#I'm actually so curious as to how this will go

[prokopetz]

PS5 disks have a maximum capacity of 100GB, so now we have games like the latest Final Fantasy VII remake that are over that limit and are basically two-disk games pretending to be single-disk games by asking you to use a "setup disk" to install enough of the game to your console's hard drive to remove the need for swapping, and I'm very curious whether and how they're going to keep up the charade if they crack the 200GB barrier before the PS6 comes out and end up needing three disks. Like, what's the actual mechanism for pretending it's not a disk 1/disk 2/disk 3 situation there? Will they bother?

[lightseoul]

a/n. i really don't know where i'm going with this, y'all. but getting to role-play as a therapist and explore bakugou's psyche has been lots of fun, so bear with me. please let me know what you think and/or would want to see! maybe that'll give me an idea lol. (1.1k)

navigation. part 1, part 2, (you are here)

“n-no.”

at that, the woman’s eyebrows shoot up, disappearing underneath her fringe. “no?”

“you heard me,” bakugou spits instinctively, immediately regretting how hostile that sounded not even a second later. “i mean, no, i didn’t.”

his therapist, apparently unfazed by his show of aggression—she must’ve gotten used to it by now, although he still feels bad when he gets testy—only jots something down in her clipboard before looking back up at him, an inexplicable expression etched across her features.

“do you have any ideas, then, why, for the first time in seemingly forever, you’re fixating on a particular social encounter?”

bakugou barely manages to bite back a scowl.

he hates it—this part. the part where his psychologist obviously has theories as to why he’s acting a certain way or how he’s actually feeling but chooses to ask him instead, in an attempt to draw it out of him.

as if talking about difficult shit in the first place isn’t already painful enough.

and isn’t that what he’s paying her to do? give him answers? why’d he have to be the one to wrack his brain for uncomfortable answers to uncomfortable questions?

“do you?” he then challenges, emboldened by that train of thought just now.

“yes,” she responds truthfully and without missing a beat it somewhat surprises him. “but as i’ve explained to you before, i think it’ll be helpful for you if we try a more active approach on your end so that any insights gleaned from our discussions become more personalized and stick with you longer.”

well, then. fuck.

the lady’s got a point.

“so,” she continues when he doesn’t reply, annoyingly aware her little spiel got to him, “any ideas? working hypotheses?”

“uh,” he starts begrudgingly, eyes roving over the bookshelves lining the room’s walls as he struggles to come up with another angle. then it dawns on him, and he looks directly at the woman. “i didn’t expect to see someone in here, and when i did, it caught me off guard.”

“that may be because most of our clients opt for virtual consultations rather than face-to-face ones.”

“yeah,” he piles on quickly, admittedly thankful for the validation, and for the fact. the absolute last thing he needs is to bump into some extras before and after therapy. “that must be why.”

“but how does that explain your, and i quote, ‘dumb as shit reaction’?”

bakugou instantly feels himself flame. he clears his throat, “i told you, didn’t i? it caught me off guard. how the fuck did you expect me to react?”

that must’ve been a reasonable point, thank the fuck, because the woman pauses in thought before nodding slowly. “i suppose you’re right.”

he narrowly bites back an of course, i am.

but then she’s spouting off again.

“although it’s interesting to me how your immediate reaction was to say hi, when that’s not really…how should i say, your style, based on our prior sessions and your personality test results.”

a pause.

bakugou scrambles for a bulletproof rebuttal. he comes up short.

the lady cocks her head to the side, curious. “how often would you say you mull over social blunders?”

never, he thinks to himself. because they never happen.

“i figured as much,” comes her unexpected reply, and only then does it dawn on him that he said the last bit out loud.

“can we talk about something else?” he finds himself suddenly asking, totally over this entire conversation. he can worry about being a loser and pathetically begging for an out some other time. right now, he just needs a break.

“actually, you’re in luck,” she checks her smartwatch, “the session’s just about to end.”

at that, his shoulders almost instantly sag in relief, which makes the woman laugh. he shoots her a half-hearted glare.

they spend the next few minutes summarizing what has been discussed, as well as the arrangements for the following weeks, with bakugou eventually throwing his bag over his shoulders and bidding her a mumbled goodbye. he tosses her a nod over his shoulder as he crosses the threshold of her office, mind already drifting to what he’s going to cook himself for dinner.

and that, for a typical session, he’s walking out relatively unscathed.

but then he does the stupid thing of looking up from where he was studying his trainers when a door creaks open, and he freezes.

because standing a few feet away from him, right beside the entrance to the restroom, is you, equally frozen.

he doesn’t know how much time passes with him just staring at you like a motherfucking idiot, and you, strangely enough, peering at him back, but it’s you who eventually takes a hammer to the silence.

“h-hi,” you offer, voice soft and quiet, just like how he vaguely remembers it from two weeks ago.

“hey,” comes his gruff reply, which would’ve been immediately followed by a wince at how rough his tone was just now had he not stopped himself in the nick of time.

at least he didn’t stutter.

“…b-bakugou, right?” you ask after a moment of neither of you saying anything, confirming his earlier suspicions.

“right.”

you nod, a polite yet somehow stilted smile on your face, and suddenly he’s mentally slapping himself. since when was he fucking bound to one-word sentences?

he decides then and there that this shit won’t do.

in an attempt to convince himself that no, this is just a weird outlier of an encounter for him, and that no, he’s not a fucking idiot like dunce face, and that yes, he is and is being perfectly fucking normal, he resolves to ask you for your name.

and he was just about to do that—he swears he was—when someone from the other side of the door calls out a name, and you whip to face their direction, breaking eye contact.

“yes, doc!” you holler back, and he watches you as you hesitate in place for a second, before turning to face him with an awkward smile.

“nice meeting you, bakugou-san.”

and then you’re off and shutting the door behind you.

he stands there for what feels like a few minutes, just blinking at the door in front of him, what must be your name echoing—again and again—up to the far recesses of his mind.

then: fuck.

he may or may not have just lied to his therapist.

˖⁺‧₊ as always, reblogs, replies, and tags are appreciated <3 feel free to drop an ask, too—i'd love to chat with you. have a nice day!

tagging. @bunnysaursushii @yawnzzzzzzzz @cholios @kashee-h @iluv-ace @lotuslovers @elarakive @sugurusmoon @napbatata @k0z3me @h0ngh0ngh0ng @honeyoru @yoongiwithglasses @hellokitty-doll @lilsebnem @tetsuukuroo @crangrapel0ver @syrhra @qyuin | @kalulakunundrum @cheezemanz @gold24fish @lunaryasha

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

i feel like sonic being the one to give shadow the Dont Kill People Speech gives them like. a boost in their friendship level dynamic VERY early on that i'm curious to see how it will go forward. like, in the games, sonic and shadow mostly race and fight in SA2 until the end, and then shadow has amnesia for a few games, so by the time they're back to where they were they have a pretty solid dynamic of "race and fight (but with slightly less murder attempts)". sonic and shadow CONNECTED on a level in the movie that i can't think of them ever doing in the games. shadow avoids talking about his feelings as much as possible, i can't think of him ever actually talking about his trauma outside of sonic battle, which was to rouge and emerl, and not as a way to actually process until rouge dropped that he had a soul. but like. in the movie sonic and shadow actually talk about their grief and then when fighting you can see them just smiling at each other that like. it's 1am do you guys see what i'm saying

[capybara-on-the-ezh]

preface: i'm not an expert on this; look into my sources (and find your own sources) because there's a chance i messed something up

i'm skeptical of the extraordinary claims here for a few reasons. firstly, generative ai is not a monolith, and it's well known that text generation is much less energy-intensive than image generation; this post disingenuously equates the two. secondly, it's not honest to ascribe the energy usage of data centers to ai--data centers are used for streaming video, hosting web or game servers, and other computational tasks. thirdly, the units here are strange--chatgpt using 17,000x the electricity of an american home sounds outrageous, but if you think about it, that's just the energy usage of a medium-sized city for a global, enormously popular service.

this seems like an objective, reasonable examination of ai energy usage:

it claims that:

generating 1,000 images with stable diffusion xl is equivalent to driving 4 miles in a gas car (so 1 image is equivalent to driving about 20 feet)

electricity usage from ai, cryptocurrency, and datacenters may double between 2022 and 2026 and may be responsible for about "one germany or sweden" worth of energy demand

rising electricity usage from ai is only a small part of electricity increases in general, compared to electric cars and industry

microsoft's increase in carbon emissions comes from building datacenters, not running ai models

similar claims about information technology using exorbitant amounts of energy in the past have not come to pass

the article cites this article with more specifics on individual energy usage:

which claims that:

generating one image with state-of-the-art models uses about as much energy as fully charging a smartphone

generating text 1,000 times uses 16% as much energy (in other words, generating one text uses 0.016% of the energy of charging a smartphone. i'm curious what "generating text" a certain number of times implies--is it per-prompt or per-token?)

larger, general models are more energy-demanding than smaller models trained on specific tasks (duh)

contrary to what i previously thought, training costs don't always outweigh usage costs--while usage costs are low, they add up, ans chatgpt's usage costs likely surpassed training costs in a couple of weeks

their source is this study, which wasn't peer-reviewed at the time:

finally there's this article, commenting on the same study with some useful comparisons for context:

it claims that:

1,000 text-classifications is equivalent in energy use to 9 seconds watching netflix, and 1,000 text-generations is equivalent to 3.5 minutes. this means that a single instance of text-generation would be equivalent to watching about a fifth of a second of netflix. that's not a lot, and you don't see people moralizing about the energy usage of netflix! i suspect that there's a bit of motivated reasoning going on when people moralize individual consumption of ai but not individual consumption of netflix or other technology.

however, they caution that the study is mainly useful for providing relative figures (image generation is orders of magnitude more costly than text generation) not absolute figures, because the testing isn't necessarily representative of how people actually use ai, and the computers that actually run these models at large scales are likely more optimized and efficient.

