#and you know what? I'd absolutely 1000% do the same thing if I were the only Human amongst Aliens

[bumblingbabooshka]

We must stop interpreting Tuvok's rejection of spice as indicative of Vulcans as a whole and focus in on it as an individual failing that falls on his shoulders alone...

#voy #Tuvok #When Tuvok orders 'mild spice' at a restuarant on Vulcan he has to specify that he MEANS 'mild' #and his family is like auuuughhhh......<-internally #many things Tuvok attributes to Vulcans as a whole very conveniently line up with things he specifically doesn't want to do <3 #and you know what? I'd absolutely 1000% do the same thing if I were the only Human amongst Aliens #soooorrrry oh my god this is so embarrassing but Humans actually CANNOT vaccuum....it hurts our little ears oohh ouch sorry <3

[oumaheroes]

Congrats on 1000 followers!! If you're still taking requests, I'd go absolutely feral for some of your scotfra! I love how you write modern nationverse with where characters reminisce or philosophise about the past <33

Phi I... I strayed. Okay, I strayed way off topic because this came to me so clearly that I couldn't not write it. I hope that you like it, even though there is no nationverse philosophying ;u;

Characters: Scotland, France (ScotFra)

-------------------------------------------

Starscape

Their home hits him with unexpected force as soon as he opens the door, the brass handle cool against bare palm. The smell of their lives together, clean linen and cedar aftershave. Walls cluttered with photos, Alisdair’s large leather armchair in the corner, Francis’ collection of Vogues tucked neatly besides Alisdair’s nature books into a handmade bookcase- collected fragments of two lives turned into one. A busy, friendly, assault of the senses.

Francis is in the kitchen, warm yellow lights and background radio above the metallic clatter of their cutlery drawer.

Alisdair sloughs his coat off, drapes it over the sofa, and walks in to join him.

‘Hello there.’

Alisdair can hear Francis’ smile through the words as he hugs him tightly from behind where he is at the counter, chin to shoulder. His arms go around him to their places automatically, right hand to Francis’ left hip.

Francis tilts his head back and up to try and meet his eye, ‘Good day?’

‘It’ll do.’

Francis snorts and cups his cheek lazily with one hand, reaching to place an empty pan on the stove, ‘Better than nothing.’

‘How was yours?’ Alisdair is loath to let him go but Francis wiggles free, gently nudging him back and away to let him get on with things. Alisdair retreats to the table in the middle of the room and watches.

‘Oh, you know. Same old same old.’

‘Tell me.’

Francis gifts him with a raised eyebrow. He fills up a pot with water and sets it salted to boil. ‘Well,’ he says, ‘Do you remember that new woman from a few weeks ago?’

Alisdair casts far back in time to find the name Francis might be referring to and finds too many to filter. ‘I remember you telling me about her.’

Francis raises an eyebrow, ‘Tina.’

‘Ah. Tina.’ He had forgotten Tina.

‘I cannot understand what is driving her to-‘ Francis sighs and clicks his tongue, ‘I don’t want to judge, but-‘

Alisdair smiles, ‘Yes, you do.’

Francis waves a hand. ‘Yes, fine. I do. But still, I am aware it’s not my place to say older people can’t randomly move jobs out of nowhere, and obviously they can learn how to do something new, but it’s...’

He stops, ties his hair up, and Alisdair's smiles widens. ‘Some people are slow, and I understand. It’s irritating to train them but I understand. Everyone has their own pace, and all that. Christ, I sound like Arthur when he’s being his most pretentious.’

Alisdair wants to call his brother then and has to swallow the feeling away, eyes fixed on Francis to keep him focused.

Butter to pan, salt to onions. The smell in the air is sweet. Condensation softens the windows, fogs the dark shadows of their garden beyond the glass. Francis moves whilst he talks, stepping lightly from one task to another.

‘But she’s not just slow to train. She’s someone who keeps questioning things, rather than just learning them. “Why do it this way, that way is much better.” Or, “In my last position, we did X Y Z blah blah blah”. Horrible. Aggravating.’ Francis tips mushrooms into the pan and shakes his head, ‘Anyway. Today I found out that she didn’t just move to join the analyst team because she wanted some sort of end of career change or have a last-minute depressing existential crisis. She was asked to move down. Because she was terrible at her job.’

Francis grins at him, his smile sharp teethed and wicked, ‘No wonder she’s so picky with everything. I got the feeling that she thought that we and what we do were beneath her but now-‘

Alisdair cuts him off before he can finish. Away from the table before Francis can stop him, he presses his mouth to Francis’, then to his cheek. Cups the back of his head in his hand, kisses his neck and feels the beat of Francis’ heart jump his pulse strong against his lips.

‘Stop it.’ Francis swats at him but the gesture is half-hearted at best, ‘You’re going to make me burn dinner.’

Alisdair kisses him again, Francis’ long hair soft and undone in his hands. ‘I don’t care.’

‘I care.’

Francis never burns dinner. No matter how busy the day or how many tasks he’s doing at once, dinner is never something to be sacrificed as part of a greater good. No matter how hard Alisdair could have tried to force it, in their life burning dinner was not a thing that would ever have happened. Today is no different. Francis extracts himself just in time to save things and Alisdair lets him go, knowing he needs to in order for things to work as they should.

The taste, once Francis is done, is perfect- one of his best meals, in Alisdair’s opinion, a warm mushroom soup. Thick bread- not homemade, Francis laments, but good enough- lightly toasted and thickly buttered. Alisdair savours every bite, takes small spoonfuls to draw out the experience for as long as it can go.

After they’ve eaten, the cooking a perfect mixture of memory and longing, they retreat to the living room sofa to fall deadweight against the cushions.

‘That was too much food.’ Francis says where he sits against Alisdair’s chest, their legs together under blankets before them on the L-shaped bend. ‘We keep on eating portion sizes that are way more than we need.’

Alisdair disagrees entirely. He is slimmer now, of course, much slimmer, but Francis doesn’t seem to notice. He pats the meat of Francis’ thigh and then grips it tight, ‘We’re doing just fine.’

Francis rolls his eyes and tuts but Alisdair sees the smile in his eyes, ‘No, not that. I mean that it’s expensive.’

‘It’s doable.’

‘Not with the sheer amount of lamb that you’re eating.’

‘It’s my favourite.’

‘It’s the costliest of all of them.’ Francis smiles and reaches up an arm to play with the short hair at the nape of Alisdair’s neck, ‘This needs a cut.’

‘You said you wouldn’t cut my hair anymore.’ Alisdair reminds him. Francis’ hand is warm, so warm, and Alisdair closes his eyes. ‘You said I complain too much.’

‘You do.’

‘Only because you threatened to shave me.’

Francis laughs lightly, ‘It would suit you.’

‘Well. That's why I complained.’

Beep.

Alisdair opens his eyes.

‘Shall we watch something?’ Francis sits up for the remote on the coffee table.

‘Only if it’s not a period drama.’

Francis sighs, weary, ‘Emma is not just a period drama. I’m told it’s a brilliant film.’

Alisdair wrinkles his nose and then grins at the look Francis gives him, ‘I’m sure it is. But are you going to be able to sit there quietly and not bitch about the costume design?’

Francis blinks at him. ‘Yes,’ he says after a while, ‘Obviously.’

‘Fucking liar.’

‘I will! I won’t say anything.’

‘I’ll bet you a fucking tenner you won’t be able to stop yourself saying something.’

Francis glances at the TV, then back to him. ‘Fine,’ he says after a moment, ‘If it’s shit research, I won’t be able to help myself. But that doesn’t detract from it potentially being a very good film.’

‘Besides shit costuming.’

‘… So I’m told.’

‘But see, there you go.’ Alisdair leans forwards, ‘You’ll have a great time nonetheless but I won’t be able to focus on anything because-‘

Beep.

Alisdair wavers, ‘…because I’ll have you going off making comments all the time and I’ll forget what’s happening and-‘

Francis looks scandalised, ‘You don’t know the story anyway?’

‘Why the fuck would I know the story?’

‘Oh for the love of-‘ Beep. ‘We have to watch it. That’s it, I can’t have this.’ Francis clicks on the TV and scrolls to Netflix, ‘What on earth was your mother thinking. You’d think with the amount Arthur goes on-‘

‘Arthur was the weird one. I-‘

Beep.

Alisdair feels a tightness in his chest. He tries not to think of the cause.

Francis turns to him. ‘What?’

