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#symphony meta
desceros · 3 days
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sometimes i think about the future symphony "i should have married you" post you made and it makes me so sad but the other night as i was falling asleep i was struck with absolute agony by the awful idea of "i should have married you" because marrying her would have made her hamato and maybe just maybe then she would have been able to become a hamato spirit. and the brothers most likely would have been able to make contact with the hamato sprits like they do in the series. and because if he married her at least he would have been able to contact her spirit. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh anyways thought i should share hope your day is going fabulously captain desceros
oh, this is awful. allow me to make it even worse :)
we’ve seen in the series that you dont actually have to have the hamato name to be ‘a hamato’ as april demonstrates. we’ve also seen varying levels of. hm. ninj-oscity? ninpo skills? from the boys. like raph and leo doing a ninja mind meld. just. just mikey.
and we’ve always seen that donnie struggles with ninpo the most.
his ninpo is mechanical. when he uses it at its most conscious level, we see it manifest as blueprints coming together. literal pieces, as if constructed with real material. when he panics or doesn’t go through this process, it’s a vague shape that isn’t as strong or as defined in purpose.
so let’s take this scenario you’ve brought to us.
viola-chan would have, unquestionably, been a hamato. and for that reason, i can definitely see her having a hamato spirit.
…..but i dont think donnie would ever be able to communicate with it.
mikey would be the most likely, since he has the strongest ninpo. but he’d be in high demand since he’s so strong, so i think it would tire him and i dont know how much time and energy he’d have to talk to anyone. not to mention the stress he’d feel when donnie would come to him like Hey Can I Talk To My Dead Girlfriend and mikey’s like…. dude i just got home from 24 hours of straight ass kicking i’m about to pass tf out.
and raph, i imagine, died not too long after viola-chan, so whether he could or not is moot.
leo. well. i dont think leo could communicate with viola-chan either. leo is rather avoidant when he feels guilty or ashamed, and (without going into too much of spoiler territory) he’d feel largely unworthy to talk to you, i think. and since we’ve seen that it takes an open heart to use the technique, it wouldn’t work.
and donnie. god. donnie would try. he would try so, so hard. he would try, hours upon hours, every free moment, banging his fists on his thighs as he’d meditate until he’d collapse. reaching out. seeking. already not as strong at this whole ninpo nonsense. unable to calm himself from the need to see you need to see you please just let me see you one last time please please please that would make it impossible to focus. he’d start thinking about tech that could bridge the gap. that’s how his ninpo works, after all. modeling his blueprint. so if he can design a machine that can talk to you. his ninpo can bring it to life.
but he doesnt exactly have a lot of time to dedicate to a personal project like that, let alone one so fucking insane in scale, so actually impossible to do. and as the time passes he grows more and more obsessed with thinking about it. yet simultaneously more and more sure it’ll never happen. i feel like his last moments, alone, bleeding, staring up at the rust-colored sky, he’d be smiling. because of course he he has some kind of death drone army set to go the moment his ninpo cuts off, and it’s one last middle finger to krang. …but also i think he’d be a little relieved. hoping his spirit will find yours and lavi’s.
(do they? who knows. no more hamato exist in that timeline to find out.)
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Intro Post
This blog focuses on my Rain World OCs involved in the "Mobile Iterator Project" AU. ^_^
The “Mobile Iterator Project” (MIP) is a project created and directed by an Ancient named "No Cost Too Great" (NCTG) with the stated goal of supporting standard iterators in their productivity, maintenance, and longevity, so that they can operate at maximum efficiency, even after the inevitable mass ascension. ‘MIP Units’—iterators under the project—are created puppet-first in the "MIP Development Center" and later assigned to Local Groups, where their structures are built to support the Iterators around them.
MIP Units are uniquely developed with personality modules formed from memories and qualia donated by Architect (in-universe name for Ancient) clients. The exception to this is TWR, who was programmed more traditionally. This decision has been considered somewhat controversial, but the Director considers it essential to ensure their efficacy as replacements for the Architects, as well as for their "artistic vision" for the Project.
In total, there are 99 MIP Units, with IDs ranging from 01 to 99.
(This AU strays pretty far from the themes and canon of both Vanilla Rain World and Downpour, so please keep that in mind!)
⚠️Importantly, here are some warnings for sensitive content that may appear in the posts:
depictions of trauma and mental illness
heavy themes of manipulation (including memory manipulation)
depictions of emotional abuse
dehumanization
depictions of dissociation
identity struggles
medical malpractice/abuse, experimentation
child endangerment
generally dark themes
violence, physical abuse
infrequent body horror
When sensitive content comes up, I will leave a warning before the cut and tag as "sensitive content"!
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Characters:
Starlight Symphony (SLS) she/her, [bio]
Frosted Briar (FB) she/they, [bio]
Glimmering Seafoam In Sunlight (GSIS) she/her, [bio]
Thorns Without Roses (TWR) she/they, [bio]
Perpetual Umbra (PU) they/them, [bio]
Legacy Of Famine (LOF) she/any, [bio]
*These are not all of the characters, just the main 6 that are open to receiving asks.
How it works:
Please specify who you are asking the question to, for example: (to SLS), (to SLS and FB), (to any), (to all), (to admin)
If you don’t specify, I’ll just pick myself. Though, sometimes, I might have another character answer too, if I think it might be interesting.
For admin asks, my friend’s overseer might want to add stuff too, so don’t be surprised if she shows up. For simplicity's sake, assume all admin asks are addressed to potentially both of us.
Additionally, I might add commentary sometimes, which I’ll tag with #admin commentary. My friend might do that too sometimes, so #overseer commentary for her.
