#technophobia getting out

[vangel0x]

Technophobia: GETTING OUT page 4

[foolishlyzephyrus]

donna basically calls ten autistic within the first three minutes of technophobia and i think that’s beautiful

[reiderwriter]

NSFW Prompt Requests - I’m in dyer need of 127 or 150 if you’d be so kind?🥵

A/N: I feel like I say "I got a bit carried away" in every single one of these authors notes, but this one I think I really did...

Word Count: 3k

#127: "I can taste myself on you."

#150: "Stop clenching, baby, you're already tight enough as it is."

Summary: You're hot for teacher. So is every other girl on campus. Your Professor, however, is absolutely oblivious until you spell it out for him...

Warnings: Professor x Student, age gap, oral (M receiving), face-fucking, no birth control/ condoms, creampie, male whimpering and moaning mentioned a lot, PinV sex, both of them are Switches idc idc 18+ MINORS DNI

Check out my other stuff on my masterlist!

You had been in his class for around three weeks when you decided you couldn’t take it anymore. If you were going to keep up your GPA and progress in your grad programme, you were going to have to either drop the class with Professor Reid, or persuade him to put you out of your misery. 

You’d been intrigued by the course to start with, of course, which is why you’d picked up the criminology elective when it wasn’t a required class. But it was only available this semester as he was only Guest Lecturing while on leave from his job at the BAU, and getting that kind of insight from an actual industry professional rather than an academic really couldn’t hurt, right? You’d thought that until you’d seen him. 

Expecting some older man with a stuffy tone and a disdain for modern technology, you’d been roughly awoken when he walked into the lecture hall on the first day and you found yourself hanging on to his every word as he read through your syllabus. You were spot on with the technophobia, but for everything else, you were blissfully incorrect. He was, quite possibly, the hottest man you’d ever seen in your life. You weren’t secretive about your thing for older men, joking all the time about your “daddy kink,” but you’d never had a thing for one of your actual professors before, and it was driving you insane. 

It didn’t help that the word had travelled around the entirety of your campus as well, with multiple girls turning up to audit the class after the first week. You’d been green with envy since you’d seen them mooning over the man, and you’d felt disgusted with yourself almost instantly. He was your professor, he was damn good at his job, but he was so deliciously tempting that you couldn’t find it within yourself to actually pay attention in his classes. You knew it was only a matter of time until the man, who you realised was obviously blind to how attractive he was to a bunch of twenty-somethings with a penchant for danger and a willingness to try all kinds of new things, would catch on to how many of his students were openly lusting for him.

You hoped that you had learned enough in his classes on behaviour that you could accurately hide your feelings and thoughts, however sinful and objectively obvious they were. Your hopes were crushed on that fateful day three weeks into the semester. 

You’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed already. Your alarm hadn’t gone off, your clothes were all still wet inside the washing machine in your apartment meaning you had to throw on a short skirt and pray you didn't flash anyone, and your roommate hadn’t closed the fridge properly the night before, so the milk you wanted to use in your morning coffee had spoilt. After dragging yourself into class, the last thing you’d wanted to see was twice as many students auditing the class as the previous week. 

To give it to the man’s obliviousness, he hadn’t noticed until about two thirds of the way into the class, when he asked a student why they weren’t taking notes.  He’d seemed confused. You were almost furious that he didn’t know what effect he was having on you, on every girl in the vicinity, but, more importantly, you. Unable to help yourself, you let out a scoff that gained his attention. 

“Is there something wrong with the class materials Miss…” he trailed off, waiting for you to supply your name to him. 

“Oh, no, uh, Y/N. My name is Y/N, there’s nothing wrong, sir. I’m sorry.” His lips twitched as you replied, but he went on with his class, as you sunk into your chair in shame. You were going to have to drop the class now. He must hate you, or think you were stupid, or think that you hated him, and your thoughts were spiralling so out of control that you hadn’t noticed the class had ended, and he was calling up at you from the lecturing desk. 

“Miss Y/N, are you okay?” He asked, and his goddamned eyes were filled with such concern you hated that every part of your body was screaming with desire for him. Unable to respond, he tried again. 

“If you have the time, would you like to come talk to me in my office? I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.” You should’ve said no, just based on the ridiculous scenes filling your mind, but you didn’t hesitate to nod your approval. You picked up your bags and made your way down the steps to where he was waiting with all of his stuff near the front door. He opened the door for you, and you felt your heart race as you awkwardly slid by him in the doorway. He had to be a fucking gentleman, too, right? 

You followed him as he made his way to his office, staying silent the entire way. He looked like he wanted to make small talk but didn’t know how, choosing instead to just mirror your silence. When you reached his office, he apologised for the mess and showed you inside, letting you take a seat on the couch whilst he put all his things away. The room was littered with books of all sizes, and you noticed that the titles didn’t seem to have one common subject linking them all, or even, in fact, seem to be written in the same language. You spotted a beaten up copy of War and Peace on his desk next to an obviously used coffee mug, and some paper files that looked to be the reading from that morning’s class. 

“Sorry, I didn’t exactly plan on having guests, uh, make yourself comfortable?” He asked it as a question, and loosened his tie as he said it. You stared at the small patch of skin on his neck, your eyes lingering just a moment too long before you remembered you were in a room with an actual FBI Profiler, and that if your thoughts were any louder, he’d handcuff you himself. As tempting as that was, you really didn’t want your Professor knowing about all the ways you’d imagined him fucking you. 

“Professor Reid, I’m sorry, I have to leave, and- and I think I have to drop out of the class.” You stood up suddenly, and he stood up too from his place at his desk, shocked at your sudden anxious outburst. 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, is there something wrong? Did I make you uncomfortable?” he asked taking a step closer to you, but you took a step back again, accidentally pressing your back against one of his many bookcases in your haste to avoid him. 

“Yes! I mean no, it’s not your fault that I’m uncomfortable. I’m not uncomfortable, really!” He had the look of a kicked puppy on his face now, and you realised this man would be the death of you. You weren’t even sure what it was about him that entranced you enough to stay and continue the conversation.

“I can’t focus in your classes, Professor,” you sighed out, letting your eyes drop with the embarrassing confession. 

“That’s perfectly fine, many people struggle to pay attention in college classes. Is there anything I can do in my lectures to accommodate to your needs?” Your eyebrows screwed up in frustration with his obvious professional kindness. 

“No, Professor, I’m sorry, unless you stop looking like that there’s nothing you can do.” You ran a stressed hand through your hair as you begged your mouth to shut and stay shut. 

“...What?” The confused tone in his voice let you know that he had no clue at all what you meant by your words, but he didn’t go further. You chanced a glance up at his face, and were met with a small blush rising to his cheeks, as you watched the words process in his brain. 

“Professor, every single person in that class that is attracted to men would kill to do absolutely sinful things to you. You’re like the campus’s collective wet dream right now. You had to know that, right?” You sigh out, finally putting the man out of his misery.

“Oh. No. No, no, I didn’t. Know that, I mean, I didn’t…Is that why there are so many people auditing the class? They want to…. Do that with me?” 

“Fuck you, Professor. They want to fuck you. You can say it, we’re both adults.” You resigned yourself to the fact that this conversation was probably going to haunt every waking hour for the rest of your life, and just let it happen, pushing through the cringe to help him come to certain realisations. 

“And that’s why you want to drop the class?” he asked finally, looking back up at you. 

“Yes.” 

“Because you want to…fuck me?” 

Your mouth dropped open at his words, as you desperately tried to back track, but all that came out was hot air and blubbering sounds as you felt your brain short circuit like his had just moments before. 

“I mean… I guess,” you finally stuttered out, your fight or flight instinct begging you to just run, but something deeper, something carnal planting you in position and making movement in that moment impossible. 

“Oh…. right.” He nodded at you, his lips spread in a thin smile as he nodded at you awkwardly. You stood there together in silence for a minute, but it became clear soon that the logical part of your brain was no longer in control of your mouth. 

“Can I?” you asked, almost startled at your own boldness. 

“Excuse me?” he said, his voice raising higher in tone at the incredulity of your statement. 

“Can I fuck you? If I do, maybe I’ll be able to, you know, pay more attention in class. Get it out of my system, you know.” Growing emboldened by your own words, you took another hesitant step towards him, reaching your hand up to gently touch his arm. His jaw clenched at the contact, but he didn’t move away, didn’t suggest you stop right there and forget this conversation ever happened. 

“Please, Professor Reid. Please fuck me,” you trailed the hand up his arm and back down his chest as he stood there just watching you beg for him. You discarded your bag on the chair, and keeping your eyes focused on his, trailed both of your hands down to his belt, slowly enough that he could push you away at anytime. 

“Do you know what you’re doing, Miss Y/N?” He asked quietly, and you smiled, finally happy to get a reaction from him. The smile had dropped from his lips and there was something suddenly dark in his tone that had you clenching around nothing. 

