#'technological advancements' ((vague on purpose))

[dandeydraws]

been cooking up a surge and amy (and, by extension, kit and cream) roleswap in ye olde noggin — transcription of the text and additional notes under the cut!

ROSE & RASCAL ( dangerous newcomers) — These new enemies appeared on the scene without warning, and, for reasons yet unknown, are focused single-mindedly on killing Sonic and Tails! Could the mad Doctor Starline have anything to do with it? As if the murder attempts weren’t enough, Sonic can’t quite shake the feeling that Rose is vaguely familiar…

Amy (renamed Rose by Starline after rebuilding her) and Cream (renamed Rascal by Starline after rebuilding her) were relatively normal people before they were kidnapped and memory - wiped by Dr. Starline — and all for the purpose of replacing Sonic as the world's hero. Rose's existing strength was heavily augmented, making her outright superhuman; additionally, she can match Sonic's speed, making her a dangerous enemy indeed! Starline gave her the hammer as a "gift," and it weighs roughly three tons. Rascal was designed to be the agile to Rose's strong and, additionally, has a mental link with a chao - shaped drone that can assist her in attacks. Unknown to Starline, Amy and Sonic exchanged letters as children, though they never actually met.

SURGE & KIT ( old friends ) — Heroes and longtime friends of Sonic; Surge met Sonic when both challenged Metal at Little Planet and they've been rivals and best friends since! Kit met Surge later and joined the group. Both want to help Sonic deal with Rose and Rascal, but they have different ideas of how to do it…

Surge and Kit are longtime friends of Sonic et al; Surge and Sonic may bicker like they hate each other, but underneath their playful rivalry is sincere affection for one another — they're besties! Kit's been one of the gang nearly as long. Surge has impressive speed at her disposal, but not to Sonic's extent; her primary strength is her innate manipulation of lightning! While Kit may not consider himself a combattant, he can control water, and he and Tails worked together to build a technologically advanced backpack that that would ensure Kit always has water to work with. They don't know all the details about their friends' would-be copies, but they've made sure Sonic and Tails know they're there if either needs a hand. That being said, Kit really wants to see the newcomers saved, while Surge just wants them beaten by any means necessary.

[liyawritesss]

ꜱʜᴜʀɪ ᴡ/ ᴀ ᴄᴏʟʟᴇɢᴇ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Characters: MCU!Shuri Udaku x Black!GN!Reader

Type: Headcanons

Synopsis: It’s summer vacation, and Riri finally convinces Shuri to come to Chicago for it! However, there’s not enough sunscreen in the world that will prepare Shuri for the onslaught of heat she’s about to endure…

Warnings: vague mention of nudity (you’re changing after your shower and shuri accidentally walks in on you), mentions of cursing, vague mention of a fight, summer fling-esque type vibe until it’s not

A/N: I read some college!au shuri hc’s a while ago and I can’t for the life of me remember who wrote them, but lawd the thoughts that have been swirling in my brain because of them….yall might as well just read it.

Tags: @6-noir @playhousedistee @shuririsdefenseattorney @shuriszn @zayswriting @wrendermedone @writingintheshadowsforever @mbakuetshurisprincess @verachii @slytherin-34 @the_lesbian-fangirl @strangefishflapturtle @cuddl3s4shur1 @shuriislut @dejaonline @babyboiboyega @badass-dora-milaje @inmyheadimobsessed @aaliyg @cafehyunji @h34rtsformilli

Sign Up For My Taglist Here!

The first time Shuri meets you is when she finally succumbs to Riri’s pleas of visiting, and decides to help the young engineer move out of her dorm for the summer. Riri does make a point to slightly mention you, but she can be forgetful at times, and this time may have caused a slight kerfuffle.

Majority of the room was packed in boxes, save for a couple of bags you and Riri had left out with some clothes to change into day of the move, alongside other necessities. Needless to say, Riri forgot you had went to take a shower, and when she came up with Shuri and the princess saw you in low hung sweatpants and your shirt half on, it might have taken Bast herself from keeping Shuri from running out of the room in pure embarrassment.

You definitely scolded Riri, cuz really, how could she be so absent minded? It certainly wasn't the first time a situation like that had occurred…at certain times you thought she was doing it on purpose to try and put you on with someone, but no - homegirl is just scatterbrained as hell.

Shuri didn’t talk much around you at first. She wanted to feel you out, judge for herself if you were a friend or foe. Your personality was similar to Riri’s, if not a bit more rugged from the street influence that still held a grip on you. You had a sailor’s tongue that she wasn’t all too familiar with, but the way you spoke without a care in the world was something she found endearing.

Shuri admitted that her sta in Chicago was made more enjoyable with your presence.You made her laugh in a way that she hadn’t been able to in so long. Besides Riri, you sympathized with her in a way that made her feel human, and not like some royal child expected to take up the throne or some crazy scientist expected to delve into her work like she did previously.

She also admits that the casual dominance that you performed with her had a bit of influence on her as well. You always put it under the guise of ‘You’re new here, it’s easy to get lost in the city.’ as if she hasn’t lived in a technologically advanced metropolis her whole life. Yet when you’d offer her your jacket when she was cold, or guide her with a hand on the small of her back, or allow her to snuggle into your side on the couch whenever the two of you were near; Shuri just knew that there was something…more there.

There would be longing stares after having one too many shots on your end, where you’d sit and watch Shuri as she spoke to Riri or another close friend of the two of you, and you’d wonder how it would be like to wake up to her in the morning, how her lips would feel against yours, wondering how far you could take this little unspoken arrangement before a boundary had to be set.

Shuri’s smart, so she doesn’t miss these kinds of stares. They make her flustered, her chest feels warm and fuzzy, her stomach churning with yearning. But she’s still in that part of grieving where everyone must stay at arm's length, because as quickly as one could enter her life, they could leave, and Shuri was still repairing the damage dealt to her from her family’s passing.

So the two of you engaged in this unspoken romance, this platonic intimacy where you’d hold her close on a walk in the neighborhood, and she’d cook some Wakandan food for you (and Riri, since she’s there as well and she’d never forget her friend, but Shuri has you in mind when she’s cooking); where you’d braid her hair for her before a night out and she patches you up after getting into a fight with a hater, who ended up much worse than you and your couple of scratches and bruises.

For the three months of summer vacation, everything seemed perfect. Too good to be true. You had this beautiful woman who woke you up via facetime calls almost every morning, and you had the privilege of witnessing the side of Wakanda’s last standing royal that no one else got to see - not even Riri. The ghosting touches and stolen kisses became something you craved more and more, but for her sake, you held back.

Alas, the blissful unnamed summer romance had to end at some point. You and Riri would be returning to school, and Shuri had business to attend to back home. It was a bittersweet end to a romance that never made it past the talking stage, both of you wanting so much more but held back by your responsibilities…

Unless, a certain engineer can pull some strings to get her oblivious friends to see just how hopelessly in love they are for each other.

[romanceyourdemons]

possessor (2020), like brandon cronenberg’s other films, does a beautiful job of blending psychological and body horror through surrealist editing, resulting in a highly effective production. as with his other two films, cronenberg explores the alienation or loss of identity in contemporary society, this time specifically through the lens and mechanism of capitalism. the premise literalizes this concept—an assassin employed by a clean, warmly impersonal company spends her working hours separated from her body and identity, technologically possessing marks and utilizing their identities for work purposes. this divorce from body and mind and will is made intensely poignant through the gorgeous editing, which, as in infinity pool (2023), unhurriedly guides the viewer through lurid mental spaces with colorful, almost overwhelming montages. indeed, there is an extent to which the younger cronenberg’s films may be referred to as a new hybrid genre, “psychological body horror” where the mind is made tangible and tangibly warped and traumatized, rather than simply a film with elements of both. throughout this treatment of the mind, the film emphasizes and examines the ways and extent to which contemporary capitalism commodifies emotional relationships, using and encouraging individuals to use them merely as tools for advancement while also disguising the relationships of employer and employee as true emotional connection. the effect is both well-balanced, neither too cloying nor too vague, and exquisitely communicated. possessor (2020) puts not only its genre but its medium to full use in this intensely effective film, which i highly recommend

[girlactionfigure]

𝐃𝐈𝐘 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞: 𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. Welcome, aspiring conspiracy theorists and antisemite! Tired of relying on others to tell you who’s behind your troubles? You’re in luck! We’ve crafted this easy-to-follow guide just for you. Whether you’re the type who blames Israel for attempting to assassinate Trump or the one insisting Trump is owned by Israel, we’ll show you how to spot Jewish influence in every conceivable problem—all by yourself. Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Identify the Problem First, take a good look at the issue at hand. Is it personal, economic, political, or environmental? No matter the nature, every problem has one thing in common: it can be blamed on Jews. Here’s how to identify your scapegoat.

Step 2: Establish a Baseless Connection Next, draw an imaginary line from your problem to the Jewish community. This doesn’t require evidence or logic—just a vivid imagination. Here are some examples: •Economic Troubles: If you’re broke, it’s because Jewish bankers control all the money. If you’re rich, they’re manipulating you into complacency. •Political Chaos: Lost faith in your government? Clearly, Jewish politicians are pulling the strings. Is the government too stable? They’re just setting you up for a bigger fall. •Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods? Jewish weather machines are to blame. Lack of disasters? They’re saving them for a better moment.

