#reflected in spheres

[piganatur]

THE EIGHTH SENSE EP 3

Honestly, I was a little afraid because the first two episodes blew me away so much that it felt almost ridiculous. I so wanted this to continue, and when I anticipate something to this extent the dread of it maybe falling flat, of it refuting me and my anticipation is sky high. My pulse legit rose before clicking on ep3 that’s how jittery and insane this show makes me. But I worried for nothing, the creators of this show clearly know what they want and what they are doing. Ep 3&4... all I can say is: 👏👏👏 solid follow-up

Episode 3 (and a part of ep4) is all about parallels and the contrast between these parallels: 1, like the entirety of whatever happened between Jaewon & Jihyun in ep2 vs. walking the same steps, doing those same motions but now doing it alone? Brilliant! Taking care of others vs. not taking care of them (so they have to take care of themselves) and the reason for doing all of that...it’s all about perspective.

2, another parallel is the dynamic of Jaewon/Yoonwon vs. Jihyun/Aeri Jaewon and Yoonwon are what Jihyun and Aeri could be in the future (down to the detail of one of them thinking the other liked them bc they acted so friendly, or that they didn’t like the other but found a true ally) I'm a friendship maniac I love it more than anything. Now I want to make a separate post all about the importance of friendship for Jaewon and Jihyun and their character arcs

3, Joonpyo aka the heavenly hand of fate Joonpyo being obedient for once and not saying a thing just like Jihyun asked him to when meeting Aeri vs. Joonpyo introducing himself and chatting up Jaewon in the middle of the cafeteria without anyone asking him to... both of those times, at that moment, what Joonpyo did was the opposite of what Jihyun wanted (and what he felt he’d be saved by) yet as we can see in ep4 both of those times his roommate (enter Jihyun’s voice *and menace of a childhood friend*) actually helped Jihyun

4, the evolution of Jihyun and Jaewon’s interpersonal relationships Jihyun collects people after careful deliberation or is it the other way and others are the ones collecting him? broadening his circle (a place of support and care) is, in fact, in parallel with Jaewon slowly slipping out of others’ circles whilst tightening his own. They are both treading towards the same ideal but while Jaewon has to cut ppl out Jihyun has to let ppl in to get to that place where they are seen and valued for who they are

5, the cherry on top was the closing sequence. I’m in love with the visual, the music score, all the details building up, the parallel lines and symmetry in every single shot, seemingly playing on different sides and directions but colliding in the most breathtaking and intense harmony to complete all the unsaid things in a nonverbal way. But it is a quietness that screams

[webdiggerxxx]

꧁★꧂

[prokopetz]

This year’s Christmas haul; the observant viewer may detect a theme.

(Please ignore the dreadful photo quality; it’s too overcast today for good natural light, and every time I tried to use my camera’s flash the chrome on the puzzles reflected it right back and washed out the whole image.)

[gender-machine-broke]

Oh so “I want to rid of gender roles without ID’ing as trans” is fine for a liberal man to say, but when I, a radfem…

[wallpapedits-vvc]

Matching wallpapers #164

Like/reblog if you save ✨

None of this wallpapers/pictures belongs to me, I just do the matching.

[weirdyearbook]

Source details and larger version.

Here are some of the best vintage photos I've collected.

[owlafterhours]

[AC6] Vegas AU: Walter gets a new hound

o/! This is the start of the, uh, extremely expanded vegas AU because

yeah, we got a tourney format n everything ahha

there's a bit more drama but as an overall, it'll be on the same lighter wavelength :) They'll also be the same flavour of drafty as the other parts, since i find even posting a bit helps drag me into editing it (usually with a friend) more thoroughly later.

(In which: Walter loses a pilot, gains a pilot, and gains the headache that this pilot comes packaged with.)

------------------------------------------------

“I quit - good fucking luck finding another slave.”

Those had been the parting words of 617 before she stormed out of the training room. The following silence was cold, and the words looped in his mind. It was still messy here, his hounds having left his service in quick succession, leaving him the lingering effects of their existence. Cleaning and tidying into a box instead of waiting lockers.

617 had been the last to leave.

His shadow fell over a notebook as he bent to pick it up; dark grey with a smeared name in black marker, the cover slightly curled. He knew that if he flipped through it, he’d find pages of training regimens, notes on AC construction, the parts, the customizations available - and which ones were banned from which tourneys. Tactics for their foes, strategies to keep their strength up through the grueling tournaments. Complaints in the margins. Messages passed between the pack. 

Walter dropped it into the box.

