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literary-illuminati · 3 months

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2024 Book Review #6 – Exordia by Seth Dickinson

This is a book I have been looking forward to for quite literally years, from someone who is easily one of my favourite working authors. I also read the short story the book was expanded out from before I even knew it was going to be a book, and so went in spoiled on the broad strokes of what turned out to be the climax of the whole thing. All to say my opinion on this is unlikely to match that of the typical reader, I guess.

Anyway, Exordia is a glorious spectacular mess that has no right to cohere anywhere near as well as it does. It’s target audience is small, but I’m certainly somewhere in it. Please ignore all the marketing it’s so bad you have to wonder if someone at Tor just has it out for the author.

Exordia is a, well, a profoundly difficult book to give any sort of plot summary for. The first act involves Anna, a 30-something survivor of the Anfal Genocide now living a rather unimpressive life in New York City, until one day in the early 2010s she sees an alien eating the turtles in Central Park. Then there’s a cat-and-mouse hunt between terrifying alien snake-centaurs for the future of free will in the galaxy, and the plot jumping to kurdistan, and six more POV characters from as many different nations, and nuclear weapons, and oh so many people dying messily. The first act is an oddly domestic and endearing piece of table setting, the second is (to borrow the idiom of the book’s own marketing) Tom Clancy meets Jeff Vandermeer or Roadside Picnic, and the third is basically impossible to describe without a multipage synopsis, but mostly concerned with ethical dilemmas and moral injuries. It’s to the book’s credit that it never bats an eye at shifting focus and scale, but it does make coming to grips with it difficult.

This is, as they say, a thematically dense book, but it’s especially interested in the fallout of imperialism. The Obama-era ‘don’t do stupid shit’ precise and sterile form of it in particular – the book’s a period piece for a reason, after all. The ethics of complicity – of being offered the choice of murdering and betraying those around you or having an alien power with vastly superior destructive powers inflict an order of magnitude more misery to you, them, and everyone in the same general vicinity to punish you for the inconvenience – is one that gets a lot of wordcount. It is not an accident that the man most willing and able to collaborate with the overwhelming powerful alien empire in hopes of bargaining some future for humanity is the National Security Council ghoul who came out of organizing surveillance information for the drone wars. It’s also not a coincidence that the main (if only by a hair) protagonist is someone with a lot of bitter memories over how the US encouraged Iraq’s kurdish population to rebel in the ‘90s and then just washed their hands and let them be massacred (the book couldn’t actually ship with a historical primer on modern kurdish history, so it’s woven into the story in chunks with varying amount of grace. But it is in fact pretty thematically key here).

Speaking of complicity, the book’s other overriding preoccupation in (in the broadest sense) Trolley Problems. Is it better to directly kill a small number of people or, through your inaction, allow a larger number to die? Does it matter is the small number is your countrymen and the larger foreigners, or vice versa? What about humans and aliens? Does it matter whether the choice is submitting to subjugation or killing innocents as a means to resist it? What about letting people around you die to learn the fundamental truth of the cosmos? Does the calculus change when you learn that immortal souls (and hell) are real? This is the bone the story is really built around chewing on.

All that probably makes the text seem incredibly didactic, or at least like a philosophical dialogue disguised as a novel. Which really isn’t the case! The book definitely has opinions, but none of the characters are clear author-avatars, and all perspectives are given enough time and weight to come across as seriously considered and not just as cardboard cutouts to jeer at. Okay, with the exception of one of the two aliens who you get the very strong sense is hamming it up as a cartoon villain just for the of it (he spends much of the book speaking entirely in all caps). There definitely are a couple points where it feels like the books turning and lecturing directly at the reader, but they’re both few and fairly short.

The characters themselves are interesting. They’re all very flawed, but more than that they’re all very...embodied, I guess? Distracted with how hot someone is, concerned with what they ate that morning or the smell of something disgusting, still not over an ex from years ago. Several of them are also sincerely religious in a way that’s very true to life to actual people but you rarely see in books. The result is that basically comes as being far more like actual humans than I’m at all used to in most fiction (of course, a lot of those very human qualities get annoying or eye-roll inducing fairly quickly. But hey, that’s life). Though that’s all mostly the case at the start of the book – the fact that the main cast are slowly turning into caricatures of themselves as they’re exposed to the alien soul manipulation technology is actually a major plot point, which I’m like fifty/fifty on being commentary on what happens to the image and legacy of people as they’re caught up in grand narratives versus just being extended setup for a joke about male leads in technothrillers being fanfic shipbait.

Part of the characters seeming very human is that some (though by no means all) of the POVs are just incredibly funny, in that objectively fucked up and tasteless way that people get when coping with overwhelming shock or trauma. It’s specifically because the jokes are so in-your-face awful that they fit, I think? It manages to avoid the usual bathetic trap a lot of works mixing in humour with drama fall into, anyway.

Speaking of alien soul manipulation technology – okay, you know how above I said that the points where the book directly lectured the reader were few and far between. This is true for lectures about politics or morality. All the freed up space in this 530 page tome is instead used for technobabble about theoretical math. Also cellular biology, cryptography, entropics, the organization of the American security state, how black holes work, and a few dozen other things. This book was edited for accuracy by either a doctoral student from every physical science and an award winning mathematician, or else just by one spectacularly confident bullshitter with several hundred hours on wikipedia. Probably both, really. I did very much enjoy this book, but that is absolutely predicated on the fact that when I knew when to let my eyes glaze over and start skimming past the proper nouns.

The book has a fairly complete narrative arc in its own right, but the ending also screams out for a sequel, and quite a lot of the weight and meaning of the book’s climax does depend on followthrough and resolution in some future sequel. Problematically, the end of the book also includes a massive increase in scale, and any sequel would require a whole new setting and most of a new cast of characters, so I’m mildly worried how long it will be before we get it (if ever).

The book is also just very...I’m not sure flabby is the right word, but it is doing many many different things, and I found some of them far more interesting than others. I’m not sure whether Dickinson just isn’t great at extended action scenes or if I am just universally bored by drawn out Tom Clancy fantasies, but either way there were several dozen pages too many of them. The extended cultural digressions about the upbringing and backstories of each of the seven POVs were meanwhile very interesting! (Mostly, I got bored of the whole Erik-Clayton-Rosamaria love triangle Madonna complex thing about a tenth of the way into the book but it just kept going.) It did however leave the book very full of extended tangents and digressions, even beyond what the technobabble did. Anna herself, ostensibly the main protagonist, is both utterly thematically loadbearing but very often feels entirely vestigial to the actual, like, plot, brought along for the ride because she’s an alien terrorist’s favourite of our whole species of incest-monkeys. The end result is, if not necessarily unfocused, then at least incredibly messy, flitting back and forth across a dozen topics that on occasion mostly just seem unified by having caught the author’s interest as they wrote.

It’s interesting to compare the book to Anna Saves It All, the short story it was based on – quite a lot changed! But that’s beyond the scope of this already overlong review. So I guess I’ll just say make sure to read the book first, if you’re going to.

#book review #exordia #seth dickinson #lesbian space atrocities #sff

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fullmetalgirl98 · 2 months

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30 days Hypnosis Mic challenge

DAY 9: favorite duet song

🎤 「Murder at the House of Magic (奇術館の殺人 / Kijutsu-kan no Satsujin) 」 - Gentaro & Dice (2nd duet)

(link)

Just to make it immediately clear: my obsession level is high (yes, this post is going to be super long, and yes, I apologize in advance for that). I'm not exaggerating when I say that I know every single word of this song by heart. I even made a fanart for this song. Check it out, if you're curious 👉 (link)

I became aware of the existence of this duet far too late, in April 2022, i think??, and in the saddest way possible: through the wiki while searching for only God knows now what kind of other stuff. Of course, considering that Dice and Gentaro are two of my fave characters ever, it was a scandal for me not to have known earlier about the existence of a new duet of theirs, other than Once upon a time in Shibuya, which is iconic in itself, so I went crazy, obviously, and dashed off in search of the song (with very little success, I have to say)... and when I finally found it and it started playing, I almost had a heart attack. What. the actual. hell. was. that.

I expected everything, except something of that sort.

Right from the very first notes, I knew this was gonna be BIG stuff. I mean, VERY BIG.

The vibe it gave me, initially, was something alien, the instrumental intro smelled a lot like the X-files theme song to me (link).

Then Gentaro started, in his usual calm and sexy tone, and I caught the word "satsujin jiken". But so far, let's say, nothing exceptionally new. I knew I should expect some mystery to solve... I mean, the title spoke loud ¯\(ツ)/¯

But poor little naive Anna, soon after the bomb was dropped straight to the center of an indefinite part of my brain.

A serious Dice.

A bloody serious Dice. A Dice that, instead of rapping, was literally speaking (or at least, the initial impression was seriously that). I...I've never heard Dice speaking in such a hard, deadly serious yet sexy, defiant, cocky and confident tone, like... I- ... I didn't even think he could ever speak in such a way!? Like. Dice. HELLO?! Where is my genuine idiotic cute drenched cat gone?! I'm scared?? But at the same time extremely intrigued?? WTF?! Help??!! Let's make one thing clear: when I first heard the song, I obviously had not read the translation yet. So, how shall I explain what I thought ... mhm... the impression was that he was speaking not in a good-guy-trying-to-be-cool sense, absolutely not. His tone was blatantly the tone of a thug. And a particularly dangerous one. The impact of the very first verse of his, "Danna shindanda na, zannen da" was something absurd. I swear. Something of disarming power. And then the tone used in the "tamannee na" immediately afterwards. Guys, I swear to you. I had completely lost my mind. I was totally in love with this new Dice, you have no idea. I was going crazy, I just wanted to know WHY he was talking in that absolutely crazy HOT way. I LOVE how it's clearly perceivable that Dice is speaking with a smirk on his face, that of someone who is sure that he cannot be set up. And I could go on listing word by word all the vocal proclivities that have slowly sent me further and further into the hyperuranium BUT I will refrain from doing so for your sake, because this post would probably become longer than it already is going to be. And then the refrain. Simply BRILLIANT. I mean, it's already not enough that this too, like Stella, is a song set up as a story told by Gentaro, in which he then becomes one of the characters in the plot (you can't tell I have logic behind my preferences, can you?), but a semi-occult code was also inserted?????? Who the hell came up with the idea of putting the spelling of Dice and Gentaro's names at the beginning of each verse of the chorus? WHO? Give a fucking award to the composer, I beg you: (A)Up & down, Rikou na yatsu wo, Sukkari damashite Ganchuu nai Wakattenda Dare na no ka Izure wa Subete wo raizarai;

Yurusan, Meshi toraeru, Nogasanai shi Genkei nai Takara, Rou sezu shite, Umaku moratte Say Good Bye I don't know if i'm making the point clear enough, here.

And then the whole Uh!(Ah!)Uh!Uh!(Ah!) thing. Gentaro firing off his "Ichi wa ichi, zero wa zero, hachi wa hachi" with that studied air of his who knows he has the other guy completely on the hook. And the way you can perfectly sense that the mood of the conversation is starting to turn against Dice, when he throws out that "Nani?!" and then that "Kuso!" so particularly intense (KYAAAAAHHH (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)).

OH, and I can't help but mention how the "Hachiji nijuppun" thing practically became a meme between me and @justanotherniky (fixed message in chat at 8:20 p.m.: "HACHIJI NIJUPPUN" when we don't happen to forget about it).

I swear guys, you have no idea how much I lost my mind behind this duet. Because c'mon, I don't know if you guys are realizing, but it's fucking genius. And, last but not least, how not to mention the classic "Uso desu kedo ne~" at the close. Epic.

