#Here is a Message From the Time-Traveling Future Fish

[thatsbelievable]

[hezuart]

LN Channel Change AU Sequel: “Seven” {1} {2} {3} {here/final}

And they lived happily ever after. Or did they? We've established our main characters Mono (TV/space-time) and Six (Soul Sucking) have strange supernatural powers. I wanted Seven to have one too. (Hydrokinesis aka water bending)

Notes for how I came up with Seven's powers and the deeper meaning behind his interaction with Mono:

1. Each child has nightmare prophecies (something to do with Mono's time loop?)  at the beginning of their stories. Six's is the Lady, Mono's is the door that leads to the Thin Man, and Seven's is being pulled underwater. Six and Mono's nightmare visions are fulfilled at the end of their stories; revealing that the thing they dreamed about, they essentially become or usurp.  Seven's differs. His dream resolves in act 1 and he kills the Granny, the creature assumed to be the one pulling him underwater in his nightmare. But what if Seven's dream prophecy was still valid... even post-Granny? Being dragged underwater... for a different fate?

2. Seven is the only main cast character shown with the ability to swim. 3. "Seven Seas" anyone? Water is a symbol of purification & life, hence, Seven gains his new powers after he survived and Mono broke the timeline loop to start fresh. "Washing it away" so to say. 4. Water is a liquid; passive in nature, but powerful in circumstance. Seven is kind and sneaky but kills the Granny when continuously attacked and threatened by her. He does the same to the Octopus monster.

5. Water molecules have adhesion and cohesion, meaning water likes to stick to itself, and stick to other things. Seven has an attachment to Nomes. He is always drawn to other people and other creatures, wanting to help them. His belief is that survival chances are higher amidst a group. Water is also known for containing life, no matter how strange or deep, such as ocean fish that often travel in schools/packs often to confuse or fight off predators, thus, another reference to Seven's new life, and his teamwork with Nomes and Mono.

6. Seven is often in fandom depicted by a circle. A water droplet. 7. Seven collects flotsam; typically boat debris, but in this case, bottled messages that come from the sea. Yet another connection to water.

All this indicates heavy implication and well-fitting power to bestow hydrokinesis onto Seven. I was inspired by the INSIDE game's drowning chapter and Stanley and Stanford's secret boat hide-out on the beach from Gravity Falls. Which is why I have selected Mono, Seven, and all their future friends to a lovely and sunny (future) beach house, far away from everything they've suffered. And living near the largest body of water on the planet with a kid with hydrokinesis? ...Certainly has its perks!

But Seven gaining powers is important to not only their survival but also him. He was still nervous about Mono. He knew Mono was very powerful and mysterious. In more ways than one. Mono is stronger than him and can also use telekinesis on objects on the beach. He's a better food hunter and seems more like a leader. Seven also likes to lead, but he felt outshined by Mono. (I don't portray that well in my comic) Seven is weaker and defenseless. His only shining quality in comparison is his ability to swim, but even that can only get him so far. He risks his life for his Nome friends and loses his life doing so. Or so he thought. By a miracle, his powers over water awaken. He drains the monster of its water, beaching it. He walks to Mono in a new light. It's a new him. He holds up his hands as if to say "See? I'm like you now." He's leveled the playing field. (It also helps that he now has jurisdiction over power Mono cannot interact with) Now they are truly equal. Two kings; one of land, one of sea, both ruling the island in equal standing. Seven will never again feel like a burden left behind. (Seven's powers activating also has something to do with the fact he bit the Octopus creature to save the Nome. Mono and Six both consume their powerful prophesized enemies to gain some of their power, if they didn't already have some before. Seven biting into the Octopus's flesh and unknowingly consuming some of it may have jumpstarted his power deep within him, on top of him encountering Mono; supernatural kid extraordinaire that brought him through a tower wormhole to escape the city)

~~~

A threequel is planned, and maybe the last addition to this series, but the next one is not fully fleshed out yet so it may be another year until I can really touch upon it yet. Otherwise, hope you guys enjoyed!

[celestialtarot11]

Your future lifestyle 🥥🤍

Hey friends! I know my posts have been very slow recently, due to being so busy in the summer. Here is a new post 🍹🌃 dedicated to those who want to know their future lifestyle plans! Enjoy! Please feel free to like, reblog and comment ☀️

Pile 1: Hi there pile 1! Welcome to your reading 🌴���� I see for you all, a slower paced lifestyle is in your future. You will be taking your time rebuilding and restructuring your goals moving forward. Especially with how you save and spend money! Its very possible in the future you’ll have turned a hobby into a successful business that slowly draws money in. I see you’re hustling on the down low, more so private! I think this is amazing because you make your money in peace. And i think some of you actually want that, its better that way! Maybe you are surrounded by a lot of nose people, so this is a better lifestyle for you. I also see you guys will be focused on moving forward slowly, and surely. Not wanting to rush yourself, especially if you experienced a loss. I get lonely wolf vibes from this pile but its not bad! You guys are getting more comfortable being alone and you guys appreciate it. Love to see it 😻❤️ I also feel anyone who does not support you at this time, you will leave behind for the better! Thank you all so much for being here! Please support this blog 🤍

Pile 2: Hi there pile 2! Welcome! 🌃 I see for you all traveling may be in your future plans! Drinking as well—if some of you love that! I heard wine tasting or rum tasting—so maybe this is a bougie place you are going. Or maybe this is a regular place you’ll be visiting. I also heard mixology! So some of you may get deeper in a mixology hobby. If not, I see you guys having a lot of fun and appropriate life more light hearted and funny! In your future I feel there will be lots of surprises from your friends or even people who admire you! Like “hey lets hang out” or “i liked your outfit!” And its how you guys start talking. Im drawn to say that you guys may change your wardrobe in the future to accommodate a beachy style? Doesnt have to be! It could mean wearing more whites than usual, but its fancy! I hear you guys have a way of making clothes fit well, no matter the style! I see lots of invitations, laughter, friend groups forming, and a style change! Something that makes you feel like you! You feel like you can breathe in your body again which is beautiful. This lifestyle makes you feel lighter ☀️🍹 Thank you pile 2’s! I hope this resonated. Please feel free to like, comment and reblog.

Pile 3: Welcome pile 3’s! ❤️🤍 I see for you all going to a retreat or finding more mental peace is your priority! But also I heard “going where I belong,” So you guys will be taking your energy away from people or places that dont help you, and will move! Im hearing timeline shifting as well, so I wonder if you guys are really manifesting this new timeline of peace and sanctuary. I feel like you guys are health focused & it will improve moving forward! Your goals, fitness, gut health, all! I see someone doing pilates, journaling, meditating. So someone is really looking after themselves which is amazing. I also feel like I am over hearing as I share this message, so I feel there is an important message to keep going! Dont give up on your plans, especially if you’re health focused! And clarity regarding a situation will come in to change your path for the better. If there was someone or something not helping you see the truth, it will be removed and you will know what to do for yourself 🤍😻 I see lots of time being spent in nature, or by a beach, lake, even fishing. Thank you all pile 3’s! I hope this resonated and feel free to support the blog 🌴🥥

Thank yall for being here always ☀️ your love and support is appreciated!

Paid Readings 🥥☀️

[khajiit-reads]

I'd like a g-reading, please! my name's luke, pronouns he/they, masc referring! Thank you very much!

Well met, internet traveler!

Your wish number is 31. That means it likely won't come true.

Repeating for the sake of clarity in case you return to this spread at a later date and no longer remember in the future: The inner circle represents your destiny, and the outer circle the forces affecting you and it.

Let's start with the inner ring. ⛤ Key beside Birds and above Rider. Key is relatively neutral here, with a positive card below supporting it, and a negative card on equal footing to it. There will be some success, but supported by something which has yet to pass, going against something that already has begun or passed. ⛤ Birds beside Key and Stork. Birds brings a lot of misfortune into this, whereas Stork can signify leaving that behind, and the neutral Key with Rider below it can indicate success in doing so. ⛤ Stork beside Birds and above Moon. Moon is near and thus a positive omen, and Stork still indicates leaving something behind, which could, again, be talking about the misfortune of Birds. ⛤ Rider below Key and above Star. Rider is supported by the roots of Star below it, and has the success of Key above it. Rider in this context likely represents a message of support and success coming your way, even if not a message in the traditional sense (ex. if you do magic, the signs that a spell worked, that kinda thing. best way I can think to explain my point). Rider also faces the Querent head-on, with the Querent facing back, so this can indicate that the message will come soon. ⛤ Moon below Stork and above Eye. Eye is far, so it signifies suspicion of you. Moon remains a good omen, but the negative aspect might come into play thanks to the negative nature of Eye, so a secret might come out. ⛤ Star below Rider and beside Bear. Bear is best described by "you guessed right". Star is distant so it represents unluckiness, so it could be saying that while you're right and will see that come to light, you're unhappy to be right. ⛤ Bear beside Star and Eye. Bear faces Eye, which can also mean the same meaning as the last one I read here - You're right, you're seeing proof of it, but you're unhappy about it. ⛤ Eye below Moon and beside Bear. Eye is dampened by Moon's light shining above it, so while you're still right, you might not be 100% right about what's going on. There might be aspects you haven't noticed or the sort.

