#and the fact he recognizes his mistakes it's his appeal

[dimdiamond]

AND Thorin ✨

AND THORIN YOU'LL RECEIVE

Look guys, my honest opinion is that Thorin doesn't get bullied enough by fans. Yeah yeah wandering prince carrying all the responsibility and the trauma of losing his family and home and yeah he's a kitty BUT HE'S A BASTARD TOO OK? He's a sarcastic bitch who will gossip you with Dwalin like schoolgirls at the back of the classroom. He keeps diary and sometimes puts hearts instead of dots. He would go to the mayor and spit on his face. Just read a bit of the book, guys, I know it's Bilbo's narration but he's a bastard too and bastards recognize each other and kiss on the mouth. However I want him to go retire in peace. Canon isn't real.

[halemerry]

So there's a lot to unpack here but I want to start by talking about the ending and specifically about the Metatron and the calculating moves made at the end of episode 6.

Every single piece of what happened there was a manipulation technique being employed against Aziraphale to an almost brilliant degree and I'm honestly a little obsessed with what this says about the Metatron in particular.

Let's go in order.

First of all. We see him order coffee. In a human body. Something sweet and sugary. He talks to Nina and asks her about her shop name. Does anyone ever ask for death? And when she tells him no they don't his response is to say "so predictable". Our introduction to him here even when everything about him reads like a sweet old man is presented to show us someone who reads the world in terms of being predictable to him.

He then shows up in the middle of Aziraphale's existence being threatened. He immediately cuts down the threat's authority (using outdated language like Az himself would favor) and reemphasizes his own connection to Heaven. When Michael doesn't recognize him and he puts her down and then directly engages Crowley. Crowley who, to Aziraphale, has for centuries at a minimum been someone he thinks is smarter, better, more Good than these other archangels. The Metatron validates these beliefs. Crowley is more Heavenly than these archangels who couldn't even recognize the voice of God when he was standing right in front of them.

The Metatron draws attention to the fact he's in a human body. The kind of body Aziraphale has been in and loved for nearly 6000 years. He then banishes the archangels, implying their morality is in a gray space, and validates Muriel someone we have seen Aziraphale react positively to and someone outside the current power structure. Look at me, he's saying. I see and validate the little guy.

He then tries to talk to Aziraphale. Aziraphale says "I've made my position quite clear." And then the Metatron offers Aziraphale the coffee. This bartering chip, consuming sustenance, is a thing that Aziraphale and Crowley have used as their connective tissue for centuries. It's an olive branch for them. It's giving Aziraphale bodily pleasure and the Metatron implies that he himself has partaken also - a thing we know that Aziraphale has struggled historically with moralizing. He is seen by the closest thing he has left to his parent and he is having old fears validated as safe and old habits being played upon to make him feel secure

He then REMOVES Aziraphale from his home turf. Not only does he remove Crowley from the equation but he takes Aziraphale from the place that has stood as a place of sanctuary throughout the entirety of the season. The shop is Safe and Aziraphale is leaving it and he is leaving the one person who might be able to smell the bullshit coming from the Metatron. The music notably turns absolutely dire here.

The next time we see them the Metatron tells Aziraphale that he doesn't need to answer instantly. He can take his time, if he likes. All the time he needs. And then tells him to go tell Crowley. Once again bringing Crowley in as a valid part of this while manufacturing a scenario where he can't possibly be.

Az ends up in a place where he's overwhelmed and confused and he wants so badly to believe what he's being told. It's an appealing thing from his perspective! He feels off kilter like he's made a mistake in judging the Metatron. He can't even fully articulate what happened to Crowley at first and he's had absolutely no real time to actually think it through. He's running on sheer reactive energy.

The Metatron starts their conversation by asking Aziraphale's opinion. Who should rule Heaven? This is once again playing into making Az feel validated and like he's a part of this decision making process. The Metatron corrects him, complimenting Aziraphale and making him feel capable and in control. He reassures Aziraphale's bafflement. And draws attention to some traits that, while true of Aziraphale around Crowley, are not his defining traits in the eyes of Heaven. You don't just tell people what they want to hear I find particularly notable in this regard given Aziraphale spent most of his time on earth actively lying to Heaven and doing just that. But it fits into the narrative Aziraphale has built around himself, especially post Apocalypse. The Metatron then says I need you (a phrase Az will use much more painfully here in a minute).

And even after all this Aziraphale says no. He says flat out he doesn't want to go back to Heaven. He says this!!! And then the Metatron sweetens the pot. He swaps tactics. Not once has this come up until Aziraphale pushes back against the idea. If the Metatron could've gotten him without using it I have no doubt he wouldn't have bothered with it. Come to Heaven and we can save Crowley. Aziraphale loves Crowley. Aziraphale thinks Crowley is better than any of the angels he's interacted with. Crowley is Good and Nice and Kind and always saving him and now he's being presented with a way to return that. He can Forgive Crowley - a thing Crowley has always presented to Aziraphale as something he struggles with. All of these things Aziraphale has watched Crowley react to in a way that belittles himself or distances them from one another. Of course he wouldn't consider that maybe what he was actually saying is "I'm unforgivable and I don't want that forgiveness."

The Metatron offers Aziraphale a Dream Offer for the pre Armageddon Aziraphale. You can keep your Crowley. You can heal him like you have always thought he deserved. You can have power and control the people who for your whole existence has beaten you down. It can go back to how it was but BETTER.

When Aziraphale leaves he still hasn't answered. He goes and has the conversation they have. It's intense and emotional and the Metatron comes in after the Moment all casual and asks how it goes, knowing fully well the shitstorm he had just set up to get created. And then he turns around and says "always did want to go his own way" which is not only true of Crowley but framed as a bad thing despite the fact that he has just spent twenty minutes or so telling Aziraphale that he's done his own thing and that is Good. He is playing both sides of this perspective as it suits him. And then he cuts down Crowley asking questions, pressuring Aziraphale to avoid doing the same. He then proceeds to ask Aziraphale not if he's made up his mind but if he's ready to get started. He is one by one closing off exit routes to this thing as Aziraphale starts to look more and more panicked and indecisive. He makes sure the bookshop is in good hands and asks Aziraphale if there's anything he needs to take with him. Letting Aziraphale have the illusion of choice while cutting down "I don't want to" as an option altogether.

And Az, as soon as the Metatron is out of shot, tries to express this. And then he falls back right on old coping methods. The Metatron pats him on the head. Reassures that he's the right one for this. That he is Good. That his particular skillset is needed here.

It is a masterstroke of manipulation. A very dark twist on what we see Crowley do time and time again with Aziraphale throughout the millennia. Familiar in a way that makes Aziraphale feel safe. Except this time this is being used to put him back in line. It's brilliant and painful and it fucking hurt and I need a season 3 to see the Metatron get what's coming to him stat.

[r--kt]

Where actually was this betrayal line for Obito that Kakashi had crossed?

about the whole "anyone got Kakashi, but not Obito" thing that @komihoyinsblog said. I remembered where the culmination of this theme was. no, like, this whole topic is real!

let's talk about the scene after when Jubito was defeated. here I will analyse kkobkk relationships and Obito's arc specifically.

contents | context · meaning of the scene · where's a mistake and where's a betrayal

CH. 655

Context

during the battle with the shinobi alliance, Obito came face to face with a deeply repressed desire for another life, which he did not realize due to his position as the only one who can fulfill the tsukuyomi plan. the battle itself as well as the conversation with Naruto reminds Obito of the aspirations and values dear to him that he had to sacrifice. all this has noticeably hit Obito and now he is disarmed and stripped of his armor, which is metaphorically reflected in his half-naked body (and cuz fans love men's boobs).

CH. 652. god, look how happy he is, I'm sobbing. love the way he never regrets about his scars, they're with him even in his imagination, that's a reminder of his core values.

structurally, in Obito's arc, this scene is the Collapse point and the end of the second act. here, the previous methods (the tsukuyomi plan) have shown their inconsistency, and the goal (peace for everyone and for him, too) has not been achieved, and he must find a new way to achieve this goal. at the beginning of the scene, he is confused, defeated and not ready to face the consequences.

why isn't he ready? he's lying there, seemingly resigned. yeah, not exactly. here, he accepted the impending death, and it's even not bad to die by Kakashi's hand to some extent. another question is, is he ready to talk to him, is he ready to accept the defeat and find the strength to continue the journey?

Meaning of the scene

once again, it is important that the battle with the alliance and the conversation with Naruto influenced Obito, but did not convince him. it was Kakashi who did it.

in fact, this conversation with Kakashi is a crucial reason for Obito to return to his ideals. before that, he was in doubt (the second act is a reflection of the character, as if hesitating from one side to the other), and after that he takes the side of the alliance. what did Kakashi say that made Obito come back?

three questions Obito is asking.

how can you be sure that Naruto won't fail on his way, unlike me? [pic 2, above]

why are you so attached to Naruto, what's the difference between him and me? [pic below]

why are you willing to help him (and not me)? [pic below]

they don't talk about different paths here. Kakashi emphasizes that Obito's path is not exactly wrong, so that's not the deal. it's about Obito and Naruto as people, and, more, about Kakashi's opinion on Obito.

finding out why he is not the one whose path Kakashi is ready to defend is essential for Obito. he wants to understand why Naruto (aka Obito's previous self, too) is closer to him, why Kakashi does not support the actual one for whom he grieved so much. why, even recognizing the possible correctness of tsukuyomi, Kakashi refuses to support Obito in this, prefers to go the same way. and also look at how damn emotional he is at this moment, his feelings go from anger to anxiety in a couple of frames. that's what happened when the central conflict "I'm never good enough to be loved" is raised.

