#guess which venture concept i like the most

[tadaoren]

semi realism mummy venture coming up, get ur forks and knives ready babes.

[doumadono]

Synopsis: in a surprising twist orchestrated by Toga Himiko, two antisocial League of Villains members, Dabi and you, find an unexpected connection during an awkward blind date

MY HERO ACADEMIA MASTERLIST - PART II

You’ve never been one for socializing. The whole concept of small talk, mingling, and putting yourself out there has always felt foreign to you. After all, socializing was never your strong suit, and you were quite content with your single status. You’ve always preferred the comfort of a good book or the solitude of your thoughts. 

But that’s exactly why Toga took it upon herself to organize a blind date for you. She’s always been a bit of a meddler, and apparently, your perpetual singleness was too tempting a problem for her to ignore. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” she had chirped with her usual manic enthusiasm. "Trust me, you'll love him!" Toga had chirped with a mischievous grin. "He's just like you - hates socializing, too!"

And you had no choice but to go along with it, if only to get her to stop pestering you. 

Toga had transformed one of the dingy rooms into something that vaguely resembled a romantic setting. There were candles (probably stolen), a table (slightly wobbly), and two chairs (one missing a leg but propped up with a stack of books). It was sweet in its own chaotic way, very much in line with Toga’s personality.

You sat down, fidgeting with the edge of the tablecloth, wondering who in the world Toga could have set you up with. She had been annoyingly secretive about the whole thing, dropping hints that only served to confuse you more. For a moment, you wondered if Himiko might have set you up with no one else but Shigaraki himself. The boss was the most antisocial person you’d ever met, which could mean this date would be an absolute nightmare. But there was no backing out now. 

The door creaked open, and Dabi walked in. 

Your eyes widened in surprise. 

Dabi? Of all people? 

The blue-flamed villain looked as disinterested as ever, hands in his pockets, eyes half-lidded with boredom. “Great,” he muttered, not even trying to hide his lack of enthusiasm. “Toga’s matchmaking now.”

You offered a small, awkward smile. “Looks like it.”

Dabi slouched into the chair across from you, and for a moment, the two of you just stared at each other in uncomfortable silence. Finally, he spoke. “So, how did Toga rope you into this?” he asked, his tone as dry as sandpaper.

You shrugged. “She didn’t really give me a choice. And you?”

He smirked, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Pretty much the same. I guess she thinks we’re both too antisocial for our own good.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “She might be right about that.”

Dabi chuckled, a low, almost menacing sound. “Sounds like her. She loves meddling in other people’s business.”

You nodded, grateful for the small talk. “Yeah, she’s something else.”

Another awkward silence fell over you. You glanced around the room, trying to think of something to say. Your eyes landed on a small stack of books in the corner, and an idea popped into your head. “You like reading?” you asked, nodding towards the books.

Dabi followed your gaze and scoffed. “Not really. I only read articles about how great heroes are supposed to be.”

You blinked in surprise. “Why’s that?”

He smirked, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “So I can read between the lines and find their weak spots. It’s more fun tearing them down when you know their flaws.”

"I saw you reading something about Endeavor earlier," you ventured, trying to sound nonchalant. You were still new, still trying to weave yourself into the fabric of the League without causing too much disruption.

Dabi’s smirk faltered slightly, and his eyes narrowed. “Oh, did ya?”

“Yeah,” you continued, curious. “You were pretty engrossed in it. Do you like Endeavor?”

His eyelid gave a slight twitch, a nearly imperceptible movement, but it was the blue flames dancing over his knuckles that caught your attention. They flickered menacingly as he slowly clenched his hands into fists. "He’s just my main interest," Dabi replied, his voice dripping with a wry amusement that did not reach his eyes. There was something ominously calm about the way he spoke, a laid-back tone that contrasted sharply with the dangerous glint in his gaze.

Looking to shift the heavy atmosphere that his words had conjured, you ventured to a lighter topic, one that might catch him off-guard in a humorous way. “So, you’ve read everything about him, huh? What about fanfiction? Ever dive into that rabbit hole?”

Dabi made a scoffing sound, a dismissive and sharp exhalation that cut through the levity like a knife. His gaze hardened, the blue flames flickering dangerously as if they were an extension of his simmering rage. “I don’t give a fuck about what people write about that scumbag,” he said, his voice cold and scornful. “How they idolize him in the creations of their sick minds,” he continued, his lips twisting into a derisive sneer. “But I’m sure they’re as sick as Todoroki Enji himself. One day, I’m going to destroy that fucker,” Dabi declared, his words not just a promise but a vow, laden with all the intensity of his deep-seated hatred. 

After a moment, his fire faded out, and Dabi leaned back in his chair, looking you over. “So, I assume you read when you’re not being forced into awkward dates?”

You hesitated for a moment, then decided to go with honesty. “I read a lot. Mostly horror novels. And I like to cook. It’s calming.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Cool, I guess.”

The conversation continued like that, awkward and stilted at first, but slowly easing into something more comfortable. You talked about books and movies, some random stuff like your favorite food types, your mutual disdain for social gatherings, and the absurdity of Toga’s matchmaking efforts. 

At one point, Himiko burst into the room with a tray of hastily made snacks, beaming with pride. “How’s it going, lovebirds?”

Dabi shot her a withering look, slowly cocking his eyebrow. “We’re not lovebirds, Toga.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “But it’s going surprisingly well. As you can see, I’m still alive.”

Toga clapped her hands together. “I knew it! You two are perfect for each other. I’m a genius!”

She scampered off, leaving you and Dabi to your conversation. 

Despite the unusual setting and the odd circumstances, you found yourself actually enjoying the evening. 

Dabi’s dry wit and cynical outlook somehow meshed well with your own reserved nature. Dabi might not be the most conventional date, but there was something about him that intrigued you. And for someone who had always avoided socializing, that was saying something.

“So, how did you end up joining the League?” you asked, munching a jelly bean.

Dabi leaned back, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Wanted to burn the world down, found like-minded people. What about you?”

You shrugged, not wanting to delve too deeply into your past just yet. “Wanted to make a difference in my own way. The heroes… they never really helped people like me.”

Dabi’s eyes glinted with a hint of understanding. “Yeah, they’re all hypocrites.” He leaned back, crossing his arms. “What about you, rookie? What do you think of the League so far?”

You hesitated, choosing your words carefully. “It’s different. I mean, it’s not what I expected, but in a good way. Everyone’s really passionate about what they believe in.”

Dabi’s gaze softened slightly as he scoffed. “Yeah, we’re a pretty dysfunctional family. But it works somehow.”

“Have you ever thought about what you’ll do after all this?” you asked, genuinely curious.

Dabi shrugged. “No. And I don’t really care. Guess I’m more of a ‘live in the moment’ kind of guy. What about you?”

