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manicpixiedreamcrowley · 1 year

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⸻ GOOD OMENS fic recs ‼️ (march '23)

a collection of some of the fics i've read this month! includes title, links, author, chapter count, word count, summary, and my added notes ♡

→ 10 fics listed, if any of the links don't work be sure to let me know so i can fix it!

→ feel free to ask me for other fic recs at any time! i love sorting and finding fics, feel free to give me a certain theme or tag and i'll scrounge some up

-> i can also try to find lost fics, just give me a short summary/description of the fic and everything you can remember about it

"get religion quick (cause you're looking divine)" by brinnanza (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 4.2k

So it was fine. Even if Crowley couldn’t love him, he clearly liked him well enough, and that was almost the same thing. It no doubt would have continued to be fine, or at least fine-adjacent, were it not for a narrowly averted apocalypse and several bottles of a really quite nice Riesling Aziraphale had found in the back room of his newly restored bookshop.

notes: definitely a personal favorite of mine, my history says i've read this 6 times even though i've downloaded this fic to read when i don't have data

"you play with my feelings (right from the start)" by penrosesun (AO3)

oneshot, 3.4k

There were three things of which Crowley was absolutely certain: 1. Aziraphale, being an angel, was required to be kind and loving towards all things, even when those things were flawed or sinful or fallen. 2. Notwithstanding that obligatory kindness, Aziraphale would never, and could never truly love a demon, in any meaningful sense. 3. Despite this, Crowley was desperately, hopelessly, in love with him.

notes: i put these next to each other because this fic is inspired by the one above, but told through crowley's point of view

"what they say about assumptions" by dragongirl (AO3)

oneshot, 7.9k

While it’s true that God bestowed upon the angels the divine power to sense love of all kinds, that does not mean they were given the ability to sense exactly who or what that love is directed at. A minor design flaw that hasn’t been much of an issue. Until now. Or: Aziraphale has known that Crowley loved someone since the beginning. He’s also spent most of that time believing that someone was a demon.

notes: i know it says angst but the concept is so incredibly funny. that oblivious aziraphale tag is there for a REASON

"crowley, when the walls fell" by ineffablefool (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 3.5k

Aziraphale looked around again, a thoughtful frown pulling at his lips. “I know what human love feels like, and this is… as I said, out of focus. Sideways, somehow. It doesn’t flow the same way.” He tilted his head, almost as if he was listening for a moment, then continued. “And now I think of it, it’s almost familiar somehow, too.” (Crowley keeps working to hide his love from Aziraphale. Aziraphale keeps sensing it anyway. Aziraphale just doesn't know what it is, until...)

notes: aziraphale is so sweet and crowley is down horrendously bad

"like he hung the stars in the sky" by asideofourown (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 4.2k

BREAKING: SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IN DISARRAY AS NEWCOMER UPENDS DOZENS OF ACCEPTED THEORIES Up and coming British astrophysicist Dr. Anthony J. Crowley has rocked the science world this week with his research that proves many previously-accepted scientific theories about dark matter and the nature of our universe completely wrong. Dubbed the ‘Devil’s Theory,’ Crowley’s research has made the astrophysicist a star practically overnight, and one of the most sought-after scientists in the country. “There’s so much you humans don’t understand about the universe, it’s not my fault that I do,” he said in a statement to BBC reporter Jane Smith. “Just you wait!” [Crowley can't keep his mouth shut about the stars, and accidentally becomes a famous scientist. Based on this!]

notes: oh my god this is incredibly well written and so funny, i would read a thousand more fics just like this !! also - the link i copied directly from the fic (about the post they wrote this based off of) no longer works

"a guide to fame for the enterprising demon" by asideofourown (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 8.2k

tildeathdoustogether ok friends so i know we all joke about, like john mulaney and keanu reeves and hozier being immortals, but… i really think we gotta add anthony j. crowley to that list thelongest27yearsofmylife reblogged and said: Christ, Beth, Anthony Crowley is an increasingly popular, openly queer creator with explicitly queer rep in his work that’s really important to some people, can you not make this into a meme for ONCE in your life? tildeathdoustogether reblogged and said: you think i’m joking but. i’m not. l i s t e n i did not get a history degree for nothing, i have RECEIPTS. buckle in kiddos this is a wild ride [Crowley accidentally gets a bit famous, and the internet figures out he may be a bit immortal]

notes: this is so funny i'm going to lose my mind i'm actually obsessed with social media fics

"like a juke box playing the same dead record" by raiining (AO3)

oneshot, 8.1k

“We’re not friends,” Crowley growls. He hears the angel suck in a breath and thinks, with some mean part of himself, good. “You said that we’re not. You don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine.”

notes: crowley using all the hurtful things aziraphale has said to him in the past to try to keep himself from loving him and still loving him anyways..OUGH

"the bizarre demons of AZ Fell & Co antique booksellers" by worseomens (AO3/tumblr)

2/2, 8k

The Ghoul Boys come to Soho to investigate a famously strange antique bookshop.

notes: the good omens & bfu crossover i didn't know i needed

"never judge books by their...?" by worseomens (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 4.4k

There's a burglary in Soho, right across the road from AZ Fell & Co's Antique Bookseller's. An angel and a demon are called in for questioning, and the detectives involved start to form opinions... (OR: Crowley's a flirt, and Aziraphale doesn't do PDA; people start to get the wrong idea)

notes: outsider pov fic and every time i try to add more here i just end up spoiling it so just go read it

"digging for gold" by worseomens (AO3/tumblr)

oneshot, 5.6k

Crowley finally stops hiding his visits to the bookshop, now the celestial powers-that-be have decided to butt out, only to be faced with a whole new challenge. (OR: The people of Soho make sure this newcomer isn’t about to hurt their beloved local madman)

notes: also an outsider pov fic and another personal favorite of mine

#my post #good omens #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #fanfic #good omens fanfic recs #fanfiction #good omens fanfic #fic recs #fanfiction recs

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brandybradyrandyandyndy · 3 years

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Mark Forster's role in the Ace Attorney franchise

Okay, first off:

I'm not a fan of Mark Forster's music, please don't take this post the wrong way

There might be some aa trilogy spoilers

Also, I admit this title is pretty bold for what I'm going to say on this topic, but I watch The Voice of Germany with my sister every week and one of the coaches is Mark Forster who I only know like five songs of in total, but his song "Au Revoir" (which is actually a terrible song btw. It's so catchy, I've had it stuck in my head since I woke up this morning and it ruined my day.) kind of reminded me of the whole "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death." thing, because the only thing I knew about this song was the refrain:

which would be roughly translated to:

"There is nothing that's holding me back, au revoir / Forget who I was / Forget my name / It will never be the way it was before / I'm off / Au revoir"

But as I looked further into the lyrics I found out there is a "rap part" which tells you about the places the lyrical I will go to when they're away and it contains a passage that adds a beautiful twist to my theory/headcanon (I'm not sure what to call this yet).

"I'm sitting on the Mayan throne in the jungle / [...] / The phoenix is taking off now"

You see where I'm going with this? I know, it's not Phoenix who's leaving and I know the lyrics refer to the Maya Civilization from Mesoamerica, but I thought it was a funny coincidence, that not only does the word "Phoenix" appear in the lyrics of this song, but so does "Maya".

So when I first saw this part of "Au Revoir", I started imagining how Miles Edgeworth would listen to this song and like dramatically sing along to it and start crying or something, but this only posed another question:

How could this scenario happen? How and why would he even come in contact with this song?

My first guess was, Miles probably went to Germany after he left his note, because he grew up there (I think), when he had been adopted by Manfred von Karma as a child, and he heard the song somewhere in the radio because in Germany they blast Mark Forster's music in almost every public space, so there is no escape from it ever. I tried to find out, during which timespan Miles left America, just to make sure if there was a chance that he actually could have heard it on the radio.

In the Ace Attorney wiki this timespan isn't clearly mentioned, but since the last case (Rise from the Ashes) from the first game is set in February 2017 and Edgeworth returns to America in March 2018 I'm guessing, this is exactly the time window in which he's in Germany* (minus some days/weeks of course, because I don't think he'd just leave on the exact same day he had his last trial in America). *to make this easier for me I'm just assuming he spends the entirety of his travels in Germany

But this brings me to my problem, the German Charts of 2017/2018.

As you can see, the only songs by Mark Forster that were in the charts while Miles would be in Germany are the ones above. This means that it is highly unlikely that he knew of "Au Revoir" from the radio, because why would they play this old song if they could also play Mark Forster's more recent songs that are popular right now?

But when exactly was "Au Revoir" popular enough to be in the German Charts?

