#Has been intentionally done by the employees

[kelpiemomma]

Melli in the gear station family au is like that one lovingly overbearing family member who comes to see you at your job and tell you that you're doing a great job, except he needs an excuse to tell Akari & Rei their doing a great job so part of his getting lost is intentional and part of it is genuinely accidental (hc he has an absolutely terrible sense of direction and gets lost in a straight line, Zoro from one piece style) so when they find him and help him he's like "you two are SO GOOD at your jobs, the BEST employees here, honestly" and like half of the ten most recent gear station reviews are from Melli praising Akari and Rei.

Ingo and Emmet ask them if he needs to be banned from the subway and the younger twins are like "no, he's fine. Embarrassing but he means well and it's all good." (They have a hunch that Melli Knows Them which is why the kids are fine with hanging around him and helping him, but also all three of them are so at ease with each other that they had to ask just to Make Sure everything was fine even though they were Pretty Sure there was no issue)

[trunksette]

I don't think I have ever made an "addressing the situation" post in my life.

You people have completely blown this entire situation out of proportion, you are completely ignoring the fact that none of this was done in good faith. KAB is not difficult to get ahold of, her DMs are open, her ask box is open, if someone wanted to "make her aware" they should have brought this to her first.

They did not, instead they posted a few out of context screenshots (containing only 2-4 messages each) to make Rose look as bad as possible.

I ask each and every one of you here to lay everything you have ever said in a group chat bare and see how you stack up.

Better yet, not to lay the entire thing bare, but to have someone intentionally crop and cherry pick what has been said into order to make you look bad.

This is a personal attack, Rose's privacy was violated, everyone in that server's privacy was violated.

Secondly I want to address of the problem of "professionalism" everyone is pretending to care about so much.

Everyone saying how "unprofessional" it is to insult their "boss" I want you to take a second of your time and look at the dates present in these screenshots.

All but one of these comments were made before Rose was hired as an official part of GB Patch's team.

These comments do not come from an "employee" but someone who was simply a black person in a fandom space.

Which brings me to my third point. All of you are upset, crying that this fandom is about diversity and is a "safe space"

Well I have some news for you. Diversity and acceptance is not about everyone dancing in a circle holding hands and singing "Kumbaya" being a true diverse safe space means making room for everyone to be heard, even when the things you are hearing make you uncomfortable.

Here's another thing, people of color, queer people, trans people, do not have to be polite when talking about their feelings when it comes to issues that directly represent and affect them. They do not need to hold your delicate hand as they walk you through the immense trauma they experience through simply existing.

People keep trying to say this is not about race but it is. Whether you knew Rose was black or otherwise these comments are directly linked to the fact that they are a black, trans, queer person existing in a fandom space created by a cis white woman.

You take offense with their rudeness, with their tone, as if you have any idea if this person has any right to the anger they are expressing.

I don't know what kind of "safe space" you all are trying to create here but that server was a safe space where we didn't tone police black people expressing dismay about an overly white community.

[queenshelby]

An Illicit Affair

Part 31: Taking a Turn

Pairing: Cillian Murphy (46) x Reader (23)

Warning: Age-Gap, Taboo Relationship, Infidelity

After he left the hospital, Cillian tried to call Danielle but, as he had expected, she did not pick up the phone.

Following three attempts to reach her, he gave up and made contact with the bank in an attempt to figure out the make and model of the car that she had bought. After a lengthy exchange with an employee, he found out the name of the agency through which Danielle had purchased the car and after ringing them, he got the details he was hoping for. 

His heart sank as the make and model matched those of the car that had been following you and whilst he realized that Danielle was upset and hurt, he had never considered her to be a woman who could kill.

"Do you need any more assistance, sir?" the employee asked.

"No, that will be all. Thank you," Cillian muttered, cutting the call as a barrage of thoughts consumed his mind, conjuring a whirlwind of uncertainties, fears and danger.

He sat there, in his car, the engine humming in the background, and stared blankly out the windshield, contemplating his next move.

He knew he shouldn't jump to conclusions, but the evidence stacked against Danielle was enough to incriminate her.

He took a deep breath, unsure of what to do, conscious of the risk he was about to take.

Cillian pulled out his phone and dialed the first number that came to his mind. It was the phone number of his divorce lawyer, Ari, and whilst Cillian knew that Ari did not handle criminal cases, he was certain that he could provide him with some much-needed guidance.  After all, the situation he found himself in was as far from normal as it could be.

He couldn't believe that the woman he had once loved and admired had stooped so low and he knew that he had to tread carefully now. 

"Cillian," Ari's voice echoed through the speaker as he picked up the phone. "What can I do for you?"

Cillian took a deep breath, bracing himself for the onslaught of questions and concerns that were sure to follow. "Ari, I need your help," he began, his voice low and tense.

"Alright, tell me what's going on," Ari replied calmly, his tone level and measured and Cillian hesitated, unsure of where to begin, knowing that the revelations he was about to make would change everything. 

"It's Danielle," he admitted, his voice heavy with guilt and regret. "I think she has been following Y/N and I have reason to believe that she intentionally hit her before driving off," he continued, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a rush.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Cillian could imagine the surprise and confusion on Ari's face.

"Y/N?" Ari asked, trying to recall your name. "She is the women you have been seeing, correct?" he then asked, still processing the information that Cillian had presented to him.

"Yes, that's her," Cillian confirmed. "She was hit by a car and is in hospital now with significant injuries, man. She could have died," Cillian told his lawyer with a shaky voice who sighed deeply before responding. 

"And you think that Danielle caused the accident, intentionally?" Ari asked, his voice laced with disbelief, though Cillian could hear the skepticism in his tone.

"That is a very serious accusation. Have you spoken to her about it?" he continued.

Cillian sighed, running a hand through his hair, leaving it in disarray, his composure crumbling. "She hasn't been answering any of my calls or messages," he admitted, kicking himself for not having done anything about his ex-wife's obsessive behavior sooner. "The car that hit Y/N is the same make and model she recently purchased  for our son," he added, anxiety tinging his voice.

"I see," Ari replied, his tone now more guarded. "Cillian, I understand that you're upset, but accusing someone of attempted murder is a very serious matter. Do you have any other evidence to support your suspicions?" he asked, seeking clarity.

Cillian sighed, frustration building up in his chest. "Apart from a series of threatening messages towards me, no, I don't. But I have a feeling that this is not a coincidence," Cillian replied, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and fear.

Ari sighed, taking in the information. "Okay, I hear what you're saying, Cillian. But we can't just go to the police with a hunch," he said, trying to reason with his client.

Cillian nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "You're right. I just...need to know that she's not going to hurt Y/N again," Cillian finished, his voice laced with desperation.

"She doesn't have a separate bank account yet and I can probably get copies of the statements for her credit card to see if it has been used in the past few weeks. If she did it, she would have had to be in London," Ari suggested, trying to help Cillian to figure things out. 

"If we can prove that she has been in London then maybe it is enough for the police to question her, but again, Cillian, I must insist that you tread carefully. It would be terrible for everyone involved if this turns out to be a misunderstanding and it would most certainly impact your divorce proceedings against her," Ari warned, concern coloring his voice.

Cillian nodded, understanding the weight of the consequences. "I understand," he told Ari who then told him that he would be calling him back in about an hour or so, after looking through the bank statements.

Cillian agreed and after hanging up, he didn't move an inch. He just sat there, his thoughts and emotions at war, his mind racing with a thousand scenarios, each more terrifying than the one before. 

As the minutes passed, the surroundings began to fade away until there was nothing left but the deafening pounding of his heart. It echoed painfully throughout his entire body, a painful reminder of his fears.

Eventually, he drew a shaky breath and forced himself back to reality.

Cillian cast a glance over his shoulder and out the window. The bustling streets of the city were a welcome distraction from the turmoil that raged within. The sun was beginning to set, brilliant hues of orange and pink painted the sky and cast long shadows over the buildings. He watched as people hurried to and from, pursuing their daily lives until, suddenly, the phone rang again. It was Ari.

"Cillian, I've got some news," his voice was serious, the tone of his voice reason enough to set Cillian's heart racing.

"Danielle has been taking frequent trips to London over the last month but she wasn't there on the day of the accident. She used her card in Dublin that day," Ari informed Cillian, his voice grave.

