#silver processes bs

[castingmysilver]

It took me *far too bloody long* to connect the dots and recognize that generally "parents rights" translates *directly* to "children are property and/or not fully-fledged humans yet, and we should be allowed to do literally anything we want with them as long as it doesn't undermine our community norms by giving them too much autonomy." You wouldn't instinctively think it worked that way if you were raised on the rhetoric! But I keep running over and over into both anecdotal evidence and actual News to the tune of homeschooling being commonly used as a cover for egregious physical and sexual abuses and overt educational neglect, folks I was taught would stand up for families in need calling the worst offenders dragged into court "heroes," even more mainstream behaviors in the insular homeschooled and religious-schooled communities often raising eyebrows among those outside who mysteriously got treated better... so many people turning a blind eye at best to horror story scenarios to allow their status quo, and meanwhile... there are people who actually believe children should have rights and choices as far as is safe for them, shouldn't be micromanaged to the edge of their sanity, should have *kindness* and shouldn't be hurt in ways that would be criminal to a fellow adult??? The evidence keeps building up for me. "Parents' rights"="children have none."

[castingmysilver]

This... is about to get too long for tags.

They're *wrong.* You're not wicked, or dirty, or polluted, or damned. God doesn't see you as poison or feces, your righteous deeds are not menstrual rags. Some of "them" are actually bad, and some of "them" are horribly mistaken, but they are still wrong to condemn you. You're a long way from perfect but you're doing the very best you can with what you were given, and you'll get better, and learn, and grow, and someday you'll know more people who think you're a decent human than people who think God hates you; and you'll even start to hate yourself less and second-guess yourself less and spend a lot of time genuinely *happy* mixed in with the bad bits. You're only struggling so badly to bloom because none of your gardeners know how to give a flower the sun and water it needs. It *will* get better, I know it hurts terribly right now but I will find us more people who will know how to love us without hurting us. The feelings you have aren't bad because *you* are bad, they're bad because the *world* is bad. Please hang on for me, I trust you, I believe you can survive to see the good times coming.

Also... keep up with the art whenever you can, dear. We're gonna be so good at it you'd be proud of us one day, even Miss R. will admire what we can do with color.

Reblog with what you would tell your 13-year-old self in the tags.

[orpheusilver]

argument scene is. a lot.

[jovibee]

Everybody finds it strange that Silver is the only character that doesn’t have a last name and idk if that’s been addressed in game yet but I like to think that his last name IS Vanrouge and he just asked for it to be dropped from his papers

[unicornondeck]

would you tell me what's wrong? (silver)

As Silver's gaze met his, Izzy's lips straightened into a line. When questioned about his state, he offered only a shrug in reply. His silence spoke louder than words. He avoided direct eye contact initially, opting to mess around with the handle on the drink as he tried to come up with a plan. The scent of alcohol lingered around him and added to the credibility of the few empty glasses by him.

His shoulders were tense against the back of the chair, both legs on top of the table beside the adjacent glasses. He was silent, clearly wrestling with something internally. He knew he was not exactly hiding his feelings about the past few weeks but it was clearly about to boil over. "Nothing is wrong, why would anything be fucking wrong? Everything is fine."

@pyratezlife

[castingmysilver]

....still processing this one.

I know hell is an insanely evil thing to *desire to exist* but i.... am struggling a little as someone raised in an intensely Christian bubble with whether it's insane evil to *teach about* if you firmly believe it exists and are scared of it yourself and trying to keep people you love OUT at all costs, rather than consciously using as a manipulation tactic??

I mean I know abuse isn't always dependent on intent, but like... Is there a moral difference between handing on a harmful belief with intent to harm, and handing on a harmful belief because it's your best understanding of the world?

my most antitheist opinion is that hell is like. a cartoonishly evil thing to believe in and insanely abusive to teach children about

[umbrellajam]

I feel like whether Tim is on some level suicidal in RR #12 is very open to interpretation, which is part of what makes it fascinating!

because Tim's homecoming to Gotham is the culmination of an upward/self-actualization arc, after struggling through multiple low points/depression/an extended breakdown.

he finally got proof Bruce is alive. managed to claw Tam and himself out of the Cradle and away from the Council of Spiders/LoA by the skin of their teeth. thumbed his nose at Ra's and reaffirmed his own principles by blowing up all the LoA servers. finally kind of processed that Kon and Bart are both alive again - he just tackle-hugged Kon in RR #9 and told him, "when you found me in Paris, I was in a bad place. Now... Now I'm in a good place." he's full of renewed purpose and the realization that he doesn't, in fact, have to do things alone! (team-up Robin ftw!)

