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ghostfacesvalentine · 1 year ago

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Comfort - Bruce Wayne x Fem!reader

Pairing: Battinson x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Slight angst, not really, sad reader.

Type: Blurb

Request: N/A

Word Count: N/A

Prompt: Bruce kind of comforting reader after having a mood drop lol

Notes: I can’t really sleep, I’ve been having the same mood drops I thought I was over, so I just wrote this to cheer me up. If you struggle with the same thing, I hear you, here’s a little battison to hug you.

For years it seemed like it wasn’t going to get better. To say you didn’t know how to navigate through your feelings was an understatement. You weren’t really sure what was happening, or what made you feel the way you did.

Even on the best days, sometimes these mood drops were unpredictable. Suddenly the world starts to slow down and you felt like you’re just there.

It felt like it wasn’t a big deal, it was something you always experienced and you tended to deal with it by isolating yourself until you felt good enough to go back out. The last thing you wanted was to plague anyone with some kind of silly feelings that would go just as they came.

Though you felt crazy to assimilate your relationship this way, it seemed like that’s why you and Bruce got along so well. It wasn’t far fetched to wonder if he felt the same way. As your relationship developed with him, spending the night became religious. You were almost a stranger to your own apartment, finding warmth and safety in his bruised arms.

Tonight, you had the same feeling crawling into you. A bitter sting tainted your veins, spreading quickly throughout your body. It seemed like over the years your body would just succumb to the sentiment. The unease caused you to shoot up from the familiar black sheets.

Bruce was hardly a heavy sleeper, but you didn’t blame him for being a stone after the day of living a double life today. Some days it really did catch up to him, board meetings by day, beating bad guys by night.

You had the luxury of choosing the room you wanted to hide in tonight, usually it was the study. It was warm and comforting, the hug you needed tonight.

The room was dimly lit, scattered papers and book decorated the shelves and the fair sized desk. You crawled into the massive chair that hid behind the computer, bringing your legs up to your chest, layering a blanket over your body.

For one reason or another, this always seemed to be a habit of yours. If you couldn’t run away from your feelings or confront them, your mind tricked you into just going to another room. Almost as if that would solve the issue, but deep down you knew it didn’t, however it seemed like your mind didn’t know any better, did it?

Bitter thoughts galloped through you, the same feeling of defeat in hand with your despair. You loved Bruce, more than anything, but because of this you told yourself you could handle this on your own.

You hated hiding from him, hiding anything from him. All it took was his eyes meeting yours, he could get anything out of you. Looking away from him was always a dead giveaway. Your hands rubbed your arms, crossing themselves in hopes of tricking yourself that you were being hugged by anyone other than yourself. Sometimes, the feeling would just push your chest downward, almost like you were completely giving up.

A thick hand appeared on your knee, your eyes followed it back to Bruce, then looking down in shame. “I can’t sleep.” You half admitted as if he was determined to get a response as to why you disappeared from him.

Again, it was useless to try to hide anything from him, it was his literal job to put clues together. However, there was a silence that felt easy, maybe it was the way he looked at you. Without any fine lines across his brows, instead almost a pout of worry. His hand never gripping you, instead offering itself to you as a sincere gesture. After spending so much time with him, it was only a matter of time to learn a few skills from him, to study him.

You lightly rubbed your bottom lip between your teeth, pursing you lip in hopes of alleviating any lingering discomfort. Your eyes couldn’t find where to look anymore, until you felt Bruces’ arms reach down to cradle your figure.

Still unwilling to look him in the eye, you looked down to your thighs as the blanket draped itself down to the carpet floor. Feeling the softest kiss on the side of your head, you closed your eyes.

“It’s not your fault this happens sweetheart.”

He murmured into your face. His voice still sleepy yet so full of patience and warmth. Did he know? Of course he knew.

Your eyes turned to anywhere but him as he walked you back over to his inviting bed, with a messy comforter as evidence of a safe and warm place to rest. He didn’t say anything else, he didn’t need to.

His fingertips rubbed against your skin in an assuring manner. You didn’t know if you wanted to cry or just go back to bed, your eyebrows knit together in frustration with yourself.

“You mean the world to me Y/N. And it pains me to see you run and hide from me.”

There was a long pause, still being held in front of the bed, you looked down to your hands, feeling the droplets coat your cheeks. Trying not to make a sound, you tucked your lips into yourself, your eyes squeezing shut in the process as the whimpering slowly approached.

“If you need time to yourself, that’s fine, but please don’t run away.” Bruce almost begged as he slowly placed you down on the edge of the bed. Your head dropped down in defeat.

“Baby.”

You flickered your lids before looking up to him, you’ve never seen him with such concern and compassion in his eyes, all across his face. He looked like he would do anything for you right then and there. Nodding, you rubbed the back of your hand across your cheeks quickly.

“I love you, okay? Let that be clear. No matter what you’re feeling or what you’re dealing with.” Bruce’s’ hand cradled the back of your head, he slowly pulled it towards him, pressing his lips against your forehead. He stood there for a moment, closing his eyes in a silly attempt to take the sadness away.

“I love you too.” You whispered just enough for him to hear. His fingertips rubbing against your locks felt like the best way to be comforted. You couldn’t imagine a safer, most loving manner to be told you were loved and cared for.

#battinson one shot #battison x reader #battinson imagine #bruce wayne x reader #Bruce Wayne imagine #Bruce Wayne one shot

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mossadspypigeon · 6 months ago

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Do you really hate reform Jews so much? That is saddening. I’ve been a victim of hate crimes, and the perpetrators certainly didn’t care about my “reform privilege”. I can understand having beef with the idea of assimilation, but overtly hating on reform Jews isn’t cool or the flex you think it is.

wow lmao i talk about a few issues reform has and you instantly assume i hate reform jews. i am so sick and tired of this distinct lack of reading comprehension from people on this website. if you had come to my inbox with concerns etc instead of accusing me of hatred, i would be answering in a much nicer tone because i want to have these discussions and i want to do it with empathy.

HOWEVERRR since you made the choice to display some dumbassery, i’m not going to be nice:

aren’t we the literate people? the people of the book? the fuck happened?

i never said i hated reform jews. neither did that anon. neither did anyone in the comments on the post. i hold no anger towards reform or hatred of it. if you and others like you cant listen during these discussions and learn from them, the divide will just grow larger.

TALKING. ABOUT. NEGATIVES. AND POINTING OUT PROBLEMS. ISN’T. EXPRESSING. HATRED. OR “HATING” ON ANYTHING.

so when you talk about negative shit goyim do, do you hate all goyim? no? then stop assuming shit like this about fellow jews who are simply talking about INTRACOMMUNITY ISSUES. CRITICISM AND HATRED ARE TWO DIFFERENT CONCEPTS.

i’ve gotten hate crimed several times before too as a non frum jew and i would not say i dont still have privilege within my community. it’s called nuance. i know that’s a difficult concept.

being the less visible and most assimilated in any group gives you fucking privilege even if you still experience oppression because there is a SPECTRUM. that is the basics. yes you can deal with hate crimes and antisemitism as a reform jew, but the MOVEMENT ITSELF HAS SOME PROBLEMS THAT SHOULD BE DISCUSSED. the MOVEMENT. not YOU personally. stop trying to silence important discussions with this manipulative bullshit.

it’s giving goyishe vibes, so maybe work on that instead of taking any criticism as hatred. we have discussed this stuff for hundreds of years.

#jumblr #non jews dni i guess even though you will anyway lmao

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tinyelvenwitch · 6 months ago

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A Call for Community

I’ve been reading a very sad, fascinating book lately. It’s brought up some thoughts about spiritual community and, especially, how important it is now and in the immediate future. The book itself is called A Well Trained Wife by Tia Levings. I know - Red flags immediately. Stay with me here.

In this book, Tia explains her experience with religion over time - from being a teenager where “going to church meant I had the power to make everyone happy” to being a wife in the thick of an Evangelical Calvinist sect. Specifically, in a few separate spots, she mentions how it was often frowned upon for the women to gather, to make friendships in the church. The men and the Patriarchal leaders in charge would frown upon it, or even outright forbid it.

Women without community were simply more vulnerable. Submissive. Less open to what Could Be.

Now I want to specify before we go any further that I identify as non-binary. I use they/them pronouns, wear a binder, and have historically been incredibly uncomfortable with femininity in regards to myself. I am, however, female presenting to the general public. There is your disclaimer. The points Levings makes, while she writes about women, are applicable to all.

We see this frequently, I think, throughout history. The best way to control people is to seize their communities, break them up, or pervert them to your desires. Native American assimilation, the conversion of Pagan deities and figures into Saints, the Witch Trials. The historical talks and theories about the rise of Patriarchy. All different but with a similar, bitter aftertaste.

Preventing a diverse community and breaking up the pack allows for the hunter to pick off the wanderers, the thinkers, the rebels all that more easily. Convincing people that their salvation is in the hands of someone else. Isolation to control. Bring them back into the fold of the Church, under one umbrella of thought, but not too close. You don’t want them to gather to form their own thoughts now, do you? Let me tell you how to eat and dress and live, and if you do a good enough job maybe you’ll make it into Heaven! Convert others, convince yourself that you are saving them, don’t listen to their Original Thoughts! Clearly, that is the Devil Himself. Hate anyone that is different because they just seek to bring you into Damnation. Don’t worry. I know you’re struggling with that - Just be quiet and I’ll tell you how to think.

Control comes from fear, from sameness. Rinse, repeat.

So why now, why this call for community? Clearly, community building can turn into something horrible. I am calling for discernment here.

Community has the potential to be something beautiful. It can be a space where people with many viewpoints can come together to share and meld ideas. Collaboration breeds innovation when it is built with respect and discernment. And what do I mean when I say discernment? I mean using your Critical Thinking Brain and your intuition both. Let us not be led astray by beautiful influencers promising to sell you spiritual awakenings on a silver platter for the low price of $2,500 (Do you see how similar that is to the promises of organized religion?). Does a community start to give you an icky feeling, the shadow of “Something isn’t right here…”? Leave it immediately.

Beware of the Echo Chamber - if it’s always the same ideas circulating around, watch for polarization and extremism.

Beware of the Cult Leader mentality. No one person can save you.

Beware of anyone trying to sell you Spirituality at absurd prices. $50-$200 for a class is normal. $2,500 is not.

Beware of anyone asking you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.

Humans need connection. We need the ability to form relationships with other people that mean something. People to love, people to bond with, parents, children, mentors, teachers, students, guides, enemies. For some, the relationships that we build define our place in the world. We need a system that we can rely upon for support, to keep us company and to help us in our darkest times. Specifically in regards to spiritually, it can be immensely helpful to connect with those deemed “Other” by society that share similar views. Will Megan the Christian Neighbor understand when you’re discussing energy movement and directing will? Possibly. More than likely, no. Others can, they can validate you, commiserate with you, and stand in support of your goals and trials both. They can provide you with resources and hope and love. They can teach you, or allow themselves to be taught by you. They can make you feel less alone. And of course, there is always strength in numbers.

