#the world is saved and the dinosaurs Alive

[hauntingblue]

I have connected two dots... yamato kaido and momo (and kinda shirahoshi with her top) have clouds above their shoulders... and luffy in gear fourth has them also.... I can see the signs

[jennydwren]

My Arthur: Some Night Thoughts

In between the cancellation of The Acolyte (there's still hope, Clone Wars came back) and the premiere of Rings of Power S2 -- and I PROMISE you that each and every dudebro I blocked in these situations on the former bird app either had crypto in bio or a timeline that was entirely focused on a sports team... I mean, why not think about RDR2? I want to think what it means that so many players speak of MY Arthur, like we all have little pocket Arthurs as pets. "I like my Arthur to be a scary bad guy so I keep him shaved bald." "Well, my Arthur looks his best with Level 7 or 8 hair and a Level 1 or 2 beard." "This time I'm making sure that my Arthur has the best satchel and the Legend of the East outfit." "I always pamper my Arthur before a hard mission. I buy him a ribeye steak at a saloon, get him a bath, and let him sleep just one more night in a hotel. I feed him up to Overweight before Guarma and Chapter 6." "My Arthur is high honor. He would never do XYZ." "Oh yeah? I think my Arthur loves being low honor and beating the crap out of people." "Weird. My Arthur's favorite missions are the dinosaur bones." All of these Arthurs are different and yet the same. All of them are doomed. You have to rewind the timeline and go back to a Chapter 2 save to have a healthy Arthur who can chat and sing with his compadres at the campfire. Nobody's Arthur, until you take him out of the game and into some of the absolutely and utterly beautiful fanart and fanfics, can succeed with Mary Linton, or Charles for that matter. The R* canon Arthur is always doomed. What does it say about us that we can't bear to let go of him, even though his own dialogue tells us he clearly sees the writing on the wall as early as Chapter 1? Is it just the natural human abhorrence of the reality that we too will someday die without accomplishing all that we wanted to? I can relate. Big mood, Arthur. In fragmenting into all of these disparate Arthurs -- Roger Clark has pointed out more people own copies of the game than live in Ireland -- maybe that's how the egregore, the Arthur conjured from the collective consciousness of millions of individual players, stays alive. Many writers of fanfics want their Arthur to be theirs. Not just a rough fuck on daddy's kitchen counter, although I've read that story too, and not just the Not Enough Beds trope, though that too was a fine story. They want to smash Arthur because who doesn't? But they want him to love them, despite R* Arthur having not one single solitary relationship skill. This new Arthur teaches you to draw (the preponderance of Arthur fics I've read involve a "you" reader). Your wish that he address you as he does a mare, "That's mah good girl," comes resplendently true. Sometimes, such are the fix-him powers of You that You and he escape the gang before the name Thomas Downes can be uttered. Arthur's heart beats for You and You alone. Sometimes he protects You from danger. Sometimes he accepts a free sample of sponge cake from You in a bakery. All of these Arthurs go out Arthuring all over the wrong but familiar RDR2 America, often with You at their side. Sometimes You even find him on the cliffside before his rattling last breath, and drag him to safety and a warm, dry climate. One Arthur I read was even saved by a doctor in Mexico with the only available treatment of the period -- collapsing part of the lung -- and recovered fully, having four kids with Sadie Adler and saving most of the RDR world along the way.

You can have your Arthur and play him too. Indeed, a fresh shot of Roger Clark's bravura performance -- combined, as he is the first to point out, with the animators' work, for example giving him the most delicious lower lip -- compounds the infatuation should it threaten to recede.

People suffer profound grief over this game. Of course, it is their own grief from non-digital life: "It is Margaret you mourn for" -- Gerard Manley Hopkins. Perhaps the loss of their Arthur and the way his surviving friends gradually adjust to the loss helps people make room for the holes in their own lives. But that's the thing. That's the comfort at the bottom of the grief pit.

Because once you find your Arthur, including within yourself (I don't just mean cosplay, but I've seen people of all genders don the stained blue workshirt, the suspenders, the neckerchief, the goddamn hat, and wear Arthur on their bodies)... you can't ever really lose him. He changes you. And that may be the strangest and most wonderful thing you can say about a work of fiction.

Keep sharing your Arthurs. The chibis, the young Arthurs cradling poor Isaac or reading to child John Marston, the AUs, the low-honor black coyotes and the high-honor 14-point stags. Marthur, Charthur, Albert Mason x Arthur. All the versions of him. Because they're also You.

[fatallyaddictedtofiction]

My favourite Spn headcanons!

Btw most of these are separate- im a chronic "70 thousand different AUs for like 3 characters" girlie

Hard of Hearing Dean due to the amount of guns he's been shooting since being a kid. This is why they use silent signals when staking out places, because Dean couldn't hear the whispers.

Following on from that point, that's why Sam knows some ASL, because Dean and Sam learned as kids when Sam noticed Dean was struggling to hear especially on his right ear, and every so often Dean would teach Sam a sign that didn't mean what it actually meant (eg fuck instead of thanks)

Transfem Sam: the allegory of demon blood and feeling inherently wrong and out of place in your own body, feeling evil for not being "normal", running away to get away from John's disappointment (at this point in time Dean didnt know he was a boy so he thought he had no sons but then;

Transmasc Dean: trying to prove to his dad that he's worth it by becoming him (and overly masculine to compensate) unhealthy binding at first but when John finds out he gets Dean something decent (only because Dean can't hunt or protect Sammy if his ribs are crushed)

Following on from those, they swap clothes all the time and because Dean is smaller the clothes are big, comfy and euphoria inducing, and with Sam theyre a little tighter and she likes how it fits. John doesn't comment on it usually but occasionally grimaces when they're painting their nails together

Angels actually grow up, so Chuck had to actually raise them, but once Michael and Lucifer were around 16/15 (in cosmic aeons ofc) he relegated those duties to them to raise Uriel & Gabriel, then the others including Cas. For special cases like Naomi, Chuck raised her himself

The angels' true forms have "cores" that represent some aspect of them. Michael has a something similar to a sun or star, Naomi has liquid mercury, Castiel has a stormy ocean, Anna has spores/leaf-like things

The angel siblings betted on which dinosaur would last the longest, then Chuck thought they were getting too sentimental and sent the asteroid down

Dean hates orange juice because they couldn't afford it as kids but tried to always get it because that was Sam's favourite (Dean likes apple juice more because it looks like whiskey)

Jo, Dean and Sam used to play together as little kids, then they forgot about each other as the years went by and it broke Ellen's heart to see the boys still hunting after all those years of not seeing them

As a kid, Dean wrote letters to Mary, and left them on the nightstand of whatever motel they were staying in. John reads them and cries so hard. He always keeps them in his jacket as a reminder of what he made his kids lose and when Dean asks where they went John tries not to cry and says "i posted them, she'll read them. Dont worry". The day Dean stopped writing letters was the day John hit Dean for the first time.

Dean is dyslexic, but still helped Sam do his homework as much as he could. Because Dean mainly taught Sam how to read and write, Sam sometimes gets stuff wrong until he learns the right way at school, then comes home and teaches Dean. Dean pretends to be grumpy but hes actually really proud & grateful

Sam has a favourite stuffed toy that he still keeps with him to this day. Its a really beat up dog with floppy ears that he's never washed because he's scared it will fall apart

Cas practices Dean's (and others) mannerisms while he isn't with them so he feels like hes scaring them less (Dean finds it adorable but sad that Cas feels like he has to)

Sapphic Dean and Cas

After they save the world and theyre ALL alive and happy, Jack de-ages to around 12 and goes to school, Cas becomes a grief counsellor, Sam becomes a teacher, Dean needs more time to adjust, but eventually he and Eileen go into social working with kids

Jody and Donna are together and adopted Claire Alex & Patience.

