#i already infected the server with this and there should be more

[lenreli]

#please consider for your Hob/Dream

Tom Sturridge in A Waste of Shame | Ferdinand Kingsley in Venice Preserv’d

[whumptober]

Whumptober 2023

Welcome to Whumptober 2023 — the sixth year running!

COMPLETIONISTS/PARTICIPANT BADGES CAN BE FOUND HERE

To those of you who participated last year, welcome back! To everyone joining this year, welcome!

Please make sure to read the Event Info carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

And this years playlist can be found here.

There are 139 prompt options in total this year - this is including the alternatives list! A special thanks goes out to those who took part in our trope vote back in July. From the 1526 responses to our list of 223 tropes, we looked through the popularity results, as well as your honourable mentions, and were able to produce this years prompts list. Stay tuned, as we will be posting some of the results at a later date!

We’re very excited to see the community come together once more and be a wild, chaotic bunch of creators and consumers of whump. Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(All 31 Themes + Prompts, Event Information and FAQs are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2023 Prompt List

No. 1: “But now this room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps.”

Safety Net | Swooning | “How many fingers am I holding up?”

No. 2: “I’ll call out your name, but you won’t call back.”

Thermometer | Delirium | “They don't care about you.”

No. 3: “Like crying out in empty rooms; with no-one there except the moon.”

Journal | Solitary Confinement | “Make it stop.”

No. 4: “I see the danger, It’s written there in your eyes.”

Cattle Prod | Shock | “You in there?”

No. 5: “You better pray I don't get up this time around.”

Debris | Pinned Down | “It's broken.”

No. 6: “Do or die, you’ll never make me; Because the world will never take my heart.”

Recording | Made to Watch | “It should have been me.”

No. 7: " “I paced around for hours on empty; I jumped at the slightest of sounds.”

Alleyway | Radio Silence | “Can you hear me?”

No. 8: “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.”

Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | “It’s all for nothing.”

No. 9: “Learning everything ain't what it seems, that's the thing about these days.”

Polaroid | Mistaken Identity | “You're a liar.”

No. 10: “Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?”

Broken Phone | Stranded | “You said you'd never leave.”

No. 11: “All the lights going dark and my hope’s destroyed.”

Animal trap | Captivity | “No one will find you.”

No. 12: “I haven't slept in days but who's counting?”

Red | Insomnia | “I’m up, I’m up.”

No. 13: “It comes and goes like the strength in your bones.”

Cold Compress | Infection | “I don’t feel so good.”

No. 14: “Feed me poison, fill me ‘till I drown.”

Flare | Water Inhalation | “Just hold on.”

No. 15: “I don't need you to help me I can handle things myself.”

Makeshift Bandages | Suppressed Suffering | “I’m fine.”

No. 16: “Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”

Gurney | Flatline | “Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

No. 17: “You’re the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest.”

Collar | Touch Aversion | “Leave me alone.”

No. 18: “I tend to deflect when I’m feeling threatened.”

Blindfold | Tortured For Information | “Hit them harder.”

No. 19: “I’ll take one final step, all you have to do is make me.”

Floral Bouquet | Psychological | “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”

No. 20: “People don’t change people, time does.”

Blanket | Found Family | “You will regret touching them.”

No. 21: “See the chains around my feet.”

Vows | Restraints | “Don't move.”

No. 22: “They never saw us coming, ‘til they hit the floor.”

Glass Shard | Vehicular Accident | “Watch out!”

No. 23: “It’s gonna get me by the end of the night.”

Shadows | Stalking | “Who’s there?”

No. 24: “I’ve got a head full of chemicals; mouth full of ridicule.”

Goodbye Note | Neglect | “I thought they were with you.”

No. 25: “You’re not delivering a perfect body to the grave.”

Storm | Buried Alive | “They’re not breathing!”

No. 26: “Sometimes I get so tired; I don’t even know myself.”

Seeing Double | Working To Exhaustion | “You look awful.”

No. 27: “You drew stars around my scars; But now I’m bleeding.”

Matches | Scars | “Let me see”

No. 28: “We might not make it to the morning; so go on and tell me now.”

Bloody Knife | Sacrifice | “You'll have to go through me.”

No. 29: “I only sink deeper the deeper I think.”

Scented Candle | Troubled Past Resurfacing | “What happened to me?”

No. 30: “It’s okay, just to say, ‘I’m not okay’.”

Borrowed Clothing | Bridal Carry | “Not much longer...”

No. 31: “I thought that I was getting better.”

Emptiness | Setbacks | “Take it easy.”

Alternatives List:

Betrayal

Aftermath of Failure

Brass Knuckles

Decoy

Body Modification

Playing Cards

Examination

Hunting

Drugging

Shaking

Panic

Broken

Miscommunication

Lab Rat

Reluctant Whumper

Event Info & Rules

~ Please read our extensive event info posts before sending us an ask ~

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. The 'theme' of each day is the line of lyrics.

The prompts are merely to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is "flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be related to the 'spark' of a relationship. It's truly up to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day: there's lyrics, an object, a trope and a line of dialogue to choose from.  We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag the with:

#whumptober2023 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(day number)

#lyric, #bruises, #stabbing,  …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#fandom or #OC, … (ironman, originalcontent, oc …)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #gore tw, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Add "tw" AFTER the trigger/content warning. )

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed the event. You do not need to post anything you have created, we rely on trust and we will not check this.

Questions not addressed in one of our many event info posts can be directed to this blog. We will not answer any questions that have been answered in the FAQs or rules already.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How does this year’s prompt list work? What do I have to choose?

You can create something based on:

The overall theme/lyric of the day

Prompt 1, 2 or 3

One or several of the alternative prompts

A combination of the above

Q. Is [specific anything] allowed?

When in doubt: JUST DO IT!

Q. Do I have to do all 31 days?

Participate as much or little as you like! Just be sure to tag your posts properly (ex. #no.7, #radio silence). If you create works for 31 total theme days you will become a completionist. But apart from that, there are no repercussions if you don’t fill prompts for each day.

Q. Can I post early/late?

Yes, you can post whenever you want. We will only reblog posts during October, but you can use our prompts all year round. The day you post will only affect your probability of being reblogged.

Q. Will you reblog my post?

Due to the sheer number of content posted during Whumptober we can’t promise to reblog every single post. We will make a random selection trying to capture a wide variety of content. The following will increase your chances at being reblogged:

tag your post properly

post within 2-3 days of the theme you want to fill: if you fill the prompt for Day 1 your chances of being reblogged during October 1st to 3rd are highest and will go towards zero afterwards.

Q. What if I don’t understand a prompt/theme?

Send us an ask! We’re happy to help with wild, unhelpful clarifications or brainstorming. That being said, the themes are entirely up for interpretation. Don’t take them too literally. For example: You can be choking on a cherry, someone else can choke you or you could be choked up on emotions, etc.

Q. What kind of content can I make? Can it be NSFW?

This is a MIXED MEDIA event! You can write fic, post meta, doodle or paint, create a gifset or photo edit, link a song, or get crafty with video - anything goes. As for NSFW, make what you like, we just hope that you’ll tag your work accordingly so that others participating in the event can stay safe.

Q. Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges?

Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

Q. Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms?

Of course! You can post your own content wherever you like (or you can opt to not publish it at all). Additionally we’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there. It can be accessed here. The tumblr blog @whumptober-archive is the official archive, so please respect the boundaries of any closeted whumpers in your social circle.

Q. Can I use prompts to write a new chapter for an existing fic?

Yes.

Q. An existing fic I am currently writing contains many of the Whumptober prompts, can I use it?

If you are actively writing this fic at the moment with the Whumptober prompts in mind, yes. If you’ve previously posted something that checks the boxes, we ask that you not include it retroactively for this current year. You can, however, add new chapters relating to one or more of the prompts.

Q. What kind of characters can I write for?

Fandom characters, OC characters, human, furry, alien, cyborg, RPF, whoever you like. You can use the generic “whumpee” character or have specific ones.

Q. Does it have to take place in a specific fandom?

No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want.

Q. Can I use a prompt multiple times?

Yes, but it only counts once towards being a completionist.

Q. If I’m not comfortable with one day’s prompts can I use a prompt of a different day as a substitute and still be a completionist?

No, you can’t exchange prompts for different days. However, if all four prompts of a specific day make you uncomfortable, we have created an alternate prompts list that you can draw from. You can exchange any prompt with these, but please make sure not to use them twice.

Q. Where can I post my work?

Post where and how you want. You don’t have to (cross)post it to Tumblr or at all. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive.

Q. Can I start posting early?

You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? That being said, you can post early, but we won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st.

Q. Do I have to finish a fic I started/can I post WIP’s?

Yes you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish it in October for it to count towards being a completionist.  

Q. Is co-writing allowed?

Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you.

Q. Do I have to create 31 standalone pieces to be considered a completionist or can I write one continuous story?

One continuous story is fine.  The challenge is to write something for 31 prompts. If that’s spread over 31 fics or just one, you are still considered a completionist. (The same goes for every other media you choose.)

Q. Is there a min/max limit on word count?

There is no limit.

Q. Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many?

No limit and combine as many as you’d like.