Alisdair’s tongue feels heavy, throat tight. ‘What.’

‘You were saying?’ Francis prompts. ‘Something about you and Arthur.’

His hair is tucked behind on ear but strands have fallen free. Alisdair wants to reach forward and brush them back but he can’t move. He feels hollow, belly empty.

He takes a deep, long breath in. His lungs fill, then release. Under his fingers, he feels the whorls of the sofa upholstery on the arm rest. Feels the warmth of Francis near his outstretched leg, face buttery yellow in the lamplight by the wall. It is all so real.

‘Right.’ He runs a hand over his face, ‘Arthur was the one who read all the books. I was a normal child and young man, and went outside. Made friends.’

‘I read those same books.’ Francis presses a hand to his chest, ‘And I feel I came out quite normal from the experience.’

‘I wouldn’t quite say that.’

Francis nods, sagely, and tilts his head to one side. ‘You’re not entirely wrong. I’m with you, after all.’

Alisdair nudges him with his foot, in the softness of his stomach, and Francis laughs.

Beep. Oxygen levels critically low. Warning.

Alisdair should have turned the alarms off.

Francis settles back against him and Alisdair leans back against the sofa, tucking them back in as he goes and wraps his arms around Francis, hold him tight. Here, like this, it would be so easy to forget. To think that this was happening, and was still something he could have and return to. Francis is so solid, so real.

Beep.

But Alisdair cannot forget. Thousands of miles above earth, his body free from gravity, he watched as without warning mushroom clouds peppered through the skies below him. Rushes of clouds shot across oceans to collide with another wave, and then another, until the planet fell still.

The silence was loud. Space pressed in against the glass, a thick, dark nothingness that stretched on and outwards around him. Endless stars dull when there is no one waiting to share them with, Alisdair has found.

He still has no idea what happened. Whether it was planned, who started it, who could be left. He waited weeks for something, endless days on a knife’s edge by the comms system, unable to leave in case something came through or his planned replacement arrive to relieve him. Sleep in broken chunks, too tired to stay away any longer.

He doesn’t know now how long it has been. He stopped checking the days. There was nothing that could be done for him, anyhow. What good is it to know details of his final days, when the grand fact was that no one was coming. He lived because he was too scared to die, and that was that.

And now, here it is.

Warning.

Alisdair had remembered to override the auto-safety control that diverted power to essential systems, at least. That was the important part.

Warning.

It could warn him all it wanted; he wasn’t going to change anything.

Oxygen levels critically low.

A few more days with the bare essentials to sustain life, or this. One last go at the hollo-systems, one last story to play.

Warning. Oxygen levels critically low.

Alisdair had been holding back on playing this one. Eking out the power left on his ship for as long as he could, everything non-essential closed off to- why? To live? To remember?

Just in case, maybe. Just in case.

In his arms, the programmed memory of Francis shifts under the blankets and sighs through his nose. The film has started, Alisdair hadn’t noticed. The colours and sounds all curl and bleed together, flashes of something distinct stand out before falling away like a motion blur. Francis breathes in Alisdair’s arms, his face calm and easy, and Alisdair watches.

Beep.

This is how he wants to go.

Beep.

To go home to a life that only he can remember. Kept safe here in memories and code, a final goodbye.

‘I love you,’ he says. His voice cracks, ‘So, so much.’

Francis turns his head. He reads something in Alisdair’s face; Alisdair sees the flicker in his expression as he notes that something is wrong. But memory and code can only go so far, the real Francis would never have seen him like this before. Alisdair doesn’t know how he would have reacted. Whatever his husband’s virtual echo sees in Alisdair’s drawn, wasted face, it is not something that he was designed to see.

So, he smiles. Sees him as whole. ‘I love you too.’

The living room darkens, shadows fill the edges. Alisdair closes his eyes and buries his face in Francis’ shoulder. ‘I’ll be home soon.’

Francis turns slightly and wraps and arm around and under Alisdair’s back, ‘I’ll be waiting.’

#aph france #hws france #hws scotland #aph scotland #scotfra #hetalia #hws #aph #heroes writes

[anxious-witch]

This post specifically goes for my mutuals/followers who have been struggling lately. I see you and I don't always have something encouraging to reply, but if you have been feeling down recently, I hope this will help.

TW for mental health talk, mentions of suicide (this is an encouraging post, but please don't read further if anything of the sort might trigger you. Keeping your mental health intact is more important ❤️)

It's so very easy to get in the spiral of "I am not doing enough, all these people that I love would be better off without me". And convincing yourself those same people would forget you and move on quickly.

It's not true. I understand the sentiment, I really, really do. I used to fully believe that myself. But that's a lie. Mental illness reshapes the way we think and perceive things. And our brain and wired to remember bad things more than good ones. But when you'd write down everything that happened every day, I'd honestly be surprised if all of it was bad. Of course there are bad days, but even then, depression tend to focus on things you did wrong instead of those you did right.

But I am here to talk about the fact that I'd miss you if you were gone, too. Which seems ridiculous. "Rio, you follow 1000 blogs, you wouldn't notice". *loud incorrect buzzer* wrong! I would notice. As long as we ever interacted, as long as you liked and/or reblogged my posts, I'd notice.

When someone gets busy and I don't see them in my notes for over a week, I hope they are okay and just doing something more fun irl. I am not always great at remembering usernames, but as soon as they like one of my posts again I'm like yes!! They are back! I am glad you are okay!

"But I don't even contribute to the fandom!" No? Do you think creating content is the only way to contribute? Even just lurking and liking stuff counts. And I know some of you send really lovely anon messages that have made my day more than once. It DOES matter. Notes help other people as encouragement to keep posting. That absolutely counts.

"We barely post about the same fandom anymore" ah! But I still see you! I have a mutual that I have been following since 2016-2017, I believe. I have no idea what the hell he posts about these days. I can't rven accurately tell you why I originally followed him in the first place, it was either LOTR or Twilight, but fuck if I remember, because neither of hs posts about it!

And I still care. Because his journey ended up helping me. Seeing people's posts about their little achievements always makes my day. And even if you don't feel like you achieved anything in awhile, that doesn't mean you won't in the future. My point is, you are loved more than you know.

And this is only about online stuff. People notice when you walk down the street. Maybe someone likes your hair, or some detail of your outfit. Maybe someone saw you feed a stray and thought how nice you are. Maybe someone takes the same public transport as you every day and takes comfort in the fact you share the same path, if only for a few minutes.

This tumblr post perfectly described it, actually:

So please, if not for your own sake, for the sake of all the people who love you silently, keep going. It will get better. You might be just a bit further away from getting better. But you won't know unless you keep going.

So let's find out together, shall we?

#rio rambles #mental health #tw suicide mention #I think I might be getting way to ahead of myself #but I have seen posts and heard second hand about a lot of ppl struggling rn #so if this makes even one person feel a bit better it's worth posting

[macleod]

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization. At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else.

I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her subsequent career supports that view. What she said bothered me. I kept thinking about it; sometime the next day, it hit me. Science makes me feel stupid too. It's just that I've gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I actively seek out new opportunities to feel stupid. I wouldn't know what to do without that feeling. I even think it's supposed to be this way. Let me explain.

For almost all of us, one of the reasons that we liked science in high school and college is that we were good at it. That can't be the only reason – fascination with understanding the physical world and an emotional need to discover new things has to enter into it too. But high-school and college science means taking courses, and doing well in courses means getting the right answers on tests. If you know those answers, you do well and get to feel smart.

A Ph.D., in which you have to do a research project, is a whole different thing. For me, it was a daunting task. How could I possibly frame the questions that would lead to significant discoveries; design and interpret an experiment so that the conclusions were absolutely convincing; foresee difficulties and see ways around them, or, failing that, solve them when they occurred? My Ph.D. project was somewhat interdisciplinary and, for a while, whenever I ran into a problem, I pestered the faculty in my department who were experts in the various disciplines that I needed. I remember the day when Henry Taube (who won the Nobel Prize two years later) told me he didn't know how to solve the problem I was having in his area. I was a third-year graduate student and I figured that Taube knew about 1000 times more than I did (conservative estimate). If he didn't have the answer, nobody did.

That's when it hit me: nobody did. That's why it was a research problem. And being my research problem, it was up to me to solve. Once I faced that fact, I solved the problem in a couple of days. (It wasn't really very hard; I just had to try a few things.) The crucial lesson was that the scope of things I didn't know wasn't merely vast; it was, for all practical purposes, infinite. That realization, instead of being discouraging, was liberating. If our ignorance is infinite, the only possible course of action is to muddle through as best we can.