Obito's questions are a subconscious appeal to Kakashi — "why don't you choose me? I could make you happy. what's wrong with me again?!" he thinks that the reason Kakashi doesn't take his side is not because of the correctness of his path, but because of Obito himself. subconsciously, he thinks that it's because of Kakashi's personal dislike of this "new" Obito, and he is very afraid of this might be true. just look at his face at the bottom of the page, he's really worried about hearing Kakashi's answer. oh, and it's actually the same meaning as "I thought, maybe you could love me like you used to, even though I'm different" [ Jinx's quote from Arcane, yes, I like to compare these two sometimes ].

what Kakashi says in this situation means "let me help you." Kakashi said he would be ready to help Obito if he let him in, if he allowed him. this is literally the only condition (which is important to mention here) under which Obito did not pass, because of his desire to reject Kakashi's help, believing that he must put his life on tsukuyomi plan and cut off all ties. but this does not mean that he wanted Kakashi to cut off this tie in return.

Obito was an individualist, and he only scoffed or got angry at Kakashi's offer to help/sympathize. now they're in a situation when Obito finally hear that Kakashi said "you've made mistakes, but that's okay. I can be with you, if you need me to, and I'm okay with you continuing your life and reaching peace. I accept you and I believe in you." and I want you to appreciate that this is the tipping point of Obito's arc.

so, that's why Obito changes his way of acting. Kakashi shows that he accepts Obito the way he is, and thus significantly reduces Obito's need to prove his worth through his own hardships and overcoming difficulties. yes, Kakashi had already said similar things before, and it didn't work, but here this line is resolved precisely because of this deep conversation they had.

Where's a mistake and where's a betrayal

oh, maybe Rin's death was a thing Obito considered a betrayal from Kakashi's part? everything's much less trivial. would he offer to help Kakashi if he thought he was a traitor? and well, he offered.

CH. 630

no, look at his face on the bottom right, why would you say that with such a gentle face to someone you consider a traitor? what is it, a genuine smile? so something happened besides that.

the betrayal was that Kakashi preferred his other ties to the connection with Obito. here, betrayal is not about killing Rin, and not about breaking a promise — all these are mistakes that Obito is able to forgive.

all the moments when Obito says something like "you had the opportunity to kill me, but you didn't do it", "you can't deal with me because of guilt?", "still blaming yourself for the broken promises?" - all this is an attempt to increase his own value, to show the importance of Obito for Kakashi. and it's also a projection. Obito says, "you had so many opportunities to kill me, but you..." although he does the same. like, why would he leave Kakashi alive after the kamui battle? intentionally inflict a non-fatal wound on him and leave him in a dimension that only he and Obito have access to? "I don't care if he's alive or dead," but at every opportunity he chose the option "alive", even if it's less profitable for him. my baby loves to deceive himself so much.

all this time, Obito believed that he was striving for their common dream, and therefore the condemnation from Kakashi (there should be a couple more frames from the manga) feels like the most painful blow for him, especially when Kakashi says that Rin would not want it either. before that, Obito had compared himself and Kakashi a couple of times, put them on an equal footing, and after being rejected by him, that's where Obito feels really lonely.

the point of no return was precisely the fact that Kakashi shows with his own words that he does not accept the current Obito and everything he's been striving for years. all this, taken together, he considered a betrayal, as if he's not enough, as if he fucked everything up again.

therefore, their conflict is resolved by the acceptance of one person by another, this is in fact exactly what Obito's heart wanted — to hear that he could be accepted after all that had happened. the same thing happened after his death, when he finally met Rin, by the way.

hope the text is not that messy. oh, and! that kkob video I've made with mitski's song. this fits the topic so well. love these guys

[stuckasmain]

I’ve talked about Hal’s deactivation a while ago, giving a new perspective on the scene. It being more an ‘act of mercy’ than violence, now I want to come at it from more of a Hal perspective than Dave’s. That’s one of the great parts about it is that there is so so much to dissect and interpret.

The way Hal is described in the book is more times than not compared to that of a human brain, while also being sure to insist he is machine. Yet, his behavior is described more as an illness than a glitch. It’s been talked about before by many, myself included, but it’s so hhhh- more specifically he’s described as Neurotic

a mental condition that is not caused by organic disease, involving symptoms of stress (depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviour, hypochondria) but not a radical loss of touch with reality.

It’s the fact Hal isn’t exactly aware he’s making these mistakes, maybe on some level he is but sticking with the illness angle, it’s hallucinatory. It’s making up these problems to cope with the stress of having to keep up with the lie. All is better for him if contact is cut with earth, they’re the ones who made him withhold the truth and he’s programmed to carry it out regardless. He’s trying to cut out the infection while simultaneously being unable too— in good “conscious”.

Additionally there’s his abject refusal to admit fault or wrongdoing. He is incapable of error- it’s not his fault! It’s not! It’s not! The mere idea of him even being capable of a mistake blows his entire world apart, widening his mental break. The 9000 unit reproduces most functions of the human brain, unfortunately for a computer that also means the ability for mistakes as much as it hurts him. I think it’s a mix of not wanting to admit it and being unable to recognize it because all of his life he has been told it just isn’t possible.

Then it turns to full blown paranoia. Kill before you’re killed. He catches them talking about potentially shutting him down if things go south and strikes prematurely. There’s been great talks about cycles of violence, survival and comparisons to the man apes but what I want to point out was how unnecessary it was. For one- if it had failed, they’d not ‘harm’ him as he’d be right and two

“… he would be deprived of all his inputs, and thrown into an unimaginable state of unconsciousness. To Hal, this was the equivalent of death. For he had never slept, and therefore he did not know that one could wake again…” (149)

Hal has never known sleep or rest or anything but work. He does not know he can wake again and to him he reacts in a crazed self defense. He was never going to be killed and that’s the kicker. He doesn’t notice the tone Bowman and Poole talk with either, how it’s a last resort and neither are particularly happy about the idea… they feel it’d be rude- harming a friend who didn’t know he did anything wrong.

What also gets me is that right before everything happens he almost completely restores confidence within him. Unit fails, he can be trusted after all but then… no they’ll kill me… I’m not wrong but they plan murder … no they’ll harm the mission…to Hal, who at this stage fully believes he’s telling the truth it must seem as though they’d suddenly turned against him. His crew becomes another infection to get rid of. It is true “panic murder” if they’re gone I don’t have to grapple with this.

Back to his actual deactivation, I’ve heard the way Hal speaks here as intentionally manipulative. Appealing to Dave’s sympathies to try and save his life, and while I do like this angle it ignores how Hal is seemingly “back to normal” post murder. He’s so sick he sort of snaps out of it into this lucid state of being unaware of anything that happened - going so far as to ask if he’s figured out what happened. (However this could also just be him being a semi aware asshole.) but with how many times he absolutely insists he’s back to normal it’s clear he’s not.

While daisy is a reference and a way to show the true deterioration of Hal’s mind, I like to think of it as a final rushed confession. Those last moments of lucidity while the mind is going- quick squeaked last words — the “I love you” while on a deathbed, going back to the earlier analogies.

In the end. He confesses. Confesses, in part, his guilt and his love. At long last Hal admits some bit of fault “not been myself lately” in a rather round about way that is so fitting of him. Some part of him finally admits something isn’t right… he’s very sick and he understands this has to happen while also being sick enough where he’s frightened and confused and not wrong ever! “Why are you doing this to me? I love you,”

In the end “sick but brilliant brain” is right.

[denaliwrites]

I’m Gooey in the Middle Baby Let Me Bake

Cale Erendreich x GN!Reader

Summary: Your phone hates you and Cale's gonna punish you for it.

Soundtrack: Pancake by JADED

Requests: Open!

Warnings: It's Cale Erendreich.

He was going to kill you.

Your phone autocorrected his name to fucking Cake and he was going to fucking kill you.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. You were relatively sure Cale wouldn't actually care all that much, and you were sure autocorrect refusing to recognize his name as legitimate was nothing new. Just one of those quirks of technology.

However, the idea of him being angry at you for the mistake -- whether it be playfully or genuinely -- sent a shiver down your spine.

Maybe that meant you should run while you had the chance. Instead, you dressed yourself in nothing but one of his sweaters and waited for him to get home.

"Where are you?" you heard his call from the door, and that shiver made its way back up at the annoyance in his voice. That delicious, dangerous annoyance.

"In here," you called back innocently, carefully shifting yourself on the sofa to be more appealing to him.

His nearly silent footfalls approached the sitting room, and then he was standing in the entryway, glowering down at you. You could see it in his eyes, though, that it was (mostly) for show. There may have been some real exasperation there, but you were delighted by the fact that most of it was for your benefit.

"Cake? Cake? Really?" he said with an indignant sound at the back of his throat. "My assistant saw that. Couldn't get her to stop laughing for the rest of the day."

"It was autocorrect," you told him, blinking up at him with big, round, innocent eyes.

