#Application (Claims Management

[thevalleyisjolly]

😳

[zylemseo]

Zylem’s Sales Force Automation (SFA) software helps businesses streamline their sales operations, improve productivity, and enhance customer relationships. Our advanced SFA application empowers sales teams with real-time data, automated reporting, and mobile accessibility. Whether you need a mobile sales force automation application or a robust sales force management software, we offer scalable solutions tailored to your needs. Designed specifically for businesses in India, our SFA software ensures seamless tracking, analytics, and optimized sales performance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is a Sales Force Automation (SFA) application? A Sales Force Automation (SFA) application is software that automates and streamlines sales processes such as lead management, order tracking, and customer interactions to improve sales efficiency.

2. How does a mobile Sales Force Automation application benefit businesses? A mobile SFA application allows sales teams to access real-time data, update sales records, and manage customer relationships from anywhere, increasing flexibility and productivity.

[harshathusm]

Applications of Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is transforming the healthcare sector by streamlining repetitive tasks. Key applications include patient data management, appointment scheduling, claims processing, and inventory tracking. By reducing human error and enhancing efficiency, RPA ensures better resource allocation and improved patient care. With expertise in healthcare automation, USM Business Systems stands out as the best mobile app development company, providing cutting-edge RPA solutions for healthcare businesses.

[aarunresearcher]

United States insurance analytics market size reached USD 15.4 Billion in 2024. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach USD 59.8 Billion by 2033, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 15.99% during 2025-2033​.

[sheeezu]

Things to expect when you've mastered shifting

This isn't the normal "oh you'll feel on top the world" kind of post which just hypes up everything and the sole purpose is to motivate. This is (???) the logistics, the indepth version of what you'll face psychologically.

I've shifted close to about a hundred times, whether it was from this reality, or shifting within a reality I shifted.

This is all from my personal experience, you might experience differently.

⋆ Disassociation: when you shift back to your original reality, you'll often times confuse both reality's memory, of course, we all know this, doesn't matter if you shifted or not. But what I've seen no one talk about is that sometimes events and certain objects from your DR will unintentionally manifest into your CR, just because of how deeply rooted they become in your subconscious. For example, I had maybe mentioned this somewhere else, but in my DR I had scripted expensive china cups, which broke on my second day being there. Well two weeks ago my family was gifted the same teacups (some details were off) and one of them managed to get a crack in them after we served the guests tea in it.

⋆ Weird Dreams: Not only is the concept of the dreams weird, but overall mechanics of it are unusual as well (I didn't shift unconsciously in my dreams, that's one boundary I've established)

For example, dreams with people claiming to know the future, telling me, and it coming true the next day, but it being minor details, people from my DRs channeling me, dreams which involves falling out of reality/finding the end of the multiverse.

Dreams which involves me floating, strong winds which blow away entirely of the void reality (CR), I had started getting this dream since I've wanted to permashift, the wind is so strong and I feel it, I'm usually at my college and or doing a mundane activity in my current reality, everything dissapears and I end up in the void state for the rest of the night.

Once my S/O visited me in my dream, he asked me to come back home, it was a lucid dream so I consciously agreed because I couldn't deny him; ended up in my home reality.

⋆ Feeling weirdly sad about your CR: this one might be personal to me. truth be told, I haven't studied a single day since I've successfully shifted. This year all of my classmates and age fellows are going to start looking at university applications, the ones they mention are usually universities I used to dream all day long about getting into, when I didn't know about shifting. It forms a pit in my heart, the passion I once used to have regarding hardwork by investing blood sweat tears into studying, pinterest board filled with quotes such as "some dreams are worth more than my sleep" not stirring anything within me. It's not that I think I can't get these things, i know i can just shift to a parallel reality and get it, but I just don't want to, I don't feel the same about this reality anymore, slowly letting it go, no matter how much I try to cling onto it, I know I was never meant to be here.

⋆ Personality changes: When you become an expert at shifting its no question that you'd shift very frequently. Those DR selfs would influence your personality, and people can think you're developing a split personality disorder.

Take me as an example, if you look at the posts on my blog, you'd notice a different tone in each one of them, some are in a more softer tone and the others feel clinical.

⋆ Putting your DR family first, even though they're not here: I don't know how to explain this one, so I'd just take an example out of my own experience again.

I was out shopping with my mother for sweaters, the ones we were coming across were really good quality, but I could only think of my S/O, she was pointing out the things she thought I'd like, but I kept looking at the men's sweater, subconsciously trying to pick one out for him, which weirded my mother out slightly.

...

Why am I crying.

Anyways I have planned to permashift out of this reality before new year, it was my childhood dream to blog, but I was too shy to do so and never had anything common with anyone. But I've finally completed the final thing on my list, alongside with meeting my cousin who I adored, I decided to add her to my DR.

That's it, I'll go on and answer the 50 asks in my inbox.

...

[ms-demeanor]

Hi, I share your strong pro-medicine, pro-vaccines, anti-woo beliefs. I also have chronic digestive issues and insurance that won’t cover the useful specialists. The gastroenterologists I’ve encountered are helpful for making sure my insides look okay but they don’t seem to have much training around nutrition and food science. Nutritionists are unlicensed and I find them about as trustworthy as chiropractors, and I can’t get insurance to cover a registered dietician. The internet is saturated with pseudoscience junk and “miracle cures”, and in moments of desperation I’ve fallen for some of them. Luckily I haven’t been harmed by anything so far, but I don’t think they helped much either.

I was wondering if you or your followers have any resources on IBS and/or GERD that are scientifically sound and written for a general audience? Or advice for identifying when pop-sci-style “food science” articles are a scam?

I deeply regret to inform you that I was so annoyed by this exact problem that I literally went back to school to start working on getting a degree in nutrition and got two and a half years into a second bachelor's degree before realizing I wouldn't be able to get into any programs in my area that I could afford because the local state schools aren't accepting second bachelor's applicants. (Cal State Chico, I love you and you are too far away, it's not meant to be)

Nutrition information online is completely infested with woo and I am hesitant to point people toward one of the good resources I used to reference because it is politically batshit.

If you are looking at a food science article on the internet and are trying to figure out if it's a scam the big red flags to look out for are:

anything claiming to be a silver bullet; there are no silver bullets, no magical treatments, no one weird food that will fix the problem or one weird supplement that will make everything better.

Over-emphasis on a specific type of diet (diet as in "all the food that a person consumes" not as in "weight loss tool") for a general population. It's irresponsible to recommend a rigorous, restricted diet to a wide variety of people because people are so different that one diet that works for one person (say a vegan diet) might be unhealthy or difficult to manage for another person who would thrive on a different diet (low fat, low carb).

Anyone who tells you to cut out an entire food group or macronutrient is a liar who is trying to get your money. Unless it is your personal medical doctor who is saying "you need to stop eating grains" you do not need to stop eating grains and should not stop eating grains. You also do not need to stop eating fat, or eat only protein, or cut all fruit out of your diet. (caveat: there are some conditions that require a very low fiber diet, but even on that diet there are some fruits you can eat)

Beyond that, what you can do to make sure you're getting the best information possible is:

look up the author of any article you're looking at and see what else they've written; check what their qualifications are. See the people they interact with or have collaborated with. If they work heavily with people who are, say, antivax or proponents of raw milk, you should not trust their work.

If you see something that claims to treat your condition or help with nutrition, search "[subject] research study" or "[subject] scholarly research" and see what comes up. Read at least a few papers on the subject and see if there's a consensus or if there are broad disagreements. Get into the habit of looking up the impact scores of journals and researching the history of the journals.

Learn to recognize the woo keywords with your particular illness. For celiac that's "leaky gut," and any article I come across that discusses "leaky gut" gets extra scrutiny because sometimes there are legitimate reasons to describe a "leaky gut" but more often there are woo nonsense reasons. One really good way to figure out what the woo keywords for your illness are is to search "[your illness] + [woo huckster]", so "celiac + joseph mercola" or "celiac + the food babe." (those are good starting places to see what woo is popular around anything nutrition based, really; nothing those two say is trustworthy) you can also try "[your condition] + [specific type of medical woo]" with, like, "chiropractic" and "homeopathic" and "holistic" in the second box.

Be wary of positive assertions without evidence. If someone is making an affirmative statement and they aren't providing a citation, be suspicious.

Anyway. Good luck. It sucks out there.

[reasonsforhope]

"In an open-air courtroom set up in a nature reserve in Western NSW, a four-nation clan has secured one of the largest native title claims in the region's history. 

Far from the four walls and formalities of a federal courtroom, Justice Melissa Perry delivered her determination at Newey Reserve in Cobar on Wednesday, recognising the native title rights of the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan peoples.

The decision marks the successful end of a 12-year legal battle that began in 2012.

The claim covers more than 95,000 square kilometres of land and water from the Barwon River in the north, to the Lachlan River in the south, the Castlereagh River in the east and Ivanhoe to the west. 

It recognises native title rights including the right to hunt, fish and gather resources, the right to access and camp on land and right to protect places of cultural and spiritual importance.

A legacy for future custodians 

Aunty Elaine Ohlsen, a Ngiyampaa Elder from Cobar and one of the original applicants, said the decision brought her "mixed emotions".

"I just persevered," she said.

"We've been through a lot of trials and tribulations to get here, but I'm someone who won't give up fighting for our people."

"These sorts of things need to happen all the time, because we need to know who we are and where we come from and where we are in this country."

Aunty Elaine hopes the determination will inspire future generations to continue their ancestors' legacy.

"Hopefully, this will encourage them to stay connected to their country, heritage, and culture, and to carry on the hard work we've done," she said.

Vision for the future

Wangaaypuwan man and claim applicant John Shipp recently camped on country with four generations of his family.

He said the recognition of native title meant they could continue to do so without fear of being moved on.

"It's just those little things that give us our connection back to our land, our heritage, our culture," he said.

The native title holders have now formed the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan Wayilwan Aboriginal Corporation (NNWW Corporation) to manage their rights.

As a director of the NNWW Corporation, Mr Shipp sees the determination as the beginning of a new chapter...

As for Mr Shipp's message to other Indigenous groups fighting for recognition?

"Keep going — it's getting better, it's getting shorter, it's happening, just keep going," he said."

-via ABC News Australia, August 14, 2024

[cashezsvenningsenrkdjx]

A Little Intuition/Is Argentina's "Chainsaw Revolution" applicable to the United States? \Li Lingxiu

At a political rally held in the suburbs of Washington on Thursday, Argentine President Milley presented Musk, the leader of the Department of U.S. Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a "signature" chainsaw, symbolizing the inheritance of the "chainsaw revolution". But can the United States afford the economic price Argentina has paid for it?

Since the establishment of DOGE, several federal government departments have been purged. Musk and his leadership team first gained access to the Treasury Department's computer system, and then DOGE staff entered the International Development Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Ministry of Education and other departments to conduct investigations. At the aforementioned Conservative Political Action Conference, Musk also predicted that the Federal Reserve will be the next target.

The White House has provided a "buyout plan" to 2 million federal government employees, which will provide about 8 months of salary compensation to all employees who voluntarily resign. As of February 18, a total of about 20,000 federal employees (including probationary employees) have been laid off or forced to stop work and take leave.