I'd like to suggest that our Ph.D. programs often do students a disservice in two ways. First, I don't think students are made to understand how hard it is to do research. And how very, very hard it is to do important research. It's a lot harder than taking even very demanding courses. What makes it difficult is that research is immersion in the unknown. We just don't know what we're doing. We can't be sure whether we're asking the right question or doing the right experiment until we get the answer or the result. Admittedly, science is made harder by competition for grants and space in top journals. But apart from all of that, doing significant research is intrinsically hard and changing departmental, institutional or national policies will not succeed in lessening its intrinsic difficulty.

Second, we don't do a good enough job of teaching our students how to be productively stupid – that is, if we don't feel stupid it means we're not really trying. I'm not talking about `relative stupidity', in which the other students in the class actually read the material, think about it and ace the exam, whereas you don't. I'm also not talking about bright people who might be working in areas that don't match their talents. Science involves confronting our `absolute stupidity'. That kind of stupidity is an existential fact, inherent in our efforts to push our way into the unknown. Preliminary and thesis exams have the right idea when the faculty committee pushes until the student starts getting the answers wrong or gives up and says, `I don't know'. The point of the exam isn't to see if the student gets all the answers right. If they do, it's the faculty who failed the exam. The point is to identify the student's weaknesses, partly to see where they need to invest some effort and partly to see whether the student's knowledge fails at a sufficiently high level that they are ready to take on a research project.

Productive stupidity means being ignorant by choice. Focusing on important questions puts us in the awkward position of being ignorant. One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time. No doubt, this can be difficult for students who are accustomed to getting the answers right. No doubt, reasonable levels of confidence and emotional resilience help, but I think scientific education might do more to ease what is a very big transition: from learning what other people once discovered to making your own discoveries. The more comfortable we become with being stupid, the deeper we will wade into the unknown and the more likely we are to make big discoveries.

#Science #Reports #Mine

[ericaand]

Waking Up with Joseph Quinn - Part 4

Characters: Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: You and Joseph have interviews today, and a question you never expected comes up.

Word Count: 1000+

Warnings: Angst

MASTERLIST

You nuzzled your head between Joe's shoulder and neck, as the smell of his cigarettes and cologne filled your nostrils. You were so comfortable and at peace, that you ended up dozing off.

"Ey love were here." Joseph gently shook his shoulder.

Hazey-eyed, you glance to your right to find you are stopped near a large industrial building. Probably one you'd go right past if you didn't know you were going there.

As you enter, you have someone rush up to you. "Y/n, hi, I'm going to be assisting your today during the interviews and such. Can I get you anything before your first interview? Which is in about 20 minutes, by the way."

You look behind you, Joseph is no longer there, but beside you a few feet away; being handed a list and pointed in the direction he was meant to go.

"Um, maybe just, um a water?" You wave to Joseph as you follow your assistant to a long hallway with multiple doors on either side.

"My name is Winston. Please, sit here; someone will be in briefly to fix your makeup and hair. I'll grab your water. Be right back."

The door shut, as you walked to a stylist chair with mirrors surrounding you. There were a few more chairs, but none of them filled. The room was cold and quiet, with concrete floors and walls that seemed to connect. You closed your eyes and tilted your head back, reminiscing the past 48 hours, realizing that it's been some of the best times in your life.

You jumped as the door swiftly opened, Winston, walking in with a bottle of water and cell phone in his other hand. Behind him was a short woman with bright red hair and a black apron, she was carrying a small train case and a rounded flat iron.

The woman chewed gum and stuck her hand toward your body, "My name's Lorin. Anything, in particular, you'd like me to 'fix'?" She air quoted.

You shrugged and shook your head. "Do whatever you think makes me look pretty."

"Well, honey, that'll be easy." She snorted.

She placed minimal makeup on your face, and curled bits and pieces of your hair, spraying a thick layer of hairspray after.

Winston looks up from his phone, "Perfect timing. Let's go. First interview of the day."

You're whisked away, with nothing but the taste of hairspray in your mouth. You were seated, alone this time. You took a deep breath and began to shake your knee. You've never done an interview alone before. Usually, you'd have others to turn to or to help distract the interviewer, but not now.

You shake hands with the gentleman next to you, who then proceeds to shuffle through small white cards on his lap.

"Here we go! You're on!" You hear from behind the camera.

"So, y/n, how're you doing today? Saw that you and the cast won several rewards last night. Congrats!"

"Hi, thanks! It was absolutely incredible. Never thought I'd even be there and experience any of that. It was most definitely a night to remember. I'm doing well today though. How are you?" You cross your leg over the other and lean on your hip, attempting to appear more comfortable.

"I'm good, I'm good." He proceeds to ask questions related to your minimal previous work, what your favorite scene was to do, and other things related to working on set and with the cast mates.

"I see we're running out of time, I have one last question; I hope you don't mind. It's been all over social media today, that you and Joseph Quinn walked out of the award show yesterday together and got in the same car." He smirked and tilted his head toward you. "You two looked pretty cozy, I must say. Can you spill the tea on your relationship with him?"

Your cheeks felt firey red, as you pulled your mouth into an awkward smile. This was not prepared for one bit. You blurted out whatever came to mind first. "Yeah, absolutely! He's a great boyfriend and I'm really lucky to have him!"

"Oh wow. Well, that's awesome news. Congrats you two!"

Your heart was thudding so hard you weren't sure if you were going to make it out of the room without a panic attack.

After a few more interviews, some alone, some with other cast mates, you awaited Joesph's return to the car. Your knee bobbed up and down, as you rested your head on your hand with your eyes closed.

You heard the door open opposite to you, as Joseph slid in. This time, creating much more space between you two than previously. Joseph leans forward and informs the driver to head back to the hotel. You wait to see if he going to initiate conversation, but after a few minutes, you cannot stand the silence anymore.

"Hey, how were the interviews?" You attempt to say cheerily.

"They were fine. I see yours went well." He continues to stare ahead.

You knitted your brows together, squinted your eyes, and shook your head. "What do you mean?"

"Y/n, boyfriend?" He turns to you, shrugs, and shakes his head. "Why'd you do that? Especially on an international interview, of all places. Why couldn't we have kept this between us?"

"Joseph, I know. I'm sorry. He bombarded me with that question, I wasn't expecting it. I didn't know what to say!" You spoke hurriedly. "What's the big deal? Are you ashamed of me? Don't want anyone to know you're dating a C-Class celebrity? What, am I too ugly for you? I don't 'fit' into your circle well enough?" By now, you'd leaned into his space a little farther.

"I dunno why you'd even think those things. I've NEVER said anything even remotely close to that."

The car stopped in front of the hotel you and Joseph had been staying at. You grabbed the door handle, "Well, you didn't have to." You swung the door open and marched up the stairs into the lobby.

Before Joseph could even reach you, you'd begun to make your way to your room. You huffed your way down the hall, slamming your feet as quietly as possible. You fell face first on your bed, slamming a fist into it.

A few minutes after, you heard a knock on the door. You moped toward the door, peering through the peephole, expecting to see curly locks, only to be met with a set of familiar eyes.

#joe #joseph #quinn #joseph quinn #joe quinn #joseph quinn angst #joseph quinn fandom #joseph quinn fic #joseph quinn fluff #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn rpf #joseph quinn series #joseph quinn stranger things #joseph quinn x fem!reader #joseph quinn x you #joseph quinn x y/n #joseph quinn x reader

[tiredspacedragon]

In the hypothetical alternate universe where Lego is willing to throw all available budget at a Bionicle G3 and you somehow found yourself in charge of the story team, how do you think you'd approach it?

Here's a weird thing about me. If you were to ask most people to boil Bionicle down to its bare essentials, chances are most people would say something along the lines of:

Six biomechanical, elementally-powered heroes wearing Masks of Power

A vibrant, likely tropical, island setting

An overarching sense of mystery, or at least history, that is central to the plot

And fetchquesting

If you were to ask me the same question, I would rhyme off all of those things plus one more: a giant robot.

Judging by G2 and a lot of fan opinions I've seen on how they'd do a G3, most people don't seem to consider the Great Spirit Robot an absolutely necessary part of the Bionicle story, but to me, it's indispensable.