Owner and trainer of the CT team Hounds, ‘Handler Walter’ was famed for being a cold and tough taskmaster. If you could make it through six months with him, they say you’d be guaranteed a job as a competition pilot. Even spending a month under his tutelage was enough to sharpen your skills - if you still wanted to get into a simulator after that. 

The only reason Hounds had never gotten into the Invitational, they say, is because they never had backing from one of those big corps. Walter had finally secured that backing in the last three years, but it was still an uphill battle to negotiate his way into it. 

With the current state of events though…at least the agent was coming around with fresh blood soon. Though the numbers had been thinning, the quality of the pups had gotten better. The agents knew that they’d lose out if the recruit didn’t stick around for long enough, so they’d stopped bringing him anyone who’d wash out in the first week. Only the truly dedicated or -

The desperate. Guess his reputation had gotten a little too much, Walter thought, if they were scraping the bottom of the barrel like this. He eyed the one pup the nervous agent had brought to him.

Short, with a cane and a rather extensive burn splattered over half their face. It stretched down under their sweater’s neckline. The cane was a hint that there could be a problem - though, perhaps not serious enough to interfere with their work. 

“He’ll be able to pilot an AC, but not much else.” the agent warned, knowing that Walter liked it if the pilots could help with maintenance. Not like he had a choice this time. “Something about an accident a few years ago - it's all in the file.” 

“I can see that.” Walter replied before looking at the pup again.

“You.” Walter addressed them directly. Their gaze shifted from the wall to Walter. “What do you want out of this?” 

“To pilot.” A soft voice, slightly husky. “What else.”

“And you can pilot like that.” He asked, and they paused. Seemed to think about it - before replying:

“I’m here, aren’t I?” There’s no real challenge in their voice, nor fear. 

Just a fact.

“...We'll see.” Walter said, before turning back to the agent. Not the first iceberg to crack in his care, if it turned out that they couldn’t stick it out. Not like he had any other choices, if he wanted to make the cutoff.

“I’ll take them.” 

The agent coughed. “We’ll have the rest of the information packet forwarded to you later then.” 

Walter nods, and the agent takes that as their dismissal, leaving the room with a quiet click of the door. The drone of the aircon filled the space.

“Let’s see what you can do, 621.” 

–

Uncanny.

He didn’t know how else to describe it. Tablet in one hand, a stylus in the other and a steaming mug on his desk, Walter put the last month in review as he sorted out the final details of their registration into the Invitational.

621 would do everything without complaint and without comment. If he was lacking in technique, he’d practise again and again until he had worked it out. Until he could repeat it in different scenarios and whatever conditions Walter asked for. Every word of admonishment, every harshly delivered reprimand, simply absorbed. In fact - Walter tapped his stylus on the desk - 621 didn't even react to what little praise Walter dished out either. 

There was no arrogance about it - 621 would just acknowledge it with a nod, before getting back to whatever it was they were working on. Nevermind an iceberg, this one was closer to a concrete wall. It’s hardly the first time that Walter has had to force a hound to take a break, but it’s the first time it’s happened so consistently with no external impetus. Maybe 621 could be an AC junkie–he certainly seemed familiar enough with them, but it felt like he could hardly look at them, when not inside the simulator. 

Walter put the tablet down, exchanging it for the records he had set to the side. Along with 621’s mugshot, there was also some badly formatted text, letters crammed into the solid black frames. As expected, it was sparse–less than what a fully legitimate agency would take. This was what you got when you needed to set your own terms with the pilots, without future meddling from the talent agencies though.

621 had graduated from high school before going straight into an apprenticeship and worked as an MT tester for a few months before an accident, the file said. That made sense. 621 had the tells of someone who’d done some real piloting before, and they largely matched someone accustomed to the safety requirements in a commercial MT. From watching him the last few weeks in the simulator’s cockpit, Walter would put his bet on a BAWS construction MT. Plenty of those around.

He flicked to the medical page. Extensive burns, a nasty concussion that led to the impairment of several senses, some of it temporary, some of it uncertain. These complications meant he couldn’t work with the machines anymore, so he’d floated around afterwards, doing odd jobs here and there before uprooting his entire life and moving to Institute City. Not an uncommon story either - one that Walter had seen time and again. 

All of his educational institutes had been redacted - tracks covered there. The apprenticeship…the garage he’d worked at was now defunct. Had been for a few years. A quick look showed that it had not been re-established either.

621’s scars looked too fresh.

Walter leaned back into his chair, leaving the printouts under the spotlight of his single lamp. If it were him…he’d have hoped that his future employer didn’t care where he came from. Just that he was a willing pilot that wouldn’t even need to ask ‘how high?’. Walter had taken this for granted as well; the quiet had been nice at first, after the rambunctious of a full kennel. Now, though, he missed the hounds that would talk about their lives by way of quip or quibble.

