#the good news is that this course is entirely online (and has apparently been entirely online since 2000? wtf?

[pandaskywalker]

i dont know how to phrase this like a question basically but

when i have a special interest i get really excited about it and i immediately indulge in that special interest, as one does, but sometimes i get like, too excited? and like i wanna watch the thing but the thing is too good and i have to back off, like its so good its overwhelming? and so i have to put it down and do something else for a second and then i can come back to it. its like eating something really rich, like its super good but its almost nauseating how good it is, like chocolate truffles

i dont think i used to do this but then again i seem to forget the experience of having a hyperfixation (and i think they are more like hyperfixations bc theyre not super long lasting comparatively and when i lose it i dont lose fondness for it but i do lose interest, like with dr who and supernatural as examples (but also there are longer lasting overarching special interests (eg dolls and hello kitty) that i will indulge with concurrently to that special interest often time combining them)) every single time i have one

if i could hazard a guess why, i’d assume its sort of like a built in tolerance measure, so i dont get sick of it too quickly?

the point im asking is: does anyone else do this? i’d assume so, but maybe im just being anxious about enjoying something too much. and is that an adhd thing or an autism thing? the jury is still out as to what specifically is wrong with me

#gnome thinks im autistic and honestly theyre probably right but one of my siblings is autistic and they dont think i am so i dont know #in other news i did stop doing the fun thing to do a boring responsible thing #but my transcripts have been sent in #also fully forgot ive technically attended three colleges at this point #bc i took college courses in high school #except english #and i didnt officially take an english class in actual college #it was an honors course that acted like an english class but im not sure if that was actually an english class #if i have to fucking take college english again for a third time as a 27 year old i am fully going to lose my shit #the good news is that this course is entirely online (and has apparently been entirely online since 2000? wtf? #i guess it didnt occur to me that they would have online courses in 2000 but yeah i guess they did

[ronearoundblindly]

Lease

best-friend!roommate!reader x Steve Rogers

*This was a totally random and spontaneous idea. Not edited. Light language (so we can get *the joke*), pining, light angst, hurt/comfort, and fluff. This work is for all ages! WC ~2k

Sam Wilson introduces you. Both your parents were veterans and active at the VA, so you practically grew up there.

At first, you’re reserved, a little formal, but very nice. Oddly enough, Steve just likes that you don’t hound him with questions about his military service and how it was different based on the decade, etc. You are just…around to listen.

He finds himself filling any (comfortable) silence between you with stories. Stupid things. Things that don’t have to do with the VA or his past or even his present, which is entirely work as Captain America.

Steve gets to a point where he is itching to live off of Avengers Campus, but he doesn’t want to live alone.

One day he finds you hunched over a laptop and grumbling, “why is everything so fucking expensive?”

A sentiment which, of course, he frowns at.

“Sorry,” you shrug, a look of sincere apology on your distraught face. “I didn’t realize it, but apparently, I’m poor with my measly three-thousand-dollar-a-month budget for an apartment. Now I have to find a roommate, and—“ you start wagging a finger at him sarcastically “—I don’t know if you’ve noticed there’re some real weirdos out there. It’ll take me longer to find a safe, stable roomie than it takes to—“

“I can move in with you.”

Steve almost gasps at how fast the words fly out of his mouth.

“Well, not ‘move in’ to your current place. I mean. I can—I would be willing to live with you. Sorry! That sounds bad. You’re not bad. I meant…you know, anytime you want to chime in and stop me would be helpful.”

You remain silent and smirking.

“Right. Okay. So…think about it? Or not, that’s fine.”

“Let’s talk figures, Rogers. The square-footage just doubled, and I need to rework the budget.”

Moving in is shockingly uneventful. You’re easy to get along with, when not suddenly up on your high horse about something, and Steve is easy to get along with under the same circumstances. You push his militant rigidity to the brink on purpose, but never too far.

Things sit out in the wrong place, but it’s never dirty. Stuff doesn’t always get returned promptly, but if he asks, you’re on it.

There are two bathrooms, thank mercy.

He has random and odd hours. You work nine to five, mostly. It’s the perfect level of independence without loneliness for Steve.

Sam and Natasha stop by regularly or ask you both out for drinks or to fun, new places.

One time, when Nat is ribbing Steve to go talk to a cute girl ordering at the bar, he panics and takes your hand in his on the tabletop.

“How can I do that when my date is right here?” he grits playfully through his pearly white teeth. “Leave it alone.”

Each word is punctuated by a shift forward and a slight tilt of his head.

Natasha is unamused and instantly grabs your other hand (which was holding your drink) to pull you toward the dance floor.

It’s awkward for multiple reasons. You’d pay a whole month’s rent to know what Sam and Steve talked about after you left.

Sam takes a different approach, luring—or attempting to lure—Steve into setting up just one dating profile online.

“You don’t have to put photos,” Sam assures, “and you can stick with your first name only. I swear to you, man, this’ll be good for you. Get you out there more. Help me out here, Tagalong!”

He turns to you for support. To be fair, you did quite literally tag along with your parents for years to the VA, and it stuck. Why it sticks as a grown-ass adult? You’ll never know. You just don’t mind Sam Wilson saying it because he means well and never uses it in public.

“Uh, nooooo.”

Sam’s face falls. “What?”

You look at Steve and grimace, clicking your tongue. “He’s not ready for that,” you conclude.

Steve jumps out of the chair, arms wide with victory.

“THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING!”

“I know you told her to say that,” Sam shouts back.

“Did not,” Steve barks.

“He did not.” You lean against your bedroom doorframe. “I just think it’s obvious.”

That makes Steve deflate a little. “Wait, but…I’m not that bad.”

“Oh gosh,” you fake with a huge smile, “look at the time! Gotta be off to bed…”

The men keep fighting albeit muffled from your side of the wall. The only part you can make out before giving them privacy is Sam, whining, “but you actually like bubble baths and walks on the beach, dude. You’re gonna be money on there.”

“Hey, why do you not, ya know, date?”

You look up from your breakfast, stunned because that came out of nowhere. You’ve lived together over six months now, and Steve hasn’t asked for one iota of personal—well, romantically personal—information.

Twiddling your fork around, you think.

“I always imagine what my parents would think of him, any guy I’ve ever considered being with longterm, and…I was just never proud to say ‘here, here’s the one,’ I guess.”

Your parents have been gone for years. You value their opinion anyway.

“Mhm,” Steve hums, “the one?”

You take a bite of food, straightening your back, tossing a dismissive hand in the air. “Yeah, if you believe in that sort of thing.”

He’s quiet for a while.

“So you’re waiting for the right partner?” Steve finally mutters, and he watches your noncommittal gesturing intently.

That was a ‘yes.’

Natasha knows. Sam knows. Steve suspects but won’t admit to anything. You are kind and unreadable.

You’ve always been kind, so there’s no discernible difference to signal you have feelings for him in return. He can’t bring himself to be anything less than a gentleman at home and makes absolutely no moves to find out.

He stays out in the living room a lot more, all hours, hoping you’ll mention staying in for a movie, praying you’ll be tired enough to fall asleep on his lap on the couch.

He’s in way too deep.

What Steve suspects is that it would be too awkward to start anything while living together, but he doesn’t want to leave you in the lurch for rent or a roommate. He also desperately doesn’t want to move out. The status quo is comfortable.

He loves being comfortable with you.

The stress of not telling you, while needing to make some sort of arrangements should telling you blow up in his face, starts to wear on him.

Steve is a pro at compartmentalizing his life, so it’s when he’s stuck at the apartment without any missions, a handful of meetings, and a team that all have lives for two long months that he cracks…in the least attractive way.

He’s messed up his sleep schedule with worry and playing innocent, and out of the not-so-blue, a horrible, vivid nightmare hits him. Steve isn’t even on the mattress anymore by the time he figures out there wasn’t carpet like this in Germany and the desk chair he grips is not a motorcycle.

“Rogers,” he hears. “Rogers, can you look at me?”

The dark room is somehow hollow and stifling all at once. His head turns slower than his brain tells it to.

Steve blinks.

“Do you know where you are?”

“Hey, sweets,” he husks from a dry throat. “What…”

“Can you tell me where this is?” You step closer and pry one of his hands off the mesh to cradle in yours. “Where are we, Rogers?”

“Home.” He swallows. “Our home.”

Your smile doesn’t reach your eyes, but you nod like he’s done well.

“Okay, Steve, I’m going to get you some water. If you want—“ your fingers smooth over the back of his hand, nudging the other to release the chair “—you can sit on the bed.”

You don’t leave. You don’t even get up from the floor.

He doesn’t notice he’s clutching your hands, shaking slightly until long seconds go by.