“Yes, Professor,” you said, letting your hands start working on his belt, undoing it agonisingly slowly as you watched him control his breaths. When you finally had it undone, you finally looked up at him again, and gave him a smile as innocent as you could muster. 

“You have my permission,” he whispered into your ears as he gently put a hand on your head and pushed you down to your knees, perching himself on the edge of the desk. You wasted no time then, desperate to live out each and every single one of your fantasies with him. Reaching into his pants, you found him already hard and pulsing, and you released his cock from its confines quickly. Spitting into your hand, you gave him a few quick strokes as you watched him grow even bigger under your touch. 

Letting out some sinful breathy moans, you looked up at him, head thrown back and eyes screwed shut as you finally reached your tongue out to lick at the tip of his cock. He twitched at the contact, and you felt the warmth pooling between your legs as you watched his each and every reaction. Finally wrapping your lips around him, you decided to put him out of his misery, sinking down on his dick an inch at a time until he was hitting the back of your throat. He was delightfully vocal the whole time, moaning and whimpering so much that you almost pulled off him completely and begged him to fuck you raw. But the taste of his cock was intoxicating and you wanted more and more of him. After a few minutes of your agonisingly slow pace, you felt his hips beginning to buck up to match your pace as he began to face-fuck you. He grabbed a handful of hair, and you did your best to relax your throat, stabilising yourself by placing one hand on his thigh and sinking deeper into your open hips on the floor. 

His eyes were still screwed close, but he was moaning out your name now, with a few expletives thrown in too, having done a complete 180 from the few minutes earlier when he’d hesitated to even say the F word in conversation. You felt he was getting close when he started thrusting deeper, sloppier in his movements and more breathy in his moans. He suddenly pulled out of your mouth and lifted you to your feet, bringing you face to face with him. 

“We didn’t… we didn’t say where I would, um…” he tried to say but you pushed up onto your toes and pressed a hot kiss to his mouth, your tongues quickly twinning as he returned it in kind. You stood there, lips locked and breathless in that space for quite some time, neither of you caring about the lack of oxygen you were getting. Finally, using the hand that was still fisted in your hair he pulled you away from his lips, and you whimpered pathetically at the loss of contact. 

“I can taste myself on you,” he panted into your neck as he held you close, the words sending a shiver down your spine and forcing another moan out of your mouth. The pain from his tight grip in your hair only heightened your pleasure as he moved his lips back to your exposed neck and continued his ministrations. 

“Please, professor….” you begged again, desperate for his attention. “Please fuck me.” 

Without removing his lips from your neck, he quickly moved the two of you back to the couch you’d been sitting on before, guiding you into his lap, his cock still hard and free from his pants. Your skirt spread open, and your hard landing meant you could feel all of him pressed against you. You thanked the gods for your suddenly well-timed laundry efforts as he grabbed the base of his cock and started teasing you through your panties. You were sure they were soaked through as you sat in his lap, grinding down on his perfect cock, his mouth still pressed into your neck. 

“Fuck me, please fuck me,” you moaned, and he complied, finally hooking a finger under the seam of your panties and moving them to the side as he pushed up into you with another throaty moan. 

“Yes, thank you. Thank you Professor, thank you.” You moaned out in bliss as you sank further and further down on him, pushing further than any man had been. before. 

“Stop clenching, baby, you’re already tight enough as it is,” he ground his teeth in a hiss, and you moaned at his words, the pervertedness of them shooting straight to your core. 

“Can’t…help myself. You feel so good, sir.” He started moving then, holding your waist as he started lazily thrusting upwards. After having your mouth wrapped around him, he knew that too much too soon would mean that this wouldn’t last long, and you had begged him nicely, so he wanted this to feel as good for you as it did for him. Gripping one of your hips tightly in one hand, he let the other fall under your skirt, and started pressing into your clit. You threw back your head at the contact and started riding him, matching each of his upward thrusts with a downward thrust of your own, letting his thumb gain speed as it followed you up and down. 

“Fuck, professor, thank you…I’m gonna cum, fuck, thank you so much,” you stuttered out as you could feel your orgasm rip through you, collapsing into his arms as he thrust quicker into you now. 

“Y/N, where… where should I….” His voice trailed off, and after a few seconds regaining your sanity after your climax, you finally answered the question he’d been desperately trying to answer.

“Inside… Inside me, Professor Reid, it’s okay…” he whimpered at that, at each thrust he pushed into you, his head falling to the crook in your neck and your hands stroking the hair at the base of his neck as you clenched around him again, finally pulling the desire out of him. He came noisily, even with his face buried in you, moaning so delightfully you knew the sound would be your new distraction for the next three weeks. 

When he finally regained his composure, he let his hands drop from your waist, his head rolled back on the couch, and you fell with him, wrapping yourself around him as if  you never wanted this coupling to end. You stayed there, head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and drifted to sleep. 

You awoke an hour later, but there was no sign of the Professor. He’d cleaned you up somehow, because there was no unpleasant feeling between your legs, and he’d wrapped a blanket around you as you slept, making sure you were comfortable. Collecting your things and making to leave, you almost convinced yourself that it had all been another fantasy, and that you were becoming seriously delusional about the man. As you approached the door, however, you spotted a small note taped to the handle, and quickly pulled it into your hands. 

Miss Y/N, 

Thank you for visiting me today. I hope you decide to stay in the class, I certainly could learn a thing or two from you. 

- Spencer Reid. 

P.S. You’re lucky I’m an MIT Graduate with a job in the FBI. There’s a security camera in my office. 

[sunshineandspencer]

heyyy!! idk if you take requests or anything but I was listening the song “Three Letters” from She Loves Me and heard the line “If it weren’t for your endearing letters/ I’d be flying south will all the geese” and totally thought of Garcia signing up Spencer for a lonely hearts thing (as a kinda joke kinda not) and so he starts writing the reader but don’t know it’s each other. then they agree to meet somewhere and realize it’s each other and?! idk if that makes sense lol thought it was cute though

Three Letters (Request)

A/N: Hello!!!! I definitely do. I just haven’t had the chance to sort it all out (colds and farming sims own my life) but let me tell you this idea has me kicking and screaming. I’ve done something like this before but I can’t find it for the life of me and I love the idea that they’re writing to each other and just don’t realise - I took it as the sense that they’re co-workers and Garcia signed them both up, not expecting them to get each other. I really hope this is what you were looking for!! Also I have never heard of a lonely hearts thing (I’m British) but I love the idea of it, and hope that it’s definitely what google told me it is.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader.

Summary: Garcia is tired of Spencer being single, and if the only way to fix that is to sign him up for a singles pen-pal society, then so be it. While she’s at it, let her add their other co-worker as well, there’s no way that could have any impact.

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: fluff, implied sa but nothing detailed

be added to the taglist

Some part of him knew that this was a good thing, that talking to someone and hopefully getting a relationship out of this was a good thing.

However, Penelope - loving, caring, thoughtful Penelope - had been hard at work ever since she met him to find him somebody to love. It.. hadn’t gone well, and that is the politest possible way he could’ve phrased that without hurting her feelings.

First there were the dates, with a collection of either Penelope, JJ or Elle’s friends - none of which had turned out great.

In fact, one woman had stormed out the minute she saw him, because she assumed that FBI agents were all muscle and Spencer was the last thing she wanted to see. Another zoned out every single time he started talking, just humming or nodding until even he realised that she wasn’t interested.. she fell asleep in her damn salad. The final straw, however, was the woman who got outrageously drunk and tried to blatantly ignore his aversion to touch.

He got out of that as soon as he found her friend to get her home safely, and swore off ever trusting a date from any of those three women ever again.

Penelope, however, didn’t give up.

Her next plan of attack started online, with dating websites. Notorious in their line of work for usually being full of catfish and UnSubs, and many dating websites led to men and women being murdered. But she’s insistent, and he’s desperate to love somebody.

There are only several things that went better than his first foray into the online dating scene, and one of those is a vehicular fire, which tells you all you need to know.

Several of the women he matched with ended up only looking for someone to help them cheat on their significant others, many of them married. Which made his bright outlook on love slightly dimmer. The final woman from the online dating websites was the woman who turned out to actually be an UnSub - looking for cute young men to complete her ‘collection’, a human version of an antique doll set.

It was not a fun case to take part in, certainly not when he was greeted with the way he would’ve turned out had he met up with the woman and not done a background check on her first.

After that, he firmly shut down Penelope’s insistence on dating apps as well, his technophobia had barely survived having to use a computer for so long, and the library computers were an embarrassing place to try and match with the ‘love of his life’. So an app on his phone. Absolutely not.. he doesn't even know how to do that.

There was a break, a few months where Penelope didn’t try to push him into anything new or exciting, or downright horrifying. He turned twenty-four, he had a failed date with JJ, in which she actually bought along Penelope, and suddenly it all changed.

