#reverse gestalt

[transingthoseformers]

We need more aus where combiner gestalts share a partner

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Word List: Psychology

more psychological concepts as reference for your poem/story

Telepathic dream - a dream in which one appears to gain insight or information about a person or event despite not having access to the relevant information in waking life; described by Sigmund Freud.

Thought echoing - (or écho des pensées) an auditory hallucination in which an individual hears their own thoughts repeated in spoken form.

Trait rumination - a tendency to focus attention on negative thoughts and emotions, which is associated with longer and more severe episodes of depression or anxiety.

Twilight state - a state of clouded consciousness in which the individual is temporarily unaware of their surroundings, experiences fleeting auditory or visual hallucinations, and responds to them by performing irrational acts, such as undressing in public, running away, or committing violence. The disturbance occurs primarily in temporal lobe epilepsy, dissociative reactions, and alcohol intoxication. On regaining normal consciousness, individuals usually report that they felt they were dreaming and have little or no recollection of their actual behavior.

Universality of emotions - the finding that certain emotional expressions, appraisals, and manifestations are the same or highly similar across cultures and societies.

Waking dream - an episode of dreamlike visual imagery experienced when one is not asleep. The term is sometimes applied to hallucinations, religious visions, and the like.

Windmill illusion - an illusion of motion of rotating objects, such as windmills and automobile wheels, which appear to reverse direction intermittently.

Xenoglossy - in parapsychology, the ostensible ability of a person to speak or write in a language that is entirely unknown to them.

Yantra - a visual pattern on which attention is focused during concentrative meditation.

Zeigarnik effect - the tendency for interrupted, uncompleted tasks to be better remembered than completed tasks. Some theorists relate this phenomenon to certain gestalt principles of organization but at the level of higher mental processing (e.g., memory), rather than at the level of pure perception; described in 1927 by Bluma Zeigarnik.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Part 1 2 3 4 5 ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[canonical-transformation]

@ragingcitrustree an (imprecise, underdetermined) eldritch-gods-as-optimisation-process reading of Vision-element assignment

Gnoses and Gestalts: Archons as Vibe Checks

(CW: unsubstantiated theory)

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that you are Celestia, the Second Throne of the Heavens. You have usurped the throne from the Primordial One, laid waste to the civilisation of the Seelies, and now hold dominion over the mortal realm of Teyvat.

Say, too, that you are in the process of carving the world into seven nations, implementing a system of Gnoses wielded by seven Archons, in order to (error: speculation out of scope for this post).

And suppose—to run with the voxel-pixel motifs associated with you, Celestia—that your mind(s) are inhuman, that your neurology and biology are alien to this world, that you look at mortals and terrestrial "gods" alike and see only the mysterious cognition of jellyfish and ant colonies (metaphorically).

Allogenes are, in part, a mechanism for getting 'better' Archons. You intend to allocate Visions to those with the potential to achieve Godhood (presumably Archonhood).

You don't have a grasp on mortal (or demigod or god or etc.) psychology, not nearly enough to run a job interview for a farmhand, let alone an Archon.

How do you do it?

(N.B. For simplicity, I'll be treating Celestia as a singular entity with consistent goals: maybe a hive mind, maybe a collection of seraphim all aligned on the same purpose, whatever. Also let's drop the second-person hypothetical now that we're below the cut.)

Well, the groundwork had been laid: the Archon War was a pretty good start. A vicious free-for-all between all terrestrial powers, resulting in seven clear winners? The War was a well-optimised mechanism for selecting something. (Whatever Celestia's goal was in having seven Archons+Gnoses, we can assume that the War's selection process comports with that goal.)

Now, recall, we're assuming that the hearts and minds of Teyvat are like black boxes. It's easy to comprehend the actions of nations in aggregate, but to inspect, say, Mao Xiangling and conclude that she has the potential to achieve Godhood, that she's worth allocating one of their bounded(?) supply of Visions towards? How do you do that without understanding human desire (or yokai desire or wind-spirit desire, etc.)?

Can a brainwave scan tell you that? Can analysis of the neurochemical mix in a little vertebrate alien's brain tell you, at any given moment, that this person is a candidate for Godhood?

Well, the convenient thing is, you're not analysing vertebrate alien brains from scratch.

You have access to seven entire brains of Archon War winners.

You can't be sure what goes on in the Archons' minds either, but they're structurally far more similar to the mortals' minds than to your own.

So what if you just... compared them?

Imagine "what makes somebody a suitable Archon?" as a question, and these seven Archons are all different but seemingly good answers. Celestia can look at the Archons' minds. How do these minds work? How do the Archons think?

(a pilgrimage[...]; a battle ¶ is the noblest and most eminent in ¶ someday, they will blow towards a brighter future ¶ a very, very long dream[...] the dancing circle ¶ you shoulder the grievances of the world ¶ this is the trust[...] betray it, and you have tainted ¶ my ideals have no stains)

...and once Celestia understood the shape that Archons contort their minds into at the height of their power, it's not too hard an exercise to look out for mortals doing the same.

Moments of self-certain unchangeability. Moments of resistance and defiance. Moments of unwavering idealism. And so on.

And really, how else could Celestia find Vision wielders, if not by searching for people who, for just a moment in time, resemble an Archon?

(❤️❤️ with thanks to @eujean for their recent Visions theory posts, which inspired me to write this up. There's more to say but I think this gives the general idea of this maybe-not-crack headcanon)

Side note: I titled this post "Archons as Vibe Checks" following Peli Grietzer's fascinating account (link) of computational models coincidentally encoding vibes, or aesthetics, or the impression that a gestalt leaves (where a gestalt, approximately, is a collection of things which collectively have more 'meaning' than the sum of its parts).