“Yeah. Okay.” Steve lets go, otherwise unmoving, contemplating how he ever thought the semi-rough industrial carpet felt the same as mud.

You carefully hand him the water and rub his back, using your nails to trace invisible patterns. He can’t remember what he was so scared of a minute ago. He only knows he’s sweating that empty kind of confused.

“What’s that supposed to do?” he asks absently.

You shrug. “Eh. Back scratches just feel good.”

Steve’s mind remains blank as he sips his water.

: We need to renew the lease soon. Like this week.

Steve has stalled as long as humanly possible; he is officially not being a gentleman now. He is a coward.

: Talk about it when I get home?

: Could you at least tell me if this is a hard NO on staying here or just some concerns/questions? : I don’t get why you’re being like this.

Steve gets it, but he hates it.

: I’ll be back tonight. Should I pick up food?

: ffs : Fine. Whatever you want.

Steve also hates when you’re mad at him…which has been happening more and more.

He’s been distant, he refuses to let Sam or Nat come around for fear they’ll play match-maker and ruin the whole thing, and he is about to ruin the whole thing anyway.

Because he is not smooth. Because he is not prepared. Because he’s built up this perfect and amazing, sweep-you-off-your-feet moment.

And he bungles it.

“Out with it,” you command, haughtily yanking your portion of food from the countertop beside him, heading for the dinette.

“I want to be with you,” he blurts.

“Thank god,” you sigh, settling in your spot. “So we’ll go down to the office and sign in the morning. I don’t want there to be an issue if you’re off to wherever for who-the-hell-knows how long on the date the thing expires.”

“No, I…” but Steve’s voice is too quiet.

“There’s only a tiny window where they’re open before I have to head to work, so let me physically sign first, right? Then I gotta go.”

“Sure,” he slurs.

“Steve?” You turn to see him staring down at his food. He’s still across the room. “Are you okay?”

“I said I—I meant that—“ he huffs out his breath and taps his fist on the counter “—I meant that I’m an idiot,” he finishes softly.

Approaching with that beautiful, open-hearted kindness that haunts his days and soothes his night, you cross to him, scratching his back just the way he’s grown to crave.

“Think you might be hangry,” you chuckle.

He cannot do this. Steve is hanging on by a thread until the graze of your hand slides down his forearm to take his plate, and he spins.

He’s thought about kissing you so many times, he mapped out the angles he’d have to hold himself at, how far he needs to lean to get to you, the care to take wrangling in his strength and sheer excitement.

Steve Rogers is good at planning, at least, this part.

Gentle pecks of his plush lips to yours leave gaps in contact that let you whimper, and he fears you stopping him. He presses, wrapping his arms around you and molding your bodies together. The linoleum of the kitchen floor makes sticky sounds beneath your shuffling feet, squeaking once you hit the adjacent wall.

The force of that knocks your frozen arms into his chest, and painfully, Steve relents to step away, but not far. He bites his bottom lip and tastes the balm from yours, his head tilted in shame but fiery eyes watching you from beneath long lashes.

“Oh,” you breathe out. “Oh…you meant…”

Steve’s tongue darts out hungrily.

“Yeah.”

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

They're soooo cute!!!!!!

#steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #500+ #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers one shot #steve rogers x female reader #captain america fanfiction #captain america x reader #captain america x you #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #hurt/comfort

[slexenskee]

MDNSY AU

Posting this WIP bc maybe if it sees the light of day I’ll actually get around to writing more of it

I originally wrote this right after the sick-fic arc even though its supposed to take place during the Eri arc so it gets kinda AU from there

It’s only afterwards— months afterwards, that he realizes the full extent of his own stupid actions. 

So many things had to perfectly align in exactly the wrong way for this to happen. But each and every one of them was his own damn fault, so there’s really no one to blame here but himself. 

It had to have happened when Hawks had been sick and recovering in his hotel room, that’s the only way the timing lines up. Gojo has always been good about practicing safe sex— considering how he sleeps around, he sort of has to— and has never slipped up even once… until Hawks. Multiple times, actually, not even counting the time he was sick. There’d also been that time in Palawan, when he hadn’t brought any condoms with him because he’d honestly thought he wouldn’t need them. That had been rather profoundly short sighted of him, in hindsight. And then of course there were the time(s) when Hawks was staying in his hotel room, when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and once again Gojo hadn’t thought to go out and buy any condoms because he’d genuinely thought he wouldn’t need any. Hawks had been sick! Basically delirious! How was he supposed to know that the moment he’d recovered enough he’d jump him? And on a related note, how was Gojo supposed to summon up enough willpower to stop him? 

To that point— how was Gojo even supposed to know he should stop him?

That too, though, is entirely his fault.

Apparently it’s a regular part of sex-ed during middle school— except Gojo never went to class in middle school, so he’d entirely missed the memo. With the advent of quirks came a rare genetic mutation that allows for male pregnancies among a small subset of the population. Rare, but not entirely unheard of, either. It was certainly common enough for a segment to be taught in public schools, and testing to be done as part of the gamut of health checks most kids go through around puberty. Most kids aside from Gojo, who was out terrorizing organized crime syndicates just for fun at that age. 

God, he’s a fucking idiot. This entire situation was so laughably avoidable, and yet he’d managed to end up in it anyway. 

Anyway so now he’s having an existential meltdown in the middle of his still unfinished bathroom, staring numbly at the flecks of grout still flaking off the new tile, wondering what the fuck he’s supposed to do now.

“Satoruuu,” a voice whines from the other side of the bathroom door. “I need to pee.”

Gojo scrambles to his feet, binning the evidence of all the pregnancy tests and burying it under a cloud of toilet paper just before he wrenches the door open, smile fixed in place. “Sorry Eri-chan! I was spacing out.”

Eri just takes the excuse at face value, bounding into the only current usable bathroom in the house and shutting the door behind her.

Gojo sighs wearily, slumping against the wall just outside the door.

Alright, first on the agenda is finding a temporary residence for them while he gets an army of contractors to fix the worst of the ‘home improvement’ sins he’s committed upon this house as quickly as possible. He’d originally thought redoing the rooms would be a fun bonding activity for him and Eri, but now he knows all those chemicals will be bad for… for the baby, so that’s probably a bad idea now. He’s also going to need this house in livable condition as fast as he can make it happen, because apparently… there’s going to be a baby here in less than six months. 

He’s also going to need a doctor, and a very good and discreet one at that. From what he’s read in his mad frenzy of online searching, male pregnancies are very high risk. He’s not at all worried for himself, seeing as though he can heal from just about anything, but that same protection doesn’t extend to the other person currently taking up roost inside him. He frowns. Or does it? Wouldn’t his reversed-curse technique still work on them when they’re still a parasite leeching off of his body? When exactly does their cursed energy start to deviate from each others to the point he can no longer heal them as an extension of himself? Man, what he wouldn’t give for a conversation with Shoko right now.

He can worry about things like clothes and furniture and baby food after he’s settled the most immediate concerns on his list. Namely, fixing this house and finding a doctor. And telling Eri, although he doubts that will be much of an issue. The girl will be beyond excited to be an older sibling.

Now as for telling his family and telling Hawks…

Gojo winces.

Yeah, okay. It says a lot that he’d rather tell Endeavor, to his face, that he’s getting another grandchild than fessing up to Hawks about carrying his kid. Even the thought of it is going to give him a stress tumor.

Well, stress is bad for babies, right? So maybe he should just table the thought for later. You know, for his health.

#fic may death never stop you #spinoff fic #mpreg au #mdnsy oneshots

[batfamscreaming]

Once again trapped in trying to figure out what Wayne Industries actually Does. "Everything!" yeah sure but they had to get there somehow. Amazon was an online bookstore at first there was a lot of very rapid growth between then and now.

Usually I hear that they started as a shipping business which makes sense when Gotham is 90% waterfront, but at some point they had to transition from just shipping other people's things to shipping things they made as well. I suppose if they started making their own transports for shipping (starting with their own steamboats and later trains and cars) that would make sense. Maybe in the industrial revolution they even bought their own steel mill upon getting tired of having fluctuating prices or a steel shortage and just deciding they were going to get their own damn steel and sell the extra instead. If they chose to manufacture higher quality steel instead of cheapest possible steel that's also laying the groundwork for them to be well liked by their customers. Not railroad barons but making the steel to lay the railroad and build the trains. It's the 1800s so they have a couple patented medicines by then as well that are.... not really medicine but no one has officially noticed yet. They ship their own chemicals out west for a good time.

In 1880s Alan Wayne makes the building that becomes Wayne Tower?? Which I think is much too early, but apparently we were building sky scrapers in 1888 so business must have been booming I fucking guess. This is also the man that has them go corporate.

