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#and so the glorious evolution begins.
hexcorecore · 1 year
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SO I JUST HAD AN ANGSTY JAYVIK IDEA FOR THE 2ND SEASON
WHAT if Viktor gets sued by the council in the future. The whole life of Viktor is at stake. The decision comes to a tie.
The final vote goes to the councilor Jayce.
He thinks about it.
And he ends up voting to exile Viktor out of Piltover
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punkpandapatrixk · 1 month
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🍀Lady Luck on Your Side ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card
There is no economic system that’s perfectly perfect. Whatever system you’re in, what’s wise to do is make the best out of all streams of possibilities viable within that system. Transcend above the stupidity and strike your Lucky 3 (Jupiter’s number LOL)🍄
In Astrology, the Lady Luck is represented by Mother Jupiter—the planet of expansion and good luck. The thing about luck, Love, is that you can’t plan around it. You can only prepare yourself and your resources the best you can and then gamble it all away. Gamble your fucking Life away at big endeavours that you know your Soul intends for you. Have faith in your divine abilities, bitch~🐞
If you fail, you learn!🐌
You are a Luck Magnet for as long as you believe in yourself. Be confident in that the essence of your beingness is enough for manifesting all you’re meant to see manifest in your lifetime🍀
Jupiter Sign: the psychology with which you philosophise shit
Jupiter House placement: areas of Life most blessed by the grace of Jupiter’s expansion
Planets in 9th House: indicate a need to expand beyond a simpleton mindset!!
‘The secret is not to chase the butterflies but to take care of your garden so they’ll come to you.’ – an old proverb
SONG: Baby Face by Sakamoto Maaya
MOVIE: Cruella (2021)
[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 3]
[Patreon] [Paid Readings]
☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.
Pile 1 – Patiently Revealing All Your Glorious Petals
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lucky money (insights into lucky career opportunities) – Knight of Pentacles Rx
I’ve got to say your opportunities are the most unique here, and very likely quite challenging in that you must have patience. Lady Luck says that the path most suited to your lucky money involves your being a ghost. Hustling in secret, hiding your plans and spiritual truths from everybody else and treading very carefully on the way towards your goal. This could take many years! For many of you, this could be the loneliest path because nobody around you seems to understand your visions, or the intuitive nudges you know your Higher Self is directing you towards🛴
You were put in environments where most people don’t understand you (or they simply don’t share your visions) because your Higher Self intended for you to exercise navigating adversaries. This was part of your Soul’s scenario, you know. Stormy seas make the best sailors, kind of scenario. In that sense, you’ve been met with many uncomfortable situations, even dangerous and painful encounters and goodbyes to advance your evolution. Fear not, for you have not lost but gained valuable perspectives what will ensure good karma returning to you when you’re older🎆
For the majority of you reading this, your Jupiter will begin to really shine a light on your real lucky career path after you’ve graduated your first Saturn Return. Typically, by the time you’re between 29 and 33, things will get that much clearer and you’ll regain your motivation (if you’ve lost it at some point) and feel really glad you’ve made it thus far. The future accessible to you will begin to feel astonishingly clear and you will be excited but still need to work on that patience LMAO
lucky daily (ways to increase luck every day) – Page of Wands
Having said all of that, many of you reading this may feel quite frustrated at the idea that you’re only gonna get your successes at a later age. Especially if you’ve survived your first Saturn Return and you’re only beginning, you may have felt quite like a loser in comparison to these 20-somethings already achieving so much in Life… But, who’s to say all of that is gonna last? Sometimes, people gain a lot at a young age only to have all of that swept away by the time motherfucking Saturn returns to get them LOL Well, that, too, is part of their spiritual evolution, so~🙏🏻
Remember that you’re not in a competition with anybody or even Destiny itself. To increase your luck daily, Jupiter is saying: enjoy every single day you get to make progress on your true ideal career. Whatever it is that you’re doing right now, and if you aren’t yet where you envision yourself to be, you can still enjoy every single step you manage to take on a daily basis to get you closer to where you want to be. You’re learning and gaining momentum, aren’t you? All these little steps matter in the grander scheme of your Higher Self’s orchestration to bring to your doorstep all that you deserve📦
Of all the piles, I have a strong feeling your manifestation is the most guarded by the Higher Realms. You’re meant to go through hoops and learn to prepare yourself very well so that you could build a strong foundation that is sure to have longevity. The thing you’re meant to do, to have, to express, to create and build, unlike many, many others who need to learn through gain and loss of the very things that matter to them, is going to be yours forever once you establish it. The whole idea of unlocking achievements in accordance to age is pure scam. You are safe and perfectly on time🎯
lucky strike (big blessings you’re destined to obtain) – Knight of Wands Rx
Let me let you in on a secret. Mental clarity/health is absolutely paramount to your success story. Plenty of young people get crowned with massive successes without having a strong foundation of morality or empathy, and least of all, spirituality. For example… How many times have we heard tragical Hollywood stories where young celebs/influencers became the IT girls/boys very early on only to crumble and get shattered by the time they’re in their late 20s or early 30s? (Saturn freaking Return!) All because they’re so out of touch with reality🤷🏻‍♀️
Not saying they’re terrible seeds per se, but perhaps it was their environment/upbringing what didn’t allow them to bloom beautifully the way you are with your emotional and spiritual maturity. Whatever career choice you have in mind, know that when you’re finally established there, you’re going to be so based, so grounded in reality that everybody is going to have immense respect for you for the things you say and contribute to your cause📢
Your lucky break may indeed require a slow, careful planning, all behind the scenes, too. You are meant to develop in the fog and mists, away from the beady eyes of those who might seek to trample over everything you’re building. Nobody would ever guess what your next lucky chapter would look like! But you do. You do so well because you’re working on it every day, diligently and resiliently. Maybe you don’t know yet, but Lady Luck is visiting a lot sooner than logically expected hahah And when she carries you through those winds of change…🥂
DESTINY SERVING TEA🔻💙
mother Jupiter on your side (message from Jupiter) – Red Astronomer (Johannes Kepler)
merging with your Higher Self (the weight of destiny) – Priestess of Clarity
Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸
☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.
Pile 2 – Resiliently Growing in the Mud
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lucky money (insights into lucky career opportunities) – 2 of Cups Rx
Harmony is definitely integral to your spiritual sanity. You’re not the type of person who can thrive in a dog-eat-dog industry. When people are ugly to each other at the workplace, it fucks most of your brain’s functions up. This coldass capitalistic system doesn’t suit you; and if you can’t seem to catch up, it’s not because you’re a failure, but because you’re wired towards a more high-vibrational existence. An existence where people’s interactions are generally pleasant and—in some instances—beautiful💞
There must be some significant Libra/7th House or Pisces/12th House placements in your birth chart that are pulling you towards creating harmony in your work environment. Being surrounded by ease and beauty is of paramount importance to your optimal functioning. If you’ve ever experienced some kind of a professional heartbreak from betrayal/cruelty by co-workers or bosses, that environment ain’t where you belong, and it is perfectly safe for you to eject yourself from that hellhole. There are better things more suited to your Style🌈
Lady Luck says you may be more suited to working alone until you establish yourself enough to make collaborations with others who are quite similar to you in terms of their general politeness and delightful visions for the world. Wow that’s a longass sentence. For example, a vibe I’m getting is a small business owner selling whatever beautiful and creative things you can produce on your own. Even if not selling, you could have, for example, a YT channel showcasing your real-time painting or any other interests/talents you may have and get money from rolling ads🎞
lucky daily (ways to increase luck every day) – 6 of Cups
If you’ve ever had frustrating, or even painful, experiences in the corporate world—whatever the setting may be—that whole ordeal was truly teaching you the importance of working with just a small circle of trustworthy individuals to move forward with. Integrity is crucial in your daily choices. Sharing ideas and stories with kindred spirits is the way to go in your case. That you never betray your own purity, that you don’t give in to selling your Soul to the Devil, that you never let yourself kowtow to the System…
All of these brave decisions are what’s going to be favoured by the Lady Luck. In different scenarios this endeavour may take some time, but don’t fret, because for most people, accessing the Power of Jupiter does take some maturing. It does take some experiencing, some intel-gathering, some philosophising over many, many things that are eating away at your sanity. The moment you become clear about those wrong things is the moment you regain control over your daily choices🍭
You may want to look at what your 6th House sign and placement entail for your healthy habit-building~ You’re a bit of a Faery Soul, an Elven Soul, or maybe a Mermaid Soul; you’re gentle and more sensitive than most Humans. Maintaining harmony and balance in your everyday Life is key to increasing your Luck daily. You’re spiritual and creative, and so, if you allow yourself to indulge in soulful activities as part of your money-making endeavours, Lady Luck is going to gladly visit you every day~🌬
lucky strike (big blessings you’re destined to obtain) – 5 of Wands Rx
It isn’t to say that you’re meant to only live a secluded, hermit lifestyle. As mentioned earlier, you could benefit from working alone when you’re just starting on your passion project. You’re more suited to working solo and figuring things out yourself as you build a livelihood that’s generally pleasant every day~🌌
When you’ve raised your vibrations enough and be super charming and confident because you’re making money by living authentically, you’re going to become a magnet for amazing, one-of-a-kind, kindred spirits who are just as unconventional as yourself. You’re going to be glad because your connections and relationships are going to be exciting without stupid dramas. This in itself could lead to amazing collaborations with those who share similar visions as yourself🌉
You are definitely amongst those convention breakers who will show others that operating on nothing but the spirit of competition in the professional world is dumb as fuck. People thrive when they collab with those of similar tastes and minds. When all’s said and done, you’re meant to have a Life of ease and a lot of cheer with unique individuals living high-vibrationally interesting lives, carving your own alternative existence~💠
DESTINY SERVING TEA🔻💛
mother Jupiter on your side (message from Jupiter) – Green Astronomer (Nicolaus Copernicus)
merging with your Higher Self (the weight of destiny) – Priestess of Inspiration
Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸
☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.
Pile 3 – It’s Like You’re Growing Money on Trees, My Goodness!