Finally, for as much as I love the internet, I urge you to seek out real connections as well. Find a local Witch/Pagan/Spiritual group you vibe with (but leave if they ask you to do something you’re not comfortable with - I cannot stress this enough), talk to your neighbors, give and receive support and gratitude. Go to the library. Start a group, if you’re so inclined. Volunteer to give back to the community. You are not going to agree with everyone and I can hazard a guess that you may even get into arguments with others that hold other beliefs. That’s okay. Hold space for that and move on. Be respectful.

Before the world changes in the next month - In a world that seeks to divide, come together with those in your community. When bad things happen, fall back on the people there to support you. Remember that most people are simply trying their best. Thanks for reading. Go in peace.

#witchy vibes #witchcraft #witches #witch #witchblr #community #spiritualgrowth #spiritual journey #spirituality #call to action #paganism #pagan witch #pagan #paganblr

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the-era-of-shadow · 1 year ago

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Letting You Go

Written by Ash Rose

Summary:

It’s official, Sally Acorn and the rest of the Acorn family have officially severed all ties with the Starlight City Militia, letting them go from the Mobotropolis Militia Organization. They don’t mind it, however, as they already saw themselves as separate from the Freedom Fighters and the other militias, and as a matter of fact, the day they got this information perfectly lined up with the day that they would make that more clear than ever before.

THIS STORY CONTAINS: Swearing, mention of death

Author's Note: Whoops - another impulse write! This should be the last impulse fic for this arc though - everything else I wanna convey that's not in already planned fics should end up in video form lol (Check out our YT - HomeSweetHive) Also this references multiple things, even non-fic stuff. ,,, Even stuff that isn't out yet ~ :cheeky:

The past two weeks had been relatively, surprisingly, calm for most of the Freedom Fighters - excluding the news of Vanilla’s condition. But for Sally and Nicole, things have been rather… hectic, to say the least.

After the day that the search for the fate of Project Midnight had occurred, Sally had made it a point to herself to not only not allow themself to ever be fooled by the Black Arms again, but to try to do everything in her power to save others from their web of lies as well. With this mission ingrained into her, she set their sights on the town of Starlight City as her target for saving, given the fact that the Black Arms had been stationed there for several years without anyone having known. Or more accurately, anyone who did know was then subsequently assimilated into their hive or killed.

Sally had no way of knowing for certain who in Starlight City could be salvaged and who were too far wrapped in the Black Arms’ control, but she did manage to gather some information on important figures in the city that made it clear just how dire the situation was. The town’s mayor, Archie Tortis, was seemingly not assimilated in any sort of way, thankfully, but that didn’t make things any easier in terms of getting him to see the rampant corruption in his town. When Sally first talked to him, they immediately came to realize that all Archie cared about was himself and his own profit, and that if the situation didn’t affect him, then he has no reason in his mind to do anything about it. Besides, when Sally was talking to him, she began to suspect that a certain darkling had already turned him against her with just the leverage they had over him from having run such a successful clinic that had been quite the sell for anyone hoping to visit Starlight City.

As much as a part of her wanted to, Sally tried their best to not blame herself for the meeting with Archie going wrong. She had everything planned from the very beginning. In order to hopefully separate the salvageable from the too-far-gone in the most timely fashion as possible, Sally had planned to arrange a mandatory evacuation from the town. Her reasoning within the meeting itself going in was a vague ‘health risk’, but if the plan had gone to fruition, she had every intention of being very clear with the public of the Black Arms’ return and their immediate risk to the public - a complete 180 from how G.U.N had handled things during the Shattered World Crisis. But things hadn’t gone according to plan in the slightest. Archie had turned down every suggestion Sally gave, arguing that she had no jurisdiction over Starlight City despite being a Freedom Fighter because at the end of the day, she was still the princess of Mobotropolis, and Starlight City was in the United Federation.

“The United Federation has made no such statements, thus there is no need for such drastic actions.”

While Sally had to admit that Archie had been correct in that, it was still deeply infuriating to see him completely disregard the safety of the people he was supposed to serve.

So Sally didn’t give up just yet.

Just a few days after the meeting she had had with Archie, they, with the help of Nicole and her brother Elias, put out an evacuation notice of their own.

In some ways it had been effective, but in other ways, it had been a complete failure. Thanks to Nicole’s strength and advanced artificial intelligence, she was able to keep it up for twelve whole hours - a significant amount of time, technically, and yet it wasn’t even a whole day. Sally had been just as direct as she had always planned on being with the details of the notice, and that had come as both a blessing and a curse. Many people did believe the notice, but the vast majority of those many were people who lived outside of Starlight City. Sure, this prevented many potential visits to the town that would have made for a major risk if they had occurred, but it didn’t do much for those that were still in the town. Some of them did leave, but most didn’t. Sally saw some people they had verified to be in Starlight City saying online that the explanation given for the evacuation notice sounded very ‘unbelievable’ to them, but she had no idea if that opinion was influenced by the Black Arms in any way, or if she truly had just been too heavy handed. Then, of course, the notice was taken off of the air, bringing an end to the whole thing. In the end, Sally tried to take the small victories in stride, and decided that instead of continuing to try to drag people out of Starlight City, she would continue down the path of doing all she could to keep people from going into the town.

But before she could do that, they had to sort things out with the few former Starlight City citizens that did listen to the evacuation notice. Prior to the notice going out, Sally and Elias had arranged some new homes in Mobotropolis for the evacuated people to move into, so that was of no concern. Rather, the problem that Sally had to solve was that of making sure that they prevent the exposure that those evacuated people did have to the Black Arms in Starlight City from sprouting into full blown assimilation. After having done research on the topic, Sally discovered that G.U.N were very likely in possession of an anti-assimilation serum that had been made by Professor Gerald Robotnik back in the Space Colony ARK days. So of course, they tried to reach out to them to possibly get some of that to give to not just the evacuated, but possibly to Vanilla as well.

She was denied.

Sally ended up beating herself up over the denial for a good few days, as the reason G.U.N gave for it was, technically, their own fault. G.U.N did indeed know about Sally and Nicole hacking into their private databases during the Project Midnight investigation, and it seemed that they intended on holding a grudge against not just Sally, but against the Freedom Fighters as a whole over it. She was at a complete loss as to what to do.

But after those few days had passed, Sally had gotten a call from Elias that ended up giving her some relief. He had told her that he had apparently been contacted by a G.U.N agent that was less than thrilled with how they were handling things. While at that point it was all just talk, Elias and the G.U.N agent did have plans to sneak some vials of the serum, which Sally was absolutely overjoyed to hear. Unfortunately, it seemed that Vanilla was too far gone for the serum to do anything for her by this point, but at least they’d be helpful for the evacuated citizens of Starlight City.

With that taken care of, all Sally had to worry about now was kickstarting the route of keeping people out of Starlight City - and she knew exactly what the first step had to be.

At the beginning of the month, just a few days after the Freedom Trainees, Amy, Sonic and Knuckles had fought the Black Arms in Starlight City, Whisper had ran into the leader of Starlight City’s Militia, Gear. The encounter was less than pleasant by what Whisper had told Sally. In fact, Whisper had told Sally and the other Freedom Fighters that she suspected Gear, and the rest of the Starlight City Militia, had been assimilated by the Black Arms - or at least had decided to side with the person they knew as ‘Doctor Ezrieal Clysdale’ over the Freedom Fighters. Surely enough, Whisper’s suspicions had been confirmed just a few days later, as during a public relations AMA that the Clysdale Clinic had held, Gear and a fellow militia member named Nitro came to their defense and apparently outright confirmed their loyalty to the Black Arms. With that confirmation, Sally had all the evidence she needed to show her brother and parents to convince them to discharge the Starlight City Militia from being a part of the greater Mobotropolis Militia Organization, and last night the four of them had come to a unanimous vote to let them go. Sally would be giving them the news today.

—

Somewhere in Starlight City, there’s a small little studio apartment that on this morning is making a good bit more of a ruckus than usual. The two tenants that call this apartment home are Gear Summer and her boyfriend Gizmo Springs, both only eighteen years old - though Gizmo will become nineteen in December. The reason why they’re able to afford to live in an apartment on their own while being still quite young is due to the success and prestige that both of their jobs give them. Gizmo works as an independent robotics engineer, his brand of electronics being seen by the Starlight City community and even a bit beyond as a more local and at times more affordable alternative to the world-renowned ‘Twin-Tail Electronics’ brand started by the Freedom Fighters’ very own Tails Prower. Gear, on the other hand, is the leader of the Starlight City Militia, and while that in of itself doesn’t pay a whole lot - it does make her quite beloved by the community, to the point where people often give her discounts on things or give her tips for her service.

It is because of Gear’s job that the apartment is particularly noisy today - with it being occupied by not just Gear and Gizmo, but also by the other six members of the militia. Today is a very special day for the militia, though Gear did not tell Gizmo why exactly it is, and to celebrate, Gear has the entire militia over for breakfast before they depart for the special activity that they have awaiting them. By now, most of the militia members were seated at their chairs at the table, but Gear, along with the militia’s co-leader, the somewhat older and wiser twenty-one year old Nitro Blast, are still at the kitchen counter preparing the food. Gizmo is helping a bit as well, but there’s only so much he can do with their limited cooking ability. Gear’s just happy she’s here.

After a few more minutes of cooking, the food for all eight of them in total, including Gizmo, was ready. Luckily for her in terms of workload for the morning, all of the militia’s wisps were already with Doctor Clysdale, having spent the night with them, so Gear didn’t have to worry about making food for all nine of them as well. Nitro went to sit down at his chair and Gizmo went to the fridge to get out the two-liter of ginger ale bought specifically for this occasion while Gear grabbed each plate of food and set them on the table one by one.

The first plate Gear set down belonged to twenty year old Alice Wolfe, the militia’s one and only melee fighter. They much preferred to fight up close with punches and kicks rather than shoot from afar, that much reflected in the design of their gray quake wispons - being a set of gloves and boots that amplified these abilities while also being very sharp, leaning into her surname and also giving them the ability to climb walls.

“Aw hell yeah! This looks incredible!!” They excitedly said to Gear.

The second plate that Gear set down belonged to twenty, very soon to be twenty-one, year old Giselle Graves, the militia’s gothic bomber. While most of the militia’s members already do attack from a distance, Giselle is always at the very rear of the troupe, firing her black bomb wispon across the entire battlefield in order to have its explosives at the very least leave a scar on each and every one of their enemies - and doing it all while they’re dressed up in the finest gothic lolita dresses. Her more violent approach was not very appreciated within the original militia that Giselle had been in during the Phantom Ruby War, but in the Starlight City Militia, it was very much welcomed.

“I have to agree with Alice! I can’t wait to take my first bite!!” She stated.

The third plate that Gear set down belonged to nineteen year old Macy Carroll, part of the airborne attack force of the militia alongside Nitro, and also the current newest member of the Starlight City Militia. Despite having not fought in the Phantom Ruby War, Macy is quite good at her job - both as a fighter with locking onto targets with his indigo asteroid wispon and as a chopper pilot, having learned a lot from her older sister who had fought in the war as a part of a nearby town’s militia and then had retired. The Starlight City Militia members, including Macy, liked to joke about how that other town’s militia had deeply underestimated Macy when they turned him away.

