#well and the pattern thing is like? a family recognition type thing but if that were the case! why doesnt neomi have one? and why are

[tac-the-unseen]

I love all ur blog sm!! Can I ask abt something with the slashers (specially Thomas <3) with an foreigner!reader that don't quit speak english very well and normally forget words?

(Sorry if something is spelled wrong, English is not my native language lmao)

Absolutely, I can!

And because the request didn't specify, this fic will strictly be about speaking a foreign language.

Sorry if this is inaccurate! I'm a native English speaker and don't know many who aren't. Sorry in advance!!

Slashers x Foreigner!Reader

Micheal Myers:

•This man will act like he doesn't care but in reality he's so intrigued. (It might be why you're still alive) 

•He’ll spend his time watching you practice your pronunciation and recognition patterns, like it's a movie.

•Is he a bit mean about it? Yes. Will he laugh? Probably.

•If you find yourself not knowing what certain words are and stumble around until you find the right word, You'd be surprised at how patient he is. 

•If you are very new to the English language he'll secretly get you flash cards and stash them into a place he knows you'll find them

•Despite everything, if you ask him for help, he will help. He might be mute but he can write and use TV to aid you.

Billy loomis & Stu macher:

•Stu is already romanticizing your language, but instead of using the actual name of your language, he calls it “Talking pretty to me”

•Billy asks if you want any text books or study equipment to help you on your English speaking journey 

•Both boys are a surprising help! Stuttering trying to articulate what you mean? They've already jumped in to, A) help save you some of the embarrassment, and B) give you time to think about what you're trying to say. 

•Someone making fun of you? They're either dead or a social outcast by the end of the week. 

•Are you struggling to remember a certain word? These boys are willing play charades until you figure it out. And they won't drop it either, Stu says ‘It’s bad to give up when you've already come so far.’ 

•Over all it's not so bad (Stu 100,000,000% uses Google translate to figure out how to say ‘i love you’ in your native language) 

Thomas Hewitt:

•When both of you met, he had never met an actual foreigner before.

•He knew people travel around and occasionally some valley girl would end up in their small town, But someone from a whole different part of the world?

•His interest in you spiked the moment he heard your accent 

•Thomas has so many questions but doesn't know how to ask you

•With him being mute and your struggles with English, It's not the easiest relationship. In the end both of you just end up pointing at things and making noises to get your point across. 

•Absolutely loves to listen to you speak in your native language, Even if he'll never understand it. 

•When he's first trying to court you, he leaves you slightly damaged flowers (he struggled to pick them) to communicate his affection. 

•even with a language barrier, he's gonna love you like no one ever could 

Bubba Sawyer:

•He had no idea people outside of America existed 

•When You fell into the palm of Texas and his brothers found you failing to remember the word for your favorite snack, They knew you would be an easy target.

•When they kidnapped you and brought you to the basement so Bubba could chop you up, he was fascinated by the way you desperately tried to beg him not to kill you. 

•It ended in a huge fight in the family, But he got everyone to let you live a bit longer.

•Sits Criss Cross applesauce while you speak for your life. You could babble about anything and he would listen intently. 

•He pulls out his alphabet soup machine and spends hours typing with you. (You help him finally get past the clown level)

Bo Sinclair:

•absolute meanie, stinky poopy head about it >:(

•will mock your stutters and say stuff like “Oh come ON! The word is Cat! C. A. T. CAT! What's so hard about that?” 

•If you speak your native language around him, He thinks you're insulting him or intentionally hiding something. 

•”If you could say it to my face in your language you can say it to my face again in mine!”

•The same sentiment is not shared when it involves bedroom fun

•Will eventually apologize, But that's going to take a while 

Vincent Sinclair:

•As another non-speaking fellow he takes his time to make sure you two can understand each other 

•He’ll mostly use body language and and little doodles to get his point across 

•Stuttering over a word? He doesn't care, he'll let you work it out without any judgment!

•Want his help? He has several books, Vincent will just pull out a book he knows as the word in it, flipped to the page, and point at the word. 

•Love listening to you talk, In English or not. He'll happily let you yap his ear off. 

Lester Sinclair:

•Poor boy was lovestruck when he first heard you talk!

•Full on heart eyes while you explain where you're from and how you ended up here 

•If you end up fumbling on a word he'll start shouting out potential words for what you're trying to say. 

•Example: “and then I had too…uh…um..” “Run? Pee? Eat? Were you hungry? Are you hungry right now?” 

•So helpful, I know

•But the guy is already googling restaurants based off your native cuisine. He's got the date set up. 

•”It's no biggie, I'm a native English speaker and I still can't get it right!” 

Billy Lenz:

•Billy 100% understands the struggle of finding the right word to say 

•He can't stop stuttering himself, so when you start stuttering you kind of reinforce us in his brain that you were meant to be together 

•He feels like he can bond with you over it, and even feel safer around you knowing that you also mess up 

•the thing is if you start stuttering, he'll start stuttering. If you can't get it by God he will.

•”W-we can't bo-oth be wrong.” 

Brahms Heelshire:

•this man will 100% try to learn your language as soon as he finds out you're a foreigner

•That man has a huge library, there's bound to be at least one book written in your mother tongue 

•He spends a lot of time practicing your native language so he can speak to you more comfortably

•You already know he has children's learning books he'll pull out if you ask. 

•Can't find the word you're looking for? He's already 10 books deep, he'll find it for you. 

•Brahms is a well-educated man and he intends to use His years of learning to help 

•If you want to take classes to better your English skills he will 100,000% throw money your way to do so.

Hannibal Lecter:

•Now Hannibal really understands 

•He's a Lithuanian who learned English as a 10 year old

•He didn't struggle as much, But for the first couple of months you bet he was stumbling. 

•If you're struggling with a word, He has a process of teaching you so you don't forget it again. 

1) Identify what you're trying to say 

2)Slowly begin to sound out the word 

3)Have you recite the word a few times 

4)He'll either teaches you a little tune to remember or he'll do something so you remember the moment 

•Does it feel a little condescending? Yes. But it works 

•He's also willing to pour an ungodly amount of money into your English education if you ask 

•He'll even teach you himself in his spare time

Will Graham:

•Doesn't really know what to do, He's a bit awkward about it 

•He'll also identify the word and repeat it a few times so you can get a better handle on it.

•He thinks it's a bit funny and a bit cute when you stutter or mispronounce something 

•He will gently correct you and move on like nothing happened 

The Lost Boys:

•holy fucking shit this is a cluster fuck, let's do this one by one 

•David

-David, having been around a while, has picked up a couple languages.

-If he does know the language you're speaking he'll speak it back to you and guide you into English better than the other boys could 

-If not, he'll just read your mind and tell you what you're trying to say. It's by far the easiest way to articulate what you mean. 

•Dwayne

-Dwayne being just slightly younger than David has also picked up a couple languages 

-It's really the same if he does know your language But with a little more verbal teaching 

-If he doesn't he'll patiently wait until you figure out what you're trying to say. 

•Paul

-as soon as you start to stutter over yourself Paul starts shotgunning words off 

-some slightly related to the situation and others wildly out there 

-”Drink? Food? Ocean? Horse? The unforgiving eyes of God and His kingdom???” 

-he'll do this to confuse you and have a nice laugh 

•Marko

-Marko speaks English and Italian, so if your language isn't one of those two you're kind of shit out of luck 

-”Come on babe, you'll get it” 

-He finds it a bit funny but still tries to help in little ways 

Thanks for reading <3

Sorry if this seems hastily written together, I haven't had the request in a while so I kind of jumped at the opportunity.

[icyg4l]

PAC: Is This Relationship Salvageable?

Hello beautiful people! I know I said that I wanted to upload this last night but I honestly forgot about it lol. Today’s topic will be for those who are deciding on whether or not they should save a relationship. This could be a familial, platonic or romantic relationship. This reading is inspired by real life events. As we enter a new season, some of us will be going through physical and spiritual upgrades, which means that some people will stay and others will go. Sometimes we have to learn to leave people behind. In other instances, we have let go of our egos and face the music. Also, if you would like to book a personal reading with me, I will leave the link to book here & my guidelines here as well. Personal readings are officially open until further notice! Now without further ado, please select your pile to find out whether or not your relationship is meant to be salvaged! 

TW: mentions of abuse & addiction

Top Left-to-Bottom Right: (1-6)

Pile One: Some things are better left unsaid. This relationship feels romantic, but not exactly. Perhaps a fling that turned into something serious but wasn’t supposed to be serious. Maybe you are in a year’s long situationship.. Free you my heart. It’s definitely time for you to let go of this person. I heard predator and prey. This person is sneaky and selfish. They will do whatever to keep you around them for the money that you have. Your financial resources/benefits are the only reason why they keep you around. The sex is a factor too, but you could get good sex anywhere. You could have recently got a promotion or got hired at a new job where you will be making more money. This person could either be buttering you up a lot right now & it’s become an annoyance to you, or this person could also be starting fights with you. Either way, they are jealous of what you have going on. If you do not get rid of this person, they will end up sabotaging your finances. So please, move accordingly. Move like you got some sense. You know what this person is capable of. Don’t be blinded by the history that you have with this person. Use your pattern recognition to help you recognize the toxicity that they bring into your life. You are not making the wrong decision by kicking them to the curb. 

Cards Used: 6 of Swords, 8 of Cups, 5 of Wands, 4 of Discs (RX), The Magician (RX), The Hierophant, King of Wands 

extras: jody and yvette. cardi b and offset. “the lies! the lies!” “money don’t grow on trees.” hobosexual. unfolded laundry. aura cleansing. user. polly pocket dolls. collector’s edition. birthday gift. 

Pile Two: I feel like this pile struggles with addiction or some type of trauma that is not so hidden. I feel like this trauma has affected your reputation, but the person you are asking about has stuck by your side. I do not think that you and this person can’t make up. Some things were said that you didn’t really mean. In the heat of the moment, you just said whatever to make them feel bad. I think that this relationship can be rekindled, but there needs to be a cool off period. This person could be your mentor, sponsor, friend, etc. This person has seen you at your lowest and right now, you could possibly be at a low point right now. This person is very empathetic and knows exactly what you’re going through but dealing with your mood swings can be draining. If you’re going to put in the work to better yourself, then do it. Words without work are just broken promises. If you need to go on medication, then contact your doctor and do that. Get to the root of the problem, Pile Two. If the roles are reversed, just know that you cannot save everyone! This person is just as grown as you are. At some point they have to mature, so let them do that. Focus on yourself for the time being. As time goes on, you two will have a better relationship but the dynamic will be different (in a good way). 

Cards Used: Ace of Wands, Princess of Cups, 4 of Cups, The Devil, Death, 4 of Swords, 8 of Discs.

extras: rue and ali. piscean energy. failed test. please please please by sabrina carpenter. struggles. drinker at parties. PDA. “rinky dink.” molly. seinfeld. just dance. dancing with the devil. 

Pile Three: You and this person have been in each other’s company for a long time. However, it seems that you two need to go on separate piles in order to grow. You will miss this person a lot. You may even run into this person a couple of times but hey you have to do what you have to do. Whenever you two do make up, you two will click like nothing ever happened. This could be a best friend or a lover, maybe even a cousin if you are close to them. You have known this person for a long time. Sometimes you need space from these kinds of people because at the time, you may be outgrowing them. But it’s like that one pair of pants in your closet, you can’t just get rid of them. You’ll always come back to them when you lose weight or gain weight. You’ll always come back to your person! There is a deep soul connection that you have with this person, which is why it’s hard to let go of them. But it is very well-needed. Focus on yourself. Your future is bright and so is theirs. Learn to create and enjoy a life outside of them. 

Cards Used: 7 of Wands, 10 of Discs, 6 of Cups, 5 of Cups, 8 of Wands, 2 of Swords, 8 of Cups. 

extras: lawrence and issa. raw indian hair. shark tales. squeeze. great rapport. miley and lily.

Pile Four: If you feel like the connection is one-sided, then please do not hesitate to drop this person. It feels like this person isn’t necessary in your life. They’re not meant to be in your circle. Perhaps, they could be your associate. I don’t believe this person is as close to you as they once were. This does not mean that you have beef with this person. It just feels like you need to decenter them. They are doing their own thing and you need to start. You will not be close with everyone that you come across and that’s okay. There’s no long conversation that needs to be had. You just need to accept things as they are. Find people that are on the same wavelength as you, Pile Four. You can reach out to this person and they will reply, but the conversations are likely going to be brief. However, there’s no hard feelings. Just be ready to adjust the energy for this person in your life. Reciprocation is something that you are looking for, and does not lie within them anymore. It is somewhere else. 

Cards Used: 2 of Wands, Prince of Swords, 4 of Swords, The Hermit, 6 of Wands, The Hanged Man, 4 of Cups, 

extras: hidden jealousy. unanswered texts and calls. turtles. salamander. 