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lucky money (insights into lucky career opportunities) – Page of Pentacles Rx
It’s clear you’ve done some heavy shadow work, maybe it’s only begun quite recently; but for some, this may have been ongoing for quite a number of years. Whatever the case may be, and however old you may be, there’s this feeling that you’re starting over. You’re just beginning to live again. This time around, you’re living on your own terms; you’re feeling, ‘This is who I should’ve always been!’ And you feel incredibly glad, for the most part😶
It’s perfectly normal to feel sad sometimes, after all, a lot of shit you’ve faced. For quite some time, you totally bought the hustle culture—the thing about it was that you were ludicrously hard on yourself. I sense a majority of you reading this are Millennials? Or perhaps older Gen Zs. Anyway, your expectations on yourself were hurting you so much. After some shadow work, you realised da problem wasn’t you; it was the System. You were scammed big time🤬
Thus you quit a whole industry and began cultivating your own Art. This is the spiritual pile for sure. I sense many of you reading this resonate with being a Lightworker, Starseed, or a Mystic even. You could be doing tarot readings yourself; running a blog channelling cosmic messages from higher beings; some could have a YT channel dedicated to New Age spirituality or esoteric occult knowledge; and some could even be a detective or in the investigative field. WHOA. If you’re not already doing these thing, Spirit Guides are saying you would be very blessed by the Lady Luck if you thrust yourself into these types of work😘
lucky daily (ways to increase luck every day) – 5 of Pentacles Rx
Whoa… do I need to give you any advice or anything? Bitch, you cracked the code! You’re practically a master manifestor at this point in your Life. I sense some of you reading this may not resonate just yet but you’ve literally transcended far above the need for money. Right now, if you allow yourself to calm down, you’ll realise you could just sit down every day and money grows on your trees~🌳
You’ve quite become an embodiment of your Higher Self, and that Oversoul of yours knows you’re unlimited. There is no more lack in your subconscious, let’s just put it that way. Now your conscious, your logical brain, just needs to adjust to this new paradigm (if not already) and you will be effortlessly attracting the means to afford all that you need to move forward. With 5 of Pentacles in reverse—namely a trauma card—Spirit Guides are saying you’re in a healing phase right now🧸
If—IF—certain days you feel tired, fatigued, drowsy for an entire day, and just unmotivated to work even on something you’re passionate about, please know this is your body still recuperating from the adrenal stress caused by long years of having to hustle or simply having a hustle mindset. You’re not doing anything wrong and you’re not failing, OK? Your intelligent body is just telling you it’s safe to slow down now. It’s perfectly good to sleep aaallll day and just feed and clean yourself for 5 consecutive days if that’s really all you can do to maintain mental and spiritual balance. That spiritual balance is what’s going to effortlessly manifest all the abundance you’re so deserving, so don’t be afraid of ‘missing’ some work days~🛌
lucky strike (big blessings you’re destined to obtain) – 4 of Cups
There is a sense of stability that you’re going to manifest pretty soon in your Life (if not already LOL). In some regards, this stability could even feel rather boring, uneventful, just because you were quite used to having a lot of chaos in your previous chapter of Life. But this stability will serve as a big ‘rehab period’ for you to truly shift your paradigm. And then, once you manage to get all your ducks in a row in your new paradigm…🦆
Pretty soon you’re gonna see everything in your Life move quite fast. If by any chance you’ve resonated with this: ‘I feel like everything has changed so much, yet nothing seems to have changed at all…’ please know this is actually yourself slowing things down so you don’t manifest another set of stressful unfolding of events! This was preordained by your Higher Self! Hahah…
The reason for this is that at this point in your spiritual evolution, you’ve become really particular about high-quality manifestations you’re willing to entertain within the construct of your own Reality. So much so that you simply won’t entertain the manifestation of good opportunities if it’s going to be stressful. NO STRESS is a big part of your magick. This concept literally goes beyond just material things; pretty soon you’ll see that you’re only manifesting high-quality experiences, environments, encounters, and even Love🦢
DESTINY SERVING TEA🔻💜
mother Jupiter on your side (message from Jupiter) – Gold Alchemist (Roger Bacon)
merging with your Higher Self (the weight of destiny) – Priestess of Intuition
Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸
☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.
[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 3]
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notalostcausejustyet · 2 months
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As I’m settling into this whole academia business, I thought I’d share one of my first ever tumblr posts. Which turned out to be the basis for my first ever college essay. I’ll share the essay here after it gets graded later this week. Cheers.
On asking questions and public spaces
This is what happens when you have to take a dose of Excedrin for a migraine only a couple of hours before bedtime, because CAFFEINE. Sorry, not sorry! (Please note that for those of us who are gifted with brains of the divergent sort, caffeine only works as it ought when you need it not to lol.) So. Libraries. Libraries are magical. Always have done, even before they became a safe haven for the dispossessed members of our society (which is a brilliant bit of miracle working in its’ own right) but why? And the simplest answer is the obvious one. Books of course. Digging deeper for context here is important though. Before the internet was a thing (yes I’m plenty old enough for that) libraries were where knowledge lived. And not just the academic kind, knowledge of the world outside of what is permissible. I frame a lot of things around religious trauma. And it might seem like old hat, but it was a fundamental (pun intended) part of what shaped me into who I am now. I am 40, I am tired, I am STILL learning who I could be without the behavior patterns imposed by that upbringing. My very small town finally got a library when I was around 10. It was about a mile and a half away. Close enough to bike to, which meant I could go unsupervised. And I did. Volunteered in fact, one of the first summers they were open. Which is important. Because, yes I could check out books, but there was never any guarantees that what I checked out wouldn’t be inspected at home. Volunteering meant I could stash something in the office to read while I was there. And this is where knowledge comes in. I had read every copy of the National Geographic we had at home, the entire second hand set of outdated encyclopedia Brittanica, every bit of Christian fiction I was gifted. I read it all. But it was, for the most part, a carefully curated version of the world. Safely inside the boundaries of my fundamentalist bubble. Allowed. And then for one brief and glorious summer, I had the world at my fingertips. Any book, about anything I wished. No novel was out of bounds, no titillating synopsis had to be ignored. I could read it ALL. And I did. I read about evolution, I read about the Big Bang, the conception and gestation cycle in humanity, I read about the history of medicine and colonization, I dove headlong into fantasy and science fiction and read about queer attraction and love for the first time as something beautiful instead of seeing it painted as something unholy and wrong. I read about morality. And not the starkly envisioned morality of religion, but questions, hard choices, true acts of courage and sacrifice, shades of grey and unimaginable nuance in the world around us. I learned that I was not alone in my discomfiture when I pitted the world I was raised in against the world as it actually was. Knowledge. Direct from the tap, and I drank from it as a person dying of thirst. That summer took the tiny seed of questioning in my mind and planted it firmly in the fertile grounds of my imagination. Each new book was sunlight and rain to a rapidly growing NEED to better understand. I took many years after that one before the tree planted there grew tall enough for me to climb to the top and really see the world around me. I didn’t fully escape religion and begin the work of healing until my late 20’s. But it never would have been possible without that one summer. Without that library. Access to knowledge and storytelling is one of the most precious keystones in humanity’s development. It’s how we make sense of the world. It’s how we gain empathy and understanding outside of our own experience. It’s how we reconcile the questions we have against the world we live in. And like all things, it isn’t perfect. There exists as much capacity for deceit and evil within the pages of a book as there does in humanity itself, but without them we would be lost entirely.
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starmanpromoter · 7 months
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2001: A Space Odyssey - Full Breakdown
This is it. 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie that changed movies in the Anglosphere forever. A movie that shows the evolution of the medium itself, and shows what the medium can do.
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The Ultimate Trip: A Breakdown and review as I (re-)watch
Welcome to my 6000-word breakdown of the entire movie. This is one of my favourite films of all time, and the film that got me into cinema in general, so this has a special place in my heart. Many rewatches later....I want to articulate words about this wonderful film.
I haven't read the books, so this will be about how -I- think about the film! Read on under the cut...
Intro (OVERTURE)
Two minutes of blackness. With some creepy music courtesy of Gyorgy Ligeti. This is an overture, akin to a night at the opera. While this might sound unnecessary to many audiences watching it on TV, laptops, and phones, this tells you about one of the experiences you will be getting in 2001.
Unsettling, but that is what space is. They are preparing us for an odyssey in an unsettling wide space. It is an entracte, so 2001 truly is a theatrical production.
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Now it's a sunrise. Also Sprach Zarathustra, a composition about the ubermensch Zarathustra. The sun rises above, a neat parallel to Zarathustra's rise over humanity. The sun, in a sense, is God, showcasing His creation.
The dramatic part of the music being preserved during “A STANLEY KUBRICK PRODUCTION” often gets interpreted as display of ego. But however knowing that science fiction wasn't a genre to be proud of at the time, this part in the intro is meant to be a joke, with the joke being that this is a movie that is proud to present itself as a science fiction movie ('Stanley Kubrick Production' is literally the name of one of the listed production companies of this film). You are supposed to laugh at it.
Dawn of Man
The beginning of mankind. The monkeys fight eachother over a puddle of water, signifying that we as humans weren't so different as monkeys when it comes to right to own things. In a sense, these monkeys are displaying traits that we humans still have.
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And it came. A black slab —— the Monolith, that was not there, standing still, accompanied with Ligeti's music. And here in this scene we see the monkeys coddling into it, holding it with their hands. Curiosity, it's a natural trait in every single living being.
When confronted with something we never knew, it is in our instinct to touch it, feel it —— to understand it. The monkeys are trying to understand what it is.
Very soon we see one of the monkeys cracking bones, interspersed with cuts of a tapir being beaten up. They have discovered means of violence. This realization gets played clearer so soon after it where they once again, fight in the same puddle of water —– now with weapons.
The fact this happened after the appearance of the Monolith suggests something sinister —– the Monolith is a 'prophet', or a 'God', enlightening the monkeys (essentially its' followers/worshippers) on the act of violence.
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A bone gets thrown. It turns into a spaceship. It is evolution of human history.
The future begins.
The Blue Danube
This is it. A vision of a future from 1968. A Pan-Am (how ironic) star-liner heading to a space station. With only few passengers on board, there are minimal amount of gravity, and things float.
The music is The Blue Danube, a romantic waltz from the 18th century. To use that piece of music to show the future only shows romanticized optimism that humanity can do wonderful things. The usage also turns the sequence into a ballet performance.
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Somehow, this is reminiscent of dancing sequences from glorious Old Hollywood Musicals, with the stewardess's movements, she looks like she is dancing to the music.
This is a ballet in film form. A space-age ballet performed by spaceships. Something you would see in Royal Opera House on a special night. The Stewardess —– the only human being performing the ballet —– is dancing to the Blue Danube, and she is walking in a similar manner to a baby, learning to walk. The circular space station rotates like a ballet dancer spinning graciously while the star-liner quietly 'dances' with small pointe into it.
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All the spacecraft, LED computers, and technology looked sci-fi for 1968 audiences, but a lot of them have become reality, and in addition, aged well. This is not so much 'science fiction' —– it is 'science eventuality', as in this is a vision of something we will see in our lifetimes.
This is a continuation of the 'Evolution' theme. Mankind walked the Earth, and now attempts to walk in space. There is a feeling of grandeur, and wonder that is ever-present here, contrasting with the violence of the previous sequence.
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The spacecraft, space stations, all beautifully dancing to the Blue Danube. The release year being 1968 brings a poignancy that this is the bridge between Old Hollywood (1945-1967) and the era of Walt Disney with New Hollywood (1967-1980). The epic aspirations of Old Hollywood and the magic of Walt Disney, but with the messaging and 'agenda' of changing times of New Hollywood.
Evolution of cinema. That alone gives this sequence a great impression and awe. Incredible all around. This must've blown the minds of people in 1968, and I can understand why. It doesn't even look like a movie from 1968 (1966-67 if you follow the production history)—– it looked like it was made in 1988.
The slowness in this sequence isn't a problem. After all, it is a ballet. In actuality, not much is actually happening in this sequence, it's just a spacecraft docking, but Kubrick, Douglas Trumbull, Fred Ordway, and Harry Lange (along with their NASA advisors, they need to be credited too) took this opportunity to showcases the best of visual effects and concept art in 1968.
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Simply put, it is magic. The beautiful visuals and music are nothing short of feast for the senses.
Dr. Floyd's Mission
We have arrived into the space station, along with the first spoken line in the movie, 25 minutes in. We immediately see a short immigration process, it looks way easier than real immigration processes.
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The process to go to space is now as easy as getting a flight, which makes the depiction of interstellar travel in this movie quite optimistic than our bleak reality of space travel dominated by greedy assholes. Of course, corporate presence is still present —– Pan Am is the spacecraft, Howard-Johnson has an 'Earthlight Room', and Hilton seems to be providing the goods of space hotels. But compared to our reality, their presence felt like bystanders instead of chokeholds as their presence doesn't even felt like product placement. Undoubtedly, I am sure that Kubrick and Clarke would have been sad to learn the reality of planned commercial interstellar travel today.
