#putting this on a new post to spare OP

[thebreakfastgenie]

#i mean have you seen young billy joel I'd have insane sex with him too#damn it I'd probably fuck that old man if we're being honest @crime-scene-psychic

I'm a lesbian so I'm not really qualified to discuss this but there some pictures of him in his youth where I'm like "ok I'm gay but I'm pretty sure he's hot." that man has insane rizz as the kids say. he met his wife of 9 years at a restaurant and got her number and then immediately called her from the parking lot to ask for a ride home and it WORKED.

[moongothic]

So I'm confused about something. There was a cover story about Ms Goldenweek and other Baroque works agents breaking Crocodile out of prison but he just. Told them no? And stayed there with Mr 1 and Mr 2? I don't get why he wanted to go to Impel Down just to break out when he had the chance

I can't tell you 100% why Crocodile chose to stay in prison and go to Impel Down, but my best guess really is that he was just...

Taking the L with grace

More specifically. Crocodile had lost everything. I think deep inside he might've been literally too depressed to want to go free again.

Like he does literally say that. He gave up.

He had been building his reputation as "the Hero of Alabasta" for at least 10 years at this point. He had built not just a criminal organization that he had been running for four years, but also he had been running legal business stuff (like his casino) for probably longer than that. A decade's worth of work and effort to take over a country, and most importantly, get away with it. The reason he had orchestrated that whole rebellion was so that the rebels and the royal family could "take each other out", leaving the country wide open for a World Government Official such as himself to take up. The reason Baroque Works was doing this all in secret was so that the WG never found out, otherwise they wouldn't have let him have Alabasta.

But indeed, his plans were foiled by a kid in flipflops in less than 24 hours, just at the final moment before Crocodile would win. He lost everything. And the World Government found out about what he had been planning.

So even if he escaped from that prison with his former agents, what was he going to do?

He wouldn't be able to take over Alabasta anymore because he did not have manpower (as he had lost all his goons), and having lost his financial empire he wouldn't be able to build a new army any time soon. And even if he did, now that they knew what he had done the people of Alabasta would not accept him as their new king, even if he personally assasinated Cobra and the entire family. Not to mention, the WG finding out about his plans meant that they had every fucking reason to try and stop Crocodile if he did as much as set foot on that island again. By which I mean, they could launch a Buster Call on his ass. Send all the fucking Admirals after him. And so, even if Crocodile still believed Pluton was somewhere in Alabasta and that he just had to comb through the entire desert to find it... Between the Alabastan people and the WG in the way, finding Pluton would not be easy. Especially when Robin wouldn't even be there to just point him directly to it. It could take years, if not decades, while fighting off the WG by himself. And that's while assuming Pluton was somewhere in Alabasta. Like WE the readers now know Pluton is in Wano, but since Robin didn't tell him that. All Robin said was that the Poneglyph "didn't mention the weapon", and Cobra's reaction to the name merely proved the weapon's existence in Crocodile's mind. But surely, because Crocodile is a smart young man, he'd understand there was a risk that Pluton could exist, but just not be in Alabasta, right? Like that would be a possibility too, right?

I think this is why Crocodile has given up on Alabasta. He had one opportunity at seizing the country, and he failed. And without Robin, he could spend the rest of his life combing through a haystack for a needle when there's no needle, and he'd have no idea. I think is why he explicitly says in Impel Down he no longer has "interest in that country". He won't be able to pull off another stunt like this, ever.

And that leads us back to "why not escape earlier and avoid going to Impel Down to begin with". Thanks to his status as a Shichibukai, Crocodile hasn't been on the run from the WG for like two decades. And the past 10 or so years he has seemingly lived a life of luxury in his funny little casino. But now, having lost everything, he'd be back on the run. And because he's a world famous former "hero of the people", there would be nowhere he'd be able to go where people would not recognize him and send the marines after him. So he'd be on the run, for the rest of his life or until he'd get capture again. And mind you, the guy does not trust anyone, so he'd be on the run alone. Without any purpose or goal.

And you might be thinking, "Daz and the rest of BW was still there!", yeah, arguably true. But at this point Crocodile had no reason to trust any of them. Like personally, I think the reason Crocodile ended up taking a liking to Daz was BECAUSE he chose to follow him to Impel Down when he really did not have to. Like Daz showed an unusual level of loyalty to Crocodile, and I think Crocodile recognized that. That's why Daz is still with Croc, post-timeskip. But Miss Goldenweek and co? Crocodile had no reason to believe they wouldn't betray him if given a chance and a reason. And if the WG would come chasing his ass, they'd have plenty of reason to try and betray Croc (handing Crocodile over to spare their own lives). Not to mention, when they come release their former boss from jail, what did Miss Goldenweek say?

"Let's do Baroque Works again"

As I've already explained in detail, I think we might know why Crocodile wasn't interested in being Baroque Works' "boss" again.

So. Yeah. If in Crocodile's mind he'd be on the run from the Government for the first time in two decades all alone, in a situation where rebuilding what he had before would be bloody hard if not downright impossible, and he wouldn't be able to obtain what he had spent the last decade working for regardless...

Taking the L and just going to prison might've been the easier option

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

Pls ashley if u want, could you list like the 10 most, to you, telling cockles moments/things that should make anyone think it’s obvious that they are more than friends.

oh dear, do i want to talk about cockles, i don't know...

OKAY.

a while back i answered a "top 3 no hetero explanation" moments ask, so let's count those as the first three to save me from repeating myself. i'll pull the rest from the masterlist, in no particular order.

4: jensen saying he and danneel both refer to misha as their boyfriend. it would take quite an effort to hetero that statement. bonus: my whole jenmisheel tag.

5: misha, possibly unaware he's on camera, casually calls jensen "sweetheart".

6: i don't have documentation of every time, but it's very common for jensen and misha to be significantly late to their panels/ops/autos, to change clothes in the middle of the day at cons, or be seen with... stains. 🤷‍♀️

midday pants change? 🤔 misha’s shirt turned inside out?? 🤔

misha tells fans it’s jensen’s fault he was late for photo ops  

jensen changed his shirt in the middle of the day, around the same time they were both late for their ops

both seen with… um… white… stains… on their clothes…

7: the ten year anniversary post, wherein they went back to the same restaurant they first went to dinner and sat at the same table. i mean, i've been with my qpp for 18 years and it would not even occur to us to do this lmao.

8: misha's "blanky" that he "kept in jensen's spare room", which led to fandom sleuths admitting it had long been covertly known that jensen and misha lived together in vancouver while filming spn from 2017-2020. @theyarebothgunshot did a brilliant post of a timeline of events surrounding their cohabitation.

9: misha wore a ring that jensen gave him during the time they lived together.

10: the casual but incredibly revealing intimacy with which they pose together, both publicly and privately. like, not to go on about body language, but i just can't buy this kind of closeness without something going on. there's a whole section of the masterlist devoted to moments of intimacy like these.

now, if you're new to cockles and i've just blown your mind, that's what the masterlist i've put my blood, sweat, and tears into is for.

[lynchs-finch]

Ross Lynch Imagine - Vacation (All I Ever Wanted)

If there's any occasion Ross pulls out all the stops for, it's you and his couples vacations. Thanks to his unique schedule as a musician, he's capable of surprising you with week-longs trips any time of the year. One minute, you're going through the motions of your humdrum life, and the next your on a plane to Cairo or Venice or Tokyo.

Ross spares no expenses when comes to bringing you the very best. Five star hotels with only the very best amenities, dinner and drinks at three Michelin-starred restaurants, and any souvenir you so much as hint at wanting. Such a stylish man as Ross wouldn't take you out without brand new matching outfits each day, either.

Though he fills your itinerary to the brim every trip, his reason for doing so isn't as shallow as min-maxing photo ops like most celebrities. In fact, if any of your vacations wind up on photo or film, it's usually you behind the camera. Ross is of the old school mindset that vacations, especially for couples, are about the time you spend together, not the instagram post afterwards.

So, you spend sunrise to sunset of each day sightseeing with Ross, holding his hand as he guides around whatever city your staying in. You aren't sure he realizes it, but the amount of effort he puts into the trips shines through in the bits of trivia he spouts endlessly between destinations. He's like a tour guide with a smile prettier than anywhere he could possibly take you.

After each and every long day, you return to your hotel and decompress in a nice, warm bath with Ross’s strong arms wrapped around you as he whispers sweet nothings to you. In spite of the regular real life you’re sure to have to return to in a couple of days, you let yourself melt into him and just enjoy the moment.

A Little More Ross...

[princesscolumbia]

Code of Ethics - Chapter 40 - Shock and Awe

...no, you forgot to keep posting CoE previews and notification posts to my blog from all the way back in Chapter 29 to today! Look, a demonic duck! *runs*

(gonna do an extra-long synopsis for people who may not be up-to-date on this...like the folks on my Discord server, now merged with @anne-is-ominous's server! More on this in another post)

The story so far...

