#fixing accessibility component

[accessiblemindstech]

Accessibility is not a privilege but a right remarked Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Do You Love Our Reads Then Click Here:https://rb.gy/iej903 Click Here To Visit:https://rb.gy/uoyxqq

[captain-ultimat-doggo]

Humans entering space and realizing we are so small. We are mice compared to these giant races with their advanced machinery and technologies and experiences beyond us- except that we're humans. And our engineers dive into the new tech and once we learn the principles we also soon realize how Inefficient everything is. Their "microchips" are the size of cars, their storage drives are basically buildings, and they somehow store less data than ours. So, human companies take advantage, and tech starts rolling out. Massive and there's a lot of wasted space so that it can be managed with larger hands/pincers/claws/tentacles, but also so much more efficient than anything the galaxy has seen before.

Human technicians start hopping ships and upkeeping the general maintenance, the stuff that most aliens put off or don't notice because they never access the crevices of their ships. As human companies become more popular and lead the tech world in everything from warp cores to game stations ("it's so compact! How are the graphics so good?" Says a 60' tall grimbleback, holding a new VR headset that has all of its components included because it's so BIG by our tech standards), soon many things have accessibility ports for humans to be able to use as well. This means that these shiprats hoping ship to ship cause such a huge improvement in everything running smoothly, and there's a huge downtick in pests on ships because those "pests" are not only big enough and aggressive enough to bite a pitbull or a person in half, they're invasive to so many planets and humans hate nothing more than dog killing planet overrunning monsters.

All the while, from the Aliens perspective, humans are an elusive race that don't fraternize much with them. You almost never see a human as most places aren't exactly safe for the little things to run around in. They do export so much stuff though, and the custodial staff at the Central Galactic Outpost insists that there's more humans around than any other race if you just know where to look.

And sure it's somewhat known that some of the little daredevils hop ships and help out in exchange for room and board, usually without permission, but that can't be that common, can it?

Maybe your ship is running better this cycle ever since you stopped at the last station, that just means that tuneup was better than you thought. And maybe for some reason that program you were working on last night is finished when you wake up, but you're so tired maybe you finished it before you passed out. Somehow that faulty light in the galley has fixed itself as well, which is odd, but maybe the Engineer finally got to it. You'd know if there was someone else on your ship.

Right?

... You leave a little bowl of berries out as a thank you, just in case. You're not sure what humans like but you've heard they have a sweet tooth.

[backtothefanfiction]

Joaquin Torres x Stark!Reader | Grumpy x Sunshine

Summary: Joaquin and Sam take a trip to the Stark cabin to get something fixed on Joaquin’s suit.

Warnings: fluff, grief, angst, banter

Word Count: 2.6k+

A/N: Okay so I this is based on an ask that came through my inbox. I did make a couple adjustments, but over all the bones are the same. Hope people enjoy!

Joaquin always felt awkward when Sam dragged him out to the Stark cabin for a fix on their suits. Although he had never met Tony Stark himself, the Avenger was someone everyone knew and his loss was still felt all around the world. But the Stark cabin always felt like the nucleus of that grief. More importantly, the shed out back.

"I'm gonna head in and say hey to Pepper," Sam said as they made their way side by side down the path through the woods that lead to the old hunting cabin that had been turned into the Stark's main home during the blip.

"Okay, well I'm gonna- head-" Joaquin's voice trailed off as Sam made a left and began to head up the stairs to the front door, suddenly leaving him on his own, "to- the- uh shed I guess," he muttered to himself much quieter, looking between the cabin and the shed where he knew you would be.

He hesitated at the door to the shed. He knew you'd be in there, you practically lived in there since your Dad died. He knew it was bad for you to isolate yourself the way you did, throwing yourself into continuing his work as a way to manage your grief, but he also felt like he was invading your sanctuary whenever he stopped by.

"YO, FEATHERS! YOU GONNA STAND OUT THERE ALL DAY OR YOU GONNA COME IN!" Your voice called out to him and he took that as his queue to enter.

"How did you know I was out there?" he asked as he strutted in, his eyes scanning the space as he sought you out amongst the converted lab you and your Dad had built together during the blip. The two of you hadn't been too close before then, your Mom wanting you to keep your distance from the man she had accidentally conceived a child with during a drunken one night stand in her 20s, but when she became a victim of Thanos and the blip, you had no choice but to seek refuge with him.

"Cameras," you said, lifting a tablet in the air that showed a video feed of the front door and Joaquin used it as a marker to find you amongst the mess.

"You know I don't have feathers right?" he said as he approached the bench where you were huddled over a piece of tech, a soldering iron in hand as you fused different components together.

"And you two could literally go to anyone else at Stark Industries to fix your suites and yet, here you are." you said sarcastically as you finally met his eyes.

Joaquin took one look at the dark circles under your eyes and his heart ached. He hated to see you like this. He had developed a crush on you the first time he had met you. It was a couple years ago now. He had been brought in with Sam and Bucky for the debrief with Colonel Rhodes after the incident with the flag smashers. You had stopped by to have dinner with your Father's old best friend, turning up in a red floral sun dress and denim jacket and he had instantly fallen in love- not that he'd ever had the balls to tell you.

“You haven’t been sleeping.” Joaquin stated, his voice soft, but you hated the tone of pity that accompanied it. It was coming up to the anniversary of your Father's death and your dreams had been plagued with flash backs to the battle where you had watched him lose his life.

“Well thanks Captain Obvious.” you snapped at him resentfully.

As long as he'd known you, Joaquin knew your usual jaded demeanour and hostility was due to your inability to deal with your grief over your Dad, but he also knew this extra spiciness to your tone was due to the aforementioned lack of sleep. “You know I was never actually a captain.” he said, trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't help.

“Okay, then Lieutenant Obvious. Better?” You sassed as you forcefully turned him around to get to the access panel on the back of the wings.

“Remind me again why you’ve got to do this with the suit on me.”

“It’s so you can fly away the second I’m done and stop- annoying-me,” you grunted as you popped the panel. “Uuuhgg, this is a mess. Who the hell has been fiddling with this thing?” you asked, taking in the hazard of wires and switch boards inside.

“The US governement.” Joaquin laughed.

“That sounds about right," you gritted as you took your soldering iron from before and began adjusting and readjusting wires.

As you worked, Joaquin took a moment to look around the room again. There were empty cups, mugs and plates discarded in different places as you had refuelled on the go. The sofa in the corner had a blanket haphazardly draped across it, implying that when you had been sleeping, it had been in here and not in the house with Pepper and your half sister Morgan. It broke his heart.

"Y/N-" he said your name tentatively, wanting to broach the subject and help, but also not wanting you to completely shut down and shut him out and hate him forever.

"Don't." you said, reading his mind without having to look directly at his face as you focused on your current job. "There," you sighed, "try that." you said as you closed the panel again and sat back.

Joaquin turned around, shifting in his suit, his arms lifting as he prepared to let loose the wings at his back. "NOT IN HERE MORON!" you quickly said, fear rippling through you at the thought of the nano tech wings unfolding at his back and smashing into the machinery set up around the two of you. "Take it outside."

"Uh, yeah. Right." Joaquin stuttered nervously as he realised his mistake.

You reluctantly followed him outside for his test flight and was met with the sight of your younger sister running down the steps of the cabin and over to you both. "JOAQUIN!" the young girl beamed, taking him in. She for sure had a little school girl crush on him. And to be fair, you couldn’t blame her, he was good looking, you just weren’t interested in anything right now.

"Hey Kiddo!" he said, embracing her as she ran into his arms to greet him with a hug. "Your sister's just fixed my wing up. Wanna see?"

"Yeah! Of course!" she beamed and the way she smiled made you see all of the same awe and wonder in her eyes as your Father used to have. The look sent a new wave of grief to hit you and you had to turn away from her for a moment to compose yourself. It was so quick you had hoped neither of them had noticed, but when you looked back to Joaquin, it was clear to you he had.

"Well, go on then. Get this over with so I can go back to work." you said, folding your arms across your chest as you encouraged him to let his wings free.

His eyes seemed to linger on you for a moment, trying to find a way to penetrate your armour before he finally conceded. There was a click and a rippling schwing of metal as his wings unfurled seamlessly at his back, shorter at first, but then he pressed another button in the gloves of his suit and the nanobots shifted and extended the wings down to make them larger.

"Oooooooh," Morgan cooed in wonder as she took them in.

"Come on then feathers, you gonna fly or what?" you encouraged him. He sighed in your direction, but ultimately activated his helmet and thrusters and dramatically blasted off from the floor at such a force you and Morgan had to steady yourselves as you were hit with a blast of air.

You both watched from the ground as he began to do a sweep around the property, Morgan running down to the lakes edge to watch him closer as he dipped down to run a finger through the water as he glided above it. You stood there for another minute, watching to make sure there weren't any more problems, but when he started to show off, doing barrel rolls through the air to impress Morgan, you knew it was your cue to return to your work.

“You know, you should be a lot nicer to him,” Pepper’s voice startled you. You hadn’t noticed her when you first came in, but at the sound of her voice, you quickly found her collecting up some of your plates and mugs, ready to take them back into the cabin.

You didn’t respond to her, your body turning back to your work as you pretended like she wasn’t there. You didn’t want the lecture right now. Although she had married your Father and had technically become your step mom, not to mention she was your half sister’s actual mother, Pepper had always felt more like an Aunt to you. She had all the same maternal energy and instincts towards you, but she was more approachable like a friend.

“You know, I invited them to stay for dinner,” she said as she came up beside you. “We’re having cheeseburgers, in honour of your Dad.” she continued, trying to get any sort of reaction out of you, but you weren’t biting. “You know,” she said, after another pause, deciding to change tac, “I think he likes you.”

“What makes you say that?” you said instinctively and you instantly kicked yourself for responding, but you could feel the swell of pride coming off Pepper as she realised she had gotten you to break.

“Because I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” she said wistfully, her eyes looking out the open doorway towards the sounds of her daughter’s giggles as she played with Joaquin. “And no matter how mean you are to him, he keeps coming back.”

“Is that what happened with you and my Dad?” You asked, fishing for information about the origins of their relationship.