You took a moment to think. “I’m not sure. I just want to find a place where I belong. Somewhere I can be myself without having to pretend.”

Dabi’s smirk returned. “Sounds like the League’s not a bad fit for you, then.”

"What do you think of Shigaraki as a leader?"

Dabi smirked, slowly stretching his fingers. "He's got vision, I'll give him that. We might be a bunch of misfits, but he’s the glue that holds us together. For now."

"Do you think he’ll succeed?" you tilted your head to the side.

As long as he keeps his head on straight and doesn’t get too ambitious too fast, maybe. But I have my own plans, too, and I rather focus on them.”

Curious to learn more about him, you asked, “What were you like before joining the League?”

Dabi’s expression darkened momentarily. “Let’s just say, I’ve had my fair share of shitty experiences. But that’s the past, and the past never fucking dies.”

You sensed his reluctance to dive deeper, so you shared a bit about yourself instead. “I was a loner. Never really fit in anywhere.”

He taunted, “Yeah, I get that. We’re all here because we don’t fit in out there.” Eventually, Dabi leaned forward after lazily chewing a cracker, his expression serious for once. “This evening wasn’t as terrible as I thought it’d be. And you weren't that bad either. Maybe we could do it again sometime. Without Toga’s interference, of course. I know a few nice places, far enough from these crazy maniacs.”

You felt a warmth spread through your chest as you giggled, “I’d like that, Dabi.”

He nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, me too, actually.”

Perhaps there was something to be said for this whole notion of socializing after all. Maybe it could bring a little light into the shadows.

[merrysithmas]

re: nursing & Nurse Chapel in SNW @ Paramount/the fandom

new trekkies have begun to notice that Nurse Chapel eventually becomes a doctor in TOS canon. i'd like to challenge the stale (and rife with outdated sexism) misconception of that event with a more modern lens that hopefully SNW can retcon...

Christine does not stop becoming a nurse to become a doctor. She can be a doctor AND a nurse.

A DNP (clincial doctor of nursing practice) or nurse phd (researcher) or nurse educator/researcher (phd). One of my main issues with TOS canon is how they made Chapel "upgrade" from a nurse to a doctor which is extremely outdated and inherently insults the field of nursing (implying medicine is a hierarchy which it isnt - and SNW does a good job showing the partnership btwn mbenga &her). Most nurses never venture into physicianship but instead pursue doctorates in their chosen field: nursing. Because they want to be nurses.

I hope this is one thing they retcon and make clear she is a clinical doc of nursing (who have all the same diagnostic/prescriptionist responsibilites as a doctor of medicine) or some other variant of doctor of nursing.

Christine likely became a nurse because nurses have diff freedoms (and a closer patient relationship) and can expand to work in innumerable specialities - as nurses are trained as multi-specialty healthcare providers - whereas doctors are more limited and stick to their specialty. She chose to be a nurse because she wanted to be a nurse.

People choose nursing over becoming a physician for MANY reasons - and let me tell you, it's absolutely 100% not because the doctors are more intelligent lol. Nursing is a multifaceted field which consists of myriad opportunities, learning experiences, specialities, 1:1 patient connections, and freedoms that a physician will never have. Nurses can work in an ER, OR, Labor and Delivery, community health center, an herbalist shop, someone's home at their bedside, and research lab all in the same week. Physicians cannot do that - they have various legal and technical limitations (still a great field, but different).

Nurses are a medical jack of all trades - that is what Christine is.

An accurate portrayal of nursing is hardly ever shown in modern media which either erases nurses entirely (see House or ER or any other medical show), or sexistly mischaracterizes the field and ignores that nurses are hard scientists who partake in research, war, and can attend up to 10 yrs of schooling in their specialities (more than an MD). Not to mention that it is nurses who train in and learn the practical knowledge of medicine (injections, sterilization, IV admin, patient positioning for expelling mucuous, suctioning sputum, etc - doctors do not train in practical medicine and if they do they do not practice it).

If you are at the hospital and you have a head nurse and a physician resident making a call - guess who is going to have the last word. It isn't the doctor. And that is a respected norm.

It is thrilling to watch as Christine participated in research, engages in community outreach, joins fellowships, continues her education, assists surgery, diagnoses patients, engages in war and Starfleet, and cares at the bedside.

The old fashioned notion of "just a nurse for now" is about as stale as some of the sexist/misogynist concepts in TOS - and Christine is a GREAT example of a modern nurse character, highly accurate, and SNW would do well to correct further misconceptions of the field by making her an example of a Doctor of Nursing.

As far as I know, being a trekkie forever, they never stated what kind of doctor Chapel was - perfect opportunity.

[raphsmuneca]

𝓔𝓮𝓷𝔂, 𝓜𝓮𝓮𝓷𝔂, 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝔂, 𝓜𝓸𝓮

[Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe] The Introduction

NSFW/18+/suspense/romance/softsmut/agedturtles

Yes, I’m back! 💕

The Introduction

𓆉✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

‘It’s been 5 years now?! Well damn.’

For five unbearable years you’ve had to put a clutch on your womanhood because of the world’s most dominant MAJOR DICKS! Their names? Jerk, Asshole, Pansy, and Half-Wit!

Jerk, aka Leo, ughhh…. What is it with his monarch-like superiority? Given your exceptional teamwork, he’s never satisfied. If his balls were cowbells the resonant clanks would create structural damage to the roads that kept Manhattan’s traffic flowing. You’ve never seen a whiner less creative than he. When you first met him he was vehemently constructing new schemes for the new world of criminals, but now? He is just as boring as his daily cup of tea: green, no milk, no sugar, no steam, just cool green tea. Bleh!

And what of the orifice of all arses, you ask? Care to venture a guess? No need! He’s the one caricature in your mini series of sketches that remains as solid as his “musk-les.” Parodying his temper should make him easier to describe, yet he remains the same insufferable individual. No imaginary weapon or wily tool could crack through that thick skull. He was like that hidden underwater kingdom Aquaman was reaching for; except you lacked Atlantean armor and power. ‘Damn you, Raph!’

Then there’s America’s unrevealed gifted scientist and mathematician, “Dr. Pansy, MD.” He’s Mozilla’s next Firefox “X.” You’ve been treated like nothing but a demi-decade, shrinking violet by this blind scholar. He’s a walking firewall! You speak, he hums. You cry, he hums. You laugh, he hums. The same bland expression on his face makes you question both your humanity and belonging. His focus is strong, but it’s never on you. There was a time Donnie would join conversations to be heard, but now he's as unresponsive as a deaf mule.

