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inventors-fair · 5 months ago

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Secondary Effects: Trigger Runners-Up

Our runners-up this week are @izzet-always-r-versus-u, @misterstingyjack and @tanknspank!

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Principal of Reaction

Sometimes it's important just to be reactive, honestly. This name is pretty awesome when you consider the scientific in-joke there, and that humorous aside leads into quite well-written flavor text that emphasizes this character's personage. The amount of targeting in the STX set as a whole (especially the Archive) is one reason why it's a phenomenal card to pick up in these colors, but even then, the fact remains in a draft environment: your stuff is gonna be targeted. At the very least, you can force some kind of answer, and that answer is going to make things more difficult for your opponents to work through. And yet, there's the force equivalence: you might lose some big piece of your board. What do you gain? A huge symmetrical creature. The world is right again.

I'll be honest, I never liked the wording about how 0/0s with counters work, but that's not technically wrong. There's some minor kerfuffle about how someone could interpret the "it" to be the targeted permanent in corner cases, but I'm also scraping the bottom of the barrel for what sorts of things I'd have to explain to someone who didn't know how cards' wordings worked. The nature of the card means that your opponents will have to slow down regardless to consider their game states. I really like the focus on spells here, because you can't really do the mana value of ability sources without adding a zillion lines of text, and it focuses on the spellslinging nature of Arcavios in a way that both boosts the feeling of the world as emphasized in its inception and encourages players to interact with their opponents on that spellslinging level. Your and your opponent are each opposing and intertwined sources yourselves, no? I really dig the zen of this card. I also really dig annihilating my opponents in the dome with crystal snakes.

@misterstingyjack — Irradiated Drinking Water

Yeah, I buy it—the whole setup, I mean. I'm an old fart and don't know the newfangled planes and inhabitants as much, but a checkup on the Gastal world and the Mad Max-ness of it all makes sense here. Even the barrels part. It's weird, those feel really modern, but... I'm getting ahead of myself. The only reason that this card would be a bend is the association between blue and life loss, and even then the Mothman deck already put a few of those in mono-blue so I don't have a leg to stand on here. Would this be more of a Commander card or would this be fine for limited, then? It's a good question; as far as limited cards go, we've had Psychic Corrosion, Sphinx's Tutelage, Jace's Erasure... Granted, those are all YOUR draws. But this one's almost more balanced, I think.

It's a really interesting take. As much as these wordy hard-to-remember-everything mechanics grind my gears, there's a charm to this one where you're putting a massive clock on them but also taking an important limited turn off to play an enchantment that doesn't affect the board. So is the clock enough? If you're a good enough blue player, I suppose. Extra draws are gonna be rough, but they always are, and punishing those is a real funny thing that I support 100%. I think I'm warmed up to give this card a seal of approval. Name makes sense, effect is fair enough as a bend, flavor and art and vibes check out. Huh. Maybe that's one of the other reasons why this whole Judge thing matters—I don't think I ever would've made a card like this, and I would've dismissed it if I wasn't weighing it against standards that I had already set out. So thank you. I might just be in a good mood at time of writing but that counts.

@tanknspank — Paragon of Intellect

Man, that flavor text is such a 'sphinx' flavor text. Like, it's got some more questions that follow up, but if you take it at face value then you're still fuming a little bit with how insufferable the characters must be to deal with. Let's back up: this card's pretty great. There are obviously ways to make it combo off in frustrating ways, but they're pretty roundabout deals, and your opponent still draws a card off of it. In limited, you're gonna have an almost-on-curve flier than generates advantage off of cantrips, so that's already pretty awesome. Everyone likes drawing cards in limited. Would this one possibly limit the way that other colors could draw cards? I think so, but perhaps in a space outside of limited, you're in an awesome Commander spot. Everyone gets their draws, you get to, well, sit there and hope that your opponent doesn't have a Paragon as well, because you both choose to draw to combo and nobody else has a good time.

See, the problem with this card is that it absolutely needs a once-each-turn stop on it. This kind of effect is great at ensuring that your opponents have something to focus on and that you get some annoying little draws in yourself, but there really needs to be a limit. I love Notion Thief. I love Narset. I love all of those horrendous little blue gremlins that live in my head and tell me to hoard resources and bounce spells and counterspells. Like, let's be real here: this kind of effect should exist and is good to have. Limits ensure that nobody is stuck dealing with infinite loops, and that's the one thing you really need to get here. Maybe this should be a rare just because, y'know? Cantrips and cycling and bonuses and artifacts... Lots of ways to draw that need to be taken into account here. If I didn't appreciate the fact that you boiled this card into a flavorful smoothing of an oft-sought effect, I don't know if I'd go for it as much. Alas: you tapped into a necessary evil. Still evil. But necessary all the same.

I'm on the tail end of some long days, but we'll get commentary as it comes. Thank you all for your super-cool entries! @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #commentary #runners up #opponent trigger contest

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maochira · 1 year ago

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HOW WAS THE BLUE LOCK MOVIE???????

OKAY SO. HERE'S MY FULL REVIEW ON THE MOVIE

I love the movie very much!!! I watched it twice, first with two friends and then with my dad. Both times we watched the German dubs btw!

Even though I enjoyed every second of it, I do have some criticism.

I wish they would have focused a little less on the matches and a little more on the stuff that happens inbetween. Especially the dynamic between Reo and Zantetsu was so much fun to read in the Episode Nagi manga. In the movie it was just Nagi telling Zantetsu so turn his brain off and do what Reo instructs. They left out such a huge chunk of the conflict between Reo and Zantetsu.

I think the match against Barou's team should have been longer. I loved that part in the manga and it is important to Nagi's awakening. It was too short in the movie.

I get why the match against Team Z was so long and I didn't mind. I enjoyed seeing more from Nagi's POV!

I think the movie should have ended right at the beginning of second selection. They rushed through all the matches and showed nothing of the important developments that happend when Reo's and Nagi's teams are up against each other. It felt so very rushed just to get to the U-20 match in the post-credit scene.

I mean, I get it. They most likely didn't plan a second movie and the manga wasn't that far when the movie was announced over a year ago. But still... I think ending with Nagi's monologue at the start of second selection would have been a better ending.

Also, I understand they went that far to create hype for the second season of the anime. All in all, I understand the decisions that were made but would have prefered a different approach.

Now some thoughts on the German dub!!

The dub of the first season was good but there was a lot of space of improvement. I watched it over 10 times so the voices and ways of the characters talking are engrained in my mind.

For the movie (and possibly season 2) they changed some voice actors. Most important: Nagi

When I saw the trailer and heard his new VA I wasn't impressed and rather disappointed. But now that I've seen the movie? AMAZING!!! Marcel Mann did a great job as Nagi! His previous VA Jerome Weinert was good as well, but his acting made Nagi sound rather annoyed than lazy/tired. I hope Marcel Mann continues voicing Nagi for season 2 because he fits Nagi so well!

Reo's and Zantetsu's VAs remained the same. Ben Küch and Maik Rogge were once again great as them! I love the translations in the dub, especially Reo and Nagi sounded like regular teenagers talking. Stuff like "fuck" and "shit" and just random cursewords during matches, Nagi even said "sheesh" at some point LMFAO. A lot of parts of the dub were also translated better than season 1, for example Raichi actually said "sexy football" rather than "irresistible football" which was a confusing choice in season 1 (especially because they alternated between irresistible and sexy I think???)

