#the real horror is the real industries etc

[doghart]

i’m catching up on tsv, i think something that eskew prod does extremely well is using horror absurdism to capture the absurd horror of capitalism. it’s clear in eskew too, but i think it’s especially fantastic in the silt verses. the casualness with which sacrifice is discussed. how red lobster has a god that has and continues to take human sacrifice, and so do cereal companies, cops, and the grueling start up that has a “fun room”. it captures EXTREMELY well how it feels to live under capitalism, that you’re constantly bombarded with horrible things, discussed cheerily in a nice tone. the way it’s simultaneously numbing, hysterical, and horrifying. i think i was especially fond of how in ep 39, protest against sacrifice was taken as radical, a propostorus, idealistic thing that’s just so SILLY it’s not even worth considering, something that feels very real to revolutionary organizing/protest irl. i also liked how despite the face, when everything gets down to it, when everything is about profit, all people come down to are bodies. all capitalism is a gaping maw, and it eats the poor and marginalized first, but doesn’t STOP eating just there. the very literalized version of this, where the profit wheel (and all that includes— war mongering, the prison industrial complex, wage labor, etc) is given a very real literal set of teeth, but the body count is the same. so the electric company has a god, and so it takes humans sacrifice. do real electric companies not have a very real human cost? overworked and underpaid labors looking to make rent, or well off comfortable employees no less likely to get the axe under profit margins, or the blood shed when colonizing in the first place, in clearing the space for the electric company to move in. is that not also a very real human sacrifice? the commercial aimed at elderly people talking about “back in my day, we would just talk about all this human sacrifice and find a compromise :)” is so bleakly hysterical, but is that not very accurate? that you can put a good face on it, but in the end what it comes down to is that you’re being sold the chance to be human fodder? that there is no glory or honor on a battlefield or in working yourself to death, just mud and shit and bodies to throw at problems. idk! i’m rambling but it’s a deeply engaging podcast.

[forgiveness-in-the-misery]

I saw some people saying that if Smile 2 wasn’t a horror movie then it would be a great movie about hoe yhe industry and public abuse female musicians and treat them like objects and that pissed me off.

The horror is literally the key point in that. The monster is the industry, the fans destroying her soul until she’s this shiny smiling doll who just takes and takes and none of her soul or personality is left. Horror has always been the vehicle to explore real life things like look at The Substance, Beetlejuice 2, Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie, etc horror is the vehicle to viscerally explore themes that quite frankly drama wouldn’t be able to handle without making it pretty or sexy.

Horror is meant to showcase what is terrifying or soul crushing. That is literally the point.

People need to stop looking at horror as this dirty word and wishing movies weren’t horror so they felt better about liking the stories being told beneath the gore.

[unpickled-olive]

Realizing that, while I like Destiny lore, what I love is Seth Dickinson's writing.

The Final Shape was a lovely story and the characters' archs were all emotional and satisfying. Maybe a nostalgic tear was shed for Cayde bonding with his reformed, resurrected killer.

But the things that have kept me coming back for 9 years were missing. I thought there'd be concrete answers about the Traveler, or some more thorough insights into the Witness, or even good lore on the Dread. I was hoping for another great lore book to join the ranks of Books of Sorrow, Unveiling, Mysterious Logbook, Marasenna, Last Days of Kraken Mare, etc. Some philosophy and horror, a genesis or exegesis or thorough backstory on a yet unexamined character/species.

Sadly, I didn't find those. The Dread's origin is that the Witness made them. Do they think and feel? TBD. The Traveler's conclusion was something like "you just have to have faith <3." Fine for the characters, but not for the readers/players of a 10-year-old mystery.

There's some nice things. The Micah-10 Traveler interpretations are cool, as is her origin story. And the foreshadowing still has me excited for the Dreadnaught, a yet unseen Disciple, etc. But I think key parts of what made Destiny lore so alluring for me are diminished.

Maybe it's the layoffs at Bungie. Maybe it's new writers going in a different direction. Either way, the aspects of sci-fi/space fantasy—ancient mysteries, metaphysical warfare, _____—have taken the back seat to personal drama that frankly isn't that interesting or fleshed out.

Maya could be an interesting antagonist, but she needed more backstory than "this simulation was evil or something" and more nuance than "the Vanguard are coercive, so I will coerce all of humanity." Why not explore what her presence means for the Vex, or the other simulations helping Praedyth escape the Vault?

The Witness trying to sway various characters was fine, but that has been covered so many times, especially in Beyond Light.

All that said, back to Seth: their absence in TFS made me realize how huge their presence in the lore was for my love of Destiny. I finally went and read their original works. What an incredible writer.

First, I read Exordia, the first/only entry into a dark mindfuck of a space opera. Its horrific in abstract ways: mysterious alien monoliths that poison reality around them. It's horrific in grounded ways, too: the alien invasion plays off of parallels with the Anfal campaign and the US involvement in Iraq. It's campy at times (with a villain who shouts "I love genocide!") but also profound. There's souls and date, but also math. There's also my favorite trope: mysterious, ancient architects.

After that, I read Baru Cormorant—all three books in a month. It's tragic and inspiring and genius. Originally I couldn't get through the first chapter because of the "fantasy" label. I've already read Earthsea and wasn't in the mood for wizards on boats. But I had the wrong impression. Understandable, because there is just no succinct way to label it.

Is it even fantasy? Honestly, I still don't know.

What it is is its own world. One that the inhabitants haven't fully mapped. One whose past is a must and whose future is uncertain. It's about hegemony. It's about purpose, obsession, and revenge. It's about revolution and community.

The colonizer culture is a kaleidoscope of different influences. Seafaring. Peri-industrial. Eugenic. It strikes me as something like 17th century Britain with a 20th century grasp of science. They don't have guns, but they do have both Greek fire and lobotomies. The story plays with different cultural views on indigenous rights, race, sexuality, and gender in ways that commentary real life while serving as interesting world building.

This story also weaves an insane amount of intellectual concepts into it. But rather than bog it down, they lift it up. The fate of the republic hinges on a myriad of different questions: is evolution Lamarckian or Darwinian? Can mathematical proofs usurp cultural hegemony? How do economics influence history? Most importantly, can you destroy the enemy from within before it destroys you?

It is not just cerebral, but tragic and heartbreaking. I saw the end of the first book coming, and yet I was devastated by the last chapter. Crushed like no ending has ever really crushed me. I didn't want it to happen.

There will likely be some time before the final book comes out, which is understandable. So much research goes into these. So many plot threads need to be woven together. So many mysteries not yet confronted.

This is all to say: if you like what I like about Destiny–thorough examinations of ancient mysteries, sci-fi takes on souls and magic, fantasy takes on science and technology, obsessive characters and vividly fucked up monsters, cancer and math as motifs, metaphors manifesting, and genius characters written by genius authors–give Seth Dickinson a chance.