on a larger scale, a separate study claims that globally, ai could use as much energy as the netherlands, or about half a percent of global energy usage, by 2027

the author of this study cautions that energy usage from datacenters has historically been consistent, because increases in efficiency have balanced out increased demand. however, he says that because ai companies have been simply creating larger and larger models using more data, that this balancing may not hold because that's not conducive to efficiency

what do i personally make of this?

it seems to me like it's important to make a distinction between image generation (which is energy-intensive by all accounts) and text generation when looking at individual usage.

however, i am concerned by the total energy usage of ai, especially because the trend seems to be to create exponentially larger models with diminishing results instead of focusing on technological efficiency. i think that the choice for a company to use ai at a large scale (i.e. integrating it into search results or social media) needs to be carefully considered because it will increase energy usage.

however, i don't think it's useful to moralize individual usage of ai. i'm a vegan--i do moralize individual consumption like purchasing meat when it creates measurable harm for much smaller benefit, and when the demand fundamentally comes from the consumer. however, as i see it, the demand for ai comes from investors, not consumers--in fact, ai companies like openai and anthropic are operating at a loss from of their consumers' usage of their free products; they're willing to do this because they're betting on it becoming profitable in the future. unlike purchasing meat, using ai doesn't generate profit that goes toward producing more supply.

i also think that it's worth doing cost-benefit analysis--if some ai model used a large amount of electricity but was able to automate human dredgery or increase the efficiency of existing automation, that might be worth if! then of course you get into labor issues; ultimately under capitalism workers don't reap the benefits of automation. this, however, is an economic not technological issue, and applies equally to other forms of automation (like industrial robots).

there's also the social and aesthetic aspect of ai, which is ultimately the motivation for people moralizing it. here i largely agree with the anti-ai crowd (save for the copyright issue--ai is clearly transformative and doubling down on repressive copyright laws doesn't help artists)--i think that ai is overhyped, overused, often produces bad results, and can create social alienation when used to replace human connection. these are valid criticisms! however, this isn't reason to dismiss all generative ai--for some tasks (i.e. processing scanned text or generating image captions) ai excels and is, imo, genuinely worthwhile.

despite all of this, the energy usage of large-scale ai is still an issue. as explained before, this is not issue which can be addressed via consumer boycotts--ultimately, we need state regulation of large ai model training and deployment, and we urgently need to stop using fossil fuels. i think there's some hope on the sustainable energy front from the energy costs of ai--microsoft bought an exclusive license to use the three-mile island reactor, which could help offset increased energy usage. but we can't solely rely on the market for that; we need aggressive state action to accelerate and enforce the transition away from fossil fuels.

Idgaf if you don't want to write essays for school. I don't care if you don't want to write corporate emails yourself. I don't care if you can't draw well, I don't care if you can't write well, I don't care if you just really really want to talk to your favorite fictional character but don't want to RP with a real person because you have social anxiety or whatever

If you're still regularly using generative ai, chatgpt or midjourney or character.ai or literally whatever the fuck, im personally blaming you when my utility prices start going up.

[chocobje]

How I like to characterize Sprout is that he’s great talking with the ones he’s close with (Cosmo, Astro, etc.) But incredibly socially awkward with others. He comes off as brash, but he’s trying his best.

What guidelines do you try to follow when writing Sprout? I’m just curious.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to yap about one of my favourite characters hehe..

You asked for guidelines I gave you a character analysis instead.

(Don't mind the images I didn't want this post to look naked)

ALSO NOTE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY THIS IS MERELY MY INTERPRETATION OF HIS CHARACTER. EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN!! Don't take my post as a mandatory guide to follow.

Let's talk about what's canon:

I like checking the Wikipedia for his dialogues every now and then to make sure he's not too out-of-character.

Sprout comes off as blunt, he does not sugarcoat his words when he has something to say.

Not even an excuse or a reason as to why he doesn't want to join Teagan for tea; It was straight up a "no" until Teagan told him Cosmo will join them too. (Also I want to point out he doesn't immediately say yes when he's told Cosmo will be there, so for all we know he'd still decline even if his best friend's joining Teagan).

Dandy's dialogue when you purchase Sprout. I think about it a lot. Out of all the character dialogues, the one with Astro is what I feel like is an example of his overprotectiveness coming across as "pushy".

He'd definitely be the type to scold his friends. Especially after Gardenview's shutdown with all the Twisteds wreaking havoc and whatnot. I don't think Sprout is fond of going on runs, but only does so he can watch over everyone and keep them safe. He makes sure everyone is focused and on high alert, he doesn't want anyone to be reckless.

He prioritizes safety over answers. His dialogue with Rodger shows that. Maybe he's also curious as to what has happened, because in Vee's dialogue he tried talking to Dandy only for Dandy to walk away. I assume Sprout just wanted to check up on him rather than knowing what's going on with Gardenview and the Twisteds.

Another thing I don't really see often is how Sprout is actually pretty forgetful and impulsive.

For a Toon who's constantly keeping watch on everyone he surely does not apply the same kind of attention to himself.

He talks before thinking about his words, but once he realized that he immediately apologized to Vee. I don't think he always notices when he comes across as rude though.

I actually think he's actually quite reckless when he bakes. I obviously can't show it in this post but if you look at that animation with Cosmo and Sprout baking they're not even measuring the ingredients. I mean what. 😭

The way he bakes feels so impulsive and it just looked like they were winging it. Somehow despite that their baked goods still end up great and that's honestly impressive.

Okay now for that dialogue between Bobette and Sprout, I was getting there-- I've never made a gingerbread house but from what I've seen from other people it requires a lot more patience and carefulness.

Sprout is neither.

According to him, his gingerbread house fell apart immediately and then he stopped trying afterwards. It's honestly funny.

I feel like this also shows through his stats. Both his extraction speed and skillcheck is 2 stars. His stamina and speed is way higher. He prefers running around, probably to make sure he can watch over everyone during their runs. That or because he has long legs.

Anyway to recap; Sprout in canon is blunt, pushy, overprotective, and impulsive. But he genuinely has good intentions and means well. He cares for his friends, which is why he scolds them because he wants to make sure they're safe.

Now for some headcanons:

Okay this is the part where I make stuff up. So it's just my take;

• He has ADHD.

I'M STARTING WITH THE NEURODIVERGENT HEADCANON.

This is not a unique headcanon. I've seen so many people who headcanons this too so it's relatively popular. Personally, I only see him with ADHD. (I'm projecting).

He's forgetful, impulsive, and quite socially awkward in a way aswell. He's easily distracted. He keeps forgetting about the oven. He's impulsive when baking. I'm a very impulsive and reckless person myself, I constantly make mistakes when I draw, yet somehow they end up okay 😭. When I'm not able to draw something right, I give up immediately. (I projected this onto the gingerbread house thing earlier).

• He comes across as intimidating.

You know in Kids' birthday parties when there's a mascot a lotta kids go run and hide? I based it off of that. I remember when I was like, 6 or 7, when a mascot came in I cried and hid under a table. They were tall.. <\3

I feel like there was a concerning number of kids who were actually afraid of him, despite how friendly he appears both in person and in the show. Maybe it's the RBF when he's not smiling..

I also like to think he's taller than some of the kids who comes to Gardenview which plays a factor to the whole "intimidating" thing. The way Sprout deals with this is giving the kids cupcakes or other sweets. Once the kids actually talk to him they're immediately comfortable.

• He was one of the very first to become "Twisted".

I don't have a concrete idea on how the story of the game goes, but I always imagine the Mains being the first victims. Sprout is a healer and he keeps an eye on everyone, so he had to go first.

–

Okay, I think that's all now. If you read all of that wow thanks, this took me hours to write 😭. I love overanalysing characters.

[moon-mage]

I'm sorry? Vil is a what in your au? I'm curious why he is an inmate.

Vil is going to have a whole arc about the hows and whys... But what I will share is that Vil is ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT an inmate in S.T.Y.X. locked up on charges of murder during unauthorized use of his ultimate magic. BUT...he is actually out here being an entire vigilante. His alias is "The Poisonous Queen" but he also goes by "Schoenheit". He is considered a menace and threat by the Authorities...and NOT the one to fuck with in the underground/crime world.

I have a VERY specific scene in which Vil and Jamil meet...during a small gas station robbery (as civilians) where they basically beat some loser's ass together. Jamil then chases after Vil recognizing him as PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE and Vil is basically like 'nope, you haven't unlocked this part of the plot' and sleeps him. Vil and Jamil do have a bit of history...but it doesn't click for Jamil until later.

Vil also has this weirdo sidekick that be running around with him sometimes??? He calls himself the "Hunter of Love" and at first everyone was like what the fuck IS that...but his kill count is insane and he stans with the Queen so we don't fuck with this weird man. Why does he kinda sound like the weirdo medical examiner, Dr. Hunt? That's a weird coincidence?!? Wow. Legend has it the Hunter of Love just showed up one day and despite the Queen telling him to get lost he just stayed around...and so he never left his side...

Yeah, I can't help myself but be extra with Vil. I had the idea and it stayed so yep. So what about Leona in all this...?

Jamil: you gonna elaborate? Leona: uh. naw. not today.

Leona...knows. He very much knows. Leona and Vil have history too because like they're them. Leona is super aware of who the Poisonous Queen is but he doesn't know why he ain't in jail. He is high key not trying to care either.

Click here for the Detective!AU tag to see more of this mess! I should name is SOMETHING...ehhhh

[shehungers]

OF FLESH SIN

vampire priest x reader | 2.6k | 18+

a ghastly sight! one of the monastery's beloved priests has been found brutally murdered and disfigured in his chambers. father shaw, a newer addition to the monastery, claims to have answers to sate your reaching curiosity—but he wishes for you to come to his chambers at night.

story warnings; dark content, time period inaccuracies, graphic + gruesome details, vampires are predators, power imbalance, kinda obsessive behavior, prose + detail heavy, mention of animal death, hypnotism (kinda), very yandere behavior, roughly proofread.

reposted from my old blog: theoxenfree.

please consider leaving feedback + reblogging!

