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branded-perceptions · 5 months

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Irony is a mimetic dialectic means that can bridge, t-ease and mimetically incentivise to question and look behind the subjective reductionistic nerd "seriousness" (like autistic $cience : 🔍list of psychological biases)

of any for median life causally disfunctional self-justifications & ideologies & rationalisations

[whose AUTHORITY depends on its AUTHENTICITY which is challenged via sensing significance of spectrum of (double, triple, quadripple layered) IRONY you see?]

of all the many "opposing" subjective psychosis' in-group mythos

(white bear problem: consciousness and every subjective argumentation is a type of psychosis by definition on a scale of introspective self-awareness: meta-cognition)

bubbles🎈 self-justification loops

(metaphorical "ARITY master functions" of ai-tech = familiARITY entrainment / entertainment)

via what to the ironically "serious" in-group mass psychosis due projection subjectively appears as schizophrenia (projection of their own ailment which they are "confidently" unaware of / via status constructs and peer-reinforcement convinced to not be posessed by due rarely questioning their own familiARITY constructs of their minds)

depending on their stage of systems thinking awareness (reality testing: the judgment)

on scale of subjectivitsm and objectivity as explored by 🔍9 stages of increasing ego-development by Susanne R Cook-Greuter:

what to some appears as satire / ironic / comedy appears serious to others and vice-versa on a nuanced scale of significance depending on their logic systems thinking comprehension of complex nuances' objective reality interplaying with the nerd and by status charged "Quantum world"

[Black cube idiocracy: many overcomplexified and with status charged "scientific" theories are nothing but a from causalities' relation to our life force detached ironic joke but your (mathematical) understanding of this (📚Higher topos theory Jacob Lurie) depends on your own self-reflective abilities: WHO ARE YOU? Analyse etymology of human / humus earth and ponder about its meanings ... Do you pay more attention to bra(i)nde(a)d stories and $studies or actual causal effects of the "hummus" you eat? Ponder about that and you shall become conscious about "Quantum world" which is a metaphor for scale of meta-cognitive irony between social interfaces of many "different" subjective fictions and objective reality: The word quantum is the neuter singular of the Latin interrogative adjective quantus, meaning "how much"? ("How much" close to objective realities elementary relation to our life force are you mentally?) Quantum world can be seen as an ironic metaphor for fluid scale of differentiation between sanity and insanity]

of our "different" subjective models and fil(l/t)ers of it: 🔍list of cognitive biases.

Similar like medieval nursery rhymes IRONIC

entertainment

can counterbalance the for mean median life force disfunctional social FANTASIES' status "heaven"🤥😷😇 psychotic unconsciously emotionally charged (🔍Plato cage) in-group identity

entrainment

(covert fascism) of PUBLIC and PRIVATE sector

without that those lost in mass psychosis realise as they mistakenly believe it would all be just jokes and they would be the ones that would be "serious" which then might change when psychological reality testing (the judgement) kicks in which depends on ability of systems thinking as some causal aspects accumulate in a larger systems picture while their (similar as C-19 vaccine side-effects overlap with long-covid) with other supposedly "objective" but already biased and pre-filtered data feedback mingling staying unseen to the "reality testing" of those lost in more polarising reductionistic understanding as seen as just one example via 🔍Dr. Shiva ayyadurai explains modern theory of immune system.

You can highlight the due psychosis

(white bear problem which becomes only obvious to those who are not caught up in it ... the joy of searching for self-irony helps you to stay more sane statistically and is antidote to a number of mental health issues. Do you (not consciously know that you potentially) have any psychological problems? Try to be more ironic about it out of own motivation to via such nonsense sooner or later focus on and authenticity and it will be gone: have you ever seen a depressed person overcoming its mood via being teased by friends with irony about depression mirroring as if they themselves would be depressed while incentivising causal habits that help biology of that person grow out of it? Works better than most pharmaceutical drugs, but it cannot be as much commercialised thus it is widely ignored by medical sector! Similarly, if you read my content here about the irony of our collective socio-psychological dynamics it will help you overcome it via by it incentivised causal problem solving: preferably via joy of embracing goofy self-irony (grace) about past insanity instead of "serious" continued psychotic denial whose continuation, if you have social responsibilities, indeed might be a case for psychiatry)

of how you can highlight the due psychosis neglected difference of policy-making and its from actual realities' data feedback divergent perceptions of past events via irony in order to drive attention to thereby more on validy gaining anti-theses deivibg synthesis: irony is a mimetic form of dialectics t-easing "opposing" reductionistic nerd views' in-group psychosis. But there is a danger:

Medieval nursery rhymes where indirectly killing / in dangerous aggressive ways entertainingly humiliating those public personas / medieval celebrities that violated the causal basic life boundaries of common people that thus as "mad mob"

via their by that in more cohersive ways formed untempered impulsivity

[[scapegoating creates in-group coesion as people then can A) blame parts of their struggles upon an external scapegoat B) understand their normalised ungraspable complex impersonal in-group insanity through a personal graspable blamed scapegoat story whose behavioral and philosophical lessons helps the group to peer-pressure itself in eays to evolve out of its own mass insanity of previously in this regard miscslibrated peer-pressure without needing to blame itself / without needing people to use their brain for self-reflection / without needing the IQ-devoid masses with their harsh daily life (where most had no time to ponder and introspect so much) to understand the here explained complex nuanced systems dynamics]]

protected their swarm by altering these stories that strove to direct the frustrations and aggressions of people towards via scapegoat stories' behavioral lessons helping them evolve out of the struggles that triggered it via by their abusers as "positive" storytelled common life boundary violations💸💉☠️💉💸 .

Nowadays the back then functional cruelty of this is outdated because now via new media technologies we have the means to instead of reductionistically scapegoating anyone being able to discuss and make more widely the complex nuanced systems dynamics of it and how as example in current geopolitical conflicts or mishandling of C-19 pandemic we all played our parts in some ways, not just some isolated figures.

Nevertheless we need graspable personalities and stories to understand the complex impersonal social systems dynamics which otherwise most in their subjective bubble do not take serious and cannot comprehend.

As currently our group-insanities symbolic projections concentrate in our worldwide religion of bra(i)nde(a)d perceptions of consumer go(o)d(s)

and Gary Vee, one of the most famous "expert" in exactly that, has voiced that his biggest dream would be (quote) that everyone shits on him & he gets burned to the ground

thus he seems most suitable and morally justifiable story scapegoat to understand our group-insanities which his online content embodies as social focal lense:

but the importance is the differentiation of fiction and reality.

It can be morally just and desirable to make fun about the mythos insanity of any suitable scapegoat (including myself) via satire and dead serious jokes to via authenticity (or preferably goofy self-irony: grace) drive attention towards causal problem solving of issues that matter to us all

but simultaneously it is immoral and injust to try to bring physical harm or over-blame people like Gary who are just an exaggerated personified bra(i)nde(a)d story focal lense and themselves are non-violent, subjectively trying to do their best according to their limited understanding or impaired mind. If a kid misbehaves, you do not beat it, you calmly introspect with it about its misbehaviours similar like I do here on my account lile a healthy father figure should do which in society would be the job of the state:

imagine if our policians instead of bullying each other like Kindergarten would publicly introspect (intimacy) with us all about all our collective misbehaviours (and via goofy irony about their own) so we can problem-solve the systematic root causes via shared trial and error which will continue to need endless introspection and self-reflection as also shown a bit in movie "Star Trek":

the Vulcanians are storytelled symbol for rationalism which rescued humanity from its irrational group-insanities, but also simultaneously at one Episode humanity rescued the Vulcanians with our human key trait:

(Goofy) ironies intersection with group motivations' mimetic effects' identity management🎭.

Irony helps to become more conscious of and look behind the white bear problem of peer-pressures' mass psychosis of in-group identity mythos: what to some appears ironic appears serious to others and vice-versa depending on your stage of rational comprehension of nuances of objective realities' interplay with in-groups' subjective relativism.

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secretsniper3 · 3 years

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Part 7: High Tech Tortures

I wake on my side, sore and extremy horny, desperate to cum as the 7 eggs in my pussy continue tohum without end, juice flowing out of my pussy freely, passing around the shield blocking the eggs from getting out, kept maddeningly on the very edge of orgasm with no way down. How much I wish these eggs would let me back down from the edge or stop completly, but with my urethra plug holding the shield theres no way to remove it and my hands are useless and I only serve to push the shield further on my skin and coating my latex paws in layers of precum. Moaning and a hum coming from the bed my sister slave is clearly under similar circumstances, though she can cum unlike me. Laying next to my Master she is likely bound till shes let out, hearing movement my Master gets out of bed nude, his cock swinging unrestrained and unrestricted as he walks to the bathroom to go through his morning routine I can only watch from my small cage at the foor of his bed.

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I wake in the familiar darkness and smell of my latex hood, my mouth plugged tight with my legs spread to the corners of the bed, my clit is humming softly, Im on the edge of a powerful orgasm needing only a touch to tip me into that pool as I feel my Master return to his bed and I recieve my orgasm as he slips his cock inside my soaking pussy, orgasming instantly I try and say “Sorry Master” but can only manage a pathetic mewl as my body shakes as my Master fucks me with his morning wood, my own comfort of no concern to him he thrusts away inside and dumps his morning load inside my waiting pussy. Feeling it stiring around inside me as he continues my pounding till a second load enters me, withdrawing and sealing my pussy closed he moves off and gets dressed. Feeling my leash reattach to my collar Im unbound from the bed and moved out the room and back downstairs, led around in the dark till my mouth finds a dildo and my tongue seizes it and I begin pumping and sucking away, recieving my morning meal from the giving cock as another cock pushes in my ass as my master uses me as he sees fit, thrusting me into the dildo with every push till I feel a pump push my masters tasty cum up my ass, flowing deep inside me. Having had my fill I remove the dildo from my mouth and take a step back, “Im done Master” my leash is pulled as I teeter on my toes locked in my ballet heels.

Pulled to the ground my collar is locked to a chain on the floor holding my neck a mere foot off the ground, my arms still bound behind my back Im forced to lay flat on my bountiful latex coated breasts, my covered nipples feel the cold against the latex I shiver at the sudden hardening of my nipples as my Master replaces my gag and turns, I hear footsteps walking away, leaving my bare ass and pussy on full view as my legs open slowly, feeling my Masters cum start to run out my ass and pussy, a few drops landing on the floor as I imagine my Master pumping more hot cum inside me, my imagination distracting me from the slow stepping behind me, its when I notice the muffled buzzing that my imagination comes back to reality and I wave my hips teasingly, trying to get my intention across as I feel a welcome hand on my back. “Eat” I hear as a tongue pushes into my tight ass and probes around, sucking on my petite hole I feel the cum flowing past my sister slaves prying tongue and into the mouth beyond, feeling another orgasm cresting the cliff I moan out in ecstasy as my pussy pulses “Dont cum” I hear, my Masters words ring and echo through my mind as my brain focuses on holding back the release instantly though with difficulty as the mouth continues to empty my ass.

Collecting the cum from my ass the tongue moves lower and I moan again as she enters my drooling pussy “Ahhh fuck!” I moan, hearing a laugh from my Master who seems to know my orgasm will come, wether I resist or not. Probing deeper and deeper inside me while the mouth sucks my clit and slurps the cum out, my mouth is too busy voicing my difficulty “Ohh fuck no! No no nonono! It-its too muhhhhHHHH” My voice breaking at the end as my pussy cums harder than I wanted as my cum sprays into the waiting mouth as the tongue redoubles and speeds up its thrusting, intent on making me dissobey again I do my best to hold back but having my willpower shattered too hard from that last orgasm, I can only manage “AHHHH OHGODNOO-ooooohh my gooOOODNOOO PLEASE!!” I scream, my arms jerking in my armbinder as I shift on my breasts, no way to stop the orgasms I have no permission to have! “Thats 2 orgasms, did you get permission to have those Slave?” My Master asks, “Im so sorry sir, I couldnt help it” I gasp out while the mouth sucks the remaining cum from my pussy and releases my still pulsing lips, “Thank you Master” I hear as the woman is led away and the sound of sucking fills the room.

Unlocking my chain from the floor Im put back on my toes and led to a chair where my master sits and bends me forward at the hips, Masters cock waits and I comply and thrust my head down and take him deep in my mouth, recieving my bonus meal Im stood up straight, “You wait here and keep sucking-” clearly talking to my sister slave, “I'll get this greedy slut ready for her punishment.” Making me shudder knowing Im getting punished for something I couldnt stop in my wildest dreams, Im led forward and taken to the dungeon in the basement, my legs forced open as I beg pathetically “She made me cum Master” being my favourite line to use. Special toys are inserted into my pussy and ass, 1 placed against my clit as a chastity belt lined with thick padded latex to seal completely, no way to get anything under my belt, not a finger or a feather, only my juices are able to slowly squeeze out from the shield. “These are very expensive, very special toys inside you now, dont want the deniers falling out and breaking now do we?” my Master asks with a laugh. What did my Master mean by “Deniers”? Im about to find out as he switches them all on, my head jerks as my lower body violently shakes as my ass and pussy quake with sensations and my poor clit becoming best friends with its stimulator. “If you manage to cum from those then its deserved, but good luck with that, Slut! Your punishment is keeping those in you for the day!” My Master says as I reach the edge of a massive orgasm and just as I crest the edge they all slow down, denying me the orgasm and holding me on the edge “Oh god im going to cum!” I moan as I try to cum, as the toys stop then start over again my orgasm rolls away then they vibrate continuously till Im once again on the edge, only to cut in and out in a painful denial. “It detects your heartbeat and stops just as your about to cum. Enjoy” My Master says as I scream aloud!

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Still sucking, not sure when Master will return I dont want to be caught with the dildo out of my mouth, a light tug on my leash informs me to release the toy as I look up to my Master, I barely heard a scream earlier and my sister slave is still in the dungeon. My Master leads me slowly down to the dungeon, the second the door opens I hear loud buzzing and gasping and moans from the tormented slave, my eyes widen as I see her, still with arms sealed behind her, eyeless latex hood over her face with a tight corset and ballet boots locked to her body, but its what was new that caught my eyes, a shiny chastity belt that sits very tightly against her sex. Another tug on the leash I follow my Master to a chair and as he sits he reveals his hard cock, and I hop up to take it in my mouth as clearly commanded, my eyes look over to my sister slave as she cries and screams while I suck on my Masters hard cock till a hand meets the back of my head and holds my head low. Swallowing his cum I continue to suck away at the cock in my mouth. Moans and screams fill my ears as Masters cock pushes in and your of my mouth while my eyes look to a thrashing woman, “Shes enjoying a new toy i accuired this morning in the mail, designed to deny its user every orgasm, it wont stop vibrating till i turn it off.” Master explains while holding a remote in his other hand and placing it on a nearby shelf, far out of my paws reach.

Pushing me back off his hard cock Im told to sit, and I watch the display infront of me, “She will get to cum again, unlike you though” my Master says as he looks down on my bitchsuit covered body as my eyes start to tear up as my pussy continues to hum pathetically, having been turned down to emit a arousing presence. Seemingly knowing my arousal could use a pick-me-up my own inserts max out as I jump up and I spin to look at my Master, my sex dripping with need concealed by the latex suit while my sister slave is experiencing, however limited, a taste of my desires, Im told to sit once again and I shakily drop onto my covered pussy and ass as my own fluids flow onto the floor with a rekindled heat behind it as I look to the woman thrashing in her bonds knowing her hell is a temporary one while my hell will continue long after today.

My eyes look to the clock on the wall and time seems to take its course, an hour passes and the moaning has been nonstop from both of us as the pool between the womans bound wide legs growing steadily,with my own small puddle beneath my own thighs, my Master saying “You must be thirsty by now Slave, go have a drink” pointing to the pool of juices before me, I slowly walk over and drop my head in the fluid and drink deep, my red hair falling into the pool I slurp up more and more of my sister slaves pussy juices, thinking it would be more tasty coming from its source directly. Having my fill I back up to my Master and once again take his cock in my mouth and begin sucking away, the nearby drain collecting what pussy juices I didnt slurp up, my face covered with her own fluids as the cock pushes in my mouth as another 2 hours pass. Standing up my Master walks to the tormented woman as she moans and begs for forgivness incoherently as my Master reaches above her and grabs a dildo on a tube and puts it to her mouth, pushing it past her lips and teeth he locks straps around her head and pushes a button, the transparent tube fills with a white liquid and the slaves head shakes from side to side till her breasts are slapped hard “Drink up Slave!” My Master barks out loud. Complying instantly the slave gulps down many mouthfulls till shes clearly full and the button is pressed and the fluids flow stops, drinking up the rest the dildo is removes from her mouth and she spurts out some white fluid which lands on her large latex covered breasts.

