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nopanamaman · 29 days

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How do mutants in the Facility live?

Patreon Loredump. August 2023

One of the most frequent types of questions I get are about life in the Facility. So it seems like a good topic to start my loredumping series with!

Apologies in advance for all the photo examples, I hope they work fine for getting the vibes across.

Overview

The facility dome is visible in the distance.

The facility in general – or, as it’s officially known, the Zh. I. Alferov National Institute of Anomalous Research – is a large structure located on the border of the Zone. Its most notable feature is the massive dome surrounded by an outside wall.

The wall. In real life, the famous building of НИЦЭВТ.

The latter is a building in itself, containing offices, lecture halls, resting and dining quarters for researchers, as well as minor labs. All entrances are supervised, though not totally closed off to the public. Excursions, official meetings, TV reports – all of those happen within the wall.

But you will not find any mutants here. As you may have already guessed, all the major laboratories, anomalous artefacts, and, of course, mutants are housed in the dome. The entrances to the dome are monitored and equipped with anomaly scanners, allowing only authorised personnel and mutants to travel between its sectors.

Mutants cannot traverse the facility unsupervised.

What is the mutant classification system?

Depending on their anomalous characteristics, cooperability and method of containment, mutants are sorted into types and numbered groups. Individual mutant numbers usually look like XT000-000.

Let’s use Dmitry as an example.

Dima’s serial number is DT001-319.

The type constitutes the first part of the mutant’s number. Dima’s mutation is Directional Type, hence the letters DT at the start (for the record, KT stands for Kernel Type).

Next we have the 00X number. Mutants are assigned a 001, 002, 003 or 004 class depending on the potency and containability of their mutation – kinda like SCPs, yeah. Dima has a very powerful mutation he has good control over, plus he is sound of mind, making him suitable for 001 containment.

The last three digits are the overall number of the mutant within their type. So if Dima’s are 319, the facility has had 318 directional-type mutants on record prior to his arrival. This does not mean they were as powerful or had the same level of control over their telekinesis, just that they possessed a similar mutation to some extent.

How do different mutant classes live?

001

001 quarters example. Not too different from a hospital or sanatorium

Subjects ranked as 001 are extremely powerful, have good control over their powers and are, most importantly, docile. Since their mutations are very potent and difficult to forcefully contain, the go-to approach is making them not want to leave.

001s spend most (if not all) of their conscious lives surrounded by doctors. The latter foster a particular mindset in their subjects, where the world outside is presented as a place that is unanimously hostile to mutants. This is done by means of propaganda, reminders about their family’s supposed mistreatment and, in case a mutant has some favourable recollections of their childhood, gaslighting. Additionally, subjects are never left alone with each other.

001s get very luxurious treatment by facility's standards, with much bigger, more comfortable rooms than other mutant types. They're even allowed to have gaming consoles, TVs with VHS and video players, and their own bookshelves. Each mutant has their own separate room, which is kept under constant camera surveillance with the toilet being the only blind spot.

Special folders are issued to 001s before experiments with lower-ranked mutants.

Experiments held on 001s are relatively humane so as not to discourage them from staying at the facility. They do undergo daily checkups mostly designed to monitor their mental state. 001s are also active participants in experimentation on lower-ranked mutants, who they are taught and encouraged to treat as lesser beings.

001s are a high-risk investment, so their numbers are far smaller than those of 002 and 003-class mutants. Additionally, because of the potential danger they present, the institute is quick to dispose of 001 subjects by either termination or reclassification to 004. Though, if a 001 manages to stay cooperative long-term, they can become a very valuable asset for the facility.

002 and 003

002 and 003 quarters example. Though, they’re typically not as well-kept

002 and 003 mutant classes can be grouped together, since their treatment is largely the same. Both of these types’ mutations are easy to forcibly contain. The difference is their danger levels. 003s require close monitoring to not be harmful to others, while 002s are borderline harmless. Both types are characterised by general cooperability.

002s live in wards for 2 to 4 people, while 003s are more commonly placed in single-person wards to prevent accidents. A standard room includes a bed, a desk and a small bathroom (multiple beds and two desks in bigger wards).

KT got to take a dinosaur plushie to her room for good behaviour.

Mutants are allowed to borrow books from the library, as well as get drawing and writing materials. If they behave well, they can get a toy or even be lent a handheld console for a few days.

002s and 003s have breakfasts, lunches and dinners together, and can spend some time in the playroom with other mutants (that’s also where they can play computer games and watch TV) – all under very strict surveillance, of course.

In some ways, their treatment is much less cruel than that of the elite 001 subjects.

KT before the DT experiment.

Though, not when it comes to experiments. 002s and 003s are very common, and are thus treated as disposable material in a scientific sense. The people holding experiments on them are a lot less concerned with minimising the subject’s pain or discomfort. Consequently, it’s not uncommon for mutants of these classes to sustain serious injuries or die as a result of experimentation.

That said, 002s have the highest likelihood of getting released from the facility, given they meet the conditions for it (more on that below).

004

004 quarters example. Basically a prison bunker

004 is a special category reserved for powerful mutants that refuse or physically cannot cooperate. This number can also be issued as a temporary or permanent punishment to misbehaving mutants. The 004 quarters are located underground and have the highest level of security, acting as a sort of bunker for the most dangerous subjects the facility has.

004 rooms are even more barebones than those of 002 and 003s. They have no access to entertainment (unless it is somehow required to contain their mutation) and cannot leave their room under any circumstances. They are more weapons than test subjects.

Do mutants receive education?

