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txttletale · 4 months

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Your discussions on AI art have been really interesting and changed my mind on it quite a bit, so thank you for that! I don’t think I’m interested in using it, but I feel much less threatened by it in the same way. That being said, I was wondering, how you felt about AI generated creative writing: not, like AI writing in the context of garbage listicles or academic essays, but like, people who generate short stories and then submit them to contests. Do you think it’s the same sort of situation as AI art? Do you think there’s a difference in ChatGPT vs mid journey? Legitimate curiosity here! I don’t quite have an opinion on this in the same way, and I’ve seen v little from folks about creative writing in particular vs generated academic essays/articles

i think that ai generated writing is also indisputably writing but it is mostly really really fucking awful writing for the same reason that most ai art is not good art -- that the large training sets and low 'temperature' of commercially available/mass market models mean that anything produced will be the most generic version of itself. i also think that narrative writing is very very poorly suited to LLM generation because it generally requires very basic internal logic which LLMs are famously bad at (i imagine you'd have similar problems trying to create something visual like a comic that requires consistent character or location design rather than the singular images that AI art is mostly used for). i think it's going to be a very long time before we see anything good long-form from an LLM, especially because it's just not a priority for the people making them.

ultimately though i think you could absolutely do some really cool stuff with AI generated text if you had a tighter training set and let it get a bit wild with it. i've really enjoyed a lot of AI writing for being funny, especially when it was being done with tools like botnik that involve more human curation but still have the ability to completely blindside you with choices -- i unironically think the botnik collegehumour sketch is funnier than anything human-written on the channel. & i think that means it could reliably be used, with similar levels of curation, to make some stuff that feels alien, or unsettling, or etheral, or horrifying, because those are somewhat adjacent to the surreal humour i think it excels at. i could absolutely see it being used in workflows -- one of my friends told me recently, essentially, "if i'm stuck with writer's block, i ask chatgpt what should happen next, it gives me a horrible idea, and i immediately think 'that's shit, and i can do much better' and start writing again" -- which is both very funny but i think presents a great use case as a 'rubber duck'.

but yea i think that if there's anything good to be found in AI-written fiction or poetry it's not going to come from chatGPT specifically, it's going to come from some locally hosted GPT model trained on a curated set of influences -- and will have to either be kind of incoherent or heavily curated into coherence.

that said the submission of AI-written stories to short story mags & such fucking blows -- not because it's "not writing" but because it's just bad writing that's very very easy to produce (as in, 'just tell chatGPT 'write a short story'-easy) -- which ofc isn't bad in and of itself but means that the already existing phenomenon of people cynically submitting awful garbage to literary mags that doesn't even meet the submission guidelines has been magnified immensely and editors are finding it hard to keep up. i think part of believing that generative writing and art are legitimate mediums is also believing they are and should be treated as though they are separate mediums -- i don't think that there's no skill in these disciplines (like, if someone managed to make writing with chatGPT that wasnt unreadably bad, i would be very fucking impressed!) but they're deeply different skills to the traditional artforms and so imo should be in general judged, presented, published etc. separately.

#ask #ai art

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determinate-negation · 2 months

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Nov 2023: "im so tired of this self infantilizing attitude at a certain point people need to admit that theyre choosing to be, as i said, incurious."

You come off as an asshat pretending to be the curiosity / morality police. There are always going to be gaps in your knowledge you're not even going to try to correct because you don't know it's missing. It's self-infantilizing if it's a personal excuse as to why going forward someone is specifically whining why they can't do it. It's a legitimate reason, however, when someone is describing why a mass of people probably don't know something and why you'll continue to see people not knowing it.

"i decided to read about imperialism and educate myself on it"

Ooh good for you mate, have a gold star and a lollipop, you're so much better than your peers for deciding to read about imperialism. You should decide to read and educate yourself on how to make a convincing argument next.

"and the information is readily available, anyone with an internet connection in america could do the same if they were curious about history."

Super glad you found an interest in something, but now I guess it should always be a universal goddamn standard? You want every itch of curiosity you get and spend your time on to be a reading requirement for the population? Or is it just select subjects you've arbitrarily decided were important? What about my interests? Why aren't you at least foundationally familiar with my interests? Why haven't you reviewed and studied the texts I base my own morality on? Is it because you're intellectually lazy and wholly incurious or is it just there's only so much capacity for your attention that being broadly shamed on tumblr isn't a valid enough reason to suddenly start learning new subject matter out of some misplaced sense of shame?

If you're at all upset about my response, just know that it's EXACTLY how your post came across. Just as cunty, accusing, and insulting. That's what you sound like to people when you think something is important. It's a huge turn off to any spark of interest you think you're igniting.

“ You want every itch of curiosity you get and spend your time on to be a reading requirement for the population”

yes. reading and education are good. cope

you should add the context too (the korean war) if youre gonna add the date. you should ask yourself why the massive amounts of death and destruction and continued exploitation and abjection of the people of the world at the hands of the united states and its allies never comes up in your daily life, its a big question that implicates our entire society and the lives (and deaths) of millions of people. i dont know to impress any further the amount of suffering and exploitation im actually speaking of here. why is this your response to that?

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lovelyyandereaddictionpoint · 11 months

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Ch.1 : The Incident

Yandere Twisted Wonderland x Reader

What do you do when the person you associated with the pinnacle of innocence absolutely shatters your perception of them? When the person you had come to grips with loving for their innocent curiosity and kind demeanor absolutely changes into a violent merciless monster at the drop of a hat? That was what the whole team of Diasomnia were dealing with as they watched you pummel a student black and blue with your friends genuinely struggling to pull you off.

Hours before they had all come to an agreement: that they all loved you and were going to protect you. It was a big step for them as they previously had been walking on eggshells around each other when it came to you. Their developed feelings seemed to clash with their established relationships and their typical atmosphere was tense with competition. But after recalling your own inspiring words for teamwork (not directly said to them) they decided that they'd work it out. But that was when they were all under the impression that you were so innocent and compassionate that you needed their protection-let alone deserved it.

A student had apparently uttered a slur from your world, a seemingly made-up word you would use as you referred to people when you were comfortable. As soon as the word was said whatever expression you had on dropped only for it to morph into intense rage. Launching at them, you had the upper hand knocking away the wand they wanted to pull out. For a good ten seconds you were able to lay into this kid as everyone just kind of watched in awe as the Ramshackle prefect destroyed this student.

Then Deuce and Ace are the first ones to try and assuage you away from your assault only to be ignored and pushed away as you continued. By then others intervened, Floyd with an unusually solemn face held you up by hooking his arms under your armpits leaving you to viciously kick at and wriggle towards the writhing student. Then Rook intervenes hooking his arms around your knees walking with Floyd as they carry you out of the cafeteria. The population of Night Raven is baffled as everyone just listens to the student cry and whimper in pain. Everyone was shocked, that you the sweet Ramshackle prefect actually wailed on a student for saying one word.

Away from the crowd Rook and Floyd bring you to a still where you finally stop, huffing heavily your exhausted. Rook will offer for you to talk about it while Floyd will straight up not ask.

"Shrimp aren't fighters. What the heck was that?"

You'll either cry or just play with the ground as you give context to the word.

"That word is slur for people...who are like me..."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you use this word occasionally?"

"Yeah...but it's okay for me to use it but not them."

"Well that sounds backwards..."

"No it isn't. It's my right, my way to take the meaning back. It used to be a way for people to discredit my existence but now I-my people-own it."

They parrot this, when Crowley and teachers question them. On the investigation that the student had a fair understanding of that and still said it ended up with you both being suspended for a week as well as writing an essay about your feelings.

Needless to say you were hanging around your dorm more often and looking more forward to seeing your fae friend wandering by. But you didn't and as you expected like most there was a wave of fear now, that steered him away. Despite the incident being properly narrated to the masses rumors still spread and your friends were hesitant to visit.

When he did finally come around he looked shocked to see you as if you hadn't been chilling on the property for that whole week.

"I get it, it's cool. I guess everyone's just surprised about me, huh?"

You playfully scoffed waving with your back turned as you went inside Ramshackle. Malleus is met with a stinging pain in his chest; overwhelmed by guilt he finds he's become what he hates most. He, who evaded giving you his identity to avoid being ran from did the running from you when you were open and honest the whole time. He criticizes himself questioning what he truly loved about you. The blank slate? The fresh start? Your naiveté? For a friend he really let you down...and he wonders can he ever bring himself to be forgiven.

Lilia Vanrouge is saddened. While he was more realistic than the rest of his family in their image of you he was still surprised by this. No doubt he listened to your direct explanation right after the event. He comes around appearing behind corners and previously empty rooms acting playful with a gloomy you. Whether you indulge in his antics or get annoyed by him it does cheer you up, distracting you at its best. He finds himself falling harder for you; your not perfect and he loves that.

