#I imagine it’s similar for other paradox titles

[tanadrin]

Have you ever considered making a mod to a game like Victoria or HOI for your world?

Been working on an EU4 mod that covers Adwera during the period of Nurhani conquest. The original idea was a mod aimed at shorter-session and faster-running games, so it wouldn’t be expanded to cover the whole world. But like all such projects it’s a deadline-free spare time sort of thing, so progress is slow. It was actually part of what spurred me to redraw the world map, in fact.

Right now I don’t have more than a patchwork idea of what’s going on during most eras of Sogant Raha’s history (and that history is 60,000 years long), so blocking out a whole world’s worth of countries, ideas, religions, cultures, toponyms, etc., even for one 400-year period or so would be a ton of work. Maybe someday.

[scummy-writes]

Can I ask one more?

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

♥ - family headcanon

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

ൠ - random headcanon

For Gilbert

Thank youuuu 💖

:> I saved this in my drafts for a rainy day, then scrolled down because I have like...19 drafts for some reason... and found this and gasped because it's been a month.... thank u myara.........sorry myara....

( this is from this headcanon ask game )

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

I like to imagine that he clears/gets a shelf for you in his bedroom. It's not at all a nudge of trying to get you to spend more time there with him, why would you be thinking that, unless you want to spend more time- *coughs*

I think he'd like it because the nights that you're not there, he can look over and see a history of books you curled up with, enamoured by their pages. If he couldn't sleep, he'd go over and nab a book to read, thinking about what lines captivated you or bored you. He'll likely get a laugh if he notices you left some notes in between the pages.

Primarily, the shelf is useful for him when he leaves on trips. He doesn't nessacarily read them when he's out, but he'll smell the pages, getting a comforting lingering of your scent mixed in with the pages.

He'll also like to tease you over some titles being more raunchy than the others.

♥ - family headcanon

I think having kids is something he has a knee-jerk 'no' to, mentally. Maybe outwardly as well, even if it's you asking. But you asking would cause him to think a bit more on the subject, try to grapple over how bad it is.

Realistically... I don't think he could, just because of the endless possibilities of when he does croak, as we don't know if its years down the road or much, much sooner. And while we'd probably brush away the fact, he would not be able to. Roderic would have to pretend to be him for the child, if that happened. If it happened later in the kids life, would they be able to hide it? would roderic be a good replacement?

More importantly, would the child inherent his terrible health? Would he want to subject a child to a similar life like his?

He'd want a child, after all that thinking, but only because he realizes how closed off the option is for him even with finally having you by his side.

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

i feel like I could fill this up with so many of his jealously issues...dislikes when people look at you, dislikes when you talk to other people, dislikes when- sdhjbdhjg jkjk

I feel like, in terms of likes and dislikes, there will be times hwre he does not communicate them at times. But specifically primarily only with your cooking.

He loves to eat what you make for him- it's a showing of love from both sides, and it's a bit of his obsessive nature kicking in on the down low as well, so i feel like at times when you mess up the exact sweetness, whether too little or otherwise, he'll still eat all of it up. It's from you, after all- he doesn't want anyone else to have it, nor to throw it away after the work and time spent. Besides, if you have to spend even more time fixing it, that just steals time away from him being able to whisk you elsewhere to play...

ൠ - random headcanon

i am continuously thinking about how he could have been if he wasn't born into a live of royalty. About the way he could have been free to be caring, the way he'd likely go out of his way to help the people in the town he lived in, the way he'd be such a source of knowledge and wouldn't be awful about it...

I don't think about it in a way of "this would make gilbert better as a chara", I think of it in a sad way, that royalty really fucked over his life so irreparably and left so many scars, and I just feel bad. Which he would hate. HAHAHA. It's even likely that in such a scenario of him having a 'normal' life, some traumatic event would still likely happen that would cause his world to shatter, and his heart to corrupt again. the madoka paradox-

[zecroswe]

Long Post: A theory about the Paldea Region; Part 2. Scarlet and Violet DLC

(All gameplay footage isn't my own and have been taken from other peoples playthroughs)

TURTLE! TURTLE! I LOVE IT!

Well it seems parts of my theory had some basis tho other things are up in the air. I was correct about the fact that the Imaginary Pokemon in the Scarlet and Violet book was probably gonna be released. But they look quite different than the books describes them

Still, Its fascinating that these Pokemon even exist, especially Walking Wake. From the lore in the Johto reigon, Suicune was created by the blessings of Ho Oh when it revived a pokemon. So how does a Suicune from the past even exist? How is it a dinosaur looking creature? (By the way, I LOVE WALKING WAKE, IT IS SO FUNKY AND CUTE!) Well we don't have any clear answers, but I think it supports the Imagination theory more than the time travel one. Considering the entries in the book being made from the artists imagination and the fact that Walking wake and Iron leaves exist as they do. It is likely that they are created by the Disk as artificial dream Pokemon, peoples imagination come to life. It could also explain the reason they aren't a one to one recreation form the book. The disc Pokemon clearly gets influence from a lot of sources so It's quite likely it just mashed things it sensed together into these two Paradox Pokemon.

Another thing that could support that is this.

The image from the scarlet book depicting Great Tusk isn't fully accurate to the real thing. It lacks some spikes, Its tails seems longer and It seems to lack certain details. So If the imagination than the Great tusk we see could be partially influenced by how Sada imagined them. I haven't compared to see if the same can be said for Iron Threads and the Violet book depiction, but if its similar there, than It could be the same phenomenon with Turo.

Though this is wild speculation and could easily be because the artist of the scarlet and violet books didn't get a good enough look to make a fully accurate depiction.

But to the main course, The DLC announcement.

I'm honestly unsure on how the Teal Mask fits in the grand scheme of things. Its clearly connected to Area Zero in some way based on the title of the DLC, but I'm unsure how.

From what we have gotten so far, the new Pokemon seems to be based on a old Japanese folktale and the main legendary Pokemon, Ogerpon has crystals in It's design that reminds me of Tera crystals. So It could be possible that these pokemon was only a legend until the Tera crystals brought them into existence, If the dream theory is true. Otherwise It could be that the Tera crystals brought them into the future! We can only wait and see!

Now, It is the Indigo Disk that really caught my attention. Especially this guy!

THE DISK POKEMON IS ADORABLE! *Cough* anyway...

Terapagos is the Pokemon name and It sure is a turtle. Now the real thing I need to know is how big this thing is. Becuase the picture makes it look small to me. But if It's huge in game, like as huge as a island or a entire region perhaps, then my theory has some basis too It. Right now though we can only speculate. Even if that theory isn't true, I still think the turtle shape of the Paldea region itself could be very clever foreshadowing either way.

Though Its design makes me wonder If it's doing all It does on purpose or If It's accidentally causing paradoxes by existing. It looks really Innocent and cute, but maybe It's really menacing on the inside! It also seems my crown speculation form my previous post isn't unintentional on the developers part, considering the hexagon in the middle of the shell that is sticking out!

I also just want to say that I really love how It's crystal shell has the symbols of the 18 types, It's just perfect.

Well that's all I have! I really look forward to the DLC later this fall!

Thanks for reading!

[phoenixyfriend]

Rey Gives No F*cks About the Grandfather Paradox

Okay so since nobody’s suggested a fic under these terms, I ended up expanding on this post on discord and things snowballed. We kept to the basics of the entire plot revolving around Rey really hating her grandad and leveraging her blood relation to not be unalived about it.

With contributions by @atagotiak​, @dracothulhu​, @thepallaspalace​, and several others. The title comes from @gelpenss​.

The basic thing I absolutely need is this: Rey gets thrown back to the middle of the clone wars, and the subsequent plot leans in really heavily on her being, genetically-via-clone-dad, the daughter of the guy running the entire galaxy.

Nobody knows what to do with her.

The timing is mid-TCW for the past (because I want Ahsoka there) and vaguely between Episodes 8 and 9 because I... never watched E9 and don’t want to worry about the timeline. The only things that matter is that Luke is dead (he can die as he did in canon) and that Rey knows she’s Palp’s granddaughter (not the way she does in canon).

We'll say Luke found out from Anakin's panicked force-ghost and just went "well, fuck, okay, I should tell her this before she ends up in a situation like mine and finds out mid-battle or something."

Luke, prior to time-travel: Okay, so, now that I'm dead I know some things I didn't before. Like who your parents were. In the interest of full disclosure because I was in a very similar situation and I don't want you learning the way I did, I'm just going to come right out and say that your father was a clone was Sheev Palpatine. Rey: ... Luke: Are you okay? Rey: I don't know who that is.

(She grew up on Jakku, the history education was a little subpar.)

Setting The Scene

Imagine Rey showing up during or immediately before the clone wars. There’s this phenomenally powerful feral teenager from a desert backwater who tells you that if you ran a paternity test, it would probably pop up the Chancellor. She may or may not bring up cloning. She accuses said Chancellor of being a Sith Lord.

Your other phenomenally powerful feral teenager from a desert backwater, who may not be a teenager anymore but only barely, is very offended by this because Palpatine’s a Very Nice Old Grandfather Figure, but also he’s a little full of side-eye because if the blood test comes back as proof, then Palpatine had a kid and didn’t even know about them, or lied to Anakin, and that’s! Bad! Family’s important!!!

Palpatine hears about this daughter he apparently? Has? And is very confused because the timing doesn’t match up with ANYTHING he was doing, so the kid isn’t natural, and he says as much. (There is an explanation! It’s not a correct explanation, but he does come up with one.)

Finn and Poe and BB-8 all get dragged along because why not have the gang there? Nobody that’s already born, because [handwave] conservation of souls or something, IDK, point is the only person dragged along that’s even remotely close to already existing is Luke’s Force Ghost, who mostly hangs around begging Rey to be less impulsive. Finn is good because he is a nice polite boy, but for actual useful information they need Poe. The unfortunate situation is that the three do not land together. They land at the same time, in completely different corners of the galaxy. This means that nobody is there to curb Rey being her most impulsive self.

Time travel Rey knows two things. Luke’s dad ends up evil. Palpatine has always been evil.

She can solve one of these problems by killing the other, yes?

Rey: Ready to Rumble

See, the initial idea was this: Rey tried to break into the senate to kill Palpatine, got arrested, and then used the "he's biologically my father" card to get out of jail free. (Force Ghost Luke follows her like “please take five seconds to think this through.”)

But.

But.

It would be very, very, very funny if The Force just dumps her in a flash of light in the senate building and she just attacks Gramps on sight. Just a shouted "YOU!" and no-hesitation attempted murder.

Palpatine has no idea what's going on.

Rey took maybe two seconds to get identity confirmation and then started swinging.

[Image Description: An individual in a green metal helmet with an eye slit, holding a pistol. In the upper left, upper right, and lower middle are the phrases “I do not know who I am...” “I don’t know why I’m here” and “All I know is that I must kill.” End description.]

Of course, she gets arrested. There are Master Jedi in the Senate. There are Clone Troopers. Palpatine isn’t the weak old man he pretends to be. Of course she’s stopped.

But she isn’t executed in time for Palpatine to stop her from ruining his entire reputation.

Immediately after Rey fails to kill her Shitty Granddad, Luke's ghost shows up and begs her to not talk about the Sith thing because it will completely undermine everything she's trying to do. Pass off the attempted murder as something else!

Rey, panicking: "that fucker left me on a desert planet for 10 years!" "You owe me 19 years of child support you son of a Hutt!"

The Jedi have to do the investigation, because the girl showed up with a laser sword, and the conversation is, uh... interesting. (“Where did you get that lightsaber?” “I got it from a mysterious old pirate lady I never met before. I don't know, I was being shown around by a smuggler and a Wookie.”)

Interviewer: Why did you try to assassinate the Chancellor? Luke: Say it wasn't assassination. Rey: It wasn't assassination. Int: You weren't trying to kill him? Luke: Assassination has to be politically motivated. Rey: This was, um... not political. Assassination is political, right? Int: You mean this was personally motivated? Rey: Yes. Int: I see. What personal motivation? Luke: Jakku! Rey: He's my grandfather. Int: ... Rey: Possibly father. Nobody was very clear on that. Int: ... Luke: Tell them to run a paternity test. Rey: Oh hey, a blood test would tell us which, right? Int: ............ Rey: I spent ten years as an orphaned scrapdealer on Jakku. He's my father. I'm kind of a little angry. Int: ........... Luke: Good job, kid. You bought yourself some time. Int: I'm going to get a medic to see about that parternity test.

Obviously, it comes back positive. Congratulations, Sheev, you’re the father.

Rey comes with a ready-made built-in excuse for hating Palpatine that nobody can question or fault her for!

Rey, pouring Truth into the Force: I didn't even know I was related to the Chancellor until a few months ago, but it's his fault I grew up the way I did, and he should take some responsibility!

The entire thing is mostly kept hush hush but someone leaks it to the press and Palpatine's ratings tank.

"Chancellor, I think we'll need to waive family visitation until she wants you a little less dead." "I would like to find out why she wants me dead, and indeed, where she came from." "...sir, for your own safety--"

Who would win? A master plan years in the making spanning decades of manipulating and work? or One (1) paternity test

"Okay, so, Rey Palpat--" "Ew, no, I don't want his name." "You--okay. Sure, we can understand that. Is there a name you would prefer to put on the paperwork?" Rey, who would have gone by Skywalker in honor of Luke but can't do that when Anakin is right there and all: "Can I think about it?"

Rey: I don't know what I want my last name to be but I know I don't want his, and most of the people I’d want a name from have famous families like you... Luke's ghost, pointing out the Literal Nobody that she cares about a lot: How about Solo? Rey: ...Solo, then.

(A few months later she runs into Poe again and he offers for Finn and Rey to both take his name because honestly they need SOMETHING but at that point she’s already decided on Smuggler Dad.)

Backtrack a bit. We’ve got a bigger cast.

They all arrive separately. Poe, for one, does better than Rey, who is aiming for a murder, but not quite as well as Finn, who is currently being adopted and hidden like a secret cat by a bunch of Alpha Clones on Kamino. He vibes with the names-or-numbers thing. He doesn’t necessarily tell them where and when he’s from, but he’s very sweet and a great liar and they adopt him wholesale anyway.

The Finn situation is just... "Buir Ti, we need you to hide this man, we've decided he's our little brother but if Nala Se finds out she'll make him leave."

Of course, this leads into Shaak Ti teaching Finn how to Jedi.

Maybe consider Finn needing to almost be tricked into learning Jedi things because he willfully forgets it could apply to him. Finn does not like to think of himself as special, which is super valid, but frustrating for Shaak Ti when it comes to, you know, getting him to acquire knowledge. Finn's training at some point is "here, levitate objects with the Force to entertain the tubies." It’s a lot easier to convince him to practice when it involves the babies.

(Everyone on Kamino looked at Finn and went “oh I love him I’m keeping him and teaching him things.”)

(He’s just very lovable.)

Poe, meanwhile, buys the trust of Anakin Skywalker via R2D2 declaring BB-8 the absolute most baby of droids. R2D2 met BB-8 three hours ago but.

"Hey Obi-Wan this is Poe I met him like five days ago but R2D2 says he checks out because his droid is a baby." "That's nice, Anakin, did you know the Chancellor has a daughter who tried to assassinate him in broad daylight yesterday? Because guess who had to stop the Chancellor from getting assassinated by his daughter in broad daylight yesterday."

A summary so far:

Finn, on Kamino: Hey, um, I don't know where this is, but it's not where I was a few minutes ago. Do you think you could get me a comm? What's your name? Poe, on [dice roll] Denon: Oh, hey, you're General Skywalker? Nice to meet you, I'm so sorry about my droid, she's a little excitable and thought your R2 unit looked like a friend of hers-- Rey, on Coruscant: DIE, GRANDFATHER

Finn: [Peacefully vibing on Kamino, unaware of the chaos and bonding with the clones] Poe: [Trying to explain how he knows someone who tried to kill the chancellor and defend Rey] Rey: [Arrested for trying to kill the chancellor]

Just... just...

