#the comparison of humanity and the universe gets to me alright

[petrichara]

‘Love is the one thing that we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.’

“Eulogy from a Physicist” by Aaron Freeman, with quotes from Interstellar by Christopher Nolan, and images from NASA, Interstellar, Getty, Petrichara, and Reuters.

1- NASA: GOODS-South.

2- NASA: NGC 1850.

3- NASA: Iberian Peninsula.

4- Christopher Nolan: Interstellar.

5- NASA: From the Earth to the Moon.

6- Hannah La Folette Ryan: Subway Hands.

7- Adams Evans: Heart Nebula.

8- NASA: Exploring the Antennae.

9- NASA: Crescent Moon from the International Space Station.

10- Petrichara.

11- Getty Images.

12- NASA: SMACS 0723.

13- Reuters

[razzdazzledoo]

How do you feel about people roleplaying as MX?

Alright everyone, sit down. I've been waiting for this moment.

Welcome to

RAZZDAZZLEDOO'S QUICK GUIDE TO WRITING MX!!

For those who wanna be in-line with the character while still having the freedom of not being canon.

So first things first, let's get the ground basis with MX.

MX does what he does for the reactions it brings, that kinda stuff is his entertainment. So he plans ahead, hoping to find the best snowball effect for the strongest look of terror on people's faces.

Though he doesn't plan THAT much, he gets a ground base and then improvises the rest of it so it's hard to plan ahead against him.

He's also not meant to be intimidating all the time either, his playmates will get bored if it's the same song and dance so he plays into other personalities to throw them off.

When their guard's down? He strikes while the iron's hot. And that makes them terrified even more.

Second, how he interacts with other people.

It ultimately depends on what the other person's like. Are they exactly like him? Do they have the potential to be? Or are they like Lucas where they clearly fear him?

Those kinda aspects will play into the chemistry MX can have with a person. He's best friends with Executable M and Mr. Virtual for a reason, they're just like him in the sense of 'tormenting for their own entertainment' along with whatever goals they have.

If they show fear, he'll play into it. He'll show them reasons to fear him, and then the next moment deceive them into believing there's some good in his heart. Only to then tear down those chances, and watch them crumble.

"What if I wanna ship my MX roleplay with someone?"

You have the freedom to do that, don't let me restrict you from having fun. I'll provide how he would, in-character, respond to romance. But I wanna get some rules down first.

Do not be sexual with him. That kinda shit makes me incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention I don't see him ever showing interest to the thought.

Do not ship him in problematic scenarios. This can include: People in the victim role, like MX took their soul and put them in a vessel; Characters who are directly stated to be minors; And characters that use Luigi's likeness. I outright forbid this and will not hesitate to block you if I see it.

Build up to it. MX obviously isn't going to know what the hell a "relationship" is, he's never entertained the idea and so it's going to take some time for him to learn. He's gonna have to figure out why he feels the way he does around that specific person, whether with their guidance or not.

He knows that humans can feel love, and how they respond to it, since he's been around since the universe's creation; but he personally doesn't know much on the subject.

When he realizes he's actually capable of love, he's not gonna know how to respond to it. He might even outright avoid the person he feels those emotions to since he has not an iota of knowledge with relationships.

If your interpretation of MX has an actual friendship with other muses, and he gets along greatly, he might go to them about it as a show of trust and they can help him figure it out.

Otherwise, he'd try and leave "gifts" for his special someone. Like a cat bringing you a dead bird, for comparison. Most of his gifts are eldritch abominations though, like a smaller version of one of his clouds in his world as an example.

On the other hand, if his special someone went to him first about pursuing a relationship and he does feel love towards them as well; He'd go along with it, essentially being a big giant teddy bear for them if he thinks it'd be funny enough.

If someone tries to pursue a relationship with him and he feels no attraction, he just kinda messes with them about it. Poking fun that they'd fall in love with a monster like him, who'd never love them back.

There's no canon MX ship, I just personally lean more towards Powerforest since it's a comfort ship of mine.

"What are some other tips?"

If your interpretation of MX can frown, make it have impact. That brute smiles all the time, regardless of the situation; So if he frowns, that's gonna have to mean something.

Canonically if MX frowns, he's locked in. He's not gonna waste time playing around, he wants you DEAD.

Don't be afraid to be silly sometimes.

It'd get awful boring real quick if MX was one-dimensional in a roleplay scenario, having something like that can give him way more depth and I encourage it.

You don't need to follow this guide exactly, but please still be respectful of the boundaries I expressed in here.

This is not meant to be a rulebook on how to write MX, you still have the freedom to write him how you feel most comfortable with writing him. This is just how I go about writing the character in my own spaces.

[the-fiction-witch]

Life

Media Doctor Who

Character The Doctor (Eleventh)

Couple Doctor X Reader (Prior Companion)

Rating Sweet Af

This is a lil trial so if you like it! let me know!

I scrubbed the bottles and cups with my sponge and hummed to myself when I perked up as I heard the unmistakable sound. I set down my dishes and headed out of my little house to see the familiar blue box on my garden grass. The door opened and he stepped out looking almost exactly as I last saw him but there was more gravity to his eyes, more darkness there than I had last seen. He wore the same suit his hair the same and he smiled at me.

I chuckled as I put my hands in my pockets, "Been a while since I saw you doctor,"

"Did I inspire you?" He smirked as he looked at my outfit,

I looked down at my outfit, my little white sneakers, my black leggings, long sleeve white t-shirt, blue pinafore and white headband in my hair, "Somewhat." I shrugged putting my hands in my pockets, "How long has it been for you? Since we saw each other last?"

"...I don't know," he sighed, "I'm fairly convinced... a few months, a few years, It's hard to keep track of these things."

"Six years."

"Six?"

"Six years since you left."

"...God I've wasted time." He sighed running a hand over his face,

"It's alright, I know it passes quick for you,"

"It never gets any easier. To see how people change when I come back." He explained,

"What are you doing here?"

"... a bit of a farewell tour, I had to come visit one of my favourite humans."

"Quiet the compliment, Tea?" I offered,

"Pop the kettle on Y/n." He smiled so I led him into the house, "quiet the place,"

"Well I had time," I laughed, "You still take Three sugars?" I asked as I went to the kitchen and began to make two cups of tea the basic reflex of it all coming back to me even after six years to make the two teas as perfectly desired,

"You still remember? Still, care?"

"Hard not to care about a man you spent so long of your life flying around space and time with," I laughed handing him his tea and taking my own having a seat on the sofa,

He had a sip and sat down beside me and we chatted between the sips of tea, "what have you been up to then? the last six years."

"Living I suppose, It's a little strange to just come back and settle into a normal life after everything... I mean... You took me to the edge of the universe. To the beginning and the end of time. To sights and sounds, I'd never even imagined... And then I come back and ... get a mortgage"

"Ugh normality," he grimaced,

"It's not all bad, I've built a decent if... dull life by comparison."

"You miss it? Travelling?"

"I miss it. But... life goes on. I'm happy."

"I'm glad to hear it." He smiled, "That you're enjoying it,"

"I am." I nodded,

"Do you ever think of about going back?" he asked,

"I don't know," I answered, "So much has changed,"

"You like living here then? No more living out of suitcases and the tardis' wardrobes exploring the ends of the universe."

I giggled, "No, no more of that. I like living here. Built a career, a life, filled my house with trinkets from adventures."

"quiet the life, all that's left is a wedding and a baby,"

I did my best to save face but, "I uhh yeah... divorced so."

"Oh... sorry. I-"

"It's alright, don't worry over it,"

"I am sorry, really I am sorry," he said as he took my hand, "I don't mean to bring up bad memories,"

"It's fine. really." I nodded squeezing his hand,

"Anything else I should know I missed?"

I smiled and squeezed his hand tugging him with me as I set down my mug, I led him upstairs to the bedroom I let him go and headed inside to the room filled with stary wallpaper, sweet blue fabrics, the shadow of the star lamp on the ceiling, and the little crib to the side, I leant on the side of the crib and he came over to have a look too.

He smiled and leant on the crib with me too, he laughed and looked down at him.

"This is Danny,"

"Danny." he smiled, "I love it, perfect name, brilliant name," He smiled, "May I?"

"So long as you don't wake him, doctor," I laughed picking Danny up and handing him over,

"Ohhh Hello," he smiled as he held Danny in his arms, "You're my new best friend aren't you Danny,"

"Ohh I bet he will be," I smiled, "He loves stories about you,"

"He does?"

"Of course, he loves them. there his favourite stories for bedtime," I smiled, "Ohh almost forgot, he'll get grumpy without his favourite toy." I laughed as I took Danny's little crotchet sonic screwdriver from the crib and let Danny hold it in his little hand,

"You made it for him?"

"Yeah, I figured he'd like it."

"Maybe, he always waves it at the light switch when he wants them turned on,"

"Like his own little sonic screwdriver," he chuckled, "He'll be ready to head off through time and space pretty soon,"

"I think so," I laughed,

"You're a very good mother to him Y/n,"

"I do my best," I laughed,

"You must be, he loves your stories, loves his toys gets his beautiful eyes from you,"

"I kinda hope he didn't get much from his father,"

"Was his father that bad?"

"He was a jackass. some men are."

"Some men are." He chuckled before he pulled out his screwdriver pointing it to the starlight and after a few seconds, the cheap white star and moon-shaped shadows turned into vibrant colours and views of the stars of planets, stars, and galaxies full of colour and life, moving gently with a spin and sweep across the white ceiling.

"You-"

"My little gift. for Danny," He smiled, "so he can look up at the stars,"

"Thank you," I smiled,

he set Danny back in his crib to sleep, and we headed back to the sofa,

"Why are you here doctor?" I asked,

"Visiting." He smiled,

"You haven't visited once in six years, why not?"