Cillian's heart sank as he took in the news. He was so sure that Danielle was the culprit and the fact that someone else could have hit you  made him feel slightly relieved and, at the same time, frustrated. He needed answers, and fast.

"There is something else I found though ," Ari continued, snapping Cillian back to attention. "There was a transaction on your account ending 0865 this morning for 189 pounds. It was a charge from CemClean, a car detailing business in Chelsea,"  Ari informed Cillian, the significance of the information not lost on him.

Cillian frowned, puzzled by the revelation. "I didn't go to Chelsea today," he wondered aloud, his thoughts racing as he tried to piece together the puzzle which is when, suddenly, he remembered that he had given his card to Max who wanted to catch a taxi back home from the hospital when he had left. 

Tags:

@sunbeamseas @saint-ackerman @oatmealisweird @naxxsstuff @amanda08319 @r-m-cidnah @elysiannook @cillshot @infireddabdab @tastycakee @harrysbestiee @lilybabe22 @adalynlowell @henrywintersdearestgirl @ietss @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @ryiamarie @axionn

@heidimoreton @nela-cutie @futurecorps3 @delishen @nosebleeds-247 @thirteenis-myluckynumber @gills-lounge @hjmalmed @lost-fantasy @tiredkitten @sidechrisporn @smallsoulunknown @charqing-qing @hopefulinlove @aporiasposts @shycrybaby @me-and-your-husband @hjmalmed @lacontroller1991 @galxydefender @aporiasposts

@galxydefender @hunnibearrr @saint-ackerman @lunyyx @gentlemonsterjennie1 @ihavealotoffandomssorry @nadloves @lost-fantasy @nolucesn@mcavoy-girl @hjmalmed @bloodybagels @obeyme4life @richiesgroupie @blushykiss @tatumrileyslover @teawithsatanx @orijanko @rhaenyra4ever @xcinnamonmalfoyx @budugu @nadloves @kmc1989 @bloodybagels @obeyme4life @richiesgroupie @forgottenpeakywriter @smailaway @sophiaaguirred

[anthroposeen]

tmagp 22 relisten notes

tmagp 22 spoilers below the cut! proceed with caution! this is a longer one!

scene:

this is a continuation of the night of episode 20 and 21, judged by gwen and lena's conversation and sam's confrontation of alice

celia:

- she repeatedly throws hooks at sam to get him more interested in the magnus institute, the opposite of alice's approach to this. rather than encouraging ignorance, celia pushes sam towards curiosity.

- "i might have come across some important names ... jonathan sims and martin blackwood." girl you literally met them! aside from the obvious implications (that celia is from the TMA universe and is referring to the people she met in that dimension) she could also be referring to the tmagp-verse jon and martin. so far, we dont know anything about them, so they coukd have been involved with the institute (though this may be unlikely, considering their ages would be different to that of tma)

sam:

- he noticed that someone edited his caseload, and confronts alice about it

- "youre trying to control me, again" -> interesting because it gives us insight to their past relationship, and why they might have broken up

- "im done trying to placate a jealous ex" sam seems to be interpreting alice's actions as purely made out of controlling and jealousy. from his perspective, she cant get over him, and has been disrupting his work to regain a place in his life.

- sam is a person whos been heavily controlled in his past, we know that his parents shaped his education and career paths and we can infer that his relationship w alice ended poorly bc of her controlling behaviors. it makes sense that hes not willing to sacrifice freedom once he has it

- "im in. all the way.", this is the first time since the series started that sam has thrown himself fully into this investigation. every other time he was confronted with it, he would claim to be moving on or uninterested. but now, hes accepting that hes involved with it.

alice:

- she admits to sam that she edited his caseload, and that she believes the computer is intentionally giving him cases related to the magnus institute

- she says that shes stuck around the OIAR because its easy money if you can ignore the bad qualities, and she enjoys having the seniority. shes been the only steady employee for a long time, and has the most experience, so she has a place of value in this job and she enjoys that trust and authority. she thought that by training sam, she could teach him how to ignore the creepy stuff like her, and she would be less alone

- she also comes off as upset that sam is choosing to continue his investigation with celia, both ignoring alice's advice and choosing celia over her

lena:

- she appears upset that gwen ran away from both ink5oul and [error]. she refers to [error] as "the watching figure", but thats based on gwen's description of the entity. i dont think lena actually knows about the entity (after all, its very new to the scene), she was just using gwen's description as its title for now

- "you didnt get any contact details from them?" this referring to [error], not ink5oul, further showing that lena isn't familiar with them

- gwen's behavior has convinced lena that she cant be trusted to interact with the externals and keep the situation calm. so far, she's been prone to instigating more conflict with them and has now actually harmed a civilian in the process (the man that ink5oul ripped apart).

- she claims that she doesnt want gwen to die, but her death would be simpler to manage than a dead bystander and 2 "uncontrolled" externals. here, she refers to both ink5oul and [error] as externals, despite them not working for the OIAR. this might be the tmagp-verse equivalent of avatars. she also puts emphasis on them being uncontrolled, implying that under the management of the OIAR, externals exhibit different behaviors, or are less likely to be disruptive. (im betting that externals without management are more likely to tip the balance of things)

- she doesnt seem concerned about gwen's blackmail, so either gwen doesnt have that evidence anymore, or lena doesnt think that gwen will go through with her threat

- she removes gwen from her duties as externals liaison, but allows her to still have the title, but also offere her the opportunity to quit. this is the first time quitting is brought up in this episode, still under the guise that it is possible, yet gwen denies the offer.

- references a "ministerial visit", so we'll finally be meeting lena's boss, potentially the man who colin would mention (the man who wants the OIAR to have a functional app, and colin suspects him of also supervising them)

- lena is married! (to me)

gwen:

- "i see what you're doing. you wont get rid of me that easily." she seems dead set on holding on to this position despite hating it and continuously complaining about it. i dont think she cares about the work that they do, shes moreso focused on climbing the ranks to earn respect, and not having respect from the externals or lena is deeply upsetting her

- instead of fighting harder to keep her role, gwen accepts her demotion (though she seems upset about it) and goes so far as to almost be polite to lena, "of course, mrs. kelley" after this interaction it feels like gwen might be intimidated by lena

incident:

narrated by augustus at sam's terminal

- letter from dr. berger detailing the results and descriptions of his recent experiments with the human mind and consciousness

- he was experimenting on a man with a skull deformity, which allowed him to measure pressure, cognition, and electricity shifts within the brain. he was inserting wires directly into the man's skull to take measurements

- after feedback from a fellow dr, he switched to using silver wires in the subject's skull. he measured the electrical output of the subject and received encouraging results.

- dr. berger read on the concept of the hemispherical bridge and the center of self, a collection of fibres near the middle of the grain, which can separate the left and right sphere and create differing consciousness within one body

- he inserted the silver wires directly into the subject's brain, positioned to find the hemispherical bridge.

- the subject was asked questions about himself, such as who he was and what he wants. this disrupted the normal electrical readings, though the subject seemed undisturbed.

- dr. berger experiences a dream where below him is a deep ocean full of "dark secrets", where above him flew radio signals that were "unknowable". he laments that these two things will never meet, emphasizing a separation and balance in their natures

- the dr created a new device to read the electrical signals from the subject's brain, which resulted in the telegraph mechanism clicking. each time he asked a question, the clicking would increase, though his verbal answers didn't change.

- while he was playing with the telegraph waiting for the rest of the equipment to be set up, he started asking the questions again. this time, there was a pause of silence before the clicking began again. the clicking responses increased in intensity

- his wife and assistant, ursula, dropped equipment and looked scared, asking if he could hear 'the sound'

- after this, the subject began to seize and scream in agony as the telegraph increased in intensity. the moment the subject died, the telegraph stopped

- upon reviewing the tapes and records of his experiment, discovering the ominous answers of the subjects split consciousness

- upon asking what the subject wants, it says "help, need, help out, we out" and as this response continues, augustus's narration rises in intensity.

glitches/lies:

- "its probably the horrendous porn you've been downloading." - alice, lying to sam about why his computer must be messed up

- "i can look after myself." -sam

extra comments:

- the biggest takeaway from this episode for me, is that jmj are likely conscious inside of the computer system, and are experiencing this consciousness in a disjointed and painful way. they seem to be speaking to the OIAR employees and audience with the answers to dr. berger's questions, pleading to be helped and let out.