[batbeato]

having watched I Saw the TV Glow recently, I'm... not sure people understand how much of it is metaphor.

like, yes. Owen is literally trans because Owen is literally Isabel. but the Midnight Realm is a metaphor for cissexual society; the Midnight Realm is not real because cissexual society is constructed on the false premises of patriarchy and white supremacy and so on, such as the false gender binary that Owen faces in the movie: men like women, The Pink Opaque is for girls, etc.

similarly, The Pink Opaque is a metaphor for queerness and the queer community, which is seen as false and artificial by cissexual society and does not conform to the 'rules' created by it (for example, the fantasy/magic elements). even there, however, the threat of the cissexual society is present in Mr. Melancholy, whose plan to use the hearts of 100 awkward kids connects back to how cissexual society abuses and makes use of any who don't fit in. Isabel and Tara's hearts being in an industrial freezer reflects the large-scale societal nature of their oppression.

the need to kill their Midnight Realm selves is because their queer selves have already been killed. in this metaphorical murder of their false cissexual identities they are able to be reborn as their true selves. all identities conferred upon people in cissexual society are based on false presumptions and enforcement of gender and sex binaries. the coffin is not meant to reflect actual suicide. leaving cissexual society and embracing your true self is as "crazy" as suicide. and, of course, when people come out as queer, their families may mourn their false cissexual identities rather than acknowledging their living family.

the ending of the movie is about looking at what's inside you and then still needing to apologize for it. not because Owen will never transition but because it is a slow process that takes a long time. also note how Owen mentions trying a new medication - still insisting on a pathological wrongness. the director went over the ending in interviews as well. not that authorial intent is everything, but this is a movie clearly shaped by it in every detail.

there's more I don't really see people talk about. exchanging the old TV for the new, and specifically showing it being LG, shows the swap of the real for the artificial and glossy. the arcade has Mr. Melancholy theming to reflect how society makes light of oppression and turns it into a simplified narrative where the oppression is already over, and then commercializes it. the birthday party has a shot of the "Boy" on the hat, further showing how it is a gendered event that reinforces the horror of the Midnight Realm. the fact that Tara leaving her heart behind with Isabel's is because we are not free until we are all free.

[earthstellar]

Currently combing through the Transformers Exodus novel, as I often do.

Some notes, by which I mean, this is going to be long:

Using an Abandoned Hydraulic Mining Facility as a Battle Arena: This Sort Of Happened in Real Life -- Know Your Labour History

The building in Kaon that is used by Megatron for gladiatorial battle is an abandoned hydraulics works, and on the page prior to this it refers to extremely deep slag pits, which indicates this hydraulics facility was almost certainly used for mining. The location is given specifically as "to the south of Kaon's centre".

This makes me wonder if the now-abandoned Orgreave Coking Plant may have been some inspiration to someone somewhere in building the backstory; A coking plant uses massive amounts of hydraulic machinery and components, and the location of this specific facility is to the south of the centre of Rotherham.

Plenty of Brits work on Transformers, and I wonder if any English people who may have been on the team for developing the Aligned Continuity bible/character backstories might have thought of Orgreave as some kind of inspiration.

It's worth noting Orgreave Coking Plant was famously the site of a huge labour dispute which turned into a borderline Battle of Harlan situation, called the Battle of Orgreave in 1984.

Which makes it excellent potential inspiration, both visually and in terms of historical significance in union/labour and working class struggle against the oppressive upper class- A significant theme in Transformers.

Nearby, there is also the abandoned Orgreave Colliery, and while all abandoned collieries would fit the mechanical and dark, heavy design of Kaon, Tarn (the location, not the bot) and so on, it's still worth pointing out that Orgreave has plenty of industrial ghosts (abandoned industrial facilities).

That having been said, hydraulic mining works could also refer to actual hydraulic mining methods rather than just any hydraulic machinery present, which would also explain the large pits that Orion Pax sees at the site in Kaon, and would add another level of horror: Using fluids to carry out this type of mining would be a huge hazard to bots. I'd imagine rusting was a common problem, not to mention gradual armour/frame wear, increased fall/slip hazards for most frame types, etc.

CONTENT WARNING: Here's where some medical conjecture begins, you might want to skip this section if you're sensitive to medical discussions! There is no detailed comparison to any particular real world cases in this segment, however there is brief mention of ableism in a fictional context.

This would also account for the description of optics and audials needing more frequent repair even prior to suffering any gladiatorial damage--

--In some frame types, these components/sensory systems may be more exposed to the environmental pollution as mentioned in the text, but also, would be sensitive to abrasive damage from spray back/high pressure soil/stone/crystal like particulate materials present in Cybertron's surface and sub-surface layers acting essentially as sand paper against their bodies as they worked in any such hydraulic mining sites.

This is the type of shit Kaonite workers in these mining facilities were likely exposed to on a regular basis, because they are Cybertronians and could physically tolerate this kind of thing without dying-- At least, not right away.

A combination of repeated extreme wear, chronic overwork, likely poor medical resources, and complicating factors like questionable access to healthy fuels etc. would have inevitably resulted in a generally very unwell population with high workplace casualty rates.

This was the type of life most low class/caste heavy labour designated frame types were assigned to, under the Functionist system.

I've talked about my headcanons re: hearing disabled Megatron before, and it's kind of interesting to see that canonically here, that's very much possible. Audial damage from mining, audial damage from the fighter's ring.

But in general, the Kaonite population is seriously at risk, especially medically. Same deal with other low class/caste designated regions across Cybertron. Much like many Appalachian mining populations, where COPD is as common as flies in summer, the chronically poor health of this population would be staggering in comparison to better-off polities like Iacon.

Rust in their optics, rotting their optical components from within, likely leaving many workers sightless--

--At which point they were probably deemed "useless" under the ableist Functionist system, as they would then likely be unable to work their prior jobs or would only be able to work in limited or different capacities; Any system that determines worth by perceived functionality is inherently ableist, and Primus knows there were almost certainly no disability accommodations provided or available potential repairs/treatments in places like Kaon on Cybertron.

As a result, these newly disabled bots were likely left unemployed and therefore without any income source for Shanix, therefore left to their deaths via fuel deprivation etc.--

--Unless they fell in with mob-controlled sources of materials or aid, as a last resort...

Apparently Megatron Displaced The Local Kaonite Mafia: Pit Bosses Could Be Mob Bosses Too

This is also a real thing, as a lot of productive industrial facilities (not just mining, but textiles etc.) were often tied into in local black market raw material goods and organised crime shit, owing to less than moral site owners and company bosses. (At least in the USA, it may have varied in other countries or from region to region.)

This is because if you have a productive facility, you can make a fuckload of money bypassing any common sense safety rules or proper waste/product handling or disposal protocols etc. and skip the whole regulated market and just go right to making a fuckzillion moneys from whoever will buy this shit illegally.