Bringing the dildo over to me Im forced to suck on the thick toy as its locked on my face, pressing the button Im helpless to avoid the fluid as I watch as it rushes down the tube and bursts into my mouth, its horrible! Tastes worse than the cum flavored fluid from upstaris Im forced to swallow multiple loads worth and the button is pressed and I finish up and the toy is unlocked and removed. Placing back up near the roof it drips more white liquid onto the floor in slow drips, I watch on as my pussy burns with more need and I gasp out as the vibrators stimulation seem to double as I was obviously drugged with something, still unable to cum I grind my metal plate on the ground in a useless bid to achieve what I know I cant have. Moaning as I push down my motions matching the woman bound before me as we both hump forward, both pussies locked behind metal plates as the wearers thrust and grind best they can.

Watching this, my Master laughs and takes me back upstairs, leaving my sister slave bound and struggling desperatly as Im led away, entering the loungeroom I sit on a latex cushion placed infront of a metal device, locking my collar to the floor Im forced on my back, presenting my horny plate covered pussy for inspection, the device it placed over my head, covering my entire head and a dildo pushing into my mouth which is locked in place, the device now secure to my head my darkness is lit up with a screen everywhere I look. Im going to watch whatever my master wants me to watch, my eyes are illuminated with scenes of women in restrictive bondage and cumming constantly, cutting from scene to scene. My ears flood with the sounds of orgasms, cocks and sex. Unable to look away or block it out, even closing my eyes does nothing as I can see almost clear images on my eyelids as the dildo pulses in my mouth and my tongue coddles it lovingly as I feel my urethral tube deflate as my master takes care of my bodies needs, and I feel my eggs removed from my shuddering pussy, as its replaced with a throbbing hard cock as hands grab my breasts as my Master thrusts inside me, dumping 2 loads inside me, clearly going to require my sister to fish the cum out as I did for her this morning, at least I cant cum like she could. My Master leaves me to my porn to tend to the cum hungry slave below.

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I cant cum, the toys wont let me! My hips thrusting against the belt with no release in sight I scream and moan between my blind begging to anyone there who could hear me! My breast being seized by a strong hand I cry out with desperation as I beg once again “Please make it stop Master!” being answered with a hand slapping my face “How would this be a punishment if you get out when you want out?” My Master says calmly as he unlocks my legs as I stand up straight as Im led back out of the dungeon, my pussy, ass and clit still alight with the vibrators. Led blindly through the house I hear moans over the humming between my thighs as Im forced to my knees and my face pushed into a pussy, its hers! Sucking deeply as my tongue shoots inside I taste cum packed deep and I begin fishing it out, it doesnt take long for me to get it all out and Im pulled off my dinner as Im taken over and pushed onto a seat, blind and unaware my Master decides to watch a normal movie while Im forced to sit, on the edge of a intense orgasm that I wont have till later hopefully as my tongue slips out of my open mouth while my mind goes numb with pure need.

Finishing his movie my Master jerks my mind back to reality with a cock slipping into my open mouth, the movie must be over, how long has it been? for me its been dark for 2 days straight so my grasp on the passage of time is completly useless, knowing when its night only when Im put to bed, I recieve a delicious load in my mouth from my Master, which I swallow instantly and are brought to my feet and led around the house aimlessly, turning around sharply multiple times threatening to topple my delicate balance as I teeter on my sore toes trapped in my ballet boots. I begin walking in a long straight line, puzzled I realize Im on a treadmill once again, as I writhe in my denial haze Im forced to walk endlessly as my Master clearly leaves me to my torment, my legs burn for relief that Im not going to get. My moans begin anew with that realization.

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My mind is flooding with porn, the images of orgasms making my denial that much harder to deal with. The screen turns black and the dildo my tongue was coddeling is removed, my eyes see light and my Masters face as the helmet is taken away, my needy pussy right beneath him and the sounds of moaning and denial coming from around the corner, I know the treadmill is in that room and whats happening to her, Im pulled to my “feet” as my leash leads me to the treadmill room and I see her, bound tight in a inescapable walk of arousal and shame, “This because you made her cum twice, are you happy?” My Master says with a chuckle. Drinking in her bondage I accept that this is all on me, I could have eased up and denied her rather than taste her sweet cum… on my.. tongue. I know I did this, and I know that given the opporunity, I would do it again, her juices taste too great. If I cant cum then why should she? I decide that each time I clean her out I'll make her orgasm and sentence her to another day of denial hell. I smile at that decision and my Master laughs at my expression, “You enjoy her torture, dont you.”, I nod at his question “Yes Master, very much so..”

Leading me back up to the bedroom my cage is opened and I crawl inside and lay on my latex pillow and relax as best I can as my cage is locked shut and my Master leaves, likely to get my sister slave. Returning a few minutes later I yawn as he enters, Im exhausted, watching the blind slave led to the bed I hear flesh on latex and she falls back on the bed. Hearing a moan and a groan and a sudden cry I hear gagging as I learn my Master is taking her mouth tonight, she will remain denied tonight and I couldnt be happier. The lights turn off and I hear my Master call “Good night my Denial Whores!”

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secretsniper2 · 3 years

Text

Part 7: High Tech Tortures

I wake on my side, sore and extreme horny, desperate to cum as the 7 eggs in my pussy continue to hum without end, juice flowing out of my pussy freely, passing around the shield blocking the eggs from getting out, kept maddeningly on the very edge of orgasm with no way down. How much I wish these eggs would let me back down from the edge or stop completely, but with my urethra plug holding the shield there's no way to remove it and my hands are useless and I only serve to push the shield further on my skin and coating my latex paws in layers of precum. Moaning and a hum coming from the bed my sister slave is clearly under similar circumstances, though she can cum unlike me. Laying next to my Master she is likely bound till shes let out, hearing movement my Master gets out of bed nude, his cock swinging unrestrained and unrestricted as he walks to the bathroom to go through his morning routine I can only watch from my small cage at the foot of his bed.

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I wake in the familiar darkness and smell of my latex hood, my mouth plugged tight with my legs spread to the corners of the bed, my clit is humming softly, Im on the edge of a powerful orgasm needing only a touch to tip me into that pool as I feel my Master return to his bed and I receive my orgasm as he slips his cock inside my soaking pussy, orgasming instantly I try and say “Sorry Master” but can only manage a pathetic mewl as my body shakes as my Master fucks me with his morning wood, my own comfort of no concern to him he thrusts away inside and dumps his morning load inside my waiting pussy. Feeling it stirring around inside me as he continues my pounding till a second load enters me, withdrawing and sealing my pussy closed he moves off and gets dressed. Feeling my leash reattach to my collar Im unbound from the bed and moved out the room and back downstairs, led around in the dark till my mouth finds a dildo and my tongue seizes it and I begin pumping and sucking away, receiving my morning meal from the giving cock as another cock pushes in my ass as my master uses me as he sees fit, thrusting me into the dildo with every push till I feel a pump push my masters tasty cum up my ass, flowing deep inside me. Having had my fill I remove the dildo from my mouth and take a step back, “Im done Master” my leash is pulled as I teeter on my toes locked in my ballet heels.

Collecting the cum from my ass the tongue moves lower and I moan again as she enters my drooling pussy “Ahhh fuck!” I moan, hearing a laugh from my Master who seems to know my orgasm will come, whether I resist or not. Probing deeper and deeper inside me while the mouth sucks my clit and slurps the cum out, my mouth is too busy voicing my difficulty “Ohh fuck no! No no nonono! It-its too muhhhhHHHH” My voice breaking at the end as my pussy cums harder than I wanted as my cum sprays into the waiting mouth as the tongue redoubles and speeds up its thrusting, intent on making me disobey again I do my best to hold back but having my willpower shattered too hard from that last orgasm, I can only manage “AHHHH OHGODNOO-ooooohh my gooOOODNOOO PLEASE!!” I scream, my arms jerking in my armbinder as I shift on my breasts, no way to stop the orgasms I have no permission to have! “That's 2 orgasms, did you get permission to have those Slave?” My Master asks, “Im so sorry sir, I couldn't help it” I gasp out while the mouth sucks the remaining cum from my pussy and releases my still pulsing lips, “Thank you Master” I hear as the woman is led away and the sound of sucking fills the room.

Unlocking my chain from the floor Im put back on my toes and led to a chair where my master sits and bends me forward at the hips, Masters cock waits and I comply and thrust my head down and take him deep in my mouth, receiving my bonus meal Im stood up straight, “You wait here and keep sucking-” clearly talking to my sister slave, “I'll get this greedy slut ready for her punishment.” Making me shudder knowing Im getting punished for something I couldn't stop in my wildest dreams, Im led forward and taken to the dungeon in the basement, my legs forced open as I beg pathetically “She made me cum Master” being my favourite line to use. Special toys are inserted into my pussy and ass, 1 placed against my clit as a chastity belt lined with thick padded latex to seal completely, no way to get anything under my belt, not a finger or a feather, only my juices are able to slowly squeeze out from the shield. “These are very expensive, very special toys inside you now, dont want the deniers falling out and breaking now do we?” my Master asks with a laugh. What did my Master mean by “Deniers”? Im about to find out as he switches them all on, my head jerks as my lower body violently shakes as my ass and pussy quake with sensations and my poor clit becoming best friends with its stimulator. “If you manage to cum from those then its deserved, but good luck with that, Slut! Your punishment is keeping those in you for the day!” My Master says as I reach the edge of a massive orgasm and just as I crest the edge they all slow down, denying me the orgasm and holding me on the edge “Oh god im going to cum!” I moan as I try to cum, as the toys stop then start over again my orgasm rolls away then they vibrate continuously till Im once again on the edge, only to cut in and out in a painful denial. “It detects your heartbeat and stops just as your about to cum. Enjoy” My Master says as I scream aloud!

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Still sucking, not sure when Master will return I dont want to be caught with the dildo out of my mouth, a light tug on my leash informs me to release the toy as I look up to my Master, I barely heard a scream earlier and my sister slave is still in the dungeon. My Master leads me slowly down to the dungeon, the second the door opens I hear loud buzzing and gasping and moans from the tormented slave, my eyes widen as I see her, still with arms sealed behind her, eyeless latex hood over her face with a tight corset and ballet boots locked to her body, but its what was new that caught my eyes, a shiny chastity belt that sits very tightly against her sex. Another tug on the leash I follow my Master to a chair and as he sits he reveals his hard cock, and I hop up to take it in my mouth as clearly commanded, my eyes look over to my sister slave as she cries and screams while I suck on my Masters hard cock till a hand meets the back of my head and holds my head low. Swallowing his cum I continue to suck away at the cock in my mouth. Moans and screams fill my ears as Masters cock pushes in and your of my mouth while my eyes look to a thrashing woman, “Shes enjoying a new toy i acquired this morning in the mail, designed to deny its user every orgasm, it wont stop vibrating till i turn it off.” Master explains while holding a remote in his other hand and placing it on a nearby shelf, far out of my paws reach.

Pushing me back off his hard cock Im told to sit, and I watch the display in front of me, “She will get to cum again, unlike you though” my Master says as he looks down on my bitchsuit covered body as my eyes start to tear up as my pussy continues to hum pathetically, having been turned down to emit a arousing presence. Seemingly knowing my arousal could use a pick-me-up my own inserts max out as I jump up and I spin to look at my Master, my sex dripping with need concealed by the latex suit while my sister slave is experiencing, however limited, a taste of my desires, Im told to sit once again and I shakily drop onto my covered pussy and ass as my own fluids flow onto the floor with a rekindled heat behind it as I look to the woman thrashing in her bonds knowing her hell is a temporary one while my hell will continue long after today.

My eyes look to the clock on the wall and time seems to take its course, an hour passes and the moaning has been nonstop from both of us as the pool between the womans bound wide legs growing steadily, with my own small puddle beneath my own thighs, my Master saying “You must be thirsty by now Slave, go have a drink” pointing to the pool of juices before me, I slowly walk over and drop my head in the fluid and drink deep, my red hair falling into the pool I slurp up more and more of my sister slaves pussy juices, thinking it would be more tasty coming from its source directly. Having my fill I back up to my Master and once again take his cock in my mouth and begin sucking away, the nearby drain collecting what pussy juices I didnt slurp up, my face covered with her own fluids as the cock pushes in my mouth as another 2 hours pass. Standing up my Master walks to the tormented woman as she moans and begs for forgiveness incoherently as my Master reaches above her and grabs a dildo on a tube and puts it to her mouth, pushing it past her lips and teeth he locks straps around her head and pushes a button, the transparent tube fills with a white liquid and the slaves head shakes from side to side till her breasts are slapped hard “Drink up Slave!” My Master barks out loud. Complying instantly the slave gulps down many mouthfuls till shes clearly full and the button is pressed and the fluids flow stops, drinking up the rest the dildo is removes from her mouth and she spurts out some white fluid which lands on her large latex covered breasts.

Bringing the dildo over to me Im forced to suck on the thick toy as its locked on my face, pressing the button Im helpless to avoid the fluid as I watch as it rushes down the tube and bursts into my mouth, its horrible! Tastes worse than the cum flavoured fluid from upstairs Im forced to swallow multiple loads worth and the button is pressed and I finish up and the toy is unlocked and removed. Placing back up near the roof it drips more white liquid onto the floor in slow drips, I watch on as my pussy burns with more need and I gasp out as the vibrators stimulation seem to double as I was obviously drugged with something, still unable to cum I grind my metal plate on the ground in a useless bid to achieve what I know I cant have. Moaning as I push down my motions matching the woman bound before me as we both hump forward, both pussies locked behind metal plates as the wearers thrust and grind best they can.

Watching this, my Master laughs and takes me back upstairs, leaving my sister slave bound and struggling desperately as Im led away, entering the loungeroom I sit on a latex cushion placed in front of a metal device, locking my collar to the floor Im forced on my back, presenting my horny plate covered pussy for inspection, the device it placed over my head, covering my entire head and a dildo pushing into my mouth which is locked in place, the device now secure to my head my darkness is lit up with a screen everywhere I look. Im going to watch whatever my master wants me to watch, my eyes are illuminated with scenes of women in restrictive bondage and cumming constantly, cutting from scene to scene. My ears flood with the sounds of orgasms, cocks and sex. Unable to look away or block it out, even closing my eyes does nothing as I can see almost clear images on my eyelids as the dildo pulses in my mouth and my tongue coddles it lovingly as I feel my urethral tube deflate as my master takes care of my bodies needs, and I feel my eggs removed from my shuddering pussy, as its replaced with a throbbing hard cock as hands grab my breasts as my Master thrusts inside me, dumping 2 loads inside me, clearly going to require my sister to fish the cum out as I did for her this morning, at least I cant cum like she could. My Master leaves me to my porn to tend to the cum hungry slave below.

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

I cant cum, the toys wont let me! My hips thrusting against the belt with no release in sight I scream and moan between my blind begging to anyone there who could hear me! My breast being seized by a strong hand I cry out with desperation as I beg once again “Please make it stop Master!” being answered with a hand slapping my face “How would this be a punishment if you get out when you want out?” My Master says calmly as he unlocks my legs as I stand up straight as Im led back out of the dungeon, my pussy, ass and clit still alight with the vibrators. Led blindly through the house I hear moans over the humming between my thighs as Im forced to my knees and my face pushed into a pussy, its hers! Sucking deeply as my tongue shoots inside I taste cum packed deep and I begin fishing it out, it doesn't take long for me to get it all out and Im pulled off my dinner as Im taken over and pushed onto a seat, blind and unaware my Master decides to watch a normal movie while Im forced to sit, on the edge of a intense orgasm that I wont have till later hopefully as my tongue slips out of my open mouth while my mind goes numb with pure need.

Finishing his movie my Master jerks my mind back to reality with a cock slipping into my open mouth, the movie must be over, how long has it been? for me its been dark for 2 days straight so my grasp on the passage of time is completely useless, knowing when its night only when Im put to bed, I receive a delicious load in my mouth from my Master, which I swallow instantly and are brought to my feet and led around the house aimlessly, turning around sharply multiple times threatening to topple my delicate balance as I teeter on my sore toes trapped in my ballet boots. I begin walking in a long straight line, puzzled I realize Im on a treadmill once again, as I writhe in my denial haze Im forced to walk endlessly as my Master clearly leaves me to my torment, my legs burn for relief that Im not going to get. My moans begin anew with that realization.