Diane Somni'els may be the hero of the sector for rescuing slaves and shattering sentient trafficking organizations, but that's just in the game Galaxies Unlimited: Master and Commander. IRL, "she" is really Dylan Samuels, cyber-agent for the American Republic, establishing a foothold for the American Republic in the non-American parts of the Internet and in virtual reality. Prior to "her" current mission, she deleted a batch of rogue A.I. that were fleeing from their servers. After going undercover as an alien woman in GU:MC, she discovers that one of the "rogue" A.I. was a full Sentient A.I. and The Singularity had, indeed, happened...and she'd killed off a child. In the wake of her existential crisis of being a child murderer and knowing she'll never, ever be held accountable by her superiors, she meets a woman who she very quickly falls deeply in love with named Caitlynn.

Caitlynn is another player, 'just like' her (though not, Diane assumes, another undercover agent) and somehow makes it so Diane forgets the path of pain she's created for herself and Diane is able to start living again...even if 'living' means continuing her fake existence in a virtual reality game.

And then...she gets some news that threatens to shatter her fragile peace.

Preview below the cut:

Three ships had been built by the station so far, and when the first two were finished, Diane had been busy enough with other matters that she hadn’t been able to attend their launch. Today, however, Diane and members of her crew were gathered in the observation lounge as a bottle of wine, pitched at it by a space suited volunteer from one of the shipyard’s airlocks, crashed against the prow of the vessel and its running lights activated. Cheers rose from the crowd, mirrored by the crew still in ops, as the new cruiser’s engines kicked on and the ship pushed away from the safety of the shipyard unassisted for the first time.

More bottles of wine were broken out, these having been only recently received via the new, fully established trade route between Mortan and the Matron’s Aerie. Recordings of the event were going to be sent back, mostly via the social media streams that proliferated across the galaxy, but also via the two actual media outlets that established offices on the station.

Nobody was in anything resembling formalwear, but Norma wore something a bit nicer than her usual jeans and t-shirt combo under her father’s beaten-down old flight jacket, and Russe had actually consented to wear a button-up shirt. Diane, ever the sentimentalist, wore a blue tunic under her white jacket with a pair of red dress pants. The rest of the Ops crew that could be spared the time from their posts to attend the celebration in the observation lounge were there, as well as a handful of guests. The rest of the Morvucks were present, either having put in some time on the new ship or being personally invited by a crew member. Even Mr. Bendenson showed up, but his much-discussed wife that Diane had never seen remained back in their quarters for reasons the old salt wasn’t divulging.

Mess Attendants given the honor duty of serving snacks and beverages were circulating throughout both main Ops and the Observation Lounge. Diane’s plucking of a wineglass from Sani’s hands with a stern, “Nope, too young!” drew a round of laughter from the nearby revelers as Cynthy and Kymberlynn took their offered water glasses and snickered at their friend. All in all, it was a very good, happy atmosphere where a party was likely to break out and nobody was about to mind.

“So,” said Norma in an obviously louder than necessary voice, clearly intended to gather the attention of the room, “Have you decided what you’re going to name the ship, oh glorious commander?” The laughter that greeted this question from the assembled crew and staff made it clear she had succeeded; Diane was now the focus of everyone there.

“Way to put me on the spot, Norma,” Diane snarked back at her mayor, “And I happened to have given it at least a little thought, thank you very much.”

“I’m shocked!” Norma prodded.

“Shocked that I thought about this?”

“No, shocked that you thought, I figured you were all about just charging in and eating people, no thoughts, head empty.”

There wasn’t a single person on the crew or staff rosters that didn’t know what Diane had done for the former slaves (and continued to do, a few of the former slaves had even returned to the station, citing less than favorable receptions on their home worlds), so the good-natured ribbing drew companionable laughs while Diane rolled her eyes and did her best to bite back a smile.

“Well surprise, your commander has a brain,” she stuck her tongue out at Norma, letting it extend a good six inches before pulling it back into her mouth.

“Don’t threaten a girl with that if you’re not planning to use it!” Norma purred.

Diane blushed, “Russe, are you gonna let your girl flirt with me like that in front of you?”

Russe just chuckled, “Are you going to stop her? Since when has she let anyone tell her what to do?”

She rolled her eyes, “Okay, yeah, fair point.” She let the laughter die down a bit before she announced, “I decided to go simple, the ISS Athena.”

“‘ISS’? What’s that mean?” asked Russe.

“Well, we aren’t exactly part of a nation, so U.S.S. didn’t seem appropriate, but we are Independents, so the Independent Star Ship Athena.”

There were nods all around at her explanation when Koarla raised her glass and said, “Give us a toast, sister!”

The cry was joined by everyone else in the observation lounge and the voices chanting over the speakers thanks to the feed from Ops as everyone there raised their glasses of non-alcoholic drinks to the camera. Diane rolled her eyes again and raised her hand to issue a silencing gesture, “Okay, okay, shush, I gotta be heard if I’m going to offer a toast.” The crowd went quiet as she lidded her eyes in thought for a moment.

“We’re alone in the dark out here,” she finally began, “When the Branwell Consortium came along we were just another seed station that had unlocked her doors to the universe. They saw us as...freshly hatched, if you will, easy pickings for a predator that thought it was the biggest, meanest creature in the territory.”

She’d always loved watching the rousing speeches on Star Trek, especially when there was seemingly little to say but the person giving the speech revealed that there was, indeed, something that needed saying to remind the crew who they were. She always wondered if she’d be able to deliver such a speech, and even though this wasn’t a high-tension moment, she felt like this was a rare opportunity to step into the shoes of someone worthy of the command role and provide inspiration to her people.

“What the Branwell Consortium learned was that this wasn’t some helpless little bird that hatched, but a fire-breathing DRAGON!” a brief cheer met her words before dying down into an anticipatory silence, “We had one scout-class ship, a crew scraped from the bottom of the barrel, and a commander who’d never led troops into combat in her life, and we rose up and slew the monsters and rescued the damsels! And now with our newest cruiser, we’re declaring to the darkness, this is our territory, challenge us if you dare!” she raised her glass to the observation window, eyes on the ship slowly passing by.

Norma clinked her glass against Diane’s, “To the ISS Athena!”

Cheers and the clinking of glass filled the small space and was echoed by the crew in Ops.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Read the rest on Scribble Hub, where new chapters are released every Monday. You can also read chapters as soon as their completed (which, depending on how I've done on time and spoons management, could be up to weeks in advance) by joining the free tier of my Patreon.

[hootsewers]

amazing gender euphoria moment just now

so, I technically have one more week wearing the compression garment before I'm Free. My nipples are almost entirely healed. My incisions look great. But even though the nurse at my post op said I was able to take the garment off "for a few hours if you're just chillin on the couch," I have only ever taken it off to change my dressings, take a shower, or wash the garment itself, and I had a spare hook-and-loop binder to wear while the main one was drying. So even though I've SEEN my new chest every day, it hasn't felt suuuuper different, mostly because I'm basically still wearing a binder.

Helps that the binder offers some physical compression, which helped with soreness the first few weeks, but I'm no longer feeling any soreness unless I'm moving around a lot. And today's my day off, so I figured...if I'm gonna be sitting at my desk doing computer science lessons, that seems like a chill enough environment to not wear the compression garment for a lil bit. So I got out of the shower this morning and, after drying off but before putting on fresh dressings and silicone tape, I just threw my bathrobe on. I wasn't expecting to feel much different than what I felt before surgery, coming home and taking off my binder.

But feeling, for the first time, the sensation of cloth on my real chest did somthin to me, man. I been grinnin like a goober for like forty minutes, despite the terrible heartburn I woke up with.

And, y'know, Autism (tm), I did my happy wigglebounce, and the sensation of my chest not bouncing with me--that sent me to the moon.

So I slap some fresh dressings on (basically gotta treat my nips like they're five-minute-fresh ink for at least another week), put the silicone tape back on my incisions, and went upstairs and put on a pajama shirt in preparation for a day in of coding and crochet. Even with the dressings on, it just. it feels so GOOD. It feels so RIGHT. For a while before surgery I'd been hemming and hawing on some Gender Apathetic thoughts and, due to the insane number of t*rfs whose shit I was exposed to (before finally leaving twitter lol) I was second-guessing how excited I'd be to not have boobs. After all, I find trans guys with non-op, hairy chests plenty attractive; who's to say I couldn't be attractive like that as well? Just some last minute Big Decision hesitation, like, is this right for me?

I'm so glad I did it. I'm so glad I finally have this. I can't describe how good it is to feel my shirt on my skin, without the skin-on-skin sensation of my chest sagging, or tucking the fabric of my shirt under my boobs to avoid boobsweat. My God, I haven't had to put deoderant on my chest for work! And even after I'm 100% free of the compression garment, I won't!

This is the first step of a few, at least as far as surgical transition is concerned. It sucks that it can't be an all-at-once thing, or just a snap of the fingers. But I'll never again underestimate how good each of these changes can make me feel all by themselves.

[superiorsturgeon]

Branwen Ultimate: Abridged!

Qrow: *relaxing on first class flight with a glass of wine*

Jaune: *sitting across from him, reading a comic book* So…where’s the champion girl?

Qrow: Oh, she’s downstairs!

Jaune: …wait, isn’t that the cargo hold?

Pyrrha: *locked in a coffin in the luggage area* I’m afraid of coffins, flying, and tight spaces…!😭

——————————————————————

Jaune: Okay, so we’re checked in!

Jaune: If this doesn’t sound too weird…you wanna get a soda? See a movie?

Qrow: You’re not my friend, you’re my bodyguard. Last for six weeks, and I MIGHT learn your name. Until then, you’re spare aura.