Step 3: Ignore Contradictions A key skill in blaming Jews for everything is the ability to ignore contradictions. For example: •If Jews are controlling the media, how come negative stories about Jews exist? Simple! It’s a distraction technique. •Are Jews accused of both communism and capitalism? Perfect! This shows their unmatched versatility in conspiracy.

Step 4: Use Circular Logic. When someone questions your logic, just use circular reasoning. Here’s a handy script: •Questioner: “How do you know Jews are behind this?” •You: “Because they control everything.” •Questioner: “What’s your evidence?” •You: “The fact that there’s no evidence is evidence of their control.” See? Easy!

Step 5: Handle Contradictions with Confidence If you ever notice that your theories are contradicting themselves, don’t worry! Just follow these steps: •Double Down: Insist that the contradiction itself is part of the Jewish plot. Claim they are creating confusion on purpose. •Shift the Blame: Accuse your questioner of being part of the conspiracy for pointing out the contradiction. •Create New Theories: Invent additional layers to your conspiracy that explain away the contradictions. The more complex, the better!

Step 6: Personalize Your Blame Take every minor inconvenience in your life and find a way to blame Jews: •Missed your bus? The driver is probably part of a Jewish plot. •Burned your toast? Jewish control of appliance manufacturers. •Argument with a friend? Jewish influence in societal norms is the root cause.

Step 7: Create Complex Theories The more convoluted, the better! People love a good, intricate conspiracy. Mix historical events with wild assumptions: •Combine the Spanish Inquisition with modern banking practices. •Link ancient religious texts to current technological advancements. •Blend cultural achievements with sinister plots.

Step 8: Spread the Word Now that you’re a self-made expert in finding Jewish blame, share your “discoveries” with others. Social media is your playground. Make sure your posts are as inflammatory and vague as possible. Bonus points for using historical photos out of context.

Final Thoughts: Perfecting Your Craft Remember, the key to this approach is dedication to your narrative. Facts, logic, and evidence are the enemies of your worldview. With practice, you’ll become adept at seeing Jewish influence in everything, making you the ultimate DIY conspiracy theorist. Happy blaming!

@APbrooklyn_NY

[room-surprise]

When does Dungeon Meshi take place?

This is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of my paper, "Real World Cultural and Linguistic Influences in Delicious in Dungeon." Dungeon Meshi takes place in the year 514, however we don’t know how that number relates to anything else in the Dungeon Meshi world, so it isn’t really useful for identifying what era Kui is trying to depict.

It can’t be that the Ancient Cataclysm happened 514 years ago (it was still referred to as ancient history by Thistle and Delgal a thousand years ago), and it can’t be when the current elf queen’s reign began (she’s only 372), so it’s either marking some other major event, like the beginning of the reign of a royal family or the end of a war, or they reset their calendar at regular intervals, such as every two-thousand years for record-keeping purposes.

In the real world, 514 CE would have been the early Medieval era, just after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which left Europe fractured into many small Germanic kingdoms competing with each other. It was also the beginning of the Asuka period in Japan, and the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty in China.

This has some similarities to the world we’re shown in Dungeon Meshi: the Western elves have abandoned most of their land in the Eastern hemisphere, leaving the local dwarven, gnomish and tall-man people (whose cultures are primarily Germanic) to fight amongst themselves for the land. A massive upheaval caused by a major imperial power collapsing.

However, based on character behavior, culture, clothing and technology, Dungeon Meshi appears to be set in a vaguely Renaissance (1450 CE-1650 CE) time period, with some elements from classical antiquity (800 BCE-500 CE), the Medieval era (476 CE-1300 CE), as well as some hyper-advanced steampunk/magic technology and modern day anachronisms. (Potential spoilers beyond the cut.)

The technological and artistic development of the different cultures is very different, with the long-lived races appearing to live a more modern lifestyle than the short-lived races. In the extra materials, Toshiro implies that Falin might find the Island of Wa “primitive” because they lack the social and technological advancements that come from contact with the long-lived races, and the Western elf Fleki calls the Eastern Continent a “primitive land” while complaining about the quality of life.

Based on this and additional evidence, we can reasonably conclude that the elven lands in the West are probably the most “modern”, followed by the lands in the Eastern hemisphere, with the Eastern Archipelago lagging the furthest behind.

Because of this difference between the races, it makes sense that we see a mix of different eras and styles of technology and clothing. For example, we see characters wearing Neolithic fur garments, Greco-Roman tunics, and Medieval garments as everyday clothes at the same time that other characters wear Renaissance and even 19th century-influenced garments.

Meanwhile, many things in the Dungeon Meshi world have also remained unusually stagnant for far longer than they did in the real world. Realistic oil painting seems to have remained unchanged for more than a thousand years, and Medieval-looking clothing that was worn a thousand years ago is still being worn in the “present” day, virtually unchanged.

There are also some things that are much more advanced than the Renaissance period, like steampunk elevators, and magical communication that works through birds/fairies/crystal balls/telephones and allows for instant contact across the globe… A huge advancement that should impact every element of life and society, thanks to the ability to easily exchange information.

In the real world, instant communication is the foundational element that makes things like precise time-keeping, time-zones, advanced banking, stock markets and news reporting possible… So one can assume that some of these things might possibly exist in some form in the Dungeon Meshi setting.

[anti-tenten]

I have such a. Weird relationship with misogyny in dune. Like misogyny on arrakis is obviously on purpose, Herbert very clearly tried to make a technologically advanced but a very conservative society.

But bene gesserit being treated like ultimate girlbosses doesn't sit right with me. I actually think it is a very interesting organisation because while it does strive to keep power within hands of certain women but it's achieved through perpetuating misogyny. It's powerful women who found a way to navigate the system where they're ultimately not welcome and succeed and they do perpetuate misogyny among each other because without bigotry they might have never got the power they have now. Which is.... Actually pretty historically accurate.

Think of... Maybe not medieval courts, I don't know enough about them and Christian monogamy made it a bit more straightforward (they key word is a bit) than, for instance, their Eastern counterparts, so think of Eastern harems instead (I know a bit more about Chinese history and media so I will use it as an example)

Historically, for women power often was achieved through marriage to a specific person. In harems, where the man's opinion could change on a whim about who's going to be his next spouse and separation was more easily available than in Christian world, in order to ensure a high place in harem, women (since this moment they will be referred to as "concubines" as I mostly use Chinese concubines as a vague example) a) had a child with their high ranking partner (from this point will be referred to as an emperor since, as you can imagine, being an empress would be probably the highest honour to a Chinese woman of the past and would grant one the most power possible) b) just became his favourite which is so subjective it's a one in a million chance to pull off.

The problem with having emperor's child was that the other concubines wouldn't want you to have it. A pregnant concubine could be poisoned, injured, forced a miscarriage or have an already born baby "die under mysterious circumstances". A previously favourite consort who could not give birth to emperor's son would probably be discarded in favour of someone more "fertile".

And these women weren't just lucky few out of the millions. Concubines would be rich girls groomed from the age of 13 to be emperor's future personal sex objects (I am really sick of everybody claiming that it was "so tragic" for concubines when the emperor died, the only tragic things about emperor's death for concubines were a) they would now not be able to become empresses unless someone else toppled the dynasty and took one of them as a wife (because for emperor's male relatives sleeping with emperor's concubines was considered incest. In china incest seems to be a little less common than among Europeans when it comes to nobles, partially, probably, due to the harem system) b) they would forever live as archimonks now forced to pray and grieve every day all day until they died even if they were like. 18 years old. Do you really think these women could refuse sex with a man who controlled their entire lives? Being raped was a part of their job description). They were chosen based on their physical qualities first: light skin, lack of birthmarks, foot size, body type, presence of body hair (lack of it was considered unnatural). They would spend their entire teenage years being servants after being rich girls with servants of their own their entire childhoods. They could be abused by their ladies too: like consort dun of emperor qianglong killed one of her maids, ordering her to be beaten to death for upsetting her. The emperor ordered her to pay a small compensation to the family of the victim and demoted her in rank before restoring her as a consort later.

Empresses were not known for their compassion towards women either: empress dowager lü, the widow of the first emperor of Han dynasty, was said to kill concubine qi, a lover of her deceased husband, over personal dislike, which caused her son to fell ill of shock and die, leaving her as the main source of absolute power in contemporary Han empire. HOWEVER!! Which is a big disclaimer! This happening was only reported by Sima Qian - a pretty notorious misogynist, and contemporary historians of imperial China had their main goal be propaganda in favour of the current emperor first and documentation of historical events second, and lying about actions of previous emperors and empresses especially - to discredit women as too evil, manipulative and emotional to be in power - was not uncommon.

Overall, the only way for a woman to achieve power in court was manipulation and violence towards competition. She could act as a regent, as did empress cixi while being the de-facto ruler of China while her very young nephew was considered the actual ruling emperor, and so did wu zeitan early on when the emperor was too physically weak to effectively rule, but all in all woman in Chinese history was the source of authority by the right of birth, like some princesses in the West could be. There was no such thing as a princess in China, being born to the empress meant you grew up rich but the chance of being a queen was very small - unless you were okay with marrying your brother if he became an emperor maybe, but it's unlikely anyone would let that slide.

And while Cixi, Wu Zeitan and maybe even Lü might cause fascination among modern Chinese people and history nerds around the world alike and were portrayed as cunning and brave centuries later in historical books and even fiction, they were just as guilty of "petty infighting" and harassing other concubines as everyone who didn't succeed. But those who didn't are often portrayed as "jealous girls fighting over a boy" and "evidence that women are evil" while all they did was try to achieve the power they couldn't get by any other means unless they were incredibly lucky, while men enjoyed power from the moment of birth and demonised women who resorted to fighting each other often just to survive.

