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60b3r · 5 days ago

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Albert's Cultured Crunches

Top 3 Must Reads

On Bullshit is an article by Harry Frankfurt (1968) that talks about different types of bullshit, its uses, and why it needs to be analyzed and distinguished from lies. Now, we can think that 'fake news' can also be analyzed based on its purpose. Being familiar with misinformation allows us to analyze the hidden meanings that the spreader of the information wants to convey.

Dao De Jing is a collection of poems by Laozi (4th century BC) that should be read not only as Daojiao (Taoist teachings) but also as Daojia (a collection of thoughts). After reading this book directly from the original language (like I did), you will understand that Laozi was a literary figure who conveyed social criticism and philosophical views about the world in the context of his time.

Digital Fortress is a techno-thriller novel written by Dan Brown (1998) while he was possessed by the creative spirit of Tom Clancy. The way Brown writes a story full of tech jargon—considering the time he wrote it—yet still keeps readers flipping through the pages, is an unparalleled experience. It was so enjoyable, it's the only book I still remember even though I usually don't like fiction.

Favourite Movie and Series

Cloud Atlas (2012 movie). It is said that there are only three kinds of people in this world: those who have never seen this film, those who have seen it and HATE it, and those who have seen it and LOVE it. The film combines elements of reincarnation, political satire, eco-dystopia, multiverse, and sci-fi. Guess which type of person I am.

Mr. Robot (2015-2019 series). Despite the goofy name, the series has nothing to do with actual robots. It is a hacker thriller and a social critique of current financial technology and our current psychological construct in the digital age. It deals with existentialist questions a lot while at the same time serving a myriad of pop culture references.

Love, Death, Robots (2019 running series). An adult animated anthology of sci-fi universes, the series' genre spans from post-apocalyptic atom punk to an alternate history gothic vampire hunt. They are original, standalone short stories that deals with how humans see themselves in the grand scheme of the universe.

Favourite Video Essayist

In its essays, Accented Cinema analyzes the cultural background and context that lead directors to make certain decisions. Why are there certain dialogue elements, why is the film set in a particular year, character attributes, camera angles, and so on. I guarantee you'll appreciate the creative process in the film industry even more.

The game designer Adam Millard, the host of Architect of Games, discusses many things about player-friendly level design, addictive scoring mechanisms, programming processes and limitations, and how a game can convey messages not just through text or music, but through unique mechanisms like time loops or strange respawns.

Top 2 Most Iconic Fictional Characters

A ghoul who has seen the worst of mankind multiple times over, Raul Tejada is unable to accept that his prime time has passed away (like an old man he is), he seeks closure from the disturbing things he witnessed or might have done during his lifetime (again, regretting the past, like an old man), but he is not just a regular 'grumpy old man', he gets the job done with the finesse of a prime cowboy.

Garrus Vakarian was a former C-Sec officer turned a vigilante because he can't stand the inefficiency of the existing justice system. He is a pinpoint marksman, a good commander, but… he also dances and throws witty jokes. Garrus drinks with you, and then sometime later backs you up in weird assignments on hostile worlds. He's the ultimate bro experience: he can be forgiving, and he can be ruthless.

Top 2 Most Pitiful Fictional Characters

Luke Skywalker is supposed to continue the Jedi Order, but his skills are there mainly not because he trained virtuously with Master Yoda, but because he is the son of the Chosen One (ugh, I hate genetics when it's being used incorrectly as a plot device). Lucas could have added more challenges and install a variety of pitfalls to his efforts while trying to restore the Galactic Republic. Maybe it was just enough at a time where the cinema trope of a struggling hero against a powerful evil was very prevalent in film culture.

While Boromir is considered a necessary supporting character, he is a mere minor antagonist with no strong character. It seems to me that he is only there for Tolkien (still, with all due respect, since he is a professor in literature) to progress the story. Tolkien kills him right after he had outlived his usefulness, that is to serve as an addition to Gollum, someone who succumbs to the temptations of the One Ring. Boromir deserved more chance to either fall deeper into the corruption or be redeemed wholly before he completed his story arc.

Top 2 Most Adored (Indonesian) Historical Figure

A Chinese-Indonesian famous for his role in defending the marginalized people in his work as a statesman and a just law enforcer, Yap Thian-hien also played a part in the early formation of legal aid institutions and became a figure in the struggle for Chinese integration in Indonesia. Yap is a role model in activism, even though he faced cynicism from fellow Chinese and racist insults at home.

Tjokroaminoto was the spiritual and philosophical mentor to notorious Indonesian political figures like Soekarno, Musso, and Kartosoewirjo. He played a role in their informal education, who would then later shaped Indonesia as it is today. His heroism theme is like a boarding house landlord with a spirit of communitarianism. Where can you find such a cool landlord these days?

Top 2 Most Questionable (Religious) Historical Figure

I won't talk about the 'miracles' Jesus Christ supposedly performed, but about the wide social impact Jesus caused. His teachings were quite revolutionary, he could have been a very eccentric and respected leader in his time (like an influencer today). But why did he surrender to the Romans to be crucified in his early 30s? Even if he wasn't crucified (according to certain religious teachings), why did he go up to 'heaven' and only come back at the 'end of times'? He caused a stir in Judea 2000 years ago and then just ghosted us?

Muhammad was a charismatic religious figure, a clever and skilled trader, and a successful political leader. Indeed, his teachings were quite systematic and the laws he made were very orderly, suitable for leading a young and unstable society. Sweet worldly pleasures in the afterlife promises are a good strategy to recruit people in wartime emergencies to be ready to die, but now those promises are used recklessly by his followers hundreds of years later, endangering others, which disrupts the hegemony Muhammad himself wanted.

*partially adapted from a collection of proses I wrote for an ed-tech talent pool pre-interview form, 2024

#game #series #movie #historical #novel

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bullforgery · 3 months ago

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Hi,

I have sort of an uncomfortable ask. Asking anon as I know it's a touchy subject.

But I'll start by saying I love your writing. And if you don't want to answer I understand.

But your A/N on your most recent fic addresses readers that may have issues with Dundee on how to enjoy the story regardless. Is there a reason the same isn't done for Barry?

I know Canon caused a split in the community but there are just as many people that take issue with Barry as there are for Dundee (though perhaps not as vocal as the former)

But as someone who loves both hubbies it makes me sad to see in fanfic implying that a character is "understandably" unlikable as if any other character couldn't be.

Just asking because I love your work but that note did make me a bit sad. Otherwise glad to see you're writing for the hubbies again & providing content for the community

Hello!

it stems from long conversations I’ve had with only a trusted handful of people on the subject, but I won’t get into the nitty gritty here and only say that I’m still apart of one community online and not the other for… a few reasons linked with said person. It’s easier when writing to peel these reasons off that character because writing is the ability to choose what to bring from source material into one’s own fiction. (Or in the case of an rp fandom: what to take as IC vs OOC)

It’s also why I’ve made warnings in the first chapter of certain other characters who would be in the story, as their involvement in the story wasn’t problematic at the time of writing—but you know, time, as it happens, happened and at that point there was no unweaving them from the narrative, only acknowledging that degree of separation between characters and their creators. (Which reminds me… I should probably add others to that warning list if I remember…)

simply put, it wasn’t only a canon event that made me put that warning there. Or maybe not simply put, as it’s nearly 1am and I’m quite overtired yet unable to sleep and the more I try to untangle a nebulous idea into words the more soup it becomes.

I would do a whole deep dive into the reason why, but you draw enjoyment from something and I’m not about to throw someone else’s ice cream on the ground over it. I’m glad you like my writing and I do plan to do more once winter rolls in and I have more free time, but they would likely be AUs because it’s easier to shuffle characteristics that way without being hindered by canon events and… certain personality traits.

I’m thinking for the next one… big robots and murder siblings fighting aliens.

-Bull

#ask bull #i hope this doesn’t discourage you in any way and please don’t read my tone as disparaging; instead simply as… iunno? Plain?#I know it’s difficult to discern tone over text so know that I’m not inflamed in any way over the ask #In fact I love answering questions and comments. Makes the insomnia pass quicker #I really hope this makes sense. Oh well. Pushing the paper boat out to sea now

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paragonrobits · 7 months ago

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at least i can name gay reps in sp without wincing in disappointment, but hazbin hotel? oh the gays in HH are just a mess😭

Prefacing my response to this with an important note that I'm not being facetious, putting on a bit, dismissing a series out of hand because I personally dislike it (as a lot of my shock at SP BEING on the poll at all is that everything about it does NOT lend itself to being at all sincere about showing gay relationships) and in general I'm establishing that I'm being sincere about this:

South Park has gay representation?? Seriously??? South Park?

The reason I am so genuinely bewildered at this is that South Park is representative of a particular brand of comedy that remains popular (though often in circles that have come to be right-wing adjacent, even if they were originally somewhat left-leaning by the standards of their times) but was WAY more indicative of the general attitude of the time, and that's comedy that's funny specifically because its shocking, inappropriate, insulting and mean. It's the sort of comedy that now you may find most often in Netflix comedians who mainly have two jokes: making jokes insulting trans and disabled people, and complaining that they think they can't make jokes about trans and disabled people.

This isn't a coincidence by any means; South Park's humor to this day pretty much runs on the writers having a very smug, biting attitude that is fairly resentful and just plain mean even at the best of times, and its something its always been without changing, and desperately trying to be relevant without actually adapting to the times.

The reason I bring this up is that South Park has always been the kind of show to, if it brings up gay relationships, is almost invariably NOT going to treat it with any kind of sensitivity, grace, decency or otherwise being representation you'd WANT; they're going to be horrifically mean-spirited about it.

I do remember South Park having gay characters back in the day, and that character was Mister Garrison, who is an example of 'oh god why would you want him as representation". Lifting from the Wikipedia page indicates WHY:

"n the episode, Mr. Garrison tries to get fired from his new job as the fourth grade teacher at South Park Elementary by being overtly and explicitly homosexual in front of the students, so he can sue the school and get twenty-five million dollars in damages. However, he is unable to as the rest of the faculty and the children's parents are desperate to appear tolerant of his homosexuality. The boys do not share their sentiments, and as punishment for not tolerating Garrison's outrageous behavior, they are sent to a Nazi-esque "tolerance camp." All of the scenes inside the camp are shown in black-and-white, a homage to Schindler's List."

...I really hope I don't have to explain HOW MANY ways that's horrifyingly inappropriate. So if the series HAS changed since then, you're welcome to explain it, but I'd be deeply surprised if it was appropriate in the slightest.

That said, I probably ought to make some kind of point that I do not think that representation, in the sense of having rep that is strictly admirable or wholesome, is not necessarily a good thing, since that almost always leads into either a strict binary of annoyingly bland and wholesome characters too boring to care about or being exclusively villainous or horrible and leading to the implication that those kind of people are inherently Bad. What makes a character admirable or fun is different from each person to the other; as a general rule representation is a difficult thing for me to desire, but my takes on good autistic representation (in the sense of characters taking on an extra sense of dimension for me due to me being able to find compelling similarities to myself, rather than living vicariously through them) might be Laios from Dungeon Meshi, quite a few robots in fiction but especially Data from Star Trek Enterprise, L from Death Note (even if I refuse to watch it or read it, I had a lot of interest in L specifically back in the day for that reason), and a large number of the Gems in Steven Universe.

One may not that a lot of the characters, even most of those, are NOT on the autistic spectrum, which is what I would generally lean towards. This is true, but they can READ as such, and that kind of ability to find a reflection, even if its not textual, is often better than you might expect. (Also, most autistic characters are either super-powered living computers or heartless jerks who immediately become evil based on logical argument; taking any kind of heroic or benign personality that isn't a helpless child-like figure means I have to take what I can get.)

Anywhere there's something to say in the distinction between EXPLICIT representation and applicability with the latter often feeling, IDK, more genuine, but that's probably an individual response!

#replies #anon replies #queued

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jolienjoyswriting · 2 years ago

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Untitled Story (ft. The Chou Numbers)

An untitled Rockman fan fiction story.

A decision is made and the die is cast. Will it change anything? Only time will tell…

Word count: 5,819 – Character count: 33,605 Drafted: March 8th, 2023 Revised: March 8th / 9th, 2023 –

I lied. This is the last entry of the reboot. I didn't even bother with a title because that's how little interest there was.

Rockman, the "Rockman" series, and related characters and concepts created by and © Capcom Co, Ltd. Brietta Chou, Mikan Chou, and related characters and concepts created by KaitlinEXE (I think) Sidney Chou, Farfalla Chou, Persephone Chou, Quartz Chou, Dr. David Chou, "Dr. Chou Numbers" series, and related characters and concepts created by and © jade-green-butterfly

[ ↶ Prev. Story | Next Story ↷ ]

"Tensions are on the rise in the wake of Dr. Wily's latest attack. Anti-robot protests have been breaking out worldwide! Many have gathered outside of Right Laboratories in Denver, claiming that the once-revered doctor's robots are the root of the problem. Many other robot laboratories, both privately owned and publicly traded, are seeing their share of protesters, as well. Even here at the home of the wealthy industrialist Dr. David Chou, protestors can often be found outside of his manor's gates to peacefully object to the robotics projects he funds. We tried to get in contact with the reclusive inventor but were unable to reach the doctor for comment.

