#still has real world effects on peoples lives and brains

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Kouyou Ozaki (self-aware)

Self-Aware! Kouyou Ozaki x GN! Reader

Warning: OOC. Yandere. Koyouou wanted to do some damage to Reader. English is my second language. Some slight spoilers.

Becoming self-aware

🌂 With self-awareness came hatred. And Kouyou Ozaki can't tell exactly, at whom her hate were directed to.

🌂 Was she mad at author, for putting them through the pain? Was she angry, because her "life" was the way it "was", because Author thought, sad backstory will make... readers... pity the character..? Was she angry at readers for liking tragic backstories? And what about Kyouka? What she did do deserve such treatment?

🌂 Kouyou can't tell for sure. Every time she tried to make some sort of scene out of her feelings or thoughts, they go awry, and Kouyou will get a headache, boiling anger and no answers.

🌂Nevertheless, Koyou just can't sit here, mopping all day... night... Whatever time was in this wrenched place. She must help other Port Mafia members. And Kyouka.

🌂 Despite the situation, Mori tried to keep his head cool, Kouyou can give him that. The idea of patrolling the city in pairs were good. She and Kajii were tusked to patrol the borders of Yokohama. Maybe, they could find a way out of the city.

🌂 There was something else. Not only hate. Hope. Hope of a mad person.

🌂 Maybe, it's just a cruel ability, that took over Yokohama's citizens? Maybe, if they find a way to escape Yokohama, the life will be back to normal? They will only need to kill perpetrator, and life will be back to normal. To normal real lives of normal real people.

🌂 If Koyou could, she would pray. Pray for an ability user, who took over Yokohama with their ability. For someone, they could reach. For someone, her Golden Demon could stab.

🌂 But then, Hirotsu and Chuuya brought news. Armed Detective Agency, including Dazai also were self-aware.

🌂 Of course, Koyou could pretend, that Dazai wasn't real, that he was a doll, an illusion. Just a tool to mess with everyone's brains. But, Kouyou knew, that it's not true.

🌂There is an ability user. Yokohama isn't under ability's effect.

🌂 And Kouyou Ozaki, Port Mafia Executive, "Golden Demon" ability user was created only for someone's entertainment.

🌂 But, there was also good news. Kyouka was... fine. According to Dazai, Ranpo, that detective, asked her to be his assistant, while he was investigating current situation. Kouyou was happy about that.

🌂 Illusion might be broken, world is big fake, but, right here and now, Kouyou Ozaki exists. And she has duty to fulfill.

🌂 And then, she felt entity's gaze on her.

_________

She and Kajii were paroling borders of Yokohama again.

Kouyou Ozaki felt both irritated and nervous. The world outside of Yokohama was even... emptier.

The closest metaphor Kouyou could find, is drawing of a forest, made by kindergartener, who didn't know about animals existence.

Wilderness outside Yokohama was empty. No animals, no birds, no insects. Even trees were limited. It looked like a park, not an inhabitant area.

And it was flat. No hills, no complete roads.

The river and road lead to nothing. They just... stopped. Like someone cut them.

And beyond that only empty sea of green grass with rare trees existed.

That's why that unblinking gaze in the sky made Kouyou nervous. It was natural fear. Fear of being stalked by someone, while being far away from safety.

But, irritation still was Kouyou main emotion towards that entity.

Kouyou knew what it was. Who they were.

Reader. A single one, Kouyou was about that. Another of that people, who wanted drama. Who wanted to see sad backstories.

Looking from afar. In the security of their real lives. Of their real world.

Oh, how Kouyou wanted to blind that Reader up above.

She wasn't the only one, who had that idea. Some time ago Chuuya said to her, that he dreams about the day he could show that person, how powerful his ability is. They will feel it on their own skin.

And then, time resets.

And Kouyou, once again, was tasked to look after fifteen-year-old Chuuya Nakahara, who has just joined Port Mafia.

__________

When they start feeling your presence

🌂 The shock of sudden time travel still was fresh in her mind, when Chuuya's words delivered the second shocking hit.

"Ane-san... I think, we were mistaking about... them... They are"... Chuuya thought carefully about his next words. "... seems not that bad."

Chuuya grinned for a second.

"And they knew, when to start playing good rock song."

🌂 Kouyou wasn't sure, what to say about it. Chuuya wasn't the one, who would change his opinion that easy. What happened between him and Reader?

🌂 And why she was hearing a laughter during Chuuya's and Dazai's bickering? Very soft and nice laughter.

🌂 Next time travel was felt worse. Because Kouyou woke up in the middle of the fight with Verlaine. But, something was off. King of Assassins was looking at something above his head. He wasn't paying attention to the battle.

🌂 After the battle, Chuuya was mumbling something with a smile on his face. And he was looking at something above his head.

🌂 And when Port Mafia found Verlaine, he was looking before him with a faint smile on his face. He was whispering.

"Perhaps, one day, we will meet. And I will show my gratitude for you... Little Light."

🌂 Kouyou could swear, that for one moment, she saw a shapeless blob, floating before Verlaine.

🌂 Another reset. This time, Kouyou and Mori was discussing Kyouka. And two new things appeared. First, a blinking blob of light, that appeared and disappeared from time to time. And a voice, coming from up above.

Pretty [||||||||||] her [|||||||||||] kimono.

🌂 A surprisingly kind smile appeared on Mori's face.

"Oh, so you finally can see Little Light, Kouyou-kun? Aren't they adorable?"

🌂 Kouyou didn't answer Mori's question, choosing to met with Kyouka. He heard, that Port Mafia and ADA were negotiating about creating a union. To get to the Real World. And met with Guiding Light.

🌂 Kouyou guessed, that Guiding Light were Reader. What happened while she was away? For a moment, Kouyou felt irritated. Why she wasn't included in more events? She wanted to know more about sudden change of hearts about Reader.

🌂 Kouyou didn't call Kyouka's cellphone that time. She only wanted to make sure, that she is alright. Nakajima can be free, for now.

🌂 Kyouka and Atsushi were at the same spot, Kouyou found them last? time. Atsushi was talking about something with Kyouka. Kouyou could hear some words he has spoken.

"them" "good" "will like" "kind".

And second voice also talked.

"hope" "Kyouka" "fine"

🌂 This tome, it was a talk, not a fight. Kyouka was fine. And, she really wanted to hear something from Guiding Light. Were Guiding Light hypnotizing people? Kouyou didn't know why, but she repeated that words, she told Kyouka the last time.

_________

"Listen to me, Kyōka. I know how you feel. But... some things are simply impossible. No matter how much a natural-born assassin like you seeks light... A flower that blooms in the dark can survive only within the dark. If you pursue the light, its heat will burn you up in the end."

Something soft curled around her neck. And Kouyou felt a wave of warmth.

Kindness. Appreciation. Love.

"sorry" "didn't deserve" "strong"

"Kouyou, I admire you. You are such a strong woman. I don't know if I could go through, what you had to go through. But, I think, you can open up a little... They respect you. And, I don't think, they will try to betray you again. One day, even in the deepest darkness, light will shine."

And someone pet her cheek.

[*In reality, you traced your fingers along Kouyou's manga frame.*]

_______

🌂 Kouyou returned to ADA's building with Kouyou and Atsushi. Other Port Mafia members already were there. And Kouyou really need time to think about everything.

🌂 Chuuya... was right. Reader's emotions don't feel fake. And, what was important to Kouyou, Reader didn't pity her. Perhaps, Kouyou should soften up for a bit.

🌂But, one problem remains. Kyouka. Will Reader felt kindness towards Kouyou as well? If they aren't, well, Kouyou's sympathy will disappear.

🌂 Kouyou just need to wait.

________

The union finally was established, and remains of Port Mafia permanently moved to ADA's building.

Fukuzawa and Mori were discussing with Fitzgerald about Guild joining them.

That's when Kyouka wanted to talk to Kouyou eye to eye.

"They saw my past. My parents. They hugged me."

Kouyou saw a faint smile on Kyouka's face.

"Atsushi was right. They are a good person."

When Kyouka left to help Atsushi with something, Kouyou looked up. At the Little Light.

"You... Never were a bad person, right? I am glad, that I learned about it before I could do something, that would upset Kyouka. Guiding Light, when we met... let me protect you as well."

_________

🌂 Kouyou now understand, why others wanted to meet Guiding Light. And why they want to hear more from them.

🌂 If only all of them could hear Guiding Light's voice more often.

And then, one day, the purple moon shined above Yokohama.

When you installed BSD Mayoi Inu Kaikitan

🌂 When they got access to Scout files, Kouyou immediately gave you most of her SSR Cards.

🌂 She, and some other people, who didn't get much spotlight, asked to be first, who gives you their cards. They want your attention.

"Kouyou has so many beautiful cards"

"I wish, there was SSR Kouyou Tarot Card, SR."

"I adore Chibi Kouyou from Port Mafia base."

🌂 Kouyou is planning, how she will protect you, when she got in reality.

🌂 Kouyou is interested in Japanese culture. She took some sewing lessons online. She wants to sew something for you.

🌂 Real World, if you will be near, doesn't seem so bad. Same to hope.

_______

You got another note in your inbox.

Kouyou with Sakura flowers Stamp.

"[Y/N], I hope, you are doing well. If someone is bothering you, tell me, when we met. I will deal with them accordingly. Stay safe. Kouyou Ozaki."

You smiled and opened one of the Kouyou's cards. You pet chibi sprite.

"I am doing good, Kouyou. Thanks for your concern. No one was bothering me, but, if someone do, I will tell you. I hope, we will meet."

You didn't notice, but a smile appeared on chibi Kouyou's face.

#self-awarebsd #self-awareau #bungou stray dogs au #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd anime #bsd x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #yandere #Self-Aware Koyouou Ozaki #Ozaki Kouyou x reader #Kouyou Ozaki x reader #BSD Koyouou x reader

[snowangeldotmp3]

today on things i wish i could erase from my memory: saw people writing ernest lawrence x j. robert oppenheimer fanfic….

#i need to bleach my eyes. and my brain. #idk maybe not to be the Buzzkill but maybe we don’t ship/write fanfic about real historical people. and perhaps take into consideration the #real effects these people had not just on american history but like. you know. the entire world as we know it. #i’ve seen oppenheimer twice now and i get it. cillian murphy and all. #but even for a 3 hour epic (focused mostly on oppenheimers own rise and guilt etc) it’s still a sanitized version of things #idk i Lived through the hamilton uwu-ification and it was (and still is!) GROSS. Stop It. #this has been a historical psa #kinda

[syncrovoid-presents]

ooo I just saw the formatting on your blog, and it looks so cool!!! My ask: since you say you know random knowledge, what is a fun fact you could share? :D

Aa thanks!! I caught myself some HTML and CSS for the formatting of my desktop blog. I still need to update it but there's a few hidden secrets @:o)

HMM I have so many I would like to share! It depends on what sort of knowledge you seek and how much detail you want! Like how butterfly wings have scales or how mummies are rare because they were used in paints and consumed.

BUT because it is something I have been thinking about, I shall tell you some funny coincidences and the cycle of time (it is fun and curious! I find it very fascinating)

There is something quite interesting about how centuries ago and ranging to thousands of years (depending on the culture and how well it was documented) there were many mentions of not-quite-human people. Like for instance (I shall talk about Scottish folk lore here, for it is one I am familiar with) there are the Fae folk.

The seelies and unseelies and how there were ways of telling disguised Fae apart from regular old humans (count the teeth, check the fingers. Are the ears unusual? Is the voice unusual?) If I'm not mistaken, there's also a form of this with some Japanese Yokai too? I am not 100% sure. There are similarities too with certain Slavic and Native Americans beliefs too, and African if I'm not mistaken. But regardless, this is something that exists in all sorts of folk lore from all around the world.

(I will briefly mention that some of this could stem from when certain illnesses were a lot more serious (consider rabies for instance) or from ableism. So it isn't all fun and interesting, but I thought I should add that!)

It is interesting how as society (mostly western for I am not 100% knowledgeable about how other societies have evolved over the centuries) has evolved towards a greater understanding of the world through hard sciences and generally separated from folk-belief how this has transitioned into aliens.

Aliens that could walk among us but act a little funny, or their smiles don't look right (count the teeth, check the fingers), how they come at night and leave mysteriously, with lights and colours and technology like magick.