In his letterbox a couple weeks after that, was a letter. It had his home address on, but not his name, merely addressed to whoever this may concern.

It was gorgeous craftsmanship, a cream envelope with an actual lilac wax stamp on the back, with little flowers pressed into the wax. Of course, assuming this was an incoming case, he called Garcia to try and trace it, where she finally came clean.

“I’m so sorry! I completely forgot, I signed you up to a lonely hearts club. It’s a small society for two single people to exchange letters anonymously so you can get to know each other over time. It’s all handwritten! I thought you’d like that more than having to use a computer again. I’m sorry pumpkin, I- I can take you out of the society if you like?”

He thought about it, he actually thought about it so long that Penelope actually thought he’d hung up on her, or died, or something else entirely because he’s never this quiet.

But.. how bad could it really be?

It could, theoretically, be terrible, but it can’t hurt to try one last thing. He would have contact with whoever this is - he’s assuming a woman from the handwriting and the care gone into just the envelope alone - and if it all goes to hell then it just wasn’t meant to be.

One last try at love, he can grant himself that. Anonymously, he can do that, give himself a pen name and try to fall for words on a page - his written word was always better than his verbal flirting anyway.

As it turned out, however, he didn’t need to give himself a name, she’d given him one already.

“Hello sweet thing! Sorry if that comes off as too strong already, I’m just incredibly nervous and didn’t know what else to call you, so that is officially your name from now on. Unless you hate it, then you can absolutely tell me and I promise not to cry about it. I really don’t know what to say, do I start with my favourite things? Well.. I like Doctor Who, and I’ve always--”

The more he read of the letter, the more he wished it was even longer. This woman, wherever she is, whoever she is, is starting to make this out as the best idea Penelope has ever had.

He all but crashed his way into the stationary store, grabbing the prettiest envelopes and pens, and little details to add to the letter that he was so excited to add. Steamrolling through the store and getting back home to quickly respond. Instantly realising he was being far more.. poetic than he meant.

It was the combination of the childish excitement of having a penpal, his mother reading him love poems as a child, and his extensive knowledge on love letters.

Hell, he even ended his own letter with a Shakespeare quote. Basic, he knows, but it’s hard to think of anything beyond wanting her reply.

“‘Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow.’ Yours, Sweet thing.”

It had been nearly three months of exchanging letters, and he was absolutely smitten with this woman. They had stuck to the rules and not given away any of their information, only talking about the things they like and eventually writing nearly daily.

It would be daily if it weren’t for the useless postage system.

He knows that she lives pretty close to him, he knows her address, plus they’d both admitted to searching each other’s houses, and they’re only about twenty minutes away by car.

That’s it, however, they haven’t looked for the other person despite being desperate for it.

They had described themselves through letters, but both ultimately agreed to just talk and see how it goes and base their furthering relationship off that rather than off their looks. Of course, that just sprung up more worries that he won’t visually be enough whenever they finally meet.

Meeting was, by far, the one thing he both wanted and dreaded.

This woman, who he had only ever addressed with a barrage of cute nicknames and poetical references, who understood his every word and reciprocated his nerdy obsessions and added her own.. he wants to know her so badly.

There is a very big underlying fear that the minute they meet, it’ll be over, the magic of what they are will fade and he’ll lose all this. The thought of her letters being sent to someone else physically pains him.

Penelope, ecstatic that one of her ideas had finally worked, had been badgering to meet with his ‘mystery woman’ for weeks now.

Finally, when she also, tentatively asked to meet with him for Valentine’s Day of all days, he knew she couldn’t deny her a single thing. Not when she sent with her letter, a coupon for flowers on their date.

A date. God.. he has a date for Valentine’s Day.

Not really a holiday he’s ever put much thought into before, but now it suddenly felt like the most important day that had ever existed. And one that came up far sooner than he expected it to.

Even with the place booked - a cute little café a little ways between both their apartments - and his outfit picked, and a card and little teddy picked with the help of Penelope, he didn’t feel ready. Perhaps it’s the lingering fear of rejection the minute she has to deal with him in person, or the fact that his last dates certainly didn’t go well.

Even with Penelope’s reassurance that she’ll adore him, especially after she actually read through his twelve page letter after she’d asked for his opinion on Egyptian mythology. Sending back her own absurdly long letter with a bunch more questions and her own fun facts that she could remember. He’s still absolutely losing his mind at the thought of having to finally meet her.

He got to the café about half an hour earlier than he needed to, wanting to make sure it was perfect (definitely not because he would’ve gone insane at home).

Spending whatever time it took for her to arrive making the table look nice, messing with his hair in the reflection and wondering if it really was getting too long. Constantly fixing his tie, and redoing it a hundred times over and tucking into his maroon cardigan sweater which Elle had called ‘dorky’.

Once it got to fifteen minutes before their date should’ve started, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, immediately rushing to get up and turn to meet his mystery writer. But.. it’s just the waiter, asking if he wanted another drink.

Jesus, they probably think he’s been stood up, and he quickly asks for another glass of water. 

As the man walked away, he ran his fingers through his hair again, looking towards the door - he’d been sat with his back facing it or else he wouldn’t have stopped staring for fifteen minutes.

Immediately, someone was looking at him, a vague sense of recognition swimming across her face. For a few split seconds he thinks it could be her, a beautiful woman with a bouquet of purple lilac blooms in her hands, but then he realises who it is, offering a small wave.

She’s friends with Penelope and, by extension, he’s spoken to and interacted with her quite a few times. They got on pretty well but never anything more than that since she’s always busy, part of the FBI’s CSI unit, and she’d even helped on a few cases before. But she isn’t here for him, she can’t be.

Walking over, she gives him a bright smile, eyes darting to the empty table and three empty water glasses - he’s been here for a while.

“Spencer! Hi! It’s nice to see you.”

“You too, I like the outfit.”

Looking down at herself for a few moments, she grins and then looks back up, doing a quick spin and then settling him with a mock-serious look.

“I’ve got a hot date, Penny said he would like this.”

“You look beautiful, don’t worry.”

Ahh, there goes any chance that she’s here for him, offering a smile and reassuring her that she looks great, eyes darting behind her to the door as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Eventually sucking a deep breath between her teeth and looking back as well.

Which got his attention, especially when she looked around the rest of the café with a confused look on her face. Sighing softly and looking around, his date wasn’t here, may as well help her.

“What does he look like?”

Turning back, she offered him a bashful smile, but she wasn’t going to turn down his offer of help, not when he’s tall and can see over all the stupid tall people around the café. Also.. it’s a very weird thing to explain.

Moving a hand to fidget with her necklace, his eyes focusing on it, vividly remembering her letters.

“--honestly, I have the coping mechanisms of a child. I still play with my necklace when I get nervous.”

“I don’t actually know, it’s sort of a blind date. Really hard to explain, Penelope kind of set us up in a way. I’m actually about fifteen minutes early so he’s probably not even here.”

There is.. no way this is happening right now. She’s still looking around the café for her mystery date, who might just be standing in front of her and he.. doesn’t know what to say or how to get his tongue to pick up from the base of his mouth.

Suddenly, and pretty violently, he’s flooded with the personality of the woman he’s been talking to for months, all of it projected onto her in front of him. It matches, from what he remembers.

The vague descriptions, her proximity to the FBI building, the fact she knows Penelope, the little TARDIS pin he’d seen on her lanyard that he never got the nerves to ask her about. Turning up to a date with a guy she doesn’t know, holding a bouquet of flowers that clearly weren’t for her, causing the flower token in his back pocket to start burning.

Fishing it out and stepping closer, getting her attention, surprised eyes snapping up to meet his at his sudden proximity. Until he took her hand and shoved the handmade coupon into it, her breathing immediately coming in short as they both looked down at it. Her voice trembled slightly.

“Oh~ hello sweet thing..”

“.. hello.” At his soft voice, she looked up and she gave him a completely bashful smile that matched the cute little poetic ramblings she’s been obsessed with for months. “Uhm, are those for me then?”

They both looked down at the flowers in her hands and she handed them over, feeling her heart shoot up into her throat as their hands brushed. Pointing at the purple lilac blooms as if he wouldn’t already know the meaning.

Needing to focus on something other than the fact that she’s going to kiss Penelope Garcia hard on the mouth for this.

“They uh- they are usually given to someone you meet for the first time, and signify the first emotions of love. Kind of love at first sight- not- not that I’m saying I’m in love with you, that would be a crazy thing to say on the first date- absolutely crazy--”

He eventually shut her up, leaning down to peck her lips softly, all nerves and panicked rambling dropped to just look up at him, in utter awe. Okay, maybe she can fall in love with him, she’s already halfway there with a month of letters.

Carefully, he guided her to their table with a hand on the small of her back as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and also he’d just kissed her to shut her up, and it worked.

“It’s fine, I love them, really. And Penelope was right, as your date I love the outfit.”