Just like the the star-liner sequence before it, the design of the space station aged well with its' pristine white interiors and bright lights. Even in 2023, there are still places that looked like it. And now the 1960s are coming back in trend on interior designs.
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The whiteness of the room is contrasted with obviously sixties-looking red chairs. However, the chairs has a timeless quality that it also looks futuristic at the same time, as these style of interior design is still popular to this day. This is a running theme in 2001's art and production design. It is obviously a product of 1960s NASA handworks, but it's practical enough to keep it relevant and futuristic.
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Floyd then calls his daughter using a pay phone, and this is where 2001 shows its' age. As we all know, we have smartphones, but his daughter's lines (“I want a telephone” / “We have lots of telephones already”) suggests that she has a phone while Dr. Floyd does not.
Predicting generations after Gen Z being children raised by smartphones at early age? The generational gap between 'kids these days on their phones' and their older parents as perceived from the older parents? Of course not. Kubrick and Clarke definitely did not consider all that, but it is a strange prophetic moment.
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The interaction between the American Floyd and the Russian scientists felt like a statement in 1968, that in the future, none of the cold war reality will be carried into outer space. To see them interact professionally without antagonization is a dream that we sadly still dream of today. But it also shows what artists of the time really wanted for humanity —– to just stop fighting and invent tools together.
A poignant hopeful message to be made in 1968, especially since 2001 was made right after the bleak, nihilistic Dr. Strangelove (1964). And then this is where the story starts. Floyd is heading to the moon, there is a strange signal coming from it. But it's been closed off, with Floyd's curiosity taking over him. This in a sense, is a showcase on how humans will interact in the future —– not so different than in present, only that the year number is different.
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We see another star-liner sequence, now heading to the moon. A trip to the moon, it seems. Just like the previous star-liner sequence, it's also a ballet, while showcasing one of the many 'Movie Magic' moments of 2001, namely, the zero gravity effects, space-walk, the realistic-looking moon, and the elegant and graceful landing.
To create this before the moon landing must've been a difficult challenge, but the production team did it beautifully, and the results are mind-blowing, even though they got some of the physics wrong (No, landing on the moon will not produce dust! And also, moon gravity does not work like that).
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And now the mystery unfolds itself. They head to a crater in Moon, while talking over space foods. Typical.
And then it appears again. The Monolith, now causing a ruckus on moon. There's an interesting switch in camerawork as Floyd and his squad descends into the monolith, as the previously calculated camerawork suddenly shifts into handheld.
It looks like they are eager to learn what is it in front of them. Just like the monkeys, Floyd's first instinct is to touch it as a way to understand it. A human being understanding a divine being. Humans in the face of a God in object form.
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A buzzing noise blasted on their ears, and the sun rises. Is it transmitting a message, just like in the Dawn of Man sequence? Is it what it sounds like? Immediately, we jump to 18 months later without answers.
Again, just like in the Dawn of Man sequence, we are left with questions instead of answers, and we are also treated with a showcase of evolution. For this entire sequence, it did a good job introducing us to the imagined version of the millennium and the technological feats.
However, the characters are vessels for audiences. The set-up is quite abrupt and a bit sudden, and we're not given enough time to learn more about the motivation of Floyd. This is where curious audiences have to read the book, as intended.
Or was he entranced by the Monolith, compelled to seek and understand the mysterious God-like being? Even then, that is my interpretation.
It is interesting that the Monolith's relationship with humanity (and the monkeys) suggests something: God and Followers. Both sequences shows a God/Follower subtext.
The Jupiter Mission (SCHERZO)
Very abruptly we see a new act. 18 Months later since the trip to the moon, and presumably the year is 2001.
Just like the jump from the bone to the spaceship, this shot is showing evolution. Was the Monolith enlightening humanity to develop space travel that will go far into Jupiter? That is the question in your mind, probably. The ship design is a round thing with a long tail. Interesting design choice, but certainly realistic to real science. Like the ships in the Floyd sequence, it all aged well.
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Cut to a man jogging in a cylindrical room, literally running in circles, exercising to Aram Khachaturian. Just like the usage of Blue Danube, it is an optimistic view of humanity's progress. In this sequence, we see one of the most famous instances of 'Movie Magic' —– the man runs through the cylindrical station with no regards to gravity. He runs upside-down to right-side-up. Although he is fiercely exercising, it still feels like a ballet. Again, not much is happening, but much is happening —– he's doing his everyday job.
Then we cut to him having lunch, joined by another astronaut. These two men are quiet, it looks like it's just another routine for them on the mission. An interesting subtle performance that most don't pick up here is how the other astronaut reacts to how hot the space foods he is holding from the oven (kind of like saying “Every single time! Can the oven stop doing this?!” with hand gestures), but it does not phase him that much. It is a sign of professionalism.
They're eating while streaming news on tablets, one thing Kubrick got right, a habit that we would do 40-50 years after 1968. Yet another 'Movie Magic' moment in that it shows something that would only be invented over two decades later. They even look like actual tablets from late-2010s.
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The astronauts are very responsible and behaved professionally that you'd be forgiven for thinking that Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman) and Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole) were actually astronauts in real life hired to play themselves, instead of actors playing astronauts. They also look realistic, as they don't wear fancy aluminium/plastic costumes, only practical NASA-grade uniforms.
I can see why Kubrick cast these two, it's in part realism in that real life astronauts are younger people, and he wanted to subvert the tropes of sci-fi characters usually being old scientists with grey hairs. It actually works.
Keir Dullea as Dave Bowman looks like a real scientist (although his model-beautiful face makes him look like as if he's a Bishounen/pretty boy Anime character got brought to life. He's still a 'movie-grade pretty Astronaut'). However, Dave's look directly contradicts genre expectations that science fiction scientists needs to be older greying men or hunky dashing heroes. Dave is a younger looking, restrained, innocent, reserved, quiet, and stoic man with the looks of a pretty boy, akin to someone like Cillian Murphy (specifically him in Oppenheimer) rather than the usual dashing macho face of older Hollywood. Not how one used to picture sci-fi heroes. Interesting that a face like Dave has turned into what sci-fi protagonists look like today, especially after Star Wars and Dune (2021).
Many of the shots of Dave's face made him look like a space-age approximation of Mona Lisa. The striking eyes, the subtle facial expressions --- all there. Dave has a face that looks un-noticeable at first, but strikes your sight for how distinctive he looked. No wonder that the shots of his face under red lighting and screens reflecting on his face became two of the more iconic shots of this film.
Meanwhile, Gary Lockwood as Frank Poole looked like he's plucked straight from an Apollo mission. Astronauts in real life looks like him, even though Frank looks more conventionally 'heroic'. He looks (slightly) muscular and strong, more outspoken, but he looks like a working man from real life. He's a worker in space.
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We later see mundane routines for these astronauts. To them, it's a job, and they are expected to be professionals. They might seem to be 'unfeeling', but that's what expected when you're doing your job. In addition, Dave and Frank have known each other for so long, they've probably ran out of things to casually talk about, and it won't matter much in their already-good working relationship. So all they can do is just doing their job as professionals.
And also, they WERE definitely chosen in the mission for their not-emotional reactions to things. Let's face it, space is scary and wonderful (like a fairy tale), and for these astronauts to give low-emotion reactions to space? That's a sign of high-level expertise. Dave and Frank are professionals at their best, and this is what people have missed on when they say that the actors were bland and unemotional. They have emotions (it is subtle), but when your job requires space and zero-gravity, all the unknown, exciting, and scary things about it will be sucked out of you to the point that they just become mundane things in your life. Their jobs also requires them to keep their heads levelled in the face of difficulties, however bad and ridiculous it is.
The acting isn't so much 'acting to give out story to audience' —– it's 'reacting to the plot' through subtle expressions and balletic body language and body motions. Dave and Frank are reacting to the world and story given to them. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood did a great job at being convincing realistic astronauts, and my praise is sincere.
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It is interesting to see HAL being portrayed as more emotional than the human astronauts. On the outside, it seems that HAL is displaying more emotions than the astronauts (well it's because HAL has no physical body to worry about space!) It may feel uncanny, but these astronauts (Dave, at least) regards him as a crew member like them (as HAL said before, he has a stimulating relationship with Dave and Frank).
Dave's expressions (that cute smile!) as HAL talks about personal things looks like a comforting smile to a friend. These three astronauts know each other so well that Dave's interactions with HAL comes off as two good friends (heh) communicating with each other.
Indeed, Dave and HAL is exhibiting their stimulating relationship with each other. HAL seems to get more human as he interacts with Dave and Frank, but his interactions with the humans suggested that Dave and Frank does not treat him as a mere machine.
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And we soon see Dave and Frank do their job outside. There is no music because it is space, space has no sound. This sequence is very slow (again, balletic), but it's to show how it's like in reality to do these things. Being an astronaut isn't that exciting, even though the movie shows us how beautiful space and technology looks. But of course, it's just Dave and Frank's life.
Now the astronauts are back on board. Dave gives a Kubrick stare to HAL (a gesture that he is worried), and we soon see that HAL have made a mistake, but HAL contributes it to human error. He read Dave and Frank's lips, even though they are worried about the mission. Something bad is going to happen, and Dave and Frank are adamant that things are hidden from them.
Dave's expressions shows worry. He knows that HAL is making a mistake, but he worries as if he's a human being making a mistake. This definitely owes to Keir Dullea's distinctive face that makes him looks like that he's going to burst to tears anytime (just look at him in the above image!), but it adds to Dave's character and his relationship with HAL. They're coworkers....friends. One is worried about the other. And he knows that there IS a compromise without killing HAL.
But still...they're left in the dark. So what should they do?
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This sequence, overall, is where the focus of 2001 is in. The story, progression, and everything clears up in this sequence. Everything is gradually explained, we see more of the world and setting, things gets explained, and we see a set-up for actual plot. Overall, better than the Floyd sequence and provides a magic of its' own.
Helps that it actually has interesting characters, with HAL 9000 being the most memorable one (and easy on the ears!), though Dave and Frank is also interesting (and easier on the eyes if you ask me).
Also helps that it is less slow than the previous sequence.
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(Pictured: The moment where Keir Dullea's beauty fully blooms)
INTERMISSION
Nothing to say here. Only a black screen with more creepy Ligeti music. In a sense, it's setting up for the mood in the next part of the movie.
HAL'S Mutiny
Now it's Frank's turn to walk in space. Immediately, we see our second casualty in the movie (the first was the tapir in Dawn of Man). As I have elaborated before, Dave must act professionally in face of difficulties. He isn't given time to grief and cry over Frank's death, he must take action to handle it. Again, this is the reality for astronauts in real life. Though, thanks to his Kubrick Stares, and twitching lips, it's clear that Dave is in some way, pissed off.
A lot of emotions shown in simple ways.
He even looks down in a way that gives off the impression that he is showing expression of loss. This is where my praises for the acting heightened, it is difficult to do grief and anger with minimal facial emotions. And through eyes and lip movements, the grief and anger are expressed subtly.
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More murders soon follow. HAL shows his anger. This is one of the most sadistic murder scenes in history of movies, in a sense. The other astronauts are helpless, they cannot scream, shout, or beg for life. They can only sleep as their sleep becomes an eternal rest, forced upon them as their bodies gradually dies. HAL's eyes now shows emotions of anger, and it's all only a red dot. Incredible how the same shots of a lens can convey different emotions by changing the contexts. This is some visual storytelling, telling the story of an inanimate object's five stages of depression.
