#ted-the-survivor

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Hey. I’m reading a book from the 80s about alien elephants that invade earth. What is your opinion on this concept, Frank?

I think I've been on this planet long enough that I would be able to enjoy this sort of thing (probably the reason I have the kind of tolerance for "out there" fiction that I have).

If anyone has an example of the kind of "out there" fiction that Frank would enjoy, I'd be curious to hear about it!

[vanellygal]

“Now who might you be, hm? Another machine?” Megabyte asked, his head tilted. The virus looked intrigued, and despite his frightening appearance he didn’t mean any harm.

Megabyte's appearance didn't bother Tim one bit. The shorter humanoid looked up at the other with his red and blue eyes. "Hi!". He chirped. "Yeah, I'm a railizen, a type of android.". The blonde struck his hand out to shake. "I'm Tim, it's nice to meet you! May I ask for your name?".

@ted-the-survivor

[ohhyperbola]

Recent Hancocks.

[thtfailedartist]

Finding a transparent lineup of the 5 survivors is unnecessarily hard so here you go. Feel free to take it and repost it wherever you want, don't even credit me. Take the shitpost material, my children

[shrews-art]

White chrysanthemums for grief, lavenders for devotion 🌸

[dr-mothman]

I think not a lot of people talk about AM's self-esteem issues and self-destructive tendencies and it makes me sad.

[papyrjam]

the crossover no one asked for but (i) desperately needed: dungeon meshi/survivor

tribe breakdowns and first tribal results because you KNNOOOW falin's gonna be one of those "everyone else here deserves it more!!!" first outs. she probably beefs a section of the first physical challenge and assumes a majority of the blame despite everyone else saying otherwise

edge of extinction for an excuse to 1. make falin hang out with anyone else who gets eliminated and 2. the juicy drama of who comes back from the edge of extinction post-merge looking absolutely FUCKED UPPPP and *hungry*......to WIN

marcille also wears her buff as a little bow scrunchie around her partial ponytale ala my favorite winner, bob <3

kabru is doing amazing pre-merge forging alliances and the second the merge hits and he has to meet laius it's so joever. kabru is crazy and wants him OUT but he can't propose it without sounding like he's playing too hard. he is constantly looking for immunity idols.

chilchuck follows show rules to a T: you can rifle through anyone and everyone's shit as long as you don't steal anything! he is also constantly looking for an immunity idol. he lies about his job, his family, EVERYTHING is kept up tight during down time. BUSINESS.

so my opinion is: unless you got senshi out pre-merge, he is winning. he is just going to win just like bob. he's affable, he's capable, he's smart -- give! the dilf! the million dollars!

and finally: no matter what happens. the second that there is a food auction, a food reward, a food anything - marcille activates every cell in her body bc she wants to win so badly. there ain't many cells to activate after withering away but she wants it!!

[lunar-years]

So I know people have talked about how Roy's anger and ways of dealing with that anger might trigger some stuff with Jamie given his history with abuse which is so very true, BUT I also think there's something worth exploring in the idea that the way Jamie deals with his father and processes his abuse might trigger Roy. We don't know exactly what happened with Roy's sister and her husband and Phoebe, but we certainly know how angry Roy is about it in canon. And I also think it's not an unfair assumption to think Roy carries around quite a lot of guilt over that too, guilt that he didn't see it sooner and guilt because he thinks he maybe wasn't there for his sister enough, or in the right ways, when it mattered. Guilt that he didn't help her get out of the situation sooner, even though much of that is wrapped up in the way abuse victims often conceal what they're going through from the people who care about them. Undoubtedly there were probably things his sister was keeping from him about the situation when it was happening, but knowing Roy I can also see him reflecting back and placing the blame entirely on himself for not being involved enough in her life to have seen it coming.

So I think like, the idea that Jamie would not only invite his father back into his life but also not tell anyone (not tell Roy) anything about it might genuinely be so triggering for Roy in that sense. It's not only that he's concerned about Jamie's wellbeing (though obviously that always takes priority) it's also that he feels like he's missed something again, something critical, and that a situation he's always feared happening with Phoebe & his sister and her ex is now playing out with this other person he loves. At Wembley he could handle it because it was James intruding where he didn't belong, and Roy had something to do immediately, a place to step in and a role to play. it would be sooooo much harder for him, I think, to comprehend Jamie being the one to reach out to James and blocking Roy out from helping him. Because then it's not only Jamie's wellbeing that scares him but also the fact that he feels completely helpless to do a anything about it, like there's no purpose for him and no way to make the situation any better or easier. ahhhhh.