Father Marius died in quite some awful way last night, as reported to you by the nuns hanging fresh washed garments on the clothesline in the waning, purpling daylight.

“A look of horror! Utter terror! So frightened that his jaw had become dislocated in forever a scream,” shivered one young nun, Lucy; recently a convert from the slums. “I, well, I didn't see it myself. Neither did the rest of us, actually. They say it was that new Father Shaw who found him at dawn.”

You had been raking gravel out of the yard, tiny stones kicked off of the path into the kempt lawn by prancing horses and wagon wheels, when Lucy and the other nun, Esme, had caught your attention with their hard, dense gossip. They regarded your approach with less caution than they would have had with their other sisters, as gossip was deemed inappropriate, a violation, a flickering serpent’s tongue carrying covert temptations leading to luscious sins and debauchery.

They saw you—poor, morose, the groundskeeper's only child and reminder of loveless trysts—and thought nothing of snaking you into their prattle. You were not the sort to divulge anyone's secrets without gain, without reward, and you knew that the nuns kept nothing to their names once they took their vows and donned their habits.

“Father Shaw,” you continued the discussion with some intrigue, mostly from the fact that he was very new, very young, and modestly handsome, “why was he awake so early? Why was he in Father Marius’ chambers? Curious to me.”

Neither of them gave much caution to your questions, shrugging as if to dismiss your ambivalence and accusatory tone. You were bold in the way that the faithless and lost always tended to be: asking senseless things, always concerned with the wrongdoings of others, always suspicious, always inquiring—forever inquiring.

“Oh, my, you're so defensive,” Esme fanned a yellow bedspread out with an oncoming breeze, catching the wind beneath the fabric so it billowed and rippled midair. “If that’s how you're going to be, then: why does your father stumble around the yard at night with a lantern, swinging around a pistol like a madman? Won't he hurt someone?”

Because he's a godless, superstitious drunk. Perhaps, even, a bit disturbed in his mind, but you couldn't bear to think that way, that he might be the type to need his head locked in a metal cage, gagged, arms bound, and padlocked in some damp, distant corner of an asylum.

“He's a good man,” you relented, taking your hands from the top of the smoothed out, worn handle of the rake and resumed your task. The gravel made an awful, grinding sound as the teeth of the rake collected pieces of stone and led it back to the rest. “He's served this monastery well. I don't mean offense about Father Shaw, I'm simply curious about what transpired is all.”

“No offense taken,” came a voice from behind, startling both the twittering nuns and yourself at the same time. They saw it to be Father Shaw standing there, hands cuffed behind his back with a particularly demure disposition, hiked their skirts and whisked themselves away back inside. “Ah, am I really such a frightful figure? I couldn't really find an opening during your conversation to invite myself in. I apologize.”

You were of a similar fretful nature, quickening your clawing and the reach of the rake. “Nay, Father. I think it's simply because you're a strange man to them still. A handsome face, a warm voice, mysterious; give them time, they'll come around.”

“Have you?” Father Shaw asked, taking measured strides in a half-circle around to your front. He concentrated on where the teeth of your instrument struck next, tips temporarily wedged into the soft dirt before being ripped up with chunks of earth and gray gravel. “It wouldn't do for me if you… were still ill at ease with me as well. I consider you my one, true friend in this place.”

Your father held a certain destestation towards Father Shaw that you'd never witnessed before, saying nothing else than that something was terribly wrong with him and not to place yourself in a position to be alone with him. This you attributed to his unsoundness, but it was always the sudden flicker a sharp breath against candlelight—a jarring shift in his demeanor when he spoke about the Father, neurotic and prone to throwing things about the cottage interior, that caused you to pay some mind to what he told you.

“And, you're a great friend of mine as well,” you hoped you sounded coherent and paced your words evenly enough. “I'm sorry if you thought I was accusing you of something, sir. I really meant nothing to it.”

Father Shaw’s lips sprawled tight and pale into a fond smile, never showing his teeth, though the imprint of them seemed massive and the skin of his lips startlingly thin across them. “I know. You have nothing to fear. My feelings were not affected. If you'd like, come to my chambers later, we may pray together first, and I'll tell you everything you wish to know about what I saw to sate your curiosity.”

“That seems improper, sir.” You said.

“How so?”

“Inviting someone to your chambers at night seems an unbecoming venture for a pious man of status, such as yourself,” you continued, now standing upright beside your rake, “if any of the sisters were to witness it, worse another priest, aren't you afraid you'd be horribly chastised? Even worse, excommunicated altogether?”

Although Father Shaw’s dark eyes reflected no light, holding such demanding depth to them that it was hard to keep your bearings whenever you realized you'd been staring, his entire face was alight in amusement.

“Wherever did you learn to speak like that?” he asked candidly, still glowing despite his pallor. “Forgive me when I say, but your father is not an educated man. I mean no offense, please don't look at me in such a way. You are so well spoken, I only wish to know more about you.”

“I've lived here my entire life,” you told him. “The nuns taught me how to read.”

He looked impressed. “You can read?”

“I can!” From a near distance, you could make out your father’s haddard form, bent sideways on a walking cane and limping towards the pair of you. You looked up at the priest’s smooth face. “It'd be best for you to leave before my father can speak to you. He isn't the kindest soul after a long day.

Father Shaw didn't react with any semblance of worry, but agreed that there were other things needing to be done and began away. Just as he passed you on his way towards the monastery, he let his hand rest atop of your shoulder and leaned you towards him to whisper in your ear: “come to me tonight. I'll be waiting for you.”

There was something so luxurious and cooling about his voice; fine silks sitting in the shade during autumn gliding across your bare skin, wrapping your neck, your chest, your nether parts. His voice was a fine, chilly mist after the first rains in spring which felt refreshing and new after a glacial winter, yet still had capacity to soak you to the bone. It was a nighttime breeze caressing your cheek, sweeping through the hairs of your scalp, making your skin burst all over with bumps.

“I don't like the way he looks at you,” said your father with a mouthful of porridge you'd seasoned with herbs of the season. It was wonderfully fragrant and warm during nights that were still a bit too uncomfortable to sip anything cold. “He looks at you like you're a slab of meat! Some prize after a hunt. I don't like him, love. Not one bit. You'd do well to stay to mind yourself and do your chores and nothing else, y’hear?”

After dinner, you cleaned up, swept the floors with hard bristles, and snuffed all the lights except for the fireplace where your father sat in his old chair, fiddling with his favorite pistol.

“It's time for bed, old man.” You watched him fit a couple of small bullets into the loading chamber. They glinted against the orange flames. “Goodness. What have you gotten this time? Something new?"

“Aye!” he grinned, nearly toothless and in a sickly sort of way. “Went to market the other day while the nuns bullied you and picked out some fine bullets from the silversmith,” he cracked the two halves of the pistol shut. “Better to be prepared.”

You waited until sometime later once he was finally asleep, possibly after midnight, before leaving the humble cottage sitting on the fringes of the massive monastery yard and rushing across the grounds to get inside.

Once, they'd kept a guard dog on the property, one of those meaner breeds that were used for gambling, but the poor thing wound up shot dead in the middle of the night by a traveling friar who'd come to seek refuge at the monastery. The sisters, and yourself, were horribly distraught by the entire ordeal and all vetoed the consideration of bringing another dog here.

Since then, it was no task for you (or anyone else) to get inside the building and shuffle along the shadows through the corridors. At night, the place stirred with patient insects, feral rodents large and small in the pantry, and hungry owls tamely whining from the rafters when something startled them away from their hunt of vermin.

Your feet were a light sound on the masonry below, padded by thin leather soles which alerted you to your enthusiasm as the thwap thwap thwap became louder, aggressive as you closed in on a wall and turned down another hallway for a sturdy wood door at the end of it.

As your knuckles rapped, hoping the sound wouldn't disturb the animals’ nighttime caroling, a swift darkness moved across the floor from behind the door, briefly blocking out the soft light seeping out from underneath.

The next moment, you were being pulled inside and sat at a small table tucked to the side of Father Shaw’s rather generous room. It was a simple space, sparsely furnished for the barest of comforts—only for what was needed to live—but what had been made for him was of exquisite craftsmanship, some made of teakwood, which Shaw assured you was remarkably durable and highly resistant to rotting.

“It's wonderful for boats,” he said, pouring a light amber colored brew from a metal kettle he'd heated a short while ago. “It’s good for all elements, really. Exceptional longevity. I've heard it has become a popular option in the city for burying the deceased.”

“Will Father Marius be buried in a teakwood coffin, then?” you asked, sipping politely from the cup even though you had no appetite for it. You already felt ill at ease enough having disobeyed your father by sneaking into a priest's personal chambers at night. The things the sisters would say about you—

“He will be entombed underneath the monastery with the rest who have served here and passed. I believe that is all stone down there, my dear.” Father Shaw smiled tepidly, kettle aside, no tea of his own. “But, I know that your curiosity led you here to me with questions, yes? About the state I found Father Marius in, yes?”

You tried to disguise your intrigue by drinking more of the tea, of whatever it was he had given you, and listened to the sounds of your fingertips sticking to the porcelain from sweat and steam.

“If you wouldn't mind sharing…”

“I wouldn't!” he leaned on his arms on the table, closer towards you as though with a secret. “As I've said, you are truly the only soul here who I can confide in. You are not a sheep. And you do not fear sin as the rest do. So, you can ask me anything and I'll tell you everything.”

“Tell me about Father Marius, then.”

Father Shaw reached across the table for one of your hands; his far larger, fingers much longer and colder than your own and held it as he recounted the event.