Pile Five: Right now, you’re leveling up. A lot of the things you used to do, the places you used to enjoy going to, the people you used to be close with are not resonating with you anymore. It’s a time of maturity for you. Those who understand that will be empathetic to that, especially if you have recently become a parent. But those who cannot accept the fact that you are changing will simply have to be kissed goodbye. You could be converting to a different faith, going through a dark night of the soul, or you could be grieving. You could be known for being a party animal. You could be known for being a fighter. You could be known for having lots of sex. It’s okay to change, but what’s not okay is expecting people to stay the same for your comfort level. The person/people constantly expecting you to be your past self need to kick rocks. Those are not your kind of people anymore. It doesn't matter how long you have known them for. It doesn't even matter if this is your own mother/family member. You have to put yourself first and they’re just going to have to deal with that! You cannot control the reactions of other people. You can only control how you react.

Cards Used: 5 of Swords, 7 of Wands, The Emperor, Knight of Wands, 6 of Discs, 3 of Discs. 

extras: healer. no hard feelings. moving boxes. man in the mirror. picking up new hobbies. “working on my aura.” journaling daily. freedom. changes ahead. 

Pile Six: This feels very twin flame-ish. Right now, you may feel embarrassed, maybe even helpless. You could be on the receiving end of someone’s callous/cold behavior. But yet, you still feel tied to them. Baby, it’s time to do a cord cutting ritual and be done with it. It’s time for you to explore some different connections. Your energy is similar to Pile One, but this is a spiritual connection rather than a material connection. Your twin flame will get what they are owed. It is not right that they continue to get away with treating you wrong & being sneaky behind your back. When someone shows you who they are the first time, BELIEVE THEM! Don’t fall for their bullshit again. You know better. “Fool me one time, shame on you” is what I heard. Be ready to find some new hobbies, babe. You’re going to need them. 

Cards Used: Ace of Swords, Ten of Swords (RX), The Fool, The Devil, The Magician, Justice, Judgment (RX), 7 of Discs.

extras: new underwear. stocky. lavender. clues. body language. divas. stephanie mcmahon. goofball. hand sanitizer. in need of new lip gloss. stressors. working the late shift. catching z’s.

[3liza]

i do think there are meaningful differences in subjective cognition and cogitation, but i also think the way these differences are pathologized and treated like astrology or pop taxonomy ("well i have aphantsia i cant imagine visual stuff at all" "well i cant think about smells" "well i cant conceptualize music" etc) is completely misguided and the differences that do exist are attributable almost entirely to interoception, individual experience, and especially training, and especially especially early childhood or even infantile training you probably were not even aware you were receiving. if anything, the most recent neurological research has shown the brain is more plastic than anyone could have imagined and you can teach anyone to do or think about anything you want if you invest in it sufficiently.

my big "what do you mean my experiences arent universal" thing as an adult has been finding out most people's parents largely did not teach them how to notice and experience sensory information, think about stuff, or how to remember things (i dont mean in an executive function/recall sense, i mean in a "remembering a life event or experience in a narrative way that provides fodder for contemplation, i guess, at the risk of sounding like a complete prat), and especially not how to think about media, and by this i mean metacognition skills. thinking about thinking about. synthesizing information. and that stuff is where most of the abstract thought skills come from. its also where you get your ability to be aware you are even (for example) thinking about a smell in the first place. of course you can think about smells. if you can walk past a cinnabon and have some sort of reaction, even if its just "thats familiar to me", the pattern of the cinnabon smell exists in your brain in a way you can access. maybe you cant access it on purpose very well, but it exists and you were able to form the memory, which is what "imagining" things is. its a type of memory, not an eidetic type usually but a synthesized type from many different discrete experiences.

there are people who cant do that. they usually have brain damage to specific areas. if you really couldnt imagine what a crosswalk looks like, as many people who believe they are aphantasic believe about themselves, they would hit people with their cars constantly and wouldnt be able to identify their friends and family in photographs. people with that type of brain damage do have that latter problem, although the "face blindness" issue is complicated by, for example, the tendency of a lot of people not to look at faces in the first place, which is the current strongest theory about why autistics are seemingly "faceblind" despite having uncanny pattern recognition and visual acuity in all other areas--it's theorized by some researches that its the acuity thats making autistic kids avoid looking at faces in the first place, because its too much information literally, and it "hurts".

i cant recognize visual influences in art and think about them while im on the toilet because i was synthesized in a vat in the lourve, i can do it because a series of adults painstakingly and boringly taught me how to do it over the course of decades. and more importantly they taught me that i was already doing it and wasnt aware of it. now im too aware of it and all it got me is being annoyed that other people arent aware of doing it. so it goes. the other half of it is the difficulty in using spoken language to describe sensory experiences, im pretty sure most of you can imagine food just fine but are significantly less skilled at explaining what that food is like or what the process of imagining the food or smell or image is like, even to yourself, so you assume you arent doing it at all.

[lilacerull0]

I think a lot of it (being drawn to people who remind us of other people) has to do with our human tendency for pattern recognition. For better or worse, we like to notice patterns and group things accordingly, and this ABSOLUTELY plays out in how we choose which people to spend time with! There's a sense of comfort that comes with familiarity. "Ah, I already know how to interact with this type of human." I think THIS is mostly the explanation for the very real phenomenon of people choosing partners that resemble their parents in some way (there was no need to get as weird with it as Freud did, haha). You feel like you already know what to expect! They feel like "home" in that way, but whether that is good or bad largely depends on what the prior relationship WAS. Sometimes a familiar Badness can FEEL safer than the Unknown. But anyway, we also recognize those patterns with other relationships! "I made friends with this person because they remind me of ME," or "I was attracted to this person because they remind me of this other person whom I love, and I already know that I get along with this Type of person." There's a lot said about the allure of the "new" and the whole "opposites attract" thing, which of course CAN come into play as well, but I think there's also a lot to be said about getting to know a person and sensing: "Oh. I know YOU." (The same way we know which berries are the ones safe to eat. 😂 We observe and categorize. All the time!)

This is a topic I have been fighting about with my mother for YEARS now (I literally nicknamed her Freud) and we only recently came to a sort of compromise when it comes to it and yes. Okay. I am willing to accept that my mother acts like my father's mother, my grandmother, or that my father resembles my own mother's father in certain regards, but I came up with my own romanticized view on it that works in certain cases. Sure, there must be something animalistic about it and for some it's definitely this cyclic occurrence involving generations and generations of people, but in my particular case my mother and father both managed to outgrow the circumstances of their childhoods, both financially and psychologically. (our family is nothing like the families they grew up in and I wish everyone could grow up the way I did) But I choose to believe this urge to find others similar to us or our loved ones in thought specifically can be a form of breaking the cycle. I love the way your mind works because mine or a loved ones works similarly so by "assembling" these people based on this instinct we are capable of building our own families, not entirely independent from genetics or history, but even better precisely because it is based on these things we cannot chose, but still manage to outsmart in some way. Sure. I pick you because you are familiar in some way, but what if we were dealt the same cards others before us were dealt and we did something different with them this time. Even if it's a slight change, it's still a fresh addition to the genetics of our lives because it's only a form of mutation that is capable of changing things for the better.

[bam-monsterhospital]

(Image is watson speaking to sherlock on the topic of the assassination plot sherlock is investigating doesn’t actually exist: “No. Well... only that you have a remarkable faculty for deduction, and pattern recognition.  And that, perhaps, if ill-applied...”)

(Image of sherlock in acquiescence: “I see things that are not there.”)

god it’s so refreshing to have smart characters written by smart writers.

the awareness that sherlock’s style of investigation hinges on making leaps and bounds, very educated guesses but still guesses all the same, and then highlighting the fallibility of this character’s m.o. not only avoids the standard ‘genius as personality type’ trap that lazy and idiotic writers fall into, but also humanizes him. and having john point it out in a way that sounds like tired lived experience and gently confronting sherlock about it like this puts both of these characters on equal footing. john watson is a smart man, a doctor, and should be more than able to keep up with whatever quick sharpness sherlock doles out.  and in this game, he certainly does.

(image of sherlock responding to watson later in the conversation: “So it seems.  Forgive me.  Without something to occupy my mind, I turn into an entirely different animal.”)

Also, sherlock hyperfixates!  It’s made blaringly clear in the previous game and this one, with multiple characters drawing attention to it.  those who know him (mycroft, watson, etc) are aware of it, he’s aware of it, and the heavy neurodivergent coding as well as the focus on mental health and illness in the holmes family fits well with this character; it makes the character’s original idiosyncrasies make all the more sense while also not demonizing mental illness/neurodivergence.   (chapter one spoilers below)

sherlock’s mother didn’t die due to her ‘madness’, she died because she wasn’t receiving proper care for her condition.  sherlock says he fears becoming like his mother (going “mad”), but he actually is terrified of the loss of self she suffered; terrified of having no control as someone else pulls the strings to utterly dissolve you as a person.  He witnessed a creative, genius woman deteriorate into something utterly devoid of the person he knew, and the trauma surrounding this (having experienced it in his childhood) and a particular incident continues to plague him. John Watson is suffering from survivor’s guilt and trauma from the war he served in.  He self-deprecates because of it, and in “The Awakened” game there are hints he is mentally at an all-time low, where later he states his friendship with sherlock and the shenanigans they get up to make him “feel alive” again.

What these characters have lived through and how their minds react to the world because of it are integral parts of these versions of the characters and not something to just get over or ‘fix’.  i don’t have to go in to how showing heroes living with mental health issues like this normalizes and puts it into a positive light, do i?

also they’re great friends and great for each other and support each other and reaffirm each other ajfksdlafsa.  good duo.

[dirtytransmasc]

mama Neytiri au: Jake and Spider father and son moments plzz

👉👈🥹

when jake first met the boy, he never expected him to become family, let alone a son. he knew it had been wrong to be so bitter towards the boy, he was barely a few months old, the only thing he had in common with his father was a bit of blood. but when he saw his mate light up at the mere sight of the child, taking him into her arms as if he was meant to be there, hearing her speak of him being willed to them by Eywa herself; he started to look past his own bias.

spider quickly wormed his way into jake's heart, becoming one of the few things that really mattered. it had been months at this point, spider was getting real good at walking, running laps around both him and neytiri; both parents had found themselves spending a lot of their time in the lab with spider. but now he was starting to talk, it was still close to babbling, but he had managed some simple words; mainly mama, he'd attempted a few na'vi words but hadn't gotten them quite yet, even tried his soon-to-be little brother's name, but not dad or dada. jake tried not to be upset, knew it would come in time, but he was longing to hear his son call for him.

he couldn't blame the kid, he didn't get to see him often as chief, but neytiri needed a day with her mother as she was coming close to the end of her pregnancy, giving jake a way out of his duties to go up to the lab with his boy.

spider was fully of energy as usual, running to greet his dad as soon as he heard the airlock, norm tailing after him desperately. upon seeing jake, currently scooping the little dude up, he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Jake, on time next time, he's learning his way around a clock and fast. he knows what a clock looks like at 9 o'clock, when neytiri comes, and now he gets all types of pepped up whenever that little red hand is sitting on the nine, meaning I've dealt with 2 hours of this Jake, 2 hours. your kid is wicked smart, which is great, except when he's excelling at symbol and pattern recognition, not to mention his ability at evading his caregivers." Norm was ranting and raving, if jake had actually been listening and not focused on his kid, then he probably brought up scientific jargon or some sort of statistics about how baby's can start pattern and symbol recognition right around their 2nd birthday.

jake however is not listening and he's rolling his eyes, getting the kid to giggle, earning another scornful look from norm.

"Jake?"

"yeah yeah, on time, I'll try not to get caught up in being chief again. now what should we do little man?" he ask, poking the baby earning a shrill laugh, "bother norm some more, rub our grubby hands all over his delicate and expensive machines?"

"Jake please, just keep him out of the lab, take him back to the nursery, neytiri has been practicing letters lately, don't let him fall behind or she'll have my head, not yours." he spoke with a huff before shoving the co2 pack in his hands and walking off to do whatever he had going on in the lab. neytiri had thought it important he knew his mother tongue, just as much as he knew na'vi. she said that Eywa forbid something happened to them, spider should know the language of the people who would most likely take custody of them.

"you hear that? you and mama been working on your letter's? well lets get to it little man, or you might not see me and norm around anymore," he cooed at the boy while slinging the pack over his shoulder and sliding the mask over her face and around his neck.

"mama, mama, mama," the little one babbled over and over again, bopping his head with each syllable.

