#like we just want to fix things and change and we collectively realized that powerful people have to be the ones to care before change occur

[taatdragun]

God just need to scream into the void real quick because I am so fucking tired of the state of the world currently

[dykedvonte]

I think a big misunderstanding is the power people give Curly to actually change things about the way the pony express operates or could’ve done things on the Tulpar.

We are talking about a company that docks pay for bad synergy despite mandated psych evals that should tell which staff members would work well together, only allots for 5 hours of sleep despite having literally no other tasks to truly do and locks all resources behind the access of one person. The last one is likely to manage resources and make it easier to justify collective punishment and blaming one person for it; someone needs something in “excess” or the captain gives in? It’s all on them your pay is docked. Instant resentment.

It’s insidious how the company works, it’s by design to distract you from coming after them, to force tensions to line their own pockets. With all the restrictions and forced interactions, altercations are bound to happen. 5 hours of sleep a day, limited sources of entertainment, no real tasks… the monotony alone would cause bad cabin fever, mix that with just only one absolute mediator and you get the exact environment that allows shit like in the game to happen.

The idea he could just complain and try to throw his weight around to get them to dig into their pocket for the crews comfort is laughable and misses the predatory and dehumanizing aspect of capitalism the Pony Express represents. Curly was and is still just another asset to them. Being a top show pony doesn’t mean he’s anywhere close to the actual top. He is the top of the working ladder, not whoever’s in corporate, he wouldn’t even be on the bottom step unlike what Jimmy perceives. The resounding recommendations he would get are almost mocking as they throw him out like nothing just like the rest. Being a shitty fucking company, how much do you bet they’d mean anything anyways, especially since he wanted to leave the field all together.

He made a fuss and they didn’t listen, he says he should’ve done more but you can tell he knows it wouldn’t have changed anything. Jobs like this are willing to make a sacrifice if it means even a penny more. Curly makes a bigger fuss they likely would’ve just found an “unrelated” reason to fire him, hired a more pliable guy or, terrifyingly, promoted Jimmy. The company was failing, going to shut down whether anything happened on the ship or not. But knowing that they were shutting down and that everyone, including him, would be out of a job with this being their last paycheck, he had to factor in not destroying the last bit of their financial stabilities combined with every other issue on the vessel and his own. He gets another cryopod or locks and then he has to break to them that they are not only fired but there will be substantial cuts to their paychecks due to the “upgrades” (things that already should’ve been in place on their part) on top of anything else that could be docked along the way.

You can blame him for saying it so early into the trip but then again, if he mentioned it later who’s to say it wouldn’t have been worse? On the capitalism side alone how would people in a galaxy away from home, out of a job and already stir crazy react? Don’t get me started on how Jimmy would have reacted if he realized he only had two days left to fix what would be a very hard to miss “problem” in his head…

I can’t even consider explaining this as devils advocate because it’s just facts of the world we and they live in and factors that heavily affected the situation. People are just so quick to make claims on the ease of the choices when P.E literally makes it hard to choose to do anything but suck it up.

[ninjas-and-coffee]

What I love rn about the Ninjago Live action panic is that it has almost nothing about the plot. It's about the collective and primal fear of Chris Pratt and whitewashing.

I have seen a couple plot posts, but like there was nothing to prepare us for the crackfic high-school au of the other movie. So I don't think there's any need to try and guess the plot.

Maybe we should make our own movie. Like guys, we could make the anime everyone lowkey wants from the creators. Almost everyone I know has some version of a plot fixing rewrite or retelling thats almost beat for beat with the source material. But like better with longer character arcs and more cultural accuracy.

Like besides humanity's allergy to group projects, why don't we just do it???.

Like I'll start with the basis of my retelling: S1 but with an already teenage Lloyd releasing the serpentine as a misguided attempt to gain his father's attention and being a shadow villain to the serpentine problem. Followed by a zuko style redemption arc when it is accidentally revealed that he's the green ninja in a combat situation.

The first half of the season is about the teams backstories and picking up the lore crumbs on the serpentine and why Garmadon and Wu separated while trying to figure out who has motive, and opportunity to release the serpentine. And since the Golden weapons are conduits for their power. Their true potential is learning to control their power separately from their weapons by becoming "whole" and reaching their full potential. The second half of the season reveals Lloyd's story and his shift from causing harm to gain attention to just asking for it and learning to be loved. (Yes, and sorry its Lloyd centric but he's the villain of the story untill...) Then the serpentine realize they're better together than apart and relase the Great Devourer and you essentially know the rest.

It would have a rather grim/serious tone and probably have some mixture of the demonslayer or attack on titan style. Leaning into the Japanese lore and possibly leaving hints about the nature of Oni and Dragons as more myth and legend than fact. Until a *minor god (the devourer) is released and this leaves the door open for other things to slowly become real. Personally I think the dragons could have been more sentient and revered than was shown, and I'd probably change Lloyd's name to be something Japanese with "Lloyd Garmadon" as a title he gave himself to be more like his father and it just sticks in the others minds so they keep calling him that until he's ready to shed that skin. I'd probably change the others names too or at least make them region specific. I hate hate hate childs play so I'd delete it. And Nya would take up her samurai training after being kidnapped so she doesn't feel like a burden on her brother. And uh Cole will be gay but due to the time period he feels unsafe telling others and learns to trust them. Also I'd probably kick the time period back to late Edo era Japan because the way of the ninja was still studied but becoming harder to come by. And gives a reason why there are no other Ninjutstu masters or students running around. So they're be reviving a somewhat dying art and be praised for it by commoners.

So now I ask. If YOU could retell Ninjago in a episodic anime how would you do it? What does it follow? What would you remove and why?

[byler-alarmist]

So I know we collectively hate time reset/dimension wipe theories about S5, but.....maybe it does need to happen?

Assuming the last couple seasons of ST weren't some elaborate manifestation by Mike to deal with the trauma of losing Will, there are some problems that seem like they can't be fixed without some kind of a reset.

El. Just El in general. Owens was able to give her a fresh start, a new name and a chance at being "normal", However, too many people know about her telekinetic abilities and the ability to open and close gates to the Upside Down. I think she would be in danger of being kidnapped and studied/used as a weapon forever. She can't just kill off/destroy the entire U.S. government (if only), so her file will probably be available for years and even if not, enough people know about her existence that bad actors could target her.

Now that the UD is merging with the RU, will it be contained to Hawkins? Will it spread throughout the country? The world? Even if it is all a hive mind, if they killed Vecna and somehow closed all the gates (it exhausts El to even close one) , would those spores or whatever still be floating around and infecting things in the RU? How could they ever get rid of all of it or ensure that it was all contained in the UD?

As long as both the UD and El exist, even if Vecna is defeated, scientists/governments will always track her because trhey will want to know more about/study/find lucrative applications for the UD. They would still want to use El or use her to find their own way to open gates.

If all this is true and Will/El/the Party need to destroy the UD to make sure no one ever crosses over again, is that really fair? Even if Vecna harnessed the dark particles and created dangerous monsters out for blood, it is hinted that the UD is not inherently malicious. Sure, the Party want to kill Vecna, but if he's gone and the creatures are just minding their own business, would they be fine with destroying it?

And even if they wanted to, could they? How? If it turns out we're right about Will having powers, how would he use them to destroy the Upside Down? I highly doubt his powers would be like El's or involve gates. If he had some kind of creation powers, would he just recreate the UD with glowy light particles and make it beautiful? But even if he did this, wouldn't scientists still want to find a way inside to study it with El"s gate-opening powers?

On the other hand if he (or someone else) has some kind of time powers,, when would they reset it back to? Or what would they go back in time to change? Is there something out of space and time that doesn't belong? (Somehow I am reminded of El saying she doesn't belong anywhere).

If Will or someone else wiped out the dimension that contains the UD (or banished it to another dimension), MKUltra would still have been doing their telekinetic children experiments, right? And if they went back in time, how far back would they have had to go? Back before Henry was taken to Brenner? Would El have been created at all if her mother wasn't part of the MKultra experiments?

Bonus thoughts about a reset: we know how much the Duffers love The Neverending Story. Spoilers for Neverending Story after the cut:

At the end of the Neverending Story movie, Fantasia (the world of fantasies and dreams a bowlcut kid has been reading about in his book) is destroyed by the manifestation of emptiness that is the Nothing. Bastian ({the bowlcut kid) realizes he has the power to make Fantasia (the world of his fantasies) anything he dreams.

After he takes ownership of his role as master of this reality (by giving rhe Childlike Empress a new name 🤔), the entire world of Fantasia is wiped out and it's just Bastian and the Empress together in a black void. All that remains is one grain of sand (a glowing particle, if you will).

The Empress hands the particle to Bastian and tells him his wishes will recreate Fantasia. He recreates it the way he imagined it, and notably brings back all the people who died as a result of the Nothing.

Even more tellingly, he exclaims:

"It's like the Nothing never was!!"

