#planet of the loops

[musicbyrikm]

Planet of the Loops, live at Handlebar in Toronto for the 25th Anniversary of the AMBiENT PiNG, August 2024

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by A Pile of Concert Tickets (@apileofconcerttickets)

[alcettogo]

22 - Bad Memory

Prompt List

[pixel8or]

[retrogamingblog2]

[peace-hunter]

ok so i'm still a bit shaky on it but i would loooooove for orion's character arc in the baby prime orion au to be actually about learning that he's not. inherently special. which i know it sounds backwards because this au makes him primus' specialest little guy but hear me out.

in this au when optimus is born he is his siblings' miracle child, their little blessing, the most precious gift they could've gotten.

they love him so much that even when they die and orion grows up and forgets them, he still knows what being treasured and loved beyond measure feels like.

and part of the reason he believes that the system is wrong to treat cogless bots as lesser is that he cannot accept that he is as worthless as the world wants him to believe when someone once loved him like that.

it's a very... self-centered point of view even if it does come from a place of genuine love. he was loved, he was worth something to someone once, so if the world tells him he's worthless then the world must simply be wrong.

and don't get me wrong he still genuinely does believe others also deserve the choice to decide for themselves what they want to be, that they also deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity that cogged bots do, he still wants to make things better for everyone.

but a good part of it is because he thinks he deserves better. because he knows he was once loved enough for someone to want to give him the moon and stars if he'd asked for them. and he's still chasing that feeling, even though he has long forgotten where he got it from in the first place.

so when he finds out he's the lost little prime, as much of a shock as it is, it is also sort of vindicating. it's a little bit like "oh. so that's why i always felt especial different".

he thinks that him being a prime is the reason for why he always aspired to be more, for why he always believed he deserved better. he thinks being a prime is what makes him worth loving more than he'd been told.

except that... well, he's obviously wrong. him believing he deserved better, that he was worth more than the system wanted him to believe, had very little to do with him being a prime and everything to do with his siblings loving him so very much he could never forget it even as he forgot them.

the reason he always felt there was something utterly wrong with the way they were treated and had the courage to constantly speak up against it when everyone else around him didn't was not because he had some divinely given wisdom or that he was inherently better than them and could feel it.

it was simply that he, unlike the rest of the miners, had someone to instill in him how loved and valuable he truly was. he had someone to let him know he deserved to be treated with kindness and dignity. he had that privilege even if it was taken away from him.

so. the second half of his arc would be him realizing all of this and taking upon himself to be that someone to everyone else. to be to others what his siblings were to him. that gentle voice that says "you deserve to be cared for, you deserve kindness, you deserve better".

i don't know i'm still working on it akjshdjka

[spacewonder19]

Cygnus Loop © Aleix Roig

[boxdotden]

The rock.

[lorenzonuti]

-Let me come back to earth, please.

-You never been there.

[sentient-stove]

They were kneeling alone at the center of the crater and so Bruce picked his way down one side, the child not noticing or not caring as his steps echoed in the silence that was left behind.

"Daniel."

A stifled sob, one bright green eye looking back at Bruce as the rest of his hair hid his face. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong.... it always ends the same way.."

"I know kid." There was nothing but ruin left behind, the itching feeling as the time loop fractured and waited for it's creator to reset it. Nothing happened- yet- and Daniel hunched on himself more, hands coming to cup over his sternum.

"I keep thinking that I can fix it this time, I can fix this, I have to fix this, I don't want to be alone-" He pulled his hands away, and sat within them was an orb about the size of a chicken egg, glowing the same soft green as the shell that Bruce had walked into. "I can fix it, I just have to try again. I will fix it this time."

"You're tired, aren't you?"

"I can't give up."

"We both know that things won't change, not for lack of trying on your part." Bruce crouched down so they were level, staring him dead on. "I am so sorry Daniel."

[soukeyed]

what's your ETA?

[hms-loop-45]

3

Before you go further you're going to need a little help, here you go

It sounds similar to your language so you won't have to worry about translating, the only thing you'll need will be this photo and you'll be good to go

[worstloki]

[loki being tortured between thor1 and avengers] Thanos, terrified, with arms shaking as he points the sceptre at Loki: have you had enough yet? Loki: Meow meow meow nyah nyah nya mew mew meow meow meow meow ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

[inkedinserendipity]

just finished outer wilds and…oh my god.

that ending scene was so wrenching, it made me so emotional. i absolutely adore when music is used well in fiction, and the end—getting everyone together to play the theme—and then realizing there was an odd instrument out, getting to call solanum into reality one more time… absolutely heartbreaking. she’s the last of the nomai and she didn’t even know, but we did get to play a song with her, around our campfire, just before the world ended. that’s the last thing we did. we made music.

and it’s something about the continuity of life, you know? who comes before, and who comes after. the nomai finding little aquatic four-eyed creatures and defending their resources. idaea disagreeing with the sun station on principle because it would wipe out the system. and then, those little creatures growing up to become the hearthians, grown up to succeed them….

and god, finding the nomai corpses was heartrending every single time. realizing that the two inside the asteroid are pye and poke, who you’ve come to know so much about. the littler nomai skeletons in the room in the sunless city that looks oddly like a classroom. and of course, god, the corpses clustered around the choked bramble that blocked them from returning to the vessel…. and then at the end, the five nomai skeletons, reaching up as far as they can, standing on each other’s shoulders, to reach their last surviving sister.

i am just unbelievably full of emotion. what an incredible game. well done.

