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tanadrin · 7 months

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on reflection, i think there's a symmetry to, say, doctors who are willing to refer patients to osteopaths or other ""holistic"" healthcare providers and the susceptibility of engineers to certain kinds of crankdom (of the "i-disproved-relativity-in-my-garage" type). both are forms of scientific training of a sort, but they're heavily outcome-focused and not theoretically focused. in large part, this is good! you do not as a doctor need to have a robust theoretical defense of every treatment you provide to patients, and it would be impossible to do so, because medicine is a huge and complicated subject. you do not, as an engineer, need to have a subtle grasp of theoretical physics to build a bridge; you just need to know what the latest developments in bridge-building are.

but it means in both cases you can have people who are skilled in their field, or who even excel, but who don't understand very well why certain techniques work. and in the case of alt medicine, where there has been considerable work to try to obfuscate or deceive people on how shaky the theoretical basis for their techniques are (stuff that literally if you remember your high-school physics and biology at all will make you go, "wait, there is no plausible mechanism for this, that's not how any of this works"), doctors who do not have time to read studies on RCT trials of every type of medicine they have ever heard of will blithely recommend stuff to patients that's actually complete horseshit, especially if the culture around them has been normalizing that woo as part of "holistic" therapy for the last hundred years, spurred on by alternative medicine practitioners and a public with a fear of needles and ~chemicals~ that medical practitioners have not done enough to allay.

it does not help that medicine only emerged very recently from being about 99% bullshit. like maybe at the end of the 19th century at best medicine was starting to be put on a broad-based empirical and theoretical footing--before that it's truly insane the stuff that wasn't just considered perfectly normal medical practice, but was considered serious Science. i mean, this is why we developed double-blind studies in the first place--because theoretical explanations of medical treatments are still necessarily often secondary to the process of finding ones that actually work, so we need really robust mechanisms to avoid confirmation bias or outright charlatanry. and while mainstream medicine is far from perfect in this respect, "alternative medicine" is all far, far worse.

#imagine if bridge-building was still trial and error half the time #like medieval cathedral building #that's probably not very fair to medicine #like we've gotten so much better in just the last seventy years #at targeted medical research #but still sometimes we develop new treatments #and we're like 'idk why this works but i'm pretty sure it does'#psychology still feels like it's full of individual practitioners with idiosyncratic theories #inventing therapies in an ad-hoc way #like ye olde 19th century doctors #but psychology is still theoretically very weak #so that kinda makes sense to me

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farolero-posting · 5 months

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Spring Cleaning

Hey! Happy 7th anniversary to OneShot!

I wanted to make something special for this day, and I would say this is... a little messy, but I think it is fitting for this day. OneShot is a really cool game, and most importantly, a unique experience, and I wanted to capture a little of that.

Without further delay, enjoy!

Summary: Niko does some chores and gets distracted.

Words: 1,674

(Click below to see the full fic)

Today was seasonal cleaning day, and Niko… was getting a little exhausted by now.

The teenager picked up the folder with yellowed paper sticking out of it, located at the bottom of the messy pile in the room’s top shelf, huffing from the effort to get it out of the shelf. The folder was a bright orange color, and had a sticker of an owl on the cover, their favorite animal. The art had smooth round shapes, giving the animal a cartoony look. There was a messier version of the same drawing, made with black pencil, where some of the lines were drawn several times to ensure the graphite would stick, making small dents on the plastic.

Recognition flashed on the teen’s eyes. They had not looked at this folder for… quite some time, actually. There was a period where they had looked at its contents as many times as they could, using the contents to evoke the memories of that journey.

They opened the folder, and giggled at the first doodle that greeted them.

Why was a ram with “baa” in scary letters the one they put on top? Heheh, maybe their past self wanted to play a prank on them. The drawing had a date on it, like most others.

Exactly seven years ago, to be precise.

Niko’s eyes were wide open, and they had to resist the urge to jump out of their position, standing on their desk’s chair. They closed the folder, pressing it against their body, and crouched down at a slow but shaky pace, before sitting on the chair, with one leg pressed against their body, and the other stretched, reaching for the floor.

“I didn’t know this was all the way up there… It’s been so long!” was all they could mutter.

It felt like a lifetime ago… though, while that is true, they still have a long life ahead, don’t they? Seven years was indeed almost half of their life, but seven years is nothing compared to what they have ahead of them.

It was weird to think of it that way now. Many things change over the years.

The first month, they had taken days to make a drawing for everything that was in their mind, scared of losing the memory.

When they turned nine, they started telling their dreams to their mama, so they could both remember.

