#especially telepathy

[wishchip106]

more ready player one cherik au ideas

erik is pretty much a complete loser irl and online and barely has any friends until he meets charles at the first trial and joins his online friendgroup (aka fc xmen) when he gets the first key

everyones avatars are more based on their comic looks so they all look a bit silly but its the oasis so its okay

thats pretty much it so far my brain is slowly building some kind of a story but it hasn’t gone into details yet

i dont even know if im gonna write this i just gotta dump my ideas here otherwise they’ll be sent to the void

[bumblingbabooshka]

Everyone who makes jokes about Vulcan hand sex is ignoring the REAL Star Trek hand sex species.

The Ocampa.

[witchofthesouls]

TFP Soundwave is both a freak in the sheets and craves an intimacy level that will scare a majority of people.

[existingingrey]

NSC "acting all professional calling GJW sir, asking for his permission regarding the car etc etc" in front of the section chief.

NSC: After forensics, we'll have to scrap the car. What should we do?

GJW: *pretending to ponder over the question*.

[aldoodles]

April - Connect

[owl-with-a-pen]

[Haven't dropped a fic sneak peek in a while. And yes, despite the word count, this is just a peek. Very self-indulgent fic on a Supergirl-verse Legion origin story for Brainy, starring a certain descendant of Nia's that I have yet to write for. For anyone interested, the fic is under the cut. 😉]

Querl Dox was easily the strangest Coluan that Nura had ever seen. With his washed-out blue skin and frazzled hair as stark as her own, had she not dreamt of him beforehand, she never would have placed him as a native of Colu.

The three circles on his forehead glowed dully – some kind of transdermal implant, she suspected. A body modification? They weren’t uncommon on this side of the galaxy, although Coluan mods were never usually so exposed.

He didn’t wear them as a mark of pride, that was for sure. They looked cumbersome on his thin frame, odd ends of wiry hair thrown overtop in a vain attempt to disguise them. It could have been how he held himself naturally, she supposed - hunched over like a moody teenager trying to mask his face from the world.

No, that was exactly what he was. A teenager. Maybe pushing late adolescence by now, just like her. Not that age meant much to a Coluan, all they really cared about was intellectual maturity. Still, Nura thought it would be a few years yet until he fully grew into those implants.

Maybe they were an aid of some sort – not that he’d ever admit to it.

Nura smirked. Not yet, at least.

He hadn’t moved since she’d started watching him. Comfortably unobservable from behind a screen of one-way plasma glass, there was no way he could have known she was there. It wasn’t until Mon-El and Imra entered through the main doorway that he'd known he had visitors at all.

He didn’t so much as glance in their direction. Instead, he remained perched on the edge of the single bed he’d been granted, head bowed towards his knees, the glow of his implants reflecting back against his face like a ghostly shadow.

This was the make it or break it moment, as Mon-El had once called it. The part where an offer went one of two ways. While many wayward teens would have jumped at the chance to join their ranks, appealing to potential Legionnaires wasn’t always so easy.

After all, this was the first time that initiation would be conducted from a prison cell.

Nura followed Imra and Mon-El’s progress in a trance-like state, her mind dipped halfway into the future as her visions spun duplicates of the very conversation being had. She hummed along to the tune of the words yet to be spoken, mouthing Mon-El’s opening line, reciting it from memory.

“So,” Mon-El said casually, stopping in front of the cell that housed one Querl Dox. He caught Imra’s eye. “Interplanetary grand-theft auto, huh? I’m told you souped up some very nice engines for some very bad people.” He cracked an easy smile. “What were you trying to be, some kind of mechanic?”

Silence followed. Querl kept his head down, hands wrung loosely by his knees.

Mon-El wasn’t deterred quite so easily. “No, you’re right. Your talents would be wasted on something like that.” He folded his arms, widening his stance. “We don’t see too many Coluans this far from home.”

That got a reaction. Nura was just able to catch it beneath the shroud of Querl’s matted hair - a twitch of the lips as he bared his teeth at the ground.  