"Because I missed you, I miss everyone but... I missed you most."

"Thank you, I missed you too."

"did you ever think that you'd be a mother back when we were travelling? Or did you ever think about it when travelling the universes, settling down and having a child?" He asked,

"Admit it very rarely entered my mind. So much else going on." I explained holding my mug in hand and stroking it between my fingers, "But it had always been there the desire to settle down and have a child."

"You deserve to finally rest and raise a child, life is hard and it's nice to have a little bit of hope and peace in your life. I just hope that you are truly happy that you are finally able to settle down somewhere and be content,"

"I am happy," I nodded, "But... can I tell you a secret?"

"I won't tell a soul,"

I blushed running my hands along the curve of the mug, "I always thought It would be with you... Settling down I mean. Crossed my mind more than once over all those years to imagine a room in the Tardis with a crib and a universe's worth of toys, and a baby... with you,"

He blushed a little, "Really?" He asked, "We went through so much together and now you're telling me you were really thinking about settling down with me,"

"I did. Guess I was a stupid little girl then..."

His smile widened, "You weren't stupid,"

"No?"

"No, and if it means anything. I was thinking about it too."

"What?"

"I did,"

"why didn't you ever tell me?"

"All of time and space... I never found the time," He said, "but I did always wonder about what would have happened if we did just settle down and have a nice quiet little life together,"

"it would have been nice... It must have been hard then ... To just leave me here?"

"I wanted you to stay with me... that's the thing, that was the hardest for me, it was extremely difficult leaving you. I wanted to stay and stay with you forever,"

I finally met his eyes, "Wanted? or still want?"

he didn't answer leaving us in silence for a moment before his hand gently took my cheek and his lips pressed gently against my own, I blushed hard and softly kissed back, until he pulled away his nose against my own,

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"...More than anything,"

"Yes, it's always been yes. always will be yes." He smiled as he happily kissed me again, I kissed back excitedly until we pulled away.

"If it is still what you want," I whispered, "It's here waiting for you,"  

[the-moon-files]

Waaaa, I LOVE your writing for Linked Universe! >w< I've never thought about the trope of humans as space orcs, but I love it now djfngd- If you don't mind me asking, is there anything that the reader might be weak to (comedic or otherwise)? Or is he basically indestructible/immune to a lot of things?

sorry for late reply!! ;-; thank u sm for saying that abt my writing, and yess yesss my humans v hylians au agenda is spreading lets gooo!!!

(bro u know ur desperate for gifs when ur making ur own atp jfc 💀)

Sun: Guide!Reader, Masc Male Reader (he/him)

Orbit: LONG AS HELL Headcanons-ish, Humans are not hylians AU

Stars: Classic Chain of Links, not specific

Comets & Meteors: CWs: mild cussing, typical Loz violence, weight is mentioned as a weakness/detriment,

& TWs: Possible weight trigger, reader is described as heavy and weight has a negative impact on environment, but in a way thats meant to convey they "weigh more" bc theyre human in comparison to hylians/hylian built things ( for ex: hylians are hollow boned compared to humans).

Please stop reading at line "alright thats all for sleeping for rn, i could keep going but i wanna get to weight issue a little bit even tho ive got less for it" if you want to avoid explicit details of this.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

☆

so I could see this being both crack and angst fuel tbh

ive talked abt this somewhat on other posts/asks, but figured i could really get into all the potential weaknesses over here since ive gotten a lot of ideas abt it!

so a quick list of things ive thought of that could be weaknesses, both based on like, if this were a “video game to real world” format for us, coming from earth, and other junk ill explain

in no particular order, some weakness ideas ive had (or other anons tbh!):

weight, much heavier than Links/avg hylian (sink to bottom when swimming/cant ride their horses/cant be carried out when hurt/sick/etc.)

slow healing when u do get injured, compared to quick healing hylians who can just eat food to get better quicker

magic absorption (too much juice, body not accustomed, get sick, like eating too much magic food/using too much of magic tools/weapons)

or magic negation (cant get healed by magic, for ex: if a dragon is all magic, then u cant ride it, or if food is magical u cant eat it)

easy to get sick (new environment/ppl/area/etc.)

fall damage (tho greater height) is still applicable

hylians dont have the same pack-bonding/affection/social needs as humans, like how Wild + most Links could do their whole adventure by themselves, rarely talking to anyone, if you’ve ever seen the survival show “Alone”, one of the first things that get them to quit isnt the terrain/little food (tho thats usually next), its the fact they get lonely and miss their spouses/family/friends, sad af, youd have to assault the links for attention and hope ur not annoying the fuck outta them all the time 😭😭

stamina, ur stuck w/whatever u had before getting whisked away (for example: u just have to hope ur immune to guardian beams bc u may not be able to outrun one 💀, or just bc u can swim against the tide doesnt mean u can do so for very long, depending on ur stamnia)

not rlly a weakness, but u having a different perception of what’s “too little” clothing compared to the medieval time period hylians lmao

needing more sleep than hylians, from how in game they either outright dont need sleep, can go with only a few hours and fight Ganon, or other nonsense around sleeping, ACTUALLY also hylians being able to sleep anywhere in any position, whereas u need a good 8-9 hours every night to function normally (u cant rlly take shifts at night w/o getting fucked) and u also need a half-decent sleeping bag/not hardass ground to sleep on w/o getting morning dew soaking u thru (ive been on many misadventures camping, so i could rlly get into it when it comes to wilderness camping yall, like im not high maintenance but there are def some bare minimum things u need to function in the wild, trust me guys, its a thing/pet peeve of mine to get into how a 10 person constant camping trip would acc function 💀)

if you’ve got any other ideas, pls comment them or shoot an ask my way! these were all i could think of for rn

so im just gonna pick the ones ive expanded the least on in other posts, like the sleeping thing, weight thing, and im abt to do another ask (🥺<33) abt the human culture v hylian thing so thatll do for now

SO to continue the rlly long sleep weakness (srry)

to my credit, ive been tent camping pretty frequent in past couple years, with either my sibling, or sib and a friend, in the ruralness of our homestate (we’re in southern part of US)

like as a quick rundown of my creditable-ness, bc im sure ur like “moon. nobody cares what u have to say, ur prob chronically online bro” nah, dude, read this bs:

U can skip this if u just trust me, this is just a mildly entertaining lore dump of mine for proof i know anything at all abt tent camping:

for ref, ive: slept all night in a hammock w/a sheet bc the air mattress deflated/was sleeping on the ground otherwise which is borderline impossible to do even when exhausted ive found out, a lightning storm rolled in, i just kept sleeping, had to pack up tent in middle of the night bc it slowly got flooded bc rain got into tent, had to park on a random overgrown country road (no GPS) to car-camp for the night bc no campsite was found, have had to constantly put up tent in complete darkness bc its very hard to get my sibling and me to a campsite when theres still daylight for some reason?? lol, began to worry for hypothermia when we camped near mountains bc it got too cold to tent camp, had to intensely cuddle for warmth w/friend in truck bed, while sib was inside the car and still couldnt get warm, and it was so cold even then that it kept waking us up until we left at like 4-5am bc it got light enough for us to see to drive away 💀

ANYWAY, now that ive gotten my obligatory “i touch grass” out of the way,

(and also i def plan to use these experiences as future fic scenes, so easter egg if u read this then my fics later lmao)

sleeping is literally the first issue u gotta deal w/in going constant camping w/these guys lmao

and u bet ur ass they all find it kinda funny that u need such specific sleeping stuff when ur nigh indestructible the rest of the time

but its honest to god not even that much, it just is for hylians

so they can just sleep on rocks, flat ground, tree roots, u name it these crazy elves can do it, esp since the Links r adventurers so im sure theyre better at it than normal hylians

they dont need a tent, they barely need sleeping bags, bc the cold hard ground is legit their home 💀

the only reason they have padding at all is bc theyre more sensitive to temperature than u, so theyre more bundled up on breezy nights/for morning dew chill time

(which u found to ur horror they just dont put anything down but like a sheet when its warm weather, mostly for keeping dirt off them)

meanwhile ur like?? get a tent??? we have Wild’s slate to store it we dont even have to carry it????

and bc theyre made for hylians, the tents just like a ceiling w/poles 💀

ur out here like, “bro this would keep u more warm if there were yknow, walls. and a floor.”

which u then have to force the combined skills of Legend, Wild and Four to help u make a real tent

Legend has absolutely taken to calling you Sleeping Beauty/Princey bc of this, and the fact that u have to layer like 2 sleeping bags to not feel rocks on ur back (bc they only need it for warmth not cushioning, its thinner than human made ones)

u also have to force Time + Wars to acknowledge that u guys needs to put the tent on flat ground, and cant just sprawl out over a bunch of tree roots goddamit-

when u first learn what the watch schedule is, it sounds like actual hell.

each shift is like 4 hours, and everyone is awake and ready to go at like 5 or 6 am (the 6am is for teh Links that “sleep in” 💀)

and thats putting them at going to sleep at like 11 or midnight, bc hylians need way less sleep than ur human ass,

which the poor said hylians also find out the hard way when they go to wake the single human man on their team up, and u just outright cuss them out, hit the nearest link, rain hell on them + seem like ur drunk to them?? then just go back to sleep???

and theyre all like “wtf just happened to our guide, he’s usually so nice??”

only to realize after u all have a sit down abt the sleeping differences issues, after what theyre calling “The Sleeping Guide Incident” 💀

hylians snap awake only a few minutes after being awake (like how in SS/Oot/Botw etc u can be a little sleepy but game mechanics let u get up pretty quick)

and u need more sleep, so they just adjust and know now u need whatever u can get tbh, so ur not allowed to go on night shifts,

along w/being allowed to ride on Epona + get piggy back sleep on a Link if they rlly need to move and u havent gotten all ur required sleep yet