All mutants from class 003 and above receive basic education, learning to read, write and count. They additionally get curated history and sociology lessons. Some mutants, namely 001s, attend mandatory classes in certain disciplines to better apply their mutation. For example, Dmitry studied anatomy to know the precise positioning of internal organs.

Mutants are also free to study whatever sciences interest them in their free time by asking for educational materials at the library. Needless to say, most kids aren’t too interested in that, and are very uneducated compared to their outside peers.

Is there censorship in the facility?

All the media mutants are exposed to at the facility is strictly controlled.

6 y.o. Dima and his politically correct PSP.

The only movies, cartoons, comics, books and games allowed are those that either don't feature the Zone or mutants at all, those that show the discrimination mutants face outside, or those that are very obvious anti-mutant propaganda.

In essence, there are no positive depictions of human-to-mutant interaction, aside from ones between mutants and noble scientists. And, of course, nothing that goes against the general government ideology.

Can mutants be released from the facility?

It is generally assumed that mutants that go into the dome do not come out.

While they are largely dehumanised, the facility is still publicly presented as a sort of scientific sanatorium and hospice for those that cannot safely exist in society. Releasing mutants that know the truth behind the institute’s experiments into the wild is simply of no benefit to the government. So the majority are terminated once their scientific potential is exhausted or if they become too expensive to contain. As a result, few mutants live to adulthood.

Though, there are exceptions to the rule. Occasionally, mutants deemed non-hazardous can be released back into society. This is applicable to mutants that have not experienced significant mistreatment from the facility, lack the ability to talk about their experiences and optimally have been brainwashed by an appropriate 001 subject.

Have other mutants before DT and KT ever escaped?

The funny thing is, escapes aren’t a particularly rare occurrence.

Dmitry and Katya’s escape in KT’s Official Guide to Coolness.

Despite getting a lot of funding, the facility itself is very disorganised. Most of the money is blatantly pocketed by the higher-ups, so a lot of its structures and equipment are subpar – this includes its outdated safety systems. To top it all off, the security staff isn’t especially well-paid, so their diligence is highly questionable.

With all that piling up, there are around 3 cases of low-level escapes every year. Because of tight budgets and plenty of work to do as is, these escapes are generally brushed under the rug. The institute still keeps tabs on the escapees in case they happen to show up on the radar, but it rarely organises active searches or alerts the public for that matter.

DT and KT’s escape stood out because it was anything but low-level, and pretty bombastic at that. But even that didn’t warrant a public announcement for fear of panic and reputational damage. So if you’re an 003 mutant looking for an opportunity to sneak out… Hell, man, just go for it.

Wrap-up

That’s about all I can say about mutants’ life in the research centre, scratch some small factoids here and there. I tried to answer the most common questions regarding the topic, so I hope your curiosity was satisfied!

#loredump #deepest lore #parties are for losers #katya #dmitry #dr temnova #comfort zone #kt's official guide to coolness

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jessicalprice · 1 year

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culture isn’t modular

I did a thread (actually several) on Twitter a few years ago about Christianity’s attempts to paint itself as modular, and I’ve been seeing them referenced here in the cultural christianity Discourse, and a few people have DMed me asking me to post it here, so here’s a rehash of several of those threads:

A big part of why Christian atheists have trouble seeing how culturally Christian they still are is that Christianity advertises itself as being modular, which is not how belief systems have worked for most of human history.

A selling point of Christianity has always been the idea that it's plug-and-play: you don't have to stop being Irish or Korean or Nigerian to be Christian, you don't have to learn a new language, you keep your culture.

And you’re just also Christian.

(You can see, then, why so many Christian atheists struggle with the idea that they’re still Christian--to them, Christianity is this modular belief in God and Jesus and a few other tenets, and everything else is... everything else. Which is, not to get ahead of myself, very compatible with some tacit white supremacy: the “everything else” is goes unexamined for its cultural specificity. It’s just Normal. Default. Neutral.)

Evangelicals in particular love to contrast this to Islam, to the idea that you have to learn Arabic and adopt elements of Arab culture to be Muslim, which helps fuel the image of Islam as a Foreign Ideology that's taking over the West.

The rest of us don’t have that particular jack

Meanwhile, Christians position Christianity as a modular component of your life. Keep your culture, your traditions, your language and just swap out your Other Religion Module for a Christianity Module.

The end game is, in theory, a rainbow of diverse people and cultures that are all one big happy family in Christ. We're going to come back to how Christianity isn't actually modular, but for the moment, let's talk about it as if it had succeeded in that design goal.

Even if Christianity were successfully modular, if it were something that you could just plug in to the Belief System Receptor in a culture and leave the rest of it undisturbed, the problem is most cultures don't have a modular Belief System Receptor. Spirituality has, for the entirety of human history, not been something that's modular. It's deeply interwoven with the rest of culture and society. You can't just pull it out and plug something else in and have the culture remain stable.

(And to be clear, even using the term “spirituality” here is a sop to Christianity. What cultures have are worldviews that deal with humanity’s place in the universe/reality; people’s relationships to other people; the idea of individual, societal, or human purpose; how the culture defines membership; etc. These may or may not deal with the supernatural or “spiritual.”)

And so OF COURSE attempting to pull out a culture's indigenous belief system and replace it with Christianity has almost always had destructive effects on that culture.

Not only is Christianity not representative of "religion" full stop, it's actually arguably *anomalous* in its attempt to be modular (and thus universal to all cultures) rather than inextricable from culture.