Now, let's move onto the outer ring. ⛤ Broken Glass above Roads and beside Scythe. Coffin is far enough away from Scythe, we don't have to worry about that too much. Broken Glass however, foretells ill luck and bad things happening, and Roads with Clouds' dark side on the other side of the reading indicating misadventures and difficulties thanks to that bad luck and bad things happening. These things are likely following you around and upsetting you moving forward. ⛤ Scythe beside Broken Glass and Fish. Scythe warns for disappointment. Fish is distant, so it foretells failure. Alongside Broken Glass, you might be finding yourself plagued by things going wrong, which creates perpetual disappointment in yourself. ⛤ Fish beside Scythe and above Sun. Sun attempts to create happiness underneath Fish, creating happiness where it can. Fish is still a negative card, though, just dampened. Happiness is trying to peek its way out in your life. ⛤ Roads below Broken Glass and above Tower. Roads still have the dark side of Clouds facing them, so they indicate misadventures. Tower is similar, but indicates illness (physical or not). Broken Glass reigns above it all, essentially spraying negativity on top of everything. There's a lot of negativity affecting you at this time. ⛤ Sun below Scythe and above Clouds. Much like how Sun attempted to create happiness under Fish, Cloud attempts to create negativity under Sun. Sun is sadly sandwiched between two very negative cards, and it's another poor show for the happiness state in your life. ⛤ Tower below Roads and beside Coffin. Tower indicates illness (physical or not), with Roads perhaps saying it came from a "misadventure" or something you did a while back. Coffin also foretells illness and loss of something, specifically property though I read a bit more loosely, so overall this could be saying that something you've been through has been affecting you in an illness-like way, perhaps something that led to loss of property or home. ⛤ Coffin beside Tower and Clouds. Clouds dark side faces Coffin, which indicates the ending of a relationship or domestic situation. Have you left home in some form or another? Is that why you're stuck in the illness situation you are? ⛤ Clouds below Sun and beside Coffin. Sun tries again to create positivity for Clouds, which could indicate that you're still trying to be positive and figure things out despite it all.

The Querent faces the left, so things on the left may be within your focus. I note specifically that the only positivity is behind you, which could indicate great gloom in your emotional situation. As well, the very negative cards are to the left, perhaps indicating that your focus is almost exclusively on the negative things in your life.

Above the Querent lies Birds, which can indicate that your thoughts focus on negativity.

Below the Querent lies Bear, which can indicate that your emotions focus mostly on speculation, either about yourself or others.

Thank you so much for your patience with me performing this reading.

Reviews are helpful, but optional. You can send them in replies, my ask box, or reblogging this post. Feel free to reblog this post with your thoughts in general, or without a review! You can also reblog my guidelines post if you like. If you feel particularly satisfied with my work, you may leave a tip in my Ko-fi. No pressure for any of this!

Please do not reblog this post if you are not the querent. If you want something to reblog, please reblog my guidelines post. If there's something within the post you want, you may ask, and depending on the request, I might fulfill it! Thank you!

I hope you, and all readers, have a wonderful day!

[klugpuuo]

my partner and i have been going back and forth about this for like an hour and i need to know if anyone here knows anything about this

when i was a kid i played a game i fully believed was an emulated version of sonic 1 ported to the wii that my dad assured me was legit other than the emulation, but apparently it is absolutely nothing like the actual sonic game aside from green hill zone existing.

the second world was a water level (above ground, natural dirt & wooden bridges, not like hydrocity or marble zone or anything, almost like a beach in aesthetics), the last 2(?) levels had a color palette switch to a more red palette, but it WASN'T because it was a bad future, there was no time travel mechanics.

all i know is that the third zone was a jungle (just straight up a jungle, not angel island), but it was so hard & stressful for little kid me i just stopped playing.

additionally it WAS NOT virtual console. when viewing the game it was just i think a sonic sprite or the sonic the hedgehog logo in an otherwise completely black screen.

it was 16 bit, similar in style to sonic 1, and sonic was alone. there also was no tails on the title screen from what i remember. also, it was an arcade game, so if you lost all your lives or tried to stop playing you'd have to start over all the way at the beginning. which kid me HATED.

some horribly renditioned sketches of what i vaguely remember the game being like below the cut. if ANYONE knows ANYTHING about this, PLEASE message me THANK YOU

this is what i vaguely remember of the map. it was a lot bigger (at least five worlds)

and this is the only level i distinctly remember, mostly because i would constantly get stuck on it. it was an incredibly hard platforming side scroller with a ton of enemies (at least to little kid me) and where the shift in palette came into play

i also remember a bridge with a single one of the jumpy fish emies and finding it rlly useless (mostly bc i wanted to chill out on the bridge alone)

yea

[mossy-rainfrog]

Build A Cowboy Round 5!

Hi good evening sorry for vanishing OK SO i mentioned in the tags of my first poll that this cowboy is not just going to be a vaguely historical cowboy, but from a Very specific time frame, because of the fic that his partner Javi exists in. That being said, there is a lot to unpack here with this! The time period exactly is 1841, the setting is Texas (because I am texan and we are predictable) and oh my god this is one of the most insane times for a character to be from texas 😭

Our cowboy will have in fact lived through the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821), the Texas Revolution (1835-1836), tx's CRINGEFAIL attempt at self governing, rapidly approaching our annexation into the US in 1844-5, and then coming right up on the fuckign CIVIL WAR in 1861. These guys deeply understand the concept of "get me the fuck out of the interesting times, im sick of the interesting times". im so sorry cowboys, you can blame Herman Melville for this.

anyways yall didnt come here for a history lesson but you are in fact going to get one because i am insufferable first and an artist second :) and also as a note, race and backstory are always intertwined things but Especially when it is fuckign 1841 so. yeah exercise caution, there will be discussion of racism, medical close-calls, and anti-indigenous genocide. PLEASE ACTUALLY READ THE BACKGROUNDS BEFORE CHOOSING ONE! you dont have to read the sources. those are just there because i have autism. 👍

DETAILS BELOW THE READMORE BC I GOT WAYYY TOO WORDY⬇️

BACKSTORY A: Black Cowboy fled Texas* to Oklahoma with his family after the revolution, now travels up the trade routes breaking wild horses, passing along abolitionist messages, and assisting refugees. A miracle baby surviving a cleft lip with limited surgery and sustained permanent hearing damage as a result, he took up the trade of horsebreaking with flying colors, keeping right up with his older brothers. A sharp shot, keen eye, and a talented horseman, his best trained horses help him identify sounds that he otherwise can't hear. Loosely familiar with PSL, but primarily used a mix of lip-reading, localized/community generated sign growing up.

* After the US aided Texas in staging a coup against Mexico and declaring independence, an ordinance passed in 1836 that fully banished free Black people from the region unless they had personal pardon from Congress. This ordinance was not passed without pushback, and it changed shape and restriction over the years as people of color such as Joseph Tate, John and Charity Bird, Diana Leonard, Allen Dimery, and more all fought for their right to their own lands and lives. The law eventually settled into what was known as the Ashworth Act in 1840, which allowed free Black people to stay IF they had been residing in the state before 1836. It certainly wasn't the victory many had hoped, and even though many free Black persons in Texas were granted pardon to stay, like the Ashworths who the act was named after, many others were forced to leave after their allotted time was up, and were threatened with the future of slavery should they return. thank you texas history for being a vile piece of shit 👍

BACKSTORY B: Mexican/Tejano Vaquero from West Texas whose family has been ranching and cattle driving for decades. Has no interest in moving post-revolution, fuck you very much. If the borders are going to cross his family without asking*, then there's no need to cross them back. Technically lives with his family, but spends extensive periods of time away from home on cattle drives. Steady-handed, steadfast, quick to keep his herd safe. Miraculously survived a cleft lip as a baby and sustained permanent hearing damage** as a result, but that didn't stop his father from teaching him everything he knew, nor our man from taking to it like a fish to water. Knows more about cattle driving than you will ever forget.

*Some brief notes on the borders shifting and alienating people in their own rightful land.

**There was no official sign language of Mexico until the first Deaf school was established in 1869, but he and his family likely have a community-based one that works for them.

BACKSTORY C: Coahuiltecan (specifically Payaya)* cowboy, farrier, and leatherworker. Picked up the line of work as family was pushed to assimilate, one of the few still claiming Coahuiltecan identity at this time**, and has made a good living for himself and his sisters with it. Like the others, miraculously survived a cleft lip as a child but sustained permanent hearing damage as a result. Knows Plains Indian Sign fluently, and also relies on the direction of his horse for picking up sudden sounds before he can spot them. Tries to keep his work as local as possible to avoid separation from family for long, and whenever that is necessary, makes sure to come back soon.

*Note: Coahuiltecan is a term referring to several northern-Mexican and southern-Texan autonomous groups with distinct cultural differences. However, since Spanish and French colonizers lumped these groups together, an immense amount of distinguishing knowledge has since been lost.

** Also note: the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation is still very much around today (check out their site!) but nearing the mid 19th century, people at least claiming/listing this heritage on legal documents dwindled immensely for a variety of reasons.

[academiaipromise]

things that i want everyone to know about the return of true tv (riverdale season 7)

this season was promoted on the promise that you don’t need to have seen any of the other six seasons of this show. they also parodied nicole kidman’s “heartbreak feels good in a place like this” amc advert. 

