#we solved it. infinite energy.

[bees-tes-blog]

gore main quest interactions spoilah

when gore showed up during the thalmor embassy quest I was legitimately overjoyed. I was so happy—I had honestly thought he was just going to leave me until I got out. and I was NOT fucking looking forward to fighting all those thalmor on expert difficulty with my weak ass restoration mage build. I heard loud clattering and swearing from behind the door and was like GORE???!

[la0hu]

masha broke a bowl by accident in the kitchen and when i brought her the broom and dustpan and asked her if she was okay, she looked at me, straight-faced, and said, "no, i'm not okay." and then i realized she meant that she still feels emotionally abused by the house somehow, and i felt a flash of anger because i am so sick of her shit, and i rephrased, "are you physically injured?" and she gave me another look and said "i'm physically okay." and then when connie asked from her room "what's going on?" masha replied "nothing new." like fuck off ohhhhhhhh my god

[nelkcats]

Earthquake in space-time

When Flash reset time to resolve everything that happened in Flashpoint, he didn't realize how much he was messing up the Infinite Realms. Which were trembling and thousands of portals were opening from one moment to another, portals that led to all moments in time, connected to all dimensions.

Clockwork and Danny weren't enough to hold all the glitches. The ghost king was draining all his energy just to keep the ruptures at bay in the Realms but at some point it wasn't enough.

The main cause, the DC universe was suddenly invaded by multiple portals in time. Different versions of themselves endlessly opening and closing. This became critical when the dimensions began to collide and even the ghosts dared to enter.

Bruce was freaking out watching his father (as Batman?) and his mother (The Joker ???) adopting a jokerized Tim and a ghost Jason. Constantine was wondering how to solve the dilemma when Clockwork appeared through a portal in the middle of the Watchtower meeting room.

Constantine debated whether he should stop the Ghost God from killing Flash. That didn't seem sorry at all. And when he was about to do something, a boy stood between them.

"We don't know how to solve this and it's your fault," the boy said, the dark circles in his eyes were obvious, "but if you don't solve it, we'll take the Speedforce away from you, this is a fucking disaster, no more resets bitch."

And without more to say, he passed out in the arms of his mentor. Was it the end of the Speedsters?

[zoobiefish]

So, I nearly missed out on Auctober again, whoops! I am now 9 days behind, woohoo 😂😅 I’m an Autistic university student, so I may not always have the spoons to commit to this daily challenge, or at the very least I may not be able to draw something for each prompt…I may have to just write a little blurb about what that day’s prompt means to me lol But ideally I would like to contribute as many pieces of art to this challenge as I can! For now though, to catch up on all I’ve missed, I’m going to make individual short blurbs for the prompts I’ve missed thus far:

Day 1: Autism Plus

For myself, in addition to being Autistic, I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, EDNOS, and generalized anxiety. I also suspect I may have hEDS (hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome). Fun stuff!

Day 2: Infinite

The most popular symbol for Autism Spectrum Disorder to my knowledge is a golden infinity ♾ symbol (sometimes I see a rainbow-coloured one in use as well, though my understanding is that the rainbow infinity symbol is used for neurodiversity as a whole). For a long time, the infamous puzzle piece 🧩 symbol was used to represent ASD—but most Autistics HATE this symbol!! I recognize that I don’t speak for all Autistic people, but this is the common opinion on the puzzle piece symbol and the one I share as well: The puzzle piece symbol is problematic because it suggests that Autistic people are inherently “missing a piece” or that we are “a puzzle to be solved.” Plus, this symbol is used by the evil corporation Autism Speaks. I would prefer not to go on a rant right now about why they’re evil; if anyone is curious, I would recommend doing research on why Autistic people HATE Autism Speaks. But the short version is that they support eugenicist policies around Autism and seek to eradicate us from existence. They treat us as non-humans under the guise of doing “charity work”—they are absolutely NOT a charity. Do NOT support Autism Speaks under any circumstances—any supporter of Autism Speaks (or as most of us spell it, “Autism $peaks”), is NO friend of mine!

Day 3: AuDHD

This is a fun little term I’ve seen in the Autism and ADHD communities! It’s a portmanteau of “Autism” and “ADHD” in case it wasn’t obvious heh! I myself do have AuDHD; it’s a very common comorbidity! It’s certainly…an interesting experience because the two often conflict with each other, as if I have 2 wolves fighting within my brain 🤪

Day 4: Music

Music is one of my favourite coping mechanisms. If I’m understimulated or need inspiration (especially for art or writing), I’ll put on some fun, energetic music to get the juices flowing and will dance and/or pace around the room to get the energy out of my system! If I’m overstimulated, relaxing videogame soundtracks are often my go-to—especially music from The Legend of Zelda, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing etc. Another aspect of my being on the spectrum is that my thoughts are very vivid and visual. Often times when I hear music, I can’t help but see colours, shapes, images, and even stories with characters and whatnot going along to the music. It gives me great ideas for animatics and artwork! I love this fun little bonus feature in my brain haha 😛

Day 5: Verbose

This one is rather interesting for me. I find when I feel safe around a person or I have just TOO much energy to control myself, I WILL talk—and talk—and talk—etc. I feel so bad for those who fall victim to my “infodump sessions”—but just know that if I do that to you, it’s my way of showing affection. If I talk and never seem to shut up around you…I probably really like you (platonically) 😁 Other times however, I am dead silent. This is usually around people I’m uncertain of, don’t know well enough, or I may just be burntout/too tired to talk 😅

Day 6: Individuals

As the saying goes: If you’ve met ONE (1) Autistic person, then you’ve met ONE (1) Autistic person! We are NOT a hivemind, people!! Just because I’m not like your “friend’s cousin’s aunt’s 3-year-old stepson” doesn’t mean I’m “not Autistic.” The stereotype with Autism is a white cishet dude—but we are just as diverse a population as any other demographic. We all have our differences and similarities, but we are unified in our shared diagnosis—and that’s it!

Day 7: Neuroscope

Ah yes, the “superpower” Autistic people seem to have in which we can all “sense each other” 😂😂😂 I find this to be scarily accurate actually—the majority of the people I’ve become friends with at uni turned out to be Autistic, and long before they mentioned they were on the spectrum I was able to tell. The funniest part though is that they all the said same thing about me! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Day 8: Non-Speaking

So of course Autism is a spectrum, and among the ways in which Autistic people can differ from one another is whether we possess the ability to verbally speak or not. I do not want to talk in length about what being “non-speaking” means as I am not non-speaking myself and don’t wish to talk over those who are. What I do know though is that some of us are unable to verbally speak and may use alternative methods to communicate (whether through the use of sign language, AAC devices, or other means), which are equally valid methods of communication that deserve to be respected. Once again, I must iterate that I am fully capable of verbal speech and I am in no way non-speaking myself. That being said, sometimes I do have a reduced capacity to speak or feel it takes far more physical effort to speak when I am tired, stressed, overwhelmed, in sensory overload, or in the midst of a shutdown. This does NOT mean I am non-speaking—that label is exclusively for Autistic individuals who cannot verbally speak at all. I’m not sure what the proper terminology is for my specific situation (if anyone knows of it, I’d appreciate if you let me know in the comments!) but because of these situations, I am currently trying to learn ASL so I can still communicate in some way during these episodes.