so probably not actively suicidal

but then in all of his frantic calculations to thwart Ra's and save each and every person Bruce loved - he doesn't factor himself in. he doesn't put himself on that list of loved ones and set up a contingency for preserving his own life (wtf Tim).

or does he??? that's where the ambiguity comes in for me, because we don't actually see him discussing the full details of his plan with anyone. and he doesn't mention it in his internal narration, either! because his internal narration is always super reliable..... hmmm.....

we know that Dick isn't aware of any other contingencies, or indeed the full details of the plot they were thwarting - after catching Tim, Dick has to ask him, "You want to tell me what that was all about?" and of course "How did you know I'd be there to save you?"

and as I've mentioned before, I don't think Tim had actually planned for Dick to save him, so his "You're my brother, Dick. You'll always be there for me," response is uh, both loving BS and a "genuinely felt expression of retroactive faith", as Silver put it (and which has been stuck in my mind in glowing cursive letters ever since, lol).

but. we do know that as part of his plan to thwart Ra's ninja-assassinate-Bruce's-loved-ones plot, Tim calls all three of his best friends into Gotham. (among all his other rallied allies.) his best friends who are various combinations of flight and/or superspeed capable. and who had each just smugly patched in via comm to confirm that their protection jobs were all successful, meaning Tim knew they were available if he potentially needed them.

the fact that the rest of the Core Four then twiddle their thumbs and let Tim keep fighting Ra's on his own after confirming Alfred/Selina/Barbara are safe, instead of zipping over to have his back (ie punch the jackass through a wall) almost has to be because of: (a) Tim's plan to deliberately stall so Lucius could file the WE paperwork (on the Watsonian level), (b) Yost allowing Tim to have his Final Showdown with the villain of the arc on his own, and also (c) Yost setting up the emotional climax/reconciliation of Dick catching Tim (both on the Doylist level).

like, Tim stalls Ra's for long enough that Dick is able to glide and grapple his way over from his own ninja-busting detail, we don't think the speedster or the Superboy could have gotten there in time?

Dick is the one who caught Tim because it was thematic, it's a motif in their relationship and the resolution of their 12-issue arc, and don't get me wrong I wouldn't change that moment for anything - but! he wasn't the only one around who could have done so.

and Iiiiii have to suspect Tim would know that? there's ambiguity and room for interpretation, of course, especially since Tim doesn't say anything at all or call out to anyone as he's actually falling.

but also. Kryptonian superhearing? Tim's comm which could very well still be connected? could he have been relying on allies listening/clue-ing in, whether or not he actually explicitly sketched out a back-up plan with anyone to come back him up, after Lucius was done transferring WE? all according to (dumbass improvised) keikaku??

idk! seems plausible to me, but it's all so open to interpretation, it makes my brain go BRRRRRR 😊 like you can make a compelling case/headcanon/fic any way you look at it!

anyway. Dick catching Tim is very much The Moment Ever Of All Time <3 but also the thought of Kon just hovering at the ready to grab Rob but spotting Dick!Bats swooping in and being like ":))) oh ok. they both need this." is v. hilarious to me

[honey-floret]

Log X07242554 Journal of Dr. Beatrice "Honey" Lewis

A oddly calm woman with long brown and silver hair, and crooked, oversized glasses hiding slightly blown out eyes comes on screen, you can see the legs of an affini behind her. In her background is a large room, its white walls covered in bookshelves. The room is brightly lit by natural light.

Hiiiiii, this is Beatrice "Honey" Lewis. Recording in... my j.. jou.. journal for the the woman counts on her hands, this many times!!! and holds up six fingers. I... I... I'm a.. at the n.. new hab unit now.. I'm I'm happy to be here, it... it.. it's bigger than my old apartment and a..aa.. all my things are here. And so... so.. so is Ashli!!! Say hello to my journal Ashli!!

Hello journal, isn't Honey just the cutest like this?

Giggles You called me cute!

I did didn't I? It's because you are. Honey do you mind if I take over your journal for today? You should go have your meds and rest you had a long day.

Okiieeee Dr Beatrice Honey Lewis heads off screen

Now that I'm alone, I should give an accurate account of what happened today, and then I'll lock this recording.

The affini adjusts something on the datapad.