Side side note: a quick self-plug for Seven Prayers to Seven Archons, which builds upon this theory with 45 standalone Vision stories.

[sir-kettle-of-countertop]

Safety above all else!

FINALLY, definitive edition of Geier's reference sheet I've made for artfight! Styled like an in-universe manual, too! Here's it plus all the written info on the unit - as well as the Corrupted version and the Gestalt neural pattern donor!

Replika Overview and Known Issues

GEIR maintenance guidebook with design details

Corrupted Geier

Neural pattern donor - Emil Ning, with his little sisters and mother

Below the cut: lots of written notes, beware!

General notes:

- Friendly, polite, responsible, selfless and careful, but generally neurotic, anxious and meek. Very secretive and fraternal - whatever happens within a Geier cadre stays within the cadre. Highly protective of people they love, whether platonically or romantically, often failing to see their flaws. While they tolerate a lot of mistreatment towards themselves, they DO NOT tolerate it towards those they care about, and tend to violently lash out.

- Adore all fiction in general, but films the most. They can get uncharacteristically snobby about them. Geiers sometimes come up with stories to tell each other for comfort. Geiers also tend to blow up any rumor they hear way out of proportion, as they change the details to "be more interesting".  

  

- His hair is almost always messy because of the HAZMAT hood. 

- Treat their suits more like clothes than anything, are normally embarrassed to be seen without them outside of their dorms. Depending on their field of work the normal Geier attire consists of either the full suit with the SCBA or the suit without the gasmask and oxygen tank. The belts may be used to attach heavy weights to their backs.

  

- Besides themselves, Geiers get along best with Eules, however they're prevented from interacting with them frequently as they get along along too well, and get too attached. Best "mandated" connections are with Mynahs and (well-trained) Storches.

- Rank-equivalent to a Mynah normally, may act as subordinates to a Mynah if one is attached to lead their cadre on a mission.

Corrupted Geier notes: 

Visual: abscent lower jaw; heavily damaged throat; the left arm is dislocated out of its socket by a huge lump of cancerous flesh and drags on the floor behind Geier when idle - he can still move it, though; corroded and rusted chestplate from constant stream of oxidant and stomach acid; the collar forms jagged "teeth" from corrosion; slits on their face from tear streams; eyes still appear "normal", with a sad and pained look to them.

Behavioral:

- Still have sparks of consciousness and sentience left, to their agony. Instead of being immediately aggressive, they stalk their targets before striking.

- Geiers are very strong normally, but keep their strength under constant restrain. Corrupted Geiers do not.

- Quiet due to heavily damaged larynx, but constantly sob.

- Attempt to still do their jobs past corruption - drag dead bodies, hang around monitoring machinery, patrol hospital wards etc.

On Emil Ning:

While I don't want to reveal too much about him ahead of time (I have plans), in general: he was a smart and hardworking, promising young man successfully accepted to a fairly prestigious university and studying to become an engineer on Rotfront.

However, due to his father's sudden passing and mother's disability, he had to return from Rotfront to Vineta, to help raise his youngest sister, Elisabeth, and provide for his family by working in a factory. From where he insisted he got all his bruises and broken bones from - just "accidents", and all. And didn't have to do with him being an outcast, a "killjoy" who stuck to all the safety rules and raised the production standards expected for his coworkers by overworking himself and a "weirdo" with passion for cinematography.

He had to abandon his dreams over his adult sister, Edith, by societal norms (I think it's fun to think about that in Signalis's universe the gender roles are mostly reversed - so Emil, as a man, is expected to take care of his family first, rather than pursue a career). He had very mixed feelings about it, but he didn't complain.

He loved his family deeply after all. He would not have ever abandoned it under any normal circumstances.

...

and that's the Geier masterpost! I may add to it later especially with more guidebook pages. Insane respect and appreciation if you have managed to sit through this entire wall of a post, dear reader! Any questions appreciated!

[mrzuddie]

And I'm finished! I forgot to also mention then that this comic would look simple, even static in some way and yet I like what came out!

Cloud ate some Gestalt (not whole) and regurgitated their organs and bones, and hid half of body somewhere...

AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR CLOUD!

(First mention was here and second here)

This Ara was accidentally created defective, this is shown in the reversed colors of her body, limbs that should be dark to light and light to dark. It's later revealed that it affected not only her physical characteristics, but her mental ones as well. Takes the same work as other Aras.

Cloud has a "demonic", riotous, crazy personality, when she has time, she deliberately provokes Replikas to brawl with her, especially Stars with Storches, and doesn't fear for herself at such moments. If she's suddenly punched in the solar plexus, outwardly she'll grimace, but somewhere inside she'll exclaim, "OH YES, IT FEELS GOOD, I NEED MORE". This process gives her pleasure, as well as the process of inflicting damage to other Replikas, but she tries not to overdo it when she organizes such an event, at the same time making sure that it doesn't come to dire consequences, at least not to lethal outcome, which can't be said about the innocent Gestalts... Cloud kills them without ceremony and as rapidly as possible, it happens rarely and at night so that no one can see, and afterwards she decides what to do with the corpses, in most cases she eats them (sometimes barbarically, sometimes more neatly and elegantly, directly slicing them with a knife and sticking with a fork). Her favorite areas are neck, shoulder joint, avoids eating brain and liver. Knows how to clean bones and sometimes saves them as trophies.

When it was revealed that Cloud was causing Gestalts to disappear, she was decommissioned (thanks to numerous complaints from various Replikas, including Zenbar's one). Despite the fact that there were only a small number of disappearances, she didn't live very long (415 cycles).

Later, after Cloud's death, one particular Gestalt decided to embellish, horrify, hyperbolize her life story by saying that in addition to adults, she also killed children, this startled and shocked the minds of other Gestalts, this story began to spread rapidly among them and thus became a kind of urban legend.

