The Bots Are Bisexual I Repeat The Bots Are Bisexual

Puki will you leave tumblr because everyone’s acting like it’s dead now :(

oh yeah its SO dead.

1000 notes this post. Now

Mystery’s over guys. Everyone go home.

so……midnight mass

God what I wouldn’t give for a version of TMA where Prentiss is the protagonist. Not Archivist!Prentiss because that wouldn’t work, she’s not that person

But just… More of her. Seeing things from her perspective. So much of S4 was telling us that actually, she and Jon aren’t that different. We just fear her and love Jon because he’s the narrator and we’ve grown fond of him, and she put him in danger. Jon said it best himself, “Then again, I suppose I’m hardly in the best position to judge. Perhaps to anyone listening to these tapes I sound remarkably similar to Hezekiah. Or to Manuela. Or to Jane.”

And we don’t. We don’t see that in the moment because we, the audience, have sat through countless episodes with Jon and we have become invested in not just his horror story but him himself. Even if he’s a monster, he has been humanised for us. Prentiss didn’t get that chance, too brief her chance to speak to us in her own words. It hurts on a relisten when you keep this in mind and pick up on all the little details you didn’t get the first time. She had hopes and dreams and fears and hobbies and a life before she gave in to that little part of her, that bit that sits behind your heart and says ‘It would be horrible if you did this thing. But you still have the option to do it.’. That piece of your soul that the entites prey on that was in her, and is in Jon, and is in every avatar in the show and is in pretty much everyone listening. 

When you take a step back, they are the same. I think a quote from The Worms can sum it up well actually. The whole of Jon’s initial fear of her, because he does not understand that some day he will be the same as her. He is afraid of the woman who stood and knocked at Martin’s door, unaware that soon he will be the thing that stands and watches in people’s nightmares. “Poor Sam has no way to know his neighbor’s name is Richard, that he once struggled in a life as hard and desperate as his own. That his dreams of the light and painful screaming climb towards it is just as keen and grueling.”

In another world, in another context, in another story, Prentiss could be our tragic hero, succumbing to the call of that which says it loves her. If we’d just got there slightly earlier, just had a little more information, a little time to hear from her and form that bond. Jon comments on this, too, “I’ve been thinking a lot about Jane. She was the first, you know. The first I actually encountered like… like us. She seemed so… inhuman. Like everything she used to be was stripped away. … I wonder how much of her was still in there. How much did she choose to be what she was? I read her statement, she was… She was scared. I assumed she’d been possessed completely against her will, but now I’m not even sure that’s possible.” 

Jon knows, now, that they’re the same. For better and worse. Knows that she was just an innocent as he is. Knows he is just as guilty as she is. That they’re the same. But he, and we, never understood her when it counted. Instead, off the bat, we were told she was scary, and horrifying and dangerous. And she was at that stage. But she wasn’t always. TMA would be a very different story if episode one started in season four, and our protagonist, our character through which we view the world, was a man working on a boat. We would fear the terrifying creature of so many eyes that dragged his secrets from him. 

TMA’s framing of morality is all about context. Who do we empathise with? Who’s sins are we willing to forgive because the narrative had us form a bond with them, gave them a motivation and friends and a heart and soul that we can project our own desires and fears upon? It works so well because I love Jon. I love that character so much, I see so much of myself in him, I took my fucking middle name after him! But it does go to show that in another story, he is the monster. And in another story, we love and mourn Jane Prentiss. 

The main thing I get from Dylan Hollis cooking old recipes is this:

Recipes from the 1910s and the Great Depression are great, and I suspect it’s because they were made by someone with limited resources. But they found a way to make something good, maybe even something fantastic with those limited resources, and they wanted to write it down and share with their friends so that they could also make something out of saltines and potatoes. Recipes from the 1910s and the Great Depression are written down and shared in love.

The recipes you should fear come from the 1950s and 1960s, which I’m pretty sure are written down and shared as a form of McCarthyism.

Okay, here's my idea:

The British should put a time limit on the Monarchy.

Not like declaring a republic tomorrow, but deciding on a date in the future that ends the British Monarchy.

And there's a perfect date for it coming up!

October 14th, 2066.

A thousand years since the Battle of Hastings. A thousand years of this one specific bloodline ruling England.

Call time on the Monarchy after exactly one thousand years. Nice, and neat.

Even better: Charles isn't living 44 years. He'll be gone in about twenty. Now William? He's what, 40? Yeah, he can live another 44 years. His great grandmother was over a hundred, his granny was 96, William can make it to 84 barring accident or assassination.

So on October 14th 2066, William the Last steps down a thousand years after William the First won the crown.

Nice, neat, and fair. William gets the crown he's been waiting forty years for already, but ten-year-old George grows up without expectation of it.

Have a nice big abdication ceremony, even.

get to know my d&d characters!

