#source: me and my superior intellect

[incorrect-sonic-the-hedgehog]

Fur

Sonic: *faceplanting in Shadow's chest fur*

Scourge: What the fuck

Sonic: *muffled* You just don't get it dude

Scourge: Clearly

*An undecided amount of time later*

Scourge: *faceplanting in Silver's chest fur*

Scourge: *muffled* Okay I get it now

Opal: Are you gonna get out of my son's fur-boobs?

Scourge: *muffled* Nope. I live here now.

Silver: Also please don't call it that

[lostyesterday]

I’ve been thinking about disabled protagonists in Star Trek recently, which got me thinking about Seven of Nine. It’s interesting because I’m almost certain the writers of Voyager did not intend to write a disabled character, but they ended up accidentally writing one anyway, and one whose arc I find surprisingly compelling as a disabled person myself. Seven is dependent on electronic devices both inside her body and external to it in order to survive and she requires regular medical treatment and specialized adaptations to her environment in order to function. She is absolutely canonically disabled (as are all the other ex-Borg in Star Trek), even if the writers probably weren’t aware of that. The major reason that I think Seven’s arc resonates with me so much is because it reflects a deep tension between independence and dependence that is a fundamental and complex part of so many disabled people’s lives.

To be disabled is to be deeply aware at all times of your own dependence on external things (such as wheelchairs, canes, medications, etc.) and other people. At the same time, to be disabled is to also be deeply aware of the societal standards of independence and self-sufficiency you are constantly failing to live up to. You cannot do things that people are “supposed” to be able to do independently. You need help for basic tasks, and you have no choice but to trust that these external supports you are dependent on will not suddenly disappear, causing you to be unable to participate in society at all. It’s difficult to express to someone who hasn’t experienced it how much being disabled forces someone to consider their own level of dependence and independence constantly, how it becomes a deep part of one’s identity and can often be a source of trauma.

Seven’s arc on Voyager is often focused on the nature of individuality, but it is interesting how often “individuality” becomes a stand-in for independence. Seven’s disability makes her deeply dependent on the crew and resources of Voyager for survival. She could theoretically leave and use her own skills to do maintenance on her implants and install an alcove somewhere to keep herself functioning, but it would be a great risk, and her safety would be constantly in doubt. At the same time, Seven hates this dependence. She tries to rely on other people as little as possible, hating her need for the Doctor to diagnose issues with her implants and refusing to ask for help until she has no other choice. She hates this dependence because she sees it as challenging her ability to become a complete “individual” who is able to make her own autonomous choices. She hates this dependence because it forces her to rely on other people who could at any time abandon her or abuse their power over her.

So it’s far less frightening to pretend this dependence doesn’t exist, to hide it even from herself. Seven’s arrogance in her own abilities, her focus on her intellect and vast knowledge and superior physical abilities are in many ways genuine, especially early on. But at what point does this confidence in her own abilities – this reassurance that she is smart enough and strong enough to control her own destiny and be a true individual – become a coping mechanism to deal with the reality of her dependence on objects and people outside of her direct control?

Seven is told often by members of the Voyager crew that being an individual who makes her own choices and decisions is what she should strive for. And at the same time, those same people often exert control over her, attempting to restrict her autonomy. Janeway or the Doctor tell her that they know better than her what her needs are – that being an individual only goes so far. Seven’s anger at this contradiction is one of my favorite parts of her character, partially because it captures a similar feeling of anger deep inside me when I think about the ways society constantly pressures disabled people to maintain standards of independence impossible to live up to while at the same time deeply restricting our autonomy and freedom.

In the episode “Imperfection”, Seven says that what she wants most is to be useful. To be useful is to be a valuable part of society – someone who is self-sufficient and talented and certainly not deeply dependent on other people for basic survival. To be disabled is to have society constantly demand that you be useful, that you be independent and strong and never let your disabilities limit you. And at the same time, to be disabled is to discover over and over that you can never be that fully autonomous, fully functional human being seen as ideal in society. No matter what you do – no matter how far you run from the truth – it’s an impossible reality to escape.

[ttkinnie]

Tormented by the thoughts of Kisaki's possible upbringing. Like you can't tell me a kid who dedicated his entire life to a girl who was kind to him for five seconds was not somewhat neglected. Bullying at school? Absent parents? Like they weren't even at the same school, they went to the same cram school!

From his bedroom, you can tell his family is pretty rich (tons of books and like three pc monitors at thirteen plus gaming console and a TV? Okay dude) so the parents spending all of their time at work is plausible.

Also him at like 11 being all superior thinking he's the smartest guy around= putting all of his value in his intellect -> parents that probably ask for the best results and nothing else?

And the fact that he's so alienated from the other kids even at cram school. There's gotta be some flavour of bullying in there, especially with how common it is in Japan plus with the timeline (the 80s and 90s being the worst in terms of bullying -I have a source for that lmaooo this my researcher bias).

Because I wonder what turned tiny shy Kisaki into a criminal in *checks notes* two years.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Hi,

my Timelord keeps boasting about his superior physical and mental abilities and calls me an ape (How can one reciprocate? He never mentions one of his less sentient ancestors, it's as if he never evolved from anything) when I throw him rubber bands (it's only to either quell his grandiose monologues or wake him up when he's unconscious and locked in a prison cell, promise).

Anyhow, I know you guys live longer, think harder and jump higher than us humans, but there must be something we can do better, right? Something positive, that is. Something I could possibly use to humble my companion a little

kind regards

- humanon

Is there anything Humans do better than Gallifreyans?

Gallifreyans are superior in all conceivable physical and mental ways, but humans are superior in two ways:

👶 Procreation and Survival

Firstly, humanity's incredible ability to multiply and survive through countless adversities is, admittedly, impressive. While Gallifreyans boast superior intellect, resilience, and longevity, humans have an almost baffling knack for enduring and thriving against all odds. This adaptability, while crude, has allowed humankind to last across the ages.

🤦Humans Are Stupid

That's not actually an insult - it's a compliment. Because humans are so stupid in comparison to Gallifreyans, it means that they aren't yet bored by the Universe and its intricacies. Did you ever wonder why some Time Lords take a human companion? It's like getting your new friend to watch your favourite TV show with you when they've never seen it before. You want to see if they laugh and cry in the right places, and how they'll react to that amazing plot twist.

Related:

Could a human become a Time Lord?: Quick look at how a human could become a Time Lord.

How does artron energy exposure affect humans?: Dangers and benefits of artron exposure for humans.

Factoids: What happens when a human spends a lot of time with a Time Lord?

Hope that helped! 😃

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[sionisjaune]

journalist lewis au (seb/lewis)

There's a new journalist in the press room. He raises his pen elegantly and waits for Tom Clarkson to call on him, and when it's his turn to speak, he announces his name but not who he's working for.

"For Sebastian," he says. "Are you aware that a one hour trip in a private jet accounts for two tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions? That's anywhere from five to fourteen times more pollution per passenger than flying commercial."

Seb is comfortable behind the drivers' podium, half-drunk on champagne and victory. He leans into the microphone.

"Ah, but you haven't seen my jet," he says. "There is free alcohol and if you ask nicely a very comfortable bed in the back."

"What's free if the cost is the air our children breathe?" the journalist says.

Seb fiddles with the damp collar of his racesuit. His skin is sticky underneath. He says, "I don't have children. Still in free practice." Everyone laughs.

-

"Who was that guy?" Seb jokes with Britta over dinner, a platter of pasta between them and the remains of a charcuterie board strewn to the side. He had a funny look--a torn-up denim jacket and a thick diamond stud in each ear, shoes that belong on a basketball court rather than the bland carpet in the press room.

Later, nearly passed out in his hotel room, Seb receives a link to a Wikipedia article from Britta.

Lewis Hamilton, twenty-six and hailing from Stevenage, a town Seb has never heard of, is a Pulitzer winning journalist.

Seb almost laughs, between the white walls of his hotel room. Journalism must really be dead if Hamilton is slumming it trackside. You can sell silly season rumours for petty cash, but there's nothing to bust wide open. If Hamilton is chasing a prize-winning story, he won't find it at a Grand Prix.

-

The next race, Hamilton is absent. Seb inquires about it later, and nobody knows because nobody cares. He takes the question to Britta, and she uses her superior intellect to furnish Seb with an answer. Lewis Hamilton has been banned from all Formula 1 media activities because he asks impertinent questions.

-

Hey. I got your number from a source I'd rather not reveal, but I was hoping you could help me get into the press conference Thursday.

A text from an unknown number floats to the top of Seb's notifications.

It's Lewis Hamilton by the way.

Seb texts back. Britta's going to have his balls.

I'll see what I can do.

-

It's years later. Domenicali hates Lewis, but Seb sneaks him into the paddock every weekend. Lewis wanders between the garages taking down names and politely requesting interviews.

Lewis is a deceptively vicious reporter. There's no off the record with him—his mind is a tape recorder, and he never forgets an incriminating detail.

Seb knows he’s working on something big. It’s terrifying.