I'll add one more fact - she sometimes has fun with drinking chifir. Briefly about chifir: it's a very, VERY strong, bitter (preferably black) tea made from tea leaves (it can be made from bags too), similar in effects (x2) to coffee, it's better to drink it without sugar because with can cause a sharp vasoconstriction of blood vessels. Oi, I remembered, her nickname was given by Zalbi (original name: ARAR - R15).

The last thing is pretty random, I thought it was a nice idea to draw her in 2yk outfit with a huge silly scythe.

Normal quality:

[roachywoachy]

Second chapter 'prompt' of my maybe fic that may be written.

First

I do want to get better at writing these seven but all of them in one scene is breaking my mind. Longhaul and Mixmaster are my main brats at the moment, characterization wise.

Tonight I will be focusing on posting the actual Hook/Prowl work.. thankfully, it's taken way longer than I'd expected but I'm a perfectionist and I see mistakes everytime I revise.

Promise my next fic won't take as long😞

When Prowl awoke propped up against Scrapper still who was troubleshooting with the other 5. Bonecrusher was being bashed for getting them into this mess but there was no bother, they were already here.

Stirring from his recharge, tac-net booting with a low whirr of his processor that was still foggy from the inexplainable pain the night before. Turned into a dull radiating ache throughout his whole frame.

It seems for now the gestalt was still recovering from their own minor damages but still rowdy.

Prowl was irritated with their rough demeanors and their loud voices, flowing freely throughout his loose field against Scrapper.

Prowl felt a tad demoralized in this position Scrapper held him in, but not angry since they did help him. As annoying as they were,

Hook and Mixmaster must've come up with some concoction to ease the pain, assumed from the feeling of weird liquidated medigel coated over lowered doorwings. The only thing keeping the cop from jumping and attempting to gain some sort of advantage was the fact that his tac-net held point percentages about success, worryingly low danger numbers filling his HUD.

So all he did was lay against a warm heavy chassis, every attempted escape weakened the tactician even more than he was. He looked terrible.

Eventually the conversation went to Prowl, their autobot 'prisoner' as if they all weren't, Hook had figured out that he was build cold which was probably why Scrapper was holding Prowl in his lap almost intimately close.

Just to keep him warm of course.

They talked about getting out and how, mostly Longhaul, Scrapper and Bonecrusher would be trying to dig their way through the collapse while Mixmaster, Hook and Scavenger dealt with finding more raw energon in the upcoming solar-cycles.

Prowl was trying to get up now, it was infuriating to be in the position he was in. Thank Primus the only people seeing him like that were dumb 'cons. Big jerks that won't ever not tease the cop outside of the tunnels.

Scrapper was firm but eased Prowl off to sit beside Hook and himself, a light sporty frame stuck between who masses that could hold enough tons that could kill the praxian 10x over.

Bonecrusher was his usual self again, frustrated with his own mess as Longhaul complained about Crushers mess. Everyone was upset about his mess.

Scavenger was helping Mixmaster with the raw energon, they sat in a smaller anclove. Away from where the original tunnel continued since they'd have to start digging out soon.

Hook brought up about how he looked terrible, wishing he had his instruments to fix him better. Hating to leave his work half finished or reversed, making sure to keep an optic on Prowl so he wouldn't go and waste his second chance.

Bonecrusher and Longhaul got to the dammed cop again, watching him sit with droopy doorwings. The drug Mix and Hook made seemed to subdue Prowl, keeping him just a little more docile than he would be stuck with the worst gestalt he'd ever dealt with in the past.

Pre-war the cop had seen the Constructicons on sites, it was obvious to why they joined the decepticons because living on barely enough energon on site day in and out without the shanx to pursue their hobbies. Free time was spent recharging or drunk on engex until their early shifts.

Prowl had never really dealt with them as his sector was more inner city but he'd occasionally go on long drives and find them either drunk at some lowend bar or working on whatever the council found fit for the day.

It was only logical for them to become who they are now but..

His processor ached from them, their actions.. It was abnormal and almost creepy with how they watched him, feeling heedy gazes on his doorwings. This whole situation made Prowl uneasy, not afraid but what were their intentions? Grumbling low to himself about this weird gestalt, it's not like he was ever close to the mechs in the first place..

The drug was dizzying to say the least, tac-net buffering a few kliks slower than usual. Numbers phased off his visual feed and the six gestalt mates talking and talking was giving him a processor ache.

The ground was hard and cold, worse than the big radiator of a mech Scrapper was.. were they all that warm? A low buzz in the back of his processor, keeping him aware but not enough to freak out.. everything ached, from his pedes, up to his thighs, hips.. up to his processor.. cold again.

The cooling mech sat quietly, swaying and overloaded by the calculations of his tac-net that made such little sense in his conscious.

Scavenger tapped on Prowls pede, getting his dazed attention. Rubbing the dirty metal as he watched the smaller mech stare at the huge servo on himself.

Scavenger was interested in the monochrome mech, Scav remembered this cop in battle, most autobots were bright but Prowl wasn't like most autobots was he? The gestalt was stupid but not that stupid, they knew the importance of Prowl. What he did for the autobots.

Scavenger just stared at the bright red chevron, it was almost a moment until he was smacked over the helm by Hook. Something was said about disturbing his patient, Prowl had only spoke in low murmurs at this point so they weren't sure if Prowl was still all there.

Secretly they needed his mind, his tac-net to be at full function and it did help some that the light frame was pretty..

Prowl was stuck staring at Scavengers visor, noting all their visors except for Mixmaster. Bright in the dark cave of dim blue, who else had a red visor? Jazz was blue..