Dean asks Jody for advice on rearing Jack the 12-year-old but Donna is of more use in that situation as Jody didn't get to raise her son to that age and the girls were past that, and Donna was around for her niece growing up so she texts Dean advice all the time

Cas likes to draw, and he ends up drawing Dean a lot ("still beautiful, still Dean Winchester")

[ailendolin]

More (general) thoughts after watching Jurassic World Chaos Theory:

I love that trauma is one of the main themes of it. Those kids have been through a lot and instead of it getting swept under the rug, we see Kenji having a panic attack, Yaz going to therapy (and finding a way to help other people like her deal with dinosaur-related trauma), Sammy sort of ignoring what happened and trying to carry on as usual, Darius becoming reclusive up to the point where Kenji talks more to his mom than he does and Ben going down the conspiracy theory hole. They all responded differently to what happened and we see the aftermath of that - which includes all of them growing apart as they try come to terms with what happened to them - and it was so well done

one thing that irked me about Ben and Darius road trip was how Darius got annoyed at Ben for not keeping quiet while he was trying to sleep. For all we know Ben has been driving for hours, maybe even days at that point - first to Darius's place, then to Sammy's - so I think he can be excused for giving off so much nervous energy. Also Darius, maybe offer to drive next time instead of getting annoyed at your friend who just saved your life

speaking if these two - I know many people ship them and while I personally am a Ben/Kenji shipper, I can't be the only one who thought the whole Darius/Kenji/Brooklynn triangle is the perfect set up for Darius and Kenji realising they can be happy together without Brooklynn, right?

on that not, let me talk about Benji real quick. Those two didn't have many scenes together but boy am I here for them co-parenting Bumpy's egg and Kenji comforting Ben and helping him after he got hurt

Yaz casually bringing up Ben's pterosaur-related trauma was interesting. It implies they've reached a point where they can all joke about it but I'm not so sure that's the case. Ben's trauma has always been played down a little and I wonder if he might not just be very good at hiding it from his friends. Also, after getting traumatised by air (flying/falling), he can now add trauma by water (drowning) to the growing list. So what's next? Earth (getting buried alive)?

I'm still not a fan of the Jurassic World Allosaurus design. Big Al my beloved I miss you and your beautiful looks.

Also speaking of things I'm not a fan of in the franchise: where the hell are all these dinosaurs coming from? There are whole herds roaming across the US, hundreds of dinosaurs being sold world-wide, creepy people training raptors to perfection, species that weren't on InGen or Masrani's lists cropping up left and right - and I'm supposed to believe all that happened in a few years? This is not JWCT's fault (mainly Dominion's) but omg I hate how it just makes no sense. Especially considering how relatively easy it should have been to neutralise the large dinosaurs after they escaped Lockwood Manor. It's the small ones like the Compsognathus that are the true problem in this scenario. But no, somehow dinosaurs have overrun the US and we can't get them under control. Sure.

Brooklynn faking her death is going to cause so much pain when the truth comes out and given how great the show has handled trauma, grief and betrayal so far, I'm so here for it

speaking of faking deaths - there's a possibility Kenji's dad is not dead, right? That this was staged as well? Because if he turns out to be alive too, then Kenji's in for a very rough ride

Creepy raptor lady is a very cool villain. I love how ruthless and emotionless she seems the whole time until we get a crack in the facade when her Atrociraptors get hurt. Makes her way more interesting than if she'd just been, for lack of a better word, a robot

My Ben-specific post about the first season is here.

[nuttyhatter]

The one where Sutekh is a good boy...

Ok, look, this makes abso-fucking-lutely no sense. Like, at all. But still, I'm writing it.

I don't know what/who Sutekh was in previous Doctor Who seasons, but going by what I just saw (and I already watched Empire of Death), I want Sutekh to be Doctor's multiversal dog.

I don't know why, but that's what my mind chose to stay with.

I think about Sutekh traveling on the TARDIS and watching the whole universe and time with the Doctor and meeting, if only as an espectator, all those who traveled with the Doctor.

Warning: Liberal use of curse words.

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

Imagine Sutekh watching the Doctor risk their own life time and time again to save other people.

Imagine how he could have reacted to the Doctor meeting Ruby, someone who was so ordinary, yet along with her mother had touched so many people's lives. Imagine Sutekh watching them risking it all to get to the goblings and save a baby they met maybe an hour ago, only to end up singing in front of the gobling king.

And then the Doctor freaking out and going to save Ruby.

And then this dog-looking entity finds the mistery of Ruby and starts to get curious about a person, someone who is alive and is not the Doctor.

And Ruby stars traveling with the Doctor (and with him) on TARDIS, and one day, they get to the babies.

And Sutekh never saw much sense in life when everything in the end would be the same, but then he watched the Doctor and Ruby meet all this babies who shouldn't be babies anymore, who shouldn't be living there, pretty much by themselves, terrified of some strange being who lives in the lower part of the ship. Babies who were deemed mistakes, who were supposed to be abandoned, whose lives should ended years ago, who shouldn't even had come into existence.

And the Doctor and Ruby again do their best to save them because even if every other person decided that those kids weren't important, weren't good enough, weren't worth it, they both cared.

And you know what? That weird baby monster (whose origin Sutekh decided to pointedly ignore) with the power to inflict fear even in the Doctor by growling at the right frequence was kind of interesting... I mean, it wouldn't live forever, and Sutekh would make sure of that, but maybe, just maybe a little more time to see what thosee spacial-babies got up to...

Sutekh didn't appreciate Master showing up and causing a ruckus by stealing all music. He didn't get why the Doctor and Ruby cared so much either. It was just music, some noise all put together in some semblance of order and repeated time and time again.

He wasn't expecting the fucking End of Times because there was no music and humans decided to collectively fuck shit up-

And how was it that he still couldn't bring his Empire into existence with this crazy assholes at the proverbial wheel of this world? You take away music and they destroy the planet? Give the world back to the dinosaurs, that's what he says! (But not the cats, NEVER the cats, they already have too much of an ego for his liking...)

Anyways, that's when they go back and try to re-insert music in the world. Ruby plays the piano. She is... not bad.

He was actually not-hating it (he wasn't liking it, he doesn't do "like") when Master decides to show up and interrupt by trying to still the music from Ruby.

Things get really insane from there (but what else is new?) and Master is about to kill Ruby (which doesn't bother him at all, of course) when a Christmas carol starts coming out of that too strange but somehow still perfectly, reasonably ordinary girl. What...?

John Lennon and Paul McCarthy found the chord that expelled Master from this plain of existence. That doesn't surprise Sutekh at all, they were geniuses after all... Not that he knew anything about the Beat- that band he knew nothing at all about.

The Doctor stepped on a mine. The Doctor. Stepped. On a fucking MINE!

Centuries, maybe eons across the galaxy and the time lord goes into a war zone without looking and steps on a mine. Of course they do. Go throw your life away after battling the literal embodiment of death! See who cares!

The tube was a corpse. He didn't know how. He didn't want to know either.

There was a girl then, and even Sutekh knew that a girl of that age in that place was every kind of wrong. That soldier who came looking for her was exasperating. Couldn't she see that they were a bit busy right now trying not to explode?

Right, the Doctor is a time lord, he would make some interesting fireworks all over the planet... And the TARDIS. The TARDIS he was currently on. Shit.

Alright, the soldier had an idea that perhaps may work and- Where the fuck did that came from?! Who did this?! WHO-?!

Ruby was dying and that idiotic ambulance wouldn't do shit to help and the Doctor was still on the mine and WHY was that girl still here?!

The mine would activate eventually regardless of what the Doctor did and those two soldiers could not hack the system to make it help Ruby or the Doctor and the girl was talking with an hologram of his late father and watching photos and everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong. WRONG!

Ruby was still on the floor and didn't seem to be breathing and the Doctor was talking and... what did he mean? He didn't understand? The system? The ambulances? The war and the-?

THEY WERE A BUNCH OF FUCKING IDIOTS!!

This "soldiers" had been going to die at the hands of stupid robots thinking that they were at war with some kind of hostile alien race that probably was not even real and they were getting hi-Ruby and the Doctor killed!

And they had the gal to doubt the Doctor when he was basically spelling it out to them!

And did that guy really just confess his love to the other soldier? Now? Really?!

