#Seating Systems

[katabay]

(cage the elephant voice) money don't grow on trees, I got bills to pay, etc etc etc

ngl this month has been Rough™: for whatever reason, I've been going back to Thief for something familiar. which is. well. it's definitely not the same as relaxing, I have never felt relaxed playing the original Thief games lmao but it is familiar! I wrote an outline for a longer fan comic set after Deadly Shadows using themes/etc I enjoyed from the 2014 reboot but I got sidetracked reading up on the gnarlier politics involved in the Industrial Revolution. so. we'll see what happens with that!

[atomicsheepscientist]

What if Bruce so obsessively worked to keep his identities separate, he actually gave himself a split personality?

Like, when the cowl is on he IS Batman. Not Bruce, Bruce has left the building. Batman is in control now.

Oh, and at parties, the Brucie mask starts to become *more* than a mask. Brucie is here, queer, and ready to paaartay! Batman? He doesn't know the man! Literally forgets Batman is a part of him too.

So, what I'm getting at here is any type of Truth toxin, serum, test, whatever. None of it would work on them. Batman IS Batman. Brucie doesn't know who Batman is. Bruce Wayne is smart and skilled enough to not be caught under forced truthfulness.

It would take a LOT of asking the right questions to get Batman's identity behind the mask. And I would love to see a villain try!

[blue-mood-blue]

Of all the missed opportunities with Gongyi Xiao (of which there are many, why would you do that to my boy), I think the one I pine over most is that open and available invitation to Qing Jing Peak.

Because, if timed right, the possibilities are fucking hilarious.

You’re Gongyi Xiao. Your pride has taken a little bit of a hit after the Immortal Alliance Conference both because everyone expected you to place first (and you didn’t) and your teacher got so distracted by the one who did place first that you’ve felt a little… neglected. But you’re a nice person, and the conference ended with the deaths of so many of your shidi and shimei that you let the petty concerns roll off your back.

Except then the guy who pulled the upset at the conference shows up at your sect and pulls an upset on every other aspect of your life. The girl you like and who you thought liked you has heart eyes for him only, your teacher is definitely putting you on the backburner to the point of handing this guy most of your responsibilities (and he’s killing it, he’s doing amazing, it’s the conference all over again), and everyone else in the sect seems to prefer him to you. No one’s cruel about it, and they’re still listening to you - mostly. Most of the time. But you have the sinking suspicion that if it came to an actual disagreement between the two of you, you know who’d end up on top. Plus he looks just like you, except hotter. Maybe that’s not the kind of thing a guy like Gongyi Xiao outright perceives but there’s a vibe. The vibe of inadequacy.

(And because you’re Gongyi Xiao and a good person, you don’t have the kind of suspicion in your heart to start looking for ulterior motives or conniving plots - but even if you did, what would you find? The guy who is looking more and more like your replacement came to the sect injured. He looks sadly and deeply into the distance every time his original sect or shizun are mentioned. He’s polite. He’s talented. What are you supposed to say, that he survived unexpected disaster at the conference only to hatch some sort of hostile takeover plot in the meantime? Who would believe that.)

So, maybe it’s time to step back. Clear your head. Shake off the ridiculous and unfair jealousy, and give both yourself and Luo Binghe some space. What better time to take Shen Qingqiu up on his offer to visit Qing Jing? You can’t stop what’s happening regardless, so maybe it would be better not to be there while someone else swoops in and steals your whole life. (And maybe, tucked away deep in a not-so-good-of-a-person-after-all corner of your heart, there’s the possibility of slipping a few hints to Shen Qingqiu that his disciple is alive and well at another sect. Purely because Shen Qingqiu deserves not to mourn for someone still alive, and not at all for the sliver of hope that he’ll take the disciple he misses so much back so you can go back to the way things used to be.)

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone else and especially not Gongyi Xiao, Luo Binghe is losing his mind. He had a plan. He was establishing himself. He was moving slowly and carefully so as not to startle Shizun, and this guy gets an invitation? Just, welcomed right in, specially, by Luo Binghe’s teacher? What did he do to deserve that? Is Shen Qingqiu going to poach Gongyi Xiao? As his replacement? So he can have a squeaky clean, good, human disciple like he wanted? Luo Binghe is better than him. He proved it at the conference. He proved it before the conference. He’ll prove it again if he has to. (He’s more attractive than Gongyi Xiao, too, and Shizun can hardly fail to notice if they’re side by side in front of him, so there.)

The Old Palace Master is using every trick in his arsenal to keep Luo Binghe from following right behind Gongyi Xiao while cursing Shen Qingqiu under his breath and frantically moving plans around to push up the date for the peak lord’s fall from grace, Luo Binghe is packing his bags furiously and tearing his own plans to shreds in the wake of his determination to prove himself absolutely irreplaceable, and Gongyi Xiao is enjoying a nice cup of tea and personal tutoring from Shen Qingqiu while making increasingly pointed comments about how sometimes missing-and-presumed-dead disciples just… pop up somewhere, at random, a few years after the fact.

