#at least I plan ahead tf

[auriidae]

this week has been so unbelievably overwhelmingly bad in the irl sphere and things don’t seem to be looking up T-T (its gonna be fine tho)

[ladcedes]

lowkey - ln4

lando norris x reader

request Hi could you write a lando Norris x younger mexican/irish gf reader (21) fc (rae cambra )where they keep things private because she doesnt want hate and her instagram is private too and shes always seen with lando and they went on holiday together smau pls.

note first request ever omg... thank you so much for this anon! pretty sure whoever requested actually forgot abt it atp... im sooo sorry this took me like half a year to get to I actually never check my inbox 😭😭😭

set in the summer bcs why tf not!

paddockwags 14hrs ago | 4hrs ago

paddockwags 3hrs ago | 3hrs ago

paddockwags

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paddockwags lando norris and his girlfriend, yn ln, seen in monaco 📸

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starlandos how did they even meet bruh 😭

⤷ bownorris exactly she has like zero social media presence how are they even together

⤷ paddockwags @.bownorris lots of athletes meet their wags through mutual friends so it’s likely that

amourln4 i give them another week 🥱

f1.wagspot

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f1.wagspot lando norris’ girlfriend, yn ln’s, instagram account revealed!

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favspiastri hold up does anyone think they meet through alex?? since they follow each other…

lncult WAITTT if u look back at some of alex’s posts u can find a glimpse of her

⤷ fourclaren so what she used her friend to get herself a famous bf? social climber 😒😐

f1.wagspot

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f1.wagspot lando norris spotted enjoying the sun with his girlfriend in mallorca ahead of the azerbaijan gp!

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4norrism are him and charles in the same place??

⤷ princeleclerc omg lando and charles vacation meetup?!?

silverstonel4n icb he’s stayed this long with a girl who’s so hidden from the spotlight

⤷ mcl4ren she’s so different from his past gfs it’s crazy

yourusername

tagged: alexandrasaintmleux, landonorris, charles_leclerc, and 5 others

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yourusername when your schedules all line up >>>>

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alexandrasaintmleux bestie holidays ❤️

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⤷ yourusername cheers to more! 🥂

landonorris hope you liked your graduation gift ml ❤️

⤷ yourusername calling it a graduation gift really isn’t helping the allegations yk…

⤷ landonorris @.yourusername well in your defense i only paid for the plane and the guys split yacht costs so i think we’re good 🤓 you deserve it anyway 🤷‍♂️

landonorris trip finally made it out of the gc!

⤷ alex_albon stop trying to be relatable your trips always make it out of the gc. you're rich.

⤷ landonorris @.alex_albon then how come our golfing trips rarely happen :(

⤷ georgerussell63 @.landonorris have you thought about not planning them spontaneously, during race weeks, in a range halfway across the world?

⤷ yourusername @.georgerussell @.landonorris were you silent, or were you SILENCED

landonorris

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landonorris sun’s out… summer break!

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ln4tion don’t be shy lando… finish the phrase 😁

⤷ formulamclaren fr when did this guy get pr training 😂😂

fourrari is this finally the official hard launch

⤷ gr63atest does it count as a hard launch if her face still isnt visible 😭😭

⤷ fourrari @.gr63atest 😭 at least we got confirmation tho

ladcedes keeping up with the 'comments as an author's note' tradition: I really hope this one meets expectations! I think it's a bit short but I didn't rly know what to do...

slightly suggestive bonus :]

[laurfilijames]

🎃 - Ask a creator about a current project or WIP.

Do you have a favorite wip currently? If yes, what is it about?🤭🤭

Hiya and thank you so much for sending this to me! It's really nice to meet you Sydney! 💗

I'm going to go ahead and use this to shamelessly talk about the series that I'm currently working on, and about to finish (😩😭) Breathe, featuring Will Miller from Triple Frontier.

It's the fic that I first wrote when I joined the Hunnam fandom and truly means the world to me. This fic has so much of my heart and soul in it and I've poured hours of sweat and tears (literally) into writing and crafting a story of how I imagine Will's life was like prior to the events of TF.

12 chapters may not seem like a drop in a bucket to a lot of writers and readers, but to me it's huge. I've never written this much for a single story before and I'm immensely proud of it, and especially for picking it back up after almost an entire year of not updating it!

So, even though I'm working on its final chapter, I'll still consider this a WIP because right now it very much is. I'm trying so hard to get it written and giving my all to make sure this story is wrapped up in the absolute best way and just how it deserves to be. Without spoiling anything, I'm very excited about the things that happen in this last chapter and think that the scenes I have planned out for it will close the story perfectly and are full of a love and happiness that this wounded character deserves so much.

I'm not even sure if this is how I should've answered this ask and I know I've rambled on a lot 🤣 but I'll link the series Masterlist here and drop the summary below!

After the Publix incident and breakup with his fiancé, Will begins to find peace and healing when he least expected it, but navigating falling in love again while living with PTSD doesn't come without its hurdles. Can building trust and a healthy relationship prove to outweigh all the demons he faces and finally allow Will to live the life he never thought he deserved?

Thank you again!! 💗

[thechillsquid]

Blind Eyes Au- Ford

So Ford, Ford my sweet sweet lad, he’s gonna get tossed into a soup storm fr

Like mans paranoid ass literally gets tackled through the portal by Bill in this au (since the triangle fuck knows when the portal is opening and he does not want to take chances that Ford just doesn’t go through the damned thing) so it’s an utter shitshow

Like McGucket is trying desperately to keep some peace, Stan is trying make sure the portal isn’t closed, and Soos + the kids are trying to figure out WHAT THE FUCK is going on and then!??? Then Bill’s ass (in a human form cause cmon it’s easier to tackle a guy like that) comes tumbling through with Stanford hissing and cursing like a particularly pissed off cat

Ford pulls a gun, Bill’s trying to play catch up cause heyyyyyyyyy uh the kids are not supposed to be here, and it’s just a good few minutes of shouting and gesturing until Stan tries to intervene and gets punched in the face

Bill tries and fails to scurry off (cause oh he did not plan ahead for this oh shit he forgot his notecards for apologizing and everything!) cause like hell the kids are letting that happen cause where the hell does that portal go, who’s this guy who looks like Stan, and how did Grunkle Bill come out of the portal??? And oh Ford is going to freak tf out when he hears ‘Great Uncle Bill’

Then as things calm down (Bill very much keeping Stan and Fidds between himself and Ford like a little cowardly bitch), Ford explains shit and yeah

By this point the kids know Bills not human but to find out what he did to Ford is like a gut check, they’re trust in Stan is shaken, and even Fidds they don’t know about anymore

Anywho, Ford is paranoid af now because while no one’s saying it, he manages to corner Bill alone and confirms he has a physical form, which yeah does not help out with the guys spiraling and triangle idiot gets kicked out the house, Stan and Ford don’t know what to do about one another, and oh Ford and Fidds are stiff, awkward, but they slip into easy routine on occasion

It’s just a shit storm and the fallout is fun cause Bill might’ve given up the whole throw a hell of a party on earth, but there’s still a rift, and Fords not taking chances (starts getting that gun of his ready, absolutely figuring to kill Bill next time he gets the guy alone again in order to save his family from his ‘manipulation’)

So yeah, it’s fun and Bill might get almost shot when he pulls his shit together and tries to genuinely apologize to Ford and ngl the man deserves to punch the bastard at least a good several times

Also like if anyone that’s been enjoying this rambling about this bs au, I will literally chatter on and on about my ideas if asked questions at all

[lobrechtthethinblood]

Anime

Seriously why has no one told me about them before.

I've now made it my goal to watch all Vampire Anime out there and to see whether the Vampires in them are better or worse than actual Vampires.

My ranking thus far (careful there might be some small spoilers ahead):

Castlevania (worse, though I DO get Dracula (but what he did might have been a "litte" disproportional))

Diabolic Lovers (worse?, at least I hope that the majority of us are not that creepy (also why tf was this recommended to me by the Sheriff's Ventrue friend))

Seraph of the End (im honestly unsure, technically they're worse but the world is fucked up enough at that point that living with them honestly sounds much better than with the army (especially in later arcs of the Manga, not the recent ones though... I guess worse it is?))

Mars Red (at least the main gang is better than most of us and considering that everyone else only turns into MINDLESS monsters that cant have manical plans that span centuries I would summarize them as a little better at least)

Vanitas no Carte (they seem like normal people mainly? So better.)

So those are the Vampire anime I've watched thus far.

I also wasted quite some time watching some non Vampire related ones. And like literally everyone else I really enjoyed death note (thought all the manipulation hit a little too close to home). I also really enjoyed the first season of my hero academia (finnaly some fairly lighthearted fun).

If anyone has any recommendations for me I'd be happy to accept them.

[monabee-draws]

Veilguard ending spoilers ahead!!