And that’s it for now! I am hoping to have a drawing done by the end of today for Day 9, but we shall see! In the meantime, check out @autiebiographical on Tumblr! They are the one who started Auctober in the first place to my knowledge and they create amazing comics and other content that educates people on Autism Spectrum Disorder! Happy Auctober y’all!

[sexhaver]

a really long time ago u made a post about how u became a determinist bc of one math class u took, I think? Do u remember which class

yeah it was specifically a dynamics class that mostly covered bond graphs and how to draw/interpret them. i had always known somewhere in the back of my head that it was theoretically possible to predict the future state of the universe (or at least some subset of it) based on perfect information about its current state, but that class made the mechanism behind that prediction more explicit. like, this is what an induction motor looks like:

it tracks the energy in the system as it flows from electricity to magnetism then back to electricity before being converted to mechanical torque, all while obeying thermodynamics. all of existence is just this graph but infinitely more complicated, and can therefore be represented as a massive state-space and then solved.

my conclusion was that either there's some part of the universe that both can't be predicted on a bond graph and would allow for free will, or there isn't and we only feel like we have free will because that's how we interpret the particles in our brains interacting in their predetermined ways. and to me, the idea that human beings can physically alter the particles in their mind just by thinking a certain way (rather than it being exactly the other way around) is peak egocentrism, so im team determinism

[ko-existing]

"Effort" and "Miracle"

by Being_is_IT / Twitter

Reader: There is a need to build a bridge between daytime dreams and nighttime dreams and we need to open up or get through this bridge.

BEINGIS: Is there such a thing as a "bridge"? These so-called concepts of "opening up" or "not opening up" are fairy tales for the majority of people who are not mature enough. Everything is SELF. There has never been any obstacle. There have never actually been two different things or different situations. Once you get to know this profoundly, the logic of "opening up" becomes meaningless.

There is no actual situation that needs to be opened up. All the seemingly obstacles are just like the seemingly obstacles in dreams. They are the assumptions projected by the Mind and do not substantiate. When you no longer classify experience into myriads of situations, the concept of "bridge" becomes meaningless.

When you realize that the so-called "obstacle" is an illusion assumed by the Mind, then the concept of "opening up or getting through" is meaningless.

High yoga is not for "opening up" anything, not for "overcoming" anything, but for discovering that the infinite energy of SELF is originally unobstructed and absolutely free. The difficulties assumed by the Mind are all illusions. In fact, no effort is required, and no problem needs to be solved, because there is no problem at all.

Reader: I once thought that I could change and control my dreams while I was lucid, but after waking up, I realized that I was not even in a dream. The concept of controlling dreams is ridiculous, hahahaha.

BEINGIS: Yes, controlling the plot of dreams, achieving magic in the plot, such as remote viewing, such as using the power of the Mind to do things that others cannot do, such as predicting the future, etc.

These seemingly magical abilities are still part of the plotline, just like weird episodes are part of the dream plotline last night. There is not actually an independent "you" who accomplishes these miracles. These seemingly magical phenomena may happen spontaneously and automatically, not caused by the will of a certain person or a character as a part of the storyline.

As you become more mature, as you get to know more and more that you are Infinite Radiant Energy yourself, as you become more and more peaceful with yourself, then the entire energetic field will automatically realign, and miracles will appear spontaneously and automatically. Miracles are not controlled by "you" or by "your will."

For example, once a person woke up in a faraway place and found Ramana Maharshi appearing at his bedside. Later, he went to ask Ramana to confirm whether this event actually happened. Ramana said he had no idea about this. Did Ramana do it? It is impossible to be sure! Ramana himself does not know.

When you deeply know that you are not just "a person" in experience but Infinite Radiant Energy yourself, then subtle miracles may automatically appear without your being aware of it. It is not you who want to make miracles appear, but such a deep knowing naturally makes miracles appear, and you don't even know what happened.

Ordinary people mistakenly believe that the seemingly mundane and boring life of living from a meal to a meal is not a miracle. In fact, everything that seems ordinary is a miracle in itself. Experience is already a miracle in itself without the need to walk through walls or walk on waters. The seemingly appearance of consciousness is already a miracle.

Miracle does not have to be remote viewing or predicting the future or walking through walls. Focus on directly knowing what you are, rather than pursuing special abilities. When you get to know what you are, you are the miracle itself. Sitting in the living room is already a miracle in itself. You don’t need to do anything special.

On the contrary, what is the hidden motivation behind the pursuit of special abilities? Wanting to obtain superpowers that others don’t have, wanting to gain some advantages that others don’t have in life, and wanting to be successful, these hidden desires are precisely the illusions of the Mind.

Many people pay a large sum of money to learn the so-called "Miracle Course", the motivation actually reflects the desire of the Mind to obtain abilities that others don’t have so that you can get ahead. Miracles don’t need to be learned. Miracles are your very own energetic natures. The key is to transcend all illusory limitations assumed to be there by the Mind and discover your own default infinity.

In this way, without any effort, miracles will be released spontaneously and automatically.

[atla-what-is-this-site]

Fixing Voltron's magic system FT. Sanderson's Laws of Magic (and examples from various famous media)

Firstly, let's begin with what the Alteans canonically can do. As seen throughout the series, two alteans shown actually manipulate quintessence. Another has super strength but no magic. A final is shown to have none. (poor Coran). It is implied the majority (if not all,) have these abilities. 

Quintessence manipulation seems to have one small limit:  When Allura uses the magic too much, she passes out. But remember: shes powering a giant ship. We never see Team Voltron going and getting gas or whatever, which means Allura is probably the sole supplier of power for the Castle. Which is an example of how OP this ability is, even with the limit.

Then we have super strength and shapeshifting, two other abilities that all (or i guess most, since Coran never shows any signs of having them) Alteans seem to have. These abilities seem to have little plot importance besides a few certain episodes. There is nothing inherently wrong with these abilities. However, when you pile them on top of (if I'm being completely honest,) a character who's already quite over-powered, I think you can understand why I'm not the biggest fan. 

We know quite a bit about Alteans. They're one of the most important species in the series. According to Allura, they're super-ambassadors, and they use their shapeshifting to better blend in. Their culture seems very intellectual-based, with Alchemists holding high places. They mixed magic and tech to make incredible ships like The Castle. 

This is where things tend to taper off. We get brief glimpses of what could be rules: Allura always places her hands on whatever shes infusing. Clearly, you must be Altean or of Altean Heritage. 

Now, let's take a look at Brandon Sanderson's laws of magic. 

Number One: "An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic." 

This means that if we want to solve problems with magic, we need to explain how that magic can solve our problems. So, for example, Harry Potter. Every spell that Harry uses is explained beforehand so that the audience knows what he's doing. It just wouldn't work if Harry went around Lumos-ing away, making the reader guess what the spell does. 

However, in The Lord of The Rings, Gandalf doesn't need to tell us anything, because he barely ever uses his magic for plot important things. Readers don't want to read three paragraphs explaining how he made his fireworks, when the story isn't about his fireworks.

Number Two: Limitations are more important than power.

What your magic system can do doesn't make it interesting. There's no power that hasn't been thought of. Infinite power makes it impossible to come up with a plot. The character could solve anything, meaning there's no point in telling about the solution to their problem. However, when you throw in weaknesses, costs and other limitations, you get a much more original and interesting idea. 