#hypnosis mic #hypmic #30 days hypnosis mic challenge #day 9 #30 day challenge #murder at the house of magic #kijutsukan no satsujin #奇術館の殺人 #fling posse #yumeno gentaro #gentaro yumeno #arisugawa dice #dice arisugawa #gendice #fp & m +#anime #manga #japanese rap

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companion-showdown · 4 months

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Showdown 2k24 Nominations!

alright, redoing this post now that I can give a concrete start date of Monday the 15th of January!

Nominations for the tournament are open up until the start date, and you can submit anyone who could reasonable be considered a companion, either by sending me an ask or by filling out

this form.

If you make your nomination via the form you can also submit some propaganda to go alongside the poll. Anyone who was considered a regular at any point in the last year will automatically be included, as well as anyone who was in the original tournament (+/- a couple I might miss or misremember as being a regular because I don't have old lists anywhere). The exception to this is last years winner, Rose Tyler, she will not be getting a place in the main tournament, however after the final I will run a poll to see if our new winner can beat her. (oh and also maybe I'll leave the TARDIS out but not fully decided yet)

The tournament is going to be run in the same way I did @adventure-showdown, meaning I'll keep companions from different periods of the show and different mediums segregated at first so the nicher ones don't immediately get knocked out, and slowly get mingled together. The exact details are going to depend on just how may characters get included.

Errm yeah, so go wild, nominate whoever you like (as long as they are a companion). If they are from teh TV show they have to be on this list to qualify, and for EU companions I'm going with them needing a TARDIS wiki page, and also I will give them a quick proof read to make sure they pass, the bar is low but it is there

if you want to submit an alternate version of the character sorry but main version only unless you can give a really good reason, eg regenerations of a time lord

also, if they are primarily from another franchise that'll be a no

The full list of contestents is under the cut and will be updated as nominations come in. Its sorted by medium and then to be alphabetical by first name. if an eu companion exists in multiple mediums i just sort of picked one or I put them under the other category, people who exist in real life are also sorted into their own category. There are some characters under Classic Who/NuWho who were not companions on TV but were in the EU. Companions who's names are in green have had propaganda submitted for them, if they're not in green then they don't, and just because someone has propaganda doesn't mean i wont accept more

Classic Who

Ace McShane

Adric

Barbara Wright

Ben Jackson

The Brigadier

Chang Lee

Dodo Chaplet

Grace Holloway

Harry Sullivan

Ian Chesterton

Jamie McCrimmon

Jo Grant

Kamelion

Katarina

Leela

Liz Shaw

Mags

Mel Bush

Mike Yates

Nyssa

Peri Brown

Polly Wright

Romana I

Romana II

Sabalom Glitz

Sara Kingdom

Sarah-Jane Smith

Sergeant Benton

Steven Taylor

Susan Foreman

Tegan Jovanka

Turlough

Vicki Pallister

Victoria Waterfield

Zoe Heriot

NuWho

Adam Mitchell

Amy Pond

Bill Potts

Canton Everett Delaware III

Clara Oswald

Dan Lewis

Donna Noble

Graham O'Brien

Grant Gordon aka the Ghost

Handles

Inston-Vee Vindor

Jack Harkness

Karvanista

Kate Stewart

Martha Jones

Mickey Smith

Missy

Nardole

River Song

Rory Williams

Rose Noble

Ruby Sunday

Ryan Sinclair

Wilfred Mott

Yasmin Khan

Audio

Alex Campbell

Anya Kingdom

Bliss

C'rizz

Cass Fermazzi

Charley Pollard

Cousin Eliza: Christine Summerfield: Horus

Dalek Test Subject 2

Erimem

Evelyn Smythe

Helen Sinclair

Hex Schofield

Iris Wildthyme

Liv Chenka

Lucie Miller

Mark Seven

Molly O'Sullivan

Narvin

Oliver Harper

Sheena (The Starship of Theseus)

Tania Bell

Novels

Anji Kapoor

Anna (Good Companions)

Badger

Barusa

Bernice Summerfield

Business woman (Time on a Vine)

Catherine “Cat” Broome

Chris Cwej - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Cinder

Claudia Marwood

Compassion

Dorothy (The Wonderful Doctor of Oz)

Fitz Kreiner

Guinevere Winchester

Hector (All Flesh is Grass)

Homunculette

Ikalla

Irving Braxiatel

Jack McSpringheel

Larna

Marie (Alien Bodies)

Milena

Patience

Penelope Gate

Peter Summerfield

Rosie Taylor

Roz Forrester - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Ruth Leonidas

Sam Jones

Serena

Sibling Different aka Mae

The Mortimer Family (Ida, Alan, Helen, George)

Trix MacMillan

V.M.McCrimmion

Wolsey the Cat

Zeleekhà

Comics

Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer

Angus ‘Gus’ Goodman

ARC

Chantir

Child Master (The Then and the Now)

Cindy Wu

Dave Lester

Destrii

Duh

Flanx

Fey Truscott-Sade

Frobisher

Gabby Gonzalez

Gillian & John Who

Grayla

Hattie Munroe

Izzy Sinclair

Jayne Kadett

John Jones

Josie Day

Kroton

Ly Chee the Wise

Majenta Pryce

Maxwell Edison

Olla

Rose-the-cat

Shayde

Ssard

The Squire

Weeping Angel (Origins)

Real Life

Alan Turing

Claudia Winkleman

John Lennon

Jules Verne

Mary Shelley

Peter Cushing

Other

Alison Cheney

Andy Davidson

Antimony (Death Comes to Time)

Brian the Ood

Dormouse (The Red and the Blue)

Emma (curse of fatal death)

Koschie

Romana (Battle for the Universe)

Splinx

Susan Who

Tom Campbell

#doctor who #showdown 2k24

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worftism · 6 days

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*wanders up to the playground with two toddlers as confused as I am* hey is this the star trek OCs playdate

anyway yeah hi :) I have some pals to introduce

Anna (they/she)

Denobulan-human mixed species

Entomologist (bug science :D)

So so autism

I like making up things about alien beings that canon doesn’t necessarily contradict, so her Denobulan physiology means that the number of times she’s gone hey cool bug :D and got bitten/scratched/stung means she’s become immune to many toxins

has loved Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea ever since they were little (their human mum showed it to them, probably on a computer screen to keep them entertained, but they kept wanting to watch it again and again) (could probably recite the whole script)

The name Anna was chosen as it’s fairly similar to Denobulan name sounds so easier for their family to pronounce

Regards Anna as their full name (Denobulans don't have surnames)

However being listed in files as Anna [surname, probably Baker or Bryant or something] and as both an English and Denobulan language of some sort native speaker, she gets addressed as [title/rank] [surname] more often than [title/rank] Anna, which would be correct

I couldn’t remember why I liked the idea of a Human-Denobulan mixed character so much but then I remembered the thing that inspired this is the whole sleep thing

(If you don’t know, Denobulans hibernate for a week or so once a year and do not sleep outside that. Humans sleep every 24 hours.)

This ends up meaning this character doesn’t sleep as often as a normal human, but when they do, they are Fast Asleep

So they’re awake for maybe 5 days or so, then simply collapse for a few hours and can function again

I can’t believe I forgot to include this until now, this is such an integral part of this character to me it just feels obvious

They always have their hair in a buzz cut and have done ever since they were old enough to express that their hair being too long caused them discomfort because Bad Sensory. this is 100% because at the time I was first coming up with them my hair was getting too long (it’s usually short but long enough to be curly) and itching my skin and I kept thinking mmmmmm want to cut it all off

I actually renamed her since writing this draft!! they're called Esk now (yes after the Discworld character, long story short her human mum loves Discworld)

Another interest of theirs is baking! Will elaborate on that another time as well

You Love Her. You Have To.

Unnamed (she/her)

Klingon traditional weaponsmith!

Whole Backstory Stuff around how she inherited this

I need to look into both Klingon family stuff and history to find out exactly how this would work but a loose timeline is

Weapon making traditionally not a women’s job (I don’t know if this is accurate to Klingon culture, it genuinely just felt like a good conflict to add)

However smol [unnamed] really wanted to learn from her uncle, so begged and nagged at him until he gave in and taught her stuff

Both verbally bothering him and just constantly being around the workshop, walking there every day, doing the cleaning jobs just to show up and show she was determined

Also necessary to this story is traditional weapon-making methods are dying out, but are preserved in something around a high- or moderately-high-status warrior having their Own Blade, rather than a copy (replicated) or a hand-me-down (unless it’s a very famous one with a great history, though still that might be presumptuous to think you’d live up to that legacy)

This has been her family’s (House’s) traditional job since anyone can remember, but only one lineage had still preserved it

Uncle is training his son to take over, but at some point when [unnamed] has been learning for a little while, this son dies in some sort of battle, leaving her as the only heir to the family’s tradition

From the little I’ve read on Memory Alpha, women couldn’t inherit a House’s title except under special circumstances, so I think she and her uncle will have to fight for her right to inherit the name and lineage

Would probably regard herself as aroace if she had the vocabulary for that, however restoring a dying craft in a remote part of a planet doesn’t leave much time for such questions

Still knows what she wants, has no intention to marry or have children, but to keep the craft being inherited she will adopt someone as a full member of her House who she believes is worthy of carrying on the tradition

This is actually a really interesting point as it shows how she regards the respect and dedication to the craft as making somebody more a part of her House than blood does

There’s a whole loosely defined thing about how she has some distant relatives who want to claim that house’s title despite having been fully prepared to let go of their house’s craftspeople’s legacy

Is actually quite short for a Klingon, maybe 5’4? and also fat and muscular, so she’s still quite a presence

I have got to do more research

(wrote this ages ago and did not post it. also haven't done research. but I want to post my Characters! so here you are :) these are works in progress and I'll keep adding to them but it's nice to get out what I have for now)

#star trek oc #oc esk #klingon oc #denobulan #denobulans #every tag I add means someone might actually see this post #I need them for organisation though #no it's ok I am happy for you to be appreciating my characters! :) I am not scared at all! :)#blorbos from my head #I love them and you will too

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mountain-wire · 1 year

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6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, here's to the last man on earth in the end.

Au!Raphael x gn!reader

Part 1

Cw: Talk of death kind of

Self-indulgent writing, we love it. This is entirely based on Anna Bates song "Last man on earth" and a random writing prompt I saw on TikTok a while ago, so. If that tells you something, take it I guess.

An au set where the reader has ended up immortal and as the last man on earth due to a medicine that everyone had to take that was meant to lengthen human life[spoilers: it didn't.], until... actual alien turtles show up. That's basically it.

The world. Still just as empty as you remembered. You'd been alone for a while now, a few years you'd think, maybe 5. You lost track after a while, just sort of living life as it came by. This whole thing started by you thinking everyone in your house just disappeared, left without you. You realized after a little bit that it wasn't what happened. You found out the horrible way that after this sort of shot meant to keep everyone alive for much longer actually did the opposite. To everyone but you.

So you were left alone, you wandered. By now it felt like you'd lost your mind, saying everything in your head out loud, so you could at least hear something. You ended up in New York 2 years ago, seeing all the buildings starting to grow plants was... Weird. You didn't think any structure would be growing Vines and moss by now, let alone New York of all places. You were definitely found wrong there, it was sort of fun watching the plants grow over the past 2 years, gave you something to do.

Animals had also started venturing into the abandoned city, it was a good change in the silence you'd fallen into. You even got close to the deer and squirrels.

At the moment you were walking through one of the most overgrown parts of New York you'd seen by now, the vines climbed the side of the buildings at least 20 feet up and moss was spotted around up much of that. It had a weird comfort of seeing it, it looked just like old images you saw of cities taken over by plants. You were sure to see more of this soon, you thought.

You walked to what you assume used to be a restaurant, pulling out a knife and cutting at the vines that locked the door shut, and started talking out loud to yourself.

"This'll be fun. I think. I mean it looks like a cool restaurant," you looked to the side, the restaurants windows covered. It did not actually look cool. "yeah. Cool looking. Looks like... Vines! On the menu today! Maybe it'll be the road work ahead one."