You have been warned:

I finally finished my first run of Veilguard this evening and my main takeaway is that I'm SHOCKED they let Solas and Lavellan reconcile and go off together in the end. Sure its probably to a blighted hellscape but at least they're together????

My other take away is that the end slides totally should have said more about the outcomes of our decisions, especially since we actually made a LOT of really impactful ones.

Ashur is blighted on my run - who tf is the next Black Divine? Does the public know that the Golden City was just an elven mage prison? What does that mean for Andrastianism? Does Archon Dorian finally abolish slavery? Come to think of it, where were all the elven slaves in Minrathous anyways, and what are THEIR thoughts on their people's gods being horrible slave driving monsters?

Or the Dalish in Arlathan? Does Creator worship still exist, acknowledging that what the elves model themselves on is a set of virtues they are simply borrowing names and stories to better connect with? Hell, where was all the ambient dialogue about religion and belief ig?? I don't think I heard a single character say 'Andraste's soggy tits' even once, and that's quite disappointing. More Dalish elves should have invoked the Creators out of habit even with these new truths.

Also is the Blight like... still a thing? Neve was somehow Un-Blighted (after she was kidnapped in my run) does that mean something more? Are the Grey Wardens now obsolete as an order? How will they function without the need for continued conscription? As mercenaries?

WTF happened in the South???????? Ferelden was completely overrun by the Blight last we heard from the Inquisitor, and Orlais wasn't faring much better.

Is Mythal finally back in Morrigan's body if you obtain the 'True Ending'? Did all that Veil stuff result in the elves regaining their magic or not? Whatever happened to the faction of elves Solas was gathering at the end of Trespasser?

We never find out how any of the companions' endings actively impacted them or their faction except for Emmrich (whose work would always continue as planned) and Taash (as their story is more of a personal journey and the LoF are a more loose collective.) Although, that Devouring Storm is never mentioned again...

Does Lucanis' leadership change the Crows? Does he even really take the reigns, or is Caterina still truly in charge? Does Illario escape confinement or attempt revenge?

How does keeping the Archive change elven society or begin to do so? Are there factions that wish to build towards the past and those that oppose it in light of the Gods' crimes?

Once Dorian is Archon, are the Shadow Dragons no longer a necessary organisation? Are they absorbed into a new governing body?

Does Lace travel with Taash, or take up the Inquisitor's work in the South? How do the dwarves of Kal Sharok react if she dies? How does Orzammar react if she lives? Is an enmity born between elves and dwarves as she shares her revelation?

What is DAVRIN'S ending??? Why do only the griffons get an end slide? Davrin is still a Warden. Does he help Antoine research Isseya's resistance to the Blight/immortality? Does he go with the Wardens to rebuild Lavendel or head South to help with the Blight there?

I feel like so so much is missing in how these characters shake out. And it wouldn't have taken much to write a line hinting at the directions these stories could take. We didn't need solid specific answers for everyone, but some basic outlines would be nice! Especially since it seems any subsequent games - if there are any - aren't going to interact with previous ones at all, or try their best not to. So this is the time to tell us how things change!

[star-vessel]

Gladiator 2 sorta rant so spoilers ahead

For a legacy sequel, it's fine. I think it's not 100% necessary but I still had fun watching it. I don't have any major complaints bc I could give less of a flying fuck about the "historical accuracy" of an action blockbuster. Here's a few things I noticed:

The pacing was so off at times. Jumping from scene to scene A LOT. There's probably like an hour worth of deleted scenes too.

I liked the twin emperors the least. No offense to Fred and Joe, but they were almost comically evil. It kept throwing me out of the moment.

Marcinus was the luckiest then unluckiest schemer in Rome. Like he didn't have a fleshed out plan at all, shit just always happened to go his way until it didn't. They say he's this brilliant strategist yet don't really show it.

A lot of rehashing and flashbacks to the original film. I feel like it's trying hard to be both a recap for ppl who didn't watch the first and a new story for original fans.

Anyway, I still enjoyed it. The set design and costuming were really great. (Pedro in the white & gold ✨️) The cast worked well together and it is what it is tbh. I'd like to see the deleted scenes or a director's cut someday.

Also where tf is this statue??? They cut it out yet it looks so amazing. Marketing team should've sold miniature versions 👀

[reikunrei]

A Parallel World

Last time I talked about Doctor Who, we met Rose's father, Pete, who died when she was 6 months old. That episode prompted me to watch a 2-parter in which Pete returns, only this time he's from a parallel universe. Let's talk about:

Season 2, Episode 6: The Rise of the Cyberman, and Episode 7: The Age of Steel

The general premise of these episodes is the Doctor, Rose, and her sort-of boyfriend Mickey find themselves crashed in a parallel world. There, they stumble into the nefarious plans of a scientist named John Lumic, who’s attempting to turn the entire population of the world — staring with Great Britain — into Cybermen.

We open on a scene with Lumic and a fellow scientist unveiling one of the very first successful Cybermen. A Cyberman is sort of like a robot, but rather than being built purely from metal, they’re an “evolution” of, in this case, humans. The human brain is slotted into a metal exoskeleton, making them a living thing.

Okay, Brenner-ass bitch. Even saying "blessed," something so close to the "miracle"-type language we get from Patty in TFS re: Henry's powers? Sure.

Lumic wants to go straight ahead with their plans to convert more people, but Dr. Kendrick reminds him that they need to get "Geneva's approval" due to its status as a new life-form. Lumic, however, knows that it'll be rejected, but he's hellbent on going ahead with it anyway. This experiment is a means to save himself in his declining health, and he'll be damned if anyone gets in his way.

He has the Cyberman kill Dr. Kendrick and decides to move ahead on his own.

We then cut to the Tardis, where we find the Doctor and Rose regaling tales of their travels to Rose's boyfriend, Mickey, while he holds down a button on the Tardis's control panel at the Doctor's request. The Doctor sheepishly admits he could've stopped holding it about a half hour ago, and after Mickey lets go of it, the Tardis lurches and starts going haywire. The Doctor frantically tries to regain control, but the Tardis's panels aren't reading the time vortex at all. He shouts that it's impossible, but it's just gone.

This honestly just makes me laugh, specifically the "Otherwise known as London" in conjunction with all the TFS promo about a "portal opening in London" etc. Also, the zeppelins are such a nice touch because of how Fringe does the same thing. I'm not sure if Fringe did it as a reference to this, because it's a trope that appears to happen in other shows, at least per my meager research. But given that Fringe began airing in 2008 and this episode of DW aired in 2006, I wouldn't be surprised.

Also, I know @aemiron-main has spoken about the UD as it possibly exists as an "in-between" place, which I can't find the original posts about, but he discusses here. I also recommend checking out Stav @heroesbyler's posts, like this one, about the void and differences between it and the "real world."

The Doctor says this isn't their world, and Mickey is the first to suggest parallel worlds, referencing the concept as it exists in films. That's when Rose notices a street advertisement of Pete, holding up some health drink and saying his catchphrase “You can trust me on this,” indicating that he's still alive in this world. The Doctor tells her that she absolutely cannot go see him, because he likely has his own Jackie and his own Rose, "His own daughter who is someone else, but not you."

Today, as it happens, is Jackie’s birthday (February 1st), and she and Pete are setting up her birthday party at their swanky mansion due to this world’s Pete’s entrepreneurial success. It’s her 40th, but she insists she wants to tell everyone it’s her 39th. Something something weird ages something something dates being just slightly wrong something something she wanted her birthday to be the same as a celebrity so specific dates are important. Here, we also learn about the EarPods that everyone is wearing, Jackie gloating that Lumic sent her a diamond-studded version of the latest model for her birthday. We’ll learn more about these later, but for the time being, just think of them like a cross between bluetooth headphones and Neuralink.

We return to the Doctor and Mickey, who are sitting in the darkened, dead Tardis wondering how they’re going to leave.

“The worlds were sealed” really popped out at me. While we don’t know when or how the UD and Dimension X were created in ST or if they’ve been there this whole time simply locked away, it’s interesting to imagine that there could inevitably be a harmonious existence between worlds, especially with what the Doctor says here about things becoming “less kind.”

It pulls on a similar idea from Fringe, wherein the two shown universes begin colliding, and with two universes being shoved into the space of one, they start conflicting with each other in highly catastrophic ways. Before that point, things existed harmoniously, with our characters even able to view this parallel universe without issue. It was when meddling began, including lots of hopping between universes (sometimes for selfish reasons) without understanding what it would do, that the problems started. Ultimately, all is solved by permanently separating the universes again, barring travel between the two forever. Which, and I’ll talk about this in a future post, is interesting when taking into account how the parallel worlds in DW interact with each other in the future, including forcibly keeping characters apart/having the two worlds be barred from one another unless massive amounts of energy are used to link them, and, even then, only temporarily.

