that-dumb-blond

[that-dumb-blond]

Hey, to anyone that sees this, I'm starting a creative writing thing on my blog "josh-spectors-super-journal". It's basically gonna be a weekly story from the life of Josh Spector, a star watcher in a future where humanity has gotten bored enough to send people out into the universe to make sure stars aren't exploding. This will be the first writing project I actually put anywhere, so no promises on quality necessarily. I'm gonna put the first part here, so check it out if it sounds interesting to you!

Part 1 - Introductions and all that jazz

There are trillions of stars in the milky way alone, and of those there are thousands that are within reach of Earth to cause a serious problem in case of a supernova. As soon as humanity got Earth and all its dangers sorted, and decided to give an empire where none of the stars ever set the old college try, all the dusty old CEOs got really scared of supernovas. 

The main issue has been how bored humanity has gotten. With no active danger, cute cat videos can only be so entertaining before you go searching for some. And so, the Supernova Prevention Agency under Wright Inc. was born. 

I am a starwatcher. For those of you who live under rocks or just don’t watch the news (good choice), that means that I am studying and surveying a star to make sure that it doesn’t go kablooey any time soon. And if it does, then that the good folks back at home have enough warning to put on their sunglasses and batten down their hatches in time for the show. Us starwatchers are stationed around different dangerous stars so we can have a wide array of data. Usually there’s two or three people per star, but I’m right at the edge of the danger zone so I have one all to myself. Star-watchers like me are also pretty emotionally messed up 9/10. I mean, you’d have to be at least a little loopy to take a job that’s ridiculously dangerous light-years away from the nearest person. Usually it’s grief that drives someone towards this job, or a simple death wish. And sometimes if you’re extra really lucky, it’s both. So, mental disturbances combined with the existential fear of a star exploding in your face and turning you into a fine spray of ex-human atoms means that mission control are constantly making sure that we’re not insane. Or rather, not more insane than we’d have to be. All that means that I’m being forced into keeping a journal. 

List of useless shit that command has asked me to write : 

-My name is Joshua Victor Spencer. 

-I am 32 years of age

-I have been a star watcher for 2 years

-I am stationed on Pollux which is 33.72 lightyears away from home sweet home

-My favourite movie is The Thing (1982)

-My favourite book is literally any murder mystery. The shittier and tropier the better. 

-A ‘fun fact’ about me is that when I was a child I was forced into learning the violin for 2 years and my sister’s ears have never recovered. 

So to the poor psychologist’s intern who is probably being forced to read this, I’m sorry. I’m not very good at writing, let alone writing down my feelings. And if you’re concerned by anything, can it possibly just be our little secret? Because despite it actually being ranked as the 4th worst (legal) job in the world (and not having the pay to make up for it), I like it out here, and I’d prefer not to be dubbed as a ‘safety risk’ and sent back to earth to work in customer service. 

Anyway, back to the more relevant things. I am currently on my 257th day on this star, a little less than half way through my planned rotation. So far, there haven’t been any major emergencies which is good, and I haven’t started hallucinating yet (knock on wood). My star, as previously mentioned, is Pollux, named after the twin sons of Zeus. It’s a nice yellowy-orange colour that provides plenty of good staring opportunities for the boring days. Speaking of boring, is there any chance you could tell command to give me more data-dumps? I don’t really have anyone back home except Delilah, and monthly communications are torturous. I’ve been sending the request for a few weeks now, but I’m just getting the usual order of radio silence. And a list of things to put in here would be nice, I refuse to just repeat my star reports and I’m running out of things to write. If you just say I should ‘let all my feelings out’, then I will beat those feelings into you patronising shit heads until you not only send me home but also put me in a mental institution with all your other victims. 

With love, 

Josh. 

[that-dumb-blond]

Submitted by angelic-petty

[that-dumb-blond]

I keep seeing posts that are like "season 1 Tim would be friends with this character" or "season 1 Tim would make archives team watch trashy movies with him" or "season 1 Tim would do this, or this, and season 1 Tim is so friendly and nice with everyone!". And like. There is nothing wrong with headcanons. But I feel like it's very demonstrative of the larger fandom problem of completely ignoring canon to favour a carefully crafted, wildly spread and completely incorrect fanon.

Because believe it or not, season 1 Tim is.... not like that. When I first listened to TMA, before I had any interactions with the fandom, I didn't perceive him like this. Then I started interacting with the fandom, and I, too, saw this interpretation and said, "Oh! I'll add that to my belief system!". But I recently relistened to season 1, and realised how wrong that was.