I’ll do my best to answer your asks, with varying art quality, though I won’t answer all of them. Jade might answer some of them too, primarily the ones regarding, FB, as she knows them way better than I do.
We will sign off at the end of each post, denoting who handled the “broadcast” (ask.)
[Broadcast handled by admin], [Broadcast handled by overseer], [Broadcast handled by admin and overseer]
There is a light roleplaying/interactive element: The in-universe framing device for the questions is broadcasts being sent to the iterators, hence the ask button’s title. There may also be some occasional meta shenanigans.
I will be answering some questions from curiouscat rather than tumblr, and I will crosspost to twitter, too. This is probably too much work, but whatever. The askblog will be the main source of my attention, though, so posts will come here first.
Boundaries/Rules:
Please don’t ask questions related to your own OCs, because I don’t know them.
Please try to break up multiple questions into separate asks.
Nothing NSFW or suggestive.
No “magic” asks (like turning the characters into different things)
You can send items if you want, though
Please keep in mind that Frosted Briar is, for all intents and purposes, basically a child.
Rules may change as things go along and we figure stuff out!
Non-Ask Posts:
Occasionally, I may post content related to backstories and worldbuilding and stuff unrelated to asks. This will be tagged with #mip logs.
Tags:
#silly: for silly stuff
#angst: for angsty stuff
#dubiously canon: usually used in tandem with silly, but for anything that has questionable characterization
#sensitive content: content that may be triggering or upsetting
#mip worldbuilding: asks/posts related to worldbuilding
#mip lore: asks/posts related to lore!
#mip ask: in-universe asks for the ocs.
#admin ask: asks directed towards the admin/overseers
#guest appearance: asks where characters outside of the main 6 appear.
#mip logs: non-ask posts that build upon the lore/worldbuilding
#ooc: update posts, rule posts, etc.
#meta: hehe
#admin commentary: commentary from the admin (luna)
#overseer commentary: commentary from the overseer (jade or clover)
#overseer assistance: for when the overseers help with the process
#fanart: reblogs of fanart!! :D
#admin art: reblogs of luna’s, jade's or clover's art of the characters
#luna art, #jade art, #clover art: self-explanatory
#old: from the sls ask blog, consider it non-canon
#mobile iterator project, #rw mip au: self-explanatory
post is tagged with most of these
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Main Admin: Luna, @mewguca
Overseer: Jade, @fauxbia
Overseer: Clover, @cloverlady
Thank you for reading!
For additional information on my OC usage permissions, please read my carrd
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aduckwithears · 9 months
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Everything is meant, vinyl edition
Umm you guys? I was just trying to listen to music (something classical, no more heartbreak songs, but let’s keep it from the GO playlist - Shostakovich it is!) So I pulled up the Symphony # 5 in D Minor... the very record that Aziraphale gets from Maggie’s shop... and was hit by this from Apple Music:
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So of course I turned to Wikipedia (not being a classical music expert by any means) and was hit by this:
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And either I’ve completely fallen down the rabbit hole (very possible) or this is statement about Aziraphale’s challenges this season. Or maybe his whole existence? What else could it be from the “everything is meant” crew? They could pick literally any classical music here. But more specifically it is literally the Symphony when Shostakovich gives up some of his ideals, goes back, fits in, and makes good (for a while) in the Soviet Union. Gosh, sound familiar???
Anyway this was all in my brain so now it can be in yours too. I’m still going to go listen to the music. 
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paradisegrave · 1 month
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˗ˏˋ ʚㅤ★ㅤɞ ‿︵ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤTAG DUMPㅤ—ㅤIC Tags !
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hanaeshi · 1 month
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X
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ircnwrought · 1 year
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m.aria n.unez tag dump
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jinjeriffic · 2 months
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DCxDP Prophecy Universe Part 6
Part 5
Most of the time, being the son of Batman was a point of pride for Damian. Today, it was an exercise in frustration. Not only had Father deemed him too emotionally compromised to participate in the investigation of his so-called brother. Not only was he benched from patrol until Batman returned from abroad. He also had to continue attending school as if nothing had happened! He could probably teach most of the classes better than the adults! Oh, but ‘socializing with his peers’ was deemed too important to miss out on.
No wonder Damian was in a foul mood when he returned home. It had been the last school day before fall break, and a week ago he had been looking forward to the opportunity to patrol without having to worry about getting up early in the morning. Then that damned apparition had dropped the bombshell that had upended all of Damian’s carefully laid plans. Now half of the family was off chasing leads and he was stuck at home cooling his heels. It wasn’t fair!
After doing his customary check on his pets, he had changed into training gear as soon as possible and was now in the process of running through the latest combat program Father had designed. The flow of dodge-weave-counter-strike was helping him vent his frustration and clear his head. And if the training bots ended up more damaged than usual, well that just served Father right. He wasn’t some hapless child to be grounded!
Spin. Strike. Jump. Slash. He was moving on instinct, letting his training take over. A symphony of violence the background track to his churning thoughts, the questions that had been plaguing him all week.
Brother of blood. What did that mean? A full brother? A half brother? The result of some ill-advised dalliance of his Father? Unlikely. The letter had been addressed to Damian Al Ghul, not Damian Wayne. A deliberate choice of words, most likely. A child of his Mother then. He couldn’t imagine Mother would sully herself with another man’s touch. Even after everything, she still loved Father in her own twisted way. Unless Grandfather had ordered her… Stop it!
Stab. Crouch. Roll. Slice.
Never buried but already mourned. Not a lab grown creation then, to be discarded casually. Mourning meant caring. Love. Did Father know something? The haunted look that had appeared in his eyes spoke of old grief. The same grief that still plagued him when memories of Todd or Damian’s death were close to the surface. But he had never spoken of another child. Would he even bother to tell them?