(Again, I shall mention that sometimes these beliefs are used to defend various types of bigotry. I do not support that and find it quite gross)

And then now, another hundred or so years after the rise of aliens (there is still more people are finding! More mysteries, more unexplained phenomenons!) those same rules now have transitioned into AI artwork.

Have you seen some realistic AI artworks of humans? You must count the teeth, check the gands. Are the joints all wrong, bending too far or there are too many? How many fingers are there? You must count them! Check the ears, check the faces. Are they humans or something just pretending?

Of course it isn't quite the same, it never is and never will be, but I can't help but find it fascinating that certain beliefs from centuries or decades ago can now transition into practical advice for something that absolutely would have been considered magick to those folks. How science and folklore beliefs don't have to be pitted against each other, and how time can be quite cyclical in nature.

Plus not to mention the similarities between the "Hitchhiker Effect" and the curses of various folklore creatures of millennias past, both coming from worlds beyond our own but in different ways, both explanations of the impossible through the lens of current knowledge.

And who can say how this could change when AI develops further? Though AI isn't truly intelligence, the name is actually quite misleading, when programmed right and given the correct uses it can be a wonderful mimicry of such. Imagine AI generated realistic 3d models, using generated voices and generated dialogue. Would you count the teeth? Check the hands? Would there ever be a point in our lifetimes where that would even be possible?

Regardless, I find this all quite interesting!! I can talk further but I shall limit myself to this. I don't quite know if my ramblings about the roundabout nature of time and humanity and the development of belief falls into a fun fact or not, but it was very fun to answer this ask!!

#ask.txt #syncrovoid.txt #the hitchhiker effect is actually relally interesting regardless of whether you believe it to be true or not #i find all of it interesting in a “i am watching it from afar” sort of way #i am neither against nor pro aliens or the supernatural in general (how much of a difference between the two is there anyways?) #i just find it all very curious regardless of how true or fake it is!! #how there is so much left in the world that is unexplored or unexplainable or simply unknown! #there are so many species of bugs no one has classified (does that mean they are unknown? #does that mean classification isnt a real reflection of the world we live in? who knows who knows!) #it is like the generational pendulum effect where certain extremes from one generation becomes the opposite extreme in the next #(it is not guaranteed plus (at least here where i live though it could pertain to any country) fhe oldest generations were severly #traumatized and lived in conditions with all sorts of damaging things. like lead in the water that overtime could lead to brain damage #these things pass down through DNA. little packets of information to help the next people survive #(like how certain animals may become more prone to certain avoidances if their parents had bad experiences. evolution!) #how much of that remains? how hurt are people still? these things i do not know yet find myself pondering them still #like how families that survived famine are more likely to maintain body weight or how the babybooms rebelled agains their current societal- #norms. #how does the seeking for the familiar change these bahviours when one grows old? how can one understand what they've never known? #ANYWAYS i will stop my rambling before i hit some rambling limit! #thank you for the very fun ask and have a lovely day/night!!!

[bogleech]

Anyway while we're on the subject of public misconception towards living things (which is completely understandable because have you SEEN living things? There's like dozens of them!) here's a fresh rundown of some common mistakes about bugs!

Arachnids aren't just spiders! They're also scorpions, mites, ticks and some real weirdos out there

Insects with wings are always finished growing! Wings are the last new thing they ever develop! There can never be a "baby bee" that's just a smaller bee flying around.

That said, not all insects have larvae! Many older insect groups do look like little versions of adults....but the wings rule still applies.

Insects do have brains! Lobes and everything!

Only the Hymenoptera (bees, ants and wasps) have stingers like that.

Not all bees and wasps live in colonies with queens

The only non-hymenoptera with queens are termites, which is convergent evolution, because termites are a type of cockroach!

There are still other insects with colonial lifestyles to various degrees which can include special reproductive castes, just not the whole "queen" setup.

Even ants still deviate from that; there are multi-queen ant species, some species where the whole colony is just females who clone themselves and other outliers

There is no "hive mind;" social insects coordinate no differently from schools of fish, flocks of birds, or for that matter crowds of humans! They're just following the same signals together and communicating to each other!

Not all mosquito species carry disease, and not all of them bite people

Mosquitoes ARE ecologically very important and nobody in science ever actually said otherwise

The bite of a black widow is so rarely deadly that the United States doesn't bother stocking antivenin despite hundreds of reported bites per year. It just feels really really bad and they give you painkillers.

Recluse venom does damage skin, but only in the tiny area surrounding the bite. More serious cases are due to this dead skin inviting bacterial infection, and in fact our hospitals don't carry recluse antivenin either; they just prescribe powerful antibiotics, which has been fully effective at treating confirmed bites.

Bed bugs are real actual specific insects

"Cooties" basically are, too; it's old slang for lice

Crane flies aren't "mosquito hawks;" they actually don't eat at all!

Hobo spiders aren't really found to have a dangerous bite, leaving only widows and recluses as North America's "medically significant" spiders

Domestic honeybees actually kill far more people than hornets, including everywhere the giant "murder" hornet naturally occurs.

Wasps are only "less efficient" pollinators in that less pollen sticks to them per wasp. They are still absolutely critical pollinators and many flowers are pollinated by wasps exclusively.

Flies are also as important or more important to pollination than bees.

For "per insect" pollination efficiency it's now believed that moths also beat bees

Honeybees are non-native to most of the world and not great for the local ecosystem, they're just essential to us and our food industry

Getting a botfly is unpleasant and can become painful, but they aren't actually dangerous and they don't eat your flesh; they essentially push the flesh out of the way to create a chamber and they feed on fluids your immune system keeps making in response to the intrusion. They also keep this chamber free of bacterial infection because that would harm them too!

Botflies also exist in most parts of the world, but only one species specializes partially in humans (and primates in general, but can make do with a few other hosts)

"Kissing bugs" are a group of a couple unusual species of assassin bug. Only the kissing bugs evolved to feed on blood; other assassin bugs just eat other insects.

[gayelderstourney]

OLD MAN YAOI BRACKET ROUND 1

Propaganda:

Bob Zanotto/Helmut Fullbear:

THEY LITERALLY MADE MR CRY THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED THE GAME. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND THEY FINALLY GET TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME.

they are married in canon and are epic and amazing. they had sad canon events where bob thought helmut was dead for like 30 years or something but helmut WASN'T dead his brain was still alive and they are reunited in the game first by way of stealing an evil dictator's body and then later on they put helmut's brain in a ball as a temporary fix while they go out to find his body which has been frozen in ice. the game forces you to walk through bob's memory of saying his vows at their wedding ceremony and it's seriously some of the most romantic and heartwarming shit i've ever heard, especially "just when i thought i was turning to seed, you made me bloom again" like my god. i love them

they're gay and old as hell!!!! there's a level dedicated to their wedding!!!

Helmut is voiced by Jack Black and is currently a brain in a ball, and Bob knows him so well that the mental image of him in his drunken mind says things Bob KNOWS the real Helmut would never say. Also Helmut is temporarily in the body of a guy voiced by Elijah Wood-

Craig Cuttlefish/DJ Octavio:

well you see they used to be friends but were on opposite sides of the great turf war. cuttlefish gets a 14 year old to go stop octavios army. also they argue in splatoon 3 which is just part of the 100+ year divorce arc BUT AT THE FINAL BOSS IN THE JAPANESE VERSION THEY SHARE THE ICONIC LINE THAT CUES THE CALAMARI INKANTATION AND IN THE ENGLISH CUTTLEFISH TELLS OCTAVIO TO "HIT IT" AND START THE MUSIC AND MUSIC IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE SPLATOON UNIVERSE YAAAAA ik its grasping but its lovers to enemies

Literally I have seen so many people call this old man yaoi.

Old men divorce!!!

They're old men who made their divorce the problem of every young person in their lives <3. 100 years ago during the Great Turf War between inklings and octarians, Craig and Octavio were the chosen ambassadors of their respective species. They got along well, but unfortunately found themselves on opposite sides of the war. During one of the battles Craig shot Octavio in the heart. The inlkings won the war and the octarians were forced underground. For years afterward both men grew bitter towards each other, and eventually Octavio attacked the new Squidbeak Splatoon (a group of secret agents recruited by Craig). Octavio lost both times and got imprisoned in a giant snow globe (and Craig calls him cute). In the latest game Octavio got over his hatred for Inklings (Craig's species) and used his flying mech to help defeat the BBEG of the game. After the final fight, Craig said something to the effect of 'that old rascal turned out to be not so bad!'.

Alright ok hear me out! These two old men have fought in wars for their races against each other and have the craziest pathetic old man homoerotic tension ever. They like, went from at least respecting each other before the war and then they were forced to fight each other and then when Cuttlefish's side won, Octavio went underground like a pathetic lil wet cat and later on he kidnapped Cuttlefish because of game related reasons and both of them still have way too much homoerotic tension!!! And then Octavio gets owned and then in the second game Octavio decides that "Hey actually, lets kidnap Cuttlefish's granddaughter" and the old man isnt even there cause hes busy being a pathetic old man in the under-underground!!! And in the third game they go fron rival/enemies to reluctantly working together to save the world from actual extinction bc some durry bitch wants to cover it in fuzzy ooze and like, both of them have so much old man ship potential and just- theyre still pining for each other even after over a 100 years man,,,,

I personally headcanon Cap'n Cuttlefish as homophobic, but I see the ship a lot and think it's funny.

They’re both at least like 125 probably a bit older, they are so divorced, like peak lovers to enemies back to lovers, Cap’n Cuttlefish calls Octavio cute in Splatoon one immediately after you rescue him from Octavio kidnapping him? So dysfunctional, so gay, so old

They fought in the Great Turf War which was said to be over 100 years ago, Capn Cuttlefish was, well, a captain I believe (he had some sort of rank even if he wasn't a captain, like he led a battle that's singled out in the sunken scrolls of the first game). they act so divorced in the singleplayer mode like they cannot stop insulting each other specifically but octavio always comes back and like kidnaps or insults captain cuttlefish it's so. and when the great zapfish gets stolen in splatoon 3 captain cuttlefish is like "it's the octarians again i know it" like divorced behavior. also it wasn't this time and octavio gets super weird about it. maybe you should stop using children as props in your drama though.

my favorite war crime divorcees <3

They basically are friends to enemies to lovers. Both of them fought in a war that hurt DJ Octavio so bad he can’t become an inkling.

friends -> enemies -> lovers. what more is there to say

they are soooo divorced

they were so gay their breakup ended a war

Craig Cuttlefish got sucked dry by a bear

they got divorced but then they got remarried . they fuckinf hate eachother but they also make out sloppy style and i do not know how that works because neither of them have mouths in their swim form which they are both permanently stuck in. love wins but also loses at the same time with these fucking losers

they are sooo divorced omg. istg they were dating when they were younger and then war n shit happened and now theyre bitter exes who probably still make out sometimes. Makes it so much funnier that theyre old ass men (both over 100!) and Cuttlefish has grandkids

They were on opposite sides of a war and still fell in love

#im so sorry psychonauts fans but cuttletavio had the most submissions. so. #polls #round 1 #gay elders tourney #tournament poll #psychonauts #helmut fullbear #bob zanotto #splatoon #craig cuttlefish #dj octavio #cuttletavio

[bobbile-blog]

Not sure if anyone’s said this yet but now that we have Laterano events plural I’m fascinated by their (imo) very deliberate choice of protagonists, and there are almost a couple of layers of narrative going on there. I struggle a little figuring out how to get this into words but specifically I think they’re chosen to be people who can carry a narrative without contradicting the orthodox morals of the church. There’s a LOT of vaguely anti-authoritarian rambling below the cut so please kindly bear with me and my English major brain.

I can’t really start there though. One of the reasons this is so brain hurty is how deeply it’s woven into the storyline, so to start, I have to verbalize how Laterano and Arknights writing more generally is different from other, similar settings. Because like, I hear the words “morally negative church in a grimdark setting��� and my brain immediately shuts off. Come on, that’s so far beyond low-hanging fruit, if you’ve seen any grimdark setting ever you know exactly what that looks like. And sure, it was fine the first two or three times you saw it, depending on your tolerance for that kinda thing, but it gets boring quick and even when it was new it was kinda uninteresting story-wise. “Religion is always fake because it inspires hope which means everyone who takes meaning from it is either a corrupt grifter or naive and misled” isn’t just edgy nonsense, it’s also basically useless as an actual critique. It tells you absolutely nothing except how to tune out a particular kind of story, and a story that tries to get you to hear less is doing its job wrong.