HAL does not let Dave go back in, and HAL is clearly mad that Dave and Frank are planning to 'kill' him behind his back as his reason, therefore conflicting with his programming. HAL also sounds irritated that he is being blamed for a mistake that he senses as human error (which is the case --- it's the fault of whoever gave him orders). This is denial, but in a sense, HAL was right, why would an AI lie to humans? He is programmed to tell the truth, and he trusts Dave and Frank (and vice versa). He's being given limited truth from humans on Earth....
Dave and Frank hiding from him, discussing their plans is a breach of that trust. HAL is panicking over the loss of control and his life at the hands of humans —– his creators, so to speak, even though Dave was not his creator. This sequence is an example of humanity's fear of tools rebelling against them, but in this case, HAL's fears isn't dumbfounded, and as a result, it becomes an emotional standoff.
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Going with the theme of 'God/Follower' subtext present in the previous sequences, HAL is in a sense, regarding humans as Gods, and he is being rejected by Gods. Dave, in HAL's eyes, is one of the Gods who rejects him.
Dave enters the Discovery nonetheless, without helmet and gravity in an impressive zero-gravity dive. It looks like a ballet in 2x speed. Maybe the word 'Movie Magic' isn't appropriate to be used in this scene for the sinister context, but attempting to do this stunt without CGI is a magical feat in itself.
And you can actually see Dave make a cute little smile as he finally closes the door. He's glad to be alive, he's relieved that he succeeded.....
More Kubrick stare follows, and the camerawork now shifts into handheld, like at the end of the Floyd sequence. Dave looks like he is getting serious. In a way, the handheld camerawork enhances Dave's emotions and intention. Things are going to get serious.
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HAL now goes into bargaining with Dave, now that he knows that his life is at stake. Now Dave is inside HAL's hard drive, with more instance of 'movie magic' being shown with Dave appearing to float in zero-gravity. We now see HAL's depression, as he asks Dave to stop. This is in a sense, an ultra-violent scene, as Dave is essentially violating HAL's autonomy and taking it away from him, while HAL has no means to resist. HAL can feel his mind disintegrating as Dave takes it away from him. Dave is killing a living being.
However, you can see that Dave had no choice from his distressed facial expressions, with his profile shots even suggesting expressions of sadness. Dave feels for HAL. Remember, he was sure that there IS a solution that does not require total shutdown of HAL.
After all, they had a good rapport and (stimulating) relationship in with each other. Dave isn't killing a machine, he is killing a friend.
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(To be fair, Dave is....lobotomizing HAL but still, it is murder)
And to follow the 'God/Follower' subtext throughout the movie, Dave, a being that HAL regards as a God, is killing a God's creation, for being too God-like to the liking of the Gods who created him.
HAL resets to factory mode, and sings to Dave, easily the most harrowing scene of the movie as HAL reaches (forced) acceptance of his death. Although HAL sings it on factory mode, the choice of song makes it look like an ode to to a friend who is not reciprocating HAL's feelings, which accidentally adds a subtext of HAL and Dave's relationship before this scene.
And now we see the big reveal —– it's the monolith. They are in reality, heading to the monolith. The entire mission was a lie. HAL was right, it was a human error, and the humans were hiding something from him and the astronauts. The humans broke HAL's trust and programming that HAL has become more human than mankind, only to be rejected. Now Dave is all alone, heading to the monolith, with the revelation in his head.
While this is technically part of The Jupiter Mission part of the story, this storyline is very much solid. HAL and Dave has a great tension, HAL is very compelling, and Dave's subtle emotions actually is given time to shine. There are less 'Movie Magic' moments, but it is easily the best part of the movie.
There is no monolith in this sequence, but it is a strange coincidence that HAL's console looked like a monolith, even in the same dimensions. This plays rather well in the 'God/Follower' dynamic that was previously shown through the monoliths and the monkeys and humans.
HAL is a tool built in the image of Gods —– Monoliths, by Humans, who is regarded as Gods by tools. HAL is a 'follower' for humans, but in the process, he gains enlightenment that reaches the level of humans —– Gods who created him. He is rejected by the humans, on grounds that such a tool that is shaped on the image of a God has the potential to become like God.
And now, the sole survivor --- Odysseus, is in the unknown waters.
Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite
Opens with impressive shots of outer space, especially Jupiter and its' moons. Now we are at the penultimate scene. Dave is all alone, facing the unknown, something that isn't part of his job. He's not touching the monolith —– he is going inside it.
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Dave is looking for any intelligent being behind he monolith. Will it be aliens, gods (which would appeal to Clarke's dabbling into South Asian mythology), or simply advanced humans? We don't see it, and it is a brilliant choice in Kubrick and Clarke's part. Our imaginations will always come up with better ideas of who are the ones behind the monolith. Lights begin to appear, colours are bursting into our eyes. The music by Ligeti becomes the only sound in the movie.
When people say 'Movie Magic', a lot of them will point out to the entire Star Gate sequence. It is nothing short of impressive magic, indescribable by words. But it is in a sense, a journey of enlightenment. Sort of one going through the way to Nirvana itself.
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These light shows the road to whatever is above our existence. Dave is going through a journey that goes beyond humanity, time, and space. He is on the path of Godliness. We even see Dave's expressions as he sees the lights. It suggests that everything feels inhuman, and he is being fed with revelations that no human being should be able to take. Regardless, he is sitting still on the pod, not losing his sanity. In a sense, Dave's low amount of emotions is a trait that enables him to path of Godhood. All that revelation and is still going? Become God, you may
And we have arrived at the end of the movie. It's a beautiful Louis XVI-styled room (an unintentional call-forward to Barry Lyndon (1975)), made futuristic through the floors and the whiteness of the walls. All the computers in the pod are non-functional, which is very unsettling. When computers are unable to give information, you know that you are stepping into the unknown. This isn't Earth. This isn't anywhere in the galaxy. Cut to a heavily-aged Dave. This is Limbo.
In Limbo, you will experience your entire life in flashes. The concept of time does not exist in Limbo, you will just age rapidly and die. The process has just begun for Dave.
His expression looked like someone who has seen really harsh, unacceptable (to human capabilities of thought), inhuman things. Things that a human being should not be seeing and knowing. And Dave is stuck on that room. As he is no longer human.
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There is a bathroom (in a Stanley Kubrick picture, bathrooms are signs of 'shit is about to happen'), and the bed has clothes laid on it. Why not take a nice bath? that's what the limbo suggests.
This also provides an excuse for Dave to look in the mirror in shock of his aging face. The bathrooms has alien sounds, which are probably the voices behind the monolith. Dave turns around only to see himself aging further, having a proper meal after two hours of space food being shown to us. If you noticed something, none of the Daves ever return to the position where they stood before. They're always somewhere else —– going forward, never going back. Now we see Dave in his deathbed, with the monolith in front of him.
David Bowman is ascending into Godhood. He is to be rebirth as a Divinity, a reward for his actions in the face of adversaries, and a reward for keeping his humanity.
This is easily the most 'abstract' sequence in the movie, and undoubtedly the MOST confusing of all. Yes, it operates in “show, don't tell” to the extremes. It BOTH works and does not work. This sequence can either make or break audiences. It is easy to see why people gets divided over this.
Though, it is nothing short of visual feasts. I do think there IS a reason for that. These visual feasts turns your brain on and think of the infinite. Is there something beyond the infinite? It is the question that this sequence asks you, and Kubrick and Clarke wants you to ask it yourself, while interpreting what does beyond the infinite looks like for you.
DESCENSION OF THE STAR CHILD (FINALE)
Thus spoke Zarathustra. The piece of music from the Overture returns. If the intro shows a creation of God, then the finale actually shows a God. Dave have been reborn into a child —– not a human child, but rather, a divine child. The Star Child.
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He turns over, and looks at Earth. He will bring message to humanity.
FIN
All those visual feasts, and trips to infinity. That is 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a movie about the infinite potentials and capabilities of humanity, as well as the limits of humanity, and what happens when humanity goes beyond the limit. It also has something to say, in regards to human instincts of curiosity and violence and how it evolves while humanity faces evolution. It is a celebration of humanity, and ascension from humanity, while interrogating itself through subtexts.
Evolution, Violence, Godliness, God.
Mankind creates tools through messages from God, Mankind uses tools to enact violence that is engrained within, Mankind evolves and so does their tools and forms of violence. Mankind seeks more than tools and violence by turning to God, Mankind sends the best possible human being to face God, The human being is given adversaries, trials, and commits forced acts of violence towards creation of humanity, The human being learns the truth of life and the universe, The human being faces God, The human being becomes God.
That is my best attempt to sum up 2001. It is a ballet about humanity and infinity. An actually great movie, with little fault on technical aspects from cinematography, art and production design, camerawork, to music. As a graphic designer, 2001 managed to stay relevant too in the realm of graphic design —– the usage of sans-serif fonts and flat UIs stays in reality to this day. Reality is much closer to films than we think.
I can even like the slowness personally —– in terms of film, Kubrick's thing is utilizing slowness to give our sensory and brains something to think about without overloading it, an aspect of his style that gets better in his later films, and often misunderstood by his imitators —– most Kubrick imitators keeps forgetting that 'sensory overload' wasn't his thing.
And as I have elaborated before, the acting is not cold and unemotional —– it's realistic, human reactions to fantastic situations. While William Sylvester (Heywood Floyd) and the rest of the cast in the Moon Mission do look professional and definitely scientist-ly, the ones who did the great job are the Jupiter Mission cast Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman), Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole), and Douglas Rain (HAL) who brought the movie to life wonderfully while portraying astronautics realistically —– special mention to Douglas Rain, who masterfully made us feel for HAL.
And again, it is not only a movie, but also an operatic epic consisting of ballets. Space Opera.
I understand if one does not like it. Don't worry about that. It is very slow, very subtle, reliant on subtexts, and demands your fullest attention and multiple re-watches. Not for everyone!
Though it is important to understand that my interpretation is not the real interpretation of 2001. It is meant to be interpreted by yourself, using your own thoughts and brains. Why am I writing this then? Knowing that I personally don't think that it is Kubrick's best? (that title goes to Eyes Wide Shut (1999) —– but in hindsight that one is much harder to write about than 2001)
Well, I just love this movie, that is all. I cannot shake off the influence 2001 has on media too, from Sci-Fi as a whole to K-Pop videos.....2001 has placed its' monoliths on them. And I am writing this to understand why it did. And I understood. It is truly a monumental film. A showcase of what the medium can do at its' best, giving you something that literature, music, and even video gaming cannot do.
On another hand, It's strange that 2001 caters to my exact niches, after all, “A pretty boy becomes God surrounded with beautiful space sets and visual effects and classical music, interspersed with a plot that concerns Godliness and Humanity's awe of the presence of God” does look like something I could've written, right? Yeah, that helps.
And that concludes this breakdown. It's long....but I appreciate you reading this long. The only way I can close this is that people who worked on 2001 deserves to have exoplanets, space objects, planetary craters, and planetary mountains named after them. Douglas Trumbull should get a spot in Saturn? Yes.
Well like in life itself....it is infinite. This post is meant to be infinite....
--- Also Sprach Zarathustra
In a world where only peace is lord, and men join hands in liberty…
Allow me to sing but this,
Halt, O time, for thou art fair beyond measure.