“Not quite. Me and your Dad were… a little more complicated. Your dad was always a lone wolf, but he,” she said, her gaze moving to the man outside again, “he’s more of a golden retriever. He may be a bit goofy and over enthusiastic at times,” she said, before turning her attention back to you, “but he’s loyal. And he knows how to have fun,” she stressed as she nudged your shoulder. It was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes about the way you needed to take a break from your Father’s legacy and just learn to let loose again.

You went back to giving her the silent treatment as she shifted the cups and plates in her hands again and went to leave. But as she reached the door, the small voice in the back of your head (you often liked to think was actually your Father living rent free in your brain), told you she was right.

“Pepper!” you called out to stop her. “Thanks.” you said, giving her the first smile that had graced your face all week. She didn’t say anything more back, just gave you an equally fond smile of acknowledgment. After all, Pepper Potts knew she had already said everything she needed to, to finally get you back out of the shed.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Nearly two hours later, you finally made your way up to the cabin for dinner. The sound of laughter and the sizzling sounds and smell of the burgers was almost overwhelming after spending a week alone out in the shed, but you quickly shook it off. Both Sam and Joaquin turned their heads at the sound of the door, but quickly became distracted again by your sister. She was stood in the middle of the living room giving a rather animated account to them of an incident that had happened to her at school. You couldn’t help but smile at the way she captivated them as you snuck through the house to the kitchen.

“Can I help with anything?” you quietly asked.

Pepper turned and gave you a smile. You watched as her eyes scanned you. You had changed since she had left you and even taken the time to run a brush through your hair. You could tell there was something hidden in her gaze, knew she was eager to tease you over it, but she quickly dropped it, not wanting to scare you off after finally being able to coax you back in.

“I’m almost done,” she said, “the burgers will just be another minute or two. Why don’t you lay up the table, ready for everyone.”

You didn’t give her a verbal response, instead headed straight to the draw to retrieve the cutlery and placemats. “Let me help you with that.” Joaquin’s voice came from behind you. You turned your head with a start. You hadn’t even heard him follow you in.

“Uh, thanks,” you said quietly as he took the handful of cutlery from you and followed you to the dining table.

You were both silent as you began to put down the placemats, Joaquin following close behind you and laying down the cutlery. When you had finished that, he followed you back to the kitchen to help carry in the salad and condiments, which you laid out in the middle of the table so people could help themselves.

“I’m sorry- uh I mean, earlier, this afternoon. Thank you for uh,” Your voice froze. Gosh this was awful. You desperately wanted to bridge the gap you had placed between the two of you, but you didn’t know how. “I’m sorry I was a dick!” you finally blurted out.

He let out a little snicker at your outburst, but quickly schooled his features, knowing you were trying to have a serious conversation. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“I know, it just… I know I can be a bit…”

“Hostile?” He said, filling in the word you were struggling with.

“Yeah. Hostile.” you repeated.

“It’s okay. I know you don’t mean it. It’s not easy losing a parent. It’s not easy losing anyone.” he corrected himself. “Grief makes us do odd things sometimes. Just know that you’re not alone. Okay?”

“Okay.” your repeated.

“I’m here for you. Come rain or shine. Night or day. You don’t have to do this on your own.”

“I know,” you sighed, your head hanging, almost in shame. “I’ve just… never really been that good at asking for…”

“Help?”

“Yeah,” you sighed.

“Look,” he said, and you watched at he reached into his back pocket for his wallet and pulled out a bit of paper with his number on it. You hated to think how long he’d had it sat in there just waiting for the right moment to give it to you. “This is my number. Call me whenever.”

You took it from him and couldn’t help the small smile that danced on your lips as your fingers played with the piece of paper you had been handed. “Even in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep?” you asked him, both earnestly, but with a hint of suggestiveness you hoped he’d pick up on.

He was silent a moment as he analysed you. Wanting to check and make sure you had meant to imply what you had. When he realised you had, he hung his head in an attempt to hide the blush in his cheeks and the shit eating grin that adorned his face. “Yeah,” he sighed, finally looking back up across the table at you, an entirely new kind of tension between you now, “especially then,” he said and you knew that was one offer of help you were never going to turn down.

[misctf]

Safe Space Spray

Owen picked up his phone and dialed Jake's number as he drove along the winding country road leading to Jake's family cabin. The warm southern sun beat down through the windshield while classic rock played softly from the speakers. After a few rings, Jake answered.

“Well hey there partner!” Jake's cheerful voice came through the speaker. “How far ya'll out?”

“Not too much longer now,” Owen replied, his deep southern drawl rolling through each word, “I reckon 'bout thirty minutes tops. That fishing hole better be swimmin' with catfish like you said!”

“My mama didn’t raise no liar.” Jake replied, his hearty laugh echoing over the phone.

Owen smiled. This was gonna be the best fishin’ trip yet. As the call continued, Owen kept his eyes on the road ahead, the vast expanse of rural landscape stretching out before him. Suddenly, something caught his eye- a small figure standing beside a broken-down vehicle on the shoulder.

“Aw shucks, looks like some fella's car done gone and quit on 'im.” Owen muttered to himself as he slowed his truck, “Jake, I reckon I’ll be by later. I’m gonna see if I can lend a hand.”

Owen pulled his pickup truck over onto the gravelly shoulder behind the stranded vehicle. He removed his hat and ran a hand through his short brown hair and approached the man hunched over the open hood.

“Howdy there! Looks like you're havin' some trouble with your ride. Name's Owen, I'm pretty handy with fixin' things if you need a lendin' hand.” He called out in his friendly drawl.

The stranger, a slender young man with styled blonde hair, whirled around. His eyes widened in surprise and apprehension as he took in Owen's appearance. The twink's hands shook slightly as he reached into his pocket and aimed what looked like a small spray bottle directly at Owen.

“I-I don't want any trouble!” the blonde stammered, his voice high-pitched with anxiety.

Before Owen could react, the twink pressed down on the trigger, unleashing a fine mist across his handsome face and chest. Owen blinked and coughed, shaking his head slightly as droplets hit his face and clothes. It didn’t sting or burn. It felt like water.

“The hell was that for?” Owen demanded, his brow furrowing in confusion and annoyance, “I ain't here to cause you no harm, bud. Just tryin' to help.”

“I-I'm sorry!” The twink squeaked, “Around here, you don't know what kind of people you'll run into.”

Owen sighed heavily, wiping his brow, “Listen here, I understand yer cautious. But I promise you, I mean no ill intent. Let me take a look at yer car, see if I can get 'er runnin' again.”

The blonde hesitated briefly before nodding, “Okay... I guess that would be okay. Thank you.” He stepped aside, allowing Owen access to the vehicle.

As Owen popped the hood, he furrowed his brow in concentration, his large hands working deftly under the hood. However, he found himself growing increasingly clumsy and uncoordinated, fumbling with tools he'd handled with ease a hundred times before.

“I swear...” he muttered, his words coming out slightly slurred, “This oughta be a cinch for me...”

He fumbled with the engine components, his large hands suddenly feeling clumsy and unfamiliar. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to focus. Just then, the twink appeared at his side, holding out a bottled water.

“Here, you must be thirsty after all this work.”

Without thinking, Owen took the bottle and chirped in an impossibly high, effeminate voice, “Thanks sis!”

Owen froze, his eyes widening as the words left his mouth. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he gripped the edge of the car hood for support. Shaking his head, he tried to push the strange moment from his mind.

“Uh, thanks kindly.” he mumbled, taking a long swig of water to cover his embarrassment.

He turned back to the engine, determined to finish the repair quickly so he could be on his way.

With renewed focus (and a touch more difficulty), Owen worked to diagnose and fix the issue. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he stepped back as the engine roared to life.

“There ya go, as good as new!” He grinned at Paul, wiping his hands on a rag.

As Owen straightened up and turned to face Paul fully, he couldn't help but really notice the younger man for the first time. Paul's delicate features, stylish hair, and slim physique suddenly seemed incredibly appealing. Their eyes locked- Paul’s deep blue captivating Owen’s. Owen felt an unfamiliar flutter in his chest and his dick stir ever so slightly in his increasingly tighter jeans.

“You've been an absolute lifesaver.” Paul gushed, flashing Owen a dazzling smile. He stepped closer, the two now the same height. Owen could’ve sworn he had been taller, “If you ever find yourself in the city, call me. I'd love to thank you properly.” He slipped a piece of paper into Owen’s pocket with a playful wink.

Owen felt a flush creep up his neck at the suggestive tone. He cleared his throat, trying to maintain his composure despite the odd sensations still tingling through his body.

“Ah, well, just doin' what any decent fella would do.”

Owen watched as Paul slid gracefully into his car, the movement highlighting the pert curve of his ass. He swallowed thickly, his heart pounding for reasons he couldn't quite explain. As Paul drove away, Owen looked down and saw the discarded can that Paul sprayed him with earlier.

“He must’ve forgotten it.” Owen frowned inspecting the strange bottle, “Safe Space Spray... what in the world...” He chuckled, “I reckon I’ll get it to ‘em when I see ‘em next.” He paused, “What the hell am I thinkin’. I ain’t seein’ him again...”

But he wasn’t sure he could even convince himself. He wanted to see him again... Owen shook his head and placed the can in his pocket before climbing back into his own truck. With a sigh, he reached for the ignition but recoiled at the sight of his hand.

“What in the...”

Owen stared at his hand in shock, noting the slight tremor and how it almost seemed to have lost some of its natural ruggedness. His callouses... gone. His nails... well-manicured. Alarmed, he gripped the steering wheel tightly and peeled out, speeding towards Jake's cabin with an urgency he couldn't explain. As he drove, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he noticed his hair looked shaggier, his facial features softening.

“What in tarnation is happenin' to me?” he muttered, his voice cracking slightly. He tried to rationalize it, blaming stress or exhaustion, but he knew it was something more.

Just then, he squirmed in his seat as his ass inflated, his previously snug jeans straining against the growing mounds. And with each bump in the road, Owen stifled a moan as jolts of unfamiliar pleasure rushed through his groin.

“No, no, no... Oh my GAWD!” He whimpered, cringing at the loss of his rich Southern drawl- replaced now by words colored by a nasally, high-pitched timbre, “Like... this is totally not okay!”