Shen Qingqiu is blissfully (miserably) unaware of the chaos about to descend upon his peak.

[vivenus343]

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

30 years ago the future looked like this Mitsubishi Gaus Concept, 1995. Presented at the 31 Tokyo Motor Show, the "Global Adventure Utility System" was a cross between an SUV and a minivan with giant gullwing doors. Inside the front seats swivelled to face the rear

[psqqa]

yes, yes i know edgeworth’s big wet eyes and loser boy personality have captivated us all, but listen. listen.

phoenix wright

phoenix “genuinely unable to reconcile the girl on the stand with the girl he dated for eight months, a cognitive dissonance so profound it’s ultimately explained by them being literally two different people, but which he first sits with for five years and does not talk about at any point to anyone” wright

phoenix “don’t mention that name to me. i don’t want to talk about it. i don’t want to think about it. i am just going to keep myself in this state of perpetual crisis mode focus on other people’s problems until eventually i die and get to hang out with mia on the astral plane and never have to deal with any of these emotions ever again” wright

phoenix “overnight loses his career and reputation and sense of identity while gaining an adopted, probably pretty traumatized eight-year-old daughter, and rather than leaning on his friends for help, or getting therapy, or taking any time to process any of this, he *checks notes* spends seven years dedicating all his free time and energy to investigating the weird fucking circumstances around it and maintains a friendship with the guy he suspects was behind it all” wright

phoenix "runs across a burning bridge and falls through it, half a day after the game establishes that he is terrified of heights, because his friend is on the other side of that bridge" wright

phoenix “i sure felt surprised. maybe i had my poker face on” wright

phoenix “looking back on it that was actually a pretty dark period in my life” wright

phoenix “don’t ask me how i got started. i don’t remember” wright

phoenix “only you stood still, your eyes calmly watching” wright

phoenix “sometimes, life just sucks” wright

just

phoenix wright

crunchiest man in the world

and all i wanna do is chew and chew and chew on him

[happypeachsludgeflower]

I just want more fics where Luo Binghe realizes Shen Qingqiu is a ridiculous dork. I want Shen Qingqiu to watch in dismay as he keeps loosing an obscene amount of cool points every time he opens his mouth to explain to Binghe that he’s not gay.

[wafywaify]

god do I live for confident shen qingqiu (the yuan flavor)

like when he finally gets comfortable enough to act more like shen yuan rather than jiu infront of the other peak lords

the small habits he allows to come back- letting the immortal facade sort of just fade a bit AUGH

(If anyone has any fic recs I WILL GLADLY TAKE THEM)

[salmonlyster]

k i gotta go back to work i just needed to draw the DOGGIE real quick

[general-yasur]

for once there is a Kai rotating in my head and the result is a sizzling hot take That being: Kai gives me more aroace vibes than Lloyd. There's something about Kai "liking" skylor and then not only never getting her number but it is implied he ghosted her LOL. He acts like a player but also has no game. It reminds me of when I was in elementary school and would pick a boy to "like" because I thought that's just how it works. So he does it to fit in to make up for basically not having a normal childhood. Essentially trying to act what he imagines a teenager is supposed to be like And While I have headcanoned Lloyd as aroace spec, the more I think about it the more I realize he has shown more romantic interest in someone than like half of the ninja lol. Look at it how you want but the oni trilogy is pretty loud that Lloyd has a crush at least and it sorely affected him I see it as Lloyd had the textbook definition allo people have told me when I ask what a crush is like lmaoo and simultaneously something I can't relate to as someone who is aroace myself

If you compare Kai's romantic situation with Lloyd and even Zane, they both have shown more romantic interest in a character than he has. which is ironic because Kai is the playboy and Lloyd n Zane are the aroace characters in fanon, despite canon This kinda fuels my opinion that the fanon view of Lloyd and Zane being aro ace specifically is based on stereotypes of aromantic and asexual people rather than taking a dive at how the characters behave in the show. That is a whole other conversation tho lol

[scuderia-hamilton]

Genuine q why you like lance?

oh i've been waiting for this one :)) (this ended up being a long one, call me Lance Stroll's nr. 1 defence attorney)

so, when i've first started getting into F1, all i heard about him was how arrogant and rude he is and that he's a pay driver, because his father owns the team and that is the only and sole reason he's in the sport. for a good while, i relied on these opinions and made absolutely no effort to look him up more or watch interviews with him.

and i think that is a common mistake a lot of people make to this day. of course, when you come into a fandom and you're new, you're gonna see the popular opinions people have of each person and it will influence you one way or another. many people accept this description of Lance, that he's arrogant and doesn't want to be here and his dad owning the team is what keeps him here, but only if they'd just made a tiny bit of an effort to actually look at him with an open mind, they'd see that that is not the case at all.

i started truly paying attention to him when he had his cycling accident at the beginning of the season in 2023. the way he gave everything to recover and not disappoint the team, how he went through multiple surgeries and intense physical therapy just to be able to drive was incredibly admirable in my eyes. i still cannot fathom how people can say that he doesn't care about the sport. he wouldn't have gone through all of that if he wasn't passionate about it. he wouldn't put his life in danger week in-week out, if this is not what he wants to do.