And then there's the “half-wit” - I'm not mincing words!! He's obsolete and shows poor judgment, failing to consider the consequences for the rest of us. Are you all emotions and no substance, Mikey? He’s 25 and still can’t grasp the concept of responsibility! I know he means well, and his heart will forever be in the right place, but we don't need a showman; we need someone to hold down this fort since it's falling apart. And, as crazy as it sounds, he's the only one who can wake the rest up. Let's be honest, Mikey's the bass of this beat, and without him, there's no sound.

……

Here we are, after one of our misadventures led us to a faraway planet, at an unknown time, arranging our pre-planned escape, but I must choose to wed one of the four aforementioned idiots. However, with a twist of their own alien-like minds, they have decided that before my chosen one and I can marry, we must first make amends and recreate a romance for their benefit. They possess the technology to alter the ending, yet they permit the victim to select an ending of their liking before taking the next step, which, under my circumstance, means we are trapped in this hell. For their honeymoon, the newlyweds are allowed to travel anywhere in time only this once. That's our one gate! We've been stranded here for three weeks, with all escape attempts unsuccessful.

This is it! I have to choose one of these duds and pretend to care in order for us to make an escape; the problem is, which one do I choose, and how does that story play out?

I managed to convince them to let me tell all four untold stories before making a decision to improve our chances, but, why is it so difficult to go through with this? Because in the last year my bond with any of the turtles has declined. I struggle to hold conversations with them, let alone pretend romantic interest, even if our lives are at stake!

I’ve got quite the parody in my sketchbook, but they lit a candlestick to my ass with this one!

Here we go…

(Part 2 Leo’s Version <-)

Parts 3, 4 & 5 will be added accordingly… DO NOT REPOST!

@thelaundrybitch @eveandtheturtles @margoteve @m1dnyt3-w0lf @raphslovemuffin80 @leosgirl82 @happymoonangel @replicasey @inspiredwriter @fyreball66 @dressycobra7 @avery73 @raphaelsrightarm @android-cap-007 @moonlightflower21 @waterstar2016 @iheartchv @foxflamewarrior

[dokidokitsuna]

A Girl and her Faerie

Gonna expand on this universe character by character, I guess. ^^; But before I begin, I'd just like to thank everyone for all their interest in the project so far. I really didn't expect many people to look at that Chapter 1 Preview, let alone 'like' it...my takeaway is, magical girls are the universal language~

So anyway, this is actually old artwork, the first 'official illustration' I did for this concept back before I re-designed Anno's Dream Dress (more on that later). As much as I loved that giant butterfly-bow and the winged gloves, they just kept getting in the way when I started drafting the comic...which may explain why it took me so long to do those first two pages. ^^; Nevertheless, I kinda like the drawing itself, so I decided to use it here.

Armitage Age: ??? Species: Faerie Likes: Money, Alcohol, Bribery Dislikes: The consequences of his actions

Faeries are a special type of magical creature that specializes in dealings with human beings-- these days, they're most famous for acting as 'handlers' for magical girls, helping them use their powers to protect their worlds...most of the time. Armitage sought out Anno not to help her fulfill her destiny, but primarily to line his pockets with the fruits of her labor-- the magical currency known as Heart Mints. With these, he (allegedly) pays for all her magical dresses and tools, and puts the remainder towards the astronomical debt she owes him, as outlined in the contract she signed at the beginning of their 'partnership'. Despite being a self-proclaimed "businessman", Armitage doesn't seem to have any other ventures-- he spends most of his time lounging around Anno's house, eating her food and driving her crazy. He's not entirely useless, however, and will take steps to 'protect his investment' if the situation calls for it.

Anno sees Armitage as a heartless ball of greed, who seems to take pleasure in feeding her transparent lies and whittling away at her self-esteem...unfortunately, if she wants to continue as a magical girl, she'll just have to put up with him. Later on, however, when she and her 'partner' are finally separated, she'll have to decide for herself what her job really means to her without his influence...and also whether she really wants him back...

Anno Age: 15 Species: Magical Girl Likes: PC gaming, Protecting the hearts of humanity Dislikes: Armitage's constant lies

In the greater community of magic creatures, Magical Girls are considered separate from normal human beings, due to their connection to a special power called the Heart of the Universe. This is the emotional center of all living beings in their universe, enshrined within their atomic makeup...unless they are told of this power and trained to use it, the average magical girl will live and die without ever knowing it exists. Anno is unfortunately somewhere in the middle-- because Armitage himself is uneducated on the subject, she was never taught about the Heart of the Universe, or the greater power she might hold. All she knows of magical-girlhood is switching between her two Concept Dresses-- the Dream Dress and Darkness Dress-- depending on her state of mind, and using their powers to destroy her foes. She takes her work very seriously...but also finds it genuinely fulfilling, even if it doesn't always show on her face. ^^; Her main job is to rescue Heart Concepts, the lost feelings and dreams of humanity, from creatures called Heart Weevils, while extracting Heart Mints from the shells they leave behind to pay off her debt. At the start of her story, she's also working hard to save up for a Love Dress, hoping to use its unrivaled power for a special side mission.

Armitage appreciates that Anno always seems to have her mind on her work (when she's not playing video games), despite rarely passing up an opportunity to mock her for not having a life outside of it. To him she's a walking contradiction-- at once a valuable employee and a fungible asset; a gullible mark and a dependable ally. It's unclear where his recognition of her usefulness ends and any concern for her as an actual friend begins...even he himself isn't sure, until much, much later...

[perseidlion]

Whenever a fanfic writer laments about dropping engagement and says they wish people left comments like they used to, inevitably someone chimes in to say "just write for yourself!"

That advice has gotten twisted around. It is excellent advice when you're learning how to write because it helps you find your voice and expand your skills. Plus when you write from your heart, you'll tell stories worth telling.

That advice is NOT meant to tell writers they should write with no expectations of getting anything from readers, ever. It just means don't write trying to please someone else, because the story won't be as strong. It's also much harder to get the motivation and gain the discipline to write when you're not writing a story you love. If you don't care about the story, why should your readers?

That is craft advice, not fandom behaviour advice. They're very separate things. There would frankly, be no fanfic community if people didn't write for engagement. The stories would sit forever in documents and not shared if its only purpose was for the writer's own edification.

It isn't an either-or thing. When I choose what to write, I try to find the venn diagram overlap of what I want to write and what I think the fandom will enjoy. If I write something outside of that, then I don't expect the same kind of engagement. I never fully write for myself (then I wouldn't post it) and I never fully write for fandom (because it would probably be a bad story.) There's ground between those two things, and that's where the best stories can often be found.

Writing with an awareness of the audience is a skill worth developing if you are doing more than just chucking out stories for fun (which is also TOTALLY valid and fine.) It's also fair if you don't care about engagement. But it's also not wrong to care about it, either.

Social media and influencer culture has ruined the gift culture of fandom. On Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc...the big creators are part of a monetization program and/or they get brand deals. So you just consuming their content does in fact benefit them. Published writers get sales stats and royalties from people reading their work. That is NOT true for fanfic and for Ao3. The only "payment" we can hope to get is that if someone likes our story, they tell us.