Picture that one scene from Aladdin, where Genie tells Aladdin about the three rules. (No playing with free will, no raising the dead, no wishing for more wishes.) It's a simple and easy to follow system, with limitations that make the plot more interesting. Aladdin can't make Jasmine fall in love with him magically, so he's forced to come up with other ways. 

Rule Three: Expand what you already have before you add something new. 

This one leans more on general worldbuilding, but what he's saying here is don't shove new ideas in your reader's face. Don't create new magics out of nowhere. Build on what you already have. 

There aren't many examples of this, luckily Voltron isn't really guilty of this, so elaboration isn't really needed.

Now, we'll take these and begin perfecting the magic system. 

First, what is Quintessence? Quintessence is, essentially, the animating factor. It's what makes living things alive. It's a form of energy. 

This isn't to say nonliving objects can't have it, but most don't, unless it's given to them. 

Quintessence is energy. It can't be created, nor destroyed. However, you can transfer it from one container to another. 

There are a few things you can do with it. Firstly, giving a living being quintessence can make them stronger. This is what Haggar does with Zarkon throughout the first two seasons.

Next, taking too much quintessence from someone will "de-animate" them. A.k.a. They die from lack of life. 

There is one third thing you can do with quintessence. It takes a lot of training and a bit of energy. But I imagine you could also make these huge shockwaves that just fucken decimate everything in a 300 foot radius. However this is more after-we-get-ridiculously-good type material.

Our limits are these: 1. You must draw energy from something, whether that be your own energy or someone else's. If you use too much of your own, you could pass out and die. 2. You must maintain contact with whatever you're imbuing with energy/drawing energy from. (The only exception is the shockwave. But the shockwave comes from your hands so..?) 3. Too much quintessence can become an addiction. Specific examples can be Zarkon and Haggar. 

A little interjection: While Alteans have a lot of quintessence, it can only power a small ship for a few hours. However, Altean ships have evolved to collect quintessence from bacteria that gathers on the ship's metal. This keeps the ships sanitary and also helps with efficiency. As well, ships often use Balmera crystals as a secondary source of power. Balmera crystals hold high levels of residual quintessence.

We can construct so many different plotlines that can't be solved with quintessence, or the limits can prevent solution. What if the person who needs healing is out of Allura's reach? What if she doesn't have enough energy?

That wasn't so hard, was it, VLD team?

[miyamiwu]

Essential Elements of an Unlimited/Infinite Flow Story

As someone attempting to write my own Unli Flow, I thought I’d take note of the different elements so I can have a guide I can always refer back to.

I’ve explained what Unli Flow means many times before, but in case you missed it: Unlimited/Infinite Flow is a genre in Chinese web novels that feature characters entering multiple “instances” where they have to complete a challenge and/or solve a mystery. Failure in doing so would lead to consequences, most often death.

There’s also this definition by AshuraYami from the NovelUpdates Forum:

Unlimited Flow/Infinite Flow is a genre originating from the CN novel Terror Infinity. The genre mainly revolves on world hopping involving fictional works (anime, comics, movies, games and novels) and/or original worlds created by the author. Infinite Flow, as it’s ‘infinite’ namesake suggests, can accommodate all other genres, be it fantasy, sci-fi, horror, romance, etc. Representative works are Terror Infinity (origin of genre), Reincarnation Paradise (most chapters and word count), The Ultimate Evolution (promoter of data flow, an infinite flow derivative that is more game-like litRPG) and Thriller Paradise (most famous horror infinite flow).

With the definition out of the way, let’s goooo

[This post will also serve as a rec list of sorts, since I’ll be giving examples of each element from different danmei novels.]

----------

1. The Authority

The entity/system in charge of the Unlimited Flow system as a whole. Most stories just chalk it up to the Unli Flow being some kind of otherworldly being/extremely advanced AI that just likes to mess with people.

Examples of The Authority

(based on what I remember, at least… Also, beware of spoilers)

The Earth is Online: The Universe

Mist: I forgot what it’s called, but that high tech system in charge of all the Time Traveling stuff...

High Energy QR Code: That black and white cube thing

Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show was Actually—?!: … The TV station...

From left to right: Tang Mo from The Earth is Online and Wu Jin and Wei Shi from Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show was Actually—?!

[Spoilers End]

From having read numerous Unli Flow stories, I conclude that crucial to a great, not just good, Unli Flow story is a well-defined Authority. The explanation behind the Authority’s existence and motives is the foundation to the entire story.

You can have a very fancy building (cool instances, well-developed characters, an exciting enemies to lovers couple, etc.), but if the foundation is flimsy, the building’s value would plummet in your eyes. You can still appreciate the building, of course, but you will never be content with it.

Examples of some novels that are good in almost everything else except The Authority (in my opinion): [spoilery]

Supernatural Movie Actor App: It was too profound with not enough groundwork laid for it, resulting in The Authority feeling detached from the main story.

I Upended Yet Another Campus Urban Legend: The Authority was not exactly bad; it was just inadequate. The justification of the Unli Flow existing became unconvincing because of this.

Escape the Infinite Chamber: THE AUTHORITY IS SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS THAT IT’S ABYSMAL. And the entire thing was explained in just one scene and from one extra??? SO MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING AND THAT’S THE ONLY EXPLANATION WE GET??? HORRENDOUS!

[Spoilers End]

From left to right: Book covers of I Upended Yet Another Campus Urban Legend and Supernatural Movie Actor App

2. Instances

Also known as “copy.” The other world/dimension where players have to face the different challenges.

The Authority may be the foundation, but the Instances are the defining aspect of the Unlimited Flow.

A lot of novels, however, are quite perfunctory when it comes to instances, just using it to further the main couple or as a mere stepping stone to the overarching plot. Or, if they’re not being perfunctory, then the Instances are just plain boring.

The first instance, especially, tend to be the most boring. Authors often use this to dump all the information about how their unli flow works. This usually gets better by the time the 2nd or 3rd instance comes around....

Upon successful completion of an Instance, players will then be rewarded with either points, special abilities, magic items, etc.

Examples of novels with GREAT instances (based on logic, thrill, horror, etc. Again, all in my own opinion):

I Became a God in a Horror Game: The horror is present all throughout. I can still remember the fear I felt while reading about the statues in the first Instance. Each instance/arc also emotionally impacts you, an effect that most Unli Flow writers don’t really aim for or just generally tend to fail at. (This is also my favorite unli flow novel at the moment~)

The Earth is Online: (same author as Fourth Perspective, which I’ve posted a lot about before) What I love about Mo Chen Huan, the author, is how they write intelligent MC’s but without making them seem too OP. And this is because she actually shows us the MC’s thought process, inviting us to think along with them and figure out how to solve the challenge, and not just make her characters say “aha!” This is what makes the Instances in TEIO great and memorable.

High Energy QR Code: The story could make use of more showing than telling, but I actually love the Instances in this novel. You know how good stories are often described as a well-made tapestry in that every little thread contributes to the big beautiful picture? That’s how each Instance reads in this novel. (Absolutely love the Instance about the town where everybody lies.)