- this statement also goes to support a small theory im working on, that most of the incidents we've heard pertain to balance and separation of self. excepting the incidents that resemble tma statements or provide character information, many of the cases we've heard revolve around forces finding balance or there being a separation of forces at play. i think this will tie in to the grand ritual that the magnus institute attempted, and how the ties to alchemy will be expressed, since finding balance seems to be the center of many operations within the tmagp universe.

- i fear that im biased, since ive kinda disliked celia from the beginning (and i do mean the very beginning, i never liked lynne hammond) but i feel like she's intentionally dragging sam into the investigation without considering if thats beneficial for him. and i dont trust her motives. i dont think this makes her evil or an unsympathetic character- shes been put into a very complicated situation where there likely isnt a simple good solution. but i dont trust her to be involving sam for any 'good' reasons, especially since we know shes hiding information from both him and the audience (im not referring to her being from a differebt universe, i mean that she knows more about the institute and alchemy than shes letting on).

- i think that the ministerial visit that lena references will be the major event in the season finale. it would make sense for there to be an incident during the visit that results in some sort of conflict (im betting that it will involve either colin interfering with the computers, an external that has poor relations with the OIAR (ink5oul, [error]), or gwen's blackmail coming to fruition)

- i also think that we may see/meet tmagp-verse jon and martin before the season ends (assuming they're alive), this would normally feel rushed, but this series has been decently fast paced in terms of revealing leads, so we may be getting a tease for that

[lolotheparagon]

Helluva Boss is Hella Sexist to Both Men and Women - Part 1

Just saw a video about Helluva Boss and whether its sexist or not with portraying its female characters and that got me thinking:

Are Helluva Boss' writers misogynists?

No. No one INTENTIONALLY writes misogynistic material unless you're Bruce Timm or Blizzard but what they're writing DEFINITELY COMES ACROSS AS SEXIST because the writers are so busy juggling every plot thread and character arc at once, they forget to write the main fucking characters apart from Blitzo. ESPECIALLY its female characters like Millie, Loona, Stella and Octavia.

You can use good faith arguments until you're blue in the face, but the truth of the matter is treating ALL of their main female characters as vehicles for the male characters' development with little characterisation beyond that IS misogynistic.

Lets start with Millie.

Millie is the most egregious case since she's one of the main employees at IMP yet we barely see Millie do anything other than be Moxxie's wife or a killing machine. And the fact her only s1 episode "where we see her family " plot getting sidelined for a Moxxie plot is unbelievable. Millie is by far the show's most promising character you can write mountains of stories about. But instead the show makes her a crazy lovable girlboss TM without any goals or aspirations and only exists as Moxxie's support system. Shes fine if shes meant to be a side character but shes in a main ensemble cast and you CANT have one of your main 4 characters be just the cool badass wife who can benchpress a tractor. That's fine for a tumblr art post, not for a character in a professional episodic animated tv show

Loona is supposed to be 21 or something yet she acts like every surly teenager who abuses her adoptive father Blitz, who's done nothing but love and cherish her. Yet she always beats him up whenever Blitz is merely in her vicinity. And so far we havent got an episode or even A SCENE where Loona and Blitz just sit down and unpack everything. That one flashback of Loona being from a hellhound orphanage/pound wouldve been so interesting to explore as a full episode, but it was only set up so Blitz can have a panic attack. So, much like Millie, Loona's character arcs and plotlines get shifted aside for more dumb scenes and Brandon Rogers references. Loona doesn't even change her attitude towards others throughout the series so far and remains as sardonic and bitchy as ever, cos heaven forbid we have our characters develop. Fans wont buy our overpriced merch of our furry waifu otherwise.

Octavia only exists in the story to make Stolas look like the most wholesome dada so the fans will completely forget hes in an unhealthy power-imbalanced relationship with Blitz, a lower class imp, purely for sex but then grows romantically attached to which Blitz adamantly refuses to see it that way. (Stolas also has imps as servants which he treats with apathy or contempt so already sets a bad precedent) but circling back to Octavia, Stolas claims to love his daughter very much but we've never shown that often BUT STOLAS DOESNT EVEN CARE ABOUT OCTAVIA UNLESS SHES IN ACTUAL DANGER COS HE GETS DISTRACTED BY HORNY BLITZY OR IS TOO IMCOMPETENT TO DO ANYTHING PROACTIVE

In Loo Loo Land, he learns to be more considerate of her feelings and comforts her after ignoring her throughout the whole episode. What happens in the next Stolas and Octavia episode? Octavia gets dismissed by Stolas AGAIN, this time by his ex-wife, when she asks about a star event THEY PLANNED TO GO TO, so she runs away to the human world to see it for herself. And yet who consoles her at the observatory scene? FUCKING LOONA OF ALL PEOPLE! WHY CANT STOLAS GO UP THERE, FINALLY FINDING HER AT LAST AND TALK TO HER? YKNOW THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT WHY STOLAS IS IN THE HUMAN REALM TO BEGIN WITH??! HE'S WAITING AROUND IN A SITCOM AUDIENCE WHILE BLITZO DOES HIS FAILING ATTEMPTS AT COMEDY

Octavia's own feelings about her relationship with her dad, how her parents divorce has affected her, her relationship with her mother Stella, ITS ALL SIDELINED for more self-indulgent Stolitz shipping. I feel so sorry for Octavia, she deserves better. She should be adopted by Blitz, he's more an actual father figure than Stolas.

And finally, Stella. Stella is an interesting case cos I have no qualms with having a bitchy abusive wife villain for Stolas to fight back against. Im totally fine with Stolas standing up to Stella and finally divorcing that bitch. But I really wish Stella had more presence throughout the first season, constantly bringing up tension and stress to piss off Stolas, since she likes tormenting him so much. Cos piling all of her insults and cartoonishly over the top bitchiness in one episode (The Circus) was too much and with how that episode woobified Stolas already, it only added to the problem. Nothing inherently wrong character-wise with Stella, shes established as a unrepentant bitch and stays that way. She is ultimately a vehicle for Stolas' character development but shes not a main character so its fine. The story is not about her.

But I find it pretty rich that the show treats being Loona being abusive to her father figure for no good reason like a joke, whereas Stella's abuse of Stolas about to slap him is portrayed as a serious, shocking moment.

So in conclusion, Helluva Boss DOES push several negative stereotypes of women. The one-note girlboss wife who's plotlines always get shafted in support of the male characters (Millie), the teenager who's desperate for paternal love from her father, leaving her bored and neglectful but the father in question does some bare minimum effort and that's suddenly okay in her eyes (Octavia) and the double standard that abuse is funny when a woman is hitting a man (Loona and Blitzo). Except when it isnt (Stella and Stolas)

This show is a fucking mess: part 1

(I will elaborate on the male characters treatment in another post. If I forgot anything or made a mistake, let me know, im always open for feedback!

And yes, I'm aware I omitted Verosika Mayday from this list because she's ultimately harmless as a character and only exists as a rival to Blitz. Also she only appeared in two episodes so I dont have much to say about her.)

[nobodysdaydreams]

What's going on with Daniel Jacobi and the ducks. does he have a duck for a nemesis like me and the turkey. please I need to know

Words cannot express how much this question delights me. I apologize in advance for the ensuing rant.

Let me give you the backstory.

So first off, a little about the man in question, Daniel Jacobi. (Disclaimer, I have not consumed all Wolf359 content so this is just based on what I got so far).

We don’t know much about his background except the following:

He specializes in making bombs, weapons, and in his words “things that hurt/break other things” especially humans. He feels little to no remorse for this

He at one point was in the army but never served and so far it’s been implied something happen there that he doesn’t want to talk about that might have involved blowing up a hospital and disappointing his Air Force father (he has severe daddy issues)

He agrees to work for an evil company that kills people knowing full well that they are an evil company that kills people (even and often their own employees). Not everyone working for the evil company knows that they are working for an evil company that kills people, but Jacobi does (because he does a lot of the killing). Like most who are in the know about this, he believes that the evil company would either A) never kill him or B) that if they did kill him, it would be okay because his work would be used for the greater good (though Jacobi is more option A here. Hilbert, who you may have seen me rant about before, falls more into the B category).

