streaming service requires account owner registration and is not predominantly news or sports, the service includes the capability: 
To limit a minor’s access to the service, which may utilize a system of age-rating. 
To limit the automatic playing of on-demand content selected by a personalized recommendation system for an individual that the service knows is a minor. 
To provide an individual that the service knows is a minor with readily-accessible and easy-to-use options to delete an account held by the minor and delete any personal data collected from the minor on the service, or, in the case of a service that allows a parent to create a profile for a minor, to allow a parent to delete the minor’s profile, and to delete any personal data collected from the minor on the service. 
For a parent to manage a minor’s privacy and account settings, and restrict purchases and financial transactions by a minor, where applicable. 
To provide an electronic point of contact specific to matters described in this paragraph. 
To offer clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand notice of its policies and practices with respect to personal data and the capabilities described in this paragraph. 
When providing on-demand content, to employ measures that safeguard against serving advertising for narcotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol directly to the account or profile of an individual that the service knows is a minor. 
And finally, we arrive at Section 16, the last Section, combined with Section 14, which I glossed over earlier. If any part of this act is deemed obsolete, ineffective, or unnecessary at any point in time, it may be removed from the act without any effect to the rest of it. Unless otherwise specified, all regulations in this act shall come into effect 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the passing of this bill. 
As you can see, this bill makes an impressive amount of sense, and if it were simply used as intended, it would be wonderful. However, because we can never have nice things, legislators, politicians, and the common public have twisted this bill, warping it to serve their selfish desires. Firstly, Senator Blackburn, one of the people behind this whole thing, blatantly said to a camera that she was going to “use KOSA to protect kids from the transgender in this culture.” With the queer community already under fire from all sides, this is the last thing they need, as all it does is further demonize them, and paint them as evil, pedophilic freaks to be feared and hated. A lot of regulations outlined in this bill also provide a concerning amount of control over the children it claims to protect, and it isn’t giving it to the child. It’s giving it to their parents. The adults who, as much as we hate to admit it, don’t always have the best interests of their children at heart. And what’s more, now the conservative Republicans care about people with disabilities, but it’s only when they’re trying to push a different marginalized group off the net. However, as soon as we try to do something as simple as mandating wheelchair ramps for all government buildings, they say “we don’t have the money for that!”. Okay, since obviously you don’t understand basic common sense Mr. Conservative, let me explain this for you: let’s say that KOSA will be fully enforced on every single website out of the over 1 BILLION that currently exist. Let’s say that about half of those comply fully willingly with KOSA, just for the benefit of the doubt. That still lives 500 million noncompliant websites. Let’s say that with legal proceedings and other costs, it would cost 500 dollars in USD per website to bring those websites into compliance. It would cost 250 BILLION dollars in USD to bring 500 million websites into compliance. Now let’s do some math on the wheelchair ramp problem, I’ll use small businesses as an example, since that’s the main subject of complaints on this topic. There are 33,185,550 small businesses registered in the United States. With the average cost per linear foot of concrete ramp being 225 dollars in USD, and saying that every small business has 2 doors that need ramps that are 1 linear foot, that means that every small business would have to pay 450 dollars in USD to make their businesses accessible. Every 3-5 years, you’ll want to reseal that concrete, costing about 3-5 dollars in USD per square foot. That means that a one time expense of 450 dollars to build the original ramps (on average, grossly oversimplified, but you get it), with an recurring cost every 3-5 years of a mere 6-10 dollars in USD. It would cost 4e-9% of what it would cost to enforce KOSA to make every registered small business in the US accessible. That is less than 1% of the money it would cost to enforce KOSA. 
This bill would also enforce a strict “no horny” policy on damn near every website that you can think of. And as much as we like to demonize and vilify them, sex workers, porn actors, and hentai artists are people too, and some of them make a living off what they do. By enacting KOSA, you are driving the lives of more than 2 million people (about the population of Nebraska) into the dirt. KOSA places the value of a child’s innocence over those lives. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely against child pornography and exposing small children to porn, but we shouldn’t lock down everyone's access to explicit content to preserve 22.1% of the US population’s childlike innocence. KOSA also can lock those children into abusive and dangerous conditions and make the lives of orphans a living hell. By giving the parents of minors total control over their child’s account, you are allowing them to lock down their lives, and expose these children to, at best, harmful misinformation, extremism, and general naivety, and at worst, physical abuse and/or death. That’s another 600,000 lives ground into the dirt under the boot of “safety”. And that little bit about “parens patrie”? That basically means that if you can’t defend yourself (i.e. are homeless, an orphan, etc.), the government is your parent now. Growing up with a faceless, nameless entity in place of any parental figure is NOT a healthy way for a child to live. Again, that’s another 2,823,104 human beings crushed by KOSA. In total, out of just the three categories of people I listed here, over 4,883,104 human beings, with lives, emotions, thoughts, joys and pains, are being royally screwed over by this absolutely horrid bill. 
 We as a society are better than this. Come on people. What memo did I miss that decided that we only need equality for some people? Instead of bickering amongst ourselves like children, we should work together and solve our problems! Isn’t that what we all want!? But no, instead we fight over our inviolable rights as human beings like toddlers over a shovel in the sandbox, instead of behaving like civilized people. And what’s worse, it paints anyone who doesn’t fit the perfect ideal of an American citizen in shades of evil, demonizing and alienating them even more than they already are. What the hell are we doing here? Instead of waving our bureaucracy around, we should get off the chair and do something about it. How many times have we done something without taking a risk? That’s right, NEVER. 
If we claim to be champions of equality, yet only desire it for ourselves, we are just as bad as those whose actions we decry. So please, dear reader, I beg of you. Stop KOSA, stop censorship, stop tyranny if you value this world at all. 
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blazingstar29 · 9 months
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Headcanon that Slider and Ice love how smol pocket sized Maverick is. They do every thing they can to make sure they can always lift him up and plop him on their... hip 😏. So even when they have a full desk job, they are still the fittest of admirals around because y'know. And Maverick gets hot for how they can manhandle him whenever but he likes to give them a challenge sometimes so he gets really good at squiriming out of their hold.
*taking notes* manhandling maverick…
I have my own HC that Slider eventually becomes a commercial airline pilot, but even then…Just six foot something buff ex-navy commercial pilot and his maverick backpack- I mean personal carry on.
Slider is taller than Ice so he’s got more leverage for some more creative ways of carting Maverick around, though Ice still gets his entertainment in.
Maybe a year or so after TOPGUN and they’re bored on a carrier, they figure out they can play helicopter with Maverick because the guy just doesn’t get motion sick. They take turns spinning around whilst holding Maverick by his ankles and for some reason they guy finds it fun. There’s also no gym onboard so after a while the running gets boring and they figure out Mavericks around the same length as a barbell. And whilst he’s no where near the weight any of them lift on the regular, they all have great core because he moves around. It becomes normal to see Maverick sitting cross legged on Slider’s back as he does push ups or for him to be clinging to Merlin’s torso as the RIO does squats. Ice of course is the only one who’s allowed to bench him because of the…hand holds he has to use.
Eventually Maverick gets bored of being the equipment all the time so he decides to start getting his own back. Merlin is his own personal climbing gym, that guy is enormous. But he gets Ice to support his legs as he tries to learn to do near verticals push ups and hand stands.
And when they’re back on shore and all alone, there’s other less innocent ways of making use of their size difference…
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no-see-um-incorrect · 5 months
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Charlie Headcanons🐀🍕
This one’s a little chaotic so bear with me 
@frog-0n-a-l0g  enjoy 
- Charlie is a “hey there beautiful” kinda guy
-he uses a baby carrier for Ratcoon
-he can not sit like a normal person. If he is comfortable in a space he’s going to turn into a pretzel goblin 
-occasionally he wants to wear like punk Rocker style makeup(if you want references I will give) but didn’t want it to look bad so when Casper learned this they offered to do his makeup and it made him really really happy
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(I don’t have an explanation)
-he doesn’t use social media BUT loves when Casper post pic of them. And loves seeing all the people from there high school go absolutely Ape shit
-he is an absolute menace when it snows 
-he likes to read Caspers comic books and manga. And it’s gotten to a point where he’ll bring it to work so he can read it during break and Caspers just searching their house like  “where the fuck did I put food wars volume 4?”