"How convenient for you," he growled as he moved onto the sofa with you, body prowling closer like a leopard on the hunt. It sent a chill through you as one hand reached for your bare knee and his nails dragged down over your leg.

Fingers curled around your ankle, and then a moment later he'd dragged you back, efficiently pinning you beneath him. He hovered over you, panting from the exertion, eyes taking you in.

"Wait a minute -- are you wearing my sweater?!"

[yujeong]

really yearning to see Korn beg Tonkla for forgiveness for everything he's done. if Korn found out Tonkla was seeing someone else, I wish he would plead with him to take him back. like......... i dont think it would happen like no wayy but thinking about it is so nice 😅

Hello anon. Since we have a few hours before ep4 comes out, I'll proceed to respond to the few messages I've received about the show that's driving me insane in the best way, starting with yours. See, I get why you want this to happen, it has it's appeal, but to me that isn't quite possible right now. I don't see Korn as the "begging for forgiveness" type - I don't even see him as someone who would recognize his mistakes, let alone apologize to Tonkla for not paying attention to him for what is probably days at this point. We also have to keep in mind that Korn pays Tonkla money and is probably renting him the place he lives in - meaning that if he finds out Tonkla "cheated" on him and gets angry, there's a chance he'll kick him out of that house, stop giving him money and cause him more misery. So it'd be Tonkla who'd beg for forgiveness which.... ugh, I both want and don't want to see happen. Now, in case you haven't seen it, the preview pic for this episode was this:

and it gave me thoughts. One of them was about the location. That's not the couch, that's Tonkla's bed, meaning they probably have sex on it - passionate sex or quick, frantic sex, judging by the fact that Tonkla is still wearing a shirt. The second thought is about Tonkla's body posture. From what I can see, he's not touching Korn. His expression is strange to me; it's not as warm as I expected. He mostly seems pleasantly surprised? In awe? I don't know, I'm probably speaking nonsense - we have no clue of what the context of the scene is, we don't even know if it's from the present or the past, a flashback as others have mentioned. But still, it intrigues me and I can't wait to find out the full context. Friday is finally here and I'm ready to lose my mind once again.

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

some Khan headcanons

based on my Khanbatch fics

Khan is actually the title given to him by the scientists who created the Augments--for by the age of nine, he had proven himself superior to all his brothers & sisters in all the ways they prized the most. The title signified his destiny to lead them.

Augments dreamed as easily as lesser men, but—courtesy of their superior minds—their dreams were far more vivid and literal than the fuzzy, symbolic dreams of ordinary homo sapiens.  And blessed as they were with nearly picture perfect memories, Augments dreams seldom evaporated like mist upon awakening.

Khan had recognized long ago his predilection for women of a softer sort; Augmented women—brilliant and beautiful as their biology dictated–were the worthiest of consorts, but they lacked a softness, a feminine vulnerability, which he had always found appealing, as far back as the first time he experienced the stirrings of sexual desire.  Females of his kind could be as selfishly cunning as he was himself; cold and calculating, which made them perfect compatriots in battle and in governing—but in intimacy, he had found that they usually lacked the willingness to let him fully lead; to give themselves over to the act completely and surrender to his will.  With such women, there was mutual satisfaction, but no marrying of spirit, no sacrifice of self to please their partner more than to achieve pleasure of their own. Oh, they would meet his passion with equal heat and ardor, but the tenderness that he kept well hidden—and which he longed to receive as much as to give, in the depths of his secret heart—they would spurn as pure weakness.  Only in the beds of ordinary, impractical, flawed– yet beautifully human–women, did he find the satisfaction of connection at a deeper level than the physical.  On this matter, though, he had always kept his own counsel, letting his brothers believe he preferred such simple women as mere playthings, just temporary conduits for pleasure. 

The fragrance of jasmine & honey held the power to break through Khan's usual vanguard of stoicism to open the floodgates of his most secret and bittersweet memories...

This was the scent he would forever associate with the last time in his life he was truly free of care–before he was forced to fulfill the destiny designed for him by scores of others.  None of whom had ever grasped the simple fact that inside his superhuman body—and despite his formidable brilliance and cunning—dwelled the very human doubts, vulnerabilities, and confusing jumble of hormones and adolescent emotions, of an average fifteen year old boy. 

Khan had been schooled in the act of pleasure and procreation, as befitted his station, first by grown women of his own kind, and then by lesser females—all sterilized, to prevent conception of a hybrid—to slake the tidal force, the powerful hunger, of his burgeoning adolescent lusts.  His mistake—his crime—was to feel a tenderness for a creature as far below him as a street mongrel was to a Himalayan wolf.  That tenderness had burned like a flame in his chest, shocking him and rivaling that biological imperative that all teenage boys experience.  No one had been wise enough to warn him that such feelings only led to pain.  

He’d been fifteen the first time he fell in love with a seventeen year old girl, who was well outside of the strictures laid down upon his kind.  His seed was not to be wasted in breeding with inferior stock.  But that one—his dear little Inaaya—had spirit and beauty worthy of a prince.  Had love in her heart enough to fill an ocean.  Love enough to see past the monster which many believed the genetically engineered to be. His little Inaaya, gentle as a lamb in service of his household, but fierce as his own flame in the lovemaking they had shared. Unashamed she had been, unabashed, to moan confessions of her love for him, each time he had taken her. That was a secret he had buried deep; deeper each year he had moved away from those callow days, onto the destiny he’d been taught awaited him. She had loved him unselfishly, and ever seemed a well of giving, always aiming to please him, guilelessly believing their trysts were part of some ridiculous, romantic fairy tale.  

When she had eventually ripened, Khan had felt an irrepressible, youthful pride in that physical manifestation of his virility. Inayaa’s abiding love for him was enough to make her bravely bear the child that inevitably took her life.  He’d been forced to watch the labor, to learn the lesson well; to strengthen him, toughen him; to teach him not to make that same mistake again.  The doctors could have taken the child by Cesarean, but had not, allowing instead for his dear, sweet flower to be torn fatally inside—howling in pain as she brought the boy forth—and then falling silent as her lifeblood gushed from her shredded womb in the poor baby’s wake.  He had wanted to hold the mewling thing in the aftermath, to feel its strong, steady heartbeat, a living remnant of their passionate affair, but they had whisked the child away even before Inaaya’s body had grown cool. Not as punishment, but simply as another lesson.  When he finally set his eyes upon the boy again, Joachim was an adolescent himself, a total stranger to his sire—and Khan himself the leader he’d been groomed to be, with no time for such attachments, as he fought the wars that mankind razed against his people.

Even in his youth, Khan had never believed in the old religion which many of his contemporaries had chosen to embrace.  Of symmetry and the circle of life; of death and return and rebirth.  Losing Inaaya in so cruel a manner had cured him of even the faintest belief that there was any sense or order to the universe, especially that which might have been set in place by a benevolent power beyond the visible world.  And he was a man of science and reason after all--leaving no place in his life for the comfort of such a philosophy and faith that dominated the culture he came from.

But Khan eventually encounters a woman so like his Inaaya in such vital ways (see A Khan By Any Other Name), that he finds himself reconsidering those ancient myths. That Inaaya had been lost to him hundreds of years ago--it was madness to believe that a woman born centuries after him could be Inaaya returned. And yet he wished with all his heart that it could be so.

Anyone interested in reading my WIPs A Khan By Any Other Name and Man of Passion, Force of Nature, can find them on AO3 under the author name BeautifullyObsessed.

[thezombieprostitute]

Alphas & Algorithms - Part 8 - Third Date

A/N: Continued from Part 7. Reader is female and is described as "tall". No other descriptors. None of this is beta read. All mistakes are my own.

Warnings: It is a Dystopian AU. Discussion of ableism, bullying, families being separated, food scarcity, non-consensual relationships. Please let me know if I missed any!

--Part 1-- --Part 9--

--Series Masterlist--

"Can you give me anything to work with," Y/N asked the redhead across the table. "I don't enjoy condemning people but there's evidence of you supporting the revolutionists and you're not denying any of it, Ms. Romanov."

The redheaded woman continued to sit in silence, fiddling with her fingers. Y/N could smell the "art fair", the curry and warm beer scent on her. The indicator of guilt the AI couldn't sense. She also smelled Romanov's scent: rations. Bland, nothing interesting, rations. Romanov wanted to make herself forgettable and had clearly messed with her own scent glands to achieve that goal.

Y/N sighed, "I'll be back in a bit." She left to go to the room next door, holding the Beta's partner-in-crime.

When she walked in, she recognized the scent as one that she was almost paired with: the cold front breaking the heatwave, or bringing the blizzards. Right now the Alpha's scent was distinctly "blizzard" but with that faint hint of "art fair" she recognized as well.

Sitting down she looked at the tall, dark haired, blue eyed Alpha and began, "there is evidence of you supporting the revolutionists, Mr. Barnes. Do you have any counter evidence or arguments?"

Similar to Romanov, he responded with silence. Eyes as cold as the snow he smelled of. Face as impossible to read as a whiteout.

"Please," Y/N pleaded, only to be met with silence and cold.

Trying another tactic she told him, "you know, your scent was one that was proffered as a potential mate for me."

No reaction.

"I very nearly chose you," she continued. "If I hadn't smelled another one first, I would have picked you to court."

