#billions is creating what we Get to see or hear of in the first place / what info we get; how a character is shown to us....

[unproduciblesmackdown]

mused on some thesis about how billions uses Indignity to illustrate that something someone does has failed / gone wrong in one way or another, and how the way this punishment is an Emotional one means that it can't land if the character just doesn't Feel that punished by it, or at least doesn't like attribute the supposed failure to something inherent enough to them to particularly stew on it, see for example people heightening/escalating their efforts to embarass someone if even that person doesn't Seem to sufficiently externally react in embarassment. winston able to truck along while (a) consciously crafting or maintaining some persona, of eternal and irrefutable dignity or whatever else is associated with "merit"/status, isn't much of a priority, when to him his skills speak for themself even though to others this is about their own merit in recognizing independently if winston's skills Happen to have use, and putting him down if he tries to speak to that anyways, and (b) he's also just able to move along from L's handed to him, whether he thinks it was warranted (like that he'll accept it doesn't count if he only thought it but didn't say it) or not (why can't you count to loyalty), when even if this resilience To How Others Treat Him isn't exactly peak realistic, that he thinks of himself in such a way that he doesn't need to be striving for some paramount official status, or think he's defined by never failing or indeed never possibly able to be seen within a "wow undignified / embarassing" framework so long as this winningness is recognized, or so long as anything is anything, is sure feasible enough.

but anyways thought about it like this thesis is just "i am cringe but i am free" like yeah that works

#winston billions #just lifelong recognition that like the [the way they are means they generate comedy] type like peripheral characters are the ones like #yeah of course That's who's relatable; never the like supposedly aspirational and/or peak relatable central/main characters #and that can extend easily enough to the [basically just a running joke] Outlier Single Weirdo Always Just Doing Their Own Thing #like boy we all know people like that huh eyesrollingemoji like yeah. we sure do lol #but also like I Love You any time smthing using comedy is like; look: Everyone is funny & ''weird'' & ''uncool'' & ''doing things wrong'' #like yeah they and we are lol #billions is creating what we Get to see or hear of in the first place / what info we get; how a character is shown to us.... #and boy it just so happens that the characters who aren't epic enough to be brought further into the center of things #also just so happen to inadvertently or advertently Spontaneously share more info abt themselves for ppl to have negative reactions to #while we may be ''surprised'' that axe sucks b/c huh wasn't he so externally epic seeming???? like on what planet; first of all.... #meanwhile winston is not here to be like as ambitious as possible & is more like. sometimes he'll play around; since he's here.... #but this joie de vivre spontaneity is never Cool(tm) of him & maybe he'd be Cooler if he was like (scrolling) ''beneath me; beneath me...'' #(he would not be lol. he's not allowed; fundamentally! it's not Merit in there or out here. nobody has a Deserved greater Air of Dignity) #(but he's getting to have a bit more fun now and then; he'd be punished for his inherent inferiority anyways. and even if like #basically his continuing to be present; continuing to choose to do shit; unacceptably flies in the face of the theory that someone's #inherent superiority will just Make It So that inferior ppl are shunted out of their way or w/e; means that ppl lash out about that by at #least trying to momentarily take Whatever away from him: positive emotional motivation; space to speak unpunished much less be listened to; #space to guaranteed have a Presence unpunished &/or unignored....like well that's the tradeoff to that versus if he tried going for the #tradeoff of much lower highs on average and maybe slightly higher lows on average. not up to You The Individual to simply ''correctly'' #strategize your way out of anyways. e.g. rian has to Choose to treat him with basic respect for his being a person. or someone else has to #Choose to intervene in such a way that lends enough support to winston / thwarts the means with which rian can torment him.) #and in the meantime he apparently can only be peripheral & [funny; little] b/c his Dignity is low stakes. no Arc to ''restore'' it in eithe #anyone else's eyes or much more usually the character's own perception of themself. winston will just be like eh yeah i suck then lol #(when like basically the way He Sucks that ppl give him shit for = his being autistic like ofc he can only roll with / ''accept'' that) #and then he can go whee yippee wahoo & have a blood orange flavored doughnut & ppl can go my god if i were him i'd die #mafee i guess exemplifying this too. Generally able to scuff his foot on the ground like aw gee :( yeah i effed up cringefail style huh #and then move on without it really being much of a whole damn thing. even though it's also Often abt taylor likewise being the one like #[head in hands over mafee fucking up having the collateral or direct damage for them] but they're not here to be fueled by grudges #& ofc this all being Perspective; everyone in billions Is cringefailing lol; but not everyone gets continual [joke at their expense] for it

[slugcatmusings]

What is the Rot? Why is the Rot?

Spoiler Warning and Holy Wall of Text Batman Warning. I got WAY too into questioning the turbo-cancer here, hopefully my rambling makes sense.

So, the Rot is… weird, from a biological standpoint. Really weird, if you stop to think about it. It’s most frequently described as some variation of cancer, and it certainly fits the criteria for it. Caused by damage to DNA? Check. Multiplies uncontrollably? Check. Comes in both benign and malignant forms, one stationary and the other mobile? Big fat check. Heck, even the Rot cysts eating other creatures kind of fits, according to some research I’ve done – there are apparently cancer cells that will eat other cells, which makes sense in hindsight since cancer cells are cells that have lost important genetic restrictions, which may include whatever lets cells identify other cells as “do not eat.”

(I ain’t a biology whiz and I’m doing research on the fly while getting my thoughts out here, so take whatever I say about biology with a grain of salt)

So, Rot is clearly cancer of some kind, right? Case closed. Except when me and a friend of mine were talking Rain World theories on Discord, she brought up some interesting points that got me thinking.

First point: Rot cells obviously mutate in a way that affects FAR more than just cell replication and termination. Some of the cysts can HEAR. As far as I know, cells in the body do not hear sounds. They communicate via chemical signals and maybe, MAYBE react to temperature. Hearing involves complicated, specialized sensory apparatus to pick up on vibrations in the air. Even if you simplify it and say that it’s only vibrations, that’s STILL a multicellular thing, not a single-cell thing. It’s something that took millions of years to evolve on Earth, if not billions.

And while Rain World’s timeline goes on for long enough that it those kinds of mutations might happen eventually, Rot cysts have the ability to hear pretty much right from the start – because even the Proto-Long-Legs react to your presence like the Daddy Long Legs do, and the Rot in Spearmaster’s campaign, where Pebbles has recently contracted it, reacts the same way as it does in later campaigns. It’s already able to hear.

As far as I know, cancer just means the same cell duplicating over and over again. Are more mutations possible with each division, as errors are made in the DNA during splitting? Probably. But not to THAT extent. There’s no way a lump of cancer somehow mutated the exact complicated genetic blueprint needed to grow organs, at least not without outside interference.

Second point: Cases of Rot are way too consistent across the board. Now, we don’t have a huge sample size to work from, but from what we see from both Pebbles’ Rot, and Hunter Long Legs, they’re… pretty similar. Hunter Long Legs is basically a mobile Rot cyst. They move the same way, seem to grow the same way (starts as a growth inside/on the body before eventually freeing itself from whatever wall/flesh it grew from in some capacity and moving elsewhere), they have the same senses, and they even eat the same way, via something like phagocytosis (how white blood cells “eat” invading organisms via engulfing them and breaking them down in a sac in their main “body.”)

Now, this doesn’t tell us much, because cancer, when it does emerge, is pretty consistent in symptoms/what the mutated cells do once they start replicating. It’s pretty much the same regardless of whatever organism the cancer is happening in. But what ISN’T consistent is what causes the DNA error in the cancer cell in the first place. IRL, cancer can be caused by all kinds of things – smoking, radiation poisoning, being out in the sun too long, drinking deadly chemicals and whatnot, anything that damages DNA. But in RW, the only time we ever hear Rot talked about, or see it present, is in the context of an iterator having f*cked up while mucking around with DNA. Pebbles was trying to create an organism that could change his own genome, and No Significant Harassment created Hunter as a messenger and probably mucked something up in the process in his haste to get them to Moon.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t other causes of it, of course, we’re working with a sample size of two in an apocalyptic world with who knows how much potentially DNA-damaging stuff around, but… that’s still awfully consistent.

So, combining these points and everything we know to be canon, Rot is:

an organism that lives inside another organism

Until a certain condition is met, it cannot harm said host organism.

Once said condition is met, it goes out of control, wreaking havoc on the organism’s systems and mutating, giving it sensory capabilities and an appetite

Said condition is apparently someone messing up when re-arranging genomes, in yourself or others

It is widespread across multiple different species, at least iterators and slugcats but potentially other species as well.

Once you have a bad case of it, it is apparently NOT CURABLE. Pebbles tried everything he could think of but apparently exhausted all of his options by the time of the Survivor/Monk campaigns.

So, with all the context FINALLY laid out, here’s my wild theory: Rot isn’t a cancer. It’s a symbiote turned parasite. Specifically, I believe it’s a symbiotic microbe that lives inside the cells that make up every other creature in Rain World, and is held in check by a specific gene that all species share, and altering or getting rid of that gene causes it to go berserk, taking over and eventually mutating the host cells.

Yeah, I did watch Parasite Eve let’s plays as a kid, why do you ask? Anyway, hear me out here.

There is precedence for single-celled organisms living inside of other single-celled organisms. They’re referred to as intracellular endosymbiots (hopefully I got the spelling right there), and the most well-known one is probably the mitochondria. The powerhouse of the cell is thought to be descended from some bacteria way, WAY back that was engulfed by a larger cell and not only survived it, but BENEFITED from it. Since then those ancient proto-mitochondria and eukaryotic cells have mutually evolved to be dependent on each other. So it’s entirely possible for something similar to have happened in Rain World.

However, I don’t think it happened NATURALLY, here. Because something that’s able to take over a cell entirely and begin wildly mutating it is NOT something your average cell wants inside of it. There’s a VERY high chance of extinction if you do that. Which means that of course those funky bio-tech loving Ancients either took a look at a wildly dangerous cellular parasite and went “hmmm we can use this” or made one themselves.

Why did they do this? Who knows! Currently, I’m tied between “they needed a better powerhouse for the cell to power the various weird adaptations they’re building into various creatures,” “there was some sort of disease that this parasite gave immunity against and they wanted to make use of it,” and “it gave their creations massively powerful regeneration factors that made them much easier to maintain.” Possibly it was all three. Whatever the reason, the Ancients either found or created this parasite, and put it into their creations’ cells, hoping to reap the benefits.

Well, they got the benefits, but they also got a microbe that hijacked the cells and harnessed their pre-existing DNA blueprints to build organisms disguised as great big blobs of cancer. Which is not exactly ideal, but hey, they just had to figure out a way of keeping the cell hijacking from happening! And the way they ended up going about it was to alter the thing so that so long as there was a specific DNA sequence in the cell, it laid mostly dormant. All the benefits, none of the risks – so long as that specific string of genes remained intact.

And then BECAUSE it was so beneficial, they spread their artificial symbiote and it’s genetic reins throughout ALL of their creations, from the smallest pipe-cleaning slugs to the iterators. Which meant that as their purposed organisms replaced most of the original ecosystem, they spread the symbiote as well. Thus making it possible for pretty much ANY creature on the planet to come down with a bad case of the Rot. And with the iterators, I wouldn’t be surprised if this symbiote is tied to their self-destruction taboos. Try to cross yourself out? Well, it’s gonna maybe happen now, but it’ll be a slow painful death as you’re eaten alive from the inside and all your own parts turn against you, so was it really worth it?