👀👀👀👀

[ilynpilled]

what is your take on jaime infant trebuchet threat?

here is my read of it:

I take into heavy consideration how it is contextualized by the preceding chapters and Jaime’s development in general. A very important thing about how Jaime changes is that it is not just about morality, knighthood, honor, etc. He is also noticeably developing in how he approaches things along with his relationship to the self + the fact that he is more conscious: he is confronting things, he is using his brain (everybody please clap)

“His brother never untied a knot when he could slash it in two with his sword.”

Now, because Jaime’s relationship with his idealism, his honor, his self etc. has changed so drastically, this situation becomes a knot. There is no more “most expedient way to achieve my goal enabled through my cynical ‘pragmatism’.” This is a knot that he can’t cut through because that would be going against keeping an oath, an oath that now means something to him again. And Jaime has reflected on his gordian knot approach since his hand loss.

Let’s see what problem the Blackfish poses:

From Jaime’s perspective, his resolve is an iron fortress. There is an emphasis that idle threats do not work on him.

What does Jaime primarily learn from this roast session from Brynden? The reputation that he (and his family) had earned for him will not allow for negotiation. Not with someone like Brynden. It does not only speak of how dysfunctional Tywin’s method is in the long term, but also how Jaime has a persona in the collective consciousness. It is something that will not go away, perhaps ever. He has reflected about how he no longer has the means to cut through his problems in a literal sense, and cutting through this knot in a less literal sense would lead to bloodshed and the breaking of vows (I wanna add that it is also not a simple situation where rejecting his role and abandoning this situation all together is a necessarily clean alternative. Jaime is an instrument of a regime, he is not the ultimate power here, he belongs to the crown, and he isn’t irreplaceable, so it is not like he as an independent force can make Lannister presence disappear here, even if he wanted to. Running from this knot would not fix anything, especially from the perspective that Brynden is doing nothing but a stubborn last stance with no end goal other than bringing as many Lannisters down to hell with him. While the ‘peace’ that he will create here is obviously temporary, and an uprising is brewing, his motivations and outlook in his current position are important. The siege remaining unresolved leads to the suffering of all sides involved, the Riverlands, already devastated by war, is starving, on top of this all being a threat to his family. The Blackfish scoured the country clean and expelled all useless mouths, the siege not being solved also leads to people starving. ) We can see how and why he now has to resort to new approaches, something he has learned previously in ASoS:

Tyrion would find a way. Let us use the cards we have been dealt. Especially the reputation that is used against us.

Also, what do the people around him suggest:

“Execute Edmure. Show that our threats are not idle”

Edmure is the key, is what Jaime eventually realizes, but not like that. What does Jaime do? He does not end up killing Edmure to show his threats have legitimacy to Brynden (part of it is the logical conclusion he makes about how that would strengthen his resolve, BUT he also does not go with a baby trebuchet threat to Brynden. I personally do not think Brynden is coldhearted enough to take that threat lightly (we know Jaime and co’s thoughts are a different matter), especially if he does not view it as an idle one. But the risk of the bluff being called is more present with Bryden, and then Jaime loses all credibility and chances to avoid bloodshed. There is a reason George wrote this how it is. I think we are supposed to scrutinize what exactly Jaime is saying, and to deliberately who.) He doesn’t execute Edmure and then go to Brynden with a baby trebuchet tier threat with the pretense that his threats are not empty anymore. No, he ends up using Edmure.

A Lannister pays his debts, he thought, and you’re the only coin that’s left to me.

He says this aloud. This is not a thought. This is not something he is reflecting upon based on everything that has been going on in the past chapters. This is a deliberate performance people are watching, specifically Edmure is watching.

“Must you make me say the words.” “He forced himself to smile” etc. He seems to have conflict with even getting these words out, because the people that are present, who he seemed to have built a relationship with, and presented the side of himself that is not just his ignoble reputation. We know Jaime has a very complicated relationship with his self concept, he is desperate for self affirmation as well as not being perceived as monstrous. Yet there is no alternative path here. There is a reason George sets this up: in order to keep his vow he has to embrace his reputation and make use of it instead of trying to save it. The part of this speech that I am showing here are Tywin’s words coming from his mouth. Genna pointed out something: (I do wanna say that there are nuances here, I also do not think this means Tyrion is some final villain and as horrible and cruel as Tywin) Jaime is not Tywin’s “son” (also foreshadowed when Tywin disowns him in ASoS: “You are not my son.” I always thought this was thematically significant considering the choices he starts making at that point). The emulation he does is supposed to be inauthentic. Again, Brynden does not care for these threats, but “soft-hearted” (not saying I agree with this sentiment, not even Jaime does as per ADwD, but it is the reputation he has in a classist and violently patriarchal society lol) Edmure does. Everything is set up by Jaime in this interaction seems to rely on this. If Edmure does not give in, the knot remains. If the knot remains, Jaime feels he would have to cut through it to keep his other vow (to his king and family), and if that is the case he is ready to die on the battlefield immediately because he does not really want to live with himself and his lack of progress (“Just more shit in the bucket. Jaime resolved to be the first man on the battlements. And with this golden hand of mine, most like the first to fall.”). Furthermore, I do not see the point of Jaime doing child trebucheting on top of breaking his vow and following up on what he told Brynden that he would do, especially if he feels recklessly suicidal enough over just having to break his vow lol. What would be the point? You could argue that Jaime can be self destructive enough to do it just to put it into stone how horrible he is, and then recklessly die, but again I do not think thats even a necessity for that for him atp. Jaime is not someone like Tywin. He is not about crazy acts of ruthlessness to overcompensate for a lack of dominance. His primary insecurity is not people not fearing him or questioning his authority, it is people perceiving him as a monstrous oathbreaker. To me, him comparing himself to Tywin here did not primarily feel like: “I really showed it to Genna, I am actually Tywin”, it was also a somber observation connected to this specific insecurity (ntm how Jaime views Tywin: “My father is dead as well” “May the Father judge him justly.” Now, there's an awful prospect.) Even if he keeps trying to emulate aspects of Tywin, I think he is aware deep down that that it incompatible with what he wants to be (see the anti-parallels in his ADwD chapter). I also put a lot more weight to Genna’s words about this because Jaime also seems very caught up in “these threats and methods are not chivalric”, not “they underestimate my strength.” (Lady Genna suggested that a few of the men might be put to the question. He refused. “I gave Edmure my word that if he yielded, the garrison could leave unharmed.” “That was chivalrous of you,” his aunt said, "but it's strength that's needed here, not chivalry." Ask Edmure how chivalrous I am, thought Jaime. Ask him about the trebuchet) Not to mention we have to think about Jaime’s main motivation in emulating Tywin.

Another big thing that is informative: Jaime’s guilt over Rhaegar’s children and that he failed to protect them from his own father. If he is someone that feels guilt over that in his subconscious post-hand loss, would he really be capable of going through with this threat now? Not to mention the situation with Bran atp: link.

and where are we at ADwD?:

For an instant, the deep red clouds that crowned the western hills reminded him of Rhaegar’s children, all wrapped up in crimson cloaks.

“Is that why you killed all the Starks?”

“Not all,” said Jaime. “Lord Eddard’s daughters live. One has just been wed. The other …” Brienne, where are you? Have you found her? “… if the gods are good, she’ll forget she was a Stark. She’ll wed some burly blacksmith or fat-faced innkeep, fill his house with children, and never need to fear that some knight might come along to smash their heads against a wall.” The moment he reiterates Tywin’s dogma, he is flooded with all of this. His last decision in this chapter is going with Brienne, abandoning his position, abandoning his pursuit of the brotherhood (ntm how he didn’t parallel his father or the mountain and left the smallfolk alone despite them potentially holding information about the brotherhood) and disappearing with her because he is told Sansa would die otherwise, despite Tywin’s very dogma of “dead men and dead sons claim no vengeance.” It is not only treason, it is a risk in general. He is crippled and considerably more powerless, Brienne is injured, and yet they disappear together without a trace.

I think a more substantive criticism of Jaime and the handling of the Riverrun situation, other than a bunch of morally darker actions that he actually takes to ensure he is diminishing the threats against his family, is that he would supposedly forsake his vow for Cat in favor of the vow sworn to his king if he is truly completely cornered, which is the statement that he contradicts in ADwD anyways. (If the Blackfish would not listen, he would have no choice but to break the vow he'd made to Catelyn Stark. The vow he'd sworn his king came first.) This is not what your #kingslaying taught us my guy. Ofc, with Jaime and his narration it is always a bit of a gamble: not a moment later he is ready to say fuck it and die in trial by combat to escape the knot (return of the passive suicidal ideation, even saying that if he loses they lift the siege —the siege is out of his control once he dies so I suppose that lets him escape the vow to his king? still lmao—) And again, we see what vow he ends up prioritizing in ADwD. He started out the chapter thinking he is finally gonna return to his place by his king and son, after completing his orders, his primary vow, but…

It is also his old version seeping through. The one that does not want to face dilemmas. The one that is willing to escape them even if that means death. Again, dying for him is easy, living with difficult choices to make is hard.

