#Consensus 2023

[mark-matos]

Edward Snowden Calls for Open AI Models to Benefit Humanity, Not Just Big Tech and Governments

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor-turned-whistleblower, recently shared his thoughts on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Speaking at Consensus 2023, he highlighted the potential of AI to surpass human capabilities if it's trained to be "better than us." Snowden believes that this approach would ultimately benefit humanity, despite concerns about the technology's potential misuse by bad actors.

The explosive popularity of AI technologies, particularly since the rollout of OpenAI's ChatGPT last fall, has raised concerns among experts that the technology could be co-opted by government-driven initiatives and big tech to encroach upon users' privacy. However, Snowden also sees positive use cases for AI models, arguing that they could obstruct government surveillance instead of fueling invasive intelligence programs.

Snowden's call for open AI models to remain open is particularly relevant in light of emerging AI models that are becoming less and less transparent. He singled out OpenAI, which he criticized for refusing to provide public access to their trading data, models, weights, and other essential elements. He sees this lack of transparency as "antisocial behavior" that should not be rewarded.

Snowden also believes that the current training methods for AI models, which involve spoon-feeding them large amounts of online content, are not ideal. He believes that this method of training AI on social media comments and Reddit threads limits the technology's potential to benefit humanity. Instead, he argues that AI models should be trained to be creative, useful, and better than humans.

Ultimately, how the technology is used depends on how researchers train AI engines. Snowden's vision for AI is optimistic and inspiring, highlighting the potential of AI to benefit humanity if trained in the right way. As with children, we don't need machines to be like us. We need them to be better than us. And if they aren't better than us, we did a terrible job.

[rodspurethoughts]

William Shatner's "Infinite Connections": A Web3 Adventure

William Shatner Boldly Embraces The World of Web3 with Orange Comet in Newest Digital Series "Infinite Connections"

William Shatner Boldly Embraces The World of Web3 with Orange Comet in Newest Digital Series “Infinite Connections” William Shatner, the legendary Hollywood actor, has partnered with Orange Comet, the leading web3 game and entertainment company, to launch a new digital collection titled “Infinite Connections.” This one-of-a-kind collection comprises 3,500 unique 1:1 pieces and select…

[beescake]

back in the day we had pantskat

now we have sagg sollux

[toytulini]

listen im ace and im pro kink at pride and whatever, but the way some of yall are wording your posts in response to the backlash against it is uh. really taking me back to the ace shitcourse era.

yall know theres nothing wrong with being a "virgin", right? that its not inherently shameful to have not had sex, to never have sex, even if youre not ace, even if you do want to have sex someday, like, its fine that you haven't had sex?

maybe if your problem is that theyre trying to police your behavior and shame you for expressing your sexuality, you can say that? instead of resorting to "haha stupid virgin gets no bitches" like my god. do you not hear how fucking regressive that attitude is? i know, i know, youre "joking".

get a better joke

[grandtreeangel]

Pete on coming back to the band

April 2013 and March 2023

[castielsprostate]

who cares if that's his boss let them fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and let them!!!!!! be!!!!!!!! in!!!!!!!!! love!!!!!!!!!!!!

[overleftdown]

saltburn and consent; an investigative tangent

felix, venetia, and farleigh all consider sex to be transaction rather than emotional. you can see this in the casual way felix approaches sexual intimacy. you can see this in the way farleigh is described to use sex as a tool. you can see this in the way venetia uses sex to fulfill her need for validation. i'd like to explore how this sort of... complicates consent, within these on-screen dynamics.

i'm going to start this off with venetia. in venetia and oliver's first one-on-one interaction, you can see that oliver doesn't yet understand what to do with venetia. he plays his normal, unimposing, nervous, slightly awkward but well-intentioned character. venetia is the one to lean forward, pushing and testing oliver's boundaries. you can infer from later scenes that venetia enjoys testing the boys felix brings back to saltburn. part of this is venetia's own neglectful upbringing; she's starved of attention and therefore validation. she needs to be appealing, and she needs people to want her. this dynamic tangibly twists once oliver has been handed venetia's vulnerability by elspeth.