I’m curious to see how all our dimensions in ST interact with each other and if the solution will be keeping their communication in check, or if they’ll have to be sealed off entirely. I’m of the belief that destroying the UD is not the way to go as a solution to anything in ST5, and I highly doubt they’re headed that way anyway, but only time will tell how it’ll really shake out.

As the Doctor and Mickey talk, the Doctor spots something: a little speck of light down in the grating of the Tardis’s floor. Though it’s small, it means they’ve got power, and, thus, a way to get home. They need more power though, but specifically power from their universe. The Doctor, being the one source of that available to them, gives away 10 years of his life to this little glowing power cell, putting it on a 24-hour recharge loop that, once completed, will give them enough juice to hop back home.

Meanwhile, Lumic has sent one of his henchmen, Mr. Crane, on a “recruitment drive” for his Cybermen experiment. He drives to a homeless encampment outside the city in a freight truck marked as “International Electromatics,” which doesn’t match the name of Lumic’s company, Cybus Industries. The henchman gathers the homeless men, claiming he has hot food for all of them in the back of the truck. Many rush to him, but one is stopped by a young man with a camcorder telling him to reconsider.

The man brushes him off and goes to the truck. Once he steps inside, however, he seems to realize what’s really going on, but he’s grabbed and wrangled behind some hanging plastic sheets as the doors shut, leaving us only to hear the screams of the men inside.

Lumic’s entire operation is very HNL coded, if you couldn’t tell. It’s even tied into the Russian presence in ST3, what with the both of them working under the guise of a different company name in order to skirt under the noses of the public. But here, specifically, it’s obviously reminiscent of HNL stealing kids to experiment on/with, especially under the guise of it being helpful.

The Doctor and Mickey find Rose, who’s been reading up on her dad in this universe after her cell phone was automatically connected to the Cybus Network, which is basically just a specific kind of internet access made by Lumic’s company.

“You can’t become their daughter” okayyyy alternate selves filling in gaps where they “should” be. The "wrong" kid being stuck into circumstances they were never meant to. Surely nothing to think too hard about. With a name like Peter involved too? Completely unimportant.

With their 24 hours to kill, Rose goes off to see Pete and Jackie, the Doctor right on her heels, while Mickey goes to visit his grandmother. In their world, his grandmother died several years prior, so with the understanding that Pete is still alive, Mickey is curious to know if his parental figure is still around, too. However, as he comes up on his neighborhood, he finds a roadblock. He asks if he can enter.

“Lessons begin promptly at 10:00.” … sorry, I had to.

We really don’t get much into the socio-economics of this world, but, as it’s easy to see, there’s a clear disparity between the classes, and the average citizen is strictly surveilled and poorly treated.

Mickey does find his grandmother, still alive, but, here, she calls him Ricky.

Boy, if you don’t quit it with the name swapping and taking roles… something about TFS Henry likely being Edward and taking on a role that possibly isn't his own...

His grandmother complains about his friends and him getting into trouble when Mickey gets suddenly scooped up by a mysterious van, driven by a woman and accompanied by the young man who tried to save the homeless men. They speak to Mickey like they know him, scolding him for speaking to his family when he supposedly said doing so would be dangerous. He runs with it, opting to let them share their intel.

Always gotta have a "who?" moment...

As Rose and the Doctor head to the Tyler household, the crowd of people around them suddenly freezes as all of their EarPods begin beeping. Rose’s phone, connected to the network, also begins beeping and showing what everyone else’s EarPods are receiving.

Color me surprised when we get a hivemind reference even in these episodes. Because why wouldn’t we?

It turns out that Cybus owns most of the companies in Britain, including Pete’s. As soon as the ���download” is done, everyone goes back about their business as if nothing happened, and Rose and the Doctor watch in bafflement before continuing on their trek.

We then get a scene of Lumic meeting with the President of Britain (remember, alternate universe!) in order to gain approval for his Cyberman invention. He speaks about the human brain being “the most precious thing on this earth” and “yet we allow it to die.” Through his invention, he’d be able to sustain the brain “indefinitely.” This would be “the ultimate upgrade” and “Our greatest step into cyberspace.” Disturbed, the President asks him to stop his presentation.

It’s kind of giving Brenner’s “I did everything for you” moment to El in ST4, claiming that all that he did was for the greater good, and should that all be cast aside? Here, Lumic’s goal on the surface is to better humanity, but he has selfish reasons for pursuing it as well. We get hints of Brenner’s selfishness, with it being much more overt in ST4 and in the VR game, in which Vecna and Henry, respectively, call him out for using the kids as a means to seek out greatness for himself. Not to mention the idea that Brenner may have been using Henry, at the very least, to find some sort of means of immortality or regeneration, just like Lumic is doing here.

Referring to Lumic as “God” really jumped out at me, specifically irt things James @henrysglock has spoken of extensively regarding the religious imagery/coding of various characters. We get a lot of it with Vecna and One, but there’s also endless religious coding for Brenner, specifically in the role of a priest/father. While that’s also not specifically God, it’s not a stretch to consider on-screen Brenner as “God” in the sense that he’s creating these children in his lab to be used for his own purposes.

Also, I’d be remiss to not at least touch on the mention of “cyberspace.” Again, I’m genuinely surprised that we get a hivemind-esque aspect in these episodes that contain myriad other similarities to ST. It’s not really emphasized that the Cybermen can communicate with each other/are all connected in the way the UD creatures are in ST, but they do all experience the same lack of emotion and have one shared goal, and they can all be simultaneously communicated to via Lumic’s transmitter. It’s akin to the flayed in ST3, following the idea of them existing in their daily lives before being “activated.”

Despite the President’s explicit rejection of Lumic’s plan, Lumic once again goes behind the backs of authority and asks Mr. Crane to move their plans forward — “I am governed by greater laws, old friend. The right of a man to survive.” Using the homeless men from before, now equipped with EarPods that leave them blank and pliant, he orders them into surgical chambers which, though we don’t have a reveal yet, put their brains into the Cybermen exoskeletons. They, along with many others that have been made from the “vagrants” they’ve grabbed off the streets, are loaded up into trucks to be transported. When one of the drivers concernedly asks what they are, Crane says “I’m told they’re the future. Ain’t technology wonderful?”

Honestly, Crane gives me lowkey Owens vibes. While he doesn’t have as much (supposed) kindness as Owens does and is still rather cold like Lumic, his demeanor is very casually playful by comparison. Unfortunately he doesn’t show up too much throughout the episodes, but he does progress the plot substantially again later, also in a semi-Owens way.

Now let’s check up on Mickey, shall we?

So, he’s been not-kidnapped by these two folks in a van, but when they return to their hideout, they find… Mickey already there.

But, if we remember, this is actually the previously mentioned Ricky, Mickey’s parallel world counterpart. Realizing Mickey isn’t who they thought, the three of them strip him and tie him up in a chair to search for bugs, of which they find none.

Okay Henward… cloning and brothers but also just being alternate versions of the same guy… surely nothing to see here.

Mickey learns that these three — Ricky, Jake, and Mrs. Moore — are part of an underground rebellion called the Preachers — “As in ‘gospel truth’”, as Ricky puts it, since they don’t wear EarPods. He says they’ve got “freedom” compared to everyone else who gets downloads from Cybus, which is so... haha wow okay fourth-wall-breaking sentient Henry in NINA helping El learn that HNL is a prison. As we saw in the earlier scene of Rose and the Doctor on the street, it might be hyperbolic, but "freedom" isn't far off. Everyone being hooked up to the same system, being fed the same information at the same time every day, and being closely monitored at all times? Slight Soteria reference, I see you…

Then, Mrs. Moore, their techie, interrupts with news that they got “an upload from Gemini,” who tells them that the vans (containing the Cybermen) are moving. Gemini is someone working with them from inside Cybus — a double agent — but they don’t know who that person actually is.

Now we return to Rose and the Doctor, who’ve snuck into Jackie’s birthday party disguised as waitstaff. The Doctor takes a moment to tell Rose that she “can’t stay. Even if there was some way of telling them.” Rose immediately dispels the possibility, since she has her actual mother back at home, but she does lament that this Pete and Jackie “have each other,” while her Jackie has “no one.”

Something something a universe where none of this bad stuff ever happened.

Rose finds her way toward Pete to talk to him — obviously not giving herself away and simply making small-talk — and, similar to the other episode I linked at the top of this post, Pete finds himself sharing personal information with Rose and has a “have we met before?” moment. Again, despite not knowing who she is, and even though she’s not even from this universe, there’s an automatic connection that he feels.

Rose even tries to talk to Jackie, and, since she’s posed as a waitress, asks if she can get her anything, to which Jackie responds “The last 20 years back.” Yeah, I’d bet Henward would like that too.