-

They're in Seb's room, a glittery suite that overlooks the Marina Bay Ferris wheel, and Seb has to ask. He has to, because Lewis won't say anything, but he's been intimating that he has the kind of story that could raze the earth and topple grand, old institutions.

"If you love racing," Seb says, "then why do you attack it?" He doesn't say: I would give this rotten sport anything, no matter how morally compromising. He doesn't say: This is my life.

"Look at me," Lewis says. Seb does. Lewis is sitting on the edge of Seb's bed, and gentle, spidery crow's feet sprout from the corners of his eyes. "Do you think I ever had a shot to make it here? Did you know I was the fastest kid by a tenth at any track, and there wasn't a single manager who ever spoke to me and my dad?"

"It's hard," Seb says. "For myself, it was hard. If Michael hadn't championed me--"

"No," Lewis says, firmly. "I need you to understand that there wasn't a chance. Not for me, and not for the other kids like me, watching Senna race on TV and desperately wanting to be him. I'm doing this for those kids, Seb. You ever wonder why half the guys on the grid are so fucking accident-prone? It's because talent is only half of it. It's money and politics and brand recognition." Lewis is breathing hard. Seb drinks in the fervour bubbling out of Lewis like he's starving for it. "I'm going to tear this whole thing down and plaster the truth on every cover in New York."

Seb can't take it anymore. His body falls towards Lewis, and the kiss is messy, unplanned and unanticipated. Lewis pulls back wetly.

"That was inappropriate," Lewis says. He slides off the bed and collects his coat from the back of the chair. The braids that Lewis habitually tucks behind his ears have fallen forwards over his cheeks. He tucks them neatly again, and his hand hovers over the door handle.

"I thought you respected me more than that," Lewis says, all clipped English syllables. "Call my assistant if you have something I can use."

[nidhibhasin]

No! I wanted to keep writing about him, for him, of him, whatever it was I was doing. It wasn’t as much about him of course, it was more about me. I wanted to keep calling myself a poetess. Some woman who could use words or play with them and have people look up to her with admiration. To have that certain pair of brown eyes in an entire crowd look up at her with a special kind of want, desire, need.. love?

And if I am being honest, I am not even that good with words, my limited vocabulary and dull grammar deserve no admiration, I am more con than a poetess. I deserve nothing, I should be no source of anyone’s desire or love but only be despised and condemned.

On most days I’m so conflicted, there’s parts in me, the poet and the lover who tells me it’s all some magical thing, feelings and emotions and everything, this woman who believes love to be something away and greater and so much supreme than everything else, literally, everything else, as if a man and I could feel things for each other that would simply transcend all reality and defy a couple laws of nature, it’s comical, it’s stupidity, and I blame the books I’ve read and the movies I’ve watched as a teenager. Because there’s also an intellectual in me, the practical woman, who tells me it’s all just neurotransmitters. Love is nothing, it’s all just chemicals and how they play to fool me, I am a superior being uplifted by my intellect yet held back by my body that brings me down to nothing more than any animal crawling the surface of earth, and that makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to be “just another animal”, I want to be more, more, so much more!

But love is just this, as time passes, we face more of life, those people that appeared like “soulmates”, like they are made for each other, like there’s more to what’s between us than skin and bones and neurotransmitters, as if we were some divine beings, just fall apart like a house of cards to the winds of practical life.

The question stands, which one of these women should I believe?

Hahaha.. one thing is quite clear, I want to leave everything and run into someone’s arms. I want to leave everything and be banished forever from this cheap play of reality and dreams and beliefs and bullshit.

I should be banished. I must be banished!

-Nidhi Bhasin, 22 October 2023

[owl-with-a-pen]

Hey! I don't know if you're still writing Briania fics or accepting prompts for them, but if by chance you are, I've been thinking about the Naltorian mannerisms I've sent in before, specifically The Stare, and thought it would be really interesting to read about The Stare in action and Nia possibly unintentionally saving Brainy's or their friends' lives through her staring alerting them to danger before anyone has consciously noticed it.

I'd be really interested to see where you take this concept if you decide to pick it up! Your Brainia fics have always been my favorite and discussing the mannerism headcanons with you is always a delight.

Thank you so much! And also, thank you for always fuelling me with so many amazing headcanons for Naltorian mannerisms, they're all absolutely golden! I cooked up something special just for you for The Stare, a little fic about the first time Nia ever uses it. I hope you enjoy and thank you once again, it's always a joy to see your asks in my inbox! 😊

There were many trivial matters that often delayed a mission. Brainy was no stranger to this – indeed, it was an expected part of the job to gather as much data as possible before going into the field, to map out reconnaissance locations, locate blueprints of buildings that may necessitate the element of surprise.

Early into his career at the DEO, he had often forgone Alex’s judgement on mission briefings, preferring instead to jump right into the fray with a plan he had simulated long before anyone had given him an instruction to do so. It hadn’t been a concern of his to follow correct procedure at the time – obviously his own intellect had reigned superior over any official orders he had been expected to follow by far primitive minds.

He knew better now, of course. Even if sometimes that urge was still present, he had learned to quell it, to listen to his orders however unreasonable they may have seemed at first. Because, while not always the plan he had in mind, he could not deny that he worked with some incredibly efficient strategists.

While not quite an official DEO mission, it was still being presided over by Alex, and her instructions had been clear. At the moment, they were dealing with an incredibly delicate hostage situation. Little was known about the hostages in question, only that they were alien and being targeted by what Alex believed to be a separate faction of the same species. Regrettably, Brainy had no knowledge he could provide on the subject. This species was not known to him nor the Legion archive, though they appeared to be technologically advanced compared to Earth-standard equipment by some centuries, proving this for the most part by the proficiency of their weaponry.

It was these high-grade firearms in particular that gave the species such a unique energy signature to look out for. Without it, Brainy wasn’t sure they would have ever been able to locate the site where the kidnapped aliens were being held.

He and Nia had been sent ahead to the scene – a derelict warehouse at the edge of the city – to keep watch from ground level while Alex and J’onn worked on mapping the building using their own internal sources closer to home. The warehouse was old, lead-lined, which had given Kara little insight on what might have been going on inside. She was currently somewhere high above, offering an aerial perspective around the building’s circumference. Brainy caught sight of her cape on occasion, a red smear against an otherwise unremarkable cloudy day.

Since arriving at their vantage point behind a cluster of rocks nearest to the building’s south-facing entrance, Brainy had been focusing most of his concentration on the information he’d stored to his tablet, pulling data from Alex’s research and offering his own expertise on leads she’d been marking out in real time without needing to be physically present himself.  The distance was certainly more of a strain than he was used to, but he enjoyed the challenge. At least it kept several of his thought tracks busy while they avidly waited for their next instruction.

Albeit, he had to admit that he had reserved several more for Nia.

Despite her best efforts, Nia Nal had yet to learn from Brainy’s old mistakes. She revelled in the action that came with a physical fight, but often struggled with the slower strides that came before it. It was about now that she would have normally given up trying to sit still and meditate on her visions, instead throwing herself into physical exertion such as fidgeting or pacing to kill the time.

But no dust was being kicked up in her steed, because Nia Nal was still perched on the rock closest to Brainy, disquietly reticent as she stared into her lap. She hadn’t spoken since they’d arrived, not even to lean over his shoulder and offer her input on his research as he so often enjoyed. They could bounce ideas between each other endlessly when left to their own devices, filling the space between action with easy conversation. Today, however, Nia was suspiciously inactive.  

Brainy’s hand stilled halfway across his tablet, glancing up to Nia with hesitant concern. After a quick external review, he could conclude that there was nothing wrong with her physically. She wasn’t sick or injured, or even just bored. There was something else, a faraway look in her eye that may have alluded a dream state if it wasn’t for the frustrated furrow in her brow, deepening the crease across her nose. A twitch curved the corner of Nia’s lip as she blinked suddenly, rubbing irritably at her face.

“Hey,” Brainy said softly. He discarded the tablet swiftly, reaching out for her knee instead. “You okay?”

Nia sagged forward just as Brainy’s hand made contact with her leg. She cupped her chin in her hands, shaking her head. “I’m not sure, actually,” she admitted, her voice muffled between her fingers. “I feel kinda woozy. It’s hard to explain.”

Brainy squeezed her knee. “You can tell me.”

Nia nearly smiled at that, and Brainy felt the urge to smile along with her. She sobered quickly, her eyes travelling elsewhere again. “I guess it’s… it’s like a vision wants to happen, but it won’t. It’s just making me feel really out of it.”

Any pockets of thought previously delegated to background tasks promptly turned their attention to Nia’s plight. Brainy eyed her worriedly. “Will you be alright to do this?”

Nia’s hands clenched suddenly in her lap. “I have to.”

Brainy straightened at once at Nia’s tone, his concern for her shifting instead to understanding. He hadn’t heard that tone of voice often, but enough to know that, when he did, it was something well beyond the realms of the waking world compelling Nia to speak her certainty. Her words may as well have been a prophecy in their own right, and Brainy knew it was imperative that he heed them justly.