(This is part of why a lot of Appalachia is polluted to hell and back-- Even at the time, a lot of these industrial works and companies knew perfectly well that dumping coal ash and other horrible shit into every single river and creek available was a bad idea. They did it anyway. Why? It saved money overall and they didn't have to pay for more long distance drivers to reach actual approved waste sites etc.

For those of you who may not be familiar with this USA specific shit, let me introduce you to the concept of a Superfund Site. It's depressing. Most are former industrial illegal waste dumping sites. These places are so fucked up that even the American Government was forced to acknowledge how bad it is. Some of them are straight up literal nuclear waste sites.)

This has been a huge problem in American industrial history, because America can turn out some very, very productive sites using very, very unsafe and cruel means to force workers to work. Paying in scrip etc. were all methods to ensure a workforce could not leave. And so on.

Not to mention the horrendous impact on Native populations, the poor in general, immigrants in general, etc. who were all subject to the worst possible treatment throughout.

And there are many modern examples too-- Not just in the USA, but in many places around the world, such as Peru. Note that capitalism is often the facilitator of mistreatment, pollution, etc. and serves as the motivating factor for much of this fuckery worldwide. This also includes factors like western companies wanting to appear more "green", so they simply go abroad to abuse people in other nations and exploit their labour and raw labour products instead.

Capitalism is the root problem, on Earth and evidently, likely on Cybertron as well.

Can you imagine the amount of Shanix these fucking Kaonite mob bosses were making, possibly from selling raw materials and energon crystals mined in Kaon to other polities with fewer natural resources, arranging illicit under the table deals with large energy distributors etc. in other regions? Depriving Kaon of its own natural goods and stealing the near-entirety of their labour, constantly, endlessly?

(If this all reminds you a bit of Marx's Theory of Alienation, you are correct.)

Much of Kaon is, essentially, a Superfund Site. Dangerous industrial waste, materials, and abandoned facilities, all affecting the population in all sorts of ways into perpetuity even long after one industry dies and another rises-- Or a new industry never comes along, and you end up with even worse off sections of an already brutally deprived area, living in the remnants of an equally hellish past that was just marginally better enough to make some bots yearn for the good old days of having a job to be worked to death at.

If this is relatable or frustrating to you, you are correct. These are all real world problems. It's easy to relate to the plight of the Kaonites-- Megatron, at this time, is still largely a sympathetic figure to many.

Because of course, even from the outside, it is clear that this degree of suffering cannot be sustained. Even Orion Pax recognises this, despite his own total lack of exposure and lack of class awareness at the time in which he initially starts speaking with Megatron.

Anyway. Briefly back to our real world example, because it's important here:

All of this capitalist corruption is another example of systemic level rot; A lot of the time regulators knew that facilities were engaging in illegal dumping and worker rights abuses etc. but couldn't do anything about it due to a lack of federal involvement and lack of means or resources to raise a larger case or investigation on the scale that would be needed.

And of course, some regulators and investigators were paid off. Sigh.

It's genuinely impressive that Megatron was able to run off an industrial crime syndicate, because that shit goes very deep and has lots of tendrils that tie into pretty much everything else going on in a given area, especially in towns or regions where only one or two industries make up the entirety of everything.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Megatron gained such a large following so quickly.

Nobody else in Cybertron was willing or able to acknowledge (let alone try to address) the horrible abuses going on in Kaon.

Endless, brutal labour, often resulting in horrible deaths. No reward for any of their work, with much of their meagre pay going to the mob and likely to companies based in other polities around Cybertron, so none of the materials or money ever stayed local. No care was put into their living conditions or standard of living, with most bots being used up and worn down with nothing to show for it but the industrial hell that consumed their own region.

And by getting the organised crime rings out of the local industries and community, by turning this abandoned facility into a gladiatorial ring, that provided both a more personally rewarding use of their physical skills developed through hard manual labour and gives an opportunity to gain legitimate funds and potentially fame-- Granting a social status previously completely unattainable to Kaonites, while clearly being built up on the legacy of all of their prior labour.

No wonder the appeal to follow Megatron was so strong, even in the early days.

Not even Primus helped these people, none of the Primes helped these people--- But Megatron did.

And that is powerful, to be liberated by one of your own, someone you know truly understands the difficulty and suffering and misery of a cruel, unending grind.

All that most of these bots could ever look forward to previously was dying in a hopefully not-as-painful way.

Now, there is potential for a genuinely tangibly better future, quite possibly for the first time in Kaon's history. Certainly for the first time within living memory.

Megatron turned an immiserated local population with no hope and no prospects beyond being worked to death into up-and-coming athletic stars with a burgeoning sports industry, using their local culture and previously disparaged frame types to prove the inherent wrongness of the class/caste system to a literal mass audience.

Megatron essentially took waste from the Cybertronian equivalent of colliery spoil tips and used it to forcibly create some kind of real hope and better future for every Kaonite, both individually and gradually on a larger regional scale, while living under an oppressive system that was just as likely to kill him in the same way as it had been killing everyone else around him his entire existence.

Megatron turned an industrial hell into a revolutionary city-state.

And he started local, he started with the injustices closest to him, what was visible rot to him in the environment he grew up in. Start small, strategize, your morals are your fuel-- In part because they keep stealing the fuel we mine. Does that seem fair? Does that seem just? What sense does it make, to have a system in which your most important workers are kept deprived and struggling into perpetuity?

He is the perfect Cybertronian revolutionary, he is the figurehead the people of Kaon needed, and his words were heard planet-wide from an arena he facilitated the building of himself, that he reclaimed from decay and loss.

From the bare frame structure of an abandoned mining pit, Megatron spoke words that inspired the downtrodden and lifted up countless impoverished populations through solidarity, the collective power of the working class, the low caste bots, the low class frame types.

The people that were previously discarded, were now using their means and their frames for their own purposes, gradually weakening the grip of the Council, gradually proving to more and more bots that this system is broken and this world can be better and we deserve better, and by any means, we will obtain better. We will make it better, with or without your permission.

No wonder Megatron became so powerful, so quickly.

He appealed perfectly to his people and others in similar living conditions, he articulated perfectly the flaws in oppressive Cybertronian society, he showed that different frame types can and do have multiple uses beyond the classist interpretation of their build schematics--

--All Megatron did, fundamentally, was care.

He cared about what was happening around him, he did not buy into the idea that life has to be miserable and this is the way things are and it can never change or get better, he saw and lived the awful conditions and suffered discrimination and understood that working together for each other would improve things for all.

And he acted on this understanding. There is always someone who is first to act, because there must be.

And Megatron does not act in half-measures.

I like that they mention him getting rid of the crime syndicates, here; It gives you a good idea of his morality pre-war.

It would have been easy to collaborate with these crime syndicates for some time, to secure funds for a new gladiatorial ring.

But instead, he took out the crime syndicates entirely and opted to build his arena inside an abandoned facility.

No capitulation to capital.

No money was exchanged, not a single Shanix, no deals made. No fucking around. This is Kaon, and you are no longer powerful here.