Prowl was lost in thoughts of optics, visors and other variations. Tac-net calculating numbers of who had what and percentages on either side.

Knocked out of his trance when a heavy field was sat behind him with a rumble, Bonecrusher. A servo on his helm, tilting it to the side to look at Prowls faceplate from where Bonecrusher leaned down beside him.

He wasn't a doll to be pulled around, scowling at the large mech behind him. Reaching up to grab his forearm to push it away but of course the larger wasn't swayed.

They were all sat in a sort of circle.

(Scrapper - Prowl - Hook - Mixmaster - Longhaul)

Bonecrusher sat behind Prowl, Hook was telling off the bulldozer to not mess up his work. Mixmaster was dotting on about being stuck making energon with Scrapper who was assuring it was all necessity. Longhaul was leaning against the cave wall in boredom, somewhat tired as he was the largest. He needed most energon to be at full capacity.

Hook and Bonecrushers babbling got to the medic pulling Prowl onto his lap, away from the touchy mech who was also now being told down by Scrapper.

Explaining that it will take a solar-cycle or so for Prowl to move properly, there was inner circuits that Hook had fixed. Having to had fix minor works with only his servos and some sticky oil. After some rest he should have self repaired enough.

After dozing off again from Hook massaging into his backstrut, the medic was experienced after all these years. Joining the cause gave him the tools and working along flatline, mixed with his overall need to know. Hook was an excellent medic, not as practiced as ratchet or any of the autobot medics.

Massage making the praxian drool again, how in the world did chemist and medic even make this relaxant? With what materials? His processor was dizzy.. tac-net calculating percentages that didn't even matter.

Their voices filled his audials, loud and gruff like the mechs they were. So different in tone, so different.. they were all so different, united by one bind.. held together by their bond of devestator, they were one.

Prowls doorwings quivered as he recharged, memories of Praxus. His trine who he was created with, Smokescreen and Bluestreak. Would they even care Prowl was missing? Did they think they all died? Was it a good trade off? The strongest gestalt megatron commanded for some overbearing cop with issues?

It didn't hurt, it would never hurt but so many secrets for one mech to carry. Did the consteucticons worry? Did they hold eachother.. they were one, united forever. They could depend on eachother, they were Megatrons finest creation.. what was Prowl to the autobots, he did so much. Protected their cause, sacrificed for the good of cybertron. It was never enough, no. Optimus was too optimistic, he wanted to save everyone and live on earth. A place he'd called home. Earth would never be home, what was the war for if their home was forgotten? What did the decepticons think? Prowl was doing this all for the good of cybertron, home. Praxus.

Prowl had never been praised for his work, he was called unethical and cold. It almost hurt that his efforts weren't appreciated.

Hook held Prowls frame, the drug lowed Prowls processing power so his field was filled with doubt, distraught and anger. Anger directed at optimus, for what was the autobot cause?

Prowl didn't want to cry, the drug was heavy. Not meant for his frame type.

Coolant spilled and everything held a deep ache, feeling the others fields filled with a weight. Bearing the weight of their jobs, their interests, their cause. They weren't comforting or welcoming, but they were quiet. Accepting who he was, that must be how gestalts work. Acceptance, appreciation, they cared for eachother and that alone allowed the lonely mech to lull himself to recharge.

[rwby-soh]

(OC) Kenneth Katt

“Never On Time”

Sex: Male

Race: Faunus (Cat)

Height: 5’6”

Age (circa 99 AGW): 17

Birthday: October 29th, 82 AGW

Aura Density: Low

Aura Reserves: Above Average

Aura Color: Sea Green

Aura Regeneration: High

Semblance: Rewind

Weapon: Kilkenny

Additional Abilities: Faunus Senses, Feline Tail

Neon and Oscar's son, conceived before his absorption into the Ozma gestalt. Ken is a cat Faunus who possesses a tail as his trait, and has a bubbly and hyperactive personality like his mother. He behaves rather "cutely" and is always very curious and inquisitive. Ken entered Atlas Academy a year earlier due to his skill. Ken's biological father Oscar was absent throughout his childhood, only leaving Neon with child support payments. Despite this he is eager to meet him one day and get to know him. He wields a sword-cane named “Kilkenny” in combat, and his Semblance, Rewind, allows him to rewind time in his immediate vicinity by up to 4 seconds, although it burns Aura equivalent to the amount of time rewound, almost completely draining him in an instant when used to its maximum. Furthermore, anyone affected by Rewind is able to remember events that occurred in the time that was reversed, ala Mandom from Steel Ball Run, meaning that particularly quick-witted opponents can anticipate rewinds and work around them. Alludes to the Kilkenny cats, a pair of legendary cats.

[deusvervewrites]

How about an AU where Izuku has the powers of Polymerization and De-Fusion from Yugioh?

Midoriya's Quirk is called Combine. He discovers it at around, say, three years old when he fuses his bed together into basically like a beanbag chair but bed sized. He was confused but excited! Especially when he discovered that he could reverse it. I'm very proud of Midoriya for making it through seeing a doctor and having his Quirk registered and I think even making it a few days longer before accidentally fusing himself with Inko.

Combine tries its best to average out every component in the fusion. Among other things, 3-year-old Izuku fusing with 31-year-old Inko averages to 17-year-old. Additionally, their minds and personalities sort of gestalt together. Both of them are present, but secondary to the combined persona, if that makes sense. And yes, this new fusion is extremely confused. Luckily, they remember that Izuku can de-fuse things so it's not a big deal. Izuku is thrilled by this and the possibilities. I should note that certain physical characteristics don't really average out but semi-combine (no pun intended), like height.

Unfortunately, Bakugou is still Bakugou and in Aldera. While he does understand why Combine is a useful Quirk for being a Hero, you could call Bakugou a film reel operator with the projection he does. As such, Bakugou breaks off the friendship like he does in canon, and does so before Midoriya can reveal to him that he can do human fusion.