Bachira was voiced by Julius Jellinek in the movie and at first I was sceptical because his previous VA Finn Posthumus has kind of grown on me, but Julius Jellinek still impressed me!! I think the voice isn't 100% fitting for Bachira, but the acting was amazing. My favourite part was when he said "My monster tells me no panic on the titanic!" that was hilarious

Barou is now voiced by Fabian Kluckert. Some of you might remember when I posted clips of season 1 German Barou that were.... uhm..... see for yourselves

There are no official sources to my knowledge, but my friend figured out who the German VA is. Sebastian Schneider has only had 2 voice acting roles so far, one of them being Barou (those are the only ones documented on Synchronkartei, at least). He's usually an actor for live-action stuff. Anyways, the switch to Fabian Kluckert was kinda... unimpressive. Forgettable. Fabian Kluckert is a great VA, you can check his other anime roles here. But going from Sebastian Schneider who had questionable acting, but sounded very funny and made German dub Barou sound a little less serious, casting Fabian Kluckert as Barou made him kind of bland in comparison. I hope they find another VA to do Barou for season 2. I wish German Barou to be able to convey a similar energy than his Japanese and English voice actors. So far we only got unserious and kinda bland Barou.

Gagamaru also had another VA and... meh. Christian Zeiger is way too high for Gagamaru. I really hope they get David Brizzi back for season 2 because he was a perfect German Gagamaru. Christian Zeiger is the German voice for Tom Holland and... yeah. Not the greatest casting on Gagamaru.

René Dawn-Claude as Nameoka??? AMAZING. Loved it. That was great. I hope René Dawn-Claude continues voicing in season 2, hopefully as Shidou! Shidou was previously voiced by Luca Kämmer, who didn't fit him too well. They put Luca Kämmer on Otoya in the movie's additional time which was great!! He definitely fits Otoya better than Shidou.

Carlos Fanselow as Karasu, Oliver Szerkus as Yukimiya and Linus Drews as Kurona were great too! They didn't talk much so I don't have a huge opinion on them, but I'd be fine with them continuing their roles in season 2. Linus Drews as Kurona was close to perfect by the way! I couldn't imagine what German VA he would have, but now that I heard Linus Drews on him, I love that.

If anyone wants to know more detailed thoughts on any German Blue Lock VAs or dub decisions, feel free to send me asks about it :]

#blue lock #bllk #episode nagi #episode nagi movie #💟 mao meows

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lotties-ashwagandha · 1 year ago

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as someone with OCD if i see another one of those “im so OCD i clean my room once a week! here’s my best friend organizing my colored pencils being so quirky OCD!” or generalizing OCD as neat freak cleanliness im going to flip my shit and here’s why (under the cut)

yes OCD can manifest in obsessive compulsive cleaning behavior but OCD DOES NOT MEAN NEAT FREAK. OCD manifests in so many different ways, and everyone’s experience is different especially if you have co-occurring conditions like depression or anxiety or if you’re autistic or have ADHD. people think OCD is just cleaning and being neat and clean but they don’t understand the thought processes behind OCD so let me explain it to you. OCD is a condition where someone experiences unwanted obsessive thoughts, and in an effort to ease these thoughts engages in a compulsion. obsessive thoughts are often based in fear and trauma, and the compulsions try to ease the fear, but it’s often short term and doesn’t work for more than a few seconds.

here’s an example. green equals obsessive thought, red equals compulsion.

im scared that something will happen to my pet when im not near her/in the same room as her, so i’ll check on her twice every hour and will pet her five times each time i check on her

(this is actually close to one of my own compulsions btw)

as you can see this is an irrational response to a fear that is irrational if your pet is perfectly healthy and safe. many times OCD fears and compulsions are extremely irrational. it can even be something like “if i don’t tap my door handle three times after leaving this room my family will die in a fire”. it’s not fun, it’s scary, and we’re (usually) aware of how irrational our fears are but the fear is still very real and the compulsions are irresistible. symptoms of OCD also include checking. for me one of my obsessions and compulsions in relation to checking is i’ll get the thought of “what if i accidentally said something offensive/cussed/said something bad abt my teacher in my college paper” and even though i know I didn’t do any of that i’ll have to check my paper 3 times or more just to make sure I didn’t. another example of this is checking to make sure you turned the stove off like 5 times before you leave the house.

OCD can also lead to rumination and thought tunnels. this is prominent in all forms of OCD but is extremely prominent in relationship or friendship OCD. an example of rumination in OCD would be:

“what if my response to that text message sounded stupid?”

“if i sounded stupid what if they think im stupid”

“if they think im stupid they’ll leave me”

“if they leave me I won’t have anyone to talk to”

and so it goes on and on and on . and not just for a second or two, it can last for hours.

BUT i’d like to circle back and say that im not invalidating people with OCD in relation to cleaning. it DOES exist and it IS valid, and cleaning and organization in general can be a big big comfort and regulator for people with OCD. im talking to the people who think it’s quirky or fun or on purpose to have cleaning related OCD. compulsions aren’t cute, they aren’t quirky, they’re scary, and OCD is a disorder. it’s not fun. I grew up with a mother with very extreme OCD in relation to cleaning/sanitization and it has taken a huge toll on both of us. I watch her get upset and panicked and burned out because of her organization and sanitation OCD. and i watch myself get into the same cycles because of my OCD, even if our obsessions and compulsions are completely different. it’s not something enjoyable.

if you’d like to read more about OCD , or the related condition that is OCPD, here are some sources to do that. PLEASE educate yourselves on disorders before posting about them, especially tiktoks that are meant to be comedic. to that one girl on tiktok: it’s not funny that you moved all your OCD friend’s shit around her room and left her deodorant and toothpaste open in the bathroom! get a life!

anyway. some sources:

Cleveland Clinic’s Explanation of OCD

Friendship and Relationship OCD Explained by Mashable

Co-Occurrence OCD and Autism

#ocd #tw: ocd #mental health #obsessive compulsive disorder #if you have ocd pls add to this if i missed something

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pawfuu · 1 year ago

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Hey it's https://www.tumblr.com/pawfuu/748309924575166464/this-is-a-genuine-question-to-the-anon-if-shi?source=share anon again :P

Just because shi made an apology doesn't mean people have to forgive hir or suddenly all of what shi did wasn't extremely discomforting to people. if you were/are friends of hirs and claimed to care for hir yet never ONCE tried to get forms of confirmation that shi was in fact that race or if you clearly saw signs shi was unstable and did nothing you are weird. Delusion or not, you all feed into it and likely helped hir get/encouraged hir to use closed names, from cultures where names are more than just something you go by. Yes it's weird to ask someone if they are "truly" that race but your saying you truly believed/trusted that shi just one day found out shi was all of those races (the ones shi is bodily not) and just rolled with it? No questions asked, no asking hir to double or even triple check with hir adopted parents for say hir parents lineage. I can only speak as a Hawai'ian but trust me if you are from our island you'll know family middle/last names as in you can look it up and see huh this has some history or you'll have some form of culture behind it.

