#fuck em they'll learn on their own

[astonmartinii]

false start | lewis hamilton social media au

pairing: lewis hamilton x fem swimmer reader

some people are getting a bit too ahead of themselves

MASTERLIST | TIP JAR

.・゜゜・ part of the aston martini summer olympics ・゜゜・．

espn

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espn: the 2024 paris olympics kick off tomorrow and we'll be keeping a close eye on the pool. and despite being one of the biggest names in the sport and the fiance of seven-time f1 world champion lewis hamilton, we don't predict to see y/n y/ln on the podium this summer.

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user1: when will y'all learn?

user2: i swear they did this back in 2021, saying she wasn't good enough any more and then BAM she won double gold and they were suspiciously quiet after

user3: i hope she dunks on their heads again

charles_leclerc: STOP UNDERRATING HER I SWEAR TO FUCK

user4: bro hasn't even started as lewis' teammate and he's already ready to throw down for y/n

charles_leclerc: i have been a fan of the queen since before i even started in f1 - no one disrespects her in front of me

user5: espn better be shaking in their boots after that

lewishamilton: 😐

user6: the king has spoken

user7: it's an emoji babe

user8: real lewis fans know that this is worth a thousand words

user9: the picture with the double gold is going to hit like crack i fear

user10: best believe i know that they'll tag espn just to be messy

user11: i'm sat. i'm so sat. the cinema workers have told me she doesn't compete for a couple days but i'm simply so sat

yourusername: ⏳

user12: OKAY SLAY

user13: i need these golds like i need air

user14: okay queen i need you to run back the celebration from last olympics

user15: time to become an honourary aussie for a couple weeks to support y/n

user16: LET'S FUCKING GO KANGAROOS

user17: run me my passport australia

user18: when will lewis get his australian citizenship

lewishamilton

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lewishamilton: go get em'

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user22: gIVE ME ONE CHANCE PLEASE GOD PLEASE

user23: sorry to everyone else at the games, but the hottest couple has arrived

user24: tiktok girls PSA: if i don't have ten alchemy edits of them on my desk by tomorrow morning THERE WILL BE ISSUES

yourusername: for you sir, anything

yourusername: ugh your ✨ title ✨ is so hot

lewishamilton: let's win and then put it to good use 😉

landnorris: do you people mind?

yourusername: why are you always in our business? don't you have your own little guppy to follow around in paris?

lewishamilton: he's just lonely? or not? i can't keep up with his relationship drama

landonorris: EXCUSE ME?

yourusername: you're excused? we've been together for like eight years we aren't used to whatever drama you've gotten yourself into

lewishamilton: eight years, six months and 237 days :P

user25: first espn and now lando? they're not holding back this summer

user26: fucking around and finding out is what summer 2024 is all about

georgerussell63: good luck y/n !!!

yourusername: thank you georgie :)

georgerussell63: and i checked, i don't think there's any gb swimmers in your events (other than the relays) so you'll have my full support

yourusername: thanks?

lewishamilton: he's a little confused but he's got the spirit

user27: i need y/n to win and come to the paddock with her medal for zandvoort

user28: i am seeing it and i need it to happen

olympics

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olympics: never in doubt, y/n y/ln takes gold in the 100m backstroke final!

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user29: RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

user30: suck on that espn

user31: espn admin come outside rn please i jUST WANNA TALK

lewishamilton: @espn KEEP MY (soon to be) WIFE'S NAME OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH

yourusername: that was so hot

lewishamilton: you wiping the floor with the whole pool was so hot

lewishamilton: but then again you're hot doing literally anything

yourusername: says you mr model

lewishamilton: i got a few things i wanna model for you ...

yourusername: is it my gold medal and nothing else ?

lewishamilton: how did you know ???

user32: so winning a gold medal really does make you horny on main

user33: some of us lived through them with no PR managers, this is tame

user34: they're one couple where it really wouldn't surprise me if something got leaked

yourusername: can confirm it tastes as sweet as it did in tokyo

oscarpiastri: could you hear me cheering? i was so loud :)

yourusername: funnily enough, no

oscarpiastri: oh :(

yourusername: but i felt it in my spirit!

oscarpiastri: good :) because i think i have slightly deafened your husband 🤷‍♂️

lewishamilton: my ears are still ringing but i'll take it because you were supporting y/n

yourusername: awwww you cuties

user35: yall saying that kimi antonelli is lewis' grid kid but it's clearly oscar

user36: if i watched lewis put yellow and green glitter on oscar's face on live tv it's not a conversation to start with

yourusername

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yourusername: gold in both 100m and 200m backstroke is more than i could've ever dreamed coming into these games, thank you to my family, friends and wonderful fiance for their support. and to the others, you know who you are, be careful on all those false starts you keep making ;)

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user38: where are you ? LET'S BE HAVING YOU !!!

user39: her winning the golds regardless isn't enough i need a gun

espn: ... i'm sorry?

lewishamilton: YOU SHOULD BE

espn: sir, i am just an intern who posts what i am given

yourusername: well now you're making me feel bad

espn: i can give you my boss' email?

lewishamilton: YES PLEASE LET ME AT EM

user40: bullying works?

lewishamilton: i'm so so so so so so proud and so so so glad that everything lined up for me to be there and witness your excellence in person 🙇🏾

yourusername: i love you so much and couldn't have done it without you, all those facetime dates and missed anniversaries are worth it in the end

yourusername: although i am looking forward to following you around the world again for a bit

user41: thank fuck you're not retiring ????

yourusername: who said that ??? @espn was it you again??

espn: not this time i swear!

yourusername: i can confirm that i am not retiring, us terrorising all the youngsters in our sport is kind of our whole bit

lewishamilton: although some people could learn to walk away - cough @fernandoalo_oficial

yourusername: really?

lewishamilton: beef waits for no one

fernandoalo_oficial: well i personally was cheering on y/n, you can choke

user42: how does y/n look so good even after racing?

yourusername: getting laid well and often 👍🏼

lewishamilton: you're welcome

yourusername: i love you 🥰

lewishamilton: i love you more

fin.

note: hope you guys enjoyed!! swimming is always my favourite olympic sport (i also swam for ten years so that's probably why lol)

[miscellaneous-marios]

Play Mario & Luigi: Brothership

I promise this will be my only post like this and funnie pictures will continue as normal right after this one, but I need to tell as many people as I possibly can about M&L Brothership (without spoilers)

This. Game. Is. A. Masterpiece.

This game helped me remember what video games AS A WHOLE mean to me.

To say this game has a ton of love put into is an understatement. Every single aspect of this game, it feels like everyone behind it truly cared about this project and gave it their all. Gameplay wise its a ton of fun, super polished and the battles are so satisfying I never get bored of em. Story wise, I havent gotten this emotional about a games plot since Super Paper Mario. They do an extremely good job at making you care about every single character you come across. Even simple, one-time NPCs have more thought put into than you'd expect. There are so many fantastic characters both design wise and personality wise. Theres tons of new enemies especially late game and they have complex movement sets that actually change depending what other enemies are around it. Even bowsers minions have very creative moves. For instance, shy guy has a move based on the flag game in mario party, and true to their name they will look nervous when trying to attack you. It feels like the people who made this game have loved mario all their lives and its a breath of fresh air.

The game may appear a little slow at first, but it keeps on introducing fun new mechanics that keep it fresh the entire way through. Despite what some reviewers say (fuck you very much IGN) it is NOT tutorial heavy. In fact its almost the opposite. This game trusts its players to figure out a LOT of stuff on their own. They dont stop you in the middle of big boss fights to make you practice incoming attacks, you learn with trial and error. They'll do some tutorials here n there in the first few levels but after the first lighthouse you're pretty much let free. And let me tell you, the game gets VERY challenging. Some of the attacks can be brutal!!! And if challenge isnt your thing, they let you change the difficulty after dying a couple times.

Oh, and I wont spoil anything, but the story gets like, Majoras Mask levels of dark in the late game. It even gets kinda straight up disturbing. It's nuts.

Play this game. Please!!!!

