#pandora the flier

[my-castles-crumbling]

Grieving His Sanity

A jegulus microfic

Denial

It started on a Saturday. He’d gone to the Quidditch Match out of pure boredom and need for information. Gryffindor was the best, after all, except for Slytherin. He needed to know their strategies and secrets before facing them in a month.

So he watched from the stands, eyes fixed on the scarlet-clad players as they zipped through the skies. 

“Why’re you watching James Potter so closely?” Barty murmured to him, nose wrinkled in confusion.

But he wasn’t. Watching James Potter, that is. Of course, Potter was an excellent flier. He moved with the grace he lacked on the ground, and, from a purely analytical perspective, he had the build of a skilled player. His muscles rippled as he shot past the stands, and Regulus figured he probably was able to handle balls- Quidditch balls- quite easily. But he wasn’t looking at Potter any more than any other player. 

“I’m not,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Anger

“You’re staring,” Pandora commented a few days later.

But he wasn’t. It was just…Potter was smiling.

Of course, he couldn’t explain this to Pandora. Because how was he supposed to put into words that Potter’s ridiculous, stupid, annoying grin made him irritated? His annoyingly perfect smile that made Regulus’s stomach flip-flop was just…infuriating.

So he watched, grinding his teeth, as Potter laughed loudly at something Sirius had said, showing off the most beautiful smile Regulus had ever had the misfortune of laying his eyes on.

And Regulus hated every second of it. Every second of the way his body was heating up with emotions he couldn’t name and his heart was fluttering in his chest as he realized that sometimes when Potter smiled it went a bit crooked and-

“Reg? You look…mad,” Evan mumbled, concern in his eyes.

“Fucking Potter,” Regulus grumbled, getting up and leaving the table. 

Bargaining

He didn’t like Potter. He couldn’t.

He spent more time watching the older than not, it seemed, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He tried everything. 

“Hit me if you see me staring,” he told Barty one day. 

By the time he left the Great Hall, his arm was bruised from all the times Barty had nudged him.

“Switch seats with me so I can’t see him,” he’d begged Evan the next morning.

But to no avail. He’d just swiveled stupidly in his seat to lock eyes with the Gryffindor, scowling stupidly and burning his head in his hands.

“Fucking kill me if I so much as think about him,” he begged Pandora as they sat out on the grounds a day later.

But she showed him no mercy. “I’m a pacifist,” she shrugged, grinning teasingly. “And you are in love.”

Groaning, Regulus curled up on the grass in the fetal position.

Depression

“This is horrifying,” Regulus mumbled, burying his head in his pillow and pulling the covers over his head. “I can’t go on.”

“Aw, cheer up, Reg!” Barty called from his own bed. “At least we know you’re not made of stone!”

But that was hardly something to cheer up about. Multiple times now, Potter had caught him staring, had smiled at him in the halls or at meal times, made him trip on nothing or drop his spoon just by sending him a grin. It was mortifying.

“I think I’ll live here forever,” Regulus whispered into his pillow, closing his eyes.

“That’s the spirit!” Barty replied.

Acceptance

“Regulus! Wait up!”

Oh Salazar, no. Just when Regulus thought things couldn’t get worse. Potter was talking to him. 

Trying his best to school his face into an expression of indifference, he turned, sizing Potter up in the empty hall. “What?” he asked, internally hoping he wasn’t blushing.

“Erm..” Fuck, even when he was flustered, Potter looked good. His messy hair framed his face so nicely, and his eyes sparkled. “Hogsmeade?”

“What?” Regulus repeated, sure he had misheard. He must have, since he was too busy mooning over Potter to hear clearly.

But the older boy cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Come to Hogsmeade with me. Please?”

Oh, thank Merlin Pandora hadn’t killed him. Unless she had, and this was heaven.

“Erm. Yes,” he murmured, trying to stay calm. “That would be okay.” Perfect. That would be bloody perfect.

And Potter’s stunning face split into the most beautiful smile Regulus had ever seen. “Great. I’ll see you then, Reg!”

And Regulus stood there in the hall as the other boy retreated, rooted to the spot as he contemplated the way he felt like he was floating.

Fuck. He liked James Potter.

[phantoms-world-and-more]

DPxPJO

Danny is having a rough time at home and with summer coming up he won't have school to escape to to get a break from his parents. Pandora and Clockwork conspire to get Danny sent to Camp Halfblood. Clockwork has fliers put into the Fenton's mail about a camp that helps trouble youth by working on their strawberry farm. Because of Danny's being Phantom he has missed school and his grades have drop making Maddie and Jack think this camp sounds like a good idea to help sort Danny out. Que the Fenton GAV smashing into the sign for Delphi Strawberry Services as the Fenton's drop Danny off at camp. Nobody knows what to think of this.

.

[underground-monarch]

has anyone made an Avatar Avatar AU before? ... well they have now

Jake as a firebender - he's a war hero, an ex-marine; his reaction to the colonisation and mistreatment of Pandora and its people is anger at the injustice; his preferred weapons, even after fully integrating into the Omatikaya, are still guns and grenades, weapons known for their explosive and destructive reputation

Neytiri as an airbender - she's a skilled flier with a close bond to her ikran; she's an excellent archer, a weapon which relies on the air currents or lack thereof for accuracy; she moves effortlessly through the branches of the trees as she does on the forest floor however many hundreds of metres below

Kiri as the Avatar - she has an innate, deep connection to all parts of Eywa, and some ability to control them; there was no single element that stood out for her, so I feel like this is the obvious answer

Lo'ak as a waterbender - he truly embraces the ways of the Metkayena, and in turn teaches them to his father when helping Jake to hold his breath at the end of WoW; he befriends and becomes Spirit Brothers with Payakan the tulkun

Neteyam as an earthbender - the older brother, trying to stay grounded as a role model sibling for Lo'ak and a son to be proud of for Jake; a strong warrior who is underestimated despite his power