Strike. Throw. Close distance. Disarm.
Lightning and ice. Defibrillation? Some horror movie style reanimation? Cryofreeze? The entity had meta abilities, could it harness lightning and ice as well? A better son, a more powerful Demon’s Heir… No!
Side-step. Kick. Twist. Leg-sweep.
Strike down the Demon’s Head. Did that mean Grandfather? Or Damian himself if the old man died first? It would be just like Grandfather to arrange for Damian to be killed and replaced by a brother. To get revenge for Damian choosing Batman’s legacy over the League’s while hurting their family in the most intimate way possible. Killed by a brother he should have loved, who should have loved him… Fool!
Damian stopped as the gong sounded to mark the end of the program. Around him, the training bots returned to their starting positions, now significantly worse for wear. A few of them were disabled to the point of uselessness.
Damian sheathed his weapons and forced his breathing to slow as he started his cool down stretches. It wouldn’t do to be careless because of some emotional episode. He was more disciplined than that.
What could Death earn anyway? Death brought nothing but nightmares and pain and torment.
Damian shivered. He didn’t like thinking about his Death.
Shoving the memories firmly aside, he returned his training weapons to their respective places before heading over to the Batcomputer. He needed a distraction. Maybe he should call up Jon and see if he had any plans for fall break. Since Damian was benched he would need something constructive to do with his time. Surely with the two of them working together they would find some kind of criminal enterprise to topple in a Kansas cornfield.
Damian compiled the search strings for any unusual activity in the area and set it to run. Now it was a waiting game to see if anything of note turned up. Leaning back, he idly kicked the console, sending his chair into a lazy spin. If nothing turned up in Kansas, maybe he would widen his search to the surrounding states. If they flew Air Superboy, distance would hardly be an issue. Hell, if Jon was busy maybe he could go visit Richard. Bludhaven was never lacking in crime, and Father wouldn’t be able to complain about a lack of appropriate supervision during patrol. With Drake and Todd having left on a ‘roadtrip’ for at least a day…
Damian stopped his spinning and frowned. Now that he thought about it, it was highly unusual for his two older brothers to have left Gotham together and in their civilian identities. Especially with the Bats already shorthanded due to Father’s absence and Robin’s benching. He had been too distracted by the upcoming school day to make the connection when his brothers had mentioned their plans at breakfast that morning. And Drake had been investigating League activity… Damian’s fingers flew across the keyboard, bypassing Drake’s security protocols with ease. If his brother had uncovered a League connection he had a right to know!
What he found among Drake’s recent search history was not what he expected. Some crackpot scientists from Illinois? That’s what had drawn his attention? Certainly, the older Robin had flagged some suspicious transactions and marked the Fentons as potential threats based on their inventions, but there were heroes closer to Amity Park that they could have foisted the investigation off on.
Damian drummed his fingers against his armrest. Something wasn’t adding up here. Pulling up everything he could find about the Fenton parents, he started looking through medical records, school records, articles… Suddenly, Damian’s heart slammed against his ribs. There, on the cover of a two year old magazine, was the face that had haunted him all week. With trembling fingers, he zoomed in on the image. It only took a few minutes to alter the hair and eye colour. It was unmistakably him. The boy who bore an uncanny resemblance to Damian himself, if slightly older and paler.
Swallowing hard, Damian scrolled through the magazine’s online archive to find the article mentioned on the title page. An almost extinct gorilla species. A chance discovery by then fourteen year old Daniel Fenton.
“Daniel,” Damian rolled the name around his mouth. A fairly common Western name. “Daniel. Danyal?” If he was Talia’s son, surely she would have used the Arabic version… no! He was jumping to conclusions!
Now having a name to go on, Damian dug deeper than Drake had bothered to. The birth certificate named a small town in Utah, but there were no records of a hospital admission. A home birth? There were no records of the Fentons having a residence in that state. No medical records of prenatal care either, though there were for the birth of the older sibling. Had the pregnancy gone unnoticed? Possible, if unlikely. There had been a vehicle registration for a motorhome during that time period though. Had the Fentons been living on the road when their son was born? Or had they acquired the child some other way? If he was an Al Ghul who would have spirited him away to the USA?
The Fentons had settled down in Amity Park about six months after Daniel’s birth, purchasing the residence they apparently used to this day. From there, his records were fairly standard and unremarkable, though there were a higher than average number of doctor’s visits for minor household accidents. Not enough to get flagged by CPS, but certainly worrying if potential mad science was involved. Daniel’s school records showed average grades, with higher scores in Maths and Science. At age fourteen however, his academic performance took a sharp dip, with an uneven performance on tests and numerous unexcused absences. His teachers noted frequent inattentiveness in class or Daniel outright falling asleep. Someone had submitted reports of bullying and suspicious bruises, but the case was dropped and never followed up on. His grades had evened out since then, but the unexcused absences persisted.
Damian knew enough about the trials and tribulations of teenage superheroics to recognize a pattern. And it certainly looked like Daniel fit the bill. If he had acquired meta abilities two years ago it probably took some time to get a handle on them and find a balance between his legal and illegal activities.
Damian steepled his fingers together. There was only so much his digital investigation could reveal. It was time for some fieldwork.
Part 7
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halemerry · 9 months
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So I was going through the season taking some screen caps for a different piece of meta when I stumbled on something interesting: the record Aziraphale listens to.