“Thanks so much for the food, Gear!” She beamed.

The fourth plate that Gear set down was Nitro’s. As stated previously, Nitro is the militia’s co-leader and the second half of its airborne attack force with his orange rocket wispon. Having been childhood friends with Gear, he was right by her side when she started the militia, having the experience to back up Gear’s ambitions. Being the oldest of the militia members, Nitro carries with him a sort of ‘big brother’ energy that can instantly motivate and/or comfort any of the other members when he’s by their side.

“Remember everyone, this meal is only the beginning of this very important day ahead of us.” Nitro said to everyone.

The fifth and sixth plates that Gear set down belonged to eighteen year old twins Oliver and Olivia Pines, the militia’s support. Just a few months older than Gear, the two are both just as bold and ambitious as she is, and even more energetic! They put that energy to good use on the battlefield, either running circles around the bad guys to confuse them with the speed of their white boost wispons taking the form of roller skates, or hopping around the battlefield taking on the roles of their fellow militia members with their wispons shifted into whatever is needed by the other members’ wisps when those members are knocked down.

“Hell yeah!! Today’s gonna be great!!” Oliver cheered.

“You’re damn right it is, bro!” Olivia added.

Lastly, Gear set down Gizmo’s plate and then her own on the table. But she did not sit down - not yet.

“Hello everyone! Thank you so much for coming here on this fine October morning!” Gear greeted everyone else in the apartment. They all greeted her back and cheered. “As Nitro said, this meal is just the start to this wonderful day - but I would like to call attention to it, if you’ll allow me to indulge myself a bit here. The recipe is my own, made by me while I was fucking around in the kitchen one morning back in May. It’s an everything bagel breakfast sandwich with oven roasted bacon, a white cheddar cheese omelet seasoned with salt and pepper, and a sauce on the top and bottom of the sandwich made from whipped cream cheese and maple syrup!” Gear continued, feeling very proud of herself.

“Ohhhh that sounds bitchin!!” Alice exclaimed.

“Thank you!” Gear replied. “And I’ll let you guys eat in just a moment, but first, I’d like to take the time to honor the man who sacrificed his life in exchange for ours,” She said as she picked up her glass of ginger ale and looked towards a ninth chair set at the table, it and the glass placed in front of it being completely empty, and the plate next to the empty glass only having a slip of paper on it that read ‘Norman Elbourne’. “Norm, you were just as much of a valiant fighter as the rest of us, being willing to tackle any challenge that life threw at you both in and out of the battlefield, and you were plenty curious as well, always wanting to know more about the world and people around you. While these traits of yours were very helpful to us all, they also were what would eventually bring you to your doom. But even in your death, you paved the way to a massive and wonderful opportunity for all of us. So on this day that such an opportunity will be at last fulfilled, we will all raise a toast to you, and hope that we may one day meet you again in another life.”

Everyone raised their glasses, some more enthusiastically than others. Gizmo raised his glass with hesitance, some of what Gear was saying going over their head. Nitro raised his glass with more force than anyone else, allowing his quiet and calculated persona to slip for a moment as he took a moment to shed some tears in honor of his late cousin.

Once they did, and prepared to begin eating, a ringing sound echoed through the apartment.

“Hey, ain’t that your electronic communicator? Maybe you should go pick that up.” Gizmo pointed out to Gear.

“Huh. You’re right, it is!” Gear responded, fetching her communicator from on her bed. Opening the communicator up, Gear saw that the ringing sound was coming from a call from Sally Acorn. Gear answered the call despite her annoyance at the princess’ timing.

“Hello? Is there an emergency? Because if not, we’re rather busy at the moment.” Gear began, letting her annoyance seep into her tone.

“No, there isn’t. I’m calling you to let you know that my family and I have decided to let you guys go.” Sally told her very bluntly.

“Eh? Whaddya mean by that?” Gear asked.

“I mean that you guys aren’t considered part of the Mobotropolis Militia Organization anymore.” Sally explained.

“What? Why? What did they do wrong to deserve that?” Gizmo suddenly came to the defense, Gear being able to hear the rage in Gizmo’s voice.

“Treason.” Sally replied. “Good day, farewell.” The call ended.

“Wh-WHAT?? There’s no way that’s true!!” Gizmo yelled, which took Gear aback a bit. “Hey, do you need a moment?? Gear, any of you?? I know that had to be a shock-”

“Not really.” Gear replied, surprising Gizmo.

“Wait, really?” Gizmo inquired.

“Yeah!” Gear insisted.

“... I know I have a pretty good job, but that still leaves you, all of you, without work!” Gizmo pointed out.

“Not exactly.” Nitro retorted. “You see, the special thing happening today is that we’re going to become official employees of the Clysdale Clinic.” Nitro was technically leaving out some details in that explanation, but Gear knew that those details were best left unknown by Gizmo for now.

“Huh,” Gizmo uttered, instantly calming down. “Wait, what does that have to do with Norm?”

“You’ll understand that in due time, Giz. ~” Gear responded, giving Gizmo a kiss on the cheek.

—

Once things were dealt with in terms of the militia’s sudden termination from the MMO, they finally got to eat the food that had been served to them - and they certainly enjoyed being able to do so. Gear got many compliments on the food by the other militia members, which made her feel quite nice. While Nitro had advised Gear to focus on eating, she couldn’t help but want to share the news of the militia’s termination with Doctor Clysdale, and so she did, texting about it with them. They were both rather surprised, but also not at all. The two of them pretty much agreed on just saying ‘who cares about them’ about it and to laugh.

“Well, since you’re texting them, why don’t you ask the doc if they need us there at any specific time?” Nitro suggested to Gear with a bit of a teasing tone.

“Good idea!” Gear exclaimed, sending Doctor Clysdale a text asking about that.

After a few minutes, they responded.

“Oh no, not at all! Take all the time you all need! I made sure my entire day today was cleared out for you guys! ~ EC”

Suddenly, a new ringing sound played out, this one coming from Macy’s phone. When she flipped it open, he looked at it with a confused expression - which Gear noticed.

“You can step out onto the balcony to take the call if you need!” Gear said to her.

“Oh, okay!” Macy replied, doing as he was told.

Once Macy was on the balcony, Gear got up and approached the balcony as well, curious as to who exactly was calling Macy that would cause him to be suspicious of them.

“Hello? Why are you calling me? Wasn’t I fired like the rest of the militia?” Sally? That’s what Macy’s words seemed to imply. Gear got closer. “You… want to keep me in the Mobotropolis Militia Organization and send me to another team?” Gear jumped with fright. What if Macy took her up on that offer? She already knows too much about the goings-on of the Starlight City Militia to just be able to leave like that! But if anything were to happen to him, it would look super suspicious! Gear tried to calm herself down and wait to see how Macy would respond. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve decided long ago that I’m loyal to the Starlight City Militia until the very end!” Gear sighed in immense relief, going so far as to slide down the wall behind her and sit on the floor. As Macy left the balcony, she noticed Gear sitting there and helped her up.

“I appreciate your loyalty, ya know?” Gear said to him.

“Of course!” Macy replied.

—

Soon after that had occurred, everyone had finished their meals and were getting ready to go, everyone except for Gizmo, who was staying at the apartment.

“Do you mind washing the dishes, or do you want me to do that before we go?” Gear asked him.

“Oh no, I don’t mind at all. You did most of the cooking, after all.” Gizmo responded.

“Oh, goodie!” Gear exclaimed, leaving the kitchen area to get her bag packed.

“By the way, when will you be coming back?” Gizmo asked, stopping Gear in her tracks.

“Sometime tomorrow, probably.” Gear answered.

“You’re staying the night with them?? Aren’t they in a hotel room right now?” Gizmo questioned. Gear had practically forgotten all about that lie of theirs, to be honest.

“Oh! Trust me, it’s a lot more spacious than you’d think.” Gear said, hoping it’d be a sufficient excuse. Gizmo bought it and started to clean the dishes that were used for breakfast.

“Alright everyone, time to head out! Macy, you go first and get the chopper!” Gear commanded.

“Ooo, fast travel! ~” Gizmo remarked, making Gear giggle.

“Fast travel.” Nitro repeated with a nod.

In just a minute or so, Macy was back at the apartment building with the helicopter, and called Gear to send everyone else to the roof of the apartment where she had parked it. Gear complied and she along with the rest of the militia filed out of the apartment and headed to the chopper.

As the helicopter began to take off, Gear decided to see what view of the sky she could get from where she was seated rather than look down at the ground, excited for the new route life would take her and her friends. Soon enough, she was able to see past the clouds and catch a glimpse at the massive flying temple that the helicopter was heading towards.

"Ya know, staring at this blue sky… it almost seems like I've seen it before. Especially from afar like this." Gear commented at one point.

"Gear. It's the fucking sky. Of course you've seen it before. You live on this damn planet with the rest of us!" Giselle responded playfully.

"... Oh yeah! I guess you're right!" Gear remarked. Everyone, including Gear and Giselle, laughed at the short conversation.

And then, just like that, the temple was below them rather than above, and that’s when Macy began to land.

Just right outside where they hand landed the helicopter were two people. One of them stood still as they noticed the chopper, while the other darted off to one of the enclosed areas of the temple.

“Hey Doctor Clysdale!” Gear called out as she hopped out of the chopper.

“Gear, you should know by now that in spaces like these, you can just call me Eclipse.”

“Oh, right, sorry!”

“Hey, was that Shadow I saw just now?” Alice asked Eclipse.

“... Not quite.” Eclipse sheepishly answered. “I’ll explain in a moment.”

“Suppose we have to get to the lab first?” Nitro surmised.

“Correct!” Eclipse exclaimed. “Right this way!” They commanded, the Starlight City Militia members diligently following from behind.

At long last, their loyalty to the Black Arms will be truly cemented, for after some considerable delay, their physical assimilations at last awaited them.

#the era of shadow #teos #writing tag #sonic au #black arms #sonic oc #mod aik

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galacticnova3 · 7 months ago

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In regards to the Master Crown, it seems everyone else has shared their piece in regards to your take on it. You know what I think, though? Your take is relentlessly blasé.

You took something with so much potential to be unique and interesting and turned it into your average one-note Uber-powerful force of nature bad guy. It’s gory and violent and edgy for the sake of shock value, and it shows. I genuinely do not understand the praise you’ve been given about it; other parts of your writing are strong but it isn’t one of them.

Oh thank god I thought you were a new anon about to regale me with your ideas for how to fuck or get fucked by a crown/tree demon.

Anyways, your criticism has been noted. Though, since you seem to be referring primarily to the fic… Keep in mind that all of its appearances there have been in the vivid and often fever-fueled nightmares of a lucid dreamer who was personally targeted by it. It’s over-the-top yet comparatively simplified because that’s what tends to happen in recollections of horrible events/things/people. Some parts will be accurate, others will be either given more focus or influence while others will be reduced. Like how people who are terrified of spiders often imagine them being far bigger or more aggressive than they actually are— that’s one of the things fear does.

