#fortunate fall

[specialagentartemis]

Also picking up new books you’ve never heard of before because the premise sounds neat or the cover is pretty or it’s on a themed library display or you’re just trying to read your library’s entire catalogue of 90s cyberpunk is just fun. Sometimes it’s not your thing but you get to mull over new ideas or the diversity of people and opinions and thoughts in the world. Sometimes you discover your new favorite book of all time

[arielkroon]

Throwback to an old post on my blog about the concept of the Dark Night of the Soul

[flowerakatsuka]

Tarot Medicos Entertainment ( 2024 )

[cricketandclover]

LOVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE

[hyunpic]

🥠

[souldagger]

Maya Andreyeva is a "camera," a reporter with virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted in her brain. What she sees, millions see; what she feels, millions share. And what Maya is seeing is the cover-up of a massacre. As she probes into the covert political power plays of a radically strange near-future Russia, she comes upon secrets that have been hidden from the world…and memories that AI-controlled thought police have forced her to hide from herself. Because in a world where no thought or desire is safe, the price of survival is betrayal - of your lover, your ideals, and yourself.

happy (re)publication day to The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed, the lesbian cyberpunk cult classic that's been out of print for almost 3 decades!

it's a dark, intense, haunting book (if somewhat dense and undeniably demanding) about the place where noble ideals and brutal reality meet, about human nature, about how far you're willing to go for your principles, or for love, or for survival, about the erosion of privacy by technology, and about a whale.

it's some of the best cyberpunk has to offer, i'm really glad it can finally reach a wider audience 👁📷🐋

[epiphainie]

this is one of those fic ideas i wanted to write for every ship i've ever been into so it will probably never happen but i'd like to have a silly story with 40 yo, single, lonely tommy kinard who's been down on his luck all his life - like i'm talking ridiculous levels of mom dying at childbirth, dad being terrible, horrifically unfortunate experience of the military, a series of failed jobs, a series of failed relationships, friendships never sticking for long, risks he takes always going south, somehow getting paper cuts through chainmail gloves, missing the bus while trying to avoid his daily encounter with the neighbor's dog etc. - one day opening the door of his downtrodden studio apartment to this beautiful man who stands there like a fucking angel. who looks at tommy with big apologetic eyes, red cheeks of shame, and twiddling thumbs of guilt and stutters, "so, uhm, i wish you didn't have to learn it this way but hi, i'm the guardian angel who, as it turns out, misplaced your files about four decades ago, and so uhm it just resurfaced, haha, and like yeah, i've been banished here for penance. i'll take the couch, it's fine."

[lunarharp]

played dragon age 2...just simple scribbles

[the-orion-scribe]

Rewatched Boss Mabel recently and just noting some observations:

For those who said Mabel keeps bullying Dipper, when she took charge she immediately shredded the demeaning wolf suit Dipper was forced to put on.

Love the Cash Wheel parody as always. Also kind of noting how the showrunner was likely setting Stan up to fail at his greatest moment

One critique is just how most scenes are portrayed in the day, so we dont get the passing of time. Like how the twins were forced to hide from the Gremloblin, which implied they hid overnight. But the two adjacent scenes showed both in the day.

Wendy isnt the greatest in this episode, especially how she kind of took advantage of Mabel's kindness

It's another underrated entry that quite addresses one of Mabel's worldview of trying to treat everyone and everything with kindness, but she still needs a firm hand on things. She dealt with a lot of shit in the first half of the episode, so I'm not so surprised she eventually snapped.

[bucketsofgiggles]

someone hit a tree down the road from my apartment and it hit a transformer and knocked out power to my entire area, so i started reading The Book of Bill in my pitch black apartment using a flashlight and let me tell you, that is absolutely the best conditions to read that book under, gonna have so many nightmares tonight!

[transmascmikey]

Me shaking covered in blood and visibly transgender: mama is such a good song

[specialagentartemis]

THE FORTUNATE FALL RE-RELEASE IS OUT!

A cyberpunk novel from the 1990s that’s been out of print for years, and just got a new release, new cover, new introduction, under the author’s new name. And all of that FULLY DESERVED because it’s one of my favorite novels of all time. Cameron Reed only has the one novel and she knocked it out of the park.