Q. Is a hc/angst/emotional whump focus ok?

Of course! We are not going to establish a threshold for whumpiness. If you think it’s whumpy enough, then it’s whumpy enough. It can be physical, psychological, emotional, or any combination of the three.

Q. What’s considered nsfw?

See this post

Q. What is whump?

Typically the genre includes situations where a fictional character is hurt, be it emotionally, psychologically, or physically. Fanlore provides information here.

Q. My interpretation of the prompt isn’t whumpy at all, does that count?

If you don’t think your interpretation is whumpy, then it doesn’t count for Whumptober. Remember that whump comes in many forms, though, and that we don’t have a whump-checker or a threshold for how much whump needs to be included. If you think your interpretation contains enough whump to count, then it does.

Q. Can I start working on the prompts before October?

Absolutely! That’s why we post the prompts a month in advance. We recognise how difficult it can be creating for 31 days in “real time” so feel free to start creating early!

Q. How do I tag triggers?

tw at the end of the word, ex. #gore tw

Q. Do I have to use your tags?

Yes, if you want your work archived on the blog. If not, feel free to use whatever tags you want. 

Q. Does combining prompts count towards completion?

Yes

Q. Can we @ you?

Yes but we mostly rely on the #whumptober2023 tag.

Q. Is there anything we are absolutely not allowed to write?

There are no rules, but please make sure to properly tag your trigger warnings. And keep in mind Tumblr’s policies if you are posting it here (or the policies for whatever site you use).

Q. Where can I go for brainstorming help?

Here on Discord or come into our ask box.

Q. My characters are minors, is that ok?

Yes, but as with everything else, use clear and descriptive tags.

Q. Can I cross post on other blogs?

Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable. You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once.

Note: This is a creation challenge, please don’t repost your old work under our tags (unless it’s been changed or edited for the event).

Thanks for reading, and happy whumping!

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

The last few people had logged off the server, leaving it in its burnt, damaged state.

She knew where Gem would be.

Cleo scaled up the ladder and clambered up to the rickety roof of Joel’s tower — where you could look out on the entire server.

Sure enough, Gem was perched on the railing, sitting on the edge with nothing to support her but the wind, staring in the direction of the Secret Keeper.

Cleo looked around at the short cobble walls. Grian had told her that he’d hid away here. Not a bad strategy, overall. You could shut yourself here and forget everywhere else existed.

“Hey, Cleo.”

“Am I that loud?” Cleo joked weakly.

“Who else?”

Cleo watched as the last remains of the green flesh flaked off Gem’s skin, leaving her regular human tones. “No more zombies now, then? Good job, anyway. Killing people left and right.”

“Not you, though.”

“Not me. Only way I’m going out is my way. I’d rather die on my own stupidity than someone else’s callousness.” Cleo allowed a hint of pride to enter her voice. “You were great zombies, though.”

“We weren’t zombies.” Gem turned and hopped down from the railing.

Cleo noticed that unlike the other zombies, or even Scott or Grian, Gem didn’t have a single scratch or injury, save one neat bandage that no doubt was due to Scar’s reckless arrows.

Which meant the blood splattering her face wasn’t her own. “What do you mean?”

“That’s not how zombies work. No offence, Cleo, but most zombies aren’t sentient.”

Cleo blinked. “No worries, I know they aren’t. I kill plenty of them at night.”

“So you should know how they work. They’re mindless. They lurch along, they kill without thinking, they probably bump into trees.”

Gem tilted her head. “They don’t set TNT traps, or betray their teammates, or ask for permission to kill their wife’s perceived murderer.”

Cleo’s mouth was dry. “So you’re saying…”

“I’m saying the apocalypse wasn’t zombies, Cleo. It was human.”

Horribly, incredibly human.

Cleo remembered when they were up on the tower, staring at the others down below, condemning them as monsters.

Somehow, it was better to think of them as a mindless horde and not people she’d been laughing and arguing with a session ago.

Gem was watching her. “You know I’m right. Look at Pearl. Was running from us, convinced we were infected or something but once she realised she had permission to kill, she went in. Even unleashed a warden, or two. That’s how quickly we switch.”

Ironically, Cleo realised, the roles had been swapped this session. The humans were chasing the zombie, but it hadn’t been any different.

“That’s not true,” Cleo said, “It’s not all bad. Did you know, Grian snuck down from this tower to check on his magma pet, and I was there too. And so was Etho. He didn’t kill us.”

Irritation flashed across Gem’s face. “He didn’t kill you? If he had, or, like, told us your location or something, we could’ve all just gone after Scott, and, and, the task would’ve succeeded…”

She trailed off, and looked at Cleo. “Is that the point you’re trying to make here?”

Cleo shrugged.

“Alright, I get it,” Gem grumbled, “No need to rub your holier-than-thou alliance and great morals in my face.”

“Well, no one asked you to put your task over your bandmates.”

Gem didn’t say anything to that.

“It’s not as if I’m exactly a paragon of morality either.” Cleo continued.

“I guess not.” Gem gave a short laugh. “Neither am I. You know, all the murder and stuff? I don’t feel bad! In fact, I feel great. I feel proud of myself for it.”

“…I feel you should be a little less bloodthirsty.”

Gem smiled at Cleo, an innocent, cheerful smile that would have been such if not for the circumstances. “Oh, no.”

Cleo was suddenly feeling very unsafe on the highest platform on the server. She wished Etho was here, or even Grian.

She knew Gem couldn’t take any lives, not now, not when the session was already over. But still…

Cleo raised her sword to stop the axe swing that came, but it was a feint, and her sword hit nothing.

Gem dramatically swung her axe back into her inventory.

“You really thought I would attack you?” Gem said.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” Cleo retorted curtly.

“That’s true,” Gem conceded. “But the curse is just so- it’s so freeing, Cleo? Can’t you see? You could do anything.”

“Uh- no thanks. Session’s over, anyway,” Cleo pointed out.

“That’s true. But I’m still kinda cursed, you know.”

In response, Cleo warily raised her sword. But all that Gem did was deliver a mock salute before logging off with a chirpy “See you next week!”

Cleo stood silently. There had been one zombie on the platform just now. Her.

And thinking about it, she wasn’t sure if there hadn’t been two.

[anonymous-verse]

The Anonymous-Verse Masterlist 2.0

there have been some heavy changes in the anon-verse recently! (And not in a bad way). We have been striving away from infecting getting into people’s blogs and starting to have our own story’s. Exciting isn’t it? Well that’s why I am updating the Masterlist!

long story short, we’ve have met friends and foes and uhm. Chaos anon in our adventure during the anon-verse! Our adventures have been spread around the blogs of the individual anon besides f@|$3 who resides here but shall we continue on with the master list? I think we should

(P.S: if you want to have more information about the anon’s and the arc’s, join the discord!)

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━ 

DNI: PRO-SHIPPERS, PEDOPHILES, ZOOPHILES, TRANSPHOBIC, HOMOPHOBIC, and ENDOS

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━ 

THE DISCORD:

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━ 

Tags:

these are not used as often. Mb

#anon q&a - Question and Answers for the anons

#anon talks to anon - one of the anons listed probably asked something

#anons drawings - if any anons draw something, use this

#anons shit post - yeah. Just shit posting

#incorrect anon quotes - (please tell me you know what these are)

#anon lore - THE LOREEEEE

#announcement - if anything serious or just something we think is important will be tagged here

#anon reblog - we see something related to the anon verse not on the blog? We re-blog

if you want to see a post by a specific anon then put them in the tags

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━

anon lore summary ^^^

(NOT FINISHED >:\)

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━ 

Active and or in the main arcs

Orange = had an arc already

Multiverse Arson Idiot Lurking Confused Snuff Lost Tea Assnon Eyenon 👮‍♀️ Host Sky Temmie T.O.B. Promise Regret (joke character) Tortoise Dad (joke character) f@l$3 (the main user of this blog) Bed Pun Chef Witch not active Cricket Therapist not active Beep Spelling check V01D Time Enigma (not an anon but part of the lore) Done Chaos Shapeshifter (shiter) Fragment (have there own thing) McAnon (joke character) Mr. Determination Shade (not an anon) the-arc-of-1-anon (in the process of an arc)

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━  ‘ANON BLOGS!!1!1!1!