Now, of course, it hasn't actually succeeded in that--the US is a thoroughly Christian culture--but it does lead to the idea that one can somehow parse out which pieces of culture are "religious" versus which are "secular". That framing is antithetical to most cultures. E.g. you can't separate the development of a lot of cultural practices around what people eat and how they get it from elements of their worldview that Christians would probably label "religious." But that entire *framing* of religious vs. secular is a Christian one.

Is Passover a religious holiday or a secular one? The answer isn't one or the other, or neither, or both. It's that the framing of this question is wrong.

And Christianity isn’t a plugin, however much it wants to be

Moreover, Christianity isn't actually culture-neutral or modular.

It's easy for this to get obscured by seeing Christianity as a tool of particular cultures' colonialism (e.g. the British using Christianity to spread British culture) or of whiteness in general, and not seeing how Christianity itself is colonial. This helps protect the idea that “true” Christianity is good and innocent, and if priests or missionaries are converting people at swordpoint or claiming land for European powers or destroying indigenous cultures, that must be a misuse of Christianity, a “fake” or “corrupted” Christianity.

Never mind that for every other culture, that culture is what its members do. Christianity, uniquely, must be judged on what it says its ideals are, not what it actually is.

Mistaking the engine for the exhaust

But it’s not just an otherwise innocent tool of colonialism: it’s a driver of it.

At the end of the day, it’s really hard to construct a version of the Great Commission that isn’t inherently colonial. The end-goal of a world in which everyone is Christian is a world without non-Christian cultures. (As is the end goal of a world in which everyone is atheist by Christian definitions.)

Yet we focus on the way Christianity came with British or Spanish culture when they colonized a place--the churches are here because the Spaniards who conquered this area were Catholic--and miss how Christianity actually has its own cultural tropes that it brings with it. It's more subtle, of course, when Christianity didn't come in explicitly as the result of military conquest.

Or put another way, those cultures didn't just shape the Christianity they brought to places they colonized--they were shaped by it. How much of the commonality between European cultures is because of Christianity?

It’s not all a competition

A lot of Christians (cultural and practicing), if you push them, will eventually paint you a picture of a very Hobbesian world in which all religions, red in tooth and claw, are trying to take over the world. It's the "natural order" to attempt to eliminate all cultures but your own.

If you point out to them that belief and worldview are deeply personal, and proselytizing is objectifying, because you're basically telling the person you're proselytizing to that who they are is wrong, you often get some version of "that's how everyone is, though."

Like we all go through life seeing other humans as incomplete and fundamentally flawed and the only way to "fix" them is to get them to believe what we believe. And, like, that is not how everyone relates to others?

But it's definitely how both practicing Christians and Christian antitheists relate to others. If, for Christians, your lack of Jesus is a fundamental flaw in you that needs to be fixed, for New Atheists, your “religion” (that is, your non-Christian culture) is a fundamental flaw in you that needs to be fixed. Neither Christians nor New Atheists are able to relate to anyone else as fine as they are. It's all a Hobbesian zero-sum game. It's all a game of conversion with only win and loss conditions. You are, essentially, only an NPC worth points.

The idea of being any other way is not only wrong, but impossible to them. If you claim to exist in any other way, you are either deluded or lying.

So, we get Christian atheists claiming that if you identify as Jewish, you can’t really be an atheist. Or sometimes they’ll make an exception for someone who’s “only ethnically Jewish.” If the only way you relate to your Jewishness is as ancestry, then you can be an atheist. Otherwise, you’re lying.

Or, if you’re not lying, you’re deluded. You just don’t understand that there’s no need for you to keep any dietary practices or continue to engage in any form of ritual or celebrate any of those “religious” Jewish holidays, and by golly, this here “ex”-Christian atheist is here to separate out for you which parts of your culture are “religious” and which ones are “secular.”

Religious/secular is a Christian distinction

A lot of atheists from Christian backgrounds (whether or not they were raised explicitly Christian) have trouble seeing how Christian they are because they've accepted the Christian idea that “religion” is modular. (If we define “religion” the way Christians (whether practicing or cultural) define it, Christianity might be the only religion that actually exists. Maybe Islam?)

When people from non-Christian cultures talk about the hegemonically Christian and white supremacist nature of a lot of atheism, it reflects how outside of Christianity, spirituality/worldview isn't something you can just pull out of a culture.

Christian atheists tend to see the cultural practices of non-Christians as "religious" and think that they should give them up (talk to Jewish atheists who keep kosher about Christian atheist reactions to that). But because Christianity positions itself as modular, people from Christian backgrounds tend not to see how Christian the culture they imagine as "neutral" or "normal" actually is. In their minds, you just pull out the Christianity module and are left with a neutral, secular society.

So, if people from non-Christian backgrounds would just give up their superstitions, they'd look the same as Christian atheists.

Your secularism is specifically post-Christian

Of course, that culture with the Christianity module pulled out ISN'T neutral. So the idea that that's what "secular society" should look like ends up following the same pattern as Christian colonialism throughout history: the promise that you can keep your culture and just plug in a different belief system (or, purportedly, a lack of a belief system), which has always, always been a lie. The secular, "enlightened" life that most Christian atheists envision is one that's still built on white, western Christianity, and the idea that people should conform to it is still attempting to homogenize society to a white Christian ideal.

For people from cultures that don't see spirituality as modular, this is pretty obvious. It's obvious to a lot of people from non-white Christian cultures that have syncretized Christianity in a way that doesn't truck with the modularity illusion.

I also think, even though they're not conceptualizing it in these terms, that it's actually obvious to a lot of evangelicals. (The difference being that white evangelical Christianity enthusiastically embraces white supremacy, so they see the destruction of non-Christian culture as good.) But I think it's invisible to a lot of mainline non-evangelical Christians, and it's definitely invisible to a lot of people who leave Christianity.