During my research I looked up these years, too, and it came down to 2014 (the year "Au Revoir" was released) and even a year later in 2015. So there is no way he could have known of this song if his most recent stay in Germany was in 2017, right? (I mean, unless the German people he met then, had literally no taste and forced him to listen to it.)

But I have a pretty simple and logical explanation on how he could have still known of this song, even though he probably wouldn't have heard it in Germany in 2017.

I tried really hard, but I couldn't for my life find real data on Mark Forster's demographic, so just believe me if I tell you that his demographic is mostly preteen and teenage girls. Also, it's worth mentioning that Mark Forster's music is pretty much only known in German speaking countries like Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Now, let's take a closer look at the years, in which Au Revoir was most popular: 2014 and 2015

Who could Miles Edgeworth possibly know, who in 2014/2015 is 1. German, 2. a teenager and 3. a girl? The answer is quite obvious:

His younger sister Franziska von Karma.

Considering that she was either 14 or 15 when "Au Revoir" was released, she fits Mark Forster's demographic perfectly and although I'm not 100% sure if she was in Germany then, I still believe, she must have had at least some connection to Germany in some way, maybe a German friend who she still was in contact with or maybe she had access to German tv, maybe German YouTube channels or social media. And don't get me wrong, I love Franziska von Karma and I wouldn't wish anything bad on her, but at the same time I strongly believe that she'd be the kind of girl who'd have gone through a Mark Forster phase as a teen.

Now remember that I, myself, have a sister. I know what siblings do to annoy each other and I just know from the bottom of my heart that if Franziska really was a fan of Mark Forster's music, she would blast it on any opportunity she'd get. Or she would at least talk about him and his songs with her brother. Believe me. If Franziska really listened to Mark Forster, Miles would have known of him, too. There is literally no other way. (For reference, I know every 1D member's name, birthday and relationship status, although I literally do not care about any of them at all, only because my sister is obsessed with them and talks about them 24/7. Meanwhile the only MCR member I know, is Gerard Way, even though I listen to their music on the daily.)

So here is my conclusion.

Miles Edgeworth definitely listened to "Au Revoir" by Mark Forster on the plane from Japanifornia to Germany and he also definitely cried, after he made sure nobody could see him (especially during the part "Der Phönix macht jetz 'n Abflug"/"The phoenix is taking off now"). Also, he probably listened to the song multiple times during his stay in Germany and you literally can't prove me wrong on this. I mean you could try, but I invested way too much of my time in this to actually care about another person's opinion on my shitty headcanon.

Also, the moment Franziska met Phoenix and Maya, her memories vaulted her right back to her Mark Forster phase and her hatred against Phoenix wasn't solely based on the fact that he was accountable for the conviction of her father Manfred von Karma, her hatred was also ignited by the fact that she probably had "Au Revoir" stuck in her head because of these two for the rest of the day and I just know that this must have completely ruined it for her.

Also, unrelated to anything I've said prior:

Klavier Gavin would definitely collaborate with Mark Forster on at least one song and however severe Franziska's Mark Forster phase might have been, I am convinced Klavier would have outdone her by far. I haven't played AJAA yet, but as much as I've gathered from the fandom, he's like a weeaboo but with Germany, I think? I'm absolutely sure, he wouldn't ever miss a chance like this.

Finally, here is the song this whole post is about:

#ace attorney #aa #miles edgeworth #franziska von karma #manfred von karma #narumitsu #wrightworth #phoenix wright #maya fey #german #german culture #mark forster #klavier gavin

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pathfinderslog · 3 years

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Day #10

Tempest. Pathfinder's quarters. On the way to Eos.

🎶 Whatever it Takes - Imagine Dragons

As we can't use mass relays for the shifts between a system to another, like we'd have done in the Milky Way, in the Andromeda Galaxy we have to rely only on ours spaceships engines. Travel times are getting longer, but fortunately the Tempest is the fastest and most agile ship of the Initiative, so we are able to reach Habitat 1 in less than a week. We probably would have been able to get there sooner if Kallo hadn't had to make numerous evasive maneuvers to escape the Scourge's offshoots along the way.

In about 26 hours we will reach the Pytheas system and by then it shouldn't take long to reach the planet.

In these days I have had the opportunity to explore the ship from stern to bow and every corner has managed to enchant me. There is really everything you need to analyze and study all that Andromeda will offer us: flora, fauna, artifacts, new technologies! I even have a private cabin! (I've already said this, right?)

I also got to know the crew. If we need to work together for the good of us all we must do it well, as a team, and the best way to do this is to get to know each other.

First of all I need to know the on board crew: the pilot, the mechanic, the scientist, the doctor. They are essential support figures, without which it would not be possible to complete any mission. They keep the Tempest ready for the action and 100% efficient and take care of analyzing the samples we bring on board, they maintain active communications with the Nexus and they take care of coordinating the informations between my team and those of the leaders of the Initiative.

Gil tried to explain to me in the most elementary words possible how the engine works, which reproduces the ODSY of the arks on a smaller scale. Something related to the static energy accumulated while traveling and used to recharge the ship itself. I do not know. He tried hard, but I've never been good with technicalities. I prefer practice to theory.

Kallo, on the other hand, told me some curious anecdotes about his creation. He was part of the team in charge of designing and building the Tempest in the Milky Way and he left with her aboard the Nexus to follow her footsteps, while the rest of the group stayed behind. In a certain way it's like if he is a living legacy of the past. Couldn't have nothing better, after all, he was the testing pilot, he practiced with her a lot so he knows how she works.

The most curious thing, which both confirmed to me, is that the Tempest's cloacking system is based from the technical specifications of the Normandy SR-1's IES stealth system, but I know for sure that those projects are covered by military secrecy, so I don't understand how the Initiative could get their hands on them. Maybe my father has something to do with it? Maybe some of his old contacts in the N7? What else are you hiding from me, old man? AH! Damn! I wish I had you here now so I can choke you with my hands!

I still hold a grudge against my father for what he did to me.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to him for saving my life, but I also wish he hadn't burdened me with this HUGE responsibility. Fortunately, SAM has shown himself to be an excellent support several times, often also emotional, in certain ways, while not being able to show any emotion. Even if he's very sophisticated, he's still an AI, but sharing my father's body and mind for years has allowed him to share with me thoughts able to clarify many of my doubts about him and the relationship he had with us: me, Scott and even mum.

The more time passes, the more I feel I can do it!

This sense of oppression is gradually fading, and I must also thank the rest of my team for this.

Lexi now demands that I have a psychoanalysis session every day, arguing that it's essential to deal with mourn, and I, even if reluctantly, let her do it, because I am sure that my tangled mind is an interesting subject of study for her.

With Suvi we had some interesting scientific discussions, she showed me the results of the researches conducted so far by the Nexus and she passed me all the data of what we know so far about the Scourge. She is ... strange ... I thought I was strange, but she manages to be extremely intelligent and at the same time tremendously naive. She is convinced that behind the creation of the cosmos there is the hand of a god. Well, who am I to contradict her? Everyone is free to believe in what they want, as long as it doesn't interfere with their work.

Liam and Cora are helping me with the reports to send to the Nexus and together we analyze strategies and tactics to use to better prepare ourselves for what we have to face on Eos. Liam's experience with the Crisis Unit is proving particularly useful in this context of uncertainty, where anything that can go wrong surely will. And Cora, well, I understand why dad chose her as his second-in-command: she was part of a team of Asari Commando, Thessia's military and biotic combat excellence, backed by centuries of tactics and experience.

And then there is Vetra.

To have a smuggler's past she is very honest and crystal clear. I enjoy spending time with her. She is a tough girl who grew up alone, away from Palaven and the rest of the turian hierarchy (and I don't know how bad that can be), with a younger sister to raise, Sid. She told me what happened to the Nexus in the months before the arrival of the Hyperion: the clash with the Scourge, the chaos, the mutiny, the expulsion of the exiles, the failure of the first outposts. But she also told me amusing anecdotes, such as when she began retrieving special components for Kesh in the Milky Way - once, twice, three, four times - until she found out about the existence of the Andromeda Initiative and joined her in this undertaking, hoping for a better future - like many of us.

Sometimes, if I need to let off steam, I go to see her down in the hangar and she is willing to listen to me and my problems. On the contrary, she does not really like talking about herself, I have understood this by now, but I know how to be very patient, as well as very curious, and I am sure that sooner or later she too will confide in me. For the moment, I'm just happy to gossip with her about Addison's and Tann's.

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therewasatale · 4 years

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Newborns

On Ao3.