Today was moving day for Honey, I knew it was going to be a stressful day for her. I found her datapad recording last week and I ended up watching her journal entries. She talked about how much she hated moving. I decided that in order to reduce that stress that I'd take her out for a walk during the moving process, and then bring her over to her new hab unit when everything was set and done. It... didn't go exactly as I had planned.

Honey was nervous and upset the entire time. She kept complaining about how she wasn't there to make sure they had gotten everything, and that they knew exactly how to put everything out in the new place.

She started spiralling, crying about how it was unfair for us to move her. How unfair it was that she wasn't allowed any amount of freedom; how she wasn't allowed to just be alone. We had only left her place for half an hour before she had a complete meltdown, falling to her knees and crying. Very different from the persona she tries to give off.

I know that Honey didn't want any Xenodrugs. She has been very adamant about that. But, there wasn't anything else I could do in the moment. So... I pricked her with some class E's. And some class D's. And A's. And later I'm sure she won't want to remember this I'll slip her some class Bs.

She was honestly doing so well this last month. I know she says that it's all an act in her journals, but she said under the effects of the class Ds that she's really enjoyed it. That she appreciates the care and routine that I've given her, and all the instruction in how she can look after herself. She still expresses a want and need to go back to work, but I can see her making a good floret.

I think that when the time comes I will release her from my care, but on the condition that she be put in an work environment with affini. I have a good friend, Cybilpedium Acaule, who works in xenoarcheology, who could keep an eye on her...

She really is just the cutest.

-End Recording-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First << Previous << List of Chapters >> Next

[castingmysilver]

....I find a great deal of Derek Webb's "The Jesus Hypothesis" album relatable but I'm kinda stuck on these lines from "Some Gods Deserve Atheists" rn.

"When you were young

Hypothetical sin

Was all that you'd done

It was so simple then"

So........ this would imply having a generalized view of sin nature but *not* believing every other move you make is fucking up???? That was not my personal fundie-adjacent experience!

[ryuichirou]

i saw a twst piss shade thread on twitter and was sharing to acquaintances how Idia is so often hc to piss in a bottle, energy too strong, and so! i wanna ask who do you think would piss in their bottom's mouth or ass :D your ask box has been quietly uncursed those days by what's answered and i thought of that so i'm not sorry uwu

Anon, this is such a long overdue reply, but I never forgot about your ask. In fact, I was saving it for a rainy day (golden rainy god I hate myself), because the mere fact of having such an ask in our ask box was making me happy. I really appreciate the cursedness of it, and I especially appreciate you considering us an authority on such an important, topical and very complicated question.

(by the way, of course Idia would pee in a bottle – the guy is all about convenience!)

Let’s get into it lol

Ace – would. This absolutely isn’t his go-to, but I can picture him both having an accident and doing it on purpose just because of how much of an asshole he is sometimes. He probably wouldn’t expect it to be this hot, he was just being a dick, but…

Trey – wouldn’t, but he would think about it… but this is just one of a million cursed kinky things that Trey thinks about hypothetically. He is also the type to apologise a lot afterwards and clean his bottom’s mouth thoroughly lol

Cater – would also think about it, but probably wouldn’t dare to do it. He also might do a fake “oops, sorry” afterwards.

Ruggie – he absolutely would for money, but no one is really offering ;( “Weird stuff you’re into, but sure” type of thing.

Jack – he wouldn’t… intentionally. He is super against it, the idea would sound revolting to him. But he is also a young pup and can’t always control himself, so he might have a little “marking territory” moment.

Azul – wouldn’t, he probably would think it’s gross. If something like this happened accidentally, he would be more embarrassed than smug about it…

Floyd – would. Sometimes because he just wants to piss inside his lover’s mouth (especially if Riddle (or Idia…)’s been annoying him), sometimes he just feels so aroused that he can’t help himself, and sometimes he just feels like peeing but doesn’t feel like moving. He likes doing it a lot.

Jade – absolutely would. But only if the situation is perfect for it because this isn’t something that he can overuse, so to speak. He knows that his potential partners wouldn’t expect him to do something like this, so he has to catch the most perfect moment of bliss and pleasure to shock his bottom with his special hot liquid lol

Kalim – he would, I’m sorry Jamil. He would do it on accident the first time, and it would be in the butt, but after that he would kind of get into it… he doesn’t do it all the time of course, and he is a little embarrassed to bring it up, but all this shyness goes away whenever he’s having sex.