as we know this season is set in the 1950s (in case you missed it, they were sent back in time after bailey’s comet almost killed them all) and jughead is the only one who remembers the present. 

brief interlude taken to condemn the murder of emmett till...okay back to the guardian angel plot line (???)

veronica is a ‘50s hollywood actress who is going to high school to get a sense of small town life before the filming of our town (1940?? maybe i misunderstood this dialogue tbh) 

cheryl’s twin brother is alive but he’s not jason he’s julian (for those keeping track, this has raised our ginger ratio on this show to an unacceptable number) [i am ginger and approve this message]

betty’s dad is back and probably not a serial killer but probably racist (we’re still having wild tonal shifts from jughead trying to restore his friends’ memories to prevent more wacky time travel to toni and betty trying to bring attention to the murder of emmett till) 

shazam reference! ✨ synergy ✨

hot rod archie hot rod archie hot rod archie (if this somehow ends in a performance of greased lightning...)

jughead finds the time capsule they buried after graduation and tries to use the objects to convince everyone they’re from the future 

“kevin...you directed some musicals...and were in...an organ harvesting cult” 

jughead explains to the group that if they do not want to wait for the comet they could instead get betty and archie to make out on a bed and detonate a bomb under them. i love being reminded of this thing that actually happened on tv. 

i need to be real with y’all i find 1950s archie really endearing he somehow has all of the stupidity of modern day archie but it’s presented as naive innocence (”i like. cars. sports. and fishing” like i love that for him!) 

cheryl walks into pops and shouts “j’accuse!” at veronica catching her in a lie after she said that she had been cast in our town, but oh ho, cheryl has found out from her movie magazine that it is actually natalie wood! but i’m here to catch them both in a lie because there is no adaptation of our town starring natalie wood so. 

veronica was involved with the 1955 car accident that killed james dean and her parents subsequently banished her. if you cared. 

there is this subplot about the push for safe driving after the james dean crash which i know did happen but this is clearly an issue for hot rod archie!!

rip hot rod archie he has agreed to unsoup his car 

just saw a WILD ad for reign on the cw streaming app...the end of the cw hurts all of us 

“good morning riverdalians” [transitions straight to a reading of “Mississippi–1955” by langston hughes holy shit] 

my joke post is not the place where i feel i have the nuance and space to discuss how this episode is engaging with racial discrimination and the civil rights movement but just know that it’s...it’s something to know about [edit: here is an interview about the decisions to include these plot points this season. i think it provides some important perspective on both the history of this show and the intent behind it, though of course intent ultimately doesn’t matter in terms of effect. still, a good start to have]

tabitha (the real tabitha, the guardian angel of riverdale), returns to talk to jughead and tells him that she used what was left of her life force to send everyone to the past but because the comet destroyed riverdale in that timeline, everyone needs to try to thrive in the 50s in order to find a path back to a different future. 

you know what no one else is gonna give blake neely the credit he deserves so i’ll mention that this version of the riverdale theme is actually really gorgeous. sir if you’re reading this please know that i listened to the riverdale score aggressively while writing on the cw for my ma thesis and it would not have been finished without you thank you for your service.

tabitha takes jughead’s memories and he tries to write them down before he forgets, only to forget after writing the words “bend. towards. justice.��� (yes as in the martin luther king jr quote) and he finds his beanie from the future. end of episode. 

in conclusion:

[the12thnightproject]

Epilogue: Sky Clad Promise -Shingen fulfills a promise that he made months ago in the cave.

Shingen x OC; Kenshin x MC (Mai)

Previous Chapter: Here

Logline - Disguised as a boy, Katsuko finds herself working for Shingen, but her dangerous masquerade becomes difficult to sustain when she falls for the man with a fatal secret.

The letter sat innocently on Shingen’s desk – all three of our names were written across it. For a moment, none of us made a move to open it, although I did pick it up and shake it. No telltale rattle of shogi tiles. I supposed that was a message in and of itself. “Did you see who delivered it?”

“Reddish hair, big ears,” Sasuke said. He took the packet and turned it over and back, then set it on the desk again. “I questioned him, but he was insistent that he didn’t have any additional knowledge.

“That’s Takauji. He probably doesn’t know where Aki is now, but he usually delivers through the San’ido circuit, that might be where Aki last was – or he may have picked up the message directly from the Mountain.” The latter was less likely as Shingen’s mitsumono had been pretty closely watching for him there. Also, Taka was the least naturally inquisitive of Aki’s messengers so it would have been useless to press him for more knowledge… a fact that Aki was well aware of.

Finally, Shingen took the initiative of unfolding the letter and reading it to all of us.

By this time, all three of you have realized that I spend a considerable amount of my life travelling between and amongst various timelines-

“Skipped the greeting.” Sasuke helped himself to some tea.

“Aki is only warm in small doses.” You’d think after seven years, though, he would have offered at least a ‘best regards’ to me, instead of what amounted to a generic, ‘to whom it may concern.’ Then again, who was I to complain – I’d been guilty of skipping a greeting often enough.

Lord Shingen, while I appreciate the amount of work you have done to create your mitsumono network, it is not the best use of resources to send them all after me.

“Noticed that, did he?” Shingen flexed his wrist in memory of the hours he and I had spent writing instructions to his spies.

I would not like to interrupt my work to have to fish one of them out of a timeline.

“That would be bad.” Sasuke settled down at the desk with his tea. “Although Sute would probably get a kick out of it.”

I took a moment to envision the chaos that Sute could cause in a timeline. “She might, but Sasuke Mach 2 might not.”

“Oh… I might.” Sasuke was typically blank faced, but Shingen shot him a look. Hm. There was something here I was missing. I’d have to get it out of Shingen later.

Katsuko, I apologize for not telling you that I knew you were from the future, and that I was a traveler as well. It was my belief that you would adjust faster and more easily that way. There was a rather specific task that I needed you to perform – and rest assured you have completed it. I was unsure when and how this situation would present in this timeline. Readying you for that was essential.

“Do you think it was related to…?” Sasuke inclined his head in Shingen’s direction.

“I am sitting right here.” Despite the sarcasm, Shingen gave Sasuke a look of affectionate patience.

I shook my head. “No. I think it must be the boy. Hikosane. I ran into Aki in Kasugayama a few weeks before you and Shingen went to the future, and he said something to the effect that I had done whatever it was he wanted me to do.”

“You never mentioned that to me.” Shingen flicked my forehead, but too gently to sting.

“I had other things on my mind.” I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it in any case, but I truly had forgotten.

This timeline has stabilized, and I am addressing this comment directly to Mr. Mikumo--

Sasuke tapped his chest. “He sounds so professor-like there.”

It would be best if you traveled to the future as infrequently as possible. I realize that forbidding such excursions would be futile, but please treat this as a serious request.

Sasuke shrugged. “So there goes Mai’s request that I make occasional chocolate runs.”

“She likely wouldn’t have needed to ask if someone hadn’t raided her stash.” I eyed Shingen and contemplated a forehead flick of my own.

He winked at me then gave me that wicked smile. “I thought it was for all of us.”

Sure you did.

Katsuko, while I wish I could say that you are released from any additional obligations to me, and I’m sure you would argue that these obligations are on my side, the future is fluid. If I call on you, it will be because the matter is urgent. There are circumstances unfolding which may affect multiple timelines. As the three of you are self-aware to the multiverse, you may be needed at some point.

“Well… that’s not ominous at all.” Although deep down… deep deep down… I was intrigued by the possibility of performing an interesting timeline mission – as long as Shingen was with me. But I would never willing go into a wormhole alone again.

Although you may not believe me, I truly wish for your happiness. Yamaoka Akihira

Shingen tossed the message back on his desk. “This… didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, or at least, suspect.”

“Likely why he wrote the letter instead of allowing us to question him in person.” There were a lot of things I wanted to know. I also wanted to go out to the archery course and shoot arrows at targets with Aki’s face on them.

“It sounded like he’s abandoned this timeline, doesn’t it?” Sasuke got up and began pacing, the way he did when he had the tendrils of a theory but nothing to grasp onto. “The question is whether or not there are other versions of Professor Yamaoka in the other timelines too, or if he has figured out how to avoid duplicating himself.”

“I know you want to locate him and question him further – and I do as well – however…” Shingen paused. I could see he was trying to figure out an easy way to tell me that he had other priorities. He was right. He did have more important things to do. If he put all of his resources and energy toward finding Aki, it could be at the expense of this timeline’s history.

“But there’s too much going on in the here and now – you’re right.” We’d just been talking about some of those priorities before Sasuke came in. “Use your mitsumono for the purpose that you built them. If they happen to run across Aki, then they can bring him in, but until then, I guess we have to let it go.”

Of course, I did intend to take a trip up to Aki’s manor at The Mountain and see if there was any useful information to be found there. Shingen might not love that idea, but I was sure I could talk him into it. I slanted a quick glance at him – and was rewarded with a suspicious stare. 

Alright… I could possibly talk him into it.

But for the moment – the mystery of Aki would have to keep; I was happy enough to live in the present.

The pre-dawn early Spring air had a bite of chill to it, but it felt invigorating as Shingen and I picked our way along a path behind the castle. Our feet were splashed with dew and wet blades of grass clung to my toes. The birds were just awakening, and their nesting songs serenaded our short hike.