(tho u do try and compensate by going to sleep earlier)

(they would never tell u but, they lowkey fight/rock paper scissors who gets to carry u in the morning, Wind is the ref lol)

also hylians can sleep like a rock thru most anything, along w/this adventure which easily keeps u tired so ur ready to knock out every night,

this is why its important for someone to take watch, bc i think unless they outright get hit by a monster/shaken by another hylian, most links dont get up when sleeping no matter what

which makes sense, if theyre going to sleep so little, they prob need as much uninterrupted sleep as possible,

but just bc they can sleep thru lynel stomping doesnt mean u can, which is another adjustement they make when they choose a place to sleep at night, making sure its not a loud spot or smth, and bc u now have to sleep earlier to keep up w/their early ass times,

when the Links are all chilling around camp, they make sure to keep pretty quiet so u can sleep well <3

alright thats all for sleeping for rn, i could keep going but i wanna get to weight issue a little bit even tho ive got less for it

i mentioned it in other posts that hylians are lighter than humans, but i mostly focused on it going one way if that makes sense? like now im taking it in the way of like Humans are heavier than hylians, if that makes more sense??

u cant ride horses, at least not for very long lmao

same goes for loftwings, if u can even get on for any amount of time, bc they presumably have hollow bones so theyd be even more sensitive to ur weight than horses

omg when it comes to puzzles, and theres like weights involved, u absolutely get used as an additional weight, both bad and good tbh

bc im familiar w/botw im using it as a base, but like how shrines need a metal box or two to put on buttons to weigh them down, but it gets tricky, or u dont have one right away, Wild just uses you 💀

like u need some exact amount of metal things for this one scale puzzle, and instead u just, sit on it to sink it all the way down so the Link on the other side can reach the platform LMAO

omg the amount of battles that could just be won bc u used ur body weight against a monster lol

THE SCENE OF U AND A HINOX SQUARING UP TO LIKE SUMO WRESTLE AND U WIN W/UR WEIGHT LMAOO

just run at a lynel, dodging arrows, and just like, successfully full-body tackle it bc it feels like it has the same weight as a large dog, like a husky or smth 💀

u act like a bomb when u throw urself off cliffs bc u dont get fall damage easy, so u can manage like a ten-story building drop u found out w/o a scratch, but u cause a crater around u bc of ur impact lmao

Wild/Wind/Rulie/Legend are all having the time of their lives having u cannonball into the ground next to monster camps bc ur just a human bomb atp

kno this was less weakness focused but heres one more rough weakness of it,

u all have to be VERY careful around bridges or thin strips of land, or like crossing tree branches, etc. w/you bc ur weight may make it not possible cross w/o ridiculously being this single human person bringing an entire bridge down 💀

think the only way u could fix this glaring issue is if u outright jumped across, which even tho ur basically superpowered bc ur so strong here so youd have to fuck up pretty bad to not make it,

poor boys get worried sick anyway and try to avoid bridges if they can, they only trust ones that are like stone built up from the ground to carry you

this also sucks when its like a rope bridge across like a huge gap or like a small valley or smth, bc not only do u not have a landing spot in the immediate area, but now u have to reroute until u can find a spot that lets u basically jump across the gap lmao

on one hand, the Chain r still anxious letting u go alone to sometimes find that different route, but also if anyone went w/u youd just have to piggyback them while doing that, and its not like theyd be that helpful besides moral support maybe lmao

but u dont mind that and none of them can stand being seperated from u w/o knowing at least one Link is w/u, so u usually go ahead and piggyback Wind or Four (one of the lightest) find a route and leap ur way to the other side lol

u also found out the hard way that ur weight affects hylian made buildings, bc they can be made out of not as dense/strong woods, like especially things like floors/beds/chairs/etc stuff that would be made to take hylian weight

the absolute insanity the first time u guys went to an inn, and u crushed both the steps leading into the inn, a barstool, a chair, and later that night ur bedframe just from gently laying on it 💀

the innkeeper realized and re-arranged so u guys were on first floor so u wouldnt have to go up steps, and was luckily very understanding abt u being a different weightier race (Time and you still tipped him rupees to help pay for damage 😭)

u had to literally go back outside to sleep bc u were worried if u slept on the floor it slowly break overnight LMAO

but Wind/Wild/Four/Rulie/Twi were all sweet enough to come w/you to sleep outside too lol (they were more nature inclined anyway, even tho u insisted they take advantage of the beds)

this was also absolutely hilarious for the others to wake up to in the morning, bc Time/Wars/Sky/Legend had already gone to bed,

so they just walk out the inn, all confused why the innkeeper just pointed outside when they asked where the others went, and they jsut open the front door (w/still broken steps bc u had to exit 💀)

to see u guys camped out on the lawn ASHFDFL

☆

😃. well that got out of hand, and its getting late for me so I may have 10x the amount of spelling/grammar mistakes more than usual, and it may have completely lost the plot in some points so-!

i hope that was smth for u to at least chew on anon, and sorry i overdid it jfccc

have a great rest of ur week anon, and tysm for the ask!! :D

comments/commentary in tags/feeback at all keep me alive, so pls leave one w/whatever u think!!

Peace out,

🌙

[championari]

Alright. I said I would write this and I’m gonna stay true to my word.

I’ve been seeing a lot of takes since The Giggle has come out questioning the potency of 14’s ending. People have been citing multiple different times during the reboot era where the Doctor has “settled down” somewhere, from Darillium, the university in S10, to even Trenzalore. However, I think all of these comparisons are apples to oranges, completely missing the details of each instance and how The Giggle’s ending rebukes all of them. 

So, because I cannot leave an inaccurate take alone, I’m going through every single one of these instances and explain why 14’s ending is different from them, in chronological order.

I’m gonna start with a weird one: S7EP4, The Power of Three. Because it provides a good example of all the things we’re going to be talking about. 

Prior to this episode, long time fans already had a good idea that the Doctor…does not do well in monotonous environments, a truth that is consistent across multiple incarnations.

“I don’t do families.”

“Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I’ve never had a life like that.”

“Here you are, Living a life, day after day. The one adventure I could never have.”

“Christmas dinner.” “I don’t do that sort of thing.”

“Oh god I had a terrible nightmare about you two!” [Talking about Amy and Rory having a normal life in Leadworth]

The entirety of The Lodger

“There’s a bigger, scarier adventure waiting for you in there.”

The Power of Three, spells this truth out in bold, montage style marker pen. The Doctor “needs to be busy”. Why, as Amy later asks?

Personally I think this answer varies slightly between regenerations, based on experiences and losses each face goes through. 9 couldn’t imagine a life of peace coming out of a war, a war that he had a major hand in. 10 continues that idea, with the added baggage of losing Rose. 11’s reasoning is a bit subtler: he says to Amy that he is running to things before they go, as if he now understands how short beautiful things last. He’s going from one thing to the next in avoidance of staying to watch things die. 

“And what’s the alternative? Me standing over your grave?”

This doesn’t change by the end of the episode. The Doctor explicitly tells the Ponds that he’s only staying to watch the cubes, and once the threat is gone, he’s already out the door. He only stops because of a potential threat, an idea we will return to in the next example. He even accepts the idea of Amy and Rory wanting to stay behind: “things to do. Worlds to save. Swings to swing on. Look, I know. You both have lives here. beautiful, messy lives. That is what makes you so fabulously human. You don’t want to give them up. I understand.” The Doctor is saying, ‘I know you have lives here, and that I can’t always be a part of that. And that’s ok.’ 

This episode in my opinion is a perfect microcosm of The Doctor regarding this topic, spelling out explicitly why The Doctor can't ever settle down. The Doctor needs to have something to run to because they don't feel secure enough in any place to not allow their altruism outweigh their need to process their trauma. The only thing that could motivate the Doctor to stop, even just for a second, is the promise that their friend(s) will be there too. The next example is the worst-case scenario of this issue.

Trenzalore is an interesting case. When I first heard of it being counted, I immediately shut it down, because Trenzalore was a literal war zone (wars are obviously not a good place for mental health time). But in doing research, there is actually way more baggage contained in this period making it unsuitable for this argument than just that fact. 

Trenzalore was set up to be the Doctor’s final resting place, where they would truly die. It wasn’t the first time a death prophecy had surrounded the Time Lord, and once again, just as with The End of Time, the thing that kills them is, what Davros would later call The Doctor's “greatest indulgence”: compassion. Tasha Leem warns 11 that she will burn the planet upon the possibility of the Time Lords returning, a warning the Doctor takes extremely seriously.

“This planet is protected.”

“Christmas has a new sheriff.”

For 300 years, 11 stayed true to his word. He fought long and hard, for the townspeople and his own. He was celebrated and was loved. But Clara returning with the TARDIS revealed how he really felt about all of it. 

“Everyone gets stuck somewhere eventually.”

“But you didn’t have your TARDIS.” “Well, that made it easier to stay.” 

There’s an unspoken sentiment in these words, echoing 11's philosophy in Power of Three: the Doctor will always want to leave, in this case, to understandably avoid his prophesied death. But he doesn’t, because “Every life I save is a victory”. Their compulsion to help, their innate capacity to help those in need. So often it’s been their greatest strength, but here it’s framed as destructive selflessness. 11 has become so wholly committed to helping others before himself that he’s willing to accept his own death. 

Clara correctly calls this out: “What about your life? Just for once, After all this time, have you not earned the right to think about that?” The Doctor didn’t stay on Trenzalore for himself, he stayed for everyone besides himself. It’s only because Clara gave the Time Lords a proper verbal smackdown that the Doctor managed to survive. Had they not intervened, The Doctor would've suffered and died, once again to protect them, despite already saving them from annihilation in the previous episode, Day of The Doctor. Trenzalore wasn't The Doctor stopping, it was a century-long effort to keep satiating the bottomless survivor's guilt they still carried from The Time War.