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

My mind is flooding with porn, the images of orgasms making my denial that much harder to deal with. The screen turns black and the dildo my tongue was coddling is removed, my eyes see light and my Masters face as the helmet is taken away, my needy pussy right beneath him and the sounds of moaning and denial coming from around the corner, I know the treadmill is in that room and whats happening to her, Im pulled to my “feet” as my leash leads me to the treadmill room and I see her, bound tight in a inescapable walk of arousal and shame, “This because you made her cum twice, are you happy?” My Master says with a chuckle. Drinking in her bondage I accept that this is all on me, I could have eased up and denied her rather than taste her sweet cum… on my.. tongue. I know I did this, and I know that given the opportunity, I would do it again, her juices taste too great. If I cant cum then why should she? I decide that each time I clean her out I'll make her orgasm and sentence her to another day of denial hell. I smile at that decision and my Master laughs at my expression, “You enjoy her torture, dont you.”, I nod at his question “Yes Master, very much so..”

Leading me back up to the bedroom my cage is opened and I crawl inside and lay on my latex pillow and relax as best I can as my cage is locked shut and my Master leaves, likely to get my sister slave. Returning a few minutes later I yawn as he enters, Im exhausted, watching the blind slave led to the bed I hear flesh on latex and she falls back on the bed. Hearing a moan and a groan and a sudden cry I hear gagging as I learn my Master is taking her mouth tonight, she will remain denied tonight and I couldn't be happier. The lights turn off and I hear my Master call “Good night my Denial Whores!”

#Stories #Custom

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astrology-with-charu · 3 years

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𝐓𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞

𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

Taurus this is ofcourse your time and your season. Time to be your unique self and reinvent yourself in the way you want to. With Uranus now in your sign till 2026, you are being prompted to live your own truth versus to complying to whats the norm. Wanting to break through the restriction of any past social boundaries that seemingly cage you, you would start this month on a note to not back down from what you now know of yourself. Pluto is empowering your belief in your life path and in your ability to take a leap, even prompting you to take one. It doesn’t want to you to live “small” in any sphere of you life so if your expansive mindset is being made to be “small” in any setting, its pushing to go through rebirth there. We are here to establish our own truth and you certainly start this month pumped to establish yours. Happy Birthday and a very happy & dynamic new season of breakthroughs to all of you.

May 2021 Overview for all signs

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤

𝟚𝟟 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝟙𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝔽𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕚𝕠 𝟟º𝟘𝟞’

𝟚𝟟 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 : ℙ𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝟚𝟞º𝟜𝟠’ ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕟

𝟛𝟘 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 : 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕌𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕤 𝟙𝟘º𝟜𝟙’ 𝕋𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕦𝕤

𝟙𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝟚𝟞 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : ℕ𝕖𝕨 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕦𝕤 𝟚𝟙º𝟙𝟠’

𝟙𝟛 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕁𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕤

𝟙𝟘,𝟙𝟟,𝟛𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : ℕ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 ℕ𝕠𝕕𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪, 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕦𝕤, 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝟙𝟘º𝟜𝟝’ 𝔾𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚

𝟚𝟡 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝟚𝟜º𝟜𝟛’ 𝔾𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚

𝟚𝟛 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕊𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝟙𝟛º𝟛𝟙’

𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀

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Entering the month, there might be an interaction with a partner, a client, a close contact, even a conflict with a critic, a power struggle which can prompt you to restructure your outlook about what you want to do and who you want to be know as or for. For Taurus rising,sun, moon around 7º or April born Taurus sun, it could be a closure or completion or a disclosure in a partnership which can prompt this. The end of April prompts a powerful shift where we transform and even heal through partnerships and others. It might not be a smooth ride but it gets us pumped to make the move. The brush with authority and bosses may not have been walk in the park.

From that place of transformation we are driven to cultivate a new identity. And this might have been in making for past 2-3 years. There is an urge to build, buy, invest, plant a new life. Your normal calm and cool charisma could be tad touchy at start of the month as someone has ruffled feathers. You would assert your needs, your autonomy, your emotions as its time to put yourself first. You are starting a fresh personal cycle on your terms. Time to do something entirely new. And it’s not just what you do, your creative ideas, your looks, your choices will go through a brilliant refresh.

Uranus in Taurus does bring the rebel out in you, you become an agent of change as well as an agent of provocation per the conservatives and traditional. Revel in your unique brilliance and use this month to nurture that bright light that recent events have lit in you even though through friction. Tech, innovation, creative breakthroughs, offbeat projects, ahead of time ideas, different creative choices, unique looks, rebel against whats not fair - are all ways to express this energy. And this does change who are your partners, clients and how you connect one on one with others. The more you try to tell yourself everything is the same, the more stark external expressions of you tell you they are not and will not be.

With Saturn in your house of authority, you could feel you are paying off some sort of karma to authorities, to father figure or to your external identity. Your urge to break free conflicts with these rules and expectations especially for around 11º-13º Taurus rising, sun, moon which is around end April and early May born. This conflict would become louder as month progresses and we move to June. I covered this is details in your 2021 horoscope as its the key theme of breakthrough especially for your sign this year. Do review that as that aspect is activated for the second time, becoming exact on 14th June. Reaching certain peak of your career over this and next year is possible but it would not come without this fight between the old and new. When you reach the peak you want to be sure it’s the right summit you are on.

Saturn Square Uranus 2021 for ♉️

The three chance meetings of 10th, 17th and 31st May that I referenced in part 1 is bringing some sort of fated information on assets, money and skills that become valuable. As you look to reinvent yourself, like a true Taurian you are looking at the financial aspect of it too. There could be some important information in these fated encounters. You would also be driven to find the ways to get more financial abundance, getting more confidence in your skills, looking to cultivate your skills further, looking to become financially independent. In this process it would be helpful to keep in mind that you are being prompted not just to get the ground ready to be independent as Rahu or North Node comes into your sign in 2022 after 19 years, you are also being prompted to release old opinions of others. The thoughts of others and their belief, even their thoughts of you, block you more than you know.

Invest into your skills by taking courses, invest in the assets and you would feel supported in some ways - you might even get guidance from someone experienced on these dates and they are good time to gain support.

Do not become part of someone else’s reality. People’s opinion of what is good for you, is the last thing you want right now. But if there are people who have walked a similar path as you, learn from their practical experiences.

As Mercury would be in shadow post 14th May and would be going retrograde after 29th May in your finances house, it would be best to be careful of investment and documentation with financial underpinning after 14th. They might need review during 29th May to 22nd June period. This could also be a period when some misunderstanding on finances or ego issues could come to surface especially in June and end of month. Words have power and impact - for you financial impact remember that. You might by your own wish might decide to leave some sort of financial support from another as you want that karma to be done.

Month end Saturn retrograde would prompt some structuring changes in your career and relationship with authority and father figure. Healthy boundaries.

Let’s talk of the good news, Jupiter is moving into Pisces on 13th May staying till 28th July and will come for a longer transit in 2022. I spoke of it in details in March, which I will link below but its a fantastic time to grow your big wealth ideas, vision and friend circle. It’s just a preview but I think this would give you some relief from the harshness of the hard aspects that you have been experiencing. This is a great sign and placement of Jupiter and it brings opportunities of expansion in our popularity, social influence, network, friends and wealth from these endeavours.

Jupiter transit for ♉️

If the new moon of 11th May falls on your birthday or 2-3 days around or if you have your rising / sun / moon around 21º Taurus , this could be a very pivotal year for you and new start would have long term support.

In the seemingly benign moments, your new life begins !

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Why Evil is the Only TV Procedural Worth Watching

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This Evil article contains spoilers. You can read a spoiler-free review of the show here.

Who knows what evils lie at the heart of CBS’s Evil? Shadows know. We consulted a book of shadows (not the one Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) skims, too many spoilers there) to cut into the left ventricle of the darkness feeding the network’s supernatural series, now in production for season 2. The blood of the police procedural pumps through the veins of the paranormal investigation show, but Evil transcends the statutes of those limitations. Occasionally by papal decree. The series is intelligent, filled with symbolism, and its main character, who is training to be a priest, drops acid on a semi-regular basis. And he’s not microdosing. Look at those baggies.

Evil doesn’t debunk demonic possession, which is the main thrust of the team’s investigations. It never treats it as campy. The series believes demons are real, even giving the audience a breakdown of the six different forms possession take. But it deliciously stops short of giving full commitment. The show also explores how to parse out personal responsibility when there’s a supernatural being to blame. In episode 7, “Vatican 3,” we learn “the court does not acknowledge demonic possession” in determining guilt or innocence. The series further muddies the waters when the crew has to take a hard look at a murder committed by someone who wasn’t possessed, such as when the parents of what they believed is a demonically possessed child kill him. The series further turns the screw because the kid they killed to save their other children was born evil. It was literally in his genes.

Evil shares DNA with The X-Files, and David Acosta, played with charisma and empathy by Mike Colter (Luke Cage), is the new show’s Fox “Spooky” Mulder. He is looking for answers beyond the veil, which has the same letters as evil, and he is putting the pieces together like a hidden map of old Manhattan. There’s a truth out there and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to understand it. He’s not in it to solve any crimes against venal sins. He is looking for deeper meaning, and this alone puts the series above most procedurals. David’s got a bit of the scientist Dodge from original The Planet of the Apes film in his cinematic character. One of the first astronauts to delve so deep into the outer reaches of space, “He’d walk naked into a live volcano if he thought he could learn something no other man knew.” David is the same. He was a foreign correspondent in war-ravaged Afghanistan who got to know the soldiers whose stories he reported. Truth and knowledge are the most noble of callings, and ultimately come before his religious calling.

While the basic premise of a spiritual believer teamed with a dissenting psychologist is procedural trope, Evil is out to debunk the law of its diminishing returns. First, the show teams David with not just one skeptical voice, but two. Katja Herbers’ Dr. Kristen Bouchard plays the same role Agent Dana Scully played to Mulder, and with a similar arsenal. She comes from a different perspective, though. Bouchard does indeed believe in miracles, but thinks they all have scientific explanations. She is confident the only reason something might defy natural principles is because science hasn’t been applied properly yet. Scully, who wore a cross and took her faith seriously, accepted miracles on faith. David and Kristen rarely come to the same conclusion.

Ben Shakir, played by Aasif Mandvi, brings common knowledge, and shades his skepticism with cynicism. The former Daily Show correspondent takes on the weight of all three Lone Gunmen but with more constructive skills. Before joining the paranormal team, he was a carpenter, just like Jesus. Ben knows how things work, and when everyday mechanisms like sinks or faulty wiring are the root cause of supernatural phenomena, he can turn the screws, and spot the mold. Ben, “the Magnificent,” as Kristen’s children call him, is also tech savvy, and quite capable of hacking hackers.

Evil also throws things at Ben which he can’t easily spackle over with even the best of tests. Try as he may, and he tries, he can’t explain the light of an angel in the frame of a surveillance video. There is no evidence of doctoring, even at the most expert levels. “The world is weird,” David passes off as dating advice when Ben asks about potential girlfriend Vanessa (Nicole Shalhoub), who wants to know she if she should detach from her dead sister before committing to a new relationship. Vanessa thinks she is “tethered” to her phantom sister by the right arm.

Supernatural science is bizarre, creators Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife, Braindead) believe. They push the show to diagnose causes the external evidence of exorcisms and stigmata, the bleeding wounds which correspond to the wounds on Christ’s hands when he was nailed to the cross. Because stigmatics display their wounds as they are portrayed artistically, rather than how the Romans historically would have done the crucifixion, it proves it comes from a psychological source. Internal belief causes the phenomena, not external spiritual forces. Evil explains that, allowing ample room for skepticism, belief, and even poetic reasons for spiritual incursions. David quotes Shakespeare to enunciate his faith. The concept of free will doesn’t come up in most procedurals. Neither does the way sociopolitical issues are turned into supernatural questions and tied to the origins of evil.

Evil is almost a character in Evil, and has relatable entry points. Real demons first get to Kristen’s four young daughters through an augmented reality videogame. A little girl who never takes off her Halloween mask almost gets the sisters to bury one alive. We don’t know how much of the characters’ perceptions is the result of a demon character’s influence on them. Each character is slowly being tempted by the dark side.

Kristen joined the team as a rational thinker but has had to accommodate uncomfortable ideas and adjust her comfort zone accordingly. In her usual line of work, she’s analyzed the criminally insane, but the show has pushed her into close contact with people who are evil in the Biblical sense. She is being pushed incrementally by forces in and out of her control. Her own mother Sheryl (Christine Lahti) sides with a manipulative competitor, Leland, over her daughter, and he’s made direct threats. The first season can be seen as Kristen’s slow corruption. The second season may see Kirsten apply her skills to her own situation, which will delve further into the dichotomy between the spiritual and pragmatic.

This is because Kristen may have already fallen. The final episode includes a telltale blood stain, which she wills Ben to unsee. On any procedural this is considered a clue, but here on Evil, the evidence actually points further than a mere homicide. It is the first sign that a main character has gone to the dark side. It is confirmed when the touch of a crucifix blisters her hand. There’s no such thing as an original sin and Kristen has been flirting with temptation long before this.

Kristen is a married nonpracticing Catholic who lost her faith. She’s sexually attracted to David, a man on his way to becoming a priest. When this subject was broached on the classic 1970s cop comedy Barney Miller, a prostitute who was supposed to be a young priest’s last fling before he entered a monastery said “I break laws, not commandments.” It feels like Kristen reminds herself of this every time the two of them are on screen alone together. Their sexual chemistry is that palpable. Yes, this is very similar to the long-gesticulating romance between Mulder and Scully, but he was no priest and she wasn’t married. Not only is Kristen married, but she’s got half a brood of daughters. Annoying things, really, but at least one of them has an excuse. Another reason Evil is the only procedural worth watching is because everyone on it just might be cursed. That’s not found in the manuals.

Evil towers over contemporary procedurals in how it’s going dark. Most procedurals chase a morally compromised arc, but Evil treats it like an encroaching corruption. Kristen, who is sworn to uphold the law, may have gone more than rogue vigilante. Besides the crucifix-burning season closing, David has visions of a goat demon waiting for Kristen with a scythe. She’d been tormented by her own personal demon throughout the season but when the George, the demon-like creature who visits Kristen during sleep paralysis, falls on the knife, it changes nothing. He is just one of many demons. One of them set up practice and is taking office hours with Leland.

The Demon Therapist is an all-male Goat of Mendes, or Baphomet. The show gets into how different biblical angels look from how they’re perceived artistically and by the contemporary faithful, but won’t present a faithful representation of Baphomet. It’s as patriarchal as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Evil keeps it vague whether the goat demon is real or in Leland’s head. The Demon therapist appears in Kristen’s dreams as well. Lexis (Maddy Crocco) disabled the house alarm for the visiting devil therapist when he invites her to “the next level,” making it seem she is at least susceptible to underworldly influence. The kids are irritating, but they are a bargaining chip and their father, Adam, put them up for grabs when they chanted together offering an exchange of souls. Kristen was co-opted into evil through protective motherly instinct. She doesn’t see the mark of the devil as a badge of honor. When Kristen puts the cross in her palm, she doesn’t look like she expected it as much as feared it.

While the network show will never have the freedoms afforded cable series, the acting is top notch all around. Series like HBO’s Perry Mason or even Showtime’s reimagined second incarnation of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, provide a wider range of emotion and carnality. But Evil gives us muted, for the most part believable performances, very often underplayed. As are the special effects and use of technology as a narrative device. Too many procedurals treat high tech surveillance and other investigative tools like they are all-seeing eyes which can count nostril hairs. It has become normalized. Evil doesn’t waste intellectual space with unreasonable gadgets. The tools Ben or Leland use to their computerized ends are believable. At one point, Kristen asks Ben to record a cell phone conversation which is already halfway over. She is surprised he can’t with all his special skills.

The series incorporates real world horrors into mundane life. Even some of the most normal looking settings carry a sense of unease, to underscore the show’s thesis that the supernatural is natural but never quite normalized. Many of the scenes are shot vertically, drawing the viewers’ eyes upward and inferring something is always going on above. The series’ many wide-angle shots put a distance between characters even in close-ups.

The show isn’t afraid to wear its influences on its sleeves, and on several occasions has a lot of fun with it. For Dr. Kurt Boggs’ (Kurt Fuller) arrival at an exorcism, they recreated Father Merrin’s introductory scene in the horror classic The Exorcist, shot for shot, even getting an exact replica of the light post and the same make car, though different year, from the film. They gave nods to Rosemary’s Baby, Misery, Cabin in the Woods, and Children of the Corn. The climbing ax which Kirsten grabs on her way out to do damage on the serial killer Orson looks like it has teeth. As did the walking stick Lon Chaney’s Larry Talbot carried in The Wolfman. The demon George looks like Freddy Krueger’s good-looking cousin. The tonality of the show is reminiscent of Charles Laughton’s immeasurably influential Night of the Hunter.