My point is, I know those servers/hir friends hate feeding into people's delusions, yet you clearly did it and likely made it much worse. You are a part of what happened and saying oh I knew it isn't a haha in your face. You should be ashamed you didn't try and help your friend and let it get this far! Anyways I do hope shi gets the help shi needs and better fuckin friends cause clearly some of yall also need to take a look at yourselves. Even from the short time I was in mutual servers I could tell shi was unstable and needed help, help you likely didn't tell hir shi needed. There were many times you all should have encouraged hir to talk to an adult offline and not go to discord for comfort, yet you likely didn't say anything behind the scenes. Apologies for the rant but I watched this all unfold till right before you came out with proof (which I got before you publically came out) and it's clear so many things could have been avoided. I hope hir friends see this post and learn from it!

🐾🐾

#gender coining #mogai coining #pawfuu #pro rq 🌈🍓#rq 🌈🍓#rqc🌈🍓#liom #lgbt #lgbtqia #akeneki

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harrypotterfuryroad · 1 year ago

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fjakdsfjkl they're checking children's genitals in Ohio & florida and y'all radfems totally sided with them to get it done, much like your calls for censorship silenced lesbian authors in the nineties (see the feminist sex wars/porn wars and/or struggles of the little sisters canadian bookshop).

wow, amazing. you STILL, even after fucking LINKING it, very obviously failed to read the whole thing. she absolutely described radical feminist ideology. and being well-read is something you guys pride yourselves on...that's pretty sad. i'm not even saying this is a premier source against your crock of shit ideology; i frequently cite many others. yet you failed--multiple times, now--to properly read the one single tumblr post i brought to your attention.

by far the most obnoxious conversation to have with you people is the "sex is binary" conversation. it's so eerily like talking to the scientologist freaks i grew up around, it's like a deja vu nightmare. biology is complex. also, it doesn't care. not "it doesn't care and that's why women are fucked by it!" no, it just doesn't fucking care. period. it's neutral. why in hell are you treating biological sex like it's spiritual...oh, that's right, because of your incessant and childish need to feel like a victim, which matters more than other people and certainly more than the truth. intersex people exist. you guys deny it alot, but they do. they're about as common as redheads. are redheads fucking fictitious, "harrypotterfuryroad"?

i am a cis woman, and i'm annoyed with what influence (feeble though it is, it's still important because you quite literally endanger lives) you've managed to have over the very important, real conversation about systemic misogyny. the irony is that you have made it harder to talk about. you have hindered progress. by oppressing women you have *omg you'll never guess, cue drumroll* fucking oppressed women.

as that post said, you don't own the definition of womanhood. society does. and it and i (hello, a cis woman born with your same genitals and born into the same oppression you've faced, not that it matters!) don't agree with you. get the fuck over yourself and grow up.

name one radfem that supported genital checks and follow that up by explaining why men belong in women's sports in the first place

and am i supposed to be shocked that anti-porn feminists were anti-porn regardless of who was producing it? are you shocked? did you think you had some kind of gotcha by saying that anti-porn arguments were coopted by homophobes? that horse is long past dead

she described it, sure, but she didn't define it. and a lot of those descriptive statements were total asspulls anyway. like, imagine you ask me what a square is, and i give you "it isn't a circle," "sometimes they're blue," and "they're related to trapezoids" as descriptive statements. all of these can be true, but they're not useful in gauging if i actually know what makes a square a square. so yeah i'm gonna go ahead and reject a pile of descriptive and spuriously ascriptive statements as a coherent definition, thanks. throwing out things like "TERFs think they're leftists" and "TERFs are inherently fascist" doesn't give any clear picture of what (again) a radfem is, especially with the implicit split between radfems and "TERFs"

and likewise i'll breeze right past your attention-grabbing link to scientology, i posted a few weeks ago about why that isn't productive without much more detail. i'm not treating biology like it's spiritual; i'm treating sex like it's binary. you're the one taking that spiritually by acting like i'm making some kind of individual moral judgment based on it. the redhead frequency thing is fucking stupid, because just like redheads still have hair, intersex people are still male or female (and they're also not there to be used as pawns by you)

also please tell me how it's been made harder to talk about systemic misogyny with specific examples because i'm curious about that

and finally the womanhood thing was the exact line that made it clear that the writer of that post had no idea what she was talking about. the boundaries that feminists have drawn around womanhood are really lenient and really broad. nothing about behavior or dress or class or race disqualifies you from "womanhood." there's no wrong way to be a woman except by being male, and there's no point in taking that personally

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cytser · 2 years ago

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i'm annoyed so you get a rin vent on a platform that doesn't have my face directly attached

i've seen so many posts both on twitter and tumblr recently guilting people for not posting about current events, and acting as if you're morally/ethically at fault if you're not actively posting about it. and i'm sorry, but are you hearing yourselves?

obviously, what is happening is extremely disturbing. there aren't words to describe the level of horror, so i'm not going to try to find them. i should think this goes without saying, but i'm going to say it just so we're clear that my post isn't coming from the angle of 'but who cares about what's happening?'

but you have absolutely no idea how people are impacted by what's happening. you have no idea what personal connection people may have. you have no idea the impact it may be having on their mental states, and when you act so dismissive and act like 'this is negatively impacting my mental health' is a privileged take, you show what you really think about mental health.

there are so many reasons why people may not feel able to talk about it! people may not be able to understand what's happening. people may have grown up in warzones. people may have delusions, obsessions, flashbacks, suicidal ideation triggered that they do not have a healthy way of managing.

and from a practical standpoint, what is the point in expecting everyone to burn themselves out? when people are burnt out, they lack an ability to critically examine what they're reading. with the amount of propaganda and mis/disinformation, it is extremely important right now for people to be taking time and care to consider what they're reading. insisting that people shout while burnt out just means that mis/disinformation is going to rule. who does that help?

'you're privileged to not be under threat of death!!' well, for a start you don't know everyone's personal situations. but beyond that, you guys know it isn't morally wrong to use one's privilege, right?

when this all started, it triggered my ocd so badly that for days straight i was compulsively checking the news and making myself more and more afraid and distressed. every person who i told, including my literal actual therapist, suggested i stop. so i did! and now i take my news from trusted friends (and a few select other reliable sources) and am trying very hard not to fall into another ocd spiral because with other things going on in my life as well i'm genuinely unsure if i'd survive

i'm glad if you've never reached a level of mental distress where you're concerned for your ability to keep yourself safe, but this is the reality that a lot of people are dealing with, and those people are also the one's most likely to think they're morally failing if they refuse to share every post they see

if you do have the energy to keep posting things, then obviously i encourage you to. but i also encourage you to be critical about what you share, to make sure you understand the history, to understand that everyone is spreading propaganda, and to seriously consider the bias held by the people who's voices you're sharing.

first- and second-person accounts are typically you're best bet, along with people who's jobs revolve around this (activists, journalists, politicians but be fucking careful there), as you can generally assume they know the history - but still be careful, make yourself aware of red flags, read the replies if you're worried because odds are someone will be providing more context there. sharing propaganda is not helpful, it just makes it harder for you to understand what's happening and how to help

part of why this is so difficult to talk about is because the levels of performative activism and just straight-up horrific things i've been seeing on my social media is way more than i've seen during other conflicts. it is very dificult to engage with without a good knowledge, and most people who are engaging do not have a good knowledge

i've had to unfollow so many people over the past couple of weeks because they've clearly been so poisoned from propaganda. it seems a lot of people care more about looking like 'good activists' than they do about actually being good activists

#.txt #it's also really frustrating knowing people who ARE personally impacted #nobody seems to care about them #their worlds are falling down around them but no it's morally wrong to want to avoid the news on social media #they can't avoid it in real life and we're not going to let them avoid it online either!#that's definitely good activism that is helping everyone!