"that's right, mama, but now dada is gonna teach you, can you say dada?" it was desperate, he knew that, but sue him, he was getting jealous.

the kid didn't in fact say mama, instead he hummed to himself as he played with his dads cummerbund, a few months earlier and he would have been running his gums over the cool edged, but the teething had just come to a standstill, most of his teeth had come in by then and spider was more interested in running his fingers over the thread work as jake walked the two back to the nursery.

spider was growing out of the place, but was too young to have his own room and still too little to move in with the family. it pained jake to have to leave the boy there day in and day out, unable to even bring him out to feel the breeze in his hair or the sun on his skin, to let him be one with Eywa. no, he had to leave him in this sterile lab devoid of color outside of the little makeshift nursery. but it was the place spider called home, and would call home until he fit an exo- pack. he shared the room with a few kids, but they all had some sort of foster parents within the compound so they rarely stayed in here other than to play. jake and neytiri made do with the space they had to raise spider bringing na'vi toys, blankets, even furniture to make the room feel a little more lived in, not so sterile; plus, neytiri seemed to have a vendetta against the blankets in the compound.

"alright spi, show me what you and mama have been working on," he directed, putting the boy down. spider took off to his little corner, where he kept all of his things; books, toys, whatever else the little bugger wanted. bringing back a book, just me and my dad, an earth classic, almost 200 years old, and damn was it pulling on jakes heartstrings.

"this one bud? mama's been reading you this" he asked, not knowing which answer he wanted more. yes, meaning neytiri had been trying to get him to say some variation of dad, no meaning spider, in his little child mind, was potentially communicating to jake. one was more likely than the other, but jake was gonna ignore that fact like the plague.

spider all but shoved the book into jakes hands before toddling over the pallet against the wall. he was a little spitfire alright, even if he could barely talk, he found ways to make it know what he wanted and when he wanted it.

jake wasn't unfamiliar with reading to the little thing, despite being a little ball of energy, he liked to just sit close and listen to the calm cadence of his parents reading to him. so when he sat down, spider climbed into his lap, curling against jake until his was comfortable, and waiting for him to start.

"just me and my dad" jake read "we went camping, just me and my dad, dad drove the car because I'm too little,"

"remember, a car is the thing they had on earth, that went broom broom, you have a toy car in your little chest over there." jake pointed, spider's eyes followed. jake was almost surprised when he didn;t get up to grab it, but then in the middle of his imitation of pushing the little toy car around, he yawned a big yawn, tailing a little broom broom of his own to the end of his little display. jake was a little late, and norm had said he'd been at it since 9, which meant nap time was coming soon.

he held the book in one hand so he could reach for the blanket tossed on the edge of spider's bed, draping it over the boy where he had settled back down, being lolled by each breath jake took. he wasn't dozing just yet, so jake kept reading past the smile that graced his lips.

"I picked the campsite, but someone was already living there, so I gave it back. we found another nearby. my dad was tired so I pitched the tent."

"we made a camp fire, I found the wood, and my dad lit the fire. I wanted to take my dad for a ride in our canoe, but I launched it too hard,"

"looked, spi, see the bear across the lake," he said, pointing at the colorfully illustrated page, tapping a big blue finger, on the little brown bear, spiders fingers following.

"we went fishing instead,"

"and theres a fish, and a frog, and a turtle, and a bug. can you sound those out for me, F like in fish and frog, fff." he sounded out the letter, making sure to put in a little work before the boy took his nap, hoping it would put him out deeper, as the kid was starting to give up his naps and it wasn't doing any good for him.

"ffff" spider copied.

"good boy, that's really good. what about B like bug, b b b."

"b b b" he copied again, before yawning and bring a hand up to rub his eyes. jake felt his heart swell, sleepy babies were like cryptonite to him, always had been, but now he was a father, and damn did it double him over.

"ok, lessons over, lets finish this, and you young man, can go down for your nap."

"no" the little one whined, all while burrowing his head into jakes side, eyes seemingly weighed down by rocks.

"oh yes, but I'll cut you a deal squirt, if you can finish this book without falling asleep, you can stay up," it was a good trick, it almost always promised a fast asleep kid. he felt spider nod against him, so he continued.

"my dad took a snapshot of the fish we caught and then I made dinner for me and my dad."

"look, see the bear is back and he's stealing the fish," jake spoke softer, brushing fingers through his hair and over his forehead.

"we had eggs. after dinner I told my dad a ghost. boy he got scared." I gave my dad a big hug, that made him feel better, then we went to bed."

that line reminded him of spider; he would often do for others what he needed himself. if he needed attention, he gave others attention. if he needed a hug, he hugged others. when it came to the scientists, that didn't always pan out well for him, but he and neytiri always made sure to reflect those actions with 110%.

"I stayed up with my dad and let him read a story to me. we slept in our tent all night long- just me and my dad."

before jake could even put the book down he heard soft babbles against his skin.

"dada" over and over, barely whispered as his son fell into sleep.

he felt his heart swoon and his stomach do a backflip. he said it, his son had called him dad, he finally said it. jake wanted to celebrate, to praise his son, to hear it over and over, but he knew he couldn't. spider had just fallen asleep, and jake really needed to keep him down, so he opted to very slowly and very gently pull spider up to his chest, to kiss his brow softly, before resting his head against the wall and giving in to the peaceful space between awake and asleep, blissfully directing all his sense towards the boy sleeping on his chest; his breath, his skin, his smell, it was all he could focus on.