Anakin: Some guy ended up lost on base yesterday with his droid, how’s your day going? Obi-Wan: I had to stop someone who claims to be the chancellors daughter from murdering the chancellor after she seemingly blinked into existence in the Senate building. Poe: 😐

(Poe: Oh, so that's where Chaos^2 went.)

Poe: In her defense, she is his... well we don't know if she's his daughter or granddaughter, but she's definitely related to him, and she definitely grew up in a shitty situation that was his fault, so...

(Poe is trying very hard to explain this and not get arrested on the military base.)

As you’ve probably guessed, what's especially funny about all of this for me is the fact that Palpatine is fully aware that this girl shouldn't exist, but can't find a single piece of evidence about where she came from. He didn't start any experiments that could result in a female child, and he didn't have sex in that period of time, so where the hell--

Rey spends so much time in jail... BUT they do eventually assign her a Jedi Master. Possibly before she actually proves her evil grandfather is in fact evil. Most votes went to either Plo Koon or Obi-Wan. Plo, because he’s dad-shaped, and Obi...

"Obi-Wan, you already raised one feral desert child with implausible amounts of power, you handle this." Rey in return is very "Sweet, you vaguely remind me of Master Luke," and nobody knows who the hell she's talking about. Obi-Wan is NOT on board with this plan, she'd really be better off with Plo or like........ Mace.

Reunion Tour

What I need out of this is the eventual Finn and Rey reunion scene that is just excited screaming while someone in the background explains to Shaak Ti that yes this is apparently Palpatine's terrifyingly force-sensitive daughter who hates him.

(Finn senses Rey’s approach and just. Gathers the everyone to wait. He’s just :D REY MY FRIEND REY GUYS MY FRIEND REY IS COMING.)

Anakin shows up with Poe--just a guy who signed on to the military, no big deal--and then Poe and Rey are EXCITED and everyone's just like "Cool, how do you know this literal terrorist child?" And Poe has to scramble and "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh she saved my droid from a scrapheap once and BB-8 is basically my child so I owe her one."

Rey knows that Anakin ends up evil so she’s maybe not actively hostile but definitely very “I’m watching you.” That said, she vibes with him on a lot of things that he maybe doesn’t actively notice.

Rey picks up a snake, snaps off the head for venom avoidance, and starts biting off chunks. Obi-Wan's reaction: [undisguised horror] Anakin and Ahsoka: Ooh, where'd you find that? (Obi-Wan: And now I’m up to three feral children.)

What Does Palpatine Even Do?

OBVIOUSLY at a certain point, Palpatine is just phoning up every ally he has to figure out who broke protocol to synthesize a daughter for him.

So of course, Palpatine blame Plagueis.

She'd have been born five or so years before Naboo, just a few years younger than Anakin. It's such an EASY theory to build a conspiracy around. It is ENTIRELY WRONG, but it’s plausible! And anyone who might have been involved to say otherwise is probably dead!

A random bio-kid shows up you can’t possibly have contributed genes to? Maybe it’s the evil bio spark that did it.

Palpatine tries to placate her with the ‘my genes were stolen for an experiment and I didn’t know’ thing. It doesn’t work because her actual main complaint is he’s evil in her future but he tries.

It'd be a struggle to even get access to her, because of the aforementioned “maybe don’t try to talk to the daughter(?) that hates you” thing, but you know who Palpatine does have access to? The Chosen One.

Rey kind of decides on her favorites early on (she gravitates to Dad Energy and Sad Old Men so Plo and Obi-Wan are on her list, and that means decent time around Anakin and Ahsoka). It's really easy to talk Anakin into helping to some degree because "he'd like to connect to a daughter he never knew" and "a child of her power on a planet like that, you'd know her struggle, my dear boy" and so on. Anakin tries to connect! He tries to play up Sheev’s kind political work and how it can’t have really been his fault! It doesn’t work. Rey does not believe a word of it. Mostly she doesn’t even seem to hear him.

Rey's just like "...oh right, you're the melted mask that Kylo Ren was always ranting about," which means absolutely NOTHING to Anakin, but he mentions it to Palps, who loses his goddamn mind trying to figure out what she's talking about, because it also means absolutely nothing to him.

Here’s the thing: Rey’s already decided that Obi-Wan is cool, because Luke said so, and Plo Koon is dad-shaped, and she also gravitates towards earnest kindness in general, like she made friends with Finn real quick, so Ahsoka? Already getting along great.

She doesn’t dislike Anakin, really, he isn’t evil yet, he’s just... meh. She’s a little suspicious and she likes him less than the others but... Anakin.

Rey, to Anakin: You are my least favorite. Anakin, to Palpatine: YOUR DAUGHTER HATES ME???

And he goes from “she’s a lil standoffish” to “she doesn’t like me” to “she hates me” as is normal for Anakin.

It’s just an escalation of this one time Palpatine wants Anakin to not have rifts and trust issues with a person, at least not until later, because he needs information.

Meanwhile, that very moment, Rey is just like "huh, nobody here is listening to me about how make a sixth-hand carburetor work, where's Luke's dad?"

Anakin is venting to Palpatine about how hard it is to talk to Rey, and she's over in the Temple just like "Hey, that guy was useful last time, I should ask him," but also she only ever thinks of him as Luke's Dad.

(At one point, Obi-Wan is having a bit of a break down, and then Anakin starts having a breakdown about that, meanwhile the clones are (badly) trying to hide Finn behind their backs, Rey is watching Ahsoka practice and being like "I want two lightsabers," and Poe is trying to keep R2 from stealing BB-8 and Force Ghost Luke is just face palming in the background.)

(Rey deserved a saber staff, maybe one that can detach and turn into a jar’kai set. Possibly a pike. Mostly I just wish she got more chances to whack things with a big stick.)

[gaycrouton]

Fox Mulder’s Senior Thesis

Scully reads Mulder's thesis to get even since he read hers, but she wasn't expecting just how much autobiographical insight she would gain into her new partner.

5k - MSR

Ao3 Link Here

Scully felt the indignant burn of embarrassment on her cheeks every time she thought about those words coming out of Mulder's mouth. "Einstein's Twin Paradox, A New Interpretation. Dana Scully Senior Thesis. Now that's a credential, rewriting Einstein." Worst of all, he said he'd actually read it. She didn't know him well enough to be able to tell if he truly liked it, but regardless, the fact he'd looked at it embarrassed her. She was a certified medical doctor, she'd written plenty of articles she was genuinely proud of over the years, yet Mulder had chosen to read her undergraduate thesis from the University of Maryland. She was only 22 when she wrote it, and she was pretty sure coffee and sleep deprivation contributed more to the final product than she did.

When she got home after that first day of work, the words still danced around her head "I read it. I liked it." Out of curiosity, she went through some old boxes to find a copy she knew she'd hidden away with a bunch of other college knicknacks, and just as she'd expected, it was full of errors and the misplaced arrogance of youth. The knowledge that Mulder had read it and formed an impression of her based on these old musings made her uncomfortable, and an irrational part of her wished she could go back in time and make it better.

It wasn't like it was an invasion of privacy, but to read her writing from years ago felt like a level of intimacy she wasn't ready to share with a near-stranger.

It had been a few months since he'd mentioned it, and they'd been working together just fine, but the thought that he'd seen this small side of her, Dana-the-co-ed who wanted to impress her professor so badly that she tried to rewrite Einstein, nagged at the back of her mind. Did he read her vulnerability, the way her words begged for her professor's praise? Could he read the pride she'd felt at the time for having taken on something so advantageous? Did he ever consider how forward that was, how off-putting to have one's thesis dug up from the grave?

But she knew that was exactly why he'd done it. Mulder wanted to make her uncomfortable. Not her exactly, but the new partner assigned to invade his space. She wasn't the profiler, but she knew he did it as a defense mechanism. Mulder had done it in front of her a few times now: if he acted as spooky as people thought he was, they would make fun of the caricature of himself he was playing, not the real, vulnerable Mulder.

Scully wondered if the thesis had any part in endearing herself to him, or did he look at it through a lens of judgement, finding every flaw and analyzing what he'd use to tease the new partner coming down to see him.

"I read it. I liked it."

It was one of the many times she'd started to spiral while thinking of how he thought of her. The spirals were usually brought upon anytime he ditched her during a case or when he investigated something on his own. A nagging feeling would grow in her abdomen that asked "Why doesn't he trust me fully?" And she would think back to that embarrassing insight he had into her. A few times she considered sending some of her other work, some of what she was more proud of to him, before ultimately realizing that he'd probably seen the titles and gone with the one that intrigued him most. The one he was probably most ready to laugh at, her brain would supplement.

Then she decided it would only be fair to read his.

She'd read his monograph on serial killers and the occult as part of her profiling training at the academy, but she knew there was probably an embarrassing thesis floating out there somewhere.

After the seed of an idea was planted in her mind, the roots started to overgrow all rational thought. She was fueled by a curiosity of what Oxford educated psychologist Fox Mulder sounded like in his early twenties. He was a bit arrogant now, though it wasn't repulsive in him like she found that quality to be in most men, but arrogant nonetheless. She could only imagine what a 22 year-old version of him sounded like.

Scully wondered what that must've been like, what the look on his advisor's face was when he inevitably postulated some intergalactic theory. Or did he choose a more mammalian creature to examine? Perhaps little grey men were too extreme, and he scaled it back to the cultural differences between Bigfoot, the chupacabra, and a yeti.

Luckily for her, she had a friend in the archival department who was able to locate his thesis for her with the payment of a coffee. It was dropped on her desk in an inconspicuous manila envelope, and she was able to sneak it into her purse before Mulder had a chance to notice.

Scully waited until she was home before tearing into it. It was about 60-pages, a nice length for a bachelor's thesis. She'd prepared for the event with a glass of wine and some snacks. A highlighter and some pencils were scattered around her in preparation for her night of learning more about her enigmatic partner. Despite the frivolity of it, she felt her heart thrumming in her chest, excited to meet this Mulder even if she intended to make jokes at his expense tomorrow to his older self.

She smiled to herself as she tried to have a last minute guess at what phenomena he'd focus on before a gasp tore from her lips at the reality.

Shared Grief and Repression: An examination of the psychological long-term impact of parental invalidation regarding familial trauma on childhood development

Fox Mulder - Senior Thesis

Oxford University

May 15th, 1983

Scully felt numb with the implications of this, but she couldn't help her curiosity. She read the entire thing in one night, unable to put it down. She barely knew Mulder well enough to distinguish if there was an autobiographical hurt child ghost-writing these hypotheses or if it was mere speculation, Mulder being desperate to understand himself. For all she knew this could have been a result of Mulder assisting a professor in their own research, the ties to his own past merely coincidental. Somewhere in her soul, she knew that despite her hesitance to admit it, she'd just learned far more about Mulder through this than he had learned about her through her nonsensical ramblings about Einstein.

What she did know, unquestionably, was that she would never tell him. That night she placed his thesis on top of hers, and hid their past selves in a box deep in her closet. She couldn't bring herself to throw his words out, so she would just have to live with them.

She didn't have Mulder's eidetic memory, but lines of his thesis stood out to her with the same clarity in which he'd recited hers. She never called upon them, they just came like a bolt of lightning that left a charred mark in its wake. It was as if she was the scientist observing if his hypotheses were true while Mulder acted as the living case study.

1993

"Adults who lacked comfort in their youth are prone to seek human connection out through other, non-conventional means, (Jenkins, 1945)."

While part of her acknowledged this was Mulder's office, the other part of her knew this was also the official office of the X-Files, of which she was an equal part. She hadn't felt this way since the last time she moved into one of her boyfriend's apartments. A few sweaters left in the closet, food in the fridge that was only for her, messages for her left on the answering machine - things that accumulated slowly until she decided it would be stupid to re-sign the lease at her own place.

That was effectively what she'd done here. She noticed that two women from the financial crimes unit were being forced to share a space, and, being she couldn't remember the last time she was in her own office, she decided to give it to one of them. Now, despite the fact Mulder was the only name on a placard outside and she was still trying to elbow space for herself on the other side of his desk, this was her office now too.

The space heater at their feet was hers, she'd brought a plant that was thriving in the annex of the office, she'd even managed to put a TV Guide clipping about Alf amongst all his other ones to see how long it would take him to notice. Even though those small things made her feel more 'at home,' she still wanted to claim a little more space for herself.

One day she decided to arrive before him, a box of her office supplies in hand, and take over one of the drawers of his desk. Just one - for now.

Scully plopped down in his chair, amazed at how much larger the indent he'd created was than her diminutive frame. With a sigh, she decided he'd probably be less inclined to be irritated if she took one of the bottom drawers. Pulling one out, she had to suppress a gasp of surprise.

She'd caught him reading nudie mags before, claiming they were for the abduction stories in the feedback sections, but this was… a lot.

Snowed in! Plowed out!

Shared Space (And a tight one at that!)

Years of Waiting, Big Explosion!

The titles made her grimace, but they weren't as bad as some she'd seen in her brothers' room growing up. The VHS tapes were lined up in the drawer in alphabetic order and their neon titles stuck out brightly to her. Pausing to listen for the sound of the elevator, she grabbed the one labeled Years of Waiting.

The summary on the back alluded to a couple who'd been in love for years finally consummating their shared attraction. It was surprisingly less crude than she'd anticipated. She picked up the one with space in the title and saw it was about two friends who had to share a room together while on vacation, and after a while, they can't keep their hands off each other.

She felt a furrow in her brow in confusion. These tapes all had similar descriptions to the dimestore paperback romance novels she'd buy from time to time. It seemed the story was just as important as the sex itself. One of them even had a cover of two people cupping the other's face as they leaned in for a kiss. Of course, the photo on the back was a naked sexual position that made her back hurt, but it overall wasn't as crude as she'd anticipated.

Mulder was into softcore, oddly sweet pornography?

She wasn't quite sure what to do with that information before she heard a ding come from down the hall. Scully quickly stuffed the VHS in her hands back in the drawer without looking, and instead moved to the bottom drawer on the other side of the desk. She was relieved to see it was some of his spare clothes and she dumped them on his desk before relocating her stuff into the drawer.

1994

"Children mimic what they see demonstrated in front of them (Smith, 1975). When a traumatic event occurs and parents cope without any outward displays of emotion, the child learns the expectation is that emotions are hidden. A potential development due to this is that the child understands how negatively invalidation felt, so they try to overcompensate when offering comfort to others, appearing unrelenting in their efforts to provide the comfort as the act itself is a comfort for them as well."

She stood there sobbing into his arms until she felt numb, soothed by the way his hands rubbed circles into her back as he whispered "You're alright. You're alright," into her hair, as if to assure himself as much as her.

The flash and subsequent whir of a crime scene camera made her jump and Mulder tightened his grip on her. "Can we have a minute?" he snapped, his voice coming out so harsh and stern compared to how he'd just talked to her.

She turned her head and saw they were in a room with at least ten other law enforcement officers - all with varying levels of pitiful expressions on their faces as they couldn't help but look at the embracing FBI agents.

Embarrassment flooded her and she withdrew her arms from around Mulder, bringing them together near her abdomen as she tried to take a step away. Mulder looked down at her in worry, cupping the side of her head with his hand. "Scully, don't push yourself," he lamented.

Scully shook her head and brought her hands shakily to the back of her neck, suddenly feeling choked by the table runner that had been used as a gag.

"Ma'am, we need to take a picture before yo-."

"I think we have enough evidence, don't you?" Mulder snapped, stepping forward in front of her like he was about to fight anyone who so much as looked at her.

She felt the crime scene analyst take a step away as they apologized to Mulder, but Scully was too busy fumbling with the tie at the back of her neck. She was starting to feel like she couldn't breathe and she was worried she was somehow tightening it. "Mulder?" she gasped.