When people say they wish readers dropped a comment, we're not necessarily saying we wished more people read our work (that is sort of a given, really. What writer doesn't want to be read more?) What we're saying is that we wish the people who we know are reading our work would take a moment to say thank you. I would never want someone to read my story out of a sense of charity. I want people to read it because they like the concept and my writing.

We're saying that IF you read and enjoyed the story, please tell us. That's all. It doesn't have to be long or involved (and for god's sake, don't leave unsolicited criticism.) Even a 'loved this!' or a string of emojis is welcome.

To put it bluntly, telling writers they should write for themselves when they ask for a thank you if someone read their work is very entitled. It's also a cop-out because it absolves the reader of a small amount of effort and allows them to just consume silently with no guilt. We're not asking for a novel of a comment (though those are very much appreciated!) just a sign that a real human liked it.

This is especially important on long multichapters where you can only leave kudos once. It can get very lonely as a writer when you're 2/3 of the way through and there are few new kudos and few comments. It leaves you wondering if anyone still cares, and it comes at the most challenging part of the fic. I would venture to guess this is when most longfics get abandoned. An easy way to prevent that is just to drop an occasional comment so we know we're not shouting into the void.

A fic is a present a writer gives the community. If you loved the present, it's polite to say thank you. It's 10 seconds of effort on your part for hours of effort on the writer's. That really isn't a lot to ask.

[florsial]

mhmm i’m obsessed with the visions i’m receiving from the xeno reblogs…pretty please share some more thoughts about him? love!

<3333!!

Xeno is honestly a character that i kind of always loved from afar? Like I never ventured further than their name but I built a type of vibe with them.

-One thing I always saw was him being Lucius' brother. It was the very first thing I saw when I started Harry Potter in like elementary and it stuck ever since I joined the Marauders.

-He's younger by 4 years than Lucius and about 3 years older than Pandora. His full name is Xenophillius Silas Malfoy. He's the second son and his mother's favorite because he was her son, not the Malfoys'. So she packed up and took him elsewhere for most of his life until Hogwarts where the Malfoy parents lived civilized. He officially meets his older brother when he's 11 and Lucius, a 15-year-old social climber.

-His relationship with Lucius is distant. Lucius is treated like the heir, his childhood is spent inside, lesson after lesson, pandering to the upper class, flattery, etc etc. But Xeno never had that, he lived in the English countryside, he was allowed outside whenever he pleased, he skipped etiquette lessons but was never punished, his curiosity was mostly about biology (which was how he developed a love for writing), and no one could or would tell him no. So there was a huge difference in their relationship. Lucius was appalled and Xeno was curious. There was also a sense of disappointment and jealousy on Lucius' part, he wanted someone who would understand the stress of being heir, or at least be brought up similarly to him, but Xeno was the complete opposite. Xeno was curious but quickly grew bored with the traditional Pureblood ways that Lucius kept trying to fit in his head. I think deep down, they really love each other, but they are just too different without any ties, no emotional ones that were formed when they should've, so that love really doesn't go beyond blood obligation. Not to mention their parents.

-Something fun is his gender. The only way I can describe it is that they're everything, but also nothing at the same time (technically they are genderqueer but I like that description better honestly). Gender doesn't exist to them. She thinks it's a constricting concept. Very pretty honestly. They are like weird, but in the prettiest way when they were with the Malfoys, but as they got older and further from their family, they kinda didn't give a fuck.

-They love white! It's their main color throughout most of his life. He thinks that it shows the process of thinking. Like a bare canvas. A lot of their formal robes were white and she's probably the brightest wizard (literally) that anyone could point out at a pureblood ball.

-I think he's a lot like how people imagine Pandora to be. While she's purposely eccentric because she loves it, Xeno is eccentric in a way he doesn't even realize it. Like he's talking about an obscure creature (that probably doesn't exist) and being hella judgy when you say you have no idea what he's saying. Pandora is intentionally cruel and cold, but Xeno isn't. I guess you could say he's a bit tone-deaf as well. Pandora is purposeful, Xeno is not.

-Definitely isolated. The moment he's shoved into the pureblood society, he cannot fit in. People think he's weird, he thinks they're boring. He is stubborn and doesn't agree with the high-class purebloods. He chills and writes by himself until Pandora comes around.

-Pandora "She asked for no pickles >:(" Rosier and Xenophillius "didn't want to say anything because it didn't matter :/" Malfoy <3

-Neutral during the war and ran away with Pandora, they created the last name, "Lovegood" while high off their ass in Xeno's last year at Hogwarts.

-REAL BUG ENTHUSIAST, he would take Luna out and hunt for bugs! I like to think Luna has one of those glass cases of preserved butterflies somewhere from when she was a kid. Xeno would have jars and jars of live bugs in his rooms at the Mafloy manner, all hidden and tucked under his bed. He refuses to allow anyone inside and "cleans" his room himself. All the jars are labeled neatly with stickers and names from fairytales.

-"Cleans": puts everything in a stack in the corner, a scatterbrain <3

-the Quibbler was made as a way to preserve Pandora's memory. They would write unpublished articles back at Hogwarts and Xeno would publish them and more when she died.

[butchsophiewalten]

Findjackwalten 07/14/23 Update Walkthrough

Last night Findjackwalten updated! We've got one page update and two new pages. Let's start:

Findjackwalten.com

Our main page has updated! Jack and Rose's pictures are gone, and the whole page is greyed out now as opposed to being red. The shutdown text has changed to read "You just couldn't stay home, could you?". The play button here still works, with all new audio. It's a car radio, first it's an afternoon weather report, then just some talk radio intermission, and then it's music. There's also car noise, tires on asphalt, chair squeaks, turn signal, and general Car Creaking.

I've already seen some people theorize that this is audio from Felix's drive home after the crash, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me since that's already what Guilty is. Feels redundant, as much as I love the idea of Felix driving home listening to Yummy Yummy Yummy by Ohio Express.

Findjackwalten.com/martinguaridasecretanoentrar

This page's URL and title is in Spanish. It just means "Martin secret lair do not enter" and the title "q pasa tia" in this context is like, "whats up, girl?". Kinda gossipy. Meant to invoke a vibe that you're being let in on a secret.

The top of this page reads "92%", referring probably to the percentage of TWF4 that is completed. The rest of the page contains "3 funny walten facts" Which are:

"Bon the rabbit was originally called Bon the Dancing Hare by Jack, ultimately Felix vouched against that because Rabbit sounds friendlier."

This is so fun to me! I did always think Bon was pretty hare-like. Funny that Jack wanted Bon to be a Jackrabbit. Also I can't believe "Bon The Dancing Rabbit" is still real. It's been so long since I've heard anybody call him that I kinda figured it was retconned.

