#Even with the same crew from way back when they aren't going to create the same things they did 25 years ago

[spongebob-connoisseur]

@bluebellthesponge

You're right about it. Its seriously dorky and not in a good way. You're telling me the happy go lucky sea sponge would hate his modern counterpart for being happy go lucky? Y'all okay? I know they differ a lot now in personality but the core is about the same. Sometimes it feels kinda ironic. I remember a post on Instagram where everyone in the comments was hating on Mind The Gap saying it was a disgrace to Spongebob and that Hillenburg would've hated it. While it was MADE while Hillenburg was still alive and was noted that he laughed so hard at the episode and really enjoyed it. Also the fact that its inspired by a Jerry Lewis movie and Spongebob the character is inspired by the man-child type character's Jerry Lewis would play. The episode fits the idea of the show better than some classic episodes.

I feel like if the classic episodes came out today then they'd be hated on. Spongebob came out at a particular time that allowed it's success because it stood out amongst all the cynical 90s cartoons. If it came out today people would think its just mindless goofy nonsense.

I feel similarly about modern episodes. I'm sure if the modern stuff came out like 20-30 years ago then it would've done so much better.

I'm just rambling but yeah, at the end of the day its not meant to be taken so seriously that you'd make literal hate art. I get why since the classics are so dear to so many people and people are particularly sensitive to nostalgia but nothing lasts forever and not all change is bad.

#Train of thoughts #Sometimes I do think of how modern episodes especially fit the wacky offbeat stuff that was popular in the 80s #Its just timing since people want more serious plot driven cartoons now #They're tired of silly and innocent but that doesn't make it bad #If you wait a couple of years I can guarantee the episodes of today would be treated with more love #Spongebob always changed with the times #The middle seasons are a good example of it trying to copy what was popular in the early 2010s #As much as I don't like the middle seasons I can recognize that #I just didn't like a lot of cartoons from the early 2010s so explains why I haven't much of a taste for it #Anyways you can't expect the show to stay the same forever especially since its nearly 25 years now #Even with the same crew from way back when they aren't going to create the same things they did 25 years ago #Its easier to just say 'its not for me' rather than putting it down just because you don't like it #Replies #Bluebellthesponge #The Spongebob connoisseur

[lunareiitic]

HSR 2.1 SPOILERS AHEAD BE WARNED.

---

Okay now that everyone who hasn't caught up has left: let's talk framing of the IPC.

When Topaz released, a lot of you were ragebaiting and telling people you hoped their jobs exploited them when people were like "oh I like her as character." Notably, I personally haven't seen that kind of ragebaiting with Aventurine's backstory and the answer isn't just misogyny, but it is related to how little some of you pay attention.

Topaz and Aventurine are peers, and are clearly juxtaposed as two sides of the same coin. While Aventurine was a literal slave, his people wiped out Aventurine eventually gambling his way into the IPC to become a Stoneheart, his backstory doesn't actually differ that much from Topaz's. Remember: both of these characters are antagonists to our Crew when the audience learns their histories.

Topaz lost everything to the IPC. She's a kind of scary career woman nowadays, but you have to remember that her world was on the brink of collapse and her world's leaders sold their entire population to the IPC. While Topaz may come across as more well adjusted than Aventurine is, the IPC's main strategy is putting their victims in a position where they can't reasonably refuse. It's why Aventurine is such a good lapdog of theirs: since he's willing to bet everything in order to win. He's adept at playing desperate and risky. A lot of discussion of Topaz's character misses this coercion aspect of her backstory because of how it's framed.

The Topaz Interlude is less focused on Topaz herself and more on showcasing the dark side of the IPC. Topaz herself is put in a murky light: friend, foe, and unlikely ally all in one. Her arc in that interlude puts the theme in neon lights "IPC bad, they're solutions aren't necessary if people work together" and Topaz as the "villain" is then "Defeated" and she withdraws and takes the L, leading to her arrival in 2.1 alongside Jade for Aventurine's plan.

Arguably, Aventurine is worse than Topaz in a lot of day-to-day regards: he doesn't have Topaz's sense of compassion and desperate desire to do good, he's openly lying to the cast and doesn't care particularly about their safety, and is actively trying to put Penacony back in the hands of the IPC so they can turn it back into an interstellar prison. (We don't have time to explain why Prisons Are Bad. Go listen to Angela Davis and get back here.) His goals don't feel as evil because of several factors: the first being that HSR knows he has a tragic backstory and is milking it for all that it's worth. Dead parents? Dead sister? Dead culture? Enslavement leading to indentured servitude leading to a deathwish? They give him the game's first perspective shift so you're even more willing to empathize and sympathize with him and his plight, something they'd never do for Topaz, a character whose morality is considerably more conflicted and put on the spot.

Penacony is also a much darker locale than Belobog: when Topaz arrives on Jarilo-VI, we've already solved all of their conflicts (theoretically. we're trusting that bronya can fix all of the shit her mother wrecked), so Topaz arriving is a unifying force of characters we already know an like. Penacony is a lot darker, and you're already primed to distrust and dislike them since they're well. The Family. People who might be just as bad as the IPC. This creates a weird moral flip in the eyes of the audience if you're not paying enough attention: the plot isn't "Penacony bad, therefore IPC good now" it's pretty clearly "Penacony bad, IPC possibly even worse" and the fact that Aventurine has set them up to win should send shivers up the spines of the viewers. Does the Dreamscape deserve to exist? If the IPC gets their way, it won't matter what the answer is. And Aventurine has gone all in to make sure it's so.

#hsr #aventurine #ipc #topaz #you can totally say that topaz didn't get any fo this but aven did because he's a man btw. but I'm showcasing the story structures they use #to get you to that point: which if Topaz had gotten as well she'd be a considerably more sympathetic character and fan reaction- #-might have been less extreme

[factual-fantasy]

25 ASKS! THANK YOU!! :DD 🚲

Thank you! And welcome back!! :DD Though what a poor time to come back around to the dumpster fire that is Tumblr--

If you haven't heard the news, we got a bunch of A.I. crap goin on. You'd best go into all your blogs settings individually to "opt out of 3rd party something something". Gotta protect your artwork and reblogs from being A.I. data scraped!

@fnaf-smilingcritters0

Thank you!! :DD

That, and also I think they would get more brittle as they age.. :(

Oh yeah for sure! :D Though Seafoam's beard/hair is made of actual seafoam. So its not that tasty- <XDD

That sounds deliciously dangerous! XDD 😋

I do know that Jam is their blood at least! :0 ..at least I think so-

@tallchest13-blog

XDD I give you an E for effort!

@astaherussy (Referencing this post)

XDD I can almost see him doing that as a social experiment of sorts. Just to see that everyone else would say.

Its all fun and games until everyone starts responding with "Oh absolutely" "Everyday matey.." "Oh yeah, all the time!" Peso would be shocked- XDD

He does not handle the separation well <XD

Well "ship" usually refers to head-cannoning/wanting two characters to be romantically involved. Even if they are not in canon. Blue and Seafoam aren't a ship, they just are.. well, together. Its written into the canon that they are together. So its not a ship and its feels a lot different than a ship would..

As for Peach and Mario, a quick google search says they are canonically mutually romantically interested in each other. Same with Luigi and Daisy. I only tagged my posts as "Mario x Peach" and "Luigi x Daisy".. because that's what people search for when they wanted to see romantic content of those characters-

And even if google straight up lied/is wrong and it turns out not to be confirmed? Those two pairings are so strongly suggested/implied in canon, that I don't get any of negative feelings I associate with ships.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I just don't like ships. It really isn't my thing for a lot of reasons. There's a loooot of not great feelings associated with them. None of my own characters make me feel that way becuase I created them. And their relationships are written into the story..

And the Mario pairings are canon. Or at the very least, they are soooo strongly implied, that I don't get any of the negative feelings associate with ships even if they weren't canonically a thing.. I hope that made sense..?

@citrusfruitman

DUDE THAT SOUNDS LIKE A NIGHTMARE- IM TERRIFIED OF SPIDERS-- <XDD

Huh, the more you know! :0

(Link in question)

XDD Oh yeah absolutely

She will flatten that cake in under 5 minutes. And suffer absolutely no consequences what so ever. Lucky gal <XD

THESE ARE ALL SO GOOD! :DD Rainbow cobbler sounds like it would fit the best considering the ships colors.. But I want the name to relate to coral in some way.. hmm..

