w-end1go

[w-end1go]

too many people join fandom thinking it's gonna be purely canon content and then getting upset when it's infact fandom and nothing like they wanted

I can't help but feel genuinely happy seeing more and more people on TikTok standing up for their right to ship whoever they want and speaking out about it. Seriously, it's refreshing. Fandom spaces were originally created for that exact purpose: to explore ships outside of canon. For instance, I once got a comment saying that since Hank and Connor never confessed their love on screen, I had no right to ship them. (Mind you, they never called each other father and son either, but for some reason, that fact gets ignored.)

And I absolutely loved a line I saw in a video recently:

"It's not what the author intended." — The author has no power here! Fandom spaces are not for author wishes; we don't care what they wanted—that's why we're here.

This is exactly the mentality Hank and Connor shippers should hold onto. Why? Because, time and time again, people throw around the phrase "it's morally wrong" or "it's not what was intended," as if that should somehow dictate how fandom interacts with characters and relationships. But here's the thing: fandom was never about what the author wanted. It was always about taking inspiration and building something personal.

The hypocrisy is striking, too. I remember being told I shouldn't ship Hank and Connor because Adam Williams said so. But that same person shipped Jayce and Viktor from Arcane, despite the fact that the characters call each other brothers in canon, Viktor's VA (if I'm not mistaken) mentioned that Viktor is asexual, and (if I'm not mistaken here too), one of the creators even expressed disapproval of that ship.

Should nobody ship jayvic now?

So why is it that when it comes to hankcon, we're supposed to blindly follow what Adam or whoever says or what some vague "intention" is? But when it's about their own ships, all those author comments are suddenly irrelevant? It feels less like genuine concern for canon and more like an excuse to gatekeep certain pairings while ignoring contradictions in their own ships.

The truth is, Hank and Connor shippers should never feel ashamed or silenced just because someone says it's "morally wrong" or "not what the creators intended." That's exactly the kind of thinking that destroys creativity and community spaces. If they can conveniently ignore creator commentary when it doesn't fit their narrative, then hankcon shippers have every right to do the same. Fandom is not for that.

The author has no power here. And that's exactly how it should be.

[w-end1go]

I can't help but feel genuinely happy seeing more and more people on TikTok standing up for their right to ship whoever they want and speaking out about it. Seriously, it's refreshing. Fandom spaces were originally created for that exact purpose: to explore ships outside of canon. For instance, I once got a comment saying that since Hank and Connor never confessed their love on screen, I had no right to ship them. (Mind you, they never called each other father and son either, but for some reason, that fact gets ignored.)

And I absolutely loved a line I saw in a video recently:

"It's not what the author intended." — The author has no power here! Fandom spaces are not for author wishes; we don't care what they wanted—that's why we're here.

This is exactly the mentality Hank and Connor shippers should hold onto. Why? Because, time and time again, people throw around the phrase "it's morally wrong" or "it's not what was intended," as if that should somehow dictate how fandom interacts with characters and relationships. But here's the thing: fandom was never about what the author wanted. It was always about taking inspiration and building something personal.

The hypocrisy is striking, too. I remember being told I shouldn't ship Hank and Connor because Adam Williams said so. But that same person shipped Jayce and Viktor from Arcane, despite the fact that the characters call each other brothers in canon, Viktor's VA (if I'm not mistaken) mentioned that Viktor is asexual, and (if I'm not mistaken here too), one of the creators even expressed disapproval of that ship.

Should nobody ship jayvic now?

So why is it that when it comes to hankcon, we're supposed to blindly follow what Adam or whoever says or what some vague "intention" is? But when it's about their own ships, all those author comments are suddenly irrelevant? It feels less like genuine concern for canon and more like an excuse to gatekeep certain pairings while ignoring contradictions in their own ships.

The truth is, Hank and Connor shippers should never feel ashamed or silenced just because someone says it's "morally wrong" or "not what the creators intended." That's exactly the kind of thinking that destroys creativity and community spaces. If they can conveniently ignore creator commentary when it doesn't fit their narrative, then hankcon shippers have every right to do the same. Fandom is not for that.

The author has no power here. And that's exactly how it should be.