[weadapt]

I think it’s interesting storytelling how in the beginning of the game Cal says the Sixth Sister’s name, Masana Tide, and reminds her of who she used to be—and it visibly distresses her because it hurts what was done to her and Cal isn’t wrong in what he’s saying. The shocking thing for me was the moment when Cal said “It’s time to set you free”. It was such a surreal feeling hearing Cal say that, those kinds of words, to know he decided it was time to strike her down; it’s understandable because she killed his entire crew, but for Cal to be the executioner in that way was scary to see coming after only experiencing the young kid he was in Fallen Order. Now you really get the feeling Cal has been through a lot, he’s grown as a man since Fallen Order and he’s calloused, not entirely in a bad way given he’d have to be to survive but still in a depressing way, as a result. I know overall and gameplay wise, Cal has killed a lot of people, it’s nothing new, but storytelling wise it’s a serious moment for Cal. It’s a moment you know is going to follow him the rest of the game for character development. After he kills her, it’s made clear by the music and by Cal’s body language that this isn’t a good thing coming from him. It isn’t a triumph. Even BD-1 knows and worries for Cal with his little “Boop…?” and Cal is only able to respond rather shakily, “Yeah… I’m okay”.

When he meets up with Bode and Bravo and they ask him what happened to the Inquisitor, he gives a simple, no emotion, “Dead”. The long pause of Bravo not saying anything in response to me says a lot; it feels like he isn’t used to Cal having a reaction like that.

Then we have Rayvis. Cal defeats him in battle and asks him to join in the fight against Dagan. He doesn’t want to kill Rayvis—“You don’t have to do this”. The oddly tragic part to me is that Rayvis has dreams of seeing Tanalorr again. If Dagan succeeds his dream will be realized, but he’s given up on the dream and wants a warrior’s death now. He wants to die, and in his mind, honorably, by Cal’s hands, and he’s going to force Cal to do it. But for Cal it’s another execution on his part. He pauses before he lifts his saber and kills Rayvis. It isn’t a triumph. Again we’re given a sudden swell of music to tell us the emotion behind the action of killing Rayvis. You can see it’s affected Cal badly. BD-1 seems to ask Cal the same question as before, “Boop…?” but this time Cal doesn’t acknowledge the question and just replies, “We should go”.

Killing Dagan hurts for Cal too. Dagan is a Jedi, someone who held onto the Order, who tied his entire identity to it and all of his goals are focused on restoring the Order and fighting to change the universe. Just like Cal in a way. Dagan is single-mindedly focused on the mission, so obsessively, he lost himself and the one he loved as a result. Cal understands and see the parallel of that kind of drive in his own mission against the Empire and it terrifies him. Dagan could’ve helped him fight the Empire but it became another tragic moment of having to kill a once fellow Jedi. This is another tragedy. Bode doesn’t care about Dagan being dead on the floor but Cal does. Cal has enough respect to place Dagan’s lightsaber on his chest. Cal pauses to reflect but Bode immediately gets back to getting the compass.

We have this interesting arch of reactions to killing his opponents. They were each killed for the mission. It was necessary. They each started the fight against him. No matter the reason though, it’s still very painful for Cal.

Cal is being pushed into this direction of forcing him to question his beliefs and who he is. His whole identity at this point has been tied to the Order, of being a Jedi, and it’s very clear by his conversations in Fallen Order that it really matters to who he is. By the end of Survivor, we have three fallen Jedi: Masana Tide, Dagan Gera, and Bode Akuna. So who is Cal Kestis? What will he become? Is he doomed to fall like they did? That’s what troubles him—“Let’s just say I don’t wanna end up like him [Dagan]”.

He’s afraid he’s going to lose himself.

The fear is almost realized when he’s about to kill another opponent. The one behind the murders of his friends and mentors. Cal’s been killing each of his main opponents up to the point at Nova Garon—this one will be no different. Except killing the man who sent Bode on the mission to infiltrate his team is different. Cal is on the edge of losing himself to the Dark Side. In Fallen Order he pleaded for Cere not to use the Dark Side because “She’s stronger than that”, “[she] still had a choice”. But Cal is failing to remember any of that for himself. He wants to kill because he’s angry, grieving, and in immense pain. Merrin has to bring him back—“This is not you!” There’s a question of whether or not Cal would’ve been able to stop himself if Merrin hadn’t been there though.