[transformers-spike]

What would be the cons reactions to their babies learning how to transform at any time at any moment bc I feel like the whoem nemesis would be in disaster

The vehicons are scared for their lives - one wrong step and they'll ripped to shreds. These things are so tiny, their sires should put reflective tape on them. I assume the kiddies have Cybertronian altmodes too. On one hand, it's bittersweet to watch them have so much fun this way. On the other hand, their operations are put on hold as they try to wrangle the sparklings Starscream is extremely stressed out because his seeker frame is made for high speed. Ergo, his kid inherited his altmode and has zero impulse control, becoming a danger to itself. Starscream starts organizing outside flights just so his kiddo can get its energy out. He actually has a lot more fun than he wants to admit, watching over his spawn as it discovers the joys of flight Knock Out's kid is a little bastard who keeps crashing into and running over pedes. He's frustrated and worried sick because it keeps getting injured this way. He ends up quarantining in the medbay yelling at patients to watch the door as they enter lest the little one try to escape. KO hatessss how his sparkling keeps aiming for his pedes as revenge Breakdown's is KO's kid's partner in crime. It does a lot more damage when it crashes into pedes (nothing major tho, just some mild dents/scratches). Breakdown is TERRIFIED of accidentally stepping on it - but at least he can hear it coming from a mile away. It inherited his loud engine. He keeps trying to barter with it through his EM field - but his child does not give a fuck about his opinion Dreadwing is doing even worse than Starscream emotionally. His spawn is also a jet, and if it hurts itself Dreadwing will never ever EVER forgive himself. So now it's stuck in baby jail (aka his cockpit) while he works. He's already lost his twin, he can't take another loss. At least he flies with his child outside the Nemesis, being extremely overprotective and stressed out of his mind. Someone get this bot therapy Soundwave's solution to his sparkling flying around is to wrap a tendril around it so it can partake in zoomies without injuring itself. It goes in circles and circles, as happy as can be. Although it once crashed into Soundwave's visor and shattered it. Rip Soundwave - he was actually more worried about his crying sparkling than his own injuries. It's ok he was a gladiator once. Laserbeak is monitoring his child when he's busy getting it fixed - Laserbeak should get a raise Shockwave is coping the best out of everyone. His kid has a sort of playroom installed with cameras so he can monitor it as it drives in circles. If its EM field is distressed, he's just going to facetime his kid. As time goes on, he installs a little obstacle course for it to refine its skills. His sparkling becomes the best driver for this reason alone Megatron is... he has trouble seeing his sparkling in its alt-mode. It's his old alt as a miner, a type of drill. He may uphold that a bot's worth isn't tied to it, but keep in mind he changed his to a jet. Seeing his child like this distresses him greatly even if he knows there's nothing wrong with it. He tends to isolate himself a lot as a result. A lot of times he's just holding his sparkling to his chassis without saying anything in the privacy of his habsuite. He's not doing well

[rei-ismyname]

Krakoa and (human) refugees

During the King in Black event, Symbiote goo God Knull made it very dangerous to be pretty much anywhere. Possessing Storm and Cyclops was a coup not just for their combat utility, but for their knowledge. TLDR shit's all fucked up, especially for the vulnerable.

While on their way to help with the crisis, The Marauders answered a distress call. The distressed vessel turned out to be human traffickers with terrified 'cargo' in the hold. Rescuing them from immediate danger was a given, but the sky is full of goo dragons and these people present a problem requiring a more long term solution.

The slavers were sent to a desert - fuck em - they're lucky to escape with their wretched lives IMO.

The refugees paid to go to Canada, and considering the assholes were willing to let them drown, they fear what awaits them in America. There's almost certainly other reasons too, but coming out and saying 'the USA's asylum seeker/political sitch is fucked' is not a very Marvel thing to do. Kitty calls Emma and they get to work on a temporary refuge.

One big problem - Krakoa has a 'no humans' policy, unless you're attached to someone important like Northstar or Jubilee. It's not a law (because they only have three of those and they're woefully inadequate) - it's an issue that the Quiet Council hasn't had cause to bend on yet.

Magneto gets looped in on the issue too, but believes that they couldn't provide refuge on Krakoa though official channels. It wouldn't pass a vote, especially with Storm and Jean unavailable to advocate for it. Kitty would always be for doing this, rules be damned.

Emma and Magneto - not so much. It's interesting to have these two working with Kate on a solution, recognising the Quiet Council as a hindrance to their goal. It's unstated, especially given Magneto's supremacist rhetoric in Dawn of X, but I think it's safe to say his own history of powerlessness and depending on the goodwill of countries informs his position. They have a plan!

They provide asylum on Island M, where Magneto once threatened the world governments with destruction if they didn't completely disarm (and put him in charge.) Some Morlocks, including Callisto, live there now, but there's plenty of room. It's also part of Hellfire Trading's logistics and supply chain (possibly processing and production too.)

No spare umbrellas, but either Emma or Mags arranged for Krakoan habitats for shelter. Nyoka is skipping stones when Magneto of all people shows up personally, hovering in but eventually standing next to her on equal footing. He philosophises, as is his wont, but eventually proclaims his old base is sanctuary. Nyoka asks if it's out of the kindness of your (Mags and Krakoa's) heart.

He rhetorically asks if it's not the right thing to do, though Nyoka is a little skeptical (and probably scared.) Confirming he's speaking for Krakoa (though without the QC's knowledge), he agrees that she's right to be wary of countries offering aid. There's no price tag attached, and they'll be moved wherever they wish when the crisis is over, but he does ask a favour - 'tell people we were nice to you, please.'

It's unconditional assistance, but there's an ugliness to the content and framing of the request. It's probably something they would do anyway, you'd hope. It's a small thing in the context of modern nation states, but realpolitik demands letting no crisis go to waste. It's nothing so crass as a press release when it could have been, so I'm inclined to take his words as face value. Again, it's curious that it's Magneto in this public facing position, which makes me think he's here of his own accord.

Krakoa got a lot wrong, but the tragedy of the Fall is that they were learning from those mistakes. Forge had a plan to end global homelessness, and I think policy would have softened over time in a similar vein. Mutants are capable of marvels, especially when working together, and it's a shame they never got the chance to properly share it with the world. By the time they started, the fix was in, so massive inequality remains. That's a good thing narratively outside of Star Trek, but I can't help but wonder what might have been.

[lu-is-not-ok]

In the roadmap of this season, the new .5 shown is one seemingly related to the sweepers. Given each of the .5s/second .5s were ones that setup for their next cantos I am wondering what sort of info you wish to glean from it?

I myself am rather interested in sweeper lore generally, so more about that, and perhaps the dynamics between them will again parallel Gong Lu's family. I wonder if Dante’s autotranslate for distortions will allow them to speak with the sweepers, they do seem to be standing in front of them in that teaser image.

I am. So excited anout that intervallo.

So here's a brief list of things I'm excited for, plus maybe a few silly predictions cause why not:

Since we're dealing with Sweepers, we're likely going to be in the Backstreets of whatever District Canto 8 is gonna take place in. I'm really excited to learn more about the worldbuilding for the Backstreets. Plus you fucking know Rodya is gonna have some shit to say about the class disparity, as is often the case.

Sweepers are in this interesting place of having Family-like structures, but having them work in a similar way to Bloodfiend Families - in that one can choose to become part of a Sweeper Family rather than being forced into being born into it. Considering how Fanghunt Hong Lu is the way he is, I hope facing that idea of choosing one's own Family so directly will elicit some sort of reaction out of Hong Lu.

An introduction to a new faction. I doubt they can make Sweepers into IDs (they're not like power armor where you can have the helmets be conditional, nor are they like prosthetics where you can only have a part of the face be replaced), so if they go with Event Identities we're gonna need something else for those. I'm personally hoping for a Syndicate because I like em.

Partially related to the above, I'd love to see a plot that at least partially parallels/references the Sweepers chapter in Distortion Detective. For those who don't know, there's a short arc in DD where Moses and co end up stuck out in the Backstreets during the Night and are forced to weather the waves of Sweepers while looking for shelter. Moses is able to tell they'll be unable to survive through all three waves of Sweepers, so they try to get the people already in hiding to let them in. Eventually, someone does - a group of Thumb members, causing Moses and co to have to make a deal with them to stay overnight. I'm hoping the Intervallo will have some sort of parallel to that, where the Sinners will be forced to make a deal with someone (potentially the faction used for Event IDs hopefully) to survive the night.

In general, some sort of Hong Lu nuclear bomb is inevitable. Something with the same dramatic impact as the Don Quixote being a Bloodfiend reveal at the end of Warp Express. My bet is on a proper reveal that he's a runaway, and that his previously stated reasons for leaving home (alongside perhaps some other things he's said) were a complete lie all along.

Which, speaking of Hong Lu being a runaway. Here's my silly prediction for what setup they could use for the Intervallo's plot that I've been rotating in my head for a bit now. Imagine, if you will, Hong Lu recognising that the District the bus is heading into is his home District. Imagine the panic that would stir within him. What if, in the middle of the night, Hong Lu does what he's tried once before and attempts to run away again. He disappears from the bus, and similarly to that one mini episode where Heathcliff almost got lost to the Backdoor, Faust is immediately concerned over retrieving him. Especially if being turned to liquid by Sweepers is one of those things Dante might not be able to rewind.