Fu Wendou, the male lead of The Earth is Online

3. NPCs

A gaming term which stands for “Non-Player Character.” Refers to characters who live within Instances and act in such ways that further the plot or challenge presented by the Instance. They may go against players or assist them. May or may not have a will of their own.

Examples of NPCs:

Xu Beijin, the protagonist of Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Lu Chu, the protagonist of Insider.

The iconic Mosaic from The Earth is Online

The male leads from Escape the Infinite Chamber, I Became a God in a Horror Game, Killing God with Junk Cards, etc. (Most danmei ML are special!NPCs 😩)

From left to right: Book covers of Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game and Killing God with Junk Cards

4. Player Hall

A space outside of instances where different players can gather and exchange information. Most of the time, this is in a space still separate from the real world. Players are often prohibited from using their powers in this space.

In some novels, Players have no choice but to live here, completely cutting them off from the real world. In this case, accommodation quality will depend on the Player’s level or points.

5. Personal System

The Personal System issues challenges to the player and keeps track of their current attributes, physical and mental states, etc.. It also calculates rewards and punishments for the player. First and foremost in service to The Authority. (If they aren’t, then they’re most likely the Love Interest in disguise. If not, the Player had somehow swayed it to their side).

6. System Store

The points earned from the different Instances serve as the Players’ currency, and they can use it to buy things from the System Store. The Store may sell weapons, medicine, magical items, or even special abilities. Basically, any item that can help the Player during Instances. Of course, it may also sell non-magical items, like food and everyday items, at a much lower price than special items.

7. Player’s Goal/Wish

In some novels, the Goal is simply to clear all the Instances and leave the Unli Flow for good. But in others, the Unli Flow allows Players to exchange their points for a Wish. The more difficult the Wish, the more points are needed, and the more Instances are needed to be cleared.

Examples of a Goal/Wish:

Supernatural Movie Actor App: Xie Chi wants to give his second personality a body of his own.

I Became a God in a Horror Game: If I’m remembering it correctly… Bai Liu just wants to have lots of money.

I Upended Yet Another Campus Urban Legend: Lin Yi wants to learn the truth about his parents.

Thriller Tour Group: Wei Xun wants to find the truth about his family’s disappearance… and his Wish is to uhh… feel pain?

After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle: Chi Nan’s Wish is to regain his vision, stop crying and get his memories back.

Death Spiral: To uhh… figure out what the voice in the Elevator is trying to tell them? To regain their memories? [The actual Wish is a big spoiler, so I won’t mention it here.]

From left to right: Book covers of After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle, Thriller Tour Group, and Death Spiral

Aaaand there you have it! I was hoping to list 10 elements, but I can only think up to 7 😔

Although I said this post is a rec list of sorts, the quality of the novels I mentioned actually varies. I’m just listing whatever novel would be good as an example (and also what I can remember and have more or less completed, since many of the Unli Flow novels I’m reading are currently on-hold).

[tgrailwar-zero]

*offers Max a celebratory fist bump*

He returned the fist bump.

MAX: "...I'm sure they're all lovely people. I wouldn't want to intrude, however."

PTOLEMAIOS: "That's not for me to say."

He looked over at MAX as he smiled, adjusting his glasses.

MAXWELL'S DEMON: "I have no issue. My True Name is 'Maxwell's Demon', I'm an Archer-Class Servant. Though you can still call me 'Max' or 'Maxwell'. I was summoned to assist Keeper Ptolemaios with a pesky... 'energy problem'. Though I do a little bit of everything around here. Including law, as you can see. I like solving people's problems."

PTOLEMAIOS: "I was looking for a solution that truly benefited everyone, and called Maxwell. However, breaking both magical laws and the laws of physics is much harder than one would expect. I'm sure you're familiar with the Second Law of Thermodynamics?"

MAXWELL: "In simple terms that are relevant to the Keeper's point- and to avoid making this a Physics class, one of the aspects of the law is that you have to 'spend energy' to 'use energy'. The more energy is used, the higher the 'cost' is, and no action is ever devoid of 'cost'. This is why perpetual motion machines are impossible, because the 'cost' eventually becomes impossible for the machine to 'pay'."

PTOLEMAIOS: "Maxwell's Demon is a conceptual Servant representing that second law, and is rather dedicated to finding a way to break it in order to grant humanity's wish for infinite energy. I supposed that if we could solve for infinite mana, then the Solar Cell wouldn't need to be at risk, and we would have a much more suitable fighting force against the Void Cell. But that seems unlikely now, you said we didn't have time, hm?"

MAXWELL: "Right. Not before everything with the Heavenly Divinity and the Titan began. My Noble Phantasm could get close, but… well, there are more flaws with that Noble Phantasm than I'd like, and I'd rather not use it at all as it is if I had the choice. Perfecting it, and creating a perfect perpetual motion machine that could provide both a weapon against the White Titan, and a way for the Solar Cell to flourish. Maybe the Moon and the Earth too."

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for trying to solve my country's energy crisis?

I (45M) am the head of a prestigious company, able to develop new software and other means to improve the lifestyles of people in our country. The most important of which is, of course, clean energy sources that all of our towns are able to use (well, except for one but it's their fault for not wanting to move and use it).

But even though what we have works, it won't work in the long run, maybe a century or so at best. Over the years I kept looking for ways to improve our situation and find an energy source with a longer lifespan, potentially something that could last as an energy source for thousands, even millions, of years. And I did find one! But then there was introducing it to the general populace. After all, people don’t take to change right away.

So I thought to get my wonderful prodigy (25M) to introduce the source of energy! He is very likable and successful, after all, and people absolutely adore him! But when I asked him to do this one favor for me, the boy I had paid everything for had the gall to tell me to wait! As though he didn't understand how urgent this all was!

So of course, that left me to introduce this new source of energy, all by myself, because my esteemed prodigy was too lazy to do it himself!! But in trying to unleash this new, infinite energy source, I was defeated and the energy source contained and taken away. So now we are all the way back to square one, and I am seen as a horrible person for trying to solve a still-looming predicament!

So AITA for trying to solve our country's energy crisis, one that would help people for generations?

[gayhenrycreel]

okay i filled out a google doc survey of aro experiences in the queer community and at the end i kinda went on a commie rant, so this is it copy pasted. (yes my mutuals, im aware as i reread this that this sounds like the blorbos 4.07 monologue)

i want people to know that no one should ever be in a relationship just because they want to be considered normal. alloros included. the relationship hierarchy hurts everyone.

hierarchy has always been the problem. its time that people start realising that we are all equals, and the idea of any particular thing being inherently better than another is the basis for amatonormativity, homophobia, racism, transphobia, misogyny, eugenics, and ultimately fascism. "superiority" does not exist.

even the natural world is negatively affected by human ideas of hierarchy. conservation efforts are for animals, occasionally plants, and never for fungi. fungi are barely even researched properly compared to other clades. how many fungi have gone extinct without anyone knowing, because no one cares?

this affects humans directly. penicillin comes from a fungus. hallucinigenic mushrooms can treat anxiety, depression, adhd, and even ptsd. lions mane contains biochemicals that prevent cell death, which means (and research is ongoing) it could slow aging, lead to longer lives, and quite significantly, prevent dementia.

those are just known fungi. imagine how many are out there that could save lives that are endangered and dying, but no one cares to save them because they are small and not very noticeable. theres an antioxidant thats exclusively found in fungi. that means it too could prevent cell damage, such as those that cause cancer.