Brainy put more effort into conversation after that, hoping to lessen some of Nia’s burden. If she was failing to make progress connecting with her gift for any reason, then he at least hoped he could provide her with a worthy distraction.

It appeared to work for a time. Nia soon began to relax into the safety net of their easy back-and-forth, edging closer to his side enough that their legs brushed together. She even managed to snatch his tablet from him when he wasn’t looking, scrolling through Alex’s notes when she started to itch for something to fiddle with. They huddled together after that, studying the notes as one, although Brainy could tell that the fog was still plaguing her. Even so, her resilience was – as always - unparalleled. To an untrained eye, nothing may have appeared wrong at all.

But Brainy knew Nia better than he knew himself, and the weight that she carried was not an easy one to disguise.

Eventually, the call came through to their comms. Alex had determined the layout of the warehouse and, subsequently, the most probable location for where the hostages were being held inside. With Brainy and Nia’s help, they’d additionally simulated likely vantage points the aliens would make use of with their weaponry, using range and distance as a primary factor. It may not have been quite as in-depth as a full x-ray of the building, but it was enough to make their entrance known.

Kara was called in to enter from one of the windows on the north side of the building. With Nia and Brainy covering the south side, they could meet in the middle and join forces from there.

Brainy maintained a thought track for Nia’s movements the second they headed for the entrance - a half raised shutter that needed some force to pry all the way open. She was his partner in more than one sense of the word, he hardly needed to think at all to know where she was. And yet, as he and Nia ducked beneath the shutter together, Brainy couldn’t keep a bubble of worry from lodging in his throat. If Nia’s precognition was in any way compromised right now, her usual fighting technique would shift to accommodate for that loss. This wouldn’t make her any less capable, but he’d need to make several adjustments to his own stance to match hers.

It was only moments later that he realised he needn’t have worried.

Nia’s physical prowess with her powers outshone any limitations she may have faced without her visions. While she used her lasso to pull the weapons from the arms of the alien captors running towards them from the centre of the building, Brainy flew ahead to the metal beam holding up part of the grated ceiling where three aliens were attempting to spray their fire. Their surprise slowed their reaction timing just enough that Brainy was able to disarm two of them immediately, deflecting the third’s weapon with a raised forearm before it could discharge against his chest. Enabling his strength enhancement to warp the barrel of the gun, Brainy threw what remained aside, using his free hand to twist the alien’s arm towards him, forcing them to their knees.

Beneath him, Nia had knocked out the last of the primary guards who had been waiting for them, the glow of her hands a rival to his own life projectors in the low light.

They continued on as a unit after that, though Brainy kept a half step behind Nia as they moved deeper into the building, adamant to have her in his line of sight at all times. Whether Nia noticed, she didn’t say, but soon they were far too consumed with the next wave of alien guards to give it any acknowledgement.

By the time Kara had joined the fray, they’d left a tangle of unconscious forms in their wake from one side of the warehouse to the other. Brainy made a private note for later to retrieve some of the weapons for further study. He was sure Lena would be first in line to try and dissect such unique technology, especially ones with such an unusual signature.

“Alex said it was right up here,” Kara said, falling naturally into the lead of the impromptu line they’d formed.

“Awesome,” Nia said, the lack of enthusiasm in her voice not quite as subtle as she likely thought.

Brainy waited a nano-second for Nia to follow along before he moved up behind her, holding her in his periphery even as his eyes began to wander, logging everything he saw for later recall.

The warehouse was a vast series of large, empty rooms, long-since cleared out of any distinct features or machinery that may have marked it for a certain purpose. Perfect then, he concluded, to reconfigure into the optimum holding cell.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he heard it. Something up ahead – a tinny, high-pitched hum that wrought havoc with his heightened senses. He hissed, cupping a hand over his ear at the same time as Kara.

“What is it?” Nia asked.

“What indeed,” Brainy muttered through his teeth, eyeing the space ahead of them carefully. “Kara? Can you see anything?”

Kara squinted. “There’s… there’s something up ahead. Movement.” Her eyes widened suddenly. “People.”

“The hostages,” Brainy and Nia said together, catching each other’s eye. Another smirk quirked the edges of Nia’s lips and she nodded at him, falling into a jog as he quickly caught up to her side.

They didn’t need to travel far to find the source of the sound. Just as Alex had predicted, the heart of the warehouse was exactly where they had needed to go.

Encased in a bubble at the centre of the room were a group of terrified aliens. They varied in age, though Brainy could see at their youngest a few that could have been teenagers amongst the group. This variant of the species had a pattern of brightly coloured pink spots that dusted the edges of their jaw and throat, matching in both vibrancy and shade to their large, glowing eyes. The spots on the guards Brainy had knocked down had all been orange, their eyes just the same. Aside from that, there were very little physiological differences between the two factions.

The energy bubble was mostly transparent aside from a sickly yellowish hue that softened the outlines of the captives inside. Brainy frowned, watching small refractions of light roll across the bubble like a wave, travelling further and further until they slipped suddenly out of sight behind a large metal disk clamped tightly to the ground.

There were three further identical disks fitted to the base of the bubble along the entire outer edge, perfectly equidistant from one another.

They were also, unquestionably, the largest source of energy output from anything within the entire building.

“That’s what was giving off the energy signature,” Brainy realised out loud. “Not the weapons… but this. Sprock, I should’ve known.”

“No one could have,” Nia said immediately. “Brainy, you couldn’t have accounted for everything, not when we hardly knew anything to begin with.”

“Even so,” Brainy muttered in distaste, studying the disks with analytical interest. He took a step forward, only holding himself back when he ran the risk of crossing past Nia. He bit his lip. “This shield, it’s quite impressive. Look.” He pointed the disks out one by one. “It’s being projected from multiple locations, but each one with enough power to create a bubble in of itself. It’s multi-layered, four times over. If we can deactivate them all, we should be able to disperse the force field.”

The aliens on the other side didn’t seem to hear him, but some of the younger ones had been watching his mouth move. They shouted words back at him, but Brainy was unable to read their lips  in return. He wasn’t sure they were speaking a language he recognised at all. He turned to Kara curiously. “Can you--?”

She shook her head. “Not a peep. It’s completely soundproof.”

“Then it’s best we get to work as soon as possible,” Brainy said. He motioned for Kara to head towards the furthest disk, waiting for Nia to do the same before he followed up behind her.

Except, Nia didn’t move.

“Nia?” Brainy prompted.

Again, Nia didn’t respond.

Hesitantly, Brainy came closer, waiting for any sign of acknowledgement from his girlfriend.

None came. It was as though she’d been frozen in place, her arms stiff and unmoving at her sides, one foot held firmly in front of the other, caught and grounded mid-step. She was staring out at something, Brainy realised, but nothing he could see for himself.

Something was wrong.

Brainy knew Nia’s vision stance - how it looked, how it felt to see it happen so suddenly from an outsider’s perspective and this… this wasn’t it. Nia wasn’t beyond her second sight, traversing the unconscious realm. Instead, she was fully planted in the moment, an alertness bright behind her eyes, extending her senses outward, far past the capabilities of the human mind, firing neurons at sure-fire speed.

Whether Nia knew it or not, something was holding her in place – guiding her, maybe, or perhaps…

It was only then that Brainy realised what he was looking at.

“Stop!” the word was out of his mouth before his mind had finished calculating the outcome. He threw his hand out towards Kara. “Don’t take a step further!”

Kara stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide with confusion. “But you literally just said—”

“I know what I said, and I was wrong. It’s a trap.”

“What?”

Brainy wasn’t sure how, wasn’t even sure why, but he knew it. As surely as Nia did. The look in her eyes could only mean one thing.

He turned back towards the force field, capturing the aliens behind it in a new light. Their mouths had turned ugly; fine, pin-prick teeth bared at them all as they spat vulgar words in a language he was somewhat grateful he couldn’t translate.

It appeared the so-called hostages were hostages no longer.

It still didn’t make sense. Why would they even be there at all if only to lure them to this spot? What did they know that he didn’t?

Oh.

Brainy saw the metal disks with fresh eyes, identifying them for what they were behind their non-descript cone sized shells. The high pitched humming hadn’t been coming from the force field, it was coming from within the disks, not as an extension of the energy it outputted, but rather hiding the characteristics of what lay inside.

The energy signature they’d been tracking this whole time had been…

“They’re bombs,” Brainy realised.

He only had one thought left - the only one that mattered. He surged forward as quickly as he could, grabbing Nia’s unresponsive arm and dragging her with enough force to spur a lethargic stagger from her frozen legs. “We need to go. Now.”

Nia was too stiff to move with any real speed and with time of the essence, Brainy didn’t have the luxury of waiting to see if she’d snap out of it naturally. Instead, he scooped her up into his arms, ignoring the alien rigidity of her body as he tucked her head beneath his chin. He shifted her into a more comfortable position, ascertaining he had a secure grip before locking eyes with Kara.

Thankfully, she understood immediately. With a single nod of acknowledgment, they took off together.

