#the city i live in doesn’t have a huge population so not many people have seen the show here
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almost proposed on the spot
#it’s the first time i’ve ever met an ofmd fan out in the wild and i was THRILLED#like i’m gonna be riding this high forever and ever#the city i live in doesn’t have a huge population so not many people have seen the show here#other than the folks i’ve forced to watch it <333#so to find someone wearing a polite menace shirt. lemme tell you i was struggling to be normal#she liked my tattoo 🥹#also if you’re that stranger and you see this. i love you#ofmd
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MONSTER RATING: Godzilla (Shin Godzilla)
Shin Godzilla is a new spin on Godzilla from Japanese directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, and it fucking rules. Look, I love most of the Godzilla movies, even though it went from a metaphor to the horrors of war and the nuclear bomb to basically just kaiju WWE, Godzilla was meant to be a terrifying monster. Shin Godzilla seeks to rectify it with this new incarnation - a mutilated, radiation-scarred amalgamation of tumorous, charred flesh.
Shin Godzilla follows the members of the Japanese government as they attempt to weave their way through the bureaucratic and social nightmare of a 400 foot tall irradiated monster seeking to destroy one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It’s a fairly interesting concept - it’s less a typical kaiju story and more of someone going “Okay, seriously, what if Godzilla actually existed in real life, what would happen?” I’ve been known to enjoy ridiculous hypotheticals and I, for one, am glad that Shin Godzilla follows through with it and still manages to make it interesting. The wonderful performances really sell that these people are responsible for the lives of several million citizens and that they are utterly aware of how limited their powers are. These are people trying to do the best they can to not let this be the worst humanitarian disaster on the face of the planet.
The movie’s cast is huge, I could swear they have enough actors to replicate the Japanese government one-to-one, which makes it a little difficult to pick out who our main protagonists are. The one we focus on the most is Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa), Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, our main protagonist with his friend Hideki Akasaka (Yutaka Takenouchi), the Prime Minister's aide, and Kayoco Anne Patterson (Satomi Ishihara), the US President’s envoy. As Godzilla grows more and more dangerous - with mutations that threaten to obliterate Tokyo, if not all of Japan - they must organize as many people as they can muster in order to devise a plan to stop Godzilla in its tracks. All the while attempting to placate the US, who is more than eager to destroy Godzilla, along with all of Tokyo, with nuclear force.
I know political commentary is not usually what people come to Godzilla for, but the “what if”-esque nature of this movie lends itself to it surprisingly well. Godzilla is treated both as a force of nature, much like an earthquake or hurricane, that appears randomly to cause arbitrary death and destruction, and a hostile entity that has to be combatted. It’s shockingly realistic for a disaster movie, we see how the government is stretched thin trying to handle evacuation, military deployment, trying to seek reason in a country with an itchy trigger finger resting on the nuke button - it gets tense watching them despair and panic, doing everything they can to minimize the loss of human life.
No punches are pulled at the expense of America, of course. Our response is immediate military deployment, with little to no regard for collateral damage or civilian casualties. Props to the movie for accuracy, even if attempts to fight Godzilla with raw military power are futile. Gunfire, cannonfire, missiles, everything seems to bounce off its burnt exterior without so much as a scratch. The only thing that manages to pierce its skin are the missiles dropped from American B-52 bombers. In response, Godzilla discharges dozens of laser beams from his back, destroying the bombers and reducing the metropolitan area to a burning, irradiated wasteland. Even if the missiles did succeed, the movie is quick to point out that the carpet bombing would’ve annihilated Tokyo anyways. When conventional weaponry doesn’t work, the US immediately plans to destroy both Godzilla and Tokyo through use of a nuclear bomb. Every character is justifiably horrified at this.
Godzilla in this movie is a being of ultimate violence, absolutely nothing can trump it. When there’s a weapon it can’t shrug off, it evolves to surpass it. More importantly though, he’s basically a wild animal trapped in a corner. Of course it’s going to lash out, you’re provoking the god of violence and he’s scared shitless. He is the ultimate hubris punisher, a being that exists to humble humanity and say “Your violence will only be met with destruction.” The calls for violence against it are noticeable once you pick it up, even in the beginning when it’s a large, unknown, whale-like creature in the Tokyo bay, the government officials are already calling for its extermination. The only way he is defeated is through scientific research and understanding, a blood coagulant that is developed only through study of its molecular structure and behavior. The movie’s big message is “Violence will only ever beget greater violence, it’s only through cooperation and understanding that humanity can survive,” and it’s using the American proclivity towards violence as the cudgel for this metaphor, which is great.
We talked a lot about what he represents, but let's get literal for a moment. Let's talk about the big man himself.
- MONSTER RATING - GODZILLA -
CREEPINESS: 7/10 - Classically, Godzilla is just one big dinosaur, and like, conceptually it’s pretty terrifying. He’s a giant monster that’s almost impossible to fight and can kill thousands of people pretty easily, though a lot of the older movies have added a bit of narm to him. For a lot of people, Godzilla is more a goofy rubber monster than something horrifying.
Shin Godzilla is horrifying. His design makes it look like he’s one-half dead, useless flesh and the other half painful, tumorous overgrowth, with the exterior of thick, folded over, burnt skin and dull red light faintly glowing from where it’s thinnest. Raw, exposed flesh that’s visible from the parts that aren’t covered in charred skin. The shriveled, contorted arms that seemed to have lost functionality. The several overlapping teeth that seem to just grow randomly from in and around its mouth. This beast is a product of radiation and every single part of it seems to yearn for a swift release. Existence for Shin Godzilla seems to be one of endless pain, as its tumor-ridden body continues to survive despite it threatening to fall apart.
Though what makes him even scarier than his design is that the movie portrays him like the personification of natural disaster. It cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be stopped, and the more you try to stop him, the more death and destruction he will cause. Even then, nothing humanity can do can actually stop it, it’s more powerful than any weapon on Earth, and its existence only signifies inevitable annihilation. Humans are no longer on top, and they’re no longer safe either.
The ONLY thing that stops Godzilla from being truly terrifying is - and I’m sorry to say this - the eyes. Big, googly-eyed peepers that don’t suggest any form of brain activity in that skull. A lot of people seem to think it’s first appearance in the film, when it’s younger and less developed, is actually pretty cute in an ugly pug sort of way. The googly eyes carry on even to hid final form, which makes him look unfortunately goofy with his beady little eyes. I understand the movie is trying to go with the glassy, dead-eyed fish appearance to make it look even more like a walking corpse, but it doesn’t really stick. Otherwise, the design is phenomenal.
WETNESS: 6/10 - Surprisingly not as wet as you'D think for a giant fish. His final form makes him look like he survived an hour in the incinerator. The dry, black, cracked skin with a faint red glowing underneath conveying the unbridled nuclear heat stored inside. Though he loses his wetness as he evolves, his first appearance is wet as HELL.
Godzilla is a fish that’s become irradiated, and you can certainly tell that when he first appears. His skin is still green and not yet covered in burnt flesh, though with some parts that are just exposed musculature, as if its rapid growth is literally ripping him apart. As he crawls through the streets of Tokyo, blood spills out of his gills with every breath. This is the midpoint between what it once was and what it will become and it looks utterly painful. If his final form is nuclear incineration, his first form is nuclear disintegration. His cells are just barely holding together as he’s forcefully evolved into a being of destruction.
DATEABILITY: 8/10 - Let me give you a quote from the director of the 1954 Godzilla film, Ishirō Honda:
“Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend himself.”
You’re a fish in the ocean, and by happenstance you accidentally find yourself in a nuclear waste dumping ground. The radiation mutates you. Slowly, painfully, you grow larger. Your fins are replaced with distortions of limbs, blood spills out of your gills, and you have no idea what is causing the pain you feel. Soon enough, you start surpassing buildings in size, and in a blind, pained stupor you find yourself in a city. Your body is too huge and unwieldy, as you move the infrastructure around you turns to rubble, and hundreds die in your wake. In response, humans have no choice but to try and kill you. You never chose this, you never even realized what was happening, but now you’ve become a god of death, the only thing you will ever cause is misery and disaster. You are utterly alone, because you’ve become built for violence, and violence will be the only thing you’ll know for the rest of your life.
Godzilla is all alone in this world, and no one can possibly understand them. He might be a terrifying destructive god on the outside but on the inside they’re angry and terrified. Can you imagine suddenly mutating into a gigantic monster, whose existence can only destroy? How alienating it must be that you cannot coexist with the life around you, that the only thing that can follow you is unmitigated death. No one will try to understand you, let alone sympathize with you, because you will only ever be a threat and nothing more. It’s fascinating that the song that plays when Godzilla unleashes his nuclear beams, “Who Will Know,” is one that’s sympathetic to him.
“If I die in this world / Who will know something of me? / I am lost, no one knows / There’s no trace of my yearning.”
Godzilla in this movie, despite his city-destroying size and power, is still the scared little guppy he once was. He doesn’t know any better, he doesn’t even know why this is happening to him in the first place. What he needs most of all is someone next to him, to see him for what he is, and to love and care for him despite his irradiated and monstrous appearance. Someone to quell the fiery radioactive fear in his heart, and show him the love he needs in a world that only seeks his death.
FINAL RATING: A GIANT TUMOR WORTH LOVING / 10
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Happy STS!
Can you tell me more about how the system of incarceration works in Project Aria? I'm curious! Post a snippet if you like.
Hello, lovely! Thanks for the ask.
cracks knuckles
So, the city (it's never named in the book nor is a location ever given) is absolutely HUGE and in true hide-the-evidence fashion, all the messy, inconvenient stuff required for society to function, like waste management, food production, energy provision, and manufacturing takes place well outside of the city in an area called the facilitation zones.
The zones also house medical testing centres, but shh. Those aren't real. No-one's doing horrendous experiments on live human subjects so everyone else gets to benefit from all the incredible medical advances.
The zones are populated entirely by incarcerated people. Because this is a cyberpunk gloss-over and we're pretending everything is fine, honestly, shut up, look at all the neon and pretty technology, it's not a large-scale exploitative prison industrial complex according to the people who run the large-scale exploitative prison industrial complex. It's rehabilitation.
Do people get disproportionately cruel sentences for comparatively minor crimes? Yes. Do people end up there who have done absolutely nothing wrong other than exist in the wrong place at the wrong time? Yes. Is the criminal justice system deeply flawed and mostly structured around keeping the zones filled with rehabs at all times for reasons of low-cost expendable labour? Yes.
Is every single part of this system based on something that has existed in the real world at some point or currently does exist? Also yes.
It’s not a bed. It’s a slab of plastic. I do what I’m told though because god knows I’ve learned to do that in here. It hurts. There are too many places where my bones shouldn’t come into contact with the surface. Maybe it’s the wrong shape for me. Maybe I should be taller or built different. Maybe my bones should have more covering them than skin.
It wasn’t that they didn’t feed us, but I could never really stop moving. I don’t know if it was the effect of some frequency or chemical or something, or if it was just me, getting twitchier by the day, by the week, month, year. I know they measured our energy input and output. I remember that too. They acknowledged discrepancies, but they never did anything about it. That might’ve been another part of the experiments, but I’m never going to know and it doesn’t matter now. None of it matters now.
Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to ramble about this 💜
#answered asks#writeblr tags#sts#storyteller saturday#project aria#wip snippet#am writing#writeblr community#writers on tumblr#writeblr#writers of tumble#my writing
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I'm sorry if this is a bit of a tmi question, but how exactly do you find out about these gay sex parties/orgies/hookups/etc you talk about going to irl sometimes? and how do you deal with being the only trans person there? I'm transmasc and have only been on t for a few months. I don't really pass and I'm worried about people only getting with me because they think of me as a woman. I also prefer being t4t but idk how practical that is. Do I just have to join grinder or is it more complicated?
hey so this is actually on my faq but i’ll give you a more in depth answer for what it’s like being trans in that kind of space
so there’s two types of parties i go to. one is more bdsm-centric, and it’s t4t only meaning everyone there is trans. the other is more focused on actual dick-in-hole type fucking and it’s NOT t4t only. trans people are welcome but the majority of people there are cis gay men.
i personally haven’t had many issues being the only trans guy in a room at an orgy. if anything, it’s gotten me extra attention. BUT i am almost 3 years on T, post-top surgery, and i have a full beard. the only thing that really identifies me as trans is my pussy, so that’s what draws people in to me. it’s actually really funny to watch people do a double take when they see it.
thing is though if you’re not passing, your best bet is to stick to trans-exclusive or at least trans-centered parties. in that type of environment, interactions with people typically start with exchanging names and pronouns. that’s not to say that doesn’t happen at non-trans parties, but it’s more of an expectation in the former. and at non-trans parties you may run into people who aren’t familiar and say ignorant things. they usually don’t mean it maliciously though.
also, consent monitors are there to ensure safety. i genuinely trust orgy consent monitors WAY MORE than police (because guess which one will actually help if someone tries to rape you). if you find yourself in any uncomfortable situation, seek them out and voice your concerns.
as mentioned on my FAQ, though, i live in a major city with a HUGE population of queer/trans people (new york). if this isn’t the case for you, you will probably have a different experience. this is just the best advice that i can provide.
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14 June 2023
New Towns
Bedford
14 June 2023
After the Second World War, a plan was devised by the British Government to relocate bombed-out people and the ‘overfill’ from the cities into new population centres - ‘new towns.’ Thus were born the likes of Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, Bracknell, Warrington and the snappily named Central Lancashire New Town (which I believe is just greater Preston.) The idea was that they were going to be modern cities for a modern country, designed with the very best of 20th century town planning in mind.
What this basically meant was that there would be concrete, there would be low density housing, there would be grids, and by gum there would be roundabouts.
Milton Keynes is one such new town, incorporated in 1967. I rag on Milton Keynes a lot, but it’s honestly it is one of the more unsettling places I have ever visited. I’ve seen retail (including the shopping centre), parking lots, offices, parking lots, plazas and parking lots, and I’ve seen a great many people, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house in Milton Keynes. It doesn’t feel like a place where people live. And there’s definitely trees and greenery, but it feels very manmade. It’s a huge contrast to the countryside one sees between Bedford and Milton Keynes - like a lawn of fake grass on one side of the road and a forest on the other.
It’s got a great Waterstones though, so obviously it’s not Britain’s worst township. That honour goes to Royal Tunbridge Wells.