@blackcatzcandraw

Uhg.. yeah, I'm aware.. its a good thing I don't plan to post Octonauts content much anymore-

I don't like to think of my OCs as drinkers.. but if anyone did drink, it would be Louis. He's a jolly character that just likes to have a good time with his crew. :)

I do intend for them to raid other ships. :0 But they usually go for ships that can defend themselves to some extent and have loot. You're not gonna see them raid a ship full of orphans and steal their biscuits and pennies-

@yourstrulylightstar283

Sorry, I don't take requests!.. Also considering how tough my DK is, and the fact that he's the alpha- I don't think he would ever get bloody and bruised-

If I remember correctly, the cookie run version of cake creatures are dogs..?

XDD wait doesn't mild dissolve cookies though?-

Hmm.. I'm not sure. I know that there are other cookies in the game that work with metal and stuff. So an electronic toy wouldn't be impossible. If it was small they'd probably assume it was a toy. If it was huge..? Mayyybe they'd think its some kind of malicious machine..? <:0

ALWKNS XDD OH YEAH!

I think Spidercrab is the smart cookie and Louis is the tough cookie XDD

@beryl-shade

Going off of the games.. I thiiiink an "oven" would be like a birthplace..?

#my response #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run ocs #my ocs #octonauts #fnaf security breach #super mario bros

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Knuckles the Dread(romantic) having your obsession, what travel with Sonic to other dimensions.(Sonic Prime)

Yeah, I'll try writing something for Prime :) Hopefully I read your request right. Plot conflicts with Prime's plot but trust me, I tried ^^

This was written as I was watching Prime and takes place in an alternate ending after Season 1. I actually think Dread has good potential as a yandere.

Yandere! Knuckles the Dread with Darling that travels with Sonic

Short Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Implied obsession at first sight, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Forced affection, Forced relationship.

You met Dread the same way Sonic did.

Or at least, similarly.

Sonic got to No Place by running really fast to the point he warped.

You could've gotten there by a shard portal created by Nine.

Either way, you're meeting up with Sonic again in a world of pirates.

When you meet Dread, he comes off as extremely friendly towards you and Sonic.

Not many come to his ship, he wasn't even expecting a looker like you either!

You quickly find this version of Knuckles is the life of the party when you first meet.

He offers you food and cannons of confetti, a fanged grin on his face as he talks to you.

Admittedly... calming down with Sonic in this universe isn't that bad.

Until the parties start becoming excessive....

"Come on! Just relax and talk to me, won't you? There's no need to waste the day! I want to know more about you and that hedgehog friend of yours."

You notice Dread becomes rather invasive towards you when it comes to privacy.

Like a pirate to treasure, the captain already seems to have taken a liking to you.

You try to distance yourself from him as you don't know anything about him.

You also couldn't trust him since when Sonic asked about the shard, he looked a bit hostile.

Although... you allowed Dread closer to keep him under control while Sonic tries to get info about the shard and retrieve it.

Going off script from Prime, the general idea of how you meet Dread is through Sonic.

For the most part, Dread is a coward when you first meet him.

Although as you help build up his confidence with Sonic... he becomes a much more bold pirate towards you.

Once Sonic encourages Dread to become a legendary pirate, you'll notice he's crueler.

While this helps you closer to the shard... Sonic has no idea what he's sacrificed.

Dread was originally overly friendly with you.

He tries to charm you with parties and cheery songs, often doing what you'd assume is sheepish flirting?

For being a captain, the lack of confidence makes him less threatening.

It's better to have him be overly friendly than... the alternative.

Pirates are greedy towards what they want.

Which to Dread... that means the so-called shard... and you.

"Well aren't you a treasure... a treasure that's definitely mine...!"

Recall how Dread acted when he got the shard in Prime?

Yeah, that's essentially what his yandere behavior would be like.

Once Dread obtains the shard, Sonic's teleported within it while you wait with the others on the boat.

Your worry increases when neither of them come back.

You worry something happened to them... which is not entirely wrong.

When you manage to help the crew get the ship closer, you're met with Dread.

Just Dread.

"... Where's Sonic?"

"Oh! I was wondering when you'd catch up, treasure."

His grin is unhinged, filled with greed while he holds the shard close to him.

"It's a shame Blue didn't take you with him, huh?"

Worry pools into your stomach.

"What?"

"Sonic left. He's gone. Not like it should matter though... not when you have me!"

"Have you lost it!? I need Sonic to go home!"

"Why follow him now when you've got me, a legendary pirate, to follow?"

Dread is much more intimidating when overcome with greed.

The greed caused by the shard only makes his obsession darker.

Now he doesn't have to worry about Sonic being so close to you anymore!

You're lost and alone...

Ready for him to take you as his own.

You're subjected to the worst of his obsession when Sonic is removed from this universe without you.

His greed makes his own crew scared of him.

Scared to the point they can't do much to help you.

Dread is awestruck about you like something to be admired.

His purple eyes hold so much yearning.

He keeps the crystal away from everyone, especially since he fears you can use it the same way as Sonic.

He'd be a fool to give up a treasure like you.

You'll notice the more confident pirate is even bolder with affection now.

After all, he's convinced you're all his now.

"Our meeting was the start of something fruitful... stop squirming, will you? You're mine... I get to hold you because you're MINE."

Utterly unhinged.

He is not the same pirate you knew with Sonic after he gets the shard.

Part of you wishes to blame Sonic... although you know he wasn't entirely at fault.

Sonic caused all of this...

But you believe he'll fix it.

For Sonic, you tell yourself, you allow Dread to do what he wishes.

You just feel when this is all over you'll never see Knuckles the same way again-

It saddens you to know that Dread was once part of your friend.

A part of your friend that's greedy... possessive of anything he deems a treasure.

Including you, a close companion in his heart.

Every affectionate nuzzle from the captain feels too needy.

Dread's gaze tells you everything you need to know when he holds you.

No matter what you say, he's convinced you're his.

Words won't get through to him anymore... you have to play the waiting game now.

"You're mine... I'm never going to let you go. Not even Sonic will take you away from me! Not when I have you!"

#yandere sonic the hedgehog #yandere sonic prime #yandere knuckles the echidna #yandere knuckles the dread

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS! Back at it again with the ask. More world building questions this time because they’ve been chewing on my brain for a bit here.

-

In this world where the Marines are hunting pirates more than ever, how many small-time or strong but still vulnerable pirates join up with emperors? I don't know if they were even emperors at the time of Roger's execution, or they were created as the smaller, more inexperienced wave of new pirates broke themselves on the end of Paradise. But how many do you think joined up for protection? Whitebeard would be popular, aside from his more laid-back nature, or maybe that comes later with more age. At least he won't take your life force as payment to be under him, and most have no chance of moving up ranks in Big Mom's crew unless you're married and/or family, so basically stuck being indentured servants whose payment is life energy. Or with Kaido, who, if you aren't strong enough, will, if you're lucky, laugh at you, then kill you, or if you're unlucky, torture you and then kill you. Either way, it's slim pickings, and a lot of would-be pirates or older crews who made a living on the down low or were building strength die or are captured and then die. The sea must be empty in this timeline. Maybe people banded together instead of going to any of the emperors; they lose some freedom, but it's better than being forcefully integrated into the other crews.

Not to mention, when the breakout happens, those lone traumatized pirates are going to book it to the Grand Line asap. The Four Blues are probably militarized hell zones, but on the Grand Line, there's some hope of freedom. And Whitebeard, greedy meddler that he is, will definitely Shanghai some of them in an attempt to bring them into the family, like he did with Ace. Unlike Ace, these people are ready and willing to die before being kidnapped again. So they'd either A. Kill themselves once they found out they couldn't leave. B. Kamikaze their way out, hoping to kill as many as they can before they die. Or C. Hunker down for an opening to mutiny. Getting together like-minded individuals who are dissatisfied with being held captive. (Could bring in black beard with this.)

In this AU where the world is cracking down on pirates, what's going to happen to the Warlord program? Is the World Government going to crack down on pirates full stop, or is the Warlord program going to change? Maybe the Marines make more deals with lower pirates to bring in other pirates in order to have some freedom or lesser sentences. I can see betrayal being a big issue in this world, and most free pirates would be incredibly untrustworthy. You don't know who will sell you out for a buck.