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transient-winds · 11 months ago

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🌬 wooshh~ 🎐🍃

Welcome to the soirée where we chat the night away about our beloved series~

Please, make yourselves comfortable here. there's plently of room for us to fill.

Just kidding with the formalities, I'm Eve (↑19) and you can refer to me with whatever pronouns (they/she/he/any) you'd like. (人 ´ ᴗ` )

(In fact, I may also be the manifestation of "erm, actually" meme ☝️🤓)

You may know me from my main blog @thebrookesnook . I've decided to transfer most of what I post regarding Wind Breaker here to keep things organized and less cluttered. This series has me in a chokehold similar to another series I'm fond of for similar reasons, and I thought why not make this my entire personality for a while (or more). This is mainly for my enjoyment and engagement to the fandom.

For clarification: I am not Japanese. I am just a Filipino fan, learning Nihongo, who enjoys spending their free time outside of college reading long ass academic papers and books on different topics regarding Japanese history, art and culture for fun & to info dump them on my unassuming friends. So feel free to correct mistakes I'm prone to make. ^^

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DISCLAIMERS

※ Don't take this blog too seriously; I'm not a professional academic researcher, but I take good care to make sure all of my posts with research will be written respectfully (especially pertaining to certain topics such as religion and culture) as well as citing my sources properly. Aside from that, this blog is merely an outlet for the silly ramblings of a broke college student with an obsession and a hope that any of the incoherent babbles can aid someone else's fanwork, share an interesting culture or be a place for good-faith discussions.

There will be reblogging and gushing about the characters and certain pairings I enjoy or like to see. This blog is a safe space for ALL ships (including x readers) in the fandom. I will not judge nor shame any ships or those who ship them. Respect goes both ways, enjoy what you enjoy. If you are uncomfortable with that, please feel free to leave anytime.

My ask box will be open sporadically (especially during chapter releases) due to my busy schedule My ask box is officially open for any questions on the wbk gods au and other wbk-relared things, but private messaging is been set to those I follow.

Thank you for checking out this blog, I hope we can get along and enjoy ourselves. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

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whcrror · 2 years ago

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hello! despite claiming to be giving this 'no further attention' there was an update to Djaq's DNI linking to a reddit post. this was made 4 years ago by Talia or Eurus. I was going to keep the name out of it, but whatever at this point. there's no screenshots, or proof to these allegations made in the post: those of which are being pushed by someone who clearly twists narratives (Djaq): as displayed with the post below this one, and so on. I have some relevant screenshots to add to the narrative. so it's not so one sided. @whorrcr @thewhorrcrs

(interesting Djaq also accuses us of wanting to 'push our own narrative' - when i very much encourage people to look at djaq's own blog (thewhorrcrs), and freely post and speak on the url / posts made at length with proof. She has not posted a single thing from our blog, and in-fact has vowed to ignore everything else. this is within Djaq's right.)

'Not a Good Look' to post something that was supposed to be anonymous. Also not a good look to lie about easily fact checked things, such as the issue in the post underneath this one. this showing Djaq's ability to twist a narrative. Also, why update a DNI if you don't plan to follow more people? anyway..

Interesting this Talia is having a similar issue in the WOW (world of warcraft) community, dating back seven months or so. it shows that she's in situations like this quite often, perhaps - certainly more than the person in question (Nova). the url is : https://himbonoir.tumblr.com

I'm not sure if the two of these people are the best source of information regarding a situation involving accusations, as it seems like they are involved in drama consistently even now. below is one of the first moments that Talia began talking to Nova again, discussing how to move forward. discourse in mutual friends aside, the two seemed to be friends but there was some discomfort there. that's fine on all sides, seems like a healthy interaction to me. nova owns up to things and apologizes and gives Talia space to process.

The claim about the tickets: the reddit post left out a part. It's also come to my attention she changed her flight and saw another friend instead. 'that's not the way that works' is a fair statement about a non-refundable ticket. it is in fact the case.

i'm not saying believe one side or the other, however there was some additional info we had that we wanted to bring to light in light of the new addition, in order to give people a more rounded view of the story. however while you can draw your own conclusions, you cannot know for sure what someone's intentions were unless you wish to ask them about it yourselves to do your own research. on our side it seems like the history of narrative twisting and drama has been on the Talia/Djaq side of things.

Talia mentioned guilt tripping in the post, however. again, if we aren't involved we can't say what the intentions were. however it seemed short and sweet. here's a screenshot illustrating the picture a bit more clearly. Nova mentions that Talia's comfort comes first, and says that she can do what she needs to do for her own comfort. also that she wishes nothing but the best for Talia.

but again, draw your own conclusions! have a good day.

although please know we are dedicated to fact-checking, as with the post below.

#whorrcr #whorror #djaq

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nelkey · 2 years ago

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Alright, I really gotta address this. Google cannot do this, they just legally can't. When they provide cloud services to their users, they still have to respect privacy laws. So even if they wanted to use google cloud services for it, for your data to be used to train Bard (Google's AI) you'd need to opt in specifically for that use and give your consent for your data to be used for those purposes, which I have not done.

Moreover, I live in Europe, my data in Google Cloud services is protected by European laws, specifically the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

This is the full legal stuff of why google cannot do this at all, in case anyone wants to read through it

This is google's own statement about privacy regarding AI training, both inside and outside of Europe.

This is from the previous link:

"We have always maintained that you control your data and we process it according to the agreement(s) we have with you. Furthermore, we will not and cannot look at it without a legitimate need to support your use of the service -- and even then it is only with your permission. Here are some of the additional measures we take to ensure your privacy: (reference: GCP Terms).

In addition to these commitments, for AI/ML development, we don’t use data that you provide us to train our own models without your permission. And if you want to work together to develop a solution using any of our AI/ML products, by default our teams will work only with data that you have provided and that has identifying information removed. We work with your raw data only with your consent and where the model development process requires it. "

This sustains that no, they cannot use the data on google cloud, this includes any google workspace like docs, to train Bard without your consent.

Feel free to look up more info yourselves, especially if you think a company might be doing things illegally, but please, before panicking and pulling all your work out of any google workspaces, do some research of your own when things sound very illegal, the kind that would get any company in trouble.