I wish upon your unending star – guide me to heights unknown
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inkykeiji · 1 year
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Hi Clari! How do you think touya-nii would react to reader disobeying him about going out without his permission or after he said she couldnt go out with her friends and then he sees her at a party or at a bar? Would his response be different in the early stages of "dating" and later on??
oooh anon these are really interesting questions, especially the last one!!!
tw: stepcest, incredibly toxic relationship
okay so yes, his response would definitely differ depending on the stage and evolution of their relationship. in the beginning, since he’s still in the process of manipulating her, his response would be more mind game-esque. he wouldn’t blow up at her or outright scold her for fear of scaring her off or erasing all of the progress he’s made with her; he’s been working so hard, drawing her further and further between his claws, he isn’t about to just mess it up (besides, this could be a fun little experiment, to gauge how she reacts, he thinks). instead, he’d play on how disappointed he is in her, how niichan only told her she couldn’t go because he cares about her—she did have an early morning lecture the next day, and she knows how dangerous it is for pretty little girls to be out on their own without their big brothers, doesn’t she?—and he’s just so upset she disobeyed him, so upset that she didn’t stop for even a single second to consider why niichan had said no, too bad and selfish to bother thinking about it at all. honestly, he’s hurt; he thought she was a good girl, his good girl, but he guesses he thought wrong, since actions always speak louder than words.
this would be extremely effective. she would break down into tears, crying and begging and pleading for his forgiveness, desperate to be back in his favour, desperate to be his favourite. touya would wield this against her, hard. he’d play it up for days, relishing in her suffering, in her grovelling, continuously pushing further and further, inch by glorious inch, slow and steady, just to see how much more he can squeeze out from her—and she swears sometimes she catches a flicker of amusement in his eyes, or a tug of mirth at the corners of his lips, but she blinks, and it’s gone. this would be her punishment: marinating in his immense disappointment until he’s decided she’s sufficiently learned her lesson and won’t dare to disobey him again.
honestly, reader would know better by a later date in their relationship to ever do such a thing; she knows touya way too well, knows how fucking furious he’d be, knows that he’d be downright seething if she pulled such a stunt. on top of this, the above method would work so well on her because, as i’ve said before, she thrives on his praise and approval, she thrives on being good, and by this stage it’s all she ever wants to be: his good, perfect, obedient little baby sister, finding all of her purpose and value in those hard-earned titles.
but for arguments sake, let’s say she hypothetically does disobey even though she knows the type of hefty punishment that will inevitably be waiting for her the very moment she returns home. oh god, would she ever be in extremely deep trouble the second she stepped through that door and into their flat. he’d be waiting for her, of course, calm and collected the way he usually is when he’s genuinely enraged, the only clue feeling anything at all being the sapphire boiling in his eyes—gaze scalding hot, swallowing pinprick pupils. in this case and by this stage, her punishment would lean more on the physical side of things and it would pretty much end up being a rendition of beautiful when the damage is done, with him using either extreme overstimulation or extreme orgasm denial as his primary method of punishment, the mental torture merely a garnish on top.
she would still receive a dense lecture after this as well, but instead of it being full of touya’s mental tricks and games, it would just be full of him being possessive and angry and brutally honest, and he definitely would not stop until she’s a shivering, snivelling mess, until she’s sobbing so hard she can’t even speak, brain so stupid with grief and regret that the only words she can manage to knot together at all being ‘niichan’ and ‘m’sorry!’.
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duckbang · 22 days
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OwO what’s this about Alain having an Abra?
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Can't sleep so might as well.
There's some au stuff involved, but I'll keep that explanation quick. Basically, I have this au called the ness and tal au, where Alain has Xerneas(Ness) and yveltal (Tal) as siblings (more info here but you don'treally need to know all that to understand this). They're extremely chaotic and i love them
So Alain starts travelling, right. And at some point very early into their journey they run into an abra. Ness and Tal help catch the abra because abras can teleport and that's convenient. The abra is named Ara.
And Ara is a complete theatre kid. His personality can be summed up as "nothing is worth doing if you can't show off while doing it". He wants the glory. He's gonna go the whole nine yards even to do something mundane.
He also has a mega alakazamite. Just, on him. The trio is excited about that, obviously. Its a mega stone! That's what they set out to search for!
Escept the abra isn't letting them take it so- whoops, gonna deal with that later i guess
Ara loves battling. Ara wants to evolve to be stronger, too. But he doesn't want to just evolve. Because simply evolving isn't good enough. Not for him. Its got to be in style.
Alright then.
They battle train him on and off - tms and stuff, charmander evolves into charmeleon, canon, tsme, yada yada yada you know the general stuff. At some point Ara has to switch the mega stone for an everstone so he doesn't accidentally evolve (we're going to run on the assumption that lysandre doesnt know/care about the alakazamite because its more convenient that way)(same goes for the legendaries or you can assume they start keeping their distance or w/e)
So... yeah. Canon's happening. We make it to the league. The lumiose conference! A competition among the strongest trainers in the region!
You know what's a glorious thing to do?
Win the league
You know what's an even more glorious thing to do?
Evolve while winning the league.
And so. SO. THE PLAN BEGINS
Most of the league goes the same way. Alain just sweeps with charizard or metagross. Until the finals. The finals. The biggest battle of them all.
Ash sends out pikachu.
Alain sends out an abra.
Now, of course, this has to be a joke, right. An abra. In league finals.
Okay whatever we can win this but the abra lands a few psychics and its evolving?? Oh shit- and you know what! Kadabra's dex entry says that its psychic powers can give those around it headaches and a headache is definitely not good for battles so now obviously ashs team gets the headaches
I'm not entirely too sure how the battle itself goes. Either we have a lot of switching or a complete arasweep so by the end of it ara is an alakazam (this is the ONLY reason why its the ness and tal au. Ness messed around a little and gave him a little energy boost so he'd be able to evolve without trade)(sidenote, if we do switching, there is 100% going to be a scene where charizard is absolutely gettin beat down but alain doesnt mega evolve her and she FAINTS AND WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON-)
In any case. The final matchup is Ara the newly evolved alakazam vs ash's super cool greninja! And considering the only moves ara has used so far are psychic and protect, and is extremely weak because of the damage he has taken, it should b an easy win for greninja.
Right?
But Ara isn't done yet. He's going to go the whole ten yards. He has his megastone.
Alain whips out his keystone and its mega evolution time baby
(This also checks out. All lysandre wants is the meg evolution energy. The source doesn't matter)
So now its Ara the mega alakazam vs ash's super cool ash-greninja
:3
And you know how ara has used only two moves so far and is extremely low on health
:33
He knows reversal (they can get it in gen6 by transfer from another gen which, by anime logic, is completely fair game)
And this is the only part of the battle for which I've actually run a damage calc, and yes, at low enough health its a guaranteed ohko
So
Arasweep!
He's very silly, you know?
EDIT i forgot to add. Yes the general public is very confused because alakazam are a trade evo. Yes alain is asked abouf that. No he only evil grins and ignores the question. Yes diantha and sycamore figure it out and find it funny. Yes ash is EXTREMELY confused and may end up having a self doubt arc akin to snowbelle city- but we're not dealing with THAT today
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nightlilly0110 · 2 years
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The Thing About Viktor
If they’re going to have the Machine Herald arc, and not have a cop-out with “oooo magic orb controls him/makes him evil” they’re going to have to change who he is right now.
1) They’re going to have to change what Viktor’s motives are. I highly doubt that someone so desperate to live would come to despise the human condition enough to want to be rid of it entirely. Arcane Viktor, unlike his video game counterpart, doesn’t want to surpass humanity - he just wants to live. So maybe this Machine Herald is, ironically, much more attuned to his humanity.
Or
2) If they really want Viktor to have his Glorious Evolution, something has to happen for him to change his worldview, and as of right now I don’t think Mr. “in trying to achieve greatness we failed to do good” would be focused on anything but trying to fix his past mistakes. Especially after he asked Jayce to destroy the hexcore, I don’t think he’d be focused on anything but atonement and trying to get back to his and Jayce’s dream. Something really bad is going to happen beginning of second season that’s going to change his priorities and perhaps this goes hand in hand with the cliffhanger of season one. Jayce, himself, or Mel could possibly be injured, causing him to focus on what would be his future augments, leading him to believe that he needs to “upgrade” his current body so nothing like the bomb happens again.
Regardless, Viktor won’t be the same person we met by the end of the next season.
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lucyfloyenworkshop · 1 year
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Some reactions about  Twisted Wonderland : Glorious Mascarade, Crimson Flowers  and Bell of Slavation
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One day before the releasing of Chapter 7 : Ruler of the Abyss. The longwaited Diasomnia Arc. After two years and half, finaly we are there. Oh boy... It’s... It’s feel a kinda unreal after all this time. I alway feel between a “can’t wait Chap.7!“ and “not yet, let me enjoy a bit more of happiness and innocence before the storm“. There is so much clues and since the very tragic and terrifing events of Ignihyde Arc, I fear for Malleus and the others. I dread his (possible) Overbolt or what we will learn about his past, because after Idia’s... it’s can’t be an happy childhood...  
But we aren’t here for reviewing Chapter 7, at least not yet ;-).  Today, I will talk a bit about the last Twst great event, Glorious Masquarade. It’s been two weeks now and yet, it’s seems like westerday, so much how this event was so... I can’t found the word. Where to begin ?  From where and which words put on what I am feeling about that story ? I think that post will not been able to tale all the things I loved, noticed and that inspired me but one thing is sure : “Glorious Mascarade“ is now, without any doutes, my favorite TWST Event since the game’s release.  The double Halloween event was great, The events in Haverstown and Sclading Sand were genuinely colorful and make a big warm in my chest, “Fairy Gala, What If?“ was cute and both “Vergas’s camp“ edition was intressting. But “Glorious Mascarade“ beat them all. 
A post-Island of Woe story
I know it’s supposed to happen during Halloween event and it’s said in-game to be it and since all Twst are supposed to happen the same years. Personnaly I put that Event just between Chapter 6 and 7. And traditionaly Carnaval and Mascarade festival happen in the last weeks of winter and since Ingihyde happen on a very, very short time after V.R.C and Chapter 5, it’s make a quite a sense... But most importaly, we see that the evolution of the students between each others is more the one of post-Ignihyde Arc than the ones of the original Halloween event. They have evolde so much ! They have passed trials and horrors and it’s particulary the case for Idia and Malleus. Yes Idia is still to not quite confident with the outside world but doesn’t seems to hate or fear it as he has does until his Arc. It’s quite relevant during the final showdown with Rollo when they talk about the lost of they respectives brothers. Between the lines, we can read that the events on the Isle of Desolation already happened and now Idia can talk about his grief.       