Now sure, you can tell a good Bionicle story without a giant robot; I don't think G2 was bad specifically because it didn't have a giant robot. But the way I see it, the Great Spirit Robot, or at least some equivalent to it, is key to Bionicle's identity. So much so that the franchise is named after it. Bionicle is a shortening of "Biological Chronicle," it's the story of Mata Nui's biology. Now if you wanted to do away with the giant robot plotline, you could say that your version of Bionicle actually means "Biomechanical Chronicle" instead. You could totally do that and there would be nothing wrong with that. But if I was in charge of a hypothetical G3's story, I would want to stick to the franchise's roots. Which means the giant robot would be a central part of the story; that robot is what Bionicle is all about.

Of course, I don't think it would be wise to try to pull off the same twist again. Any returning fans, and any new fans that did their research, would be expecting the giant robot twist from the get-go. So instead, I wouldn't hide the robot, I would make it a focal point of the story from the very beginning.

My idea is this: Just like we're used to, the robot crashed landed long ago on a watery world, but unlike in G1, it wasn't a clean crash. Not all of the robot is underwater, and it was severely damaged in the crash, to the point that is 100% no longer operational. Not asleep, just totally wrecked. The story would pick up some time later, maybe 1000 years, just to be quaint, or maybe not, and biomechanical beings now live on the islands around the crashed robot, which they routinely travel into to scavenge materials to build and maintain their settlements, technology, etc. Very much playing with the idea of whalefall. The characters live their lives off the body of a dead god.

The plot would be centred around the questions of where this robot came from, and why was it made? What purpose did the characters serve inside the robot, presuming they know they came from it in the first place? I could see potential long-term plotlines based around finding information inside the robot, discovering it was conscious and that consciousness may have survived the destruction of its body, maybe even an end goal of restoring the robot. There's lots that could be done with this premise.

Where G1 started out very fantastical and transitioned more into hard sci-fi, I think my version would do the reverse. The robot is right there from the beginning, the sci-fi is plain to see, but as the characters dug deeper and more secrets were uncovered, things would get weirder and weirder until it became clear that there was little difference between this world's science and magic.

But yeah, that's pretty much how I'd handle it. I don't really have any concrete ideas for how each story year would go, like what the specific plot behind each set wave would be, but the general idea would be this story of characters wondering and learning about their origins, with themes of exploration and discovery. Bionicle meets Ghibli-esque hopeful post-apocalypse, kinda.

#bionicle #g3 concept #i get this image of rey's intro in force awakens #except it's takua poking around his island's section of the robot #looking for useful parts or anything else interesting that catches his eye #just that image of exploring the giant wreckage of mata nui is really striking to me #it's kind of like what i imagine was done with the wrecked gsr post-canon #except it happened much earlier on aqua magna instead

[thedawningofthehour]

Ok, I just found out that the supreme court of the OH SO FUCKING GREAT united states just ruled that it is not ok for institutions to take action to level the educational playing field for POC, but that it is ok to discriminate against LGBT+ people right on the last day of Pride month.

I don't live in the states, PERO ESTOY TAN JODIDAMENTE FURIOSA

Mientras tanto voy a soltar una pintoresca linea de insultos con la que espero que se ahogen

MALPARIDOS HIJOS DE REPUTISIMA MADRE ESPERO QUE LOS APALEEN EN LAS CALLES. MALANDROS MAMAGUEVOS CARACULOS.

Also the French are burning down half of France because of a cop killing a 17 year old.

Seriously, if it wasn't for the whole 'let's commit genocide' thing I'd be 1000% on Draxum's side.

If Draxum had omitted that issue and focused on the 'let's end capitalism' issue I'm sure the turtles would have at least considered joining him.

Literally everything in the world is going to hell and I have zero hope that it'll ever get better. Like, my mom's over here talking about how I really should start a retirement fund and most predictions have society collapsing completely before then. I will consider it a win if I'm still alive, honestly.

And it's impossible to get away from. My mother watches the news fucking constantly. She's better than she used to be, but her 'used to be' was 18-20 hours a day of straight news cycle so I can't really sing her praises. All day, she sits and watches the news and scrolls through political twitter on her phone. That's what she does. And then she rags on me for 'not keeping up with the news.' I KEEP UP WITH IT I JUST DO OTHER STUFF BESIDES THAT.

And she doesn't get how it's depressing. She thinks of it like a soap opera. Yes, she logically knows that me and my sister are going to have to live with this hell and says she's upset about that, but I don't think she actually believes it. It's like it isn't real to her.

You know, I dunk on the French language here, but nothing but respect for the French themselves. They're out there absolutely owning everyone else and showing us how a real protest is done. They don't take shit.

I live in Minneapolis. My sister actually lived just a few blocks from where George Floyd was killed at the time, and she shopped at that one Target that got looted. At the time I was working at a family-owned restaurant, and the owner and all her kids were hardcore alt-righters. Only one of them was a conspiracy theorist, (I think the others were literally too dumb to wrap their brains around conspiracy theories-I had to tell one, a woman in her fifties, what temperature to bake a cake at, for example) and when this was all going down he was going on nightly tirades about how the entire city was burning, already burnt to the ground.

And again. We're in Minneapolis. Not the city proper, but if you went outside you could see the city skyline. Very much not on fire.

I'm sure there's French people doing the same song and dance downplaying Merzouk's death and demonizing the protestors-including Macron, which makes me wonder if he's forgotten some key history-but honestly it seems like most people are rightfully enraged. Good for them. The French are being metal af right now and I am here for it. I don't like civil unrest, but I like teenagers getting killed even less.

This ended up just being a ramble about the general state of the world than anything about the fic, sorry. I've been kind of shit mentally the past few days and I think I needed to let some stuff out.

#the one thing i don't approve of with the french protests #they're targeting libraries #like bro #i know they're government buildings but they're the good kind #but seriously i remember getting out of the bank a few years ago to find cops in the parking lot #in the middle of 'investigating' a couple brown kids #you know what my first thought was? #it wasn't “oh geeze what they do” #it wasn't “i hope nothing really bad happened” #it was “oh god i don't want to watch someone die today” #that was my first reaction upon seeing the police #that is the state of things right now

[this-acuteneurosis]

Hello, Dream Anon here after many moons once again. It happened again! I had a dream where Luke was letting Leia have some coping time like uh inside her mind space or something (dream was not clear) and Luke is sort of just ya know, keeping tabs on things, doing his best Leia impression, when Anakin shows up and is like "who the fuck are you" and instantly has his lightsaber out and Luke is like damn things really stay the same don't they and Leia snaps back into control like what the FUCK are you doing?? And Anakin is awkward and trying to justify himself like "It wasn't you. I could tell. The eyes were blue." and then the dream shifted and that's all I got. But it was very vivid for that one scene! Anyways, I hope you are well. Thank you for the latest chapter, and thought I'd jsut pop in and let you know the absolute choke hold (ha) your story as on my subconscious. ❤️

Anakin would 1000% freak out in this context, and then be very sad when he realized that he missed a chance to hang out with Leia's brother and get to know him.

(Later it would occur to him that this was Incredibly Weird and Maybe Concerning.)

[incarnateirony]

NOBODY HAS MOLES IN YOUR SERVER PATRICK

NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR OLD SCRIPTS FROM A SHOW TWO YEARS AGO PATRICK

WHO THE FUCK IS GOING TO SPY ON YOU FOR OLD REPEAT SCRIPTS

ARE YOU OK

WHO GIVES A FUCK WHICH OLD IDIOT GIVE YOU AN OLD REPEAT SCRIPT

THEY'RE REPEAT SCRIPTS

GET A HOBBY

like acting like motherfuckers are gonna spy on you rewatching spn on netflix or some shit skdfjSDFJSKDJF YOUR BREATHING AND AIR SPACE IS NOT SACRED OR CONFIDENTIAL DUDE ANY MORE THAN YOUR LITERALLY IDENTICAL SCRIPTS ARE BETTER

jesus CHRIST the megalomania is OFF THE CHART

genuinely "I'm gonna be a semantic asshole AND arrogant at the same time about WHICH dumbfuck gave me an identical script, because it's too embarassing to admit all we have is identical scripts and the one thing ferrying my way, because we've conned people into giving their shit to me so I get the attention" is all you got, dude?