(Also, this other thing isn't relevant to fics specifically, but another reason why google CANNOT use data from all its users stored in its cloud to train their AI is that other companies, and businesses and private entities in general also use these services often, so the AI would end up knowing private information and it would result in leaks from the AI not knowing that its not supposed to provide that info. Leaking other companies' info would be a fuck ton of legal trouble for them, so they won't risk it. This is one of the things that other AI services are getting in trouble for because through scraping different services, some companies info has already gotten leaked, so I doubt google will risk the same thing happening to them. They really don't need it badly enough to do that, there's a lot of info publicly in google that's not under anyone's personal google account that they can use without risking that much legal trouble).

Hey guys! Since ao3 is down and we're all craving fics, would anybody want to join a shared drive folder and upload their downloaded ao3 fics to it with folders divided by fandoms/ships/gen etc for anyone to read?

But please, anyone who uses it has to go give kudos and thank the writers in the comments after the attacks are over, we can get through this!

#ai legislation #gdpr #fanfic sharing project #google cloud #google drive #I am personally not an expert but I've been a computers major in college for years and I've taken classes on AI #plus basically all my family is made up of programmers and I know a lot of people who work with this kind of stuff #you can also check out those sources and more yourselves #informing yourselves about this stuff is important #one of the biggest issues with AI right now is that people don't know enough about how they work or how they can make mistakes #and especially where the legal limits are for companies

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sophieinwonderland · 2 years ago

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I try to keep this blog PG and would genuinely be more than happy to never discuss headmate sex here... but it's unfortunately necessary when it's a source of fakeclaiming.

WARNING: Obviously, this is going to delve into topic of inner world sex in a semi-explicit (but relatively dry and boring) way. It's already flagged, but I'll give a another warning for anyone who this makes uncomfortable and wants to turn away.

This is more for singlets who are reading this and think inner world sex is impossible or doesn't make sense.

I'd like to take a moment to demystify the topic a little bit.

The above system on r/systemscringe admits they don't have an inner world so it's not too surprising that they don't think it's possible.

The briefest and most relatable explanation of an inner world for those that don't know is that it's a simulated environment created by the brain. If you're a singlet, you might be able to imagine yourself standing in a room of your choosing right now, maybe a fictional room from your favorite TV shows. If so, congrats! You have an inner world now! That's really all there is to it. (But if you're a system struggling with making and immersing yourselves in inner worlds, check out these guides I've compiled from across the plural community.)

The biggest differences between a singlet's inner world and a system's is just that the system's has more occupants.

Each member of a system has imaginative control over the space, allowing each to "imagine themselves" in the same shared space. It's sort of the difference between playing a single-player game and a multiplayer game. We tend to call these forms mindforms.

(Note: Some system inner world experiences are more complicated than described. This is very much an oversimplification and I wouldn't be able to cover the vast variety of inner world experiences without veering way off course.)

Despite what the above r/systemscringe user claims, innerworld sex doesn't require physically touching the body... for much the same reason that singlets can also orgasm without touching the body...

I would highly recommend people check the above article out.

I feel one problem with many systems not talking about inner world sex is that it's become viewed as this strange and arcane experience, which has allowed those that do discuss it to become prime targets for fakeclaiming, but the reality is that inner world sex actually uses very basic cognitive mechanisms that can be utilized by both systems and singlets alike.

Aside from the multiplicity itself which allows multiple self-conscious agents to each have a mindform and interact with each other... What makes inner world sex possible is the same thing that makes it possible for people in the Vice article to trigger orgasms through thinking, fantasizing or erotic hypnosis.

So please, stop using systems having inner world sex as a justification for fakeclaiming systems!

Thank you for your time!

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deltawrites · 4 years ago

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School days extras: The Fushiguros

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x reader x Suguru Geto

Author note: So sorry it took so long to get these done! I'm also so sorry the word count is so short 🥺👉👈

Warnings: Nothing I can think of, but if there's anything that needs to be tagged appropriately please let me know!

New to the series? Click here

The three of you don’t really insert yourselves into Megumi and Tsumiki’s life beyond providing financial stability and overseeing Megumi’s mandatory sorcery training.

It’s not because you guys don’t care about them or anything. You do, but it would just feel wrong to forcefully insert yourself into their lives and dub yourselves their parental figures given the circumstances. Toji Fushiguro is a big source of trauma for Satoru and Suguru, so their initial distance is due to the fact that they still suffer from the aftermath of Riko Amanai and Misato Kuroi’s joint deaths as well as their near-death experiences by his hands.

Megumi is nearly the spitting image of Toji. Satoru and Suguru may poke fun at his spiky hair and stoic mannerism, but they think it better that Megumi is annoyed with them than to let themselves project their trauma onto a kid who has already been through his fair share of difficulties, at such a young age too. Those nightmares they thought were a thing of the past come back with a vengeance, but they’re forever grateful that you’re there to comfort and talk them through it as you’ve done before. Honestly, they’d be a mess without you.

In your case, your initial distance is out of a sense of failure. The only way you could secure financial aid and guarantee protection for both Megumi and Tsumiki from the Zen’in clan was to agree to train and raise the former into a shaman once his technique manifested, which already did when Satoru went to check him out for the first time. Even when he’s older and is more understanding of his circumstances, there’s always that little worm in the back of your mind that reinforces the sentiment that you didn’t do enough. Finding and taking advantage of those few loopholes within the system is what you do best, yet you couldn’t extend the same advantages for Megumi and Tsumiki as you have for many others before.

But there’s nothing you can do to change the terms set in stone, no matter how much you wish you could. You have to accept this reality quickly for both Megumi and Tsumiki’s sake. Neither you nor Satoru nor Suguru can ever truly replace their parents, even despite the fact that the two lacked proper parental figures when you three met them. What you can do with what you all are capable of giving is to be the best family/support system for them as humanly possible.

Tsumiki is much more open and receptive to your family’s involvement in her life. She’s quick to refer to you all by proper relative terms. Satoru and Suguru are the uncles and you are the aunt/third uncle. Tsumiki even calls Nanako and Mimiko her cousins! How sweet!

Megumi does as well, but he doesn’t open up and accept you three as easily as Tsumiki. Unlike his sister, he has no memory of his mother, and his father has been absent from his life since he was a toddler. What little he does remember about Toji is hard to piece together into one coherent and substantial memory. Because the people he needed most have bailed out of his life, Megumi fully expects you, Satoru, and Suguru to do the same in the future. He sometimes wished you guys would go away, if only to be spared yet another day of Satoru and Suguru’s incessant efforts to tease him. Megumi is a bit more tolerant of you than the other two. Again, he strongly believes that you’ll turn your back on him and leave him in the dust. He may appear to open up to you more than your idiot husbands, but he’s quick to retract and keep you at arms lengths as quickly as he is to cling and burrow his face against your leg whenever you come to check on him and accompany him during his moments of respite.

During the holidays, the three of you send Megumi and Tsumiki seasonal goodies they can munch on and enjoy together. As they get older and become accustomed to the new presences in their lives, they'll gradually start to travel out into the city to celebrate the holidays together with the family instead of by themselves. The house the three of you bought together is big enough to house them if they ever need to stay over for the night. Megumi is usually the one who needs to stay overnight, as the older he gets the more frequently Satoru or Suguru bring him with them on their assignments as a part of his training/studies.