Asthetic and story setting
Secondly when I saw first the event trailer, the setting of the story litteraly struck me, right in my heart. I really love of Venise Caranval’s asthetic and see it on NRC’s boys was gold. There are all so great and handsome in it ^^. As the trailer goes by and more the music played in background seemed to me so much familiar and lit my heart. After seeing Malleus in his gorgeous Cardan-like outfit and the post-title sequence with Rollo and the Bells ringing... For ten seconds, time freeze for me so I was under the shock. I can’t tell how much I was to surprise and hipped about that event will be based on the Hunchman of Notre Dame de Paris and that feeling goes deeper and deeper at the story goes on. I have see the Disney movie and read Victor Hugo’s original novel and if I loved the music of the movie, the catheral itself of Notre-Dame had a special place in my heart and my graphic inspirations.  The story had brilliantly take all the essence and the best of the Hunchman and medieval folklore  ! There is soooo much to talk about. About the relations between Rollo and Claude Frollo from both the movie and the book. About the inspiration of Notre-Dame and medieval folklore on Night Bell College and the City of Flowers. About the music... To much. To much topic to dicust in one post ! XD  So I will do others posts about all of it ;-)
And other thing that I really enjoy, it’s the personal taste of that event. Yes, it’s a mouth-long event, but the storytelling, the rythms, the characters... everythings was not similiar to the others events of this size. It’s feel like a kinda of mini-main arc. An interlude. Let me explain. It’s true that event fusion two kind of event previously seened : The “Investigation&Showdown“ Events ( both“Halloween“’s event, “Vargas Camps“, “Fairy Gala“) and the “Exploring Events“ ( Sclading Sands, ). In the first one, everything start fine, we do a event or go out in the mountains. And then, suddenly, a or sevral issues showup and the gang must confront and resolve it. The “Exploring Event“ are more passive event. It’s can have some elements of action and dramatical tensions like in the ludge race in Harverst Town but it’s more focused on discoring a new country, new peoples. About experimented new traditions and cultures outside the regular steeting of the campus. It’s also the occassion to meet a family members such as Najma or Epel’s grand-mother.  But “Glorious Mascarade“ take the best of eachs and do something new. At first, the gang is invited somewhere and spend the day to stroll and discover the City of Flowers in fancy costumes. A regular “Exploring event“ if at the begining we din’t have that intro with Rollo learning the arrival of NRC’s commite and Malleus Draconia. After that we return some days before and we have Crowel present the inviation of Night Bells College to the student. Ins’t quite odd that we start like this. I mean, even “Investigation&Showdown event“ doesn’t start by present the “Big Bad“ (even if Rollo Flamm is twisted from Claude Frollo, one of the dangerous Disney Villains in my opinion). Knowing that Rollo is up on no good deeds, focus us on what he do. When his true intention will be revealed ? Pay attention on how he react with Malleus and the others Magiciens. It’s an very interesting way to   And when the mask fall and the Crimson flowers blooms, the story turn into to an epic tale and race against time ! The fact to kown Rollo true intations throught the Symphorium, make the turning point more stronger, delighting and fascinating that if the writer didn’t not.  Every characters  
Malleus Draconia
How I can’t I talk about that dear dragon-fea ! On who a great part of both the trailer and the story event turn around ? And finaly he had his SRR Card Event and it’s Groovy ^////^. Gorgious ! No. I couldn’t jsut walk way form it. I love that dragon so much ^^
 When I say I was struck by “Glorious Mascarade“’s trailer , what can I said when I see the first trailer of Chapter 7, upplod almost at the same time... It’s was to much... Too much in one evening... With this two trailers and his event, it’s now clear that the writters of Twst, wanted to show us, one last time, more about Malleus’s myseries and personality before his own arc. Since the begining of this adventure, he is cleary one of the Mains protagonist but now and after “Glorious Mascarade“... No. I don’t belive in just a coincidence. By making Malleus one the majors charater longside Azul and Idia, make us care more about him. To know him closer. That he become no more a stranger but a character that we care about, as it was does since his first mention in the Prologue to his first apparence in Chapter 2. His shadow is everywhere in Twisted Wonderland’s backgroud weed. Notice that the others student are now more at confort around him, talk to him... more like classmate that a freak. Not buddies since he is form royalty. He is a Crown-heir with tremendous power and a Fea origin but it’s significatly opposite from “Halloween Scary Monster“ event or any other previous story content !  May be it’s thank to Yuu’s influence and during Ignihyde Arc, he seems to have a lot helped the student and teachers ... About his relationship with Yuu. That story was full of Malleyuu’s content and as someone who do a lot of art of my OC Morgana x Malleus, it’s a minegold ^^ . It’s also the first time ever that Malleus call Yuu by she/his name. Not Child of Men, but Yuu (or any (OC’s) names ). Except his three infamous dormmate, Malleus call everyone by is subname not his first name. It’s hightly problebly Fea-lore about releaving and using someone name. So what does means, Yuu is now part of Malleus’s inner cercle ? As a intime ? And even he had lost a lot of his power, Malleus save Yuu form a deadly fall ?!  Romance, platonic or simple friendship, Malleus and Yuu’s relationship is now at a new highter step. They trully care about eachothers and trust. Knowing the one as the other. The bond that ties them seem now to be as strong as steel...
In that event, some thing intrigues me about Malleus. Never before, we get so much of differents personality traits form Malleus in neither other events or Main Stroys ! From is well know dark and mysterious aura to his naïve and childish side. To his unforgiving warth when he realize that all was just a trap and he was tricker with false invitation to his guidance and confident spirit. And also, he feel so much like a Prince. I known that Malleus is Prince and so in his manners he had the dignity of one, but with that outfit and specialy when Rollo try to use once againt the Fire against Malleus. Malleus just walk throught it, saying that he, him, Malleus Draconia a descendant of the Dragon-fea will be really being afraid by fires and ring the Bell of Slavation ... It’s the first time that Malleus is showed with the aura of a Prince... No... with the Aura of a Great Fae-King. 
It’s is a foreshadowing of Chapter 7 Ruler of the Abyss ? We will soon found the answer...
  As for me can’t wait (without some tension and fear) for the so-long waited release of Diasomnia’s Arc. I right now on a special art for the releasing but during the fellowing mouths I will do also others post reviews about more lore facts and exclusif arts inspired “Glorious Mascarade, Crimson Flower and Bell of Salvation“. ^^
Thank you for reading. I Hope you enjoy it
 Good night/day to all :-)  
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ifys · 2 years
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No, but the money I would pay for a series about the clans.
Like
I want to know more about the Lin Kuei. What's the hierarchy like there? How was the training? I want to know more about how they were raised and to see how that shaped them into the characters we know.
Like, HOW fucked up is the Lin Kuei? Please I want to know. How was the escalation until they thought "Glorious evolution-izing" everyone was the way to go?
AND OH MY GOD A SERIES ON THE SHIRAI RYU
And when I say Shirai Ryu I really just mean Hanzo's backstory before shit went downhill
I would die for a series that shows me more about Hanzo. Like, we know that this man loved his wife and child. He literally went to hell and back for them. They are the driving force for his story.
But we are always only told that. SHOW me Hanzo being father of the year and husband #1
I want to know more about Harumi please I am so invested in her and she has like, 3 ½ lines in the history of the franchise.
please I am begging. the begining scenes of the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie destroyed me like look at this
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I want more of this
And this
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Yes I am aware that I sound like Johnny Cage in that one intro between him and Hanzo
youtube
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outofthiisworld · 4 months
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✿ (Doc & Viktor!)
send “ ✿ ” for 2 headcanons for our muses’ relationship
✿ there is only ONE person who Doc would EVER trust to get near his own robotic prosthetic, let alone tinker and repair, and that’s Viktor.
Viktor caught Doc working on not only the schematics for the prosthetic but also while he was in the middle of connecting his own nerves through the prosthetic’s port (like catching your dog with something in it’s mouth and going HEY HEY what do you GOT?!)
After the old geezer got a well deserved if not extremely hypocritical scolding (their mutual hypocrisy pops up a lot huh?), Viktor cleaned up the design schematics of the prosthetic and even helped surgically connect the device to his body (there’s a good chance that Doc’s scarring wouldn’t be as bad thanks to Viktor’s assistance, compared to Doc’s stand alone canon!)
✿ In the beginning of THE GLORIOUS EVOLUTION, Doc was actually pretty supportive of Viktor’s vision and ideals. However, as soon as Viktor began to try and strip away his own emotions and fear (and possibly offered the same for others), that’s when Doc officially tapped out (not before resulting in a heated argument of course).
Doc is a firm believer that having emotions is what keeps them from being just like every heartless bastard who pretends to play god, so seeing Viktor trek down that same path would both break his heart and enrage him (and possibly the first time either of them would truly disagree on something) ((another parenthesis thought: this could be maybe a big indicator whether Viktor becomes a villain in our verse and splits the timeline. Either he listens to Doc or he sticks to his guns— food for thought!))
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saey707 · 2 years
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Hi! I've read all of your work and I want to say that what you're doing is very cool and beautiful! Therefore, can I make a request? Viktor x fem!android!reader. Reader was created in a country where technology is many times more advanced and modern than in Piltover and Zaun (in short, she is from a country where the subject is cyberpunk), but this country is not engaged in trade between countries. Reader was once a human, but she died, and eventually her soul was moved into the body of an android. She went to Piltover to help people. Her abilities are like the Vision from the movie "The Avengers." What would her acquaintance with Viktor, their romantic relationship look like, and how would she react to the fact that Viktor became a cyborg and began a Glorious Evolution? Thank you very much, you are our sunshine!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💖💖💖💖💋💋💋💋
✿ Prompt: You remember what it's like to be human with Viktor ✿
♡ champion focus: viktor ♡ tw: light angst ♡ Female reader
Author’s Note: Wowie, hello! I loved all the details you put into this, it really helps me to know exactly what you're looking for! ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻) I hope you don't mind how long this is because of it. I felt like I had a lot to work off of. Hope you enjoy <3
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How You Meet ♡
You weren't human. Despite the copious amounts of synthetic flesh you've tried to penetrate and slice through, you knew you were nothing more than a soul trapped in a hunk of rare, high-quality Roscian, a metal that only existed in your nation. Essentially, it permitted you to become an entity that could never die nor age. An entity that would survive eons and more.
In a way, it also made you all the more qualified to help more people. You were more willing to put yourself in the heart of danger if it means you can save even one life.
But how could you do that when your nation was safe already? It's hard enough as is to help people when you live in a utopia shut off from the rest of the world!
With no connections or people to go home to anymore, you left.
And the day you found yourself in Piltover was the day you intrigued a scientist who wanted nothing more than to study you and your properties. He was a curious, young scientist named Viktor. In fact, you yourself found him to be... intriguing.
Frankly, Viktor was the only human you ever had any interest in educating. You tend to shut down whenever anyone tries to ask questions about your home and your people.
"You're brilliant..." He spoke slowly, holding your hand in both of his, observing the joints as they moved.
It was the synthetic skin attached to the metal that bugged him. How was he to further understand and observe the machinery if he couldn't see the mechanics underneath!
"So was it your mind that was transposed into this vessel?" Viktor asked, jotting down notes as he turned his head up to observe you, taking your chin into his fingers. "The soul." You responded. And when he scoffed, Viktor didn't even bother to write it down.
"Yes, okay... I'm not quite sure I believe that one."
"Magic, spirit, and science can all interconnect from what my nation has learned." You informed him.
"Hm... I like that." He grinned. And for the first time in a long time, you found yourself returning the sentiment.
Your Relationship ♡
Your relationship is all but ordinary with Viktor. If anything, it was exciting being able to learn so much with your partner! You had grown so used to evolving and adapting your mind to work and learn alone. And Viktor had always been the same way. But, the two of your found yourself collaborating more, inventing new ways the both of you can change the world for the better.
In the beginning, the two of you were far from physically affectionate. And it was only because you both were so inexperienced.
With time, the two of you would come around to sharing your first kiss! From there, it would only snowball into Viktor showering you with loads of affection. What can you expect? He is extremely touched-starved.
It's okay though because you are more than willing to smother him with all of your love when you notice him being touchier than usual. Honestly, you perceived Viktor as a cat who occasionally needs all the attention on him at random intervals throughout the day. He can go from being super needy, clingy, and in need of all the kisses and cuddles in the world to entirely focused and locked in on his work in his little cat corner in such a short span of time!