he loved this boy and he thanked Eywa that she gave him this boy.

~~~

https://youtu.be/zHeLkoYw2ks - this is a video with the pages of the book, for anyone who hasn't seen/read it before.

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

Okay it got community noted but what this elitism

https://x.com/seamus_coughlin/status/1857629211537666253?s=46

“Only people with degree should vote!” What types of degrees? The running jokes about “college educated” people these days is how out of touch they are with the working class

“It seem affordable groceries is more important than women rights!” I remember people on tumblr pointed out the lack of wealth privilege discussion in sjws circles. No I don’t mean line trump vs me a Amazon warehouse worker

I mean more “Upper middle class woman with several college degrees living in a gated community and shitting on poor trailer white kids”

That what I been seeing from the woke

Also just because you have a college degree doesn’t mean you know everything

One thing I been having issues with Sjws when it comes to black struggles (minus my own community bs) I go “wait is your idea of black people based off your pop culture media consumption and sanitized textbooks?”

Oh my family was there during the civil rights movement and lord’s knows the full extent of how the Vietnam war effected my elders as my late grandmother couldn’t have memories of her brother who died in Vietnam because she was too young when he was drafted

The shit you learn in textbooks is a lot of marginalized people families histories wokesters

It like how people were shocked that black Americans were very weary about the Covid vaccines…..there something called pattern recognition

https://youtu.be/rX07mUHFO4s?si=dX-U6Ee1Q1Gk3E5T

I got out of the democratic cult, but idc if it Obama (actually he the first person I realize the wolf in sheep clothing metaphor), Hillary, or Harris

I can seen the devil beyond his new persona= the woke person

Okay it got community noted but what this elitism

It's an abuse tactic, they're trying to emotionally manipulate people that didn't vote the way they wanted them to.

Guessing they think that since it works on leftist types that it will work on not leftist types too. Personally I respond better to not being insulted.

“It seem affordable groceries is more important than women rights!” I remember people on tumblr pointed out the lack of wealth privilege discussion in sjws circles. No I don’t mean line trump vs me a Amazon warehouse worker

Immediate physical needs tend to take the lead, that's human nature. It's not affordable groceries it's being able to feed yourself and your family people are concerned with.

Insulting them for that isn't going to do you any favors in the future.

AOC did a thing where she asked her voters if they also voted for Trump and why, short version of the primary reasons I saw were 'you both care about working people' and 'I wanted something different and harris didn't offer that'

She seemed flummoxed, but the DNC would do well to read the responses and adjust their message accordingly in the future instead of sticking with the old standby of 'call them racist' or any other ist/phobic ect thing they've been running with.

I mean more “Upper middle class woman with several college degrees living in a gated community and shitting on poor trailer white kids” That what I been seeing from the woke Also just because you have a college degree doesn’t mean you know everything

Having that degree just means you have a easier time wrapping your bigotry and hate in fancy words that disguise what they're saying.

Funniest part is they still opt to do things like that tweet.

One thing I been having issues with Sjws when it comes to black struggles (minus my own community bs) I go “wait is your idea of black people based off your pop culture media consumption and sanitized textbooks?”

You already know the answer to that.

Oh my family was there during the civil rights movement and lord’s knows the full extent of how the Vietnam war effected my elders as my late grandmother couldn’t have memories of her brother who died in Vietnam because she was too young when he was drafted

Sadly that draft thing is not uncommon throughout history.

The shit you learn in textbooks is a lot of marginalized people families histories wokesters It like how people were shocked that black Americans were very weary about the Covid vaccines…..there something called pattern recognition

I wasn't surprised, raw numbers had white folks in the US being the peak group refusing or hesitant to get the covid shot, but by %of total population by racial demographic it was black Americans.

'oh how could they do that and refuse this thing that the government says is good for you?'

Tuskegee syphilis experiment ring a bell anyone?

Oh, I could have saved myself a moment if I'd just added that, lol.

I got out of the democratic cult, but idc if it Obama (actually he the first person I realize the wolf in sheep clothing metaphor), Hillary, or Harris I can seen the devil beyond his new persona= the woke person

Still a registered democrat because I never bothered to change to unaffiliated, not that it really matters since I get to vote for who I want to anyhow in pretty much anything but the primaries which are done by party here in CA and also fairly decided by the time they get here.

Both sides are ass, Vermin Supreme 2028!!!!!

[mothersminstrel]

I probably should’ve done a separate post for Bruno, but oh well 🤷‍♀️ On to the triplets!

Karina and Julieta used to be somewhat close before Bruno left. She was the only adult left in the house during the day who wasn’t completely accident prone (Agustín I’m looking at you bud). But Julieta has always been one to easily bend to Alma’s will and that caused a lot of hurt for Karina. One minute they would be having a fine time talking and cooking together and the next minute Alma would come into the room and it would go stale and awkward. Like Julieta had been caught hanging out with a “bad seed”. After the events of the movie Karina doesn’t fully trust Julieta anymore. And any time they spent alone for the next few years Karina would always be secretly waiting for her to switch up like she used to. But, Julieta is a sincere person and she took the new changes very seriously and put in the effort to make it up to Karina. They aren’t close, but they are family.

Pepa on the other hand always made Karina nervous. She hates loud abrupt noise and Pepa’s constant mood shifts put her on edge. Karina relies heavily on pattern recognition to gauge how to act socially and Pepa is a hard card. Pepa never really tried to make any sort of relationship with her mostly because she was always fighting with Bruno and anyone on Bruno’s side was against hers. After the movie though she comes to terms with the fact that that is not true and Karina learns to be more at ease around her.

Karina and Bruno’s relationship is very special. They’ve been each other’s safe haven since they were kids. They spent so much time together that once they were married they hardly had anything to ever share. They were content enough just being next to each other. They felt like home to one another. When Bruno left, Karina felt very lost. Like someone had torn a piece of her away. She spent a lot of her time in and out of disassociation. When he came back into her life she was at first ready and willing to try and pick up where they left off, but she quickly learned she wasn’t as ready for that as she thought she was and neither was he. It took a few months for them to finally open up. Which also accidentally ended up with her pregnant with the triplets (carnal desperation type thing y’know how it is sksks) Both had been given a new goal in life and that motivated them to put in the work. Once the kids are grown, things are even better than they were before. They both have stopped having nightmares years ago. Bruno has a much more regular sleep schedule. Nobody in town knows him for his “bad luck” anymore and they’re finally given the chance to flourish.

@encanto-extended-edition

[xsoldier]

Let's also dial this hostility back a bit and look at the bigger picture into which this is taking place, while also looking at more modern issues.

The entire psychology behind mascots & marketing is building upon a facsimile of interdependent trust with a corporation or product as if it were a recognizable friend. Consumerism is DESIGNED for this to be a totally normal thing that no one so much as stops to think about, and it is not even REMOTELY a new thing.

We've always been taught empathy towards non-human beings who treat us with respect. Data in Star Trek is probably the most immediately obvious example, but this even extends to the droids in Star Wars as well as those placed in defacto positions of servitude have respect because we understand that position as a reflection of our own struggles within that type of inescapable system.

Hell, even the WORD "robot" just literally comes from the word for "slave" so there's an absolute mess of complication around all those things, even without getting into how even the relationship between drives being master/slave got ethically evaluated. Suffice to say, there's a lot of reason for sensitivity around how you present something like this.

The marketing isn't any different than you'd expect to see if this were ACTUALLY a humanoid robot servant you could see, which is a common moral quandary in fiction. This one is only a voice, but this just the same fundamental pattern that's ubiquitous to all marketing, and if anything — treating a human-like thing as utilitarian objects would be an even more disturbing approach, but also less likely for people to use because of how we're socially inclined to act.

Stack that up with how Speech-to-Text and other voice services being normalized are an absolutely MASSIVE part in making a lot of forms of previously a11y-specific technology largely ubiquitous. There's a massive benefit in marketing any number of speech recognition services as a normal, comfortable thing that's just like talking to a regular person, as software like Siri have a marked impact for elderly and the visually impaired, and there's a lower barrier to entry to understand how to use it.

However this intersects with something else:

Late-stage capitalism has pushed to the point where isolation & loneliness are at an all-time high, and rather than addressing the issues that an unsustainable economy predicated upon sucking away every waking hour people have, it's also amplifying overdependence upon parasocial and artificial crutches as a replacement for the thing it's taken away.

At its core, being kind to your Alexa is just like being amicable towards the GPS in your car or talking to your stuffed animals. Anything else that presents itself as a human facsimile — we reflect our normal social behaviours towards it. That gets even more amplified when the limited social contact people have is with people who mistreat them, and all they're looking for is a simulation of the same kindness that they're attempting to give.

The actual issue here is that there is a massively growing demographic who has a lack of meaningful connections with other people, and an increased level of stress at the same time which amplifies tensions to complicate forming those connections with or to others. Technology is often an extremely meaningful stepping stone to healing from that — and is massively vulnerable to exploitation.

Which brings us to… modern AI doing that.

Everything with Alexa's marketing falls into a natural intersection where it's easy for it to be uncomfortable no matter how you approach it, but it isn't necessarily any more or less nefarious than any other piece of marketing. But AI chatbots are the single most predatory system out there because it takes everything about that faux psuedo-familial relationship and projects it into something that is MEANT to make you attach to it and pay for that as a service.

I cannot tell you the number of "this AI Chatbot will send you NSFW pictures and flirt with you" ads that there are out there, where it's designed explicitly to prey upon people who are lonely and learn how to better monetize those people and keep them attached to the app. As if that wasn't bad enough, there are even ones where it's designed to mimic actual people and become an alternative version of them for you:

This is one I stumbled across the other day:

While I understand the core sentiment about Alexa, I think that the reality of that situation is exponentially more complicated and far from being cut-and-dry as one way or another. The sentiments expressed by the people in the replies are ones that deserve compassion rather than ridicule, because that's why there's leverage in those things in the first place.

However, I think that that overall sentiment of loathing towards the coldly exploitive manipulation of a psuedo-familial bond by the mechanisms of late-stage captilaism is undeniably justified. Even moreso when looking at just how sickeningly exploitive ai tech companies are with these same things, and how much worse that is in feeding off a feedback loop that only harms people.

i hate how they market alexa as a ‘member of the family’ like that’s SO fucking blatantly insidious and terrifying also if i wanted an untrustworthy/cold/emotionless machine in my life i’d just talk to my fuckin father 

[schmergo]

Weird obscure little rant here: There's this one particular conspiracy theory I've seen floating around the internet a lot lately that's a minor pet peeve of mine. There are a lot of more famous, major, and dangerous conspiracy theories going around right now, ones that are clearly anti-Semitic, anti-science, and doing genuine measurable danger to families and communities across the countries. But those have been extensively covered and analyzed by way more knowledgeable people than me (those articles are very much worth reading), and I don't think there's anything new I can bring up there.

The one I'm talking about is just skirting mainstream discourse and starting to become more widely known. It's the Missing411 'conspiracy.' The reason I put 'conspiracy' in quotes is that this isn't a traditional conspiracy theory with a clear bogeyman or scapegoat like some of the others. A traditional conspiracy theory usually goes something like, "[Group of people] are secretly [doing bad thing] so that they can [accomplish sinister goal]. but they control the [powerful organization], so nobody knows about it!" 

By contrast, Missing411 is super vague. It basically boils down to, "Mysterious disappearances are taking place throughout America's national parks and protected wilderness lands, and they fit a pattern!" There are hints among fans of this theory that the National Park Service knows more than they're letting on, but the extent of their 'involvement' doesn't seem really central here. The 'theory' doesn't come right out and explain any root cause for this pattern of events, just drawing attention to the pattern itself, though, once again, there are hints as to a deeper meaning. 

Here's the thing: "Missing411" is the brainchild of one guy named David Paulides who wrote a bunch of expensive self-published books compiling these cases. He's an ex-police officer (either retired or fired, depending on who you ask) who also happened to be super invested in Bigfoot hunting before he started with "Missing411," and, indeed, a lot of Missing411 stories do seem to point toward something... sasquatchy without ever coming right out and saying it. The other thing is that Paulides is the only one who can officially label a case a Missing411 case. A lot of people on the internet will say, "Oh, this sounds like Missing411," but Paulides is the one authority on which cases count and which don't.

Turns out a lot of 'missing person' cases in the national parks don't fit these criteria, and others that Paulides claim do are stretches. The criteria themselves are loose, and a missing person doesn't need to fit all or even most of them to be considered a Missing411 case. Missing411 cases include people who were never found, people who were found dead, and people who were recovered safely. Common factors in these 'patterns' include such vague terms as berries or berry bushes playing a role, being found near or in bodies of water, bad weather shortly after the disappearance, someone who is sick or disabled going missing, and someone being with a group at first but becoming separated from them after a surprisingly short period of time. And, of course, the fact that these disappearances take place in National parks and protected wildernesses.

Humans naturally seek and recognize patterns and make connections, but are categorizing cases in a way like this really helpful? I've seen people on the internet gleefully jump to this explanation whenever someone goes missing in a national park. Comments of "Google Missing411!" are common on news articles about this topic. I honestly think it's insensitive to the family members of the missing people who are looking for answers-- and misleading to those participating in the investigations. Currently, there's an incident going on in which a young couple was traveling cross-country in a van and visiting many National Parks. The man returned home with the van but without the woman, who hasn't been heard from in a few weeks, and isn't talking about what happened. Believe it or not, I've seen internet posters comment, "MISSING411!!!!" in response to this tragic story. A few months ago, a young man disappeared in Shenandoah National Park and his body was later recovered. I followed the case closely and the posts by Shenandoah National Park were full of "MISSING411!!!!" comments, despite the fact that it was very clear what led up to the disappearance: according to family members, a new medication caused psychosis and led to him driving in his pajamas from his home to Shenandoah (his family followed him there), crashing his car, and running into the woods, unprepared to deal with wilderness and not in good mental health. 