"I can do this; I can do this." The scientist's fingers run through the keyboard's keys as if he was playing a melody that only he could hear. Three monitors glowed with the information he required. More and more calculations followed each other, but all the simulations came up with the same result.

His chair squeaked slightly beneath him as he leaned back.

I should finally oil it, he reminded himself again for the up tenth time. The thought, however, vanished almost immediately as he focused on his studies again.

Everything was ready. He glanced over his shoulder. Silently gazed at the tanks and the prototype of the machine he created. It was reminiscent of a robust and a dozen times magnified injector into which two tubes were connected, they ran towards two tanks. Not far from him, a bluish and yellowish dot floated up and down, safely in their containers.

If it works, I will be able to progress much faster and much more efficiently.

He started typing another program, entering new lines data and preparing everything. Behind him, the structure buzzed like it was being alive.

I can do this, he repeated to himself as he pulled his arm out of his white lab coat. I must do this. His coworkers were already overworked. Moreover, the last human soul had the needed pattern. He was finally able to put his theory into practice. He was sure he would finally succeed for the first time.

I can do this!

At first the lights just began to flicker, then for a short time the whole lab was engulfed in darkness. Reserve energy got turned on almost immediately, but researchers still didn’t have time to get up.

The painful scream echoed throughout the building.

It didn't take all of three minutes until several monsters were at the door being busy to open it up. The code was hacked with great precision, but as the entrance was revealed they all stopped in shock.

There were three monsters inside.

"Why didn’t you kept an eye on Dr.Gaster ! I gave explicit orders not to leave him alone!" Asgore, the king of monsters, let his anger flare for a moment, but immediately put a lid on it when he realized it wasn't helping anyone anymore.

Taking large steps, he walked down the hall, his smoldering anger was stoked by concern for the doctor. Once again, a monster, he deeply cared about, got injured.

He was followed by Stol, one of the leading royal scientists. The feline monster nervously closed one of his ears, trying to get the king to calm down. He was well aware that they have really messed it up when they underestimated Dr.Gaster.

"I know, sir, but we thought he was focused on the development of the Core. We couldn't guess... it was all on a theoretical level. Your Majesty, we had no idea he was working on the project in secret!"

The king just shook his head with a huff and slowed down enough so the scientist could catch up him to show the way. After three turns, they headed towards a door, in front of which a couple researchers stood hesitantly.

"I assume he's in there."

"Yes, Your Majesty, they took care of his injuries and now they need to rest...all three of them."

Asgore glanced at the monster questioningly, but soon made a decision.

"I want to talk to him face to face."

"But sir-" Seeing the king's gaze, Stol blew a hasty retreat "of course, sir." He adjusted his glasses and gently pushed aside his colleagues, who tried to pay no attention to them, then opened the door.

The king entered and waited for the door to close, but even after, he was unable to move or utter a word. All the small bits of information he got from Stol, and Gaster had been hinting at in the past month, now come together and become a complete picture.

Dr. Gaster told him about a potential new project, it was after he felt he wasn’t moving fast enough with research regarding the Core and breaking the barrier. He began to study human souls and the souls of monsters. He developed a theory that the soul of a monster, if infused with the correct amount of human magic and power, could create an another creature.

It was a well-known fact that the souls of humans and skeleton monsters were the closest to each other. Gaster himself was just as good in using magic to actual combat as a human.

If one treats the soul gently enough, if a small piece is chipped away from the right place, he explained enthusiastically on a quiet afternoon. There might be a way to create another monster with a soul similar to the original one. This new being might even have some of the original one's experience and knowledge. This would make research much faster.

Asgore, on the other hand, opposed the whole idea on principle, he had a bad feeling about it from the start. He suspected that the scientist was much further along this research than simply discussing theoretical possibilities. And he was concerned that Gaster might cause serious damage to himself, just to try to help the monsters. Of course, the scientist never understood that if he crossed a line, he might never be able to help anyone anymore, not even himself.

The king cursed himself for not listening to his intuitions.

"Gaster..." Asgore heard his own voice, it was muffled by the noises of the room.

The royal scientist was lying on a wide bed. Cables of varying thickness were attached to his body, all connecting into a single monitor to keep an eye on every little shudder of his soul. Another medical system, connected to the same monitor, also to watch two other tiny and very weak hearts.

Asgore took a few steps to take a closer look at the three of them. It was then when he noticed that the anger that had been smoldering inside him so far had almost completely subsided, all that remained was concern.

"Your Majesty," dark circles deepened under Wingdings' eyes. Maybe he hadn’t been able to sleep for days, maybe the life-threatening procedure had exhausted him that much. The king would have guessed that it was due to both of those things.

There were two tiny skeletal monsters sleeping in Gaster's arms, one's chest glowed in blue and the other's in yellow. They were so tiny they would have completely disappeared if they were in the king's arm.

"I...didn't...I thought..." Gaster's voice trailed off slightly. He pulled the two little monsters closer to him with his arms "I thought they were...but I didn't...they just..."

"Gaster," the king found the ground under his feet again. Maybe it was his friend's desperate voice that shook him to place.

"I don't…don't…I know…I don't know what to do with children. They…they…should be older." The monster sniffed, still holding the two newborns as carefully as possible. "My calculations…I'm not…they should be bigger, they're, they're just so small. I've never been good with…I don't even know...I'm not…Asgore..."

"Gaster, it's okay." Asgore placed his hand carefully on his shoulder. He hadn't seen his friend acting like this in a long time. He felt his heart break, he wanted to sacrifice so much, just so they can get out a little sooner. "It's okay. Please take a few deep breaths for my sake," he tried to use his kindest voice.

"But I..."

"It's okay. They're really lovely...newborns," the king took a seat in the chair by the bed. "I understand that there might be a lot going on your mind right now, but I think we should concentrate on your new family." He said with a gentle smile.

Gaster closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, took a deep breath and glanced down at the baby skeletons. For long minutes, the only thing could be heard where the beeping of the monitors.

Despite the pain in his body, he gently caressed the heads of the two tiny monsters. He watched them taking their small breaths. One of them, glowing with yellowish light, snuggled into his clothes as much as possible, while his brother began to snore slightly. Two tiny, innocent souls. Both came from his own. He slowly stroked their heads and watched with the two new lifes with gently admiration.

"I understand if you are angry with me, Your Majesty." He said seemingly gathering himself. "I didn't anticipate every possibility and now it will take even longer to break the barrier." The scientist fell silent again and he could feel an invisible bond forming between the three of them. His voice became softer.

"But I... I can't regret it. These children ..."

Asgore shook his head with a smile.

"I understand, my friend. Although you have experimented in secret, I think it all ended as well as it could have. Don't worry about the barrier right now. And we're talking about you, I'll bet you'll be on your feet and working much sooner than that would be recommended anyway."

"Well, I-"

"But these children are now your responsibilities. It's rare for a new life to be born here. Please take care of them."

Gaster remained silent for a few moments, then sighed slowly.

"Heavens, what I got myself into."

The king chuckled deeply and it was filled with warmth.

"Parenting is one of the biggest and noblest challenges in life. But knowing your habits of not sleeping, I think you'll be fine."

"Your Majesty..." Gaster sighed heavily, but he couldn't suppress the faint smile when he heard Asgore chuckle again. "In the future I might ask some advice. If it's okay..."

"Any time you want, my friend. I'll try to help with everything I know."

The two small skeletons moved slightly in their sleep and snuggled closer to Gaster, who became bluish in his embarrassment.

"Try to relax a bit, we will talk more after you wake up." Asgore smiled at him.

"Well…maybe…" Gaster suppressed a yawn as he let his head fall back on the pillow. "The materials are all there on my computer, and then I'll explain everything…but now… I…"

"We'll talk when you wake up as I said. I have to go now, you three deserve some sleep."

"I... yes, I think you're right." Gaster replied slowly closing his eyes "Thank you...Your Majesty..."

"Good night, my friend."

The king carefully adjusted the blanket on the slowly breathing skeleton family. He made sure that no one would bother Dr.Gaster, but to inform him as soon as he is awake.

As he walked down the hallways, he began to hum an old children's song under his breath. Memories he thought to be forgotten, flooded out filling his mind. For the first time in many years, the appearance of these memories filled his heart with warmth.

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #sans #papyrus #babybones #asgore dreemurr #asgore #gaster x asgore #wingdings #gaster #drgaster #wingdings gaster #copper #asgore undertale #gaster undertale #wd gaster

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bobbyshaddoe80 · 3 years

Text

Liberated Audio Reviews

Blake's 7 - The Liberator Chronicles Vol. 2

RELEASED AUGUST 2012

Recorded on: 18 October and 25 November 2011, and 15 March 2012

Recorded at: Moat Studios

Review By Robert L. Torres

The Magnificent Four by Simon Guerrier

'A mission to steal data from the planet Mogul goes badly wrong when Cally and Avon are outflanked and outgunned. And then they are teleported to safety – to an alien spaceship stolen from The System, which is crewed by Gilden Trent and his small team of rebels.