Such a swift and vigorous layoff storm easily reminds people of the "chainsaw revolution" promoted by Mile in Argentina. As early as the last round of elections in the country, the image of Mile holding a chainsaw high has become a classic image of campaign propaganda. At the beginning of his term, he signed a presidential decree to reduce government departments from 18 to 9 and fired more than 30,000 government employees. The Argentine government also successfully cut public spending by 30% through measures such as cutting energy and transportation subsidies, achieving a fiscal surplus for the first time in 14 years.

But compared with the political environment of the two countries, there are actually great differences. The Argentine president has absolute power over the government's organizational structure and departmental settings, and the abolition of government departments belongs to the category of administrative affairs management and adjustment. But for the US president, if there is no clear authorization from Congress through relevant laws, government departments cannot be adjusted or abolished (except for agencies established by presidential decrees).

Expenditure reduction plan difficult to achieve

Musk's previous slogan was to cut federal spending by $1 trillion. But in the officially released White House documents, Trump did not propose KPIs in this regard. As of February 17, DOGE has saved an estimated $55 billion through contract and lease renegotiations, cancellation of grants, asset sales, layoffs, regulatory savings and fraud detection, completing only 4% of Musk's goal.

Data shows that the total expenditure of the US federal government in fiscal year 2024 is $6.8 trillion, and the largest sources come from three aspects: Social Security ($1.46 trillion), Medicare ($0.87 trillion), and Medicaid ($0.91 trillion), accounting for a total of 49%. However, cutting the above expenditures will shake the interests of voters, and Trump also made it clear during his campaign last year that he would not cut spending on these three projects. In this way, DOGE's spending reduction target seems to be a task that can never be completed.

More importantly, the cost of Argentina's "chainsaw revolution" is painful. In the first six months after Milley took office, the country's poverty rate jumped from about 40% to 53%. Although it fell back by the end of last year, the unemployment rate climbed from 12% in 2023 to 15%.

House prices in Washington, DC plummet

There are also some bad trends in the United States at the moment. Data shows that the number of initial unemployment claims in Washington, DC has risen significantly in the past two weeks. Real estate prices in the region have also begun to fall. The median price of a house in Washington, DC in January 2025 is $553,000, a sharp drop of 9.7% year-on-year.

Argentina is still the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with outstanding loans of $43.4 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of total credit, exceeding the total of all sub-Saharan African countries. (See accompanying picture)

If Musk insists on carrying out the "chainsaw revolution" to the end. Then, poverty will replace inflation and become the hottest topic in American society in the future.

[leidyhaze]

Heartstrings and Second Chances

Satoru x reader

synopsis: You see Satoru falling for another girl who isn't you, you've noticed the way he gazes at her as if she's his entire universe. You constantly believe that she is his ultimate love, his first love. And you can never replace her.

cw: angst (like as in) ,18+, smut, character death, this is a mess tbh, she fell first but he fell harder, suicide, fingering, love making, love sex, unprotected, breeding, clingy reader, satoru’s mom being a bitch, satoru needs you to get pregnant.

Wc: 5k+

a/n: ahhh my first oneshot here in this account, i hope you like it <3

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"I won't marry her. "

"Satoru— stop!"

"I have a fucking girlfriend!"

Satoru's voice reverberates in the room, and you, already gazing downward, can no longer tolerate being here. You only wish to escape and go.

“ I didn't know that your son has a girlfriend? "

You’re angry, to his mother. Satoru is tightening his jaw and ready to talk once more, but his mother unexpectedly interjects.

"Oh— i actually didn't know that, but don't worry, Satoru will cut her off."

“No, I won't,” he chuckled. Certainly, he won't; he cares for his girlfriend, and you are aware of that. Satoru is a wonderful person, you like him, naturally. How is it possible to not? However, there is already a girl who possesses him, and Satoru loves her. She was the love of his life.

He cares for his girlfriend deeply, and no one could ever take her place. Not a single person, not even you.

"I don't know what you're planning but i have my decision, i won't get marry and i won't fucking cut off Diana." He said and left.

"Listen, I apologize. I'll simply go have a chat with him." His mother speaks and trailed behind him, your mother gazes at you and you recognize that expression. “I’m fine,” you smiled.

"I believe I've chosen the wrong guy for you, darling," she chuckles, and you do as well.

You shouldn't try to compel Satoru to love you; he understands that Diana is his soulmate.

“Don’t you like satoru?” Your mom asked.

You shook your head. “No”

A lie, of course.

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Working at your parents' business is not beneficial, it's quite exhausting. Documents scattered throughout the office, papers here, papers everywhere. Damn.

You require a break, so you shove the papers aside and lay your head on the desk.

Suddenly someone knocks.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but someone is seeking to become your secretary."

Oh right, the secretary. Your former secretary departed because she claimed she needed a break. Constantly striving, you wish that this individual is resilient enough to join you in your battle.

You clear you throat and said “come in”

Then you notice her; she has short hair, no makeup, and her eyes reveal that she’s weary, but she unexpectedly smiles.

Nanami, one of your employees has left, leaving just the two of you.

"I truly need this job, so please." She pleaded and shut her eyes, and you can tell she’s exhausted from searching for work.

“That's fine, I don't have specific preferences.” You indeed smiled at her. She gave you the application form, and you looked it over.

Diana Flammia, 25 years old.

"Wow, you're actually older than I am." She chuckles at this. "No, I simply want a job," she said, gazing downward.

"I suppose you're hired, I believe it's fine that you're older than I am, so could you mentor me? I'm really not skilled at managing this company," you said, and she chuckles at you. "Of course."

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You're back here at this annoying dining table having a meal with Satoru and her mother. The quiet is so intense that the sole sound you detect is the fork clashing with the plate.

But your mom breaks the silence.

"Hey, do you believe we need to end this?" All of you suddenly gaze at her big eyes, especially Satoru's mom.

"W-what do you mean by that?" she inquired of your mom.

"I mean, the kids don't care for one another." We are unable to compel them, so we need to end this marriage." Your mother mentioned that you glance at her and smile, and you noticed Satoru smiling as well.

And he looks so stunning when he does.

However, her mother appeared furious, evidently disapproving of it.

She was ready to talk, but Satoru spoke ahead of her.

"I agree," he remarked as he sliced a steak.

She laughed, "Of course you agree, you want to marry that girl, that poor child."

Satoru halts in his path, clutching the fork firmly, and you can see the veils in his hands. "Don't refer to her that way." He remarked while gazing downward, his eyes growing dim.

"What? It's a fact, she's brat—“ abruptly, Satoru slams the fork into the table, making her mom fall silent. He glared at her and stood up, he left, heading outside.

"That's quite impolite of you, Mrs. Gojo," your mom remarks.

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You spotted Satoru in the garden and were about to walk over, but then you noticed he was conversing with someone on his phone.

"Did you get a job? That's good, baby, just don't put too much pressure on yourself, alright? “ Your heart is hurting, you have feelings for Satoru, you wish to think of yourself, but you can't—everyone deserves to be happy.

"Good night, I love you." He ended the call and sighed, shutting his eyes. He opens them upon realizing that you are present.

He glances at you from the side, but you're averting your gaze, trying to avoid making eye contact.

"Are you just going to stand there?" he said suddenly, it's the first time he's ever talked to you. Perhaps he felt gratitude because the marriage ended.

"Hey, come over, take a seat," he said as you walked slowly until you reached the bench and sat down. He sits beside you, gazing at the sky.

"My mom is quite a bitch, isn't she?" he chuckles, "saying something about Diana," he laughs once more.

He was keeping her safe.

"Regarding Diana, please avoid putting pressure on her to work."

You unexpectedly gaze at him, and he gazes back at you, establishing eye contact. "I advised her against working because she was ill, yet she was persistent, insisting that she didn't want to remain at home doing nothing. “

You nod, "I understand that."

"Please don't put pressure on her, her body is frail, and...” his voice faltered, “and ready to surrender, so please treat her kindly. She's kind, so no need to worry. “

"I am aware."

You’re aware that Diana is kind, she assisted you earlier during the meeting. Inquiring if you're fatigued and she will handle the task. Diana is a celestial being.

"There's no need to worry, I'll handle her."

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Time has gone by and everything feels so..challenging. You've been working for 24 hours, and you wish to call Diana for help, but you can't.

Diana is likely resting, as she requires sleep as well.

But damn, you also need some rest.

“No, I can manage this,” you told yourself, these last few days have been something else. It’s enjoyable being with Diana. She is constantly by your side, assisting you.

She is kind.

However, previously? She behaves oddly, she asks you to join her for a meal and also to spend time together. You feel happy, of course, but that doesn't change the reality that she's behaving oddly.

Upon waking up and upon reaching your office, you discovered your employees quiet. Typically, they are noisy, but currently they're quiet as though something occurred.

And can you believe it? Diana is not present.

You called Nanami, and he arrived at your office, you observed that his eyes were red, as though he had just been crying.

You clear your throat. "Are you aware of the reason diana is not here today?" You inquire as you glance over the documents on your desk. There are numerous.

He gazed at you, "why?" You inquired.

He nibbles on his lower lip to prevent himself from weeping.

"She...she passed away this evening."

You came to a halt.

"What did you say?"

No.

No.

A tear drops from your eye, but you swiftly wipe it away, "I-I don't understand, why?" Your voice trembles, and the tears you wipe away come falling once more, and this time you allow it.

"We...we still aren't sure, but someone claimed she took her own life."

You understand everything now about why she was acting oddly yesterday. All is understood.

But for what reason?

You covered your face with your hands and wept, you weren't even aware, did you cause her stress?

You keep on crying, and tears just keep streaming down. You were excessively worrying about whether you had wronged her.

You've always had a fondness for her, you always will. Due to her, you comprehend Satoru, he was deeply in love with her, and you realize that. She was a heavenly being.

However, you were not aware that she would transform into an angel, so shortly.

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"Only 3 weeks, my dear."

Satoru is utterly heartbroken, do you really believe it won't?

It would be pleasant to spend just 3 weeks with him. And you believe he doesn't want you to.

"Honey, I believe she's correct, moreover, Satoru requires some comfort."

You believe it's not a wise choice to console him.

"I'm not sure what children today want, he won't eat and has just shut himself in his room." You fidget with your fingers while hearing his mother.

Is it something you should pursue?

What if he gets angry when he spots you?

Numerous thoughts in your head cannot quell the what ifs.

"Darling." Your mom speaks while brushing your shoulders, motivating you to proceed. "It's only 3 weeks."

"Alright."

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The quietness upon your arrival makes it seem as if the house is lifeless.

Satoru's mother has already departed, she doesn't even show you around.

You examine the house, it was large, naturally. You climbed the stairs and discovered a locked room.

Certainly his room.

You walk into the room next to his and place your belongings there.

Then you knock on his door.

No response.

Once more.

Still no response.

As you were preparing to leave, a sob caught your attention, you halted in your steps and looked down, fighting back tears. He was devastated as one would be, she was his girlfriend, his everything, his greatest love.

You clean up your belongings and proceed at a slow pace.

back to his room, and you knock once more. “Are you there, Gojo?” You rang.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

You were taken aback, you realized he would be furious. Your hands shaking and his words resonating in your mind.

"Is it Mom who sent you?" I don't need you," he stated in a chilly tone.

You're unfamiliar with this aspect of him, when he talked to you in the garden, it was...gentle. But now, it’s filled with sorrow and rage.