“Thank you, I love your sweater and-- ohmygod--”

As they sat down at the table, she buried her face into her hands, causing him to panic slightly, reaching out to carefully touch her shoulder. Saying her name worriedly as he set the flowers onto the table.

But she just looked up with a soft whine of embarrassment, peaking at him over her fingers.

“I called you my hot date to your face! That’s so embarrassing.”

Instantly relieved that it wasn’t anything he’d done, easing into a soft laugh and leaning back in his chair after squeezing her shoulder.

“It was cute! You didn’t even know who I was and you still called me hot.”

“It’s mortifying, you’ll never forget it and use it in your wedding vows or something.”

Sure, she was joking, but in the back of his head he filed something away for the future. A tiny, mental box, labelled ‘wedding vows’, wondering how long it would be until he could actually use that. 

Until then, he’d have to stick to ordering dinner on their first date.

Want more?! Good!

taglist ( ˘ ³˘)♥ @peliides @peachsodameg @angelinajolie0213 @jiggly-puff-12 @khxna @kennedy2156 @trulycayla @none-of-your-bullshit @alexxavicry @meg-black @princess76179 @khxna @chicken-fifi  (if your tag is here and it doesn't work, check your settings to see who is allowed to tag you or this might not work)

[snixkers]

Profokiev No. 1

Pairing: Dad!Spencer Reid × Mom!Reader

Fluff

For: @lucreziaq2001

Content Warnings: Slight argument? It's not even an argument, Reader reminds him of something lol

Summary: You direct Spencer as he records your daughter's concert.

Author's Note: Ugh, this is so cute. I'm obsessed with the name Jenna for some reason.

Feedback is always welcome!

Requests are OPEN!

You and your husband sat front row at the concert, phones at the ready. He had momentarily forgotten his technophobia, eager to capture this moment to show your daughter in the future.

You often envied his eidetic memory for allowing him to remember all these little moments with perfect detail.

Jenna waved at the two of you as she walked on stage, following out the rest of her school orchestra. She settled in with the string section, picking up her cello and glancing at the sheet music. Spencer leaned forward in his seat, zooming in with the camera.

“Make sure you get everyone in it.”

You whispered, moving him back.

He sighed, keeping his voice low enough so it wouldn’t be picked up on the recording.

“But she’s so much more talented. And adorable.”

You poked his shoulder, but you weren’t able to hide the grin that spread over your face.

“Don’t say that here.”

He glanced over at you, keeping the camera trained on the pit as they started to warm up.

“Well, it’s true.”

You rolled your eyes, leaning on his shoulder and waiting for them to start. His arm snaked around yours, pulling you closer to him. You watched contentedly as the conductor stepped up, remembering the last time you were at a concert.

It was your first anniversary with Spencer, and he wanted to do something fancy with you. Since his job caused him to be away unexpectedly, none of your previous dates had involved reservations. But it was getting serious, and he wanted to impress you. So he took work off for the weekend and showed up with tickets to a Beethoven symphonic.

But as the lights dimmed and you watched your daughter start to play Profokiev’s string quartet No. 1, you knew exactly which concert you preferred.

"Spencer, I said get the whole orchestra."

He grinned sheepishly, zooming out once again.

[charlidos]

Common Ground

If you look at Viggo and Orlando today, they seem to have so little in common, with very different lifestyles. Viggo far away from Hollywood (geographically and mentally), Orlando still in the middle of it (geographically, at least). And since always, the big age gap.

But I've realised they have and have had more in common than you might think! So I've compiled a rather long list of some interests they share, some traits they have in common. Some of them are obvious, some are, well... not. And some seem to be a result of Orlando's hero worship of Viggo, and thus doing all things the Viggo-way.

It's a quite unserious and unscientific list.

Holding on to a character

Orlando:

I will take Legolas, and this experience in New Zealand, wherever I go. The beautiful thing about being an actor is every character you embrace, when you move on, you take part of the character with you. He's a special, special character and, or course, my first. I'm never going to let go of him.

Viggo:

You hear a lot of people saying, 'I want to get rid of that character' or 'It took me days, weeks, months, years to shed the skin of that character,' but I don't," he says. "We're all going to get old and die, and if we live long enough, we're going to forget things or lose our memories. That's just what happens in life. So why be in a hurry to forget something or undo something? Any movie or experience, I want it to be a part of me.

2. Choosing work

Orlando:

I'm always only interested in the script. But of course, I'm happy to support smaller films if I'm convinced by the script.

Viggo:

I never decide to do a project based on who is directing it, it's always the script which is important.

3. Technophobia

Obviously, this was a passing phase, until everyone had a mobile phone and a computer... Apparently, Orlando broke down his resistance at one time and got a ... Blackberry.

Orlando:

You could say I'm a technophobe. I don't have a TV, I don't read magazines, I don't have a computer and I don't have a cell phone. I am a nature-loving human being and I want to remain independent from the tools of technology, or be only minimally influenced by them. If I want to write a letter to someone, I pick up a pen and paper. I try to focus on the important things in life, on myself and my fellow human beings, my work, my friends, etc.

Viggo:

I’m sitting in a car talking on a cell. I rarely use them. In this case, I wanted to be alone and in a quiet place. The phone was dead and I’m charging it as we talk, which is why I was late. I still can’t figure out how to retrieve my messages. I didn’t have one for several years, and would call in my messages from a pay phone on the corner near my apartment. I might not check my messages for days, and I probably lost some jobs because of that. When I finally got one, I threw it out the window when it rang because the sound was so annoying. A neighbour rang my bell, asked me if it was mine, and handed it back to me. I put it in the closet under a pile of laundry, and a few days later it rang again. I didn’t like the intrusion and tossed it out the back alley.

4. Wearing necklaces

They both used to wear a whole slew of trinkets around their necks, both looking all hippie-ish and stuff.

Orlando:

I have a lot of these things with me all the time. I get given some and find others. One was a key ring that Johnny [Depp] gave me as a wrap gift for Pirates. Here's a piece of greenstone Billy Boyd gave me. I found this shell on the beach in Thailand. This is a prayer baton I got in India. I picked up this tiny silver ball in Tokyo. This is a New York City handcuff key, so if I get into any strife, I can get myself out. I think I'll hold onto that. I've always kept all these funny little things, even as a kid. But I'm trying to cut it out, become more streamlined. Otherwise it starts to feel like the things own you. These things fill up my heart. If I were ever to lose them, I'd be really devastated. Isn't that pathetic?

5. Loving nature and being alone

Orlando:

New Zealand is so green and healthy and outdoorsy and stuff so I started putting little tests on myself, like in terms of getting fit and using the environment around me. I often sit and daydream, and lose myself in that world. People around me think I'm rude, but I'm not ignoring them or anything.

Viggo:

I like to spend time alone and outdoors. I enjoy being able to just sit and observe life in the forest or by the water. I like observing and not thinking about anything. If I can't get in to the wild, I observe people in the city. I value being alone in nature even more now that my life has become so hectic.

6. Environmental friendliness

Viggo:

I have a hybrid car, the first Prius that came out on the market; it still works great. My son shares it with me. I recycle everything I can. I try not to waste natural resources or to pollute. Small things that if done every day, serve to make a better world. I’ve always liked being around plants and trees, I’ve always planted them, anywhere that I spend a little time in. The trees we plant, and the landscapes we nurture and protect for wildlife to enjoy and feel safe in, and to prevent soil erosion, is our gift to future generations. Even in cities we can take part in creating a greener, healthier environment – either by growing plants and trees or contributing financially to those that do. But there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and being physically part of the process of preparing the soil, planting, and nurturing new plant life.

Orlando:

I am going to the Oscars this year in a [Toyota] Prius. Anything I can do to bring awareness to the environment and to the fact that we need to decrease the greenhouse-gas emissions, I will do. I love the environment. I grew up in the countryside. I want my kids one day to enjoy the same environment and their kids to enjoy the same environment.

7. Commitment to politics and human rights issues

Orlando has done work for Unicef since 2007 and Viggo has always been very outspoken in issues concerning politics.

Orlando:

When I first came to Ukraine in 2016, I saw the catastrophic consequences that war has on children and families, and how basic needs such as being at school and psychosocial support are critical for children’s wellbeing. Now, with children across the entire country affected, that support is more vital than ever. Amid the chaos and uncertainty of war, supporting children’s education is an essential tool in protecting their long-term mental health and wellbeing. This is especially important during their early years, when children develop the learning and emotional skills they need to reach their full potential. Above all, children need an end to this war and sustained peace to regain their childhoods, return to normalcy and begin to heal and recover.

Viggo:

It’s not just the suffering in Ukraine. It's families in Russia; mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, who have lost loved ones just because of one man’s brutal ambition; a murderous, grotesquely corrupt person. And [Putin] will keep going. It’s like Trump. If you don’t stop them legally or otherwise why would they stop? And if they see weakness they’ll just exploit it.