[monstermoviedean]

let's talk about the bridge.

[spnwiki links known filming locations when available. in all three episodes, this is listed as the spur 4 bridge, lower seymour conservation reserve. it may appear in more episodes, but i'm not sure.]

the bridge appears in 05x02 (good god, y'all!), 13x18 (bring 'em back alive), and 15x20 (carry on). now. do i think this specific bridge was specially chosen each time to communicate a certain message? with respect to the crew, nah, probably not. do i think you can read a pattern here? ooh, yes. tl;dr: you cannot cross the bridge. merely standing on it means the rules have just changed in a reality-bending, fucked-up-beyond-all-repair sort of way. attempting to complete the crossing is an acceptance of the new rules.

in 05x02, the bridge appears as dean and sam are driving into river pass, colorado, the town controlled by war. the bridge is broken. they drive halfway across the bridge and stop. this is the first sign to sam and dean that something is seriously wrong here. this is no normal demon hunt. this is a problem on a scale larger than they can grasp. there's a literal gap between them and the town! they have to leave the car (/home) parked on the bridge and hike in. they are entering uncharted territory.

when they do, they find people killing each other and seeing demons where there are none. war is altering reality and playing people off each other. jo attacks ellen! rufus attacks sam! the townspeople turn on ellen and dean! you can't trust anyone! but actually...you can. none of them are demons. the danger is real, but it's not what it appears. and no one has ever come across anything like this before.

so what do sam and dean learn? the apocalypse is here. there's no going back. the rules have changed. the tactics they've always used don't work, because they are in a new reality now. and they accept that. while they can't physically walk/drive across the bridge, they do complete the crossing of their own volition. they accept that their world is different now and they will adapt to it.

in 13x18, dean and ketch are in apocalypse world walking near the bridge. they see a group of angels leading a group of shackled, hooded prisoners across the bridge.

two of the prisoners are executed by the angels right there. they do not cross the bridge. they die playing by the same rules they always have. it's the apocalypse, and they'll fight, but the angels are the angels and it's tough to win as a human. when i started writing this post i thought charlie had crossed the bridge, symbolizing her entrance into a new reality. but she doesn't! the angels fly away with her, without any of them ever crossing the bridge (below are back-to-back screencaps. sorry for the lack of visual but trust me on this)

charlie doesn't fully cross the bridge. she gets halfway across and then the angels fly her somewhere else. dean is hoping she finishes crossing. if she does, it's like she's crossing into his world. maybe this charlie will be just like the charlie he knew and lost. maybe he can save her. maybe he can undo it. but she doesn't cross and he so he can't get to her!

when he and ketch eventually catch up with her at the silo and escape, charlie hears about dean's universe and chooses to stay in hers. because it's hers. charlie's reality has been fucked with, certainly, but she chooses to accept the reality she knows and stay in it (for now at least). she's not outright rejecting the new reality of parallel universes, but she's also not letting the new reality dictate her actions. it's her home, it's her fight, and she's staying. she doesn't complete the crossing.

so that brings us to. deep sigh. 15x20. dean drives onto the bridge, ostensibly in heaven. he drives about halfway across. and stops. he does not cross the bridge. he gets out of the car and hesitantly walks around the front of it. i won't show you all the screencaps but he touches the car and stays pretty close to it as he walks.

the last one is about the furthest point he walks across the bridge, give or take. he doesn't go far from the car (which is a good strong symbol of dean's reality and home). you can see there's two vertical posts in the space between him and the car. when the final shot zooms out from him and sam, they are magically further across the bridge, about halfway across, about five vertical posts away.

dean standing on the bridge means the rules have changed. his world is different now. he cannot go back. this especially works with the next scene, which is the one of the cast and crew in our world saying goodbye. now, can you say that dean dying and going to heaven is the change? sure. but he doesn't cross the bridge. he doesn't accept it. could you say that simply means he's in denial about his death and apparent ascension? i guess. "but what about sam?!" shhhh, not right now.

i think it works much better as dean recognizing there is a new and unknown reality on the other side of that bridge, and instinctively knowing that there is something wrong. that he doesn't want to accept that reality. that if he finishes the crossing, he will be accepting it and will be unable to go back. and sam just appearing out of nowhere, seemingly materializing onto the middle of the bridge without actually taking steps to cross it? somehow moving dean with him so they're both further across the bridge? well maybe that's not real. maybe that's a trick to try to get dean to cross. maybe his acceptance of the new reality will sever his connection to his actual reality - war destroying the bridge in 05x02 certainly did that for the townspeople.

i know others have talked about dean crossing the bridge as an acceptance or an ascension, i'm nowhere near the first person to come up with that. but i do want to call attention to the previous iterations of the bridge. a broken bridge sam and dean cross, only to find war beyond it, an enemy the likes of which they have never seen. a bridge charlie is nearly forced to cross, but which she's taken away from before she can complete it (which would be more likely to lead her to jump realities). and a bridge dean starts to cross, but doesn't. a bridge that appears first in dean's reality, then in apocalypse world, then in dean's heaven, and then in our world, with jensen dressed as dean saying goodbye. and nobody ever crosses that bridge. it's a false promise. you can't do it. all you can do is stand on it and hope you'll be okay, even though you can't go back.

[marcusrobertobaq]

I got the impression people calling that mf "RK900" or "Nines" like he's a completely different thing makes people forget he's just a Connor but the complete version, canonically "machine" Connor (just like the one we meet) - and we all know how "machine Connor" scheme goes. Maybe blue eyes should help the guy to be taken more seriously for some reason (i guess it works cuz mfs insist dude's just a freaking tank or 100% different from "Connor" all the fucking time) but still the same shit.

It's just more of the same, y'all fall for Amanda's propaganda too easily. That dude is a Connor but finished, CL already got almost everything they wanted for Connor series in the 8º gen (dude must be the final prototype), now it's about polishing and mass producing for the contract.

Seriously, ain't got nothing new here.

Thinkin about RK900 again.

It’s super high tech right? So imagine it’s got like a spider sense type of thing where it can react to dangerous situations real quick.

if it was to go deviant, the danger sense just turns into a weird anxiety. It’s constantly on high alert.

Bonus: its LED is always either yellow or red. Occasionally it’ll be blue but that’s like super rare

[catbountry]

Speaking as Straight White Male it is beyond tiring to see every minor viral social media post turn into justification for "actually this is why men are radicalized!" Like im sorry they thought the Bear was a safer option, im sorry that poisoned MnMs was something that hurt your feelings and so on but holy shit get some perspective. i had my little "Not all men!" phase too bu i was 19 or something. learn empathy, learn that "Men" is a demographic and not you personally. it always feels like some flavor of a lack of reading comprehension, like that time when there was that thing where there was a thing of people thinking toxic masculinity meant that all masculinity is toxic.

it seems so unreasonable to say "the way to stop white men from radicalization is for women and other minorities to take them by the hand and ask them to nicely consider them people" rather than "dudes need to learn to tamp down on their knee jerk reactions to group criticism and being exposed to people out of their demographic"

The fact that you were 19 years old and had that as a phase but got out of it. That's the thing I'm pointing to, and I feel like I've not done a good enough job at highlighting that as my point. It's not even about a lack of reading comprehension, I think a lot of people who retreat to the internet for most of their socialization are more likely to be lonely and recruited. How many fucking Twitter memes do we need to have of people reading far too much into innocuous statements to prove that yeah, it is a lack of reading comprehension, but a lack of reading comprehension is not something that happens in a vacuum. And there are people who are very eager to sell people bad ideas based on those misconstrued readings because they speak to a feeling of disenfranchisement.

When I talk about this sort of thing, it's in a preventative way. Most people don't arrive at being a moral and righteous person all on their own; usually they fuck up along the way, have to apologize, readjust their views with new information and new perspectives. Having been in anti-SJW spaces, and having that phase last far longer than I'm comfortable with... I wouldn't have gotten out if I hadn't had people who liked me push back on some of the dumb shit I was saying. Granted, I was not some kind of neo-Nazi; I was an edgelord and a transmedicalist who constantly felt like Padme in that one Star Wars meme; the one of her in the field with Anakin. It was a lot less of a leap to come to a lot of the views I hold now. But if those people around me had all cut me off? Who fucking knows how much worse I could have gotten? Who even knows if I'd still be alive, typing this right now? I got into those spaces in the first place because people proclaiming themselves to be progressive were bullying my friends and I, on top of me being depressed and then traumatized by losing my dad. I was a fucking mark.