"I-I'll only be here for 3 weeks, so don’t worry, I won’t disturb you." Your voice shakes as you anticipate whether he'll respond, but he remains silent.

"H-have you eaten yet?"

No response.

You think that perhaps tomorrow you will finally meet him and talk to him, so you head to your room and lie there, looking at the ceiling.

You shut your eyes, sensing the tears streaming once more.

"I miss you, Diana."

You’re wrong.

You are mistaken.

Since the instant you opened your eyes, Satoru remains in his room.

You will leave, naturally, work, once more.

You knock again at his door, one hand clutching your bag. "Gojo?" You called him. However, undoubtedly, no response.

“I will be heading out, if you’re hungry, there’s some food in the refrigerator. Please avoid skipping meals.”

You await a response, but there is only silence, you exhale deeply and beginning to stroll downward. Ready to leave, you gaze at Satoru's room one final time.

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Upon returning home, everything remains unchanged, the house is silent and Satoru is still in his room.

You look in the fridge to see if he has eaten, but he's didn’t , so you hurry to his room and knock. You’re exhausted, but what’s occupying your thoughts at the moment is Satoru. He must have food.

“Gojo? Why didn’t you have anything to eat?" You inquired with him, but there is still no response. You can't contain it any longer, so you dashed into your room and took the key to his room. His mother provided it to you.

As you prepare to unlock it, you hesitate, he will be upset, you're aware of that. You shake your head, unlock it, and upon opening the door, you saw him.

He was sitting in the corner of his bed, his hands on his toes with his head underneath. He was weeping, you can hear his sobbing.

"Satoru," this is the first time you call him in his first name.

He remained silent, continuing to cry.

"You must e-"

“I miss her.”

You stopped.

You shut your eyes as the tears are about to drop once more.

"I miss her, i want to see her."

And with that, your tears stream down.

"Satoru... it's important for you to have something to eat."

"What I need at this moment is Diana," he said, and at last, he gazed up at you you noticed his blue eyes, brimming with tears.

You took a seat, observing him.

"Do you believe she'll be happy if she finds you in this state? She did it because she desires to rest, and you... Satoru, you must live!” You yelled.

“I can’t live without her. “

Fuck.

"Before her passing," he began, "she—she mentioned she needed space, but I..I had no idea.." He was crying uncontrollably, making it difficult for him to speak.

"Are you aware of what she told me just before she passed away? She mentioned that life is valuable and expressed her joy in feeling loved by all, including you. “You cried, uncertain if you should mourn Diana's absence or observe the man you loved suffering in front of you.

Observing his affection for her.

"The marriage ended because my mom inquired if I wanted to proceed or not. I refused." You informed

He looked at you, a puzzled expression on his face.

"That's not true” you avert your gaze from him, tears streaming down your cheeks.

"I-I wish to be with you...but..I'm so selfish if I were to do that, you know? When I worked along with Diana, I recognized my choice was right because Diana is..."you fell apart.

"Watching you with her, gazing at her as if she's everything to you pains me. However, what can I do? She was your greatest love. And nobody can take her place in your heart." You were weeping alongside him, your face is so disheveled, and you aren't concerned about his thoughts at this moment.

"It's fine, I merely expressed what I desire. You don't have to harm yourself for not eating, “you said and left him space.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

Satoru had dinner last night.

Just as you were about to sleep, he unexpectedly knocks and inquires if there’s any food left in the fridge.

You lead him to the fridge and he consumes.

And now you observed him while he was having his breakfast.

"Morning.." he stated, and you looked at him in surprise, questioning if he truly meant it. "Good..Morning?"

He smile weakly at you and goes on eating, while you remain stunned by his unexpected move.

And tonight, you watched him organize his room, which is in chaos. After Diana passed away, he don’t know what to do.

And now, he was tidying it up, repairing and even rearranged some items. He entirely transformed it.

As he was still cleaning, you provided him with food, as he requires nourishment to regain his strength.

As you walked in, he gazed at you, and you noticed him, your eyes quickly turned to a photo he was holding. It was an image of Diana.

"Sorry, I just got you something to eat," you said and put the food on his table and was on the verge of leaving when he grabbed your wrist.

You paused, you can’t even bear to see him. Following what occurred last night, you felt embarrassed.

"Sorr-"

"Prove yourself."

What?

"Teach me to have faith in love, once more."

Tears stream from your eyes, you find it hard to grasp what you're hearing. "You don't have to-"

You inhaled sharply as he abruptly released you from the embrace, your face collided with his chest as he rested his chin on your head.

“Please.”

You cried against his chest.

"This seems..off," you remarked, attempting to distance yourself from him, but he held you close. "Let’s offer one another a second chance."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

"Should we go out?"

You open your eyes wide and gaze at him, the two of you are sitting on the sofa watching some films. It was uncomfortable, yet Satoru always initiated a discussion with you.

"I- I’m not sure h–“

"You don’t date?”

You moved your head in a negative way.

You received a company at a young age, leaving you no time for dating, oh how you wish you could.

You consistently desire to experience dating, romance, and being in a relationship. Since you were born, you've never had any boyfriends, perhaps a crush when you were little, but what about now? No.

"Hey, that's fine. Let's have our dinner tomorrow, alright?" you smiled at him, feeling so cherished by him lately. On certain nights, the two of you discuss Diana, expressing that you miss her and he misses her.

The date went well, you and Satoru are becoming closer and more at ease with each other.

One night you dreamed a dream so vivid that it left you in tears upon waking. You look at the clock and realize that it’s 2 a.m. in the morning. You require additional sleep, yet you're unable to.

You walked towards Satoru’s room.

As you entered Satoru's room, you noticed he never locks it anymore since that event occurred.

You observed him slumbering, his expression serene, with long eyelashes closed and lips slightly ajar. You walk up to him and he suddenly becomes alert.

He lowered himself, massaging his tired eyes, “hey, are you alright?” Do you need anything?" he gazes at you now.

"I-I dreamed a...terrible nightmare," you said while glancing down, snuffling. "It was really bad s..satoru, it was truly frightening." You are crying now.

He takes your wrists and places you on his bed, you’re now sitting there. He puts his hand on your shoulder and directs you to lay your head on his shoulder.

"Shh, it's alright." he said as he gently patted your shoulders, and you shut your eyes, leaning your body against his.

Satoru gently placed you on his bed, and as his touch ghosted you, your eyes flew open, discovering him there. "I’m here."

He lay next to you and drew the blanket up to your chests, and you sense his arms enveloping you once more.

embracing you.

Upon waking, his arms are still wrapped around you, your back is to him, and you can sense his breath.

You were just about to stand when his powerful arms suddenly tugged you back, prompting you to roll your eyes.

"Satoru, I have some works to complete."

He merely moans while still embracing you, he turns you to face him and you notice his eyes remain closed, yet his lips are smiling.

This man.

Following that, Satoru invites you to sleep in his room once more. Until it becomes your habit to sleep together.

“Mom? “

You abruptly withdrew from Satoru while the two of you were conversing on the sofa. Your head resting on his chest while his arm is around your back.

"Wow, I didn’t realize you’d be moving on so quickly?" his mother remarked.

"Not right now, please," Satoru said, but naturally, his mother always ignored his request.

"Excuse me? I'm truly glad for the two of you! I was taken aback, alright? I wasn't aware that she'd take Diana's place so quickly. You always claimed that she is your greatest love—" his mom halts when Satoru yells at her.

You gaze downward, tears streaming from your eyes.

What were your expectations? Certainly, she was his greatest love. You're foolish to believe that he can love you the way he loved her.

You fled from their home, you're in pain, a lot.

What made you believe you could take her place?

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

Today is Satoru's birthday, and your mom is asking you to go to his house. You informed her that you are unable to, and since that day, you haven’t returned to Satoru's home.

You wish to wish him a happy birthday.

"Go on, darling. You have a present for him, correct?”You scowl at your mother and she simply laughs. "Come on, darling, I have a present for him too, alright?"

And you did, because how could you not? Your mother is pleading with you to take and give him her present!

As you reach the house, the music fills the air, you take a breath before entering.

As you open the door, the music abruptly halts and everyone turns to face you.

You nipped your bottom lip, and your hands began to tremble.

Unexpectedly, Satoru comes closer to you and grips your shaking hand tightly. "Uh, hey..." he proclaims. "She is-"

"She’s Diana’s boss!" You swallow at that.

"Mei Mei—"

The girl quickly snatches the present from your hand. Your present to him. "Let’s take a look..."

"Cut that out!" Satoru yelled.

You were trembling. Panting, you desire to grab the present from the girl's grasp, but you can't. You shut your eyes as they unveil the gift.

They laugh.

"Are you kidding? A keychain?" she stares at you with a look of disgust. "You know, if Diana is here, she'll bake him a cookie. Diana knows Satoru better than you do. Dia—‘

“Diana isn’t here!’ They gaze at Satoru in astonishment, including you.

‘She’s gone now, so please... please don’t bring her up.’" He told them, his eyes growing larger.

When you unexpectedly come to the understanding that you're still present, you dash out of the house, weeping.

However, this time Satoru wouldn't allow you to leave. He chases after you and catches you in his strong embrace.

He hugs you tightly from behind while you sob, burying your face in your hair.

"Don't leave..please."

You despise yourself, feeling so foolish for believing you have a chance.

It's evident he wishes to erase her from his mind while being with you, but it doesn't change the reality that she was his first and greatest love.

You push his hands away from your body and confront him. You see him in tears. "You mentioned… let's give each other a chance, but… do I stand a chance with you?" you weep.

He gazes at you with watery eyes, takes a step closer, and grasps your shaking hand. “You have..you always have..”

He gently dries your tears with his other hand and kisses your forehead, whispering,

"I love you."

You close your eyes, crying even more. You heard it. He stated it, he declared I love you.

"Please stop crying."

You acknowledge it now, no one can take Diana's place in his heart, you realize now.

Diana is both his first and greatest love. He cherished Diana, and now he will cherish you for the rest of his life.

He gently caresses your cheeks, gradually leaning in for a kiss, and you sense it, you feel the love and desire. You feel the love.

His lips are tender, mild. He desires for you to sense his affection for you. Then he encountered your tongue, drawing you nearer, arms encircling your waist while your arms curled around his neck, deepening the kiss.

Tongues dancing with each other, here you are with him, kissing under the moonlight.

You feel so loved.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

Satoru set the flowers next to Diana's grave, smiling as he gazed at her name.

He missed her, but he’s doing fine now.

After Diana passed away, Satoru felt lost, she was his entire world.

He can hardly believe that he is alive today and capable of loving again.

Diana left a mark on his heart, he loved her deeply and will cherish her forever.

"Hey, are you alright up there?" he inquired, looking at her name.

She had grown weary of life and chose to end it. Satoru attempted to prevent her, but they are both aware that regardless of the outcome, she will soon become an angel.

"I cant say ‘i love you’ to you now, you know? I will be having wife soon," he chuckles, imagining your adorable face.

"Technically, she's not my wife yet, I… will ask her to marry me tonight." He glances at the ring in his hand, envisioning himself placing it on your finger.

He’s so inlove.

“We will create a family, i know..that’s your dream..with me, but that’s also my dream, with her.”

Satoru understands that you and Diana are different, he had loved Diana, yet he realizes you are his for eternity. He was certain.