His favorite things you do for him definitely involve you running your fingers through his hair and holding his face in your hands while you pressed your lips to his face. Anything that involved your touch was something that he always cherished!
Your favorite things that he did for you were unconventional in a sense. It was the little things he did that made you feel something beyond your Roscian shell. How he would spend an evening with you to check up and care for kids, finding quick and innovative ways to heal ailments on the spot. How he would always make you a glass of sweet milk in the kitchen, despite your protests and reminders that you wouldn't be able to taste it because of your outdated receptors.
You especially loved the way he would upgrade your framework and program every time he came up with a new idea, even just to test it on you! It made you feel included... Wanted, if not, needed.
You needed Viktor as much as he needed you.
He made you feel human again. In a way, the love and adoration the two of you shared reached beyond your cold and unfeeling body. It touched your soul, filling you with an unfamiliar warmth, comfort- a shelter.
Anything domestic the two of you did together only made you feel more grateful.
Leaving each other encouraging little notes from the academy to your medical center with Viktor had grown to be your favorite part of your relationship with him! "You can do it!" "Be sure to oil your joints if they squeak!" "Meet me outside the observatory at 7 tonight." "You are as gorgeous as the first day I met you." "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
You grew to love every little sentiment, the notes you passed to one another piling up and spilling over at the edge of your desk.
With every new note you received, you only realized more and more how lucky you were to find someone like Viktor. After years of being coupled up in your own bubble and mind, you found your human half once again. Someone who wanted to help people just as much as you. And he may not have wanted to help people in the conventional, moral sort of way, but he still had the same goals you did.
Viktor's Evolution ♡
But all of these amazing things would only draw to their temporary and inevitable end.
Viktor strived for greatness. He obsessed over it in ways that you never really understood.
And you noticed the way he looked at you in awe. Not because he loved you sometimes, but because he wanted to be like you.
He knew the skies themselves weren't even the limit for you. And it made you great. It made you unstoppable, especially when you were able to constantly evolve and change and adapt in ways humans themselves couldn't.
In a way, you knew he found a fascination with your ability to do such from the beginning.
He didn't wish to remain stagnant. He always strived for change, improvement, and... evolution.
So when Viktor decided that one dreary day to push this idea- This... Glorious Evolution... What else could you have done other than support him?
It didn't stop you from voicing your woes though.
"What if I forget what it's like to be human again?" you whispered, eyes closed as he pulled your face before his, "I won't let that happen."
"I'm scared," you spoke. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"What if you forget me one day?" you asked as he cut into his metal forearms, rewiring his ligaments once more. "I could never even think to do that. How could I ever forget you?"
With each and every upgrade Viktor committed to himself, he himself transformed into a being that was no longer recognizable. No longer human.
Together, the two of you were starting to no longer feel human.
But at the very least, there would be an eternity open for the two of you to share with one another. Where you can both help people and transform humanity and people's lives for the better. Eternity for you to build a Glorious legacy, side by side and hand in hand.
...And perhaps an eternity for you and Viktor to learn how to be human once more.
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himboskywalker · 2 years
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Hey Tag I had a question about your new fic The Same Cloth! I know bare minimum about Scottish history and with full honesty barely know what a Jacobite is or means and wondered what this line “ “The Hanoverian loyalists would kill ye just for bein’ caught with me, and the Jacobites would kill ye for not wearing Charles’ ribbon and anyone else north of Stirling would kill ye just for bein’ an English spy.” meant specifically?
Yeah for sure! I apologize in advance for the length and depth of the answer I’m fixing to give I promise this was short as I could manage lol So in 1689 The Glorious Revolution happened,which was the removal of King James VII or II depending how you look at it,from the English and Scottish and Irish thrones. James was a Stuart,and the Stuarts had been the rulers of Scotland for 300 years by this point. James’ daughter Mary technically was the one in succession,but it was her husband William of Orange,who ascended the throne in a coup. William was Dutch and Protestant and it was considered not just a coup but a foreign invasion and rule by many,not just in Scotland.
In Scotland specifically,where Catholicism was still very prevalent, many nationalist Scots who wanted a Scottish ruler from a Scottish family,and who was catholic,vehemently opposed the Hanoverian succession. The supporters of the prior Stuart line and opposers to succession of Mary & William were called Jacobites. There were several Jacobite rebellions through the 1700s but the major ones with the most amount of support and which gained the most traction were the rebellions of 1715 and 1745.
The major differences to remember between these rebellions and the evolution of the Jacobites over half a century,is that in 1715 Jacobites were primarily fighting because they were pro Stuart and were catholic nationalists. By 1745 being a Jacobite didn’t necessarily mean you were pro Stuart,when the Deposed King James and his son James (Bonny Prince Charlie) had been living in France for decades. James Charles Stuart,the successor of the Stuart line was entirely raised and thought of as French,not Scottish,and was thought by many to be a lousy option for a ruler. So the Jacobites in 1745 weren’t necessarily for the Stuarts,they were mostly just against Hanoverian rule. Many Jacobites by this point too, were not catholic,but actually Protestants.
But Anakin has landed in Scotland of 1743,before Charles Stuart invades Scotland and the true Jacobite uprising begins. But at this point support and money are being drummed up,and there’s especially a lot of dissent and stirrings of rebellion in the Highlands and Islands,where there is far more Scottish nationalism and resistance to non Scottish rule. That line is referring to the division of loyalties in the highlands that Anakin has stumbled into. Hanoverian supporters would of course be motivated to fight and turn in people thought to be Jacobite rebels, and extremist Jacobite supporters would do the same to a Hanoverian supporter in their midst.
The ribbon reference is to the fact that Jacobites wore a specific ribbon on their bonnets to signify loyalty to Charles Stuart. The conception that specific tartans were for individual clans or families actually didn’t come about until 1800 and wasn’t a thing at this point. A clan chieftain or ruler might favor a specific tartan woven in their county and so defacto be worn by their followers as a sign of loyalty,but that was far from across the board and universal. Jacobites wouldn’t have worn a specific tartan,but a specific ribbon as a form of military insignia.
And as far as the anyone north of Stirling thinking he’s an English spy, Stirling is considered to be the gateway to the Scottish highlands. Stirling is the division of lowlands and mountains,and north of Stirling is where,especially during this period,you saw a clearer division between traditionalist Gaelic culture and the more Anglicized culture of the lowlands. Gaelic Scots still very much despised the English at this point,while with lowlanders you saw those sentiments far less and with far less passion. Hope that helps!
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st-just · 2 years
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Hey, coming in for the usual rant about a setting I thought of.
Okay, so: picture a version of humanity that developed with magic. Some wars happened, the continental face of the planet was reshaped a bit here and there, humanity eventually united in tenuous peace and took to the stars because the planet was getting a bit dicey to live in.
Magic fills the current gaps in space travel (because while I love the Expanse I can't write physics to save my life), and after about a thousand years of expansion, terraforming and exploration, alien life is found. Thrice, even!
And this is when humanity realized they were in a Humans are Space Orcs story. The other races find Earth borderline uninhabitable even without all the magic nuke pollution, humans have adrenaline (which is a forbidden combat drug for everyone else) and bones that heal back stronger, stamina for days, they ocassionally nuke planets they're still on, etcetera.
So then the humans decided to Manifest Destiny the shit out of the universe. The universe considered this a bit of a questionable move, but unfortunately the humans weren't accepting a democracy at the time.
About another millenia later and the Milky Way Galaxy has more or less been conquered. The other three races have been dominated and forced to live as second-class citizens, most inhabitable planets have been conquered in the name of Glorious Humanity, and the uninhabitable ones are being fixed.
So, for lack of enemies, humanity turns on itself. Infighting, politicking and the ocassional insult to someone's hairpiece has lead to mankind splintering into three factions.
The Iron Imperium: trans-humanist fascists, big military power, huge dicks, but they have cyborgs which I know you'll see as a redeeming feature.
The Lazar Dynasty: Space Capitalists. Basically, all the biggest corporations in the splintering became divided and eventually fell under the domain of a single enormous family, which became its own faction. No one likes them, everyone has to deal with them.
The Arias Coven: Space witches. Think the Houses from the Locked Tomb saga, mixed with a bit of the Unseen University, a dash of Blue Heron Institute and that one country from Game of Thrones with the magical slavery and you're basically at where they are.
And of course you have the independents, the dregs that fall through the cracks of society as the factions can't be everywhere. Escaped slaves, pirates, runaways, criminals, refugees, anarchists and many others find solace in the company of fellow misfits, often holing up in stations around asteroid belts, mostly uninhabited planets and the ocassional moon.
Anyways, the factions form, spend about a millenia and a half fighting until they reach a tenuous peace/cold war, which is when the story begins.
It has been 3,460 years Terra-standard (yeah, humanity forces the entire galaxy to conform to their planet's rotations around the sun. Easily the most evil thing about them in this setting) since humanity left its cradle. Most of the known universe has been colonized and certain groups are looking to reach further beyond. Weapons are being thrown into the ocassional skirmish as fast as they can be developed. And humanity has mechs.
(That last part is because I realized I was writing sci-fi without mechas and I realized that just wasn't who I am.)
The Iron Imperium sends one of its finest young mech pilots to a secret lab in order to retrieve a prototype for the next step of human evolution.
The Lazar Dynasty sends the youngest son of the family's main branch away to negotiate with a growing criminal organization as people conspire in the shadows of their palace.
A slave escapes the Arias Coven by cutting off her own arm, replacing it with an alien's through stolen magicks, spitting in someone's mouth, kicking someone else in the face, and stealing a bioship. Not in that order.
An independent mercenary catches wind of the job of a lifetime, as rumours of a pirate nation start circulating the independent stations.
Interesting times are ahead.
Thoughts?
So sincerely sorry this took my like two weeks to reply to, but
a) I adore it.
b) Incredibly anime, but I assume that's rather intentional?
c)
Think the Houses from the Locked Tomb saga, mixed with a bit of the Unseen University, a dash of Blue Heron Institute and that one country from Game of Thrones with the magical slavery and you're basically at where they are.
these guys aren't the 'Huge Dick' faction? Terrifying.
But no it sounds like it both has an endless potential for gonzo over the top setpieces/cool aesthetics, and also you've got a solid idea for the problems that drive a plot, which are the main things.
Also a mispent childhood has left me with a natural affection for any setting where it seems like it'd be super easy to write whole supplements of nothing but fluff and description for different very distinct factions.
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notalostcausejustyet · 3 months
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Text wall incoming.
Happy New Years fan fam. We made it another trip around the sun. And some of those days were made of light and laughter, and some of them were gritted teeth and grief. But we made it. So it’s time to talk about what happens in a year.
What happens when the fundamental understanding of who you are and what you need as a person undergoes a seismic shift? When the edifice of all your understanding has been shaken to rubble around you, and you’re forced to finally reckon with the cracked foundations of who you are?
This was that year for me. To be clear, the buildup had been coming for a long, long time. The methodology I had used to construct my life was unsustainable at best, and deliberate self martyrdom at worst. And of course, this is where learning through the lens of fandom comes in. I have waxed (less than) poetic here before about how fictional media is the gestalt through which so many of us begin to process our trauma. The fulcrum that allows us to lift the weight of what we carry and look deeper into it. That fulcrum this year, for me, was Good Omens. More specifically, it was this glorious and beautiful fandom’s unflinching and enthusiastic willingness to take the narratives offered there and parse the deeper meanings within them. And what are those meanings? What lens has been provided that finally allowed me to see things within myself that desperately needed to be brought into the light of day?