[w-end1go]

thinkin abt making a fic of v1 collecting all the information on gabriel and creating a dstabase in its head just for him and it being like almost obsessive

for once it slows down its journey just for him. it looks at every mural of him it can find. it takes photos, turning up its own image quality to as high a degree as it can handle. it feels anger over some murals being tainted with blood bc theyre ruing his perfect image. it lingers in the room with the hologram for as long as it can manage, studying it closely and recording it so it can loop it back whenever it wishes. sometimes it stands still, just staring at a painting of him while playing the recording over and over until its fuel runs low and it has to move again. it notes each of his attack patterns. prolongs his fights just to see him. records all of them and replays them over and over. focuses in on each of his taunts and listening to his monologues like theyre the most important thing in the world, the most beautiful thing its heard. the angels voice is music to the machines ears and it wants more. his presence is a burning light thats both blinding and pleasant. it wants more. it wants so much more. more information, more music, more recordings, more of him.

only him.

- manic anon

-

[w-end1go]

did they make him so fuckable looking on purpose or

[w-end1go]

I can imagine Architects becoming super confused when exposed to humanity's use of slang, since they seem to be a very literal species.

With AL-AN being exposed to it more often then not, they're going to react very confused until they eventually have to realize everything Robin is saying is not literal.

Robin: You motherfucker...

AL-AN: (visibly confused) I do not have the physical means, let alone the desire, to have relations with your parent?

Robin: Damn, my dogs are barking...

AL-AN: I do not register any wildlife inside of our habitat, nor do I sense any voice besides your own?

Robin: You're such a motherhen sometimes, you know that?

AL-AN: I am not a chicken. You know this, Robin.

[w-end1go]

“There’s something that’s been bothering me,” said Robin. “You said you copied yourself to my brain. Does that mean you’re not the original Al-An?”

“By definition, yes,” Al-An replied with equanimity. “But the distinction is negligible.”

Robin boggled at his dismissiveness. “Not to me! The original you that was in storage died! And the one before that, before you went into storage died as well!”

“Your statement is not false,” Al-An said with infuriating calmness. “But you are ignoring the facts of the situation. My pattern remains.” There was a pause, then, “This appears to be provoking an emotional reaction in you that does not seem commensurate with the circumstances.”

“Well, yes! It’s kind of an upsetting thought!” The Al-An in that storage cube had died right in front of Robin, and she hadn’t even realized it until now. She took a deep breath. He was right, she was getting emotional about this. She should probably try to calm down. It’s just… “Are you even the same person?”

“Of course.”

“But you’re not the original! You’re just a copy and your original self no longer exists. You can't be the same person. There’s no… no continuity of consciousness.”

“Please, Robin, do not minimize my existence.” Al-An’s voice was sharper than usual. “I am not lesser for having been transferred.”

Robin cringed, mentally kicking herself for her phrasing. “Sorry! I didn't mean it like that. Obviously you're still a person. I just meant… doesn't it bother you?”

“No, it does not bother me. Continuity of consciousness is an illusion. Is your consciousness not broken every time you experience unconsciousness? Every time you sleep?”

“Yes, but that’s different. I’m still in the same body.”

Al-An was quiet for a moment before responding, “The question must be asked, how do you know?”

What did he mean, how did she know? It was obvious! “Because I remember!”

“I also remember being in my previous vessels. Is that not the same?”

“No!”

“But I remember it. From my perspective, I have always been myself. Choices that I made in previous vessels continue to affect me even now. The fact that my data has been transferred has no bearing on my identity.”

“I don’t know how to articulate to you that it’s not the same,” Robin said with frustration. “You're a being with the memories of several other, nearly identical beings, mentally speaking.”

The momentary silence between them had a sudden, brittle quality to it. “That,” Al-An finally said, “is an enticing perspective. It would mean I am not responsible for actions taken in previous vessels. But it is not a perspective I can accept without compromising my scientific integrity. You are perceiving an arbitrary boundary. Are you not also a being with the memories of a previous, slightly different being? Are you not changed by your experiences? Not even my people ever remain exactly the same.”

“Well, no, simply changing as a person doesn't make me no longer the same person that had those previous experiences.” Robin wondered why not being responsible for his past actions was appealing to him. Had he done something he regretted?

“This is true,” Al-An agreed. “And the fact that my previous vessels are gone does not make me any less the same person who existed in them as well.”