“Although, I can’t say I’m surprised,” Mon-El continued, feigning ignorance. “With a family like yours, I’m sure it’s better you keep your distance, right?”

 A sound rumbled from Querl’s chest, something that could have passed as a laugh if it hadn’t been for the jarring robotic quality. He rubbed at his wrist idly, scanning the floor beyond his cell. “So, you figured it out,” he muttered. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

Mon-El pulled a face. “I mean, maybe a little. The whole blue thing nearly threw us off. Although, I’ve got some second-hand experience with your family. Indigo was one of your relatives, wasn’t she?”

Querl stiffened. “A distant relation.”

“Right.” Mon-El nodded along. “Like Brainiac.”

Querl flinched, meeting Mon-El’s eye for the first time. Behind that shock of white hair was an alarmingly dark expression, one that bore into Mon-El with an intensity that twisted Nura’s stomach into knots. She’d known mostly what to expect from Querl Dox, and she’d warned her friends as much. If Mon-El hadn’t been listening to her then, he would certainly understand the might of the mind sat before him now.

Querl wasn’t just some moody teenager. With one wrong word, he could become their most formidable enemy to date.

It won’t happen like that, Nura reminded herself. This would all be fine. It had to be. She’d seen it.

Sort of.

Imra took Mon-El’s arm, making out as though she was offering him a steadying hand. Nura could read between the lines. She disapproved of Mon-El’s method – she was probably giving him a psychic reprimand in the same gesture.

Imra Ardeen was a woman of few words during most first-contacts with Legion potentials, but that didn’t mean she was just some impassive tag-along. If anything, Imra’s job was the most critical to their success. While Mon-El did the talking, she was already reading the thoughts of their would-be recruits, acting as a living lie-detector to ensure the validity of their intentions. That job was made a little more difficult with the psychic shielding fitted to any standard U.P prison cell, but not impossible. She was well enough acquainted with the mind from her broad studies on Titan to read a person’s expressions just as easily.  

Mon-El sighed, nodding almost imperceptibly in Imra’s direction. He scratched his jaw, clearing his throat. “Look,” he said levelly, “if you think that’s why we’re here, it isn’t. It’s just, I notice you’ve hopped between a lot of jail cells these last few years. Petty crime, mostly. Wrong place, wrong time, right?”

Querl narrowed his eyes.

“Except,” Mon-El hastened, “if you’re a Brainiac, that makes you pretty damn smart. Smart enough to know how not to get caught.” When Querl didn’t say anything to that, Mon-El relaxed, smiling knowingly. “Yeah,” he murmured, “thought so.”

Querl’s nostrils flared in irritation. Mon-El was playing on some very dangerous territory to dangle something like that over Querl’s head. Implying he knew something that Querl didn’t – well – it was the surest way to piss off any Coluan. Nura held her breath.

“Thought what?” Querl spat, teeth clenched tight.

If Mon-El felt ill at ease, he didn’t show it. Instead, he grinned. “This cell,” he said, “it’s Coluan force-shield tech, right?” He drew an outline of the cell walls with his fingers, marking all four edges as though preparing to take an old-fashioned photograph. “A few years outdated by science police standards; they probably should’ve gone for the upgrade.” He winked. “Even with power dampeners, your intellect is still unmatchable, especially with home advantage. You could break out at any time. But you don’t. For the same reason you got caught in the first place.” He tipped his chin forward seriously. “Want me to keep going?”

Querl scoffed, though Nura could hear the strain in it.

Mon-El didn’t need much encouragement. “Okay, well, the last ship you souped up was being used as a getaway vehicle for a string of interplanetary robberies. The most recent robbery, the one that got you and the rest of your little crew incarcerated – huh - it’s pretty interesting. Your ship gets into a chase with the science police, and in the process, it ends up on a collision course with a civilian air-car. Your ship has shielding, it’d be fine, but that civilian ship would’ve been blown out of the sky. No survivors.”