F@|$3 is the user of this account mostly

@tea-anon64

@arsontheanon

@multiverse-anon

@lost-anon

@confusedanonistrying

@tortoiseanon

@shapeshiftinganon

@shadespawned

@assn0n

@timeanon

@chaos-the-anon

@pun-anon

@temmie-dah-anon

@mcanonworker

@0an-enigma0

@cricketanon

@done-anon

@spellingcheckanon

@thecookinganon

@the-eyenon

@fragment-anon

@v01d-anon

@bedanon-x3

@beep-anon

@promiseanon

@dadanon01

@host00anon

@mrdetermination-anon

@the-official-snuff-anon

@idiotanonfrz

@lurkinganon0-0

@the-arc-of-1-anon-and-more

@hope-anon5

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━  ‘The good ol’ victims

@swiftmitsu (the one who started it all)

@maytales

@0p1er0

@derangedanomaly

@errordust-trojan

@fell-is-suffering

@thebad-lydrawn-sanses

@entityverse-utmv

@bird-nobody

@self-proclaimed-edglord

@gibbish-anon-from-gell

@kingbluetheamze1

@wickjump

@sillylittleguy2333

@iamunabletothinkofablogname

@epilepzia

━━╋━━━╋━━━╋━━  -lost anon

[dance-like-an-idiot]

EVERYTHING IN THIS POST IS ABOUT THE CUBITOS!!!

idk about you guys but it truly feels like no one can fully be trusted with the eggs safeties.

i mean, the most trusted people with eggs have always been phil, forever, and bad, but its so clear that forever has not for Many months been in the right mental state to be reliable.

and it isn't just him in this corrupted state, or when he was on happy pills. its the fact that he continues to intrust his health with the federation. thats dangerous, and im surprised no ones picked up on it server wise. his impulsive mindset is so bad and endangers the eggs to a crazy extent. not to mention he is currently trying to (and actually) shoot them.

and honestly, forever shouldn't have full access to the ninho anymore, even though he created it. it's supposed to be safe. and while it isn't fully safe regardless, forever being corrupted makes it fully unusable.

for phil and bad, i don't think their trust should be revoked as much as forever's, but you can't deny how dangerous either could be if set off (which i only see bad close to with the soul vulture infection mixed with radiation poisoning)

it kinda amazes me how much trust they put in bad still. because hes shown how easily he can be triggered, and lose his memories. that is a prime opportunity for manipulation and/or egg endangerment. hell, bagi saw him both struggle to climb a ladder and get triggered while with richas. and she can understand much more as a mom about that even with how little em has been in danger so far.

phil i think is fine to look after eggs (currently) but i still have stuff to say about him. he out of the three has the least amount of trust put in him, yet shown time and time again his stability, dedication, and passion for the eggs. yet because he already takes care of two eggs, and never participated in ninho, he doesn't get as much credit as he should.

this isn't to say phil is the perfect choice mentally to protect the eggs, no. phil literally has a biome destroying selfish bitch of a king after him and is causing him to question reality. which, yknow, isn't any sign of father mental stability.

i don't really have anyone id consider the best parent on the server. but i keep thinking about how much trust people put in forever and its killing me.

[kisuminight]

A very general outline of how this AU's Staged Finale goes down:

So Tommy swings the Axe of Peace. And instead of turning into golden dust like a respawn, Dream shatters into pieces of light. The axe catches on Dream’s core crystal and basically knocks it so it hits the ground behind Tommy, in the middle of the gathered server members.

“What the fuck?” says Tommy.

“Language!” from Bad.

“That’s a core crystal. Dream was a Blade?” says Punz. He steps closer to the core crystal on the ground.

“Don’t touch that!” says Sapnap. He also steps closer to the core crystal on the ground.

“Chill. It can take up to three days for a core crystal to recover enough to be Awakened again.” But Punz steps back.

“Dream can’t be a Blade.” Says Sam. “Are you sure that was Dream?”

“Of course if was fucking Dream! You think I don’t fucking recognize how he fucking fights?” Tommy again.

“But if Dream is a Blade, who was his Driver?” Tubbo.

The problem is that Blades, socially, are seen as extensions of their Drivers. Most people expect that, if a Blade is doing something, it is because their Driver told them to. Anyone who has interacted with Skeppy on a frequent basis (and is aware he is a Blade) knows this is nonsense, but ingrained prejudice is strong. Tommy and Tubbo being mostly clueless about the Blade system actually puts them at a better point for recognizing Dream’s agency than anyone else.

Sapnap is having a breakdown. He thought he understood his friend, and then he thought that he didn’t understand his friend but that was okay because Dream was a bad friend. Now Dream is a Blade and some things are making sense but more things aren’t and actually his friend is for-real dead now. Not dead as in a canon death, dead as in the Dream that existed just stopped the moment he was returned to a core crystal. If it is Awakened, the New Dream will be similar but will not be the same person. The last bit hasn’t really hit him yet.

Antfrost and Bad have both been corrupted by the Egg at this point. They are surprised about Dream being a Blade, but are pushed by the Egg to want to bring Dream’s core crystal back to it. The Egg has a hard time infecting Blades, and only got Skeppy by a combination of lingering influence coming from Bad and long-term direct exposure. It is aware that any Blade in its power that reverts to a core crystal will reAwaken without the corruption, and has plans that revolve around trying to corrupt Dream’s core crystal itself.

HBomb, Jack Manifold, and Niki are mostly satisfied that Dream is not going to be a Problem any more. They are content to leave at this point. Niki did guess that Philza was a blade, and since Techno contacted her prior to the confrontation, she does inform Techno (who she thinks is Philza’s Driver) about the situation with Dream.

Callahan is worried about the situation. He wants to know who Dream’s Driver was. As a Blade himself, he is aware that a Driver does not absolutely dictate what Blades can/cannot do. However, a Blade’s relationship with their Driver does greatly impact how they see the rest of the world. Callahan is also aware that a Driver does not necessarily have to be on the same server as the Blade, seeing as his Driver Alyssa is off-server.

Ranboo is staying quiet. He and Punz are staying out of this discussion. Punz makes an excuse to leave early, and dips out while making motions to or saying something about Dream’s core crystal, which is still on the ground. Ranboo is hovering around, acting hesitant.

Sam also wants to know who Dream’s Driver was. He is currently the Warden of Pandora’s Vault, and while his behavior has not reached the point where it would in canon-timeline after overseeing Dream’s imprisonment, the signs are already starting. Sam thinks that Dream should be reAwakened and that they need to be careful about who Dream’s new Driver is to make sure that Dream is a Good Person in his new life (Sam is advocating to be the new Driver).

Puffy agrees that Dream needs a good Driver to be a better person in his new life. She thinks Sam is a good person for that. Eret weighs in at this point and mentions that Dream was a citizen of the Greater Dream SMP and might be better with them (this is part of Eret’s quest for reconciliation, as well as a bit of power-hunger. Eret is a weird character). Puffy says that Sam would be better because Dream shouldn’t be around/have influence in politics. She says Dream probably shouldn’t go with Bad or Antfrost for similar reasons. At this point, Eret leaves.

Tommy wants to know what the hell are they talking about. Why is Dream a rock? Why are they trying to revive Dream at all? It’s like they think that Dream isn’t a wrongun’.

*Blade system is explained to Tommy*

Okay, so the New Dream will look exactly the same as Dream. And act exactly like Dream. And you think it’s okay to wake him up because he won’t have any memories? Tommy calls Doubt with lots of cursing. Bullshit Dream was doing it on orders. It was only Dream demanding Exile. It was only Dream during Exile. Yeah, Doomsday was Dream + Phil + Techno, but Dream wasn’t getting puppeted by either of them. And if Dream was a Blade, why didn’t Dream ever use any of his Blade powers? None of them even know what his Soul Weapon looked like. They don’t know what his element is. Even healer Blades have some weak attacks, and he didn’t use an of that shit! Maybe Dream should stay a rock.

“What the fuck, Tommy,” goes Sapnap.

“Maybe Tommy should reAwaken him,” says Tubbo. The issue is that Dream hated Tommy, right? If Tommy is Dream’s Driver, then that can’t happen again. Dream will help Tommy, be his friend. After all, Dream was nice in the beginning.

Dream will be Tommy’s friend sets Tommy off. “Dream was never my friend and never will be!” This is lingering trauma from the emotional manipulation from exile. Meta note, the relationship between Tommy and Dream would not be healthy at this point.

“Dream should stay with someone who was actually his friend,” Ponk disagrees. Giving a Blade to someone who was their enemy seems ethically dubious.

“Sapnap,” says Quackity.

“Not Sapnap,” says everyone else.

“Fine, George then.”

Sapnap, who is still having a breakdown and is processing 1000+ things and just realized that George might have been Dream’s Driver, based the fact that he re-met Dream as George’s friend and also George’s weird behavior around the dethronement, “Not George.”

“You should leave Dream as a rock,” Tommy repeats.

“I still think it would be better if he stayed with Sapnap,” says Quackity. This is partly to support his fiancé and partly because he thinks having a Blade in his sphere of influence would help his plans. “What do you think, Ranboo?”

“Um, Karl?” It sounds shaky, and the pronunciation is weird. Ranboo leaves.

People present: Tommy, Tubbo, Puffy, Quackity, Sapnap, Antfrost, Badboyhalo, Ponk, Awesamedude.

Karl is friendly. He is minimally involved in server politics at this point (since El Rapids is mostly forgot about in comparison to L’Manberg, and L’Manberg is a hole in the ground). He is Quackity’s other fiancé, so this is still a good solution for Q. Tubbo likes Karl. Tommy is kind of “eh” about it, but he also thinks that Dream should not be reAwakened at this point. Everyone else talks over him. Sam is okay with Karl, but he would prefer to have Dream as his Blade.

“Sapnap, can you bring the core crystal to Karl?”

The core crystal is Not There.

Everyone freaks out. Sapnap demands that everyone empty their inventory. Nobody present has the core crystal (or they are pretending they don’t. Sapnap isn’t sure how much he can trust them). When was the last time anybody remembered seeing it? Well, that was when Punz pointed to it and left. Okay, so Punz doesn’t have it.