Like I said, I think this gleeful pattern-recognition is a little distasteful, but more than that, I think Missing411's eagerness to spot sinister causes behind disappearances in the wild is problematic for another reason: I think the average American has a difficult time grasping the concept of 'wilderness' and its dangers. We're used to everything being safe and convenient for us in our towns and, because national parks are popular tourist destinations, it's easy to forget that there are many dangers that exist in wild public lands. 

Inexperienced hikers often misjudge their skills and set off on trails too challenging for them and with inadequate water and supplies. Even experienced hikers can easily get lost or turned around-- and cell phone signals are usually nonexistent in national parks. Falls from cliffs, ledges, and waterfalls (mossy rocks near waterfalls are often lethally slippery) can mean injured people end up in inaccessible areas where they're not visible from the trail. A sudden health emergency like a heart attack, stroke, or even a broken leg can occur during vigorous physical activity. Abrupt changes in weather can change a pleasant stroll into deadly freezing temperatures in the blink of an eye. Dangerous wild animals like bears do live in the national parks. Although national parks are popular tourist destinations, these dangers are very, very real and can happen to anyone, and the parks themselves emphasize the importance of being prepared when entering wild areas.

On a darker note, remote hikes and camping trips in national parks are often a convenient way for people to cover up foul play (a few of the high profile Missing411 cases seem to fit this narrative). And, like the young man who disappeared in Shenandoah, many people who disappear in the wilderness alone are mentally unwell and, in many cases, disappearing on purpose. (National parks are sadly a popular place for people to take their own lives.) 

Some of the common Missing411 traits, like people being found without clothes on, could be explained by foul play but, more likely, it's a phenomenon called 'paradoxical undressing' that happens when you have hypothermia to the degree that you actually feel warm. Family members will talk about how a missing person is an experienced outdoorsman and unlikely to go missing, but 60 years of experience in the woods also comes with the health limitations of advanced age-- the 'mysterious' disappearance of a partially-sighted man with notable mobility issues might not be a huge mystery. Others, like the presence of berry bushes and bodies of water, points to basic survival instincts. Why so many disappearances in national parks? Well, it's a lot harder to be found in dense wilderness than in, say, an Arby's parking lot.

I've watched two Missing411 documentaries, which are easy to find on mainstream streaming services, and, while many of the cases covered are truly strange, some seem easily explainable by Occam's razor, and the selection of why some cases are included and others aren't seems bizarre to me. Some don't even involve a disappearance at all but hearing or seeing strange things in the woods. Some don't involve national parks or public lands. There are very vague hints throughout that 'Bigfoot type creatures seem to exist in the woods and use outer space or interdimensional technology to hide themselves from people or spirit people away, and the government might know about it' but nothing more than vague hints.

 Like I mentioned, some of the cases they profiled point toward foul play. The most prominent case featured in the original Missing411 documentary was about a little boy named Deorr Kunz Jr. who disappeared on a camping trip with his family... but there's also no proof that he actually was on that camping trip with his family... and the family's stories have some discrepancies... and even if it really was a disappearance from the campsite, the stories are that the grandfather thought he was with the parents and the parents thought he was with the grandfather.

 Life is often boring and repetitive and it's totally normal to use stories to make ordinary life more interesting and exciting, but the almost... gamified way that I've seen internet dwellers react to real-life stories of heartbreaking disappearances and deaths in dangerous and remote locations is kind of disturbing, and similar to the over-the-top fanciful theorizing I've seen from other, more insidious conspiracy theories. The idea that there's a secret 'other world' being hidden from us behind the curtain of society is enticing, but it can lead down paths as confusing and dangerous as the ones that real travelers get lost on in the wilderness.

[remmushound]

The chakra’s and Tmnt

It’s been my personal headcanon for a while now that each current member of the Hamato clan represents one of the seven chakras, and from what I’ve researched of the chakras and their colors and meaning, they do seem to coincide at least to some extent.

First off is Muladhara, the root chakra with the color red, and it is associated with Raphael. The root chakra is located in the perineum and is associated with instinctual tendencies of survival. It encourages honor and loyalty to the family pack, and it’s the source of the fight or flight response. The root chakra is associated with the physical body, namely muscles. The root chakra helps us feel grounded and when it is unbalanced it can lead to rage, frustration, and resentment. A balanced chakra, however, allows the energy to flow freely and helps up prioritize, think clearly, and harness courage. Most incarnations of Raphael seem to have an unstable chakra, leading to the constant anger and frustration, while Rise and 2003 Raphael seem to have balanced chakra. Wether they have stable or unstable chakras, all Raphael’s share the same sense of loyalty to their families and instinctual tendencies, normally a fight response to anything that threatens them. Each reincarnation also has a similar courage and are usually the strongest brother, hence the muscle association.

For Michelangelo it’s the sacral chakra; the orange chakra located on the sacrum. Swadhisthana is associated with emotional responses, sensuality, and creativity. It’s energy is flowing and flexible, and directed by the principle of pleasure. It’s associated with relationships and fantasies, and the realm of emotions. This connects with every Mikey to some extent, and most seem to have no issue expressing it, even after several punishments associated with it. Mikey’s just love to love, and they are usually the emotional ones along with Donatello’s. They’re creative, though a lot of the times their work isn’t up to their namesake, they still love to do it and have fun. All Mikey’s share a love for parties where they can express themselves openly among the people, and even though the extremeness of their chakra fluctuates between worlds, they all show off their energy and creativity gladly.

Next is the solar plexus chakra; the Yellow chakra. Though the color yellow is more closely associated to April, it is actually Casey who embodies manipura. Located just above the naval, it is the center of self-esteem, willpower, and transformation. This chakra embodies confidence and is the cause of gut-instinct and personal power. When it’s overactive, this chakra can cause aggressiveness, arrogance, and over-confidence. This connects to most every reincarnation of Casey Jones, as they often feature Casey as an enemy to the turtles before he ‘transforms’ and becomes a friend. He is arrogant and hard-headed just like Raphael, and his confidence knows no bounds. He is cocky, has a strong sense of self-power, and follows his gut more than anything else.

Next Is the heart chakra, the green chakra associated with April O’Neil. Anahata is the color of love and fills people with the inspiration to be kind and compassionate. It’s energies are highly soothing and calming, and allows you to radiate love to all those around you. The color green allows you to be sociable and build strong friendships, as well as set healthy boundaries. The chakra reminds you to stay friendly, empathetic, and altruistic. This connects with most reincarnations of April and her friendship with the turtles and Casey. She’s often a soothing and compassionate energy to balance out the turtles and keep them calm and secure, and she radiates love and empathy to those around her. 2012 April was a literal empath, actually. The only April that seems to stray from this pattern is Rise April, who still embodied some of these trss as its, except less apparent.

Next up is the throat chakra; the blue chakra associated with Leonardo. Also known as vishuddha, it is connected to authentic self-expression and helps communicate out thoughts, feelings, and intentions clearly and accurately. The throat chakra allows an awareness of your personal power, and knowing that no one outside of you can make your choices. It helps you understand the power of faith and it heals, empowers, and forgives. The chakra resonates with confession and forgiveness. People with strong throat chakras like to speak and sing Leo is best singer let’s not lie. Throat chakras have an obligation to Appear Good and dutiful, and an unbalanced throat chakra can lead to arrogance, self-righteousness, and an inability to listen to others. It seems to be 50/50 between Leo’s having a balanced or unbalanced chakra, the unbalanced version prevalent in Bayverse and 2012 mostly, while many of the other versions seem more balanced and willing to listen to their brothers. They have an obsession with appearing good and dutiful to Splinter and to prove their worth to their brothers. They often have clear intentions, voicing plans and orders to their clan, and they are one of the more self-aware of the brothers.

The third eye chakra belongs to Splinter. It’s color is indigo and connects to mental abilities, psychological skills, and our beliefs. It is house to wisdom, facts, fears, memory, and truth. It’s a symbolism of squired wisdom, detachment from social standards, and witnessing your freedom beyond illusion. This one is more loosely attached to Splinter than the other chakras are to their character, but it still holds true for most reincarnation of Splinter.

Last is the Crown chakra; Donatello. The violet chakra, also known as Sahasrara. It’s located at the top of the head. Associated with the brain and skull he do have a big head tho, this chakra radiates health, radiant energy, while allowing you to enjoy a sharp mind. It signifies open-mindedness and deep thinking, and will make you love reading, studying, and learning. The biggest challenge is becoming too attached to materialistic things, and people with a strong Sahasrara tend to overindulge themselves with these items. This chakra denotes that you are sensitive, perceptive, and intuitive. On a spiritual level, it shows that You give without praise or recognition. Most, of not all, reincarnations of Donatello show these traits. Lack of their knowledge and brilliance receiving recognition (Bay Leo immediately shutting down Donnie’s retromutagen, rise Donnie going mental with even the slightest bit of praise, and I’m sure there’s many more); being sensitive is far more prominent in 2003 Donnie than the others, but each Donnie has shown some type of sensitivity (except maybe 2012 Donnie? Can’t remember). Perception and intuition are telltale Donnie traits, as well as a love for learning, and becoming too attached to their machines and tools has been shown with every reincarnation as well.

[oh-boy-me]

:0 could I have a beel,asmo,belphie,lucifer,mammon, satan (not including levi) and diavolo playing videogames? I thought it would be kinda funny since they're all really old- except for levi of course haha

Ohhh this should be fun!

Decided to do individual HCs for this one instead of a group thing so they wouldn’t be limited to multiplayer games.

Most of them, save for a certain prince, have been exposed to games a fair amount by proximity to Levi.

---

Lucifer:

Lucifer has a Mononoke Land account so that he’ll get the email notifications for events and can therefore keep track of Levi’s whereabouts.  He’s never played the game, though, nor downloaded the app, and he has no intention of doing so.

In general, he’s not much of a gamer.  The most gaming he gets done is minesweeper on Windows XP.  He doesn’t have the time, and it was never something he could get into.

That isn’t to say that he owns zero games, though.  His favorite genre is turn-based strategy, because he can afford to look away from them, and they make him think and plan.

He doesn’t like the hyper-realistic ones, though.  Things like Civilization and Here Be Dragons are up his alley, Hearts of Iron not so much.

He doesn’t care too much about the story, but a good soundtrack is mandatory.

Also he’s an old man so the controls also have to be intuitive or he just won’t be able to play.  Why is he jumping when he presses A he thought that was the attack button.

The type of player who needs to get every achievement.  A completionist.

When the group gets together for the rare multiplayer night, he has no idea what he’s doing and yet still manages to do well.  It’s kind of infuriating.

He won’t make alliances with anyone, no, it’s every man for himself.  He also actively targets Mammon no matter what game they’re playing.

The fact that he doesn’t really get it protects his pride when Levi inevitably wipes the floor with him.

Mammon:

Mammon actually does game a little bit in his spare time, mostly with Levi.  He’s got a couple consoles and is more open to different genres than Lucifer is.

He thrives in any game where the main goal is to rack up as many points or as much profit as possible.  He’s undefeated in tycoons and pinball.  (Tetris is an exception; he’s terrible at Tetris.  Stupid spacial recognition.)

The RNG elements boil down to his insane luck, but he’s actually very smart when it comes to investments and stuff, so it’s not like he’s only using his luck to get by.

If the games have multiplayer, even better!  Nothing like kicking Levi, MC and Belphie’s asses in a game of Fortune Street!

He also tends to like the action-focused games that Levi plays.  Not so much into turn-based RPGs, but he enjoys stuff where the enemies spawn, like in Zelda or Rune Factory.  And he’s great at button mashing in fighting games, although Levi, who actually knows how to play them, always beats him.

Mammon uses items as soon as he gets them, and is too busy rushing a boss to care about learning its patterns and strategizing.

Skips cutscenes even on his first run.  Levi and Satan hate him for it.

Like mentioned before, he gets an unfair disadvantage in game nights because everyone targets him.  Especially in those games with RNG, because otherwise he WILL win.

He’s banned from PTW games because he will indeed PTW.

Satan:

Satan is another one who doesn’t play too many games, and that might be for the best because he’s a nightmare to play with.

The sorest loser, and a pretty nasty winner too.  He insists on the hardest difficulty and then rage quits at the slightest inconvenience.

He will play when prompted, though; he’s not above hanging out with his brothers.  His favorite sorts of games are ones with a good story and/or good puzzles.  His planning is more on the tactics side, as opposed to Lucifer’s strategy, so he would love Fire Emblem.

He WILL drop a game if the story isn’t holding his attention, and he’s done so in the past.

Overly cautious and hoards resources.  He takes the safe route every time.

Also another completionist.

Beel would often ask Satan to help him find out which art pieces were originals and safe to buy in Animal Crossing, and Satan got a little bit interested and ended up making a resident on Beel’s cartridge so the donations could be in his name.  He went on a mini-campaign to drive out the residents he didn’t like, but one of them turned out to be Beel's favorite and he felt terrible about it for weeks.

During family game nights, everyone is always torn between appeasing Satan and telling him to deal with it when he loses.

He also gets angry if he catches on to the fact that they’re letting him win, though.

Probably a genwunner.

Asmodeus:

Asmo enjoys video games.  They don’t fit into his aesthetic so he’s never really tried to understand them, but he doesn’t dislike them by any means.

Gaming is becoming more mainstream though, right?  That’s a whole new audience that could appreciate him.  Maybe, just maybe, he can let himself be a bit of a geek.

Unsurprisingly, he’s got a penchant for games with customization options.  Surprisingly, he also really enjoys FPS games.  If he and Levi ever played at the same time, it would be chaos in the House of Lamentation.

As opposed to his in-your-face attitude, he likes to play sniper units.

He said he wants to tap into the gaming community, but he’s not very good at most of the games he plays so he’s too embarrassed to actually do so.  He does, however, play the Sims on livestream.  He does his best to make the steamiest and most dramatic scenarios happen, and he’ll hold strawpolls to let his viewers make some choices.

Asmo also plays Animal Crossing like a few other brothers, but his island is so well groomed and with just the right residents, it feels like you’re touring an uncanny dystopia and Asmo is the dictator.

When the group gets together, he usually ends up doing the worst.  He’s more interested in executing perfect combos than actually dealing damage, so he’s not aggressive enough to get anything done against players like Levi and Satan.

He’s also not very good at teamwork; he starts yelling at his partner very quickly.

Beelzebub:

Beel doesn’t have a lot of “gamer” in him, but some of his brothers seem to like it so he decided to give it a go.  Turns out his hands are too big, but he makes do.  Kind of.

You’d expect a sports game to be the best for him, since he’s so athletic.  However, it’s BECAUSE he’s so athletic that this sort of game isn’t in his library.  He gets too antsy and bored tapping buttons instead of actually playing the sport.

Beel’s also not an aggressive player in any sense of the word.  He feels guilty even hurting the most basic of slimes.

