#and i like exploring those questions

[mai-komagata]

Tendi is a bit of an unreliable narrator in regards to orions

this is not hate of tendi or of lower decks, which I love heart and soul. Just a more realistic take on what we have been told.

But I do think it is important to keep in mind her descriptions of orion society are of someone *extremely priviledged* in the social hierarchy and that orion society is very unequal.

She is the rich international student at a university -- she is right to dispel a lot of myths about orion society perpetuated by the more hegemonic power in the sector. But also realize her perspective is heavily influenced by her position as one of the richest families in the planet. Like its good that her grandmother was a scientist on a science ship, and good on them recognizing orion scientific achievements. But was that a position available to the common orion, or like, something wealthy people were able to access in orion society? It is amazing that she is putting aside her privileged position to join starfleet, but is that a possibility for her only because she is wealthy? Like can the guy whose job is to carry divans all day make the same decision? Is she less likely to downplay aspects of society like hormonal coercion, or the slave trade as part of their piracy operations because the wealth of her family allows them to opt out of those aspects of society? Is she to some degree ignorant of societal inequality b/c of her wealth? She sees a lot of orion society as embarrassing and worthy of critique which is laudable of her. But I do think she might have a bit of a myoptic view, too. If you've never read this medium article on the international school class, it is enlightening: https://medium.com/@rachel.engel/an-open-letter-to-the-international-school-community-our-role-in-the-black-lives-matter-movement-c92ba725d93c (on the transnational capitalist class)

[baeshijima]

u know what would be a cool genshin fic idea? isekai/transmigrated reader, but instead of appearing within the general timeline, you come into the genshin world 500 years prior to the start of the storyline in khaenri'ah.

honestly it could be either a little before the cataclysm, giving enough time to delve into some relationship building + explore some world building with characters like dainsleif, traveller's sibling (which would probably be lumine bc i actually do like her as abyss sibling & aether as traveller), and npcs like halfdan (still crying over him to this day ;w;) and possibly the khaenri'ahn royal guards (assuming you either join them or have a good enough relationship with them), OR it could be you appear during the crisis, completely and utterly lost as to why you were brought amidst the chaos and bloodshed as you watch everything you barely knew about this nation crumble before your very eyes.

either route will still result in reader's existential crises and constant "why am i here? just to suffer?" monologues because really, who would be fine after going through that after coming from /our/ world? and not to mention you've had to endure the next 500 years wandering with no real set path because you don't know this world— this era of teyvat or of genshin. you're merely stuck, unable to die, and forced to live a life of uncertainty with no clear direction for you to go to.

despite it all, you've at least been able to see dain during this course. while your meetings pass far too quickly for your lonesome, and his solemn demeanour is something you're yet to be accustomed to after having been with him before the fall of khaenri'ah (assuming it's the route where you appear before the cataclysm), you're glad to see a familiar face every now and then. after the messy departure with the lumine who left for the abyss order, you've come to appreciate his quiet presence more and more each time.

and then you decide it might be time to settle. you soon realise it's difficult to do so when your lifespan has become far more than that of a human's — of a mortal's — and so you find yourself becoming used to staying in one place for a few years before setting off for the next. rinse and repeat. over and over. it's come to a point where you've witnessed the nations undergo various changes each time you visit. you know change is inevitable, and yet your heart stings each time you witness it; a testament to how the world is ever-changing, yet you're stuck in place as a bystander.

one thing you're grateful for, however, are the bonds you've established amid your back-and-forth over the centuries. from archons like zhongli and venti to long-life beings such as neuvillette and the adepti to regular mortals who have showed you kindness as if one of their own... you've grown to cherish those memories, often reminiscing them when the nights get too long and surroundings too quiet. it was difficult at first, and still is, but you've become used to the inevitable change and the passing of those you once knew.

and after 500 years, you find yourself face-to-face with one you haven't seen since before you appeared in this world; the protagonist of this world, and the one you eventually join in hopes of finally finding a means to an end, aether.