And that inability to see culture outside a Christian framing means that American secularism is still shaped like Christianity. It's basically the same text with a few sentences deleted and some terms replaced.

Which, again, is by design. The idea that you can deconvert to (Christian) atheism and not have to change much besides your opinions about God is the mirror of how easy it’s supposed to be to convert to Christianity.

Human societies don’t follow evolutionary biology

The Victorian Christian framing underlying current Western ideas of enlightened secularism, that religious practice (and human culture in general) is subject to the same sort of unilateral, simple evolution toward a superior state to which they, at the time, largely reduced biological evolution, is deeply white supremacist.

It posits religious evolution as a constantly self-refining process from "primitive" animism and polytheism to monotheism to white European/American Christianity. For Christians, that's the height of human culture. For ex-Christians, the next step is Christian-derived secularism.

Maybe you’ve seen this comic?

The thing is, animism isn’t more “primitive” than polytheism, and polytheism isn’t more “primitive” than monotheism. Older doesn’t mean less advanced/sophisticated/complex. Hinduism isn’t more “primitive” than Judaism just because it’s polytheistic and Judaism is monotheistic.

Human cultures continue to change and adapt. (Arguably, older religions are more sophisticated than newer ones because they’ve had a lot more time to refine their practices and ideologies instead of having to define them.) Also, not all cultures are part of the same family tree. Christianity and Islam may be derived from Judaism, but Judaism and Hinduism have no real relationship to one another.

But in this worldview, Christianity is "normal" religion, which is still more primitive than enlightened secularism, but more advanced than all those other primitive, superstitious, irrational beliefs.

Just like Christians, when Christian atheists do try to make room for cultures that aren't white and European-derived, the tacit demand is "okay, but you have to separate out the parts of your culture that the Christian sacred-secular divide would deem 'religious.'"

Either way, people from non-Christian cultures, if they’re to be equals, are supposed to get with the program and assimilate.

You’re not qualified to be a universal arbiter of what culture is good

Christian atheists usually want everyone to unplug that Religion module!

So, for example, you have ex-Christian atheists who are down with pluralism trying to get ex-Christian atheists who aren't to leave Jews alone by pointing out that you can be atheist and Jewish.

But some of us aren’t atheist. (I’m agnostic by Christian standards.) And the idea that Jews shouldn’t be targets for harassment because they can be atheists and therefore possibly have some common sense is still demanding that people from other cultures conform to one culture’s standard of what being “rational” is.

Which, like, is kind of galling when y’all don’t even understand what “belief in G-d” means to Jews, and people from a culture that took until the 1800s to figure out that washing their hands was good are setting themselves up as the Universal Arbiters of Rationality.

(BTW, most of this also holds true for non-white Christianity, too. I guarantee you most white Christian atheists don’t have a good sense of what role church plays in the lives of Black communities, so maybe shut up about it.)

In any case, reducing Christianity--a massive, ambient phenomenon inextricable from Western culture--to the specific manifestation of Christian practice that you grew up with is, frankly, absurd.

And you can’t be any help in deconstructing hegemony when you refuse to perceive it and understand that it isn’t something you can take off like a garment, and you probably won’t ever recognize and uproot all the ways in which it affects you, especially when you are continuing to live within it.

What hegemony doesn’t want you to know

One of the ways hegemony sustains and perpetuates itself is by reinforcing the idea not so much that other ways of being and knowing are evil (although that’s usually a stage in an ideology becoming hegemonic), but that they’re impossible. That they don’t actually exist.

See, again, the idea that anyone claiming to live differently is either lying or deluded.

There are few clearer examples of how pervasive Christian hegemony is than Christian atheists being certain every religion works like Christianity. Hegemonic Christianity wants you to think that all cultures work like Christianity because it wants their belief systems to be modular so you can just ...swap them. And it wants to pretend that culture/worldview is a free market where it can just outcompete other cultures.

But that’s... not how anything works.

And the truth of the matter is that white nationalist Christians shoot at synagogues and Sikh temples and mosques because those other ways of being can’t be allowed to exist.

They don’t shoot at atheist conventions because there’s room in hegemonic Christianity for Christian atheists precisely because Christian atheists are still culturally Christian. Their atheism is Christian-shaped.

They may not like you. They’re definitely going to try to convert you. They may not want you to be able to hold public office or teach their kids.

But the only challenge you’re providing is that of The Existence of Disbelief. And that’s fine. That makes you a really safe Other to have around. You can See The Light and not have to change much.

What you’re not doing is providing an example of a whole other way of being and knowing that (often) predates Christianity and is completely separate from it and has managed to survive it and continue to live and thrive (there’s a reason Christians like to speak of Jews and Judaism in the past tense, and it’s similar to the reason white people like to speak of indigenous peoples of the Americas in the past tense).

That’s not a criticism--it’s fine to just... be post-Christian. There’s not actually anything wrong with being culturally Christian. The problems come in when you start denying that it’s a thing, or insisting that you, unique among humankind, are above Having A Culture.

But it does mean that you don’t pose the same sort of threat to Christianity that other cultures do, and hence, less violence.