More facts about Jacobi later, but first, a word about the evil company and what he actually does for them. The evil company (Goddard Futuristics) focuses primarily on evil shady space exploration that involves killing all the crews they send up when they’re done using them (and for some reason, no one on earth seems to find this suspicious at all. I mean, they do choose people with criminal histories and/or people who don’t have a lot of friends or family who’d miss them, but still someone should have caught on by now). Goddard Futuristics also does a lot of AI development, where they create AI with fully human consciousnesses, personalities, and pain responses, only to enslave them to serve their evil purposes, even forcing them to torture the human crews they’ve come to consider their friends. The folks who run the company also seem to enjoy torturing the AI and their human employees for fun. For context, the company is run by an evil smooth talking business guy and his behind the scenes evil science girlfriend. Think Curtain and Garrison but if they were more evil, sadist, cruel, and the nature of their relationship was 50x more weird and confusing. They run the company like an evil pyramid scheme, with everyone thinking they’re essential personal who are in the “inner circle” and don’t have to worry about getting killed off (but that the people below them on the pyramid do) OR they understand that they are expendable but are in way too deep to back out now, so they keeping doing what their bosses want so they don’t get killed or because they delude themselves into believing their murderous bosses actually have good intentions that couldn’t be accomplished without all the murder.

Directly below evil business man and his evil science girlfriend in the pyramid of evil are Rachel, evil business man’s mean assistant back on earth who I don’t like, and Jacobi’s boss Kepler, who is somehow even worse. All he does is monologue about Whiskey and act like an ominous supervillain (even though it’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s talking about half the time and his bosses are intentionally keeping him out of the loop).

So by now you’re like: “okay Bods, so why does Jacobi kill people for this evil guy Kepler, who is also on his own level of this evil murder science business pyramid scheme? And what does any of this have to do with your passion for torturing Jacobi with ducks?” So glad you asked. After Kepler sweet talks Jacobi at a bar, he agrees to work for Kepler and the evil company he represents because Kepler entices him with an offer he can’t refuse: a chance to have a job where he gets to make things go boom! for a living. While at the company, Jacobi befriends someone on the same level of the evil pyramid scheme as him: Dr. Maxwell, who was enticed by Kepler into working for Goddard with a similar offer he gave Jacobi: a chance to have her dream job working on AI for a living. To Maxwell’s credit, unlike other characters, she treats the AI as human equals. Unfortunately, Maxwell doesn’t treat a lot of the human characters very well so this doesn’t mean much, and when some of the humans and AI turn on Kepler (for justifiable and obvious reasons), Maxwell and Jacobi don’t hesitate to betray, hurt, and enslave the AI and attempt to kill the humans.

This is where things get interesting. During this uprising, the rebels win and Jacobi and Kepler are taken hostage. Maxwell is killed. Jacobi does not take her death well. Jacobi starts freaking out and slowly puts together a ton of obvious stuff we already knew: Kepler is a bad leader who only looks out for his own self interest, he actually doesn’t know what he’s talking about 90% of the time, he was stupid enough to gamble the life of their AI expert and doesn’t care at all that she’s gone, and Jacobi and Maxwell were expendable the whole time just like everyone else at the evil company.

So he has a whole crisis about that, but I know you’re dying to know: what does any of this have to do with ducks?

Honestly, not that much.

You see, one day, the crew finds out that the evil company knows oddly detailed deeply personal embarrassing and incriminating information about all of them. One of these personal secrets is that Jacobi, Mr. Murder Man, Mr. Explosives, Mr. Bomb Expert, Mr. “I kill for a living and don’t lose a moment of sleep”, is highly afraid of ducks. They never explain why he has such an intense fear of ducks (to the point where he freaks out if people make quacking noises) and it’s never brought up again, at least not so far. So I have no idea if he has a specific duck nemesis like you do with your turkey because the show never addresses or explains it.

So then why do I mock him relentlessly for something mentioned so briefly that has little or no bearing on the plot? Well, I’ll tell you, Milk. You see, despite discovering the evil company is evil and losing faith in his horrible boss for letting his best friend get killed, Jacobi STILL doesn’t decide to join the good guys and even insists that Goddard has “done some good things too” and that there really is no good or bad just “progress” and that people like him are necessary so people like Maxwell can do their jobs. The redemption arc is right there for the taking, the bar is on the floor, but instead he decides to completely overlook the very obvious facts that no, actually, good science can in fact be done without murdering tons of people, and being okay with murder until it’s you and your friends that are getting murdered is hypocritical, and I don’t care how much good the evil science company did for the environment, if a successful environmental activist was found guilty of murder, they would still go to jail. You don’t need to do bad things to do good things, and doing some good things once doesn’t give you a free pass to kill whoever you want. In addition to this highly frustrating failure to see the obvious and conscious choice to bury his head in the sand (though to be fair, he’s not the only character that does this), Jacobi also followed his boss’s orders and murdered my favorite character: Blessie, aka The Blessed Eternal aka Specimen 34, aka The Plant Monster aka Percy the Plant aka a bunch of other names. He was iconic, a legend, likely the biological son of Commander Renee Minkowski (and we love that for him), and now he’s dead. He was born in the darkness of space and built himself a night light because he didn’t have any sunlight. 🥺 All he wanted was to go to earth so he could see the sun and plant himself in the soil, where he could live with the other plants. Now he can’t. 💔 Oh. And also, Blessie at one point took over the mind of a Russian scientist, named himself “The Blessed Eternal” and tried to enslave the entire crew, but that Russian scientist did some evil messed up stuff and also it’s okay that Blessie did that, because he was just scared and it was funny and he apologized for it later in his own way so we forgive him 💕 (also God forbid a mutant plant monster does anything 🙄).

The point is: For his crimes, most notably the execution of Blessie’s murder, his lack of remorse, relentless stupidity, and intentional rejection, suppression, and mockery of any feelings of empathy or compassion, Jacobi must pay. So I have decided that an appropriate punishment is to mock him and his fear of ducks relentlessly whenever the opportunity arises.

I hope this explanation is sufficient, sorry to rant so much about the evil murder science company’s pyramid scheme and backstory, but I hope you enjoyed it!

[thelesbianpoirot]

Hi, I was wondering if you have any advice for intentionally seeking out female friends in a male dominated space? I didn’t used to have male friends but now I’m often in a space where men are overwhelmingly the majority, I’m on decent terms with the men (especially because they seek me out socially so I’ll often get sucked into conversation with them) but sometimes they will make off colour jokes, or they’re just annoying. I realize if I don’t make a conscious effort to befriend the women, I’ll probably never *naturally* become friends with them, just because we have less in common. Problem is, I’m a little intimidated because they’re more accomplished and worried I might come off too strong, or seem like I’m trying too hard cause I’ve previously done that in the past…

Yes, you have to actively try to make female friends, especially if you are an adult and don't have school to forcibly group you together with other women. Whatever you are feeling, many women feel the same way, they are also anxious and intimidated. Someone has to make the first step to ending all your internal yearning for female company. You should want a peer group of women who are accomplished, who you admire. You should try to befriend women who motivate you to step up your game, professionally, academically etc. 1. Simplest way to do this is ask for help, someone helping you resolve a problem often gets you guys talking and may lead to an offer for further assistance. 2. Compliment their actions or something about them you admire. Try not to get too personal and avoid appearances, unless it is hair or clothes or something changeable. "Where do you get that? it looks lovely." "You're always so put together?" "You work so fast. Any advice for how I can speed up my time?" 3. Seek out common interest. "Sorry for bothering you, but I overheard you saying you went on a hiking trip, I was just talking to my sister about getting into hiking do you recommend any common trails. I am kind of scared to go out alone, but I need to try." "is that sticker on your water sticker on your water bottle from that band/tv show/game?"

4. Be cool, accept rejection or them ignoring you if you try any of the steps and they don't work. Respond when they do, don't hound them, ask someone once, check up on them once more after a week or so as passed, then if they won't return your energy, then back off, be polite, but don't have expectations or demands of them. BE COOL! Act like you aren't dying for their text. Go around your day as if normal. It is an energy you are putting out into the world, and waiting for resonance with someone.