Quietly laughing, you opened the door, hearing a jingle. Man did that bring a bunch of memories back. You brushed it off and jogged to the front, rang the bell thing they had. Leaning against the counter you looked around, this place seemed to have the same vibe as those little pit stops you see in more rural areas. It was much quieter than it should've been though. It made you uncomfortable.

Deciding it had been enough time you hopped the counter, knocking the stuff on the side to the floor. You ended up on the floor too, you'd just tripped yourself.

"The service here sucks." You said after a couple seconds, hoping anything watching you would laugh along too. You didn't think anything was watching anyway, but you can always be sure.

You felt like you could sleep, but you needed to up and move. Quickly, you sat up and crawled to where you assumed the kitchen was. You assumed right, and it smelled horrible. Someone had to have died here, come on.

"Knives knives knives, spoons, but is there any food that's actually good?" Clanking and scraping attacked your ears as you moved things, grabbing different knives you liked so you could add it to the knife room. "Hopefully this place was bad and used canned shit. That would make my and the microwaves day..... How that thing still works is a mystery to me. I'm sure someone out there knows why it still works! If only they could tell me."

Reaching the end of the line you decided to grade the cleanliness of this place and went back through, you learned if a restaurant was less clean there's a better chance of them using cans or non perishable foods. You liked the mystery of it too, it was like a game. It took up time and kept you entertained!

"Let's see.... Ovens... Check! Kinda greasy, kinda dusty too, somehow. How is the inside of an oven dusty, it's supposed to be shut tight right? Wouldn't that stop a lot of dust. So put 'not very good ovens' on the list."

You enjoyed using the knowledge Gordon Ramsay gave you from his shows. Wait...

"GORDON RAMSAY!!! NOO!!!!" You gripped your hands to the side of your head and dropped to your knees, all dramatically.

Upon the realization that Gordon Ramsay was dead like everyone else, you decided to skip the rest of the kitchen and just head straight to the freezers and fridges to look for food. On the way you took note of how this place actually had a microwave. Hopefully their salads weren't being put in there.

Every Gordon Ramsay reference your mind made had you feeling slightly worse. It wasn't super new, realizing someone big was also gone, but it always hit you the same.

"Alright. This one's for you Gordon." You wiped fake tears from your face before bursting open the doors to see...

A normal fridge. Nothing horrifying or exciting. That was exactly what you wanted right now, to be met with more silence, more quiet. An upside! There was at least honey in here, and at least a single can of soup. You'd read all the details on the nutrition labels later, but for now you would stuff them into your bag and continue the investigation.

"Let's go! Kinda nasty freezer check! Let's mark this place down! This one's gonna be nice to clean I can tell. Well I can't really, but it'll be satisfying! There's a lot of random tins, I'm not sure I wanna know what's in there. Maybe this is what died, not even a person." Reminded of Gordon Ramsay again, you frowned and pulled out a map of New York.

You marked this place with a red marker, that you know means to return. You never said the reason but you always knew when you'd return to any location with the red mark. You also marked it with orange, which means it's a restaurant. You had colors for many places. Black for 'dont return here', red for 'do return here', purple for electronics stores, orange for restaurants, blue for sporty areas, yellow for more shop filled areas, green for apartments or homes, and pink for unpredictable areas(you also liked to call them the exciting areas). Most areas with black were also pink.

"Let's blow this joint, guys." The map returned to it's spot in your bag and you gave it a pat before slipping on invisible sunglasses and taking long strides out the door.

You never realized how stuffy it was in the restaurant. It felt amazing to take a breath outside of that place. It really did smell horrible. There's probably a good few reasons for that. You moved away from the restaurant to take a good look at it, you wanted to remember what it looked like for when you eventually returned. You wanted to head home for now though, listen to music on the many different things you had. You had a vinyl record player. Who just has that in New York, you didn't know but you were pretty glad they did, they had some pretty cool bands too. You wanted to listen to music desperately, so you planned to run. Seeing a cool skateboard you stopped in your tracks, almost falling flat on your face.

"Well hello there! How did I not see you before... Oh wait nevermind, I was definitely just way too focused on the plants. That makes sense. Who would just leave this out here though. There's nobody nearby, who just loses this on the streets of New York..? Whatever, mine now." The skateboard seemed uninterested in your commentary as you held it under your arm.

You looked back at the area you just came from, upset you didn't get to explore more, before setting the board on the ground and setting off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wheels came to a stop as you placed your foot down, a weird squeak-screech noise coming from it. Maybe all the years of no use. You looked around wearily, looking for anything that could see where you're going. It felt like your home was a secret you needed to keep, but it wasn't. Even if it was what would you have to hide it from? Nothing. Something inside you just kept saying you had to look around whenever you stopped and eventually you just stopped caring about suppressing it. Seeing that everything was clear you picked up the board and ran into an alleyway in-between what you think is an arcade pizza place and bakery with a home on the second floor. Rummaging through your bag you walked to the back doors of the bakery, it was barred up with this silly looking padlock you found in one of the unstable areas. The arcade was locked up with a similar one too, you were just in the bakery mood today.

"Found you, you beauty!" You said, holding a key that looked just as silly as the padlock up to the sun like it was going to save your life.

The lock opened easily, which was not surprising, the key was made for it. Quickly, you slid into the bakery before closing the door and relocking it, except from the inside this time. Putting the key back into your bag you moved further into the building, your bag now only hanging loosely from your hand. Your feet felt heavy and your eyes felt the same. A good sleep to some music would be awesome. Making your way to the stairs you moved through your bag once more, this time simply checking you had everything you wanted.

"Everything's there, I think. I'm okay, it's okay. Everyone's okay." You yawned and turned towards the door besides the stairs.

The basement doors always felt ominous, today was no different. There was a feeling of something new this time. Today was really throwing you off, everything's felt new. You didn't like it, but what else could you do. Brushing off that feeling you swung the door open and shuffled in and down the stairs.

The walls were painted with your own hands, a white background with designs, characters, and silly things you remembered from the past. It made you feel better to see, a comfort in an uncomfortable place. The wood floors matched pretty well covered in drops of paint you ignored and never cleaned up, no matter how messy it could look it felt like home.

You dropped your bag on a stool by the stairs, a loud clang coming from it. Ah, the knives. You were so caught up in the almost normal you forgot the knives.

"How could I! Gordon Ramsay look what you've made me do."

You made it a point to collect random things from your adventures, it just so happened you got so many knives you have a room dedicated for them now. It wasn't your favorite use of a room but it felt cool. Grabbing the knives from the bag you quickly walked through the basement coming to a smaller-than-normal door with a label that let you know exactly what it was on it.

"I've got more knives for you, knife room! I hope they fit in well! They're pretty cool ones this time." They all looked the same, another lie.

The door got stuck a little, you've just gotta turn it until you hear a click then you can open it. It's just like lockpicking.

Once it opened you hurried in, already looking for a place to put the new knives. You were at least glad the knife room was kinda small, so it's not like you'd use this room for anything else. Finding a nice spot in-between the few knives that look exactly the same and the other knives that look exactly the same. You really dreaded the day you'd have to start hanging knives on the walls. Or just sticking the knives in there like some freaky countryman.

With the knives In their new home you felt satisfied enough to leave the shiny room, which you did with little complications! The door that's weird to open is weird to close, you still needed to do that stupid maneuver.

Heading back to what you called the living room, you happily slid over to the record player you definitely didn't steal. You had a little bookshelf beside it with all the records you found and liked. It was mostly just everything you found, you weren't going to pass up any music in this world. Your favorite was this Queen record you found, it was Queens greatest hits. Which the greatest hits might not hold your favorite Queen songs but it still had really awesome songs. It's Queen, of course there's awesome songs on it.

Carefully you put it on the player, and moved the thing that you didn't know the name of onto the record and started playing your music. Holding your hands up like if you touched it you'd break it, you backed up towards the couch. You knew that as soon as you sat down you were going to fall asleep, but you didn't mind.

"This sleeps gonna be awesome." Were your last words after you sat down.

You fell asleep to Bohemian Rhapsody, could you ask for anything more than this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly, a loud crash woke you up. As far as you know, that wasn't normal in your home. Slowly, you stood up. Your eyes were still blurry and you were still riddled with sleep side effects, but you made a move to the stairs.

"....The music.... It's not playing... It's been longer than like 20 minutes. That narrows it down..." You were slowly waking up.

Another loud crash sounded when you opened the basement door. It was definitely coming from outside. At least that's good to know.

You realized you forgot the door key. You didn't want to go and get it so you just opened the window and crawled out, with a bit of knocking things over. You hoped that whatever was making the loud noises didn't hear. If it was even a creature, at that.

You stopped and waited for a second, hoping another sound would come from the noisy thing.

Another sound did come, and not even a minute later. The smart half of your brain suddenly kicked in.

"Itsnoneofyourbusiness Itsnoneofyourbusiness Itsnoneofyourbusiness.... Don't be like white people in horror movies....... Damnit." You moved silently, heading to the back of the arcade instead of the bakery, as it had more cover.

You were hoping it would just be an animal being ridiculously stupid, and that's definitely what you were expecting too. The crash was followed by an unfamiliar noise, the sort of thing you'd expect to come from a tuba or other large brass instrument, but it was weirder than that at the same time, like an auto tuned tuba being operated by someone who doesn't know how to play the tuba.

What you did not expect to see was what looked like a very large and spiky rock. No wait... That's not what it was.

"Oh my god, what the fuck" you whispered as you ducked more behind the building that was currently blocking you from the thing on the road.

It was laying on the road, so that's why you would think it's a large, green, spiky rock but you've never seen a rock that looks like that and by this point you're pretty sure you've seen all kinds of rocks. A second point that changed your mind from rock completely was that it moved. It was moving. Rocks don't move. You'd say that whatever it was looked like a turtle, but turtles are not that large the last time you checked. The biggest turtle you knew existed was the Archelon and those guys were extinct, and also sea turtles. So a normal turtle? Totally off the table. Rock? Also totally off the table. Everything you could have come up with was thrown off the table. The table was thrown out the window!

"Okay okay okay. This isn't my business, this isn't my business. Not my circus, not my monkeys." You tried to convince yourself to walk away, that this was something you didn't want to deal with.

You couldn't help but stay though, it was totally new, even to the world before you became the last person on earth. You were in new territory and it was so cool.

You leaned further out, to get a better view of whatever it was. You didn't think turtles could stand like that either. Every instinct in your body was telling you to run as whatever this held its head and looked around.

If you were to die from the shot that killed everyone else you'd want it to be now. Your curiosity got the better of you and the turtle saw you. You made eye contact. A note, it had normal eyes too. It was weird. This situation was weird and now? You were screwed. Utterly screwed.

You started at the turtle and he stared at you for what felt like forever before you slid back behind the building. You didn't know if you should run, stay hidden, or go inside somewhere quick. You quickly shut up your mind, if you needed to really listen at any point it would be now. If whatever that was decides to sneak up on you what would you do? It is definitely stronger than you, you'd lose in a fight instantly.

Shoving your fear down you stood tall, preparing for what you would see when you looked around the corner again. You felt like you should've run but you wanted to be brave. You carefully grabbed the wall before the corner and leaned over, prepared to see the turtle thing still looking over from the road. What you didn't expect was the turtle basically directly in front of you, close enough you could reach out with one arm and touch it.

The feeling of dread that overcame you was something you could attribute to the feeling you'd expect a mouse to have when a lion is standing behind it and it knows.

You looked up at the turtles face. It looked extremely confused and shocked. Even worse, it now leaned down to your level. It didn't seem like a threat but you were certainly terrified. It spoke, but you couldn't understand it. You're pretty sure it's just a different language type of situation but you did not want to deal with this at all. On that thought you finally listened to your instincts and absolutely booked it down the alley. Where you were going you didn't know but hopefully it didn't either. You could hear it shout something out as you ran away, but you weren't going to stop and see it's reaction. No way were you going to get yourself captured or something. You could think about what just happened when you stopped and were safe.