Darillium is yet another case of looking like a time the Doctor settled down somewhere on the surface. But the details don’t match that conclusion. The entire thesis of 12 and River’s final conversation was about the fleeting nature of their situation. 

“Times end, River, because they have to. Because there’s no such thing as happily ever after. It’s just a lie we tell ourselves because the truth is so hard.”

The Doctor says this, cries at hearing the Singing Towers, despite already knowing they have 24 years in a night. Because he knows it can’t last. There’s already a deadline on their moment of peace before it’s begun. Eventually River must go to The Library. 

The final quote of the episode punctuates this: “And they lived happily ever after.” Fading away until “happily” remains. Because they didn’t have their “ever after” and they didn’t “live”, because a person can’t entirely experience life to the fullest with a clock hanging over their head. 

While they got their moment of happiness, it was only a moment. 24 years is just a blink of an eye for a Time Lord, and sure enough, we see by the end of “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, the next chronological episode, 12 is ready to leap back into the fray. Still the same overall Doctor he was before.

The University is an extension of this. We find out that the only reason he has stayed is to guard Missy in the vault. When 12 tries to mindwipe Bill (an eerie parallel to both Donna and Clara), he directly says: “I have no choice, I’m in disguise. I have promises to keep.” Just like with Trenzalore, The Doctor’s altruism has trapped him somewhere he doesn’t actually want to be. The second he hesitates, he immediately runs after Bill, inviting her into the TARDIS and sneaks off to the universe behind Nardole’s back.

So, now that we’ve gone through each past instance, what’s the connection? What’s the key issue(s) that prevented the Doctor from permanently stopping in any of these cases?

The (fear of) loss of their friends, and the Doctor’s own self-loathing. Either out of fear of the march of time, or the chains that their altruistic nature binds them to, The Doctor always runs away from the picket fence life.

Now, let’s look at 14 and how this ending departs from all other examples.

Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle more prominently explains 14’s origins as a coping mechanism. The reason why 10’s face came back was to retreat to an incarnation that didn’t invoke the loss of The Ponds, Clara, and Bill. The second destruction of Gallifrey and the reveal of The Timeless Child. The Doctor’s avoidance of their trauma has now been made physical, just like how mental stress can often manifest as physical changes or ailments. 

“We stand here now, on the edge of creation, a creation that I devastated, so yes I keep running, of course I keep running!! How am I supposed to look back on that?!”

Already this is a departure from the instances we’ve discussed, because by the very nature of having 10’s face again, it’s forcing the Doctor to ask why. 

“It’s like I'm trying to tell myself something. Like I’m trying to make a point.”

But 14 chooses not to answer it, because answering it means accepting the truth: it’s too much. The trauma can’t be avoided anymore, because The Doctor would always be reminded of what they’re trying to avoid by looking in a reflection. 14 telling Shirley, “I don’t know who I am anymore.” Then asking Donna, “what am I? What am I now?” It’s not because he’s been given a blank slate and doesn’t know what to do with it, like other regeneration stories. In trying to run away again, to bury the trauma and pain, The Doctor has made it more visible than ever, and doesn’t know what to do with that. 

Ironically, the Toymaker causing the bi-generation was the greatest gift he could’ve given the Doctor, because 15 was exactly who 14 needed to see. He’s happy, energetic, full of life and wonder, but also empathetic, understanding and open. He’s the only other person in the entire universe who The Doctor will listen to (well, one person, we’ll get to the other later), because he knows all of the trauma they went through, and yet, made it through ok.

“But you’re fine.”

“I’m fine, because you fix yourself.”

15 is leading by example, their own ‘ghost of Christmas future’ but positive. 14 now has an ideal self to strive towards, a face born from love and empathy. 14 doesn’t have to ground herself out of moral obligation, 15 will now protect the universe. 

But that leaves one question: why Donna? Out of all of the people to settle down with, why her? That’s easy: because she gets it. 

Donna, out of all of the companions the Doctor traveled with, understood the soul behind the legend, because she recognized someone fundamentally similar to herself. One of Donna’s signature character flaws is her horrendously low self esteem: “I’m nothing special.” no one ever listened to her (thanks Sylvia, for at least cleaning up your act later), so she covered up the silence with noise. She held onto whatever indisputable moments of genius she had to drown out the cacophony of voices shutting her up. Wild Blue Yonder explained this perfectly: Donna believes she is both brilliant and stupid at the same time. 

She lives in two contradictory self images at once, and so does The Doctor. The genius and the idiot. The universe’s most fascinating person, and the person who would easily throw away their life for the betterment of others. She’s seen their blinding arrogance/rage (the Racnoss, Jenny) and their crippling self doubt/loneliness, and always met both with empathy and kindness. 

“Doctor! You can stop now!”

“Cause sometimes I think you need someone to stop you.” 

“It won’t stay like that. She’ll help you. We both will.” 

“Is ‘alright’ special Time Lord code for ‘really not alright’ at all?” “Why?” “Cause I’m alright too.”

Donna shouldered the burden of destroying Pompeii, she silently hugged 10 after coming back from Midnight. All because she knew what all of that would feel like in her own life. She didn’t need to know the history of The Doctor and Davros, because she saw her best friend afraid and knew he would want comfort, because she would too.

Even if Dalek Caan manipulated the timelines to get Donna to him, That friendship was completely real to both of them. We saw what Donna was like without the Doctor in Forest of the Dead and Turn Left, and she always felt some level of unhappiness. 15 years removed from them and she still felt as if something was missing. In every future/reality, she always wanted them there. Same for the Doctor too. Within only a few episodes of losing her, 10 started to fall into becoming the “time lord victorious”. 12 looks the way he does because of Donna’s plea to adhere to his name, and save people. Even before 14 came into existence, the Doctor was willing to tell other people how important she was to them, on account of River recognizing Donna by her name: “you’re Donna, Donna Noble.”

Donna didn’t just travel with the Doctor and she wasn’t just friends with them. She completely understood them, their soulmate. Two halves of a greater whole, The DoctorDonna. 14 stayed because there was a more stable incarnation to take his place, and because his best friend would be there alongside him, helping and supporting him through and through. The Doctor stayed because, for the first time in their life, they felt safe. In where they would be staying, and what they would be leaving behind. 

That's why 15 doubling the TARDIS was so significant. In giving 14 her own TARDIS, 15 is allowing his younger self to have what they always removed from the equation: free will. The Doctor can still go anywhere they want, which makes them even more motivated to stay and fix themself. 14 can feel safe staying with Donna, Wilf, Mel, Rose, Shaun, and Sylvia because the option to travel is still there.

And the truly amazing part of all of this is that the TARDIS knew it from the beginning. Was it a coincidence that very soon after 13 regenerated into 14, the TARDIS landed close to where Donna and Rose would be shopping? 

“You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go.” “No, but I always took you where you needed to go.”

The TARDIS brought the Doctor home, and this time, they stayed. Because it was a place where they wanted and needed to be. 

[my-coven-is-claudia]

i’m going to bash my head into a wall if i don’t get this all out NOW but something really clicked into place once i finished good omens 2.

i’ve always wondered how dark the show was going to go when it came to it’s critism of Christianity. however,, this season really solidified it for me that they are going to dig deep.

the confession scene between aziraphale and crowley really came across to me as one religiously traumatised person desperately trying to show another deeply religiously traumatised person the flaws in organised religion and how it isn’t everything. that there’s this whole beautiful world outside of being ‘pure’ and ‘holy’. it isn’t worth it. life might be absolutely meaningless and we might be incomprehensibly irrelevant in comparison to this vast universe but at least we have each other. isn’t that enough? aren’t i enough? can we not be each other’s meaning in life?

crowley knows more than anyone how corrupted heaven is. how it chews up and spits out anyone who questions the status quo. crowley asked questions and he lost everything. he fell. as a result,, he had to completely uproot his old identity as an angel and build himself up again. and i think his bravery in just completely bearing his whole self to aziraphale proves how much he’s grown. he isn’t ashamed of his love for aziraphale,, doesn’t view their relationship as the problem but instead the toxic heaven and hell as the issue. he’s okay with leaving behind the system of heaven and hell - of good and evil. he recognises that that kind of black and white thinking doesn’t help anyone. although he may be an outcast for it,, he knows he’ll be alright as long as he has aziraphale by his side. we’ve seen multiple times now that crowley is more than willing to just up and leave earth and give up everything as long as he’s with aziraphale. freedom is not scary to him - it’s something he desperately desires actually. he doesn’t have to rely on god or heaven or even frankly his role as a demon to be confident in himself. the system’s fucked and they’re all alone and only have each other and he’s fine with that. as long as it’s him and aziraphale against the world.

aziraphale,, on the other hand,, has yet to find solace in the loneliness of it just being him and crowley. we see during the story of job flashback that once aziraphale realises he isn’t as angelic as he thought he was,, that he’s only willing to go along with heaven’s plans so far,, he is crushed. the weight of the situation - him losing his picture perfect view of heaven - destroys him. he’s alone. and he hasn’t really moved on from this initial realisation. yes he’s grown in other respects (e.g. he’s a lot braver now when it comes to standing up to heaven and the archangels than he was at the beginning) but he’s still stuck in that moment. this angel is traumatised!! the deal with the metatron is his chance to prove himself in a way. to prove that he isn’t this impure,, traitorous angel. he can fix the system. heaven is actually the answer. it may need a little sprucing up but at it’s core good always triumphs evil. and crowley’s good so he must be deserving of becoming an angel so maybe they can finally be together and their relationship won’t be wrong.