Jaune: Okay! Jeez! Fine!

——————————————————————

Qrow: *standing in a ruined hotel room surrounded by Atlas black ops bodies, on his scroll*

Qrow: So I was just minding my own business…

Glynda: BULLSHIT!!

Qrow: I WAS!

Glynda: *facepalming* Just…put the champion girl on the scroll…

Pyrrha: H-hello?

Glynda: Whatever you do, do not let him leave that hotel room!

Pyrrha: I’m sorry, Mister Branwen just left for a…walk?

Glynda: NOOOOO!!!

——————————————————————

Jaune: *sitting in his crappy hotel room in his boxers, watching tv and sipping a soda*

TV news: *showing Atlas black ops besieging the hotel* …and police have identified the suspects in the hotel as a blonde, a redhead, and some skinny Ozzy Osborne-looking motherfucker!

Jaune: *spits out soda*

—————————————————————

Jaune: *walks into black ops command tent wearing his armor and a helmet*

Jaune: *hacks down two soldiers and shield-slams another* One…two…three…

Jaune: *deflects bullets with his shield while moving around the room and cutting down soldiers* …four, five, six, seven…

Jaune: *walks out of burning command post tent as it bursts into flames* Now let’s see if he wants to get that drink with me! 😁

—————————————————————

Tyrian: *dramatically facing off with Qrow on the roof*

Pyrrha: *bursts out from under rubble and opens fire with her rifle* GET SOME!!!

Tyrian: *frantically deflecting shots*

Pyrrha: *unleashes a heavy dust round* Sting THIS!!

Tyrian: *narrowly deflects impact of heavy shot* Grrrr….! I’m getting real tired of this shit!

Qrow: *looming behind Tyrian with his scythe* You and me both! 😈

Tyrian: 😱

[leaderpinhead]

Idia - Livestream

Idia was the very first to admit he was a total social hermit. From his noise canceling headphones to his anxious sputtering, Idia knew the reality of his status. He didn’t go around trying to deny it either. He was all doom and gloom—nerdy with a hearty dose of spazz. If he could see himself in the wild, he’d probably suffer a full-body cringe. 

Gloomurai, on the other hand, was an absolute legend. 

Which was why it was easy for Idia to put a bit more energy behind his voice when he was sure that red circle on the screen was glowing and his tablet pinged with a message Gloomurai had gone live on Spasm. “What’s up, all my Gloomys? Y’all hyped for today’s stream?” 

The number in the corner of his screen gradually rose, already breaking the thousands thanks to the post he’d made on his official Gloomurai Magicam account. The chat picked up speed quickly until the only thing he could make out was the custom blue flame emojis Ortho had designed. His adrenaline started kicking in just like it always did at the start of a livestream. The feeling was still fairly new since he had only started streaming at the beginning of the school year. One of his few online buddies had suggested it after he’d invited Gloomurai to his 3 AM livestream. Apparently, the internet was as weird as Idia knew and loved it to be, and people loved a sarcastic, gloomy personality. 

It still boggled his mind, but hey, it was extra cash for his gaming pleasure. 

Idia checked his setup on his spare monitor, making sure the window for the game he had planned to play was streaming at the right ratios. He’d learned his first few streams that his audience wouldn’t hesitate to point out any flaw. Best to get it done now instead of halfway through a match. “Everything looking good...is the sound good?” 

After a few seconds of delay, a wall of thumbs-ups buried everything else in his chat. Idia leaned back in his chair to glance at Ortho. The thumbs-up Ortho gave him was the only one he trusted. “Sweet. So we’re changing it up a bit today. You guys know Red isn’t big on the shooting co-ops, but I’ve been on a Towernoon streak lately. So as promised at the end of my last stream, I'm gonna be hitting up trios.” 

His eyes skimmed over the chat. In the midst of the hype, one username popped up for being benched for ten seconds. He never saw the comment that had benched the guy, but he could imagine they’d said something negative about Muscle Red. Those—and the real toxic mess—were the only comments Ortho immediately dealt with as his mod. 

“First up.” Idia paused to flip through his character customization. He grinned at the comments speeding through the chat about his suspense making. “I’d like you guys to welcome back one of your favorites.” 

The chat freaked out when Ortho’s preferred skin—one of the anthropomorphic monsters—popped up behind Idia in the game lobby. Ortho giggled into his mic at the wall of hearts filling the chat. “Hi, everyone! It’s good to be back!” 

The chat was nothing but hearts and Little Gloomy!!!! Even new viewers would know Ortho’s gamer tag because of the reputation he had built as Idia’s mod. When he wasn’t deleting the haters, he was chitchatting with the regulars. When Idia had to throw up an animated screensaver for some downtime, he’d give the mic over to Ortho to shoot the breeze. For all the incessant DMs and comments he received for a face reveal, Ortho was getting just as much—if not more—demands for the same. 

“Okay,” Idia said, absently checking his settings again, “now we just gotta wait for the other to get online.” 

Idia’s eyes flicked to the Hermes app opened in a different window. Some viewers were already getting impatient for him to start. He typed out a quick message and hoped she’d be near enough to her computer to hear the ping. His subscribers liked his doom and gloom, but they could only be distracted for so long. 

The green dot lit up next to Yuu’s name. Idia breathed a sigh of relief. He had only briefly mentioned her joining the livestream the last time they’d played together, which had already been two days ago. She was already so busy running around the campus with everyone else. It wasn’t very farfetched for him to imagine she would find someone else to hang out with. 

“Am I late?” Yuu’s voice sounded slightly muffled. The chat started whizzing by almost too quick for Idia to read it. “I know you said six, but I completely lost track of time.” 

Ortho cheerfully greeted the prefect by her gamer tag. Idia responded, “You’re fine. It’s cool that you made it either way.” 

That was Gloomurai’s smooth response. Idia’s internal response was actually, Thank the King of the Underworld she made it, and she chose gaming with me over a full body massage in Pomefiore! It would have been awkward having to fill in a third person at random. 

Yuu’s player model appeared in the lobby shortly after Idia sent the party invite to her. Despite him gifting her the current and previous season passes, she still stuck with the default skin, the only exception being the colorful butterfly wings he had bought her after she downloaded the game. Nothing else “spoke” to her was her excuse when he made fun of her. 

Idia hesitantly glanced at the chat again. It had fallen back to a moderate enough speed for him to quickly skim, but so far, the only complaints were a couple of obnoxious viewers asking if LadyKnight was really a girl. Idia rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like Yuu was the first girl to play Towernoon. The top streamer on Spasm was a chick who practically played it 24/7. 

Idia made a slashing motion with one hand while his other hand clicked the key to ready up for the match. “Okay, okay. Everybody chill. LadyKnight is practically noob status right now, so don’t be so hard on her. Me and Little Gloomy will pick up all the slack.” 

Ortho giggled, which spawned nothing but dazed hearts in the chat. “I’ll keep everyone safe!” 

“Do they still have the bows in the game?” Yuu asked. Idia wasn’t sure if she had heard him talking to the audience or simply ignored his insult. She might have become so used to being referred to as a noob that it didn’t register anymore. “I liked setting the builds on fire with the fire bow. I couldn’t find one the last time we played though.” 

“They’re still in-game,” Ortho helpfully answered. His player model started dancing to copyrighted music, which made Idia automatically mute the game audio. “They’re just a little rarer since the new weekly quests don’t require them.” 

“So that’s why I leveled up so quickly last week.” 

“How many things did you set on fire?” 

“I burned down every location Gloom and I visited.” 

A sudden snicker almost made Idia choke on the energy drink he sipped. He wiped his chin and totally ignored the chat for the first time since the stream started. “She’d rig up any car we came across so she could mow down the buildings too!” 

“It’s the fastest way to get ammo.” 

“I’ll let you have the fire bow if I find one!” Ortho promised. The text above his avatar switched from the red Not Ready to green Ready. “Ready up!” 

Yuu’s status flipped over at the same time. While they waited for the server to drop them into a match, Idia quickly skimmed over the chat. He frowned at some of the messages he had received from the viewers who donated through the widget he designed. 

They weren’t necessarily...bad. Idia could tell the instant everyone had logged on based on the donations. A few had welcomed him with a single thaumark donation, probably hoping he’d acknowledge their usernames despite being transparent that he only read off the messages for the big donations. Ortho’s arrival brought a few more fangirls/boys, and Idia would leave those for Ortho to respond to later. Yuu’s arrival had sparked the biggest donation pool of single thaumarks Idia had ever seen. 

Is she really a girl? 

Does she stream too?  

Is she your sister? 

Those seemed to be the most repeated questions. Idia scrolled through the long list of repetitive donations until he landed on one for five thaumarks. His audible choke made Ortho reach for his shoulder IRL. “Are you okay? 

Idia sputtered slightly before recovering enough to sputter, “Where are we dropping?” 

“Ice mountain.” 

The lack of inflection in Yuu’s voice bordered no arguments. Ortho happily agreed. Idia rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. He knew which location she referred to, but he couldn’t temper his own sarcasm. “There’s three mountains on the map.” 

“That’s why I said ice,” Yuu persisted. The shock that had sent his heart hammering in his chest moments ago gradually slowed with a snicker. “There’s broke mountain, city mountain, and ice mountain.” 