The hologram was the actual father of the girl yet. Sort of. Somehow. Somewhere. Sutekh didn't know. He didn't know either how the Doctor managed to convince it (him? Who cares!) to hack the system to help them, but they managed and-

The ambulances were attacking them. Great. Why not?

And the Doctor was still standing on the mine. Sure, whatever. Then-

Go, you weird hologram who definitely shouldn't be so sentient and have so much capacity for decision-making!!!!!

He released a great sigh when they left that planet (finally!). Ruby was alive, the Doctor hadn't exploded and Sutekh was on his spot over the TARDIS.

See? This was a clear show of the reasons life was simply ridiculous and way too chaotic.

Death was the final answer... Or not so final if the hologram of the girl's dad was anything to go by. Sutekh had never cared too much about what the living thought happened with them after death, he already knew... or thought he knew...

Nop. Not today. There had been more than enough stress already.

Sutekh then decided to rest. He got himself comfortable over the TARDIS and laid his head over his crossed paws, slowly falling asleep.

He suddenly opened his eyes, unable to decide if he should hit his own head repeatedly against TARDIS' roof or simply throw himself into the void and disappear along with his own sheer stupidity.

The woman in the ambulance. The ambulance. It was his, one of the multiple copies he made to plant across the universe. It was all him. His fault. He nearly killed Ruby and the Doctor. He...

Doesn't care. That's pretty much what he's trying to do, anyways. So what?

He settled back to rest and tried to sleep. It wasn't as comfortable as before.

Every person in this planet is so annoying, Sutekh cannot even begin to describe it. They were being eaten by slugs. Fucking. Slugs.

And those things ate over half the population before these idiots realised.

No, allow him to correct himself: Those things had had a feast with over half the population by the time Ruby and the Doctor stumbled across this planet and decided to try and save this stupid, ungrateful shits.

The girl couldn't walk. Sutekh gave up. This was more than what he was able to tolerate. It was just too much.

Then that boy appeared and wasn't a complete dumbass. So maybe Ruby and the Doctor's efforts weren't completely wasted... Not that it was worth anything, anyways. Everyone dies in the end.

The dots were behind the attack of the slugs. Honestly, couldn't they swith sides and help the dots instead? They were nice and easy to carry and could play music. How many of the fuckers in this planet could do that, huh?

He felt it, the moment the other boy's heart stopped beating. Then the girl met with Ruby and the Doctor by the river and said something about him going back to save others.

Lies.

Sutekh didn't want her on TARDIS. She wasn't worth it, she wasn't worthy and she... she could be dangerous for Ruby and for the Doctor. He needed to do something before-

Those people were speaking, saying something in response to the Doctor's (too generous) offer to come with him and-

MOTHERFUCKING RACIST BITCHES!!!!

Go and keep your stupid planet, and stupid forest and slugs. Without WIFI. Do you know where you can find WIFI? In TARDIS, that's where!

Sutekh's mood was definitely awful by the time he heard the screaming Doctor.

He didn't get it. Why did they care so much? This people didn't deserve their care.

But nevertheless, the Doctor yelled himself hoarse and cried in despair.

Ruby hugged him.

Sutekh felt a very uncomfortable knot in his chest.

They were visiting the past-Earth so Ruby and the Doctor could have their "Bridgerton experience". That didn't mean much to Sutekh since all knowing and ever present entities didn't care about such trivialities as human entertainment.

(Also, Penelophe deserved better.)

The Doctor met some random guy who invited him to go outside... And wasn't that a bit foward for this time?

There was a space ship. Random-guy was a bounty hunter and thought that the Doctor was from some shape-shifting alien race that killed people and took their places in a twisted play that had no point in Sutekh's opinion.

Also, the guy called himself Rogue. Took the name from DND. Huh...

Doctor, you don't keep flirting with the dude who is threatening to kill you, that's not how it work!

Why did it work?!

And why is he on TARDIS? He is not Ruby, he is not the Doctor either. He is not an anomaly, he is not interesting. Why is he on TARDIS?

Why would the Doctor want this guy to come with them? He's another of the thousands of bounty hunters that roam the Universe with the sole purpose of earning money. And ok, that wasn't bad, per se. But it wasn't funny either... Not that he'd been having fun watching the Doctor and Ruby.

Oh, right, the shifter was still on the party with all those people... AND RUBY.

Fuck! Doctor, what are you waiting for?! That girl can be a real trouble magnet!

With some luck, she is still with that other boring girl.

The Doctor and Rogue were dancing and making a scandal of themselves, trying to attract the shifter. The Doctor also looked very... content, not like they did with Ruby but...

Maybe there was something to this Rogue- guy after all, if he could make the Doctor so happy with only a short dance.

He seems a bit rusty in the acting department though, the Doctor was carrying the whole show over his own shoulders and-

Wait, is Rogue kneeling? He is! He did! And he has a ring too!! And-

*cough cough*

Not that Sutekh cared. He doesn't give a damn about some fake marriage proposal of some fake gay couple.

Nevertheless, he is willing to allow Rogue on TARDIS after such and improvisation. He is gracious like that.

There were more shifters. And they liked the Doctor, they wanted to replace him too (as if they ever could...)

The shifters got to Ruby. They got to his the girl.

Now the shifters were celebrating a fake wedding with fake-Ruby as the bride.

The Doctor and Rogue got the shifters trapped into the portal and were about to send them away when fake-Ruby started a last ditch attempt to save herself by saying she was the real Ruby, but that couldn't be, for the mannerisms and even the scent of fake-Ruby was like that of the shifters Sutekh had encountered throughout his life.

Then the shifter that attacked Ruby appeared. Fake-Ruby was no fake and she was now trapped in the portal with the other shifters. She'd be sent to a desolate nightmare dimension with those creatures and she'd be on her own, if the Doctor didn't do something, anything. But there was nothing to do now, or the shifters would escape and break havoc.

Ruby was crying, all the while reassuring the Doctor, saying that it was ok.

It fucking wasn't.

Rogue asked the Doctor if they could give up a friend for the world. The Doctor said they couldn't and Sutekh... Sutekh thought he might understand.

Then Rogue kissed the Doctor. He took the detonator from their hand. The Doctor was crying and Rogue looked so fucking sorry.

Was he going to sacrifice Ruby? If he dared to...

Rogue jumped toward Ruby and pushed her out of the still inactive portal.

He threw the flowers at the Doctor.

'Find me'. That was all the bounty hunter said before activating the portal and falling with the shifters into some remote part of the Universe.

The Doctor kept trying to act as if everything was fine. As if they were fine. They weren't and they had no reason to.

Sutekh had been bringing death to this Universe since the Beginning and he knew loss, if only by watching it in others. People needed to mourn. This wasn't right.

But Ruby was there and she cut straight through the Doctor's bullshit.

They hugged and cried.

Sutekh, at the end, didn't dislike the bounty hunter. And Rogue had saved Ruby. He did it for the Doctor, didn't he? At least, that was all Sutekh could assume.

Why though? Why give it all for the happiness of someone you just met?

Perhaps Rogue was an anomaly too, after all.

An anomaly that was lost in some knot of the immense tapestry that were time and space. Imposble to track.

At least, impossible when you are not a death-deity with the ability to sense every living being in the Universe.

As things were, Sutekh was and could. So, he'd guide TARDIS. A little deviation from its intended course to the place were he had tracked the bounty hunter.

Then, Sutekh would add him to his collection of Oddities.

(And if it made a certain Doctor happy, so what?)

The hardest part was convincing TARDIS of cooperating with him instead of the Doctor for once. But she complied once he told her about his plan.

The TARDIS was stuck in a death-world while Ruby and the Doctor went out to find some piece of metal to fix the (very much not at all broken) TARDIS.

They were attacked by one of the shifters, but the creature was swiftly dealt with. It was also easily recognised.

The search for metal quickly changed to a search for Rogue.

They found him hiding away, dirty and hungry, in quite the deplorable state. But, and this Sutekh knew, Rogue was very much alive. The man was strong and had a good survival instincts.