if i were to get into human prejudice this would go on forever. hierarchy kills. it destroys entire species, cultures, lives. the solution to defeating amatonormativity is to remove hierarchy.

this would also solve infinite other problems. we could no longer have to work our asses off for the profit of billionares. we would use resources when we need them, not for some hypothetical world where they might be bought on mass. no one needs a billion iphones. the slaves who make them certainly dont.

things should be produced when they are actually in demand, not just so elon can get money he will never use. that money could go to education, science, sustainable energy, medicine, conservation, and literally billions of people who are starving because elon and bezos want to think about their sci fi fantasys that they do not allow to become reality by not bloody paying their slaves, as well as hoarding money that could be used by places that could legitimately get people to mars like nasa.

elon works closely with nasa, but nasa cant afford to pay their own scientists. many of nasas workers hate spacex. one even quit over it. there are so many people who could help humanity, who could invent cures for AIDS, vaccines for deadly diseases, better solar panels, solutions for space junk, more efficient farming, more nutritious native plants that people have harvested for centuries before colonizers decided nutrient poor cabbage is better than the vitamin rich indigenous vegetables.

like seriously, there are so many plants that indigenous societies have been eating for thousands of years that the world just doesn't know about anymore.

the wider queer community could do a lot for arospecs by taking off the hierarchy glasses. we all need to take off the hierarchy glasses. its killing the world.

[randomnumbers751650]

So, I finished watching Ideon a few days ago and one thing that I thought to be really unique is how Ideon is a theodicy or has elements of a theodicy. Just to let you know, a theodicy is a question on the problem of evil: if God can and wants to prevent evil, and if God is good, then why does evil exist? It should be noted that a theodicy doesn’t necessarily require that God exists or not (I know actual economists and political scientists who unironically call their disciplines theodicies), because questions on the origin of evil are things that are with humanity since immemorial times. Also spoilers for a 40 year old show.

In Ideon, as they learn more and more about the power of the Ide, the Giant reveals itself more and more of a god. In fact, it is called a god in mid-season episodes, but they stop that after a while, probably the writers thinking it might be too much on the nose. But still, the characters are constantly debating why Ide allows that, if Ide is testing them, if Ide is good or evil, since it is orchestrating the meteor falls. A curious thing is that we have Ide’s perspective just once, with Bes’s dream – it wants to survive – and the rest of the discussions is what humans believe to Ide’s will to be, like as if they were some sort of amateur theologians.

In the end, they conclude Ide is trying to kill them because it deemed them unworthy of salvation due to their inability of stopping the cycle of war, but, again, this is their interpretation. And, in the end, Ideon is finally destroyed…but it was already established it had infinite energy, so it is kinda certain that it just allowed itself to be defeated.

Ideon is a story of how war is hell, using a super robot in a real robot story. It portrays conflict escalation, hypocrisy of ideals of honor in an environment that gives power to petty people, capable of selling their comrades for a promotion, or committing war crimes without any tactical advantage – it’s kinda obvious the Buff Clan is based on Imperial Japan, while humans seem to be inspired from Star Trek’s idea of federation – and, above all, the process of dehumanization: it starts with a sense of technological pride, impulse by miscommunication, which constantly evolves into incapacity of recognizing the other as anything but insects, and overall mutual hatred. It ended with parents disowning their child, a father trying to kill his daughter for a frivolous reason such as “blood purity” and what essentially was an attempt to make a human sacrifice to Ide (with Sheryl). No wonder, Ide decides that enough is enough, its patience wouldn’t last forever. The series goes out of its way to show that humans and buffs brought that to themselves.

Personally, I don’t think Ide is evil. I feel it genuinely wanted for humans and buffs to live in peace. The way it cares for children isn’t just because it’s an amalgamation of children from the previous civilizations, but because it genuinely likes them and see them as symbols of hope (or else it wouldn’t protect and support the adults as well) or innocence (when it protected the giant worm children). I could tell when Sheryl attempted to sacrifice Lou to make Ide work, it was beyond pissed off, to the point of destroying their homeworlds and colonies. This is why I don’t buy Ide was setting up a trap to kill both species, it could’ve done any time. It still preserved the ones in space, using the last of hope that they could solve their differences, but its hope drained with every advance, so if it wanted to destroy them, it wanted to make clear that if it was destroying them, it wanted to make them understand why before doing it.

In spite of that, Ide still loved life, including the lives of humans and buffs until the end. When all of them die in the final moments of the movie, they all reunite and, upon seeing the greatness of the universe, they can see how petty and a waste of time their squabbles and wars were. So, Ide had Messiah to guide them to a new planet, to restart the cycle again, hoping this time they would learn the lesson. In spite of Tomino showing a bleak pessimism throughout the series, I feel the end is optimistic.

[gofancyninjaworld]

'I Don't Want To Cure Cancer' OPM Edition

With apologies to Spiderman.

Let's go round and interview a few scientists in OPM, shall we?

Us: Dr. Bofoi, we can't help but notice the extraordinary speed with which you cleared City A and erected a new headquarters, all at a small fraction of the cost that would have been expected. Beyond that, we notice that your capacity to build at scale is unparalleled. With so many people losing their homes to monster attacks and other disasters, why don't you take the next step and cure homelessness?

Dr. Bofoi: I don't want to cure homelessness. I want to bill the Hero Association for every Yen I can get. I assure you, it's going to a far more important cause. Actually, more importantly, how did you get in here?

____

Us: Dr. Kuseno, your endeavours in supporting the hero Demon Cyborg are truly extraordinary. Once people thought the dream of near-infinite clean energy from nuclear power to be a pipe dream, yet you appear to have solved this problem in an incredibly compact and robust way. Why don't you use your technology to cure energy shortage and usher in a new industrial revolution?

Dr Kuseno: Lol, I fear you may have mistaken me for someone with lofty ideals. I don't aspire to anything as grand as a new industrial revolution. I don't mind doing the odd good deed, but my aims are far more simple: I want to develop a killer cyborg through whom I can pour out the fullness of my burning rage against my enemies.

___

Us: Dr. Genus, you have not only understood the rules of life far better than any person but have rewritten them entirely. With your army of you, there are few fields that you do not have a purview of. Perhaps the most amazing thing you could do would be to harness your ability to clone flesh indefinitely to cure world hunger and stop the depredation of the natural world to feed humanity. How about it?

Dr. Genus: Starving is about all the unimproved mass of humanity deserves. I have no interest in curing world hunger. I just want somebody intelligent enough to talk to. Pause Which you most certainly aren't.

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT WAS BEFORE THE BIG BANG??

Blog#304

Saturday, June 10th, 2023

Welcome back,

In the beginning, there was an infinitely dense, tiny ball of matter. Then, it all went bang, giving rise to the atoms, molecules, stars and galaxies we see today.

Or at least, that's what we've been told by physicists for the past several decades.

But new theoretical physics research has recently revealed a possible window into the very early universe, showing that it may not be "very early" after all. Instead it may be just the latest iteration of a bang-bounce cycle that has been going on for … well, at least once, and possibly forever.

Of course, before physicists decide to toss out the Big Bang in favor of a bang-bounce cycle, these theoretical predictions will need to survive an onslaught of observation tests.