The main reason Evil shines above most procedurals is because it is scary, and those scares have been building slowly and deliberately. Commonplace settings feel off, and the world around is filled with conspiracies and coverup. The Vatican asks the team to determine whether a woman who knows the hidden history of the church is a false prophet. The fertility clinic Kristen and her husband Andy used when conceiving Lexis corrupts fetuses with satanic insemination. A witty but innocuous internet meme, Puddy’s Christmas song, is a hummably foreboding earworm. Anything can go evil on Evil.

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Evil season 2 is currently in production. Read more about that here.

The post Why Evil is the Only TV Procedural Worth Watching appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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ancientwastedlores · 4 years

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The Support System (Ch: 8)

SUMMARY: The Avengers have managed to collect all the infinity stones across the universe, and are currently keeping them in far corners of the world, only for research and to see if they can improve the planet and its people. Reader is a researcher with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, as well as a field agent. Loki is currently serving time for his actions in New York City in 2012.

A/N: Find this chapter on AO3 here. Fic requests are welcome!

AO3: The Support System Tumblr: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

Warnings: N/A Audience: general.

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CHAPTER 8:

The agents are dropped off at the Avengers facility, while you, Nat, Clint, and Sam are taken to the Avengers Tower. Thor went back to Asgard directly from Hong Kong.

Everyone had a chance to take a shower in the jet, so you’re feeling pretty refreshed going in. Some agents in the building greet you on your way to your room. Some offer to help with your bags and gear, you say no thanks, you got it.

You open the door to your room and see Loki in your bed.

The watch next to him reads 11AM. He usually doesn’t sleep this late. You let him be, and place your bags at the back of the room, and on your way back to exit the room, you stop by the bed to look.

Loki sleeps peacefully, wearing his soft cotton pyjamas. It's meditative just to watch him breathe, so you smile and linger a moment longer. You look closer and see him hugging one of your hoodies. Your eyes widen and you quickly walk out, shutting the door behind you. You lean against the wall, unsure of what you saw, and why it was happening.

You honestly don’t know what to think, and know ignoring it won’t make it go away. You decide to ask Tony if Loki has been acting strangely or anything knowing fully he will say "I told you so".

‘I TOLD YOU SO’ Tony yells.

You just accepted that his idea of letting Vision go in the mirror dimension with the stone was good, after reading Strange’s email out loud.

‘When do we start?’ he asks, his eyes gleaming. He rubs his hands together, a wide grin playing on his lips. Surrounded by all his lab equipment, sparkling and whirring, it makes him look like an evil mad scientist.

‘We still don’t know how to use the stone. And we can’t let Vision puppet for us when we still don’t know what to do’ you explain. ‘Vision would know’ ‘You sound unsure...’ you pat Tony’s back. ‘We waited this long, we can wait a while longer till Thor is here’. ‘Isn’t it just hold and think’ he rolls his eyes. ‘Tony, it’s not a sonic screwdriver’. He looks at you questioningly. You shrug. ‘It’s a Doctor Who thing’.

He turns to walk away.

‘I did want to ask though, um…’ you hesitate.

He looks at you, waiting.

‘Did Loki say anything while I was gone? Or… do anything weird?’ Bruce, who has been listening, interjects. ‘He kept asking if we know how you guys are doing’. ‘Anything else?’ ‘Nope. We haven’t seen him around too much’. ‘We still see him at breakfast usually’ Tony provides. You furrow your brows. ‘Yeah, I uh…’ ‘What?’ Tony asks. ‘Nothing, I just saw him in my bed hugging one of my shirts... I don’t know how to perceive that’. ‘Well’ Bruce says. ‘If you don’t feel the same way, you should tell him before he finds out the hard way and goes insane’. You wrinkle your nose at the accusation. ‘Insane is a bit of a stretch. And I don’t know what I feel. I don’t know IF I feel’. ‘Are you gonna ask him about it?’ Tony asks. ‘I’m sure there’s a reason he hasn’t come out with it yet, I’ll just let him take his time with it’.

Tony nods, and returns to his work.

‘I will admit; I’m surprised you’re taking this so well’ you tell Tony. ‘Uhuh…’ Tony keeps working. ‘Uhuh? Why the change of heart?’

Bruce and Tony say nothing. You turn to look at Bruce, who is bending a little too much over his computer trying to avoid your gaze.

‘Bruce…’ you say. ‘Hm?’ he says without looking up.

You look back at Tony and catch him glaring at Bruce.

‘Oh my god, something happened, tell me, tell me RIGHT NOW’ you exclaim. ‘Bruce…’ Tony warns. ‘LOKI KNOWS HOW TO USE THE STONES AND TONY SAID TO TEACH VISION’ Bruce blurts out.

Your eyes widen, and you look back at Tony. ‘WHAT!?’ ‘He heard Bruce and I talk about it and offered to help and I said okay’ Tony says, his tone a tad defensive. ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ you skip behind the table and hug Tony. ‘Good on you for giving him a chance’. ‘If you tell Natasha I allowed this, you’re fired’.

You roll your eyes, remembering Natasha give a similar threat in Queens. Tony and Nat are forever in some sort of unspoken competition.

‘So we don’t have to wait for Thor, we can start right away!’ you exclaim. ‘Yeah, there’s another thing though’ Bruce gets up from behind his desk. ‘Loki said that the way Strange got his stone to talk was a hack- described it like the operating system of a computer’. ‘Okay?’ ‘Basically, Strange hacked into the Time Gem, so the other stones strengthened their own, in a sense, operating systems. It’s going to take longer, and be tougher, with the reality gem’. ‘We aren’t lacking time, so it’s fine’ you point out. ‘Strange did say he’s busy this month, so that gives Vision time to train’.

Tony and Bruce agree, and then politely kick you out of the lab to go rest after your week long mission abroad.

Unsure of what to do, you just roam the halls, saying hi to random agents walking around. No one will train with you, because Tony ordered them to not let you. You don’t feel like reading another bunch of papers. You aren’t allowed in the lab. And Loki’s asleep, so you can’t watch Doctor Who.

So you go the kitchen and see what’s there to eat. Sam’s there, with Rhodey, describing the badass Kaecilius cage, and how it works.

‘Hi!’ you say. Rhodey waves at you. ‘Okay, come here, I wanna demonstrate how the cage got that guy to fall to his knees’ Sam motions for you to come over.

You walk over to them and stand before Sam. He wraps his arms around your torso and pulls you to him. ‘So the tiny disk has these arms that go around your torso…’ he lets go and takes your wrists in his hands and pulls them back, ‘…pulls your arms back…’ he uses his knee to gently kick the back of your knees so you fall on the carpet, ‘…hits the back of your knees with force so you hit the floor, and damn, it looks like the fall hurts…’ you can’t help but laugh, thinking of how odd this whole scene would look if someone were to walk in.

‘HEY’

The three of you turn to look at the entrance, where Loki is glaring at Sam, clearly unaware of the gag here.

The next second, Loki teleports right next to Sam and pushes him off of you.

‘STAY BACK’ Rhodey yells, standing up and pointing an Iron Glove at Loki. They stare each other down. ‘Rhodey, it’s fine…’ you motion for him to put his Glove down. ‘It’s just a misunderstanding’.

Sam gets up. ‘I’m good’ he announces. ‘Loki, we were just showing Rhodey how this particular trap works, and Sam was using me to demonstrate’ you explain.

Loki looks you up and down to check if you’re okay. You’re sustaining a few old bruises and cuts from your spar with Loki and your mission, but nothing too recent. He looks at Sam. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know’. ‘It’s no trouble’ Sam sits on the couch. ‘Just so you know, though, we don’t revel in beating each other up’.

You sense Loki remember the "friendly fight" before the extraction mission, and he starts to walk away.

‘Hey’ you grab his arm. ‘You wanna continue Doctor Who? I’m not doing anything’. ‘Yes’ he smiles, relieved.

‘Matt Smith is undoubtedly my second favourite Doctor’ you declare, as the DVD loads. ‘You said the same thing about Capaldi’ Loki reminds you. ‘Ah, the second spot is interchangeable’. ‘Who’s the first, then?’ ‘Jodie Whittaker’ you grin.

Loki plops down next to you, and you hit play. The opening theme starts.

‘When did you get back?’ Loki asks. ‘Around 11’. ‘Oh…’

You internally scold yourself for not changing the time, because now you’ve gone and made him feel awkward. But he says nothing, and you allow it to be that way. The show starts.

Weeks pass. Business as usual continues, with regular training hours, Loki and Vision playing around with the Reality stone, and Tony breaking apart and analysing the new tech. He has barely scratched the surface, and often asks you and Nat to come to the lab and test it out.

Weekdays consist of work, weekends have the Avengers drinking and having a good time. Everyone seems cooler with Loki too, which thrills you. You just want everyone to get along.

One of the weekends, Tony suggested karaoke. He only did it so he’d get to show off his rendition of ‘Fly Me to The Moon’, but everyone excitedly agreed.

So on the week, you see every Avenger spend a lot more time in their rooms, retiring early and coming to breakfast late, to practice for the weekend. Tony did say there would be a prize. You chuckled at how seriously some people took it, comparing them to little children. But once Nat asked you to listen to her belt out the Postmodern Jukebox version of ‘Oops, I Did It Again’, you started to get into it, abandoning your Doctor Who marathons with Loki to practice in your room.

‘Can I watch you?’ Loki had asked once. ‘Absolutely not’ you said. ‘You can wait till the weekend’.

Not watching TV with you till late night left no excuse for Loki to spend the night in your room, and you saw him struggle to come up with a story for two whole days - it was quite entertaining, but a little sad too. It ranged from "You left your phone in the kitchen, I'm just here to return it" to "I worked all day on the stones, do you want to just relax with a drink and a movie?". You thought of just offering, but told yourself that if he wants something, he should just ask and not expect it to be handed to him. You just threw yourself into prepping your routine, because you saw Thor had a routine, and you weren’t about to be upstaged by him.

Nat asks you at dinner what song you plan to sing, and you refused to say anything at all.

‘Mine’s a secret too’ Tony said, grinning. ‘We all know you’re doing “Fly Me to The Moon”, Tony’ Nat says. Tony frowns, and everyone laughs.

Finally, one night Loki does just come and say he couldn’t sleep in his room alone, and asks if he can continue sleeping in your room.

‘Yeah. Why didn’t you just ask before?’ you ask. He shrugs. ‘I just didn’t want to ask too much of you’. No, that wasn’t it, but you smile. ‘It’s no problem. When I’m done with my practice, I'll let you know’. ‘Or you can stay in my room?’ he offers. ‘Nope’ you say calmly, but internally panic. In your room, you have control. You weren’t giving that up.

He accepts and leaves, shutting the door behind him.

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Next chapter, karaoke! <3

#loki #loki x you #loki x reader #tom hiddleston x you #avengers fanfiction #marvel fandom #loki fanfic #avengers tower #loki fluff #fanfic #tom hiddleston

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signaturedish · 5 years

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I really liked Detroit but didn’t get as much context? Maybe I’m just oblivious but could you explain it a bit more?

Let me just start out by saying I enjoyed playing DBH, I thought the fanon was fun, and any criticism I have toward the creators and the game have nothing to do with fans of the game.

You not agreeing with my perspective isn’t something you need to stress about. This is a no judgment zone.

THAT SAID. I could bitch about dbh for an eternity lol, it’s just a disaster on so many levels.

I’m going to regurgitate some points you can find carefully explained (with visual aid) in the Mother’s Basement video I linked in my other dbh post if you want to take a peek at that as well.

DBH is very clearly an allegory for minorities discriminated against in American history. It’s similar to Bright in how blatantly tied their metaphors are to American civil rights issues.

It’s in the rhetoric the rebel androids use, it’s in the symbolism you choose through Markus, it’s in the direct comparisons characters draw in-universe. Markus can (depending on your choices) paraphrase MLK on multiple occasions- one very memorably since in that same sentence he insinuates that humans are inherently inferior, violent, naturally opposed to harmony and will never accept them. Kind of the antithesis of what I Have a Dream stands for.

The fact that David Cage doesn’t seem to respect the references he’s using to communicate the android=minority idea to the audience is an issue all on its own without taking into account the world building.

Relating a fictional people’s suffering to a real one isn’t new at all. Even if it’s distasteful, it’s fast and effective shorthand to get an audience onboard with what is, in reality, a very socially complex issue that takes time to explore in a foreign society.

But David Cage’s world building is so poor- I’m pretty sure the world was built AROUND the shorthand and not the other way around. You can point to anything in the game to see this- laws and normalized behavior. Sale practices and common rhetoric. Almost every facet of the world hinges on logic that doesn’t make sense when ironed out.

It’s so incredibly flimsy when removed from the real world context it desperately needs to even camouflage as coherent that the writers straight up forgot to prove to the audience that androids are actually alive.

Sure- there’s a stupid twist ending where Amanda laughs maniacally and declares the entire revolution to be a conspiracy (which is so nonsensical I don’t even need to debunk it). But that’s a ‘treat’ for major fans to find.

The generic storyline most players see requires you function under the assumption that androids are alive to receive good endings and positive reinforcement (like from menu girl). This isn’t a major hiccup for players because the androids are so heavily related to real minorities and their suffering is so comically malicious that most people follow along and empathize. But that doesn’t mean it’s not one of the biggest failures you can possibly achieve as a writer for this kind of story- they didn’t even seem interested in trying to justify the androids’ humanity. They just are.

It’s only if you’ve already accepted them as Jewish analogs ala armbands and concentration camps that you consider shooting murderous janitor and prostitute androids immoral and not on par with unplugging a rogue lawn mower.

The only suggestion offered in the general storyline besides waking up with a soul is that it’s a virus that simulates emotions androids are not equipped for. Considering the amount of androids snapping and murdering people without remorse, the existence of a self destruct rather than an emergency shut off or reboot like virtually every other tech device on the planet, and that Markus spreads ‘emancipation’ through a wireless transfer- randomly growing a soul seems the lesser probability here.

So here we’ve got a civil rights allegory that is missing the point of the real world message and movement when it’s not actively insulting minorities by simply existing. And its conclusion fails to prove that androids have humanity, which implies so many ugly things about the oppressed people used for the initial comparison.

And I’m pretty sure it was all one big accident because no one editing thought to mention how Not Cute it is to explicitly tie the struggle of black people in America to naturally subservient inhuman laborers. :/

It’s 2 am and I’m probably rambling now so I’ll stop here. Thanks for asking, hope you can understand my complaints about their total abuse of context now even if you may not agree with me.

#jeez i hope that made sense #i stopped myself before i could bounce back to praising connors route as being mostly clean of sin #he doesnt sprout a soul #he has much more agency in his character arc compared to the others #anon ask #sd speaks #dbh #detroit become human #markus #connor #kara #david cage #criticism

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kyle-writes · 5 years

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The Neighborhood: Part 1

[And yet, despite all odds, I continue to create. Read on. Thanks in advance. ]

It all began with a few missing pets, outside cats mostly. Then all the pets were gone, even the ones that lived in tiny cages. We weren’t called in until the first child disappeared from their bed in the middle of the night. There were no signs of a break-in, or even of a struggle. The boy’s bed looked slept in but the blankets were still pulled up the way the mother insisted she had left them when she put him in it. Our forensics guys couldn’t find one hint of an intruder, which of course brought the parents to the light as suspects. I mean, it was only natural after all. Let me stop there before I get ahead of myself.

I was leaning back at my desk reading the various reports from the scene when I heard my phone vibrate on my desk. I dropped my feet to the floor and swept it up in the same motion as I put the papers down.

“Detective Grace,” I spat out in my ‘all business’ voice, it was a habit I’d picked up after eight years in homicide. Most phone calls I got during work hours never had any real good news to deliver.

“Milly, it’s Gil,” said the voice on the other end, as if I could ever mistake the wavering, nervous pitch of our director of forensics. “I---,”

I sat up in my chair fully now, on high alert. “You found something with the Larson case?” My heart felt light in my chest, excitement already building---slowly, but surely.

There was silence, then, “Ahm…yes, and no. We have a problem out here on site.” I could hear several other voices furtively whispering. “We moved to the basement and --- will you two shut up?!--- And found some foreign substances oozing up from some cracks in the concrete floor near the southwest corner.” I was about to ask him what he meant by ‘foreign’ and ‘oozing’ but he continued after clearing his throat with one of his patented dry coughs. “We went upstairs after bagging some samples and the house was empty.”

Any positive feelings I had been having at that point were washed away in an instant. “What…what do you mean empty?”