“It… it’s not the same,” Robin replied helplessly. “The Al-An in the storage cube had a consciousness, and the Al-An before the storage cube had a consciousness, and you have a consciousness now, but they’re not the same consciousness.” And even if they were, there would be no way to prove it because he would believe himself to be the same being either way. This wasn’t an argument either of them could win, Robin realized.

“For my people,” Al-An continued, oblivious to Robin’s train of thought, “our data patterns contain our essence. Our vessels are not our selves. I am data. As long as my data exists, I exist.”

Ah crap, she was also invalidating his identity, wasn’t she? “Okay… okay. I guess if you’re satisfied, then it’s not my place to tell you how to feel, even if I feel differently.” 

“I appreciate the consideration,” Al-An said. Robin wasn’t sure if she was imagining the wry undertone to the comment.

[w-end1go]

I love your interpretations of AL-AN! What are your thoughts on how AL-AN speaks / communicates?

I imagine AL-AN as very very intelligent... to a point where he has to cut down everything he thinks. Not quite because he thinks lower of others intelligence, but moreso that Precursor thoughts are beyond anything that can be captured in language or communication. So everything he says isn't what he means, but rather whatever is close enough.

It does go the same way for him however, he can't quite fully understand whats going on as much as he learns about it, giving him a bit of obliviousness. Sort of like trying to imagine the viewpoint of a second-dimensional creature - We can make comparisons and simulations and come very close, but we'll never truly know, and likewise he will never truly know what humans experience even if he observes it.

Okay, okay, thoughts on Al-An speaking and communicating. So English isn't Al-An's first language. In fact, I'm not sure he has a first language. Architects are telepathic. They probably don't need to use words to communicate, they just transmit their thoughts directly using whole concepts. Using language adds an extra step he doesn't normally need.

Architects do have a written language, but I figure that's either a product from before they built a species-wide network to store all their information, or it's a programming language, for communicating with machines. Probably both. Either way, I don't think it involves using words as representations of sound. I think it's more like hieroglyphics, where each symbol or group of symbols represents a concept. It wouldn't be possible to read the Architect language aloud.

So Al-An using verbal language to communicate feels to him like he's writing something rather than doing his version of speaking.

He does have a couple of interesting verbal patterns though. He always uses a lot of overly complicated words instead of simple words (they are more precise, he protests!) like he downloaded a dictionary and then started using all the words in it regardless of how commonly they get used in actual everyday speech. This is fine with Robin because she has a PhD, and you don't get that far into college without having a good vocabulary, but it does make it difficult for fic writers sometimes (don't look at my thesaurus history!) He also never, not once, uses a contraction in the game (I checked.) It's always 'do not' instead of 'don't,' or 'I am' instead of 'I'm.' This may in fact be because he downloaded the dictionary and only knew how to use vocabulary contained in it. This is great because it provides an interesting tonal contrast every time he talks to Robin.

Also, when and how did he learn English exactly? I figure he couldn't have been completely cut off from the outside world in that cube. Sensory deprivation for a thousand years while still conscious the whole time would be hard on any species, no matter how advanced. It might be moreso for Architects because they're used to being connected to the network at all times, which is probably a lot of sensory stimulation. Anyway, the storage cube has to have sensory input from the outside world because if it didn't, he wouldn't be able to hear Robin when she talks aloud in the storage sanctuary. But I figure his cube also had access to transmissions, possibly even interstellar transmissions. How else would he begin to suspect that Alterra's motivations didn't align with his own?

Furthermore, we know that humans have been in space--even in the local area of space--for a long time (relatively speaking.) According to the wiki, the wreck of the Mercury II is anywhere between 30 and 100 years old. (Also, fun fact, there's a data download that indicates the crew of the Mercury II intercepted Al-An's distress signal. He's been asking for help for at least 30 years, minimum.) Al-An could have been intercepting signals and trying to figure out what they mean for just as long.