And they never told their creations this perhaps even actively hid it, because why tell them the cause of the main deterrent to them mucking with their taboos? They might find a way around it. The iterators were left ignorant of how Rot works, and because of this they never figured out that Rot HAD a cure after all: rebuilding that genome that reins in the symbiote. Because why in the name of the Void would they repeat the same mistakes that gave them Rot in the first place, and potentially make it worse?

#rain world #rain world worldbuilding #serious musings #rain world headcanons #rw rot #the rot #rain world rot #rain world turbo cancer #which is not actually cancer #yes i Parasite Eved the shit out of the Rot #yes that is a verb now I take no criticisms #anywho the Rot is a byproduct of the ancients Fucking Shit Up on Purpose #and it DOES have a cure damn it #I'm not giving the robots not-actually-cancer and NOT giving them at least a chance to cure it #not mentioned above is the fact that depending on the genes altered along with the restraining gene #you might get rot with fun mutations like being able to jump from organism to organism #or Rot that outright assimilates cells from other organisms #amongst other things #plenty of FUN stories to play with there >:D

[joedirtymadre]

Sandwiches - Part 1

LAW X READER. FLUFF. (Taking requests 📲 pls send em 🧎‍♀️)

It’s been a few weeks since the captain of the Heart Pirates came aboard. However… I never really thought that this would be the result of the alliance. I’ve noticed that Law really likes hanging around me, not sure why… but as soon as we boarded he seemed to have liked being alone or unbothered.

Then one day…

“Hey (Y/N)!” Luffy called out as I had just finished creating some new outfits for the crew. “What’s up?” I asked. “Can you ask Sanji for some food? He banned me from the kitchen because the other night I raided the pantry,” Luffy said with a defeated look. “And I’m so hungry,” he whined. “Hmmm… I’ll try my best, but you know if I ask for too much food he’ll get suspicious,” I smiled. “Alright!” Luffy cheered and ran off to hide, in case Sanji caught him scheming a mission.

I walked into the kitchen, “Hi Sanji,” I smiled and waved. “(Y/N)-chwann~” he cooed as he was chopping some ingredients. “Hi Sanji, mind if I make something? Just some sandwiches,” I said. “Sure, but if you want I can make you one real quick,” he said as he placed the knife down. “No! It’s ok, I got it. Plus… Law asked me for one so I wouldn’t want to interrupt you,” I said the first thing that I could think of. “Him?!” He said angrily. “Don’t be angry Sanji, plus I’d hate for you to stop the meal you’re preparing. I’m really excited to try it for dinner,” I smiled and grabbed the objects from the fridge. “You’re so sweet (Y/N)~! I’ll make this one of the best dinners ever,” he said and continued preparing the dish. Phew… anyways, now let’s make some sandwiches.

I made enough sandwiches for each crewmate, except for Sanji- he said he’d rather wait until dinner. I began passing a wrapped sandwich with a glass of juice to everyone. Everyone said thanks and happily took the sandwich and juice from me. I then sneakily walked over to Luffy who was hiding in a barrel, “Hey Luffy! Made you some sandwiches,” I smiled. “How many?” He drooled. “5 of them, I hope that’s enough until dinner,” I said and handed them the wrapped sandwiches. “Wow thanks, ok now can you cover the barrel again? Before Sanji sees me eating?” He asked, I laughed and quickly covered the barrel. I had 2 more sandwiches, and decided to go find the mysterious doctor.

I found him in the library, leaning back in a sofa chair asleep. I quietly placed the sandwiches and a glass of juice on the coffee table next to him. I was about to walk away before my curiosity peaked. I looked over at the large fluffy hat that was covering his eyes, “Just one touch…” I whispered. I slowly walked over and stood in front of the sleeping doctor. I gulped as my hand slowly crept closer and closer to the fluffy white hat. So close… and finally contact! “So soft…” I smiled. “So cute,” I said. “So you think I’m cute, huh (Y/N)-ya?” Law asked as he tilted his head up to look at me. I stood there frozen, then felt my face burn up to a billion degrees. “N-No I was j-just-“ I stuttered as I backed away. “Wow, all shy and flustered, huh? Guess you must really like me?” He smirked. My face felt like it was on fire, and my head started spinning. “W-Wait hear m-me out- Ah!” I slipped while taking a step back, but instead of hitting the floor I felt an arm snake around and caught me. My eyes opened and were faced with a very muscular torso… they then lingered up to see a smirking man. “Falling for me now, are we?” He smirked. “I-I-I-I,” I blushed, and my head went back to spinning in circles. “I think she busted a fuse,” I heard him chuckle. I pushed him back, “I made you some sandwiches, I hope you like them!” I yelled and ran out of the library or else I’m gonna explode.

Back to now…

Ever since that day he hasn’t left me alone… and it’s honestly not too good for my health. I never realized how flirty he is… he’s almost as bad as Sanji, but more bolder. It’s dangerous… So dangerous that I have decided to hide from him or else my heart might actually explode. Now I'm under the dining table, hoping he won’t find me. I’ve been here for 30 minutes, so I think I’m in the clear… I finally let out a sigh of relief. Then suddenly I see a blue color surrounding me, “Room,” I hear and before I know it the captain of the Heart Pirates is over me, his frame pinning me to the floor. “Really (Y/N)-ya? Hiding under the table now?” He chuckles. “It’s cause you-!” I immediately shut my mouth. I hear footsteps, a couple of them. I look over and see Luffy’s, Usopp’s, Chopper’s, and Sanji’s shoes. I look up to Law who is staring back at me with a smirk, I frown angrily in return. “What’s up with that look, (Y/N)-ya?” He whispered in my ear, making my body fill up with goosebumps. “You! You keep-!” I stopped once I heard. “Did you hear that?” I Usopp asked. “Huh?” Sanji asked, annoyed. “Anyways, hurry up and help me move these food items to the pantry,” he said and showed them some boxes. “Roger!” The 3 said and began moving the boxes. “You should really whisper, unless you wanna get caught,” he whispered. “Fine, you just don’t know when to stop teasing people!” I whispered angrily. “What are you talking about? You’re the one that called me cute,” he smirked. “I meant the hat!” I whispered. “Then why do you get so flustered around me?” He asked. “I-I… I don’t know…” I blushed and avoided his eyes. “Come on, just say you like me,” he smirked as he noticed the goosebumps on my skin. “You’re just teasing me,” I frowned. “And? It’s cute seeing how flustered you get,” he says softly. “C-Cute?” I asked, feeling my face heating up. “Yeah, and it looks like you like being teased,” he said as he analyzed my face. “I do not!” I whispered. “You’re just a bully,” I huffed. “Yeah, but only to you. I like your reactions,” he replied as he leaned down and I could feel his breath hitting my neck. “I bet you wouldn’t like it, if I teased you back,” I frowned. “You? Tease and bully me? That’d be a funny sight to see, (Y/N)-ya,” he chuckled softly. “Oh yeah? Well then…” I blushed, as I cupped his face and forced him to face me. He had a surprised look on his face, for only a second, “Well th-“ I interrupted him. I pulled him into a deep kiss, I felt as he tensed up from the sudden contact, but quickly relaxed into it. After a few more seconds we finally pulled away from each other. “I told ya,” I smirked. “Man you sure like to rile people up, don’t you (Y/N)-ya?” He smirked. I don’t think that was a good idea… I looked over and realized the boys were gone. I took this opportunity to snake out of Law’s grasp and jump out from under the table. “Hey!” I heard him say, and heard a hard THUMP come from under the table. “Oh no, are you ok?” I asked, being a habit of mine. He peered out from under the table and looked devilish. “You look fine!” I said and quickly ran off. While running off, I realized something… it is kind of fun to tease him back.

#anime fanfic #fanfic #fluff #x reader #anime #one piece #trafalgar law #law x reader #one piece x reader #one piece x y/n #one piece law #law x you #law x y/n #trafalgar one piece #trafalgar d law x reader #one piece fluff

[rederiswrites]

I don't see how trump turning America into a christofacsist state is any different than the norm? like it's been like that for native and black people since it's creation like we inspired the nazis in the first place so like what the point? oh trumps gonna kill everyone who isn't a white cis male! and? that's what america's best quality since day one

Okay I'm actually going to respond to this Edgelord Supreme bullshit, because as absurd as it looks written out like this, I actually do think a lot of people are feeling some half-articulated version of this despair and cynicism. Let's kick that in the ass.

First, let's get one thing straight. History has been terrible awful bad always and forever. There have been a thousand genocides and a million wars and a billion brutal, inhuman war crimes. Back in the days of the earliest civilizations, wiping out entire cities when you defeated them was basically just how things were done for many societies. The fact that we have international laws and international bodies of justice, however obviously toothless they remain, is the result of thousands of years of extremely mixed progress.

So at this point, you pretty much have to say either that a) humans are an incurable blight and don't deserve to live, or b) that we've done amazing, beautiful things and experienced billions of moments of happiness and created art and fallen in love despite all this, so we're still worth working on. Personally, I am very strongly in camp b. I see things worth living for a hundred times a day. There's really no comparison.

Second, the USA is not uniquely bad. It is terribly damaging to people both within its borders and all over the world. It is build on genocide and slavery. Many of its foundational institutions are deeply corrupted by these things. And guess what, that's uh....pretty common. No, really. The US is currently a big fucking problem. It's our turn with the big stick, for sure. But even then, we're not alone.

So how the fuck is this encouraging? It isn't. I'm not encouraging you, I'm telling you to fucking GET GOOD, because when you say shit like the above, what I hear is "Oh I SEE, I'm a TERRIBLE PERSON I guess I should just kill myself to make your life easier." I hear someone who would rather give up and call their country morally bankrupt and irredeemable than to PUT IN SOME FUCKING WORK.

Cynicism is so comfortable. It doesn't ask anything of you. "It's always been like this," it says. "Nothing's going to change."

Except things do change, and things have changed, and your entire premise is in fact absolute dogshit. The two presidential candidates are not remotely the same, and we are not, yet, a Christofascist nation. I could, as many before me already have, enumerate the million concrete ways in which your premise is just not true, but honestly I won't bother, because it's not a premise in good faith. What I mean by that is that even a cursory examination of the actual facts would totally trash your expressed beliefs, so you're not really interested in the facts.

Change for the better can happen. Change for the better has happened. It's just not as EASY as you want it to be. There are more steps. For example, you can't have viable independent candidates until you have campaign finance and voting reform. So you have to push for those things. For years, probably decades. Many people have died without seeing the realization of things they fought for, and yet those things have come to pass. You may die fighting the good fight and not see the victory. I may too. Meanwhile, you make the choices that will hopefully get the fewest people killed.

So stop acting like we're all just too shitty to bother about, and put in some fucking work.

[goingbuggy]

When you have time I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about post time skip buggy!!

Hi, anon! Sorry for the late-ish reply. I thought carefully about how I wanted to reply, but alas, here I am again, starting my metas in the strangest places. Anyways, here’s a seemingly unimportant question: Why is it funny that Buggy keeps failing upwards?

My answer also happens to be one of Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling:

"Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating."

You might be wondering why I chose this quote -- after all, Buggy manages to escape most conflicts by sheer coincidence. Take the canon-filler episode(s) “Little Buggy's Big Adventure,” for example; coincidence is the sole reason why he ends up on Gaimon’s island and eventually finds Alvida, one of his future allies. But for as much as Oda is guilty of using coincidences to benefit Buggy, he also creates coincidences to get Buggy into trouble. Sure, Buggy left on good terms with Gaimon/found Alvida, but only after:

Suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Luffy

Losing most of his body

Being chased by killer fish/eaten by a ginormous bird

Nearly getting shot in the head by Gaimon over a misunderstanding

Being chased AGAIN by a deadly crab???? LMAO???