When they were ten they even wrote a little about their journey for a school project… trying not to mention the fact it was all based on a real story.

They were around twelve when they first felt… an empty dread, looking at these drawings.

There was one page, at the bottom of the pile, that caught their attention. It was a drawing of the top room of the tower; it wasn’t lit up yet, however. They had gone out of their way to paint the borders in purple pencil, the page curling around the corners.

At the time, they hadn’t known what to do. They were at the peak of the world, and yet they felt they were at the bottom, holding it all together.

And you were… well.

When they were young, you were everything. You were Niko’s one company through it all. They barely knew you, but they trusted you fully.

The last time Niko looked at this particular drawing, a few years ago, their thoughts had been bitter.

Maybe that’s why it had been so long since they looked at the folder.

You… They knew you were their guide, but you also made choices that felt unfair.

Why did you present the choice?

Why did you wait so long for that?

What secrets did you keep from them?

And why go through all of it, only to discover that you could undo it, later on?

Niko was grateful to be home, but… they didn’t understand you.

And you couldn’t answer them, either.

Because you’re not a god.

And you’re not there anymore.

Back then, both you and Niko were told you had one chance on your mission. And so Niko had taken care of the lightbulb that represented the sun of this world, following your words. It was a long journey, but you listened to them, and kept them safe. However… even with their best efforts, there was no choice at the end that would save both Niko, and that decaying land..

So Niko placed that choice on you. If Niko had been older, maybe they would have questioned this more. They would have more ways to look at the situation, to weigh down their options, and maybe take longer to finally make a decision. Instead, in both more and less time than they expected, but certainly a wrong amount of time, you told them what path they had to take. And Niko, respecting the wishes of the world’s god, had done it.

Except you weren’t god. You were someone looking at them through a window, generating the world that had imprisoned them, but not belonging to it. When Niko was twelve, they had realized that whatever the first choice was, the impact on you would not have been as big as it was for them.

They were angry back then… But now…

Now they couldn’t hold it against you. They knew better… and funnily enough, they remember their youngest self knowing better, too.

Niko placed the drawing aside, and as they did that, another one slipped out of the folder. This one was a drawing of pancakes with syrup. They weren’t the hazelnut ones their mama made (and now Niko makes them for her, too!), but they remember they were delicious, with a hint of a flavor they couldn’t quite name. The teen wondered if it was a product of that world that only existed there. Now, their older self with a hobby for baking, wished they could know what it was.

They remembered going there, right before the tower. Niko had asked you if it was okay to make a stop for some food, and you had taken them to the cafe, where they had gotten those pancakes. They knew you listened to them, and not only that, that you wanted to comfort them too, in any limited way you could.

The next drawing they got from the pile showed a view from the top of the Refuge, taken from one of the tallest buildings. Niko’s town was close to a river too, but it wasn’t as close as the ones flowing around the Refuge. It wasn’t glowing pink, either. Niko had been to a big city now too, but it wasn’t anything like the one in that world. The Refuge was a unique city, among thousands of them.

They remember you said you lived in a city, and they could only imagine it was like the Refuge, for years. Now they recognized there were many more options for what a city or a town could look like.

The next drawings were of the friends Niko met. Though they wish their artistic skills did them more justice, they couldn’t help but look at them fondly for what they represented. What would be of those people now? Do Calamus and Alula still live in the ruins? Is the robot lady —the drawing says her name is Silver— still in the Barrens? Did the Mr. Lamplighter get to sleep more with the Sun back? They smiled, thinking of the possibilities.

Niko stumbled upon a drawing of the computers that made up the World Machine, and took it out to hold it closer, the glow in their eyes slightly reflecting on the paper. They remember drawing the screens with a ruler, to make sure it looked as good as a blueprint (but they know now that blueprints are more complicated than that). They also drew the Author’s children and themself on that page, holding the sun. It was them who reminded Niko what all the effort not to forget was for.

And Niko would not have known of them without your help. Because you…, though you weren’t a god, you wanted to do something to save both Niko and everyone else. You cared enough to try to be more than just a guide, but someone who believed in a second chance as well. Someone convinced they were all worth it.

The last drawing on the pile was a journal with a yellow clover on the cover, along with the amber necklace, a glowing feather, and a six sided die. Niko never met the creator of that world in person. They simply had his letters, words of others and objects to remember him by.

They understood why their mama gave them a hat passed down by her parents. They understood why she kept all their silly drawings.

And why hazelnut pancakes would be their favorite food forever, over any other kind of pancake.