Shingen had whispered me into wakefulness less than twenty minutes ago, and without allowing me to do more than throw on an extra robe, had taken me by the hand and led me out here, saying he was fulfilling a promise he’d made to me a long time ago.

He’d refused to give any more details, but since he had my blanket – the one he had stolen from me at the lake – slung across his shoulders, I was pretty certain I knew where we were headed…

The field of spring wildflowers filled the landscape, their ‘faces’ turned toward the horizon, where a pink-purple sky was lightening with the sunrise. It was like walking into an impressionist painting.

After spreading the blanket on the ground, Shingen wrapped his arms around me as he guided me to a seat. “You’re not too cold are you?”

I shook my head. Though the air was a bit chilly, I wasn’t cold sitting close to Shingen. “You’re nice and toasty. It helps.”

I leaned against him, warmed more by his presence than the actual heat of his body. He picked a flower, stuck it randomly in my hair, then grinned and repeated the action a few more times. “My nature Goddess, ready to greet the sunrise.”

“You promoted me from devil?” One of the flowers dislodged and hovered over my eye. I caught it before it fell and tickled his nose with it.

“Devil, Angel, Goddess… it’s all you.” His hands slid inside my robes and eased them down my shoulders. “I love all your identities.”

My brief thought of ‘what if someone comes by and sees us’ was followed by the knowledge that Shingen would have taken that into consideration and planned to avoid that. There were a lot of perks to being involved with a strategist. “All of my identities love you too.”

As he shrugged out of his clothing, a tiny movement at the edge of the blanket caught my attention. It was a caterpillar inching its way across the field. I let it crawl onto my finger then ferried it over to the stem of a nearby flower. Otherwise, it was likely to get squished in a few moments. “There you go,” I told it, though of course, it would have no idea what I said, or perhaps even hear me.

“What’s that, Devil?” Shingen claimed my attention again and drew me to him.

“Pre-butterfly.” Then all thoughts of the caterpillar’s future left my head, as Shingen kissed the hollow of my neck, and I gasped, just as I always did when he kissed me there.

The sun was just barely peeking at us over the horizon when Shingen carefully guided me onto him. “I knew you’d look beautiful clad in the sky, Katsuko.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, and we began to move together into a new day.

Into a future.

CODA: AKI

Not too far outside Kasugayama, Akihira paused when he heard rustling in the trees above. Although he couldn’t see who was up there, he had been expecting this encounter, so he waited patiently until the ninja flipped down into his path and drew his sword.

“No need for that, Mr. Mikumo.” Mentally, Aki sighed. Prior to his relocation into the Sengoku timeline… or timelines, as the case was now, Mikumo Sasuke had been a quiet student, intent on his studies. The Kenshin-trained ninja version of him was somewhat jarring, no matter which timeline Aki encountered him in. “I suspected you’d make an appearance sooner or later.”

“Er. Right then.” Sasuke took off his mask and put away his weapon. “Here I was feeling rather proud of myself for figuring out that you would spend a few days watching over Katsuko before you left.”

“I have the advantage of knowing several versions of yourself,” Akihira pointed out. “Though none of you are completely identical, you’re all intelligent enough to have determined my location.” Then, as Sasuke appeared poised to let loose a torrent of questions, he added, “I am not able to discuss anything specific to the multiverse – some of that is to try to avoid a paradox, and some things I simply do not know.”

Sasuke made an annoyed sound. “That eliminates the majority of my questions.” He pushed his glasses further up his nose. “Katsuko believes that the boy who fell in the river was important – are you able to tell me anything more about him?”

Akihira paused. Discussing Hikosane was a grey area – but the current crisis was nothing like any of them had ever encountered. “He’s not magical. He’s not a future Emperor, or even a future daimyo – at least not in most timelines. He is simply needed to survive his childhood, because for whatever reason, he is, as Katsuko might say, the butterfly.”

“Ugh.” Sasuke shuddered.

Right. Akihira had momentarily forgotten that Sasuke was afraid of butterflies. “Someone doesn’t want him to survive and has been going into various timelines to make sure he doesn’t. Timelines in which Hikosane otherwise would have lived.”

“And my original future was one in which he survived.” It wasn’t posed as a question – Sasuke had grasped the essence of the situation. “How did you-”

Aki held up his hand. “Will you accept that in another timeline there is a version of you that has the answer to these questions?”

“I’m sensing that I don’t have a choice.” Sasuke reached into his kimono, then withdrew a modern envelope. “In that case, I’ll proceed to a non-timeline related question.” He pulled a photo out of the envelope and handed it to Akihira. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

Akihira automatically glanced at the photo, then caught his breath when he saw her face. Sometimes simply seeing an unexpected picture, had that effect on him, even though he had become somewhat used to seeing her face on their children. The picture had been taken at a party – he couldn’t even recall the occasion. In those days, Francisco had regularly thrown parties for the lab staff, to as he said in his broken Japanese, “To blow the steam.”

Although Sasuke’s parents hadn’t officially been part of the project, they’d been extremely helpful in obtaining archival data on the Sengoku period – Francisco must have invited them. Sasuke’s mother had been somewhat of an amateur photographer in those days and lugged a Nikon everywhere. She must have snapped this candid of himself and Mayumi, capturing an intimate moment of a relationship that had lasted less than a year. One year, in the hudreds that he had travelled across. Not much time comparatively. But. Enough.

“Katsuko looks a lot like her mother,” Sasuke commented, breaking a silence that had grown while Akihira gazed at the photo. “Though once I knew to look for it, there is a resemblance to you as well, especially her eyes.”

“When I left your time period,” Akihira said, then cursed his wording because he knew Sasuke would pick up on the phrase ‘your time period.’ “I did not know Mayumi was pregnant.”

“That… is something you ought to discuss with Katsuko. And Toshiie, I imagine. However… why didn’t you… and give her that, um, Cloud City moment?” Sasuke held his glance.

Trust Sasuke to find a mediated reference. “In some of the other timelines, I’ve told her… or she  discovered it through other means. It’s… rarely turned out well. She’s happy here. She’ll be happier not knowing. I’ve run simulations in enough timelines in the multiverse to be certain of that.”

“Timelines… multiverse… simulations?” Sasuke cocked his head. “Less Darth Vader, more Dr. Strange, then.”

“If you persist in these sorts of comparisons, then I suppose that works as well as any other. I really must cut this conversation short, as I have places and times that need my attention.” Then, because it amused him to use Sasuke’s own tools against him, he tossed a few ground spikes and a smoke bomb on the ground. “Ker-vanish.”

By the time the smoke cleared Akihira had slipped into the forest. He planted his walking stick in the ground, and continued on his way, foot kicking a stone out of his path.

The stone bounced a short distance before colliding with another, which, in turn rolled off the path and landed near the base of a tree, disturbing a butterfly which had been resting on the trunk. The butterfly took off, winging its way toward the sky.

Thank you for joining me on the Throwback Thursday Reblog project! I had a lot of fun revisiting Shingen & Katsu's story... but as you can see, it's not quite over. There are two one-shot stories that I can reblog, and I will probably write other shorts with them. Also in this particular timeline, there is still a short story coming about Sute & Sasuke (.... & Yukimura). Plus... what really did happen in the lingerie store when Sasuke and Shingen went shopping... hmm?

Additionally due to the multiverse destabilizing, they do appear in the other Tempest in Time stories (including a yet to be published time jump to 1586), so we'll see them again.

I do plan on doing a Throw Back Thursday for A Mitsunari Night's Dream - but I'm going to wait until I finish posting the first run of Mitsuhide's story. It might be too confusing to see one version of Katsuko ("Okatsu") being romanced by Mitsunari, while another version of her (Kaya) is working with Mitsuhide to rescue Hideyoshi & Mai.

Anyway... wow, this ended up being a ten month project! Again, thank you for joining me on it. I'll miss my Thursday morning reblogs.

@bestbryn

[aurosoul]

I just had a thought looking at Starfucker Super Trans 2000! A lot of the stuff I’ve seen you work on in AR has been human scale—I assume for practical reasons.

But theoretically, there’s no real reason you shouldn’t be able to create something and then scale it up to be big, right?

My first thought, of course, being that you could theoretically draw a version of Starfucker Super Trans in Figmin XR and then scale it up to actual size! (Though depending on the scale of the game you might need a nice field or parking lot for that XD)

My second thought being that if AR does become more commonplace like you dream, what an educational opportunity! I mean, it’s one thing to say “a blue whale is as long as two school buses put together”, and another to actually take your kid outside and plop down a life-sized model right in front of their eyes!

I think you’re right, AR really does have potential to make a lot of things more accessible. After all, technology tends to become cheaper and more available over time. Maybe someone can’t travel across the country to see a big museum, but they can rent an AR set and plop down a smithsonian dinosaur skeleton in a nearby parking lot!

And going back to the blue whale; giving kids these experiences with animals they might not be able to see otherwise can help give them an appreciation for nature, so they’re more motivated to preserve what’s right around them as they grow up! Say, draw them in with whales, and then show them the kind of fish that live in rivers around them and how beautiful they are too! Make a field trip of it!

AR just holds so much potential as a tool to introduce new experiences, I think. The way you use it especially gives me hope; your work has a feel of wonder to it.