Buggy’s “luck” functions like a pendulum -- for every good thing that happens to him, horrible things are guaranteed to follow. This core aspect of his character is what keeps the gag afloat. Buggy is never rewarded by the narrative without experiencing consequences. In order to earn moments of respite, he has to suffer.

I find it hilarious when people argue that Buggy doesn’t deserve to have good things happen to him. Because, yeah? Duh. Oda loves having his cake and eating it too. It’s not necessarily good to play both sides with the audience when it can cheapen emotional impact, but Oda will absolutely continue to make Buggy both a complete joke and a genuine character. He has fun that way. However, he’s not going to help Buggy without hurting him first.

But that's a very meta perspective. How does Buggy view his own beneficial coincidences? He’s now an emperor, and extremely close to the One Piece/Pirate King title that he so desperately wants. But why does he think he’s being rewarded, in-universe?

His facade.

His devoted followers, his influence, that billion-berry bounty, his emperor status -- all of it stems from his fake persona and its snowball effect. He’s well aware of this. In fact, I think it’s likely that he hates himself for being such a coward and hiding behind lies. But when he sees his true self as worthless, what else can he do except dig himself into a deeper hole?

Look at 1082. Buggy finally stands up for himself, claiming that wealth and power come from chasing after your dreams -- not grand schemes. Here, he’s talking to himself as much as he’s talking to Crocodile and Mihawk.

“This is wrong… This isn’t how I wanted my life to go…”

It’s a very depressing peek at the man behind the curtain. Buggy only ever wanted to follow his dreams, but he uses schemes to get ahead instead, because they're all he thinks he has. His lies are a crutch to depend on, so he doesn't have to face the truth: he doesn't believe in himself. 

To me, 1082 reads as a "Hail Mary" moment from a character at an emotional low. Buggy still doesn't believe in himself, but he is saying: Fuck it. If Shanks and I finally have an equal chance at becoming Pirate King, I at least have to try... Right? We can confirm his lack of self-confidence, because Buggy even admits he got here by “luck or chance or whatever."

He cannot entertain the possibility that he'd get this far any other way. Of course he doesn't see himself as Shanks' equal. It’s one of many reasons he didn’t want to go with Shanks at Loguetown; he assumed he’d be working “under” Shanks (even though Shanks only said “Come with me!"), because he truly believes he is lesser in terms of potential/greatness. ("You coward!" can also be interpreted as Buggy projecting his own insecurities onto Shanks.) Buggy's decision in 1082 is a desperate leap of faith. "Go for broke," "shoot for the moon," etc.

Post-Timeskip Buggy may appear more dangerous than ever before, but in reality, he’s just a small fish in a big pond. The farther he crawls his way up the ladder of success, the worse he feels, because the life he has built is not how he wanted to live at all. Based on everything we've known about Pre-Timeskip Buggy, we should expect him to be happier than ever. He has influence. Power. His monetary value in the eyes of the World Government has shot up exponentially. But look at the poor guy. He's miserable.

If you've ever seen Better Call Saul, I think this scene from S4E9 is very similar to how I feel about Buggy:

JIMMY: There you go! Kick a man when he’s down! KIM: Jimmy, you are always down.

Buggy is a character who is always down, even when you think he might be up. Until he stops maintaining that false image, he will always be punished by the narrative pendulum he's trapped himself in.

Unfortunately, change is hard, especially with the stakes he’s currently facing. If Buggy actually has to fight Blackbeard, Luffy, or Shanks... he can’t. Not alone. He needs people to believe the facade, because that's what got him here in the first place. He may look invincible, but he is quite possibly the most vulnerable character right now.

Crocodile and Mihawk would sell him to Satan for one corn chip (especially after that stunt he pulled in 1082). We haven't seen him improve his physical abilities (unless Oda pulls some off-screen bullshit). As an emperor, he has more people gunning for his head than ever before. Buggy’s last line of defense is his long-running gag -- if Oda decides to subvert our expectations, he’s a dead man walking.

And who would he have to blame but himself? He built his image on smoke and mirrors. Eventually, he's going to have to pay the price.

If Pre-Timeskip Buggy is a man defined by coincidence, then Post-Timeskip Buggy is defined by consequence.

#but that's just a theory... a game #ok im normal now #anyways this is just my particular take on his character #i'd love to hear your thoughts too anon #i'm his lawyer though if anyone says they hate him i'm suing them for defamation #joke. unless..? #buggy #ask #buggy the clown #one piece #op buggy #long post #op meta #one piece meta #meta #character analysis #akagami no shanks #red haired shanks #shanks #cross guild #dracule mihawk #crocodile

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Let Me Drown (Orville Peck)

Never knew where was home I slept a lifetime alone/Yeah, we had it one time but it's gone now, it's gone/Let me drown/I know with pleasure comes pain/I figured we were the same/But as I get older I get more afraid

"It is the best song for a good cry, when I'm down I listen to this on repeat. It so hard to stop listening to, you don't want any other song you want this again. The emotions are so strong you get swept away in it. I first heard this song on a video edit of Edward Teach (ofmd) after Stede leaves him. When he is turning back to his old ways and rejecting all the good in him that Stede brought out. He is throwing away his own growth and returning to the safety of a hard violent facade. It fits this song so well."

Epilogue (The Stanley Parable)

"Every single one of my friends know that I’ve bawled my eyes out at this song at least once. I’m a sucker for strong music, and the fact that I’m hyperfixated so hard on this damn game does not help. Listen. This game is a rollercoaster. From start to ‘end’, it is a rollercoaster. It presents itself as goofy and lighthearted, haha there’s a British guy following you around who reacts to your choices. It’s very silly, the jokes are funny, it doesn’t take itself seriously. Until it does. The Narrator, who supposedly created the game and takes great pride in it, is showing off his game’s success and reminiscing over the thing it used to be, in a place he calls the Memory Zone. Then, he stumbles upon a collection of negative reviews that make him realize that his game may not be all that he thinks it is. He’s desperate to please his players, and so he sacrifices himself and his time and creates a skip button, so that players who don’t want to hear his voice can skip through his dialogue. The time between skips gets longer and longer until he’s gone. Stanley is finally able to leave the room he’d been trapped in, and is met with open desert. A wasteland. He still hasn’t learned his lesson, even through billions of years (someone did the math) of solitude, and how much that affected him (and potentially killed him), he still desperately wants to please those who play his game. And so he puts together an expo to show off his ‘new features’. As he prepares to present it to Stanley, there’s a swell of hopeful and triumphant music. This is important. One of the exhibits is these figurines. If you collect all of them, there is supposedly ‘no reward’, but it actually unlocks an ending where the Narrator decides to release Stanley for good. This is the last step to unlocking the Epilogue, given to you by a mysterious entity who greets you every time you open the game. In the Epilogue, it’s mostly cutscenes. Stanley wanders the desert wasteland, while this music plays. The Narrator is not present. The Epilogue is a culmination of everything Stanley and the Narrator have gone through together, against each other and then against the world. The Epilogue takes place when the Narrator is gone, leaving Stanley to only wander alone with his memory, with no silly voice to keep him company. It’s a time where Stanley can only bring back memories about the Narrator as he faces survival in the desert. Alone. I cry every time the music swells during the sandstorm bit of the cutscenes. But at the very end of the song, when the music dies down, Stanley once again stumbles across the Memory Zone. The place that the Narrator once held dear, that held all his favorite memories, now dilapidated and half-buried in the sand. The place where the Narrator once enthusiastically showed off positive reviews of his game. The place he was proud of, hidden away where the developers would never see it. And. And do you know what this song does. When the Memory Zone comes into view. It fuckjgn reprises the song from the Narrator’s expo, once triumphant and swelling as he showed his creations off with a grand flourish, now quiet and sorrowful as you come across the memory zone without him present. And if the swelling of the sandstorm scene doesn’t hit me first, this bit fucking floors me. Every single time. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a silly game about choice. It is also a game about companionship, and trust, and hurt, and grief. And during the true ‘ending’ of the game, before everything starts anew, when that music is playing, it’s the result of every single moment these characters have experienced, come together in one song, and a bunch of cutscenes. THAT is why this song fucks me up. sorry i dont know wtf possessed me just now but yeah. This game is a little obscure and many MANY people who have played it have not made it to the Epilogue, so I highly doubt it’s gonna make it very far into the tournament. But fuck if it can make me cry,"

#fuck you up bracket #tournament #polls #orville peck #the stanley parable

[yaminerua]

Rimmer discovering that his real father was the gardener Dennis and managing to find a way to be proud of himself for becoming a second technician in the space corps because he figures his real father would have been proud of him for getting that far warms my heart in a kind of bittersweet way;;

He’s had his entire world turned upside down. His father, or rather the man he has always thought of and believed to be his father, is in fact not his father at all. The weight of constantly not living up to expectation, constantly disappointing, lagging behind his brothers, never being Rimmer enough in his father’s eyes takes on a new light when he learns that he is a Rimmer only in name, not by bloodline.

His real father was a gardener, and yes Rimmer referred to him as a babbling imbecile when he was first told, but clearly Dennis was good at his job, good with his hands in practical ways. Maybe he wasn’t an academic type, maybe he even had the same struggles that Rimmer himself experiences and that’s what led him to something more hands-on. But he’s good at what he does and was presumably happy to do it too.

When Rimmer is hearing the news, he’s told he no longer descends from a line of Austrian princes and French royalty but artisans, gardeners. People the Rimmers would look down on but whose individual skills are still very much a valuable and precious thing.

Lister jokes that a billion piece jigsaw finally falls into beautiful place but in a way he’s right.

Rimmer has been shown in the books to have enjoyed creative things in his youth. He was all too happy to colour in maps of the solar system with extreme care and attention to detail, and later in life he colour codes his revision timetables until they resemble minor works of art themselves. And although it’s a deleted scene there’s also a moment where we see him trying to paint miniature models with the aid of a hologram box. So even now something of that has survived as a minor hobby. It’s clear there was a burgeoning creative streak in him that was squashed by his family’s lack of appreciation for art and crafts. Something they surely viewed as nothing more than frivolous time-wasting pursuits, unlike something productive like becoming an officer. Something menial in their eyes despite the very real skills needed to create something with your own hands.

Given enough encouragement to pick up a craft and stick to it he would probably find that it comes to him a lot more easily, a lot more naturally than studious, complicated academic stuff that requires lots of reading and memorising and calculating. He’d find that he’s good with his hands, and a practical learner who retains things much more easily when he’s able to work at it physically. And he would surely enjoy expressing himself through creative endeavours a bit more if he could just give it a chance.

I understand that he still wants to have a goal to aim towards, and since he’s spent his entire life and most of his borrowed time as a hologram attempting to become an officer then of course he’s going to be reluctant to give it up. He’s spent so much time trying to become an officer, what’s the point in giving up now? I guess it’s something that would take time for him to really consider letting go of. It has defined so much of his existence for so long but so much of THAT was dictated by the expectations of a man he now knows isn’t even his real father.

When he played that message from his father it was to try to free himself from that. He even says that although he was only supposed to play it after he became an officer, by playing it beforehand it means he doesn’t care what his father thinks, that he’s free of him. But that’s easier said than done.

It would have been nice to see him leave that goal behind, to shed it along with the weight of all the other expectations that were placed on his shoulders, to cast aside the mould he was never able to make himself fit no matter how hard he tried.

But I think that with everything his life has been it’s to be expected that it would be a slow, gradual process. How do you throw away everything you thought you had to be all at once? What’s left of yourself when everything you’ve become was built around those expectations? Who will you become afterwards?