Of course the railroads start to fall out with the growth of cars and car lobbying. They are still used along with boats for transport but with railroads not being built as much and not being maintained and the union wars, Wayne Industries has to make a pivot somewhere to stay in the race. The family can have a lot of personal money but the business itself is still going strong in Gotham even before Bruce takes over.

I guess if they're already in shipping, they're probably importing as well by then. They may have started with steamboats but then in WWI and WWII all steel factories started producing things for the war efforts, surely they made a couple big ships by then capable of crossing the Atlantic, if they weren't already in oceanic shipping by then. It lets them ride out the great depression because of government maritime subsidies that were a little out of control until the new deal kicked in. That would've also presumably kept WI employees working in the depression and cemented them harder in the city as smaller businesses closed around them.

The patented medicine starts shifting to actual generics that are a little less Heroic post 1918.

Maybe at around that point was when WI started manufacturing... sort of everything. You get your ships, and all the things on board that you need to run a ship. You get your ovens and stoves and big pots and your radar and hell your sailors can even buy their boots and uniforms from us.

When WWII ends they shift back to transporting other people's goods but also maybe more luxury vehicles as well. Cruise services. Some nicer kitchen installations. Kitchens on land even. Get a nice WI electric mixer. Get your waterfront boots. Get your generic ibuprofen.

At that point we're closer to Martha and Thomas' era and they're just... Along for the ride I guess. Thomas is a figurehead CEO. He's off doing medical school and mostly just shows up for formalities, while Martha works in the Wayne Foundation (either the only thing Thomas really made or opened in the 60s to try and get Gotham really booming) as a charity liason. They're still not really celebrities as much as a charismatic couple in high circles. WI doesn't need them to function. It's basically just funding them as they do their own things.

And then the murders happen

And then Bruce, over eighteen, shows up having inherited the figurehead CEO title and his entire family's controlling stock in WI, and announces they're going to be doing things his way now.

The CEO/Board of directors is supposed to do things in the best interest of their stock holders.

If Bruce is the controlling stock holder, they do what he says his best interest is.

#trying to sort of talk it out to myself #wayne enterprises #wayne industries #bruce wayne

[kurooo-is-here]

Hey I really I like the how the Drayton and Lacey x Elesa’s kid turned out, thanks! I wanted to ask if you could do an expansion on that.

What if the reader started to get eating disorders or unhealthy eating habits trying to live up to their’s mom’s legacy (maybe excessive battling too.)

Also how would they react around their partner pokemon, Zebstrika. How would react if Elesa came for a surprise visit (I headcanon elesa as a good mom since she helped out Bianca in Pokémon black and white)

Oooo, it's been awhile since I wrote about any heavy topics like this. I will go ahead and say though, massive trigger warning for eating disorders. This is all fiction of course, but stay safe out there!

Being Elesa's kid, part 2:

Content Warning: Eating Disorders

Lacey is the first to notice your discomfort. She asks why you're not eating your food, and you respond that you're just not hungry. She lets it go at first, but then she notices that you start to skip even more meals and spend more time training your Pokemon.

Days go by and you haven't eaten anything. One day you mention to her that maybe you're eating too many calories for the day, and she finally has enough. She drags you aside and demands to weigh you, despite your protests.

You've lost... a lot of weight. Too much. Lacey pales as she looks between you and the scale.

"Y/N... We need to get you some help." She says quietly. "This isn't right."

You have an argument with her. You keep insisting you don't need help, that you're perfectly fine-- but Lacey knows you better than that. She points out that your Zebstrika has been looking tired from exhaustion (from excessive training), and that she's worried you've developed an eating disorder. She urges you to get help. You yell at her that she's been ignoring you lately, so maybe she should just mind her own business, because she's much prettier than you anyway.

...There's silence.

"Y/N, is that what this is about?" She asks finally. "What's going on?"

Apparently you had been bullied online after posting pictures of yourself with Lacey and Drayton. They would comment that someone like you didn't deserve to be friends with the likes of them-- they were important people, and you were just some nobody. They made fun of you for being Elesa's kid, saying they couldn't even tell because you looked nothing like your mom.

You had a mental breakdown after showing all of this to Lacey. Drayton came in just then because he heard shouting, and Lacey caught him up on the situation.

Drayton comforts you patiently as you sob into his shoulder, but his blood is boiling on the inside. Those bullies hurt you like this, they tore you apart... He would find them and give them hell.

Using his connections in the school as well as talking to Director Cyrano, he tracks down the bullies. He breaks their spirits in battle, strips them of their ranks, and leaves the rest of their punishment to the director.

Lacey is by your side the entire time, making sure you're taken care of physically and mentally. She wants to scold you, but she decides it can wait. Right now, your health is more important.

When Drayton gets back, he showers you with affection-- kisses, hugs, and cuddling. You fall asleep next to him, exhausted from such a long day.

Drayton swears to protect you. You're his only treasure, after all. He'll guard you with his life.

Elesa visits a week later after she hears the news. She's worried sick, asking you questions and checking your vitals. When you tell her you'll be fine, she starts crying a bit and hugs you.

"Oh darling... You don't need to hide around me. I'm always here for you. You will always be good enough for me." She whispers. You end up crying too, and Elesa makes sure you get the help you need before she departs. She even pays for your therapy.

Your Zebstrika has a bit of trouble trusting you, even after you start getting help. It wore itself out to exhaustion because of your training.

You tell Zebstrika with a heavy heart that if it wants to be with another trainer, you would be more than willing to release it or trade it away. To your surprise though, your Pokemon forgives you.

Zebstrika saw the pain you endured. It heard you cry yourself to sleep at night reading comments online. It wants to stay by your side, just this once.

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon drayton #pokemon lacey #pokemon drayton x reader #lacey is your adoptive sister #kuro writes

[ccchloister]

It's so strange how the problems that come with existing online have forced me to find words to explain concepts that I assumed were mostly universal. I thought knowledge, talent, expertise, hard work and persistence were skills that were valuable and should be encouraged in everyone. A.I. has taught me otherwise.

A.I. might as well stand for Anti-Intellectualism, because that's the spirit behind the excitement. It literally takes the skill and labor out of skilled labor. Learning is being treated like an inconvenience, a problem to be eliminated in the name of efficiency. Entire disciplines are being treated as grand sacrifices in the name of mass production and instant gratification.

Why does art need to be efficient? It's not food. It's not medicine. It's not shelter. How fast are people shoveling content into their gob that between social media, streaming, and physical media, it's still not enough? Technology has already pushed creators to pumping out content at an unhealthy and unnatural rate just to try to appease social media algorithms. Now that same output is being used to train new algorithms to pump it out even faster while cutting creators out entirely. It’s sick and cruel. And instead of this exploitation being treated like an injustice that needs to be corrected, I'm told "It's inevitable. Adapt or die. Don't put your work online if you don't want it taken", delivered either with condescending pity, callous apathy, or malicious glee.

If A.I. fans aren't taking the "hardened pragmatic realist" approach, then they are shallowly aping socialist ideas, blaming capitalism for exploitation, not the tech. A very "guns don't kill people, people kill people" take. Just because exploitation of creatives is not a new concept doesn't mean A.I. isn't responsible for making it INFINITELY WORSE. They’ve also decided that people shouldn't be pursuing art and knowledge for the sake of profit and that the skilled creators trying to protect their labor are greedy, elitist gatekeepers trying to keep art from "the common man" (because creatives aren't the common man, apparently). It's that same resentment and distrust of experts that's typical of anti-intellectualism, except creative fields are in this weird place where they aren't even respected the way STEM is, so there's an extra layer of belittling and disrespect to the othering. Consumers feel entitled to art, but they don't understand how it's made, and they definitely don't respect it as a discipline.

The glut of creative content available for "the common man" to consume has never been greater or more accessible, but it's still not enough. It's not enough to just consume art. They want ownership. They want the sense of accomplishment that comes from making something, without having actually *made* it. And despite their finger-wagging at creatives wanting to protect their careers, they also want to make some money. Etsy is flooded with A.I. prints, kindle is filled with A.I. books, spotify is loaded with A.I. songs. There’s even A.I. kickstarters. Along with replacing writers and animators, CEOs want to replace actors, voice actors, and models with simulacrums they can make do whatever they want, forever, and A.I. fans are hoping they'll be the ones hired to facilitate that process. Even without actively profiting, A.I. still devalues the work of skilled laborers. Why commission a skilled artist when for 15 dollars you can buy a machine that will give you infinite works of the same or better quality, instantly? Do you have faith in consumers to prioritize ethics over convenience? Do you think it's right and fair and good to make compensating skilled creators an act of charity rather than a necessity?