In any case, we pretty much only went to Milton Keynes to shop. I bought a book and a funko pop. Life is good.
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Sparkpulse: Arrow of Time, Part 4.
<- Previous | First |
The sun is getting old.
One of the things people feel will last forever is entering the last phase of its lifespan, becoming the Red Giant. It’s a long process, giving solarians enough time to come up with an escape plan. The technology progressed far, allowing them to develop the most efficient method - using small celestial objects in their planetary system.
Solarians choose many dwarf planets and several moons, then Bumblebee moved them to the Asteroid Belt so scientists and engineers could prepare them to be suitable space travel vessels. The most work was done on the engines, capable of moving such big vessels and creating “artificial suns” - modified fusion reactors that orbit around the vessel, giving its warmth and energy to everyone below.
Once it was it was done, the next step was to relocate the entire Solar System population onto new vessels. This alone took several thousands of years as they choose to do it gradually, without stress on recourses and making necessary adjustments as the process go. People took many species of flora and fauna, saving at least something from their dying worlds.
After everything was completed, the last thing was to tune all systems for travel. While they have warp drives, they have no destinations, and looking for this will take even more time than they don’t have. Solarian Council ordered to calculate all gravitation maneuvers to move out of Solar System, while astronomers will look for a new star as they travel.
The home star tlalakans came from has entered The Red Giant phase, while cybertronian star went further, shedding all its layers, creating a beautiful planetary nebula with White Dwarf in the middle. Technically, they could settle around the White Dwarf, but Rubble said this nebula is fresh so gas is extremely hot around it.
Before the launch, Bumblebee wanted to say goodbye to Planet Titans. He started with Mars, then went to Venus, and finally, he visited Earth. The entire trip was so eerie, walking through empty cities that just recently were humming with life.
“Terra.” He calls out for the Titan. “I came to say goodbye.”
“You’re very kind. All humans and elves did the same when they departed. They grew so much since the Pleistocene. I’m so proud of them.”
“We did our best together.” Bumblebee smiles, sharing the same pride of solarians. "Interesting how their appearance didn’t change much in four billion years, yet they changed a lot on the inside. How are you, though? Are you okay?”
“I am, despite my life coming to an end. It was good, and I created countless wonderful creatures. I know my neighbors feel the same.” Terra chuckles. “What about you? You are very sad.”
“I hoped we could move full-sized planets so we could take all of you with us. Maybe if we had more time to develop the technology, but we’re out of it. The sun is swallowing Mercury as we speak.” He sighs in defeat. “I know it’s natural, but it’s still sad. It reminds me that I will outlive pretty much everything... Is this okay if we’re leaving?”
“You’re very sweet. I’m glad you can leave. Death will come and eventually claim you, but it doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow. So wherever life goes, you go too. Live your best life.”
“I will.” He smiles sadly, feeling lighter on the inside. “Goodbye, Terra. Thank you for everything. We’ll carry the memory of you into the future.”
“Goodbye Selene, and good luck.”
------
Bumblebee is snuggling into the cuddles pile with Windblade, Sari, and Rubble. Solarians have been traversing for a while. It’s been stressful with a lot of systems corrections and Life Wardens had a ton of work to do. Now they can finally catch some rest.
Windblade is reading while holding the other three close with her huge manta ray-like wings. Bumblebee is curling into her chest under her arms, laying in content with his optics closed. Sari is writing her plans on her datapad, tucked between them. Rubble is playing a game as they lean onto Bumblebee from behind.
Content, he dozes off and wakes up in the weird Collective Unconscious. It doesn’t look like what he usually sees with solarians. He finds himself floating in the open space, countless galaxies are spreading as far as he can see.
Serpentine eldritch beings float around him, acknowledging his presence. One of them moved closer, staring at him with a curious expression.
“There you are.” They said in a booming voice. “You must be the one Terra told us about.”
Bumblebee perks at hearing her name. “Hello! Who are you?”
“I have many names I keep from my past lives. You probably knew me as ‘Trypticon’ back in the day.” They said. So many colors brighten up in intensity as they said their name.
“No way!” Bumblebee exclaims.” I mean, it makes sense since all Cityformers were eldritch beings. I just never expected to run into you in your next life!”
“Small Universe indeed. In fact, a person who bonded Trypticon has found me in his next life too.” They chuckle.
“Ah, that’s so nice to hear! Trypticon’s and Sunstorm’s lives ended in a such horrible tragedy, so at least you reunited in the next life.”
“I was so happy to see him again. He even kept the Mind Telepathy, so I’m not hurting him with my presence!”
“ Yeah, I noticed if a spark keeps some memories from the previous life, their ability will probably pass down to the next. And it will get stronger with each pass, it seems. At least I see in my close friends who sought me out.”
“They must be loving you very much.”
“They do,” Bumblebee says, knowing how lucky he is. “You said Terra mentioned me.”
“Yes, she told us about you a lot, after all, you are unique. An Eldritch Being who is adapted to a mortal plane. One of a kind. So we were always curious to meet you. She also wanted us to give a hand.”
“Oh?”
“She said you don’t know where to go. Fortunately for you, there is a young Planet Titan who just finished the transformation. They’ve been asking a lot of questions about life creation and such, and we thought it will benefit both of you if you cross paths.”
“Yes! Please, can you point us in the right direction?”
------
Bumblebee was sitting in the study, reading reports about the new planetary system. It’s a lone G-Type with six planets. Two of them are orbiting in the habitable zone. One of them is a young Planet Titan that Trypricon mentioned. They’re very excited to meet new life forms and have been talking to Bumblebee a lot about creation and maintaining non-stop.
The Titan is the second planet and they wanted to be an organic world. The third planet, while in the zone, doesn’t have any life yet. It’s smaller in size, so Cybertronians claimed it for the new home. It took longer for them to cybertform it since it’s just a planet, so Bumblebee couldn’t put a spark in it to make it a Titan. For technorganic world, the Solarian Council has decided to convert most of the dwarf planets to make up for Venus.
Life Wardens have been working on adapting everyone and every animal species they brought with them from the Solar System to the new environments. The dwarf planets they came on were placed on orbits inside habitable zones, between planets. The bigger ones were paired with native planets, creating an incredibly complex, but still working, planetary system.
This system complex that memes started to pop everywhere, even during council discussions, one of the few where Bumblebee was present. The joke about creating more double planets for the double planet god kept making rounds.
“But who is the god then? Selene probably right?” Metalhawk points out jokily.
“Why me?!” Bumblebee exclaims dramatically. “Let’s make Starscream then. He was the one convincing me to steal Saturn’s moons!”
“Wait, don’t—“
“THAT’S RIGHT!” Starscream gets up and immediately puts on his golden crown and purple ceremonial cape he always carries in subspace. “I, STARSCREAM, IS YOUR PLANET GOD. BOW AND TREMBLE BEFORE ME!”
The entire room is either face-palming or laughing. Bumblebee is just cackling quietly, he knows Starscream only does it to get on Metalhawk’s nerves and he gladly enables his friend. It took them several minutes of Starscream’s shenanigans to pass before they could resume their discussions.
Over time, Solarians settled in the new system, marking the beginning of another era.
------
Life Wardens are chilling in the main room in the new home on cyberformed third planet people named Paradron, playing a new video game that was just released. They take rows on each death or major plot point and have a good time.
Except for Sari. She still enjoying herself and the company but she seems more aloof than usual. Bumblebee notices it and was about to ask what was wrong, she suddenly spoke. “Guys, I have a weird feeling and wanna talk about it.”
“Of course!” Windblade put the game on pause and sets the controller down. Rubble and Bumblebee turned to face her. “What is it?”
“You know there are talks going on for the past few centuries about a new type of depression that specifically affects people who lived a really long life?”
“Yeah, there is a lot of research going on and developing therapy methods to help.” Windblade nods, she has been keeping a close optic on this topic for a while.
“Why are only long-lived people affected?” Rubble asks out of curiosity.
“This depression is like when you stop enjoying life, but not because of stress or other usual causes, but because of a strange growing feeling that you lived too long.”
Bumblebee frowns upon hearing this. “Too long? Like nothing brings them joy because there is nothing left for them in the world?”
“Yes and no. At first, researchers thought this, and the therapy they developed was working for some patients, but for not all. Those patients felt the desire to move on to the next life. To become completely something else as they got tired from their current life as a whole. In some cases, patients became suicidal! They are very few, but their current mental state brings a lot of distress, and we aren’t sure what the best way to help them is.”
“I guess this is what Skyfire and Ion Storm were talking about. As if some people hit the mortality threshold if they live too long.” Bumblebee mumbles, still frowning over the news. Until he suddenly realized. “Wait, Sari, are you…?”
“Kind of. Yeah.” She replies sheepishly, knowing such a confession will make her friends worry. “I’ll go to therapy, but this entire thing got me thinking. Because some people really want rebirth, maybe I could invent aging for ageless people!”
They stare at her with both worry and surprise, still processing what she had just said.
“This could be a better option than assisted suicide, to be honest,” Windblade says quietly. “And it can be canceled in case they found a reason to keep living thanks to our technologies of spark transfer to a brand new body!”
“This is doable. There is a lot of research on human aging in great detail,” Bumblebee says, though still feeling uneasy. But Sari’s idea is good and will be a lot of help.
He just hopes it won’t come to her using it.
------
A few thousand years later, Sari ended up on the death’s door at home. The technology she developed with Bumblebee is working perfectly, slowly and gently, degrading the body over a long period. Just like she wanted.
Her family is by her side saying goodbyes. Bumblebee had already gone into her dying mindscape. Windblade was considering the following, but she opted to stay with Rubble and offer them support as they cry into her shoulder, bringing them and Bumblebee closer to her.
Bumblebee appears in the crumbling technorganic forest and quickly sports her.
“There you are!” Sari smiled widely.” I knew you would come.”
“Hey.” He greets her with a sad smile. “How are you feeling about all this? Ready to depart?”
“Yep. Five billion years is a long time. I made the most of it. The fact I witnessed the collusion of Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies in all this glory is the absolute highlight!” she explains, making Bumblebee laughs from all the excitement. The collusion is still going, and it looks spectacular. “Now I’m excited to see where I end up and who I will become next.”
This is the most positive reception of death he has ever seen. It brings him comfort.
“Don’t worry, Bee. I will find you, I promise! There is no way I will leave you three wandering alone in the Universe forever."she chuckles. "I love you, and tell Windy and Rubble I love them too.”
“I love you too, and I will.” Bumblebee nods as tears in his optics. “Thank you for everything, goodbye Sari.”
“Goodbye, for now, Bumblebee. See you later.”
------
No matter how many times he had experienced it, grief is never easy for him. It never gets less painful and easy to brush off. But it’s a good thing, meaning he didn’t lose the important part of himself despite being so old and seeing so much.
He sits silently by his shrine, Sari’s favorite wrench joined the rest. One thing that changed was that he finally learned how to cope, so it was painful but not incapacitating as before. And carry the loss with him as he goes on.
Windblade and Rubble are on the same page, and they know Sari will be back eventually. This makes it bearable, and even curious about which new form her spark will choose and what kind of person she will become. It’s both sad and happy, like two opposite sides of the same coin.
Solarians are grieving, but are forever grateful for everything Sari did. They created a monument for her in the capital's central square. She looks very strong, yet gentle, in the statue, holding flowers in her hands. Half of them are full of life, the other half in withering and crumbling.
The engraving says “Sari Sumdac. The one who gifted the eternal lifespan to those who age, and the natural death to those who don't.”
------
A spaceship with researchers crashed into the mountains of the 4th planet because of a severe blizzard and now is being lost. Losing no time, Bumblebee immediately teleported to the approximate location where they last detected the crew. This was supposed to be research on this snowy planet that lies just outside of the habitable zone. And sometimes emergencies happen due to unpredictable weather with heavy snowstorms and complicated landscapes.
As he stepped into deep snow, he inspects his surrounding. He quickly concludes that flying isn’t a safe option. While he can handle strong turbulent winds, the visibility is so low he can’t really see his outstretched hand and the temperature is dropping low that might cause hibernation. So he puts on a warm green cloak to keep himself warm and comfortable and focus on finding survivors.
It doesn’t take long for him to locate them. They aren’t too far away from him so he can carefully walk over, then open a portal back to the space station to rescue. The cane growing out of his left upper arm provides enough stability to stay on foot in deep snow and gusting winds.
Soon enough, he reaches the crashed spaceship, which is broken into three pieces. He senses several sparks inside the middle part, which is gradually being buried under the snow.
“Hello?” Bumblebee steps inside, drawing the attention of everyone to him. “I’m here to rescue you!”
“Selene!” several solarians exclaimed and rushed towards him.
“I’m so glad you found us!” the tlalakan captain runs over. “The communications are out, so we couldn't call for help. Good thing no one died during the crash.”
“We saw a huge storm cell over this area, so I came after you immediately. Does someone need help? I can heal some injuries.”
“Sure, while you are on it, we are gonna finish out salvaging before we can depart.” The captain nods and leads Bumblebee towards the injured.
As he was healing as much as he could, a figure looms from behind watching him intently. When he finished, he turns around to see a being he has never seen before. A very long energoid with three ruby eyes, with four arms, and small four legs. The belly is translucent, making the power cores visible. Little fishes are swimming around. A large blanket resting on their back and shoulders.
“Woah.” He whispers in awe.
“Hi, Bumblebee, I found you!” the energoid says with a soft, echoey voice. “I’ve been looking everywhere. I’m Anlyf, a rekan from aquatic planet Reku which is located on the side of the galaxy.”
His optics widen from two things. The fact the energoid knows one of solarian languages, and the fact they use his original name so casually. The way they said it gave a lot of sense of familiarity to him. A sense of déjà vu emerges from his spark.
“Really?” he stands up and finds himself a head shorter than rekan in front of him. "Nice to meet, Anlyf. How did you end up here? This region must be really awful for you, as I see your body is filled with water.”
“Yeah, it’s sucks, I feel I’m turning into an icicle soon.” She giggles, bringing her blanket closer. “I crash landed here because I accidentally flew into an asteroid ring. Then in a few minutes, these guys came down, so I decided I could help. There are beasts lurking around, after all.”