Who left?

Ranboo, HBomb, Eret, Niki, and Jack Manifold.

On the Nether side of the portal, EW!Ranboo drops Dream’s core crystal into Punz’s hand. Even if someone were to come through the portal now, they wouldn’t be able to see them. Punz was actively pushing aether into his passive powers, rendering the two of them completely unnoticeable. Once Punz has the core crystal, he steps back. EW!Ranboo completely loses track of him as he leaves.

EW!Ranboo scribbles the basics of what happened in his memory book, Dream tried to kill Tommy and Tubbo. We rescued them. Dream is a Blade and they are fighting about who Dream’s new Driver will be. I am worried about the outcome. Then he gives control back to Ranboo.

So everyone goes into the Nether, and they see Ranboo standing there putting away with his memory book. Ranboo says, “What happened?”

“Ranboo, can you empty your inventory?” The core crystal is Not There (anymore).

Ranboo apologizes to Tubbo, “I’m sorry. Thinks were very stressful. I don’t remember what happened at the confrontation.”

Three days later, Punz Awakens Dream as his Blade. “Hey, buddy. You doing okay?”

“…Resonance feels different from George. It’s weird to have a comparison.”

Results of Staged Finale:

Punz is not under suspicion for having Dream or helping Dream before he was killed. Ranboo is also not under suspicion. Dream has been reAwakened with all his memories (the experiments worked!). They can now continue further experiments in peace. Everyone at Staged Finale is now very suspicious of each other. The idea of someone on the server can just pull a Blade with Dream’s fighting skills, unknown powers, and the blind loyalty of all New Blades out of their inventory unnerves people. Tensions are high, but most people are reluctant to get into actual fights for the moment because what if.

Dream is avoiding the SMP in general, but if someone does see him he can just say “I have no idea who you are, got to go.” There is a greatly reduced risk of immediate attack as long as he pretends to be an amnesiac new Blade if he is discovered.

[a-student-out-of-time]

You know what would be an absolutely horrifying twist at the end of all this? If Shirogane is already a body snatcher, what if by this point she’s found a way to split her consciousness across multiple bodies, so killing her own body achieves absolutely nothing because there’s still a Tsumugi hivemind out there.

Oh, that's already been on my mind since we heard about this. And you're right, that's 100% a possibility. I'd call it a certainty.

Brainscans can be copied and pasted just like any other program, and they can be transferred into anything sufficient to hold them. She's bound to have plenty of backups out there.

Not surprising, given how long she was able to survive in that future. She's probably got plenty.

So our first priority should be finding and destroying those?

Yes, but that's easier said than done. I doubt she's hidden then in plain sight. They're somewhere secure, and somewhere with a big-enough server farmer to house them all.

Alright, leave that one to me. I'll go online, see how many I can find and maybe we can cross-reference from there.

...What about bodies?

We should consider the idea that she's already bodysnatched more than a few, shouldn't we? If it can happen once...

I hate to say it, but you're right.

The good news is, until she actually hits someone with her flashback light, they're still themselves. Remember, there are three steps:

Infection by the algae, such as through contaminated food or water.

The algae creates new light-sensitive cells in the retina that connect to the brain.

Exposure to her lights, which alter the structure of the brain, including making it a copy of her own.

Someone could have the algae their body and still be themselves, they're just vulnerable to her lights. There's also nothing necessarily stopping her from doing something else as well, like just altering existing memories.

And we've got the algaecide, so we're good there. But, is it possible for someone who's already infected to be cured of those cells in their retina or whatever?

Yes, but I'm gonna need to make a new biocide for that. It's gonna be a bit more work.

But if their mind has already been taken over, unless we have a brain scan of how that person was before, there's nothing we can do. They're gone.

Alright, get on that as soon as you can. We need every precaution we can get and we'll need to clean up her mess as soon as possible.

So...any way of us all getting brain scans done just to be safe?

Maybe, but it's too expensive and it would take too long. We only have a few days to do this.

What about just a few of us? Like whoever goes after Shirogane?

That's...probably doable. We just need a plan of attack first.

Woo! I might not get all this time travel stuff, but I was paying attention there!

[box-architecture]

Punz is Patient, Punz is the one denying themselves because they want to tease him a little, want to fuck him while he's overstimmed and already had his walls broken down. It takes a few orgasms, or a certain amount of edging, they know, before Dreams composure breaks and he stops denying himself honey-gold pleasure.

And its so good to watch. His focus completely on Dream's writhing, attempting to get away from Punz's vines even when he makes a point to grind against Dream's prostate each time the red thrusts deep inside him.

Anyone could come in and see what he's doing to Dream, see how fucking beautiful he looks and know (finally finally finally) that Punz was always Dream's, and everyone was simply lucky up until this point that Dream desired peace.

Punz would have leveled the fucking server for what they did to him. Every scar on Dreams body would be repaid tenfold.

But now Punz was the one in charge, and the Egg would take care of those who hurt Dream while Punz would fuck his pretty little God until he surrendered himself to the love he so deserved.

And Dream would protest, beg Punz to reconsider and tell them it wasn't him, the Egg is controlling you Punz, come back to me, please-

But Punz would kiss the inside of his wrist and look up at him with reverence and tell him that the only thing the Egg did was let him have what he always wanted: the will to take Dream.

Dream sobbing, shaking his head, no no no no as Punz amplifies his pleasure, forces him to feel good and stop denying himself. Until Dream stops fighting him and begins rolling his hips against the vine. Punz finally takes him off it and drops him down on their cock.

no no please no Dream babbles pleadingly as he meets Punz's hips every single time. I can't Punz I can't do it

(And every time Dream says no Punz waits patiently for the safeword they've had for over a year now, only to smile when Dream moans and cries and takes all that he's offered with nothing more than empty protests. So pretty.)

I'll take care of everything they soothe him, rubbing his cheek, because they don't want him to have to think and fret about the rest of the server. His only worry should be his ability to take Punz's cock. just be a good little cockslut and take what I give you

And of course once Dream moans and starts bouncing they can't help but be a little mean. Tease him and make fun of him for being such a whore.

you keep saying no but you keep clenching down to keep me inside. You're so slutty, I bet you wanted me to do this for ages. I should have pinned you down over the map and forced you to take it back then, you were such a stiff.

Punz looks so lazy on the throne, a lounging, dangerous cat with its prize.

(The Egg suggests multiple times to be allowed to infect Dream, but Punz bares his teeth at the thought; Dream wasn't some lackey and he certainly wasn't going to be controlled, not by the Egg, not by anyone. Dream's mind was to remain his own, always. He wasn't the Eggs anyway, and Punz didn't share.)

[sanerontheinside]

h/c prompt: Person A is sick and when they don’t answer their comm, Person B shows up at their door with a concerned look and some soup. QuiObi Writing Server challenge: Reclaim the Tag, brought to you by getting annoyed at pornbot spam in the tags [ao3 link]

Qui-Gon had forgotten a few things about caring for young Padawans and Initiates. He’d forgotten, for instance, that the seasonal infections spread like wildfire. Of course, a few years ago, he would simply have brushed it off. He certainly didn’t worry much when Anakin came to visit him a little flushed and snuffly. 

After Naboo, though, his immune system had been weakened, like the rest of him. He’d done well to keep himself out of trouble for more than a year, and recovered a great deal of his motion. When the tickle started in the back of Qui-Gon’s throat, he swallowed it down with a cup of tea and hoped it would dissipate. 

Still, he booked himself an appointment with Healer Che—just in case. If the last year and a half had taught him anything, it didn’t pay to be reckless with his health. 

Vokara agreed. “Be careful of your scarring,” she said. “You should be aware that in some cases my patients have complained of aching ribs. We want your lungs to clear, so I will not prescribe a cough suppressant—unless the situation becomes intolerable. That will be up to you to determine, so be mindful of your limits.”

Now, only a day later, Qui-Gon was extremely mindful of his limits. He was limited to his own bedroom, and mostly to the bed and the fresher besides. He was exhausted, and his ribs did, in fact, ache. The cough had begun in earnest in the late evening hours. Qui-Gon had had the forethought to make a thermos-full of tea for himself and stack a few boxes of tissues on his nightstand. He’d propped himself up as best as possible, and tried to sleep, but the most he’d achieved was a kind of foggy half-drowsing, punctuated by frequent, painful coughs. 

The situation had developed precipitously. Qui-Gon had taken it for granted that he would be able to rise in the morning and blearily make himself a simple breakfast. Instead, he was drifting in and out of awareness, stuck somewhere between sleeping and reaching for his comm to call Vokara and admit defeat. The longer he went without food, he knew, the worse he would feel. Already, the faint feeling of nausea was creeping up on him, an unwelcome pressure in his chest and at the back of his throat. 

But the comm was lost to him, buried somewhere in the soft folds of his comforter. It had chirped at him a few times this morning, taunting him from those squashy depths. Qui-Gon let it drift away, and tried instead to put himself in something like a healing trance. 

Maybe he had some success with it, too, because some time later he blinked his eyes open to his sunlit room, and heard the swish of the door to his quarters. 

“Qui-Gon?”