One of the biggest differences between the one that’s shown up and how I would actually write it as a character in, say, a roleplay, is the fact that in Magolor’s nightmares it almost always immediately made itself and its goals known. Magolor has an idea of its motivations and mannerisms when it’s gone “mask off”, so to speak, because that’s what he was exposed to after getting almost fully assimilated; at that point it didn’t have any perceived motivation to keep that hidden because it believed it had already won. Plus, having had the line between himself and the crown blurred for a time, he may or may not have also self projected onto it a bit. But elaborating on that would be a spoiler…..

In reality, for the Master Crown, acting like that toward anyone it isn’t already assured is under its control is counterintuitive. It wouldn’t openly speak to or threaten someone, nor immediately jump straight to trying to devour their soul the instant it was on their head, nor boast of its power or how many hosts it’s already used and discarded. That leaves too much room for resistance, which is inconvenient and would be inefficient insofar as obtaining a body is concerned; shutting down that resistance usually also means sacrificing some of the host’s utility via injury, if not outright skipping the usage stage altogether and going straight to devouring to prevent its true nature from being revealed to others who might be able to do something about it. It’s whole modus operandi is lulling its targets into a false sense of security as they power trip, then gradually taking over from there until the host isn’t the one making decisions or acting anymore, or if that doesn’t work or would take too long, taking control away from them by force and snuffing out their sense of self more directly. That wouldn’t work if it was openly advertising “HEY I BUFF ALL YOUR STATS JUST IGNORE THAT I’M AN EVIL BODY SNATCHING SOUL EATING CROWN AND THERE WON’T BE ANYTHING LEFT OF YOU AFTERWARDS!” before it even had its metaphorical foot in the door.

Basically: I know what I’m doing with my writing even if it hasn’t been shown yet. Don’t worry I am trying to do the crown justice as an antagonist that’s far more complex than your average cursed object.

#asks #rambling

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thewisesaltine · 7 months ago

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The Cranium Dog Celebrates Multiculturalism

A few years ago, @the-plot-blog-thing and I watched the eternally beloved piece of cinema Teacher's Pet (2004) for a movie review marathon (an archive of which you can find on his blog). Needless to say, we were both immediately captivated by the sheer brilliance of that film, and vowed to one day watch the TV show on which it was based.

We never did.

But that's not gonna stop me from watching a Holiday-themed episode of that show for my long running tradition of ranting about Christmas specials on the internet for my own amusement!

TEACHER'S PET: SEASON 1 EPISODE 11: A DOG FOR ALL SEASONS

Having only seen the movie I'm not too familiar with how the standard episode of the show works, but this strikes me as nothing too out of the ordinary. Especially for season one.

While planning the school's holiday pageant, Mary realizes that their usual play (A Christmasy Christmas in Christmas Town) could potentially be seen as ignorant of other non-Christian winter holidays. Not wanting anyone to feel left out, she decides to write a new play that celebrates all the holidays of the late December/early January time frame.

Unfortunately, the Wallace Shawn principal shows up and acts as our Fox News stand in for the episode. He hates the idea of changing anything that was previously catered to his demographic, and threatens to fire Mary if her new multicultural play doesn't live up to his "standards". Giving us the most on the nose line of the whole episode.

So, while Mary is given all of one evening to write an entire play that her entire career rests on, Scott remembers he's supposed to be the main character and has an existential crisis that there are no holiday traditions for dogs. He decides to go soul searching and comes to the conclusion that...honestly I don't really know they just kinda hand wave it away.

It wasn't uncommon for shows around this time to take a more "tribute to all holidays but mostly Christmas approach". Arthur's Perfect Christmas certainly comes to mind. However, I don't remember many having the guts to say "oh, by the way, some people get really mad when you say Happy Holidays." Principal Strickler isn't a one to one representation of annoying conservatives you see around this time, but it's a show about a talking dog with species dysphoria.

Still, it's a very decent episode of television. You wouldn't expect a show with a premise like this to actually be funny, but there were some solid jokes here. It has a Simpsons-esque style of humor where the characters find strangely elegant ways to be monumentally stupid.

Also helped by the fact that the animation is top notch. Especially for TV show quality. Characters are never not moving, and the expressiveness of all the voice actors helps a lot too

My only real complaint is that while I respect the concept of what they were doing, in execution it does just feel like a Christmas-themed episode that pays some lip service to other holidays. Which, isn't the worst thing a special can do, but given the fact that the whole episode is about finding unity between cultures it does kinda feel strange to rely so heavily on Christmas aesthetics. They have the musical number at the end (which Nathan Lane doesn't really sing in which is odd. Contracts must be weird or something), but the song basically boils down to "Every holiday is really just about love at the end of the day."

The song itself isn't the best either. I prefer MST3k's approach to the same idea.

youtube

There's not really much else to add. It's a decent, well-meaning, if outdated Christmas special about how everyone deserves a chance to celebrate their culture. Sure, I could try to dive into the psyche of Scott. Try to make some grand statement and imply that Teacher's Pet: Season 1 Episode 11 speaks volumes about how isolating the holidays are for people without a cultural identity. And how Scott's search for belonging only REALLY plays into the idea of assimilation, and that his true identity is being erased by staying with the Helperman's. But that would be boring. And I don't like being bored.

It's a fun Christmas special. Maybe I should finally watch that show.

Meh probably not

7/10

#christmas #christmas specials #Disney Teachers pet #Disney Channel #Cracker Factory Family Christmas 2024 #Review No.1 #Youtube

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moderator-monnie · 2 years ago

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How will the slammer respond to something travelling inbetween worlds to hunt down it, if the slammer virus abandons a world because it’s to dangerous (like with the napalm thingy) will said world continue to function and evolve? Can the slammer infect anything outside of the computer and are there any dedicated coders outside of the computer or anti viruses trying to deal with/ dispose of it

How will the slammer respond to something travelling in-between worlds to hunt down it.

1: Well, it's technically across worlds but thinking about this from a computer standpoint it's from game to game.

But as for how Slammer would react? It's likely he'd hide themself in a more important program that way whatever's hunting him won't risk just deleting the program otherwise it would kill itself as well.

Though it really depends on how strong Slammer is compared to whatever's going after them, if they are weaker then him He'll just assimilate their code.

if the slammer virus abandons a world because it’s to dangerous (like with the napalm thingy) will said world continue to function and evolve?

2: Yes, the game would still continue to function well, it depends really uh say if Slammer abandon their copy of Sonic CD, since by the end of the story they would have assimilated all chararters by then, so the game would boot but you'd be unable todo anything.

If we're talking about if they abandon a game half way thru? Then One of the remaining side chararters would take on the purpose of the main character.

Can the slammer infect anything outside of the computer

3: No they can't they are no where near strong enough on their own to somehow make it into the real world, Slammer would need to become more powerful then the original SQL Slammer virus was, not to mention have a higher spread.

And make it into government servers before anything like that might be possible, but if left to it's own devices for long enough? Eventually yes, or if they adsorbed enough different viruses.

are there any dedicated coders outside of the computer or anti viruses trying to deal with/ dispose of it

4: No one is aware of Slammer still being around quite yet, so no one is trying to get rid of them, but the moment their presence becomes known I haven't thought that ahead into the story lol.

At the Moment I'm focused on the sonic/game aspect of things, maybe eventually I'll write more stories besides that non canon one with Hungry Hero.

Bonus answer!

You didn't ask this question, but I'll answer it anyway because I'm sure some people might be curious.

If I could collab with anyone and do a real story crossover? I have three big ones.

Misscloudiedays, Rabbitstatic, Anarackwarriors

In no actual order, just people I respect in the community, I've talked with at least two of them before lol.

#Sonic The Hedgehog #Sonic.EXE #Sonic.EXE au #Sonic.EXE OC #Slammer Sonic #Slammer Virus

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columbiafawn3 · 6 months ago

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I think I’m coming into an era of gay acculturation. Like I want to assimilate into a queer social scene and know what life is like on the queer scene, because I’ve never felt like I really belonged in this world. I suppose in my head it’s the dream of stumbling into a world where people have the same aspirations and experiences as me, and I find out that all along the isolation has been preparing me for the exaltant homecoming of finding my queer community and myself in the process.

And I wonder if I put too much emphasis on the queer aspect — shouldn’t I just be trying to be like the people around me? Why do I need to put myself into a queer silo and separate myself from the straight world?

But I think that in itself is part of the queer experience: building little worlds where you can be yourself and feel protected. I think my experience at least has been defined by feeling like I need to watch my back and scan everyone I meet to see how much of myself I can actually be, how much I need to play into conventional gender standards in order to be understood or accepted or to have a seat at the table. So, to find spaces where I don’t have to do that extra work, that’s all I’m seeking at the moment.

And maybe there will come a time where I don’t feel so put upon by society and so vulnerable, and I will no longer need queer spaces or culture. But I think for the moment, feeling like I belong to a wider queer culture makes me feel less alone in my daily experiences of marginalisation and feeling like I don’t belong or that I’m not understood.

And one thing I was reading about on Pinterest randomly was the idea of « mother ». And I think it’s so interesting because the idea is such a uniquely queer thing, but to me it feels so natural, not like something I’ve just adopted because it’s the « norm ». And it’s things like that which make me feel as though queer culture is just waiting for me to stumble into it and find that I’m really not as special as I thought, and that there’s a whole section of the human experience already documented by « queer culture ».

And then I think about who my « mothers » are. It’s kinda funny because I think they change with some regularity.

In yr8, it was Lara Fabian who is a French singer. In yr9, Isabelle Boulay, again a québécoise singer. In yr10 I think it was Pomme, but she wasn’t really ‘mother’ in the traditional sense of being a wise overseer of my life. She was just sort of there as a cheerleader. Then toward the end of yr10 we found Lana, who became mother supreme until about mid-2023. In 2023, Ethel Cain was briefly mother, before being replaced by Katy Perry. Katy rules now as mother, but I think she’s something of a distant mother because she’s never fully engaged with the queer community. She sort of floats above and makes music for anyone who will listen.

I tried to make Kate Moss a mother, but she’s just a bit too distant and untouchable. She doesn’t have the intensely nurturing presence that the role of mother requires. Diana is the ultimate, undisputed mother. Anne Boleyn is also up there with mothers, alongside Lady Jane Grey, Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra. Cleopatra is a bit tricky because I’ve always found her hard to fully click with, which might put her in the Aunty category, or maybe even the older sister. Idk. For now she can stay in mother. Who else? Queen Matilda (from 1100s England). I’m sure more will come to me.

See, we can have many mothers at once. It’s more about feeling like I have the support of these historical women around me and I can draw upon them for strength.