I'm not coming at this from the angle of "oh, if we just hug and kiss all the horrible Nazis they'll realize how righteous we are, uwu," I'm coming at it from the perspective of wanting to be the kind of person I had around me that got me out to people who were in similar positions to myself. I'm not seeking these people out. I have no desire to do that. Hell, I don't even think most people should do this, but because of my own personal experiences... I at least have to try if I'm having an otherwise benign conversation with someone and they say something off. I at least want to see if they're just speaking out of ignorance and they're not really all that married to these ideologies, in which case they could be rehabilitated, or if they're just fully on board with the fascist incel shit, in which case I can't do shit for them.

I want to be the kind of person for people that I wish I had around me that could have helped get me out sooner. And if they don't want my help? Fuck 'em. I want to try and make up for some of the damage I did because it feels like the least I could possibly do. And if that means steering someone away from that pipeline before they reach the point of no return just through a pretty casual encounter through just being stupidly patient and nice? I'll try, because that's just the type of person I am. Forget everything I said about suggesting other people doing this because doing this has burnt me more times than I can count. But I think I have helped keep some guys normal, even if it's only in a very small way.

You can think that I'm stupid or naive for even bothering. I don't care. But I'm still friends with former KF people who helped me get out and we support each other. It's a lot easier to learn empathy when it's demonstrated to you.

I'm sorry, I just... this subject touches on a lot of very personal stuff for me. It's why I even bother with it in the first place.

[thanatologie]

@extravagantliar - Are there different rights that the necropolis will follow if someone is of a different faith or there were other contextual conditions in which the bones needed to be sequestered ( lyrium )? How does Em feel about that, or is it simply part of his job that he takes seriously? Are there quandaries he has between faith, life and possible death? 

so…i'm gonna put forth what is possibly a controversial opinion here, so bear with me, but i'm gonna go ahead and say that for all that cassandra thinks nevarra is weird (despite being nevarran) and the necropolis is weird (despite, you know, her heavy familial connection to all of it), she's probably just as weird to them as they are to her.  i say this because lbr, cassandra leans heavily into her faith, and while i know nevarra is, on paper, heavily andrastian considering the whole…andraste was captured here! footnote in the travel brochures, i also think - especially where it concerns the mortalitasi and especially the mourn watch - it's largely performative so they're left alone to do their own thing.  

i say this because not once - not a single time, not in any dialogue i have personally found - has emmrich volkarin ever mentioned the maker or andraste in a religious sense and when the whole bit about the golden city came to light in solas's memories not once did he even seem the slightest bit surprised and instead is entirely more excited about the discovery of it all.  it's almost like religion just…doesn't factor into things for him, and you know what.  i don't think it does.  i don't think he's remotely religious in any sense.  this would make me, like.  two for two on atheistic / agnostic characters and i'm getting real tired of finding parallels between emmrich and tony, let me tell you.

anyway, this is something i've been simmering on because while, yes, the soul exists and he knows that (corpse whisperer and all that), i don't think there's any religious component to anything at all for him.  his religion is the ritual and the repetition and the discovery.  science.  his religion is the comfortable predictable unpredictability of science, is what i'm saying.

feels good to clear the air on that one, tbh.

so…when it comes to other belief systems and how they handle things like death / burial / mourning, like.  we actually know how the mourn watch especially treats that!  mostly thanks to the mourn watch being like…weirdly them about things, tbh.  (god, they're so fucking weird, guys, they are so, so weird.)  like first and foremost, emmrich goes out of his way to ask a (non-romanced) rook how they'd like their body to be handled after death.

and-  i just wanna take a sideswerve here to address the elephant in the room:  yes, you and i and a grey warden rook absolutely know they'll get hit with the calling and die in the deep roads.  we know this.  emmrich at this point does not.  emmrich's firsthand knowledge of the grey wardens at this point are the statues in nevarra city of them and their griffons, what little bit he's learned from davrin, and what he saw at weisshaupt, which was a fucking slaughterhouse and he was scared out of his fucking mind (why do you think he's babbling so many questions, babes, he's trying to focus on anything but the carnage around him, which he was not ready for and did not expect to be a part of).  he wouldn't have known about the calling.  he wouldn't have known about the ultimate fate of the wardens.  he lives in a cloistered echo chamber, his exposure to the outside world has been very, very limited up until the point he joins the veilguard.  he doesn't have access to the information we, the player, do.  stomps foot tired of the lololol that's so stupid commentary he doesn't know.

this man is gonna walk away from this whole thing with so much ptsd-

anyway, depending on the response he gives various answers but like.  it's a thing, right, he's already thinking ahead and getting that information together just in case it is left to him to handle rook's body if they die, and he wants to make sure he handles it the way they wish.  in fact, he honestly probably weirded the whole damn team out by asking them all the same question, because it's his moral imperative to see to their bodies after death if they're all in this together, and (especially in the case of rook not being mourn watch - and even they are he's the senior watcher) it'll fall to him to make sure it's done to their wishes, no matter what their wishes are.  as weird as it is, this is a professional kindness he's offering them.  this is literally part of his actual job and he's extremely serious about doing his fucking job.

and it's not like they're not knowledgeable about other cultures and their death practices, because he comments on them literally all the fucking time in his dialogue, because death is his obsession and his special interest.  he mentions the avvar.  he (i fully believe purposely to prove a point - it's a classic dad move honestly) incorrectly assumes the point of ancient qunari funerary vessels to taash (mostly to get them to correct him as to prove the point they know more than they give themselves credit for).  he doesn't understand - on a deeply personal level, why other cultures burn their dead, but he knows they do it, and even if he doesn't agree with it if that was someone's wish for their body, i'm pretty sure he'd fucking do it, as sick as it makes him to do so.

and even the watcher that's overseeing the room bodies of fallen allies are being kept in before the final battle points out that they'll be handled when things are over in the manner of where they're from.  which means if you're from a place that burns your dead, the mourn watch will no doubt erect a pyre and burn the dead.  they have their own beliefs, yes, but they respect the beliefs of other cultures and carry out those beliefs to the best of their ability.

unless you're an intruder in the necropolis, apparently, which.  fair.  that's their ultimate playground and you run the risk of your skeleton being used to sweep sand for eternity if you break in.

with the rest of it…like.  i mean that's his whole thing, right.  torn between life and accepting death, trying to find that get out of death free card with lichdom.  so…secondary unpopular opinion time:  not downplaying his actual thanaphobia at all - it's there, it's real, and it definitely stems from the unresolved trauma of his parents' deaths, he literally says he never dealt with it and it shows - the ultimate problem with emmrich is that he's been so afraid of dying he's never bothered to actually live.  like…he's locked into his little routine before we, the player, go scoop him out of his comfort zone and the enabling of the mourn watch, because routine is safe.  he's not living, not really, but he's falling into that trap of everything just so will keep the bad things away.  he hasn't left nevarra in years.  while that wouldn't be so unusual because necromancers pretty much mostly stay there (no doubt for safety reasons) this is a guy who wants to see what the world has to offer and is so wrapped up in his fear he's hesitated his whole damn life to go out and do it.

like every time he talks about this - wishing he'd traveled, wishing he'd gotten married, etc - to harding it's like he's already lost his chance.  and in his mind, no doubt, he has!  like he's, what, in his early 50s, but the way he talks you'd think he has one foot in the nursing home already despite - as a mage - what could be several more decades of life ahead of him.  like he doesn't still have time to travel (which harding points out he's literally doing right that very second), or to get married, or to have a family (which i'd argue he already does in manfred but that is neither here nor there - point is he's still fully capable of having children and watching them grow to adulthood even without timey wimey mage shit thrown in).

so, long story short, i think the problem here isn't necessarily emmrich's fear of death - lots of people have that fear, in the way he does, and maybe they don't get over it completely but you learn to cope with it, right, make peace with it, and i think he can, too, given the right encouragement and push - it's in reality, emmrich is afraid of living.  and i think that - the regret that he's hesitated on so many steps life can take, having given up so much of what he wants as a daydream - is what's holding him back, making him hesitate when it comes to lichdom.  he hasn't lived, and he knows it, and i think he ultimately regrets that and thinks it's too late to start now (even if it's not).  it's like i've said before:  it's not just manfred that blossoms and grows once the pair of them leave the necropolis, emmrich has the opportunity to find the sort of life he's always wanted, too, if he wants to and he realizes it.