5. Outright form a club and organize a get together. This is a pretty big one, but I met my best friend because she had an anime club in college, she would project anime movies and tv shows in the study room, and I showed up and we had the most in common. It has been ten years. She did it because she was lonely and she shoots her shot in a big way. Ask the women one on one if they are interested in a monthly get together for the women in your department, job, field etc. You just think this is good way to form important relationships and look out for younger, newer employees, if you're the new one, say it is to make friends and learn the organization culture. 6. Special Secret Tip: Bring a Basket or Tray of treats, and only offer them to ONLY the women. If you bake do it, if not store bought is fine, keep em in the package so they know it wasn't tampered with, and literally walk up to susan in accounting and ask her if she wants a cookie. If she asks what's the occasion, straight up answer: I don't think I know enough women around here, and I thought this is a good way to start. Hi i'm janet from engineering. Women love treats!

[lemissingmask]

[ID: Sketch of Redemption era Hardison and Eliot with Hardison driving the food truck and Eliot a little way behind him in front of the curtain to the back. Hardison is leaning over towards Eliot but looking to the road. Eliot had his left hand pressed to his left ribs, his thumb digging in on that side and his hair is wet and dishevelled. He has blood coming from his forehead, nose and lip. End ID]

-

Art prompt fill for: Broken Ribs

Ficlet below the cut

-

Their mark was exactly the kind of guy who really angered Eliot.

One of a depressingly high number of business owners who cut corners to save money, risked the health of his employees by not bothering to invest in proper protective equipment or safety measures. And, in doing so, had enough money to ensure that none of this ever came back to bite him.

He hired lawyers to dismantle any legal arguments, he blackmailed employees, he bribed officials. Basically all the things an bad bad guy could do to make sure he didn't suffer the consequences of his negligent actions.

After Eliot went undercover in one of the mark's warehouses and Hardison got access to the internal network, they found that most of the wealth that facilitated all of this came from betting massive amounts of money on cage fights between intentionally poorly matched fighters.

The mark found unsuspecting amateurs and pitted them against members of his own professional security, who would draw the fight out just long enough to make it convincing, earning themself a fraction of the pay out.

It was brutal, but it offered an impossibly perfect way to bankrupt the guy.

Their con had centred around positioning Eliot as an untrained fighter, and getting the mark to put him in a fight. Eliot would win, and the mark would lose a lot of money.

Even more money than usual thanks to some carefully applied legal pressure from Harry.

And, while Eliot was in the fight, Parker would break into the mark’s office and get all the documents needed to use as evidence for his breaches of safety standards, blackmail, and bribery.

Straightforward and the sort of thing they’d done in one variation or another hundreds of times before.

Except this time, someone had discovered that Eliot could fight. The crew didn’t know how, but by the time they’d found out, Eliot had already been deliberately hit by a car and left to die in the freezing downpour that had started earlier that day.

The hit and run had knocked Eliot out for no more than a few seconds, and by the time Hardison got to him in the food truck, he was on his feet, glaring at the approaching familiar vehicle, one arm around his torso.

Broken ribs.

Hardison had come to recognise the particular way Eliot held himself when his ribs were broken.

There was also blood tracking down one side of his face, from a cut on his forehead, which probably looked much worse than it was thanks to the rain. The split lip, bruises and bloody nose were so usual on Eliot that Hardison barely took note of them.

It was the ribs that worried him as the hitter joined him in the truck, growling at him to “Go!” when he didn’t immediately start driving, completely failing to comprehend the fact that the delay was caused by a very reasonable concern for his damn safety.

“You know you don’t hafta do this, man,” Hardison said even as he drove as fast as the truck would go towards the fight venue.

“We changing the plan?” Harry asked over the comms, the buzz of voices in the background. He was already in position at the fight.

“No, we’re not changin’ the plan,” Eliot shot back, grunting in pain as Hardison made a turn that forced the hitter to grab the dash for support.

“Didn’t you just get hit by a car?” Harry sounded concerned, which really was the only normal, reasonable reaction to someone being hit by a car.

Parker scoffed, but in the echo that told of the vent she was in, Hardison heard the concern she was either hiding or had yet to identify, “Eliot gets hit by cars all the time.”

Harry still didn't sound convinced, “Okay…so, you’re still fighting this guy? Because he looks pretty big.”

“Yeah, I’m still fightin’ ‘im.”

Hardison gave Eliot a sideways glance, taking note of the posture, the pain in his features.

Definitely more than one rib broken. Left side.

“Just try not to take any hits to the ribs, yeah?” Hardison returned his attention to the road, taking the penultimate junction in their route to the club, “‘Cus I’m telling you now, E. If you go getting a lung punctured and collapsed, I am not about to stick a tube into your chest. That’s nasty!”

“You watch too much TV,” Eliot muttered, nudging Hardison lightly with his nearest elbow.

That contact, albeit brief, said a hell of a lot more than any of the growled words Eliot had offered so far.

It was a reassurance. A promise that Eliot wasn’t being reckless. That he knew he could still win this fight and he could do it without getting himself killed.

“You don’t watch enough,” Hardison argued as the significance of the gesture sank in, and with it a salve to his anxiety.

“Yeah, well,” Eliot replied with an entirely false irritation, “Maybe if you get us to this fight on time, I’ll watch that damn vampire show you keep talkin’ about.”

Hardison threw him a sideways smile, “Promise?”

“What?”

“Promise to watch if we get there on time?” Hardison purposefully slowed the truck, prompting Eliot to growl and nudge him again.

“Fine! Now go!”

Hardison broke into a grin and sped the truck up again, already plotting how to orchestrate enforced recovery time for Eliot, aided by some very addictive classic television.

-

[bithermal]

"anyways I’m gonna stop before I rant about how there is a fundamental misunderstanding of anarchy"

I for one would love to read your rant about it tho, if you don't mind. :]

Ohhhh man ok bare with me. I am responding to this while there are fire trucks outside because someone set their apartment on fire.

For the sake of ease I’m going to break this up into talking about what anarchy arcs can look like, and what I’d think one would look like on the QSMP specifically or at least how it would actually affect the server. For reference I am a legitimate anarchist so if you’re wondering why this stuff gets under my skin that’s why lol.

Now most anarchy arcs on SMPs usually spawn from someone having a problem with the current leadership, status quo, or societal structure of the server. They want to overthrow or disrupt things because, for whatever reason, they don’t like them. That is technically the textbook definition of anarchism. However, a common mistake is that there is no long term plan. Most creators focus so intently on the overthrowing the government part they don’t stop and think ‘ok what am I going to do after I’ve completed this goal?’ And I can’t exactly blame them. The aftermath isn’t exactly as fun as the overthrowing part, but it usually just results in a new ruling party stepping into the subsequent power vacuum. Let’s take Technoblade on the dsmp for example: as much as I loved his character, he never had a follow up plan once he overthrew governments, and that’s pretty much exactly why he got caught in a neverending struggle of destroying L’manberg only for it to be built back up again. This constant overlooking of a follow up plan often leads to viewers misinterpreting anarchy as just destroying any sort of governing body and leaving the citizens to clean up the mess. Now there are other contributing factors, namely the existence of anarchy servers. They tend to cause most to have a pretty negative reaction when ‘anarchy’ and ‘minecraft’ are in the same sentence lol, but the point im getting at is there is a difference between textbook anarchy and political anarchy and that’s often overlooked by creators and viewers when discussing anarchy arcs.

Now as for what an anarchy arc would look like on the QSMP? Honestly, not that different from what Bad has been attempting. Remember, anarchy is fighting back against a ruling party. Who is the island’s ruling party? The Federation. Now unfortunately Forever is going to get caught up in the mix since he won the presidency and seems to be intent on keeping that title, but you can’t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. Most of the other islanders aren’t exactly actively upholding the Federation’s ideals. They all seem pretty vocal about their dislike of the Federation. Bad isn’t exactly advocating for going after the islanders. In fact he’s done a pretty good job setting up a long term plan by aiding in the island community so much. intentionally or not, he’s helped to mitigate any negative effects that could possibly come from overthrowing the Federation. I think a lot of people hear anarchy arc and automatically equate it to a villain arc, when in reality the only people that Bad might be antagonistic towards are Forever, since he is unfortunately upholding the governing body by remaining president, and possibly Cellbit, Jaiden, and Foolish (as they are Federation employees, but I trust Bad to recognize their situations.)

I hope this made at least a little sense lol I tried not to get too political on a post talking about… Minecraft politics

[bakurapika]

My boss has been awesome but I got in trouble for overlooking something several weeks ago that, real talk, I think is probably heavily due to how I've had some big memory issues lately which I think is related to my lack of med management. But I'm sure as hell not gonna say that for multiple reasons (1 of which being, I think she has similar issues herself and would think it's BS, and 2, if she DID believe me then she'd question my ability to do my job to a point where it'd be worse than believing I was intentionally a little negligent).