“Thank you for your help!” Bumblebee smiles. “I'm curious. I’ve seen different energoids in the Milkomeda Galactic Union, but not your kind.”
“Yeah, we rekans are a relatively young sentient race, and just contacted the representatives of the union to join. We’re hive-minded, so our social and technological advances went pretty fast.”
“That’s fascinating! And you’re still connected to the collective, even being so far away?”
Suddenly, Anlyf’s eyes went black. “Yes, we are always connected, no matter how far we are. We’re happy that after a long search through Anlyf’s past memories and asking around the galaxy, we were able to locate you and other Life Wardens.”
The eyes went back to red and giggled. “Woops, that was our whole collective talking. Sometimes this happens. We are just very excited! I hope it doesn’t spook you much.”
Bumblebee was lost for words. Not only did he witness a massive planet-sized gestalt talking to him, but the entire species went through the trouble of finding him. From the other side of the galaxy! He has an idea why because he can’t think of anything else.
“Sari?” he carefully whispers.
“Memories were vivid. I had an urge to seek you out since I emerged from the primordial river.” She smiles as she opens her arms. “I fulfilled my promise, aren’t I?”
Bumblebee's optics fill with tears as he hugs her tightly. “Welcome back.”
Life Wardens were whole once again. The cycle continues and will continue as long as Bumblebee lives. Life after death, going away and returning anew.
------
When astronomers first discovered that space-time is contracting, it wasn’t a really big deal. The process just began, marking the exact middle of the Universe’s lifespan. People were generally okay with this. They knew that nothing lasts forever, and all things should die eventually.
Sadly, over time, there was a person who got terrified of the idea of death on a Universal scale and the idea that everything will cease to be without rebirth. Soon people came to know her as Shazraella. At first, she tried to convince Bumblebee to stop the Big Crunch from happening, sincerely believing he has the power to change it.
But even if Bumblebee could, he would never do this. Death is natural and important. Without death, things would stagnate, preventing new things from coming.
Shazraella was furious. She didn’t understand why someone who was supposed to care about all life was willing to let everything go. So declares war against him and anything he cares about. With her followers, she builds a technology to manipulate space and time at will. It didn’t give her the control she wanted to change things, so she decided to force Bumblebee to do what she wants.
That means to hurt him as much as possible until he can’t bear the pain anymore.
For years she led attacks on the planet after planet inside the union, destroying entire civilizations. Life Wardens, solarians, and their allies were saving as many as they could. Things were looking promising as Shazraella’s onslaught weakened. It wasn’t too long until she would bestopped. But a painful twist of fate changed everything.
Bumblebee and Windblade are fighting fiercely against her, pushing against his limits to stop her. They were really close to defeating her, but to his horror she pulled an ace from her sleeve - a massive attack that destroyed two planets next to each other, killing everyone in the radius, while she warped to safety and leaving her fleet to die.
Bumblebee only had time to shield himself and Windblade and the next second the unbearable pain pierced their sparks. Out of eleven Life Wardens, Bumblebee’s loving big family, only them has survived. He roars in despair as his old wounds have opened. All nine were gone. All their hopes, all their plans, all their dreams were shattered at this very moment!
They float in space among the broken pieces of planets and fleets for a while, not having any strength to move or even call for help. They could only cling to each other and cry into each other's shoulders from sorrow and despair.
When the help eventually came, they looked into each other’s optics. No words were needed to understand what they have in mind - Shazraella will pay.
“Why do you resist so much?!” Shazraella screams in fury. “Why do you even care about the dead, especially when you’re the one who refuses to stop the death of the Universe?!”
“You killed so many people for no reason! Yes, the Universe will die, but it’s not ending yet! We have so much time to live!” he roars back, cutting through her defenses in his beast mode.
“They will return anyway. It’s not a big deal!” she huffs dismissively.
“NOT A BIG DEAL?!” he screams, as if his voice alone could tear her to pieces. How can she be so divorced from the concept of death?! “People you killed will stay dead forever, with their lives and dreams crashed into void! The grief to you caused to countless people will stay with us for the rest of our lives!”
Together with Windblade, Bumblebee pressed on, cutting closer. This made Shazraella desperate, she decided to use her last resort. She exploded the space near her, aiming to take down the last Life Wardens but underestimated the power of the blast, which ended up killing her. This time Windblade reacted first to protect Bumblebee, but her shield wasn’t strong enough. The blast threw her away and in the next moment she went limp.
“WINDY!” he cries out in terror and runs towards her. Her spark emerged from the body. Bumblebee felt like time slow down as he reached out for her with his hands.
The next moment, he fell down. He noticed a vine sprouted out of his hands, wrapping around Windblade’s spark tightly and bringing her to him. He takes the spark in his trembling hands. Her spark feels warm, humming with serenity. She doesn’t pulse as the spark isn’t in the body anymore, which has already lost all colors.
The battlefield went still and silent. Before anyone could react, Bumblebee dashed towards Windblade’s body and teleported away with it.
Bumblebee appeared by the shore, very far away from the battlefield. It’s peaceful, only the wind and the waves. His mind is running fast upon realizing Windblade is dead. Yet she is not, as her spark is still in his hands as he inspects her broken body.
The entire left side is heavily damaged, and the chest and the head took the most of the blast. The left arm almost got torn off, and half of the face was broken beyond recognition. He probably can heal the body, maybe even reconstruct it from scratch, but her spark is vibrating slightly. He doesn’t know why, but something tells him that he must act fast before he loses her forever.
Bumblebee pours all his energy into Windblade’s body, making his vines move into it, sealing or replacing any damage. They reattach the arm and wrap tightly, they cover the left side of her face and bloom. In a few minutes, the integrity of the vessel was restored, and Bumblebee pushed her into the spark chamber.
A few seconds felt like an eternity as he was watching the spark, not knowing if she’ll accept or reject it. Suddenly, the spark began to pulse again, and colors sprouted back into the vessel. In a minute, Windblade woke up.
At first, she’s confused, noticing first that half of her vision is gone, then she finds the strength to slowly sit up. Her entire body feels sore and sloppy, but she’s alive.
“Hey.” She smiles after seeing her amica staring at her with anxiety and relief. “We made it of this alive, huh?”
Bumblebee’s voice was gone. He wanted to reply or say how happy he was to see her, but nothing but sobs escape his throat. Huge tears filled his optics as he embraced her tightly. The full realization sank in and his tears became bigger and sobs harder, crying uncontrollably into her chest.
Windblade hugs him back and holds him close, not knowing what just happen. She doesn’t know yet that Bumblebee did was something that many assumed he could do, but in reality impossible.
Resurrection.
Bumblebee always knew, in theory, it was doable, but no matter how many times he tried to catch a departing spark, he was always too late. Sparks are fast and never stay once they lose their vessel. They won’t ever respond to his call. Today it was the first time he managed to pull this off… and the last.
------
After Shazraella’s death, her entire movement was finally stopped, making everyone sigh in relief, though the victory felt shallow. So many people died. So much grief affected everyone. Bumblebee and Windblade were broken inside, they clinging to each other as much as they could to cope.
Over time, civilizations began rebuilding and perished. Life Wardens found them again one by one and took most of the work while they slowly recover.
It took a really long time, Bumblebee often found himself relieving this and the similar nightmare from the past over and over. Nightmares about losing Windblade and seeing her broken body haunted him even when he was awake. Sometimes it felt like it became too unbearable and impossible to break free from. He cursed himself for letting everyone die, and he cursed his immortality because he can’t join his dead friends. He fell down into the abyss, returning to his nasty habits, feeling like the pain gonna last forever.
Then the Universe reminded him that nothing lasts forever, including terrible things.
Bumblebee wasn’t alone, he was loved, and he has people to take care of. Windblade is alive thanks to him, and she needs his support, as she’s hurting as much as he does.
They know those wounds won’t heal, but with love and care from each other, their family, and friends, they can start moving forward and keep those who perished close to their sparks.
As time goes on, Life Wardens keep balance and look after everyone, until the very end.
------
Bumblebee wakes up, looking at the colorful space above him, followed by Windblade. They reached the end of their memories, which brings them back to the present. She pulls him close, snuggling tightly. For a long time, they didn’t say a word, just feeling content from each other's warmth and reflecting on their lives.
“Windblade, how do you feel about your life?” Bumblebee asks softly, nuzzling her face gently. “Was it good? Fulfilling?”
“It was a WILD ride!” Windblade laughs. “Never in my life I would expect it to turn out like this. So much happiness, so much pain, so much wonder, and horror. I’ve seen things I could never imagine and met so many people. I’m happy I lived that long to see it all. With you by my side. What about you?”
“I feel the same.” Bumblebee smiles. “Even when I thought all hope was lost, when I was laying there beaten and broken, there were many things that kept me going. A wind caressing my plating, an orange sky painted by the sunset, people creating new things every day, a presence and warmth of your loved ones. Little things, big things, all were worth it despite pain and malice. There was always something worth fighting for, even if we didn’t see it all the time. I’m happy we stayed together until the end.”
“Yeah, it was worth it.” Windblade squeezed Bumblebee in her arms. "I think it’s time.”
“You’re going?”
She nods. “I’m satisfied and ready to pass.”
Bumblebee gives a warm smile and nuzzles her gently. “Then I’ll be right behind you. Thank you for everything. Goodbye, Windblade.”
“Goodbye, Bumblebee. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Windblade closes her optics, and the spark emerges from her chest. Her vivid plating grays and flowers wither. Bumblebee watches her spark go with teary optics. Even if this must happen, it is still sad, it still hurts. As she departed, he let himself mourn as much as he wanted. Then it was his turn.
Bumblebee snuggles into Windblade's empty shell, then he answers the Well’s call and lets go of his life. But just like he thought had seen it all, the Universe throws him an unexpected surprise. Instead of passing away, a portal has opened in front of him.
“What? C’mon! I thought we’re finished, no?” Bumblebee stares at it in disbelief. He could feel the Well still calling for him, but for an unknown reason, it wants him to come alive!
“Well, well, well…” he snorts at his own silly joke. "Looks like I have one more thing to do. I hope you won’t mind waiting for a little longer.”
He gets up, making sure to not disturb her, and covers her with blankets. He gives her one last glance before heading through the portal.
------
Bumblebee finds himself floating, surrounded by countless lights dancing around him. There is no mistake, he’s in within the Well. All the lights are sparks, the lifeforce, souls of the entire Universe concentrating within this dimension. The atmosphere is filled with anticipation.
Several sparks got close to him, nuzzling against him and humming softly. Bumblebee knew all of them were people who loved him and kept coming back. They made him happy, as their love lasted for countless lifetimes. He smiles and opens his arms and the sparks rushed into a hug. They stay like this for a while until they float away and call Bumblebee to come with them.
He follows them to what seems the Well’s center. There is a cocoon with a figure inside it. The Eldritch Dragon gets closer and touches it. At first, he couldn’t understand what he was seeing. The being inside isn't like anything he has seen before. Its very look defied all known laws of physics. But the vision deepened, and it all began to make sense.
This being was like him, the last living creature of the previous Universe. The portal opened, and it went into the Well, into the cocoon, taking the place of the previous being from the previous universe. A cycle!
Bumblebee gasps of surprise and wonder. The Universe itself is alive, and just like any living being, it needs a crucial component.
It needs a spark.
As the contraction of the Universe accelerates, Bumblebee accepts his fate with a soft smile. He knows this existence will be completely different, transcending way beyond mortality and immortality. He won’t be himself anymore, but something entirely else.
This isn’t the kind of death he excepted to meet, but he’s content nonetheless.
He enters the cocoon, letting the creature’s spark join back to the rest in the Well. Everything becomes a singularity. Bumblebee gazes into the endless swirls of quantum possibilities and entangles his very being with some opportunities, making them real, setting in stone the brand new rules for the brand-new Universe.
Death begets life. The Big Bang brings a new beginning with Bumblebee’s soul at its center.
------
If you have made this far, thank you for reading!
This is my first time participating in such event as a writer. Fun fact: I applied the very last moment because I had doubts that I will be able to write 10k in such a short period of time. Now I'm laughing since this beast went out of control and I had to trim some parts so I could make it time. So I apologize if the story turned out too condensed and fast-paced. Too many ideas and so little time ahah :D
I'm happy that I finally could write a story touching the topics like mortality, immortality, god-like powers, and the death of the universe (if you're familiar with me, you know I often go into this direction with my ideas) and exploring what it's like. My inspirations and favorite themes are coming from all different directions: like Bicentennial Man (the movie saw as a child that stuck with me ever since), the concept of cosmic horrors (which is funny, I never read any of Lovecratf books lol), reincarnation, interspecies relationships (ahh this is why I like humans in TF), the idea to write an all-powerfull character to be vulnerable and Outer Wilds is being such amazing and emotional game that kickstarted this whole story!
Plus, I just love write Wind&Bee as queerplatonic couple and I'm always craving for more. Also, Rubble deserved better!
Now I'm going back to writing the next Sparkpulse chapter, so if you liked this story, I think you should check out the main one too ~
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Life in an atheist country. via /r/atheism
Life in an atheist country.
I know some of you hear whatabout arguments implying all sorts of horror if we abandoned religion. So maybe some of you might want to know what it's like since some Christians seem to pretend like such a thing doesn't or couldn't exist.
I live in China.
Despite what you might read or what Christians might try to push, it's atheist. You might read online about many people following "folk religions." First off, this is the countryside, and 2nd this is nothing more than rituals regarding death or luck. It is nothing like what a westerner would think of as a religion. And in the cities, people don't follow them. In cities like Shanghai, 26 million people, nearly everyone you meet is an atheist.
If you ask locals, "Where does morality come from?" Everyone will say "From family, from society," which is probably what you expected.
China has both good points and bad points, like any other country. It shares certain cultural traits with its neighbors, Korea and Japan. But one should keep in mind that Korea is way more spiritual, and 25% of the population is Christian, and usually fairly devoutly so. So in atheism caused immorality, shouldn't Korea be 25% more moral than China?
Well I've lived in Korea for 6 years and China for 10 years. Here's my observations as honest as I can (let me preface this with I get along with Chinese people and I really like Korean people). Also, keep in mind China has huge regional differences, and in North China its very similar to Korea.