You were going to run until your muscles ached. You could promise that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So gonna be a series. Apologies if it's not awesome, this is literally my first time writing something like this ever. Criticism is absolutely appreciated! <3

⭐ Next

#rottmnt x reader #rottmnt #rottmnt raph #rise raph #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rise raphael #raph x reader #raph hamato #tmnt #rottmnt au

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wildcardaces · 2 months

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@agent-a-cpfancomic "most trusted" edition!

Where oh boy this is a relatively big one-!

Dan: I should call clay--

Dan: ....oh...

Dan: right.

Dan: then...

Quil: oh, hang on I'm Ringing.

Quil: hello? Oh Dan! What's up?

Anna: so as I was saying. What if there are alien penguins? Would they look like us?

Bonnie: four flippers! That means they have 6 limbs and technically count as insects-

Quil: guys...?

Quil: it's shawn.

Dan momentarily forgot that clay is.. unfortunately not around anymore, but he makes the pleasant suprise that the TT as a whole are the next phone numbers down from him, though what Dan had to say to Quil definitely worried all 3 of them to no end aaaa-

And the finale!

Quil: I don't get it...

Quil: he was just fine a day ago...!

Dan: ...Quil?

Dan: I heard a while ago you promised Clay that you'd stay by him, right?

Quil: y-yes. Well it was more of a "we'd all stay by him" sort of question I think.

Dan: just keep doing that then. Anna, Bonnie and you are shawns most trusted!

Dan: but considering Shawn's history with illness. A worst case scenario is possible, we need to be ready for anything.

Quil's worried as hell, Dan is worried as hell, Anna and Bonnie are worried as hell. At least Shawn is getting some sleep *criES*

#agent a anna #agent a bonnie #agent a quil #wildcard dan #shawn #club penguin ocs #club penguin oc #club penguin

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historyhermann · 1 year

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“Amphibia” Emphasizes Chosen Families and Self-Acceptance

What if a Thai-American girl wakes up and finds herself in a world filled with talking frogs? Amphibia answers that question. Anne meets new friends, enemies, and tries to figure out her purpose in this strange world.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog (it will be published on there on Dec. 26), and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-second article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on June 25, 2022.

Amphibia is an animated adventure-fantasy-comedy series by Matt Braly, an animator of Thai descent. He is also known for directing episodes of Gravity Falls and Big City Greens.

As a warning, this recommendation discusses spoilers for all three seasons of Amphibia.

Amphibia centers around a 13-year-old Thai-American girl, Anne Boonchuy (Brenda Song), who is transported by a music box to another world with her two best friends, Sasha Waybright (Anna Akana) and Marcy Wu (Haley Tju). In this wild land, filled with marshes and tropical environments, she meets talking frogs and other creatures, including a family of frogs named the Plantars.

This family is headed by the overbearing and traditional grandfather, Hop Pop (Bill Farmer). He has two kids-of-sorts: an excitable frog named Sprig (Justin Felbinger) and a spunky pollywog named Polly (Amanda Leighton). All of them live on a farm of their own in the close-knit town of Wartwood. As Anne bonds with the Plantars, she learns what friendship and being heroic means.

This all-ages animated series is filled with diversity, especially from its characters and voice actors. The latter are of Chinese, Indonesian, Pakistani, Japanese, and Thai descent. The show compliments this with wonderful animation, music, and background art.

Unsurprisingly, the series has been been nominated for four Annie Awards, one Daytime Emmy, and a GLAAD Media Award since it began airing in 2019. It includes some voice actors I'm familiar with, like Tress MacNeille and John DiMaggio, who voice characters in Disenchantment, as well as well-known gay actor George Takei.

From left to right: Sasha, Marcy, and Anne with "cool anime" powers in the final episode of Amphibia, floating the air like anime heroes or Kid Cosmic protagonists

Amphibia is more than a series centered on a girl who is adopted by a family of talking frogs. While there is the classic conflict of good vs. evil, there is also a focus on family separation, self-acceptance, and trauma. As I wrote previously, all of the main protagonists have trauma on same level or another, as the friendship between all three of them faces hardships and strains.

This is all mixed together with fantasy and sci-fi elements, and even occasionally situational comedy acts. These complex characters are written in such a way that you become invested and concerned about them, even after ending the series. The series also has plotlines focused on human and animal experimentation, and robots.

This series is part of a recent set of diverse Disney animated series. Others include The Ghost and Molly McGee, a supernatural fantasy, and will-be-ending horror comedy and fantasy The Owl House. Upcoming series such as Iwaju, Moana: The Series, Tiana, Cookies & Milk, Hailey's On It!, and Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur portend a continuation of this focus.

In the case of Amphibia, Braly based the series on his trips to Bangkok, Thailand where he thought he was an outsider. He also was inspired by video games like The Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger. In previous interviews he said he wanted to make the main character a Thai-American because there were few Thai protagonists in TV series or films that he watched as a kid. As a result, he has said he become influenced by the Mortal Kombat and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises.

In a December 2021 interview, Braly noted the themes of immigration, alienation, and xenophobia drawn from his own experiences. All of these themes are deeply integrated into the series. Some of this is heavily informed, according to Braly, by the 1990s series, Pepper Ann. Braly also noted that frogs were chosen for the series because they are metaphor for change and their connection to Thai culture.

Lady Olivia (right) looks at General Yunan (left) lovingly and tells her she wouldn't mind "settling down" in Wartwood with Yunan.

Amphibia is rightly praised for illustrating issues like emotional manipulation, bullying, and delightful characters. The series could also be praised for broadening "ethnic-racial representations" like Craig of the Creek and Elena of Avalor. This is something that groups like the socially conservative family-oriented non-profit, Common Sense Media, would praise.

A 2021 report from the organization notes that when people of color are portrayed stereotypically, it causes harmful views to be promoted among White audiences. This is coupled with underrepresentation of specific groups, such as Latine and Indigenous people, and misrepresentation of others.

Little mentioned is LGBTQ representation in Amphibia. Although it isn't as direct as other recent series, like Dead End: Paranormal Park or The Owl House, Braly stated that in the show's finale, they left it open as to whether someone thinks of Sasha, Marcy, and Anne romantically or not, as he loves shipping. He called it the "greatest expression of love for characters."

This gives queer fans who ship Marcanne (Marcy and Anne), Sasharcy (Sasha and Marcy), Sashanne (Sasha and Anne), or even all three in a relationship together some solace. This the case even if this so-called "Calamity Trio" are only be "gal pals" in the show's canon.

Even so, Sasha was hinted as bisexual in the show's final episode, and confirmed as such by Braly, as I noted in an earlier post. Her voice actress, Akana, is bisexual herself. She voiced Daisy in magical girl esque Magical Friendship Girl Squad: Origins and Magical Girl Friendship Squad. In the case of Daisy, Akana argued that Daisy was bisexual. However, other crew members argued she was a lesbian, and possibly trans, leading to confusion among fans.

Coming back to Amphibia, Sasha joins other LGBTQ characters such as Frodrick Toadstool and Toadie who were confirmed as a gay couple by the show's creator. More significantly is Yunan (Zahra Fazal) and Lady Olivia (Michelle Dockery) as lesbian couple. There's also Ally and Jess who run an Internet video channel together. Their colors are based off the bisexual and pansexual flags.

It is also implied that Mr. X, voiced by RuPaul, is gay, and there are some other minor LGBTQ characters. Similar to Sasha, the sexual identities of these characters are never directly stated. Mr. X is an effeminate FBI agent assisted by a silent assistant named Jenny. After Anne and frog family escape to Amphibia, Anne's birth family convince Mr. X to hear them out and to be on the same side against Andrias. This results in the military and FBI assisting Anne and her friends in the final episode.

The relationship of Yunan and Olivia, was embraced by reviewers like Jade King, who calls herself "TheGamer’s Queen of Gay Cartoons." Braly told King that the ship of these two characters was their favorite ship. He called it "very organic" and "awesome." Fans were jubilant about the news, and fully embraced it. It undoubtedly helped that Fazal was inspired by the protagonist of Darkwing Duck in voicing the character.

Considering that the final episode has a ten year time-skip, it makes the series ripe for a possible spin-off or continuation that happens in that time skip, with different protagonists than this series. While some are conflicted about a spin-off, the show could go a route a la Steven Universe Future, focusing on the aftermath of a victory, with Anne, Marcy, and Sasha having to pick up the pieces.

All three seasons of Amphibia are currently streaming on Disney+, YouTube TV, and Prime Video.

#amphibia #chosen family #self acceptance #anne boonchuy #matt braly #lgbtq #sasha waybright #marcy wu #kid cosmic #thai culture #thai creator #disney plus #bisexuals #lesbians #craig of the creek #elena of avalor

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haytertime · 11 months

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you’re going for blood (that’s so adorable) | kris/anna jay | 831 words | rated t | read on ao3

Kris isn’t sure what Anna’s problem is, but she is sure that whatever it is has been steadily intensifying over the past several weeks.

Before, it was just a snide comment made by her whenever they passed each other; Kris stopped listening to what was actually said after the third time, but whatever it was was always enough to make Tay cackle at Anna’s side as the two walked to class, blonde hair bouncing and smelling of some floral perfume that made Kris’s nose itch.

When Anna realized that the comments had no effect on Kris is when she started escalating. Suddenly there were notes and drawings left at her desk in their shared class (the latter, Kris noted, getting better and better over time and Anna even started to include Kris’s tattoo additions as she got them and Anna really could pursue art if she wanted to even if she used it to make fun of Kris’s larger frame and her brightly dyed hair-) and vandalized photos of her snuck into her backpack and weird, spray-painted eyeballs with tentacles left on her car. And each time Kris found one of Anna’s calling cards, Anna would somehow pop up not much later, feigning casualness and indifference that quickly turned to indignation as Kris continued to ignore her and continue on.

It all comes to a head when Anna corners her after class today, the older building they have their class in cleared out and Tay apparently sent ahead to give them privacy. Kris is tucking Anna’s latest drawing of her (featuring Kris dressed up as some sort of alien which she assumes is Anna’s way of implying she’s an “out-of-this-world” girl and is simply amazing, what other meaning could possibly be inferred from the picture, and Anna really put a lot of detail into alien Kris’s makeup and outfit and-) away in her bag to later add to her shoebox collection of others at home when she feels someone grab her arm and throw her into an empty classroom.

It takes Kris a second to register that it’s Anna that did that because her mind can’t comprehend how the smaller woman was able to manhandle her so easily. When she does get her mind back to the present, she sees Anna standing across from her, arms crossed and face clearly waiting for Kris to answer the question she hadn’t heard.

“Um, what?”

Anna scoffs and somehow crosses her arms even tighter.

“Fucking typical, what is it gonna take to get to you? Because apparently, a face-to-face conversation isn’t even it!”

Kris doesn’t bother to close her mouth she can feel hanging open. She looks around the classroom like maybe Tay or those guys Matt and Angelo she hangs out with are watching in secret and possibly recording for some weird prank Anna’s concocted.

When Anna doesn’t continue to speak, instead just stares at Kris expectantly with her eyebrows raised, Kris decides she needs to use here-and-now to try and finally get Anna off of her back. As much as Kris will miss the “gifts” she’s gotten so used to receiving, they are more of a nuisance than anything else and she still hasn’t been able to remove the purple spray paint entirely from her car.