No reaction.

"If your scent was so appealing to me then, it's entirely possible that you're not mixed up with the revolutionaries. That you and your mate can be free to go. Yes, your marks are covered, but I can smell it on you. I'm very glad I didn't select your scent. I would never want to take you away from her."

No reaction.

"Please do consider," Y/N got up and walked back to Ms. Romanov's room to try again.

Curtis was getting better at finding Y/N's apartment. He'd started picking up on those subtle scent changes that she had talked about on their first meeting. Namely he knew he could follow the scents of freshly made food and he'd find her place.

Knocking on the door he heard a very distinctly male voice respond, "come on in!" Confused, he walked in and was greeted by the sight of a blonde haired Beta with glasses and a goatee cooking away in the kitchen.

"You must be Jake," Curtis reasons.

"That's me," he responds with a big smile. "Y/N asked me to cook up dinner for all of us tonight since she's got a heavy workload today and you said you wanted to meet me."

Curtis nods, "do you need or want some help?"

"Nah," Jake shakes his head. "I could cook this meal in my sleep. It's one of her absolute favorites! But I wouldn't mind chatting with you while I work."

Curtis walks into the kitchen, the scents of the herbs overpowered by the ones coming from the stove, throwing him off for a second. He shakes his head to clear his senses and try to figure out how to ask what he needed to without actually asking.

“Fun fact,” Jake interrupted Curtis’s thoughts, “you’re only the second, maybe third Alpha I’ve ever really interacted with.”

“Yeah?” Curtis tilted his head. “I’d think you’d have met at least a few around the tower. I’ve only had one “tour” and saw another Alpha. You’ve lived here for years.”

“Yeah, you “saw” an Alpha, you didn’t interact with him, did you?”

“I guess there is a difference.”

“A lot of Alphas around here, if they’re allowed out and about, aren’t generally in a talkative mood. Worst case scenario, for Betas in their path, they’re looking for some kind of outlet for their pain and frustration. That’s why you saw Frank Castle in the gym; you have no idea how many times that punching bag has been replaced.”

“I can see why you’d keep your head down, then. So what other Alphas have you interacted with?”

“Constance, Y/N’s mother,” Jake replies softly. “She was…something. She definitely took the protection aspect of being an Alpha incredibly seriously. You know there was talk of getting rid of Y/N?”

Curtis nods, “I remember her telling me, in our first meeting, that they thought her brain was weird and considered getting rid of her, whatever that means.”

“Her tests frequently came back outside of the AI’s parameters for a “successful” Omega. But Constance wasn’t about to let anyone harm her pup. She negotiated a timetable for showing her daughter could still be useful to the AI. Not wanting to waste a valuable resource like an Omega, the AI agreed. That’s when I got drafted. Most Betas are brought in to be like old fashioned whipping boys. Other than when an Omega lies, Betas are the ones that get hurt for their mistakes. You’ve seen with Colin and Suzanne how well that usually goes.”

Curtis huffed in agreement and Jake continued, “but with Constance and Y/N, that wasn’t my fate. I actually got to live up to the title of Emotional Support Beta. All three of us would dig into the research and try all the calming techniques to figure out what could help Y/N stay an asset so she could stay alive. As a…group, we learned how to make Y/N’s sensitivities an asset. Constance was an amazing Alpha who left an understandably strong impression on her daughter and myself. I will be holding you to the standard she set.”

“I promise to do my best,” Curtis nodded. "I'm kinda surprised you're allowed to tell me all of this."

Jake nodded, "it's a simple matter of logic and reason. The better informed and prepared you are, the higher the chances of a...success, let's call it. There's a ton I still can't tell you due to security concerns, of course, but that's a discussion for another day."

“I didn’t realize how much work went into being the caretaker for an Omega.”

Jake stopped what he was doing and stared at the Alpha, “I genuinely hope you’re not treating this like a job. Like being with her is going to be nothing but a chore for you. She likes you. More importantly, she trusts you. And the one good trait she got from her father is that she does not trust lightly.”

Curtis raised his hands a bit to placate the Beta, “it came out harsher than I intended. I’ve seen for myself that she’s incredibly capable and intelligent. Hell, I find myself trusting her as well and that also doesn’t happen often.” Jake nodded and turned back to the food.

“So, what is this favorite food of hers,” Curtis asked, attempting to lighten the conversation.

Jake smiled, “it’s 5-cheese mac-n-cheese. I’ve told her the recipe but she swears it only tastes right when I cook it. Much like her death-by-chocolate cake. I’ve tried making it but it’s not as good as when she does.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had more than one kind of cheese,” Curtis responded. “And death-by-chocolate cake? It all sounds really rich.”

“They’ve kinda become our special occasion food,” Jake nods. “Because it’s usually just the two of us, it’s just a lot. Sometimes we share with another Omega, Peggy.” Curtis’s ears perk up at the familiar name while Jake continues, “Y/N likes her well enough because she treats her Beta pretty well. Not a lot of us Betas are willing to stand up for or defend our Omegas, but he’s stood up to Alphas and Omegas for her so that’s incredibly telling.”

Curtis smiled at the thought of Stevie standing up for someone with more power than him. He really did never like bullies. Curtis took comfort in the information that his brother’s Omega wasn’t cruel to him. That, maybe, he actually had some happiness. 

Before the conversation could continue the door opened and Y/N walked in, tears falling down her face. Without thinking Curtis rushed over and hugged her, asking what happened. When she started sobbing, Curtis's inner Alpha started purring in an attempt to calm her while gently petting her hair. Jake watched from the kitchen, a small smile forming on his face as her sobbing quieted. 

Jake set the table and served up the food while Curtis kept comforting Y/N. He tried to be as quiet as he could so as not to interrupt the sweet scene. Jake could tell she’d had a rough day at work and liked that Curtis’s instinct was exactly what she needed. 

When Y/N stopped crying she looked at Curtis and jumped back, “Oh, I”m so-”

“Please, don’t apologize,” Curtis interrupted. His dark blue eyes were filled with concern as he took her hand and asked, “what happened?”

Y/N sniffed a bit, “just a really, really rough day. It was a couple. A mated couple.” She stopped when Jake coughed. “Oh,” she shook her head, “that’s right. I can’t. I’m not allowed to tell you much. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Curtis soothed. “Let’s just sit and enjoy this delicious smelling meal Jake cooked, okay?”

She nodded and let Curtis lead her to the table where Jake was already seated, wearing a big grin on his face.

"And Jake has yet to break my Tetris high score," Y/N smiled proudly.

"I never should have taught you how to play," Jake chuckled. "Then I'd still be champion!"

Curtis chuckled at the duo. Their interactions reminded him so much of the pups. It was interesting to see that, despite the AI’s efforts to diminish the role of Packs, the dynamics were still inherent in people.

Their talk was interrupted when Y/N chirped. She was so surprised that she slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide and she dropped her face in embarrassment. Curtis’s inner Alpha practically growled with pride at the sign his Omega was happy. 

Not my Omega, he reminded himself. Gotta keep that under control.

Meanwhile Jake was almost cheering, “you haven’t chirped in years! This is amazing!” 

Curtis touched a hand to her chin to gently lift her face towards him, “Sweetie, it’s okay. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Sweetie?”

“Um, yeah,” Curtis suddenly felt bashful. “Because you bake sweets and make tea. If it’s too forward I can take it back.”

“I love it,” Y/N smiles at him. “It’s nice to have a nickname that’s not meant to hurt me. Thank you so much.”

Jake coughed, “not to break up what is possibly the sweetest moment I’ve ever seen but if you’re giving her such a nickname, does that mean…” Jake gave Curtis a meaningful look, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know how this is supposed to work,” Curtis nodded. “If I have to sign something or get a physical or whatever, but I…I consent to being your Alpha.”

“Can I hug you,” she stood and held her arms open. Curtis stood and accepted her hug. She put her nose right at his mating gland. She immediately picked up his loyalty, his trust in her and even a bit of genuine care for her. But she also smelled his uncertainty, his conflicted feelings, his love for his Pack and that hint of curry and warm beer. 

As she let him go and stepped back she looked at him, “you don’t actually want this, do you?” The pain on her face was clear. “You would be fine going back to how things were before our first meeting, even the malnutrition, if it meant you could stay with your Pack. You don’t want to be my Alpha, do you?”

“I…” Curtis stops himself, caught off guard by her insight. “I won’t deny that my Pack is my priority. That the promise of a better life for them is the primary drive to continuing to be with you.” He stepped towards her, his eyes focused on hers, the sincerity in his words practically making them glow with intensity. “But in less than one month you’ve earned my trust. A feat no one else can match. And with that trust, I find myself liking you, finding comfort in your presence, genuinely enjoying getting to know you. It might not be the stuff of True Mates, but I hope you’ll agree it’s a damn good start, Sweetie.”

Y/N’s inner Omega took over a second and she wrapped her arms around Curtis’s neck, kissing him deeply, passionately. Curtis responded in kind and they’re lost in each other’s hold for several seconds. As she broke the kiss, Curtis looked at her and whispered, “don’t apologize.” She giggled shyly, “thank you. And you’re right. Mutual trust is a very good start.”

It took them a few more moments to register the fact that Jake has been taking photos. Y/N’s eyes went wide, “Jake! What are you doing!”