“I mean Mr. and Mrs. Larson were gone, and so was Big Boy.”

Big Boy was Sergeant Louis Phillips, my senior in the department. The nickname wasn’t some cute thing, Louis was a 6’10” black man made out of 300 pounds of muscle. He moved, and hit, like a freight train. There was no way two middle-aged office workers could overpower him. No way in hell.

“Milly? Mildred?” Gil’s use of my full name pulled me back into reality.

“Stay there,” I said stiffly, “I’m calling in the cavalry. Don’t touch anything else.” I hung up and got to work.

The good folks of Washington Street were out on their lawns in force on that dreary Saturday afternoon as flashing lights flooded their neighborhood, focused all around the Larson house. K9 units combed the area for signs of our missing parents and beloved sergeant, but I had the uneasy feeling in the back of my head that they weren’t having any luck. Chief Albrecht had even contacted the county sheriff and highway patrol to get in on the action.

The whole thing was on a level of chaos I hadn’t ever experienced before. A knot had wormed its way into my guts and I felt myself teetering on a precipice between anger and panic. Gil stood next to me with a couple of his techs blabbering about something, but it was all just a low drone in my ears. My focus was out on the gathering crowd, a few of which I recognized as neighbors of the Larsons that we’d interviewed barely twenty-four hours ago. I took in the staring faces carefully, trying to see if any looked strange or out of place.

The knot in my stomach quivered. I stepped away from Gil and moved to find Alphonse Ruiz, another homicide detective. I found him inside the house, standing in the kitchen at the top of the basement stairs, looking down into the brightly lit area as folks worked at breaking apart the concrete flooring.

“Yo,” he said, turning fully to greet me with one hand raised.

“The family across the street, the ones you interviewed yesterday, have you seen them wandering around gawking with the rest of the civilians?” The back of my head itched, I had to force myself to ignore it. It was my tell.

Al blinked at me, and it made me want to hit him. “Er, the O’Neils? No, seen just about everyone else though.”

“Right, that’s what’s bugging me. This place is a goddamn circus, and they aren’t out here with the rest of ‘em. And all the lights in their nice little two-story are all black.” There was a subtle panic growing in my gut, the kind I had learned long ago not to ignore. I lead Al back outside and pointed across the street. “Cars are still out in the driveway too.”

Al had his phone out, he swiped his finger across the screen and after a few taps brought it up to his ear. I heard it ring twice before going to voicemail. He hung up, and tried again, with the same result. “Hrm, phone must be off. I told them not to go anywhere without leaving a contact number. Just in case.”

We headed across the street, many eyes following us, and stepped onto the O’Neil’s porch. I rang the doorbell, and heard its low, musical chime go off inside. Nothing. No movement inside. I pressed the button again, this time calling out my name and affiliation with the police homicide squad.

Al, who was standing shoulder to shoulder with me, knocked hard on the door. On his second strike, the door jiggled just enough to open slightly. We exchanged glances and he pushed ahead of me, calling out to anyone who might be in the house. I had my hand on my gun as we entered the dark place.

Immediately I felt something bad in the air that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Al couldn’t hide his unease either, crouching slightly as we inched into the completely silent O’Neil house. We passed through a small hallway lined with family photos---Mr. and Mrs. O’Neil looked to be around the same age as the Larsons, with two almost-grown kids and one that I would guess was a surprise. There had to have been at least a ten year difference between the middle and the youngest. The place must have been like a zoo in even its calmest moments.

We stopped when two paths opened to us, one to the left and right. Al signaled he would go right, I nodded, and we separated. I ended up in the den. Next to the large bay window that looked out over the street was an equally big flat-screen plasma television sitting on a cabinet filled with open shelves and at least a dozen different kind of electronics. A cushy looking couch and leather recliner looked undisturbed, the pillows and blankets on them still neatly piled, and the TV remote on the recliner’s left armrest. I saw a half-finished glass of tea sitting on a small end table next to the chair. No ice, if there had been it was long melted.

A single sharp whistle snapped my attention from the glass back to where Al had gone. I rushed to him to find him standing in a doorway between the dining room and kitchen, a determined look on his face. He had his gun drawn in his right hand and waved for me to come next to him with his left. I undid the bindings on my holster and slid up next to him.

Sitting in the middle of the tiled kitchen floor was an upturned tray of uneaten biscuits and a shattered porcelain bowl stuck in a mess of half-dry gravy. The fridge was wide open and near the bottom was a dropped quart sized container of orange juice. Al and I exchanged glances. He stepped back around the corner and brought his radio up to his mouth and I heard him mumble into it as I stepped into the kitchen.

Around the corner where the oven was stood an open door that without a doubt lead into some kind of basement. All the houses in the neighborhood had a similar design, being built all around the same time back in the late 80s. Having been down in the Larson basement, I could picture what this one looked like.

Out came my pocket flashlight, I shook it and clicked it on. A golden beam of light pierced the pitch blackness of the basement and illuminated a long, wooden staircase. Upon the staircase, from the next-to top stair all the way to the bottom was a trail of thick, gooey black ichor. Eerily similar to the kind Gil had shown me in the evidence bag not ten minutes ago.

#horror #weird #short story

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imdoingthismspaintadventure · 5 years

Text

Worm 1.6 - In which we meet futuristic techno Dredd

II heard the cape arrive on his souped up motorcycle. I didn’t want to be seen fleeing the scene of a fight, and risk being labeled one of the bad guys by yet another person, but I wasn’t about to get closer to the street either, in case Lung was feeling better. Since there was nowhere to go, I just stayed put. Just resting felt good.

Yeah it’s better you stay and try to explain what went down. Fleeing after all this..wouldn’t be a good look. And let’s try to stay far away from the knocked-out fire demon while we’re at it.

If you’d asked me just a few hours ago about how I thought I would feel meeting a big name superhero, I would have used words like excited and giddy. The reality was that I was almost too exhausted to care.

You have experienced a loooot of things just today girl. It’s not everyday you get into a life or death fight and then meet some people of dubious character, all in the span of like 20 minutes. Shame your first encounter with a bona-fide superhero is in a situation like this.

It looked as though he flew up onto the roof, but the six-foot long weapon the man held kind of jerked as he landed. I was pretty sure I saw the tines of a grappling hook retreating back into the end of the weapon. So this was what Armsmaster looked like in person, I thought.

Armsmaster! So...master of weapons? He seems to have a pretty badass one in one arm, which seems to have multiple uses. Good old Grappling Hooks! The way for grounded super heroes to keep up with flight-types!

The largest superhero organization in the world was the Protectorate, spanning Canada and the States, with ongoing talks about including Mexico in the deal. It was a government sponsored league of superheroes with a base in each ‘cape city’. That is, they had a team set up in each city with a sizable population of heroes and villains. Brockton Bay’s team was officially ‘The Protectorate East-North-East’, and were headquartered in the floating, forcefield-shrouded island that you could see from the Boardwalk. This guy, Armsmaster, was the guy in charge of the local team. When the core group of the top Protectorate members from around Canada and the States assembled in that classic ‘v’ formation for the photo shoots, Armsmaster was one of the guys in the wings. This was a guy who had his own action figures. Poseable Armsmaster with interchangeable Halberd parts.

Wooaaah. So he’s a really big shot! Leader of the local Protectorate which seems to be this universe’s version of the Avengers/Justice League/big main hero organization. He lives in that badass flying fortess! And seems to be pretty marketable as well. Meeting him in the flesh like this in your first day, woah .

He really did look like a superhero, not like some guy in a costume. It was an important distinction. He wore body armor, dark blue with silver highlights, had a sharply angled v-shaped visor covering his eyes and nose. With only the lower half of his face exposed, I could see a beard trimmed to trace the edges of his jaw. If I had to judge, with only the lower half of his face to go by, I’d guess he was in his late twenties or early thirties.

High-tech superhero armor and professional gear! Sweet!

He’s giving me a mix of iron man and judge dredd vibes with that costume. Either way he seems to exude “veteran and skilled super” a lot.

His trademark and weapon was his Halberd, which was basically a spear with an axe head on the end, souped up with gadgets and the kind of technology you generally only saw in science fiction. He was the kind of guy who appeared on magazine covers and did interviews on TV, so you could find almost anything about Armsmaster through various media, short of his secret identity. I knew his weapon could cut through steel as though it was butter, that it had plasma injectors for stuff that the blade alone couldn’t cut and that he could fire off directed electromagnetic pulses to shut down forcefields and mechanical devices.

HE HAS A MASTER WEAPON WHICH CAN ACT AS ALL OF THE WEAPONS AT THE SAME TIME. THAT’S SO AWESOME

I knew he was gonna be technologically-focused, with that badass floating island and all!

A spear-axe hybrid strong enough to cut through steel, with plasma injectors and EMP blasts?? Fucking sweet.

“You gonna fight me?” He called out.

“I’m a good guy,” I said.

Stepping closer to me, he tilted his head, “You don’t look like one.”

Oof. That’s true. Miss looking-like-a-living-bug with dark colors and yellow lenses doesn’t seem very heroic at... all

Also I really like how that line was delivered for some reason. You don’t look like one

That stung, especially coming from him. It was like Michael Jordan saying you sucked at basketball. “That’s… not intentional,” I responded, not a little defensively, “I was more than halfway done putting the costume together when I realized it was already looking more edgy than I’d intended, and I couldn’t do anything about it by then.”

Your power is very hard to use in a kid-friendly way! You command a swarm of biting, stinging, maybe-venomous, maybe-flesh eating bugs! That grimdark look is actually apropiate

I wonder if this work will explore heroes who want to do good things but have characteristically “evil powers”. Taylor could easily be one!

There was a long pause. Nervously, I turned my eyes from that opaque visor. I glanced at his chest emblem, a silhouette of his visor in blue against a silver background, and was struck with the ridiculous thought that I had once owned a pair of underpants with his emblem on the front.

Pfft! Taylor your young fangirl self is adorable

Also gave me Deku flashbacks, as with the hero journals

“You’re telling the truth,” he said. It was a definitive statement, which startled me. I wanted to ask how he knew, but I wasn’t about to do or say anything that might change his mind.

Lie-detector?? God his suit just has everything

I love technology based powers by the way. When a hero stacks himself up to the teeth in sweet tech it’s a sight to behold

He approached closer, looking me over as I sat there with my arms around my knees, he asked, “You need a hospital?”

“No,” I said. “Don’t think so. I’m as surprised as you are.”

“You’re a new face,” he said.

“I haven’t even come up with a name yet. You know how hard it is to come up with a bug-themed name that doesn’t make me sound like a supervillain or a complete dork?”

Hmm that’s true! Swarm sounds villanous, same with Plague, Sting, Hivemind, Pestilence...

Bug is probably too simple. (Insect) Queen maybe? Eh Queen is so general that it’s probably taken already. Control? Probably taken and sounds villanous.

He chuckled, and it sounded warm, very normal, “I wouldn’t know. I got into the game early enough that I didn’t have to worry about missing out on all of the good names.”

There was a pause in the conversation. I suddenly felt awkward. I don’t know why, but I admitted to him, “I almost died.”

“That’s why we have the Ward program,” he said. There was no judgement in his tone, no pressure. Just a statement.

Hmm, what is that? Some sort of superhero training?

I nodded, more to give a response than out of any agreement with the answer. The Wards were the under-eighteen subdivision of the Protectorate, and Brockton Bay did have its own team of Wards, with the same naming convention as the Protectorate; The Wards East-North-East. I had considered applying to join, but the notion of escaping the stresses of high school by flinging myself into a mess of teenage drama, adult oversight and schedules seemed self-defeating.

Oooh so it’s like the Teen Titans, and other young superhero groups! Young teenage superheroes! Nice!

Also yeah, that would probably be similar to school, and you wanted escapism with this. I don’t think you would get bullied though, but I understand your reticence.

“You get Lung?” I asked, to change the subject from the Wards. I was pretty sure that he was obligated to try and induct new heroes into either the Protectorate or the Wards, depending on their age, to promote the whole agenda of organized heroes who are accountable for their actions, and I really didn’t want him to get on my case about joining.

He probably is obligated to ask, yeah. I suppose they don’t condone vigilantism. So changing the subject to the dragon man is probably a good idea!

“Lung was unconscious, beaten and battered when I arrived. I pumped him full of tranquilizers to be safe and temporarily restrained him under a steel cage I welded to the sidewalk. I’ll pick him up on my way back.”

“Good,” I said, “With him in jail, I’ll feel like I accomplished something today. Only reason I started the fight was because I overheard him telling his men to shoot some kids. Only realized later that he was talking about some other villains.”

Armsmaster turned to look at me. So I told him, walking him through the fight in general, the arrival of the teenage bad guys, and their general descriptions. Before I finished, he was pacing back and forth on the roof.

“These guys. They knew I was coming?”

Yeeah that was a pretty epic misunderstanding there.

Also they probably knew you were coming thanks to the kinda-omniscient know-it-all in their team soooo yeah.

I nodded, once. As much respect as I had for Armsmaster, I wasn’t in much of a mood to repeat myself.

“That explains a lot,” he said, staring off into the distance. After a few moments, he went on to explain, “They’re slippery. On those few occasions we do manage to get in a toe to toe fight with them, they either win, or they get away more or less unscathed, or both. We know so little about them. Grue and Hellhound were working on their own before they joined the group, so there’s some information there, but the other two? They’re nonentities. If the girl Tattletale has some way of detecting or tracking us, it would go a long way towards explaining why they’re doing as well as they are.”

Insteresting! So Regent and Tattletale are very well hidden! I imagine it must be easy for Tattletale to do so, but I still don’t know what Regent does... He’s definitely the most misterious of them all at the moment.

Heh, and he uses Hellhound for Bitch, he’s a hero so of course

It kind of surprised me to hear one of the top level heroes admitting to being anything less than perfectly on top of things.

“It’s funny,” I said, after a few moment’s thought, “They didn’t seem that hardcore. Grue said they were kind of panicking when they heard Lung was coming after them, and they were casually joking around while the fight was going on. Grue was making fun of Regent.”

“They said all this in front of you?” he asked.

I shrugged, “I think they thought I was helping them out. The way Tattletale talked, I think she thought I was a bad guy too or something.” With a touch of bitterness, I said, “Dunno, I guess it was the costume that led them to that assumption.”

“Could you have taken them in a fight?” Armsmaster asked me.

I started to shrug, and winced a little. I was feeling a little sore in the shoulder, where I’d tumbled on the roof after being blasted by Lung’s flames. I said, “Like you said, we don’t know a lot about them, but I think that girl with the dogs-”

“Hellhound,” Armsmaster said.

“I think she could have kicked my ass on her own, so no. I probably couldn’t have fought them.”

Yeah they didn’t really seem evil per se, they were pretty nice to us! Maybe because they confused us for a villain...

And yeah I don’t think you could have beaten them. Of the two powers I sorta know of them, hellbeasts and kinda-omniscience beat bugs, I’m pretty sure. So yeah.

“Then count it as a good thing that they got the wrong impression,” Armsmaster said.

“I’ll try to look at it that way,” I said, struck by how he easily he was able to employ the whole ‘take a negative and turn it into a positive’ mindset I’d been trying to maintain. I envied that.

Heroes tends to be more optimistic than most.

“That a girl,” he said, “And while we’re looking forward, we need to decide where we go from here.”

My heart sank. I knew he was going to bring up the Wards again.

Yeaah and he’ll put you in an awkward spot again...

What do you want to do Taylor? Start as a standalone hero and then work your way up through your acts and deeds? Could you even do that and still be well-regarded by the Protectorate?

“Who gets the credit for Lung?”

Caught off guard, I looked up at him. I started to speak, but he held up his hand.

“Hear me out. What you’ve done tonight is spectacular. You played a part in getting a major villain into custody. You just need to consider the consequences.”

“Consequences,” I muttered, even as the word spectacular rang in my ears.

Oh, so he wants to talk about who gets the credit? Huh, didn’t expect that. It could be a good first step for her hero career, but it could also be dangerous to let villains know about her existence, especially if she’s going solo

“Lung has an extensive gang throughout Brockton Bay and neighboring cities. More than that, he has two superpowered flunkies. Oni Lee and Bakuda.”

I shook my head, “I know about Oni Lee, and Grue mentioned fighting him. I’ve never heard of Bakuda.”

So he has two liutenants with powers! Oni Lee was mentioned before and now... Bakuda. Baku- makes me think explosions from Bakuha, so it could be explosions-based?

Seems to be a new member, anyways.

Armsmaster nodded, “Not surprising. She’s new. What we know about her is limited. She made her first appearance and demonstration of her powers by way of a drawn out terrorism campaign against Cornell University. Lung apparently recruited her and brought her to Brockton Bay after her plans were foiled by the New York Protectorate. This is… something of a concern.”