what is important to understand about this film is that sex is more so about emotion than physicality. this is portrayed in the way that emerald fennell avoids any nudity or exposure in her sex scenes. this is portrayed in the way that oliver exhibits no real confidence until he knows where others are vulnerable. he's unable to exude any strictly sexual dominance; he can only step into his dominance when he knows why these people hate themselves. so, when oliver is given insight into venetia's psyche, he is being given her vulnerability. to me, the sex was merely oliver's way of stripping a wire raw so that a current could effectively travel, so to speak. this is where consent gets tricky. oliver was non-consensually given any real power he had over venetia prior to the actual sex. if oliver had simply slept with venetia without knowing her insecurities or mentioning them, he wouldn't have had any power of her.

now, farleigh. what's interesting is how this dynamic of power, vulnerability, and sex shifts even more with "quickstart." farleigh didn't want oliver's pity, or sympathy. in fact, he recognized that this vulnerability was taken from him by oliver. he might've thought that felix confided in oliver about farleigh's troubles, or maybe he knew that oliver had eavesdropped. either way, oliver entered that conversation believing that farleigh would be just as insecure and starved for validation as venetia (i'm sure farleigh is, but we all react to our misfortune differently). i think the difference between farleigh and venetia in this area is quite interesting. both of them use sex as a way of gaining something. venetia is using sex to fulfill her need for validation, while she grows more and more bored by the material world. she's not afraid of losing anything, she desperately needs to gain something. farleigh does everything to maintain what is tangible, accessible, and real. he sees the material world as an extension of his security, using it as both insurance and escapism. farleigh is constantly terrified, constantly weighing the positives and negatives of his actions.

so, here is oliver, who has yanked the sheet off of farleigh. this is the exposure. instead of biting oliver's proverbial carrot, farleigh does the same to oliver, and in front of everyone. farleigh, just like oliver, understands the power of vulnerability. this is the sort of nightmare where you're suddenly butt naked in front of the whole school. later that night, oliver wills up the confidence to attempt to dominate farleigh, to tame him. again, this isn't just sexual domination. this is "if there's anything i can say to them... if i can help in any way, just ask." this is "we both know i could ruin everything you've worked so hard for. we both know i can help or hurt you." or, at least, that's how farleigh understood it. oliver was planning to ruin farleigh's life no matter what farleigh agreed to. "are you going to behave?" was never just a kinky line to throw around, it's meant to be a threat. what's funny is that oliver already planned to follow through, regardless of whether farleigh decided to "behave." coercive, and painfully hopeless for farleigh.

of course, that isn't to say farleigh wasn't aroused by whatever power play oliver was leaning into. the same goes for venetia. i'm mostly explaining why it's not healthy, or safe, or sane, or consensual. is that not the point of the movie? to question what we find attractive? to stare it in the face and talk about it?

moving on to felix. i'm not really sure where to go with this. i talked about saltburn and its depiction of privilege on an earlier post. to sum it up, farleigh and venetia both have some privilege over oliver, while oliver has some privilege over both farleigh and venetia. oliver has absolutely nothing over felix. both of them are white, both of them are men, and felix happens to be richer than oliver. this is why oliver is... so pathetically desperate for felix. he's obsessed with what he cannot have, control, or dominate. oliver is the vulnerable one, oliver is the one that is eventually laid bare in front of felix. a liar, a manipulator, and pathetically desperate for felix's love. so desperate for someone so powerful to love someone like him.

and, once felix knows this, oliver kills him for it. he fucks the dirt felix is buried under, just to feel like he's taking something after felix took his secrets. oliver understands the power of vulnerability. oliver understands that sex is easy once you've already stolen what really matters from someone. oliver saw the connectivity of human nature and used it, twisted it, just to pull himself closer to felix. oliver's northern star, who he never truly got to have.

[chaosheadspace]

Smarch day 25: scent

I made my own take on A/B/O which I don't normally write or read. Very soft. Have fun!