Rogue was disbelieving, half convinced the Doctor and Ruby were the shifters. The Doctor reasoned that the only way for the shifter to replace them was by killing them. For that they had to be there and if they were there, there was no way the shifters got close enough to attack them and succeed. A bit of a twisted logic, if you ask Sutekh, but Rogue seemed to take it. The man was exhausted and probably desparate, so...

In their way back to TARDIS, they found the rest of the shifters.

On the upside, Rogue was sure now that Ruby and the Doctor were real. On the downside, angry and violent shifters.

But Ruby, the little marvel, had put on her earrings.

Sutekh had never seen such a graceful and impecable display of violence. He may take a look into MMA tournaments some time in the future... For research purposes, of course. He couldn't care less about these mortal petty activities.

They reached TARDIS, with a couple of the remaining shifter on their tail.

That's when they realised they had forgotten to look for a piece of metal.

It didn't matter, TARDIS wasn't broken. The Doctor surely would make another attempt at restarting TARDIS and she would function just fine. Except that she didn't.

Sutekh questioned her about it. He suppressed the urge to face-palmed, hard, when she explained that she didn't want to trick her creator, so she broke herself. It was just a minor thing, really, but now she truly needed a piece of metal.

The shifters were back now, banging at the door, the wood quickly cracking under the relentless assault.

The three passengers were frantic, looking for some metal chunk that'd work to fix TARDIS.

Sutekh was mad. At TARDIS for being so reckless, but also at himself for unknowingly asking such a thing of her.

But he wasn't just angry. There was and awful ball of something twisting in his stomach when he thought about TARDIS hurting herself at his request. About Ruby, the Doctor and Rogue, in danger because of his carelessness. It was the same feeling that had assaulted him a while back when they were leaving that war-zone of a planet and he realised the ambulance had been one of his creations. He felt bad, but he didn't understood why he cared. He felt... was this guilt? He didn't like it. He didn't.

Ruby screeched in fear when a big chunck of the door flew past her head, the shifters still banging at it.

The sound brought Sutekh back to reality.

Metal, they needed metal. A big piece, the Doctor had said. Something around the size of a human fist, something like...

Sutekh quickly undid his own collar and maneuvered one of its rings out. He put it inside one of TARDIS' compartments and she let it fall at the Doctor's feet. They used it to fix TARDIS and leave the planet.

Ten minutes after their departure and a heartfelt embrace from Rogue and Doctor (coupled with a Ruby Sunday patented hug for Rogue as a thanks for saving her), Sutekh could finally breath again.

Only for his own brain to halt when he realised a tiny, little detail about the previous ordeal. Not only had he guided TARDIS to Rogue and plotted with her to find and rescue him, but he had also helped Ruby, the Doctor and Rogue to fix TARDIS. This time, he hadn't been just a witness of the events. He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

And with a pitiful whine, Sutekh covered his head with both paws and tried to sleep his shame and confusion away.

TARDIS laughed at him. The fucker.

Things pretty much fell into a rutine after that. Or as close to a rutine as it could be with the Doctor.

Rogue and the Doctor grew closer by the day while Ruby tried to (not-so-subtly) get them into different date-like situations. Sutekh learned about the new concept of "ships" and "shiping". It has noting to do with sailig, but it is a bit interesting. Only a little bit.

And of course, the trio fell into uncountable dangerous situations.

Sometimes they got themselves out of troubles all on their own. But there were times when they didn't. Those times, Sutekh teamed up with TARDIS to rescue their Oddities. (Usually Sutekh wouldn't share, but TARDIS was a very valuable ally and he also appreciated her input and their conversations. Sutekh ignored TARDIS when she threw in the word "friandship".)

And so, there was the time the space-pirates tried to feed them to the intergalactic kraken and the TARDIS teleported "on her own" to a spot conveniently located below them before they fell into the mouth of the crearure.

Or that time when those huge quimera-like creatures were about to get them, and the rocks over the cliff they were under fell all over the monsters.

Or that time when the key-card of that guard "slipped" out of his pocket and fell just into Ruby's reach so she could get the three of them out of their cells.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Sutekh had his spot over TARDIS and his little Anomalies lived and went on adventures and helped people around the galaxy. All the while unaware of the strange and unlikely being who reluctantly (not really, but shhh...) got them out of the most difficult troubles (it'a pronounced "taking care of them", but he is not ready to say it yet).

Then, one day, the three of them were cornered by a group of dream sucking, mosquito-lizard beings. They suck you dry and leave you as a shell of your former self. Most end their own existence after that.

There was no rocks to throw, no void to jump into, no door to be magically opened. So he did the one think he knew how to do best: He blew his sand.

Immediately the disgusting creatures turned to asshes. The trio ran away, back to TARDIS, ancient artifact they were retrieving in hand.

The Doctor set course back to the mother planet of the ugly rock they were in. Ruby and Rogue decided to call it a day and go to sleep.

Around an hour later, the Doctor started talking. It wasn't weird, not even uncommon, for the Doctor to chat with TARDIS.

Except...

'Sutekh,' he called.

The dog-like deity debated with himself for long seconds. Should he keep hiding? The Doctor clearly knew he was there, but maybe-

The Doctor started looking for something in one of the inside pockets of his jacket.

'I wasn't sure where I had seen this before,' they started saying, showing of the ring Sutekh had taken off his collar so the Doctor could fix TARDIS. 'But I knew I had and it gave some very unusal lectures when scanned by TARDIS'. The Doctor was smiling at noting in particular, speaking loud enough to be heard in the room, but not too much, in order to allow the rest of TARDIS' small crew thir due rest. 'And today, with that sand...' The Doctor didn't continue, chuckling and denying with his head instead, as if amused at some ridiculous story someone was telling him.

'Show yourself, please' they asked then, quietly, carefully, as if speaking to a scared child.

Sutekh should have been very offended. Instead, he materialized in front of the Doctor, using a smaller version of his usual form. The Doctor was actually taller than him now.

The time lord sat on the floor in such a way it was Sutekh now the one towering over them.

'So...,' the Doctor started. 'Care to explain yourself?' They sounded curious. Not angry, scared or resentful. Just curious, as if discovering the embodiment of death in your time maching was an every day thing.

'I hid,' Sutekh chose to start with. 'When you intended to throw me into the void, I got to TARDIS. I've been hiding here since then.'

'And weren't you planning your revenge? A way to make all life end and create your own desolate galaxy?' The tone was playful, but there was wariness underneath it all.

Sutekh didn't answer. He wasn't sure why, but the idea of confessing his previous plans was somehow worse than being discovered in TARDIS.

He had just enough time to realize he refered to his own plans as a thing from the past, when the Doctor spoke again.

'What's changed?'

Sutekh wasn't sure what the Doctor had seen in him during the few seconds he stayed silent, but he sounded less uncertain and more exited.

And he didn't know why, but that was a good thing.

'I belive...' he said, thinking over his answer. 'I belive, it was me.'

That realisation was as terrifying as it was exhilarating. And Sutekh had no idea what to do with it.

The Doctor stood up then, swiftly and gracefuly, as he always did. He walked to the controls of TARDIS, then looked at him with a broad smile.

'Then?, they asked. 'Where should we go next?'

Sutekh couldn't help but return the smile.

He was unsure, painfully so, and for the first time in his very long life. There was still a lot of bad blood between them, and even if Ruby didn't know who he was, Rogue was sure going to know something about him.

But looking at the smiling, lonely and too fogiving Doctor in front of him, with the bipping sounds of TARDIS in the backround, Sutekh decided that it was ok.

They had time to dealt with it all.

[seashelldom]

— TARDY ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

Volume One !

pairing: ao'nung x na'vi omaticaya fem!reader

genre: mentions of death, blood, guns, etc. (not as extreme as sounds.) minor spoilers.

synopsis: Y/N, you are the firstborn of the Sully family a mere one year older than Neteyam. After the fiasco with the sky people, the decision was made. You and your family were set to reach the Metkayina clan in hopes of saving your people. But, in a twist of events, your own arrival was affected by an attack. Sky people. What happens to you? Or your family?

wc: 818

a/n: first fic ! hope i do it right 😭 ao'nung isn't introduced in part 1 but he will be later on!! nevertheless, enjoy!