"During the late 70s, BSI expanded further than restaurant chains, the showstoppers became famous for way different products such as random merch, plushies, furniture, toys, watches, bed sheets, lanterns, masks, lamps, toilet seats. BSI most succesful product was "Showstopper's Comedy Extravaganza", a 1977 animated TV show that ran for 3 seasons and was cancelled in the 1979's to make room for a "bigger project". it is unknown what was the cause for BSI to milk the showstopper franchise to that extent, what was the money for?"

This is something we sorta already knew? Relocate Project implied this sort of thing But I guess we didn't really know how successful their merch ventures were until now. Turns out, they were pretty successful! The "Showstopper's Comedy Extravaganza" thing is crazy to me though, three seasons? That 'what was the money for?' comment is also very ominous. It makes me think of the planned relaunch of Bon's Burgers but considering how vague the comment is and how the Bon's Burgers relaunch was something we already knew about, I'm wondering if it's something else.

"Sophie lived on the back of a meat store for the better part of 3 years, she managed."

How do I even comment on this. This is just so fucked. It makes me sick to my stomach. She was homeless for three years? Homeless? For three years? As a teenager? I feel like i'm undergoing hitherto unexperienced Sophie Emotions. What the hell do I even say.

Findjackwalten.com/btscene

Just a whole page of behind the scenes stuff! This is also hard to comment on, really. It'd be easiest if you just went and looked at everything yourself.

There's a little play button here with Anything Goes by Cole Porter, but I think it's been edited to sound more echo-y. Like it's being played in a big empty room, but also like the next room over? I've listened to a few versions of this song before but none that sound quite like this. This is also the song that's referenced lyrically in the new years 2022 version of /investigation1, with this bit of writing:

A decent bit of the stuff on this page is from the old Patreon, but not all of it, or even like, half of it. And some stuff (like the blue and purple Felix drawing) is old concept art that had been shared in the Discord server before.

[popculturebuffet]

Next batch of Adult Swim shows from 2007-11 (notable their live action stuff increased around this time) with favorite character from: Xavier: Renegade Angel, Delocated, The Rising Son, Titan Maximum, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, Childrens Hospital, God, the Devil and Bob, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell, and Mongo Wrestling Alliance? Off the Air being skipped for lacking a recurring character.

Never seen The Rising Son, your pretty face is going to hell or any of the off the air stuff. Yup this was the live action era alright.

Xavier: Renegade Angel: I didn't get this one when it was out but should revisit it. I hear it's good. Delocated: I'll note a faviorit eif I have one as for a lot of these I really don't or don't remember it well enough to have one. That said Delcoated is .. eh. I like the basic concept, jon himself is hilarous, but it soon devolves into one man being a giant jackass for far too many seasons. I watched way more of it than I care to Titan Maximum: I loved this one at the time but nowadays it's.. eh. Not bad, beautifully animated and it still deserved better.. but the comedy dosen't hit as well as it used to though the concept, a reckless idiot has to get his team back together to fight an old teamate they abused is great.

Mary Shelly's Frankenhole: Another one to revisit and one I genuinely like a lot. It was Dino Stamatopous' follow up to Morel orel and sadly one of his last cartoons, the last being high school us which

But Frankenhole is one I wouldn't mind revisiting and has a simple premise: Celebrties visit dr frankenstine for help. Frank here is a cynical pompous asshat and the style here is a beautiful sor tof pupetry that looks like papercraft. The show is criminally underated and I'm ashsamed I haven't thought of it in so long.

Check It Out! With Dr Steve Brule: This one was okay, haven't watched much of it. But John C Reily is as great in the role as ever and it was a briliant idea fo ra spinoff, I just never vibed with it like I did with tim and eric. This is also as you can probably guess around the time I sorta checked out of adult swim. Still a few shows I watched on and off and obviously I returned for ventures bros and I watch it more NOW, via hbo max, but most of these shows really didn't do it for me and I mostly watchede because it was on the same block as other things I watched.

Children's Hospital: Okay while this era is a bit eh for me, this show is solid. It never fully did it for me but I respect it's stacked cast, goofy parody and accuracey to how these types of shows, paticuarlly greys anatomy which I have watched every episode of.

Mongo Wrestling Alliance; I didn't think much of this one but being way more into wrestling these days, i'd gladly revisit it. I"ve also grown to appreciate metalocalypse more so being from one of the same creators, that'd probably also help.

God the Devil and Bob: I need ot rewatch more of this one. As a kid I saw bits and piece sof i'ts an original run but the concept is great, and I like kit's characterizations: the devil as genuinely good at his job but badly wanting his absientee father figure to notice him and god being laid back, a mild prick, but ultimately well meaning.

[haze-of-hyperfixations]

🍄, 🦴, and 🧩 for the writers ask game

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

(i have so many headcanons about every dynamic ever, and they all conveniently vanish the moment i am asked to name one, ha.)

hmm....for Perimedes and Elpenor from Epic the Musical, i have a headcanon that they're in a qpr. and yeah, i know that's modern terminology and they are from ancient greece. (i did a research paper about qprs once, fun fact.) but also: a. you don't need a modern explanation of a concept for that concept to exist in a historical context. b. Perimedes uses the word "yeet" in his cut song, rendering any arguments about historical accuracy invalid. c. i'm having fun and no one can stop me. :)

i also think the idea of Perimedes sometimes calling Elpenor "El" is cute. <3

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

oh, there's a lot. my writing in general is inspired by a lot of media. but my venture into the world of ao3 in the first place was because of this series:

and, if i remember correctly, it really inspired me to start getting more into fic writing. it probably also influenced the way i write, since i read it at around the time i was kind of figuring all that out. incredibly good series! <3

as for specific fics, i have so many playlists for inspiration. one of the fics i'm currently working on was completely inspired by the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. (it's a Parallels fic still in my drafts, but if i ever finish it, it's gonna have so much found family trope and it's gonna be great)

oh, and my most recent fic, this one:

you know what inspired it? i was on pinterest, and i saw this photo of eggs:

and i got kinda emotional about how much i liked that photo. idk, i was already in a vaguely-sentimental-fic-writer mood, and that photo somehow just opened the floodgates of ideas in my head. the actual fic is only vaguely related to the photo through the fact that both involve cooking eggs, but nevertheless, some photographer out there is directly responsible for the existence of my current most comforting oneshot for me to reread. and i think that's really neat. i love humanity and art and connection and inspiration. <3