Rook – would, but isn’t allowed :( Doesn’t mean that he absolutely never does it, mind you. But there is a very strict policy in Vil’s bedroom that he does break from time to time, to be completely fair. And with the other boys too, but not always – he is weirdly strategic about how he uses his urine. 🤔

Ortho – he would adjust his special gear just to try it out, and if he gets a fun reaction out of it, he’ll do it again! But he also was partially interested if niisan would be able to tell that the liquid he squirted inside of his butt is different by consistency and temperature… it’s not real pee, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Lilia – would, he did it with a lot of boys back in the day, and he still does it now; he also kind of taught Silver that this is something that could happen in case of an emergency if you can’t leave your pee smell in the woods for some reason.

Sebek – would, and this is 90% because of what Lilia has taught Silver. Sebek knows that this is complete bs, but he got so flustered and shocked when Silver got down and opened his mouth, that he couldn’t process it or say anything in protest. 

[redemptiontv]

"I guess I'm in Heaven now..."

Vox is now in Heaven, being a quirky TV man with his robotic pet shark! Feel free to ask him questions and roleplay with him if you'd like. My sinner Vox ask and RP blog is @askmrvox. My main blog is @silver-heller and I follow from there.

Background

After watching the battle between Hell and Heaven, Vox had a sudden realization about his life and who he had become. Mainly, he realized he hated where he'd ended up, and found himself jealous of the hotel residents who'd been given a chance before falling into the same lifestyle that he had. So, Vox released his contract holders and, realizing he had little time before the other overlords targeted him, he sought to kill Valentino to free his contract holders as well. He ended up dying along with Valentino in the process, and ascended to Heaven.

Rules

FYI, I'm a neurodivergent and anxious bean with memory issues. Please don't be mean if I miss a social cue or forget something. Please also don't assume I'm trying to meta game or whatever just cause I sometimes word things weirdly.

This is a no pro/shippers zone. All bigotry will be deleted. V/ox/V/al makes me uncomfortable (I headcanon Val was emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive to Vox), don't bring it here unless you want Vox to vent about Val. If your character is gonna be supportive of Val's BS, I don't want it here.

Don't send links, I'll just assume they're not safe.

I am fine with NSFW, but more suggestive than explicit, and I will tag it #tw suggestive.

Don't kill Vox, and please do not hurt him without my consent. Vark is off limits.

[castingmysilver]

...yeah. We could watch *some* Disney in my house but officially it had "gone downhill" and become increasingly suspect since the death of Walt Himself.

I was nineteen before I saw The Little Mermaid in full for the first time - parents hated Ursula - and in my 20s on a private Netflix account pre-Disney+ when I did my first Hunchback watchthrough.

So I’ve been enjoying the Disney vs. DeSantis memes as much as anyone, but like. I do feel like a lot of people who had normal childhoods are missing some context to all this.

I was raised in the Bible Belt in a fairly fundie environment. My parents were reasonably cool about some things, compared to the rest of my family, but they certainly had their issues. But they did let me watch Disney movies, which turned out to be a point of major contention between them and my other relatives.

See, I think some people think this weird fight between Disney and fundies is new. It is very not new. I know that Disney’s attempts at inclusion in their media have been the source of a lot of mockery, but what a lot of people don’t understand is that as far as actual company policy goes, Disney has actually been an industry leader for queer rights. They’ve had policies assuring equal healthcare and partner benefits for queer employees since the early 90s.

I’m not sure how many people reading this right now remember the early 90s, but that was very much not industry standard. It was a big deal when Disney announced that non-married queer partners would be getting the same benefits as the married heterosexual ones.

Like — it went further than just saying that any unmarried partners would be eligible for spousal benefits. It straight-up said that non-same-sex partners would still need to be married to receive spousal benefits, but because same-sex partners couldn’t do that, proof that they lived together as an established couple would be enough.

In other words, it put long-term same-sex partners on a higher level than opposite-sex partners who just weren’t married yet. It put them on the exact same level as heterosexual married partners.

They weren’t the first company ever to do this, but they were super early. And they were certainly the first mainstream “family-friendly” company to do it.

Conservatives lost their damn minds.

Protests, boycotts, sermons, the whole nine yards. I can’t tell you how many books about the evils of Disney my grandmother tried to get my parents to read when I was a kid.