[also-fours]

the hi-fi rush situation really bums me out.

we had this game that looked super unique, everybody loved it, it won tons of awards

and then it barely got any marketing, feels like it only got as popular as it did thanks to word of mouth and the initial shadow drop, was deemed a "failure" despite selling what many companies would consider a success back in the day, (because it didnt sell call of duty numbers, probably.) and then its studio got shut down

the studio was just starting to spread its wings, start making shit that could inspire their peers, other devs, to start making different things and experiment

and they fucking killed them

it's gone

i mean, maybe they'll make their own studio, i've heard something like that's happened a couple times with the yooka-laylee devs and sonic mania's dev team

but i dunno

as much as i love games like spider-man and god of war (and i mean literally just those two, like, anything else sony does aside from ratchet and clank im not into) i wish they didnt worry so much about modelling photorealism

the obsession with stuff like that is what's made game development so expensive and unsustainable at this rate

i know this is tumblr so the first reaction im gonna get to saying something like "i like spider-man and god of war" at least in my circle is "GOOD GLAD THAT IT'S BECOMING UNSUSTAINABLE FUCK THEM" but like. i actually like what these games had to say and what they brought to the table.

"spider-man had nothing to say it's just a stupid marvel game cash grab and god of war is a generic over the shoulder game"

if you're going to tell me something like that, kindly, please don't interact with this post

like, please?

thank you

anyway, i want games like that that...don't have to upgrade their graphics every time and. waste everyone's time.

genuinely with how they both looked in 2018 i'd be happy with them just. not changing the graphics at all

but uh. sadly sony knows their audience, haha

there'd be hell to pay if they did that

(i hate mainstream gamers)

and as for everything else that xbox and playstation are doing right now, i still want them to do something different

and microsoft killed off the developer that could've inspired others to do that

soooooooo fuck. what now. are we just gonna be stuck in this position forever.

probably not, i mean, again, with how expensive games like spider-man 2 have gotten to produce and the amount of people in and out of the industry screaming that you gotta CHILL THE FUCK OUT, we won't stay like this forever

it might get better

maybe when we get a new series of spider-man games they can have a visual style similar to spider-verse, wouldn't that be rad?

...i mean. judging by the leaks, they might already be experimenting with that...

or something like shattered dimensions have y'all seen that game? looks fantastic, go look it up, they made four different dimensions of spidey and all of 'em have their own unique visual style inspired by their books

sorry im getting off topic

im juat rambling at this point

i just hope people learn the right lessons from hi-fi rush.

and that the people who made it find a way through and can still make great things

thats what i hope for at least

...anyway at least we still have fortnite and its really fun art style--

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 7 ("YOU GOT TO KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM / KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM") EDITION

Whew, baby. Well, I found this episode particularly brutal.

I've been noodling this week on the following theme: the mundanity of toxicity. The everyday-ness of bad in people. I think this episode captured this well (cc @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm, and @bengiyo, who all got a little preview of this thinking).

But I caught some other themes in this episode, too, which I'll quickly hit and list:

2) The elements of life, and 3) Gambling.

As a devoted meta writer, writing about Only Friends is hard. Because: I want to think that there's a lot more to what I'm seeing. I am certainly missing cinematic references that Jojo and team are making (I haven't watched Queer As Folk, for instance). Mew's face popping out of the bathtub? That has me wondering if I'm missing a cinematic reference there.

But at the same time, I wonder if by just observing the Only Friends crew, that I'm picking up on enough. When I was in my twenties, living in New York City, going to college...I was still trying to figure people out. I was absolutely SURROUNDED by people, and I couldn't help but think, everyday -- what is it that makes these people tick?

And I found myself regularly shocked at how mean people were. Very often, I'd just be like -- what the actual fuck, why are you trying so hard to be a massive dick? And, who knows -- maybe people were thinking the same thing about me.

That was when I was young. I just -- I didn't know that much about people. Really, what I didn't know -- and what I really NEEDED to know, and what I learned about myself in that decade and the next -- was how to manage myself around anybody, so as to preserve myself from any unpredictable pain that might come from someone else. In other words... I needed to fucking grow up.

Part of that self-management was trying on identities. Could I fake being a stronger person? Sure, I definitely tried. I tried with clothes, with new slang, with trying new activities, with drinking. That's just normal for a lass in their twenties.

The Only Friends crew -- they are assholes. Many of them were trying on change a couple of weeks ago. Mew experienced a HUGE identity shift during this episode.

But what they all embody to me, in this moment in their lives, is a kind of everyday toxicity -- a self-absorbed perspective, so tunneled internally into each and every one of them, that none of them are realizing that the energy they put out is colliding and having effects on others.

Like -- it's kind of shocking and twisted to watch. But when I think about it, when I remember what it was like to be in a huge city and to be in college and post-college: there's a part of me that remembers being CONSTANTLY surprised that people were just massive jerks, everyday, and again, who knows -- I think people likely thought that I was a jerk, too, for thinking of myself and leading myself with my life.

People, most people, grow out of these stages, as they get older, get more experienced in their years, maybe get more political in their dealings with others. I can't condemn this group of university students fully, as I hold hope (I'm a mom, damn it) that they'll grow into more fully robust and empathic people. But they ain't there yet. I'm not sure my turning stones gives me more insight to them than in relating to my own experiences as a former twentysomething. It has me thinking, as someone who loves turning those stones in my beloved dramas.

That all being said. Those two other themes in this episode have me thinking -- the elements of life and gambling.

We saw Mew play with fire (fucking finally, my man). And we saw lots of water -- water in the pool, water in the tub with Sand and Ray.

Water puts out fire. Mew tries to fake-drown (lol) Boston in the pool. Later on, Mew lets Boston know that he (Mew) can take Boston down, but won't. Mew is trying to control the fires that he's lit, and the ones that have already been burning.

My question to Mew is: do you know how to do what you are doing, or what you want to do?

I don't quite think so, and I think that "Welcome to Las Vegas" shirt he was wearing at Boston's house indicated as much.

(Uh, first of all, chain life, Book! MORE, MORE!)

Mew has decided to become a gambler. Let's think of all the metaphors! Mew has decided to roll the dice and possibly move past the pass line. He's decided to play his odds. He even STACKED his odds -- going to a new gay bar, enticing Drake Gap, going back to Gap's place, stealing the sex tape from Gap's computer, threatening Gap with reporting him for a crime, going to BOSTON'S HOUSE, TALKING TO BOSTON'S DAD, showing Boston the copy of the sex tape, THREATENING BOSTON, MAKING BOSTON BEG, showing MORAL SUPERIORITY OVER BOSTON, throwing the flash drive at Boston, and walking away. Like, if that were a metaphor for actually playing craps, first of all, lol, the pit guy would check Mew's ID, get him a players' card, and encourage him to move to the high limits room, being like, WHAT is this motherfucker DOING, but we want him doing more of it, he'll make us more money -- once he starts fucking things up.

Mew's trying on a new identity. He already was on the road to it, getting that LASIK for Top. He's just continuing to move forward with it. He's going to play with nastiness, but still try to come out on Top.

Trying on new identities. It is so normal when you're young -- I did that. Trying on what fits for whatever reason you are feeling at that moment -- if you're rebounding, if you're healing, if you're bored. Mew is embarrassed, maybe even ashamed, maybe even regretful that his first relationship ended up as a failure.

And now he's figuring out how to recover -- by taking a gamble, and playing with the exact same mundane, everyday nastiness that he's seen in everyone around him.

P.S. Ephemerality and permanence? That fire burned the memory that Top tried to create with Mew (cc @twig-tea and @lurkingshan here). And, gambling? SO ephemeral. Buh-bye, money and pride. Ray switching back and forth between Mew and Sand? Ephemeral crushitude. (SAND. SMDH. I KNOW RAY'S DAD SAID SOMETHING TO YOU, BUT STILL, SMDH.) Nick turning on Boston. Boston begging Mew to hold back on the permanent impact of the sex tape on Boston's dad's career.

And the ephemerality of movement: the clothes in this episode said it all. Las Vegas, NYC, Stanford. These young folks can just... disappear if they want to. And they just might.

(G'DAY, EPHEMERALITY SQUAD! @ranchthoughts @slayerkitty @distant-screaming @twig-tea @neuroticbookworm @lurkingshan @clara-maybe-ontheroad @thatgirl4815 @chickenstrangers @wen-kexing-apologist)

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 7

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring, two years ago

Characters: Jun, HiMERU

Proofreading: Remi + 310mc (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Peace & hyenahunt

Jun: You're talking in third person now, huh? What's going on, your pretty lil' face trying your hand at acting or something?

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Time: A few days later

Location: In Reimei's Labour Camp room

Jun: (And in the end, nothing changed one bit.)