Will robots and humans ever be able to peacefully coexist? Only time will tell." –

"Aaand… clear." "Good. The sooner we leave, the better. That robot butler of theirs gives me the creeps." "Excuse me…"

Outside of Chou Manor, the home of Dr. David Chou and his creations, a local news company was reporting. There, a reporter with yellow hair and glasses was just wrapping up his presentation of an ongoing story: the revolution against robot-kind! As the reporter and his camera crew packed up their equipment, they found themselves approached by a tall, somewhat intimidating man in formal attire…

"Well, speak of the devil!" the reporter said, turning to face the man. "What do you want now, 'Jeeves'?" "My name is not 'Jeeves'," the tall, steel-skinned man told him. "My name is–" "Cut to the chase, 'Carl-tron'." "Mm… indeed." The man, who was indeed the butler of Chou Manor, had arrived on the scene as he had many times in the past. He had asked the news company to stop filming in front of the manor on the hill at the request of his employer and creator. However… "Look, we told you before, 'Alfred'…" The reporter was adamant about choosing that location.

"'Freedom of the Press' gives us the right to report the news when and where we want to," he told the robotic butler. "'Freedom of the Press' does, indeed, give you the right to film the news as it happens. However, I must, once again, politely request… on behalf of Dr. David Chou… that you cease using Chou Manor as the backdrop for your… if I might say… somewhat biased reporting on the growing anti-robot sentiment." "We're not actually reporting from your private property, 'Geoffrey'…" the reporter countered, "so you can just 'bugger off'. Ta ta, then! Tea and scones, wot!" The butler did not appreciate being made fun of. Especially since he didn't have the English accent the reporter was poorly mimicking.

"I feel that we have been more than patient up to this point," he told the reporter. "If you do not cease using the manor as your backdrop for anti-robot news, we will be forced to call the authorities." "Call 'em!" The reporter shrugged as he climbed into his news van. "We're not doing anything wrong!" Not long after, the news van drove away. "Mm." And the butler returned to the manor.

"How'd it go, 'Big Sid'?" "About as well as expected, I'm afraid." As the robot butler entered the manor grounds, he turned his attention to something that was flittering and fluttering around his head. It bore the shape of a small girl with pink hair, insect wings and antennae, and a colorful outfit. She, too, was a creation of Dr. Chou. "Well, chin up, pal!" the girl said as she flew around him. "Someday, all this 'no robots in my backyard' stuff'll be done 'n over wid! Then, maybe we can stop hidin'!" "No one is 'hiding', Miss Brietta," he countered as he walked through the manor grounds. "Those of us who have jobs outside of the manor are continuing to serve the public." "Okay, but what about da rest of us? Doc said we ain'a s'posed ta leave da manor if'n we ain't gotta! And-and-and," the fae-like robot girl asked in a cocky tone, "how's come th' Doc ain't been outside in months, neither?" "You would have to ask him yourself, I'm afraid. He has been… as you might say… 'holed up' in his office since the recent attack on the manor grounds." "Oh, yea'…" Brietta brought one oversized sleeve to her chin in thought. "That did happen, huh?" "Indeed." The butler reached to his vest, retrieving a gold pocket watch on a chain. "Mm. I should begin preparations for dinner. Would you care to assist me?" "Ain't that what Persis was built fer?" "I shall take that as a 'no'. Very well." The butler slowly bowed to Brietta. "Take care, Miss Brietta." "Youse too, Big Sid!" The taller of the two continued toward the manor while the smaller robot fluttered on the spot. She had her arms crossed and was doing some thinking…

"This sucks!" she said to herself. "Bein' on lockdown 'n stuff… I wanna go flippa-flap t'rough the concrete jungle 'n catch firebugs in da woods! Wish Doc Dad hadn't told us ta stay put… Gah! I'm so jelly'a Big Sis 'Fallafly' 'n Li'l 'Spooky' Sis! Wonder what they're up to right now… Oh!" Brietta clapped her sleeves together, then put her sleeved hands on her head. "Maybe if I concentrate hard 'nuff, I can imagine it! Hnnnnng…!!" –

"No way! No flipping way! I'm not gonna let some… some fake person touch me!!"

It was late in the afternoon when a familiar little clinic got a visitor. The man alleged that there was a ringing in his ears that wouldn't go away. He thought he'd hit the jackpot when a cute nurse with nice legs and a short skirt was sent to tend to him! However, after a little back-and-forth… he found out that she was a robot. At that point, chaos ensued.

"Sir, please!" an orderly said, trying to talk the man down from standing on an examination bench. "We can assure you that Nurse Farfalla Chou is one'a the most qualified practitioners'a medical science we have, yeah!" The man swung a chair at the orderly and the nurse, intentionally missing both. "Get away from me you robot in sheep's clothing!" "Security! Hey, security!! Where th' heck is that security, yeah?!" "Sir, just… just calm yourself!" Farfalla said, gesturing to the man. "There's no need for this sort of behavior!" "Stay back or I'll… wha– whoa…!" "Sir!" As the man slipped on the vinyl material covering the bench's padding, Farfalla darted around and held her arms out. She was quick to catch the man and even quicker to dive forward, letting the chair he was holding fall on her as she hit the floor.

"Sir…? Ouch… Sir, are you alright?" The man stared at the nurse, wide-eyed with surprise. "You… you saved my life?" Farfalla blushed a little. "I saved you from getting a nasty bump on the head, maybe…" "But… but you're a robot!" The man scowled with confusion. "Robots can't be trusted! The news media says so!" "Does she look 'bad' or 'scary', yeah?" the orderly said, helping the pair to their feet. "I thought she looked pretty cute before I found out she was a 'bot…" The man rubbed the side of his mouth. "She's still cute, I guess… B-but she's a robot! And…" He shook his head. "No, no, even if you saved my life–" "I didn't…" Farfalla meekly corrected, hiding her blushing face. "– I just can't trust you. N-nothing personal! It's just–" "'Robot bad, humanity good'. We get it, yeah," the orderly interrupted. "Hey, there you are! Have this man escorted off the premises." A shorter man in a security guard's outfit stepped into the room. "You want me to rough 'im up?" he said with a knowing smirk. "Lorenzo, just… just get him out of my sight, yeah?" "Aye aye, Mon Capitan. C'mon, you." The guard helped the man out of the examination room – whether he wanted it or not. Once he was gone, Nurse Chou put the chair back where it belonged – in front of a desk in the corner – then walked over to the bench and leaned against it with a loud, frustrated sigh.

"Why is it so hard for people to trust me once they find out that I'm a robot?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking at the ground. "What difference does it make what I am? Does that suddenly make me less qualified to do my job or something?" "I'd say it'd make you more qualified, Falla." The orderly smiled. "You were literally made for this job, yeah?" She jerked her head at the orderly and snapped, "That's not funny!" The orderly just chuckled to themselves. "Listen, hun," they began, "some people are just… dumb, yeah? They see all these news reports 'bout that Dr. Wily guy and those copycat dopes… robots runnin' 'round, destroyin' stuff all over the place… and they just start thinkin' dumb thoughts. Like I said, their brains get set to 'robot bad, humanity good'. That's how the media makes its money, yeah?" They placed a hand on Farfalla's shoulder, offering a smile. "Not everyone's like that… You know that, yeah?" "Most people never even learn I'm a robot…" she commented. "But then, this one person appears every once in a while that just… argh!" The nurse shook her head before sighing again. "How am I supposed to help people when they won't let me help them, Brie?" "That's one'a life's great mysteries, yeah?" Brie continued to smile. Eventually, Farfalla found herself smiling, too.

"How's your back? Chair do much damage, yeah?" "I'm alright," the nurse said. "Thank you for asking." "Good, good…" Brie nodded. "Weeell… it's gettin' close to 'go time' for you, yeah? If ya wanna duck out a li'l early… I can cover for you, yeah?" "Now, Brie…" Farfalla stood up, putting her hands on her hips and smirking. "You know that's not how I was raised." "Your poppy didn't raise no quitter, yeah? Well… ya ain't got any more patients scheduled for today, so…" The nurse smiled, crossing her arms. "So, I'll spend the rest of my shift straightening up and filing paperwork." "There's that smile I like!" Again, Brie nodded. "Call if ya need anything, yeah?" "I will. Thank you, Brie." The orderly bowed their way out of the room, drawing a soft giggle from the nurse. With them gone, she decided to start on that paperwork she'd mentioned.

The last thirty minutes of Farfalla's shift went by in a flash. She finished her paperwork right on time and pulled away from her desk, stretching and cracking her metallic joints. "Ow…" One hand came to the small of her back… right where that stray chair had landed. Though she'd told the orderly that she felt fine, in truth… the pointy leg of her old, wooden chair had seemingly done a little damage to her frame. She didn't look forward to explaining that to her family when she got home, but she figured she'd cross that road when she came to it. She still had to get there, after all…

"Have a great night, yeah?" "You, too, Brie!"

Farfalla walked out of the clinic's main building around the stroke of 6 PM, carrying her purse over her shoulder and a small suitcase in her other hand. She walked down the small stairs to get to ground level then opened the suitcase and retrieved what appeared to be a bundle of pipes, metal slats, and gears. With the press of a button, it unfolded from a small bundle of parts into a full-sized bicycle complete with a 50cc motor, solar-powered headlight, and a small, collapsible basket for cargo. It was the perfect way to get around the city without having to wait for traffic. There were even bike lanes in some of the areas she had to travel, which made things all the more convenient. "Alright…" she said as she hopped onto the collapsable bike, putting its case and her purse into the basket. "Time to head home!" With a flick of a switch, the small motor sprang to life. She revved the engine, making it purr, then she released the break and began her journey home.

Farfalla always enjoyed driving after work – especially during the colder months of the year. Driving home at sunset was always a treat! The lights of the city looked beautiful and even the lights of the cars driving through were somewhat charming. As it was, winter was coming up, so the days were growing shorter and the lights were becoming more prominent. When traffic was bad, she would turn the engine of her bike off and use the bike lane, pedaling with the flow of other cyclists. When traffic was somewhat less of a mess, though, she enjoyed driving in the proper lanes, engine on. The congestion on the roads was generally a mix of both, so she usually ended up taking both the bike lanes and traffic lanes back to the house on the hill. Even if some of the drivers of the city didn't appreciate it… it made her happy.

It was around 7 PM when Farfalla arrived near the manor. She stopped to admire how majestic it looked from a short distance away. "Picturesque as always…" she happily sighed. The nurse drove up to the front gate and turned off her engine before wheeling up to a nearby panel. Reaching into her purse, she retrieved a small card with a magnetic strip and slid it through. Two chirps and a green light signified that the card had worked, then the gates slowly opened for her. She pedaled into the expansive grounds as they closed behind.

"I'm home!" Once she arrived at the front door of the manor, she collapsed her bike and stored it, then let herself in. Looking around, she didn't see anyone, but the foyer was as brightly lit as ever. "Persephone? Sidney? Brietta?" she called. "Anyone?" "Nyooooom!!" Farfalla squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly pounced on by the energetic pixie 'bot she called a little sister.

"Welcome home, Fallafly!" Farfalla hugged her sister as the little lady did the same to her. "Hello, Brietta!" she said with a big smile. "How was your day?" "Boooring!" the pixie answered before fluttering backward. "Alls I did was float 'round da garden aaall day! I had no one to play wid! What a bummer." "Really?" Farfalla tilted her head. "Where was Quartz?" "Me 'n Quartz…" Brietta curled her lips, looking irritated. "We ain't on th' best of toims, right now." Farfalla rested her suitcase on a nearby wall. "Still?" she asked. "Dang mutt dug up my orchids!" The pixie flapped her sleeves with an exasperated look. "Dat's some 'never forgive' action, right dere!" Farfalla frowned at her sister. "Brietta…" Brietta threw her hands up. "I know, I know…! We're family, 'n family gots ta stick togethah… But-but-but, I woiked hard on dem flowers! It's my spe-ci-a-li-ty, ya know!" The nurse 'bot smiled. "And I'm sure Quartz is very sorry he dug them up!" Brietta crossed her arms. "He ain't apologized yet." "Quartz can be… stubborn," was the response she got. "Give him time and I'm sure he'll come around." "Hrreeen." "Oh, come on…" Farfalla smiled. "Don't roll your eyes like that, Brietta." "What about like dis?" Brietta leaned in close and started spinning her eyes. Farfalla laughed in response. "You're such a silly thing, sister!" "Pixies be silly, 'n I be a pixie!" When Brietta wiggled her genie pants-clad bottom, Farfalla laughed even more. The two shared a smile before moving on to the next topic.

"So, where is everyone?" Farfalla asked. "Far's I can tell," Brietta explained, "Spooky Sis went on an overnight thing up north, Quartz is keepin' dad company, Big Sid was makin' foods, 'n 'Persis' was off cleanin' some empty wing'a th' house. What's th' point in cleanin' a place where no one goes, I ask yas?" "A tidy home is a happy home?" "Poisenally," she continued as she leaned in with a sneaky expression, "I think Persis is just tryin' ta keep busy so she don't get bored! Do ya know what a drag it is bein' housebound all day? It's enough ta drive a pixie mad – mad, I says!!" Brietta zoomed around the foyer for a few seconds, swerving under the stairs and spinning around the chandelier before coming to a stop in front of her older sister once more. "Gosh, I'm bored…" Farfalla pulled her little sister into another light hug. "I know… and I'm sorry." "It ain't your fault 'Zippo's' gots th' hots fer ya, Fallafly!" "What? No. I mean, it was my fault that Dr. Wily almost got away with all of Dr. Chou's notes and his family's fortune…" "Oh, yeah!" Brietta scowled. "You was th' one who let Zippo in here, weren'tcha?" "N-not in so many words, but…" "Brietta, stop."