Just in time as well, because the moment Brainy launched from the ground, a piercing crack roared out from the force field behind him. He could smell the distinct snap and sizzle of something metallic singe the air before an explosion ruptured behind him, all but propelling he and Nia forward, hot air scorching across the back of his suit as the blast rung sharply in his ears.

They tumbled from the window Kara had first used to enter with little grace, spilling out across the sand and dirt, rolling over one and another as the once-warehouse behind them bent and warped beneath its own weight, creaking and groaning as the old metal failed to contain itself, collapsing inward as the scream of the explosion settled somewhere at its heart, sending shockwaves through the sand.

Brainy’s chest heaved sporadically as he pushed himself from Nia the moment they were grounded, brushing her hair back fiercely. He’d managed to shield her from the brunt of the explosion, protecting her from the collision with the ground with his own body as armour, and even still he feared the worst.

He cupped her face desperately, a sob of sheer relief catching in his throat when he heard her heartbeat, as resilient as ever, beyond the ringing of his own ears.

“Nia,” he said, trying to still the tremor in his voice. “Nia Nal, can you hear me?”

Dust and soot were smeared across Nia’s face, shadowing her eyes. Her lashes fluttered hard at the sound of his voice, trying desperately to breach the surface of her own consciousness. She groaned softly, reaching her hand out, brushing the tips of her fingers over Brainy’s face. They still felt electric with her energy, a jolt of static that caused an incomprehensible laugh to bubble from Brainy’s chest.

“What happened?” Nia croaked out. She cringed, trying to hold her eyes open.

Brainy only laughed harder at that, ducking his head towards her throat, closing his eyes to subdue the burn that followed.

“Uh, Nia,” Kara answered in Brainy’s steed, brushing her suit down as she stared up in awe at what little that remained of the warehouse. “I think you just saved our lives.”

“Cool… cool, totally meant to do that.” Nia’s chest jerked a little beneath Brainy’s chin as she coughed, clearing her throat with strained effort. “Uh… how did I do that?”

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

Nia hardly remembered the journey back to the Tower.

She’d flown with Brainy, letting him cradle her close to his chest, protecting her from the high-speed gale that had threatened her hair and face at such an altitude.

It wasn’t usually as cold when they flew together, but she supposed they’d never needed to travel this far at such a strict pace before. Maybe that’s why she didn’t remember much - the whole trip barely felt like seconds.

She was still a little out of it an hour later. By then, she, Brainy and Kara had crowded down in the Tower’s cramped lab space, laying out pieces of debris that they’d managed to salvage from the site of the explosion.

She really wasn’t sure what had happened, exactly. One second, she’d been listening to Brainy explain the purpose for those weird disk things on the ground… then everything sort of stopped. She remembered that woozy feeling from before creeping back up on her, fogging up her head. Then, something had triggered deep inside of her, like an alarm only she could hear. It hadn’t made any noise, though. Instead, it had instilled a sense of foreboding so strong that she’d locked into place. Like a flash frozen statue right out of the Fortress.

Everything else came up blank after that – at least until she’d awoken in the sand with Brainy’s wide, panic-stricken eyes staring down at her.

She rolled her shoulder experimentally. Yup. Still no pain. Brainy had taken the brunt of the hit when they’d fled the explosion, and even though the nano fibres in his suit were already repairing some of the damage, there was still a nasty singe mark across his back, corroding the fine ends of his golden hair to charcoal. He didn’t seem to be in any pain, at least. The last thing she’d wanted was to get him hurt because of her. Because of yet another power that she seemed to have zero control over…

It was strange, she’d never felt anything like it before. At least, never that strong. She’d frozen in the past, even lost time, but she’d always attributed it to her visions messing her up.

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

“I still don’t understand,” Kara was saying, drawing Nia unwillingly back into the room. She’d been pacing up and down the lab as Brainy worked, worrying her lip so hard that Nia thought Kryptonian levels of friction burn was about to tear it off. “Was this just one big ruse?” She laughed darkly. “Were there even any hostages to begin with?”

“Hostages to the cause, maybe,” Brainy conceded, glancing up from the scattered shrapnel that littered his workbench. “Everyone involved in this ruse believed in what they were doing. It seems whatever differences these factions had, they had one thing in common.” He eyed her warily. “A severe distaste for all things Super Friend.”

“Us?” Kara asked, snorting her indignation. “And they were willing to sacrifice themselves for this?”

“Not exactly.” Brainy straightened. “In fact, I don’t believe they were ever in any danger at all.” He moved his hand swiftly, tossing something out to her. “They left with one of these.”

Kara caught it immediately, her hand blurring around the projectile. She stared at it in confusion.

Nia looked too. It was extremely battered, whatever it was, and very much exploded, but it looked like it might have been some sort of bracelet in its heyday.

Nia slipped from her stool curiously, lifting her head. “What is it?” she asked.

Brainy turned to her with a small smile, privately pleased that she’d joined in with the conversation. He folded his arms over his chest. “Crude portal technology,” he explained. “Less refined than Lena’s watch design, but just as effective. They must have left just before the explosion. There’s more.” He pressed a finger to his temple suddenly, his eyes scanning unseen information from left to right. He stiffened, turning to Kara gravely. “I’ve just received results in from the scan the DEO are running of the explosion site,” he said. “When those devices detonated, they released thousands of splintered shards of Kryptonite from each shell.” He blinked out from the details he’d been presented with, holding his fist loosely to his chest. “If even a piece had pierced your skin during the explosion…”

“I would have been just as vulnerable to the building’s collapse,” Kara realised. She stumbled to a halt. “If we’d been caught in that, we really never would have made it out.” She stared at Nia, dumfounded. “How did you know?”

Nia cringed. “I… didn’t,” she said, frowning. “I mean, I guess I did? Sometimes I just get a bad vibe about something and I lock up. It’s never felt like this before, though. I don’t even remember doing this, to be totally honest.”

“A latent effect of Naltorian precognition,” Brainy mused, a mark of appraisal in his eye. “The more at one a Naltorian becomes with their powers, the more naturally they interact with fragments of the future.”

Nia smirked, tipping her head gratefully towards her boyfriend. “What he said. It sounds cooler.”

Brainy’s expression softened as he walked towards her, twisting his ring finger contemplatively. “What you did today saved all of us,” he said, running his hand up her arm the moment he was within reaching distance. “Thank you.”

Nia’s face warmed, leaning into his touch appreciatively. “Any time.”

Kara, unsubtle as ever, cleared her throat loudly, clapping her hands together. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll go give the bad news to Alex, then,” she announced, backing towards the open arch. “If those aliens are still out there, there’s no telling what they’ll do next to get our attention.”

Brainy, clueless as ever, raised a brow in question. “That isn’t necessary, I can relay the information directly to her. I can do it now—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it,” Kara said hurriedly, already halfway across the training room. She threw a wink over her shoulder. “Some things are better delivered in person!”

Brainy watched her go, utterly perplexed. “I suppose that’s true…”

Nia bit her cheek, bumping his arm with her shoulder. “I think she just wanted to give us some time, y’know, alone…”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

Brainy leaned in a little closer at that indication, his dark eyes flickering across her face with barely disguised concern, searching for any inconsistences. Nia was pretty sure he’d find some; after all, she was still rattled from everything that had happened. At least the weird daze she’d been walking around in was starting to lift, like whatever she’d done back at the warehouse had knocked the consciousness right back into her.

More importantly, it looked a whole lot like Brainy knew that, too.

Nia squinted at him suspiciously. “So,” she said, drawing out the word just long enough to make him uncomfortable, “how long have you known I could do this?”

Brainy’s hand stilled across her shoulder, his eyes skirting to hers a little unwillingly. He scoffed unconvincingly, suddenly finding the circumference of his ring much more appealing than checking her over for an underlying concussion. “I didn’t know,” he said, glancing away. “Not with a one hundred per cent certainty, at least.”

Nia laughed, jabbing his chest. “I knew it,” she cried. “How? No, no, wait, lemme guess; the future, right?”

Brainy’s jaw hardened in defeat. “It is true that Nura did display a similar ability back in the Legion.” He pointedly ignored her as she continued to prod at his suit smugly. “Naltorian abilities can develop very differently dependant on the element they inherit. You have already become so well adept with your abilities, there had always been a chance that this particular power might never manifest.”

“But now it has,” Nia said. She loosened her hand against Brainy’s front, searching out the heat of his closest life projector. She smiled when Brainy blushed in kind, winding his hand around hers. Not to deter her, but to guide her.

Nia blinked away from the trance-like state of that soft, enticing glow. “Wait. Is this power going to get me in trouble?” She looked up at her boyfriend seriously. “Like… what if Cat’s in a really bad mood one day and I just freeze up right in front of her?” Her face fell abjectly. “She’d never take me seriously again!”

 Brainy’s lips twitched fondly. “Although I don’t dispute that Cat’s moods are a force to be reckoned with, I wouldn’t expect this power to manifest again unless you were in a true life or death situation.”

“You never know with Cat Grant,” Nia said gravely.