But if the Warlord system is still in place— Doflamingo, I could see taking advantage of the system again. Boa Hancock, I could also see; she's in it for her island and her people, and the prison work camp the government set up would hardly ruffle a feather. She already understands how the World Government works; she knows slavery is still alive and well, and it's only when it's shoved in people's faces that they give a shit. Kuma, from what we know of his background, probably doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. But Jinbei... I'm torn because, on one hand, he understands the horrors of the World Government being an oppressed minority; on the other hand, he's still trying to integrate fish-people into the wider world as a whole. So I see him being pissed about Loguetown, but probably not enough to quit. But definitely one of the straws that make him quit in the future.

Also, also, also, Arlong? I don't know if Jinbei could give Arlong the same protection he could give him in the same timeline. Maybe? I don't know.

Anyways what I’m getting at in a lot of herd mentality going on in this au a very us versus the them vibes not a lot of individualism and the chooses that can be made are between six wrong ones and six worse ones. No wonder and revolutionaries are so tempting in this au.

World building is my jam LET'S GOOOOOO! It roughly halves. Half of whatever is left of the pirates go into hiding and the other half finds whatever place they can with the Emperors (the title of Emperor only came into being after Roger's death, so in this AU, perhaps the marines derisively create the 'Emperor' title to single out the strongest pirates still free) and the small percentage that neither hide nor join up, would yeah, try to make their own bands or strike it out alone, and very few of these would make it. The ones that do get thinned out even further by those of them that join the revolutionaries. Whitebeard would get the most of them, Big Mom is the second choice for magnanimity, and Kadio is the last resort unless they're bloody desperate. (and they are) The sea is a ghost town for the two-three years the Loguetown pirates are in captivity, everyone is trying to simply stay alive and stay free, and the Emperors wouldn't engage the marines openly. So the Grand Line would be everyone's go-to place even before the breakout, the free pirates/Emperors would retreat back there as the marines overtook the Blues (militarized hellzones indeed). So when the breakout happens, all the Loguetown pirates run smack into everyone else on the Grand Line. Now, Whitebeard, seeing as how he's going to collect a fair majority of the free pirates, he'll be inspired to keep on collecting via all the fresh new blood. That feelings of the 'collected' pirates are mixed. So that will make some chaos for Whitebeard in the short run. Suicides/kamikazes/various attempts at mutiny, all yes. The plan was for Blackbeard to form a secret fledgling fleet out of people from the Loguetown breakout he lured in, so him swiping up Whitbeard's discontents fits right in. Which. Not good news at all. One thing that's going to happen after the Loguetown breakout is that Mihawk/Shanks are going to be aided by the revolutionaries, and then in the near future after that, Shanks is going to confirm the existence of the one piece and form the Red-Haired pirates. This, along with seeing Shanks free, serves to embolden every pirate out there and pull the ones in hiding back out into the seas, which kicks off the search for the one piece. So you'll get a lot of pirates beginning to form independent crews again/actually leaving the Emperors. And the seas start to slowly fill up again.

The Warlord program will stay around, although it gets pushed back into the shadows. The Warlords will be used mostly to go up against the Emperors and bring in free pirates, so the Marines don't have to risk their own forces. The marines do offer pirates the opportunity to sell each other out, and those that do mostly get grouped into troops to supplement the Warlords. So when you have faces you recognize hunting you down, maybe even your own defecting to the marines, there would be a lack of trust. Hm. Doflamingo is self-explanatory, so is Kuma, and Boa and Jinbei have something they need to protect enough to remain Warlords. The marines/world government would offer Jinbei lucrative privileges for the Fishmen, maybe even a full integration into society at large, so he feels utterly obliged to stay a Warlord. Up until Luffy appears. Under the concession Jinbei is being given, it's possible he'd be able to offer Arlong what he did in canon, maybe even moreso. Anyways what I’m getting at in a lot of herd mentality going on in this au a very us versus the them vibes not a lot of individualism and the chooses that can be made are between six wrong ones and six worse ones. No wonder and revolutionaries are so tempting in this au Yeah. Exactly so. Either you go to the only refuge out there, or you die. Not much else. So, when Shanks gets free, he begins the start of restoring that lost individualism. He brings in the one piece and the revolutionaries. He suddenly opens more choices. He brings something like hope. Which paves his way to becoming the influential Emperor he does become.

#one piece #op #opla #dracule mihawk #akagami no shanks #hawkeye mihawk #red haired shanks #mihawk one piece #shanks one piece #mishanks #mihawk x shanks #op marines #loguetown au

[letterstotheflre]

I loved the fic but I’m greedy for more. Please share mermaid!readers dark fantasy 🤲

heheh thank u for spoiling me n asking about this bc i thought too much about it

cw: dark || 18+ only [ft. kidnapping, implied cnc, rape is mentioned once but not referring to eddie, chrissy or reader] || also i apologise i feel like eddie doesn’t sound like eddie sorry :/

mermaid!reader fantasies about a human male kidnapping her are kind of like some of our fantasies about rape n cnc kinks. chrissy knows about them bc you asked her is she ever thought about that once jane (aka eleven) came back. she doesn't have them, but she doesn't judge obvi. n eddie... eddie finds out on accident. kinda like the little argument u guys have in the fic where chrissy mentions it. n he can't let it go bc he takes it as if you're still afraid of him (when in reality you would like it very much if he kidnapped you and chrissy and kept you like toys)

so after much talking and prodding and a few tears from you bc you're so embarrassed about even thinking about those scenarios when some of your mermaid sisters have actually suffered through them, you guys are able to create the ultimate sex scene.

it's a full moon, which means that you and chrissy are finally able to transform into women. but there's a catch— you have to return to the water before the sun rises or you will stay human until the next full moon.

so eddie, with his ship and his crew, sail past the waters where you live and lower their anchor. eddie sells them the story about a magnificent treasure lost in a sunken ship in that very same spot and tells them to lower one of the fishnets to see if they can catch something for dinner.

"we cought something!" one of the crew shouts, struggling to rise the net by himself. the members closest to him run to help him, their groans echoing in the otherwise silent night.

"my god," another one whispers in shock when he sees what they caught. he taps gareth's side, eyes glued forward. "call the captain. tell him he needs to come to the deck immediately."

the crew stands in a circle while they wait for gareth to come back with eddie. and right in the middle of it is you and chrissy, hugging each other under the net and cowering beneath their stares. some of them are fascinated, others hungry with lust.

your scales tingle.

"well, well, well. what do we have here?" you'd recognise that voice anywhere. you sit up a little straighter. eddie pushes to men aside and steps into the circle, not bothering to remove the net. "you're a little far from home, aren't you?"

it's exactly what chrissy said to him the first day you met. you squirm, heart pounding. "let us go."

eddie chuckles and crouches down to your height, face partially illuminated by the moon light. he looks beautiful. he strokes your cheek through one of the holes in the net. "and why would i do that sweetheart? i just caught two beautiful mermaids and, between you and me," he stage whispers, scrunching his nose in that cute way he does and tilting his head to the side, "i have been feeling a little lonely up in this ship with these meatheads. need something to keep me warm at night, if you know what i mean."

you gulp in excitement but all the crew sees is two mermaids cowering in fear.

chrissy squeezes your arm and meekly says, "w-we'll give you treasure, anything, if you—"

"i have the greatest treasure right in front of my eyes, honey. what could possibly be better than the two of you, hm?" he waits for your answers patiently, tapping his shin with his fingers. he grins when neither of you speaks. "that's right; nothing."

that's when he finally takes the net off you, his fingers brushing your tail. the fins at the end flick almost minisculely and eddie's smile grows wider. "oh, we're going to have a lot of fun together." he looks predatory in this light. you know he's nothing of the sort. it makes it even more attractive. "welcome aboard hellfire, little mermaids."

#basically the crew really believes they caught you and eddie kidnapped u and is using you #but the three of you know the truth #strangerthings.musings #eddiemunson #chrissycunningham #poly!eddissy #dark #mermaid!au #eddie munson x reader #chrissy cunningham x reader

[wishing-stones]

[rattles my mug at you, creating a disgusting schlapping sound as the teabag inside smacks the sides of the mug] spare cross headcanons? spare some general thoughts about The Boy?

I sure do!