Crouched down I was listening to my parents quarrel in their non-stop argument and a serious one at that. Whether or not we had left our home would determine the safety of the people. Our people. ("No! This is our home!", yelled Neytiri.) I got taken aback by my mother and father arguing so I stepped back into the hands of Neteyam. His eyes were hopeful with desperation.

"When will they stop?", muttered Tuk in a drained voice. Her eyelids felt like the weight of the world was on them. ("This will protect the people! ...... Quaritch has Spi.... that kid knows everything!") Tired yourself, you picked up your little sister and entered the tent.

Both your mother and father glared at you with rage. Not for you but for each other. "Tuktirey is tired. I am tired. Everyone is tired. Save this for another night." Neytiri looked at Tuk feeling a strong wave of motherhood over her. With her instincts, she paced to you and lifted her youngest and watched shortly as she snoozed in her arms.

"There's no need to continue this another night. We're leaving for the Metkayina clan islands first thing next week.", said your Father with his roaring voice. Looking over, Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Kiri fixated on their own opinions but it all came down to it. We were headed to the islands next week.

Kiri was sitting next to me, packing all her trinkets and whatnot for the journey ahead of us. "We don't need those things if we're on banshees for days.", you said in a playfully smug tone. "We need food." Kiri just rolled her eyes to not contribute to my attempt at amusement.

Brushing off my own remark I reminded myself I was supposed to go hunt. "... That reminds me, I'm off to the forest for some meat.", you swiftly spoke before Kiri reminded you that your father said to return before eclipse.

I nodded in understanding, grabbed my bow, and walked out of the tent.

While hunting I took in the beauty of Eywa the trees and roots, some flowers blooming and some not. Breathing the fresh air of the forest before having to breathe a salty one. I just couldn't keep my mind off having to leave the forests, our home. A swift motion snapped me out of my constant sadistic thoughts. I quickly leaped on the branches of the trees surrounding me to get a better aim at the hexapod I had seen. This beast was a good catch, if I hit it, it would suffice the entire family for a good 3 days. Just when I was about to shoot it with my bow I heard something and the creature dashed away. Gun. Bullet. Shot. Blood. Dead. Loud. These thoughts were racing through my head until my moment of realization. Sky people. I sprinted with urgent panic thinking about my family. Were they still alive even? I heard many crashes and screaming. I heard my mother. Oh my god. Was she scared? Or looking for me? How is Tuk? And my siblings? When I got to the scene I was quiet and alert because I was so frightened. "They're gone, rode off on their dinosaur pets.", said one voice. I glanced for a second and saw soldier sky people, the ones my father had fought with. The ones that killed many of my people and the Hometree. Before I knew it they had left in their massive metal creature. When I ran to the tents there was no one. At least no one was alive to tell me was had happened. I dashed as fast as I could to my family's tent and there was no one in sight. Tears left my eyes as I dropped to the floor at the sight of so many of my people dead. I remembered what the sky people had said earlier. "They're gone, rode off.." My family might've been alive and well. They must've rode off at the sight of the sky people. If they weren't in the tent or forest then there was one location they would be at. The Metkayina.

© seashelldom 2023 ; all rights reserved ; do not translate, copy, claim my work as your own, or repost on another site.

[icyowl]

NOW! Hear me out yandere vash {maybe throw in knives as the second yandere because may the reader show him human kindness or something like that} with reader like at first it's like a strange feeling to vash like ick but it started getting worse and worsening by time he know it his overprotective & possessive/obsessive over the reader and the rest is to you {And to throw in more drama to the flame make the reader related wolfwood so we have overprotective big brother! 👍} {+F!reader before I forget}

what's up!!

Now, yandere isn't my thing really..... but eh, who cares! Might as well get out of my box now and again:

Vash:

first are the thoughts. Like, he's thinking about you at all hours of the day. Food -- would you like if he got some for you? Sleep -- how are you sleeping? Are you cold or alone? Even in battle when he should be worrying about himself or others, he's only like where is she is she safe what if someone kidnaps her or takes her hostage I gotta find her help I'm fighting three bounty hunters and can't focus

At first he's a little put off because he has other things on his mind: his brother, saving the world, and staying alive, he doesn't have time for wandering thoughts. And like, why you? What is it about you that's special to him? why does he care what he does around you, or how he looks? Why is he insisting you put your tent next to his? Why does he want to offer the last bit of his food to make sure you're full? Why does he feel like he needs to see if his hair is the right kind of messy in any mirror he can find?

All it took was one time for you to wear his coat and do the dinosaur arms as a joke and Vash is gone. Now he does whatever he can to get and keep you in it: are you cold? You look cold, take my coat. It's sunny out, you should wear it to keep from getting sunburned. It restricts me, here, hold onto it for me. Oh, but I think you look so good in red. He daydreams about you in his coat. Maybe in only his coat.

It makes him feel like he's somehow got you wrapped up under his protection even if it's not really him exactly. Protective instincts go bbrrrrrrr

What was once a silly little quirk he had toward you has developed into a borderline problem. By now, he goes absolute gunslinger mode whenever someone tries to hurt you. He's pistol-whipping a guy across the face or shooting their weapon out of their hand before they can flinch or, if things get really spicy, he's even shoved the barrel into the mouth of a few guys, asking them to beg and swallow

And as Wolfwood's little sister, you bet your booty Nick and Vash are at each other's throats usually. Nick is being protective, but he also is genuinely creeped out by the way Vash looks at you. . . like he wants to devour you. More than once Vash has gotten on his last nerve and suddenly there's a six-foot-tall cross-shaped Gatling gun stabbed into the ground between you and Vash as some kind of barrier. Want a few extra holes, needle-noggin?

You've been the one unsullied thing in Nick's twisted, disgraceful life and he ain't about to let you out of his sight any time soon.

The one time they reconcile their differences is if someone manages to mess with you. Then it's on sight: Nick's got the high ground, Vash has the low ground, and suddenly the perpetrator-turned-victim has a gun to both his head and his kneecaps, or, if he's especially smarmy, right on his unmentionables. Their teamwork is breathtaking when they try.

You're the only one that can get them to back off or chill out, whether it be to strangers or each other. Occasionally Vash is so devoted and Nick is so belligerent that they end up in a flurry of fists and kicks in the sand, but in the end, they know when it comes down to it, they can rely on each other when it comes to you.

Kni

I'm not much into Kni, but I'll do my best

Doesn't like when you call him Knives. Everyone else has to, but you? NO. Kni is Kni is Kni, not Knives or Millions or psycho or anything else.

You get free reign of the entire complex. Ultimate security clearance.

Everyone knows not to step on your toes or Kni will see to it they aren't a problem for you anymore.

One time, you get roughed up by some underling and end up flat on your stomach on the ground. You try to get up, to fight back, but suddenly several bladed whips have dug into the ground around you, caging you in and protecting you from harm. You look over your shoulder to see Kni, positively bristling with anger.

Loves to run his knife-whip-things over your body. He'd never hurt you with them, he just likes touching you; using his own hands and arms feels too human.

Yeah. That's what I got. Hope you like!

[swan2swan]

And I just fixed my little plot itch of "Dinosaur fights could NOT have been lucrative enough of a prospect for people to go all-in on them":

Exactly.

They're not.

But you start with Dinosaur Fights. A cruel fight between two creatures that have no right to be alive save for your money...and that's where you put the line. You have established that "dinosaur dogfighting" is bad and evil, and that it's much better to keep the dinosaurs alive for other things.

Which then justifies farming. And pet sales. And military use. Because now you've shown the world something terrible, and they have a baseline. As long as you don't cross that baseline (which also turns people toward it, because look at how forbidden!), you can get away with anything. And people who insist that this is "wrong" will now have to back down any time they complain about dinosaurs existing in the first place.

[linguist-in-a-blanket]

You know what's great about Firefly? (Except for everything.)