and it’s just this painful justification for aziraphale to return to the place that abused him for so many centuries. self-sabotage at it’s finest. he doesn’t know life outside of being an ‘angel’. it’s an intrinsic part of who he is even though at this point he’s more human than anything else. throughout the series we see him attempt to present as this stereotypical,, fearless angel who smites evil at every turn. during the story of job flashback he attempts to appear as a messenger of god to the humans but they don’t take him seriously. he insists to the archangels that he will shape the antichrist into a good person despite the fact that the whole point is that adam will actually bring about armageddon and they just laugh at him. he wants to be pure and holy so bad!!

this has been bubbling beneath the surface for literal millennium and it’s finally cost him everything. it was always going to get in the way of his and crowley’s relationship. his unresolved trauma has convinced him that his love for crowley is his hamartia. but if he takes this deal maybe,, just maybe,, they can be together. in the holy way of course. crowley will have to give up his personal growth and return to the place that chucked him out like a dog bone just to become a part of the system he’s been fighting against for so long.

to be clear,, i don’t think aziraphale realises this and wouldn’t ever wish for crowley to have to conform but he doesn’t realise that by rejoining heaven that’s literally what they will be doing. heaven is the pinnacle of the status quo - distant and cold with not a sign of love in sight. it’s not the right place for them at all. i think aziraphale is being simultaneously selfless and selfish in choosing to become the archangel supreme: obviously he’s giving up living on earth and more importantly crowley so he can rebuild heaven but he seems to also be doing this to sooth his own self-hatred.

everything ties back to his feelings of inferiority and that he isn’t good enough. no matter how many times crowley screams at him that he’s better than all of heaven and hell combined he’s not going to leave heaven behind until he recognises his own self worth. he loves crowley for defying his destiny as a demon and being a kind person but he can’t seem to love himself for doing the exact same. he needs to find himself before he can truly leave heaven behind along with his faith. and in a way i think aziraphale did a long time ago on that cliff with crowley but ever since then he’s just been trying to convince himself that he still believes in the almighty.

[softguarnere]

12) chipped nail polish and an empty dinner table is giving chiara vibes

Andy once again coming through with the prompts in my time of need 😌🫶🏽 Thank you lovely!

Using this prompt as an excuse to give some Chiara lore, some origin story, under the cut

The sad thing is, this isn’t even close to the worst canceled family dinner that Chiara has ever had. It’s honestly just another typical Tuesday night out in Forest Hills. In the St. Claire household, that is. Chiara has never been inside the homes of any of her neighbors, and therefore has no evidence supporting her hypothesis that her homelife is an outlier when considered next to those of everyone else in her neighborhood. 

God, how pathetic – using a comparison like that to rationalize loneliness. Maybe she’s been working on this math homework for too long, has made one too many boxplots for one night. All the numbers are stacking up, and Chiara’s mind is beginning to feel as disorganized as the kitchen table, with her homework and textbooks and scrap papers spread all over it. And somewhere beneath it all is the note, the reason for this whole thing, buried deep in the mess like some sort of metaphor, the root of tonight’s problems.

Urgent meeting out of town, back in two days. Call if you need me  – XO, Mom

Chiara drums her fingers against the table, the vibrations traveling up her arm in a way that’s almost as comforting as the noise. It’ll chip her nail polish, though, she knows. And then she’ll be annoyed with herself. But that’s a problem for tomorrow’s Chiara, who will notice the chipped paint when she zones out in her second period AP Lit class when she should be reading along in Wuthering Heights. If she’s being honest, though, mourning her paint job is much more appealing than listening to her classmates misinterpret Heathcliff’s character. Or finishing this math homework. Or just about anything else relating to school. 

“Alright,” she breathes. “Focus, St. Claire –”  

Almost as if the universe doesn’t want her to focus, like God is sending her a sign that she should abandon her math homework, a metallic clanging from outside interrupts Chiara’s peptalk. It’s followed by the chittering sound of animals who seem all too pleased with themselves. 

The next thing she knows, Chiara is outside in the driveway, staring at the raccoons who have overturned the trashcan on the edge of the sidewalk and are happily pilfering through the garbage that they’ve managed to scatter everywhere. 

“Hey!” she yells, her hand outstretched, a shadow loosening from her fingertips and flying in the direction of the creatures before she realizes what she’s doing. It ricochets off the garbage can with a metallic pop! that sends them scattering – or maybe it’s just the way her eyes glow bright and purple, which is terrifying for anyone, human or not. “We’re gonna get fined by the HOA because of you!”

She feels bad as soon as the words are out of her mouth, as soon as she realizes how much she’s scared them. They’re just raccoons, after all. This is their nature. They don’t know any better. 

But as she watches them flee, as the glow in her eyes dies down, Chiara surveys the wreckage. Across the street, at the house next door, the trash cans have also become casualties of this raccoon family’s dinnertime prowl. Unknowingly, these little bandits have just put three different houses on the HOA president’s shitlist, unless they get the mess picked up by morning when the garbage truck comes. 

It’s kind of like what happened to the city after the Battle of New York, Chiara reasons as she picks up the garbage littering her driveway. Someone else makes a mess, but they don’t stick around to pick it up, to face the actions of their own consequences, to make it right. No – someone else gets stuck doing all of that because everyone moves on to bigger and better things, leaving the little guy to fend for himself. 

And in places like this, aren’t the regular, everyday people the littlest of the little guys? The lowest priority on the radar of people –  

People like Chiara. 

She stops what she’s doing, sitting back on her heels, the thought stunning her. She, Chiara St. Claire, could do something for the people that everyone else has forgotten about. Well, she can do something for her neighborhood, at least. After all, she’s pretty sure that raccoons breaking into garbage cans and kids TP-ing houses isn’t exactly an Avengers level threat. But those things do drive her neighbors crazy, and if she wanted to, she could probably stop them pretty effectively . . . 

If nothing else, it would give her something to do. Besides homework and having dinner alone, that is. 

Once the garbage from her own driveway is picked up, Chiara moves on to the house next door. It’s only fair, seeing as the people who live there left for a vacation that morning and don’t even know their garbage cans have been attacked. 

“Well, Forest Hills,” Chiara mutters to herself. “The HOA ladies are always ranting that we need someone to avenge you from the everyday threats.” Someone with a cool name and an even cooler costume; things Chiara could easily work out. “It might as well be me.”

Send me a prompt and an OC, and I'll write a lil fic!

[gremoria411]

The poor decisions don’t stop, since I decided to start Gundam Ibo Urdr Hunt while watching 0079. (Though realistically, it seems I’ll just end up putting 0079 on the back burner for a bit). This was motivated by Four Factors:

The announcement that they’re actually going to do something with the series going forward (I’m *hoping* for a full series or compilation movie, but I can’t guess at how practical that’d be, since I don’t know what the series is like yet). Regardless, I felt I should at least watch the series so I have an opinion on it. EDIT: I’m betting a compilation movie, there’s a lot of reused animation, and a lot of the parts lacking animation are conversations.

I already bought the model kits of both the Marchosias and the Asmoday purely on the strength of their designs, and I kinda want to decide if the Hajiroboshi or Cyclase’s Schwalbe Graze are similarly worthwhile (I’m slowly coming around to the Graze), since now’s probably the best time to go for them.

I kinda really want to know what’s going on with Cyclase Mayer. I really liked Mcgillis, and so I’m interested in seeing what a similarly designed character is going to be like in Post Disaster (plus, he’s a serious-faced man in a business suit, so he’s probably going to be fun to watch just from a broader perspective, given what characters in this universe typically have to deal with).

I haven’t actually been that excited about it, which annoys me. Maybe I didn’t see much hype, maybe it’s too close to Witch from Mercury/ the SEED Movie, or maybe I’d just gotten a little too settled in Post Disaster

Also, I just watched the opening for the first time and feel like I should jot something down;

Do each of the rings come with a maid? And Cyclase has two of them? Is he just trying to put a maid household together by collecting all the rings?….…….is this a Gundam harem anime? (I mean I know they’ve been trying to diversify lately, but still….)

Obviously it isn’t, but the thought did briefly cross my mind as I watched the opening.

*the following contains spoilers for the first four episodes of Gundam Ibo: Urdr Hunt*

I’ve watched the first four episodes, as of writing, so I’m just going to jot down a few thoughts;

I like how each of the maids is shown to be different in personality. Berose’s so obviously unhappy with her posting and Parstai actively manipulates things to get a better owner for the Urdr hunt ring (granted it didn’t take much). And then Korunaru’s just cheery by comparison.

I kinda expected the Zan Brothers to be a comedy side-act - a duo of bumblers pursuing the Urdr hunt, based on their aesthetics (very flashy). As such, Rome murdering a human debris for failure and Aiko barely concealing his hostility toward his idiot brother were both very surprising, and a welcome addition.

I didn’t expect I’d like Range’s suit, the Enzo, as much as I did. It feels like someone took the Hexa Frame used by the Hugo and made an actually solid mobile suit out of it - Range loses because he’s outclassed, not because the design is lacking in any particular way. It’s balanced, well armed and has a neat aesthetic. Good job guys.

Similarly, I really like the design of the Monkey Rodi’s. So sleek.

Alright, so I’m assuming the Chairman of the Board for the Omden Colony Company is Torrado Omden? Regardless, absolute peak character design. Man looks like an overgrown toddler and I hate him for it. It really sells him throwing away resources and lives on this thing as…… sorta casually despicable? Like it’s a bad financial quarter?