Sex: Koreans are way more obsessed with it, while in China people are the most sexually unobsessed people I've ever met (maybe because according to a Durex condom survey they're having more of it). I feel like between China, Korea, Japan, American, and the UK, the Chinese have the most mature view of sex. In both Korea and China women worry about their reputation but never feel guilty for having sex. There is no sin associated with it.
Crime: Yes, lots of corruption, however I think accusing Chinese people's crimes of being caused by atheism to be wholly unfair. First off, there are crimes that are very common here: fraud and corruption, but crimes common in the US that are very rare here, like violence, murder. Secondly, the style of criminal here is exactly like the style of criminal in Korea. Except Koreans are far more violent. So it is far more likely that the crimes here are a result of culture, and since the only difference is Korean violence (and jealously) and they have Christians, so if there was a spiritual causal relationship it would be Christianity and violence.
Alcohol: Chinese people are always telling me they drink a lot but I never see it. Whereas in the US many men have a beer after work. And in Korea, a measure of manhood is "how many bottles of soju can you drink."
Morality and political change: Here the inevitable change of moving forward is not blamed on the immorality of pleasure seeking heathens, but of corrupting foreigners trying to make people "unChinese."
No eschatology: people are not constantly thinking the world is at an end nor are natural disasters blamed on the wrath of God.
Money: the Chinese DO have a very unhealthy obsession with money. I wouldn't call it greed, its more because they honestly believe that money is the key to happiness. Hence, they are so miserable, even rich Chinese people.
5000 years: If you said the Earth was 5000 years old it makes Chinese people laugh, "We have 5000 years of history!"
The battle of the sexes: It does not exist here. The perceived differences between men and women is vastly smaller than the US. Of course there are men who are sleezes, but there are also lots of women who use men as well. Like pretending to be pregnant to get money for abortions and "emotional trauma," which is typically around 1000 dollars.
Zealous ideologies: while there are jingoists, there are not all these other zealous ideologies that probably stem from a culture of religion: cults, diet cults, polti-cults, the alt left, the alt right.
No proselytizing and religions dont' wield power: if a religion were to try to vie for political power it would get banned.
People with conspiracy theories are rare, this is probably because a lot of them have a religious basis.
There are many other differences, but those are the ones that have a bit of connection to religion. So the next time someone says your country would fall into chaos without religion, point out the 1.4 billion people of the country with 5000 years of history. And before they talk about how evil China is (yes the CCP are dicks) it doesn't mean the citizens are evil and I hope this list I provided helps provide you with material to draw upon for defense.
Submitted October 21, 2022 at 03:48PM by Hargelbargel
(From Reddit https://ift.tt/CdQFlo4)
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Environmental Concerns Blog 4. Reduction in Fertilizer Announced
Trudeau is strongly considering mandating that farmers use 30% less fertilizer in order to reduce carbon emissions from the production of fertilizer. 30% less fertilizer means 30% less biomass (which is plant matter). Why does this matter?
Less biomass=less carbon sequestration, which is how you reduce atmospheric carbon in the first place.
Less biomass = less food to feed the world
We currently have a growing “over population”
Hunger is strongly tied to poverty
Why the government would do this, doesn’t make sense to me at all. It will have the opposite effect they are intending and frankly just feels like an attack on agriculture which is already so volatile as it is. If they won’t listen to the science and the experts who are advising against this it makes me wonder what the strategy is here.
https://torontosun.com/news/national/trudeau-pushes-ahead-on-fertilizer-reduction-as-provinces-and-farmers-cry-foul
Nutrition Poverty and hunger : We are already struggling with feeding everyone we can in this world. There are food shortages globally and we have an exceedingly growing population. So in making food less efficient to produce it is not helping solve the problem of hunger. In many areas of the world, whether its developed or developing countries there is hunger and poverty in both.
Global Partnerships: while researching global partnerships in agriculture I came across IFAD. International fund of Agricultural development. It is essentially a bank of sorts that recognizes that rural areas in developing countries are under-utilized in agriculture production and, helps invest in these rural farmers that can be a key route to reducing hunger in these very rural areas particularly in developing countries. ¾ of the poorest people in the world live in these rural areas in developing countries. Since 1978, IFAD has provided US $23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. Part of this global partnership is providing low interest rates so farmers can receive education and product to be as productive as possible- which, interestingly enough, involves the use of fertilizer. https://www.ifad.org/en/web/guest/about
Origins of Disparity and trends: Part of agriculture innovation is being able to grow more food with less land. This is important to consider when factoring in the spreading city-scapes into rural and productive agricultural land. How can we demand more food and better prices, with reduced inflation rates, yet also strip farmers of essential tools that help them be as productive as they can be to help feed the world? Its like leading a horse to water and then slapping them every time they take a drink.
With volatile food and energy prices there is a huge potential to push much of the vulnerable population in to extreme hunger and poverty in the near future. So, you’re not a farmer, you may say; and you just don’t care if the famers have to work harder or spend more money on fuel in order to *try* to produce as much product with 30% less fertilizer- okay that’s fine. But who will advocate for you, when you no longer can afford to pay the grocery bill, or at least buy the nutritious foods and instead are forced to buy the cheaper processed foods? We need to hold the governments accountable for these actions because there is a trickle-down effect in agriculture that is *eventually* seen on the store shelves and by the consumer.
Indigenous health: Some interesting facts: Between 2008 and 2018 a study found that almost half of on reserve first nations households were food insecure and the prevalence was higher than that of non- indigenous households in Canada. On reserve food insecurity prevalence was higher in western regions of Canada. Food costs were substantially higher in remote first nations communities.
So what then will happen to these already food insecure households with prices of inflation, with the volatility right now in agriculture what will happen to these vulnerable and high risk populations? They will be amongst the population that is most affected.
Communicable and non-communicable disease: Malnutrition is proven to increase your risk for a lot of symptoms and diseases. And is particularly a huge risk factor for: chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, lung disease, hospitalization, anxiety, and a number of many physical disabilities. So in thinking like a government, at some point, do we not have to assess the costs involved? In treating many of the effects caused or contributed to by malnutrition and then weigh them against the affects that fertilizer may have on the environment. What is more important?
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This might be an odd or heavy question so I'm not exactly expecting a response, but what exactly is disability? I'm aware that typically people who need glasses aren't called disabled, that there are invisible and mental disabilities, that the legal definition is flawed, et cetera, but the exact definition still escapes me.
(the catalyst for me asking is my piling health problems; chronic bronchitis and several kinds of heart problems cause me to be unable to climb more than two flights of stairs without breathing like a fish and yet I still feel guilty for taking the elevator. I'm just trying to get a definite answer so my own mind would stop nagging me about it)
This is exactly my shit because disability activism was so important in shaping me into the person I am. I'm neurodivergent, but also physically disabled; I have congenital birth defects in my hands and feet that fuck me up more than you might expect, I'm mobility impaired, and now live with chronic pain. My life is way better when I don't have to take the stairs, I can only work about four hours a day, but I don't meet my government's definition of "disabled".
Disability has been an intense battleground. For centuries society has had a very narrowly defined view of disability, and treated disabled people in a very particular way. The Disability Rights Movement, meanwhile, has involved disabled people getting together and saying: The way we are viewed and treated sucks! We don't like it! Things need to change!
So one major key to things is the social vs medical model of disability. The medical model views disability as when someone has a serious impairment or illness that prevents them from being normal and healthy, and needs to be medically treated or cured. The social model views disability as the result of society failing to accommodate the full range of variation in human ability, which fails to allow the disabled person full inclusion.
Like, if someone cannot walk and uses a wheelchair, and therefore cannot get into a building, the medical model says we should focus on making them able to walk. The social model says that we should focus on making the building accessible for people with wheelchairs. A major issue here is universal design, the belief that our buildings (and by extension, our institutions and society) shouldn't just be set up for abled people. It should anticipate the presence of disabled people, and plan to include and accommodate us so that we can enjoy an equal level of autonomy and inclusion in society as everyone else.
Disability is really complicated partly because it's really diverse. There are so many different ways of being disabled. Neither of these models is 100% right or 100% wrong. Some people love what makes them different from the norm and don't believe it should ever be taken away or cured; others hate their disabilities and want them to go away yesterday. An operative issue to keep in mind is when the medical and social models are useful.
Under the social model of disability, people who wear eyeglasses are a perfect example of an impairment that's socially accommodated so that it isn't normally debilitating. Society doesn't have huge narratives about how it's tragic or pitiable when someone wears glasses; it's not generally seen as heartbreaking for parents to take their child to the optometrist. Glasses are more-or-less affordable to the everyday person. It is, in fact, solid evidence that we can and do treat some kinds of physical differences as routine and unremarkable.
So at the base of it, here's the reality about the definition of disability:
Abled society has historically had a lot invested in keeping "disability" as a very narrowly defined category. Only the most truly deserving get the special resources that make up for the fact that they're excluded from employment and public life. There's only one elevator, so you'd better make sure that you really need it before you use up that scarce resource.
Disability activism, meanwhile, benefits from making the definition of disability as broad as possible, to argue that we aren't rare exceptions, we're 1/5 of the population and shouldn't be excluded to begin with. Literally anyone could be hit by a bus tomorrow and become disabled. Excluding us and denying us our civil rights isn't acceptable. If too many people are using the elevator, maybe the building shouldn't rely so much on taking the stairs.
This ties into what the disability community calls "the curb-cut effect". When a space is made more accessible for people in wheelchairs (by putting in curb cuts, for example), a whole lot of other people benefit: Parents with strollers, delivery people with hand trucks, travellers with luggage, and ordinary pedestrians who just found them easier to walk across. The design feature made life for everyone so much better that it became adopted everywhere, and demanded as a standard piece of urban architecture. Wheelchair users benefited because everybody wanted the kind of space they could travel in.
When you use a resource or accommodation intended for disabled people, you reinforce the idea that disabled people are common and should be routinely included. Although this sometimes puts stress on a system when multiple people are using the resource at once, the solution should be to increase that resource's availability, not to decide who needs it less and kick them out.
(This topic reminds me that hey, I'm disabled and don't make a lot of money because of it. This week I'm trying to find an apartment that doesn't require taking the stairs, but those are literally twice as expensive in my city. So if you want to support me for the work I do, here are my Patreon and Paypal!)
#staranise original#long post#disability culture#social model of disability#medical model of disability
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the phrases “go outside” and “touch grass” having cropped up recently is an…interesting Internet phenomenon
Has anybody thought about the weirdness of the Internet of all places being seen as insular?
almost anywhere on the internet is, in many ways, probably one of the LEAST insular communities you’re a part of anywhere. The internet allows access to a huge number and variety of people, and if you live in a rural area, more so than practically any real life community. The comments section of a YouTube upload of one of AC/DC’s songs is probably more diverse than the city I live in or the college I attend.
Like??? I’m talking to people from dozens of countries right now. I’m WAY more “outside” than I am when I’m actually outside (in rural Kentucky).
However, almost everybody can agree that there’s a real phenomenon where some opinions and issues only make any sense at all or seem important in insular internet communities that don’t matter to the larger world. They disagree wildly about what these opinions and issues are, but they agree that they exist.
I think the wild disagreement might be a hint to the nature of the phenomenon of being Very Online.
I ask myself: Is anyone really…whatever the opposite of Very Online is? Internet access is definitely not necessary for developing ideas about how the world works that seem completely bonkers to 95% of the population.
I mean, I was homeschooled and belonged to a homeschool group where like 2 people believed in evolution and maybe half were vaccinated. People are remarkable in their capability to build insular communities that have ideas in their heads about most of the world that are very wrong. (There’s a corollary to “very online” called “very not online,” and it’s characterized by, among other things, never having talked to someone from a country with socialized medicine.) I have had some truly wild experiences with people who think ridiculous things because they haven’t actively tried to listen to people with dissimilar experiences.
Every small town or rural isolated church is, in its own way, a tidepool where people come up with weird ideas about what the ocean is like. People in those communities find things like “gay people are all so promiscuous they have hundreds of sexual partners in their lifetimes on average” believable partially because they don’t have actual experiences to refute it.
I would even argue that EVERYONE has things that are a normal part of their understanding of the world that most people would find absolutely wild.
But also?? A lot of the things people point out as “Very Online” takes are actually literally just things that the person has only been personally exposed to online.
For example, “people drink soda to help with adhd symptoms” was so widely ridiculed a while back when it’s just…a logical and uncontroversial medical Reality that stimulants are used to treat adhd and that caffeine is a stimulant. Why do people think this is an idea only people who never leave their houses could have? Because much of the discussion of ADHD they have seen has been online. Why is that? …well, ableism, for one.
Anyway, the reason” go outside” never seems to be a helpful contribution to an argument is because there is no single universal experience of the “Real World,” nor is any one person’s Real World experience necessarily more “representative” of the way the world “really works.”
And this is why you get people saying stuff like “There aren’t any non-binary people in the Real World! That’s only on the internet!”
Maybe you don’t know any non-binary people in real life, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Your mistake is that you think everyone you talk to online is in tide pools, and you are in the ocean.
You are not in the metaphorical ocean! Your limited real world experience is a tide pool too!
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Hyrule Brochure: A Potential for BotW’s Future
Hyrule’s map in BotW is pretty sparse as far as cities go. Yes, it’s got more than any other Zelda game, but it also has like, 90% of its map being pure dead space.
So I decided to play around and make what I imagine Hyrule would look like, as far as cities go, if it were allowed to properly rebuild and not get totally wrecked by Ganon again.
Credit to Eragon2589 on DeviantArt for the free-to-use map icons. I love these little buttons so much.
So, these are the canon towns we get in BotW; Hateno, Lurelin, Tarrey, Zora’s Domain, Goron City, Korok Forest, Rito Village, Yiga Hideout, and Gerudo Town. I’m counting Yiga Hideout as a town because if the Yiga were a little nicer, it WOULD be marked one.
Adding the various stables on makes the place look MUCH less empty, but still; what can we do with this?
Well, I’ve spent the last several days locating all the significant ruins and landmarks, with one or two extra things thrown in, that I think would make this place much more populated.
Maps are free to use if you want them, btw. Have fun!
As a general rule of thumb, I want to make the towers and stables their own cities. The towers are a good landmark and beacon of safety, and the stables have all the building blocks to start building up a village.
If I’m particularly inspired, I’ll give some background on what the town is/does!