If you're talking about me talking about what wigglebox said, the dipshit said it ON TWITTER. IN PUBLIC. admitting she wanted to hide the script.

people are gonna realize sooner or later they don't need you. And probably sooner, since your last 4 scripts have been repeats. just like gayle and suzanne and jules are about to realize sooner or later, they don't need you either, since you love tweeting out identifiable information about who's leaking or breaking their NDAs, and they can get any idiot mouthpiece that at least won't assfuck them.

hell, scripthunt would do better without you, because now fandom is pretty widely aware you're an overt liar AND associated with violent people, but you refuse to call them out and they refuse to act about you. So you know. Cool. That's their ethics. Stealing thousands from fans to repost dupes for their own glory and chilling with people threatening to cut and kill other fans.

But a raffle tho!

btw, pat? not a meltdown. In case you can't read, I addressed the color variation before. But you know full well this is your last stand of relevance, all you have is repeat scripts from a dead show, if you were an *actual* archive you *wouldn't* delete other draft copies, and ultimately, this is just like. IDK. Honestly if I was one of your idiot contributors ever I'd be pissed at any resources going to something that stupid.

Notice your 18, 19 drafts didn't get far? it's because it's old news, dude. We've all seen them. Remember when I dropped them they went viral by the thousands? What'd you get, a dozen hits?

it's legit lame dude, even if you and your BFF send yourselves anons telling yourself it's not lame.

Like dude. IDK how to tell you but 1000>12 so before you go patting yourself on the back any harder than you already are with your Origin Stories and Dupe Scripts, maybe you should take a course in perspective.

but nah i see it. I figured it out. You been grifting free scripts and cash flow from people and your purse is drying up so you're just slapping in whatever to look relevant. How much you guys been skimming off the top? Or is it all just for 2po to shove script copies in his closet on someone else's dime here?

I should have figured it out earlier. The amount of money they turn over in that server, while accusing fans that do their shit for absolutely free (scripts included) of grifting. Like I get it. He needed to protect the honey pot he siphons money out of fandom with so he can't tolerate people giving scripts for free.

It is cute that you always convince yourself that anyone is melting down, or angry. Things like people laughing so loud at you that they have to use all caps to illustrate how absurd it is is not the dunk you seem to think it is. But I forgot that deep down you're an Evangelical white woman that clutches her pearls if someone uses strong language just as badly as if the gays get too rowdy on your screen

Speaking of dunks, the way you reacted to that anon does actually show that you aren't an archive account. You aren't even a script hunting account. You're literally just trolling trying to get a reaction. And you thought you got me angry so you felt accomplished because that was your goal. Rather than there being entire servers of people laughing at you for your desperation and the fact that SPN script Hunt is clearly dead at this point

Way to just continually discredit anything you touch dude. But I get it now. I get why you would lie for 8 months about the Winchester pilot. I get why you would even start recycling Scripts. I thought it was just about you wanting to save Clout but the longer I look at this the more I realize you have been conning people in this fandom out of thousands of dollars for your own material benefit that it's probably sitting in your closet right now and looking like a pretty nice retirement fund. No wonder you think about people grifting all the time

#there's a message for all of you in the war room

[silverhallow]

I'm really sorry you're feeling a bit low and don't know what to do or if you should keep on doing what you like(d). I'm pretty sure the momentary lack of response has nothing to do with you or the quality of your work though! I can only imagine how lonely it can feel out there in the virtual world/social media and every missing like, comment or reaction might seem like a rejection or dislike. Please don't forget there might be a 1000 different reasons... part/1

... (that have absolutely nothing to do with you!) why you don't get this or that reaction. People might be too busy, stressed out, have work/family problems or are going through a little rough patch. I get it, we got so used to measure success with likes and comments that a lack thereof can seem like a failure. But it is not! Try no to worry too much about it, treat yourself to a little 'me-time' taking care of you and wait a bit before you get back to it all. part/2

Who knows, maybe tomorrow or in a few days or next week everything falls back into place and people are ready to show you their appreciation. Btw, posting how you feel instead of disappearing without a word is so important so I applaud you for that! Thank you for this little reminder to show our appreciation and gratitude more vocally. part/3

So, since I'm already here, I'm gonna use this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate everything you do! Every single one of your fics/AUs is such a joy to read and it amazes me how you keep on coming up with new stories and ideas. Don't ever doubt yourself or dare to think anything is boring or dull! Your great👏🏼👑😊😘(was looking for a bowing emoji but alas didn't find one, hence the crown😉😂) part/4

Wow Nonnie, thank you for such a long ask! i think this might be the longest one i've ever gotten!!

i totally understand that people are busy and have far better things to do than read my work. I think i'd just gotten so used to have at least one comment the following morning that when i didn't it sort of made me confuse and wonder if it was me. Like never apologise to me for not reading my work yet... i get it. I post like a machine and you guys have lives (and yes i am human... May I can practically see you screaming that I am a robot...)

Because of the way that things had been going, there was less engagement in my asks unless people were wanting sneak peaks and I was doing the rose game... or it was me asking you guys for things, made me honestly wonder if I was the problem.

Work's been a lot lately, and not even because i'm busy but because of the opposite. i've got a lot of pressure on one case i'm working and it's stressful and people don't seem to be supportive of that but cause I'm not actually in my usual department it's even harder.

I am very much alone at work. the nearest person to me that does the same job to me is a 110 miles away.

I used to measure the success of my stories on hits and kudos and the likes but after a minor meltdown over a year ago I stopped caring about them. I was getting interactions for a set of regulars (some of whom no longer comment on my work but I think still read it...) and that was enough.

but because i'm feeling so out of sorts with my professional life, i've thrown myself into this a bit more and it's...crept in here.

seriously like sometimes to a writer just the one comment can lift their spirits. we do this for free... like I spend a lot of my free time doing this, (and not free time as I write at work as well) so when the comments and the interactions stop... it makes me wonder why i'm doing this.

I don't have my comments moderated and i allow guests to post comments, and I have my asks on Anon so that people can share without feeling shy.

I am always grateful for the interaction and it's what makes it all the more worth it.

I am not the sort of person who can keep in her feelings, it will either show on my face or i have to get them off my chest or they will actually consume me. i've had so many issues in the past with no opening up and sharing so it's why I will sometimes have these little wobbles and rambles about it but usually below a cut because not everyone wants to read about my anxiety and my issues.

but i think we all need the reminder, I used to be so bad at it but I have to practise what i preach, it's why I will send my favourite author's asks about their stories, wanting to know some of the minor details, wanting to know more.

its why i will reply to people's posts and why i will ALWAYS reply to comments! even if its a thank you for reading because it's so important that people know we've read them!

But thank you so much for your lovely and sweet comments in part 4. it is wonderful to know that people aren't sick of me yet... I couldn't do this without you guys because I've spent enough years with the stories in my head and not writing them down and you guys constantly wanting new AUs and new stories is the reason I am still doing this and i am onto my 284 Bridgerton Story...

Thank you for reaching out and saying all these lovely things and to everyone else who reached out yesterday. I am feeling better... not masses but a bit. it's good to know that you guys still appreciate me.

#ask ash #ash irl #this got long sorry! #writing chat

[shadoobee]

Okay so I saw the Stones in Paris too ! BIGGEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. I'll never forget it. It's the second time I see them and I still cannot put into words the extreme joy I felt. No, I still feel it but it was like. The hysterical kind of joy. I was only one step away from the 60s groupies I swear

SO my favourite moments (well not exactly because the concert WAS my favourite moment but yk what I mean) of the Paris show, not in order, not exhaustively (?), and it's gonna be long because I still haven't figured how to cut a long post :

They've been my reason to live for 8 years (no I just realized I'm 16 and not 13 wtf I spent half of my life thinking about them and I'm still going. I love that thought tho.) and I admire them with every single cell of my body. I think I already said this last time but yk :)

GIMME SHELTER GIMME SHELTER GIMME SHELTER oh fuck Sasha was GREAT

Out of Time was amazinggggg

Everything ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

The setlist <3 thank you my ears are now blessed

"Do you know how I got here ? I biked here with Anne Hidalgo !" (She's the mayor of Paris. Not a great lady but funny story Mick)

Keith Keith Keith Keith he's a clumsy teddy bear I love him

I love how they all move on stage oh god

I gotta start searching the reason of the Performance verses in Midnight Rambler. Am I dreaming this? I'll start my little investigation once I get home (I'm at the airport rn)

MICK BONKED DARRYL AGAIN HE DID IT i screamed (again)

Ayron Jones and his bandmates were just. fire. And the bassist (I think his name is Bob Lovelace but please correct me if I'm wrong). Dude he was so. *screamsm*

When Mick was dedicating the show to Charlie he looked in my direction and stopped for a minute when I lifted my banner. Maybe he saw it? I'd simply die if he saw it. (Everyone has the right to dream.......)