Querl’s glare was practically poisonous.

“Weird, then,” Mon-El continued amiably, “that before both ships can collide, yours experiences a total power loss. Stalls and starts falling mid-flight, giving the authorities the opportunity to snag your ship before it can do any damage. Now, they’re saying it was an engine malfunction on all the official documentation, and maybe that’s true. But I’m thinking with your skill, there’s no way that engine went in faulty.” He crossed his arms behind his back. “Do you want to know what I think? I think someone tampered with it in a way that would’ve been totally imperceptible to the rest of the crew. Because the person that did it not only built it, but wouldn’t have needed to touch it at all.”

“Are you accusing me of something?” Querl muttered. He made a flippant gesture to his cell. “Because if you are, then I think you’ll find I’m already in the right place.”

Mon-El shook his head slowly. “See, I don’t think you are.” He stepped forward, just as Imra did the same. “My name’s Mon-El, and this is Imra Ardeen. We represent the Legion of Superheroes. We’re a pretty small organisation right now, but we’ve built up something of a reputation here on Earth - as well as the rest of the United Planets thanks to some of our newest members. We have a set of rules, but the most important one is to put the needs of the people before our own. To protect life. Never kill.” His lips quirked. “I’d say you displayed that admirably.”

Nura watched wide-eyed from her invisible vantage, knuckles pressed tight against her lips. She’d seen the outcome of the day’s events a dozen times over in her dreams, but even that wasn’t enough to quell her anxiety. Something felt wrong. She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

As though in answer to her fears, Querl drew back, enough that he could look Mon-El squarely in the eye. His hair fell away from his face, drawing around the edges of his implants like a display curtain. “Mon-El. Yes,” he breathed the word slowly, his dark eyes glistening with knowledge far beyond his years, “I know who you are.” He cocked his head suddenly. “It always causes a stir when someone breaks the boundaries of spacetime. You are from the past. From a dead world. The sister planet of Krypton.” His lips curled with disdain. “Daxam.”

Nura swore under her breath. Out in the cell room, Mon-El nodded, a touch of defensiveness in his tone. “Yes—"

But Querl didn’t let him finish. “You profess these ideals,” he spat, “and yet you have built a monument to your hubris with this… Legion.” He sneered at them both, drawing his fire on Imra next. “You wear your Saturn identifier with pride, Titanian. Telepathy is a most valuable gift in the art of subterfuge.” He narrowed his eyes. “All I see here is a collection of powers you can utilise to meet your own ends. And nothing good comes out of that.”

Nura jolted towards the glass as another dream claimed her, Mon-El’s words flashing in her mind seconds before they touched his lips.

“Don’t say it,” she gasped.

But it was too late.

“I suppose you would know all about collections,” Mon-El said, the charm in his tone all-but gone.

Nura swore again. Mon-El might as well have just declared war.

“Visiting hours have ended,” Querl said, his voice tight. He lay down abruptly on his side, turning away from them both so that he faced the wall. “Do not come back.”

----------------

Nura waited impatiently at the view box door, stepping aside just before it pushed open.

“I think that went well,” Mon-El remarked as he and Imra walked through, brushing himself down with a casual air.

Imra rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t have engaged with his snark.”

“So, you agree it was snark!”

“It was a cover! I don’t need my powers to see that. It was all over his face.”

“This should be working,” Nura cut in, kicking herself from the wall as she stalked past them both towards the plasma glass view screen. She stabbed her finger at the Coluan still lying dormant on the other side. “I dreamed it. Querl Dox will agree to join the Legion. Today.”

Imra’s brow creased sympathetically. “I don’t doubt that, Nura,” she said gently. “It’s just…”

“Do you have any idea how it happens?” Mon-El asked. “A conversation starter—or a cheat sheet on what to say that won’t piss him off?”

“I could’ve told you that,” Imra muttered.