Starting off with the Rito! Their village has grown into a town, and the stable at its foothill is its own village now. I called it “fledgeling” because that’s where the Rito and Hylians would intermingle most, so the Rito aren’t exactly flying around here.
Beacon City is built around Tabantha Tower; the Rito have turned it into a sort of lighthouse, reflecting light off into the distance to help guide nighttime fliers home. Because of this, it’s a very popular stop for mail carriers, and where they go, development and cultural mixing follows.
Kaysa Town is built around Great Fairy Kaysa’s fountain; it’s a popular tourist attraction, and she gets plenty of offerings, so win-win!
For the Gorons, we’ve only got two more cities: Silversmith Village and Din’s Spire. Silversmith is built around the culture in the southern mines, and it has down-the-road access to the Goron Hot Springs. Din’s Spire is less of a town and more of a landmark, due to the sheer cliffs all around it, but the huge (and notably not in the burning death zone) hot spring lake makes it a popular rest stop for people on their way through.
I decided not to rebuild the northern mines; they’re pretty busted up and lava soaked, so my assumption is that they were abandoned either due to hazards or due to the ore being stripped out.
Korok Forest wouldn’t change much, besides the Royal Family declaring it a protected area. The Koroks don’t seem to have much interest in expansion, and they, as far as I know, don’t live in houses.
Gerudo Territory is MUCH more expansive than the others so far, and with good reason.
Gerudo Town itself is now Gerudo City, and the Kara Kara Bazaar has grown into a town. Canyon Stable has developed a village (mostly full of Gerudo husbands so they don’t have to travel a million miles just to see their families).
The Gerudo have control of one of the towers in their region, and the town built around it is Overlook Town. It mostly serves as a training grounds for young Gerudo warriors.
The City of the Seven developed when the Seven Heroine statues were recovered and restored; the town around them was built to honor them, and then it got a LOT of foot traffic from those wanting to see the legendary statues.
Tera Town rose up much in the same way Kaysa Town did up in Rito territory, centered around the Great Fairy Fountain.
Mesa Village and West Gerudo Town are both smaller Gerudo settlements; West Gerudo sprung up out of access to snowmelt from the Gerudo Highlands, and Mesa Village, because of its relative safety from Molduga and access to oasis water.
Finally, Gerudo Valley, in reference to Ocarina of Time. This town is a Gerudo-only zone, and is more a fortress than a town. It exists both to keep an eye on the Yiga and to gain control of the mountain pass, making people go through Canyon Village to get to Gerudo instead of avoiding Gerudo customs.
Speaking of the Yiga, they’ve taken two new spots for themselves; Gerudo Tower, which they’ve renamed Kohga Tower in honor of their late Master, and Banana Labyrinth, which serves as their highest security area. Imagine if you’d had to go through the LABYRINTH to get the Thunder Helm back.
Up next we’ve got the Zora. Truthfully, their territory spans as long as Zora river and WELL into the ocean, but these are the only cities that, technically, a Hylian with adequate gear can enter.
Mipha’s Landing is an above-water city built expressly for doing trade. It got its name from the late Mipha; since the tower reaches up into the sky, it was hoped that someday, her spirit would sit atop it for a rest and see all that her people had been able to do thanks to her sacrifice.
Lakebed Village is in Lake Hylia, and it’s actually a slowly-repopulating Lakebed Temple, from Twilight Princess. Meanwhile, Great Bay City is a port town above water and an aquatic metropolis below, full of music and dance and exotic wares.
And finally, Hylians.
Hoo boy.
I’ve split this up region by region but
THIS is how many living spots they’ve got.
Silver stars indicate military towns. Red stars indicate military outposts.
I USE THE TERM MILITARY VERY LOOSELY HERE. Hyrule, since it doesn’t interact with its neighbors, only has the Yiga and the various monsters to fight against. Anything labeled “military” means that it’s staffed by royal employ, meaning knights and Sheikah and the like.
Let’s start with Akkala. The northeast labyrinth has been converted into an emergency bunker, in case Calamity strikes and people need a safe place to hide. Not only is it difficult to break into, it also has a completely empty lower level that’s PERFECT for long-term seige.
City Tempest got its name for being near-constantly wracked by storms. Despite this, though, it remains a popular vacation spot for people who don’t mind a little rain; the Skull Lake and the giant flowers are worth it.
Valley Town rose up out of both East Akkala Stable and Robbie’s workshop. It doesn’t get too much foot traffic, but it doesn’t really need to.
Midna Village, I built where the ruins of Shadow Hamlet are. I figured it was a fitting name, and the area is almost constantly covered in the shadow of Death Mountain.
Four Brothers’ Base is a knight outpost that’s up extremely high, spanning huge bridges between the four Tingle isles.
Then Parapa Palace, in reference to Zelda II: Adventure of Link, was built in place of the Akkala Citadel and functions as a mini Hyrule Castle + Castle Town. In real life, monarchs would have several palaces to go between, kind of like how well-off people nowadays would have a summer home. So, I followed that trend! This is Zel’s summer palace.
And you guys know what Tarrey Town is. Although interestingly, as it expands, it goes vertical into the stone column it was built on.
Onto Central Hyrule.
Camp Rauru is training camp and lodging for new knights. Rebonae Village and Kasuto City were made out of the Wetland and Riverside stables respectively, though Kasuto (also an Adventure of Link reference) gets substantially more foot traffic due to being on the way from Castle Town to Dueling Peaks.
Outset Town got its name, lore-wise, from the fact that it’s the first bit of land Link from BotW visited after leaving the Great Plateau, and meta-wise, because it’s the starting point for Wind Waker Link.
Aquame City surrounds the Coliseum, which is how it grew to be so popular. The grand stage holds sparring matches and various other shows regularly, and it’s a pleasant boat trip from Castle Town to get there.
Saria Town was built out of the old exchange ruins, and it’s in walking distance of the ruined Sage Temple—which, at this point in time, would have been rebuilt—and its existence is both an AoL reference and an OoT one (but mostly AoL, I’ve kind of fallen in love with its map).
New Mabe is where you can find the new Lon Lon Ranch! The ruins there are actually called the Mabe Town Ruins in game, and they’re right by the Ranch Ruins!
Eldin’s pretty sparse as far as Hylian towns go. It’s got Gut Check Camp, where Sheikah train for endurance and elemental resistance, and Windfall Town, a place that sees a LOT of gemstones pass through, freshly mined. That includes rupee ore, mind you!
Faron Province is a little more spaced out, due to the nature of the region. Lurelin’s grown since BotW, becoming a trading bay; meanwhile Cora Lake’s Sheikah Tower has expanded into Parache Town, and the Highland Stable has become Malanya Village. Both of those locations are VERY fond of horses, and they’re a bit competitive, especially during archery season.
Ordona Hamlet is a tiny village tucked away into the middle of Faron. It came about due to the Lakeside Stable, and it’s named that because I am STILL salty that the Zeldevs didn’t put an Ordon Village reference in the game.
Eventide Outpost is more of a testing ground for boats than anything particularly significant, population-wise. The even tides that gave the isle its name make it an ideal location to work out the kinks in new watercraft (and occasionally, the lieutenant in charge of that base demonstrates how to launch a raft into the sky with octo balloons).
Hebra’s the most militarized area of Hyrule, and ideally, it functions as a reserve of men and tech in case Calamity rises again. If there’s anything that BotW’s era learned, it’s to never underprepare for Gann’s return.
Fort Lomei is a converted base, just like the Banana Labyrinth is to the Yiga. This one, though, is patrolled diligently by knights who use daily-changing codes, and it’s impossible to navigate without the locals’ help.
Fort Pikida is situated in that weird stone cavern-y area, and it’s a supply stach and Hebran monster patrol site. It’s the soldiers there’s job to make sure that the Lynels that like to roam the region don’t get too close to residential areas.
Hia Miu Outpost is a training spot for knights sent to the Hebra region; any new soldier to the area has to prove they can handle themselves by going into the Hia Miu shrine and taking on the Major Test of Strength Trial. (Fun fact, did you know that the X-test-of-strength trials reset themselves every blood moon?)
Snowpeak Fortress exists both because it makes a fantastic secondary base for the Hyrulean royals to plan, and because i am once again salty about the lack of Twilight Princess in this game.
Sturnida Resort is built around hot springs! It’s a nice spot for people living around Rito Town and Fledgling Village to take a vacation without having to trek all the way across the country to do it.
Snowfield City came from Snowfield Stable, and it’s the Windfall of Hebra; it sees a LOT of people coming in and out of the region, and the view of the northern lights you can get from there? You’d be hard-pressed to find a Hylian that didn’t have it on their bucket list.
New Tabantha was built on the ruined spot of the original Tabantha Village; you can visit there in-game! It’s a quiet town that raises highland sheep for a living, and its team won the Hebran Triathlon three whole years in a row.
Then, the Tanagar Restricted Zone. If you’ve ever been there, you know EXACTLY why it’s restricted.
Most of the Guardians inside have been dealt with, but the ruined temple remains a hazard testing ground for new tech. It’s off limits to everyone but those with the HIGHEST clearance; I’m talking a direct letter from Zelda herself.
The Thyphlo Secret Camp is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a place for Hyrulean lieutenants to meet for top-secret missions, and it’s one of those places that you need to be SERIOUSLY high rank to even KNOW about.
Over on the edge of Lanayru, we’ve got New Goponga, built where the old Goponga ruins are, and the Crenel Garrison. The Garrison was built to take care of the Lizalfos problems in the waterways, keeping it safe for Hylians and Zora travelers alike. Goponga, on the other hand, is what Lurelin was in game; nice, friendly, and centered around fishery.
In Necluda, we’ve got New Deya where old Deya was ruined (I think BotW Link was born in old Deya!), Watchtower Village built around the lakeside of the Dueling Peaks tower, and then Dueling Peaks City, a HUGE trade hub that was once the Dueling Peaks stable.
Kakariko Village is now a Town, Hateno has grown into a full blown trade harbor, and a tiny village has started to form around the Hateno Tower, making Firly Overlook.
But what I most love is the City of Hylanay.
Back in the game, it was the ruins of the Lanayru Promenade. So I had the promenade rebuilt, then people moved in around it, and now, Hylanay’s basically Hyrulean Venice! I want to visit it.
On the Great Plateau, we’ve got Aboda Town, named after Spirit Tracks’ Aboda Village in reference to the starting point in each game. This Town has access to the original Temple of Time, but because of the nature of the isolated plateau, it doesn’t see a lot of new faces often.
Over around Thundra, we’ve got Tanagar Village overlooking the canyon, built out of the old Tabantha Stable. The village actually builds downwards into the canyon; people have windows carved right out of the cliff face!
Thundra Village is built into the rocky slopes surrounding Thundra Plateau and the Ridgeland Tower. Their houses are built in the shelter of the giant mushroom things that grow so well in the area, and they’re famous for their signature dish of escargot.
The Serenne Exchange is up north, encompassing both the old Serenne Stable and the Maritta exchange ruins. You can buy practically ANYTHING there; if ever there was a supermarket in Hyrule, it would be right there.
The Royal Lab was rebuilt out of its ruins post Calamity, and it’s directed by Purah, who still hasn’t cured her immortality yet. It’s not uncommon to hear explosions as you pass by that place.
And then Camp Rutile is a small observational outpost, meant to keep track of the activity on Satori Mountain. Supposedly, the mountain’s health reflects the state of the rest of the kingdom, so the researchers assigned there are tasked with monitoring it EXTREMELY closely.
And Hyrule Castle. It’s Hyrule Castle.
Now completely bolted into the ground! :D
If we put all these locations together, we get a very nice, very well populated Hyrule, with LOTS to see. This is how I would design the future of BotW’s Hyrule.
Thanks for reading!
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[Zone Info]
Events:
Helium I - Fought between 1993 and 1998 when tensions between governments around the world finally turned to war. Nuclear warfare wiped out Northern-Middle Eurasia, most of South America, South-Eastern North America, and Southern Africa. The war ended when what was left of Europe and Asia surrendered.
The Rise of Better Living Industries - BL/ind started as a weapons manufacturing/power company that rose into a major monopoly and self-governing body that overthrew the US toward the end of the first Helium War. It immediately began an effort to bring “peace” to the nation by ridding the country of all individualism and “radical” beliefs, believing that different ideas would turn into conflict. This quickly turned into ridding the country of creativity and self-expression to make a perfect, crime-free society.
Helium II - Fought between 2006 and 2011 when Better Living Industries had taken control of what was left of North and South America and began attacking the rest of the world, trying to rid the planet of ideas that didn’t match theirs. The East Coast started rebelling against the West Coast, where BL/ind had established their capital in what was once Los Angeles but had been renamed Battery City. A wall of nuclear bombs was dropped around the Rocky Mountains and thanks to the radiation around the globe affecting the radio waves, no one knows for sure whether there is anyone else living on the planet outside of Battery City and its surrounding Zones.
The Rise of the Rebels - Since the very beginning of Better Living Industries’ reign, rebels had appeared. When Battery City was established as BL/ind’s capital city, settlements started popping up in the desert outside of the city. On the East Coast of North America, a massive rebellion effort was led against BL/ind during the second Helium War. As the years passed, more rebels started appearing in Battery City and moving to the desert, eventually renamed The Zones, especially after BL/ind seemed to have destroyed the East Coast rebels. Rebels in the Zones became known as Killjoys and rebels in the city became known as Juvie Halls. Rebels began attacking Better Living Industries factories and facilities, hoping to weaken the company but only resulting in angering BL/ind.
The Fires of 2012 - From April till August of 2012, Better Living Industries began lighting fires across the Zones in an attempt to destroy the Killjoys, as they had grown out of BL/ind’s control. The Fires got out of control and ended up spreading to some Better Living Industries camps and buildings that were still stationed in the Zones. As a result, BL/ind blamed the rebels for the Fires and denied any claims of the truth. The blame being placed on the rebels sparked the start of the Analog Wars.
The Analog Wars - Fought between 2012 and 2017 or, to some, from 2012 to the present. The Analog War wasn’t your usual war; it was mostly small battles in the Zones or sabotage of BL/ind or rebel facilities. Better Living Industries describes it as “an effort to suppress the rebels and their radical and dangerous ideals.” During the war, BL/ind established the Draculoid and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units.