"All the better to love you my dear!"

"That's not how the story goes."

" I know but don't you think that's better?"

Silver was shocked and it will take him a few days before he can properly sympathize. In fact it strengthens his resolve to be with you; he swore to protect you and that's what he plans to do. All these means is that your willing to fight for what you believe is right. Unfortunately his resolve is not really felt through this time, he so busy contemplating he misses the fact that you are unattended and feeling sad. It's only when Malleus reports his resolve that he realizes you've been suffering.

Sebek is the most shaken up by this. He was already making such a big leap to even consider a human as someone he loved. To find that the one you loved wasn't nearly the deity they depicted beforehand was anything but made it hard for him to accept. But he still continued to follow you around as much as he fought internally with himself about following a tainted human. So there are two ways he can rationalize the further warmth that intensifies when he recalls your pure unadulterated anger as you punched and kicked at the student. Of course he either rationalizes your rage as a justified reaction as grander being or that this was the result of you being tainted and thus its all his fault as he should have been more diligent about his duty.

"Hmm, Malleus?"

You were studying in a corner of the library tucked away from the larger groups of students who had all strictly kept to the other side of the space. The fae prince sat himself across from you staring until you finally looked up at him. He felt like you had stabbed him as you used his given name further spurring him to apologize.

"I wanted to properly apologize for leaving you in your time of need. I was just surprised to see that side of you."

You shrugged avoiding eye contact as you seemed to hyper focus on the words in front of you.

"Yeah, it's cool."

It didn't feel like it was 'cool' to Malleus so he lowered his head before pushing out his seat at the table. You were sure he was leaving for good, feeling the awkwardness of your fake acceptance before retreating.

Coming around the table to your side was Malleus towering over you before getting on one knee as he set his hand on your knee. Your face, blooming in heat, was in a state of shock as you turned to him completely forgetting the book you were reading before.

"(Y/n), I truly am remorseful. I should've have been with you during this time for I know you would have done the same for me-"

He grabbed your flabbergasted hands in his pulling them towards him as you fearfully looked around at the whispering students.

"Will you forgive me, (Y/n)? I want more than anything to reclaim our intimacy. I truly mean it, I have no intention of leaving you in any state if it isn't beside me-!"

"O-okay! I-i got it I got it! I forgive you, everything is fine, I forgive you! Just get up off the floor!"

As quietly as possible you tried to resolve the crowd's uproar of whispers with your forgiveness. Even if you felt pressured to you couldn't deny the sparkle in his emerald eyes as he had your forgiveness. He stands up still clasping your hands in his before declaring that he wished to celebrate.

"I think a sleep over would be a wondrous way to celebrate!"

Seemingly out of nowhere Lilia had plopped his stacks of books on the desk before coming close to you two with a sly smile.

You were about to comment on his sudden proximity before you felt the leaning of someone's head at the small of your back.

*Yawn* "Sleep over sounds nice...zzzz" Going back to sleep was Silver who was now in your seat and forcing you to stay in place lest he fall. Thinking it couldn't get much worse you almost failed to see Sebek appear behind you all before loudly proclaiming to the auspicious onlookers.

"HUZZAH!!! LORD MALLEUS AND THE (Y/N) HAVE RECONCILED!! YOU ARE ALLOWED TO REJOICE!"

"SHHHHHH!!"

"Sebek, please!"

You tried to calm him down but he seemed far to enraptured in whatever celebration he deluded himself into initiating. The best you could do was lead the Diasomnia posse out of the library in hopes to restore the peace.

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gardenoflupins · 17 days

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Assassin AU / @wolfstarmicrofic / 874 words

CW: sexual conversation

“You look bored, how about I take you to bed instead?” Sirius whispers in Remus’s ear.

Remus jolts, spinning to look at Sirius with wide eyes. Sirius suppresses a smirk.

Sirius had been hired to kill Lyall Lupin’s son, Remus Lupin, and he was going to be paid a hefty amount for it.

He knew that Lyall worked at the ministry. This wasn’t the first time he’d been hired to kill one of its members. His client harboured strong animosity towards Lyall and wanted to kill his son out of spite. That made Sirius’s job easier. Killing an important government official was always a hassle. He’s sure mini Lupin would have become just like his father anyway.

Sirius completed his assassinations in various ways depending on the context. Sometimes he’d go to their homes and kill them directly. Other times he’d poison them. His favourite technique, however, was to seduce them. It left them vulnerable and unassuming.

Sirius had been watching Remus the past hour to get an impression of him. So far, the man seemed reserved and awkward. Sirius decided on his seduction technique because Remus kept glancing at him and Sirius knew what those looks meant.

Remus’s entire face goes red at his words and he stutters unintelligibly. Eventually he laughs nervously and Sirius takes that as cue to lean towards him.

Remus shoots his hands up to stop Sirius from moving, hands on Sirius’s chest.

Perhaps Sirius had read him wrong. He looks into the other’s eyes to get a better feel of the situation. Remus’s eyes were still wide but he looked innocently confused.

“Unless you prefer the old fashioned way where I take you out first,” Sirius says, undeterred.

“I— oh god,” Remus replies, “I’m so bad at this, please don’t put me on the spot.”

This pulls a surprised laugh out of Sirius. “No need to be nervous, I can lead and take control,” he says with heavy implication.

Remus wets his lips, eyes darting around before they fall to his feet. He drops his hands to his sides.

He says nothing.

Doubt creeps into Sirius. Had he read the situation wrong? Was Sirius not what Remus wanted? It left him feeling unnerved and slightly agitated.

“Not interested, then?” Sirius asks calmly.

Remus continues avoiding his eyes, face flushed. “I am so terribly embarrassed,” he responds softly.

Understanding dawns on him and Sirius has to bite down on his lip. “One of the shy ones?”

Remus’s eyes flicker up at him then back down. “Unfortunately.”

Sirius leans against the bar, remaining close to the other. “It’s alright, I’m good at coaxing eye contact when I’m sleeping with someone. I’ll reward you with lots of praise, I promise.”

Remus chokes and snaps his head up to Sirius, his eyes going impossibly wide. “You—“ He takes a deep, shaky breath. “You can’t just— say things like that.”

Sirius pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek, trying to hide his smile. He was leaning into his role as the seducer but it came easily to him. Remus was someone he would have slept with outside of work. Sirius’s eyes linger on his lips and he watches Remus swallow nervously at Sirius’s attention.

Remus’s breaths were coming out short, mouth slightly open and skin flushed.

Sirius moves to gently pull him in by the waist. “Don’t you want to taste me?”

His eyes flutter shut and he groans in response.

To Sirius, it was the sound of victory.

“I— Please,” he breathes out.

“Good boy,” Sirius murmurs, fingers rubbing delicate circles on his waist. “That’s it.”

Remus opens his eyes and Sirius is thrown off-kilter at the tender gaze. “I can’t. I want it— badly, but my father won’t allow it.”

Sirius blinks. His curiosity ignited. “Why not?”

Remus glances away bitterly. “He doesn’t want anyone to see me.”

This answers nothing and leaves Sirius with more questions. Seeing this, Remus offers him a kind smile. “Thank you for the offer, you’re quite gorgeous.”

Sirius feels a bit tingly. He won’t lie and say he wasn’t intrigued (in more ways than one) but he had a job to do. He didn’t need to seduce Remus to be able to kill him.

Someone pulls Remus rather harshly out of his grip. Sirius looks at Lyall Lupin’s sour expression.

“I’ve finished discussing with the others. Let’s go.” His hand is firm on Remus’s shoulder.

Skilled in picking up pieces of information, Sirius’s eyes cut to where a small group of men are leaving the bar. His gaze comes back to Lyall who is scowling at him while sending concerned looks to his son. Remus isn’t looking at either of them.

Sirius takes in Remus’s scars and he feels like he is seeing him for the first time. The scars closely resembled the ones his current client had.

The puzzle started forming in Sirius’s mind. It was just out of reach.

Lyall protectively pulls Remus away and Remus sends Sirius a mournful look.

Yes, it looked like Lyall was harbouring a secret regarding his son and Sirius would be damned if he didn’t figure it out. He had a feeling it had everything to do with the man that hated Lyall.

Fenrir Greyback.

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fandangotales · 2 years

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Venti and the “Hatsune Miku”

Summary: You tell Venti about a singer named Hatsune Miku <3

Warnings: None, pure fluff with a hint of crack! <3

Reader is GN! <3

It was a warm day, the soft rays of sun caressing the grass blades on Starsnatch Cliff. You and Venti were currently having a picnic, relaxing on top of the plaid blanket beneath you.

You both were eating various snacks, casually talking about random of subjects.

“Say, Divine One…” Venti trawled, picking up an apple slice from a plate, “What’s your favorite song?”