So, Arknights does something different. Instead of denying the premise of the church entirely, it actually takes it at its word. Laterano is, in almost every definition of the word, a paradise. It is basically unmatched in terms of actual quality of life, with its only competitors being the Durin cities and maybe Aegir, and is worlds apart from now much the rest of Terra sucks. More than that, though, the paradise is specifically tailored to the worldview of a religion with a strong central authority - when I say it takes it at its word, I mean the authoritarian bits too. Laterano is a city that lives in perfect order and peace because everyone follows the law perfectly and they all understand each other and never fight. Empathy is really important for this, as it allows for a believable amount of superhuman societal order. Laterano has very little crime, political drama, or quarrels in general. It’s the promises of a strict higher authority actually taken at face value: everyone follows the rules and that means they have effectively unfettered freedom, because they don’t want to break the rules and therefore they can do anything they want.

Laterano is specifically written to be a believable paradise in a setting that has none, so that when the story then turns around and criticizes that setting, it has significantly more weight. Even when the promises of paradise are taken at face value, there are still issues that cannot be addressed because the system is inherently flawed even in the imaginary scenario where it works. Even worse, the problems that poke holes in the imaginary perfect scenario are the same problems that they face in the real world, like “how do you deal with the interpretation of scriptures” and “hey there’s this racism thing I keep hearing about should we be worried about that or what”. Because of the way this imaginary perfect system works, we then look back on our real world in a new light and understand it a little better. It’s good critique.

Okay so how did we get here and what does this have to do with the protagonists? Well, this starts with Fiametta in Guide Ahead, because she’s a really weird protagonist. This is a cold take at this point but despite being the character on the front of the box, she has very little to actually do with the central conflict of the event. Most of the conflict is handled by Ezell first and Andoain second, and Fiametta mostly putters around putting holes in people until the finale where Andoain receives the answer he’s been looking for, he turns to explain it to the world, and he runs into the only person in the whole of Laterano who does not care about his motivations or his revelation. Her role, in other words, is to replace the climax of Andoain’s story with her own, and in doing so she makes it much harder to actually get a resolution and a meaning out of the story (this should not be taken as a criticism of her character, let me cook). Guide Ahead’s ending is hazy, with only small piecemeal resolutions to its conflicts, and for the longest time that was just the way the event was written and it stood on its own.

But now, Hortus de Escapismo is out and the monkey brain see patterns. Specifically, with the choice of protagonists. Because Executor is definitely different from Fiametta as a protagonist, but there’s one particularly important connection between the two, and that’s that as I mentioned in the beginning, they allow for stories don’t contradict orthodox morality. Fiametta we went over, as she’s uninterested in any of Andoain’s morality and just wants him dead. Executor, though, is purely focused on his mission and views the world through that lens. He only wants to achieve his objective, and while helping the needy is in line with the stated objectives of the church and he does do so when able, it’s secondary to his assigned task. He does change as he gets further into the story, and we’re not gonna ignore that, but we’ll be back to it later. What I mean is more that he is designed as a person who is able to lead a story that doesn’t contradict with the morals of Laterano. He sees the injustice and suffering around him, but that’s not his job, so he doesn’t need to solve it to have a complete story with a happy ending.

This is where it really gets complicated, so I apologize if I don’t explain this very well. I see this as us dealing with multiple layers of fiction: the events of the story, the perspective of the church, and our perspective as readers. Back to the first point - authoritarian institutions almost always use stories to sell people on their brand of order. Simple stories, simple enough that even calling them myths seems like overselling it a little, your “Saint George slays a dragon” kinda thing. This is the point of the second layer, the perspective of the church. I don’t really have an in-world justification for this layer - maybe you could make the argument that it has to do with Law’s perspective on things, but I don’t totally buy that - I think it’s more in a weird narrative transition space for people who don’t read very carefully. Regardless, Fiametta and Executor’s shared indifference to the questionable circumstances surrounding them is designed to let them tell a story to prop up the existing order. Their protagonist status and their missions are specifically constructed to allow them to ignore the suffering around them, and as such ignore the larger questions that might poke holes in the larger order. They’re both playing out the story of Saint George, where they go and find a bad guy and kill them and that’s all there is to it. The story is designed and told specifically for that “that’s all there is to it”.

But, as we said earlier, this is a good critique, and as such it intentionally undercuts this story with the third layer: what we actually see as readers. We are shown the suffering and the injustice, and then get to see our protagonists ignoring that to pursue their goals. This is what gives Guide Ahead’s ending its unique texture, which sets it apart from every other event with a vaguely unresolved ending. We have seen the actual issues with Laterano, and also watched our protagonist explicitly ignore them in favor of her own story. It’s unsatisfying in a way that only really makes sense to me if we as the readers have an understanding of intentional authorship. Whether it be Yvangelista XI or Law or The Actual Real Life Pope, there are issues here that we want to see a resolution to but people are choosing not to address them. Again, it’s good critique. Not only does it push the reader to unpack and understand the actual real-world technique, but it also helps blunt it. You have just seen a plot and protagonist ring uncharacteristically hollow. You then look around to see why that is, and you realize there are many things that should have been resolved that weren’t. The next time you see a story resolve with that same hollow-ness, you know where to look. Surprise! Harry Potter was propaganda the whole time. It’s okay, it was never good, you were just twelve.

I guess the last thing is where we go from here, because Executor’s story breaks this mold somewhat. In Hortus de Escapismo, he has to deal with a mission that isn’t actually bounded by his normal rules, and because of that he actually does have leeway to help the people around him. He starts as someone who is totally mission-focused, but by the end of the event he’s done a total 180 and is blocking Oren’s attack, which makes the mission harder but helps the non-mission-critical civilians of the monastery. He breaks from the rigid thinking of “kill the bad guy and that’s all there is do it”, and gives his attention to the people he isn’t supposed to see. I think this is an indication of the direction we’re going to be headed in the future with Laterano events. The events aren’t going to get better - they’re going to keep being just as morally murky and complicated as in the past - but the characters are going to get better at handling it, and when they do, they’re going to actually start to change things for the better.

Goddamn that was a lot of writing for 1 AM. I still have a. Lot of thoughts on this event with stuff like empathy and Lemuen and Federico being an autistic icon(my beloved) but I’m going to leave things there, I think, because if I write for any longer my phone is going to crash when I try to post this. Anyway if you actually made it to the end thanks for listening to me rambling and I hope that made sense. Cheers.

#arknights #arknights thoughts #hortus de escapismo #laterano #fiametta #executor arknights #I deadass had to ask folks to proofread this one #to make sure I didn’t sound like I didn’t sound off my rocker #also don’t mind my random Harry Potter slander that’s an entirely different rant

[oneatlatime]

The Guru

Happy 2024 everyone and welcome to the first time I managed to type 2024 without first typing 2023! Oh and also a write up of The Guru. That too.

Me too Iroh. Me too.

So Zuko is riding high on that post-crisis 'time to get my life together' buzz that, similar to 3 am life plans, should absolutely not be listened to. Wonder how long before he crashes and burns? There's literally 2 episodes left, so I'm guessing one and a half?

Poor Sokka. My boy's got anxiety.

I don't know if it's a monk thing, an airbender thing, an Avatar thing, or an Aang thing, but I envy his complete lack of nerves.

How is Appa ok with them splitting up for a week after JUST getting them back?

I paused in a funny place. Have bonk-eyed Appa.

I love them comparing heights. What do you want to bet that that guy on the right was one of the youngest allowed to go fight, and Sokka made a big deal about how they're almost the same age and surely that means he can go too, right?

A lot of these Southern Water Tribe people have dreads or braids. That's neat.

Bato's arm is still messed up. That's some good continuity.

I've found the source of Katara's cheek bones. I guess Sokka takes after his mum.

Ok I know this is a really emotional moment (and it is! Sokka's spent two seasons earning this!) but my brain fixated on the furs and briefly thought they were sky bison pelts.

"It's been a difficult week for me." This guy thinks the Kyoshi Warriors are there to provide him therapy. Someone please just crown the bear instead.

He just gave away literally every relevant plot point AND outlined how to make sure all these plot points don't succeed. Crown. The. Bear.

Maybe if these generals spent less time playing with their giant model Earth Kingdom and more time general-ing, the war wouldn't suck so much?

Pretty.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs, the colour palette, the music, the sound design of this air temple. I love everything about it. If I had the chance to live anywhere in the Avatar universe, it would be here. Even in its ruined state it's such a refreshing contrast to the claustrophobia of Ba Sing Se. I can feel the freshness of the breeze through the screen.

"A spiritual brother of your people" an adult perspective on a near extinct culture! What a resource!

"and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso" an old as balls perspective. He's got to be at least 130.

Anthropology cul de sac time: this guy is so valuable as a resource on the Air Nomads. There's probably parts of Air Nomad culture that Aang can't ever accurately talk about, because he was a kid when he left, and there was almost certainly stuff that the adults kept to themselves, or only shared with the older Air Nomads. This Guru doesn't seem to be an Air Nomad himself, but there's a good chance that there is knowledge that he has, that Aang doesn't. Aang should be nerding out more about this. I'll do the nerding out for him.

Aang just breezes right by that Gyatso name drop like it's nothing. Huh.

Oh hey Toph. I'd forgotten she was in a box. Tweedle dum and Tweedle dumber really are quite the pair. What's their plan for keeping her fed and watered? Actually, these guys apparently don't know that maps exist, so it's probably never occurred to them that humans need sustenance. They'll rock up to the Bei Fong estate with corpse Toph and wonder why they aren't getting the reward money.

Mai gets called out in-universe for shopping at Hot Topic.

Ty Lee's buttering up of Azula is getting less and less subtle as the season progresses. It's a testament to Azula's lack of awareness that she's hasn't noticed that, and that Ty Lee can get away with it.

Azula's right that it's an extraordinary opportunity. The King gave them quite literally every piece of info required to overthrow his kingdom in a 25 second conversation. I can't blame her for taking advantage of such an easy win.

That's a very effective unimpressed face. And a very impressive beard.

It's funny to see a spiritual concept from the real world pop up in a show that includes things like bending and giant fish possession. The mention of Chakras kind of sticks out. They couldn't invent a Avatar universe version?

"Once you begin this process, you cannot stop until all seven are open." Well that doesn't feel like foreshadowing at all.

This episode should be called "Aang's self-care Journey." It's about time the kid had a me day that wasn't avoidance-based.

Fear: Losing Katara - makes sense. Losing control of his powers via fish possession - makes sense. The Fire Lord - makes sense. But the Blue Spirit? He helped. Doesn't make sense.

Guilt: Running away - makes sense, although I thought he'd worked through that with Katara in the storm. Nuking that idiot General's base - makes sense, but boy did he quite literally ask for it.

This guru is saying some wonderfully accurate, and realistic, things. I love that he's not taking the Katara route of denying anything is wrong. He's going for the acknowledge, then heal route. And yes, it's unfair of me to compare the emotional maturity of Katara to a century+ old spiritual expert.

I'm going to ruin the immersion here and point out that Sokka's dad's voice actor voiced a bunch of characters in season 1. He's doing an excellent job, but couldn't they get a unique voice for a character that's so important (albeit offscreen) to Sokka?

That's an incredibly roundabout way of avoiding pointing out that the Southern Water Tribe are active participants in a bloody war. Sure, we can show multiple characters with visible scarring from horrific burns, but heaven forbid we imply that the Southern Water Tribe sinks ships. The parameters for what is and isn't appropriate on this show sometimes make no sense.

"Aren't you listening? I said the rest of you men get ready for battle." He hasn't seen his boy in two years, but fifteen minutes in his company and he knows exactly what needs to be said and how. That's some top tier parenting. Dad of the year. Dad of the century. Only decent Dad in this show that isn't technically an uncle.

"Follow your passion Zuko, and life will reward you." Great advice for your eight year old audience. Also a great way to end up unemployed.

Positive Sokka creeped me out a few episodes ago. Now positive Zuko is freaking me out too.

Pretty.

Back to Chakras! Shame: Burning Katara - makes sense. But that's it? To have the inner peace of mind of a twelve year old who's somehow only ever done one thing that he's ashamed of.

Is there anyone in the earth kingdom who isn't stupid? Once again wondering at the network's standards. Visible burn injuries are fine, but Mai can't say 'Shut up." It's got to be Shush up. Although I do seem to recall of brief time in the early 2000s when Shut Up was treated as a curse on par with Shit or Fuck. Maybe that was just at my school.