(Every last thing was pointless and meaningless, all amounting to nothing.)

(Even though Kazehaya-senpai worked himself to the bone at the cost of his own health, Reimei Academy continues to be a living hell. In fact, it feels like it's just getting worse.)

(With HiMERU as their figurehead, the Special Students have been snatching away work meant for Kazehaya-senpai, and they're living their best lives getting to perform to their hearts' desire.)

(It's plain to see how carried away they're getting. They're all kicking back and laughing, looking entirely too pleased with their success.)

(And to make things worse, they've been treating us Non-Specials even more harshly than before.)

Jun: (It's ironic, really. All Kazehaya-senpai wanted was a future where everyone could live in peace and harmony together.)

(But until a lil' while ago, the Specials were getting their jobs stolen away by the Non-Special gang of the Catacombs)

(So they’re probably hanging onto a grudge over that, ‘cause they've gotten crazy aggressive with us these days.)

(They'll openly curse us out even in front of others, and they even get all rough and violent with us. The hell's the police even doing? This is obviously all kinds of fucked up.)

(The Specials straight up see us as enemies, now.)

(They treated us like servants in the past, but now they treat us like literal vermin. Like it's a given they'd wanna crush us underfoot the moment they so much as catch a glimpse of us.)

(But despite that, weirdly enough, Non-Specials refuse to run.)

(Do they think we're gonna turn the tables on 'em once Kazehaya-senpai recovers and makes his comeback?)

(I don't really hang around the other Non-Specials, so honestly, it beats me what they're thinking...)

(I sure hope they're not getting up to no good, though...)

Jun: (They've been meeting up in the Catacombs just as usual, and it kinda seems like they've got something shady in the works.)

(I'm getting bad vibes from it all... Thanks to Kazehaya-senpai, Non-Specials got to experience what it's like to stand on the stage, even if only for a moment.)

(They got to learn what it's like to become an idol.)

(To have your dreams come true, surrounded by a dazzling radiance...)

(They got to know the joys of being alive.)

(But then everything changed, and everything they were supposed to have in their hands was stolen away by the Specials.)

(There's no way they wouldn't come to start resenting 'em.)

(Even those who'd given up and figured that this was just how things were — they got to realise that actually, it wasn't.)

Jun: (It was 'cause of Kazehaya-senpai that the Non-Specials came to learn the taste of success, and lots of it. They learned that even without being a Special Student, they could achieve success, and become happy.)

(And that’s why, more than ever, they’ve started to resent the fact that we’ve got these Special and Non-Special labels forced upon us.)

(Non-Specials have started to question Reimei's unreasonable system all over again. Everyone's stress is building up from being forced to follow it.)

(This place is a powder keg waiting to blow and something's gonna set it off any time now.)

(Y'know, HiMERU, once someone realises their hard-earned gains are being stolen away by an intruder, it's only human nature that they'd resent them.)

(That's why Special Students have just gone harder in oppressing us Non-Specials, isn't it?)

(But in the same way, Non-Specials have started to resent them right back. They see 'em as the enemy who kicked them off the stage, and bear a grudge against 'em for that.)

Jun: (Up 'til now, that wasn't how things always were. Sure, we never really liked each other, but it's not like we were straight up enemies.)

(We just saw each other as someone unpleasant who we had to coexist with. Now, however... both sides see the other as a detested enemy.)

(Even though all Kazehaya-senpai wished for was love...)

(The very opposite happened — it was hatred that built up instead.)

(For these two factions, festering with mutual resentment, Reimei Academy is the tiny cage in which they'll face off.)

(This place is a ticking time bomb...)

(And it's gonna go off with a terrible explosion the very first chance it gets.)

(It's a disaster waiting to happen — one that'll blast everything to bits.)

Jun: ......

(But y'know, that might not be too bad. I mean, maybe this shitty dump of a school should get blown up and reduced to nothing but rubble —)

HiMERU: Hey.

Jun: ...!? Woah, huh?

HiMERU?

HiMERU: .......

Jun: H-huh? What're you doing here? You returned to the Special Student dorms ages ago — don't tell me you'd forgotten something here at the Labour Camp and came back to get it only after all this time?

HiMERU: Tch... So you know of HiMERU?

Well, it'd be a surprise if you didn't know of him by now.

I was the one who facilitated his rise to the top, after all. In fact, it'd be an issue if he wasn't a household name.

Jun: His rise... You're talking in third person now, huh? What's going on, your pretty lil' face trying your hand at acting or something?

[ ☆ ]

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[daemon-in-my-head]

Ok fine I will attempt to elaborate on why ppl do somehow end up feeling pity for Fine; Spoilers, my favourite muse is Melpomai, and I'm about to prove it.

Yk how reincarnation is not just a belief but very much a real thing for elves in FR (as of rn bet they'll soon completely revamp the lore for the xth time anyway—). Aka, he would absolutely be able to meet everyone again. Even if he dies, his soul is elven. He'd come back, as would his kid or the family he lost and possibly even Minthara as she stuck with Eilistraee and not Lolth at the end and there's a whole thing with her turning drow back into dark elves or not cuz who tf knows at this point. Elf lore is complicated.

But yk, elves also have the drawing of the Veil. They experience their past lives again as dreams while they're young. Their primordial soul acts like a notepad, remembering everything. Including how they were wronged. What happened. What lead to their demise. Who led to their demise. So, yes, they might come back, the bonds will never truly shatter, he can see everyone again, but they'll also never forget what he's done. And even if they forgive him, it'll always have happened. It can never be erased.

And even worse, yk, if he did that, died, just like that, without any safety measures in place, Bhaal would also get back even the last remnants of his essence and flesh that Fine "keeps" rn. He would get everything back. He would be even less restricted. He'd help in unleashing even more horrors, again.

And yes he might be very self centered and despicable but he still operates on a code. Namely one that says "everything goes as long as it's for the ones I treasure".

You see the issue here? The being stuck between a rock and a hard place and every choice being wrong but at the same time understandable because there simply aren't any others? Because the situation is so shit there's simply no fixing it anymore?

Yeah and now add some more misery because I am me and what he ends up "choosing" (he actually has no real choice, ofc he doesn't, I created him) is—

To take over the portfolio of the by now missing Naralis Analor due to a deal with Sehanine. Aka the elven Watcher of the Soul. Aka God of suffering, alleviation of pain, healing, and death. Aka one of the few gods of death that are neither apathic nor malicious. Aka the one who collects and guides elven souls. Who cares for them during their brief stay in their afterlife. Whom you pray to in your own misery for relief, or to keep your beloveds safe. The one elves both welcome and loath.

Preventing Bhaal from ever fully reclaiming what was once his, but also leaving the cycle of reincarnation and giving up on the ability to live with those he always wanted to meet again. Only able to meet with them in their misery or their death, but them still remembering who he was.

The son, the nephew, the father, the partner, the friend, the one who always dreamed about becoming a Paladin and protecting his loved ones, the kid who got so excited to show off a cool new sword trick he learned to his little sister but instead of bragging ended up with a scar across his face that remains even to this day. The one who ended up either killing all of these people himself or helping in their demise and whom they'll only be able to meet when they're dead or close to it.

And this happens constantly to him. He's always stuck between a rock and a hardplace. He's always getting fucked over by things way beyond his control where his only true choice is what he will sacrifice and not if he will. His entire existence is cruel, unfair and unasked for and yk, that does make for a very pitiable character and has you develop empathy even for facist tyrant's and their tortured situationships because everyone here's getting played.

Oh yeah did I mention before that happens I just kind of break him completely by making his greatest fears become reality, all of em all at once because of one, teensy tiny detail he overlooked? No? Well I have now.

[infinitethree]

A meeting is once again being held in one of the Welcome Wagon's orientation rooms.

This time, though, it's Theo up at the front.

He took a cue from Daz and Aster and enlisted Raine to illustrate what he saw, and also to get the images on the screen.

Once everyone has turned up, he takes a deep breath. No sense in sugar coating it. “I met the Scribe.”

The group's expressions are grim, and understandably so.

The Showrunner had been harrowing for Daz and Aster– oh, and Innit– to meet.

He flicks the screen on, showing the visage of the god he's been doing the bidding of for years.

“I requested a meeting. I…wanted to make a deal.”

He takes a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

When he opens them again, he confesses, “I asked for Dad's immortality to be revoked. He'll age n’ die like normal now. In return–”

His words falter a moment. He has to take another deep breath before he can say, “I was– I was given knowledge…n’ a fuckin’ geas. I can’t– the two things I learned, I can’t speak of ‘em. If I try directly, the words die. Indirectly…they said it'd cause me pain.”