A.I. users overestimate their contribution to the final product, thinking their idea is so unique and their vision so strong, that of course they should claim ownership… conveniently ignoring all the infinite little decisions A.I. made for them based off the knowledge and fine motor skills of millions of artists. It's like they think fully realized Good Ideas are a natural resource waiting to be excavated, and traditional creators had the unfair advantage of pickaxes, physical strength and a knowledge of geology to find the rich veins. Now A.I. is providing scanners and and powerful machinery so "the common man" doesn't need strength or knowledge to quickly mine those same veins first.

But that's not what art is, and that's not how creation works. Art is communication. Imagination is fostered through life experience, observation and processing information with your human brain. It's something every living person could do, because every person is unique with unique life experiences. Creation is practice, study, experimentation, problem solving, and adapting to limitations. There is nothing stopping anyone from doing these things. Natural ability has been grossly overvalued: most people with "talent" were not making hyper-realistic paintings at 13 like Picasso. What happens is a child shows a slight aptitude, the adults in their life notice and give them positive reinforcement, and then they are motivated and encouraged to pursue that interest. So instead of treating the naturally talented as having an unfair advantage, why not blame the adults in your life for not encouraging your interests at a young age. Or if you want to be brutally honest, blame yourself for not pursuing your interests despite a lack of external validation. You have agency.

I try to imagine, what is an A.I. fan's idea of a perfect future? One where no one has any advantages that another person doesn't, where "everyone's special so no ones special"? Where all labor is automated and no one has to do anything they don't want to and everyone spends their infinite free time bettering themselves for it's own sake rather than for money? Every time they mention the evils of capitalism and how we need universal basic income and other ideas of a post-work society it makes me want to pull my hair out. We don't *have* those things. We aren't even close to those things. So it is functionally useless to factor that into your argument. Who is Tech to use A.I.'s elimination of thousands of jobs in non-Tech industries as a bargaining chip to try and incentivize the government to create safety nets for those displaced? Since when has your government prioritized it's citizens over corporations? Have proponents always been this naive, or only when trying to assuage concerns over the consequences of their new toy?

Even if we did achieve that techie utopia, what makes them think most people will use their free time productively, exercising their brain for it's own sake? Because speaking for myself, I can have every good intention of using my time to create and learn, but those things frequently lose out to short term, dopamine-driven feedback loops like social media and video games. Without any external incentives, I guarantee far less people will pursue learning for its own sake if the knowledge-based roles that keep society functioning are filled by machines. Think of how we've had to reintroduce exercise into are lives just for exercise's sake. Hows that going? Again, speaking for myself as an overweight person: Not Great. I might intellectually know physical fitness is important, but the difficulty and unenjoyable nature of exercise and the benefits not being immediate and obvious means it frequently loses out to activities I do enjoy. I know not everyone is like me, but many, many people are. Now replace physical fitness with cognitive abilities. Abilities that require work, who's benefits are totally abstract, and would be wholly unnecessary for living in an A.I dependent society. If that doesn't give you chills up your spine, then you must stand to benefit from a culture of stupidity that's hopelessly dependent on tech. And I hate you.

No ones going to read all this.

#AI #Tech #Art #Artists #creation #anti intellectualism #knowledge #labor #exploitation #Long #word dump #future

[vivvy-of-the-lake]

I'm gonna go on a dumb rant but this means a lot to me because it just hurts so much thinking about it. I feel stupid and silly and immature getting this worked up over it but also entirely justified and valid in my feelings and I need help (more under the readmore)

so I've been reading the manga for Bocchi the Rock after having finished the anime (no spoilers in this rant, don't worry) and even before having started reading it, I had come across all the major 'gay Bocchi' meme panels and i was definitely keeping an eye out for them as i was reading

(also i was reading it at https://bocchitherockmanga.com/ which for reasons i will get into I do NOT recommend AT ALL. all the issues i'm about to talk about aren't there in the mangadex version)

i've gotten through most of the series with no issues whatsoever, until I got to chapter 58. These latest chapters were being scanned by someone new to scanlations as a whole, and in particular bocchi stuff (I won't name names because that's not what this post is about, you can find who to blame just by reading it yourself from anywhere that isn't mangadex)

I was very keenly on the look-out for this panel, because for very obvious reasons it's become a very popular bocchi meme:

...but reading the version i was reading, not only were there very blatant grammar and spelling issues, but when i finally got to the panel-

what the fuck. what the fuck is this bullshit

"I've it's been popular nowadays..." doesn't make any fucking sense and had i not read the other version first i might not have understood what it was trying to say, and all of the text is so horrendously scaled and placed so awfully

but the real issue is in that "fine print":

"I already know the scope of the test, and it seems I'm going to be that one big-breasted popular girl on the exam!"

what.

the.

fuck.

this makes ZERO FUCKING SENSE given the actual illustration, i know bocchi has big boobs in the manga but WHO'S THAT GIRL WITH THE BIG BOOBS, HUH??? WHAT'S HER SIGNIFICANCE???

it doesn't take an expert to realise that what bocchi's saying here doesn't even make any sense if she's not even the one with big boobs in her fantasy of what will happen if she repeats a year

now i always lean on the side of never attributing to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, and i was ready to just assume this was a piss-poor translation

but i found the scanlator making a post on the MangaDex forums about the situation, and in it they said this (reminder that the panel in question comes from chapter 58):

so it was intentional. it was a person actually trying to censor the original intent of the author because they didn't like that there was gay representation.

...

i'm done. i'm so fucking done with this.

"i have given up on the lame goal of censoring bocchi the rock" yeah that's a little too late pal. the damage this guy has done is still apparent because in almost all of the places online, including the TOP RESULT for searching "bocchi the rock manga", they still use this guy's awful, rushed, and - let's be honest - homophobic scans instead of the new ones that are actually good.

oh and of course only one guy in the thread actually calls out OP for censoring it in the first place, and then another guy backs up OP and that's the end of that.

these things are small, but it feels like being queer is just kinda not possible nowadays. everyone tries to take it away from us and it's inescapable, even in the places we go to in order to get away from all the bullshit and awful stuff happening in the real world.

stuff like this seems minor but it sends a very real message to queer fans of stuff like this:

we can't have anything.

#sorry for the heavy themes but this has honestly made me so upset and i just need to vent. #i thought i was free from this bullshit in bocchi the rock because it's kinda impossible to interpret it heterosexually #but then again that's like 10 times the case in witch from mercury and it happened there but on an OFFICIAL level #i need a hug. #also gonna introduce a new venting tag for stuff like this #vivi the bocchi the rock #vivi's vents

[hammeringheart]

thinking aloud — with the canon ages being dead & buried now (they've always been a little nebulous anyways), i was hoping fandom would treat amy a bit kinder. i've seen a lot of thinly veiled misogyny take the shape of "she's twelve years old, of course she's annoying!" but... this, kinda, strange thing is happening where people are applauding the direction ian flynn has taken her, but in a way that mirrors the complaints people had with her in the early 2000s.

when frontiers released, i had to wade through an absolute sea of posts claiming "amy is finally fixed!"; apparently i missed the memo that she was ever broken at all! there was plenty of praise of her, supposedly, new-found depth — that ian had penned her an "actual character". this was all coming from people who were quick to say amy didn't exist without her crush on sonic in previous media, and that that same crush made her badly written, weak, difficult to find likeable, ect ect.

and it's such a fundamental misunderstanding of amy's character. i don't understand how anyone could play sonic adventure and leave it thinking amy was somehow the weakest link, or that she didn't have substance? her entire story is one of compassion and the power of empathy! look at how she handles gamma! she is the kindest, most loving character in the cast, and that same heart has literally saved the world (shadow knows!); a strong hammer she may wield, sure, but it's not her best power. love is

when i was younger, i admittedly fell into the popular opinion of "amy doesn't need to have a crush on sonic"; at the time, people online thought it made her boring. or annoying. the high point of sonic x, especially the english dub, had fandom accusing her of being a literal stalker (or that she "got in the way" of other ships with sonic...). but as i've gotten older and i've seen her crush mellowed out by the writing team, i find myself missing her old way of expression. i miss her cheekiness, that girlish intuition or "this way there's no way out of marrying me!" it's so funny, and quirky and incredibly endearing. amy being shameless with her love is something i love — it's refreshing to see a character so proud of their heart.

the murder of sonic really brought this side of her into the spotlight (at least in comparison to the likes of frontiers and idw) and i appreciate that a lot! that spunkiness is front and center, and she's stating her mind and lovingly bullying her friends. it's so good.

so imagine my surprise when i still saw people complaining in a similar vein to deviantart's "she's creepy!" angles. something something, fandom has always had a problem with how it treats women, and unfortunately amy can't escape this fate like... ever. it's a shame that her liking a boy is the thing that breaks the camel's back for so many but! whatever! jokes on them, it's cute and lovely and she is love incarnate!

i love amy rose

#* ∙ ♡ / out of character. #long post / #this is nothing but a stream of consciousness but i saw someone say that chris taking amy's place in the SA2 arc in x was better for it - #- and that sonic doesn't consider her a “real” friend and anyways i saw red #people DONT RESPECT HER i will fight an army for miss rose #ok im normal now thanks guys

[fandom-stealer]

Screw it, more civilian Talia AU

I was originally gonna wait for 10 likes on my last post, but I’ve had this in my head for so long and I can’t hold it in anymore.