Dream's soft cries echo through the bedroom as Hob fucks into him enthusiastically. It had taken Hob one look at the omega to know, irrevocably, that Dream was his. The Disco hat been loud and crowded, and Hob could feel his blood sing from the second he'd stepped foot inside. He had excused himself from his friends and given in to the sweet, sweet call of pheromones. The second he'd locked gazes with a pair of blue eyes as searching as his, it was over.

Dream had sunk against his chest, content, elated. On the tube on the way to Hob's flat he had lovingly opened two buttons of Hob's shirt so more of Hob's scent would reach his nose. If anybody had noticed, they hadn't said anything. The genetic variations grow rarer and rarer, which makes coincidences like this all the more unlikely. People generally take the chance by the neck if they happen to stumble upon a match by sheer dumb luck. They softly spoke, exchanged names and stories and numbers until they reached Hob's front door, where Dream had put his nose against Hob's neck and moaned.

"It's been years since somebody smelled this good for me," he'd said. "Sorry, I'm a bit drunk on it."

Hob had curled a hand around Dream's neck, reassuring, possessive, and Dream had moaned again. "Don't be sorry, sweetheart," Hob had whispered into his soft black hair and fumbled with his keys. "Your smell is nothing short of an aphrodisiac for me and you know that. I know you can feel it."

Dream had plastered himself against Hob's side even more, burning hot through both of their clothes and licked the shell of his ear. "Hurry up then so you can fuck me, Hob Gadling."

Hob had sworn and almost dropped his keys and then shoved him against the inside of the door, sinking to his knees while almost ripping Dream's trousers off. Had buried his face in the wet mess between his thighs and drank from him until they trembled. They'd barely made it to the bed.

Dream shoves himself back onto Hob's cock with a wild moan. "How can I still want you even when you're inside of me?" He pants.

Hob is laid over his back, chest against spine, one hand at Dream's hip, the other interlaced with Dream's on the covers. It's the kind of close, animalistic sex that makes Hob want to keep going and going until he's wrung every sound, every ounce of pleasure, every possible orgasm out of Dream.

"Do you want me to knot you, sweet one?"

Dream slumps forward into the mattress and wails, the new angle so delicious it takes Hob all but two strokes to add his own hot wetness to the one between Dream's legs.

Dream whines into the pillows as he can feel Hob's knot expand inside him, and when Hob reaches down, he finds him hard and wanting still. So Hob continues to make small rocking motions, buried deep inside, knot tugging at Dream's rim.

Dream's breathing grows erratic. Hob can tell he's very much gone as he tilts his head to the side, exposing more of his neck. "Please bite me, oh God, Hob please, claim me, mark me, make me yours -"

Hob bites his lip until he draws blood. Pure want tries to force his jaw open to do as Dream pleads and bury his teeth into lily-white flesh. He mustn't. He mustn't. They've known each other for maybe three hours. He can't bite a claim into the neck of a stranger, regardless of how pretty his blood might sing for him. It's not right.

Instead, he clamps a hand on the back of Dream's neck to relieve some of his need for pressure there and picks up speed, his hips stuttering with quick, minuscule movements. Dream goes feral under him, squirming and moaning and tugging himself forward so hard Hob's knot almost pops free.

"Hob," Dream pleads again, half delirious and shuddering, "do you not want me? Am I not good? I wanna be good for you. Please, please, Hob, take me, let me be yours, let me, let me -"

"Shhhh," Hob says through the saliva pooling in his mouth, dripping down onto Dream's shoulder, "you are. You're so good for me. So perfect, wet and open. Dream, darling, it's all good, it's all good -" he buries his fingernails into Dream's neck where they both desperately, instinctively want Hob's teeth and Dream comes with a strained shout.

Hob can't help but imagine Dream walking around with a beautiful, days-old purple claim, Hob's claim, and the nauseating wave of want is so tall Hob comes a second time, drooling violently through gritted teeth.

After regaining some of his composure Hob carefully lays them onto the side, avoiding the wet spot Dream has made. Their bodies still locked together he draws the covers over both of them, burying his nose in Dream's delicious scent.