“Capturing one of the sweetest moments I’ve ever been privileged to witness! These are going right into the permanent photo album!”

Curtis chuckled and brought Y/N back close to him. “Let him have his fun. I get the feeling the next week or so is going to be very busy for all of us.” He gave her a light kiss. “I’m going to be relying on the two of you because I have no idea how the process goes. And I’m going to need to be a quick study for your upcoming heat.”

“While also making sure the transition is as easy on your Pack as it can be,” Y/N nodded. She knew it would be important to Curtis and wanted to be supportive. “I’m not sure what my workload will be like. You may have to rely more on Jake for things, but I’ll help out as much as I can, I promise.”

“I’m already starting on the forms to fill out,” Jake interjected, working on his tablet. “I should have this stuff finished in no time, just need some information from you, Curtis.”

“Yeah, so long as I can get home to my Pack tonight, let them know what’s going on.”

The rest of the night, Curtis didn’t let go of her hand until he had to leave for home. Making sure to kiss her goodnight.

Late into the night Hobie receives the two signals he’s been looking for. The plan is on track.

--Part 9--

Tagging @every-username-is-taken-damnit, per request.

[stormyoceans]

Girllll this feels like a dream 😭😭😭 I'd love to watch jimmysea in the medical plot 🤌🏻 if you're looking for feedback tho, I think it would be nice if you could also add the romance storyline? If not for every couple, only for jimmysea. Only if it's not too much stress babe, I hope your main focus is having fun in this project 💜

ALL FEEDBACKS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING ;;;;;;;;;

i actually have so much material about this particular plot that i had no idea how to go about putting it down in a coherent way, so in the end i tried to write the kind of summary you would find on MDL, but i realize that without the romance part it's probably not very appealing ;;;;;;;;

im still not sure of how to make sense of everything i have in my head so im just gonna share my very messy notes about jimmysea's characters and their relationship (only them for now because if i did it for everyone we would be here for a really long time ;;;;;;;). here we go!!!!

sea: a bright young man who always has a smile on his face and seems to have no worries in the world. his happy-go-lucky personality and the fact that everything comes easy to him can make him come off as a bit arrogant, but he's actually surprisingly observant and caring. when he was 17 years old, his father died in the ER after a car accident, and because the other party involved was a boy from a wealthy family, sea has been convinced ever since that his father's death was due to the doctors choosing to prioritize the boy even if his condition was less severe. this loss inspired sea to study medicine to make sure that what happened to his father didn't happen to anyone else, but it also made him resentful, which is why he struggles to respect the hospital rules. this often puts him in conflict with earth, who thinks sea's natural talent isn't enough to justify his lack of discipline.

jimmy: the only medical student to have completed his specialization under the mentorship of jane's father and to have actually earned his respect, jimmy is now one of the most renowned surgeon in the country despite his young age. his charming and gentle personality makes him be liked and respected by everyone, but his workaholism has earned him the nickname of 'the ghost of [insert name] hospital', as he seems to hardly ever leave the place. after being left at the altar by the woman he loved, jimmy has given up on relationships entirely, throwing himself into work and constantly trying to dodge his sister's attempts to set him up with someone. his walls however start to slowly crumble under the power of sea's smile and small caring gestures.

basically on one of jimmy's usual late night at the hospital, he wonders into pediatric to discuss a case with mix and finds sea reading a bed time story to a small group of children. just like jimmy, sea too seems to be reticent to go home, so night after night they end up keeping each other company and spending more and more time together. at first it's just the two of them working in the same room, jimmy doing paperwork and sea studying for his upcoming medical exams, but eventually sea manages to coax him out of the hospital, first by taking him out to eat and then by taking him to sea's favorite places around town. sea is also full of small caring gestures that make jimmy's heart tremble: he leaves jimmy's favorite coffee on his desk for him to find after a particular rough night, he forces jimmy to take a break and get some rest, he cuts fruits for jimmy and is mindful of everything that has to do with jimmy's hands. as they get closer tho, jimmy also realizes that there's a lot more behind sea's smile than it first appears: sea's mother never quite recovered from the loss of her husband, and after three years from his death she started developing sever dementia, to the point she can no longer recognize sea and sometimes even mistakes him for her husband when sea smiles

in my head their relationship is a very slow burn as they help each other heal but also as they try to reconcile their feelings with the fact that they're still a mentor and an intern. earth is also jimmy's best friend and at first he very much does not approve of how close jimmy and sea became, but eventually he comes around

THIS IS MORE OR LESS IT IM SHUTTING UP NOW BYE

[silent-sanctum]

okay you may recognize a similar post from before but thanks to @paintersmonster, i am compelled to finally release my proper thoughts on all the jojos if they were to be in an idol group.

NOW

Like what they mentioned in their poll, let's say there are 3 subunits: Hip-Hop Unit (aka Rap unit), Vocal Unit, and Performance Unit (aka Dance unit) yes like Seventeen because i love them

Aside from their units, they will also be given roles. I'll be explaining some for those unfamiliar with the terminologies.

P.S These are my own thoughts that may or not be biased, but I will try to be objective about them.

Jonathan Joestar: Leader, Vocal Unit (Main Vocalist)

Leader role is obvious since he's the oldest among the members and is the most responsible and dutiful to his tasks

Knowing his demeanor, I honestly can't see him in any other role than being the main singer, with his sweet voice and passionate aura

If you were to ask him how's his dance performance is, he'd respond that he's still working on it because the steps seems a bit hard for this giant puppy to follow

Joseph Joestar: Performance Unit (Main Dancer), Lead Rapper

For Mr. Nigerundayo, I actually debated if he should be a Main Dancer or Main Rapper because he gives off this wild energy to fit both roles.

But I decided to give him the Main Dancer role instead because he leans more towards anything that will hype him up and what better role is there but being an excellent dancer.

He'd rock the "cool" concept so well.

I also gave him the Lead Rapper role because of the energy he gives off. He'd drop some sick bars not gonna lie.

So sick in fact one could mistake him as the Main Rapper of the group

Can't sing for shit. Sorry Joseph.

As reference for his dance style, see the choreo for "Hit", "Very Nice", and "Miroh"

Jotaro Kujo: Center of the Group, Hip-Hop Unit (Main Rapper), Lead Vocalist

Yes... he's my vote in their poll.

BECAUSE by definition, "the Center is a term that refers to a group member who receives the most support and publicity from their agency... Because of their popularity and/or looks, a particular member is always placed in the center, getting the most spotlight."

Now we all know Stardust Crusaders is the most popular/promoted part in the JJBA universe, and guess who's the poster boy of JJBA as well as the most reoccurring Jojo?

His aesthetic, deep rough voice, and passive-aggressive shade energy gives off Main Rapper vibes for some reason

He also looks the part so-

The sole reason why I placed him as Lead Vocalist is because I've heard his VA Daisuke Ono is actually a singer soooo-

Also projecting a bit, but he's good at dancing- the type of dancer who uses controlled, sharp movements and often uses his sex appeal to his advantage.

Josuke Higashikata: Performance Unit (Lead Dancer), Lead Rapper, Sub Vocalist

Like father like son, I also interchanged which unit he should be in, but again like Joseph, I see him more as a Lead Dancer because of his fun, outgoing energy similar to Joseph's chaotic, wild one.

But his rap is just as good that he gives of Lead Rapper vibes

I can see his dancing style to be more bouncy and "pop-like", one that matches the vibe of the "summer", "school", "bubblegum" concepts.

Also, thanks to Jonathan's help, the kid's also interested in singing so I can see him wanting to learn how to sing and be a back-up for any of the vocalists.

As reference, his dance style is similar to the choreos of TXT like "CROWN", "Run Away", "Blue Hour", and "New Rules"

Giorno Giovanna: Vocal Unit (Lead Vocalist), Producer

Hear me out-

Because of Jonathan's influence yet again (and that Giorno seems to be closest with him), he is brought up and trained to be a vocalist like he is

And in my head, I feel like his demeanor gives me ballad singer for some reason just like Jonathan...

So the reason why I also placed Producer is that I headcanon Giorno to be an expert with instruments and has a near perfect pitch mindset, making him able to create some melodies for the group.

I may or may not also have placed the viral "Vento Aureo theme" as basis for this role as well, making it like he made those beats in some alternate universe

Jolyne Cujoh: Performance Unit (Lead Dancer), Lead Rapper

Even though she's the only female in the group, she proves everyone that she is capable of being as engaging and energetic as the boys in the unit she's in and in the group in general.

Because she gives off Joseph-vibes, I placed her in the Performance Unit, being able to pull off that "street-style" dance.

As reference, Jolyne gives me big Itzy vibes (aesthetic-wise and music-wise) or just the general "girl crush" and "teen" concept.