I hope he figures that out and makes peace with it someday;;

#I am having Rimmer emotions ;;;;;;;;;; #Red dwarf

[dragon-business]

Kiryu and Rina

Each meeting with Rina starts with her relationship meter with Kiryu dropping after just one look at his outfit. Girl, it's almost vintage >c

Really rooting for her to enlighten Kiryu about the Agenda and the queer customs. He's having a hard time out there on Kamurocho streets. Kiryu can talk about Goromi with her, it'll ease him into it though socially acceptable talks "about girls". We're 1000% sure Rina opened up to Kiryu in the first place because she sensed the fellow gay in him.

Also we would love to hear Rina's opinions on Kiryu's journey. She is stanning him on his first awkward gay steps. He's trying, and it's adorable. Wanted to say he's taking his “baby steps” at first, but no. He's strolling in big and strong. Kiryu is almost a sugar baby material, look at him.

Rina: you know, people could pay big money to keep you around (: Kiryu: well, actually…

And this is how Rina learns the fun and casual story of a billion yen boy.

Rina nods seriously: some people just have a natural talent for these things, I guess.

And it's true, one day Kiryu's struggling to understand the concept of queerness, the next he's meeting up with the non-binary hostess with killer cheekbones.

And aside from that, Kiryu is fastly becoming a hit among the nightlife crowd and management of Kamurocho. He’s barely out of prison, and already protected male host club employees, that one club owner lady in white dress, got all the SHINE stuff watching his dates with a yakuza patriarch, had the said patriarch rent a whole strip club for a single date.

And they left the place completely wrecked. Oh, the rumours.

(Strip club got thoroughly compensated, even the girls got full shift pay)

Remembering how Kiryu came up to this strip club, and the manager stared at him, mumbling "we've heard so much about you, here, come in, come in"

– So, alright, if Kiryu had his second date with Goromi, then it would make sense for Rina to start pressuring him to go on a casual "date" too (marking the start of her substory). She wants to get all that sweet info, while having a free dinner or karaoke night.

Kiryu probably scared Majima quite a bit with all his forwardness and honesty. So he's gonna be avoiding Kiryu for a bit afterwards to gather his composure. And ofcourse it will make Kiryu think he fucked up somehow. He'll need some scolding and reassurance for sure.

(Majima will not be able to avoid Kiryu for too long, though; the dragon training is still not finished, and it takes precedence over Majima's complicated feelings)

Rina, with a death stare, after Kiryu had his first (and then again the second) date with Goromi: Lemme get this straight. Answer honestly. Are you aware you can date other guys as a guy? Kiryu: O:

He was aware of the concept, but didn't know he could apply it to real- I mean his life. Only after laying it out very clearly it finally clicked.

See, Kiryu had concepts of a "date" and "hanging out" stored separately in his head, each having very strict requirements and rules that (he thought) can't be changed. Like, meeting with telephone club girls in 0, bowling with Majima – Kiryu didn't think of those as dates. For it to be a date there should be the emotional connection, opposite gender present, food, handholding, and other classic movie-esc things. In bowling you only hold a ball.

But being around Goromi created the ideal mix of circumstances that allowed Kiryu to just relax and do and say what he wanted, not what he thought he's supposed to. It was a life changing experience.

Now he just needs a little more info to understand that there is way more to the world of relationships than the old fashioned hetero-normative clichés Kiryu picked up from his not-so-healthy-environment growing up.

- before / navigation / next

#kazumaji #kiryu kazuma #goro majima #yakuza #rgg kiwami #this is canon now

[jmdbjk]

I wrote this three days ago.

These are just my thoughts as I continue to process this very pivotal moment in BTS’s career. 

It has only been ten days since the “hiatus/it’s not a hiatus” announcement was made. 

Jimin said, please just take their words as they are. I hear you Jiminie.

But my brain is a mess.

They were too somber during the Festa dinner. Especially toward the end. They say it was filmed about a month ago, like May 20. 

We saw them last week on the music shows. Some time has passed sinced filming Festa dinner. They looked good and dare I say happy? Joon’s been spotted out of the country the last few days. Damn you people and your inability to not post that sort of shit. But anyway...he’s back now.

Something major happened to change the direction they had hoped to take this year. Six months ago, everything was in high gear in anticipation of COVID restrictions being rolled back:

Remembering some of the things they’ve been saying since the AMA’s and Jingle Bell Rock red carpet interviews last year:

They all blinked like their eyeballs were about to fall out. They were thrilled to be spilling tea about a tour and new music...

Now I wonder if they were ready to finish off an album of all new songs, or if they had planned this anthology all along. Regardless, they could have pulled off a sold out world tour with PROOF the anthology. ARMY WANTS TO SEE THEM!!! IT’S BEEN ALMOST 3 FUCKING YEARS! 

I think they were also working on or at least considering solo stuff too and I think they had it all timed out how things would just fall into place. I think that’s what they said about the MOTS tour, then taking a break for solo work was really their plan with a definite timeline. 

COVID cancelled all that. And now the military service has left the timeline non-existent because they still have no definite answers. Or maybe they do and the timeline now extends way into the future.

The timing of all this is just.... I want to take your words as you say them Namjoon. 

But six months ago, you all seemed to be preparing for a world tour.

I think once they learned about their military status in late April or May I think that’s when Jimin said OK I better get this done if I wanna do it because he did say during the Festa dinner that he just started working on it. He said he wanted to do it properly.

So I think all of this just happened quickly since April and I think it’s just a hard thing to work through psychologically for them, especially after having everything first snatched away by COVID and now this. Please, God, please let them make their way through this and be stronger than ever as a group. They have so much to give the world.

We know we’ve heard both sides of the military service debate regarding BTS’ service and how many people (even within their own country) think they deserve to be exempted because of everything they bring to the table already to their country. BTS contributes billions of dollars to their country’s economy. 

I am not Korean or live in Korea and I will not state my opinion here about what I think should happen. I am just stating the different sides of the coin for consideration. 

The ripple effect will be profound though. From the small companies that create the actual physical albums and their packaging, the print shops that create the photocards we all cherish, to the hundreds on staff that work for them when the giant machine is in motion preparing for those world tours: the stage production crews, the video production crews, the dancers, the stylists, the wardrobe people, the marketing/promotional people, the administrative people who pay the bills...the taxes the corporation pays...will be gone if revenues of the company goes down. We already saw the immediate effect on HYBE’s bottomline the moment they said the word “hiatus.” That’s instant impact. I hope it was a wake up call to some individuals in their government.

I WROTE THIS THREE DAYS AGO. Before people started sending out “official statements” to BTS to curtail this hiatus.

After the Festa dinner, 24 year-old Jungkook jumped on V Live the next morning, washed his dishes and soothed the stock market...if that’s not impact I don’t know what is.

A prosperous country is better equipped and has more resources to handle challenges such as high unemployment, social programs and housing crises than a poor country. Even if they can’t solve the issues they can at least afford to argue about them. In a poor country, everyone is poor. A poor country just tries to keep their people alive and not be invaded. I just stated all of those concepts very simply but in reality they are very, very complex issues.

We also hear the other side where it is a “right of passage” for men in South Korea to do their military service. It is very honorable and patriotic and many many people hold those values in the highest degree. Also, many are against an exemption for them especially those who have already served. Or some are against preferential treatment of any kind. 

South Korea and North Korea are still in a state of war with each other. That’s the reality. I cannot find the source but I read that there’s been over 70,000 exemptions from duty since the 1970′s when conscription was put into law. I would go ahead and venture to say these 7 men fall into any of the categories of consideration these previous 70,000 are in that gained an exemption.

Both arguments for enlistment or for exemption are very valid to those who fall on either side. Each individual member of BTS is capable of deciding on their own what is the best for them personally or what is important to them personally. 

We all know that many people, men and women, thrive in the military. It’s their life’s calling. But we’ve also heard the horror stories of psychological impairment that can result in individuals exposed to the trauma of war especially those injured in combat.

I fully believe that governments need to maintain their militaries to the highest degree. Look at Ukraine...what I thought would be unthinkable in this day and age is reality...anything is possible.  

I fully respect everyone who serves and I am so thankful and grateful that they do. I can understand how this whole situation for them is stressful. I can understand how Namjoon and the other members are feeling about wanting BTS to have a legacy. I can see how he is mixed up. I hope he clears his mind and finds his resolve.

Now that they’ve served in diplomatic capacities, now that they’ve represented their country beyond just music, it’s understandable they don’t want to be just a K-pop group.

The lack of a definite decision over their military service from the government, what it would consist of and the timing of it really messed them up this year. And I think Namjoon’s growing state of conflict dovetailed with the inability to make a plan for the rest of the year and beyond and just threw everything out of whack. But maybe all this have been decided and we, the fans, just don’t know what it is yet.

So perhaps there’s yet another source of distress for them. Maybe the results of the South Korean election, which took place March 9 of this year, took them by surprise, not being what they expected. It was a very close election, the results were 49% to 48% with the popular vote being 16,394,815 to 16,147,738. 

During the Festa dinner Namjoon said, “am I speaking as BTS, or am I speaking my own personal preferences?” Perhaps the things Namjoon is thinking now are very controversial. Maybe they all have different views on what is happening in their country and are affected by it differently and that can cause conflict. He wants BTS to send a message to the world and right now I think that message is very, very acutely negative toward the South Korean government and I can see how much conflict that could cause. 

I wonder if they really did think they were going to get some sort of exemption or something else that fit more with their ability to carry out a world tour etc. I mean all the things they said about planning for a world tour happened before the election and maybe they were optimistic that the other party was going to win. But the other party didn’t and now things seem to be drastically different in their country.

We wonder why JK is covering up some of his previous tattoo work. Jungkook was on a mission to “save” his arm. Maybe he’s felt those images did not represent him any longer. I wonder what caused him to reconsider some of them. He covered up some of the most Korean-centric images: the tiger and the three bars. 

This current government does not represent him, Jeon Jungkook, as the Korean individual that he is..anyway those are just my thoughts. We don’t know why he changed them, only he knows.

Perhaps they are playing a card...they said it’s hard to know what to choose, one day they’re here and the next they aren’t...so they played this card. Now let’s see what happens. Gambling with their future as BTS with the government of their own country. Balls of steel I tell you. 

I WROTE THIS THREE DAYS AGO!!!! 

We are hearing outsiders claim there might be disenchantment with HYBE America. From what I can gather, HYBE America is owned by HYBE Corporation. HYBE Labels is the music division of HYBE Corporation. BigHit Entertainment, BTS’s label, is a subsidiary of HYBE Labels and operates independently from HYBE corporation. HYBE America and HYBE Labels are two different companies. So I am not sure what influence HYBE America could be having on BTS. 

They were upset because they could not tell us all these things that have influenced this 180 degree turnaround from six months ago, of them looking forward to a world tour this year. The rules of the world weighing them down.

I am listening, Jimin, when you said “just take our words as they are.” I trust you. 

I am going to wait for whenever BTS comes back together as a group, whether that is next year or five years from now and until then I will support all 7 of them in their endeavors.

Like everyone else, I will be sitting here to see how it all unfolds with each day.

#I JUST WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY #i am not putting words in their mouth #i am just letting my brain freely think about all the possibilities #i don't know anything

[eventidespirits]

Laci Explains the Planes of Existence [World Building]

Okay so -- what you need to know first of all is that there are like, infinite planes of existence and they're all overlapping and stacked on top of each other. Like some weird combination of a three-dimensional spirograph, a tesseract and a cosmological layer cake. Secondly, what you need to know, is that most of the planes can't really interact with each other, not directly, anyway. Every plane of existence lives on its own personal frequency and unless you can vibe at that specific frequency, you can't see it or interact with it. Uh, not for most people, anyway.