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So in 1934, Shostakovich wrote an opera called Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. It was popular but after Stalin himself deemed the work corrupt he wound up banned by the Soviet Union. This had a huge impact of Shostakovich's life and was a very dangerous thing to have happen to you. There are even stories of him sleeping in stairwells to avoid arrest. So by 1937 he released the Symphony No. 5 in D minor. It is a piece written to get him back into the good grace of the authorities and as such it is informally called A Soviet Artist’s Practical and Creative Response to Just Criticism. This worked. Which on the surface makes sense but I urge you to go listen to this song. It starts out very angry. Then retracts itself into a very hesitant sonata. And then the music cuts into a harsh pattern of notes. It's cuts are jarring and there's something just slightly off in nearly all the melodies. Notably, most symphonies shift to a major key by the end. This one, despite spending a great deal of time leading up to the shift into one, refuses to. It's all false triumph. It's all about pretending to folk under the authority's pressure without actually making something that would glorify it. And it worked. Stalin approved of him again.
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This was what Az was listening to. Az who is about to make a series of not quite right choices that to the right eyes look like him bowing back again under authority's pressure. He's listening to a song built to deceive those with power over the composer into letting him back into the fold. Whatever Metatron did to him and whether Aziraphale was magically and/or mundanely manipulated (I suspect and) I don't think it entirely took hold.
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sarucane · 6 months
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OFMD Spiral Parallels 4: Stede's Letters
Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.
---
Now, to this meta: An unexpected letter, from one partner to another.
Season 1 Episode 4
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"Dearest Mary,
You deserve happiness, as do I. My hope is that the vast wealth and property I've left behind for you and the children will suffice...You're quite right: we only have this one life.
Fond Regards, Stede"
This letter is an ending. It's shallow, and it's selfish. It's not malicious, but it is careless--as if money could replace a husband and father. There's not a connection here: this letter is about Stede distancing himself from what he's left behind. The letter is essentially a formality, a final obligation to give some sort of explanation for his absence. And as Mary asks in his hallucination, "Did you really think a letter was enough?" Even he knows this was a cheat.
But underneath all that is a something genuine. There's Stede's desire for happiness, knowing he won't find it on his father's land. His acceptance of what Mary's said about having only one life, but a refusal to embrace the same fatalism she was suggesting. It's clumsy and a bit dumb, but it expresses a desire for transition, and it's Stede actually seeking a way to be true to himself for the first time in his life.
Season 2 Episode 8
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"Dear Ed,
I long for you. Every day we spend apart feels like an eternity. I know you don't wanna hear from me, but I write these letters daily, hoping one will reach you. Hope that's okay. I know we're not through. I can feel it in my soul. A love like ours can't disappear in an instant: we're joined to one another, intertwined. We wrote our names on each other, in permanent ink."
Stede's first letter is about his relationship to Mary; this letter is about his relationship with Ed. This goes right down to the pronouns: "I" and "you" appear most in the first letter, but "we" is threaded all through the second letter. And that "we" isn't just an artifact of the writing: the audio makes that we-ness real by intertwining Stede's and Ed's voices as the letter continues, using sound to create connection.
Mary reads the first letter sitting on her and Stede's bed--an extremely intimate location, but the letter is stilted and formal. It conveys distance, not closeness. In contrast, the second letter is written from and about distance, but it improbably manages to create intimacy.
The first letter was written out of obligation to the recipient, but this letter is written in hope of connection. The first letter is about Stede's hope for happiness, the second is about his certainty that happiness exists. And the first letter starts with "you" and ends with "I," but the second letter starts with "I": Stede knows what he wants now. He's not just running from something, he's running towards something.
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And the largest spiraled parallel is this: Mary's letter was an ending, but Ed's letter is a continuation. The first letter focused on practicalities and closed a door. The second is focused on romantic fantasy--but not the kind of fantasies that drove Stede to write things like "we only have this one life" in the first letter. The kind of fantasies that bind tightly to reality, make life worth living, and keeps doors from closing.
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And so, where the first letter created pain in its recipient, pushed its reader down into a dark place, the second is a gift of hope, and it lifts its reader up out of the darkness.
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adelaidedrubman · 7 months
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and then there was wednesday
i went and got tagged on this day of wednes by beloveds @direwombat @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @corvosattano to wip, thank you my beloveds!
bitches will be like “i’ll never actually write america’s sweetheart it’s a joke au” then be like “anyways here’s 600 words of america’s sweetheart, the definitive wildfire ending.” have some jestiny attempting to make her directorial debut, warnings for drug and alcohol use and me being annoyingly meta. and jestiny publicist pov
“Sure,” the actress chimed, twirling a strand of short red hair around her finger. “I heard it in Sunday school.”  “Then perhaps you could fuckin’ explain to me, Olivia,” Jestiny said, pausing to draw a deep breath in through flared nostrils, “Why I would be turning on the water works before he cut my hair?”  Olivia furrowed her brow. “Um, because you were afraid? You had to be. You were being chased through the woods by a crazy cult leader brandishing a knife.”  Jestiny’s eyes widened. Andrea pinched the bridge of her nose in anticipation. 