Even earlier, this thinking goes, at some point our entire universe — all the stars, all the galaxies, all the everything — was the size of a peach and had a temperature of over a quadrillion degrees.

Amazingly, this fantastical story holds up to all current observations. Astronomers have done everything from observing the leftover electromagnetic radiation from the young universe to measuring the abundance of the lightest elements and found that they all line up with what the Big Bang predicts.

As far as we can tell, this is an accurate portrait of our early universe.

But as good as it is, we know that the Big Bang picture is not complete — there's a puzzle piece missing, and that piece is the earliest moments of the universe itself.

That's a pretty big piece.

The problem is that the physics that we use to understand the early universe (a wonderfully complicated mishmash of general relativity and high-energy particle physics) can take us only so far before breaking down.

As we try to push deeper and deeper into the first moments of our cosmos, the math gets harder and harder to solve, all the way to the point where it just … quits.

The main sign that we have terrain yet to be explored is the presence of a "singularity," or a point of infinite density, at the beginning of the Big Bang. Taken at face value, this tells us that at one point, the universe was crammed into an infinitely tiny, infinitely dense point. This is obviously absurd, and what it really tells us is that we need new physics to solve this problem — our current toolkit just isn't good enough.

To save the day, we need some new physics — something that is capable of handling gravity and the other forces, combined, at ultrahigh energies. And that's exactly what string theory claims to be: a model of physics that is capable of handling gravity and the other forces, combined, at ultrahigh energies. Which means that string theory claims it can explain the earliest moments of the universe.

One of the earliest string theory notions is the "ekpyrotic" universe, which comes from the Greek word for "conflagration," or fire.

In this scenario, what we know as the Big Bang was sparked by something else happening before it — the Big Bang was not a beginning, but one part of a larger process.

Extending the ekpyrotic concept has led to a theory, again motivated by string theory, called cyclic cosmology. I suppose that, technically, the idea of the universe continually repeating itself is thousands of years old and predates physics, but string theory gave the idea firm mathematical grounding.

The cyclic universe goes about exactly as you might imagine, continually bouncing between big bangs and big crunches, potentially for eternity back in time and for eternity into the future.

Originally published on space.com

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, June 14th, 2023)

"WHAT IS VACUUM DECAY??"

[atsoraasayoma]

Is Homeostasis the True Villain? Or is she a grand architect in the battle for balance versus chaos?

Don’t let adventure influenced/partially possessed Hikari’s kind demeanor fool you. She is a powerhouse giving Digimon the intense power to surpass limits and digivolve such as wargreymon slicing up Machinedramon like an onion.

She is strangely absent in Zero Two but Gennai and the Digimon Sovereign act as agents in her stead. It seems the goal is, at the time for evil to be eradicated by the wishes of children and their power/energy for their Digimon to digivolve.

Sounds innocent enough, right?

Fast forward to Digimon Tri where she body snatches Himekawa messing her up in the process as she gives the order to sacrifice her partner.

Then to Hikari being possessed and controlled as well. (This is why you don’t answer unknown calls people).

When this happens all kind benevolent pretext is over. If you fail your part she will intervene. Whether reboot of the Digital World or the real one. Any threats to the Digital World must be contained.

She even taunts the Digidestined telling them that their teamwork has failed them this time. Perhaps she treats them coldly because they are no longer little kids with infinite potential but teenagers whose powers are there but limited. How limited?

Fast Forward to Kizuna. We learn from Gennai a Digidestined has an expiration date as a chosen child unless they can unlock new potential. Menoa is the personification of that Despair but Homeostasis does NOT intervene.

Why? Strange as it is I think she was going to use the data of the brainwashed kids to recreate Digimon and human partners without an expiration date. She recognized Menoa’s despair and allowed her the light of Digivolution from this newly synthetic Digimon with data based off her partner to take authority and fulfill her desire. And IF she succeeded Homeistasis would reap the results.

But, this failed. She lost the Digidestined that had done the most for her and those Digidestined were no longer necessary having expired.

So now where does she go from here? How can SHE protect the Digital World when all of her efforts only are leading to more work?

It’s simple and brilliant if not disturbing. Like many have said she used the suffering of Rui as a blueprint for Digidestined partners. This relationship would be a litmus test on just how far the power of wishing could save the Digital World.

We’ve seen it in 02 the final battle with MaloMyotismon and the epilogue. Everyone gets a Digimon (or at least a Digidestined’s powers to have a partner are hereditary even going as far as the TYPE of partner a Digidestined will have).

But I believe much like the reboot option this Ukkomon partnership is a failsafe. She studies and manipulates Rui’s situation of utter despair and loneliness. And this is before she uses the Original Digidestined. It’s a nuclear option for her in case she needs to use it.

The friends Ukkomon creates as justification for the Digidestined line are self fulfilling prophecies, creating problems, fixing them, and then the influence of those involved directly or indirectly with the conflict of those problems spawning new Chosen Children but not Digidestined.

These new Chosen Children are basic as we have never seen them go beyond the champion level. They are not of the particular kind of what qualifies as a Digidestined for they were not guided to solve conflicts directly. Merely indirectly chosen children would be used for their power of wishing and sheer numbers to defend the Digital World against threats.

But, years went by with little to no conflict. Aside from Menoa in Kizuna there was no ‘new’ threat although Chosen Children were increasing every year. Through their efforts Homeostasis indirectly through Ukkomon’s power of granting Rui’s wish activated that fail safe.

Everyone was supposed to get a partner. If everyone has a partner this would ensure there would be no running out of tools/chosen children to defend the Digital World. When they would die of old age the next Chosen Child would replace them.

That was the plan. That was Homeostasis’s goal. It was the harmony and the balance needed to stave off the continual threats to the Digital World.

But, that plan, that fail safe did NOT go through. The 02 Digidestined stopped her machinations. They foiled her grand design for perpetual protection.

And so, between now and the epilogue I believe she is in desperation mode. Why? Lurking in the background between Digital World narratives and the Digidestined I believe there is a threat unlike any other that DEMANDS every single human being to have a partner to stave off the viral Digital Threat.

If it’s so powerful Homeostasis actively manipulates generations JUST to get to this point I believe it is so severe sheer numbers will be needed or the power of their wishes.

Much like we saw with the birth of Omegamon the combined power of not just humans, but Chosen Children is necessary to defeat a foe so mighty it is the most powerful viral Digimon to ever exist. I would go so far to say it may be the SOURCE of all the viral Digimon much like how Apocalymon was the source of the original adventure antagonists.

In other words, with the Digidestined having completely shut down her last effort to save the Digital World she is going to have to no choice but rely on the 02 Digidestined.

The OGs are out except in a support role. The 02 Digidestined, specifically Takeru and Hikari will be greatly needed in order to unlock a savior Digimon to stop the ultimate threat.

Remember. all of the Digidestined except for Takeru and Hikari don’t have the full power of a crest. ONLY they do. Ken is questionable ? He never used it to Digivolve. The others have/had Digi eggs that used the passed on influences of the crests but not the crests directly themselves. Homeostasis will convince them somehow to unlock an ultimate power to eliminate the viral threat once and for all so both worlds will be in peace so the utopia Hikari imagined and Homeostasis strives for will be achieved.

