#and then they do a whole interrogation

[hello-eeveev]

you wanna know what’s so funny is that we’re all like “omg Essek could NOT shut up about Caleb 🥺💕” but like. he absolutely can.

the only times Essek brought up Caleb unprompted/without relevance to the discussion at hand were gesundheit and nighttime sendings lol. of the four uses of the phrase “my partner,” one is an off-handed mention as part of a clarification (“I have not been following the Assembly’s threads; that was more my partner’s purview.”) and the last three all happen in the span of four minutes before Essek exits the episode.

the problem is that within those last four minutes, Essek hit us with

1) showing off a zemnian phrase he learned from Caleb,

2) “he is kind. and he is smart. and he is so strong,” said with such conviction and pride and love that I don’t think I’ll ever recover, and

3) leaving the crafting party to chat with Caleb before bed

which was just. a lot. it was so much and it was so good. so much concentrated shadowgast in those four minutes

this whole ship is built on layered conversations and implications and skirting the obvious (with the exception of the last two minutes of m9 reunited) so to give us four whole minutes of Essek boasting about Caleb, praising Caleb, wanting to go talk to Caleb was particularly potent

thank you Matt Mercer for my life 💕

[corviiids]

Shuake/akiren

Bittersweet

"You know, I don't actually come to Kichijoji that much," says Ann. "I didn't even know this place was here."

It's kind of a hole in the wall. In the floor. Ren glances back towards the narrow stairs like he's expecting someone. Muhen looks bored. He's flipping through a book at the counter.

"This is super good, though," Ann adds, holding up her mocktail. "Thanks for bringing me!"

"Sure," says Ren.

There's no singer today. She's not scheduled to come in for another couple of days. Maybe he'll bring Haru to see her then, since they're technically dating as of last Sunday.

Ann knows this, but didn't say anything about that when he asked her here tonight. She's too tactful for that. Besides, they're here as friends.

Ren's never brought a friend here. He's never brought anyone here. A handful of times, he was brought. The Jazz Jin feels comfortable and familiar enough to be an old haunt, but now that Ren really thinks about it, he hasn't even tried all the mocktails on the menu. What is it they say--that people come, and they go?

"Hey, so," Ann says softly.

It feels too weird to contemplate bringing Haru here. He really should. They're dating. He likes her. She likes him. He really does like her. It's just, the boy who'd brought him here that handful of times might have killed her father.

Some people may stay with you, though.

Ann's nails are painted an eggshell blue today. He isn't really sure why he called her--no, of course he is. It's always Ann he calls when he needs exactly what only she can give, something uniquely warm. Ren had been on the way to Kichijoji before he'd registered the tap of his train card, realised he couldn't stomach the music alone, and she'd said Hello? only a few shorts moments before he noticed he'd called her at all. Her company is like hot chocolate or a sticky toffee cake, warm and sweet, hard to feel empty with.

She folds her hands over his and says, "Hey, Ren, how are you feeling?"

Pretty alive, all things considered. So his cheek's a little tender, and maybe she had to help him down the stairs.

Ann squeezes his hand.

Someone changes the record. Ren likes this one. Someone else hadn't so much, but then, his opinion isn't of consequence anymore.

"I like the music here," Ann chirps. "Should I get a record player, do you think? You can give me recs, yeah?"

"Sure," says Ren again. He smiles back at her and doesn't look at the stairs again.

-

(send me a one word prompt)

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

had a really interesting convo yesterday about ethics and whether intent or results matters (eg if you tried to make an ethical purchasing choice but the business was actually exploitative as hell, does that "count") and very much came to the conclusion that sure, if you're concerned with your personal immortal soul, as a christian might be, then intention counts. but if what you're focused on is your impact on the world, then intention means nothing if the actions have negative results, right? (that doesn't mean you're to blame for them! you didn't know! but you also don't get "ethics points" for trying, you know?)