“As I was fucking her, Cersei cried, 'I want.' I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead.” The things I do for love. “It was only by chance that Stark's own men found the girl before me. If I had come on her first . . .” The pockmarks on Ser Ilyn's face were black holes in the torchlight, as dark as Jaime's soul.

Here is another thing to note, though. Jaime is also someone who, at some point in his life, was ready to do horrible things to an innocent child, with no “justification” like with Bran. He was so detached from his conscience that we was capable of this. This is at a point where he disconnected completely from his morality, and allowed his disillusionment to enable his behavior. He is aware of this. He starts reflecting on this, especially in relation to his evaluation of his relationship with Cersei. That is why he confesses to Ilyn (who is already a metaphor of the man Jaime became: the Lannister executioner, a sword for death etc etc). This is something that makes his soul dark, as pointed out by his narration. The fact that he acknowledges and reflects on this already speaks of change (not to mention that this confession is contextualized with him switching to real swords, taking Ilyn, a literal executioner, into a forest with no one around, and being like “kill me if you can” right after. I do not think Jaime is very happy or delusional with himself as a person here lmao). We do not learn of this from Cersei or anything. Jaime is the one confronting himself here. Jaime is no longer on autopilot. Jaime is trying to confront things. His moral compass is no longer locked away in his deep subconscious. The question now is whether that moral compass will win over all of his struggles with perception, his internal conflicts of his family facing an existential threat and the deterioration they cause and reinforce, and the ghosts of his past. That is what AFfC is starting to interrogate, along with hammering it home that certain vows will never be able to compromise, with many of Jaime’s delusions being forced to crumble one by one.

[chasingfictions]

imagine youre successfully running a wellness cult in upstate new york that may or may not be laundering money but it's okay because everyone said it's fine if you launder their money because you're super hot and charismatic and then you kidnap your cannibal ex wife to save her life because she tries to kill herself after thinking that her best friend killed himself when really he did but also you helped him do it but you didnt mean to it's just a hallucination of your dead best friend appeared at right that moment and then you spend a week administering trauma therapy on your ex wife and also fucking her with the strap and sometimes fucking her with the strap as a form of trauma therapy and it's going GREAT but also you are having full scale hallucinations and getting fake therapy from someone who's not there and you're not remotely dealing but it's okay because your hot ex wife is finally healing but THEN your other four cannibal ex wives show up and you realize your therapist is in fact in your imagination and then your main ex wife lovingly fingers you while you dance around a bonfire with your other ex wives but then one of the ex wives' current husband calls and reveals that four of your ex wives including your favorite ex wife did do a murder together and so you say hey what if we did russian roulette group murder suicide and your favorite ex wife is like hey what if we didnt do that but youre too fucked up to listen to her because you havent taken care of yourself in maybe 25 years or possibly ever and it's fine because who needs to take care of themself when theyre a hot cult leader with a bunch of sexy murderous ex wives. which you are. and then you change into a beautiful velvet caftan while buffy saint marie plays and then you and your ex wives hunt one of your other collective ex wives (the one with the husband) through the woods and try to kill her with knives in the hopes that this will fix the wanted for murder thing and in the process some of your ex wives try to call a psych ward on you but then your other ex wives call it off. and then the ex wife with the husband's daughter shows up and shoots you in the arm for trying to kill her mom and youre so excited about how powerful she is that you dont even try to keep doing the ritual hunt or care that she shot you but then one of your cult members who is sort of at this point your co adopted daughter with your favorite ex wife sees you get shot and shows up with your favorite ex wife's gun and is about to shoot at least one of your wives and then one of your wives is about to kill her with some fentanyl but your favorite ex wife jumps in the middle to save her and thus rewrite the trauma from the death of her father and of her dead best friend's brother and then she dies . and your other ex wives send you away to the psych ward and your cult gets shut down and youre trying desperately to grasp onto any kind of hope because that's what you do and you realize that at least your redhead ex wife who is dying of cancer and also turned you into a cult leader in the first place will likely stop dying of cancer now that your favorite ex wife is dead. and meanwhile your teen self is helping guide your favorite ex wife to the afterlife and keeping her company . and none of it has hit you yet except maybe it always is and your remaining ex wives promise to come visit you in the psych ward. this happened to lottie yellowjackets.

[hyperbolicreverie]

Some musings below the cut on the central conceit of how the plot in One Piece Odyssey works and the one blatant (grumpy and dramatic) exception to how that conceit works:

So the central conceit of Odyssey is that at the beginning of the game the Straw Hats have their abilities and strength removed via an NPC's (Lim) mysterious ability, and they have to go back into their memories to regain those abilities, by more or less doing the same things they did before, i.e. defeating the arc big bad. However, the game notes two important things about how this works:

These worlds they are going to are entirely based on their memories. Lim can't just reach in and fix the problem because they aren't hers. And because they're memories, and time has passed, they're not going to remember things perfectly, so events will be slightly changed. (Luffy's bad memory gets blamed for a lot of shenanigans).

The people in the memories are not real, and will see you as you were when the real events occurred. Basically, they're simulacrum.

We go through almost the entire game encountering familiar friends and enemies--and god, if you want a good cry, go look up Luffy's extremely subtle, heartbreaking reaction to seeing Ace in Alabasta--and no one ever questions the irregularities of what's going on. The Straw Hats, as one might expect, are not subtle talking about the fact that they're reliving their own memories with a slightly different coat of paint. But here's the thing: no one really calls them on it.

Vivi is a little confused, especially about where Lim came from, but she doesn't say anything. Kuzan wonders a little about things when they run into him in Water 7. And Kizaru comments on how fast they seem to have gotten back together at Marineford, considering he was pretty sure they were all separated at Sabaody.

But then we get to Dressrosa. And for a bit, it seems like the same sort of thing. Rebecca and Sabo don't really comment on anything, and it seems like business as usual.

And then Law falls from the sky, immediately starts trauma dumping about his reasons for being there, and passes the fuck out, and has to be carted around while Chopper yells at Luffy to leave him alone.

But here's the thing: Law, as far as we know, never elaborates on his reasons beyond "hey, Doflamingo's brother saved my life, and then Doflamingo killed him" in canon. And that's enough for Luffy, so he doesn't have to. But he's way more explicit in the game, about something he never told anyone, which means they shouldn't be able to remember it.

He also is immediately suspicious of Lim. He pulls a "what's with this sassy lost child" on her as soon as he's conscious, and she gets very defensive.

This Law is a memory. He's not real. Which means the Straw Hats collectively remember him (rightly) as a paranoid bastard with all of the Trauma Warning Lights flashing neon. And they remember he's smart enough to put context clues together.

And then he effectively just breaks the rules.

The memory Law has of Rosinante is so damn strong that Lim's memory magic goes haywire and effectively summons him from nowhere to fight Doflamingo. Lim explicitly comments that she's not doing this, he is, and that's insane. This isn't the real Law. This is a memory. And the memory of this memory is so strong it's able to summon a completely new memory that none of the Straw Hats have. They don't know who Rosinante is. They've never seen him before.

What do the Straw Hats think of Law to give his echo this much power? How much of an impression has he made on them in such a relatively short period of time? (This would also be nebulously chronologically pre-Wano, so nothing that happens there applies. Robin hasn't talked to him yet, even).

I dunno, I realize that this moment was probably more or less included as fanservice, but it opens up a lot of questions. Trafalgar "fuck your rules" Law, everybody.

(Also don't think too hard about how memory!Law got to thank Rosinante and that real!Law will never get that same moment of closure. Think instead about the genuinely astonished look on Doflamingo's face when his dead brother showed up. Or Lim calling Law out on the fact that regardless, Law will help Luffy again and watching him get all defensive about it, the grump).

[aliasrocket]

Re: your Rocket x fox/fox hybrid reader post

I've never written that specifically, so I can't speak for anyone who has, but as someone in the process of writing a fic where Rocket is paired up with an alien that has a mixture of animal characteristics, I personally gave the character those to make them a little more exciting and alien. I still love reading about people's gotg stories and characters/readers portrayed as human or human adjacent, no hate to them, but my personal thought process was, there's a whole galaxy to explore, why not give the character readers are inserting themselves into some inhuman ability or characteristic while keeping their personality as something you could still find in an everyday person.

I mean, as much as I love our collective angsty babygirl, Rocket, a talking cybernetically enhanced raccoon is pretty fantastical. And myself as a Rocket angst enjoyer and having read and loved your therapy fic, I agree that lots of people are probably drawn to the relatability of his mental issues. So, in my opinion, it seems fun to play with a reader character in a similar vein of fantastical yet relatable.

Thanks for sending this ask in and to everyone who responded to that small post asking about the whole fox reader ideal. I got new perspectives that genuinely helped me understand why people enjoy it.

Actually this is something I’ve kinda wanted to talk about fro a while but never really had the means to. And hey, this blog has expressed a wide range of opinions regarding Rocket, so why not?