When we later moved to Florida, I realized just how many queer people work at Disney — because historically speaking, it’s been a company that has guaranteed them safety, non-discrimination, and equal rights. That’s when I became aware of their unofficial “Gay Days” and how Christians would show up from all over the country to protest them every year. Apparently my grandmother had been upset about these days for years, but my parents had just kind of ignored her.

Out of curiosity, I ended up reading one of the books my grandmother kept leaving at our house. And friends — it’s amazing how similar that (terrible, poorly written) rhetoric was to what people are saying these days. Disney hires gay pedophiles who want to abuse your children. Disney is trying to normalize Satanism in our beautiful, Christian America. 

Just tons of conspiracy theories in there that ranged from “a few bad things happened that weren’t actually Disney’s fault, but they did happen” to “Pocahontas is an evil movie, not because it distorts history and misrepresents indigenous life, but because it might teach children respect for nature. Which, as we all know, would cause them all to become Wiccans who believe in climate change.”

Like — please, take it from someone who knows. This weird fight between fundies and Disney is not new. This is not Disney’s first (gay) rodeo. These people have always believed that Disney is full of evil gays who are trying to groom and sexually abuse children.

The main difference now is that these beliefs are becoming mainstream. It’s not just conservative pastors who are talking about this. It’s not just church groups showing up to boycott Gay Day. Disney is starting to (reluctantly) say the quiet part out loud, and so are the Republicans. Disney is publicly supporting queer rights and announcing company-supported queer events and the Republican Party is publicly calling them pedophiles and enacting politically driven revenge.

This is important, because while this fight has always been important in the history of queer rights, it is now being magnified. The precedent that a fight like this could set is staggering. For better or for worse, we live in a corporation-driven country. I don’t like it any more than you do, and I’m not about to defend most of Disney’s business practices. But we do live in a nation where rights are largely tied to corporate approval, and the fact that we might be entering an age where even the most powerful corporations in the country are being banned from speaking out in favor of rights for marginalized people… that’s genuinely scary.

Like… I’ll just ask you this. Where do you think we’d be now, in 2023, if Disney had been prevented from promising its employees equal benefits in 1994? That was almost thirty years ago, and look how far things have come. When I looked up news articles for this post from that era, even then journalists, activists, and fundie church leaders were all talking about how a company of Disney’s prominence throwing their weight behind this movement could lead to the normalization of equal protections in this country.

The idea of it scared and thrilled people in equal parts even then. It still scares and thrills them now.

I keep seeing people say “I need them both to lose!” and I get it, I do. Disney has for sure done a lot of shit over the years. But I am begging you as a queer exvangelical to understand that no. You need Disney to win. You need Disney to wipe the fucking floor with these people.

Right now, this isn’t just a fight between a giant corporation and Ron DeSantis. This is a fight about the right of corporations to support marginalized groups. It’s a fight that ensures that companies like Disney still can offer benefits that a discriminatory government does not provide. It ensures that businesses much smaller than Disney can support activism.

Hell, it ensures that you can support activism.

The fight between weird Christian conspiracy theorists and Disney is not new, because the fight to prevent any tiny victory for marginalized groups is not new. The fight against the normalization of othered groups is not new.

That’s what they’re most afraid of. That each incremental victory will start to make marginalized groups feel safer, that each incremental victory will start to turn the tide of public opinion, that each incremental victory will eventually lead to sweeping law reform.

They’re afraid that they won’t be able to legally discriminate against us anymore.

So guys! Please. This fight, while hilarious, is also so fucking important. I am begging you to understand how old this fight is. These people always play the long game. They did it with Roe and they’re doing it with Disney.

We have! To keep! Pushing back!

[silver-wield]

the whole degradation stuff in ff7 is both interesting yet confusing to me. iirc in crisis core, only G-type SOLDIERs experienced degradation, but the way pres shinra says in remake that degradation is a common cause of death among SOLDIERs is giving me the impression that they've retconned that and that it's now happening to S-type ones too (which i'm still a little skeptical abt). it also makes me wonder if broden and roche were G-type SOLDIERs or they just were no longer able to withstand the jenova cells hence they turned into black robes....

but what do u think, silver?

G types are their main forces. Only Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud have S cells. Gast and Hojo were competing. Hojo made Sephiroth and stopped because you can't beat perfection. He then got distracted with all his reunion jenova bs.

S type soldiers are stable. That's why Genesis wanted a piece of them to stabilise his degradation.

Cloud only thinks he's degrading because he isn't a soldier and doesn't know how the process works.