Megatron is increasingly powerful, however, because he embodied to the people the collective power of the people; He reflected themselves and their experiences back at them. But actions like this also played a large part in gaining that trust, in proving his skills and worth as a revolutionary and potential leader. It's not enough to be like everyone else. You have to prove you're not just another asshole looking to exploit everyone for influence or other personal benefit.

If you want a collective movement, it has to be about the collective. And for Megatron, it very much was. And things like this helped him prove that from very early on.

The Council and the mobs effectively have no authority anymore; They are losing control. Megatron, very quickly, becomes the accepted authority. Kaon becomes a freed city-state, it escapes the grasp of Functionism.

Standing up to one crime syndicate may not seem significant in the grander scheme of things, knowing how things occur in the story from this point onward.

But it is hugely significant-- It is a very important thing to highlight.

Because it is "smaller" things like this which are actually massively important and impactful.

And each "smaller" thing built up, and improved things for people to the point where Kaon could function entirely independently with a better off population of previously severely oppressed peoples.

Every "smaller" thing counts. Every "smaller" thing is the entire world to someone, or to a lot of someones.

How many lives were saved and debts erased, when Megatron took out this one crime syndicate?

How immediately did that improve a lot of lives, how quickly did that endear those people to him, to his ideology, to his plans for their collective future? How fast did they start listening, when he started speaking?

This is how revolution happens.

--

Anyway, thank you as always if you read any of this-- I know this got very long and it is nearly 2 AM now where I'm at, so it may have lost a bit of coherency here and there.

tl;dr labour history is important, fuck capitalism (this includes fictional capitalism), and intersectional solidarity is key to collective survival in general but especially among the working class and all groups subject to systemic oppression/discrimination in various forms

[maximumzombiecreator]

I think that dungeon crawling is to TTRPGs what shooters are to video games. It's a structure that has been around since almost the beginning of the medium, that persists because it fundamentally works, and it fits well with the affordances and limitations of the medium. And like shooters, its ubiquity leads to a certain amount of backlash, some of it warranted, and a lot of it less so.

Looking at it from that perspective, people who denigrate dungeons as not being real roleplaying or storytelling feel a lot like the gaming nerds of the mid 2000s, sneering at bros who play Gears of War and Halo, and insisting that they play real games.

Except that those nerds were, at least somewhat, responding to the state of the video games industry as it actually existed. And, notably, they were actually playing the non-shooter games that existed.

By contrast, the dungeons-aren't-roleplay 5e players feel like if those gamer nerds were on their "all shooters are brainless pablum" bullshit now, in a world where some of the most praised narrative games of all time are shooters, and where shooter mechanics have been used to make wildly inventive puzzle games, horror games, speedrunning games, roleplaying games, etc.

And instead of playing any of those amazing shooter games, or even any of the fantastic non-shooter games, they were insisting that real gamers who care about narrative make Halo machinima.

[capitalisticveins]

Seeing as how you're doing headcanons again i'd like to request hcs of Gavin,Milo,Sam,Vincent,and Guy( btw here's a thought for ya Guy as Hermes dangerous has stuck in my head for the past couple hours send help) also your previous hc were also great!(you could say they were ruthless ha ha ha im sorry that was bad lol)

~ Deviant anon （⊃◕ω◕(´ω｀*⊂)

idk if you can tell but I really like Guy

also I wrote headcanons for some character recently so characters like Gavin, Sam, and Milo have them a lil short than Vincent and Guy since it takes a while to think about possible in-character hcs for them. Sorry :(

Lots of Headcanons #3

Gavin

Believe it or not, Gavin’s social media accounts are usually blank. Save for Instagram. He just has them to comment under the group’s posts.

Despite never reading a book, Freelancer has told him he’d do best in the writing industry.

He does not know how to hold a baby. If you give him a baby for any reason he’d hold it with both of his hands under its shoulders.

The worst he’s been scared was when he played a horror VR game, but he didn’t scream or anything he really just jolted and went “shit” and moved on. Freelancer was not amused.

He likes being the big spoon when he and FL cuddle because he gets to breathe in their scent, hold them, and remind himself that this is real, and not just a dream he’ll wake up from.

Milo

You can’t beat him in cup pong. Digitally or physically. You just can’t.

The only reason David is considered a better cook than Milo is because Milo uses a lot of seasoning and the pack is full of babies who can’t handle oregano or sazón.

Whenever the pack goes somewhere tropical he has to wear a shirt or Sweetheart will constantly attempt to latch onto his torso.

Milo and cats have always gone together like peanut butter and jelly. He had a cat toy when he was a toddler, his first cell phone had a stray cat as his wallpaper, he’d feed the stray cats around his home, etc. So when he learned that he and the people around him could turn into “dogs” (wolves but still) he was DEVASTATED. Got over it after a day tho.

He likes juice boxes.

Avid Apple Juice “tastes like piss” hater, although he also says mint ice cream tastes like toothpaste so take that as you will.

Sam

Sam fucking hates cowboys.

Sam had braces from the ages of 19-21 and the only upside he had to being a vampire when he first turned was that he didn’t need his retainer anymore.

Sam always reads manga wrong and no matter how many times anyone explains it he’ll read it from left to right and never understands what’s going on.

The closest Sam has gotten to riding a horse is when he flopped on top of Darlin’s back while they were shifted and they walked around his house like that…he’s never been on a horse.

Sam has a lot of existential crisises, compared to like Vincent or Porter.

If something's flying and he can't figure out if it's a plane, helicopter, animal, or any identifiable flying object, he just believes it's an Alien UFO and moves on.

Darlin' gave him a wheat head for Christmas once. He was not amused.

Vincent

Wanted to be a youtuber for a brief period in time in 2010.

Had a weird obsession with those traced anime characters dancing tiktoks in 2020, a little after meeting Lovely.

He canonically has multiple cars he likes showing off to Lovely, but he also nearly never uses them and it’s Lovely who showboats them and takes them on joyrides.

He didn’t believe William at first when he was first told he’s a vampire now and was the only one who survived The Surge incident, until they both saw his funeral take place and see his grave, which took place a long time after the accident because his parents refused to believe he was dead.

He had 3 tomodachis at once and they all constantly died because he forgot feeding them was a thing.

He commonly "regrets" asking William to make him unable to lie to Lovely because they like to ask him embarrassing questions on purpose and he can’t help but answer them, even though he could just stay quiet.

His favorite memory as a kid was roller skating with his parents on his 7th birthday. Even though he fell on his face, sprained his ankle, and had a loose tooth fall out. Still his favorite day.

Guy

GUY IS SO HERMES CODED UR RIGHT

Turned a fanfic he wrote as his college essay and got in just because of it.

Was very afraid of Honey when they first met, they kept staring at him like he was the scum of the Earth. They just wanted to talk to him about the Animal Crossing pin on his backpack.