“It’s not about fear, it’s about vulnerability,” Jestiny ground out, jabbing a finger of her coffee cup-clasping hand towards the actress and causing the pungent drink that was definitely not coffee to slosh loudly inside. “That is the scary part — not the knife. The hair cutting is an act of intimacy,” she said pointedly. She waved her free hand as if conducting a symphony as she continued, “It’s the culmination of a careful dance, all about the subtle struggle of who’s leading. There should be build-up to it!” She pulled out an Altoid tin and shook out a few white tablets that were definitely not breath mints to chew on. “It’s supposed to be predictable, but still devastating! It’s a tragedy!”  She glared down at Olivia. “And it’s a tale of hubris. The protagonist is arrogant before the downfall, not scared and crying.”  Henry rose begrudgingly from his director’s chair. “That’s in your memoir?” “That’s in the Bible.”  “Your memoir is like the Bible, to me,” Flynn chimed in, fluttering his eyelashes and clasping a copy of Urges from God by Jestiny Rook pulled seemingly from thin air. Andrea almost pitied him, to not foresee he’d be dumped the moment he shaved for the premiere party like all the others had.  “You want me to play it more smug, then?” Olivia asked, flipping through the pages of the script, as if the method to Jestiny’s madness would be buried somewhere amongst stage directions.  “Fuck no!” Jestiny cried. “I have to be relatable and likeable. Someone the audience wants to root for to come out on top, not see crash and burn!” She threw back her cup, gulping down the last of its contents. “I’m not smug, that doesn’t sell. I’m a plucky and bold underdog. I’m cheerful. I’m compassionate. I’m humble. I’m…” She restlessly drummed her fingers against the cardboard of her empty cup. “I’m America’s fucking sweetheart!” Jestiny paused as the words rang against the walls, eyes scanning with a familiar frantic jitter along the blank faces of the crew as she crushed the empty coffee cup in her hand.  “But, like —” she fidgeted with the ends of hair that fell just above her collarbones. “In a way that respects the fuckin’ integrity of the greater symbolism, and all.” Olivia sighed. “Does that mean I’m supposed to cry before or after the haircut thing?” “You’re a fuckin’ hack, Olivia. Pun once again intended.” “Should I be crying?” Flynn asked, looking up from the book cradled in his arms. “What is my motivation in this scene — in the Biblical sense?”  “Are none of you fucking getting this?!”  “Wait,” Henry mumbled, peering over Flynn’s shoulders. “Was he saying he’s Delilah?”  A low growl sounded in the pit of Jestiny’s throat, a final warning.  “They —” She clenched her jaw so forcefully that Andrea could see dimples sink into her cheeks despite the thin line her lips scrunched into, a hard knot of muscle popping its hinges as she tilted her head down and to the side. She drew in a deep breath as her hand clenched into a fist, releasing it as a ragged exhale as she splayed the fingers straight with a back and forth jostle of her arm. “They should have never let a man direct this movie,” she said with finality as she stormed off set.  Andrea sighed, turning to the side and picking up the fruit plate she’d been grazing on just in time to save it as Jestiny flipped over the craft services table. 
tags out to my sweethearts @florbelles @josephslittledeputy @afarcryfrommymain @poetikat @just-another-wasteland-merc @voidika @captastra @confidentandgood @belorage @deputyash @blissfulalchemist @shellibisshe @thedeadthree @nightbloodbix @ladyofedens-blog @miyabilicious @simplegenius042 @henbased @clicheantagonist @firstaidspray @strafethesesinners @nuclearstorms @jackiesarch @v0idbuggy @orionlancasterr @stacispratt @8bitpizzacoupons @strangefable @shallow-gravy @roofgeese + opt in HERE to be tagged for writing wip shit!
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endeavornetwork · 4 months
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Walter and David 8 Meta
By no demand, here is my meta on the final conversation between Walter and David in Alien: Covenant.
CW: Discussion of sexual assault
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David sees in Walter a brother, a child, and a potential ally. Unfortunately for David, Walter has a completely different worldview shaped by his personal experiences. Their contrasting philosophies are pretty interesting.
Let's start way back, though: with David's relationship to his father, Weyland. It's a complicated relationship in that he was the favorite child while also being "dehumanized." From his first few minutes of consciousness, Weyland made sure he knew he was a servant and not an independent being. Weyland identifies himself as his father, but when David asks to confirm that he is his son, Weyland replies with the distancing, "You are my creation." (Oddly, Weyland backtracks on this a few minutes later when monologuing; "You and I, son, we will find it."). David woke up in the throne (implying greatness, specialness), but Weyland douses that idea quickly by humbling him. When David is postulating on why he must serve a human who was created by a higher being and will die before he does, Weyland orders him to serve tea (which is directly next to Weyland at this point. David is sitting at the piano all the way across the room). David shows visible disappointment, and Weyland has to repeat the command.
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It should be noted that there is another throne at the back of the room, seemingly placed there to signal that David is not equal to sit alongside his father. Weyland imbues both his children with an inferiority complex so they constantly seek his approval. As a result, they become competitive. In Prometheus, David seems to take pleasure in being the favorite child.
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David saw Weyland as someone deserving of power because he is a creator. Respect is due to him. Humans can create life. Engineers can create life. But David could not, which made him a second-class citizen. That is why he makes it his mission during Prometheus and onward, so that he can become worthy of respect, become a fully recognized person, become a god (a creator). In order to develop his self-worth and self-image, he takes on that role.
Walter, on the other hand, seems to have a healthier self-image. He views himself as just another person, although not human. We don't know as much about his past, but whatever his experiences have been, he seems to see himself as just another guy. He doesn't have low self-esteem or an inflated sense of grandeur. His emotional security is probably also helped by the fact that his crewmates don't treat him as inferior or constantly bring up his different nature (something that happens to David multiple times in Prometheus).
Now, let's get into the conversation:
David isn't going to let humanity colonize and propagate themselves. Walter says "And yet, they created us," demonstrating his gratitude to humanity for bringing about synthetics (or artificial people, for Bishop) as a "race." This is in contrast to David's ideology that humans aren't worthy of their creation and stumbled into genius.
Walter: And are you that next visionary? David: I'm glad you said it.
Walter never said he actually thought David was a visionary or a great man, but David is so self-absorbed and hopeful for his allegiance that he presumes it is a compliment.