-this man used to use three in one until Casper found out and dragged him to target  “how do you expect me to love on your hair if you’re going to torture it like this!”
-his little rat noises don’t stop during spicy time. He’s just always like that.  just little squeaks. like NPC sound effects. I don’t even think he’s conscious of doing it 
-Good boy core 
-enjoys watching The Walking Dead 
⚠️how do I describe this without going feral UM⚠️…
-this man looks delectable in lingerie 
-he was a club penguin kid 
I would add more, but I am working on three different holiday themed Fic for the boys simultaneously so…..this is all I can give you ❤️ sorry if there’s any typos 
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topgun-imagines · 7 months
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Day 5: Head Above Water
Pairing: Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky x fem!reader
Synopsis: Iceman may have just lost his one and only reason for keeping his head above water: You.
Warnings: Mentions of drowning, death, thalassophobia, ejection, plane crash, & brief mention of panic attacks.
Word count: 1.2k
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Drowning was a funny thing. You always expected that it was one of the most painful ways to go. However, as you floated further and further down in the dark, cold water, you realized just how wrong you were. The first few moments were horrible, your lungs burning as you struggled to return to the surface with your parachute tangled around your legs. Soon, it became too much. Water began to fill your lungs ever so slowly, the pain overwhelming. And then it was gone just as fast. Everything went dark.
Unbeknownst to you, your pilot was only a few meters above you, willing to risk his own life to save yours.
You weren’t even supposed to be here. That was what kept circling Iceman’s mind as he tried relentlessly to get to you. Slider was supposed to be flying with him. Not you. But the RIO was needed on the carrier for something that Ice couldn’t even remember now. Sure, the two of you had flown together before, but it had always been for training or simple missions. Never something as high-profile as this.
It’s not that the two of you didn’t work well together. Quite the opposite, in fact. You and Iceman worked so well together that you were considered a dream team, both in the air and on land. Even though you had only flown a couple of missions together, the two of you were perfect. Hell, even Slider was jealous.
This mission was special, something that could only be pulled off by the best of the best. Everything was going perfectly fine. Right up until the left wing of your jet was taken out with a missile that Ice had tried to avoid. Ultimately, he failed. And now here he was, wading in the frozen waters desperate to find you among the wreckage. He needed you to make it out okay. This mission was supposed to be the one that would send the two of you to Top Gun. Slider had been paired up with another pilot for the spot, meaning that it was one group or the other that got to go.
However, right now, Ice couldn’t find it in himself to care whether he made it to Top Gun or not. All he needed was for you to be okay. As long as you were okay, he would be too. But as the cold water began to set a chill deep into his bones, the hope that had been slowly dying in his chest was snuffed out immediately.
When the missile first struck the jet, the two of you knew exactly what to do. You ejected, followed shortly by Ice. However, your parachute didn’t deploy properly, sending you crashing into the debris-filled water much faster than anything that would be considered safe. Ice had watched, horror-stricken as you dissapeared beneath the surface of the water and never came back up. The seconds felt like hours before he was finally in the cold water, thrashing none too calmly in an attempt to get to you.
The fact that the pilot could no longer see your brightly coloured parachute terrified him to his very core. In one last ditch effort to locate where you were, Ice dunked his head under the water. Even though it was dark and the chances were slim, he was hoping he could at least catch a glimpse of you. Only when he was almost out of breath did he finally emerge from the water. All thoughts of his own safety were disregarded as he tried again and again to find you.
Dread settled in the pit of his stomach. The pilot had no idea what he was going to do if he lost you. He couldn’t even fathom returning to the carrier without you. You were his rock. The single most important person in his life. Sure, he had Slider. But you were there for him on nights when he woke up screaming, his mind plaguing him with terrifying images of losing you. Much like he was now. You were the person who made sure he was eating and sleeping instead of working himself to the bone. And he was just supposed to let you go? Not a chance.
One late night, you had showed up at Ice’s dorm in tears. That was the first time he had ever seen you like that and the pilot could still remember the horror he felt. It was eerily similar to how he was feeling now.
The two of you stayed up the whole night, talking about everything and nothing, all at once. That was the night that Ice first learned about your fear of oceans. Your father was in the Navy. It was why you joined in the first place. But it was also why you had the overwhelming fear that you just couldn't shake no matter what you did. You had lost your father in an accident just like this one.
When you were first selected to fly this mission with Iceman, he had confronted you about it. He wanted to be 100% sure that you would be able to handle flying that high-profile of a mission above the ocean. You had assured him that you would be fine and when he questioned you, you told him eight simple words. “I’ll be okay, Ice. Cause I trust you.” Those words seemed to echo around his head, taunting him for his failure to protect you.
Ice wasn’t sure how long he had been swimming back and forth in the water. He wasn’t even aware of how sore his arms had become. The only thing on his mind was you. A little soreness meant nothing to him as long as you were okay.
It could have been 20 minutes, it could have been 2 hours by the time the rescue chopper finally showed up. The men tried to haul Ice out of the frigid water but he wouldn't leave. Not without you. Against his wishes, he was pulled into the helicopter. The pilot was positive that he had never been more heartbroken and angry than when the chopper started to rise from the water. Without you. They were just going to leave you there. How could he stand for that?
Normally, Iceman wasn’t one to become upset easily and if you were to ask him, he would argue that he had a perfectly valid reason for his reaction. The men in that rescue helicopter had never heard such foul language before.
“How could you leave her!?” They tried to calm him down, insisting that there was another chopper right behind them with the sole intention of finding you. Ice didn’t care. He needed to be with you. He needed to know that you were still alive.
Even as the chopper continued back to the carrier, the men refused to tell him whether or not you were okay. He felt sick to his stomach. Usually, you were the one to make that feeling go away. But this time, you were the reason why it was there. His job was to protect you. You trusted him with your life. And he had failed. Needless to say, whether you lived or died, Iceman would never forgive himself.
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a/n: thank you for reading! Join the whumptober taglist!
Tagging: @ohtobeleah @xoxabs88xox @els-marvelvsp @kmc1989 @nyx2021
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360iris · 1 year
Text
make it awkward | moon knight system x camgirl!reader
3,491 words, mature (more than a lil bit of a crack fic?), Steven x reader + Jake x reader focused, no use of Y/n, all Spanish sentences are translated at the very end (I grew up around Spanish speakers from ages 6 to 16 but I never became fluent— forgive me for any grammatical errors, I don’t think I did too badly though.)
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Steven has a guilty pleasure that only he knows about and it comes in the form of a woman. Or the livestreams she has every Tuesday, of every week, to be more precise.
He wishes he could say he were a casual viewer, watching the VODs that get posted to your channel after each stream has been completed whenever he has the necessary urge.
But that wouldn’t be the truth, it was the furthest from it actually.
His real secret is that Steven tunes in every Tuesday for your morning, evening and midnight streams if he can– if his body doesn’t decide it would rather go on autopilot and venture off who-knows-where, when it feels so inclined.
He’d like to say that he was only the tiniest bit of an admirer of yours, but even that wasn’t remotely close to the truth either. The truth was that he was mere inches, feeble and miniscule centimeters, away from being flat out obsessed with even the idea of you.
From an outsider’s perspective, you were an absolute catch. Cute with beautiful hair and skin that looked so soft he couldn’t guess how it’d feel to catch the smallest of caresses of your arms or legs.
But what really reeled him in was your voice.
He liked how personable, wholesome and excitable you were while expertly starting and maintaining conversation with the chat– even when you were particularly preoccupied with the combination of the separate vibrator and dildo focused at your core; your words turning airy and distracted as you answered questions about your day.
Always generous with the small details you offered, making sure to mention the guy on the train that swooped in to steal your seat when you got up in hopes of offering it to an old woman— or how a sweet girl around your age complimented your outfit on one of the rare occasions you went out to treat yourself.
Another quirk he liked about you was how much of a home-dwelling being you seemed to be. He knew posts on your private accounts weren’t much to go off of to paint a realistic illustration of your life but from the little he could glean, you didn’t go out much if you could help it.