Ultimately, after having a tender moment, indicating that this version of Jackie also feels a connection, Rose tries to convince Jackie to give Pete another chance, since she learned from Pete that the two were having marital problems and Pete had even moved out, they just haven’t made it public. Rose believes Pete to be a really wonderful guy, same as always, but the forwardness of her comment sets Jackie off, who verbally berates her for sticking her nose where it shouldn’t be when she’s “just the help.”

Here we also begin to learn that the Tyler residence is where the Cybermen are headed. Pete, with his company owned by Lumic, works closely with him — the Preachers call him a “henchman” and “traitor to the state” — but that also means he’s been interacting regularly with the President, who is in attendance at Jackie’s birthday, who also just rejected Lumic’s plans for the Cybermen. I assume you can see where this is going.

The Cybermen are released onto the property, where they promptly surround the house and start breaking inside to round up everyone. While the Cybermen are new to this universe, the Doctor recognizes them from his own — they’re from the original run of DW, which I haven’t seen, but we see the dismembered head of one in a season 1 episode, which Rose and the Doctor even call back to here.

Lumic, though not physically present in the room, speaks to everyone inside the house and, specifically, to the President.

Lumic argues that they were “homeless and wretched and useless, until I saved them, and elevated them, and gave them life eternal.” One of the Cybermen speaks, saying “We have been upgraded.” When the Doctor asks into what, it answers that it’s “The next level of mankind … You will become like us.” When the President asks what would happen if he refused the upgrade, despite the Doctor insisting that’s a bad idea, the Cyberman says he will be “deleted,” and promptly kills him via electrocution with its hand to his shoulder.

Do you see what I’m seeing? Are we seeing the 4.07 monologue parallels? One tells Eleven that she’s better than everyone else and he can help her get even further, that they can change the world to be what they want, and when she refuses, he tries to kill her. I also just think it’s neat that, while they’re not exact copies, Lumic being more Brenner-coded while the Cybermen are like One in the monologue… okay we get it, that wasn’t really One and he was just a husk for Brenner to puppet in NINA.

With the President dead, everyone panics and begins trying to flee, while Lumic orders the Cybermen to kill anyone who refuses and round up the rest. The Doctor and Rose flee outside alongside Pete, catching up with Mickey and the Preachers, who have guns and try to shoot down the Cybermen as they’re all surrounded. The Doctor warns them that bullets won’t stop them, however, and we see this in action with the Cybermen being entirely unfazed while they’re shot. Okay, Vecna.

Trapped, the Doctor orders everyone to put their hands up and says they’re surrendering, explaining “There’s no need to damage us. We’re good stock.” Doooon’t say that word!!! Don’t get that close to the HNL breeding program terminology!!!

However, the Cybermen claim they’re “rogue elements,” “incompatible,” and “inferior,” and therefore must be deleted.

Which, I haven’t really touched on that yet, but isn’t it curious that the Cybermen use the word “delete” rather than something like “kill” or “eliminate”? Searching around, it seems that this was something introduced in these episodes, so it’s not standard to Cybermen across the entire series, and it doesn’t even regularly continue when they appear in later episodes. However, while it ostensibly is a stand-in for “kill,” the use of a different word, specifically one more correlated to something like cyberspace and a digital realm, has me staring hard at NINA. To bring up Fringe again, it even makes me think of Peter being wiped from the timeline, something more akin to “deleted” since he wasn’t actually killed.

Stuck under threat of death, the Doctor uses the little power cell from the Tardis to hit the Cybermen with a beam of his energy, which…

Sure, disintegrate them, see if I care. Whatever.

Now able to escape, the whole lot of them pile into the Preachers’ van and drive off. There, Pete admits that he’s Gemini — the one who’s been giving the Preachers their inside information, though he was under the impression he was communicating with security services, not "Scooby Doo and his gang."

Lumic speaks to several of the Cybermen now, calling them “My everlasting children” and asking them how “it” feels.

Okay mister “you must not rely on emotions” and claiming that it will lead to failure if they use them to boost their powers, whatever you say.

At this point, it’s also very clear that the Cybermen are further reminiscent of massacre One with the lab kids, and Vecna with his whole “end your suffering” schtick that just amounts to killing his victims. Like, that sure is a way to end suffering, bud. Even if the Cybermen aren’t actually dead, as we’ve established, the humans inside of them are entirely stripped of their emotions and autonomy, which does technically lead to a sort of “end to suffering,” if you give it that angle.

Pete explains to the gang that “This all started out as a way of prolonging life, keeping the brain alive. At any cost.”, which Lumic claims is the one part of the body that “makes us human.” Having since removed their EarPods, all of them watch in horror as everyone who was wearing EarPods are activated and made to herd themselves toward the big Cybus factory where they’ll be made into Cybermen.

However, Mr. Crane roughly pulls out his EarPods before he can be turned into a mindless drone. Lumic is slightly disappointed by this when Crane comes to him afterward, but Crane says he wants to willingly offer himself for an upgrade. However, as soon as he gets close to Lumic, he begins ripping out the life support attached to the wheelchair he uses (“Are mommy and daddy fighting again?”). A Cyberman intervenes and kills Crane, but the damage has already been done.

Reminds me a lot of Brenner’s “bit off more than he could chew” tendencies. Like Lumic, he can control things only to a certain point, the only difference here being that Lumic’s situation is with the intent to help him, while Brenner’s is/would be a matter of creating something stronger than what he can control. However, it does make me think of the Brenner/One merge theory as well. Could there potentially be a sequence of events where, in Brenner's search for greatness, he is unwillingly, literally brought up to that level of greatness via some sort of merge with his favorite test subject? And, as a result, it ultimately destroys who he was, despite his desire to reach this point?

Then we get a really fun shot coincidence.

I also want to interject with a brief sidenote here. When I was plotting out this post, I found myself having to jump back and forth a lot. Many of the scenes as I've outlined are actually way more split up, with most of the different people interactions we get "overlapping" with each other. I realized it's because it's a very similar style to how ST operates, wherein there's several groups of people who are all working on different parts of the plot simultaneously, resulting in scene sequences getting "interrupted" by each other, before they finally converge and realize they've all got different information to help with the same situation. And I just thought that was a neat similarity! It's not something that happens often in DW, given that usually there's not this many "main" characters in any given episode and it's usually only the Doctor and their companion(s).

Anyway, Rose and Pete want to break into the factory to try and find Jackie, who they rightfully assume was taken to be upgraded, though they’re not sure if they can save her/if it's too late.

Not sheep……….

Now, Rose and Pete go off donning fake EarPods to sneak into the factory to find Jackie; Mickey and Jake go together to try and shut down the transmitter on the zeppelin; sadly, Ricky was killed by Cybermen while they were trying to flee the Tyler residence; and the Doctor and Mrs. Moore team up to go down into the cooling tunnels beneath the factory in order to enter from below to shut everything down. At this point, the entire lasting population of London has gathered inside the factory against their will, and they must stop it before they’re all converted.

The Doctor and Mrs. Moore make their way to the cooling tunnels, which they find lined with rows upon rows of inactive Cybermen. The Doctor asks her how she found herself in her current position with the Preachers, and she says she “used to be ordinary” (there’s that word again, we LOVE that word) and she even used to work at Cybus Industries.

Gotta love going down into an underground maintenance area while discussing truth and lies and escape. Hasn't happened anywhere else before.

When the Doctor asks her about “Mr. Moore” she explains that “he’s not called Moore” and she simply got that from a book — “It’s safer not to use real names.” She essentially faked her own death in order to keep her husband and kids safe.

Meanwhile, Pete and Rose are caught in the factory after showing emotion — they’d found Jackie, who had, unfortunately, since been turned into a Cyberman. Rather than be killed, though, the Cybermen recognize Pete as someone who worked with Lumic to create their species, and therefore decide to take him and Rose to be upgraded.

This aspect of their conversion is interesting to me, specifically the “she remembers” part of it. Because, yes, she does remember who she is; she herself confirms to them that she “once … was Jacqueline Tyler.” However, it’s not really her. On a physical level, obviously, but even still mentally, it’s barely Jackie. It even refers to Jackie in the past tense, saying it was Jackie rather than is. It's kind of giving "I'm normal. I'm Henry Creel" lol, like, okay, sure you are.

Let’s briefly touch on the whereabouts of Mickey and Jake. They’ve made their way to the zeppelin, where Mickey convinces Jake to simply knock out the guards at the entrance rather than kill them because then “what’s the difference between you and a Cyberman?” Usually I argue against this sort of rhetoric, because it’s just kind of stupid (“you’re no better than me!!1!” bro just kill the baddie it’s fine). However, we want to remember our emphasis on compassion, especially as it involves people who are either entirely innocent of or under the influence by the actual bad person. Mickey understands that there’s no point in avoidable death, even if these people are aiding in the eradication of the population of Earth — he doesn’t want to be part of it if it involves the murder of someone simply twisted up in a bogus system they have no control over. Something something circumstances make the man. The two of them find the computer controls, where Mickey begins tapping into the Cybus network to find a solution.