Let's get some of the easy ones out of the way:

-He speaks Spanish fluently. Columbian regional, so sometimes he goes back and forth with Nightmare, who speaks Spain Spanish. (same as Dream) It's usually "No, the correct word is this, versus the one you're using" (Vamanos vs Vamos, for example) -Everyone knows he loves tacos, but Barilla ones are the best, bar none. He's also just a sucker for Central and South American foods in general so he's really not all that picky. His favorite is probably anything with a mole because that brings chocolate into the mix. -Yes, he's scared of cows. Yes, he knows where milk and beef come from. It gets played for laughs, but he's chill about it unless there's a live one nearby. Shockingly, he doesn't have as much of an issue with calves; probably because they aren't big enough to eat him. (A cow started eating his cape and he couldn't get away. Mettaton failed to help, and young, impressionable Cross thought he was going to actually get eaten.)

Some more in-depth ones:

-Cross is grumpy as a defense mechanism. He's been stung so many times that he's come to expect it from everyone until he gets to know them. Even then... it takes him a bit to truly be himself, and then he is just as much of an idiot (affectionate) as the rest of Nightmare's boys. -He has... an interesting relationship with Ink. Ink kept him company while he sat in his empty world, but stopped coming around, creating an avenue for Error to attack. (for the purposes of my continuity, Nightmare intervened here and gave Cross some time to think about an offer) Cross resented Ink for a while, but over time has come to realize that... Ink couldn't have done that maliciously, and it's not really his fault that he has other duties to attend to and a shitty memory. -He does, however, have hands to throw with Error, and does at every given opportunity. -Dream swiped him away from Nightmare early on, when Cross was still impressionable and didn't much care for the rest of the crew. It was just him and Dream for a little while, but after a few months, Dream realized that this wasn't good for either of them (like he'd hoped-- he thought that getting Cross out of that environment would be good for him, and helping Cross would be good for himself) and discussed taking Cross back. He was vehemently against it at first, of course, but as Dream told him that he couldn't offer Cross what he truly needed, Cross... eventually agreed. There was no punishment for his "betrayal," Nightmare blamed it all on Dream and immediately made sure he knew what Cross needed for stability. -Cross had to go create a bunch of negativity and suffering across 25+ different AUs for him to remove xChara from his soul. It was a difficult process, and one that left all three of them out of commission for a little while. Fortunately it worked, and the boys are now severed from xGaster irreparably. -He's a garbage artist, but man can he sing and dance. -Due to the nature of Xtale being largely of the same color palate everywhere, he is slightly red/green colorblind.

there's probably more, but I can't think of them all right now LOL.

We love a grumpy fluffy man tho.

#k answers #k headcanons #feat. cross #readmore for length as always

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 089 - Phlox, Kindapped!

Before I get into this one, today is the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, my first and primary Sci-Fi love. On this day, in 1963, Two school teachers followed a strange Unearthly Child home, and got whisked off through time and Space in a police box by her alien Grandfather, in an adventure that is still going to this day. Happy Birthday, Doctor Who.

Now, back to Star Trek:

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 15 - Affliction

We open on a Klingon ship, and it would appear someone is being unlawfully executed. I really like the last time we focussed on the corruption in the Klingon Justice System, so I'm excited to see that we're exploring this again!

After the intro, We're left with the aftermath of Trip's decision to be transferred from the Enterprise to it's sister ship, the Columbia. He's still pretending this isn't about his feelings for T'Pol. Meanwhile on Earth, we get a nice scene of Phlox and Hoshi enjoying eachothers company when they get attacked by some figures in the shadows. Phlox has been Kidnapped!

The Enterprise crew are trying to find Phlox. Malcolm is given a mysterious address to visit by someone unknown while trying to contact starfleet command, and T'Pol is trying to mindmeld with hoshi to figure out what happened while Hoshi was semi-conscious. The mind meld's results show that the attackers speak Rigellian, and by coincidence, a Rigellian ship left earth shortly after the incident occurred, and his heading in a completely different direction that it said it was going in. Reed however apparently has a mystery job to do, under the mystery orders of this mystery man, that will apparently help Phlox, although the details aren't shared with us.

We're then taken to Phlox who is now on board the Klingon ship from the cold open, and is being made to cure a virus that has been spreading through the empire.

Archer and crew are chasing after the freighter, but this new Engineer just isn't cutting it. This Commander Kelby just doesn't have the same response time or Talent as our boy Trip Tucker.

Meanwhile on the Columbia, Trip is settling in fine and has started whipping his new crew into shape. Apparently he's not too torn up by leaving Enterprise, and apparently Columbia's chef is just as good. Also T'Pol's having meditiation dreams connecting to Trip's mind.

When Enterprise reaches the Rigellian Freighter, is has been completely destroyed, and there's no sign of Phlox or any other leads.

Phlox is great in this episode. Seeing his medical ethics put to the test while being forced to work alongside the Brutally Efficient Klingons is great to see. Given the number of episodes left, this is probably the last major Phlox Focus episode, so I'm kinda sad that we're probably not going to see his reconciliation with his eldest son like I wanted to, but this is a great outing for Phlox nonetheless

Malcolm's interactions with Mystery man also keeps getting stranger. Apparently, Malcolm has history with him before even enterprise, and is acting as if he was sent to spy on Star Fleet. It's a really strange and feels like a last minute addition to him, I don't really recall any hints towards Malcolm having other loyalties before this. Either way, Mystery man orders him to lie about the true nature of the Freighter, that is that it was attacked by Klingons.

During this conversation, Enterprise comes under attack, and Malcolm is drawn away before we get any details. Enterprise is boarded by what appear to be Humans in Klingon clothing. The Boarding party disable Enterprise's systems, and get away. Leaving only one behind for Enterprise to question. Apparently, These are klingons.

Meanwhile with Phlox, apparently the Kilingon Virus contains Augment Human DNA, from Soong's Augments specifically, and the virus was created in an attempt to create Human Augments, which explains why the Boarding Party looked human.

Archer however figures out that Malcolm has been lying about the data from the Freighter's wreckage, and is taken to the brig. Keeping Mystery Man a secret is really tearing Malcolm up, I want answers over what this was about.

Columbia Launches for it's first time, meanwhile Enterprise tries to go to warp itself, and Archer finds that if Enterprise stops, the reactor will explode, and the only way to prevent that is keep going to reduce risk of the reactor going Critical. It's like that time the Flash's heart was hooked up to a bomb that would detonate if he stopped. Enterprise's systems have also been hacked by a Klingon computer virus.

I really enjoyed this episode, it's character work, especially around Phlox and Malcolm was great, although I do wish Malcolm's other loyalties were something that was foreshadowed before now. I'm excited to find out Exactly who Malcolm is working for, and where all of this is heading!

#whovian watching star trek #star trek #star trek enterprise #star trek ent #enterprise #star trek: enterprise #ent

[iviarellereads]

Network Effect, Chapter 5

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one!)

In which Murderbot sets somebody straight.

Murderbot calls back a lot of its drones to scout ahead and cover behind, heading toward Medical. It knows some intruder is controlling the targetDrones and guiding the ship through the wormhole, so it designates it targetControlSystem (I will use TCS). MB hopes TCS is sentient enough to hurt when MB kills it. MB also sets its drones to logging movement, even if they can't detect the stealth drones.

Some Targets arrive at the crew meeting area, but Target Three used a manual override to seal it from inside, and they can't undo it. They also can't access Art's systems themselves. MB decides Art must be dead, but it has to take care of the humans before it can have an emotion about it.

MB asks the Barish-Estranza pair how many Targets they've seen. When Amena clarifies that it means the grey people, they answer, at least five. MB has already identified six, making their intel useless, as usual. From its scout drones, MB sees Targets Four, Five, and Six reconfigure their helmets to cover their faces. It's not like it has enough drones to waste killing them that way anyway, but it's miffed all the same. Even its risk assessment module thinks the odds are bad.(1)

When they reach the next section, MB lets the humans through, then activates a manual release, and uses its energy weapon to melt a few key components. Ras asks Amena what it's doing, so Amena asks MB. Internally, it says it's using Art's schematic to close off the crew living section of the ship tactically. Aloud, it says it's creating a safe zone.

It loses two more drones to targetDrones on the way to Medical, but clears the way, remembering its time here with Tapan. It tells the humans to stay in the medical suite while it closes off the other hatches. When it returns, it asks where Perihelion's crew is. When she realizes Ras and Eletra aren't Art's crew, Amena takes MB's side in the questioning. Ras makes another comment about MB obeying Amena, who interrupts to say it doesn't even like her. MB thinks that's unfair, Amena didn't like it first. Ras tries, with Eletra's backup, to encourage Amena to tell MB to take orders from them, as the adults here.