No but listen to "Not Shy" and "Wannabe" by Itzy and you'll see-

She also gives of "ANTIFRAGILE" vibes from Le Sserafim and "Tomboy" from (G)-Idle just wanna add

Johnny Joestar: Hip-Hop Unit (Main Rapper)

I'm gonna be frank... I dont know much about the Jojos of the new universe so take the next Jojos to come with a grain of salt

What I know of Johnny is that he's the Jonathan's AU self and is different from him

And that he's also paraplegic (hence why he's not placed in the Performance Unit or any Dance roles)

As the Main Vocalist's AU self, I just find it neat if he would take the role of Main Rapper to parallel

I don't know the guy much but I think he can pull off bars

Josuke "Gappy" Higashikata: Hip-Hop Unit (Lead Rapper), Sub Vocalist

Again don't know the guy aside from he's the fusion of two other dudes and that he has amnesia

Also meant to parallel P4 Josuke's role as Lead Dancer, I decided to put him here because there were no other slots left for him I'm sorry

But I believe he can surprise the audience with his hidden talents

Somehow, I can see him being interested in singing as well so he invested some time in vocal lessons to improve his vocals.

Jojo 9: Hip-Hop Unit (Lead Rapper)

We don't know the dude aside from his looks, but based on his outfit, he fits in with this unit so yeah :>

[adamwatchesmovies]

I See You (2019)

Do I give credit to I See You for what it did well, or punish it for the mistakes it makes? Tough call. When this film works, you’re overwhelmed with nervousness, fear and questions. In the end, once we know everything there is to know, things don’t add up but you have to credit it for being effective in the moment, which makes it worth seeing but probably not more than once.

A ten-year-old boy is abducted while riding his bike through a park. Clues show numerous similarities between the crime and those of a serial killer captured 15 years ago. Detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) is assigned to the case. When numerous unexplainable events begin disturbing his wife, Jackie (Helen Hunt) and teenage son, Connor (Judah Lewis), it’s unclear whether these are linked to the case, the affair Jackie recently broke off, the feelings Connor harbors towards his mother, or something else.

It’s best to go into I See You knowing as little as possible. Though the film only lasts 96 minutes, it feels like so much more. Writer Devon Graye and director Adam Randall have you caught in this bear trap that keeps tightening the more you wriggle. In the background, you see little things. A missing photo or objects that aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Unfortunately, the family is too preoccupied with their drama to recognize what’s happening. Is it already too late? How does this connect with the kidnapping? Your mind is buzzing with theories and you can’t wait for the next clue.

At one point, I See You drops a bombshell. While it dashes away many of your hypotheses, the fear that made the air so thick doesn’t disappear, it merely changes. You thought you were watching one kind of movie, turns out this is something completely different. You're knocked off your feet and not in a way that feels cheap. Everything adds up neatly. You’re shocked no one’s thought of this twist earlier but at the same time, this is the kind of development that feels fresh and new, a 21st-century kind of terror.

After the initial twist, the movie remains good. But then we get another twist… and then another. With each new shocking reveal, I See You makes less sense. Turns out those unexplainable events were caused by two “phroggers”, young adults who've snuck into the Harper’s home and have been living there in secret. Mindy (Life Barer) seems harmless for someone who broke into a household while Alec (Owen Teague) seems increasingly unhinged. If we knew this was a home invasion horror/thriller from the beginning it would've been one thing, but only realizing it midway through? It makes things so much scarier than before.

And then, we get another twist. Turns out Greg… is the serial killer who kidnapped the kid at the beginning! You thought the family was trapped in the house with the phroggers but it’s the other way around. If the intruders get caught, who knows what Greg is capable of? It's not as good a reveal but still effective. Then, ANOTHER twist. Alec knew this from the beginning. In fact, he’s been deliberately tormenting the Harper family as revenge for what Greg did to him 15 years ago and the man in jail was framed!

Will you see these reveals coming? No, but mostly because some of this makes no sense. If Alec knew whose house he was breaking into, why did he bring Mindy? If his objective was to torment Greg, why does he attack Connor? Why spend time tormenting the armed police officer at all when he could’ve easily gotten his revenge on him in the middle of the night and gotten away with it no problem? Has Alec been sitting on the killer’s identity for 15 years? Why didn’t he say anything as a boy? Why not years later when the innocent man was thrown in jail and seeking an appeal? This twist simply raises too many unanswerable questions.

Despite the plot holes, enough about I See You works to make it worth your while. The thing is, you won’t see the flaws while the movie is playing. The tension is too thick, the scares too real. It keeps you guessing. It’ll have you paranoid and even the stuff that doesn’t work makes sense in the movie world. Loopy as it is, this is the first script from Devon Graye and it’s impressive. You’ll want to keep an eye out for his future projects. (June 29, 2020)

[thetldrplace]

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific- Friedrich Engels

This was originally the first three chapters of a larger work- Anti-Duhring, published in 1878.

The initial idea was that Engels would write a more approachable condensed version of Marx's larger Das Kapital, which was a difficult read.

1 The Development of Utopian Socialism

Engels outlines the development of earlier forms of socialism by Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen.

Engels writes that the 18th century French philosophers saw reason as the ultimate answer to the betterment of society. They thought that history prior to the enlightenment had been one long age of unreason, and if only universal reason were applied, the problems of humanity would disappear. Despite the promises of the enlightenment, Engels sees the actual application of these 'inalienable rights of man' as being nothing more than further entrenchment of the bourgeois.

None of the three utopian socialists, says Engels, represented the interests of the proletariat. They sought the emancipation of all humanity, not just workers. Their mistake was to attempt to apply enlightenment values of reason and justice, rather than deal with what Marxists saw as the real problem- class antagonisms.

Engels notes that the French revolution tried installing enlightenment values, but ended in the Reign of Terror, therefore the application of enlightenment reason to society was a failure. Engels ignores the American experiment, which has been successful, and focuses on the French revolution in order to appeal to facts that support his assertion.

There had been Utopian socialists that had tried experiments in small scale communism. Engels sees their theories as crude responses to crude conditions. Capitalistic production had not developed enough to bring about the necessary conditions for revolution, so the utopian socialists' designs were pure fantasies.

The first was Henri de Saint-Simon, a son of the Revolution. While the revolution was a victory by the third estate (the common people), that victory soon showed itself to be essentially bourgeois in effect. The French revolution was an antagonism between the idlers (aristocracy and all those that earned without working) and workers. The idlers had lost the capacity to lead, as the revolution had proven. The new leadership would be a union between science and industry and a reformed new Christianity. But these were all lead by the bourgeois.

Second was Charles Fourier, who was a critic of modern society and wrote of the moral and material bankruptcy of the bourgeois. He contrasts the reality with the promises made by those promoting reason. He divided history into 4 stages: savagery, barbarianism, patriarchate, and civilization (which Engels says it the same as bourgeois society). He says these move in a vicious circle, constantly reproducing.

Third was Robert Owen, a Scottish cotton mill owner who had noted the conditions of the working class, and implemented humane conditions in his factory as a response. The result was a model colony. But even then Owen realized his workers were still essentially at his mercy, and he recognized that, while relatively better off, his workers were still far from being allowed rational development in their character and intellect.

While the factory had been highly profitable, he was still paying proprietors on the capital they laid out, meaning the workers were still not profiting as they should from their labor.

He drew up plans for more widespread reform in Ireland, but always based in the practical costs.  

But as his ideas developed to a more general communism; including private property, religion, and marriage, he knew that he would be socially excommunicated. His attempts at founding such a colony in America ruined him. Engels claims it was bourgeois ostracization that caused the failure. But New Harmony, Indiana, the colony he was using to implement his ideas, failed after only two years due to failed expectations, in-fighting, and commercial failure. They had lofty ideals, but couldn't clearly address how to make the community function.

Engels says Socialist thought has largely been patterned after these utopian. To these, socialism is the expression of absolute truth, reason, and justice, and only has to be discovered in order to conquer the world. But, says Engels, to make a science of socialism, it had to first be placed upon a real basis.

2 Dialectics

Engels says Hegel had the highest form of reasoning: dialectics. Aristotle had long ago analyzed the essential forms of dialectic thought1. The more modern philosophers used it, but in metaphysical mode.

The essence of dialectic thought is to consider nature, the history of mankind, or our own intellectual activity. We see an endless entanglement of relations and reactions, permutations and combinations- basically everything in its natural state of flux. Things are not static, but ever changing. We see the whole, and then the individual parts in the background. Heraclitus describe it as: everything is and is not, for everything is fluid, is constantly changing, constantly coming into being and passing away.

Engels writes that while true, this isn't sufficient. For a long time, we needed more knowledge of the natural and historical material with which to do analysis. As we've enlarged our scope of knowledge, there is more to work with, but the habits we gained over time was to study things in isolation, not in connection with the whole. This habit was transferred to the metaphysical realm. Ideas were isolated, to be considered apart from each other- and they become rigid, fixed.

This seems to be common sense, but it forgets that things are constantly in motion. Even cause and effect, which is useful applied to individual cases, begins to blur in the big picture of processes. But these processes don't enter into metaphysical reasoning.

Dialectics on the other hand comprehends the totality.

Nature is the proof of dialectics. It doesn't move in a perpetually recurring cycle, but in a historical evolution. Darwin showed this.

An exact replication of the universe, its evolution, and its consequences for man can only be obtained through dialectics and its regard of fluidity.

The importance of Hegel is that the world and history is seen as process. Now we need to follow the march of this process and find the inner law running through it. Hegel didn't solve the problem, but he propounded the problem. No single individual will ever be able to solve it.

The old materialism saw the world as essentially irrational and disconnected. The new materialism sees the process of evolution and seeks to discover the laws at work.