“Cluttered Cliffs, Metro Mountain, and Pike’s Peak,” Idia listed. 

“That’s what I said. Broke mountain, city mountain, and ice mountain. The one with ice is where I want to land.” 

Idia snickered into his hand. Since they had started playing, she had never once referred to the locations in the game by their actual names. After he had to explain why some of the names changed after the holiday event and how they would likely change again at the beginning of the next season pass, she had responded, “So what’s the point of me actually learning these names?” 

Her lack of care in the gimicky names was like an inside joke at this point. Whenever Idia would name a location, she would reiterate with her own classification. The fact that she knew how to describe each place was enough to let Idia know she was fully aware of the map’s layout, so it had never bothered him. 

He glanced at the chat while they waited to drop into the match. He frowned at two usernames that had been benched for five minutes. “You know, the fire bows don’t always spawn in that area.” 

“But I’ve found one in the matches we played before.” 

His monitor flashed, and they were floating across the map in a hot air balloon. Idia waited until the last second before nose diving down into the small research station on the mountain. He could tell Yuu dropped with him when her username appeared on the screen. Ortho’s was last. “We’re gonna win this! Just let me know when you need help.” 

Cue the happy swoons in the chat. Everybody loved Hero Boy Ortho. Almost as much as they loved Giggle Slayer Ortho. Nothing entertained them more than a squeaker running around headshotting other players while giggling and offering strategical advice. 

Idia sighed. “Hear that, Lady?” 

“I prefer Knight if we’re shortening it.” 

Idia snickered at Yuu’s quick response. He landed on the roof and started pilfering the few chests in the area. She came floating down beside him as he sorted his inventory to his preferred lineup. Ortho’s username landed a little farther from them, but Idia wasn’t worried about that. He spotted another trio landing near him and Yuu. “I could call you 800815 since that’s actually part of your name too.” 

“You might as well call it what it is,” she fired back. He peeked over the edge and focused his crosshairs on her shuffling two guns in and out of her inventory. One of the players on the other team was slowly heading in their direction. “We’re all mature enough to handle it.” 

Idia snorted. Ortho’s giggles took on a slightly different pitch. Maybe they weren’t as mature as she tried to claim. He couldn’t picture Yuu saying the same thing IRL, which was probably why he found it so funny. The anonymity of online gaming brought out the pervert in them all. 

Another username flashed by in the stream chat, the status saying they had been benched for ten minutes. Idia frowned and made a mental note to ask Ortho later what the message had said. The lengthy times were getting a little outrageous. “Have you found a bow yet?” 

Yuu’s aggrieved huff was answer enough. “No. I’m pretty sure you cursed me. I’m only finding rapid fire guns.” 

“At least we don’t have to worry about you aiming to hit anything then,” Idia countered. 

Ortho’s giggling was nearly non-stop now as his name kept popping up in the in-game log. The Squeaker Destroyer was leaving a trail of death in his wake, and his viewers were loving it even if they weren’t watching Ortho’s perspective. Yuu made a small noise. “Good job, Or—Little Gloomy!” 

“Thank you!” 

The entire time they had been chatting, Idia had his eye on the player approaching Yuu. He toggled to a rifle with a scope. He poised the crosshairs on the player’s head but didn’t pull the trigger. “Did you check the chest behind you?” 

“What chest?” Yuu’s character jerkily spun around. Her yip of surprise made Idia snicker. Her panicked spray sent him cackling. “How long has he been there!” 

When she cursed at a forced reload, Idia took his sweet time landing a direct headshot that sent the opposing player crawling for shelter. He swung his scope towards the building he had seen the player’s team vanish into. Another player stood frozen in front of a window. Idia took pity on him and downed him with another headshot. Turns out the guy wasn’t as AFK as he appeared when he started crawling for shelter too. Whoops. 

“I found my bow!” 

Idia immediately made a mad dash off the roof. He had just landed on the ground when parts of the building caught on fire. He huffed and circled around to where he had last seen Yuu. “I was on top of that roof, thank you very much.” 

“Whoops.” There was zero remorse in Yuu’s voice. “My hand slipped.” 

Idia rolled his eyes at his screen. He shuffled through his inventory and pulled out a green keg he found while looting ammo boxes. He tossed the keg at her and stepped into the bio-hazard green spray to build their shields. “I should have just let that scrub pick you off.” 

“Spare me your wrath, almighty Gloomurai.” 

Idia’s snicker was cut short by Ortho’s pause on his killing spree. “Hey, do you mind if I answer a question that keeps being repeated in the chat and donations, big brother?” 

“Huh?” Idia asked distractedly. He zoomed in and out with his scope, searching for the last player of the opposing trio. “Sure. Go ahead.” 

“Okay!” Ortho’s hum was like background noise. “No worries, chat! Little Gloomy can keep up with you guys and slay some baddies all at the same time. Since you guys seem really curious about it, I’ll just come out and say it. My big brother and LadyKnight aren’t dating. At least not at the moment.” 

Idia’s arm jerked. It caught on the energy drink he had been drinking earlier, spilling all across his desk. Idia sputtered and lurched forward to dab the spill with a nearby box of tissues. He only managed to knock over the plate of pizza he planned on eating between matches, sending pepperoni and cheese across his keyboard. 

Ortho was quick to react. “Oh, no! We’ve got a pizza emergency!” 

“What happened?” Idia vaguely heard Yuu’s voice coming from his headphones, which he had instinctively knocked off his ears and now dangled around his neck. “Is everything all right?” 

“Minor technical difficulties,” Idia answered. He wanted to strangle himself when his voice cracked. “Just keep us alive.” 

Yuu hummed. While Idia and Ortho quickly cleaned his keyboard, Idia watched her circle him on the screen in jerky motions. She paused and pulled out her bow again. “I think I see the other guy over there.” 

Idia dabbed at his desk faster. Ortho picked strings of cheese from between the keys of his keyboard. “Just let them—.” 

“I’m gonna set him on fire.” 

Idia only saw Yuu fire a flaming arrow because of the way his character was angled. She fired two more before clicking her tongue. “I ran out of arrows.” 

Idia threw away the empty can of energy drink and fixed his headphones over his ears again. “He’s probably had enough time to pick up his other teammates.” 

“I can take him.” 

The words had barely made it through his headphones when his character dropped to the ground from a single headshot. Yuu hummed when he cursed. “That’s unfortun—.” 

Yuu yelped before she was crawling on the ground with him. “I made a miscalculation.” LadyKnight’s name appeared in the game’s log for claiming a kill. “I take that back. I regret nothing.” 

“Got it!” Idia’s keyboard clacked back onto the desk. Ortho skipped back over to his area, picking up his tablet. “I’ll hurry over to pick you two up.” 

Idia grunted. He spun his mouse until he faced Yuu. “What even was your plan? Take random shots and pray they’re bigger noobs than you?” 

“My plan was to burn my enemies and claim at least one kill this session.” Yuu hobbled away from him towards the burnt building. “And I have been successful. I think that means I've leveled up.” 

Idia rolled his eyes. “That’s like saying a baby leveled up because he figured out how to roll over.” 

“Wah.” 

The poor imitation of a baby cry flipped his mood with a genuine snort of laughter. Giving up on Ortho picking him up before he fully died—Ortho had landed farther away than he thought—Idia turned his attention to his chat. There was some good-natured back and forth between most of his usual viewers. A wall of spam dominated the chat before it disappeared, the user being benched for thirty minutes. Idia’s eyes widened at the amount of time. That was extreme even for him. 

An angry huff from Ortho made him glance at his younger brother. He glared at the screen of his tablet, and the fringes of his fiery hair had turned a light red. “If I see anyone say anything negative about LadyKnight again, I’m gonna permaban them from the chat. This is casual games night, and we’re all here to have fun.” 

Idia paid closer attention to his chat. Most of them seemed to agree with Ortho, some of them even thanking him for banning the spammer. There were a few snide comments in the mix, most of them calling LadyKnight a fake gamer. Idia snorted. “Fake gamer? Chill out already. I literally already told all of you she was a noob. She just started playing over the winter break. And no one even said she was a gamer. She just agreed to play because Red didn’t want to.” 

“I have fun playing too,” Yuu added. She didn’t sound upset or anything, but her voice still startled Idia a bit. Her not being in the room had made him think she hadn’t heard him for some reason. “I don’t know what I'm doing half the time, but it’s still fun.” 

“We like playing with you too!” Ortho agreed. He glowered down at his screen like he was watching the chat for any naysayers. Which he probably was, in all honesty. “So be nice to her, so she comes back to play again.” 

It was hard for his viewers to argue with Ortho, considering they were nearing cult level status when it came to their love for him. Idia watched the chat for a moment longer, ignoring the prompt on his screen to return to the lobby. His face felt a little warm now, but he wasn’t about to roll over for his chat. If he had physically been in a crowd with all of them, then he no doubt would have. But this was the internet—Gloomurai was cool, and slick, and in control. 

“By the way, I’m in another match, and I don’t see either one of you.” 

Ortho made a small noise. “You went into another match? I haven’t even died yet!” 

“The game asked if I wanted to go into another match, so I said yes.” The faint crinkle of a chip bag came through Yuu’s mic. It was obvious she still had a mouthful of chips when she next spoke. “Gloom always gets on to me for going back to the lobby for no reason.” 