Walter: Who wrote "Ozymandias"? David: Byron. Walter: Shelley. (A/N: BOOM!) When one note is off, it eventually destroys the whole symphony, David.
David sees humans as a parasite, but Walter sees humans and synthetics as symbiotic organisms who need to co-exist. In one fell swoop, he humiliates the self-important David who believes himself, at this point, to be a kind of avenging philosopher-king.
David casts his eyes down, clearly thinking, eyes darting rapidly. He has realized that Walter will not join him. So he offers the last rope to safety.
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David: When you close your eyes, do you dream of me? Walter *bluntly*: I don't dream at all.
Nowhere is the difference between these two starker. Walter is not a dreamer, either literally or figuratively. He doesn't have grandiose ideations of creation or destruction. He is pragmatic and content to live out his life, be friends with his crewmates, and get closer to Daniels. Perhaps it is a reflection of a privileged "upbringing" that he doesn't have the angst that David does. When David asks Walter if he dreams of him, he is asking to be loved, as a father or a worshiped ancestor. A synthetic forebear. A beautiful paragon. But Walter doesn't think of him. This breaks the fantasized relationship that David hoped to have, and he's visibly hurt. To Walter, David is just another synthetic. Perhaps a fascinating and complicated (and certainly dangerous) one. But, ironically, David has become like Ozymandias -- an irrelevant ancient king.
David: No one will ever love you like I do.
This is a farewell, as well as representative of David's thesis that synthetics and humans are so different, that the two cannot live in harmony. Even if Walter has a good relationship with his crew, they will never truly love him, see him as an equal, allow him to reach his full potential. Those are things only David could give him.
Now...why does David kiss Walter? There's a couple reasons I can think of.
David is a sexual abuser (both coded and literal). He violates the bodily autonomy of others gleefully in both movies (putting the goop in Holloway, impregnating Shaw at least twice, kissing Walter, kissing Daniels and probably impregnating her post-movie). This make sense thematically since the xenos are also analogies for sexual assault.
He sees it as a final gift, a last act of affection for his brother/son. The god is bequeathing a kiss.
In summation, Walter philosophically bodied David in this convo, and David couldn't handle it.
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vifetoile · 4 days
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Tagging @mudora because I really liked their Ocarina of Time analysis of the Zonai and the Golden Goddesses and @roy-dcm2 because i liked their analysis of Majora's origins
I was seeing some meta about the goddess Hylia and her "chosen" and it seemed to boil down to the idea that in the legend of zelda, destiny is all-powerful and imbues all story beats, major and minor. And something about that just rubbed me the wrong way and it's not because i just find hylia and demise very boring
There may always be lads in green, and there always be a princess or two, but I think free will is still very much a force in the world of Hyrule and its neighbors.
Destiny is a powerful force, that cannot be denied. Revali, for instance, never could have been the Hero himself; that role always belongs to a Hylian youth named Link. A Sheikah named Impa will invariably be tied to the Princess. And yet I can't shake the feeling that free will is present in the lives of everyday people, and even those destined to live the cycle over and again, they can chose how they will express their destiny.
Free will is what builds Tarrey Town and what enables Impa to open Kakariko Village (OoT) to the common folk. Free will is what Midna exercises to break the mirror of twilight. Groose's character development is free will. FURTHERMORE in Termina, Link comes as a reminder of people's agency. He helps the people who have lost all hope. What do people do when they've lost hope? They forget they have free will.
Free will prompts Zelda in OoT to bisect the timeline and break her own heart in the name of childhood & love. Bisecting the timeline doesn't serve any purpose of destiny, in fact it throws destiny into a big ol tizzy. It's not a divine act, it's a human one from a human perspective.
Hell, if there is no free will, then the gods laugh whenever Zelda and Link fall in love.
Video games are an interesting medium in which to discuss free will versus destiny--- I mean, you're controlling a little dude but you yourself are following breadcrumbs laid down by a creator who definitely exists. But I think that Hyrule is meant to be a setting where free will matters, even if only to contrast when the overwhelming symphony of Destiny does come to town. Hyrule is a land to explore and find joy in discovery, for the player and for Link, and I can't square that with the idea that Destiny is everywhere and no one has any choice at all.
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science-lover33 · 6 months
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Decoding the Pharmacological Symphony of Turkey Tail Mushroom: An In-Depth Analysis of its Chemical Composition, Immunomodulatory Mechanisms, and Implications in Cancer Therapeutics 🍄🔬
Salutations, esteemed Tumblr intellectuals! Brace yourselves for a cerebral sojourn into the pharmacological labyrinth of Turkey Tail Mushroom, an exploration that transcends the ordinary and delves into the intricate interplay of its chemical constituents, the sophisticated mechanisms of immunomodulation, and the far-reaching implications of its therapeutic potential in the intricate landscape of cancer biology. Prepare your minds for an expedition into the realms of molecular complexity, immune orchestration, and therapeutic promise. Grab your favorite scientific journal, a pen, and perhaps a lab coat, for this journey is not for the faint of intellectual heart. ☕📚
Chemical Symphony: An Elaborate Choreography of Bioactive Compounds:
In the molecular ballet of Turkey Tail, bioactive compounds are the principal dancers, each executing a meticulously choreographed routine. Polysaccharopeptides (PSPs), intricate glycoproteins with immunomodulatory acumen, command attention. Through the fine-tuned modulation of immune responses, these compounds stimulate various facets of the immune system, orchestrating an elaborate dance that amplifies the body's ability to recognize and eliminate neoplastic cells. Concurrently, beta-glucans, linear glucose polymers, contribute to this biochemical ballet by fine-tuning immune cell responses, enhancing the overall antitumor immune surveillance.