Grace as an earthbender - her wonder at the underground network of Pandora's trees, and her overall facination with the biology on the moon and the way its world works

Norm as a non-bender - Norm the normie; he's an avatar driver, but he never becomes part of the Omaticaya community even in the way Grace does; he's left on the sidelines as an extra of sorts, working behind the scenes to support the front of house work that Jake and Grace are doing

If anyone else has any idea for any other characters or any different suggestions please tell meeee *grabby hands* I've just finished watching twow for the first time and i am Rotating these silly lil guys in my mind

[skyfallscotland]

hello,

I am coming over here to respectfully yell at you and this entire godforsaken fandom for making me have brain rot of Drake and Mira. Your most recent fic has unlocked Pandora's box and now I can't stop thinking about them 😭 I think I've re-read it like 5 times at this rate. They have officially taken over Vi and X place which is crazy to me. I have all these ideas of what Drake and Mira would be like but I'm too scared to write them down so I'm over here complaining to tumblr friends

respectfully,

a tired FW fan who can't stop thinking about side characters who don't have enough screen time

ps.

Now I have questions about fliers and their dynamic with gryphons??? like are they as sassy and snarky as dragons??? I HAVE TOO MANY QUESTIONS AND NO GODAMN ANSWERS

Please, please write them?????

And like, here’s the thing, I’d love to write a 150k word epic of them, but we just know NOTHING. And it would drive me crazy trying to think of what the hell they’re doing and where the hell they’re going and it’s all just a lot, you know?

It’s one thing to flesh out characters who don’t get a lot of screen time and quite another to have to build a whole world to house them in, because the worldbuilding so far has been so lacking (iron flame wise anyway), all hints and no substance as of yet.

Who is Maraya? Where is she? Why is she leaving the failing defence of her nation to her stuck up cousin? Nobody knows

Why do half the gryphons have names ending in -air but a bunch don’t??? We don’t know??? It’s too much, my friend 😭

I definitely think they’re snarky as fuck though.

[originemesis]

@a-hell-of-a-time / @avispatr / @mages-pandoras-box ; continued [xxx]

"You know, this doesn't change how small of a dick you have, right~?" He laughs as a simple flap sends him up and out of the charging elephant's path. His only regret is not taunting the other over to trample the two currently coddling each other's cloacas on the ground, but it's not a direction he can commit to once the frigid aura of the ice wall dissuades closer inspection, causing singed feathers to puff up not unlike a song bird bracing against the whipping of an icy breeze. Of course the corvid cunt following him into the sky also serves to sever his attention from the hectic duality between Paimon's rampaging and the two Goeitia hunkered down against the storm of his making, peeled pieces of mansion still threatening to clip careless fliers that join him on the outskirts of the whirlwind.

With the last glass shattering strum vibrating along the length of the talon tasked with rendering the ignition of garishly golden sound, he flicks the tremor of its rebound out of his wrist in a dismissive gesture towards her, brow momentarily quirked as she finally has the fortitude to gripe about the tunes thus far.

"Newsflash, bitch: all humans are a tier beneath these NUTS- which you clearly have to be to come up here spewing your shit-" With an aggressive flap or two, he joins her in a game of sizing each other up, circling mid-air to coax the two of them closer to the wall of surging winds and the funnel's collection of mangled mansion debris. "Oh yeah~? Then why don't you come try it, you cunty crow?!" And with the invitation into the spiral extended, he dips into the downward current, using its force to propel his massive momentum into hers on their deadly spiral towards the ground. Pulling up was not really feasible, but each clash of axe on sword would send the two bouncing off one another in explosions of sparks towards opposite ends of the storm tunnel with each connection of steel made.

It's clear the closer the two get to the ground that whoever is at the bottom of this exchange a few more rungs down will take the combined momentum of their gathering blows along with the wind force charging both furiously flung descents, and it's at the cusp of the lowest stretch of the yard left between the engaged pair and the ruptured earth that the cramp in his pierced arm seizes, the blood from its prior wound dripping steadily down the great ax handle causing his grip to slip ever so slightly enough that the resounding clash of blades slings him with the lion's share of the aerial exchange's pressure into the ground. It welcomes the angel's fall with a cratering beneath the impact, and all at once- the roar of the funnel falters along with every piece of butchered mansion that hangs precariously in the air for a few harrowing seconds before dropping as well- raining splinters, glass and shredded bits of furniture down amongst the remaining grounded Goeitia.

A red glow from the crater flickers in and out of focus as the owner of the molten colored core struggles to pull himself up onto one arm. Though like the mansion shredded to bits, so too does the angel resemble wisps of matter that seems to mimic the crackling of a fire as he's slowly burned away in segments around the rounded, red core that remains suspended at the choking point of his neck.

"Ffff...fucking- ow." With each heaving exhale upon a shambled attempt at standing, he glowers at Caim through the side of a half shattered mask with one gilded eye that remains trained on her until the majority of his corporeal form has sizzled away, leaving only the faintest indication that he'd been there like the uneasy start of a Picasso painting until there's not enough of him left to hold the flashy sphere in place. It drops with the rest of the sky debris and rolls over where it comes to a stop at her feet.