She and Brainy shuddered at the same time, but there was a playful affection in Brainy’s eyes.

She kept trailing her fingers around his life projectors for a time, content to idle while he finished checking her over for any possible side effects or injuries that might have been overlooked. She didn’t think he had to worry. In fact, since they’d started talking, she was really starting to get her energy back.

“So tell me,” she said with a grin. “This power. Does it have a name in the future?”

Brainy smiled privately, like he was in on a joke that she didn’t know. “Officially no, however Nura did pen a name for it.” He leaned in close, as though to share an important secret. “She called it The Stare.”

Nia snorted, holding her mouth closed. She hummed thoughtfully, drumming her fingers across her lips. “The Stare, huh? Simple, but intense. I kinda like it.”

“I thought you might.”

Impulsively, Nia’s eyes lit up and she quickly pecked Brainy on the cheek. A further blush deepened the green in his complexion.  Nia grinned. “Thank you,” she said in explanation. “For getting me out of there today. Sensing danger’s not worth anything if you can’t even respond to it.”

“You will learn in time to become more conscious of it,” Brainy promised. He took her hand again, squeezing it tightly. Nia squeezed back, ducking her head towards his, closing her eyes. A crackle of dream energy rolled over her knuckles, enveloping their clasped hands in blue flame. “But, as always,” he told her gently, “I will have your back, Nia Nal.”

Nia opened her eyes, her smile fading from her lips. “Wait. This means more training, doesn’t it?”

Brainy didn’t need to say a word, she could see the humour in his eyes already.

“Nooo,” Nia groaned, tipping her chin towards the ceiling. “Promise me we’re not doing 5am starts again, okay? No amount of coffee or breakfast burritos will ever make me okay with 5am starts. Dreamer needs her sleep!”

Brainy nodded innocently, bumping his forehead against hers. “Duly noted.”

Nia only scowled, though she still found herself leaning into his touch reflexively. "That wasn't a promise, Brainy!"

[alexsiple]

I just read through In Terms of Rain and I found it exceedingly beautiful in illustration AND writing (tf how do you do that). It really captured what I like in a lot of Death Note fan creations, which is some abstractness and ideas left up for interpretation. That being said, I would really love some insight and analysis on your end of certain choices you made while creating it. Just any meanings from certain pages or your general thoughts would be incredible for my plebeian mind <3

ohhhh anon thank you so much. this is so kind of you- thank you for reading it and enjoying it. and thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk at length about this thing i've made HAHAHAHA i'm rubbing my hands together like a little creature (i'm putting this under a cut)

listen i think about death note too much. like, too much for what it is. it's one of my favorite things ever but i'm hyper-aware of its flaws. that said, i think a lot about L and light and how the creators managed to make this really crazy story about being known and what we hide from others. it's so romantically tragic to me. it's so romantically violent to me. i wrote about this more on my substack but i'll keep going with some more specific death-note-lore sort of analysis (i guess i'm a person who links their substack unprompted. great).

L is like, one of my favorite characters of all time? i read a lot of death note fanfiction (i know ok) and my favorite hobby is analyzing people's interpretations of him. literally a year or so ago i was reading so much fanfic and it was kind of rotting my brain and i had this sudden wave of inspiration/wrote the whole script of this comic in one sitting. i kept starting this comic since then and the visual style never felt right until i managed to land on this one.

L makes me very sad. i both relate to him and watch him from afar as an omniscient observer. i wanted to capture all these feelings he gives me at once; it's a really L-centric comic. the tragedy of living a life in so much isolation. the tragedy of living life not exactly for beliefs or morals or justice, really, but because it's your job, and all you have, and you're good at it, so you do it. whatever. shrug, shrug. you do it. if you die, you die. apparently i also for some reason fixated on the thing about L being adopted by wammy and being raised to be this child prodigy. a gifted kid narrative, etc. that makes me sad. i think L and light have this parallel going on where they both feel misunderstood by most people because of their own making, maybe, but also because of how they were raised and because of their ""intellect"" and their superiority complexes. light's complex coming more from privilege, of course, and being more analyzed in the source material. both of them jaded by and cynical of the world and its extreme violence.

i wanted to hone in on that loneliness. L and light are very lonely characters. they are very internal and thoughtful and weird and express this in opposite ways (but they're the same! of course!) hm. i like thinking that L was raised in a church. dropped off in that movie-orphan way as a baby during a snowstorm or something. how did wammy find him at eight years old and adopt him like that. what does a child have to see and do to become a "detective prodigy" at age eight. canonically, the whole wammy's house thing is fucked up. canonically, L is the first and best. what does a child have to see and do to become the First and Best. does intelligence make a child more mature, more able to "handle" anything thrown in their line of view? some people seem to think so. i think it's creating a sort of ghost that haunts you when you're old enough to look back and see it behind you.

also i wanted to explore religious [catholic] imagery. albeit in a more earnest way than the source material but yeah- i imagine L grew up around catholicism. wammy's house with its big cross on it! i think sometimes when you've been lonely for a long time, or your whole life, and you have never felt truly seen, there's this euphoria that arrives with the person who finally Sees you. you know? sometimes that feels like religion. sometimes being known feels holy. sometimes it feels like being loved. shrug, shrug. sometimes it feels like dying.

i've always really loved that L likes that light could be kira. is. i think it's so insane and endearing and personal to me. light hates that L knows him, has never been known before, translates this feeling into violence. L is like, i get this guy completely, he's a mirror, but somehow he's like no one else i've met before and it's still exciting! i'm laughing at him (i'm crying.) i like that light hides all strong emotions deep within and that L occasionally releases strong emotions with, like, a detached acceptance. he's not exactly afraid to be vulnerable but more picks and chooses what to let people see. plays off of something real, sometimes. is willing to play a character for fun. light just doesn't show anything real at all. is very uncomfortable with any vulnerability. is also very afraid of death. in some ways i feel that L seems to halfway accept his death. he's like, yeah, i'm dying now. this is where my life has led me. i lost but it's out of my control anyway. with in terms of rain i wanted it to feel like this foggy reflection on a life from a ghost, i guess? hence all the references to specific years or cases/the opening part. lol. won't explain the one hundred years of solitude reference but i feel as if the stars aligned with that one.

hopefully this is interesting to SOMEONE? LMAO?

and as for certain pages, the only ones i think i want to point out are these two, which are references to B and A respectively because i actually love the los angeles bb murder case novel with like. a fervor. even though i don't think it's actually good but i also think they really nail something with it. i just think about beyond birthday a lot. ugh. DEATH NOTE. I USED TO LAUGH AT BEYOND BIRTHDAY AND NOW IT'S SERIOUS TO ME

thx bye.

[diary-of-dr-eggman]

AI Prompt: Write an entry in Dr. Eggman’s diary about the GUN Commander.

Dear diary,

I had the most amusing encounter with the GUN Commander today. As usual, he was blabbering on about some plan to take me down, but then he started bragging about his personal training regimen. I couldn't help but laugh as he flexed his puny biceps and boasted about his "peak physical condition."

I mean, really, who does this guy think he is? I have entire armies of badniks at my disposal, not to mention my own superior intellect. But he's convinced that his measly muscles are enough to stop me.

I decided to play along with his little game and challenged him to an arm-wrestling match. Of course, I rigged it so that he didn't stand a chance. The look on his face when he lost was priceless. He was so embarrassed that he stormed out of my lair without saying another word.

Honestly, sometimes I think these GUN operatives are more trouble than they're worth. But then again, they do provide a good source of entertainment.

Until next time,

Dr. Eggman

[businesscatfelix]

i got one hour of sleep and spend about 8 hours on call today for ena’s stream but it was really fun and i’m glad we got to hang and talk about ben ten. i’m a ben ten novice but not a complete stranger to the series so it was fun to revisit the series and give my opinion on the designs and various arcs and plot points.

one of the things i felt was that the rules for the various alien forms contradicted each other often and that it was confusing to me watching as a kid and it still confuses me now. i don’t really understand how the superior intellect he gets as grey matter works because he seems to retain his human child thought patterns and personality in most of his other forms, but in forms like wildmutt he’s completely nonverbal, it’s a source of confusion for me….

my favourite series we touched on was alien force, as it was the one i remembered the best. i felt like the writing was best in that series even if the animation was better in other series. i really enjoyed the magical girl style transformations in ultimate alien, and some of the episodes and arcs were SO good, but it felt overall a bit disjointed for me and harder to follow than previous series.

excited to discuss omniverse as that was my favourite series when watching the whole property back when i was sick. ^___^

[steadybelieverpersona]

Ch.55: Wishes

Yae Miko: Why hello... if it isn't the triumphant Aether and Y/n. And why might you be visiting the Shrine? A sign of piety, perhaps?

Paimon: You literally told us to come meet you here!

Yae Miko: Haha... I was just joking. I've been waiting for you.

Paimon: Seems like someone's in a pretty good mood.

Yae Miko: Mm-hmm. Catching up with an old friend I hadn't seen in years was truly delightful. By the way... I heard that you both had a duel before the throne, with a Fatui Harbinger no less. Courageous and astute — I must say, I am most impressed.