"I’m sorry, I-I love her..." he faltered at her grave. "I'm afraid to admit it, but I'm aware of my feelings, I know that this feeling is unique, this love is distinct from what I felt for you, I love her more than I loved you now." He's fearful that Diana might leave him, yet 'what ifs' linger in his thoughts.

"What if you hadn't died, would I still love her? Diana, I can't live without her..." he was becoming emotional, aware that Diana was both caring and altruistic.

Yet, he understands that he has to release her.

With your arrival in his life, the pain that Diana caused is gradually fading away. That's when he realized that Diana is his first love. And you, his greatest love .

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

"You're incredibly beautiful," Satoru murmured as his hand glided over your body, the wedding had gone perfectly, and now you both are in bed together.

He kisses your neck, gently sucking on the sensitive spot there. He’s whispering ‘I love you’ and ‘you’re so beautiful’ in your ears.

His kisses traveled lower, until he caught your breasts, fondling them with both hands. "Satoru.."

"Thats it, love. “ He placed his mouth on your nipple, sucking it while pinching the other one with two fingers. Your back curves, completely drenched below.

Once he’s done, he gazed at you and kissed you, you were moaning into his lips. His fingers slid down until he found your covered sex. His thumb rubbed your clit, causing you to moan into his mouth, he pulled back and gazed at you. He smiled. "You're perfect," he murmurs.

"Satoru, more.." you pleaded, and he complied, lowering your skirt. He chuckled upon seeing you aroused.

"No, don't laugh," you cautioned him.

He moved your panties aside and slid a finger inside you, causing you to gasp, “Satoru!" You called him, back arching. You're like this for only one finger.

"Darling, you’re so sensitive ."

You moan loudly when he added a second finger, with two fingers inside you, and you were breathing heavily. Satoru wants to buried his self in you, yet he wants you to be ready beforehand.

He perceives you tightening around his fingers and picturing it with his cock instead . A breathy moan escapes your lips, your legs quivering as his fingers thrust rapidly.

You clutch the bedsheets, closing your eyes as you experience the pleasure. You're almost there. "Release it, darling, give it to me," he murmurs, kissing your knuckle while his fingers move faster inside you, causing you to moan louder and cream his finger.

Your legs tremble, spine bending as you reach climax. "You did great, darling." He kisses your forehead. "Satoru, I want you, please." He smiled and nodded at you, kissing your lips once more, while your hands moved to his chest, gently undressing him.

You're unsure about reaching out to him. "It's fine, I'm yours, my love."

He removed his trousers and underwear, and you glance at his bulge and erect member. You reach at it and make contact with its tip. Satoru tilts his head backward, his hands abruptly halting you.

You glance at him as he adjusts himself at your entrance, gently stroking your hair.

“Breathe, darling. “ And you do, you sensed his tip on your clit and now at your entrance. He gradually enters you, causing you to gasp. So enormous. When he entered you, you felt incredibly full. You extend your hand to satoru and he gradually leans towards you, causing your lips to connect.

He began to move, making you groan. "Satoru..." he entered you with a gradual rhythm. "Nngh.."

"Did that feel good, love?" he inquired, and you nodded in response. He began to thrust more rapidly, lifting one of your thighs onto his shoulder as he continued.

"Satoru! Feels...great..ah!" You moan to him and he pushes again, more forcefully this time. "That's it, love." You felt warm, you’re so tight around him, driving him crazy.

'Satoru..' you called, 'more..' He pressed roughly against your lips and quickened the pace, making your mind spin. You can hear the damp noise and his hips hitting against you.

"Satoru, I-m..." he was thrusting quickly, you look so messed up. You can’t concentrate, all that occupies your mind is how incredible Satoru was and the pleasure he’s giving you.

With one final thrust, you reach climax, your legs trembling as you draw him in. However, he continued, he’s pushing forward. "Too much! Satoru!”

He doesn't pay attention to you and keeps doing what he's doing. "I'm unable to... stop... I will make you mine, and we will build a family together." He said as he suddenly envisioned you with his child in your womb.

"You’re... growing larger inside... me!" He placed his fingers on your clit, rubbing it vigorously and quickly.

"Come again for me, love, just once more." And you felt it once more, nearing the edge. You call out his name when you reach your climax, feeling his seeds within you as you both fall down.

He rests his forehead on yours and grins. "I love you," he says, and you return his smile. You lean in to kiss him, he then lies next to you, drawing you close to his chest while kissing your forehead.

"I bet by tomorrow you'll be pregnant." You swat his hand away, and he just chuckles at you. He drew you closer, encircling your waist with his arms, resting his chin on your head while inhaling the scent of your hair.

You both drifted off to sleep and dreamt of Diana smiling widely while congratulating you both.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　

a/n: thoughts? My first one shot! My fingers going to break rn.

[mlembug]

Fact checking the discord ai training chain letter

it does not make sense to have "invisible magic discord bots which are hidden in your server" as a result of a supposed partnership between discord and some ai company, because if discord wanted to secretly give some ai company your messages or uploaded images, then

they don't need a fucking bot to do this, they already have the data

what makes you think you would able to counteract this by using discord's features

furthermore, "partnerships" are mutual: if a company claims that a partnership exists when no such partnership exists, discord can tell them to knock it off or announce that no such partnership exists, and guess what, the article does not mention any such partnership, it says "we launched an app", which is like, whatever, it's inside all the other shovelware hidden in the menus no one clicks.

the evidence for "invisible magic bots" is super flimsy and results in misunderstanding about how banning works (banning a user by id and then seeing the entry in audit logs). in reality, you can ban users that are not present in your server, which I've been doing as a preventive measure for years at this point when I see someone on another server doing stuff I would be banning for if they were present on my server.

you also can't add apps or bots to your server without having "manage server" permission.

furthermore, as a bot, you can't read messages on the server without opting in with enabling message content intent, and needing explicit approval from discord for this.

(this is what you see in discord developer portal in the bots settings. "Read more here" leads to this website)

in fact, "application commands" discord feature that the bot uses was introduced specifically so bots don't have to read every message on the server to see if it starts with an exclamation mark or whatever in order to know if to react to it, and how.

there are also "external apps" which are per-user, rather than per-app, but these are basically equivalent of a user DMing a bot, and they don't have access to anything aside from whatever user sends them, and, if the role has has "use external apps" permission enabled in the channel, they can send a message as a result of a user action.

and yes, potentially a member of your server could send some image in it to an AI company by using the application command, but then again they can also right click -> save and upload it to chatgpt. your threat model is fucking bonkers.

conclusion: the original message is fearmongering based on misunderstanding on how discord, or computers in general, work.

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Ok, I have two alternatives, pick which one you like the best.

Reader get picked to tutor Eddie even though they have always been at each other's throat, she thinking he's a drama queen, pissed that the popular people doesn't like him and he thinks she's a stuck up bitch without humor.

So they go back and forth but maybe one day when she's having a bad day and Eddie says something and she starts crying he gets all "what, how, why? What did I do, please don't cry!"

Or, that he catches her reading a romance novel and outwardly she has always just read classics - books that are 'high education'

Request by @somethingvicked 🫶💞 went with the first option 💞

Warnings; Little bit of angst, meanish Eddie, fluff. Accidental kiss.

💌🎀💌🎀

"You've got to be kidding me?" you gawk at Miss O'Donnell who has called you back at the end of class. She's asked you to tutor someone and at first you were all for it.

That's until you found out it was Eddie Munson, Munson who is currently sitting at the back of the class with his feet up on the desk in front of him, he gives you a sarcastic little wave and you turn back to Miss O'Donnell and hope she comes to her senses.

"He needs a tutor if he wants to graduate. You're the best student in the class. It will look wonderful on your college applications that you tutored Mr Munson" shit there was really no getting out of this.

Reluctantly you turn to Eddie who already doesn't like you. In his honest opinion you seemed prissy and stuck up. The two of you spent half your time at each other's throats, it had been like that for so long.

Equally you couldn't stand Eddie either. He was loud, a show off and you were sure he was jealous of the popular people he claimed to hate.

How you would manage to tutor him for weeks on end was anyone's guess. One thing's for sure, you were dreading this.

"Meet me after school tomorrow and we can get started okay?" You say to him already grumpy at having to spend extra time with him. Eddie swings his legs off the desk and smirks, then bows.

"As you wish princess" ugh, you storm out but not before hearing Eddie's laughter.

Asshole.

🎀💌🎀💌

The first week of tutoring Eddie is as horrible as you expected. He's antagonistic, makes no effort and needles at your patience until it's paper thin.

"How can you be expected to graduate if you don't make an effort?" You snap as Eddie strums on his guitar.

"That old bat has it in for me, even when I try my best she still doesn't care" Eddie hisses back and you feel the beginnings of a headache come on.

"You just need to apply yourself better, if you want to graduate then you need to ace this Munson" he glares at you.

"Don't you think I know that? It's easy for you though isn't it princess, since your little miss perfect" the insult flares up your annoyance and you and Eddie devolve into your usual arguments.

"Don't you think I have better things to do then tutor you Munson? So do us both a favour and start paying attention, so we can go our separate ways sooner".

He huffs and places down his guitar with gentle care, grabs his notebook and

"Did you draw these?" you ask curious as you trace your fingers over the images on his notebook. He nods and looks at you like he's expecting you to give him shit.

"They are really good Munson, you could think about applying to an art course after graduation" Eddie scoffs and takes his notebook back.

"Yeah like anyone's going to take me with my grades" his tone is all annoyance and it pisses you off.

"I was only trying to compliment you, why do you have to be so touchy all the time" you look away from him stubbornly, he is silent for a few seconds and when he speaks again his voice is soft.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to a lot of compliments from people" this softens you as well and you turn to face him and give him a small smile.

"Well you're really good" there's a faint tinge of pink to his cheeks when you say this. He nods and settles back down beside you.

"You know uh, you're pretty good with the whole writing thing, uh shit, you know what I mean" pleased and a little flustered at his compliment you clear your throat and mutter thank you, then get started with the book you and Eddie are reading for class.

🎀💌🎀💌

Today has been the worst day. You overslept, forgot to hand your essay in to your biology teacher, the rain soaked you completely as soon as you left your home and you've been verging on a cold ever since.

So the thought of having to tutor Munson again does not fill you with joy, in all honesty all you want is your bed and to sleep. You couldn't get sick, you had too much to do.

Of course from the moment you meet up with Eddie he's difficult. All because it's Friday and he has a Hellfire meeting.

"I have to set everything up princess, I don't have time to waste here with you" furious you round on him.

"You think that I want to be here? No. I'd rather be at home so sit down and let's get on with this so I don't have to sit with your annoying ass any longer than I have to"

"Well at least I'm not a stuck up bitch with no sense of humour and a permanent stick up my ass"

Eddie's words cut to the bone and you stiffen in response. Don't cry, don't cry you chant to yourself, but you can't help as the tears roll down your cheeks, Eddie's big brown eyes widen in shock as you begin to cry.

Humiliated, you're just about to leave when he steps in front of you. "Wait, what did I do?" The two of you exchanged insults on a daily basis and you had never cried before, Eddie begins to panic as your sobs continue.

"Please don't cry" he says, he hates seeing you cry. Your little whimper stabs at his aching heart and on instinct he reaches over to you and takes your hand, the gesture surprises you both and it dries up your tears.