[azuzula]

Have a body feel the groove!

[thatonebirdwrites]

4:02 minutes.

Lena ran. Her boots crunched on red stone and pebbles. Behind her, a massive creature roared and swiped a stone column. It cracked and shattered with a boom. Rocks spilled onto the narrow canyon behind her.

Her breaths fogged the helmet of her suit, and her oxygen levels were far too low. The camp was still a mile away, and above her the sun blazed an rusty orange.

Another roar. Lena dodged and ducked as rocks rained around her. Her muscles ached, and she pushed herself further. The ground shook from the chase, and she stumbled. A six clawed hand swept toward her. She threw herself forward. The paw slammed into the ground and a wave of dust and vibrations quaked the ground.

3:25 minutes

"Fuck," Lena grabbed a rock and hauled herself to her feet. "Camp Supergirl, please come in." She dodged another attack, and crash against the cliff side sent an avalanche of rock and debris into the narrow valley.

Lena scrambled forward and slipped on the detritus. She wasn't getting out of this alive, was she? "Fuck this planet," she growled. Ever since they'd crashed, it'd been one disaster after another. She looked up at the sun as she ran, the sun that was too close to the red star frequencies. So Kara had heavily diminished powers here.

Which meant even if anyone heard her call, they'd never reach her in time. "Camp Supergirl," she tried again, desperately. "For fucks sake, answer! I retrieved the power source. But one of those bear monsters chases me in the canyon south-east of camp."

2:09 minutes

"Groar!!" The four-limbed monstrosity with its four eyes, webbed claws, and massive muscles stomped toward her. A rock flew over her head, barely missing her.

Ahead, the canyon narrowed further. She zig-zagged in hopes of making it harder to hit. But the monster was way too close. She wasn't going to make it.

"Kara!" she tried again, desperate, "Alex, Nia, Kelly, for fucks sake, answer!"

Her oxygen meter began to squeal. Exhaustion crept through her limbs. The virtual clock in the right corner of her visor counted down. She patted her belts where the device she'd stolen sat still. She had to reach camp in time.

0:59 minutes.

The narrow gap in the canyon loomed before her. She can do this. She will reach the camp.

The monster howled. The ground shook, more ruddy rocks tumbled into the canyon. Smaller ones bombarded her suit, and the larger ones she dodged.

33 seconds.

She leaped for the gap. Her headset crackled.

"Lena? Lena, I'm coming!" Kara's voice crackled with static, the sound faint.

"20 seconds left, Kara!" She fell into the gap, and bounced against the red rock. A piece of her suit cracked, and alarms screeched. A leak. Fuck.

Ahead, the entrance to the camp had been marked with an "El" signal carved in the stone. The gap ended in what looked like jagged red rock, but it shimmered with the hologram. But it was still several hundred feet away, and even if she made it, the alien device was even further, nestled in a cavern on the far side of their camp.

"Shit, Kara, I won't make it." Despair sunk deep into her bones. She pushed off the rocks, her run slowing as her muscles screamed for relief.

A massive bear monstrosity crashed into the side of the canyon. It pawed at the gully and ripped apart its entrance.

4 seconds.

Rocks torn from the sides of the gully crashed down on her. One smashed into her side, and she fell against the cliff. Another crushed her arm. She screamed. "Fuck!"

"Lena!" Kara's voice came from behind, beyond the monster.

The hologram shimmered out of reach.

1 second.

Lena slumped, exhausted, in pain, and furious. They'd failed yet again.

A brilliant red-orange light flooded the land, wrapped around Lena, and she closed her eyes in pain.

The world blurred into a mirage of rainbows, her actions running backward like an old VHS from earth being rewound. She watched the chase move backward, saw the moment she made her mistake, reviewed the spot she'd stolen the power source, and the place her team split up to search for the potential power surges.

A sucking noise barraged her ears. Her body felt squeezed like a lemon, and a jolt reverberated through her brain.

She sucked in a breath and opened her eyes to the roof of their alien cavern. The alien device nestled next to her pulsed with a red-oranged light, and her arms were wrapped around Kara's waist. Kara's hand lay against the device, and the rest of their team shouted our warnings.

"Fuck," Lena pulled back from Kara. "Fuck, not again."

Kara blinked and looked at her. "All right, we'll just try again."

Lena suppressed the urge to scream. It'd been 22 tries already. Or maybe 23. 24? She was losing count.

"Try again for what?" Nia stepped forward. "You two okay? That was a really intense light flare."

Lena sagged against Kara's side. Right, of course, only Kara and her retained memories of their attempts. "We're fine," she said, through gritted teeth. "Change of plans." She helped Kara to her feet and turned to face their team. "We need a new power source." This time they were not splitting up.

"We can split up--" Kara started to say, just like always.

But Lena interrupted her, "No, we go in teams of two this time." She hoped, for her sanity, that they made it back with the source.

Because this time loop needed to end. Otherwise, they'll never escape the damn planet.

[prokopetz]

I think if I'm going to properly sort out this mission structure framework in Space Gerbils I'm going to have to resign myself to more flowcharts.