Returning to the Doctor and Mrs. Moore, Lumic is alerted to their presence in the tunnels, and so he begins waking up the dormant Cybermen to chase them. They manage to escape, crawling up out of the tunnels and shutting the door over the Cybermen making their way up the ladder. They then, however, come face-to-face with another, which Mrs. Moore incapacitates with an electromagnetic bomb.

This allows them the chance to get up close and personal with the suit. The Doctor opens its “heart of steel” to get into its chest, where they find it filled with flesh — a central nervous system which was artificially grown and then “threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing.” Which, the Doctor clarifies, is what it is: a living thing.

Then he points out a small black chip within the chest plate.

The Cyberman then “wakes up” and asks why it’s so cold. The bomb broke the inhibitor, which is now allowing the human inside it to feel, which the Doctor apologizes profusely for. After learning her original name, he puts her to sleep so she won’t have to suffer in this new body.

This gives the Doctor the realization that that’s the answer to their problem: if they want to stop the Cybermen, they should aim for the emotional inhibitor, the key. All they’d have to do is find its cancellation code and feed it into the Cybus network, making them all realize what they are and kill them.

Just then, however, another Cyberman appears and kills Mrs. Moore. It senses the Doctor’s binary vascular system (two hearts), however, and deems him an “unknown upgrade” and will need to be analyzed.

So, he, Rose, and Pete all find themselves captive together once more. Lumic, now converted into a "superior" Cyberman — "designated Cyber controller" — reveals himself to them. Very early on in the episode, Lumic speaks on his experiments and, in an attempt to dispel rumors that his health is declining, talks about how his mind is "more creative than ever." In his new Cybersuit, he tells the Doctor that "London has fallen, so shall the world" and he shall bring everlasting peace, unity, and uniformity to the world so they never have to experience pain and suffering again.

The Doctor says that now the Cybermen will never advance, they’ll “just stop” and stay stagnant forever. He says that, in that world, the planet will lack the one thing that makes it so alive: “Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people.” I spoke extensively about the importance of the “ordinary” in my last DW post, so I’ll simply link that here again rather than talk your head off about it, lol.

Lumic asks the Doctor if he’s “proud of [his] emotions” and he gives an enthusiastic “yes.”

Um, Duffers… Tom MacRae called and he wants his ST3 Jim Hopper letter monologue back.

Emotions are good, even the nasty ones. Especially the nasty ones, because that’s what makes you alive.

Lumic says then, sure, he’ll simply kill the Doctor, but the Doctor shouts that that’s not his decision to make, and he “[doesn’t] control [him] or anything with blood in its heart.” Lumic threatens him with his army of Cybermen, but the Doctor argues against him.

Absolutely insane to me to call ordinary people the key. See again my last post about the importance of ordinary people, and this post (among others) about the importance of the word key as it exists in ST, and thus the tie to ordinary compassion being the key to solving our Vecna problem.

Mickey, with the Doctor’s help, plugs in the numbers for the cancellation code at his computer, which causes the emotional inhibitors in all of the Cybermen to cease functioning, which causes all of them to fall into hysterics. One stares at its reflection in a metal panel as it moans in agony, and the Doctor apologizes. The rest of the victims, those who hadn’t been converted yet, are free to escape with their EarPods now functionless.

With the Cybermen neutralized, the Doctor flees with Pete and Rose to head to the roof. They make it, but so does Lumic as he grapples up after them on the rope ladder to the zeppelin. However, with some help by cutting one of the ropes, he gets knocked off and falls to his death atop the roof of the burning Cybus factory.

The rest of them manage to escape, and Pete finally really asks who Rose is. She explains that she’s his daughter from another world, and he seems put off and overwhelmed by this. When she calls him “dad” in an effort to get him to come with her, he appears to panic and hurries off, telling her that he has to work on shutting down the rest of the Cybus factories across the globe.

Even Mickey decides to stick around in this parallel world, seeing as he has his grandmother here to take care of, and with Rose traveling with the Doctor, he’s become a bit of a third wheel anyway (specifically "the tin dog," an inside joke about the Doctor's old robot dog, K-9, which I won't get into here but... we love our dog talk here at ST, don't we?). He tells Jake, however, that he’s “a different man, I’m not replacing [Ricky].” Once again, I want to point to the whole "I'm Henry Creel" thing in TFS and the concept of Henry and Edward swapping, literally, or at least being "swapped" by way of being shown interchangeably on-screen, etc. etc.

The Doctor brings Rose back home to see Jackie, who’s surprised when Rose rushes her for a big hug.

Whew! Are you still with me? We’re in the home stretch, I promise. Time for some last thoughts!

The first thing I want to touch on is the concept of the Cybermen in general, but also as they were adapted for these episodes in particular.

The main objective of Cybermen, as indicated in these episodes, is a desire for survival and immortality. This slightly changes between iterations of the Cybermen across the whole series, but, as the fandom wiki puts it, “they were often born out of a human civilization’s, or an individual’s, fear for survival,” which even included threats like poverty or degradation of their planet, which, speaking specifically to the “poverty” aspect, is something we see with Lumic claiming that kidnapping the homeless men was helping them.

Cybermen, as we’ve established, also lack emotion. In this iteration, they have their emotions forcibly removed because Lumic sees them as a hindrance (and it keeps them agreeable in Cyberman form), but past iterations involve it being a voluntary part of the conversion process because they “considered [emotions] to be a weakness and instead embraced pure logic.” How borderline-Vulcan of them… but as I previously mentioned, it’s similar to the sentiment Brenner expresses in the ST4 NINA sequences, wherein he warns the kids against relying on emotions to strengthen their powers.

While some Cybermen had names or monikers, most were only individualized by ranks or numbers. All of them, however, wanted to fully conquer their universes to ensure survival and would work to convert any “compatible” life forms to ensure their survival as well. Something something they’re not gone something something they’re still in here with me. Stripping them of their souls but claiming now they’re somewhere better or safer. Sure. Whatever.

Cybermen, despite being considered “life forms,” cannot breed and they only increase their numbers by converting compatible living creatures into Cybermen. Evidently, however, an upgrade was introduced in, as far as I can tell, season 8 of the 2005 DW reboot wherein Cybermen could convert the deceased into Cybermen, no matter the state of their corpse, but this could only occur in a place called the “Nethersphere” which is dubbed a “Matrix-like computer” where the “minds of the dead” were stored until their bodies could be converted. This “Nethersphere” is also called “the Promised Land, Paradise, or Heaven” … aight. Surely nothing to see here irt recent leaks and speculation.

As an additional note, even the stuff about Cybermen being made rather than born has me looking at what's introduced in TFS irt Brenner using Henry's infected blood to do transfusions with other patients to give them the same type of infection/alteration. As we see on screen, it's very clear that at least some of the kids were likely bred from Henry/were actually born into the lab, even if they were from outside mothers like Terry ("outside" meaning "not presently living in the lab"), but TFS partially presents it as children being brought in from the outside to be directly given these transfusions and "turned into" the same "thing" as Henry.

A key point of interest with the Cybermen is that they have no real point of origin. They don’t have a “homeworld” that they’re born from, and instead they crop up across several universes, or even within the same universe, at different times and places simply because the populations there had a parallel desire for security and/or immortality. This has me mulling over stuff such as:

Us still not knowing what the origins of the UD (and Dimension X) is, and whether or not it’s been around forever or if El created it. And thus, in that vein, what’s the origin of the Mind Flayer?

The mere concept of on-screen Brenner, across timelines, seeking out the same kid(s) in order to fulfill his still-unknown final goal, which in itself is interesting… what are his motives? What are his origins? How did we reach creating a child torture dungeon?

Patty being referred to as “the girl from nowhere” and, though having never been mentioned before on screen, carrying immense weight in driving the story of TFS forward, often times by force, at least as it pertains to Henry. Something something her and Henry being connected “whether you like it or not” vs the Cybermen/Lumic forcibly converting people.

Henry, per TFS, is from Rachel, Nevada, despite the town of Rachel having not existed in 1959.

For these specific episodes, the writer, Tom MacRae, wanted to reimagine the Cybermen so they weren’t “mere villains” and instead were “sad figures,” made terrifying because they were forced into being converted rather than outright killed. He said that this would make them “a cross between vampires and zombies.” Please, not two of the monsters wound tightly into the imagery of ST…

He didn’t want these Cybermen to be simple mechanical beings, he wanted them to be as close to human as possible while stripping them of everything that made them as such.