Now, onto Megumi’s infamous middle school days. He often gets into verbal fights with his sister. These arguments usually left her emotionally exhausted and even in tears. Satoru and Suguru were rather confident in their ability to talk to the boy and figure out what's bothering him. Unsurprisingly they get the door slammed in their face and told to "piss off". Satoru just laughs whenever it happens. Suguru...he's not as thrilled about it and will threaten to break the door down with a disturbingly calm voice and smile. Does Megumu flinch at his attempts to intimidate him? Not at all.

But when it's you knocking on his door and demanding to see him? He's on his best behavior. Megumi knows well enough that, unlike Satoru and Suguru, you're not as patient or forgiving over his delinquency. One moment you're scolding him and tugging on his ear, the next you're aggressively making him and his sister dinner and other small household chores.

Megumi doesn't know what to think about you, but what you've made clear is that you aren't going to leave him behind. He can handle all of Satoru and Suguru's teasing and their annoying behavior because you'll always be there to punch them on the back of their heads and come to his defense without fail. You're right by his side whenever he needs you the most. Whether it be during a particularly challenging assignment, or on the day Tsumiki was cursed and fell into a coma. It will be one of few instances where he will witness Satoru and Suguru drop their more laid-back attitudes and show him sympathy. Nanako and Mimiko are nearly in tears seeing Tsumiki laying still in her hospital bed, barely breathing on her own when they were just planning to go on a fun and leisurely trip together that same morning. Megumi hates to admit it, but he's glad he's not the only one suffering from this turn of events. He's glad to call you all his new family.

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jujutsu kaisen imagines #gojou satoru x reader #getou suguru x reader #geto x reader #gojo x reader #gojou satoru #getou suguru #satosugu x reader #reader insert #gender neutral pronouns #gender neutral reader #school days series #megumi fushiguro #fushiguro tsumiki

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birdsong-18 · 3 years ago

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my current routine so that i’m not spoiled for the face reveal and only see it from the original source is as follows (had worked before for other big events):

make sure to exit out of all social media before turning off my phone for an extended period of time (if you don’t do this, DO NOT refresh the open app and immediately close it before doing anything else)

check instagram first (best original source, much less likely to be spoiled by someone else). if there’s a photo, yay! you did it! check a few other accounts to see if anyone else posted photos as well! go chat with you pals on chosen-social-media-of-choice

if there’s nothing on instagram, go to twitter next. there’s a higher chance of being spoiled, but at least cc’s are more active there. IMMEDIATELY go to the search bar and search their names instead of dash refreshing, because then you eliminate the chance of seeing random twitter user revealing it. also on twitter, there is usually a link to a youtube vid if there is one of those

next, if twitter is barren ON THE ACCOUNTS OF THE CC’S, move on to youtube. just do a quick refresh of the subscription page, and if nothing pops up move on (you can also check the community posts, but usually cc’s will post elsewhere first)

if there is nothing on youtube, do a quick check of tiktok through the same method of just searching the account instead of refreshing the homepage. this one is further down the list, because a tiktok will pop up on your for-you page right as you open the app, and that might spoil you, so be cautious if you really care

lastly i check tumblr tags. there’s no cc’s on here that are active here, so everything is secondhand information. this is where i usually check to see if there has been a dream secret twitter account update or a snapchat update, because i have neither of those and it’s better to find out from tumblr than twitter. also reddit posts i usually find here as well (and don’t worry i don’t think he will face reveal through reddit)

or just have notifications on for dream (i don’t because i hate having so many notifs on my homepage)

also make sure to take care of yourselves today. go for walks, drink some water, have a snack or a meal, do homework for those in school. if you have to put your phone down for 15 minutes to do something, just do it. i know this is exciting and all, but it’s okay to be a few minutes after a face reveal to live your own life. i get fomo as well, but no one will ridicule you for missing something, and you’ve got your life ahead of you to appreciate it :)

#song rambles #dreamwastaken #good luck everyone #may dream’s schedule be in your favor

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joezworld · 4 years ago

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So, a while back this got posted and I thought it would be cool to do a set of stories on the whole subject of 'family'.

Then work picked up and I only got through the first one and a half.

The half story got used in Day 27 of Traintober (it's the story Gordon retells to Richard Hatt), but this one never seemed like it could fit, so I decided to put it up after Traintober.

*checks watch*

It's certainly after Traintober now, isn't it?

Replacement

July, 1987

Once again, Tidmouth Sheds were in an uproar, but this time, it was a different sort of uproar.

"I'm telling you, he's a mongrel! A fraud! A waste of good metal!" Screeched a posh voice.

Vulgar statements followed this:

"How dare you, you cheese-shaped lump of-"

"-can you at least say this to my face?"

"-if ah were in steam ah would be turnin' ye into roast duck, you-"

"Forget yerself Douggie, can ye imagine what Bear wuld be sayin' if he wuz 'ere?"

"Quackers, I swear to all that is not holy, if you don't stop talking-"

"Is this what the pride of the LNER sounds like? An unmitigated -"

Perhaps an explanation is necessary.

The year prior, The National Railway Museum had restored Mallard - the fastest steam locomotive in the world - to operating condition. Gordon was very pleased by this, as it meant another member of his extended family was in steam.

Furthermore, Mallard's speed records were a source of personal pride for Gordon, as his design was the prototype for all the Gresley Pacifics, including Mallard. This meant that Gordon would happily spend hours telling anyone and everyone who would listen (or couldn't get away quickly enough!) about his family's various exploits, much to the annoyance of the other engines, who wished he'd give it a rest!

But Gordon would not give it a rest, and spent most of the next year going on and on about Mallard and Flying Scotsman. Things eventually grew so dire that the Fat Controller reached out to Mallard and Flying Scotsman's owners to see if the engines would like to come out to Sodor just so Gordon would stop.

Unfortunately, things had not gone as planned. While Flying Scotsman was just as charming and gregarious as he always was, Mallard... was not.

Within a few days of his arrival, engines up and down the Island had begun complaining of the A4's attitude, which ranged from snooty and aloof to cold and even downright hostile depending on whom he spoke to:

"You should have heard the things he said when he thought BoCo was gone!" Edward said crossly one morning at the junction. "I've never heard such remarks about diesels!"

"Did he say anything about you?" James growled. "He told me - to my face - that my class was a "insignificant footnote in history".

Percy looked over, expression dark, at where the express engine was sitting at the coaling tower next to Gordon and Scotsman. "He hasn't said anything to me yet, but I think he knows where his bearings are greased."

"What?" Edward was confused.

"Keep it to yourselves," Percy explained. "But I think those books about us are a bit more popular on the mainland than we think. He thinks he can get away with being a sore axle to you because you aren't famous."

"And you are?" James snapped back.

"No," Percy admitted. "But Thomas is, and every time I've seen that great Wedge is when Thomas, Gordon, or Flying Scotsman is nearby."

The three engines looked at each other.

"So not only is he a rude heap of scrap iron," James began. "But he's also a glory hound?"

"Seems so."

"What a berk."

This brings us back to Tidmouth Sheds. Henry had been away at the works for several days, and returned to the big station on an evening goods train from Crovan's Gate. Mallard, Gordon, Scotsman, and several other engines were already in the shed when Henry backed in.