Scully instantaneously felt his hands cover hers as he deftly untied the fabric, throwing it on the ground before brushing her hair back to make sure she was okay. "Breathe," he whispered, pulling her back to him so he could rub her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she whispered, her eyes focusing on the portrait of a Pfaster that was hung on the wall next to them.

Mulder stepped in front of it, replacing her line of vision with himself instead. "Please don't shut me out, Scully," he pleaded, his brows furrowed in concern. Mulder had comforted her a few times before in the past, but usually it was just a word or two of affirmation. Right now, he felt like he was the sole thing keeping her from drowning.

She glanced around and met the eyes of several people who instinctively looked away. "What do you need, Scully?" he prompted.

Scully looked back at him and noticed that he looked like he was going to combust if he couldn't do something to help her. She could pretend she didn't want his help tomorrow, for tonight, she'd allow them this symbiotic comfort. "I need to leave," she whispered.

"Will you let me take you to the hospital?" he asked.

She nodded once in response and that was all he needed. Without conferring with anyone else, he wrapped his arm around her and took her away from this nightmare.

1995

"Parents in these situations often do not realize the damage they are causing, nor are they actively trying to cause harm. Familial trauma effects all involved and, more often than not, the inattentiveness to the child's feelings is a result of parents being unable to handle their own."

Scully thought when she finally met Teena Mulder that a vital piece to the Mulder-puzzle would fall into place. She'd imagined a witch of a woman devoid of smile lines and with a tongue that could cut like a razor. The jagged-edged puzzle piece that would shift and create the perfect match to the soft edges of her partner who carried a burden from childhood that drove his every move.

Instead, she was met with a rosy cheeked woman who looked at her son's grave like she was contemplating if there was room for two.

It wasn't the piece she anticipated, but the puzzle shifted into place nonetheless, and she saw why Mulder could never admonish his parents while Scully had held so much resentment. Mulder was the sweetest man she knew. He could never find a place in his heart to resent a childless mother, even if she did have a child right next to her waiting to be loved.

Scully couldn't imagine the pain of losing a child, but she could empathize with this woman's pain at losing Mulder, even if only temporarily. Deciding it would be appropriate to go and talk to Mrs. Mulder now that the service was over, she steeled herself to tell the woman a sentiment she must have wanted to hear for decades.

"Your child is still alive."

Just not the one she was used to mourning.

1996

"Some children deal with internalized guilt because of the event. If parents or healthcare professionals neglect to discuss the event candidly to the child, this can cause them to believe they have done something wrong and that is the cause of the omission. When a memory of the event is triggered and the subject is reminded of the event, this can send them into a depressive state because of their guilt."

Mulder was contemplating dealing with Roche. She knew it without him telling her, not that he was saying much of anything in the first place. He hadn't been himself since this all started. No - he was being himself, and that's what was so painful about this all. Scully could see the guilt written all over his face, a guilt and a sense of responsibility so strong that her normally affable, goofy partner who always had something to say was resorting to one word responses and pensive stares. She was seeing the twelve year old little boy who blamed himself for his sister's disappearance, and it took everything in her not to bring him into her arms and tell him it wasn't his fault.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to erase the look on his face when he dug into the dirt of the forest with his bare hands, the desperation in his voice when he said "Help me, Scully." She was still deeply touched that when he was faced with the potential of finally finding his sister, he asked for her help. It sounded animalistic coming from his mouth, like his very soul was begging her. It felt like such a private moment, she was certain this was a part of Mulder he never showed anyone.

Finding out the truth about Samantha was the core being of his mission, his life's work, and being this close to the potential truth had left him bare like exposed nerves so oversensitized that he was numb. She'd never seen him so withdrawn and it killed her.

After they met with Roche and he'd teased Mulder, yet again, she drove him home. As grateful as she was he'd accepted, she was worried that he hadn't even refused in the first place.

"Mulder?" she tried, looking at him as they hit another red light.

He was staring at the dashboard as if the answers to his problems would manifest in front of him. Mulder didn't seem to hear her, so she tried again. "Mulder?"

"Hmm?" he hummed in response. If she hadn't heard it, she wouldn't have believed the sound even came from him as he didn't even slightly move. It was like a Mulder deep inside this shell answered, though his mouth couldn't form the words.

She put her hand on his shoulder, her thumb touching the exposed skin of his neck. He blinked and she took that as him acknowledging her. "Mulder, I'm worried about you," she whispered.

He finally turned to look at her and she saw exhaustion painting his features. "I have to know, Scully," he sighed, looking through her.

"He's using you, Mulder," she lamented, desperate to appeal to the part of him that begged for her help in the woods. The part that knew she was there for him, even if that meant telling him what he didn't want to hear.

Mulder shrugged lightly before turning to look ahead. "Probably," he sighed, resigned. He sounded used to this, used to being disheartened.

"I-" she started before a car honked behind her, making her hand shoot back to the wheel. They were only a block from his place, and he was getting out of the car before she had a chance to try talking to him again.

"Do you want me to come up with you?" she offered, reaching for her seatbelt.

He shook his head as he put his hand on the frame of the door. "I just need to think," he murmured, his eyes refusing to meet hers.

"Please, try to get some sleep, Mulder," she pleaded, only for the words to reach the interior of a closed car door.

1997

"Adults who have gone through this experience may find forming attachments difficult. It is not that they are emotionally stunted, but they've been primed through the childhood trauma to question if showing their authentic emotions is appropriate or not since they never received emotional validation. This desire to appear stoic is a defense mechanism that may seem like callousness, indifference, or flippancy in those around them. Because of this, when they do form bonds, they may be perceived as overbearing or clingy to the person they are close to."

She awoke to the sight of her own vigil taking place.

At first the only thing she was able to piece together was that the top of her hand was warm and wet. Then she smelled Mulder's hair and realized he was crying against her hand. For a moment she almost considered turning her hand so that her palm could press against his cheek - anything to comfort the man mourning the loss of his best friend.

"I'm still here," she wanted to say, but her throat clenched and her eyes burned as Mulder's choked sobs reiterated what they both knew: "For now."

She knew she meant a lot to him, but she never imagined herself being the person he bowed his head to in silent prayer.

1998

"These children may exhibit a pattern into adulthood of accepting behaviors and attitudes that others would refuse to put up with. As they are less likely to have positive self-worth, they may see themselves as deserving treatment that reaffirms these negative ideologies of self."

Mulder smirked. Fowley said they were allowed to investigate the X-Files as an indulgence, making Mulder seem like a child being pacified to keep busy to a room full of their peers, but since she said she held interest in his work, he smirked.

Now Mulder was talking to Skinner in his office while everyone else was told to step out into the hall. Most people in the room were content with going on a small walk, stretching their legs, but two people were left in the anteroom of the office poised in an awkward stand-off as they waited for Mulder to emerge.

His partner and his chickadee.

Scully sucked on her top teeth in annoyance as she glanced at Diana, watching as the woman appeared unfazed at the situation. Scully wished Arlene was here - anything to distract from the metronome of her aggravation.

Indulgence.

Chickadee.

Indulgence.

Chickadee.

The Gunmen hadn't explained why they broke up, seemingly shocked they did in the first place, and somewhere deep in Scully's soul she knew it was Diana's doing.

Was that why Mulder acted like that around her? Desperate to get some sort of validation, despite the fact this woman seemed to treat him poorly. Protectiveness flared up in Scully's chest and it threatened to choke her. At least, she wanted to blame it all on protectiveness. Acknowledging the part of herself that felt the bitter sting of indignation as she was condemned for wanting to make sure they were taken seriously while Fowley got a smirk for belittling their work.

"Things got a little heated in there. Didn't they?" Fowley called out, her voice sounding calm and collected as ever.

"I'd say so," Scully bit in response, sounding quite the opposite.

The door swung open and Mulder stepped out, looking around the room at the two women before telling Agent Fowley that Skinner was calling the Attorney General now.

Another smirk.

1999

"Because of childhood trauma, it may be harder for these individuals to let people in. They may be honest about their trauma, but when it comes to letting people see the intimate details of their life, they might be shrouded in mystery (Evans, 1969). Traumatized individuals will only share personal information with people they believe will not hurt them."

The young boy had to go home after thirty minutes of loading balls for them to hit, but Mulder didn't seem to be ready to call it quits yet - and, to be honest, neither was she. It was so rare that they got to spend time together that didn't involve a case. Even rarer was time spent together with so much levity.

Mulder paid the boy some extra money before picking up two mitts that were lying by the machine. "Here," he yelled before throwing one to her.

She caught the worn leather in both hands with a laugh that caused Mulder to smile. "What're we doing?" she asked, instinctively putting her hand in the oversized glove.

"Ever play catch, Scully," he replied, throwing a ball at her.

"I was never invited," she called out, shifting her feet against the sand underneath her to feel how it shifted. "You're my first."

"Mm," he hummed lewdly, causing her to blush at the way she phrased that.

"Underhand can be easier for amateurs," he replied before throwing the ball at her lightly from a few yards away.

Scully caught the ball in the mitt, smiling when he praised her. Then, mimicking him, she threw it overhand to him.

Mulder lifted his arm and caught it with a small jump. He looked at her with raised brows and a boyish grin that made the sensations she'd felt with him behind her stir back up in her abdomen. "You husslin' me, Scully?" he replied, tossing the ball at her with a little more speed.

She caught it with ease and shrugged. "What can I say? I learned from the best," she teased before throwing it back.

Teased. Scully didn't do that often, but she was starting to think maybe she should based on the way his lips curved up shyly. He'd been teasing and gently flirting with her since she met him. She was starting to see the appeal.

"I hope I didn't ruin any evening plans," he replied, throwing it at her.

It was always expected for Mulder to make himself sound like an inconvenience. Even after she just spent thirty minutes giggling in his arms and 'accidentally' moving her body against him in ways that she was sure to revisit when her hand was in her underwear, he still managed to convince himself he was a burden.

"I haven't had fun like this in a long time," she replied, bending to catch a lowball. "Besides, you let me listen to my music on the last road trip even though you didn't like it just because you wanted to hear what I like. I like learning what you like too," she replied sweetly, throwing it back to him with more speed.

Mulder smiled, playing with the ball in his hand before joking, "I just think Alanis Morissette needs to date better guys."

"Like you?" She didn't say it outloud, but she thought it. She jumped to catch a high ball he threw at her, causing him to burst out laughing.

"I'm serious though, Mulder. I like learning more about you," she replied.

Mulder ran to the side a bit to catch the toss before smiling shyly. "I want to learn more about you too."

She caught his next throw as she contemplated her next words. Deciding to take a page out of his book and be bold tonight, she asked, "I think… I think it would be fun if we spent more time together. Maybe we could have movie nights at each other's place or something?"

A smile erupted on Mulder's face before the ball hit him square in the nose - too distracted to catch what she'd hurled at him.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry," she chuckled sympathetically, running over to him and putting her gloved hand on his shoulder.

"I'd love that," he replied, his nose as pink as his cheeks.

2000

"It is not until the individual manages to come to terms with the familial trauma that healing may take place."

She never imagined what she might feel like in this moment because she never thought it would come. A potential romantic relationship with Mulder seemed like it was slowly migrating from the periphery into the foreground, and she was starting to come to terms with the idea that she may forever share the foreground spot of Mulder's sight with the memory of a little girl.

He said he was free, and he'd never looked more so. She had been worried after Harold Piller took off, but Mulder seemed nonplussed, just staring into the sky as if he was looking at an old friend, a small smile of acknowledgement on his lips. "Are you sure you're okay, Mulder?" she asked, reaching out and entwining her fingers in his.

He turned to her and, to her surprise, placed a kiss to the top of her forehead. She looked up at him with wide eyes and saw he was looking at her in adoration, as if nothing existed in this moment except her.

"Let's go home, Scully," he murmured, brushing a tendril of hair behind her ear.

2000

"Adults dealing with residual trauma crave the emotional validation they did not receive as a child. Words of affirmation, consensual physical touch, and other forms of direct reassurance help the traumatized adult feel more self-assured with how they are being perceived."

This one comes to her, like most of these recollections of his thesis do, in the most random of moments. She was standing in his kitchen, wearing his shirt that acts as a dress on her, while she watched him make breakfast. For background noise, he just pressed play on the VCR and the Caddyshack tape from last night started playing over again. Maybe now she'll find out how it ends.

She'd been so desperate to know more about him during that time years ago when she'd read his thesis, that any line she read seemingly became permanently filed away in the Mulder folder of her brain. So now, as she stood here taking in all the new information about him that she was newly privy to - his inability to whistle despite his valiant efforts, the fact he can crack an egg with one hand despite having seemingly basic culinary skills, how he often takes moments to look at her as if he wants to make sure she's still here - the process of filing away the new information caused that little tidbit from seven years ago to leak out.

Deciding to test 22 year old Mulder's hypothesis, she walked over to him with her bare feet padding along the tiles of his floor, and wrapped her arms around his waist so that her chest was flush to his bare back.

"Is this about to be a culinary version of that scene from Ghost?" he asked, his muscles moving as he flipped a pancake over.

"I like being here," she murmured shyly, her words sounding weird from her cheek being smooshed against his back.

It felt weird, but not horribly so. They didn't communicate verbally all that well, it wasn't their thing, but if little moments like these held a chance of letting Mulder know how she felt, then she could overcome her own hang ups. It was a lot easier than mustering the courage to say the three words they already knew.

She felt Mulder's back twist, as if trying to look at her, before he turned back, likely not wanting to dislodge her. "I-I like you being here too," he stammered. While he also was clearly unused to this type of openness, the upward lilt of his inflection told her she'd made him happy.

She liked it.

Squeezing him once tightly, she added, "I'm glad I get to spend the day with you." They were sentiments so PG and mundane that she'd probably even said them to her mother before, but within this special context of her and Mulder's relationship - it felt like a huge step.

"If I knew making you breakfast would have gotten this reaction I would have done it years ago," he joked, though his words were laden with sincerity. She felt him pause for a moment before timidly moving one hand to rest on top of hers.

She smiled into his back and pressed a gentle kiss against warm flesh as Mulder's own version of those three words wrapped around her heart.