Engels goes on to assert that the facts laid out in the dialectic examination of history reveal that ALL past history was the history of class struggles. These warring classes are always the products of modes of production and exchange- or, economic conditions.  

I don't know if Marx gave evidence of this assertion in Capital, but Engels doesn't here, he just asserts it. In fact, this most crucial fact, underpinning nearly all Marxist thought, seems, on the face of it, to be not only not true, but not even possible.

If I were to guess at why Marx thought this, I'd guess he is only considering history from a much later date- say the middle ages on. But even now, smaller tribal groups have councils- leadership that settles disputes. Disputes arise, I would believe, because of human nature and our innate self-interest, not because of class conflict. Class conflict could never grow until society grew large enough. Marx seems to recognize that his assertion doesn't count for prehistoric times, but even today there are conditions where tribes and individuals within them have conflicts that don't have anything to do with class antagonisms. So this fundamental assertion of Marx seems to me on the face of it- wrong.

Engels says: Now that history is understood dialectically, and a materialistic understanding of history is granted; it was understood that man knows by being, rather than being by his knowing.  

From here, socialism is the necessary outcome of the struggle between the two historically developed classes.  

Again, Marx and Engels assert that these things are true. They claim they are rigidly scientific in their analysis, and therefore, they can't be wrong about the hypothesis. But oddly enough, while their dialectical approach should lead to more nuanced understanding, they seem exceptionally narrow and rigid in their conclusions. They took Darwin's early work and accepted that a materialistic understanding of history was granted. But the scientific method itself should have taught them they can never attain absolute certainty. One must always be open to later facts that would shed further light on the subject.

And even accepting this, it's laughable now to read that socialism was thought to be the necessary outcome of the class antagonisms they saw. Clearly, 170 years later, it hasn't come close to materializing. Yet they were religiously certain in their conclusions.

Engels finishes the section by noting the old utopian socialism condemned capitalism as bad, but couldn't explain it. The new socialism understands capitalism and its exploitation, and by the discovery of surplus value, shows us exactly where that exploitation occurs, and how to end it. With these discoveries, socialism became a science. The next thing was to work out all its details and relations.

3 Historical Materialism

Engels says the materialist conception of history starts from the proposition that production and exchange are the basis of all social structure. The final causes of all social changes are due to changes in modes of production, not in better insights into truth and justice. The perception that social institutions are unreasonable and unjust are due to changes in production and exchange.

Again, no evidence is given for these assertions, but I'm inclined to accept some of them, since they seem at face value to be true. I'm not sure if all social changes are due to changes in modes of production. It seems to me that war and conquest were probably a bigger factor in this than modes of production. Though I suppose since war was an acceptable way of increasing wealth, its consequences could be termed a change in the mode of production....

In the middle ages, the instruments of labor were the instruments of individual workmen. So the labor and output belonged to the producer himself.

One of capitalism's mechanisms was to transform this individual labor of an entire product, into a series of tasks, each done by different workers. This increased production, but it meant the end product no longer belonged to any one workman. Engels says, instead, the capitalist appropriates the end product.

And his appropriated product is always exclusively derived from the labor of others.  

This new mode of production is where the entirety of social antagonism lies. The contradiction between socialized production and capitalistic appropriation manifests itself in the antagonism between proletariat and bourgeoisie.

Certainly, this could lead to antagonisms. But is it necessarily so, as the Marxists assert? I don't think so.

Yes the capitalist sells the commodity produced by labor. But while Marxists term this appropriation, the capitalist pays the workers for their labor. It isn't just taken from them. Marx seems to make a huge deal out of the fact that workers now work on a specialized part of a shoe, rather than one individual making them entirely from scratch. But so what? I've been a freelance worker, and it can be very hard to survive all on your own. Whereas if you work in a larger entity, the entity carries all the responsibility and pays you for your work whether the product sells or not. Again, these are basic assumptions of Marxism that seem wildly misplaced.

Engels writes: In medieval society, production was directed towards satisfying the needs of the individual. Only when a family began to produce more than it needed, would the produce become a commodity. But production of commodities on this scale was restricted, narrow, stable and local.

As production of commodities increased, the producers became wage laborers. Whenever the capitalist organization of labor took place in an industry, it displaced all others. Modern capitalism, at a global scale, has made the antagonism between bourgeois and proletariat a universal struggle.

Engels believed this antagonism was innate in capitalism and it was unable to do anything else. Capitalists would be forced by the demands of the market to continually use better machinery until finally the workers themselves would be displaced. Machinery is the ultimate tool that would tear the means of subsistence out of the hands of the working class. The machine then is the tool of subjugation.

This ultimately will lead to the consumption of the masses and the destruction of the home market.

The working class rises up in the demand that they be treated as a social production force.

This assertion that capitalism would inevitably end up in disaster clearly proved to be wrong. The arguments would seem to be sound, especially in Marx's day, but complex systems rarely prove to be so easily read. In fact, some law of mitigating factors meant that continual adjustments were made until capitalism avoided the dire predictions Marx made. Did the Marxists then use Hegelian dialectic to readjust their models with continually more nuanced understandings? Nope. They have religiously held on to these pronouncements long after they've proven false. They continue to read Marx as if his writings were holy writ, incapable of being wrong.  

Engels says these active social forces, once understood, can be harnessed for the good. Recognizing the real nature of productive forces, it can be turned to the good of the community when the proletariat seizes power and turns the means of production into state property. The proletariat then also abolishes class distinctions and ultimately even the state itself, since the state is only an institution to protect the bourgeois. When the state becomes the real representative of all of society, not just the bourgeois, then it is no longer necessary. When economic antagonisms are removed, there is no longer anything to repress. Government gives way to administration.

Engels believed that the time was now (1877) that the capitalist system was finally breaking. It couldn’t happen before capitalism reached the necessary state of development, but once that happened, its demise was imminent.

As socialism took root, the means of production would be used for the betterment of the community, not just the wealthy, and even waste and devastation of productive forces would be eliminated. As production is turned towards the systematic good through definite organization, the struggle for existence disappears. Finally man emerges from subsistence into truly human existence. All of the conditions of life that ruled over man, are now subject to man.  

Footnotes:

1. Socrates Dialectic method was to show argument by a conversation between Socrates and others. Positions would be defined, countered, and refined. Hegel thought the older dialectical method resulted in either a position being null, or skeptical, which can only approximate truths, but falls short of genuine science. But Hegel thought reason necessarily generated contradictions. In his epistemology, opposing sides are different definitions of consciousness and of the object that consciousness is aware of or claims to know. The dialectic process should lead from simpler understandings to more sophisticated.

[signalwatch]

Nintendo Watch: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

I officially entered a new phase of life on Saturday when I went to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) with a cohort of second graders in support of my nephew's birthday.  I'm now an uncle who goes to movies he didn't select.  It's a good thing.

I am not anti video games, but I can describe my relationship to gaming as "apathetic".   The how's and why's of this phenomenon are uninteresting and best served in a dedicated blog post.  But even when we got our first Nintendo Entertainment System, I didn't have any Mario-related games.  I was spending my money on comics and tapes at the time.  Aside from a brief flirtation with a Wii and Mario Kart, never got into it.

That said, I recognize that Mario is essentially Mickey Mouse to a couple of generations.  I'm incredibly bad at predicting what will stick and what's a fad, and thought a plumber fighting turtles was just another thing that would come and go, like Ikari Warriors.  I'm still stunned anyone cares about Pokemon in this year of our Lord, 2023.  But the companies have gotten very good at punching the buttons that work well for children, year after year, as well as opening the gates for nostalgic teens and adults.  I'm pretty sure we already had a gritty Power Rangers reboot.

Back in the 1990's, I was offered the opportunity to see the Super Mario Bros. movie starring the late, great Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo.  Despite the fact I'd go see *anything* during this window, I took a pass.  All I remember is Steanso returning and saying "you dodged a bullet".  

A cynic looking to parrot the cultural complaints about He-Man in the 1980's will look at the new movie and say that this film is a toy commercial for the games and products of Nintendo.  That's only partially true.  Look, this movie is not something I would have seen if not for participation in family activities, but I get that for a lot of people, this is the first time the world of Mario has been fully realized in modern, cinematic terms, and without a whiff of that old hobgoblin of film-adaptations, a reimagining.  It's... Mario.  And Luigi.  And Princess Peach.  It's a celebration of Mario and Nintendo, and that's okay.  

It's 90 minutes-ish of telling a very Nintendo story about Mario doing all the shit he does in the games and defeating the bad-guy to save the not-in-that-much-need-of-saving Princess Peach.  

You know what my favorite part was?  There's no real learning or character growth.  There's no long stretches where characters talk about who they are and what they care about and you hear kids shifting and talking to their parents.  A scene or two happens, but only in dual-beat short scenes meant to pace the movie a tad.  It doesn't drive the plot.  Mario is not here to teach anyone life lessons, he's here to punch things and hop around.  This is literally a video game movie, and while modern video games can do complex storytelling for adults, that's not really Mario's niche to explore the workings of the human heart and psyche anymore than it's GI Joe's niche to explore the military industrial complex.  Kids don't give a shit about that, and neither do most young adults.  They came to see him put on a cat suit and drive the fuck out of Rainbow Road.