“Dreadful sight, it was. It was, oh, perhaps sometime after three o'clock when I heard a massive racket. A struggle. When I knocked, all of the noise subsided at once and there was complete stillness. Silence, my dear, silence so deep, dark, and damning that I knew something awful had happened

“I didn't knock again, I was too afraid to! But, Father Marius was getting on in age, so I couldn't just stand by, either. I kicked the door in—just once was all it took—and I rushed inside to see the room was a complete mess. A fight had clearly taken place, and the walls—oh, the walls—”

His remorse was carefully placed, stiff, and uncertain and he couldn't be seen in the vastness of his black gaze. You were moved by the vulnerability he was trying to show you, going as far to abandon your drink to place your warm hand on top of his.

“The walls, my dear, were a mess of blood. Something vicious and awful had happened in that room. But, then, I found Father Marius lying there on the ground next to a broken window. I think he'd tried to throw himself through it. His face was shredded to pieces, his eyes gouged. When I got closer, I noticed that his tongue had been severed from his head!”

You were holding Father Shaw’s hands in a bloodless grip, face ashen, teeth chattering behind your lips. “What on earth! That is not only horror, but cruelty!”

“Oh, my love, it gets worse!” Father Shaw held you mesmerized in his gaze, the conviction and anguish with which he told his story. “Closer still, Father Marius’ face was locked in one of pure terror, I've—I’ve never seen a human react in quite a way such as that before, to fear. The man unhinged his own jaw in a hideous scream, and it seemed to me he was skeletal. By that, it's like he was, well, quite dry.

“So, I crouched down so much lower and inspected him all over. Do you want to know what I found?”

“Yes.” You spoke breathlessly.

Father Shaw had moved out of his seat and was on one knee in front of you, both of his frigid hands on your face to smooth across your cheeks, pushing away pieces of hair obscuring some part of you he'd wanted to see.

“My love, I saw marks in his neck. Two, beautifully, wonderfully symmetrical marks that were far too clean to be of any animal that we know of. The bite was clean, it was patient and cunning. And the fangs that had sunk into his tender flesh had drained him of blood, of the very essence that kept his heart beating until the very last.”

“Sir—” your stomach plummeted, falling forever, when he smiled, teeth longer than any humans should be shown through to you. He wouldn't let you go when you went to move out of his hands, away from him. “Father Shaw, please—”

“I wish you could have seen it, my love. It was a breathtaking sight and I long for someone else to admire the beauty of my work alongside me.”

It was unthinkable that a vampire could walk on these holy grounds and in the bright of day, yet Father Shaw had for countless days. Evil held you sweetly by the cheek and in your hair, kissed you with a corpse’s cold lips, and laved the skin of your skin with a long, serpentine tongue.

“O’, my merciful lord…”

Father Shaw bent your head back with a fistful of hair and spoke from your throat:

“There is no God, only me. Come into the endless night with me, my love.”

a/n; I'm aware this is historically inaccurate as nuns and the priest wouldn't have intermingled like this in a monastery. it's really not that big of a deal lmao.

so, two of the characters from this: father marius and father shaw, actually have been adapted as important side-characters in my upcoming possessed!scholar husband x reader story, which is based in a fictional victorian era.

they're essentially the same characters, just tweaked to fit the narrative of that story!

[trashcanteatime]

I'm a few months on T now and am spending the weekend in a hotel with my mom for a thing. Even though I kinda had to shave recently, it's coming back. I can lean on the sink and admire it in the big bathroom mirror. I've got this silly little mustache going on that reminds me of boys in middle school being so proud and I absolutely understand now. They were right to be proud. Because I sure am.

My mom paused in the elevator and got close because she can see the spots I missed and is curious to see what colors it's gonna end up. We've also been looking at old family photos and even if the beard doesn't come in right, I should have a proper 70s 'stache at the very least. My dad is gonna show me how to shave properly because I'm not very good at doing it yet and half hope to keep it that way. Because he sure doesn't shave anymore. I notice myself playing with my little beard now when I'm thinking about something. The tactile sensation of the difference between the softer fuzz and the actual whiskers is fascinating.

So I do the same and am grinning like an idiot because we both have a lot to look forward to!

The world is scary right now. I think it would be nice if every trans person who encounters this post reblogs with something good that is going on in their life. It does not have to be related to being trans. It also doesn't have to stay in the tags.

I'll start. I'm starting testosterone soon! I already have my prescription for it, but I'm going to have a few more conversations with my parents before I start. I'm really excited! Every time I see myself in the mirror, I imagine the beginnings of a beard on my face, and I start beaming.

[lovelykil]

baby—

ᯓ killua (older ver.)

short oneshot

note; no proof read whoopsiesss

theres no denying the personality shift Killua has gone through over the years while being with you. Compared to his sixteen-year-old self, he was much more confident and open to things he usually wouldn't be open to.

maybe it was thanks to you, he didn't know. Although he's matured deliciously, growing out his fluffy silver hair like his father... his sarcasm and teasing never changed in fact, grew worse due to his rising confidence.

which brings us to now, after a day of babysitting Gon's sweet children, who all 4 of them surprisingly take after their energetic father... you and Killua plop straight onto the bed once the two of you get home. There was a comfortable silence that fell as both of you collected your thoughts from today. A few seconds later you retrieved your phone from your pocket and began to scroll.

"what a day hu-"

"I think I want kids." You immediately sprang up from your spot. You turned to Killua wide-eyed and full of concern. "I'm sorry WHAT?" You yelled. Killua's curious eyes landed on you as he laid on his back, he slowly sat up. "what?" he innocently questioned your response.

you continue to stare at him like he just said the most INSANE thing ever, well he actually did.

"you want KIDS??"

"yeah."

"how can you say that so CAUSALLY?" you yell once again, voice filled with utter disbelief. Killua looked away to ponder then shrugged. He laid back down but a little closer to your legs this time, "I just think little me's running around would be cute, you know?" He stated, nonchalantly. You looked down at him, hair dangling.

"as if I need another sarcastic asshole in my life."

Killua frowned, you grinned.

you laid back down in your spot, sighing in relief as your head hit the soft pillow. You grabbed your phone once again and ignored the conversation. Killua sat up and scooted closer toward you then laid next to your warm figure.

you feel a sudden weight on your shoulder and hands wrapping around your torso to move you. "why not just one, huh? His voice low and pleading rang in your ears. You felt butterflies in your tummy. Bad sign.

you attempt to shake him off with a groan, "not even one.." you respond. Seemed like he gave up for a few seconds, or was just planning something stupid to convice you in the few moments of silence.

he turned back on his side after lying down in thought and began messing with your hair, twirling your curls more with his finger. "can you atleast give me a reason why you dont want one?" he mumbled. You place your phone down, processing his question.

your eyes move around the room slowly in thought before answering. "we're to young." you flip over, facing him. He raises his brow, "I'm the same age as Gon and he has three kids we JUST looked after."

your brow also rose, "well go and break up Gon and his wife and take care of his kids." you smirk. The silverette was now the one looking at you like you were crazy, his judging expression made your laugh die out, quick.

you clear your throat, "sorry."

he decides to ignore your idiotic comment and contiune on about this topic, "we're financially stable. I don't see why we can't try."

you rub your face, groaing. "we try alot of times just with a condom."

you snicker at the 'joke' as you rub your eyes. when you placed your hands down you were met with an annoyed Killua. You clicked your tongue, shocked he didn't find your joke at least a little funny...

"c'mon that was funny."

"no, you're an idiot." he rolled his eyes.

you sighed loudly, turning on your back. You looked up at the white ceiling "I don't know Kil, this is a pretty big responsibility... I'm gonna need some time to think about it." Finally taking this seriously, you respond solemnly.

Killua sat up and crawled onto you, sitting on your lap with his legs trapping your sides. You blushed staring at him in a confused manner. He leaned down to your face, "you promise?" he whispered, softly.

you nod slowly. The boy smiles and proceeds to inch closer, soon you could feel his soft lips only inches away from yours. He noticed the way your lips curled into the cute smile he always adored when he leaned closer to you. It was then he knew if you two had a girl,

she would surely get your goregous smile.

you soon felt his lips crash into yours.

[certifiedsexed]

Terrified to ask in fear I'll be framed bad but here I go!!

I'm very interested in the human body and anything that can be considered medical (have been ever since I was 3-4 years old!!) and so I tend to get carried away with topics when it comes to human anatomy or procedures

One of which I've been talking about a lot is ftm HRT and the affects it'll have because not only am I incredibly excited for it I find it fascinating with how it works and what changes it provides and I'll yap about it in VCs with friends and stuff

With that context out of the way some of the people in those VCs are minors and I'm worried that what I'm talking about is harming them (because sometimes the topic turns to bottom growth or vaginal atrophy, sometimes the topic turns to mtf hrt and I'll discuss breast growth and the affects estrogen has on penises or testicles) Because I'm an adult (barely so too, I turned 18 like this year)

The minors are 15 or older never any younger and I always clarify and check in if I'm making anybody uncomfortable and if people want me to stop which everyone has said continously that they're ok with it and even ask questions about the topic (a lot of the people I hang out with are trans folks who have some kind of transition goal in mind)

But I'm worried if I'm pushing it too far and am actually harming them because I'm an adult while these people are minors. It never turns sexual its all talked about in a strictly educational manner.

I hope this makes sense sorry for the long ask :(

It's kinda interesting to read this ask for me because I'm very similar to this and have been for a long time. I also had similar worries but more about sharing with my siblings than general friends.

Look, talking about sex education (including trans specific sex education) isn't bad for kids or going to harm them.

You've been interested in this type of thing since you were very young yourself, do you think it hurt you? It doesn't sound like it, seeing as you're still wholly excited and fascinated with this type of subject.

It sounds like you're very considerate about it as well and that your friends are curious/interested in the topics you discuss. That's wonderful.

You being 18 does not make it dangerous or harmful. You're not flirting with minors or anything even similar. You're just sharing information-information that it sounds like some of these kids will need!