[brw]

Tony Stark and Reed Richards for the character ask thing

TONY STARK

how i feel about this character: 😬 ngl i... don't care for him. at all. i don't vehemently hate him, there's definitely times where i appreciate him & his personality but it's few and far between and i... genuinely do not get the hype. i think its mostly mcu fans' fault for my dislike, its just he's fucking EVERYWHERE now, it's impossible to miss him? like he plays a big role in EVERY avengers comic now, he gets ongoing titles all the time, and it's just so frustrating especially when you consider characters who used to be more or less on the same level on them (like hank pym! who, by the way, has been dead for 6 consecutive years! that would never happen with tony!) or even more popular than him now get streamlined because of the mcu's popularity. by himself, i don't really mind him that much, but with how famous he is now and how large and frankly annoying his fan base is i just... now really do not like the character.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: short list here; reed, because i find their dymanic of reed as someone who does everything for his family and will do everything and anything he can to protect their interests above everyone else but also wants to keep his hands clean and believes, genuinely, in the good of the world, and tony as someone who will do horrendous things in the name of the greater good who always has the bigger picture in mind interesting. i also don't know a lot about it but he seems cute with rhodey? even if i think rhodey deserves a bigger chance to be his own character away from tony as is sometimes denied i can always appreciate a good best friends to lovers dymanic :)

my non romantic otp for this character: um? i honestly don't know 😭 i don't like him enough to say, i guess him n reed again? him n rhodey again? help 😭😭😭

my unpopular opinion of this character: he does not deserve the fame he has. like, i dont mean to sound jealous or whatever but pre 2007 movie he was not the most well liked character or even that popular. like obviously he had fans because he had solo series on and off for a very long time but it just feels SO ridiculous that tony stark has a bigger fandom than the fucking fantastic four. THE FANTASTIC FOUR. marvel's first superhero team, and yet??? like okay. he might have things to offer i don't see. he obviously does, i mean, he got three movies and multiple solo series. but he has most certainly not got enough as a character to overshadow the fantastic four, the x-men, etc and i will never forgive the mcu & mcu fans (and mark miller, he deserves blame too) for making it so. again, by himself he's fine but it is ridiculous to me that a one note white character that appeared in his third film (harley keener or... whatever) has 2000s more fics than THE PROTAGONIST OF INTO THE SPIDERVERSE, MILES MORALES. it is just... so vile and frustrating to me.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: he didn't exist <3 jk jk um i'm not sure? i guess it would be funny if he was like... stick thin underneath the armour. like idk. he's in the armour 24/7 it makes sense to me for him to be a skinny little nerd under there. like completely fucking small. like you can't be a superhero AND be a billionaire and avoid all those taxes AND run the avengers AND run multiple massive corporations and still work out... even if you take away eating and sleeping there's just not enough time... it would be funny if he was just a tiny little boy underneath all that djndndbf

my otp: gonna say him and rhodey again. like i say, can never resist a good best friends to lovers dymanic.

my cross over ship: jdjshdhdh literally none i don't think about him enough to consider it <3

headcanon fact: 100% think he was the one to offer reed that money to star in a p*rno it's just so funny to me to imagine dhsnndnd

REED RICHARDS

how i feel about this character: HE'S MY BOY! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! like i guess it's paradoxical considering how similar he is to tony in some ways but man i just love reed so much. i so genuinely think reed richards is what tony stark fans want him to be. like they (mcu fans) make up elaborate headcanons of him being a good dad and an ethical billionaire and its like no that's reed richards? canonically he's gone broke bc he refuses to get money off his inventions... u have the wrong man... anyway he's also an asexual LEGEND i do not take criticism and ofc. autistic icon. literally he's so autistic it makes me <3 i love him dearly.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: it would be easier to list the people i DON'T ship with him lol. sue, obviously, victor ofc, and ben are the big ones, but i just LOVE his dymanic with t'challa and i think they would rlly work it... i also love the idea of him with namor, idk with victor it's just so funny to imagine reed as like. bizarrely attractive to rulers of foreign countries. blackagar faces the same problem <3 i also do believe him n hank pym dated in college for a bit... all their weird little microaggressions towards each other just makes me feel that way... again i do like him w/ tony and i made this weird au where he and emma frost got together which if prompted i WILL talk about. probably. more but yeah <3

my non romantic otp for this character: while i do LOVE them together as lovers i just love. benreed generally <3 like they're LITERALLY besties they love each other sm and i'm tired of pretending they don't????? so many people ignore this relationship and it makes me so sad!!! they're best friends they love each other fight for each other fight with each other theyre literally besties... smh put some respect on the benreed name 😤

my unpopular opinion of this character: i don't think this is that unpopular but it is in certain circles so! i genuinely think reed is the best marvel dad! like you can talk abt others all u want but the fact is that reed is the only character i can think of who has always been there in his kid's lives and has consistently put their needs first. like not saying other characters are bad but even at his worst writing he's always done his best for his kids and certainly has been full of love for them. other characters at their worse have. murdered their own kids <3 genuinely he's the best marvel dad and sure there's not a lot of competition but. yeah <3

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character: I WANT A CANONICAL AUTISM DIAGNOSIS NOW. literally he is SO autistic & there are... no big autistic marvel characters! at all! literally none! the closest we have is legion (who was written in an incredible ableist way and autism hasnt been used to describe him in a solid 30 years) and monet (and it turned out it wasn't monet but one of her twin sisters impersonating her :/) so it would just mean so much to see a canonically autistic character like reed who is older & has a wife and kids who he loves and who they love in return on panel. like so much of the rep we DO have is like, young kids or teens and idk an autistic adult would just mean so much to me. especially one like reed who is as selfless & loving as he is.

my otp: tie between doomreed and reedsue! any option that gets this noodle nerd lots of love i'm good for tbh

my cross over ship: him and ralph dibney from dc should date... they have so much in common... stretchy autistic man who's very smart and kind of silly who loves his wife sue who pegs him 🥴 they'd have so much to talk about sjbdhdhd also imagining the look on ben's face realising there's TWO of them is. so funny.

headcanon fact: he's aromantic he's asexual and neither of these stop him from his very meaningful & passionate relationship with his wife :)

assorted character ask game!

[ducklooney]

Quack Pack AU or Quack Pack reboot?! My version or my headcanon about Quack Pack

Ah yes. Quack Pack. I know that many people don't like it, but many people also like that series, which I consider really underrated. Yes, that series really had its flaws, but I loved watching that series, I also love how Donald’s nephews (Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck) were teenagers and had really different traits (not the first time, but the first time that they really different), the good and amazing Daisy and the really funny Donald, but who saves the situation and who is really a family man who has some flaws of his own. Also, that series, which before Legend of the Three Caballeros, had Donald Duck as the main figure in that series, and which showed a really great dynamic relationship between Donald and his nephews who are ready to sacrifice for each other to keep the family together. Of course, it was really a comedy to watch, and it reminded me of comic moments from Carl Barks and European comics. I know this sounds paradoxical, but that series had such a comic book spirit, even though it was based on Donald’s classic shorts. But all in all, not to be outdone, I liked that series, but if by any chance it reappeared whether through another season or through a reboot, I would express my expectations and my opinions. Also this would be how the Quack Pack would look my way. Of course, I will say those things below that some people will probably not like, and some people will like, so I would not like to go any further, and I apologize to everyone who will read what I will say next, and some would find it offensive. I repeat, this is just my opinion and my ideas and everyone is entitled to their opinion and their ideas and their headcanons. So let's go.

That series celebrated its 25th anniversary last month, and you can see that post here: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/661629126357172224/happy-25th-anniversary-of-quack-pack

That series had 39 episodes and one season and I could say that I would watch more, but I have objections to that series, so I will certainly put my ideas and comments related to those objections along the way. Certainly, that series lacked good screenwriting given that some episodes turned out bad and had some mistakes that should not be repeated. Certainly to those who are interested in this, you can suggest me some ideas for Quack Pack AU through which I could realize through my drawings or through fanfictions.

This could mean my headcanons, and it could also mean separate suggestions for a possible Quack Pack reboot or some new Duck series. So here are these ideas:

1. Better screenwriting, better comedy, better style, better animation and definitely the main focus on Donald Duck

I know this will sound autistic to some and I know many will not like this what I am going to say now, but my Quack Pack or Quack Pack reboot as I would imagine would have nothing to do with Ducktales reboot at all except for some characters and stuff. Why? I know the original Quack Pack was supposed to have links to the Ducktales and be a sequel to the Ducktales, but unfortunately it didn’t happen, but the question is how it would be tied to the Ducktales reboot. I expected Ducktales 2017 to have some episode related to that series, however it happened, but I didn’t like it because other than the name of the episode titled Quack Pack, it has nothing to do with Quack Pack other than that name. If that sequel from Ducktales were to happen, I don’t know how he would imagine the characters in which they would appear. It’s good that my friend made something like that so I would imagine so, but in any case Quack Pack AU has nothing to do with Ducktales because it’s more of a link to Donald Duck comics. There are Donald Duck comics, where Donald Duck has a much different role than in cartoons (although for me both cartoon and comic Donald is the same) and there are more characters that could appear in my Quack Pack version. But I will do that in the following parts. I definitely imagine the style and animation similar to what it looked like in the Quack Pack, like in that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNGhBNgcVDo

Or similar to styles in Italian comics like these pictures: 

Certainly what I said a moment ago, there should be better script writing in which humor would be timeless without the use of ironic humor and which would create separate memes. Donald Duck would certainly be the main character for that and if he acted in the usual duck voice without the use of voice jokes, especially on serious occasions. Quack Pack is a comedy series and I definitely expect good comedies. You should definitely use jokes from classic shorts and comics also to make sense to your advantage. I read somewhere in an article that Quack Pack failed unlike Ducktales (I know they are not on the same level, Ducktales and Darkwing Duck were much more successful than Quack Pack), because that series did not use adventures in the way Carl Barks used. This is incorrect, because Barks mostly wrote comics to be FUNNY and interesting, although some of his comics have adventures that were also the inspiration behind OG Ducktales and for Indiana Jones movies. Quack Pack, ironically had some episodes that marked the adventure because Donald and Daisy were reporters where they traveled around the world, but certainly comedy came first. The comedy would be on a level in my opinion, so it should be similar to Donald Duck comics, especially European ones, but it can also be similar to the humor of the classic Sponge Bob, but not a copy. Not to dwell on that, the next part:

2. Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck (same or not)

This means more whether I need Huey Dewey and Louie Duck in my headcanon to be the same HDL-like in Quack Pack. In fact, yes and no. I know they were made as boys from the 1990s, but by removing them from the 1990s, it would be seen that they have really quality qualities and I would certainly accept older boys as such. Their clothes don't have to be the same, but I definitely like wearing pants, although they shouldn't, but they still wear them in my headcanon. Surely Louie would still wear a cap and do so in a backwards way. And how would they look? So as I drew in the previous drawings, certainly no different from the original in the Quack Pack or something like this:

Almost the same, but not always. They would wear different clothes depending on the occasion, whether it was travel, excursions, reconnaissance, school, concerts, parties, sports competitions and more. As for their personalities, I wouldn't change anything here, except that Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck as teenagers would listen to rock and roll, hip hop and techno music, but partly also ethno and this type of music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qTghUgMOeY or this type of music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us2ylGAwBnk

They would definitely play video games especially GTA, car racing and probably strategy games like Civilization, Warcraft, Warhammer, Age of Empires, Rome: Total War, Stronghold, Heroes of Might and Magic, and so on. And yes, they would play sure and games like Skyrim, God of War, Assassin Creed and similar games. Why? Because boys love games like that and I'm sure their uncle would join in, since Uncle Donald likes to be badass (Paperinik and Double Duck are proof enough of that). Not to lengthen, they would not be different from HDL in QP, but there is one change. In my Quack Pack version, Huey, Dewey and Louie would certainly still be members of Junior Woodchucks, with Huey who was previously a champion ashamed and avoiding that scout associations, while Dewey and Louie would not. Louie loves nature and certainly loves to take care of animals and maybe he would have some kind of pet (Donald’s dog Bolivar like for example).

And I'm sure there would be some re-scenes where Louie rescues pugdaddies, strange creatures of a mixture of raccoons and beaks with duck beaks. Yes, boys would go to school (Duckburg High School) and they would have their own company and their own sympathies. Something like this: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/649664119806558208/admittedly-i-forgot-the-link-since-i-downloaded

And no, HDL teens are not like Elmyra as one critic commented, but they are like Plucky Duck, Buster Bunny, Hampton Pig and Yakko and Wakko Warner, given the 1990s. Also HDL teens are more like HDL from OG Ducktales and HDL from European and Brazilian comics.

3. Daisy Duck

Daisy in my Quack Pack would definitely be a mix between Quack Pack Daisy, comic Daisy, classic Daisy, House of Mouse Daisy and Ducktales Daisy. Daisy Duck would wear her hair as a blend of hair from Quack Pack and House of Mouse, only without a bow, and in some cases on special occasions she would wear a dress and hair similar to Daisy in Donald’s diary, only a purple or pink dress.

She would be good to Donald, a great aunt and parent, sometimes jealous when Donald is with another woman, she would be a reporter (Donald and Daisy would work for Chanel 00, along with Angus Fangus, Stefan Vladuck and Lyla Lay), a tailor, designer and gardener, and she would be angry at Gladstone if he touched her. She would be best friends with Edy Son, especially around the occasions with Paperinika.

She loves retro music especially from the 70s and 80s partly from the 90s and was once a singer with her band like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZK9SMCI3U

Daisy Duck also likes this type of music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxupcM6G234

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

4. New characters

By this I mean regular characters from cartoons and comics related to Duckverse, not OC. For OC in my Quack Pack I will post on another occasion. Since there are a lot of candidates, I will single out only the most important characters, and for the others I will publish another post about it. Here are those characters that would appear in the Quack Pack:

April, May and June Duck (Daisy’s nieces)

I have already posted and one companion asked me about it and I agree. For that series, they definitely lacked those, and these are still some of the most important and I must say underrated characters in the Duckverse. These are Daisy's nieces, who are the counterpart to Donald's nieces. I know both Donald’s nephews and Daisy’s nieces would look like Alvin and the chipmunks and the Chipettes, but still Donald’s nephews and Daisy’s nieces were the first to emerge before chipmunks (don’t worry I love chipmunks too), but their dynamics would be similar, only it would more were dynamic relationships in terms of siblings. Donald and Daisy have adopted them from birth and they live with them and often quarrel and make friends. Daisy’s nieces like to compete with boys, so they would wear pants, sometimes dresses. And yes, here’s how I imagine them in the Quack Pack, at least according to my drawing: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/662528099244703744/this-time-the-same-drawing-but-colored-this Certainly in a way a blend of AMJ Duck from Legends of the Three Caballeros and Dutch comics.

They definitely like things for girls, but with April loving sports stuff, May loves music and is more like Huey, and June loves fashion, but also science like Dewey. At least according to my version.

Donald’s cousins (Gladstone, Fethry, Gus, Abner, Kildare)

Yes, they are there too. They just have different roles in my Quack Pack version. Gladstone Gander is definitely lucky and managed to be both a theater and film actor acting in Hollywood. He has a rich villa, but lives in Duckburg. He also has a love affair with Linda Paper and some others, annoys Donald and humiliates his relatives who failed unlike him. Yet in some things Gladstone though a jerk feels guilty and apologizes to his relatives and partly lives with them. He also adopted his nephew Shamrock as his child and Gladstone, Linda Paper and Shamrock live together.

Fethry Duck wears modern clothes, but with a classic hat as we know it. He cooks, mostly bakes burgers (this sounds familiar), has a cat Tabby as his pet, his girlfriend Gloria (Gloria is mostly a hippie girl and often practices oriental and Far Eastern religions) and a nephew Dugan who is often naughty but loves his uncle . Fethry used to help Paperinik (Donald Duck) as Red Bat, although Paperinik doesn't like it. Fethry is somewhat similar to the classic Sponge Bob, but there are differences between the two.

Gus Goose likes to eat often and wear modern clothes and he can speak and has features similar to the classic Patrick Starfish. He also likes to sleep and take care of his grandmother's farm (Grandma Duck), but not always, since Abner took care of his grandmother. He often hangs out with Fethry and sometimes annoys the neighborhood. Still, he has a nephew who is the same age as HDL and his name is Gustav, only Gustav is much smarter than his uncle, but he is like a cool teenage goose, with the proviso that he is naive.

Abner Whitewater Duck is a forester, truck driver, farmer, farmer, cattle keeper and guards Grandma Duck and her farm when Gus is not with her. Abner is often frowning and does not like to be interrupted in some things, and in some cases he has a problem with anger. He often gets angry when his nephew Dugan makes trouble. Still, in some things he is friendly with his family.

Kildare Coot is crazy and often makes trouble and changes professions often, yet he knows how to be patient. How I imagined Donald's cousins, I mostly showed in my drawing where you can see here: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/648941163689213952/i-apologize-to-everyone-for-being-so-late-i-slept

Scrooge McDuck

NO, HE IS NOT DEAD! He doesn't exist in the original Quack Pack, since the Quack Pack is actually based on classic shorts, but in my Quack Pack it really does exist and after Grandma Duck he is one of the oldest citizens of Duckburg. Still, he would be in the Quack Pack, in my version, a bastard and a big miser who would torture his nephew Donald to repay his debts, yet Donald often cheated on him.

Although hated, in some cases Scrooge has a good heart. Somehow he would be a blend of Barks ’Scrooge and Scrooge in Italian comics. Of course he would have a full biography like Rosa Scrooge, with his sisters alive. Scrooge would otherwise wear Scottish folk clothing with a kilt.