Maya Andreyeva is a "camera," a reporter with virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted in her brain. What she sees, millions see; what she feels, millions share. And what Maya is seeing is the cover-up of a massacre. As she probes into the covert political power plays of a radically strange near-future Russia, she comes upon secrets that have been hidden from the world...and memories that AI-controlled thought police have forced her to hide from herself. Because in a world where no thought or desire is safe, the price of survival is betrayal - of your lover, your ideals, and yourself.

Maya Andreyeva is a “camera,” a VR journalist who used to do real work and is now reduced to doing celebrity puff pieces and stories that don’t really matter. She does work she no longer thinks matters and goes home to an empty apartment and it’s a cyberpunk near future surveillance state where she feels like nothing she does matters anymore.

So when she stumbles on evidence of a massacre—a genocide— that the government would really rather have everybody forget, she decides she’s going to make this her swan song of a broadcast. Along with her new screener—a real-time editor she only knows from VR sharing her brain, who edits her raw experiences for broadcast—she’s going to expose these crimes to the world, and then maybe die or run away to claim asylum in Africa together, she doesn’t know yet and it almost doesn’t matter to her. Until it does.

It’s gay. There are whales. It’s weird and different and so worth reading. It’s bleak and sad and often harrowing, and does not shy away from what Maya finds out about the covered-up genocide. It’s about truth and justice and love and survival and journalistic integrity and the media, and it is so, so, so good.

[dearmyloveleys]

love and hatred each fill half the heart.

大梦归离 (Fangs of Fortune) 2024

(3/?)

[shunin-gumis]

Designs of Happiness - Track A14

L4mps Main Story Translation

Title: Imposed Blessings

Characters: Nagi

Summary: Nagi is working alone at his shop after abruptly leaving the Friday Film viewing. The protagonist chases after him, and he finally explains his unique predisposition.

Thank you aca @463ce6, jes @arcanecrayonn myun @/myuntachis and Niri for helping me with proofing!

Also a gentle request from me, please do listen to the chapter in-game alongside the translation if you don't do so already, the voice acting is very precious 🥺🥺

Location: Flower Laundry

Sonia: Nagi-shan, here ish all the flowers you can use! 

Nagi: …Oh no. This isn’t nearly enough.

Sonia: You came back all of a sudden from HAMA House, sho you have no right to complain! 

Nagi: Sorry. Please get whatever’s left in the storehouse too.

Sonia: Aye aye, Shir! Geez, I’ll bring back as much as I can!

*bell jingles*

Customer A: ‘Scuse me! Sorry for popping in last minute—

Nagi: Oh, that’s alright. What can I do for you?

Customer A: Just a quick question– Does the laundromat here accept IzuPay? 

Nagi: IzuPay… Ah, we don’t use that here yet. There were plans to add it as an option but it was delayed… Sorry about that.

Customer B: Darn… out of luck, huh. I guess it makes sense, not everyone would bother getting the ward’s special payment method.

Nagi: Other digital payment options are still available, and we accept cash too.

Customer A: Huh? Can’t believe there’s a laundromat that still takes cash… 

Customer A: I thought they’d all be gone with the ‘Valley of the Sky’ or somethin’. POTHARU! and all that. 

Customer B: Hey, don’t be rude… He’s standing right there, and that scene is long since over. Um, sorry about that. 

Nagi: …It’s fine. 

Nagi: (Right. I guess the film viewing would be over by now, too.)

Nagi: (...Why did I have to think about that now?)

Nagi: (I wouldn’t have lasted much longer in that situation… Just thinking about it gives me chills. I’m sorry I didn’t stick with Toi till the end, but I had no choice, I had to leave for everyone’s sake—)

Sonia: I’ve prepared the flowers for you!

Nagi: Thanks. —Let’s go, we need to leave right now.

??: Um, excuse me… 

Nagi: Oh, yes, welcome—

Momiji: Good evening… again.

Nagi: …… 

Momiji: Do you mind if we talk for a bit, Nagi-kun?

Momiji: …… 

Momiji: (I can’t believe he ran out of HAMA House during the viewing… I guess he must’ve hated it that much, huh…)

Momiji: (Maybe I was being too naive in thinking that he’d open up with enough time…) 

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: (I can’t believe she noticed I’d left… I might have messed this up worse than I’d thought. She must be annoyed with me…)

Nagi: (No, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, maybe she’s just here to check up on me. I clearly suck at communicating with others, so that might have gotten her worried…)

Nagi: (Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I troubled the Chief… I’m worth less than a plant louse that preys on flowers. I mean, even plant lice are useful to ants, yet I’m…)

Nagi: (No one would want a Ward Mayor that’s worth less than a louse.)