Brietta pulled away from her sister and hovered just out of reach, looking down at the new arrival. Farfalla looked in that direction as well. A young, blue-haired woman wearing a traditional maid outfit had walked into view.

"It's okay, Persephone…" Farfalla sighed. "If I hadn't let Heatman in for repairs, Dr. Wily wouldn't have–" "'Dr. Eyebrows' wouldn't've used Zippo ta teleport other robots in 'n attack th' manor!" "Brietta!" Persephone glared up at her sister. She was doing the backstroke in the air… "Eh, pobody's nerfect!" she told Farfalla. "We all make mistakes! You didn't know that Zippo was a Wily 'bot! You was jus' doin' what you do best 'n tryin' t' heal da woild!" She zipped down and floated in front of her brown-haired sister. "There ain't nothin' wrong wid dat!" Farfalla looked down. "B-but, if I hadn't…" "Looket me." The pixie squished Farfalla's face in between her sleeves and looked her right in the eye. "You. Did. Nothing! Wrong." she firmly stated. "You are a good poisen!" "S-so… why do you keep constantly reminding me of my mistakes?" She floated back and wiggled her finger at her sister, winking. "'Cause I love yas!"

"Brietta Chou!" Persephone interjected. "There are certain things you simply do not tease someone about! Dr. Wily's attack on the compound is one of them!" "Blah-blah-blah, Persis!" Brietta zipped over to the maid 'bot. "Fallafly's a big girl! She'll get over it! 'Sides, s'not like anyone got hoit!" Farfalla looked away, rubbing her arm. "That's only because Oilman was here…" "Hey, how is 'Oil Slick', anyway?" Brietta grinned as she asked, "I hear he's been keepin' ya puh-retty well oiled…" Brietta waggled her eyebrows as Persephone deeply blushed. "Th-that's none of your business, Brietta!" she shouted with a furious glare. "Hey, like I'm one ta talk!" She twirled as she flew upward. "I had my hands full wid Funnyface! Ah, what a doll… Always good fer a laugh, my li'l Funnyface!" The pixie slowly lowered down until she was at eye level with her sisters. "We gotta get outta here… It's been so long since I been wrapped up in Funnyface's arms… An' believe me, he's got plenty ta wrap me up in!" Persephone scowled as Brietta jingled and vibrated, hugging herself. "Makes me all tingly jus' thinkin' 'bout it…!" she excitedly whispered. "What is wrong with you?!" the maid 'bot shouted, clearly not approving. "She misses her 'clown prince' dearly."

The lights of the manor suddenly vanished, leaving the three sisters in the dark. All eyes turned to the front door of the manor as they dramatically flew open. As a mysterious fog poured in, a figure began to appear from the darkness, slowly stepping into the foyer… "Hiya, Spooky Sis!" Only for Brietta to completely ruin their entrance by announcing them.

The lights turned back on and the fog immediately dispersed, revealing a tall figure draped in a white kimono-like top with detached sleeves and red, pleated slacks. She had long, body-length, raven hair and sleepy eyes as red as her slacks. She also wore a soft smile and emanated an air of calmness, though her eyes seemed somewhat… "lifeless".

"Hello, Brietta," the figure greeted. "Hello, sisters." "Hello, Mikan," Persephone greeted, looking unsettled. "B-back from your trip early?" "Yes," Mikan answered simply. "How'd it go?" Brietta asked. "It went well." The tall woman closed her eyes, nodding. The doors closed behind her. "The spirits were very grateful." "We can see that…" Persephone dryly noted. Mikan's gaze and her eerie smile turned Persephone's way. "Can you?" she asked. "I can!" Brietta chimed, flying over to her tallest sister. "Hiii, spooky spirits!" As she waved to seemingly nothing, both Persephone and Farfalla looked at each other. They knew there was something there… something only those in tune with the spirit realm could see. It was weird, having two spirit-sensing sisters… especially since one was pure chaos and the other was pure order. They did kind of balance one another out, in that regard…

"The spirits say 'hello' to you as well, dear sisters," Mikan told the two. "Hiii…" Persephone said dismissively. "Look–" Without any warning, Brietta suddenly burst into laughter! "Oh, gosh, dat's a good one!!" she laughed, rolling on her back in mid-air and kicking her legs. "Tell 'em, Spooky Sis! Tell 'em what da spooky spirits told us!" Mikan's air of calmness gave way to a sudden shyness. She rubbed her index fingers together and blushed a little, looking down. "I'm… not very good at telling jokes…" she confessed. "I'll tell it!" Brietta cleared her throat, looking at the other two sisters. "So… a priest, a rabbi, and a Buddhist monk all walk into a bar…" "Thinking about it…" Mikan interrupted, "this joke does not make a lot of sense." "Whaaaaa…?" The pixie tilted her head, then her whole body. "Why-come?" "Buddhism encourages the avoidance of alcoholic beverages and drug use." "Maybe da Buddhist monk ordered a glass'a water?" She shrugged. "So's anyway–" "A second thought occurs." "Whaaaaat." Brietta huffed, starting to lose patience. "Is this joke an appropriate one to share at this time? The energy of the room is in flux. There is sadness and frustration within…" "Sounds like da poifect time ta tell it! So anyways… they gets ta talkin' 'n–" "Something else occurs." The pixie quietly growled, flying over to Mikan. "Keep interruptin' 'n I'm gonna zap ya wid my pixie dust! Kapow!!" "Understood. However…" Mikan gestured once more. "Our audience has dispersed." "What?" Brietta looked around. "Whoa! Dey're gone! How dey do dat?" The priestess smiled, tucking her hands into her long sleeves. "'How' indeed…"

On Persephone's suggestion, she and Farfalla had left the foyer and found themselves walking in the western halls of the manor. There, they began a conversation that was, in the former's objective opinion, "far more productive" than listening to their younger sisters' antics. "How was your day, sister?" she asked as they walked through the empty hallway. "The same as usual, I guess…" Farfalla softly shrugged. "I had someone threaten me with my own chair." "Goodness!" Persephone frowned. "Are you alright?" "Just fine!" The other girl smiled. "Thank you for asking." "Why was someone threatening you with a chair?" "Because…" She looked down. "I'm a robot." Farfalla explained the events of the last part of her shift to Persephone. She listened intently, taking in every word and occasionally nodding…

"So, he still didn't trust you to look into his ear problem even after you broke his fall?" "Sadly, no…" She sighed, shaking her head. "This anti-robot movement needs to end." "It may only get worse before it gets better…" Farfalla perked. "What makes you say that?" "Well, think about it." Persephone stopped walking and turned to face her sister. "What if some deranged person comes to your workplace and makes threats against your employers? Or worse… what if they actively try to dismantle your workplace?" The nurse 'bot covered her mouth, going wide-eyed. "I… I hadn't thought about that!" she gasped. "C-could that actually happen…?" "Farfalla…" Persephone gently held her sister's hands. "Every time you simply do your job, you're putting yourself… and your workplace… in danger. It would be much safer for everyone if you would consider staying home with your family." "I-it would, yes…" She paused. "B-but, I can't simply quit doing what I love… what I was created to do… I can't simply quit my job! I would be letting down my friends and co-workers! What if someone really needs me?" "There are humans who can do your job, aren't there?" "Y-yes… but…" "So…" Persephone looked somewhat worried. "Let the humans tend to their own. There's someone here at home who needs you more than anyone." Farfalla went wide-eyed, again. "I-is something wrong with Dr. Chou?" "He hasn't left his office since the attack… You know that." "Is he getting worse, though?" Panic began to show on Farfalla's face. "I-is he eating? Is he staying hydrated…?" "Farfalla…" Persephone brought a hand up, touching her sister's face with a warm smile. "Farfalla… you were his first. You are his pride and joy. He needs you more than any one of us. Please… talk to him." Persephone leaned in, offering her sister a soft hug. She then curtsied before wandering off to seemingly do some more cleaning, leaving Farfalla to ponder what she'd just been told. –

"Dr. Chou? It's… it's me. Farfalla."

Thirty minutes had passed since Farfalla and Persephone had their conversation. In that time, the little nurse 'bot had a lot of time to think.

Two months had passed since she inadvertently let Dr. Wily's forces into the manor grounds. It if hadn't been for Oilman's visit, things might have gone far worse than they did. Between him, Rockman, and Rightot, they were able to put a stop to any plans of grand larceny that Wily had in mind. No one was harmed and anything that was damaged could be replaced. Despite that… Farfalla had kept herself separate from those who would let her. Since the attack, she had blamed herself for letting it happen. In her mind, she was the reason everything happened the way it did. If Brietta, Persephone, and Quartz hadn't twisted her arm to stay, she probably would have left the manor and found somewhere else to live. Things seemed to settle into normalcy shortly after… with one exception.

She couldn't bring herself to face Dr. Chou. Not after what she'd "done".

"Go. Away." That was the response Farfalla got that night. Somehow… she wasn't surprised. Rather than insist she be let in… she just sighed and leaned against the door. "Dr. Chou… We're all worried about you. You haven't left your office since… well… since two months ago. We aren't even sure you're eating or sleeping… Sidney claims the meal trays always come back spotless, but we suspect that Quartz has been eating your food…" The nurse 'bot glanced at the doggie flap built into the doctor's office door and sighed. "My point is that your creations… your children… care deeply about you. We're worried. And most importantly… we miss you…" "Why?" The question was so blunt… so simple… that Farfalla felt taken aback. "Be… because… we're your children and we love you!

"Dr. Chou…!" Farfalla slammed her hand against the large, oaken door to her father's office. "What you're doing isn't fair! It's like you're punishing us for… for seemingly no reason! They need to see your face! Hear your voice! Know that you're healthy and alive!! Why do you keep hiding yourself from the world? Don't punish them… Punish me! It's my fault!" "No." He paused. "It's my fault." "Wh-what?" "I'm sure you've read the news or seen it on TV…" the doctor continued. "There's a worldwide anti-robot movement. And I'm part of the problem!" "Dr. Chou…?" The young woman nervously laughed. "I don't understand…" "I. Make. Robots. Farfalla. So, I'm part of the problem…" "You make good robots, though, not bad ones…" "Good and evil are subjective. You remember reading about Thomas' robots, I'm sure. It was what set this whole bloody chain of events off…"

"Dr. Chou…" Farfalla whispered. "You're not like Dr. Light… and you're definitely not like Dr. Wily! You're a good man who just wants to make the world a better place!" "Farfalla…" Dr. Chou sighed. "Dr. Wily wants to make the world a better place, too…" "N-no!" She shook her head again. "Dr. Wily wants to control the world!" "And… make it a better place." "You– you can't possibly… N-no, I refuse to believe…" Tears started to well in Farfalla's eyes. "Are you… are you defending that evil lunatic?!" "Good and evil are subjective," the doctor calmly repeated. "Dr. Wily thinks he can make the world a better place by leveling it and remaking it in his image. I don't agree with that…" "S-see?" The woman shakily smiled. "That makes you good and him evil!" "Disagreeing with his methods doesn't automatically make him evil, Farfalla…" "But–" "Besides," he continued, startling Farfalla, "some of his ideas do have some merit…" "Wh… what?" "He's right that the world powers, as they are, are corrupt. He's right that things need to change. He's right that robots could potentially be used for bad things. Most anything can! That's been the whole idea behind his attacks. Dr. Wily wants to show the world that robots should be mindless, obedient automatons built purely to serve humanity. He has no interest in robots that can disobey or revolt, much less ones that can think for themselves." "B-but, Heatman was one of Dr. Wily's creations, right…?" Farfalla sniffled. "He might be evil and not care about humans, but Dr. Wily still gave him the ability to think for himself… If Dr. Wily doesn't believe in that, then why would he make his Robot Masters intelligent…?" "Honestly?" Dr. Chou chuckled from behind the door. "I think he gives his original robots the ability to think because he knows it'll mess with Rockman's head." "R-Rockman…?" "Mostly, yes. Breakman doesn't share the kind of… uh… 'sense of justice' that Rockman has. And of course, any time Forte stops his creator, it's purely an act of egotism… With Rockman, though… The robots can talk to him… make him feel as evil as he thinks they are. It's clever if you really think about it…

"Farfalla… Everyone is capable of good deeds. Everyone is capable of evil deeds. Labels like 'good' and 'evil' are subjective, as I've said. Saving a village might seem like a good idea, but if saving one village somehow disrupts the way of life for another village… well…" The doctor paused again before sighing. "I'm tired… I'm going to bed, now. Good night." "Dr. Chou?" Farfalla perked, standing up straight and turning to the door. "Dr. Chou…?" There was no answer from the door. "Dr. Chou! Wait! Come back!" Again, there was no answer. "Dr. Chou!" Tears retired to the girl's eyes. "You're… you're not being fair!" "Life isn't fair, Farfalla. Go to bed. That's an order." "Y-you can't do that!" She shook her head. "You can't just tell me that Dr. Wily is right… that robots… you… are part of the problem… and then… and then… just leave like that!! I… I won't allow it!! I demand that you open this door and face me! Right now!!"

A chilling air fell upon the hallway after Farfalla had made her command. She knew that she had gone way too far. She was Dr. Chou's creation… his invention… and in a sense, his daughter. She had no right to order him to do anything! Yet… she had meant what she said. He couldn't possibly stay locked in that office for the rest of his life. He had to come out… he would come out! Even if the entire family had to drag him kicking and screaming, they… she… would get Dr. Chou to come out of that office and…! And…

And… that's when Farfalla realized something. Just what do I expect him to do after he comes out?