Whenever his friends order from Max’s, and he turns out to be their delivery guy, they make fun of him so much (playfully) and give him a 10 dollar tip

He borrowed his friend’s motorcycle to impress Honey

Cried over Gnomeo and Juliet

Dressed up as the Thomas Jefferson Miku Binder drawing in 2023.

He almost gave himself a buzzcut once when he was drunk, he had to be held down because everyone knew he’d regret it so hard later, not matter how funny it’d be.

[lynnerdo]

* The heart is not meant to rule *

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Atreides!Reader

Tag list: @wo-ming-bai

Slow burn, knife kink, blood kink, strangers to lovers, softer!Feyd-Rautha, CONSENT, 18+, arranged marriage, assassination, poison, murder, etc

Previous Chapter - Leaving Caladan Current Chapter - Burning Palms

***

After the heartfelt confessions, Feyd stood, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "Come, let me show you what will be yours," he said, guiding you through the grand halls of the Harkonnen stronghold.

The contrast between Giedi Prime and Caladan was stark. The dark, industrial landscape of Giedi Prime was a world away from the lush, green beauty of Caladan. Yet, as Feyd led you through the fortress, you noticed touches of home—vibrant flowers from Caladan, your favourite foods laid out in an opulent dining room.

"I wanted you to feel at home here," Feyd said softly, watching your reaction closely. "Whatever you need, I will get for you."

You marvelled at his thoughtfulness. He had gone to great lengths to bring pieces of Caladan to Giedi Prime. It was clear that his intelligence and attention to detail were not just for show—he truly cared for you.

But as you strolled through the halls, something unsettled you. Feyd’s demeanour with you was gentle, loving, but you sensed a different side of him lurking beneath the surface. This suspicion was confirmed when a servant timidly approached with a message.

"My lord, there is an urgent matter that requires your attention," the servant said, his voice trembling.

Feyd's expression darkened instantly. Without warning, he struck the servant down, his anger erupting in a violent outburst. The lifeless body crumpled to the floor, a stark reminder of the Harkonnen brutality.

You stared at the body, shock and fear gripping you. Feyd’s anger subsided as quickly as it had flared, and he turned to you, a hint of regret in his eyes.

"I... I'm sorry you had to see that," he murmured, but his voice lacked true remorse.

As you looked at the lifeless body, a cold chill settled over you. The future you had envisioned with Feyd now seemed shadowed by the harsh realities of life on Giedi Prime. Could you truly live in a place where such violence was a casual occurrence? The love you shared with Feyd was undeniable, but so was the darkness that came with his world.

Feyd reached out, his touch meant to reassure, but your mind was awhirl with doubt. This was a side of him you hadn't fully reckoned with, a side that made you question your place in this new life.

"Is this the way things will be?" you asked quietly, unable to hide the tremor in your voice.

Feyd sighed, his eyes searching yours. "Giedi Prime is harsh. The Harkonnen way... it's not always kind. But I promise you, I'll protect you from it. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy here."

You shook your head slightly, trying to reconcile the Feyd you loved with the one who had just killed a man without hesitation.

"But how can I live like this? Knowing that this violence is a part of you, a part of our life here?"

He took a step closer, his grip on your hands tightening.

"I am who I am, and this place... it shapes us all. But my love for you is real. I will try to be better, for you."

Tears welled in your eyes again, but this time they were tinged with doubt and fear.

"I need to know that you won't become like the Baron. That our life together won’t be filled with this kind of horror. That our child does not grow up with violence in their heart."

Feyd's expression hardened, his anger bubbling just beneath the surface. He hadn’t just risked his life for you to have you talk down to him like that.

"You don't understand. This is how things are done here. It’s necessary." "But I can’t live like this!" you cried, pulling your hands away. "I can’t live in constant fear and violence.”

Feyd's eyes flashed with anger. "You don't get to question my love for you," he snapped.

He turned abruptly, storming out of the hall, leaving you alone with your thoughts and the lifeless body of the servant. Whilst slamming the door it echoed through the empty halls, reminding you how fast Feyd could snap on you if you said something wrong. The future you had envisioned now seemed so uncertain, shadowed by the harsh realities of life on Giedi Prime. The love you shared with Feyd was undeniable, but could it withstand the brutal legacy of the Harkonnens?

[blazehedgehog]

It's interesting that you've run into more Sonic '06 defenders as of late, because I think I've noticed the same thing. I've been thinking about why that is for a hot minute, and I wonder if it has to do with just how awful the video game industry is at the moment.

Games come out polished sometimes nowadays, but normally they're catastrophically broken on release and take months of post-launch patches to become somewhat playable, if they get those patches at all. Perhaps younger fans of the Sonic series, having grown up in this environment, go back to play Sonic 06', see all of its bugs and bad game design decisions, and think "Wait, that's it? That's not even the worst game I've played this week."

That is, it's less that Sonic '06 is suddenly good now, it absolutely is not, but more that the bar has sunken so deep into hell that even a blatantly broken game like Sonic '06 doesn't look particularly bad in comparison to what comes out now, so they miss the context of why it was so controversial on release.

This is an old ask that got buried, but I think it's still relevant, and to me it's just...

Liking something ironically is the path to liking it unironically. Maybe that means you're being honest with yourself, or maybe it's just familiarity. That happens with music -- so much so that there's an article from the National Library of Medicine about it. The more familiar you are with music, even if it's a song you hate, the more you eventually begin to enjoy it. It's a scientific fact.

And Sonic 06 became something of a rite of passage. Everyone knows about it, either because they've played it for themselves or they've watched someone else play some (or all) of it. Everyone has their favorite moments. Whether it's

The Winder of a Shoemaker typo (it should be "Wonder")

The inevitable realization you have to save manually after getting your first game over in Wave Ocean

Having to reload the entire world every time the state of anything changes

Sonic's boss fight with Silver, and "It's no use!"

Followers reappearing in the town stages only to instantly fall over dead.

Meeting Sonic Man

Meeting the Soleanna Boys

Meeting Pele the Dog

Sonic flicking the card at Knuckles who fumbles the catch

Riding the metal crate into space

Seeing Eggman's Real Human Eyes behind his sunglasses

Eggman's keyboard mashing "typing" animation

Realizing Sonic's head is 3/4ths the size of Princess Else's entire body

The constant back and forth of rescuing Elise only to have her get kidnapped again only to rescue her again only to have her get kidnapped again

The Windows XP background FMV

Elise's attempted suicide

Luppy Luppy

Which one is the Captain?

That tornado is carrying a car!

Elise's Train is... Uh oh, gotta speed up!

Don't be late.

Long time no see.

Amy and Elise's girltalk moment

The Test of Love

Anna, the Lady in Waiting

Eggman comically going "bonk" off the shrapnel after beating the last boss of Sonic's story

The Iblis Trigger™

The Scepter of Darkness vs. The Book of Darkness

Shadow the Hedgehog using Chaos Control to roundhouse kick Silver in the back of the head

Showing a crucified Shadow the Hedgehog in the future

The "Head to Wave Ocean" line flub still existing in the game

Mephiles is literally Shadow's shadow

THEN I'LL FIGHT... LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE

Having the ability to time travel to literally any point in history and never just going back to before Eggman arrived

The blue chaos emerald paradox loop

Watching someone's soul leave their body when they have to do Silver's billiard ball puzzle

Using the cyan gem to turn collision detection into a suggestion

Using the purple gem to go out of bounds

Spamming Omega's hover to fly anywhere

The death and return of Sonic the Hedgehog

etc. etc. etc.