“Look Anna, whatever this shit is,” Kris waves one of her hands around in front of her to signify it, “I really, really don’t know what you want from me. I truly, deeply, don’t know. I don’t even feel like you’re getting anything out of all of this, and honestly I’ve come to like some of the drawings you leave me, so I-”

Kris talks and watches Anna stare back at her, watches Anna move closer to her and raise her hands to Kris’s shoulders, but it still catches her off guard when she feels Anna’s lips on hers, cutting her off mid-sentence. In the split-second it takes for her to kiss Anna back, Kris recalls the time when Chuck told her of a girl he had a crush on in middle school and, instead of confessing to her, he left her a letter stating “get out of my school”.

Ah.

When Kris breaks her lips away from Anna’s to get air, she has her pushed against the wall, or Anna’s pushing herself back against it in her effort to pull Kris closer, she isn’t sure. Kris blinks and stares at the smear of lipstick going across Anna’s lower cheek.

“God you’re so fucking slow, was almost starting to think you really did have nothing going on in that big head of yours-” Anna starts, and this time it’s Kris that cuts her off.

The drawings still continue after that, but now Anna will include herself in some of them, and if Kris asks then she’ll sign them with a lipstick print before laying one on Kris as well. She keeps her favorite one - the two of them as alien lovers - framed on her bedside table.

#silly little fic :3 #mine: fic #kris statlander #anna jay

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rearranging-deck-chairs · 1 year

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DOCTOR: (through letterbox) Hello, Anna? It's next door but one. Have you got a parcel for us? (stands up) I mean, I could open the door. JADE: What, like, break it in? DOCTOR: No, just sort the lock. If you thought it was appropriate. If you're worried about her.

handing off responsibility in the smallest of ways fucking superb you funky little alien

#i adore her

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cringy-username-dream-wanderlust · 1 year

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Top 10 movies

I was tagged by @whereforartthoumisthios. The first time I ever got tagged, thank you 🥰

Avatar The Last Airbender

THE TV SHOW, DEFINITELY NOT ANYTHING ELSE… (there is no movie in Ba Sing Se)

Not a movie, but still the best series of all time. It deserves to be mentioned and it deserves to be number one. Nothing compares. Labelled a kids show but it is so much more than that. The Asian culture, the redemption arcs, the characters, the plot, Zuko. I genuinely feel bad for anyone who never had the pleasure of seeing this.. and I don’t mean that in a degrading way. Many adults have recently watched this for the first time and love it. It’s a masterpiece. It changed my life and I will love this show forever.

Les Intouchables

The last movie I ever watched with my grandma before she passed away. It’s such a beautiful story of the meaningful friendship between two men, one who’s just trying to survive and scrape by and one who is fully paralyzed and is looking for a caretaker. Probably the most inspirational movie I have ever seen. It’s a French movie but with subtitles it is very enjoyable and I HIGHLY recommend.

Encanto

Perfect. I love this movie so much. It’s my comfort movie. Probably because I too was raised in a tight, close family with my grandma being the matriarch. I love Mirabel and as an autistic person I really relate to her and her struggles of not belonging and being left out constantly. (I’m doing much better nowadays, don’t worry haha) I also love the Colombian culture and the story. The songs are bops too. It’s so refreshing to see a Disney movie that doesn’t entirely revolve around the female main character being obsessed with a handsome man. This story is about family and it’s beautiful.

Avatar

NOT RELATED TO ATLA (no movie… Ba Sing Se…)

A classic. I can’t find the words to describe it. It’s just a beautiful, inspiring masterpiece. It’s insane how ahead this movie was of its time. Humans truly are the bad guys for a lot of living beings. If you haven’t seen it you really need to. The spirituality, the love story, the alien culture, the LANDSCAPES OMG.

Frozen 2

Better than the first one imo. And that’s saying a lot because I love the first movie. I just love the story and the sisterly bond between Anna and Elsa. I love Olaf, I love Kristoff, I love Sven. Reindeers are truly better than people.

A Cure For Wellness

My favorite horror movie. It’s such a mindfuck. It’s creepy, disturbing and it keeps you thinking from start to finish. Such a unique concept too, a horror movie in a wellness resort. It kinda makes my want to go there too if I didn’t know what happens. I highly recommend if you’re into psychological horrors/thrillers. There are no jumpscares.

Get Out

A horror movie again, but without jumpscares (maybe some tiny ones but they aren’t too bad). Without giving too much of the plot away, the stuff happening behind closed doors…It’s so messed up and it’s so sad that this is loosely based off of current racism POC are still facing. I do think the story sends a very good message though and I am glad it was made by Jordan Peele who is POC himself. The main character Chris is a very funny and intelligent person and it’s so satisfying to see a main character in a horror movie make all the right choices though.

folklore: the long pond studio sessions

I love Taylor Swift and her album folklore.

Miss Americana

I love Taylor Swift.

Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper

Sort of an honorable mention because I actually haven’t seen this movie in over a decade, but I still love Barbie movies and especially this one! It's my favorite! I used to pretend I was Erica lol. The music and the story are so good! I’ve been trying to find a dvd of it in thrift shops but so far no luck.

Thanks again for the tag girl!❤️

#tagged

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am-i-obsessed---maybe · 2 years

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Super Sons (Wayne bro!Reader and Jon meet Damian)

Wayne bro!Reader masterpost (gonna make this later when I have time)

Word count: 4.5k

Summery: Clark is off world and you get a call from Dick that Bruce took in another kid, except this one is actually his. With no other option you take Jon and go see what new kind of craziness has made it's way into your already weird life.

Your life was weird. Actually it was crazy and you learned to accept that. Your husband was the sole survivor of his alien planet, your son was half human half Kryptonian, your brother was the Batman of Gotham and your nephews were Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin respectively. You became used to this. Your husband’s occasional extended trips to space became something you expected to happen once in a while and you learned how to deal with your son’s superpowers. You grew accustomed to it so when your husband told you that he was going on a League mission in space you told him to be careful and to keep the watchtower (the floating space station base for the Justice League that your company pays for) informed and to come home safe. Your son Jon hugs him and tells him to bring home something cool. After seven years of marriage and nine years of dating you became accustomed to your strange family and loved them not despite it but including all of the weird.

You were sitting in your office in the Wayne Tower in Metropolis when you got a phone call from your eldest Nephew. The 23 year old lived in the nearby city of Bludhaven and called you every so often so you thought nothing of it as you picked up the phone.

“Hey Dickie” You say as you answer and continue to scroll through the document on your computer.

“Hey Y/N, do you have a second to talk?” He asked and you chuckled.

“Wouldn’t have picked up the phone if I didn’t” You answered and you heard Dick click his tongue. “I have some news” He said and you stopped looking over the long document you were scrolling through to give him your full attention.

“That doesn’t sound like good news” You said and he laughed uncomfortably.

“Well Bruce didn’t wanna call you yet which I think is dumb but-” You cut him off.

“Did he take in another kid?” You asked and you figured you were right on the money with Dick’s reaction. “Sort of, this one’s um… Well this one’s actually his” He explained. Your brother had developed a knack for taking in young kids who needed a home and you loved him but it was a bit of a joke at this point. With three boys and a daughter it was fair game to joke about.

“What do you mean this one is his?” You asked and Dick sighed. “Could you come by the manor? It’ll make sense if you see it for yourself” He said and you sighed. This was going to be a long day.

“Alright- wait no shit. Clark’s off world, I don’t have anyone to watch Jon on such short notice” You said and Dick hummed as he thought.

“You could bring him here-” He tried to say and you cut him off… Again.

“No. He doesn’t know about you guys yet and I don’t want him in the middle of this” You said and Dick sighed.

“I mean, it has to happen eventually” Dick tried to say but you were having none of it. “No.” You said and you could hear noise coming from Dick’s end of the line. “What’s that noise?” You asked. You could hear yelling and shuffling and then quiet.

“Dick?... Hello? Can you hear me?” You asked to no avail.

“Master Y/N, I am afraid Master Dick is a bit preoccupied at the moment” Alfred’s voice came on and you sighed, pinching the bridge of your noise. “Alfred, can you prepare mine and Jon’s rooms? We’re coming over” You said and the butler hummed. “Of course, when should we expect you?” He asked and you began to shuffle around your office, putting things away.

“I’m heading out of the office now, Jon finishes school in an hour and then we’ll be another hour if traffic is on our side so we’ll be at the manor in two maybe three hours?” You said and Alfred hummed.

“Very good” He said and you bid him goodbye and hung up.

“Hey Anna, A family emergency came up and I have to go to gotham. Could you reorganize my schedule to fit?” You asked and your assistant nodded.

“Of course Mr. Wayne, is everything okay?” She asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, something came up with Bruce and the boys, you know how it is- Oh and can you please call Jon’s school and tell them he won’t be able to make it to student council today. Clark’s on assignment so I’m taking Jon with me” You explained and Anna nodded.

“Of course, have a good day Mr. Wayne!” She said as you left and you waved a goodbye over your shoulder. This was going to be a long day.

You got home and after some light prepping you picked Jon up and started your drive to Gotham.

“Dad, what’s up? You look worried” Jon said from the back seat. The boy sat on his Batman booster seat and held his nintendo.

“I’m fine sweetie. Don’t worry about me, how was school?” You asked him and glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

“School was fun, I got a 70 on my spelling test and we were supposed to plan games for the sock hop today during the student council meeting but…” He trailed off.

“Hey dad, why are we going to uncle Bruce’s today?” Jon asked and you smiled at him reassuringly.

“Uncle Bruce needed my help with a work thing and asked me to stop by. And don’t you like hanging out with your cousins?” You asked and Jon nodded although not very enthusiastically.

“I mean I guess, they’re all grown ups though” He complained and you chuckled.

“Well since they’re grown ups maybe they can take you out to ice cream while I help uncle Bruce?” You suggested and Jon looked at you hopefully.

“Can they?!” He asked and you laughed.

“You’re gonna have to ask them that” You told your son and he practically jumped in his seat.

Beyond that the ride was quiet, Jon played on his nintendo and as you saw Wayne manor approaching you noticed he was asleep. You smiled. He fell asleep easily while driving.

You parked in the driveway and were met by Alfred.

“I’m glad to see you again Master Y/N” He said and you hugged him.

“Same to you Alfred, could you take my bag in? Jon’s asleep and I don’t wanna wake him” You said and the family butler smiled as you carefully picked your son up in your arms and walked into the house.

It was quieter than you heard on the phone and you lightly placed Jon on a couch in the first living room you passed. Still asleep, though you were sure that wouldn’t last long.

Something that was confirmed when the little boy shot into the air suddenly awake.

“Wha- what’s going on? Where are we running?” He asked confused and you came up to him, lightly guiding him back to the couch.

“Everything’s fine Jon, we’re not running anywhere” You told your son as he took in his surroundings.

“I heard running- did we get to Gotham?” He asks as he looks around and you kiss the top of his head.

“You fell asleep in the car, we just got here” You explained. That happened occasionally. Jon’s super hearing was still developing and he would constantly wake up from naps or in the middle of the night because he heard something a couple blocks away. That’s why you and Clark decided to move into a house in the suburbs. It was less convenient for all of you (even Jon, seeing as his school was in the city) but it was less noisy and generally calmer.

Soon though you realized what running your son was referring to when the three very frustrated men came practically stomping in. Dick, Jason and Tim all looked done with life as they all slumped into different spots on the multiple couches and chairs in the living room. A chorus of “Hey Y/N, hey Jon” and “Finally you made it” (From a very tired Jason) flew through the room as you looked at your nephews.

Jon rubbed his eyes and walked over to hug Jason (AKA his favorite cousin).

“Can we get ice cream?” He asked and you shook your head, holding back a laugh. As disoriented as he was he remembered the ice cream.

Jason looked at you and smiled widely when you nodded.

“Sure thing bud, we got the dad seal of approval so let’s go” Jason said and suddenly he and Jon were filled with newfound energy and excitement. They both walked off and you turned your attention to Dick and Tim. “So that’s why Jay’s here” Dick said and you nodded.

“Babysitting duty, at this point I’m kind of jealous” Tim muttered into a throw pillow and you sighed.