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

okay, so i tried to think of a new answer to this question, but i couldn't think of one, so i'll just copy-paste my answer from three days ago:

okay, with every answer i try to think of for this one, i immediately think of exceptions. because i have a long track record of being in microscopically small fandoms, and if one of those fandoms got a new fic, there is very, very little that would stop me from reading it to the end. i guess if the entire fic was untagged, very explicit smut, then i would click away immediately. (although most authors i've seen do tag well. so i would probably know without clicking that it's something i won't be really comfortable reading. everyone say thank you for the tag system <3)

yeah, i never really have an interesting answer for this one, ha. i have exactly 2 authors muted on ao3. one was because they had hundreds of fics in many fandom tags that i searched a lot, all of which were exclusively a specific trope that made me really uncomfortable. the other one, i don't remember; no works are showing on the account anymore, but it was probably a similar situation if i felt the need to mute them. other than that, i haven't really been let down by the tag system yet, which i guess is a pretty good thing. :)

thanks for the ask!! :)

[slash-aaa]

a drabble for @giallifilm.

they say you can find some kind of solace in the matching of darkness in others. parker can't say for sure if that's true, or if he's felt what he'd call comfort in the issues he seems to share with lara. but he did find himself pulled toward her. something gravitational and addictive. having always struggled with enjoying things in moderation, there was a full send moment parker experienced after the rocky start he'd had with lara. she either made him feel less alone, or joined him in his loneliness, he couldn't tell which, but didn't mind either way. regardless, lara had been more than willing to indulge his habits, as just much as he was willing to encourage hers.

as fucked up as it was to voluntarily get an alcoholic drunk, who was parker to point out the immorality of it all? pot calling the kettle. instead, the partners found their way to a dingy bar on a dirty street corner ( leaving work at nearly midnight left them with limited options ). it's a familiar place, one parker and lara had ventured to on previous evenings, nights when they both knew sleep would evade them. parker follows behind lara as they enter the dim bar. he focused on the scent of lara's hair rather than the mix of piss and cheap tequila that wafted through the pub. one finger attaches to her belt loop so that he wouldn't lose her, despite how small the bar was. they sit down at their usual table in their usual sport with their usual order: two shots of whiskey and a pitcher of beer, to start.

parker pulls out a cigarette, offers one to lara, and lights them both, blowing smoke into an already smog like atmosphere. around them sit large bikers in leather vests ; men shrouded in darkness at the back tables, presumably waiting for their next coke sale ( parker's nose twitches at the sight ) ; women who bend over pool tables or dance to off beat music to seduce their scumbag boyfriends.

'all this shit makes me feel old,' parker says as he shoots back his whiskey. he's thirsty five, but feels like he's eighty - all aching bones and exhaustion. parker had felt tired for most of his life, and the concept of aging never sat well with him.

'what shit? drinking at a rundown bar, or watching every couple in here decide how illegal it actually is for them to fuck each other in public?'

words cause parker's eyes to snap towards lara, the man taking a moment to process what she's said before he begins to laugh, shaking his head with the effort. the way lara spoke amused parker at times - a feat which was unachievable by most others. he takes a swig of his first pint of beer, swallowing before filling the glass back to the brim.

'both, i guess. all of it,'

as he sucks on the filter of his cigarette, he glances back up at lara, seeing her through the easing haze that came with the consumption of alcohol. he always thought she was pretty, in a morbid way ; like her beauty was given to her in exchange for the thing that was supposed to make her human - her soul, her morals, or whatever the fuck they're supposed to have. parker felt at home in the way lara dealt with their world, something all too recognizable in her approach. she seems to catch him starting, but parker doesn't look away. any other woman would playfully ask why he was looking at her like that. lara already knows why, which is why she holds parker's gaze as she downs her shot of bourbon.

the night consists of a very large tab, and the partners stumbling out of the bar together after last call. parker sees the city in blurred lights and muffled sounds, the two of them holding each other up as they passed parker's car - the one he would take a taxi back here in the morning to pick up. they come to the mutual conclusion that lara's apartment was closer, and so they walked in that direction, muttering about anything that came to their drunk minds. parker wouldn't remember any specific words shared between the two, but he would remember the feeling ; the understanding. he doesn't think he could ever forget that.

upon arrival at lara's place, lara pulls her keys from her pocket, dropping them twice before parker wraps a hand around hers to keep it steady. the two all but tumble inside, barely remembering to close and lock the door behind them. even in his drunken state - the man sloppily removing layers of clothes from sweat sheened body - parker appreciates how familiar lara's space is. it felt safer than his own apartment. though that sentiment made him wonder if it was the place he was in, or the person he often shared it with.

once he was free from his confines, parker spun around to find lara, only for her to be standing right behind me.

'creeps me the fuck out when you do that,' parker slurs playfully.

palms moved up to press into either side of lara's face. they stay like that for either hours or seconds - in this intoxicated moment, parker can't tell. he also can't say the way in which she's specifically staring back at him, he just understands that he likes it. even if it's with disgust, confusion, disappointment - or something more intimate that neither of them would be able to say aloud. at least she was looking at him like she knew him. no one else had ever had the guts to really see him that way she does.

when her lids begin to droop, parker all but carries her to bed, ensuring the small frame of her body was covered completely by her blanket.

'you're not leaving,'

it's not question - lara isn't asking whether he was staying or not - it was a demand. parker thinks an unnecessary one.

'where would i go?'

rhetorical, words he left hanging in the air as parker watched lara's eyes close, only stumbling back into the living room when he thought she had fallen asleep. parker falls onto the sofa, bare belly down, cheek pressed so hard against the cushion that he'd surly wake up with its woven pattern on his cheek. in a few hours, they'd have to go back to work, look through gory images, run themselves to death trying to find a shred of evidence for their case. but that's tomorrow. tonight, parker passes out with the knowledge that he had found someone to share in his darkness with, uncaring of how unhealthy that may be for either of them.

[ntaras]

oh you definitely summed it up nicely! it's true that these characters are no longer the same, but i feel like they haven't been the same for a few games now since the reboots started, so i guess as someone who just came in i can just shrug and say it is what it is. strangely enough, the classic games were the most pleasant to me? maybe because they had an actual clear continuity. the midway era was so.... messy, ideas introduced and tossed aside, characters dying and then being back in the next game like it's nothing. there was a charm to the experimental vibes to it tho, unlike the nrs era games where monotony started to set in. mk12 isn't any better, it was definitely more entertaining than mk11 for me, but it was still... shallow. i'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it's the start of a new continuity and unlike mk9, this is an entirely different world, but yeah, these characters are very unlikeable or are just whatever. it's weird that it's the case with how much care is put into the presentation and scripting?? like other fighting games don't have this much writing in them but i still enjoyed marathoning them rather than mk...

unfortunately the characters are always just getting some details changed about them so yeah it’s just about the norm. nothing about mk is stable except that everything will always be at best mediocre lol

the classic games have the benefit of being written by john tobias compared to the games when he left which is when everything went a bit haywire. the midway era is definitely messy but also kept most of its stability with the characters!!! nrs era deals with repetition yeah, like repeated stories with unresolved endings and mk12 just abandons that and gives in to repetition again (but also worse repetition in my opinion). but i also must agree i do find some of mk12 a lot more entertaining than all of mk11’s story up to a certain point.

i don’t pay much attention to other fighting games’ stories/not as invested in them as mk so i can’t comment much on that. i just have always found mk’s appeal to be in the lost potential cause mk has A LOT of potential if the story had a bit more care put into them and characters were respected a little more. i guess mk’s repetitiveness can be what makes you enjoy the other games’ story? i think snow blind is a really good example of mk venturing out of the norm and actually exploring a concept that’s already been there (giving kano the role as the main antagonist rather than a big bad we’ve already seen a lot of). idk mk just in general has a lot about it that can make it frustrating to engage with as a story

[sburbian-sage]

Okay, dreamselves are really pissing me off.