One of my biggest concerns about AR is that it will have a similar effect as the internet, where we rely too much on it, moving too much from the physical world to the digital. You see studies as well that are finding developmental problems coming from not having enough interactions with the physical world. But, the way you mix your work with nature, talk about how while it could be used to replace some toys—making it easier to fulfill the remaining demand sustainably—it also can serve as an introduction for people to find interests they want to pursue more seriously with physical components… I really think we can introduce it to good effect.

I've been sitting on this ask for ages because I wanted to record a video showing a life-sized mech in response to it - but I just wanna say

YES, YES, A MILLION TIMES YES to ALL of this!!!!! 😭💖💖💖

messages like these are what makes my work so worth it, because every word of what you said here is EXACTLY what I'm trying to communicate with everything I do.

early on, the founder of Figmin XR (Javier Davalos) understood that people can't just be told that this technology will change the world for the better - they have to realize it for themselves. so he applied for the first Magic Leap grant, won it, and then got to work creating a software to help people do just that.

everything you've mentioned above is either already in development or already starting to be implemented in schools, museums, workshops - even summer camps!! and I know this because I've been working directly with the people organizing these things, helping to teach them how to use Figmin to teach others. :)

the future will be more digital than it already is today, yes, but that doesn't automatically make it a dystopia. I've said it before and I'll say it again - technology is just a tool, and there are many, many people creating new ways to use it for good.

[poemsbypel]

A Word From A Bird

PEL. A Word From A Bird. (London, United Kingdom.) Acrylic.

Sound Effect of blackbird birdsong by Der_Sternfahrer from Pixabay.

Now here is a little and large poem Which we hope, in our hearts will find a home. And if we love it and give it our blessing, It will have the freedom, to roam and roam. Now, to bring it to life, with colour and sound, We found, it's meant to be read or sung aloud. For strange to us, as it may seem, We may get the feeling, we're talking to a crowd. We may get the feeling, we are talking to the unseen. For it carries its own hidden music and rhyme, Which seems to get better and louder in time.

And as we know, we all like good news, Because good news creates more good news. So we have taken care, to use kind and thoughtful words. We listened to our trees and we listened to our birds. We listened to the Oceans and to the free herds. We listened to the Fire, burning brightly. We listened to the Wind, blowing lightly. We listened to the Earth, day after day And here's what they, all have to say.

"Let's forgive the mistakes of the past And stop worrying about the future, For the die has been cast. Just live in the present, to see what it brings. For the times that are coming, will show us, Some amazing new things."

But first a big thank you for the paper, That carries this poem. For we must remind ourselves please, Who really pays without a murmur or a moan. It is not you or me, Nor the birds nor the fish in the seas, But rather, our courageous and caring, terrific trees. Though we give it little thought, our trees pay the price, Every single day, so let's be nice. Let's give them in this poem, one free page, For our fast oncoming Magical New Age. To listen to them, to let them have their say.

And though much of our World Is in such a big and scary shamble. It only takes one with courage, To take a little gamble. To believe the trees; To listen to the breeze within the leaves. And if we believe, their simple little message in this. We may find our life in time, could become just bliss. We may find, we might even fly like a bird. After all, it's only one colour, one note, one word. So why not try it. Test it out. We have nothing to lose, except our pain, And if we don't like it, we can throw it back out, Until we're ready, until it comes around again.

So now it's time, to clean up the Planet. Come on John, it's up to you and Janet. Let's start right now and begin to plan it. There's no time to wait for the rest. First we're going to end starvation, Then it's more conservation, re-forestation and preservation And that's just one solution. We’re so fed up with our own pollution. It's time for our gentle revolution. So come on, it's up to us, let's do our best.

And when we decide just to, let go our Hell, For those that have fallen, for those that fell. And when we decide to let go our fear and sorrow, To create for our children, a safe and happy tomorrow. And when, to our frightened and excited surprise, We begin at last to slowly realise, That sometimes, we are the Devil in disguise And sometimes, we are as bright as Angel's eyes. Then we can help us all, let go the war, As we learn and grow and have some fun, Like we know we did, many times before. After all most of us, are in the dark, travelling blind, Searching for that spark, which one day, we're bound to find, Waiting for our children, to discover their own happy pilgrim.

So attention Trees. Stand at ease God's Grace. Our Grace Hurray, thank you. Now we've had our say. And with no further ado, Here's our little Fairy Story, Called The Phantom For us and for you.

PEL

PEL. Walpole Park. (London, United Kingdom.) Acrylic.

[troughtonmedia]

Script #83

The Tale of Jesus Christ

A little over 2,000 years ago, a man was born for a great reason; he was going to wash away the sin of the Earth and establish a great church there. He was going to do this unconventionally and it was going to cost him his life. He didn't care. He knew his life did not belong to him but here we are with a Jewish newborn baby boy wrapped in blankets in a barn on a manger...

The tale of Jesus Christ sounds farfetched but one thing is clear. It is cemented into our fabrication deep within our DNA. When your grandmother tells you Jesus beats in your heart she's saying it because it's really true! And yes, Jesus isn't for everybody. Look at the main religion in India particularly the Hindus. Some say the Hindus are practicer's of Earth's first religion. Is there room for Jesus in there? Why yes there is because some believe Jesus was from the Middle East but visited India in his young adulthood.

But here we are baby Jesus is now resting with his mother and father. His mom was the young and beautiful Mary and she claimed to have become pregnant through immaculate conception. That means without sex. It happens sometimes in nature particularly with sharks, rays and some other reptiles and fish. Most science classes teach mankind came from primitive ancestors even before the ape and actually a class of lung fish.

It is not entirely known what Jesus was doing from youth to adulthood but he was a professional carpenter. He may have gone to India. He may have stayed in the Middle East. Perhaps he was abducted by time traveling aliens! That's where the Bible comes into play. He is all over in the books of John, Paul. and Luke for example. Apparently Jesus started performing miracles. Raising people from the dead and turning water into wine. He argued against the Roman government. It is said he smoked grass and hung out with hookers. Here's where Jesus ran into trouble.

Palm Sunday is celebrated every calendar year after his death. There have been 2024 of them. Jesus did a sort of recruitment to acknowledge his cause. God was his father and ordered Christianity as its future. On this rock, I build my church. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem with palm fronds. He was trying to fulfill prophecies. He gave his message to anyone that wanted to listen. And people did! Jesus' power was becoming a problem to the Roman Empire. In death, Jesus would conquer it. Yes, Jesus Christ conquered the Roman Empire and then spread it all over the globe.

Good Friday memorializes his execution. He was nailed to a cross and stabbed with a spear. The weather was insane. His soul rose into Heaven. On Easter, he was awakened from the grave. Not much else is known about this, where he went, or what happened to his body. The shroud of Turin is probably a false artifact. Christianity and Islam hold a prophecy that includes yet another coming of Jesus Christ! How exciting we are closer than ever in bringing back Jesus Christ. I think we could really use him.

7 HEADED DRAGON

10 CROWNS

10 HORNS

[virtuissimo]

Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop: Ch. 5

Previously on:

Rabbit bookseller Espuma travels down the River towards Rueberry, enjoying some sun and fishing along the way. As the bookshop pulled up to the beautiful Rueberry, Espuma saw that the pier was damaged, and they would not be able to open their shop for the day. They went into town and met Ebenezer, a calico cat lantern-bearer. The next day Ebenezer went by the book shop. He told Espuma about a scary experience he had once, and the voices of children that lure the kids of Rueberry to their deaths. Espuma gets visited by a magician's apprentice. Ebenezer and Espuma went on a date along the riverbank and got sprayed by a blooming flower with a strange effect.

FOURTH DAY OF BIRDSONG: CONFRONTATIONS

Weather: 3, Q Rain on and off till evening, Sunny and windy, pollen is thick.

True to his word, the spores from the flower had me laughing all night. I didn't get much sleep and when the effect finally disappeared, I crashed like a log. My poetry sale was still active & people came in starting pretty early.

First thing was a familiar face: Jenny the skunk, followed closely by her master, Leon, who defying all reason was a bear. His face was kind, but his eyes were empty, like they had retired long before the rest of his body. As a pair, the older man and child matched perfectly. The skunk girl was dressed all in black and navy, with silver earrings & necklaces. Leon, with tiny silver spectacles & a flowing black cloak, was certainly her inspiration.

"Espuma," he intoned. I greeted him & Jenny, and I asked what book I could pull for them. "Jenny was right," he said, "you notice little." This frustrated me; both the presumption and the accusation. If I'm not noticing, I'm not witnessing.

"I am here because you are being sent messages and you are failing to receive them."

"What messages?"

"Jenny is a storyteller. it is the first magic art someone of her talent must master. I am far more than a storyteller, reading the past."

"You read the future?"

"No." Leon did not break gaze. "No one can read the future, & anyone who claims to is a fool. A magician can merely read imperative. Duty. Intention. Cause and effect. I can see the bricks on your path forward, but I cannot know how or even if you will go down it."

"Then what is my imperative?"

"You know it Espuma. To witness."

"Then what am I not witnessing?"

"There is more here than the River. Read the messages left to you, and learn of the history. This is your first brick."

He grabbed a pen from my pencil cup. "Where did you get this?"