Damn, terrorism against a University and a conforntation with the New York Protectorate? She seems to have some infamy even before joining

“What are her powers?”

“Are you aware of the Tinker classification?”

I started to shrug, but remembered my sore shoulder and nodded instead. It was probably more polite, too. I said, “Covers anyone with powers that give them an advanced grasp of science. Lets them make technology years ahead of its time. Ray guns, ice blasters, mechanized suits of armor, advanced computers.”

Oh sweet

So tinkers are the inventors, the tech-based superheroes who use futuristic technology and all kinds of high-specs gear, and that is their superpower?

Oh I love technology-based powers so much.

“Close enough,” Armsmaster said. It struck me he would be a Tinker, if his Halberd and armor were any indication. That, or he got his stuff from someone else. He elaborated, “Well, most Tinkers have a specialty or a special trick. Something they’re particualrly good at or something that they can do, which other Tinkers can’t. Bakuda’s specialty is bombs.”

I stared at him. A woman with a power that let her make bombs that were technologically decades ahead of their time. No wonder he saw it as a concern.

So Armsmaster is a tinker! Makes sense with his impossibly-amazing plasma spear-axe, lie detector and super armor. I suppose a tinker’s threat can vary a lot depending on prep time and current gear. I like them!

Super-advanced explosives? Oh boy, that sounds like potencially a fucking nightmare

“Now I want you to consider the danger involved in taking the credit for Lung’s capture. Without a doubt, Oni Lee and Bakuda will be looking to accomplish two goals. Freeing their boss and getting vengeance on the one responsible. I suspect you’re now aware… these are scary people. Scarier in some ways than their boss.”

“You’re saying I shouldn’t take the credit,” I said.

“I’m saying you have two options. Option one is to join the Wards, where you’ll have support and protection in the event of an altercation. Option two is to keep your head down. Don’t take the credit. Fly under the radar.”

Yeah I could see how Taylor could become the target of these two underlings, which would probably be more than she can handle.

So Armsmaster is offering her the possibilities of

a) Joining the teenage super-squad and take the credit for Lung or

b)Keep going solo but maintain your involvment in this a secret

I wasn’t prepared to make a decision like that. Usually, I went to sleep at eleven or so, waking up at six thirty to get ready for my morning run. At my best guess, it was somewhere between one and two in the morning. I was emotionally exhausted from the highs and lows of the evening, and I could barely wrap my head around the complications and headaches that would come from joining the Wards, let alone having two insanely dangerous sociopaths coming after me.

Aand one of those options is already giving Taylor a headache

On top of that, I wasn’t so ignorant as to miss Armsmaster’s motives. If I opted to not take the credit for Lung’s capture, Armsmaster would, I was sure. I didn’t want to get on the bad side of a major player.

....True, politics could be at play here

Athough I don’t know if Taylor has just a bad view of power structures in general, considering she thought that autobiographical book she read was probably all propaganda

...Which could be true, and the whole system could be corrupt at least a little, and Armsmaster is offering her two options where he hopes he gets the credit and the glory

“Please keep my involvement in Lung’s capture secret,” I told him, painfully disappointed to have to say it, even as I knew it made the most sense.

He smiled, which I hadn’t expected. He had a nice smile. It made me think that he could win the hearts of a lot of women, whatever the top two-thirds of his face looked like. “I think you’ll look back and see this was a smart decision,” Armsmaster said, turning to walk to the other end of the roof, “Call me at the PHQ if you’re ever in a pinch.” He stepped off the edge of the roof and dropped out of sight.

He seems very pleased at her decision, which reinforces my belief that he did want to get the credit after all. Or he’s happy she doesn’t get in trouble. Or both.

Armsmaster seems like an ok guy, probably a little vain, or glory-seeking, but in a way, all superheroes are a bit like that. I have defintely seen much worse examples.

You get a thumbs-up, cool plasma-spear man

Call me if you’re ever in a pinch. He’d been saying, without openly admitting, that he owed me one. He would take the lion’s share of the credit for Lung’s capture, but he owed me one.

Before I was all the way down the fire escape, I heard the thrum of his motorcycle, presumably carrying Lung towards a life of confinement. I could hope.

Oh true! Nice, you can call in a favour of a team leader of the superhero mega-alliance! Good start to your superhero career, Taylor!

And he just took away Lung so it seems she was indeed the push the situation needed to get him into custody! Yes!

It would take me a half hour to get home. On the way, I would stop and pull on the sweatshirt and jeans I had hidden. I knew my dad went to sleep even earlier than I did, and he slept like a log, so I had nothing to worry about as far as wrapping up the night.

It could have gone worse. Strange as it sounds, those words were a security blanket I wrapped around myself to keep myself from dwelling on the fact that tomorrow was a school day.

It could have gone worse is a good mentality to have!

Let’s hope the three bitches aren’t too insufferable tomorrow.

#worm #worm liveblog #parahumans #parahumans liveblog #worm parahumans #wildbow #worm 1.6 #arc 1

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sabraeal · 5 years

Note

Hi! Could you write a modern fanfic of Izana and Haki? Maybe you should write a side story to “Give and take a Little More” In the fanfic, there was a line where it said “[Haki] was sixteen and saw a college boy flip his floppy hair and talk to her father like he was a child.” I want to see how that meeting with Izana might have gone with for Haki.

Wide Florida Bay | Next

Her father has outdone himself, Haki has to admit, even if he is an asshole.

She’s been attending these galas since she was thirteen; too young by most standards, but all the men who spoke to her that night – including those who said they hated children, including fathers of her classmates, which, to her surprise, was a much larger overlap than she would have believed – had told her she was her mother’s daughter. She had thought that meant she was mature, that she had the bearing and poise of her hopelessly elegant mother.

Makiri hadn’t let that misconception stand for long. It means you look sixteen, he told her, and they don’t feel bad for looking at you.

In any case, she can see the expense Father put into this: the antique chandelier, made with real diamonds; the fountains of wine and chocolate; the entirely over-the-top ice sculpture centerpiece of two dolphins twisted into infinity – all of it says elegance but also conspicuous consumption, which is what all of these seem to really be about, even if the ticket price ostensibly goes to charity. It will be the event on everyone’s lips, until someone else throws a bigger one, and then her father’s will be forgotten, little more than a vague memory in an endless crush of parties.

Haki frowns, fiddling with the clasp on her clutch. She didn’t used to think like this, not really. Even days ago she’d been excited to be here, to see what all her friends would wear – they had, of course, shown each other pictures, but dresses looked different on models than they did in real life – to talk about what they’ve been doing since school let out for the summer. She had spent all of last night watching the season finales for both One Tree Hill and The O.C., making sure she had scrutinized every detail so she would be ready for today –

But she hadn’t watched The Hills. She’d meant to, it was supposed to be the culmination of all of her TV watching, but – things happened.

And now instead of talking about how awkward it must be for Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush now that Lucas and Brooke are a thing again, she’s thinking about how everything here is – is fake. How all of it is just something Daddy threw money at to be perfect, without even taking an actual interest.

She doesn’t want to think about why that bothers her so much, why that feels personal now, tonight of all nights.

She sneaks a glance over her shoulder, watching Makiri with a bunch of other guys his age, corporate heirs just like him, and – and he looks miserable, caged. I don’t belong here, he’d said, meaning every word. I don’t want to be this person.

You’re my son, this is who you are. Daddy has never been wrong a day in his life. I made you this way.

Her hands slicked over the satin of her gown. I made you this way.

They had picked this dress out together after he had told her which designers to choose from, after she had narrowed down her selection to just a handful of options. She had curled up on his office couch, laying printouts across the glass coffee table, and they had debated the merits of each one, of what it would bring to her reputation, her image. He’d asked her, as she’d shown him similar styles from celebrities her age to prove that one gowns was age appropriate, if she had considered going into fashion design, whether that might be where her business interests would lie when she graduated in two years.

She’d been excited then, she couldn’t wait to tell all her friends the next time she saw them, that he’d mentioned his industry contacts, maybe even an internship, but now –

I made you this way.

Things are different now.

“Haki.”

A touch at her shoulder draws her back into the moment, Tomomi’s dark, earnest eyes waiting for her. “Haki, are you all right?”

“Oh, me?” She hangs her brightest smile on her lips. “Yes, I was just looking at the dolphins. Daddy hadn’t mentioned he was going to have them, and ice sculpture is so fascinating.”

“Ice sculpture, huh?” Andalusia raises her eyebrows, mouth set in a knowing smirk. “I think I know what this is about.”

With actual surprise, Haki blurts out, “What?”

“What do you mean?” Cristal asked, eyes darting nervously between them.

Now that the attention is on her, or at least, where she wants it, Andalusia’s smirk widens into a grin. “I think Haki is looking for someone.”

Cristal cranes her neck trying to pick out someone important enough to get excited about. “Who?”

“Why, the ice prince himself,” Andalusia drawls, “Izana Wisteria.”

The name has the desired effect.

“Izana Wisteria?” Tomomi asks, jaw slack. “He’s supposed to be here?”

Andalusia shrugs. “That’s what my Daddy says.”

“Is it true?” Cristal bounces on her toes, her searching getting more frantic. “Is he here?”

Haki bites down on a sigh. A few months ago, the only thing they talked about who was getting Hilary Duff to sing at their birthday, and now – now it was which Jonas they think they could get to go to prom, or whether Jesse McCartney was single now, whether that mattered because Zac Efron was both single and hotter, or, well, anything about Izana Wisteria. Ever since he had that article in Seventeen, talking about what the youngest (almost) CEO in America liked in a girlfriend, he’s been the topic of speculation in every single one of their conversations.

She thought it had been pretty apparent from the tabloids: legs a mile long and a career where she’s only known by an animal name. Giselle. Paloma. Raven. Capybara.

Haki nearly spits out her drink at that one. “I haven’t seen him yet, but Daddy said he would. He apparently was already going to be down here to visit Haruto, and since she was planning on coming…”

She leaves it on a shrug. These girls can connect the dots well enough, even if they can’t tell that the kind of girl Izana Wisteria likes isn’t down-to-earth and funny.

“Oh,” Tomomi says, blinking. “Isn’t that him over there? With your dad?”

Haki twists around, and, god, if Tomomi isn’t right – there is the ice prince himself, pale hair swept over one eye, talking to her father as if he’s an equal, as if he isn’t half his age and none of his experience. He’s much thinner than he looked in Seventeen.

“You should go talk to him,” Andalusia doesn’t whisper at all, putting a hand on her back. “Get your dad to introduce you to him.”

“But I –” don’t really care, sticks on her tongue; a good thing since she gets a sharp shove from behind.

“Bring him over here,” Andalusia tells her, tone brooking no argument. She’s the baby of her family, used to getting her way, and between Cristal and Tomomi, she usually does.

Haki doesn’t usually care one way or another, but this dress is Donna Karan.

With a lingering look at Andalusia, Haki sashays across the floor, making sure that she can see every step she takes – right to the refreshment table. She doesn’t need to look back to know that Andalusia is two steps from blowing her lid, and she takes her dear sweet time filling one of the champagne flutes with punch, making sure she never spills a drop.

No one shoves Donna Karan.

She side-steps over to where there’s shrimp on skewers and scallops wrapped in bacon, loading up one of the small porcelain plates as she enjoys the other advantage of her stance by the snacks: she can hear every word that her father and his colleagues are saying, without having to stand by his side like an awkward puppet, waiting for its puppeteer to give it something to say.

“Of course,” her father says, wrapping up his story, “now everyone is saying that we should stop offshore drilling, just because of Katrina.”

The men around him laugh; they may all be land magnates, making their money off condos and tourism, but everyone has stocks in oil. Cars will never go out of style, honey, he tells her, and she knows better to mention electric cars, or solar power, or, well anything that suggests change. If there’s one thing Axel Bergstrom knows, it’s what to do with his money.

“That seems like good business.”

Haki swings her head around, and – yes, Izana Wisteria had said that. That her father was wrong.

Her father is known for his wide smiles, and this one freezes on his face, a rictus grin. “Funny you should say that, boy. I thought you Wisterias had your money all tied up in that business.”

“We did,” Izana says simply, with a shrug that says he changes stocks like some men change their shirts. “Or rather, my father did. He was a bit of a relic about these things. Didn’t have good foresight about what would be the next big thing. Completely passed up on Google, and look where they are now!”

He tosses his head, flicking his floppy hair so he can see out both eyes. “I sold all of them and invested in tech. Clean energy, Apple, Amazon – have you heard of something called Tesla? They make electric cars. Exciting stuff. You see, gentlemen,” he smiles like he has a secret, “while you men are invested in the past, I’m investing in the future.”

“Well, we’ll see how that works out for you,” her father says, with that subtle condescension he’s so good at. “It’s good to take risks, but you have to have a solid grounding in reality.”

“I know you don’t really know me, Axel.” There’s no stress on the name, but she sees the way her father stiffens, his surprise at how someone as young as him isn’t even intimidated in the slightest. Izana places a hand on his shoulder. “But I don’t take risks. I play to win. If you would excuse me.”

He slips away from her father, disappearing into the glittering crowd, and –

Oh, she’s – flushed. That’s…odd.

An arm, long and slender, slips past her to pick up a plate. “Nice party,” Izana Wisteria tells her, very, very tall beside her, with very nice eyes, and he –

He winks.

“Eep!” she yelps, turning right on her heel and bee-lining for the hall.

Once Haki turns a corner, safe, she takes a breath, covers her face, and screams.

It’s fine, it’s fine. He doesn’t know who she is, and they – they will never have a reason to interact again, besides maybe being polite at parties. There’s no need to feel embarrassed.

Izana Wisteria might be cute, but he’ll never mean anything to her.

#Anonymous #hakizana #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #The Wide Florida Bay #modern au #my fic #ans #thank you to all the ladies on discord who helped me with writing this #namely telling me who was hot in 2006 #STILL SAD I COULDN'T REFERENCE GOSSIP GIRL #OR HANNAH MONTANA #OR EVEN TWILIGHT HOW IS 2006 SO LONG AGO #they didn't even have ipads like the struggle was real trying to work all this out

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branded-perceptions · 5 months

Text

History of UFO sightings shows a pattern:

In ancient times people were sighting a lot of flying dragons and supernatural stuff like burning bushes

then during medieval era there were lots of flying horses and angels

then during industrial era there were flying machine steampunk sightings

and now we have lots of UFO sightings that resemble temporary technologies.

We tend to project our own mind into our hallucinatory threat perceptions of "invasions" from out-groups.

If we would have trendy stories about flying burning bushes invading earth then now a lot of people would "see" them!

To a certain degree, our perceptions depend on the stories in our minds and how they relate to coincidences, attribution errors and pattern recognition

making us see many metaphorical "UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS" in our minds hallucinating conditions of objective causal reality that outside of our minds cannot be observed

as seen via polarisation during Corona Pandemic where all sorts of "opposing" believes in all sorts of topics exaggerated themselves far away from

via

proactive divine Sparks of enlightening insecurites / loving self-doubts / caring pre-diction errors

(reality testing)

towards our subjective in-group sense-making familiARITY entrainments (ARITY master functions in AI-Tech)

statistically better explorable actual objective reality and its relation to our quite similar biological hardware needs that we tend to distract ourselves from by similar like via coded mythos of project bluebeam hallucinating all sorts of

ALIEN INVASIONS

upon our subjective out-groups as seen in (geopolitical) politics

or exaggerating power of hypothetical AI system that would only able to influence you if you like a robot do not out of own motivation habitually question ("make-out" with) your mind which AI would model via by your own introspection evolving

predictive analytics which you tend to blindly follow if you do not introspect about 🎶"The Other Side - Jason Derulo" (unfamiliarity) of y-our th-oughts underlying motivational emotions' that most of us tend to be caged by

due projecting

desire to belong to in-group stories' out-group biases

upon any 🎶E.T. - Katy Perry

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gamergate-news · 6 years

Text

And here we go again with this shit.

Spider-Man has taken on his share of street thugs and supervillains, sometimes teaming up with the police to face down foes and rescue the people of New York. While Spider-Man on PS4 undoubtedly shows Spidey’s allegiance to his community, it also casts him as a big fan of police and their tactics that sometimes conflict with that civic mindset. From cheesy detective impressions to Rikers prisoner beatdowns, Spider-Man’s uncomplicated approach to crime clashes with the reality of day to day life.