[authortobenamedlater]

E2 deep dive, once again under a cut to be extra careful of spoilers.

Where is Dr. Halsey, the world wonders?

She’s in an oddly comfortable and well-lit place to hold a war criminal, playing a game with what turns out to be a flash clone. Maybe of herself? Young Halsey had red hair and brown eyes? Well, I always knew that blond hair wasn’t growing out of her head. She keeps asking the flash clone about “the man” but the clone dies before she can answer. One gets the feeling this has happened before.

Riz still has lingering pain from taking a plasma grenade that would have killed a mere mortal. Understandable, even if Spartans heal and recover at lightning speed. Interesting bit of info from Kai that the emotion regulator acts as pain relief, since physical and emotional pain are processed in the same region of the brain. Yet Riz would rather have “a bullet in [her]” than put the pellet back in. She’d rather feel pain than feel nothing, we discover as she struts away in her tank top and leather pants.

Jumping ahead a bit, but since we are talking about Riz, who’s this Louis guy? I don’t remember reading about him in the admittedly very few books I read. He and Riz are tight, though. Maybe a former couple? And who IS that Danilo guy Louis takes Riz to see? A massage therapist? Psychic? What’s with this “your life is yours now” line? Foreshadowing? It’s a little weird.

I know I’ve been beating the “John is a broody introvert” drum for like two years, but WOW is he earning that reputation this season. He keeps talking about Makee, and she’s part of his troubles, but the other part is Cortana. He’s in denial about how not OK he is without her.

Kai, of course, knows something is up as she and John stare at a board showing the status of all Spartan teams. A status board that is not computerized. Well, Fenway Park will probably still have a manually operated scoreboard in 500 years, so I guess FLEETCOM can too.

Back to the matter at hand. Kai knows John is hurting. She tells him “We’re more than just—“ More than just WHAT? Let her finish, John you emotionally stunted dunderhead! Nope, you’re too busy fixating on Cobalt, for whom your concern is endearing if not a little inordinate.

There seems to be some ongoing…I don’t know if tension is the right word, but something between John and Kai over Kai shooting Makee.

About the status board. We see at least five teams: Silver, Gold, Cobalt, Omega, and Sigma. Blue Team is conspicuously absent, but if they got slipped in like this there would be pitchforks and torches outside Paramount HQ. I will use this to feed my headcanon that Blue Team is the Spartans’ SEAL Team Six and officially does not exist.

Maybe this is nothing, but silver, gold, and cobalt are all metals in addition to colors. Does this timeline use metals instead of colors to identify Spartan teams? Doesn’t explain Omega and Sigma, though.

After watching who knows how many flash clones keel over in front of her, Halsey finds out Ackerson is the “nice man” sending them in and he’s the one holding her prisoner in what turns out to be a holodeck of some sort. He doesn’t outright say the clones are of Halsey, but his “any resemblance is purely coincidental” line smells like BS to me. Halsey gets the award for most flash-cloned human in history, probably.

At any rate, Ackerson and Halsey know each other, a departure from First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx, but their rivalry will be even better face to face. Ackerson’s agenda, whatever it is, most intriguingly to me involves keeping Halsey alive. She was sentenced to an Article 72 at the end of S1 and in the last episode she’s seen leaving Reach. So how did she get back here, and into basically the Pentagon with nobody seeing her? Why does Ackerson need her alive?

Laera is not having any of Soren’s crew’s shenanigans and I don’t think this will end well for them. She hasn’t survived however many years married to Soren-066 by being a dummy. Kwan is still hiding out in that cave and running from her indentured servitude. Are we gonna get an explanation of this or…? Again, do Soren and Laera know she’s here and Kessler is going to see her?

I’m SORRY but the John/Kai implications when Ackerson is talking to Kai? “I know how long you’ve been together” “I understand what he sees in you.” WTF, buddy? I know he’s using this to try to get to Kai, but if he didn’t think there was something to it, he wouldn’t bother. Kai doesn’t refute any of it, either.

More evidence of Ackerson’s agenda comes when he talks with Cortana, who in addition to getting a makeover is cloistered in a holotank and stuck running simulations. Presumably about the Covenant hitting Reach. I’ll speculate that Ackerson is purposely keeping her separate from John because together they might dismantle whatever his plan is. He’s kept her from accessing “external systems” even though she says they might improve her simulation’s accuracy. Basically, he needs to keep her contained.