Lana is kind of the same: just absorbed in her own little creative world. I wouldn’t say she created music for any audience. She doesn’t rlly have a strong relationship with her fan base. Ethel is similar; Perverts is a vanity project if ever I’ve seen one. A bit self-indulgent, and committed to her own creative vision with disregard for her fan base. Idk like no none of these ppl owe us anything, but it does feel like they just pump music out into the world without a consistent target audience. Katy is sort of like that fun alcoholic mum whos probs not v responsible, like Cassie’s mum from Euphoria.

Then we have cultural « sisters », who I would say aren’t so defined by queer culture and more by my imagination.

I’d say Lorde is up there with the top sisters, then Clio (a French singer), Griff + Skye Riley (who I’ve recently started listening to, idk how long it will last), Charli XCX, Slayyter and Ayesha Erotica. Historical « sisters » are people like Sappho,

« Aunty » is like mother but with less direct influence. Like she holds wisdom and will impart it, but you don’t really see her that much. They’re the girls you speak to often enough but don’t click with completely like you would with mother. I’d say aunties are Marina, Melanie Martinez, Avril Lavigne, Kesha, Fiona Apple, Britney Spears, Meimuna, Cyn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Nefertiti, Aphrodite, Zendaya, Shalom Harlowe, Giselle Bundchen, Lisa Eldridge

Friends are just ppl you hang out with and are on the same level of wisdom or experience. You learn things from them but you also have things to teach them. I’d say friends are ppl like Amy Winehouse, Camila Cabello, Missy Higgins.

Then you have the ppl who just show up to the gatherings who don’t rlly have a set role. They bring interesting wisdom and experiences but they don’t occupy any specific role. I’d say Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande are that category, as well as Gemma Ward, Bella Hadid, Hunter Schafer, Charlotte Tilbury,

My version of queer culture definitely places a much higher value on femininity than masculinity, so there’s not rlly an equivalent hierarchy for male figures.

I do, however, have « dad » figures, who turn out sometimes to overlap with « boyfriend ». That’s another reason why it gets more complicated. The lines get messy and feelings get involved with guys that just doesn’t occur the same way with female role models.

So, for « dad », we have my Hollywood stars, like Tom Cruise, Monty Clift, Sean Flynn, Alain Delon (although he could also be uncle, but there’s defs a romantic element there), Bobby Kennedy 🖤, Marlon Brando (could also be uncle). Ernest Hemingway (could be uncle but he’s sort of cute), Mr Gardner, James Wilby (him and the Alec guy from ‘Maurice’ are too cute a couple for me to claim them individually so I’ll call them dads but they’re allowed to stay together; so more like uncles), George VI, William Wallace, Marc Antony, any WWI soldiers I see in photos. I’m sure there’s more but that’s sort of it for now.

Grandfather (basically dad but without the conflicted romantic attraction): Henry III, Errol Flynn (could also be dad but he has a son who fits better into Dad), Tom Ford, Francois Nars, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Troue Sivan, Alexander III of Scotland.

Uncle: Edward I, Cnut, Austin Butler, Shawn Mendes (sort of overlaps with brother because that boy needs a bit of guidance), Paul Freeman models, Alexander McQueen (idk much about him as a person but the collection ‘Widows of Culloden’ is enough to make me respect him enough for him to qualify), Kevyn Aucoin, JFK (a bit of a romantic element there but I prefer Bobby so JFK is safe), James Dean, Armée Hammer, Timothee (could also be brother), James I, Charles I + Æthelræd II + TS Eliot + Caligula & Nero (although they are probs the dysfunctional uncles of the family, I put them as uncles cos they’r just a bit too much older than me to be a brother), George V, Lord Nelson, Napoleon, Louis XVII (could also be brother), Ross Lynch, the guy who wrote Somme Mud.

Brother: Edward I (could also be uncle, but Ed I feels like a brother who is significantly older), Edward II, Edward VI, the Austrian prince who killed himself in the 1880s, any Country road models who look kind of my age, Prince Albert, Tutankhamen, any WWII soldiers I find in old photos.

Friends: King John, any Ambercrombie or Ralph Lauren models, Julius Caesar, Kit Butler.

Ok wow so it looks like I have quite a large imaginary family. I didn’t expect to have so many male relatives tbh, but I suppose they live in my head without much critical thought — they’re just sort of always there. It’s interesting to use family as the framework around which to construct this hierarchy of role models. I’m gonna keep thinking about this list because I didn’t realise how much I was influenced by so many different people.

I kept out ppl I know irl because I think that’s for another time, and makes me a bit sad cos it makes me realise that all these historical figures are quite distant and I have no personal connection to them.

Anyway it’s like 3am now I’m gonna try to go sleep.

I just can’t sleep on the same room as my sister it’s painful. My nervous system just can’t settle idky. I rlly can’t wait to be back in my own bed at home and to have my own space. I also can’t wait for my makeup to be back at my disposal!

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pup-metaphor-enjoyer · 1 year ago

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dont burn me at the stake for this or anything but i dont think culture is a rly healthy part of society. the major "benifits" of culture all seem to be wrong: identity under culture is just the one thats placed apon u and not one u truely belong in, it only provides community for those UNDER it meaning theres barriers between us and them, and the only real connection between you and those who share your culture is the culture itself or like your forcing this aspect onto you in order to connect and its always rly felt like a false connection or untrue to the self. im not saying to homogenize everyone, im saying that culture aims to homoginize everyone, and as long as we treat any culture as respectable i think the wool grows more over our eyes. i mean theres a reason it shares the namesake with the growth of cancer. i know anyone reading this is gonna be like "they tried to do this during colonization/genocide/etc" but id like to point out that that was not the removal of culture but instead assimilation into a new one. uh oh also im not blind to the cultures that affect/try to affect me and im not saying that one big culture or a culture that i approve of is the answer im saying that i wish more ppl would consider doing what i do and violently prying and scraping culture off yourself and try to find an individual OUTSIDE of external factors and to use other things to be able to define the border between urself and the outside world instead of using the outside world to find yourself in it or let it tell you what you are itself. or whatever.

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mythictold · 2 years ago

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@nebulaties “ you’ve been so quiet. what’s on your mind? ” - Picard to bev

it'd be easier to say what's not on her mind, which is a rather short list. not that she has the energy to recite even that list, afraid it will only add to the throbbing headache at the back of her head that feels like it might turn into a migraine at any moment. another borg encounter (they're getting too frequent and too dangerous) had done significant damage to the ship while she and jean-luc had led the away team again, and as a result, she'd seen an endless parade of injured crewman once they'd returned to the enterprise. thankfully they hadn't lost anyone, but some of the away team had been touch and go after one of her neural dampeners had failed. a fact which also weighs heavily on her mind, that failure itself that her plan hadn't worked. it had for a while, but the borg are adapting faster now and beverly has yet to find a dampener that is permanent. each encounter only gives the machines more time to adapt and each time it gets harder and harder to shut them down.

it's only now she's finally sitting that she can feel the ache in her body as a whole, despite recent dermal regeneration to several serious cuts and bruises sustained during their away mission - not unlike the ones she'd healed on jean-luc as well. her skin still crawls however, as if she can feel nanites on her skin threatening to assimilate her at any moment. it'll be another long night of little sleep, she imagines. the nights after encountering the borg are always the roughest. usually for him.

she rubs a hand at her temple and laments not for the first time that she's drinking chamomile and ginger tea instead of wine. and realizes she still hasn't answered jean-luc. beverly shifts to pull her legs beneath her on the sofa of his quarters; she still needs to change out of her frankly ruined uniform, but she can't be bothered with the effort of changing into pajamas just yet. she needs the barrier the uniform affords.

"sorry." she apologizes, curling her fingers around her mug with some hope of letting the warmth imbibe her hands. "i hadn't realized - i just . . . letting the day settle, i suppose." she finally settles on as an answer, as vague and diplomatic as she can make it. still bothered by her own failings - they could have died and frankly that pill never gets any easier to swallow. she is so, so tired of the borg, but damn if she isn't ready to ensure their eradication once and for all for a whole myriad of reasons. namely one rather small reason that, frankly, beverly is still trying to process in her mind to some degree of understanding so she can decide how to proceed. if to proceed. she's been ruminating on it since she'd caught a glimmer of it on a tricorder reading while she'd been healing her own injuries from the mission and now is truly the first time she's been able to afford it room enough in her mind to consider rationally.

truth is, she hasn't felt well lately. with all the run-ins with the borg, the endless nights she's spent hunched over a lab desk or a bio bed in an attempt to find answers to removing or blocking borg dna - it'd been easy to blame her fatigue and headaches and lack of appetite. she hasn't exactly been treating herself to the best standards, too singularly focused on finding ways to get the borg out of the sol system before it turns into an all out war again - and it very well still might, if things don't change and soon. beverly doesn't put much faith in fate or destiny or anything of the sort, but it doesn't mean she doesn't absolutely loathe it when said fate tends to throw the biggest wrench imaginable into her plans. their plans. sometimes beverly forgets that these days she is not a singular entity, that her relationship with jean-luc ensures she doesn't make decisions quite on her own anymore in regards to many things.

which is why, perhaps, she decides to rip this band-aid off here and now before she loses courage or the borg drop out of trans warp and attack the enterprise out of sheer coincidence.

"---jean-luc, i'm pregnant."

#( muse && beverly crusher )#( nebulaties && jean luc picard )#nebulaties

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cinnamonest · 3 years ago

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//cultural discrimination/xenophobia/some insult, forced cultural assimilation, pretend Teyvat nations speak different languages for me okay

-- This last post got me thinking more about the concept of forced cultural assimilation -- it's so degrading, but a powerful tool for completely stripping a darling of all sense of identity and independence. A darling that is from a very very different place, all the way across the continent, being dragged away to some new place you know nothing of.

Relocating is in and of itself a daunting experience, especially when it's not of your own free will. Being taken from home and to some place where you understand nothing... it forces you to rely on your captor to navigate daily life. Forces you to need him.

It's not just a matter of vales and other "big" things, but it's a lot of little, everyday things too. You don't know what this food is and what it contains, so you have to ask until you find something that sounds like something you'd like. Even then, half of the time you've never even heard of the components anyway, so you have to just learn by experience. Not only that, but apparently there's a certain way to eat this or that, and you apparently do so incorrectly.

The people here perhaps have pieces of furniture you're unfamiliar with, maybe doors that work differently than what you're familiar with, and you keep trying to open them the wrong way. The tools they use for everyday tasks are different. Your captor speaks your language, thankfully, for whatever reason. No one else does, though, none of the people you're allowed to interact with. Your nation is far away enough that almost no one here bothers to learn its language, as it's not really useful to them. Being constantly exposed to so much dialogue when you have no idea what any of it means is... frustrating. Occasionally, you catch people looking over at you when they speak. They can freely talk about you right in front of your face. It's frustrating. It's humiliating. Even to the extent that your captor allows you to be in the presence of others (depending on the boy, be it servants of some kind, maybe his family, maybe his acquaintances), you find yourself relinquishing it, preferring to isolate yourself alone in your own room.