“You know that’s not how it works,” Nura sighed. “I don’t know exactly how it happens, only that it will. Besides, you two are always the ones that bring in the new recruits. It made sense.”

“Yeah, but that’s usually because we want to,” Mon-El muttered, flinching against another psychic reprimand.

Nura glared through the window, trying to make a clean study of their unwilling recruit. He’d rolled onto his back since Mon-El and Imra had left, his arms crossed smartly over his chest. To an untrained eye, it looked like he was in some sort of meditative state. Whatever it was, Nura was well enough acquainted with the unconscious realm to know it was mostly for show.

“Querl Dox is important,” Nura said, repeating her earlier words back at herself. Or, maybe they were her future words? Sometimes it was so hard to tell. She cleared her throat, raising her voice. “If the Legion is going to continue, we’ll need him. His intellect will save lives. And…” She stopped herself, clenching her hands.

“What is it?” Imra prompted.

Nura shook her head. “We don’t just need him. I think he…” She couldn’t say it yet; couldn’t betray his pride like that, not before he’d even met her for the first time.

There was a good way to rectify that, at least.

Nura sucked in a deep breath, pulling back from the window. “My visions are never wrong. Let me try and talk to him.”

“Go ahead,” Mon-El said, offering her the length of the hallway. “But I’ll warn you, he’s stubborn.”

Nura smiled grimly. “That makes two of us.”

[irradiatedsnakes]

the problem is i want 50k character explorations fo rlike every minor character in mp100 and by and large these do not. exist

[lightgriffinsect]

do we think on the once in an eon occasion that psychic (or any other psychomancer) cries, he just. doesn’t make any sound at all. completely silent. because they don’t have voices and i’m not sure sounds like crying are just transmitted through telepathy the way speech is.

do we think no one has ever heard a psychomancer cry in recorded history—

[jopzer]

the thing about royjamie is that they are Not drift compatible. their drift would be so fucking volatile they'd get in each others brains and accidentally kill themselves and everyone else in the building. this is my favorite thing about them.

[orcelito]

I think the #1 thing to make writing good is to just. Stick to your guns. Take yourself seriously. If you treat your writing as if it's serious, even if you're doing some crazy shit, people are willing to believe it. The moment you doubt what you're doing in your writing, it's gonna shine through. So even if you're scared, pretend you're not until you get the hang of it & no longer feel so scared

It's worked for me so far 😅

[theglassdragoncollective]

the miscommunications and misunderstandings you get through bad telepathy really cannot be understated

[inscrutable-shadow]

Mediwhump May Day 2 - Stitches

@mediwhumpmay Guest stars today are @crash-bump-bring-the-whump's Mariano and Bastian! The Doc just wants a normal day at the clinic but there's always someone scary ringing the doorbell...

The ticking of the wall clock was the only sound in the room. The Doctor certainly was not making any noise: they dare not, with their every move under intense scrutiny. Their patient couldn’t watch them, lying on his stomach as he was in order to give them access to his back. It was the piercing silver eyes of the man in the corner that were drilling through their very soul and making them wary to even take a breath. They thanked whatever blood-soaked god watched over them that their custom surgical sutures made no sound when cut.

The Doctor didn’t scare easily. They’d met all sorts of people: humans, metahumans, and nonhumans alike of varying levels of criminality, and seen all sorts of things that would turn the stomachs of hardened military men. Their baseline idea of horrifying was so skewed they found it nearly impossible to carry on ordinary conversation. But this? Felt like staring down the barrel of a gun. Something about this man extended beyond his body, made him feel enormous, as if the room could barely hold him. Well. Some of that was material reality: he was at least seven feet tall and the clinic’s ceiling sagged in the corner near the door where the (perpetually clogged) gutter was, but still. Was he human? He looked human enough, but that was no indicator.

The patient sighed, breaking the silence, and the Doctor’s hands paused in their stitch work to wait for him to stop moving, lest they do something to irritate the man in the corner. “You’re scaring the doctor, Bastian.”