Daz’s mouth twists further into a frown. “Can you be very vague about who they affect?”

Hah. Of course he's the one who wants to test it. “First one– affects everyone. N’ once other people figure it out…they can't fuckin’ talk about it, either. Not unless it's to others who know. Has to– everyone has to fuckin’ figure it out on their own.”

Aster’s eyes go wide. “Is it dangerous?”

A loaded question. “Not…directly. Could be, in certain circumstances. Definitely fuckin’ bad for our peace've mind, though.”

Vio's tail flicks in a sign of anxiety. “Is there anything we could do about it, if we knew?”

A shudder goes down his spine at the idea of anyone doing anything about it.

“No. S’ not for us to fuckin’ meddle with.”

The words sting as they come out in a warning that he's verging on triggering the punishment.

Quickly, he refocuses on the other part. “Second one is– uh, directly affects only a few fuckin' people. It…could have some– real fuckin’ far-reaching consequences, though. Uh, like– fallout wise.”

His gaze goes to Aster. What would happen if the bombshell snaps Daz in half?

His best friend is already in pretty damn deep. Aster has twined his fingers with Daz's, likely for support.

They think they'll have a kid together– a kid who they're getting attached to. 

What happens when they realize that kid won't ever be theirs?

…What if Daz spirals because he gets too deep into a relationship on false pretenses? What if he tries to kill himself again?

Would Aster be able to live with himself? Would Theo?

Fuck.

Daz's gaze is sharp. “Could the fallout endanger Sanctuary?”

Hah. If only he knew. “...Technically. It– those people're…”

The words feel worse and worse as he speaks, so he ends the sentence.

He looks away. “That one, though, s’ not under the geas. Others can talk about it once they know it. Once enough fuckin’ people know, I'll probably have that one lifted entirely.”

Aster squeezes Daz’s hand. It's hard to tell if he's giving or seeking support. “Which one is the bigger threat to Sanctuary?”

He has to think about how to answer. “...Second one. But neither– not fuckin’...immediately. The first one is– we really can't do shit about it. Real fuckin’ scary to think about, though. It rec–”

Theo winces from the harsh sting of that word. Too close, then.

He wants even one person who is aware of this truth. Someone to share this awful burden with– even if that's a selfish desire.

Cassandra and Echo. His words aren't that strictly limited, but he’s still on a pretty short leash.

All he can do is hope that someone will put the pieces together.

With another deep breath, he says, “When I get too fuckin’ close to indirectly saying it, the words– they hurt. S’ sharp n’ sting-y. I can’t…”

He feels his face screw up and his wings tuck in close. “If I decide to break it, I wanna be sure it's real fuckin’ deliberate.”

Day looks sad Of course he's sad, Theo is upset! I still wanna know what the secrets are I mean, we'll figure it out eventually If we work together it should be easy!

Theo huffs softly in amusement at them. The Fates always know how to cheer him up.

Then again, they've been with him for well over a decade. The Fates have been his eyes and the momentum behind his fighting– to the point where he doubts that Theseus Was-Taken, The Blue Death would exist without them.

For as much as they tease and poke at him, he knows they care.

Daz studies him for a long moment, then flicks his attention to the screen. “So, tell us about the Scribe. As far as I'm aware, nobody but the T3 have interacted with them at all.”

Vio corrects, “Jacobs and Styll were contacted to build the portal, then served as conduits to give us the marching orders. Otherwise, I think you're right.”

There's no doubt that Daz would like to ask more. He just recognizes that doing so is a dangerous game.

…If there's anyone who can figure out either secret, it'll be Daz.

Theo sighs softly, using the large console to show the strange location he had been in. “The Scribe's domain is an endless library in a white void. Real fuckin’ unsettling for a void to be white. Uh– saw lots've books, obviously.”

Aleph seems intrigued. “Did you read any?”

“Fuck no. I didn’t get permission n’ I was in the domain of a fuckin’ god among gods. I wasn’t gonna piss ‘em off by touching their work! More titles I saw, more fuckin’ obvious it was that I was being tested, too.”

He shudders at the thought of what might have happened if he was more ignorant.

Wings flicking anxiously, he continues, “The Scribe is named real fuckin’ fittingly. Arms spun around ‘em, writing in books that shrank n’ grew over n’ over. Editing on the fly, maybe. So…they probably wrote all those books themself. N’ their mask–”

He flicks back to the illustration of them. Raine is an excellent artist, having captured the imposing nature and subtle details of the god.

“It shifts. Subtly, usually, but when I asked for– for Dad's immortality to be taken…eye turned into a mouth.”

He goes to that slide, goosebumps rising at the sight. “They speak slow n’ deliberately. They like when people're clever. I can’t say for sure, n’ definitely can't speak for ‘em…but I got the fuckin’ impression that they don't feel real fuckin’ interested in stepping into shit here. At least, not for the moment.”

Chewing on his lip a moment, he adds, “If I had to guess? Scribe is busy with other shit. Showrunner is the one we'll interact with the most. Showrunner also seems like the one who deals with the Observers.”

His Dad leans forward, bracing his arms on his knees. “...Do you think the Scribe would help us, if we asked?”

“Not freely. Might make things worse, if the wrong person asks the wrong fuckin’ way. I don’t…trying to interact with ‘em is a real fuckin’ risky move. I don’t even wanna say how I got my audience. I don’t even fuckin’ know if I could get it to work again,” he answers.

With a grimace, he adds, “You know how fuckin’ little we get told when doing their bidding as it is. Just their fuckin’ laugh felt…wrong. Felt– eldritch. Things no fuckin’ mortal should ever know burned on my fuckin’ tongue. We don't wanna fuckin’ test ‘em. I amused ‘em, sure, but I don't think they're any fuckin’ kinder than the Showrunner.”

Daz leans just a little into Aster’s side, even as he pulls his hand away. Gaze sharp, arguably the smartest guy in the room asks, “Why did they laugh?”

“Like I said; I amused ‘em. I did something unexpected, bold, n’ clever. That has diminishing fuckin’ returns. Assuming they answer at all, repeated attempts to make deals may just piss ‘em off. N’ this–”

He scrubs a hand down his face. As much as he doesn’t like admitting this…

He confesses, “I was trying to find a way to become immortal. I didn’t wanna leave Dad alone with no fuckin’ end in sight. When I learned that Time was the Scribe…I saw a way to do the fuckin’ opposite. N’ it's not fuckin’ like I wanted to live forever. Not for its own sake, anyway.”

Aster is suddenly in his face, throwing a punch at his throat.

For once, Theo is caught off guard enough that he can’t defend against it.

His friend yells at him, “You goddamned idiot! Why do the people around me– stop trying to fall on swords for others!”

“Hey, I never tried to be a martyr,” Raine protests. “Some of us do our therapy right,” Khons agrees.

Annoyed, Daz says, “Stop being vague, everyone knows who you mean.”

Aster pinches the bridge of his nose. “Daz.” “Yes, dear?” “I–”

An odd look crosses Aster’s face. “Dear?”

Eyebrows raising, Daz answers, “We’re dating. Pet names are normal…I think.”

After a beat, Daz rolls his eyes. “It’s not like anyone here knows better, at least. I see more couples than anyone else.”

They're dating.

Aster and Daz have started dating, and that means–

Fuck. What happens if Daz goes supernova when the truth comes out?

If Aster has agreed to date, then he would be devastated if it happened now.

The longer it takes them to realize, the worse it could be.

“Worst possible way to phrase that,” Raine snarks, unaware of how Theo is scrambling for stable footing.

Daz shoots back, “I can think of worse ones!”

Hands press on his shoulders. 

His attention is pulled back to Aster, who seems concerned. “Theo?”

“I didn't realize you two started fuckin’ dating,” Theo answers. He shrugs, rubbing his throat despite barely feeling it. “Just– caught me off guard. Would've been fuckin’ nice to hear personally, Aster.”

With a wince, his friend apologizes, “It’s been less than a week. You've been kinda busy, so…”

Not like he can argue.

Daz’s eyes narrow. He drapes his arms over the back of the seat he’s sitting on, one leg resting on the opposite knee.

The pose is imperious, like this is Daz’s castle and he's a king about to pass judgment.

“I wasn’t aware you had an opinion on our love life. Also, you know we get married, so. This was inevitable.”

Immediately, Aster tells Daz, “If Raine, Khons, and Aleph found out just now, they'd be mad, too. Just like you got pissy that I didn't tell you about the earrings–” “Still not over that, by the way.” “--Theo can be upset his best and pretty much only friend didn't tell him about getting into a relationship.”