You can't read anything, either. You want to understand how to use this product, but the packaging and instructions are illegible to you. You don't know which bottle is this and which is that, you can't read the instructions on the packaging to understand how to make the food you were instructed to make, and you end up getting it all wrong. You manage to secure a map in hopes of plotting some sort of escape, but when you look at it, you can't read a thing. You bitterly think to yourself that even if you got out, it's not like you could ask anyone for help.

But no worries. You'll learn.

Yes. You will learn. He's been nice enough to buy you these books. Nice enough to take time to tutor you. The least you can do is put some effort in. After a while, due to you being... less than cooperative, it seems the only way to get you to stop being so stubborn is by force. Eventually, the strategy he uses is that he just starts to refuse to respond to or speak to you in your tongue. He won't acknowledge anything you say, not until you stop being so immature and speak how you're supposed to. If you want anything at all, you'll just have to start learning. You have such a cute accent. Hope it sticks, even after you get better.

Besides, your language sounds so... unpleasant. No offense! It's just, you know, not all that pleasing to the ear, like his native language is. Your nation is kind of inferior in every way, really. The clothes, cultural mannerisms, food and all that... they really should do things more like the people here do. At least you specifically have the privilege of being exposed to a more sensible, enriched way of life. You'll adjust quickly, for sure.

Well, you'll adjust, but people also have to adjust to your presence. You often think it would almost be better to be blissfully unaware of how much you stick out, but you're not. You're acutely, painfully aware. It's true even if you don't do anything to stand out; different regions of the world, even across small distances, develop different features -- regardless of whether it's by a lot of visual differences or only a few more subtle ones, people around you can immediately tell you're not from this land just by looking at you.

Similarly, as humans tend to do when they see something that stands out from other things around them, their gazes often linger on you for a moment. The more lacking in self-awareness ones may even stare, gawk with a sort of curiosity, wondering why you're so far from home. You know it's innocent, that they mean well and have no ill intent... but it still makes you uncomfortable.

The clothes feel different. Perhaps this region is warmer, you're not used to wearing something that exposes so much skin, but you couldn't bear the sweltering heat otherwise. Or perhaps the inverse, it's so cold, but you're not used to having so many layers, it feels awkward and heavy. You don't wear it right either, so you soon find out. No, no, you're wearing it wrong. This thing is tied like this, this part goes on the other side, this goes in the back and not the front. He looks kind of amused as he fixes it. It makes you feel horribly embarrassed, you clench your jaw, but say nothing.

In fact, you feel like you're constantly embarrassing yourself. You keep doing things that earn puzzled looks from people, sometimes even judgemental glares. You're holding this wrong, wearing this wrong, eating this wrong, saying this word wrong. Your posture, your expression, your tone of voice, all wrong. You said something that's considered inappropriate or offensive without knowing. Depending on the mistake, sometimes people snicker, sometimes they get wide-eyed, or look offended. Sometimes, when you try to speak to others, they have a slight smile of amusement at your words, finding your pronunciation or sentence composition or substitute words to be endearingly bad. You end up closing yourself off, trying to not speak to anyone at all... only him. You get the sense he doesn't mind that.

Likewise, the way you're presented, or lack thereof, can become frustrating, humiliating. Perhaps you may be more used to a quiet, modest lifestyle. All of a sudden, now you're being paraded around, exposed for satisfaction and shown off like a sort of trophy. You hate feeling eyes on you.

Inversely, you may be from a much less restrictive place, and the rigid traditionalism here is foreign and confusing because you're never sure of what you're allowed to do without earning shock and judgement. You got a lot of raised eyebrows and even an audible gasp for visibly looking up at and making eye contact with some other guy, speaking out of turn, walking outside of a certain square foot radius from your captor.

He talks about you like you're an animal, as if you can't hear. Apologizes for you. Says you're just getting adjusted is all. Says you just don't know any better, like you're some stupid child that doesn't understand anything. Depending on the boy, he may sort of chuckle about it as he says it, making the shame you feel burn that much more.

But it's okay. Just keep clinging to him, and you'll be fine. Stay by his side and only talk to him. He'd never make fun of you. You'll be happy you were brought here. Just stop complaining. You're only getting yourself into negative thought patterns that way, and you'll never adjust. And you want to be happier here, make things easier, don't you?

And speaking of which... you know, maybe you should change your name. Of course, he already had you change your last name to match, but maybe the first one needs changing too. Would help you fit in better. Maybe it would help you forget about your life before. That tendency of yours to bring up your former life -- saying you didn't have to do this or that back home, saying your family loved you more than he does, saying you hate it here -- it's rather pesky and annoying after a while. If you had a new name, one that fit this place, one that made you feel more at home, one that made you dissociate the 'you' before and the 'you' now... maybe then, you'd be a little more appreciative.

#id kill a man for this irl ngl #i couldn't decide which boy this should be for so I ended up making it as vague as i could #maybe will make more later #but reqs first #scheduled post #yan.txt

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dokidokitsuna · 2 years ago

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I came up with the idea to add these two to the AU a long time ago, but I initially thought they’d just distract from the dark tone. It wasn’t until recently that I (a) came up with these too-cute-to-not-use designs and (b) figured out a way for them to add to the Master Crown’s story despite it all.

In general, within this AU, Dark Matter are considered ‘inferior life forms’, basically giant space bugs that get in your way sometimes. ^^; Like dark matter IRL, they seem to simply exist out of sight, filling in the spaces between the realms that no one cares about. They can’t really compete with the big dimension-conquering supervillains, and they don’t try to.

Despite that, they’re probably due a little more respect. I mean, you might think of yourself as superior to a bug, but meanwhile the bug doesn’t even care that you exist, and its kind will probably still be around long after yours is gone. That’s the worldview the Dark Matter are working from, pretty much. ^^

GONE.Dark Matter Swordsman

I have a bad habit of drawing Swordsman designs without the swords…whatever; you’ll see it later. ;]

Anyway, this Swordsman is the MC’s primary henchman, being the most combat-ready specimen it managed to capture during its conquest. Over time, it’s been molded into a powerful mage in its own right, and with a Dark Matter’s regenerative ability, essentially unlimited lifespan, and (seemingly…) low intelligence, it makes a perfect subordinate.

In reality, though, it’s just a good actor. ^^ It’s not a secret genius or anything, but it knows enough not to show all its cards while it’s learning spells and gathering information for its true master. Besides that, it tries to keep a smile on its face to serve as a source of hope for its little partner. It doesn’t mind taking all the Master Crown’s abuse and pretending to be a happy slave if it’ll give Gooey one less thing to be sad about.

GONE.Gooey

A mere “appendage”, as far as the Master Crown knows. It doesn’t seem to do anything but stay near Swordsman and follow it around.

In reality, Gooey is actually Swordsman’s boss, in a way. It relays messages from their true master, including its initial order to pretend to be captured and stay with the Master Crown for observation.

Its canon-based origin as a Dark Matter-esque thing that used to goof around in Dream Land is still in play here-- unfortunately, that was eons ago, and now it is one of the only beings still in existence that can even remember Pop Star…as well as the planet’s slow death at the hands of the Master Crown. So it decided to re-assimilate itself into the Dark Matter collective in order for a shot at revenge, no matter how long it might have to wait.

In terms of the narrative, this duo’s just here to serve as one additional thing to help send the MC over the edge. :9 The revelation that it doesn’t actually control them and never did would definitely shake its faith in its own abilities much further, and I imagine Gooey would have some choice words for it before they finally leave it behind~.

Additionally, and most humiliatingly…they are actually a match for the MC in power. ^^;;; Partly due to all the time Swordsman spent learning from it, and partly because Dark Matter have much more latent potential than anyone realizes (i.e. everyone else is LUCKY they aren’t interested in conquering dimensions).

So yeah, imagine you’re already going through a rough time mentally, start suspecting that even your pet bugs might be acting against you…and they reply “oops, looks like you caught us” and then rise up and beat you within an inch of your life. So then your rivals can laugh at you for getting wrecked by a couple of insects. Not fun. XD

#kirby #gijinka #au #GONE.#dark matter swordsman #gooey

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st-just · 3 years ago

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Opinions on the novel and novella categories excluding Elder Race?

Okay so, uh, 3 months late finally answering this (sorry - but I DID read Elder Race in the meantime!)

So, novels-

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine The central metaphor of how an empire can only understand something by consuming/assimilating it into itself was imo well-done, one of the better uses of a hive mind alien I've seen in a while. Mahit and (especially) Three Seagrass continue to be delightful. The whole palace drama plot in the City leaned a biiiiiit too close to 'the Empress is just and good! Sadly scheming ministers and self-interested officials have attempted to mislead her for their own ends' for my tastes, which absolutely made me start rooting for scheming vizer guy out of spite. Still kind of confused what happened to the Judiciary Minister who vanished 2/3 of the way into the first book without comment. Excellent read, would recommend

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers Absolutely my favorite thing Chambers has written, but that is a very low bar. There were a few pages of actual interpersonal conflict that wasn't just a silly misunderstanding! (Even if they had apologized and agreed to disagree by the end of the next chapter). In principle I approve of any sci fi with no human characters in major roles. Aeleon demography continues to give me a headache (how do you spend so much time on worldbuilding and just mess up the basic math?) - though honestly Pei's whole conflict over the societal expectation to have a kid would have had a bit more tension/drama to it in a setting where her species was legitimately endangered and at risk of extinction (the sheer angst potential!) Anyway, yeah, well-executed but Not For Me.

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki I did, uh, not much like this book. In a 'spent a couple hours cathartically ranting about it on discord after finishing it' sort of way. The central romance didn't work, every character arc was perfectly predictable, the whole incessantly hammered home bit about the magic and wonder of home-cooked food just makes me want to gag, I can kind of see what Aoki was going for with the sci fi half of the worldbuilding but it just didn't work at all, and so on. Still not entirely sure what to make of the fact that if you did the 0.5 degree shift necessary to turn the finale into a Christian morality play the quirky alien family plays an identical structural role to where the angels would be. The cursed/demonic-violin repair lady was fun, though.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark This was fun! Nothing hugely ground-breaking and extremely trope-ey, but in a good way? Like the process was clearly 'buddy cop story in into steampunk urban fantasy Cairo' more than anything that evolved naturally out of the characters or setting. But like, eh? The finale involved a giant robot controlled by enslaved ifrit and a mad sorceress trying to restore the British empire attacking the city, nuance and subtlety clearly weren't the goals here. The central mystery was barely a mystery, though. You could pick out the villain by the end of the first act like three or four different ways. Still, yeah, great time. Very pulpy.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir If you don't know that this is by the The Martian guy going in, it will be extremely clear by the time you're 50 pages in. It's a writing style with a real personality bleeding through - if you don't like it, the book will I'm sure be torture. But anyway, I'm a sucker for first contact stories and properly weird but still sympathetic and agentic aliens, and that's the beating heart of the story so I mean, of course I enjoyed it. The science also all seemed plausible/not-obvious-bullshit to me, and Weir did a really good job of getting tension and drama without ever making anyone a villain, with all the threats being faced being natural/environmental. Fun read, assuming very high tolerance for technobabble and also magic amnesia that you don't apply anywhere near the standards of the rest of the books' science to.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan I mean the whole premise of 'mythic/low-fantasy retelling of the founding of the Ming dynasty but with lesbians' feels like what you'd get if you simmered down my reading consumption of the last year or two and poured out the reduction. So like, yeah, of course I liked it! Probably would have been my vote for winner, though not at all sad that Desolation got it instead. As a character type, I really, really love the whole 'arranges everything to work out perfectly through desperate, furious scheming, then absolutely never breaks character and insists it must be providence and they're but a simple monk/scholar/whatever" so Zhu's whole bit there was just catnip to me. The whole melodrama in the mongol court was great, too. And how can you not love a book that ends with the heroine murdering the messiah in cold blood?

novellas-

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire The only other thing I'd read by McGuire before this was Middlegame, which may have given me unrealistic expectations but, like, this was fine? Or, like, I get the sense that this is very much a YA/Middle-grade book, insofar as it really feels like the literary equivalent of a tv special you'd watch with your kid niece and nephew because hey, it's not painful for you or anything? Really funny that this exists entirely independently of the apparently-a-real-thing cartoon Centaurworld, though.