[noirs-multiverse]

was thinking today abt how luxa and ripred somehow BOND at the end of code of claw and somehow no one,,,, ever,,,, questions it? cause it just creates more questions that literally never ever get answered within the book?

isnt luxa already bonded to aurora? can you bond with more than one person then? what even is the significance of a bond then?

aurora is apparently okay with this but,,, it does not make that much sense really. also, "if you think so, then i can survive it" (luxa to aurora, a little after the bond is made),,, that's. not very,,,,, bondlike or any good prospects for luxa and ripred's bond unless luxa is being sarcastic but i doubt that?

all throughout the series, bonds have always been between humans and fliers. this does make sense because a human and flier duo is pretty great for fighting and survival + travel within the underland, they complement each other. i don't think a human could have that with any other species. (idk how to articulate but like, fliers provide the Flight and humans provide the Attack yk, there's not much a gnawer can provide to a human in that regard if you get what i mean)

also, bonds are sought with someone who have a connection or understanding with. someone whose loss you would actively grieve. luxa and aurora, howard and pandora, hazard and thalia (😭), and so on. i mean,,, a bond is clearly a significant concept within the underland, the breaking of which is literally disastrous (ares being punished with exile before gregor saves the day). if i'm not forgetting anything, the only time a bond breaks is either a betrayal (henry and ares!!! they are a great example of how bond ≠ peace), or your bond dying (howard and pandora).

observing luxa and ripred's dynamic, they do not quite have the understanding that creates a successful bond (Luxa Was Literally Ready To Send Ripred And The Gnawers To The Uncharted Lands, HOW DID THEY BOND™️ LIKE 2 SECONDS LATER??? I reread that part just now and I lost several braincells, just to confirm if I was right. Anyway). i just. don't see how luxa could say that treaties have failed,,,, a bond can fail too?

especially considering how badly henry's betrayal affected luxa throughout the series, it just feels,,,, Not Right to see luxa doing this when henry's bond with ares failed? like, would she not have considered this before placing so much faith in a bond between her and ripred?

unless there is actual magic involved, nothing really guarantees that luxa and ripred's bond will preserve peace or anything. bonds in tuc seem to be more of a cultural/interpersonal tradition of high significance as opposed to an actual magical construct with any weight that ISN'T assigned by cultural/personal association.

i read more of that part just to check and this quote? "I need one human to genuinely approve of what I just did." (said by luxa)

THE WAY THIS LOOKS,,, THIS SOUNDS LIKE A VERY BAD MOVE FOR UM. YOUR "image"???? How could you make such a huge move without even consulting anyone properly, right ? Luxa, bonding with A GNAWER who you Threatened with Exile/Banishment does NOT bode well for your reputation, which you need if you are going to actually want to preserve any peace? Bro you could've just signed a treaty,,,,,,,

and i mean, if you CAN bond (bonds are one of the most,, iconic? idk what other word to use, features of tuc, just to put that here) with other species instead of just humans and fliers, i feel like that's not something you would ever just put at the end of the book and never really explore in depth,,,

anyway i feel like i missed something but like,,,, THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE QUESTIONING ON THE LUXA AND RIPRED BOND BECAUSE IT'S SO OUT OF NOWHERE,, and detracts from a proper understanding of what a bond even is

im pretty sure this is my first proper uh essay??? post on here so um lmk what u think, id love to hear all ur thoughts in general and stuff. i will prolly reblog this post if i have more thoughts on this, let's see haha. anyway, have an awesome day/night!

[writingamarie]

weird prompt. like weird prompt. get it if you don't do it.

but what if the rosier twins both dated barty (no weird sibling thing just like both of them separately) but like trust fund kids that just do whatever they want and don't care about anything?

okay listen i don't hate this idea. but like i didn't flush this out enough since it's write it in one day... but like maybe one day this could be something that's less of a mess? you know? maybe? i don't hate it. like... hmm...

Pairing: pandora rosier/barty crouch evan rosier/barty crouch

Words: 1304

CW: siblings date the same person but not together. no twincest. this isn't that type of situation.

Pandora waited patiently, or about as patiently as she was capable of. Her foot shook back and forth and the heel of her boot repeatedly hit the ground. It wasn’t that she was nervous, nerves were something she reserved for very special occasions -and this was nothing out of the ordinary. But the anger of being out five hundred dollars bubbled on the surface of her skin. It was hardly a dent in the money sitting in her checking account but they had agreed that they were done. They’d agreed that the next time someone ended up in jail no one would bail them out. And then he called.

Evan looked far too smug as he walked through the doors. He tossed his hair around, his hands continuously moving around through the locks. Pandora made sure her frown was the first thing he noticed so the smug looking smirk would drop from his face but then he noticed her hair and laughed.

“What happened to you?”

“I was in the middle of dying it when you called,” she complained, holding the ends of her hair up so she could see the orange color.

“Looks bad, orange isn’t your color.”

“Fall in a ditch and die. I was bleaching it, this is what happens when you don’t leave it on long enough.”

Evan walked over to her jeep and let himself in. It was something practiced between them. She’d pick him up from jail, or post his bail if necessary, he’d make fun of her somehow, and then they’d return to the apartment like nothing had ever happened. It wasn’t a weekly occurrence but it was frequent enough that they’d gotten used to it. The others had been arrested once or twice but Evan was a frequent flier. He was careless in his approach to life. Money could do that.

If there was one thing they had enough of, it was money. They weren’t as rich as Regulus would be when his parents croaked but they were well off enough. Trust fund, old money, however they wanted to look at it the Rosier name was dipped in gold. Pandora had done her best to stay grounded. She’d had a few scholarship friends in school and she was willing to talk to anyone in her courses, she liked to think she understood the world better than her brother. Evan was kind, but he was so surrounded by their family’s influence as the heir that he struggled more to see reality. Pandora enjoyed it when she got to remind him.

“You owe me five hundred. I said I wasn’t paying your bail anymore.”

“Please, dad will replace the money. Just drive.”

Pandora groaned but hit the start button anyway. She and Evan had grown up causing problems side by side. She understood what he meant -their parents were big on hush money. Nothing had ever been a serious issue, some property damage or shoplifting, but she had never been stupid enough to drink and drive. Evan had gotten too many warnings so she understood why they had set a bail, again… She sighed loudly as they came to a red light.

“Could you worry any louder?”

“Shut up, Ev. I just saved your butt, let me be pissy about it.”

“Rogers will get the charges dropped. No big deal. Do we have enough time to make Regulus’ meet?”

“Barely.”

Regulus would be pissed with them. He had practically bit off Dorcas’ head the last time she missed his first event. Pandora had never been late. Since middle school she had been at every meet the entire time. She’d done her homework wrapped up in blankets waiting for it to be Regulus’ turn. The fact that she might be late irritated her. Since she was driving she couldn’t shake her foot so instead she tapped her thumb against the steering wheel over and over again.