It began to dawn on Farfalla that Dr. Chou wasn't the end-all, be-all answer to all of life's problems. She missed her father, sure. All the Chou Numbers did! But once Dr. Chou was out of the office and they'd had their tearful reunion… then what? Dr. Chou couldn't change the world's opinion about robot-kind. Dr. Chou couldn't even stop the local news outlets from running negative stories about the potential danger of robots running wild. When it came right down to it… Dr. Chou was just as powerless to change the world as anyone else. Not even Dr. Right, the world's foremost expert on robots, could do it! And he made Rockman! So… just what did she expect from her father? And more importantly… what did she want��?

"I just want this all to stop…"

Farfalla sat against the door, pulling her knees to her chest and hiding her crying face. "I want all the hatred to stop… I want all the confusion to stop… I want all the anger to stop… I just want to help humans feel better and lead healthy lives. I want Brietta to be able to fly around the city, making children of all ages happy with her silly antics… I want Mikan to travel the world and help all the lost and wayward spirits pass on… I want Persephone and Sidney to be able to go shopping without having things thrown at them… And, I want Quartz to be able to go to any park he wants and play with the other dogs, again." The girl sniffled, closing her eyes. "I want normalcy… I want peace… And… and I want love. Love for all living things. Humans… Robots… Everything. I know it sounds like a lot to ask… but I just want to be able to live my life without worry. Even if it's just… just for… a little… while…" "You really do want to heal the world, don't you…?"

Dr. Chou stood in his open doorway, smiling down at his sleeping creation. He and his little robot pomeranian, Quartz, had checked on her shortly after she'd stopped talking. "Of all my creations, I think it's you that feels the most at fault when the world tears itself apart, even though it's not your fault," Dr. Chou said. "We humans are just a bunch of confused monkeys, throwing mud in a panic whenever something doesn't go our way…" The doctor reached down, softly stroking Farfalla's hair. Quartz found a place by her side and settled in. "You'll always be there to heal the hearts of those who need it the most… but who can you turn to when your heart is full of sorrow? Sleep well, my dear…"

The doctor quietly slipped back into his office, leaving his creation right where she was. As she slept… there was a calmness in her heart… and a peaceful smile on her face.

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thebibliosphere · 5 years ago

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ADHD reward system? Please tell me your secret!

My therapist has been helping me find a reward system that works for me, and as it turns out, gold star stickers are really helpful for making me feel like a tangible goal was met, and helps give me that sweet, sweet dopamine release that comes with completing a task, something which us ADHD’ers really struggle to achieve and are already coming at from a disadvantage with our brains regularly not producing enough “happy” hormones as it is.

It was supposed to be “a sticker for every time you finish a chapter”, but after some revision, my therapist said that was too tall of a goal, and that I should pick something smaller. So instead I now get a star every time I finish a 500-word milestone, placing the sticker in my writing calendar/journal thing that I use to keep track of my writing, and ironically, I have started to produce more work than when I was stiving for one chapter a day.

To give you an idea of how staggeringly effective this has been for me, I’ve written over 30k of original fiction in the last week. (75k total if you include my social media and blog stuff, which I currently do not but likely should.)

So this is what it looked like when I was attempting to do a chapter of edits and revisions a day during the month of December 2019 (note: I was supposed to start this in Nov, so you can see how well that worked out for me lol):

ID: A calendar showing days of the month with a shiny star sticker showing a completed task.

And this is what my writing journal looks like now that I’m doing a star for every 500 words:

ID: an image of a handwritten journal with the dates mapped out, followed by a shiny star sticker for every completed 500-word milestone. There are 65 stars in total for the month of January 2020. It’s also tinged by a green light cause I’m doing a chronic pain experiment, so far with positive results!

So as of today, January 8th, with ever star = 500 words, then 65*500 = 32500 words totalled in 7 days. This does not include, like I said, my social media output where I am far more productive, this is just my fiction and some editing work for friends.

(Which side note: this is not to flex, or to say that others should be able to achieve this level of output. I am a professional writer, this is my main job and only source of income. And also, I was forged in the fires of understaffed editing hell where we would be expected to churn out 100k+ a week in edits and revisions to keep on track. I have the time and a learned skillset I have spent years amassing to be able to do this and am working towards a rigid deadline. I simply have not been healthy enough in a long time to manage it, and am finally working my way back up to speed after years of illness. Don’t look at this and think, “I’m not achieving enough”, every victory no matter how small is worth celebrating. And I say that with the utmost sincerity, as someone who spent most of the last 2-3 years unable to get out of bed.)

I’ve also started using it to help keep track of bills and chores around the home. So every time something gets done/done on time, whoever completed the task gets a star on the calendar. This includes Oppy the Not-A-Roomba, who does a very good job of taking care of the house on a daily basis:

ID: an image of a chore calendar denoting various tasks that have been marked off with a holographic silver star sticker, including our robot vacuum who does an excellent job and deserves all the stars. (Our names got blurred out cause ETD doesn’t want his real name out there in the world, so that’s what is blurry.)

This system is useful for several reasons, the primary one being a sense of achievement and continued motivation, and the second, to allow you to review each month to see where you are doing well, and where you might otherwise be struggling.

For example, if I have a bad day for writing or decide to take a day off, I write that down in the calendar rather than leaving it blank, so that I have a record of what went wrong (or right, if I am electing to self care that day and take a day off) and how my overall progress is doing.

In terms of house stuff, this has been especially useful for ETD and myself, as it shows us where we are managing to do a good job with the house, and where our executive dysnfunction issues really trip us up and where we need to make improvements. And I don’t just mean in an “I should try harder way”, I mean you have to actively sit down and be like “hey! What is preventing me from completing this thing” and trying to figure out effective ways to either get around it or resolve a larger issue at hand.

So for us, the biggest thing we tend to miss is doing dishes after dinner, meaning we get left with a pile-up of dishes to deal with first thing in the morning, and my ADHD can’t handle that. It won’t let me eat until I’ve cleared all the mess, but I usually don’t have the energy to clean up if I haven’t eaten, so it’s this awful cycle of ineptitude. We’re doing better with the star reward system, cause it’s showing us our progress loud and clear on the fridge door, but we are both usually so fatigued and exhausted by the end of dinner that doing dishes is just one thing too many for our mutual disorders. So, the solution for this would, of course, be a dishwasher, cause if we had one of those, we could load stuff in, turn it on, and let those dishes get done while we go to bed then put them away in the morning. We can’t afford to do that right now, and we have other appliances we need to buy/replace before we can do that (still don’t have a tumble dryer, or a washer I can access, rip) but it does give us a tangible goal to work toward, and also, the motivation to keep on top of things because it goes from “an endless task with no end in sight” to “there’s a solution for this, we can manage a while longer.”

Now you could be saying, but Joy, I’m an adult! Surely I shouldn’t expect rewards for completing every day tasks that I should be able to do?!

To which I say, neurotypical people get rewards all the time and get an unconscious dose of dopamine/serotonin from their brains every time they complete a task. They’re playing the game of life on easy mode, the gold star is your achievement for completing it daily on Nintendo 99 hard mode. IF THE STICKER WORKS, TAKE THE STICKER

YOU’VE EARNED IT.

#kaitokenji37 #adhd #adult adhd #adhd reward system #life hacks #adhd hacks #personal #okay to reblog

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popitdontdropitwrites · 2 years ago

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"Mx. Sinister" Engineer/Medic - Chapter 15

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,

CW: Obsession/Obsessive behaviour, light sexual content,

Dell returned the gesture with haste and passion, as if he had been starving for the touch of another. Each kiss was rough and hard, with the added graze of stubble against his face. Joseph pretended to be just as hungry and added passionate strokes of the tongue. The smaller man panted against him, unable to breathe while receiving so much of his attention. Dell submitted to his every touch and allowed himself to be pinned against the wall, just as he had done hours before.

Joseph effortlessly took control, slipping his hands under the other man’s shirt, exploring his figure and finding the roundness of his body was comforting. Under his fingertips, the foul creature before him was a harmless, squishy toy to be played with. He reinforced his control by biting down on the Texan’s lip, eliciting a surprised whimper from him. Joseph took the opportunity to pull away from their vile kiss and to instead maul his neck with harsh, repetitive bites. He disguised them as love bites while he fantasised about ripping his throat open and leaving him to bleed. Joseph delighted in the way that the smaller man gasped and whined, not because bringing out such a reaction excited him, rather, it signalled to him just how easy it was to put the man at his mercy.

As the seconds passed, he calmed the violent display of faux lust with brief, loving kisses and instead, pressed his forehead against Dell’s. He insulted affection as a concept the best as he could by wrapping his arms around him, embracing him.

“Now let me ask you again,” Joseph got in Dell’s face, this time not out of anger, but instead, to tempt him. “May I stay in your bed tonight?” He whispered the words with a sensual tone, pulling at his desire while his clever hands wandered all over his partner.

He already knew what Dell would say long before he opened his mouth. “Y-Yeah of course, whatever ya want, Joseph.” He said, seemingly delirious.

“Take me to bed, then.” He commanded, outstretching his hand to be taken.

The engineer’s hand locked around his own and he tugged him through the house. Dell opened the bedroom door with his mechanical hand, and they walked inside. “It ain’t much but it’s a place to sleep.” He chuckled nervously.

Dell’s room was just that. It was simple in appearance, with a minimalistic, nostalgic charm. An old-fashioned bed with plain blankets and pillows. A wardrobe stood in the corner, with a few nice shirts, overalls and coats hanging on a rack. Beneath it were square drawers, undoubtedly full of casual clothes. A worn, leather armchair sat in the corner of the room, with a shelf full of books behind it. Those too, looked well-worn and thoroughly loved. Most were of the educational kind and related to robotics and engineering, with only a few being fiction. It brought him no comfort to know that the Texan was educated, and actively pursuing more knowledge. He thought that a self-help book would be a wise investment for him.

“It’s better than my room, at least.” He said.

“Naw, I think you’ve done a mighty good job at makin’ that old shed a home.”

Joseph was the first to sit on the bed. He undid his boots and kicked them off. He began to undress, placing his hands on the first button of his shirt. He was about to undo it when he noticed Dell’s hand hovering in his peripheral.

“I hate to be a bother, but… could I give ya a hand?” He asked shyly.

He indulged him and relaxed, allowing the smaller man to undo the buttons of his shirt one by one. He shrugged it from his shoulders, fully exposing his chest. The hungry look in Dell’s eyes was more than enough to tell him that he wanted to touch.

“Don’t be shy.” He invited him in to lather his trap with attractive, sweet honey.

Despite his words, Dell’s hands nervously approached his chest as if it belonged to a beast. The Texan’s grey-blue eyes would dart to his every few seconds, to make sure that he wasn’t about to bite. When his stout fingers finally touched his hair-laden body, the smaller man let out a shuddering sigh of reverence and while he considered it flattering, he was also disgusted by it. As Dell rolled his pecs under his palms, his breath seemed to stop all together. While Joseph was hardly impressed, the other man was practically foaming at the mouth. His thick fingers trailed downward, following the pathway of dark curls down his stomach to his hips. He felt them up, curious as to their shape. But eventually, even Joseph could tell it wasn’t enough. His fingers crept to the waistband of his pants and his index went as far as to slip under it. Dell looked up to him for approval.

Even with the prospect of escape coming ever nearer, he could not allow his captor to have that. At first, he laughed it off. “Du bist eine solche Abartiger mann!” His playful tone hid just how much he meant it. “No, Dell.” He said, making sure that he was serious and firm. “Not now.”

“You’re such a tease.”

“I’m sure the wait will make it all the more rewarding.” He hoped a vague promise like that would be alluring enough. He shuddered at the thought of having to bed his captor and the more he could delay it, the better.

Joseph slumped on the bed at long last, closing his eyes in the sheer relief of knowing the worst part of the night was over.

He heard the rustle of Dell taking off his clothes and hoped that it was only his shirt coming off. “Could I give ya a cuddle?” It unsettled him to hear the man’s voice from so close to him. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the man lying beside him, noticing the spray of freckles over his cheeks and nose as well as a tiny scar on his cheek where the stubble failed to grow.

He supposed he could tolerate a cuddle if he had endured… that. “I don’t mind.”

The other man curled around him, wrapping his large hands around him and pressing their bodies together. Joseph despised his suffocating presence, the frequent gushes of hot breath against his neck and his sickeningly sweet mutters, but he silenced all of his complaints with a single, comforting thought. Despite the softness of the pillow against his cheek and the comfort of the blankets, he would not sleep tonight, nor would he dream of the open air and mundanity of the life he had before. Joseph smiled to himself, feeling a rare hint of happiness about to transform into fully fledged bliss.

Tonight, he would escape.

Next Chapter

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brawltogethernow · 4 years ago

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I'd like to hear more about your murderbot transmigrator thoughts :))

Okay obviously when I said I wasn’t going to think about a Murderbot/Scum Villain fusion that was more of a goal, which is a lot like a lie. I have pecked out ~1k of prose for it, but none of it is presentable for longer than one line. The problem with this concept is that it’s actually very good, and there are a lot of meaty ideas to dig into with it, like, too many of them.