DISCLAIMER : I will still remind everyone that this is me just sharing MY opinion because I love talking to you guys and sharing our different perspectives. This is not a means to change people’s minds but more so to give a (probably) new perspective to this topic.

I have thought about that for a long time, how complicated reader inserts actually are. They seem like a very simple concept at first but when you’re in fanfic and you have to write a reader insert with a fixed story with a canon character, there important things to consider.

I’m creating headings as I go because I realized my points get rather elaborate and I want you guys to be able to read this post easier.

One. It’s not actually the reader.

The reason they’re called the reader is because you, you reading this, are reading the fic. Nevermind that there are others reading it too. It was made for you, because you came here to imagine being with this character you adore.

And it as much as it may suck, especially for Rocket enjoyers, we aren’t any other species but human. We don’t have wings, we aren’t born with powers or enhanced strength.

But that’s exactly what I love about reader inserts. Even if you are vastly different from the world you’re inserting yourself to, you find a way to insert yourself without having to change what you are. You don’t have to change yourself to be loved by your favorite cast of characters. That, in my opinion, is what fanfic is for.

(But character x nb/trans/male/female/queer/genderqueer/readers or anything of the sort are NOT included in this topic because some of us are actually one of the above, where as none of us are alien/foxes/animals. Probably.)

So, I can’t imagine myself making fox reader fics or even making reader insert fics where the reader is from some other planet because that is no longer me. (I understand that even if the reader is human it technically still isn’t me but we’ll get to that in point two.)

I believe my mindset on this is also influenced by the fact that I want to be a published author later on in my life and I think that if you want to explore other galaxies and other powers and abilities that other lifeforms can have, you can more comfortably do it by making an original character altogether.

my personal alternative : original characters.

Yes, there is stigma around it, but a lot of people have pulled this off well and surprisingly enough, I’m not gonna lie, a lot of the OCs people ship with Rocket are fairly well written. Even the designs are so well put together and blend it perfectly with the gotg universe!

Speaking from experience, it is much easier expanding on those explorations on a character you make rather than an insert because you can make the character your own. Self inserts have to be more general to be able to relate other readers. Yes, you are your own audience. But most of us publish fanfic. To some degree, we do cater to other people as well.

Two. Even then, it is distant.

Even when the reader is human, no amount of generalizing is going to take away the fact that this person probably isn’t like you, even when they are meant to be you.

What I mean by this is that majority of the time, the way the reader acts or thinks or speaks in the fic is probably not the way you would specifically. Some readers in fics are shy, but you could be someone who openly flirts with people you’re interested in. Some readers are sarcastic and blunt but you might prefer to spare people the trouble. You get my point.

This related back to point one in the sense that, writing a reader insert is already in itself distant enough and I think making them a different species is just going to make the reader in the fic even more distant from the actual person reading your fic. The same goes for giving the reader specific abilities or talents and what not.

Conclusion.

In any case, as mentioned previously I still see the appeal in writing readers in a fantastical way because that is also what fiction is for—exploration of the things we cannot normally explore in real life.

And anyway just because I think this way doesn’t mean I don’t read reader inserts like the ones you mentioned because there are a lot of those going around both on ao3 and on tumblr. It’s just a personal preference that I stick to when I write.

[mercurytrinemoon]

I guess this is a 2023 astrology overview or something

As we're approaching the new year, I've been thinking a lot not about the passing one, but about the next one... If you could somehow be nostalgic about the future, that would be the feeling I'm getting about 2023. It's some sort of longing mixed with curiosity and something that seems unattainable. But that's exactly what makes my brain go weird... because it is attainable... There ARE new cycles starting next year even if it's hard to wrap my head around it (just think about Pluto being in Aquarius for 20 years. I know. Hard to comprehend).

And as much as I'm sure at some point sooner or later, I'm going to regret my next words, I cannot wait what 2023 has in store.

There's a lot of changes ahead of us, and those changes will be BIG. Starting from Saturn departing from Aquarius after 3 years. And these were a very long 3 years (not just saying that because it was my 1st house transit and that made it feel extra long) but I feel like they were busy and thought-provoking years. Lots of changes in communication (for obvious reasons), the internet, technology and social matters. The collective approach to all these topics changed drastically. And some of which was forced on us. Few months into the pandemic, after seeing the pattern, I said it won't be fully over until Saturn leaves Aquarius. I said that with a big disappointment but somehow we're almost at the end of the transit and the topic is currently mostly not a thing anymore. Like, can we actually take a moment and appreciate that?

I think the keyword for this Saturn in Aquarius transit was: innovation inspired by limitations.

Sure Pluto is going to take over the sign but it's much much slower in its movement, it's not a harsh reality-check in the style of Saturn, it's sneaky and quiet. Aside from the darker qualities it has (and similarly to Saturn it can cause fear), Pluto can be alluring in its power - it's like a Midas touch if it's on your side. But it will bring changes and those changes might be thrilling yet terrifying. Be careful what you wish for because with the new Pluto cycle, if it's affecting your chart, you just might get it. And these are the words I keep hearing when I'm looking at my own chart so I guess that is some sort of an omen for me.

Obviously these are collective energies but with the nodes shifting signs in the middle of the year, and the north node heading into Aries, there will be an emphasis on the individual. It's about taking back your own power and freedom and reevaluating what each of us want from our lives, I'm sure a lot of people will stop and ask themselves, who am I? And if the thing I'm doing truly makes me fullfilled? There might be changes in leaderships as well. People may become more selfish but sometimes selfishness is required if you want to live a happy drama-free life. With the south node in Libra, people may realize it's actually a relationship with a certain person that is blocking them from happiness, so there might be a lot of goodbyes next year... goodbyes that leave space for new connections - and if you're into the idea of south node symbolising past lives - maybe even a beneficial past live connection? (Maybe that's why I said I'm feeling the sense of nostalgia from 2023?)

(PSA: beware of the nasty people from the past from this lifetime during Venus retrograde tho)

And as the north node departs from Taurus and leaves the mess that it made along with Uranus (that will no longer square Saturn), let's hope Jupiter ingressing into the sign will smooth things out a bit. Now Uranus is still there so that won't fix all the issues but I'm hoping there's going to be less of a "shortage of this and that and the crops are dying cause there's war and the gas is too expensive and oh, let's scare people there's going to be shortages of power during the winter and btw we're gonna make your electricity bills super high so there's that" bullshit and more of a "let's just chill and have some amazing food and maybe lay naked in bed cause we have everything we want" type of Jupiter party. That'd be nice. But first Jupiter is going to speed through Aries and give us all the awesome and exciting energy we all need to get us back on our feet.

And back to Saturn, Pisces folks, buckle up cause that can be like a bucket of cold water for you. Not the type of a swim you like but on the bright side, this can potentially bring a bit of a structure into the sloppy and disorganized side of you (yes I just called you sloppy, soz), it can also bring your abstract ideas into a tangible thing. Just don't loose your jupiterian hope and enthusiasm in all of this even if Saturn will try to break your fragile little heart. And we all shouldn't, as Pisces' jupiterian cousin (that is, Sagittarius) I want to remind everyone that there is a way to keep your rose-colored glasses and still have ideas that are grounded in reality, the key is to wisely assess your situation and work on whatever you have in mind and want to achieve. Use the Saturn energy. Also use all the jupiterian things if you want - being aware of astrology or divination is an advantage after all and having Saturn in Pisces can help give us clearer and more black and white answers when using these methods.

And on that (hopefully) uplifting note, happy 2023.

[maddieautobot273]

Silk & Cologne (13)

A Miguel O’Hara x OC Series - link to AO3 (X)

Chapter 13 - Intruder - previous chapter (X)

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x Female OC

Words: 3.8K+ words

Warnings: PG13 for attempted assault (nothing too graphic but warning just incase) and fighting. 

Summary: Lisa quickly realizes she’s in deep trouble

///////

I quickly gathered up the leftover food, setting an assortment of a little bit of chicken, veggies, and noodles as I put a plate of it in the microwave. As the food warmed up, I ran around the apartment, picking up spare trash, clothes, and other things to make the apartment look as close to clean as I could manage with the many few moving boxes still littered around the floor. 

Once that was done, I quickly checked myself in the mirror, fixing my hair. I wondered if I should change out of my dance clothes into something more comfy, but the beeping of the microwave threw me for a loop so I grabbed a sweater and slipped it on as I slid across the floor into the kitchen. The food was ready, heated up nice and hot. Shoot, maybe I should have asked if he likes Chinese food? 

I didn’t want to keep him waiting, especially since he initiated the meeting in the first place. 

“Okay, you can come over now! o/” - Lisa 

Was the wave emoji too much? I face palmed as I realized how cringe I was acting. Why did I add that? I thought it was cute, but now I just feel stupid. 

I leaned against the counter, waiting for Miguel’s response, but it never came. A storm began to brew outside as the sky turned dark, the pitter patter of rain splatting against the windows. I felt that it represented my emotions to this situation fairly well. The wave emoji was absolutely too much. I scared him off, didn’t I? 