Qui-Gon stirred, pushing himself up from the pillows—only to ease himself back down into them when his body declared, in no uncertain terms, that it was far too worn out to sit up straight, and his head furthermore reported a disturbing state of lightness. 

Obi-Wan poked his head into his room. “Oh dear.”

Qui-Gon waved a hand and smiled. “Hello there,” he said, or tried to. He immediately brought a hand up to his mouth and hoped Obi-Wan hadn’t heard the strained note in his voice. 

“No, don’t talk.” Obi-Wan winced. “You sound awful.”

Thank you, Qui-Gon sent along their bond, with an ironic—albeit careful—head-tilt. 

“Anakin told me about the flu. He was worried he’d gotten you sick.” Obi-Wan grimaced. “Not sure I want to be the one to tell him about this.”

Qui-Gon couldn’t quite restrain a silent laugh, and immediately regretted it. 

“You sound awful, and you look worse,” Obi-Wan declared. “Did you eat anything today?”

Barely made it to the ‘fresher, Qui-Gon admitted, then looked at his former Padawan with an absolutely piteous expression, wide-eyed and pouting. I’m trapped in this bed. 

Again, he didn’t say, but the word scratched at the back of his mind like a lothcat at a door. 

Obi-Wan eyed him carefully. “I brought you some soup. Think you could manage a spoonful or two?” 

My savior, Qui-Gon said, this time without a hint of irony in it at all. I’ll even take commissary fare. 

“Yes, well, I’m not a monster,” Obi-Wan told him as he unpacked the takeout bag that Qui-Gon hadn’t noticed at first. “It’s from Dex—tip-yip dumpling soup. He says it’s good for all manner of illnesses. I asked him if he was peddling cure-alls now, but he just laughed at me.” 

Qui-Gon didn’t dare laugh again, but he did manage a smile, warm and crooked, if slightly pale. He caught Obi-Wan’s wrist and squeezed gently. “Thank you,” he whispered, because he meant it. 

Obi-Wan blushed, and ducked his head. “I’ll—get us some bowls,” he said, and retreated to the kitchen. 

But he was back moments later, tray laden with bowls, cups, and a fresh pot of tea, and Qui-Gon was warmed right through by the gesture. 

[just-antithings]

Hey, I'm considering making another Tumblr blog to talk about my 'problematic' ships. Do you think it would be enough to just make a secondary blog or should I start a whole new separate account? I'd rather not deal with a separate account, bc I'd need to manage another email, but i might do it anyway. I was wondering what you/your followers opinions were on what is better?

I can help with this! So, for my more problematic ships, I created a whole other account. (I also created a separate ao3 account, but I'll stick to talking about Tumblr.)

Now, other anon, it depends on how secretive you want to be. I have a mutual who created a sideblog for their more problematic ships in our fandom. They'd made a name for themselves, mainly shipping/creating wholesome content, so while they've always been vocal about saying "ship and let ship", they got nervous about suddenly posting about their problematic ships/headcanons on main, so they made a sideblog.

Since it's a sideblog, their interactions with other blogs are a bit more limited, unless they want to "out" their main, which they did by accident. They made a post, another mutual replied, and then my mutual replied to that, forgetting that when you reply in the notes, it shows your main account url and icon, not your sideblog's url and icon.

From what I've seen, this hasn't caused any problems for them, but while our fandom has lots of anti-leaning people (a big blog in a server I'm in was complaining about proshippers being bad and too many people in the fandom making problematic content or "letting it slide", but that's a separate thing), most people in the fandom seem to go by "block, complain to friends in servers/group chats or make vague posts, and move on".

If the fandom you're (other anon) in has more vocal antis, you might want to make a whole other account, like I have. Now, in my case, the reason I made a completely separate account is that I've gotten stupid. I've gotten really personal on my main fandom blog, and things I've said can make it easy to doxx me. (Like, I wasn't giving out my legal name or anything, but someone with too much time on their hands could go through my personal posts (now deleted) and piece together enough to guess my general location or potentially find my old accounts on other social media, which could lead them to my (dead but not deleted, I think, unless Musk made good on deleting all unused accounts) twt, which has my deadname.)

I also plan on publishing at some point, which I've been open about on my fandom blog, often talking about my original content, not just my fandom stuff. After years of seeing how the anti mindset has infected authors on twitter, I've decided I DO NOT want my fandom persona and the pen name I'll be using when I publish to be connected. Especially when my main fandom is one of the "problematic" ones.

Having a separate account (the email I use is one I already had that I use for spam stuff, like online shopping/subscriptions/etc) makes it so I don't have to be as careful when it comes to sending asks or replying in posts, like my mutual I mentioned above. I'm also more vocal on my "secret account" about ships and other fandoms I've never mentioned on my main account, and the aesthetic is different, too.

Now, for me, I plan on not using my main account after a while and making my "secret account" my main one eventually. (Basically like Shippers Protection Program lmao) For me, privacy/secrecy was the biggest reason for me making a separate account. A side account leaves way too many chances for me to make a "whoops, wrong blog!" mistake when posting or reblogging. For my mutual, a sideblog is enough, since most mutuals they regularly interact with either ship the same problematic ships or support them shipping them, so they wanted to keep their secret blog open enough that their friends/mutuals could find them and talk about their ships.

Basically, my mutual just needed a separate room to feel safe talking about their ships. I needed to move into a whole new house to feel safe talking about my ships/interacting in fandom in general. It's all about what makes you feel safest. Good luck, and have fun!

Some great advice for anon!

[single-malt-scotch]

ok so i am home from my vacation and i have only had time to watch bdubs' SL pov and hlf of cleo's rn. regardless wanted to ramble my thoughts on this session and fair warning it isnt gonna be super positive (the short: didnt really like it) so yeah.

reminder though i absolutely Love these people. i love how they play and theyre great and im watching first and foremost bc i like seeing them have fun. my issues lie in the series' mechanics, how it plays, the technical function, management etc.

the thing about watching one pov is i feel like it can also spell out other issues but i will get to that later

obviously the big thing. the "infection" task. listen.... the concept of a boogeyman infection by itself is cool! i like that! but.... not here?????? out of all series.

there is no regen, and this fact is conflicting to me because i feel like the boogey should be struggling against those theyre trying to infect, and minecraft's regen would be that struggle, like it has been for every past boogey chasing their targets.

you have to kill everyone not red? not red???? so like 90% of the server? insane.

this was an EASY TASK........... this pisses me more on what this season's rules have been implied to be. suddenly, they arent really making sense. i will go into this deeper.

this just doesnt seem like the right place to plant this task. it is hugely impactful and feels like it is happening for no reason. if they were going on like 10+ episodes and grian was formally like "well, secret keeper wants this wrapped up so lets see what task hes gonna give all of us!" and then boom, this is it. then cool. make up a proper excuse like wrapping up the season.

it was too much of a shocker, unprepared for, and with how intense it is by needing to kill everyone left it feeling very unfair to the people i was watching. Bdubs had just died previously and now lost all his hearts in one session because of the force of another task. as did many others. if there was to even be any slight alteration to more "fairness" it could have been "the one you killed is now boogey. hand them the book and make them kill someone by themself. you are no longer infected. you cannot kill the person who killed you." or something idk. every part of the server going after one person is way too much.

regarding rules and whatnot, i was already kind of annoyed by this previous session too. there are two tasks now that have me going "how tf is this "easy"?" Bdubs' task of chicken causing damage-- an amount that had to go as high as anyone could stand it-- seems way too harsh as an easy task. there were a few tasks where health could be lost, but none of it was deliberate "lose as much as possible". losing the same amount of health as another player (like grian and joel) is not the same as telling the player they basically need to lose as much as possible compared to someone else in order to win the challenge. grian and etho's hard tasks took a lot of damage (to others mostly lol) but it was a destructive hard task. bdubs' with the dragon was as well.

but gem's task especially... i mean, holy crap. that is a red life's task, or a hard task at most! even if i liked the whole thing i think id still be on the page of saying that is not an "easy" task. a red life getting this task would have been interesting too because it would put a ton of risk on them to survive and get it done. and sure, theyd get some allies in the infected but theyd still be a target in the fights. that would have been tense for them!

cancelling out all of the others' tasks when they were infected made sense but it totally changed the direction of people's videos. it forced them to be different to everyone. suddenly the first quarter or half of the video is just void and pointless. when the tasks basically direct their entire motive and how they act towards everyone, forcing them into big choices they cannot change, i think its bad. social tasks that pass off as kind normal are funny (etho's weeping angel, get scar to talk abt star wars, compliment ppl when they take damage etc), or outward and confusing but not character controlling ones (kill the dragon, connect your base to others, etc). ones that direct a player so strongly shouldnt ruin their interactions with everyone else either (playing tag-- took up a lot of time but players were "neutral" to everyone and carried on as normal).

some people were saying this task could be to speed up the series. im not really sure abt that. regardless i am sure they thought this would just be an interesting thing to do and thats why they did it. (i have seen martyn on here sometimes talking vaguely abt tasks being random and whatnot and no offense to him but it doesnt sound like at all he does have all the information to knowing this. i mean, why would he? hes a player. the admins are doing things he has no clue about. hes not even firmly stating anything. hes just saying what he knows, which i dont think is at all everything the admins are doing in front of them). i have seen this series play with many balance issues through its lifetime and i think this season esp shows a lot of that again. grian stated around one season how theres no play testing really. the admins might run some stuff i guess but theyre not testing much. and thats very obvious when limlife had that issue of deaths not showing in chat (and hey look, it happened again!) or boogey kills in LL and LimLife (along with normal kills in Lim) not being detected by means that were not direct (mechanically this just happens, you cant fix it. but they did not prepare to deal with this at all and it was chaotic to watch in Limlife and caused a lot of confusion on who got time).

i have repeating some of these things about SL already so i dont want to drone on again. i have been kinda neutral to SL because many eps were fine, i didnt love every task (personally didnt like etho getting so many "out of character" ones, like please give this man a break he is so socially awkward its hard to watch). but this session and last session have me not enjoying the task concept.

from the start i just wished this season was about not being able to regen hearts and thats it. i need something simple, dude. its getting convoluted. and its obvious with the amount of hall monitoring and the amount of talk the cc have in these videos telling hall monitors to stop, to explain successes or failures, etc etc. they should have to do that. limlife already had some ppl getting picky about who got time or not but this is even more subjective and confusing!! im sure theyre still having fun and i like seeing them having fun here but as a viewer im just seeing a concept that has too much going on, stuff that doesnt have a simple yes or no answer sometimes and i dont think thats good for a series like this, one that started out so incredibly simple and straight forward.