For Avon it’s the opportunity to start over again without Blake.

But can Trent be trusted?'

Chronological Placement:

Set during Series B between the episodes Countdown and Voice From the Past.

Magnificent. Defined in the dictionary as 'impressive, deserving of admiration, especially due to an unusual quality involving size'.

The word is often used when describing something vast in size and scope, but magnificence can also be attributed to the quality of something that involves a small group. A prime example would be the title characters of the classic Western The Magnificent Seven. Even the accomplishments made by the John Wick character could be described as magnificent despite them being done by one man.

Magnificent is an apt word to describe the impressive storytelling quality that Guerrier has pulled off with this Cally focused story.

Cally, as played by the exquisite Jan Chappell, was always one of my favorites from the original cast. She was someone that wasn't a hardened cynic like Avon (who provides much needed support for Cally in this story), nor was she cowardly like Vila. She was someone that genuinely believed in doing the right thing and saw fighting against the oppressive tyranny of the Federation to be a very serious responsibility.

I was also always fascinated by her stance as someone that, for all intents and purposes, was the alien of the group (due to her coming from a race of telepaths). I have my own thoughts and theories about the Auronar, but that can wait for another day. Despite having powers of the mind, I always felt that Cally was very much the heart of the team.

I love that this story has Cally and Avon meeting up with a group like Blake's, on a ship like the Liberator, only to learn that they are little more than highly skilled pirates.

I love that the events of the Series B episode 'Redemption' are brought up and how the crew of the Libertine are a result of the aftermath of the events from that story.

I love how the story showcases in the crew of the Libertine a distorted reflection (and perhaps a retroactive premonition) of what would happen to the crew of the Liberator should they lose their way by abandoning their morals and scruples and just give in to blind self interest... Which for the most part is exactly what started to happen during Series C and ultimately came to fruition in Series D.

A minor nitpick, but I always thought the planet Cally came from was called Auron and her people were called the Auronar. And yet in this story and others, they refer to her as being an Auron. Is it a case where one singular person is an Auron but the collective term for the species as a whole is Auronar? It is a minor thing, I know, but still something that stuck out.

Something else that is a bit of a minor flaw is that at one point in the story the voiceover narration switches from Cally to Avon. There is a specific reason why this happens in the narrative, but it still comes about rather unexpectedly.

Given the stories in these chronicles are events being recounted AFTER the fact, there is the inevitable problem of how to create tension and intrigue with life threatening peril for the characters when most fans know the show backwards and are fully aware of what the inevitable fates for many of the characters are.

Luckily for Guerrier and many other writers, they do create moments that make you wonder how such and such will be able to survive whatever life threatening peril is thrown at them, and manage to cleverly pay off how they survive without falling into 'Oh Come The Fuck On' Territory.

8 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

Anyway, this story is very well done and is the first of many plots that involve coming across potential allies for the Resistance movement, only to learn the would be allies are often a lot worse than their enemies in the Federation. Definitely give it a listen.

False Positive by Eddie Robson

'Dr. Lian has a mysterious new patient – a man who was found shot in the leg near Engel City, a man who is delirious and talking about the most extraordinary acts of rebellion.

She prescribes drugs and the use of the alleviator – a device that will dig deep into his memories – to unlock the truth about Carlin Guzan.

But the truth that she exposes is far more shocking than she bargained for...'

Chronological Placement:

Set during Series B after LC Vol. 10's Retribution, between the episodes Horizon and Pressure Point.

This story is definitely a step up in quality from volume 1's 'Counterfeit' and is an excellent Blake-centric story. The framing device for the recollection of the events is actually quite clever as it ties in with the adventure itself in a very naturalistic manner.

The dialogue scenes between Blake and Dr. Liam are excellent. Kudos to Beth Chalmers for giving the character of Dr. Liam the right balance of professional intrigue and personal curiosity as she learns more and more about her 'patient'. But this story belongs to the late Gareth Thomas through and through and it is great to hear him be afforded better material than during his first go round back in 'Counterfeit'.

I always rather liked Blake from the start, and a large part of that is down to the performance of the late Gareth Thomas. The character of Roj Blake was a passionate idealist fighting for a noble cause, someone who could be diplomatic but understood the need for action rather than simple civil disobedience. As someone that broke free from an oppressive government, he immediately gains our sympathies... even if his passions occasionally bordered on overzealous fanaticism. This is largely due to what the Federation did to him personally by trying to rewrite his mind, killing his family and even destroying his public image by falsifying accusations of paedophilia.

Since the Federation enact the same tactics on countless others without any hesitation, morals or scruples, it is no wonder why Blake is so overwhelmingly passionate about wiping out the corruptive and cancerous tumor that is the Federation. Not only to avenge family, but to ensure that people are given the freedom to choose for themselves and not simply be coerced into following the rules through propaganda, torture, drugs or mind control.

Speaking of drugs and mind control, that goes to the heart of the plot: Blake going undercover at a Federation research facility that is conducting a clinical drug trial for the development of a new pacifying sedative, which the Federation hopes to employ in order to ensure total compliance and obedience to Federation doctrine.

Ironically enough, that is exactly what would come to pass towards the tail end of Series D... But we already know that, don't we?

7 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

All things considered, it is a pretty good story. This story, like a few others in the Liberator Chronicles range, could work as a two-hander stage play with a couple of tweaks. It also could easily have worked on TV or even as a full cast audio. Give it a listen.

Wolf by Nigel Fairs

“I heard his death cry. I felt it. And there was a word. ‘Wolf’. You, Servalan. You were the “Wolf”. You killed him. I want to know why.”

'Some time ago, Blake and his crew were helped by a revered Auron scientist named Gustav Nyrron. He stayed aboard the Liberator for a time and then disappeared.

Cally wants to know what happened to Nyrron, and only Servalan knows the answers.'

Chronological Placement:

Set during Series B between the episodes Pressure Point and Trial.

This is a very intriguing Servalan focused story, featuring Cally and a return appearance by Gustav Nyrron from Volume 1's 'Solitary'.

They say that a protagonist is only as good as the antagonist created to provide drama/conflict. This is especially true when the character of Supreme Commander Servalan (along with the equally excellent Space Commander Travis) was introduced as the Liberator crew's primary antagonist in the Series A episode 'Seek-Locate-Destroy'.

A large part of why the Servalan character has left such a lasting impression on the minds of fans had to do with the casting of the late Jacqueline Pearce, and the way she played the role. Her grace, charm, beauty and seductive allure went hand in hand with a ruthless ambitious edge along with a keen strategic mind.

In many ways, Servalan, as played by Jacqueline Pearce, reminded me of Alexis Colby as played by Joan Collins. Although Servalan was a bit more reserved than Alexis.

As such, it makes perfect sense that the Liberator Chronicles would provide ample opportunities to explore the villains as well as the heroes. This story does well to explore Servalan's character along with her thoughts, beliefs and how she carries herself as she recounts events. The recollection is pretty interesting cuz it comes about in multiple ways.

We learn a little bit about Servalan's childhood in reference to a game she used to play with others. Its interesting how this story, along with the upcoming 'Kerr', 'President' and 'Three', provides more insight into the character than the show ever did. The aforementioned upcoming stories do provide some great insight into why Servalan is the way she is... But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I love the scenes between Servalan and Cally, as I do not recall the two of them having much screentime during the series proper... If ever. But I could be wrong.

This story has some great twists and turns as it deals with exploring how Servalan used Nyrron as her personal plaything in her efforts to lure the Liberator into her clutches.

Although Nyrron will be featured again in the story 'Brother' off of Volume 11 (which I will talk about eventually), I think this is the story that features him the best. We learn the most about him as a character, and much kudos to Anthony Howell for bringing much pathos and nuance to the Auron scientist.

The story also lends itself quite well to philosophical debates regarding how each side views the other. Naturally, Blake's crew view Servalan and the Federation as an evil and oppressive tyranny, while Servalan and those within the Administration view Blake and his ilk as little more than terrorists wanting to bring down the only force for law and order in the galaxy.

It is that clash of ideals and personal morals that will be explored to great effect in future volumes as well as in the full cast audios.

9 out of 10 Plasma Bolts

Final score for Liberator Chronicles Vol. 2 in its entirety is 8 out of 10 Plasma Bolts. It is a profound step up in quality compared to Volume 1, and it demonstrates that things can only go up from here in terms of character exploration and engaging plots.