So when we last left off, Damian had just been born. Nothing that memorable happened other then reporters attempting to break in to the room and quickly being stopped by Dick, Jason, or Tim (they took turns in the waiting room while the other two were at home prepping the nursery).

Once Talia had gotten home and gotten settled in, she would not the take the doctors advice about being on bed rest because she is Talia Al Ghul and an Al Ghul can handle it. So, she goes and finishes her teaching degree (online of course, she had three boys and a baby to take care of), and begins teaching at Gotham middle school.

While there, a certain student catches her eye. She’s overheard the rumors of her father, the Cluemaster, and decides to see if their true. She wishes to approach her and talk, but is afraid of scaring her. She knows all about being ashamed of family. She gets her moment when one Stephanie Brown comes knocking on her door for tutoring.

Talia of course invites Stephanie over for after school sessions. The young girl is surprised that Talias house feels so… welcoming. She immediately gets along with the boys, especially Tim since their the closest in age, and starts staying longer then the sessions. She eats dinner with them most days of the week, helps take care of Damian, and knows that Talia will carefully help heal any injuries and not ask where they come from, even if it’s obvious.

Before anyone realizes it, she’s sharing a room with Tim and has joined the breakfast table.

Things go a little downhill, in the way that Talia suspected to happen sooner or later. She gets a letter signed from her father. Apparently he had found her at last after years and wanted her to meet someone who would take her home. Talia of course knew it was a trap, but still went, leaving Dick in charge in of the house.

At the meeting place, she saw an old friend of hers. Lady Shiva. She explained that Talia had to come home and take her place of the rightful heir. Talia refused, taking out her sword that she hadn’t used in years, and then duel begun.

Talia didn’t end the duel as quick as she hoped. Her body was still recovering from the pregnancy, and she wouldn’t admit it but she was out of practice. Through all of that, she manages to beat and give a merciful end to Shiva. She is about to leave before she hears the sounds of a child sniffling. She opens the closet and finds one small Cassandra Cain.

Talia feels a small tinge of guilt at the knowledge that she had taken this girls mother from her, and knew she had to take her in. After learning the hard way Cassandra was never trained to speak, Talia immediately was set on having the entire family learn sign language.

As usual, it didn’t take long for Cass to warm up to the family. She was especially close to Jason, and loved resting her head on his lap while he read out loud to her. Steph was quick to teach her ‘girl things’ and take her shopping for new clothes. All and all it was good.

Time skip a little bit, and Talia has officially a foster parent at this point. I should also mention that they moved into a bigger house at this point. Not a mansion (yet) but a bigger house. As a certified foster parent, Talia is asked to parent a girl named Harper Row, along with her little brother Cullen, and weeks later a small Duke Thomas.

It takes longer for the three kids to settle in then the others. Harper is paranoid that this house will be like her last one and is constantly on guard, Duke is still recovering from the trauma of losing his parents to the Joker, and Cullen is a just a toddler who doesn’t understand what’s going on. It’s takes a long time of building trust and a lot of convincing from their new siblings, but they learn to love their new home.

I’ll end this part off with a bat-kid I don’t think is talked about very much. Carrie Kelly. Carrie has very neglectful and addicted parents, which mostly causes her to fend for herself and sneak out at night. One night while she’s eating out, she spots a man trying to rob an old lady. She distracts the man and let to woman get away, but is injured in the process.

Luckily, Talia was grabbing stuff for Jason at the bookstore across the street, and upon seeing what was happening rescued Carrie and took her home to set her injuries. Once they were bandaged, she asked Carrie where she lived. Carrie told her, though it was obvious in her eye that she didn’t wanna go back. Talia offered to let her stay, and Carrie became one of the flock.

Don’t worry, there will be a part four in a couple of days. I’m not done just yet.

#talia al ghul #civillian talía au #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #harper row #cullen row #duke thomas #carrie kelly #(Why is Carrie kelly not a tag my girl is underrated) #damian wayne #tim drake #jason wayne #jason peter todd #dick grayson #(those last four are just briefly mentioned)

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

1) I could have told you that. I knew all of that, even explained it in a Tumblr post a couple of weeks ago. Where's my linguistics degree? Can I get a linguistics degree for my Tumblr blog?

To be fair I don't think I get any special credit for deep analysis for picking up on that, it's kind of the engine by which their entire double act works. Which anyone who listens to it will be aware of, but come on, person who wrote some stuff to get a linguistics degree, you’re not supposed to actually spell it out. This is like when Lee and Herring started straightforwardly informing the audience who would be taking the high and low status for that episode. The entire joke of that bit being that it doesn’t work, you can’t do that or you’ll ruin the illusion.

Closest they’ve come to doing that before now was that time when they Elis joked that one of them should make a massive life change so that they’d be more different from each other because there always needs to be a bit of tension created by the differences between members of a double act, and John said they don’t need that because they have it in their different levels of career success, and that may have been pulling back the curtain just slightly too far because there wasn’t really any way to reply.

2) This is a longshot, but I don’t suppose anyone would know how to find that flowchart? Apparently they put it out on Twitter (I am not I am not I am not I am not calling it by any other name and I kind of hate how I’m starting to see people shift from jokingly saying “I guess we’re supposed to call it X now” to just saying “I saw this on X” like that’s a reasonable thing, I don’t even use that website and I objected to its normalization as a tool of serious discourse in the first place but this is a step too far) in 2016, does anyone know how to find Tweets from 2016?

3) While trying to Google this Tweet from 2016, I came across the John Robins mailing list, which I had not previously known existed, so of course I joined it. There is also an archive of these emails online, and the latest one says:

That said, I will be releasing a recording of the show on Bandcamp in some form. Probably around March / April this year. I know it has value, and I was so consistently blown away by all the people who came to see it, it means so very much. I will pull my socks up and listen back to the recordings I have and make the necessary edits to create an acceptable representation of Howl for you to listen to.

Hooray! Thank you, John. You’re the best. I feel like I should make a joke here but instead I’m going to say what I’m actually thinking, which is that March or April would be perfect for me, as I need something to motivate myself to keep not drinking/drinking to far below problem levels (if I’m capable of doing the latter, which I may not be, I don’t know) past January, and if I listen to the “I realized I was an alcoholic and quit” show while being back to my pre-2024 drinking levels, it will just make me feel guilty. But if I listen to it when I’m at a good place with that, even if it’s still hard and feels bad, it will be easier to enjoy. And you shouldn’t take comedy as your reason for big life decisions, but right now I’ll grasp at any motivational straws, and that might help. So, seriously, for real, thanks John.

I am aware that if I start using that as motivation not to drink, this will kick the level of parasociality in my John Robins fandom into a new gear, which is always a recipie for disappointment. If John Robins has sexually harassed anyone, I need that to come out now rather than later (I'm like... I mean I am kidding, I wouldn't start drinking again just because of John Robins, I'm just saying that at this point his comedy is part of what's keeping me not drinking, and the possibility of that sort of thing leading to disappointment is the first thing that comes to mind if I decide to believe in something). It's fine if a story comes out where he was just kind of a dick, his genuine unlikeabilty is one of my favourite things about him as a comedian. But please let it have limits. (Note: Yes I am working on actual coping mechanisms in real life and not just relying on comedy recordings, but it all helps.)

4) As I found earlier today when I was cutting up all those Textual Healing clips, it is really fucking annoying that those podcasts keep putting in the radio sting 0.0000000000003 nanoseconds after John or Elis finish talking, and regularly wait about -0.5 seconds by which I mean they’ll play the sting over some talking, so it’s hard to cut out clips without including the annoying sting. Which I guess is the point of broadcasting stings. Sorry that the John/Elis clips I cut out so frequently feature the broadcasting stings, it’s hard to cut around them.

[szarolina]

Hiii! I’d also like to take up Japanese, but beyond memorizing the Hiragana and Katakana characters I’m not exactly sure how to proceed with vocab and learning Kanji at the same time.