Owen finally arrived at Jake's cabin, tires screeching as he parked haphazardly. He stumbled out of the truck, trying to balance himself given his now fat ass. He can hear Jake outside, gathering wood for a bonfire and he bites his tongue before sauntering towards the door.

“I-I have to get inside... hide this from Jake...” He whimpered, “How... why is this...?” His eyes widen, “The spray!” He squealed, “I need to like... totally wash this off!”

Owen practically sprinted to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. With trembling hands, he began tearing at his clothes, buttons flying as he stripped. He stood naked in front of the mirror, hardly recognizing the reflection staring back at him.

His once broad shoulders had narrowed, his pecs shrinking into perky little mounds with cute pink nipples. Below, his six-pack had melted away, leaving behind a smooth, hairless torso. And between his legs... Owen gasped, covering his mouth as he saw the nub that had once been his proud cock.

“Oh em gee...” He whined, “I'm like... a total twink now!” Tears pricked at his eyes as he reached for the shower knob with slender fingers. Steam billowed out as he stepped under the hot spray, hoping the water might somehow reverse these changes.

Owen lathered up a loofah, scrubbing at his skin vigorously. To his horror, he watched clumps of any remaining dark body hair rinse away down the drain, leaving behind silky smooth flesh. Scars and rough patches vanished, his complexion becoming flawlessly soft and clear.

“Eep!” He yelped as his hands brushed lower, encountering the plush globes of his ass. They seemed to swell and expand with every passing second, growing rounder and fuller until they were each easily a handful. Owen couldn't resist giving them a tentative squeeze, marveling at their suppleness- imagining another man playing with them.

A breathy moan escaped his increasingly plumper lips as he kneaded the doughy cheeks, sending sparks of pleasure radiating through his core- thoughts of muscular men squeezing his ass filled his head.

“Oh fuck yes.... I wonder...” Curiosity got the better of him as he inserted a digit inside his virgin hole. It stretched deliciously around the intrusion and Owen saw stars, his neglected cock weeping steadily. He pumped the finger faster, soon adding a second, then a third, “Oh.... Ohhhhhhh....” He moaned, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head, “I'm... I'm gonna... cum!”

Owen let out a long moan as his entire body seized and his orgasm crashed over him like a tidal wave. He slumped to the shower’s floor, his eyes half-lidded and glazed over. After a few moments of basking in his post-orgasm bliss, the new twink slowly stood up and exited the shower. He walked over to his bed and collapsed- the day’s events exacting their toll on him.

“What the hell!?” Owen looked up- a shocked expression gracing his cute features.

“J-Jake! I... um...It’s me! It’s Owen!” Owen stammered, his voice pitching higher than normal. He made no attempt to cover himself, proud now to flaunt his assets. And besides, why had he never noticed how sexy Jake was before?

Jake's jaw dropped, his eyes bulging as he took in the shocking sight before him. There were few, if any similarities between him and his friend. But there were enough.

“Holy shit, Owen?! What happened to you?”

Owen's eyes lit up as a mischievous grin spread across his glossy lips, “Oh sweetie, you wouldn't believe the wild ride I've been on!” He giggled.

Reaching over to the pile of discarded clothes, he fished out the mysterious spray can. Jake looked at his friend, and then to the can, and then back up to his friend.

“Wha...”

Without warning, Owen pressed down on the trigger, unleashing another fine mist straight into Jake's stunned, handsome face...

[lovetheworld2026]

The problem with me is that I want to go onto tech forums and help people with their tech problems, because I think this type of problem solving is fun. But I don't actually know very much about computers, and in my experience the other people on tech help forums are very mean to me when I am wrong about things on them. So if I try to help people, I am either 1. easily stumped by their issue or 2. caught being wrong about some small thing by one of the other users, and either way I'm not actually helping anyone. Now, the obvious solution to this problem is to learn more about computers, to simply "get good" as it were. But the best way I learn is by solving problems like this, and there are only so many computers in my periphery, and only so many of them have problems to solve.

[fernwehreader]

The Narrative Framing of the Ribbon in ACOSF

Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the intentionality of SJM introducing the mating ceremony ribbon in the same book we first meet Gwyn, who introduces the Valkyrie ribbon.  Because, to me, the decision seems wholly purposeful rather than coincidental.  The presentation of these two details in the same text would be significant enough on its own--but it goes beyond that.  I think it’s mostly about the narrative framing taking place within the context of the ribbon, which sets the scene for Azriel and Gwyn.  There is a “story within a story” being introduced, even if it is limited by the points-of-view we’re given access to in ACOSF.

To start, I find it incredible that we were given 3.5 texts set in the ACOTAR world which included detailed information about mating bonds, but our first mention of the mating ceremony ribbon is not until ACOSF when we are told that, for Nesta: 

. . . all that mattered, she realized, was the male who would be standing with her, first as they swore their vows, then as they offered each other food, and then as their friends and family bound their hands together with a length of black ribbon to remain until the mating was consummated.

Prior to ACOSF, we were already aware of the vows and the offering of food as necessary components of a formal mating bond acceptance.  But the information about the binding of hands with a ribbon is new.  And not only does it take four books to let the reader know this new information, but it's introduced in the same text in which Gwyn establishes the Valkyrie ribbon:

“Done,” Gwyn declared, the white ribbon fluttering in the wind where it hung from the beam.  Behind them, a few of the priestesses working with Azriel had turned to see what the ribbon business was about.  The shadowsinger crossed his arms, angling his head, but remained in his half of the ring.

I love this moment because we not only get this great visual of the ribbon in the wind, but we also get these extra details about Azriel amid Gwyn’s successful installation of her ribbon.  Why do we need to know all of this about Azriel?  What does it matter how he responds?

This intertwining of Azriel and Gwyn within the introduction of the Valkyrie ribbon continues, however, when Cassian asks Gwyn and Emerie to show him what they learned with blades while he and Nesta were away on their hike.  Cassian says:

“Az told me you also started preliminary work with the steel blades while we were gone.”  He nodded to Gwyn and Emerie, the former glancing toward Azriel, who watched in silence.  “So show me what you learned.  Cut the ribbon in two.” “We slice the ribbon in two,” Emerie asked Gwyn warily, “and our training is complete?” Gwyn again glanced to Azriel, who drifted closer.  She said, “I’m not entirely sure.”

Once again, narrative framing is happening here--something separate from the main narrative between Nesta and Cassian.  Why does the reader need to know that Gwyn is glancing at Azriel repeatedly?  Why does Azriel drift closer the second time?  

We must keep in mind that this scene is in Nesta’s point-of-view, and she and Cassian have just returned after being away from the House of Wind for a week.  It’s clear that the reader is missing some context which happened off the page.  I think this is even more obvious a little earlier in the chapter, before Gwyn finishes hanging the ribbon:

Gwyn snickered, her attention fixed on tying a length of white silk ribbon to a wood beam jutting from the side of the pit.  Neither the ribbon nor the beam had been there a week ago, and Nesta had no idea how they’d even anchored the wood into the stone, but there it was.

This paragraph has always stood out to me (I actually made a pencil notation next to it during my first reading of ACOSF in 2021).  I have a lot of questions here.  

I do believe Nesta’s narration is in part meant to clue the reader in to the fact that the wood beam and ribbon are new additions to training for everyone, not just for her and Cassian since they missed the prior week.  We have no idea what has taken place during Valkyrie training in their absence--so the confirmation that all of this is new is important.  But, I do think the specificity of what Nesta is focused on during this observation is notable.  She wonders “how they’d even anchored the wood into the stone.”  

I’d argue this is Nesta trying to nudge the reader to wonder about this, as well (perhaps also in the same way she is nudging the reader in HOFAS that, yes, we should be curious about Azriel after Bryce’s questioning about his romantic life, lol).  

But, Nesta does bring up an interesting point here.  In fact, I’d also like to know how the wood beam was anchored into the stone.  This seems to be Gwyn’s project given the fact she answers all questions about it.  So, did Gwyn do this all by herself?  Is Gwyn skilled with masonry tools to make this happen?   

While the answers to those questions aren’t known, what is perfectly clear is that there is some important information that the reader is missing in Chapter 51 of ACOSF.  But, we can only make inferences at this point--we have to evaluate the evidence given to us in this chapter to figure out what pieces we are missing from the puzzle.  Even though conclusions aren’t explicitly stated in the text, I do think there are enough literary clues to point us in a likely direction.  And, I think this is most easily accomplished through the process of elimination.   

Gwyn clearly is the project leader when it comes to this entire business with the ribbon.  As noted in the excerpts above, she is the one who hangs the ribbon, who explains it all to Cassian when he asks for clarification, and who answers Emerie’s question about it.

But, who else knows what is going on in these moments based on the evidence we are given?

Cassian and Nesta have no idea what’s going on: through their POVs, we know they have been away from training and the House of Wind for the past week, and Cassian tells Gwyn to “explain” when he sees the ribbon.  

Emerie has no idea what’s going on: we know this for sure when Gwyn answers Cassian’s request to explain:

Gwyn squared her shoulders.  “This is the Valkyrie test for whether your training is    complete and you’re ready for battle: cut the ribbon in half.” Emerie snorted.  “What?”

But, Emerie’s lack of awareness of what Gwyn is doing is also emphasized in the earlier excerpt where she asks Gwyn warily if their training is complete once they slice the ribbon in two.  Emerie clearly has no idea what Gwyn has been up to or the purpose of the ribbon.  

The other priestesses have no idea what is going on:  this is shown when Gwyn finishes hanging the ribbon and “a few of the priestesses working with Azriel had turned to see what the ribbon business was about.”  It’s obvious that these priestesses are as clueless as Nesta, Cassian, and Emerie in this moment.

So the last question remains: Does Azriel know what’s going on?

This is where we have to make some inferences based on our context clues and literary evidence from this chapter.  I would argue that, yes, Azriel has some understanding of what is happening regarding Gwyn and the ribbon.  He doesn’t seem particularly confused or curious when he “crossed his arms” and “remained on his half of the ring” when Gwyn finished hanging the ribbon.  We see elsewhere in ACOSF (and in his bonus chapter) that Azriel’s eyes narrow when his shadows whisper to him or when he’s trying to understand a situation.  However, his body language in this moment after the ribbon is hung does not indicate to me that he’s caught off guard in any way.  