Special credit to Craig Brawley of the Big Finish Listeners Facebook Group for his tireless efforts in mapping out the chronology of the audios and determining his they fit in with the established TV continuity.

#blake's 7 #reviews #big finish productions #audiobooks #audio dramas

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dawnfelagund · 5 years

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So I just listened to your presentation about the Tolkien fandom - which is really good btw, very informative - and the point that transformational fanfiction is mostly female got me thinking (mainly bc in my experience fanfiction in general seems more female, I have knowingly read only three authors who identified as male). Do you think that's bc most fandoms have a distinct lack of fem characters, so fem writers have an incentive to write transformational fics that male writers don't?

Oh my, oh my this is such a good question that I fear I will not answer it as well as it deserves. But I’ll try!

(Here is the presentation mentioned in the ask, for anyone who wants context. Both video and text are available at the link.)

Why transformational fandom trends female is complicated and has been the subject of much discussion/debate since the advent of fanfic studies back in the early ‘90s. Early scholarship focused on women using fanfic to expand the original texts so that the better reflected the women/author’s own experiences, especially where emotions and relationships were concerned. From Jenkins’ Textual Poachers (1991):

Fans want not simply internal consistency but also what Ien Ang has described as “emotional realism.” Ang (1985) suggests that Dallas fans viewed the program not as “empirically” true to real-world experiences of upper-class Texans but rather as “emotionally” true to the viewers’ personal lives…. (107)

Female readers entered directly into the fictional world, focusing less on the extratextual process of its writing than on the relationships and events. … The female reader saw her own “tacit inferences” as a legitimate part of the story …. Moreover, male readers tended to maintain the narrative’s pre-existing focus on a central protagonist, while female readers expressed a greater eagerness to explore a broader ranger of social relationships …. (108-9, citing David Bleich [1986])

Camille Bacon-Smith, author of Enterprising Women (also 1991) writes:

Fanwriters, like soap opera fans, want to see characters change and evolve, have families, and rise to the challenge of internal and external crises in a nonlinear, dense tapestry of experience. Whether because of innate qualities or socialization, women perceive their lives in this way, and they like to see that structure reproduced in their literature. The writing experience becomes one of participation in the lives of the characters. (64)

Jenkins and Bacon-Smith really established fanfic studies as we know it, so I include these ideas to show how foundational they are and, I believe, underlie more recent resistant/reparative motives. Underlying this early assumption is that mainstream media and literature doesn’t represent the experiences of women, so we have to create it ourselves. Hence what we’d now call transformational fandom: the shifting of authority onto the fanwriter to rework a fictional universe according to her own experience of reality. I think this holds true in Tolkienfic fandom, although it is more complex than the theories above (rooted in media, not book, fandom) suggest, in that my research shows that Tolkienfic authors engage in much more negotiation with canon details and (most importantly) Tolkien’s authority. In other words, they care about how to create that “emotional realism” but within the confines of the canon, which many would take to include Tolkien’s views, unstated in the texts, on the canon and even his moral prerogatives.

My sense is that there is a definite connection between the early ideas of women creating fanworks to see their realities and experiences represented in the fictional universes they love and the present-day idea of fanfiction as a form of resistant reading. (Here, I am perfectly willing to have my hand smacked by people better versed in fan studies history if I’m mangling or missing key pieces of the relationship between these two schools of thought. Just speak up.) Because part of the experience of being a woman is opening a history book and not seeing the lives of women represented or going to a film where women usually make up a minority of the cast (and are often cast into stereotyped roles). Part of our experience as Tolkien fans is coming to terms with our love of a book (LotR) where, to borrow the wince-inducing stat cited by Una McCormick, there are more named horses than women. (The Silmarillion fares better in terms of named women but still isn’t great, as I have argued elsewhere, in providing those named women with roles and agency equal to that of the men.)

(Here I’m going to focus on the Tolkienfic fandom. I know your question was broader than that, but I study the Tolkienfic fandom, and as a fan, I’m monofandom myself, so I’m hesitant to speak about the norms and practices in other fandoms, nor am I as familiar with their scholarship. Others with insights about other present-day fandoms, please do add on.)

Una McCormick has a fabulous essay in Perilous and Fair that positions Tolkienfic as a form of what she calls “reparative reading”:

The complexity of such reading and writing practices and the ambivalence of the creative labor involved in making repairs upon such texts have driven some women readers to find a presence for themselves in The Lord of the Rings through writing fanfiction as a creative-critical response to Tolkien’s text. By weaving female characters into the familiar narrative, or else focusing upon marginalized characters such as nurses, servants, and non-combatants, these authors write themselves–or those like themselves–into the events of the War of the Ring. (310)

Una is a fanfic writer herself and a Tolkien scholar, and her work is unique in this sense, because she is intimately familiar with the Tolkienfic community as a participant and also because she has written one of the rare fanfic studies pieces focusing exclusively on our fandom. However–and I don’t think Una would disagree–reparative reading is just a part of Tolkienfic fandom, so I don’t think it fully explains the “transformational is female” trend. It is certainly part of it. My survey data shows a strong interest among Tolkienfic authors; 78% agree that “Writing fan fiction lets me explore the perspectives of female characters.” (80% of readers “like reading fan fiction about female characters.”)

What is interesting is that there is not a big difference in how women and men respond to the statement “Writing fan fiction allows me to explore the perspectives of femalecharacters.” 78% of women agreed; 73% of men agreed. Where there is a significant difference: 90% of nonbinary survey participants agreed with this survey item. (It’s worth noting that the sample of men was small. Less than 4% of survey participants identified as male.)

I also feel that I have to note that, historically, Tolkienfic fandom has had contingents hostile to including women characters in Tolkien-based fanfiction. Many who started in the fandom when I did (mid-2000s) will remember when “OFC = Mary Sue” (itself a term that I find sexist since the number of scrawny, nerdy dudes who become superheroes in comics attests that adding a dose of Awesome to a whopping pile of Ordinary is not inherently deserving of derision), and many people avoided writing women characters because they were a flame magnet. Key to this piece of history, too, is that, in my experience, the detractors and bullies of creators who wrote about women? Were, like the rest of the Tolkienfic fandom, a majority women. This was not guys trying to preserve a boys-only treehouse in the canon; this was women policing other women’s production of fanfiction, often using the canon itself as a tool to do so.

It’s also worth noting that changes in fandom perception of women characters has been due to the concerted effort of fans to draw attention to sexism in the canon and in the fandom and to celebrate fanworks that feature strong women characters. @vefanyar‘s concept of the textual ghost is the prime example in my mind, in that she not only drew attention to the problems in the canon–simply scrolling through her Textual Ghost Project is a visually provoking experience–but the potential for fanworks creators to address those problems in the reparative way that Una McCormick identifies. @vefanyar, among others, has paired this work with the canon with a concerted, years-long effort to encourage and celebrate fanworks about Tolkien’s women, creating a climate where, finally, it feels like writing about women comes with more rewards than risks.

So. To conclude. I think that the scholarship, my data, and my own experience as a Tolkienfic author/archive owner points to an answer to “Why is transformational fandom overwhelmingly female?” in the context of Tolkienfic fandom, as: It’s complicated. Yes, some of us are working to address the inequality both in the number and quality of female characters in the canon. But as my presentation states, this is just a partial picture because Tolkienfic fandom is not fully transformational, and women are attracted to this fandom for reasons that have nothing to do with establishing gender parity in the canon. I earlier held up the stats of 78% of authors (and 80% of readers) enjoying fanfiction about women to suggest that there is an interest in telling women’s stories in the fandom, but I’d also say that the one in five not interested (or not sure if they’re interested) in stories about women aren’t insignificant. This is still a sizable contingent of the fandom, a majority of whom are women. The desire to produce transformational fanworks runs deep in women fans and may hearken back to Jenkins’ and Bacon-Smith’s broader ideas about women’s experiences, may suggest a difference in how girls/women are socialized, may reflect barriers to entering more affirmationally oriented fan communities, or may come down to something else (like the social/community aspect of fandom) entirely.

#tolkien #tolkien fanfiction #tolkien fan studies #tolkien fandom history

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amandaoftherosemire · 6 years

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i really like when you do the science! I can just imagine your OC Sasha being in the Avengers tower and thinking out loud while working. Tony just nodding along at his crazy girl, but then Sam or Steve coming in and getting sucked into her convincing logic on Bucky's leather jackets or hairstyles. So now they're all invested in this research process and analyze Bucky whenever he walks in. He's always confused & Sasha's like don't worry we're just admiring you go with it & so he does :)

Dude, don’t encourage me! 😂 I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that someone other than @marvel-lucy enjoys the science! 😊🤣 Once you put this in my brain I couldn’t stop myself. I hope you like it.