#cultural christianity #christian hegemony #christian atheists

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comradekatara · 17 days

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I just read your rant about zukka and it made me think what if zuko’s obsession with sokka has to do with the fact that sokka in some ways encompasses some of the traits that have been forced on Zuko since he was young like the whole killing without mercy or remorse and the need for control and the strategic thinking. But Sokka uses these skills no to try and rule the world but to help aang stop Ozai. I haven’t watched atla in a while but your analyses help me realize a lot of details that I missed about it was he characters

yeah i’ve talked before about how sokka and azula being so similar must be kind of a mindfuck for zuko because sokka has “a killer instinct that’s just so fire nation” but also he’s literally friends with the bald baby pacifist monk avatar who says shit like “do you think we could’ve been friends too?” and so zuko clearly has no idea what to think. like he and azula were both indoctrinated into this world that valued certain traits and dogmas over others (ie, sokka’s over aang’s) and so azula sees sokka as more of a threat.

it’s funny because obviously sokka and zuko’s first encounter is sokka getting his ass handed to him by a guy who doesn’t even care that he’s in his way, but also that scheme is pretty immediately disrupted by sokka’s boomerang. and then the next time they meet, sokka has actually spent time training under someone (instead of fumbling around in the dark by himself) and can now hold his own far better. and every single encounter after that sees sokka not only rising to zuko’s level, but surpassing him, fighting him, foiling his plans, advocating to leave him for dead, ignoring him, dismissing him.

even at the western air temple, sokka is the liaison who welcomes him into the group (the designated “leadership” role comes with more responsibilities than simply assassinating assassins), but he also makes it pretty clear that he doesn’t care for or trust zuko throughout “the firebending masters,” even if his manner of bullying is far less overtly malicious than katara’s. and yet, zuko cannot discount him. zuko saw him kill combustion man. zuko understands his value to the group. zuko recognizes that quality he and azula share. zuko may have had an advantage over him the first time they met, but it sure didn’t last long. if azula and zuko have anything in common, it’s a mutual respect for sokka.

like, sokka is the only member of the gaang’s name azula actually says (aang is “the avatar,” katara is “peasant,” toph is [insert blind joke here], and suki is “my favorite prisoner”) and on the day of black sun, she elects to distract sokka first and foremost knowing that he’s their “leader.” and she does clearly respect him more than most people do because she can see herself in him (at least to some extent, i don’t think either of them are actually insightful enough to realize how deep that connection truly goes) and thus can recognize his worth as someone who is in a similar position, albeit on the opposite side.

zuko does say and aang and katara’s names (and appa’s), but sokka’s name is the first he says, and it’s really the only name he uses as a mode of address. and the matter of naming is clearly important to royal heirs, who are defined by their names and titles. we see that especially when zuko confuses ursa’s “remember who you are” with “remember your ancestry,” declaring who he is not as internal identity, but as title. to afford someone the respect of addressing them by name is to implicitly demonstrate respect for them.

this is further demonstrated by the fact that unlike “you just had to pick up the glowing egg” zuko of just an episode prior, zuko really does follow sokka’s leadership and places his complete faith in his abilities. there’s no complaining or backseat driving or undermining of his intentions, which is genuinely anomalous for zuko, who generally refuses to listen to anyone about anything (unless he’s being actively scared into submission, and even then he’s stood up to ozai multiple times). he’s not outspoken in these episodes, however. he is downright docile. and it’s because he genuinely believes sokka to be his superior. which isn’t to say that sokka isn’t better than he is, but like. aang is too and he doesn’t take his knowledge into account! because aang doesn’t represent the values that zuko strove to embody his entire life.

what’s more, i would imagine there’s something kind of satisfying, if not downright intriguing, about knowing someone who basically is what you aspire to be, who you were told you must be your entire life, and seeing that he is just. absolutely fucking miserable. like azula is also miserable, but zuko doesn’t know that (yet), because she hides it better. but sokka is genuinely suicidal (especially in these episodes). meeting this idealized standard of perfection you have always failed to reach and realizing that whatever standards you once (recently) held yourself to are actually deeply unfulfilling. that sokka isn’t “perfect,” that he actually considers himself a failure. and the fact that when he does fail, he considers it the end of the world because he never built up the resilience one gets from being a normal person who doesn’t always succeed on their first try. and zuko’s like “finally, something i have that he doesn’t: intimate knowledge of what it’s like to constantly fail and underperform and disappoint people!”

zuko is really perfectly equipped to support sokka in this situation, because he idolizes him enough to provide him with the unconditional support sokka feels fundamentally undeserving of, and also understands sokka’s misery enough to give him actually meaningful advice when it matters. what’s interesting about how zuko feels about sokka is that it’s not just about uncritically putting him on a pedestal for being Nice Azula or whatever, it’s also about zuko’s genuine desire to help sokka and protect him.

yue inhabits the martyr role that sokka has always envisioned himself in, suki establishes herself as someone who is equally capable of protecting him and he can her, and zuko risks his life to support sokka on his crazy suicide mission, when sokka was so intent on going it alone because he wasn’t thinking clearly didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. sokka doesn’t need someone who treats him like an irreproachable god. in fact, i think sokka would hate nothing more than having a sycophant. he needs someone who understands that he is fallible and vulnerable and needs help like any human being does, and respects and trusts and admires him anyway.

zuko doesn’t have the capacity to recognize azula’s insecurities and shortcomings, or the desire to help her, but he does for sokka. because he never felt like he was in a position where he had to compete for something against him. he’s not trying to usurp sokka’s role as “leader” (except for whatever was going on in “sozin’s comet,” but that’s for another post) and is happy to simply follow him, in a way that is genuinely uncharacteristic for him.

and you can say that it’s because zuko is gay and stupid (which wouldn’t be wrong, per se), but it’s also because sokka embodies everything zuko ever thought he had to be. and it’s because sokka doesn’t even care. it’s the recognition that one person’s idealized model of behavior is another’s burden. that if zuko had been “perfect” like sokka, he never would’ve gained the wisdom to accept defeat and not let it deter him. perfect like azula, who, like sokka, shatters in the face of failure.

zuko says as much in “the siege of the north,” and again in “the western air temple.” the fact that he isn’t a prodigy, the fact that he “had to struggle and fight” to achieve what little he has, is “what made me who i am.” so he’ll respect sokka, of course, because sokka is who he wished for so long that he could be. but he’ll also support sokka, because he has just enough distance from the situation to recognize that he’s not an island (even if sokka himself is convinced that he must be). so it’s not obsession, per se, nor is it simply uncritical admiration that confuses excellence for infallibility. it’s unconditional support born of understanding, a sort of empathy. it’s devotion.