"I'm sorry, I don't like seeing you cry, please stop" you sniff and wipe the remainder of the tears away, Eddie's hand is still holding yours and it's making you feel things that you never expected.

Eddie gently strokes your hand with his thumb, marvels at the soft skin and how your hand fits perfectly in his own.

Uh, shit. This was new. You smile at him, suddenly seeming shy. His heart skips a beat. Jesus h Christ.

"I didn't mean it" he stumbles over his words and you sigh sadly, peer at him with an expression that tugs at his heart.

"Yes you did" he shakes his head fervently and assured you that he didn't.

"I just snapped back without thinking, I'm sorry" he pleads with you and you hear the sincerity in his voice and calm down a bit.

"I'm sorry too. Today has been so shit, I'm tired and I feel like crap. I just want to sleep" Eddie immediately grabs his notebook and pencil and sits down, he looks to you patiently.

"Let's do half an hour and I'll cram as much as I can in my brain and then I'm going to drive you home okay?" relived you nod but still feel worried.

"Miss O'Donnell won't be happy" you tell him and he shrugs as if he doesn't care one bit.

"Leave the old dragon to me okay princess?" touched at his sweetness you take his hand and squeeze it as a thank you. Surprisingly the half hour passes by cordially and Eddie is still sweet.

Before you know it the half hour has ended and Eddie is true to his word and drives you home. You don't feel much better and your stomach is fluttering like crazy being so close to Eddie.

What the hell was happening? Was this some side effect of the flu? Eddie's big brown eyes meet yours, "Thanks for driving me home Eddie"

He shrugs like it's no big deal and on impulse you reach over to kiss his cheek. The only thing is he moves so you miss completely and end up pressing your lips against his.

His eyes widen and you pull away embarrassed, your heart is racing and your lips are tingling from the kiss. You stammer out an apology but Eddie waves it off, you race out the door and into your house.

All the while Eddie is touching his lips, his own heart is racing a mile a minute and all he can think about is that he really wants to kiss you again.

💌🎀💌🎀

[strawberriemarswrites]

Hear me out headcanons for yandere doflamingo vs yandere sir crocodile with reader who managed to get both their attention

I may have just thought of a whole ass scenario surrounding this idea so bear with me.

Yan!Doflamingo vs Yan!Crocodile

Rating: M (gets a little spicy but no outright smut) Word count: 805

You work for Sir Crocodile as his secretary. You hadn’t expected to get the job but he clearly saw something in you that made him pick you among the other applicants.

It’s hard work but you do it well. He finds himself compelled to get you small gifts, claiming they’re just to show his appreciation for your hard work.

For some reason every time you meet someone you like and try to go on a date with them, there’s a last minute excuse as to why they suddenly can’t be there. You don’t talk about your personal life during work hours, so it never occurs to you that Sir Crocodile’s... intimidating all of your dates away.

Sir Crocodile finds himself in a unique position where he’s getting jealous very easily. He never considered himself the type, but something about you going out with anyone makes his blood boil. He chalks it up to you being a valuable asset that he doesn’t want getting distracted.

He starts keeping you a little closer at hand more and more frequently.

The only person who usually is consistently this close to his side is Miss All Sunday and even then he’s not usually putting his hand on her shoulder and keeping her at his side like he does to you.

Crocodile’s always been a little protective of you as one of his employees, though you never noticed it as a particular brand of protectiveness that only applies to you.

(He keeps insisting to himself it’s to protect a treasured employee, nothing more. He’s in a bit of denial, really.)

One day Crocodile brings you to a warlord meeting as like his stenographer, wanting you to take notes and write up the meeting minutes for him to review again later.

Crocodile sits to your left, keeping your chair as close to him as he could while maintaining a professional appearance.

You’re all business, pushing your reading glasses further up the bridge of your nose as you quietly notate. The first few minutes of the meeting go by smoothly.

Enter Doflamingo, strutting in late like he owns the place.

He was already planning on teasing Crocodile about how his little coup was going. But he didn’t expect Croccy to bring along a cute toy to play with! How fun.

He sits down on your right, and even you can’t ignore the sudden rise of tension in the room as he does so.

Especially since he decides that his chair needs to be even closer to you than Crocodile’s.

As the meeting goes on, you slowly relax, focusing on the task at hand.

That is until you feel a hand on your right thigh. It takes every ounce of energy you have not to let your breath hitch. 

Doffy’s always smirking, so no one else reacts when it gets just a hair wider as he continues carrying on the conversation at hand.

Except Crocodile. You can feel the rage rolling off of him so intensely your legs flinch, squeezing them together and pointing them toward your boss in the hopes that the other warlord will take the hint.

Doflamingo takes it as a challenge.

Your legs get pulled apart by invisible strings and he puts his hand right back where he had it, feeling you up under the table. All the while still participating in the meeting like nothing is going on.

Surprisingly, despite the growing fury on your left, Crocodile maintains his composure, all while silently planning Doflamingo’s demise.

Meanwhile Doflamingo’s thinking about how useful a toy like you would be. You’re behaving awfully well for someone who currently has a hand fondling ever closer to their crotch. Maybe he could convince you to leave the old man and join his family instead.

After the meeting finally ends you quickly excuse yourself to return to Crocodile’s ship before things get any worse.

Crocodile is close behind, his hand on the small of your back as he guides you through the halls of the military base. 

But not before he takes Doflamingo by the collar of his garish shirt and threatens if he ever thinks of touching what’s his ever again, he can expect to lose Dressrosa next.

Doffy’s not even fazed by the threat, smirking as always. Be it beyond him to let someone tell him he can’t have something, but he decides it’s better to let it go this time.

After all, when Crocodile’s plan inevitably fails and it puts you out of work, he can conveniently offer you a new job.

And then I had a couple just one-off thoughts that happen after this:

Reader just ever-so conveniently is kidnapped to work for Doflamingo as Croc is sent to Impel Down

and then is kidnapped back by Crocodile when Doffy ends up in Impel Down and Cross Guild starts lmao

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

The Navajo Nation doesn’t allow radioactive uranium ore to be transported through its lands without permission, but that’s exactly what a mining company began doing this week on roads administered by the state—which has no such restrictions.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren told tribal police to stop the trucks, and he issued an executive order Wednesday that called for the company to negotiate a hauling agreement with the tribe before any other trucks enter Navajo land. First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren announced a “No Illegal Uranium Hauling” walk along part of the transportation route in Cameron. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, under pressure for months from tribes and environmental advocates over the situation, subsequently brokered a deal with the company to hit pause.

In a Thursday night call, Hobbs told Nygren that shipments would halt until the company—Energy Fuels Resources—and the Navajo Nation hold discussions about safety concerns.

While Nygren is glad the governor acted, he wants to know how long transportation activities will stop.

“I don’t know what temporary hold means on the governor’s side,” Nygren said in an interview after the walk, held Friday morning. “Does that mean five days? Does that mean 10 days? Does that mean a month? … I hope temporary means six months, aligning with my executive order, so that we can have those discussions.”

Asked by Inside Climate News about timing, a Hobbs spokesperson said, “At this moment, there’s no additional information on when the end date will be.”

Energy Fuels Resources, the owner of Pinyon Plain Mine in Arizona and White Mesa Mill in Utah, confirmed it started hauling ore from one site to the other on Tuesday. In a statement issued before the agreement to pause that work, the company said this transportation is “safe and legal” and “in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

State law doesn’t bar that transport, but a Navajo law enacted in 2012 does. The situation cuts to the heart of U.S. history with Indigenous people: Treaty agreements that acknowledge tribal nations’ right to determine what happens on their lands are routinely ignored by states, companies and the federal government.

“Energy Fuels is subject to Navajo authority when accessing Navajo territory and can be excluded from Navajo territory for threatening the well-being of the Navajo People, although they likely claim they are beyond Navajo authority when on a state highway running through the Navajo reservation,” Gabe Galanda, an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman, said in an email. “The state of Arizona may likewise claim regulatory power over a state highway running through the Navajo reservation but that assertion affronts Navajo inherent sovereignty and territorial control.”

[ariadnes-elixirs]

thinking of a villain yandere...

(male yandere x gn vigilante reader)

tw: things like implied violence and description of injuries. no yandere behavior yet, but it will come.

in a world full of glamorous and shining stars, you were one of the ones that actually deserved that title. the "heroes" claim to be bringers of justice and champions of the people, but everyone knows that's not true anymore.

in the beginning, the heroes and their agencies did genuinely begin and operate with the intentions of helping the general public. now, they turn a blind eye to anyone that isn't from a wealthy area. they're only interested in what makes them the most money, which means they only fight the big bad "villains," and help the people who can pay the most.

fortunately, you had the power to actually make a difference. instead of working as a hero, you decided to embark on a different path.

two years ago you became a vigilante.

two years of helping the people who need it the most.

two years of helping the people who couldn't cough up the cash to keep the heroes interested.

someone needed to deal with the less-than-glamorous problems that the heroes conveniently forget about.

someone needed to deal with the issues and crimes the heroes refused to touch.

and that person was you.

~

as you were finishing up a patrol, you noticed a slumped silhouette in an alleyway. you couldn't tell what it was at first, but you realized it was definitely alive when it started moving

as you approached, you moved quietly and cautiously, trying to assess the situation before making any snap judgements. all you could see from this distance was a dark human-shaped blob.

you crept closer and closer, now around five meters away while trying to stay silent. as you steadily moved forward, you could make out more of the figure.

it looked like a man on the taller side. you noticed that, he was wearing some loose and dark clothing that obscured his figure. it looked to be reminiscent of a techware style, designed with functionality in mind above fashion.

there was no mask or anything covering his face, but you could see a small cut cross the right side of his face.

he appeared a conventionally handsome man, probably in his twenties, and had dark hair to his ears.

the man was slumped on the ground, possibly unconscious. his dark clothing also made it difficult to check for injuries, but further examination revealed a small trail of blood coming from elsewhere leading to the man.

after this making observation, you crossed the remaining distance and crouch directly in front of him.

it was clear that someone had attacked him and he had managed to escape. in addition to the trail of blood, his gloved hands appeared to be clutching some small object.

maybe someone mugged him and tried to take... whatever that is?

or maybe he took it from someone?

you weren't totally sure, but it wouldn't be the first time you ran into someone in a situation like this. while it may seem stupid at first glance, you decided the best course of action would be to bring him to your apartment to patch him up.

bringing a complete stranger covered in blood to your home generally isn't a good idea. however, you don't know this guy's financial situation and if he can afford to go to a hospital. additionally, you need to determine the severity of his injuries before deciding whether he needs medical assistance from a professional.

after making what could possibly be the dumbest decision of your life, you remind yourself of what you set out to do when becoming a vigilante.

you set out to help everyone you could, and if you had the means to help, you would.

most superpowers were separated into different classes based on their roles in combat. technically, your power officially falls under the "support" class, but it has its applications both in and out of combat.

you happen possess the unique gift of lulling someone to sleep and then keeping them asleep until you wish to wake them.

your opponent can't fight if they're asleep, right?

all it takes is your target being in your line of sight and a snap of your fingers.

the man was already almost out cold, so there's no harm in just... making sure he's completely out cold.

snap

as the rest of his consciousness leaves him, he completely slumps over onto ground in front of him.

you move to pick him up, noting that he is more... lanky... than he appears. eventually, you are able to bring him up and throw his arm around your shoulder in a makeshift fireman carry. from this position, you can move him, albeit slowly, to your apartment.