They breathed in when they felt themself run out of air, and the shivering of their body almost made them burst into tears. You were a guide, a ghost and… a friend. And all they had of you was the memories of your voice.

Niko wondered if you missed them, if you would be happy to see them today. Niko didn’t narrate their thoughts aloud anymore, their life was also more hectic and complicated. They sometimes thought their younger self was a little silly. They were far from the child you knew.

But it was good to be there. To look at those old drawings, and get that same joy out of them. To enjoy the chances that were given to them, and know that, in some distant place, you are still with them, getting your own chances.

Niko took a blank page from a stack on their desk and a pencil from their first drawer, and put something on it that reminded them of you, placing it on the top of the ram doodle.

They hoped it would be the first thing they saw the next time they opened the folder.

#oneshot game #oneshotgame #niko #the player #happy anniversary guys c:#by far NOT my most polished work lmao #it's something a little messy that you would write while doing spring cleaning... which is ad hoc for the contents of the fic tbf #my writing #but i hope it at least does Something to you #only posting this one on tumblr for now

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something-about-sunflowers · 8 months

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I'm not touching any of the rest of it, I have the people involved blocked and I'm not looking for a debate or anything but I really do have to say:

'This close-knit sub-fandom group that is being likened to a cult finding that association/accusation offensive and insensitive, and obviously denying said association/accusation in response seems a lot like what someone in denial of being in a cult would say/do.'

Is an abysmally stupid take. It's not only dismissive of why this group is so close-knit in the first place (the consistent and ongoing harassment - in the form of spamming the tags, rude/aggressive comments/replies on posts, death threats/suicide bait/sexual harassment in anon messages, etc. - from people who dislike the character they like and who think that makes the people who do like him bad people), it's also incredibly insensitive to people who are both in and who have survived actual cults.

The original post was a reference to a real life cult (meaning real life people) enacting a mass suicide event.

Likening it to a - non-monolithic (We disagree with each other! Often!) - sub-fandom group that likes the same character.

This kind of behavior shouldn't be surprising at this point considering we've been baselessly accused - en masse - of several other horrible things like: abuse, sexual assault/harassment, doxxing, homo/queerphobia, racism, ableism, and more (along with apologia for all those things as well). And this isn't to say that those things don't happen in our group (though I daresay we're more likely to actually call out those behaviors when we're made aware of them), but they certainly don't happen with any more frequency than they do in any other fandom group and if/when they do they don't happen because we happen to like a fictional character.

#the dork is being a dork #izzy hands #the izcourse #it's all just a bunch of ad hominem/loaded questions/post hoc #doesn't make you right #just means you don't have faith in what you're trying to prove #like i said #i'm not looking for a debate #you wanna screenshot this and titter amongst yourselves then fucking have at it i guess #still doesn't make you in the right in any of this

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spurious · 1 year

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shh.

John’s not even sure when he started doing it—he just knows he’s been doing it long enough that it’s habit, and neither Ronon nor Teyla blink an eye when Rodney’s babbling turns from “just need to work this out verbally” to “absolutely unhinged spiraling” and John crosses the floor of whatever loud, terrifying location they’re in and presses his hands over Rodney’s ears.

Rodney freezes, his eyes going wide and his mouth open, mid-rant. He presses his lips together, blinks once, and John nods, staring into the wide blue of Rodney’s gaze. He slips his hands down slightly, tracing over the delicate shell of Rodney’s ears, moving just enough to let the sound of John’s voice in.

“You’re fine, McKay,” he says, keeping his voice steady, loud enough to be heard over the explosions just outside the blast doors. “Stay focused and you’ll get us out of here.”

He watches Rodney’s face, feels the twitch of muscle where his jaw works open and then shut again, jostling the heels of John’s hands when he swallows, and then Rodney nods back, mouth in a slanted line.

“Of course I will,” Rodney says, voice clipped as John’s fingers slide away from the side of his head. He turns back to the console, muttering quietly to himself, but his shoulders are no longer up around his ears, and his hands are sweeping over the equipment with a renewed sense of confident grace.

#mcshep #fic #John making a little ad-hoc sensory deprivation chamber #just the sweetest image I needed to write it #posting random ficlets while I try and finish live oak no. 4

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segretecose · 4 months

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would love to be able to sleep without being woken up by my own tears when im on my period

#when it’s not physical pain it’s dreams that are just. psychological torment crafted ad hoc by my own mind to deeply upset me

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attorneys-against-court-violence · 7 months

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It's too late for me to think coherent thoughts but I did want to at least call attention to this.