Moving on, I briefly touched on it above, but I once again want to draw special attention to the scene of Lumic being forcibly turned into a Cyberman. As I’ve said, we still don’t know much, if anything, about what Brenner’s goals actually are. Sure, the government probably does genuinely want a leg-up on the Soviets, and these kids are a path to that. They’re funding it, after all! However, come ST4, the government doesn’t seem too happy with their continued existence. Hell, even in TFS, Brenner has a quick line about how the DOD wanted to dispose of Henry, but he convinced them out of it. If that tracks from stage to screen, then there’s some sort of personal stake here for on-screen Brenner. What can I say? The man loves his wife. If you want to see more about why I’m keeping a neat divide between TFS Brenner and on-screen Brenner, peruse @henrysglock’s page and keep an eye out for his big upcoming post that will delve into a lot of that.

Like Brenner using the lab kids to fight the Soviets, Lumic presents his goal as a means to better humanity on a global scale. It’s about preserving the human mind and giving them a reprieve from what he deems to be “suffering.” However, he has the fairly explicit ulterior motive of preserving himself. He’s in poor health, thus this would indefinitely prolong his life and, as the creator of the Cybermen, would put him in charge of every other Cyberman in existence. Again, we don’t know Brenner’s goals, but, as I mentioned above, it does have me staring at the Brenner/One merge theory and the potential for Brenner being somehow mixed up in Vecna, which then creates a neat through-line with Lumic and Vecna’s shared intention to “end suffering,” even if it’s in the most eyebrow-raising and clearly-lying way possible.

It is interesting, however, that Lumic begged to not be turned into a Cyberman. The Doctor said it for him, but Lumic likely understood that once he became a Cyberman, he would no longer be the same man who created the Cybermen. Early in the episode, he speaks of feeling creative, but removing what makes him human also removes that creativity. He wanted to save his conversion for his very last breath, prolonging his human life for as long as possible.

On top of everything else, this leads me to wonder if whatever personal goal Brenner had/has for the lab kids is a double-edged sword. A lot of that comes simply by virtue of the unknown. TFS Brenner wants to make contact with Dimension X/the Shadow, but instances of that often result in carnage. On-screen Brenner (potentially, allegedly, possibly) used El to find Henry “in the darkness,” which resulted in our Mother Gate mess in ST1 that kicked everything off. If Brenner was seeking something like immortality or abilities of his own, would any path to that “greatness” ultimately have a large flip-side that makes him “lesser,” for lack of a better term?

Moving on, I want to further discuss the similarities between Brenner and Lumic and them claiming their arguably heinous methods are “helpful.” In Lumic’s case, he believes that he’s “elevating” the people in the lower rungs of society by creating a world of uniformity, even if it means entirely stripping them of their humanity and freedom. Hell, he has to turn off their emotions so they accept it. Similarly, Brenner claims he’s helping the lab kids and making them stronger, more important, calling them his family and saying he loves them, but somehow that also involves isolation and shock collars. El and One are right to call the lab a prison, but from Brenner’s perspective, he believes he’s doing best by these kids to prepare them for their roles in the world and protecting them from folks on the outside who might abuse them for their powers (yeah, ironic, I know, but that’s also kind of the point, right? When someone else does it, it’s for the wrong reasons, but when he does it…).

Now, I personally don’t doubt that Brenner truly loves the lab children. He’s very distraught during the massacre, and he seems genuinely grief-stricken when he talks about Henry (I couldn't find the more serious version of this post, I'm sorry ghsfjdgk). While he’s using them for expressed and personal gains, it’s clear that the pain he feels at losing them is something more than just “oh, boo-hoo, my experiments are ruined now.” Lumic expresses similar sentiments, and while he’s much farther in the camp of “wow look at my inventions, everyone clap and cheer about how smart I am”/it’s more about being proud of himself, he does still call the Cybermen his children, indicating he does carry a deep fondness for them as his creations.

And I know this sounds contradictory to what I said earlier about them working for their personal gains, but while they might have their selfish reasons, that doesn’t mean the expressed ones aren’t also real, you know? Lumic fully believed that this would be better for humanity as a whole, and Brenner fully believes that this is for the better of his children and the country. They also just both happen to have their own personal stakes in it that give them a little more devotion to their respective projects, even if it backfires in the end.

Now damn. Am I done talking? I think I’m done talking. These two-parters always take a lot more words than I think they will, especially when they offer enough interesting connections and ideas irt ST! There’s little doubt in my mind that the Duffers may have taken these episodes, or the Cybermen in general, as inspiration for HNL and its inhabitants. There’s just too much language surrounding them for it to be a total coincidence. The similar parallel world stuff I can at least concede is by virtue of how parallel world stuff usually works, but the rest of it? I’m looking.

As I mentioned prior, we do get returns of the Cybermen, including in episodes where we also get a return of the parallel world, which I’m planning on delving into soon. But for now, I think this is some interesting stuff to chew on irt how things might shake out in ST5 in conjunction with Brenner, HNL, and his children. Only time will tell!

There's plenty more things I could have touched on, but there's so many little things in these episodes that just had me pointing and going "you see that, right?" It's really great fun, and I wish I had more articulate thoughts on a lot of it, but I know it'll stand out to the folks who read this.

Until next time!

[slowdrippingnoise]

Hi from a fellow foreteller/MoM degenerate cult insanity fan, can you ramble about them bc i wanna hear it your posts have allured me LMAO

Hi! thank you! :D tbh I feel inadequate because my insanity these days is pretty MoM-centric, to the detriment of my ability to remember anything else. I latch on to one character at a time and don't let go lol. horrible little bastard with cult leader tendencies and an escapism fixation. <3

I did start with a Luxu fixation though… you know the whole "Xigbar is Luxu!" "Cool! Who the hell is Luxu?" experience at the end of kh3. then I got hooked on the "oh that is absolutely awful for you" of it all. I'll skip ahead of myself and say I love the way the theme of posession/corruption concentrates around him- the MoM's hatred for(/dynamic with?) Darkness pushing him to corrupt his apprentices, which Luxu carries on to "corrupt"/replace his vessels, while he's supposed to be holding a Darkness inside himself or at least luring one in,, parasites making parasites making parasites. very nasty I love it. as usual, surprisingly dark for silly kids games lmao (I say "silly kids games" with great affection. I'm a silly kids games person) (I keep leaving out Xehanort, he's a very important part of this chain too. I still need to watch DR/refresh my memory of the main series in general. MoM get a job stay away from him!)

I'm a big fan of like. idk. overbearing intimacy. and the MoM and Luxu have that. he kinda rides the line with Ava, he puts a lot on her but that is what the foretellers are there for. (different brands of parentification lmao) it's a very cult leader-y thing- grand designs and a life-or-death struggle for the fate of life itself! but when you zoom in, it's extremely driven by this one guy's own personal damage and whims and emotional needs, to hell with everyone else. I like the way his chessmaster archetype is made more out of creating a couple clever "cheats" for himself, then just lying a lot and surrounding himself with impressionable young people who he can push around easily, again very culty. fr he makes me want to try to learn more about Heaven's Gate, I never absorbed much info about them but I feel like he's somewhere between that and a Jonestown situation. "the world is broken and evil so I need to rapture all of us", yknow. but it's half control and half self-preservation.

the fact that I like to ramp up the cult stuff probably does take me farther away from where canon's going though lmao. like it's not quite this heavy fr I just enjoy this part.

I guess I do post most of what I think about, so I don't have too much to say? any future thoughts you'll probably see though I love talking about this :)

the ~possibilities~ of kh4 live in my head rent free. I need to see Luxu and the MoM interacting I need to see our good buddy Xigbar acting genuinely uncomfortable and adolescent now that the timeline of his life is collapsing in on itself. the snake has found its own tail and is chewing it like crazy. I need to see Ava where tf is Ava what has she been up to. I wanna see Sora and Streli hanging out. training together maybe (party member Streli??) I wanna see Sora tell the MoM his plan is nuts.

extra material- MoM personality moodboard: clay puppington philip whittebane ghetsis pokemon cyrus pokemon enrico pucci L ron hubbard jim jones the pale king lusamine pokemon marika eldenring walt disney. he's so many

[locketsvault]

𝄢 Sephiroth is Blue by Billie Eilish ᝰ.ᐟ

Not the whole song imo, but a certain section of the song really reminded me of him. Even if my interpretation of the lyrics aren’t what they actually mean, it’s still very fun.

Cw: not proof read

(If you agree, disagree, or wish to add on, go ahead and comment! My only rule is please be respectful and kind in the comments, or they will be deleted.)

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“You were born bluer than a butterfly

Beautiful and so deprived of oxygen

Colder than your father's eyes

He never learned to sympathize with anyone”

— “Colder than your father’s eyes, he never learned to sympathize with anyone” I feel sums up Hojo very well. He has no sympathy, for literally anyone. Not his own son, not his wife, he’s incapable of it. As for the colder than, referring to him being born blue, tbh we don’t know much about his birth itself. If he was born screaming at the top of his lungs, or if he was potentially stillborn. It’s neat to think that at first, he wasn’t alive.