"Do you want me to -" Hob says, unsure, while squeezing Dream's hip. It's entirely possible to work an active knot out again.

"Mmmhhh," Dream rumbles, eyes half lidded, his body warm and pliant like fresh taffy against Hob's front. "Stay. S'nice. Thank - thank you for -"

"My pleasure. It's ok," Hob breathes against his neck, placing slow kisses there.

"Can I - M'gonna - hmm." Dream's voice grows heavier and trails off as he falls asleep. It's how it should be, it's what feels right, even if they both know that it's all just instinct and hormones and entirely possible to ignore. It's nice to give in to it, sometimes. Calming.

So Hob lays there behind Dream, whose first bodily instinct it is to rest after being fucked and knotted, and feels his own body buzzing with post-orgasm endorphins telling him to stay awake and keep watch, to protect. So he nuzzles his face into Dream's hair and does just that, still buried deep.

[wastemanjohn]

this dadfucker friday i'd like everyone's thoughts on bottom john positive or negative or disinterested or "china you have a problem stfu" i welcome all thoughts/opinions

[kybercrystals94]

You Can Trust Me

By KyberCrystals94

Read here on Ao3!

Whumptober 2023|Day 2|Prompt:Delirium

Bad Things Happen Bingo|Prompt:Mind Games

Rating: T

(CW: non consensual drug use)

Words: 1,282

Summary: Captured and drugged, Tech struggles to grasp reality.

TECH

General Skywalker’s voice calls over the din of blaster fire, “Tech, open that door for Rex!”

“Yes, sir!” Tech responds instantly, darting across the open to the sealed entrance. After a moment, Rex is at his shoulder, exchanging rounds with the enemy, covering Tech as he splices into the system. This feels familiar, Tech thinks distantly, the door sliding open at his hacked instruction.

Tech scans the room. This is where the signal came from. Echo has to be here, if there is any physical form of Echo to find at all. Tech approaches a large cylindrical contraption inset within the wall, sleek and awful. Familiar...why is this familiar? His scan shows that something warm-blooded and alive is tucked inside. A heavy, knotted thing forms in his stomach. “I don’t like the look for this. I’m definitely picking up a life-form in there. It seems to be a stasis chamber.”

Rex approaches the device like it might lash out. Tech cannot see the reg captain’s facial expression because of the helmet, but his body language practically screams trepidation.

Tech goes to the controls, glancing over them briefly to familiarize himself. “I think I can get it open.” His mind processes faster than even his fingers can move, but within seconds, the chamber is hissing as it unseals, icy vapor billowing from the now open hatch. A figure falls forward, grey – almost bloodless – skin stretched thin over sharp bones. Despite his shrunken structure, familiar clone eyes stare out, open but unseeing, flitting rapidly.

Echo...Tech thinks, horror stuttering his thoughts. I know him...he’s my friend. Why do I know him?

Rex’s voice rallies Tech back. The man is holding Echo stable so that his body isn’t pulling against the tubes and wires literally latched into the broken frame of their brother. “Tech, we got to get him out of here. Figure out how to unplug him from...from this mess!” Rex is lowering Echo to the ground, holding him in his arms, whispering words Tech can’t hear.

But Tech wants to comfort Echo too, feels as though he needs to rush to his side, hold him companionably as Rex is doing now. This isn’t right. This isn’t how it happened. I didn’t know Echo before Skako Minor...I shouldn’t remember this. It hasn’t happened yet. Something is wrong.

Suddenly, Echo is gasping, eyes now seeing but wild with panic. It sounds like he’s suffocating.

“What’s happening to him?” Rex cries, pulling Echo up against him, “Do something, Tech! What is wrong with him?”

Tech falls next to them with his med scanner, his hands are shaking so badly he can barely get a reading. Echo is dying. His body is shutting down. He isn’t going to make it.

No...this isn’t what happened. This isn’t how it happened! Echo is fine. He’s going to join the Batch, he’s going to be my brother...he can’t die.