Do you have a plan/sources that you stick to? I also like how your sheets are organized! Did you do them yourself?

Hi there! ♡

First of all I should stress that my experience may be slightly different since I was learning Japanese via university course, with help from a tutor. However, I'll try to answer the best I can.

Get a textbook. It will provide you a structure and introduce to basic grammar points in suitable order, together with kanji and vocabulary. My knowledge isn't very broad here, because we used a specific series in class which is Minna no Nihongo (probably one of, if not The most common one). The significant disadvantage is that it's written entirely in Japanese, so not exactly the best for total beginners who don't have exercises explained by a teacher BUT there's also an English book "Translation and Grammar notes" which, as it says, includes translations of dialogues, texts, example sentences, etc. + vocabulary lists for every chapter alongside very neatly explained grammar points and grammar structures, so I can't stress enough how profitable it is to get it too. Apart from these, I also came across a kanji book. Fortunately, pdfs can be retrieved from google (hit me up if you're interested and have problems with finding them). I've also seen praising reviews of Genki, I looked it through and apparently also have everything what one could expect from a regular textbook, just better divided on different grammar/vocabulary/reading/so on parts than Minna and, unlike MnN, it's written in English.

About kanji and vocab. You probbaly noticed that things like nouns, verbs, adjectives and such are often written with kanji, so it may seem a natural move to learn all these kanji at once while learning vocabulary. I'm saying - not exactly. The good thing is that for the beginning you can write new words only in hiragana (or katakana) memorize them, and later "match" kanji to them (not like in mandarin chinese, yes, i'm looking at you mandarin). For example, you found out that "to study" is べんきょう する (benkyō suru). It's ok to write it this way and later replace "べんきょう" part with kanji (勉強する). We did it at the course, I had been knowing only hiragana writings for maaaany words and only after some time introduced kanji to them, gradually. Otherwise I would end up having to learn hundreds of kanji early on and I'd definitely feel discouraged by that.

About kanji and readings. It somehoew refers to what I wrote above. Don't memorize ALL possible readings of a kanji without using them in practice. For example, according to a dictionary kanji 人 "human, man, person" has five different readings: ジン, ニン, ひと, り, と. It looks like kun/on readings soup. What's a better way? You learnt that "person" (人) is pronounced ひと. Or "population" (人口) is じんこう (see ジン reading here?). Wait, that's better - "doll/puppet" which is にんぎょう (人形). You see my point?

Summing it a bit up, when making a vocabulary list, firstly write words in hiragana/katakana and if you at some point learn a kanji for some of these words, replace them using that kanji. When learning kanji themselves, sure, learn how to write them, stroke by stroke, even memorize their basic meanings, however, if learning pronounciation (readings), add a word, two, three containing these kanji alongside the full reading.

I'm planning to make a kind of masterlist of resources I personally use but for now I can recommend dictionaries like jisho (online) or kanji dictionary (Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary). For extra grammar explanation "Tofugu" and "Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese" websites or a book "Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" are good sources. The sheets you're asking about I made myself. Kanji are from class and featured in Minna books, verbs as well but mostly taken from another Kodansha book. Like I wrote, I'm going to list everything in a separate post so just give me a moment to compile it :)

Sorry for the lenghty answer, not sure if that's what you expected but I hope I helped!

#asks

[cwarscars]

The AC system had been out for hours - and on a very peak summer day, of course. Melissa had been on the phone with the people from internal maintenance and facilities for a good part of the morning, but they were equally puzzled as to what had fried the machines; apparently some experiment gone wrong down at the labs with Hojo, but they were working on it.

But 'working on it' was exactly the same update she had received almost one hour before; the absence of any clear estimates as to when it would be restored was going to clearly upset Heidegger. Well, the general and most of his colleagues, she imagined; all the executives had their offices in the top floors of the Shinra Building, giving them a lovely view of all of Midgar... And also feeling like they were trapped in a greenhouse without the AC properly working.

The secretary sighed, placing the phone down and rearranging her hair up again; keeping it away from her neck was the minimum she could do to feel even worse. Melissa had opened a couple of buttons of her shirt (one more and people would start talking about how she was 'asking for it') and luckily had opted to wear a skirt on that day. At last she was not a guy in a full suit.

Sighing, she got up from her desk to be the bearer of bad news for her boss - knocking on Heidegger's door and allowing herself inside after his authorization, Melissa found herself pausing on the door when she looked at him.

Head of the army or not, he was not immune to the heat - his heavy coat had been likely discarded ages ago, and his dark shirt had been rolled up all the way to the elbows, the tie also long removed a couple of buttons also slipped out of their original positions. It was not a novel look per se - during their first business meeting Heidegger had dressed similarly after a long day of work, but on that morning... It hit her differently.

Back then (and for most of the days that followed), the secretary really had been focusing on work, delivering results, getting his affairs in order after the terrible job Brenda had done before her; but on that sizzling morning, Melissa had trouble remembering the news she was supposed to give to the man - the size of his arms, the fact that his scars were once more visible and that his build was nothing short of impressive under a rather form-fitting shirt had clearly distracted her.

It was nothing short of a miracle that speech returned to the woman without Heidegger prompting her to speak - offering her boss an apologetic smile and moving a hand through her hair (evidently forgetting she had pinned it up earlier), Melissa bowed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, sir - I just wanted to say I've called the maintenance team and there is no further update regarding when the AC will be brought back online. I'm looking into some meeting rooms with no windows in the floors below to be requested as a temporary office space, if you'd prefer to work elsewhere?"

he's been standing beside the window since ten o'clock in the morn; the pane before him as ajar as he can get it without risking falling out. his coat rested on the back of his chair, his sleeves rolled up past his elbows and his first few buttons unpopped. one could almost see the pink of a scar across a hair-laden chest; the thick of his pecs almost bursting free from a shirt wet with sweat.

gods, it's unbearable. has him panting like a dog and routinely wiping sweat from his brow. the wax of his hair has long since lost its grip, a few strands finding their way before his eyes - only a couple, but enough to make him look the 'bad boy' he once was in his twenties. heidegger's hot. never mind hot but he's boiling - ready to undress entirely and sit back in the nude. were he not surrounded by workers and were it not highly inappropriate, shit, he'd probably do so.

discomfort is soon distracted by the knock on the door; his ever faithful secretary, the woman he hopes to hear only good news from coming in soon after he's called out in response. she herself as much a victim of the heat as he or anybody else. he notes the looseness of her shirt, the buttons undone - her hair losing its grip in the warmth of the day - the lengthy stares and the breaths that follow bad news.

were he not so distracted, he'd be responding straight away. a sigh would leave his lips, a grimace cross his features. but instead, he barely reacts. the general instead simply stares back; the brief flicker of a thought that asks

'ever seen her sweat before?'

another that jabs -

'ever wanna be the one to make her sweat?'

he breathes a heavy breath - something that sounds like a sigh but she'd not perhaps know it's anything but. he shuts his eyes, lids pressed hard in an attempt to rid another kind of heat from his form. soon enough, he's standing from his seat and walking toward her - body terribly lax for a man usually so uptight.

"i'd imagine the lower floors are cooler-" he pants, a few renegade strands brushed free of his face "perhaps we ought to scope them out." the two of them - together. they could glance an eye over each room; he could confirm it's right while she ensures it's appropriate. immediately, one comes to mind. a conference room a few floors down; enough tables to suffice a few men and a desk large enough for the many piles of paperwork himself and melissa share.

"come with me." he demands; feet taking him first, a stride (though weakened by the heat) as strong as it ever is. though heidegger fails to ever look back, he can feel her near him - hear the clack of her heals and shuffle of paperwork in her hands.

"there's a conference room, few floors down. come on-" he urges her into the elevator, tone entirely serious - expression unrelenting. whatever melissa would have on her mind would almost certainly find her distracted by the general's surliness. for now, he's serious. his mind, focused. his mind on anything to keep them cool (and keep them from melting!)

however, all would change upon the close of the elevator doors.

the sudden closeness of their surroundings, the two-second distraction of clicking buttons to a bottom floor not enough to keep him from looking toward his secretary.

they're barely a foot apart; the heat all-consuming, the warmth having him tug on his shirt and snatch a breath. his secretary, melissa, wiping a damp from her brow, playing with her hair to ensure it isn't wild. the subtle nudge of her knees as she stands, the way fingers pull her skirt ever-so-slightly down.

heidegger stands beside her, sweat creeping from his brow - a quick shift of his gaze toward her - a quick shift of hers to him. the heat has them trapped, the general's mind not far from where it could take them. the damp of her blouse has her lingerie peak out ever-so-slightly. enough for him to notice, enough for him to quickly look away.

a clear of his throat, a tap of the wall behind him.

he instinctively runs a hand from his collar to his chest - fingers trailed over a scar and across toward his back. an innocent gesture to wipe away the warmth though one that has his shirt hold him tighter.

the two of them exchange another glance; this time, a crook in the corner of his lip. not a happy smirk but rather something forced. a reassurance, perhaps? an easing that 'no, worry not - i can help myself'.