The Pig Bombs of 2017 - On July 4, 2017, Better Living Industries dropped a series of bombs in Zone 8 to destroy the Killjoy farming communities that were settled there. BL/ind had previously withheld using nuclear weapons in the Zones because they didn’t want the radiation destroying Battery City so they settled for dropping them in Zone 8, although they ended up also destroying several important Better Living Industries facilities in the process. The bombs wiped Zones 7, 8, and 9 off the map, left some places in Zone 6 uninhabitable, and created a wall of radiation around the Zones and Battery City, trapping them and isolating them from the rest of the world. This marked the end of the Analog Wars, although some believe that since there was no official surrender or treaty, the war is still going on.
Places:
Battery City - The capital of whatever is left of the US that Better Living Industries can control. In Battery City, the citizens are required to take “Happy Pills.” In the city, BL/ind controls the weather, the way people dress, where kids go to school, and where adults work. Every citizen has a set routine, sent to them in the morning along with their medication. In the center of Battery City is the Better Living Industries headquarters which is the tallest building and largest complex in the city and home to the Director, the head of BL/ind.
The Underground - The subway systems under Battery City where many juvie halls live and plot against Better Living Industries. “The Underground” doesn’t always literally mean the subway systems and can be used as a relative term for anywhere juvie halls may live.
The Outskirts - The edge of Battery City, bordering Zone 1. This is where lower-class citizens live, along with some juvie halls, as this is the least regulated part of the city.
The Zones - The desert surrounding Battery City, where the Killjoys live. As the number of the Zone gets higher, so does the population, as the Killjoys like to be as far away from Battery City and BL/ind headquarters as possible.
Route Guano - The most used interstate in the Zones, running from south-eastern Battery City all the way out past Zone 6.
The Getaway Mile - The interstate south of Route Guano, which is shorter and goes more south but is often used for quick escapes from Battery City.
Death Valley - The area outside of Zone 6 that is dangerous and completely uninhabitable due to the extreme radiation.
Lighthouses - Well-known places across the Zones that provide sanctuary for Killjoys on the run
Train Station Avenue - A popular lighthouse along Route Guano in Zone 5 that is notorious for fights, food, and hitchhikers
The Nest - The largest lighthouse in the Zones, located next to DESTROYA in Zone 4
DESTROYA Site - The home of DESTROYA, a massive droid built by Better Living Industries to destroy the Killjoys during the Analog Wars but ended up malfunctioning and turning against them. The droid was shot down and has remained there ever since.
The Bunker - An underground bunker turned nightclub in Zone 6, popular for raves and huge amounts of attendees
Witch’s Hut - A small hut in Zone 6 where a supposed prophet of the Phoenix Witch lives
The Tracks - A race track in Zone 5 used for competitive drag races where parties are held and bets are placed for your favorite racers
Vocabulary:
Angel Cake - Killjoys who travel across the Zones selling food for cheaper prices
Audition - Initiation rituals that gangs in or outside of Battery City may have for you to be able to join. What you have to do varies from gang to gang
Babysitter - a term used to poke fun at a gang leader but also used as a genuine term for gang leaders who may be visibly older than the rest of the gang
Bacon - dead or dying Dracs and Crows
Batt out of hell - a term for new Killjoys but not used in a derogatory way
Batt Rat - a derogatory term used by Sand Pups to describe new Killjoys who just escaped the city and don’t know the Zone ways
Black Smith - someone who’s good at repairing or modifying technology or cars
Bifrost - places in the Zones that were so greatly affected by bombs, that the sand turned to glass
Blanket drive - driving at night with the headlights off, the windows down, and the music turned up loud
Carbons - The currency used in Battery City and the Zones. One carbon equals four dollars
Chilly - something or someone that’s suspicious
Clap - a physical fight
Cloud - A large group of Draculoids and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W traveling through the Zones
Compass Rose - a Killjoy who knows the desert like the back of their hand
Costa Rica - things that went crazy or got out of control
Crash Queen - a daredevil or thrill seeker who is known for doing things that could easily get them killed and doesn’t care
Deadfaced - taking Battery Acid
Dead Pegasus - a fuel company in the Zones
Debut album - someone’s first love
Digital - An important moment shared amongst two or more rebels that they know they will never forget
Draculoid - droids and brainwashed Killjoys designed to kill rebels. Also called "bats" or "Dracs"
Drifter - someone who lives a nomadic lifestyle and strays from commitment in relationships
Drifting - A relationship that isn’t strictly anything but simply some sort of attraction between two individuals. A sort of go-with-the-flow, whatever happens, happens kind of relationship
Drive sidestreet - another way to tell someone to piss off. Also could use “get off the highway”
Dust Trail - an urban legend or a term used by non-religious Killjoys to describe religious Killjoys’ beliefs
ElectroKat - the most popular battery brand in Battery City and the Zones
Exterminators - High ranking Better Living Industries officials placed in charge of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units
Fact News - The one news program in Battery City, notorious for spreading lies to the citizens
Favorite Record - someone’s significant other
Firefight - a fight using ray guns
Fly half-mast - that state after having recently lost someone close to you
Gearhead - someone who’s obsessed with all things mechanical
Gemini - someone suspected of being a spy for Better Living Industries
Ghost Chase - Searching the Zones for someone who is possibly, or most likely, dead
Ghosted - killed. Also can use "dusted"
Graffiti Bible - A collection of religious writings across the Zones, mostly talking about how DESTROYA will come back to life and destroy Battery City and the Phoenix Witch
Gravehead - crazy Killjoys who have lost everyone and everything and throw themselves into dangerous situations
Gravity - anything that brings you down
Groupie - someone who travels with different gangs and trades favors for food, water, and protection
Halo Head - religious Killjoys who believe their beliefs put them above everyone else, especially non-religious Killjoys
Happy Pills - Pills issued by Better Living Industries that they say will lift your spirits and protect you from the radiation but make you more submissive and easier for BL to control. The rebels call them "Battery Acid"
Hit the red line - run away, usually from a bad/dangerous situation
Icy - when someone dies or goes missing in a suspicious way
Juvie Hall - rebels who haven’t left the city, usually because they can’t or because they’re working with the Killjoys to smuggle supplies out to the Zones and/or give them information from the city
Killjoy - rebels who live in the Zones
Lawyer - someone who ruins all the fun
Mailbox - small landmarks in the Zones where an old mailbox is painted and decorated and filled with letters, mostly to people that other Killjoys have lost. The more religious Killjoys believe the Phoenix Witch delivers the letters put in the mailboxes to the dead
Maple Plaza - Places in Zone 6 where radiation is still very thick and dangerous
Mega - interchangeable with "wicked"
Motorbabies - people who live and breathe all things car-related
Mousekat - a cartoon character from Battery City
Murder - a magazine in the Zones with Zone news
Pangea - A friendly gathering of two or more gangs
Paperboy - someone who travels across the Zones collecting news, gossip, and reporting deaths, usually for Dr. D or Murder magazine
Phoenix Witch - a supposed deity of the Zones, looking out for the rebels and carrying the souls of the dead into the afterlife
Pigs - another term for Dracs and Crows
Plus - A battery replenisher used by droids that are known for being highly addictive
Power Pup - a pre-moistened dog kibble brand that is often the only source of food in the Zones
Ray Gun - guns that shoot high-powered lasers instead of bullets. Rebels often customize them
Rebel - anyone who actively works against Better Living Industries
Ritalin Rat - drug addicts, usually used for those addicted to Happy Pills but can be used for Zoneweed addicts as well
Robin Hood Honey - party going Killjoys that look beautiful but don’t act like it
Rongee Kay - Killjoys who wander from party to party
Royal - something fancy or high end
Runners - juvie halls who smuggle supplies into the Zones
Sand Pup - someone born in the Zones or someone who has lived there most of their life
Sand Worm - a derogatory term for Killjoys used by Better Living Industries
S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W - BL loyalists specially trained to destroy anything they deem worthy of destroying. Also called "Crows"
Screwhead - someone who parties too much and thinks too little
Shiny Magazine - a magazine for mature readers in the Zones
Shiny - interchangeable with "awesome" or "cool"
Shower Curtain - A rare day when the sun is behind the clouds and the heat isn’t so unbearable
Smiley - someone acting suspiciously
Sour - something off
Squeaky - not having committed a crime against Better Living Industries but still wanting to rebel against them. Also used when someone seems to avoid fights or dangerous situations even though they’ve never done that before
Static - another word for sand or remote areas of the Zones
Trojan Horse - a painfully obvious lie
Tumbleweed - someone who wanders the Zones, living a nomadic lifestyle, having no home or gang
Vend-a-Hack - A device used by Killjoys to hack into Better Living Industries vending machines to steal various supplies
Vending Machine - Dispense a variety of items, including ray guns, batteries, ammo, stickers, stress toys, Plus, Power Pup, and water
WKIL 109 FMX - Doctor D’s pirate radio station that plays news and music
Zone Rat - a derogatory term for Killjoys used by Better Living Industries and some Battery City citizens
Zoneweed - a popular drug grown and passed around in the Zones
#mcr#my chemical romance#killjoys#the zones#danger days#better living industries#bl/ind#party poison#fun ghoul#jet star#kobra kid#death tw#drugs tw
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Why do you think muggleborns "exit Hogwarts to find 0 opportunities"? I've read your thoughts on Tom (~ no way he actually wanted to work in customer service, etc) but Lily? Yes, in canon she and James used the Potters money to live off & help the Order, but. Or is it more your headcanon because it makes sense in a pureblood supremacy society? I think it's fitting but I'd like to know if there's smth I missed... (do you think the same happen to hermione after? or is she too famous?..)
Oh, oh ho, no pretty much nothing on this blog comes directly from canon.
It is, at best, things you can infer about canon if you tilt your head and look at it from all the right angles that JKR intended you to look at it.
So, as far as canon is concerned, this never came up. We know muggleborns are looked down upon by your general pureblood wizard, we know muggles are even more so, but Harry’s world is a very small one and it’s never implied that muggleborns have issues securing employment outside of Hogwarts.
Dumbledore tells Harry that Tom ends up a clerk because he wanted to, because he likes dark shiny things. This is despite this having at least been Tom’s second choice in career, something that doesn’t really grant him any power over anyone, and, well, something he doesn’t appear to enjoy in the memories shown to us. But Dumbledore has a boy to convince to kill himself for the greater good and explaining, “And then Tom Riddle, the top scoring student in decades, barely managed to secure employment because of his blood status” makes Tom look less evil. No, all the shitty things that happen to Tom are things he intends to happen! What an evil mastermind!
But yes, for Tom specifically, Dumbledore makes it seem as if Tom specifically worked at Borgin and Burkes because he somehow knew about the sale of the locket. I highly doubt this on every level. I think it made for a nice story that Dumbledore could tell Harry and may even believe himself. Dumbledore, after all, is the kind of guy who thought it made him look fantastic to pretend to light an impoverished muggleborn orphan’s wardrobe and all his worldly possessions on fire to teach him a lesson. HE SURE SHOWED HIM!
The fact that Tom Riddle, who was actively shmoozing Slughorn for years, who supposedly had all these pureblood friends, who had record breaking exam scores, was prefect then head boy, etc. cannot get his foot in the door of the ministry or seemingly anywhere... That’s very very very damning evidence to me.
It also is evidence that makes a lot of sense to me.
The Wizarding World has a hilariously small population. Take Harry’s Hogwarts class size. There are what? About seven kids in each house in his year? Let’s round that up to an even ten. That means at any given time in Hogwarts you have about 280 children. This, even, seems very generous as it seems the important wizarding families don’t have children all that often (once in a generation) and that there might be at most two or three muggleborns in a given year. Hogwarts seems to be Great Britain (as well as Ireland’s) not only premier magical institution but only magical institution.
This seems comparable given that the other major schools we know of cover multiple populous countries in Europe. Beaux Batons, from what we can tell, seems to be the major school for Western Europe. Ilvermory covers the entire United States. Durmstrang all of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
I cannot emphasize how small of a population size the wizarding world must be with these numbers. Forget the size of a small country, forget the size of a large city, the wizarding world is approximately the size of a very very very small town.
This is why everyone knows each other, their major shopping district is essentially a single street, their ‘bad side of town’ is a corner on a street, etc. There are maybe a couple thousand people in the wizarding world. This is nothing.
Now, given that, it becomes clear that there just aren’t that many businesses/ventures for gainful employment around. The Weasley twins make their own business, Charlie actually goes to Romania to become a lumberjack er dragon raiser, Bill goes to work for essentially a foreign nation with the goblins. There’s one newspaper and one tabloid that really feels like a newspaper made out of Luna Lovegood’s garage. There’s a series of quidditch teams that feel like it must consist of half the population. Everyone else, if they have jobs at all and aren’t simply rolling in money and being good old lords, works for the ministry.
Now, the ministry is huge, overbloated, and a mess. Arthur’s department, for example, should not exist. How is “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” such an overwhelmingly large problem that it cannot possibly be absorbed by another department? What this means is I suspect the ministry a) is filled with joke departments nobody needs just to provide jobs b) is filled with coveted career positions c) even if you overbloat the ministry there’s only so many jobs.
Given the world they live in, given the prejudice against muggleborns, do you really think the ministry is going to waste a spot on someone with the last name of Riddle or Evans? Are they really not, instead, going to give that open position to family or friends? The wizarding world feels as if it is made of rank nepotism (Slughorn’s existence even kind of confirms that). Slughorn is so influential because he gets you these networking connections you desperately need. You think Tom enjoys shmoozy cocktail parties with these assholes? You think Lily does? Please, it’s because everyone needs this. The Wizarding World is built on top of who you know.
And, of course, your last name.
Although canon never implies that Lily was anything other than happy to be married to James immediately, have a child, and not work I feel that we’re never given a job for her is very damning evidence. Lily was the most brilliant witch (well probably magic user but I’ll play nice with canon here) of her entire generation, and she either chooses not to get a job or given the above seemingly cannot do so.
I imagine many muggleborns face this bitter reality when they exit Hogwarts. The world is tiny and all jobs go to friends and relatives. Hogwarts was this insular, isolated, dream that made them think they can make it out there.
They can’t.
Even Muggle Studies seems to go to purebloods and the man heading “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” is a pureblood jackass.