Chakras again! Even for a show that often has an A, B, and C plot, this narrative is ping ponging around a bit much.

Grief: nothing major, just a whole nation. Makes a horrific amount of sense. but I don't buy that he can get over grieving the whole world as he knew it by thinking about his crush. That's way too high a pedestal for Katara to be placed on.

Lies: Not accepting he's the Avatar. Interesting that not accepting that he's the Avatar and not accepting that he's a firebender are two different problems.

I see you reusing the opening credits footage. Your blue filters can't fool me.

PRETTY

Illusion: So we're relearning what we learned in The Swamp. Aang's probably the person currently alive least likely to believe in the rigid separation of the nations anyway. This doesn't feel like an illusion he's subject to?

The way this episode dances between its narrative threads is so great. It's all woven in so beautifully. And this makes perfect sense! Toph's spent her life secretly doing things excellently that everyone says are completely beyond her capabilities. Life has taught her that the statement "you are not able to" doesn't apply. Of course immutable laws of bending physics are treated with the same respect as an adult telling the champion of the Earth Rumble that she's can't earthbend beyond breathing exercises. If you told her that humans can't fly, she'd figure out how within the week.

Plot collision incoming.

Interesting that Katara initially recognises Zuko by his voice rather than his scar.

I'm pretty sure that Zuko and Iroh don't know about the whole brainwashing thing, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Zuko introduced himself to Katara as Joo Dee, and his uncle Joo Dee, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, can I take your order? That would throw Katara into one hell of a moral quandary.

Katara being framed as the solution for Chakra number four comes back to bite Aang, as she's the problem in Chakra number seven. I knew that pedestal was too high.

I've changed my mind. This episode should actually be called "Half a dozen reasons why everyone should just learn to keep their goddamn mouths shut already."

So is anyone going to let Zuko and Iroh know that they're now in immediate danger and need to leave, like, yesterday?

I think the Guru is going for the whole 'if you love them, let them go, and they'll come back to you' thing. Don't cling, in other words. But for the sake of the plot he's suddenly lost his ability to explain Chakras in a way that makes them seem like the logical thing to do. The only clunky bit of this episode so far.

May I introduce you to our Lord and Saviour Toph?

"I am the greatest earthbender in the world." Yes. Yep. Yeah. That's now a quantifiable fact, and it's correct. Look on ye mighty and despair. She's even got Bumi beat.

Earth Tongue Running is a bit wonky looking but it covers a crazy amount of distance.

What's the range on Toph's earth sense? Can she sense what direction Ba Sing Se is?

I hope those two idiots' horse bird is ok.

"You don't know how much this means to me dad." He does. Very much so.

Every word out of this guy's mouth is precision engineered to make Sokka feel like a million bucks and I for one think it's about time someone built him up. Also, seeing this makes me realise how few good parents there are in this show. It's a trope of kids' adventure shows that the parents fundamentally can't be there, but I also think it's a commentary on yet another thing that this war has messed up.

Hey look! Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now that's in Ba Sing Se, protecting your sister! I love narratives that tie their themes up with a pretty bow on top.

This is Azula laying a trap, right? Which means that Katara squealed to someone about the exact location of Iroh and Zuko's tea shop. Don't like the implications of that.

Photos taken seconds before disaster.

Final Thoughts

This episode was a lot! I mean that in a good way! But I felt a bit like the Maxell Blown Away Guy, the way I kept getting assaulted by yet another plot thread. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism. I think the switching between plot threads and the amount of info in this episode worked 99% of the time. But I'm kind of in awe at the balancing act the writers pulled off and I'm sort of sitting here blinking a bit trying to fit all this stuff in my head. I'm probably going to forget half the stuff I wanted to talk about in this write up, so here goes nothing.

Given the Azula reveal in at the end of last episode, I thought that this would be the episode where the shit hits the fan. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong. An episode of set up is required and is nice breathing room, even an episode as busy as this. And I got to leave Ba Sing Se! But this does mean that next episode is going to be calamity after calamity.

Aang and his Chakras: I'm fascinated by this guru. I hope he comes back. That brings the total number of people who were alive before the war started up to three: Aang, Bumi, Guru Patik.

I'm impressed that the run through of the Chakras rarely felt like an info dump. The onion and banana juice thing didn't work for me, but I'm sure it worked for people in the target age bracket. Kids love burp jokes.

So many shows sprinkle in tragic backstories for flavour and then never have them influence the character in the present. It was a nice contrast to see a show take a whole episode to tell Aang "yeah all that sucked. It's ok to feel down about it. Here's how you move forward."

Sokka and his dad: Love it. Love it so much. I love seeing Sokka built up, and he definitely deserves it, but I wonder if this is the reward for a character arc well done, or the set up for a character arc that's about to start? Is his dad's praise his prize for crossing the finish line, or is it so he's built up with farther to fall?

I loved seeing more of the Southern Water Tribe. I loved the fashion. There's a lot of variety in accessories and variations on a few basic elements like those knee guard things. I loved their hairstyles. I loved how cozy and communal that command tent felt. I loved their ships. I wonder how often these guys work out, that they can make loading ramps that are presumably deployed and stashed out of the way frequently, out of whole logs rather than planks. I have a bone to pick with the child-friendly sea mine. But it provides a good set up for a dad joke, so I'll let it slide.

Zuko and Iroh: Of course the one time Zuko is allowed to be in a good place, it's so that he and Iroh both have farther to fall when the inevitable happens. Poor guy just can't catch a break. I'd be mad at Azula for the party crashing that I'm assuming she'll do next episode, but it's been established that Zuko has all nice things taken away from him as soon as he gets them, and I can't blame Azula for being a tool of the universe.

Azula & Long Feng: Azula's acting in Long Feng's prison cell was miles ahead of what Long Feng was doing in front of the Earth King, so I'm wondering if Long Feng has bitten off more than he can chew. Also: conspiring with the enemy to bring down your own city just so you can reinstall yourself as the power behind the throne that will presumably cease to exist as soon as the Fire Nation takes control? That is both treasonous beyond description and an incredible case of shooting yourself in the foot. What's Long Feng's plan here?

Toph and the Dunderheads: it says something about the consistency of Toph's characterisation from her introduction onwards that she breaks the universe this episode and my reaction was "that's neat." It's obviously a huge moment, but of course Toph can do that. Toph can do anything. More importantly, Toph knows that Toph can do anything, so Toph routinely does do anything, especially things she shouldn't be able to do. If you had asked me a few episodes back which character would be most likely to fundamentally redefine bending, I would have said Toph, since she's already fundamentally redefined bending with her earth sense sonar vision.

Also Toph just breaks stuff. Things that come into contact with her cease to function as intended and instead function as Toph requires. Look at the two idiots: both successful business owners, one also a successful hoodwinker of the richest family around. But they come into contact with Toph and their brains take an extended vacation.

Katara & the Generals: this plot was more like an extension of Azula's plot than its own standalone thing. You can't blame her for spilling the news about Zuko and Iroh to someone she honestly thought was Suki. Not much else to say about it, although it's cute that she asks for a table for two at the tea shop. Momo gets a chair!

I like that there's a theme this episode of things going wrong despite the best intentions. No one's acting maliciously here apart from the Antagonists. The Earth King is having an honest chat with people he thought were friends. Sokka vouched for people he honestly thought were the Kyoshi Warriors. Katara shares information about a presumed threat with people she honestly thought were her allies. You can quibble with the wisdom of some of these decisions, but there were all done with good intentions. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry and all that. It brings to mind that Star Trek quote about how you can do everything right and still lose. And this set up is going to hit harder when whatever goes wrong next episode happens. And something will go wrong. A few months ago I figured that the Season 2 finale would be a triumph, but all signs are pointing towards a tragedy instead.

This episode was visually stunning, the soundtrack in the Air Temple sections especially was very evocative, and I applaud the minds that could juggle that many plot threads at once without dropping any. This one is definitely going on my rewatch list.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the guru

[qqueenofhades]

https://www.tumblr.com/qqueenofhades/742700762243727361/you-can-tell-you-work-in-academia-with-how-much

Hi, sorry, Asshole Anon here (I’m not giving myself that nickname to lash out, I’m saying it because I was an ass)

To clarify: I mean “I don’t know what to trust anymore” in that “people whom I normally respect and would otherwise agree with are now sharing material that I find either morally indefensible or overtly simplistic, and at the same time people on the ground in Gaza are saying that Hamas IS a liberation organization, so I trust their word, but there is also the existence of the “We Want To Live” protests, and the fact that there’s now apparently a protest against a child that got killed that isn’t widely reported, with an attached video of said protest from somebody on the ground in Gaza, but it’s in Arabic, there are no subtitles, I cannot speak Arabic, and I don’t trust Google Translate”

I just want an objective sense of what is happening on the ground. I want to know what is and is not propaganda, because I (white, raised in a liberal(?) household, surrounded by white people) am especially susceptible to it. Once I have that objective sense of what the people in Gaza want, then I will be able to effectively and efficiently advocate for shit. But that also necessitates listening to orgs like Standing Together, B’Tselem, people IN Israel who want this shit to stop, and hoo BOY that ain’t gonna fly with those people I mentioned because of:

1. BDS saying that the org “normalizes the occupation”, but they’re made up of Palestinian activists and anti-apartheid veterans, I can’t discount their statement, not fully.

2. Netenyahu’s… Netenyahu

3. Twitter’s doing a great job of asserting that everyone in Israel is a — quoting directly here from a half-remembered Tweet — “genocidal maniac”, or wants the bombardment to happen. (Which I know for a fact is not the case, if the protests calling for a new election are anything to go by)

That’s not even getting into the domestic stuff. I’m in an org rn and I’m getting the sinking feeling that they’re gonna drop this thing like a hot potato when a ceasefire gets called. Just sucks.

Anyways, back to improvement. Just closing this out

I agree that we're currently in a paradoxical state where there is simultaneously ALL THE INFORMATION EVER and ACTUALLY NO INFORMATION AT ALL, and that's what makes it difficult to sort out true from false. It's also what contributes to compassion fatigue, where we are able to get extensive real-time information and/or eyewitness accounts about pretty much any tragedy or catastrophe anywhere in the world, and social media has created a space where we are expected to both immediately react to all that information and to do so in the "right" and "correct" way. Which is basically impossible, and is also what burns out young well-meaning people so hard, where they insist that there's nothing to be done except The Revolution, because they have been so inundated with this torrent of human suffering and it seems like small steps are in fact useless. I am a historian and I can tell you upfront that humans are simply not made to process that volume of information about ALL THE BAD THINGS EVERYWHERE. It's also impossible to have an informed opinion on all or sometimes any of it, but there is still the pressure to visibly do so and to do it in a way that fits in with what everyone in your peer group is saying, even if you don't understand it. So yes -- that is absolutely very difficult, and it's hard to filter or parse it.

That said, I don't think we actually need to have painstaking piece-by-piece analysis of every single piece of information out there, because there are in fact so many competing narratives, perspectives, fake news, disinformation campaigns, opinions, etc., and it will lead you to the same information paralysis: there's just too much of it to even start processing, and so your brain just gives up and reverts to those same simplistic cliches and things that "feel" right, regardless of whether or not they are. When you're trying to decide on the fine details of something, it helps to have an overall sense of the context and narrative that they're operating in. So for reference, these are some broad and basic analytic paradigms that I personally use when reading or thinking about any material in regard to the Israel/Hamas situation in particular:

No person of basic good faith and human decency wants the current situation in Gaza to be happening. However, the person/group that has the power to call it off -- i.e. Netanyahu and the current Israeli government -- has not done so despite increasing pressure from Western allies, because the situation is beneficial to Bibi personally and he sees more use in continuing it than making the decision for it to stop.

The governments of Western allies, therefore, can voice disapproval of Israel's actions (which they have been doing more and more frequently) but unless Netanyahu himself makes the choice to end the war, it will not stop. The West has recently given more and more signals that they are not prepared to countenance the ongoing destruction and genocide of Gaza, but yet again, Israel is its own sovereign country with its own powerful government, military, intelligence services, etc. The "anti-imperialists" who think the collective West can just reach in and turn off the violence whenever they please, and have just refused to do so because they're "bad people," are not being realistic. Western allies can exert pressure and leverage, but as long as Netanyahu himself wants to keep going, he will.

"People in Gaza" and "people in Israel" are not homogeneous blocs who think exactly alike. Some people in Gaza support Hamas. Some people do not. Hamas support has recently grown as a result of Israel's post-October 7 response, but it is not unanimous or unquestioned.