At the very least, he is aware of what Gwyn was planning to have ready for training this day.  After all, he is the spymaster.  But at most, he was actively involved in helping Gwyn with these preparations.

Am I willing to make the claim that Azriel anchored the wood beam to the stone (or at least helped) because Gwyn asked him–or because he mentioned it to her in the first place?  Well . . . kind of?  It’s an inference based on the evidence the text has given us.  Somebody had to set up the wood beam.  It’s possible Gwyn did it alone--but anchoring a wooden beam into stone is likely a two-person job.

So, based on that, I argue that Gwyn did have help.  If Nesta, Emerie, Cassian, and the other priestesses have no idea what is going on with the ribbon, we are left with very few options for who Gwyn would feel comfortable asking for help.  So, who may have helped her with this? I think we all know who.

I believe we also have another context clue to help answer this question.  When Cassian asks Gwyn and Emerie to cut the ribbon, the narration tells us that Gwyn glances at Azriel two different times.  The second instance seems quite notable after Emerie ask if their training will be finished if they cut the ribbon.

Gwyn again glanced to Azriel, who drifted closer.  She said, “I’m not entirely sure.”  

I cannot fathom why Gwyn is continuing to glance at Azriel here for any other reason than affirmation--or, perhaps wanting backup.  She seems unsure in this moment.  Cassian notes that Azriel informed him that Gwyn and Emerie also started training with blades while he was away.  That doesn’t sound like it was part of the training plan.  So why the change?  

Gwyn glances to Azriel when Cassian says this about the steel training, so it leads me to wonder whose idea it was to hang the ribbon in the first place.  How does Gwyn find out about the Valkyrie ribbon cutting?  I could be mistaken, but I don’t recall her discussing that information during any conversations with Nesta.  Does she discover it off page and bring it to Azriel’s attention?  Does Azriel tell her about this Valkyrie training method?  Essentially, there are valid questions.

We are left with some answers, however, because Gwyn is admittedly unsure of how to answer Emerie’s question above--and Azriel “drifted closer” to Gwyn after Emerie asks it.  We can’t be entirely certain what has happened off page in Nessian’s absence, but if we look closely at what Nesta’s POV is giving us in this chapter, I think we can make two, strong inferences:

Something happened off page related to initiating the Valkyrie ribbon cutting method

 It’s intentional and meant to provide specific context around Azriel and Gwyn

Which brings us back to the narrative framing conversation from earlier.  Although a traditional frame narrative is set up to be a true “story within a story” like what we see in Wuthering Heights or The Princess Bride, I argue that this narrative is establishing a frame around Azriel and Gwyn through the ribbon symbolism in ACOSF.  Their “story within a story” can’t quite fully happen here given the narrative constraints of ACOSF--but it is being set up and framed in the background despite these constraints.  I feel like I keep coming back to this in all of my posts, but it’s just one more reason why I think ACOTAR5 is Azriel’s novel.  The narrative threads in ACOSF, setting up the continuity for the next novel, are too great to ignore in my opinion.

And while Chapter 51 is a fascinating study on the development of this narrative framing, it doesn’t just end here.  The Valkyries continue working towards the goal of slicing the ribbon, but we are given key information about Gwyn as things progress:

“You and that ribbon,” Nesta muttered, shutting the tome.  Of all of them, Gwyn had become the most relentless about succeeding. 

This is interesting because, yes, it is showing us how competitive Gwyn is--but SJM is making sure we understand that Gwyn is persistent about this and wants to be the first one to accomplish it.  It’s reiterated further in Azriel’s bonus chapter when Azriel stumbles upon Gwyn late at night, alone at the training pit.

“I was trying to cut the ribbon.”  She pointed with her sword at the white ribbon, which seemed to glow silver.

Of all the things for Gwyn to be doing when Azriel comes upon her on Solstice, he finds her practicing her ribbon cutting technique.  Once again, their “story within a story” is being picked up within the narrative framing of the ribbon.  Gwyn is at the training pit because of the ribbon.   So, then, it is a deliberate choice--SJM could have had Gwyn performing any other training task, or Azriel could have found her reading within the House proper.  Instead, their entire interaction is based around the ribbon.  

Then, because of this impromptu ribbon training session, Azriel gives Gwyn the corrections needed to successfully cut the ribbon.  Again, Gwyn is determined and likely would have cut the ribbon on her own at some point.  But that’s not what happens.  She completes the task only a few days after her Solstice encounter with Azriel, where his corrections are directly tied to her success which follows soon after.  There is a narrative thread connecting Gwyn to Azriel during this momentous accomplishment.

But, of course, SJM doesn’t just leave it alone there.  The narrative framing around Gwyn and Azriel continues in very intentional ways in this scene.  Before Gwyn cuts the ribbon:

Cassian glanced over at Az, but his attention was fixed on the young priestess, admiration and quiet encouragement shining from his face. . . .  Azriel went wholly still, as if he, too, had felt the shift.  As if he, too, were aware that far larger forces peered into that training ring as Gwyn moved.  

While Nesta and Emerie have interactions with Gwyn in this scene, and Cassian notes his own emotions at watching Gwyn, the descriptions we get of Azriel within Cassian’s POV might as well have flashing neon signs around them.  As everyone watches Gwyn and waits for her to move, no other character gets this type of attention.  SJM wants us to be aware of this “story within the story.”  She wants us to know what Azriel is doing in this moment--and what he is doing goes beyond an interested observation.  Specific language is being used to show the reader that Azriel is focused on Gwyn, invested in her success, and easily affected by the enormity of the moment . . . which is, again, entirely centered around the ribbon.

Finally, even one of Azriel and Gwyn’s last scenes together in ACOSF plays by the rules of their narrative framing--it provides context to their story setup by invoking the ribbon once again.  When the Blood Rite qualifier is arranged and the Valkyries fail their first attempt, we get a twist on how the ribbon is used . . . perhaps intentionally to further establish the narrative continuity for their upcoming novel, since this is one of the last moments we get between the two characters.

Gwyn threw Azriel a withering stare as she strode past him.  “See you tomorrow, Shadowsinger,” she tossed over a shoulder. Az stared after her, brows high with amusement.  When he turned back, Nesta grinned.  “You have no idea what you just started, she said.  Az angled his head, hazel eyes narrowing as Gwyn reached the archway. “Remember how Gwyn was with the ribbon?”  Nesta winked and clapped the shadowsinger on the shoulder.  “You’re the new ribbon, Az.”

So, while the narrative framing around Gwyn and Azriel remains intact and ready to serve as a bridge to ACOTAR5, we have a shift in how the ribbon is being used--it is now a symbol to indicate what Gwyn is now focused on.  And, I’ll take it a step further to suggest it is a clue for readers to know what to expect as the “story within a story” becomes the primary story being told.  It’s providing a prologue, and setting expectations, for what can be anticipated as the couple’s narrative framing begins to take a different shape.  

Ultimately, the ribbon’s recurrence throughout ACOSF works as a subtle but deliberate narrative device.  In a book where Nesta and Cassian’s bond takes center stage, SJM still takes the time to weave in the image of a ribbon being tied, sliced, and shared between Gwyn and Azriel.  Their encounters with it are quiet, yet loaded with so much narrative weight.  And these moments carve out that “story within a story” . . . one that is not quite in bloom but in which the seeds have been planted.  The framing is unmistakable: Gwyn and Azriel are characters on the threshold of a story that will belong only to them.    

Finally, that this symbolism shares space with the notion of a mating ceremony ribbon is no coincidence.  The mating bond ribbon is framed as a sacred act of a union–intimate and final.  Gwyn’s ribbon, by contrast, is one of defiance and shared effort . . . a nod to perhaps how one ribbon might one day become something more.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Novel Editing

Below are 4 different types of novel editing. Revising in the right order is essential if you want your book to be in the best shape possible.

Developmental Editing

Comes first.

Involves looking at the story as a whole.

Also called structural editing, or content editing.

Base components. Plot, structure, characterization, pace, viewpoint, narrative style, and tense:

Plot: Sequence of events that take the reader from the beginning to the end.

Structure: How the plot is organized. Even if B occurred after A, the reader might learn about B before the events of A are unveiled.

Characterization: How characters are represented such that we can make sense of their behavior as we journey with them through the story.

Pace: The speed at which the story unfolds. Effective pace ensures readers feel neither rushed nor bored. That doesn’t mean the pace remains steady; a story can include sections of fast-paced action and slower cool-downs.

Viewpoint: In each chapter or section, readers should understand who the narrator is—whose eyes they are seeing through, whose emotions they have access to, whose voice dominates the narrative. It also means understanding the restrictions in play such that head-hopping doesn’t pull the reader out of the story.

Narrative style: Is the narrative viewpoint conveyed in the first, second or third person? The choice determines a narrative’s style.

Tense: Is the story told in the present or the past tense? Each has its benefits and limitations.

Notes: On Developmental Editing

Types of developmental edits:

Full-novel edits in which the editor revises (or suggests revisions) that will improve the story;

critiques or manuscript evaluations that report on the strengths and weaknesses of the story; and

sensitivity reads that offer specialist reports on the potential misrepresentation and devaluation of marginalized others.

Different editors handle developmental edits in different ways.

One might include an assessment of genre and marketability; another might not.

Some editors revise the raw text; others restrict the edit to margin markup.

Check what you’re being offered against what you want.

Developmental editing isn’t about checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Line Editing

The next step in the revision process; it is stylistic work. 

A strong sentence elevates story; a poorly crafted one can bury it.

This level of editing revises for style, sense, and flow.

Also called substantive editing or stylistic editing.

Editors will be addressing the following:

Authenticity of phrasing and word choice in relation to character voice

Character-trait consistency and unveiling

Clarity and consistency of viewpoint and narrative style

Cliché and awkward metaphor

Dialogue and how it conveys voice, mood, and intention

Sentence pace and flow, with special attention to repetition and overwriting

Tenses, and whether they’re effective and consistent

Told-versus-shown prose

Notes: On Line Editing

Types of sentence-level edits:

Full-novel line edits in which the editor revises (or suggests revisions) that will improve the line work;

line critiques that report on the strengths and weaknesses of the line craft; and 

mini line edits in which the editor revises an agreed section of the novel such that the author can hone their line craft and mimic the edit throughout the rest of the novel.