Preferring the relaxing amenities within the confines of your home to other people and ordering modest but nice additions to your space when you could, like furniture and functional decor. Unmistakably proving to be an unusual but interesting woman.
Pulled from the mindless scrolling on his phone, he registers the knock that sounds at the door to his flat. A phenomena that sets him on immediate guard due to how rarely it occurs that he has visitors. Never has he had anyone over.
The initial spectacle dying down when he opens the door only to find it’s just a lone mail carrier, a large cardboard box held up in his arms.
“What’s this? A package?” Steven asks curiously, not fully registering how the man’s face pales considerably as he meets his gaze, thrusting the box forward into his arms.
“Wha– Hang on a sec.” But the carrier is already departing without so much as a passing word, darting towards the stairwell as though he were running from a bully. “But I didn’t order anything. Did I?”
Brewing on the thought for a moment longer, he pulls the door closed behind himself, haphazardly locking it.
His only current priority being to open this box which could finally clue him in on what on earth his body got up to when he wasn’t in control of it. Because this could be it, maybe it was clothes? Equipment, or books? He could find out a lot depending on the kind of books that were tucked away inside this cardboard prison.
Except as he tears the tape back, whipping the purple packaging tissue from out of the way, he’s met with the visage of seven custom made dildos. Literal silicone molded dildos, not unlike the small business you promoted on your platforms.
They came in a wide array of vivid color combinations, girths and sizes– the most alarming being the sixteen inch otherworldly dong that he could just barely wrap his hand around.
This was what he got up to? He was fairly certain no one on the planet, no matter how professional or adept they proved to be, could fit such a horrifying monstrosity inside any orifice on their person, when yet another knock resounds from the door and he practically jumps out of his skin.
Throwing the object back into the box and covering it with the decorative paper before moving to answer the door yet again.
Prepared to scream at the next carrier rather frightfully until they got the message that he would not be accepting any more packages for the foreseeable future.
“No packages.” He whisper-shouts to himself as he approaches the door. “No more bloody packages!”
Only, the last person he expects to find standing at the foot of his doorstep, looking off in the direction of the stairway with arms folded as a meager attempt to generate warmth in the chilly hallway, was you.
He freezes instantly, eyes bucking as his mouth hangs ajar, not far, but just enough to make him look like a dork if you were paying any attention in that moment.
Recognizing his presence, you look up, your countenance livening considerably, in a way he’s never been able to see before when the both of you were separated by a screen on either side.
“Hey! I just heard the mail guy leave. He dropped off my recent order, yeah?” You ask, eyes sparkling with poorly concealed affection for… him?
He can’t help but stand there dumbly in your presence, his brain still lagging lightyears behind the developments of this interaction.
“Y- Yeah.” He manages after a pause too long.
“And he didn’t give you any trouble, did he?” You continue to question, slinking past him and into his flat like you’re familiar with the layout. Deftly maneuvering past all the chaotic mess as though you’d been here before.
“Uh, he didn’t give me any problems. But now that I think about it, the look of pure terror he had when he saw me was odd.” Steven muses, recalling the way the man flashed white as a sheet before tearing tail.
“Not that I thought he would after the first time, remember? You had him running down the hall with his tail between his legs with just a look.” You laugh melodically and he swears he swoons at the sound as he finally closes the door.
“You opened it?” He suddenly hears you pipe up from further inside which causes him to startle. You’re standing in front of the dark wooden table where he’d left the box open and flimsily covered with the tissue paper.
“Uh, yeah.” He nods, daring to walk closer. “I didn’t know what was in it. Thought maybe I’d ordered it while I was um… asleep. Or something like that.”
When you turn to face him, you have the largest of the fantastical appendages in a vice grip which in any other circumstance he’d find rather comical. The angry tip dipping and bobbing over your closed hand, the golden yellow glitter weaves up from the base in objectively pretty swirls and loops.
“Uh-huh.” You answer with a conspiratory smirk, your expression reading in an amused kind of way as you set the toy back down. “Didn’t get enough of a look with the first box you saw, huh?”
Steven gawks in disbelief, “H- Hang on, the first box? You mean to say that I’ve accepted your packages before? As in plural? This isn’t the first one?”
This course of questioning causes you to survey him for the first time since you’d entered. Gaze drifting from his hair to his hands purposefully, before settling back on his eyes. His feet shuffling in place awkwardly when you don’t answer, instead your brows raised as you scrutinize him.
“Today was a bit of a long day so I didn’t realize it earlier, but what’s with the accent? Taking the piss, are we?” You questioned, walking up to him with playfully narrowed eyes and a finger pointed at his chest, poking at him repeatedly. “Think you’re funny mocking the way Brits talk?”
“I’m,” He gently grasps your hand to move it away so he could rub at the offended area. “I’m not taking the piss. This is how I talk.”
“No, it’s not.” You state resolutely, as though you were waiting for him to finally concede but when it becomes clear he won’t, you look at him strangely.
“It’s not?” He asks, expression reading pure confusion.
“No. You’ve always spoken in an American sort of way, like they do in the movies? What was it again? Boston? Something with a ‘B’.”
“Brooklyn?” He adds quietly, just a guess but suddenly he’s feeling wary. And you nod eagerly, clapping your hands and snapping at him when he gets the word you’d been searching your recollection for.
“Yeah! It was a Brooklyn accent, I think!” –but when he yet again doesn’t share in your revelry, your demeanor simpers, giving him yet another once-over like something would click and you’d finally figure out what was off.
“You don’t remember. Do you?”
“I… I wish that I could. I really do, but my name is Steven. Steven Grant. I’m pretty sure I’m not who you’ve been interacting with. Like my body is the same, but I’m not.” –you slump into the wooden chair at your side, quiet and introspective.
“You know? If I were literally anyone else, I’d have half the mind to come to the conclusion that you’re doing all this as some fucked up scheme to get me to leave you alone. I mean my friends would call me naive for even attempting to believe any of,” and you gestures at his person vaguely with outstretched hands. “---this!”
“I’m not faking.” He insists, forgetting his previous shyness and moving to kneel in front of you to look into your eyes. “I wouldn’t, I would never play some cruel game to get you to leave me alone. I mean it.”
And as your hands move to seek out his own, smaller and softer than he could have ever imagined, he inwardly notes that you truly are as beautiful as he’d believed you to be in person. Even now with the pouted lips and the furrowed tilt in your brows that seems to say that you’d want nothing more than to ignore your better judgment and indulge him.
“Okay. I’ll believe you for now, Steven Grant.”
Glancing down at your intertwined hands, he asks what he’s been the most curious to know the answer to. “I’m not missing any context to something important that happened between us though, am I?”
He finds that your eyes are darkened and deep, unshakenly holding his gaze in the silence and there's a brief moment where he thinks maybe, maybe there’s more to this. To his connection to you, but then you’re shaking your head negatively and the words, “No. There isn’t.” –fall from your lips and he accepts it with a nod.
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ii. Before.
Today has been a long day spent fronting. Long enough that uncharacteristically, all Jake wants to do is collapse into bed and sleep the remainder of the daylight hours away.
His body sags against the dark wall of the lift, his breathing even as he pushes himself up just as the bell chimes to indicate he’s reached the fifth floor.
The metal door slides open to reveal the familiar cool dark tones of the unnecessarily cold hallway, his feet meeting the floor in long strides but three steps in, his ears are met with a shrill squeal as one of the doors pushes open from the inside and a woman darts out into the hall from her flat.
Panting heavily, you pace in a circle attempting to regain your composure.
Fluffy, white ankle length socks with pastel pink horizontal stripes adorn your feet. His eyes settle on the matching oversized hooded sweater dress you’re wearing, the bear ears on the hood and puffball tail placed at your bottom catching most of his attention.
Your eyes dart over to him in alarm before sharply turning away when you realize he’s already looking at you as he makes his way to Steven’s door, the silver key glinting in his gloved hand as he nods at you in acknowledgement.
Momentarily he wonders when such a unique person became their neighbor directly across the hall from them, but just as he begins pushing into his own dwelling, you speak up promptly; voice nervous and unsure.