At the end of Dual Destinies, after the lawyers had done so much in so little time to unravel the phantom's schemes, I wanted to point out the way Simon reacts to each of them (and Aura) in their efforts. He's a pretty cagey guy - he's had a psyche tutor, a prosecutor's career and 7 years in jail to teach himself how to keep his emotions under a lid, so it's interesting to look at how and to what degree he shows trust and appreciation for the people around him.

Phoenix

Phoenix helped pull both Simon and Athena from their respective traumas and reassured them that there is no way either of them are guilty of murder. The closest to a "thank you" Simon gave him was entrusting him with the psyche profile. Which IS a big deal given it's the only tie he's had to Metis for seven years, so that more than speaks for itself. Of course he knew that Athena was the one who would make the best use of it and... well, was the defendant at the time. Still, passing it off to Wright (especially after speaking his disdain of attorneys as money-grubbing liars to his face in 5-DLC) is quite the gesture for the above reason.

I'm... lightly dubious about the relation they each have in regards to "The Dark Age of the Law". Phoenix's incident was much more unprecidented than yet another prosecutor being found guilty of murder. On top of that, Simon being responsible the people's mistrust due to his conviction is a bit silly when those aforementioned prosecutors were already found guilty.

But this isn't about that. This is about Simon and how he shows faith and appreciation of others. Joining Phoenix hand-in-hand in cutting the phantom down once and for all - a beast that Simon has abhored a lot longer than Phoenix ever could - is a pretty hefty sign that he has faith in the man. He by all rights earned it by unatangling the incident that chained him and Athena in the first place!

Miles Edgeworth

Edgeworth - as affective as his actions may have been up to this point (not at all) - had a vested interest in Simon's freedom as both subordinate and victim of what was essentially a kangaroo court. While his motives and theory on the matter went against Simon's wish to cover for Athena, Edgeworth was still the one Simon gave the honour of undoing his shackles. Quite a bit of trust and gratitude there despite their motives clashing at points. Just a shame we. Uh. Don't really get a chance to see why the two of them trust one another aside from wanting to end the Dark Age of the Law. Which sadly means I don't have much to share in this segment. Regardless, letting Edgeworth be the one to undo his cuffs is gesture enough to prove his opinion of the man.

Aura

Aura had done and threatened dreadful things to get to this point. Even still, without her hanging a guillotine over the legal system there likely wouldn't have been a chance of a re-trial to begin with (which... makes me wonder what the hell Edgeworth's been doing this entire time but anyways-). She very clearly believed Athena was the one at fault and went to great lengths to indict her, yet Simon did not waste time laying blame onto her for threatening the person he was protecting; she was desperate, frustrated and as much in the dark about what had actually happened as anyone else. Simon knew that, thanking her personally for giving them all the astronomically unlikely opportunity to finally put their phantoms to rest and apologising for the anguish he had caused through his self-sacrifice.

Simon tends to have a knack for seeing people for what they are beyond the surface. Beyond their connection as siblings, it would be easy to write Aura off as cruel and unreasonable, though we are given plenty to help us see her in a more sympathetic light despite that. Simon's self-sacrifice was a key cause of a lot of pain for her and they both share some grief over the loss of Metis Cykes. He doesn't really have a reason to drag her down any further, already feeling guilty for helping her along the path to desparation, and he already knows how she felt about his tutor.

Few people understand the emotionally closed-off and blunt such as the Blackquills and the Cykes quite like Simon does. Aura is no exception and his affection (stunted as it is) is apparent.

Athena

Athena goes without saying; of everyone in the WAA who was involved in the phantom's ultimate defeat, it was her he singled-out to thank and acknowledge for her incredible efforts in saving him from his sentance. He pretty clearly tells her in that moment that she's more important to him than his own life - a demonstrable fact given his actions and a powerful thing for someone so cagey and uncooperative to say. When the master of concealing his emotions wants you to know that you're an exceptionally important person to him in an uncharacteristically forward way, that's a huge deal.

She's the reason he went through with his conviction in the first place. He would lay down his own life if it meant she didn't have to bear the guilt of a crime so horrid as murdering her own mother. Simon even went as far as to emotionally distance himself, build up an image of an irredeemable criminal (likely reflecting how he felt about taking the blame as his mentor's/sister's partner's killer).

I suppose it helps that Athena can already read his intent through tone of voice. It means he can tease her while she knows it's all in good faith, yes, but it also means there's little point in keeping secrets from her. Now that he has no reason to do so, he's free to tell her something you would hear him say about seldom few, if any; that she is more important to him than his own life.