At which point my pseudointellectual rambling ends and let's return to our muttons, that being dune. While due to supernatural abilities bene gesserit do have power that has nothing to do with their relation to men, their entire goal was to create a man who would be more powerful than them (by the right of being a man who can do the same stuff as them, obviously. Aren't men in female-dominated fields so exceptional?) and manipulate him, other men and other members of bene gesserit to keep power in their hands. But in order to do that, they had to often reduce themselves to breeders. In the beginning of the book Helena mohiam suggests that Jessica was probably planned to be chosen for an incestuous marriage to "strengthen" a certain genetic feature: her sole purpose was seen in giving birth to a certain child, and that child's entire existence was nothing more but a step in creating kwisattz haderach. Margot purposefully seduces feyd (and considering feyd was 17 at the time I'm concerned about what age Margot was supposed to be at the time tbh) just to keep the harkonnen clan bloodline going on the male side (since historically women don't legally inherit the clan name like it happened with Jessica harkonnen and subsequently her son Paul). In order to keep power in their own hands, bene gesserit do not just cling onto powerful men in hopes of manipulating them, but condemn themselves and each other to marriage to men they don't like, sex they don't want, painful childbirth of children they don't care about: they might have supernatural abilities, but their political power comes from sex (sometimes even rape when they're forcibly married to somebody) and breeding.

And Herbert does not portray it as good: bene gesserit do, at the end of the day, hurt each other and others for the sake of collective power which ends in creation of force that they couldn't control in the face of Paul Atreides that breaks free of their control for better or for worse. But also not the ultimate evil: Jessica cares for Paul as her son first, not as a project in making. These women are not a hivemind of giggling witches treating men like puppets and manipulating them with babies. They're composed of individuals, they're a community united by similar ideas and a common goal, but all of them are different, a lot of them are as much victims as they're perpetrators. Older women use the misogyny they experienced on younger women to show their authority. And no, it's not "girlboss queen behaviour". It's a tragedy. Divorcing yourself from your own body, using yourself as a vessel for The (possible) Man™ or another vessel, a man's toy is tragic. A lot of them didn't choose this fate, it's just all they know. Is the power really worth it, especially when your plan comes crashing down? Were those years spent with family you never wanted worth the political intrigue?

Herbert doesn't give us a direct answer as to how we should feel about this: should we despise, pity or even dismiss them as some club of crazy fanatics. He just creates a world where he shows us women who are not above not only intrigue and cultural imperialism but even just fucking over each other and themselves give up their freedom and happiness for the shred of hope their descendants might be great and powerful and they will play a role in their greatness. What we think of that is up to us. But I, personally, don't think it's anything but tragic for everyone involved.

In conclusion:

what

[spamlets]

iterator logs but make them

ROYALTY!!

with crowns ⬇️

without crowns ⬇️

individual ss, some doodles, + some actual (partially incoherent) info about the au below the cut!

rbs appreciated <333

individual ss:

DF

SL

AGS

TR

ATT

UP

small doodles i did for the au haha

more info:

the IL royal au is a silly little au i made up in my head!

basically it goes like this: the ancients created iterators to act as a new form of government in order to prevent govt corruption. cities or “kingdoms” were built around/on top of iterators and rather than them working to solve The Problem, they worked to govern over and make decisions for their people. the societies of these ancients were just as technologically advanced as in canon rain world. dont ask about The Rain (TM), i havent thought that far ahead yet.

cue mass ascension, i havent ironed out the details of that whatsoever but all the ancients die out leaving the iterators on their own (*cue fallen kingdom playing*). perhaps it’s on purpose, perhaps it’s a plague (this one could be pretty interesting actually)

distant frontier does his thing, creates an army of scavs or vultures or whichever else creatures he uses (i think he uses both but i could be remembering wrong) and breaks from his corruption-taboos, which is ofc a spin on the self-destruction taboo and would prevent him from expanding his domain/absorbing other kingdoms.

now the big thing here is that this was originally intended to be entirely centered around toxic yaoi (tr x df) which is partly why their clothes match (also because in general they share a lot of character traits and imo are kinda mirrors of each other in a way). that’s why i dont have much fleshed out—in the beginning it was just “king df and king tr marry and are gay forever” and whathaveyou, but then i thought about it harder and was like OH!!! this could actually be cool!!

if i go the plague route, perhaps tr had a colony of ancients still living inside his structure, but a new strain of the plague infected his people as he began to prepare for war against paradise. or maybe while trying to remove the corruption taboos he gives himself the rot like in il canon but it also ends up spreading to his citizens :headinhands:

this is all just vague ramblings for now, nothing coherent besides a few very striking mental images inside my head:

- tr lying on his deathbed surrounded by rot, the only shining thing in view being the gilded crown resting on his chest

- df on a throne wearing multiple crowns, tr bowing at his feet with a sword against his neck

- df with his artificial legs crossed at the ankles, his sword resting at his side with his karma symbols engraved into the blade

- unbroken promise with his forehead to the ground, surrendering himself and his kingdom to df after his queen ascends

- silent light standing guard in front of an endless library, only half-aware of what he’s guarding and what for anymore

- att practicing sword drills at dawn, falling asleep while standing up, leaning their chin on their sword pommel

but yeah! the basic premise is:

instead of creating iterators to solve the Great Problem, they create iterators to solve government corruption. each kingdom is built with an iterator as its ruler, with careful anti-corruption-taboos set in place to prevent them from acting maliciously towards their citizens, expanding their domain, or going to war. the entire kingdom and its walls are the body of the iterator, but theoretically worm off the string is possible because im a sucker for it and also i can imagine sometimes needing to meet up with other iterators in person for social gatherings because again im a sucker for classic royal au shenanigans 🤷

id like to personally apologize to daszombes sorry for being so autism over your characters i just think they’re neat

[savvydissent]

Introducing SavvyDissent

Friends, it's time (I'm sorry to say) to bring back the chain e-mail, the reply all, and the mass text. Security and safe use of the internet just became critical.

I hope you will (securely) spread it through your social circles in person, or by secured email or text.

We're all in shock from the election, and we're all wishing we could do something. Protests and resistance will increase over the next years. My hope, and my advice, is that we take the threat seriously. You (and I) are not overreacting; they tell us their plans. Trump promised at the beginning of this campaign way back in 2023 to overhaul the federal government into his personal bureaucracy. He specified that will include surveillance departments.

This is real, and it's critical to understand the the US is not immune to fascism and authoritarianism. American exceptionalism is a dangerous lie. With the technology we have now, the rise of fascism will look radically different that our historical imaginations conjure, and the administration will be very different than his 2016-2020 presidency.

The 2016 Trump was chaotic and vague, and even then he left destruction in his wake. Now, the far-right have had years to organize for a second Trump regime.

They have concrete plans they didn't have before. Trump is less coherent now, but he's surrounded by people with purpose and competence that in he didn't have in his first administration. His health is declining fast, and JD Vance is potentially even worse ideologically. The Trump administration will likely involve RFK, Jr. and Elon Musk, both of whom are extremely dangerous.

Audaciously, the richest man in the world has warned us to expect austerity. He's in a position to become Trump's propagandist (and has played the role already.)

The Heritage Foundation, an extreme Chisto-fascist organization, are the architects of this coming regime. Their agenda in Project 2025 should terrify us. One of my only sources of hope is that it seems Trump/MAGA are telling us their plans. That advantage is lost when we don't believe them.

We need to accept some harsh truths, and one of these is that social media is not the place for a resistance movement.

It is not our friend or ally; it is demonstrably dangerous. Learning this is part of the mission inherent in the popular phrase, "Don't obey in advance." Don't hand them your information. The CEOs of the major sites are collaborators--they helped manifest this outcome, and they've already demonstrated their willingness to help quell dissent (your photos are used in face-recognition software to identify protesters) and aid the police in hunting down and arresting abortion patients.

We have to rethink organizing, and we have to do it securely.

I must stress that Trump has included leftists (by which he means even moderate liberals and democrats) in his speech about "the enemy within." Even if we are white, Christian, cisgender, straight, and able-bodied, he has declared us the enemy.

Each of us has a decision to make. We either become publicly dissident--risking personal safety to a degree we can't know--or we wage our opposition in the safest way possible.

Social media? They're cops. If we are going to have any hope of staying safe and organizing, we must accept this truth.

We must assess the risk of posting our affiliations and circulate petitions and direct actions on the public web. Most of us are easily identified where data miners and AI can detect this information. For the most part, that's out there, permanently. When you delete an account, the company retains copies of your data.

I am not a security expert, but I have some beginner tips for safer communication.

● Download an end-to-end encrypted messenger app and stop using SMS texting and social media DMs. I recommend Signal or Discord, but would not trust WhatsApp, as it's owned by Meta.

● Look in to data removal services like DeleteMe or Incogni; these will help your reclaim as much of your data.

● Turn off your phone's location tracking.

● Install a VPN and sign up for a secured email. Proton Mail and storage are good; Gmail and Google Drive are the enemy. A VPN (virtual private network) hides your IP address that would otherwise out your location and other info.

● There are cheap anf free options for VPNs and you can find secure email free.