“Um! Excuse me?” You call out suddenly, causing him to turn around slowly. His brows raised in question.
“Que es, bella?” His voice is gruffer than you’d expected, having a particularly deep, husky aspect that makes you want to take a moment to marvel at it, if you'd had the time.
“I know this is an extraordinarily strange ask, but the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my entire life has crawled itself out of hell and into my flat?”
“You want me to kill it?”
“You don’t have to if you’re like.. uncomfortable with that sort of thing? I could give you something to trap it inside of. I honestly don’t care how you do it, just as long as it’s out, I’d really appreciate it.”
He peered at you for a moment, his eyes sliding off of you and focusing elsewhere before offering a singular nod of his head. Closing Steven’s door with a firm click. “I can do that.”
His hand reached for your doorknob, halting in his motion to open it as you grab one of his shoulders, quickly retracting it when he paused in his steps, slowly turning his head to look at it before his eyes slice up to your face.
“I’m sorry! I just, I just feel like I have to warn you that I didn’t… clean up before I ran out.”
“That’s fine.” He replies in a murmur, narrowing his eyes at the way you bring a hand to your face anxiously, waiting for your consent to proceed. “I’m not squeamish.”
“Okay.” You whisper, dropping your hands to your sides. Your head bobbing repeatedly as you nod, as though you were trying to convince yourself more than anything else.
“Okay.” He parrots, looking at you cautiously.
“Okay.” You agree, waving him off and finally he pushes inside.
Jake will be honest with himself and admit that the last sight he was expecting to be met with was a video streaming setup.
Tripod and camera, laptop open with a small arsenal of dildos, vibrators and a singular bottle of lube lined neatly along the end table.
He slowly turns his head to look over his left shoulder, only to find you standing in the threshold of your flat with your hands shielding your face.
Your fingers cracking small slivers for you to peek back at him nervously, the digits widening as you attempt to defend what was left of your dignity in this situation. “Normally, I’d be mortified but you can’t say I didn’t try to warn you!”
“Not well enough.” He remarks with raised brows and lips pressed into a line.
“You said you weren’t squeamish!” You rebuttal, voice raised high and cheeks flushed from embarrassment. “Look, it's over there alright? Can you get it, please?”
“No te pongas histérica, chula. I told you I would, even if it looks like you raided a sex shop in here.” He jokes dryly, causing a loud groan to bubble up from your throat.
He locates the intruding arachnid with ease, all six inches of absolute spindly terror, as it tries to hide in an open corner.
What shocks you, and hell’s latest escaped convict, is how he extends one of his leather gloved hands and simply scoops it up.
The man promptly proceeding to walk over to the closest window, open it and toss the hairy lump into the street to be someone else’s problem at a later hour.
“You should keep these locked by the way.” He calmly advises, closing the window and flipping the latch with ease before he turns. Offering a final lax wink your way before exiting without another word.
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iii.
The website had advertised ‘sleek and discrete packaging’, so why did you open your door to find the mail carrier holding a relatively large box with the image of an oversized, pulsating vibrator brandished front and center on the front.
The words ‘Ultimate Thrusting Clit Stimulate–Her’ are clear and easy to read in the bottom right corner.
The warm wash of embarrassment sets in from head to toe as you realize your predicament. The debacle seeming to worsen as the man takes this as the perfect opportunity not only to flirt, but flat out proposition you.
“I’m not a call-girl.” You say lowly, eyes burning with hatred as he took every indicator to leave you alone as ammunition to persist.
“I’m not saying you are, lovely. Just figured you’d want a change of equipment is all. The real thing has got to be better than the artificial.” He states smugly, his face lined with a crooked toothed grin, everything about him coming off as slimy and gross.
“Eres tan feo que haces llorar a las cebollas.” Sounds in a familiar tenor and then suddenly, there stands your neighbor from across the hall. His capped head hung tilted towards the man as he pinned him with an icy glare so sharp that even you’re put on edge.
If looks had the power to kill, this guy would have already been speaking to his maker.
“Uh. She with you, man?”
“You could say that.” Your two time savior slips the box from the carrier’s hands, looking over the garish photo of the toy with an bemused expression.
His dark brows shooting upwards and coming back to rest as his eyes glide over to you, trying and failing not to grimace at him.
His calm look wordlessly communicated the thought both of you seemed to be simultaneously contemplating. ‘Why is it always you that I find with sex toys?’ —which causes you to grumble irritably just as his attention turns back towards the carrier.
“What are you still here for?” He asks the guy, eyes darkening purposefully.
“Right!” Remembering his ability to walk, he vacates the area with a certain swiftness. Both of you watching in disdainful silence as he beelines for the stairs instead of the lift, disappearing behind the heavy door that slams shut noisily behind him.
“No le hagas caso. Es un idiota.” He finally says softly, handing the box over to you.
“Thanks.” You reply back rather meekly, fiddling with the folded corners of the cardboard as he offers a curt nod before pointing to it.
“I’m genuinely curious, are you building a collection? Like a toy collector, or something?”
“No!” You quickly defend, causing his brows to rise. “They’re for my job, if you must know.”
“Sounds like a fun gig.” He remarks breezily, his lips pursed to the side appreciatively. It wasn’t judgmental or condescending in any sort of way, just honest, and you’re taken aback at his lackadaisical sort of reaction.
Here was the first person you ever confessed to about what field you made a living in, and he was reacting as if you’d said you made money from selling custom jewelry or taught the elderly how to paint.
“I’m a cam girl.” You clarify unnecessarily, feeling the need to test him further.
“Why tell me?” He asks with a nonchalant jerk of his chin, receiving a weak shrug in return.
“I don’t know. I mean you helped me out twice now, and both times you’ve come face to face with my... work equipment. I thought you at least deserved some context so you wouldn’t just assume your neighbor is some sex-crazed freak with an obsession.”
“You can be interested in whatever you want. What I, or any other fucker thinks shouldn’t amount to jack shit in comparison.”
You nod mutely, “Right. You’re right.” But when he turns to leave, you speak up again. “Uh! Would you— Would you like to come in? I’ve got all kinds of drinks and snacks... and stuff. Y’know as a way to repay you? For helping me out.”
“Is this some code way to trick me into having a tea party with you and your toys?” He asks in a blank, suspicious tone that causes you to laugh even though anyone else most likely would’ve been offended.
“No! It’s just a normal invitation to have a normal drink!”
“Shame.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders, walking into your apartment. “Would’ve been one for the books.”
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Que es, bella? — What is it, beautiful?
No te pongas histérica, chula. - Don’t get hysterical, pretty. (‘chula’ is the word you’d use if you find someone cute/adorable/pretty in a non-romantic or sexual context.)
Eres tan feo que haces llorar a las cebollas. — You’re so ugly you make onions cry.
No le hagas caso. Es un idiota. — Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.
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void-ink-studios · 5 months
Text
Fears of a Wishmaster
Just wanted to take a moment to examine everything from Prismo's perspective. This has clearly been a lot for him too, so he should have a moment to reflect.
Enjoy y'all! I think next chapter will either be Luna meeting the Organizer (and Orbo, unfortunately), or Scarab not understanding how babies work and being upset about it.
Word Count: 2,400
There were a couple of benefits of being an incorporeal dream. Prismo didn't need to bother himself with the upkeep of mortality. He didn't need to drink or eat, although he could indulge if he wanted. He wasn't bound by what was "physically" possible, meaning he wasn't bound by dimension or size or gravity.
He also didn't need to sleep.
How ironic would it be for a dream to sleep?
Most of the time, Prismo didn't care for sleep. He couldn't really justify it, not when a wish maker could come in at any moment and interrupt it.
But... well, there were sometimes, especially in the midst of his grief fueled depression, that sleep seemed like the perfect gift of the universe.
Prismo wasn't sure where his feelings on the topic landed tonight. He was exhausted. Emotionally and mentally exhausted.
But he couldn't sleep.
Not as he curled around his little family. Him staying awake was the only thing that convinced his self-destructive partner, the one still bound by mortal needs, to finally sleep. And Glob knows when the last time Scarab slept was.