Stupid little things.

When you think about space western action/drama, you imagine big plots. Contraband. Noble thieves. Double- and tripple-crossing allies turned enemies turned reluctant allies. Death of the first person you felt real connection in years with. War PTSD. And it's all true. And all of that could make Firefly an amusing action series.

BUT!

It's never just that. The found family thing, which is what we watch it for, doesn't come from big gestures, nearly dying, saving each other...

Most of this show's charm is domestic fluff while they're just hanging out.

They play basketball. They chase each other for apples (of which there's a whole crate left). They tell dinner stories. They play stupid made-up cards games with stupid paper cards. They work out. They braid each other's hair. They play with dinosaurs.

And it makes this world and these characters so alive, so real. With just one basketball scene at the beginning of an episode, the whole thing comes to life.

[memekais]

daredevil sentence starters. s1ep6: condemned. feel free to change pronouns as needed!

interlock your fingers behind your head and get on your knees.

take care of him like we were told. no witnesses.

lying to that woman is impossible.

swear to god, that asshole knew i was a righty.

you find anyone alive, shoot 'em in the head.

that sounds pretty bad, but i don't speak asshole.

you got the wrong guy, i don't kill people. not even scumbags like you who deserve it.

and if i believe you and give you what you want to know... what do i get out of it?

oh, that explains it. the stabbing pain in my side.

i don't really go to the movies. i like records though.

don't let up... no matter how much he screams.

stay quiet, answer my questions or your night's gonna get a hell of a lot worse.

the world's a shitty place. you can quote me.

problems are just opportunities that haven't presented themselves.

if i didn't need you alive, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

so, you just stand there and let me die, huh? but you couldn't kill me yourself. is that where you draw the line?

you think you're different... from me? from him? but you'll get there. sooner or later... we all do, men like us.

right now, i'm your only shot at getting out of this building alive.

this is not how i die. this is not how it happens.

how's it feel, knowing your days passed? you're like the freaking dinosaurs, watching that big rock crashing into 'em.

i still got a few good stories in me.

i'm the closest he has to family. he'd do the same for me.

you've played the hero enough for one day. you're here and safe, so let's keep it that way, okay?

it was fun... watching you bleed.

you've been asking about me. i thought it was about time we spoke.

i want to save this city, like you... only on a scale that matters.

life is not a fairytale. not everyone deserves... a happy ending.

not that i don't admire what you're trying to do... to change the world... with nothing but desire in your own two hands, secure in the knowledge that you're doing the right thing, the only thing. that's something that i do understand. but we both can't have what we want. so your part in this drama, by necessity, comes to an end.

it's gonna take a lot more than a voice on a radio to stop me.

it's not me you need to worry about. it's the city you just blew the hell out of.

you're a child playing at being a hero.

i'm not trying to be a hero. i'm just a guy that got fed up with men like you and i decided to do something about it.

that's what makes you dangerous. it's not the mask. it's not the skills. it's your ideology. the lone man... who thinks he can make a difference.

i respect your conviction... even if it runs counter with my own.

keep telling yourself you've won. it'll make what i'm gonna do to you so much more satisfying.

general rule... guys who wear masks have something to hide, and it usually ain't good.

the moment you put on the mask, you got into a cage with animals. animals don't stop fighting. not until one of them is dead.

[riddledeep]

Dimmadome + Leadly family tree (via GenoPro); click to enlarge

- Dimmalonius and Francis Macdome Dimm appeared as statues (and implied ancestors) in "Lost and Founder's Day." - Dale Dimm appeared in "Which Witch Is Which?" and Dimmsdale is named after him; he saved the settlement from Alden Bitterroot's rampage in 1665 (See also, Crocker Family Tree). - Dimmsdale was settled by the English despite surrounding areas being settled by the Spanish; in Riddleverse canon, it exists in place of Los Angeles. - An ancestor - likely a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent of Duncan - founded Dimmadelphia (which can't be younger than the Electric Light Ice Cream Float parade in "A Dinosaur In Dimmadelphia," which hasn't been canceled in over 115 years). - Doug is responsible for changing his family's surname to Dimmadome (circa 1965). Prior him, they were Dimms. - Doug's mom (Griselda) comes from a family with a hand in real estate. His dad (Duncan) really propelled the Dimm family to being successful business owners, earning the nickname Development. - It's only after Doug (age 15) struck gold in 1953 ("Lost and Founder's Day") that the family wealth really took off, catapulting him into landing a marriage with the upper class Pearl Doe. Dale is the first in his family to be born in excessive wealth. - Pearl disappeared right around the time Dale did, playing into Doug's belief that his wife took their son and ran. They're not divorced... but definitely separated. - Doug (age 76) died in 2014, around the time Dev was born (to Dale's devastation). Pearl is still alive in Dev's childhood, but Dale has some... issues with her. - ADHD and OCD are extremely common in the Dimmadome family line [alongside lactose intolerance]- Doug, Dale, and Dev have all 3. Unfortunately, their family doesn't really "believe in mental health," so the first two tend to go untreated. Hadley also has ADHD and OCD and is at least semi-helpful to Dale and Dev (when she's around). - Ed Leadly is the owner of Timmy's Dad's workplace (Pencil Nexus; "The Boss of Me") and was shown to be extremely wealthy in "Dog Gone." Dev gets his growth hormone deficiency and hypoglycemia through the Leadly side of his family. - Hadley is a 12-year-old godkid when Timmy is 10. She was heavily referenced in the one-shot "End of the World" and appears in "Back In Action," "Trying Too Hard," and other stories from Timmy's youth. She appeared as an adult in "50 Words of Dev and Hazel" when Dev visited her in Tokyo. - Several Dimmadomes are referenced (or appear directly) in Lemonade and Papercuts and 130 Prompt #96, "You Deserve It." - ...... Hmm. Dale, Hadley, and especially Dev's character profiles might have more info on that mystery sibling...

Click HERE for my Fairly OddParents worldbuilding masterpost

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - September 10th

 Hey, friends!! Short and dirty this week, I’m on a whirlwind trip to help my bestie paint her house so--enjoy and be sure to leave comments/kudos! 

~*~ 

Ain't It A Shame, Too Bad? by Carsonian

On his twenty-fourth birthday, Tony was saved from drowning by a man he has yet to find. In other news, Tony's fallen hard for the mute, scrawny blond that washed up on his kingdom's shoreline two-and-a-half days ago. These two things can't possibly be related, can they?

A Gentle Lullaby by navaan

They, all of them, are mortal and sometimes their brushes with death bring them closer to it than other people ever get. Fighting is what they do. But fighting for other people's survival without a thought to your own safety is easy when you're not leaving someone behind. Good then, that they don't have any families left... Until Hydra drops a new bundle of responsibility right in their laps. But that might not even be their biggest problem.

Crash Love by S_Hylor

It’s just sex. Just sex between two consenting adults who don’t have feelings for each other beyond the camaraderie that comes from being on the same team.

It’s just sex. Until it isn’t. It’s not love. Until it is.

To Liars and Saving the World by magicasen 

When Tony's life is in danger, Steve does the only thing he can do to save his teammate: he makes an honest man out of him. Steve and Tony's sham marriage is only supposed to be a blip in their history that no one has to know about. But when they're outed to the press, and with ghosts from his past coming to haunt him, Steve must come to terms with the idea that his own feelings for Tony might not be a lie.

Wrapped Up in Your Love by iam93percentstardust 

Tony has a bad day, so Steve takes care of him.

america's pastime by JenTheSweetie

The thing about the Annual Intra-Avengers Baseball Game was that it was always a little... contentious.

nothing left but scars by SailorChibi

Steve wakes up to the fact that no one ever compliments or even says thank you to Tony, and that he has fallen into the same trap of painting Tony with a specific paintbrush.

This is how he showers a very confused Tony with praise to make up for it.

a slow ticking wildness by starvels (dinosaur) 

Three weeks ago, Tony burned his hands in his forge. Since then, he's been unable to use them, useless and listless.