“Jesus, okay, I get it you’re anxious,” Evan groaned and shrunk down in his seat slightly.

“You know what you are entirely irritating. I’m doing you a favor, again. And you just…” she trailed off for a moment before she seemed to think of the perfect thing to say, “Monopoly rules.”

“No, you can’t call Monopoly. You bitch!”

Pandora just smiled and stared at the road with a little less frustration. There was something special about the way siblings could pester each other. The way they knew each other in and out. 

“Too bad. Go to jail: lose. your. turn.” She poked at him from the driver’s seat as she emphasized each word.

She knew he had mumbled something under his breath but she didn’t really care. They had an agreement so unless he wanted to reevaluate everything and throw a wrench in their entire lives she had come out on top -that time.

“I hate this stupid relationship. Should have just fought you,” he whined as he stared out the window.

“We agreed not to fight over a boy. Week on, week off -that was the agreement. Monopoly rule. You did the crime, you don’t get any time.”

The rest of the car ride was silent and when they finally made it they had five minutes to spare before the first event. Pandora made sure to wave to Regulus so he’d know she had made it. It only took a minute to find Barty and Dorcas in the stands. Dorcas’ braids were bright pink at the moment because Marlene had told her some pink shirt looked nice on her, and Barty had dyed his hair blue after his father insisted he wasn’t allowed to alter his appearance. Pandora got to them first, Evan was trailing behind. She hugged Dorcas first then leaned in and kissed Barty quickly before she grabbed his hand and sat down next to him.

“This is-”

“Monopoly,” she explained.

“You got arrested again?” Dorcas laughed out at Evan as he finally caught up to the group.

He groaned at the fact that it was frequent enough that the whole group understood Pandora’s odd terms. Barty used his free hand to pull Evan down to sit on his other side. He wrapped his arm casually around his shoulders. It might seem friendly to anyone that looked over and didn’t know them. Even people they did know didn’t necessarily know the details about their relationship. They didn’t mind the secrecy, Dorcas and Regulus understood and that was enough.

“Pans, what happened to your hair?” Dorcas asked as if she had only just then noticed the bleach damage.

“I had to bail him out, will you fix it later?” She barely finished asking before Dorcas agreed.

None of them paid attention to what was happening around them until it was Regulus’ turn. Pandora smiled and waved as if he was going to notice them. He would always pretend like he had when they went out to eat after. He’d make up bullshit about seeing her and how she was a good luck charm, how all of them were. They were a family that way. All outcasts in ways they couldn’t explain, not quite understanding how to live among other people but perfectly understanding each other. It brought them together, perhaps more closely than they had initially meant given her and Evan’s relationships both finding an end with the same person but they all made it work. They had each other so their problems with themselves and the world around them hardly mattered -or at least not normally. Pandora had her brother and her friends, she had her boyfriend -at least every other week. It wasn’t expected or normal, and they did their best never to mention anything about themselves when they were back at Richard and Bunny’s house of wealthy neglect -but they’d found happiness. That seemed good enough for her.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

#20yrsago Neil Gaiman kicks McFarlane’s ass in court https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/1883/gaiman-sweep

#20yrsago Homeless Guy blog https://web.archive.org/web/20020923154740/https://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/

#15yrsago Great firewall of China blocks RSS https://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2007/10/chinas-great-firewall-turns-its-attention-to-rss-feeds/

#15yrsago CmdrTaco on 10 years of Slashdot https://web.archive.org/web/20071010114621/www.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/10/rob_malda_on_ten_years_of_slas.html

#15yrsago HMG orders Heathrow to fix its security queues https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/04/transportintheuk.travel

#10yrsago Maine GOP attack-flier condemns Democratic candidate for playing an orc rogue in online game https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/candidate-for-maine-state-senate-attacked-for-warcraft-character/

#10yrsago UN’s copyright agency won’t let the Pirate Party in https://web.archive.org/web/20121007041345/http://piratetimes.net/ppi-blocked-from-becoming-observer-members-of-wipo/

#10yrsago Sailor Twain: don’t fall in love with the mermaid of the Hudson valley https://memex.craphound.com/2012/10/04/sailor-twain-dont-fall-in-love-with-the-mermaid-of-the-hudson-valley/

#5yrsago After massive breach Equifax gets $7.25m no-bid IRS contract to “prevent fraud” https://consumerist.com/2017/10/04/irs-awards-7-25m-fraud-prevention-contract-to-equifax-despite-failure-to-secure-consumers-data/

#5yrsago Analysis of 22 million FCC comments show that humans love Net Neutrality and bots really, really hate it https://www.gravwell.io/blog/discovering-truth-through-lies-on-the-internet-fcc-comments-analyzed

#5yrsago Disgraced Equifax CEO blames 145.5 million-record breach on a single forgetful flunky https://www.engadget.com/2017-10-03-former-equifax-ceo-blames-breach-on-one-it-employee.html

#5yrsago Hackers hack hackers to steal their hacking tools and deflect blame https://theintercept.com/2017/10/04/masquerading-hackers-are-forcing-a-rethink-of-how-attacks-are-traced/

#5yrsago “Court guardians” kidnap old people, sell all their stuff, doom victims to pharmaceutical oblivion in institutions https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderly-lose-their-rights

#5yrsago Theresa May coughs through a catastrophic party conference speech plagued by pranks and a crumbling set https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/04/europe/theresa-may-speech-disaster-conservative-party-conference/index.html

#5yrsago Lifelong Kindergarten: how to learn like a kid, by the co-creator of Scratch https://memex.craphound.com/2017/10/04/lifelong-kindergarten-how-to-learn-like-a-kid-by-the-co-creator-of-scratch/

#1yrago USPS pilots postal banking https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/04/avoidance-is-evasion/#check-cashing

#1yrago The Pandora Papers https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/04/avoidance-is-evasion/#transparency

#1yrago Savage Love A-Z: A bestiary of good sex https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/04/avoidance-is-evasion/#ggg

[kimboo-york]

AI and desktop publishing

I'm writing a self-indulgent essay about AI writing from the perspective of me, a professional writer.