You had just stuffed a large portion of food in your mouth, so you motioned for him to give you a second to respond. He didn’t seem to notice though, as he continued to speak.

“I wonder… would it be a song from Teyvat, or a song from your old world? Would I know it? Well probably, since I kinda know all songs.”

He giggled to himself, seeing the questioning expression in your face.

Your cheeks were stuffed with dessert, and it looked quite amusing as you tried to chew your food faster.

Finally, you swallowed. You rolled your eyes, responding to his laughter.

“My favorite song would probably be World is Mine”. You said, after some consideration.

“I would always listen to it back when I was younger, and it just really stuck around for me as a comfort song.”

Venti put a hand on his chin, looking off into the distance as if he was pretending to be some wise philosopher.

“Ah, one is most unfamiliar with the tune you speak of.” He croaked, absolutely nailing his impression of an old man. You were almost sure he was impersonating a certain funeral consultant, but you decided not to comment on that.

You choked on your drink, snorting as you laughed.

“Seriously?” You asked, jokingly raising your eyebrows. “The tone-deaf bard has never heard of World is Mine? One is quite shocked.”

“Divine One…!” He pouted, pretending to be offended.

“Could you tell me who sang that song? I might be able to recognize it from that.” He asked, leaning closer to you.

You sucked in a breath, looking wistfully off into the skyline. The sun has began to set, bringing an orange glow across your features.

“Our Queen, Hatsune Miku.” You said, placing a hand over your heart.

“Uh… Queen?” He asked, looking over at you in complete confusion.

“Luscious teal hair that flows to the ground, an angelic voice that none other could rival, the keeper of the leeks… Miku.”

You smiled, reminiscing about your days in middle school.

The hours spent listening to Miku and the other vocaloids, the time spent watching her music videos, seeing her change outfits for the 100th time in a song.

Truthfully, it brought the beginnings of tears to your eyes.

“D-don’t cry Your Grace!” Venti exclaimed, panicking at your state. “I’m sorry for not knowing the song…”

You grinned, looking back over in his direction. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. I just was remembering my old life before I came here. Miku was my favorite singer of like… literally EVER. I used to adore her so much, always collecting plushies, merch, and even going to one of her concerts. That was one of the happiest days of my life.”

He looked mildly reassured by your words, but you could tell he was a little put off by your misty eyes. Another emotion was surfacing too, although you couldn’t tell what it was.

“Your Grace, would you say that she was a better singer than me? Do you love her more?” He questioned, voice quivering with vulnerability.

You laughed, before realizing how rude you probably sounded.

“I’m sorry…” you wheezed, “I guess I forgot to tell you that Miku wasn’t a real person. And, of course, I could never love her the same way as I do you.”

Venti’s cheeks darkened, staying silent before his curiosity got the best of him.

“She wasn’t real? How did that work? How did she sing? What did her voice sound like?” He said, bombarding you with questions.

You groaned, not wanting to explain the whole context of vocaloids. It would probably take at least an hour for him to fully understand, and the sun was nearly set.

You glanced at him, before asking, “Would you like me to teach you the song? Explaining would take awhile, and I’d love to share World is Mine with you before our picnic has to come to an end.”

His eyes widened, no doubt about to hastily agree to your proposition.

You decided to just start, after a particularly large inhale.

“SEKAIIIIII DEIIIII-“

#cultau #sagau #genshin impact #genshin impact sagau #genshin cult au #genshin crack #genshin sagau #venti #genshin impact venti #venti x reader #genshin fluff #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #gn reader

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etherealyoungk · 1 year

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telling each other your first impressions of each other + seungcheol or wonwoo <3

valentine's day event | thank you for the request! i did this with with seungcheol

"cheol", you say, getting his attention from across the table. "hm", he asks, looking up at you. "im curious about something", you prompt. "about what?", he asks. "i wanna know what you thought of me", you say. "like your first impression of me", you add for some context.

"hm. honestly i didn't know what to expect. all hoshi told me was you were a nice person and that i should just go out once with you", he adds. hoshi had played the cupid and matchmaker in getting you and seungcheol together. he had set you up on a blind date with seungcheol after you had a bad breakup with your ex. hoshi was tired of seeing you cry over a 'piece of trash' like he liked to emphasise and had set you up with seungcheol, who he said was a really good man, unlike your trashy ex.

"so when i saw you, you were so...sweet and shy. you were so nervous and i was trying my best to break the ice with you. oh, and i do remember how we fought over who was going to pay the bill", he says with an amused smile as he recalls the moment.

""your turn. what did you honestly think of me?", he asks, curiosity reflecting in his eyes as he looks at you."

"you looked really intimidating at first, like a 'don't mess with me' type of guy. but then once you started talking, you were a completely different person. and half the reason i fell for you in the first place was because of your stupid dimple. because when you smiled at me and your dimple showed, i think my heart skipped a beat at that moment", you explain and seungcheol's hearty laughter fills your ears.

"you're too cute", he says giving you a grin, his hand reaching out to caress yours from over the table.

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mateoluvr · 1 year

Text

what are you hiding?

gekko/mateo x f!reader

wc: 3k | angst | tw: mentions of wounds, blood + gunshots

context: you are unaware of this ‘agent life’ that he held. it gave a bad impression onto you one day when he comes home extremely late in the night, covered up in wounds. and he refused to explain himself.

a/n: i tried to add like a scene at the very end.. and im lowkey questioning myself if i did ok with it or not LMAO anyways enjoy!! took all my writing juice from today on this :’>

after another excruciating long day of work, you left the office to be greeted with pouring rain from the gloomy sky at the entrance.

oh great.

you groaned, you didn’t have an umbrella with you. so you decided to go to a nearby café to wait out the rain, because you weren’t about to walk home and end up getting drenched.

you ordered a small coffee with two sugar and one cream, and sat down at a table. you pulled out your laptop and decided to work on other assignments at the very least if you wanted time to pass by quickly. before you knew it, a few hours had passed since you got to the café. you check the time on your phone, and was shocked to see you’ve been there for three hours. it was now 10pm, and you got there around 7pm-ish. you quickly packed your things, and left. but of course it was still raining, but at least it was just a drizzle so it was bearable to walk home through.

once you got home, you call out your boyfriend’s name.

“mateo! i’m home.”

no one answered back though, which you found odd since he was usually home by now. you checked your phone to see if he texted you or anything, and to your surprise there was no trace of him. you sighed, and just decided to go shower to ease yourself.

after that, you decided to cook up something quick and made an extra portion for mateo whenever he came back.

another hour passes, you already ate while his food was still sitting there, and he was still absent. you started to worry, and decided to try to call him, but immediately got sent to voicemail.

‘the person you were trying to call is unable to pick up the phone at this very moment. please try again later’

confusion and frustration was all you could feel at that very moment.

where the hell was mateo?

you ended up shaking it off, and just packing his food portion and placing it in the fridge for him to eat later. you took a sticky note and wrote ‘there’s food in the fridge’ and placed it on the counter so he knew whenever he decided to come back.

as you got in bed, in defeat of trying to stay up for mateo you felt your phone vibrating against your skin. it was a call from your boyfriend. you perked up and answered.

“hello?”

“hermosa, can you open the door? i forgot my keys.”

“okay teo, give me a second.” as you hang up, walking down the stairs to make sure you don’t accidentally trip. you unlocked the door, and before you greeted mateo, you couldn’t help but notice the bandages and bruises he had around the exposed parts on his body.

did he get into a fight?

no. he couldn’t have.

you knew him, he wasn’t that type of guy. or was he..? you were immediately snapped back into reality, when your boyfriend was calling your name, waving at you.

“earth to y/n, you okay?” he asks out of curiosity, because he saw your eyebrows furrow when you glanced at him.

“oh sorry.. here come in.” as you walked away from the entrance so he could come in. as he got settled, you started to question the bandages and what-not.

“mateo.. are you okay? you’re all wrapped up.” the concern in your voice was noticeable.

“i’m fine cariño, please don’t worry.” he tries to reassure you, but you didn’t buy it.

“can you at least tell me what happened, and why’d you come home so late..?”

“it’s nothing that imporant y/n, por favor odio cuando estas preocupado.” he replied with dread in his voice.

mateo tries his best to change the topic, and ends up convincing you that he was fine. but you couldn’t help but feel this ominous gut feeling, deep down you knew he was probably hiding something from you, but couldn’t pinpoint why or what he was keeping secret from you.

“if you say so then, i left some food for you in the fridge, i’m going to go to sleep it’s late.” you yawned, picking yourself up the stairs.