“I don't blame you

But I can't change you

Don't hate you (don't hate you)

But we can't save you (but we can't save you)”

— “I don’t blame you, but I can’t change you” let’s dive into the fandom a bit. A lot of us have seen his backstory, how everyone either viewed him as an object, or betrayed him. Him turning evil was a devastating path laid out for him, and many in this fandom do not blame him for taking that path. But it’s obvious, there’s no changing him. He is who he is now. A villain.

— A further argument could be made that this lyric can be from the perspective of the crisis core gang. Angeal and Genesis who were close to Sephiroth, Zack who looked up to him, even Lazard. And the next lyrics I feel are definitely them.

— “Don’t hate you, but we can’t change you” Again a lot of us in the fandom don’t hate him, but again acknowledge that we can’t change who he is. But past that, the crisis core gang. Bus two closest friends, I don’t think they can find it in their hearts to hate Sephiroth for what he’s done. Genesis pushed him to that point, and still loved him. Angeal followed Genesis despite all the things he had done. Those three were a lot closer than I believe we get to see. They don’t hate him, but Genesis at the least, knows he cannot undo what’s been done.

“You were born reaching for your mother's hands

Victim of your father's plans to rule the world

Too afraid to step outside

Paranoid and petrified of what you've heard”

— “You were born reaching for your mother's hands, victim of your father's plans to rule the world” I absolutely adore this part for sephiroth bc it feels true. “You were born reaching for your mother’s hands”, he wanted a mother, he wanted his mother. But she was taken away from him. Why? “Victim of your father's plans to rule the world”. Sephiroth was never meant to be anything more than a science project. He was never a baby, never considered a human being with emotions. All his father cared about was how to further advance his research, how to become powerful.

— “Too afraid to step outside, paranoid and petrified of what you've heard” Sephiroth was raised in a lab, in Shinras building. You cannot convince me that they brainwashed tf out of him on what the outside world was like. Especially as a soldier. They don’t want to run the risk of him trying to run away, he’s a very valuable subject. He goes out to fight, maybe sometimes visit his friends, but I don’t think he really ever leaves the building. And I feel he was okay with that, bc that was what was normal.

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1:22 am

[daenerysoftarth]

ya know now that I think about it, I think Ghost will go on a killing rampage once he feels Jon die, he was already growling and acting aggressive before Jon was murdered bc he could sense something wasn’t right.. and based on past descriptions of Warg relationships, humans at least can feel when their bonded animals die (varamyr screamed and cried when his bird was killed iirc), so I imagine the reverse is true as well… it seems to be a pretty traumatic experience to feel the violent death of a bonded animal, as it caused varamyr to ‘go insane’ temporarily. to be fair the eagle he was bonded to was burned alive, which is notoriously one of the worst ways to die, but I imagine a group stabbing session is also pretty horrific and painful. point being, I bet Ghost feels Jon die and feels how he dies, and freaks tf out… Jon has locked him in his rooms but I cannot imagine the crumbling castle’s doors would last against the rage and fury of a direwolf

if the night’s watch went the red wedding route of trying to kill Ghost and Jon simultaneously, even then I can’t imagine them succeeding. besides the whole themes and plots of the story being thrown off with Ghost dead, cornering and killing an angry direwolf is no easy feat. the Frey’s were well armed, already had Greywind caged, and were trained soldiers. the night’s watch is nowhere near as well supplied or trained, plus imo Ghost seems more fearsome. I imagine they would try to kill Ghost, only for Ghost to kill all those who try, and then goes to massacre everyone who betrayed Jon (but also the assassination seemed somewhat rushed and like a spur-of-the-moment group decision, so they may not have even planned ahead for what to do w Ghost)

(all this only applies if Jon doesn’t Warg into Ghost’s body and somehow take control… but maybe even if he did take control, he’d still want revenge on the men who killed him and go on a killing spree)

[seastarblue]

OC Fight Game Tag!

ohhhhh yessss thanks @sableglass for the tag here!

OKAY SO we’re gonna do 5 characters: Kaiden, Mehri, Li Hua, Noah (whose name will CHANGE dammit), and Harper!

(I’ve been playing Cookie Run Kingdom a lot recently so I based the attacks off that! Hope this makes sense lols)