Oh, speaking of Al-An's distress signal, it's actually Morse code. The specific pattern he uses is SOS, an internationally agreed upon pattern to indicate distress, usually used by ships. How the hell did he know how to use that? I figure he has to have learned it from somewhere. Maybe human spacecraft continued using SOS as a basic distress signal even in space. Think about how many ships must have been shot down over the years by the quarantine enforcement platform that was only necessary because of Al-An's mistake, and how many survivors tried to send an SOS signal out because they had no other communication methods left to them. Think about Al-An intercepting those signals and wondering what they meant even as the signals all faded as their senders slowly succumbed to the deadly bacterium that he was responsible for accidentally releasing into the environment. Think about what he must have felt when he realized what the signals meant. Think about how he must have felt when he realized he needed to use it himself if he wanted to survive. Yeah.

But on the topic of interstellar transmissions and how Al-An learned English, it's entirely possible he intercepted all those transmissions with no context and had to reverse engineer the entire concept of a verbal language. It's also possible he received transmissions in multiple languages and had to separate them out. He might be able to speak multiple human languages as a result. He's probably been sitting in that storage cube puzzling over these weird transmissions for decades! He's been doing amazing anthropology science on them! And then Robin comes along and he's able to actually use what he learned! He's doing such a good job at communicating! He's going to get a good grade in Human!

And then because he's pragmatic he went and downloaded all of Robin's PDA data, including the dictionary that would inevitably need to be built into the AI program.

But yeah, I think he finds language as a concept very limiting. It's limiting for us too though, we just don't really think about it all that often. Language is always, always an approximation. We cannot transmit thoughts directly, we can only use symbols, metaphor, simile. Words themselves are symbolic of the concepts they represent. So it's not so much that Precursor thoughts are beyond anything that can be captured in language or communication as it is that verbal and symbolic language and communication are simply inadequate for capturing thoughts, no matter the species. But we're used to it and Al-An isn't, so he struggles with it more.

The same thing also applies to Al-An's ability to take the perspective of humans. If you really stop to think about it, nobody can ever truly understand another person fully, not even other humans, simply because it's impossible for us to experience other people's experiences. Even if we did experience other people's experiences, it's still possible we wouldn't know what to make of what we found. People have different sensory perceptions. Some people have four retinal cones in their eyes instead of the usual three. Some people have synesthesia and can taste colors. If anything, Al-An has an advantage; not only is his species telepathic, but he's also experiencing Robin's sensory perceptions directly. He might not know what to make of those sensory perceptions, especially since he's used to different sensory organs, but he still probably understands Robin better than just about anyone. His problem, and the reason why he's so oblivious sometimes, is that he lacks context for a lot of the stuff Robin says and does.

Like, think about it. His culture has incredibly different social conventions. He spent his entire life in a pseudo-hivemind where all information, including thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and factual data, were shared freely across his entire species. He's going to have a hard time with empathy and perspective taking because he's never had to do it before; he's always just been handed the information directly. He doesn't have that kind of link with Robin. He can't actually read her mind, or else he would have no need to ask her questions. The best link he has with Robin is her sensory perceptions, which give him clues about her thoughts and emotions, but still require him to guess.

But guessing is hard if you don't have any practice. He's also missing a lot of information about human culture. He's never seen a movie. He doesn't know what a meme is. He doesn't even understand the concept of sarcasm because telling falsehoods, even obvious ones for rhetorical effect, is simply not something Architects do. A lot of humor is going to be beyond him simply because he's never heard of any of the things it's referencing. He's missing sooo much context! An entire species' worth of context! That's why he comes across as oblivious or tone-deaf sometimes. The good news is, that means he has the ability to learn. It'll just be difficult for him. He will struggle. That struggle is honestly part of his appeal as a character.

[w-end1go]

“Do you mind if I play some music?” Robin asked, shuffling through her PDA.

“What is music?” Al-An asked.

Robin had to stop and think about that one. “It’s… a form of expression,” she answered, setting the PDA aside.

“Expression?”

“Communication. Art,” Robin clarified. “Music is a combination of sounds using rhythm or harmony or melody or words, or some combination of those, which attempts to communicate complex or elusive ideas and emotions.”

“Is this not already a function of your system of language?”

“Well, yes, but music isn’t nearly so precise, and there’s an aesthetic component to it as well.”

“If it is not precise, why utilize it?”

Robin frowned. “The value of music isn’t in its utility. Music is often very beautiful, though not always. Usually music is just… more visceral than language. We experience it on an emotional level.”

“It is instinctual?”