I'll say it again and again and again, but it's the Rocky Horror Picture Show effect. When that movie came out, it was not beloved by the mainstream! But it became notorious as a midnight movie where the rowdy graveyard shift audience would heckle the picture, transforming it into something that was fun to watch (and participate in).

And the more they watched it, the more they heckled it, the more people realized that maybe they actually love the movie. And now it's this big, important cultural touchstone.

That's Sonic 06. Let's do the time warp again.

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! I am currently so so sick. Audio drama is a great comfort. Love my stories ❤️

🐱Kakos Industries is always good, and this episode was a pretty typical episode of it, but I just need you all to understand how much i love Kakos Industries. If you need a new lowkey comedy podcast, I can’t recommend it enough.

📱 @worldgonewrongpod never misses. This episode was about bureaucracy, the real horror, and was equal parts funny and infuriating, but it hit so hard on a real truth, the way real people’s everyday lives are affected by sloppy civic design. This is the first week of Disability Pride Month, and I can’t help but think about how police brutality disproportionally affects disabled folks—how much worse would it be in this world affected by aliens and mythology and monsters? People already associate disability with evil. It’s a good reminder.

👼 Literally what do you even say about the Silt Verses? I am amazed in this episode at the parallels between Rane and Faulkner on the one hand and, way back in season two (maybe?), Elgin and Paige on the other hand. They approached the weird strained relationship they had with honestly and now they are working together; Rane and Faulkner were backstabbing and power-hungry from the start and now? Well. This is all to say nothing about the freakin sound design this episode. Can't wait to see how this story ends.

✅ The Deposition is a new show from Hug House, a dramatized nonfiction podcast where actors like Josh Rubino (Kingmaker Histories, Valence, etc) read, word-for-word, the record of a deposition of Famed Internet Idiot Elon Musk. It is. INCREDIBLE. It’s hard to even describe it. Please listen to it, I need to talk to someone about it.

🤖 HELLO, LISTEN TO ASK YOUR FATHER. I just got to episode seven and no spoilers. But I knew it, I frikkin knew it.

No Hannah news this week, I’m too tired, I’m gonna nap. Go listen to Inn Between and make me some fan art to speed my recovery, i love you, have a good week

[birthmetal]

the visceral nature of d-16's anger at his literal oppressor, the very lowly deceiver that has subjugated so many to body-wrecking perpetual labor is a real horror. when you think about humans under the oppression that workers face via corporations, industrial work, factory work, ceos, etc and think of the real and unquestionably man-made horrors that vulnerable humans endure for the sake of profit and consumption and power—all of that rage is beyond justified and i won't retract that sentiment. for the proletariat to desire to execute his ill intentioned, carelessly cruel, phony, bourgeoisie "leader" upon seeing the culmination of all of his draining physical, mechanical labor and neural over-processing that he has spent countless hours trudging through, his is not an overreaction. it is purposeful, justified, broadly impassioned. it is well within the proletariat's right in his conditions and the truth he sees before his own eyes to do what he knows is right. the solution is simple.

[whatsnewalycat]

Rules: List 5 topics you can talk about for at least an hour without any preparation. Tag others to find out their topics.

Thank you for tagging me @party-hearses & @imaswellkid & @frannyzooey 🖤🖤 This is by no means an exhaustive list, but:

1. My Chemical Romance

2. Institutional racism (specifically in the US, although a bitch can ramble for days about ‘the war on drugs’ and its disproportionate impact on ppl of color worldwide)

3. The military-industrial complex

4. Horror as a genre

5. Movies—for real I could sit and chat about movies for hours and hours and hours and hours (can you tell I used to work at a video rental store lol it’s my comfy topic)

Backup topics include, but are not limited to: writing, pedro, intersectional feminism, why the American criminal justice system is downright fucking evil, drugs, capitalism, colonialism, spirituality and religion, ghosts, queer stuff, health insurance, mental health and mental illness, cryptids, general occult things, bo burnham, glass animals, succession, the leftovers, etc etc etc as you can tell I could ramble about a million things

tagging: @pennyserenade @wannab-urs @chronically-ghosted @sp00kymulderr @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @wildemaven @whataperfectwasteoftime @all-the-way-down-here @littlebirdsbookshelf @yourcoolauntie @for-a-longlongtime @schnarfer

[dailyanarchistposts]

FIGHTING FUTURORITY

1. Futurority is the promise of civilization that the human species will continue.

2. Moreover, it is the promise that the 'right' human species will continue.

3. Beyond the promise, it is also the force that it MUST continue.

4. It is white, cis, and hetro; it is the nuclear family and 2.5 children- the house in the suburbs, and the promise of university educated grandchildren to blast into space.

5. Futurority is another way in which we are forced to live forever.

6. It is the legacy of humanity, but also it is the legacy of individual beings, therefore it involves applying force not only to societies reproduction but also to the reproductive capacities of individuals.

7. The force to reproduce civilization and its disciples is applied differently to different individuals but wherever it exists, it is always forced.

8. Sometimes reproducing civilization implies sterilization (for undesirables such as drug addicts, trans people etc), and other times it implies forced reproduction (denial of abortion, heterosexual indoctrination in schools, assimilation of queer sexualities into reproductive logics etc).

9. Historically and currently, this force is disproportionately applied to women and gender non conforming people; placing responsibility of reproduction and maintenance of life squarely in their hands, or wombs.

10. The program of severing women from the knowledge of herbal abortives[6], the rape and forced impregnation of black women during chattel slavery[7] (in order to produce more slaves), and the extraction of genetic materials and then sterilization of trans "patients" are all examples of this force.

11. Abortion is still illegal in many countries worldwide, and even when it is accessible rigid state guidelines are applied and the possibility to abort outside of the medical industrial complex is almost universally illegal; likewise infanticide is universally criminalized.

12. Individuals are separated from their own bodies, from the right to self determine their reproduction (or especially their non reproduction). Sexual organs capable of reproducing, are ultimately the property of the state- whether or not it chooses to exercise its ownership in a given moment.

13. The negative connotations imbued in such desperate characters as the lonely childless old women, the evil solitary gay men, and the pathetic street transsexual are all folklore troupes which (re)enforce the psychic pressure to reproduce rather than die alone or in shame.