● Install TOR or other secured browsers. Chrome especially is a security nightmare. Incognito or private browsing on your regular browsers is not a safe option.

● Reject site cookies and use best practices for password security.

● Don't make plans online. Circulate information directly using these secure practices. If you volunteer or join protests or see calls to action on public social media, talk with the organizer to urge a move off social media.

● If you attend a protest, read into Black Bloc tactics for anonymity and health/safety, or at least wear a face-obscuring mask. Police have already used face-matching software to arrest protesters in the US.

● Speaking of masking, follow Covid protocols. Our health system will be gutted soon and any measures to prevent communicable disease are going to be on us. (Vaccines could be banned; the CDC eroded even further.) There are dangerous flu strains as well- please take precautions.

● Disable face recognition or thumbprint logins on your phone. Currently the cops are allowed to use these to access your phone, but they can't force you to give them the PIN or pattern drawing. Be aware that could change.

● If you are trans, discuss privacy concerns with your doctor.

● Along that vein, if you're seeking an autism diagnosis *and your level of support needs can be met without it* rethink having your neurodivergence documented. The fate of disabled folks is precarious, and authoritarian/fascist movements are dangerous for us. I'm not sure if ADHD or other neurotypes are at risk, but there is historical precedence for autistics and other divergent people to be targeted.

● Protect each other: Do not out trans, queer, racialized, or any other vulnerable people in your friends groups. Note that includes any pregnant person--Whether you're excited your best friend is having another baby or your kid sister is late for her period, keep that offline. (For the love of all that's holy delete your period trackers.)

● If you know travel plans for someone to travel or move to a safer blue state, you shut the fuck up about it.

If you have further knowledge about privacy and security, add it when you forward this to friends.

I'm planning for this to become an anonymous zine/newsletter where we can distribute info under-the-radar communications network. To opt in to occasional newsletter posts,

email "add me" to savvydissent@proton.me, visit tumblr.com/savvydissent message via Discord or Telegram @savvydissent

Print & distribute on paper.

Share this with your contacts, and circulate it safely. Please message me to share any direct actions, mutual aid organizing, or any relevant info you want to spread. Please take good care of yourself.

[antirepurp]

i feel like the ancients in frontiers bother me but im having a hard time pinning down the exact specifics of it. i don't think i have a problem with them being an alien ancient civilization, but the execution of them feels kind of. generic. beyond the implied connection to chaos that is. the echidnas were portrayed as warmongering and power hungry, likely due to their leadership, and they have an interesting position as a part of knuckles' heritage when knuckles is in several ways the exact opposite of their ideals - a peaceful guardian who seeks to preserve and not to conquer. the ancients in boom were left vague due to the dev hell and the repeat rewrites of the story, but in some ways it does them favors i'd say. they are a looming presence upon bygone island, their history scattered about and left to be rediscovered. supposedly a peaceful society sans lyric, who was able to cause havoc and destruction perhaps because the rest of his people did not have something like an army to fight back immediately. lyric was the only one who had any sort of ties to military concepts. the cartoon gives the ancients impressive technology, but i can't recall it being too much more than just fun machines whose primary purposes were along the lines of transportation and entertainment. i think those sort of implications make the ancients more interesting than they perhaps could've been if they were given some kind of obvious and explicit military history.

the frontiers' ancients feel like some kind of unsuccessful middle ground of those concepts i think? we are directed to see them as the peaceful underdogs while they also have a massive military presence and horrific tools of war that we fight directly over the course of the game, that we Require super sonic to bring down. i understand that at least some of that arsenal was built to fight the end, but then you juxtapose that advanced and destructive technology with the seemingly rural architecture littering the islands that, unlike the titans, has rotted and decayed in the face of nature. is that not supposed to speak of their priorities as society? or were their stay at the islands always supposed to be temporary? but then why build something like the cyberspace which is very much connected to the islands themselves?

i don't know maybe im missing something, maybe i've been thinking about the portrayal of military forces in sonic too hard lately, it just bothers me that the ancients are simultaneously supposed to be both a competent and strong military presence which the DLC only amplifies, and a peaceful society that would never even think about doing anything other than defend themselves with that destructive military they've built for themselves

[onesunofagun]

Be advised of minor totk Ganondorf spoilers ahead--

One of the things that stands out to me about botw/TotK is the many ways we are shown that a connection of people to nature and the understanding of and respect for the spirits of the land-- an incredibly Shintoist outlook-- is integral to Hyrule's prosperity.

This is true of every Zelda, but the very Ghibli-esque nature of these two showcase it in a really forefront way, in how they show a destroyed and recovering Hyrule, post Calamity. The erasure and destruction of both historical record and knowledge of important skills, as well as a seperation from the people and their big and small Gods, is directly aimed at severing such connection.

That's the philosophical heart of the series, thematically. It's also part of why Link is named link-- a link to Hyrule for the player, but also one who links people together, and reforges broken connections so that something can heal and strengthen again.

(That's relevant to the rejection of Sheikah Technology too, and the ways in which advanced magic-tech is very much shown to be something of the Heavens, rather than Earth. The themes there regarding hubris and error, such as Calamity Ganon's turning the technology against Hyrule, are kind of playing on the dangers of that sacred connection to the land being substituted.)

A huge part of the damage done to Hyrule in Ganon's assaults comes in isolating people and weakening the spiritual forces of the land, often cutting off access to holy places of Hyrulean worship or attempting to destroy or defile them.

One of the effects of this to remember when pondering new details is that some of the things in botw/Totk's lore-- such as things we're told through word of mouth especially by contemporary Hyrulean people-- are deliberately wrong, or intended as having been widely misunderstood.

Hylians especially have lost a vast wealth of cultural and religious knowledge in the Calamity, and much of their previous population and settlements. Their access to and knowledge of holy sites and objects, and their meanings or respective spiritual guardians or deities, is incredibly limited and spotty.

It isn't the first time we see cultural knowledge waning like this in the series, either. Like a bad game of telephone, this knowledge gets distorted and diluted over time until it's merely a rumour or guess, that vaguely resembles the original tale or purpose.

A great example of this is knowledge of the Triforce upon the Great Sea in Wind Waker. The legend of the Holy Relic that contains the power of the creation Gods and its wish granting properties does persist, even beyond a cataclysmic flooding of Hyrule has buried most evidence of it. So much so that its mark can adorn the doors of Outset Island, clearly still holding purpose as a warding symbol at the very least, while treasure hunters and old men rave about the lost treasure of the wish granting cutlery, the Triumph Forks.

To this point, and in an interesting meta effect of this, Jerrin notes-- regarding the horned statue in TotK-- that, there being a goddess of light, her parallel and opposing twin comes in the form of the Horned God.

Which many players probably think odd. I did, at first.

At face value, we may think Jerrin is speaking of the demonic entity residing within the statue, because that is what we are most familiar with when we think of this statue in particular.

And while the entity trapped in the horned statue certainly is a member of the demon tribe, most players are probably going to be aware of the dissonance there-- Hylia's opposing match is and always has been Demise.

The entity tells us it was sealed inside that statue by the Goddess herself, long into antiquity, as a punishment for their deals with mortals. Depending on how you wish to interpret that, and especially considering we've seen members of the Demon tribe refer to a Zelda as 'the Goddess' still, it can be taken with a grain of salt which incarnation of Hylia did the sealing.

While it has become a vessel used to seal a particular demon, I believe that it already existed. The idea of sealing spirits and demons into containers is par for the course in Zelda and Japan, and this entity says that it was sealed 'inside this statue', rather than transformed into one (such as we see done to WW Ganondorf).

The Horned Statue itself very much matches the form of the Statues of Hylia in design, which are conversely noted to be rounded down over time by touch and prayer. They're worn from worship, and the Horned Statue isn't. The demon inside gripes about how people ignore it and don't even clean bird poop off it. It's pretty safe to assume that it represents the Horned God as, what Hylians would perceive to be, an evil idol. But in that, it represents the greater concept-- the demon tribe as a whole, as represented by their leader-- rather than the unfortunate being stuck inside of it (who most people besides Link apparently can't even hear).

As an aside, TotK has given us example of other spirits and minor deities being able to communicate to Link through them, in a manner almost reminiscent of Gossip Stones (and I believe that's on purpose). When he speaks to a typical statue of Hylia, for instance, it is reinforced that he is not actually hearing the voice of Hylia-- of course. What he is speaking to is, for the most part, an animistic delegate of a kind that acts as an intermediary.

There is a kind of spiritual awareness within the statue that performs a function, like a priest performing service, but cut right back to the essence of it. I don't mean to imply every statue has had a being forcibly stuffed inside of it to fulfill this task, but rather that the voice is closer to a result of the spiritual practices themselves.

The vessel of worship, through being worshipped, gains a spiritual identity as a link to the Divine.

The point is, it's unlikely that this entity is actually 'the Horned God' that the statue itself represents. It is supposed to represent the Leader of the Demon tribe. Demise is the natural opposite of Hylia, and he is stated to appear differently through the epochs, to each who sees him.

The opening cutscene of Skyward Sword very clearly depicts him in symbolic representation with horns.

And, I do not think that it is at all a coincidence that TOTK also presents us with a pretty undeniably horny Ganondorf, who is himself a reincarnation of that spiritual wellspring of essence. One of the thing to understand about the Tear he possesses is that it, with it's basis being a Magatama, is functionally amplifying his spiritual force and manifesting his potential.