#xxzavier42 #asks #sokka #zuko #azula #sokkaxzuko #azula&sokka #azula&zuko #analysis #at some point i gotta stop saying ‘whoops i wrote way more than i thought i would!!! teehee’#and recognize that this is simply my modus operandi #i love to ramble …. lol #also when i call sokka the ‘leader’ its with the caveat that I think the designation of leadership is kind of flawed #but that’s definitely how azula and zuko see it #and in the most traditional sense that’s what he is #but not always.#i need to finish and post my essay on katara and sokka gifted kidism….#anyway. zucchini good 👍🏼

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alabyte · 2 months

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Y'all remember this portrait? Yeah well I spontaneously wanted to do a full design :D

Dude's been stuck on some anomalous planet for half a year now, and the environment there makes wearing full armor all the time pretty uncomfortable. Does that stop Crosshair from being a militaristic style icon? Nuh-uh.

#I like to design #although I would appreciate it if my brain would give me ideas at other than 2AM #but well #crosshair tbb #crosshair #the bad batch #tbb #sw #star wars

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c0ry-c0nvoluted · 9 months

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Batwolf! by AnomalousDesigns

Or Catman! No, wait, that's already a thing... How about Jagbat! Or Batcat! lol Anyway... These five images were part of my first attempt to create a werewolf Batman using Midjourney. Unfortunately they still haven't incorporated an LLM into the tech so I can't tell the damn thing that is needs to give him a bigger snout like a wolf... Still, tho...these were some pretty badasss renditions. Get 5 of these images in high-quality files with a premium download from my deviantart.com account -cc

#batman #werewolf #werewolves #darkfantasy #dark fantasy art #gotham #horror #horror art #original charcter #batwolf #midjourney #fantasy art #dark art #hellfire #macabre #the dark knight #Anomalous Designs #aiart

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z0mbi3-s0krat3s · 1 year

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There’s a man who lives in my mind… I see him sometimes, hiding in my shadow. His face is familiar – almost as if he’s a memory; a memory that isn’t mine…

I know the memory isn’t mine because when I see him it’s through his eyes, looking at himself in the mirror… I… I mean HE is always so concerned…so overwhelmed… He looks at himself in the mirror…but he talks back to me…

“Do you see?” he asks me. “Do you see why we have to do this?”

........

Check out the full short story (a quick read) on my AnomalousDesigns account. And if you love the story, grab some merch from my teepublic account -z

#dark art #horror #horror art #dark #gothic #morbid #gothgirl #gothic art #short story #story time #gothic stories #macabre #corwynmatthew #anomalous designs #midjourney art #aiart #midjourney

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aggressivedaikons · 2 months

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”I want your everything! Every single part of you!”

“If you think you can fuck with me, you’re going to loose.”

—

YAYYYYY IM SO PROUD OF THIS

it’s so late when I finish this (I usually queue up posts to a time when more ppl are active) BUT IM SO HAPPY WITH THE RESULT GRRRRR HES SO EMO YAYYY WE LOVE OUR TIME ANOMALOUS OBSESSIVE OURPLE BABYGIRL 😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰

anyways YIPPEE I love wm’s design sm just AUGH HES SO NEON

so ya if you liked this (I know you did wink wink ;]) PLZ reblog it helps reach SO much 😘 love yall

#tw glitch #tw derealization #tw weirdcore #internetcore #webcore #windows 95 #dsaf #dayshift at freddys #art #william miller au #dave dsaf #dsaf dave #dsaf fanart #fanart #artists on tumblr #digital fanart

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yanban-san · 7 months

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SCPMas - AU-Tober #2

I wrote the two as SCPs for the second day. I tried to keep it like a typical SCP document, so it was very interesting to try and keep it in the style of SCP writing! I hope y'all like. :3

(Tags: Submas, Slight, implied X-reader) Item #: SCP-9018

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures:

Instances of SCP-9018-W and SCP-9018-B spotted are to be reported to the supervising officials immediately. Containment procedures are in place at locations of previous manifestations of SCP-9018, and any and all locations noted on "station" maps are to be secured following encounters with SCP-9018.

Chainlink fences are established around the perimeters of all locations where SCP-9018 have manifested. Due to the potential for re-appearances, all buildings and areas surrounding previous instances are to be monitored closely and inspected once a month by Foundation personnel for signs of re-establishment. Security cameras and EMF detectors are also to be placed strategically across designated areas and monitored for anomalous activity.

SCP-9018-B and SCP-9018-W are to be contained in the abandoned Northern branch of the [REDACTED] platform of the New York Subway System. Containment procedures are to be carried out by Foundation Personnel with Psionic Training Level III at minimum. Refer to Incident reports 9018-A-19900317 and 9018-A-19960401 for further information. Electrified fences lining the perimeter of the containment area are primarily for the prevention of explorers from reaching the containment area.