Overall, I’m really enjoying it. But I do have two criticisms I want to note at this juncture. Though I’m reasonably certain that it gets addressed later, Wistario Afram (is it Afram or Afam? I think it’s Afam, but Afram just rolls off the tongue better) is just kind of the least interesting of the Urdr Hunt participants we’ve seen so far. Like, he wants to use the money to rebuild the Venus Colony into a major tourist attraction. That’s a solid, achievable goal, and the way he talks and acts makes me feel like it’s less about “can he do it” and more about “how will he do it”. I don’t mind that angle, but it’s very different from everyone else around him. Range is trapped working for a company that will cut him off for any perceived failure, and he’s grappling with the fact that it’s not the solution he thought it would be and that he’s got more in common with Afam than his employers. It’s a good angle, as he slowly re-examines what his place in the world, and the crushing pressure exerted by both the Colony Company - a very powerful organisation, as evidenced by the fact that they consider the grand prize of Urdr hunt to be pocket change; and that exerted by the Hajiroboshi itself, a Gundam from the Calamity War. Meanwhile, 598 is enamoured with the idea of becoming like Tekkadan, showing the far-reaching influence they have, however, he’s forced to re-evaluate his own actions and who they’re truly for - in doing so, he can realise who his enemies are and actually take steps to free himself from their control, and from there take’s the first step to becoming like his idols in Tekkadan. They’re both very compelling characters, and it’s just unfortunate that Wistario can’t seem to eclipse that. It could be that we were just told how bad the situation is in Venus, rather than shown - a few shots of the prison’s might have helped, or showing how they affect the populace.

That said, now that I come to write this all down, both of their origins are somewhat similar to Tekkadan (598’s for obvious reasons) - it’s possible that I’m only rating them as highly as I am due to the familiar elements. With that in mind, it is possible that Wistario may offer a fresher perspective on the world of Post Disaster.

My second criticism is one I’ve mention before, regarding Noisy Fairy; Don’t call someone “character A” it’s stupid, because the message it sends to me is “this person isn’t worth caring about”. If a character is worth caring about, they’re always called “mysterious girl” or “???”, so “Girl B”, “Mercenary A” and “Board Member C” are just worthless. Does it cost more to give them names? Do named characters denote different rates for their voice actors or something? It’s just really immersion-breaking, because it creates the sense that named characters are the only ones that matter.

(Also Radonitsa Colony being essentially a prison colony is great, because it roughly parallels the real- life British Empire’s treatment of Australia, though granted without any natives).

[zlobonessa]

a piece from university au that i-maybe-will-write-one-day; otto & subaru discussing their new terrible and maybe a bit rotting professor

"It would be for the best if you didn't argue with our physics professor," his classmate said, looking warily at the empty wide staircase, then at Subaru: he hadn't managed to remember this guy's name yet, but the face was definitely familiar. Soft and round, with naivety and whinyness written in large letters all over his face, and shoulder-length hair — he looked pretty fine, actually, only he wore a cap without taking it off for some reason.

"Why me?" Subaru bristled: at once he felt insulted and lonely. "Was I pestering him or something? No, he decided that he wants to ask me about all his... kinetic energies, these energy conservations, about Newton! Come on, what this Newton ever did to him? You've heard him, he talks about him like he knew him personally, like they lived on the same street or something! What was that all about, huh?"

The classmate shook his head impatiently: the strands of his hair hit his cheeks.

"I mean, you're right, but.. Listen to me!" he hissed when he saw that Subaru was about to object. "I have friends — in graduate school, you know? These are not simple bachelors, everybody are dying to write a thesis, they are not special, but that's — that's not even close! These people survived all the exams, passed philosophy, defended their thesis to Emerada Lugunica!.."

"To whom?"

"Oh, trust me, you'll find out about it in time and you'll regret ever asking, but that's not what I'm talking about right now! The bottom line is that these people, they are barely humans now — titans, witches! — and you know what? He asks to be their scientific supervisor, then reads drafts of their dissertations — and begins to nitpick every single line, one by one, until he criticizes the whole document! And then? Do you even know what's then?

"Well?" Subaru snapped, unable to stand it anymore: his voice echoed down the corridor. The classmate shuddered.

"And then," he whispered pushy and almost aggressively: somehow he now stood very close to Sybaru, almost nose to nose, and Subaru didn't notice how it happened at all, "then he chooses those people whose dissertations are absolutely, as he puts it, slothful, — and disintegrates them!"

Subaru blinked, puzzled, then blinked again. The completely serious face of the classmate in front of him has not gone away.

"How is that?"

"How? By hand!"

(He said the last word in a very strange and terribly desperate way: Subaru felt that he didn't understand anything at all, but immediately and suddenly he realised that he really did not want to argue with the professor anymore.)

"Eh?"

The classmate hesitated. Chewed on his plump pink lip. Got closer to him again, clumsily: after trampling on the spot, he moved to Subaru's left side and leaned to the railing pressed against the wall.

"Listen," he whispered again, "the thing is, I— well, maybe something will change, I can't promise, but maybe — I know where to get the answers to the final test. Exactly the right amount of answers, you know? So that he doesn't send you to do a retake, and so that he doesn't like you enough to counsel you on any thesises."

Subaru looked at him more intently. Suddenly, the naivety from his face seemed to peel off: a tenacious grip appeared in his baby blue eyes.

"What's in it for you?" he squinted suspiciously.

The classmate almost blossomed:

"And for me," his tone became more trusting, "I would like you to help me with Professor Mayer. He's kind of interested in you, and they say he's sometimes tough, sometimes weird, but generally not mean, and in comparison to others, of course, well..."

Subaru clicked his tongue.

"So what's your name," he raised his eyebrows expressively, "my fellow future graduate student?.. Uh, that sounded bad, yeah?"

"You can do better," the classmate agreed easily. — "Friend, let's say, is quite alright with me."

He held out his hand.

"Otto Suwen."

Subaru shook the outstretched hand: the handshake was surprisingly firm.

"Natsuki Subaru."

[heaven-s-black-box]

Side Project- Luke & Leia

Return to File- Event Masterlist

Recovery date: July 25th, 2022

Description: Luke and Leia are forced to take a break, but even then they can't sit still.

Notes: An entry from my 2022 research project into the universe of Star Wars. You can find the next entry here.

Word count: 647

Back to directory

Sometimes the twins were far too much like their parents. It was something both R2 and C3PO could agree on when they spoke -which was rarely-, since R2 left with Luke to form a new Jedi academy.

In this case, it was their work habits that forced the comparison. Leia spending late nights in her office drafting up proposals and arguments for the senate, much like their mother, and Luke training from dawn till dusk like their father. It was ridiculous, and neither of them showed signs of stopping. A trait their parents had in common and they shared, dragged them on, stubbornness. 

“Alright goldy, what is it?” Han huffed.

He was leaning back in the pilot's seat of the Millenium Falcon, arms crossed and legs kicked up on Chewwie’s seat.

C3PO had been looking for him all day, assuming it was some political quest from Leia, Han had tried his damndest to avoid him. The droid had finally found him in the cockpit getting ready to head out on a supply delivery run.

“It’s about Master Luke and Mistress Leia, R2 and I are very worried about them.”

Han dropped his feet and leaned in a bit more to the droid, arms now propped up on his knees.

“What d’you mean?”

“Well, neither of them have taken a break since the battle of Endor and they both spend all day working. It cannot be healthy, the human body requires rest or else it will burn out.”

Han sighed, “Look, I’m sure if they needed a break they would take one. Now, I’m heading out, so unless you’d like to come with me, get off the ship.”

“Mistress Pamde and Master Anakin wouldn’t,” 3PO huffed and left the cockpit. “It was no use,” he exclaimed to R2 as he left the Falcon, “we have to find some other way to make them relax.”

“Hey droid!” 3PO turned around to find Han standing in the doorway of the Falcon. “What did you have in mind?”

---

“There’s a folder of drafts that need to be sent out for approval, things like trade agreements, treaties, everything. It’s all in the drafts folder… Oh and!”

“Do not worry mistress Leia, I will make sure everything runs smoothly in your absence.”

She took a deep breath and smiled at him.

“I know you will, thank you 3PO.”

“You sure you don’t want me to drop you two off? At least on Naboo?” Han asked, handing the last duffle up to Luke. He was kind of surprised the droids’ plan worked.

“Nah, we’re good. Besides, I’m thinking of letting Leia fly for a bit.”

The two looked back at her, giving some last minute directions to her stand-ins.

“I wish I could be there to see that.”

Luke chuckled. “Leia, come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner you can be back.”

“I’m coming! I’m coming,” she waved. 

“Okay, I gotta know, what’s so special about this trip?

Leia pulled the X-wing helmet on and Luke helped her fasten it before she got into the back seat.

“It’s a chance to let us get to know our parents,” Luke shrugged.

“When I first met Obi-Wan, he seemed so sad talking about them. I guess, now I know why but… I want to understand why, I want to understand who they were,” she shrugged, leaning over the side a bit.

“I grew up on Tatooine, our father’s home planet, but I want to see where our mother grew up.”

Luke hopped into the pilot seat and pulled on his helmet.

“So what, the droids convinced you to take a break by going on a journey of self discovery?”

Both twins shrugged.

“Closing the hatch, bye Han.”

Leia waved and settled in, saying something to Luke once the hatched closed. Han couldn’t hear them anymore, but he could tell they were already relaxing. Luke laughed at whatever Leia said and waved bye to him and the droids.

As Han stepped back, he watched the twins take off on a much needed vacation.

[dappercritter]

On the Knuckles series announcement:

Okay first of all, obviously I'm happy to see that hat return.

And more Maddie ofc.

But I'm worried about the plot. Not because of how much game lore we'll get referenced or how well they'll pull of the premise of "Iconic Character trains Comic Relief Character That Was Okay I Guess in the ways of the warrior, hijinx ensue" but because I'm worried I'm getting bored of the Sonic Cinematic Universe.

This is an entirely subjective criticism, so just know this is more of a vent than a real criticism post.