“gracias, goodnight bebé, please sleep well.”

as days go by, you come home to no one, mateo coming home very later than usual. you hated this new regular thing, and your suspicions about mateo grew by the day. you couldn’t shrug off the fact that he was hiding something from you, knowing he wasn’t someone to lie or keep secrets from you. so, why was he doing it now? did you do something wrong? so many negative questions to yourself rushing through your mind, it killed you not knowing the truth. your intrusive thoughts got the best of you. which ended up you going into his room looking through his things in any hopes of context clues. part of you felt guilty for snooping this low, scrummaging through his belongings. you ended up finding some pieces of paper labeled “valorant protocol,” and him going by a codename of “gekko.” you were intrigued wondering what’s this?

you read the notes, one reading

“..gekko we need you in tomorrow. you, astra, harbor, and neon are going to go to 14°07'AD.4"N8 74°53'XY"E8 to investigate the sites. we’ve gotten reports of radianite being present, please report in the commons room by 7am sharp tomorrow.”

-brimstone

huh? who are all those people, and what was ‘radianite’? you puzzled. you look through the rest of the pile, and all of the messages seem to be around the same, with different coordinates and names each time. but, even with these clues you couldn’t figure out what this truly meant. sure, he definitely is hiding something, but what does all this mean? you tried to see if there was anything else, and ended up finding his extra id card attached to a lanyard at the very bottom of his nightstand’s drawer. his face was on it, along with his alias ‘gekko,’ the name you know him by, and his agent number (22) it presumes?

before being able to process it, your phone rang. it was from an unknown number. you picked up, and before you knew it tears trickled down your face. you got news that mateo was in the hospital. you left his room in a messy state you created, trying to get to the hospital as fast as your two feet could get you. you were out of breath by the time you got there.

you ran to the receptionist desk to figure out what room your boyfriend was in.

“our patient mateo should be in room 215-a ma’am.” the receptionist informed you.

you went straight up, and practically barged the door to his ward open. you saw him hooked up to an iv pump. you ran towards him, calling out his name in an unsteady tone. he was unconscious. the doctor walks in a few minutes after your arrival, explaining what happened.

“he is currently in critical condition, we are unsure if he’ll be up anytime soon- or even make it i’m sorry ma’am.”

you were in denial, there’s no way your loved one was right there in front of you in that state.

as the doctor tries to keep his professionalism, deep down he felt bad for you, you sat there beside mateo weeping.

“..i’ll give you some space ma’am, once again i’m sorry.” the doctor walks out, closing the door to contain your privacy, but someone else ended up entering. it was a tall broad man, who wore a greenish-jacket. unsure, of who he was you were startled, which also startled him.

“who are you?” you asked while wiping your tears away from your face with your shirt’s sleeves.

“oh hello there, i’m harbor, gekko’s coach, and you are?”

“i’m y/n, mat- gekko’s girlfriend.” you stuttered, still getting used to this unfamiliar name he also went by.

“ah, i see, he talks about you a lot when we’re training. the boy has the attention span of a goldfish.” he jokes trying to brighten up the room’s sorrowful presence.

you appreciated his attempt to cheer you up a bit, but couldn’t bring your mind off the motionless mateo laying on the hospital cot.

“mr. harbor, do you know what happened to him?” you turned to him, seeing his eyebrows furrow realizing how bad of a state mateo was currently in.

“i- yes i do.” he replied grabbing a chair placing it aside you. he started from the beginning.

[flashback to the day of the 14°07'AD.4"N8 74°53'XY"E8 investigation mission]

“alright agents, you are now entering the city of flowers, please be careful and wary of your surroundings as this area is currently unfamiliar to us.” brimstone says through the earpiece.

“‘gotcha jefa.” gekko replies in a playful tone.

the four agents go to the center, and workout a plan before heading to their designated places.

“okay, astra and neon, you two explore site c, i’ll take gekko with me to explore site a. we’ll meet back up on site b, copy that?” harbor explains.

they all nod, taking off to their sites. as gekko and harbor reached site a after a few minutes of following a map with the area’s layout they hear there was another person following them.

“coach.. did’ya hear that?”

harbor nods in agreement, and asks him to send dizzy out to scout close by. he takes dizzy out of his pouch, and sends her up.

“up you go!” dizzy doesn’t catch anything, and drops back down.

“you did good.” gekko whispers retrieving her back.

“that’s odd.. i swore that footstep was nearby.”

“well, she didn’t see anything so i guess we’re just hearing things coach.”

“maybe we’re paranoid, but please keep your guard up still, that’s the only information we have as of right now.”

they continued to slowly explore site a, but gekko ends up wandering somewhere else without harbor noticing until it was too late. a gun shot was fired, harbor was alerted, and turned his back to see gekko missing.

???

harbor yelled out his name, not knowing where he could’ve went he comms into his earpiece that he’s missing to the other two. neon and astra ran towards harbor’s location immediately.

“gekko, do you copy!?”

there was no answer, but a few more gunshots were fired from afar. so the three went closer to the sounds.

“water rising!” harbor walls the nearby entrances to make some space.

“how’d you even lose the boy in the first place?” astra questioned harbor.

“i let him out of my sight for a few minutes, and he disappeared.”

“guys! there’s people shooting ‘round here let’s talk later and find gekko first please.” neon rolled her eyes.

“right, we have gekko to worry about right now.”

as they fought with enemies who are present, neon spots the blatant neon green hair boy nearby.

“gekko’s over by a link guys!” she shouts to the others, throwing her wall up to safely cross.

she’s greeted with gekko’s critters all worried about him, wingman especially. she sees the small yellow blob shaking his legs in hopes of a response, but he was already out cold.

“guys! assistance needed, gekko’s unresponsive.”

“blocking fire!” harbor throws out his cove onto neon and gekko.

“this sucks, sage isn’t here to heal him back up.”

“well we have to get out of this predicament quickly, this boy needs serious medical attention or he’s not going to make it,” astra comments.

“brimstone, do you read me?” harbor comms into his earpiece.

“affirmative.”

“sir, gekko needs help immediately, he’s losing blood by the second.”

brimstone notices, as he goes to check gekko’s vitals on his pad.

“this damn boy, always getting into trouble.. alright i’ll try my best to send support immediately, try your best to make your way back to starting location.”

“copy that.” harbor replies.

harbor quickly explains the plan to astra and neon.

“alright i’ll watch over gekko, you two hold b upper and b main for a bit in case if there’s anymore enemies.”

they nodded, and held their said angles while harbor looks through the area’s layout map to see the safest way back to their starting point. he ends up deciding to shoot through a link’s door, then he’ll wall off the close angles so the three could get out with gekko.

“danger close, neon watch out!” astra yells as she saw a glimpse of a guy around b link, and pushes neon out of the way to shoot at them.

“wow.. salamat astra- wait another one incoming, watch out to the left astra!”

multiple gunshots were being fired from both sides until astra decided they should get going now since being enclosed in a small area wasn’t ideal.

“we should fall back, i’ll wall off our a link to buy us some time.” astra says going into astral form as she sets out her cosmic divide.

“i’ll carry gekko, you two just fend them off while we make our way got it?”

as they fought their way out, they ended making it out safely without anyone obtaining major injuries, at most a few scratches. brimstone’s backup support ends up arriving, and they board onto the helicopter he sent out. the three agents panted, tired out from all the havoc that just went down.

“we’re going to have to bring gekko to a regular hospital back in california, sage isn’t at base currently so she’s unable to aid the boy.” brimstone looks at gekko’s body, covered in red. his vest was stained in blood from the gunshot wounds around his chest.

[end of flashback]

fast forward, harbor covered everything that went down which led to mateo being in that state.

“it’s completely my fault he’s like this, i’m sorry dear.” harbor sighs, guilt visible in his voice.

you both sit there in silence, mourning until a miracle happened as mateo slowly regains his consciousness.

“ugh.. w-where am i?” gekko mutters. you and harbor immediately putting your attention onto mateo.

“mateo!” you cried, you wanted to hug him but you decided not to because he was probably still in pain.

“bebé..?” mateo uses the strength that he has to turn his head towards your familiar voice.

“please don’t scare me like that again.”

“good to see you awake gekko, are you alright?”

you both aid him to sit up from the bed, as mateo recollects his thoughts.

“..how’d i end up here?” he asks the both of you, rubbing his eyes.

“i let you out of my sight for a second and you were gone before i knew it gekko, don’t wander off like that again next time you got me and the others worried sick.”

“i’m sorry coach..” gekko frowned, lowering his head in embarrassment.

“mateo, why didn’t you just tell me in the first place about this job you had?”

he stays quiet, but he knew he couldn’t get his way out of this question this time like he did last time you asked.

“oh? gekko never told you about this?” harbor asks in surprise.

“no, he did not.” you sighed in disappointment.

“coach, may i have a minute with y/n?” mateo requested from his mentor.

“ah right, i’ll get going now please have a safe recovery i’ll see you later.” harbor gets up from his chair, and waves goodbye before leaving the ward.

now it was just the two of you in the room.