Different editors define their sentence-level services differently.

Some include technical checking (copy editing) with the stylistic work, while some do the stylistic and technical work in separate passes.

Check what you’re being offered against what you want.

Line-editing stage is not the ideal place to be fixing problems with plot, theme, pace and viewpoint. Fixes are likely to be inelegant and invasive.

Copy Editing

The technical side of sentence-level work.

Editors will be addressing the following:

Chapter sequencing

Consistency of proper-noun spelling

Dialogue tagging and punctuation

Letter, word, line, and paragraph spacing

Logic of timeline, environment, and character traits

Spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, hyphenation, and capitalization

Standard document formatting

Notes: On Copy Editing

Some editors offer line editing and copy editing together in a single pass. That combined service might be indicated by what it’s called, e.g. ‘line-/copy editing’. However, it might be called just ‘copy editing’ even though it includes stylistic work.

Check what you’re being offered against what you want.

Novel copy editing is best done in a single pass:

When an editor works on separate chunks of text, inconsistencies are likely to slip through.

One pass of a sentence-level edit is not enough to ready a novel for publication. Final quality control is necessary.

Proofreading

The last stage of the editing process prior to publication.

Every novel, whether it’s being delivered in print or digitally, requires a final quality-control check.

What a Proofreader Does

Looks for literal errors and layout problems that slipped through previous rounds of revision or were introduced at design stage.

Authors preparing for print can ask a proofreader to annotate page proofs. These are almost what a reader would see if they pulled the novel off the shelf.

Others ask proofreaders to amend the raw text, either because they’re preparing for e-publication or for audiobook narration.

Proofreaders are more than typo hunters

They check for consistency of spelling, punctuation and grammar, but also for layout problems such as (but not limited to) indentation, line spacing, inconsistent chapter drops, missing page numbers, and font and heading styles.

The art of good proofreading lies in knowing when to change and when to leave well enough alone.

A good proofreader should understand the impact of their revisions—not only in relation to the knock-on effect on other pages but also to the cost if a third-party designer/formatter is part of the team.

Notes: On Proofreading

A proofread is rarely enough, no matter how experienced the writer. It’s the last line of defense, not the only line of defense.

Be sure to clarify with an editor what you want and which mediums the editor works with. Proofreading designed page proofs requires an additional level of checking that a raw-text review doesn’t. And some editors work only on raw text, some only on PDF, and some only on hard copy.

Proofreading is about quality control. The proofreader should be polishing the manuscript, not filling in plot holes or trimming purple prose.

PROOFREADING CHECKLIST

Author:

Title:

Prelims

Title page. The title of the book, the author’s name & the publisher are correct

Copyright page. Check that author name and date of publication are correct, and that the copyright statement is present and correct

Dedication. The spelling/punctuation style are correct & consistent

Acknowledgements. The spelling/punctuation style are correct & consistent

Foreword. The spelling, layout and punctuation style are correct and consistent

Preface. The spelling, layout and punctuation style are correct and consistent

Table of contents. Check against all chapter titles & subheadings in main text for consistency of spelling/capitalization; Check page numbers against main text

Figures, tables, maps, plates. Check against all entries in main text for consistency of spelling/capitalization; Page numbers against entries in main text

List of contributors. Check consistency with chapters in main text Are the names spelled correctly and rendered consistently (e.g. A. B. Smith, AB Smith, A.B. Smith, Alan B. Smith etc.)?

Pagination. Check that all prelim pages are numbered consecutively and correctly in Roman (i, ii, etc. unless brief specifies Arabic); Check that size and position of page numbers is correct and consistent

Running heads. Check that running heads in prelims are correct and consistent (size, font, colour, position on page)

Main Text

Pagination

Check that all text pages are numbered consecutively in main text

Check that size and position of page numbers is correct and consistent

Check that first page of the first chapter starts on a recto (right-hand page)

Check that all odd page numbers are on rectos

Running heads

Check that running heads match chapter heads (or abbreviated forms of them)

Running heads are correct/consistent (size, font, colour, position on page)

Running heads and folio numbers have been removed from landscaped figures and tables

Check that running heads have been removed from part- and chapter title pages

Chapter titles and headings (incl. subheadings)

Consistency of font, spacing, colour, size & position on page for each heading level

Check that capitalization is correct and consistent for each heading level

Check that each chapter drop is consistent

Check that space above and below is consistent within heading level

Lists

Check that spacing above and below lists is consistent

Ensure line spacing of list entries is consistent

Check that bullet style is consistent within list type

Check that end-of-line punctuation is consistent within list

Page depth

Check page depth is consistent throughout

Look out for uneven page depths on facing rectos (right-hand pages) and versos (left-hand pages)

Page margins

Is the text area consistent throughout/adequate for printing/readability purposes?

Notes and cross-references

Ensure all notes are cued/numbered consecutively by chapter or through the book

Check that the note numbers given match the in-text note markers

Check each note appears on the appropriate page; if footnotes run over to the next page, there should be a short rule above the continuation (or other indicator as given by house style)

Check any cross-references in the text to chapters, figures or tables

Highlight any cross-references that still need to be completed

Ensure that in-text citations are presented according to preferred style and can be located in the book's references or bibliography

More layout problems to look out for:

Uneven spacing and leading

Irregular indentation of extracts

Crooked lines, especially in captions and headings

Wrong or inconsistent typefaces or type sizes

Bad word breaks that might trip the reader (e.g. cow-orker, trip-od)

Widows and orphans

More than two end-of-line hyphens stacked on top of each other

Paragraph indentation (first paragraphs in a chapter or section are often not indented)

Hyphens that should be dashes (e.g. when used parenthetically/in number ranges)

Double spaces after full stops (periods)

Rogue spaces at the beginning and end of paragraphs

Extracts

Check punctuation of sources

Check that extracts are set consistently (size, font, colour, position)

Query any missing acknowledgements/permissions

Figures, tables, maps, plates

Check that quality is acceptable

Is numbering correct and consistent?

Is the design consistent (font, size, colour, spacing)?

Check captions against lists of figures, tables or illustrations in the prelims

Check spelling, punctuation/grammar of figure labels and table column headings

Check alignment of columns in tables and positioning of ruled lines

Check that all illustrations provide a credit/source acknowledgement and query if any appear to be missing

End Matter

Notes

Ensure all notes are cued & numbered consecutively by chapter/through the book

If notes are grouped at the end of the book, check the text and the page numbers given alongside to ensure they match the main text and the contents page

Check that the note numbers given match the in-text note markers

If running heads include cross-references to page numbers, check these are correct, or fill in if required

Glossary

Is the list in alphabetical order?

Check that the layout is consistent

Afterword

Check that the spelling, layout and punctuation style are correct and consistent

Appendices

Check that the layout is consistent

Check that the numbering is consistent and matches any in-text cross references and the contents list

Bibliography/references

Is the list in alphabetical order?

Has the preferred reference style been used correctly and consistently?

Pagination and layout

Check that all text pages are numbered consecutively in the end matter

Check that size and position of page numbers is correct and consistent

Page depth

Check page depth is consistent throughout

Look out for uneven page depths on facing rectos and versos

Page margins

Text area is consistent throughout & adequate for printing & readability purposes

Running heads

Check that running heads match chapter heads (or abbreviated forms of them)

Check that running heads are correct and consistent (size, font, colour, position on page)

FINAL NOTES

Authors need to take their books through all the types of editing.

That doesn’t mean hiring third party professionals for each stage.

Writing groups, self-study courses, how-to books, and self publishing organizations are all great sources of editorial support.

If you decide to work with a professional, invest in one who can help you where you’re weakest:

You might be a great structural self-editor but prone to overwriting. Or you might have nailed line craft but need help with story development.

Pay attention to the order of play when it comes to revision.

Fixing plot holes at proofreading stage might damage previous rounds of editing.

Source More: On Editing

[harrington-stevie]

trust you | anakin skywalker: episode X

We're finally back!! Read it on Wattpad too!

Summary: Anakin is planning a trade with General Grievous and is preparing for another mission, again. Before he leaves the Temple, he seeks help from a very skilled engineer, and their interaction takes a wild turn. The Jedi is faced with an unexpected visitor, buckle up.

Warnings: Angst, some sort of fluff, mention of injuries, a lot of swearing as always

Word count: 2.9k

⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

Anakin:

I had been waiting for her outside the classroom where she was in with the other kids. Luke wasn't there today, and I could use it to my advantage and finally go on that mission again and make the trade. My fingers twitched as my hands rested at my sides, I felt incredibly uncomfortable at the thought of talking to her again, or more specifically, at the thought of needing her help.

I noticed she held back a quip when I told her it had to do with Artoo, and I avoided glaring at her so she wouldn't give up helping me. I'm not getting better at this, and interacting with her doesn't make it any easier. My lips felt dry as I looked over her and she stared back at me. I have no fucking idea why I felt this way.

She scans the Droid carefully, reaching over for a datapad to scan him over. "I've tried everything, I can't even recalibrate his monitor"

She keeps herself focused on the task as I lean against the wall and tap my fingers against my folded arms. There's a brief silence that's neither dreading or embarrassing, which can mean endless things at this point.

She pauses the pad and hums, but there's a hint of amusement in her tone and I raise my brows at her reaction.

"Why is there a tweezer stuck inside Artoo?" She asks while popping open the access panel, reaching for the object and I clear my throat.

I wouldn't dare say I'm an engineer just like her, but I'd like to think I can honestly fix things. And to look at her mocking face while she holds the tweezer just about says a lot when it comes to my skills.

"I uh– thought I saw something loose and tried reaching out to it"

I try to ignore the way she's grinning and shaking her head at me, like I'm some fucking dumb child who messes up with something I shouldn't have. My own lips purse and I realize I'm trying not to smile at her attitude. Get over yourself, Skywalker.