No, no games are better for Beel than the stress-free, casual life simulators.  Animal Crossing is no surprise his favorite one right now.  Satan handles the museum for him while Beel gets to do whatever he feels like in a world where the biggest threat is a wasp.

He’ll also play other low stakes games where living your life is the main goal, like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley.  His big heart can never choose who to marry in those games.

Horror is also ok for him, because while aggression is hard for him, self-defense is not.

He got the Cooking Mama app on his D.D.D. and bit the device in half, so he’s not allowed to touch that franchise anymore.

When the gang meets up, his non-aggressive side sticks around.  In fighting games, he’s more likely to dodge and steer clear of the others, and in other versus games he’s so open to compromise you’d think you were on the same team.

Satan did get him his favorite resident back.

Belphegor:

Belphie probably games the second most after Levi; it’s something that keeps him entertained but doesn’t require him to move very much at all.

I actually have no idea how to describe his preferred genres, but League of Legends and Dark Souls is basically all you need to know.

League lets him socialize a bit, and it’s the game that he and Levi play together most often.  As for Dark Souls, he loves the sort of game where learning your opponent’s every move and outsmarting/outmaneuvering them is the only path to victory.

I guess that would be described as “really hard action-adventure” games?  He’d also like Sekiro.

He also has his own copy of Animal Crossing to visit and play with Beel, but his island is so underdeveloped you’d think he started that same week.

Belphie is the true wild card of family game nights; sometimes he sleeps through the whole thing, while other times he can take down even Levi.

He has everyone’s habits down to a T--Mammon charges in, Asmo does too much setup, Levi’s overconfident--and he knows how to counter each and every one of them.

For someone who’s so much of a cunning player, though, he also misclicks a lot.

He’s the most likely out of his brothers to make alliances.  He’s also the most likely to break alliances.

If he doesn’t think he can win, he’ll choose a player and start sabotaging the game in their favor.

Diavolo:

Lord Diavolo had read about like, Mario?  The little blue hedgehog guy?  But he’d never owned a gaming console before.  He probably thought Neopets was peak gaming.

Levi swore to fix this grievous error, and this was also a mistake, because now Diavolo keeps trying to get Lucifer to play all these hack and slash games with him.

He has legitimately told Lucifer that “if you don’t play Devil May Cry with me THIS devil may cry!”

The games need to always have something happening in them or he’ll get bored, kind of like Satan’s need for a good story, except with action.

It’s also worth mentioning that “play a game with Diavolo” actually means “sit in the same room as Diavolo while he plays.”

And oh boy… is he terrible at these games.

He just button mashes until either he dies or all the enemies die.

Never uses any of the items he gets because he’s sure he’ll need them more later on.  When, Diavolo?  During the staff roll?

Will bomb a door before trying the knob.

Since he’s usually only around Lucifer, who doesn’t want to get sucked into this, and Barbatos, who honestly couldn’t care less about this, he’s been left alone and free to develop these terrible gaming habits.

It’s rare that he comes to family gaming night.  Legend has it that Lucifer’s piercing glare is somehow connected to the fact that his brothers always let Diavolo win.

Masterlist

[lligkv]

what the world will look like when it’s over

Can’t Get You Out of My Head is the first Adam Curtis documentary I’ve seen. I gather it’s not the most successful demonstration of his method; it sounds like Hypernormalization or The Century of the Self are tighter in their construction, less effortful (count how many times Curtis says something like “But then it started to run out of control” in this one), and perhaps less frustrating in their narration. In the early episodes of this documentary in particular, it feels like Curtis is constantly presenting what’s being covered as the turn, the decisive shift in his narrative—the emergence of the American counterculture, the revolution of the “unit of One” led by Mao Zedong’s wife Jiang Qing to help her break the stalemate with the other revolutionaries in China into which Zedong had fallen in the 1960s, George Boole’s development of Boolean logic to describe human thought. And the whole thing feels longer and baggier than it needs to be. The early episodes devote much time to interesting individual narratives, like that of the Trinidadian British activist or sorts named Michael Freitas (or Michael X) or a trans woman named Julie in 1960s Britain; they also sprawl in a way that makes the overall argument a bit hard to divine. It’s not until the fourth episode that the shape of Curtis’s narrative becomes clear—that our age is the product of a struggle between a new, broadly liberal-democratic and capitalist image of individualism, a dying era of collectivist struggle, and older, more vicious systems of power, derived from the control of capital and expressed through the middle classes’ suspicion and viciousness toward the subaltern and toward each other, even as they remain subject to the power of oligarchs and billionaires.

Curtis also seems to play fast and loose with the facts sometimes. When he presents Médecins Sans Frontières’s founder Bernard Kouchner as an avatar of a theory of the “one world” of liberal democracy—the idea that we’re basically one world of individuals, enjoying certain human rights regardless of political orientations or ideologies, and that Western nations are duty-bound by virtue of their prosperity to intervene when other nations violate people’s rights—it seems a distortion of what Kouchner actually says in the footage Curtis includes: “We don’t care on leftist or rightist countries [sic]; there is no leftist and rightist suffering, and there is no possibility to split the world in[to] ‘good’ people or ‘bad’ people, ‘good’ dead and ‘bad’ dead.” Which isn’t to say Kouchner didn’t believe in liberal-democratic ideas—he may well have—but what he’s shown as saying has to do with the consideration of suffering as suffering regardless of a person’s identity or allegiance, which is a different matter.

This is just one of several moments when I stopped to wonder how secure I actually was in Curtis’s hands. But ultimately, I find the emotional history he lays out resonant. The age we’re living through now, in the 2020s, is indeed the product of certain fantasies of individualism and of a post-end-of-history, neoliberal “one world”—with no ideologies but capitalism and putative democracy—meeting age-old systems of power, acquisition, and control, and age-old features of the human mind and heart: resentment, prejudice, betrayal, jealousy, the need to be prosperous, the need to be free.

And Curtis’s work appeals to me for the same reason the writer Pankaj Mishra’s work does. He historicizes our underhistoricized time. What’s more, he does so in a way that’s especially rare to see in any mainstream media venue. Usually, when you want to understand the connections between, say, colonial-era empires and post-war welfare states, or if you want to understand what happened to turn Western societies as they were post-war to Western societies as they are post-financialization, you have to seek the information out on your own. It’s valuable to have someone in a place like the BBC willing to put the pieces of these narratives together. And willing to remind us of the events that are so incredibly easy to forget even in one’s own lifetime. Abu Ghraib, for instance, which pops up in part 6 of the documentary. That shit happened while I was alive. How often do I remember it? How many American sins get drowned out in the new ones that emerge every day of every month of every year? Or in the stasis that sets in when what was once novel, like the War on Terror or the invasion into our privacy represented by the Patriot Act, fades into regular life?

I was jotting down copious notes while watching the doc, as is my wont. The questions and thoughts that came up, in no particular order:

How do the elites of a given era impose their preferred ideologies? How are the structures of power we grow up with constructed, and how do those go on to shape our behavior?

Control, as it’s practiced by societies in the 21st century, often comes down to the recognition of patterns in human behavior—and their manipulation.

The loss of power, like that which was suffered after the collapse of Britain’s empire or in the slow hollowing-out of America’s manufacturing industry in the 20th century, leads to anger and melancholy that people can’t be expected to abandon. Does doing what you’re supposed to do bring you the happiness you were promised—or anything even resembling that happiness? When we’re living in a historical moment in which the answer is no, as is often the case today, we’ll need to watch out. It’s a sign people are being manipulated and abused.

Over time, the tech industry has come to understand that you can manage people en masse by collecting their data and manipulating the messages they receive in social media activity feeds and advertising—and you can make them feel like sovereign individuals at the same time through the very same means. In light of all this, will there ever be a revolution that actually changes the structure of power we’re currently stuck in? Is there a chance to alter this extreme individualism. on the part of people who are surrounded by political systems so enervated, by the supra-governmental system that is global finance capital—which politicians can’t control, and must appease and palliate—that they can’t respond to phenomena like climate change or meaningfully punish atrocities like wars prosecuted on false pretenses? Or are we stuck where we are, in a world that’s corrupt and exhausted? In nations whose governments depend on technologies of surveillance and myths of consumerist abundance or nationalist glory to maintain power, in the absence of any real vision for the future?

It all leads to some interesting takeaways. For one, the way culture reacts to politics and vice versa. As I was watching Can’t Get You Out of My Head, I was reminded of a conversation folks on the Discord server for the Relentless Picnic podcast had had recently about the strange things Richard Dawkins posts on his Twitter account. And it led me to think: when religious “caring conservatism” was in the White House, Richard Dawkins and his New Atheism, this brash repudiation of religion and its pieties, grew as a counterweight. When Obama and his technocratic regime were in power, with social media bringing on a wave of progressivism in popular culture and algorithms presenting us a fantasy of endless choice—much of which was a thin veneer over the same old shit: banks getting bailed out, forever wars going on, productivity rising while wages stagnated—we also got Jordan Peterson-types who claimed to speak to a human need for narrative, even in this point of stability we had seemed to reach, this recovery of sanity after the chaos that was the Iraq War and the financial crisis; who claimed we needed ideas and myths to animate and drive our lives, because they sensed there was something hollow and mendacious driving all this consumer choice, for all it seemed a symbol of our freedom and progress.

Of course, both Peterson and Dawkins are provocateurs, not intellectuals; I don’t mean to dignify the movements they led much, since in both the appearance of intellectual rigor or moral clarity often covered the indulgence of the worst instincts: immaturity, obstinacy, provocation for provocation’s sake, contempt for women and trans people. The New Atheists had a point, and could be absolute assholes about it; they ultimately could be as fundamentalist and dogmatic as any religious people. As for Jordan Peterson, his actual work, in the way of so many grand theorists, uses the appearance of profundity to cover something ultimately pretty banal. And he’s most known for grandstanding in the public sphere—refusing to use people’s pronouns, the usual conservative shit. But these movements do seem to reflect a countercultural response no less than 1960s counterculture reflects a reaction to the staid culture of 1950s America and the sins it covered up.

Which leads me to the question: what was the culture’s response to Trump’s administration? Maybe QAnon and Russiagate, as conspiracies—that is, actual narratives people inhabit to explain the world’s evils, and not just a vague need for them that they satisfied with Jordan Peterson’s light form of Stoicism or his theories of Light and Dark or whatever the fuck. And in that way, perhaps, once a countercultural movement—namely nationalism and Trumpian populism—actually seemed to have overthrown a regime, of Obama-era liberal technocratic management, culture and politics came to mirror each other, rather than standing in opposition to each other. Both became equally conspiratorial and unhinged; in fact, they merged. All the ruling myths and conspiracies mutate in kind these days: Trump’s garbage about draining the swamp, a cover for Trump and his family enriching themselves and Stephen Miller’s like getting to fashion the state they wanted, becomes QAnon’s garbage about rings of child trafficking and pedophilia and Trump, of all people, being their savior—all while actual trafficking and abuse perpetuated by Jeffrey Epstein and his ilk goes unpunished, Epstein’s death swallowed up by the state without a sound—becomes the liberal pundit class’s screaming about Russia: connections between Trump and Putin that were always conjectural to me, because no one who pled them seemed to feel much need to substantiate them.

Here again I feel like what were once centrifugal forces in our culture—between mainstream and the independent media, for example; between people in power and their critics, either in the media or at society’s margins—have collapsed into a single morass. We’re all in hell and there’s no way out.

In all this, what does Biden’s administration represent? Little more than an interregnum, to my mind. How disappointing to see not even a gesture toward forgiving student debt or raising the minimum wage in these first 100 days of his presidency. There’s been some progress in climate legislation, and progress in putting Stephen Miller’s deportation machine to a halt (though they’re also reopening several emergency shelters to accommodate more minors already being held past the mandated limits for keeping them in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Refugee Resettlement). But there’s also been such triangulation on policy by the administration and its supporters and such complacency on the part of the media covering the administration, refusing to call them out on or even cover this. And how can the average voter respond but with resignation?

Ever since I read Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus near the start of lockdown, absorbing the picture of the world pre-World War II that’s presented in that book, I’ve thought we’re in the same sort of moment that Mann’s protagonist Zeitblom was in. There’s a crisis that’s passing over this whole planet like a wave or a seismic event, and no human intervention can interrupt it. We can only wait for it to pass—holding on to whatever’s to hand, waiting to see what the world will look like when it’s over.

[earthfluuke]

this is a direct sequel to family dinners. if you haven’t read that, i suggest you read it first. this will make more sense if you do!

i love the teepakorn siblings far too much. there is so much about them to explore, and i’ve been having such a fun time doing that. type is a character i don’t think gets enough recognition, but i find him and tine to be very similar; opposite sides to the same coin if you will.

as soon as i finished family dinners, i knew i wanted a continuation with type’s thoughts and feelings towards what happened in the first story. so here it is! i hope you enjoy!!

Type can’t bring himself to knock on the door.

The long plane of wood mocks him, separating the beginning of the night from the remainder. All it would take is a raise of his hand, a rap of his knuckles, and despite that, he stays deathly still.

He should have had Sarawat drop him off at his own apartment and console himself with the blankets pulled over his head and deep instrumentals to drown out his tears. There’s comfort, familiarity, in that. This? This is so far from; a foreign land he has to tip toe through in fear of a trap opening up beneath him.

His head turns away, walks down the stairs, waits for a taxi. But his heart plants himself firm and knocks three times. Fight or flight begins, his two poles pulling him in opposite directions. But before he’s torn apart, the door opens, and Man looks down to him with a smile.

He smiles more than anyone Type has ever met, sends more smiles his way than he’s ever been gifted. The curve of his lips, the glint of his teeth, the hidden messages of I missed you and I’m so happy to see you startles and excites him at the same time.

As quick as that smile comes, it disappears when he gets a better look at how he’s sinking into himself. A hand reaches out, close enough to touch but far enough to pull away if it needs to, and Type, physical qualms be damned, takes it and anchors himself to what that taunting door had kept him from.

Man leads him inside, grip light enough to where Type could get away at any time. The scary thing is that he doesn’t want to get away for the very first time in his life. He has known how to handle himself, has handled himself for as long as he can remember and then some. Allowing someone else to do that is a risk, and risks of that degree were not ones that Type Teepakorn took. Not then. Not before Man. Man is worth the risk (he thinks; he might be; maybe; he hopes so).