“I call it the ‘James Barnes StrokabilityIndex’.” With those words, Sasha set in motion something that quickly grewbeyond her. What started as a throw-away joke quickly turned into somethingwith a life of its own.

It all started, as these things often did,with Sasha’s unruly brain when she was in the zone. For weeks she’d beenamusing herself with trying to create a unified theory as to what exactly madeBucky more soft and cuddly. Or, as she had come to think of it, more strokable.

What started simple soon became ridiculouslycomplex the more she overthought it. How did clothing affect strokability? Wasleather better than velvet? What about suits versus sweaters? The ephemeraldifferences between different lengths of stubble haunted her. The minutechanges along the spectrum from smooth sharp to fuzzy floof preyed upon hermind.

Maybe if she was any good at the kind of mathand science she needed for the Strokability Index, she could actually getsomewhere.

Everything changed the day Steve came to thelab to talk to Tony and he overheard Sasha muttering to herself about hairlength. Tony had been listening in on Sasha’s unintentionally outer monologueand cracking up for weeks. Privately he thought her math and methods wereclearly flawed and he desperately wanted to offer to help but he couldn’tfigure out how without being more weird than even he was comfortable with. HisCrazy Girl was family. He’d accepted that she and Bucky were together but hepreferred not to think about it.

"I mean, to do it right we'd have totake him all the way down to a buzzcut. Then, I'd take weekly measurements ofboth length, softness, and overall strokability. Once it had grown out to thepoint it is now, I'll have a perfect data set."

Steve, utterly baffled, looked to Tony, whowas no help. He simply pressed his lips together to hold back the snickers andindicated Steve keep listening.

"I can't ask him to cut his hair,though. He likes making me happy too much; he might actually do it. If onlythere was a way to know how soft his hair was short, I could at leastextrapolate from there."

To Tony's complete astonishment, Steve pipedup. "Hey, Sash!"

"The fuck are you doing?" Tonyhissed.

Steve ignored Tony to continue, "Youknow how long his hair was with the Howling Commandoes? When it was maybe aninch longer than that? That's when it was softest."

Sasha blinked once, slowly, before her facespread in a laughing smile. She spent the next several minutes laying out herhypothesis that strokability could be defined and measured. Her ultimate goalwas to define Bucky’s maximum strokability, defined as Overall Strokability Ten,using the strokability Index she was hoping to develop.

When she was done, both Steve and Tony wereon board. Steve joined in by providing data while Tony threw himself into themath of it all. Nat joined the debate next, followed in quick succession by Samand Clint. Before a full week had passed, the whole team was in on it andbattle lines were being drawn over the variables in play.

Less than two weeks after Steve and Tonyjoined the research team, Sasha was sitting next to Sam at the counter in thekitchen watching Natasha cook while she waited for Bucky. They were escapingfor the evening to go out to dinner and pretend they were normal people forawhile.

When Bucky walked into the kitchen, Natashascoffed. “Sweater and a suit? How the hell do we classify this?”

Bucky looked down at his gray windowpane suitwith a scowl, “You’re the one that made me buy this!” he exclaimed bitterly.

“I never told you to pair it with a sweaterinstead of a shirt and tie,” she sneered.

Sasha looked on with a mixture of chagrin andamusement at what she’d started as Bucky shot back, “The tie was fuckingchoking me.”

“Ignore her, dude,” Sam chimed in. “You’relooking good. OS eight at least.”

“Please,” Nat sneered. “OS six at best.”

“You’re just obsessed with leather,” Samprotested.

Bucky would be demanding explanations butSasha was running her hands over his shoulders and chest and smilingappreciatively. “I think you look delicious. Are you ready to go, my love?”

As they walked out of the room, Sasha tossedover her shoulder, “Sam’s right. OS nine.”

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transjoyblog · 3 years

Text

6 Personal Values That Will Hurt Your Business

Photo by Ava Sol on Unsplash

Everyone has their own set of personal values by which they live their life. These can be consciously chosen, or be created by default. Usually, everyone has some combination of chosen, and default values and beliefs, but no matter how you came to them, every single one of your values should be examined and judged as to how it supports your goals, or wellbeing. Anyone who has adopted this practice of active self-reflection has found some values to be incongruous with living well. The same is true for building a business. There are simply some values that will get in the way of building a lasting, stable business, that works for both you and your employees. That is not to say that one cannot make money if you have any of these values. In fact, capitalism can bring some of the following values out in even the best of us, which is why you should be aware of these values and how to avoid relying on them.

1. You put yourself first. Either the customer or your employees or (ideally) both must come first when seeking to get value out of a business i.e. paying yourself for the time and effort you put into the business. I mean this in both the abstract and very real legal sense of the word. When a business is having cash flow issues, you are still legally obligated to pay your employees on time. If you do not you are in violation of federal law, and probably whatever state law governs your business practices. This is the basic order of operations to use when thinking about how your business provides value. You are always last. Even when filing Chapter 7 liquidation, secured debt (debt backed by collateral) is given the highest priority when paying back creditors, followed closely by pay owed to employees.

How to Avoid This:

Make a list of values that you would like your business to embody. Refer to this when you need some clarity on a big, values driven decision i.e. What is the business' family leave policy?

Keep your eye on the ball - why are you doing business? The answer should be to provide something of value to others, and making money should be side effect of a great product or service.

2. You shirk responsibility in the face of tough decisions. You may feel that you are happy to accept a leadership position, and would gladly take on everything that comes with that. But have you ever had to make the decision to fire someone? And I don't mean someone who is incompetent or otherwise underperforming. Have you ever had to fire a loyal, high performing person with whom you have worked very closely to build something in which you both believe? This is a situation in which you may find yourself, and you would do well to prepare for this possibility. I suggest reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz to learn more about the tough spots in which you could find yourself should the business grow beyond just yourself.

How to Avoid This:

Consciously start choosing to cultivate decisiveness. If someone asks what you would like for dinner, provide a real answer, instead of a middling, "I'm good with whatever anyone else wants". When asked your opinion, give it, thoughtfully, and only when asked. There are a ton of other ways to improve your decision making skills, most of which are probably just a Google search away.

3. You tend to be suspicious in the face of ambiguity, you rarely give the benefit of the doubt or worse, you tend to fall for the logical fallacy called argument from ignorance. This is a false dichotomy fallacy that asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. For example, I once had a boss think that our dishwasher was lying about having to leave early from work. He claimed that he had to get a court mandated drug test at a facility just down the road from our work. My boss supposed that because he could be lying, and she did not have positive proof that he was being honest, he must be trying to get off early, at least sometimes. Please don't do this. This guy was being completely honest. I had to pass the route he took to this facility in order to make my way home, and I almost always saw him on his way to where he said he was going.

How to Avoid This:

Educate yourself on the principals of logical fallacy, and proper argumentative techniques. One of the best books I have ever read on this subject was actually a textbook in my college speech class. It was Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs. I also recommend you educate yourself on proper research techniques, and how to discern a reliable source of information, from an unreliable one. Training yourself on generally accepted information sourcing techniques is invaluable and can help you with everything from politics to your personal relationships.

4. You believe learning is finite and time bound. I once heard someone proudly announce that they didn't read books anymore because they had received their Master's degree, and therefore had done all the reading they needed to do. This may be an extreme example, but a lot of people do not truly value learning as much as they value credentialing, or "education". Businesses must learn to survive. Actively learn. Meaning, leaders need to propose hypotheses, run experiments, collect data, and analyze this data to reach a conclusion on the hypothesis. That is the only way a business can continue to grow and thrive in the current business climate.

How to Avoid This:

You can read The Lean Startup by Eric Reis for more information on the role that learning plays in the success of a business. Study the theories proposed in this book, and use them to inform your own company culture.

You can make learning a priority in your life. Not just as another thing to check off your to-do list. Keep up on your reading, even if you only like reading so-called "trashy" fiction. Reading is reading, and there have been some studies that support the idea that reading fiction can help us improve our ability to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes".

5. You're racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory or prejudiced. This includes things like having a preference for hiring a certain type of person for specific roles in the organization. You may catch yourself or others saying things like "I agree that she may be a good fit, but she is so young," or, "He should be applying for something in the back, we can't have men running the register." The latter was a common refrain in certain parts of the food service industry for a long time.