Cortana’s “you won’t visit again, according to the simulations” line. Is she predicting Ackerson will die on Reach? He survives to the Battle of Earth (Halo 2) in game canon. We also see him with Kai in the trailers and I’m presuming they’re on Onyx. Does he die on Onyx? Or is this not related to him dying at all?

John inadvertently crashing the Perez family dinner is great. The grandmother’s “You’re very large” observation is 🤣 The reference to the “Spartan Attack” game gives us a look at the wider universe. We have Call of Duty and other such games, why wouldn’t this world have something similar? I’m also all for Silver Team going around the galaxy picking up honorary Spartans. John doesn’t realize that’s what he’s doing but he is 😂

They gave Carter’s famous “the Covenant’s on Reach” line to John, nice touch.

Lastly, Makee is somehow alive. I like it less than my headcanon of her Halo 5 Cortana gambit, but I’ll allow it. Covenant must have some serious medical tech, which given how advanced they are vs. humans, could track. The Makee reveal doesn’t surprise me. I said right after S1 that she was too good a character to just be gone. It does, however, feel a little cheap to have her walking around like nothing happened. I seem to be one of the few who actually liked her and thought she was a good foil for John (The Scene notwithstanding), so I’m interested in seeing where this ends up.

Still no sight or mention of Miranda, but Olive Gray is listed in the credits. This means we HAVE to see Miranda at some point since there are union rules about this. Once upon a time the rule was anyone appearing in at least 8/22 episodes had to be credited with the main cast (Babylon 5 fans will make the connection that Warren Keffer appeared in exactly eight episodes 😆), but I don’t know what that looks like now. Anyway, I have some theories, but I’ll save that for later in the week because this show makes me chatty.

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Herman Branson (August 14, 1914 - June 7, 1995) was a pioneer in biophysics. Born in Pocahontas, Virginia, not much is known about his early life. He attended Virginia College and received a BS. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati where he received a Ph.D. and started a career in academia.

He served as Assistant Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Howard University. He served as the Director of the Experimental Science and Mathematics Technology Program in Physics. He became a tenured professor of Physics and was named Chairman of the Physics Department at Howard University.

He entered into a partnership with Linus Pauling at the California Institute of Technology. He focused on the structure of proteins. His process used mathematics to determine possible helical structures that would fit the x-ray data, as well as chemical restrictions that had been outlined by Pauling. He narrowed down the possible structures of two helices. The two coils were named Alpha and Gamma. Linus Pauling initially dismissed his work, saying that the shape of his coil was impossible. Pauling published the data in his name, giving him minor credit for his original research. In the initial press release from Caltech University, announcing the discovery of the Alpha Helix, his name is excluded. When Linus Pauling received a Nobel Prize for his contribution to Chemistry, he was not credited for his contribution.

He returned to Howard University as a full professor of Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department. He served as the President of Central State University. He assumed the position of President at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. He continued to research and published more than one hundred articles in his lifetime.

He became one of the founders of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. He led a group of educators to the White House to speak to President Richard Nixon about the growing disparity in financing for higher education.

He spent the remainder of his life in Silver Spring, Maryland, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha

[castingmysilver]

I was told repeatedly in my teens by older and "wiser" adults that internet friendships were less meaningful, and more fake, than the meatspace sort because to be a *true* friendship or to be able to really know someone you *must* be able to see them, touch them, visit them at the drop of the hat, bake them a casserole after their parent's funeral. I was also told I would get it when I got older. That the knowledge of the fakeness of my primary available social avenue would come in with maturity.

They were wrong.

I do sometimes long for physical presence with those I love, and even those I am just friendly with, online. But that doesn't make the love tied to these fragile filaments of connection any less *real.* I can still rejoice with you, comfort you, give you little gifts, occasionally even help pay your bills. That *matters* as much as a casserole or a hug would.

And I gladly embrace that I live in a world where that is possible, even if sometimes the internet can also magnify toxic holes.

Long-distance

[4/23/23]

A thousand gentle feelers of connection

Branch out through mechanical minds.

My heartstrings splay out in extension 

Along aetherial ties that bind

Me to my knowledge of all of you.

I glow golden with joy,

Though my face is lit in monitor blue.

Such power we've found, for good or ill!

We weave cyber networks of community.

From far away, I can care for you still

In many small ways minus proximity.

My words, my art, my listening ears 

Still matter in spite of a world so large.

We can shelter and comfort from fears

And the swirl of circumstance's barrage.