There are some weirdos out there who can see and hear these other existential frequencies -- usually, it sounds like tuning in and out of different radio stations or looking at a double exposure on a photograph fading in and out of sight. There are even weirder weirdos who can create a bridge-frequency that lets them cross over into those other planes of existence or directly interact with them. I am not one of those weirdos though I think you can tell I'm one of the first kind. I think. It's always hard to tell what's actually dimensional bleedover and what's bipolar deciding to fuck with my head. So, you know, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Or a gallon of it. You decide your salt poundage, is what I'm saying.

Okay, with that tangent out of the way...

All of this kinda makes it sound like everywhere on our plane (The Material Plane, baby!) has the same frequency. Which it doesn't.There are minute variations in the vibrations of our plane throughout all of existence -- and that's how you get liminal spaces or like, the places where you can cross over into other planes, even without the ability to open doors. Basically, some places have a variation in the frequency that makes them really similar to another plane of existence and that allows some like, bleed over.

Depending on what kind of place you're in, that'll kind of determine what's bleeding over. Your own personal vibration matters, too. Like, the mood your in, the place your head is at, what kind of day you've had. There's an infinite number of planes and while there's totally an infinite number of existential frequencies, theres's some... overlap. Like when you get your radio set between two stations so that you can hear both? It's like that.

The plane of existence that's closest to the one most of us live in is The Land Beyond the Mists, which like, most people know as Faerie or The Hill or Under The Mountain or... Look, Faerie shit always has roughly fifty-billion names per concept, they're slippery like that. Point being, Faerie exists one station over from us -- probably because we used to be the same station. Faerie and Earth used to be kind of the same place but at some point, the fae looked at what was going on here and said "oh, hell no. Fuck this." And then they packed up their shit and left. But because it would take way more oomph than even the Seasonal Queens had to completely separate from the Material Plane, it stayed connected. There are places where it's still totally the same place, too. Deep in the woods and high up in the mountains there are places that are still totally Faerie.

Another place that exists on a really similar frequency to the Material Plane is the Astral Plane -- yeah, that place that all the hippies and new-agers say is where we go when we dream. Which isn't totally true. Most people don't go to the Astral Plane when they dream. Most people, end up in their own personal demense -- the plane of existence that lives inside of their head that no one else can really get into. As far as I can tell, the Astral Plane is kind of like, the space between all of the planes, like a cosmological crossroads where all the planes can bleed into each other and interact. I guess it's like, the blood type O- but with existential vibrations. Which honestly, should make you pretty fucking glad you don't go there when you dream because like, imagine if your mind crossed over into some kind of existential plane of eternal torment? That would blow.

Oh and that personal demense thing, yeah -- all of us have a plane of existence that's solely ours and solely tuned into our frequency. There's some stuff that can get in there from the outside -- some vampires can do it if they've got the skill with mind-reading type stuff, some Outside beings can do it, hell some humans can do it. But for the most part, your personal demense, your mindscape if you will, is your personal safe-space. This is totally yours and no one else really gets to decide what happens to it... Mostly. It's also only connected to the outside world through you. As far as I know, basically every sapient being, everything that has a soul, has a mindscape. Which is partially why there's like, an infinite number of planes.

The last plane of existence that I know that exists right on the edge of this one is...The Creeping Dark. It's the domain of an aspect of something that came from Outside of the Ordered Cosmos -- something we call the Myriad. It has a bunch of different names but none of the ones I know are its real name... Which I wouldn't write down even if I knew it. Names have power, that's why Fae are the Spiders Georg of naming things. Anyway, this is not a place you want to be. This is not a place you want to Cross Over into -- and unfortunately, it's one of the ones that has a real bad tendency to bleed over into our world. It really likes abandoned buildings, old mineshafts, anywhere dark that humans are scared to tread. It's even bleeding into the tunnels beneath the city of Santa Marta (where I...live. If you can call it living...) which makes this city like, stupidly fucking dangerous for everything and anything. Ugh this is why everything should be served in trays with compartments. You do not want the planes touching like that.

Okay well, I think that's pretty much what you need to know about the planes of existence. Like, I could get into the Celestial Firmament and the Infernal Abyss and the Land of the Dead but like -- the thing is, those are just names humans gave to groupings of planes with similar frequencies. They're not like, one specific place they're just planes that have really fuzzy, indistinct boundaries and have started blending together. And I'm not like, an expert on those planes anyway. Especially since like, I won't be going to any of them when I die anyway...

Anyway, there's my little explanation of the planes of existence! Hopefully it made some kind of sense, lol.

#world building #laci.txt

[frankiistein]

crossposting from the bbs abt my new hc for media liking jacques after alot of rotating the idea in my head

so something ive been thinking abt alot wheb it comes to me/ja is their motive for being together. jacques is a little more obvious-the very second comic shows jacques has an attraction to monsters and the story consistently shows this attraction persists until today, so evidently media fits that attraction he has (and ofc we cant igbore that media is simply nice and affectionate 2 jacques... usually)

what i always wondered, why does media like jacques tho? jacques doesnt seem that nice or affectionate 2 him back, and even when curator demands his explaining he cant rly do it other than 2 say hes cute. i think considering media is immortal something as shallow as physical appearance would be boring (most likely he has seen alot of cute birds in the billions of universes he has been to and jacques doesnt look notably different from other crows in maldevara) and curators strong reaction implies its not likely media has a habit of "dating"living ppl, so jacques is rly an exception.

which leads me to this line from an archetype of a person from universes before:

This immediately unsettled you the first time you got off the phone with him, although at first you couldn’t pinpoint why—he stops talking, you hear nothing, seems like base Reality—although it hit you, a few days after you had started allowing him to prattle into your messages unprompted, that it was not simply that you could not hear his voice, it was that you couldn’t hear his thoughts either.

this hasnt been shown anywhere else in the story yet at all so actually i wonder what medias "mindreading" involves and why jacques is an exception/why that matters

altho on that vein i think this might be the best theory for medias attachment that is jacques being so unreadable makes him more unique and unpredictable. the lack of real science in the story makes it easy to miss that media is the closest the story has to being a legit "scientist", or at the very least defse matches that idea

defse (and/or medias previous iterations) advanced their species w/ technology, created a reality bending voice (which, considering what ava is, is basically like making an ai at the level of a god) and in present day while the "mad scientist" theme isnt as prominent media does still talk about "inventing" things like the hands and the robots (and ofc the whole reconstruction power as a whole)

ava herself says the conflict between her and marginals started with media specifically getting bored of the same things over and over again, in a dead world that cant organically change or grow, the idea of usurping god is implied to be a desire for the power to make "something new" (which may be to create a marginal that is "actually" alive, considering the obsession with the living) ◀ also this might actually be a decent motive why they made bien in the first place, if demons are souls then maybe nakig demon eyes was not just about the eye but about trying to artificially create "soulstuff", bien was just the accidental result

all that said a big part of medias character is a value for change, showing him as the sort of prometheus or even lucifer like character against ava who seems to be shown as the more traditional one wanting to return things to how they were before

if media being an immortal who has overseen universes for billions of years to the point where he gets mindreading powers (which as the story says may not exactly be real mindreading powers but more just developed intuition from seeing the same "archetypes" reused in different universes) it makes sense that he would be very interested in anyone who was different from everyone else

in retrospect this isnt actually that subtle and the story does kinda point it out but ig i never noticed the significance xD image has some convos that point to this idea

#breadavota

[sunmoonjune]

keyboard warrior returns bc im currently rereading ltm for some healing and overall good vibes and over the days my notes just grew into this mammoth essay so what can we do 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

my shower thought when bug signs soojin is 'dead' is under what context did bug create that sign? ? like why did she need a sign for that 😔 and just in general how does she come up with signs that aren't used often like 'home' bc what i like to imagine is little yun, bug and soojin hidden away in some safe place when they have free time and just holding each others' hands so they can have little language lessons and make up signs and practice them until they remember them pls im going to combust into a billion little hearts

ch 5-6 are some of my fave chapters bc it's such a pivotal point in her relationship w some of hte members in ateez where they see for themselves the amount of trauma that bug has been through but then we also know in reality it's just the tip of the iceberg :((

bug diving to save hwa from the arrow and then hwa doing the same by covering her body with his. YES. SHOW BUG SHE'S WORTH PROTECTING. as much as i hate bug and ateez putting their bodies and lives on the line for each other daMn nothing beats this sort of angsty protectiveness. more pls 🤩🤩

literally got goosebumps when san just so naturally signed promise without realising before letting go of yun's hand. like the fact that it was just instinct for him is so so so cute

i think one of my favourite moments is when bug breaks out of her episode and signs to yun that she's tired, and he reassures her “Sleep, Tiny. I’ve got you now.” not just bc of my brainrot going 💓💓 @ yun calling me bug tiny but the amount of trust she puts into yun to take care of her whilst shes both emotionally and physically at her most vulnerable. and then we get yun carrying bug back to camp like a little baby i SWEAR SIZE DIFFERENCES MOONIE YOU'RE GONNA GIMME WHIPLASH SO BAD ONE DAY I'LL NEVER RECOVER

i love the amount of growth you can see already during bug's first episode with ateez and how GOOD they are for her bc 1) yun was able to break bug out of her episode w/o her needing to experience pain first 2) she's normally non-verbal for days after but she asked joong that very same day if she did good (OFC BUG YOU WERE THE BEST 🫶) 3) literally fell asleep to san's hushed comforts

pls when san was explaining the reason why he calls bug bug and she has the most adorable confused face that san wants to capture - i'm just imagining if ateez had access to a polaroid or some sort of camera with prints bc they would take such the CUTEST photos of each other and i can see them taking so so so many photos of bug (ofc only when she's comfortable with it bc ik she'd initially be so shy and insecure) and there would also be all these candid photos of bug looking at the other members with stars eyes and photos of the members looking at bug with heart eyes. and the reason i say polaroid or prints is bc bug will be all ?? what is this sorcery 🧐?? at first but then she'll come to have this one photo of ot9 that gets all creased and faded bc of how closely she keeps it with her all the time bc it's the most precious thing she owns and she'll literally throw hands before she lets anyone take it away from her 🥺 im so delulu rn im in love with bug

also on the note of bug's name, when san creates a symbol for her i just realised he uses a circle as part of it which i now know is 'home' and if that ain't the cutest thing 😭 idk if that was deliberate on your part but san unknowingly referring to bug as home has got me gOOD

let me send you the rest of my brainrot in a separate ask after i read through the remaining chapters bc wow this got long real fast and i was already trying to keep it short oop hope you're doing well moonie <33

AHHHHH DO YOU HEAR ME SCREAMING!! I'M IN LOVE WITH ALL YOUR ASKS OMG KISS KISS YOU'RE SO SWEET <333

no but the way I saw this long ask and your second one in my inbox and literally had to stop what I was doing and take a few minutes to read because I was SO happy omg :}} these kind of asks make my entire WEEK I swear

please continue to send your mammoth essays I reread them ALL the time cause I love them so much <33

bug already having a sign for the word 'dead' implies something that will be hinted on in the next chapter so I'm glad you've brought it up ;) also yes I think she does come up with signs for things she doesn't use very often because there might have been a time she thought there was a chance she would use them :'(

and YES that is almost exactly how I imagined them making their little language,, sometimes soojin wasn't there (you'll partially see why in the next chapter ;) ) but they kind of had to seclude themselves away from prying eyes in the darkness of night when no one would look for them,, then they kind of just held hands and came up with their little symbols and repeated them until they stuck :") it took over a year or two before they had the widespread vocabulary they have now but they got there <3

chapter five and six were definitely the climb to the tip of the iceberg for sure,, ateez got to see some of her deepest traumas -- but I don't even think we've hit the tip of the iceberg yet ;) bug's past has only been hinted at so far and soon we will see the depth of it

the protectiveness ALWAYS hits for me xD I love it when characters act purely on instinct and that instinct says to PROTECT,, it makes me weak in the knees <3

also san picking up bug's language so naturally and instinctually signing it to his partners is the CUTEST thing <3

yun bringing bug out of the dark even though it's been like a decade since they were together was a HUGE moment for them :"D he was so unsure he'd still have that effect on her but she recognized him instantly <33 also I love the size difference too <3 makes me AASDIOHAF#%#!