Scarab was at least soundly sleep, pressing his body against Prismo like a warming rock.
A soft coo drew his attention to the little bundle in his arms. He gave a wobbly smile as he leaned down to press a soft kiss to the little face that was also sound asleep. Asleep, but with their tiny secondary hands firmly wrapped around Scarab's finger.
Tonight had been rough. But Luna made it worth it.
But oh, dear Glob, had tonight been rough.
Actually, this entire process had been rough.
It just started as Scarab feeling under the weather. It was strange, he admitted that, but that was understandable. Sure, it was an odd illness that made the beetle much more hostile than he had been in decades, made him very clingy to Prismo, and made him go strangely limp whenever the Wishmaster touched his belly. But, he had decided Scarab was just a clingy, grumpy patient. He understood that. He knew what to do, what to think, when something felt under the weather.
Prismo didn't know what to think when Life first told them what was going on. That there was an egg in Scarab's core, that Prismo was a dad, that he had no idea what to do or expect.
It frightened him, above all.
Children were not something Prismo considered in the cards for himself. His only exposure to the tiny things were in dire circumstances of kids inheriting adult responsibilities, or watching from afar on the TV Wall.
He'd have loved to know kids personally. He almost hoped Jake would bring his pups over when he told him. But turns out pups grow up a bit too fast.
Well... guess you get what you ask for.
He hadn't realized he froze until Scarab began to sob, Life trying and failing to reassure him. He heard his lovely partner call himself defective, a bad carrier for only having one egg, like he had already failed, and that just wouldn't do.
The beetle was terrified, that much was obvious. He hadn't seen Scarab break down like this in a long, long time.
So, Prismo did what he did back then. Put on the brave face.
He tried so hard to not spiral. His mind was going a million miles a second, trying to piece together something cohesive.
What did this mean, for the both of them?
What would the pantheon do, considering the last divine child nearly destroyed the death worlds and end the cycle of life?
What was he supposed to do to keep this little egg safe? What did babies need? Was this kid going to be human? Bug? A dream? Some weird mix of it all?
He wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't ready, not for any of this.
He needed to think, he desperately wanted to just stop and process and compartmentalize any of this news.
Scarab had at least stopped sobbing, now quietly curled up against the Wishmaster's chest. Prismo placed a delicate hand on the Auditor's belly, petting it softly. There was an egg in there, somewhere. His baby. Their baby.
Prismo made sure to remind himself of that whenever Scarab vanished for hours into the basement. He had been doing that a lot more recently, ever since they found out. He was mumbling something about finding the "perfect spot," whatever that meant.
The Wishmaster had the good sense to research and ply Life with tea and questions whenever she had a moment to visit. Although, how much of it was helpful to their specific situation was questionable at best. He wasn't sure how much warming rocks or shedding spot were important to their circumstances, but Life seemed insistent on them.
All it really did was leave him more confused than when he started, especially when Scarab seemed to have found his spot. He started digging a massive hole into the Time Room wall, surrounded by what seemed to be the aborted start of many such similar holes.
"A brood burrow" Scarab had called it.
Prismo wasn't stupid, but maybe he should've asked a few more questions before the egg finally arrived. Before it was sealed in said hole.
The Wishmaster panicked. This wasn't right, this couldn't be right. Babies needed to be held, needed to be touched, they needed to be kept safe, why was Scarab sealing them in a dark hole?
And that's when he was woefully reminded of the fundamental biological differences between the two of them.
"I wouldn't be doing this if there wasn't a good reason, dear. Grubs are... sensitive, Prismo."
Scarab sat himself down in front of the now weakened by reassembled piece of the wall, sword in hand.
"B-B-But... But, that's a baby, Scarab! You put our baby in a dark hole!"
"With enough food and water to get them through this first stage."
"Babies can't eat solid food!"
"Grubs can, Prismo. My dear, I need you to listen to me."
Prismo was fretting. He wanted to dig the egg out, demand Scarab find another way. But the beetle's look was serious. So he listened.
"I know this might not... make sense to you. But grubs have very different needs than mammalian young. This was how I was handled during grub hood, this is how everyone on my planet made it through grub hood."
"B-But... But why? Why would you just... Just trust a hole to be enough?! Babies are fragile!"
"Yes, they are. But a grub is fragile in ways a baby is not. Grubs are sturdy, at least with structure. They hatch able to chew, crawl, and support their own bodies."
"Then why put them in a hole? I thought your species loved touch!"
"We do. But grubs are different, Prismo. Grubs have very fragile senses. Strong bodies, but a weak constitution. Almost any strong sensation can cause them to stress, which makes their little organs fail."
Scarab chittered nervously as he took Prismo's hand.
"I want nothing more than to hold them right now. I'm terrified they won't make it out of that hole, Prismo. I'm right with you in wanting to hold them and keep them safe more... directly. But that's the safest place for them right now. Too much light, too much noise, too much touch, all of it could hurt them. Disturbing them right now, even with the best intentions, could kill them."
Prismo let the words sink in. He swallowed thickly, looking between the wall and Scarab.
"...There's a reason we usually carry a clutch. Grubs... it's a roll of the dice if they emerge."
And so, Prismo was left to stew.
Maybe Scarab meant to reassure him about the necessity of the hole. But, all it did was make his mind spiral with worst case scenarios. If... If it takes that little to make a grub... fail to emerge, then, what are their chances?
Scarab didn't even seem reassured by his own speech. Every time Prismo came to the basement, there was Scarab. Standing guard, in the same spot. Glob, he looked so tired.
Prismo couldn't take care of their little one, not yet at least. But... well, he could at least take care of Scarab.
It became a way to cope: finding a way to get Scarab to sleep. It got harder every time, the beetle getting more and more anxious every time he realized he let himself rest.
But he still had mortal upkeep. He needed to sleep. And Prismo was more than happy to take the torch to let his partner perform that upkeep.
It gave him more time to think.
He leaned his head against the wall, trying to listen for any sign of life in there. Maybe he heard a small scuttling, or maybe some rustling, but nothing concrete. Nothing reassuring.
Glob, what he wouldn't do for some reassurance. To be allowed a peek inside, just to see if they're okay.
But Scarab would never forgive him if he did. He knew, deep in his core, that Scarab would never forgive him if he ever found out.
So, he waited.
Day after anxious day, he waited for something to change. Something to happen.
And boy something did.
When he heard Scarab chirping, much more tense and frantic than he's used to, he knew something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
That moment was a whirlwind of emotions. His baby is emerging! But it's apparently too early and probably won't make it...
But then Prismo listen.
The chirps he was hearing, the ones responding to Scarab's trills and words, they didn't sound like that of something dying. They were frightened, definitely needed reassurance, but they weren't dying. They were loud, steady, confident even.
But there was no way of knowing. Not without waiting.
He had seen a little hand burst through the wall, with little yellow claws. He heard the chittering and squealing of such a tiny body. He watched in awe as this tiny thing dug itself out, and caught them before they tumbled to the floor.
Oh, they were gorgeous. So little, fluffy, alive. They were alive, firmly. Prismo wanted to weep, but he needed to get his two favorite bugs to settle down first.
He quickly wrapped them up in a blanket, chuckling a little at how quickly they fell asleep. He couldn't imagine how exhausting the journey they just had must've been. He looked idly in the whole as he soothed them, seeing the broken open pupa shell at the back of the hole. Such a little fighter already...
Prismo heard a terrible warble from Scarab, who had squeezed his eyes shut and was on the verge of tears.
Had he not seen...?
Oh no, he must think...
"Scarab...?"
The beetle shook his hear, a tear slipping past his shut lids. Oh, his poor Lovebug...
"Scarab? Open your eyes." Please, please come see this beautiful little treasure.
"...Is it over...?"
Prismo's heart broke. The resignation in his voice was too much... He was prepared to accept the end...
"N-No, Lovebug. Look."
And oh, did Scarab look.
Prismo could see the thoughts wandering across his face, from despair to confusion to overwhelming joy and relief. He was quick to examine the little thing, chirping softly, taking one of their tiny hands into his own.