14. A perhaps esoteric though none the less real example of the application of this force can be seen in the numerous Reddit threads and National Geographic 'exposes' on "natures worst mothers". Panda infanticide, for example, occurs in an extremely high number of pregnancies (Panda mothers regularly produce 2 infants during a pregnancy and in this case will kill or abandon at least one[8]), yet we are constantly bombarded with the idea that conserving Panda life is a worthwhile cause- the 'cute' panda bastion of conservationists worldwide, bestower of great revenue to domesticators and zoo keepers alike may also provide a shining light in exposing the application of force inherent in futurority; after all whoever heard of a forced breeding program for the Lichen Weevil[9]?

15. Civilization reproduces that which is of value to it and destroys all life which is not.

16. The continuum of futurority always implies the absorption of each new life into the horrors of domination, every new individual born is the property and product of domination, the new recipient of safety, the next candidate for immortality- the latest lamb to the slaughter.

17. Perhaps dominations cleverest tactic, has been to deny simultaneously self determination, and selectively prevent the reproduction of specific communities/groups- making reproduction appear (and in some cases genuinely be) an act of resistance- this paradigm continues to provide civilization with all the bio and necro political material it needs for its own manifestation.

18. When standing on the edge of a precipice between the seeming certainty of the collapse of the current epochs form and the horrific new world which may rise in its ashes- it is sometimes incomprehensible as to why individuals reproduce at all.

19. In the spiraling collapse, the decomposition, the apocalypse (however you choose to name the moment humanity currently finds itself at the center of) the potential for lines of fractious conflictuality to appear in the sphere of reproductive futurority seem infinite and alluring.

20. Yet thus far, the discursive and practical possibilities contained within world ending are ignored in favor of clinging to the idea of survival (and by extension reproduction).

21. The technophiles and modern day prophets of climate change denial dream of emergent colonies on mars, humanist expansion with technological aid, new life born off planet but inside the same civilization[10]; whilst a haphazard brigade of similarly dreamy ideologues on the so called left[11] fight an increasingly meaningless discursive battle against extinction- preaching moderation and 'ecology' in the name of continuing the species.

22. In the end both sides, though they may posture and present themselves endlessly in conflict are merely two sides of the same civilized coin.

23. Whether Eco-fascism or Techno-fascism will rule the next phase of decomposition changes little, the force of reproduction will inevitably remain under either condition though perhaps with mildly different parameters (the co-facists for example will likely place restrictions on the number of beings one can (re)produce especially on those inhabiting the 'global south'[12], whilst the Techno-fascists will likely see greater benefit in having those same persons (re)produce an endless supply of workers for Martian extractivism or other dangerous and brutal off planet projects[13]).

24. Though these realties may sound far off, extreme, or polarized, signs of there becoming already appear in the here and now and are far from 'extreme' when one considers the whole history of civilization in all its horror.

25. These gruesome yet moderate/modest continuations of 'business as usual' under new flags or ideologies will prove little more meaningful than rearranging chairs on the titanic- and ultimately both exist within the same sinking ship of 'civilized' humanity.

26. Of course, reducing all the future possibilities of domination to a dichotomy between Eco and Techno fascism is a somewhat reductive and lazy analysis- there are perhaps myriad other ways futurority may choose to articulate itself in the order of the civilized, though in this moment the two aforementioned incarnations of terror seem the most dominant of those vying for a position in or after the ashes.

27. The desire to analyse the future trajectories of terror, does not negate the fact that the present is also terrifying and horrific.

28. Even if it were possible to imagine that the future could be better, freer, or without domination; the terror of the present still presents adequate reason to reject futurority, to reject (re)production where and when possible.

29. To knowingly inflict the suffering of the now onto new life is a choice, a choice to domesticate another life inside the furnaces of civilization, a choice for which on must ultimately take responsibility if he is in a position to choose it.

30. At the same time, and paradoxically; the (re)production of those lives undesirable to futurority may be a form of resistance to domination- a resistance which carries great violence, pain, and suffering, but a resistance none the less.

31. When faced with this brutal double bind one is forced to choose between a resistance and an ending.

32. The unspoken blasphemy for those wishing to live beyond the walls lies in the total refusal of futurority (personal or societical).

33. The (re)production of society at large may be inescapable (since it is also non consensual) except in moments of direct conflict with it (society), but the personal refusal of futurority is perhaps, in moments, more likely achievable.

34. Staring extinction squarely in the face, perhaps even welcoming it; refusing reproductive futurority, accepting that there is No Future.

35. A mass 'die off' is likely approaching the human species; the task for radicals in this epoch lies in communizing this die off to include the insides of western civilization instead of merely allowing its unchecked continuation outside of it- to communize the 'die off' is to deny futurority.

36. To face and embrace a reality in which one is amongst the final generations of 'humanity' may be the closest thing to hope those struggling against the existent can expect.

37. If futurority falls civilization may crumble.

38. The end of futurority is the end of humanity, but not necessarily the end of individual projectualities.

39. The human being and it's reproduction are the social constructs and material realities of civilization, but the existence of wild beings and their proliferation outside the walls are something yet to be known.

40. Against ideologues who claim the future.

41. And tyrants who enforce tomorrows.

42. Against state ownership of reproductive capacity.

43. And the brutal taming of wild life.

44. Towards the fall of civilization.

45. And the death of futurority.

[strawbrygashez]

ZERO DAY/CALDRE HCS

•Andre fell for Cal pretty quickly. It was a mix of Cals ‘pretty blonde boy’ looks, Andre being a loner with no real friends beforehand, and Cal just getting him in a way no one ever really has before.

•Andre introduced Cal to more heavy music. Andre likes industrial metal while Cal had only really liked grunge before. Cal also shows Andre some grunge songs. They’ll make playlists for each other every now and then.

•Cals really good at making bracelets (real ones or just those kid friendship type bracelets). He’s made countless ones for Andre. (Andre mostly wears the first one Cal ever gave him)

Andre has tried making them too but once he even gets slightly frustrated, he gives up and just tosses it into Cals lap to finish for him.

•Kinda related to prev point, Cal likes doing DIY clothes/jewelry stuff in general. It gives him something to focus on other than wanting to die all the time 💀 One of his favorite things he’s made is a bracelet made out of the tabs off of Monster Energy cans. (Andre is honestly jealous he doesn’t have one.)

•Andre had a skateboarding phase. He kinda gave up on it halfway thru the ZD plans but he did try to teach Cal how to skateboard. (No it wasn’t a excuse to touch him while trying help him steady himself on the board.. okay fr it wasn’t. Cal just wanted to try it out since he saw Andre owned a few skateboards)

Cal is a bit of a giggler so he couldn’t take Andre too seriously when he was trying to give him actually helpful advice on how to skateboard.

•If Andre was in a particularly good mood while driving, he’d sing along loudly to whatever was playing on the radio. Cal would just shake his head with a smile.

•Cal tossed around the idea of working at hot topic for a while but for some reason or another, never applied. Andres secretly disappointed bc he would have liked if Cal had a employees discount.