"It was left by the previous owner."

"Witness this too." He placed it on the counter with a clack. He turned and left. I didn't know what to make of that. It was a pen. Fairly simple and like any other. What was there to witness? I'd have to find out.

Later in the evening, I saw another warrior. I'd met one in Thistle Down, purposeless after the arrival of peace. I told this warrior about that encounter.

"Foolishness!" she guffawed. "He thinks peace lasts! I can tell you, it will not! That's what he'll learn on the Great Sea, too. As much as animalkind likes to pretend the times of war are over, there is always a need for violence. Always."

"Where are you going, then, that you're in such high demand?"

"For now, I'm protecting Rueberry. The River may seem safe, but that's only because of people like me keeping it that way. It may not be soon, but change, upheaval, is coming. A warrior can tell."

It's hard to tell sometimes between earnest warrior's intuition, and the conspiracy theory of a bitter warmonger. She bought a biography from the times of war.

There was a steady flow of customers after that. I was mainly met with enthusiasm and acceptance, but there were a few who argued with me about the inclusion of both drier subject matters and the frivolous ones. After all, with only limited space and so much beautiful art in the world, why bother stocking historical nonfiction or spoof comedy? I simply said that enthusiasts of nonfiction and comedy often say the same about other types of fiction and left it at that.

Ebenezer came in later in the evening. He brought a colleage with him, who went into the aisles and browsed. He asked how my day went and I told him about the strange folks coming in lately.

"I know Leon. To tell you the truth, I never could get a read on him. Seems like he knows things for real, but not much of it seems actionable. Says he reads imperatives, he knows what you 'must' do, but according to who? For what purpose. I don't know."

"It seems like the river is in a period of change. Things are getting scary and unsafe around here," I said.

"Well, on the whole I wouldn't say it's unsafe. There's that business i told you about with the children, but if the parents are even a little aware, it's not so much trouble. There were a few accidents a few years back, but safety measures were put in place. It's just a shame we need those safety measures in the first place given that the threat is the River itself."

"Listen," he went on, "if anyone comes here scaring you, come find me and I'll give you a hand." I thanked him and brought him the book he wanted (ghost stories and legends... that sounds about right!). I told him I was leaving town on the 2nd day of Sprout, and he said he'd be by to say farewell.

Later on, an older woman entered the shop. She was a regal otter, shiny coat just beginning to fleck gray, long gloves trailing up her arms.

"Mx. Espuma," she said, peering through the halfmoon lenses. "I'm sure you know why I am here."

"No, I don't believe I do. Nor have we been acquainted."

She was Mistress Jacoby, the Mayor of Rueberry.

"Your institution is degrading the moral character of Rueberry, Mx. Expuma. There is no two ways about it. You see, poetry is the very lifeblood of our fair town. it is part of our culture. It is part of our curriculums. Without a mastery of the poetry forms, students are not allowed to graduate from the secondary school. Did you know that?"

"No, ma'am, I did not."

"Well it has born fruit, Mx. Espuma. All of the best poets on the whole River come from Rueberry. The greatest lyricists and balladiers. It is our policy, Mx. Espuma, that our young people focus their creative spirits on song and poetry, and as such, that is what they study. There is nothing else."

"Nothing else-! Why, everyone who has come in here has been thrilled by the selection and variety of books available!"

"Once further influence comes into our art, the art begins to change. And when culture has already achieved the best, change can only be for the worse."

We argued for some time before she issued an order: I should remove the influences from my sale and only promote poets, and poets of the River tradition especially. Then she left. Of course, I will not do it. Such an odd little town.

An old man came in not long after and sheepishly hobbled to the history books. He told me he was a fortune teller, a reeder, and not the lover of poetry that Mistress Jacoby envisioned for her citizens. His interests simply lay elsewhere. As such, he was surprised to learn that my sale, "Poets & their influences," included the particular book he wanted.

One of my all-time favorite poems was by Irving Lupin, a wolf from my home town. It was inspired by the time of the Deluge, when my town deep in the forest was connected to the River by a tributary. The history book explored that history in full.

He offered a barter for the book, which I declined, but he read my cards anyways. I thought of Leon, who warned that those who claimed to read the future were fools.

The mole fortune-teller wrinkled his many-fingered nose and told me: "The danger is approaching. Meet your imperative or else the cosmic forces designed to save you will fail." More abstractions.

I was right about to close the shop when a little stoat boy shyly opened the door. He eyed me silently when I greeted him. After a few moments, I was able to learn what he wanted: a romance book. Precocious child. I took him to the romance shelf and asked if he needed a recommendation. He was silent, and then asked:

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Once or twice," I said.

"Okay." He waited a moment. "With who?"

"Well, my first love was a little bunny names Jessica when I was in school. But the great love was a wolf named Rinn."

"A man?" He watched me. "A man," I confirmed.

The stoat boy eyed me, looked me up and down. He became confused, and then resolved to a smile.

"Thank you," he said, paid for his book and ran out.

I closed the shop and went into town. One thing about Rueberry: everything is expensive. I bought beetroot and a bag of apples (-27c). While there, I met Helo, a beautiful sugar glider who owned Sprout's Grocery. Since I wasn't from around here, she told me about her relative Sprout's disappearance, and with a palpable yet contained chagrin, she told me how the business had fallen to her.

I decided right then and there to host a music night on the night before my departure. Rueberry had many musicians. Heli loved to dance and that was all I needed. I asked for recommendations for bands and got to work.

Late at night, I looked down at my counter and saw a comedy book. It was a silly adventure with no gravitas, little in the way of commentary, and certainly was no improvement to the moral health of Rueberry. I wrote a glowing recommendation and stuck it on the shelf.

Total customers: 76 Books inventory; 207 Till: 317

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week (#184):

A good woman is hard to find is a suspenseful Irish revenge-thriller. A beautiful, widowed mother of two small kids is struggling with the recent murder of her husband. Her transformation from a down-trotted, submissive woman into a fierce protector of her children is dark and emotionally-rewarding. 7/10.

🍿

4 more with 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes:

🍿 "Oh, fuck!..." said the groom when he unveiled the scarf from his new wife's head, to discover that it's another woman.

Laapataa Ladies is a gentle Hindi drama about 2 newly-wed brides who get mixed up on a busy Indian train, who end up with the wrong grooms. It's nice to watch a warm-hearted story that takes place in very primitive villages, with simple people, and a Happy End. The strong feminist message is delivered subtly and without fanfare. [*Female Director*]

🍿 The Lavender Hill Mob is a classic Ealing Studio comedy about a bank heist. Alec Guinness is a meek bank clerk who decides to rob his own bank. The best part: At 3:33 Audrey Hepburn makes a 10 second cameo as 'Chiquita'!

Nearly 40 years later, the same director would make 'A fish called Wanda'.

🍿 Concrete Utopia is a new Korean survival thriller about xenophobia which got great reviews, but I didn't like it at all. A grim dystopian parable about life after a massive earthquake which destroyed all of Seoul, except of one apartment building that remained standing. Societal morals break down when life and death are at stake, and they cause everybody to become selfish and cliquish.

🍿 Similarly, the only reason I picked up the Korean thriller The Call is because of its score on 'Rotten Tomatoes'. But the Science Fiction element of time travel through a telephone which was connected to the future was so lame, I got the urge to click it off within 5 minutes. In the end I stayed for 30 minutes, but regretted it.

🍿

3 more by Luis Buñuel + 3 by Jean-Claude Carrière:

🍿 "Please, let your wife stay here for 2 extra minutes. I have to show her the Sursiks..." [But there were no 'Sursiks'...]

I've always loved Buñuel's last 3 films, maybe because they were so easy to watch. The fire and brimstone of his youth were distilled into accessible, vivid tableaux. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, or "Six friends and the impossible dinner" is just delightful: You nearly feel sorry for these poor 1-procenters, who can't find a decent place to dine in. Their illogical dreams dredge out their childhood traumas, and there's no explanations to anything that happens.

It was the New 4K trailer which brought me back. Re-watch ♻️. Always 10/10.

Surprise Wikipedia gift to myself: After the international success of the movie, Buñuel and his producer traveled to the US in late 1972 to promote the film. While in Los Angeles, Buñuel, Carrière and Silberman were invited to a lunch party at Buñuel's old friend George Cukor, and the other guests included Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Rouben Mamoulian, John Ford, William Wyler, Robert Mulligan and Robert Wise. (Resulting in a famous photograph of the directors together, all but an ailing Ford).

🍿 "For health, nothing beats donkey milk!"...

First watch: Los Olvidados ('The young and the damned'), his harsh and depressing Neo-realist Mexican drama from 1950. Hooligans and street urchins live a marginal life damned by poverty and hopelessness. A group of unfortunate juvenile delinquents try, and fail, to survive. (I didn't know that Buñuel studied hypnotism in his youth, but it makes sense).

🍿 My second expressionist silent film by Jean Epstein, my first adaptation of an Edgar Allen Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher (1928). It was written by Buñuel, his second movie after 'Un Chein Andalou', but he left the production after arguing with Epstein. Roger Ebert adored this film, but for me it was too experimental.

🍿 So this is a good time to remember the incredible talents of prolific screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He's credited on IMDb with 158 terrific films, including masterpieces like 'Taking off', 'The tin drum', 'The swimming pool', and even Jonathan Glazer's 'Birth'.