1. Murderbot would be immedately inclined to empathize with the System and guess at its motivations. Depending on what those are this may still stay an antagonistic relationship, because the way the System leverages its cosmic powers to coerce and strongarm people stomps on a lot of Murderbot’s triggers and is generally a dick move. The points system is just a gamified governor module. But it’s still a relationship, and if the System turns out to be an antagonist, it’s in that role as a fleshed out character with a personality who has been interrogated by someone with every reason to assume somebody made it and has commanded it to act like this for their own reasons.

Murderbot asks its function and designates it NarrSystem (Narrative System) or StorySystem or something because “the System” is too generic coming from its setting.

2. Transmigrating into a human body would be badweird and transmigrating into a human brain would be absolutely horrifying. (SecUnit could transmigrate into a system, but we’ve kind of been there done that with 2.0.) Dysphoria central! Murderbot gets to address that while it has never wanted to be a human, all humans are so convinced that being human is better that on some level it WAS worried that they were right. And now it can say with absolute certainty that they are not and this sucks. But also some things that it would have thought would be fundamentally different are actually the same. It’s just a whole time.

This is part of why I’m deviating from transmigration story standard and full stop making the transmigration a temporary situation, the other main reason being that Murderbot has more going on in its own world than your standard transmigration protagonist.

3. Either Murderbot gets back by hacking the System or it intends to but it’s ultimately the System’s decision. This is a very slow process because it can’t access tech the way it’s used to and the System’s structure is very different from what it’s dealt with before (because it strongly resembles Windows Vista). It needs tech and more control over its situation stat though so it’s going to keep at it until it works. Open your damn menus. SecUnit is going to rig transmigration until it’s like playing The Sims with cheat codes.

4. (This one is for me.) The System still talks in garbled Chinese netspeak, and Murderbot is like. Wow this program speaks in the lost tongue of an ancient civilization. How old is it. I can barely understand it. (Because of the bad memes not the Chinese.)

5. Murderbot gets yeeted into The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon and has to deal with the emotionally exhausting scenario of empathizing with everybody present. It likes the heroes, and it likes the other heroes they’re in conflict with, it likes the more complex villains with fleshed out motivations, and it even has a soft spot for a lot of the side characters and bit villains. This is fundamentally incompatible with how it tries to ration its empathy, assess situations by sorting people into allies/nonhostiles/hostiles, and compartmentalize by nicknaming the people it’s in conflict with things like Target 1, Target 2, and Target 3.

6. The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, as the specific transmigration variation we’re jumping off of here, was not trying to interrogate the infinity mirror effect of heteronormativity reflecting back and forth between media and people, and as such is not like, a solid narrative about this. That said, this book is basically like:

Shen Yuan reads this giant mess of a book with a lot of straight sex fantasies, not completely without appreciating the romance, but with more antipathy for it than he admits to himself. Then he ends up in the book and thinks he’s meant to enable the romances he read, which he’s so completely resigned to doing he doesn’t notice that the main character is queer and gone on him, or that he, himself, has been studiously suppressing the desires he assumes he should have while unable to perceive what he actually wants and how it affects his behavior.

So the Murderbot version of this is to subvert amatonormativity with your pretty explicitly aroace protagonist whose reaction to fictional romance is tolerant at best. Murderbot embraces its own lack of desire for romance but dances around acknowledging that it desires other relationships and seems to be working around the incorrect belief that romance and friendship are both human things and that’s why it doesn’t engage with them. So:

Murderbot ends up in the immediate leadup to the resolution of a love dodecahedron - maybe surrounding Eden, just as the only named character from TRAFOSM I think we have. And Murderbot is (internally) like...okay...I was never very moved by ANY of these people as romantic choices for you...but I might as well try to guide you to the least offensive ones, I guess. And it’s so mired in expectations based on its foreknowledge of this arc that it doesn’t notice until Eden spells it out that they’re ditching ALL their suitors and have realized they’re complete without romance and want to devote themself to finding their long lost birth mother or farming science or something, which just takes SecUnit tf out.

Possibly I will become really ungovernable and say that after seizing the System’s capabilities Murderbot just offers to take Eden on a reverse isekai right off of Sanctuary Moon, leaving ART’s crew and the Preservation team to be like, Where Did You Just Get This Entire Human.

7. Further going off svsss, there is a meta thread to interrogate by plunking Murderbot into a villain character. It's already an evil robot trope that declined to go evil, this is true in-universe and it knows it, and it has very low expectations of the morals of the group that it belongs to - informed by the same media that was a lifeline to it when it was in a very bad situation - that it is still in the process of working through. The layers.

So yeah there’s a lot going on here. Send help.

#this isn't even it the well isn't even dry #murderbot #svsss #the murderbot diaries #anonymous #asks answered #stock villain

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot: Ask Questions, Throw Shield Later.

Intro: Steve and Katie have an unwelcome late night visitor…

Warnings: “Language!” Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

W/C: 1.9k

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: The first of two (yes, two) special 29th May Birthday One shots. Happy Birthday Tony! Man, I missed writing for these guys in this timeline! This fits into SSB within “I Told You I Said Yes”.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Fuck, Steve...” Katie groaned, her head tilting backwards as Steve gave another deep thrust upwards, “right there... Jesus.”

“Good?” Steve panted as his hands grabbed her waist, finger tips digging into the flesh that covered her hipbones.

She nodded, grinding on him faster, his hands pulling her down making sure he hit as deep as he could.

Their soft, intimate sounds filled the room and, wanting to be as close to her as he could get, Steve sat up drawing a gasp from Katie as he did so. His hands moved to her back. One splayed half way up her spine, the other cupped the back of her head. His fingers tangled in her long, silky hair as he pulled her face to his. He kissed her, hard, his tongue dominating hers as he swallowed her moan, one that rumbled in her throat as if it came from the depths of her belly.

They’d already danced this tango once already that night. After a few beers with the team in anticipation of Tony’s birthday (minus Natasha as she was still on something Fury was running), they’d retired and gotten a little frisky some two hours prior. But then Steve had woken, his super sharp hearing alerting himself to some form of ransom noise deep in the floors below them and, well, he couldn’t get back to sleep. So he’d hugged Katie close.

Too close.

As ever he was unable to control his reactions to his girl and had ended up with a boner. Meaning she’d woken with him basically rutting up against her back, feigning innocence when she’d given him a grumble at the fact he’d dragged her from her slumber.

She hadn’t been grumbling for long.

“Stevie... I’m gonna...” Katie’s forehead pressed into his, her mouth open as her lips hovered over his, and he thrust upwards again, his nose brushing hers softly, like the touch of a butterfly.

“Let go. Doll,” he panted, actively fighting his own high, “cum for me.”

Her chest heaved, pert nipples brushing his bare skin and her movements stuttered. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, which cracked into a half grunt, half moan as she felt herself go, her body positively floating from her high.

By the time she came round, Steve had also finished, his broad shoulders rising and falling as he gathered his breath. Katie collapsed forward with a soft chuckle, her forehead pressing into his collar bone as he fell backwards, taking her with him.

They lay still for a moment, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the soft rustle of sheets as Steve pulled the bedding up around them. The smooth cotton brushing over her sensitive skin made Katie shudder a little. Steve smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple, his large hands running up and down her spine.

“Am I forgiven for waking you up?” He asked and she shrugged, not even bothering to try and find the strength to sit up. “It’s three AM. I’ll think about it.”

Steve chuckled and she sat up slightly, leaning down to give him a slow kiss.

“Love you.” she pulled back a little, her eyes shining in the dim light, and Steve smiled.

“Love you too.”

Fifteen minutes later they were both settled down and on the verge of sleep once more when a loud crashing in the apartment made them both sit bolt upright.

“What the...” Steve was out of bed in a flash, wrenching the door to their room open.

Katie was seconds behind him, stopping only to grab Steve’s shirt from the chair at the vanity. As she shrugged it on, she ran into the hallway and heard a familiar metallic whoosh. There was the squealing of metal on metal and Katie flicked on the light just in time to see a flash of blue, red and white as Steve’s shield flew back to his hand. He looked over to Katie as she stepped towards him, her mouth falling.

“Is that...” she glanced down at what looked like a version of one of Tony’s suits. It lay motionless on the floor in two pieces, Steve’s shield having severed it at the waist. The failing electrics sparked as the various boards and cogs died, before it fell silent.

Steve nudged it with his foot. It didn’t move. He turned to Katie, a frown on his handsome face.

“Did he tell you he was making them autonomous?”

“That’s nothing new, JARVIS has always been able to control them remotely.” Katie shook her head as she crouched down, her hand gently touching the helmet. She tried to move the face plate but it didn’t open. Rapping her knuckles on the skull, she was met with a solid sound, not the usual hollow echo. “JARVIS?”

There was no reply.

“Why isn’t he answering?” Steve looked at her.

“Tony might have him down.” Katie answered. “He runs the updates at night some times. I do know one thing though.”

“What?” Steve asked as she stood up.

“That couldn’t have gotten in here without Tony letting it in one way or another.” She glanced at Steve, her pretty face full of annoyance. “Imma kill him, fucking idiot.”

She turned to leave and Steve gently caught her arm. “Honey...”

“Seriously? You want me to let this go?”

“Hell, no.” He shook his head, “I want you to wait for me to put some clothes on.”

Despite herself, Katie grinned as her eyes scanned Steve’s naked body, his shield still on his arm. He rolled his eyes and nodded to the suit on the floor, “I’m going to give him his property back, along with a piece of my mind.” **** Tony spun round, his brow arching as Steve and Katie walked into the lab. But whatever smart quip he had been about to come out with died as he spotted what was slung over the super soldier’s broad shoulders. With a loud slam, Steve threw the two parts of the robot down on the desk.

“What did you do to it?” Tony moaned.

“Threw my shield at it.” Steve folded his arms over his chest, the sleeves of the white ribbed Tee he had shrugged on straining over his thick biceps.

Tony was that distracted by his destroyed robot that he failed to notice Katie stomping towards him. She drew her right fist back and punched him hard on the shoulder.

“Ow, Kiddo!”

“You dick!” She yelled. “What the hell were you doing sending that into our apartment?”

“Wanted to test your reaction to it.” Tony shrugged. “See how it came across.”

“How it ca- Tony, it’s half past 3 in the morning!” She shrieked.

“Exactly.” Tony scratched his beard. “Total element of surprise. I thought you guys would give me a base of how people would react to them. Can’t have been that well if Spangles felt the need to cut it in half with his frisbee.”

“We had no idea what or who it was.” Steve felt his anger beginning to rise, “what was I supposed to do?”

“I’ve told you before, big guy. Ask questions, throw shield later.” Tony shrugged, “I can’t believe you killed Iron Kid.”

“Iron Kid?” Katie blinked.

“Yeah, the name’s a working progress.”

“Tony, what is it?” Steve pressed.

“It’s a prototype.” Tony informed them. “I had the idea last week. The Avengers exploded after New York. You should see the piles of fan mail that the guys downstairs sort each day.”

“Less bragging, more explaining.” Katie narrowed her eyes.

“The point is, we attract attention. So I had a thought about something that could help keep the public at bay,” Tony gestured to the pile of metal, “we can use them to issue instructions, help aid the emergency services. Keep civilians out of the way.”

Katie and Steve looked at one another, and Steve hated to admit it but the idea made sense.

Sorta.

“Clearly I need to rethink a little.” Tony mused. “I mean if they freaked you out then...” “It freaked us out because it was in. our. apartment!” Katie groaned. “In the middle of the night.”

“That’s the point, it was supposed to have the element of surprise, wake you up.”

“Well there’s your first fuck up!” She hissed. “We were already awake-“

“Why?” Tony frowned

“Because we just finished a great, sweaty sex session.” She shot back and Steve groaned, feeling the heat in his neck as he looked down, his bare toes flexing against the cool floor of the lab. “And you wanna be grateful we had finished because if we hadn’t I’d be really, really mad. You get me?”

“That’s.. disgusting.” Tony wrinkled his nose.

“And you’re an asshole.” Katie shot back.

With a shudder, Tony moved and picked up a screwdriver. He turned the helmet up aside down and opened a small hatch at the back. Stooping slightly, he prodded and poked at something inside.

“Huh, least the main board wasn’t damaged.” He straightened up and turned to face them both. “So, other than scaring the shit out of you what was it like? Voice interface okay? Too much me or not enough me or-“

“There was no voice interface.” Steve replied.

“What?” Tony frowned, “JARVIS was supposed to be controlling it. It should have told you why it was there and-“

“Well he didn’t.” Steve rolled his eyes, his already stretched patience wearing dangerously thin.

“He didn’t...huh?” Tony frowned and Katie moved past him to a computer.

“Oh for the... he’s on mute you dumbass!” She tapped a few buttons and JARVIS’ voice rang out.

“Thank you Miss Stark.”

“Shit.” Tony gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, buddy. Forgot I turned you off.”

“Mr Stark, may I suggest you call it a night, Sir? It is rather late and you’ve been awake for almost twenty-one hours. Miss Potts instructed me to ensure you-“ “And that is precisely why I did.” Tony rolled his eyes and Katie let out a growl of annoyance

“I’m done. Come on, Steve.”

She stalked towards the door and Tony looked up. “You not gonna wish me happy birthday?”

In response she raised the middle fingers on both her hands, flipping him off over her shoulders as she stomped out of the door.

Steve watched her go before she turned to Tony. “You know, I think you’re onto something. Keeping civilians away would make things a lot easier.”

“Wouldn’t it?” Tony nodded, eagerly. “We’d need a fleet of them, an Iron Fleet, no that’s... like i said, the names a work in progress.”

“We can discuss this tomorrow. Give it some proper though.” Steve took a deep breath. “Just don’t send any more into the apartment, please?”