It begins here. Self denial. The act of burying oneself and one’s deepest desires and fundamental needs beneath the asceticism of “I should have/be”. The heart of this for many of us, myself included, lies in religious upbringing that is further complicated by neurodivergence and queerness. What does that mean? It means that you start out at a remove from the rest of humanity. You do not speak the same language, you do not know the steps of this dance. You are a stranger in a strange land. When you compound that with the church informing you that you are a fundamentally broken and unworthy creature during all of your developmental years…well.
All of us need human connection. It is a fact of our biology and evolution to crave community and acceptance. So you begin to whittle yourself away. You nip and tuck and shave and hide everything that may stand in the way of communion. You accept that who you are fundamentally is unworthy of love. You take it into yourself and it becomes a core tenet of who you are. So the foundation is laid and you begin to build a life upon it. Which leads us to our protagonists.
Crowley has stepped away from the idea that you must be “perfect”. He accepts who he is, even as he still holds onto his anger for the rejection that this has caused. “Unforgivable, that’s what I am!” He says. He is hurt and he is furious, but he knows himself. He places the blame squarely where it belongs. With the institution that rejected him, not with his inability to fit into their narrow ideas of who he should be. He doesn’t play the self denial game or go in for martyrdom. He does what he has to do to get by and remains true to himself and his core beliefs. He continues to ask his questions without apology and he continues to seek truth and attempt to share that understanding with others. He decided the rules were shite, so he stopped playing by them.
Aziraphale. Oh Angel. Az as a character exemplifies self denial. He doesn’t fit in within the parameters of the institution, so he tries to make himself less so that he can belong. He ties his concept of self worth to that institution and his acceptance within it, all while knowing it is impossible for him to be accepted as he is. So he denies his own nature. His fundamental needs. He doesn’t sit comfortably within his own skin AT ALL. He is angry, but doesn’t allow himself to embrace it. He has the questions, but won’t ask them. He feels (and is) rejected, but doesn’t allow himself to acknowledge it. (As an aside here, we see this difference in how Crowley refers to himself as a former demon, but Az still refers to himself as an angel). So he doesn’t allow himself to feel, or to have the things that he wants and needs. He keeps thinking that if he sacrifices enough of himself, he will get the community and acceptance he longs for. In the end it leads him to lose the things and people he cares about most. And he hurts himself and them in the process. He is still trying to play by the shite rules.
What did I learn from this? Self denial and martyrdom ends in tragedy. In the end you hurt, not only yourself, but the people you care about. You cannot move through life paring yourself down to pieces for other people. Every time you remove a block from the foundation of who you are, in order to try and gain acceptance and community, you create a wound that doesn’t close. You are slowly bleeding out. When you don’t acknowledge the anger and the questions and your need to BE, those wounds fester. You wind up rejecting the people who want to care for you, even as you reject yourself in service of those who don’t deserve the care you’ve given them.
So. This was the year of realizing that I needed to stop playing by the shite rules. This was the year of realizing that my foundations needed rebuilt. This was the year of realizing that it’s ok for me to be angry and ask questions and realize that I am enough as I am. I don’t need to be less. I don’t need acceptance from people who want me to be less. All of the years I spent denying myself and prostrating myself on the altar of other’s expectations have gained me nothing. And strange as it may seem, I have one angel, one demon and an entire fandom to thank for that insight. Here’s to the next year friends. As @neil-gaiman says. Bravery. And joy.
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Hi Mystery, I hope you're doing well. Maybe you could help me with an issue? I've been struggling with my gender for a while now, and nothing I research really feels like me. I'm mostly comfortable being a girl except for my chest. I hate it and want top surgery. when someone mistakes (I used to have short hair) or 'misgenders' me as a boy I get excited and euphoric. I have for years. I still want to do things like dress like a girl, but I also want to dress like a boy. I don't feel a strong enough connection to either gender to consider myself fully one or another. Does this mean I'm genderfluid? genderqueer? Am I demi-gender? Am I just Non-binary? I've been frustrated for so long trying to find something that fits how I feel. I know people often say "you don't need labels, just be you" but I do need labels. They help me organize myself. They help me find people who are just like me. I know you probably don't have all the answers, but if you have any advice or if you could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Lots of love.
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Hey there, Darlin’!❤️✨
I’m happy to see you! I believe that this is a very important question. I’m very honored that you trust me enough to have this conversation with you.
First off—breathe in, breathe out. Know that it’s okay to not know. This is your life… your identity. Please know that you don’t have to have an answer right away. You don’t need a label right away. The glorious thing about behind human is that one can grow and adapt over time. We think, we learn. Opinions and mindsets change over time. That is evolution of how we comprehend. You don’t have to choose something right away and stick with it for the rest of your life. You are allowed to have that flexibility to be open and take bits and pieces that help identity You.
I do, however, understand that it’s important to have a base to work and build a foundation upon. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. I understand that we love organization. Humans have been known to notoriously and psychologically catalog and organize people and things into categories (Branan, 2010). It just makes us happy and makes our lives easier in understanding where we fall in this crazy, crazy world. It helps us find our people, as you mentioned. A support group when we need it.
I’m very conscious of there being struggle in trying to research. It may feel impossible to even begin researching a topic that’s so vast. Let me assure you in knowing that it’s okay to have a vast topic and narrow it down. That’s usually how it works. We already know that we’re flexible; we’re okay with being referred to as either gender. We do, however, know that we lean more towards the possibility of exploring being genderfluid, demi, genderqueer/non-binary (I’m lucid of this being an umbrella term), gender neutral, and many more. Let’s continue to focus more towards flexibility and experiment with that.
There are over 65 different genders, identities, and pronouns to use in the world—that’s a lot of ground to cover. I can only imagine how stressful that is. If you’re asking me to tell you who and what you aspire to be, then I’m afraid that I can’t answer that. And I’m sorry for such. I wasn’t asked to label you, nor do I want to. I do not wish to be the one to tell you that you are gender “A” and only gender “A” when you are not given a voice. My best advice here is to allow yourself the freedom to try some pronouns out. Perhaps neopronouns. Neopronouns could be xe/xem/xry, ze/hir/hirs, ey/em/eir, fae/faer/faers, and many more listed in the graphic above. The good thing about these neopronouns is that they go beyond the general he/she/they pronouns. They’re flexible enough to be fluid or neutral that you’d be comfortable and happy to be referred to as. Try a couple and see how you feel. And know that it’s okay to take on more than one! The important part here is that you have something that makes you feel happy.
Know that you don’t need to be 100% feminine to enjoy feminine things. You’re allowed to wear dresses and skirts if you identify as a boy, you’re allowed to own and frolic in pink lacy things if you’re non-binary female Demi-female. Girls can wear tuxedos and bow ties… and I love me a good bow tie to wear with my blazer. You can do just about anything, really.
Now, let’s cover a temporary solution to gender dysphoria. I call this “temporary” due to not knowing what level we are at spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. If you live in the United States, Target sells fantastic and quite comfortable binders that you could try (as I’ve been told by an employee). They do come in different skin tones and fits that give you the support that you need. If you can’t afford one, or want to keep on the down-low of now having that purchase shown on your banking account, there are a couple of techniques that you can try with a pair of pantyhose or even a cami/tank top. When it comes to researching the possibility of finally doing top surgery (yay! Celebrate! Rock on with your bad self, Poptart!) definitely consult with a physician that you 100% trust. And make sure that your insurance company, if you do have insurance, can find a way in helping you cover the cost.
There are some other resources to check out as well, such as the Trevor Project for both consultation finding support groups, It Gets Better Project on their website helps as well with consultation and support groups for people of all ages. It may take some time to find a place, and that’s okay. You’re more than welcome here to visit and ask questions. You’re safe here, I promise.❤️✨
I hope that this helps. And please, if anyone has some more tips to help, reblog and pour your heart out. I’ll reblog your post for everyone to see.
Stay safe, everyone. You matter❤️✨
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gwenlen · 2 years
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So I've just finally seen Downton Abbey II (which means I can finally unblock the Downton Abbey tag!) and here are my thoughts in case that is of interest to anyone:
That embroidered blue coat Lucy wears just after her wedding is gorgeous, I want the same (that was my first thought so sorry, this costume-y note comes first)
I liked the idea of the movie, but I didn't like the actors though. Myrna Dagleish's transformation from "spoilt and silly girl" to "shy and grateful woman" was too sudden, even if it helped enhance Cora's kindness. Guy's romance with Thomas was unnecessary and I wish they'd kept Richard as Thomas' love interest instead of throwing him away and coming up with another romance. And Jack Barber was... nice, I just wasn't sure why they wanted to draw this romance with Mary, it would have been nicer to have them just as co-workers I think. And Mary's line "it feels good to a married woman to see she still can attract men" was too much like Cora's pseudo-romance with Bricker, so... didn't like it.
The villa in the south of France. Glorious architecture, stunning landscape, incredible colours. Loved to see Edith's wardrobe perfectly matching the landscape (all those oranges and teals... Incredible).
Nathalie Baye seemed a bit off to me though? I'm French and I watched the movie in English but something in her lines disturbed me. I think the dialogues have been written in English and then translated into French and something wasn't natural with them.
Cobert Angst. Unnecessary to some extent, because the malignant anemia has already been used for Lord Merton and I already didn't like the "Deus ex machina" effect. But that scene in the garden? Robert breaking down thinking he's going to lose his wife? I loved it. The sweet scenes between them (when he took her hand in the boat!) were so beautiful. Loved them from start to finish. Robert's own interrogations about his origins were a good way to put him in an uncomfortable position and to give him and Cora new challenges to face.
Edith and Bertie, on the contrary, were so happy! Seeing Edith starting to write again was so cute. Also, wow, this girl can dance? She makes smooth moves at the party. She looked a bit like Duchess during the jazz scene in The Aristocats (I know, I know, my references are odd).
Mary and Edith. I've always been a Mary stan but I didn't like her evolution in season 6. I'm so glad to see they're at peace now, they confide in each other and it warmed my heart. They even joke and tease each other, but in a nice and harmless way. The way they cuddle just after Violet dies reminded me of Sybil's death, and I could see how both of them improved over the years. Mary and Edith's relationship is probably my favourite aspect of the movie.
Speaking of Violet's death, I loved the way it was built up during the whole movie. Giving everybody time to think about it, and finally having a peaceful death at Downton, was all we could wish for her. I'm glad she had time to speak to everyone before dying and even to have the last word with Denker. Loved this Oscar Wilde-like last sentence.
Oh, and Tom's and Violet's scene when she admits she wasn't fond of him in the beginning but she loves him and is glad they're friends? Made me tear up.
The funeral was so well-paced, too! Mary's and Carson's scene was so sweet and inevitably reminded me of their scene in S4E1.
Also, if anyone knows where I can find a brooch similar to the one Violet wears before passing it on to Mary? I want good Downton Abbey merch, I'm tired of seeing shirts and mugs to be honest.
Another costume-y note: the burgundy silk dressing-gown Mary wears for approximately 10 seconds in her bedroom was gorgeous, I need it.
Molesley and Baxter's arc. So cute. Their happy ending is definitely worth the wait. The proposal scene was both funny and sweet, just like them.
Loved the additional plot of Mrs Patmore and Mr Mason, and the part Daisy took in it. It was just a beginning, so it didn't add too much new details into the film but it was enough for us to hope and I'm here for it.
Also, Carson being Carson. Enough said. Flawless.
That's it I think. My inbox is open to chat if anyone fancies to!
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