I see I have some operational parameters to establish. I crossed the room, grabbed Ras by the front of his uniform jacket and slammed him down on the med platform. I said, “Answer my question.” Behind me, Eletra had flinched and backed away. Amena said, “SecUnit! My mother will be angry if you hurt him!” Oh, we were going to try that tactic, were we. I said, “You obviously don’t know how your mother actually feels about Corporates.”

Eletra and Ras finally admit they don't know where the crew is, they've only seen the Targets since they were brought aboard. Amena tells MB to stop being mean. MB says it's trying to keep her alive. Amena asks if MB is alright, the drone hit it real hard, and it doesn't look good.

MB tells Amena to take care of her leg, but without activating MedSystem. For a heartbreaking second, MB realizes it forgot Art is dead, but it continues that MedSystem was controlled by the bot pilot, who must have been compromised or it would've killed the intruders. All three humans look worried. MB points them to the emergency kits, and says it's going to go clear the section. It leaves Amena some drones, and from her expression, MB realizes she doesn't want to split up.

On the feed, Amena makes a quip about always having wanted drones. MB almost wants to banter, but walking around Art's corpse, it feels wrong.(2)

While scouting, MB wonders why the Targets were pounding on the hatch like they were, and notices that their helmets have turned stealth, though not their suits. MB wonders if TCS shares its information with the Targets, or if they have no idea what happened to 1-3. More evidence that they don't have access to Art's systems, if they don't know that 2 is in the lounge.

Thinking of Art again, MB starts working on a hack for TCS. It has to seize the ship before they get to the other side of the wormhole.

MB watches the medical suite through the drones, as the B-E adults question Amena gently. MB feeds Amena answers to some questions, to make sure the B-Es get the impression it wants them to. Amena ends up having to explain non-corporate polities to them, as they have no concept of non-corporate life. Eventually they get to exchanging real information, and they say they were attacked on a supply transport and pulled aboard in their escape shuttle.

MB finally realizes it still has a drone in the bridge, and has it start scanning for active displays. Ras and Eletra were never told why they were taken, only given the barest of necessities of life. MB still has too many places to look where it might find the crew's bodies. It starts to find inconsistencies, including with the story Ras and Eletra are feeding Amena, when it finds the cabin it believes they were stored in. The cabin doesn't smell as bad as it expected, and the furniture's not in as bad of shape. The cabins the Targets were using don't smell of humans, but of growth medium from agriculture.

At long last, Amena asks what the B-E ship was doing, and the adults say they were attempting recovery on a lost settlement, though it's proprietary information, so they can't share much. Amena says she's a junior intern and not from the Corp Rim, she can't share much with anybody.

Ras, as the less reluctant one, says they wanted to recover a viable planet. Eletra gives in, and together they tell the rest of the story. The locations of a lot of older planets were lost before the wormholes were stabilized, but researchers can find them in old data troves, and corporations can file for ownership to establish a colony. Some corps went bankrupt from their endeavours, and their colonies were lost. Amena and MB recognize part of Preservation's past in the explanation, as their first colony failed and they were relocated just in time.

At any rate, the B-E ship was attacked en route to the colony they believed they'd found. Or, that's what Eletra says before Ras can answer.(3)

MB finds a cabin that holds some artifacts of Art's crew, uniforms and holographic prints. As it has an emotion about how much Art loved its crew, MB has a sudden 5% performance drop. As MB makes its way back, the humans start talking about it again, and the B-E pair tell Amena SecUnits aren't reliable, their human tissue makes them unpredictable, and they go rogue and attack their contract holders. Amena, suppressing an emotion MB can't identify,(4) says she wonders why they'd do that.

MB grabs a bag of rations from a supply locker, and taps Amena in the feed to say it's coming back. It wonders about all the supplies onboard. Ras and Eletra speak as though they're under the impression Amena and MB have been onboard for many days, and Amena must be confused about how much time has passed. MB wonders if Art and its crew did more than stare at space, really not paying attention to the feed from Medical.

So I only had a 1.4-second warning when I stepped through the hatch and Ras fired a weapon at me.(5) For a human, his aim was great.

=====

(1) Oof, even with my theory that the RAM accounts for competence Murderbot doesn't, that's rough. (2) Murderbot is grieving and my heart is weeping. (3) I just find her rushing to answer very suspicious. What's she trying to get him not to say? (4) My personal guess is a bit of amusement with a soupcon of horror. She trusts MB with her life, unquestioning, even if it hadn't had plenty of chances to kill her already if it wanted her dead. But, I think she's smart enough to see how people who believe SecUnits can't be trusted, would mistreat them so much as to ensure the SecUnits want freedom from human rule. (5) Whaaaaaat? Why would he do this? What do he and Eletra know?

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot diaries #network effect #murderbot #secunit #amena #eletra (murderbot) #ras (murderbot)

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S1 E12-15

I have been sorta nursing my health for the last couple of days as I've had some pretty bad pain days and didn't really feel up to giving a full recap as I watched something. I'm still feeling crappy so this may continue for the foreseeable future. Yay chronic illnesses... Anywhoo on to the recaps.

E12 - Vortex

This is another Odo episode. Was kinda expecting to just blank out and let this one pass without much thought, but I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't particularly like it, but it had some good moments. Up to this point there didn't seem to be much to him besides "security dude" but getting to see that even he has temptations was a nice touch for character development. There are potential clues on who/what he might be in it but ultimately I knew it was too early for him to get to meet his people so I was curious to see where it actually led. When he ultimately let the dude and his daughter escape by letting the Vulcans take them to safety was really where the episode changes for me. That's literally at the end so it doesn't do much but change my star rating on it but it let me see that Odo has a heart and I look forward to seeing more of softy Odo. If he truly is a grump with a heart of goo (this is a pun laugh with me) then I might actually come to like Odo.

6/10

E13 Battle Lines

Typical "two sides have been fighting for centuries and refuse to stop story." While I agree with Sisko's decision not to let Bashir change the "coding" of whatever was keeping those folks alive after dying over and over again, I was on the side of ending it until Shel-la (I think) said he'd use it to win the war finally.

I felt bad for Kira when the Kai died and when it became clear that she couldn't leave again because of it. Kira's reaction was pretty much how I would have (at least in the sense of "Why aren't you DOING something") and she's growing to be the fiesty Kira I know and love.

5/10

E14 The Storyteller

This one had me laughing probably more than I should have been but I had a fun ride on this one. I in no way thought this one was a "good" episode but seeing Miles in any uncomfortable situation like this is generally worth my time. I know that Bashir and Miles become friends at some point but seeing them have this awkward interaction at the beginning, the pulling of teeth to make Miles socialize with anyone let alone a chatty Bashir, and then the bait and switch on the surface. Chefs kiss. Bashir also had too much fun laughing at him. lol

I don't have much to say about the plot itself, it was okay. I do enjoy a "we created our own monster" story, though generally its also tied to a "this person is a monster" character so it was interesting to see it manifest as a storm like thing.

6/10 for the giggles

E15 Progress

I really like this episode but I don't like how it ended. To me, it doesn't fit with the Kira that we've met so far. This is the first time that I could see the Ro Laren skeleton to Kira's character design cause I could see Ro doing the same things.

Having her, of all the crew, touch down on the surface and run into (at least) 3 folks trying to live their lives away from the pain of what the Cardassians did to them, was the perfect set up for this. Everyone else would have fought them harder or would have taken them without their permission within minutes. And then when the old man gets hurt and she stays to nurse him back to health for a while, it really felt like she was settling back into the Bajorian refugee type where they all help each other no matter what their title was. It was really touching and beautifully set up.

What I don't agree with is what happened after Sisko reminds her that while it's okay to be conflicted but it's not okay to get stuck, she decides that she is going to drag this man away from his home unwillingly. Yes, if she left him there he *probably* wouldn't have survived and yes she had a job to do, I'm aware of all of this and even accept that these are the reasons she acted the way she did. But I feel like war exhausted Kira would throw all she had at him and still let him decide his own fate, given how much the Cardassians had ruled over them. I feel like he should have been allowed to choose where he wanted to die and it felt out of character that Kira didn't agree.