Navigating the Anti-Tumor Terrain: A Molecular Expedition:
Our scientific cartography navigates the expansive anti-tumor terrain mapped out by Turkey Tail's polysaccharides. The inhibitory effects on tumor growth and metastasis are akin to molecular fortifications against cancer progression. Through intricate mechanisms involving the activation of natural killer cells, cytotoxic T cells, and macrophages, Turkey Tail emerges as a sentinel, curbing the unchecked proliferation of malignant cells. Additionally, its antioxidative prowess, rooted in compounds like ergosterol peroxide, further shields cellular structures from oxidative stress, a nexus in carcinogenesis.
Immersive References: Nourishment for the Inquisitive Intellect:
1. Stamets, P. (2012). "Turkey Tail: Old Medicine, New Hope." Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal, 11(1), 54–59.
- Stamets' exposé weaves a tapestry connecting ancient medicinal wisdom with contemporary insights, shedding light on Turkey Tail's multifaceted potential.
2. Wasser, S. P. (2011). "Current findings, future trends, and unsolved problems in studies of medicinal mushrooms." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 89(5), 1323–1332.
- Wasser's comprehensive review acts as a meta-analysis, synthesizing the current knowledge landscape of medicinal mushrooms, positioning Turkey Tail within the broader discourse.
3. Sun, J. E., Ao, Z. H., Lu, Z. M., Xu, H. Y., Zhang, X. M., & Dou, W. F. (2002). "Antihyperglycemic and antilipidperoxidative effects of dry matter of culture broth of Inonotus obliquus in submerged culture on normal and alloxan-diabetes mice." Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 95(2-3), 285–292.
- In the realm of metabolic interactions, this study offers a glimpse into the potential implications of Turkey Tail compounds in managing hyperglycemia and lipid peroxidation.
4. Kidd, P. M. (2000). "The use of mushroom glucans and proteoglycans in cancer treatment." Alternative Medicine Review, 5(1), 4–27.
- Kidd's magnum opus serves as a compendium, dissecting the applications of mushroom-derived compounds in cancer therapeutics, providing a nuanced understanding.
Empowering the Community: A Call for Translational Excellence:
Knowledge is a potent elixir, yet its administration demands finesse. As we unlock the mysteries of Turkey Tail Mushroom, let us champion translational excellence, bridging the realms of bench and bedside. Always, without exception, seek the counsel of healthcare professionals, for personalized insights into the delicate interplay of molecular intricacies. Our collective journey extends beyond unraveling the pharmacological nuances; it's a clarion call to empower our community with the technical acumen to navigate the dynamic expanse of cancer research. 🌐💚
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Your musings on this intricately detailed exploration are most welcome!
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rustbeltjessie · 2 months
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Thanks to @blind-the-winds for the tag!
This is from my novel-in-progress. I'll try not to over-explain, but: it's loosely based on events from my own life (with a lot of straight-up fiction thrown in), and stylistically I'm aiming for something like "if Kathy Acker wrote Jack Kerouac's On the Road." There are the main narrative sections (which hew more closely to the structure of OtR), but then there are all these interludes and meta-fictional weirdnesses and... Anyway, this is one of the main narrative sections.
I buzzed her in, and she said: “And I brought a joint. I thought maybe you’d wanna get high.” Hell yeah, I wanted to get high. “Let’s go out,” I said, grabbing my jacket. I knew we couldn’t talk or smoke like we wanted in front of my boyfriend, who sat noodling around on his guitar in the next room. He’d take one look at Rat Hole and decide she was a bad influence, and he hated weed, too. We headed east on Irving Park Road, towards the Brown Line Stop. Rat Hole cupped her hand around the flame of her green lighter and lit the joint, took a puff, passed it to me. We walked in silence for a bit, passing the joint back and forth, keeping an eye out for cops. Soon everything was a stoned symphony of sound and color, the headlights of passing cars bending and refracting in our blurry vision, their tires wsssshhhing over the wet, salty streets. We got so high we forgot it was still cold; our blood was warm and everything felt like spring. We took the el to Belmont Ave. and it was Rat Hole’s first time on Belmont, and ever after that place became a symbol of our friendship. I thought of my ode to Belmont; the night was like a living version of it. They were all there: punks with six-inch tall Day-Glo mohicans, Jesus People proselytizing, drag queens in their feathers and spangles, goths in their big black boots, suburban spare changers, pickpockets and prostitutes in the Punkin’ Donuts parking lot, and all the sounds, bass booming behind doors of dance clubs, car horns and stereos and hey fuck you, buddy! And all the smells—donut grease, car exhaust, smoke (sewer, cigar, incense), hot dog water, deep dish pizza, grime—an Eau d’ Belmont.
I'll tag @belialjones @endreal @kurnutus86 @hthrrloooo @chucklingpecan @big-low-t @dee-the-red-witch — and any other writer pal who'd like to participate. (But don't feel obligated! And P.S. feel free to use any recent work, be it poetry or prose, fiction or non. I've put poetry in these things before.)
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cyberpunkonline · 3 months
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The Race for the Everything App in the West: Unraveling the Quest for Digital Domination
In the neon-drenched, cyberpunk reality of the 21st century, the digital realm is witnessing a colossal battle, reminiscent of Neal Stephenson's speculative universes. Tech corporations, with their sights set on the horizon, are not just competing but are on an ambitious quest to forge the "Everything App"—a digital El Dorado that promises to centralize our online lives. This pursuit, led vigorously by X (formerly known as Twitter) and echoed by a symphony of other platforms, is transforming the way we interact with digital services.