Inko is happy to help Izuku practice his Quirk; not just human fusion but fusing objects together or Izuku fusing with objects to see what happens. Izuku doesn't actually get to decide the results of the fusion so it's a bit of trial-and-error.

UA Entrance Exam was a great time for Izuku with all the fusion material the robots gave him. However, it wasn't enough to stop the Zero Pointer when Uraraka was in trouble, so she became the second person Izuku fused with.

+1. As you may recall when I did some Quirk Analysis for Menagerie, but the Quirks that impose physical alterations that we see in MHA don't wear off. Combine, likewise, will not wear off on its own. Midoriya has to undo it himself.

+2. Combine's Quirk Registry wasn't updated after the discovery of human fusion because it was technically covered by the initial description.

[potroasttheghostdogpontificates]

Some of the themes and readings my media-blind ass could extrapolate from Sinners. Take everything I say with a grain of salt because I'm a nobody with a high school level of education and poor memory. This is all based on one viewing of the movie the previous night as I quickly write down my thoughts before my terrible memory takes them away, wanting to get my thoughts out there before the opinion pieces and analysis by far more qualified people than myself come out and color my outlook of the movie. I say this to also excuse the atrocious formatting. So without further ado, some readings:

- Racism as represented by random acts of explosive violence on vulnerable people just trying to live their lives (the obvious one, and what I assumed the main point to be of the film based on my first viewing of the trailer. But it goes SO MUCH deeper than this and frankly I was pretty off base with my assumption based on the trailer).

- The fluid, adaptable nature of fascism, allowing it to adopt any aspect of its surrounding to mutate into a gestalt entity of vagaries to gain popular support, when regardless of its trappings its primary motivation is rooted in a self-serving desire of the fascist to maintain power over people (Remmick playing into the racist couple's racism to infiltrate their home by expressing racist language and using slurs, but then claiming an anti-racist perspective and even expressing a seething contempt for a known local power racist to cater favor with black people so they allow him into *their* space, and then even speaking to an asian person in their native tongue, not out of respect but in order to manipulate them into giving him what he wanted)

- How even bloodsucking monstrosities aren't as bad as white supremacists (Remmick not being the final enemy Smoke faces despite being the most dangerous, he's also far more cultured and outwardly pleasant than the klan members, amd as an irish person, would have also been targeted by the version of the KKK that sprung up around the era)

- The difference between the apparent, immediate danger and ugliness of the individual racist (Remmick being a huge, explosively violent threat) and the quiet, polite, yet just as threatening (if not more so) and sometimes twice as ugly threat of systemic racism (the grand wizard being a wealthy landowner that sells Smoke and Stack access to wealth in the area by selling them the property of the juke joint, ostensibly being "on their side" when they play by the rules, he is also the final confrontarion Smoke faces and the thing that does actually kill him.) If we go with this analysis, it could also be using their interplay on how these two forms of persecution feed off of and support each other. Remmick, playing the part of the "ugly" individual racist, is able to use the threat of the klan to attempt to goad his way into the juke joint, admonishing one form of racism and deliberately highlighting the danger the other poses to mask the other form that *he* contributes to and disguise the danger *he* poses. Usually, the situation is reversed, with systemic racism pointing to individual racists as the "main problem" to be dealt with, but the metaphor is reversed here and that actually highlights the point. The vampires *technically* represented a less total annihilation that the klan posed, because the vampirized people were still technically "alive", and they were primarily after Sammie, whereas the klan would have indiscriminately slaughtered every single person there, killing them on the spot with no attempts at empathy, convincing with sweet words, or even a false sense of community that Remmick tried. The vampires were death, but the klan was annihilation.

- a metaphor for culture vulturism, the appropriation of music and culture made by black americans by white people for self-serving reasons, despite having culture of their own they can claim for themselves, and how the art is wanted but the creator can be dealt away with (Remmick having deep cultural roots to his native Ireland but prioritizing Sammie's music not for thr value it has as an artistic expression or Sammie's potential as an artist (that eventually gets realized when he's able to choose his own destiny) but for the selfish desire to see his dead community again, and weaponizing the power in Sammie's music, with Sammie staying a creative or even alive being irrelevant. This point is even stated in the text: "They want black music but they don't want black bodies" also hammered home by Remmick literally just passing through, meaning he could have ignored the juke joint entirely (as the worlddoes black people in general) until he was drawn in by Sammie's music. His talent shown like a beacon, and made a white person with actionable power realize he could use that power to get something that he wanted but couldn't get on his own, and thus, notice Sammie and his community, to disastrous results. To go further, having asian artistic heritage in the music trance scene despite it the mood being created by a black american singing south americana depression era black blues highlights how art, when a genuine expression, can allow cultures to coexist with each other regardless of rifts when they give room for each other and welcome each other. Sammie's music created a temporary gestalt culture where everyone present was truly represented, everyone got to come as they were. The chinese couple got to be chinese fully and totally despite being in a black space because art welcomes everyone. But if Remmick does indeed represent culture vulturism, then the fact that he had EVERYONE that was under his spell abandon all of the various different cultures they were a part of, to sing a singular irish folk song, in *unison*, with no variance or personal touch from the individual, hammers home the homogeniztaion that eventually takes hold of art when culture vultures pick it clean.)