Speaking of, the movie is full of in-jokes, references, etc... as you'd expect.  YouTube will be littered with 20 Nintendo Easter-Eggs You Missed! videos for months to come.

Yeah, there's a bunch of big-name talent on the movie as voice actors, and they manage to dodge the goofy "It's a-me!  Mario!" shit without being weird about Italians.  You can look up who's in the movie, but I suspect you already know.

The movie is fine.  I won't make the mistake my friends who have kids make that declare "my kid liked it, ergo, this is a good movie."  That path leads to madness.  Instead, I can see that the film is intended to appeal in a certain way, and nobody tried to outsmart what Mario is or does and how his world works, and it's fine.  No weird re-do's on major characters or concepts thrown in that are anathema to actual fans.  No one is talking down to the audience, they're showing the audience the game in the coolest, boldest way possible.  If you like that stuff.  I'm still like "whatevs", but I had a good time sharing Junior Mints with my niece.  And my favorite part was probably the ape city and whatnot.  Quality Donkey Konging.

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from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/hvfxS2P

[90363462]

10 Times Dave East Proved He’s the Sexiest Rapper Alive

Jacinta HowardPublished: December 7, 2017

Play Dave East 

on Apple Music 

Dave East is undoubtedly one of the best rappers in the game right now. Representing New York's new crop of gifted rhymers, the Harlem rapper has become one of the most sought-after artists in hip-hop off the strength of his string of impressive mixtapes that have been released over the past few years, including the standout 2016 effort, Kairi Chanel (named after his daughter who was born the same year) and his most recent releases, 2017's Paranoia: A True Story and his new Karma tape. Known for his gritty storytelling and agility behind the mic, East has caught comparisons to pros at weaving street tales, including Jadakiss, Nas, Scarface, and Freddie Gibbs, though he markedly has his own sound. Look no further than bangers like "Type of Time" or the clever "Don't Shoot."

But here's the thing: you don't need to be a hip-hop head to recognize another huge attribute for Dave East—you only need eyes. Because Dave East is sexy as hell. So sexy in fact, that we'd venture to say the 29-year-old is the sexiest rapper alive.

Yes, Nicki Minaj is glorious with ability to break the internet. Method Man is still very attractive as an elder statesmen. J. Cole and his deeply concerned soul is adorable. Kendrick Lamar and his dual personas aren't off putting either—he makes it look sexy.  Nas somehow only gets better looking as time passes, and Trina, Cardi B and Kash Doll have undeniable appeal. But Dave East? Well, the former basketball player has proved time and time again that he's ascended to another plane of hot.

And make no mistakes— dude definitely knows he's a snack. Why else would he constantly be setting shirtless thirst traps on IG? Not that we're complaining... at all.

Here are 10 times Dave East showed us all exactly why he's the sexiest rapper alive. We dare you to try to dispute this extremely convincing photographic evidence.

20 Unforgettable Mixtape Moments of the '00s

[noelmendozasblog]

Jao v. CA , G.R. No. L-49162, July 28, 1987

FACTS:

Arlene Salgado, Janice Marie's mother, filed a case for recognition and support against Perico V. Jao. Jao denied the paternity so they agreed to a blood grouping test which was in due course conducted by the NBI. The test came out indicating that Janice could not have been the possible offspring of Jao and Arlene. Upon Arlene's motion for reconsideration, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court declared the child the offspring of Jao. Jao appealed to the CA, arguing that the blood grouping test could have been conclusive and disputable evidence of his non-paternity, because there was no showing of irregularity or mistake in the conduct of the tests. CA upheld Jao's contention and reversed the trial court decision.

ISSUE:Whether or not the result of blood grouping test is admissible and conclusive to prove paternity.

RULING:

Yes. SC denied the petition for review.

Supreme Court had given weight to the findings of the NBI in its blood grouping test. Thus, it cannot be gainsaid that the competency of the NBI to conduct blood grouping tests has been recognized as early as the 1950's. (Co Tao vs. CA, 101 Phil. 188)

In this jurisdiction, the result of blood tests, among other evidence, to, affirm paternity was dealt with in Co Tao v. CA. In said case, the NBI expert"s report of the blood tests stated that "from their blood groups and types, the defendant Co Tao is a possible father of the child." From this statement the defendant contended that the child must have been the child of another man. The Court noted: "For obvious reasons, the NBI expert cannot give assurance that the appellant was the father of the child; he can only give his opinion that he is a "possible father." This possibility, coupled with the other facts and circumstances brought out during the trial, tends to definitely establish that appellant is the father of the child."

Where the issue is admissibility and conclusiveness of blood grouping tests to disprove paternity, rulings have been much more definite in their conclusions. For the past three decades, the use of blood typing in cases of disputed parentage has already become an important legal procedure. There is now almost universal scientific agreement that blood grouping tests are conclusive as to non-paternity, although inconclusive as to paternity — that is, the fact that the blood type of the child is a possible product of the mother and alleged father does not conclusively prove that the child is born by such parents; but, if the blood type of the child is not the possible blood type when the blood of the mother and that of the alleged father are crossmatched, then the child cannot possibly be that of the alleged father.

In the United States jurisdiction, the admissibility of blood tests results to prove non-paternity has already been passed upon in several cases. The positive results of blood tests excluding paternity, in a case in which it was shown that proper safeguards were drawn around the testing procedures, were recognized as final on the question of paternity (Gilpin v. Gilpin). Evidence of non-paternity consisting of the result of blood grouping tests was admitted despite a finding that the alleged father had cohabited with the mother within the period of gestation (Cuneo v. Cuneo). The Court said that the competent medical testimony was overwhelmingly in favor of the plaintiff, and to reject such testimony would be tantamount to rejecting scientific fact.

[tonkiprogram]

The faceless double

#The faceless double full

#The faceless double Pc

#The faceless double Pc

This will be either in the form of direct download or PC key - depending on the store of your choice. Will I be able to download The Faceless Double game immediately?Īll shops featured on GG.deals will deliver your game immediately after the payment has been approved. If you notice any product assigned to incorrect region on GG.deals, contact us and we will correct the listing as soon as possible. Before you buy The Faceless Double, please check the store page for any information about activation restrictions in your region. However, some shops don’t share information regarding regional locks in their product feeds and that can lead to some very occasional mistakes. We always try to make sure that price displayed in our comparison is assigned to the correct regions. If the price is still too high, create a price alert and receive an email notification when The Faceless Double matches your budget! Does The Faceless Double cd key activate in my region? Check the price history of the game to determine how good the deal is in relation to historical low offers. All offers already include discounts from vouchers to save you time and money. GG.deals aggregates game keys from over 40 digital distribution stores so you can find the best deals on video games. When all is said and done, is a person really able to “become” anything at all? Is there “something” that you would like to become – even if it meant being cursed? The fact that Miwashiba’s previous game, LiEat, currently boasts over 100,000 downloads worldwide – with no signs of slowing down! – serves as further testament to this. Start up a game after being intrigued by Miwashiba’s cute characters and graphics, and by the end, you’re irretrievably hooked. The largest appeal of △○□× (Miwashiba)’s games would likely be the intricate stories and the miraculously immersive in-game worlds, painstakingly crafted from top to bottom. ・Bonus room (After clearing the game, you can experience a wealth of sub-stories and their respective elements) (Failure to avoid obstacles will cause damage to be incurred, and the game ends once your HP hits 0.) Take advantage of the various faces you’ve acquired to clear these events. There are also some parts of the story in which action game-like events containing puzzle-solving elements will occur. (Giving a wrong answer will cause damage to be incurred, and the game ends once your HP hits 0.) If you’re able to properly fulfill the inhabitants’ requests, you can acquire their respective faces as a reward. Throughout the story, the inhabitants of the strange lands you visit will ask you to solve various puzzles and answer riddles. The choices you make will directly affect the protagonists’ futures. Throughout the story, you will be prompted to make a wide variety of choices. on their adventure and help them to overcome the dangers and problems plaguing each land they visit! Simply put, this is an adventure game in which you advance through the story while solving various puzzles and riddles that pop up along the way.ĭouble and his crew will travel to a variety of strange lands on the quest to find God, and will have to take on the various challenges these lands currently face. The following items are currently being planned for inclusion in the game. Recognized by an extremely unique manner of speaking, that tiny little body moves in ways you’d never expect to be possible. Secretly following Lutchiana on his journey, he regularly sends reports back to Lutchiana’s father.Ī small “person”* whom Double and Cloena encounter while trying to leave the forest. While she comes off as somewhat cold, she also offers helpful advice to Double & co., who are undertaking their first adventure.Ī butler-cum-bodyguard employed by Lutchiana’s family. She stands out with her entire body glowing white. He offers help throughout Double’s journey to find God.Ī young female adventurer with robotic legs.

#The faceless double full

He embarks on a journey to seek out God in order to remove the curse that has been placed upon him.Īs long s he has a vessel, he can also turn into other people.Įnergetic and full of vigor, Cloena is a young boy who thinks of himself as Double’s little brother. His name can be changed.Ī young man who currently consists of only a soul. When Double awakened, he had lost his previous form.Ĭloena proposes to Double that they embark on a journey to seek out God, in order to remove the curse. The people of this world called the comet “God”. It is said that the comet will grant any wish – however, payment for a granted wish takes the form of a curse. In this world, there sometimes appears a comet that grants wishes.