In the event of a containment breach, all personnel are to communicate purely through electronic means. Any personnel attempting to communicate through physical talking and actions are to be treated as SCP-9018-B and SCP-9018-W causing psychic distortions to prevent themselves from being perceived. The full limits of SCP-9018-B and SCP-9018-W's psionic manipulative abilities are yet to be studied following the previous containment breach.

Description:

SCP-9018 is an anomalous Subway Station that manifests within abandoned structures and and buildings and potentially other locations. [Refer to Interview Log 9018-Int-002] On the surface, it functions almost identically to a regular subway station. During the day, the station is devoid of any life forms outside of instances designated as 9018-A, who resemble and act as regular human employees of the station. [Refer to Interview Log 9018-Int-001] Upon approaching the ticket counter, an individual will be presented with a schedule of stations to go to. Should a ticket be purchased, the individual becomes an instance now designated as 9018-P, for passenger. At this point, the individual is compelled by unknown reasons to wait for their train and board it. Beyond that, 9018-P holds all of their original cognitive functions, but any attempts to get them to leave the station with the ticket will result in them attempting to rationalize a reason why they cannot. No tickets have been recovered to date.

Within 4-12 minutes after purchasing a ticket, a train will appear to take 9018-P to their chosen destination. These locations occasionally match to actual, existent railway stations and stops across the world- However, other stations with no known match have been documented appearing. [Refer to Experiment Log 9018-Ex-101] Upon arrival at an actual station, 9018-P will appear stepping out of a regular arriving train or on the train they departed on, depending on the liveliness and schedule of current trains at the station. If the station is a non-existent, communication is typically lost with 9018-P for the duration of their trip. [Refer to Experiment Log 9018-Ex-101]

At night, SCP-9018 suddenly springs to "life", with trains arriving and dropping off hundreds of instances of 9018-P-D, which were originally thought to be other human passengers disembarking at a random station- However, Experiment Log-9018-Ex-101 reveals that the individuals disembarking typically resemble both recent and long deceased persons within the local area. At this point, two individuals identified as 9018-B and 9018-W emerge from any trains within the vicinity, and attempt to leave the station. Instances of 9018-A have been observed chatting with and engaging in friendly actions towards instances of 9018-P-D- At this point, any human individuals within the station are encouraged to engage and talk with 9018-P-D and 9018-A, typically by 9018-A.

SCP-9018-B and SCP-9018-W appear to be two train conductors, and in particular, two twins, who control the entirety of SCP-9018. [Refer to Interview Log 9018-Int-001]. They have the ability to set train schedules and determine where SCP-9018 will manifest next. Instances of 9018-A obey their orders, as well as instances of 9018-P, which they are amicable towards.

9018-B and 9018-W at this point attempt to leave SCP-9018 entirely and enter any local population center. Their actions in cities and towns have not been observed, but they have been observed returning to SCP-9018 with humans. However, these humans are later observed walking around their town with no recollection of any supposed interaction with 9018-B and 9018-W. Typically within one to two weeks of this interaction, however, the individual dies by any multitude of means. After this, these individuals can be seen among the litany of 9018-P-D instances.

Addendum:

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[Interview Log 9018-Int-001] Interviewed: SCP-9018-W. Interviewer: Junior Researcher █████. Foreword: SCP-9018-B and 9018-W were seen leaving an instance of SCP-9018 and were apprehended by Foundation Security Personnel. This begins the first interview with a junior researcher who happened to be present during an observation of SCP-9018. [Begin Log] Interviewer: Hello, is this uh- On? SCP-9018-W: Hello. Who are you? My brother and I must get back to work. Interviewer: Please identify yourself. SCP-9018-W: Mm. I don't think I want to. Interviewer: So… Uh, well, we can hold you here indefinitely if we choose to, so I would- I would suggest you do that. SCP-9018-W: Oh dear. That is verrry not nice. Interviewer: I would appreciate if you would answer my question. Now, who are you? SCP-9018-W: I am Emmet. I am a Subway Boss. I run the Subway with my Brother, yup! It is verrry fun. But you won't call me Emmet, will you? Those people like to give us silly names. Interviewer: You will probably receive a classification of some kind. Thank you for introducing yourself, Emmet. I am █████. Can I ask where this train station came from? SCP-9018-W: It comes and goes as needed. Like the trains. We take our passengers where they are needed, or wanted, and then they disembark. Interviewer: Where do they go once they disembark? SCP-9018-W: They stay in the station. They don't like to go far. That's another one of our jobs! Interviewer: What do you mean? SCP-9018-W: Hmmhmm. We help them sometimes. That is all I will say. Interviewer: …Alright, I'll leave that there… SCP-9018-W: Would you like to ride our train? Interviewer: Excuse me? SCP-9018-W: Yup! You seem like you could use a ride, yup. Our trains are verrrry nice. Interviewer: Uh- No, thank you- Er- What did you say your title was again? You're a… "Subway Boss?" SCP-9018-W: That is correct. And you won't ride? That makes me sad. Interviewer: Er- No, Sorry- But what does that mean? Are you employed at the Subway? Er- What duties do you carry out, exactly? SCP-9018-W: Mm. No. I won't tell you that. Brother and I keep it secret. If you want to know, you should ride our Subway! Interviewer: …No, thank you. [End Log.] Closing Statement: [Despite Researcher █████'s inexperience, they handled the interview well. However, SCP-9018-W refused to talk anymore on the subject, instead insisting on offering researcher █████ free tickets if they rode on SCP-9018's trains.]