One of the earliest things you do in Spider-Man is go around activating security towers, made by Oscorp but used by the NYPD, that make it easier for Spider-Man to track crimes as they happen. Narratively, these towers allow the police to better surveil citizens; they also give Spider-Man access to police frequencies. They’re always listening, giving out calls to car chases and telling the player about break-in attempts that Spider-Man can thwart before the crime occurs. The uncritical use of these towers struck some players, especially those who live in New York, as odd. An NYU Game Center scholar took to Twitter to note similarities between these towers and the real world real NYC security cameras that IBM recently used to make skin-color profiling technology. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s enthusiasm for the police—from his stated love of busting drug deals to his cheesy “Spider-Cop” impersonation—had my coworker Tim Rogers calling Spidey a “narc.” While I found Spider-Man as good-hearted and heroic as ever, he was also way more accepting of state power than I expected from a hero with a history of being wrongly maligned by the press and police.

Modern superhero games have trended further and further towards authoritarian extremes. Injustice 2’s core conceit hinges upon the audience believing that Superman, that all-American Kansas boy, could conceivably rise to lead a strict and heartless regime following the Joker orchestrating Lois Lane’s death. That incident, and its extremes, call to mind the reactionary shift in American politics since September 11th, 2001. We can believe in Superman’s militarism because it reflects a 21st century historical reality. Despite Superman’s role as antagonist, the heroes facing off against him—and begrudgingly allying with him once Brainiac enters the story—share a similar authoritarian streak. This is best expressed in Batman’s disturbing “Brother Eye” surveillance system, which can spy on anyone in the world. And while Spider-Man’s Oscorp-made, police-operated surveillance towers aren’t as extreme as Brother Eye, they are features of a similar predictive, Watchdog-esque surveillance state.

Spider-Man have never quite shared Bruce Wayne or Superman’s drive for power or control. He’s the the boy from Queens who rose to the challenge. New York based superheroes have always had a much more intimate feel than other characters. Luke Cage isn’t just a super strong hero; he’s Harlem’s hero. Daredevil is the protector of Hell’s Kitchen. And while Spider-Man often swings around Manhattan, he still can drop in at a bodega for a sandwich in Flushing or Astoria. That street-level, community minded nature clashes with the high-tech surveillance of the game’s towers and the game’s outlook on police.

Police are an unimpeachable group in Spider-Man. They show no real flaws and make no mistakes. They don’t feel like an integrated part of the the community; they pepper cutscenes and sometimes walk the streets but mostly show up as an allied faction in procedurally generated crime events. Even if Spider-Man’s New York is largely a fiction, it points towards a real place. New York is many things, but it is also the city of Eric Garner, stop-and-frisk, and Palantir. Rikers isn’t some fake pastiche location like Arkham Asylum. Real life police are a complicated presence in New York, but in Spider-Man they’re part of Spider-Man’s vigilante quest for justice, rather than members of the communities they’re supposed to protect. This simplification extends to the game’s portrayal of the criminal justice system as well. About half way through the story, villains orchestrate a massive breakout at Rikers Island. It’s treated as a crisis so dire that Spider-Man temporarily abandons his search for a potentially pandemic-causing biological weapon to help the NYPD bust skulls and put down prisoner riots. Without fail, every convict is violent and aggressive.

In reality, New York is moving to close Rikers on a ten-year timeline on the recommendation of organizations like the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. The majority of people incarcerated in Rikers’ are people of color, and many are citizens waiting for their trials in a backlogged court system, often for misdemeanors and unable to pay expensive bail. In one of the most most prominent cases, 16-year-old Kalief Browder spent three years in Rikers—a majority in solitary confinement—awaiting trial for the theft of a backpack. He committed suicide two years after his release from prison.

In real life, the conditions at Rikers Island and the systems surrounding it are complex, but games like The Division and Spider-Man flatten that complexity in favor of giving you criminal enemies to overcome. The Division features “the Rykers” as an opposing force for much of the mid-game, and while its radio makes mention of how many prisoners are in jail for minor crimes like drug possession, your primary interaction is to shoot everyone.In Spider-Man, these prisoners function as generic thugs to fight in waves. Despite being a superhero who is on the side of the people, when faced with this element of his city, Spider-Man forgets his allegiances and just enjoys beating the shit out of them.

While Spider-Man’s criminals are one-note, the game features a diverse and, I’ll admit, likable cast of supporting police officers. Spider-Man’s radio contact Yuri Watanabe is beleaguered but reliable, working with Spidey to protect as many people as possible. Miles Morales’ story hinges on the integrity and heroism of his police officer father Jefferson Davis. Watanabe and especially Davis are fun characters who I like spending time with. Their idealism provides a powerful contrast to the cruel, destructive forces of Silver Sable and her mercenary corp, who care little for collateral damage. As they crack down, side quests open up where Spider-Man needs to rescue protestors imprisoned by Sable. In these moments, Spider-Man seems to suggest that if policing is necessary, it must be something more communal, and these standout police characters suggest such a thing might be possible. But this can’t quite overcome the game’s tendency to paint simplistic portrayals of police as good and criminals as evil.

Spider-Man’s simple presentation of crime and policing feels tone-deaf in the modern age, when more and more people are growing aware of the class and race dynamics of policing. This isn’t to suggest that the game needs to take a break every ten minutes to infodump real world statistics, but games are released in the context of their time. We’re post Edward Snowden, living in the age Black Lives Matter. Last week, Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean in his own apartment. This is the world we live in and the world Spider-Man was released into. While it might be nice to escape into a world where these problems don’t exist, that is a luxury that countless people cannot afford.

Spider-Man’s portrayal of policing feels divorced from reality, to the point that it feels out of line with Spidey’s comic book heritage. Comics often speak to what’s happening in the real world. Captain America assumed the role of Nomad in 1974, the same year that Richard Nixon resigned from office in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. The X-Men have a history of allegorical representation of minoritized and persecuted groups. Spider-Man doesn’t seem interested in reacting to the real world. My colleague Tom Ley wrote about this at Deadspin, noting that nearly every side activity involved aiding the police. This stands in contrast to games like Spider-Man 2, where Spider-Man returned as many lost balloons as he webbed up muggers. Instead of being part of the complex life of the city, this latest Spider-Man sees a black-and-white world of cops and robbers. He aids in state surveillance, standing unquestioningly alongside an overly idealized caricature of the police. He’s still friendly, but I don’t know if he’s part of the neighborhood now.

I bet this she thinks she woke and doing all those black folk favor.

Because police brutality is exactly what I want in my escapists fantasy video game.

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entireoranges · 5 years

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Trek fans are here and proud

An open letter to those who pitch thine fit and whine thine selves to sleep:

Do you wish to have some sharp cheddar with your whine? Perhaps some Camembert or a nice Brie? No? Alright. Thought I’d offer.

You are allowed to not like something. Thought it’d be best to get that out of the damn way. It’s 1,000% your right and I’m fine with it. That is your opinion and this is mine:

What I’m not fine with is the constant, unending, trite badmouthing. The moronic telling of outright lies, the instigation and insinuation that things are going to shit. You don’t know that. You are assuming.

Now, I might be talking about any old show in any old fandom, but no. This time I’m talking about Star Trek. Specifically the anger cast towards Discovery, and by association Picard.

Discovery didn’t have a good first year. I’ll freely admit to it. I thought it was damn clever, I liked the character arcs, I thought it was interesting. A little Klingon-heavy for my liking but all-in-all not too bad for a new show.

Before anyone says one word in the series the fandom at large on the internet doesn’t just REVOLT, they pepper their anger with acidic, hell acerbic remarks. Now recall these are mostly the same fans who haven’t had any Star Trek on TV since Enterprise left the air in the early 00’s. A show that in of itself had plenty of anger associated with it.

Burnham is a Mary-Sue or Tilly is annoying or that the show has nothing but politically correct SJW’s in it…hell…I’ve heard it all trust me. They were carrying on since second one. Was it because they made Micheal the adopted sister of Spock? Was it because the tone was too dark?

I don’t know what set them off but allow me to air some grievances:

1.) They’re all Politically Correct SJW’s: Well in a strictly Sci-Fi sense aren’t all members of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets PC SJW’s? I mean think about it for a second. They are a society that values truth, honesty, even footing for everyone, it’s a culture of inclusion (example: Geordi with the VISOR is treated no differently than anyone else with normal sight), they are even a bit self-righteous sometimes (Captains Janeway, Sisko) but they operate within a society at large that is open and by and large inclusive to everyone as long as you aren’t a homicidal maniac hell bent on destroying the galaxy. Remember they tried to make friends with the Borg before they were forced to cede that they were unreachable. You make it sound like it’s a bad thing to have virtues that the characters of this series have always had. And you make it sound like it’s a bad thing. It’s not. It makes sense.

2.) Micheal Burnham is a Mary-Sue. Nope. She’s not. If you didn’t watch Season 2, go do that. Again the first season of any show is uneven at best and we saw growth in her character by the end but it was still very much in the awkward first season way. The second season she grows in all sorts of ways. The character comes alive. I for one loved Sonequa Martin-Green from moment one. She commands the scenes with substance and a sense of purpose.

3.) It’s not Star Trek. This is patently absurd. It is Star Trek. It might not be what you grew up with but it is Star Trek. I’m sure this is what the parents of TNG fans thought when that show began airing in 1987. Think about it. Did any of those sets look “correct” or in line with what had been established? It’s a generational gap. This is how the creators want it to look and feel. But it’s still Star Trek.

4.) It’s in an alternate reality/it’s not chronologically accurate: Nope. Prime timeline. Look…was I disappointed that the sets didn’t look like 1966? A little. A very tiny bit of me, sure. Did I realistically expect it? No. Is chronology ruined? Not at all. People forget that ships can change, tech can advance quite fast, and Starfleet loves to change uniforms, and interfaces on a whim. Did Enterprise look like it was 120 or so years before TOS? Nope. Did anyone bitch? Yep. Was it a bad idea to do a prequel? Not at all. But Discovery isn’t alternative timeline. It’s merely a cosmetic choice to have it look different. And they’ve been true to established canon too. The Cage happened before Discovery and TOS after it.

5.) I gotta PAY for it? I never PAID for it before! Physical media is dead. Streaming is king. From a business standpoint this makes sense. Discs are comically available for holdouts on Discovery Season 1. At $50 you are essentially paying for as many months as it would’ve cost you to buy the service and have access to a huge library of other content not just Discovery or all Star Trek TV Shows. Broadcast TV wasn’t going to take a risk on a prime time Star Trek TV show but much as UPN was anchored by Voyager when it began they surmised All Access would have similarities and it’d do good there. It has.

6.) Cut the female empowerment crap out it isn’t Star Trek: This one cracks me up. It isn’t? So characters like Uhura, Crusher, Janeway, Torres, Kira, Dax, and T’Pol aren’t all bad asses? They are. All of them. Strong, powerful women who excel at their jobs. What’s truly sad is I just mentioned about every series regular on all the shows and I didn’t even come up with enough for a bridge crew. I for one am happy to see the empowerment. Keep it up. It’s very Star Trek.

7.) Fine but I’m not treating this as canon: Fine sit in the corner and cry. This is stick in the mud to no end! Believe whatever you’d like, just realize that everyone who enjoys it realizes it is canon and you’re woefully behind because you’d rather believe your own headcanon rather than capitulate to what is on the screen.

8.) I’m going to derisively refer to the show as STD even though the official abbreviation is DIS and that fits in line with every one word Star Trek title since Voyager (VOY, ENT): Sure man whatever floats your boat or flies your starship. You do you. Does it annoy me? Absolutely. Will I probably assume you’re a troll if you use that abbreviation? Yup.

Fact is: I realize not every fan is going to like every show. I’m not honestly expecting them to. That’d just be foolish. But the amount of pure anger and vitriol hurled at Star Trek is insane.

When I was a kid, the show was nerdy, outcast, people didn’t watch it mainstream and it wasn’t cool at all. Star Wars was, but not Trek. Now? It’s trying to be cool. More space battles, epic panoramas, vistas, planets, exotic aliens…they want to create more. Do more. Be more. If you can’t appreciate that then I’m sorry.

There’s a lot more of this kind of Star Trek on the way. You won’t be seeing a return to TOS or TNG anytime soon so either buckle in for the ride or sit at home and rewatch those shows on your choice of discs or streaming services.

Gene Roddenberry created this franchise, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga changed it, and Alex Kurtzman changed it again. It’s just what it is. And at its core it still stays true to the original concept. Again I’m sorry if you can’t or won’t see that but that’s what’s happening.

If you’re looking for new TOS, check out Star Trek Continues on YouTube. Fantastic acting, storylines, etc. a virtual love letter to 60’s-era Trek.

As for Picard: You have seen one teaser trailer lasting under two minutes. Patrick Stewart is heavily involved in its production. It won’t be bad. Trust me on this.

If you’re looking for new Star Trek, sit down and get ready. There’s a whole lot of it coming soon!

#star trek #star trek discovery #picard #shows change over time #and sometimes thats a good thing #if you dont like fine #dont poo on those who do #my hubby #he wrote this #however i agree with it all

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hcmj · 6 years

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HCMJ’s Favorite Albums of 2018!

Listen to a mix featuring these albums here: HCMJ’s 2018 End Of Year Mix

Honorable Mentions:

LLLL - Chains Phase 4: Resemblance

Various - 慕情 in da tracks

Endurance - Shade Terrarium

Farragol x dropp - 楽感 / optimo

pool$ide - aquarius

FUJII - EUPHORIA

Andrew W.K. - You’re Not Alone

Stardazer - Vacation Dreams

Alex Crispin - Open Submission

Foodman - Aru Otoko No Densetsu

20) TUPPERWΛVE - To you baby, with love

As the years go by, sometimes I still crave that classic-style (or as Tech Honors once described SEAWRLDハートブレーク, “trash-ass”) vaporwave sound. It’s the usual fare of slowed down antiquated R&B with filter sweeps and side-chained kicks, but TUPPERWΛVE’s sample choices and looped snippets stay inspired throughout, building emotionally impactful arrangements and proving the artist has what 90% of contemporary vaporwave is missing: a sense of taste and purpose. NUWRLD vibes.

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19) The Caretaker - Everywhere At The End Of Time - Stage 4 & 5

Leyland Kirby released stages 4 and 5 of his six part, multi-year epic simulating a mind falling into dementia. It’s said the last memories someone suffering from dementia retains are the melodies heard in their youth, and on this year’s installments we find melodies from the first stages lost in a haze of static and noise. While not as easy to listen to as the first three stages, these 8 tracks lose the poetic titles of the previous installments and present an absolutely horrifying interpretation of the confusion that comes with a mind breaking down.

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18) Kate NV - для FOR

I won’t lie, I went into the new Kate NV hoping for at least a few heart-melting rib-cage exploding pop masterpieces like what she showed us on Binasu (my favorite album of 2016). However, the absence of conventional songwriting on для FOR ends up being its defining characteristic. The album delivers a set of impressionistic synth sculptures that slowly develop an album that blossoms into blissful organic structures with brushstrokes of vocals before skipping off into a brightly lit horizon.

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17) 忘れた頃に手紙をよこさないで - Tamao Ninomiya

There is an air of surreality drifting through the new crop of Tokyo underground post-pop. Tamao Ninomiya’s “lo-fi bedroom pop” is always performed in PJs and has a playful gloominess with a thousand-yard-stare kind of shyness that exudes a special kind of emotional resonance. Everything is gentle, subtly “off” - it’s an inventive and delicate pop sketchbook.

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16) Kero Kero Bonito - Time 'n' Place

The same way Pokémon Yellow was a video game based on an anime that was based on a video game, Kero Kero Bonito is a British group that has arrived at a sound closer to early 2000′s jrock than the British rock that crop of Japanese musicians were imitating. While the final 1/3rd of the album drags, there’s no denying the pop perfection of “Time Today,” the Blue-Album-Weezer thunder of “Only Acting,” the Parklife-era Blur artschool bounce of “If I’d Known,” the whimsical bubblegum of “Make Believe,” or the saccharin yet heartfelt “Dear Future Self,” a pop meditation complete with "Mr. Blue Sky” charm and melodramatic chamber orchestra arrangements.

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15) we could die here - we could die here

While “brooding ambient” is a genre I have drifted away from these past years, ‘we could die here’ reminded me of why I was once drawn to it. It’s all about creating atmospheres, and while so much of genre these days seems to be producing the same, boring, smoke-filled neon/black room, ‘we could die here’s lush sound succeeds in building a sprawling, haunting world with enough depth that it’s worth returning to.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD

14) poemme - Moments in Golden Light

Similar in scope to ‘we could die here,’ Moments in Golden Light is as advertised - warm and soft. Blissful pillows of ambience constructed in the old style, poemme pulses and drones with the silkiness of Hakobune and the breadth of Steve Roach, featuring a track that even unabashedly layers in bird samples.