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky This was fun classic sci fi. Like, really classic - I kind of thought 'fantasy setting that's secretly a post-apocalyptic sci fi setting where all the 'magic' and 'monsters' are just poorly understood hypertech' went of fashion with the millennium. Anyway I adore things that play with POV and have different people see the same events and process/interpret them radically differently, so the whole book was catnip that way, and it managed to authentically feel like just a small slice of a vaster, weirder universe, and both deuteragonists really work for me. Don't have a solid pick for my preferred winner but this is one of the two I'm torn between.

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard First and so far only thing by de Bodard I've read, which I should probably fix given how big a name she is. Anyway, this was fun! Nothing too groundbreaking, but that is 100% down to my reading habits rather than, like, 'lesbian court drama in a fantasy analogue of an asian country under threat of colonization' is an over-filled niche, or anything (really the only surprising thing was that I hadn't read this already).

The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente The other one I might have voted for. On the level of stories she's a bit hit and miss but on the sentence-to-sentence and paragraph-to-paragraph levels Valente is seriously one of my favorite writers working, and this was no exception. Just an absolute delight to read. Also, 'post-apocalyptic magical realism on the city-sized garbage heap floating in the ocean populated by a culture of survivors after the world drowned' is just a great premise. And my shriveled husk of a soul appreciates just committing to the character study and the ruin and the elegy without giving into the urge to make a grand redemptive quest of it all.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers I, uh, liked this significantly less than Galaxy and the Ground Within. Utopias are basically necessarily didactic but, like, you really don't have to lean all the way into literally having the heart of the story be conversations between the protagonist and a sacred and innocent alien whose always correct about everything. Also the whole 'we 100% could be immortal but we chose not to because, like, nature or something. Aren't we so amazing?' thing with the robots is bullshit. Which, combined with the entire aesthetic of the world just left be feeling peevish and asking questions which really weren't the point (Where are the mines? The foundries? You can't make solar panels or modern antibiotics in a basement workshop! And you sure as hell can't cobble together and repair fully mobile and sapient robots in a cave with a box of scraps.)

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow So it's not that this was bad, exactly. But, like, I feel like it should have come out sometime in the '90s? (Okay without the explicitly gay bits but that's a matter of a few sentences tbh). Like, the deadline for metafictional feminist retellings of classic fairtails being genuinely novel or subversive was sometime before Disney got in on the game, sorry. Also, like, I'm sure it's just down to me being a weird morbid kid, but the whole shocking revelation about how fucked up the original Sleeping Beauty myth is was, like, something I knew before I hit puberty? Only other thing of Harrow's I've read was the Ten Thousand Door's of January and I'm really, really disappointed comparing them, honestly. (Also, as a general rule I dislike anything where it's very clear whether you're supposed to like or trust a character from the scene they're introduced and this is never wrong)

In other categories L’Esprit de L’Escalier should obviously have one novelette, "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" short story, Terra Ignota series, and Monstress comic, based off the foolproof criteria of 'those are the ones I've read'

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deesfanfictionkin · 2 years ago

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FACTIONS

FACTION ONE: THE HADIA

The Hadia is not so much the name of the entirety of this faction, comprised of the cast of Katekyo Hitman Reborn and various background characters. The Hadia is the ruling group of the region, who, during many bloody civil disputes, ended up subjugating and assimilating all who dared stand against them. Though there are still groups of people in the region who aim to destroy or oppose the Hadia, they rule the region of Wedergebore, with all the groups who have aimed to end that rule becoming allied to them. The Hadia itself has been through its own unrest internally... during a failed coup d'etat, the Head of the Hadia suffered La Petit Morte. A new Head was chosen, a young boy who had no desire to take the position. The Hadia seeks to end the magic on The Ever After through war with the other factions, and they're pushing the new Head to do exactly just that, leaving him little choice. Little do they know, the current Head and the group of new blood he brings to the Hadia have other plans for the Hadia and for The Ever After as a whole...

FACTION TWO: THE STRAINS

The Strains, comprised of the cast of K Project and various background characters, occupy the region of Raymyuut. A region deeply divided, the civil war between The Blues, who rule over the region and keep law and order, and who believe they are just and right in their efforts to take over the other regions in an effort to stop the curse on The Ever Young, and The Reds, who disagree with rule of The Blues and the all out war that's looming (albeit in an almost anarchist way), threatens to tear apart Raymyuut. Add to that various smaller factions, each with their own plans, and more and more magical accidents occurring with no reason anyone can figure, and you have a very unstable faction and region.

FACTION THREE: THE ISIDENGE

The Isidenge, comprised of the characters from Nanbaka and various background characters, occupies the Nanba region. Ruled over with an iron fist by The Wardens and those who serve them, the Isidenge have become prisoners. Though the thick walls keep them safe and protected, it also keeps them prisoner. Nobody is allowed in or out of Nanba without the Wardens permission, permission that has been granted less and less often as The Wardens prepare for war, sure they are right as they prepare to conquer the other regions.

Among the Isidenge, there is unrest, and LA Revolucion is gaining strongholds as those who oppose the Wardens fight, not to prevent the war so much as to gain their freedom.

FACTION FOUR: THE VAMPIR

The Vampir, occupying the region of Knekht and comprised of characters from Servamp alongside various background characters, were once ruled over by The Teacher, who kept the faction happy, healthy, and peaceful. However, through the years, The Teacher's own ego grew until he came to consider himself a God and he planned to take over the other factions, using his people as pawns, uncaring of the bloodshed that would The Vampir, let alone the other regions. Anything to satisfy his own ego.

Among The Vampir, the strongest gathered and took a vote on how to handle the situation. Following the meeting, The Teacher was found dead, and though nobody claims the kill, everyone knows it had something to do with that meeting. The Vampir have fallen apart in the aftermath, with those who had firmly supported The Teacher trying desperately to instigate war among the regions, to see his last plans through, and those that had opposed him joining forces with La Revolucion to prevent that from happening.

FACTION FIVE: THE PAIDUI

The Paidui, compromised of the characters from Saiyuki among background characters, occupy Togenkyo. The faction is small and spread out. Though one part of the faction is trying to rise to power, trying to spread their influence by war against the other regions, it's a feeble attempt. The real problem among the Paidui...human experimentation of the magical variety is affecting more and more among the Paidui, with drugs becoming an issue and an active slave trade being allowed to flourish. There are four men, grouped together, trying to clean up the region, trying to bring peace to the Paidui...if they can ever learn to get along, not only with those from other factions, but even just with each other.

FACTION SIX: THE OCHJU

The Ochju, comprised of the characters from Mystic Messenger among various background characters, occupies Menta. Seemingly the most well organized and civilly peaceful faction, with no obvious internal structures, the truth is that isn't the case. The Han company rules the Ochju, and the head of the company, Mr. Han, has decided the the Ochju, and Menta, are the ones who can break the curse on the land and who are able to unite all the factions under them. He's grooming his son for the position of ruler, and everyone among the Ochju seem to have no complaint.

Except for his son, who works behind the scenes with a group who call themselves RIFA, collaborating with La Revolucion, to avoid war all together and find an alternate way to break the magic on The Ever Young. Except for a shadowy group, making the drugs spreading all throughout The Ever Young and 'recruiting' people to some shady cause.

FACTION SEVEN: THE LULILO

The Lulilo, comprised of characters from Ikemen Revolution alongside various background characters, are a faction strictly divided. One half of Cradle belongs to the Thorn Court, serving the Thorn King, who believes that it is his birth right and duty to lead Cradle into ruling The Ever After and breaking the magic on the land, even if it comes at the cost of all out war. Opposing them is the Raven Court, who believe that the world should not be split into factions and that the world should learn to move on with things as they are and that all should have the freedom to choose their own paths. The two have brought Cradle to the brink of a civil war, and in the background of all that is happening with the Lulilo, there moves another, more sinister, group, operating in the shadows.

FACTION EIGHT: THE GREMIO

The Gremio, comprised of characters from Bungou Stray Dogs alongside various background characters, occupy the region of Porto. Porto, and the Gremio, are ruled with an iron fist by the Mafia, a gang of ruthless, bloodthirsty individuals who rule by fear and who let Porto become a place rife with crime. However, there are many other groups among the Gremio, smaller but motivated, who oppose the rule of the Mafia and work to bring them down, each for different reasons and different end goals.

FACTION NINE: THE ANATAWI

The Anatawi, comprised of the characters of Eyeshield 21 and various background characters, occupy the region of Pilut. The Anatawi are a faction split, again and again and again, into various smaller factions. While each faction has their own views on the larger scale War and the aim of ruling over all the regions, the Anatawi have their own civil war to settle first. Each group believes they are the ones worthy of leading the Anatawi as a whole and civil war threatened to destroy and wipe out the faction as a whole.

To avoid that, The Games were established, with each group within the Anatawi sending their strongest warriors to compete against the other groups in a series of no-holds barred, gladiator-style games. The games attract warriors and spectators from far and wide, as the Anatawi spill blood both in their civil war and in the larger war, depending on which group is currently at the top of the games.

FACTION TEN: THE GRIJARA

The Grijara, comprised of characters from The Ousiders alongside various background characters, occupy the region of The Gold. A faction split into The Haves and The Have-Nots, with The Have-Nots facing huge crime rates and homelessness and starvation running rampant among them, this is a faction at war among itself. Though The Haves have set their sights on war on a larger scale, believing themselves to be the only worthy rulers of The Ever Young and the only ones able to set everything right in the world, it's hard for any of their plans to get off the ground when The Have-Nots, joining here and there with La Revolucion, are constantly fighting against them in an attempt to have the regions wealth and resources shared evenly and for all of the Grijara to be safe.