It's not done yet, but as I am writing it, I realized that the current discourse reminds me of the bloody, angry, screaming arguments that were had in the 1990s about "desktop publishing."

So very many graphic designers claimed that software like Print Shop (which first came out in 1984 and was MINDBLOWING, no lie) would destroy the graphic design industry.

Clearly, it didn't. Just as clearly, though, it contributed to a fundamental shift in that industry that is still, 30+ years later, shaking out.

(I am old enough to remember when 99% of the population did not understand what a "font" is!)

Mid-sized to small businesses that either had an in-house designer or farmed out to an agency started making the secretaries create all their fliers and advertisements and brochures (it showed, but hey, the software was cheaper than a full-time designer on staff). Many graphic designers went unemployed/under-employed, and small firms and mom-and-pop print shops completely closed down.

Actual printing (offset printing, color printing) was boiled down to a few companies and then taken over by large corporations (Kinkos was like a second home for many of us, in the 90s).

But the damage was done, and in retrospect we can say that the Luddites weren't wrong but also it didn't matter.

Desktop publishing democratized graphic design and destroyed the livelihoods of many a designer.

Self-checkout lines are very convenient and rob people of honest (if soul-crushing) jobs.

AI art/writing is going to change everything for artists and writers, and that will be both fantastic and absolutely devastating.

This isn't a "pro-AI" or an "anti-AI" post. This is about how this kind of major shift is unstoppable. You cannot shove it all back into Pandora's box. It has happened before and it will happen again...more accurately, "replacing people with machines software" started a long time ago and it's not gonna stop.

[jam3sp0ttery]

mary and pandora are SO star cheerleaders, with mary as a captain and pandora as a flier

ALSO SIRIUS CHEERLEADER AU

i assume a flier is like the ones that get thrown in the air and if it’s that then FUCK YEAH

and my girl mary as the captain…… yes. yes.

thank u for the au ur lovely im gonna read it right after my midterm!!!

[tecobonobo]

day 7: free/future!! i’m looking forward to making more bats, especially nike, athena, andromeda, and icarus!! THANK YOU FOR FIVE YEARS OF TUC!!!! @tucweek

[my-castles-crumbling]

Clandestine- Part 2, Chapter 2!

Fic: Clandestine Pairing: eventual Jegulus, eventual background Wolfstar and Dorlene Rating: M Length: 46k (WIP) Chapter excerpt: (TW: small mention of torture? but very vague)

“I’m not doing it,” he said decisively, not slowing. He couldn’t. It was too much.

But Pandora grabbed Regulus’s hand and pulled him to a halt. “You’re going to do wonderfully, Reg. You’re the best flier I know-”

“Oi! I’m not bad!” Evan interrupted, wrinkling his nose. 

“The best flier I know,” Pandora repeated, rolling her eyes. 

“My offer from before still stands,” Barty piped up, taking in Regulus’s silent panic, even as he tried to hide it.

Regulus shrugged. Maybe...

“No, Barty. Reg,” Dorcas said, her voice calm. "This will be easy . You just have to catch the Snitch. You’ve done it a thousand times. Don’t worry about anything else.”

Regulus scoffed. “If it’s so easy, you do it. I’m not going to go out there and make a fool of myself, not in front of everyone.” He straightened himself up and pulled a neutral expression on his face. “It doesn’t matter,” he lied. “I didn’t want to, anyways. It's no big deal."

Dorcas narrowed her eyes. “You’d be a lot more convincing if you hadn’t been talking about this for years .”

“Fuck, Cas! I spent the entire summer getting tortured !” Regulus yelled, his anger bursting forth without warning, his control crackling like the flames in his chest. “Forgive me for wanting to stay far away from anything else that’ll make me feel like shite!”

Silence. 

Pandora stared at him with sad eyes, and Barty and Evan looked deeply uncomfortable. But Dorcas just rolled her eyes. “You can’t not talk about your shit and then use it as an excuse to fuck off when you’re scared.”

More silence. Regulus turned, looking away.

But Dorcas seemed determined. She grabbed Regulus’s hand and led him forcibly toward the group of people in the middle of the pitch. “We’re trying out together, Black. And so help me, if you don’t try your damndest, I’ll set Pandora on you.”

Giggling, Pandora shrugged, while Evan and Barty just stood with raised eyebrows.

Regulus sighed, and allowed Dorcas to tug him along.

Read the full WIP here!

[randomfandomnerd]

The ideal advice

[averagekanadekinnie]

ANOTHER REQUEST IDEA BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP!!

Sunny x reader where Sunny is finding excuses to hang out with the his partner (for example, working on homework, or school-related) and even have moments of physical touch because he's shy to ask for those things upfront and even more embarrassed/nervous to ask his partner on a date.

ANYWAYS THANK YOU AND YOUR WRITING SO MUCH

PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

(OMORI) SUNNY x READER

Type: Fluff

Warnings: Haha none.

Notes: ILL TRY TO TAKE CARE!!!! TYSM FOR THE REQUEST PANDORA :3 (I’ll try to the your other one as quick as I can)

PLEASE he’s so funny when he’s like this

He just, looks over to see what you’re doing, like a little cat or something

If you’re doing homework, he’ll try his best to help!!

if you’re doing like a project or something, SUNNY will literally get what you need, even if it means going to the store

During whatever you’re doing, SUNNY will mostly stare at your hands with such a blank face

He literally wants to hold your hands n stuff n all that corny stuff….

But he realizes you’re pretty busy soo.. :(

If you ever manage to take a break SUNNY will still be there, just looking at you

At one point it turns into a staring contest

SUNNY wins of course

And he uses it as an advantage to hold your hand, saying

"I won so.. don’t I get to hold your hand?"