In this state, he is very much supposed to evoke and represent Demise, and his role-- he is visually geared to make that connection clear.

He has become the Horned God that this ancient statue pays homage to.

When we view the aspects of these games through the lens of the average Hylian person, versus what we know from the long running meta of Zelda and it's extra materials as a whole, it becomes really interesting to decipher these sorts of red herring details.

At first glance something may seem to be a contradiction or an ill fit, but upon further inspection, starts to hold a lot of weight as a deliberate part of the internal world build.

[zytes]

I know that the average person’s opinion of AI is in a very tumultuous spot right now - partly due to misinformation and misrepresentation of how AI systems actually function, and partly because of the genuine risk of abuse that comes with powerful new technologies being thrust into the public sector before we’ve had a chance to understand the effects; and I’m not necessarily talking about generative AI and data-scraping, although I think that conversation is also important to have right now. Additionally, the blanket term of “AI” is really very insufficient and only vaguely serves to ballpark a topic which includes many diverse areas of research - many of these developments are quite beneficial for human life, such as potentially designing new antibodies or determining where cancer cells originated within a patient that presents complications. When you hear about artificial intelligence, don’t let your mind instantly gravitate towards a specific application or interpretation of the tech - you’ll miss the most important and impactful developments.

Notably, NVIDIA is holding a keynote presentation from March 18-21st to talk about their recent developments in the field of AI - a 16 minute video summarizing the “everything-so-far” detailed in that keynote can be found here - or in the full 2 hour format here. It’s very, very jargon-y, but includes information spanning a wide range of topics: healthcare, human-like robotics, “digital-twin” simulations that mirror real-world physics and allow robots to virtually train to interact and navigate particular environments — these simulated environments are built on a system called the Omniverse, and can also be displayed to Apple Vision Pro, allowing designers to interact and navigate the virtual environments as though standing within them. Notably, they’ve also created a digital sim of our entire planet for the purpose of advanced weather forecasting. It almost feels like the plot of a science-fiction novel, and seems like a great way to get more data pertinent to the effects of global warming.

It was only a few years ago that NVIDIA pivoted from being a “GPU company” to putting a focus on developing AI-forward features and technology. A few very short years; showing accelerating rates of progress. This is whenever we began seeing things like DLSS and ray-tracing/path-tracing make their way onto NVIDIA GPUs; which all use AI-driven features in some form or another. DLSS, or Deep-Learning Super Sampling, is used to generate and interpolate between frames in a game to boost framerate, performance, visual detail, etc - basically, your system only has to actually render a handful of frames and AI generates everything between those traditionally-rendered frames, freeing up resources in your system. Many game developers are making use of DLSS to essentially bypass optimization to an increasing degree; see Remnant II as a great example of this - runs beautifully on a range of machines with DLSS on, but it runs like shit on even the beefiest machines with DLSS off; though there are some wonky cloth physics, clipping issues, and objects or textures “ghosting” whenever you’re not in-motion; all seem to be a side effect of AI-generation as the effect is visible in other games which make use of DLSS or the AMD-equivalent, FSR.

Now, NVIDIA wants to redefine what the average data center consists of internally, showing how Blackwell GPUs can be combined into racks that process information at exascale speeds — which is very, very fucking fast — speeds like that have only ever actually been achieved on some 4 or 5 machines on the planet, and I think they’ve all been quantum-based machines until now; not totally certain. The first exascale computer came into existence in 2022, called Frontier, it was deemed the fastest supercomputer in existence in June 2023 - operating at some 1.19 exaFLOPS. Notably, this computer is around 7,300 sq ft in size; reminding me of the space-race era supercomputers which were entire rooms. NVIDIA’s Blackwell DGX SuperPOD consists of around 576 GPUs and operates at 11.5 exaFLOPS, and is about the size of standard row of server racks - much smaller than an entire room, but still quite large. NVIDIA is also working with AWS to produce Project Ceiba, another supercomputer consisting of some 20,000GPUs, promising 400 exaFLOPS of AI-driven computation - it doesn’t exist yet.

To make my point, things are probably only going to get weirder from here. It may feel somewhat like living in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, only with fewer years in between each new step. Advances in generative-AI are only a very, very small part of that — and many people have already begun to bury their heads in the sand as a response to this emerging technology - citing the death of authenticity and skill among artists who choose to engage with new and emerging means of creation. Interestingly, the Industrial Revolution is what gave birth to modernism, and modern art, as well as photography, and many of the concerns around the quality of art in this coming age-of-AI and in the post-industrial 1800s largely consist of the same talking points — history is a fucking circle, etc — but historians largely agree that the outcome of the Industrial Revolution was remarkably positive for art and culture; even though it took 100 years and a world war for the changes to really become really accepted among the artists of that era. The Industrial Revolution allowed art to become detached from the aristocratic class and indirectly made art accessible for people who weren’t filthy rich or affluent - new technologies and industrialization widened the horizons for new artistic movements and cultural exchanges to occur. It also allowed capitalist exploitation to ingratiate itself into the western model of society and paved the way for destructive levels of globalization, so: win some, lose some.

It isn’t a stretch to think that AI is going to touch upon nearly every existing industry and change it in some significant way, and the events that are happening right now are the basis of those sweeping changes, and it’s all clearly moving very fast - the next level of individual creative freedom is probably only a few years away. I tend to like the idea that it may soon be possible for an individual or small team to create compelling artistic works and experiences without being at the mercy of an idiot investor or a studio or a clump of illiterate shareholders who have no real interest in the development of compelling and engaging art outside of the perceived financial value that it has once it exists.

If you’re of voting age and not paying very much attention to the climate of technology, I really recommend you start keeping an eye on the news for how these advancements are altering existing industries and systems. It’s probably going to affect everyone, and we have the ability to remain uniquely informed about the world through our existing connection with technology; something the last Industrial Revolution did not have the benefit of. If anything, you should be worried about KOSA, a proposed bill you may have heard about which would limit what you can access on the internet under the guise of making the internet more “kid-friendly and safe”, but will more than likely be used to limit what information can be accessed to only pre-approved sources - limiting access to resources for LGBTQ+ and trans youth. It will be hard to stay reliably informed in a world where any system of authority or government gets to spoon-feed you their version of world events.

[tainoidiot]

Frustration

Shuri x Reader with a medical flare up.

CW: Pain, drug use, medical treatment. I tried to make this as vague as possible with readers condition. Spoilers for Wakanda Forever.

You've been cooped up Shuri's bed for a whole day.

Sure, it was the most comfortable mattress you've ever slept on. The satin pillowcases and silky bedsheets were heavenly, and servants were doting on you no matter what your needs were. But fuck, you just wanted this to be over.

It had been nonstop hours of intense pain, passing out from said pain, then waking up to throw up from the pain. You curled up into different positions, howling into a pillow. You weren't getting any fluids or solids in, and it scared your girlfriend. "You are getting weaker, please let me do something." Shuri cried, holding your hand tight.

"No!" You groaned. "Shuri, baby. I'm tired of medical shit. I don't want to be poked and prodded anymore, I just wanna sleep." You protested. You were done with medications, tests, being scanned over and over for doctors to find nothing. Shuri suggested that she take a look at you, knowing her technology was the most advanced on earth. But you said no.

God she hated when you said no. Especially when she knew it would help, but she understood medical burnout. Seeing her in her own mental pain, you took her hand. "This isn't like your brother. I promise you." You had to remind yourself that though she kept a cool exterior, T'challa's passing really did a number on her. And now with her mother gone and nephew in an entirely different place, Shuri couldn't stand to be alone again. She just wanted to help.

"Can I at least crush you an herb that can possibly help?" Shuri asks, wiping away her tears. You nodded. As much as you wanted to protest being a guinea pig for medical purposes again, you wanted to give her some peace of mind. She smiled and gave you a kiss on the forehead. "I'll make it a tea, you need some fluids in you. Or else I'm getting an IV installed!" She rushed out the room to make your concoction.

It's normal to be hesitant for any new medical treatment, but this was tea. You just hoped it would stick this time. At least you have your loving princess by your side.

[pandorafallz]

Dreamer AU | Locked in a Hollow Home

Spider’s heart hammered as he sat under the table, hating with every fibre of the cold surface of the cell around him, and the sterile air that he breathed. He was sure this cell had it’s own vent system to possibly cut out human-safe air for Pandora’s air in a few moments, or maybe there was some gas they could use to sedate if it came down to it.

They must think of him as completely feral and thus, stupid and ignorant of human technology. He grew up in hell’s gate up until they had to move out of that. He knew his way around human technology to know the possibilities. Of course, he could see now things were far more advanced.

Spider wanted to hope that Jake could come for him. But he doubted that. Not that he wouldn’t want to but he was too deep into human territory. Too protected from outside invaders. He had only seen a little to know that any attempt of rescue would be a failure. Impossible, even.

He could not be rescued.

That thought alone was terrifying but he had to stay strong; wherever they threw at him, he could take it. He was no warrior, but he was scrappy. He had to be work smarter, not harder; if you can’t lie, find a truth to bend. He could do that. If he could find a way out, the better. He knew the woods better than their scanners. Without a mask… well everyone had a spare and at every airlock so it wouldn’t be too hard in that regard.

Spider pondered briefly for a moment; it was unlikely Jake and his family would feel safe at the mountains now; maybe they left? Maybe Mo’at had them leave to another secure area? He could work with that. He had no idea where they would be if that was the case.

The door opened abruptly, making him stiffen up before he felt hands grab him.