I don’t know what this threat is but it will be life threatening on a genocidal scale.

It will involve the whole world and there are only a few Digidestined left (and thousands of foot soldiers) that can stand up to it.

It will be a grand climax felt through generations. It will somehow restore the OG Digidestined partnerships and lead us to an epilogue that may take on a more defined conclusion.

All of these events in the anime and the movies are pivot points linking to this one final threat where the fate of humanity and Digimon will be decided.

Let’s hope the 02 Digidestined are up for the challenge.

Because, after all their teamwork has never failed them. Their bond with their Digimon is as strong as ever. They are the unwritten exception to the rule and have more to give, and bonds that regardless of life’s circumstances will NEVER expire.

They are the 02 Crew. THEY are the Digidestined Homeostasis will have to go all in on. And THEY and their Digimon will be the catalysts to decide the fate of both worlds.

[cyllres]

Devil | JJK x Makima! Reader

Chapter 18

You closed your umbrella as the four of you began to walk towards the building. “Be careful,” Ijichi said sternly. “I'll pull up my veil.” He added as he glanced back towards the sky, putting two fingers up. “Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.” Suddenly, a dark barrier with a large dome-shaped outer shell emerged from the sky, surrounding the area.

“Huh?” Yuuji glanced around, his eyes widening with a mixture of awe and curiosity. “It's becoming night!” he said, with a hint of enthusiasm.

“It’s a veil,” Megumi explained, his tone measured and calm. “There’s a residential area nearby, so this barrier conceals us from the outside world.”

“Cool!” Yuuji said, his excitement evident in his voice, which Nobara only deadpanned at.

“Ignorant,” she exclaimed, her voice laced with disdain.

“Demon dog.” Megumi placed his hands together, summoning his shikigami. From the shadows emerged a white wolf-like dog, its coat shimmering with an ethereal glow as it howled loudly. You held the umbrella tightly, fighting the urge to pet the large canine. Its presence was both imposing and comforting. “He’ll let us know if the curse gets close.”

“I see, I see.” Yuuji crouched down to the demon dog, his face lighting up with childlike wonder. “Good boy, good boy! We’re counting on you, okay?” he cooed as he petted it, his hands running through its thick fur.

Opening the door slowly, Nobara, Yuuji, and Megumi stood on guard, letting the demon dog go in first. “Let's go,” Megumi said as the three of them followed. You took one last glance outside before calmly following right behind them. The oppressive atmosphere of the place settled heavily around you, pressing down like a dark, tangible weight, making every step feel like a struggle against an unseen force.

“Wait!” Megumi said, making all of you stop abruptly. You glanced up, seeing an almost infinite void above you all, an eerie sense of emptiness that seemed to swallow all light and sound.

“What is this?” Nobara exclaimed, her voice tinged with anxiety as she scanned the area.

“W-what’s going on in here?” Yuuji stuttered, his earlier enthusiasm giving way to confusion. “This is a two-story dorm, isn’t it?”

“C-calm down! It’s a maisonette,” Nobara said, her voice wavering as she tried to rationalize the unnerving sight.

‘Wrong,’ you thought to yourself, looking up at the void with a mixture of intrigue and caution. ‘It’s the deployment of an Innate Domain due to cursed energy. I’ve seen Pochita try doing this and other curses. It is my first time seeing one this big, however.’ You mused, the faint flicker of excitement in your eyes betraying your calm facade.

“Where’s the door?!” Megumi suddenly said, cutting off your thoughts. Glancing back at where you four entered, you smirked a bit.

‘As expected,’ you thought to yourself. The complexity of the domain was both a challenge and a puzzle to be solved.

“Th-the door’s gone!” Yuuji was the first to react, his voice tinged with a mix of disbelief and alarm.

“How?! We just came in through here, didn’t we?!” Nobara panicked, pounding at the wall in a futile attempt to find the vanished exit. Yuuji only nodded, equally bewildered, his hands pressing against the smooth surface.

“What do we do? Ah, what do we do about this?” The two of them said in unison, comically marching around in a circle, their earlier bravado fading into nervousness.

“It’ll be fine,” you reassured them, your voice steady and soothing amidst the chaos. “Panic will only make things worse. We need to stay focused.”

“The dog remembers the scent of the entrance,” Megumi reassured them, his composure unwavering as he gestured towards the demon dog. “It’ll lead us back once we’re done.”

“Oh my.” Yuuji and Nobara’s eyes sparkled with relief. “Good boy! Have some jerky!” they said as they petted the dog, with Yuuji hugging it out of gratitude. The dog’s calm presence seemed to anchor them in the midst of the unsettling surroundings.

“You really are dependable, Fushiguro-san,” you said in an almost teasing tone, “Thanks to you, we’ll be able to save ourselves.” You added. Megumi glanced away, his cheeks dusting with pink for a moment before walking away, his focus returning to the task at hand.

“Let’s keep moving,” Megumi said. Walking further into the building, you let the three of them walk first, glancing around with a calm smile on your face. The air was thick with a sense of foreboding, and the flickering lights cast eerie shadows on the walls, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. The sound of distant, echoing whispers filled the corridors, heightening the tension.

As you entered a room, Yuuji saw something, running up to it with a sense of urgency. His eyes widened upon closer inspection of the corpse. Its body was mangled, bones sticking out grotesquely in unnatural angles. There were also bones and other body parts smashed together into a ball, creating a grotesque amalgamation that was both horrifying and pitiful.

“Atrocious,” Nobara muttered as you also walked inside the room, your gaze sweeping over the scene with clinical detachment. The sight was gruesome, but it was a stark reminder of the reality of the world you inhabited.

“That’s… three people, right?” Megumi asked, his voice tense as he tried to piece together the macabre scene.

Kneeling down at the corpse, Yuuji looked at the name tag on its left chest. “Let’s take this body back,” Yuuji said, seeing the name. “It’s that woman’s son. His face isn’t too mangled up. His mother won’t accept it if we tell her he’s dead, but we don’t have a body.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you interjected as Megumi walked to Yuuji, grabbing his hood to stop him from moving. “We have to find and verify two more. A body would slow us down,” you added, your voice cold and pragmatic, cutting through the emotional turmoil.

“Stop joking! We turned around, and the way we got in here was gone! We won’t be able to come back for it later!” Yuuji argued, glancing at you with a mixture of confusion and frustration. His grip on the corpse tightened, his determination clashing with your practicality.

“She did not say to come back for it! She said to leave it behind,” Megumi added, a hint of frustration in his tone. His eyes met yours briefly, a silent understanding passing between you.

“I have no intention of risking my own life to save someone I had no intention of saving in the first place!” Megumi’s words were sharp, cutting through the tension with a brutal honesty that left no room for argument.

“No intention of saving him? What do you mean?!” Yuuji asked, his voice rising in indignation, his eyes searching for answers in Megumi’s steely gaze.

“This is a juvenile detention center. Jujutsu sorcerers are granted access to all information about the scene beforehand.” Megumi started, his tone stern and unyielding. “This Okazaki Tadashi hit a little girl on her way home from school while driving without a license. It was his second offense of driving without a license.”

“I know you’re stuck on saving lots of people and guiding them to proper deaths. But what are you going to do when someone you save kills someone else in the future?” Megumi asked Yuuji, his voice challenging and unyielding, the weight of his words pressing down on Yuuji like a physical force.