Robin opened her mouth, then shut it again. Oh. Al-An wanted an explanation from a biological standpoint. “There is evidence of a biological basis for music. There have been arguments that it was an adaptive trait for our ancestors–a means of social cohesion when living in large groups, to convey and regulate emotions. It’s a kind of communication that’s thought to be older than language. Some research suggests that language evolved from music.”

“I would be interested to hear an example.”

Robin shrugged and scrolled through her PDA’s menu system to put on one of her favorite songs. It was a mostly instrumental piece, but it had choral accompaniment. She always felt like it conveyed triumph in adversity and a kind of breathless elation, the joy of success. It made her feel like she was flying. She closed her eyes and listened. There was one part of the song that never failed to give her chills.

“I believe I understand,” Al-An commented once the song faded to silence. “It has an impact on your pulse and breathing. It makes you move differently. This response could come from a kind of synesthesia endemic to your species, connoting combinations of sound frequencies with specific emotions in your brain’s emotional centers.”

Robin fidgeted with her PDA as she thought about that. He had apparently been observing her reaction as much as he had been listening to the music. “You’re probably not wrong, but the experience isn’t universal. The emotional responses people have to specific pieces of music depend on the kind of music they’ve been exposed to in the past, especially during their developmental years. It’s like language in that respect: a learned social behavior. Also, musicality isn’t limited to just humans. Plenty of other animals enjoy, and even make music. For example, there are many species of bird native to Earth that produce complex melodies as part of their calls.”

“My people have encountered species with complex vocal calls before. We have determined that those calls often elicit an emotional response in other members of the species.”

Robin nodded. “Exactly. Humans are not unique in that respect.”

“So music is the vocal call of humans?”

Robin hesitated. “We don’t really think about it like that, but you wouldn’t exactly be wrong to interpret it that way. Music can serve some of the same evolutionary functions as animal calls. Though, while humans are incredible vocal mimics, we use instruments as well as our voices to make music. These days though, music is mostly viewed as entertainment.” Robin paused before asking, “Does your species have a call? Even if you don’t use it anymore, I’d be interested to know more about the evolutionary origins of your species.”

There was quiet as Al-An gave the question some thought. “No, we do not have a vocal call,” he finally said. “We did not evolve a biological means of creating complex vocalizations. However, before we evolved telepathy, our ancestors first expressed emotions through bioluminescence.”

Robin’s eyes widened. “I would like to see that. That sounds amazing. Do you still have bioluminescence? Do you make visual displays with it as an art form?”

“Yes, we have kept the bioluminescence, but while we can control it to a small degree, it is largely an involuntary part of what you would likely call our limbic system.”

“Ah, so more like body language.”

“That is accurate.”

There was a long moment of quiet between them as Robin thought about what Al-An had said. “Didn’t you describe the network as a kind of harmony of strings?”

“Ah. Yes, but in a metaphorical sense. I had not realized your species utilized harmonies.”

“But you understand the concept of harmony? That’s a musical concept.”

“It is a known phenomenon. My people find the mathematics of sympathetic resonance to be aesthetically pleasing.”

Robin blinked. They found the mathematics to be aesthetically pleasing, but they held no opinion on the actual sound? She supposed that explained why he didn’t really understand music. Or perhaps they did have their own music, but it was unrecognizable in comparison to what she had played. “But why use that metaphor?”

“It is…” Al-An made an inarticulate, frustrated noise. “Trying to describe the sensation of the network to you is trying to describe a sensory experience you have never had using a communication method that is imprecise and inadequate for the task. Your language does not contain a word for the sensation because no human has experienced it. The best I can do is use one of your own senses as metaphor. It is like describing your tactile ability to detect vibrations as similar to your ability to sense temperature. They may be somewhat similar, and serve similar functions, but are by no means the same.”

“Ah, so the network doesn’t sound like literal strings.”

“No, it does not sound like anything at all. But as a metaphor for the network, the concept of harmony is appealing. Each individual has their own frequency, and when grouped properly, interactions may produce resonance. Your sense of hearing also works better as a metaphor than any other sense you possess, because humans communicate primarily through hearing.”

Robin chewed her lip, thinking. The picture he painted of his species was very alien: they didn’t produce complex sounds, and communicated through telepathy and bioluminescence. It sounded fascinating, but she didn’t want their differences to become a wall between them. “Will you still be able to communicate with me once you get your own body?”