She starts rewiring him, muttering something inaudible as she removes some faulty component and replaces it with a brand new one from her tool box. I cannot deny that she's very skilled and knows what she's doing. But every now and then I still feel bitter when it crosses my mind the day I fought with a limb because she couldn't fix my arm in time.

As she pushes herself up and presses a switch, R2 immediately straightens up and happily beeps as he spins. I didn't think she could do something like that this fast.

"What–" My voice cracks in surprise and I have to swallow it down "That was... incredibly fast"

(Y/N) gives me a sheepish smile and leans back. "This was easy. You should see the mess I fixed on that old Republic cruiser last week. Now, about my payment..."

My mind shorts circuit at her comment and I immediately scoff, with my arms still crossed against my chest.

"We never agreed on that" She must be thinking I'm being a pain in the ass with my remark, but my demeanor shifted minutes ago.

I can't keep lowering my shield whenever I'm around her, and I can't seem to raise it back up.

"Yeah, but you owe me a favor now, Master" She snickers, holding her waist with both hands and I roll my eyes. "And, you could've broken him with that tweezer in there"

I feel myself blush at the way she jokes about the object, but I brush it off "Don't push your luck, (Y/L/N)" I push myself off the wall and give Artoo a tap "But uh–"

My tongue rolls up inside my mouth and I force myself to look at her and nod. It's somewhat very difficult to actually talk to her without being an actual certified asshole.

"Thank you"

She grins again and taps on my shoulder, tilting her head almost mischievously "You're welcome, Skywalker"

I watch as she walks back inside the Temple, all the while R2 beeps from below me. If there's one thing I haven't missed about him being faulty, was that he was a talkative, nosy little Droid.

"Shut up" I mumble at him, and he spins around me as a responsive mock.

-

My hands tightly grip the handle as I once again approach the Trade Federation Cruiser. My anxiety skyrockets and I feel my stomach tying to a knot. Doing this alone now makes me feel more relieved since I'm not bringing anyone to a lethal battle, especially considering Grievous can be just as much of a killer as Snoke is.

As I'm about to land on the hangar, the radio on the control panel turns to life, making me snap my head directly at it in confusion.

"Hey, you" The male voice says "Yeah, you with the grumpy face. You're gonna need a hand again"

I roll my eyes when I realize it's Poe Dameron again. He fucking followed me. There’s something about him that feels like he wants to be drawn into murderous missions, as if he longs to fight against something dreadful, and it brings me to the brink of disturbance.

I wanted to fight alone, I wanted this mission to be mine. I didn't want to involve anyone else like the last time. I pretty much wouldn't drag Kestis to this godforsaken place even if he asked me to, especially now that we're not on good terms. I could just throw him to the Wookies and let him deal with them, but I wouldn't bring him here.

As I approach the General, he stands tall against me "For once, Grievous, let’s try talking before we start breaking things"

The Kaleesh chuckles "You Jedi always amuse me. What could you possibly offer that would make me spare your miserable lives?"

As I expected, his fingers tightens at my response and he narrows his eyes when I explain what we want.

"You expect me to believe you would trade such a valuable prize? What is the catch, Skywalker?"

"No catch. Just let the refugees from the outpost go. They’re not soldiers, they’re not spies" I try to reason with him, but he knows I'm reckless and I'm always with a move up on my sleeve.

From my comlink, I hear Poe muttering through his device, and I have to shoot him a glare. He shrugs "This guy is really negotiating with a walking trash compactor. Bold move"

Grievous startles me when he ignites his lightsaber "A tempting deal... but I do not negotiate with Jedi" The nearest battle droids raise their weapons. Again, I'm not surprised he refused the offer. Poe sighs and unholsters his blaster.

The fight immediately erupts and blasters fire, lightsabers flash as I try to fight off Grievous while Poe took cover, picking off droids with shots. My blade clashes against his, and I can feel Poe ducking behind me. He peeks out, firing two quick shots that take down a pair of B1 droids.

Things went south, again. My back slams against the wall and the battle droid in front of me tries to get past the door, but Poe surprises him with a swoon of the lightsaber he just found lying on the ground. I feel my left eye almost popping out of my skull, my head keeps pounding, and I'm pretty sure I have too many splits over my face to count. 

Somewhere in between the fight, I came across Grievous, who mercilessly tried to twist my guts with his force. I had to use all of my senses to abruptly push him backwards so I could run away. He didn't want to make any trades, he just wanted to win a battle. I had to defend myself and Poe, while the motherfucker could only do such little to help and surprisingly miss his shots at them. My head started spinning as I felt my eyelids become heavy, I could only see through a tunnel vision as it felt heavily blurry. I tried to push myself up, and my knees gave out.

The pilot was screaming my name, shielding himself as much as he could while he tried to pick me up. From then on, I blacked out.

My eyes felt extremely dry as I tried to open them a few times. My body was lying on a soft surface, and my head was lighter than before. I forced myself to stay awake, but the dizziness made me zone out countless times. I couldn't see shit in front of me, just some flashes of figures I couldn't honestly identify. Eventually, I fully awakened and straightened myself on the bed, finally able to take in my surroundings. I was in the medical bay. Poe was in the bed beside me, his face was littered in cuts and there was a nasty slash on his arm, which was covered by numerous stitches. 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I turned my head and scanned the place, seeing her in the distance as she looked rather shocked, her arms were folded and her eyebrows were knitted together. I was weak, but my senses still heightened as I felt this presence I haven't felt in years. It made me feel like my heart was almost ripping out of my chest, my ears started ringing again and there was a buzz inside my head. My hands immediately come up to either side of my skull, forcing my eyes shut as I try to balance myself. The high pitched noise increased at each passing second and I felt my nose bleeding. And then it came to an abrupt halt.

I slowly opened my eyes, noticing two figures in front of me. It was her and, the other one I assumed was Cal. But everything around me froze as I watched the other presence, one I had promised myself I would never meet again. One that I swore I wanted dead.

"Anakin!" She shouted before I fell limp on the bed again.

I'm not sure how long it took before I woke up again. This time, it was just him and me. Besides Poe, who was still on a lifelong nap on the other side of the room. I couldn't meet his gaze, the thought of looking up at him was unbearable. My ragged breath filled the air of the room, and my hands shook as I gripped the sheet beneath me tightly.

"You" I sneered, my eyes avoiding his gaze. I noticed he had seemed to lose weight, and his hair was longer than it was before. "You. How dare you come back like nothing happened?"

"Ani, I–"

"Don't you dare say my name like that! You lost your right to call me that long before you left. You're a fucking traitor, that's what you are"

"Anakin, I came back for you. I helped you out there. I know my respect and morals were swiped away, but listen, my young child–"

I cut him off with a scoff "Yeah, you of all the people would really come back for me after years! You said I was your brother, that you loved me. In the past. Don't forget that, Kenobi"

"I know what has been said and done, son. I couldn't just come back when you were so hurt and grieving. And I can still feel you, I can feel you struggling to make peace with yourself. I know you shut me out with the force, but I was never gone. Whatever battle has been happening, it's because you want to make things right"

"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan" I still couldn't look at him, and my throat burns each time I say his name out loud "You don't fucking know shit about my life anymore. You don't know what my battles are, what I fight for. You didn't care to stay for Luke, my son!"

"I know more than you give me credit for, my young boy. I know you're still in pain, and I know how much you want to protect Luke. You don't have to forgive me. But please, don't torture yourself because of that"

There's dreadful silence filling the air, and my flesh hand became numb from twisting my wrist against the sheet. My nostrils flared, and I felt a sense of uneasiness as he took a few steps forward and placed one hand over mine. It didn't burn, it didn't make me flinch. Instead, it slowed my heartbeat and calmed my bloodstream.

"That young lady" He looks past the door of the medical bay, flicking his eyes at me again "She's not a bad person. She loves your son. She cares about you. She had been waiting for you to wake up for hours. Miss (Y/L/N) isn't afraid of you, Anakin. Don't push her away, because I know you want to"

He retracted his hand, intensely watching me. Something was boiling inside of me, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Obi-Wan looked over Poe and smiled at me.

"You've got yourself a good team, don't let that slip away from you"

He disappeared through the door and my breath hitched in my throat. My eyes were burning from tears that threatened to spill, but I wiped them away before I even started to cry. (Y/N) walked in with uncertainty in her steps, carefully scanning me over before walking near my bed.

"I didn't know he was here. He just landed on the hangar so suddenly, walking past everyone and when I noticed the commotion, I couldn't believe it"

I nodded, finally glancing up at her for the first time. She was shocked. I could see her fiddling and she was biting her lip.

"Guess we should give him the award for best fucking actor of the Temple" My words come out bitter and I can feel it in my tongue.

She doesn't extend the subject, reaching for a glass of water and offering it to me. I just then realized I hadn't had water in a long time.

"How are you feeling?" She asks, shuffling on her feet as I hand her the empty glass.

"About what exactly?"

"The fight. Obi-Wan told me they were beating you up, Poe came to your rescue right before you blacked out. He helped Dameron back to the spaceship with you and sent you two to Coruscant"

"Yeah, not as easy as I thought. I was sure I had the upper hand way before Dameron showed up unannounced"

"You're known for your reckless missions, Master. I guess he wanted to make sure you were safe" She gave me a reassuring smile and I felt my fingers twitching.

The unfamiliar feeling of protectiveness I sensed in her washed over me, making me speechless. She brought her hands up to reach my face and I trailed my eyes over her, noticing her hesitance to touch my skin as she examined my injuries. Her fingers lingered on my jawline, ghosting over my forehead. The light touch made me nauseous, but it wasn't negative. It was different from the kind of discomfort I had become used to after everything that had happened to me.

"You're going to survive" She removes her hand from my face, shooting me a bashful smile and I keep looking at her as if I'm under a fucking spell.

"Okay, doctor" My tone comes out somewhat playful and she chuckles at the remark. "Luke, where is he?"

It took me long enough to finally remember my son, and she placed a hand on top of my forearm, giving it a light squeeze.

"Oh, he's great. He came to see you earlier, said you were going to be just fine and left with 3PO"

I roll my eyes and sigh "He's getting used to me being beaten up. What kind of a father am I if I can't come back in pieces from a mission?"