When I started playing the game, The concept made sense to me. A version of yourself that's a little more honest to who you are inside, and maybe has some minor anatomical differences, like a trans player having a dream body that matches their gender instead of sex.

Even this kind of annoyed me. There were all kinds of tweaks I wanted to my body that I would call similarly minor, but that didn't show up. But whatever, I guess.

But I have this one lady this session. A Witch of Hope. She has this really complicated instrument that's basically a hunk of junk when she's awake, but she can play it perfectly when she's asleep.

Why?

Because she can apparently just decide to temporarily GROW EXTRA ARMS AS HER DREAMSELF.

What. The. Fuck. WHY is my dreamself not my fursona then, if the changes can be so major? I sure as fuck don't want my current body, I feel at peace when I look at art of how I want to be, I feel like I've imagined the differences in how my muscles would work and so on such that it wouldn't render me useless with dysmorphia...

So why? And for that matter, I can't even replicate the extra arms trick, and apparently it's so easy for her that she can't advise me, she doesn't know how she's doing it.

I checked the glitch FAQ, and it mentions the extra arm thing. Says it's related to your class, and that there's a list of class dreamself differences in chapter 26. There isn't.

I'm a Maid of Heart this session. Is there anything cool my dreamself CAN do? If I roll Witch, will I be able to edit my dream-body freely? Do you happen to have a list like the FAQ implied should exist?

Yeah, the Sburb Glitch FAQ is pretty comprehensive, but between the data errors and GG getting into edit wars with himself, sometimes information gets scrambled. No offense to the guy but I still have the "Title Gender ratios" article archived because it was really fucking funny watching him earnestly trying to dive into the game's math and then it accidentally devolves into like, gender phrenology.

I can't help you with the body image/dysmorphia stuff. Or wanting to become a furry, or whatever it is that's going on here. So I'll just move on to the parts I can help you with.

On the topic of the Witch, first of all you're kind of goofy for asking the Witch to explain how she did something. "Doing weird shit and not explaining how it works" is literally her job. Second of all, if there would be any class particularly adept in doing weird stuff with their dreamself, it would be the cryptical classes. Dreamselves are mildly mutable, and prone to flights of fancy, which gels well with the imperative to complexify and interact with weird, unclear things. In any case, Witches growing extra arms is pretty consistently reported, so that's one mystery solved.

As far as Maids of Heart go, I can't say that I immediately know what "Maid" or "Heart" means for dreamselves (then again, "multiple arms" doesn't exactly scream "this is intuitively a Witch thing" either). But putting that aside, you have the ability to edit your own Heart Thing/Soul/some people call it the "Shine" or "Shiny" but I don't do that. That's literally your sense of self, and while most Heart abilities are turning the Soul into an attack, or applying a temporary effect to it, you can also edit that. Since the Dreamself is a lightly idealized version of yourself, you could try directly editing your own self-image to be closer to what you want to look like. Not a dog, but something else. Of course, that is if you think "plunging my own hand into my chest and doing psychic self-surgery to induce dysmorphia so my dreamself responds to it" is a good idea. Which it probably isn't, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

The dreamself abilities are fundamentally gimmicks though. Walking through walls (pretty sure this is a Void thing even though my first thought is that if anything this should be Space) is a more useful gimmick, but despite every Witch being able to start cosplaying as Asura's Wrath, I haven't seen any Witches incorporate this into their Sick Strats. I imagine either because it's situational (it only works if you need more arms), or because dreamselves act kind of stupid if you don't have a high sleep ratio. Speaking of which, you might unlock or notice any abilities your dreamself has if you improve your sleep ratio, which you can do by improving your sleeping skills, which you can do by, essentially, properly tiring yourself out so you want to get a restful sleep. I'm just frontloading the "it's all gimmicks" statement because you seem weirdly upset about a feature I've never really noticed. I can get the wish fulfillment of your dreamself making you look like The Man Your Man Could Look Like, but temporary extra arms sounds kind of lame.

Oh, and speaking of being upset, if you really want your day ruined, try grabbing a pencil as your dreamself and writing or drawing something. Your dominant hand flips when you're dreaming. Pretty weird, huh?

[alicethemasked]

Alice’s adventures on Cheshire farm. entry 3

hi, it’s been a bit, I stopped hype focusing on Stardew for a bit, but then I saw that a new yandere mod had come out so I decided to continue again, forgot how fun it was.

as always MDI cuz this deals with yandere concepts and while it’s safe for now things are getting well spicy

Spring 8 - year 1

Monday time! A lot has happened since my last entry which is astounding, but I’ve officially lived here for a week! So first thing first, I think I have some character profiles to go through, though really they’re less profiles and me judging them after a week.

Let's start with… Harvey… he hasn’t stopped, it’s unsettling, he talks about our so called passed life all the time, I have decided to just let my sickness fade at the farm because I can not deal with him, the other towns folk have taken notice and agreed to help me avoid him as much as possible, especially Elliot. Speaking of he is an interesting fellow, I often catch him near my farm. I ask him why and he says he’s just enjoying the view. Given that the area around my farm is beautiful I just assume he’s taking a morning walk when he does. 

Ok, now I just feel like a gossip, but to be fair those two are a bit weird. I’ve been trying to make friends, the depressed man is called Shane and he seems prickly, I talked to him once and he just assumed that it was a prank! What has this man gone through to think that, he is also at the saloon drinking every night which worries me… but maybe he just needs a good friend!

Unrelated but there is a notice board that I well… noticed (I’m hilarious I know) and what is asked for on there is usually easy for me to find, so I’ve been helping around and getting small money here and there which is fun because that means I’m not fucking starving. 