Echo’s frantic gaze meets Tech’s, a single tear tracking down the ashen skin of his cheek. “Tech,” he gasps, the word barely taking shape in his shallow, choking breaths. “It’s going to be okay. Can you hear me, Tech?” The words are garbled but distantly clear, like hearing a voice through water. “Tech?”

Tech shakes his head. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. This shouldn’t be happening.

With one last, gargled breath, Echo says, “Tech,” and his body goes still.

Tech reaches out, but he can’t bring himself to touch the dead form of his friend, his brother, his confidant. This isn’t right. We saved him. We saved him!

ECHO

The cell door is easy to hack, almost an insult to security systems, but Echo doesn’t have time to relish the ease with which he scomps in and undoes the lock. The door opens and Echo steps inside. He instantly finds Tech, curled in the corner, arms folded over his face protectively.

Echo taps his comm. “Hunter, I found Tech. Sending our location now. I’ll need help getting him back to the Marauder.”

Echo doesn’t wait for a response, rushing to his youngest brother. He kneels and puts a hand on Tech’s arm. “Tech,” he says, alarmed when his voice causes Tech to flinch and pull away from his touch. “It’s going to be okay. Can you hear me, Tech? Tech?” As gently as he can, he pries Tech’s arms away from his face. “Tech,” he says again when he sees that Tech’s eyes are open, his face frozen in an expression of displacement.

Tech’s eyes gloss over him with a look of stricken uncertainty. “Echo?” he whispers.

“Yeah,” Echo says, pulling off his helmet. “Are you alright? Do you remember what happened?”

Tech doesn’t seem to hear him or comprehend the question. He scrambles to a sitting position, reaching out his hands. Echo resists the urge to recoil in surprise when Tech begins to trace his face with trembling fingers. Then they fall to grip Echo’s cuirass. “You’re really here?” Tech breathes the question on an exhale, his familiar tone tattered with fraught emotion.

“I’m here, brother,” Echo says, resting his flesh hand against the back of Tech’s neck, pulling him forward until their foreheads press together.

“You’re real?” Tech reiterates, the words barely audible.

But Echo hears them. “I’m real. You’re safe.”

Tech’s resolve crumbles then, and he begins to sob, clutching to Echo like Echo will simply melt away if he lets go. “I’m sorry,” Tech cries. “I’m so sorry.”

Echo moves his arms around Tech, embracing him, holding him steady. He hushes him soothingly. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. Hunter should be here soon, and we’ll go back to the Marauder. We’ll get off this karking planet and never come back.”

Tech nods, tears leaking from under his goggles, and Echo holds him tighter. He hopes that Tech can’t feel the thunder of his heart under his armor. He isn’t sure what the drug made Tech see or believe, but what if there is residual damage even after they flush the toxin from his system? PTSD doesn’t sit well with the Kaminoans. While the Batch has done a decent job of hiding Echo’s…what if Tech’s is different?

Don’t think like that. Tech hasn’t even been treated yet, he reminds himself.

“Here,” Echo says, pulling back, but Tech clings to him almost aggressively, refusing to loosen his grip for even a moment. “Let’s sit against the wall. We’ll be more comfortable.”

Tech considers, breaths still hitching in gasps. “Yes,” he agrees after a moment, allowing Echo to shift and sit beside him. Once Echo has settled, Tech burrows under his arm. He feels smaller, somehow, in this state. Like a child. It reminds Echo of Ashoka, back when she would find herself tucked into Rex’s side after a particularly difficult mission.

“How’re you feeling,” Echo asks when he notices that Tech’s breathing has evened out a little.

Tech pushes himself impossibly closer into Echo’s side. Echo can’t imagine it’s comfortable with his cybernetics and armor jammed against Tech’s ribs; however, maybe that is the grounding Tech needs to know that this is real. “I don’t understand,” Tech says in a soft voice, “On Skako Minor...I couldn’t save you. You died. How are you here?”