PLEASE let him hold your hand he’s been waiting for hours

One point, he gets enough confidence to hug you either front or behind, whichever one

He just…… he just wants to be held by you god!!

If you’re uncomfortable SUNNY would pull away, apologizing profusely.

But omg if he ever wants to ask you on a date OH MY GOD!!

He’d panic internally, wondering if he’ll mess it up n stuff

He willl call his FARAWAY TOWN friends for help

…

They’re not good at helping AT ALL

So he just…..

SUNNY taps you on the shoulder with his index finger, hoping to get your attention.

He thankfully succeeds, as you turn around confused. "Oh? SUNNY, what do you need?" You said with a light smile.

He holds up a flier up to your face, hoping you’d get the message. You gently push away the flier to get a better look at it since it was LITERALLY in your face.

THE FLIER READS: "New Hot Chocolate Flavor at [SOMETHING SOMETHING CAFE!!] ONLY $3.46 PER CUP!"

"Oh, so you want some HOT CHOCOLATE, SUNNY? Then let’s go get some. The place isn’t too far from here, so let’s just walk me and you!" SUNNY only nods before you both get up and leave your house.

In his mind, SUNNY feels super proud of himself. He doesn’t want HOT CHOCOLATE, well.. he does but he mostly..

Just wants to take you out on a date. <3

[oneunexpected]

I love Free Day because it means I can do Whatever I Want and I get to rb it to tucweek along with the incredible art pieces and insightful analysis other people have made and mine’s just, like, TUC as vines.

Anyway. Here’s the definitive power ranking of all minor characters* in the Underland Chronicles. It's quite long, because I tried to use every character.

Icarus -this DUUUUDE. This GUYYYYY. SUCKS! -“uh-oh looks like I’m infected with the plague better fly directly into a social gathering” -would be an anti-masker probably  0/10

Reekwell and Gushgore -Fangor and Shed part two, but unfunny this time. 1/10 y’all suck give me Fangor and Shed back

Purvox -Purvox is apparently a beautiful red spider who teaches Hazard how to “speak” Spinner. That’s cool. -that’s it. Why did Suzanne even feel the need to name her? I’m grateful for the extra details but 2/10

Ajax -mean. -nobody likes him -this is probably why he gets on so well with Solovet -some sort of flier general, it seems, which is pretty cool 2/10

Hero & Kent -twins, I guess that’s fun -they’re only like eight but they still Smirk Evilly. Good for them 2/10 just because there’s 2 of them

Anchel & Daphne -some randos Keeda mentions as dead. They probably had some sort of significance to be mentioned by name but We’ll Never Know. 2/10 RIP though. I’m sure you’re worth higher than this but I don’t even know who you are

Horatio -crony #1 -has a crush on Dulcet. Didn’t we all 3.5/10. Boosted solely by association with Dulcet

Marcus -crony #2 3/10

Wevox -thought her name was Weavox until I began writing this post -sort of “Was Margaret Thatcher a Girlboss?” vibes -“As it is, Vikus, we will not drink. Web them” is a RAW line and it bounces around my head sometimes -the spiders are clearly very crafty about their political relations but she was not going to hesitate for a MOMENT to consider the ramifications of killing the monarch of Regalia and we gotta respect that -docking points for the girlboss thing, though. 4/10

Stellovet -queen of insults you gotta be honest -had an INCREDIBLE amount of impact for only having like three lines. I remember being like 11 and reading so many fics on Fan Fiction Dot Net where she was a scheming villain -funny how Luxa thinks her endgame is just becoming a princess. She doesn’t care beyond that she just wants to be royalty 4/10

Chim -baby -ok she’s 5 -doesn’t do anything but look confused and help provide a gateway for Howard to look like a good person 5/10, for years of life. What’s even your name? Chimney?

Andromeda -she’s good. She is an Absolute Beast when she crosses the Waterway with Howard and Mareth, definitely saved Mareth’s life -loves Mareth very much :) -shuns Ares at first but comes around, we still gotta knock her for this though 5/10

Clawsin & Bloodlet & Ratriff -Some folks who go to Ripred’s side, Clawsin gets blinded from the Bane, Ratriff gets his arm ripped off by the Bane, it is what it is 5/10 collectively

Reflex -man’s got jokes -very helpful with the code -shoots streamers of silk around the room when they break it -came to Regalia secretly... secretly to whom? The spinners? The gnawers? Whatever, he’s a rebel either way -I had to look up his name though, so apparently not a lot of impact. Sorry Reflex 5/10

Treflex -announced he was joining the quest, then IMMEDIATELY died. Yes king give us nothing -made a good snack? Gross. 5/10

Cevian -the scene where they find her body is beautifully written and so heartbreaking. She’s the catalyst for the entire fourth book -gives Aurora the opportunity to make her first ever big impassioned speech. It’s what Aurora deserved -still, she doesn’t get any dialogue so I can’t vote her super high 5/10

Euripides -seems nice -always described as “Vikus’ big grey bat,” never just big bat, never just grey bat -tells Luxa to teach Gregor how to ride a bat because his neck is getting bruised lol -nice of him not to embarrass Gregor though 6/10 speak up for yourself, king

Pend -takes Boots back to Regalia after the moth brings her to the crawlers’ land -Vikus recognizes him by name which is really impressive since crawlers look pretty homogenous, although we are told Vikus is better than most at picking them out. Still, Pend is probably a high rolling crawler. 6/10

The scorpions -I know I’m supposed to be doing named characters but they’re pretty cool. The passage they’re in is a really fun read. Mad respect 6/10 I’ll see y’all in Scorpio szn, baby

Razor -showed SHAME and GUILT in the first book when he got called out by Ripred -raised Pearlpelt as if he was his own. In payment, Pearlpelt knocked him off a cliff and then tried to eat him to hide the evidence 6/10