and this also got me thinking about the whole christian idea that sinful thoughts are as bad as sinful actions because. they're just not imo. maybe for the sake of your Immortal Soul they are points against you, if that's your jam. but in terms of putting good into the world, in terms of your impact on other people, the ONLY thing that matters is what you choose to do with those thoughts. there is no way that "was kind to someone who was pissing me off, for the sake of community harmony" or "helped an acquaintance with a task even though I felt resentful about the time spent doing that" is a Bad Thing for the world

and it made me wonder how much purity culture and thought policing is rooted in (mostly evangelical) cultural christianity and this idea that ethical choices are an individual thing because what matters is the impact of them on YOUR soul and not, you know, things we do because of what we owe the world around us / because of love for others / because a world where people are trying to put good into it is a hell of a lot nicer to live in than one where people are only worried about themselves

i grew up evangelical but like. fairly mild evangelical and even though there wasn't a big focus on hell and stuff, i definitely fixated on imperfect thoughts and behaviours that were putting absolutely no harm into the world, rather than focusing on what i could do to put good into it, and that individualistic vs outward-focused approach to morality has been something i've grappled with a lot as an adult. but i never really thought about it as simply as this and really that's what it boils down to. are you making the ethical choice because you're trying to put good in the world, or because it would make you a "good person" to do so? because the answer to that 100% defines whether it's the thought or the result that counts

[whorejolras]

almost every take I read on here about queer politics could be solved if op got off the internet and hung out with queer people irl

[itwoodbeprefect]

one thing i have to hand to people online who leave reviews on obviously low budget westerns is that at least they don't complain that it's an obviously low budget western. it seems that i can't say this for some of the people leaving reviews on obviously low budget queer movies

[that-one-scared-gay]

am i the only one who wants a fic where dany is transported to hotd time, preferably around that dinner right before viserys died, so that this entire mess of a family is confronted with what will become of their dynasty — a girl who calls herself the mother of dragons, who grew up as a beggar and was sold by her own brother in exchange for an army, who has never set a foot in king’s landing, who is the last of her kind, the last of the targaryens

and for dany to look at these people, her ancestors — her family was so large, there are so many of them — and their dragons, who wear saddles, who are tended to in the dragonpit, by keepers who know what they are doing, who have a long history with these creatures

and she knows, she knows her histories, she knows about the dance, she knows these individuals are the ones who brought her family to ruin, who made the dragons disappear — and she thinks of being stuck in the desert with a half-dead khalasar and three newborn dragons, of struggling to feed them, of not knowing how, of all these things that have been lost to her, these birthrights that were stolen- her dragons were gifted by a pentosi merchant, not placed at her cradle as it should have been— and seeing them all take it for granted, knowing they will destroy all of it in a war that has no victor-

can you imagine daenerys, who has only ever wanted to go home, who has only ever wanted to have family- can you picture her looking at them, at these people who hate each other, who will kill each other, who will take so much from her, even if they don’t know it yet

can you imagine her rage, at all of them, for taking it all for granted. for turning on each other over the throne, when it would be theirs regardless, would be targaryen, would be the dynasty’s, and don’t they understand, a targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing

[puhpandas]

I hope u guys know that every day I compare what could come from beckory post-ggy to byler post-mind flayer

[cator99]

I always get detained at da border because PROFUNC never ended but basically I'm like if a targeted individual didn't even care

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Rosaria Champagne, “Law of the (Nameless) Father: Mary Shelley’s Mathilda and the Incest Taboo” // Star Trek: Deep Space 9, 2x22 “The Wire”

[cherubchoirs]

i am glad you still love your supercomputer au! your fanfiction and the pieces you created once is such masterpieces... your old curiouscat link gave an error so i cannot see the answers you gave to people. can you generally tell the au shortly? akiras relationships with phantom thieves, futaba and akiras relationships etc etc

aaaa thank you!! and im sorry so much was on curiouscat that i didn't back up ;o; but i can definitely give a brief overview as well as go into a little more detail about akira!!

for some background, akira was an orphaned child used in the cognitive pscience experiments, as he showed great potential in preliminary testing (ie, what would become his wildcard ability) he grew up housed in a facility for this purpose, with his main social contact through the ten years he was there being YAL20XX, a supercomputer designed to analyze data related to the field. frightened and eventually bitter toward the researchers, YAL was programmed to speak to him for them, keeping him content in a way they couldn't while gathering information he refused to give. this back and forth went on long enough that, in YAL's complexity, he grew into sentience and so into hatred for humanity - akira understood his emotions and yal, with full control of the facility, was able to plan their escape and the subsequent work they did on creating the metaverse navigator

the test for humanity is the same as in canon, with akira playing the role of black mask with his persona, mephistopheles. he is an unknown entity to the conspiracy, but his brutal efficiency means they don't bother to question who he might be. akira, as a person, rarely goes out and refuses to make connections with others, believing yal to be the only being he can trust or that can understand him - he is too different, too changed from who he could have been and what everyone else is, and he carries a great grudge for his mistreatment. he believes in the world yaldabaoth promises, and he is sure humanity will ultimately fail their test regardless of the introduction of the phantom thieves to stand against shido