“But you did save me, vod’ika,” Echo says gently, “I’m okay. I’m here and I’m real. You were captured and given a drug that causes hallucinations and extreme emotional distress. It’s taking your memories and contorting them.”

Tech shudders. “Then how do I know this is real?”

Echo considers for a moment. “Because I know it is, and you can trust me, Tech’ika. Everything is going to be okay.”

END

End Notes:

vod'ika = little sibling

Tech'ika = affectionate nickname for Tech (like saying 'Little Tech')

[divinebruises]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hannibal (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter Characters: Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter Additional Tags: Somnophilia, Consensual Somnophilia, Kinktober 2023, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Oral Sex, Anal Fingering, Love Bites, Biting, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, Top Hannibal Lecter, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Bottom Will Graham, Drugged Will Graham, Drugged Sex, Kinktober Series: Part 11 of Sam's Kinktober 2023

Summary:

Kinktober Day 12 — Somnophilia/Hannigram

The bottle of beer laced with sleeping pills Will had after dinner sits with no coaster on the bedside table, where he put it before passing out on the bed. Usually, Hannibal would throw it away before joining Will, but not tonight. Tonight, he takes his fill of Will’s steady slumber, so unlike his usual nightmare-ridden nights.

[fairy-grotto]

Question to the audience (my 7 mutuals).

Modern AU P (Carlo too), does one write him with or without the prosthetic arm?

And if he does have a prosthetic how do you think he lost his arm? Thoughts?

[bigbrainbiology]

Please, lend him your power

[get-back-homeward]

Guess what arrived this week!

I never buy reissues let alone preorder, but I had a hunch this set would be worth having, and I’m very happy with it. They look lovely together.

There's a nice little essay in each booklet that feels very appropriate for the times. You can read them here and here. If I had anything to complain about I'd say the CD sleeves are pretty risky. They're so tight, you gotta pinch them just right to get the CD out without scratching. I doubt I'm putting them back to their original spots. The spot behind the booklet is wide enough and will work fine as a substitute if you have single protective sleeves for each disc.

But all I really care about is the sound. And man, the sound knocks me out. Giles really outdid himself with these mixes. The only one I'd say I'm truly unhappy with is I Am The Walrus. The 2017 mix was fine to me, and messing with the ending seems silly, but it's easy enough to swap out. Out of 75 tracks, I expect a few to not be my favorite. It's more than worth it for the tracks that have clarified the sound and helped me to hear details I couldn't before.

The big changes are the additional songs, including George's songs and covers, and the 2023 mixes. With the backwards reissues, it's the Red Album that has the most new mixes here. They really surpass my expectations. This is the best I've ever heard their 1963 songs. Disc 1 adds I Saw Her Standing There, Twist and Shout, Roll Over Beethoven, This Boy, You Really Got a Hold On Me, and You Can't Do That. Disc 2 adds If I Needed Someone, Taxman, Got to Get You Into My Life, I'm Only Sleeping, Here There and Everywhere, and Tomorrow Never Knows. I have no qualms with any of them, they all feel like they belong here.

The biggest advantage of these newest mixes is the space between parts. It helps to hear Ringo's drums and percussion better in one part and George's guitar in another, hear Paul's bass here and harmonies there. I don't find any of the mixes too drastic save Walrus but together they really elevate the listening experience.

I found myself flagging John's songs as sounding best, and I think that may be a function of hearing more of the layers underneath along with the clarified vocals. Some of his harmonies with Paul just sound exceptionally good with this new tech. Norwegian Wood is a standout, as is Ticket to Ride. Norwegian Wood seems to push John's vocals further to the front instead of getting masked by the acoustic. The three-part harmonies sound divine on This Boy and Nowhere Man. I've seen criticism about the space changing the magic of the Rubber Soul tracks. If you don't like it, it's easy enough to swap out, but I didn't really have a problem with it.