[somethings-monstrous]

Venting and what have you..you guys know. Also gifs of the flashy variety

I keep forgetting that, while my fusion started at the end of 2020, I have only really existed since 2021. In that time we've been to the ER 3 times, had 2 major surgeries, dealt with months of pain and weird symptoms that included not being able to eat any carbs for weeks, due to gallstones, (I also learned having a surgeon that clearly wants to fuck you is incredibly uncomfortable but you can be in enough pain to not give a fuck and just let the creep cut you open and hope no one leaves your unconscious body alone in a room with him), been unable to walk without aid for weeks due to severe vertigo caused by a deep inner ear infection that did permanent damage resulting in horrid tinnitus (we have to sleep with brown noise). Diagnosed with endometriosis after more months of pain and woe...and that's just the major stuff that I can currently remember. And only the physical. That doesn't include my first romantic interest being a groomer trying to indoctrinate me into a cult started by a pedophile in the '60s. My second romantic interest being a lying, cheating, manipulative person who left us collectively devastated and pushed us past the breaking point. It doesn't include the bullshit our housemate has put us through nor any of the inner world system shit. Nor the whole turning 30 and having to deal with ignorant twits suddenly treating us like we should just give up on life and die already (I always hated how shitty older people are to younger generations..and now I get to also hate how shitty younger people are to people for literally aging by 1 year.)

Ladies, those who have evolved beyond gender, and gentlemen of the court! A bitch. Is. TIRED.

Anyway, realizing that it's only been a bit over 2 years has me reeling. I was convinced my memories started in March 2020 until I was reminded that the last host started a server for a game that released in March 2020...so..my memories start in March 2021.

Also, how the fuck is it nearly June of 2023?!

[hanahaki-disease]

Haven't I Given Enough?

A Hermit! Tommy HC x DSMP Crossover

Chapter 11 | Paranoia is All I've Got Left

Summary: When left with the unknown, and kept from important information, Wels and the others had to come to their own conclusions somehow.

Words: 3206

Notes: Song Title is from "Papercut" by Linkin Park

*******************************************************************

Wels hadn’t seen the glitched person himself since Cubfan told him about it, nor had he seen any form of corruption begin its tyranny over his home. And while he was glad about that, it also scared him because it could come at any moment. Somewhere in the world, creatures and villagers were disappearing from the world and he would never know. It certainly kept him awake at night. Reminded him of his old world, and he didn’t want to think about it anymore, nothing good ever came from thinking of the past.

There was a team, just a small group of hermits, who investigated Iskall’s base–and by extension Stress’s. Nothing was out of the ordinary in terms of blocks, everything was how it should be. Cub, who was a part of the small search party, used his vex magic to detect any interference from a side Wels could never know. 

“Wels!” The armored man looked up from the map of the shopping district. He had been studying the map to find any place the player could’ve hidden, but he was finding it difficult. There were many places they could use, a lot of shops that had empty spaces that could be their hidden base. “I saw the kid!”

“Where?” He asked, setting aside his plans for the next search.

“He was with Scar,” Tango answered. “They were in the nether but I couldn’t see where they were going, but he wasn’t glitched.”

“What do you mean?” Wels said. The entire reason for the search parties and rallying hermits to find them was because the player was that he was glitched. He had shown up randomly in the server without a message in chat, no evidence of hacking in the server’s code (Joe had checked for them), and magic was proven false. “He has to be glitched!  How else did he get into the server?”

“I don’t know, but I know what I saw,” Tango stepped closer to the knight. “His body wasn’t doing anything crazy and everything around him was normal. Even Scar! Which is saying something because you know that the vex in him would’ve done something if anything was wrong.”

“Cub said he didn’t find any magic around Iskall’s base, though.”

“I think it’s because his mind is biased,” Tango sat in the chair across from Wels. His blue hair illuminated the room more than the few bits of candles Wels had around his base. “Magic is funky like that.”

“So then what do you want me to do Tango? Just leave the kid be and say I told you so when we're facing watchers at our demise?” Wels snapped. He had faced the watchers once, the coldness the one in white had when they saw his world perish, and the fear of the watchers that slaughtered his people. He refused to let the hermits experience that again. “I’m sorry Tango, but I just can’t take the chance that whoever that kid is, isn’t glitched. I’ve already watched my home die because of a glitch. I don’t want– I can’t watch it again. ”

Tango stayed quiet. The blaze hybrid couldn’t meet Wels’ eyes, knowing he was right, and imagined the world around him disappearing into nothingness. Wels had told him the story of what happened to his home server, the chaos that was infused into its code because of the mercy one person had on a contagious virus. All it took was one person after all. He remembered being told that the signs hadn’t been seen for weeks, that the infection began underground and in the far reaches of the world, giving the people a false sense of hope that they could help–cure the cursed player. 

But it was always futile. The world would crumble and fade away; men, women, and children all slaughtered by the deadly, yet merciful blades of the watchers above them. Because once one saw that angel of hope, it was over, and there was nothing you could do.

“I’m sorry,” Tango said. “I…I just thought that maybe the kid wasn’t so bad, y’know? Maybe it was just a false emergency or something.”

Wels sighed. He hadn’t meant to snap at his friend. He knew the reasoning behind his thoughts, a part of himself also wanted to believe in the blinded hope that the kid wasn’t some harbinger of disaster, but someone had to think clearly and sensibly here. If not him, then who? Keralis? No; as much as the server loves him, it was hard for him to stay focused and serious for too long. Cub? He was the one to seek out a person with authority in the first place, and maybe it was because the vex have a hard time staying in a leadership position, Cub just wasn’t the type to take control like that. Doc? Possibly, the cyber-creeper-hybrid had all the qualities for being a leader, having taken the lead in Area 77 a few years back, in the gigacorp shops last season, and the perimeter this time. But he had plainly turned down Wels’ offer to join the hermits against the kid, “not wanting to get worked up over nothing '' he had said.

“No, I’m sorry too,” Wels apologized. “I hadn’t seen this from an outsider's perspective before and was just focused on eliminating a threat.” Tango sat up in his chair and looked over the map Wels was looking at. The knight had spent the last four hours staring at it that he fully believed his tired eyes had missed more than they saw. “And, I thank you for helping. I know that these are big accusations and I could get in trouble for causing mass hysteria and all that jazz, but I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen with that mystery kid and I just don’t want you guys to get hurt.”

“Hey man, I get it, trust me, you don’t have to explain it to me all the time,” Tango chuckled as he read the map details. “Also, how current is the map?”

“I got it, like, a month ago, why?”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why, Tango?”

Tango placed the map back on the desk, the colorful buildings were quickly covered by another map. The edges were sharper and freshly made and the black ink for labels was still somewhat fresh. “Because, if the kid had built anything in the shopping district or changed any of the shops, you wouldn’t see it on an old map. Especially if it dates to before the kid first started to pop up.” Tango willed his hair to burn a little brighter, the blue flames rising higher over his head and providing more light around the room. “See, look.” Beneath the magnifying glass, Wels could see the faintest marks of a trail beneath the dark oak trees at Iskall’s base. Paved dirt and gravel dotted the sea of green before it stopped at the side of the mountain. “That's probably where the kid built a little base of operations or something, we could have a search party scope it out and report anything important.”

“Has anyone told you that you’re a genius?”

“Not today, no,” Tango smiled at the praise.

“Well, you’re a genius.”

–

The search party didn’t consist of a lot of people. There weren’t many people in the rallied group to begin with, but the small cluster of hermits–consisting of xB, Cleo, and Jevin–met up in front of False’s copper shop before heading to the newest addition to the server. They had done a thorough search of the shopping district a few days ago, nothing had become out of the ordinary since, but it didn’t put their minds at ease. 