"...never known a lift to take so long-" he shrugs, words a hopeful interrupt to any tension that swells between them. "how are you handling the heat?"

"as professionally as i can-" her retort comes partnered with a smile; the sort that has him raising a brow - was she teasing?

"hm-" he's close to responding with his own. close to moving in a little more; close to embracing the heat with both hands. but then, as if by a sudden stroke of everything dangerous in the world - the power flickers and the lift suddenly stops.

"so much for professionalism..." he whispers neath this breath; a concerned look at the doors before him. a quick bang of a balled fist unto the lift. 

[ error ] reads the screen, the lights above them flickering on and off.

heidegger looks back to melissa, his body turned to face her - the closeness between them now suddenly so evident without the lift to take them anywhere. he breathes, lips wet - face a glisten with sweat.

"we're stuck" he mulls "but it's alright- i think i can-" the general turns back toward the lift doors, fingers grasping each one - a pull of his arms so strong it has his muscles bulging and teeth grinding. though tough, he manages only to open a crack in the door - just enough to show them the pipes and wires of shinra's interior.

there's no getting out of this one.

"fuck-" he sighs, a look back at her again - shirt weak and wet atop the toughness of muscles "i want to tell you that repair wont be long but..."

well, if that were the case - the fucking AC would be working.

#(answered) #TEEHEE #my dog finally let me post this thank you doggo #i hope that this is okay! #i know its very vague and stuff #and it feels like it should be continued but ldnglkdsn

[skovsgaardbrowning7]

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[getmemymicroscope]

I know this movie came out in 2012, but like, if you look at any of the posters you find online for this movie, Kunal Khemu and Amrita Puri look as if they were created by AI. It seems so fake. It's jarring, really.

(Also jarring - I know I said I was going to watch Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns today - not that it matters, since no one actually reads any of this. But whatever. I did turn it on. But it was going even slower than the first go-around, and apparently their tortured relationship has gotten even worse/messier, and I couldn't do it. So there ends that.)

This bad guy starts, and ends, the movie by telling people he's about to kill about his deep down secret - how he's someone other than who he claims. Which, as a viewer, does literally nothing, because no one else in the movie ever even thinks about this guy he claims he really is, let alone mentions it. Throwing that in really seems entirely pointless, and accomplishes very little, since the trap for him was set up for something completely different anyways. ... But still, for someone who claims to have faked his death to get away from 1 country and ... well, I don't remember what he said after that because I got bored by his irrelevant bragging ... he's kind of an idiot. Like, that should be something you keep hidden forever.

It's not immediate, and her reaction is completely justified even when the truth comes out, but it is nice to see that he owns up to his mistake. I mean, he immediately ruins it by being like "how many times do I have to apologize" and other shit and then immediately going over to "go to hell," but at least he tells her and immediately ends the whole "blackmail" possibility. I mean, it would've been better if he'd avoid that situation altogether, but hey, I guess this still beats the other, worse alternative...

You do really feel bad for Amrita Puri's character, throughout. She's so excited at first, even just to tell her story about why she's worried, and he shuts her down. And then, in a brand new world, she gets left behind - the initial party, of course, but then also the subsequent dinners at home, crescendo'ing with the birthday. She's so bubbly, which in Bollywood normally means that tragedy is about to hit. Apparently they don't like people being bubbly for a full movie (maybe partially because they end up talking A LOT, and the movie doesn't want that).

This whole "ruining one's life to chase a professional dream" has been done to death by Bollywood, I feel (though, I can't name a movie off the top of my head, but I'm going to blame that on it being almost midnight and on having worked for 14 straight days), so in that sense, the movie doesn't really add much. That doesn't make it bad, or even not good - it just means that it'll get lost amongst the fray of other such movies.

But it does have some fantastic songs - Aarzoo, Gunaah, Teri Yaadon Se, Jo Tere Sang - so, if nothing else, I'll be listening to one (or more) of those on repeat tomorrow.

There's a whole bit where she's justifiably upset (depressed?) early on, and her friend is talking about how you get adjusted to this sort of lifestyle and can't go back to whatever you grew up with and ... that is very, very true. It sucks you in and makes you part of it. And it is very sad, really, that that is how society works.

Aarzoo deserved better - and I'm glad she got it at the end (if you ignore everything that happened for the entirety of the movie).

#GMMM does movies #GMMM does Bollywood #movies #movieblr

[debunkingtherightwing]

Ben Shapiro's eclipse panic

Ben Shapiro, pagan conspiracy finder (source: Ben Shapiro at Daily Wire)

If there's one thing that Ben Shapiro is good at, it's watching TV and then promptly getting mad at what he sees. Is he particularly good at analyzing what he's seeing? Well no. But he is great at yelling about it on his podcast.

So, Ben saw a person on the View say something stupid about the eclipse and has now drawn the conclusion that environmentalism is a modern form of paganism. Lets get into it.

00:00, Ben Shapiro: "Well, yesterday was a pagan day in America. There was a giant solar eclipse, obviously, that moved all across the United States over the course of the day and it was pretty fascinating to see the responses. The reason that I say that it was a Pagan day in America is because there are a couple different ways that you could view something like a solar eclipse. So, if you were a normal person you'd view the solar eclipse as a wonderful example of science at work. An incredible example of the workings of the universe in which the sun is eclipsed totally by the moon and it has to do obviously with the rotations of the universe and the solar system -- all the rest of it."

Ok, so Ben's really hyped up about the Eclipse because he thinks that the way the general public reacted indicates that there's a form of environmental paganism sweeping the nation. Surely a large claim like this would have a lot of evidence backing it up....right?

00:40, Ben Shapiro: "Traditionally, traditional religions had always suggested, before they knew any of the science, that things like solar eclipses, which obviously appeared incredibly rarely and were very scary to people, they had suggested that that was celestial movings in response to human sin."

Yeah, most of the insane eclipse conspiracy theories that I've seen online have been coming from the right, many of them saying that the eclipse is the sign of the biblical end times. For example, Jack Posobiec declared that the solar eclipse "foretells the coming of the great leader" and Alex Jones declared that the eclipse would be used to "usher in the coming of the New World Order". All of the apocalyptic screeching about the Eclipse is coming from Bens side.

01:16, Ben Shapiro: "Then there's the Pagan view. The Pagan view is that you sin against nature and then the Gods smack you and that is the view that apparently has been taken by a wide variety of people across the United States. The most obvious of whom is the signal (?) unintelligent person Sunny Hostin on the View."

Finally, Ben's gotten to what he wants to talk about. So, this story is about something that a co-host on the View named Sunny Hostin said. She tried to tie the Eclipse to climate change and was immediately shut down by her co-hosts. Ok, so a celebrity said something stupid and was immediately shut down for it, not a big deal right? Well, according to Ben it is because....paganism I guess.

Also, notice how Ben said "a wide variety of people". It was one person and she was immediately fact-checked for it, calm down Ben. This is like if I said that the entire right thinks that wet pussy is a medical condition because of the stuff that Bens said in the past.

01:45, Ben Shapiro: "Now, it may be that Sunny Hostin just doesn't know literally anything about science or it may be that you are supposed to, in Pagan circles, blame everything on mans sin against nature."

Only Ben Shapiro could dig up a pagan conspiracy in the show that your dentist puts on as background noise. Ben plays the clip from the View and then it's time for more pagan talk.

03:07, Ben Shapiro: "But there is something to what Sunny Hostin is saying and that is that if you live in this Pagan world where the world takes its revenge on you for sinning against the climate and you must pay homage to the climate - you don't have to try and solve a problem, it's not a real world problem that the climate is changing overtime and that maybe you adapt to that as human beings or you try to mitigate particular activities, instead it is a sin against the climate."

I don't know what on earth Ben is talking about here. Absolutely nobody is worshipping the climate and pretty much everybody is looking for practical solutions. Ben doesn't get to talk about "oh, we should be looking for practical solutions to climate change" because he's been opposed to every single one of them.

I'm also waiting for another example of someone else saying that the solar eclipse was caused by climate change. After all, a wide variety of people apparently believe this apparently so surely Ben has examples of other people making this claim. Unless he was making a sweeping generalization in order to underscore his weird-ass point about paganism.

03:30, Ben Shapiro: "And you see, sort of, this additional move towards paganism across the spectrum. It's really really weird, it's a weird thing that we're seeing."

