#I Am Not Very Spatially Perceptive.

[sol-flo]

also one thing about me is that if i were in a fucked up house with rooms at impossible angles i'm not too sure i'd notice. wish it was like. possible. to check irl

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP, lemme pick your beautiful brain abit if you don’t mind. So i think it is really beautiful that jikook decided to enlist together using the buddy program. But no matter how much i think about it, i can’t seem to figure out why they decided to do that if they are not more than friends. Don’t get me wrong, i am not saying that people who are just friends cannot do the buddy program, no, they definitely can and they have in the past but my thing is, with the way almost everyone was kinda convinced that jikook had grown distant and were not as close anymore in chapter two, how do u explain them choosing to go together, being joined at the hip for 18 months? Plus they have to have talked about this at some point way before they applied. So while many of us sat here thinking they were not as close anymore, they were making plans to enlist together as buddies? Why would they even consider this if they weren’t really close to each other and if they were still so close to each other enough to consider using this option, why did they both sometimes act like they were a little distant?

I can understand not wanting things to be so obvious but u could really tell that Jimin especially seemed very…, i dunno, different about Jk in chapter two. I don’t know of i’m making alot of sense rn or if u even understand where i’m coming from (i hope u do) but i’d love to hear what u think.

***

Oh god. I wish you sent me this ask an hour ago when I was still sober because I really want to answer this right this moment but there's at least 6 fingers of Lagavulin in me. Sorry in advance for whatever you read below - I've been told I ramble and I'm more of a cunt when I'm intoxicated.

I want to say I told you so. It was clear that whatever distance jikook showed in Chapter 2 was self-imposed. It looked like a caricature of what an actual breakup would look like, in my opinion. And mind you, I've never been certain that jikook are dating. They might not be and it wouldn't make a real difference to what we've all observed them to be: something more to each other than whatever is normal.

Any distance that showed in Chapter 2 was simply spatial. The way I saw it, Chapter 2 was a period for each member to present themselves to the world as individuals. It's something I believe every member took extremely seriously. It's possibly one reason Jungkook agonized over his album to the point Bang PD intervened and we thankfully got Golden. Chapter 2 was a big deal for them. Necessary. At the same time, all the boys know the narratives they have in the fandom. They know there's a faction of fans who believe either Jimin or Jungkook uses the other to remain popular in the fandom, they likely know most of the least flattering ones floating around. They know external critics are also likely to conflate their individual efforts and motives, whether positively or negatively.

I think it was important for every member to present themselves as a singular artist in Chapter 2, and this was even moreso for jikook because of their reputation of being stuck at the hip and/or overly dependent on each other. So on one hand I think they were more careful about showing their intimacy because of external critics and perceptions, but I also think they did it for themselves. They've always had lives outside each other and they had things they needed to pay attention to in any case, with enlistment looming over the horizon.

But now that it's happened, it feels very obvious that if they had the chance to do the Buddy program, they'd do it. I think part of what you're asking Anon, is which came first - did they decide to 'appear distant' in Chapter 2 before they decided to enlist together? Or was it afterwards?

Personally, I don't think it matters much which came first. They have always and always were going to choose each other. Jikook excite me because they are literally always jikooking. I'm not sure if people think I'm joking whenever I say it, but I mean it when I say I don't worry one second about those lads because they are always jikooking.

Even while they were apparently not so close in Chapter 2, some of those times they looked tormented. What was Jungkook thinking going live, just to stare at Jimin's tattooed chest in SMF Pt 2?

What was that bit with JK naked in bed and Jimin saying he could handle him? Jikook were messy as hell during their supposed 'distance' in Chapter 2 lool. Whether or not they were fucking a girl on the side makes no difference to how I think about what's gone down in the last 18 months, and it likely won't influence what I think of them during the next 18 months.