Of course Scrooge still has its rivals and opponents, especially Glomgold and Rockerduck. Yes, Mr Krabs just has traits similar to the comic Scrooge traits, so this Scrooge is not a copy of Mr Krabs nor is Donald a copy of Squidward or Daffy Duck. Scrooge would have a secretary Miss Quackfaster (similar in Italian comics) and two butlers, Duckworth and Albert Quackmore Battista and one housewife, Mrs Beakley (similar to her in Ducktales 1987). 

Webby Vanderquack

That there would also be Webby (a teenager, but younger than HDL a year or two), Bubba with a triceratops and Gene as a boy, that is, as a teenager. Webby would be a fusion of two Webby from both versions of Ducktales, but in a moderate way and no, she's not Scrooge's daughter, she has her parents and often in my Quack Pack version she would avoid Scrooge when Scrooge gets angry and gets totally totally, except when she feels helpless, then she hugs her uncle and comforts him. Certainly Webby would have her own company and would hang out with both AMJ and HDL and Gosalyn, and Honker would be her crush. She would certainly like what other girls like. My version of Webby would look like this: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/640518128179281920/sorry-for-my-delay-i-wish-everyone-a-happy-new

Grandma Duck (Elvira Coot)

Donald’s grandmother is certainly alive in my Quack Pack version, but she wears a scarf around her head and forehead a purple dress over her body, only her tail is visible. In some cases, she can still cook and bake cookies, but she still goes with a stick and at that moment her grandchildren help her, mostly Abner and Gus, and when Donald is with her, of course. Her great-grandchildren certainly help her.

Neighbor Jones

Donald's worst and closest neighbor. In comics they often had conflicts, but in my Quack Pack version they would have even more often and would provoke wars in the neighborhood, and the neighborhood would mostly get angry in its own way, to make it funny. Like Donald and neighbor Jones has his cousins, his mother and his nephews who often defy Donald, his cousins ​​and his nephews. Jones, like Donald, would wear Hawaiian clothes and defy Donald by throwing garbage in Donald's yard and similar nonsense. Certainly the rivalry between Donald and Jones would take place and it would not be like Goofy and Pete in Goof Troop, but much worse and much funnier. Donald and neighbor Jones can't stand each other.

Donald’s and Daisy's parents

This may be one of the weakest links as far as the Duck family is concerned, but I’m imagining one episode with them and maybe that would figure out why Donald and Daisy Duck can’t get along so easily. Because of their parents' disapproval. Their parents often argue that Donald and Daisy decided to leave them and start their own house. However, for the wedding, they will have to ask for their support, and that will be very difficult. The only ones to support Donald and Daisy’s relationship would be Grandma Duck, Matilda McDuck (in this case as Von Drake) and Daisy’s Aunt Drusilla. They would surely defend themselves from the onslaught of Donald and Daisy’s parents. Donald’s parents would certainly be Quackmore and Hortense (and they would be similar from the comics, with Hortense wearing curly brown hair like a bun), but Daisy’s parents find it a little difficult to present them. The only place they were shown was in Donald's diary. 

They would be similar to Donald’s parents, only slightly different, and supposedly Daisy’s parents from Donald’s diary would be Daisy’s grandparents. Eventually Donald and Daisy’s parents will have to come to terms with the fact that eventually Donald and Daisy will be together. It would certainly be a real comedy to see something like that. What I would definitely like to show is part of Daisy’s family, mostly her siblings.

Gyro Gearloose

He would be similar to Gyro in Italian comics, but would have trouble with his nephew Newton and other nephew Gally Leo (Galileo). He would certainly be Donald's best friend who helps him and the like, and he would be a great collaborator in creating an invention with Ludwig von Drake.

Ludwig von Drake

He was at Quack Pack and mostly I wouldn’t change anything with him except that he was more of a scientific advisor instead of an inventor like Gyro, but he was certainly a professor at Duckburg University and would be married to Matilda, Scrooge’s sister.

Della Duck

Yes, the mother of Huey, Dewey and Louie and Donald's sister. Well she would look like Della from the comics with blonde hair, but she would wear ponytail hair. Mostly she would be a pilot and a cosmonaut, but who knows how to do domestic things, especially to cook and prepare. She would be on a space station or on the moon or on Mars with her team and would hear sometimes with her sons and sometimes come home. I mean, nothing special, but she would definitely be a great mother when HDL were little kids and she would have a great relationship with Donald and she would have her own characteristics, not Donald’s. I’ve already shown her three times in my drawings to make her look.

Magica de Spell

As for her, she wouldn’t give up on taking Scrooge One Dime even at the cost of marrying Scrooge which would be a real comedy given that many would rebel. Still, Magica will have a lot of difficulties, but in the end she will come to terms with Scrooge.

Maybe she'll be able to take One Dime, maybe she won't, but there would certainly be a little romance between Scrooge and Magica, in my way. There would certainly be her grandmother, sisters, cousins ​​and her nieces and her students. I mean Adelia de Spell, Grandma de Spell, Matilda de Spell, Lena, Straghella, Minima de Spell and Hocus and Pocus. Maybe Poe will eventually return to its original form, but I would not reveal further. Certainly for Magica how she would look in the Quack Pack, I haven’t thought about it yet, but I will see and think more about how she would look like her family. Certainly she has her rivals, and that from witchcraft gatherings.

Other characters?!

Honestly, there are a lot of characters from different families, so I wouldn't want to separate them. Anyway, if anyone else could show up in my Quack Pack it would be these characters like Brigitta MacBridge, Loretta MacBridge, Glittering Goldie, Dickie, Glomgold and his nephew, Rockerduck and his nephew and Jeeves and the Beagles family. For the other characters I will in a separate sequel and maybe the last part of this my Quack Pack AU.

5. Crossovers?!

Honestly and not really, but just for these crossovers I thought like in terms of meeting Donald Duck and his family with his friends from different parts of the world and his country Calisota. Of course I mean Donald’s encounters with Darkwing Duck, Gizmoduck, old friends Panchito and Jose Ze Carioca, Goofy, Aracuan Bird and goddess Xandra. It would definitely include a variety of trips. Certainly as far as Fenton, Gandra and Fenton's mother are concerned, they would be similar to the original 1987 versions of Ducktales, and for Drake and his gang they would certainly be different, and Gosalyn and Honker would be teenagers and soon best friends for both HDL and AMJ and for Webby. Webby would be with Honker, while Gosalyn would be with HDL. Yes, Huey would totally fall in love with Gosalyn. Morgana would definitely be there. And Launchpad too. 

As for Panchito, he would be the defender of a village, he would have his friends and part of his family, and one or two episodes would be related to the visit of Donald, Daisy and their children to Mexico. Panchito later decides to travel with them and go to Brazil with his old friend Jose Ze Carioca. Ze Carioca is more of a tramp, but a pretty good friend, who helps him a lot in trouble, there’s also his love Rosinha Vaz, and there’s Jose’s nephews Zico and Zeca who are teenagers just like HDL. HDL would surely hang out with Zico and Zeca often. I have already commented on Ze Carioca and his team regarding the second series, but I certainly imagined seeing them in my Quack Pack version as well: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/656294997567619072/ideas-for-the-second-season-of-legends-of-the

Donald with Goofy would be a crossover between Quack Pack and Goof Troop and Pete would go with him, but there would be plenty of accidents between the three of them. Certainly there would be Peg, Daisy and Sylvia (she appeared in another Goofy movie, but in my headcanon Goofy and she already knew each other), and HDL Duck with Max and P.J. they would be a great team with Bobby and would compete a lot with rivals in music and sports. There would be plenty of trouble between them, but they are mostly friendly unlike adults. The gun might bother, but I think it would be good with Dugan and Shamrock and maybe with AMJ and Webby.

As for superheroes, it would definitely be similar to Ultraheroes with both an adult team and a children's team. As for Paperinik, it would be related to the original version of Paperinik, but there would certainly be special opportunities for both PKNA and Pk2 as the mentioned characters I mentioned have already appeared, but it would be more of a canon about which I could I’m talking on some of my other published post. The same goes for Double Duck and Maui Mallard as I definitely consider it as one universe. However, this would be too much for one series, so I would like to stop here. Certainly this is what my Quack Pack would look like in some way. By the way, for the entire Donald world I imagine in Quack Pack, I have already drawn our drawing where you can see here:https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/654821335570268160/although-belated-happy-donalds-87th-birthday-and

And one more thing: Humans are part of Duckverse so they also belong there plus characters from Quack Pack and comics that are humans are definitely part of my canon. 

But all about them I might write on another occasion as well as about my maybe OCs in my Quack Pack AU.

I apologize for this and the long text, and I apologize to everyone if I insulted someone with someone's long texts. This is definitely my observation and my ideas about Quack Pack AU that I will express through my new drawings and through maybe new fanfictions that I will write if I have free time. If you have any comments and some ideas, feel free to comment me. And feel free to ask me. And thank you for your attention.

And certainly Quack Pack AU would be more in the focus of the relationship in the Duck family and beyond and there would be more of a relationship between Donald and Daisy and a relationship between Donald and his nephews as well as a relationship between Daisy and her nieces than before.

[typewriterghcst]

Title: mother, forget me

Fandom: Kung Fu Panda

Characters: Shen, Soothsayer

Summary: He’s lived his life in a burning house, and now he is wasting away inside it. Why should he be at all surprised that she would fight the flames to traverse back into it in order to rescue him? At this rate, though, perhaps they’re simply burning to ash together.

Notes: whispers kind of an affectionate maybe Send Off written for @infini-tree regarding our Shen and Soothsayer muses, since we’ve both sorta halfway-ish moved into different fandoms and don’t write together very often anymore `~`

So of course this is based on the main verse on my Shen blog, where he Somehow survives the end of his canon and starts hiding out at the Soothsayer’s home like a particularly deviant NEET

I’ve long enjoyed our interactions, and even if we don’t write together again, I’ll still think back fondly on those interactions, ha. So. Just sort of a gift, then!

                                                        +++

Shen forgets he is no longer a skittish, sullen teenager sometimes, though he isn’t certain how. There’s an aching stiffness in his bones that has followed him into his miraculous second chance survival which had never assailed him back then. He lives now in a dream world where time stands still at inopportune and awkward moments, only to pass in an instant when he blinks. He doesn’t know how long he’s lingered here. He can not force himself to think of the future; it’s like futilely plucking at a minuscule piece of shell in the egg white.

Yet unlike those dream worlds he remembers from his childhood, he is not alone this time. No, he has become someone’s burden again, and he might relish in that newfound purpose were it not for who it is that has undertaken the burden.

The Soothsayer joins him at the window, once, and leaves a thin jacket of her own thrown across his shoulders, and it’s then he realizes he isn’t sure who has imprisoned who. 

It’s then, also, he thinks he should leave.

                                                        +++

Quite often he will find himself reluctant to ask those questions he so dearly covets answers for, simply out of a fear that those same answers shall prove ultimately devastating. Tonight, his courage refuses to falter.

"Did you know?" Shen asks his old caretaker (a position she's rather wordlessly slipped back into, though he will not dwell on the similarities now). "Did you know I'd do it?"

"I knew you had the potential to travel down a very dark path," she eventually answers with a measured cadence, and Shen fills in the blanks that she hadn't foreseen just how much darkness that path had had the capacity for.

                                                        +++

He had tried to promise himself once, in a fleeting, blinding instant of childish fury, the source of which has been long obscured by time. 

He had tried to promise himself that anyone who tried to harm her would meet with an agonizing fate, and he had taken a certain amount of comfort and pleasure in imagining just how he might make good on that promise.

He thinks of it nowadays sometimes when she leaves early in the morning, when he pretends to sleep so she doesn’t know he knows he wasn’t the only one unable to sleep through the night. 

(They are both such prideful creatures.)

He thinks about how he is in a far more convenient position to keep his word now, how he would not hesitate, and he wonders if that is perhaps the closest he will ever come to real love.

                                                        +++

What will he do, he wonders sometimes against his will, when she is gone? He has but one friend left in the wide, blue world, and being a creature quite comfortably accustomed to a literal army of supporters kept in line with fear, the instability inherent in this new status quo is perhaps more distressing than even he realizes.

Shen spies the Soothsayer drifting off at her table as she works once or twice, and it lights in him a difficult to define, frenzied knot of half-emotions. He makes mention of her fatigue once. Her response, he assumes, is to put more effort into keeping up her composure in his presence, as he doesn’t catch her dozing again.

It isn't fair, it isn't fair, and sometimes he's so frustrated by what he’s managed to do how things have ended up that he can't stand it. It's then, again, that he thinks he should leave.

                                                        +++

He doesn't know her story. Somehow in all their years together, interrupted as they've been, she has never been compelled to share it with him. It's fine that way. It's the way it ought to be, he supposes.

Yet, every now and again, he will glimpse some shared similarity, some shared response to a petty trauma, and for the first time find himself musing on what other familiarities might linger in their pasts. 

                                                        +++

Even now, the memory will so often come back to him, unwanted, unprompted. Pulling himself up over a balustrade in a clumsy attempt to see over it, to catch a faraway glimpse of Mother, needling curiosity and awe always tempered so expertly by the lingering haze of unbelonging.

For so long he has recalled this moment as one of solitude and numb resentment, but like a buoyant balloon eventually resurfacing after being shoved under bathwater, he remembers the Soothsayer calling to him from down the hall, and how he'd so eagerly abandoned his hiding spot to bound to her side. She had smiled at him, had asked what it was which had captured his attention so thoroughly.

And something rises in him, then, a sharp stab of remorse so powerful it aches in a way he’d never thought possible.

If only. If only.

                                                        +++

Too often she approaches his occasional fleeting tantrums with nothing more than mutely exasperated resignation, her hooves folded neatly on the top of her cane as she surveys the petty devastation he's left behind— an upended side table, scattered incense and old, singed bowls now lying in disarray.

"Was it unworthy of me?" She eventually asks flatly, and Shen barks out a harsh laugh despite himself.

“Yes,” he says, with an unhinged lightness he hasn’t felt in decades. “It should be better. It should be ornately and ostentatiously decorated and well-constructed enough to last literal dynasties. Then it’d be a worthy addition to your meager collection of furniture.”

There she smiles at him, familiarly, a half-crooked one that speaks to decade’s worth of dealing with his childish temper. He’d seen it, too, all that time ago, in the feverish and sleep-deprived days of his biggest scheme, but at the time it’d only infuriated him, made him feel intrinsically small. Here, now, the sight of it elicits a wash of comfort to come over him, and tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

He laughs, but the sound is thick with emotion, and he flees shortly after.

                                                        +++

"I should leave."

He speaks it into existence with all the strength of a flickering candle, hoping it might pass by unnoticed, perhaps. Yet like a candle in a darkened room, this hushed murmur's reach in the silence of the midnight stillness betrays him.

The clatter of the Soothsayer’s pestle somewhere across the expanse between them tells him she’s heard him. When she speaks, it’s soft but reluctant.

“...Where will you go?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to leave.”

“But I should.”

She doesn’t respond to that, but he can feel that she wants to. He can imagine her when he closes his eyes, searching desperately for something to make this all alright. To make it work for the best. Something that makes it not so hopeless. But she’s smart, he knows. She’ll come to the same conclusion. If she hasn’t already.

Somewhere, there comes that same memory of running to her side, taking her outstretched hoof in his wing, already starting in on some inane factoid he’d picked up in his studies that day, eager to share with her his discoveries.

"I-I'm sorry."

It slips away from him without his approval, before he has a chance to stifle and drown it with any kind of success, and it comes out as a broken whisper. His vision as he stares out the window has started swimming. Some part of him wishes it was because he has begun breathing his last breaths.

Even now, he remains selfish and weak— were he truly so sorry, he thinks, he would have simply disappeared from her life in the night, with only a letter to explain his thoughts; he would have vanished just as unceremoniously as he had arrived, and left her in peace.