As for Hermione, I think she got very lucky and never realized it. In part because the population is so small, and those who were in power got tied up on Voldemort and thus screwed over because of him, things got very shaken up. More, Hermione by being Harry’s best friend and aiding his quest is a national hero. She gets the leg up she never knew she needed to enter the ministry and earn a very high ranking position very quickly as nearly every occupied position is suddenly vacant from the cleaning house.
Now, Hermione will tell you she earned this herself. That she simply worked harder than everyone else. But she’ll likely never realize that thanks mostly due to her friendship with Harry, as well as being in the right place at the right time, she has the opportunity to do what no one else in her situation could.
But that’s Hermione for you.
#ask#anon#harry potter#headcanons#muggleborns#unemployment#nepotism#the wizarding world#population#the ministry of magic#the wizarding world is a tiny stagnant cesspool of despair#tom riddle#lily evans#hermione granger
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The Volturi are the good guys and Bella is the up-and-coming villain
I’m on my computer for this as I know it might be long, but bear with me (insert Emmett pun here) 🐻
So wait - the Volturi are the good guys? But didn’t SM write them as the bad guys?
Well, yes, SM did write Aro and co in as the antagonists of the series, but bear in mind that originally she didn’t write most of New Moon to happen, or the entirety of Eclipse. There was Twilight and Forever Dawn, which we’ll sadly never read. Her vision of the Volturi and their role as the evil villains who wanted to separate Edward and Bella became distorted as she had to flesh them out more and show their role as the governing body.
Then she wrote the Illustrated Guide and revealed their history and the horrors of the world without their authority; with the Romanians being as brutal as they were, the constant terror humans lived with and the fracturing of the world into many unstable and violent vampire-ruled empires (plus with way more children of the moon running about, probably as far west as - at least - central Europe).
When the Volturi were coming to power they were laughed at with the idea of their law, a significant reason the Romanians didn’t take them seriously. But now they are extremely popular.
This isn’t just because Aro created vampires to go out and sing his praises. Volturi rule has been a blessing for both humans and vampires.
For humans it’s the obvious: they are not living their lives in fear, they are not subject to massacres (except if caught in newborn warzones), their population has been able to grow and expand, modern medicine and technology have been able to flourish, society is much more stable, people need to flee areas much less (if ever) so they can stay put and complete research/live to meet their grandkids/etc, and not have to serve a vampire in the local castle.
For vampires it’s actually quite similar: with the human population growing to as large as it is today when at the time the Volturi came to power it was (estimated to be) only 210 million globally, vampires have been able to grow to even greater numbers also, and feed more often than before. If a vampire 2000 years ago killed 5 people in a town it would be an outrage the humans would certainly have noticed, however kill 5 people in a place as big as London, LA, Paris, Singapore, Bucharest... it would likely not be noticed very much, if at all (depending on who you kill).
Humans like to measure things in percentages. Those 5 people is a huge number to a town of 2000 - that’s 0.25% of the whole town’s population. It would be talked about, and relatives of the dead/missing would all know each other. Yet kill those 5 in a city of 12 million (as is London), that’s only 0.00004167% of the population. And chances are, the dead humans’ families don’t even live in the area (or could be in another country entirely) never mind know each other to realise there was a mass murder.
So vampires, as long as they hide from humans, as is the only law (besides no immortal children or consorting with werewolves), they have a lot more freedom nowadays than they did before the times of the Volturi. There are so many people that they can easily get lost in a crowd, move internationally, and not be pressured for allegiance by a local vampire warlord (before meeting Aro, Caius ran afoul of the Romanians, and he barely escaped with his life).
With there only being one authority, and one that does not interfere with your day-to-day life, is a dream come true. As long as they don’t break this law that is very easy to abide by, they can do whatever the f*** they want.
Carlisle would have never been able to get a job as a doctor if he was known to be a vampire, nor could any of the Cullens have entered education of any form. They’d be stuck sneaking into libraries after closing, and googling. Edward would have never met Bella (neither would Edward’s ancestors have immigrated to America - in fact, Europeans may have never discovered America in the first place. The whole Cullen coven aside from Carlisle might never have been born).
So what the Volturi have done (despite many of them having not-so-savoury personalities corrupted by hunger for power or violence) is bring peace to the world, get rid of tyrants, increase the food supply, allow a greater amount of freedom, and the first kind of trials and justice ever seen in their world. Sure, Aro uses trials to find new talent, but it’s still a world away from before.
Which leads me on to the events of Breaking Dawn, and Bella.
So. Maybe controversial, but: the Volturi did absolutely nothing wrong in Breaking Dawn.
They turned up thinking a serious crime had been committed. They stopped to talk (which Vladimir certainly never would have done!), considered the evidence and processed new discoveries and discussed their legality, decided there was no crime to punish, and left with only the informant dead. Yes, Irina had been innocent in the way that she strongly had believed she had been telling the truth and her memories must have presented good enough evidence to Aro initially, but their witnesses had come to see justice being served, and in the vampire world that is execution. Aro could have continued with prosecuting the Cullens for something he now knew was false, or execute Irina instead.
(Side note: she did kind of deserve it too. She didn’t bother to check her evidence, she wanted revenge for Laurent’s death so her accusation wasn’t coming from a place of good intentions but instead she was willing to have her friends and family killed for Laurent. She was also forcing Aro into a position where he had to prepare himself to kill Carlisle, whom we know he cherishes. Remember also that Aro turned down Laurent’s application to the Guard because he’d followed the Romanians for a while, so he won’t have been entirely trusting of Irina anyway, her having been Laurent’s mate).
Anyway. Onto Bella.
So Aro’s impression of Bella after New Moon seems to be positive. Why? Well, through Edward’s thoughts he saw that Bella was able to keep The Secret. He had heard how much she wanted to be a vampire. In addition, Marcus showed him how strong Edward and Bella’s bond is. Both of them knew, that if E & B’s love was almost as strong as Marcus and Didyme’s, that no matter what Edward currently said or thought about Bella being turned it was invalid. If Bella were dying, he would turn her for sure, which happened. Then the obvious, that Edward had already proven he could not live without her.
Bella was trustworthy and probably going to be turned. Alice showing proof was just a formality so Aro could say he had evidence rather than admit he’d just made assumptions (and Alice having had that vision may act as proof that his assumption was correct).
Therefore, from Aro’s perspective, Bella was a human who wanted to become immortal so much that she would rather die than not, and she was already following his law. She was no issue.
Yet.
Bella, knowing the law, should have been very grateful that she was left alive. Edward not being executed and she not being killed or forcibly turned on the spot... Aro had been very nice to them.
And again, in BD, he was very nice to them. Some people will inevitably say that he was weak in not killing them all. I mean, they stood beside Vladimir and Stefan! They have an army of wolves fundamentally opposed to vampires! Aro has lost Good Reputation Points by sparing the Cullens. He held as close to a trial as vampire society has ever had, and rightfully pronounced the Cullens innocent.
So shouldn’t Bella like him? He has spared her life and the lives of her loved ones more than one, and proven that he can be spoken to and conversed with properly and is willing to admit he was wrong. With Aro, we know it’s important to look more at what he does than what he says, and what he has done is be very kind to the Cullens (though who knows about the future?).
Yet Bella was creeped out by him when they met and interpreted him as a threat to Edward’s life. As she loves Edward, she’s always going to be of this mind, and first impressions are important.
Vampires are stuck with the mindsets they had when turned. An example of this is Esme, who was turned after her baby died and she tried to die too. She is permanently feeling maternal. She was turned only days after giving birth. Before knowing this, Bella even describes her as maternal and the mother of the family. Huilen also has a lot of care for Nahuel, being his aunt, because of her love for Pire, and while she was dying, Pire begged Huilen to raise him. Joham does not seem to have this parental love for his son and daughters; he never really knew Pire and was never affected by her love for Nahuel, and did not meet him until years after he was born. He’s only genetically a parent. He doesn’t have the protective mindset. When he was turned, he was a curious scientist (in fact, it was even why his creator turned him). He sees the world and people as things to study.
Anyway.
When Bella was turned, all she was thinking about was Renesmee. She begged Edward to get the baby out and didn’t care for her own life.
And she will be forever stuck in this high alert, must-protect-my-baby mode. Then for weeks as a newborn vampire, she was thinking of Aro as a threat and preparing to fight him. Compounding that, he was a threat to her daughter.
Both of these things will have had a significant effect on who she will have become after her newborn phase ended. It is impossible for Bella to ever like Aro now, even if she tried.
Her dislike of him, and willingness to fight against him, will be forever engrained in her brain.
This is dangerous.
Bella found the Romanians weird, but she didn’t dislike them per se. She would probably be willing to stand with them against the Volturi again.
We can take an educated guess and assume that sometime they will rise up again - and Bella might stand with them (though I highly doubt any of the other Cullens would).
Bella was not a problem for Aro until she stood beside Vladimir and Stefan.
Here is this vampire who can block most of his coven’s gifts, stuck with an intense dislike of him, who he has seen with his own eyes stand with his enemies. He has every right to be nervous now. Her love for her mate is almost as strong as Marcus’s bond to Didyme - how strong is her bond to Renesmee? Likely more. Aro knows the threat in that. He knows that Bella may be viewing him in the way Marcus feels when he thinks of taking revenge on whoever killed Didyme.
Nobody wants the Romanians back in power. Those who lived under their reign and those who have heard first hand stories told to them all know very well that life under Vladimir would be horrible, brutal, awful for all beside his close coven members (though considering he had a very large coven that was often squabbling amongst itself, it was probably miserable for a lot of them too).
But Bella is young. She has no memory of the world before the Volturi, and knows no one with first hand experience of that world other than the Volturi. She will have heard that it was horrible, but she has no emotional or personal connection to the near-ancient past, and vampires who lived during that time are disappearing. No one lives forever.
Then, she is American. Like Garrett, she values freedom, and the Volturi are the only oppressive vampire force either of them has ever known. Despite them being the least oppressive in vampire history, Bella and Garrett haven’t experienced the alternative. They are a government that is at times harsh, is corrupt, and executes people. They go to war and they obliterate their enemies. Bella doesn’t see that the Volturi is the least bad government her world is ever going to get, and that they’ve granted her so much freedom. She is unable to see that because, in her youth, she has nothing to compare them against.
By standing against the Volturi, Bella isn’t just standing against Aro, Caius, and Marcus. She is standing against the peace they have brought between vampires, against humans living without fear, against modern civilisation itself. She stands a representative of the next world order, and Aro can sense it.
#bella swan#bella cullen#aro volturi#volturi#the volturi#the volturi coven#volturi coven#edward cullen#esme cullen#pire twilight#huilen twilight#nahuel twilight#Joham twilight#garrett twilight#irina twilight#Irina Denali#carlisle cullen#cullen family#cullen coven#THETWILIGHTSAGA#twilgihtsaga#twilightsagaedit#twilight renaissance#twilight revival#twilight renewal#twilight resurgance
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Everyone likes to pretend Billy was never even there. Life goes on, people change, the past gets forgotten.
A year isn’t enough time for Max though. Right now it feels like the rest of her life wouldn’t be enough time, but Neil and Susan, they were doing just fine.
It’s almost like they like not having him around, that extra burden they couldn’t shake. The plan only Max knew was that Billy was going to stay at home until she was old enough to go with him so she’d be safe.
She knew he was fed up and looking at some local apartments within walking distance of Cherry Lane anyways, but then July happened, and Billy died.
Now it’s July again, and her hair is in twin braids of red with pure white ribbons on the end, and her and her mother are wearing matching blouses. There’s bruises under the bangle on her mothers wrist and one under Max’s own sleeve, and she just wants her brother back.
It’s a holiday they told her, her father (he’s not her fucking father, they never made her call him that when Billy was around) is a veteran, they have to celebrate. Better just dry her eyes and get over it.
Her mother invites all the family they have in the area over to their house for a little get together picnic, and they do their little happy family routine for a while, but Max can only handle so much of it.
Billy should be here by her side, flicking watermelon seeds at her face and putting ice cubes from the cooler down the back of her shirt, being an asshole to distract her from the reality of her family.
And that was that she didn’t really have one, a family. It was always just her and Billy.
Even at these events made for bonding with family, they were off to the side, messing around while the adults talked like they weren’t even there, and she knew she was a little naive then, but it stung more than ever, knowing that even after she’d lost her brother, nobody even stopped to say hi or check up on her, it was just straight into gossiping about the neighbors and those disrespectful bastards across the street who weren’t flying a flag for the holiday and family members who couldn’t be there.
But Max never heard Billy’s name come up even once, and not even in a respect to the dead boy and his grieving sister type of way, but rather, in the way that they just didn’t want to acknowledge his existence. None of these people had come to his graduation in May of last year, or his funeral two months later.
Billy was a taboo that the Hargrove-Mayfields didn’t dare taint their celebrations of freedom and justice with. The irony made Max sick to her stomach.
Or that was at least, until Neil couldn’t help himself.
His words are slurring already, with an excuse to party he’s on what Max would guess to be his fifth or sixth beer that afternoon, and someone just made the mistake of mentioning their own son, Billy and Max’s third cousin or something, and it spurs Neil off on a tangent about his.
“That boy was always good for nothing anyways. It’s almost the same now that he’s dead, ‘Cept maybe now I get some more quiet around the house.”
Nobody knows what to do when he says that, there’s a couple awkward laughs and one shocked gasp, that one was probably from her mother, but Max knows exactly what she wants to do.
What she wants is to watch Neil choking on his blood instead of her brother, his body being lowered into the ground instead of Billy’s, and in the moment she feels like she could be the one to make that a reality, but instead she just stands abruptly, a plate of the food her mother worked so hard to prepare for them she’d been too queasy to eat falling off her knees to the grass, and she says everything she’d bottled up for the past year.
“Don’t talk about Billy that way!
“Now, Maxine-“ Neil starts, but Max is livid, can’t hold back all the things she wished she had said before Billy died, when she got grounded after the funeral, when Neil started beating her, “No! I’m not going to let you do to me what you did to my brother! You don’t get to control me like you did him, it’s your fault that he’s dead!”
It’s her mother’s turn to try to stop her, slender hand covering her mouth painted red, “Maxine..”
“Stop trying to reason with me! I’m sick of pretending to be a family when I had to watch my own brother die! And I’m sick of being treated like I’m crazy for being the only one that cares about Billy!”