A bright light startled me as another portal opened up in my living room and I watched as Miguel stepped through it, his mask dematerialized to show his face. The portal closed as he looked around the apartment before spotting me, offering me a polite nod. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” 

“Oh, no problem at all, Miguel,” I smiled softly at him as I motioned my hand towards the couch. “Make yourself comfortable,” 

He glanced back at the couch before nodding towards me again, “Thank you,” he walked around, his long legs making big strides with each step before he sat down. He had to be over 6 feet tall at least. 

“Need anything to drink?” I offered as I took a peek in the fridge to stop myself from staring at his back. 

“Water would be great,” He replied. 

I grabbed two water bottles from the fridge before taking Miguel’s plate of food in the other and calmly made my way over towards the couch. If this was an emergency, Miguel would be more upset, frantic even. He appeared calm and collective as he accepted the plate I handed to him and set his water bottle on the coffee table, causing a pulse of relief to wash over me. 

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked him as I sat on the opposite end of the couch to give him space. 

I watched as he took a bite out of his food, gulping it down before speaking. “We have reason to believe that Oscorp might try to go after you again,”

“Oscorp? You mean those guards that kidnapped me?” My eyes widened at the realization. 

“Peter and I realized that they were experimenting with radioactive spiders, trying to recreate the venom that gives Spider-Man, well, their powers. Since you got bitten, they can’t use the spider anymore,” Miguel shook his head before he cast a hard stare. “Meaning, they’ll try to use you instead,” 

“You mean take my powers away?” I gasped, my grip on my water bottle tightening as the plastic crinkled under my grip. “But when they tried to do it the first time, they said the process would kill me. . .”

“All the more reason I’m here,” Miguel stated firmly. “I don’t know when they intend to strike. I have a plan, which is why I asked you to meet with me,”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked him as I watched him calmly take more bites of his food, the stress of the situation leaving an unsettling sensation in my stomach. 

“I’d like to stay here and keep watch for the night,” He stated before his eyes quickly widened as he registered what he had said before placing a hand over his chest. “With your blessing, of course,”

“You’d be staying here?” My breath hitched at the idea. Miguel. In my apartment. Overnight. While I was asleep. 

“Yes, but I’ll keep watch somewhere you’d be comfortable with,” He spoke reassuringly as his hand gently brushed across the couch cushion closer towards me, “I can monitor things on the roof, or stay here,” 

I noticed the close proximity of his hand. I glanced up at his face to see him giving me a relaxed, almost charming half smile. Was he trying to appear relaxed to keep me calm? 

Then why is this the closest he’s willingly ever been with me?

I blushed at the gesture as I quickly stood up and stepped away from the couch. “How about the roof? I was gonna get ready for bed now, actually,” 

I watched as Miguel pulled his hand back, waiting anxiously to see how he’d react. I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat relieved when he nodded calmly. 

“Of course, I’ll let you get some rest,” He finished the last few bites of his meal before setting the plate aside as he stood up from the couch. “Thank you again for the lovely meal,” 

“You’re welcome,” I gave him a polite smile as I watched him walk over to one of the larger windows of my apartment and stepped out into the fire escape. 

I watched him closely as the rain drops stained his face, dampening his brown hair as he looked back at me, offering me another half smile before materializing his mask on and jumped up higher and out of my view. 

My heart was pounding in my chest as I walked slowly towards the nook of my room where my bed was, closing the curtain to give me more privacy. I began to change out of my clothes into my pajamas and looked over to where my spider suit hung in my closet and suddenly felt a sharp buzz in my mind. 

My vision became more clear as this sixth sense coursed through me. No, my Spider-Sense again. Something was definitely wrong. I changed out of my clothes and reached for my suit. 

///////

Gwen’s P.O.V. 

Hobie, Pav, and I were walking through the halls of the main hall of the Spider Society, chatting away while passing Miguel’s lab when his doors flew open and he stepped outside. 

“Whoa, Miguel! You okay–” Gwen was in the middle of asking him what was wrong when he shot an accusing glare at her. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Easy, don’t need to get up all in her face, boss,” Hobie narrowed his eyes at Miguel as he took a daring step forward in front of Gwen. 

Miguel looked like he was going to snarl at Hobie, and maybe risk a punch at him so Gwen quickly stepped in between them, diffusing the potential brawl. 

“What are you talking about Miguel?” She asked as she looked over to their leader. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Lisa for dinner?” He responded, trying to keep his voice calm. 

“Um we were, Mr. O’Hara, sir!” Pav stepped to the side, saluting Miguel as he spoke calmly and politely. “But Lisa said that you messaged her requesting to speak with her in private and asked us to leave,” 

“Meeting? What meeting?” Miguel’s shoulders slowly relaxed from his tense demeanor. 

“You asked to speak with her about classified information?” Pav elaborated more, forming air quotes with his fingers. 

“I wasn’t planning on seeing her until–”

Suddenly it clicked. Gwen could see the gears turning in Miguel’s mind. 

“Morning. . .” he finished his sentence, his voice trailing off.  

Something was definitely wrong. He didn’t have Spider-Sense, but he quickly put two and two together that something was definitely wrong. 

“But I saw the messages pop up from her Gizmo. It was your frequency number that was messaging her,” Gwen stated as she and the others followed Miguel back into his lab. 

“Lyla, run a security check on my Gizmo’s communications link,” Miguel commanded as he swung up to his platform, the other three Spider’s following close behind him. 

“Checking now,” Lyla got straight to work as Miguel tossed his Gizmo in a tracker beam magnetic field as Lyla’s drones patched in and scanned the device. “Oh no,”

“What is it?” Gwen asked with an edge in her voice. 

“Miguel, someone hacked your communication link earlier tonight. They hijacked the sensor so my security protocol wouldn’t alert me,” Lyla spoke hastefully as she brought up the results on the monitor. 

“What were the messages?” Miguel asked. 

Lyla brought up a side screen where she manually logged Miguel back into the chat and a cluster of unread messages appeared on the screen. “¿Qué? ”Miguel’s eyes widened with shock as his mouth silently spoke the words written in the texts before speaking, “I never sent those,” 

“Then if you didn’t send them, then who’s with Ms. Lisa?” Pav spoke fearfully as he glanced between the group. 

Gwen watched as Miguel's muscles tensed up, his shoulders squared up as he used his glowing red web shooter to snatch back his Gizmo and slipped it onto his wrist. “Lyla, set the coordinates to Lisa’s apartment,”

“I’m trying but someone slightly smarter than me is jamming the signal,” Lyla growled in frustration as she tirelessly “Slightly smarter,”

“Then get me as close to the apartment as you can,” Miguel commanded with an intense growl. 

He tried to send a message to Lisa, but the connection was having trouble stabilizing long enough to get it through. 

“Miguel, let us help,” Gwen stated as Lyla finally opened a portal to Lisa’s dimension. 

“Wait here, I’m not risking any more damage to Lisa’s dimension,” Miguel responded with a stern look as he rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. “I’ll call you if I need back up,”

“Yes sir!” Pav saluted him. 

Gwen could feel through her Spider-Sense that Miguel’s heart was pounding inside his chest. She knew Lisa had to be in serious trouble if Miguel was getting so worked up about this as she and the others watched Miguel sprint through the portal, vanishing before their eyes. 

She knew whoever was on the other side would be in very deep shit for messing with Miguel, and more importantly, if Lisa had gotten hurt.

//////

Lisa’s P.O.V. 

I slipped my pajamas over my spider suit, clutching the crock top hoodie tightly in my fingers as I felt my nerves go into overdrive. Was I overreacting? I mean if Miguel was calm then I should be too, right? He deals with this multi-verse anomaly stuff all the time. I shouldn’t worry. 

But then why did it feel like the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, or got a shiver down my spine when he looked at me like that? With that half smile of his, and the look in his eyes. He’s never looked at me like that before. 

I shook those thoughts away as I pulled the hoodie over my head, throwing it on. Just as I was crawling into bed, my Gizmo started ringing. I glanced at the screen, but the caller ID wasn’t registering properly. The screen displayed it as an unstable connection, but the option to answer the call was still coming through. So I answered it. 

“Hello?”

“Lisa, listen to me,” Miguel spoke quickly, “You need to get out of your apartment. NOW!”

Miguel? Why was he calling me if he was only on the roof? Unless. . . 

“Miguel, what’s going on?” I asked him with uncertainty. 

“Lisa, I’ll explain later, but you need to get out of your apartment, right now!” He ordered as I could hear his harsh breathing and the whips of his web shooters in the background. 

Why would he be swinging if he was already out on the roof? Then my Gizmo vibrated for a split second, the connection stabilized and a flood of messages appeared on a holoscreen above my face. 

“Gizmo compromised!” - Miguel 

“Oscorp is looking for you!” - Miguel

“Someone is impersonating me!” - Miguel

“GET OUT OF THERE NOW!” - Miguel

“Lisa? Lisa, can you hear me?” Miguel asked through the communication link. 