~

somehow, this turned what should be a five minute walk into a thirty minute herculean task. you underestimated just how tired you were after a full day's work and a five hour patrol.

eventually, you make it up to your apartment while carrying the man. as you feel your strength about to fail, you gently set the man down on the ground in front of you so you can find your keys and unlock the door.

once your front door is open, you drag him to your living room couch as gently as you can. at this point, you can't even muster the strength to lift him up onto the couch. usually you don't keep someone unconscious for more than a couple minutes, so thirty minutes of using your powers really made the fatigue hit you even harder.

you can feel your legs about to give out as well, but you have to deliver first aid as soon as possible.

one catch that comes with your powers is that to put someone to sleep and keep them asleep, they have to constantly be in your line of sight.

in order to make sure he stays asleep, you keep your eyes on him and walk backwards into your bathroom. then, you make a run for it to grab the first aid supplies and return to where you can see him as quickly as possible since he's left your line of sight.

now holding the first aid supplies and rushing back to his side, you notice that even with your power's grip weakening, he's still out like a rock.

this gives you the chance to further assess his wounds and patch him up. after removing his jacket, vest, and shirt, you can finally get a decent look at his torso.

it looks like most of his wounds are localized to his right shoulder, with a trail of wounds leading across his collarbones and down his left arm. this confirms that he was attacked, probably by someone attacking from his right side? maybe?

it's hard to tell, but you clean and disinfect as much as you can, stitch up any open cuts, and wrap the affected areas with bandages.

you'll have to redo the bandages in the morning, but that should suffice for now.

you take a couple minutes to gather yourself before finally moving him up so he can lay on the couch. you take a couple steps backwards whole keeping your eyes glued to the unconscious man and feel for a blanket you left on a chair nearby.

after grabbing it, you move back to the couch and gently place the blanket over him.

then moving to sit on the chair you took the blanket from, you finally get to sit down for the first time in hours.

the sheer weight of your exhaustion overtakes you as you find your own consciousness slipping.

your sleep deprived brain seems to momentarily forget about the strange man you brought into your home.

you had planned on staying awake to keep an eye on him, but it appears that that won't be happening.

as your eyes close, you try to shake the feeling that you've seen him before. he wasn't wearing a mask, but his outfit definitely looks like one you would see on television. maybe he's a hero? villain? another vigilante?

but the odds of that were low, he's probably just some civilian that got caught in the crossfire of some confrontation, right?

regardless, that was tomorrow you's problem, as you finally find yourself falling asleep. completely unaware of just who you had brought into your home.

completely unaware of how this one act of kindness will change the rest of your life.

a/n: sorry this was mostly set up, how do we feel so far? any thoughts? should i keep it going?

also i will probably be busy for the next two ish weeks, but i'll have a decently long break after that so i hope to write some more then!!

[luka--lu]

Anthropological and philosophical analysis of Viktor’s story in Season 2 - Part I

Finally gathered thoughts that floated in my mind since Season 2 had ended. These will literally be my first posts ever, will be a bit chaotic, please be kind, I’m shy. But also very critical.

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not a person with a disability. I cannot claim to know this experience, because I simply don’t. I love Viktor as a character and it so happens he has a disability, it’s something I always consider when engaging with his story. Besides, his story revolves around his disability since S1 Act 2 and he kind of falls into the trope of ‘disability as character motivation’, but he’s much more than that. And that’s what I want to explore in these posts.

My analytical approach is obviously influenced by my experience as an able-bodied person. I’ve had extensive courses on disability studies while at university and focused my bachelor’s thesis partially on disability representation in media (I focused on scars and ‘deformities’, something many Arcane characters have, but that’s perhaps for another post). To people out there who have disabilities and wish to engage with this post - please let me know your thoughts, I’m genuinely trying to learn more.

I want to stress that in my analysis I’m not saying Viktor is entirely ruined as a character or is bad disability representation. I analyse his story from the perspective of philosophical, cultural and social contexts, and through disability studies theory. I’m not an expert and certainly can't speak on behalf of people with disabilities, I'm talking as an anthropologist and enjoyer of storytelling and art.

That being said, I’ll try to make it coherent and divided by topics, because these’ll be long posts. Some thoughts are a bit disjointed, I’ll be sharing some of my ideas for how Viktor’s arc could’ve been improved. Hopefully it makes sense as a whole.

TRANSHUMANISM & POSTHUMANISIM

Transhumanism as a philosophy and social movement originates from the notion that many people are forced to live worse lives than necessary and can’t reach their full potential. One of the most important thinkers of transhumanism Julian Huxley argued that application of science can prevent poverty, illness and change the world for the better. He literally wrote that ‘the man can manage evolution’. 

Viktor represents transhumanist ideology in a way that, in Season 2, he literally can’t refuse the job - he was forced the moment Jayce fused him with the Hexcore. Sure, he could have refused to use its power now residing in his body. But the writers chose to disallow him that choice. So Viktor ‘heals’ Huck and begins his Jesus Era. Viktor later asks Singed if the doctor believes in fate, which is followed by Viktor declaring evolution has a course - superseding nature. This way Viktor exemplifies Huxley’s idea of what transhumanism is:

(...) whether he [man, as in human] is conscious of what he is doing or not, he is in point of fact determining the future direction of evolution (...). That is his inescapable destiny and the sooner he realizes it and starts believing in it, the better for all concerned. (Huxley, Transhumanism)

If the Hexcore was actually sentient and controlled Viktor, then I guess it’s the soul of Julian Huxley.

The same way Huxley's work was grounded in a desire to make the world a better place, so is Viktor’s. His dream of betterment of his people's lives was the primary motivation of Viktor’s character, but it got hijacked by the magical mumbo jumbo of the Hexcore and Arcane powers in S2. His transhumanist ideology wasn’t developed organically, the story just jumps to act 2 and then 3 without proper explanation as to why he turned to this philosophy so radically.

Important to add, Huxley was a eugenicist. Kinda wild to take transhumanist ideas and write Viktor’s, a disabled man’s arc, the way they did. Viktor wanted to use technology to change the world, but writers said: ‘hmm, what if… magic?? And eugenics! because he has internalised ableism now!’ But more on that later.

Central question regarding transhumanism is who decides what’s an enhancement and what’s a limitation. The short answer is: it’s a personal choice, we can use inventions to improve quality of life if we wish. Yes, some things can be a choice, but in reality it’s kind of compulsory, because the society is built in a way that demands conformity.

Viktor changed himself instead of trying to change the world the way he intended to in S1. His arc was derailed from his initial will to act for the society that needed positive change. Progress for Piltover meant technological advancement in the name of scientific and economic gain. In Viktor’s transhumanist vision progress is about extending the self - to live without suffering, to cure physical and mental afflictions of Zaunites. It goes beyond his motivation to cure his disease, his actions in S2 don’t fit his characterization in S1. This is why I believe inserting parts of his original League Lore into Arcane would have made an amazing story with transhumanism as background.

Good part of technology is that it gives us opportunities for different forms of embodiment. Embodiment, important in phenomenology and feminist studies, means how we experience ourselves as a living body that feels the world as we inhabit it -  how we experience it in connection to us, simultaneously being influenced and influencing the world. There’re plenty of theories that tackle this concept, but let me go the short way.

Transhumanist philosophers talk at length about progress in relation to embodiment. Critics ask questions about the ethical side: who’s gonna get to use the technology to enhance themselves? What about people who can’t afford technology used for the enhancement? How will technology influence the embodiment of certain people? Specifically, what does this philosophy say about disability?

I will talk more about disability in another section, but transhumanists consider physical disabilities as something open to changes. Different technologies can be used as mobility aids, advanced procedures could help with improving the standard of life for people with disabilities.

But there still remains a question: what kinds of disability are considered in need of improvement? If technology changes a disabled person's body so they can function similar to able-bodied people, then is the category of 'disabled' even relevant anymore? Is there a definite line when it comes to influencing the body with technology? What kind of progress do transhumanists actually seek and for whom?

We don't hear Viktor’s stance on ideas similar to transhumanist ones until his talk with Singed, but it's a bit convoluted and isn't developed well enough to be an interesting take on a very controversial and fascinating philosophy that is transhumanism. It’s only indirectly addressed at the end by Old Man Jenkins Viktor when he says ‘There’s no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit’, meaning that the glorious evolution doesn't really have a destination, even though Viktor believed so.

The change transhumanists seek can never actually reach a final perfect end - who and when will decide what the end of human evolution looks like? What is the ultimate, trans- or even posthuman form we’re supposed to achieve? Arcane seems to argue that nobody will ever be able to decide, even with godlike powers and knowledge.

Old Man Jenkins Viktor calls back to primary belief of posthumanism, which Nietzshe wrote about:

Man is not the effect of some special purpose, of a will, an end; nor is he an object of an attempt to attain an ‘ideal of humanity’ or ‘an ideal of happiness’ or an ‘ideal of morality’. It is absurd to wish to devolve one’s essence on some end or other. We have invented the concept of ‘end’: in reality there is no end. (Nietzshe, Twilight of the Idols)

Posthumanism is another philosophy that provides an interesting context for analysing Viktor’s arc in S2. I first focused on transhumanism since his story originally involved using technology to change lives. But Viktor seems to mix transhumanism and posthumanism.

Posthumanism is more about getting rid of core values of humanism. it’s about going beyond what makes humans, well, humans, which is a lot of things (biology, culture, economy, science, politics, environment, religion, social relations ect.). Posthumanism states that humans aren’t really that special, and argues that there are many other creatures and things that are equally as innovative as humans. It’s a philosophy critiquing anthropocentrism. It dismisses the notion of humans as apex creatures that can control and bend the world to their needs and will. The will to extend ourselves and find power within us isn’t exclusively a human trait - all organisms and things on Earth have that potential (interesting that in the destroyed Piltover Jayce saw the flora and fauna still expanded at the top of the Hexgates).

Viktor’s story isn’t really about that, but it ties to posthumanism when Viktor declares that emotions clash with reason, humanity is a contradiction which causes destruction, so there’s the need to go beyond humanism. Viktor’s ideas about human nature aren't really posthuman. His thought as he was dying after Jayce's attack revolved around the humanist idea that humans actually have an unchangeable essence.

Posthumanism, as understood by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guatarri, states that there’s no essence of ‘humans’. There’s only the potentiality, which comes from an individual will to create oneself, apart from fixed rules of the world. Funny enough, Viktor speaks about similar ‘charge, potential, impulse', but I don’t think it’s in any way connected to Deleuze’s idea. The philosophy of Viktor in S2 seems all over the place with trans- and posthuman ideas underneath, but it's an interesting mix that I wanted to explore, even if only on surface level.

Deleuze is fucking difficult to understand, French philosophers are the demons that always kick my ass, but they had some good stuff to say. In Postscript on the Societies of Control Deleuze claims that society is made by machines, not only in technological sense, but also by different systems: social, political, economic, religious ect. Every system is a machine. In the case of Piltover and Zaun, the social and political machines categorize people and program them to inhabit certain identities and spaces. Human body is also a machine consisting of different anatomical systems. We are machines living in machines, the flow of information and experiences between us and the world is constant. In a way, even before Viktor tried to change everyone into machines, the world was already run by machines.