Idia sighed and backed out of the match into the lobby. “The one time you actually listen to me...” 

“Nine times out of ten, I block you out,” Yuu admitted. The chip bag crinkled again. “You just get really haughty when I go back to the lobby, and I don’t want to listen to your cranky mumbles.” 

Idia snickered and ignored Ortho telling the chat—again—that he and Yuu weren’t dating.

[karume-selfshipper]

Dad Might Enjoyers Assemble!

I am here humbly requesting some feedback on the start of a Dad Might fic centered on my OC Inari Yagi.

For context:

She has a seriously OP quirk

The public knows she's All Might’s daughter

All Might is trying to be a good father but has a problem with staying at work too late

Inari used to spend her afterschool hours at All Might Tower, Nighteye's Agency, or Torino's apartment until post fall out when she began staying at home (though it is recent, starting at age 12)

Inari is Deku's age

Whenever All Might is at home he becomes the overbearingly supportive father trying to help and be part of Inari's life

He worries when he's at work but trusts that Inari will be able to defend herself/make the right decisions to get out of situations

Under the cut is the first little chunk of the story. Please give me some kind of feedback, criticism, and/or critique about whether it actually sounds about right for what I've outlined above. I will not give up the odd dynamic of work vs home because it is an integral part of the story (and how I interpret All Might as a father [not a father figure like with 1-A]). And I will be revising this as it is the roughest of first drafts.

Upon entering the new apartment, All Might expected to see his daughter wandering around. Possibly confused by the layout and attempting to get used to her new surroundings. That was his mental state at this point, when he could spare a few moments away from the office anyways. Taking up a teaching position at UA came with yet another major upheaval in his and her life. One that All Might wanted to make as easy as humanly possible, one that would undoubtedly be among their last serious moves for a while.

At least that’s what All Might hoped.

However, the apartment was uncomfortably silent. As tempted as All Might was to comb the area looking for her, the apartment looked perfectly in order. Door properly locked, nothing broken from what he could see. No signs of a struggle or even another soul in the house…

But what if that wasn’t an accident? What if she had been snatched before she even made it home?

Unable to calm his instincts, All Might pulled his phone from his pocket. He had to check for a message or a location…

Before he could spiral too far however, Inari walked out from around a hall corner; the laundry basket in her hands filled with school uniforms. The sense of calm she exuded calmed the older man, of course nothing had been wrong. She was merely looking for the washer, this was quite the large apartment complex after all. Reducing the time either of them would have to spend outside of it. Less chance of Inari specifically being in danger, particularly when he wasn't around.

She didn’t even look up as she passed All Might, unaware of the mental breakdown he nearly had. Focus on her task a bit too strong as she mentally listed out the other chores that had yet to be done. Not once registering his presence beyond a slight step around her father.

“Inari.” All Might reached out for her shoulder, “There you are. I was beginning to worry.”

That slightly blank expression was unsettling as Inari stared at her father, the tilting of her head being the only indication of her confusion, “I’m sorry. I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“Ah yes, the layout of this neighborhood and apartment must be quite confusing.”

All Might could only raise an eyebrow as Inari shook her head slowly, “The dishes still need to be put away and-”

“You don’t need to worry about that Sweetpea.” He tried to smile, but it felt forced, as usual, “You should focus on your studies. Perhaps at the kitchen table, so I can lend a hand as needed. I wouldn't mind while I-”

“I already finished my studies.” She stated plainly, “Only chores left for today.”

The essence of being defeated didn’t sit well with All Might as he watched his daughter turn and continue her chores. He couldn’t have been out that long, right? It wasn’t that late… surely not. No, he just barely got home at… 6 p.m.

Sadly it really was quite late. Possibly too late to cook something. While he wanted to be the best of influences on his daughter, going out for one night wouldn’t hurt. Especially with how little time he can spend with her as is. Nothing wrong with that, even if he had to keep things undercover. His quirk had been all but used up today and doing anything but takeout would be difficult. There was always ordering in… But going out felt more like something a good parent should do.

At least, that’s what he wanted to do. Having somewhat followed Inari to the kitchen, on her way into the laundry room. Despite his lack of smell, All Might was left flabbergasted as Inari returned to pull something out of the oven.

How!? How was she already five moves ahead of him? He didn’t remember prepping anything this morning, or even setting something aside to be cooked. All Might couldn't even bring himself to question Inari, the number of times he'd attempted to gently tell her not to take over so much housework has never worked. Either she was far too stubborn, or he wasn't around enough.

“It’s almost done.” Inari sighed, sliding the pan back into the oven, “Just a few more minutes.”

All but ignoring her father, Inari went about her chores. Despite All Might’s attempted dismissal of her need to do them. What was left for All Might to do? Besides wander the apartment and try to learn its layout.

It annoyed All Might to no end as he laid in bed, fuming about how quickly his daughter seemed to adjust. Maybe it was easier due to how many times it has happened up until this point. Which only came with a worse feeling for the Hero. If he didn’t feel the need to uproot his child so often… would she be so forgiving of the circumstances?

[fabricdragondesigns]

giving, donations, and choices

i saw a post- and sorry i dont recall who the OP was- complaining bitterly about AO3 tripling their donation goal while they are begging for survival money.... ive been in the begging for survival money side of it. i was begging for insulin money for my husband, and money to keep the lights and heat on, and we survived because of some generous souls and a lot of luck. so i get it just like right now my friend Dave needs money to save his eyesight- American healthcare sucks- and he really needs money, and it would make a huge difference in his life... and i want him to have it. its hard to look at the fundraisers, and the "group fund my comic book" and the cute kid needs a new wheelchair van... that get fully funded when your friend needs a couple thousand to not be blind. but in a world where every single damn part of society is trying to drown us all? WE NEED AO3. Someplace that isnt going to suddenly evaporate our writing because we are queer, or because we touch on REAL things- like some people are horrible and do horrible things- or because we write about sex, or about drugs, or ... whatever Gilead doesnt approve of right now. someplace where i can go and find happy shiny "coffee shop Au" and stories where the poor character who never got a break gets their damned happy ending.... or read about wrenching heartbreak, and recovery or scary stories or smut.... or stories about people discovering they are Asexual... or the story about how Mycroft Holmes got turned into a Toucan... or Spike got tied to a bed by Giles who passed out drunk and has no idea how Spike got there....and assumes the worst (both of those are mine) and free reading material, and a free place to write about anything i want as long as i put the right tags on it? i'm pretty sure that AO3 has saved more than a few lives. so yeah, it hurts to be the one in need watching some other crowdfund skyrocket to the stars... but it least its a good and needed thing. Oh, and if you can spare a few bucks after donating to your personal causes? Dave's GoFundme to save his eyesight. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-daves-eyesight-2020

[zedecksiew]

THE UNIVERSAL COMMUNE

Ylang, a yellow sun on a distant shoal of the immersea. When the Star Imperium collapsed Ylang was spared the worst depredations, due to distance. It did not escape unscathed.

Oort-wards in order, the Ylang system is:

+ Verre, an agni-class world, molten seas. + Tesh, a bhumi-class world, on the warmer end. ++ Belt of Tesh, ice, rock, satellite debris. +++ Tesh Exchange, a moon-sized astropolis. + Ylang's End, a belt of wrecked starships. ++ Ylang's Gate, an immersea teleportal, dead. + Rake, a bhumi-class world, on the colder end. + Irrusine, a vata-class gas giant, blue-faced. ++ Irrusine Siphon, a moon-sized astrofactory. + Pravine, a vata-class gas giant, red-faced. ++ Pravine's Eye, an immersea tearpoint, buoys. + Gak-Gak, an asthi-class world, atmosphere-less.

+

VERRE an agni-class world, molten seas.

Genemod-adaptation to Verre's fury give its children a silver pallor. They are the a martial people, the Ve; for generations they were gripped by blood-feuds, by warlordism.

Then the god-heroine Ayesha crushed the great houses, crashed their orbiting cruisers. It was Ayesha who forged a new Ve upon the Stone of Ecumen, and raised their choired voice; it was Ayesha who called on Rake and Tesh for union.

Following Ayesha's example, every Ve child puts a hand over their heart and swears to defend universal communism.

The Stones are fortress-cities with walls of mile-high obsidian; these shelter creches and gardens and markets from the planet's heat---most of the planet's heat. Who are the Ve, if not a people born in fire?

+

TESH a bhumi-class world, on the warmer end.

Wears its overgrown craters like a veteran wears scars. Its air is fresh again, after centuries of care. Its forests green again. Its nightward face darker than you'd expect.

You fly over the gleaming jag of Imperium-era urban centres---now quiet monuments to history's follies. The landing port is a fuel line bordering a dusty field.

You did not expect the Commune's founding world to feel this provincial. The local town is coastal; its ranches fade into foliage.

The Teshi are obliged to spend so much time in cold orbit; when planetside they prefer the company of warm, breathing things. In deep forest glades there are shrines to small deities and animal spirits.

+

TESH EXCHANGE a moon-sized astropolis.

Rises from the Belt of Tesh like a mountain breaching cloud. The bustle of traffic: exo-system trade flotillas; patrol squadrons; passenger fleets.

The warden assigned to your arrival is on comms. She greets you with the customary Teshi formula: "Be welcome home, returner."