“Hey, let go of me!” Spider hissed, not caring if he spoke in Na’vi or English because it didn’t matter; they wouldn’t listen. He wiggled and hissed before an even bigger, bluer hand grabbed him by the bicep and tugged him along like a child.

“Let go of me!”

Spider hug his heels in the best he could by the time they got to a door, but even then, he was futile. Left, right, right, left, onwards… the hallways was like a maze, leading onwards from his cells to a suddenly open room.

He hissed at the sight of his obvious fate in this room. It looked like a topless link bed, reclined up at an angle with clear retrains but the business end of the link bed was weird and unlike the ones he was used to. Link beds had mind-tech.

This must be mind-tech as well.

Fuck.

The blue hand was easier, pushing his smaller frame with much more force towards it, human hands opening up the retrains in advance.

“No. No.” Spider resisted even more as he was turned and forced back into it. His middle was clipped in first before his chest and arms. Lastly, his head was force back, despite almost snapping at a finger before the clamp to not only his face, but also his neck and he could feel his head positioned purposely to face at an angle; never a good sign.

He flinched as the machine lit up with green light, spinning around but began tp pick up in speed before he felt an unusal warmth against his mind.

Unfamiliar.

Unwelcome.

A voice spoke up through the spinning light.

“Miles, I hoped you’d be more cooperative but it seems a firmer hand is in need. So, let’s begin.” He recognised the voice. Vaguely, the human general. He didn’t know her name but he was she was a heartless bitch by human standards.

The warmth in his brain grew, no longer just a warmth but a sharp presence he wanted nothing of in his mind. He could almost feel it run a pattern through his brain, getting more and more intense with every spin and heartbeat.

“Where is Jake sully?”

“I don’t know!” Not a lie. He could be anywhere.

“We know that you know.” She stated coldly.

“I don’t know!” He insisted, the pain increasing as he fought against it.

“Just form a picture in your mind.” The General spoke, “Is it one of the floating mountains?”

“Let me out of here.” Directing the topic away, he couldn’t let her plant thoughts into his brain to get what she wanted, he needed out. Away from here. Away from this machine… “I don’t know anything!”

“Just form a thought. Look, I don’t like this any more than you do. Which clan would be harbouring them?”

“I don’t know!” He couldn’t stop the cries of pain; now sharp like the line he was stood on a PLANT was running through each squiggle. His heart was in his ears, his eyes stung. “I don’t know! You’re gonna have to kill me!”

He couldn’t see past the blurs of green… his cried even started to sound muffled to his own ears, the whirling was so deafening…

“It’s not going to stop until you give us something. Where is he?”

“I don’t know, you buttholes! Okay, I don’t know!” he couldn’t think of worse names—too bright. The whirls were deafening but even then he could almost feel it’s pattern in it’s hum… he couldn’t concentrate. His legs struggled but he couldn’t move… the pulsing in his brain was numbing before the pain would chase it away in a new repeating cycle.

Then suddenly, it was gone.

His body slacked immediately, barely aware of the warmth as blood escaped his nose…his mind hazy but allowed himself to dwell in relief of the absence of the intrusion. He could feel his body shaking, not having the strength to figure out his arm from his leg as he was released from the restraints.

He tried to keep his eyes open; to see what they were doing but the lingering and black dots seemed to dance in his vision…hindering him to focus as he was unclipped and sagged helplessly as hands pulled him off. He felt like a dead weight…his limbs heavy…

“D..p him….ere.” the voices were very irregular before Spider became aware he was…not  where he was.

He blinked dimly, trying to figure the wall panels from each other before the graffiti in the wall was familiar.

His cell.

He supposed now, there were worse placed he could have ended up.

-

Spider.

He was Spider. Orphan.

A small mantra as Spider told himself as he cleaned himself up by wiping his nose on his loin cloth, the dark fabric absorbing the blood easily, his mind fuzz slowly clear up but he could feel the lingering of a headache behind his eyes mostly.

He wasn’t okay.

Why didn’t they let a doctor come and see him? They did try and scrape his brain…surely they’d send someone down to make sure… make sure they wouldn’t kill him now? Right? Spider didn’t know but he was glad; maybe if he said something then they’d kill him. Only useful alive for the information he had. After that? Useless. Why risk keeping him alive?

Spider blinked away the tears. No. This was no place for that. Ignore the pain. He could survive this.

He had to.

this is mostly canon compliant and not as long as i hoped atm but that’ll change soon enough; I'm just setting up a foundation first and then i can go from there to build out this AU :) What do you think.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed - Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

Above all else, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis is a triumph of production design. From the intricately detailed miniature models and matte paintings to the elaborate costumes and soundstages to the charming Harryhausen-inspired stop-motion creature effects, every cent of the enormous budget is clearly evident. Hell, even the lighting—the radiant shimmer of sunlight reflecting off the surface of turbulent water, the eerie pale glow of the full moon peering through a blanket of dry ice clouds, the ominous neon glare of supernatural power—is absolutely immaculate.

The film’s spectacular imagery perfectly matches its themes, which revolve around the conflict between tradition and modernization. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Japan’s cultural leaders have become increasingly obsessed with urban redevelopment as a means of competing on the world stage. Rich industrialists, for example, propose the erection of towering skyscrapers that rival the gods in stature—ostentatious symbols of material wealth (as well as hubris, considering the country’s frequent earthquakes). Nationalistic, xenophobic militarists, on the other hand, argue for “practicality” over hollow aesthetics—borders, walls, and fortifications have far more strategic value than gaudy architecture. Scientists, meanwhile, prefer technological advancement to politics and commerce, embracing the logistical challenges of constructing a vast subterranean railway system. Those attuned to spiritual matters—monks, mediums, practitioners of geomancy—urge these various parties to exercise caution and moderation in their pursuit of the “future,” warning that such unrestrained expansion risks irrevocably tarnishing the sanctity of the land, thus provoking the wrath of ancestral ghosts and guardian deities. “Progress,” after all, can be a destructive force; occasionally, building something new requires burning down the old. These concerns, however, are dismissed as invalid and irrelevant—as obsolete as magic and mysticism in the era of automobiles, engineering, and electricity.

Despite this compelling premise, the plot is rather jumbled, disjointed, and unfocused. Among the sprawling (and bloated) ensemble cast, no single character ever really emerges as a true “protagonist”; vaguely sketched archetypes are introduced rapidly and vanish just as abruptly, only to reappear at seemingly random intervals. In terms of personality and motivation, they’re nearly indistinguishable; consequently, the audience has little opportunity to form a proper relationship with them. Basically, they’re merely props, existing for the sole purpose of communicating exposition and propelling the story from one set piece to the next—they’re functional, but not terribly memorable.

Fortunately, the central villain alleviates this flaw to a significant degree. With his dark, sunken eyes and sharp, almost skeletal facial features, Yasunori Kato is instantly iconic—the epitome of “screen presence.” He exudes menace, personifies malice; every deliciously diabolical line of dialogue that he delivers in his deep, gravelly growl is pure poetry, sending chills of terror down the viewer’s spine. Any scene that excludes him suffers for the omission—though even when he’s absent, his implicit threat still lingers, haunting the frame like a lurking specter, a whispered promise of calamity and impending doom.

Ultimately, director Akio Jissoji’s competent craftsmanship compensates for the movie’s minor formal and structural shortcomings; some mild narrative incoherence notwithstanding, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis rarely fails to entertain. At the very least, it deserves credit for sheer ambition; precious few blockbusters nowadays dare to be this defiantly audacious and unconventional. Indeed, its superficial blemishes simply make its stylistic virtues more obvious and admirable. Warts and all, it is an essential genre masterpiece, worthy of being ranked alongside such horror classics as The Exorcist, Phantasm, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I forgot you like the science stuff ooooooooh okay and you mentioned mind uploading and I have a THOUGHT.

A HEADCANNON (kinda) because I like ti take pieces of canon and try to fit them all together.

And I'd love your thoughts.

In Sonic Brawl, Rouge says Shadow has Maria's soul. That is super vague, but we do know that Gerald was willing to go to any lengths to save Maria.

... Do you think a backup of her brain was created and 'downloaded' into Shadow?

(I have other thoughts in tandem with this but they're all mildly sad so I just want to ask the fun one💜)

Hello, my dear!❤️✨

I’m terribly sorry for taking so long on your ask. I wanted to make sure that my answer was reasonable, as well as supplied some knowledge to the character’s purpose of creation. Essentially, I wanted to make sure that I was thorough enough to share my thoughts. I’ve even shared this question with a couple of my colleagues at the lab to hear their thoughts too. This will be a pretty lengthy, but well-educated answer.

I absolutely agree, the journal entries from Sonic Battle are vague. I feel that they are purposefully meant to be vague so that the audience could make their own conclusions on what it means. Short answer: possibly, but I lean more towards “no.” Long and complicated answer can be found under the “read more” tab (because why not😅).

We just don’t know the extent of how extreme Gerald’s plans were with discovering immortality. We’ve seen in SA2, Sonic Battles, Sonic Rivals 2 and ShTH 2005 that Gerald has been known to tamper with very questionable forces in order to achieve immortality at the cost of risking everyone and everything around him. It’s desperation, yes. He care more about Maria than anything else. I think it’s just… really up for debate.