Also! First harvest! I never thought Parsnips could taste so good but I guess hard work makes your food taste better, I had some Fish with Parsnips and wild leeks the other day and it is shockingly good. This week has taught me that taking a break from the horrid capitalist dystopia that is Zuzu city was a good idea. I even got to take care of most of the rocks on my farm, still need to deal with weeds and trees but I figured that taking care of the rocks was a good first step, one thing at a time. Also want to save the weeds for if I get animals at some point, might see if Robin can make a silo or something. 

I’ve noticed something a bit uncomfortable, a few of my hoodies have gone missing which I’m not happy with, especially given how Harvey has been acting… but I can hope for now that I just misplaced them somewhere…

Speaking of making me uncomfortable, the shy girl uhm… Penny seems to be more pushy about spending time with me, waxing poetic about the unity of the small town life. I was expecting her to be a lot more shy after our first meeting, but it seems that she’s not a fan of respecting my personal space…

Also? Monsters exist? Like I heard about the dwarves and shadow people war and all that, but you don’t really see them in Zuzu, but the mines opened up and I decided to try my hand I mean I’ve been taking care of the stones on my farm after all, got a few gemstones and some ore, but I’m not going to lie, fighting the slimes and giant bugs in the mines was both exciting and terrifying, I guess I will be venturing more in the future.

Signing out ~ Alice

[emeraldspiral]

Hi, I'm glad there are still people talking about invader zim. I like theories, so I'll aim more for that. What do you think is the biggest mystery of the series? And what do you think about the invader Tenn in relation to this reddit theory?(link: https://www.reddit.com/r/invaderzim/comments/dvf9ad/theory_one_of_the_tallest_may_have_a_crush_on/ )

There's just certain things we don't know about because the show didn't get to flesh out everything. There's things like Miss Bitters's true nature or whether Gaz or Membrane have supernatural abilities or if it's all just artistic license, or questions like "What happens when Zim finds out his mission is fake?" But the series isn't like Gravity Falls or LOST or something where there's a question explicitly asked by the narrative with the promise of an eventual answer.

I think the only really big question mark in the show was "What happened to Dib and Gaz's mom?", which is a topic never broached in the series. I believe Eric Trueheart or somebody debunked the fan theories I remember hearing about in the earliest days of the fandom that she died and Membrane kept her remains preserved in a jar or something and said the real reason Dib and Gaz's mom was never brought up on the show was just because Jhonen had no interest in exploring it. Eric said he had an idea for a story where Dib "goes on a journey to find out why his life sucks so much" and finds out he's a clone of Membrane, but it was just an idea, there was never an actual script for it. Personally, I'm not a fan of the idea because it seems kinda underwhelming, especially now that The Venture Bros has already covered that ground and milked it for whatever dark comedy and existential horror you could get out of it. I think it's a wasted opportunity for Dib to just not have a mom when his mom could be literally anything. She could be a supernatural entity, or her consciousness could be trapped in a computer like GLaDOS, or she could've been into paranormal science like her son and disappeared on a mission, like I wrote about in these posts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

As for that Invader Tenn theory, it really seems like just a big nothing-burger. Canonically, Irkens don't feel love or attraction, so why would the Tallest have a crush on her? Really examine what OP is saying and it's pretty much just misogyny. "Why would the Tallest give a GIRL an important mission? Can't possibly be that they thought she was actually qualified for it, must be because these aliens who don't even have reproductive organs want to bang her!"

Tenn's mission getting fucked up was never going to be a major plot point. It was all part of that Invader Dib concept that the fandom made up. I remember first hearing about it on the Nick.com message boards in the early 2000s and it was basically "Zim and some other Irkens are sent on a mission to rescue Tenn (Why would he be recruited for a mission of actual importance?) while Dib joins the Resisty and/or Meekrob and defeats the Irkens in the series finale and Zim's ultimate fate would be getting stranded on an asteroid hurtling toward certain doom". I guess apparently overtime the fandom added or changed details because what I see thrown around a lot nowadays is that it was going to end with Zim winning and making Gaz his queen, or that it was going to be the season 2 finale and not the series finale, or dropping Tenn and the Meekrob from the synopsis and just making it Dib + Resisty vs Irk. Regardless, none of it was ever real. Invader Dib was not a thing other than just the name being thrown out once as a joke. The series had no planned ending and we already pretty much know everything that was meant to be in season 2 because most of the scripts for it were already done and we at least have some vague descriptions of the ones that weren't released. Zim was never meant to be a plot-driven show, it was always meant to go on indefinitely with small things like the introduction of Tak's ship opening up new possibilities or episodes like The Trial or 10 Minutes to Doom fleshing out the lore. There were no plans for Tenn, no plans for the Resisty, and no plans for Dib to ever face the Irken army outside of the Marty-Stu fanfic parody episode. Skoodge and Tak were the only characters ever meant to have bigger roles/repeat appearances in the story.

[emberoops]

to elaborate on the transfer of consciousness procedure and it's accessibility, cost, and coverage nature:

this is a multifaceted issue with a lot of nuance in coverage.

the first adopters of transfers were the green silicon valley executives - the idea pioneers and venture capitalists who hadn't been around technology enough to disdain of smart appliances. they had the cash to buy a body, pay for the scans, and get transferred over. i presume some did this as a preventative measure, but most probably just wanted to be immortal, or potentially immortal.

in cases like this, it would be out-of-pocket for sure; im thinking the coverage status is even more stringent than for cosmetic surgeries, because the technology required for this to work is really expensive on account of still being fairly new, and additionally having to be very reliable and very detailed - the brain scans required to copy over a consciousness have to be high enough in resolution to capture cellular mapping, which means that the machines have to be very detailed, and the image would be unimaginably huge - a significant portion of the cost, i imagine, would be in the hosting of that image for however long it takes to get it installed correctly in the artificial body.

the body itself would be considered cutting-edge, state-of-the-art equipment; it's still relatively new, and only the best of the best is used in human transfers, because that's just how medicine works.

that being said, my understanding is that, in general, if a procedure is required to save a life (like, for a minor example of a much less costly procedure, and appendectomy), it will be covered. which brings us to our patient, who may or may not survive.

i guess what i cannot figure out is whether insurance companies are required to cover life-saving procedures, or merely choose to - if it's the latter, then the price tag on this one would be very high, but if it's the former, I need to find another workaround.

a potential workaround i've found is that new technology is not usually covered for a period of time - if i can figure out how large that window is, i might be able to alter the setting so that the technology is still new enough to be not covered. this could additionally raise the stakes, with less understanding of the outcomes of the transfer in the long term.

what i havent figured out - and might not - is what happens to people who have significant quality of life issues due to physical disability and how that would fall in; hip replacements are technically optional in that you won't die without them, but they are (if i understand correctly) covered because they sharply improve quality of life. but i also don't want a world in which no disabled people exist, nor do i want to play into the conception that people are choosing their disability. that being said, this isn't a subject touched on much in the book, so i might leave it be for now.