Hmm…hospital records might have something. Some of those scars looked no older than a year - two, if they were pushing it. Burns to this degree weren’t common, and if they hadn’t been treated at any official hospital…well, OVERSEER’s crawlers did not discriminate, and even the back-alley doctors were prone to using digital records these days.

Nothing for it; he sat up again, pulling up the OVERSEER command window and throwing every useful detail into the search field. Half of it, he guessed, would probably be fake. 621 was unfamiliar with this part of Institute City, but despite the profile placing him as a relatively new resident, he seemed to have more than a passing familiarity with how the city worked. 

Walter took a sip from his now-cold tea while the results compiled themselves. 

That…was the profile of the winner three seasons ago. Competitive name, Raven. Legal name, Raven Sinclair - which matched what was on 621’s profile. And see, Walter might have never seen their face - Raven had been like his hounds, competing with identity obscured - but Raven had only been a little shorter than him, while 621 barely reached his shoulders. 

He’d thought that the name was just a coincidence, but no. Now, it seemed like there was something…troublesome was involved.

BRANCH wasn’t the type to interfere with smaller organisations like this. Historically, their targets had been higher profile - places like the big corps and the government. They even had their tangential connections - OVERSEER operated in similar spheres – but because of that, it was unlikely they knew what Walter and OVERSEER had been working towards.

Walter drained the last of the tea and grimaced. The agents had not come with anyone else, and there was no time to put his own call out for another hound. Failing to show for their first year would, no doubt, put a black mark against him and his team, so there was no ‘another year’ to wait out. 

He put in a note to request surveillance upgrade to the simulator from Carla, additional monitoring for 621–

And in more ways than one, it seemed, if the camera in the training room wasn’t glitching. His hound had, apparently, decided to spend the night in the simulator, again, despite Walter ordering him to take a break. Grumbling, he got up from his comfortable chair, switching off the desk lamp on his way out.

(The small figure of Walter makes it into the camera’s view. It takes some time, but eventually, he coaxes a smaller figure out of the depths of the simulator. Together, they leave the room, and it darkens in the wake of them leaving, only the emergency light from the bulky simulator pulsing in the grainy darkness.)

[joshwylie]

Cluster Funk - Josh E Wylie - 9/23/23

[talos-stims]

turning a block of clear ice into a near-perfect sphere | source

[starlit-mansion]

it's kind of wild that jessie gender used the word transandrophobia in a youtube video. i've never seen that happen before. people gotchaing you know who for blatantly misgendering rebecca sugar and nate stevenson was the most callout of actual transmasc or afab transneutral erasure i've seen from the video essay space in memory, and even that was mostly just to pad out the callout post

[ross-hori]

Not a selfie

[chasingrainbowsforever]

~ Purple and Blue ~

[felixswarren]

Moment of Reflection (2022)

I have one of those Fushigi balls and I opened up Fresh Paint and drew what I saw when I held it.

Get it on stickers and pins here!

[lunatic-harness]

i will never not love combining magic with computer shit like. anways imagine you open an illegally copied grimoire and dancing letters fly out to spell “THE CIRCLE OF ZYRTEC PROUDLY PRESENTS: VIAGRA THE WISE’S BOOK OF NECROMANCY VOLUME 1″ while groovy music plays. also there’s some letters circling your head that say “SPECIAL THANKS TO HIGH WIZARD LEXAPRO... YOU ROCK!!!“

[fisherkings]

anyway i’m about 4 days out from relocation to my new city so consider this the official “i’m starting my PhD in the U.S. this fall” existential reckoning post. i am trying not to throw up or combust about it but the theme of life right now very much is “i’m scared” / “do it scared!”. and i’m also very very excited.

[thirtyskeletons]

once again 3 am spiraling in my childhood bedroom. there’s this girl on twitter that’s friends with someone i follow from college so hee posts tend to pop up every so often. and like 2 months ago hee boyfriend who was the love of her life was brutally stabbed and killed in front of her and he died in her arms. in the same city that i live in. waiting for the bus in brooklyn. and i do not know this person but from what i’ve seen from her posts and posts about her, they were really truly in love, and it just makes me so angry about the unfairness of the world. things like this make me feel like happiness is never fated to last, and all good things must end, and death and grief and tragedy will always win. it’s hard not to feel that way about the state of the world in general. i know i can’t let despair win and i have to keep fighting because nothing will get better if i don’t but it’s just so hard