Relying on the kindness of strangers ain't exactly his expertise. Luckily, Sheriff Steve Rogers has good hands and a heart hale enough to keep offering bits of help and hope to Tony, no matter that he ain't all that good at accepting them.

when it feels right by complicationstoo 

“You’re actually hiring me after that?” Tony asks, the disbelief clear in his watery brown eyes.

Steve shrugs, “Gotta start somewhere, right? And if you’re terrible, it’s not like I can’t fire you.”

  Or, the one where Steve owns a bakery and Tony needs a job.

Diamonds Or Twine by complicationstoo 

A hand on his shoulder grabs his attention, and Steve realizes he’s been staring off into space as Bucky says, “Hey, man. You good?”

“I’m going to propose to Tony.”

So Little Left to Give by Sineala 

Steve's alive again... but Tony isn't anywhere to be found. Steve knows what to do about that. His quest to find Tony takes him to the frozen depths of Russia, to rescue Tony from one of his greatest foes. But that's not all he has to contend with. Tony's in the process of deleting his own brain, and Steve doesn't know if the man he finds will still remember him.

the hedgehog (and one million blue whales) by soliloquent 

“Hm. But, how hard?” Tony challenges.

Steve ponders for a second. “As hard as one million blue whales sitting on you.”

“One million?” Tony looks genuinely in awe. “I reckon that would crush one tiny hedgehog, don’t you think?”

“Nah. You're all spiky. Small, but feisty. The whales wouldn't stand a chance.”

—⎊—

or: Steve and Tony's love story unfolding through a series of everyday moments in the span of two years, pieced together to paint the canvas of their intertwined lives — a precious portrait woven with quirky whale-themed endearments, meaningful acts of service, soothing showers, cherished gifts, and one adorable hedgehog. 🦔

Hold Me Down by tinystark616

Steve asks Tony to wear one of his iron man suits and hold his wrists down during sex.

Tony gives Steve what he wants, and more.

Teacher, Teacher, Can You Reach Me? by Politzania

After spotting a flyer at a new coffee shop, Rhodey dares Tony to attend a Sip and Sketch class; turns out the twinky blond barista is also the class instructor.

Stony AUniverse Bingo - AU: Teacher -- Tony Stark Bingo - Dares/Bets -- Tony Stark This or That - Best Friend -- July Break Bingo - Location: Art Studio

To Make Flowers Grow (In This Barren Heart) by KakushiMiko, SoldiersShield

“You hide yourself away in your technology, but you are just as human as the rest of them. Your heart betrays your desire to possess.” Her gaze falls to the arc reactor, and Tony's blood runs cold in his veins.

“The Earth will reclaim what we have lost,” she says, dragging a hand over the chestplate of the armor. “It is you, and your kind-- your greed that pulls life from the soil as if it were nothing. You will reap what you have sown, Stark. The avarice in your heart will strangle the very life out of you.” Arna meets his eyes once more, a serene smile on her face as she leans forward.

“I hope he is worth dying for,” she murmurs, before digging her hand into his ribcage.

 (Tony Stark falls in love with Steve Rogers. A rogue enchantress ensures he pays for it.)

A Guiding Hand by KandiSheek

Tony is perpetually stressed. His job, his divorce and his insomnia are making his life a living hell. He just can't seem to catch a break.

That is until his boss Steve inadvertently gives him exactly what Tony needs - a firm hand. Tony hasn't played with his submissive tendencies in years, but he knows an opportunity when he sees one. And as it turns out, Steve is more than happy to give him the guidance he craves.

Made of Stars by KagekaNecavi

Deep in the heart of World War II, Steve, Bucky, the Invaders, and the Howling Commandos are getting close to finding the portion of Hydra controlled by the Red Skull and defeating him. As they close in, they receive intelligence that he has am unusual escape method - a machine powered by a mysterious gem that might give Skull the ability to move through time. This seems like a red herring to them, but when Steve and Bucky corner Skull, he uses it.

Steve and Bucky follow Skull and the next thing Steve knows, he’s waking up on a spaceship called the Avenger and the Red Skull - who went back in time, not forward - has ruled the known galaxy for the last several hundred years. Now he’s working with the rebels to usurp the Red Skull and trying to navigate this strange, amazing new world with his new friends and companions at his side.

[homestuckreplay]

"apply loking thign" [sic]

(page 242-245)

TT: I've found no evidence that anyone has successfully created the item.

WELL, THEY DID IT. THEY MADE A WHOLE APPLE. They are definitely not equipped to do this, it feels like they backdoored their way into succeeding through luck, risky storm behavior and narrative convenience, and it feels REALLY good. Obviously the threat isn't over yet, but I love to see John get a win, even when it's small.

When the alchemiter made blocks, they were just blocks. When it makes an apple, it shows us the full life cycle of the apple - sprouting the tree it grows from, then the fruit itself, then dropping the fruit and dying. This has fascinating implications for punch card alchemy. That pre-punched card didn't just store data about the apple at a given moment in time, it stores the apple's entire past leading up to the moment it takes this form. This could be connected to the elixir of life, which has historically been one of the things alchemists have tried to discover.

I really want to know if the items on the pre-punched card are random per game session, or if not, what determines them and what possibilities there are. We only know the apple and the eggy loking thign, both of which are living things, so could that be the link? Also, is this a real, actual apple that is/was alive and provides sustenance and nutrients (and was the egg a real egg that could hatch a bird/snake/dinosaur etc?) That's an insane amount of power for a video game to have, and it feels like every time we learn something else about what Sburb can do it only increases its world-altering potential, and its possibilities to go horrifically wrong.

Of course, the tree and the apple are also reminiscent of the tree of knowledge - the religious themes have been here throughout the comic, and I've made the Garden of Eden link with gardenGnostic as well. In Christianity, Eve giving into temptation and eating the fruit is the original sin and leads to exile, while in Gnosticism, eating the fruit is necessary and the only way to save humanity, seeing through the bullshit of people who tried to hold Eve back from achieving her potential.

Assuming that John will eat it - because what else is he gonna do, throw it at the meteor? - I don't know which of these outcomes will turn out to be true, or if they can coexist, or what kind of knowledge John will gain. The original sin, defying a god and seeking power theme fits really well with Rose's character as somebody seeking control and with Sburb as a game giving godlike powers to regular people. The Gnostic interpretation of saving humanity works with stopping a meteor strike, John having the ability to save himself, and possibly links to the conflict of TG being somewhat against Sburb. One big factor in which interpretation is more true is the ethics and intent behind Sburb itself - is the knowledge and power it can give somebody really something that a human should have?

Finally, an unrelated design note - I'm glad that on p.244-245, we see the sprite as a stamp in the corner of the page, not the obnoxious and jittery flashing. I like the idea of it flashing and it makes sense in-game (it wants something from the players and is trying to get their attention), but it's definitely bad to look at and becomes the main focus of any page. On p.245, it almost looks like a wax seal, which is so much better aesthetically.

[nitrozem]

After an hour or so...

Juni Que: Terry, take a look at this!

Terry: What's the scoop?

Juni Que: I found this book about hauntings in different worlds around SimNation and there was a section on Chestnut Ridge. Turns out there's tons of paranormal happenings in the area. Like, there's a fallen bridge in the gulch where a loyal horse tragically died saving it's rider from the bridge collapse, it's grave it still there. Also tales of a cave over there where you can find dinosaurs down there and other crazy stuff! But this one...the old vineyard my Dad bought. It use to belong to a cruel old woman who inherited it from her father. She used it as an orphanage, but she was cruel to the children. People noticed the kids would disappear after awhile...but they thought they were being adopted, until the mayors daughter disappeared as well. She was friends with an orphan there and last time she was seen, she went to the orphanage to play with her friends. The mayor went over and caught the woman digging in her backyard...about to bury the body of his daughter! So, the townsfolk formed a mob and chained her into a coffin alive and put her in the cellar under the vineyard. Then they walled it off with more stone to imprison her in there forever...

Terry: Oh god, we're being haunted by the ghost of that evil lady or the ghosts of the children she murdered!? Well that's just messed up...