And then he collapsed, sobbing in relief as he slid down against the wall. Oh, his sweet Lovebug... Prismo was at his side in an instant, pressing sweet kisses all along his neck and cheek.
Scarab held their little one with such tenderness, he wouldn't have guessed it wasn't natural. The two bugs chirped and trilled at each other, Scarab nuzzling close and brushing his antennas against theirs.
That brought them to where they were now. In the ambient glow of the Dream Lilies, under the cool shade of the strange clouds, the all rested in the Time Room. Prismo silently closed the main entrances. No wishmakers. Not today.
No, today, he would curl around his beautiful little family. He had finally gotten Scarab to sleep, now that their Luna was among them. He wrapped all of them into a blanket nest, perfect for his partner to burrow into, which he happily did.
A tiny chirp interrupted Prismo's reflection, turning his attention to the little face smiling up at him. Seems they couldn't quite decide if they were awake or asleep yet.
Prismo could relate.
"Hey, sweet star" he cooed, leaning down to give them a peck on the forehead. Luna chirped happily in response, tickling Prismo's nose slightly as they brushed their antenna against his face. "It's nice to finally get to see you. You were in a whole for a few months. Isn't that crazy?"
They blinked owlishly at him, reaching up to pat his chin and giggle.
"Yeah, that is pretty crazy. But look at you, you busted yourself out of baby jail. Never seen a baby who could do that. Must be some kind of super baby."
Luna tilted their head at him, apparently listening. He wondered how much they actually understood.
"You gave your dads quite the scare, you know. You weren't supposed to come out for a while. Why'd you do that, hmm? You can't even walk yet and you're already making trouble."
They gave a tiny trill in defense.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
He chuckled at their one-sided conversation, giving their cheek a little nuzzle with his nose.
"You know... I'm... I'm scared, man. I've been trying to not show it, 'cause Scarab was about to pull his own shell off from stress but... man, you've scared me every step of the way. I'm not even sure I'm not still scared, even with you right here. I'm not sure what I'm doing. Scarab isn't either. But... well, we're trying. Whatever might happen, you're worth it. Remember that Papa and Dad love you, so much."
Luna was looking at him with wide, curious eyes. Prismo thought he could see all the thoughts circling around in their mind, so many thoughts for such a young thing. He hoped they understood.
He placed one more kiss on their forehead. Hopefully that would be enough.
"You should sleep, sweet star. You've had a long day. I'll be right here. Your Dad's right there next to you, you're holding his hand. Sleep."
At least they didn't pick up on Scarab's self-destructive stubbornness, and softly nestled back into Prismo's chest. The Wishmaster sighed, letting the warmth of everything wash over him.
He was scared. He knew he probably would be for a while.
But, for now, he could rest. He might not need sleep, but he will rest.
He could rest, now that his baby was safe in his arms.
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ask-ozai · 4 months
Note
This may offend you, sir! Kiyi is may not be your child. She is dark skin tonned. You and your children are fair. ........Unless the somehow the spirit changed the color of the baby inside Ursa's womb during her face transition..
Your question reveals that you are from the Earth Kingdom, where the majority of the inhabitants have never set foot in a school. Not even Zuko's economy minister, the blind thirteen-year-old earthbender (she doesn't know what a Monetary Base is, it's obvious why our situation is so bad. Her last order was to end poverty by printing more money and giving it to the poors. She probably doesn't even know how to read). Not to mention that people from the Earth Kingdom are famous for their segregationist and superficial beliefs, where skin color is a sign of their status. We, the citizens of the Fire Nation, on the other hand, are decent people and staunch defenders of progress and meritocracy. Someday you will wish that we had won the war.
Let me educate you with a basic biology class that children learn in the first year of the Academy.
The approximate tone of human skin is determined by a cell called melanin. The melanin receptor gene is called melanocortin. Each human being has a specific balance between melanocortin, eumelanin, and pheomelanin, not to mention the number and size of melosomes and their distribution. Not to mention everything that is subject to external factors such as the amount of sunlight each person absorbs. There are no two human beings with the same skin tone. Even the same person can have different shades throughout their life. Zuko and Azula themselves returned home a darker shade than they left, having spent so much time on their ships.
Furthermore, it would not be a unique case. Since you're from the Earth Kingdom, I will give you a local example: Lord Beifong, whom I saw in person once when I was Zuko's age, has Earth Kingdom's usual brown skin. But his illiterate daughter is paler than raw bread. A closer example is Michi, Ukano and their daughter. They both have skin a shade darker than Mai.
For example: If the Avatar and the waterbender had children, I am sure that each of them would have a unique and different color. It's basic biology.
And if all this were not enough, Kiyi's case is perfectly explained in the family. If a child is born with a color that is too different from her parents, it is probably because the parents were carriers of a recessive gene. Ursa's parents had darker skin, and it is said that my mother did too.
Kiyi's case is perfectly normal, especially within the immigrants from the colonies that we have received in recent years. I don't blame you for not knowing, because the racist ideology of the Earth Kingdom has left a very deep mark on its society. They have to learn to see beyond skin color to the only things that matter: bending and loyalty to the crown, and a basic understanding of how a calendar works to know when Ursa got pregnant. Of course Ursa is going to tell everyone that the girl is not mine. Ursa is, at her core, deeply selfish, and she would rather the girl bear the dishonor of being a bastard than admit that she was wrong.
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film-in-my-soul · 4 months
Text
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Summary: Callsigns are a tricky business, both ultimate weakness and greatest strength. These are some loosely connected vignettes around how Rooster earned his feathers, for the good and the ill of it.
soar with me | 14,899 | vannral / @vannral
Summary: ”You – so what was it, you were trying to help me or something?” Bradley stammers, his whole perspective reeling off its axis at the revelation. Jake looks up, and his eyes are piercing, but there’s something raw, vulnerable underneath it."
one foot left, and then we're going down swinging | 15,944 | SaintClaire / @radpeacharbiter
Summary: “I’m still here.” he says, because it helps Bradley to be reminded sometimes. For all he’ll mouth off about Jake never shutting up, the sound of Jake’s voice can get him to drop the rigid set of his shoulders and relax, sit a little easier in the cockpit. “Still on your wing, Roo, just a little further away than normal.” Jake gets shot down on a mission, tracker blown to smithereens and on his own in enemy territory. The thing about Hangman is that he might be a damn good pilot but that means he comes with the bloody-mindedness to see his shit through. He's got a family to get back to.
unsportsmanlike conduct | 16,871 | ginnydear
Summary: He didn’t expect there to be highlight reels of him and Jake Seresin arguing and jawing at each other after their first game against each other. His Uncle Mav’s recorded it, saying it’s the beginning of his long, successful career - to have a rival. Bradley thinks it’s a pain in the ass.
When Jake Met Bradley | 17,163 | infinitejaust
Summary: They annoyed each other, then they were friends, and then they were more. All it took was fifteen years.
A girl, she once told me I'd be happy again… | 17,777 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack
Summary: Rooster has gotten himself into a bit of a predicament. If only because he agreed to be Hangman's fake date at his sister's wedding, when they've just barely started considering each other friends. Nothing can go wrong, right?
I need attention (and I need it all from you) | 19,291 | haridwar
Summary: “Mom and I agreed I wasn’t gonna enlist Mav.” Bradley had been reluctant to remind him while also trying not to sound too heartbroken. He didn’t want his mother feeling guiltier than she already did when there were more important things to be thinking about. “You promised your mom you wouldn’t fly, that you wouldn’t be a fighter pilot. There’s so much more to the navy than just that kiddo.”
The Best the Galaxy has to offer | 20,141 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack
Summary: To vanquish the Empire and hopefully put an end to the War, the best X-wings pilots in the Galaxy are called to the mother ship Top Gun. Among them, Bradley Bradshaw, who has a lot to learn and a lot to face; but also a squadron of former Stormtroopers…
I used to hate you | 21,707 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack
Summary: When Bradley Bradshaw and Jake Seresin first meet at Top Gun, they immediately decide that they hate each other. It takes a looooooong time for that to change...