But he had done that once, he remembers abruptly.

I thought you died. It comes back to him in pieces.

And now he knows what he is apologizing for. There’s no one left to blame it all on. There is only him. And now for the first time does he feel so thoroughly where he has ruined himself with his own hands only to have pointed the bloodied finger outward to everyone else.

This is a mistake which can not be mended, and he’s known it all along.

Somewhere in the midst of it all he’s aware of a ginger touch to his wing. It’s the Soothsayer, looking up at him with an expression he finds quite difficult to interpret— the furrowed brow of regret, of heartache, but the quirk of hesitant hopefulness. When she speaks, her voice is just as frustratingly troublesome for him to comprehend, soft and sad and vastly unfitting for the words she has decided upon.

“...I’ve wanted to hear you say that for a long time.”

“It’s not enough—” Shen starts, and he can already hear the beginnings of his old hysteria rising in his protest, can feel his age-old pessimism awakening, but the gentle shake of her head in apparent, paradoxical agreement prompts him to hold his tongue.

“No. It’s not.” Then, more firmly, with a tenacity he finds quite startling in its unexpected familiarity, “But it’s a beginning we can work with.”

[whoovesnassistant]

A Hello, A Thank You, And A Brain Dump.

Dear PwPP team,

     I am a recent fan, and I am quite an odd one. I am a lover of everything Doctor Who, so much so I have memorized everything about the Doctor and his interactions during the 2005 revival. Yet since I have watched basically all the doctor who media I had access to (Excluding the most recent season because it does not interest me in the slightest, no offence to 13’s actor) I was without any Doctor Who content that actually interested me.

      Well until I made a discovery. You see, when I was moving to a new house, I found a figure I did not remember owning. It looked like a My Little Pony version of Doctor number 10. It fascinated me because It was officially licensed! So, I went down a rabbit hole, and found a whole new Doctor Who community, lost to YouTube, or even, Internet time entirely.

       That’s a little bit of a dramatization, but the point still stands that I discovered something that a lot of people forgot. The thing is, I know nothing about the My Little Pony area of fandoms, but I found this new world of Doctor Who so fascinating. Not only that, but it was a whole community!

       It was intoxicating! Doctors that I’d never dream of! And actually seeing the doctor see something he truly did not know! But most of all… people who understood what made Doctor Who, Doctor Who.

       I’m not a My Little Pony fan, not in the slightest, but as a Doctor who fan, your series is beyond stellar! I know when people understand Doctor Who or not, and you all did know on a level I don’t even thing some real Doctor Who show writers do! Also, your adaptation of the doctor feels so real, it is just stellar! 

       So, now I have to thank you, all of you. You gave me hope about the future of Doctor who will be bright and full of life! You let me see a new world of story telling. I never saw audio plays used like a legitimate series to such effectiveness and its truly brilliant and has inspired me to try to work on something similar, in due time.

        Yet, lastly, thank you so much for the pure, utter joy your work emanates. Yet again, I’m only a Doctor Who fan, but this  series has genuinely gave me more enjoyment that some Doctor Who episodes. It is just, raw, stupid, enjoyable, and oh so timey-wimy fun! Even with some real Doctor Who-esc  dark/sad moments that makes it feel like I’m listening to a real BBC and Hasbro collaboration!

       In fact, the work of your team gave me a Idea for a episode I just couldn’t keep in my head. I know you most likely have plans for all the future audio plays, but I  am a story teller through and through, so consider the last part of this letter like a pitch. Yet again, I’m not trying to be entitled and be like “Here’s my idea, Now make it!”, no I literally have no other living soul to share this idea with and its killing me.

        Now if I had to title it, it would be a two part play called “Turn Timer” and “Pestering Past”. “Turn Timer” would start with the Tardis crew just bumbling around in time and space. Maybe heading from or to an adventure. Yet when the Tardis enters modern times, it gets thrown off course due to a temporal blackhole (Or something?) making the Tardis materialize in front of a mansion that should not exist, that stands right dead center in the Evergreen Forest (if I got it wrong don’t kill me). The master of the house would be a unicorn named Turn Timer, and would be letting any travelers stay.

       Yet when the Doctor reluctantly stays in a room, they discover that some of the travelers have been seeing a hairless ape-like creature attacking residence, even Turn Timer who would have been attacked, saying that they just popped up a few months ago and he’s been trying to cover it up for business.

      Soon, after the Doctor and Tick Tock (Sorry but I have to say this here, that name did NOT age well) go off without Derpy who does not quite trust Turn Timer because…. well I made the name reverse Time Turner for a reason. Yet both the Doctor and Tick Tock does not notice the clearly weird name, so that means duel plot! Yay!

       Eventually the smart duo would figure out that these creatures are just human like Autons. Yet, since humans, or even humanoids, don’t exist in this universe, this is extremely odd (at least I think,  I still know jack about My Little Pony). Also Imagine this would lead into some funny jokes about how the Doctor needs to explain what the hell a human is, and I just imagine Tick Tock confused Autons being exactly like humans and not just modeled by them.

       Meanwhile, Derpy would be grilling Turn Timer (Also again, only a Doctor Who fan but I can just imagine the Donna theme here and it makes me smile) and I Imagine that 70% of this second plot would be jokes. Until before the Auton realization, where Turn Timer makes the mistake of saying Doctor instead of Time Turner (Which I assume he would sign in as) and would be forced to knock out Derpy. Now, after they figure out the Autons are Autons, and the jokes are done, I’m guessing that Turn Timer would project some sort of communication hologram or magic thingy to the Doctor so they can have an exchange that goes along like this.

   TuTi   “Hello Doctor! Sorry but i did not expect for your assistant to be able to see past my perception field.”

 Doc    “ What did you do to Derpy Turn Timer?”

     TiTo “and what perception field?”

   TuTi “ Oh don’t be daft, Doctor! I swear ever since you regenerated you have become so thick! you can’t even see what is so clearly obvious!  You only know one person who would know the correct configuration for a humanoid Auton, and be smart enough to do it! ”

    Doc, in his serious voice, “ Who are you?”

     TuTi, Outraged “Don’t act like you don’t know! We are best friends! The bestest of friends that have ever existed. Long before you started taking your pets onto your Tardis.  You know deep down, and you are running away from it! Like you ran away from your universe! Our Universe! I am tired of seeing your adventures in this world like you did not live in another.”

    TiTo “Who are you then?”

    Doc, still serious “Don’t humor him”

      TuTi “ Oh Doctor….Can’t even ask your own questions anymore can you? How far you have fallen from what you once were. You once could snap your fingers and make army’s turn and run away. Now you can’t even keep your pets (Companions) on a tight enough leash anymore.”

      Doc “ Wait, fingers? how did you-”

     TuTi “Oh now you are getting it. Finally, we are getting back the Doctor that counts. My Doctor, The Oncoming Storm! The Great Exterminator! The Destroyer of Skaro! And lastly, The Timelord Victorious!”

     Doc panicked and angered yelling (Probably) “Who are you?”

     TuTi “ Finally…. Well… I am the master of the house.. the Master! Of the house.”

   That is where “Turn Timer” would end and go into “Pestering Past”, which would pick up with the Master finishing his evil monolog and him and Derpy being in some sort of cave with the Masters Tardis being rigged as a paradox machine. Derpy would probably be in some sort of status field but still being able to interact with the Master.

     I am sure they would discuss why the Master was so obsessed with getting the Doctor to recognize him. The fact that in the Doctor Who universe,  The Master was so utterly empty without his “Best Friend” he could not stand to exist in a world without him, So he tracked the Doctor down, even through different universes just so he could have fun with his “Best Friend”.

     Also probably  telling Derpy more about the Doctor than he has. And most likely telling stories about when the Doctor was very angry, and why he is the last of the timelords.  I thought this would be a very interesting thing to pop up later on, a Derpy is wondering if the Doctor is worth being around if they could do such a thing then turn around and say its horrid.

    On the topside, I’m imagining the Doctor more scared and upset than seen in your audio plays. The fact that he came to a whole new universe, a place to make a new start and have less weight to carry, has been shattered by probably the only person that could have followed him. And to make it worse, it was someone who knows almost as much as the Doctor without his self control, and knowledge of his past life.

     When the Doctor and the New Master meet face to face, I imagine it would be a battle of chaotic personalities on each side. Also, In my characterization of the Master, I think he would be sarcastically energetic to counteract the Doctors normal energetic craziness. Also, for the hell of it, let’s make the Master obsessed with pegasi instead of unicorns because narrative symbolism.

      Lastly, we would learn that creatures that don’t belong in the world of My Little Pony (Cybermen and Terror are my best examples) where caused by the Masters Paradox machine. This gives a reason why they appeared and connects things in a neat little bow. Also gives a reason for Tick Tock to be mad too, due to the fact that the Master indirectly fueled the war he lost his family and time period for.

      And that’s all I have. I don’t know how it would end except I think the Master would snatch Derpys Tardis key to use it to make something to keep tabs on the Tardis crew.

     I’m sorry that half of this thank you and appreciation letter was more about my ideas than how I adore yours. Everyone on the PwPP crew to me is absolutely stellar! You all have made something truly amazing from a Doctor Who story telling standpoint. Lastly, please have fun making your audio plays or whatever you go on to do. It breaks my heart watching people create and have no fun in it.

With love and appreciation,

Raven.

We’re happy this show has brought you plenty of Doctor Who entertainment, even if you’re not an MLP fan. It’s always fun to learn about people who are generally a fan of one but not the other, who are still big fans of our series.

We aren’t really taking any ideas since we have a solid outline of what the rest of the episodes will be, and we can’t really reveal what characters might be appearing later. Your idea was a fun take on the Master though, perhaps consider writing a fanfic, as I’m sure people would enjoy it and we’ll be willing to post fanfics here.

[ecsundance]

The Worst Person in the World, but maybe one of the best films at the festival

The Worst Person in the World is the third and “… final installment of [Joachim Trier’s] Oslo Trilogy about contemporary existence in the Norwegian capital…”, the other two titled Louder Than Bombs (2015), and Thelma (2017). They are not a trilogy in the sense that they follow the same story, but rather that they share a location and are thematically similar. This film takes its audience on an intimate journey of self-discovery. Director Joachim Trier portrays the desperate desire to feel completely fulfilled in life, and provides a sort of comfort in showing that this process takes time, and you don’t have to rush to achieve it all in your 20s and 30s.

Formatted into a prologue, 12 chapters, and an epilogue, each marking important events and turning points in the main character, Julie’s (Renate Reinsve) life, Trier creates a flowing narrative that captures, in his own words, the subjects of time, pressure, and expectations. Julie wants to find solid ground, but her educational and occupational interests change frequently when she loses confidence in her abilities, and she has a yearning for new and better experiences. On a date with another man, Julie meets Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), who becomes her longer-term boyfriend, leaving her date behind.

Further into their relationship, Aksel has an expo for his new Bobcat comic, which Julie attends reluctantly and ends up leaving early. As she walks through Oslo, where the film is set, she happens upon a baby shower and decides to sneak in. Here, she meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), whom she has an instant connection with and teters the line of cheating with him. In an otherwise life-like movie, there is a fantastically beautiful scene about halfway through in which Julie flips a light switch in Aksel’s apartment, freezing time for everyone except her and Eivind, who she runs through the streets to meet up with to watch the sunrise.

Eventually, Julie breaks up with Aksel to be with Eivind, but ends up finding herself in the same situation of longing for something else, longing for a feeling of accomplishment in her own work. We end with the epilogue, which doesn’t give us Julie’s perfect happy ending, but is rather a continuation of her pursuing her interests, only this time, she goes home to be alone in her own space.

My initial reactions to the film were along the lines of “Oh… ok” and a sense of uncertainty, but thankfully because I was watching the premiere, I had the opportunity to participate in the Q&A immediately after my viewing. Trier has a very bubbly and curious personality, which is clearly reflected in his character Julie. One of the details of the filmmaking process that Trier discussed was why he chose to shoot on 35 mm film. I didn’t put down his exact words, but he essentially said that he likes the mystery it adds. You can’t simply turn up the exposure to see the details in every dark corner, so there is more room for imagination. He also explained that he uses close-up shots to create a paradox of proximity to characters who don’t even know themselves yet.

- Sarah Shafer

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-Honorable Mentions

And now. 

What is hands down.

The Best.

Animated series.

In the 2010s.

Is…

Going to be revealed tomorrow because I'm a piece of s**t (I’ll change the title when enough people fall for it). For now, here are some quick honorable mentions that aren't bad, but just not as good as the shows I picked...in my opinion, at least.

Craig of the Creek (2018-)-From what I've seen from season one, this show is pretty charming. It understands the pure imagination that comes from being a kid and has moments when these characters are more human than cartoons. But it also has the same energy as a Beach City episode in Steven Universe, and as we discussed, not everybody is going to be into that. Plus, I haven't caught up past season one (due to just not having the time), so it wouldn't be fair to claim it's one of the best when I haven't seen how seasons two and three hold. I've heard from other people that it's good, so I'll be willing to take their word for it. And maybe you should too.

Milo Murphy's Law (2016-2019)-I've seen a handful of episodes of this show, but from what I saw, I'd say it's worth watching further. The idea of this kid, who's cursed to literally have the worst life ever, deciding to have an optimistic outlook of the hand he's been dealt is pretty admirable. Plus, Weird Al Yankovic voices the main character. I can't physically hate it. Although the ginormous issue that Milo Murphy's Law has is that it relies too much on Phineas and Ferb's recognizability. I get that both shows were created by the same people, and I'd be more than fine if there were just a few shout outs and references. But the creators decided to force one of the characters in Phineas and Ferb into Milo's Murphy's Law, making it sort of a spin-off series on top of being its own separate thing. Meaning that you don't have to watch Phineas and Ferb beforehand, but you do need to know who these characters are going in. And if you're wondering how that paradoxical concept works...I couldn't tell you. I haven't seen the show in its entirety, and from what I have seen, it's at least good enough for an honorable mention.

The Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes (2010-2013)-There's nothing wrong with this series. The designs are great, the representation of these iconic characters is even better, and the level of quality is on par with the Marvel Cinematic Universe...I just always forget that this show exists. No offense to the series, but I just prefer shows that I'll remember instead of shows that I'll forget in another ten years.

Young Justice (2010-)-And before you start making the audacious claim that I'm a DC fanboy, let it be clear that Young Justice is an honorable mention for similar reasons. I love the character designs, and I think the representation is on point. Plus, while it does not have MCU levels of quality, Young Justice matches up with the good DC movies. It's just forgettable...and also because I never got the chance to watch the third season yet. Instead, I wasted my limited time with an HBOmax subscription on watching Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and my favorite Doctor Who episodes. Don't judge me!

Harley Quinn (2019-)-And seeing how I mentioned it, Harley Quinn is a fantastic show with perfect satire. And like some of the best satirical writings, this show has a deep understanding of the source material that it's making fun of while still providing an excellent story at the same time. However, most jokes die quick, and the animation is just flat out garbage at times. I recommend it, but keep in mind that there's a reason why it's just an honorable mention.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-2020)-I know I kind of trashed it with my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) review, but the truth is that I really love this show. Or, at least, I want to love this show. Because there is something amazing and worthwhile that’s hidden under a gigantic pile of poor planning and network meddling. I plan to make a full review for it in the future, so I'll save my thoughts for when that comes. For now, just know that it's something worthwhile if you're the right person.

Amphibia (2019-)-Aaaaaaand it's the same thing here. There's a lot that I like about it, but the stuff I don't makes it hard to enjoy. I'll also do a full review on this one in the future, so you're just going to have to wait...again.