Hamas is the entity that started the current war by attacking Israel on October 7 and murdering/raping/kidnapping 1,000+ Israeli civilians. Hamas is also associated with Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and other terrorist regimes/states, which are often defended by Online Leftists simply for being "anti-Western," regardless of how heinous their actions also are.

Netanyahu was wildly unpopular in Israel for MONTHS before this current war, due to his autocratic attempts to neutralize the Israeli Supreme Court and make the country even more of his personal fiefdom. There were huge, massive, ongoing protests against his naked power-grab for almost all of 2023, and he was so preoccupied with pushing it through that he ignored warnings from the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence services that Hamas was planning a major attack. These anti-Netanyahu demonstrations have continued and ramped up in intensity even in the middle of the war/attacks on Gaza.

As such, painting every single Israeli as mindlessly supporting the current actions of Netanyahu and the Israeli government is antisemitic nonsense and reflect the current Western Leftist tendency to assume that "all Israelis" and "all Zionists (read Jews)" are evil and personally responsible for this.

Israeli Jews have a right to exist and to reside on the land currently called Israel. Modern Israel was founded in 1948, three years after the end of WWII and the Holocaust, the greatest incidence of antisemitic mass murder in history, which is a fact that cannot be ignored and which western leftists eagerly calling for its total eradication and treating it as an illegitimate "white western settler colony" nonetheless do in fact repeatedly ignore.

This is why many Jews do not feel safe in other countries, because there has literally been thousands of years of history proving that they often aren't, and which the rabidly antisemitic response to the current conflict is doing nothing to dissuade.

Jews have had a presence in the land alternately called Palestine, Israel, the Holy Land, Judah, etc., for over 2,000 years, and their entire religion and history is founded around the exile from Jerusalem. That is the history that the current state of Israel is drawing on. It does not vanish just because it is inconvenient for western leftists to acknowledge.

Israel currently has a militant far-right government (after tending toward rightist/right wing domestic politics more generally, partially due to post-Holocaust trauma) that has deliberately erased, ignored, and violated the equally valid claims of Palestine and Palestinian people to that same land, and which is currently committing full-scale genocide against them.

Palestine and Palestinian/Muslim people have the same right to exist on that land as Israel and Israeli/Jewish people (and Christian people, and none-of-the-three people). They both have equally long and historically relevant claims to this land and one of them (in an ideal world, which we do not live in) should not be artificially prized over the other.

However, this land is some of the most bitterly and violently contested in the entire world, for the last two thousand years and counting, and there is no one good guy, simplistic answer, or quick way to stop it. The three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have fought bitterly over Jerusalem and its associated territories for a cool few millennia, and human nature being what it is, there is no way for one person, group, organization, government, etc to just step in and make it stop.

The Western/American leftist response to the current conflict has often made absolutely no attempt to take into account any of this troubled and complex history, and has reduced the whole thing down to whichever antisemitic and/or anti-Democratic Party soundbites will get them the most traction on social media. This often rests on whitewashing any moral responsibility belonging to Hamas and defending them no matter what, labeling all Israeli Jews as "evil genocide supporters," and assuming that if Biden wanted to magically shapeshift into Netanyahu and give the order to make it stop, he would, but he's "just not doing it," ergo something something Trump Would Totally Be Better!

These people also often call themselves "anti-imperialist" while thinking/demanding that America swoop in and play Big Global Policeman Daddy (as it indeed has often done in the past) and spank all its naughty children (but if it actually did do this, etc etc it would be evil). Biden could very much do more and has not necessarily done enough, but he has also done more than any other American president in history to shift away from unconditional unquestioning support of Israel only, and to advocate for a Palestinian state, a lasting ceasefire, and other basic precepts of Palestinian self-determination and dignity of personhood. These two things can be true at the same time.

I don't necessarily expect everyone to agree with every single fine detail of these statements, but I do expect them to at least make a basic effort to let all of these facts to inform their response, and not just the ones that they most agree with and which most fit their ideology or preferred conclusion. So that's one way to approach the situation, even if we obviously can't wring every single drop of meaning out of every single competing piece of information or evidence, because there is just too much of it. When we have a broader understanding of the space that we are operating in and the precepts that are factually true, we are able to make better judgments about who is trustworthy, who is worth listening to, what message they are pushing, and whether it corresponds with reality.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll continue to think about this and take the steps that you feel are best. It is all any of us can do.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #israel hamas war #history #long post

[lakesbian]

ok interlude 1. everyone loves interlude 1. fun things happening in interlude 1 i.e. meeting danny hebert and meeting scion also.

you guys remember seeing that one tumblr post thats like. [in response to experiment where bees read a fake bee on a stick as a real bee] stupid bees. falling for a fake bee on a stick being a real bee. and then someone else is like. i bet eldritch beings are like that about us. stupid humans. falling for fake humans on a stick being real humans. you guys know that post? anyway that's what this interlude makes me think of.

“The golden man would reappear several more times in the coming months and years. At some point, he donned clothing. At first, a sheet worn over one shoulder and pinned at either side of the waist, then more conventional clothes. In 1999, he donned the white bodysuit he still wears today. For more than a decade, we have wondered, where did our golden man get these things? Who was he in contact with?

^ stupid humans. mistaking a fake human on a stick for a real human. i love the horror of this interlude in retrospect. people assuming he's miraculously curing cancer as the world's most heroic original parahuman when he's actually the nigh-incomprehensible alien that's the cause of the pandemic and was healing the cancerous person because they were a host for a parasitic part of the alien's own body that had been implanted in them.

“His pace increased, perhaps because he was still learning what he could do, perhaps because he was getting a greater sense of where he was needed. By the middle of the 1990s, he was traveling from crisis to crisis, flying faster than the speed of sound. In fifteen years, he has not rested.

this seeming to everyone else like him intentionally increasing the effectiveness of his heroics when he's just. life on a scale one cannot comprehend experiencing a mental health crisis It cannot comprehend. and oblivious to the fact that the coping mechanism he's trying is not fucking working.

“Just five years after Scion’s first appearance, the superheroes emerged from the cover of rumor and secrecy to show themselves to the public.  Though the villains followed soon after, it was the heroes who shattered any illusions of the parahumans being divine figures.  In 1989, attempting to quell a riot over a basketball game in Michigan, the superhero known to the public as Vikare stepped in, only to be clubbed over the head.  He died not long after of a brain embolism.  Later, he would be revealed to be Andrew Hawke. “The golden age of the parahumans was thus short lived.  They were not the deific figures they had appeared to be.  Parahumans were, after all, people with powers, and people are flawed at their core.  Government agencies took a firmer hand, and state-”

i love the implication that because scion was so obviously. Not Fucking Normal. people assumed the first parahumans to show themselves were also on some level deific or Above humanity. and eventually people did realize. oh these are just regular guys but with powers. leaving the mystery of why scion is Like That just kind of up in the air. you think that's ever uncomfortable for people? like it's normal, it's default, but if anyone ever thinks about it too hard while they're bored....it's weird, man.

anyway onto mr daniel hebert. i think it's really notable that his introduction is him watching tv about parahumans, then shutting it off and getting up to pace with this line being given:

It was three fifteen in the morning, and his daughter Taylor was not in her bedroom.

but then despite how this is Immediately preceded by a talk about how actually, capes are just normal guys, there's a conspicuously absent lack of danny...connecting that thought to taylor being out late. and, like, i explicitly do not think this is a flaw of danny at this point--there's no reason anyone would leap to assuming THEIR teenage family member that is just a normal person is secretly a cape bc they were out late once. but the juxtaposition btwn the tv program abt capes and his "huh. anyways" reaction is very much There and i think you can 100% view it as a start to a pattern of behavior he'll have where all common sense should lead him to taylor being a cape (just fucking. out adn about thriving post-leviathan randomly knowing shit about the s9 out there living an obvious double-life!) but he's just Completely Not Even Thinking About It. which is the same thing as the shit he does in this first interlude:

Danny thought about clearing his throat to let her know he was awake and available should she knock on his door, but decided against it. He was being cowardly, he thought, as if his clearing of his throat would give reality to his fears.

He was stopped by the smell of jam and toast. She had made a late night snack. It filled him with relief. He couldn’t imagine his daughter, after being mugged, tormented or humiliated, coming home to have toast with jam as a snack. Taylor was okay, or at least, okay enough to be left alone.

he keeps getting up in his own head where hes like. oh nooo i know shes being bullied but i cant do anything about it yelling at the school didnt work and i cant move her to arcadia. while being completely emotionally disengaged from taylor and also somehow managing to convince himself that they have some sort of trust/understanding from him Not Acknowledging It At All so its basically fine. he Genuinely believes that clearing his throat would magically inform her that hes awake and available if she wants to ask for help (as opposed to giving her a heart attack over being caught??) but can't even do that because he doesn't want to actually take the problems from like. a hypothetical he gets mad about in his head into a real life material thing hes supposed to support her thru. if he doesn't see it it can't hurt him. he's processing everything thru "well i guess shes okay enough to be left alone" while just wildly oblivious to the amount of pain shes in and he has genuinely convinced himself that he's doing the best thing of giving her the Dignity of suffering alone or whatever. convinced he's available to talk to and expecting her to come talk to him and increasingly mad she's not but not actually very obviously available to talk to. and it eventually boils over into taking away her autonomy to attempt Forcing her into talking! he has no conception of anything that isnt sitting there expecting her to do the work of emotional connection or going "you will emotionally connect with me. now. or else." this is just kind of a ramble because this will not be fun for me if i cleanly edit every single post into a masterpiece but im enjoying poasting my thoughts on a second go around hopefully theres something coherent i can crystallize

#wormtime 2 #wormtime 2 arc 1 #worm spoilers #scarf don't look #parahumans

[elicathebunny]

❥ CREATING CELEBRITY ENERGY AND STAR QUALITY.

Have you ever dreamed of being famous or having some sort of influence? (doesn't have to be a very exposed influence like celebrities have, it could just have star quality and inspire/influence the people around you in daily life). Using celebrity energy and understanding how to use it can completely change your life around and open new opportunities for you.

(I found the topic of how stars come up to be stars quite interesting and no I haven't applied any of this to my life. I just think that this is interesting.

These notes are taken from other people and are summarised from videos that they have created. If you tap on the links from titles you can find the OG creators.)

LOA, AUTHENTICITY + CONFIDENCE:

Think about Norma Jeane Mortenson, better known as her persona Marilyn Monroe using what is now called the "Marilyn Effect".

'Whenever Marilyn Monroe walked into a room, she carried an irresistible charisma - a compelling blend of confidence, vulnerability, and charm. That's the Marilyn Monroe Effect. It's the power to captivate and influence others by being authentically you. ' - Eye Mind Spirit

❥ AUTHENTICITY + COFIDENCE

Authenticity means also being polarizing.

polarizing = the general public has mixed feelings about them

Being authentic has a magnetic effect. By being real you will attract people who resonate with that. But you also going to push away people who don't so it creates love-hate.

Being fake creates like, but no one will ever love you. The only way to be loved by everyone is to be fake and be this social chameleon.

You're meant to be you with your "authentic magnet" through humanity and find your tribe and your tribe is not everyone.

Don't introduce yourself as a vibe that you can't maintain.

Own your vibe but also be willing to be judged and tested on it

"You're going to be judged regardless". You're meant to be rejected by people in this world.

Being judged for authenticity hurts but only being accepted when your being fake hurts even more.

The more times you have to affirm that you are confident, the more it reinforces that you are not confident by default.

❥ LAW OF ATTRACTION AND ASSUMPTION

LOA does nothing if deep down you know truly that you don't believe in it. You cannot fool yourself with 20 affirmations that you repeat to yourself in the morning yet still have negative thoughts throughout the day. "Why are you not confident? What is the source." Do the inner work. "What do you actually think is broken in you? Are you truly living or are you trying to justify your existence? Who are you trying to justify it to?"

CELEBRITY ENERGY AND CREATING STAR-QUALITY

❥ CELEBRITY ENERGY

Famous people act famous before they even become famous. You have to create the energy before the fame can come. But there is a difference between being famous and being a celebrity. You can feel the energy of a celebrity even if you're not famous, but not all famous people have celebrity energy. - Think about the fame difference between Charlie Damelio and Marilyn Monroe.