How do you like your coffee? | 23,360 | WaffleToaster
Summary: Javy receives the first call after Jake makes an emergency landing on the tarmac and Bradley has to deal with the complications that arise. “Do we get along now?” “We do, yes. We’re.. good friends.” “That’s good. Cause you seem like a nice guy, Rooster.”
invisible string | 28,042 | ok_thanks / @galchenyuks
Summary: Jake being traded to San Diego should definitely not cause Bradley to feel so unhinged. Not at all. He can be teammates, they've done that before, except that Jake is just as annoying and attractive to Bradley as he was when they were younger.
Dirty and Sweet (Get it on) | 38,451 | MadeItUp / @gothampot
Summary: As things wind down after the mission, Rooster struggles with a need for something a little dangerous. That something absolutely should not – cannot – be Jake Seresin. But a little friendly competition and a lot of alcohol can go a long way to changing a man's mind. Hangman eyes Rooster’s empty beer, then his own. “How about that second shot?” “You tryna put me off my game?” “I don’t need you drunk to beat you, Rooster.” “What do you need me drunk for?”
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cursedonyx · 5 months
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Wand Woods and Cores
In planning my fic, I did a lot of research into HP and HL lore to try and make it as accurate as possible. In doing so, I had a wonderful time trying to picture what wands our emerald trio had, and came up with the following. Included below are the woods, cores and lengths of their wands, as well as notes from Ollivander on what each wood symbolises, and I highlighted the parts that I thought most relevant to our trio. I also threw in some floriography for the woods, which I personally think match our trio marvellously.
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Dracaena – 10 ½ inches
Blackthorn wood
"Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. This does not necessarily mean that its owner practises the Dark Arts (although it is undeniable that those who do so will enjoy the blackthorn wand’s prodigious power); one finds blackthorn wands among the Aurors as well as among the denizens of Azkaban. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts, and the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand will become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish."
Symbolism - Transition, Sudden Change, Death
Core - Phoenix Feather
This is the rarest core type. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike.
Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalise, and their allegiance is usually hard won.
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Ominis – 11 ¾ inches
Cedar
"Whenever I meet one who carries a cedar wand, I find strength of character and unusual loyalty. My father, Gervaise Ollivander, used always to say, ‘you will never fool the cedar carrier,’ and I agree: the cedar wand finds its perfect home where there is perspicacity and perception. I would go further than my father, however, in saying that I have never yet met the owner of a cedar wand whom I would care to cross, especially if harm is done to those of whom they are fond. The witch or wizard who is well-matched with cedar carries the potential to be a frightening adversary, which often comes as a shock to those who have thoughtlessly challenged them."
Symbolism - I live but for thee, Think of Me, Prosperity, Longevity
Core - Unicorn Hair
Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.
Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.
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Sebastian – 12 ¼ inches
Aspen
"Wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, and highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory and its usually outstanding charmwork. The proper owner of the aspen wand is often an accomplished duellist, or destined to be so, for the aspen wand is one of those particularly suited to martial magic. In my experience, aspen wand owners are generally strong-minded and determined, more likely than most to be attracted by quests and new orders; this is a wand for revolutionaries."
Symbolism - Excess of sensibility, fear, Lamentation
Core - Dragon Heartstring
As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner.
The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.
Masterlist
Wandlore
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theresattrpgforthat · 11 months
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do you happen to know any ttrpgs focused around primarily around travel? the only one i'm personally aware of is ryuutama and i'd like to broaden my knowledge
THEME: Travel
Hello there, I hope that you find some of these games fitting that niche you're looking for!
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Apocalypse Roadtrip, by Mynar Lenahan.
Apocalypse Roadtrip is a 34-page Forged In The Dark game for 2-5 players about normal people finding their way after the world has ended. Specifically, it is a hack of the tremendous and innovative As The Sun Forever Sets. 
Navigating their way past roaming Kaiju, military bombings, otherworldly cryptids, UFO fleets, and other survivors (friendly and not), the characters work hard to achieve their goals and, ultimately, make some changes in their world.
In a world where staying in one place for too long can kill you, travel is pretty important in Apocalypse Roadtrip. Your crew will probably need a vehicle in order to get resources and a safe place to sleep for the night, and you can travel in anything from a sedan, to a snow plow, to an alien spaceship. Travel is one of a few suggested strategies for getting what you need. On the whole, this game aims to emulate a desperate wandering ragtag crew, seeking a place to lay their heads and something that gives them just enough of an edge to survive another day.
If you bought the Türkiye & Syria Earthquake Relief Bundle, you own this game!
Space Taxi, by gothHoblin.
Space Taxi is a zany Tabletop RPG for 1-4 players and a GM, where players are all passengers of the same taxi taking them on a journey through outer space! Each character type has their own goal to complete before the trip is over, and will encounter all kinds of things along the way. But watch out for the Space Cats - these adorable little fluffballs can be as mischievous as they are cute!
Space Taxi is a lighthearted journey through space using the Caltrop Core game system, with a special set of prompt tables that you’ll use throughout the game via a pack of cards. In this game, it’s all about the journey - you’ll fill in the world as you move towards your destination, encountering warp portals, dive bars, accidents and Space Cats! I’m intrigued by the possibilities of Caltrop Core, and I think this game might be an excellent example of how to combine the ruleset with a prompt list that makes the journey interesting every time.
Wanderhome, by Jay Dragon (Possum Creek Games).
Wanderhome is a pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way the seasons change. It is a game filled with grassy fields, mossy shrines, herds of chubby bumblebees, opossums in sundresses, salamanders with suspenders, starry night skies, and the most beautiful sunsets you can imagine.
You might be a tamarin who dances with small and forgotten gods, a leporine mail carrier who relies on moths to get packages where they belong, a little lizard with a big heart and a mysterious past, or a near-endless number of other thrilling possibilities. No matter what, we’re always travelers—animal-folk who go from village to village and get to see the length and breadth of all the world of Hæth. The seasons will change as we play, and we will change with them.
I like Wanderhome as an example not just because about the travel that exists within the game but also because of what doesn’t exist - combat. Wanderhome takes place in a land where a war has already been fought, and your characters are navigating a landscape that has been changed by that conflict. Together you will navigate places that you create together, during seasons that will not just add depth to each location, but also give you the sense of the passage of time. Because each location can be created using pieces in the book, it feels like everyone is discovering a new place together, which feels like an essential element of a travel game.
Slugblaster, by Wilkie’s Candy Lab.
In the small town of Hillview, teenage hoverboarders sneak into other dimensions to explore, film tricks, go viral, and get away from the problems at home. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s got parent groups in a panic. And it’s the coolest thing ever.
This is Slugblaster. A table-top rpg about teenagehood, giant bugs, circuit-bent rayguns, and trying to be cool.
Slugblaster is mostly about teenagers on hoverboards, but I really like the way it frames an adventure for the party when it comes to how it relates to travel. The multiverse has connections between dimensions, but each portal only works one-way, and there aren’t guaranteed “thin-zones” between each dimension.
You may have to cut through a cyberpunk dystopia if you want to get to the coolest beach and sometimes you may have to dodge some vampires or a self-replicating math panther if you want to get back home. Players will have to confront a number of obstacles thrown at them by the GM on their way to seek out fame, fortune, and finally a way back home once they’ve got that sweet shot by the prismatic waterfall.
You can currently get Slugblaster and also support a fundraiser for Teen Mental Health if you check it out here!
The PARAGON System, by John Harper.
If you’re not familiar with the Paragon System, I’d recommend starting with AGON, by John Harper, as it provides a full game and a solid setting to explore: you are Greek heroes and demigods, seeking to make your names great while voyaging around mythic islands full of monsters and legends. Each session will start with your characters voyaging on the open sea, meeting an obstacle that they will have to overcome to reach their destination, while also determining who is the greatest - and therefore the most fit to lead the upcoming expedition.
This theme of voyaging from one port to another is very translatable, and shows up in many other Paragon supplements, such as Rising Tide, by Dan Brown (eco-justice pirates bringing down corporate operations) and Endeavour, by Armiger Games (Star Trek). Regardless of what your characters are doing, the storytelling in these games is easily abstracted, challenging players to make connections between attributes such as Courage or Spirit and actions such as singing a ballad or aiming a cannon. The most travel-friendly aspect of these games is the idea of each location feeling unique and separate from the rest of the world, showing a vast and varied setting that will challenge your players with every stop along the way.