[bettsfic]

hi betts!

do you have any advice/thoughts on writing about hoarding? especially, about being the child of hoarders?

with thanks,

from a writer researching the topic for their fic :))

as i am a child of hoarders, i feel uniquely qualified to answer this.

if you were to describe a minimalist's apartment, you would have no choice but to mention what items are in it. those are objects that define the character who lives in that apartment. what things do they choose to keep? a house plant, maybe. a zero gravity chair. a couple candles. a macbook charging on a desk. maybe in your mind's eye you see big windows and pale beiges and ikea furniture.

people in hoarder houses still live in those houses, which means there have to be spaces for that living to happen. one stove burner is cleared off. maybe one kitchen table chair and a small placemat. there's a clear line from a recliner to the television. a path from the recliner to the bedroom, and maybe it's a narrow, difficult path, but a body can fit through it. maybe the bathroom is totally clean but if you open the back door, the garage is completely full. you can't even reach your hand in to feel on the wall for a light switch. and if you could, you couldn't see the light.

so in a minimalist's living space, you describe what's there. in a hoarder's living space, you describe what's not.

a minimalist holds an object and thinks, "i don't need this. i can get rid of it." a hoarder holds an object and thinks, "i don't need this. but i might." hoarding often comes from deep set financial insecurity, the fear that if you get rid of something, you will never be able to obtain it again. those little plastic things that keep the pizza box from crushing the pizza? they make good doll chairs. maybe one day you'll know a little kid who will need a doll chair, and when that happens, you'll be ready.

the child of a hoarder may not grow up with the same financial insecurity, but they do grow up with spatial insecurity, which often lends itself later in life to control issues. it's not as simple as hoarder children growing up to be minimalists (although they might), but hoarder children growing up to be hypervigilant toward objects, their worth, and the space they take up. they may also be hypervigilant of themselves and other peoples' perception of them, and develop an unhealthily high self-monitor. they may become compulsive buyers. they may develop obsessions with a certain type of item of extremely high quality. for example, a child of a hoarder may have a collection of louboutins.

no matter what direction they've taken though, they will have an unhealthy relationship with the ownership and placement of things. at least, they will until they reckon with it.

what follows is a personal anecdote so i'm putting it under a cut.

here's an example from my life:

when i was born, my parents lived in a pretty big house in a terrible part of town. that house was full but not overwhelming. when my sister was about to start school, they decided that they wanted to move to a nicer neighborhood, but all they could afford was a small apartment. and so they brought a house worth of stuff and shoved it in an apartment. my father was a compulsive buyer; my mother is a hoarder. so my dad would buy stuff and my mom wouldn't be able to get rid of it, and neither of them knew how to organize an entire house of stuff in a small apartment.

ten years later, we rented a house out in the country that could fit all our stuff (and oh boy is that a story). but from ages 3 to 13, i lived in a cramped, uncomfortable space.

fast forward twenty years. my sister and i are in our 30s. my sister wears designer clothes, takes spin classes, has a huge apartment and a nice boyfriend and two cats. she works a very high paying job and is also a local celebrity. her apartment is clean. but once when i was catsitting for her, i was looking for something and opened a closet and its contents nearly toppled out onto me. i opened another closet and the same thing happened.

i am the opposite in nearly every way. to list it all out would be very depressing, but let's just say if you were to ask me what my greatest indulgence is, like the fanciest thing i let myself buy, i would tell you orange juice. not even fancy orange juice. just regular generic brand OJ.

my living space is a mess, but it's organized. people are used to organized meaning clean. yes, my things are out and scattered around, but it's only because i haven't put them away. you could point to any object in my room and i could tell you where it belongs. i know where everything is and where everything goes, and cleaning is the process of putting things in the spaces i've already carved for them. my closet is meticulous.

my sister has grown up to become clean and bougie; i've grown up to become messy and frugal. my sister has no problem getting rid of things, but she likes to buy them; i struggle to get rid of things, but i rarely buy them. and i don't think either of us would have come to these extremes if we'd had a tidier living space growing up.

[slutforalastor]

Say It With A Smile, Part 2

You remain a few steps behind the tall demon, humming a jazzy tune to himself as he leads the way to your quarters. "This hotel has undergone quite the renovation recently, you know."

You'd heard that the Princess of Hell had united the Cannibal Town under her banner and fended off the Exterminatus. You're a recent enough addition that it was to be your first one, but this hotel seemed like the best possible insurance against all future purges, if there ever would be more.

"Along this hall you can see the personalized areas of our guests," he gestures, pointing to a door decorated with a luminescent spider's web, the one right down from it painted with red bombs. A blank door, a deep burgundy to match the decor, is where the demon stops. "We go through great pains to make sure every guest feels welcome and secure," he continues. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about what you liked in your previous life, something to make you feel comfortable in your private space?"

