Their small bodies host even tinier brains. Built to crawl through soil and rocks bigger than itself. Running on a simple software bouncing between eat, sleep, fight, flight, and copulate.
V1 is smarter than a bug. It must be. It’s a war machine, so it must be. Its programming is complex enough to fry several motherboards; the internals are heated from constant, unrelenting processing needs. If it updates its optical data intake to any greater degree than these rough, messy polygons, it’d surely perish from the overwhelming information.
V1 is built to kill first, survive second. To be fair, survival would ensure more killing, so it’d be more effective. Moving through the battlefield, culling lives, drawing blood. Perfectly aligned with its programmed objectives, then.
Gabriel is smarter than a bug. He must be. He’s an angel, so he must be. He’s one of the best soldiers in the heavenly realm. Armour and swords glistened with pride and justice. He sees all. He judges all. His loyalty and perfect track record have earned him a high rank within the order. Leaving behind the creaturely "it". His light burns hot and bright within his constitution.
Gabriel is built as a messenger of the Father, then a judge of Hell. To be fair, the role of a judge was assigned to him by the council, so he supposes that his placement can be summed up as the bearer of the divine authority to bring right to all other creatures. Perfectly aligned, then.
Bugs… Well, they’re the same. I suppose. Small beings. Running pre-programmed orders derived from centuries of evolution: eat, sleep, fight, flight, and copulate. No role. No responsibilities.
Bugs are built naturally and fully, unlike humankind; but formed and ready to go within seconds from their births, like machines and angels.
So. Do they live?
When the machine and the angel escape their chains, do they see themselves in bugs?
Bugs are born to live, temporarily, fleetingly, yet live nonetheless. Do they, then, deserve to live, freeing and meaninglessly. No role. No responsibilities.
So. Do bugs love?
Do they learn that they can go beyond their basic structures? Do they see their own reflection in each other’s compound eyes? Do they recognize each other’s bodies, scents, heat? Do they feel the desire for closeness?
To flutter wings like a dance of waltz. To brush antennae like butterfly kisses. To greet and caress and lie next to each other near their death.
To move through the sky in battle, in passion. To clash swords and fists and bullets. To greet and caress and lie next to each other near their death.
The same cells in the same blood coursing beneath the same suit of exoskeletons.
Machine, angel, bug. Boiled down to the barest essence of existence; crisp simplicity.
re news literacy on social media: i find that the best way to follow fast-moving news these days is to follow beat reporters from multiple outlets (especially people who are either local to or reporting from wherever the news is happening). they may not get everything right every time because people are inherently imperfect, but that's why you can't rely just on one source. and good reporters admit when they've been wrong. reporters will also RT non-journalist sources that they trust, and then you can add them to your list too. i left the journalism industry bc i didnt like keeping my opinions to myself lol. but even when i was working in local news, this is how i'd keep up with things outside my own beat.
i would never discount eye witness accounts of people affected by violence and tragedy, but this is a way you can corroborate claims you see on people's personal accounts -- because unfortunately, people like to troll or push agendas when emotions are high. at least reporters can't delete their accounts and disappear after they spread disinformation; they have to deal with the consequences. and yeah, sometimes their org protects them from more concrete consequences, but you'll still see people cooking them in the replies, and that'll help you to make your call. because at the end of the day, there's never going to be one place you can go to fully understand something -- you need to make a good faith effort to seek out information and make the best call you can. and if you make a call and form an opinion and everyone tells you you're wrong? don't be an asshole about it. own it and try again. both unconscious biases and fucking up are part of allyship and the only way to move on is to accept the consequences and do better.
personally, i'll never reblog or retweet something if i don't feel confident in it. there's amplifying voices, and then there's spreading disinformation. i am not going to break news that will help the people of Palestine on my fandom social media account by reposting something that i can't tell is real or not. but i sure as hell could clog up the feed and warp people's perceptions of real events by reposting something fake and potentially harmful.
Going through a really big frustration phase with my art rn, please be patient with me (and by you I mean myself I feel the need to wrap my spine around a lamp post bites bites bites bites)
i love the 60s batman series, they will be like yes. the joker is behind the cheerleaders trying to buy milk from the milk machine and instead they get silver dollars (exchange rate of one dime for 10 silver dollars). truly the most nefarious scheme
the netting, twills (both are cotton btw i misspoke), and black broadcloth are from Nick Of Time Fabrics deadstock fabric company
the raspberry coating fabric and the white brocade i didnt show in the video as it was prewashing (the photo added is before the wash so its kinda dirty lol) are from Lucky Deluxe fabrics also a deadstock/thrifted fabric company
the cotton muslin and white cotton broadcloth were from my stash from 3 years ago that was gifted to me by my step-grandparents and thw pink satin was also a gift from my mom. i do not know where they were bought from but im assuming joanns or walmart :/
the bats are from 1962Company on etsy and the vamp embroidery was from Coffee Juice Studio also on etsy
i have lived in my own home for 5 years. 500-750sqft, multiple rooms. all my shit and my responsibility, at the very least to some significant degree when living with roommates and partners.
i’ve already got rid of like 75% of the shit i own if i’m being conservative. i am moving into a bedroom that is 63sqft. there is only 30sqft with my bed in the room. the rest the the home is furnished and well stocked. as a result i’m bringing in a lot to a tiny room with the understanding that i’ll have to do my last bisl stretch of downsizing during this moving process.
my parents are completely crazed by the idea that i might bring more than a suitcase and a box or two. i cannot stress enough how completely fine and normal they will be about the amount of stuff once it is unpacked and organized. they have a habit of not being able to process how much is contained in a box and how much can be sorted reasonably into a room from a box. it has nothing to do with reality it is a skill issue.
so you can imagine the very specific shit show i am preparing for. fiancé is already prepped on the necessary white lies to continue to placate them with so that they do not blow a gasket over a completely acceptable volume of material possessions.
Did a bit of a number on my knuckles. Hands r hard to bruise, but there's the shade of a bruise on the outside edge of my hand, right at the knuckle. That really was not intentional.