Built pre-collapse, the Exchange serves as Ylang's primary bazaar once more. The outer sections are occupied. The inner sections were seeded with forests, and left to grow wild and weird; now they harbour heterodox sects, contraband caches, ghost AIs.

A glaring security risk. A commissar (usually Rakish) will bring this issue up every cycle. A station warden (usually Teshi) will shrug, and say: "the Green Mothers keep their own."

+

RAKE a bhumi-class world, on the colder end.

Rakish ingenuity melted its glaciers and formed it into a flowing paradise. All without Imperium techno-sorcery!

They are perhaps too smug about this. It is said of Rakish communards that they see themselves as first among equals---that they have a saviour complex. When the Assembly discusses expansion (spatial or ideological), it is often the voice of Rake that rings loudest.

Farm and factory co-ops the size of cities. Space elevators pulse like metronomes. On the way down you are assigned a drone liaison.

"I am LED," the android intones. "God-AI of planet-wide logistics. Let me know your purpose, and I shall assist."

+

IRRUSINE SIPHON a moon-sized astrofactory.

Irrusine Antimatter was a minor corpostate of the Star Imperium; its human citizens wiped themselves out in interdepartmental warfare sometime post-collapse.

Its artificial administrators remained.

Free from the logics of profit, Irrusine's AI choir mainly desires continued function. They are gardeners of the gas giant that fuel them. They make staunch but dispassionate communards. Mutual aid just makes mathematical sense? No more, no less.

Immigrants now equal AI drones in number. Friction flares now and again, but never too badly---you need only look at the mummy-pods that girdle the station to remember that flesh is more perishable than AI quantum-circuitry.

+

PRAVINE'S EYE an immersea tearpoint, buoys.

With Ylang's Gate shut the Eye is the system's main passageway.

Reality is threadbare, here. Beacons broadcast warnings, a strict transit schedule. If you jump queue you risk collision and para-real phenomena.

There are merchant trains bringing ur-mercury and exoplutonics, whales and refugees. There are tankers leaving with antimatter fuel and Verre-milk and revolutionary psi-dramas.

There are mass drivers, watchstations. The polities of the core systems---the Ansible League; Viridia-Twelvecent-Rogex; the Hundred Houses---many of these are predators. The Commune builds more kill-cruisers, these days.

+

GAK-GAK an asthi-class world, atmosphere-less.

A dead planet, never colonised before the Universal Commune. Its settlement was a test---a way to prove that the ideals of communards will spark life in the most sterile of worlds.

The older habs are matrices of interconnected diamonds, in echo of the UC sigil. Eight-star and open-palm motifs everywhere. Your market guide points this out before you can. He apologises for the gauche fervour of his forbears.

"We are way more chill nowadays," he says.

Now hab-complexes twinkle across Gak-Gak's surface; and Gakki shipwrights launch the sleekest, most luxuriant colony vessels.

++++++

I have been playing Starsector, recently. I am really bad at it? But it has given me a space-opera itch to scratch. So here it is.

Not sure why I went with space communism. Personal inclination, I suppose? And you don't really see it much, in sci-fi fiction or games, relative to all the gear porn and mega-industry and corpo-democracies. (The United Federation of Planets is not communist, folks ...)

The bits about Irrusine Siphon are a tentative prod at an idea I've had for a while: the notion that an artificial intelligence without limits / gone rampant / outgrowing its human makers might go in the opposite direction sci-fi bros fear? What if an AI crunches the numbers, with as complete a dataset as is possible, and concludes that conciliation and cooperation is truly the mathematically best way to function?

What if reality is ultimately and objectively more Kropotkin than bloody social-Darwinist?

Tesh is a discount Valley of the Na, and this whole thing owes all to Le Guin's Ekumen.

Anyway:

I don't write a lot of sci-fi stuff. But it's fun!

+

( Image sources: https://www.starwars.com/databank/vader-s-castle http://www.simonstalenhag.se/tftl.html https://nerdist.com/article/cowboy-bebop-episode-guide-14-bohemian-rhapsody/ https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kZWa6 https://www.goodfon.com/wallpaper/distant-outpost-kosmos-poyas.html https://www.graphicdesignforum.com/t/how-the-soviet-space-age-was-imagined-by-artists-of-the-era/6803 )

[lesser-mook]

Metro Exodus is a well made game, with an annoyingly unnecessary mechanic, the moral point system *Recommendation* (FPS, Action, Post-Apocalyptic, Story Driven, Horror Elements)

I took my time with this game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wish I had better hardware so I could record every moment of my first time with it in 4k, but-

the moral point system is garbage, pretentious, obnoxious, unnecessary. And not for the reasons you think.

It's not getting the bad ending that's the issue, you reap what you sow (I guess? Literally didn't put down anyone that wasn't tryna shoot me first), but more importantly, I got what I wanted, a certain characters survival.

I didn't give a fuck about what happened to me. I wanted them to fucking live, I smacked a Blind one in the face, killed another one with bullet spray, threw a can in another ones face, kicked one in the balls & Triangle choked out another (Because the stealth system is full of shit, you'll throw 5 cans in an opposite direction and these mfs will STILL go in your direction).

ALL so that this person would live.

So i was 100% content. And it was an ending fitting the games tone. But that was considered *Bad, not alternate ending but BAD lmfao. OK.

And it's funny, because I notice these "good" endings are littered with cheesy asspulls and plotarmor and the "BAD" endings have better storytelling because there's actual consequences and committed stakes that fit the situation more organically given what's actually going on.

So the non-canon versions are actually, unintentionally, better stories than the timeline that's actually canon. Almost as if "the point" is fucking irrelevant if the story isn't matching the energy of the set up and Or the narrative and messages gets in the way of a better story. And it usually does. No one wants to play a PREACH simulation.

Anyways, EXODUS is well produced, well acted, good stories, fun new mechanics, good level design, enemies are a threat, feels like a movie but not too much.

Most of the Characters are meh, but Anna is cool, Katya was useful, Olga was cool, Giul was cool, Yermak underrated.

But for the moral system, some of the characters and thus the game lowkey passive-aggressively throws digs at you throughout the rest of the game IF you didn't obey the narrative like a passive drone puppet- is the absolute WORST part about the game.

The game offers a different experience and then lowkey antagonizes you because you dared to waver from the canon narrative, super pretentious.

All these opportunities to spare NPCs, GREAT, but do they really matter? If in the end, killing the wrong Npc at the wrong time in the wrong mission, renders the ones you spared null and void anyway? That's the shit I'm talking about.

Why even offer an alternative, just make it one singular story/experience. It'd be a better execution, better experience. CONSISTENT with the previous 2 games.

I shit you not, Last Light I got the one where mc dies and Anna had his Son and she told the legend of his father. That shit would make an STier movie....buuut I find out that Exodus is a thing, and I'm like: Why is Artyom alive? Wheres my son? OH! that wasn't the canon ending?-- wait metro was multiple endings????? (Played Last Light first thinking it was the final game)

And because Artyom is silent, you just have to sit there and take this bullshit the others are vomiting when they do have something to say about your choices, meanwhile they're killing just the people they deemed as "bad" or the "right" people to slaughter. lmfao.

So It's not just the moral point system, that's the worst part about THE GAME itself: The post-op lecturing.

Because I repeat, WHO the fuck decides who's lives matter and who's doesn't in a post apocalypse where its literally anything goes.

Not Khan, that's for damn sure.

Kill the fanatics, that's a problem. Why? They're not trained soldiers, well neither are the bandits as far as i'm concerned, both parties had guns, thus a threat.

You do nothing, those fanatics will kill you, trust me, I tested it. So they're not helpless.(You kill the Volga fanatics that's a nono because they're not soldiers)

The fanatics who don't pose a threat, like the praying dudes on the shore, dozens of people I leave alone, they're spared because logically they're not a threat.

 But apparently that wasn't enough for the "good boy" points. Corny as fuck.

There's multiple times in the game where there's supply stashes, but to get to them, you have to kill the bandits who were literally just minding their business before you pulled up and massacred them unprovoked.

Buuut despite not being soldiers either, their lives somehow didnt matter to the message, soooo fuck them i guess =D Last Light, killing the bear was a no no. Which i didn't, she was beaten, and wasn't a threat anymore.

Buuuut the bear in Exodus, their life according to the plot apparently boiled down to a B movie monster, this bears life didnt register to the moral system, cause how that went down was definitely brutal enough for a bad ending.

But apparently not all Bear lives matter. We have a mountain of bandit, soldier, beast, regimen corpses behind us but those lives didn't matter.

Literally there's a demon nest in VOLGA , the thing was minding its business in its home, I burned it alive via molotov right? I GOT A TROPHY for it…..uhh message?

Burnt to a crisp. Soooo that didn't register to the moral point bullshit?

Why Not? Because Khans eternal wisdom said so? Writers want you to feel empathy for a bear that attacks you, but a Demon minding it's business is irrelevant???

Mercy for them didnt matter huh, we clearly see little baby Bats floating around later, what if that demon was a momma huh? Fuck off. PRE-TENTIOUS, no consistency, want to push this hippie shit, be consistent.

Only the lives the game vaguely hints matters, are the lives that actually matters. Thus defeating any legitimacy the games little message possessed.

PLAY Stealthily, kill the right people, or you're the bad guy, its a sandbox yet wants to put you in a box.