Creating this 'celebrity energy' is something that you will have to create in public which can be embarrassing. But if you want to be famous you have to be okay with putting yourself out there for judgement and you have to believe what you're doing before anyone else can see it.

The people in your life are going to perceive what you're doing as threatening because you are changing your identity and that is triggering for them.

You have to overcome your brain's natural wiring to play small and be willing to be 'cringe'.

Fame is just a resource of people's attention, an exchange of your consciousness and their consciousness. So you consciousness has to be as clear and as authentic as possible. Authentic to you, who you naturally are.

Acquiring fame requires a deeper level of trust: Believing that the people around you and in the world will love and support you.

It amplifies ALL areas of your life so if you're blocked in another area, you won't create it.

Your art doesn't actually have to be that good: The difference between creators and influencers who make it and the ones who don't is how much they believe in what they are selling.

You have to start performing as if people already love you and your art/content.

If you don't believe that you are wanted then you are going to put up walls and won't be able to tap into celebrity energy.

You do not need any more strategy - You are energetically not available for people to perceive you for who you really are.

❥ STAR QUALITY AND MARKETING

Halloween costume/Hollywood hair theory - Memorable and unique features that make you stand out that could possibly be recreated as a costume, for example: Jojo Siwa, Ariana Grande, Melanie Martinez, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Ice Spice, etc.

Learn how to market yourself, and realise you as a person are a brand.

Learn how to sell and market to others but also to yourself

Work on your public speaking, charisma and personality (your vibe)

#dream girl #self worth #becoming that girl #that girl #pinterest girl #celebrity

[ghosts-stim-too]

I headcanon Sebastian from stardew valley as autistic. I do not think his character was written with the intent of being autistic, I think he can be read that way.

While he's not the only villager who is more of a loner, he's the only one who has friends that he has a clear disinterest in hanging out with- Penny being very shy but regularly tutoring Jas and Vincent and possibly avoids other due to her family life, and Shane being antisocial due to his mental health and drinking problems. He has a line of dialogue apologising because he doesn't know what else to say and while this happens to everyone in real life I think it's significant in a game where you can only talk to characters once a day and they have limited dialogue they can give you, implying that he's extremely awkward and possibly struggles with communication

He shows a strong preference for rainy days which could allude to sensory issues with bright sunny days, as does him living in a basement- no windows, isolated from the rest of the house so therefore quieter. This could explain why Robin has put him in the basement despite building the house from the ground up and could have easily made him a room upstairs. (I will note that he doesn't like his room at I think he says it makes him depressed at some point, though this could be a "the least worst option" sort of situation".) Demetrius' general dislike of him and his issues with Maru could be caused by autism too. It could also help explain why Sebastian has so much resentment for Maru, as she has something that he will never have; a neurotypical brain and being generally outgoing and well liked.

not to mention it's common for autistic people to remain living at home older than their allistic peers do, potentially he might not be able to care for himself well enough to be able to move out. He also doesn't hold a traditional job, having chosen not to go to college because he prefers his freelance work behind the safety of a screen. there's also a line of dialogue during a festival which says something to the effect of taking a break from all the people that I belive is in the fair?

Obviously these traits are being examined in a vacuum, if he was a real person and this was the information I was given I would say maybe but likely not, however as deep as the characters are they are still story tools designed to give the impression of real humans that are likeable and relatable. There's likely a number of different neurodivergencies that he could fall under based on the traits he was given and depending on if the player is neurodivegent themselves and how they veiw the world

however he's my favourite character so therefore he's autistic BC I said so >:))

#olly talks #autistic Sebastian #sebastian stardew valley #stardew valley #autistic headcanon #actually autistic

[plantify]

TOONTOWN HEADCANON/LORE POSTING

This post is based around TTCC, and is entirely about headcanons I have about Suits/Cogs, mostly about their physiology, how they're created, etc. I might write more at some point. (Also I am sorry if this is extremely long and incoherent, I tried to at least break it up into sections with big titles and colored text)

What are Suits?

Suits are a “race” or “species” of robotic beings within the world of Toontown. 

The ones seen within the game are Cogs, which is simply what employees of C.O.G.S. Inc. are called. Other businesses may have a similar naming formula, a different one, or none at all. (e.g: S.C.R.E.W. Ltd calling their employees Screws)

Considering that the world that Toontown is in, is in fact a cartoon/cartoonish world, this would by technicality make Suits a type of Toon. (I believe the term "Toon" to just be the characters that exist within that cartoony world or whatever) Therefore. they are still bound to the same wacky physics that Toons are, though they do not always interact with it in the same way. Think of it as two different kinds of cartoons interacting and living in the same world.

Toons would be more akin to rubberhose ish/Mickey Mouse/Ducktales style compared to whatever the Suits would be like, though that doesn’t mean the Suits don’t have some of those properties as well.

Most Suits probably wouldn’t even know what a Toon is, since they are scarce throughout the world, and the ones seen in the game are isolated within the area they live in. 

Life Details (Organs, Sustenance, Etc)

Suits are very much like humans (which do not exist in this world). They have distinct lives, personalities, traits, desires, etc. 

Unlike humans, they do not typically die of old age, though they can begin to weaken and die because of SIDE EFFECTS of ageing without maintenance that is usually easily attainable. Because of this, many Suits live for a long, long time. There is still a bit of a limit though.

Suits cannot catch viral or bacterial illnesses, (I mean obviously they're robots) but can get sick from overexertion, overexposure to temperatures they aren’t built to withstand, or physical damage. In very rare cases, malware can be an issue.

They have “organs” within their bodies, and require sustenance to survive. They CAN eat “normal” food, though more often than not their food would be stuff like coal, oil, paper, metal, etc. Stuff that vaguely resembles human food but is made of stuff like what I mentioned.

Their “blood” (if they have any) would likely be some form of fluid, or pure electricity in some cases. Nearly all would not cry or sweat the same fluid as their “blood”, as the human parallel would be crying or sweating blood, and that's just no. (Think how people sometimes draw robots as having oil blood, yet also crying that same oil) Much like how the human body has more fluids within it rather than just blood.

Some Suits may use “alternative” sustenance, such as plugging themselves into outlets or using other means to absorb pure electricity, though not every Suit can do this. Suits who can do this are rare, and a special kind of physiology is needed for this to be done without short circuiting themselves/otherwise hurting themselves.

Suits do not produce waste in the way humans do, other than sweat and tears.

Their brains are like processor chips. Though most Suits have to learn information like how humans do, some Suits have the special ability to simply upload and download data like a traditional computer. Suits who can do this are also rare, for similar reasons as the chargeable ones.

 Despite this, all Suits can have everything stored in their chips stored in real time to databases in the event that they perish or are irreparably destroyed, to be transferred into a new body. Despite this, it may not be the most common technology, and may be costly, so Suits still try to preserve their lives and bodies. The Cogs have this technology. How they're able to keep it up for so many Suits is a bit of a mystery. Something fishy's going on, probably...

Sleep/Rest

Most Suits have to sleep in a way similar to how humans do. They must get a healthy amount of rest. Stuff like insomnia and restlessness still exists for most Suits. It is necessary in order to preserve energy, prevent exhaustion, the wearing down of their parts, as well as being a quick way to cool off.

Just like humans, it is not necessary to have a bed to sleep, but it has the same benefits for Suits as it does for humans, though it's a bit more likely to see Suits falling asleep on the floor/standing up than it would be for humans.

While asleep, a Suit is merely unconscious, but they still function, much like humans. Same thing with comas and being unconscious. 

If their processes are completely stopped, they will die. However, Suits can last a lot longer with their processes completely stopped, compared to humans, as they aren’t biological, and won’t rot or whatever if that happens to them. If they can be reactivated, and their vitals weren’t excessively damaged, they can be resuscitated.

Suits that can absorb electricity do not NEED to sleep, as they can merely be charged back to full power. These Suits may or may not choose to sleep anyways, and may gain the other benefit from it, aside from energy regeneration. 

Injuries

Suits have to be maintained to keep themselves functional and clean. Especially when they get injured. They are unable to naturally heal in the way humans can. (Maybe some can with nanotech or whatever but that's getting into extremely sci-fi ish territory which isnt bad but I don't wanna go too in depth/thoughtful about that kind of thing, especially since a lot of things are possible in a cartoon world like this one)

Minor injuries like small cuts, scratches and dents are easy to repair, to the point where it can be done manually. 

Sort of like how first aid kits/bandages/etc are sold at pharmacies. Literally just patch yourself up with polishing kits/anti dent/spare parts or whatever

They can't go through healing processes like how humans do, but they're lucky since if a bone is broken or whatever, all they have to do is get it repaired and then they’re fine. (I wish it was like that for US!!!)

More severe injuries may require healthcare and/or more surgical reparations. Severe injuries are able to debilitate or even kill Suits if they’re bad enough. Injuries like gashes are still easy to fix, but stuff like loss of limbs is harder. In the case of limb loss, a replacement can be made to fit that Suit, typically within a few days. 

Internal injuries and extreme damage to inside circuitry and vitals may take longer to fix, but are still way easier to fix than with humans, for obvious reasons. Too much will kill the Suit, though :/

Life Details (Physique)

They are more often than not humanoid in appearance, though some Suits may have extra limbs or proportions less akin to those of humans. Some may not even be humanoid at all, like being centaurs or whatever, though said Suits are extremely rare. Some may be semi-humanoid, like the Cog Bosses. Suits may receive surgery of sorts to change body type, though it would be difficult to change a 10 cm tall Suit into a 20 ft tall Suit, for instance. There are limits, and crossing them adds extra risk of dying/ending up with psychological damage.

While most Suits have a discernible face, mouth, eyes, and have the usual set of limbs, some may not have a face, or have a face that does not vaguely resemble that of a human’s. (Like how Cogs in-game range from having human-like faces, to object heads, to animal heads, etc) Some may have entirely different limbs, other than just arms and legs. 

A Suit can have their face/entire head modified/changed, as well as the rest of their bodies. Some may want to get entirely new heads, though many tend to get attached to the one they already have. Think of it sort of like plastic surgery and actual surgery, except to a more extreme degree. Despite this, there are still limits, and extensive surgery may damage a Suit physically and/or mentally.

The most common type of Suits tend to range from anywhere as short as a few centimetres, to as tall as nearly 20 ft tall, though most fall within the range of 4-9 ft tall. Obviously there's height diversity among all Suits

Some Suits may be built to be specially resistant towards things compared to others. One Suit may be built to resist extremely high temperatures, while another might legitimately just start to melt in those same temperatures.

Life Details (Psyche)

Suits are not evil by nature. The reason why such a high number of them are very pro-industrialism, pollutive, toxic towards fun, etc, is because they were conditioned to be that way because of the way their society is structured, and the needs that they need to survive. 

Despite this, there are still Suits that may enjoy fun or even be Toony in nature. Some may enjoy nature, and dislike the pollutive, industrial nature their world is so full of. Toons tend to be very ignorant to Suit culture and the personality differences between Suits, and understandably so considering what it must be like from their perspective, being invaded and all. Still ain't great to be that way for obvious reasons, though. Many assume all Suits are evil and the same.

There would still be entertainment within Suitopia and other Suit cities/society, much like the many kinds that humans are familiar with. 

How are Suits created?

Suits are created, most commonly within factories, though some Suits may be skilled enough, either through innate knowledge or through learned skill, to create another Suit on their own, making them the “parent”.

When a Suit is created, they awaken already having some base level knowledge of themselves and the world around them, under most circumstances. As a byproduct, “child” Suits are not really a thing. They can exist, they just typically don't. (Being born into the world as an adult must suck)

Suits can be made without a specific purpose, and that is how many are created. They will find one on their own.

Those that are made for a specific purpose will usually already know how to fulfil said purpose. For instance, being built for a specific type of job will generally cause you to be naturally skilled at it. Meanwhile, Suits who are hired for that same job without being created for it may have to learn it. They typically have a form of fondness for fulfilling said job, but may lose it over time, or not have it to begin with, which may result in wishing to pursue something else.

What are these factories like?

It depends. There are many kinds. Some factories may build the base model of the Suit, some may build only the skeleton, some may even build the entire individual, appearance and all. Some Suits are built with the purpose of serving the owner of the factory. Big variety in purpose for these factories and whatnot.

Many factories are automated, run without owners, with the sole purpose of creating new Suit life. Other factories may be owned by a company or force, such as those run by C.O.G.S. Inc. 

What about all the clones of Cogs we see?