You being an adult doesn't immediately make it inappropriate or dangerous. In fact, I'd argue having a safe adult these kids can talk to and ask questions about topics like that generally makes them safer.

If any of them were voicing discomfort and you continued to engage them in these conversations, ignoring that, I'd say, "Definitely stop that." but so far, it sounds absolutely fine.

Hope this helps, Anon! Let me know if you have any other questions. <3

[creatingblackcharacters]

I found a video on yt (idk if tumblr will let me link it here but it's called "Black People Rate Black Anime Characters' Hair" by 3rd Impact) and I'm curious what you think. With one character they mentioned his hair "looks like a phase". It made me a bit worried as a writer that the hairstyles I give my characters also "don't fit them"? I had a question similar to the prev anon on hair and I read all the lessons, which helped, but I don't get why that was said about them, or why some of the hairstyles got the ratings they did

😅 I mean, it's likely because you aren't Black and aren't familiar with our hair, hairstyles or expectations, so it might have unfortunately gone over your head. Because I understood all of this 😅

I do see what they mean by saying "it looks like a phase" lmao they explain it right after! He looks like he dyed his hair a silly color that doesn't match his look bc he was going through some shit 🤣 it doesn't help that it's Jaden Smith's anime, which makes it worse.

I actually think their rankings aren't too good lmao. Pick another video. This is a good example of how we aren't a monolith when it comes to how we judge "well done" hair. That said, there were some consistencies. Like I'd have ranked Onyankopon higher... But it isn't a properly done fade, no 😅 they definitely let their opinions of the shows bias their answers, when it should be based on the hair alone.

Like Yoruichi? Her hair is NOT GOOD lmao she is a bucket tool Black character. IDC how excellent Bleach is, it's the truth. Tosen doesn't look like that, it's clear there was a somewhat attempt on texture for him. But ranking Afro Samurai as a D? Their opinions are garbage to me bc he's at least a B.

[potatoes83]

...and that really is the difference. The left is losing their minds right now because immigrants are terrified that ICE is going to show up and deport them. There was a story this morning on Fox 2 about a local food pantry that's shutting its doors because the farm in Texas that they partner with closed down because none of their workers came to work.

Let's unpack that for a second.

First, the obvious one, if you're here properly, that is, with the proper paperwork for whatever it is that you are doing, school, seasonal work, whatever, AND you are abiding by the laws of this country... ICE is not out to get you. The executive order from Trump does not say "find anyone darker than me and deport them". Now if you're here illegally, if you invaded our borders and flouted our laws, then yes, you should be worried, and rightly so. ICE is not deporting immigrants. They are deporting illegal aliens. And starting with the most violent ones first.

Second, there shouldn't even need to be an executive order in the first place. We have laws in place already, and agencies in place to enforce them. But the previous administration kept them from doing their jobs. And the problem is, for better or for worse, this creates a false sense of security. When you don't enforce the rules that are on the books, and this is top down from the federal government to a middle manager in a shop somewhere, there's an expectation that those rules no longer matter. So when you do suddenly start enforcing them, oh no, you're cracking down. If you are here illegally, and or breaking other laws of this country, it was always ICE's job to find and deport you. This is not a new initiative.

Finally, there's this repeated trope from the left that without all of these "immigrants", and note that they use the term interchangeably with illegal aliens, who will clean our houses and wash our dishes and pick our green beans and so on? And speaking from an economic standpoint, I can actually see this being a concern, and I'm curious how we're going to overcome that. I certainly have a few ideas. It is a reality that a significant amount of seasonal migrant workers do indeed fill these jobs, and I can guarantee that not every one of them is properly documented. But it's interesting how the left is all about equality, equity, everyone's the same, and yet they acknowledge and desperately wish to maintain this permanent underclass to do their bidding. I can all but guarantee that some Hollywood 'star' in their Brentwood mansion is not paying Lupe 25 bucks an hour to scrub those toilets. 🥔

[kazoolol]

SONIC N SHADOW INFORMAL CHARACTER ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION

WARNING this analysis, opinion thing jumps from scene to scene as it's made with the idea you've seen the games and I'm also writing this sort of on the spot so apologies for any typos etc. Also please be nice I'm just some guy.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Sonic and Shadow being so hostile towards each other. Now I'm not referring to their rivalry, because I love it. They're the only people who match each other in almost every aspect, so competition and a little rivalry is welcome and expected. But what I dislike is how nowadays they're not even capable of complimenting one another. Or even getting along in a more casual setting?

Like, in their Tailstube or the line change in SxSG ("You got this, Sonic." -> "On your feet, Sonic.") It feels sort of unnecsesary and disingenuine rewriting genuine hostility between the characters when there wasn't any to begin with.

Sonic and Shadow have always had a competitive push and pull that leaned towards playful from the get go despite the danger both parties presented.

When they meet, Shadow doesn't even seem inherently aggressive like he's depicted to be nowadays. He simply just warps away from Sonic when he comes at him.

Shadow at this point just sees himself in higher regard to Sonic and deems him unworthy of his time. This represented by the fact that Shadow is not only positioned to be looming over Sonic, the cinematography having him look down at him and exclaiming once he teleports onto the roof of the building that, "Theres no time for games, farewell."

We know that Shadow however quickly changes his tune the more he gets to know Sonoc throughout SA2.

He expresses disappointment in what he assumes to be Sonics death.

This line is so cool and extremely telling of their relationship at this point because it implies that Shadow saw him as MORE than just some hedgehog that resembled him.

Note the "You never cease to suprise me" "So, there's more to you than just looking like me."

(Small note thats kind of off topic) It's interesting to me in a lot of these encounters Sonic is actually the one to START the fight (other than when they battle each other on the ark). This is within reason though since hes being blamed for crimes he did not commit.

I wish Shadows hostility was toned down some. As he seems pretty amicable all things considering even hes working against Sonic. For example trading quips with Sonic in Adventure 2, doing numerous callbacks to such quips. In the hero story when you fight Shadow on the island as Sonic, he even admits Sonic is an impressive fighter. ( I would take SS but I'll just link a video to the scene)

In fact he gives Sonic credit where credit is due and vice versa numerous times throughout the story, and even the little talk they have before the fight on the Ark Shadow is genuinely curious about Sonic and who he is as a person.

Shadows curiousity surrounding Sonic is something I've always found incredibly interesting about their dynamic. I don't think Shadow would be so no nonsense and dismissive of Sonic, because Sonic intrigues him. Not only due to their similarity in appearance, but how Sonic carries himself as a person.

Not only is this an amazing character moment for Sonic, emphasizing he is not a hero but just a guy who loves adventure. Shadow after this revelation is not aggressive, mean or dismissive. He only fights Sonic because he's in the way, not due to some hatred on Shadows end, just because Sonic was in the way. He treats Rouge similarly.

I also liked the inherent connection the two of them had, like how in Sonic Heroes where Shadow lacks memory of any of SA2, he shows immediate interest in Sonic of all characters.

He's confused about why they look similar, yes, but he still shows immense interest in Sonic and ONLY Sonic even though Tails and Knuckles are also extremely suprised by his return.

I also think it's important to note that, even when Shadow remembers very little of Sonic, they still maintain that playful push and pull dynamic. Shadow never brushes him off, engaging with Sonic and vice versa.

Notice how Shadow isn't insulting, degrading nor putting down Sonic. He isn't so no nonsense as he is protrayed to be nowadays. He plays off of him, going "Is that so...well then, it will be a date to DIE for." Before smirking and running at Sonic.

Maybe I'm simply misunderstanding something, maybe I'm just being oblivious or misinterpreting their scenes, but I feel the removal of Shadows friendliness admist the rivalry and competition makes it feel less compelling because where their dynamic was established to be both parties pushing and pulling each others limits, yet also holding an air of respect and liking to one another feels lost with how most just deem Shadow and Sonic just hating each others guts. What reason does Shadow have for wanting to "finally defeat" Sonic?

Even in games where Shadow a bit more "aggressive" or has a less than friendly dynamic with Sonic (Think Sonic Battle and Shadow 05) theres still an air of respect between them. Sonic actually is the one who continues to push Shadow to take the path thats best for him. Sonic pushes him to be honest about his feelings, that it's okay for him to simply live and feel in the moment. And even when Shadow disagrees with this notion, claiming he has no heart, or Sonic is misunderstanding him, Sonic remains by his side.

That's what I've always loved about Sonic and Shadows relationship. That respect and care for one another I feel is completely lost nowadays to their dynamic. Big moments like Shadow directly stating that the ultimate lifeform is Sonic (I stole this off someone on Twitter I believe. Thank you to that person!) Sonic inspiring Shadow to live just doesn't really exist anymore.

And even in Sonic 06, the respect and trust the two have remains and is even stronger than before. When explaining where they find themselves to Team Hero, Sonic immediately picks up what Shadow is trying to communicate, that they need to work. Neither parties are apprehensive to one another, Sonic giving a thumbs up and Shadow nodding in approval.

And later when the teams are off on their own, theres the small but to me very memorable interaction where Sonic points right at Shadow and says, "Don't be late." And where I feel in recent titles where Shadow would either ignore him or just brush him off, he gets extremely close to Sonic and goes "Same to you."

And of course the iconic "chaos control" they do together not ONLY being noticably closer than it was with Silver, but they exchange NO WORDS throughout it all and just...know what to do. That is so special to me. That they just know what the other is thinking with no words said. Another moment that supports this is when Shadow comes in to help Sonic and no words are said besides a nod and smile. Would the two really do something like that if they hated one another and had no interest in each other?

I never see their close bond anymore between the two in both canon and fanon content and it's really sad disappointing in my opinion.

It makes Sonic and Shadows dynamic as a whole way less compelling.

The point of this character analysis is to point out how much of what made Shadow and Sonics dynamic actually engaging and have an incredible amount of depth is just...gone nowadays. With them leaning into making Shadow and Sonic rivals, they lost what made that dynamic so special in the first place.