Everything was exactly how it should be, not a block or grass out of place, no strange-looking mob, nothing, and it left a foul taste in their mouth. How? They thought. If the world around them was vanishing because of the glitch, then shouldn’t there be something wrong? And yet, as they walked the deepslate roads towards the semi-conjoined bases of Stress and Iskall, they found nothing that could be used as evidence against the possibility of a glitched player.

Slowly, the deepslate turned to grass beneath their feet. Leaves crunched with every step and the tall blades of grass swept across their ankles the further into the dark oak trees they ventured. The temperature dropped a few degrees when they reached the denser part of the forest as the canopy of dark green above them shielded the late summer sun. Somewhere to the left of them, the rattling sounds of a skeleton encouraged the trio to hurry their steps, lest they want to meet the business end of their weapon.

“Okay, according to the map Tango gave us,” xB unraveled the piece of parchment, moving so that one of the few rays of light that breached through the leaves illuminated the map. “The path starts over there somewhere.” He pointed to his right. “And Stress’s base is just on the other side of this creek. I think we should split up, one person goes and asks Stress if she’s seen anything weird, and the other two go and check out the thing.”

“You just don’t want to visit the thing just in case it’s dangerous, huh?” Cleo crossed her arms, a smug expression on her face the longer it took xB to answer. “How about we ask Stress first and then go check out the thing because what if she has information we could use if there’s any kind of hostile thing over there?”

xB and Jevin looked at each other, they were right to volunteer Cleo to come with them.

“That’s what I thought,” Cleo leaped over the small creek and made her way to the fairy base Stress was building. It had been a while since the zombie had seen her friend, even more so since there had been a girls' day with all the resident women of hermitcraft, and Cleo was slightly disappointed that this was the reason for her visitation with her. “Stress! Hello!” 

Atop her castle, dressed in her signature magenta cardigan and flower crown, Stress waived at them with a smile on her face. Her hands were dirty, they noticed, as the smaller woman greeted them. She had been planting flowers and other types of foliage on the castle roof to give it more life. “Hi, everyone! What brings you all ‘ere?” 

“We, uhm,” xB fumbled, clearly they hadn’t thought of a good excuse in the short time it took for them to walk from the portal to her base. 

“J-Joe has been messing around with magic again–” Jevin interjected, saving xB from his mess of stuttering. 

“Again?” Stress asked.

“Yeah, and we were just going around to see if one of the spells he was doing messed up anything over here.” The slime hybrid stuffed his hands back into the pocket of his hoodie. He felt bad for lying to Stress and for shoving Joe under the bus, but for the safety of the server, Jevin supposed the anomaly that was Joe Hills wouldn’t mind. After all, Joe was the one to suggest search parties in the first place. 

Stress tapped her chin, “No, I don’t think there was anything weird going on…Oh, no, wait, there is one thing.”

The trio followed her to the bubbling pond Stress had built a while ago. Moss had taken hold on the rocks that lined the edge, some had been shoved aside they saw, and some of the lily pads had flowers budding beside them. “A bit ago, my pond was throwing up weird items, stuff like dirt, flowers, and arrows. I thought it was just mobs dying in there, but I still felt uneasy about it, so I told Xisuma. He was supposed to be doing an investigation on it but…” 

“But what?” Cleo asked. There were footprints in the mud, she noticed, three to be exact. One was clearly Stress’s shoes, only her shoes had flowers on the bottom and the solidified mud beneath the still water proved it. Another pair of shoes was a good distance away from Stress’s, far enough that they weren’t right next to each other, but too far to look normal. Whose it was, Cleo couldn’t tell. Most of the hermits wore similar styles of shoes because they were both comfortable and affordable in the world hub. But it was the third pair of footprints that left Cleo confused. There were no prints of their shoes standing like the others, it was as if they spawned in the pond, and Stress and the mystery hermit dragged them to solid ground (which would explain why some of the rocks had been moved.) 

But, why? How? It seemed like Cleo was getting more questions and answers during this expedition for answers. 

“He and Grian had a lover's-quarrel so this isn’t exactly a priority for him right now,” Stress answered. “He said he’d do it, but I haven’t seen him for a bit. I just hope he’s okay.”

“We’ll talk to Keralis, maybe he could cheer him up,” xB smiled. “Thanks for telling us, Stress.”

“No problem.”

“Oh,” Jevin said. “Do you know if  Iskall is in his base? We need to ask him too ‘cause he’s in the area.” Stress shrugged, she explained to them that she hadn’t seen him for a few days, chalking it up to him working on a farm or in one of the lower levels in his base. “No worries, just asking. Anyway, thanks Stress!”

Having decided that that was as much information they could get from Stress without being too pushy, they walked back the way they came until they found the dirt path that started their search. Cleo told them what she saw in the pond as Stress talked, feeling weird about the footprints in the mud and how Stress didn’t comment on it. Jevin had spoken up about the additions of structures around her base that weren’t exactly her style. A cobblestone tower just barely peaked over the tallest spire of Stress’s castle in the far back, with hardly any texturization or foliage on it. It was just the tower. A stark contrast to the woodland-fairy theme she had going. 

“I sent a message to Wels about what Stress said and what you two saw,” xB closed his communicator and walked in the direction the map was taking them. “Hopefully it can be of use.”

“Of course, it’ll be of use,” Cleo said. “The pond thing doesn’t make sense! Stress and one other person walked into the pond to save someone–”

“Or something.” 

“Thank you, Jevin.” The slime hybrid gave her a smile. “Or something and dragged it out because it was drowning or whatever.” Cleo sighed. “Whatever we find at the end of this path better give us answers because we’re finding nothing here.”

The tree line faded the closer they got to the mountain side and they had to squint as their eyes got used to the brightness of the sun again. Iskall’s base was just up ahead, the entrance carved into the mountain and stood out against the expanse of green leaves and gray stone, but just a few blocks away was the most inconspicuous entrance they had ever seen. 

It was as if they had gotten Scar to do a hidden base beneath perfect terraforming, or Mumbo to do the most hidden redstone door. That is what they would’ve said if there wasn’t a birch sign with glowing red ink that read “Big Man Tommy’s Badass Secret Shrine.” 

Jevin was the first to enter the hidden alcove. By being a slime hybrid, Jevin could deform himself and squeeze through any hole to escape any scenario, though he’d have no clothes or bones. xB would follow shortly after Jevin, he wasn’t the best fighter nor was he as good at escapism, but he was the one to relay the information they had gathered back to Wels, and the sooner he began investigating, the sooner they could leave. Cleo was the last to enter the area, making sure that no one was behind them or saw them go in, and if they did, she’d act as a distraction while the other two carried on their secret mission.

“Woah,” She said when the room opened up. It was humble, she thought. It wasn’t grand or shabby, the moss felt cool and the glow berries and candles gave the room a warm feeling. Small fountains pooled in the corners of the room and flowed toward the statue that greeted them in the back. “This is quite…pretty.”

“For sure,” Jevin sat on one of the benches in the room. He thumbed through one of the books that lay on the seat, it was handwritten and spoke about Prime and how to pray. “But who built it?”

“I think ‘Big Man Tommy,’” xB joked as he walked around. 

“Whoever they were prayed to Lady Irene, that’s for sure,” Cleo read the book Jevin had. “Joe has so many books about deities and other cosmic figures like that. None of them say anything about a ‘Prime’ but there are a few about Irene, and this sounds like her. Albeit slightly different, but that’s expected.” She handed the book back to Jevin. “The same story doesn’t get told twice the same way.”

“Who is Irene, I’ve never heard of them,” Jevin cocked his head to the side as he stared at the quartz statue. “Are they, like, a server-only god or universe god?”

“She’s the goddess of life and fate, Jev,” Cleo answered. “At least that’s the most consensus, though many believe she also controls time, but…” She shrugged to say ‘I don’t know.’

 “Why would people pray to her then? If she’s the goddess of life,” Jevin said. “Wouldn’t that be, like, wrong? Wouldn’t you pray to Lady Death or something?”

“You see, that’s what I thought at first, but Lady Death isn’t the one people should pray to,” Cleo answered. She sat on the bench beside Jevin, her gaze on the amateur sculpture of the goddess. “It’s Irene. Lady Death just takes you away to the afterlife, where you’re at peace, eternally, why wouldn’t you go? Irene’s the one who writes your fate, she’s the one who cuts someone’s life short and tells Death who to collect. Think about it.” She sat up on the bench, hands outstretched to help express her thoughts. “If someone you care for was dying, right, why ask the person that’s going to keep them happy for them to stay? You should ask the person that made them die in the first place, the person who wrote how, when, and why they should die.”

“Oh,” xB realized. “So, people would pray to her in the hopes that she’d change their fate, right?”

“Exactly,” Cleo said. “But judging by the prayers in the books, whoever this ‘Tommy’ is, has already accepted his fate and is just thanking Irene for putting the good in his life, the little amount there is.” She stood up and walked back to the entrance. “I think we got enough information, let’s head back and tell them what we found.” 

**********************************************************************

This one was fun to write. I had been writing from the pro-Tommy side that writing the alternative perspective was like a breath of fresh air.

(it also let me fully flesh out Wel's motivation and all that jazz)

I hope you guys liked the chapter, feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Masterlist | Previous | Next

[clethos]

day 3 of @mcyt-yuri-week! prompt was hurt/comfort, so i wrote pearl getting injured while fighting mobs and cleo, releuctantly, taking care of her.

fic under cut!