“You need not worry.” Al-An’s usual monotone carried a softness Robin was not used to hearing. He was getting better at picking up on her emotions. “Even if I could not calibrate my telepathy to a frequency you are able to receive, I would still be able to produce sounds in your range of hearing through my cybernetic components.”

Robin smiled. “Want to hear more music?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Yes,” Al-An replied with a kind of eagerness that made Robin’s smile widen. “Please, proceed.”

[w-end1go]

Robin didn’t remember exactly what she was dreaming about; she just knew that she had been dreaming with a sense of urgency. The alarm pulled her towards consciousness like surfacing from underwater. She slapped at her PDA and it silenced, but it was too late. She was already awake. She was sore all over, hungry, thirsty, and she needed to pee. The ground seemed to be leaching warmth from her back, so she sat up and stretched.

“What happens as you are sleeping?” the alien in her brain asked.

Robin jumped, startled. She’d forgotten about him.

“I was being pulled from illogical world to illogical world with you at the center of them all.”

Robin yawned. She wanted to be frustrated with the alien, but her head was still too fuzzy from sleep to really work up the emotion. “I was dreaming,” she answered neutrally.

“Does it serve a purpose? It was such disorienting and fragmented thought–random images and sensations.”

Had he never heard of dreaming? Was she going to have to explain every aspect of human life? She supposed so. She rubbed her eyes, wishing vaguely for coffee and trying to kick her brain into gear. It sounded like Al-An was from a species that experienced life very differently. “We aren’t completely sure what it does,” she replied, recalling what she knew about the neuroscience of dreaming, “but scientists theorize that it’s the brain’s way of processing memories and emotion. It can also just be incidental brain activity. Pretty much every human dreams though, as do many other mammals.”

“Is it enjoyable?” Al-An asked.

“Sometimes.” Robin pulled her backpack into her lap and retrieved a slightly squashed nutrient bar. “There’s good dreams, and there’s bad dreams, and then there’s dreams that aren’t really either. I’ve had dreams that were entire fleshed out narratives full of adventure, but I’ve also had dreams where I was convinced that something awful was going to happen to me or my sister, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I’ve had dreams where I woke up sobbing for no reason. A lot of my dreams make no sense after I wake up, but honestly, I don’t usually remember my dreams.”

Robin peeled back the nutrient bar’s protective foil and took a bite. These things were always so bland, but she didn’t have anything else at the moment.

“Your biofeedback indicates that narratives are the most enjoyable dreams,” Al-An said. “I therefore hope you have more of those. Mainly for my own safety.” The trepidation that entered Al-Al’s tone on this last statement made Robin blink.

“They aren’t harmful, you know, even when they’re scary,” she tried to reassure him. “The worst they can do is disrupt my sleep.”

“I found it unsettling. I did not know what was happening.”

Now that she thought about it, it was kind of weird that he could see her dreams. He had said he couldn’t read her mind. She frowned as she puzzled it over. When she thought about what actually happened in the brain during dreams, it made more sense. He had access to her sensory input. Brain scans showed that the various parts of the brain responsible for seeing and hearing or whatever all lit up during dreams, the same way they did when receiving actual sensory input. Actually, “Wait,” now that she thought about it, the weirdest part was, “were you aware while I was dreaming?” 

“Should I not have been?”

“Most people aren’t aware they’re dreaming,” Robin explained. “They generally experience everything going on as something that’s happening to them, including the actions they themselves take. It's like a story, and they’re just watching it happen without any agency. There’s a practice, called lucid dreaming, where people learn to become aware that they’re dreaming, and get to control the dream. I’ve always wanted to try it, but it’s never worked for me. Do you remember everything that happened in the dream?”

“I believe so.”

That was kind of disturbing. She chewed her bland nutrient bar as she thought about that. Dreams could also be raw manifestations of unconscious desires. The fact that he remembered them and she didn’t left her feeling exposed. It was going to be awkward as hell if she had a sex dream.