Lance is quiet, introverted, shy, he doesn't like to do media stuff, he doesn't like to give interviews, because people tend to spin his words, no matter what he says, in a way that will make him fit into this idea they have of him. and he knows that, that's why he's not talkative during interviews. he's under constant scrutiny, whether he performs or not. if he does, it's just the car; if he doesn't, he's talentless and washed and doesn't deserve to be here. his amazing performances generally fly under the radar and he never gets credit for them.

he's actually kind and funny, but he's more reserved, so people don't pay attention to him and given that they already dislike him, it's even harder for them so see him that way. he's kind to fans, he's kind to media and team personnel, he was one of the few drivers who spoke about Dilano van 't Hoff and called for stricter safety measures, i've never heard anyone say he was rude or had a bad experience with him.

he's never involved in any controversies, his team and Fernando like him and they're constantly saying how different he is behind the scenes, how dedicated and driven he is. he generally gets along with every driver on the grid too. i'm sure he's not perfect, but he's not this evil asshole people make him out to be. but people refuse to accept that or see that, because it would require them to admit that they spent years hating on someone for no reason.

F1 (and motorsport in general) is an incredibly elite sport, as we all know, where connections and money help you a great deal. no one brings up Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Jack Doohan or Kimi Antonelli being nepo babies, because they're popular and well-liked. or how Lando Norris' father's wealth helped him advance in his career and how he invested directly in McLaren (meaning he paid McLaren to sign Lando in the beginning of his career). or how most of these drivers' families are incredibly wealthy and that is a big factor in them making it into F1 in the end.

feeder series are not cheap, getting sponsors is hard, so having rich parents is a HUGE advantage. but no one pays attention to that, because there is no "direct" involvement with teams. i can guarantee you that Ollie Bearman's father's money contributed a lot to him making it into F1, same with Gabriel Bortoleto, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and others. this is not to say that all of these drivers are talentless, because obviously they're not, but they benefited from their families' backgrounds, yet no one has a problem with that.

Lance is not a horrible person, his only "crime" is having a father who loves him, supports him and is willing to go to great lengths to help his son realize his dreams. also, we don't know, maybe his father wanted to buy an F1 team regardless of his son's dreams and goals. if we take his dad owning the team out of the equation, he supported his son, like any other parent and people were calling Lance a pay driver, even back then.

this is all to show that the reasons people bring up for why they don't like him are bullshit. i'm not saying that they can't dislike him, but then at least try to see him for who he is. and if he's still not for you, then it's fine. yes, i'm aware that i don't actually know him, but if you pay attention to him in interviews you can see he's not who people claim him to be.

this is not an attack on you, anon, i don't mind people asking, but explaining it comes hand in hand with defending him. he receives an insane amount of hate no matter what he does and it's completely ridiculous. sure, he's not the best driver on the grid, but based on people's reactions, you'd think he's crashing out in every single race. no one's mentioning that currently those 10 points Aston Martin have, are all thanks to him dragging that car into the points. no one talked about how good he was in Australia, but the moment his performance dropped, people started hating on him again.

[dykedvonte]

No one ever mentions how on the QnA PE has a 30% cargo loss which?? That could mean only the order is broken but. It’s space the crew is also definitely dead so the Tulpar is just one lost ship in the many cases that PE just throws their hands up on. well you just can’t beat those prices!

This is exactly why it’s so frustrating when people ignore the way P.E’s negligence and lack of care/concern for their employees influences their decisions/behavior.

Like they don’t really care if 30% of their workers regularly go missing or get lost. You think they care if they had locks or adequate training? You think they left supplies on that ship to add them in case of emergency or conflicts? They don’t have adequate medical supplies and even on a regular trip the crew has rations, no abundance and implied very little extra and they STILL added an extra person. If we look at that early HR complaint info graphic they make it extremely difficult to file or make complaints, not to mention actively discouraging it with how many penalties are directly attached to having personal/co-worker conflicts.

They really only want employees there to work and little else. No real enrichment, no real privacy and no back up in case anyone gets hurts, hurts someone else or they get in trouble. I mean Curly really made a point in realizing that no one checks on the fucking nurse for evals! Was it too late? Yeah. But that is something the pony express needed to handle and require, not a Captain with no training or experience in their own medical course as Curly’s crew isn’t the only one who has likely faced these problems.

P.E. Is so oppressive and actively malicious to their employees I can’t fathom how they lasted so long without the literal Geneva convention coming for their ass with how many human rights violations they have.

[neighbourhoodtwo]

usamericans please stop putting your "congrats uk!! hope this happens to us in november!!" posts in the uk politics tag please please you have no idea

[maladaptivedaydreamhq]

so you're telling me Sevika not only lived, but is now an official part of the political system of Piltover/Zaun, meaning if any future LoL series includes them we're probably gonna see her again????

thank you gay robot jesus i always knew you'd come thru 🙏

[jasprboi]

cas is singing this song about dean btw