On the Blue Album, of the five new mixes, Magical Mystery Tour and Hey Bulldog stand out best. It's actually kinda embarrassing how much I was missing from MMT before. I felt halfway through like I was listening to a brand new song. My one quibble is the strange placement of Hey Bulldog. It expected it to follow Lady Madonna on Disc 1 for roughly chronological order but instead it's between Blackbird and Get Back on Disc 2. I guess they were going by order of original release instead of recording date order used in the Anthology. But it was the one place the order threw me for a loop.

Placing Now and Then at the end of this hefty 75 track list is a controversial choice perhaps, but I think it bears the weight of the legacy well. Particularly because it's following The Long & Winding Road, which ends on Paul's plea: Don't leave me waiting here Lead me to your door

Now and Then starts with John's confession: I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you

It feels like a continuation of a conversation. An answer.

Paul's lyrical input is small but powerful, adding "will" and "always" to add certainty to John's cool now and then I miss you. Two lines were incomplete and required that Paul finish them. The completed line packs a punch: I want you to be there for me Always to return to me

This is officially the last Lennon-McCartney lyric, constructed across decades. But it doesn't feel like an ending, only a completed circle. Perhaps because this ending so seamlessly loops back to the beginning again: Love love me do You know I love you I'll always be true So plea-ee-ee-ease Love me do

And I guess if you want to go further: I'll do anything for you Anything you want me to If you'll be true to me

You can find bits across the track list that link as well: Now and then I feel so insecure Know that I just need you like I never done before

I’ll get to you somehow/until I do I’m telling you so you’ll understand

Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friend

Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before I know I’ll often stop and think about them

To lead a better life I need my love to be here

Had you gone you knew in time we’d meet again for I had told you

Knowing that love is to share, each one believing that love never dies

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns and calls me on and on across the universe

It leaves me with an abundance of multiverse AU feels in the vein of Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Maybe there is something out there, some new discovery, that will make us feel like even smaller pieces of shit. Something that explains why you still went looking for me, through all of this noise. And why, no matter what, I still want to be here with you. I will always want to be here with you.

I would just like to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.

We live in the world they chose music and fame, and the songs they leave us with is their legacy and our gift.

The press for these releases has been a mess. But the BBC Eras series on The Beatles ends on two quotes that been stuck in my head all week:

It’s the last song that my dad and Paul and George and Ringo will get to make together. You know, even though it took a long time, it feels very synchronous that the lyric speaks about time and that it’s taken so much time and that it sort of fuses the past and present. It's like a time capsule. And it all feels very meant to be or fated or something. In the nicest sense. —Sean Lennon

When I remember the Beatles, I remember the joy. The talent. The humor. The love. And I think if people remembered us for that, for those things, I’d be very happy. —Paul McCartney

Full circle, indeed.

[25centsoda]

Whumptober 2023 Day 9 - Star Wars

The Organas are forced to hold another party to ensure that they continue to toe the Imperial line. Unfortunately, there's a new guest tonight, one that's far too interested in their twelve-year-old son, Luke. No. 9: “Learning everything ain't what it seems, that's the thing about these days.” Polaroid | Mistaken Identity | “You're a liar.”

Luke stayed at the edges of the party as much as he could, clutching Artoo, who was in ermine form. It wasn’t a proper party, anyway; not one his parents wanted to put on. It was more like an excuse for the Imperials to come in and look under all the couch cushions for signs of Rebel activity. They wouldn’t find any. His papa, Bail, and his mama, Breha, were too good at hiding in plain sight.

“How are you doing, star flower?” Papa managed to disentangle himself from one of Luke’s Imperial cousins and drifted over to where Luke was standing. Papa’s daemon, a snowy owl, nuzzled Artoo’s nose, and Artoo purred. Luke smiled.

“I’m alright. How much longer, Papa?”

Papa sighed. “Not too much longer, I hope. Dinner is soon, and then perhaps I’ll be able to shuffle everyone off by claiming that it’s your bedtime.”

“I’m not that young!” Luke protested.

[emotinalsupportturtle]

watched the ballad of songbirds and snakes and I must say it’s one of the few mainstream things I’ve seen that did not just meet my expectations but may have even exceeded them

on another note is wonka worth watching? What’s everyone’s opinion over here?