“Alright, now that I’m here can someone actually explain what’s going on?” You asked and Dick nodded.

“So um, Talia contacted bruce a few days ago and told him to meet her at the docks then something happened and he came back with a kid in hand-” Dick explained and Tim cut him off.

“A very violent and generally rude kid” The teen supplied and you sighed.

“And how do we know that he’s Bruce’s? We can’t exactly take Talia Al Ghul’s word for it” You said and they nodded.

“You don’t have to, see for yourself” Tim said in annoyance and Dick huffed. “We have DNA confirmation too” Dick added and you nodded, standing up.

“I’m guessing they’re in the cave” You said and when both boys agreed you gestured for them to go.

“Lead the way then” and they did.

You hated being in the batcave and you avoid it at all costs but you always seemed to forget just how impressive it is. You followed Dick and Tim to where Bruce sat at his annoyingly oversized computer.

“I thought you hated being in here” Is all he said once you were in earshot and you scoffed.

“Hello Bruce, it’s nice to see you too. Missed your calls this week so this is the first time we’re talking about something none business related all week but that’s fine- a perfectly polite way to greet your older brother” You grumbled and Tim and Dick snickered.

“Well I wasn’t the one who called you over here for a “family emergency”” Bruce said and glared at Dick who raised his hands in surrender.

“Sorry but if you weren’t gonna tell him I was” Dick defended though it only seemed to annoy Bruce more.

“Is it true?” You asked, getting back onto the topic at hand.

“Yes” Bruce said and you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“How many times does Alfred have to give you that talk for it to mean something Bruce-” You muttered and Bruce interrupted.

“Will you stop. I didn’t know he existed until Talia told me and basically left him here. Besides this really isn’t any of your business” Bruce said and you sighed. “Every time Bruce, when will you understand that your life is my business because we’re family. Now where is this nephew of mine?” You asked, changing the subject and Dick pointed to a corner of the cave where a young boy was swinging a sword.

“He got mad we wouldn’t allow him to cut up the bushes in the garden so he moved here” Dick informed and you slowly walked up to the boy. He was small and beside the green eyes and darker skin he looked just like Bruce. You smiled sadly at the sight before Bruce cleared his throat. “Damian, come here please” He said and the boy finally stopped swinging his sword.

“What?” He asked and you could hear the sharpness of his tone. He had a temper.

“Damian, this is-” Bruce began to introduce you but Damian interrupted.

“Y/N Wayne, my uncle. I know.” Damian said and you examined the young boy. He looked 10 maybe 11 years old so only a few years older than your own son Jon. His posture was practically perfect, he stood confidently and met your gaze.

“You are also shorter than I expected” Damian said, maintaining eye contact with you and your eye twitched.

“Well he’s definitely yours” You said and Dick burst out laughing. Tim was at least able to hold back his own laughter, unlike his brother. Bruce massaged his temples.

“Why are you like this?” He asked and you still looked at the young boy.

“Why are you here uncle? It was my understanding that you live in Metropolis and lived under the radar.” Damian asked and you looked at him questioningly.

“Am I not allowed to meet my nephew?” You asked. The uncle-nephew terms have never been thrown around this early after meeting. To this day only Jason called you uncle Y/N and you didn’t mind it so this was new.

“I was under the impression you did not concern yourself with Batman” He said and you nodded.

“But you aren’t just Batman’s son are you? You’re also Bruce Waynes” You said, matching his slightly condescending tone.

“I am Damian Wayne Al-Ghul. Grandson of the Demon and Son of the Batman. I will be his successor as I was trained to be from birth” He declared and you looked at him as if he just told a joke.

“Are you? Well you’ve got your work cut out for you Bruce, let me know if you need parenting advice” You told your brother, patting his shoulder as you turned to leave. You were surprised to see Damian stand in front of you, his sword pointing at your neck. “Are you questioning my legitimacy? I am Batman’s true son! His blood son!” He exclaimed, rage was filling him and you felt Brace pull you behind him as Tim and Dick moved Damian’s sword away from you.

“Damian!” They all yelled but the young boy continued.

“Perhaps mother was wrong and will get in my way, although I doubt you could do anything. You are only an untrained civilian, I could easily take you out.” Damian continued and Tim was holding him back.

“That’s enough. Go to your room Damian.” Bruce said, his voice low and final. The boy looked offended but stormed off towards the exit.

All three boys turned to see if were okay and you nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Never been held at sword point by a child but I’ll be fine” You said and looked at Bruce.

“What happened to him that he’s like that?” You asked and Bruce looked away, you noticed a hint of shame as he spoke.

“He was raised by his mother within the League of Assassins until now” He explained and Dick chimed in.

“Hence the violence” He added and Tim elbowed him in the ribs. “You looked at where Damian disappeared to and sighed.

“Poor kid” you said and Bruce cleared his throat.

“Are you staying the night?” He asked and you shook your head.

“I don’t know. I have to talk to Clark, see if we can figure out how we want to explain this” You explain and Bruce nods.

“Where is Jon? Alfred said you were coming with him” Bruce asks and you nod.

“I called Jay and asked him to babysit, they’re off getting ice cream right now” you answered and Bruce nodded.

You called Jason and asked him to keep Jon out of the manor for a bit longer, he didn't have an issue. Jason didn’t particularly like being in the manor anyways so being out and about with his favorite (and only) cousin? Sounds fun.

You sat on the bed you and Clark share whenever you come to the manor and waited for the static on the small device in your hand to become a clear image. It took a few minutes but the device projected a small video feed of Clark. “Hey honey, what’s going on?” He asked, you had asked his coworkers in the watchtower to help you reach him even if he was in a different star system.

“Bruce has another kid, this one’s actually his. He was raised by assassins and he’s about Jon’s age.” You explained and Clark looked a bit confused.

“Jon’s out with Jason right now and I don’t know what to do” You confessed and Clark smiled sympathetically.

“Maybe it’s time he knows? He can keep it a secret and it’s not like he can just not interact with this new cousin- which I have a lot of questions about but those can wait till I get back” Clark said and you smiled, you missed him. Even if he was only gone a few days. “I wish he didn’t have to. I really wanted to keep him away from Batman” You said and Clark smiled.

“I know but I think he’s ready. Besides, think how excited he’ll be when he sees he finally has a cousin his age?” Clark said and you chuckled.

“I miss you” You said and he smiled. That big smile that Superman was known for.

"I know, I miss you too. And things are going on track, I’ll be home soon-” He said and static crackled before his image came back on the projection.

“Hug Jon for me, I love you, I have to go” He said and with another static he was gone.

“Please be safe love” You told the static when you heard footsteps outside the door. You carefully got up and walked to the door. “Who’s there?” You asked as you opened the door to find Damian walking away.

“Damian?” You asked, out of all the people it could have been you didn’t even think it could be him.

“I was simply passing by.” He said and you heard something in his voice- sadness.

“Damian, is something wrong?” You asked and he glared at you.

“I do not need your pity” He spat and you sighed. This boy reminded you so much of Bruce at his age.

“It’s not pity. It’s concern” You explain and walk back into your room, leaving the door open. If he really is like Bruce he’ll walk after you into the room once he understands the door is open for him.

You sat at the edge of your bed and looked at the many pictures hanging on the walls. Pictures of your family.

Soon enough the newest addition to that family cautiously walked in. He stayed quiet and so did you until he spoke.

“You are not simply married to some reporter are you?” He asked and you shook your head.

“I wish I was but no, Clark isn’t just a reporter” You answer and Damian comes closer.

“You being married to Superman does not change your uselessness.” Damian says and you shake your head.

“Why were you listening to my conversation Damian?” You ask and the young boy becomes defensive.

“I was not listening! I could not care less how disgusting you are with the Kryptonian” He said and you looked at him.

“Damian. In this family we don’t spy on people. If we want to know something we ask and if that person doesn’t want to tell us we respect it. This was not a conversation you should have been listening to” You explain calmly and Damian scoffs.

“We are not family. You said so yourself, you do not wish for me to meet your son.” Damian said and you sighed. You hoped he didn’t overhear that part.

“Damian-” You tried to say but the boy’s emotions were getting the better of him.

“It doesn’t matter! Mother warned me that you were simply a useless civilian, a businessman. That the only obstacle you pose to me is your station as CEO of father’s company. Go ahead and take your spawn home. It is obvious you do not want me around him” He said and you thought for a second you saw betrayal in his eyes before he stormed off yet again.

Half an hour later Jason came back with Jon. You met the both of them in front of the manor and Jon ran up to tell you about how much fun he and Jason had at the ice cream place where Jason let him put as many toppings as he wanted! And then at the arcade with all of the fun games and he got to be Batman! She showed you a paper Batman mask that he won and you smiled and awed at his amazing mask.

“I hope that ice cream will not ruin your appetite Master Jon” Alfred said and Jon shook his head.

“Nope! The bumper cars made sure I was still hungry!” He announced and Alfred took the boy to wash his hands.

You looked at Jason and smiled.

“Thank you Jason, this helped a lot” You told him and he nodded.

“No problem Uncle Y/N, I’m always happy to spend time with the pipsqueak. Speaking of, how'd it go with the demon spawn?” He asked and you shook your head.

“First of all, that nickname is rude and second of all- I don’t know. I managed to get Clark on a call-” You began to explain and Jason huffed.

“From halfway across the galaxy? Now that’s A+ communication!” He joked and you rolled your eyes.

“Well he thinks it’s time. I don’t really think I have a choice so could you stay for dinner?” You asked and Jason nodded.

“I mean it’s probably better than the week old Chinese take out I have in my fridge” He joked and you lightly slapped his arm. “That sounds disgusting, throw it out when you get home” You scolded.

Alfred came back with Jon and you knelt down to hug and kiss Jon’s head.

“Your pa says hi” You told him and Jon pouted.

“You talked to Pa? That’s not fair! I wanna say hi” He whined and you ruffle his dark hair.

“It was an emergency call, you’ll get to say hi and see what cool souvenir he brought for you when you get home” You told him as Alfred led him to the dining room.

Bruce soon came up followed by Dick and Tim.

“Did you manage to talk to Clark?” Dick asked and you nodded.

“I guess it’s time. Will Damian be joining us for dinner?” You asked and Bruce shook his head.

“He locked himself in his room” He said and you nodded.

“Okay, well after dinner I was thinking we could sit him down-” You tried to plan but Tim looked excited for once.

“Why not show him the cave? It’s cooler and the kid already loves Batman” He said and you saw a hint of a smile cross Bruce’s face. Ever since he was a toddler Jon adored Batman, much to Clark’s dismay. He always hoped he’d be his son’s favorite superhero but no- that honor went to Bruce or more specifically Batman.

All three men looked at you and you turned back to look at your son. Jon sat down and talked to Jason and Alfred about something he was doing in school. You sighed but nodded.

“I guess it is more straightforward” You said and as Tim and Dick walked to join their cousin and brother around the table Bruce smiled.

“I was thinking when Clark gets back we can do a family picture, we need to update it” He said and you nodded.

“Sounds good” You said and you and Bruce joined the group around the table.

Dinner was good and filled with pleasant conversations (along with the occasional fight that you, Bruce or Alfred had to break up). When dinner was over you took Jon’s hand and kneeled down to be eye level with him.

“Jon, there’s something your Uncle, cousins and I want to show you. We all think you’re old enough to know and your pa agrees” You told your son and he looked at you, trying to figure out what it is you wanted to show him. You stood up but kept a hold of his hand.

“And I want you to hold onto my hand the whole time okay?” You asked and Jon nodded.

You nodded to Bruce and you all left the dining room and went to the grandfather clock in the foyer.

Bruce turned the hands and Jon watched intently. When the clock opened revealing a tunnel he awed and oohed as you two followed Bruce and the boys. Jon didn’t say anything as he looked around the batcave. He saw the glass cases of costumes and the huge computer setup, the many cars and gadgets and looked in awe at the giant dinosaur and in confusion at the giant penny.