I also think that technological posthumanism is an amazing lens to analyse the usage of Hextech and its final destruction of the world in Arcane. Technological posthumanism states that humans use tools and technology as integral to our identity and functioning. Inventions are made by humans, but inventions also invent humans - we use tools, art, machines that extend us, that make us. Humans don’t make technology because they’re free and rational, rather they’re free and rational because they make technology.

Donna Haraway says we're already cyborgs, because tool-making and technology is always a part of our evolution - we incorporate the world into our bodies. We use tools, but according to posthumanism, tools use us in some sense, like a parasite. Interesting that Viktor becomes literally a mix of flesh and machine, influenced by the Hexcore.

Going further, posthumanist thinker Bernard Stiegler writes:

(...) the pursuit of the evolution of the living by other means than life - which is what the history of technics consists in, from the first flaked pebbles to today, a history that is also the history of humanity. (Stiegler, Technics and Time, 1)

Evolution's course is always directed by technology and tools. Stiegler asks: ‘Who’ or ‘what’ does the inventing? ‘Who’ or ‘what’ is invented?.

Jayce and Viktor invent Hextech. Piltover, City of Progress, is made by the development of Hextech. Hextech invents Piltover’s identity, makes its citizens and government free, rational, innovative and progressive, in opposition to Zaun, which supposedly lacks these traits. Is it really Viktor who causes the calamity in the end? Or is it Viktor and Jayce’s invention of Hextech that caused the end of Piltover? Was it humans using technology, or was it technology influencing humans? Technology can be human’s progression in evolution (as Viktor represented) but it can be the destruction of the world (as Jayce saw in the apocalyptic Piltover). There is no predestined essence or course, there is only the potentiality.

Viktor’s arc with the transhumanist/posthumanist Messiah plot fits a subgenre of these philosophies which states there’s a possibility of a Posthuman God. It means that humans, no longer limited by nature, flesh and emotions, will be able to grow into a god-like state of intelligence. It’s not about ascending to a literal god like Viktor did, but more about posthumans being so advanced and intelligent that modern-day humans wouldn’t be able to comprehend it. It is tied to Nietzshe’s Overman ideal, but that’s another long story.

Summing up, the writers butchered Viktor’s character and did something typical for the general transhumanist discourse. That our problems are technological, not political and social, it’s about science that changes our embodiment, and we need this change because the world is unfair. But why is it unfair? Too difficult of a question for the writers apparently… I'll be dissecting it further below.

* Interesting to add, transhumanists of today go as far as suggesting we’ll be able to upload our minds into computers/certain devices and this way live forever. Viktor sorta reminded me about that with his astral plane self. There was a movie with Johnny Depp with this idea, Transcendence. This movie is bad tho (*Wendy Williams voice* Guess who’s jealous of Viktor Arcane? … JOHNNY DEPP!)

DISABILITY

In The capacity of contract Stacy Clifford Simplican distinguishes two ways of thinking about disability: medical and social. Medical model means that people have a medical problem when we compare their state to fixed diagnostic norms. The social model is about how society creates disability by making the world adjusted to able-bodied people, while disability is an exception to the norm, an anomaly. 

What the social model explains is that the problem isn’t the disabled person’s body, the problem is that they didn’t have a chance to design the world that would accommodate everybody. Medical model is appealing to able-bodied people because it allows them to dismiss their anxieties connected to disability and the possibility of acquiring it. People would have to then face the fact that society is actually unfair, so the medical model allows thinking there’s a distinct difference between able-bodied ‘normal’ people and persons with disabilities. There is ‘us’ (able-bodied) and the Other.

The idea of a cultural Other is key in various theories, especially in post-colonial critical theories, disability studies, social stigma theory ect. It basically means that the dominant group considers everyone who’s an outsider or lacks certain attributes essential to the group, as inherently different, oftentimes meaning lesser, therefore considered ‘other than us’. The Other needs to be distinctly alien to the normative group or culture. In case of people with disabilities the line marking the difference is located in their bodies.

In season 2 Viktor literally crossed the line (haha see what i did there) by rejecting his disabled body and changing into the Machine Herald. By rejecting his embodiment, he wished to fit into the ‘perfect’ embodiment represented by the people of Piltover. However, I consider Machine Herald Viktor as the epitome of what Piltover society considers as the Other. At the end of S2, for people of Piltover the line between what’s worth saving and what’s dangerous yet again locates itself in the body of the Other. The body that originated from the embodiment of the disabled Zaunite.

Viktor’s body is central to his character. We see his embodiment is an experience of pain, struggle, not only physical (he feels his body eroding) and emotional, but also social, he’s a Zaunite in Piltover. He’s double stigmatised as an undercitizen and a disabled person. Theory of stigma tells us that problems disabled people experience oftentimes aren’t connected to the disability itself but to the unequal, negative approach, harmful representations and institutionalised practices that cause the stigmatisation. It all reveals itself in ableism. One of the most important authors of disability studies, Rosemary Garland-Thompson wrote at length about these topics, notably in Extraordinary bodies. I’ll be referring to her work a lot in this post.

Viktor changed his body in S1 and then again in S2, he became Machine Herald, what he thinks is ‘the most he’s ever been’. But Piltover still thinks of him as the Other, a threat - and we know that in their worldview ‘Zaunites’ equals ‘danger’. And here’s the thing - ‘disabled’ is a position you get in a concrete socioeconomic context.

Viktor’s Jesus arc and commune activities focus on ‘fixing’ people and allowing them to live on the outskirts, away from the stigmatising society. Paradoxically, he fixed Zaunites to be able-bodied, like Piltover’s society accepts, but Zaunites can’t join that society, they’re still on the outside. Arguably, they’re trying to create an alternative for the stigmatising society, a new ‘Herald’s vision’. But why does this vision involve getting rid of disabilities? 

‘Overcoming limitations’ isn't really about transforming the body. As Abigail Thorn said: ‘You're not gonna fix homelessness by turning homeless people into inspector Gadget’. Arcane S2 Viktor took the wrong angle on the whole ‘helping the Zaunites’ thing. The show for sure states that. And that makes me sad and mad because it’s just.. idk stupid? Viktor as he’s established in S1 is fiercely intelligent, has very strong morals and convictions. He acts recklessly and crosses ethical limits only when it comes to saving himself from literally dying. I don't see how he would go from ‘In pursuit of great we failed to do good’ to complete opposite and being SO misguided in act 2-3 in the 2nd season. They character assassinated him so hard it’s almost unbearable. Still love him, but gods, look how they massacred my boy. Anyway-

Viktor’s disability makes him significantly different from the rest of the cast - as Garland-Thompson wrote, the figure of Otherness is a result of interpreting and giving meaning to bodies. It gives categories and paradigms, which then give us identities. By making Viktor a person with disability the creators had the responsibility of understanding that their writing has real life consequences. Representation in art and media is a means of identification for real life people who relate to Viktor’s embodiment.

Disability is not only a physical state of being, a form of individual embodiment, but also an economic one. It’s true for Viktor - he self-described in S1 as ‘a poor cripple’, using the language of his oppressors, clearly to pinpoint how he’s perceived by the normative majority of Piltover. I’d argue this doesn’t tell us how he actually feels about his disability. We don't really get his thoughts on it. I see many people assuming he thinks of it as an imperfection from the start and point to S1 when he shies away from the spotlight and then more obviously in S2 Jayce basically confirms to the audience Viktor’s internalised ableism in The Speech.

But I’m not so convinced. Viktor in S1 strikes me as someone who hopes his work will talk for itself, so he doesn't crave the spotlight, but it absolutely could be argued that the reason he hides in shadows is to protect himself from the scrutiny of onlookers. It might be an argument for him thinking poorly about himself and Arcane is known for ‘show don't tell’, but I sort of… wish they told us?

Viktor talks about his disease and focuses on his incoming death, which is central to his character in S1 after act 1. Disability and actively dying are different things though, but in sociocultural contexts are often considered almost the same. It seems to me that the writers made such an assumption - treating Viktor’s leg and his disease interchangeably.

Viktor’s internalised ableism wasn't prominent, I'd say nonexistent, in S1, his focus was on preventing his death, not on getting rid of his disability. He experimented on his leg and tested its durability when running. Season 1 already established that it was the wrong choice (although the running scene is contradictory with its message because of the ‘victorious’ framing and music). Viktor changes his mind at the end of S1 and asks Jayce to destroy the Hexcore. Never, not once, in S1 Viktor declares that he wishes to help people of the Undercity with getting rid of disabilities or that he wants his own to go away. He only speaks about his general health deteriorating.

But then we get Jayce saying Viktor ‘always wanted to cure what he thought were weaknesses; his leg, his disease’. Um- no, not true? Viktor always wanted to invent things to make a change for the disenfranchised. He couldn't do so because of his terminal illness and Piltover’s politicians not giving a damn about Zaunites. We don't know how he feels about his disability apart from recognising it as a part of his social status as a Zaunite in Piltover. We get the scene when as a child he shows Singed his leg, meaning he can’t play with kids and is lonely. This could mean he’s either shunned or can't access places where kids play. That's an issue of accessibility and how disability is created by alienating disabled people. It’s not enough proof to argue that Viktor dislikes his disability to the point of wishing to fix it when he becomes an adult.

I argue that Viktor’s internalised ableism was forced onto him by the writers. This way they put the responsibility of dealing with ableism on the disabled individual instead of asking the real question: why is Viktor experiencing ableism in the first place? Why is it Viktor who has to bear the burden of injustice and feel bad about himself? Apart from the positive sentiment of ‘disability is a part of humanity and doesn’t mean you’re broken’, the message of the ending seems to be: 'it's sad you feel bad about yourself, you need to hear you’re valid and get over your internalised ableism or you’ll doom everybody, but we won’t be addressing systemic oppression you'd experienced'.

The feminist, lesbian, poet, mother, warrior and an icon Audre Lorde pointed out the issues that stigmatised people face, especially having to be representatives of their marginalised position, having to use their intellectual and emotional labor to address oppression. I can’t agree that Viktor taking on the labor of realising his internalised ableism thanks to Jayce’s Speech is amazing writing. His humanity was denied by the oppressors so much he ended up rejecting it all together? The framing of Viktor’s motivation after becoming Machine Herald is extremely detached from his original character’s. I can’t- it seems like they made him self-loath and cause harm just because the final battle would look cool?

I like Arcane’s message that erasing disability is like erasing humanity and love wins in the end. But it's so naive, because it’s done at the cost of the disabled character’s entire arc and positions him as the villain to a society of mostly able-bodied people. I don't vibe with that writing choice. If the writers had the guts and we didn't live in capitalism, maybe we’d get more seasons and something truly revolutionary.

Feminist scholars pointed out how people’s standpoints shape politics, how identity, personhood and body are cultural constructs that need to be questioned. Standpoint theory suggests that representation is always a political act and thus disability representation needs to be treated as such. I don't think Linke and others thought about it this way while writing Viktor. They created a great character though, so allow me to open my ao3 tab and look up canon divergent fics.