That said, as much as I liked the first movies for what they were able to do right, I feel like these movies are being held back by their attempts to mesh the creator's passion for the games with the studios' need to make it a basic funny animal movie series.

It's not offensively bad as the Peter Rabbit movies which had the charm of the source material gutted to make a James Corden vehicle, but it feels like it's got the same symptoms. The feeling like somebody feels it would be more marketable to focus on Sonic characters interacting with our world than fully indulging in Sonic's world. Something that I'm more willing to blame on Paramount execs than anybody onboard the creative team for the record.

I do think that part of this disappointment is me and some folks hoping that Knuckles was going to get a dedicated character study like Peacemaker or The Mandalorian (but with a red echidna), but without drawing unfair comparisons... Sonic Prime is doing it better?

Maybe not as a Knuckles show, but Sonic Prime while definitely made more for the fans and rushed because of the binge model curse is unapologetic about being about Sonic. The story is about Sonic, the characters of Sonic's world, and Sonic's world itself. It's written by people who love the games and want to make stories about the world of the games!

It doesn't feel the need to dress it up as a mid cgi animal buddy comedy thinking this will somehow make it more approachable to non-fans, or to hold back the stuff the fans came for with run-of-the-mill human characters.

(Alright, I'm going to just come out and say it: the Watchowski's are really nice in theory, but in execution they're a pretty average family.)

Well now that I've probably gone below the belt, now's the part where I remind everyone that you're welcome to enjoy what you like, and the show isn't even out yet so any real attempts to critique it are moot.

...

That and I don't have Paramount+ yet and I don't want it, so. Yeah. That's bit of a turn off, too.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Julie Byrne Album Review: The Greater Wings

(Ghostly International)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Albums billed as being shaped by grief often don't follow linear rules, or at least a perfect pipeline of death to grief to songwriting. Famously, when Jeff Tweedy sang, "Tall buildings shake / Voices escape singing sad sad songs," on "Jesus Etc.", released in 2002, many listeners thought the line to be about 9/11, even though Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was finished before the attacks. More recently, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Skeleton Tree hit shelves after his son Arthur tragically died from a fall; during its recording sessions, Cave amended many of the album's lyrics, which had been initially written by the time his son passed away, but to this day we don't know exactly what changed. On the title track to singer-songwriter Julie Byrne's new album The Greater Wings, she declares she will "name my grief to let it sing," rendering that grief a living, breathing entity, almost a character in the album. Halfway through the making of the record, Byrne's creative partner Eric Littmann suddenly passed away. After shelving it for six months, Byrne completed the album with producer Alex Somers, her first time in a conventional recording studio. The result is a stunning canvas of reflection on things that are no longer for this world, from people to relationships, filtered through Byrne's blue-colored glasses.

Really, a more apt timeline for comparison to The Greater Wings is Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper, an album that acts as a tribute to a former member while including documents of their physical presence, more living artifact than ghost. On Mirror Reaper, it was the late Adrian Guerra's voice; here, Littmann's synthesizers shine throughout the record, like his arpeggios harmonizing with Marilu Donovan's harp on "Summer Glass" and his wobbly instrumentation on "Conversation Is A Flowstate". To see how Byrne and Somers owned the material from there is breathtaking. It's hard to remember that before her previous record, Not Even Happiness, Byrne was a DIY folk singer. That album's glassy closing track "I Live Now As A Singer" not only informed The Greater Wings' expanded aesthetic, but it's proven to be a total turning point in Byrne's career. The production flourishes and additional instrumentation on The Greater Wings are sometimes subtle, but they move mountains. Synthesizers shimmer alongside acoustic guitar on the title track. Somers' backing vocals on "Portrait Of A Clear Day" nestle among Byrne's lead vocal turn, Donovan's harp, and Jake Falby's strings. "I get so nostalgic for you sometimes," Byrne sings, her hazy memories perfectly contrasting the crispness of the music.

In fact, contrast is a defining feature of The Greater Wings. On emotional centerpiece "Summer Glass", Byrne's words consist of recollections of specific moments in time ("You lit my joint with the end of your cigarette," "The tattoo you gave me lying in bed"), all-encompassing devotionals ("You are the family that I chose"), and broad therapeutic goals ("I want to be whole enough to risk again"). Even the instrumental "Summer's End" showcases the tactility of Donovan's harp against the atmospheric wash of the synthesizers and echoing bells. And Somers added textures to Littman's initial work on "Conversation Is A Flowstate", making it a harmonic, yet percussive and conversational push-pull as Byrne recites affirmations: "Permission to feel it, it's alright / Permission to grieve, it is alright / Healing can be heartbreaking, it's alright."

Making yourself "whole," or as close to it as possible, is not an easy or definite process, in life or in music. Even on a song like "Flare", Byrne goes through multiple so-called "stages of grief," including bargaining and acceptance, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma's modular synth buoying her words. The Greater Wings, then, is as close to universal art as it gets, a treatise on the human penchant for imperfection, for being naturally unable to fully appreciate something while it's there. "I tell you now what for so long I did not say / That if I have no right to want you / I want you anyway," Byrne sings with smoky heartbreak on "Lightning Comes Up From The Ground", a title that makes literal what happens when an event in your life shakes you to your core: It turns your world upside-down.

[aidanyk]

A note from a few years prior…

I wrote this freshman year… I now look back at it and laugh. Enjoy :)

Alright... so I’m a freaking insomniac so instead of going to bedm, ima be putting my random thongs on paper (or more accurately this blog because I’m hoping that most people click through it).

What is fate? Well... that’s a difficult question to answer. Fate is defined by the dictionary as:

the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.

That is terrifying. Essentially what the definition means is that while everyone makes their own decisions, they weren’t really making their own decisions... only following the laws of the universe, playing the results of a pre-determined outcome. And while the existence of fate is a controversial idea in itself, with many people believing that we indeed have free will while others assume that everything is pre-determined, in the end, it’s something that no human that walks this earth will ever know the answer to. Kind of a Schrödinger’s cat sort of deal in a way, as we’ll never really know the system until we’re finished with it. Now, enough with the monologue, let me get into how this goes into my own life. (Because I’m obviously the most important one) jk.

In my life... I’ve been through so much crap. Living eighth grade in the brink of chaos... there’s just been so much. I’ve fought with my friends (some I’m closer with now than ever, while some being gone for good). I’ve spent hours grinding my life away, from academics to video games. I’ve fallen for a girl wayyy out of my league. I began to finally build a strong passion for music, and discover new aspects of myself. And while my life is pretty mild in comparison to others, i like to look back at it and wonder.

Was this... was this truly me that did these things, or was it always determined from the start? Was these emotions that I felt... pain, anger, stress, love... was it truly me... or something greater? In the end, I guess it really doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a score on a test, a conflict, an interaction, any event at all... whether it be up fate, or to our control, it happened. And that’s the bottom line.

I’ve experimented with the thought of being able to go back in time to different points of my life in the past, particularly in times of conflict. Despite the fact that all of the conflicts I’ve been in have been resolved for a while, I still find myself contemplating them, wondering if there was something I could’ve done different, could’ve said (or not said) that would have made a situation better. I’ve thought that maybe if I did this one thing, refrained from saying this other thing, just... been better in the moment, I could have changed the past. But as soon as these thoughts come to my head, they’re whisked away in an instant.

For example, I wanted to take the time to think about the conflict with one of my friends (not mentioning names). I remember reflecting on everything I did, wondering thay if I could’ve said something different, done something different, the situation might’ve come out better, and we could’ve still been friends without me coming to realize their flaws (the same as them to realize mine). But then I realize that with every outcome I’ve calculated in my head, every decision I simulated where I did better... it ends in the same outcome. I’m not bitter or still caught up on the drama, but it intrigues me that despite any modifications that I could’ve made in the moment, the end result is unchanged. It’s almost as if the universe meant for it to be that way, like everything that has taken place is just- meant to be. Cliche, isn’t it? I’d always like to believe that we are all individuals of our own will, of our own volition. And to an extent, I think that’s true. But in a larger sense, all these things that I’ve gone through with those I care about, all these events that have happened throughout the world crumbing around us, the burning emotions that I carry around in my heart and head... I’d like to think it’s fate. That it was always meant to be, and the events that will carve my future are ultimately up to the universe.

In the end... I’m realizing that this conversation I had with myself really doesn’t matter. That whether it was an act of nature or my own actions... things happen. And what’s the point of reflecting on the reasons behind my past? I guess honestly... nothing. Nothing really mattered In the end, did it. I was initially somewhat saddened, thinking about this. That nothing I did mattered. But then I realized something much greater, which is that: who cares? We’re people of planet earth, living our lives for some purpose, whether it be happiness, charity, or sometimes even greed. To reflect so heavily on our actions I’ve come to realize, is essentially pointless, and it’s much more important to focus on who we can be moving forward, whether or not it’s up to fate. Life is short, and you should spend time living it, not wondering how you could’ve lived it.

Well... I don’t think the text is going to fit on one story... uh if anyone made it this far, I’m sorry this was kinda my 11pm fever dream thoughts. But i hope at the very least you enjoyed it. Uh... if anyone read this far tell me because I’m actually curious who actually reads my rambling lmaoo. Alright this was a lot so yea... ima sleep now... gn y’all ❤️

Sincerely,

Aidan of the past :)

[goggles-mcgee]

Hey, I heard that your a Dark Parables fan from someone I follow, and I has to ask. It's alright if ya don't want to, but I was wondering if you have any salt/ Hot takes for the series of Dark Parables just for fun.

Like how a plot could have been better, or how character detail could have been written to make sense for examples.

Thank you for reading, and glad to see ya back.

Hi! I have so many you don't even know my friend, I'm like legit in the middle of a re-playthrough of the whole series XD

I do gotta say one game that doesn't really feel like it "fits", feels off story wise and gameplay wise in the series to me and kinda throws off the flow of the games is Dark Parables: The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide.