HE DID NOT PUT HIS SHIRT OVER HIS HEAD DURING GHOST TOWN HE HAS A HOODED SHIRT HOW DID I NOT SEE IT IN LYON A HOODED SHIRT

Darryl's solo <3<3<333<3<3<3

Chuck's solo <3<3<3<3<3<3<22<<3<<33

Mick telling us how he lost 1000 bucks on the wrong horse one time at the Hippodrome and how some other time he had to run away because of a fucking storm and therefore he's going to introduce the band bc who knows what's gonna happen this time :)

And Mick absolutely forgot Chuck. I was like "WAIT NO YOU MISSED HIM STOP NO" and he only realised later. like. Mick. Mick. Mick

"Mon Keith absolu !" I love them I love them I love them I love them

I have no idea how many times I cried that night but it was a lot

Bernard's hair

Sasha's dress

Actually they were all dressed so good

When someone threw their sign at Ronnie and he took it!!! (I had planned to do the same but unfortunately I wasn't close enough. I couldn't afford pit tickets this time either)

Anyways I spent the night jumping (really. I jumped a lot. I felt like I was an hyperactive flea on crack) and waving my Charlie's bird banner, I shouted everything I could shout, I had a terrific time. The people in Paris were a lot nicer than those in Lyon tho. Some dude behind me asked to see my sign and told me he had bought Charlie's album a few decades back and he loved it. I was so happy. Apparently they also filmed my banner during Like a Rolling Stone but I didn't notice it (maybe because I was too busy jumping and yelling. Couldn't get my eyes off my absolute idols sorry). Well I kinda hope they didn't. I'm very shy. But also it's kinda important to me because I spent hours making it and during those hours I think I finally realised Charlie's death. Idk, it's like my brain isn't programmed to proceed this. He's immortal I believe. He did such great things. Anyways, I hope it made someone smile :)

Thank you for reading ! And also sorry for the inconvenience I'm not very good at computering

#there may be a lot of typos also I didn't re-read it #long post #stones 2022 #stones sixty #the rolling stones #doodoo's doodoo #Sometimes I can't find my words when I'm excited I hope you can still understand the rubbish I say #aaaaaaa take me back I need more

[toby-35]

Just a love letter that i need to post to get my feelings out.

Dearest M

I've known you for a very short time. And while I dont know you that well. I have a bit of a crush on you.

In a place where I knew absolutely nobody, most like others. I felt safe. Ive never felt that safe with anyone in my entire life. Yes i know i look 10 shut up you ballbag.

You made me feel important and loved at the same time. Yes i was afraid to speak to you, come on, I'd never met you before and had a crush on you, PLUS you were authority. Well in my eyes anyway. You told people what to do and well. Authority mate.

But with our little group heart to heart, i found myself feeling relieved to have been able to talk openly, but it also made me sad to think that, there with you was the only place i felt ok to do that.

Yes i know you puff (your words not mine) you've been through that rough shit before and you now just dont give a shit. But im not there yet but having your support. It got me a step closer. And believe me. Im trying so fucking hard. And this point im probably trying too hard. But thats the validation for you.

So yeah. That wandered a bit. But yeah. Not only do i have a crush on you because you are 1000% my type. Older (but doesnt look it) married (what a suprise) and i mean just an all round genuine guy.

Yeah i have no idea about anything else. Aside from you have kids. Grandkids. And a wonderful husband.

Part of me wishes that- that i was older. Or you younger. That I could know you more. But youre in scotland and im where i am.

I love you man. And you give the greatest hugs. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. You should of seen my face when i was told you were here. Looked like a kid in a toy shop at christmas.

But yeah. I fucking love you. I love how you make me feel and despite not seeing you for a while? Idk when I'll see you next. You've been a pleasure.

Yes i have thought about nsfw things but anyway.

M. I love you. <3 take care of yourself.

-Toby (you only remember my name cuz you looked at my name badge. Dont lie dumbass)

#personal #<3 #well #anyway you can rezd if u want if you see the post #just needed to get it out there to move on

[dorefasolsido]

34.

Will you answer these questions as personally as you can?

Yup, bring it on.

Why are you happy?

Well who says I am??

Who’s the last person you hugged?

My friend's brother as a goodbye hug.

Would you pay someone to kill the person who hurt you a lot?

Nah. No one has hurt me enough that I'd actually want them dead.

Do you like the song ‘Sick Little Games’ by All Time Low?

I don't think I know it.

Last night you felt?

Great. I went to a gig with my friend and her brother and we had the best time. We should seriously do it more often, not just every few months.

How are you feeling right now?

Pretty much okay.

Are you drifting away from someone you were close with?

I think so, but that's been going on for years.

Is there someone you’d like to fix things with?

Yeah, well, with that person I'm drifting away from.

Have you ever liked someone that treated you like crap?

I sure did.

What are you listening to?

Absolutely nothing.

Have you ever stayed in a hotel?

Yup, just a week ago when I was in Transylvania.

What is in your pocket?

I don't have a pocket on my pajama.

Have a best friend?

Yup.

Does it bother you when your best friend does stuff without you?

No, she does stuff without me all the time -- we are over 1000 km apart.

Do you keep any secrets from your best friend?

Probably. It's not out of distrust, it's simply that I don't feel the need to or want to share every single thought in my head with someone. I'm sure she's exactly the same way.

What were you doing 60 minutes ago?

Looking through surveys.

Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents?

Yeah, probably plenty.

What’s something that can always make you feel better?

BTS and chocolate.

What do you want right now?

To fast forward to the next weekend or go back to yesterday. I don't feel like working.

What would you name your future son?

No clue.

If you had to eat 1 thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Sushi for sure since there's plenty of variety there.

How’s your life lately?

It's actually been not too bad.

***continued sometime later, I suck at answering surveys all at once***

Last person to send you a text?

My best friend.

What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?

Sleeping.

Did you have a good birthday this year?

No. I mean, I can't say it wasn't fun (I went to my friend's goodbye picnic since she was moving to Germany instead of celebrating), but I just wasn't feeling it at all. It was just a bad day mentally, and I decided not to bother celebrating it this year.

Have you done anything embarrassing lately?

I don't know? Tbh, I'm in a constant state of awkwardness, so I guess at this point I don't find anything particularly embarrassing since my whole existence can feel like that lol

Do you trust easily?

Nope. But I wouldn't say necessarily that I actively distrust people, it's like, I want to see the best in them and I genuinely give everyone a benefit of doubt, but when it comes to stuff like opening up, oof.

Do you like cookies n’ cream ice cream?

Delicious!

How often do you raise your hand in class and answer a question?

Well I'm not in school. I used to do that in elementary school and the first grade of middle school, then I stopped because social anxiety took over and because some kids teased me for being a nerd. In hindsight, that really wasn't so bad, but I didn't want to stand out in any way at all.

Ever been mistaken for someone else, and took it as an insult?

I have been mistaken for someone else, but no. I mean, it happens. Tbh, I've been tempted to just go with it and pretend I really am the person they mistook me for >.>

Would you get a mega bag of skittles, or three regular ones?

Idk, I don't know what the exact difference is.

What color shirt are you wearing?

White.

Is there a boy that would do absolutely everything for you?

Not absolutely everything. Unless I could my dad, but he's not really a boy lol

Did you ever think you had the Swine flu?

Oh my God, this takes me back lol. I don't think I did, but I remember there was this schoolwide paranoia about it, and me and my friend used to go to the bathroom after every single class to wash our hands.

Who was the last person to smoke a cigarette in your presence?

Hmm, not sure. My sister vapes, but she doesn't smoke cigarettes, so I have no idea.

Who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night?

My sister.

Are you a mean person?

I don't think I'm usually mean, but I have my moments no doubt.

Does anyone hate you?

Maybe. There's one person that comes to mind, but I'm not sure she really hates me. I know I don't hate her, though I'd be pretty justified to.

Do you usually tell people when you’re mad at them?

No, but I should. Generally, I struggle with expressing anger.

This time last year, can you remember who you liked?

Yes, because it was no one.

Will this weekend be a good one?

Idk, I have zero plans for it so it's probably just going to be same old boring weekend.

Have you ever liked someone older than you?