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Interviewed: SCP-9018-B. Interviewer: Junior Researcher █████. Foreword: SCP-9018-B and 9018-W were seen leaving an instance of SCP-9018 and were apprehended by Foundation Security Personnel. This begins the second interview with a junior researcher who happened to be present during an observation of SCP-9018. Interviewer: Alright, let's begin with your- SCP-9018-B: Who are you? Why did those men attack me and my brother? Where is he? I won't speak with you until I've seen him! Interviewer: I can't let you see your brother right now, but he is safe. I uh- I've spoken to him myself. SCP-9018-B: And how can I trust you? You… Interviewer: You'll have to trust me. If you answer my questions, we should be able to reunite you both. SCP-9018-B: Very well. I am Ingo. I am a Subway Boss, alongside my brother. We run the trains you've been- Or, well, those men have been spying on. Your group refuses to let us alone, you know? We're not doing anything wrong. Interviewer: I- I can understand that, but- Well, we don't know exactly what you're doing anyway. How does your train system even work? SCP-9018-B: Simple; trains go places. People wish to go places. We take people where they wish to go- And make a few stops along the way. If you like, you may ride our trains too- In spite of the abhorrent way your… company have treated us. Interviewer: Again, I'm sorry about that- SCP-9018-B: Would you like to ride our train? I'm quite sure you would find it lovely. Interviewer: I'm quite alright, thank you- I'm more curious about your train, and the work you and your brother do. Where did you guys find your employees? SCP-9018-B: Our train is a train. I'm not quite sure how to explain it anymore than that. And… The work we do… Well, we keep the trains running on schedule, and going wherever people might want them to go. Our employees… I'm not sure why you would be interested in them. They, like us, work for the railway company. Interviewer: The Railway company? SCP-9018-B: Yes! They employ us. I'm certain the Company would not be happy if our schedule was delayed; Ergo, you should let me and my brother go. Interviewer: We'll get back to that. For now, can you tell me… Where do your passengers come from? SCP-9018-B: You should ride our train. The passengers we carry… They do love to tell their stories, and I'm certain you would find more answers talking to them than with us. Interviewer: [laugh.] I doubt they'd have anything to say to me. SCP-9018-B: You would be surprised. [End Log.] Closing Statement: [Recording Equipment shut off at this point, and researcher █████ requested the pair be released after concluding the interview. █████ was sent for a full medical and psychological examination following the events of whatever interview took place with SCP-9018-B. Researcher █████ was later provided with class-b amnesiacs per request.]

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Experiment Log 9018-Ex-101

D-Class Personnel Serial Number 247187, Name █████ █████- Subject 9018-001. Sent into SCP-9018 to ascertain anomalous properties of SCP-9018. Subject 9018-001 is guided by Dr. Martin. [Note of Interest: Subject 9018-001's criminal record was subject to particular scrutiny. Subject 9018-001 refused association or responsibility for all criminal activity that resulted in their subsequent life sentencing. Subject 9018-001 was particularly interested in redeeming themselves and removing their resultant record.] Subject 9018-001 enters SCP-9018. Subject 9018-001 remarks on the "cleanliness" of the station and how they did not expect to see such a station down here. Subject 9018-001 is instructed to purchase a ticket from the ticket booth. Subject 9018-001 does so. Subject 9018-001 engages in conversation with an instance of SCP-9018-A. SCP-9018-A appears to be aware of Subject 9018-001's criminal record. SCP-9018-A expresses pity and offers Subject 9018-001 a "special ticket" and rate. Despite orders not to, Subject 9018-001 agrees after viewing SCP-9018-A's map (not available from recorded footage) Upon purchase of the ticket, Dr. Martin insisted that Subject 9018-001 exit SCP-9018 immediately. Subject 9018-001 at this point became an instance of SCP-9018-P, and refused. Subject 9018-001 proceeds to wait for their train to arrive. Ticket information is displayed to their personal camera. [Boarding Station: [REDACTED] Destination: [REDACTED]] After approximately eight minutes and thirty-two seconds, a train rolls into station. Subject 9018-001 asks if they have permission to board, and begins walking towards the train before receiving Dr. Martin's Approval.

SCP-9018-W greets 9018-001 at the door of the train. SCP-9018-W expresses interest in Subject 9018-001's physical appearance. SCP-9018-W is joined by SCP-9018-B. 9018-B also remarks on the acceptability of their appearance. Both instances take hold of Subject 9018-001's ticket and begin conversing with Subject 9018-001 on the subject of their criminal record and subsequent service to the SCP Foundation. Subject 9018-001 sits down in a passenger cabin and SCP-9018-B leaves the cart, presumably to drive the train. SCP-9018-W continues conversing with Subject 9018-001. SCP-9018-W reveals [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] to Subject 9018-001, causing the subject to enter a slight panic. SCP-9018-W offers Subject 9018-001 a position working for their "Railway Company." Subject 9018-001 is heard accepting after several seconds of silence. Dr. Martin is unable to communicate with Subject 9018-001 at this point. SCP-9018-W addresses Dr. Martin from Subject 9018-001's personal camera and microphone. SCP-9018-W informs Dr. Martin that they will be "keeping" Subject 9018-001 for the "foreseeable future." At this point, communication with Subject 9018-001 ceases. Subject 9018-001 has not been recovered to date, nor seen among the passengers of SCP-9018. [End Log.]

#Submas #Submas au #Submas AUber #x Reader #Emmet #Ingo #Submas x Reader #Ingo x reader #Emmet x Reader #emmet/reader #ingo/reader #SCP #SCPmas

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