And right after that, I was late for a meeting because of 1) those same memory issues, and 2) some tech issues. Where it looked like I was being intentionally negligent again.

And I'd just recently asked if she would still be a good reference for me if I had to get another job becuase of financial issues she was already fully aware of (and she's been the kind of person who I trusted to be supportive with this information despite being a boss), so it's been pretty transparent that she thinks I'm slacking off on purpose.

I thought that all got settled but now she's been interpreting normal situations that would usually be like "oh yeah, we'll clean this up no problem" or even not have any identified issue at all, where it would just require a little paperwork on my end to fix - and seems to just be looking for evidence that I don't take my job seriously. I'm really on edge whenever she talks to me now, because this situation has played out before at the same job with a really bad boss, and things got reeeeally shitty right afterward.

I feel inclined to be like "lol! it's just my anxiety! i'm projecting!" but I genuinely don't think I am, and so far my instincts have been pretty spot on about this kind of thing.

And it fully sucks because she became my boss specifically to get me out of that situation of a sucky boss who interprets everything I do in the worst faith possible.

But anyway, so I've been having breakdowns at work whatever. But everyone gets a day off on the day of the week we normally have a private boss-employee meeting. I was really relieved about that. But literally last minute of today, she rescheduled it to be at the end of the day tomorrow, right before the long weekend, and it's gonna suck and I'm not sure if it's better to dread it all day or to have "gotten it over with" and have a sucky conversation that made the entire day awful again. Not that I have a choice.

So basically I need to go into this conversation and lie like a rug. Because being honest and taking accountability for my actions has gotten me treated with suspicion because she thought I was lying and admitting to anything that's "off" before it becomes a problem for other people (though it may not have been pointed out as an issue I caused - or a problem at all - if I let it lie) has itself become a chance to evaluate what I've done as laziness or doing bad work. Even if the actual thing being discussed took place ages before I was applying for other jobs.

Hence lying like a rug. I just need to be polite and accept any blame she gives me without taking it personally or letting it affect my actions (since yesterday at work, I got next to nothing done because I was crying all day, compared to today, where I decided Fuck It and chilled most of the day and was able to focus on my work like a normal person afterwards, without needing to text anyone for my own safety or anything at all). And basically I need to roleplay someone who's not emotionally invested in my job at all but is distantly professional.

But I'm really shitty at lying in that kind of situation so it'll probably take about 45 seconds to break me, and I'll wind up being like "I WAS SOBBING IN THE OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY BECAUSE OF AN OFFHAND REMARK YOU MADE" which would be taken as utter manipulative, lying horseshit. And it's a half hour meeting and she's definitely gonna confront me about stuff that, real talk? Was at least as much her fault as mine, if they're even situations that you feel like you need to identify anyone being at fault in at all - and again if I even hint at that being the truth, I'm f u c k e d.

God someone please like this post to tell me I'm not alone even if you just skimmed it because I'm struggling. Maybe send me a message about the worksona I need to develop and how I should be able to keep it together for like 2 full minutes.

Like if she hates me at a personal level now, she won't want to talk for long either, right??

[alphacrone]

COLORS!

when i can't sleep i think about colors in netflix shows apparently and this has been haunting me

(ha! a pun)

*BOOK SPOILERS AT END.*

the primary color scheme of this show is blue&green/orange&red. it's done very obviously and veery intentionally.

blue is, clearly, Lucy's Color.

not only is it the only color she wears, she is the only character who wears it, with the exception of about 1/3 of the guests at the fittes ball. we will return to that. we will not return to that because i forgot my theory for why that was. aesthetics, we'll say.

similar to lucy, orange is George's Color. it's more or less the only color he wears, but he not the only person who wears it. joplin wears a good amount of orange and red as well.

Lockwood's color scheme is, for the most part, black and white. He does wear ties in shades of red and blue, but they're dark and muted. (also the gray hoodie of despair.) this could be to paint him as a colorless, "hollow" person, but could also be a reflection of his black and white approach to ghosts: they are not people, they are evil, they should be destroyed and thinking about them beyond that is a waste of time. if the show is renewed, it would be interesting to see if his color scheme changes over time. (possibly hard to do with his very specific outfit of choice)

(ok but sidenote, love that he wears versions of "lucy's color" and "george's color" over his heart ok bye)

(george and lucy do also sometimes wear bits of each other's colors as well and that also makes me happy)

this black and white, law and order, unnuanced approach to ghosts is also reflected in barnes and deprac as a whole:

now Fittes:

Fittes is gray, yes. That is their official color. Perhaps to represent iron and silver. Perhaps to represent the nuance between the black and white of DEPRAC. perhaps because marissa had boring taste. who's to say.

Fittes House also has quite a bit of red/orange in it. The uniforms have stripes of orange along the side.

making orange George's color could be a reference to him as a former Fittes employee. OR it could represent something that he and Fittes have in common.

i find it an interesting choice, given that Rotwell's color is red. you would think they'd want to use blue or purple or green to differentiate themselves. could mean something. could also just be that fittes had a zealous branding team.

are these rotwell agents? maybe! i hope that's a lion on their collars, that would be hilarious.

(tangent: i have a theory that, if the show is renewed, red would be holly's color. HOWEVER, i think she would either start red--as a "seductress" in lucy's mind or to represent rotwell--and fade to pink to show her true self, OR she would start a demure, feminine pink and dress in more reds as she lets herself be brave and a little unhinged. i'd take it either way. i love my daughter holly)

related: jacobs was red and yellow. perhaps a rudimentary version of fittes orange? a knock-off of the rotwell red? the costume department having a good time at the expense of these children? hard to say.

ghosts themselves come in shades of white, black, blue, green, and red. so far this hasn't proven to mean anything...unless??

yeah i don't know. i have ideas but i don't think they're sane or rational.

why did i include ghost pictures. their colors don't have meaning to me. i couldn't find a pattern. i am so tired.

but anna, you might be saying. who cares? it doesn't actually mean anything. they're just colors assigned to characters and lucy, as the main character, gets to be special and monopolize blue. it's just a stylistic choice.

that's what i assumed. but then i saw THIS bad boy:

i might be grasping at straws. that center light might actually be white. maybe it's a Portal reference.

(tbh, it might actually be a Portal reference)

but knowing what i know about Fittes from the books...it gave me pause.

so what is it that these colors actually represent? it's not as simple as humans vs. ghosts, because the ghosts aren't all blue.

let's look closer at the dichotomy of george and lucy. in a way, they're two sides of the same coin when it comes to Visitors. where lockwood has no interest in ghosts other than eliminating them, george and lucy both want to know everything about them. lucy wants to know them as sentient beings, as people to help; george wants to know the what and why and how of it all, wants to end the problem, or at least understand it. they're the head and the heart of the agency. which leaves lockwood to be the hands. (insert sex joke here)

so, orange/red--george, joplin, fittes. even rotwell, though we don't see them. these are entities who are, for better or worse, trying to understand the problem, trying to get to the other side.

the opposite color, blue? it is the other side:

lucy is our liaison to the world of ghosts. she can hear them across the veil. the only one in blue. the only one with this connection. (other than marissa)

SO. A BLUE CIRCLE IN A RED/ORANGE CIRCLE. WHAT COULD IT MEAN.

WHAT COULD FITTES POSSIBLY BE UP TO.

in conclusion, i'm tired as fuck, i think i just ranted about a basic color scheme for too long, and i think there was no reason to try and figure this out.

this might have just been a reason to ramble about how these two complement each other and they're best friends and i love them.

in conclusion: colors!

[none-shall-caricature-me]

Goody - two - shoes discourse has reached the VTSOM fandom. Ugh.