We have a couple of ideas that need to be addressed first in order for me to share my thoughts:

1). Brain uploading requirements, zettabytes

2). Psychology/Ethics and Moral Teachings

BRAIN UPLOADING REQUIREMENTS (ZETTABYTES):

The assumption that Gerald was crafty with uploading a consciousness into a computer is a process called “Whole Brain Emulation (WBE).” This is also referred to as a “mind transfer.” This is a process in which, presumably, has the ability to scan the state of our minds and transfer into a database whether it’s postmortem (deceased) or antemortem (living).

As of now, the process of uploading one’s consciousness into an artificial body or database is a pseudoscience. This means that it’s more of a fantasy sci-fi scenario other than supplying factual results. Whole Brain Emulation would have to take into consideration of scanning layers upon layers of one’s mind and convert them into various strands of code. The human brain is made up of neurons; the human mind has about 86 billion neurons (PNAS, 2012).

In order to even begin scanning the mind, we’d need an exorbitant amount of storage space that could store not even a handful of neurons. We’d need to take into consideration of zettabytes. The human mind itself can store about 1.1950 petabytes of data in a lifetime if it was used at its fullest capacity (Houzel, 2009). That’s roughly two zettabytes. That’s like finding the Pacific Ocean with water twice! Thankfully, we live in a world where we have access to zettabytes. Zettabytes are used to store large sums of data in servers for social media sites, like Tumblr and Twitter. Being able to store all of the data into a database seem plausible, but we still run into a couple of problems.

We would not be able to get a 100% accurate reflection of Maria. If anything, we’d only be able to replicate it via artificial intelligence. We would have to take into consideration of Maria’s mannerisms and wide variety of responses to the world around her.

PSYCHOLOGY/ETHICS AND MORAL TEACHINGS:

With all of the technological advancements made in human history, the capability of transferring organic consciousness into a mechanical device is nonexistent. We might be able to replicate states of consciousness, but we would have to teach AI and code human ethics and morals. In this case, we could make an attempt in replicating Maria’s consciousness to a certain extent. We don’t know a whole lot of Maria’s characteristics other than the fact that she mattered tremendously to both Shadow and Gerald.

The problem here would be that we’d lack a ration and irrational response of decision making of the individual. What we think that we might know of a person might be different from them being right then and there as they respond to the phenomenon. If anything, we wouldn’t have Maria’s internal thinking and logic. Everything that would be coded would not be Maria’s true thoughts, it would be an assumed thought of the AI and/or programmer.

There is no guarantee that the AI will possess every thought and feeling that Maria might have had when transferring her consciousness. In order to get that, we’d have to do extensive psychological research of Maria’s response to every situation in a controlled environment. This would have to be monitored 24/7. The Maria program would have to relearn everything about herself on top of learning culturally acceptable ethics and morals depending on the environment she was raised in.

If this is the case, then Shadow would have to be habilitated into having the same—or nearly the same—mannerisms that Maria would have had if having her consciousness uploaded into his mind. And if she were still a child, then that would take longer. A child is still in the process of knowing themselves and their identity. Because we would only have a secondary source of Maria’s characteristics, we would lack internal feelings of her growing up.

CLOSING STATEMENT:

It’s safer to assume that everything that Shadow has done in his life are his own thoughts and feelings. Shadow is meant to be perceived as his own person. I’m positive that his actions are influenced by Maria and his interactions with the world around him. Most, if not all, of his actions after learning the truth from SA2 are his own. I do not believe that Maria had her consciousness uploaded into Shadow’s mind, but it is a possibility that Gerald thought about it. The problem here is that we might never know. All that we know is that Gerald would have done nearly anything, even using government funding, to save Maria (Windii, 2018).

Most of my thoughts and feelings are told through the perspective of human interactions. We don’t know enough of Shadow’s physiology in order to make a true comparison. Until we learn more about Gerald and Maria’s characteristics, I think that it’s safe to say that this is more of a hypothetical scenario that needs more information.

I hope this answers your question, my dear!❤️✨

SOURCES:

PNAS, 2012: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1201895109

Houzel, 2009: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2776484/

Ted-ED, 2023: https://youtu.be/2DWnvx1NYUA

Windii, 2018: http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_Adventure_2_-_The_Truth_of_50_Years_Ago...

Here’s a great text from the National Institute of Health made that talks about neurogenics: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/public-education/brain-basics/brain-basics-life-and-death-neuron

[realmackross]

PARTIES: @lukas-dark-miracles @realmackross TIMING: Sunday, July 9th SUMMARY: Mack finds a flyer for one of Lukas' groups and decides to check it out. WARNINGS: None!

The group was still in its infancy, so it was important for Lukas to be careful who came through the doors of the currently unnamed self help group. So he carefully greeted everyone and tried to get to know each of them by name and a few facts. Some facts were easily gotten, and some involved him looking into people after they had left. Luckily, while technology had certainly got more advanced and language became stranger he was still able to look up people easily enough.  

Still, while he was careful it wasn’t to the other’s demise. Nothing in the group would suddenly drop. He wasn’t looking to hurt anyone, but Lukas did know that for the group to succeed he would need to carefully and gently remove people that did not want to take the next steps towards the dark. After all, they still had a purpose but not here. 

So smiling he greeted the other carefully and said, “Hello. I’m Lukas. Are you here for the meeting?” Part of him was waiting for enough information to look the other up if he needed too. 

__

So much had happened to Mackenzie since she had arrived in Wicked’s Rest. More than she would have liked to admit. The latest debacle seemed to be getting her name stolen by something that didn’t even seem real. A slimy little creature of a man that she had never actually met in person and prayed she never would. But in order to do it, she had to give up something else; something of importance that she just couldn’t recall. But she had her identity back, and that’s what had mattered most.

Unfortunately, being Mackenzie again, and not Llama, meant facing all the things she had done. It just wasn’t going to be easy, and it wasn’t going to be soon. But baby steps. And if that meant her vaguely talking with other people about life then so be it. She had done group stuff before. Table reads. Meet & greets. It’s just that none of these things were ever “hit you deep in the heart” personal with the consequence that life could be over in the blink of an eye.

Letting out a soft sigh, Mackenzie nervously held onto the crumpled flyer she had found in town. Was this the right place? There seemed to be a small group of people entering and there was someone moving towards her with a smile on his face, “Uh, I think so.” He seemed nice enough, though she still couldn’t help, but look around anxiously. Did she really want to do this? Would these people know who she was? Speaking of, “Oh, um, sorry. I never introduced myself. I’m Mackenzie.” Sticking out the hand that was free, she waited to shake his.

__

Lukas was used to nervous people. Most were when they entered a new place, and while this wasn’t a holy site at all, it was full of people and the things they wanted to run from. It was one of the reasons why he wanted to make a group after all, to find the people that were running away from something - darkness, the shadow, whatever you wanted to call it. So, he wasn’t at all perturbed with how nervous the younger seemed to be. 

Looking at the flyer in her hand, Lukas nodded, “I think you are, if you're here for the group.” Shaking her hand carefully, knowing now that people noticed how cold it was he had put the air down in the room to feign that he was just cold from that, he said, “Nice to meet you Mackenzie. The meeting won’t start for a little while, so if you want to ask any questions please feel free too. I know it can be nerve wracking to join a new group.” 

His smile stayed on his face although turned a little more thoughtful when he thought about how she might be uncomfortable. With her first name it wasn’t much, but if they continued to talk he might get more information just in case. “I can answer most anything, but I do promise if I can’t I won’t say that I can,” Lukas said with a bit of a chuckle.  _ 

She shook his hand with a firm, but somewhat shaky grip. It was odd not really being able to feel if people’s hands were warm or cold, sweaty or dry anymore. Mackenzie’s seemed to match his in being permanently cold. But she didn’t think anything of it. How could she when she couldn’t really make out what sensation she was feeling, “It’s nice to meet you too, Lukas.” Though she didn’t feel much more at ease, she had taken the first step and that was actually introducing herself.

Mackenzie had set her eyes amidst the chairs slowly starting to fill up, before looking back to Lukas, “What kind of group is this exactly?” Was this the right move for her? Maybe seeing someone in private would have been better. She did see a therapist back home after the stalker incident, and it helped. But Wicked’s Rest was a different breed already and with it being a group, maybe it meant she could learn more about her illness - zombism. She just wouldn’t ever admit that she was actually one. But maybe someone else would.

“I appreciate your honesty. I’m finding this town has a lot of liars in it, so sometimes it’s hard to distinguish who's actually being honest with me, and who isn’t.” Even Hollywood was full of liars, but this was a different breed.

_

Lukas didn’t think much of the other’s handshake either, although he did note it didn’t feel particularly warm. Maybe he should turn the air conditioner up a little bit to not freeze out the others here. 

He was used to that question by now, and carefully he had an answer that had happened quite organically after probing people on what they wanted in a group. It was actually pretty easy to cultivate a sense of belonging when you’re thinking of why others might feel alone. “This is a general support group,” Lukas responded, looking to some of the others who filled the room. “Honestly, it is pretty frustratingly vague, but that’s a bit on purpose. We’re trying to build a community in Wicked’s Rest where people feel heard and seen. So this is somewhat a place where people can meet each other and build relationships, to see if there’s anything that might need a group effort to complete - like Rosie over there is starting a community garden and is getting volunteers to help get that started if your interested-” Lukas said looking at the older woman who he was pretty sure was just lonely and genuinely wanted to connect with people, waving a little to her. Continuing he said, “ and generally get and give advice on things that might be bothering people in a comfortable environment. Of course we aren’t a replacement for therapy or anything of the like - but it can be nice to get to know your neighbors.” 