Also be sure to look out for the ways in which you judge others' appearances. I recently listened to episode 433 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, entitled "Black Entrepreneurs Speak Out, Volume 2". In this episode we hear from James Shannon, who tells us about a time that he was told not to wear a hoodie to work because he "looked like a thug." This is explicitly racist behavior. It is the kind of behavior that is so hard to call out when you are on the receiving end, because it is so easy to argue against, especially when the person committing this offense is in a position of authority over you and your livelihood. Get the full story by listening to the podcast, it is definitely worth your time.

How to Avoid This:

We all have an obligation to educate ourselves on the reality of others. By this I mean, each and every one of us have a societal obligation to "walk a mile" in as many types of shoes as we can. While you may (hypothetically) be a cisgender, heterosexual, Hispanic man, plenty of people are not. And understanding the struggles, traditions, problems, and joys of people who are not similar to you will help you develop an understanding of how you, and your decisions fit within "the larger picture" of society. This understanding can help you connect with anyone better, as people will respond to those who make a genuine effort to understand and respect their experience. If you're working on your reading habit, be sure to read books by people who encourage critical thinking, respect for others, and offer new perspectives on large issues, such as How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, or Histories of the Transgender Child by Jules Gill-Peterson.

6. You lie. Whether it is a simple habit of hyperbolic gossip, or outright deception there is no place for dishonesty at work. The tendency to lie is a human one, and I do believe that there is some place for small lies that have become a part of polite American small talk i.e. answering "I'm just fine." when someone asks how you're doing because you don't feel like explaining that you had a terrible fight with your wife that morning and you, in fact, feel like a dumpster fire. What I mean by lying is any form of knowing misrepresentation, deception, or fraud. This is not only damaging to your reputation, this habit can get you into serious legal trouble. Fraud is a serious charge that could land you in federal prison depending on the nature of your lies.

How To Avoid This:

Value honesty and plainness of speech. I try to refrain from using technical language as best I can, so as to retain the utmost clarity when making a point. You may feel like everyone is inflating themselves, and you have to do the same to compete. Do not do this. Openness and honesty will open more doors than it will close, and the doors it does close may very well be worth closing.

Wrapping it all up

If you find that you have given into any of these default values, you're not alone. I have been guilty of all of these to some degree, but the important thing is to identify these influences, and work to understand the pressure they exert over your decisions. You can change the things that you value for the better, and improve your business as a consequence of your pursuit.

There is also so much more you can do to actually affect change within society as a whole. Even if you are like myself, and can't even attend a protest, let alone help organize one, there are still ways in which you can help. I am looking into opportunities to lend some data entry assistance to my County's COVID-19 vaccine administration sites. We can all step up, and do what we can, with what we have, where we are!

What are some other values and beliefs that hinder businesses and their owners' success? I am always interested in expanding my perspective, so let me know in the comments!

#finance #business #entrepreneur #investment #personal growth #know your value #educateyourself #small business #small business coach

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macabrecabra · 7 years

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Symmetra approaches the shimada bros about their dragons because she's curious about how they work, what are they made out of exactly, etc., but besides the very basic info the brothers don't actually know too much about their dragons, which leaves Symmetra unsatisfied, so she decides to lure their dragons out so she can study them more closely.

I can give you a little somethingsure! A new prompt idea is always welcomed to bring in some fresh air

For anon! Title: In Regards toDragonsRating: PG-13Relationship: Symmetra studying themdragons

Sometimes, in the pursuit of betterunderstanding, it was better to ask forgiveness than to seekpermission. That was a lesson Symmetra had been taught from a youngage, well before she had enter the field itself.

As a smallgirl, she had learned quickly, as most children did, what was rightand wrong, what was allowed and not allowed, and also that there wererules and barriers. She had also learned that breaking those ruleswere sometimes, just sometimes though, a little necessary to find abetter way. The ends justified the means in the end and small slightscould be forgiven. What she was about to do now was just oneof those instances. In the name of understanding the Shimada dragons, she had to take things into her own hands.

Of course she had tried to play nice.She had spoken to both Hanzo and Genji about the object of herinterest, their dragons, but it was rather hard to get a straightanswer from either. “It has been in our family forgenerations, binding to those in the family who are proven worthy,”Had been what Hanzo had said solemnly with Genji's own remarks beingmore or less the same thing although phrased far more crudely andlaid-back.It was a pair of responses that had Symmetrafrowning as they held no sense of scientific or even rationalexplanation and fell back on wives tales and traditions. Two menhaving dragons was treated like a common place thing, not somethingof extraordinary revelation. Such answers could not be accepted andso Symmetra had went to work on finding a way to truly settle her curiosity and bring a more logical explanation for the dragons intobeing.There was always a way to explain myths.

Symmetra hummed to herself, a habit ofhers that came to light when in high spirits and dare she say giddyabout a particular project, as she began to power up her personallab. She had left the Vishkar Corporation, true, but she had notabandoned all the equipment she had picked up over the years. She hadsimply moved it to her own personal room, converting half of thesuite into her own working lab with her own security codes separatefrom Athena's control. Here, there would be no one to watch or evenknown she was the one that “stole” the Shimada dragons.

She wouldn't have used that word to describe what she had done though. She had simply borrowed the beasts and wouldreturn them when she was satisfied. That was all. Nothing more,nothing less. They would not be gone any longer than what wasnecessary to get her curiosity sated. As her lab finishedloading Symmetra extended a single finger to lightly tap against theholoscreen, flicking through the security codes without much thought,already bending her mind towards what she needed to accomplish thisday. To start, she would have to find a way to isolate what thedragons were made of, or at least, what kind of light they were. Herpersonal theory on the matter was that these dragons were a constructof light, not hard light, but some other form of undiscovered lightmanipulation that was more alive than the hard light creations sheutilized.

If that was true, with enough researcha combination of living and hard light could very well be used tocraft organs, maybe even new life. It would be the literallykey to godhood if someone were to master it, the very ability tomanipulate life as it was known.A touch of a smile came toher lips as she briefly entertained such lofty thoughts. Such dreamshad merit but now wasn't the time to get lost in the could be of herresearch and focus on the task at hand. The architect lifted hergun and loaded the muzzle carefully into a port, pressing the switchto let the dragons out into a larger containment field constructed ofthick glass that would allow her to observe them as she manipulatedthe strange energy that they were made up of. Blue and green serpentstwisted and twined about, clearly agitated and Symmetra even got thesensation they were watching her. In all honestly that didn'tscare her as much as it should have. It fascinated her that the beingwere sentient enough to know they were captured and being studied.Symmetra gave a small smile to the beasts, deceptively kind,as her fingers tapped across the keypad and began to scan and uploaddata to her lab. Her eyes flicked to the read out of numbers dashingacross the screens, pursing her lips thoughtfully. Her mind wasfocusing in on it all, soaking it up with the fervor she always hadwhen it came to matters of light and light research. The green dragonhad paused in its ceaseless meanderings of its new cage, watching thedate with an almost curious tilt of its head, tiny paws against theglass. It was cute she supposed but it did little to distracther from her work. The dragon was now pawing at the class, giving outhissing low growls that sounded so much deeper and louder than itssmall size would indicate but she suppose it only appeared small fornow due to being confined. It had been so much larger when Genji hadunleashed it.

“My, my aren't the three of youinteresting,” She murmured out loud, “Such strange photonmake-up, and to create such colors and diversity, yet behave thesame, so very peculiar,” She flicked her fingers over thescreen, sorting out data into the necessary categories, eyesnarrowing. The green dragon was moving at a slower pace, which madesense given its color while the blue dragons were far more energeticand more akin to hard light. Akin to, but not quiet. There was someother wavelength in their make-up, some other finely woven aspect shestill needed to unpack. Symmetra's eyes narrowed andcarefully she shifted to bring her hands to a small pad, brushing herfingers against it. Within the container, hard light erupted and thedragons scattered from the thin beam, hissing and growling. The greenone was the first to inspect it, snapping a small mouth at it beforesquawking as the beam of harmless light expanded as Symmetra began tomanipulate it from outside the containment chamber.Shesmirked, just a bit as she watched the dragons huff and hiss as shemore or less formed a copy of the green dragon out of hard light. Itseemed to be aware of this, letting out a surprised shrieking soundand starting to nudge and wrap around the construct, looking over atthe twin blue dragon's with a wide eyed, glowing look of shock as ifto say “That's me! This is me! Its me!”