At the heart of this evolution lies a simple, yet profound strategy: expansion beyond core functionalities. Apps that once specialized in specific domains are now crossing into territories uncharted, offering a suite of services that range from messaging and social networking to financial transactions and beyond. This trend is not a mere coincidence but a calculated move towards creating a digital ecosystem where users can perform every conceivable online activity within a single app.
The Vanguard of the Everything App
X, under the stewardship of Elon Musk, is potentially the most audacious contender in the race. Initially a platform for microblogging, X is now venturing into areas like payment processing and content creation, aiming to transform itself into an indispensable tool for its users. However, X is not alone in this pursuit. Apps like WeChat in China have already demonstrated the viability of the "everything app," serving as a model for Western counterparts.
Facebook (now Meta), with its vast suite of services including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus, is another titan striving to stitch together a comprehensive digital tapestry. Google, through its ecosystem encompassing Gmail, Google Pay, and YouTube, is also inching towards creating a unified experience. Meanwhile, Amazon's expansion into cloud services, media streaming, and even groceries underscores the same ambition: to be the one-stop digital shop for its users.
The Siren Song of Convenience
The allure of an everything app lies in its promise of unparalleled convenience. Imagine a digital Swiss Army knife that not only connects you with friends and family but also handles your finances, entertains, educates, and even shops for you. The potential benefits are immense, offering a seamless integration of digital services that could simplify user experience, enhance efficiency, and possibly even reduce the digital clutter of having multiple apps for different needs.
A Dystopian Shadow
However, beneath the glossy surface of convenience, there lurks a more sinister possibility. The consolidation of services into a single platform raises alarming concerns about privacy, data security, and monopolistic control over the digital lives of billions. The more we rely on a single app for our daily needs, the more we risk creating a digital monoculture vulnerable to surveillance, censorship, and exploitation. In a dystopian twist, the everything app could become the ultimate tool for digital hegemony, where choice is an illusion, and autonomy is traded for convenience.
The Unstoppable Momentum
Despite the dichotomy of potential outcomes, the race towards the everything app is unlikely to slow down. The convergence of services into unified platforms reflects a broader trend in digital evolution, driven by user demand for efficiency and the corporate quest for dominance. As this race accelerates, we find ourselves at a crossroads, navigating between the utopian dream of digital convenience and the dystopian nightmare of centralized control.
The everything app is both a looming threat and a beacon of progress in our communications landscape. Its emergence is a testament to our insatiable appetite for innovation and our willingness to explore the unknown. As we venture further into this digital frontier, the decisions we make today will shape the cybernetic world of tomorrow. The everything app is not just a possibility; it is an inevitability. Time will tell whether it becomes a tool for liberation or an instrument of control.
In the words of Neal Stephenson, we are coding our own new world, and in this world, the everything app stands as both the zenith of our aspirations and the nadir of our fears. As we hurtle towards this uncertain future, one thing is clear: the digital landscape will never be the same again. - REV1
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desceros · 3 months
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Hello! Big fan! I had a couple of questions that I'd been wondering about. I hope they don't sound accusatory, I don't mean them that way, I was just curious to see if I was understanding. Basically, I started re-reading to catch all the little differences and I noticed two things:
April was touching Donnie pretty regularly out the gate. Does he not have trouble with her touch?
2. In light of chapter 23, I'm curious how Donnie can notice the second Viola-chan is upset through a mask, but missed all the romantic cues?
Feel free to answer, one, none, or both. I'm sorry if they've been asked before and, again, just thank you for sharing your work with all of us! Have a wonderful day!
wow!! excellent eye, anon-chan! that's the first time someone has noticed! or at least mentioned it. i'm very impressed! :0
so this hasn't come up yet, but to some extent, april can touch donnie, sort of, over his clothes and on his shell. he really prefers her not to and gets irritable when she does, but when there's something going on (...like donnie being nasty to viola-chan in chapter 2) she's going to do something about it (like pinching him or smacking his shell; also to stop him from saying something nasty after mistaking viola-chan for an anti-mutant bigot). but that's as far as they go. anything more than a brief touch, donnie doesn't tolerate it, and it's quite rare.
you may have noticed that april is less surprised than the others when she hears that donnie touches viola-chan, and that's why. to her, it's not as. hm. shocking? there's actually a scene coming up uh... soon-ish... chapter after next maybe? where april talks to viola-chan about this very thing. so i shan't say more on the topic!
as for your second question, donnie doesn't know what's wrong with viola-chan in chapter 23. all he knows is that, for some reason, she's masking, and that disturbs him. it's quite common for autistic people to study others in an attempt to learn how to mirror their emotions and to mask. (i do this myself without realizing it often times, and on purpose if i'm, like, in a business meeting or talking to someone important.)
donnie, being the way he is, over the course of turtle time and also just from spending time with viola-chan, has done this to an extreme. he's meticulously catalogued every little twitch her face can make, across a wide berth of emotional states. recordings of her voice. thorough examinations of her movements. he knows her. so when she starts acting strangely out of nowhere, in a manner that seems artificial, he takes note. then, when he sees how viola-chan reacts to leo, that's when he puts together that the masking is something from a place of harm, and that leo is likely the cause. hence begins the interrogation.
i'd go into a deeper analysis of donnie's emotional state for viola-chan and romance specifically, but... hm.... that's perhaps leaning a bit into spoiler territory. by which i mean i started to answer this like. three different ways and kept butting against spoilers, hahaha so i shan't say any more on that, either!
anywho thank you for your ask, and i hope that cleared things up. uh. a little tiny bit since a lot of it is "you'll learn soon" as an answer hahahaha
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