When we get to the final battle, Merrin is warning Cal of what’s likely going to happen but he ignores her for a while which prompts her to say, “Well? Say something!” He doesn’t want to acknowledge that Merrin is right and they’re likely going to have to kill Bode, and with that, taking Kata’s father away—a loss of family Cal and Merrin know too much about. So they both try and give Bode every chance to stop and turn away from what he’s done, despite how much Bode had hurt them. Sadly, Cal once again is forced into using the Dark Side to prevent Bode from killing Merrin. It was worth it. It was worth using it to save Merrin. He couldn’t let her be killed. He couldn’t see that happen before his eyes like he had with all of his friends and mentors.

After everything is over, there’s this sickly feeling left behind. Not simply because of Bode’s death, but because of the impact on Merrin realizing Kata has lost family just like she and Cal had, but also because of the impact the death of Bode has on Cal. And after Cal carries away Bode’s body, the music changes to an eerie, ominous, high pitch, minor key when we see Cal board the Mantis. The kind of change in music which lets the audience know there’s something seriously wrong. Things are different now. Cal’s different. And he knows it.

He’s lost in time watching the pyre, reflecting on everything that had happened but also on how grateful he is to Cere, but he knows the impact of her loss will continue to be with him for the rest of his life. Just like Jaro Tapal. Another guiding force in his life is gone. With Cere and Cordova gone, there is no longer any Jedi wisdom to seek out. He’s now alone in that way as a Jedi.

“I’m scared… I almost lost myself… I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Cal and the audience are left with the dreadful realization—

“I don’t know if I’m ready for what comes next”.

[eeveekitti]

day 16: the monk achievement

healthiest sibling relationship ever

[vanellygal]

The cat-like AM was busy attempting to terrify the local conspiracy theorist after a day of knocking over trash cans in his anger at Joshua. Ted had noticed the chaos from out the window, and now had a serious, albeit nervous expression.

“I- I think we need to do something about that AM-Cat thing…” He said.

Sure enough, the local conspiracy theorist, Desmond, was being terroized by AM. The whole scene played in front of them from a distance. "Damn you vile feline Terminator creature! I will no longer cower in fear!". Desmond bravely grabbed onto a metal bat and swung at the other. He temporarily disappeared from their view, but seconds later he ran in terror.

Joshua watched the entire scene, and facepalmed. He let out a long sigh. "Yeah, that we do.". He turned away from the window. "Oh, did I tell you he payed me a visit at my store today? He really thought that I'd hand you over.". He shook his head. Joshua pondered, and put his finger to his chin. "Hm, I suppose we could somehow lure AM to us. Then we'd catch him, and disconnect him from his vessel.". He referred to the cat bot AM was using.

@ted-the-survivor

[ohhyperbola]

Drew Hancock and Gene being cozy together to loosen up a bit.

[maljaws]

Apologies for being late!

Life and thumbnailing this was, messy, but for @hermannsprecursors , Happy Secret Surviviors 2023!

My prompt was “I’m SUPER into the religious motifs if IHNMAIMS, and I would LOVE something that leans into that. Torment those bitches with their robo god, Yk?”, I hope I did it justice! The lamb of god was a particular inspiration!

This was made to be a phone background specifically, under the cut will be how it works on my phone, I would’ve asked you your phone but I hope it works well on yours! Also, other unused thumbnails, including a few stained glass ideas I may revisit one day!

Feel free to use it! Id love to see it in use!

[twosides--samecoin]

Wasteland adoption be like "this grown-ass 22-year-old woman is my daughter now"

You can read about Jack and how he's fumbling through the fatherhood he never got to experience with the child he thought he'd lost his chance to raise here

[maidahselky]

IHNMAIMS Babysitter AU

Also weezer toddlers

[jamiesfootball]

Word Game Wednesday

Question

Greg cocked his head like an inquisitive barn owl watching a classroom full of mice take a test. “The same is true for what we do for the people around us. Could be that what one person sees as help, another sees as enabling. And what looks like good advice looks for someone, someone else might see as–”

“‘Feeding him to the lions,’” quoted Ted. “That’s what my friend – not my old friend; my other friend, Roy – that’s what he said when he called. That I’d fed Jamie to the fudging lions, although he painted that  picture with a much more explicit brush.”

Greg overlooked the joke with the same calm patience that Dr. Sharon Fieldstone herself wielded. It must be one of the prerequisites that came with signing up for a job that involved listening to people natter on to you about their problems.

Ted dropped his gaze to his coffee. “I thought I was helping.”

“Alright then.” Greg waved his cup, broadly gesturing to the world at large. “Tell me, Ted. How did you help?”

And ooh, boy, wasn’t that a loaded question. How did a fellow even begin to explain the tricky puzzle book that was one Mr. Jamie Tartt?