Sitting on the couch, silence simmers on a low boil. Searching for what to say, the pot begins to overflow, the tea kettle starts to whistle, and he feels Man inhale the beginnings of a concern at his side. Before he can voice it, Type says in a quick fluster, “Tine brought Sarawat over for dinner tonight.”

Stammering wordlessly, Man nods with a hard swallow. “Okay,” he settles on, urging him to continue.

“He brought Sarawat over for dinner,” he repeats, trying to make sense of it himself; because those words should not go together, not with what he – what he and Tine – know. “He brought him over when he knew…knew how bad it would be.”

He had to have known; Type had the moment the two of them had walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. There is so much Teepakorn sons do not do, and bringing home a boy – regardless of how accomplished he may be or how well he may treat you – is right alongside jeopardizing success for emotions and putting your own happiness above the perception of the family.

He evens his breath to the pattern he strokes over Man’s fingers. He waits two beats before he picks up his speed, “The things he said, the things Tine had to hear, were just awful. It shouldn’t surprise me. It shouldn’t, and yet, every time,” he shakes his head, “I’m dumb enough to believe it will be different.”

Man gives his palm a hard squeeze, his skin pressing you’re not dumb, never into his own. The just hopeful goes unsaid, unsqueezed. After all this time, he knows there’s nothing to be hopeful for, and for some unfathomable reason, he hangs onto the possibility that there just might be.

“I just sat there,” he continues on, waver to his voice unequivocal, “while my little brother got torn to pieces. And he stood there, took it all, didn’t…didn’t even flinch. He was so…” Deep breath in, he swallows back tears – because what right does he of all people have to cry? “So brave. And I didn’t even help him. I’m the oldest; I’m…I’m meant to protect him, make things better, and all I did was…was sit there! Like a coward–”

“Hey, no.” He doesn’t realize the patterns he is drawing over Man’s skin have turned shaky until they are taken into a larger, steadier pair. “You’re Tine’s brother, not his parent. Those aren’t things you had to do in that moment. Your parents…they reacted bad, yeah? That’s what you’re saying? Of course you sat there; it must have been a really scary situation.”

Type dares to look up, but as soon as he does, he realizes it’s a mistake. He expects pity, would appreciate pity, more than the kind understanding sadness Man sends his way. He can’t look away, even when Man stresses further.

“Tine made his decision, and I think he probably knew that things could go the way they did. And that really, really sucks. But it’s not something you could change, no matter how badly you wanted to.” Cupping his hands together, he holds Type’s in between. “And it doesn’t make you a coward. You’re one of the bravest people I know, P’Type.”

Suppressing a dry laugh, he meets those eyes once more, continues to wonder how they can look at him in such a way, and reaches up to cup his cheek. What a privilege it is, to touch something so close to gold.

He smiles, small and far from reassuring; it’s almost ironic. “How can I be?” he asks. “When what I can’t even imagine doing what Tine did?”

“P’Type,” Man breathes. It’s a horribly sad sound, enough to break his heart. He just holds his face firmer, fingertips tickling over the stubble along his jaw.

“You don’t deserve to be kept a secret. And I don’t want you to be one. I want to tell everyone, anyone, my parents included; I want it so badly that I feel like I’ll explode. But I can’t. I can’t. Because it would end so terribly. It did for Tine, and…it should have been me. I should’ve gone first so that I would have been ready when he went. I could have helped him, I’m older, I’m…I want to.”

“P’Type.” Man’s hand comes up to cover the one on his cheek. “P’Type,” he says again, and Type soaks in the gentle tone.

“They would be so mean to you,” he whispers, a bit cracked, a bit unsteady. “I want to. But they would be so mean to you.”

P’Beam is child’s play in comparison to his parents. Whatever expectations there are about his future, his career, his goals, their opinions and expectations are laid out clearly, and anything that happens to stray him away from those are not worth any kindness. And how unfair it is when Man is worth that and more; he’s worth the sun, moon, and stars.

“Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you’re ready. And that’s okay. Tine was ready today, because he’s Tine; you’re not ready yet, because you’re you. Being older has nothing to do with that.” Turning his head, he presses a kiss to the center of Type’s palm, murmuring into his skin, “I’m okay with being a secret. I’m okay with waiting. I’m okay with anything so long as I have you. What I deserve is your love, time, and support. And that’s what you deserve too, P’Type. You deserve to be happy in any way that you feel happiness.”

Tears fall easier than they should. Maybe they’ve been held back for too long to stay choked back inside anymore. Wet trails stain his cheeks as fresh streams fall, and Man is there to hold him, one arm coming around his waist while the opposite hand smooths over his hair, through it all. To be hugged so tight, cradled so close, is new, scary, and his brain is sending him out the door and down the stairwell once more. But his heart, the very thing he’s forbidden control from for years, keeps him still.

“I’ll keep reminding you until you believe me,” Man whispers to the crown of his head. “It’s okay if that takes a while. I have forever to show you it’s the truth.”

Type doesn’t know how long it will take for him to accept that; perhaps soon, perhaps never. What he does know is that no one has been bold enough to brave his walls and promise to stay until they come down, brick by brick. And if nothing else, that gives him hope that one day – not now, not tomorrow, but one day – he’ll see what Man does.

[getyourblisson]

A Look At August 2021

A Look At August 2021

August is a month, that on its own, naturally favors success. It is a time, that encourages us to be in a leadership position; and will favor those that know how to lead compassionately, and see the value in each person. It is a great time, for group events and projects; especially those that nourish the community and bring people together, in ways that are fun and light-hearted. This month, encourages us to implement aspects of play and fun into our work; and to help each other out, so that the whole group becomes stronger.

This year, we find that it may be a bit harder, to keep the lighter energy alive. There is naturally a competitive energy that is surfacing; and it is leading people to be more out for their own self, than to work with others. Egos and insecurities are both riding high; and while this can be good for confidence, it is a false sense of confidence, because it is coming from a space of needing to prove our worth, value, and abilities. It comes from wanting to be better than others; and seeking to take all of the glory for oneself.

Those that stand in this competitive energy, are likely to find empty successes, have their successes quickly removed, or get dished out a big piece of humble pie; as they do not come out first, or on top of others. While not hard to accept; it is likely to be exactly what is needed. This happens, because they are not working within natural flow; and are creating conflict and contradiction unnecessarily. As a result, they will have to start over and over again; until they are willing to break this pattern. The best thing that we can do, is to remove competition and conflict; and simply focus on supporting each other to shine in our skills and assets that we have to offer, and to appreciate what everyone has to offer.

This is a time, where social gatherings are favored. It is a time, where working intelligently and diligently; brings very strong results. It is during this month, that we are likely to get an idea of how well our efforts are paying off; and where we are able to begin, to start to enjoy life a bit more. This is a time, where we have the ability and opportunity to rise into greater authority and command; in those areas that we are able to be creative and heart-centered.

It is important, that the things that we are focused on; will bring a truly fortunate future. This is a great time, to carry out the things that are dear to your heart. However, we must also remember, that it is very important to share our good fortune with others. It will be wise for us to donate time to an organization or charity, that assists those that are less fortunate. It is important to recognize those that helped us, make the successes that we are experiencing. It is important to give back to our community; and to share what we are abundant in.

It is naturally easier for people to be generous, and wanting to give. To find ways to do this, where people can also relax and have a good time; will magnify the benefits that come out of doing that. It will be important to consider, how you can help those that have not had much of a chance in life; also find successes and implement things in their life, that support the well-being of others.

From August 1st – August 22nd we will need to break through the lies, of those that are simply trying to stir up trouble. It is important to learn what is true, and what is not; who is working from generosity, and who is try to buy us in some way. Our focus right now, needs to be on learning the difference between teachers and smooth talkers.

Our focus needs to be on harmony and balance. So, we need to be aware, of where we are feeling magnetic pulls. We will have to decipher if we are being pulled only through physical chemistry; or if there is something more genuine there. Are we feeling an attraction to something, in order to control it; or are we attracted to it, because there is some sort of true soul connection there? We will need to sit with things, and see if we are only wanting them because they are taboo and we can’t really have them; or if we want them, because they are awakening something in us, that is creating balance and engaging our creative energies.

It is through discernment and the implementation of wisdom, that we will find our successes. It is in dismantling and walking away from the lies and deception, that we will gain victory over initiations and tests. If we remain committed to the truth and the soul’s path, then we can advance out of karmic cycles that have held us down. The more lies, deception, and manipulation that we clear out at this time; the more fortunate our future will be.

From August 23rd – the end of the month we see many similar patterns as the earlier part of the month. It is during this time, that we will be shown where we are not operating in complete integrity; and where others are not operating that way. It is very important, that we bring a close to these patterns in our life; and that we are willing to stand up for the truth, and allowing justice to be victorious over corruption.

During this part of the month, our successes are directly connected to how much of this we are willing to clear out. We are called to see the lies that surround physical money; and to re-establish a more positive relationship with the material world, instead of one that is based in control and seeking only material wealth. It is time for us to learn what true wealth is; and to stop letting others manipulate us with physical wealth, and false promises of honor. The human desire for recognition and power, is one of the greatest lies; and it is likely that we will see where these dynamics are playing out in our world. It is likely, that those that have sold out for earthly fame and fortune will be made known; and we will see how they have destroyed the hopes and spirits of others in the process.

It is during this time, that we will learn where there has been treachery; and how it has started wars and battles, in literal and proverbial families. This is a time, where we must operate with caution and wisdom. We will learn a great deal from the plans that are foiled; for they will show the lies that we have been living under. We must learn how to create a world, where corruption is not allowed to rule over us; and we need to teach ourselves, how to see the tricks that are used to manipulate us and to support the elite.

In summary, this month has strong competitive energy; which we must learn to stay out of. It is a time to have fun, and engage in things that support our communities, and the well-being of those that have not had as many opportunities as we have. It is important for us to focus on creating a truly favorable future, that is based in supporting one another; instead of ruling over each other. People are likely to be feeling generous; and opportunities to have fun, while supporting a good cause, are likely to be quite successful.

We need to learn what is true and what is not; and to focus on restoring balance and harmony. It is in discernment and wisdom, that we will be able to unfold success. It is important to come into integrity; and to close out, those things that are not in integrity. Take time to learn, how to create a positive relationship with the material world; instead of one that is based in control, competition, and seeking only material wealth. Consider ways that you can stop allowing corruption to rule your life.

I welcome you to stop competing with others. What if competition creates loss, no matter who “wins”?

I welcome you to have fun engaging in things, that support your community and the well-being of others; that have not had many opportunities. What if the more opportunities we can provide others, the more opportunities that we will also receive?

I welcome you to focus on ways that you can join with others, to mutually support each other. What if this is a key to creating a favorable future?

I welcome you to be generous with what you are abundant in. What if this can benefit many people?

I welcome you to focus on restoring balance and harmony, by standing in the truth. What if truth, is what allows balance and harmony to exist?

I welcome you to use discernment and wisdom, to guide you towards success. What if discernment allows us to align with truth, and truth allows us to enter Divine alignment; and in turn Divine alignment always brings forth success?

I welcome you to close out anything that is not integrity. What if this is a way of inviting blessings to come to you?

I welcome you to create a positive relationship, with the material world. What if this happens naturally, where we stand in confidence and abundance; instead of control and competition?

I welcome you to stop allowing corruption to rule your life. What if you stop associating with what is corrupt; and what benefits are there, when you stop associating with what is corrupt?

What To Focus Our Actions On

This month, our actions need to be focused on getting to the truth of things; especially in our relationships. Lies, deceit, and manipulation are all over the place; and it is very confusing, trying to sort through it all. It is hard to tell who is with us, who is against us, who is playing on more than one side; and who wants to be with us but isn’t, and who doesn’t want to be with us but is. However, getting to the truth is critical; because we need the wisdom of understanding things, so that successes can unfold for us.

That being said, you do not want to take anything for face value; even when it comes from someone that you think you could trust. It is worth learning the different ways, that this type of energy is used; and why. A big piece of it has to do with maintaining control, protecting something so that it can be accomplished without sabotage, creating chaos and confusion and separation or division; and trying to find out more information about something.

It is with this influence that we may find out who have been spies or double agents, we may learn who is behind the grand schemes and deceptions in our world, we may find much of our world shaken up; because it is likely things are quite different, than we thought they were. However, this is all very valuable to us. Through this we can forge favorable relationships. We will be able to make choices from truth and wisdom; and this will lead us to be victorious, over what has challenged us deeply.

As we take the time to learn of all of the lies and distortions, and get to the truth; we also come to understand many of the blocks that have been standing in our way. We also have a wonderful opportunity to change things out; and to connect with those people that will truly love and support us in life. While we may not like what we see; we can get things moving in our life, and make wonderful shifts that are beautiful and favorable for us.

I welcome you to get to the truth of things. What if the reason things haven’t been flowing for you, is because you couldn’t see what was blocking you?

I welcome you to do your own research, instead of just taking things for how they are presented to you. What if things are not what you think they are; for better or worse?

I welcome you to see the opportunities available to you; once you accept the truth of things. What if the opportunities will provide you with wonderful experiences?

I welcome you to change out lies, for the truth. What if making this change, gives you victory over your challenges?

What To Focus Our Thoughts On

From August 1st – August 11thour thoughts have much of the same patterns, as our action energy. It is strongly showing lies, mind games, and attempts to sabotage success. You can even call this another “psy-op” period; because it is designed to break down the mind’s ability to function, reason, and to see things clearly. It is designed to disorient us in a way, that sabotages success that we are headed for.

What is particularly hard with this influence, is that when we feel that we cannot trust our mind, we lose trust in ourselves; and from there most everything else breaks down. You have to know that you are stronger than this. With these forces doubled up, we can expect damaging things to come; in very appealing packages. There is likely to be a lot of charisma, charm, and aspects of “serendipity” used; in order to convince you to take a certain action, make a particular choice, or go in a particular direction.