All the “Standard” Cogs (e.g: Pencil Pusher, Flunky, Cold Caller, Money Bags) are clones created with the sole purpose of serving C.O.G.S. Inc. Despite this, they are all created with their own individuality and personalities, and are all different.

They mostly identical while working for C.O.G.S. Inc. as it is a “dress code” of sorts within the company to dress and appear that way.

Their facial and body appearances may have slight/moderate differences between one another, whether it be a quirk with how they were built, or a change they chose to make. The Cogs seen in the game are all 1:1 identical because of limitations. Same goes for Skelecog skulls. (For skelecogs, an example I think of a lot is how I wish Two-Face skelecog heads were two faced as well) They typically fit the face.

They are allowed to change their appearances so long as it does not violate the “dress code”. (Still have to be able to tell what Cog they are. A Big Cheese can't get a head that is not in fact a big cheese. A Glad Hander can't make themselves look TOO much like a Hollywood, etc.)

(Speaking of Hollywoods, they're referred to as “Mr. Hollywood(s)” ingame, though they can go by Mr, Ms, Mrs, Mx, and more if they choose, or forgo having that title at all.)

Standard Cog models that appear very feminine/masculine (e.g: Mingler, Glad Hander, Corporate Raider, Name Dropper) can be the opposite gender of ““what their model would suggest””. Yes, we can have Minglers that are men, enbies, etc. They may or may not choose to slightly alter their appearance to match this.

It is possible for these creations to stop serving their creators and direct their own life. It would be inhumane (or whatever Suits call it) to create mindless drones, and not give them these opportunities. 

A Cog like this could end up changing their appearance or getting an entirely new head/body to compensate for the lack of restrictions to conform to.

If you made it this far and actually read the entire thing (without scrolling by to get to the bottom instantly) I profusely apologize for putting you through this. If this catches on and you're interested, I'm open to hear your thoughts on the lore, and suggestions, whether it also be for the lore, or for a better way to format this.

#toontown corporate clash #toontown #ttcc #toonblr #toontown cogs #corporate clash #toontown lore #headcanon #lore #ramblings #ramblings of the deranged #text wall #long post

[emotionaldepravity]

Yandere! Obito x Reader Scenario

I'm genuinely so unwell for yandere Obito right now. Or maybe that's just me about Obito in general.... This is a very long post, and decently canon compliant. I'm willing to write more, but this specific storyline has been in my brain.

-Obito didn't start off as a yandere. He was the sweet and kind boy we all know. He understood boundaries and right from wrong. Its why he was able to love Rin, but never try to force her to love him back.

-When he sees Rin die, he truly believed there was no one else in the world who cared about him. His grandmother was dead, and after Kakashi was the one to kill Rin, any respect he had for his teammate died.

-Though Madara's manipulation of the boy convinced him rather easy to give up on the world, a small part of him wondered if he is truly alone. With the task he was taking up to become the savior of the world, he needed allies.

-As he replayed his childhood over and over in his mind, he realized that someone else besides Rin cared about him, you. You often chatted with him, but he never really thought much of it. You weren't Rin after all. However, he did remember that you asked about his grandmother, didn't tell him off about being late, and even offered to tutor him once in a while.

-You even told him that you supported his dream of being Hokage. Of course you had to explain that Rin was the one who told you about it. Obito would have never have confided in you about his dreams.

-However, that was then. He had much to consider now especially with Kakashi's "betrayal" still burning his heart.

-He had a lot of time to think about what he should do about you. How would you fit in his dream world? Would you want to help him?

-Most of his worries centered on whether you still cared about him for all these years. Surely you of all people would have moved on. After all, its not as if he was totally sure your feelings were even strong enough to be useful to him.

-One day, when he expected to spend sometime of his own at Rin's grave, he saw you walking around. You paid respects to the war monument running a gloved finger over his name. Bingo. He could work with that.

-Something irked him though. If he wasn't Obito anymore, how could he bring you over to his side? What could "Madara" say that you'd be willing to listen to? No, no that wasn't the real problem. He could find a way. The dark circles under your eyes were enough for him to be certain that more deaths than his had effected you.

-So then what was it? Something told him he'd know if he spent some time studying you. Within two days, he was able to find out anything he needed to know about your schedule, including where you lived.

-He didn't know what he was looking for as he scanned your apartment. It was plain and about what he had expected from what he remembered about you. He almost left as soon as he arrived, but he still lacked the answers he had come there for.

-A rather innocent selection of framed photos sat on your desk. Some of your family, some of your friends now, some of your summoning animals, all of these didn't stick out much in his mind. While there was none of you and a singular person, he just assumed that any romantic trysts were short lived for you. He pushed down the feeling of relief he had at the thought.

-In your bedroom, he saw it. It was clearly a shrine. Though it was nothing like picture board he had of Rin. It was truly a shrine to pay respects to the dead. A well used incense stick sat precariously in its holder next to a very small picture frame. He might have passed over the sight if it weren't for the fragrance of fresh flowers mixing with the smell of ash. The little vase was filled with wildflowers and a singular chrysanthemum. It felt a bit eerie even to him staring at the image of the boy he once was.

-He wondered, do you die every day when you wake up like he did? Did you... miss him? Clearly he was important to you otherwise it wouldn't be his picture sitting there. You must have loved him.... You must still love him. This was perfect! All he needed was to convince you that you could be with him in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, right?

-Once the idea latched into his head it just wouldn't leave him. The thought that you'd do anything for him. That as long as it was him, you'd be willing to betray everyone. No else mattered to you right? No one else had the honor of being prayed for every day so it had to be true. His thoughts about your devotion intoxicated him. He wanted to throw caution into the wind, but his desires would be fulfilled much later. The genjutsu's version of you would get to confess to him and he'd let you have a taste of him before he married Rin. The fake you who cried for the fake him wasn't someone he needed. Certainly, he could wait.

-He couldn't.

-You start to notice things missing in your apartment. At first it was benign things, like a worn out hair band or a pair of chopsticks you ate with more than the others. You chalked those things up to carelessness on your part.

-Next, the number of flowers you placed in the vase seemed to change. Usually it was the wildflowers you picked from the forest, which didn't bother you. Maybe you dropped one on the way back home. The week the carnation went missing, you pretended that you didn't remember buying it.

-Then, came a bra or panties you swore up and down you knew were in your dirty clothes. You particularly liked them, but maybe your non-shinobi friend that looked after your apartment accidentally took them home when she helped wash your laundry during your last mission.

-Finally, you noticed your journal from when you were a kid missing. It wasn't something you handled much so you just assumed that you lost it in moving. It hurt since the little trinkets you kept taped to the pages were all you had of some of people now.

-Obito kept your things in the Kamui dimension. They were the safest there. Where he could protect them. Especially your diary. His most prized possessions. It was so personal. It was oddly thrilling to be the hero , the object of desire, the prize to win. He'd never felt so loved.

-Zetsu would have bring him out of his stupor. He was wasting time stalking you. Obito would have to remind him that he was the one in charge. However, he had much to do and he needed to move pieces around in other villages. He'd have to come back for you if he fond the time.

-Obito would try to manipulate things to get you to desert the village. Maybe he'd ensure a close teammate of yours was killed or that you'd see a particularly cruel atrocity so you'd be disillusioned with the world. He wants you to come with him willingly. Pawns that weren't staunchly loyal would only hurt him in the long run. He would hate to have to put you down instead of giving you the dream you deserved. He would never purposefully tell you who he really is unless he was sure . It would be hard to keep away, but seeing you serving him would keep his desires in check. He could keep an eye on you properly this way. You might even smile for him if he played his cards right.

-If that wouldn't work, he would only kidnap you if you somehow recognize him when you see him as Tobi/Madara. It would be out of pure excitement. Of course you'd recognize him! You have everything about him memorized. You'd know "the man you loved" no matter what happened to him! Years didn't mean anything to you.

-He'd try to act stoic for you, but on the inside he was bursting. It must be overwhelming for you to even believe he is alive after all this time. He'd cherish your tears whether of joy or sorrow at the proof that it really is him.

-Nothing would prepare him for a cold or confused reaction. Depending on how much you understood about the Akatsuki you might even hate him for what he had done. That would just be proof that this you is fake.

-If you thought he was ugly, he wouldn't even feel sad. "The me you'll get to love in the Infinite Tsukiyomi won't have these scars. Everything will be to your preference. Don't you want to make that happen? Doesn't that sound like a perfect dream?"

-He wouldn't kill you if you continued to fight him. He'd just leave you to starve in the Kamui dimension alone . As long as you didn't stop him, he wouldn't hurt you. That's all he would need.

-Feeding into the delusions he had been crafting is more dangerous than trying to refute them. It would mean that he'd feel justified in stalking and stealing your things. It would mean that you really do want him to "save" you from this cruel world.

-He'd expect you to fight on his side no questions asked. In return, he'd let you be close to him. He'd give you a bit of intimacy that could be built upon in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. It doesn't matter if you say you don't want it, he knows you are just acting embarrassed for being called out. He'd show you your journal and let you know he understood everything. Straying from this path once you're on it would lead to the death of anyone you have ties with. He would make sure that you'll have no distractions.

-He wouldn't accept that you'd be happy with just being with him if you went that angle to convince him. Obito knows deep down that you would much rather be with the version of him who returned to the village and became Hokage. He isn't that man. Even if he finds himself more in love with you than Rin, he can't just go back to living a normal life. Nothing would feel real. Nothing could feel real.

-Alternatively, if he sees you again during the Fourth Great War, he'd be able to keep himself in check better. He wouldn't want to kill you and would be less likely to lash out if you were angry with him.

-He'd be more focused on converting you to his ideals. Though he'd offer you getting to be with him, he'd save it as a last card. If that didn't work he'd just break your spirit so you wouldn't get in his way.

#obito x reader #obito uchiha x reader #yandere x reader #yandere!obito x reader #sorry about this just like i said... canon compliant #obito x rin #naruto headcanons #naruto shippuden headcanons #im willing to do one less canon compliant but ahh i needed these thoughts out there #its not as romantic as id normally do but damn i feel like this could have been so real

[masadd]

all my simon AUs [half are shower thoughts]

vampire simon multiverse world AU

• pretty self-explanatory!! simon is a vampire. it played out pretty similarly as our simon at first; he got the crown, betty left, mushroom bomb went off, and he met marceline.

• that's where things change. simon had to wear the crown to protect marcy, again. marcy panicked when simon wouldn't take it off and bit him without malicious intent, instead turning him into a vampire.

• since this technically killed simon, he broke out of the crown's grasp, now undead. marceline thought she killed him, panicked, and ran away. simon lived on his own ever since for like 1,000 years and kind of lost it being alone!!

HMS simon au

• this one is kind of like a crossover ?? with another one of my favorite things. it's based off chonny jash's characters, heart, mind, and soul. the whole plot of CCCC [chonny's charming chaos compendium] is that this guy's consciousness split into three [heart mind and soul], and they needed to reconcile.

• so . this goes basically the exact same as our simon. our simon, now like 1,059 [or however old he is], is in his little exhibit [same as the start of fionna and cake!!] he's chilling but keeps getting pressed closer to the edge each day.

• the main difference is that simon never actually ends up trying to make a portal to golbetty, and reaches his limit after like a series of unfortunate events.

• simon splits off into his own HMS. that's . essentially it . i dont wanna spoil much....

winter king worldswap AU

• i don't have it all planned out on how exactly it happened, but basically, winter king ends up in our ooo [aka just where our simon is from]. obviously this one is incredibly confusing for most residents of ooo, specifically marceline, finn, pb, and others .

• eventually, they figure out [pretty quickly] that this is NOT their simon . they try to ask where their simon is [who is out traveling with fionna and cake], but winter king has no clue !! he likely tries to pretend he does know though .

• ultimately . marceline ends up hating winter king

simon / F&C world interception AU

• is it obvious i don't have names for them

• ok so . basically, somehow simon ends up in the F&C modern au. which . technically should be impossible since it's inside his brain,,, but i have thought of a solution

• simon somehow [accidentally] projects his consciousness into the F&C world, leaving his real body just kinda There [probably unconscious]. think of it like that one adventure time episode where magic man makes jake go inside himself, and he explores his own little city and stuff . it's kind of like that!!

• his deal is similar to fionna and cake concerning his effects on their world . like for example how fionna touched winter king's crown and the magic went away, or when cake turned that one dude into a literal hotdog. basically, simon is doing the same on the F&C world, except he's doing the opposite!! he's magic-ifying it.