Aether: It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We don't know what came over me and Y/n.

Yae Miko: Defeating Signora head-on in a duel means that both your strengths exceed my expectations. Still, you both did end up victorious. I guess congratulations are in order.

Paimon: Ah, it sure feels good to finally thwart a Fatui plan for once. They caused plenty of trouble along the way, but at the very least, they didn't get their hands on another Gnosis!

Yae Miko: Wait a second... did you say "Gnosis"? As in, the little thing that looks something like a chess piece?

Paimon: Yep, that's the one! You've seen one, too? Gnoses belong to The Seven — they're what keep them connected to Celestia!

Yae Miko: Oh...

Y/n: What's wrong?

Yae Miko: I handed that over.

Aether: Hmm?

Paimon: ...You did what now?

Yae Miko: Well... how else was I supposed to save your skins from The Balladeer, exactly?

Y/n: The Gnosis is long gone, then.

Yae Miko: The Balladeer is No. 6 of the Fatui Harbingers. In terms of strength, he is superior to Signora. I'm not the kind of person who risks life and limb for any old reason.

Paimon: *stammers* For once, Paimon just does not know what to say.

Aether: But why was the Gnosis in your hands?

Yae Miko: After Ei created her puppet vessel, she no longer had anywhere to put it. As her erstwhile closest friend... Ei handed it over to me, and I've kept it in the Grand Narukami Shrine ever since. She no longer needs the power of the Gnosis, and in any case, she tells me she has severed ties with Celestia. Thus, the Gnosis became not only useless but also a potential source of conflict. Is that not a good bargain, exchanging it for the one at the core of the plan? Judging by the results, at least, I daresay I struck a good deal. Hehehe.

Paimon: When you put it like that, Paimon has to agree... Aether and Y/n are worth more than a Gnosis...

Y/n: No wonder we haven't seen The Balladeer since.

Paimon: *sigh* Well, what's done is done, and Paimon hardly thinks we'll be getting it back now. Let's leave the past in the past. Um, so anyway, you still haven't told us why you called us here today.

Yae Miko: Hehehe. It's to thank you.

Paimon: Really!?

Yae Miko: You intend to travel all over Teyvat, and the time has come for the Inazuma leg of your trip to come to an end. Has it not? As a mark of my gratitude, I will answer any questions you may have about the road ahead or the events of the past. What would you like to know about?

Y/n: About the Shogun puppet...

Yae Miko: That puppet was built with technology that has been lost to time. Perhaps she, as a god, is the only one privy to the knowledge of its origins... Still... there is one other thing on this topic that I suspect you may be curious to know. Before Ei began modifying her own godly form, she took it upon herself to create a prototype puppet...

Paimon: So... you mean there are three Raiden Shoguns!?

Yae Miko: No, the prototype was merely a proof of concept. Its appearance and intellect were not based on Ei. It was a test. The original plan was for Ei to simply discard it. But perhaps Ei thought this to be too cruel because, in the end, she chose only to seal the power within it. Later, this puppet wandered Inazuma as an ordinary human male with his own consciousness until... the Fatui took an interest in him.

Paimon: Ugh, not the Fatui!

Yae Miko: Some eccentric geniuses in the ranks of the Fatui made adjustments to the prototype, not only unsealing his power but very likely rendering him even more formidable than his original specifications.

Y/n: Surely you don't mean...

Yae Miko: Mm-hmm. The object of divine creation is the one who has now taken possession of the Gnosis... and the prototype puppet is now known as "The Balladeer."

Paimon: What in the... What a crazy story!

Yae Miko: It is, isn't it? Who can say whether it's coincidence or destiny.

Y/n: I see

Aether: What about the former Raiden Shogun...

Yae Miko: I'm surprised an outlander like you is aware that there was once a change of Electro Archon, even little Y/n doesn't know... In fact, few citizens of Inazuma are aware of this.

Paimon: Morax told us. He said that the Electro Archon, Baal, has passed away...

Yae Miko: Yes. The truth of the matter is that there were two twin gods, Baal and Beelzebul.

Paimon: ...Twin gods?

Yae Miko: They won the Archon War together, and when Baal established the Shogunate, Beelzebul became her kagemusha, or "shadow warrior." In other words, she acted as Baal's body double. Beelzebul is Ei, with whom we are now both acquainted. Baal's name was "Makoto." As far as the world was aware, there were not two, but one. They complemented each other, and they ruled Inazuma jointly. So, there was no need for the public to know the truth. In fact, the name "Baal" and the title of Raiden Shogun was understood to refer to both of them, right up until—

Paimon: Until what?

Yae Miko: Makoto died several hundred years ago in a war that I was not personally involved in. Since then, Ei has assumed the Shogunate.

Paimon: Losing her sister must have been super hard on Ei...

Aether: Khaenri'ah...

Yae Miko: That was when Ei began to change. Makoto was her greatest loss.

Paimon: Paimon feels like she understands Ei a lot better now after finding that out... So, what kind of god was Makoto?

Yae Miko: I didn't spend a great deal of time with her, but my impression was... she was a gentle god, who in each moment cherished the beauty of what was before her.

Paimon: Wow...

Aether: About my sister...

Yae Miko: Sorry, I haven't a clue. I am also unfamiliar with the god you describe. But if you still have doubts about Ei, I would say they are misplaced. Not only does she not fit your description, but she voluntarily gave up her Gnosis long ago, severing her ties with Celestia in the process.

Aether: Having met her, I don't believe she was the one.

Yae Miko: That's good to hear. Otherwise, given that I am her familiar, it could have made our relationship rather awkward, don't you think?

Paimon: Don't worry, we aren't looking to pick a fight with you!

Yae Miko: Hehehe... I wish you the best of luck. May you soon discover the truth behind it all. As for your sister's whereabouts, I will use all the resources at my disposal to investigate it, and I will also borrow some of Ayato's people from the Shuumatsuban. I'll let you know if I find out anything. Consider it part of my means of thanking you and little Y/n.

Y/n: About the next stop on our journey...

Yae Miko: After leaving Inazuma, hmm... I think it would be easiest for you all to go to Sumeru.

Paimon: Ooh, ooh, Sumeru! We've run into loads of scholars from there on our journey so far.

Yae Miko: Yes, well, Sumeru is the land of the God of Wisdom, where the quest for wisdom and knowledge is never-ending. But their obsession gives rise to some truly inexplicable things. For example... In Sumeru, knowledge is holistically managed as a resource.

Paimon: Knowledge... is a resource?

Yae Miko: Yes. I don't know whether it was the sages or Lesser Lord Kusanali who came up with the idea.

Paimon: Lesser Lord Kusanali? That's a cute name.

Yae Miko: Oh, you haven't heard? "Lesser Lord Kusanali" is the deity in whom the people of Sumeru place their faith. It's their chosen term of endearment for her. I'm sure you must have some things to discuss with her, too. I wish you all the best.

Aether: We have no more questions.

Yae Miko: Are you sure? Okay then. Oh, Aether, Y/n, do you both still have the omamoris I gave you two?

Y/n: Of course. We'll keep it in a safe place.

Yae Miko: Keep it safe? Is that all you both intend to do with it? There was me thinking that either one you might hang it around your neck to show off to the world, telling everyone who inquired that it was given to you by none other than Yae Miko, the wise and beautiful.

Paimon: Who in their right mind would do that!?

Y/n: *giggles* Don't worry Yae Miko, whenever I see this omamori or think about an adult who's the wisest in all of Teyvat, the wise and beautiful Yae Miko will first come to mind.

Yae Miko: Hehehe... Okay, I'll stop. Thank you for the compliment, little Y/n. Now, a question for you both. What is your ambition?

Aether: To be reunited with my sister, I guess?

Yae Miko: And you little Y/n?

Y/n: Well, I've always claimed that my reason for traveling is complicated or that I want to explore the world and that my ambition is spreading my ideal form of justice. But in reality, I've always felt like I was supposed to have some sort of purpose, a will, and a duty to fulfill. I just... don't know what it is, I'm hoping in this journey that I'll find out what my purpose is...

Yae Miko: I see... But that is merely a small goal, based on what preoccupies you both here and now. Your ambitions should be something that transcends the world below and the starry sky above. Something that shines in unison with fate itself. Perhaps the reason Aether does not possess a Vision and Y/n does is that such an ambition has yet to be engendered within you two... It's a possibility. Continue on your journey, and maybe that moment will come to pass.

I have decided that I'll be writing the Inazuman Story Quests since I feel like they play a critical role in the story, so I'll be writing them first and then, I'll continue writing the main story.

[incorrect-sonic-the-hedgehog]

Sonic: *kicking the door down* OPAL WAKE UP

Opal: Sonic it's one am can't this wait until morning?

Sonic: They call it a pilot episode because it's the first to air!!!