He started his co-operation with Buñuel on 'Diary of a chambermaid', and for 19 years had co-written all of his later movies (with the exception of 'Tristana').

But Carrière was also the co-director of 3 short films, together with Pierre Étaix, 'the French Buster Keaton'. Happy Anniversary is a masterful comedic gem, about a husband hurrying around Paris, buying gifts and flowers for his wife, and trying to make it on time for the special dinner she prepared. It won the 1963 Oscar for 'Best Short Subject'. It's very reminiscent of Jacques Tati, and especially of 'Trafic'. And no wonder: Tati employed young Carrière to write novels based on his films! 9/10.

🍿 In Rapture (1961) Pierre Étaix receives a break-up letter from his girlfriend and tries to write back a response. Pure silence Keaton.

🍿 In the mysterious The nail clippers, Michael Lonsdale and his wife arrive at a luxurious hotel, and while settling in their room,he starts losing things, first his nail clippers, and then everything else.

🍿

Amazing Belgian stop-motion animator Emma De Swaef X 2:

🍿 This Magnificent Cake! is an incredibly bizarre and unique piece of art. First of all, it's told with stop-motion animation using weird creatures made of felt. But the nightmares these disturbing characters share are absurd and very dark. Unexpectedly, it's a scathing indictment of colonialism, especially the Belgian adventures in Africa of the 19th century. Go in cold - You won't regret it. 9/10.

🍿 Her earlier story from 2013, Oh, Willy! was even stranger. The same type wooly characters, but in a nudist colony, dying and re-birthing, flying through space, and ending up breast-fed from a giant, hairy monster. Odd! [*Female Director*]

🍿

2 by Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole:

🍿 Blow the Man Down is a different type of a dark thriller. Two young sisters in a small fishing town in Maine chop a guy up and struggle to cover it up. It has feminine sensitivities, sea shanties, Margo Martindale as an ambiguous Madame of the local whorehouse, and June Squibb as one of the old ladies who work behind the scenes to keep the town sane. 7/10.

🍿 In their earlier OowieWanna, a 7 year old girl with a birthmark on her arm, is doing the laundry with her uncle. With Karen Black. [*Female Directors*]

🍿

4 more Israeli films:

🍿 White Eye - WOW! I never heard of, and didn't expect anything from this film, and I was shocked at how real and painful it quickly became! A simple heart-wrenching drama [shot in one continuing take] about a guy who finds a white bike that was stolen from him a month earlier. No spoilers: It must be experienced as is. Very Vittorio De Sica inspired. Best film of the week - 10/10!

This film was nominated for the Live short Oscar in 2021, but didn't win. It should have. (By now I've seen 4 of these 5 nominees, and they were all impressive: The Palestinian tragedy 'The present', also about a father and his daughter, 'The letter room' with Oscar Isaac, and the racial time-loop 'Two distant strangers'.)

🍿 Hole in the moon is a seminal Israeli film from 1965. It was the first avant-garde movie made in Hebrew and it ushered "The New Sensitivity", a cinematic movement of personal, artistic visions. Up to then, the Israeli film industry produced only compliant Zionist, nation-building products. But this script-less meandering film itself, a pastiche copy of French New Wave tricks and the worst from J-L Godard, was extremely pretentious, full of disjointed visuals, unconnected shots and indulgent nonsense. 2/10.

The director, Uri Zohar, was acclaimed like the Israeli Andy Warhol, and at the center of the Bohemian lifestyle in Tel-Aviv during the first decades of the state. Sadly, in the 70's he "found religion", turned his back on all liberal concepts, became a real-life ultra-orthodox Rabbi, fathered 7 children, and was entrenched in far-right Judaism up to his last days.

🍿 A Day in Degania (1937) is the first Israeli color film, a delightful documentary about life in Degania. Degania was the first Kibbutz, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It's a cheerful and innocent piece of early Zionist propaganda, when the term 'Colonists' to describe the farmers and settlers was not used in derogatory manner. It features a group of happy kindergarten kids, all running naked, and jumping into the water for a swim.

🍿 This is Sodom is a Biblical satire a-la-'Life of Brian' about Abraham's deal with a fast-talking God to save Lot and his wife. It was a huge commercial hit in 2010, being a typical low-brow 'Bourekas' movie, but mostly it was a terribly stupid farce. 1/10.

🍿

The Stranger Left No Card is a strange British little horror tale about an eccentric person who arrives in a small town. He is dressed in spats, top hat and old-fashioned clothing, and the townspeople consider him half-wit. My first film by Wendy Toye. This copy was especially crisp. 7/10. [*Female Director*]

🍿

Frankenweenie (1984) was the 11th and last of Tim Burton shorts before he moved on to feature films with 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' and 'Beetlejuice' and 'Edward Scissorhands'. It was the original live-action, black & white homage to the old Frankenstein saga, which he later re-made into a stop-motion animation. Strong sense of 'olde-tyme' Pasadena streets of the late 50's, with palm-trees and lovely bungalows, and idealized family trops. 100% small time Disney.

RIP, Shelley Duvall!

(Also, this...)

🍿

"The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true, right?"

Finding that clip, I realized that I've never seen any Danny Kaye movies. But Watching The Court Jester is perhaps enough Kaye. This 'Vessel with the pestle' is the best scene in a what is otherwise a lame spoof of the 1950's Faux Medieval Fascination. (They had a popular chain of fake restaurants, 'Medieval Times', where actor-knights would joust and sword-fight before your dinner. Also, Disney popularized the Arthur/Robin Hood concept.)

But the clip is also an obvious copy of Moses Supposes, and the milquetoast Kaye is a parody of Donald O'Connor - for kids. (It even works in German)...

🍿

The Brilliant Biograph, Earliest Moving Images of Europe 1897-1902, is a fascinating compilation of hundreds of newly-restored, small documentary clips from 125 years ago. (Screenshot Above). Before the first automobiles, when you had to use horses and trams, boats and bicycles if you had to move around. 8/10.

🍿

A bunch of shorts:

🍿 A portrait of Ga, my first by experimental Scottish poet Margaret Tait. A simple portrait of her mother. Just lovely. Charlotte Wells said that her 'Aftersun' was inspired by Tait's poetry. [*Female Director*]

🍿 And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool are four middle school Japanese girls who live in a dead-end small town and are afraid they will never be able to leave and live life. Shot in a vibrant, music video style, it captures their young angst as if they shot it themselves. 8/10.

🍿 Yes-People, an Icelandic film that was nominated for the 2021 Best Animated Short. The dialogue consisted of only one word...

🍿 In The Hat an exotic dancer remembers in graphic details how she was sexually-abused as a little girl by a man with a hat. Highly disturbing, it's animated in dark and powerful style. 8/10. [*Female Director*]

🍿 Tom Waits for no one is a creative rotoscoping of his burlesque riff 'The one that got away'. It won an Oscar for Scientific and Technical Achievement in 1979. (Via)

🍿 The Burden, a Swedish stop-animated musical, a sad existentialist dirge about animals night-working at a supermarket, boiler room and other dreary places. [*Female Director*]

🍿 Plucking Tangerines, (2021) a completely random pick about a young British woman remembering the time her girlfriend left her. I just didn't care for it. [*Female Director*]

🍿

Another one I couldn't finish: Michael Showalter's Hello, my name is Doris. I tried it only because this was the comedy he made just before the terrific 'The big Sick'. But old lady Sally Field daydreaming about having sex with a young, hot guy was lame and unfunny.

🍿

Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy is the scariest horror film I've seen this year. A documentary about the hidden racism at the heart of "Christian Nationalism". (But there's no mention of Nancy Maclean's work). 7/10.

The filmmakers are going to find themselves in concentration camps within a couple of years. :(

🍿

Throw-back to the Adora Art project:  

Adora with Buñuel.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here).

[timbarrus]

Washing Kree’s Hair

I used to give Kree baths in the kitchen sink. Hold still. I’m washing your hair.

Dirt Bike Town is bursting with kids.

They all want a bike. They all get one. All drugs are free. Yes. All of them.

I get to decide what happens to characters I invent. They would be my heros and my victims. The only power I have in life is the power to create characters you will remember, and the whole dog and pony shows comes with.  

It’s a novel. It’s a novel. It’s a novel.

That means it’s fiction.

I am making it up and any relationship in this book is conflicted. Because we are all conflicted. If not with one issue, then it’s another issue. It’s set in the not so distant future.

You can’t go back. In time. The physicists who are insinuating that time travel backwards is possible, are not being honest.

Most of them have blogs about theoretical physics. With tens of thousands of followers. They steadfastly consume this stuff In order to travel back in time, physics would have to become something it has not yet confronted with the enormously warped mass any wormhole worth the name will be imbued with all the miscalculation, the stereotypes, the cultural myths speaking in warning shots across the bow. All species are up for grabs. In the past, we lost a few. Now, we are losing everything because our respect for life is manifestly an illusion. We shit where we eat. We are unable to fundamentally change. The inability to deal with change will be the end of us.

How DO you get out of Dodge.

I know this. You won’t. Discover. How. We are in this struggle to survive, together. Even if I loathe you. Even if I know in my heart that you are evil.