(or: an ask meme made to supplement a lack of new ask memes)

why did they choose their class(es)? their subclass(es)?

before they met their party, what was their main goal?

what is their goal right now?

if they could learn one spell that isn’t available to them at present, which spell would it be?

do they follow a higher power? what are their thoughts on divinity?

which party member do they relate to the most?

which party member do they understand the least?

what are three songs that suit them?

do they care about their appearance? how much effort do they put into presentation?

how often do they lie? what situations cause them to be dishonest?

what skills are they proficient in? why?

have they ever been in love?

what do they dislike about themself? why?

what is something they love about themself?

do they trust their party? why or why not?

what are their feelings on the people who raised them?

what do they dream about, when their dreams are their own?

do they see themself as a leader or a follower?

what haunts them? what doesn’t?

which of the five senses do they rely the most on?

do they follow their head, their heart, or their body?

what is a promise they’ve broken?

how do they feel about nicknames, titles, or labels that have been given to them? how do they feel about their name?

which of the four elements speaks to them the most?

what stories do they like to tell? what stories do they like to hear?

who do they miss?

how do they mourn?

who would they kill? who would they kill for?

who would they save? who would they be saved by?

what do they seek out from others?

they’re given a blank piece of paper–what do they do with it?

do they seek control, or do they want less of it?

what makes them cry?

which party member do they go to in a crisis?

which party member do they worry for?

what’s a secret they’ve kept?

what is their favorite thing to hold?

what do they smell like?

are their hands calloused, soft, or something else entirely?

do they enjoy poetry?

what are they attracted to in other people?

what are three words they would use to describe themself?

why do they fight?

what do they need to learn?

how do they hug people?

what do they deprive themself of?

when they meet someone, what is the first thing they notice?

what do they see in their future?

what makes them smile?

can they sing? can they dance?

what is the most beautiful thing in the world, for them?

from whom do they seek validation?

which is more frightening to them: day or night?

what was their education like?

whose hand do they reach out for?

what animal do they most relate to?

what makes them angry?

what do they think their role in the party is? what is their role in actuality?

what is a quiet passion of theirs?

do they whisper or yell more often?

what kind of flower would they choose to pick from a meadow?

outside of otherworldly forces, what do they believe in?

what fight has scared them the most?

do they value mercy or justice more?

what is holding them back?

who makes them feel warm?

what makes them laugh?

what was the best moment of their life?

how would they describe their party members?

“These new Romulans. “Oh, Vulcans are the worst, and Vulcans ruin everything, and Vulcans try to take over your life.” It’s like, you know what, motherfucker? My First Officer is Vulcan. I know all of that. How do you know all of that?

I’m allowed to make fun of my First Officer. I asked him and he said yes. We’ve been working together for about three and a half years now and I signed up for the ship’s open mic night and, uh,–oh, thank you very much–and, uh, I love and respect my First Officer very much so I said to him, “Hey, we’ve been a command team for three and a half years” and he said, “We’ve been a command team for three years, seven months, eight days, fourteen hours and twenty-six minutes.” I said, “Do you mind if I make fun of you on stage?”

And my First Officer said, “Yes, I will permit you to perform humorous material about me on stage. But refrain from saying that I am a bitch and that you do not like me.” I was like, whoa, the bar is so much lower than I ever imagined. That’s it? Also, I wouldn’t say that. What kind of show would that even be? “Hello! My First Officer is a bitch and I don’t like him!” That’s like a support group for officers in crisis, with keynote speakers Admiral Marcus and Admiral Komack. Also I would never say that, not even as a joke, that my First Officer is a bitch and I don’t like him. That’s not true. My First Officer is a bitch and I like him so much. He is a dynamite six foot Vulcan bitch and he’s the best.

He and I have totally different styles. When my First Officer beams down to a planet, he does not give a shit what anyone thinks of him in any situation. He’s my hero. When I beam down to a planet, I need everybody, all day long, to like me so much. It’s exhausting. My First Officer said that beaming down with me is like beaming down with someone who’s running for mayor of nothing.

My First Officer and I went on a diplomatic mission. The negotiations weren’t going so well. I was afraid that the prime minister was gonna be mad at me, so we went to a banquet they were throwing. I’m talking to the prime minister with Spock–my First Officer’s name is Spock–he’s standing next to me. The prime minister introduces me to his daughter and he says, “Our planet would be proud to join the Federation if you would marry my daughter.” And I said, “I wish!” And then my First Officer said, “Illogical.” And fully walked away from me, walked all the way over to the drinks table and just stood there Blair Witch style. And I’m still talking to the prime minister and he goes, “Do you… Do you want to marry my daughter?” And I said, “No.” Even though I had just said it was my greatest wish in life. I was hoping that he believed me, that it was secretly my great wish and that I’m in an abusive secret relationship with Mister Illogical over here so I can’t ask for the things I want in public but on the ship at night we argue about it. And I’m like, “You’ll see! One day I’m gonna resign my commission and leave you and marry the prime minister’s daughter!” He’s like, “Illogical! You will never marry the prime minister’s daughter!”

My First Officer is Vulcan, as I said. I’m human. We have differences in our cultural upbringings and we realized this recently. Not with our kids, cause we don’t have any kids. People always ask us, “Are you gonna have kids?” And we say, “No.” And then they go, “Never? You’re never gonna have kids?” Look, I don’t know “never.” Seven years ago I got drunk and got into a fight with four guys the night before I signed up for Starfleet. Now I’m afraid to get a flu hypo. People change.”

day 20:

merry christmas everyone :)