Nagi: (I wanted to take responsibility and see this job through to the end, but…)

Momiji: …You see, Yodaka-san just informed me earlier. 

Nagi: Yes?

Momiji: That you haven’t slept at HAMA House even once, Nagi-kun.

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: (So he knew. He’s too sharp to slip past, huh.)

Momiji: …… 

Momiji: (Ah… He’s tensed up.)

Momiji: (I wonder if I should’ve approached it more delicately…)

Momiji: (I’d readily help him if he’d just let me know what he’s having trouble with, or if there’s something he’d like changed… But what if he says that he never wanted to be a Ward Mayor in the first place? Hrm… What should I say…)

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: (She looks really troubled… I feel guilty that she’s worried over someone like me.)

Nagi: (I should just explain everything, even if it makes me uneasy. I know it’s the right thing to do, but… If I really just blurt everything out, she’d probably think I’m some kind of weirdo.)

Nagi: (But if I keep quiet any longer, she might feel hurt instead. What should I do…)

Nagi: (...The cyclamen at the storefront just caught my eye… In flower language, they mean “resignation” and “words of parting”...)

Nagi: (And next to it are the anemone, meaning “abandonment,” and the calendula, “sorrow of parting.”)

Nagi: (I see… I get it now.)

Momiji: Um… 

Nagi: (I should… brace myself.) 

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: …If I don’t hand out flowers, it rebounds. 

Momiji: Huh?

Nagi: The other side of the Yajirobe*. 

Momiji: Uh?

Nagi: This is just a theory of mine.

Momiji: O-Okay… 

Nagi: I believe that, just like with human emotions, if a person experiences great fortune or misfortune, then they will eventually have to return to a neutral state.

Momiji: Uh huh...?

Nagi: In my case, the rebound is especially strong. If I experience any fortune, then misfortune is sure to follow soon after. 

Nagi: That’s what happened when I got caught in that bee trap before; I’m sure it’s because I’d won a set of tissue boxes the day before, at a raffle in the shopping district.

Nagi: This is my theory on the phenomenon I call “The Yajirobe of Fortune and Misfortune.”

Momiji: I-I see... It’s like when people say bad luck doesn’t last forever, or how something good is bound to follow after something bad… Is it like that?

Nagi: …Are you a genius? I feel embarrassed for making up a whole theory now. I’ll just use your explanation next time.

Momiji: No, no, I understood what you were trying to say with your Yajirobe theory.

Nagi: …To avoid having the Yajirobe go crazy, I need to avoid any situation that might make me happy, intentionally or not. 

Nagi: Even a single slice of cake is too much for me. That sort of kindness… is too much happiness for me to bear. 

Momiji: (So he’s saying the cake made him so happy that he had to avoid accepting it, and even ran out of the dorm just so he could avoid inviting misfortune…)

Nagi: But sometimes, no matter how careful I am, the happiness just piles up anyways.

Nagi: That’s when I bring these out.

Momiji: Flowers…?

Nagi: My special ability– Flower Power: Imposed Blessings*.

Momiji: …Um?

Nagi: By imbuing flowers with the energy from my accumulated happiness, I can impose the excess onto others. There's no limit to how many flowers can be handed out. The only debuff I have to suffer is embarrassment.

Momiji: (Oh…)

Momiji: (Is that why he was handing out flowers in the middle of the street the first time I met him��?)

Momiji: (Honestly, I’m not sure how much of this I’m supposed to believe… But at the very least, I can tell Nagi-kun is being serious about this.)

Momiji: I…see. So if you give away your flowers—

Nagi: The misfortune’s rebound gets weaker. 

Momiji: –The misfortune’s rebound gets weaker…… Right. 

Nagi: (As expected, she looks really confused.)

Momiji: Um, let’s see if I got this right– You felt that joining HAMA Tours, and living at HAMA House would—

Nagi: Accumulate a debt of happiness.

Momiji: Which is why you left.

Nagi: Yes. Something like–

Nagi: Something like working together, and living alongside others, just like a ‘family’... There’s no way to predict the amount of happiness I’d receive from just being there.

Momiji: (The amount of happiness…)

Nagi: Being surrounded by happiness like that… Holding hands, and shouting POTHARU together with everyone—

Nagi: It wouldn’t surprise me if an earthquake hit right after, and HAMA House ended up as a pile of rubble…! 

Momiji: …… 

Nagi: (She looks stunned. I guess that’s expected.)