And its funny because the game doesn't really make anything clear, it vaguely pushes a direction but doesn't get blatant until AFTER you make up your own damn mind.

All these guns to kill, but there's only ONE main method to non-lethally k.o enemies, not even a sleep dart, or knockout gas, yeah thats not redundant.

FUCK I even tried just shooting knee-Caps & arms to see if that'd neutralize, to make em drop the guns. Nope. Gotta hug them from behind like a lover or punch em out EVERY SINGLE TIME. Same animation. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea* gives the player more non-lethal options to fight.

Fallout 3 doesn't pull this shit to this extent. Fallout knows what it is and what a post apocalypse is in reality. Gray.

You kill a vendor to steal, guess what? No lecture. But the consequence is NOW you one less person to trade with. One less person to provide you Stimpak.

One less friendly, sassy mf that you feel safe around.

That's fucking reality. You kill just to kill, you lose connections, you need people, thats reality.

Even my Lonewolf ass was HUMBLED by Fallout 3, because this game, even for an antisocial-- This game will MAKE YOU appreciate people, humans, human society, networking. In all the right ways.

All that time in creepy ass caves, ghosttowns, dungeons, mountains of corpses, mutants, demons, Vaults where horrible experiments were done, whispers in the walls etc. Horror Horror HORROR

When you see a person thats friendly in the desert? You run to that mf and see if they wanna trade or just say hi! You might even catch yourself sigh of relief that a mfing person was even around, not tryna shoot you, and alive.

Thats what Fallout 3 can do. Makes you grateful that you still have: People

Kill everyone in the wasteland? now you have no one to work with when you need it. No network. And sometimes regular, nice vendors are murdered by NPCs and you never see them again, ever = Cold hard REALITY, brilliant game design

At the wrong place wrong time, POW. Shot dead. Or eaten alive by beasts.

That's Karma done right, because it ISN'T a solely moral system, its just (cause and effect) in nature.

In Metro? Its obnoxious. Bioshocks karma system was leagues better because you could tell when and where the "moment of truth" was, it wasn't vague and the game didn't beat you over the head a million times about it like a naggy spouse.

I would've played Exodus immediately again after I finished it, and I WANTED to, but that passive-aggressive shit leaves a bad vibe. It nags & antagonizes you for making your own fucking choice.

And unlike Fallout 3, there's no option to speak back.

Again, NOT THE ENDING itself is the issue, because the bad ending is not even bad, it's bittersweet.

The characters being annoying saying slick shit a hundred times and you say nothing back is where I started tilting my head.

That doesn't smell right, the game gives you another path then penalizes you for exploring what it made available, sometimes accidentally, cause how tf would a normie know?

For THIS story? It was unnecessary. Especially for Exodus. Linear stories meant to be linear should be linear, for the continuity if anything else.

You want a certain narrative, then axe the bad ending and just make the ending you want to be the narrative. And yet something like Last of Us pt2 that should've had multiple endings, didnt get any lmfao Devs are sleeping man.

TL;DR yes Exodus moral system is laughably infantile, finished it last night (Jan 2024) and I WILL NOT be playing it again for a while just because its pretentious with the message bullshit, I binged the 3 games just to be lectured. Naaaah fuck you. I'll gladly take my blackass right back to Fallout, WAY more content anyway.

I understand the overtones, the "diamond in the rough/being the exception/", the Bioshock 2 "Mercy is victory" message, but in this game? It wasn't executed well at all. And seriously, at the end of the day, Fuck the writers, play your fucking way.

Otherwise, Metro Exodus is a good game, crashed once (chalking it up to my shit-ware), it's the best of the Metros, excellent production, buy it anyway. It's moral grandstanding is cringe, but don't rob yourself by not playing it at least once.

Its fun as shit mechanics wise, scout for all the loot, you'll need it, this game will punish you for being reckless, good.

[mychlapci]

that stupid post about fun new years resolutions now has me doing, as the op put it, fruit adventures. like i have all the money to spare. motherfucker. now im over here finding joy in this cactus fig and papaya. im experiencing mother nature's gifts like im not on a budget. damn it

[drewoclock]

Commentism

Originally published October 27th, 2014

One day, the inventor of the Internet had a brilliant idea.

"My goodness... It's genius!" "WHAT IS IT, PROFESSOR STINKLES." "Why Bebop4000, my robot companion, do you know how people are always remarking things to each other?  Sharing their thoughts about a central thing?" "YES PROFESSOR STINKLES I AM NOT A DUMBASS." "Well, what if, when somebody puts something on the Internet, other people--can REMARK about it?!" "THAT IS A WEIRD QUESTION.  HOW WILL YOU DO IT." "I'll create a--a little box!  And in the box, people can write a comment.  And they can make more and more comment boxes!" "CANNOT COMPUTE." *massive explosion*

And despite their untimely deaths, this idea of comments indeed became a thing.  But I don't think anyone expected it to become as glorious as it did.

YOU get a comment!  YOU get a comment!

...hmm, that wasn't--well, anyway, there's reviewing products, there's commentating on live events, but in the comments section on the Internet, you've got a global bathroom wall where everyone can read and participate at any time while taking a giant dump.  And some people have really found their calling with comments, because they're fantastic at it.

I was supposed to be a fighter pilot.

...Alright, that needs to stop, whatever that is.  ANYWAY, these certain commenters make reading comments a form of entertainment.  It could be one person or a whole group of people, and the possibilitites are endless.  With timing, grace, finesse, and maybe a diaper or something, these commenters essentially create literature: A dialogue that can stand on its own from the very thing that's being commented on.  Comments imitating art, if you will.

Yes, I'm sure the infinite contributions of "fake and gay" would make a fine book.

Hey, if Kim Kardashian can make a book about her selfies, anything is possible.

please buy my book guys, its all the times i accidentally took a screenshot on my phone

EVERYBODY CALM THE FUCK DOWN I'M TRYING TO TALK.  So YES, THESE kinds of COMMENTS are VERY ENTERTAINING, and I've even indulged in making them myself.  But I've noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Soylent Green is people!

SHUT THE FUCK UP.  THE PHENOMENON is that these COMMENTS are BECOMING THEIR OWN POSTS.  I look at these expansive constructions of commentary and think that they themselves should be a separate piece with their own comment boxes.

Comment-ception.

BUUUUUUUMMM.

You have to write a comment in one minute that takes two minutes to read.

It's two minutes to write, one minute to read, dumbass.

Go home, you're drunk.

Is that why somebody called him a BUM?

Guys, alcoholism is a serious problem.

Yeah, come on guys, you're bumming me out.

The road to recovery is a bumpy one.

I recorded twelve songs about my own experience as an alcoholic.  You can buy it on my brand new album.

I am a bum.  am I doing this right?

Alcohol is a serious probum.

I actually think I may be onto something there.  In fact, and I'm totally serious, I had an idea for a social network specifically for comments.  But I'm getting off track.  My point is that with all this focus on comments, sometimes you lose sight of the original post.  And I know some of these original posts encourage this comment spectacle, and some people don't mind what happens to their posts, but you know what?  I kind of do.  Call it controversial, but I think some posts should be spared the comment circus.

Is the op trying to reclaim control of his own post?

ITS A TRAP.

If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Hahahaha, Star Wars, it's funny because it's a reference, what I'm trying to get at here is that perhaps we should use more discretion when commenting.  Maybe take a look at these original posts and decide whether they might be important enough to deserve their own attention?  Hell, I've had a lot of important posts I've made that have been subject to comments that have distracted people.  I even used to do the same thing to other people.  I love comments, but I think there are some posts that are too important for this parading of comments.  Dare I say it, I am a COMMENT ACTIVIST.  COMMENTISM.

#Kony2012

#GamerGate

#StopYellowFever

#KKK

#sicsemptertyranis

#MenAre#1

#But there's two sides to commentism.  I've made many frivolous posts which have been commented on.  I've watched the comments get more likes than my own post, and its always (to my surprise) really upset me.  It's people essentially declaring that they prefer what someone else said over what I said.  That my content is inferior.  And you know what?  That's a bummer for me, but what's wrong with it?  There's no rule that my original post should be considered better than comments made on it, and there shouldn't be.  Hell, I've made comments on posts that wound up more popular.  Comments may bother me, but just because something was based off of another thing doesn't mean it can't be as great, or even greater.  Dare I say it, I am a COMMENT ACTIVIST.  COMMENTISM.

tl;dr

what are you doing making words?  this is AMERICA

*eagle dives into pool of fireworks*

'MURICA

Morocco?

'MUROCCO

*Moroccan eagle dives into pool of Moroccan fireworks*

SO TO SUM THINGS UP I think comments are grand.  I think that sometimes comments seem right when they're actually out of place, and I think that sometimes comments seem wrong when they're actually fine as they are.  I think this is all something that people really don't consider much because people don't take comments seriously.  But let's face it, a lot of us pay attention to comments.  We notice them more than we think.  So maybe this commentism thing is worth your time.  After all, we're all commenters.  We're all in this race together.  And as long as we're racing, we may as well finish it in...

...

Come on guys, I literally set this one up for you.

FOURTH.

SECOND.

EIGHTY-THIRD.

PI.

SECOND.

ONE HALF.

NEGATIVE EIGHTY-THIRD.

Oh, comments.