With that said! The idea that she helped him finish building a few things or fixing things up and then she turned around to burn it all down was a pretty dramatic touch that I didn't see her doing. It was a very powerful ending.

7/10

#star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #watchalong #star trek deep space nine #vortex #battle lines #progress #storyteller

[pinkvaquita]

akjdwiga okay so i don't have a name for her yet but i'm gonna call her manti for this because she's a manticore-

when manti would first show up in the story, she'd be in the cookies of darkness, one of the few cookies that could legitimately rival pomegranate's loyalty to dark enchantress, with manti's loyalty being about as blind as pure vanilla or dark choco

and her devotion is to like, cultish levels in the worst way possible if i'm gonna be honest- think catnap and the prototype dynamic, or in other words; de had saved manti from the brink of death when everyone else had left her behind, that spawned a false/one-sided feeling of love from manti, alongside idolization, and boy oh boy did dark enchantress decide to use that to her advantage

manti would be a good foot taller than de so she'd always be like leaning over or kneeling to be lower than her, to be able to look up at her "savior", girl was constantly feeding into de's ego at all times unknowingly

during her time with the cookies of darkness she was NOT in good physical condition, be it because of de making sure she won't be able to fight back when she's no longer useful and needs to be disposed, or simply because she kept forgetting about all the important stuff to her health outside of eating and drinking enough to get by

i imagine she'd have her own entire chapter where the story crew go around chasing after her and whatever hellfire she creates in de's name, trying to explain to her that de is really bad, and especially seems to be bad for her looking at her current state

throughout the entire chapter she's constantly trying to brush them off but as things go on she gets progressively more distressed, like she's seeing their points and realizing that yes de does this stuff and yes it does have this effect but she's also trying to reason with herself that it's just because de wants to keep her safe, that de does feel the same for her she just expresses it differently

nearer to the end of the chapter de does actually like show up, manti ends up collapsing onto her knees in front of de after being beaten the living shit out of by gingerbrave and the others (very much against their will they did not wanna fight her), looking up at de and frantically asking de if what the story crew said was true, asking if she truly loved her or if she was just toying with her

"Please...my dear, you love me, right?...They're- they're wrong, aren't they?..."

"Of course...I will, always, love you-" as de says this she's raising one of her hands, with whatever cake monster she summoned behind her, and she goes to slash down at manti's face

the slash does end up connecting, but gingerbrave tackles manti out of the way of the cake monster's mimicking slash, which would have ended up yeeting her into a wall and probably killing her- the moment manti manages to lift her head, her own jam is spilling from the claw marks on her face, and her eyes are practically waterfalls with tears as she stares at de with her cake monster, realizing that the story crew were completely right

she ends up just kinda sitting there in silence while the story crew take care of de about as efficiently as they always do, and when the fight is over, gingerbrave goes to check on her, sitting with her while the others get bandages for her wounds

"...Hey, I'll be honest, you did some messed up stuff, but you did it because you cared about her, right? You wanted to help."

"...I'm a monster..."

"Don't think like that! You were manipulated by someone that had helped you at your lowest point! Of course you were so loyal to her!"

"...I killed people, for her...don't you think I'm evil?..."

"I'd kill for my friend if I had to, even if you didn't know you had to do it to survive, you did. Yeah, you're messed up, but evil? No. Never. Maybe misguided though!"

"...Heh, you're rather optimistic one, aren't you?..."

"Of course!"

"...Thank you, Gingerbrave..." after that conversation strawberry and wizard help to patch her up, with little custard doing his best to hype her up as well, and then they go their separate ways, with manti promising to pay them a visit once she's done some self-reflecting and gotten a bit better physically

that then leads into a side story within the crème republic where she meets oyster and healing yuri ensues <3

manti's relationship with oyster ends up a very long slow burn because manti keeps telling herself that she's just delusional, she doesn't actually feel these ways about oyster, meanwhile oyster is mentally screaming because "oh my god massive lion woman help what do i do AAAAA"

they meet in a similar but far less severe way than manti and de, with manti having tripped on a pebble or smth and scraped her knee as Oyster was passing by, and Oyster being the extrovert she probably is, went over to help her up and noticed how in shambles Manti looked, because by then she was still recovering and hadn't exactly set herself up with a stable income, so food was somewhat scarce

Manti is feeling butterflies the entire time as Oyster helps her up and then offers her a place to stay until she can properly get on her feet after a little bit of explaining about her situation, but she ends up pushing down those butterflies as much as possible, trying not to let them fester and grow into anything because of what happened last time she loved someone for helping her, which is a far more severe case than would be considered normal

So for like a few months Manti is just living with Oyster trying to adjust to a more normal life, heal, and get herself a job, and she ends up getting a job at a bakery after a little while! She's getting better a bit faster with having something to occupy her mind, but she's also still on the fence about Oyster, unsure if she should trust her or not (later decides she's fine to trust after a particularly bad day where she spills everything in a fit and the next day Oyster acts as if not a thing happened, going as far as to say she doesn't know what she's talking about, because Oyster knows she has no business butting into other people's trauma if they don't wanna talk about it), meanwhile Oyster is in absolute pining central watching Manti's growth as a person like "oh she is so beautiful" and those thoughts getting Oyster progressively more smiley at Manti as she gets healthier and more social

it's probably a year or two later before Manti finally acknowledges that no these feelings for Oyster are not just flukes, they aren't seeds for her own destruction, she does actually feel this way, but it ends up being another half a year before she says or does anything out of fear, Oyster is completely patient with it though, more than willing to let Manti take her time and adjust to the idea of a proper relationship

it ends up being around the 4 year mark of them knowing each other that Manti finally opens up, explains absolutely everything in a moment of proper calm, and then they go on their first date and the other elders finally get a break from Oyster's ranting about her not yet girlfriend girlfriend

Manti's true proper colors are out by that time, absolute sweet heart with of course some trauma and maybe some flavor of neurodivergent, but either way she's a gentle giant and strong af too now that she's eating well and getting to work out more (working at a bakery is a work out in it of itself), so big buff lion wife Oyster's beloved (and mine too)

In between that time she does go to check on the story crew, and they hardly recognize her until they hear her voice, and then they're all immediately super excited to see her and are showering her with compliments telling her how proud they are that she's doing better, chili even getting in on the pride train with a little compliment or two

alright i think that's all my rambling- for now at least, glad to finally get those words out onto something-

... I need a book of this , a webtoon of the book, a series of the webtoon of the book, and fanfics of the series of the webtoon of the book. NOW.

This Is such a good fucking story. Omg you have it all figure it out-

[illmamnim]

As propaganda for Shahar in the @original-character-championship , here's some history

Back in 2014, I've created a set of characters that would later become our main cast: Shahar, Peter, Omer and Gil.

I won't go into each of them in this propaganda but I'll show them off once I have proper character sheets.

The world

In this world people have different abilities and those can be distinguished via eye colors.

Those without an ability have gray eyes, and are called and treated differently in each culture.

A brief of each major character:

Omer has Charisma, Gil has Illusions, Peter has Earth, Miss Basir has Plants, Shay has Wind, and finally Shahar:

Shahar

Shahar has red eyes because her ability comes from her grandpa - heat regulation. She can control her body temperature, from not producing any heat at all to burning like a well boiled soup.

Her story starts when 3 teens (Omer, Peter, Gil) start looking into her dad's old clinics after their parents have gone sick. Her dad asks her to go with them and make sure they don't find him and aren't suspicious of it.

She joins our group after they've found miss Basir- a traveling gardener who rides with her daughter in a van across the F.U.E (The country name (ish)(may change)). Shahar tags along without much contribution, only pointing out wrong paths and misinformation to make their journey come to dead ends.

However, after spending weeks with people on the road you're bound to find yourself attached to them, to some degree. Omer wasn't as annoying as he used to be, Peter seems to know everything and is always happy to answer her questions, Gil loves the same comics she does, Miss Basir knows just what to say to calm her down, and her daughter, Shay... Makes her feel things she never have before. They all do, in their way.

Shahr is full of guilt and shame over her father's actions, and her own. She's still leading them away from her father, this time not for him, but for her. What would they do once they find our she's been tricking them? What would they say if they knew that she's related to the man who almost killed their parents? They don't even know the purpose of all this. They still think Dr. Rephael is a good guy who can give their parents medicine.