“Then why did you bother saving me?!” Yuuji retorted, his voice cracking with emotion, his eyes burning with a mix of confusion and pain.

“Cut it out!” Nobara said in annoyance as she walked towards them. “Christ, what are you two doing?! You’re both idiots!” She ranted. “Think about the time and place if you-” Suddenly, a black blob formed under her, sucking her in. Acting immediately, you ran towards the blob, but it closed before you could get close to it, leaving a gaping emptiness where Nobara had been.

“Kugisaki!” you said in frustration, your voice tinged with a rare hint of genuine concern. Your eyes scanned the floor, searching for any sign of her.

“Y/n, Yuuji. We’re running,” Megumi said urgently. “We’ll search for Kugisaki la-” Megumi was cut off when suddenly a curse appeared right beside them. Its presence was like a wave of malevolence crashing over you. Quickly standing up, you pointed your index finger at it. Before you could even let out a bang, Yuuji swung his cursed weapon at it, resulting in his hand getting cut off. You clicked your tongue in annoyance, the sudden surprise throwing off your focus.

“Bang,” you said loudly. The curse reacted quickly, dodging the force with its arm getting cut off only. It began to charge at you, but you let out another bang, its other arm cut off. It jumped away from you, regenerating its limb as it stared at you with a malevolent grin.

“Hey, Sukuna! If I die, you die too, right?” Yuuji shouted, his voice echoing with defiance. A sinister grin crossed his face.

“Nope,” Sukuna’s voice slithered through Yuuji’s lips. “Even if the pieces of me inside you perish, there are still eighteen fragments of my soul out there. But I don’t control this body. If you switch, I’ll kill that brat before the curse can!” He threatened, referring to Megumi.

“Then I’ll go for your sister.” Sukuna added, his voice dripping with malicious glee. “I’ll have so much fun dissecting her.”

“I won’t let you!” Yuuji’s determination burned brightly. As the curse regenerated, you prepared to attack again, but it dodged your assault deftly.

“I bet! But if you’re too focused on me, your friends and your sister will die,” Sukuna mocked. The curse exhaled a gout of flames toward you. You dodged quickly, the scorching heat licking dangerously close.

The curse laughed mockingly as it saw the severe burns on your side, the fabric of your white jacket now singed and torn, leaving you in a white undershirt and partly scorched pants. Your smile wavered as your eyes looked at it with the intent to murder.

“FUSHIGURO!” Yuuji called out to Megumi as he quickly took off his own jacket, leaving him in his red undershirt hoodie. “Take Kugisaki and Y/n and get out of here!” he said as he helped you wear his jacket. The fabric was warm and smelled faintly of Yuuji, a small comfort amidst the chaos. “I’ll keep this one busy until you three are out. As soon as you three are out, give me some kind of signal. Once you do… I’ll switch with Sukuna.”

“You know you can't do that!” Megumi argued with Yuuji. “Not with only one arm against a special-grade!”

“Look closer,” Yuuji insisted, his voice strained but resolute. “It's having fun. It's obviously toying with us. I can at least buy us some time.” He added as he placed you on Megumi's arm, being gentle not to put pressure on your burns

Megumi hesitated, torn between the urgency of the situation and Yuuji's desperate plea. He glanced down at you, cradled in his arms, blood trickling from your wounds. Despite the severity of your injuries, your eyes held a fierce determination, urging them to make a decisive move.

“No,” Megumi finally said, his tone conflicted but firm.

“Fushiguro! Please,” Yuuji pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion.

With a heavy sigh, Megumi reluctantly agreed. He adjusted his grip on you, preparing to make a break for the exit. But before they could move, the curse reappeared, blocking both of you and Megumi’s path with a menacing smile.

Clicking your tongue in annoyance, you pushed yourself up slightly in Megumi's arms. With a swift motion, you pointed your index finger at the curse, unleashing a blast of energy far more powerful than before. The force tore through the curse's left arm, severing it cleanly.

“Y/n!” Yuuji cried out, a mix of relief and fear in his voice as he saw you were still safe.

The curse, infuriated by its loss, attempted to regenerate its limb but failed, its frustration evident. You smirked widely, a flicker of satisfaction crossing your face.

“You should know your place.” You said sternly, glaring at the curse. “Dog.”

The curse, realizing that this attack now slows its Reverse Cursed Technique by tenfold, decided to focus on you first. Realizing it's either going to die or kill you.

Frustration mounting, Megumi attempted to dash past the curse again, but it anticipated his move, blocking his path with a swift strike. You could feel the tension rising, your instincts pushing for action. Clicking your tongue, you unleashed another blast of energy, this time severely cutting off the curse's leg.

“Put me down,” you commanded Megumi, your voice steady despite the chaos around you.

“Don't be stupid,” he retorted, his grip tightening protectively. “We need to stick together.”

“Put me down and let's split up,” you insisted sternly, your eyes locking with his. “We won't get far if we stay together.”

Megumi hesitated, torn between his concern for you and the practicality of your suggestion. The curse, sensing his hesitation, launched another attack. Megumi barely managed to evade it, his breath catching as the curse's claws grazed dangerously close.

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Yuuji shouted, trying to draw the curse's attention away.

“You're smart, Fushiguro-san,” you added, your voice calm but urgent. “You know the curse is targeting me first. Now put me down—”

Before Megumi could respond, disaster struck. The curse unleashed another ferocious attack, faster than before. Megumi reacted swiftly, attempting to dodge, but the curse's claws found their mark. You gasped in pain as you felt yourself being torn away from Megumi's grasp.

“Y/n!” Yuuji's anguished cry echoed through the room as he witnessed the horror unfolding.

In an instant, your body went limp, severed from your head by the curse's brutal strike. Megumi, stunned and grief-stricken, held your lifeless form in his arms, disbelief and sorrow etched on his face.

“Y/N! No!” Yuuji's voice cracked with despair as he saw your severed head roll across the floor. Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the ashes where your head lay moments ago, consumed by the curse's fire.

Megumi's grip tightened around your lifeless body, the shock and horror evident in his wide eyes. The weight of your death pressed heavily on him, but he knew he had to act swiftly to save the others. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay focused.

Yuuji, meanwhile, was paralyzed with grief and rage. The sight of your severed head turning to ashes burned into his memory. Tears streamed down his face, but he quickly wiped them away, steeling his resolve. He had to honor your death..

"Fushiguro! We can't let her death be in vain!" Yuuji shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "Get Nobara and get out of here! I'll handle this bastard."

Megumi, still reeling from the shock of losing you, hesitated for a moment. But seeing the fierce determination in Yuuji's eyes, he nodded silently. Gently laying your body down with utmost respect, he whispered a quiet apology before turning to leave, his heart heavy with grief and guilt. “I'm sorry, Y/n," he muttered under his breath before turning to Yuuji. "Be careful," he urged, his voice tight with barely contained emotion.

Yuuji gave a small, resolute nod. "I will. Now go!"

With that, Megumi dashed off, calling his demon dog to aid him in finding Nobara. He knew he had to be quick, or the curse would finish them all.

The curse spirit, sensing the shift in Yuuji's demeanor, grinned mockingly. Yuuji's gaze hardened. "I need to buy time."

-

Kape?