8. Riding horses

Viggo famously loves horses, but Orlando has a certain love for them as well.

Orlando:

I've always loved riding and I used to hack around Canterbury as a kid. It wasn't really a pony club -- we'd just go out on horses. So I picked it up again in New Zealand and added a bit more of the style and the posture and the correct riding position. I learned to ride on around 30 different horses, and what you get from that is an understanding that each individual animal has to be treated with sensitivity so you have a mutual respect thing going.

9. Smoking

They both smoke/used to smoke cigarettes or cigars.

An unfortunate thing to have in common. I hope they have stopped.

10. Photography and art

Viggo is obviously a skilled photographer and painter and more. Orlando is also a keen photographer with an interest in art and sculpture.

Orlando:

Sculpture was my thing. I was very passionate about documentary photography too. I still like to walk around and take photographs, but it’s hard to do that if a lot of people are looking at you.

Viggo:

Photography, painting or poetry – those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things, they are my way of communicating.

11. Tattoos

The serendipity of these two tattoos, Orlando's sun and Viggo's moon, is amazing. Put there before meeting each other, in the same place on the body, only mirrored.

12. Fishing

Viggo went fishing a lot in NZ. Orlando sometimes tagged along. And then máybe goes fishing sometimes? Perhaps? Who knows?

13. Uncleanliness

Gotta love completely unfounded gossip. I'm sure they smell heavenly, at all times, shower or no shower. Just natural muskiness pouring out of their... pores.

Orlando:

"Miranda thinks Orlando is too smelly. Recently, she asked him if he could wash his clothes and perhaps shower more often." The insider claimed that Bloom "goes days without washing his clothes" when not working on a movie, adding: "He'll wear the same jeans for a week before he throws them in the washer. Same goes for his sweaters, T-shirts and socks." The Pirates of the Caribbean actor also allows his dog Sidi to share a bed with him.

Viggo:

Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies, may seem fair, but according to The Sun he smells foul. The tabloid today alleges the American actor has been dumped by his girlfriend Lola Schnabel for worryingly Strider-like behaviour. Apparently he rarely washes and mysteriously disappears for long periods at a time.

14. Drinking mate

Viggo famously drinks yerba mate at all times. Orlando also drinks this. At least at one point, when this photo was taken, that's all I'm sure of.

15. Back pain

Orlando broke his back when he was 20 years old - with chronic back pain as a result. Viggo gets backaches sometimes.

Viggo:

If I wear footwear for too long I get backache. I need to be barefoot, otherwise it's agony.

Bonus: Gorgeous in make up

Also, they are both kind of gorgeous. And like make up. Sometimes. At this one particular time?

And, uhm, that's it.

Don't look so sceptical, boys! Just realise you are perfect for each other and get on with it.

[tanadrin]

Do you think Frankenstein is about not meddling with nature, or is it about being unprepared and isolated from society?

I think Frankenstein is one of those thematically rich texts that you can get a number of very different interesting readings out of. It would be very difficult indeed to argue it was about only one thing. “Don’t play god/meddle with nature” is one reading, but in some ways it’s the least interesting one (cf. “Caveman Science Fiction”), if only bc we have so few real opportunities to play God and most hand-wringing over the idea feels to me either contrived or like mundane technophobia.

Here’s one reading: In Frankenstein, it’s made pretty clear that however horrified he is by it in retrospect, Victor’s act of creation isn’t what rendered his creation monstrous—it was his subsequent cruelty and neglect. The “monster” had in him all the capabilities of reason and perception, it’s just that Victor’s own revulsion kept him from seeing that. That’s not playing god and suffering the consequences—that’s being driven to hate your own offspring by the narrowminded moralism of your reactionary worldview. Frankenstein’s sin isn’t inquiry, it’s fear of the result.

In that result we are shown a lesson society still refuses to internalize: monsters are made of men when we treat men like monsters. Nobody, not even an unnatural science experiment, is born monstrous so long as he has the capacity for reason (which the creature plainly does); only cruelty, born from the expectation of monstrosity, engenders it. Indeed I would argue we abuse and despise precisely those people we want good reason to hate: when they fulfill our expectations, we are pleased, seeing this as justification for our hatred from the beginning.

Frankenstein explores this dynamic in a one-to-one relationship, but of course it applies to social dynamics that appear at a much larger scale. The Frankensteins of this world will always misidentify their original sin as one of too much kindness or tolerance—as situated in the act of creation. This is ego flattering nonsense: “My problem is that I have an overabundance of virtue.” Their real sin is perfectly ordinary fear and disgust, which was just looking for a target to fixate on.

[da-rulah]

I saw an aesthetic picture about spreading Satan through the Internet recently and it got me thinking about being the IT support at the ministry, and which papas and ghouls would be best and worst at technology. So now I obviously want to hear your thoughts.

(I think Primo would surprise us by being surprisingly proficient, sort of like how my grandma mastered email and Facebook in her 80s.)

I have discussed this at great lengths with my best friend, @her-satanic-wiles, and these are the conclusions we have come to. These include all technology and use of the internet and social media habits.

Please enjoy as much as we did - it was too much fun. This is long, so i've put a page break in.

Some 18+ content here, MDNI!

Primo

As you said, surprisingly proficient.

He learns very fast, intently listening to you when you explain email, Microsoft Word & Excel, and Facebook.

He doesn't get Instagram but that's okay, that's not his target audience.

Doesn't understand how the internet works... "So, is it floating around in the air, or...?"

But he does know how to work it, and how to use it.

Secondo

No patience for technology at all.

If it doesn't work how it should, it is immediately referred to as broken.

"Mostrami solo le mie email, pezzo di merda!" you'll hear him scream from his office.

If it is not broken, it soon will be. His frustration makes him violent.

Got the iPhone 4 when it first came out but it perished in a mysterious fire. He doesn't know how it happened. Stop asking him.

Has been through four Ministry issued keyboards and one monitor that saw violent ends.

Terzo

Not bad at technology at all, in fact learns very quickly.

However, the discovery of Internet Pornography set him back in his paperwork by about a week.

He takes casual nudes and sends them to everyone, like him sat on the toilet or just having got out of the shower. Just because he can.

Your phone keeps saving them automatically and you have to do a mass exodus of Terzo nudes at least once a week to save your phone memory.

When you delete them he sends you more out of spite.

Ends up with Malware on his computer all the time from scam emails that promise him 'hot single babes in his area'.

The kind of guy to go on Omegle to flirt with random people, maybe find someone to jerk off with.

Copia

Boomer.

He's bloody useless, it always makes him feel like a silly old fool.

The only thing he can do by himself is search YouTube for rat videos, because you've shown him a million times.

Types with the screen close to his face and with one finger.

FaceTime angle of a typical dad.

"Look at this!" and proceeds to not flip the camera because he doesn't know how so you just end up staring at his face anyway.

SHOUTS when he's on the phone, no concept of noise at all.

Always forgetting his passwords - you get phone calls asking what his password for this and that is every. damn. day.

How many times do you have to remind him his phone unlocks with FaceID?!

Got scammed by a Facebook ad and had to change all his credit cards.

And now for the Ghouls...

Rain

He's VERY good with tech.

Quiet little genius, knows all the keyboard shortcuts and phone tips and tricks going.

Others ask him for help a lot, and he gets such a sense of pride when he can help them, swishing his tails and smiling to himself as he's helping.

Rain is also in charge of Copia's computer. He built it, fixed it, and cries every time Papa does something he shouldn’t to it.

Swiss

Technology conspiracy theorist.

He is terrified of tech, thinks it's listening to him all the time. Alexa is a demon he doesn't trust and his phone is an old Nokia he uses for emergencies ONLY.

That Nokia is also his weapon that he throws at people's heads when they piss him off. Which happens entirely too often and has caused some damage...

Mountain

Always up to date with the latest tech, never misses a launch.

He keeps leaving his second-hand phones in places Swiss will find them to trigger his technophobia and paranoia.

"DO THEY BREED, OR SOMETHING?!" Mountain is snickering outside his dorm listening to the chaos he's created.

Phantom

TROLL.

Chaos maker, through and through.

He is a serial redditer. The havoc he creates on there is diabolical, honestly.

Goes on Omegle to troll people.

He came across Papa Terzo one evening. They both agreed to never speak of what he saw ever again.

Plays on Swiss' technophobia along with Mountain.

He even created a cruel "conspiracy mode" on the Alexa that plays dramatic music, changes the lighting and shuts the window blinds in Swiss' room whilst Alexa tells him "I'm here, Swiss. I see everything."

Sodo

Has absolutely no interest in the internet or technology whatsoever.

Serial text forgetter. Sees you've text him, ignores it. Promises to get back to it. Never does.

When it comes to guitar tech though, he'll chew your ear off for hours. He knows EVERYTHING.

Ask him a question, but be prepared to be stuck there for approx. 45 minutes while he explains it in great detail with tangents you didn't ask for.