little side notes/extras:

from /our/ world, you would probably know the storyline from up to around current (5.0) or maybe a little after the fontaine aq conclusion. it gives a lot to work with, but you definitely won't remember a lot of the lore after so long other than some main events, especially since most of your knowledge is pretty irrelevant for the next 500 years,,,

i think it would be cool if you had an inteyvat on your person as a little homage of khaenri'ah, which may or may not invoke some opinions from certain characters (*cough* aether immediately being reminded of lumine and having an existential crisis *cough*)

post-cataclysm you would go through a, uhm, long phase of helplessness, wondering why you were even brought to this world so far back if you couldn't even make any contributions. it does eventually morph into a resolution to do what you can to help those you come across if it's within your capabilities, but the nightmares and helplessness come back every now and then as a reminder for what you can't do :D yippee :D

honestly i'm on the fence whether you would have a vision or some other type of abilities (think on the similar lines of aether/lumine's and dain's), but i think having some type of purification mechanic would be a must in your arsenal !! would definitely lead to some moments between you and characters like dain or zhongli who suffer from the erosion as you give them a slight reprieve from what rages within and corrodes them

a little self indulgent, but i'd like to think your first /proper/ meeting with zhongli happens during a lantern rite festival, wherein you're admiring the lanterns in the sky after making a wish of your own and he comes up from behind with "they're beautiful, wouldn't you say so?" and !!

also as for love interests, as much as i would love for human/mortal characters, a part of me feels like this story would be better suited for the immortal/long-life characters as love interests?? idk i feel like considering that 500 years is, well, a long time, the bonds you would have with them compared to characters like, say, alhaitham or diluc would be way too different ?? though i would definitely still add them as love interest bc i am a sucker for so many of the human characters ;w; it would also add to the angst and hurt/comfort ahahha...

anyway thank you for reading this massive brain dump of a fic bc i absolutely would put this as a long term project, and if u made it this far then i would like to say that dain solos—

[justladders]

does disneytrap like jazz? he looks like someone who likes jazz 🎶🎷

I think as long as it's showtimey-enough, he'd like it. He'd just want music you would dance/sing/perform to, even if he's only listening to it. He's a theatre kid.

[dragontamer05]

You know I want to know more about B-127 like what kind of work did he do before (and kept apparently failing at so badly he got dropped down to a level so low most don't even know it exists)

Like B out here knowing exactly who the Elite Guard are and their names when Orion and D16 didn't even know them.

And while we know Transformers have wildly long lifespans the fact he's had many jobs and still been down there for like a very long time,

"Somewhere between a longtime and forever"

I saw one person make an interesting comment on the implication of him actually being Older then Orion

I mean the stuff with the Primes and Sentinel happened looong time ago which raises the question as to when did Sentinel Prime -assuming since I find it highly suspicious it'd be there by accident toss that S.O.S message down there in the first place for B to find and how'd it end up in Steve's head?

[xxplastic-cubexx]

every day i think of xmen evolution wanda and everyday i wonder if- while she does have the fake happy memories with magneto- how does she actually FEEL about him when he's brought up or she thinks about him

is there just this underlying anger/rage but she cant ever place why so she ignores it ....... does she just feel numb ....

[emcapi-gaming]

I am greatly enjoying all the discussion about Solution 9 and the positives and negatives that I've been seeing.

However! I went for a walk around the other day as Arkose! Who is my S9 oc with mild levin sickness (manifesting similar to peripheral neuropathy), and who often uses modified arm crutches for balance/stability.

And I suddenly noticed that this place is an ACCESSIBILITY NIGHTMARE. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FUCKING STAIRS WITH NO RAMPS. WHY ARE THERE RANDOM BUMPS AND ELEVATION CHANGES IN THE ROAD.

Literally when I have time I'm gonna make a series of screenshots with Arkose posing next to all the FUCKING STAIRS doing very sarcastic /showleft, /showright, and/or "magic the gathering butt crack guy prayer hands pose."

[miyku]

[mewkwota]

I've come to realize that I very much lack an "identity" when it comes to my interests, so when I am asked about them irl it becomes awkward. Everyone around me is a gamer to some extent and everyone is nerding on some pop culture something-or-other, but I cannot group myself into any of these things clearly.