Nagi: (It was just impossible for someone like me, who’s always avoided other people, to suddenly work with others and live alongside them.)

Nagi: (She probably thinks I’m a weirdo. It’s not something you can wrap your head around. It’s a natural reaction.)

Nagi: (I’ll just get myself fired right here and now, so I can return to my old lifestyle. A life with no big waves, just the mundane everyday.)

Momiji: I understand your situation now.

Nagi: …… 

Momiji: Can I have all your flowers, then? 

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: —Huh?

Momiji: You just have to reduce that, um, debt of happiness, by giving away your flowers, right?

Momiji: But it’s probably difficult for you to find people to give flowers to on a daily basis, huh?

Nagi: …Is that… where this conversation is supposed to go?

Momiji: I think so?

Momiji: Then um, maybe your costs increase because you have to give out more flowers?

Nagi: No, that’s not really a problem. I can get a good discount if I buy it in bulk, so… 

Momiji: I see. Then, it’s just a problem of who you can give your flowers to. Accosting strangers to give them flowers is probably taxing for you, and confusing for the other person too.

Momiji: But, since I know what’s going on, I can take as many flowers as you want to give away.

Nagi: I… I guess that makes sense. 

Nagi: Wouldn’t it be a bother to you…?

Momiji: Of course not. You can never have too many flowers! I mean, flowers give a feeling of a fresh beginning, you know? They’re always nice to have.

Nagi: …… 

Nagi: Here.

Momiji: Oh! A flower! Thank you very much. You popped that out like some kinda magician!

Nagi: …Flowers have always been a part of my life, before I’d even realized it. That’s why, it’s always there, right beside me, where I can reach for it whenever I want.

Momiji: Still, what a large flower! What’s it called?

Nagi: Peony.

Momiji: Aw, it’s so pretty! And it smells so good too!

Nagi: —......

Nagi: Next, this one.

Momiji: It has such a unique shape… What’s its name? 

Nagi: Serruria.

Momiji: It’s so peculiar and cute! I wonder what I should decorate with it… 

Nagi: Here.

Momiji: This is a crazy amount! It’s starting to look like a huge bouquet at this point!

Nagi: Here.

Momiji: Oh dear, the colors are clashing…!

Nagi: Here.

Momiji: I can’t see in front of me anymore…! *giggles* But—

Momiji: Thank you, Nagi-kun!

Nagi: I should be the one saying that.

Nagi: Thank you for taking on my happiness, Chief. 

Notes:

Yajirobe is a term used for Japanese balancing toys. The mechanism involves balancing the main body at a fulcrum and making sure it doesn’t tilt too far in either direction before it’s balanced again, swinging back like a pendulum.

The name of Nagi’s ‘special ability’ literally translates to “imposing happiness/good fortune onto others through giving away flowers” which is super long hence why it got changed. He’s the type to make up silly names anyways.

Flower Language:

Peony Bashfulness, Shyness

Serruria Yearning, Beautiful heart

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Masterlist

[crows-of-buckets]

I cannot get the idea of a da2 au where Malcolm is the surviving parent instead of Leandra. Would both of the twins have made it out? I think they would. Because like. Malcolm, unlike Leandra, can actually fight. I don't think either of the twins would have felt the need to protect him. Would the deep roads expedition even have to happen? I assume they would probably be worse off in this au since I don't think Gamlen would lend his aid. Obviously ignoring the very valid reasons why Malcolm would NEVER take his children to Kirkwall, or anywhere near it, how different would it be? Idk why it's plaguing my head rn but LORD

[the-genius-az]

Herd of fire.

Azula and Zuko constantly fought over who would be the Alpha of the pack.

Mai and Ty Lee accepted Azula as their Alpha, because Zuko was rarely around.

Zuko reluctantly agreed to let Azula be the Alpha when she defended them in an uncontrolled animal.

Mai and Ty Lee were always scented by Azula, and Zuko never had the courage to ask for it too.

Zuko accepted that he would never have Mai when he saw a mark on her neck.

No one in the pack knew that Azula was studying how to be a good Alpha, much less that it was Lu ten who was teaching her.

When everyone left for the first time, Azula immediately shut down.

When everyone was back together they noticed how Azula surreptitiously perfumed them with her pheromones.

They noticed how Azula was ready to be abandoned again, they didn't know what to think.

Ironically, they weren't the ones who broke the pack bond, and it was the first time they felt the same way Azula did.