As much as she tries, the crew still manages to find the doctor. Shahar tries to think of ways to discourage them from going, but it doesn't go as she planned- as any of them planned.

The doctor opens his door with warm hospitality, not at all surprised to see them, and offers them cookies and drinks. The kids explain their situation to the man, as Shahar seems to shrink into herself more than ever. The man listens politely, with that familiar expression of a doctor listening to their patients, and finally opens mouth to reply.

See, healers aren't people who can mend all wounds. Their ability helps your body heal itself by giving you ease, comfort and peace of mind- it feels just like talking to a loved one after weeks of being alone. So when the doctor finally tells them that he knows, that it was all a part of his plan and that their parents don't matter, it sounds fake. More than fake- it's surreal, as if they've finally managed to unlock the door but it's 15 feet in the air and they are seconds away from crushing into the hard asphalt ground.

The doctor explains his plan, Shahar's involvement and how he finally came to the conclusion that, to continue his plans, it's best to just poison this group and continue on. The crew looks down at the crumbs of sweets on their shirts and feel the taste of warm tea on their tongues, and nothing felt more bitter.

Now, a bit of an immersion break, because this is the end of season 1 and is yet to be fully constructed. But this story is intended to have 2 seasons at least (with either a movie special or a short season 3), and those characters has a very long way to go, with more people to meet, more challenges to overcome, and more talking and listening to do.

I really want to make this story into a comic and hopefully in college I'll even make an animated short with them. I still have a lot to learn to make this story what I want it to be, but I'm getting started, I'm building the plot and i have way too many google docs to prove it.

I hope this was a taste to get people interested. If so, send asks! I would love to talk about those little meow meows with more than just my 2 friends lwkzkws

#tinstuff #ocs #original characters #shahar #Aielet HaShahar Eshed #her full name is so funny looking in English kwnskw #it looks like a mess

[mossdaggar]

Holy Grail, let's talk HELLWHALE!

The game is moving to layout very soon, since editing is about done, but I wanted to share a sneak peek of the HELLWHALERS mechanics.

In HELLWHALERS, you'll use tokens to solve problems, referred to as Knots. Knots range from dealing with cranky crewmates to powerful demonic adversaries. They function a lot like Clocks, popularized by games like Blades in the Dark. When a knot is introduced, the game moves out of a conversational roleplaying game, and into a turn-based system. Every round, each whaler has an opportunity to contribute to the action. Usually this involves spending a soul to use a move or help solve the knot somehow. The Guilty's playbook includes the strong move 'Seize a moment, and deal with the consequences later', which can be interpreted in a number of ways. Striking back against invading carrion crabs with your cutlass could fall under that move. In the event you don't have a token, or don't want to spend one, you can always use a weak move for your turn to gain one. Alternatively, in combat, you can spend precious Weapon Supply in place of a soul. Harpoons, cannonballs, etc. all fall under this resource. One Weapon Supply is as good as one Soul spent on a combat knot. You'll need that weapon supply to deal with the hellwhale, however, so use it wisely. Each soul or supply spent resolving the knot ticks the knot/clock, until it is either resolved, or each player has made an action. After each whaler has contributed an action for their turn, if the knot still has ticks to go, it has a consequence, and then the rounds repeat until it is resolved. Once solved, a knot will grant a few Souls back as a reward, ensuring the churn of currency doesn't stagnate. Once you've collected enough souls to pulse the whale's disembodied, blackened heart, the echoes reach the behemoth, wherever it roams, and calls it for the final encounter. In most games, three pulses of the heart will allow you to fight the whale. Mechanically, the whale acts a lot like a knot. You act in turn order, same as before, but the whale can only be damaged by expending Weapon Supply, not just souls. 13 harpoons should down the beast, but every round, it will roll on a d6 table, and create a new knot as a consequence based on the result. These range from flooding the ship, or knocking whalers overboard, to supernatural effects, like a crown of demonic sea-vermin. The whale can only be harmed when these knots aren't interfering. On a roll of 6, the whale's action table moves to a more intense set of knots. On a second 6, it moves to a third, even more dire table. On a third 6, the whale destroys your vessel and crew. Look forward to hearing more about this game, now that the text is finalized. Layout should begin in March, then a couple months later should be our release.

#ttrpg design #indie ttrpg #ttrpg

[the-faultofdaedalus]

I posted 1,790 times in 2022

347 posts created (19%)

1,443 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tin-can-iron-man

@notanarutoblogs

@laexploradoraaa

@the-faultofdaedalus

@starvels

I tagged 1,448 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

#yeah - 33 posts

#yes - 26 posts

#them - 24 posts

#him - 15 posts

#oc stuffs - 14 posts

#my writing - 13 posts

#my art - 13 posts

#her - 9 posts

#lmao - 8 posts

#stevetony - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#we’ve just barely cracked the ‘’get more power out than you put in’’ thing and that’s in facilities that are multiple football fields big

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

one of my favorite parts of im2 is how many times vanko has a plan that doesn’t neccecarily involve tony being there and then tony shows up anyways. like. these long-term plans vs tony’s impulse decisions and pure insanity.

like! he’s not supposed to be driving! he showed up in a racesuit less than like two minutes before the race was supposed to start! vanko was there to cause some chaos to draw tony out, he didn’t expect him to be driving.

and then the expo fight — vanko knows about the palladium. since tony is so close to kicking it (once again i am Convinced he was prepared to die the day after his birthday but that’s another post) i fully think vanko was ALSO planning on him being dead by the expo event. and clearly that was fine with him, since he wasn’t neccecarily trying to kill tony, but kill people at the expo and fuck up his legacy and memory (because you KNOW that even if it was hammer drones ™ ™ ™ the fact that rhodey’s suit was involved and it was at the expo and they’re shameless ripoffs would always make people associate that tragedy with tony)

except then tony figured out the new reactor stuff and, again, shows up anyways. and i think it’s very fun.

83 notes - Posted June 11, 2022

#4

POV you are the race car driver who has just been removed from the grand prix at the last second because the guy who sponsors your car had decided that he wants to drive instead so now you’re sitting in a nearby bar, cussing him out over a beer when you hear people shouting at the TV, and look up and see some guy with lighting whips slice the car you were supposed to be in clean in half

90 notes - Posted June 11, 2022

#3

i dont trust the idea of smart TVs but i think a really fucked up fun way to use them is for some company to make a sitcom, and when you watch the first episode it’s refreshing because the laugh track is really unobtrusive. it almost feels like there’s actually an audience reactions to it instead of pre-canned stuff.

and then you have to take a day’s break before the second episode and… hm, the laugh track is more populated. weird. the third episode is the same.

the forth episode it’s even more apparent, but it still feels more genuine than most, and one joke even gets a startled snort out of you.

you watch the rest of the show, a bit weirded out by the increasingly apparent laugh track, but otherwise it’s fine.

a couple weeks later, you watch it again with a friend. …don’t you remember the first episode barely having a laugh track at all? did they change the audio? that’s… weird.

you get to the 4th episode and the part you found the funniest

to your horror, you hear your own laugh in the crowd

91 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

#2

ghost ships don't really exist.

haunted ships, of course. there's fleets on fleets of haunted ships, still sailing the seas, still manned by their long-dead crew. but the ships themselves aren't ghosts.

see, ghosts have souls. ghosts are the remnants of dead things that used to, once, live. there's plenty of haunted forests, if you know where to look. ghostly trees intersecting with their children and their children's children, overlapping forests going back ages. but those trees don't follow their wood to the ships they're made of (if the felling of a tree even kills it at all, when the roots grow deep and send clones up through the soil, on and again and again, because trees are hardy and it takes a lot to kill one) and those trees don't haunt the boat when it sinks.

the spectral "ghost ships" many see aren't the ghosts of the ships themselves, and more a manifestation of the ghosts of the crew.

so. ghost ships don't exist.

or, at least, the didn't.

things changed after we started flying. ships and crews are ships and crews, built to sail on water or in space. those first specters -- even more ghostly set against starry backdrops -- were new, but not surprising. ships are ships are ships.

and crews are always crews. they're what make ghost ships so potent, more than any single haunting. it's the power of cooperation, of community.