Fangor and Shed -funny dudes. -apparently constantly drunk 6/10

Gox -Gox got shit DONE, okay? Gox got shit DONE. -would eat your carcass without a moment of hesitation. It’s fine. 6/10

Hermes -this guy is great! -brings Luxa her crown -gets seriously injured while protecting Lizzie on their way to Regalia -might be dead tbh no one ever says 7/10

Keeda -okay listen. Keeda’s great. Keeda is that warrior at the Battle of Marathon who ran all the way back to Athens to report their victory and immediately die, except Keeda was reporting that the gnawers were about to invade -listen I know she was dealing with some other stuff, but Vikus asks, “how many rats?” And she says “many. Many rats” ??? No estimate? “An army?” Whatever. We give her a pass. 7/10 RIP

Pandora -FUCK -her death was possibly the MOST disturbing passage I’ve ever read. I could see it so, so vividly in my head. Man I remember the horror -she just wanted to explore 7/10 but also 2/10 for emotional trauma

Queen Athena -ICONIC one-liner in Curse of the Warmbloods, absolutely demolishes the gnawers over their treatment of the nibblers -I’m really biased towards her because Athena is my favorite goddess -probably could’ve done more for Ares, especially as seeing she’s supposed to be perceptive and a really good judge of character and whatnot 7/10

Daedalus -flinches in fear when Boots says she’s gonna sing a for him, specifically -basically pledges his life to Lizzie in the event the Code Room is attacked so that’s very nice 7/10

Heronian -she’s in a full body cast, but that will not stop her. 8/10

Susannah -can we talk about how she lost both of her siblings and she just keeps trucking along? -REALLY wish we knew more about her -clearly Very Kind. Can you please ask your daughter to be nicer -takes really good care of everyone she comes across :) 8/10

Min -creaky old cockroach dance 9/10

Frill -was cool -taught everyone the marks of secret -taught Hamnet about pacifism and stuff too -I get the feeling she was wayyyyy more important to Hazard and Hamnet and their survival than Gregor’s narrative really dives into 9/10

Mr. Cormaci -nice man. Gave Gregor quarters. 10/10

Gregor’s grandma -cool lady, you can’t deny! -tells Gregor he can’t outrun his issues -has a super cool quilt -who IS Simon??? 10/10

Scalene, Euclidian, Root, Cube, and Newton -felt obligated to include all these kiddos because they are, in fact, named, even though none of them get any dialogue or anything else for that matter, really -Scalene was a little nibbler pup that found her mom in the Arena, Euclidian and Root are two more that the mom was looking for, Newton was one that no one claimed but some other guy was like “any of us will take him” which is :’) but also, so, so sad. -Cube was the pup Luxa named that ended up in the pit in the Firelands -Scalene and Newton survived a genocide and Euclidian which is baller any way you swing it 10/10

Tick -:( :( :( -the selflessness. -I shipped her with Temp when I was 8? I can’t answer for that 10/10

York -LMAOOOO this guy’s a LEGEND -7 ft tall. -fights with a zweihander. -says fuck, canonically. -hosts hundreds of nibbler refugees -very loving uncle to Luxa, helps her learn how to rule - his exasperated affection towards Howard when he finds out Howard stayed in the Firelands even after he got sick was very cute 10/10

Honorable mentions: Perdita and Dulcet Their roles are too big in the last book to be included in this list, but these ladies both get a 10/10.

[runlikethemotherfuckingriver]

Ok AU fanfic time where after killing Bane Gregor had to face Ripred

Bit of backstory:

Gregor didn’t suffer the chest wound in the battle, but both Ares and Bane died. Still swamped with grief, Gregor’s currently lying down clutching Ares’ claw. Also I couldn’t think of any good political reasons for Ripred’s betrayal so I just threw in 1 statement and left it at that.

————————————————————-

Part 1

He didn’t know how long he lay there. Holding on to the last lifeline he had left, trying to pull Ares back from wherever he was. His sword had pierced the Banes stomach, but the foul stench that surrounded the three bodies seemed insignificant. Everything seemed insignificant. There was nothing left for Gregor... no reason for him to still be alive. It just didn’t make any fucking sense. The phropech was fulfilled, the bane’s blood had been spilled. What was left?

He stayed there for what felt like an eon, but couldn’t have been more than an hour. Slowly, he became aware of his name being shouted. But what were they expecting him to do? Get up? Go back to Regalia? Still full of shock and pain and grief, he began to rise. The voice came nearer, until he could hear the raspy, deep voice of one animal he didn’t want to talk to. “Gregor”, said Ripred, keeping his distance but sounding more understanding than he ever had before. “Gregor, we need to go back”.

“Back where?” He demanded, with his back still facing the Gnawer, surprising himself with the forcefulness of his tone. “Back to Regalia? Back to the overland? No, Ripred, what we need to do is go back in fucking time, so that none of this shit ever happened. So that everyone we love is sti-“ Gregor’s voice finally cracked with pain, and shock. “still alive.”

The rat said nothing, merely inched slightly closer to Gregor.

“My sisters?”, he asked, unable to muster anything more

“Both still have light, they flew back with Nike. Oh, and that crawler.”

For some reason, Gregor felt immense relief learning of Temp’s survival. He sank back to his knees, clutched Ares’ claw tighter, then finally

Let

Him

Go

He turned towards Ripred. “I’m ready.”

He started to walk towards the rat, intending to climb onto his back, but as soon as he got in reach the rat’s tail caught him and sent him crashing towards the side of the cave.

Part 2

Gregor hit the rocks with a sickening crunch, and immediately felt a couple of ribs break. His first thought was that another rat had creeped in, but Ripred stalking towards him quickly remedied that.

“What the hell, dude? What are you doing?”, Gregor yelled at the Gnawer. Not bothering to reply, Ripred lashed his tail or once again, but as Gregor launched himself out of the way, he felt the rager sensation kicking in. It probably wouldn’t save him from whatever Ripred was doing, but at least it gave him a sense of power.