Well I've had celebrity crushes older than me, but I haven't exactly properly liked anyone older, I think. Tbh, I've had very few crushes in my life, and most of them I feel were more platonic than anything.

Are you mad at someone right now?

Not really.

#personal #surveys

[rotatedaxis]

I just need a moment to talk about yesterday. Yesterday was golden touch festival. Every act I saw was at least good, if I wasn't really impressed by someone I just had a neutral opinion, but that's just how things go so I have no ill will to anyone who played there.

I'm just gonna run through the day (it was 13 hours, so this won't be a short post):

I was first there with someone I was speaking to on twitter and we stayed together all day. We got to overhear bears in trees soundchecking because we were there since just before 11, so the full thirteen hours. The Edge was a hot box after the first act that played, so eventually we stopped going in there because it was just too much. We got food during the Clause set because no one in our group really cared for them/hadn't heard enough of them and we wanted to camp the barrier for bears in trees. We had some subway mishaps but it was alright and then went back to the venue for the end of The Clause's set and were able to get a spot on the barrier. It was the first time I've ever gotten barrier at a show. The Rills were absolutely incredible and we got photos with them after their set. Jerry Williams was lovely as well, but there were a load of (let's face it, probably drunk) guys that kept talking over her. Arcade Hearts and The Royston Club were alright, I'd never had a chance to listen to them so we were waiting for Zuzu to start her set. She was amazing, her set was great and we also got a photo with her.

Then, there was the thing we were all there for: bears in trees. I have thoughts and feelings I haven't processed yet, but I'm going to try.

They came on stage, started with great heights into cut corners which was amazing. It was a fantastic start. Then there was the exclusive incidental funny that was the Nick needs to tie his shoelace interlude which was damn entertaining, I can't lie. Then good rhymes started, a total banger, my legs hurt after jumping through the end of it but it was 1000% worth it. Then, heaven sent. If you've watched videos/seen heaven sent live - then you know Callum jumps on the barrier. I knew about this, yes. Did he jump onto the barrier in front of me? Yes, yes he did and it was so fun. Scary bc one moment he's about a meter away and then suddenly right in front of you and there's nothing you can do about it lol but incredibly fun. He complained about getting his socks sticky after. The barrier and floor were very sticky by the end, so it makes sense. The fun part of that was, during Cobwebs, he did again. Fun thing about that is (and this is a core memory which I will never ever forget) he jumped back onto the barrier in front of me and we made eye contact while singing the chorus and he waved at me so I waved back and then he moved on to other people, so I screamed at my friend from twitter - then the moment was over and he was back on stage. Like, not being funny, that is beyond special to me - I don't wanna be weird, but that was just so what the fuck it doesn't quite feel real so I have to recount every little bit to remind myself that it did happen, because I don't have proof lol. Same friend from twitter went through emotional torture throughout Ibuprofen, Precipitation, Array of Light, Ramblings (Iain jumped on the barrier for bit of that), and I'm Doing Push Ups. We spent a lot of those songs holding hands, leaning on each other and just screaming the lyrics and it is one of the most special things I have ever been a part of. They were supposed to play reverberate as well, but they skipped it (I presume it's because other acts had overrun a little so they had to cut it for time sadly - I probably would've cried if they did play it, so would the person I met there) and ended with Fresh Concrete. Two of the people in our group got a setlist and some kid got one over me (I have nothing against the kid, I'll just have to try another time - but Billy goldentouchadmin tried to see if there were more, which there weren't but that's okay). Our group got a picture with Iain with a bi flag behind us (I'm not bi, but it's no big deal since the rest of our group was lol) and then half of our group got one with Callum while someone else got one with Nick and George. And, yeah, that was the end of the night - we got another picture with the Rills and left. I did not get home until well past 1am.

Yesterday was a long one, a really long one, but it was so worth it for everything that happened. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The pain, the hours, the sticky floor, I'd do that again right this second if I could.

tl;dr - I'm feeling the post-concert blues really hard right now, but I'm so amazed I even got to go at all that I'll take feeling sad for a while after such an incredible day.

An interview says that they're planning things for the end of the year - so hopefully I'll be able to go to that too. (and drag a new member of the sandbox along with me.)

#something entirely irrelevant #bears in trees #golden touch fest '22

[onstoryladders]

the thing about gramblack is like. why would they give us the note and the figurenes and the talk with the yok and the study hour strip tease if they were gonna be like psych. gram and black are strictly platonic and actually in love with the same girl. like WHY would you show me that if i can’t have it?!

The study hour striptease 😂 but yes, anon, that would make absolutely 0 sense!

They're definitely NOT going to say Black and Gram are strictly platonic and in love with the same girl, like-- I'm 100% sure that's not possible. Gram is in love with Black, no question – the narrative made that abundantly clear with all the scenes you mentioned and more.

And since this is a queer show in the strongest sense of the word (because its queerness is not only there for the sake of the love stories) I can't even imagine they would queer-bait us.

So that's not what I'm worried about.

The thing is: we don't know much about Black. He seems to have a soft spot for Gram, because he keeps his figurines on his bedside table and we can guess (from the way Gram behaves around White) that when they're together Black lets him act and talk in ways he doesn't accept from anyone else. That's pretty telling.

But in that flashback we've also seen that Black dumped Eugene to protect her. To be honest, he didn't look so sad about that lol so maybe he doesn't care about their relationship all that much, but we can't be sure. So what if he truly cared about Eugene? What if he loved both?

From what I've read around, Mond said that Gram will confess his love for his “secret” (lmao yeah sure) crush in the series. So we know that a confession is coming, but how will Black react?

We don't know because we have no idea what's going on in his head! Does he even love Gram that way? I wanna believe he does because that'd set such a good dynamic, and it would make so much sense, and-- honestly, what's the alternative?

They gave their whole storyline a lot of screen-time, and since Black is out of the picture, we followed it through Gram's side of it. Why spend all this time establishing his feelings if they didn't wanna give them a positive resolution? Why get the viewers attached to this relationship if it's doomed from the start?

It wouldn't make sense.

And yet, we don't really know what the plan is. We don't have the full picture, we can't be 100% sure of what they're gonna do with this.

And it's. Driving. Me. Insane.

These are the possible scenarios I thought about:

Gram and Black get together: 10/10 would recommend;

Gram and Black get together SOON and they give us a make out scene to compensate for all the pain they put us through: 1000/10, amazing, show-stopping, totally unique, etc;

it's implied that Gram and Black will eventually get together in the future: 6/10, not the best ending, but not the worst either;

Black rejects Gram: -70/10, the absolute worst thing ever, I will personally fly to Thailand to slash some tires if it happens;

some variation of Black/Gram/Eugene is established: 3/10, I'd be glad for the poly rep at least, but it would devastate me.

That is, if we don't think about the worst that could happen to the characters in general, but I decided I don't believe in tragedies so I'm not even gonna think about that.

This is all from Clown Town, come visit us again soon! 🤡

#i slept 4 hrs before writing this ok #so if it doesnt make sense thats why #not me the series #not me #gramblack #mond tanutchai #gun attaphan #ask

[devilsskettle]

oh man i have a Lot of thoughts about the autopsy of jane doe, both positive and critical For Sure, i'd be SO excited to see your analysis of it! definitely keeping an eye out for that 👀

thanks! i'm working on something article-like to talk about the film and i don't know what i want to do with it yet lol but if i don't post it on here i'll definitely link it. it's mainly a discussion of gender in possession/occult films in the same way that carol clover describes in men, women, and chainsaws - that there are dual plot lines in occult films, usually gendered masculine and feminine respectively, where the "main" feminine plot (the actual possession) is actually a way to explore the "real" masculine plot (the emotional conflict of the "man in crisis" protagonist). typically the man in crisis is too masculine, or "closed" emotionally, where the woman is too "open," which is why she acts as the vehicle for the supernatural occurrence as well as the core emotions of the film. the man has to learn how to become more open (though if he becomes too open, like father karras in the exorcist, he has to die by the end - he has to find a happy medium, where he doesn't actually transgress gender expectations too much. clover calls this state the "new masculine," and we might apply the term "toxic masculinity" to the "closed" emotional state). part of the "opening up" feature of the story is that it allows men to be highly emotionally expressive in situations where they otherwise might not be allowed to, which is cathartic for the assumed primary audience of these films (young men). another feature of the genre is white science vs black magic (once you exhaust the scientific "rational" explanations, you have to accept that something magic is happening). the autopsy of jane doe does this even more than the films she discusses when she published the book in 1992 (the exorcist, poltergeist, christine, etc) because the supernaturally influenced young woman who becomes this kind of vehicle is more of an object than a character. she doesn't have a single line of dialogue or even blink for the entire runtime of the movie. the camerawork often pans to her as if to show her reactions to the events of the movie, which seems kind of pointless because it's the same reaction the whole time (none) but it allows the viewer to project anything they want onto her - from personal suffering to cunning and spite. 