Now I'm not saying I want Sonic and Shadow to be openly really friendly and lose their banter but I wish more moments of care and trust between them was also more common place.

What do you think? Do you think I missed the mark in some of this? Do you prefer their older dynamic or the newer one?

Just to be clear this is not a hate post directed to any of the Sonic Team, this isn't an Ian Flynn hate post this is just me pointing out how I feel about the more modern take on the characters. I really like how Shadow generations handles them but I also feel some line changes in Sonic Generations don't sit well with me personally.

I'm not a big fan of much of the Sonic and Shadow material outside of the games other than the Sonic movies and stories from Sonic channel so I tried to stick to the games primarily when discussing their dynamic.

Please be nice in the replies!!!!!

[laylainalaska]

Watched 8x03 "Guerrilla My Dreams" with @sheronwrites , and have not stopped speculating since then on when in the episode, exactly, the three-way roommate collusion started happening.

Charles is definitely in cahoots with the other two by the chess game at the end. I love how BJ obliquely tells Charles that they need him to stall for time without tipping off Park.

Park: Doc, how is our patient? BJ: Oh, not well at all. These things take time, you know.

Charles flicks a little glance at BJ when he says that - it happens so fast that I couldn't manage to get a cap of it - and it's shortly after this that he starts trying to disrupt Park's playing to slow the game down. He knows perfectly well what Hawkeye and BJ are up to; you can even see him try to grab Park when Park jumps up from the table, although he misses.

Anyway, so he's fully on board with the Plan by this point and knows what his part in it is supposed to be, but I would love to know when they came up with this and how much of it was collaborative from the beginning.

(Further caps and speculation under the cut.)

I feel like there's a good chance the chess conversation earlier in the episode, when they find out that Park plays chess and Charles offers to play it with him, was spontaneous. Actually it's kind of hard to tell how much of what Charles is doing there Hawkeye is aware of at first. When Park mentions chess, you can see Charles immediately become interested; in fact they all do.

Hawkeye flicks a glance over his shoulder ...

... And Charles immediately, conspicuously looks away and doesn't look back until Hawkeye's attention is elsewhere.

It's right after that that he moves around Hawkeye - love his little touch to Hawkeye's arm, which is impossible to screencap properly because he's behind him at the time ...

And takes Park aside and tells him that it's nice to find someone else around here who likes chess and might make a worthy opponent.

What I'm not sure about is if they had talked about it at all beforehand - if they already had a sort of plan, just need a distraction, and Hawkeye's quick glance at Charles is a sort of signal that this is the opening they need - or if Charles did this spontaneously on his own because he recognized that this was a way to subtly get Park out of the way so that Hawkeye can do whatever he wants.

I think it's at least possible at this point that BJ, at least, thinks Charles is serious about wanting to spend time with the guy.

Hawkeye, though, keeps looking back and forth between them - at BJ and then at Charles - and this of course is when Charles signals his true intentions here.

A distraction!

I like how Hawkeye stares at him for a minute and then tosses a speculative glance at BJ.

They definitely all three talked about it at some point after this but before the chess game - they had to, because Charles is clearly aware of the timing of what Hawkeye and BJ are doing in post-op.

But I'm really curious if this was Charles's idea initially - that he could use this as a distraction to give Hawkeye a chance to do whatever Hawkeye is going to do - or if Hawkeye cued him.

I would also love to know if Charles volunteered his cognac as part of the distraction or if they stole it! tbh I could go about 50-50 either way, leaning probably towards Charles knowing about it beforehand (probably at least SLIGHTLY under duress, but we already know that he has exactly 0 defenses against Hawkeye asking him for things).

Which is really his entire reason for being involved at all. He has no particular investment in the situation himself, but Hawkeye really wants this patient away from Park, and Charles knows that. It's not about the principle of the thing for him, it's just about helping Hawkeye.

(Forever mildly annoyed that the show is so subtle about it, because you have to pay close attention to realize that Charles is helping them and not amusing himself with Park at Hawkeye and his patient's expense.)

[starlost-maniac]

I Slept with My Boss - Ch 3

Warnings/genre: SMUT, piv, pia, protected sex, one night stand, mxf, mxm, multiple orgasms, multiple partners, club/drinks, voyeurism, pet names, daddy kink, double pen, oral, public sex (no witnesses), user is called a slut this chapter, slight asphyxiation, squirting, Mean SeungIN

Pairing: ot8 SKZ x fem!reader

MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS, DNI

dividers made by @cafekitsune

It was the weekend, and Yoonae wanted to take you out again. You allowed her to take you to a new club that did karaoke, but you told her that you would listen. Not participate. She complained playfully but agreed.

You didn't drink any alcohol tonight, opting for just juice. Yoonae drank plenty and sang a few songs between other patrons or with other patrons. When she finally made her way back to you, she probably sang about 10 songs already. The patrons loved her.

"Are you sure you don't wanna sing, Y/n?" She asked, sitting next to you. You smile and shake your head.

"I'm sure, Yoonae. I'm not much of a singer." You watch the stage as two men walk up, selecting a song. Yoonae watches as well, grinning.

"They're cute. Maybe I can get them for you." She giggles.

"What is with you and getting me two guys at once?" You laugh. You didn't really mind it, but you were curious. She just shrugs.

"Two is better than one?" She looks at you, wiggling her eyebrows again. You can't help but laugh. The duo on stage sing a few songs, and Yoonae goes to them once they're done and off the stage to see if they'd be interested in a hook up with you. You don't know how she manages to get these guys to agree when you normally have such trouble getting a guy's attention.

She walks back over to you, grin on her face. She sits down next to you. You watch her and raise a brow at her.

"They own the club and saw us walk in. They are definitely interested in you, Y/n." You stare at her, shocked that the club owners were interested. "They said to go to the VIP section in an hour, and the bouncer will let you in." She winks at you.

"I think I may actually need a drink now." You laugh a little. Your friend questions if you really wanted one and buys it when you say yeah. You end up downing it quickly, finishing the rest of your juice as well before heading to the VIP area. The bouncer looks you over and raises a brow. He refuses to let you in.

"You're not on the list." He crosses his arms.

"I was told the owners wanted me to come here in an hour." Your voice was getting quiet.

"Right. And I'm King Henry the 4th." He rolls his eyes. Just as you turned around, you saw both the men who said they were the owners coming up.

"Frank. Let her in. She's our special guest for the night." The one with black and blonde hair said. The bouncer straightens up and nods, apologizing. He steps out of the way, opening the rope barrier for all three of you. The two owners smile and lead you inside.

The first part of the VIP section is just like the regular bar, but with exclusive access. The second part is private rooms downstairs and upstairs. They lead you to a booth downstairs and have you sit, sitting on either side of you.

"So, what's a pretty little thing like you doing here?" The owner with short black hair asks, looking you over.

"Honestly, my friend is taking me out. Trying to help me get over someone." You say, a bit nervous.

"I think we can definitely help with that." The black and white-haired one says. "As long as you're ok with it, obviously." You look the two owners over. They give off fox and puppy vibes.

"I am. My friend wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't." You laugh a bit.

"Good. Color system, because we will get a bit mean. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, that's ok. I'm green." Both the men grin. The one with fox-like features grabs one of your hands, his other hand wrapping around your waist. He pulls you into his lap, making you straddle his lap, your dress riding up. He smirks when you squeak, seeing your cheeks flush.

"You are really beautiful, by the way." He snakes his large hands around you, placing his hands on your ass, squeezing. You squeak out a thank you, which makes them both laugh. The one that reminds you of a puppy moves closer, reaching up between you. He gently grabs your breast, feeling your nipple harden through the fabric.

"No bra?" He chuckles, pinching your nipple through the fabric, making you gasp softly. "I wonder what other delicious sounds you can make. I.N, since you have her in your lap, go ahead and see what sounds you can pull from her." He smirks, leaning back against the seat.

I.N smirks and reaches up, pulling the top of your dress down, uncovering your breasts. Leaning down, he bites your nipple before harshly sucking on it. You wince a bit at hard he bit you, but moan right after. Your hands snake up to his hair as his goes back to your hips. He pulls your hips down, making you grind against him, his cock hard in his pants.

I.N groans against your nipple as you moan a little loud, your head lolling back some. Holding onto him, you grind against him slowly, letting out breathy moans. The fox-like boy releases your now tender nipple.

"She makes beautiful noises, Seungmin-hyung." He mumbles before moving to your other nipple, repeating the actions. Seungmin chuckles beside him.

"Such pretty sounds." He mumbles, palming himself through his slacks. I.N releases your hips, reaching between you to undo his pants, quickly pulling his cock out. He releases your nipple with a pop and looks up at you, grinning when he sees how flushed you are. He takes one of your hands and moves it to his leaking dick. You grasp him and slowly start stroking. His lips part slightly, a soft moan coming from his lips.

"Feels so good.." he mumbles. He pulls a condom out of his pocket, watching as you stroke him faster, teasing his tip with your thumb. He grunts as his hips buck into your hand. He opens the condom and takes your hand off him, slipping the rubber on. He grabs your hip with one hand, the other slips between your legs, pulling your panties to the side. He pulls your hips closer to him, pushing you down onto his length, hard. You moan out and arch your back some.

"Mm..fuck. You're so tight." He groans out, pushing you down completely onto him. Seungmin watches from his seat next to you. I.N leans forward and bites the crook of your neck, groaning against your skin.

"What's your color, sweetheart?" Seungmin asks, still palming himself.

"Green." You gasp out. "So fucking green.."

Seungmin smirks. "Hear that Innie. She's still green." Jeongin grips your hips with both hands, still biting onto you. He helps you move your hips, releasing your neck before placing kisses along where he bit. You grind your hips into his, moaning out. You feel him deep inside you, his tip pressing against your cervix. He sits back in his seat, watching as you move your hips in a circle.

As you start to bounce on him, he reaches up and grabs onto your breasts, squeezing them and pinching your nipples. You moan loudly, your cheeks flushing when you remember you're in public. Both men chuckle.