More than one person chimes in on that one, offended by the notion they don’t care about family, though it’s Neil that insists, in that faux calm, close to snapping voice of his, “We do care, Maxine. We’re all grieving in our own ways.”
She fires back, “Grieving what? The loss of your punching bag? You hated Billy! You don’t care that he’s dead, all that matters to you is having someone to hurt, and you no trouble adjusting to beating up on your wife and step-daughter instead!”
She catches a backhand to the face for that, and all the background chatter comes to a halt, Neil gritting out through his teeth, “Inside. Now.”
There are tears in her eyes that sting almost as much as the knuckle marks on her cheek, but Max feels like she won, getting her step dad all riled up in front of their family, she feels almost invincible, and she sneers all smug like and bitter, “I can’t go inside yet. I’m celebrating your service to our country, dad. You know, as a family.”
But when Neil's face turns as red as the blood that dripped from his wife’s nose the night before and he stands from his chair and drags her inside by the wrist himself, she realizes that it wasn’t exactly a win.
And when her brain goes numb trying to focus on both the repeated slaps and punches that explode like firecrackers across her skin and the way Neil is yelling and lecturing her until his voice is raw, giving her the same lessons her brother had burned into the back of his mind, she feels like she’s lost everything instead.
When she has to choke back her tears and apologize for embarrassing Neil and for making him hit her as punishment, she realizes, this isn’t a game that can be won or lost at all.
Max isn’t allowed to go back outside to the party. That rule goes unspoken, but words aren't necessary with the way Neil storms off without another word, slamming the back door behind himself. She’s slowly starting to figure out what the things her step father does instead of says mean.
She misses being allowed to be clueless, having someone to protect her or take what punishment she had earned. She wishes she wouldn’t have asked so much of Billy though.
Her own room isn’t safe anymore, what once had been the place she’d be ushered off to when Neil got bad had become more like a trap, the place Neil went to first when he was angry. Everything that had been hers felt wrong, so she goes to Billy’s room and doesn’t come out for the rest of the night. Even now that he’s gone, he still kept her safe.
There’s a welt on her face and fresh bruises forming everywhere, hot tears wetting her sunburnt cheeks and the pillows that smell like Billy, or at least used to before Susan decided his room needed cleaned and washed away every trace of her brother.
All night long there are fireworks going off, a big show put on by the city downtown has her shaking, unable to close her eyes for fear those distant explosions would take her back to the mall, bring back memories she’d never forget, and covering her ear with her hands.
The cracks and booms that shake her windows and her entire life, a headache and a heart break even stronger.
She tries her hardest not to think about Starcourt though, so instead she thinks about how Billy would’ve been proud of her for standing up to Neil. He would’ve called her an idiot, but he would’ve cleaned up her scrapes and held her through the panic attack after, and he probably would’ve liked to see the person Max was becoming too.
That makes Max’s heart hurt, the fact that he won’t get to. She cries harder, and she feels so alone without Billy.
Some part of her knows that she isn’t though. She isn’t the only one that lost somebody last July.
Hawkins’ cemetery was alive with flowers and wreaths and decoration, and more than anything the grieving. All of the victims had families, or in the case of the Holloway’s where their whole family was killed, they had friends and neighbors in the tight knit community who remembered them. El was still grieving Hopper, and Max knew Billy had people like that too.
Billy was popular, his death had a huge impact on the younger population of the town, but not only that, he had his closest friends, Steve and Tommy and Carol and Nicole and Adam from the pool, and of course Heather couldn’t be there, but those people were all keeping her brother alive.
As much as it felt like everyone was trying to forget him, they weren’t, and that brought Max a little bit of hope.
Hope that Billy would be remembered for the things he did right, and who he was behind the boy he had to be to keep them safe.
Hope that with his memory kept in the hearts of so many, the burden of grief wouldn’t fall solely on Max forever and make things a little easier.
Hope that the wound would someday heal, and she could look back on the time she did have with Billy, those seven too short years, with a smile on her face.
For now, she wraps herself in Billy’s jacket and comforter, listening to his music to drown out the distant fireworks, and dreams of the day when things won’t be like this, when she can leave Hawkins and all it’s bad memories and the “family” holding her back to live a life her brother would be proud of, a life that would honor his.
Max decides then with determination, flinching when a bright flash lights up her window, a loud echo through the quaint neighborhood, that she was going to do what Billy hadn’t been able to and break the cycle.
Tomorrow, she’d tell the school counselor she’d been assigned when her depression was at its worst all about Neil Hargrove.
#billy & max#max mayfield#neil hargrove#billy hargrove#ej writer#story by ej!#tw child abuse#also on my ao3!#is this me projecting? pfft no way
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OC Archive
Since I’m mainly an OC artist, I figured I should make smth to archive my characters, with tag links and some basic info about them and the world for easy access! There will be some gaps because if I put every single OC on here it would be a thousand miles long (and its already gonna be long), so I’m doing my best to keep it relevant. I’ll add and subtract when necessary, and I’m always open to questions about any of it! :)
Monster Manor
(now that the tag has been co-opted by some crappy dating sim, all relevant works will be tagged mm)
This is what my friends and I have dubbed our OC universe! It originally started with an old manor that was renovated into apartments, with many of its inhabitants being ghosts and monsters. Eventually it spun off into a whole town, and later a separate city, both set in Eastern Canada. The universe itself hinges on the fact that magic and monsters of all types and denominations are possible, running rampant and hidden right alongside the average population. Monster hunters are humans that keep them in check- often too in check- using complex magical tattoos to enhance their abilities. Witches often toe the line between aiding the hunters and aiding the supernatural, and can be disliked by either side- its down to the individual more than anything.
Blackpool- the town- is rural, not very large, and generally considered unremarkable. Under that, its positively thriving with spooks, creatures, and strange magic. Most of the average population seems oddly dulled to the mysterious occurrences and high level of danger in their town, with a lot of the news not even leaving the local area. Any hunters are stretched thin and simply reactive, while much of the actual peacekeeping comes from an extensive family of werewolves. A dark and mysterious lake- the titular black pool- seems to be the original draw for the strange and unnatural in the area.
The city Eden, on the other hand, is huge and cold and bleak. The hunters there keep it under an iron fist, acting more akin to a mafia than anything else. Despite the zero tolerance situation, there’s a healthy supernatural underground- many choose to keep themselves secret and safe, while others choose to fight back.
Slashers
Razz - he/him, 27, 6′6″ - art tag - goof tag
- Known more widely as The Ridge Heights Killer, Razz is... a science experiment of sorts. Technically the patched together remains of a young man who died in a motorcycle accident, he was made to see how far one could artificially push a human being with science, black magic, and conditioning. He woke up in the middle of nowhere with no memories of himself, barely even of being human, and started on a destructive path he can’t alter. Currently, he lives in Blackpool, and by that I mean he’s crashing on soft-hearted mortician Angie’s ( @bogferns-art ) couch and- if such a thing could be possible- falling in love with them
Harlequin/Valery Leroux - he/they, 28, 5′9″ - art tag - goof tag
- With a fixation on performance from a young age already, an incident in his teens forced him to run away and threw it into full blown obsession. From then on, he dedicated his life to it- behind a mask, you can be anything. With practice, they became a very talented clown, skilled in acrobatics and contortionism, and started working the carnival and circus circuit- with one catch. Every few weeks, the night before a show is about to move on, they run rampant on the employees as The Harlequin, teaching people “lessons” through fear and violence. When one such victim turns up again in the off season, perfectly alive, well. You could call him another obsession (Lev, @bogferns-art )
Aubrey Beauchêne - they/them, 29, 5′4″ - art tag tbd - goof tag
- A classical violinist in the big lonely city of Eden, small strange Aubrey doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends. Their life is their work, its how they connect with people, but its never enough. Until they find the bunker, hidden away in an abandoned district, and the thing trapped inside. The Angel. Twisted and forgotten, left to rot. Hungry. It needs Aubrey and Aubrey needs it- in exchange for companionship, kind words, and power, they have to feed it. They draw people into elaborate traps full of illusion and fear to capture them alive and bring them to meet their end- and an angel
Monster Hunters
Thom Butcher - he/him, 36, 6′2″ - art tag - goof tag
- Youngest son of legendary hunter Leo Butcher, and current head of the family. Originally wanting nothing to do with hunting, the untimely death of his father forced him to drop out of law school to prevent the family’s collapse. After his older brother Jimmy failed to live up to the legacy, he took the reins of the Butchers himself and currently rules Eden with an iron fist. He’s mean and cold and has very little tolerance for the supernatural, even going so far as to spurn most hunter traditions. If only he knew he was in love with a changeling
Lindsey Ortiz - he/him, 25, 6′2″ - art tag - goof tag
- After begging the Butchers to save his father from a particularly nasty haunting by a hag, he repaid them by joining up. Still considered a rookie, most of his time is spent on simple patrols and collections. Upbeat and friendly, if a bit crass, he’s well liked by the known local spooks, and less liked by his peers. They consider his caring viewpoint to be naive. While he does have the right idea, its landed him in a bit of a pickle; he now has 3 boyfriends, 2 of which his work absolutely cannot find out about
Ezra Clark - they/them, appear 30s, 6′4″/16′ - art tag - goof tag
- A newcomer to Blackpool- a hunter thought to be from a cult, with strange tattoos and even stranger magic, who’s considered largely untrustworthy by the locals. The suspicion is not necessarily unfounded- they’re secretly an angel, masquerading as a man. After untold millennium of watching humanity unfold, unable to interfere, they abandoned their post to live amongst them- to protect them, and to love them. Now, they act as a parental figure for a strange teen named Ben, and foster a deep running affection for a repressed local hunter, Jackie ( @bogferns-art )
Witches
Red - he/him, 34, 5′10″ - art tag - goof tag
- Widely considered Leo Butcher’s true prodigy, Red is not quite what he seems. A fae changeling, switched out at birth to neglectful human parents, he has a whole host of strange abilities, and a deep natural affinity for magic. Taken in by Leo at a young age, he was raised closely alongside the brothers, and trained to hunt. While he considers himself more of a witch, he has a strong dedication to Leo, his family, and his teachings. Despite this, he left Eden somewhat behind to put some distance between him and Thom. It didn’t work very well, and he’s returned to try and keep things stable
Ghost Hunters
Ricky Rossi - he/him, 27, 5′6″ - art tag - goof tag
- Not a ghost hunter like an actual hunter, but a ghost hunter like the Buzzfeed Unsolved guys are ghost hunters. Runs a small youtube show with Connor ( @bogferns-art ) and Desmond called Scared Specterless, where, true to the name, they basically run around haunted locations and scare themselves. Thing is, those locations really are very haunted- this is Blackpool, after all. While his information is largely incorrect for the actual in-universe rules, he has a surprisingly good hit rate for gathering evidence, particularly EVP. Outside the show, he runs a business called RPI (Rossi’s Paranormal Inquiry), which is similar but more serious. He’s extremely kind and earnest in his love for ghosts (and in general)- he really does just want to talk to them
Desmond de Ven - he/him, 26, 5′9″ - art tag - goof tag
- Close friend of Ricky’s and the official photographer for SS and RPI. He hates being on camera himself, but his dry off-camera quips make him a fan favourite. His love of photography extends into most aspects of his life, with his personal art as well as his day job as a crime scene photographer, but its always run alongside his passion for ghosts. After growing up in an extremely haunted house on the edge of The Lake, he has an affinity for sensing and capturing them- as a more unfortunate side effect, he’s plagued by prophetic dreams, which leave him chronically exhausted
Monsters and Beasts
Stan Franke - he/him, 9′3″ sans horns - art tag - goof tag
- An old and once prolific crossroads demon, Stan (true name ancient and unpronounceable) is. Well. I guess you could say he’s retired. Considered pathetic and lazy by most other demons, he really just got soft- his deals stopped being as harsh as they should’ve been, and he gave more than he gained. After falling into obscurity with summoners, he now spends his “twilight years” in Blackpool, being a general nuisance and running the local radio station. Few are aware their beloved radio host is a demon
The Magpie - he/him, 24, 5′5″ sans horns - art tag - goof tag
- For a demon, Mags is very weird- he was created whole cloth by another demon. This is widely considered impossible, as well as taboo. Formed in Eden by a deeply ancient, powerful, and obscure demon known only as Hades, he was made with a purpose- to steal. In exchange for his life, The Magpie was meant to steal anything and everything Hades and its organization required- while he loved the work, he hated the contract, and eventually broke it (after double-crossing to line his own pockets). Now banished from all Hades operations, he works amongst the supernatural underground of Eden, and has built quite a name for himself. After a strange job stealing blood for a young hunter, he’s also found himself tangled up in a bizarre polycule
Just Some Guys
Vince - he/she, 27, 5′6″ - art tag - goof tag
- An arsonist from Blackpool who’s only given in to his compulsion once- it killed someone and landed him in juvie and psychiatric care for most of his childhood and teen years. Now as an adult, he staves off his pyromania with other petty crimes and adrenaline seeking- namely painting elaborate (illegal) murals all over town, in places he should not be. He also works nights as a server at a shitty diner, if you want good coffee and someone to be mean to you. He doesn’t know anything about the stranger aspects of Blackpool. Repressing his sexuality and gender hardcore. Kind of a dick to shut people out
Active D&D Characters (not MM, obviously)
Micah - he/him, 28, 5′6″ - art tag - goof tag
- Scourge aasimar, hexblade assassin
- An assassin with a mysterious benefactor working to dismantle the oppressive dystopian government of his home region- until he was banished because he took a magical pact with another mysterious benefactor, anyway. Now he’s stuck running around the world with a bunch of dipshits making and solving problems until he finds answers
Azhael - he/him, 24, 5′5″ - art tag - goof tag
- Protector aasimar, wild magic sorcerer/light cleric
- On the run from their past and looking for security (and work), he and his twin sister Zalaia won a tournament to work for the king. Now, they’re caught up in a political shitstorm in another country trying to prevent his assassination, and possibly failing
Orfeo - he/him, 152, 8′2″ - art tag tbd - goof tag
- Firbolg, ancestral guardian barbarian
- Recently widowed and exiled from his village, he’s on a journey for answers and self discovery. He’s also managed to surround himself by squishy things that need to be kept safe in a world that’s quickly falling apart at the seams
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