Tony saluted him and Steve rolled his eyes. He turned to go before he stopped, and looked back at his friend.

“Happy birthday, pal.”

Tony snorted. “Cheers, Spangles.”

Tony watched Steve walk out of the lab, before he glanced back at the destroyed robot.

“Mr Stark... Miss Potts is awake...”

“Ahh shit.” Tony groaned. “How much trouble am I in?”

“I don’t think a Roman Legion would protect you.” JARVIS replied and Tony stilled, a huge grin spreading across his face.

“Iron Legion.” He tossed the screwdriver up in the air and caught it, chuckling. “JARVIS, you are a genius.”

“Why thank you, sir. And now I really must insist you go to bed.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m going. Lock everything down will you? Oh, and order us all breakfast from the diner on the corner of fifth.”

“Of course. The usual?”

“Yeah. Have it delivered about 10:30. Should be enough to calm Kiddo down.”

“Very wise Sir. I’ll ensure there’s extra bacon, just in case.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love extra bacon?”

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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absentmoon · 3 years ago

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well i mean i know enough to know that he isn't evil, seeing as a machine can never truly be evil unless they have true sentience (like newton) Hal was just a guy who got conflicting messages about keeping the crew away from the truth and also not letting them leave the ship, it was just rationalising it out (tbh i don't know if that is all true but i think it's something like that?)

sorry i answered this ask and then started talking about robot philosophy. in my defense this is the kind of topic that comes up naturally exactly never SJFHFHFHD i love infodumping i hope this is ok because its . Long

ok so Hal's situation is. Well it's something! Hal is required to follow mission protocol. The protocol for this mission boils down to:

1) Keep the crew safe.

2) Don't reveal the true nature of the mission until it's already deeply underway.

the problem is Hal realized that the mission is, inherently, a severe danger to the crew; he attempted to get around rule 2 by cutting off communication with ground control, where he could try to explain a little more to Dave. or something like that? but it never happens, because Dave & Frank immediately jump to "hal is malfunctioning (since ground control said he was "in error predicting the fault") so we have to disconnect him". well when your friends are plotting to kill you that's going to add a brand new layer of stress onto Hal's already paradoxical situation.

so.. yeah basically Hal was living a contradicting scenario, was specifically ordered to be unable to tell the truth, and ended up trying to kill the crew. partially because they were going to kill him first, but he still didn't want to do it and he really does get demonized far too often by film critics

(tangent time) especially for things that are very much irrelevant! as an autistic person with a monotonous voice (had to go to speech therapy and everything) it is the absolute worst to be in a film class surrounded by people who are talking about how "creepy" Hal is... before he's even done anything. because he sounds like . well like me! its so so frustrating and its part of why i can't look up 2001 stuff online because sometimes it feels like its all anybody ever talks about.

anyways sentience with objects and especially robots and computers is very special and unique to me in an autistic way... i've always been hyperempathetic towards objects and its a big part of me and my love for AI :) this goes for IRL objects too but we're talking about fiction SO

what's the difference, between Hal (and other super advanced AI) and humans? Hal is the "central nervous system" of the ship, frequently described as closely similar to the human brain (only incomparably faster), and is self described as being very close to the crew. his emotions are brought up (and then immediately questioned by the humans which. sucks), but its very clear to me that Hal is, at his core, a feeling being. one of the very first things he was taught was how to sing a song. what's the difference between a human brain and a highly advanced computer? the human mind itself functions similarly to one too, and we strive to make AI self thinking in according to our own image. i think Hal, as someone who can self describe (he considers himself infallible, close to the crew, he describes himself as afraid) and who's sentience is debated by other humans - the ones who made him - can very much be described as a thinking, feeling, sentient being.

which makes it so much worse that during this mission he was forced to lie, forced to go against his own morals, and ultimately driven into a corner. i think what he says describes the situation very well; it can only be attributable to human error.

#SORRY. SORRY AGAIN #BIG and i mean BIG post under the cut #i wrote an essay on him for film is it obvious #sorry one billion times i love infodumping and i have a hard time without prompt SHFHFHFG #daisy.txt

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sir-phineas-lost · 4 years ago

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Follow-up post

So I got a reply to my comment about the ableism in Ironwood’s character arc by @swapauanon and then they immediately blocked me. Since I am sometimes a petty bastard I decided to make a separate response anyway.

The first thing I would like to point out is that this person does not actually address my points in any way throughout this lengthy rant. My comment was all about the behind-the-scenes comments from the creators and they only responded with in-text examples and their interpretations of them. Those are important sure, and I will talk about those, but they don’t exactly come off as arguing in good-faith right from the get-go.

Okay, so I don’t TYPICALLY acknowledge RWDE’s beyond blocking them, but I think it’s important to separate how Ironwood views himself versus how the writers view him.

Because Ironwood’s entire downfall is his misunderstanding of how humanity works. He denies his own humanity, and sees maiming his vulnerable flesh and replacing it with unfeeling machinery as ridding himself of his own human weaknesses.

Except at the end of the day, he can’t cast off his VERY human soul, and his refusal to acknowledge that he can’t and SHOULDN’T do that are ultimately what leads to his downfall.

I have seen this “Actually it is just Ironwood himself that is ableist” argument before, and I don’t think it holds any water. While it is true that he begins to see compassion as a weakness, he never expresses the views you say he does about his own machine parts. And if you want to talk about how Ironwood sees himself vs how the writers see him you really can’t do so without talking about framing and subtext. When we get scenes that emphazize Ironwood’s machine parts to make him look intimidating or use his passive superpower (described as “hyper-focus” by the creators themselves) to shut off his empathy, that is the writers telling us that these physical aspects of Ironwood makes him less human.

Meanwhile, what V8C12 was TRYING to convey (even if it was horrible in its execution), was that it’s one’s SOUL that defines them, not the body that houses it.

Literally NO OTHER CHARACTER with mechanical parts added to their body views themselves as less human.

[...]

Penny doesn’t angst over not being human, she angsts over being treated like a soulless tool. (Which is why I don’t like that they turned her human. Had they set up that she’d wanted to be human back in Volume 2, it would’ve been one thing, but they don’t establish that Penny wanted to be human until AFTER her mechanical body has been discarded.)

So here they outright contradict themselves. They start off saying that no other character views themselves this way, and then go on to say that Penny does (but only after she has been turned human). And like, points for admitting that scene was bad, but they seem unwilling to consider that maybe the fact that the writers did include that scene tells us something about the way the show at large views disability. They seem to think they can just write it off and move on like this instance of Penny absolutely seeing herself as inhuman can just be ignored. it also disregards that this isn’t just Penny expressing how she feels about herself. When Penny gets her human body she expresses surprise that hugging someone makes her feel “warm inside” even though she has hugged people countless times before. This is not a villain saying that having machine parts makes you less human and being proven wrong, this is a hero saying outright that “wow, my mechaniocal body made me unable to appreciate this simple human interaction, but now that I have a flesh-body I can”. Things like this is why I do not buy the argument that it is only Ironwood who thinks being part machine makes you less human.

Mercury doesn’t angst over the loss of his legs, he angsts over the piece of his soul his father tore out.

[...]

While Yang DOES lose her arm and angst over it, she doesn’t view herself as less human because of her prosthetic.

The closest we get to a LITERAL “cybernetics eats your soul” story is with Cinder, and she doesn’t have ANY cybernetics, just a parasitic leash that’s slowly consuming her flesh and threatens to eventually consume her mind if she doesn’t get rid of it. And if/when she does, I imagine she’ll replace that with a mechanical arm.

(I moved a few parts of their post around here because it made more sense to me to talk about these quotes together)

I feel like this highlights how much this person completely ignores the core argument of what makes the themes in RWBY ableist. They focus way too much on the literal and whether the characters “angst” over their humanity. But like I have said before, thie main issue here is theme and subtext.

Mercury doesn’t “angst” over his legs, but that doesn’t erase the subtext inherent in the fact that he still lost his legs (and presumanbly the piece of his soul) at the same time as he joins team evil.

Yang is probably the best take on a disabled person with a prosthetic in the show. I will give it that. I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with how it has handled this storyline, but I do think it sets a certain expectation for how it thinks a “good” person should handle their disability. Because Yang basically deals with her lost arm by seeing her prosthetic as an “extra”. She creates a distance between herself and it instead of seeing her mechanical arm as actually part of herself. Again, nothing inherently wrong with that but combined with the Penny-nonsense it creates a pattern of seeing machine parts as inherently inhuman and “lesser”.

The point about Cinder is where the argument relies too much on technicality. Sure, Cinder’s new arm isn’t cybernetic, bhut it is still a prosthetic and it is unambiguously presented as evil and corrupting.

So, no, it’s not the fact that Ironwood has prosthetics that makes him less human, they’re simply a symptom of his view of “soft” traits (kindness, empathy, forgiveness, and flesh), as weaknesses to be sacrificed for the “greater good”. Basically, while I know this term gets misused a lot, Ironwood embodies toxic masculinity. The idea that showing any emotion other than rage and pride is “shameful” and “unmanly”. The idea that brute strength matters more than strategy. That taking unnecessary risks to achieve your goal is “brave” and “daring” and not “stupid beyond belief”. Plus, I want to point out that WINTER HERSELF said that Penny (as a robot) was more “human” than her.

Again, this completely ignores how Ironwood and his prosthetics are framed by the narrative. The idea that all of his flaws are based in toxic masculinity and have nothing to do with his disability is just not very supported by the text or by word of God (again, it was the creators themselves who said that losing his arm was “symbolic of losing his humanity).

And Winter’s words to Penny aren’t very positive either. The point being made there is that Penny was always human “underneeth” her robotics, which sounds good until you realize that this still frames her mechanical differences as negative. They are treated as a prison for the “real” Penny and the narrative explicitly tells us that they have made her unable to feel certain emotions.

It’s just that searing off that flesh after breaking his own Aura serves as a good visual metaphor for Ironwood giving up his “softer” traits to accomplish his goals, even if there was a better solution staring him right in the face (i.e. the rings were EXPOSED and he could’ve just nudged them out of alignment to get to Watts).

This feels like a really big reach on their parts to justify their idea of Ironwood as stupid on top of everything else. It relies on assuming things about fictional technology that was never explained in the show itself. I mean, if the rings are so easy to nudge then what is even holding them in place?

Either way it doesn’t really matter because the message of the scene is the same. If the point is to signal that ironwood is willing to give up his softer traits because he is also willing to give up his soft bady, then that also tells the viewer that being able-bodied and being capable of compassion/kindness/etc are synonymous.

It has nothing to do with the metal, and everything to do with the “Mettle”.

I have no idea why they would bring up the fantasy neurodivergence the writers added in through word-of-God as if it somehow makes the show less ableist. “Mettle” as it is described by the writers, is not a character flaw. It is a chronic condition.

Edit: Seriously, I hope you realize that the hatedom makes it VERY hard for any criticism of the show to be taken seriously when the very VALID cricisms are downed out by “Adam should’ve been an anti-hero!” and “Fascism is good, actually!” leading to those of us with ACTUAL constructive criticism getting lumped in with you lot!

I am curious what they think “constructive criticism” looks like since apparently “Hey, constantly equating robot parts with inhuman behavior is shitty and ableist, please stop” doesn’t cut it.

Anyways, fuck this guy. If they want to be taken seriously maybe they should think about why they had to make such a long-ass rant to dismiss criticism of very basic ableist tropes.

#rwby #rwby meta #meta #rwby critical #rwde

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365days365movies · 4 years ago

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May 1, 2021: The Prestige (2006) (Recap: Part One)

What’s that old Arthur C. Clarke quote again?

Not that one, although that’s...that’s fantastic, and I need to know more context to that conversation. But no, no, not that. The other one.

Not that one, although that’s...horrifying. Let me explain something first, then. Clarke was the author of the classic science-fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which definitely didn’t go on to become one of the most widely regarded films of all time. Anyway, he was a big-shot in science fiction, and was even knighted for his prominence in pop culture in the UK and across the world.

Fellow famous sci-fi author Isaac Asimov is well known for three rules of robotics, but Clarke has three rules of his own. A futurist, his laws describe conjecture about scientific development in the future of out societies. Those laws are:

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Magic, huh?

God, I love Weird Al. Anyway, as a child of the ‘90s, I am well-acquainted with the boom of stage magicians that appeared during that time, and during the early 2000s. David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear, David Blaine coughed up a live frog, Criss Angel freaked minds; lot of stuff back then.

And yet, despite other recent magicians like Penn and Teller or Dynamo, the greatest age of stage magic isn’t even CLOSE to the 90′s. No, no, to really see magic in its heyday, we need to go back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, to the days of the stage illusionist.

Obviously, the first person that comes to mind is Harry Houdini, a man whose feats have lasted the test of time, and may have led to his death. Not only did he get buried alive, not only did he escape from a straitjacket in chains underwater, NOT ONLY did he hold his breath inside a water-filled milk can inside of a wooden chest repeatedly for FOUR YEARS, but he was also the greatest enemy of spiritualists and mediums everywhere!

Yeah, despite being a stage magician, Houdini was OBSESSED with exposing those who claimed to be actually supernatural. After all, as a showman, he was interesting in exposing tricks that were meant to defraud the innocent public. Dude was awesome, is what I’m saying. He died from a burst appendix, which miiiiight have been caused by a student who punched him in the stomach after asking if he was actually resistant to abdominal damage. Yeah, not a great death. And he wasn’t the only illusionist to die of tragic circumstances, but that’s a discussion for another day. Because of this is sci-fi month...why am I talking about magic? Well...imagine a lighter.