Because of Viktor’s arc in S2 becoming about having his autonomy revoked and his supposed internalised ableism, we unfortunately got an interpretation that Garland-Thomson notes as widely accepted - that physical disability is a part of lower social status and a personal tragedy. We could have had Viktor as a transformative example of a physically disabled person who exposes social institutions of power and questions the notion of othering as a rule that permeates the Zaun-Piltover conflict. For that to happen, it wouldn't be Jayce who affirmed Viktor as valid - it would be Viktor affirming himself.

And we know he had the capacity to do that. In S1 act 1 he’s self-confident and we know he got to Piltover thanks to his intellect and resilience. Why would he lose these parts of himself so radically in S2? I understand that he was severely depressed and dying, that did change his perception of self when his health deteriorated. Yet, I believe in S2 the acceptance Jayce talks about could have come from Viktor seeing his own value. Garland-Thomson calls it 'speaking with one’s voice’. To be seen and accepted means having autonomy and possibility to speak about our embodiment with other people. We don't get to see/hear Viktor do that. He speaks of his mortality and deteriorating body in the context of disease, not disability. And he doesn’t really react to Jayce’s Speech.

If the creators wanted a really empowering story about a disabled character, they needed to address that. According to Garland-Thomson, the body is a text that needs interpretation by their owners. Giving meaning to his body, affirming it (maybe choosing to change it only to stop himself from dying) would mean that Viktor frees himself from symbolic and systemic violence, and rebels against fantasies and anxiety projected onto him by the normative society. That would have been based as fuck.

I ship JayVik, but it doesn't mean The Speech is all fine. Jayce might understand some of Viktor’s struggles but he’ll never understand him fully. It’s true that Jayce experienced horrors beyond comprehension, saw how his dream destroyed the world, he starved, had to reflect on his decisions sitting in a dark cave and injured his leg. Him acquiring a disability to parallel Viktor is a very important moment, yet it’s not the same as knowing Viktor’s experience of embodiment.

Jayce didn't live with a disability all his life in the society that considered it as something inferior. Jayce didn't live with despair and desperation of struggling to prevent himself from dying of an illness caused by the actions of an oppressive state. Jayce’s speech is emotional and important for his relationship with Viktor, and I did get teary eyed when he expressed how much he adored Viktor. But they lost me with ‘fix weaknesses, your leg, disease, and there’s beauty in imperfections’.

The Speech is sweet on the surface level but it rubbed me the wrong way, because not only it didn't make sense with Viktor’s arc, but it also feels weird to say that disability and terminal illness are an imperfection in which there's beauty. Imperfection is a tad insensitive of a term in this context... Having Jayce - who was more privileged socially, essentially able-bodied all his life and acquired his disability only recently - say this to Viktor, is kind of an odd choice. I do see what they’re trying to say: such experiences shape us but they don't define us. That Jayce loved Viktor as a whole human being with every part as integral to who he is.

At the end Jayce frees Viktor from his loneliness. Lovely stuff and I like it on a personal level, altho the Speech was poorly worded. Narratively, it tells me that the disabled character needed another person to say he was all he needed to be from the start. But it ignores the social context of why Viktor was lonely. Jayce's speech shifts focus from systemic oppression and inaccessibility to interpersonal connection he had with Viktor and the emotional side of it. It's possible to both establish a loving bond and acknowledge the discrimination Viktor experienced. But that didn’t happen in the story.

Viktor’s actions as written in S2 seem to stem from an immense need for acceptance and a wish not to be lonely. Of course he has Jayce in the end. My JayVik side is kicking its feet in the air and giggling, but when I look at it from a representation perspective it's kind of bad. Jayce is after all a privileged man who has never experienced life long marginalisation, chronic pain and despair of accepting his death when there's so much work to do for a good cause. And he might have understood how lonely Viktor was, how Jayce neglected his partner but still, Jayce cannot fully get it if it's not his lived experience.

Viktor is defined by his body by the unfair society he exists in and it's impossible for him to ignore it, because that's what shapes him every day. It's understandable he’d want to be healthy but I dislike the ‘Magic Cure for disability’ trope they went with in S2 when Viktor merged with the Hexcore. The trope is widely considered regressive and even harmful when it comes to nuanced disability representation. Viktor's case isn't as obvious, so I'm not trying to pass any finite judgement here. But I generally don't vibe with it.

I wish we knew if there were people with disabilities or sensitivity readers at any stage of the creative process of making Arcane.

I’ll be referring to the topic of Viktor’s disability in other sections of my posts, so it’s not really the end of this subject.

THE RADICAL OTHER

As I wrote earlier, the concept of the Other is extremely important in anthropology. There’s a more expanded and emancipatory theory that I'd like to touch upon - the concept of Radical Otherness.

In itself, this concept is disruptive. When we’re faced with the Radical Other, we’re confused. We cannot relate to them, cannot ignore them, our predisposed opinions and structures of understanding are being postponed. It creates a cognitive dissonance, forces us to change perspective, create space for the Other and look for Otherness in ourselves. It can also cause bigger fear and cause us to alienate the Other even further than we initially did.

Experiencing Otherness touches our bodies and senses without us having prior notice of it. This experience disturbs us, it calls on us, it asks us to respond and to react. German philosopher, Bernhard Waldenfels writes in  Bodily experience between selfhood and otherness that people usually either welcome the Other as a guest or exclude the Other as an enemy. The Other is always transformed in a way that the normative society has disposal over them or they're available for the society's intentions. Radical Otherness, according to Waldenfels, is not available to anyone.

Viktor's disabled body is turned into a grotesque fusion of flesh and metal, then into an alien-like creature, not a cyborg which would be more in sync with transhumanist ideas of technological augmentation of the human body. The way Viktor looks in his god-like form is aesthetic but foreign.

What it means for disability visual representation is that Viktor either reinforces or rejects the sociopolitical relations that make the disability a kind of Otherness.

Interpreting Viktor the Machine Herald as rejecting oppressive notions, I’d say he symbolises what’s rebellious, exposing injustice and disrupting social order. He left Piltover behind and came back to cause a radical reinterpretation of the world. He looks absolutely different, strange, magical - and we know people of Piltover fear magic. But because he’s the villain and dies at the end, I'm more inclined to say the writers meant to show his transformation as a symbol of unpredictability, lack of stabilization, anarchy - and that’s both dangerous and brave.

Viktor as Machine Herald can be read as embodiment of personal freedom by rejection of cultural uniformisation. But if it were to be true, he should have rejected conformity while still disabled or at least not transform with Singed’s alchemy. By the time we reach the last episode his arc is a story of Piltover having to tame 'the freak’ as Garland-Thomson would describe it.

The freakiness of Machine Herald’s form is also an interesting choice, because it’s somewhat humanoid but unnatural. It reminds me of the practice of freak shows where people with unusual bodies and disabilities were displayed as freaks of nature, odd creatures. Able-bodied audience gawked at them and while looking in the face of the Others, they’d re-establish themselves as ‘the normal ones’. I hope you catch my drift and see how this is not a good look to have Viktor morph into an alien looking creature that all of Piltover fights in the end…

If I try to find positives in S2’s writing, I can speculate that Viktor becoming the Radical Other in an empowering sense would mean that he embodied an alternative to the status quo. Him leaving and in sense rebelling against domination of Piltover wouldn’t be an intellectual choice but a manifestation of his condition as a person. In this interpretation, his transformation is radical, it’s a positive marker of his individual story.

It’s still a story of oppression though - our Viktor doesn't save himself, Jayce does it for him. I’m not gonna be talking about Old Man Jenkins Viktor orchestrating everything to save himself by having Jayce sent on a mission to save main timeline Viktor. I’m focusing on the Viktor we got to know in S1. It’s beautiful to be seen and supported, the scene at the end was so loving and my AroAce ass relished it. I love JayVik, yeah, though I think the message of Viktor’s arc being so centered on Jayce’s affirmation of him made the message a bit less complex. They’re soulmates, your honor, but they’re so codependent it’s really toxic yaoi.

Jokes aside, it would be amazing if Viktor chose to become the radical Other. He’d make an autonomous decision to use his status of the Other as the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to the system. The system that overlooked him and prescribed him the identity of an undercitizen, ‘an outsider looking in’.

His arc would be even more profound if he recognised his internalised ableism and chose to become the Machine Herald the way he did in the League Lore. In League, his practices aren’t entirely ethical either, but that's besides the point. His decisions were made out of dissatisfaction with Piltover’s corrupt academia and politics, and the moral duty he felt to aid his fellow Zaunites in the face of calamities and everyday hardships. The old LOL Viktor is actually iconic for that.

The Arcane version of the Divorce arc could’ve made JayVik more complex if they let Viktor express disappointment with Jayce’s decision to weaponize Hextech and Council’s lack of interest in the Undercity’s issues. Then the 'our paths diverged long ago' would be more inpactful.

The character arc is a mess but I tried to reach and look for sth more interesting within it. I think the Radical Otherness of Machine Herald is a compelling angle. Not what writers intended, for sure not, I don’t think they taught anything through that deeply.

ENDING PART I...

I think it all could have been more interesting if Viktor wasn't influenced by Hexcore as we’re led to believe, because… this is cheap writing and yet again takes away his autonomy, which he was denied far too much in S2. The magical stuff took away from Viktor’s character and lost focus of his actual motivation.

I think what we got isn’t good enough, but I appreciate bits that can be read as more meaningful, that's where my idea for this 'essay' came from. I just wish the writers had the guts to let Viktor be angry, come back to Zaun, not do the cult stuff and just help people, join the rebellion, basically tell the Pilties: ‘I hope I confuse the hell out of you’.

That’s it for the first part of this analysis. Part 2 coming soon i guess. (Edit: Second paaaart here)

 literally me writing this fucking dissertation:

[mammoth-clangen]

Honestly cloning has limited usefulness in conservation, let alone deextinctuon. If a population has bottlenecked or fallen below the carrying threshold then cloning what's left doesn't functionally help. Even cloning a recently deceased individual might not help, depending on a lot of factors. It's annoying that it's treated like this big help to conservation when frankly well managed breeding programs are a much bigger help than cloning will ever be.

Oh don't get me wrong

There's certainly room for thoughtful, ethical cloning use in conservation!

A really great example is in Black-footed ferrets just last year. They're critically endangered partially due to reduced fertility from inbreeding depression.

Two jills (female ferrets) were cloned from historic samples of a ferret called Willa, who was captured and never reproduced in her lifetime. Because of this, reintroducing her genes helped bolster the genetic diversity of the population!

This is one of the twin ferret sisters, Antonia.

Better yet, the above ferret then went on to give birth to healthy kits! They're super cute, and being 100% ferret made the old-fashioned way (not clones), shouldn't have any of the issues that clones sometimes do.

Behold them!

But what Colossal is doing is not cloning!

I can't stress that enough! It's genetic modification, but cloning means creating a complete replicate of another animal.

Even using genetic modification has many potential applications in conservation; coding endangered species with resistance to population-devastating diseases, or using it to recode lost genetic diversity, as a few examples. But the way Colossal is using it is not to preserve endangered species. They have created, depending on your opinion:

1) a GMO grey wolf (or wolfdog, given where the white-coat gene came from).

2) a completely new transgenic species.

They claim to be filling the niche left by an extinct species, but this is honestly BS. They haven't made an extinct species, nor an endangered one. It couldn't even fill the niche if that niche was still open.

"The T. rex in this Jurassic Park is just a frog..."

-paraphrased from sparrowlucero