The way to move past this, is to stay focused and diligent on your own work; and see it through. This is a time, where it is important to move forward with what you need to do; regardless of what others are saying to do. You need to stand clear, in the soul’s wisdom and ways. If you can do this, then you will see success; and are likely to be acknowledged for the results that you bring. This is not the time to go with the crowd; because they are leading you to the slaughter, instead of the pasture.

From August 12th – through the end of the month, we find that we will be able to put some of those lies and tactics to rest. The worst of it will be over. This is a good time to think about what needs to be closed; and to make that closure. It is important to keep focused on the breakthroughs, instead of what is ending. Keep your mind on where you are going; and don’t look back.

This is a great time to put your mind to work, getting creative and exploring things. It is open and clear enough to be able to learn things; and to understand things that have eluded you before. Take the time to observe things, before making final decisions about them; and explore them from many different perspectives.

If you find that you are the one, that is the source of information for others; then you may want to step into a leadership position. You may not be able to avoid this, if you are in a group situation; as people will respect and want your advice. Mostly, this is because you are the one, that is able to see how the different pieces are working together. Working as a team, is really a powerful learning experience; and the key is not that you have to do everything, but that you know who to team up to get things done. You may have the ability to see what will work or not; but most of all, you know how to get people to work as a team.

I welcome you to stop playing into, and being a part of, any psy-ops that are going on. What if breaking out of them, helps to bring an end to them; for not only you, but also others?

I welcome you to see past charisma, charm, and what seems “serendipitous”; so that you can make wise choices. What if these things are being used, to pull you out of the successes that are ready to come through for you?

I welcome you to remain focused and diligent on your own work. What if going with the crowd, is leading you into danger instead of joy?

I welcome you to close out the lies that you have held onto in your mind; and to stay focused on your breakthroughs. What if this is a time to bring closure to that which holds these lies in your mind; and you need to keep moving forward without looking back?

I welcome you to explore new idea and, concepts; and to realize that you didn’t see them sooner, because of the lies that you have held onto, or had in your life. What if you explore things from many different perspectives; before making final decisions about them?

I welcome you to step into a leadership position, if you are asked to do so. What if you are the one that knows how to bring success; since you are seeing things with a clearer mind?

Connecting To Our Soul Self

From August 1st – August 16th shows that our soul, will best be nourished by meeting our responsibilities and obligations. The more proactive we are with getting things done during this time, the happier we will be. Work on those really big projects, that you can do on your own. If you need help, then seek those that can work; and won’t try to sway you about things, or influence your decisions. This can be a very productive time, if we can get past any initial resistance to doing things.

It is easy for our spirit to feel a bit down or heavy with everything; particularly if we have to work just for the sake of money, or need to do things that are in natural conflict with the soul. People are likely to be very money focused and greedy; and that can be not only draining, but also lead to arguments and conflict. This is a time, where we may find that someone close to us like a relative, friend, or partner has lied about money. They may have used it on an affair; or tried to hide it from us, so that we didn’t get our share.

This is a time, where we may find that we are being taken advantage of in some way, regarding money. It could be that we have been working hard, and someone is expecting us to take care of them; and are out spending your hard-earned money, on expensive luxuries. It could be that while you have been struggling away to make ends meet, they have not even tried to do anything to help you.

Ultimately you need to let go of those that are doing this. It is time to put an end to, what in reality, has been dead for a long time. In world events, this can play out where we see people snap; and it creates accidents that lead to death. For most people, however, it is a time to let go and let our experiences guide us in a more favorable direction. This is a time, that can favor making shifts into things that we love doing, instead of remaining in those things that we do because we feel that we have to do them. It is a time where what we enjoy, can shift into supporting us; if we are operating practically. Take time to consider, if you are carrying too many responsibilities and obligations; and need to lighten your load.

From August 17th through the rest of the month, we nourish our soul by understanding the lessons that our experiences in life have taught us. It is about realizing, that we can see clearly enough to not repeat past mistakes; and to understand how and why, we made the choices we did earlier in life. It is a time to understand, why certain patterns have played out in our life over and over.

Now is a time where, we may be presented with a second chance on something; that was not fully brought to completion. We have the opportunity to move forward with foresight, and from true wisdom. We are given chances, to choose differently than we have in the past; and to make those choices, from a clear and wiser space.

It is during this time that if we have learned our lessons, and are using foresight; that we can experience some rapid successes. When this comes together, with approaching things from a space of peace and love; then we can truly manifest, some of the most beautiful things. This becomes a period, where we can connect with the power of our soul; as we realize that our spirit is more powerful and resilient, than anything that the earthly world presents to us. We begin to bring in those people and situations, that have an abundance of compassion and unconditional love.

I welcome you to be proactive in getting big projects done. What if this allows you to make strong accomplishments?

I welcome you to bring a closure to those people and situations that are taking advantage of you. What if this is about honoring your own self, and choosing Divine presence over petty material things?

I welcome you to shift into things that you love doing, and are in alignment with your soul self. What if challenging people have been in your life, because you have not been honoring your soul self, with what you are doing in the world?

I welcome you to understand why certain patterns have played out over and over again in your life. What if knowing this, helps you to complete these cycles; and choose from wisdom moving forward?

I welcome you to realize that rapid successes at this time, are a direct result of learning the lessons of past experiences. What if this opens you to manifest beautiful things, through being connected with your soul; and operating from peace and love?

The Code Journey ~ 2021 Edition

[astralaffairs]

voltaire to versace 03 | thomas jefferson TEASER

title: voltaire to versace 03 TEASER

pairing: professor!thomas jefferson x reader

words: a lil over 10k

warnings: sex jokes n references again, dolley simping for james again, but probably more this time, implied sex except dolley’s having it instead of mc, maria and angelica are girlfriends, lafayette is basically everyone’s plug for weed so like,, drug references and alcohol references??

desc: from francis bacon to foucault, descartes to dante, your political philosophy seminar doesn’t promise to be a blowout — and yet, one mysterious stranger and a risqué evening later, your burberry-clad professor gives you the feeling it won’t be quite the snoozefest you’d expected.

tags: @lunariasilver @tinywhim @nyxie75 @wreakhavoconmacroissantdiggs @checkurwindow @katierpblogg @cubedtriangle @lunariasilver @lexylovesfandoms @fanfic-addict-98 @stephyra17 @notebookgirl30 @exorcisms-with-elmo @kmsmedine @itshaileyn @honeyand-roses — let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

"Are you sure I was included in that invite?" Y/N's voice was skeptical as she crossed the green toward Thomas's office. Apparently, Dolley and James had spent their afternoon together, taking a walk through the city. (When Dolley told Y/N that the two-mile loop near the Lincoln Memorial had taken them two hours to walk through, she had a sneaking suspicion walking wasn't all they were doing. Hopefully, they'd at least escaped the watchful eye of our oversized 16th president.)

"Yes, I'm certain you were," Dolley insisted from the other end of the phone's line. "He said it'd be great if I brought you."

"... This sounds suspiciously like a pity invite."

"It isn't a pity invite!" Y/N could hear the indignance in her voice.

"Dolley, why, exactly, would he want me there if it wasn't a pity invite?"

"... Because you're my best friend, and he's decided to make an effort to get to know you better?"

She laughed. "As much as I appreciate this idealized James Madison, I have a feeling it was more to the effect of 'I just saw your roommate and feel obligated to invite her'," Y/N corrected her. "But go to the party without me! Don't let me hold you back from having your fun, alright?"

"Please come? It wouldn't be the same without you." Dolley's voice was high, containing traces of what almost smelled like desperation. "It'll make me much more comfortable to have you along."

Y/N groaned. "So when you and James go make out in the bathroom, I'm supposed to, what, play truth or dare with all the other PhD candidates?"

"Why not?" Dolley's tone was mild, which made Y/N roll her eyes.

"No offense to James's friends, but I'm not sure I want to spend an evening making stunted small talk with them."

"You're such a warm person, though! You'd be quite alright."

"It'd be awkward!"

"Please, Y/N? I'll beg you if that's what it'll take."

She scowled at how soft, forlorn Dolley's voice had become. As far as she was concerned, this was akin to emotional manipulation. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"Yes. I like him so much."

She sighed. "I'm gonna say yes solely because I have somewhere to be and can't deal with this argument anymore. But you owe me."

Y/N could almost picture Dolley’s sappy smile. “Thank you so much, dear. You’re too good to me.”

"Yeah, yeah, what else is new?" Her words elicited a laugh from Dolley, and Y/N continued, “But you know I’d do pretty much whatever you asked if you asked it in that I’m-about-to-cry voice, so I’m not sure this relationship is healthy for me anymore.”

“Oh, of course; I’m truly a parasite,” Dolley sighed. “Taking you in as my roommate, paying for your ramen — how evil of me.”

“I pay half the rent, and ramen costs fifty cents!” Y/N defended, but the words were lighthearted nonetheless. “Next time you give up five perfectly good hours of a Friday night so that I can get laid, we’ll call it even.”

“Don’t make any calls about Friday just yet. You haven’t even seen James’s friends.” Dolley’s voice was just teasing enough to placate Y/N. “I may not be the only one having some fun.”

“Have you even seen James’s friends?” Y/N asked dubiously, and Dolley’s silence told her all there was to know. “That’s what I thought. He’s an econ student, so it’s probably gonna be about eighty percent entitled rich men attending school on family money.”

“Or they could all be just your type,” Dolley reasoned, but by then, any efforts to talk Y/N out of her convictions were futile. “Tall, hot, and older.”

“First off, I don’t have a type, and second, just because you’re dating an ‘older man’,” — The final two words were said mockingly — “doesn’t mean that his older friends aren’t still douches.”

“I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but that is absolutely your type.”

“Based on what?”

“That professor of yours?”

“Dolley!” Y/N scowled, turning down the volume on her call just in case some passing pedestrians were notorious gossips with super-hearing. It was certainly possible. “Can you please stop talking about him like that? Don’t make it a thing,” she murmured, jaw tense.

“Oh, we’re well past that, dear,” Dolley said matter-of-factly, and Y/N could only roll her eyes. “But if you’ve agreed to the party, I won’t push my luck.”

“Smart choice,” she muttered bitterly. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later tonight?”

“Of course.”

With that, she hung up the phone before Dolley could take advantage of her giving mood and start making further outlandish demands, tucking it into her coat pocket as she pushed open the door to Melos Hall. Unfortunately for her, the elevator was broken, and Thomas's office was several flights of stairs above her.

After at least eight long pauses for her to catch her breath, heaving as she leaned against the railing in the stairwell, and three stomach cramps, Y/N knocked on his door. "Anybody home?"

"C'mon in." His voice was soft, muffled through the door, and she opened it to find him all but slumped on his desk, resting his head on his hand as he graded papers he appeared to be rather cross with, and with more of said papers covering the entirety of the desk’s surface (and much of the floor). He glanced up when she entered, and a soft grin split his expression. "Hey, I thought that was you."

"I'm in absolute awe of your pattern-recognition skills, really," she replied, tone dry as she let the door fall shut behind her, and despite the playful smile she wore, Thomas rolled his eyes.

"You actually here for anything, or am I gonna have to kick you out?"

She laughed. "I'm not here to derail your work, I swear." He raised a dubious eyebrow. "I was just stopping by to let you know that, assuming it's still on the table, I'd love the TA position."

"Oh, yeah?" His smile widened almost imperceptibly at her words, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "'M glad to hear it. Could've just shot me an email, though."

She shrugged. "I was headed this way anyway. Figured I may as well stop by."

"I'm not complainin'." She let out a soft huff of laughter at the words, but she could feel heat beginning to creep up the back of her neck. "'S good timing, anyway. Intro to IR just turned in an essay on Kant."

The soft groan she let out only served to amuse him further as she surveyed the wreckage of his office. "That's what all this paper is?" He nodded in confirmation, and she scrunched up her nose. "I'm not sure if I feel worse for the freshmen who had to write them or for you having to read them."

"Well, I should hope it's the freshmen," he said matter-of-factly, sitting back in his chair. The smile he wore was concerningly self-righteous. "'Cause, now, readin' these is your job, too."

Her eyebrows shot up; the dread in her gaze was the furthest thing from contrived. "... Is it too late to rescind my application as a TA?"

He shook his head. "Mm-mm. You're welcome to abandon ship."

She didn't like the satisfaction which grew in his gaze as she weighed her options; they both knew she wasn't considering turning down the position in earnest — that simple fact left Thomas unnecessarily smug. Another beat passed, and she sighed. "You're lucky this is going to look good on my grad school applications."

He laughed. "Sure am. I could use all the help I can get, right now."

"I can see that," she replied, voice laden with amusement at the state of his office.

However, Thomas said nothing more, and she shifted on her feet, uncomfortable with the drawn-out silence. He raised an expectant eyebrow, and it took her a moment to grasp his intention. "Wait... d'you mean, like, right now?"

"Unless you're busy." He shrugged. His gaze was hopeful as she eyed warily the small stack of papers she'd spent the past few minutes trying not to crush under her boot. She sighed.

He grinned when she bent over to pick up the papers that'd floated to her side of the desk. "As depressing as it feels to say, I've got nowhere else to be on this fine Friday night."

"That's the spirit." He winked, and though she rolled her eyes, her amused smile was deep-set. "So, you're gradin' for accuracy and watchin' out for grammar, of course, but the points are really earned for analysis. The paper's on changes in the international system. They’ve gotta connect ‘em back to Kant's maxims."

She let out a low whistle as she took a seat across from him, plucking a red pen from his cup and dropping her bag onto the floor. "That certainly sounds pretentious."

He laughed lightly. "You really tellin' me you didn't have to do anything like this as a freshman?"

"Oh, I wish I could say that, but unfortunately, my professor was apparently every bit the pseudointellectual you are.” She nodded sadly, and Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Hilarious, sweetheart, really." In the dry sarcasm of his tone, the casual pet name didn't seem to register with him, but Y/N couldn't help but notice, and her breath caught. "Here, lemme get you a copy of the rubric. 'S nothin' too complicated; go easy on 'em. Got some STEM majors in the class who're just takin' it for the graduation requirement, so I'm not expectin' much."

She pursed her lips. "Are the essays that bad?"

He deadpanned as he turned back to her, sliding the rubric across the desk. "At least as bad as I'm makin' 'em sound."

Y/N let out a long, dramatic huff, rubbing her temples, and Thomas looked thoroughly entertained at her reaction.

"I'm in for a long few months, aren't I?"