- how defensive/retaliatory nationalism can be just as bad as the regular kind if you forego intersectional solidarity and don't take steps to not use the same tools as the oppressor in the process (Remmick's primary reason for attacking the juke joint for Sammie was his desire to reunite with his dead irish community wiped out by christian missionary colonizers by using thebpower of Sammie's talent, an understandable, sympathetic position, but he's willing to get that community back by making a new family that is even race-blind (potentially not out of equality, but of convenience and power. Considering this metaphor as a possible interpretation, Remmick might not even be aware he is doing this for this reason). He does this by terrorizing and annihilating another community of equally vulnerable people, vulnerable from the same people no less, and turning them into bloodsoaked thralls of his will, literally killing them (as his community was) and damning their souls for eternity alongside him to get it back, both in a metaphorical and literal sense, making a new family from his drudges but also looking to resurrect his old family with a sacrifice. He uses violence to get his culture back, but ends up being a replacement for the entity that took that away from him in the first place, just for another community that he didn't belong to. To go back to the irish folk tune in unison scene, the song, Rocky Road to Dublin, is about a poor man leaving the home he was born in to make a dangerous headway to another place. It could literally be read as an anthem for immigrants or struggling folk, and is practically a word for word retelling of the *Twins' life story*. Here is Remmick, using his victims to sing and center *his* pain, *his* grief, as an irish immigrant in depression era America, ignoring THEIR pain, THEIR sorrow. Hell, the song is a weapon against the homdouts in the juke joint, because he's using the loved ones of those people to tug at their emotions and inflict more pain to get what he wants. This could also tie into a metaphor about how marginalized communities will sometimes infight during times of major crisis instead of banding together to resist the original problem, with a secondary critique of individual successes for marginalized people within an unequal society can blind those success stories from solidarity, creating greater struggle for marginalized people with less success and sabotaging their OWN success by cutting them off from the support of their community, the "black capitalism" problem. Remmick got a little bit of power from his vampirism, and decided to use that for his personal satisfaction and desires rather than his claimed goal of getting back at the people who directly wronged him or lifting other people up)

- the opportunistic nature of white supremacy and facism and how it can creep into the cracks left by moderate positions of outreach and compromise (born from people blind to the real nature of fascism and white supremacy, usually due to privilege) to fully infiltrate and destroy a movement, colonizing a position and moving it more comfortably into its wheelhouse and normalizing its ideas (represented by the first domino falling that would seal everyone's fate against the vampires being the one white person in their community trying to reach out and be empathetic to the white strangers posing innocently at the door at night, who then proceeded to poke holes in her mental and tugging at her vulnerability, and take advantage of her physical as well as her emotional isolation reaching out to the middle of the aisle, in order to turn her to their cause, who then infiltrated back into the original space she was in as a new convert and making things worse for everyone with her newly dark (read: radicalized) position. It could even be a good metaphor for greed and capitalism, or even how desperate people can be swayed to radical positions during times of crisis by one charismatic promising a way out. With this framing, Remmick gets in both times by offering people a frankly extravangant amount of wealth for the time period out of "generosity". It works on the racist couple, and it works on Mary, who is aware the juke joint is GOING to go under and it hasn't even been one night)

I am very much curious to see the coming analysis vidoes and writings, because this movie was a deeply moving and powerful experience and I wamt to hear as many experiences people had with it as I can. The movie was incredible. If this is Coogler's first "original idea" as he called it, I look forward to his work even more, because dang. Michael B. Jordan also proved his pedigree as one of the acting world's top talents from this film. This was an oscar worthy performance from an actor that has cemented himself as a top name in the slowly growing stable of fresh new talent in the industry. I encourage everyone to see it, especially longtime horror and vampire fiction fans. It is THAT good.

[tf-cyberaligned]

Bringing in the first bit of angst lore.

Shadow Play

What is Shadow Play?

Shadow Play is apart of the Iacon Council’s Three Steps to Obedience. A process that insures that a Cybertronian lives up to the council’s expectations. Few mechs have had to go through all three steps, but many who are found guilty of disobedience go through the first two steps, Shadow Play and Empurata.

The process involves the head of the mech being disconnected from the body, to remove any processing it has with the pain neuro-net. This ensures that the victim will remain online and fully aware of their personality being stripped from them, and manipulated into whatever the Iacon Council wants.

After the head is removed, the helm plating is popped open, allowing for cables to be attached and overriding the personality of the mech. In most cases, the council is trying to take away any hostile personality, in fear of the mech turning on them.

The council isn't afraid to use it on their own bots and soldiers as well. Senator Shockwave went through both Shadow Play and Empurata while he was still in office. Likely wise, the Council grew fearful of a soldier in their ranks, Blades from the Protectobots. His fighting was violent, and past recounts of his disapproval of the council made them fear that he would turn on them. So they ensured that they got the first strike.

He was set to Empurataed as well after his gestalt called on neurosurgeons to try and reverse the effects of the Shadow Play. But the week before he was to be taken into custody, the Iacon Council and Sentinel Prime fell to the Decepticon forces, permanently ending the Three Steps to Obedience.

[ckret2]

My headcanons for the shapes in Bill's gang are so funny because they're like

"Amorphous Shape are a gestalt of multiple shapes who are all sentient inside their mind(s) at once, they're also like some kinda mad scientist wizard who taught the all-powerful Bill Cipher the technology to rip holes between dimensions and who have pioneered ways to reverse entropy in a dying pseudo-universe"

What about Kryptos and Hectorgon?

"Yeah they just kinda hang out."

[peaceful7ea]

no AU or headcanon will ever be as funny as me and my sibling 'Yes, And'-ing each other while driving to the point of inventing the "Deconstructicons", a group who instead of being a combiner, just kinda. break combiners apart midfight. Reverse Ikea Flatpack. They show up, the lego breaking sound happens, and you are forcibly removed from the Gestalt. And they're all minicons. it's like being attacked by several determined ants.