[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR DARK PARABLES: THE LITTLE MERMAID AND THE PURPLE TIDE]

I know it's weird to include gameplay mechanics in the salt list but (it sounds ridiculous I know) I have a degree in 3D Arts & Game Design so when I play games I tend to focus on game play as much as the story and graphics.

First off, I genuinely am always thrown off because for a game called The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide....the Purple Tide had a minimal role. Like it was a thing but only in the first like 5 minutes of the game. At least with Ballad of Rapunzel, the flowers were a constant issue as well as the plant monsters. They made sense. Then we have the princess who annoyed me more than anything. Her reasons for being stand-offish or down right rude and somewhat a mini boss to get by were kind of....dumb. like usually the mini boss has a reason for what they did and why they fight the Detective until ultimately lending help, and the reason is usually sound (in the game Universe logic anyways) or good.

Of course you could argue that her reasons are the same as other game characters. Which,, yeah, but it felt weak in comparison. She wanted to find the last Elemental Orb to save her father, her father who was completely off his rocker. But she also thirsts to become human so like, she's doing it for selfish reasons and only after she basically gutted Pinocchio was she wanting you to save her and then willing to help you. If I could have left her to the piranhas or whatever they were....I would have.

That brings me to my issue with the godforsaken Elemental Orbs! They are supposed to be the King's only salvation after being cursed! Yeah? Yeah. Except they are also the treasures that broke the the curse on his daughters! Now you may be thinking this isn't really an issue or something to be mad about but for me it just infuriates me that the daughters broke their curses and yet the orbs were still powerful enough to cure their father....their father who they left so they could pursue their own lives. Like legit. They leave him even though they wanted to help cure him and his sanity but no. After they gained their legs they skeddadeled! Their stories were interesting! I give it that but the fact they left their cursed father and sisters to their fate never sat right with me.

Also it's never mentioned how the King got the orbs after the daughters broke their curses because it never says they went into the sea to take them back. So how does he have them???? If they used them I think they should be null and void and he should have just thought in all his delusion that one orb would be enough for him to experiment with. We're supposed to believe that this family is worth saving and I gotta say...I did not feel like helping at all during that whole game. I did it very reluctantly.

Then the mechanics are added in and yeah...least favorite game right here. It's honestly one that is very forgettable until someone asks me if there's a game I dislike from the series and then BAM! It comes rearing it's ugly head back in my face. The mechanic overall were very stiff, the accessing of your inventory to the change of locations all felt stiff and clunky as opposed to the others games in the series.

Also they didn't have to so Pinocchio like that. They really didn't.

Another point against the game was the fact we never got a scene hinting at the next game which was always part of the whole Dark Parables experience and to not have it really made the game not feel like part of the series. Maybe it's silly, but it was as much a part of the series as the collective parables themselves. Just having the statue in the Temple wasn't enough nor satisfying.

In the end all I have to say is I get why the Sea Goddess cursed everyone. I would have too. Both kingdoms were fickle people and honestly their whole backstop wasn't that intriguing. Like I'd get the tidbits of info and just be like meh.

I could rant about this game a lot but in doing so I just get more petty, especially stupid small things so I will leave this here.

In the end, all I can say is they could have made a better plot, one that was more engaging and made me care. Because I adore The Little Mermaid, in any font, but this font was my comic sans.

[moviemunchies]

Netflix’s The Witcher has nowhere near the hype it once did, even with a new season on the way. I imagine they hoped this would help stir interest back up: an animated film, based on one of the original short stories, with Doug Cockle from the games voicing Geralt.

And, of course, Geralt fights fish people!

So! The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep!

Geralt and Jaskier find themselves in a small, seaside kingdom for a job, where tensions are growing between the human citizens and the merpeople. The kingdom’s prince, Agloval, is in love with the princess of the merpeople, Sh’eenaz, and hopes to end the conflict by marrying her, which is easier said than done. The prince’s father, the king, of course, is very much against the idea of a marriage against a non-human, and among the merpeople there are objections as well. When violence breaks out, Geralt and Jaskier are caught in the middle, trying to find a solution.

Oh, yeah, and Jaskier’s childhood friend Essi is a bard in town, and she wants to bone Geralt.

The movie’s… fine. Alright, that makes it sound like I didn’t really like it, and that’s not true. I did enjoy it! I just don’t think it was particularly brilliant. It was an entertaining, self-contained story about Geralt and Jaskier in a new situation, with some new creatures, and some great action.

Is it a faithful adaptation of the original short story? Uh, no. I have read the original short story, which was also… fine. I liked this movie better, I think. There was a downer ending for the story that had no place other than to remind you that the author thinks being alive sucks, which is not in this movie, thank goodness. The Polygon review compares it to the DC Animated Movies, and I believe that’s a fair comparison. It takes the high points, adds more action, and has some cool animation to tell a story set in a previously-established universe.

The Plot is generally, fairly predictable, which I suppose it’s meant to be–it’s a sort-of riff off of The Little Mermaid. The romance angle feels a bit odd, considering that the prince and the mermaid can’t talk to each other, but other than that it mostly works. The main thrust of the story fits very well in the Witcher-verse: that humans can’t get along with the merpeople because of prejudice, and there are some merpeople who are pretty crappy, too! And they’re willing to do crappy things to get what they want.

[At one point Sh’eenaz, finally having a translator, has a conversation with Agloval, and they argue. And then she says she preferred having sex with him to talking? I probably don’t want to know, but, uh… how does that work, exactly?]

You know what I’m here for, though? Fight scenes. There are a lot of fights in this, and that’s mainly why I tune into Witcher media. Not only does Geralt fight a couple of giant sea monsters, he also fights some fish people. Seriously, what more could you ask for? You obviously don’t think that Geralt is going to die, but it is still cool.

Geralt and Essie’s relationship is less interesting to me, because while I get that Essie is interested in him because she yearns for the larger world that he represents, I don’t get some of their interactions? There’s a bit where she’s clearly very bitter about their relationship not yet working out, and I don’t feel as if they’ve spent enough time together for that. It doesn’t overwhelm the movie for me, though.

In the end, I don’t know that this movie matters–Plot and character-wise, it’s insignificant to the overall story. The most it does is flesh out some backstory for Jaskier (surprisingly enough). There are a couple of fun little twists, and I think it works, especially with action scenes. And it ends much better than the short story.

It’s not going to be the big win Netflix is hoping for. Still, I think it’s a cool little movie to try out.

[spoke-n-languish]

I am not a saint, but neither am I a sinner… and forever, I am not “sandy-claws”: trying to hide a mess, “a sent’mental-in clown”: entertainment for anyone’s 3-ring circus, “insanity clause”: my delusions of squalor are not drafted to get out of Dodge without due diligence shown, “Mz/s.δeηπ¿¢‘°?c”: I’m≠1d2-faced grinchmas(gnome)past shelf-life~O4gettin’cookies/toys&4givin’gourmilk…

Please, understand that although I have a gift for self-depravating sarcasm which tends to (+/-) both humbly lower my perceived appearance from that of an egotistical ass-hat to a more awkwardly-comfortable level which allows ruffled feathers to calm down and eventrally umbrellas me from being pecked to death under a sky-blacking cloud-swarm of incoming lit-pitched forks hurled by an angry mob of intellectual superiors, missile weapons lobbed by winged assailants above &… as well similarly from primary sapiens holdin’ home turf advantage here; and (-/+) in pendular-fashion underplays with my authoritative respect or aura of brilliance earned from whatever podium I’d just stepped to in addressing prior to deliverance (a hard lessen for one to understand perhaps in sacrifice albeit necessary for me indubitably).

Just as pretty as the above clearly is, to clarify, it doesn’t really say anything that hasn’t been said. My desire to find and hold positive in balance is not an “act” I am “playing at”. In correction, I have tried to explain that I am not doing anything wrong - if it helps, alright as I haven’t been well… fairly assessed. Roughly drafted is better than a premature out/¿Ꮴ?. Just chalk it up to showing incremental work progression towards making things better all-around.

The varied difficult faculty of communicating honestly with enrapt audience as a group sequestered individually (yet each alone having limited aperture in contrast by comparison for awareness of mutual shades in spectra, respectfully) to convey a final solution for an unsolvable problem with no requisite constant yet provided all known variables aren’t given from such an immutable stance permitted, in my mind isn’t as easy as it sounds. Perhaps as way of illumination I may describe things in biological terms.

Natural balance is always the outcome of any artificial adjustment in an ecosystem. This is an unerring fact. If any species is added, removed or reintroduced its niche within the environment creates ripples much as a stone thrown into a lake. The ripples eventually fade and the lake always returns to its natural placid state: that is natural balance. On a larger scale, human artifice has affected by cause of much bigger ripples to effectively and irrevocably change and even destroy entire ecosystems… temporarily. As once the machinations of mankind cease “rippling ” the scales back & forth, nature will evolve and once again find its level. The guiding principle in ecology is much like in medicine: first do no harm. I can’t say I know much about what is involved in technological or financial industries, but in biological ethics, Life is important (it’s right there in the title!). So, whether creating ripples or waves, it is important to understand the other organisms sharing your pond before cannon-balling directly for center mass. In all ways this immutable natural law is universally parallel to the philosophical social construct known as Karma: not the biblically subjective ‘Karma’ which seeks an “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” brand of justice/revenge which does adequately create a deterrent against crime but also, in the words of M.L. King Jr., “leaves everyone blind”. Ironically, ‘True “Blind” Justice’ (judgement without bias) tempers the thirst for vengeance (the need to set wrong to right and make things fair) with the understanding compassion of balance… which has the spirit of Karma, just applied subjectively.