And no, I refuse to open up about my artwork or vocal synth nonsense. I would rather keep that strongly barred from anyone off the net unless I trust them enough.

So partly it's my fault since I want to come off as unassuming as possible, but I can't help it when I worry about being scrutinized for every little thing I do or enjoy. But who hasn't felt that way, right?

In short, I know who I am but what are you going to do with that information? I don't know and it kinda scares me.

[gingermintpepper]

Tehe. 19 and 23 for the ask game miaou☆

INSANE how you managed to find the two questions that would be not fun for me to answer because there is no catharsis to be had LMFAO Why do you torment me so 😭

19) something you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I had to think really hard about this for a sec because generally, there isn't much that I'm ashamed of liking. If I like something, I like something and there's generally a great deal of thought put into it! But really, there's only one answer I can give and it's Epic the Musical.

Listen to me, I love (the first half) of Epic. It is unironically very well done and as a concept as well as musically it is a very competent draft. But it is very much still a draft and there are many narrative, chronological, character and thematic flaws that need to be dealt with before it can truly be a good musical. It has a wonderful foundation but if it's going to be anything other than a wonderful foundation, serious edits need to be done.

I'm not actually gonna say anything about the fandom - I was never a big fan of Odysseus as a greek figure and I continue to not be a big fan of Odysseus as a greek figure (my favourite Achean war criminals from the Iliad are Diomedes and Menelaus tysm) so I'm definitely not someone greatly impacted by the Epicification of the Odyssey but!! ☝🏾 Epic erased Apollo so hard from the Odyssey that he literally only has twenty secs of soundtime and that is an insult I will never forgive it for.

I still bump the Thunder Saga though, that shit goes crazy.

23) a ship you've unwillingly come around to

Apollomes. Or, well Apollo/Hermes.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't ship it - and on a bad day, I can still be very bitter if I come across stuff for it in the wild - but in general, I've gone from loathing it to being fairly ambivalent towards it, which is a massive improvement for me.

My biggest bugbear will continue to be that both Apollo and Hermes just straight up have more interesting romantic options to dig into and also their dynamic as brothers and friends is intimate and beautiful just the way it is but I also acknowledge that sometimes people just want to have fun and think they're cute together so it's really not that serious.

I do wish Apollo would be characterised a little more maturely in their dynamic though - to me the theoretical fun of Apollo and Hermes is Hermes coaxing Apollo to do some stupid shit and then Apollo getting them out of trouble when the stupid shit inevitably ends poorly LMFAO

Also there is no where NEAR enough content of the two of them having flirting competitions where they menace and proposition nymphs together just for the fun of it. If they ARE together, they're swingers like the gods intended.

[sysig]

Go play pretend on your own (Patreon)

[light-wrath-paradise]

Someone stop me from adding yet another fucker to Chatterbird Corporations or so help me god. Come on I thought we had AliveWorld for this kind of fuckery.

[ferronickel]

Thinking bout the time someone yelled at me because they didn't understand butches.

[dragonsdomain]

You! Are! History!

I drew some of Pit's fabulous adorable poses from his battle cry in Chapter 5. I love him so much.

There were more, by the way, but I got tired after inking and coloring two. Have all five sketches under the cut:

[13eyond13]

gotta say i tried watching the iwtv series but the tone just seems off somehow. there are good things about it sure, and i do love sam reid (?) as lestat, but the tone issue is similar to why i think vampire diaries is so off-putting for me. like, it focuses on sex and blood so strongly in a way, and sort of misses the elements that made the books so interesting to me. i wish i could explain this vibe better, lol.

that being said, i would be interested in your opinion on the show if you ever watch it! often when i happen to know the piece of media you're talking about you voice things about it that i haven't been able to put into words myself but strongly agree with, haha.

I'll try watching it today since the books are still fresh in my mind and see what I think! Curious to know instead of just judge mostly based on clips and gifs...