• shit starts to go down once people actually notice him. since he blends in so well, it takes a bit,,, just starts to get obvious once that one cookie turns alive or smth 😭

• simon is eventually overcrowded by a ton of curious [and terrified] people, and runs off to just the first inconspicuous place he sees. this leads him to running into marshall lee, who's chillin with gary. simon, gary, and marshall lee kinda chill for a while !! marshall and gary probably talk abt how fionna's gone, which prompts simon to feel guilty and he reveals where he's actually from, and what happened to fionna.

• gary and marshall lee don't believe him at first, until simon turns something [idk what!!] into magic again. they then try to get to our ooo

• marshall lee and gary make it, but simon's still kinda trapped in his own consciousness . likely in the candy kingdom hospital with marceline bc he just passed out unexpectedly 😭

•Wooooo his fate is unknown [dont worry its a happy ending]

* i also won't be very surprised if these have been done before just know i do NOT mean to steal any ideas . if that happened it was purely unintentional cos i just made these up based on my minds silly desires

#simon petrikov #fionna and cake #chonny jash #adventure time #alternative universe #au

[b-courageous1010]

Day 15: The Principles of Mindful Productivity  

Since starting my career journey, I have been focused on being productive and focusing on how to get the most out of my productivity habits at work and in my personal life. Still, like most people, I've been doing it rather unsustainable. The long hours, always being on the go, and pushing out as much output as possible, have led to burnout multiple times. When starting my current role, I decided this time will be different, and I will take steps to avoid experiencing burnout.   

This goal has led me down the rabbit hole that is mindful productivity. Mindful productivity is defined as being consciously present in what you're doing while you are doing it and calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings and thoughts when engaged in work or creative activities. This doesn’t mean you stop whatever you are doing, it's about seeing the present moment without pressing the pause button. It's interrupting the autopilot mode we often use daily, taking time to appreciate the little things, thoughts and feelings, and the world around us.

To practice mindful productivity, you have to think of it as a set of principles that can be used as a flexible roadmap that anyone can apply to work and feel better. So let's get to it:   

10 Principles of Mindful Productivity:   

Presence: Live in the Present   

Try not to get trapped in the past and pre-living future worries. This thinking causes you not to be able to enjoy the here fully and the now and can make it hard to concentrate on your tasks.  

I fell victim to this went starting this role. I was so afraid of making a mistake and so consumed with the past mistakes that I made....even more mistakes. I have since adopted the attitude that I will make mistakes because I am just starting my career. I know the bare minimum, and all my mistakes are necessary.   

Awareness: Watch your thoughts and emotions   

When your mind wanders, bring it back to the task at hand.  

You want to be aware of your emotions and thoughts so you can accept them, move on, and return to being productive.   

Flow: Get in the flow  

A highly focused mental state which facilitates productivity   

Can be described as "Getting in the zone" or feeling absorbed in an activity   

Define your goal, cut the distractions, take a deep breath, and keep your mind fully attentive.   

The brain is often the happiest when you are engaged in the meaningful pursuit of a goal.   

Single Task: Avoid Multitasking   

It's not a secret that constantly switching contexts between different tasks hurts your attention and makes you less focused. In a perfect world, people who focus on one task at a time are calmer, more effective, and more productive, but we have to find a balance in the real world.  

Use Mindful Context Switch to strike a balance between productivity and responsiveness.  

Motivation: Question your procrastination   

Use the DUST model to understand why you are procrastinating. 

Curiosity: Cultivate your curiosity  

Curiosity helps you learn. It enables you to remember better information; the more curious you are about a topic, the more likely you are to remember it.  

Observe the world, take the time to learn, ask questions, don't take anything for granted.   

Growth: Develop a growth mindset  

A growth mindset means you believe you can grow your intelligence and skills with hard work.  

It would help to question your fixed mindset attitudes to see what's holding you back.  

Metacognition: Use metacognition strategies   

A powerful form of self-monitoring and self-regulation  

It means being in tune with your awareness to determine the best strategies for learning and problem-solving and when to apply them.   

Instead of blindly working away, take the time to plan, monitor and evaluate your working and learning experiences.   

Environment: Pay attention to your work environment   

Be mindful of where you work and how it affects your productivity. Understand what works for you and adapt your environment based on your findings.   

Also, consider your habits when designing your environment.   

Breaks: Take mindful breaks   

Using breaks to remind yourself to be mindful of your thoughts, emotions, and your environment  

Set aside time for the present moment to clear your mind and take it off red alert.    

Unplug and come up for air: Make sure you have ample time for other pursuits besides productivity. It doesn't hurt to limit your screentime.  

Take time to breathe, eat a snack, and look out the window.   

Practicing mindful productivity can seem like a daunting task, but take it from me. It's well worth the effort. Life can get hectic, but by letting the principles of mindfulness act as a guiding point in your everyday life, you can be present in the midst of it all.   

#soft black girls #leveling up #self care #100 days of mindfulness #mindfulness #mindful living #mindful consumption #personal growth #personal development #self improvement #productivity

[elemit]

A Gift, A Curse

A story in which we discover just how damned an ascended vampire can be, and just how far you will go to save the spawn you loved.

Read in full on AO3

dead dove/not beta read

fic warnings: Abuse, Angst, Biting, Blood and Gore, Blood Drinking, Bondage, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, Food Restriction, Hate Sex, Horror, Mental Coercion, Mind Control, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rough Sex, Sexual Coercion, Torture, Total Power Exchange, Trauma, Vampire Bites

Chapter 8: Celebration

Maybe the tightness of your corset is having some effect after all, or maybe it is just the vigour with which Astarion drained you earlier, but you find yourself in a daze throughout the ceremony. Try as you might, you can barely even remember the exchange of vows. Only the very last line of them seems to be burned into your mind.

Even death could not part us.

You both agreed that a small wedding ceremony and celebration would suit you. Neither of you have many people from your past that you want to share in your special day. Only those companions that you had both travelled with, fought with, saved the world with. Even of that small group, you are fairly certain Astarion only invited some for their newfound positions of power, rather than out of any kind of longstanding affection. Certainly he and Gale had no love lost between them on your past travels, and even you cannot deny that Wyll’s saviour complex has become a little tiresome since being declared a hero of Baldur’s Gate. Still, you are glad for the excuse to see your old friends; your lives have all been so busy since the defeat of the Elder Brain that you haven’t had a chance to see any of them.

Shadowheart is the first to approach you once the vows are said and done. Astarion has hired a band to play in the corner of the ballroom, and tables around the edge of the room are piled with a feast fit for a hundred. You have sat at a table and taken a plate, but can do nothing more than stare at it wistfully as your friend takes a seat next to you.

“I believe they call this a ‘good spread,’” she says, helping herself to some of the piles of food. You smile at her. “So, you’re married to a vampire lord now. Are you sure that was a wise decision?”

Straight to the point as ever, you think. You could almost laugh at how predictable she is.

“How dare you question my lord and husband?” someone says, and your eyes grow wide when you realise the words came from your own lips. I didn’t say that, you want to say. I didn’t mean to say that. But the words refuse to form on your tongue.

“Gods, he really did turn you into a spawn. I suppose I knew it would only be a matter of time, but I didn’t think it would be like this.” Shadowheart sighed and shook her head. “I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. I hope he treats you well. If he’s even able to.”

She looks sad as she meets your eyes, and you will her to be able to hear your thoughts - to tell her that you’re happy, to tell her that he does treat you well, to tell her that you’ve missed her - but the tadpoles are long gone, and she seems to take your stare as nothing more than a glassy-eyed glare.

“I don’t think I can watch any more of this,” she says. “I had hoped it wouldn’t be like this, what with him being ascended, but as it is… I think I’m going to go. Do pass my regards on to your lord and husband.” The words drip with spite, and she pushes her chair away from the table to rise. When she stands, she looks down at you and speaks for a final time. “I do love you, you know. Or I did love you— I don’t know if you’re still the person I loved. But if that person is in there, and ever wants to be free, just know I’ll be there. I can’t bear to witness this charade, but I won’t abandon you. If you need me— the real you— then I’ll be there.”

With that, she turns and leaves without a backwards glance.

———

You sit at the table alone for a while, stewing over what Shadowheart said to you, and worrying over the words that had come from your mouth without your control. Surely Astarion wouldn’t have used his powers on you. Not today. Not ever. He’d promised, hadn’t he? You cast your mind back, trying to remember a conversation that you’re unsure ever happened. He’d certainly said that he didn’t think he’d need to use his power over you, but that wasn’t quite the same thing, was it?

You catch sight of him talking with Wyll at the side of the room. Something in their body language makes you sense that they are doing more than exchanging pleasantries, and you strain your ears to try to listen to what is being said. Eventually, a lull in the music allows you to overhear a snippet of their exchange.

“The two of you are the unholiest union I can bloody imagine,” says Wyll, an uncharacteristic edge of steel in his voice.

“I don’t recall asking your opinion.”

“You had the most precious thing - someone who would do anything for you - and you damn well took everything. Degenerate doesn’t half cut it.”

“Watch yourself, boy. If your father wasn’t of such import I would have gutted you already for daring to speak that way to me. On my wedding day, of all days.”

Astarion’s eyes flick up and catch you watching him. You hurriedly look away, not wanting him to know that you’ve overheard their conversation. Blessedly the bulky form of Halsin quickly blocks you from his view, as the huge arch-druid pulls out a chair beside you.

“Is this seat taken?” he asks in his gentle, rumbling tones.

You smile and shake your head, and he takes a seat next to you.

“I can’t quite believe how much everything has changed,” he says, and he gestures around at the ballroom, but instinct tells you that he isn’t simply talking about the decor. Before you have a chance to question his meaning, a firm hand slips around the back of your neck, as though collaring you, and you feel your husband’s body pressed against your back.

“Enjoying your reunion with my pretty little bride, druid?”

“I enjoy the company of all those in this room, when I am lucky enough to get it.”

“But you did particularly enjoy her company, did you not? You hardly tried to hide the way you looked at her when we were travelling together. My love,” Astarion says, turning to you, the tone of his voice denoting that he has just had a wonderful idea, “why don’t you give Halsin a kiss?”

“What?” You and Halsin ask at the same time.

“A kiss, my love. Give Halsin a kiss.”

You look at Astarion in confusion, and he gives you a reassuring nod. You lean towards Halsin uncertainly, and plant a gentle kiss on his cheek. You don’t think you wanted to, but your body seems to move of it’s own accord.

“A proper kiss, my treasure. Show him what he’s missing out on.”

You glance at Astarion again, but his face is expectant, so you don’t question it this time, instead leaning in to kiss Halsin fully. His warm lips are unyielding beneath yours. When you pull away, he looks at you with sad eyes.

“To give oneself wholly, and to have a lover totally in your thrall? A harmless game, until it becomes real. I worry for the two of you, Astarion.”

“Ugh, must you take everything so seriously? We’re both happy with our arrangement, and that’s all that matters.”

“For your sake, I hope some of it is just a fantasy deep in your heart. I will take my leave of you now, I think, but I truly wish the best for both of you.”

As Halsin walks away from you, Astarion sighs. “I really don’t remember our companions being such dreadful bores. I suppose your charm on the road must have hidden their utter lack of it.”

Before you can ask him what he is doing - what he was thinking, telling you to kiss another man on your wedding day - a wizard-shaped distraction appears in front of the pair of you.

“Congratulations are in order. You two certainly wasted no time in tying the knot.”

“I rather thought I was a little slow. I’m used to being begged to wed and bed my quarries on the first night.”

“Tell me, do you always woo your lovers with such patient attention?”

You try not to smile. Sharp as their words are, this exchange is no different to the dozens of other sniping matches these two carried out on your many long hours on the road together. It almost feels nostalgic.

“As the Vampire Ascendant, I’ve granted my lover immortality and bound them to me forever. I shan’t need to woo anyone ever again.”

“I suppose I’m just surprised that you decided to marry at all. I admit I expected to you turn your back once you got what you wanted.”

“Quite the opposite. I need someone I can trust, and now I know she will never betray me.” He says these words with a smile at you, and there’s a softness to his eyes that reminds you of how he looked at you before the change. You smile back at him, and take his hand and squeeze it, and tell yourself that this is proof that he is still the same man. Sometimes you just have to look that bit harder to see it.

#astarion #bg3 astarion #astarion smut #bg3 fanfiction #astarion x reader #astarion romance #bg3 spoilers #astarion x you #astarion x tav #a gift a curse