“i-i’m sorry i lied about my occupation y/n..” he stutters.

“so.. why’d you do what you did mateo?”

“i didn’t want you to worry about me if i ever got hurt. y’know how much i hate seeing you like how you are right now!” he says as he examined your slightly puffy eyes from the crying you did earlier.

“i know how much of a hard trabajadora you are y/n, i don’t want to stress you out more than you already are from work.”

“mateo.. i-”

“i know i’m the worst novio ever! i shouldn’t have had you found out about it like this.. just mírame, i have ivs all hooked up onto me.” he shouts, with a urge to just burst out crying right there and then.

you could see your boyfriend all teary, and you gently pat his back as a signal to him to just let it out; and that you’d be there to comfort him. so he did, he dreaded you seeing him like this, but he couldn’t bottle up his emotions anymore. he wanted you to look up to him, which is why he always kept this strong composure of his, but he just felt like a complete disappointment as of then.

“teo it’s okay, don’t say that about yourself, your job is clearly more stressing than mine i get it.” you try to reassure him as he sniffled.

“te prometa que, i won’t keep any secrets from you anymore from here on out y/n! mark my words.” he lifts his pinky up, showing he’s making a pinky promise with you.

“that’s what i like to hear.” you replied in relief, as you laced your fingers as you mutually agreed on the promise.

..and after that, everyday after work you’d come visit him for a few hours to check up on him. it went like that for a few weeks before he was able to get discharged from the hospital with a full recovery!

thank god.

you couldn’t imagine a world without mateo, you knew he was a strong guy, and he ended up getting through it thankfully. when everything went back to normal, brimstone let mateo on a break since he’s been working constantly lately and decided that it would be the best for him. you were glad, and with the time off mateo was given, he never left your sight. he ended up introducing you to the other agents in the protocol, all of them complimenting you in different ways. or, he’d take you on dates like he did in the beginning, oh how you missed those days

#gekko x reader #gekko x you #gekko #valorant #valorant x you #mateo #mateo x reader #angst

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wildstreak · 5 months

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My thoughts on Skybound's Transformers!

Includes Issue #1 SPOILERS

So, I finally got around to reading the new Skybound Transformers comic, and I must say I quite like it so far! (The post is long but there are snapshots!)

The depictions of the relationship between characters had me devouring Issue #1 with wide eyes and gasps; I love that it is extremely evident that there is history between the characters.

That Skyfire and Starscream are the first duo featured speaks VOLUMES. Instantly, there is friction/conflict and tension. From the first moment, there is their trademark tragedy written into their stories. What a treat for SkyStar shippers!! >:)

As for Optimus and Bumblebee, I found the moment when Optimus sees Bumblebee's mangled corpse particularly impactful and absolutely love its portrayal. The parallel that it shares with the beginning was an appropriate way to evoke a readers' sympathy. In the panels around this, Spike's expressions also greatly reflect the sorrow that can be felt in the moment; even a bystander can feel Optimus' grief and understand him, making Optimus all the more human. Not to mention Optimus' portrayal—his optics, his posture, the way he hunches over Bumblebee and holds him; the care and the grief, it's written and drawn all over this. I love its masterful portrayal. On a less profound note, it's hilarious that the first one to die is a fan-favourite 💀 Spiteful!

And then there is Soundwave and Ravage. Soundwave definitely cares for Ravage, and who am I but a sucker for a close relationship between carrier and cassettes.

And the trine was so close to completion! Maybe Starscream is agonising over the loss of an asset, but I think there's something more affectionate to it than that.

That being said, Starscream is such a wicked bastard in this one and I love that for him. It serves as a good reminder to Decepticon sympathisers how much of a cunt he truly is.

On another note, the comic starts off with strong sympathetic human characters. This is something that I greatly appreciate because humans, for so much of the franchise seem so redundant with the exception of a few rare gems (ROTB, for instance) so having a good impression of the humans right off the bat is leaves quite a good impression.

Spike and Carly both have dreams yet struggle to achieve them which gives readers a good starting point to start rooting for them.

The fact that we see them passing the night by stargazing also sets a calm, relaxed and friendly atmosphere for them which helps readers warm up to them better, as coontrasted to IDW with an angsty thief for a character 💀 (I really didn't like her, but I also didn't give her much of a chance to develop as a character.)

I also like how they reacted in the crisis of getting caught in the crossfire between the Cybertronians. They reacted sensibly by first considering escape but being humans, their curiosity overcomes them in an understandable manner. When the violence begins, they stay out of sight, panicking but not overreacting. This makes them infintely more relatable and likeable. And I love that Spike got himself involved by pushing the gun towards Optimus! That was rather sweet of him. (Also, I thought the gun was Megatron for a whole second before my brain caught up to the context and went 'Wait, that can't be right, right?' but there's a lot of potential in all the ways that can go)

Alsoe, I adore the design on Carly's van! <3

In general, I love the art in this.

Especially the unglams.

I had a blast and it's only Issue #1! I can't wait to see how deep a hole I dig for myself in the following issues. Hopefully, I can organise my thoughts in a more coherent manner next time; I simply didn't expect to be this impressed by the Energon Universe.

If you've made it this far, wow, thank you for reading! Please feel free to come talk to me about anything Transformers (your blorbos, your thoughts and takes, anything!) in my asks or message me directly. No spoilers for future issues please!!

#transformers #maccadam #skybound #energon universe #optimus prime #bumblebee #soundwave #ravage #skywarp #starscream #skyfire #spike #carly #wildstreak thinks #tf eu spoilers

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aemiron-main · 9 months

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Why Scripts Aren’t Objective Truth (And What Are Scripts Supposed To Do/What's The Purpose Of A Script?)

So, while the ST scripts are absolutely valuable tools for analysis, and I am not, by any means, saying we should discard them entirely (I use them in lots of my analysis), it does floor me how many people (including film students which floors me even more) believe that scripts are meant to tell you objective truths about the show’s plot.

Like. The whole point of scripts is to communicate what you want the audience to believe/the impression you want them to get- scripts are a plan/roadmap for movie and TV production.

So, if you want the audience to fully believe that a character did something (even if they didn’t), you’re going to write your script as if they did it. If you want the audience to fully believe that an actually-completely-innocent man murdered an animal in a fit of sadistic curiosity, you’re going to write your script as if he reveled in the act and did all of it on purpose. Again, even if he is completely innocent, because you want your viewer to 100% believe that he is guilty (and this changes if you only want them to partially believe he’s guilty/have doubts about his guilt etc etc).

The purpose of a script is to provide a roadmap to the production team (including actors) so that they can give a specific impression to the audience.

The purpose of a script is not to give an objective, 100% true, objective viewpoint of what actually happened/the full objective context of every scene. Scripts are MEANT to give a “biased”portrayal of events/give a specific impression, because what we’re seeing on screen is also a biased portrayal of events.

The script isnt meant to tell you the objective truth of what’s going on- it’s meant to tell ST production the impression that they need to give/what they need to convey.

Like, let’s talk about that infamous Massacre at Hawkins Lab script snippet re: Henry and the rabbit.

So, I talked here and here about why I don’t think Henry killed that rabbit, but how on earth can I possibly believe that Henry didn’t kill or intentionally torture that rabbit when it’s written right there, in the script, that he was torturing it and was fascinated by its suffering?

Well, it’s partially because I know that the ST writers want the audience, on a surface level, to fully believe that Henry is guilty. They want the audience to believe that Henry was torturing that rabbit for his own fascination, and that he killed it. I know that scripts work as a roadmap for production & for what the writers want the audience to believe on the surface.

And it’s also because I also know that when we look at the show itself, not just the script and the other pieces of evidence that are present in the show, such as:-

A.) The fact that not only do we not see the rabbit die onscreen, but its body is also shown in two different places (it’s shown in front of the house in the Creel Family Trailer, and is shown over at the slide in the Dear Billy episode), and NEITHER of those places are where Henry supposedly killed it, as he supposedly killed it around the side of the house.

B.) Henry’s facial expression, as James has talked about, looks far more upset than fascinated. Raphael Luce has also talked about working with the Duffers and being very specific about his facial expressions because Young Henry has no speaking lines, so expressions are something extra important to pay attention to for Young Henry.

C.) The fact that the rabbit’s foot was caught in the snare and that the shots of the rabbit parallel Hopper breaking his own foot to escape his chains in Russia- Henry was likely breaking the rabbit’s foot to free it.

D.) The fact that the rabbit’s dead body HAS A BROKEN LEG, the EXACT leg that was caught in the snare.

D.) The fact that Victor was trying to hunt a wildcat- and snaring live rabbits is an EXTREMELY common way to lure wildcats to kill them.

E.) This piece of evidence isn’t present in the show, but I’m including it because it’s non-script evidence- the stray cats mentioned in the leaked TFS auditions, and how they’re likely what killed the rabbit after Henry broke its leg to free it.