Tim is "the hot one." Sure. That's canon, Basira said it in season 2. However, Tim is also an incredibly closed off and secretive person. And actually, canonically, he doesn't have many friends at the Institute. Which makes even more sense than him being friendly with everyone. He arrived at the Institute traumatised by The Stranger of all things, making him very distrustful of everyone. Yes, he became friends with pre-season 1 Jonathan "don't talk to me I'm busy" Sims, but Jon was also a traumatised person who was desperately looking for answers.

Sasha (who, by the way, I find is way too often ignored by the fandom) is the friendly one. Sasha became friends with Tim and Jon, Sasha tried her best to make Martin feel accepted in the Archives, Sasha is the nosy one who gets into everyone's business. Not Tim.

[that-dumb-blond]

I love the duality of Malevolent because there are lines like "Fuck me?! Fuck your eyes!" and "My fractured soul has become entangled in yours" in the same season

[that-dumb-blond]

y’know, it used to make me really upset when i would hear people say that eiffel didn’t deserve the ending that he got because losing the memories of the awful things he did is more of a get out of jail free card (ahaha. joke) than a sacrifice. but he can’t possibly be that selfish, right?

but like. the more that i think about it, the more i really, really wish i could hear his actual thought process behind his decision. i’m sure he didn’t jump at the opportunity just because it would mean a way to escape all that stuff, but like. he had to have thought about it, right? losing everything would have meant not having to think about that person anymore.

but at the same time— what if that made the decision harder, rather than easier? with how much he struggles with self hatred, he probably thought he deserved to keep all of that in his head. to remind himself that he can never really be the person other people think he can be. if he were to get rid of that, he’d be lying to himself and to everyone else about the kind of person he really is.

maybe it’s a bit of both. the struggle of wanting to start over while knowing you don’t deserve that second chance.

or maybe he really didn’t have time to think about any of that at all.

[that-dumb-blond]

My other hyper fixations overtook my brain for a bit, but I’m back with chapter 5 of the first Arc of a Scythe series!

-The opening lines of chapters are never mediocre, and this one is a favourite of mine “While à trip to the market should be an ordinary, everyday occurrence, Citra found that shopping with a Scythe carried its own basket of crazy”. With how dark this series can get, it feels like how funny Shushterman is gets overshadowed.

-This chapter has a lot of worldbuilding in it for reactions to Scythes. I love that it comes through Citra’s observation, too. Even though the series is in the 3rd person, the POV of different charecters (mainly Citra and Rowan for obvious reasons) really shines through at points.

-Citra’s reactions to the Scythe’s pets being that she’s rather glean them over anyone else shows she’s definitely still in training and not ready to be a Scythe yet. She has a large conscience, but she can be very impatient.

-I really want a short story about Faraday’s past. He’s had such an interesting life, but barely any of it gets to make it into the series. When talking about family he says ‘Hardly’ with “à bit of disdain in his voice that Citra had no interest learning about”. Scythes are isolated from family members, but he really seems to hate his. Citra might not want to know why, but I certainly do!!!

-I love how Faraday has friends inside and out of the Scythedom. It shows how he is still a person, a human being who likes other human beings. Hes funny, and silly, and makes mistakes, and guilty, and he’s so in love with humanity. I love him. Plus he makes a joke about how being friends with a coroner is good in his line of work, and that’s hilarious.

-Also, he gives here immunity on alternating years because he likes her so much. No scythe is entirely without abuse of power, but I think Faraday uses his well.

-Citra and Rowan are so funny. Also, Citra having a full on argument with faraday about whether she can get chips or not is hilarious, but the even funnier part is that it worked.

-“I don’t think cookie dough ice cream is a part of his lifestyle”. Are you sure about that. Faraday may be all about monk-like living but I bet that when he has a particularly bad day he breaks out the ice cream

-First introduction to unsavouries! They’re described as “people who found enjoyment in activities that bordered on the fringes of the law”. I like how the book shows how much crime has ceased to be. Like, the worst people arent even that bad.

-Faraday’s threat is so great. He genuinely gave no fucks, but probably made sure that that guy didn’t sleep well for the next year. Really emphasises how much power Scythes have.

-I keep forgetting that Scythes have phones. I guess in this future, the phone he has would probably feel really outdated, but because I live in this world it feels weird that someone as monk-like as Faraday would walk around with a phone.