Aurora

Very good with tech, specifically social media.

Basically the social media manager of The Ghost Project.

She loves tiktok, makes them regularly. but it gives off 'Illegal Disney' vibes... Total crack.

Papa had to stop her making them and tell her to take them down.

Ask her about dance challenges - she knows them all.

Cumulus

CANNOT BE BOTHERED.

Why does everything take so long? Typing and everything... so much effort.

So she's a voice note kinda girl.

And they can be full blown podcasts, she talks and talks and talks....

Always takes Mountain's old phones after Swiss has been spooked by them. She hasn't bought a new phone in 6 years. Mountain is none the wiser.

Cirrus

Has a basic understanding, but feels guilty asking for help from IT support.

If an error message pops up, she'll panic and call Aurora.

"No but it says Error 404... WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!"

Queen of cat videos. Falls asleep to 10 hour loops of rain storms on YouTube.

[heathensimmer]

Hello, Simmers

Sorry I haven't been active with modding, I'm not doing so well mentally.

Probably why I'm building worlds ... my personal escapes.

I fixed up the roads in my recreation of Twinbrook from the Sims 3.

I guess you have to be really careful with selection of different road types in the new SimPe.

I built the City Hall and the plaza, and there is also a recreation of Sims 3 "Little Corsican Bistro" made by wonderful Sims 3 recreators up at the top. It needs to go in the green lot, but it can't because it's the wrong lot size! Any ideas? I don't think there's a way to fix this. Ima have to build Little Corsican Bistro again or as a last resort, stretch out the roads to the right and give the Bistro more space.

Mootilda’s LotAdjuster fixed it!!

Anyways, I have almost all of the pre-made households finished. They can't be seen from the above picture because I had to move them all out of the way of the road renovations!

The only household I did not create yet was the Iconic Curious household.

And what is the Sims 3 bio implying? Notzo's father apparently was going to discover something BIG at his science research job.

This could be the lore behind Twinbrook because when you resurrect dead Sims in Sims 3 Twinbrook, they all have pale green skin, they're basically swamp creatures.

But also, this could be a nod to eventual alien interactions. I am not quite sure.

Yes, in Twinbrook Sims 3, Notzo Curious is a toddler.

But if you remember from Sims 2 Strangetown, Pascal and Vidcund Curious have Notzo as an ancestor but he's supposedly dead and he died as an elder, which apparently does not line up with Sims 3 timeline .... he's allegedly their grandfather

So, that wouldn't work.

Unless ....

Twinbrook happened BEFORE Sunset Valley and Riverview etc etc.

Which lines up perfectly with my current narrative.

So far, I have played Sunset Valley to get a feel for 3t2 traits....

But Sunset Valley has to remain in the future. Bella Goth as a child does not exist yet....

My main two hoods are Roaring Heights and Twinbrook.

Twinbrook is underway...

My next project?

What should it be? What town comes next in Sims 2, Sims 3, and Sims 1 lore? What town was being built around the same time as Twinbrook? Strangetown lore people, help a brother out!!! There's sooo much lore and so little time ...

Here's what I have:

--Starlight Shores is like a monk's religious haven around this time ... not really ideal for building a recreation of yet.

--Twinbrook is rising in inventing ... Roaring Heights has architecture and film and poetry and class ... and technophobia ....

--Obviously, some of the supernatural hoods come to mind, but if I do Midnight Hollow, that means Olive Specter is a young adult and Nervous Subject is a toddler.

If Midnight Hollow happened way back then to fit for Notzo, then it becomes strange that Olive would only be an elder in Strangetown.

Thus, Midnight Hollow has to be built later.

I also need to work out Brandi Broke's timeline - Bob and Betty getting married, having her, her marriage to Skip Broke and how that fits with Bob and Betty Newbie being married and Childless in Sims 1!!!

But since there are no Sims 2 references in Appaloosa Plains, I think my sights are set on that ... Sun and Moon livestock, here I come!

Fascinating stuff.

Being a God is so hard.

I'll get back to research ....

[emiplayzmc]

Aaaaand... finally a ref sheet for Gabriel Lecter, my Deltarune Human OC! HE LOOKS SO SWEET IN THE LIGHT WORLD FORM ACK

Also thank you to @turntableart for helping with the skin + hair colour of Gabe'a Dark World design because I was STRUGGLING with it hjgfss- ty Turnip 🙏)

The Lecter Lore:

-37 years old, standing at 5'8, he/him

-3rd year medical student in Hometown, automatonophobic*

*Fear of robots - technically automatonophobia refers to HUMAN-LIKE robots and figures, but that was the closest fear I could find that encompassed SPECIFICALLY the appearance of robots rather than just 'the advancement of AI and technology in general' or 'the fear of robots taking human jobs' - technophobia and robophobia, respectively. If I'm able to find a more accurate phobia to just 'the appearance of robots in general' that's being changed.

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Gabriel fell into the Dark World in the Librarby computer room while he was studying for an exam and needed to do online research. When he arrived in the Dark World, his appearance enhanced and cyber-fied the looks of his college uniform and bag - as well as some of the colouring and traits of Ambyu-Lances, mainly the giant needle and the red-blue colouring.

Unfortunately for Gabriel, he had ended up in a world full of robotic creatures - his first encounter was with a Werewire in the Cyber Fields, launching him into a battle where he sees and feels his literal SOUL leaving his body to fight - a purple heart. Terrified of his new surroundings and unsure of whether he's having an incredibly elaborate nightmare or not, he fled the battle and subsequent ones with other Werewires, a few ViroViroKuns, and ESPECIALLY from Sweet Cap'n Cakes.

Meanwhile, the medical Ambyu-Lance named Ware is ALSO in the Cyber Fields, having chased after a ViroViroKun that he was supposed to watch for a law enforcement Ambyu while they called in backup. Searching for the Viro, he comes across Gabriel cowering on the other side of a puzzle. Being the impulsive Ambyu-Lance that he is, Ware got ECSTATIC to meet a Lightner, and also immediately launched into a battle with him. Unable to escape the puzzle area since Ware is blocking the entrance (unknowingly), he tries (and mostly fails) to dodge Ware's attacks.

Gabriel eventually gets to very low HP, hit with cuts and scrapes and electrical burns, and Ware finally notices that the former isn't attempting to fight back and seems to be trying his hardest to get away. Ware ends the battle and approaches Gabriel carefully, wanting to heal him and understand why he wasn't fighting back. After a while, Gabriel VERY reluctantly relents to letting Ware heal him, and Ware figures out that Gabriel has absolutely NO idea what's going on, meanwhile the human is panicking and hyperventilating and seemingly trying to pretend that he's in a very intense nightmare. After some deliberation, the Ambyu-Lance hesitantly offers to bring Gabriel to the main city so that he can meet with QUEEN and attempt to leave the Cyber World, to which Lecter (equally as hesitantly) agrees.

Skip to a while later, Gabriel Lecter figures out that he can't go home. A Lightner can only leave the Dark World if their current Dark Fountain is closed, or if they're near a Grand Fountain (aka, Castletown's fountain). Since Gabriel doesn't have the power or KNOWLEDGE to close a Fountain, nor do any of the Cyber World residents know where exactly a Grand Fountain IS... he's stuck in the Cyber World.

Ware, feeling like he's now RESPONSIBLE for the Lightner's safety, offers to let Lecter stay in his apartment and allow him to work at the Cyber City hospital, while also offering to teach him about the residents of the Cyber World and how to fight / live there. Over time, Gabriel becomes somewhat of a nurse to the hospital, and grows more comfortable around Ambyu-Lances and learning to be around other Darkners (Addisons and Werewerewires, especially, terrify him and take him the longest to get used to - the humanoid appearance of Addisons and the sheer size and strength of Werewerewires doesn't do favours for his phobia).

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Gabriel is a Perserverance SOUL, since even despite him being thrust into a terrifying world, he ends up trying to push through and make the best of his worst situation. His casual clothing tends to lean more towards light academia and comfortable clothing, although he certainly hasn't been opposed to walking around his house in scrubs all day - he doesn't really care about the texture of clothes as long as it's stuff that he regularly wears (in other words... he can sleep in jeans.).

He's almost always seen wearing an Alzheimer's Awareness pin on his clothes and with his messenger bag. In the Cyber World, the pin translates to two ribbons on either side of his coat, a golden button on the bag strap turns into a small gem on his breastpocket (as well as three smaller blue ones turning into gems that dot the perimeter of the bottom of his coat, and his bag and syringe pin turn into a strap for his main weapon - a syringe that can shoot out streams of liquid-based attacks and defense.

He's more of a reserved person, but he was a well-liked student in his class in the Light World with two or three close friends, and he got good grades. In the Cyber World, at first he's quite terrified of going around the city by himself, or even going out at all besides the hospital and Ware's townhouse. Eventually, he learns to somewhat step out of his comfort zone, and at first goes out with Ware, then slowly going on to do his own thing in the city as long as it's on a set route (such as to and from the hospital, shops, or the park).