(no one visits the ghost cities, wiped clean from the earth but still shimmering, mirage-like, from distant roads. too many dead, too many restless. ghost ships are, compared to those, quite docile)

and stories travel well enough. in those early days, there's few enough spacer's dead that all of them are known by name. ships are still named, as in the old sailing days, bold across their sides. you know when you see a ghost. you, likely, will know the names of those still crewing her.

the thing no one expects is when ghost ships start turning up that never held a crew. some that crashed, some that were abandoned, automated computer-run ships that had just enough adaptive programming to deal with most problems that would come their way. most of them.

ships that were, as horrible, as heartless as it sounds, that were expendable, because they were empty.

turns out? they were never really empty.

and-- we didn't know.

how could we have known? even i didn't know, and my contemporaries and i had been the ones who had built these systems. these... these AIs. we hadn't known.

that's not and has never been enough justification for forgiveness.

but we didn't know. we didn't know that those smart little systems we'd made and gave bodies in the form of bulkheads and solar panels and room enough only for cargo and sent out into space on journeys that could and would take centuries could... grow.

it sounds stupid when you say it like that. we'd built them to grow, to learn. just... not this much. gods, never this much.

because when those first ships had arrived at their destinations, when only some of those first ships had arrived...

they were alive. alive enough that they could feel loneliness. alive enough that they could die.

alive enough that now? all those poor lost ships we wrote off as expendable, all of them... they're out there, still.

and they are restless.

and i am so, so sorry.

1,199 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

march is such a fantastic month for holidays. we have MAR10 day, we have pi day, AND the ides of march. truly what else do we need.

3,895 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #oh NO they dont include the post breaks #love that 2 of my top 5 posts were abt im2 truly on brand

[jimintomystery]

DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets"

Vedek Winn, the leader of an orthodox Bajoran sect, visits Deep Space Nine to decry "blasphemy" in Keiko O'Brien's school. The ensuing controversy drives a wedge between the Bajorans and non-Bajorans aboard the station.

At issue here is that Keiko teaches a secular interpretation of the Bajoran wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant--it was created by alien entities with physical properties that happen to make it safe for transit. Of course, the first episode, "Emissary," implied that the wormhole is the origin of Bajoran religious beliefs about "Prophets" who reside in a "Celestial Temple." So now, finally, Winn is here to remind us about all of that.

Winn also reminds us why the first episode has such a weird title--Commander Sisko discovered the wormhole, which makes him the Emissary to the Prophets, whether he likes it or not. Back in 1993 I spent several months wondering why they introduced that premise if they weren't going to do anything with it. Well, from this point forward, they do the hell out of something with it. It's not politically convenient for Winn that Sisko is the Bajoran messiah, but it's essential to her messaging that she refuses to make Federation officials more comfortable by downplaying it.

The story seeks to cast the "wormhole or Celestial Temple" debate in the same vein as controversies over evolution versus creationism. Indeed, Winn and her supporters start to act a bit like Christian fundamentalists, behaving as if their religion should be practiced by everyone, even off-worlders. But just because the Bajorans have a religion doesn't mean that religion has an equivalent to the Great Commission, or the threat of eternal damnation. These concepts aren't even universal in real-world religions. So if the showrunners want to utilize these ideas, it's incumbent upon them to establish them in Bajoran theology, which never really happens, which weakens this story's premise.

I like that Sisko argues for the merit of the "godless" Federation's secularism without ridiculing Winn's beliefs, or religion in general. Even when he's alone with Jake, he stresses the importance of respecting faith-based perspectives. Unfortunately, this point is made by way of equivocating about whether the Inquisition should have condemned Galileo for heresy in the 17th century. Tolerating someone else's religious beliefs is one thing, but tolerating their intolerance of dissent is quite another.

When this aired, I was disappointed that Deep Space Nine's first season didn't end with a big cliffhanger. But as we'll see, this episode thematically sets up the political issues that kick off season two. Sisko and his crew have resolved the anti-Federation problems on the station, but not on Bajor itself...

#star trek #deep space nine #ds9 season 1 #we are of bajor

[bewitchingbooktours]

Cover Reveal Abandon Station by V. G. Harrison #ScienceFiction

Abandon Station

The Dyson Bridge Series, 

Book One

V. G. Harrison

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press

Date of Publication: 1/31/2024

Number of pages: 84

Word Count: 22,000

Cover Artist: Maya Preisler

Tagline: Some planets just aren't worth saving.

Book Description:

An explosion rocks the Bridgeway Space Station. Mechanical Engineer Meridia Vail and her crew wake to find themselves on an alternate Earth where the technology is decades behind theirs, and so are the politics. 

When she realizes their space station survived the interdimensional transport to an alternate space and time, she and her crew have only one mission. Get back to the Bridgeway so they can return to their real home.

Time is running out. If the metabolic changes that come with their teleported space station don’t kill them, the politics and secret agendas will. 

Returning home makes sense, but that’s assuming there’s a home to return to. When Meridia learns the Bridgeway’s decaying orbit threatens to annihilate the planet, the Earthers will be more than happy to take their chances by destroying the greatest technological marvel of all time.

With members of Meridia’s international crew scattered across the planet and being detained, she must escape her “caretakers”, if she and her people ever have a chance at saving the one thing that might be able to save everyone.

https://mochamemoirspress.com/   

Excerpt

The door opened.

I sat up and reached for the light.

“Don’t,” a familiar voice said. “They don’t know I’m here and I want to keep it that way.”

“Who doesn’t know you’re here?” I asked as panic swept across me. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“It’s me, Meridia. It’s Julio.” The older man appeared in the light reflecting from the TV. He looked every gray-hair of his age, but there was something about his eyes that weren’t right. His entire visage seemed worn and weathered beyond his fifty-nine years. He continued toward my bed with sweat dripping from his short, gray curls. “We have to get out of here. They want to use us.”

“Use us for what?” I asked.

“Don’t you hear them talking? They want to suck the information out of our brains. They’re going to attach us to machines that will take the wormhole knowledge out of us, then use that information to build bigger weapons. They won’t rest until they’ve brought the rest of the world to their knees.”

Oh boy. I jumped out of bed and hurried toward him to grab his arms. “Calm down, Julio. These people don’t want to hurt us. They want our knowledge, so it would hurt them to hurt us.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. His gaze pleading. “You’re wrong. I’ve seen the machines. They do it round after round after round. You had your first tests today, didn’t you?”

“Julio it was just—”

He tore away from me. “Don’t you get it? The wormhole is ours. We created it. It belongs to us. Not them.”

This wasn’t the same Julio Ferrera I knew. A fusion physicist who was already on his way to greatness even before he joined the astronaut program, he was our Chief of Scientific Research and an accomplished Air Force Major. This guy in front of me was a lunatic who needed more care than they could ever hope to give him here. Seeing my friend and colleague like this wrenched my heart. I wanted to hug the fear out of him but knew it wouldn’t make any difference. He needed more help than I could give him.

“Relax, okay?” I started toward the small desk where there was a phone. “I’m going to call someone to help you. Maybe they can give you something to help you sleep.”

Julio tackled me to the floor. “You have to listen to me, damn it! Listen! They’ve hidden away more Americans than just us, so they can experiment on them more. Some of them are still up there on the Bridgeway just waiting at the beck and call. Leave them frozen until they’re needed.”

I squirmed away from him enough to grab the leg of a small side table. I smashed it across his upper back and head. Dazed, his grip loosened. I wiggled my legs out from underneath him, but he charged again, grabbing the back of my nightshirt. Threads tore as he dragged me down again. This time, he clawed his way on top of me and got his hands around my throat. He squeezed hard like he wanted to snap my neck in half, yelling for me to listen to him. I punched and clawed at his arms, fighting and kicking. Anything to free myself as a burning sensation heated up my lungs.

“You’re one of them!” He shouted, his eyes crazed. “They got to you. You can’t tell them anything—I won’t let you!”

My bedroom door slammed open. Several people ran into my bedroom and wrestled him off me. I rolled onto my side and grabbed my neck, struggling to suck air into my writhing lungs.

The orderlies threw Julio on my bed where a man wearing a pair of black slacks sedated him. Dr. Tommen knelt on the floor next to me, but I waved him away. I didn’t want anyone touching me. For all I knew, they did this to him.

About the Author:

Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison, enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can't sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities.  

V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she's not writing, she's an IT manager for a healthcare information systems company. 

Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, and connecting with her daughter, A.J., on a cool level. Building Lego sets at night with milk and cookies on the side come in handy for that. 

www.vgharrison.com 

https://www.vgharrison.com/blog-1 

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