“Lisa?” I heard Miguel’s voice again, but not through the Gizmo. I abruptly muted the call on my Gizmo as I looked over towards my open window. 

I didn’t dare open my curtain, but I could see the shadow of Miguel’s figure sitting at the window. My heart was pounding in my chest as I took deep and steady breaths. 

“Everything alright?” He asked as I watched his head tilt to the side. 

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” I responded with a faint chuckle as my palms began to sweat. “I have you here watching my back,”

“Just a feeling,” He spoke as I watched his body step through the window and back into the apartment. 

I could feel my body heat up instantly as I watched him take a few cautious steps closer towards the curtain. 

I coughed into my fist, trying to compose myself. “Well, I’m ready for bed, so I’m going to get some sleep now,” 

I watched as he tilted his head to the side again, as if he were trying to stare at me through the curtain. “In a hoodie? In the middle of spring?”

“I, uh, get chilly easy,” I nervously replied, “It’s the air conditioning,” 

“Oh, well if that’s the case,” there was an almost sultry chill to his voice that sent a shiver down my spine as his hand reached for the curtain, pulling it back enough to reveal a dark and predatory look in his brown eyes. “I’ll keep you warm,” 

His appearance startled me as I fell back on my bed, and I almost didn’t process his words in time as he tried to reach out, grabbing my arms to pin me down. A memory flashed in my mind of a man around my age doing the same thing while we were at my dorm, and then it cut to my step father scolding me. 

I shrieked as I thrusted my knee into his jaw, making him bite his tongue as he screamed. He let go of me, stepping back before I kicked him again with my foot, shoving him away and knocking over the support beam of the curtain as it toppled to the floor. I immediately jumped away from the bed, standing in the living room as I panted heavily. My entire body was sweating as I watched Miguel slowly recover from my attack. No, not Miguel. 

Not my Miguel. 

“Who the hell are you?!” I shouted. 

“Now, now, mi vida, is that any way to treat your friend?” Miguel lectured me with a dark laugh. - My pretty 

I wanted to fight back, but at the risk of using my powers and tearing my dimension apart, I grabbed a vase and threw it at his head before I made a break for the door. I heard the breaking of the vase and didn’t dare turn back as I grabbed the door knob, but collapsed to the floor when I felt something grab my ankle and yank me down. 

I yelped as my body hit the floor, vaulting to my side to see what had grabbed me. Miguel had caught my ankle with a web shooter. A normal one, not his glowing red ones. I saw it now. He was hiding it under the sleeve of his suit. Miguel chuckled with an evil look in his eyes as he yanked on the web sling, pulling me across the floor. 

“No, no, no, stop! Get away from me!” I screamed as I tried to scramble to my feet, but the more I tried, the harder he yanked me back. 

“You’re only making this harder for yourself, Lisa,” Miguel made a tsked sound with his tongue, shaking his head with a disappointed frown. 

“You’re not Miguel,” I yelled. “Stay away from me!” 

He yanked me back once more until he towered over me, his feet planting on either side of me. Tears were in my eyes as I tried to defend myself but he grabbed my wrists, using his web shooters to stick some web fluid on them to stick them together. He threw them aside before reaching for my neck and applying pressure. 

“You have something that belongs to Mr. Osborne, and he wants it back,” Miguel stated before his lips curled into a smile, his free hand literally ripping into my pajamas to reveal the rest of my spider suit. “But don’t worry. I’ll take very good care of you until then,” 

I whimpered softly as he extended his thumb, the rough skin of his brushing against my lips. I tried to squirm free, but the more I moved, the more pressure his hand applied to my neck. I didn’t care if I blacked out. I didn’t care if I ran out of air. I had to do something. So knowing that the call was still live on my Gizmo, I screamed at the top of my lungs. 

“MIGUEL, HELP!” 

“He’s not coming, cariño, I made sure of that. I’d save that pretty voice of yours for—” Miguel’s threat was interrupted by the sound of a loud, menacing roar. - sweetheart 

At the corner of my tear stained eyes I watched as a pair of red hued web shooters shot through the window and stuck to the floor. 

“Get your shocking hands– OFF OF HER!” A familiar voice yelled as Spider-Man 2099 flung himself through the window and tackled Miguel off of me. 

They both banged into the door, and the man who I absolutely knew was Miguel grabbed his doppelganger by the collar and shoved him against the door, punching his gut and face multiple times before shoving him into the kitchen counter. 

He looked over towards me, a feral look in his red eyes. “Lisa, RUN!” 

As the pair fought, I pulled myself up to my feet, scrambling for the window as I pulled myself over it and into the now pouring rain. I ran up the emergency fire escape, trying not to trip or slide from the rain water. The liquid turned my web robes into mush as I pulled my wrists free from their prison, tossing the gooey mess aside as I made it to the other. 

I could still faintly hear their brawl as I ran and hid one of the bigger air vents. I huddled down, my knees tucked close to my chest as my body trembled, waiting for this whole ordeal to be over. Miguel. . . he’d never take advantage of me like that. That was a phony, a fake. Miguel. . . 

He came for me. 

I didn’t know how long I was out there in the cold rain. But at some point the fighting died down, and I could hear a web sling go off and the whoosh of a figure flying up, grunting as he landed on the roof. His steps splashed in the puddles as he looked around. 

“Lisa?” He called out. “Lisa, it’s safe to come out now!” 

Liar. Was it really him? Was this another trick? 

I sucked in a shaky breath as I readied my web fluid. Dimension in jeopardy or not, I was going to defend myself. No more running. 

I sprang up from my hiding spot, aiming my wrists at Miguel. “Don’t come any closer!”

He immediately put his hands above his head, a wave of relief washing over his face as he looked at me with sharp eyes through the mask. “Lisa, it’s okay,”

“Don’t you even think about putting your hands on me again!” I threatened. 

Hearing the pain in my voice triggered something in Miguel. He dematerlized his mask. “Lisa, por favor escúchame amiga, it’s me, Miguel,” - Please, listen to me, my friend

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?” I asked with a shaky breath. 

“What can I do to earn your trust?” He asked calmly, his eyes pouring into mine. 

The rain pumped around us as thunder roared in the distance. My mind raced as I thought of a solution, gasping for air as I spoke. “Tell me. Tell me something about me only you would know,” 

I could see the pupils of his eyes shift as he registered the request, no, an order. He slowly lowered his hands, but kept them up and away from his web shooters. His hair, skin and suit were soaking wet, but that was the least of his concern. 

“Alright,” he nodded slowly. “Alright,’

I stood firm, not lowering my wrists as I kept them aimed at his chest. 

“I know that during our work outs that you prefer to use the treadmill than the punching bag because you think you’re not strong enough to use it, and I’ve offered to teach you,” He started, his eyes shifting as he quickly thought of more reasons as he kept speaking. “I know that you told me that song you performed during our fight was from one of your favourite animated movies, sorry, anime, specifically,” 

I could literally feel the walls around my defenses starting to break. My hands began to shake, but I still didn’t let them buckle as I stood firm. 

“I know that you like spicy food despite your stomach issues, you’ll eat it anyway. I know you absolutely love K-Pop, I think, sorry– I know you’re a talented dancer, I know back during your first visit to the Doc, you grabbed my hand and I didn’t let go, and I know that when we first met, at the warehouse? I saw you looking at me when I rescued you,” 

As my heart pounded, I felt it skip a beat. Twice. Maybe three times. When Miguel realized I wasn’t going to shoot him, he lowered his arms completely as he gave me a tired smile. 

“You want to know something about me that I think you’d know?” He asked. 

I cautiously lowered my arms ever so slightly, watching him carefully. “What’s that?” I asked him. 

He took a confident step forward, “I’d think of way better and original pet names for you, my Mona Lisa,” 

The walls shattered, completely breaking apart. It really was him. My Miguel O’Hara. My Spider-Man 2099. A cry broke free from my lips as I could feel my knees buckle and in an instant, Miguel was at my side. His grip was gentle, his arms wrapped around my back and shoulders as I cried into his neck. He materialized his cape and ripped it from his back, wrapping it around me as a blanket as I could hear police sirens in the distance. 

“I think my neighbors called the cops,” I sniffled. 