He's also got a little bit of voice blindness (phonagnosia), which makes it hard for him to discern between voices - that's not made easier by the fact that Ambyu-Lances all have very similar voices: think of the Turrets from the Portal games, and that's very close to what I imagine for their voices (Ware, specifically, with a malfunctioned Turret voice). Gabriel noticed that a lot of Ambyu-Lances had distinguishing decals and stickers over their bodies, but he still ended up losing Ware in a crowd of them, especially if Ware took off his little moon decoration. So, Gabriel decided to put a large, glittery golden star on Ware's syringe-head (with the latter's permission, of course) so that he could identify his ally / friend easier.

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

Aaaand there's the Gabriel Lecter lore!! I actually love him now lol.

[vangel0x]

Technophobia: GETTING OUT page 2/10

[redsandspirit]

Matthew Stover ruined Dooku

It is perhaps generally accepted that Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is one of the best books ever written in the Star Wars universe, if not the best. It's not hard to see why, since in many ways the story is head and shoulders above the movie, and Anakin Skywalker is, in my opinion, better captured by the author than anywhere else in the Expanded Universe. Still, I can't say that I was completely satisfied with the novel. Count Dooku is one of my favorite EU characters and I was saddened by how he was portrayed by Stover.

Xenophobia

Matthew Stover's Darth Tyranus is a terrible xenophobe, who never fails to remind the reader of this even during conversations with his colleagues such as Grievous and Darth Sidious. He deeply believes that creating the Empire of Man is what he was born to do? Seriously? Dooku is so evil in this book that it seems as if he would have been able to carry out all of Palpatine's plans exactly to the smallest detail without the participation of Palpatine himself. I think Stover here erases the complexity of the character that Jude Watson and Sean Stewart were able to create, and that's something we'll come back to.

A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the Republic he so despised. The government he would serve would be Authority personified. Human authority. It was no accident that the primary powers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems were Neimoidian, Skakoan, Quarren and Aqualish, Muun and Gossam, Sy Myrthian and Koorivar and Geonosian. At war’s end the aliens would be crushed, stripped of all they possessed, and their systems and their wealth would be given into the hands of the only beings who could be trusted with them. Human beings. Dooku would serve an Empire of Man. And he would serve it as only he could. As he was born to. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

In the novels written before Revenge of the Sith, we saw many important episodes from Dooku's past, and there were no premises for xenophobia. As a child, he was constantly dealing with other sentient species in the Jedi Order, and his father figure was a literal gremlin. One of Dooku's childhood friends was Eero Iridian, who is also not human. Darth Tyranus shows some remorse due to the fact that he and Darth Sidious took advantage of the Troxans (a non-human species) to drain the Republic's resources. This definitely doesn't fit with the way in RotS Dooku gleefully imagines crushing non-humans under the new government.

“These are the envoys from Troxar,” his Master said. How could he know? Dooku didn’t ask. Darth Sidious knew. He always knew.“They are considering surrender,” Dooku said. “They claim they have a resistance planned, ready to rise in insurrection when the clone troops withdraw.” “No!” the flickering figure said sharply. “The war has already damaged the planet too much to make it worth saving. Its only value now is to chew up more troops and resources. Tell them they have to fight on. Promise them reinforcements—tell them you will be deploying a new fleet of advanced droids to retake the whole system within a month, if only they can hold on. Explain that such weapons will not be put in the hands of those who surrender.” “And when the month passes, and no reinforcements arrive?” “Help will come within another month at most. Promise them that, and make them believe it. I’ve shown you how.” “I understand,” Dooku said. How casually we betray our creatures. The hooded figure cocked its head. “Having an attack of conscience, my apprentice?” “No, Master.” He met the hooded figure’s hideous eye. “It was their own greed that brought them to you,” he said. “In their heart of hearts, they always knew what they were getting into.” - Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, 1

Technophobia

The next uncharacteristic trait that was added to the character is technophobia. Anakin Skywalker's prosthetic arm disgusts Dooku, and he almost spits bile while talking to Grievous. The aristocrat hates not only cyborgs, but also ordinary droids, calling them “repulsive” and hoping that they will be destroyed along with the General.

“Which is precisely,” Dooku said meditatively, “why it might be best if I were to kill him, instead.” “Are you so certain that you can?” “Please. Of what use is power unstructured by discipline? The boy is as much a danger to himself as he is to his enemies. And that mechanical arm—” Dooku’s lip curled with cultivated distaste. “Revolting.” “Then perhaps you should have spared his real arm.” “Hmp. A gentleman would have learned to fight one-handed.” Dooku flicked a dismissive wave. “He’s no longer even entirely human. With Grievous, the use of these bio-droid devices is almost forgivable; he was such a disgusting creature already that his mechanical parts are clearly an improvement. But a blend of droid and human? Appalling. The depths of bad taste. How are we to justify associating with him?” - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Dooku nodded judiciously to himself, frowning down at the translucent blue ghosts slinking toward Palpatine. “Sound the retreat for the entire strike force, General, and prepare the ship for jump. Once the Jedi are dead, I will join you on the bridge.”“As my lord commands. Grievous out.” “Indeed you are, you vile creature,” Dooku muttered to the dead comlink. “Out of luck, and out of time.” He cast the comlink aside and ignored its clatter across the deck. He had no further use for it. Let it be destroyed along with Grievous, those repulsive bodyguards of his, and the rest of the cruiser, once he was safely captured and away. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Why doesn't this make sense? As with xenophobia, the previous books and comics do not contain any hints that Dooku has disdain or hatred towards people with prosthetics and cyborgs. Moreover, when Grievous proposed using Geonosian technology on the Jedi Padawans for experimental purposes, Dooku approved the idea. Not to mention, the Sith Lord enjoyed Grievous' training.

Grievous had been a delight to train, as well. - Labyrinth of Evil, 22

Love and friendship

Next, Stover gaslights the reader by talking about the friendship between Dooku and Lorian Nod. Because if we go back to Legacy of the Jedi, it turns out that Dooku wasn't such a bad friend. He cares about Lorian and tries to be careful with his words so as not to hurt his feelings. Then after Lorian betrayed Dooku by blaming him for stealing the holocron, did Dooku worry about his reputation? Sure, but what unsettled him was that he was betrayed by someone so close to him. Even after what happened, he considers Nod his friend and cannot decide to refuse his request.

He doesn’t remember quite when he discovered this; it may have been when he was a young Padawan, betrayed by another learner who had claimed to be his friend. Lorian Nod had said it to his face: “You don’t know what friendship is.” And he didn’t. He had been angry, certainly; furious that his reputation had been put at risk. And he had been angry at himself, for his error in judgment: trusting as an ally one who was in fact an enemy. The most astonishing part of the whole affair had been that even after turning on him before the Jedi, the other boy had expected him to participate in a lie, in the name of their “friendship.” - Revenge of the Sith, 3

His best friend had betrayed him. Throughout the years at the Temple, he could always depend on Lorian. They had shared jokes and secrets. They had competed and helped each other. They had quarreled and made up. The fact that this person could betray him shocked him so deeply he felt sick. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Dooku didn't know what to say. He wasn't prepared to lie, but he couldn't say no to his friend. So he said nothing, and, after a long while, the two friends fell asleep. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Was Dooku the perfect friend? Of course not, and his pride played a role in escalating the conflict, as did Lorian’s envy, but to reduce everything to the words that “Dooku was different and did not understand friendship” I think is a monstrous simplification. The loss of his friend played a big role in Dooku's life, and that's how the story ends.

Lorian had been wrong. Dooku's heart hadn't been empty. He had loved his friend. But he had changed. Lorian had betrayed him. He would never believe in friendship again. If his heart was now empty of love, so be it. The Jedi did not believe in attachments. He would fill his heart with nobility and passion and commitment. He would become a great Jedi Master. Legacy of the Jedi, 6

We further learn that Dooku cannot care about the feelings of other beings and does not even see those around him as entirely real. Now, I don't by any means think that characters with these traits are a bad thing, or that you can't do something interesting with them, but that's not Dooku. We've seen how important his relationships with some of the other characters are to him (there's a whole novel written about him and Yoda), and that he cares to some extent about the feelings of those around him. Moreover, Stover will not explore these new traits, because Dooku will die in the next chapter anyway.

He is entirely incapable of caring what any given creature might feel for him. He cares only what that creature might do for him. Or to him. Very possibly, he is what he is because other beings just aren’t very … interesting. Or even, in a sense, entirely real. For Dooku, other beings are mostly abstractions, simple schematic sketches who fall into two essential categories. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Jedi Order

Stover's Dooku ideal Jedi Order would forcibly remove Force-sensitive children from their families. Perhaps it's just my opinion, but it seems strange in light of the fact that his rejection trauma, as described by Sean Stewart, is related to his parents and the Jedi Order.