FACTION ELEVEN: THE GUDARI

The Gudari, comprised of the characters from Ronin Warriors and various background characters, and occupying the region of Tewagi, used to be a just and fair people, with strong moral values and borders that accepted all those serious about learning swordsmanship or martial arts...that is, until one of two leaders of the Gudari turned on the other, slaughtering his co-ruler and establishing a bloody dictatorship alongside a group of fearsome warriors he had recruited to his side, intent on ruling all other regions as well, not for the purpose of breaking the curse but to satisfy his oen ego. Most of the Gudari are too afraid to go against him or his warriors...but there are a group of five brave warriors, five young men who work with La Revolucion in an attempt to return peace to Tewagi and stop the war that the Gudari are being unwillingly dragged into.

FACTION TWELVE: THE RIKTHIMI

The Rikthimi, composed of the cast of GetBackers and various background characters, are an odd mixture. People from other regions tend to drift there if they can’t find anywhere else to belong and the Rikthimi aren’t as closely knit a community as many other places, despite living in such cramped conditions. A region always on the brink of collapse, those high up in the tower where most Rikthimi live, believe that their region will be strengthened and victorious through winning the war. They have no real interest in stopping the curse of The Ever Young, just in the continuation of life for Honky Tonk and so they use their people to wage war.

Always just on the brink of civil war, this isn’t helped by two young men, who live outside the confines of the Tower in the junkyard of a region, proudly fighting on the side of La Revolucion and recruiting those from within the Tower, who don’t agree with the Tower’s actions but see no escape, to their cause.

FACTION THIRTEEN: THE GAIANS

The Gaians, composed of characters from Class of the Titans, along with background characters, occupy Olympus, the world’s only university. As such, a lot of their lives do revolve around school and academics…or it used to, until the head of Olympus’ university decided to buy into the theory that the magic on The Ever After could be broken by one region ruling it again and making it back into one world…or maybe it just served as a handy excuse for his own god complex. He’s made the university into his own war council, killing off those who openly oppose him.

But among the students, there’s a group of seven…seven students who steadfastly oppose his rule, believing there must be another way to break the magic on The Ever Young. While they pretend to be loyal to Olympus, they work with La Revolucion to stop the war from coming, while planning how best to bring control of Olympus back to the Gaians as a whole.

FACTION FOURTEEN: THE RUMIANY

The Gorritu, containing the characters from Blush Blush, among other background characters, occupy Rumiany. A rough region, the Gorritu all just try their best to get through the days. Civil unrest isn’t really a thing in this region and honestly, most of the Gorritu aren’t even interested in war, with some openly helped La Revolucion. It’s a godless place they live in, with many people among the Gorritu only caring about what war will bring them. That being said, despite not really going out and attacking other factions, the Gorritu aren’t without their own issues, with rumours of a serial killer on the loose and magical accidents seem to occur the most among this faction and in this region.

#the ever young #fanfiction #world building #katekyo hitman reborn #servamp #nanbaka #k project #saiyuki #mystic messenger #ikemen revolution #bungou stray dogs #eyeshield 21 #the outsiders #class of the titans #ronin warriors #getbackers #blush blush

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 2 years ago

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tuesday again 5/2/2023

some stuff i fucking HATED in this one

listening

new K. Flay AND new LUNA AURA singles out last friday but the thing that kept me company through several walks was this (billboard called it "industrial rager" which seems fine close enough) used for the yellowjackets tv show (something i have not watched and never will).

my brain has really craved repetitive lyrics recently. not sure what that's about. not a repeated lyric, but love one that goes "lipstick on the rifle". spotify

youtube

ty discover weekly.

reading

pour one out for the real ones, Vice's leftist gaming vertical Waypoint. if you've ever liked anything about the way i go about these posts you have them to thank. i would say they are the primary influence in the way i try to approach things like "is this a clever subversion that still holds a lot of love for the genre or does this not even know the rules it's trying to break". also a big factor in me going "okay this is what it says it is, this is the marketing copy and press releases" and a work says it's trying to do before assessing whether or not they do it well. may all the staff land softly, elsewhere, paid far more.

“There are a ton of destinations within gaming media that do a great job covering whether a game is worth your money. Instead, we want to focus on telling stories about why people play, and investigating how the games we love and spend so much time with come to be. Whether a game was a commercial success or has a small, dedicated community, we want to raise the conversation and take an in-depth look at the passion, people, and politics that underpin these worlds.” -Austin Walker, editor in chief until last year

the very last thing i read was this review of the new starred wars game, whose early review code sent to journalists was EXTREMELY different than what ended up shipping. this is uncommon but not unheard of, but almost nobody publishes a "null result" review like this one and it's a fascinating breakdown

This piece has, admittedly, gone off the rails, but if this had been a straightforward review, and at the end, I put an italicized section that said “based on 10 hours,” what would you say? If I’d finished the game but confessed at the end that the patched version was importantly different from the one I’d spent my time with, what then? Which review is worth more?

i also read Behind the Sun, Above the Moon, a non-binary scifi/fantasy anthology. i was not impressed with this collection in whole or in parts. it could have benefited from a stronger theme and editorial vision (i'm not actually sure this thing had an editor, now i'm looking closer?)

this has billed itself "a Queer anthology inspired by magic and the cosmos". what i was hoping/expecting this would be: a collection exploring what it means to be nonbinary through the lens of scifi and fantasy. it actually is: an almost completely human-centric collection about people who happen to be non-binary and happen to live in scifi or fantasy settings.

the critical problem is that most of them are very slice-of-life in a fantastic setting as opposed to a short story with uhhhhhh a theme and a point it makes. the worldbuilding, while often interesting, is not integral. 3/9 of these are set in a contemporary setting, and all of them could be set in a contemporary setting without losing much. 3/9 (one overlap) feature a protagonist or deuteragonist who is a cop, and all three of those read very gay assimilation-y/feel very concerned with perfect gay rep.

i don't really expect anyone to be the next o henry here, but none of them are self-contained. not the sort of ambiguous ending in the Ha Ha Im Going To Think About This For The Rest Of My Life way, they all feel like “first chapter of a planned new adult trilogy”.

i love anthologies. i am always rooting for anthologies. i am no stranger to imperfectly written speculative fiction. this one is just kind of nothing? none of these are good or particularly enjoyable examples of the form, either as short stories or as speculative fiction.

i don't actually know what tipped me off to this book, it's been on my overdrive for...two years.

watching

two out of three Magnificent Seven sequels are not worth my time, your time, or anyone else's. i have not bothered to watch Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969, dir. Wendkos) bc i have a finite amount of time on this bitch of an earth.

i reluctantly have to hand the original some heterosexual rights. that move had a genuinely cute romance that fit in well with a particular character's growth, even if it was lifted whole cloth from Seven Samurai. this will be relevant when we discuss this franchise's hatred for women later.

Return of the Seven/Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966, dir. Kennedy), starring exactly one member of the original seven, is so poorly paced that i paused the film during an "exciting" bullfight, got up to get more snacks, got distracted, and ended up cleaning my kitchen.

there is a great deal of untranslated, un-captioned spanish throughout this movie, including the entire opening sequence. i don't know how i feel about this. on one hand, yeah, fuck them americans, and i would not call the english-language dialogue particularly crucial to your understanding of the plot. on the other hand, what.

as opposed to the original seven all being men who are fairly polite and follow some sort of code, the replacement five are all kind of sleazy? one of them only signs on bc there's an entire village full of women on their own. in other relationships, there is the KERNEL of a really fascinating fucked up family dynamic between the villain and his sons, but we don't even get hints of that until well after the halfway point. this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier. the camerawork and effects simply are not there.

The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972, dir. McCowan) is a really, really awful film to watch, and not just if you're a woman. this whole fucking film uses three separate instances of rape or gang rape as plot momentum. if you are not trying to fill out lee van cleef's filmography (only a thing me and @birdcfparadise are insane enough to do) this is actively skippable.

like okay. let’s just walk through the first fifteen minutes. lvc's young, new, nubile wife convinces him to let a kid who robbed a store get off with a warning instead of what lvc really wants to do, send him to jail. in return, the kid shoots lvc, kidnaps lvc's wife, and rapes and kills her on the trail. the movie, which wasn't good to start out with, does not improve from there. like the other sequel i watched, this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier.

the one interesting choice this film makes: one of the seven is a failed journalist tailing lvc, hoping to get enough life details out of him to write a book. this is a fun period-appropriate twist and this could have been a fun proto-revisionist western/gracefully put the franchise to bed, but here we FUCKING are.

why'd i do this to myself: liked the original, like lvc.

playing

the steam collections i'm sorting things into areworking, bc i forgot i owned Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013, developed/published Techland). i do not remember buying this, i assume it was $1.99 in a sale at some point. this is a silly arcade-y first person shooter.

youtube

i suspect it will be the kind of thing i play through once and then completely forget about, but i will have a fun ten hours-ish.

this is a personal problem, but the moment you give me a long-distance rifle, i want to play as stealthily and perfectly as possible. (except in fallout, where it is way more fun to charge up to enemies like a very small freight train with a shotgun). this game is simply not built for stealth. this game wants you to move constantly. i do like how enemies are encountered in little groups or knots, and don't come after you if you've cleared out one group and haven't hustled along to the next. enemy AI was simply not very sophisticated in 2013. this gives me time to meander around looking at everything and going "oh i coulda got up on that water tower" or "totally missed that barrel of dynamite".

i like how over the top but un-self-serious it is so far. competent shooter, fewer of the bells and whistles we expect from a FPS these days, but we don't really need to be fucking around with health packs and more than one kind of ammo for a gun. nothing's really annoying me yet and i haven't fallen deeply in love with it, so i don't have a ton of thoughts other than "huh this is a decade old video game with decade-old design sensibilities, which isn't bad just different". stay tuned!

separate thought: i do think that the game's artstyle is about as detailed as i ever want a game to get. nothing ever really needs to be more realistic than this. i do think we peaked in 2013 and what 2013 CPUs could handle. we have better raytracing and particles and whatnot now, but that's at the cost of eerily hyperrealistic games where there is little to no non-signage visual signposting. nothing is guiding your eye through a level, things (consumables, collectibles, etc) are very easy to miss. if video games are an art form you need to pick a thing your game looks like. make a stylistic choice for christ's sake. not this game though. it's doing okay.

making

made some fake meatballs (shut up) bc the giant bag of bargain store brand meatballs i used to practically live on have risen to $20 a bag. angel hair and meatballs are easy to acquire and easy to eat, even if they do generate many dishes to wash.

making my own is not much cheaper, and raw ground meat texture is one of the worst things in the world. plus i had some carrots and oats and lentils to use up anyway. this required more chopping than my hands cared for, even though i bought pre-juilenned carrots and just sort of roughly diced them. the texture is UNSETTLINGLY like real meatballs. that sort of spongy? bouncy? mouthfeel. the taste is, of course, nothing like real meat. they are a little crumbly in actual pasta, but oversaucing whatever noodles are at the back of the pantry will help.

no pics bc they look awful. eating a lot of various lentil sludges lately partly bc i am trying to clean out my pantry before i move, and when i could still afford grocery delivery they frequently gave me green instead of the far superior red lentils.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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