“I can help with that,” Miguel spoke softly as he placed a comforting hand on my head, brushing a lock of hair away from my face. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,”

////////

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[thecosmicangel]

Aquarius, Pisces,Gemini, Leo Collective Message ☎️📧

You could be feeling like you are at a crossroad or just feeling disappointed & confused. You may feel like you are clouded or have no clarity on a situation. You may be feeling low in energy or not very optimistic with life or yourself at the moment. Many things could be happening in your life, making you feel overwhelmed. If its not one thing its another. You may feel like life is throwing so many challenges and obstacles your way, you feel like you can't take any more problems or you'll burn out. You may have a choice or decision to make which could help you feel better or you will receive hope in the midst of all the chaos in your life. I see a vision of a house plant not getting enough sun light or water and it dying. This could just be a metaphor of how you feel internally. I could see that you will need to make a decision or will be forced into something ( a tower moment) you may feel at crossroads between your heart & your mind. I feel like a truth will be revealed to you or you might just realize the answer or have an epiphany over something you knew deep down. I feel like a big realization will be revealed to you and you will see the big picture of why things had to happen or why they are happening. It's like a big light will be shinned on something you were blocking yourself from or not wanting to admit to yourself. Balance is being restored after a tower moment, a rebirth or transformation. You are being asked to face whatever comes your way with valor and strength, you are capable of handling it all and you should know that higher powers are protecting and watching over you. You are entering a new chapter or cycle in life where your wish fulfillment in all departments of your life will begin to be fulfilled. You are pouring all the love into your own cups to bring in well being and happiness. You will receiving love news or just news or opportunities that bring you emotional fulfillment, trust the universe and go with the flow. Stop being so controlling or defensive and open up to the endless possibilities. Go with the flow but work on building a healthy strong structure and boundaries and the things that you have the power to control. Stop being so rigid or limited in your thinking, stop being so stubborn or fixed on a certain idea or perfection, the universe always finds a way of making things workout better than we could ever imagine. Be careful of intrusive or negative thinking, you could be hurting yourself with your own thoughts or expectations, let go and surrender. This collective reading has a big energy of being stubborn or trying to go against themselves or what the universe has in store for you. You might change your mind a lot about a situation or idea, but I see a big reveal or clarity being brought to you soon. It's like you have been searching for the truth or clarity and went on a deep introspection or spiritual journey and now you are finding the answers and trusting your intuition. Psychic gifts could be opening up to you, or you are finally seeing past the illusions. For some this could be specific message but I'm sensing the clarity you are receiving is about how you hold and block your own self. You do this by trying to pour your energy and passion onto other things when you should be pouring that attention, energy and passion onto yourself and the things you always wanted to do. This is why you might often feel a big void because you are ignoring something about yourself that your heart and soul truly desire. You could be scared of your own potential because deep down you know you are powerful and whatever it is you want to achieve will change your life for the better , you are just scared of change and knowing your life will not be the same once you put yourself first and follow your heart. As much as you see darkness in yourself or fear the darkness in you it's a mirror of how much light, love and power you hold.

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Disclaimer!! Readings are not meant to be taken as medical or legal professional advice, always seek a professional for advice or medical care. 

[jennrypan]

mIraculous ladybug is the show where the writer doesn't know how to write teenager as teenager and what would you change on mlb if you have the power to do that

Ohhh boy. Welp- this will be LONG.

1: Id make it in 2D, cuz one..the expressions and behaviors do NOT translate well with this animation and also..I think itd be cooler.

2: Give Marinette new outfits!!! Shes an inspiring fashion designer cmon!! Have her make stuff for herself and friends (and get an actual person that knows about fashion to give pointers)

3: Let Marinette actually..do hobbies with her friends that isnt about Adrien or Ladybug like..show her have a life outside of just that?? Show the audience who she is so we can love her more (and itll add more angst to how much she has to set back for Ladybug)

4: Adrien shares that actual plot and we see more of his home life and how it differed from Marinettes (Like Marinettes life is full of life and colors and Adriens is dull with little to no emotions allowed)

5: Marinette would maybe still give Chloe the shit advice for her mom thinking shes helping but instead of it being seen as a good thing it shows that Marinette cant fix everything especially things like this cus she doesnt get it (and itll make her look at people and her life in a diff light cuz she realizes..she has loving parents and most people dont, which leads to her looking at Gabriel with a side eye even more and regretting what she told Chloe)

6: Use Lila more and hint at how collective she is, make her use better lies and show her actually doing stuff shes lied about and hanging out with the class so it actually makes sense why they truly dont see her as evil (i also..wouldnt make her some evil mastermind , shes just petty and annoying, desperately wanting to be cool and loved by her peers) whether she gets redeemed or not depends

7: Show Adrien and Nino hanging out!! Let him have friends outside of Marinette and Ladybug!!

8: Marinette wouldnt give literally everyone in her class a miraculous..its so lame. Instead like Master Fu..she gives it to people she sees doing good things but not before discussing it with Chat Noir (Alya, Nino and Chloe will still get it and eventually Chloe would suggest Sabrina with Adrien or Marinette suggesting Kagami etc)

9: Give Luka more..personality than musical simp. AND EYELASHES OR EYELINER CUZ FUCK HE LOOKS LIKE THIS 👁👄👁!!!

10: Dont reveal who Hawkmoth is until the middle of season three, like in season 1 its a complete mystery and his motives are unknown, show Gabriel actually doing his job (he goes out and wears actual nice clothes instead of just..white and red..) So no one even suspects hes the villain, hes just doing his job..he just looks too busy for Adrien

Basically..fix the animation, fix how the emotions are handled..give the characters more depths and interaction so we can care a lot more about their motivations ?

I just wanna see these guys do..actual hobbies instead of just going to school..playing video games and thats it?? None of the other kids seem to have..lives outside of each other

Also..give the girls better outfits :/ its all kinda lame ngl. So thats just the jist, I dont want this to be too long cuz I got a LOT id change for this show ngl

[tenebriism]

TOTK Verse : GHIRAHIM.

// SMALL SPOILERS FOR TOTK MENTIONED. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Subject to change. I'm pretty far into the game, main story quest-wise, but I'm still familiarizing myself with The Chasm and the sky islands, so I may tweak some things, here and there, as my understanding of both areas expands.

Skyward Sword Ghirahim, no doubt, was a tool for Demise. Nothing more, nothing less. A means by which to both resurrect his Master, and to match Fi's / The Master Sword's power, when it came to the final battle with the hero of legend ( rather, attempt to. We all knew that wasn't happening. ) There are theories that suggest Ghirahim ' himself ' has died, and that only the blade itself remains, much like how we can tell remnants of Fi still remain in the Master Sword, but she doesn't emerge as an actual entity who can speak and guide us anymore.

What if his blade ends up down in the deepest depths of the Chasm, though? Surrounded by that icky, corrupting substance they call ' gloom? ' Or, pieces of it end up in varying parts of the Chasm ( because the area is HUGE. My jaw dropped when it just . . . kept GOING ), and once all the pieces are collected and put together, out pops a gnarly looking husk of Ghirahim, searching for a fight. A blade wielded by the Demon King is sure to feed and thrive off such generous pools of darkness and power, and if we can eventually fix the Master Sword ( I'm assuming that's the route the story is taking -- not there yet ), then who is to say a blade of darkness can't be restored, too?

Defeat him, and he comes to his senses. Might be a bit prickly, but hey, welcome back, Ghirahim.

I write my Ghirahim as bitter and somewhat resentful towards Demise once he realizes just how well treated Fi was with Link, and how, despite all that Ghirahim did for his Master, it didn't really matter in the end. This could lead to an allegiance with the hero, or at the very least, a promise not to get involved with this Ganondorf's reign of terror. I can't see him putting on a bucket hat and jumping in to fight against the bokoblins and other monsters he once served as a leader to, but I can DEFINITELY see him sitting on the sidelines, observing . . . MAYBE helping, here and there, when he ' feels like it, ' and then playing it off as just wanting to see the Dark Lord fall.

I don't know, I just think one of those ' OMINOUS WEAPON FOUND IN CHASM ' sidequests would be cool. :) And maybe you get a pretty Demon Lord out of it.

[heybuddythatsnotok]

All the Time in the World

Description: tua au where Five finds someone else in the apocalypse and they fall in love (Five x male). not very organized, kinda all over the place. some fluff.

TW: blood, mentions of death from cancer

Sorry for switching tenses in the middle. Different paragraphs were written at different times separately and i didn’t feel like changing it. Writing isn’t great and it’s very messy i’m sorry i just wanted to get my ideas down idk i’m sorry

enjoy ig

[we enter when Five has just jumped to the apocalypse and found his siblings]

Five notices a figure in the distance. He doesn’t think it’s another person, it can’t be, how could someone have survived something like this? He starts walking closer to it, the closer he gets the more he realizes… it is another person. “Hey!” He calls out. They start running. Five chases after them. Not long into the chase, the person trips on a piece of broken wood. Five is standing over them. “Who are you?” He asks. 

This boy Five has found, who is wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt and black jeans, is shaking. His pale skin is covered in dirt and ash. He has grey eyes and curly, dark brown hair. His arms are covered in scratches. “Are you asking for my name?” He responds. 

“I’m asking how the fuck did you survive this?” Five says.

“It’s hard to explain,” The boy stands up and dusts off his pants.

“Well,” Five replies, “seems like we’ve got all the time in the world.” 

“How did you survive?” 

“I’m a time traveler and I went too far. Can’t get back. Now does it seem hard for you to explain?” 