“Good. Let them be scared. They’ll be more careful.” He looked amused. Indignation flared in the Doctor’s chest for a moment but was quashed by another wave of fear.

The patient turns his head to look at them. “Sorry about him, he’s… protective.” They only stared back, swallowing hard, as if it could resolve the dryness in their throat.

Bastian snorted in a not-entirely-human-sounding way. “Taking you to a shady doctor who might not even have a license? You could have died, Mariano. Damn right, I’m protective. Stop getting yourself torn to shit and maybe I won’t have to be.”

It was true that the young man’s injuries were rather severe, lacerations they’d had to pick glass out of, deep gouges and slashes with some sort of foreign organic material, and a GSW just to top it off. The only mercy was that they weren’t as deep on the upper back, likely because of his clothing. If they had to guess, it had probably been an encounter with some sort of animal shifter, lycanthrope or otherwise. They dared not ask. None of their business. He doesn’t flinch, though, not when they pull a particularly long glass shard from a cut and not when they apply antiseptic to the gouges. From the state of the rest of his skin, it looked like he was used to simply cauterising wounds that bled too much. If he could have reached his own back, he likely would not be here at all.

The Doctor’s stitchwork was as meticulous and precise as ever, although they couldn’t muster up the enjoyment for their work that kept their hands rock steady. It took longer than usual, and they momentarily stopped breathing when they had to pick a suture out and start over. The patient didn’t seem to notice or care, and the looming shadow in the corner didn’t address it. It wasn’t even as if he had done something to deliberately intimidate them; it was just his raw presence that had overtaken the room and the Doctor’s own forceful personality. Truly the most stressful routine procedure they had ever undertaken.

Relief crashed through them as they cleaned up and stripped their gloves. “Er, a-all finished, I suppose.”

Mariano sat up slowly, trying not to flex against the stitches. “Thanks, doctor. What do we owe you?” “N-no, it’s fine…” They really just wanted the interaction to be over. “Don’t be silly, doctor. You shouldn’t work for free.” He smiled reassuringly, and the Doctor suddenly realized that he was just as terrifying as Bastian was. “F-forty, then…” Bastian held out a pair of crumpled bills as Mariano put his shirt back on, grimacing at the damage. “Er… just… avoid tight clothing for at least a week, a-and…” they cleared their throat, steeling themselves, “no moisture for the first day, clean gently with a damp cloth the second, you are free to shower on the third. When the skin seems to have recovered in about ten days, use this to dissolve the stitching.” They handed over a small vial of blue liquid. “It is specially formulated for my surgical thread and ensures you do not need to return. If there are signs of infection, however, I do recommend you seek further medical care.”

“Of course,” said Mariano, in a tone that indicated he had no intent to do so. “Thanks again, doctor.” And the pair were gone, but not before Bastian threw another look over his shoulder that made the Doctor feel as if they were about to be eaten. They were going to need so much coffee after this… Taglist: @i-eat-worlds

[x-xhiro]

Thb I love Superhero/superhuman AUs

In captive prince who would have super powers and what would they have?

[fairymint]

tell me all about felix's relationship with vanillabean. love that chu

"The little guy's just like my bestie, that's all. I know how things might look, but I only do what I do because of his size. We've known each other since we were kids." Definitely not so much a 'pet' relationship, nor parent and child. "But I do wonder sometimes, because it feels like we share the same braincell. He's just like me for real."