A Man of His Word

It's worth noting that Simon - doofus that he is - plays the whole honour-bound samurai thing straight. When he trusts you, he REALLY trusts you and will make exceptions that he wouldn't for anyone else. How do you think Fulbright got away with so much despite Simon's insistence on handling his mess on his own? The white-clad doppleganger practically had full-reign because he had, through false earnestness, earned Simon's utmost trust.

How willing Simon is to say to your face that he values you is highly dependant on how honour-bound he is to do so. Phoenix was the one that helped him and his lot on a practical level, though only have a passing connection to him. A small (but significant) gesture is plenty to get the point across. Edgeworth is a fellow co-worker, now boss, of his. How personally they know each other is for debate, but it's safe to say Edgeworth was invested in Simon's situation more than most others seemed to be. Allowing him to undo his handcuffs - those things that binded and shocked him for at least a year - a degree or two above what others who've proven themselves would get. Aura is Simon's sister. His appreciation for her and apologies for hurting her all the more through his false confession is expected even without the samurai nonsense. That Simon holds family in high-regard should not be a surprise.

Then there's Athena. Daughter of his mentor Metis, the one who guided him through his journey in psychology and even in his legal cases. The brilliant woman whom he treated as sovereign when she was alive (noted by Phoenix to be the actions of a lost soul more than anything). Athena - aside from getting along quite well with him despite her conditions - is seemingly the only direct descendant of that person, and her greatest treasure. I don't recall many people that, if spat upon, Simon would be enraged on their behalf besides Metis. Vehemently denying that she coldly used Athena for research while slamming the witness stand in anger.

Athena was the most important person to Metis so it stands that she would be very important to Simon as well. The fact that he was willing to die for her - even in spite of his sister's wishes - speaks volumes all on its own. The fact he felt the need to state outright his gratitude, how deeply he cares for Athena, for a man who'd rather let his actions speak for him? That is someone I can believe he would go to hell for and come back with a smile on his face.

Oh, and there's also Apollo.

Apollo...?

Do he and Simon even talk after the courtroom bombing? Then again, he was off on his own quest to unroot the seed of doubt in his mind rather than anything to do with UR-1 and so-on, so probably not much to say there. I am a bit surprised though, since Athena's innocence regarding Clay's murder was forefront in the lad's mind and Simon was the one to read out the forged fingerprint test that ultimately indicted her. Both of them putting so much stock into Fulbright's investigation had led Athena to be arrested in the first place (a fact Apollo is PISSED about), though neither seem to exchange words on it, nor do they the fact they were both driven by personal reasons in the trial prior to the bombing given how Simon criticised Apollo for that much.

(The "scumbag" referring to the phantom, not Simon.)

Although... later on, Simon finds it necessary to place his trust in Apollo's "cheat" (the same power that got the boy doubting Athena in the first place, which he revealed in the section prior) in order to weed out "Fulbright"'s lies and uncover the truth about the lighter that damned an important friend to both of them.

Notice Taka leaning in ready to swoop on Apollo before Simon turns to pet him, like he's assuring the bird that there's no need to be violent with Apollo this time. Apollo is the first lawyer to whom Simon voiced his disdain for defense attorneys. He accuses him of plotting to stall for time in order to forge evidence (which - given Apollo's history - would be quite the cut to the guy). He hacks away at him freely, calling him out for being biased in the case of Clay's murder. But once Apollo made his intentions clear in his "what's faith without doubt" bit and Phoenix removed said doubt, Simon allows him to conduct himself as he wishes. Despite implying that he still isn't a fan of the ability itself.

It's a nice turnabout given how brash he was with the lad. Part of me wishes they got more - more than he did with Phoenix at any rate - but I'll leave that for another time.

So What?

The what's pretty straightforward; Simon Blackquill often shows wordless gratitude to those who aren't strictly important to him, but did help him in very key ways. He's a closed-off guy who'd rather let his emotions go unspoken, though you can usually tell when he thinks of you in a good light.

It's the times where he does voice his appreciation of others - to go out of his way to make his feelings heard by those people - where you see who he values most in his life. His sister recieves both a thank you and an apology. Athena is told that she is more important than Simon's own life. The moments do warrant it too since they take place during and after the UR-1 retrial - easily the most emotionally turbulent day of their lives, save for the incident that brought it about in the first place.

#ace attorney spoilers #dual destinies spoilers #aa5 spoilers #turn your thinking around!#prosecutor birdman #the wright man for the job #the king of prosecutors #twin horned devil #the cykes brigade is totally cyked!#mr fine #hey look! a post that's been in the drafts and not a sudden ad-hoc essay!#bit of a long one too so watch out

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