-we can see that it’s extremely unlikely that Henry was actually torturing and killing that rabbit out of fascination/torturing and killing it at all.

These pieces of evidence aren’t things that are present in the script- but they are present in the show. Which is why it’s so important not to rely on the script as being some sort of objective truth/why it’s important not to just solely rely on the script, because the script is not the final product, and instead, it’s main focus is to serve as a roadmap for the main impression that the writers want the audience to have (and on the surface, they want the audience to believe that Henry did it, so that they can later reveal that he did not.)

So, to summarize, I’m able to easily believe that Henry didn’t kill or revel in the torture of that rabbit, despite what the script says, because I a.) know that the script acts as roadmap for what the writers want the audience to believe on a surface level, b.) I know that there’s extra scenes/details/evidence in the show itself that “contradict” the script/that contradict that surface level impression/that demonstrate that Henry was trying to help the rabbit and c.) I know that Stranger Things puts a heavy focus on looking at what you’re being shown instead of just blindly listening to what you’re being told.

The idea of the script serving as a roadmap for the surface level/main impression they want to give the audience (rather than laying out the objective truth about the plot) is also demonstrated with how they presented Henward as “The Friendly Orderly” in that very same Massacre at Hawkins Lab script. If the script was meant to be an objective truth, they would have called him One or Henry or Edward. But they don’t. Because it’s not time for that reveal yet & they want to give the impression that he’s just The Friendly Orderly.

Quit wanting to be told everything and start looking at what you’re being shown. The script is not the final product/main piece of media that’s being analyzed here- the show is. And the show itself is NOT going to tell you everything either.

Hell, Dustin said it himself:

So many people watching and analyzing ST want to be TOLD everything so badly- and yet, even when they're told that the show won't tell them everything, and that they need to look at what they're being shown and look behind the curtain, they still don't listen and end up relying on things like the scripts to tell them a supposed objective truth.

This isn't me mocking people for not noticing things/not always seeing everything- I miss stuff all the time. This is me being slightly frustrated that people continue to rely on the scripts as some sort of objective gospel & think that "well, the script said that Henry was fascinated and torturing the rabbit," is an effective rebuttal to my analysis of the rabbit scene, and frustration with people thinking that what we're told in the script somehow supersedes what we're being shown in the show.

#stranger things #henry creel #scriptgate #st scripts

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apocalypticavolition · 2 months

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Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 44: Five Will Ride Forth

Well we're reaching the end of the second book folks, so that's exciting! Soon my posts will only be unreasonably spoiling thirteen Wheel of Time books instead of fourteen - not that I don't spoil book one mind you, just that it's hardly fair to complain about spoilers for that in a post on book two. Is this sufficient warning not to keep reading for such folks or must I go on?

We get the Aes Sedai flame in this chapter because of Bornhald's delusions and Verin's machinations, though ironically the latter are much more about grabbing fate in the saidin-style I discussed a few chapters back.

Perrin decided it was not lack of interest in strangers on the villagers’ part; they were carefully avoiding looking at him and the others. These people had learned not to show curiosity about strangers, even strangers who were obviously not Seanchan. Strangers might be dangerous these days on Toman Head.

Not only that, but under the Seanchan regime, knowing about strangers can be dangerous. Much better to be able to say to the secret police that people came and went but you don't know anything about them than to risk conversations where you might learn just enough to seem like a person of interest.

“Who knows why they do anything?” Mat muttered. “Seanchan don’t seem to need a reason for killing people. None I can figure out, anyway.”

Mat will figure it out going forward and really I don't think he'll much like having the knowledge.

Perrin kept an even closer watch than the other two; he had his own reasons for not wanting to meet Whitecloaks. The axe in my hands. Light, what I wouldn’t give to change that.

And yet Perrin doesn't actually mean it yet. He could toss the axe away at any time after all, to at least change potential future atrocities and also the real one that'll happen in book ten. But he keeps it, knowing what he's capable of it with it, and it's not good that he does.

“They aren’t following,” he said. “How can you be sure?” Mat demanded. “I am!” he snapped, then more softly, “I just am.”

Since Mat has no context for understanding how Perrin might be able to know this without the obvious wrong guess, I wonder if he's worried that he's going to start channeling at any moment himself. They are all three of them connected after all.

Put the prisoners in the inn with as much food and water as they can carry, then nail all the doors and shutters closed. Make them think I am leaving some men to stand guard, yes?

The Whitecloaks might not have any a'dam of their own, but they still love committing what atrocities they can. Balefire the whole fucking peninsula and let the Wheel sort it out I say.

No wait that's an atrocity too. Dammit.

He was still not sure which of the two arrow-riddled women he had stared at afterwards had been the Aes Sedai.

Nice and subtle foreshadowing here.

Be sure he understands that we can no longer count on the Tar Valon witches being content with manipulating events from the shadows. If they fight openly for the Seanchan, we will surely face them elsewhere.

And here we see how damaging an irrational hatred is. For all the flaws of the White Tower, the women of Tar Valon will not engage in any battles for quite a long time. If Bornhald had been able to understand that the Seanchan had their own channelers and that they weren't aligned with the Tower, his warning might have been quite different. Hell, his whole approach might have changed.

“Whoever it was, he is not accounted for, no? And he may carry word of us to the Seanchan.” “A Darkfriend would surely do so, my Lord Captain.”

Wrong again! The Whitecloaks very impressively manage to live in a world with black, white, and occasional gray morality and still manage to oversimply the fuck out of it. They could have done so much more for the west if they'd been capable of critical thought.

Far above their heads, a huge, winged shape circled, unnoticed.

Thinking two dimensionally against a three dimensional enemy.

“Heron Wading in the Rushes,” Ingtar said. He sat with his back against a tree, sliding a sharpening stone along his sword and watching Rand. “You should not be bothering with that one. It leaves you completely open.”

Ingtar betrays his own character flaws here. Besides showing that he has no thought for sword forms except for how they can help him inflict violence upon others, he shows he doesn't understand the worth of self-sacrifice to get victory. It was this very short term thinking that led to his fall to the Shadow after all, and this is why he had to die to redeem himself.

“It’s only for balance, Ingtar.” Rand wavered on one foot, and had to put the other down to keep from falling.

Meanwhile Rand foreshadows his own issues metaphorically pretty well. He tries to spend all of his time in a sword form over the course of the story and it's only when he gets back to standing upright that he can succeed.

“With ta’veren, what happens is what was meant to happen. It may be the Pattern demanded these extra days. The Pattern puts everything in its place precisely, and when we try to alter it, especially if ta’veren are involved, the weaving changes to put us back into the Pattern as we were meant to be.”

Verin will be dealing with this one the hard way later!

“To help Mat find the dagger,” he said sharply, “and Ingtar find the Horn.” And Fain, he added to himself. I have to find Fain if it isn’t already too late.

Two outta three ain't bad, Rand.

“Five ride forth,” she murmured.

It's a good thing no one pays attention to Verin or they might get a lot more nervous.

No, Loial, you must stay behind, too. There are no Ogier on Toman Head. You would attract as many eyes as all the rest put together.

Thank goodness Verin is here to do the thinking for them. They probably would have ridden, all twenty of them, if she hadn't been.

Rand peered at the sketched wheel as Ingtar went on with his instructions. It was a broken wheel, now, with only four spokes. For some reason that made him shiver.

The Seanchan would probably say it was a bad omen to tally your soldiers before combat and then to partially destroy the tally too and the Pattern is about to demonstrate why that is.

Next time: Nynaeve and Rand become masters of terrible weapons.

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #perrin aybara #hurin #mat cauthon #geofram bornhald #jaret byar #rand al'thor #loial #uno nomesta #verin mathwin #ingtar shinowa

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knoxvilleforever · 2 years

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Overheard - Johnny Knoxville x Reader

here’s a little something that’s been floating around in my head today

You could hear your heels clacking against the floor as you descended the stairs, trying to smooth down your dress and hoping you look up to the standard of one of these fancy parties.

It wasn’t the first time you were attending an event as your best friend Johnny’s plus one, but you never got used to the level of primping and preening that came along with them. Of course Johnny and his Jackass cast mates were never ones to bother too much about that aspect, but you often felt the pressure.

A bundle of nerves sat at the very pit of your stomach, thinking about the effort which had gone into your appearance and who you were really trying to impress. Your hair, your nails, the new shoes you had to buy to match your purse, and of course a dress which held you in at all the right places and emphasised your figure.

If truth be told, it wasn’t only the pressure of the event which made you go through all of this. It was the man whose arm you’d be on for the majority of the night. You desperately wanted to look good for Johnny’s eyes, but they never seemed to quite see you in that way.