“A lot of people have trouble remembering their dreams,” Robin said after she had finished the nutrient bar. She put the foil back into her backpack and retrieved her last water bottle. “That’s because the part of the brain that encodes short term memory into long term memory is less active while we’re asleep, so we usually only clearly remember the parts of the dreams that happen when we’re partially awake. Some people can remember more of their dreams by thinking about them immediately after waking up, or journaling about them, which helps intentionally encode the short term memory into long term memory.”

“Is it not distressing to have incomplete memories?”

Robin sipped her water and shrugged. “Not really. Dreams can be entertaining, but if I don’t remember what happened, it’s not like I’m missing out on anything actually important. Now that you’re here though, I’m mildly concerned about what you might see that I might not even know about.”

“That bothers you.”

It was an observation, not a question. Robin was reminded that he had mentioned biofeedback. She supposed that functioned as a kind of empathy. All emotions had both a physical and a mental component to them. If he could feel every physical sensation that she felt, then he would be able to make a good guess of what emotion she was experiencing. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him being able to read her like that. It wasn’t too different from other people reading her facial expressions, just… more invasive. He was an alien, though. Would he even understand a lot of the physical responses her body had to emotions? He apparently did to some extent, to understand when she was bothered.

“How about this,” Robin started, trying to keep the conversation on track. “The next time I’m dreaming, try telling me I’m dreaming. It would be interesting to see if you could induce lucid dreaming. Perhaps if I’m more in control of my dreams, it will be less disorienting for you.” It could also potentially make it easier for her to remember her dreams, and make it less likely for her dreams to contain something embarrassing.

“Very well,” Al-An agreed. “The experiment is worth the attempt. What would you do in a lucid dream?”

That was a good question that deserved some thought. “I’m not sure,” Robin said slowly. “Probably fly. One of the best dreams I ever had let me float around in the air weightlessly, but still in total control of my body. It was pretty fun. I’d like to do that again.”

“Then I shall remind you to make the attempt.”

Robin smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

[w-end1go]

Subnautica: Below Zero ∴ Al-An “With you, I am ready to face whatever awaits.”

[w-end1go]

Symbiotic relationship between between someone trying to uncover corporate secrets and a big alien that they hear in their head? Count me tf in 🙏

[w-end1go]

AL-AN <3

Finished my Below Zero playthrough yesterday and had to draw AL-AN or I was going to explode <3 he's so neat ough. I loved the ending of the game, very nice. I highly recommend playing Subnautica and Below Zero, the OST is really pretty.

[w-end1go]

i forgor I had tumblr.com account

uh

[w-end1go]

dear god please 🙏 let elon musk die in the most pathetic humiliating way possible and please 🙏 please 🙏 make it happen soon please 🙏 amen p.s pretty please for the love of you

[w-end1go]

lets hear it for transgenderism and faggotry. can I get a round of applause for transgenderism and faggotry

[w-end1go]

      some templates i've made⠀⑅ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  , 𓎟 𓎟⠀

name temps — made by me ( f2u )

  𓏏𓏏 ╳ name ˙†︶ name

     ︵︵ NAME。e NAME ﾐ

  𓏏†𓏏 ︶  name ★ name

    name｡ ˖†† name﹏ ◠◠

 

  𓏵　e　 ⏆　name 𝆥 prn 𓂂

    ☩  ‿ name or﹒ name 𓎟

  ⊱  NAME 𓈒　prns ⸝ prns﹒　e

bios / about me's — made by me ( f2u )

    e name ｡ name

  ﾐ age︵ info ⊹ฺ info ˘˘˘✷˘˘˘⁠

    ‿ name or name 

     ◜age︵  info e

   e 𓎟𓎟⸝⸝ name ﹒◜name ◜◜

    ageyo ｡ info .  .  .

   ‿‿‿ name 𓎢𓎡 info˳

   𓍼　info　˖⁠　age e info.

pronoun temps — made by me ( f2u )

 e⠀﹒⠀prn⠀◡◡◡ prn﹒⠀⠀‿

     e⠀﹒⠀prn⠀⠀trms⠀︵

 ˳⁠˳⁠˳⁠ prn⠀e﹒⠀ﾉ⠀prn

     ✿-❥-⠀prn,, + trms﹒⠀彡

 ,, prn⠀︿⠀term﹒ e

⠀    𓎟 prn ◡ term ◝ e﹒

reblogs & notes are appreciated !!