"Be as loud as you want. Remember we own this club, and you're our special guest for the night." Seungmin says. Your cheeks flush a bit more and you nod slightly. I.N thrusts up into you before pulling you off him. He maneuvers you so you're turned around on him, your back against his chest now. He slips his cock back into you and groans. One hand creeps around your neck, squeezing.

"Color, darling?" I.N asks. You squeak out a 'green' and moan again. His other hand lays on your stomach as he thrusts up into you hard. He bites onto the other side of your neck, leaving more bite marks across your neck and shoulders as well as sucking large hickeys on you. Your head lolls back onto his shoulder as Seungmin reaches over to slip his hand into your panties.

"Sorry, Innie. I need to touch her." He says, fingers finding your clit, slowly circling the nub. You try to arch your back, I.N holding you down against him. He releases your neck slightly so you can breathe, his thrusts getting harder as Seungmin rubs your clit faster. The fox-like boy groans when he feels you clench around him.

"Gonna be a good little slut and cum for us, hmm?" He squeezes your neck again, grinding up into you, making you moan loudly. You arch again as much as you're able to, cumming hard around him. I.N groans as he continues fucking you through your high before he cums inside the condom, his cock twitching as he cums. Seungmin takes his hand out of your panties, smirking. I.N releases your neck and turns your head to face him. He kisses you deeply and groans into your mouth when you clench around him again.

"Color?" He mumbles, kissing across your cheek to nibble on your earlobe.

"Green." You gasp out. The boys chuckle. I.N lifts you off him, Seungmin puts you into his lap next. You feel his cock against your ass. When did he take himself out? Jeongin takes his condom off and ties it off as Seungmin has you bending forward on the table. He puts his own condom on and pushes himself into you harshly. Seungmin grabs one of your hands and holds it against your back, making sure he isn't hurting you before he bucks his hips up to yours.

"Such a little slut. Letting us fuck you like this, where anyone can see you." He grinds into you. I.N chuckles and reaches over, grabbing your ass as Seungmin fucks into you hard. He moves so he's half kneeling on the booth chair, fucking into you deeper. I.N smacks your ass, your cunt clenching around Seungmin hard. "Mm. She's likes that, Innie." He lets go of your arm and grabs onto the back of your neck, keeping you down on the table.

"Does she now?" The black and white-haired boy grins, smacking your ass again. You gasp and moan, clenching around his friend again. Seungmin groans and leans down, placing kisses along your back. He leaves hickies of varying sizes. He sits up and smirks, happy with himself. Reaching around you, he finds your clit again and circles the sensitive nub. I.N slips his fingers down to your other hole, immediately slipping two long fingers inside. You arch your back and let out a grumbling moan.

"Such a good fucking slut." He snaps his hips into you hard, his cock head pushing hard into your cervix. You gasp and moan, tears starting to drip from your eyes. "Color, sweetheart?" They ask.

"Don't..don't stop. Gr-green..so so fucking green." They both chuckle, I.N slipping a third finger into your ass as Seungmin fucks as hard and fast as he can. He rubs your clit harshly as he groans.

"Fucking cum, slut. I want to feel you cum so fucking hard around me." Seungmin just about growls at you, gripping your neck a little harder but not hard enough to leave marks. You feel your eyes roll back, moaning loud as drool dribbles out of your mouth. I.N finger fucks your ass as fast and hard as he can, Seungmin grinding hard into you, the sound of his hips against yours almost audible over the club music beyond the VIP area. You arch your back some, palms flat on the table as you cum hard. You clench around both men, your body shuddering at how hard you came.

"Fucking hell, hyung." Jeongin says, laughing in excitement. "I've never seen a girl cum this hard before." He continues his ministrations in your ass as Seungmin keeps fucking into your sopping cunt.

"She squirted too, Innie." Seungmin chuckles. "I felt it. We are taking her upstairs after this." He grins. He grunts loud as he thrusts into you once more, cumming into the condom. He releases your neck and holds your hips. Leaning down, he places soft kisses along your back, trapping I.N's hand between your bodies.

"You ok, darling?" I.N asks, leaning over to look at you. You nod a little, a soft 'yeah' slipping from you. Seungmin stands up straight, carefully pulling you up with him as I.N slips his fingers out of you. Seungmin sits down, still inside you, pulling you into his lap. The boys look at you and chuckle. "You look absolutely fucked out. Let's get you upstairs and get you some water."

They fixed your dress and panties, discarding their condoms in a bin on the way upstairs. Bringing you to the third floor—surprised your legs still worked after that fucking—they brought you to a room that read 'Authorized Personal Only.'

"First time we get to use this room with a patron and not with the others." Seungmin chuckles.

"Don't tell Jinnie. He'll get so jealous he didn't get to watch." I.N laughs, shutting the door behind you. It looked more homey than usual VIP rooms do. Seungmin leads you to the bed on the other side of the room as I.N went to get you some water and something quick to eat. Once they were sure you were sated, they asked your color again. Once hearing green, I.N had his lips on yours, quickly taking your dress and panties off. Seungmin grins beside you, getting a proper look at your body.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful." He whispers out, reaching over to pinch your hard nipples, making you moan into I.N's mouth. "Be as loud as you want here. No one will be able to hear." He leans over, kissing and sucking on your neck, groping your breasts. "Innie.." I.N let's out a sound so Seungmin knows he's listening, moving to kiss your lips. "I need to fuck her mouth." I.N pulls away, gently pulling your lower lip with his teeth, a mischievous grin splayed across his lips.

Seungmin picks you up and tosses you onto your back, crawling over you, his face between your legs, cock hanging over your lips. You lift your head and take the tip into your mouth. You moan as he licks between your folds. He lowers his hips a bit, slipping a bit more of his cock between your lips before he starts fucking into your mouth.

I.N kneels on the edge of the bed, slipping a condom onto his cock. "Watch your head, hyung." He spreads your legs and positions himself at your ass. Seungmin shifts a bit, putting his head in a better position so his friend can fuck you while he eats you out. Seungmin groans against your cunt as he watches I.N's long dick penetrate your ass. He carefully slides his own dick down your throat. You moan around Seungmin as he shoves his tongue deep into your entrance.

"How's she taste, hyung?" I.N bottoms out inside your ass.

"So fucking good. Probably the best pussy I've had in a long time." He sucks on your clit, inserting three fingers immediately inside you, making you arch and clench around them. I.N holds onto the back of your knees, keeping your legs spread wide for them as he starts fucking into you slow and hard. You hold onto Seungmin's sides, nails digging into his skin as you suck hard on his cock, hollowing your cheeks. Seungmin grunts when you accidentally scratch him and I.N chuckles.

"I can not wait to fucking taste her." I.N grins, grunting as he fucks into to your ass hard and fast. Seungmin curls his fingers inside you, making you arch your back and scratch him again as you suck on and moan around his cock. You clench hard around the men as your orgasm crashes over you quickly. Neither of them let up until Seungmin cums down your throat and I.N cums into the condom. They both pull out of you, Seungmin licking up your release from your cunt and his fingers before they switch spots. Seungmin's wrapped cock now at your ass, and I.N hovering over you, his cock at your lips and his head at your cunt.

They fuck you and eat you out like this until you're all cumming again. You are amazed at how much stamina they both have. They give you a little bit to catch your breath, helping you drink some water.

"Still green?" Seungmin asks, laying next to you now, your head on his chest. He was playing with your nipple absentmindedly. I.N laid on your other side, rubbing your clit slowly, scrolling on his phone. He wasn't really paying attention to his phone, instead listening to the soft whimpers that you made at the over stimulation. You nod at Seungmin's question, breathing hard. You feel his chest rumble with a quiet laugh. "Think you have at least one more in you? I wanna fuck you with Innie." You nod again.

"I think I can do one more." You let out a breathy laugh. Both boys chuckle. Getting up, they both grab a new condom, putting it on their still hard lengths. I.N picks you up, wrapping your arms and legs around him as he easily slides into your sensitive entrance. You let out a shuddery moan and lean your head on his shoulder. Seungmin steps up behind you, prodding your ass with his tip, carefully sliding into you. I.N holds onto your ass as Seungmin holds onto your thighs. They carefully lift you and drop you onto their cocks, pulling deep moans out of you. You felt extremely full with them both inside you.

"Look at this little slut, hyung. She's taking both our cocks so well." I.N says, looking at his friend over your head. Seungmin smirks as he thrusts up hard into you. "You like having our cocks stuff you full, slut?" He asks you, gripping your thighs.

"Y-yeesss…" you moan loudly, your nails digging into I.N's back. Leaving scratches up to his shoulders, you arch into him as you clench around them both as you cum.

"Such a good fucking slut, arent you?" Seungmin whispers in your ear. "Our little slut." He chuckles, fucking you faster. They cum nearly at the same time together. Seungmin slips out of you, going to the bathroom to discard his condom and to get a clean rag to clean you up with. Laying you on the bed as Seungmin steps to the bathroom, I.N slips out of you and helps you drink some more water. Seungmin comes back out and switches with I.N so his friend can go get clean. Seungmin cleans you gently, placing a few soft kisses to your lips.

"How you doing, hm?" He asks softly. "We weren't too rough on you?" He sets the empty bottle on the floor by the bed. You shake your head.

"Mm-mm. I enjoyed it." You smile before yawning. I.N comes out and lays on your other side, draping his arm over your stomach.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself tonight. Now get some rest." He kisses you a few times before all three of you settle down for the night.

Taglist:

@honeyybbuubblleess @gnabnahcbby @skzittomebabyuhhuhx3 @kenia4 @sweetprincessleah

[ideas-on-paper]

The Geth

My favorite race from Mass Effect by far are the Geth (although I think this should be obvious from the huge amount of lore analyses I wrote about the Geth in general and Legion specifically ^^') - as many people already said, they are extremely interesting because of how unique they are, not only among the other Mass Effect races, but among robots in sci-fi in general.