Louis notices the resentment in my tone and gives me a comforting look.

"The kind of father who shows his soon that even the greatest Jedi loses too"

"Are you calling me a loser?" I fake an indignant voice and lift my eyebrows at her. Her face falters and she tries to recover from her comment, but I snort before she says anything back.

"You are insufferable, Skywalker"

"Just please tell him to come see me when you find him, will you?" She nods and excuses herself out of the room.

From the corner of my eye, I can feel Poe with his eyes open, trying to discreetly shift on his bed for his own sake, but failing at it.

"You know I know you have been listening, right?"

He leaves a huff and turns on his side to face me. "Didn't want to interrupt you love birds" He smiles widely and I glare at him.

There's only so much I could take in just one day. Everything started to fall apart the moment I black out in Grievous' ship, and meeting with Obi-Wan after what felt like decades took a turn real quickly. I could never imagine him being there after us, trying to keep us safe. Realizing that he was the one who brought us back and stayed by our side left me completely disoriented. It also struck me how I had treated her just moments ago, when in all honesty I should have backed off instead of leaving her the option to get so close, but I couldn't.

And Kenobi's words kept ringing in my head, a clear sign that he, indeed, knew me more than I gave him credit for.

@adorbzliz @himesuedi @kingdomhate @cl0esblogg @littlecoffeenerd @readingthingsonhere @js-favnanadoongi @twilightzone24 @crumblekitty @lacebird

[beardedmrbean]

Legislation under the moniker “right to repair” has now been introduced in all 50 states, marking a major milestone in this grassroots consumer movement.

GNN has reported on the march of right to repair laws across the US, but also the kind of entrepreneurialism they engender: like an aftermarket auto parts company that makes replacements for well-known faulty components in automobiles.

Passed in New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California, and Oregon, Wisconsin just became the final US state to introduce some sort of right to repair laws.

In broad terms, all of these bills would generally guarantee a consumer’s right to access replacement parts for devices and machines, repair manuals or other relevant documents for expensive products, diagnostics data from original manufacturers, and even in some cases, such as automobiles, appropriate tools necessary for maintenance.

They may also ban the use of technological protection measures, sometimes called “software locks” that are designed to restrict repair only to authorized repair technicians.

“Americans are fed up with all the ways in which manufacturers of everything from toasters to tractors frustrate or block repairs, and lawmakers are hearing that frustration and taking action,” Nathan Proctor, right to repair director for consumer rights group PIRG, told 404 Media’s Jason Koebler, who has been tracking right to repair legislation for 10 years.

OF A SIMILAR SPIRIT: 580 Repair Shops Form a Flourishing Subculture Fixing Toasters, Electronics, Coffee Makers and Lamps

He details that at first, big tech and big engineering, such as Apple, John Deere, and others, ardently lobbied against these bills, saying that trade secrets protections would be violated if they were forced to turn over diagnostics, telemetry, or other insider data to non-company actors.

The progressive difficulty with which modern products, particularly electronics, are designed prevents most amateurs from being able to repair them if they break.

MORE RIGHT TO REPAIR NEWS: EU Approves Groundbreaking New ‘Right to Repair’ Laws Requiring Appliances to Be Easier to Fix

Screws are forsaken in favor of plastic locking toggles which break if removed, fuse or wire cover panels are replaced with jointless polymer molded covers, both of which and many more examples besides are designed to deter the fix-it-minded folks enough so that they will just throw the product away and buy a new one.

Electronic waste is one of the largest sources of non-recyclable landfill waste, and hopefully enough of these right to repair bills pass that some of these millions of powerstrips, lamps, phones, computers, and televisions can be kept out of the ground.

[reasonsforhope]

"On a blustery day in early March, the who’s who of methane research gathered at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara, California. Dozens of people crammed into a NASA mission control center. Others watched from cars pulled alongside roads just outside the sprawling facility. Many more followed a livestream. They came from across the country to witness the launch of an oven-sized satellite capable of detecting the potent planet-warming gas from space. 

The amount of methane, the primary component in natural gas, in the atmosphere has been rising steadily over the last few decades, reaching nearly three times as much as preindustrial times. About a third of methane emissions in the United States occur during the extraction of fossil fuels as the gas seeps from wellheads, pipelines, and other equipment. The rest come from agricultural operations, landfills, coal mining, and other sources. Some of these leaks are large enough to be seen from orbit. Others are miniscule, yet contribute to a growing problem.

Identifying and repairing them is a relatively straightforward climate solution. Methane has a warming potential about 80 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, so reducing its levels in the atmosphere can help curb global temperature rise. And unlike other industries where the technology to decarbonize is still relatively new, oil and gas companies have long had the tools and know-how to fix these leaks.

MethaneSAT, the gas-detecting device launched in March, is the latest in a growing armada of satellites designed to detect methane. Led by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, or EDF, and more than six years in the making, the satellite has the ability to circle the globe 15 times a day and monitor regions where 80 percent of the world’s oil and gas is produced. Along with other satellites in orbit, it is expected to dramatically change how regulators and watchdogs police the oil and gas industry...

A couple hours after the rocket blasted off, Wofsy, Hamburg, and his colleagues watched on a television at a hotel about two miles away as their creation was ejected into orbit. It was a jubilant moment for members of the team, many of whom had traveled to Vandenberg with their partners, parents, and children. “Everybody spontaneously broke into a cheer,” Wofsy said. “You [would’ve] thought that your team scored a touchdown during overtime.”

The data the satellite generates in the coming months will be publicly accessible — available for environmental advocates, oil and gas companies, and regulators alike. Each has an interest in the information MethaneSAT will beam home. Climate advocates hope to use it to push for more stringent regulations governing methane emissions and to hold negligent operators accountable. Fossil fuel companies, many of which do their own monitoring, could use the information to pinpoint and repair leaks, avoiding penalties and recouping a resource they can sell. Regulators could use the data to identify hotspots, develop targeted policies, and catch polluters. For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking steps to be able to use third-party data to enforce its air quality regulations, developing guidelines for using the intelligence satellites like MethaneSAT will provide. The satellite is so important to the agency’s efforts that EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in Santa Barbara for the launch as was a congressional lawmaker. Activists hailed the satellite as a much-needed tool to address climate change. 

“This is going to radically change the amount of empirically observed data that we have and vastly increase our understanding of the amount of methane emissions that are currently happening and what needs to be done to reduce them,” said Dakota Raynes, a research and policy manager at the environmental nonprofit Earthworks. “I’m hopeful that gaining that understanding is going to help continue to shift the narrative towards [the] phase down of fossil fuels.”

With the satellite safely orbiting 370 miles above the Earth’s surface, the mission enters a critical second phase. In the coming months, EDF researchers will calibrate equipment and ensure the satellite works as planned. By next year [2025], it is expected to transmit reams of information from around the world."

-via Grist, April 7, 2024

[accessiblemindstech]

Accessibility is not just a trend but it’s a fundamental necessity in today’s digital era. With over 1.3 billion people worldwide living with some form of disability, ensuring that your website is accessible to all users is both a moral and business imperative. Do You Love Our Reads Then Click Here:https://rb.gy/vwu7qb Click Here To Visit:https://rb.gy/uoyxqq

[cripplecharacters]

Hi there!! I have an oc with a unilateral complete cleft lip & palate and I wanted to know if there’s anything I haven’t considered that I should think about or if there’s anything I got wrong / that should be changed! The oc in question was created for a medieval fantasy game’s setting but one with with easily accessible healing magic, so I’m saying they went through a relatively modern timeline of surgeries with the help of healing magic - cleft lip and palate repair, bone grafts, etc. I’ve made the decision not to have them have any revisions or rhinoplasty, in part because I don’t think the magical healing would be able to achieve the precise effects of modern plastic surgery and without modern surgical knowledge it wouldn’t be perfect, so their lip has clear scarring & a little gap where their lips meet & their nose is uneven. The character in question is the charming bard/spy archetype. I wanted them to be a fat disabled queer who’s pretty as hell and knows it. I’m not grappling with disfiguremisia in their story and they have a very healthy relationship with their appearance. They’re also not the only oc I have with a facial difference, of the other two ocs I made for their game (who they’re allied with) both have battle scars and one has albinism & nystagmus, and their mentor is heavily scarred and is missing an eye & some fingers. I might also give them a childhood friend with a cleft lip as well. Basically they do have community, which I know is something this blog mentions a lot.

I also wanted to consider how their cleft would impact them beyond just the visible difference. They have a slightly hypernasal voice, difficulty with super crunchy/overly spicy foods, hearing loss leading them to use an enchanted hearing aid (I’m HoH myself, I’m basically writing it as identical to a modern hearing aid but powered by magic), reduced movement in their upper lip from the scarring, and some breathing difficulties due to their nasal airway being a little squished down (so I had them play string instruments rather than woodwind or brass for this reason). Is there anything else I should consider with regards to the impacts of their cleft lip/palate that I haven’t, or anything that needs fixing? Tysm in advance for your time and thoughts !! ❤️

2/2 AH. Cleft lip bard anon - I forgot to add that the character in question is also missing a tooth around her cleft and has some crookedness / crowdedness going on, I didn’t forget the oral/dental component (I missed that lmao, I have a high arched palate with teeth fuckiness so I give most of my ocs imperfect teeth so I just didn’t think of it until now)

Hey!

I think you have a well researched character going on. A lot of the results/complications they have do sound like something a person with an imperfect repair surgery would have!

Other things you could do are honestly optional, since you're already doing a lot to make it clear that it's not an aesthetic choice. One thing that could be important for a bard character is difficulty with whistling (I never met anyone with a cleft lip that could, which is very much anecdotal) and the nasality of their singing, though there's actual research claiming that for people with cleft lips, the hypernasal tone actually decreases while singing (as opposed to regular speech). So it could be a neat detail to add.

Since your story doesn't deal with disfiguremisia, I don't really have any general advice for facial differences. But it's obviously great that there's more than just one character :)

TLDR: this sounds like a well researched character, and you clearly took their job into account while doing said research. Unless you're trying to write a story about having a cleft lip/palate, you're probably good already.