Symmetra couldn't help the slightchuckle that escaped her or the curl of her lips as she beheld itsantics, “My, aren't you a lively one?” she cooed.Thegreen dragon turned to regard her, looking more at ease, earsflicking about as it gave almost a smile and a purring rumble. With afew flicks of her fingers, her dragon of light began to move,tickling its own paws now over the belly of the green dragon. Thelittle glowing dragon shrieked and twisted about and if it had beencapable of blushing, Symmetra had a feeling it would. The twin bluedragons were curled up with each other, watching with a guardedinterest, hissing slightly as the green dragon was all but wrapped upnow with the dragon construct, purring happily and licking it.“Doyou like my little construct then?” She teased, for a momentforgetting her research to continue to more or less play with thegreen dragon, “I can make more,”In a flurry and few wellplaced twists of her fingers, three more much smaller little babydragons flitted in, twisting and turning and causing the green dragonto glow even more, lighting up as it swatted and chased the smallerdragons, sometimes nuzzling, only stopping when it had caught one andlooking to the twin blue dragons, tilting its head.

Hanzo's dragons though seemed to not beas social, only giving a hiss. It was honestly quiet fascinating how the dragon's seemed to have picked up on theindividual personality quirks of their owners. All in all though, itwasn't like she needed all three for her study. She pursed her lipsthoughtfully before flicking her fingers, dismissing the hard lightcreations. The green dragon whined, flitting about before pressingits face to the glass in an attempt to give her a doe-eyed look. Shechuckled and raised a finger to tap the glass where its small nosewas.“How about we let your friends there go back to theirowner and you, my tiny green friend, stay with me for a while yes?I'll make more dragons for you to play with,” she cooed. Thedragon seemed to understand and nodded excitedly while the two blueones perked up at the mention of being able to go to their owner.Symmetra chuckled. She had the readings she needed and one of themwas willing to stay around. A flick of her finger opened the hatchand the twin blue dragons burst out and were gone in an instant outunder the door. The green one though slid out, growing larger andthen wrapping about her some. The touch of the glowing scaleswas warm, but not blistering so. More like a warm cup of tea on acold winter's day clutched between the hands. She reached out to petit slightly, earning a low purr as it rested its head on hershoulder, “You are an affectionate one, aren't you?”Thedragon's only response was a lazy yawn, exposing its teeth somebefore it settled to watch her work. As promised though, she created afew constructs, little dragons that danced through the air around thehead of the glowing green beast. Again this seemed to please thedragon and it was darting about the lab in dizzying patterns to givechase to the constructs, pausing at times to wrap about her as if toremind her it had not left. She had expected no visitors toher room. It was honestly a bit of a surprise for her door to swingopen and Genji to step in, crossing his arms as he leaned in thedoorway, “It is rather rude to steal someones' dragon withoutpermission,”“I did not steal the dragon. They seem morethan content to stay,” Symmetra responded idly, not about to lether surprise break through her calm facade, “Did you know it washere?”“Hanzo's dragon's told him and he told me,” Genjidrawled, stepping further into the room. Symmetra clucked hertongue, turning to the green dragon and giving it a tickle under thechin, “A dirty pair of snitches, aren't they my friend?”Thedragon purred in agreement and she saw Genji tilt his head some, hisposture a bit tense and he had a slight arch of his neck as ifsomeone had touched him there. Symmetra noted that it was the samespot she touched the dragon. She repeated the touch, quirking aneyebrow as she noticed Genji arch just slightly again before she gavea wicked little smirk and brought both hands up to ruffle and pet thedragon, turning her attention to the beast as if she hadn't noticedthat it seemed indeed the dragon and its owner shared a link andshared sensations such as touch.

Best not to let him know she found outand play innocent. Such a thing could be exploited for amusement andstudy after all. Mostly though for amusement as she couldn't help buttake a little mean sort of satisfaction in ruffling people in aspassive and elegant as a way she could. “I want my dragonreleased back to me,” Genji growled out slightly.“It isreleased and can return when it wishes,” she answered simply, “Ihave enough data to sort through for now but I would love to have mynew friend stop by,”

She pressed a kiss to the snoot ofthe beast and she swore she heard Genji curse under his breath in hisnative tongue. Oh she was going to have fun teasing the usually cockyand tranquil cyborg, that was for certain. She had been growing tiredof teasing that rubbish Australian, stalwart Pharah, and the far tooAmerican cowboy. It was time to perhaps...expand her horizons. Hernew fascination with the dragons seemed to have yielded even more thansimple data.The dragon gave a long rolling purr, moving abouther before lazily returning to Genji, the coils starting to dissipateas it returned to its resting place, “We shall see. It is a clansecret as to what the dragons are,”“You never seemed likea man of traditions though,” Symmetra pointed out idly, turning herattention back to the data she had, flicking her eyes over it all,“Regardless, I'll sate my curiosity one way or another. You cannotimpede science,”Genji gave a snort, turning to leave, “Andyou cannot impede a Shimada if you cross their path one too manytimes,” he said, the tone calm yet carried the undertone of athreat. Symmetra ignored it and focused on the work in frontof her. Genji could threaten all he wanted but he really didn't havethe makings of someone who would go as far as to kill someone else.His nature was subdued despite his fearsome reputation. She didn'tfeel threatened, not in the least. Besides, his dragon wouldbe back. A quirk of a smile was curling her lips, her eyes narrowingin a pleased expression. She was missing the dragon already and itsantics. Perhaps sooner rather than later it would return. Shewouldn't mind its warm scaly company.

#Overwatch #Overwatch fanfiction #Shipping Snacks for Hungry Shippers #Symmetra #Genji Shimada #mostly though noodle dragons #noodle dragons #green noodle dragon lkes Symm c:#....symmetra/Genji's dragon anyone? XD;#super crack ship #Symmetra goes on dates with the dragon and Genji has to sit there as a third wheel scowling the whole time XD;

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sagebodisattva · 5 years

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Free Will and Soft Boiled Determinism?

I’m not gonna hold your hand or spoon feed you on this one. I’m gonna let you grope around in the dark; cause I’m fucked up that way. And I may do this in two parts; cause I’m fucked up that way.

So, everything in this sequence bespeaks of agency. And it doesn't matter if 'not doing' is still a doing. Determinism demands that there is no such thing as a choice. One saying that the world can turn out a number of different ways depending on the choice of doings by a conscious being is completely contrary to hard determinism. This has been a nagging contradictory consistent inconsistency throughout my many disquisitions on the matter, (pointed out many times and yet continually ignored), that begs for rectification. The current stance you adopt is more in line with compatibilism; or, at the very least, soft boiled determinism.

Hardcore determinism destroys all chance of any actual decisions ever being made. So it's not even a question of how else could a decision be made. There is NO SUCH THING as a decision. That's all illusion. All this talk about thoughts and feelings have no bearing on the automatic nature of the deterministic mechanism.

“Decide, affect what's determined to happen, will of the actor, will to change things, deciding to act one way and not another, motives to try and change things..”

All free will/compatibilistic rhetoric... which is fine, as long as one owns the position and doesn't claim that these assertions represent hard determinism. With determinism, there is no such thing as a will, period... There may be an illusion of a will, which is probably where your idea of thoughts and feelings having a functional utility comes from, but this idea of a will is merely an aspect of illusory phenomena, and believing it otherwise is just an intellectual narrative.

Thoughts and feelings have no tangibility. To claim them to be factors that play a role in causality is a reification. Thoughts and feelings are inconsequential to the gears of the machinery. If you are strapped into a roller coaster set to go around a set of the tracks endlessly, you may think and feel any number of ways over the course of time, but that's not going to change the operation of the hardware. What the dominoes think or feel as they fall according to their predetermined path is irrelevant.

So thoughts and feelings are reactive at best. And this claim isn't merely theory, but is a contention that is backed up by experimental evidence gathered in the field of neurological science. The data from the research certainly implies that our minds appear to be making decisions before we're actually aware of them, from anywhere between 1 to 10 seconds prior to conscious awareness of it. This indicates that biological movements and actions are already predetermined subconsciously before the thinking/feeling conscious mind even gets a chance to have a thought or feeling. In other words, the subconscious is already initiating the point of effectuation 2 steps ahead of the thoughts and feelings that are swimming around in the consciousness... so thoughts and feelings don't even get a chance to play a role in the initialization of any new causes that are said to have this so called 'open ended potential' that is supposedly contingent upon their existence... So at best, thoughts and feelings are responsive, not causal.

Wow. Those are some really great descriptive poetic reifications, but none of it matters if causality is automated. So, now that you have conceded the existence of a will, answer this simple question: are decisions predetermined before the decision is actually made, or are decisions open ended potentials that are decided in the moment as they happen? Saying that a decision is determined by causality doesn't make clear whether or not the decision is already predetermined before it happens. The act of deciding something may be spurred by causality, but what about what is being decided? Is a decision already set beforehand, or is it set the moment the transaction of cause and effect unfolds?

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