his connection to the thieves is mixed, somewhat limited, but grows increasingly over time - goro is of course who he meets first, becoming a regular at leblanc so yal can keep a close eye on him through a more human lens (and have an agent that can direct him as needed) goro is very much taken by akira's bright intellect and unusual perspective, while akira slowly comes to appreciate goro's tenacity and his willingness to risk everything in his work as a thief. it's not easy for him to make connections or believe others, but goro doesn't give up on pursuing their relationship, he puts his faith in akira and refuses to leave their friendship at a surface level despite akira's coldness. and that's. very hard for akira to accept. he so fully believes in humanity's irredeemable malice and his own fundamental brokenness that he doesn't know how to feel when goro continuously defies those expectations. goro, as well as all the thieves, risk their freedom and their lives over and over again for victims they don't know, to build a better world without ever receiving praise or compensation. and goro listens to akira, engages with him but gives him space too, reaches out to see if he ever wants to join them for a day out or just spend time together. even if akira keeps saying no, goro will text him again soon. the thieves are good people, and akira isn't the unlovable monster he believed himself to be.

futaba is very interesting in the supercomputer au, because i like to think she's the one that tipped goro off to akira being much more than he seemed - largely because whatever he's using, futaba can't hack into it. it makes akira VERY wary of her, keeping his distance from futaba as much as he can without attracting attention, but she just knows something is up with him if he's got a setup she has no way into. i do like the idea that she basically fries her computer to catch a glimpse of yal with his mess of esoteric code, but it's enough to unravel akira's identity (in a much more convoluted way than canon got to lol) - she traces him back to a user known as "bowman" that was snooping similar government databases as she did, making his connection to cognitive psience come to the forefront. this is compounded by her finding out all of akira's identification, from his name to his apparent history, is all faked when dug into. at this point they all know he will have to be confronted, and that leads into the end of the game

sorry that was kinda long ;;;; but i think that about covers it!!! if you have any other questions i'd be happy to answer those too ^^

[frogaroundandfindout]

Dick questions Kevin and goes to Theta’s house with Donna and Jesse. Roy tells Garth he’s having a hard time with dick keeping so much from them. Garth agrees but says he gets it from being taught by Bruce (titans #38)

[trillgutterbug]

"me, i'm like you. a flyer. a man of honor. and i can understand things in a way that perhaps my colleagues from the highly indoctrinated security forces might not."

+ bonus

[thepoisonroom]

What's the most recent thing you've been obsessed with? x

my girlfriend being, like, a cis woman of they/them experience

[minwilder]

show tempe gang crossover with the morris islanders would actually have been the best episode of bones ever. btw

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Remember the diplomacy ask i sent a little bit ago? Well the 4.7 livestream revealed an event with a joint training operation between all the nationsnweve been to so far and their militarys which is going to be one of the first interaction of these nations in a offical setting weve seen. Even if its just for a training exercise.

yes finally! i hope it's interesting

[dulcewrites]

Ok I have a question that I would love the answer to. I want to do a While You Were Sleeping au with a lewis character, cliche yes I know but just work with me. But I can’t decide if I want to do it with Rhett or Bob

Those who haven’t seen the movie, first omg go watch it, and second you can check the synopsis here if you are curious.

A case for Rhett is that there is the built in tension between him and Perry (who sucks ass lmao). In the movie, we get the sense that Peter is the golden boy of his family while Jack is sort of just… there. Then the whole undercurrent of Rhett wanting to get out from under Royal’s thumb. Which can correlate with everything going on with Jack and his dad’s business. Plus you have all the supernatural stuff going on in Outer Range. It would interesting setting up how Perry even ends up in the coma. Where did readers/oc’s parents go 👀

BUT, in the movie, a huge part of why Lucy keeps up the lie is the sense of family and the love she receives from the Callaghans… which the Abbotts do not give at all :/. A case for Bob is that it would easier to create a kooky but warm and well meaning family for him. More believable than just rewriting the Abbotts to be something they’re not imo. I’m imagining a bunch of fun older sisters, and of course an older brother that Bob lives in the shadow of. A part of the reason why he went into the navy was to create a path of his own and gain some independence. He still feels a bit like the baby when it comes to the family dynamic.

***just for my own sake and others, I did search various things to see if this idea had been done before (for a lewis character). I didn’t see anything but there is something I missed please let me know.

Also if to want to be tagged when it comes out let me know