As you neared the door you caught on to the hushed conversation, and curiosity got the better of you to stop just short of entering the room. Most of the Jackass crew were lounging on Johnny’s couch, whilst Johnny waited for you to finish getting ready.

‘Really man? You’ve never thought about it?’ You heard Steve O’s voice as you stayed at the edge of the doorway, being careful not to move and have those heels giveaway your hiding spot.

‘What, you think I would have? Have you?’ You couldn’t mistake your best friend’s voice, and you furrowed your eyebrows as you tried to follow along.

‘Uh, yeah!’

‘Duh!’

‘Of course! She’s hot!’

You couldn’t work out the chorus of voices which had just sounded, but the pit in your stomach dropped a little lower when you realised they must be talking about a girl. More specifically, a girl for Johnny.

‘She’s not your best friend!’

Oh.

You didn’t know what to think as you realised you were the topic of conversation this evening, but you needed a little more context to work out if this would be good for you, or very bad for you.

‘Dude, have you seen the two of you together? You can’t have known someone that long and not wondered what it’d be like.’

‘Wondered what?’ Johnny’s voice sounded exasperated at Steve O’s response.

‘Y’know, dating.’ You heard Chris chime in. ‘Or, kissing. Or, the sex, of course.’

‘Will you remember who we’re talking about here? It’s Y/N, I’ve known her for years. We’re friends. You don’t think that’d be kinda weird?’

‘A really good weird.’

Your mind was conflicted as you tried to pick apart Johnny’s words. He didn’t sound convinced that even going on a date with you would be at all appealing, and the word weird made your heart drop. You figured nothing had happened all these years for a reason, but your stupid crush had never gone away.

At least you hid it well.

‘Man, she’s totally into you too.’

Oh.

Maybe not.

You felt your cheeks heating up at the mere thought of anyone knowing about your feelings for Knoxville, let alone his friends practically spelling it out for him.

Wait a minute, you’re into him too? Too? Does that mean some part of your feelings are reciprocated?

‘She is?’ The tone in Johnny’s voice had changed, and you couldn’t put your finger on what it held now. You wanted to say hopeful, but you really had to push down the hopes of your own which had started to rise.

‘Uh, yeah!’

‘Duh!’

‘Of course, you’re hot!’

At that you checked the time and realised you were teetering on the very edge of being late for this event, and it kicked off your nerves again.

Waltzing into the room trying to display a casual demeanour, and not that you were trying to piece yourself back together after what they’d been talking about, you found a group of men staring at you in silence.

‘Are you ready, Knoxville?’ Your tone was light and when you drank in his figure wearing a suit, you gulped and realised it was going to be hard pretending you weren’t into him all night.

Or maybe you didn’t have too.

Because that same figure you were staring down, was currently trailing his eyes over your form. And the look on his face was priceless.

‘I’m, yeah. I’m ready. You look, I mean, wow.’ He was on his feet quicker than you realised and despite your heels he was still towering over you.

‘I hope that’s a good thing.’ You smiled as you looked up to him, that overheard conversation giving you a boost of confidence. That and the stuttering mess you’d got Johnny in.

‘Oh, absolutely.’

‘Uh, yeah!’ You heard Steve O call out in the background, ‘you look so hot!’

‘So I’ve heard.’ You smirked as you looked at the rest of the boys on the couch, turning to leave the room with Johnny not far behind.

‘You heard?!’

That same chorus of voices sounded behind you as you linked your arm with Johnny’s, wondering where you’d end up after tonight.

#johnny knoxville #jackass #johnny knoxville x reader #johnny knoxville imagine #johnny knoxville blurb #pj clapp #jackass x reader #jackass imagine #knoxvilleforeverwriting

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naranjapetrificada · 1 month

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For the writers' ask game: 11, 18, 37, please?

Thanks for asking ♥️

Answers behind the cut to spare your dashboards. If you want to play the "get to know your fic writers" game, just pick your question(s) from this list!

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

I always have so many favorites but three recent favorites that I cannot recommend highly enough are:

The Tolling Bells by @edsbacktattoo, which was recently completed and an incredible experience to follow. As a writer, I will never have enough praise for what was accomplished here. As a reader, let me just say that if you like visceral longing and existential overwhelm that still has a happy ending, you've gotta give it a try.

As We Go Hand in Hand by @petrichorca, which is such a sweet, poignant, healing one-shot about Ed's post-canon headspace as he reckons with the size of his love for Stede, how badly he wants to marry him, and how unworthy he still feels of it. Ends with them in a believable but secure place.

The recently resumed Prevailing Winds by holograms. Not sure if they're on tumblr. Anyway, it's an alternate timeline AU, in which Blackbeard and The Gentleman Pirate die the deaths that happened IRL after having a completely different love story, but Ed comes back to do it all over again in the canon timeline. He seems to be the only one who knows what's going on and is desperate to protect Stede and himself from the fates they met before, and his new story is interspersed with flashbacks to the other one, where we get to see them fall in love and what ends up going wrong. It's fascinating as both a reader and a writer, and I'm so impressed with how they're handling telling such a complex story while managing to make every character believable in both timelines.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Titling usually happens like 2/3 of the way through? If it's a one-shot I usually figure out something that's relevant to what's been written so far that a) sounds good and b) sparks some curiosity. Although sometimes the titles are also just very prosaic.

That 2/3 rule applies for my current longfic as in I was 2/3 of my way through Chapter 1. The thing the title comes from is probably not going to actually come up in the fic until chapter 4 or 5, but the timing still works.

For the chapter titles I'm using songs, but I'm using them completely free of context. The content of the songs has mattered significantly less than their titles, and I have a whole doc full of song titles that I think I'm gonna use for future chapters. The exception, so far, might be Chapter 3. I had a non-song title for Chapter 2, then everything relevant to it got pushed back to 3. So there's a chance that anything could happen, really!

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Oh my goodness this is such A Question for Chapter 2. With Chapter 1, I knew down to the exact line I wanted to end on, which meant I knew which scene it would be, which meant I just had to figure out what came before. For a first chapter I think that can work because that's when you're sort of presenting your thesis statement (if not to readers then at least to yourself). I don't think that will be viable going forward.

I had some idea of where I thought Chapter 2 could end, but these chucklefucks are so verbose (especially in their heads) that every single possibility I'd previously thought of ended up being wrong. All of those scenes got pushed back to Chapter 3 at least. I knew I didn't want chapter 2 to get too long or the trend of ever increasing chapter length would absolutely paralyze me and o would never get anything else written.

The end of Chapter 2 is literally, literally the first part of it that could have worked as a stopping point for me, and the whole chapter still ended up being ~1500 words longer than the previous one. I have a feeling that "finally a good stopping point!" might be the way it gets decided in the future, although I guess what makes a good stopping point is stuff like the end of a pivotal scene, the reveal of an important bit of information, a character resolving to do something, etc. We'll see!

#ask games #ask game #asked and answered #fic writing #writing asks #writing process

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emcandon · 10 months

Text

Eyyyy I got asked to write an essay about big robots and digressed into mulling over monstrous metaphors

There’s Bones in that Bot By Emma Mieko Candon When people met me at 25, the wrongness of my body was immediately apparent. It was the thinness, the frailty, the new scars and fragile veins. Another clue: the walker and its cat-mauled tennis balls. So too the oxygen tank—the fancy kind you keep in a bag that spurts air up the tube into your nose only when you inhale. Tst-tst-tst. Even when I graduated to a cane and a steady gait, I made no effort to hide the red tangle of knotty scars at my throat, though I did my best to contain the chronic cough. (A mistake, BTW. Cover your mouth, but don’t hold it in. Great way to put even more stress on the flesh apparatus.) I had by then long since been convinced by Donna Haraway’s thesis of cyborg humanity—that we as entities exceeded our flesh the second we developed tool use, and that it got even worse when we introduced the context of gifts and possessions. But as the years go on, the extended thing-ness of my body only grows more apparent. I am artificial and constructed; I am alive because I have been built. I thought this was what brought me to a fascination with robots and AI—the extension of humanity through embodied machines! But no, my friends said. We remember the whole Gundam thing. The Machine is a Monster Right, the whole Gundam thing. About that.

This might sound weird coming from someone who’s just put out a book about beautiful giant robots, but I’ve never really been interested in robots—at least when they aren’t moving. When a giant robot is just standing there/floating in space/being a Gunpla model, a monument to itself, my eyes pass over its silhouette as they would any other large structure. Perhaps I’m impressed by its artistry, or intrigued by the underlying design, but it isn’t really an object of curiosity.

But when that titan lifts its hand? When its leg rises and its foot crashes down—when it turns its arm to reveal the medium of great violence?

Then I am afraid. Then I am fascinated.

I am drawn to large machinery in the way I am to monsters. When I describe something on the magnitude of a spaceship, I know it can be warmth and a home, but it is also, to me, an existential threat of size and speed and impact. My body is all too familiar with its own fragility. I cannot perceive this immensity without thinking of my fundamental physical relationship to it.