You don't have much to say. You lived a fairly typical life, full of abandoned interests and failed starts. You worked your job, tried to ignore the fact that you had less and less of your time and money available to you with every passing year, and promised yourself that eventually, you'd find that buried passion. Somehow.

Alastor doesn't seem swayed at all. Ever smiling, he waves his staff, an aura surrounding him strongly enough for you to feel the vibrations. The door undergoes a change, bleaching from its deep red hue to an ethereally glowing white; everything from the trim to the doorknob becomes so without saturation you can only tell where it is thanks to depth perception. With a flourish, Alastor flings open to the door to your space.

The room is as white as the door. The only spatial certainties are the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. Lining them are a variety of diversions, everything from an artist's easel to a rack of musical instruments to a writing desk, all the same ghostly white. A thick haze, too firm to be smoke and too malleable to be a gas, drifts through the room.

"This is a very special something," he almost sings, animatedly shaping the haze with delicate movements of his clawed fingers. Like clay, it slowly takes shape, gathering focus until it is discernible; a tiny miniature of a buck, its chin slightly raised, its antlers full and imposing. "All one has to do is clearly concentrate on what shape they want it to take, and with some coercion, it becomes so."

You are enthralled, perhaps a little too so. You'd only seen a glimpse of the thing he'd made; your attention was far more focused on the demon himself, that confident smirk never wavering with all that he had done. This power was more than you'd thought possible, more you could have dreamt, even. And he wasn't even royalty. He notices your gaze is wandering, and his wide, red eyes find your stare. Your heart skips a beat when they catch you, and for a moment, you feel frozen. Like an animal in a trap.

He raises an eyebrow, having a little giggle to himself at your expense. "Goodness me. I suppose I should tell you, little fawn, these ears aren't just for show. I can pick up on any little change in a body like yours, and that little skip is no exception. Am I making you nervous?"

"Maybe a little."

He laughs again, giving you a smirk. "I shouldn't laugh, it's unbecoming, but it has been a while since someone has given me the credit I'm due. I like you, little fawn," he placates you, giving your head a brief pat. "Now, as hotel director, I stay quite busy, but if you should have need of anything, feel free to visit my radio tower. It's pretty hard to miss," and he guffaws at that, delighted by his own reference. He leaves you to your blank slate, and for a while you occupy yourself making your room some semblance of comfort, shaping a bed to your liking, a few important pieces of furniture, and creating a window in the wall, offering a vista you know could never be seen in Hell.

You're partway through focusing intense colors into your furniture when your stomach looses a protesting roar that reminds you that even the dead have to eat. You find that thinking of food changed the color you'd been focusing on, a gradient from pastel yellow to bread-crust brown formed on the vase you'd made a place for on a table. Ah, well, it gives it character.

You make your way out to the hall, in search of nourishment.

----

Also on AO3! | Part 1

[alectology-archive]

hey so i was wondering why you like annihilation so much? it is visually breathtaking but are there any other reasons?

-🦁

So the thing about annihilation is that I enjoyed the movie and the book in very different ways but I firmly believe that they’re intrinsically linked to one another. I’m a very visual reader and also had the movie’s imagery to fall back on so I really enjoyed the book when I picked it up - and while I’d say the book experience is the more complete of the two, I’d also really recommend the movie because it’s gorgeous and kind of brings out the best out of the book (even if it deletes some of the other good stuff, but I’m not entirely certain all of the book elements are easily adaptable to a visual medium). Annihilation the book poses questions like What If There Was A Haunted Tower But It Was Upside Down (spatial horror) and What if There Was A Haunted Tower And Its Internal Structure Resembled Human DNA (DNA transcription failing to produce a perfect replica… like a cancer!) and What If Alien Biology Could Copy You But Only Do It Wrong and What If It Was Intelligent Enough To Copy Your Language But That Came Out Wrong Too. Annihilation is like if a book was about artificial intelligence but didn’t actually featured any ai in it. It’s like if a book was about cancers and parasites and scary holes. These are very natural phenomena but they can be threatening because of the circumstances in which we face them and more specifically because of our biased perception of the world around us. It’s also a metaphor for environmental damage and flipping the power dynamic between humans and their environment, turning the desire to subjugate back on humans. What if the environment hurt you instead? What if it killed members of your species off and experienced no remorse instead? What if it changed humans irreparably and used them as fodder to continue evolving? Fascinating stuff! I have to admit that I hated the hypnosis subplot in the book and that I’m very glad the movie did away with it.