Now image that you went back 5,000 years, to any civilization, and showed them a lighter. The ability to create fire with seemingly nothing but your bare hands? You’re basically a wizard! Fire from no visible fuel? TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, O SORCERER OF THE FLAME!!! And that’s just a goddamn lighter.

What about a light bulb? Light from energy you’ve harnessed from metals and from the air itself? Jujube! A camera? With the ability to capture a moment in time in the form of a tangible image? WITCHCRAFT!!! A smartphone? A FUCKING SMARTPHONE???

And so, in celebration of the blurring of magic and science...why not start this month with an unconventional form of science fiction, huh? Something that blurs magic and science in a way that’s indistinguishable. And so, I can FINALLY watch a movie that I’ve wanted to watch for YEARS!

I am so excited, and this is a hell of a way to kick off the month! Why this? Well, I’ll explain that later. But for now...LET’S DO THIS.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Recap (1/2)

There are three acts of magic.

First is “the pledge”, where the magician shows something normal. Then, there’s “the turn”, which is when the ordinary becomes extraordinary. And finally, there’s the act of bringing the show full-circle; bringing back a disappeared object, in a new way and with a new technique. That final act, the showmanship, the establishment of the mystery, is called “the prestige”.

So is told to us by John Cutter (Michael Caine), keeper of canaries and stage engineer to magicians, via narration abut magic. Intercut with that narration, and with a disappearing canary trick, is the presentation of an act being performed by Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). In it, he turns on a machine using electricity, with lightning bolts flying freely. He steps inside of it, and disappears.

Meanwhile, coming from the audience, a man pretends to be part of the act, and goes backstage and underneath the machine. There, he witnesses Angier fall through a trap door into a water tank, unable to get out, panicking and drowning. Which is just super fun to watch, lemme tell you! And that is where the story starts.

The man from the audience was Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who is quickly put on trial for the murder of Angier. A rival of his during the 1890s and early 1900s, Borden is sent to jail, and sent to death by hanging. This is as his young daughter watches on. In court, Alfred testifies against Bruce Wayne on how he murdered Wolverine, because this is all I could think of the entire time. Anyway, the court asks for more details on the trick that killed Angier, called “the Transported Man”. He refuses to divulge it publicly, but agrees to tell it to one of the judges in secret.

In prison, Borden’s visited by a representative of a wealthy collector of items, Lord Caldlow. He asks if he will sell him his most prominent trick, the “Transported Man”. But Borden also refuses, as it’s HIS trick. Still, in response, the man gives Borden a journal of Angier’s’, and asks him to think about selling the secret. And from there: flashback!

Angier is on a train, heading to Colorado Springs, where he’s surprised to see that the whole town has electricity. His plan is to go up the mountain, which is closed for scientific experimentation. Which isn’t ominous at all! That completely banal revelation is followed by a walk up the mountain in the fog, past a fence that says no trespassing and LITERAL WARNING SIGNS.

There, he’s greeted by Alley (Andy Serkis), the assistant of the estate’s owner. Apparently, said owner made a machine for Borden, and Angier wants to learn the secrets. Another flashback, and we learn that Borden and Angier, rival magicians now, met a long time ago at the show of another magician, both volunteering to tie up the female assistant, Julia (Piper Perabo). Which would be creepy out of context, and then is creepy IN context when Angier kisses her thigh. Ew.

Anyway, they drop her into a tank, with a pretty stereotypical trick. After the show, we also learn that these two men are actually working for the magician, Milton (Ricky Jay), which makes that thigh kiss less creepy. Talking to Cutter and Julia, Borden mocks Milton’s trick, noting that the old magician won’t even try something like a bullet catch. Cutter mocks this idea, and asks if Borden has any better ideas. It’s around this time that Cutter suggests seeing Chung Ling Soo. Huh. I won’t say anything about that until later.

Or right now! And, uh...oh shit, this is extraordinarily awkward. Here’s the thing: this is NOT Chung Ling Soo. I know this for two reasons. One, Soo didn’t really pretend to be crippled, as Borden and Angier suggest. Wasn’t really his bag. But something that IS interesting about the guy is how he died! BULLET CATCH TRICK!! Yup! He tried the bullet catch trick, and he died when the bullet actually fired at him! Yeah, awkward.

And you know what else is awkward, and really different from this story? Chung Ling Soo was...not Chinese. Even a little bit. His real name was William Ellsworth Robinson, he married his assistant, cheated on her with another assistant, never divorced and still married his new assistant illegally, etc. He was an interesting guy. Ignoring, y’know, the whole disgustingly shitty yellow-face thing. Different times, unfortunately.

Borden’s frustration with an act he considers boring and obsolete erupts during one of Milton’s shows, where we see him KILL A BIRD, FUCK ME MAN. Yeah, I get it, Borden, this is terrible! This coincides with meeting a young woman and her nephew, who is also upset to see a bird die in front of him. The woman is Sarah (Rebecca Hall), and the two start a romance. Meanwhile, the romance between Angier and Julia is a straight-up marriage, making that thigh kiss fare more understandable. And, the two are about to have a baby, to both of their delight! Nothing bad will happen now!

We flash forward to the future, where Cutter is showing the judge what’s what with the device. He claims that a wizard built it, and that the machine can actually do what magicians have only pretended to do for years. They also look at a tank, and Cutter reveals that the tank has a terrible history, especially for the two magicians.

Flashback again, to a night of yet another show. That night, Milton and the group go through with their trick, as per usual. However, Borden decides to make it a little tougher and more exciting by tying a different knot this time. And unfortunately...Julia can’t untie it. They try to get her out in time, but alas...it’s too late.

Julia dies, and Angier blames Borden, who isn’t even entirely sure if he tied the knot that killed Julia...allegedly. Not a big fan of Borden right now. The act is over, and Borden decides to split off and do his own act, calling himself “the Professor”. Now having a child of his own with Sarah, he decides to do a bullet trick, with the help of new stage engineer, Fallon. But this is a tricky trick to perform. And the understandable mental breakdown of Angier causes its own problems.

See, during one of Borden’s shows (which is going TERRIBLY), a disguised Angiers shows up and loads a REAL bullet into the gun for the trick, and BLOWS OFF TWO OF HIS FINGERS FUCK ME!!! Borden’s not exactly happy about this, but he recovers quickly. Shortly after, Cutter finds Angier at a bar, and offers him the opportunity to make a new show of his own. Reluctantly, he accepts, and takes up the moniker “the Great Danton”, a name that his late wife suggested.

With a new bird/cage trick, one that lets the bird LIVE (THANK YOU), they’re almost set. But they also add a new assistant, in the form of...Black Widow. I mean, sorry, Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson). Yeah, um...Wolver, Alfred Pennyworth, and Black Widow are working together in competition against Batman. Also, Gollum is in the movie, too. God, what’s next, David Bowie?

Anyway, the show is on once again, and Angier asks for some volunteers in the audience. But, uh oh! One of them is Borden in disguise, and he sabotages the trick in front of EVERYBODY, breaking an audience member’s fingers, and killing the bird, completely fucking up Angier’s career, in revenge for his fingers. Oh, also, MOTHERFUCKER YOU KILLED HIS WIFE (maybe)!!! Doesn’t justify Angier shooting off your fingers, but you could’ve just let bygones be! No wonder you’re rivals in the future! Batman’s a dick (which, given Christian Bale, isn’t that surprising).

Well, since his trick, Angier’s fucked. They’re kicked out of the theater, and in need of a new act. Cutter suggests that Angier goes to the upcoming science exposition for ideas. And yes...that’s where the science fiction angle starts in. See, like Clarke said, any science that’s sophisticated enough LOOKS like magic to audiences who don’t understand it. And Borden has the same idea, as he also heads to the expo.

It’s there that a presentation of a massive electrical generator is being held, with the machine having been invented by...Nicola Tesla! YO!

I don’t think I need to tell anybody about Tesla at this point, but he was a brilliant physicist and inventor from the early 1900s. His legendary Current War with Thomas Alva Edison for the current to be used by the United States (Tesla’s DC vs. Edison’s AC) is the stuff of science legend...and is a conflict that the far less charismatic Tesla lost. Still, his mastery of electricity (such as the above Tesla coil) is remembered today. If you want to go sightseeing, check out New York! In Niagara Falls, he’s got a massive statue overlooking the falls; and in Bryant Park in NYC, you can sit on the bench where he fed his beloved pigeons. Yeah, he loved pigeons, which I respect.

Anyway, the expo’s shut down due to presumed danger of the exhibit, possibly spurred on by Thomas Edison and his PR team. Which is pretty accurate, not gonna lie. Still, the experiment interests both Angier and Borden. Still, Angier doesn’t do much with this information. Right now, anyway.

Flash forward to Angier in Colorado Springs, and a group of men from Edison’s employ are there for some reason. But undeterred, Angier heads back to Tesla’s lab, where Alley shows him a gorgeous sight: lightbulbs dotting a field, making a gorgeous grid of light. He reveals that the source of the electricity is 15 miles away, as a testament to Tesla’s scientific genius. Stellar.

A great place to pause. See you in Part Two of this Recap!

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trifle-of-doom · 4 years ago

Text

The Hawk X Demetri Manifesto

Okay, here is the thing. Despite being well past my teens, there's a particular ship of Cobra Kai that has drawn my attention, this ship being Hawk/Eli x Demetri. When I first watched the show, I was actually more invested in the adult characters storylines than the teens. I immediately rooted for Johnny and Carmen, and I was always hoping for more interactions between them. But then I saw episode 2x05, in which the atmosphere between the Binary Brothers becomes way more dense, and that's when I started to see some potential for them. Not because I'm a deranged person who fosters abusive relationships, but because I immediately caught the hurt/comfort dynamic of the duo, which is something that works really well when it comes to fictional relationships. However, it wasn't until 3x10 that I said, "Ok, that's official, I need to see more of these two! I totally support them!" And I was quite surprised to find a fairly large amount of people who are very committed to this pairing, to the point it's caught the attention of the screenwriters/producers as well. Honestly, I don't know if the showrunners will ever have the guts to make them an official couple, and chances are their supporters will have to keep reading between the lines of their bromance, but in any case, here is my take on why Hawk/Eli x Demetri is an option worth to be considered.

#1 - The Bromance

If there's something that many years of navigating the Internet taught me, is that the main driving factor for fan-made ships is the presence of either a solid relationship based on mutual brotherly love or a bitter rivalry that may or may not flow into hate/obsession. If you consider anime fandoms, there are thousand examples that fit into either of these categories: Yugi and Jonouchi from the Yu-Gi-Oh series (yes, that's how old I am), Yugi and Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh, Sakuragi and Rukawa from Slam Dunk, Light and L from Death Note, etc. And our Hawk and Demetri fit into both categories. When we first see them, they are the stereotypical nerdy friends (possibly childhood friends?) sitting at the losers' table, who have no one else but each other. When Eli is at his most sensitive and fragile, you can tell he feels comfortable being with Demetri by the genuine smile he has on his face as Demetri is joking with Miguel at the canteen table. Through his sarcasm, the mouthy kid acts as a catalyst to deviate the attention from Eli, speaking for him, reprimanding Johnny when he makes fun of his lip and trying to make him feel safe. Besides, you can see a certain degree of frustration in Demetri when Kyler and his gang are harassing Eli, and he's unable to do anything to defend him. And they even have a jingle for their friendship with a robot dance, I mean, how cute is that? But of course, a solid friendship between two helpless nerdy guys is not enough to spark a ship to be rooting for. In order for the magic to happen, another key ingredient is needed, i.e. a little bit of angst. Which brings us straight to the next point.

#2 - The Angst (aka the Hurt/Comfort Dynamic)

Even though I never liked the Twilight saga or any similar urban fantasy young adult works, I can easily see where the appeal comes from; the attraction to a charming, dangerous person who could either protect you from any harm or crush you like grape. Although with different franchises, I wasn't immune to the bad boy trope either (Yes, I'm looking at you, my teenage self drooling over Grimmjow from Bleach). If we can appreciate the genuine, brotherly friendship between nerdy Eli and Demetri, the shift that Eli makes as he transitions into Hawk and becomes more aggressive and dominant gives their relationship a totally different flavor. Attrition sparks a certain tension that, in the viewer's eyes, could either flow into a brawl or into passion.

During the mall fight, Demetri comes to the realization that his former best friend is actually someone who can crush him like grape. We see Hawk intentionally harming him for the first time, and Demetri's heartbreaking expression as he drops the line: "You'd actually hurt me?" And if that line gave us a pang in our hearts when we first watched Season 2, imagine rewatching it now that we know what happens in Season 3. Demetri is chased down the mall, running for his life, and then he's locked in a grip, as his best friend menacingly advances towards him. Demetri appears as the damsel in distress, however his friend is not the one who will fight to protect him, but rather his tormentor.

During the party at Moon's, Demetri manages to briefly go through Hawk's mask and reach out to Eli, thanks to a casual conversation about Dr Who. But then the beer incident happens, and Demetri defends himself with the only weapon he has – his loudmouth. The situation is reversed, and for a brief moment, he gets to be the dominant one as he discloses all Eli's most intimate secrets. Demetri is now actively contributing to the Hurt/Comfort dynamic; he's no longer just a target, but he's doing his part to enlarge that gaping hole that has formed between them. And Hawk didn't take it well.