I don’t know that I was thinking any of this, even on an intuitive level, when Gundam Wing first stomped into my life—when it was Toonami’s heady alternative to Dragon Ball Z that I was instantly in love with for the pretty boys and twisty political intrigue. Now, though, I am well versed in the brittle nature of my body, and I have been taking new hikes through Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, then more recently (it just finished! go watch it!) Gundam: the Witch from Mercury. Both series are immediately and intimately Gundam at its best:

1. an interrogation of exploited bodies in the context of vast systems and machines

2. the absurd and precious possibility of human connection.

Ah, right, and 3., the eternal backbone of Gundam as a narrative: War…bad???

The Monster is People

War bad. Seems silly. Pithy. Of course war bad. No one right with their mind, body, or soul wants war.

Do they? Enh. Reality seems to beg to differ. War is happening, right now, all over, in all its ugliness and horror. The great machines of nation, capital, hunger, and hatred grind our smallness through cruelty after cruelty. And for all these great things are the dire mechanisms, it is small human hands that pull the triggers and incise flesh. It is a devouring cycle, it is corrosively sick, we are so pitifully trapped.

I struggle to write this with any kind of resonance or meaning. War bad. Simple, two words, three letters each, and yet abysmally less than the entirety they gesture toward. How many more words would I need? How many more letters and syllables and theories and treatises and grotesqueries must I lay down to properly express war?

Because you have to say something. The nothing is worse. Deadly.

But how? How do you encapsulate the monstrous enormity? How do you even begin?

I don’t know, I don’t know. But I see how some have tried.

The People is the Machine

Giant robots are shockingly silly. They’re physically impossible. They’re often being painted bright LEGO colours or being constructed out of mechanized lions. As often as they’re the centre of gritty stories of human suffering (with a touch of transcendent human connection), they’re goofy warriors for goodness, light, and the power of friendship, taking part in schlocky melodrama. When asked by a stranger what I write about, I say “Oh, giant robots” in the most self-effacing tone. SILLY!

Here’s the thing: this genre has a legacy, at least in Japan. There, mecha stories arrive in the aftermath of World War II, during which Japan both suffered and was the perpetrator of unconscionable violence. And in that aftermath, the Japanese government was (and still is) often eager to honour only its own dead—and to sweep under the rug all the horrors it committed.

How do you live with that? How do you breathe? What do you say?

I don’t think it’s always—or even usually—conscious. Maybe you just find yourself drawn to the idea of samurai and ronin, men of violence bound by rigid hierarchies and honour codes. And maybe you particularly like to write stories where their moral centres are flayed open by the commands of their superiors. “Kill that man,” says the lord. “This doesn’t seem right,” says the samurai—as he kills the man, and then has to somehow goddamn live with it.

Maybe this is what you need to express the overwhelming pressure of complicity and silence.

Or maybe you find yourself thinking in terms of the sheerly absurd. Monsters of incredible magnitude. Robots of like immensity. Maybe you use them to evoke atrocities lived and visited upon your world and body. Maybe it seems only right that they should also dance, that they should be cartoonish caricatures of human experience. Because maybe this metaphor of ludicrous size and self is just the best way to articulate a raw immensity that you cannot otherwise grasp.

Maybe that’s why the robot needs to be larger than the world should ever let it be.

They’re Metaphors, Harold

Small wonder that, when I started writing a book driven by the dissolution of my body, I reached for the magnitude of mechs. It wasn’t intentional. It just happened. Here was an idea perfectly fashioned for a story of total self-destruction and survival. I wasn’t looking to express how I had been let to live because of my artificial hips, or because of the machines that pumped air and blood out of and back into my body. I was trying to capture a giant.

No. That’s not right. I was trying to say that I had been captured by that giant.

No. That’s not right either. I was trying to say that the giant had pulverized me, and that in so doing, it had made me part of it, and that now I live with the tremors of its weight in my every step.

I got so fucking big.

#the archive undying #writing

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biomic · 1 year

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Out of curiosity, what do you think are some of the most iconic or memorable individual quotes from Sentai? Not so much catchphrases as individual moments, like Liveman's "Why have you sold your souls to the devil?" or Magiranger's "Oh, man, it's our idiot". I've been thinking on the topic for a piece of fiction I'm writing

ahh my mind always blanks when it comes to questions like this, which is why i didn't answer this right away. i can obviously think of a ton of iconic moments from just about every season, but thinking of specific quotes that stand out to me was a little tricky. my memory has been and always will be a bit shit, but ultimately, these were the ones that sprung to mind after thinking on it for awhile

kid of the week episodes are a dime a dozen in this franchise and by that same token, sports episodes don't usually leave much of an impression beyond "that was fun!", but there's something so earnest about ninnin 21 that it's always stuck with me. kinji helping this kid not to give up on his passion stands above a lot of similar plots due to just how endearing hideya tawada is in the role, and "people with dreams are hard to beat!" is such a quintessential children's hero line, it's simple but perfect. always makes me smile

timeranger's core theme coming to a head with the reveal of tatsuya's identity in his first major confrontation with his father. i think the screenshots speak for themselves enough, but in the context of the series up to this point it hits even harder. probably my favorite "broken helmet" scene in toku, which is saying a lot since they're all pretty good!

this one is so tied up in shurikenger's Lore™ and hurricaneger's endgame that im hesitant to really go into detail about it, but it's a direction i wasn't expecting the show to go in and it made for a really beautiful lead-in to the final episodes. there's a reason i love this guy beyond just the memes

do i even need to say anything. toshiki inoue i am in your walls.

and of course, we must never forget the actual greatest line in super sentai history

(i had to.)

#if anyone else has any non-meme related sentai quotes that stuck with them feel free to reply!#sophibeans #asks #kendrix morgan died for our sins #super sentai for ts

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strawberrysurecake · 2 years

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Hi! I love your bucci gang tsundere hcs, if your requests are open can you do bucci gang + trish with a s/o who's russian? And they have russian accent and loves to call them russian nicknames?

Thanks for the ask, anon! Though I don't know a whole lot about Russia, I'll do my best to write something cute. I do enjoy a good challenge after all.

Just a heads up... I've done some light research on Russia's language, naming conventions and culture but since I don't have any Russian friends IRL or online to double-check my writing, things may not be 100% accurate and thus, I haven't gone too deep into detail as a result. I hope that's okay with you!

Bucci Gang + Trish with a Russian S/O

I'm also going to assume that Reader was born in Russia and at some point in their life, moved to Italy where they met their S/O.

Giorno Giovanna

Your accent is very sophisticated to him and he'd be slightly envious for it if he wasn't so attracted to it in the first place

He can relate to being a foreigner and keeps a close eye on any crooks who might try to ridicule or swindle you for it

He often daydreams about showing you around Italy, exploring its cities and sharing the finest foods and wines it has to offer

Bruno Bucciarati

The first time you jokingly called him "Mamushka", he was deeply confused

You can get away with calling him any silly pet name so long as he doesn't know what it means

Though he's a bit shy about it, he'll occasionally use Russian pet names on you too with his own charming accent

Guido Mista

He adores the quirkiness your culture brings to the table and perks up whenever he hears your familiar voice across the room

He'll convince you to teach him a handful of words to use in petty arguments, notably against his teammates

The Pistols love your little names for them so much that they occasionally use them on each other even when you're not around

Narancia Ghirga

Like Mista, he's thrilled to learn some crass words and spend quality time with his most favourite person in the world

Sometimes you need to correct him as he uses these words in the worst contexts or messes up the pronunciation

When he's alone, he genuinely attempts to study your language in hopes of impressing you someday

Leone Abbacchio

He can drink you under the table and will use your Russian-ness to bully you about it

"You're Russian, aren't you? You should be able to hold your liquor."

Whatever Russian nickname you have for him will turn him redder than a red panda as he tries to figure out what you just called him

Pannacotta Fugo

He has an unending curiosity of what your life was like prior to moving to Italy

He has a guilty pleasure in asking you for help in translating certain words or texts and will blush like mad if a passage has a romantic or sexual subtext

He's okay with being your little "strawberry cheese man" as long you don't mention it in a language everyone can understand

Trish Una

She's greatly amused by the surprised reactions she receives when she introduces you to her friends and acquaintances and they hear your accented voice for the first time

She will request you to whisper your language in her ear when she wants to feel closer with you

She will often pester you to take her on a romantic tour of Russia

#jjba #jojo #jojo's bizarre adventure #x reader #headcannons #hcs #gn reader #gender neutral reader #giorno giovanna #bruno buccellati #bruno bucciarati #guido mista #narancia ghirga #leone abbacchio #pannacotta fugo #trish una #russian!reader #part 5 golden wind

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