-“‘It never hides,’ The scythe told them with a world-weariness that was hard to describe. ‘And it never sleeps. You’ll learn that soon enough’”. A few thoughts on this. A. Love that as soon as hes talking about death again, he becomes the scythe instead of Faraday. Reduced to his role once again. B. I think that here he’s both talking about how death could happen at any moment to anybody, but also that for the rest of their lives they will always (and only) be Scythes. That part of them cant rest or sleep or hide.

-Faraday tests them so much. Like here, he asks one of them to do it and then the other and they both say no. I think there’s got to be at least one where it wasn’t actually a trick question, and he didn’t expect them both to say no

-As he’s delivering her death, Scythe Faraday is gone and he’s back to being the nameless, faceless Scythe.

-“The man never asked a thing twice” I love this quote for everything it says about Faraday. He’s patient, but firm.

-It makes a lot of sense to Faraday going to all the funerals he’s caused. And when Rowan asks if that was a Scythe rule, he replies that it’s his. There’s a large likelihood that other Scythes do the same as him, but Faraday has such a poetical nature that I’m sure they don’t do it for the same reasons he does exactly.

-This also shows that while he believe that the Scythedome’s rules are important, that he has his own moral code which he is loyal to.

And that’s the end of part one! It’s been so fun doing these small analysis sections, and I’ll hopefully be doing them more often from now on!

[that-dumb-blond]

A late happy pride month to whatever the fuck Jacobi and Kepler had going on.

[that-dumb-blond]

A late happy pride month to everyone that works at the Magnus institute, London.

[that-dumb-blond]

Hello I'm alive!!!!!! I'm looking for quotes for a MAG themed tattoo, what are your fav emotional/heart wrenching/thought provoking lines from MAG??

[that-dumb-blond]

I just devoured a tub of Chardonnay wine vinegar crisps within minutes, and now I have a bunch of olives to scarf down. This is the kind of luxury that Romulus were dreaming of when he founded Rome.

[that-dumb-blond]

British weather so bad I’m feeling like Doug in ep 2

[that-dumb-blond]

It’s so cold that Jackie’s becoming a relatable charecter.

[that-dumb-blond]

It’s been said so much that Yellowjackets is to do with Dionysus and baachanalias. However this latest episode really feels like Tantalus with Shawna’s dream. Cmon, Tantalys sacrifices his son and feeds him to the gods, and is then stuck forever almost in reach of the things he wants

[that-dumb-blond]

happy valentine’s day reminder that the first day of minkowski commanding canonically takes place today, meaning eiffel canonically offered to cook minkowski breakfast on today of all days <3

[that-dumb-blond]

Spoilers for Arc of a Scythe

Wow Citra and Rowan love each other, but are consigned to different sides of an ongoing war in which those around them die horribly and it ends in sacrifice and OH MY GOD ITS ROMEO AND JULIET

[that-dumb-blond]

Blinked and it’s been two weeks. Here’s my Analysis of Chapter 4 of Scythe!

-This chapter has the best name, hands down. There’s no beating “A learners permit to kill” for pure comedic effect. And the fact that it’s FARADAY who says it? Brilliant. He’s my favourite charecter for a reason, because he doesn’t let stereotypes control him and follows every single one at the exact same time.

-There are a few bits of writing technique that I love, and the start of this chapter highlights a few of them. Faraday’s advice is given not in speech marks by him, but sprinkled in in italics. This makes it seem ominous, god-like almost. It definitely reminds me of how the Thunderhead speaks to Citra later, and (intentional or not) it’s a great parallel. This is going in the box of “the Scythes are treated like deities” that I’ll probably write an essay on later.

-This chapter properly introduces Rowan and Citra’s dynamic, which is great because I love those crazy kids. Faraday says he will “not tolerate childish pastimes or vapid communications with friends” which cements that they only have each other. It makes me think of all the other Scythe apprentices who were completely on their own. In that way, Citra and Rowan are lucky.

-I do wonder if Faraday knows how pointless telling Citra and Rowan that they can’t fall in love is. I mean, he’s not entirely a robot. He knows that teenagers gonna teenage.

-THE ENDING LINE!!!!!!!! “There was only one person now who shared his plight. That was Citra. If they couldn’t find a way to trust each other, then what did they have beyond a learners permit to kill?” AHHHH THIS SCRATCHES MY BRAIN IN ALK THE CORRECT WAYS

That’s it for this chapter, actually. I’m sure I will have more to say, but it’s pretty short. Until next time!

[that-dumb-blond]

Survival Tip No.686

REPEAT AFTER ME: “It’s being handled by a different department.”