compare again to the exorcist: is the story actually about regan mcneil? no. but do we care about her? sure (clover says no, but i think we at least feel for her situation lol). and do we get an idea of what she's like as a person? yes. even though her pain and her body are used narratively as a framework for karras' emotional/religious crisis, we at least see her as a person. both she and her mother are expendable to the "real" plot but they're very active in their roles in the "main" plot - our "jane doe" isn't afforded even that level of agency or identity. so. is that inherently sexist? well, no - if there were other women in the film who were part of the "real" plot, i would say that the presence of women with agency and identity demonstrate enough regard for the personhood of women to make the gender of the subject of the autopsy irrelevant. but there are none. of the three important women in the film, we have 1) an almost corpse, 2) an absent (dead) mother, and 3) a one dimensional girlfriend who is killed off for a man's character development/cathartic expression of emotions. all three are just platforms for the men in crisis of this narrative. 

and, to my surprise, much of the reception to the film is to embrace it as a feminist story because the witch is misconstrued as a badass, powerful, Strong Female Character girl boss type for getting revenge on the men who wronged her, with absolutely no consideration given to what the movie actually ends up saying about women. and the director has said that he embraces this interpretation, but never intended it. so like. of course you're going to embrace the interpretation that gives you critical acclaim and the moral high ground. but it's so fucking clear that it was never his intention to say anything about feminism, or women in general, or gender at all. so i find it very frustrating that people read the film that way because it's just. objectively wrong.

there's also things i want to say about this idea that clover talks about in a different chapter of the book when she discusses the country/city divide in a lot of horror (especially rape-revenge films) in which the writer intends the audience to identify with the city characters and be against the country characters (think of, like, house of 1000 corpses - there's pretty explicit socioeconomic regional tension between the evil country residents and the travelers from the city) but first, they have to address the real harm that the City (as a whole) has inflicted upon the Country (usually in the forms of environmental and economic destruction) so in order to justify the antagonization the country people are characterized by, their "retaliation" for these wrongs has to be so extreme and misdirected that we identify with the city people by default (if country men feel victimized by the City and react by attacking a city woman who isn't complicit in the crimes of the City in any of the violent, heinous ways horror movies employ, of course we won't sympathize with them). why am i bringing this up? well, clover says this idea is actually borrowed from the western genre, where native americans are the Villains even as white settlers commit genocide - so they characterize them as extremely savage and violent in order to justify violence against them (in fiction and in real life). the idea is to address the suffering of the Other and delegitimize it through extreme negative characterization (often, with both the people from the country and native americans, through negative stereotyping as well as their actions). so i think that shows how this idea is transferred between different genres and whatever group of people the writers want the viewers to be against, and in this movie it’s happening on the axis of gender instead of race, region, or class. obviously the victims of the salem witch trials suffered extreme injustice and physical violence (especially in the film as victim of the ritual the body clearly underwent) BUT by retaliating for the wrongs done to her, apparently (according to the main characters) at random, she's characterized as monstrous and dangerous and spiteful. her revenge is unjustified because it’s not targeted at the people who actually committed violence against her. they say that the ritual created the very thing it was trying to destroy - i.e. an evil witch. she becomes the thing we're supposed to be afraid of, not someone we’re supposed to sympathize with. she’s othered by this framework, not supported by it, so even if she’s afforded some power through her posthumous magical abilities, we the viewer are not supposed to root for her. if the viewer does sympathize with her, it’s in spite of the writing, not because of it. the main characters who we are intended to identify with feel only shallow sympathy for her, if any - even when they realize they’ve been cutting open a living person, they express shock and revulsion, but not regret. in fact, they go back and scalp her and take out her brain. after realizing that she’s alive! we’re intended to see this as an acceptable retaliation against the witch, not an act of extreme cruelty or at the very least a stupid idea lol. 

(also - i hate how much of a buzzword salem is in movies like this lol, nothing about her injuries or the story they “read” on her is even remotely similar to what happened in salem, except for the time period. i know they don’t explicitly say oh yeah, she was definitely from salem, but her injuries really aren’t characteristic of american executions of witches at all so i wish they hadn’t muddied the water by trying to point to an actual historical event. especially since i think the connotation of “witch” and the victims of witch trials has taken on a modern projection of feminism that doesn’t really make sense under any scrutiny. anyway)

not to mention the ending: what was the writer intending the audience to get from the ending? that the cycle of violence continues, and the witch’s revenge will move on and repeat the same violence in the next place, wherever she ends up. we’re supposed to feel bad for whoever her next victims will be. but what about her? i think the movie figures her maybe as triumphant, but she’s going to keep being passed around from morgue to morgue, and she’s going to be vivisected again and again, with no way to communicate her pain or her story. the framework of the story doesn’t allow for this ending to be tragic for her, though - clearly the tragedy lies with the father and son, finally having opened up to one another, unfortunately too late, and dying early, unjust deaths at the hands of this unknowable malignant entity. it doesn’t do justice to her (or the girlfriend, who seems to be nothing but collateral damage in all of this - in the ending sequence, when the police finds the carnage, it only shows them finding the bodies of the men. the girlfriend is as irrelevant to the conclusion as she is to the rest of the plot). 

but does this mean the autopsy of jane doe is a “bad” movie? i guess it depends on your perspective. ultimately, it’s one of those questions that i find myself asking when faced with certain kinds of stories that inevitably crop up often in our media: how much can we excuse a story for upholding regressive social norms (even unintentionally) before we have to discount the whole work? i don’t think the autopsy of jane doe warrants complete rejection for being “problematic” but i think the critical acclaim based on the idea that it’s a feminist film should be rejected. i still consider it a very interesting concept with strong acting and a lot of visual appeal, and it’s a very good piece of atmospheric horror. it’s does get a bit boring at certain points, but the core of the film is solid. it’s also not trying to be sexist, arguably it’s not overtly sexist at all, it’s just very very androcentric at the expense of its female characters, and i’m genuinely shocked that anyone would call it feminist. so sure, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water, but let’s also be critical about how it’s using women as the stage for men’s emotional conflict 

also re: my description of this little project as “a film isn’t feminist just because there’s a woman’s name in the title” - i actually don’t want to skim over the fact that “jane doe” isn’t a real name. of the three women in the film, only one has a real name; the other two are referred to by names given to them by men. i’ll conclude on this note because i want to emphasize the lack of even very basic ways of recognizing individual identity afforded to women in this film. so yeah! the end! thanks for your consideration if you read this far! 

#the autopsy of jane doe #men women and chainsaws #horror #also to be clear i'm not saying that the exorcist is somehow more feminist because. it's not. i'm just using it as a frame of reference #you'd think a film from 2016 would escape the ways gender is constructed in one from 1973 but that's not really the case #i actually rewatched the end of the movie to make sure that what i said about the girlfriend's body not being found at the end was accurate #and yeah! it is! the intended audience-identified character shifts to the sheriff who - that's right! - is also a man #the camerawork is: shot of the dead son / shot of the sheriff looking sad / shot of the dead father / shot of the sheriff looking sad / #shot of jane doe / shot of the sheriff looking upset angry and suspicious #which is how we're supposed to feel about the conclusion for each character #the girlfriend is notably absent in this sequence #anyway! this is less about me condemning this movie as sexist and more about looking at how women in occult horror #continue to be relegated to secondary plot lines at best or to set dressing for the primary plot line at worst #and what that says about identification of viewers with certain characters and why writers have written the story that way #i think the reception of the film as Feminist might actually point to a shift in identification - but to still be able to enjoy the movie #while identifying with a female character you need to change the narrative that's actually presented to you #hence the rampant impulse to misinterpret the intention of the filmmakers #we do want it to be feminist! the audience doesn't identify with the 'default' anymore automatically #i think that's actually a pretty positive development at least in viewership - if only filmmakers would catch up lol #oh and i only very briefly touched on this here but the white science vs black magic theme is pretty clearly reflected in this film also