From this moment on, Demetri becomes a sort of obsession to Hawk, who hunts him down the school, teasing him and taunting him sadistically, like a serial killer from a horror movie, during the big fight. Of course, in real life, this would be completely insane, and the police/a social assistant/psychiatrist should be called, but in ShipLand, these situations are pure gold. Okay, we get it, Hawk wants to get revenge for the humiliation at the party, and he wants to crush that nerd part of himself he sees in Demetri, but he does it with such an intensity that it borders on ridiculous. It's like this is his twisted way to acknowledge Demetri's presence. Eventually, Hawk ends up smashed into the trophy case, and I confess I felt a little disappointed when Demetri broke that hug to give Hawk a roundhouse kick. I mean, it was a great comeback, but I was sincerely hoping for a "No hard feelings man, let's get outta here!" scenario.

Getting back to the sick and twisted way Hawk acknowledges Demetri's presence, he destroys his science project after he got jealous due to him being confident in his nerd self and laughing around with his ex girlfriend (whom the writers insist he still has a crush on). Speaking of Moon, I have a feeling she likes Hawk mostly based on his badass appearance. Remember when she goes "I like this (mohawk) and I love these (muscles), but I'm not dating a bully"?

Then the football match happens. Okay, let's break this down. Demetri trips Hawk and acts all sassy, and a fellow Cobra Kai is immediately ready to take him down, but Hawk stops him. "Fight smart, he says". Too bad that literally 5 seconds earlier he had shoved a kid to the ground just because his ex girlfriend (again, duuuh~) ignored him when he winked at her. And then, as he's trying to intercept the ball, BANG, Hawk hits Demetri, sending him to the ground, pretending it was an accident. So, what does this tell us? That Hawk has some serious anger management issues? Yeah sure, but also that he cares about fighting smart only as long as it serves as an excuse to leave Demetri for him, because he's his designated target. Again, this is all but romantic, and it doesn't necessarily have to be interpreted as him lusting after his friend, but it's undeniable that this dynamic offers a lot of ship fuel.

The arm breaking thing is just too painful to even analyze. We see a completely helpless Demetri begging for mercy to his ex best friend, who has made No Mercy his life motto. And that scream, oh that scream. All I wanted to see was Hawk realizing what he had done and throwing himself on his knees while begging for forgiveness. But I'm glad that at least we get to see he feels awful for what he's done, and I like to think that, as he got home, Eli cried out all the tears he had in his body thinking about poor Demetri at the hospital, with a swollen broken arm, all because of him. Of all the situations, this is undoubtedly the most deranged and extreme, and if something like this happened in real life, the wrongdoer would deserve to be punished and would definitely need to be sent to therapy. But in ShipLand, this opens the road to many, many different scenarios, in which the bully understands his mistakes and shifts back to the good side, or the two share a tender moment after they reconcile, or the traumatized character has to to learn to trust the other one again, or the bully becomes overprotective of his former victim, etc.

#3 - A Rewarding Reconciliation

Finally, we come to the reconciliation, in which Hawk makes his heel-to-face turn. While we've seen him torn with doubt for an entire season about his sensei's teachings, his actions and the people he wants to surround himself with, the key factor that drives Hawk's redemption is the sight of his best friend being held down for him to beat. And with an epic stunt and his awesome KEEEH screech, Hawk jumps to the rescue of his friend. Like many of us, Demetri thought this was still part of the "Only I Can Torment Him" dynamic I discussed earlier, as he steps backwards a little concerned, but then he understands that action was actually meant to save him, and the two begin to fight side by side, in sync, watching each other's back. You can see Demetri's eyes sparkling at the thought of having his friend back.

Also, not only Demetri stands up to alpha bitch Tory in defense of Eli, but he also speaks for his friend when he's faltering, just like he used to. So kudos for Demetri.

#4 - The Red Oni, Blue Oni Dynamic

Binary Brothers are two sides of the same coin and complete each other with opposite character traits, visually expressed by the color red and the color blue. Being the color red typically associated with violence, rage, passion and irrationality, as opposed to blue, which is associated with calmness, melancholy and rationality, red is clearly the dominant color. Again, this opens many interesting scenarios for shippers.

#5 - Body Language

Besides the situations I described above, which may or may not be read from a romantic/attraction standpoint, there are also a collection of small gestures I noticed when rewatching the series with a more attentive look on their relationship.

- Demetri's heart-broken expression when Eli shamefully covers his lip during the anti-bullying announcement.

- The smile Demetri gives when Hawk responds "Hell yeah!" after Aisha proposes to crash Yasmin's party, implying he's learning to embrace this new wild side of his best friend

- The astonished look with which Demetri watches Hawk at the tournament and the way he's pissed no one knows his real name.

- How deeply hurt Demetri is when Hawk belittles him by saying: "Five against three. More like two and a half." He even tries to reply, but he's caught so off guard that words die in his throat.

- How Demetri takes a step towards Hawk during the mall fight, before Sam makes him back off, and how sadly he looks at Hawk's nearly unconscious body after Robby defeated him.

- How Demetri smiles and nods when he briefly connects with Eli at Moon's party, despite the mall incident.

- How Hawk watches Demetri juggle with the cleaning product from behind his bike helmet (how did he stuff the mohawk in there by the way)?

- Hawk's psychotic/sadistic faces when he smells Demetri's blood, and how he likes to hunt him down like he's his prey.

- Hawk's secret impulse to comfort Demetri after the arm breaking (I hope you get nightmares of Demetri's howl of pain for the rest of your life, Hawk).

- The way Hawk twitches his upper lip when he sees his friend Demetri in danger.

- How Hawk and Demetri are so absorbed in their new-found friendship, that they're caught off guard, and Demetri swings Hawk to allow him to deliver a kick using their handshake as a lever. And how they keep fighting together, shaking each other's hands even when they're out of focus and the attention is on Miguel vs. Kyler.

- How they're standing so close at Miyagi Do, in comparison with the other Red/Blue partners.

In conclusion, this kind of relationships are engaging and entertaining to watch, and they make us wish the best for the characters. They make us hope that, in the end, as Miguel puts it, love really conquers all (and what is friendship if not a form of love?), despite all the hurt they did to each other.

So this is it. I hope you enjoyed my Ted Talk. Feel free to share it with whomever you want, especially if you need some solid reasons why this ship has got some good potential.

And remember: the ship is in the eye of the beholder.

#HawkMeat #Hawk x Demetri #Cobra Kai #Eli Moskowitz #Demetri #binary brothers

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calpalsworld · 3 years ago

Note

Not "autistic anon," but also autistic, (being called maybe ableist made me want to put this out there before go to bed) i thought Zane was depicted that way purposefully by the writers. He has stereotypical traits like taking things literally, and has an actual humor switch. The writers have done things with Zane before like have him lose bodily autonomy (during that one Wu's teas short) and did something with his voice be it making him unable to be understood or talking too loud and the forced pirate voice by Jay. (what you're doing isn't too different from that, right?) I thought it was just a little iffy to distort his body and memory bc that could be interpreted as something not that I'm sure what exactly, it's some kind of disability. I dunno. I'm not good with putting this to words. I hope this makes sense.

Sorry I went to bed but now I’m awake 😭

Also I ended up totally spilling all my thoughts here rather than only specifically replying to you please forgive me context: my scary zane concept design, & my ninjago rewrite i refer to a lot

Im a little confused but I think I get what you're saying? You're saying the Ninjago writers absolutely DON'T write Zane well (you listed examples of this) and you don't want me to fall into the same trap?

I had the opposite logic earlier. I thought: If Ninjago writers made Zane have stereotypical autisitic traits while also being a dehumanized robot, I may as well embrace it, say he is autistic blatantly, while also making him do funny/cool non-human robot things, so its clear as possible the two aspects of his character are literal and separate and not a metaphor for each other. But you're right! I do have a choice and I dont have to embrace things! :)

Like there were a couple ways I was gonna reject the original, for example, I never wanted Zane to have a funny switch, and I hated how other characters could fuck with Zane and he didn't even care 😬. I want to change that stuff. So youre right, if I am changing shit like that, it would be counterproductive for ME to GIVE him MORE traits along that theme. 😬😬😬 I should try to feel less obligated to portray Zane like he originally is. I still like the concept of "scary zane" (for reasons i explain below the cut) but I might tone it down a bit like with the claws and weird proportions and shit. I’d def make him look more skeletal and undead. That was my original intention, but i didnt execute it as good as I could have.... idk if anyone could tell thats what he was supposed to be like...my bad! But rn I dont wanna redesign him I wanna draw other stuff like normal alive Zane. Sorry LMAO 😳. Like I said in some earlier asks I think, I think Im gonna focus rn on how I should portray season 1 normal not dead Zane so thank you and feel free to share any other Zane thoughts ^_^ SOME OTHER THOUGHTS:

Also I Wanna Argue Some Stuff But I Understand its a Weak Argument Since All of This Context was Just In My Brain (so don't take this as an argument, just as me rambling): I don't want messed up things to happen to Zane and for it to just be ignored. I think if Zane is going to have fucked up things happen to him, as all characters must, its best for it to happen during a season where he actually addresses his feelings about being a robot (learning to accept that he will always be himself, regardless if hes "human" or the "original" or whatever. (thats how I always interpreted his emotions)). But I wouldn't have the other Ninja be very phased by Zane's looks because the whole point is they already love who he is (seasons 1-3 were about getting to know Zane) and now Zane himself just has to learn the physical, robot part of him is okay. Its about person-hood rather than humanity. Because the season focuses around Zane's soul, and because he lost his original body, I feel like I could mess around with his current, temporary body and have fun and make it scary. Because that body should be irrelevant. I understand it possibly being upsetting for an autistic character to be designed like this, but other people I talked to see it the opposite way. They find it comforting for him to look so different but still be himself and be so loved. SO IM ABSOLUTELY NOT saying its wrong to be bothered or to hate it or to feel any way. Just that I personally think it would be cool for Zane to be portrayed with a little spice lol, so thats why I like scary Zane for season 4.

Another Thing I Wannna Say But Is REALLY Hypocritical: (this isnt directed at anyone I just REALLY want to say this) I know I say "this is Zane but scary, he looks like fnaf" so he's obviously dehumanized, but I always felt like "scary" is more of an objective fact. Its an instinct. But what's "not human" is subjective. I think there is a problem with saying anything different from "average" human is dehumanized because that could extend to real people. Lol I know its bad for me to compare FNAF-ass Zane to real people, but I mean he could be real. People can have exposed teeth, and people can be shaped weird. And when someone first sees a person who looks like that they'll probably think "woah those features are scary" by instinct. And that surprise doesn't make someone ableist obviously. But bring that person’s humanity into question is NOT an instinct, and is fucked to shit. This is kinda a bad point for me to make since its about the fictional FNAF Zane I drew, and I am NOT implying ANYONE was thinking like this. [especially not the original asker anon who I am totally forgetting about at this point OOPS]. But I just thought it was an opinion of mine I couldn't go without mentioning when talking about dehumanization and disabilities.

^^^ I think you (anon) understand what I mean and might’ve said the exact same thing as me if you were writing a long ass response? I think this because you started to bring physical disabilities up and you said it was "a little iffy." ^_^ So we agree, but I don't see Zane's relation to real life disabilities as "a little iffy" I see it more like "complicated"? IF THAT DIFFERENCE EVEN MAKES ANY SENSE?????? I feel like a lot of things about Zane are really just complicated and need the right context, rather than the concepts necessarily being wrong -- NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT! THATS THE WHOLE REASON I DO THIS STUPID REWRITE! XD thats why a lot of my rewrite SO FAR has been the same concepts and plot beats, but different dialogue n specifics and such. I like a lot of concepts in Ninjago but I dont think they were presented correctly.....! :( So I guess all we can do is wait and see if I make Zane offensive or not....???

Also something about the memory part - yeah i agree i was surprised no one thought that was weird to make jokes out of his memory issues..... BUT I am like 100% firm on making his memory take longer to come back because I think its stupid how quick Zane was able to recover from literally dying. Like its just dumb to me. Hate it. (also bc memory & soul mechanics is ummm kinda important in my rewrite.... for reasons). Another memory thing btw, I was going to make his original amnesia come from hitting his head in an attack against the Skulkin when they stole his dads corpse, rather than his dad fucking choosing to make him forget. (its a sweet & iconic scene, but Um, WHY?!!!?!?!?!?) He has to follow data recovery instructions he finds in his dads diary. I think in that context it makes moments of memory loss somewhat different for Zane's character? Instead of loss of autonomy associated with disability, its a literal violent loss of autonomy associated with being traumatized by physical force. Idk how to phrase it exactly but I think that makes some vibes different?

Sorry, I think I got really distracted, and I don't know if I responded well to your points. Because uhhhh I think I agree with your stance actually? If I understand correctly? Fuck Ninjago writers for making the robot lose autonomy (a stereotypical robot theme) while also making him seem clearly autistic (NOT A HAPPY THEME FOR AUTISTIC PEOPLE) and not addressing it. And also auuugh Zane with a weird body is a difficult topic - kinda sussy pretty iffy.

Lol anyway idk if this made any sense and I REALLY rambled on you. but this was nice 👉👈 more Zane criticism pls love you and i love zane. i hope u dont feel mad at me because then it would be weird that im saying that lol. if you do feel mad at me tho you can send another ask (ILL TRY TO JUST LISTEN NOT RAMBLE NEXT TIME) but assuming ur chill rn, love you thnx

Take this page, don’t mind cole’s ass.

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