And so Noah (that’s the boy’s name) explained. He, like Five, has powers. He can create a force field around anything he wants, including himself. He can also move objects with his mind, although he’s not that good at it yet. But he’s mastered his force fields. He can make them big or small, he can make multiple at the same time, and he can fit as many people or things in one as he likes. Noah lived in a small cottage just outside of the city with his dad. When the apocalypse happened he was alone because his dad was out fishing. He left the cottage to see if anyone else had survived and he’d just made it to the city when Five spotted him.

“Your force field was strong enough to protect you from the apocalypse?” Five questioned.

“I guess so. It didn’t work perfect, though. I started struggling and a hole formed. That’s how I got all these scratches,” Noah shows Five his arm. 

They made a good pair together. At first, Five wasn’t so sure about Noah but he quickly proved himself to be useful. Five would collect bits and pieces of broken objects and buildings and Noah would turn them into something. Five found a broken wagon and Noah fixed it and wrapped the handle with cloth so the grip was better. Noah knew how to help Five calm down when he was getting worked up. And Five knew when Noah was feeling down, no matter how good Noah was at masking it. They spent their time trading stories and learning about each other. Noah was the only person Five really opened up to. Five learned about Noah’s mom, who died of lung cancer when he was nine. “We weren’t that close,” Noah says, “my dad always told her to stop smoking.” 

One morning Five found a vinyl player underneath a pile of ash-covered bricks. Next to it were vinyls. “Noah! Look what I found!” Noah got up from the rock he was sitting on and walked over.

“Is that a vinyl player?” He asked, “do you think it still works?”

“Let’s find out,” Five replied. He set it down and tried playing “Happy Together” by The Turtles. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked well enough and they danced together, holding each other’s hands tight. Delores the mannequin sat in the wagon not far away. Halfway through the song it stopped playing. They both laughed, still holding hands. Their eyes met, Noah kissed Five on the cheek, then Five kissed Noah on the lips. 

Years later, Noah made rings out of bits of wire he found. He surprised Five with them. Although their marriage wasn’t legall, they were still husbands at heart. 

They grew old together. When the Handler came, she originally asked for just Five, but he insisted on bringing Noah too. She agreed and Noah and Five went on missions together. 

When they jumped through the portal together to get back to 2019, the fire hydrant Klaus had thrown at it hit Noah. Five yelled, “you hit my husband with a fire hydrant!” 

“Sorry…?” Klaus said.

Noah went with Five that day to get a coffee from Griddy’s Doughnuts. When Agnes asked what they wanted Five said, “Coffee, black. He’ll have the same.” 

“Cute kids,” Agnes replied to the man sitting near them. She thought Five and Noah were twins. 

After the fight, Five and Noah left Griddy’s holding hands, covered in blood.

Taglist: @timininimi @mywalrusatemyhomework @voidofthearchive

[bramblingastrology]

Saturn Ingresses into Pisces till 2026

Saturn in Aquarius posed the question to society: could you follow societal restrictions for the good of society? How would you react in the face of restrictions imposed to and by society? Is society prepared to handle dangers of a Fixed Air nature? (COVID) Can we and society restructure itself for the greater good in the face of dangers of a Fixed Air nature? Saturn challenged us and our existing societal structures and showed the weak-points and what needed change. Now, whether or not we have followed Saturn's lessons to restructure society for the good of the many, remains to be seen, but now with new context as Saturn challenges Pisces' idealism and empathy.

Saturn in Pisces is likely to ask questions with no less weight, and will ruthlessly point out what needs restructuring, but instead in areas ruled by Pisces. We will have to ask what are or aren't reasonable structures, restructures, or restrictions on globalization, unification, empathy, creativity, idealism, and spirituality. Being mutable water, I'd also imagine that current trade and shipping by water, in the context of inter-dependency of the world by trade, may be challenged as well. Saturn will demand a reality check, and grounding, in areas of our romanticism and idealisms especially on a global and society level, and of course, on our delusions, and escapism.

Pisces is a sign that wants to bring many seemingly disparate ideas together, and wants to be unifying on a deep collective level, of people, places, and ideas. Saturn bringing structure and grounding can actually bring great gains in this area, where if it is used well, the similarities will become more evident and bring more interdisciplinary and intersocietal unification. I can personally see large gains possible in interdisciplinary sciences.

However, Saturn is just as likely to point out any inconsolable and insurmountable differences, and a reality check of some things never being able to coexist, is likely to also occur. For example, society cannot just keep allowing space to speak for neo-nazis and anti-semites and racists and terfs and the like; there are limits that should be realized, and that some things should not be ever tolerated no matter how idealistic we are about "rights". I can see Saturn in Pisces pointing this out, and highlighting this as an issue that needs to be addressed, IF the energy is used constructively.

This will be an ongoing theme even after Saturn leaves Pisces, as both Neptune and Saturn will remain in the same signs through Aries as well, and will have two conjunctions in Aries: once in 2025 (does not become exact before Saturn retrogrades), and the last conjunction being in Feb 2026 an exact conjunction in the critical degree of Aries. If Saturn's energy is used well, and priorities are adjusted, then the last exact conjunction between the two in critical degree of Aries will be a powerful point in bringing ideals and positive change to reality, and will be ongoing work as the two move through Aries. But it all depends on how the lessons of Saturn moving through Pisces goes, and how the first near conjunction goes in 2025.

Important Saturn degrees through 2026 include (but not limited to):

~4 Pisces (Saturn-NN sextile both true and mean node during Apr'23), 7.13 Pisces (SR Jun'23), 0.31 Pisces (SD Nov'23)

19.26 Pisces (SRJun'24), 17.27 Pisces (Jupiter-Saturn Square; Aug'24), 12.42 Pisces (SD Nov'24), 14.1 Pisces (Jupiter-Saturn Square; Dec'24)

24.57 Pisces (exact sextile Uranus; Apr'25), ~26 Pisces (exact conjunct north node - true and mean both in Apr'25), ~1.17 Aries(Jupiter-Saturn Square; Jun'25), 1.56 Aries (SR; Jun'25), 1.12 Aries (Saturn-Uranus Sextile; Aug'25), 25.9 Pisces (SD; Nov'25) near (within a degree) trine Saturn-Jupiter by end of year in Pisces

27.33 Pisces (Saturn-Uranus Sextile; Jan'26), 0.46 Aries (exact conjunct Neptune Feb'26), 14.45 Aries (SR Jul'26) 13.41 Aries (Jupiter-Saturn Trine, Sep'26) 7.56 Aries (SD Dec'26)

[pneumanomads]

Flat Earth vs. Round Earth? How the Debate Reveals Hidden Truths About Our World

The flat earth vs. round earth debate is very interesting and may be a signpost to a deeper truth about human nature and the nature of reality.

What if the earth is flat and round at the same time?

Okay, just hear me out and allow me to explain. First, we have to talk about some things that show how reality depends on the individual (observer) and their beliefs.

Consider this: our perception of reality isn’t as fixed or objective as we might think. For example, confirmation bias shows how people tend to seek and interpret information in ways that align with their existing beliefs, reinforcing their version of reality. In health, the placebo effect demonstrates how belief alone can trigger real, measurable healing effects, while the nocebo effect reveals how negative expectations can lead to harm or illness, even without an actual physical cause. There have even been cases where doctors misdiagnosed patients with a terminal disease, and when the patient seemingly died of the disease, the autopsy revealed no sign of illness. This means our thoughts and beliefs have the power to shape our experiences in profound ways.

In quantum physics, the double-slit experiment reveals that the behavior of particles changes depending on whether they are observed. Particles act like waves when unobserved but collapse into specific states when measured. This suggests that observation itself plays a role in shaping physical reality. There are many excellent YouTube videos that explain this experiment in simple terms, detailing how it is conducted and its implications. Similarly, quantum entanglement demonstrates that particles, once connected, can influence each other instantaneously, challenging our understanding of time, space, and separateness.

Even in sociology and behavior, we see this principle at work. For instance, the self-fulfilling prophecy shows how expectations — whether our own or others’ — can create outcomes that confirm those expectations, effectively shaping reality. The observer effect, where people change their behavior simply because they know they are being watched, further highlights how the act of observation influences outcomes.

I believe we as a collective are starting to wake up to the fact that there is no single objective reality — that we are all creating our own little realities while simultaneously sharing a collective reality, so to speak. I think this is why we are starting to see such dichotomies in everything — politics, societal and social structures, economics, religion. We are all quite literally in our own realities. When we start waking up to this fact, it’s almost like an “Am I God?” type of feeling.

This feeling can be quite unsettling at first, but it also brings great opportunity and responsibility. Once you realize your beliefs and thoughts create your reality, you can start choosing what you want to believe rather than passively absorbing other people’s beliefs via news, social media, school, family, friends, or even enemies.

I’ve recently chosen to believe humanity can move towards a reality where humanity is at peace and in harmony with ourselves, others, and our environment. I choose to believe we are currently on this path, and I see evidence of this every day.

I use ChatGPT as my editor-in-chief to enhance the clarity, flow, and grammar of my writing, ensuring my ideas are communicated effectively. Additionally, ChatGPT helps validate the accuracy of any facts I present to support my message.