[nintendont2502]

being transmasc + pre t + visibly neurodivergent is such a great fuckin combo because everyone that so much as looks at you thinks that you're far younger than you actually are and treats you as such and even when you're talking to people who *know* how old you are you can tell. you can fucking tell they're doing the same thing even if they don't realise they're doing it

[drakyns]

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘 . . .

a brief explanation of the origins of hiccup's real name (håkan) and how he came to accept it. it is believed that in old norse customs, the use of bynames was common; they could be praising or condescending, sometimes even used without one's given name, rewriting them. the collection of many bynames and honorary titles could indicate glory, fame and endless spirit.

ㅤhe was born a moon cycle too early, already too anxious to live. a wee thing, like his mother said: small, fragile, almost the size of a cat. he fought against his own little lungs, deafening all around the crib with his cries. his father was proud, for he squeezed his finger, and it hurt. he thought him a warrior, in a hurry to leave footsteps into the world. when stoick held him, he raised him to soak in dawning moonlight. as if smiling down on their family, thor sent thunder cutting through the skies... or was it a dragon roaring in the distance? the chronicles won't say for certain. blinded by promises only he could hear or perhaps projecting much of his own greens in his son's eyes, his father wanted to name him quickly, before the sun reached its peak. so soon, ausa vatni bathed his forehead, welcoming him in the arms of the chieftain, claiming him heir and part of the tribe. people sang the name chosen by the great and vast: håkan; storytellers etched his runes so the gods would not forget his calling: ᛡᛆᚴᛆᚿ.

ㅤwhile some would call it arrogance, love was what made stoick not name his child ulf, bjørn, toke, arne, njal or any derivation from animals or fables. the name was a promise: his son was exalted by his father, the leader of the pack, and his mother, the queen, chosen by the very heavens, born to lead and rule, destined for greatness in all his might, a warrior in the making, strongest of them all. first of his name, his son was the mark of a better tomorrow to come, according to his father's speeches. a worthy heir for his legacy and tribe! no father could be more proud, more excited for grey days to come. his name, noble and princely, served to warn all others of his to-be imposing and towering presence. all expected him to be like stoick.

ㅤneedless, thus it is to say that, as his child grew, he did not seem to fit in the pledged shoes. he got sick often and was scrawny, body petit like a branch, trembling against harsh winds. clumsy he was on his feet, far too enamoured with stupid fables and childish wonders. he always let his prey escape and did poorly in sports. barely had a competitive spirit. he could not hold much of his drinking, either. sailors called him a bad luck charm, and gatherers avoided his son. he did not seem to have an ounce of charisma: he stuttered in shiness, fumbling on his words. his byname was soon fixed to be hixti inn (hiccup man, hiccup). so fitting it was that even his father adopted it. hence, ᛡᛆᚴᛆᚿ was replaced by ᛡᛁᚴᛍᛐᛁ ᛁᚿᚿ in young royal stories. hiccup embraced it, for he was hiccup, and not håkan. at least as a mere hiccup he did not feel so pressured. or that is what he believed, at least. sometimes, though, fate is a funny trickster thing.

ㅤ[ ... ]ㅤwhen the dragons were tamed and brought home, he showed himself bigger than hiccup or håkan, for he was both, neither and more. he stopped flinching or hesitating when someone called him by his given exalted name, and he smiled whenever his father would ruffle his hair in pride then. his chest was bigger now, heart more daring and outwards. thanks to his works and ambition, he collected other bynames so legends to prose: smiðr (ᛍᛘᛁᚦᛦ, great smith, metal maker), draig kyn (ᛑᚱᛆᛁᚵ ᚴᚤᚿ, dragon-kinned, of fire and scales) and hersir (ᛡᛂᚱᛍᛁƦ, chieftain and loved guardian). even the elders gave him honourary titles: first rider, cloud chaser, pride of berk, berk's shield, blade cutter, heart and soul of dragon. though ghosts of feeling unworthy still burdened his nightmares and shoulders, he carried himself tall like his father taught him: he needed to try and be that great, that brave and that selfless. for his father was proud at the table of the kings, smiling down on him, and he watched as every step of his son now left bold footsteps behind. for he was first of his name and unlike all before him.

håkan, hiccup, hersir, smiðr, draig kyn. he wears them all on his coat.