[anonymousmonarchist]

Random Discord Thoughts: The Nature of the Warp, Physics, and Me Cursing Tzeentch Regardless of Fault Part 1

Preface: I have a propensity to think of things from a physics perspective even if I don't have the credentials to crack the hypothetical mathematics beyond my theory crafting; this is the end result.

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

"that's why I don't use the word 'awaken' for them; that's used in setting from a religious perspective - I'm coming from a psychology perspective. That's why I use the word actualize." - Anonymousmonarchist on the Chaos Gods, the atemporal nature of the Warp, and the Empyrean's connection to the material realm through sapient minds within Warhammer 40k, 2025

- I could do a several hour video on Warp at this point with attempting to interpret the contradictory, contrarian nature of the depictions and evidence regarding Empyrean function as a dimensional plane.

Synopsis of my interpretation of the Chaos God's formation and existence is that they existed as manifestations for their potential to exist within the Warp before being empowered and actualized by belief, sacrifice, and acknowledgement that eventually resulted in Warp version of a singularity allowing them to exist as sapient, distorted versions of their concepts as thought of the collective gestalt of all sapient, warp capable minds in the galaxy. That handily explains both interpretations of their formations within canon without both interpretations conflicting with one another.

- trying to write fanfiction for this IP/franchise is an exercise in trying to reconcile contradictions and knowing when to just chose an interpretation and give up

- by my logic, the way to kill the Chaos Gods would be either to trick the Warp into reversing the actualization of their existence or have someone replace them as the prominent manifestation of their concept.

- Don't ask me the specifics on that.

TLDR: metaphysics is annoying, almost 40+ years for lore is confusing, and Tzeentch has to be a master of self-hypnosis to do the shit he does like the gremlin he is.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, When the Last Autobot turned Hi-Q into Optimus Prime, what happened to Hi-Q's body? Did his consciousness cease to exist? Were his own memories and personality overridden by that of Prime's? Does his original, organic Nebulan body still exist, entombed within Optimus' body?

Dear Q Querier,

That’s a very good question. When the Nebulan bio-engineer Doctor Arcana conceived of the binary bonding process, it was with a clear objective in mind: to grant Nebulan pilots fine motor control over Cybertronian bodies, connecting their nervous systems to the circuitry either remotely via radio or through a physical link at the neck. The original minds of the Autobots would themselves remain in radio contact with their human successors, providing invaluable cultural and strategic insight.

In practice, however, Arcana was no neuroscientist—and nobody involved in the project was prepared for the shift in qualia that would accompany the combination. The unique superposition of their brainwaves led to strange patterns of interference, their thoughts perfectly entangled with one another. Organic minds have much greater elasticity than our central processors, and show remarkable adaptability when converting our digital sensory input to analog sensations—so these gestalt beings would usually come to self-identify by their Cybertronian name. Assimilation failure, where the binary bond would fail to reconcile the two individuals within the body, is rare, but not unheard of: amongst the Autobots, Chromedome and Stylor would struggle most to overcome their differences, and have had the operation reversed post-war.

As an extension of Primus, the Last Autobot was blessed with a glimpse of his plan—and though he was initially surprised by the alien form the Chosen One had taken, it was the work of moments to perfect the binary bond between them, melding spark and soul into a singular life, embodied as a techno-organic fusion. The human body which had once belonged to Hi-Q was suffused with Nucleon, and seated there, intact, behind the windows in Prime’s chest. This was something of a vestigial organ, for in truth, the combination went much deeper; the two were bonded at a molecular level, Hi-Q’s DNA replicated throughout Prime’s genetic code. However, as a side-effect of the body’s enshrinement, Optimus Prime was unable to transform.

Perhaps Primus had intended this to be a sign of his will: that the war would end, the Cybertronian race no longer needing to change to meet its needs. Alas, were this the case, the universe had darker designs still. As battle called, Prime underwent surgery to remove the physical remnant of Hi-Q, restoring access to his alt-mode at the cost of the preternatural energy he possessed. At the request of Hi-Q’s relatives, an exemption was made to allow a number of Cybertronians passage to Nebulos, so that a funeral could be held. At the wake, Prime gave a short eulogy, in which he insisted that Hi-Q was not in fact dead, which gravely upset many of the mourners. The funeral marked the last time Prime would visit the planet.

Optimus Prime and Hi-Q were both great leaders who shared similar values of peace and freedom. In the wake of their merging, these feelings were only amplified, leaving their convictions stronger than ever before. However, both had struggled in the past to share their inner thoughts with others, preferring to bear their burdens alone. If Prime remembers being Hi-Q, or if he still thinks of himself as Hi-Q from time to time… he’s never said. However, it brings me some comfort to imagine that the self-doubt which troubled them both would have interfered destructively with their enormous mutual respect—leaving a self-acceptance that neither had independently known.

[the-might-v]

Mr.X/ ManHunter X

On the planet Mars lays a species of powerful Martian’s. However, between the long departed rights between the supreme Green race over the White lower 2nd class system and civil war lead to the planets greatest lost at the hands of Darkseid.

Only one Martian escaped X. A criminal of both Green & White decent X had dealt with the difficulties of being welcomed to either side from the Martian race accused of a crime he didn't comment the alien made if way towards the Planet Earth. And came into contact with Mr.X a special agent working for the government upon, accident killed the human with a mix of guilt and fear of this unknown planet the Martian did the unthinkable.

Performing a forbidden mind technique the halfbreed alien absorbed all the dying humans memories and being into his own allowing it to steal the former agents life for itself. Now as Mr.X the Martian has made a life for itself while also upholding conscience and morality for meta-humans such as SuperWoman and greater threats believing Darkseid may come for Earth.

Powers & Abilities

Martian Physiology: The average Martian possesses the potential for the following power set.