It takes him a moment to decipher what the fuck the two of them are talking about.

He holds his hands up defensively. There is no way in hell he's getting on Daz’s bad side. “I mean– yeah, just feels…I dunno, I just didn't realize things got that far! I'm not– gonna fuckin’ object to you dating or some shit.”

Mostly because there's no way to do that without explaining why.

Daz huffs, even as Raine pats his arm. “At least Aster is learning to communicate with most people.” “I was the one who told all of you.” “A trait that will either rub off on him or you'll train him into.”

Naturally, Aster is offended by that. “I have great communication skills! Also, the fuck am I, a dog?”

Cheerfully, Daz answers, “You can give orders, dear, that’s not the same thing. Also, everyone is trainable. You’re not special.”

Aster inhales, and then looks baffled. “He made you pay when you swore? That's why you don't do it as much?!”

Theo squints. “...Daz had a fuckin’ swear jar?”

“It was to teach me self control, because he was unaware how short of a leash I put myself on by following his own stupid fuckin’ ethos.”

Aster’s brow furrows. “Didn't you break a ton of his rules?” “I followed the spirit of leveling the playing field. Not my fault he thought I wouldn't spy on everyone, him included.”

Concerned, Day straightens up. “Spy how–”

Daz rolls his eyes. “Nothing that can't be done easier with tech here. Not that I bothered, because I literally don't have enough time to utilize that properly. I'm not saying more, for hopefully obvious reasons.”

Despite nobody looking at him, Lucid makes a face. “I'm not dumb enough to take away something that makes you feel safe. I like my bones on the inside, thanks.”

“You’re surely not implying that I need Aster to fight my battles for me,” Daz warns.

“My mind being broken too is kind of a given. It's a two for one deal.”

Tone flat, Vio tells them, “I have to stitch him up after anything you do. Don't give me more work.”

Aster points out, “We've eliminated countless fires before there was any smoke. Even if Lucid fucks around, finding out a thousand times won't budge the scales.”

“What’s this we? I had to bully you into doing the barbecues. You hate socializing,” Daz complains.

When Aster gives his…boyfriend? A long look, Daz rolls his eyes. “It’s a valid point!” “You still need to stop picking fights.”

“Children, can we focus,” Day complains, snapping his fingers a few times.

He’s given a death glare by both Aster and Daz, neither of whom Theo would really want to talk to like that.

As much as he loves his dad, and as much as Aster is his friend, the idea of snipping at him feels wrong.

Then again, maybe he’s just on edge because of the dual bombshells he has no choice but to sit on.

Theo worries at a few of the beads in his hair, trying to draw comfort from the familiar textures. “I– I dunno if there’s really anything else, though. It’s…I mean. Hopefully this never fuckin’ matters.”

Wait, fuck. He almost forgot.

“No– I fuckin’ take that back. Scribe said one thing, when they were laughing. Invoked someone they called the Overseer like we’d invoke Prime. I didn’t ask anything else.”

Daz’s irritation vanishes. “Someone exists above them, then?” “Sounds like it. Dunno who or what they are, or if we’ll know more, but…s’ probably good to know they apparently exist.”

A shudder goes down his spine and through his wings. Given what the Showrunner and the Scribe can do, he dreads the thought of knowing what the Overseer is even capable of.

He preferred when gods were beings trapped within the confines of a story. Having to interact with them as much as he does…

Having someone so far above him makes him uneasy. It was already bad enough that he met them every so often when traveling, but adding the Showrunner’s meddling on top of everything else grates at him.

Especially now that he knows that it’s not just watching.

What gets written, and who decides what is described? Whose perspective is it from?

Fuck. He never properly appreciated his Dad’s stance on the mind being a sacred place that nobody else could or should peer into.

Now that he’s facing the idea that his thoughts might not be as private as he assumed, he’s suddenly a hell of a lot more worried about what he’s thinking and how it might be taken.

…Can he knock on wood in his own head? Do either of them even care?

Not like he can ask, even if he wanted to.

[walpu]

Aventuriene is one of my favorite character and a favorite make character. Honestly, I'm not a fan of male HSR characters. I love Luka, but now Aventuriene scored him higher. Blade and Dan Heng are interesting but I don't super love them, I do like em though. At first I dislike Dr. Ratio becouse he seemed to me judgemental, but then I realise I misunderstood him and Penecony even made me love his character. I know that's lots of fans Sino for Jung Yuan and Sunday, but in my opinion they are to overted and I think their design is boring.

Now here is what I love about Aventuriene. At first, I liked his design but I was also neutral to him. I wasn't fan of his personality but after watching the play troughs (since I'm taking a break from playing the game) I changed my mind. I like how realistically Aventuriene is written. I realize that there still others HSR characters written realistically, but honestly Aventuriene is the male character that is written like a real person, and not just as fan service. Of course that's is my personal opinion and I understand if you have the different one.

I genuinely think that Aventurine is probably the best written character in hsr. Since 2.0 it was pretty obvious hoyo handles his character well, the leaks only confirmed it, but holy shit, they did so good in 2.1. They managed to deliver his story and make him sympathetic but without overdoing it to the point when it feels like a tearjerker. Like, you look at him and think "yes, it's a very realistic trauma response. yes, he has a lot of conflicted feelings about pretty much everything, from his religion to his own life and I would probably feel like that too". Honestly I'm so happy Shaoji was the main writer for Penacony arc even if he caused me a lot of stress lmao

I remember the first time I saw Aventurine's design I thought he looks cool. I also remember me and my friend joking that he looks like he's Reigen Arataka coded. I named him mr scammer and all that 💀 People make mistakes okay. Then I learned he's from the IPC and said yeah you lost me here I don't fuck with capitalists. Then the whole "slave" tattoo discussion started and he caught my attention again, then the 2.0 happened and well.

I like the rest of the male cast too tho and for a very long time Gepard was my favorite, so I didn't plan on pulling for Aven since I already have a blonde preservation bbg. Well, things change 💀 I get yiu about Ratio, I wanted to punch him the first time I saw him but like. Affectionately. He was funny af to me. I like the way they handle his character so far tho and I honestly have a lot of thoughts about his arc.

I think the thing with a lot of hsr characters, both male and female, is that we didn't have enough time with them yet. Which is not a bad thing since the story has basically just begun. It may be more noticeable for the male characters since its fewer of them tho. Plus the Lofu storyline was a bit messy in general tbh, I hope they'll handle it better in the future. Since we now have the POV switch mechanic, there are a lot of great opportunities to let us understand the characters better.

[taradiddled]

Ada: Ughhhh. You seriously talking about still trying to make yourself this Perfect Person in your kids' eyes? I really don't recommend it, goony. If you try to be perfect to them, it's only going to make you feel like shit when you can't be perfect.

Ada: One of the flaws of modern parenting is that it places the parent on a pedestal in the eyes of the child. Sometimes, it's unavoidable, but if you can let your kid see that you're just as much a mess of a person, it can actually be pretty helpful, for both your sanity, and the kids'.

Ada: Eva and I weren't shy about screwing up in front of the kids. They saw us mess up. They saw us make mistakes. But we didn't make a big deal about it. Just went, 'Oops!' and said that we'd try again and do better. Sure, we kept some really private stuff close to the chest, but we discovered early on that, if you can't be an absolute mess with your family, then who else can you be a mess with?

Ada: I can't tell you the number of times my kids had to suffer through knowing about the number of times I got explosive diarrhea from one of my food experiments. Or when Eve would accidentally stick herself with her spears and arrows, and we needed to revise another lecture on weapon safety. Eva and I actually started to enjoy using our screw-ups to teach the kids better. Made it so we could laugh at ourselves and be motivated to do better.

Ada: It wasn't until I got to Heaven that all those screw-ups got pushed back in my face like there was something wrong with me. Like...they weren't lessons on the dumb things you can do as a mortal, but like...warnings. Failings. Something to be ashamed about. And that really fucked me up, Lucifer. Having all those things pointed back at me like that.

Ada: I don't want that for our kid. And I know you don't want that for Charlie. So, when you're teaching them, and they mess up, you need to try and let them know about the times you messed up, too. Let 'em know that you've been there, you've tripped up shit, and you can help them try to not trip up shit in the future. They'll learn from yours and their mistakes, and the lot of you can use that shared experience to grow stronger.

Ada: It's not going to be easy. I'm going to have to kick my own ass to be open with myself again, after so long. But it won't be so bad if you and me do it together. Show these kids that you can be absolute fucking dumpster fires, and STILL go and do better.