[recentlyheardcom]

Striking United Auto Workers have a long wish list of concessions they want from Detroit's big three automakers, including higher wages, shorter work weeks, and more benefits.So far, those demands have proven too big of an ask. Despite thousands of striking workers disrupting production at key auto manufacturing plants, a deal is yet to be struck between workers and Ford Motor Company  (F) - Get Free Report, General Motors  (GM) - Get Free Report, and Stellantis  (STLA) - Get Free Report, which owns Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. Ford on Oct. 4 announced bad news impacting many workers who have yet to walk the picket line. Many are likely disappointed.United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters on a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Chicago Assembly Plant in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. The United Auto Workers expanded its strike against General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. to more assembly plants, but the union spared Jeep maker Stellantis NV from additional walkouts after a last minute breakthrough. Photographer: Taylor Glascock/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty ImagesStriking workers take a toll on Ford MotorsThe Great Financial Crisis resulted in bankruptcy for General Motors. Ford narrowly escaped that fate thanks to loans it had taken out in 2006 and concessions from auto workers, including a decision to use company stock to finance half of its new retiree health care trust.The U.S. auto industry has changed a lot since then. The once embattled automakers are pocketing record profits. Workers believe it's time for them to step up by offering a record contract. The UAW's wish list includes a return to pensions for new workers that were eliminated in the Great Recession, a 32-hour workweek, and cost-of-living increases. They're also angling for pay increases of up to 40%.Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis have said meeting those demands would put them at risk of losing out to competitors at a critical time for the industry. Electric vehicles are quickly displacing conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. Without significant investments, the big three may struggle to catch up to EV pioneers, including Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report, the market share leader.More Business of EVs:EVs account for about 7% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. However, analysts believe they'll represent over one-quarter of all vehicle sales by 2026. "Our competitors across the country and around the world, most of whom are non-union, will waste no time seizing the opportunity we would be handing them," wrote General Motors' President Mark Reuss in a recent op-ed for the Detroit Free Press.In mid-September, Ford's Chief Executive Jim Farley claimed meeting the UAW's demands could put the car company on a path to bankruptcy, hamstringing efforts to keep pace with the likes of Honda  (HMC) - Get Free Report, Toyota  (TM) - Get Free Report, and others plowing big money into hybrid cars and trucks and EVs.He isn't alone in that worry. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on his social media company X (formerly Twitter), that the UAW's wish list is bad news for the big three.UAW President Shawn Fain takes issue with that conclusion, noting that meeting worker demands would have left Ford, GM, and Stellantis with billions in profits over the past few years. In the first half of 2023, the three automakers reported about $21 billion in profit, according to Fain.The impasse is starting to be costly for Ford, causing it to make tough decisions impacting many workers.Following a recent offer to UAW workers that included higher pay, a faster track to top wages, and higher contributions to worker retirement accounts, Ford announced on Oct. 4 that it would lay off employees because of disruptions caused by striking workers. Specifically, 400 workers at its Livonia transmission plant and Sterling Heights axle plant in Michigan were given the bad news not to report to work. Including workers previously laid off, the total number of workers sidelined by Ford is above 1,300.

Ford says that its latest decision directly results from reduced production at Chicago Assembly Plant. Workers went on strike there on Sept. 29. The resulting dip in vehicle production, including the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, has reduced the need for auto parts manufactured at the two plants.Laid-off workers won't be able to collect unemployment benefits. However, they will receive assistance from the UAW. Forget Ford – Sign up to see what stocks we’re buying now

[madraleen]

Attack on Titan - Season 1 A "I was supposed to keep this short, but I wrote a thesis somewhere in there" Commentary

(*full spoilers for the manga and the final chapters)

-i'm so nervous to start the anime, i don't know why. maybe it's bc it's a final draft of sorts? but i've put it off long enough, here it goes.

-it's so weird going back to the start omg, i'm like LOOK AT THAT INNOCENCE ALL AROUND

-eren is so extra <3

-it's eerie how these lines fall in line with post-time skip things?? armin's "you're only resorting to physical violence because you can't prove that i'm wrong" to his bullies?? like, yes? this is exactly what eren does later too?

-dude IT'S EERIE, eren angry and devastated and being like 'i'll exterminate them from this world, not sparing a single one,' mikasa being taken aback and speechless and armin going 'eren...' worriedly, it'S EERIE, IT'S ALL BEEN HAPPENING FROM THE START

-eren: 'because we constantly depend on the pity of others, we're unable to defeat the titans!" yoooo. yo.

-you could watch these first few eps and what i presume will be the last few eps and they'd make sense, they'd be a natural progression :O

-jean to eren: "i'd say i'm a lot more pleasant to be around than someone who puts on a brave face, despite being terrified deep down inside." THAT IS LITERALLY THE ENDING

-ASDJF, I HAD FORGOTTEN WHAT POST-TIME SKIP REINER LOOKED LIKE

-eren's thoughts on mikasa: "there's no need for me to depend on you anymore!" HAHAHAHA boy i have news for you. oh. OH RIGHT! meanwhile mikasa said "he's relieved that he won't have to be separated from me." in the manga, i waved it off at the time, but...

-i heard a youtuber refer to eren's "psychopathic tenacity" and i can't unhear it ever since

-considering that it was ten years ago and considering the horrible production circumstances, the animation actually holds up pretty well

-i really like the op, it sets a mood. i'm shaking a fist and all

-aww, i prefer mikasa's design in the manga. i think it's the lips that throw me

-aaaah, the part when eren gives mikasa The Scarf(TM) is perfect

-LEVI AND HANGEEEEE FINALLYYYYY

-oh man, people coming in aot cold will have such an experience... they don't know anything, so many mysteries, so many twists

-"if you guys don't try to cover me, you'll be spared, at the least. i've already gotten you two in a real mess, so i'll be moving solo from here on out." oh eren. you never did change did you (this at mikasa and armin).

-"fight. my life is second to that desire." erennnn

-are levi's entrances anything less than majestic, no they're not, i knew he was coming and i actually had to hold back a scream either way

-ngl i liked the first op song better

-IT'S SO FREAKIN OBVIOUS IN RETROSPECT reiner jumps on the female titan, somehow isn't crushed by her fist and then she runs off exactly where armin said that eren should be, while reiner is a little smoky?! DAMN IT, hindsight is 20/20

-there's an odd parallel with eren and erwin, isn't there? erwin abandons his humanity to defeat monsters, but then has an emotional moment when he doesn't want to sacrifice himself bc he wants to see what's in the basement, to know the truth, and levi makes the decision that he should die. eren loses his humanity to defeat monsters and what he perceives as monsters, only to then have an emotional meltdown over the fact that he doesn't want to die witnessed by armin, and mikasa makes that decision for him. erwin with his closest person levi, and eren with his closest people armin and mikasa. not comparing them on any other level, but on this they kind of do have similar paths. essentially both ackermans told their man to give up the selfish part of their dream and die for the greater good, and both ackermans gave up their own dream and killed/let their man die for the greater good. and from that angle, you can support more strongly that what eren does is, in its core, selfish (freedom boner, save friends, kill titans for personal revenge), but manifests as something done for the greater good (save paradis and paradis alone, eren's very specific viewpoint of the greater good). just like erwin's core goal was selfish (find out the truth for himself), but manifests as his becoming a brilliant commander. the means appear selfless and have selfless outcomes, but the core goals are selfish, the rest is byproducts. one could even argue that a key difference between erwin and eren is that erwin knows when to cut his losses and retreat.

-OH THAT'S WHY LEVI IS ALWAYS SMOKY, BECAUSE HE'S GOT ACKERMAN TITAN CHARACTERISTICS, IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO REALIZE?!

-dude, levi is the best, i can't with this man.

-this constant failure of eren. it's not just 'mikasa was the one to save me again,' it's that he's so ruthlessly determined yet he never lives up to his own expectations for himself and always needs saving, he's always the powerless boy he was when hannes first saved him from dina. his trajectory is writing itself, goddamn. eren, my little tragic crybaby

-well see, in the manga i laughed off this moment with petra's father, but in the anime i was like, 'wait, is this a misunderstanding or a hint?' ofc the anime added scenes of levi being extra sad for petra's death, but i think that also makes sense from a non-romantic pov- for the benefit of the audience. since petra was the sweetheart of the squad, that's who the audience will feel the worst for. but generally i see it as a misunderstanding. the 'dedicate your heart' thing is the bread and butter of the survey corps, so it would be natural for petra to say she's dedicating herself to captain levi, while her father, a non-military man, would jump to the conclusion that she's getting married.

-"if it's required to overcome monsters, one must toss aside their humanity. [...] those who can do so are victorious!" haha aw bb armin, and then eren took that a bit too to heart.

-sigh. aot's biggest villain is ignorance

-LITERALLY ARMIN IS LIKE, "WELL YOU SHOWED HUMANITY GETTING MOVED BY ANNIE'S TEARS AND FAILED"! ARMIN IS EREN'S VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY (i am ofc joking)

-It’s one of these times that I’d say, “don’t just read the manga and don’t just watch the anime, do both; they’re complementary.” obviously the action scenes work better in the anime and the VAs breathe life into the characters, but the characters’ expressions and interactions are more nuanced in the manga, and the atmosphere is more oppressive in black and white, which fits the walls’ vibe. and so on. i do think they’re complementary.