Pleasantries were exchanged with the other engines, but when Henry tried to say hello to Mallard, trouble started.

"You aren't a Black Five, are you?" Mallard asked, suspicion colouring his voice.

"You have a very good eye!" Henry chortled, unaware of Mallard's personality. "I've been rebuilt quite thoroughly - Stanier was the most recent one, about 50 years ago now."

"Really? And what were you rebuilt from?" Mallard asked, even more suspicious than before.

Across the shed, Donald, Douglas, and Duck looked at each other with growing concern. Henry's origins were well known to the Island, as was Mallard's superiority complex - this conversation would not end well.

"-and well, at the end of the day, I think I was originally built out of a rejected first draft for Gordon!" Henry laughed a little. "Of course, that was a long time ago."

A lengthy silence followed that.

Gordon and Scotsman looked at each other. They'd never considered that Henry might share a common origin with them.

Douglas, Donald, and Duck looked concerned. They could see Mallard's expression turn increasingly thunderous.

"Gordon, my dear cousin." Mallard eventually said, his tone practically poisonous. "Did you know that we're in the company of a fraud?"

The noise did not stop. No matter what anyone did to quell the argument, it would quickly start up again as Gordon or Scotsman tried to make their increasingly-recalcitrant cousin apologize to Henry. Mallard's responses were so rude that they don't bear repeating here, and each time sparked off a new round of shouting.

They would likely have gone on until dawn broke over the horizon, and only did stop when Henry's crew arrived to light his fire for the Flying Kipper. They had heard the argument all the way from the station carpark, and decided that the only way to end this was by separating Mallard from everyone else.

"- you expect me to pull what?!" As an uncooperative Mallard was driven towards the docks, the rest of the engines looked at each other, wide-eyed and emotionally exhausted.

"I never want to speak to him again." Gordon said, his voice scratchy and raw from a night of shouting.

"Gordon," Henry began.

"I'm serious." Gordon rasped. "He has no right to speak to you that way. As far as I'm concerned, he is the fraud, not you."

This drew raised eyebrows across the shed. "How is he the fraud, Gordon?" Duck asked. "It's not like he isn't a Gresley."

"He might look like one," Gordon growled. "But he isn't. No true Gresley would ever speak to another engine like that. There is a code. Honor. Dignity. Respect. It's the Gresley - nay - the North Eastern way."

The other engines stared at him. They were all well aware of how Gordon had treated Henry during his first few years on the Island.

"Don't look at me like that!" He snapped. "I was young and I was stupid then. And I have apologized." He looked in the direction Mallard had gone. "He has no such excuse."

The other engines looked at each other. They were all very upset at Mallard's rudeness, but clearly he'd struck a nerve in Gordon.

They wanted to say something, but by that point, the firelighters had arrived to prepare everyone for their morning trains, and the clatter and noise made conversation impossible. When the sheds had finally quieted down, Donald and Scotsman - who did not have morning trains - had fallen so deeply asleep that they slept until noon.

Everyone else spent the rest of the day in an exhausted haze. Henry was falling asleep any time his wheels stopped turning, and Gordon's temper had become shorter and shorter as the day had gone on. Even Scotsman, who had managed some sleep, was still groggy to the point of slurring his words.

Mallard, who had also been up all night, was equally snappish, especially after his run with the Flying Kipper. His owners had agreed to let the Fat Controller run him in normal services as well as rail tours, thinking that it would be a nice change from being kept inside the National Railway Museum all the time. However, Mallard actually enjoyed the light duties of being a museum engine, and found real work to be unpleasant and tiring.

He had not been quiet about this either, and this meant that when Mallard arrived in Barrow with the Flying Kipper, Henry's crew was already fed up with him. They left him in Barrow yard and stalked into the yard master's office, and immediately asked for their engine to be assigned the heaviest, most difficult train available.

That train turned out to be a special load of unfitted stone wagons bound for the harbour at Arlesburgh. Mallard made heavy weather of the trip, and it took him almost five hours of slow and dusty running to reach Duck's branch line. His train was of particularly low priority, and he had been shunted into almost every siding on the line, something which rankled his express engine sensibilities enormously. His axles ached and he was so tired that he was almost seeing double.

Mallard tried to rest once he'd delivered the train to Arlesburgh, but Duck hadn't forgotten the things that had been said about Henry, and blew his whistle, wheeshed steam, and generally made a nuisance of himself to keep Mallard awake. When Duck left, Donald and Douglas arrived and picked up where he left off.

When the time finally came to return to Tidmouth, Mallard was in a state of outraged and overtired hysteria. He'd been awake for more than thirty hours at this point, had been yelled at by engines who were defending a fraud, and had been made to do real work! It was disgraceful! Despicable! Absolutely disgusting!

He continued fuming all the way to Tidmouth station, and was subjected to further indignities when he was left alone on the far goods platform.

At first, he thought that it would be possible to get some rest at long last, but that hope was dashed when a pair of green tenders backed down next to him.

“What on earth do you want, Cousin?”

“What is wrong with you.” Scotsman didn’t phrase it as a question. He glared at the A4 through exhausted eyes.

“You’ll have to be more specific.” Mallard said graciously. “My paintwork is a touch shabby, my valves are worn, and I feel as though I could do with some more grease and lubri-”

“You know what I mean.”

“Oh that?”

“Yes. That.”

“Well I’m not sure that there’s anything left to talk about my dear Scotsman - you certainly seemed content to say your piece all through the night, and into the morning as well!”

“They- I- You- You have been preened and fettled just a bit too much, alright? It’s gone to your smokebox, and not in a good way.”

“Oh please. You and I both know I’m correct. That abomination is nothing more than a waste of good metal. He should have been confined to the cutting room floor just like his drawings.”

I can’t believe I’m listening to this. You sound like Deltic - you know, the original Deltic? The prototype who had BR’s men so far down his intakes that they were able to turn him evil?”

“I can’t say I’m familiar.”

“He said that he was inevitable, and that he would surpass us in every way, and that we would all fall to his greatness. He was a supremacist git, Duckie, just like you are right now.”

“I’d kindly ask you not to lump me in with monsters such as that.”

“Then stop acting like him. Actually, I take that back - do start acting like him; I had the chance to meet him a few years ago at the Science Museum - he’s had a complete turnaround, spent an entire hour telling me how sorry he was for everything. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize for something in my entire life.”

“Well I’ve never had to, and I doubt that I ever will have to.”

“Why don’t you start. Today.”

“Oh, be sensible! Why are you supporting the Mongrel anyways?”

“He’s -” Scotsman cut himself off. “All right, even if we ignored what you said about Henry - which we will not, by the way - Gordon is furious about this. I’ve never seen him so mad and neither have the other engines who live with him! You owe him an apology on top of everything else!”

“Feh! I don’t owe him anything! He’s scarcely better than the fraud!”

“I beg your pardon.”

“Oh don’t look at me like that! He’s a prototype! A first draft! A rough approximation of what was to come! Don’t tell me you haven’t looked at him! His running board has more in common with the Forgery than you or I, and they’ve even removed his center cylinder! His center cylinder! And his Gresley motion! The two things that make our line stand out above all the rest! He’s as much of a Gresley as that box on wheels they put on the Woodhead line! The only reason I afford him any respect at all is because he’s managed to ingratiate himself to that clergyman with a predilection for children’s books!”