Followers with cleft lip/and or palate are welcome to add on :)

mod Sasza

[foxykate42]

So, I started writing this thing. Because I've always had this question of if I wanted to be a robot girl, or if I just want to be the mechanic who fixes robot girls. And....I thought I figured it out. That I'd just be a robot girl who fixes other robot girls.

-

Imagine, being able to have my hand separate into different tools, quickly popping open the access panel on your back so I can slip my interface cable in and connect directly. Quickly jumping through your BiOS to discover which manufacturer I need to hack into, in order to download the schematics. Codes and Errors flash in my eyes as I quickly sift through them, you've been identified as a rogue unit. It's only a matter of time before they do something extreme. I run every subroutine, diagnostic, and flood every cache to try and slow down any signals that might trigger it, your kill switch. My tools quickly disassemble what parts I need to move in order to get deeper, I can fix those later, but not if your neural net is.... There, I found the chip. The micro torch sparks inside you, I know it might hurt, but what damage I do is nothing compared to the corpos frying your brain in a nanosecond. I calmly but urgently cut the chip off of your circuitry, a nimble claw snatches it and I toss it on the floor.

I let out a sigh of relief, leaning back on my stool. I hadn't realized my own heat sinks popped open and vented from the stress.

-

But after writing this I couldn't help but think about the eroticism of working on things and sweating over them, skin covered in grease. How when you're that deep in a machine, you're really more dangerous to it than it is to you. I mean obviously if you're working with a lot of power it could shock and kill you if you're not careful. But If you sweat on a circuit board it's likely to short, ultimately it's a much more vulnerable position for the machine. However if I was also a robot girl, It would be dangerous for myself as well. if I'm connected to you when they try and throw the kill switch, what's to say they can't knock me out with you. Two birds one stone and such. But NOW I'm thinking about how many times I've cut myself on a PC case, Imagining that... - I'm fixing your leg, it got torn to shreds when we had a close call with a garbage processor. I've sorted through my spares and found one that's a close enough match. I wrap my hands around your thigh and twist hard, finger pressing in to the release latch hidden underneath a layer of synth-skin. The connector clicks and then shifts suddenly. My hand slips and I slice myself on the damaged component. I hiss through my teeth as blood drips on the floor. I toss the damaged piece aside and grab a clean-ish towel that was hanging from my tool cart, some tape, and wrap it quickly before returning to my work. - SEE, HOW CAN I CHOSE. Turns out I'm no closer to figuring it out.

[starlitsemantics]

the most frustrating thing about larian's underwriting of wyll (to me, purely selfishly) is that even when centered as a character, his key choices (killing or sparing Karlach, breaking his pact or saving his father) aren't even weighted

every other companion as far as I can tell gets default choices for resolving their quests that you can support or talk them out of, which is very rich character wise

wyll not getting default choices (as far as my testing goes anyway) *could* be interesting for an interpretation of him as lost or indecisive, but his writing outside of those scenes doesn't support that

he made his pact decisively

he can decide to join Karlach in Avernus

now obviously, part of why that works is that those choices are both the selfless, kind paths, whereas the others come with a moral quandary component in theory, but I don't think that quite clicks

sparing karlach is not a super complicated choice when presented to the player - she is pretty obviously much more Zariel’s victim than a danger

breaking his oath means not just that his father dies tadpoled, but also that baldurs gate loses a leader they'll need (iirc ulder's role in rebuilding is even flagged in the dialogue options)

if wyll is meant to be decisively selfless and good, which I think works perfectly fine as a character, not only should his default choices reflect that, but it should also feature in way more of the game's plot and dialogue as a counterpoint to the other characters (in particular, shadowheart and astarion). it just doesn't make sense for him to be passive in those quests (killing nightsong to have an easier time getting to ketheric especially - why do we at most get a negative comment, instead of what he does in act 1 if you choose to do evil for better access to the cult)

some of this imo could genuinely be fixed by just giving the player a "do nothing" option and letting him act - give this man agency

it wouldn't fix everything but I would at least know how to write and understand him as a character

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: The Heretical Liberal

Published: Jun 18, 2024

Lots of responses to this post I made the other day laying out the case for why trans activism is homophobic, most of them supportive. For the few that weren't, here's a thread where I brought the receipts. If my earlier post was opening arguments, consider this the full case: 🧵

First up, the charities, such as Stonewall and GLAAD. These are the groups that were originally set up as gay rights advocates, but were retooled around 2015 into trans rights advocates, and - since trans activism seeks to erase homosexuality - promptly began to do exactly that

With the anti-gay activists now in charge and setting the tone, media now takes the reins and begins subtly erasing the very notion of same-sex attraction, suggesting that lesbians who don't want to date ppl with penises, and gay men not interested in vaginas are hateful bigots

And more of the same nonsense:

With the activists dictating, and the media following their lead, the homophobia inevitably trickles down. This manifests in different forms, but one of them is the psychological torture of homosexuals, some of whom have come to believe their innate orientation means they're bigots

But mostly the biggest effect is in the trans community itself, who have increasingly internalized the idea that same-sex attraction doesn't exist, and thus, any ppl who claim to be exclusively same-sex attracted are actually just transphobic bigots who can be abused at will

The rest is just gonna be a firehose of hate, as I try to dispel the idea that this homophobia is "just a few bad apples" instead of the truth: it's a core component underpinning the entire ideology transgenderism, as are the violent threats that often accompany it:

I could go on and on, but I think the point here is made. Homophobia doesn't just exist in the trans community, it's RIFE in it. It's a feature, not a bug, the erasure of sex (and by extension, homosexuals) is a core goal of trans activism. Hopefully this has opened some eyes /end

--

Threadreader:

==

Firstly, if you're shocked by this, then you haven't been paying attention.

This is what it looks like when the mentally ill use academic gobbledygook to pathologize the normal and normalize the pathological.

You're not crazy: same sex attraction and opposite sex attraction are real things and completely normal. You may have either or both (bisexual). Their stupid buzzwords don't - and can't - change that. Nor turn it into a "genital preference."

If you take away nothing else, know that an accusation of being "transphobic" is a predator trying to emotionally manipulate and blackmail you into allowing access by the predator beyond your boundaries. Whether that be sexual boundaries, to simply how you address others, and anything and everything in between.

You never have to justify your boundaries. Someone who tries to make you, or who tells you that you need to "rethink" your boundaries, or particularly who acts morally superior about their purported higher evolved absence of boundaries is a full-blown predator. No, I'm not being hyperbolic. When I say "predator," I mean they're a predator. You're talking to someone who is dangerous and not to be trusted, because they see your boundaries as something to be overcome, circumvented or "fixed." They do not respect you and they feel entitled to what they want from you. They are dangerous. They are a predator. By definition.

In the very definition of an abusive relationship, these virulently anti-gay fanatics also won't let LGB operate without them. Because they'll lose their human shields and their stolen valor they've misappropriated from the gay rights movements. Which is the point in the movie where the abuser shouts, "without me, you're nothing! I won't let you leave! If I can't have you, no one will!" And then something horrible happens.

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Hey Cap!! 

Miscellaneous meta PN lore question!

I have some questions about Time Travel! In Panthera, Bunnyx is yet to show up, I presume because her first canon appearance is in season 3, however I’m curious about what thoughts you have regarding the Rabbit Miraculous and time travel in the series in general :3

Time travel always has a lot of different interpretations and it’s one of those things that can be an absolute pain in the ass to plan for. Especially cause as soon as you open up the ‘time travel is possible’ can of worms it either a) has to be addressed why the big bad evil guy wasn’t just… stopped before they could begin or b) have some sort of rules about time travel that generally change depending on what is convenient for the plot (or secret third option c) use suspension of disbelief because the story wouldn’t have happened if someone had went and fixed everything).

Sorry, I think about time travel a lot. A version of time travel is a main component of my original fantasy story so this is actually a hugely pared down prelude to what I wanted to write. 

Anyway! I’m wondering if you have any thoughts on how you're going to handle the fact that it, well, exists. It feels like the sort of thing you wouldn’t shy away from, especially because of all the lovely existential dread that could come from having access to that power, though it would come in different flavours depending on how you choose how time travel works. (Eg. You can’t change the past but you can partake in it, it's just that this was always what happened but the time traveller is the last one to experience that moment. Or you can change the past but would it be ethical or right? etc.).

Obviously, Time Breaker could (and did!) time travel, but the mechanics of that were just totally different so it's a different ball game. Though I did like how you wrote Time Breaker and the ramifications of that, I'll get into that for my story observations :3

But… it’s also a total bitch to plan around writing wise, you need, like, a special kind of foreshadowing for it to pay off properly and it's all complicated for no reason so I totally get if it’s a canon aspect you want to mostly ignore. 

oOHOHOHOH HAVE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT <3

Ive thought about it a LOT on why Bunnyx hasn't 'fixed' any of the in universe problems.

I love Alix, so I have great plans to explore how she goes from being Alix- a very emotional character with strong emotional ties and, as Timebreaker showed, the drive to recklessly fix something if she's given the chance to- to Bunnyx, someone who- well... is an enforcer of the future.

I'll keep my cards close, but I will leak some details on how time itself works in this universe though! See;

If this universe is a gated off garden, the many different timelines that co-exist are the singular different plants and flowers growing. Different seeds grow into specific plants.

A tomato seed turns into a tomato, a Chat Noir timeline produces a Chat Noir timeline, and so on. Bunnyx's job is to tend to this garden, keep timelines and their roots from interfering with each other. This means alternate timelines exist.

Becoming Bunnyx means she's not allowed to pick and choose what timelines she wants but is responsible to make sure they end in the ways they're meant to, and if they're not, she will know because they often interfere with other timelines like Weeds.

In minor situations, a timeline will feature a hiccup where a scenario doesn't go exactly how it's meant to or occurred without meaning to, and Bunnyx will either readjust this event to make it work smoothly into the 'canon', ignore it because its harmless, or cut the hiccup entirely so it never happens.

In MAJOR situations, a disrupted and unintended timeline will not only occur and change the direction of a single timeline, it will slowly weed its way into causing the other timelines around it to ONLY END the way the original Anomaly does. That is when the event that caused the anomaly must be cut from the root- before it's infection affects her too.