And that Fist would become a power beyond any Jedi’s darkest dreams. The Jedi were not the only users of the Force in the galaxy; from Hapes to Haruun Kal, from Kiffu to Dathomir, powerful Force-capable humans and near-humans had long refused to surrender their children to lifelong bound servitude in the Jedi Order. They would not so refuse the Sith Army. They would not have the choice. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Ultimately, I can make the case that the ending of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous may have served to develop Dooku and make him even more bitter, but that doesn't justify the radical personality transplant Matthew Stover performed. And now, I often see these lines used to say that Dooku was always pure evil, had no good intentions and was always pretending, and also see questions like "as a human supremacist, what did Dooku think of Yoda?" And how can we know? All of these things were added to the character at the last minute and didn't match anything we'd seen before. This is not my Dooku.

[ruitethewingedfox]

Theory; The Magnus Protocol has fear entities, just not the ones we're used to.

Think about it; humanity's fears are so vast (no pun intended), there HAS to be more than just the 15 entities, right? There's

agoraphobia (fear or large spaces or crowds),

anthropophobia (fear of people or society),

anthophobia (fear of flowers)

Aphenphosmphobia (fear of being touched)(wow wasn't expecting to get called out making this theory-)

Ataxophobia (fear of disorganization)

Atychiphobia (fear of failure)

Belonephobia (fear of pins and NEEDLES)

Botanophobia (fear of plants)

Bibliophobia (fear of books)

Chionophobia (fear of snow)

Catagelophobia (fear of ridicule)

Catoptrophobia (fear of mirrors)

Chronomentrophobia (fear of clocks) (HUHM HUNM Lore Ruite for a while after February 14th 2023)

Cyberphobia (fear of COMPUTERS)

Dendrophobia (fear of trees)

Haphephobia (fear of touch in general) (wow called out again)

Koumpounophobia (fear of buttons)

Pteridophobia (fear of ferns)

Sociophobia (fear of social evaluation)

Somniphobia (fear of sleep)

Selenophobia (fear of the moon)

Technophobia (fear of TECHNOLOGY)

(Note; I only listed fears that I feel like could be grouped together into entities or have already appeared in the magnus protocol in some way)

Now of this list there are 2 I believe have already 100% showed themselves

-Cyberphobia/technophobia: in the form of Freddie, can you imagine the existential horrors of being pulled from your home universe and put inside a computer? I believe Alice and/or Colin may end up avatars of this entity; Alice because she's shown the most affection towards The Computer Gaggle and Freddie itself, and Colin because he's the head I.T.

-Belonephobia/Koumpounophobia: the most recent episode, the needles part is quite obvious on the surface, but the more I think about it, the more connections I make; Needles specifically mentioned stabbing their victim in the eyes, and buttons in place of eyes are a common design trope; needles and buttons are both used in sewing.

Maybe there'll be more connections that I make trying to fall asleep tonight, but for now, that's all!

[jennyurquizasblog]

Blog Post 3 2/13 Digital Divide

According to Ana Everette, how did she describe the reality of the digital divide?

The digital divide can be described as those who had access to technology and those who did not. In a way, those in the lower class had little to no access to technology, and those in the upper class had more access. But as Everette mentions, there was a black press before this digital divide. Black communities were still using technology to get what they wanted to say. Recently, the digital divide would be “Apple vs. Android.” Which is better? (Everett, 2002)

How did the black communities make a counterpart to black technophobia?

According to Everette, there was a counterpart to black technophobia known as black technophilia, which is described as how African American people were more active than people had initially thought. Not only in the digital realm, they also had their black press in the late 1800s. The barriers that they thought would keep them back, but they didn't. It might have been hard for them to get their word out, but they still did it to get their voice out. (Everett, 2002)

According to R. Benjamin, they talk about how names are being racially profiled. Why are certain people not getting called back when they apply for jobs? 

As mentioned in R. Benjamin's article, they write about how specific names, white-sounding names, are more likely to be called back than those with names of another ethnicity. They mention how names are now being used to racially profile those who apply for jobs. The same goes for how algorithms are also racially profiling names by associating them with negative sentiments. Technology may not be biased, but the people who create the codes and systems can be. (Benjamin, 2020)

Should tech companies be held accountable for how their systems are functioning?

In Noble's article, they talk about how the algorithms are antidiversity, such as Google, because of the web search they did to test the algorithm. When they searched for “black girls,” inappropriate and degrading sites (porn) would come up because of the search. Now the question is, should the tech companies be held accountable? I would say yes, as the article mentions most algorithms are biased and have inaccuracies in their system, like Google's algorithm is linked to viewing African Americans as animalistic. (Noble, 2018)

Benjamin, R. (2020). Introduction. In Race after technology: Abolitionist Tools for the new jim code (pp. 16–40). essay, Polity.

Everett, A. (2002). The revolution will be digitized. Social Text, 20(2), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-20-2_71-125

Noble, S. (2018). Introduction. In Algorithms of oppression (pp. 24–44). essay, New York University Press.

[paintinthesims]

I've still been playing TS3 lately, but since I've been playing on my save with my self-insert sim, I haven't bothered to blog about it since... well, I'll admit I'm a little embarrassed. 😅 I don't think I really have a reason to be though. It's not like I'm making my sim do anything weird or anything. It's just been her living with her bestie from the future and helping him achieve his dreams by supporting him with her Culinary job (which I'll admit I just chose for the special fridge you get at lvl 10).

I think it's kind of funny how he has the 'technophobia' trait, but his lifetime wish is to reach the top of the Law Enforcement career - forensics branch... To get the most out of that job, he needs to get a technology degree. XD

Anyways, something I've realized after playing this game so much is that I tend to forget a ton of things that happened after I step away for a while. So... I guess maybe I should just document things just for me sometimes.

[captainsupernoodle]

Thinking about Midnight again

its really good!

Sometimes a short story is "hey how do people react to Fear in this specific instance" and when it's done right it's a very visceral experience that sticks in the mind no matter the genre

But it's also a lovely microcosm of Ten, the best and the worst of him (on an average day, as opposed to when hes being attacked by his specific traumas)

Ten is a big old nerd and a control freak (I think their relationship with Donna is notable in that they try to share with her a little more and she puts up a huge fight when she wants to instead of letting them roll over her) so his reaction to the unknown is to put himself in charge because he knows stuff and people should listen to him!!

Like. Right off the bat he goes "everybody being on their phones is Boring, wouldn't it be better if we all talked to each other?" and immediately imposes his desire on everyone else without asking or trying anything else. Control freak.

So the moment they say "I don't know" that absolute control is shattered, and they don't adjust. As the situation devolves he keeps trying to appeal to logic and better nature, pushing and pushing until he lays down an ultimatum (do you really think you can commit murder?) based on incorrect assumptions about people's fear reactions. Drawing a line in the sand puts them on the other side of it instead of shocking people out of fear into thinking or threatening them into compliance.

Ten has been pretty "my way or I kill you/depose you/otherwise take away your ability to oppose me" since the very first episode so it all tracks

on the other hand he's trying SO HARD to be compassionate and to help all of them and to keep everyone safe! That's all they want! They genuinely do know more than the people around them and they're right on almost every count in this episode. Things might have not worked out depending on the critter's intentions but the chance of everything being okay would have been much higher if people Calmed Down and didn't try to hurt something they were scared of. Whether or not the Doctor is justified in the actions he takes, it's gotta be maddening to see people make the same mistakes over and over again and people dying and getting hurt about it when you're RIGHT THERE and you can FIX EVERYTHING if they just LISTENED

Contrast with Donna's communication techniques! She fights with the Doctor, is generally sarcastic and opinionated, but doesn't walk all over people in her daily life. When a situation needs someone to be in charge, though, she takes it with a level of calmness and confidence ("I'll take a salute" in poison sky, organizing the military and evacuation in Death and the Queen). One-on-one, she finds common ground with people and pays attention to their lives and troubles (meeting Martha, "temps united" in technophobia), and with vulnerable people she softens her voice and body language and gives them space to speak (the ood, kinda, um - almost every woman she meets lol but esp the assistant in silence in the library).

Yeah I think midnight would have played out very differently if Donna was there haha. The doctor can be an expert, and Donna can both comfort people and rein in the doctor when they're being overbearing.

Donna pays more attention to social cues (and she is a human! The doctor is not!! They're doing pretty good for being a completey different species!) and draws the doctor's attention to little but important things they often miss while looking at the big picture

the doctor has always been a rogue figure and almost always In Charge or up high on the relevant social ladder, while Donna defines herself as "just a temp" - nobody important, by definition someone who supports the social ladder instead of ever getting the chance to climb out and who's always moving from place to place. I think that shows in how she can deal with not being in charge while ten Struggles with it

Anyway midnight is good and Donna makes a very skilled doctor-human ambassador and friend