Opal:

Opal: *furiously shaking Blaze awake* BLAZE WAKE UP

[selflessanatta]

Wedge Salads: How to Penetrate the Shield of Arrogance, https://selflessanatta.com/wedge-salads-how-to-penetrate-the-shield-of-arrogance/

New Post has been published on https://selflessanatta.com/wedge-salads-how-to-penetrate-the-shield-of-arrogance/

Wedge Salads: How to Penetrate the Shield of Arrogance

I suffered from excessive self-esteem.

Some would contend that I still do.

I won’t debate that one, but I can share how my wife completely and utterly defeated me in a contest of intellect and emotional resolve.

I humbly acknowledge complete defeat at the hands of a master.

She knows what is best in life.

Wedge Salads

Despite my lofty self-evaluation, my wife found a way to penetrate my delusions and get helpful information to me.

Both sides of this little interaction are aptly captured in Season 2, episode 16 of Modern Family.

This upset my wife for years.

Because I believed I was so much smarter than everyone else, no one could tell me anything. I always knew best, particularly when I didn’t.

Simply telling me things wouldn’t have penetrated my shield of arrogant superiority.

Shield of Arrogant Superiority

My pride rejected all information, not directly sustaining my lofty self-opinion.

My wife’s information came from a faulty, lowly mortal who doesn’t check her facts, so I didn’t hear her words.

But the words sunk in, subconsciously, through the back door.

Even if I had known she was the source of information originally, I most certainly would have cast a spell upon myself to forget it.

Then, later, when this new, utterly original idea emerged from my mind, it was washed clean of its association with my wife.

Then I was a genius!

More smoke to blow up my ass!

Check and Mate

When Wedge Salad incidents occurred, my wife used to go bananas.

Who could blame her?

After a while, my wife stopped becoming upset.

She used to mumble “wedge salad” under her breath and giggle — which was cool with me because I could remain prideful and enjoy the smoke.

She found the wisdom to see what was happening and use it to her advantage.

She planted Wedge Salads on purpose and waited for them to ripen.

When they did, she obtained the delightful satisfaction of outwitting the master.

She beat me at my own game!

Kudos to her!!!

I admit defeat.

I bow in honor to the superior mind.

[cinebration]

Sibling Exchanges (Sherlock Holmes x Reader) [Request]

I literally just saw that your open for asks and that the deadline was TODAY so I just wanted to request something real quick. So I was wondering if you’d be interested in writing a Henry Sherlock x reader fic where they’re currently having some tea with Enola and Enola won’t stop teasing Sherlock and if you want you can do the rest just pls make it fluffy! Thx :)—Requested by anon

Warnings: none

Gif Source: henrycavilledits

It was an absolute treat having Enola over for tea. She was quite the personality regardless, and her intellect, vastly superior to her brothers, was an endless source of fascination.

But perhaps the best aspect of Enola was that, despite her circumstances, she was, at heart, still a young girl. And that young girl looked up to her older brother, Sherlock, with admiration and sibling pride.

Being a sibling, however, brought with it other behavior—one in particular you reveled in.

“The solution was right in your face!” Enola cried, laughing over her cup.

Sherlock’s lips tugged into a frown. “There were other factors—”

“Easily dismissible to the discerning eye!”

You smirked over the rim of your cup, watching the verbal volley like a badminton match. Sherlock, you noted with mirth, was on the losing side according to your mental tally of the score.

“Where was your advice, then?” Sherlock asked sharply.

“I was busy with another case of my own,” Enola retorted. “I can’t drop everything to come help you every time you need it.”

Despite himself, Sherlock snorted, a faint smile touching his lips.

You felt a bit of a voyeur witnessing these exchanges, even though you were technically party to them. Seeing Sherlock soften in the presence of his sister always felt like something sacred, something you weren’t meant to trespass on. Yes, he was somewhat soft with you, but it was nothing compared to how he treated his sister.

It reminded you that he had something of a heart to fall back on when intellect was too much.

“He spent two days agonizing over it,” you confided to Enola in a stage whisper. Sherlock glanced at you in surprise, brow furrowing.

“He did not!”

“He certainly did.” You met Sherlock’s gaze with a mischievous one of your own, eyebrow cocked in amusement. “The carpet may be in need of replacing, given the treads he’s burned into it from that infernal pacing.”

Enola clapped her hands together, soaking up the information with the greediness of a dried sponge. “Tell me that when he solved it, he was angry at himself for not seeing it sooner.”

“Irate, almost!”

Enola spluttered into laughter, and you chuckled alongside her. Sherlock nearly pouted at the both of you, his smooth brow furrowed beneath the fallen curls of his hair.

“Oh look, we’ve hurt his pride,” you murmured, your voice a whisper against the teacup.

“Sherlock, don’t you know that pride cometh before the fall?”

“You two are intolerable,” he groused, rising from the table. “Mycroft is more preferable company.”

You choked on your tea. “You lie!”

Huffing quietly through his nose, Sherlock pivoted on his heel and retreated from the room. You turned to Enola, smothering a laugh behind your hand.

“You don’t think I teased him too much, do you?” Enola asked, watching him go.

“No, not at all. He needs a good reminding that he is a fallible man.”

“He won’t be mad at me?”

“Of course not. You’re his sister.” You gently patted her hand. “He adores you, even if he doesn’t say or show it well.”

“I suppose.”

“Don’t suppose. Believe.”

Smiling half-heartedly, Enola drained the last of her tea and rose from the table as well. “I’m going to go apologize.”

“Only if you half-mean it.”

Enola smirked. “Of course.”

~~

Sherlock saw Enola off from the door. It was still light enough that she would return to her lodgings well before nightfall. She prided herself on her independence, so she took no hansom or allowed Sherlock to walk with her. If Mycroft had seen her, he would have burst a blood vessel.

Lucky for all involved, he wasn’t around.

Sherlock returned to the tea room. You paused in your gathering of the dishware and offered him a soft, conciliatory smile.

“She teases you because she loves you,” you said, coming around the table and striding over to him.

“I think she rather enjoys lauding her intellect over mine.”

“Why not? No one has yet written articles about her or spread her fame about as you have yours.”

“I didn’t ask for that.”

“No, but it happened all the same. She grew up idolizing you, Sherlock. To discover she is as good as or better than you is something of a boon for her.”

He nodded, his soft curls bouncing on his forehead. You reached up and brushed them back into place.

“You didn’t have to contribute.”

“I do so love to, though.” You grinned.

“Incorrigible,” Sherlock mumbled, drawing you into his arms.

“Stuffy,” you countered, rising up on your toes to kiss him.

[sacerdotessa]

Mercury in signs

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If you’re an IG page and want to repost this, don’t forget to tag the creator: @sacerdotess4 on IG

Don’t plagiarize, you were born original, don’t die a copy.

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Mercury is the planet connected to communication, intellect, brain, expression, memory. 

Aries Mercury:

tends to express and talk in a strong and assertive way

do not fear conflicts and discussions

express emotions in an authentic way

genuine

could act in a childish way and creates chaos with their words

impulsive when talking

audacious with words

smart

a leader

talks in a fast way

kinda choleric and easily irritable

Taurus Mercury:

talks in a calm way

generally gentle with their words

stubborn

kinda slow in learning new things

prefer learning practical things over theories

sweet voice

could be good at singing

prefer facts over words

love learning things about the past

lazy student

Gemini Mercury:

so many interests

kinda superficial

super curious

chatty

kinda too into gossiping

loves trying new things

very good dialectical skills

talented in writing, poetry, song writing

always have the right words

good at handle small talks

Cancer Mercury:

sosensitive and empathetic

good emotional intelligence

they're good at understanding emotions but they tend to rationalize them

don't like to share what they think

introverted

love the past and learning about history

they tend to connect mentally with leaders/artists from the past  

artistic and into music

frequently mood swings

intuitive

touchy

slow at learning new things

Leo Mercury:

proud of their intellectual abilities (even if they're not so smart, they think that they're the smartest person on Earth)

good at performing

spontaneous way of expressing

loves art, music and theater

stubborn

assertive way of talking

tends to act with an air of superiority

great actor

great leader

extroverted and with a positive attitude

Virgo Mercury:

methodical ways of learning

likes to study

interested in many subjects, especially scientific ones

introverted

good at giving advice

good at analyzing situations

knows all the gossips

talented with expressing themselves in a clear and assertive way

overthinkers and with a tendency towards judging

good memory

perfectionists and good at memorizing details

Libra Mercury:

nice and kind

always find the right words

avoid conflicts

intellectual and artistic

they're not brutally honest, if they can't be kind they prefer to avoid talking

likes to share their knowledge with others

love reading romantic books

“seduce me with your mind”

often into political subjects

Scorpio Mercury:

deep conversations

likes to share secrets

good psychological skills

good at remembering details

good emotional intelligence

intuitive

emotional and persuading way of talking

intelligence turns them on

it's okay for them to talk about sexuality and taboos

introverted

could be aggressive with their words

Sagittarius Mercury:

smart

likes to learn new languages

dreamer

extroverted and impulsive

positive mind

always making jokes in their head

loves philosophical and ethical themes

it's hard for them to be concrete

aggressive with words

likes learning things with innovative methods

funny

Capricorn Mercury:

pessimistic

limiting beliefs

intellectual

could talk in a monotonous way

good memory

good in scientific subjects

always wants to improve their mind

hard worker

always have the right words

extremely smart

traditional way of learning

introverted

Aquarius Mercury:

innovative mind

quirky and funny way of talking

intuitive

extremely smart

loves to learn about technology and the future

introverted but always willing to share his opinions

unique way of learning

not so good with memorizing details

humanitarians interests

into conspiracy theories

prefer to talk through sms rather than in real life

Pisces Mercury:

emotional mind

spiritual and connected with the source

intuitive

introverted but could talk a lot if inspired

kinda irrational

sensitive and touchy

easily confused

artistic and musical talents

dyslexia or learning disabilities

synesthesia

inspired by their emotions when they talks

emotional intelligence

into astrology or new age

the right words magically flows

[keorami]

So you know when you wanna write a funny situation but you realise that you have to come up with said funny situation? Yeah... I forgot that my sense of humor is atrocious, but at least I tried...? I couldn't focus on one long story so I decided to write several short ones instead! Hope you enjoy!