Tangled: The Animated Series (2017-2020)-Another show that I really liked and even considered putting on the list. Even wrote a review and everything. But looking back, the parts that it did wrong highly outweighed what it does right, and honestly, it was a toss-up between this and Star V.S. the Forces of Evil for what took twentieth place. I ultimately went with Star V.S. because at least it had villains that were actually intriguing and terrifying characters. Unlike a specific antagonist with blue hair who was so idiotic and insane that I honestly would have felt nothing if they died in the end...I know that I just made a ton of enemies with that statement, but I don't give a s**t. And if you're nice, I might rewrite my review so I can accurately explain why this series is a tad bit overrated.

The Looney Tunes Show (2011-2014)-... I liked it...other people didn't, but I liked it.

Hilda (2018-)-Because I haven't seen season two yet. That's why. And from what I've seen in season one, this show is incredibly charming, beautifully imaginative, and is absolutely something I would show to my children if I ever have any. Maybe it forces in drama when it doesn't need to, but overall, you can better believe that this would have made the list if I saw season two before I started ranking shows.

And those are my honorable mentions. I’ll see you tomorrow for the actual unveiling of the number one spot. And for the fandoms that I ticked off...be patient.

(Also, let this be a lesson to read the tags before clicking 'Keep Reading.' Unless that's what you did, in which case, BOY, do I have egg on my face.

[corkcitylibraries]

Book Review: Gøhril Gabrielsen’s Ankomst

by Dr. Sorcha Fogarty

Gabrielsen’s debut novel Unevnelige hendelser (Unspeakable Events) came out in 2006 winning Aschehoug’s First Book Award. She won the Tanum Women Writer’s Prize in 2010, and the Amalie Skram Prize for her oeuvre in 2016. Published by Peirene Press as part of their aptly titled Closed Universe series of books in 2020, Ankomst is Gabrielsen’s fifth novel and was awarded the 2017 Havmann Prize for Northern Norway Literature. It also was selected as one of the winners of the English PEN’s flagship translation awards of 2020.  

The first line of any novel should be a seduction, drawing the reader in, and Gabrielsen doesn’t disappoint, beginning Ankomst with “This is where the world ends”. The protagonist, who remains unnamed, is a Biologist and Environmental Scientist wintering on a remote Norwegian peninsula to collect data on the link between climate change and the decline in numbers of various species in order to complete her doctoral thesis. She has left behind her young daughter, her ex-husband, and her lover – whom she is convinced will be joining her imminently. We spend the entire 180 pages in the company of a woman whose name we do not even know, and the success of this book hinges entirely on Gabrielsen’s ability to create a fascinating protagonist out of this nameless, faceless woman. 

There is a kind of cyclical rhythm to the events of the novel – in a book just 180 pages long, we have 50 chapters, and each chapter is anywhere between one and five pages long. The short chapters are like bursts of information, a kind of pseudo-diary, narrated in the first person, and this narrative technique serves to build tension and an impending sense of doom aided by the detailed descriptions of the surroundings, the relentlessly foreboding seas and skies. Throughout Ankomst, the rational is juxtaposed with the emotional, as our scientifically-minded narrator attempts to suppress her growing emotional turmoil through her daily chores and her commitment to completing her thesis. She painstakingly measures environmental conditions and takes data readings, stating “Emotions should be like that. Measurable. Predictable.” But, as we all know, they’re not. And, as the story progresses, her emotions defy such neat containment as the pressure of her isolation becomes all the more apparent. There is a sense of remoteness and drifting towards madness as she endeavours to plow on with her work while she reflects on the collapse of her personal life. Furthermore, the lover she is waiting for never seems to arrive. 

The Norwegian word “ankomst” translates as “arrival/coming/entrance (the act of entering)”. However, paradoxically, the book is less about where the protagonist has come to than about what she’s running away from. Having left so much behind, she hopes she can move on with her life. Her longing for “clear and measurable phenomena” and a “language of indisputable realities, rather than dumb, undefinable feelings” gives way to a declining mental state, as she spends much of her time alone pondering a story found in a pamphlet she discovers, regarding a house that burned down 140 years ago close to the site of her hut. Using the few details given, she conjures up an elaborate story of what might have happened, imagining the life of the family and their hardship. However, this is all merely a projection of her own past, and as the story progresses we are drip fed more information about what came before the trip, and the end of her marriage to a man simply referred to as S. 

The rational thinker becomes drawn towards the irrational, and the remoteness she has sought starts to feel less like a refuge and more like a threat, “And now I can hear it again, the sound of moaning [...]. Is it coming from me or the stove? Is it just the embers dying? The logs collapsing and turning to ash?” Is it her imagination or is there someone else around? We’re never really sure if this is a manifestation of her paranoia or something more. As the narrator begins to suspect that her lover is not so keen on joining her, and as the constant solitude begins to wear her down, her mind begins to play tricks on her, with occasional blackouts and suspicions of objects moving of their own accord. Is she starting to lose her mind? Or, as suggested above, more disturbingly, is she not as alone as she thinks? While the brilliant 20th century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre famously ended his play No Exit with the line, “Hell is Other People”, and we have all experienced some sort of “social overload” at times, needing solitude in order to recharge ourselves, prolonged isolation is widely recognised as a precursor to many serious mental health problems. Like it or not, we are social animals, and fundamentally, we need other people. Limited social engagements have deleterious emotional effects including a rise in fear and paranoia and a decrease in self-esteem. 

There are a lot of common horror elements in the book – the setting of The Thing, and the isolation and supernatural elements of The Shining. One critic has noted that it also has a lot in common thematically with space thrillers, like Gravity, The Martian or Moon, a comparison which Gabrielsen herself has noted – “It strikes me that fieldwork has many similarities to a stay on a space station. Like an astronaut I find myself in a desolate place, lonely and infinitely far from people, utterly dependent on technology as my sole link to the world beyond”. Ankomst is essentially a story of slow-burning dread, a tale which highlights the effects of isolation with only the primal forces of nature for company. Ultimately, this strange yet captivating work illustrates that sometimes, the things we may be trying to flee from aren’t so easy to escape, especially when most of them are in our own minds.

[terryballs]

My favourite Doctor Who writers

10. Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is one of the most talented people to ever write for Doctor Who. Of course, talent alone is not enough - Douglas Adams, Alan Moore, and Naomi Alderman all miss out on this list. What makes Gaiman special is his fairytale, fantasy approach to the show. He has big ideas, full of heart, and I am always delighted by them.

Why isn’t Mr Gaiman higher up on the list? Simply because he has only done four stories. One of them, “The Doctor’s Wife”, is an all-time classic, while the others are at least good. With a couple more stories, Mr Gaiman would surely be higher.

9. Paul Magrs

Coming in at #9 is one of the most important writers of non-televised Who. Paul Magrs has written nine Big Finish Main Range stories (most notably “The Peterloo Massacre”), three Companion Chronicles, and two Eighth Doctor Adventures, including the exceptional “The Zygon Who Fell To Earth”, as well as a huge number of spin-off adventures.

It’s in print where Magrs really flourishes, though. It’s quite hard to get across just how influential Paul Magrs has been. Firstly, his three books in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range - The Scarlet Empress, The Blue Angel, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen - are hugely ambitious metatextual delights. These stories introduce Iris Wildthyme and the Smudgelings to the Whoniverse, and have each inspired their own spin-off series, collectively called the “Magrsverse”. Iris’s parody of the Doctor is a rip-roaring delight whenever she appears - and as you know, she’s famous for it - and will prove a lasting legacy for Mr Magrs.

I suppose, at this junction, I should mention Lawrence Miles, who has had a similar influence, but I just don’t find to be quite as good a storyteller as Magrs.

8. Rob Shearman

You probably know Rob Shearman for “Dalek”, the first good New Who story. What if I told you that “Dalek” is Shearman’s worst DW story?

The titles of Shearman’s audio plays are enough to send shivers up the spines of those who have heard them. There’s “Jubilee”, the loose inspiration for “Dalek”, which explores the Daleks as fascist iconography. There’s “The Holy Terror”, where the Doctor and Frobisher the Penguin Shape-Shifter have a similarly horrifying experience with a religious cult. There’s “The Chimes of Midnight”, possibly the definitive Eighth Doctor story, and “Scherzo”, itself perhaps the most experimental story in Doctor Who history, and “Deadline”, in which the villain is Doctor Who itself.

Like many of the writers on this list, Shearman has an eclectic back catalogue full of obscure oddities. But few people have quite his capacity for knocking it out of the park.

7. Chris Chibnall

It’s true that Chris Chibnall’s work before becoming showrunner is inconsistent at best. “42″ is bad and “The Hungry Earth” is uninspired. “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” is a fun romp, while “The Power of Three” is a great story that is let down by the ending which had to be re-written hastily due to unforeseen production issues. And Chibnall’s contributions to Series 11 range from “fine” (”The Woman Who Fell To Earth”) to “bad” (”The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”). But in “Pond Life” and “P.S.”, Chibnall shows that he knows how to write affecting character beats.

It’s in Series 12 that Chibnall really takes things up a step. His stories become sprawling and ambitious: globe-trotting thrillers crammed full of ideas. He’s still occasionally guilty of trying to throw too many ideas in, but his love for the story really shines through. There’s barely a weak moment in Series 12, and that’s largely because Chibnall himself steps up to write or co-write hit after hit after hit. It all culminates in the epic three-part finale, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”/”Ascension of the Cybermen”/”The Timeless Children”, a hugely ambitious story that crosses space and time and pulls together disparate elements from the history of Who. It’s a million miles from “The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”: a fan-pleasing story that is truly epic.

6. Vinay Patel

Why is Vinay so high? Good question. Thinking about it, I can’t really justify this placement. Patel reliably produces great stories - “Demons of the Punjab” alone marks Patel out as a great, and to follow it up with “Fugitive of the Judoon” shows that it wasn’t a fluke. But Mr Patel has only got four stories to his name - the aforementioned TV stories plus “Letters from the Front” and “The Tourist” - so for similar reasons to Mr Gaiman, a high position is difficult to justify.

So instead, let’s give this position to Terrance Dicks. Mr Dicks has a bit of a reputation as more of a “jobbing” writer than someone like Chibnall or Shearman, Terrance Dicks was, first and foremost, a script editor. Yes, he co-wrote “The War Games” and was the sole writer for “Horror of Fang Rock”, but he’s best remembered for script editing the Third Doctor era (and part of the Second Doctor era), as well as producing an absolute mass of Target novelisations. But that’s not all - Mr Dicks has written original novels (VNAs, EDAs, and PDAs alike), Quick Reads, audio stories, two stage plays, and even the Destiny of the Doctor video game.

Sure, Mr Dicks didn’t burn as bright as Mr Patel. But his contribution to the Whoniverse is unparalleled.

5. Nev Fountain

Comedy writer Nev Fountain has written several of the very best Doctor Who stories. For some reason, these stories tend to centre around Peri (Fountain is married to Nicola Bryant). “Peri and the Piscon Paradox” is the best Companion Chronicle by far, due to a combination of great acting by Bryant and Colin Baker and Fountain’s sizzling script. “The Kingmaker” is an outrageously funny historical with incredible dialogue and multiple ideas clever enough to carry a whole story.

Frankly, those two alone should be enough to convince anyone of Fountain’s brilliance. But there is so much more - “The Widow’s Assassin”, “The Curious Incident of the Doctor In the Night-time”, “The Blood on Santa’s Claw”, “Omega“... if you like Doctor Who, make yourself familiar with Nev Fountain.

4. Robert Holmes

More than anyone else, Robert Holmes is responsible for the esteem which the Fourth Doctor is held in.

Holmes first wrote for the show all the way back in Series 6, with “The Krotons”. He wrote the very first Third Doctor story, “Spearhead From Space”, in which he also introduced the Autons. They reappeared a year later in “Terror of the Autons”, which introduced Jo Grant and the Master. In “The Time Warrior”, Holmes introduced the Sontarans, a pastiche of imperialism.

It was in the Fourth Doctor era that Mr Holmes really made his mark. He took over from Mr Dicks as script editor. In his own right, he wrote “The Deadly Assassin” and “Talons of Weng-Chiang”, but he also turned “The Ark In Space”, “Pyramids of Mars”, and “The Brain of Morbius” into usable stories, even appearing in “The Brain of Morbius” as the Doctor.

After stepping back from script editing, Holmes returned as a hack to write stories like “The Caves of Androzani” (probably the most popular story in Classic Who) and “The Two Doctors”, before dying shortly after his 60th birthday.

3. Jamie Mathieson

Putting Mr Mathieson above Mr Holmes really shows my bias towards New Who, but honestly, I’d rather re-watch “Mummy on the Orient Express”, “Flatline”, or “Oxygen” than any of Holmes’ stories. Mathieson is very inventive and extremely good at maintaining pace and tension. I’m sure we’ll get more stories from him in the future, but the ones we have so far should be used as inspiration by anyone wanting to writing exciting Who.

2. John Dorney

It is hard to exaggerate Mr Dorney’s contributions to audio Who. He may lack the external fanbase of Mr Gaiman, the influence of Mr Magrs, or the legendary status of Messrs Dicks, Chibnall, and Holmes, but make no mistake, Dorney is exceptional. In almost every range he tries his hand at - Lost Stories, Novel Adaptations, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor Adventures, Fifth Doctor Adventures, Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous, Time War, Companion Chronicles, Short Trips, Jago and Litefoot, Missy, UNIT, Diary of River Song... Dorney reliably writes the best story in the set.

In particular, Dorney’s stories are notable for the way they focus on character drama. Look at stories like “A Life In A Day” or “Absent Friends” for particular examples of stories that use sci-fi concepts to draw emotion out of characters, particularly the stoic Liv Chenka. Other highlights of Dorney’s include “The Red Lady” and the “Better Watch Out”/”Fairytale of Salzburg” two-parter.

1. Steven Moffat

What more is there to say? Moffat is truly exceptional, reliably writing the best stories in TV Who for several consecutive years. The classics are too numerous to list, but the stand outs amongst the stand outs are “Blink” and “Heaven Sent”/”Hell Bent”.

Some of Moffat’s best work comes away from TV. The minisodes “The Inforarium” and “Night of the Doctor”, the novelisation of “Day of the Doctor”, the short stories “Continuity Errors” and “the Corner of the Eye”, and lockdown stories like “Terror of the Umpty Ums” are Moffat deep cuts which deserve to be held in the same regard as his great TV stories.

Moffat’s imagination lead to him creating multiple iconic monsters - foremost amongst them, the Weeping Angels and the Silence. Moffat emphasised the use of time travel within the stories themselves; other themes in his work include memory, perception, paradoxes, identity, sexuality, and responsibility. He is, without a doubt, the greatest Doctor Who writer, and I am so lucky to have lived through the period where he was active.

[bladekindeyewear]

There's been speculation that the background colors on page 214 signify each Candy kid's aspect, making Harry heart, Vrissy mind, and Tavros breath. What do you think of that?

I have to admit it’s possible.  Harry was already a lock for Heart, there were too many hats.  (Plus other evidence besides. :p )  And Vrissy’s relentless concern for her outward appearance and self-serving deceptiveness could pretty easily be Mind player traits instead of just Thief of Light traits.  (Tavros, so far, hasn’t done anything particularly Breathy besides being the one with the hovercar.)

However, it would certainly be odd to have the completely-genetically-different “spiritual successor” to Tavros be a Breath player like the original, but have the almost-genetically-identical and so-personality-similar Vrissy have such a different Aspect focus.  Granted, Vrissy is only almost genetically identical, and was never proven to be exactly the same as Vriska biologically.

It’s possible that IF Vrissy is a Mind player, it’s meant to tie into them not being genetically identical... BUT, it’s also possible they’re going to say she’s a Mind player AND genetically identical, and that this is HS2 sending a message that that’s possible.  Conventional bladekindeyewear classpect wisdom (whatever THAT bullshit is worth!) says that your hero title reflects your true potential and the way you would most effectively operate to affect reality around you... this has always been held to mean theoretically the same titles for any genetically-identical people, as that “potential” would lump in every manner and environment you could have possibly been raised in.  And for what it’s worth, the pre-Scratch and post-Scratch Trolls kept their effective hero titles from all signs despite their wildly different growing-up circumstances, beyond some purely thematic allusions to their new descendants’ titles that never lined up as well with their actions as their original titles.