Juni Que: I'll do some deeper digging on my computer at home for how to calm spirits, but for now we need to warn Dad and Val so they don't go down there!

[rose-of-pollux]

When I say that AI has no place in the Arts (and for the sake of clarity, I’m referring to both writing and the visual arts), I mean exactly what I say. The fundamental core of the Arts is the human connection, and no AI can ever truly replicate that.

(Also, it’s straight-up theft; AI art/writing models are mostly trained on stolen art.)

AI has no place in the performing arts, either; one of the major points of last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike was forbidding studios to use AI footage of actors to cut corners and save money (they screwed over voice actors in the final deal, but that’s a whole other issue). And don’t even get me started on making dead actors appear/speak again (and I say that as someone who has spent every day since 2016 wishing a certain dead actor was still alive) or being used to falsify quotes and evidence for any number of nefarious reasons.

And AI certainly has no place in quality control/customer safety. Do I even need to elaborate this one??

So, where does that leave AI in terms of places it can go? Well, I think it does have places in certain sciences, providing it’s used responsibly—things like data extrapolation, for instance.

And one area of science where I would love to see AI being used? Bird intelligence. YouTube is full of videos of parrots learning how to utilize Alexa and other AI assistants—

My idea? Just give AI to parrots, they have already shown they can use it (and they can use Zoom, too—there’s another study on that), and let’s see what they can do when given full access to manipulate their environments via AI.

And if they end up using AI to interfere directly with human activities? Well, it’s been 65 million years since dinosaurs ruled the world—I figure they’re long overdue to make a comeback.

[softquietsteadylove]

Baby olympia stole my hearth, their little family is soo cute 🥹, if it's okay with you love, could you do one where Thena is doing something with baby olympia like feeding her or dressing her (in a super cute outfit 'cause thena is a fashion icon) and Gil is watching them, falling more in love with his girls, feeling grateful that he came back to Thena and that their little her was born. Just Gil being soft for his girls. 🩷

Gil keeps an eye on them - his girls - in the corner of the room.

Thena calls it 'feeding', which it is in some ways. She sits in the rocking chair Phastos constructed for them, and she holds Olympia, and both of them enter a dreamlike state as Cosmic Energy slowly leaves Thena and is absorbed by their little supernova.

Their little miracle--Gil still can't believe it.

He can't even believe that he's alive, for starters. His last memory is of him on his back on the amazon forest floor, looking up at Thena (much to her dismay). But he remembers she was smiling until the moment he closed his eyes.

Next thing he knows, he's alive again, Sersi has saved the world, there's a Celestial sticking out of the ocean and he and Thena have catching up to do. And then Thena is pregnant.

No one saw it coming, of course. No one could have. They all thought of Ajak often during the process of it all, but they were on their own for it. Thank all the stars in the sky for Sersi, and Phastos. All their siblings, of course.

Druig and Sprite are most wary of the baby, no matter how they love her. Sprite excels at entertaining young Olympia, if nothing else. She does seem amused by Druig, as if his constantly reading her young mind has established a somewhat two-way connection.

Kingo says he doesn't like that, because he should be her favourite. He and Phastos argue on that often. But, although Makkari bouncing and jogging her (gently!) around the Domo is fun for them both, Sersi is of course Thena's chosen second mother for their child.

And there could be no better, he agrees. Sersi has always been the most human, and the most connected to the ways of the heart. She's sweet, and warm, and has an awareness of the soul that none of the rest of them possess.

Gil admits this freely; he has only one soul to which his is linked.

It's strange to think that his wife has now lived part of her life without him, and yet to him he has spent not even a day without her. But he can see how she's worn out by what she's endured. He wishes he could take it on for her; it's not fair.

Gil walks into their shared room. It's still just his personal quarters in the Domo--far from luxurious. Phastos did do them the kindness of engineering an expansion, just into the next room, but the extra space was still appreciated.

There is also a small crib for Olympia, mere steps away from the bed.

He chuckles, looking at the little mobile above it. It's a simple thing, but Thena did whittle and paint it herself. There are dinosaurs and pegasi and also regular birds. A whole history's worth of creatures.

They all guessed he would be the one who would be unable to bear being away from Olympia. And they are right, but it's Thena who has the most acute anxiety about it.

Only by his and Sersi's convincing did she allow them to install the crib at all. If it were up to Thena, she would be holding their child in her arms until the day she was Sprite's height.

Gil kneels down in front of his beautiful girls. Olympia is sleeping soundly, absorbing little dewdrops of Cosmic Energy from her mother like a meadow receives the rain. Sersi reasons that human children often need extra vitamins and nutrients besides in just their food; perhaps this is the same.

He brushes his fingers over his daughter's tiny head; she really does look like a tiny Thena, although he thinks her hair is getting a little darker just at the roots. He kisses her little forehead. She scrunches her face. "I'm sorry, my little sunburst."

"You're here."

He smiles up at his wife, her enchanting green eyes affixed to him. She looks even more stunning since bringing Olympia into the world. "I'm here."

It's become a kind of greeting for them. Thena will voice those words as if one day he won't affirm them. But he has no right to worry about that when it's very possible that she has experienced that in some form or another.

He leans up, capturing her lips against his tenderly.

Thena sighs as they part, her head tilting lazily as she relaxes that last little bit. Her eyes shine at him, "she's strong."

The connection between Warrior Eternal and her progeny is one that brings tears to his eyes. He moves the back of his knuckle against his daughter's cheek, "I know. Look who her mother is."

Thena lets him kiss her cheek with reverence. "To say nothing of her father. Two of the galaxy's deadliest--she will be a force to be reckoned with."

"She," Gilgamesh pats the soft of his palm against Olympia's head, "will never have to know battle, so long as we live."

"Yes," Thena sighs, letting herself believe his reassurance. She inhales, adjusting her arms, "here."

It's a simple thing, but it moves him that she trusts him so completely with their daughter. Of course she does, he is her father. But he knows Thena--knows the way she twitches and flinches and watches. She is made to be vigilant, after all, and even with their own family, she is always keenly aware of their daughter's whereabouts.

But with him, she hands her over. Thena has no question about his ability to prioritise and protect their child.

He makes room as she stands from the chair. She wobbles faintly and he moves so she can lean into his side. "Easy."

He isn't entirely sure what takes place during the 'feedings'. Because he also makes her regular old milk and feeds that to her. But Phastos and Druig alike cannot fathom what takes place between mother and child and their connection of energy.

Thena nuzzles her face into his shoulder.

"You're tired," he chuckles, holding their daughter in one arm and his wife in the other. "Nap with me."

Thena mumbles faintly. And while he doesn't hear it, he knows it's because she wants them to have Olympia in the bed in between them, instead of in the crib.

"We talked about this," he reminds her as he oh-so gently lays Olympia down on the little cot within the high walls. "You trust Sersi."

"Of course I trust Sersi," she grumbles, as if she is not grinding her teeth in her head to distract from her separation anxiety.

"She needs to learn to sleep on her own," he says gently, pulling Thena with him to the bed. "You can't hold her forever, sweetheart."

"We live forever."

He chuckles, careful not to be too loud with his little sunflower in the room. But he tucks some of Thena's hair away from her face and kisses the corner of her amazing lips. "As will she. And that's a long time for her to sleep in her own bedroom."

He can practically hear his wife's feelings about their infant daughter sleeping in a completely separate room. He presses his nose to the sculpted hollow of her cheek. "I will want you all to myself again someday, you know."

That makes her smile. She laughs faintly as he kisses her cheek and pulls them to lie down together. She settles into his chest, his arms wrapped around her, their daughter's tiny breaths reaching their inhuman ears. "You have your priorities I see."

"I do," he answers honestly, rubbing Thena's back and burying his nose in the hair at the top of her head. "It's my two girls, always. My new little star and the sun of my galaxy."

"Hm," Thena allows him to relish the contact with her. "I shall pretend that's sweet, instead of you being eager to bed me again."

"I can be a sweet and loving father, and also your husband, y'know."