However, my own love for the Geth goes down to a much deeper level - strange as that may sound, they resonate so much with me because I personally identify with them. Strive for understanding, valuing perspectives, and acceptance of differences are principles that are extremely important to me; at the same time, while I want to communicate with other people, what often hampers my desire to is 1) uncertainty of how to go about it (because autism) and 2) fear of being betrayed, rejected, or disappointed (because of past experiences).

I can see so much of myself in Legion and the Geth - my wishes, my dreams, everything I've ever longed for, but also my flaws and shortcomings.

The Geth's relationship to the Quarians is also very interesting. It may not be very overt, but there's definitely a lot more to it than you would expect from "logical thinking" machines. I'm not sure if I would go so far as to call it "emotions", but the Geth definitely have their own desires that grew from their personal development. (I did want to do an extra analysis about this too, at some point.)

On that note, the Heretics are extremely interesting - they may seem like your standard "all organics must die" robots at the first glance, but after taking a closer look at them, they seem more like realists that got disillusioned because their ideals of peace proved to be impossible.

Idk if this is a bit of a stretch, but I cannot shake the feeling that the Geth's story is, in essence, centered around the notion of being abandoned by god. The Quarians, their "gods", literally told them "we do not love you, and you're nothing more than a tool to us", and being confronted with this reality, they're desperately trying to move on from them and find their own way. Still, they cannot fully sever the attachment that they have to the Quarians - the Heretics may have even taken to revering Sovereign as a gesture to abjure their own "loveless gods". (The irony being, of course, that Sovereign doesn't hold any more love to them; actually, it's interesting how many "loveless gods" Mass Effect has, since you can not only apply this to the Geth -> Quarians and the Heretics -> Sovereign, but also to the other galactic races -> the Protheans.) I can relate very well to this situation of being "left alone", too, as well as how hard it is to find your own path.

Legion's individuality is a difficult topic; I will say that there are some hints that the devs planned for Legion to develop individuality early on, although whether this was Chris L'Etoile's idea or someone else's is difficult to say.

I personally prefer using they/them pronouns for Legion out of respect for their gestalt nature, but I'm totally fine with people calling Legion he/him, too. (As for Legion themselves, I feel like they'd probably be pretty neutral about it.)

That being said, on a personal level, whether Legion is an individual or not doesn't matter all that much too me - I fully accept them as a collective consciousness, but if they're developing individuality, who am I to forbid them? I don't "need" Legion to be either for me, and I'll love them all the same.

The Morning War

Naturally, since the Geth are my "special interest", I have always been curious about the Morning War - the thing is, while we know how it started and what the result of it was, the overall course of it is very hazy. (Unfortunately, this has led some people to very biased conclusions about it, to say the least.)

Although it may not have started in the most... pleasant way (essentially, I wanted to prove that it's possible to interpret the war in a way that doesn't absolve the Geth of killing 99% of the Quarian population and still keeps the plot about Quarian rebels fighting alongside the Geth as canon), the Morning War is a puzzle that I've started to really enjoy figuring out, so much so that I developed an entire fanfiction concept around it, complete with OCs. xD

In any fandom, I always tend to be intrigued most by the parts of the lore that are there, but that I can't see, and I love filling these gaps with my own imagination. Plus, I kinda have a thing for morally complex war dramas. xD

Pre-Morning War Quarian culture

This sort of happened as a "side effect" of my interest in the Morning War, but everything related to Pre-Morning War Quarian society and culture absolutely fascinates me. How does it differ from Migrant Fleet-era culture? What traces of it remain? How did it evolve with the Quarians' exile and them exclusively living in spaceships? (I'm super interested in how real-life cultures evolve and change with different influences, so this largely comes from my general passion for history. ^^)

Given the Geth and their ancestor VI databanks, the Quarians must've had impressive technology, so what was that like? The introduction of the Geth must've had a huge impact on Quarian economy and society, so what did daily life look like for them? Were there people who were disadvantaged due to these technological advancements? What were the philosophical takes on the Geth and the ancestor VIs? Were the Quarians really trying to secretly (and illegally) create true AIs of their ancestors, as it's implied by the Codex? They couldn't have kept this a secret from the Citadel Council forever, so how were they planning to deal with the consequences? What were the Quarians' relationships and interactions with other species like? And was their "utopia" really just a golden veneer, with lots of ugliness behind it?

I love thinking about this stuff, and it's very much going to feature in the fanfic that I'm developing as well. ;-)

The AIs

One thing I think is really interesting about the AIs in general - which goes for both EDI and the Geth - is that you can clearly tell how much they take after their creator species: EDI relies a lot on Shepard's guidance throughout ME3 and very actively inquires about human behavior, eventually adopting human ideals - such as humanity and individuality - as her own. As for the Geth, I did an analysis before where I talked about how many similarities they share with the Quarians, if you look closely.

Ironically though, this difference also limits Legion and EDI's understanding of each other. While they are very supportive of each other (both of them are AIs, after all), you can tell that Legion has trouble understanding EDI's perspective and her decisions. Similarly, there are instances of EDI severely misunderstanding the Geth in ME3, saying that consensus is "enforced" among the Geth, which is just... factually not true. (The very essence of the consensus is that the Geth won't make a decision unless every program agrees to it.) At one point, she even postulates that the Geth turned on the Quarians because "they didn't make them enough like them", since AIs with individuality develop stronger preferences/attachments to their creator species. (First off, for reasons cited above, I think this claim is wrong, and second, wouldn't "stronger preferences" potentially result in AIs being racist against species other than their creators?)

While I don't agree with EDI's assessment, all of this wonderfully shows how every sentient AI will not only inherit the morals and values of its creator species, but also their flaws and biases. EDI is an AI made by humans, so of course she would place greater value on individuality - naturally, this standpoint also influences her judgments.

My personal takeaway from this is that you have to be mindful of what you teach your AIs (which very much goes for real-life AIs as well) - if you teach an AI to lie and cheat, you can be sure that no good things will come of it if it ever gains sentience.

The Reapers

Seeing the reblogs, I also want to join @average-mako-enjoyer in saying that I'm actually quite fascinated by the Reapers' way of thinking/their worldview.

I have my own headcanons on them that slightly verge on AU territory, but I like to imagine that their role is to keep the galaxy, as a system, from clogging. In that, their function is similar to that of a virus in biological systems: Viruses sort of work like nature's "population control" when a species grows too much in numbers, and as such, they actually restore balance to the ecosystem.

However, in advanced civilizations, these "natural regulations" basically get deactivated - as a rule, nature is not too fond of monocultures (which is why they are so prone to diseases), and if you look at history, all great empires have a tendency to eventually fall. If you take this concept and apply it on a galactic level - that the dominance of singular advanced species will eventually result in a catastrophic system collapse - the Reapers might actually act as the "housekeepers" of the galaxy, restoring balance to the system as a whole by taking advanced races "out of the game" and giving others a chance to grow (or at least they see themselves that way).

In contrast to a normal virus, however, the harvested species technically remain alive - they just get "elevated" to a different level, so the Reapers' strategy is essentially "lossless" (which the Reapers are probably pretty proud of, I reckon).

I always wanted to write a more in-depth post about this (since it also plays into my concept of an "extended Refuse ending"), but haven't gotten around to it so far. ^^'

Lore topics I enjoy thinking about for Mass Effect Trilogy Week:

Biotics: I remember countless conversations about biotics that made me look at the wiki to check my information, replay parts of the game and in general pay attention to how it all works out. I still think there are many things about them that I don't understand right now, and that's why I love it. It makes you think! Each species will deal with it in a different way too, they have their own history with their biotics and how they use them. For humans, L2 biotics like Kaidan are always a source of wonder to me. Sure, you can picture a badass biotic like Aria and 100% she showed extreme power during the Omega DLC so that's really fascinating to me as well, but to have those implants and to be able to master Reave?! I also think the lore is not... as solid as it could be regarding how each species treats their biotics. It sometimes feels like a bit of a X-Men situation (they're different, others fear them, possible medical issues...) but it's like the writers don't want to deal with the full implications. And I really wish we could have seen a bit more artistic/cultural displays of biotics. Btw, my biotic sports headcanons are here

Lifespan: I love that each species has a different lifespan and that it really shows in how they live their lives. An asari will not look at their youth like a salarian. Honestly, I'm mad at myself because someone wrote about this in the tag and made a good commentary on it and I can't find the post again. It was about how salarians process thoughts and feelings compared to other species. I hope I can find it soon, and if so I'll reblog it. It's always a fascinating topic!

Artificial intelligence: Geth, EDI and other AIs like SAM are what I mean here. I really do think the topic of designing your own platform should come out more in this universe. I've said it a billion times before but I really want EDI to design her own platform. And I really have no answer, but I have found that all the meta about Legion was always thought-provoking. Was does individuality mean? Does Legion need individuality? Does he need to say "I" or was he better as a collective, as something "other" that was just fine as it was, but we humans just find more meaning in him becoming an individual? Even the words I use here, I'm fully aware I use "he" all the time when refering to Legion, and sometimes I wonder if that's good or not. I don't know. 

Justice system: I've made one big post about it (9 years ago haha), but I really find the Spectres fascinating, as well as each species' version of judges/soldiers/spies/agents/workers etc. And prisons.

The trade language: EVERYWHERE in the game and we have so little information compared to the Quarian's language???

And my favorite lore: everything related to the krogan. I really think it ties to what Bakara says about being her Shaman's initiation being a brutal one "But an illuminating one. You learn to appreciate the light by living in the dark."  I love that their species not because they're perfect but because they're imperfect in a way that speaks to me. They understand despair, the deepest kind. They understand anger. And they're constantly underestimated. But I find a lot of beauty, joy and humor in them. I also love that they're rarely lying or playing games, they will tell you the honest truth and you either take it or leave it.

Will be happy to know your favorite parts of the lore!!!