Just finished Vincent : The Secret of Myers, SPOILERS and opinions on its fan discourse below -  ISTG if another person says ‘Vincent should've seen that bad end coming because he was going TOO much down a dark, vengeful, murderous path and EMOTIONALLY - DRIVEN REVENGE BAD 11!!!’ I’ll go berserk. Bruh, ALL THE CHARACTERS in this game are morally grey (less so for Draco, it seems). Vincent is brutally murdering the core members, and people’s issue with that is that he’s apparently also killing those sidepiece employees who were very selfish but not fully evil, just like he used to be. Now, regardless of whether or not he’s killing the less shady workers too (I personally think it’s not clarified so far, though sparing other pawns like him would make his revenge ethically sound), get out of your asses for once and see how convincing ‘BUT I WOULD NEVER SINK SO LOW IF I WERE HIM, I’D STEW IN MISERY OVER MY TORTURE LIKE A GOOD VICTIM INSTEAD OF GOING ON A BLOODY RAMPAGE TO TAKE BACK SOME SEMBLANCE OF CONTROL OVER MY SHITTY LIFE’ sounds.

 Dude, first of all, once you’re self - centred and socially desperate enough join a cutthroat MNC as their top dirty - dealing lawyer -- and then get fucked over horribly despite reluctantly licking the company’s boots -- you’re also self - centered enough to seek vengeance at all costs. And barring the whole corrupt lawyer thing, being self - centered isn’t necessarily bad. An ordinary person wouldn’t have the means to take on Myer Corp. and that’s why most ‘normal’ folks would just give up on revenge, willingly (if they’re of the insane ‘I will suffer in silence and simply expect to get over the horrible destruction of my self like a good girl’ variety) or unwillingly. But Vincent has the genius, the insider info and the wealth to fuck over Myer Corp.’s experimenters - SO WHY WOULDN’T HE ? 

Yes, his ostensible targeting of a probably memory - wiped Vanora is not at all a good move - in fact it was mostly quite dumb and could’ve been averted since altering memories can definitely change a person’s goals, loyalties, personality and philosophy (Vanora at the game’s start, before Vincent intentionally reminded her of her past, was harmless). But Myer Corp sent her to kill him, and maybe he was paranoid that she could be a sleeper agent, BUT most importantly his terrible experiences have understandably fucked him up psychologically and he’s NOT thinking straight at all. Therefore Vanora and those he killed may be brainwashed company pawns just like him, following callous orders for self - preservation or profit, but it’s hardly easy to empathise with that when you’re stewing in your own hell. That’s something smoothly said but rarely done, and very few of you morality hecklers would be saintly enough to pull it off if you were in his place. 

Do you seriously think that ANYBODY is such a dumb baby lamb that they’ll simply get over their life being ruined, having to eat humans to live, suffering long agony; perk up, fix a smile on their face, and try to live out the rest of their life like they’re fucking Jesus Christ a - okay with being crucified ? No, and whether they were a bad enough person to be called hypocritical for their obsession (like Vincent probably is) DOESN’T MATTER. Because the alternative is fucking unrealistic and oppressive (like Madoka Magica’s bird - brained ‘happier ending’ where the puella magi swallow their pain and straight up have to die so that their pain won’t make them lash out in the only way they can). 

Point is, Vincent’s mad fixation on gorily wiping out Myers IS, as far as we know, NOT good, yes. But given his realistically morally grey personality, his trauma and his circumstances, it makes sense. Similarly, his attempt to kill Vanora after HIMSELF ensuring she’d remember her past and calling her loyal to Myers at heart was SUPER DUMB and horrible - but it makes sense given the above. The world is full of Vincent Edgeworth, Self - Preserving Ex - Corrupt Lawyers. Unconditionally loving, naive, selfless Dracos are rare. 

And tbh, I personally find a fucked - up Vincent very interesting, realistic and poignant. I don’t care that he’s problematic because he’s super well - written.

[human-adjacent]

episode 101 - another twist

- fair warning this is my favorite episode and also my least favorite episode and i am not okay. this post is mostly for myself

- intentionally listened to this on april fools day so i could pretend that michaels death was just a silly little prank

- i love all of nikolas lines she’s so cute. her little “hellooooo!!” to elias in the beginning, the way she keeps going “can i call u elias?” and says that she’s his good friend, her constantly insulting jon and saying that he’s rude and that he has bad skin, “ah, it’s downright uncanny!” “out with the old, in with… well, in with the you!” she’s such a good character

- MICHAEL☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️ i love him sm and all of his lines are also so good. even tho the main reason i liked him initially was because of his voice he’s also just so fascinating and his, as jon would call it, “identity issues” are so interesting. i love how even after all this time and all that the distortion has done there still is some humanity left inside of it, some semblance of the original michael shelley still fighting to exist. i know he’s here to literally murder jon but the fact that michael willingly gave jon a statement despite it going against his nature and entire existence really just shows that he is not a complete monster. the distortion desires to kill but as a past institute employee michael understands jon’s desire for knowledge, and even though he wants to take his revenge on the archives, i also think he has some empathy for jon. michael was killed because of his own ignorance and naivety, and i think he can see himself in jon, who’s also suffering because of his own ignorance, being pushed around and manipulated by his boss just like michael was. the distortion wants to kill, but no matter how angry or upset he is, michael shelley does not, and unfortunately for jon the distortion is just the more powerful force in this conflict

- i have nooo idea what i just typed sorry i didn’t mean to ramble but michael makes me very insane. dont u dare reblog and try to disagree with me bc that was not a coherent thought to provoke discussion that was just me grieving

- en e way here’s a list of quotes from this episode that i just really enjoy (woah i just figured out how to make a bulleted list that’s crazy)

“The Eye watches, and the Stranger conceals, but me… I lie, Archivist.”

“I am the throat of delusion incarnate.”

“Being Michael stole the only purpose I have ever known.”

“The cramped casket sings loud, but not loud enough to drown out screaming.” (the cramped casket is a beautiful way to describe a coffin)

“How do you define the start of your being when in some ways you have always been?”

“the Magnus Institute – that ivory tower, keeping its prisoners ignorant in pursuit of… knowledge. [Giggles] A dungeon full of idiot watchers.” (giggles🤭)

“Am I evil, Archivist? Is a thing evil when it simply obeys its own nature?”

“The mind does not shatter, Archivist. It is soft and malleable. It bends and twists and returns to what it was, though what you see and feel may leave their mark upon it.”

“I cannot tell you the existential joys of truly… becoming. Of an entireness finally crossing the threshold into your self.”

“Even sharper than the joy of becoming is the agony of being opened and remade. To have your who torn bloody from your what, and another crudely lashed into its place.”

“My very existence tied to my pointlessness. Wearing my failure as the very fabric of my being.”

“He got… distracted. Let feelings that shouldn’t have been his overwhelm me.” ☹️

- ok i held a grudge against helen last time for killing michael but i will admit i think she’s cool😔 also i would’ve loved to see michael distortion in the early days of his uh transformation because i would assume he also felt lost and confused like helen did and i’m curious what he would’ve done

- don’t talk to me for at least 3-5 business days i need to mentally recover

[skylarmoon71]

Matt Murdock (Daredevil) - Chapter 17

You’ve gotten the hang of working at the firm.

The only issue you really have is with one of the senior reporters who’s obviously never learned how to talk to people. You thought it was just you, but Karen confirmed that the guy is a dick, so you feel much better.

You’re getting close to a few of the other employees, like Ben. He’s really nice and his wife has taken a liking to you. She came by to drop his lunch and spent the better part of that time gushing about how cute you were. Safe to say you’d been blushing the rest of the day.

The atmosphere is nice. You’ve worked in a lot of places, but this feels like a small family.

“My wife made some of those brownies, here.”

Ben handed you the tupperware and you smiled, taking it happily.

“Thank you Mr. Urich!”

You were basically skipping when it was time to leave with Karen. She was curious behind your smile, but the second she saw the bowl she didn’t even have to ask. She laughed, linking her arms with you as you both left.

It felt nice, being away from it. You knew it was impossible to just forget about him. You were trying to be strong, but you missed him.

Matt and Daredevil.

You weren’t sure why you were still separating them in your mind. It’s the same person, but it feels so different. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to grasp.

Sitting on the short staircase, you let out another sigh, watching the cars drive by. The door opening behind is what catches your attention. You glance over, smiling when Karen takes a seat.

“Are you ready to talk about it?”

She’s given you a lot of space, and you’re grateful, but you know she’s just worried. You can’t exactly tell her that your boyfriend is a vigilante that’s been running around New York. So maybe, maybe you just need to put a bit of truth in your words.

“Karen, what would you do if Frank kept a big secret from you? W-Would you be able to forgive him?”

She paused.