Gregor just had time to crawl out of the way when the tail spun again, catching his back and pushing him into Ares’ corpse. Blood and fur filled his mouth. Ashamed at the revulsion that filled him, his panting showed him the image of his sword, still buried deep in the Bane’s heart. He grabbed it, spun around and narrowly avoided a strike from Ripreds left arm, claws poised to tear his chests. They both retreated from one another, then began circling. Ripred looked relaxed, amused almost, whilst Gregor was on high alert for an attack.

“Why?”, Gregor managed to get out through the pain in his chest.

“What did you think would happen after this war, overlander? That we’d all go back to peace, no conflict between the species?” Ripred hissed back at him.

“Pretty much, yeah” Gregor replied, and sprung forward, swinging his sword over his head towards Ripreds skull. The rat, however, anticipated this move and slunk lazily to the right, leaving Gregor to impale his sword in the dirt. He barely had time to wrench it out before Ripred came at him, teeth and claws and all. He parried strike after strike, but the Gnawer started pushing him back. Eventually something brushed against his back, and he knew he was backed up against the Bane’s body. Gregor planned to jump up over the corpse the next chance he got, but the floor was slippy with Ares’ and the white rat’s blood, and when he stepped on a piece of flesh, his feet went out from under him and he found himself on the floor, Ripred’s tail holding him in place as he opened his jaws for Gregors throat...

Part 3

Gregor knew at that point that it was finally time for him to go, for the prophecy to be finished, but his ragged breaths felt movement above him, and Twirltongue’s headless body slipped off her boulder pile and onto Ripred’s back, stunning him. Gregor used the split second of confusion to escape from underneath the tail, and took advantage of the disorientated rat to aim his sword at the Ripred’s neck joint. Once again, however, the gnawer easily sidestepped Gregor’s attack, clutched the weapon in his fangs, and snapped Sandwhich’s legendary sword in too. Without anything else to do, Gregor ran.

He could hear Ripred’s laugh behind him, the mocking tone that seemed to convey all of Gregor’s current fears. He knew the rat was faster, stronger and smarter than he was. But he wasn’t trying to outrun him. When he reached the end of the plateau, his idea was confirmed. The rock fell down into an huge abyss, and at the bottom were the bodies of countless gnawers, fliers and humans. Except, they weren’t exactly bodies... which is where Gregors plan kicked in. He knew the fall wouldn’t kill Ripred, but he hoped what lay at the bottom would. First, though, he had get the rat off the cliff. Plastering a layer of fear on his face (Which wasn’t very hard, considering the circumstances) he turned around, just to find himself face to face with Ripred’s crimson eyes. Eye, actually. It seemed someone - or something - had clawed it out during the battle. It wouldn’t affect the gnawer’s ability to see, he mainly used echolocation for that, but Gregor hoped that it was at least hurting him. Ripred’s was panting heavily, his disgusting breath being blown into Gregor’s face. They stood pile that, facing each other down, for a few seconds, until Gregor did something neither of them expected. He grabbed hold of the rats ears and pulled himself up onto Ripred’s back, kicking his remaining eye in the process. Half blinded, the gnawer couldn’t reach up to pull Gregor off, so he started to spin. As Gregor soon found out, that technique also works in attacking anyone within the circle. He was soon finding it hard to hold on, especially since the only option was to grab chunks of fur, but after spotting a jutting out rock, he knew exactly what to do. On the next circle, he shot his leg out and let it trail behind him until it hit the rock at full speed, and broke with a deafening crack.

Just before it hit, Gregor wrapped his arms around Ripred’s throat, and held on as hard as possible. The force of the leg hitting the rock did exactly what he expected; it stopped the rat in his tracks. Unfortunately, it also snapped his tibia, the bone just above his ankle. Just before he went flying off the rat’s back, Gregor caught a glimpse of shiny red bone coming out through his skin, and a torn muscle providing a clear look into the inside of his leg. He hit the ground with a thud, breaking a few more ribs. His whole body burned with agony, but this was the only chance he would get to kill Ripred. The rat was still recovering from his spin, but teetering dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. With as much strength as he could muster, Gregor launched himself forward with his right leg and slammed into the big rat’s body, pushing him off the plateau. The rat fell without a sound, but the force of him hitting the floor created a thunderous crunch. Gregor slowly pulled himself over to the edge, and looked down. As expected, Ripred was still alive. As he peered down, the rat looked up at him. Even from this distance, Gregor understood exactly what the rat was conveying. It reminded him of the first time he’d looked into Ripred’s eyes, and of the knowledge and danger lay within there. This look was similar, except for the insanity that also lived there this time. Soon, the rat got to his feet, but as he started to crawl over to a cliff in order to climb back up, Gregor noticed a swarm of blackness that rose up from a few hundred metres away. He wanted to look away, but he owed it to the rat to look upon Ripred as he finally met his death. The swarm of mites completely encased the rat, and eventually he met the same fate as Pandora. He didn’t even have time to scream. Gregor took one final look at his skeleton, one carcass among many, then began to crawl his way back towards Ares.

It took him an hour to reach the bodies of the Bane, Ares and Twirltongue. He collapsed right next to his bond, the black bat’s beautiful wings torn and ripped. Without looking at Ares’ throat, Twirltongue’s head or his own leg, Gregor clasped Ares’ claw in his hand, and finally lay down to rest...

————————————————————

Ok from here same thing kinda happens, shiners find him and take him back, Lizzie is devastated that Ripred is dead, so he never tells her about his betrayal etc. The treaty happens, but Lapblood stands in for the rats instead, and her level-headedness leads the other species to continue to delegate her after Lizzie’s idea. Gregor doesn’t tell many people about the truth, only a couple of Underlanders really know what happened (Vikus, Luxa, Howard, Aurora, Nike, Euripides, Lapblood and Temp) Everything after that is the same.

-

Phew what did you think? I quite enjoyed writing that.

(Now plz give me notes)