I think honestly part of the reason bug opened up so well after her attack was BECAUSE there was no pain to bring her out of it,, she recognized that ateez had no intentions to harm her and it helped her recover just that much more :')

OH MY GOD THE BIT ABOUT THE CAMERA -- I'M IN LITERAL TEARS :"D

they so would take so many pictures of bug if she were comfortable with it and bug ABSOLUTELY would take on of the photos of all of them and carefully keep it folded in one of her pockets or buried in one of her scabbards so it was always with her,, it would get so folded and aged and one day ateez would find it and MELT with joy that she kept it so close to her for so long,, and they would definitely manage to recreate the picture or something so she could have another copy that wasn't so worn down :")

AND she so would NEVER let anyone take that picture from her omg,, feral bug would come out fr xD

hehe bug's name absolutely was deliberate to have the word 'home' in it,, just like joong's <3 san might not have known that yet but it still makes me happy that it's part of her name even if he hadn't known <3

I hope you're doing well too my love <33 thank you so so much for such a beautiful ask omg I love you so much <3

#moonie speaks #like the moon #moonie's favs <3 #moonie's mutuals <3 #like the moon spoilers #like the moon hints hehehehe

[jodithann827]

Wine and Cheese 1/1

Rated Teen / Story on AO3 / @today-in-fic

Summary: For Characteristically_Exuberant.

This story is for Characteristically Exuberant as a part of the One In Five Billion Exchange. I was ecstatic to get this prompt because Detrour happens to be my favorite episode of the series. It's the first episode of the X-FIles I ever watched (back when it first aired) and I was hooked instantly. I hope I did your prompt justice!

As always, I couldn't have gotten this story done without the fabulous beta from SisterSpooky1013.

Prompt:

Detour-based ep. Either an AU where Mulder stays for Scully's impromptu wine and cheese par-tay (what could happen?) OR a post-ep scene where they address the fact that Scully brought alcohol to his bedroom and he ditched her! Perhaps they have another attempt at the wine and cheese and... whatever.

*****

“Since we won’t be making it to the conference,” she says, holding up a small tray with several different types of cheese and two mini bottles of alcohol.

“Partaaay,” he responds with a smile, turning and giving her his full attention.

“However, I must remind you this goes against the Bureau’s policy of male and female agents consorting in the same motel room while on assignment,” she continues, moving further into the room. She opens one of the bottles, unscrewing the cap quickly.

“Try any of that tailhook crap on me, Scully, I’ll kick your ass. Pop quiz…”

“Miss, would you like a drink?” Scully wakes with a jolt, looking up to see a friendly-faced flight attendant offering her several different beverage choices. Dazed, she shakes her head, allowing the hostess to move along.

Scully pauses to take in her surroundings. She wiggles a bit, feeling the rough plastic beneath her, as she’s seated in the middle seat of a Boeing 747. An older woman knitting away is to her left in the window seat, and to her right, where Mulder should be, he is nowhere to be found. She gently rubs the sleep from her eyes, exhaustion finally taking over after the harrowing events of the past few days in a secluded forest in Florida.

“He went to the bathroom about a minute before you woke up,” she hears. Looking across the row, she sees Agent Stonecypher. The agents boarded a plane a few hours ago, bound for DC.

“Thanks,” Scully acknowledges, sitting up straighter in her seat.

“You must be exhausted,” Stonecypher comments. Scully, not one for idle chit-chat, but also not having the energy to put a stop to the conversation, nods her head.“That was so brave of you,” Stonecypher continues while Scully fights the urge to roll her eyes. “Staying up all night, keeping watch over Agent Mulder. And to think, Mike and I were in the middle of creating the scavenger hunt for our team at the conference while you both were fighting for your lives.” Scully nods again, still in a fog, and unsure about using her voice. Thankfully, at the same moment, she sees her partner walking back toward their seats.

“Did I miss anything?” Mulder asks once he is settled back in his seat, blocking her view of the kind yet clueless agent.

Shaking her head she tells him, “Not really.”

“We should be landing soon,” he informs her. “I spoke with Skinner before we boarded. He gave us a directive to go straight home and not come in for a few days—especially you.” Scully rolls her eyes. Mulder continues, “What? I think all he meant was that you’re still getting back into the swing of work after your remission. I think he just wants you to take it easy.”

“Yet you’re the one with the injury,” she glances towards his shoulder. “I’m not arguing, trust me. I won’t turn down a few days off work,” she says. Mulder immediately places a hand on her forehead, which in turn makes Scully break into a grin. “Will you stop?” she playfully chastises.

“You were mumbling in your sleep,” he tells her.

“Hmm?”

“Before I left for the bathroom, you were mumbling in your sleep,” he repeats.

“Oh. I uh, I don’t remember,” she feigns disinterest, and gratefully he changes the subject.

“Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit before we land? My shoulder is yours to sleep on, even with the drool,” he teases while her hand automatically goes to the corner of her mouth.

She quickly shakes her head while turning slightly away from him, wanting to gather her thoughts.

I went to Mulder’s room with wine and cheese. I initiated an interaction with my platonic partner with the gesture of more, and he didn’t pick up on it. What was I thinking? What was my intention? What did I think would happen, or want to happen? Maybe his lack of response is the best outcome?

Since her cancer went into remission, Scully has begun looking at life through a different lens. Yes, she often challenges Mulder on their day-to-day work, sometimes complaining, rationally, about wanting to get a life, about being at a standstill. However, after her cancer, some other thoughts and feelings occupy her mind; many of those thoughts involving her partner and best friend. He has been amazing to her, more so than in the early days of their partnership. He seems to be more attentive, since the cancer. Offering to take her to doctor's appointments, making her leave the office when he knew she’d done too much, holding her hair back when she was sick from the medication, just thinking of a few. He’s always been supportive and kind, but his character during this time has been just different. As much as she hated depending on anyone, especially him, she came to rely on him in the same way she relies on air. Once she got over her own self-doubt and insecurities, once she finally let him in, she drew the only logical conclusion; he was her strength, her stay in the darkness. She knew no other man would ever take the place he inhabited in her heart. Somewhere along the way, she fell hopelessly in love with Fox Mulder.

Maybe I need to forget it happened, she thinks with a cloud of sadness washing over her. Is that even a possibility? Can I forget how much he means to me? Can I go back to thinking about pre-cancer Mulder?

Scully is so lost in her thoughts she neglects to hear the captain announce their descent. She feels Mulder’s hand brush hers. Damn him for knowing me so well , she thinks. Knowing her disdain for flying, Mulder always makes it a point to hold her hand, if possible, during take-off and landing. He’s been doing it from almost day one. Damn the feelings he evokes in her and damn her physical reaction. She never used to get goosebumps when he clasped her fingers. Her heart never used to thump in her chest, and she definitely never thought about more of him from just a simple gesture.

All this because of some stupid wine and cheese that we didn’t get to enjoy because of Mulder’s one-track mind. Teambuilding and communication seminars can suck it, she thinks to herself as the plane descends, all the while Mulder holds on tightly.

Crap .

***********

It was too much for her, he admonishes himself as he sits on his couch. It’s quiet in the apartment. No TV or radio for background noise. Mulder sits with the gentle sound of his fish tank and his inner thoughts. He thinks about the case they just wrapped. On one hand, it was amazing, albeit terrifying, but on the other, spending the day and night traipsing around the forest chasing an invisible and unknown assailant was not how he pictured spending his time the last few days. That was the last thing Scully needed after returning to work after her remission. What would have happened if they hadn’t been rescued? What if they had been attacked, worse than the fate he suffered? She’d only been back to work, field work at least, for two weeks before Skinner had suggested the conference. Something easy, Skinner told him, so she can ease back into work.

Mulder shakes his head as he leans back against his couch. He sighs deeply and closes his eyes. He’s picturing the woods, the darkness, and Scully. Sweet Scully. His Scully, who stayed awake all night in order to protect him. His Scully, who tried to start a fire to keep them warm. His Scully, who sang to him upon request and made an off-handed joke about sleeping bags. Mulder replays the scene over and over in his head.

“Mulder, you need to keep warm, your body’s still in shock,” she tells him.

“I was told once that the best way to regenerate body heat is to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with someone else who’s already naked,” he retorts back.

“Well, maybe if it rains sleeping bags, you’ll get lucky,” she responds without missing a beat.

Scully doesn’t make jokes like that. That’s usually his territory, tossing innuendos out for Scully. She would typically respond by rolling her eyes, playfully punching him on the shoulder, or ignoring the innuendo altogether. She’s been different recently, since the diagnosis and the remission. She’s more playful, more open, for Scully anyway. She’s making sex jokes with him for crying out loud.

Mulder runs his hand over his face, unsure what to do with this newfound knowledge. She’s his best friend, his partner, and the only person in the world he knows without a doubt he can count on, Lone Gunmen aside. She is his equal, the yin to his yang, the person who keeps him in line, even when he wants to stray ever so slightly, or in giant leaps like he sometimes does. Just a few short weeks ago he thought he was going to lose her for good, he thought the bad guys had finally won, he thought he was saying goodbye. He hadn’t given much thought to his life as she lay in bed, dying from an illness that could have been prevented, he just knew he couldn’t go on, and without her, well…he couldn’t even go there.

It was somewhere between her words, Mulder, I have cancer , and, Mulder I’m in remission , that he realized he was completely, utterly, and wholly in love with his partner. Suddenly her voice became sweeter, her skin, at least the skin he was allowed to touch, became softer, and her lips fuller. When the hell did I start daydreaming about Scully’s lips? He shakes his head and realizes that it’s not about the fact that he started thinking about Scully’s lips, it’s about the fact that he can’t seem to stop.

“What can I do about it?” he asks aloud to the empty apartment. He turns to his fish tank to continue his one-sided conversation. “She’s in a different league than me. Hell, she’s on a different planet.” Noncommittally, his fish continue swimming. He closes his eyes and continues to think about their time in Florida.

Scully wouldn’t sing for just anybody , he thinks, then rationalizes, she was doing it to keep herself awake. He pictures Scully before he was attacked, following him on blind faith, all because he had a theory. He envisions her making that last phone call before Michelle told them to put away their phones. He sees Scully in the Asekoff house, ribbing him about the invisible man versus glowing red eyes. He recognizes Scully following him to the Asekoff house the evening before, based on yet another one of his hunches that something was amiss. He thinks about him leaving her in his hotel room. She’d been bantering with him about consorting in motel rooms, and something about wine and cheese. Cheese… wine… Scully came to his room with wine and cheese, saying something about because they were going to miss the conference. Wine. Cheese. Wine. Wine. Seduction. Cheese. Seduction.

Mulder bolts upright to a standing position in the middle of his living room, his mind suddenly clear.

“Oh, Crap,” he says to the fish.

*****

She’s slightly surprised to hear his knock, given the time of night, combined with the fact that he should be home resting his shoulder. There’s no doubt in her mind that it’s him. Three short raps on the door. She had been turning off the lights and was going to make her way to bed when she heard him. Pulling her robe tighter, she heads for the door, opens it, and without saying a word, moves back to allow him entrance.

“Everything okay, Mulder?” she asks, following him over to the couch. They sit side by side, staring straight ahead.