Eventually you all congregated by the computers and Bruce sat at his chair.

“Jon, just like Pa has a secret, so does Uncle Bruce” You began to explain and Jon, in awe exclaimed.

“Uncle Bruce is Batman?!” Jon looks at you and Bruce for an answer and finds it in Bruce’s proud smile. Jon’s next question is aimed at you as if ignoring the others in the room.

“Does that mean he knows Pa’s secret?” Jon whisper yells and you nod.

“It was actually thanks to Uncle Bruce and Dick that I met your Pa” You shared and Jon stuck his tongue out.

“Ew! I don’t wanna hear that story again” He said and took off, flying around the cave.

“Wait- does that mean- Oh my gosh are you guys the Robins?” Jon questions his cousins, flying up to be at eye level with them. Tim nods.

“Yup! I’m Robin, Jason is Red Hood and Dick is Nightwing” Tim explained and Jon looked around, taking in all the new information. He flew to Jason.

"Oh my gosh does that mean you died?!" He asked, his tone was surprisingly excited.

"And came back, yup" Jason explained. He was always the best with Jon.

“Why is he here?” Damian’s voice cut through the cave like a knife and you all turned to the young boy. Jon shot back to the ground meaning he immediately stopped flying and fell on his butt.

“Who are you?!” He exclaimed and Damian scoffed.

“I’m Damian Wayne Al Ghul. Who are you and what are you doing in my father’s base of operations?” Damian asked and pointed his sword at Jon. You knew you shouldn’t be worried, Jon was invincible, a sword couldn’t hurt him but you were very worried.

“Damian. Put the sword down!” Bruce ordered and the boy reluctantly did as he was told.

“This is my son Jon. Jon, this is Damian” You introduced and Jon looked confused.

“Damian is Bruce’s youngest son” Dick explained and it then dawned on Jon what that meant.

“I have a cousin my age?” He asked and Damian scoffed.

“Please, I have no connection to you” He said and you were not pleased.

“Damian-” You began but he cut you off again.

“If you wish to apologize I do not care” He said and you sighed.

“I was wondering if you’d like to show Jon around” You asked and Jon looked between you and Damian.

“Why should I do such a thing. It is a waste of my time” He said but Jon looked at him with his pleading puppy dog eyes and inevitably you watched as your newest nephew showed your son around the batcave.

“That was unexpected” Tim said and Jason laughed.

“The kid’s basically indestructible, he’ll be fine” Jason said and you sighed.

Your life was weird.

761 notes · View notes

fatehbaz · 3 years

Note

hi maybe you’ve written about this before but i’m working for someone who is part of the ecological landscape alliance and we’ve been having big talks about the concept of “invasive” species vs “native” plants and how the concept is rooted in xenophobia, and also talking about how maybe invasive plants aren’t that bad?? this goes against everything i’ve ever heard anyone talk about invasive species but i really don’t know all that much about it. sounds silly maybe coming from a farmer but i really don’t have a super firm ecological understanding, most of my plant knowledge is agricultural based and im really curious to learn more and was hoping you could point me in the right direction?

Yes, I definitely run into this disk horse all the time. Especially the “maybe invasive plants aren’t that bad” discussion. It seems the native/alien stuff is most often mentioned in disk horse about the Anthropocene. Basically, you’ll sometimes see statements like: “Is anything really natural in the Anthropocene?” I have also seen, and spent a lot of time contemplating, how belief in the categories of “natural” and “alien/invasive” in discussion of ecology might be rooted in or at least inadvertently support racism/xenophobia.

But I am still wary of the “native vs alien” and “no creature or landscape is really natural, not any more” disk horse, at least as explored by some white/settler-colonial academics, for exactly the same reasons: because it might be rooted in or support racism/xenophobia. Because the proposal that “nothing is native, nothing is invasive” itself can actually engage in a sort of “settler absolution” that obscures how there really is a contrast between imperial and Indigenous peoples, and the “nothing is natural, nothing is invasive” proposal could excuse the colonial/imperial introduction and expansion of monoculture by accepting the spread of industry/agriculture/non-native species as an inevitability. And these concepts can actually work to generalize conditions of ecological degradation and apocalypse, as if to say that “all humans now live in such a damaged world, we’re all victims” (even though many non-white, especially Indigenous, people actually bear most of the violence and burden of living in “post-apocalyptic” ecologies.)

But actually, I don’t think I can be too helpful here.

I still have a lot of contemplating to do, about how categories of natural/invasive in ecology might support the violence of categorizing people as natural/invasive. Don’t really know where I stand yet, y’know? So I don’t want to be too quick to come to a conclusion. I don’t even really want to offer opinions here. That said, I am very sensitive to language, and the language that I use. So I do appreciate that there is an effort to interrogate the negative consequences of describing things with words like “alien”. Also, the categorizing of lifeforms is and always has been a mess.

I don’t have many reading recommendations. The “native vs alien” and “nothing is really native, actually” proposals are concepts that I brush up against but don’t read too deeply into, even though this disk horse has been popular-ish in dark ecology and academic ecology/environmental studies circles for at least 10 years or more by now.

I guess, for my thoughts on native vs alien, what counts as “natural”, invasive species, and how the disk horse can excuse settler-colonial/imperial racism, I would point to this post I made about Pablo Escobar’s feral hippopotamuses in Colombia.

One introduction to the concept, which I think is an enjoyable read (though I don’t necessarily agree with all of his implications), is this essay by Hugo Reinert about the category of “natural” and the “purity” of a species: “Requiem for a Junk-Bird: Violence, Purity and the Wild.” Cultural Studies Review. 2019.

Anna Boswell’s very famous article about stoats and non-native species in Aotearoa kind of dances around this same issue of naturalness: “Settler Sanctuaries and the Stoat-Free State.” Animal Studies Journal. 2017.

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Generally, I agree with the implication that there is no “remote” or untouched corner of the planet where ecology has escaped human influence.

On that aspect, here’s a post I made about “planetary urbanization”.

But the native/alien disk horse can be extended to problematique degrees, with proposals that sometimes remind me of sci-fi goofiness, like fans of dark ecology or weird fiction or Mieville/Van der Meer got a little too excited about “the boundary between human and other-than-human has become so blurred that there may as well no longer be distinctions between native species and invasive species”, like they got a little too drunk on theory and just decided that “everything is in flux!”. Criticisms, then, of the “nothing is native” disk horse include how this oversimiplifies ecology and might enable/excuse settler-colonial invasion.

A lot of the “invasive plants are good, actually!” disk horse I’ve seen shows up in Australian literature written by settler scholars, which might be pretty telling.

Basically, it seems some scholars will take Alfred Crosby’s “neo-Europe” and “ecological imperialism” concepts, and then say something like “look, the damage is done, so much of Earth’s soils/landscapes are altered by introduced plants that we may as well accept it as the new baseline/normal ecology, and work from there.” As if to point at how North America has been entirely overrun by non-native earthworms and then to say “well, the worms are going to inevitably destroy hardwoods forests, soils of the Great Lakes region, the boreal-temperate transition zone, and maple trees which supply place-based maple syrup foodsheds, so we may as well accept that we live in a damaged world.”

I don’t know if I’m entirely satisfied with this.

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Other related concepts brought up in the same discussion of “nothing is really native” might include “invasion biology” and “assisted migration.” I see these concepts brought up in academic writing from the University of California system, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and “environmental humanities” generally. Basically, these writers/scholars will point to the past ten thousand-ish years of the Holocene, and how humans have had such profound influence on global ecology that “introduction of non-native species” and “mass-scale anthropogenic climate/ecological change” are not just recent developments since Industrial Revolution or Indus/Yellow/Mesopotamian statecraft, but even older. For example, I’ve talked a lot about how, in the Late Pleistocene or early Holocene, the Asiatic steppes and parts of the Great Plains could have apparently been more like intermittent woodlands before humans engaged in deliberate fire-setting to better target megafauna herds, meaning that the human role in creation of vast “naturally-occurring” grassland regions may be underestimated. This dove-tails with the better-established fact that the forests of Central America and eastern North America in the early Holocene were/are actually more like cultivated food forests managed by Indigenous people.

The argument, then, may also point to yams, sweet potato, and coconut as examples of creatures with what now appear to be “old” and “established” widespread transoceanic distribution ranges which actually may have been introduced via assisted migration by humans.

The argument, basically, says: Well, let’s say hypothetically that humans didn’t play a role in spreading sweet potato or coconut. By chance, if ocean currents “naturally” introduced these species, if these plants “naturally” colonized whatever lands they were swept off towards, doesn’t this mean they could essentially be “natural” to anywhere they might arrive and successfully establish themselves? Therefore, does it really matter if humans helped them get there?

This seems to be related to the “no plants are actually invasive” proposal. As if to say: “If English pasture grasses have successfully reproduced themselves in Patagonia, Aotearoa, South Africa, the Canadian prairies, etc., what does it mean that their migration was assisted by humans?”

But this is where I have reservations: It wasn’t just any humans that “assisted the migration” of monoculture grasses from Europe to the prairies of Turtle Island. It was specific humans, with deliberate intent, upholding specific institutions, protecting their own well-being at the expense of other humans and lifeforms, enacting specific violence against specific victims.

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Another aspect of this which I see mentioned often is how early human/Polynesian settlement in Oceania and the South Pacific is an example of how mass anthropogenic ecological change doesn’t always involve statecraft, mass mono/agriculture, and imperialism. Aside from the famous decline of creatures like the moa, Polynesian islands were also home to relict species of large land turtles and ancient terrestrial/semi-arboreal crocodiles until human arrival in recent millennia. Writers will also point to human settlement in the Caribbean, where human arrival coincided with extinction of remnant populations of endemic Pleistocene ground sloths. (This also happened on Mediterranean islands, which hosted endemic species of hippopotamus and goats until recent millennia.)

Again, though, this is where white/settler-colonial academics advocating “nothing is natural” can kind of obscure settler-colonial violence, by pointing to history of anthropogenic environmental change and saying “see, all humans provoke extinction.”

Thus, you’ll see these scholars invoke Anna Tsing or Donna Harraway, referencing the “arts of living on a damaged planet” or “living in post-capitalist ruins.” Essentially, advocates of “nothing is native, any more” might say “we all live in a post-apocalyptic world now, so we should get used to it.”

This, coming from white/settler-colonial academics, sometimes rubs me the wrong way, as if it’s sort of like wish-fulfillment, or “an adventure” for comfortable white academics to engage in low-stakes thought experiments about extinction, naturalness, and apocalypse from which they’re actually largely insulated, at least compared to the poor, non-white, non-academic people who cope with the worst of environmental racism and ecological collapse.

This, again coming from white/settler-colonial academics, is also of course more than a little grating, since it kind of co-opts or culturally appropriates the “Indigenous/Native people actually live in a post-apocalyptic world” concept proposed by Indigenous scholars. It kind of takes from Indigenous/non-white people, and then generalizes the apocalypse as something that all humans now live with in seemingly equal measure, obscuring the fact that many people are actually forced to cope and/or live with more-serious-of-an-apocalypse than others.

-------

At the end of the day: Sure, kudzu or English pasture grasses or coconuts or European earthworms or domesticated cattle might be generalist species which can successfully inhabit landscapes across the planet. So whether humans introduce them via agriculture, or whether they "naturally" expand by some accident or by drifting across ocean currents, they might exist in this strange ontological space between "native" and "alien" which confounds human conceptions of what "belongs"? And this is worth considering! This is good to think about! But there are still, and always have been, those "small" landscapes, those isolated pockets, those relicts and remnants in shaded stream corridors, where small populations of endemic species teeter on the verge, with highly-specialized adaptations to highly-specific microhabitats. You're not going to "assist the migration" of or "accidentally introduce" a cave-obligate salamander from a limestone cavern or a temperate rainforest-dwelling land-slug to a desert biome.