The simpler answer is that ecological horror, body horror and doppelgangers are my favourite kind of horror sub-genres/elements and annihilation basically features all of them. I don’t think it’s necessarily the best example of doppegangers in media theme-wise (see: us 2019, fight club, solaris by stanislaw lem) or body horror, but I love it anyway. It’s the kind of horror that’s representative of the genre’s potential to be visually breathtaking while it’s simultaneously stimulating your fear response (see also: midsommar, hannibal) - it makes for a very seductive combination especially because looking away is usually the natural fear response that horror media evokes in its audiences. Baby horror fans might have fun with it if they want to edge into the genre gradually since it also has undertones of fantasy and sci fi going for it (and especially so if they’re squeamish about blood and gore).

this is also the obligatory reminder that if you liked annihilation you should check out i am in eskew, solaris, undercover + tlt (by tamsyn muir).

[glyphsn-noises]

if you are autistic , have anxiety issues or are in general easily overstimulated and overwhelmed like me , MAKE A LITTLE KIT.

I recently made a kit that is basically just a small pouch with a bunch of things that I know for a fact helps me with my anxiety issues as well as my dyspraxia.

A lot of people tend to assume that people with dyspraxia are not as easily overstimulated as other neurodivergent conditions ( although this is also due to the lack of research and awareness of dyspraxia) however that is not true and if anything dyspraxic people may be more prone to overstimulation due to the fact that dyspraxia mainly effects the persons spatial and tactile perception. This in the past has personally caused a lot of issues as I get easily overstimulated by hugs and touch and most importantly smell and food.

So because of this I present to the people who have been overstimulated ; the survival kit pouch!!!

I have personally put in :

earphones so i can put music if i am overstimulated by sound

a good and powerful smelling hand lotion because i am very sensitive to smell and it can even make me throw up sometimes

an infinity cube because i tend to overthink a lot and this has personally made my brain quiet down a little bit

a small stuffed whale because i love whales a lot and it comforts me to have something i love with me

a small bracelet i made years ago that also serves as something to relieve my anxiety

a small snack of something i am a 100% i love and like incase i am met with food that I really am not able to eat

a little sea glass my friend gave me years ago to make sure i remember that people do care about me especially during a panick attack this is most useful

this is all out in a tiny pouch ( surprisingly ) that i bring around with me everywhere that is also very cute so that it is also visually pleasing and bright so i am able to find it almost immediately no matter where i have put it

i honestly think this is the most useful thing i have made for myself and if you have any overstimulation issues or anxiety issues - this is a very good aid :)

[pangyham]

Bg3 is insanely fun to me so far. very early in the game but knowing ive barely started makes me excited at the prospect of more cutscenes, quests, and character interactions..!!!

i was just talking to my friend about how easy it is to REALLY project yourself into the game because of how authentic and variable the character + spatial interactions are and i was like. oh god i would not survive in this world. i think for rpgs in general i will never not be able to separate myself from the chatacters i play as just because i control them. but they will always be a separate, well established character with just a bit of me in them. it's different in bg3 because of how my personal ideologies affect the storyline and characters around me, and i think it's really interesting playing a game where your character and the world around you arent narratively static or fixed (it also helps i customized my paladin) It feels real! and this isnt new, it's just very novel to me as someone who doesnt play games like bg3, and i wonder what other games offer this immersion? my only exposure to open world rpgs are genshin and botw/totk but they cant really compare because genshin has a linear storyline and you dont really influence the characters and teyvat because the narrative is already laid out (and it also clashes against the game's open world mechanic which makes the world feel, at least to me, very synthetic). botw is more of an exploration game since its whole point is testing the limits of open world. so it's not super story driven imo, not to say it doesnt have a solid story. but i love these games dearly, and bg3 offers a really satisfying and fulfilling extension to what i truly want in an rpg