“What? Yeah, yeah it’s fine,” he brushes her question off. They sit in silence for a bit. It’s not strange or awkward. There’s a comfort there.

“I was contemplating the case,” he tells her, finally, turning slightly to face her.

“What about it?” she asks, curious.

Mulder hesitates, wondering how much to say, question, and reveal. “I was playing the different scenarios over in my head. The forest, the rescue. But also the events leading up to it.”

“The Asekoff’s house?” Scully offers up. Mulder nods. There’s more silence, this time with a slightly awkward haze.

“I was thinking about the other night when I was on the computer, researching different animal species,” he broaches.

“The night I brought wine and cheese to your room?” she says, matter-of-factly. Leave it to Scully to shoot straight and tell it like it is.

“Yeah, that,” is all Mulder can manage. They sit in more silence for a minute or two, each gathering thoughts.

“What was–” He starts while she simultaneously says, “I can’t belie–”. They both pause and chuckle, drifting into silence again.

“Tell me,” Mulder encourages. She blushes, looking down at her hands in her lap, taking a deep breath, and focusing on the exhale.

“I told you in the woods that when I was fighting my cancer, I was angry at the injustice and the meaninglessness of it. I guess I had to make peace with all of the things I knew I wouldn’t be able to do. Sometimes simple things like never getting to walk on the beach again, or seeing a sunrise or sunset. I had to come to terms with saying goodbye to my family; the knowledge that my mother was losing another daughter and that I’d never see my nieces and nephews grow up. I had to come to terms with leaving you.” With this statement she looks up from her hands, searching out Mulder’s eyes.

“The thought of leaving you, leaving our quest, and knowing what you would or wouldn’t do in my absence…it scared me, Mulder. But then you were there and whether it was my prayers or the chip, somehow I was given a second lease on life. I guess at that moment I vowed to seize the day.”

Mulder enthusiastically nods his head, giving Scully, and her words, his full attention. He cautiously leans into her space a bit wanting to convey so much but also terrified of interrupting her, of scaring her off. He senses that she’s about to reveal something monumental.

“I was excited to be back at work,” she continues, “even though it was only supposed to be a conference. I was ready to be on the road, ready to use my brain again. I decided to stop living in fear or what-ifs and start living my life. I guess when I brought the wine and cheese to your room I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to celebrate life, work, friendship, us…” she trails off.

“You wanted to celebrate us,” Mulder parrots, connecting the dots.

Without a split second of hesitation, and only a fraction of a thought that he might regret it later, he leans toward Scully, giving her a moment to pull away if she wants, then takes her face in his hands and kisses her fully on her lips. She stiffens, only for a moment, before relaxing into the kiss. He swipes his thumb gently over her cheek. She pulls back slightly, and though it’s the last thing Mulder wants to do, he releases her mouth.

“There’s a lot to celebrate,” he tells her, moving an errant strand of hair behind her ear. I wasn’t reading between the lines.” Red hues rise quickly up her neck and into her cheeks. He takes her hand in his and kisses her knuckles, holding her hand tight.

“Apparently I wasn’t so great at trying to tell you,” she huffs.

“No, Scully, I was just too stuck in my own head to pick up on it,” he tells her, giving her hand a squeeze. “Come on, Scully, you know me. I’m singularly focused.” He wags his eyebrows, which earns him a laugh. “I ditched you and I’m sorry. Believe me, you don’t know how sorry, now that I think about it. If we’re playing the honesty card, I have to say that I was so afraid of losing you. I’ve known for a long time how much I care about you, but as you said, it really came to a head when you were fighting your cancer.”

Scully scoots closer and Mulder lifts his arm, draping it across her shoulder as she leans into his side. “Mulder?” she asks, looking up at him. She doesn’t finish the question because, as usual, he knows her so well, words truly aren’t needed.

Mulder leans his head down and captures her lips again. This time there is no hesitation. She opens her mouth to him, as though she’s also opening her soul. Their tongues mingle, slowly at first, in the same way friends meet for the first time. He holds a firm hand to the back of her head, pulling her into the kiss. She sighs, content, leaning further into his welcoming warmth. Mulder pulls back slightly to assess the situation. He observes her breathing has quickened and when she opens her eyes to him, though still blue, they are now filled with arousal.

Scully nuzzles into Mulder’s neck and whispers, “Take me to bed, Mulder,” so softly, he isn’t sure he heard her correctly. Raising his eyebrows in question, she continues, “We’ve waited long enough. We don’t know how many more tomorrows we have, so let's make tonight count.”

He stands, pulling her with him, hand tightly gripped with hers, and leads her toward her bedroom. Once inside, fretted with nerves, he stands in the doorway, a sheepish smile adorning his face.

I could not love him any more , Scully thinks to herself. Gently pulling him from the door frame, she directs him to the foot of her bed. She reaches to pull his mouth to hers but instead hears, “Scully, I haven’t done this in a really long time. I want it to be special, but I don’t know–” She cuts him off with a kiss, murmuring, “Mulder, it’s you and me. It was always going to be special.”

After that, there’s no more talking. There’s kissing and touching. Sighs (Mulder) and purrs (Scully). There’s playful laughing, a bit of moaning, and one or two shrieks. Mulder uses his fingers to play Scully like a stringed instrument, and she uses her lips to pepper him with kisses, trying to convey the love she feels in her heart.

It’s magical and wonderful, of course, neither expected anything different when imagining the possibility of their first time. Mulder, for all of his disappearing act faults, is attentive and attuned to her body, though Scully never suspected he’d be any different in bed. And Scully, with her new lease on life, is carefree and able to let go of control.

After, they snuggle in close in a cocoon of Scully’s sheets and fall asleep peacefully, each thinking about the road that led them to this moment.

****

She hears cars honking and loud chatter coming from the direction of her window. Opening one of her closed eyes, she looks at the clock, which shows it’s after ten in the morning. She hadn’t had that great night’s sleep in who knows how long. She stretches, cat-like, for a moment, before realizing her companion is not where she left him last night. Sitting up, she strains her neck to look toward the bathroom. Knowing that he wouldn’t leave her, she lays back on the pillow, taking in all that had happened the previous evening.

She seduced her partner. Or her partner seduced her. Or they seduced each other. In any case, she’s giddy it finally happened. It had been magical and wonderful, and everything Scully ever thought of when picturing her and Mulder’s eventual physical relationship. Sweet and slow and powerful, two forces of nature coming together, daring to be reckoned with. And she can’t wait to do it again.

When she hears the front door open and then promptly shut, she knows Mulder went out this morning, though for what, she could only guess. She sinks further down into the bed, readying herself for his return.

“Scully,” he calls through the half-closed door. When he pushes it open, she takes in the sight. Mulder is standing on the threshold of her sanctuary, and in his hand sits a tray of wine and cheese. She grins ear to ear as he enters and shuts the door behind him.

#dana scully #fox mulder #the x files fanfic #1 in 5 billion #msr #post detour

[re-strictedaccess]

Hey!! It's Teddie again, welcome back. Today we're talking software.

When I hear the word software, it’s really hard to come up with any kind of tangible definition. I know of computer software, that it exists, and that I probably see it every day, but I couldn’t explain to you exactly what it is or where it might be hiding. I think of the tiny panels inside my phone, circuit boards glued together with tiny signals somehow wirelessly escaping my little interface and travelling around the world to deliver bits of information. Thankfully, in his book Software Takes Command Lev Manovich reveals that software isn’t the mystical fibre optic cables or hard drives; instead, it’s actually the thing that brings the hard-wired confusion of computer science to meet the real, living world — “the very grounds and ‘stuff’ of media design”, Manovich quotes a colleague. But not only is it “stuff”, it’s also the very thing that connects us to everything digital, from Google to Photoshop, Facebook to the compass app on your phone (that I know you never use). Ironically, something that people (myself included) know so little about is the only key to accessing the seemingly endless stream of information coming from the internet and other digital tools.

It’s for this exact reason, as Manovich points out, that software is constantly affecting and being affected by culture and society. Similar to the back and forth of art and literature, software is ever changing alongside cultural shifts in values and interests, serving as both a catalyst and a response to societal changes. But arguably unlike the arts, software reaches across the globe to impact billions of lives simultaneously, influencing a globalize society at the click of a button (or however it is the developers create software updates). It’s interesting to think about how a key driver of societal change is consciously being designed and redesigned for us consumers.

Although I can’t say it is the primary goal of software developers to generate large-scale societal shifts, I find it particularly interesting that they have that power to do so. Manovich describes, for example, a shift in privacy in the 2000s: “the boundary between “personal information” and “public information” has been reconfigured as people started to routinely place their media on media sharing sites, and also communicate with others on social networks.” When software introduces us to new (seemingly harmless) tools, such as an option to share a file, it can quickly take affect on society and, in this case, debase previously long-lasting values (such as that of privacy). A similar, more drastic effect came from the eruption of social media, as people were encouraged to spend more of their time sharing their lives rather than actually living them. Then, as Manovich mentions, these social affects can be taken advantage of; “By encouraging users to conduct larger parts of their social and cultural lives on their sites, these services can both sell more adds to more people and ensure the continuous growth of their user base.” Now, not only does a select community of people have a huge power over social and cultural change, but also they can enact changes that only they get rewarded for.

While software is far from the first or only thing initiating these cultural shifts, software is among the first to accept immediate feedback through engagement (and non-engagement) and human attention — while we can’t (or at least, don’t) dip our brushes into the drying paint of a Picasso to change its colours, we can engage with software to support or prevent its growth in the digital world. When we like a friend’s photo on Instagram, or click on an ad, we actively lay out a pattern of what software was successful and what wasn’t, not only through the type of interaction but also in whether we interact at all; and this data allows software to conform so tightly to common social and cultural values in a way that arts could never. In a similar way, engagement gives software an ‘insider access’ to human behaviour, giving it a power to shape the way we conduct our lives without even intending to. It’s interesting to think that something we know so little about knows and affects so much of the way we live.

*if you find these kinds of discussions interesting, I highly recommend watching “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix - it talks all about the role of the internet and globalization on the real world!

#social dilemma #software #software takes command #google #photoshop #engagement #globalization #softwarization #digitalization #internet #teddie speaks the truth

[wildlyfamousmusic]

Hello Everyone, Really, So, I Really Like to Get into this Important Topic Here. Something You Guys should Definitely Want to get into hearing. Really........ 

So, Some of you know about a Certain Series called Primal, right? A series created by Gennedy Tartavosky(Samurai Jack and Symbiotic Titan) that is Actually Set in the Prehistoric Age where Cavemen, Dinosaurs, and Everything you Might Know are here. The series follows a Caveman you would Call as Spear teaming up abd Partnering with a Dinosaur you would Call as Fang. After their both Experiences in their Tragedies, after their Fearsome Confrontation with Eachother, they two Decided to form a Certain Bond and Team Up with Eachother. And Throughout their own Adventures, they come to understand More About Eachother, encounter Many Dangerous Dinosaurs, abd even some More Dangerous Cavemen. And Throughout their Lives, have encountered Many Things they abd Not Even We All Know About the Prehistoric Life. Like, Really, Alot More. Really, abd Throughout their Adventures, have Only Become More Dangerous, Interesting, and yet, Tragic. 