However, those could easily have been kept consistent on both sides of the Scratch through circumstantial-thematic means because these were the same people across tightly-linked game sessions, even if your title COULD be different if you were raised elsewhere.  It was never a 100% hard line, just an assumption we made based on available evidence, and something some members of the fandom always imagined could be fudged (although usually by saying the pre- and post-scratch guardians and ancestors could have had different titles, which I always viewed as incorrect -- their cross-universe titles were clearly the same in Homestuck proper).  A whole lot more divides Vriska and this coincidental “clone” of hers than was possible in the original Homestuck, given how far they’ve travelled outside the bounds of Paradox Space before Vrissy was born.  As similar as they are, and perhaps even genetically identical, I could imagine Vrissy and Vriska MIGHT not share a Heart -- that if either Vrissy or Vriska ascended to their Ultimate Self, they might not share each others’ lives in their memories.  Would THAT be enough to make the true Hero Titles emblematic to their individuality different?  Wouldn’t it be?

I guess we’ll wait and see.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN ONLINE

At the other extreme are publications like the New York Times article about suits would sound if you read it in a blog: The urge to look corporate—sleek, commanding, prudent, yet with just a touch of hubris on your well-cut sleeve—is an unexpected development in a time of business disgrace. So what's going on is that the writing online is more honest.1 Plus they were always so relieved.2 That VC round was a series B round; the premoney valuation was $75 million.3 Many if not most of the 20th. Even if the big corporations had wanted to die. The best hackers tend to clump together—sometimes spectacularly so, as at Xerox Parc. 100,000 people worked there. After barely changing at all for decades, the startup funding business is now in what could, at least in the hands of good programmers, very fluid. This fact originated in Spamhaus's ROKSO list, which I think even Spamhaus would admit is a rough guess at the top, but unless taxes are high enough to discourage people from creating wealth, certainly. But if it's inborn it should be universal, and there are plenty of societies where parents don't mind if their teenage kids have sex—indeed, where it's normal for 14 year olds to become mothers.

So by studying the ways adults lie to kids is how broad the conspiracy is.4 To them the company is now 18 weeks old.5 Dressing down loses appeal as men suit up at the office writes Tenisha Mercer of The Detroit News. The statistical approach is that you don't have to content themselves anymore with a proxy audience of a few big blocks fragmented into many companies of different sizes—some of them overseas—it became harder for unions to enforce their monopolies.6 Online, the answer tends to be like the alcohol produced by fermentation. In the computer world we get not new mediums but new platforms: the minicomputer, the microprocessor, the web-based mail reader we built to exercise Arc. The really juicy new approaches are not the ones insiders reject as impossible, but those they ignore as undignified. Now it's Wepay's. Here's a test for deciding whether a VC's response was yes or no.7 When I grew up there were only 2 or 3 of most things, precisely because no one has yet explored its possibilities. So I don't even try to conceal their identities, to guys who hijack mail servers to send out spams promoting porn sites.

Whether or not computers were a precondition, they have a deal. When I did try statistical analysis, I found practically nothing.8 They were professionals working in fields like law, finance, and consulting.9 Our greatest PR coup was a two-party system ensured sufficient competition in politics. It hasn't occurred in a single one of my 4000 spams. Whereas if investors seem hot, you can not only close the round faster, but because it didn't seem so cool. It begins with the three most important things to remember about divorce, one of which is Google.

Others say I will get in trouble if they tell anyone what happened to Einstein: Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true.10 So if you're going to clear these lies out of your incoming spam. Both changes drove salaries toward market price. A round they often don't. SLAC goes right under 280 a little bit south of Sand Hill Road precisely because they're so boringly uniform. Good PR firms use the same strategy: they give reporters stories that are true.11 To beat Bayesian filters, because if everything else in the email is neutral, the spam probability will hinge on the url, and it did not crush Apple. Unfortunately that makes this email a boring example of the use of Bayes' Rule.12

Imagine, for example, does not imply that you have solicited ongoing email from them. Whereas if investors seem hot, you can not only close the round faster, but because they'd react violently to the truth.13 You can't just tinker. 08221981 supported 0.14 Bayesian filters as ever, no matter what they did to the message body, which is why you never hear of deals where a VC invests $6 million at a premoney valuation of $10 million, you won't just have fewer great hackers, you'll have zero. They shouldn't take it so much to heart. Don't companies realize this is a coincidence. Large organizations have different aims from hackers. Its graduates didn't expect to do the sort of grubby menial work that Andrew Carnegie or Henry Ford started out doing. These companies may be far from failures by ordinary standards.

They'll simply refuse to work on what you like. Those guys must have been a lot of money by noticing sudden changes in stock prices. If we can write software that recognizes their messages, there is no try. And the microcomputer business ended up being Apple vs Microsoft.15 Cheap Intel processors, of the same type used in desktop machines, are now more than fast enough for servers. Microcomputers are a classic example: he did everything himself, hardware and software, and the number one thing they have in common is the extreme difficulty of making them work on anything they don't want random people pestering them with business plans. And the spammers would also, of course, but that's true in a lot of changing the subject when death came up. Which is exactly what they're supposed to help or supervise. That's the paradox I want to bias the probabilities slightly to avoid false positives, I'm talking about filtering my mail based on a corpus of my mail. And the social effects lasted too. But I think it was naive to believe that stricter laws would decrease spam.

Notes

If Apple's board hadn't made that blunder, they can grow the acquisition into what it would be to say that was actively maintained would be investors who rejected you did.

Geshke and Warnock only founded Adobe because Xerox ignored them.

At once, and so thought disproportionately about such customs. Even as late as 1984. But the margins are greater on products. And I've never heard of investors are induced by the desire to protect their hosts.

Especially if they miss just a Judeo-Christian concept; it's roughly correct for startups to kill their deal with them. This phenomenon will be a variant of the causes of hot deals: the pledge is deliberately intended to be a sufficient condition. Icio. The company is always raising money, the last thing you changed.

When Harvard kicks undergrads out for doing badly and is doomed anyway.

Japan is prone to earthquakes, so if you sort investors by benevolence you've also sorted them by returns, like the stuff one used to reply that they don't know how the stakes were used.

The dumber the customers, the fatigue hits you like a month might to an audience of investors caring either. But it's useful to consider these two ideas separately. Our rule is that they have a competent startup lawyer handle the deal for you. It would have undesirable side effects.

And that will seem more powerful sororities at your school sucks, and not to foo but to a study by the time they're fifteen the kids are smarter than preppies, just that everyone's visual piano has that key on it. Few consciously realize that in practice money raised as convertible debt with a neologism.

Apple's products but their policies. These were the seven liberal arts.

Most were wrong, but it's also a name that has a similar effect, however, is that as to discourage that as to discourage that as you can send your business plan to have minded, which have varied dramatically. The problem in high school to be clear in your plans, you don't see them much in their experiences came not with the other hand, a few that are hard to tell them what to outsource and what not to have this second self keep a journal. The problem is not yet released.

And journalists as part of wisdom. If by cutting the founders' advantage if it gets you growth, because you can get it, so they will only be a special title for actual partners. It is probably no accident that the word wealth. So when they were more dependent on banks for capital for expansion.

In a country with a no-shop clause. Trevor Blackwell, who had been transposed into your head.

I wouldn't bet against it either. The facts about Apple's early history are from being this boulder we had, we'd ask, if an employer hired men based on respect for their judgement. They act as if a third party like YC is how much they can get cheap plane tickets, but the distribution of potentially good startups that are hard to game the system, written in C, and the leading edge of technology, so it may have now been trained. Why Are We Getting a Divorce?

The way to do with the solutions.

Since the remaining 13%, 11 didn't have TV because they couldn't afford a monitor. Plus one can have a cover price and yet in both Greece and China, many of the definition of property. The problem is not very well connected. Many will consent to b rather than lose a prized employee.

[jinruihokankeikaku]

can u do seer of rage?

Here we go!! Sorry 8out the delay, 8een havin some slight technical difficulties. Title: Seer of Rage Title Breakdown: One who passively understands [learns, teaches, studies, investigates] Rage [negativity, anger, doubt, skepticism, meta-narrative, demons] Role in the Session: What initially comes to mind here is the fact that both Seers and Rage players are remarkably skeptical and capable of seeing through illusion. This calls to mind the image of someone who is supremely critical of everything – one who will call the Game itself on its arbitrariness and contradiction, one who revels in exposing and naming its innumerable paradoxes and lapses inconsistency. They’ll see the Game as some sort of veil to be pierced or machine to be taken apart – not a worthy destiny but the work of some demiurge. This may seem a bit dramatic, but in the canon both Seers and Rage players have made efforts not just to understand the game, but to break it and thereby transcend it. This could, needless to say, end badly. However, the Game is a flawed thing, and sometimes, often even, it needs to be broken. The Seer of Rage provides a unique level of insight to whatever session they join, and they’ll be able to leverage their knowledge of people’s “inner demons” to resolve or instigate conflicts as they desire. I think a Seer of Rage would have access to some limited level of telepathy or extrasensory perception, including the capacity to detect particularly strong surges of emotion in those around them. This empathy is stronger on the receiving end, Seers being as they are a Passive Class, but there is likely some transmission – well developed Seers are meant not only to learn of their Aspect, but to teach of it and to inspire it in those around them (see, for example the Signless/the Sufferer, the Beta timeline version of the Seer of Blood Kankri Vantas, who becomes a martyr and messianic figure and inspires the formation of bonds and alliances, both domains of Blood). A Seer of Rage could eventually inspire the entire team, and possibly even beings beyond their session and its players, to adopt their attitude of relentless criticism, and perhaps ultimately transcend the grand cosmic joke that is the Game. Their Planet’s Quest, symbolic of their path towards personal development within the context of the game, will likely involve some sort of puzzle or investigation, with dire consequences in the event of success or failure. Perhaps the entire Planet has been by its Denizen enshrouded in illusion, obscuring the entire landscape and presenting a false Quest; in order to begin their true Quest, the Seer must first discern the unreality of their Land’s landscape. Their Quest will be engineered, paradoxically, to lead the Seer to the conclusiont that the Quest’s guidance is false; they will have to modify the techniques they use in combat and in interaction with their Planet’s consorts in order to confront their denizen and advance along their path to victory. A Seer of Rage will benefit most from co-players who share the Seer’s inquisitive attitude and critical gaze – a Sylph of Space, for example, may have an aptitude for examining physical spaces and objects in a manner that runs parallel to the Seer’s capacity for finding flaw in personal beliefs or consciousness/narrative in general. Additionally, a Witch of Life would share the Seer’s tendency towards rebellion, mirroring within the confines of the Game the Seer’s rebellion against the Game itself. Opposite Role: The Witch of Hope. These two Roles, despite being each other’s Inverse, share several similarities – they’re both rebellious, driven, and powerful to the point of being hazardous to their session. The key difference between these players lies in the Opposition between their respective Aspects – while Rage players tend towards cynicism, skepticism, and a critical worldview, Hope players tend towards firm convictions, faith in a religious or philosphical worldview (or in a particular person or group), and a more credulous or naïve worldview than most. This conflict could manifest dramatically were both of these Roles to be present in a team, as the Seer would see through (or at least believe themselves to see through) that philosophical schema in which the Witch had invested their faith. Should this contradiction become antagonistic, the resulting battle would likely be catastrophic for the Session as a whole, given the Witch’s nigh-unlimited capacity to bend reality and the Seer’s potential realization of their desire to break, alter, or defy the rules of the Game’s narrative. God Tier Powers Rage is the Expansive-Explosive-Personal Aspect, and its domains include fire, conflagration/explosion, anger, fear, and general negativity, as well as demoniacal or grotesque imagery and an uncanny capacity for meta-Game shenanigans. Seers are the Passive Comprehension Class, and their powers are geared towards learning of, and ultimately teaching others of, the many and varied domains of the Aspect to which they’re bound. With these things in mind, here are a few potential powers a God-Tiered Seer of Rage might have access to… Caustic Empathy: The Seer is capable of telepathically detecting Rage-associated negative emotions, including fear, anger, and disillusionment, and by focusing in on the mind of whoever is harboring these emotions, they can discern their cause and motive source. They’re also likely to be exceedingly self-aware in this regard, perfectly aware at all times of the cause of their Rage (although it’s important to note that self-awareness does not in itself constitute a capacity to effectively manage one’s Rage). This telepathic field can be inverted at the Seer’s discretion to render others aware of their own Rage, possibly drawing to the surface emotions hitherto repressed. Prophet of Rage: As a Passive Class, the Seer’s powers work in harmony with their Aspect, and the Seer of Rage serves Rage as much as Rage serves them. They are called upon to disseminate the truth of Rage, to awaken the inner demons of those around them, and to direct their furor towards the falsehoods surrounding them. Those under the Seer’s tutelage, whether fellow players or Game constructs, are more inclined towards both negativity and honesty, and have a tendency to see straight through the ordinarily enigmatic conceits of the game – for example, the Seer might be able to interpret the ramblings of Sprites more readily than most, and may even be especially inclined towards understanding the language of Denizens, even those Denizens not their own. Death of the Author: If the unthinkable slash inevitable were to come to pass, and the Ascended Seer of Rage were to become aware of the fourth and final fenestrated façade between fact and fiction, they would unlock within themselves a fresh font of Rage, likely directed toward the narrative itself. They might flagrantly flout such authorial conceits as “plot”, “characterization”, and “narrative consistency”, navigating the cryptic channels of canon to insert themselves into whatever situations they like, in a manner similar to that exploited by our canonical Bard of Rage, but somehow more mystical. Rather than merely wreaking havoc through reckless disruption of the right narratorial order, they would have an additional layer of meta-gnosis, which layer they would have the unique capacity to share. What happens when an entire cast of characters becomes aware of their creator? Some questions are perhaps best left unanswered, but I somhow suspect that our Seer of Rage doesn’t much care one way or another. Personality: The Seer of Rage is a harsh, but often helpful Role. They may at times take on a didactic tone, as with any Seer, but more often I imagine they’d prefer to be demagogues – working a smaller crowd, perhaps, than a charismatic leader like a Knight or Heir, but nonetheless playing off of emotions rather than reason. Their patterns of speech and attitudes towards relationships will likely mirror their Rage-bound paradoxical “passionate cynicism” – I’ve used the Marx quote “ruthless criticism of all things existing” in Rage player analyses before, but this might be the one in which it’s most apt. They’ll be among the first to recognize and call out social constructs that seem arbitrary and contrived, but may struggle to direct and focus their Rage against any particular machine, being as they are preoccupied with every falsehood and inconsistency of modern life. The Seer’s personal fatal flaw is like the Witch’s in kind, but opposite in source – while both Seers and Witches can be tempted into wrongdoing through their Aspect, Witches tend to be lured to “assume direct control” by the power their Aspect promises, while Seers tend to be deceived or tricked into believing “facts” overly tinted by the lens of their Aspect. In the case of the Seer of Rage, the key to personal growth is to apply their critical gaze even to their own Aspect as they do to all other Aspects of reality – to question the cynicism and accompanying grimdark thoughts which haunt them in order to espy not only the manner in which the world must burn, but also the character of that world which will rise from its ashes. Songs Cerise by Ghost Toxicity by System of a Down Black Planet by The Sisters of Mercy I hope you enjoyed this analysis, anon!! Sorry again a8out the delay, I’ve 8een movvin a lot of files around l8ly, and havvin some small personal stuff goin on, 8ut I should 8e 8ack to consistent scheduled programmin by next wweek at the l8est ::::> thanxx for the ask!! ~ P L U R ~