At her statement Lukas chuckled and replied, “I appreciate that. I try not to lie as a rule.” Which was true - or at least true enough. Anything could be the truth if enough people believed in it  after all. “Although I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been dealing with liars. Is someone bothering you?” His face turned a little serious at the thought. 

_

The vagueness spiked a red flag at first, until he explained that it was a get to know your neighbors and connect group. Mackenzie had felt like she was stepping back in time. Was this what it was like living a normal life and one that wasn’t in the spotlight? Could you actually participate in things like a community garden without there being some other motive to it? She glanced over to Rosie with a soft, sad smile. The lady looked friendly enough. Like she wasn’t about to bite anyone’s head off or steal their name.

Mackenzie looked back to Lukas, “This doesn’t sound quite as scary as I thought it would. Do you have a lot of people who come to these things?” She glanced back down at the flyer in her hands. She had already read it hundreds of times, but what could hurt if she read it one or two or ten more times, especially when he asked her if someone was bothering her. Except in Mackenzie’s mind, she had heard the word something, instead of someone.

How was Mackenzie supposed to reply to that? Something had definitely been bothering her. She had eaten her fiance. She had consumed the brains and bodies of others. She grew up living her life in the spotlight, and now she was having to do a complete 180 and pray that no one would ever find out where she was or suspect what she was. She was lonely. She was scared. And most days her mental health lived so far in the gutter that even the rats and mice wouldn’t dare venture into that darkness.

So yeah, something was bothering Mackenzie. A lot of things had been bothering her, but she wasn’t about to tell him or any of these remotely normal looking people walking through the door smiling and excited to be meeting once more with the neighbors they had probably grown up with, “Uh, no. Not anymore, I took care of it.” It was a vague answer, and one that had sounded remotely threatening in nature, but she definitely didn’t mean it like that, especially after mishearing his original question.

_

Lukas gave a soft smile at the admittance that it didn’t sound too scary, and said, “I hope it’s not. We do get a good amount of people I think - although I don’t really keep talleys. It’s a pretty new group, and not everyone can make it to every meeting, but I’d say we get 20 regular participants - not including myself.” After all, in this instance he didn’t really count. 

At her reaction to his question, Lukas tilted his head not really understanding the connection that she had. It was vaguely threatening and he could tell that some of the others in the room looked over at Mackenzie worried at the statement. He could feel their eyes glancing back at him, and after a moment he gave a soft smile and said, “I’m glad that you resolved that problem then. I know I’ve had some problems with people being unsettling to me. - When setting up this group I had to deal with a number of people and deal with them too. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, and hopefully if someone bothers you again we can all deal with them together by helping them correct their behavior. It’s awfully hard to do it by yourself, and brave.” 

With that, he had smoothed over the stares, and turned the eyes around them either neutral or compassionate depending. It was a skill, but it wasn’t a hard one to do in a group like this. Still, Lukas was curious though, why she looked so bothered by something and unwilling to speak on it. He wanted more information, and to do that he needed to keep the peace. “Still, please let me know if there’s anything that would make you more comfortable. One of the only rules here is that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.” 

__

Twenty people was quite a bit. Definitely not as big as some of the groups she’d dealt with in her career, but in a new town with no familiar faces and all eyes on her, it seemed daunting. And the more she thought about it, the more squirrely she became, but she couldn’t let him see that. Fake it, til you make it. Playing a role was something she was familiar with, and now looking back on it, she had wished she had created some kind of character to come in as, instead of as Mackenzie Ross: Former actress turned zombie trying to figure out her undead life.

It was the “all eyes on her” moment that really had her questioning things now. Had they suspected something based on what she had said? Or did someone finally recognize her and start spreading her name around? She couldn’t quite tell, and when she tried to focus back on Lukas, her mind raced to the worst possible scenario. But somehow his words of taking care of this so-called person together and not alone made way for some comfort. It had been so long since Mackenzie had truly felt safe anywhere, and even though it didn’t feel like it quite so much right now, this community group was starting to become slightly more appealing. Maybe it was the way he spoke, but there seemed to be a certain truth to it that she couldn’t quite put her cold-dead finger on, “Uh, thanks. Really, it’s nothing though. I solved it, and I don’t think he’ll be bothering me again.”

That innate feeling that people weren’t looking at her anymore and had gone back to their own business seemed to give Mackenzie some comfort, even though she still stammered, when she spoke, “Just…um, well I’m a very private person, because of the job I do, so I’d appreciate it, if anyone recognizes me at any point, that they don’t ask me personal questions…” Why was she feeling so comfortable with this guy? It felt like she was walking into the lion’s den for supper, and she was the meal.

_

Lukas could tell that there was some sort of conflict in the younger, although on what he could only guess at this point. Still, he didn’t think that there was anything there that would be against what the group would be eventually. Besides, if it turned out she was good then he could still help her - at least for a little while as he gently nudged her back to the light. If she was meant for the dark instead - well then she would be well suited here. 

“No worries at all,” Lukas said with a small nod, noticing that she had said it was a person. Still, he didn’t pry. He wanted more information but he didn’t want to cause Mackenzie pain. It was likely if she continued the group that she would open up more and they could resolve anything that might be left on the table. “I’m just glad you were able to do that.”

At her stammering Lukas listened carefully and seemed to connect something although he didn’t let it show on his face. After all, there were very few reasons someone would be that private and also worried about questions. She had to be famous in some way - infamous or otherwise. Still, he nodded and said, “Sure. I mean, I can’t promise anyone won’t ask questions at all, but you can be as anonymous as you want to be. Many people don’t share much about their personal lives, and I’m sure everyone here respects privacy, and certainly if anyone is asking something invasive please come find me and I’ll talk to them. That’s certainly not appropriate here.- You don’t even have to give a last name if you don’t wish to.” After all, Lukas knew enough now he could find her if he wanted and see if she would be a danger.

 Most of the others were now just quietly talking among themselves about their own little projects and things, now assured that Mackenzie wasn’t someone to fear. The group after all was mostly informal, just something to pass the time and reach out to others. It hardly mattered who joined as long as they were respectful - something that Lukas was careful to help nurture. It was mostly out of habit but it would help in the future as well. “Are there any other questions that you might have?” 

_

Mackenzie was starting to feel a little more at ease. Lukas seemed to answer any and all questions she had and had even been willing to stick up for her despite not knowing anything about her. Well, unless he followed her on social media or had watched any of her movies. And even though she had been nervous about the group when it was all eyes on her, the way they simply went back to their own little conversations gave her peace, “Thanks. You guys meet at the same time every week right?” The flyer remained tight in her grip, but she didn’t seem to be fooling with it as much.

She still wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to join. But Mackenzie was trying her best to branch out. She wanted to make more friends. She was already on her way, but she had met most of them, ironically, through bad experiences. And she couldn’t help but wonder if they had just been friends with her out of pity, or worse, because of who she was…No. She refused to let her mind go there. Paranoia was something that could easily settle in her brain, if she let it, and that’s not something she needed to deal with on top of everything else.

Giving the room one last scan with each of the people sitting there happily discussing things, Mackenzie felt the slight urge of just wanting to belong again creeping up in her. She had always belonged. It was just second nature to her. Like breathing air, but isolation and the things she had done made it feel as though she no longer mattered, and that was one of the hardest things she was having to accept about her so-called new life, “Can I think about it? I just…I’m still trying to figure out some things, and honestly, if I’m even going to be in Wicked’s Rest that long.” She bit at her bottom lip, nerves starting to come back over her, for whatever reason; a confidence, she once faced the world with, shoved down deep inside of her trying to claw its way back to the surface, before being suffocated out for good.

_

At the question Lukas nodded slightly seeing that the other seemed at least a bit more comfortable with the group. It was good to see. “Yes, we meet every week at this time. If it ever changes we’d let everyone know.” 

Lukas was good at reading when people were wavering between choices. It was something that a Holy man should know especially with people in his flock. Knowing where people faltered was necessary if you were going to lead them. So, he wasn’t entirely surprised to see Mackenzie waiver. Whatever she seemed to be worried about coming out seemed to weigh heavily on her. So, Lukas backed off a little. After all, them making the choice was most of the actual battle. 

“Of course, there’s no formal joining process or anything like that.” Lukas said with a gentle smile. “If you want to come by please feel free too, and if you do not wish to, that’s fine too. It also doesn’t matter very much if you don’t think you’ll be here long or not. If I can ever be of help though, please let me know.” 

_

Knowing that this wouldn’t be a missed opportunity if she wanted to take him up on the offer made Mackenzie feel a little more at ease. It wasn’t like she had to decide today, and that was nice. She had been pressured into way too much growing up because of the community she was a part of, and ultimately it had gotten her killed. But this felt different, and she could appreciate that.

“Thanks. I really appreciate your time. I just saw the flyers around and thought I might check it out.” Mackenzie gave the group one last look, before turning her attention back on Lukas, “And I will.” She wasn’t sure if she was that comfortable yet. Life in the spotlight meant not trusting people as easily, including the ones who genuinely seemed to want to help, “Well, I’ll get out of the way, so you can start your group.” She motioned back to the door. With a small, but warm smile, Mackenzie gave one last look to the man standing in front of her, before taking her leave. It was a lot to think about, but at least it was a start to something that felt somewhat normal, and maybe pretending that life was normal was something she needed.