“First of all, Tommy is just a much of a Gresley as we are-”

“Bah!”

“And second, where do you draw the line? Are there no true Gresleys other than you? Is it limited to just your class? Or does one have to be famous? Is Green Arrow a true Gresley according to you? Are Dwight or Dominion true Gresleys? Are the J50s? Am I?”

“Stop being melodramatic. Your undesirable shape aside, you are of course a Gresley, and so are -”

“Undesirable shape.”

“What? Oh yes, it’s very unfortunate, but true.”

“How so?”

“Well, it’s rather obvious if you think about it.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Just look at those of us who survived - they only preserved one or two of the rest of our family classes - just look at yourself, they only saved you because of your record - but they’ve preserved myself and five others! Clearly we are more desirable than the rest of you, and I have seen for myself how popular a streamlined body is.”

“You vainglorious little bas-”

“In fact, and I mean no offense, but if it had been Silver Link, Sir Ralph, or even a Thompson or a Peppercorn who hit the ton instead of you, they would be here and you wouldn’t. It’s that simple.”

Even through his exhaustion, everything Scotsman saw was beginning to get this strange red colouring. “You’ve crossed a line now, and you are going-”

“I’ve crossed a line?!” Mallard scoffed. “Scotsman, cousin, I am the line. The Line, against which Gresleys - no, all steam locomotives are measured against. I achieved something that no locomotive has done before or since, and I did so with loose valves, a failing cylinder, and a heavy-handed driver. You did something that Truro probably did before you were even drawn, except that you had the good sense to bring a dynamometer!”

Mallard paused. His smokebox was ringing like a damned bell, he was so tired, and he didn’t have any desire to be kind today. “And in case you start getting any ideas above your station about your fame or your glory and if that affords you some unearned amount of additional respect, old iron, let us remember that when BR decided to form the National Collection, They. Didn’t. Want. You.”

Scotsman was about to burst a boiler tube. He opened his mouth to say something equally hurtful when an aggrieved sounding “AHEM” could be heard from beside him.

There on the platform was the Fat Controller, who had heard everything, and was as angry as Scotman had ever seen a human being get.

“Oh, what is it now?” Mallard griped, showing that he had no sense in his smokebox at all.

Later

The Fat Controller spoke to the big engines that night. “Due to, err, extenuating circumstances, Mallard had to return to the mainland early.”

Exhausted cheers met this.

“Now, I understand that some of you might be disappointed by this,” The Fat Controller ignored them. “but not to worry. I have spoken to a gentleman whom I know very well, and I have arranged for another locomotive of Mallard’s type to arrive shortly. That way we will be able to accommodate all the people who have come out to see Gordon, Flying Scotsman, and Mallard all together.”

That engine turned out to be Union of South Africa - or Osprey, as she preferred to be called nowadays. She was Mallard’s polar opposite - bouncy and excitable, she relished the chance to have some “real work”, and made fast friends with the engines of Sodor before nightfall of her first day on the Island.

“Why couldn’t we have had her before?” BoCo asked the shed at large. “And do we have to give her back?”

Everyone laughed at this, and when Osprey herself backed into the shed a while later, she was met with genuine smiles.

“You all seem happy about something!” She chirped.

“We’re just glad that you aren’t rude like the last one was.” James said with surprisingly upbeat bluntness.

“Duckie...” She sighed. “What did he do now?”

Everyone told her, and when they finished, the happy mood in the shed had darkened significantly.

“So he thinks he’s in a class of his own, does he?” She said quietly. “He should know better than to say things like that.”

Even Scotsman looked at her quizzically at that.

“He’s… been doing this for some time.” She explained. “Being earmarked for preservation, not having to worry while we all did… it did things to him. We’ve all tried to make him stop - it gives the rest of us a bad name! - but with myself, Bittern, and Nigel on other sides of the country, there isn’t a lot we can do. And he clearly doesn’t respect anyone else’s opinions on the matter.” She looked at Scotsman significantly when she said this - Mallard hadn’t so much crossed the line as he’d driven over it at 127 miles per hour.

“Well we must do something.” BoCo, of all engines, spoke up from the other side of the shed. “Forgive me if I’m treading on any Gresley family ground here, but if one of my brothers had spoken like that, the rest of us would have paid him out from now ‘til the new millennium.”

Gordon, Osprey, and Scotsman looked at each other for a moment.

“I suppose we should…” Gordon began.

“He certainly deserves it.” Osprey said.

“But what could we do to him that isn’t wanton cruelty?” Scotsman pondered. “We are trying to be the bigger engines here, let’s remember.”

The engines paused for a moment to come up with ideas, but the quiet was soon broken as Henry was driven into the shed.

“You all look contemplative.” He said as he was spun around on the turntable.

“We’re just trying to - my word,” Osprey said as she took in Henry’s form. “You do look like one of us - no amount of Stanier meddling can change that.”

A pair of gasps rang out as Gordon and Scotsman had the same thought at the same time.

As everyone else looked at them, they both turned their attention to Henry.

“Henry…” Gordon said slowly. “Have I ever mentioned how-”

“I know what you’re thinking.” Henry said quickly, cutting him off. “And I will not be a party to it.”

“Oh come now, cousin.” Scotsman said slyly. “Tell me that you can’t see the appeal of this?”

“I’ve been in the same shed as your lineage for sixty years,” Henry said. “I will not be involv-”

“I see you haven’t given up on insulting children, have you?” Sir Nigel said as he was backed into the next road. Mallard was in the back of the shed, sulking; he’d been put back there several hours early after the parents at the heritage railroad’s open day had started complaining.

“They are sticky, and stupid, and young.” Mallard grimaced. “I don’t know how you put up with them.”

“I put up with them because I like them, and more importantly, they like me.” Sir Nigel said. “If they grow up not liking steam engines, then how will we survive when they’re adults? Boilers don’t grow on trees, you know - their ticket revenues will someday pay for them!”

A vulgar noise followed this, and the other A4 rolled his eyes. “Ah yes, Super-Engine is a piece of history; they’ll never rid themselves of you.”

“Did you come in here for a purpose, or am I to be stuck with you until the morning?”

“Yes to both, unfortunately enough.”

“Well, out with it - I want my beauty sleep.”

“I think you’d have to sleep for a month to manage any of that-”

“Why you-!”

“-but I do have some family news.”

“What is it? Be quick.”

“Did you know that they found another A1 prototype? I don’t know how this has only now come to light, but-”

“I said be quick.”

“ - but, new documents have come to light in Sodor. Apparently their 4-6-0 - I cannot for the life of me remember his name, but he’s the green one in the books - he’s one of us! Scotsman, Gordon, and Osprey all vouch for his pedigree, and when I saw Arrow, he was ecstatic at the prospect of expanding the family a little. Oh, and Morayshire is already champing at the bit to go out there and welcome him in person…”

Sir Nigel kept talking for some time, but Mallard didn’t hear him.

They adopted the fraud. Those savages.

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