Cleo shouldn't be here.

They're just doing a bit of mining and grinding, waiting for Scott to sleep off his post-respawn slump, and this cave just below them looks promising but it's filled with monsters. Creepers, skeletons, those freaky blue spiders- and Pearl.

Knees bent, hair tied back, she stands in the middle of a decent-sized cave, clutching an iron sword in one hand and a shield in the other. As the small circle of mobs begins to close in on her, she springs into action, expertly dodging a creeper, whirling around to slam her shield into a stray skeleton's ribcage. 

Cleo watches from above, reluctantly impressed. Pearl's a good fighter- they know this, somehow, in the part of their brain that's starting to collect dust. Certainly better than Cleo, in any case. She makes it look easy; like a dance, like something smiling and romantic instead of the sweaty, blood-and-guts affair it is. They can't seem to look away.

And then, in the space of an instant: things start to go wrong.

Pearl, light glinting off her sword as she slashes at a spider, doesn't notice the creeper in the shadows behind her- not until she's sprawled on her back in a crater, momentarily stunned, her sword blown clear across the cave. The sleeve of her hoodie smolders and burns out. The monsters descend upon her.

She's fending them off pretty well with just her shield, but even from here Cleo can see her growing tired, her movements more frantic and less in control. They have to squint to see her, behind the cluster of mobs converging on her like rabid dogs. 

All at once her whole body flashes red, briefly lighting up the ravine.

She's taking damage . Cleo, not quite thinking, leaps down from their ledge, throws down a water bucket as a quick afterthought. Their knees crack weirdly when they land, the sound echoing off the stone walls.

Pearl turns to stare at them. Unfortunately, so does every hostile mob in a twenty-metre radius.

Forgetting their initial plan, Cleo darts forward, grabs Pearl's hand, and starts to run .

---

"Fuck," Pearl wheezes, when they're back on the surface and have a moment to sit down. "Fuck. That little bugger got me, see?" She tugs up the hem of her jeans, revealing a deep gouge in her calf. Blood trickles down and into her left sneaker. Cleo winces.

"A zombie bite? You should get that checked out." As soon as the words leave their mouth they realize how stupid they sound. There's no doctors here. No nurses, no ambulances. No one to save them if nature decided to fuck them over.

"I got vaccinated, actually. I think a couple months ago? So it won't kill me or infect me or anything."

"Sure," Cleo allows, "but you'll be mighty sore come morning. I bet that tower'll be a real pain to climb now, huh?"

Pearl grimaces. "Don't even remind me." And then, quieter: "Thanks. You really saved my butt back there."

"I barely even did anything."

"Well, at least you didn't just leave me there to become zombie food. I think some other people on the server would've."

Her voice cracks on the last word. Cleo doesn't know what to make of any of this. Their head hurts.

"It was just... Because of Scott, you know? He just died, I can't have him already going red."

"Sure," Pearl says, sounding hurt. Cleo almost feels bad. "I guess I better get going now." She stands up abruptly, wincing as her leg almost gives out underneath her.

"Wait," Cleo says. They're surprised to have said it, actually, to hear it out loud in their own voice, but they forge on anyways. "That- that bite's pretty bad. You should bandage it before you go."

---

"You've got to wash it first," Cleo chides. Their not-quite-a-heart is not quite pounding at the proximity, but it comes pretty close. "Did you not know that?"

Pearl's face has gone pale and tightly drawn with pain, but she doesn't flinch as Cleo cleans her wound. "I thought that was one of the steps you could skip."

"It is absolutely not one of the steps you can skip," they say, pulling a roll of gauze out of their inventory. They begin dressing the cut, winding the gauze tightly around Pearl's leg. "Are you seriously going to go back to your Rapunzel tower after this? I was joking earlier, but that really is going to be a pain if you can hardly even walk straight."

Pearl just shrugs. She's sitting up, fingers burrowing into the dirt, her injured leg stretched out across Cleo's lap and the other tucked underneath her body. "Don't have anywhere else to go, do I?"

"What about Martyn? You two seemed pretty chummy on your first day."

"More like my first hour. Did you miss the part where he left me all alone in the woods?"

Cleo, again, doesn't know what to do with the bitterness in Pearl's tone. With Pearl just- here, so close to Cleo, her sword abandoned in the mines and Cleo's own blade resting in its hilt between them. With the longing written on her face, and the hurt bubbling up to the surface.

"Maybe," they say, faux-casually, "you could come up to the ravine with me. Just until your leg heals. It'd annoy Scott," they add, almost panicked, as Pearl's big shining puppy eyes stare unblinking into their own. "It'd annoy the shit out of Scott."

"Yeah." Pearl smiles wide; her sharp teeth flash in the low light. Cleo suppresses a shiver. "I'm down with that."

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

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[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

Pigeon Mail anyone? Pigeon Mail? Perhaps Crows? I'd personally really enjoy that, that would be so cool.

Ahhh, but this raises lots of good points, but you know, this kinda falls into the mental trap of the iCloud Fallacy, as I call it. Basically it believes that The Internet is some ethereal plane that is being conquered and colonized like it's a New New World we have just discovered, when really it's simply a highly complicated information and communication bank built out of cables and boxes all across the world, not a new landmass, but something greater, the culmination of all of human culture ingenuity and chaos, not new things, but what already exists further explored made easier and more accessible than ever, a development and upgrade to our already existing world, not a new world entirely. Another dimension unlocked. The thing is, your very limited view of the internet, is not the whole internet! Not by a long shot. There is an entire web out there completely untouched by corporations, which is mostly why you never hear about them.

Adding on to that, the concerns of AI agents can be easily dismissed with simple logic, you can logically deduce whether someone is a bot or not, and it is a skill you can train. There will never be robots indistinguishable from humans, because if there was, no one would know they were bots, not even their creators, as long as someone out there knows, the possibility to distinguish them exists. The fear of AI agents is not something that should be put much stock into, as the offensive technology is being made, defensive technology is developed in response, AI is not the nuke of the internet, (that nuke hasn't been invented... yet).

Just like the alternative to a McDonalds burger can be make your own burger, the alternative to the internet can be make your own internet. Don't want to buy heavily processed mixed meat of a thousand tortured cows? Buy locally from butchers and farmers who are transparent with their practices! Don't want to rent a server from a predatory server running business that wants to harvest your sites data? Don't! Run your own server or get in touch with groups of individuals dedicated to hosting their own servers in retaliation against the homogenization and monopolization of the internet.

I honestly just cannot stand this traditionalist/doomer mentality going around about abandoning the internet because it's infected or bad now, have you actually looked outside your doors?! The real world is just as bad and difficult to exist in, and part of the reason for that is because we've given it up! We can't make the same mistake with the internet and in fact taking back the web is the first step to taking back the world because of how foundational the web is to the world.

The alternative to "the internet" is a "local" internet. You don't have to disconnect from the web entirely, it's not the only option to escape the coming hell. You in fact simply missed a step there. You don't necessarily have to get into contact with your local community if you can just get into contact with like minded individuals and build your own internet community! All it takes is some initiative and head strength to get going.

There's specifically 3 videos I watched recently that really got me thinking about this in particular and helped culminate into these thoughts and responses. Those videos would be

A. The Web has lost its Soul - LOVEWEB

B. Stop using Fandom

and C. How Can We Bear to Throw Anything Away?

They're all incredibly relavent to my major point, but the tip of that point is no, you don't have to do that, but you do have to follow that spirit, just not in that exact way and in fact it would be better if you did not do that, did not give up humanities most powerful tool to the corporations and forfeit instant telecommunication and the foundations of so many communities and modern cultures, you're simply letting the corpos win by giving up the internet.

All that AI stuff and how capitalists attempt to use it makes me think we're going to start going offline. Let me explain.

The major thing is that labour is done by people, not by CEOs. They would yell at top of their lungs that they are the ones who make innovations possible, that the world would fall apart without their holy guidance. But at the end of the day they need us more than we need them. Otherwise they wouldn't put so much effort into suppressing unions, enforcing corporate culture that makes it somehow inappropriate to discuss your paychecks, feeding so much to police and army instead of really meaningful things such as health care and education, and so on and on and on. People who have other choices don't exchange their life for a possibility of having a decent income given by the army. They want us poor, sick and lonely.

That's here we go to the AI topic. I've come across a TikTok of a black woman who has exposed a business account using an AI model of a non-existent black person to disguise as a black owned businesses. Which means there's no real person from a marginalized group who's going to benefit from the sales. But there are people who want to make money on the people who belong to the said marginalized group.

The real power the working class has is ability to withdraw our labour. And now these guys at the top are desperately trying to deprive us of this power by replacing us with AI surrogates. Surrogates which would write scripts for the shows, do advertising, teach, play, design, draw, supposedly create things out of basically nothing. And you don't have to pay them, try to tame them, listen to their demands, consider their needs, put an effort into controlling them. Cause they aren't alive and have no needs and wants. Which brings me to the idea that we'll need to go offline and share our ideas in person, do things on material storage mediums and finally socialize and build meaningful connections within communities