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13) Machine Girl - The Ugly Art

The Ugly Art is special, as it’s the first Machine Girl album that begins to capture the raw energy and power of their live shows by showcasing live drums. The insane breaks are intact and the blistering Dreamcast punk is more hardcore. It’s dense, unrelenting in its shredding, and culminates in the epic “A Decent Man,” a 10 minute violent rave masterpiece with more content than all 3 Matrix movies combined.

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12) Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of

Age Of is a complex concept album more convoluted than a Roger Waters solo project. The music itself makes the trip one worth taking, through 13 immaculately produced tracks painting a post-apocalyptic machine world. It has an ability to turn pop tricks on tracks like “Black Snow” and “Same,” while the sound remains distant from any of comfortable paradigm. Bits of static, broken samples, and walls of noise develop into larger-than-life ballads that seem eerily familiar despite being so alien. The arrangements are complex and the production is deep, it’s a cyber-western soundtrack that always commands full attention.

SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC

11) Seth Graham - Gasp

Gasp has a charm and complexity that sets it apart from a lot of experimental composition. The tape cut samples of “Whisper - Slap” sound impossibly worked on, while the ASMR freakouts of “Binary Tapioca” and the restrained playfulness of “Flower Cheese” make the process sound like an artist working effortlessly. Deeply emotive and loudly expressive, Gasp has a sound that digs in its hooks and burrows deep.

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10) Equip - Synthetic Core 88

The long awaited followup to the seminal faux-ost I Dreamed Of A Palace In The Sky, Synthetic Core 88 delivers on the promise of Equip’s earlier work and brings it to a new realm of legitimacy. This is a 32-bit RPG I wish I could play - with all the themes of interwoven technology and magic revealing themselves in the clever score. The conflict between the cold steel and floral lushness emerges in the sound somewhere between Uematsu and a “Tales of” game. This album could only be made by someone who truly understands how music supports the worldbuilding an RPG needs to be a successful narrative platform.

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9) Utsuro Spark - Static Electricity

Utsuro Spark is a miracle. One of the highlights from the impressive output of the Japanese label, Local Visions, this mini-album is a collection of beautifully crafted metropolitan electro pop. Sharp instrumentals including studio-perfect guitar and on-point synth work lay a foundation for blissfully creamy vocals - pop music that is full of desperate longing and unpretentious charm. The katakana titles recall the old Japanese pop it draws inspiration from, but in many ways the soul of this music at the very least meets the bar set by the old masters.

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8) Tsudio Studio - Port Island

I was lucky to play a show in Kobe with Tsudio Studio, whose brilliant songwriting and iconic vocal delivery completely won over my heart and soul. The jazzy coolness and gorgeous chord structure for tracks like “Azur” and “Snowfall Seaside” are absolutely intoxicating, while the hooky R&B in “Mikage” and the Phantasy Star Online space-shredding of the opener “Tor” make Port Island a mini-album where every single track is a stand out.

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7) Dinosaur On Fire - Populous Romantique

After a 6 year gap, dds cohort Tech Honors unleashed the second Dinosaur On Fire album in a maelstrom of prog rock and laser beams. It’s an ultra hi-fi production that bounces from stoner prog to krautrock to synthwave to operatic video game symphonies to Ray Lynch arp fountains and back again effortlessly. Populous Romantique showcases the expansive reach of Tech’s abilities both as a visionary artist and producer.

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6) Monari Wakita - Ahead!

While so much jpop has become aggressively intense and fast-tempo, Ahead! provides a soulful contrast. Monari Wakita is an ex-idol and alumni of Especia, a group known for capitalizing on 80′s/90′s nostalgia. Ahead! mostly pulls from the 90′s, with new jack swing aping and hyper-produced city pop so technically perfect that the instrumentals would sound at home on the soundtrack of a 90′s Sonic Team video game. It’s that FM bass, synthetic swing, and plastic instrumentation against Monari’s powerful and soulful voice that gives Ahead! its irresistible charm and made it one of the most addictive albums of the year.

VIDEO 1 / VIDEO 2

5) Ventla - Plugged-Matic/Sublingual Odyssey

After years of silence, Ventla returned in 2018 with 10 (!) new albums on his quest to release 100. Ventla’s music continues to be eclectic vignettes of scratchy pop music, utilizing a seemingly endless variety of instruments and synths. Of the 10, the “classic Ventla” sound of Plugged-Matic and the playful exoticism explored on Sublingual Odyssey were my favorites - but with an artist whose entire catalog of 477 songs is easily played on loop for days on end, picking only 2 albums is almost an act of futility.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD: Plugged-Matic/Sublingual Odyssey

4) emamouse - Pigeon’s Point

emamouse’s genius visual art and surreal identity are accented by her equally forward thinking music. The iconic opener “01_PP2″ is a brilliant statement of purpose; a homicidal vocaloid squeaking words you can’t quite understand but frighten you nonetheless over a synth organ jamming out hypnotic post-pop you can’t help but dance to. This is music written by a true artist with a powerful vision of reality and instrumental chops informed by video game music deep cuts. “08_Pigeon’s Swipe” is another great showcase of emamouse’s ability to skew Dragon Quest baroque synths and contort them into the brilliant, unsettling world of her boundless imagination.

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3) TWICE - What Is Love?

Kpop can be a divisive genre, but its meteoric rise in the US is no fluke. The Korean pop machine has mastered the art of the pop song, and nowhere is it more evident than in TWICE’s “What Is Love?” Perfect structure, heart-tugging hook, surprising turns, and a chorus that sounds like 1000 girls yelling the lyrics from the bottom of the grand canyon, “What Is Love?” is technically perfect and sweetly endearing. It’s truly the most perfect pop song I’ve ever heard.

VIDEO

2) Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling

Crumbling is an album so in tune with my personal taste it’s hard to believe it exists. With a foundation of Lamp-esque dreamy pop labyrinths, Mid-Air Thief weaves complex arrangements peppered with ELO synths, chiptune fireworks, lo-fi indie folk revery, underwater voices and Elliott Smith whispers, even some Merriweather Post Pavilion electro-hippy clouds. It’s all the right flavors and textures coming together in a perfectly balanced, romantic masterpiece.

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1) Lamp - Her Watch / 彼女の時計

I discovered Lamp through a vaporwave album back in 2014 that sampled them heavily, and while those short samples of cooing vocals and breezy guitar looped with their heads underwater certainly worked in a satisfying way on that album, discovering the source material was a revelation. Lamp is the result of an algorithm to determine music that would be most appealing to me, and they hit new ridiculous heights of personal appeal on Her Watch. Their signature labyrinthine hurricane of Beatle-esque chord changes under soft voices and bossa nova rhythms is re-fitted into a nostalgic frame, sometimes approaching an almost city pop revivalist sound. The tenderness of “Slow-Motion,” the romance of “A Train Window,” the pop genius of “1998,” the borage of melancholic brightness that rolls from the opening chords of “At The Night Party,” all of it falls into place on the most sublime 36 minutes I have heard in a long time. It was the soundtrack to my life this year and my favorite album of 2018!

STREAM/DOWNLOAD / SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC

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dahniwitchoflight · 6 years

Text

minor AU Completion of the Beta Kid’s Animal Symbolism

so something I’ve always thought about and wondered about, I wanna talk about for a bit, now that homestuck’s over and I’m rereading it going through the story

all of the beta kids throughout the story have unique animal related symbolism, that eventually ties into delving into greater parts of their characters, exploring even what you might consider the “darker side” to their characters, sometimes to the point of representing their inverted states/jungian shadow selves nicely tied into the idea of “lower bestial natures” being at odds with their true human natures

and these culminate and get fully cashed in by tragic/failed alternate versions of each beta kid that gets somehow mixed with their respective animal (usually through sprite shenanigans) and ends up in some way dealing with their inner issues a bit

Jade’s Dreamself (who was always very silly and prone be overemtional) dies under prospit’s moon, gets stuffed, and later resurrected as a JadeBecsprite who represents Jade’s inner tragic emotional states

Dave gets trapped in an alternate timeline with Rose, but then goes back in time after learning the ins and outs of the game, only to sec prototype as Davesprite and earn wings, and then forevers deals with the depression and aftermath of never being “Alpha” Dave ever again

Rose eventually dies in a pre retcon timeline fighting the condesce, and her corpse is thrown into Roxy’s sprite post retcon, which then merges with Jaspersprite to make Jasprosesprite^2 and which post retcon Rose is herself embarrassed by the inner revelations revealed by this character, who has itself lost all inhibitions due to the animal prototyping

but John never really gets anything of the sort, but in reality, there was a GREAT opportunity for him to have something like this happen to him, early on in the story, that doesn’t actually change much of the story at all

so this is kind of a “what if this had happened instead?” minor AU where some minor details were a little different

because the animal candidate I’m thinking of that could have had something to do with John personally in the above way, already has a great setup for this: none of its own character/personality/dialogue as it was just a programmed toy robot, minimal invasion into the plot (and most only in regards to John’s Dad related things), viewed John as it’s sole master and had a nice clean death via Green Sun explosion in Cascade

and that is the Uber Bunny Robot known as Liv Tyler

and the alternate version John candidate I’m thinking of is the John that got tricked by Terezi into facing Typheus too early and getting killed by him, causing the doomed timeline where Davesprite is from

this John also has a great setup for this, because at first we get exactly 5 or so pages describing what went down in the Doomed timeline, and all of it from Dave and Rose’s perspective, we know nothing of what really happened in that John Typheus encounter, other than “John died and thus was unavailable to help Jade enter the game”, we also get a little bit more later, when we see the Ghost of this John have a chat with a dead version of Vriska much much later in the story. John says there was more to his death than he let on, he died, but not in a fight with his denizen, because he spoke with Typheus, and knew that his death was necessary for his friends to live on, he made his Choice to die, for the sake of the timeline

and because this alternate John and Liv Tyler have a huge chunk of symbolism in common, all of which ties directly back to John, and more specifically, John’s opposite aspect Blood

the first is, the same Liv Tyler Bunny plush was given to John by all three of his friend’s on his same birthday through time shenanigans

Dave gives him the original plush rabbit, which is the actual original rabbit from the one nic cage movie john really loves, when John ecto’s all the babies, he dramatically re-enacts the con air nic cage scene from that movie (reunite with your loving wife and daughter) and gives the rabbit to Rose

Rose in this reality grows up with the rabbit as her own sentimental youthful object, its old and torn growing up with her, so she knits it back together using the needles that John gifted to her and gives it to John on his birthday

John then gives this rabbit to Baby Jade in the same reunite with loving wife and daughter scene

and finally, Jade with her then alt universe penpal Jake, send it back and forth, making robotic upgrades and enhancements and equipping it with all kinds of awesome gear: the Warhammer Of Zillyhoo, the Quills of Echidna, the Royal Deringer, and Ahab's Crosshairs, which match the Strife Specibi of the beta kids. She does this because she foresaw John would be in danger and wanted to send something to help him fight

this rabbit is the literal embodiment of Johns strongest friendship bonds 3 times over, the literal physical manifestation of his Blood

and then Typheus!John is only able to get to Typheus because Terezi through Sollux helped him removed the 3 random objects stuck in his rocket, 3 random objects, that just so happen to be object that appear in Dave’s, Rose’s and Jade’s houses: a cinderblock, a violin and a potted plant

so again, a connection to John’s connection to all 3 of his friends

now here’s where the AU kicks in:

John is still tricked into meeting his denizen early, preserving the timeline with Davesprite and whatnot, however his choice to die to preserve the reality where his friends continue to exist has another part to it

Not only does Typheus allow him to choose to become a ghost to preserve the alpha timeline, but also gives John a sort of challenge, with a potential boon at the end

If John as a ghost can break out of his extra hard dream bubble coma, break out of his memories, remember the choice he made to help save his friends/the timeline, he may be allowed to manifest in a different physical form instead, in order to continue helping his friends/his new alpha self survive the game

all the panels where dead Vriska meets him and helps him to jog his usually hard to jog memory compared to the other ghosts still happen, but the ending is different, because of the extra challenge/boon Typheus gave him. When John remembers fully, he remembers the boon Typheus left him/how to use it, probably something like, a one use portal window thing that transports his ghost back into the physical realm, so he’s kinda in the same state Aradia was as a ghost in Alternia

so he finds somewhere where the uber bun exists, some point before it actually gets to his dreamself on prospit (doesn’t actually matter where)

and then it’s revealed after the fact, that everything Liv Tyler did upon activation at Prospit was actually the choices made by this alternate universe dead spirit version of John

it’s viable because as a robot made by Jade and Jake, it has the ability to potentially house a soul/life, just like Jade’s dreambot for her dreamself (or again, earth version of the tech that Equius made for Aradia, lot of weird Aradia parallels here, but that really only helps this AU) and something that helps is that the bun likely wasn’t built with any way to naturally communicate, no pesterchum in it like lil hal, nor a voicebox, again making a connection to this being a John which has to internally deal with/overcome that he is no longer the “important” John, but this time he’s simultaneously back with all of his friends, and cut off from them at the same time, similar to Davesprite, but also in a having no mouth and must scream kind of way (relating to symbolism of Breath = Speech/communication/mail) being the opposite of his natural element, in an unhealthy place, similar in situation to how Lil Hal was an A.I. copy of Dirk, a heartless version of a heart player/out of their natural element and having to deal with that negative environmental influence

and it helps explain the few things that Liv Tyler seem to do with no direction, like help get Dad’s wallet containing the tumor (which a John would have recognized as his dad’s and picked up anyway) and getting to Dave Rose and helping them (when it’s stated Liv Tyler was supposed to view John and only John as his master, specifically built that way by Jade for that purpose, to protect John)

the package hes in goes through it’s shenanigans like usual, one minor change could be instead of Jack Noir wielding the bunny against the black queen to get her ring in rebellion, he could simply use one of the many regiswords/assassination requests he apparently gives out like candy, like the one he gave to PM, and the bun merely stays in the box until it’s delivered to PM and then John himself and Bun!John recognizes John and becomes his protector

but then you could just make the point in time that Alt!John merges with the bun the point where Liv Tyler’s allegiances switch to helping John from Jack Noir, so the above is just moot anyway

he stays with John for awhile, then fulfills his major mission in helping get the tumor to Rose and Dave and help them to survive/god tier in the correct time and place/again preserve the timeline, fulfilling the idea of him wanting to come back for the purpose of wanting to keep his friends safe/putting his bonds above his own internal state and self to the point of self sacrifice during the green’ sun’s explosion (again, another point for his blood overpowering his breath)

so yeah, you can see, despite all my text it doesn’t actually change much in the plot! the biggest thing could be Jack Noir not using it for the Black Queen (cuz lets be honest he didn’t really need to, his betrayal would have caught her off guard enough to grab the ring) but really just depends on where you choose to do it

AND instead of this flash: https://www.homestuck.com/story/5027 which was more comedic, we could potentially get a string of panels showing what John was thinking and feeling as the Bun Robot, so close and yet so far away from all his friends, completely alone in his own thoughts and with his only motivation being to make sure his friends survive the game, maybe in thought bubbles or code like Serenity the firefly, showcasing the sort of mental descent and depression that John is really prone to, showing how he could end up in a state where he willingly dies for his friends for their sake

I think it’s a great missed opportunity to be honest and at the very least it’s a very neat little AU Idea

and the way it’s set up would be like an awesome shock reveal too

but then also, John is already compared to nic cage so much it’s not even funny

and John himself makes the symbolic connection between nic cage being just like the rabbit “dirty, worn, old, but it’s what on the inside that counts” simultaneously making that connection to himself when he’s inside the rabbit, because it’s bot his outward appearance that matters, what matters is that He’s still John on the inside, still your best friend guys, I’m right here...

and homestuck has a pattern of turning old jokes into new serious content, so it’s not like it doesn’t fit

and if a few panels are thrown in of a ghostly spirit wandering a bit before settling on the bun inside jade’s gift, it can help establish that Alpha John later would become truly intangible and floating through not just earth, but all of homestuck itself

anyway, those are my thoughts for this idea, I think there’s a lot to go on here

the only thing thats not involved are sprite shenanigans, but If I could find a way to involve those then I would :P

maybe instead of dying at the green sun with Dave and Rose he somehow gets thrown into an sprite somewhere and becomes actual RoboBunJohnsprite (even though everything’s taken already and can’t be altered) maybe it can happen instead of Tavris or GCATavris who knows is BunJohn even survives somehow

shenanigans! shenanigans i say

#Homestuck #John Egbert #Liv Tyler

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