•When Cals really bored & just feeling ‘off’, he’ll cut different shapes and stuff on himself. He’s done stuff like hearts & a butterfly. He’ll also do words or letters like ZD, A (for Andre :P), and because he’s a Manson fan.. I think he did Marilyn Mansons MM logo at least once. What a emo /j

•Both of them like thriller & horror movies but when it comes to TV shows they are a bit different. Andre likes stuff like Ghost Hunters & shows where they try to find Bigfoot (bc hes a very imaginative guy 💀) while Cal likes game shows where he can yell out answers & go on about how the contestants are stupid with Andre. He’s also kinda interested in cooking shows which Andre hates since they’re ‘too boring’.

•Neither of them are huge readers really but if they find a book or magazine that’s interesting, they’ll let the other borrow it.

•Andre steals knives & blades out of Cals room when he’s not looking but Cal never says anything. They both know Cal will just find a way to cut somehow but Andre still does it anyways (and since Andre will ultimately do whatever Cal wants at the end of the day, If cal asks for one of his knives back enough, Andre will give it back)

•Andre is sooooo the type to punch walls. He won’t do it at home really since he doesn’t want his parents worrying about him so it leads him to like.. punching brick walls outside which is much worse for his knuckles lol. But of course Cals there to bandage it up later.

•Cal is diagnosed with a few different things but won’t really bring it up unless it really needs to be. Andre knows all of his diagnoses tho and Cal will joke that Andre has the same things (depression, autism, adhd, etc) Andre will joke that he’s perfectly fine.

•Andre kept a good amount of his toy action figures from his childhood. They are in a box in his closet.

•Cals a bit of creep because sometimes at sleepovers, he just stares at Andre sleeping. He does it without even anything going on in his mind. He’s just enamored by him. Andre has caught him doing it a few times and just groans and rolls over or tosses a pillow at Cals face

[captain-clandestiny]

Hello, this is your g/t secret santa! Hope you're doing fine. I wanted to ask you if you could explain your likes/dislikes a bit more. Blue Sleeves is your own story/universe, right? Do you have any wishes or pointers for me (or just feel free to ramble about it if you want ^.^) Also I hope you're okay if I write something for you, I'm not that good an artist.

HII i am so sorry this week has been so busy aa i didnt see this 😭😭 ofc ofc that;s awesome!!! im so sorry aabdjshj i didnt know LMAO

Bluesleeves is indeed my own story! its a sci-fi military fiction, basically just kinda "what if there was an official branch dedicated to experimental technologies to be used in warfare and (questionably ethically) peacekeeping?" Half glorification of the incredible advancements of man, half satirical statement on the horrors of the military industrial system.

ill try to ramble about the whole plot here without spoiling anything below here lol. but whatever you wanna do go for it!! the whole thing is still a massive work in progress, so i encourage you to interpret the story as you wish!

So i'm sure that scrolling through the blog you're somewhat acquainted with the whole crew, but i'll give some short character descriptions of everyone here

Captain (also just goes by 'Cap,' true name to be revealed)

5'6" - she.her - white - dark blonde hair(usually up in a bun), hazel eyes

biological recombinant, lead subject of the Avian Task Force (ATF). specializes in a variety of skills, the most notable being reconnaissance, first aid, and long range combat.

basically just a random human woman with wings grafted onto her back lol. most of the story is just the corps figuring out what to do with her

sarcastic, spirited personality, though a bit oblivious and insensitive at times. could probably use some media training

has a strong moral compass when it comes to consequences of life/death. this often leads her to struggle with coworkers and the responsibilities of her occupation

prides herself in being a leadership figure, but likes to quarrel with higher-up commands too. she'll do what she thinks is right without thinking much about the collateral.

Lanning

~60' - he.him - mech - not really sure how to put the physical description for a robot lmao

big robot. yeah.

usually a no-nonsense, nonchalant figure, but will entertain an interaction outside of his productive hustle every now and then

maintains security operations when not deployed (both digital and perimeter security around HQ)

heavy support figure in combat, tertiary defense in more desperate scenarios

doesn't express a lot towards the mortality of organic creatures. his apathy is often regarded as his primary weakness by everyone else that knows him, though he personally disagrees with that.

would never admit it, but he feels a lot more than he expresses :(

---- Greyson ('Grey' for short, first name not yet revealed)

6'3" (but you can choose anywhere from 20'-90' if you wanna write him giant!! it varies throughout the story) - he.him - hispanic - dark hair(buzzed), chestnut brownish eyes

trial subject of the TITAN project, a force that is still very much in development with two other subjects in active operation (who are yet to be officially introduced, so you can ignore that for now if you want). just the government messing around with growth serums to make giant soldiers!!! what could go wrong here.. (famous last words)

important point!!! - his real appearance beneath the heavy tactical gear he always wears has not yet been revealed in official writing!!! so for now you can assume that no one's really seen his face underneath the mask

just kinda wears the generic army outfit : combat boots, cargo pants, tactical vest and headgear, etc.. customize bits as you desire, but he keeps his face concealed at all times!! since he doesn't show his face though, he usually makes his body language very visible to all he interacts with (doesn't have to try very hard though when he's big haha)

kinda quiet guy, speaks through his actions rather than words a lot. will speak up when it comes to professional proceedings or a formal discussion

quiet, but not shy!!! will grab you if you;re being an asshole with no consideration for personal space

big fitness nerd, always either working out or staring into space in his free time

its been hinted at that he carries a heavy trauma on his shoulders.. something prior to being inducted in the TITAN project that haunts his every move, but no one really knows... (yet. again, another thing that will later be officially revealed in the future)

General Malik

90' - he.him - white - light, buzzed hair, almost white-ish blue eyes

unhealthy complexion, very pale and malnourished features

a leading general of the Røzvivat insurrectionist forces, cooperative subject of their experimental faction (basically- giant general yippee!!)

cold, driven personality. the son of a foreign spy, taken as a child and raised in a Røzvivat indoctrination camp where he grew to become... the nightmare that cap meets today

unsettlingly interested in psychology and desires a modern education in strategies of deception

for now, is under heavy control of Røzvivat propaganda. will both kill and be killed for the 'global freedom' the High Houses promise they fight for

sneaky and manipulative, but not well versed in combat with someone of his same size!

Bluesleeves surrounds Captain's journeys in a world built upon lies and deception, painted as a patriotic fever dream. A modern gilded age of sorts. As an experimental soldier for the WFEO (Western Forces Experimental Operations, a broader branch including experimental factions from other countries) she pledges her life to the repair of international connections, and just kinda tries to survive each day. Whether it's a support mission gone awry or accidentally upsetting one of her looming coworkers, whatever you choose to do is up to you! If you want a list of hypothetical situations that the crew could go though to write about, just lmk <33 and however deep you want to delve into the themes of this story is entirely your choice!! if you wanna write something silly, fluffy, or bloody, just know i will love whatever you make, whoever you are!!! anything else i can provide to help (i know im not the best at rambling in a coherent fashion ahah) just send an ask i gotchu 🤙🤙 have fun!!