He never really elaborates on this beyond "Well, everything that I don't like is Pagan".

03:58, Ben Shapiro: "It is very funny how everyone's mentality changes with regard to the eclipse. Like, none of us ever think about looking at the sun because you just instinctively don't look at the sun because, you know, don't look at the sun. When it comes to the eclipse we all become idiots."

Golly Ben, I wonder why someone would be more inclined to look at the sun during a solar eclipse. It's not like it's a rare astronomical event or something.

04:12, Ben Shapiro: "NASA didn't just have on scientists to discuss the eclipse. Again, it's NASA, OK. You're talking about a government funded space agency. And they decided that they were going to bring on an indigenous scientist named doctor David Begay to talk about the solar eclipse. And this is a weird thing, ok? It's just weird."

I looked to see if anyone else in the conservative griftosphere was pissed off about this....nope, just Ben. NASA did a short interview with an indigenous scientist, who cares? All that is happening here is a unique perspective being provided. It doesn't hurt anyone and occupied a short amount of time on the broadcast.

So, Ben's proof that America is goin' pagan is someone on the View saying something stupid and NASA interviewing an indigenous scientist. Neither of these stories are related outside of both directionally being about the eclipse, neither of the people that Ben's mad at are climatologists, and none of this is even pagan!

There's an ad break and Ben comes back still pissed off about this brief interview that NASA conducted.

07:16, Ben Shapiro: "I love that NASA has on this Indigenous 'scientist' (his air quotes, not mine). Kay, what he's not talking about is science, it is religion of one sort or another."

And that's why he wasn't running the show and just got a brief interview to provide an interesting and oft unheard perspective on the eclipse.

08:33, Ben Shapiro: "And it does tie into something that has a moral underpinning. And that moral underpinning is that we are supposed to take as wrote the idea that there are these sorts of sacrifices we make to the pagan universe and then we backfill the rationale for them."

Sacrifices? What?! Does Ben Shapiro yell "I WON'T MAKE SACRIFICES TO YOUR PAGAN GOD!!!!" when he is denied a plastic fork at McDonald's?

You know what I think of when I think of pagan sacrifice? Using a paper straw at McDonald's.

Michael Knowles:

Apparently this story about the View was oh so important that absolutely everybody at the Daily Wire had to be drafted on board to cover it. Somebody saying something stupid on the View is a highly important all hands on deck kind of issue and the Daily Wire is here to squeeze as many clicks out of it as possible. So, continuing to prove my hypothesis that he is a failed clone that was created with the combined DNA of Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles leaped onto this story as well.

Daily Wire third-banana (maybe secondary banana since Candace Owens is gone now) Michael Knowles is the absolute last person should be talking about dumb takes on the eclipse since he recently hosted a pastor on his show who declared that the eclipse was a sign of the end times. One of the tags on this video is literally "rapture", he's ironically enough exactly the kind of person that Ben was talking about earlier and he works directly for Ben.

If you think that the Eclipse is a sign of the rapture, you have absolutely zero right to ever criticize anyone of a take on the eclipse.

00:00, Michael Knowles: "While the internet raged with competing theories over yesterdays Eclipse. Was it a direct sign of the worlds imminent end? Was it a warning about some red heifers in the holy land? Was it something else?"

Yeah, one of those people was you Michael. Calm down.

00:17, Michael Knowles: "While all that idle chatter was going on, The Views Sunny Hostin came up with the obvious answer; the eclipse was caused by climate change."

Quick question, do people outside of conservatives looking for more content actually watch the View? The only places I've seen it are at the doctors office and on Dave Rubin/Ben Shapiro/Michael Knowles/Matt Walsh/Charlie Kirk type shows. The View, Rachel Maddow, and most commercials probably have a 75% conservative grifter viewership base.

Michael plays the clip and then immediately discredits himself.

01:29, Michael Knowles: "Well, hold on, Whoopi was actually being the voice of reason until right at the very end when she said 'God does not give you warning'. He does, he does. He gave a warning to Noah for instance, with the Ark."

"Oh yeah, I don't think the eclipse was caused by climate change, that's crazy. Now let me give you my equally insane theory about the Eclipse being a literal warning from God."

Conclusion:

When I started this blog I used to joke that Ben Shapiro is the most rational out of everybody that I cover on this blog. The last two episodes of his that I've covered have proven that boy was I incorrect.

Just to recap, the last two Ben episodes were "There's an anti-white conspiracy hidden in an AI image generator" and now "Sunny Hostin said something on The View and that proves that environmentalism is a pagan movement". Isn't this the guy who's all about "facts and logic"?

Also, Michael Knowles is a massive idiot but we aren't exactly treading on new ground with that. Cheers and I'll see you in the next one.

Sources:

Original Videos:

“Ep. 1943 - Blotting out the Sun.” The Daily Wire.

the far-right panics about the eclipse, say it's a sign of revelations:

Armstrong, Payton, and Jack Winstanley. “Far-Right Media Figures Are Using the Eclipse and Recent Earthquake to Push Apocalyptic Conspiracy Theories.” Media Matters for America.

Sunny Hostin says something stupid, the right is pissed:

Baragona, Justin. “The View” Host Gets Schooled for Tying Eclipse to Climate Change.” The Daily Beast, 8 Apr. 2024.

#right wing bullshit #conservative bullshit #journalism #fact checking #bad takes #conservatives #disinformation #politics #debunking #daily wire #michael knowles #ben shapiro

[moonieshinesims]

Generation One - Chapter Twenty Eight

River should be hearing back about her application soon...! However, because of some interesting news that Cassandra has received from her brother, she is leaving school for the semester (possibly longer). Bella is preparing the new recruits for their induction in a week, and on top of all this, River gets a strange offer.

"I'm sorry you didn't hear it from me." Cassandra sighed, sitting next to River. "People here like to gossip apparently. But yes. I know the semester just got started, but I'll be finishing it up online. My brother just gave me some big news recently... And I can't just ignore it."

"Is it something you can talk about?"

"...Not yet." Cassandra shook her head, "But if this all works out, you'll hear it straight from me, okay?"

"Okay." River nodded, respecting her right to privacy.

"They're having a going away party for me this weekend. Will you be there?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for anything!"

That night...

A couple hours later...

The next morning, Fig regaled River with tales of her abduction.

Cassandra turned towards the two of you and pretended not to be listening, but eavesdropped on the entire conversation.

Hopefully she's enjoying this more than I am... River thought to herself. She'd experienced run-ins with gang members, human traffickers, vampires, and potentially ghosts, but so far had been lucky enough to never have a run-in with an alien. She wasn't sure if Fig was right about her experience from the night before, or if she just had a really weird nightmare (as she was prone to do).

"Oh, right! I am super hungry... I'll see ya later Bella!"

Bella smiled as Fig walked away. While the others will remember her rants about alien abductions, she herself won't remember it, and therefore the others will just chalk it up to bad dreams and an overactive imagination.

Bella had her own well-being to think about after all. She couldn't have someone like Fig outing her to everybody.

A few days later the weekend happened and it was time to say goodbye to Cassandra.

Before she left, Cassandra pulled Bella to the side...

"Don't think I'm not onto you and your kind..." The usually demure and kind Cassandra glared, venom in her eyes, aimed at Bella.

"Oh dear," Bella smiled coyly, "What are you talking about?"

"First you abduct my mother, then you take her name... Then you even take Fig to toy with her?"

"Oh please, as if anyone would believe you..." Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm living a perfectly normal life here, I've done nothing wrong and there's no way you can prove otherwise."

"Oh, I will though." Cassandra said through gritted teeth.

Before Bella had a chance to respond, Cassandra turned around and left... Leaving Bella to think about what she just said...

A few nights later, which had been about a week since River sent in her application to the Arakawa Family Internship, Ako appeared in her room.

"I've got news!" He boomed.

"SHHHH!" River pointed to the bed beside hers, "Fig is sleeping!" She whispered.

"So? She won't wake up! I've got good news! But I'm gonna need you to give me some blood first before I tell you..."

"Oh, calm down. The quicker we do this, the quicker I get to the news."

"Ugh, fine. Do the thing so it doesn't hurt as bad..."

Ako nodded and pulled River in front of him.

Suddenly Fig rolled over and sat up, catching the two of them in the act.

"Oh..." Fig stared at the two of them sleepily. "I... didn't realize you had that kind of relationship. Maybe next time don't do that while I'm in the room?"

Fig laid back down and covered herself back up.

Ako rolled his eyes. He didn't realize that Fig knew him by name. He tossed River back in her bed. She was passing out, so he would have to give her the good news later.

#generation one #moonie's legacy challenge #ts4 challenge #ts4 legacy