But, again, I still think it is good to stop and ask ourselves whether categories of “natural” and “alien/invasive” in ecology make sense, are outdated, or if they reinforce racism/xenophobia. And, again, I haven’t read enough -- I haven’t grappled with these questions enough -- to have an opinion which I’m comfortable sharing, so I don’t want to discourage this disk horse too much.

Anyway, hope some of this is interesting. Sorry. Again, I don’t really have any good recommendations.

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funkymbtifiction · 2 years

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I wanted to share a thought on Enneagrammer and the likelihood of them being correctly typed. I wonder - if so many of them are 4s or with a 4 fix, how come they don't say more about their connection to 2? After all, 2 is in their growth and stress lines, so they should be talking in quite a familiar way about 2 behaviour - the way we do about the numbers we go to in stress and growth. But it seems to be a recurring pattern on the group that they view 2s as - unfamiliar, creepy aliens of some sort? I don't know quite how to express it, but the way they allude to 2s is the way one would refer to types one cannot relate to at all, or types one sees as very unlike oneself. People have even called them out on portraying a very simplified understanding of 2s; the founder of the "Type 2 Uncensored" group even left the Enneagrammer group after a prolonged argument, saying the admins didn't really understand the type. I guess, regardless of who is right or wrong, I'm now curious about why admins who are supposedly 4s don't spontaneously refer to their line to 2 in conversations, podcasts and comments, and why they don't express a sense of familiarity with 2 behaviours. What are your thoughts? :)

If you REALLY want an inside look at 2s, listen to Suzanne Stabile’s podcast, or read one of her books (especially as regards how 2s filter everything through a relationship focused / emotional lens). She is a 2 and is extremely familiar with how 2s think and react and it will be insightful for you. I have learned more about our lines, coping mechanisms, and depth within the numbers from doing those two things the last couple of weeks than trying to listen to BHE’s information on 2s. It is indeed biased and has no real understanding of 2.

This is the problem with focusing on tritype rather than finding your lines of connection. They’ve been attributing things to their fixes rather than seeing how it connects to their core. Emeka for example identifies as an 8w7 / 854. Well, both 7 and 8 have a line to 5 -- 8s move there in stress (which it seems he does) and 7s in growth. No heart fix necessary. He could be either an 8w7 or a 7w8 since both connect to 5. But instead of talking about moving to 5 as part of being an 8, he just attributes 5-ness to his fix.

Joseph Simone identifies as a 4w3 / 416. 4s move to 1 in growth, so his core type is probably right, since he’s seeing the 1 so prominently. But again, he’s calling that a fix rather than a growth line.

Nancy has self-typed right -- she’s a 369, which really just means she’s a 3 -- 9 is her stress line, 6 is her growth line. But she calls them her fixes.

David says he is a 9w1 (I think?) / 947 but IDK. None of those connect to each other, line-wise, he never talks about disintegrating into 6 that I’m aware of, or about his 1 wing. So he’s a big question mark for me.

Here’s a hot, controversial take -- John identifying as 485 (?). 4 has no line to 8, but 2 does. Is it possible he’s a sx/sp 2 (not the usual brand of “helpful” 2) who doesn’t understand 2, who over-identifies with his 4 growth line and moves to 8 when he’s angry? ;) Either way, he has a lot of 2-ness in how he patiently helps people work through things through breath work, counseling, etc.

I’d like to see them do a podcast about their lines and talking about how they use them in stress and in maturing their core type. They build their brand around bringing your blind spot into play, but Stabile says you reach greater growth by dealing with your lines, maturing yourself through your lines, and bringing your least-used center into being. I want to hear a disintigration podcast -- it would be interesting to see if they CAN justify their core type through their “lines” or if they come up with zero evidence to support it. For example, I want the “4-cores” to talk about disintegrating into 2 and what that looks like. It should be an Anna Karenina style meltdown into neediness and grasping; if they are 4s they won’t mind talking about the sloppy, messy, humiliating negativity of it. ;)

#funky mbti

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godwithwethands · 2 years

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Wait what's that about Anna-Louise Plowman being the reason for Cliff Simon taking the role on SG1?

Hahaha well I'm kinda exaggerating what Cliff said during that interview.

I transcripted it for you. (I did my best with it, the quality's not the best at all and English is not my first language so sorry if there are any mistakes/things I misunderstood!)

(also have some gifs because he's so cute during that itv)

_______________________

About 05.15 Summit:

Cliff: Who I've met before was the character of Yu.

Interviewer: Vince!

Cliff: Vince. He's a great guy, and um... I watched how he'd been playing Yu, for quite a while. And I thought, that is not how Ba'al can be. He cannot be like that. And... When he first walked into the room and he was talking to Daniel about "this one's done that, this one's done that" and then he got to Ba'al, "and this one's done that".

And then when we all sat down and um.. forgot the character's name now... Ummmumumumumm... The Girl.

Interviewer: Osiris.

Cliff: Osiris! Osiris walked in and then I thought, straight away, I have to start to play the sexual... thing of it, straight away! It just hit me! Because none of the others were doing it!

And I thought, you know what? I-- This is what I have to do! And I just felt it, I just felt it was the character, it was pretty weird! And I played it and I started smiling, started doing my thing... And it came across, completely! I saw it come across!

[...]

Because you know what, you play it as if it's real! A girl walks in. She has legs up to her neck. She's hot. You play it as... that! That's what it is ! And it comes across, y'know.

Interviewer: Was there a bit of... audition competition in the air? You were essentially aiming to please the audience the most to ensure your return. All these different System Lords. Did that come across when you were shooting this?

Cliff: Uh, yeah, in a way, it did. It was actually like being at an audition, a normal audition, where you walk in and people are curious to each other and they're like "hi, how’re you doing?" but... Once you're in, nobody sort of talks to anyone else.

Y'know what I mean, that kinda thing. It did come across a bit, yep. 'Cause I think they all knew they were looking for new System Lords, all the actors that were in there. So they were all trying their best and doing what they can.

[...]

I think [the producers] saw I had a sense of humor. And why shoudn't an alien have a sense of humor? I think that was the main thing. I think I've put across some sexuality, and I've put across a sense of humor. And that made it in, that made the character interesting. All of a sudden, [the producer] was like "...We can go far, we can do a lot of stories with this guy, we can play on that."

And because of Richard Dean Anderson having that sense of humor, then they put us together in Abyss and it was like...

And it-- it just worked, so well. And from there it just, y'know. Carried on.

________________________

So basically what I get from this is: Cliff Simon made Ba’al the Horny One™ because he thought Anne-Louise Plowman was super hot and the producers loved it so much they kept Ba’al. What else is there to say HAHAHA

I recommend you watch the whole interview if you haven’t, it’s old (I think it was shot just after Cliff shot The Quest with the rest of the team?) but gold!!! ♥

I hope this clears some things up jjkhgf

#cliff simon #baal #stargate sg1 #sg1 #stargateedit #sg1edit #idk my dudes i just love him to bits #me*cliffsimon #also anne-louise being blonde is a big reason why he thought she was beautiful HAHAHA this guy saw a blonde girl and was like #'most beautiful woman i've ever seen wowowowowowo' dude calm down she's literally just a blonde #KFJKGGFH #so cute

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 2 years

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reading update

what's up gang! I've accepted that I probably won't hit my stated goal of reading 69 books before the year is over, but I have been on a MAJOR reading kick lately and I have way more to report than last month.

what have I been reading?

Folklorn (Angela Mi Young Hur, 2021) - I stand by everything I said last month when I was just starting to get really absorbed in this novel - the prose is deliciously engrossing, rolling around in the expanse between scientific observation and poetic description, the two melding seamlessly to create a sharp-eyed and cynical perspective - and am so glad I happened upon it. a contemporary story filled with ghosts, a fascinating framing device for stories about immigration, identity, mental illness, and trauma.

Superman Smashes the Klan (Gene Luen Yang, 2020) - I don't read a lot of comics, and I read even fewer comics by the big two publishers, but every time I do I'm left with the unshakeable feeling that I should really read more comics. Yang pulls together a tight and charming story of 1940s Metropolis, weaving together the story of Lan-Shin "Roberta" Lee, a young Chinese-American girl who faces covert and overt racism upon moving to the city with her family, and Clark Kent, who is early in his career as Superman and struggling with the burgeoning realization of alien heritage. their stories converge as a hate group that's definitely not the KKK targets the Lees and forces Clark to decide whether or not he's willing to let the world know exactly how different he really is if it means saving the day. 10/10 feel-good superhero shenanigans, strongly recommend.

Empire of Gold (S.A. Chakraborty, 2020) - man, what's even left to say? Chakraborty sat me down for a fucking masterclass in how to end an epic fantasy series, with resolutions for each of her main three characters that took my breath away with just how satisfying they each managed to be. I spent the last 60 or so pages sobbing pretty much continuously and that's the highest recommendation I can give.

Bloodchild and Other Stories (Octavia E. Butler, 1996) - I really ought to savor each of Butler's books when I read them, because there are only so many and I'll be terribly sad when there's nothing new left for me to read, but I devoured this small collection in a day because I simply couldn't put it down. the inclusion of a short afterword for each story makes so clear the degree to which Butler wrote to engage her own curiosities, and as ever she brings an amazingly human touch to the strange and dangerous. as always, my utmost respect for the queen.

The Girl Who Kept Winter (Giao Chi, 2020) - my understanding is that this is an English translation of a Vietnamese novel published in 2007, and my GOD have English-speaking audiences been missing out. The Girl Who Kept Winter feels like a lot of things - Labyrinth, sort of (Leatherback, Anole, and Switch would be excellent Muppets), and Galavant, a little (if people burst into elaborate displays of magical kung fu instead of musical numbers), and maybe the Princess Bride (if I liked the Princess Bride). it's a romance, it's an adventure, it's a martial arts movie, it's a comedy, it's a whale of a good time that took me by surprise at every turn. I want to recommend it to everybody I know.

Once More Upon a Time (Roshani Chokshi, 2020) - a delicious little nugget of a story, an offbeat fairytale about a king and queen embarking on a quest to recover their lost love. at a petite 144 pages it goes down like literary cotton candy, sugary and sparkling and gone before you can think too hard about it at all, leaving nothing but a sweet aftertaste in its wake.

Outlawed (Anna North, 2021) - the entire time I was devouring this book I couldn't help but this that it was exactly what I had hoped Upright Women Wanted would be. a queer, crunchy western, taking place in an alternate American history in which the country has been left in fertility-obsessed shambles in the wake of a population-destroying flu, where barren women are liable to be hanged as witches at worst or cast out from their societies at best. our protagonist, an aspiring midwife named Ada, finds herself unable to conceive a child by her husband and does what any sensible young woman would do - starts serving at the doctor to a gang of outlaws led by a charismatic, enigmatic, and seemingly genderless leader known only as The Kid. a rip-roaring story full of gender fuckery and shootouts.

what do I have checked out now?

Velvet Was the Night (Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 2021) - this honestly feels like a huge get; Moreno-Garcia's new releases usually have a waitlist a mile long. I'm only three chapters deep so far, but I feel like this thriller set among the political unrest of 1970's Mexico might be my favorite of Moreno-Garcia's novels yet.

Fireheart Tiger (Aliette de Bodard, 2021) - I haven't started this yet, but if there are two things I love it's political fantasy intrigue and a good little novella.

Milk Fed (Melissa Broder, 2021) - also haven't started this, but I am EXCITED. this is probably the contemporary novel of the year that I've been most looking forward to getting my hands on.

what do I have on hold?

Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao, 2021) - STILL!! reader, I'm losing my mind here.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Becky Chambers, 2021) - if I go too long without Becky Chambers' gentle reflections on what it means to be a person I start getting antsy :)

#bookblr #reading updates

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