"I have the feeling you're not enjoying this sleepover very much."

Dream did not, in fact, enjoy this 'sleepover', because not only did it remind him that his only way out of this hell was stuck in here with him, but said way out had been nothing but insufferable since he got here.

"Is this about the bell-"

"You could have gotten us out of here."

Oh yeah, said way out also wasted their one chance at escaping on a fucking bell. Dream hadn't felt such anger in... he doesn't remember actually. He didn't get to feel angry often in here.

"Listen, it was a very important matter-"

He stopped listening at that point. It was the same tirade every time about clout and viewership and whatever that he honestly could care less about. Staring at and counting the cracks in the obsidian seems like a very interesting activity.

"Hey, are you listening?"

1... 2... 3...

"Dude."

4... 5... 6...

"How long are you gonna ignore me?"

7... 8- wait, didn't he count that one already?

"Look at me at least."

No, he doesn't think he will. Because then the bell will be within view, and Dream knows that if he wasn't so pathetically weak, either the bell or Techno would have been thrown into the lava by now. But he is, so he'll throw the next best thing: his body. And fuck whatever the pig might have to say about it.

"Dreeeeeam-"

"WHAT."

He whipped his head so fast his neck hurt a little. He was fully prepared to... well now he doesn't remember, because of all faces he expected Techno to make...

The fuckboy face wasn't one of them.

"Nooo don't be angry, you're so sexy haha."

Oh God, he just died and went to limbo didn't he?

He wasn't sure when exactly he collapsed on the floor, gasping for air in a mix of wheezes and coughing, but Techno was now hovering over him in panic.

"Dream please don't die, I don't want the last thing you ever saw to have been that face-"

Oh, if there was one thing he would make sure not to forget, it would have been that face.

~~~~~

"Man, I'm starving. When do we get food in here again?"

"Um, I don't know really. I guess whenever Sam is in the mood?"

"What."

"Yeah."

Sam hasn't dropped food a single time since he was locked in here. Well, add 'food' to the basic human rights Dream isn't getting. They're really treating this like a bucket list aren't they?

"It's... You'll get used to it."

Dream gives him some potatoes from his inventory, to Techno's absolute delight. At least Sam has great taste, he'll give him that. But...

"...They're raw."

"Well, obviously."

Listen. He loves potatoes. He'd say he loves them to death, if he could die. No matter how you cook them, they turn out delicious. But raw? He'd only eat them raw if it was a life-or-death situation AND he somehow had no source of heat at his disposal, and the likelihood of that situation happening is practically zero. So yeah, he doesn't like to eat them raw.

"And that's all you get?"

"If you can't eat it-"

Ah, those famous words. Now, he's fairly certain that Dream didn't mean it as a challenge, but at this point Techno is just too competitive to see it any other way. Look, you don't get to his level by being passive, okay? So it's perfectly reasonable.

What wasn't reasonable was the taste of this potato because what in the Blood God's name is this.

"What the hell is this."

"...A potato?"

"No, this is a fucking travesty."

And what a sight it was, the Technoblade swearing and ranting about potatoes, of all things. Dream could only last until "mossy cobblestone tastes better than this dry ass, stinky ass garbage" before he lost it. You gotta give him credit for lasting this long at least. Technoblade was too busy ranting to care either way.

~~~~~

This can't be happening.

"Dream."

"What."

He tries to sound neutral, but Techno can hear the snicker in his voice.

"You don't have to do this."

Surely he can reconsider-

"On the contrary, it has to be done."

Dream places a single card on the pile, which happens to be his last one. A Wild Draw 4, to rub salt into the wound. Techno decides that ending on that card should be illegal.

"Remember the deal. No bell for the rest of the day."

"NOOOOOOO!"

Unfortunately, that had been the condition he had to agree to in order to get Dream to play. Because apparently he was "ringing it all the fucking time and it was driving me crazy". There's that, and the threat that Dream would jump in the lava again if he refused. So clearly he had a choice in the matter.

He knew that there was a chance he could lose... but he had deemed it low enough to ignore it. How could he not expect the resident chessmaster of the SMP to utterly trounce him in UNO? He was a fool, and now he has to think about how to make up for the lost clout and money.

At least, judging from the quiet snickers, someone finds his misery funny. He finds consolation in knowing that he may have lost the battle but he won the war. In a way.

~~~~~

"So I almost got mauled to death but that was how I met Steve."

Dream stares at him the way Phil does when he does something particularly outlandish and he fails to see why.

"Can I ask a question."

"Sure."

"Why would the first thing you do upon running into a starving polar bear be hugging it?"

Of course he would question it, because obviously Techno's superior intellect is confusing to the common mind. He just really likes animals, okay? Steve's fur looked so soft and fluffy he just had to touch it, he almost got his face torn off and Phil never let him live that down. But he'll sooner accept governments than let Dream know that. He doesn't want to embarrass himself too much.

"See Dream, I live by a simple philosophy."

"Long live anarchy?"

"No. Well yes, but not just that."

Dramatic silence.

"Any animal is huggable if you aren't a coward."

Dream chokes on his potato, the only one he had eaten today, and Techno worries for a second before he realises that Dream is actually laughing.

"Tech- what-" His body is shaking. "-what is wrong with you??"

"It all started when I was born-"

~~~~~

And it's enough to send Dream rolling on the ground. It wasn't even that funny, but he supposes that prison does a number on you, and Dream's sense of humor was already terrible to begin with.

...Okay, now he had to make sure that the teletubby didn't laugh himself to death.

At the end of the day- at least Techno assumes it's the end of the day, he doesn't know how trustworthy his internal clock is anymore- the two inmates of Pandora's Vault are about ready to fall asleep, but Techno has one last thing to do before that.

"Dream, come here for a minute."

Said man gives him such a wary look that he almost feels insulted.

"...Why?"

"I won't bite, ya know."

"That's... debatable."

Bruh.

"Just get over here."

And Dream complies without any further complaints. Techno hopes he didn't sound too harsh, but his cellmate wasn't shivering uncontrollably, so he thinks he's in the clear.

"What?"

Techno lays his cape down on the very uncomfortable obsidian floor. Seriously, laying down for an hour is enough to make his joints ache. 0/10 would not recommend. How did Dream- right, he doesn't have a choice.

"What are you doing?"

"Making this prison less of a living hell. Come lay down."

"...I'm fine."

Why are you being so difficult, Techno wants to ask, even though he can guess the answer. When was the last time anyone did something remotely nice for him without any catch? Especially in here?

"Stop being difficult and sleep with me already."

Silence.

"...Pft."

"You know what I meant."

In his defense, everyone has their moments, and his usually don't happen that often.

"Stop being so difficult and-"

"Just... get over here. My cape is really soft."

"Is that why you wear it all the time?"

"...Among other things."

But mostly because it was really soft.

Dream still seemed apprehensive about the whole thing, and while usually Techno would have respected his wishes and left him be... the sight of his rival curling up in a corner of the cell, obviously trying to not aggravate his injuries as he did, was saddening even to him. Prime, he's really not good at this... but Dream probably definitely needs it.

So he pulls his roommate into a side hug, which is honestly the best he can manage without ruining his image. It's awkward, Dream is way too stiff, and maybe now would be the time to say something before embarrassment kills either or both of them. Something reassuring, comforting to help Dream relax in his presence for example.

"This is gonna be the best sleepover you've ever had."

...But the day he stops relying on humor for any kind of social interaction is the day it'll either stop working or get him killed.

"...This is so stupid."

And today was not that day.

Dream lets out a laugh, shaky but genuine, and relaxes. Techno sees that as a win. Since he's stuck here for a while, might as well make his favorite teletubby's life in here more bearable.

And it's finally over! It only took me... *looks at calendar* ...time is an illusion. Idk if I'm really happy with this, but on the bright side, it's... done? Now I really wanna continue that endersmile fanfic as I got some ideas, hopefully it won't take as long? God I am a writing disaster

Also if you saw any mistakes... no you didn't :)