[dailymothanon]

(Shattered Glass) I read about how Soundwave’s joints would lock up sometimes because of him being a mix of cybertronian and earth metals and I couldn’t stop thinking about it 😌 I also thought about how Starscream tried to get him to stop working for once in the comics; he really doesn’t take care of himself does he 🙄

(This one I made much longer ago—) I also think this might’ve happened atleast once

Alas these are also from @knight-says-rollout! I really liked their analysis about Sg Soundwave 😛 disability in Transformers is really interesting! It also prompted me to think about how (atleast in IDW) Soundwave’s telepathy struggles— at the least to me, and my familiarity with mental disabilities, was reminiscent/like an allegory of a mental disability; ofc he grew to manage and even work with it but at base level he did often talk about how his ability stunted him (especially when he was younger) ; I have a lot more to say about this but that’s for another time, if anyone’s interested

[buggachat]

SEASON 6 ILLUSTRHATER THOUGHTS

honestly, I was expecting the animation to be more jarring for me than it actually was. It was actually really easy for me to get into and tbh just looks really nice. Adrien is the character I'll need to get used to the most, but I like his look fine, I just need to get used to it.

But like. special shoutout to nino. NINO????? NINO LOOKS. SO FUCKING CUTE. I love him so much I want to squish his face?? I'm almost unable to watch this episode in a normal way because I'm too busy staring at Nino's adorable face the whole time.

the DJWifi was so cute in this episode. theyre so sweet

in general I really like the redesigns of all the characters. I think they all look like... them. Like Nathaniel looks more like Nathaniel to me, Kagami looks more like Kagami, Sabrina looks like Sabrina and Ivan looks like Ivan. I can't describe it — they look like they've matured enough to have a better understanding of who they are. I like it.

Also, the intro sequence. If there's still any doubt about whether the show will address "marinette's lie coming back to bite her / looming over her" this season, I feel like the intro answers that pretty clearly and with a distinct tone

Another thing — the background characters look soooo much better in the new animation. Not only do they not look like terrifying low res monstrosities like they did in the old show, but they have such a wide array of distinct body types that i really appreciate. a lot of diversity in the crowds w race and disability too. and they look good. it's really refreshing.

I. LOVE. the new butterfly-telepathy sequences. the way that butterfly!lila talks to her victims in a little dreamscape where she's able to use her body language and manipulation tactics. I cannot actually emphasize how much this strangely excited me. It feels so much more emotionally impactful and interesting and dynamic and Lila than what Hawkmoth did

I know people are going to be upset about Marinette being awkward around Adrien again, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense to me. In the more general sense, it makes a lot of sense for this soft-refresh of the show that is marketing itself to a new audience to re-introduce the adrienette dynamic in a way that is just a smidge redundant to old fans. This is kind of important background on how Adrien and Marinette have always been with each other and the context of their relationship! That's important to show.

As a more in-character/universe explanation — while, yes, Adrien and Marinette started to get much more comfortable in their relationship in the old season, they never really got time to BREATHE. they were awkward and messy for the majority of their time together in s5, and then right as they started to get comfortable, Gabriel started puppeteering Adrien in a way that made things pretty tense for them, and then a whole whirlwind happened where he was sent away, and then his DAD DIED and he presumably spent a lot of the summer in mourning and— and— i dunno. I don't think it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that their relationship still feels awkward, especially when a new butterfly villain just popped up and likely reminded marinette of the whole Fiasco and threw her into mega-stress mode.

Their relationship isn't technically all that "new" like they act like it is, but this IS actually probably the first time they've been able to go on regular dates like this! So it feels new, they're still sort of in that "new" stage. Before, Gabriel was keeping Adrien away, and then Adrien probably wasn't in a good headspace for a lot of the summer after he died.

(Also, I just enjoy watching Marinette be awkward about Adrien. I definitely prefer them re-treading some old ground to new audiences than for their relationship to feel too jarringly different than how we've seen them interact in the past. I wouldn't want the time skip to be used as too much of a crutch, especially when I expect that Adrien spent a lot of it in mourning)

But anyway, they're still kissing in the season intro, and this is only episode TWO of the season, so I'm excited to see them gradually get more lovey dovey as the season goes on. (Or for Marinette's stress and guilt to overwhelm her! Who knows! I'm down!)

Oh also, Ladybug looks SO GOOD. she is so shiny and pretty and I love the red in her hair and i love her and I love ladynoir talking about their relationships and and and. and. i love them. thanks for coming to my ted talk