“It depends on the secret. For example if he told me he had a whole other family and I was a sidechick, you know I’d lose my shit.”

You smiled. That would be understandable. If it were that easy, maybe it would have been easier to just let him go.

Karen notices that you still appear distant, so she takes another approach.

“Has he ever done anything to hurt you? Physically, emotionally?”

You shake your head immediately.

Matt has always been there for you and Daredevil..he’d literally saved your life. In your heart you know that, but your mind won’t give you that peace. Because everytime you try, you just recall all the times he met with you and listened to you rant about your troubles that were usually about your feelings for him. It felt like he’d mocked you, and then exploited your trust pretending to be two different people.

“So aside from this secret, he’s never intentionally caused you pain.”

“Yeah..”

She nods.

“A year ago, Frank was shot in the head.”

Her statement makes your eyes widen.

“At the time I was in Alaska doing a piece. I’d left a week prior and I told him that for the two weeks that I was there the connection in certain areas would be a bit spotty. For a few days we didn’t have contact. I came back and everything seemed fine. It was all smooth sailing until I saw the bill from the hospital. I thought maybe it was a mistake, but then I read the injuries and I knew I had to confront him.”

You can’t imagine that. Knowing someone you care about has gone through that.

“The surgery was done in a day and in a span of a week he was released. Doctors couldn’t explain it. Everyone just thought it was some great miracle. This completely terrifying thing had happened to him and I had no idea. When I found out, Frank and I got into a fight. He kept saying that it wasn’t a big deal. He survived and he saw no need to worry me when the doctors confirmed that he had a clean bill of health, but I was pissed. I couldn’t understand why he would hide something like that from me. For two weeks, we barely spoke to each other.”

You can fully understand her point of view.

“I was angry with him. I kept trying to figure out why. Most people would have smiled and just thanked God for the miracle. But every time I looked at him I just got pissed and I realized I wasn’t really mad at him for not saying anything. I was terrified at the idea that in such a short space of time, I could have lost the man I loved. I was angry at myself for not being there even though I knew it was irrational. He was wrong to hide it, but I knew why he did it. He was just trying to protect me, even if he knew I would hate him for it. He just didn’t want to see me scared, sad or in pain. He didn’t do it out of spite, but love.”

You straightened and Karen took your hands in hers.

“I have no idea what your situation is, but from what you’ve said, Matt is someone who would do just about anything for you. This secret, you need to figure out whether it was out of love or not. When you have that answer, then you’ll know if you can forgive it.”

[psychic-refugee]

OK, so I don’t give money to garbage articles, I’m mostly pulling from what I can remember seeing people post about it. Some things to look out for when trying to disseminate information over the internet. 

First off, be very weary of “anon” sources for gossip. PHW isn’t Richard Nixon, and this isn’t Watergate. There’s no need for anyone to be anonymous if they’re stating facts or speculating/giving an opinion. Tim Burton isn’t Kevin Feige, who employs cloak and dagger tactics for an 8-episode tv series only on one streaming network and will never be syndicated.  

NDA’s might be part of employment contracts, but they’d be hard to enforce, especially if part of the alleged information had already been leaked by a third party. If this person did have “insider” information worth anything, then their paycheque and job benefits are worth more than anything some rando clickbait gossip site could give them. Even minimum wage jobs aren’t worth risking in order to gossip about a C+ and rising star.

Secondly, beware of incredibly vague descriptions such as “Netflix Insider.” According to google, Netflix employs 12,800 people. I don’t know if this counts people they contract out to, such as people who do closed captioning or ratings wrangling, but this could range from the CEO to sanitation staff, to make up artists and PAs on sets of their movies/series.  

Or could it be an independent contractor that works for Netflix, so not technically a Netflix employee.

Or it could be some guy who has a Netflix account.

We don’t know what job this person has or from whom they heard this gossip from. Hell, it could be some rando who wandered “inside” of Netflix HQ. WHO KNOWS?!

If there is no legally regulated definition of something, then anyone can slap that label on anything and be done.

They keep it intentionally vague to bypass anyone claiming they actually said anything.

If some dumbass uses the article as a reference in a defamation suit or say to harass someone on Twitter, then the writers can say “well, we technically didn’t say that or mean it in such a way, so don’t get us involved or blame us in any way.”

Thirdly, if there is CYA (Cover Your Ass) language, just assume they’re pulling everything out of their ass. If the “insider” wasn’t vague enough, then they simply tell you “this hasn’t been confirmed by…” and they generally put this at the end, where they assume after you read the juicy stuff, you’ve stopped reading. Or they’re counting on you not caring because you just want something that confirms your bias.

Either way, they muddied the waters of whether or not they are for sure standing behind anything they wrote. They’re basically saying “We’re claiming this sensationalist drivel…but don’t quote us on it.”

Remember, any asshole can create a website and sell ad space to create a gossip site. Literally. Just because it's online, doesn’t make it actual news.

Like with the accusers, these rag sites are normally not worth going after even if they post the biggest lies because 1) they don’t make any actual money to cover attorney fees much less punitive damages. 2) No serious or reasonable person takes them seriously, only gullible dumbasses.

So @heyharoldsboo is correct. Do not click on these pages, don’t give them money, or encourage them to write more with your internet traffic.

[voidingintotheshout]

How AI tells Israel who to bomb

OK, there is a lot here so this video has a huge amount of really intense stuff that is all fact checked. I didn’t know this, but the Israeli military is using AI and AI – driven algorithms to identify targets in Gaza for their bombing campaigns. It is much more dystopian than I was expecting.

First, I have always heard this, but since Hamas is the government of Gaza, anyone who works with the government is considered a high level or lower level terrorist. That would essentially be like in America, if you had ever worked in any kind of government job or government contract job, you would be considered a terrorist, possibly. So like if you worked at the DMV, or you worked for the census, you would be labeled as a high-level or low level terrorist.

Second, they target Hamas tunnels, Hamas residences, and likely Hamas hideouts with weapons and plans and things like that. They also will target things called “power targets“. That’s the one that makes me most sad and angry. That basically means anywhere that people congregate. They are intentionally blowing up apartment complexes and schools and mosques simply to put pressure on Hamas to give up. Like, they know there are no terrorists or suspects there, they are just blowing up civilians, but Israel is doing that as a tactical idea to get Hamas to fold.

Finally, the amount of acceptable losses to kill one high-level Hamas operative can be as high as 300 civilians per high-level operative. So that’s like they are OK killing the equivalent of your entire high school graduating class to get one high-level operative. And, just so you can put it into perspective, I don’t think I was unusual that I definitely went to school with at least one person who ended up going into extremism later in life. I have definitely worked in offices with at least that one creepy employee that was definitely an extremist. In this war that would mean my entire office building might get bombed because of that one person. Also, for low-level targets such as clerks or doctors or hospital administrators that would be working in government hospitals, the acceptable losses are 20 civilians for every target. Since Israel uses AI, they’ve already tracked that person and know their work and their home and for low level targets they are more likely to use “dumb bombs“ that are not guided so they are much more likely to miss and hit a neighbors house or a neighboring building that has nothing to do with it. This causes a lot of innocent deaths, but it also means they need to send another bomb and try again.

This is not even mentioning the fact that they are using surveillance of Palestinians as a way to figure out where the best targets are for their weapons.

Finally, if you didn’t happen to know, they have already admitted that for low level targets, they will use unguided weapons so they don’t even know if they are hitting what they are supposed to. Like the fact that they are attacking an area that can sometimes have a population density of New York with unguided missiles and if they don’t hit the target, they have blown up a house or another building killing other people, but they will need to send another rocket to try to hit the original target. Keeping in mind, that target may not even have any actual terrorists in it. Keeping in mind, the terrorist can be just anyone who has done any work in conjunction with the Hamas government over the last five years.

Now Israel has denied that they use AI exclusively to target people for bombings, and that all the targets are verified by humans. However, it was eventually leaked that what that means is that AI does all the targeting and a human just needs to verify that the target is male. That’s it. They’re disputing using AI to target bombings in this way only on the technicality that a human verifies the target is a man.

I don’t mean to seem like some idiot who hasn’t been paying attention, but this is so much worse than I thought it was. I wouldn’t be surprised if America is supporting this because this represents the future of warfare that America wants to have tested so they can use against other countries in the future. It makes me wonder if the American police force already has this technology to use against protesters domestically.