Shape-Shifting: Martians have psionic control of their physical for down to the molecular level. This allows them to a form of shape-shifting that allows them to mimic other forms, elongate aspects of their body, increase or decrease their physical size, and so on.

Size Alteration: As an extension of their shape-shifting abilities, Martians can easily alter their size, shrinking or growing to gigantic size.

Invisibility: Martians can cause the biopolymers in their bodies to lose their ability to reflect light, making the Martians invisible to normal light and human sight.

Phasing: Martians can go through solid matter.

Superhuman Strength: Martians possess vast levels of superhuman strength and are among the few races that are able to match SuperWoman in terms of raw strength. Martians can easily shatter reinforced concrete and steel, lift and carry hundreds of tons with ease and deliver incredible damage with their blows.

Superhuman Stamina

Superhuman Durability

Superhuman Speed

Superhuman Agility

Superhuman Reflexes

Regeneration: Martians have powerful regenerative powers that enable them to regenerate their entire body from a severed limb, they can further enhance their regenerative powers by drawing mass from nearby sources.

Telepathy: Martians have the ability to read the minds of others and project their thoughts to varying degrees. They can also project their mental essences into a gestalt community known as the "Great Mind". Through this, the community can enhance the telepathic strength of other Martians. This power can also enable them to reverse the effects of amnesia or psychological brainwashing.

Longevity

Flight

Telekinesis:Martians have mind-over-matter abilities and can lift and move objects with their minds. They can also employ their telekinesis in an offensive way by discharging telekinetic blasts capable of great concussive power

Weaknesses

Vulnerability to Fire: Martians are much more vulnerable to fire than the average Earth human. At times this has been portrayed as physical, psychological, or a combination of the two. The effect of this is to strip any Martian of their powers as they involuntarily lose control of their body. X has stated that his reaction is relative to the flame, a birthday cake will make him tense but won't make him wilt.

Chocolate: While on Earth, X has found a great love for the human treat of chocolate due to his physiology making him addicted to the chemicals used in the Earth snack, Chocos. Withdrawal symptoms include violent bursts of rage and loss of intellect. However, this addiction is treatable due to Mr.X's love for Kombucha the fermented drink has a canceling effect on the chocolate though it will leave X with discomforts until his strength is regained

[gomlet]

how to make moonstorms pls

Overview: The Making of Moonstorms was my attempt at capturing the ridiculousness of puzzle fight manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure with enough of a deathgame spin that it ended up growing beyond that and not being fanfiction at all. It features two strangers who meet on a subway to hell and decide that they hate each other on principle. Only one of them has a supernatural power; the other is convinced he'll get one eventually if he sacrifices his sanity for it. Both of them are there to kill and eat the subway's magical, beast-spawning heart. Snippet from the first climactic fight (cw heavy violence):

Isabel’s femur blade whistles through the air. Its edge bites into the neck of the bear. Blood flashes from the wound and then pools on the ground. The bear roars. A claw cuts the air. The speed of it is more than human, more than beast.

Instantly, Isabel is crumpled against the table beside him. Rob can’t hear her pained screech over the deafening waves in his ears.

She pulls herself to her feet. Blood is rolling from a dent in her head. Her eyes are glaring but unfocused. It must be a concussion. He starts laughing hysterically. “The two of us are gonna die!”

In his fear, Rob recalls the sensation of being pressed upon by choking, spiritual smog. Desperation mounts. His gestalt reaches out for the intangible.

The process is perilous; not for the weak-bodied or weak-willed. For the second time in his life, he sees a soul. Isabel’s is a green flame, and it is sputtering like a candle in the wind. She’s going to die. Then I’m going to die. He turns that focus inward. His own soul is a colorless, transparent blob of space. Like water. Like the universal solvent.

The process is one of consumption.

The beast licks its lips, but Rob’s desperation-powered pounce is faster. He crashes into Isabel just as its wide claw smashes apart the table behind him. She coughs. Her words are briefly audible over his screaming heartbeat: “idiot, what are you doing?! Run!”

Remember: Zones do not think like men...

Rob bites into her throat like a wolf.

...it is for this reason that we can devour them without the usual consequences.

There is a single, extremely important reason why even in an era of Abilities, society has not collapsed into a second feudal era. It hangs over every head, colors the background of all banter. It is the unspoken rule that binds humanity together against all else.

If a human soul preys on a human soul, the disease that results is terminal.

Her knee finds his stomach and his flailing arms smash against her face, over and over. Her nails smack against his back leaving furrows and they roll, locked in snarling combat, out of the way of another crushing paw.

Isabel’s reserves must’ve emptied to survive that blow, or she would’ve knocked me out already! Without the interference of Completed Portrait of Picasso, the two are simply human. One is concussed. The other is crying but resolved to kill.

His fingers find her eyes and dig in. Someone is screaming. It’s Rob.

I refuse to believe I’m nothing! I refuse! I refuse! 

His wordless yell is choked off when he coughs up bile. Her kicks injured him more than he realized. But she’s already dead. His soul wraps around her green fire, douses it, turns murky like a swamp.

His mire begins to spark. In that moment, Rob knows that he had an Ability his whole life - merely one inert. Of course! My soul isn’t weak! It was merely all invested in an incomplete construction, to the point all auxiliary functions were forsaken! And now I have enough material to finish my life’s work! The process! I can feel it manifesting! Not a moment too soon! My ability! It Takes Two!

The bear's claw splits his head and his body knows no more.

- - -

Subway wheels whine in a jarring cacophony; metal on stone. Rob is pulled backward, body sliding through the air, arm on a strap— it jolts him back into place. He overbalances. The reverse sway brings him in front of Isabel’s large leather-bound book, and she doesn’t even bat an eye. 

Rob stares at her. Her eyes trace over Lewis Carroll.

I poked out those eyes.