The Wildsea, by Felix Isaacs.
Your character is a wildsailor, part of a crew cutting their way across the island-studded wilderness of the treetop sea on a vessel of your very own. You’ll clash with survivor cultures and wild beasts, scavenge and salvage for wreckage and trade-goods, chase rumours, and uncover secrets. The focus of this game is on exploration, progress, and change - you’ll define the world of the Wildsea as you sail it.
The Wildsea has a very well-thought-out and extensive travel mechanic. One player at any given time will be responsible for piloting the ship, but other characters need not take a backseat to the action. There are roles for weather-watchers, cartographers, lookouts and more. Each roll has the possibility to forecast dangers or opportunities, giving characters choices about how they are going to deal with upcoming encounters - will they stop by a port to trade for spider silk, or avoid what looks like an ominous pirate flag? All the while, the group marks their progress on a track, which will indicate how close they are to their destination of choice. The question is whether they’ll still have all their cargo when they get there.
If you want to check out the system of this game for free, try out the Free Basic Rules version of this game!
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femnoire · 6 months
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Hair Care (tw:ed)
I've seen a lot of people worried about hair loss due to restricting. I definitely started to notice more shedding so I wanted to share some of my tips that helped me.
(Keep in mind that I already have naturally thick and long wavy hair, so what works for me might not necessarily work for you!)
1.) Food
PROTEIN. Protein is important for so many things, including keeping your hair healthy. The recommendation is 0.8g per kg of body weight. For me, I try to get at least 50-60 grams of protein per day. I know it can be a little hard sometimes. One of my favorite ways to get in enough protein a day is protein drinks! They can be relatively low cal with 20-40 grams and very filling. My favorite right now is the Fairlife Core Power, which is 26g of protein for 170 calories. Not to mention they taste very good.
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Another easy relatively low-calorie way to get in protein is Greek yogurt! If you want a really low-calorie option, I recommend Dannon light and fit Greek yogurt! 80 calories for 12g of protein! They have a vast array of flavors, but here are my personal favorites:
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If you can afford a higher-calorie option I would also recommend the Chobani flips. These are about 9-10g of protein for 150-170 calories. Not as much protein for a higher amount of calories, but if you are craving dessert, these work really well and are very satisfying! Once again they also come in a vast array of flavors, but I will show my favorites:
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Nutrition. I know it's hard but eating a balanced diet is also the key to keeping your hair as healthy as possible while restricting. Some foods that I include regularly that may help hair growth/hair health are:
Spinach (2 cups are worth ~25 cal)
Eggs (One egg is 70-90 cal)
Salmon (or any fatty fish) I personally like to get the Bumble Bee Smoked Flavored Coho Salmon ( 150 cals, also 19g of protein) It is a little high cal but this is something that I think is worth the cal spending
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Avocado. It can be expensive to buy avocados and a lot of times when you open an avocado it can be bad on the inside. What I like to do is buy the WHOLLY Avocado minis. They are just straight avocados in little mini cups. (1 cup is 130 calories) once again a higher calorie food but something that is worth the cal spending. I have a wrap recipe that I use these for if anyone wants me to post it!
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Beans. One of my favorite beans to use is Great Northern Beans. I have a recipe using these beans in a delicious and low-calorie soup if anyone wants me to post it!
2.) Vitamins
You may be eating a balanced diet, but if you are restricting then you will not get enough vitamins and micronutrients. This is where I would recommend taking vitamins. I Personally take a multivitamin as well as a Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamin daily. I take the Centrum Adult Multivitamin and the Vitafusion Hair Skin and Nails Vitamin:
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3.) Rosemary oil/water.
I like to use rosemary oil on my scalp followed by a five-minute scalp massage/combing with a bamboo brush every three days. I have naturally thicker and coarse hair, so my hair can take rosemary oil, but if you have thinner hair, I have read that rosemary oil can be too much, and you would need to use rosemary water. It's very easy to make, just google it! If you use rosemary oil, do not saturate your scalp with it! You only need a few drops to do the trick. It's also not recommended to put straight rosemary oil on the scalp, instead to dilute it in another carrier oil. This is the brand of rosemary oil I use:
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This is the bamboo brush I use, I got it from Amazon:
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Bamboo brushes are said to reduce breakage, reduce frizz, and aid in scalp care, aid in circulation, and hair growth. I personally have noticed my hair looking a lot healthier after switching to one.
I think that is about all the tips I have for right now. Remember I am not a doctor, hair specialist, or anything like that. These are simply some things that I do, and I have noticed that they have helped decrease hair fallout.
Remember that the best course of action is recovery, but if it is not an option for you then I understand.
I hope some of this helps and please stay safe!
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cienie-isengardu · 6 months
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What do you think about Mortal Kombat's demonization of Enenra, figuratively and literally?
A surprising author’s choice for sure, especially considering that the only(?) confirmed Enenra we know about is alternative-timeline (MK9-X-11) Tomas and he became a problem for our heroes after being killed and resurrected as revenant. That Mortal Kombat ignores the Enenra’s japanese origin as a spirit of smoke that, as far as I managed to read anyway (x)(x), does not hurt people is not shocking, because this game series is all about epic battle of good vs evil and gore, thus the cultural-mythology materials inspiring authors can - and are - only loosely adapted for storyline’s needs. However, changing Enenra from “demon”[1] status to the worst kind in Liu Kang’s timeline is pretty much uncalled for.
Mortal Kombat 9 in Smoke’s ending states
"Shao Kahn's violent death shook the very core of Smoke's being and dislodged his earliest memories. Tomas Vrbada was only a boy when he was abducted by an obscure cult and sacrificed to a demon. Burned alive, he returned to the mortal realm as an enenra, a creature of smoke and vapor. His captors were helpless against his shapeless form as he lashed out with rage, killing them all. His murder avenged, he returned to his human form, remembering nothing of his former life. Now aware of his true identity, Smoke understands he is no mere assassin. His destiny has been revealed."
Even within this data, there is enough space to make theory that Enanra, though called a demon, itself is not evil and its nature was tainted by the dark magic ritual AND boy’s suffering and rage. For one, the Japanese mythology suggests that Enanra can be seen only by those of pure heart, so sacrificing the young boy fits that idea, as children often symbolize purity. Thus the cult needed Tomas (the pure-hearted sacrifice) to summon Enenra but their trap didn’t work and turned against them. What is also important, this is only one known accident in which Enenra lashed out in uncontrollable violence. Tomas - devoid of childhood memories - hoped "that through the Lin Kuei he will discover his past--and the origin of his power", which suggests Enenra did not cause him any great problems for years. The demon gave Tomas its powers, but there is no mention of an evil voice in his head urging him to kill or any other potential sign there was something twisted inside him.
Enenra the Revenant, like all other resurrected champions by Quan Chi, is twisted by sorcerer’s vile magic and doesn’t necessarily have anything in common with the demon’s nature.
And then, we have MK1 intro dialogue
Smoke: There are many kinds of demons? Ashrah: The worst are the Enenra. 
and of course, this statement may be just Ashrah’s biased opinion - though what the poor Enanra did to her to earn such a bad reputation is beyond me. Or why Liu Kang would even bother to make Enenra the worst kind of demon, when there are plenty of worse things to worry about? On one hand, maybe this is another bad result of Liu Kang’s good-intended inference in time material? On another, and I’m saying it mostly to make fun of this issue, Liu Kang has some bias against japanese culture, as he for sure fucked Hanzo’s life and now he is out there to mess with Enenra (and original/alternative Tomas, the demon carrier). 
What I can say more? Justice for Enenra! Justice for Tomas!
[1] Just a side note, as for example in Slavic folklore a lot of supernatural beings are called demons yet not all of them are bound to hurt and kill living people. Personally, I don't pay attention to the name itself, but rather what a given demon represents and so far the MK9’s  Enenra is ambivalent at worst. Killing your oppressors is hardly the most evil thing within Mortal Kombat lore. There is plenty more fucked up bastards that deserve the title of the worst demon ever.
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