Really, the series is Basically Not Just some Prehistoric Series about Caveman and Dinosaur, But, Also stuff about Witches, Sorcerory, and Really, Alot More Things you would know. Really, aside from stuff like Witches, Curses, Time Travel, Sorcery, there are also Many Things that have been shown that Not Many If You Would Know About Prehistoric Times. Like, Really, as you would know, the series doesn't Just Showcase the Cavepeople abd Dinosaurs we come to Typically Know. But, it Also showcases many things such as Scottish Barbarians, Emperialism, Chinese Emperialism, African Tribes, Slavery, Riches, and even, Really, Most People in those times, despite not speaking as much as they should, Actually Showed More Intelligence and Socialism as they should. So, Really, despite this taken place in Billions of Years Ago in the BC Era, there are Alot More Things that Many People Would Not Know about Pre History. Infact, Alot More when it concerns the Size abd Shapes on how Some Kinds of Humans are like. Like, Ones as Big as THE HULK......Like, Really...... 

But, Really, when looking into Primal, despite this Actually being made by the guy that brought us Samurai Jack and Symbtioc Titan(Not To Judge. I Really Love Those Series. Like, Who Doesn't.), This series is Actually Alot More Unique compared to the Other Series we All Know and Love. Like, Really, with the handling of tone, structure, Humor, and Everything, Really, this series Actually Handled itself and making it something More of a Certain Genre. The Kind of Genre you see Actually Handled. Like, Really, the kind of handling in genre you haven't seen before like, since, well, Watching Anime. And Really, With That, this is Basically the kind of series that Actually Handles Things Different. 

Thing is, in Anime, you Kinda See the Kinds if Stories you would Definitely see in ones like Live Action. Heck, Basically, Anime Is Basically The Live Action Projects you see that are Actually in Japan as you see in The West abd basically Every Other Series in their countries like Britain and What Not. Like, Really. Like with Anime, Really, Primal is Basically the First Animated Project that Actually Let's you do the Kind of Content you would Rarely See in Animation. Like, Really, Tone, Darkness, Gore, Story, Plot, Setting, Etc. Basically, Everything I Could Give. Ones you see in Live Action, but, never got that much of a chance to shine in Animation. 

Really, aside from a couple of projects, Animation has Actually been viewed as Vulgar, Comedic, and Full of Vulgar Inappropriate Jokes you see in stuff like Family Guy, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Rock & Morty, Big Mouth, abd Any Other Animated Series we could all list. Everything in Mature Content in Animation viewed as Vulgar Crackpot Comedic Satire. Like ones you see in South Park, Family Guy, Simpsons, Inside Job,  and Many Others. Including mostly Terrible Ones you see in Comedy Central, Fox, and Netflix, Like, Really, Vulgar Ones. 

Sure, we have ones that Actually take things to the Limit abd does things in the Mature Content that takes well abd takes Extremes with it's Themed like Rick & Morty, Bojack Horseman, Final Space, abd what not. But, Really, even Despite that, Some are Still looked Down Upon by having people think contents in Animation are just full of Crude Vulgar Humor. And Really, even when some Want to have the Darkest abd Grimmiest Tones like in Final Space and what not, they would Still Actually Have to face the kinds of things by the studio that would have their contents be restricted in it's Need for Humor. Some do it well. But, Others Seem To Know that they Want to Have that Darkest abd Grimiest Tones as the seasons Progressed. 

But, Really, With That, Despite All That, Primal seems to be the First Animated Series that would Actually Have the Freedom to do what it Wants and Likes in it's Content. Like, Really,in Everything you see in the Kinds of Anime abd Love Actions you see. Like, Really. And Really, With Primal, having the First Kinds of Restrictions it had Avoided in it's Content, I Like to Talk about the Certain Things that we would Love to see in Animation Later On. 

Like, Really, With Primal, Not Only does it give us the kind of content it had Wanted and has Given Us, but, with that, it would Also Likely be able to have us Give the Kinds of series in Animation that we would Love to see. Like, Really, with Gennedy Tartavosky Actually Working on Another Animated Project that involves a Horror Mystery, I would Like to talk about the Possibly of Having Certain Other Projects in it's Freedom of Having these Contents. 

Like, Really, Imagine having an animated Project that was mostly a Detective Series that features Mystery, Thriller, Noir, and even Elements of Horror. 

Or even a Horror Related Project that would Actually give more Life for the characters abd have the monsters or killers even Threatening, Scarier, abd just leave us Incredibly Fearful than Ever. 

Or imagine a certain Love Series ora Rom Com that follows the Typical RomCom Tropes abd Stuff. Even featuring stuff on LGBT. 

Not only that, but, Really, Imagine all the other stuff featuring LGBT Content or Content that is Related to LGBT that involves the Main Casts. Certain ones that follow the kinds of times that it would have the Freedom of focusing on. 

Really, With That, with the kinds of stuff that they would Actually Focus On, it would Finally Give Animation the Kinds of Freedoms that it would have. And Even have the Ability to have them take more Seriously. To have them Realize that Animation had become abd Always Had Become EVEN MORE CREATIVE THAN EVER. 

Like, Really, if Animation Evolves More like how stuff like Primal had Give Us, it Could Give Us the Kinds of Animated Content and Projects that would Could be Asking For. Not Just Stuff that Involves Comedies or just Typical Vulgar Disgusting Humor or even ones they Try to Make as Parodies. Really, it could give them the Kinds of content they need. 

Like, Really, If the content is Actually give Freedoms to Animation, they Could Actually Be ok the same leagues and Acknowledgement they have as Video Games, Anime, and even some films. 

Like, Sure, we have Adaptations. Ones that were coming from Comics, Games, Books, and, well, Everything Really. But, Really, having some Original Made Animated Series would Actually help them Fully Realize the Content of Animation and their Creativity. 

Like, Sure, we have ones like ITSV, Arcane, and Many, Many, Many, MANY Others that Actually Help giving the Way to Content, Animation, Genre, and even LGBT. But, Really, Having Animated Only Content that were Originally Made would Actually Help show that True Content can Still be made and Made into a Very Creative Way. Like, Really. 

So, Really, With Stuff like Primal, it has Actually become Such a Miracle into How Animation would Actually be made if it had the Content be made into it's Freedom of Opportunity. Showing that Animation should be made Alot More into the Certain Genres it could be made into their Contents. Like, Really. 

Like, Really, I Love ALOT of the Animation. Ones that have made such a Great Inspiration In My Life. Adaptations that Even Made A Much Greater Impact in my life. Crude Vulgar Animated Stuff Included. In Any Contents Made whether it has been made for Everybody, Mature Content, abd even Kids, Animation has Always Made Such a Great and Even Bigger Impact in All My Life As Much As It Did For EVERYONE ELSE. But, Really, With Primal, It Shows Us That, Really, Animation Could be Made for SO MUCH MORE. SO MUCH BETTER into the Kinds of Content and Genres They Could Bring. Bring us something that could be Alot More Unique Compared to Ones you See in Live Action. Really, with the Kinds of Stuff they could Actually Make, Animation could And Should be made Into So Much More.......

But, Really, With That, Any Thoughts Everyone? What sort of Contents and Genres do you Want to See in Animation Later On? What are Some of you Favorite Series and Films? What are some of your Favorite Projects? What are your Thoughts on Primal? What are Some of your Favorite Moments there ok That Series?  Really, Please leave All Your Thoughts on the Comments Below.....

#primal #primal season 2 #genndy tartakovsky's primal #GenndyTartakovsky #samurai jack #arcane #itsv #into the spider verse #bojack horseman #final space #animation #art #prehistoric #Spear #Fang #spear and fang #Prehistory

[toonformers]

The first of many one shots detailing Centinela's (and Sentinel's) life story in the Twinsies AU! Here we go!

Birth

It was a strange experience, coming online. I remember blackness. Nothingness. I didn't exist and yet...I did. Then suddenly there was a bright light, and I awoke in a strange new world. Well, new because I had just been birthed. But this world had existed for billions of stellar cycles. I could not see; only hear myriad voices, with the squeaks and cries of my brother with them. It was cold, and the servos that held me were rubbery and strange. Then suddenly I was held by warm and gentle servos, despite the scratches from possibly many battles, and the quiet happy laugh of a femme- my carrier. I was pressed against her chassis, hearing the ethereal humming of her spark. And I felt my brother's warmth next to me. That is when I opened my optics. I couldn't open them by much at the time, and my vision was hazy, but I could vaguely see the bot who accompanied my carrier- my sire. He named my brother after our grandfather, Sentinel. And I was named Centinela, his counterpart, his second half...his twin.

I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my helm, and cried at the pain. The burning became more intense with every second, and I could hear my creators repeatedly ask what was going on as my brother cried. The rubbery servos, whom I identified as medics, took me back and placed me on a soft berth, when a loud pop was heard within my helm, followed by a hiss. The pain subsided immediately after. I had apparently burnt out an essential part in Cybertronian development- the learning limit. As the name implies, a learning limit allows a Cybertronian to learn a certain amount of information, thus creating different levels of intelligence. With mine gone I felt...free. I opened my optics widely immediately, and I could see the world clearly. The medics were staring at me. At least 4 pairs of blue and green optics staring at me. One stood out to me, since he held a conversation with my sire. He was an older mech, and his frame was white, with some red accents in the form of sections of his body painted such color, like the servos and the peds. He has a crest that had seemingly been broken. His optics were blue as well, and appeared just as surprised as the rest of the bots attending me.

XX: What's happening to her, doc? What's wrong with my daughter?! - My sire asked desperately to the stranger. His frame was cyan, and he wore a visor. Above his visor, on his forhelm, was this strange red symbol I hadn't seen before. The rest of the bots seem to have one too.

Xx: I dunno. - The medic responded softly, seemingly still processing everything. - But we'll find out. Let's get a helm scan going!

And so I was taken from my creators and brother, and sent to a room to be tested. It was a strange experience. I did not feel ill. Testing felt unnecessary. But this became the first hours of my life. It was entertaining at first; watching the medics prepare their machinery. Eventually, however, I was taken to a room with other sparklings, including my brother. A nursery. By then I noticed just how different I was from my brother. He was much bigger than I, and seemingly deformed. His chinplate was unusually large. Perhaps that is the defect they saw in me. Upon examining my frame, however, I did not find any defects, apart from my size. I was much smaller than all the sparklings there. That was another key difference: I could see. My brother could not even partially open his optics. He remained silent the whole time he was next to me. Until when he was hungry, then he'd start fussing.

At one point, my brother had been fussing for a few minutes, and no one had come to attend him. It was annoying; could the medics not see he was hungry? Did they even want to feed him? I didn't understand why the treatment felt so...different. eventually a nurse came in and started tending the other sparklings. They all squeaked upon any action the bot made, but I was different. The moment her optics locked with mine, I succeeded in my first attempt at language.

Centinela: Food. - I said. Startled, the nurse gasped and ran out of the room. It was then apparent to me why I was perhaps being tested so much. I had no learning limit, therefore I was intelligent. Far beyond the limits of what was normal for my age. The nurse then returned with the medic whom I saw upon my birth, and he began to ask me different questions.

Xx: Hi, Centinela. Do ya know where you are? - "In a medbay", I thought. I did not want to startle everyone again, however, so I remained silent and nodded. - Do you know who that is? - The medic continued as he gestured my brother, who was finally being fed by the nurse. I nodded a second time, a bit more at ease that my brother was being tended to. - Did you say something to the nurse? Can you say it again? - I hesitated in that moment, but I felt compelled to answer verbally that time. I cannot explain it. I simply nodded slowly and responded with a more...proper version of what I said to the nurse.

Centinela: Nutrition. - The medic's optics became wide as he turned to the nurse and ordered her to call a specialist. But it was in that very moment my sire rushed in the medbay. He was agitated, and demanded that both my brother and I be taken "home". After much arguing, I was taken home, and I never saw that red and white medic again.

#transformers #transformers animated #tfa au #tfa oc #tfa twinsies au #centinela minor #tfa sentinel prime #sorry if it's written a bit weird #not feeling good physically #but I'll fix it once I recover uwu #centinela's story