Evil. Is. Us.

I used to give Kree baths in the kitchen sink. Water was a result of the handpump at the bottom of the hill. You ran down there with your empty pails, and you filled them up, lugging them, and losing half the water in the bucket, you were intent to bring the pails one at a time to the kitchen where the nerve center of the house pulsated with survival and stamina.

I will never forget this farm of sheep and goats and horses and cows and wildlife everywhere you looked. The river was thick with fish. There are none of those rivers left. The wild tamed out of them to what end.

Has anyone been to Lake Powell recently. I made a detour there on my bike. The extent to which we have turned Lake Powell into a sewer is a show stopper. I almost could not breathe. I have been here so many times, but today, Lake Powell and the Rio Grande are skeletons. The Rio Grande gave Scottsdale pools.

You have abused it. All of your toxicity dumped into it without a thought. In Ohio, a carmaker dumped its chemical waste down a water drain pipe. Please do not turn your faucets on. Fire could come out of them. You could roast some hot dogs.

They just do not care. Not about you. Not about me. Not about anyone. The Normals are focused on one thing that is the myth greed. Greed is not a fortress. You could hold out a bit.

But the Roman soldiers are scaling the rock. The same men who raped your women and boys, and how is it that they are always left out, boys expunged from the gender stories we live by as to who we are and what we are and what motivates us to be the top dog of anywhere, anywhere. Your water is at risk. You are not immune. It will all happen to you, too, in fact, it’s happening as we stand around going duh.

An ICBM is about more than a message. They rape us. We rape them. We know where it all begins -- war -- but we have no idea how it will end.

We are still blowing families up. We are still supporting genocide. We are raping entire Indian Nations -- such as Columbian Deep Jungle native tribes -- in our wide-spread insatiable greed for energy, and if they leave their culture’s sitting in the ruins of their lives, digging for gold in the toxic mud, we are the whip that draws their blood.  

The issue is always rape. You can rape Homo sapiens with impunity. But raping an entire planet is suicide. Why are you here.

I learned to drive at ten. Tractors were an obsession. I would drive down to the Grand River with my dog, and sit there and watch the river travel to eternity. We would sneak into the showers at the state park. It was not allowed because we were not camping there (how is it that you get to camp in a bus the size of France). I would towel Kree off. Bite toes. Laugh. What a vile species we are. I pray hard that we will never find aliens. Tomorrow, I will wash Krees hair again.

[khajiit-reads]

I’d like a g witch reading please! She/ her femme. Thank you!

Well met, internet traveler!

Your wish number is 31. That means it likely won't come true.

Repeating for the sake of clarity in case you return to this spread at a later date and no longer remember in the future: The inner circle represents your destiny, and the outer circle the forces affecting you and it.

Let's start with the inner ring. ⛤ Rider above Fish and beside Tower. Rider is a positive message albeit dampened by the proximity of Fox and Snake. Rider will bring you a positive message, albeit it might bring a lot of negativity for you in some form or another. ⛤ Tower beside Rider and Ring. Ring is to the right, so it's positive here, Tower itself is a negative omen alongside the neutral here Rider. Tower can bring illness of all forms, not just physical. ⛤ Ring beside Tower and above Fox. Fox is near so the danger is great, and both Fox and Ring talk of people. There are people who want to harm you, but at the same time, plenty of people who don't. ⛤ Fish below Rider and above Dog. Fish is near, so it details riches! Dog is far, though, so it represents unsuspected enemies. Alongside the message from For and Snake, there might be a lot of calamity in your life in the social sector. ⛤ Fox below Ring and above Snake. Fox and Snake both forewarn of danger, from people wanting to harm you. However, Fox faces away from the Querent, so that can mean that it will be swift. ⛤ Dog below Fish and beside Anchor. Dog is far so it denotes unsuspected enemies, and Anchor is close to multiple cards that make it negative, denoting betrayal of trust. However, it's also next to Dog, which indicates fidelity in love. This can ultimately mean that while some people love you and will treat you well, others don't and won't. Dog also faces the back of the Querent, which can indicate that these people are behind you, for better or for worse. ⛤ Anchor beside Dog and Snake. No new notes, really for this one. ⛤ Snake beside Anchor and below Fox. Snake is mostly about calamity and enmity, but it's thankfully far, so it won't be nearly as devastating as it feels.

Now, for the outer ring. ⛤ Key above Coffin and beside Roads. Key is surrounded by negative cards, so it most likely means illness than anything else, yet again, not necessarily physical. An illness is deeply affecting you, or will affect you. ⛤ Roads beside Key and Lightning. Roads speaks of misadventures, and it is close, so no averting the evil that deeply. Roads can also indicate and speak of choices, so you might have a lot of choices before you as of late. ⛤ Lightning beside Roads and above Order. Order brings a bit of peace into this with honor and recognition, and Lightning is far so the surprise disagreement won't be too terrible. But there's still that bothering you. ⛤ Coffin below Key and above Lilies. Coffin is near, so illness is predicted again. Lilies signifies happiness, though, and underneath the Querent signifies immortality in that happiness. ⛤ Order below Lightning and above House. House also brings some positivity into this reading, with saying that despite the chaos Lightning brings, there will be order, honor, and peace, eventually. ⛤ Lilies below Coffin and beside Ship. You might find yourself going on a journey, even if a metaphorical one, one that brings you joy in the end. ⛤ Ship beside Lilies and House. Ship remains fortuitous, being a card of riches, especially when it's near like it is. There are good things available to you during this time. ⛤ House beside Ship and below Order. House wraps this all up in a friendly bow of "It will all be okay". House says that if things are bad now, they will end up fine.

The Querent faces the right, which is where your focus is. You might find that your focus as of late is very heavy on catastrophic thinking, instead of acknowledging the good things that lie behind the Querent (friendship, good news, riches).

Above the Querent lies Tower, which can indicate your thoughts at this time. Once again, catastrophic thinking.

Below the Querent lies Anchor, which can indicate your emotions at this time. This one also speaks of catastrophic thinking, but in the emotional sector. (Wow I'm a broken record...)

Yoof, you got a particularly negative one, huh. I wish you the best. May your feet always walk in warm sands.

Thank you so much for your patience with me performing this reading.

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I hope you, and all readers, have a wonderful day!

[icareaboutme]

Go down on my feelings

Time to time my sexual side awakens and for a couple of minutes these intentions give me the moving power to go after the real thing. Unfortunately, I am really bad at it. My flirting skills are bad, I can’t make gestures to make the other guy know that Im interested in him, so the outcome is always failure. I only had 2 sexual experinece. The first one is with my first boyfriend, the first and the last time he slept at my dormroom, he wanted our first kiss to happen and now I see he also wanted more, like idk maybe a bj or something. So he kissed me but sooo badly, it was like a fish trying to swallow me. Deeply traumatizing and bad. So after that all our little kisses (that he wanted) were something I needed to do with all my life force. The sexual tension was nowhere, for me at least. The day we broke up, he gave off the feeling that he had strong feeling towards me sexually and tried to hold on to me strongly because other than me at that time, everybody knew, that Me and Him werent a match. I was much more (it feels bad to say it, even with low confidence) good looking and special. He wasn’t social and outgoing and I was just going around in the city feeling much more like a single boy than somebody in a relationship. So I guess first sexual trauma striked there. (I think he is in a new relationship now and I hope he is happier. He is a nice guy and I will always remember him, but sadly not as my first boyfriend, but much more like as a friend.) 

My second one was with this this guy-friends-something. We went on one date and it was much more like a friendly hangout than a date. We drank and watched the city lights. I talked about my inexperineced life, while he talked about going to parties and doing stuff since he was 16. I think its important to note that we were and still are the same age. I think to him, I was a strange boy. I feel like he though that a person like me would have already gone trough a couple of situationships (I hate this word) and breakups and one-night stands. After that (comes the good part, so read) 2 days later we went to a party, I met some of the friends of his and danced to lady gaga song. Even tho it was summer, the weather got slowly bad and we got soaking wet (not in a good way,) so he offered me the option to stay at his flat, because it was closer. So went with him, drunk, wet, anxiety on peak and tired. I slept in his bed even tho there was a couch too (he said I chose the bed bcs I wanted action too which is a lie, the bed is always better dumbass). So as I was sleeping he kissed me, went down on me. So..you know...drunkly and tired I couldnt even get it up bcs in my head I was lost. So he has stopped and we went to sleep. The next morning without any explonation, together, we traveled to the east central station and just like that everybody went on their ways.

Weird to think about that after this, we met again like 2 times, no sex, just hanging out. Couple of back and forth friendly messages. A bad party where his friends treated me shit  and I left. Got sexually harassed on a bus, cried like a baby till my dorm. Sat in front of my dorm, watched the sky and felt the pain of the bad actions. 

I think the whole sexual side of mine just slowly faded away and transformed into more like and idea in my brain than a thing thats part of life. So as Im sitting here wrinting this and seeing how my last year was just a big challenge, makes me think wow. I was pushing down this? I was traumatized and sad and thrown into a hole. I want to accept that fear can make us choose badly and do strange things. And friends of my friend arent my friends until they choose to reach out to me to be friends with them. I have to accept that my beauty comes from being me, open and open and open. 

Maybe there will be a better guy in my future or guyS, who will....me