(all stats are out of 10 and it got a lil long so under the cut!!)

~~~

Kaiden Evania:

Health: 10

Strength: 5

Speed: 8

Armor: 3

Cunning: 9

Special Attack: (Hit ‘Em Where it Hurts): After analyzing the battlefield for a few moments, Kaiden rushes forward and hits the 2 most dangerous enemies with quick strikes of her twin swords. High chance of Critical DMG.

Weaknesses: Ranged attack, shitty planning, cannot be buffed by magical means.

Idle Animation: Kaiden is in a slight fighting stance, looking straight ahead at each of the enemies. She’s oddly calm, but has a faraway look. Seems like she’s deep in thought.

———

Mehri Al-Adwan:

Health: 9

Strength: 9

Speed: 4

Armor: 4

Cunning: 3

Special Attack: (FYAHHHHHH 🗣️🔥🔥): Mehri preps their magic and sets the front half of the battlefield on fire, dealing Burn DMG and slowing down enemies on the front line. While this skill is active, enemies cannot move forward without getting Burned.

Weakness: Ice/Water spells, mean people.

Idle Animation: Mehri bounces on the balls of their feet, grinning like an idiot. She occasionally turns to the camera and gives an even goofier smile and a wave.

———

Zhao Li Hua

Health: 6

Strength: 2

Speed: 9

Armor: 8

Cunning: 5

Special Attack: (Where tf did this bish go—OH SHI): Li Hua teleports behind the rearmost enemies and pricks them with a dagger, dealing Poison DMG. She then teleports back to her position and throws a smoke bomb into the crowd, obstructing enemies’ vision.

Weaknesses: Melee attacks, pain, oranges.

Idle Animation: Li Hua shifts from foot to foot, rapidly glancing all around her for a place to run to. Her usual smile is not there, replaced with a nervous grimace. Looks like she’s not a fan of fights.

———

Noah de Escarra:

Health: 7

Strength: 5

Speed: 10

Armor: 4

Cunning: 8

Special Attack: (Sneakster): Instead of regular attacks, Noah slips into the background at specific intervals and attacks one enemy each time. Said enemy is given temporary Blindness, Bleeding, and lowered Defense.

Weaknesses: Light magic, High Elves, frogs

Idle Animation: Noah stands like they’re about to run away: tense, ears folded back, eyes narrowed. Occasionally they flip a knife in their hand as a stim, and glance at the camera with a scowl. Or, at least that’s what you think—the bottom half of their face is covered anyways.

———

Harper O’Kennedy:

Health: 7

Strength: 1 (weak ahh-)(I say that like I’m any better)

Speed: 10

Armor: 5

Cunning: 7

Special Attack: (Quickshot) Harper pulls out his trusty revolver and fires 6 rapid shots at random targets. They always hit and do Critical DMG. For his regular attack, he boosts morale with his Song Magic. (Heightened Defense, Attack, and Speed.)

Weaknesses: Melee Attacks, Strong people, observant people.

Idle Animation: Harper stands in a relaxed position, eyes scanning the area. He looks deceptively calm, the only thing giving away his nervousness is his hand rapidly tapping his thigh. He occasionally side eyes the camera and gives a quick wink.

———

this was fun :3

Tagging with no pressure as always:

@rumeysawrites @dearunreliablenarrator @cain-e-brookman @the-ellia-west

[youremyheaven]

Hi! You mentioned "unkempt Saturn" initially and i thought of Woody Harrelson immediately lol and then you also wrote about it towards the end 😂 well the jokes on me coz I tend to be the embodiment of this trope when specifically when I'm low... Idk I noticed that pattern with myself a lot.

About the whole Nicola Tesla issue I also felt that his ethnicity had a lot to do with Edison getting ahead. I still remember as a kid how Edison's childhood sob story was part of a lesson plan and we all were supposed to go "wow! He accomplished this after all that he went through as a child". But he's just every other "White inventor" coz obviously all us non-Whites are stupid people who can't figure out basic stuff. 😤

I'm sorry to all the white folks here I don't mean to target every one of you but as an Indian it sucks how we were conditioned to make us feel like our culture was primitive and senseless. The Bengal Famine is one thing that happened (actually reccurently, there were multiple famines). There were so many things that have gone unaccounted so yeah I'm glad you wrote about Churchill (Father of Europe it seems 😒)

im glad you could relate 🥺but wish you didn't have to

yeah Tesla had it rough, he was an immigrant and was basically robbed in daylight by Edison 😡🤬😠

I swear to god??? even Indian education is sooo sympathetic about British Raj??? "it sucks they looted and plundered us for 200yrs but at least they gave us trains<33" type of attitude or some shit,,, i wish they had left us tf alone. India was never meant to be one unified country. They did so because it was easier for them for administrative purposes. They took thousands of princely states and imposed their white man rulership over them and then basically left everybody to fend for themselves. It was like if all of Europe were one country,, so many disparate cultures and geographies all brought together.

[alex110370000]

Ishimaru x gn! Reader

Request by @princeasimdiya12

Summary:you and Ishimaru made a bet of whoever loses the run test has to do what the winner says

Warning: contains gags, palming privates m!reciving, humiliation and I think that’s all

You and Ishimaru were running a mile, whoever lost had to do whatever the winner says for a week. You had won so once you guys got home it started. You dig into drawer to find a ball gag but find a pair of underwear first, you come up to him and shove it in his mouth, “wgff dff I grre tf ifs”(why did I agree to this). He whines out and lays down only to be pulled back up by you. You take him into the kitchen and tell him to sit on a chair, after he does as such you tie him to it so he doesn’t try to take out the gag. He squirms and pouts while muffling gibberish, you place a light smack to his cheek, not enough to hurt just to get his attention, “your gonna stay here while I explain to you how this will go.” you say kissing his head. You explain that you will be having him wear different gags throughout the week, his eyes widening as he knows he has to go out and do things throughout the week, as he dreads the humiliation.

Day 1: today he is going over to mondos, he goes to walk out the door until you stop him, “I’m coming, to make sure you keep this inn~” you say as your take out the wadded underwear from last night and put in a ball gag and smirk at his red face. He sighs as he walks out with you behind him, as you get in the car he just glances at you and sighs, “euau au i dooin ueh y ifu(what am I doing with my life” he says as he puts his head on the steering wheel. Once you guys get to mondos you go to the door, ishsimaru knocks and as soon as mondo answers he freezes then bursts out laughing while holding his gut as he doubles over practically snorting. You snicker a little, “what the hell is this???!” Mondo asks while laughing, as ishumaru looks unamused but also humiliated. After you explain to mondo he doubled over again laughing.

After mondo and Ishimaru got done you guys went home.

Day 2 :P. :today was a calm day at home, but you still were gonna make him wear it. Once he woke up you put on a ball gag, surprising him. Then you remembered you had to go to the store to get some stuff for around the house. You told him and he wasn’t very happy, of course you had to bring him. The more humiliating the more fun. Once you guys got there all eyes were on him. Many people came and questioned so you told them he lost a bet. Then you ran into Byakuya of all people. He just looked jaw dropped and confused. After shopping you guys went home and he laid down very unhappy

Day 3: for today I am gonna use a bell for a gag,today was a party, Aoi had invited us. Ishimaru was dreading this but we had this planned for a month. Once we got there the news got around already thanks to byakuya and mondo so they knew thankfully for Ishimaru, even though they knew they teased him the whole time. Once you guys got in the car after he was abt to cry, you couldn’t help but feel a little bad. You decide to give him at least a little fun

(SLIGHT SMUT AHEAD)

You are laying beside him and you decide to help him with his frustration your hand snakes down his thigh to his bulge, you look up at him and he nods giving you the consent(consent is key guys) you start to rub as he lets out soft sounds forming a melody to your ears as you rub faster the overwhelming melody gets faster soon enough he’s panting, after a couple more minutes he finishes.

(SMUT OVER GUYS, YALL THOUGHT THEIR WAS GONNA BE TANGO, NOT IN THIS WRITING😘)

You leave the room to get a towel and come back and clean up before you guys call it a night.

(Day 4 😘)

Today was you guys had another calm day at the house, or so he thought. You wake him up and tell him you have to go to the mall and he’s coming with. You grab a leather bone gag and put it on him. He looks more pissed with todays gag, after getting ready you guys head out.

Once you got there you go into (your favorite store) and drag him along, getting looks from everyone. Ishimaru stays closer to you wanting to die from humiliation right on the spot.

Once you guys got to the car he looked like he wanted to cry, so you made a deal with him, “if your good tomorrow and don’t get all upset with the gag we can cut the deal short and tomorrow will be that last day instead of dealing with it all week, deal?” , “eallf” he says as he tries to say deal.

After you guys got home you decided to just watch movies and have a calm day

Day 5 😈))

Today you had something planned to make it a bit harder for him to hold the deal so it’s fair, you guys were going to another party except your whole graduated class was there.

Once you told him he did not look pleased but cooperated. You both got ready as you changed the gag to a bright pink rope gag. To draw more attention.

Once you both pulled up all eyes were on Ishimaru, mondo walks up, “your still wearing that thing?!???” He days bursting out in laughter as most people looked at him like he was crazy, once you explained it every one just laughed it off.

The rest of the night a lot of people stared but didn’t really say anything sparing Ishimaru the humiliation.

Once you guys got home you took off his gag, “since you were good, your done no-“ you went to finish your sentence being cut off by his lips as he bites your lip and rubs down your body, “I’ve missed kissing you like this”, he says breaking the kiss.

(I’ll leave the rest to your guys imagination also sorry if it sucked the last couple parts were rushed)

[oflights]

when you started writing the star splitter, did you know this was where it was gonna go? what was the planning process like? what plot issues did you struggle with or find easy? what a masterful work, i’m so happy i get to read it and i’m so curious about your thoughts as you wrote

hi!! thank you so much, that's so nice to hear!

so, yeah, i outlined it pretty heavily. i outlined it by parts, though, then just sort of wrote to fill the story beats i knew that part would have.

i will say that writing as i went (or at least, a few chapters ahead of posting) made me stray from the outline a lot more than usual, but i stuck to the very bare bones of the outline structure: part 1 about finding little harry and bringing him to the future/keeping him with draco; part 2 about bringing big harry into it and understanding/starting to deal with the horcrux issue; part 3 about having everything in the open, ending the threat of the horcrux, and resolving harry/draco. i always knew the main core of plot would progress the way it did, including how these ending chapters would go! i just switched a lot of details/circumstances as they made more sense in practice.

at some point, maybe a week from now (because i will miss star splitter fridays!!!) i might post a list of notable changes from the original outline! that's usually where i struggle the most, when i look at my plan and i'm like "how tf did i ever think this could work, no, it has to be this way"

i'm still in disbelief i wrote so much and how far it's come almost a year from starting it/thinking about it. i've never posted like this before and while i don't have any immediate plans to do it again right now, i'm never completely ruling it out again. 😊

[notproofread]

enjoy my unhinged thoughts while reading Morning Star by Pierce Brown for the first time <3

SPOILERS AHEAD OF COURSE

be aware that i'm a cassius and sevro stan.

pls be cool cassisus pls be cool pls be cool pls be cool

honestly sevro is such a delight he just says whatever and gives zero fucks i love him

seeing darrow defeated and then picking himself up again was honestly very good change of pace compared to the first two books

<sevro3

ragnar also slays i love a brutal but soft giant

not victra calling cassius darrow's boyfriend bye

i think sevro spiraling is so interesting bc its really just darrow in the first two books

and tbh i like third book darrow much more bc he seems less arrogant and more grounded somehow?

so sevro get your shit together so i can love you again

he got his shit together

so back to loving him <3

also victra? she slays, no filter badass queen

RAGNAR DIES??? AND AJA IS STILL CRAWLING SOMEWHERE

what is this shit

fuck i'm crying

well... at least they got the Valkyrie

and cassius is alive so thats good

'mangy little guardian angel' is the best sevro description to ever exist

add 'psychotic Goblin-sized fighter jet' to that

Romulus seems like such an interesting character and i gotta hand it to him: he is one of the more likeable golds

i feel like pierce brown is much better at writing 1-on-1 fight scenes than big space craft wars

or maybe thats just me being too dumb to understand such descriptions

bro victra is so cool holy shit i love i hope she lives forever and ever

rip roque, if only you had stayed as cool as you were in red rising

the chemistry between darrow and cassius? holy shit get married

actually now that i think about it; the relationships between darrow and all of his male friends? sevro, cassius, roque... bro he loves them fr fr

maybe its cuz i dont remember golden son that well but has there ever been such tension and trust and undying love between him and mustang? 💀

anyways i almost cried reading chapter 50 even tho it is one of those few timed no one dies

VICTRA AND SEVRO MARRY OH MY GOD I MIGHT CRY

CASSIUS YOU BITCHASS I TOLD YOU TO BE COOL AND YOU DO THIS???

how am i supposed to defend you now you stupid dumbass

is sevro dead????? did he die for real???? what the fuck??? dont do this to me bro i am emotionally unstable

ok sorry cassius i take that back my bad

back to loving him i go

if this was all some elite plan i hope for you bitches that sevro is alive (will be alive?)

the choice to makw mustang sovereign is so good omg i love it

also darrow saying he makes a bridge to the lowColors and she to the highColors ans together they can make a new world?

stop the powercouple?? omg literally dying

TF A CHILD???

naw bruh😭