but anyway that was just a tangent but basically i told my friend how my paladin pangy is kind of.. stupid. *I* am stupid. HAHAHA i happen to fall for a lot of schemes and am easily deceived. astarion killed me because i didnt shove him away after letting him bite me, afraid he might die of malnourishment. got pickpocketed by a kid (and my character ironically failed the perception check TWICE. i had no idea what was going on until my friend in call told me j just got robbed). believed the fake sobstory of the paladins who attacked karlach and had to reload my save slot so i had the upperhand. i have 0 survival instincts...it's almost ridiculous but also incredibly funny. it made me realize that this is a game worth taking seriously (and that im just. really clueless 🧍‍♂️). but the experience is fun, and i like how the stakes are high (for the most part). i have Got to get my shit together i cant get jumped like this all the time

[mcclintcock]

hii im curious if u have an autistic hcs abt Jonah :)

he is so very autistic about music and video games, in helsinki (i think?) mike calls him at home and he is visibly stimming while playing on a 3ds or smthin :)

he's also dyspraxic/has poor spatial awareness which is bad considering how tall he is (basically canon), i go back and forth on him having dyscalculia bc obviously he was bad at math in high school but in helsinki he is good at helping mike w/ math thingz

he has perception issues, he has trouble seeing the big picture, possibly an autism thing possibly a brain damage thing (an insanely long brain damaged!jonah post is in the works at mcclintcock hq), i.e. when he goes to the skinhead club in georgia and literally doesn't notice the giant swastika on the wall

something he does that is so autistic is also in georgia when he tries to repeat an insult selina does but messes up because he learned all his social skills from mirroring ("i will destroy you and everyone at the kennedy center will take a massive fucking shit"), i think he probably had a stepdad or two who was weird and misogynistic and creepy and that's where he picked all that up because again i think most of his social skills are mirroring things hes seen people he thinks are cool doing on tv or irl

hes a huge sensory seeker, canon what w his affinity for loud music and flashing lights and how he wants to do the light show and fireworks! jonah ryan wouldve loved tumblr stimboards,,,,

he has no emotional regulation skills (canon)

yeah idk what else but i am 70% sure i will rb this later when i think of more

[learningeye]

What's the coolest fact you've ever learned?

Goodness, the "coolest", I am not skilled at differentiating concepts based on that broad form of "vibe". So, I will go with what I have found most interesting.

I remain perpetually in awe at the base construction of atoms, and how they function in relation to others of their kind, especially in that, at a sub-microscopic level, no physical surface ever truly touches anything else. Spatial physics on a multiversal scale which effect my perception of the very nature of reality are the "coolest" facts, to me.

[tokiro07]

Sigh, why do keep saying I finished with the Negation ideas when I keep coming up with more? Just gonna send them wherever I got them or remenber them since I forgot about these ones:

Unpermanent: Any sort of physical change the user do their surroundings will be reversed to it's previous state the moment they aren't touching it. Things they broken will be repaired, things they moved will come back to their place and even lethal wounds will instantly heal. (This is not based off Kumagawa All Fiction, I thought of it before reading medaka).

Unreliable: Any and all statements say by the user will be accepted by everyone who hear them as false, no matter all the evidence of the contrary.

Unblunt: The user can make anything turn incredibly sharp even if it shouldn't be possible with the materials. (Kinda simple I know, but my creativity has limits).

Unreachable: Anyone who tries to approach the user will experience a spatial distortion that greatly increases the distance between them making it impossible to get closer even if the actual space doesn't seem to be changed. (I fell like I couldn't explain this one very well).

Undistorted: The user is not affected by any and all forms of disguising or hide the truth. They can hear the true under lies, see clearly through disguises and illusions and any ability that change ones perception of the world has no effect.

Unorganic: The user can turn parts of their body artificial like that of a robot or cyborg, once this done that part can't be changed back. With enough engineering knowledge, the artificial parts can be replicated if lost or even augmented.

Untamed: The user can make animals turn into stronger and more aggressive version of themselves, works better on domestic ones. Can work on people if the user think of humans as just more advanced animals.

Unforgivable: Damage caused to the user by someone else will be mirroed on their own bodies. The damage will be amplified based on how much the user likes their attacker.

Uncruelty: When the user sees an injury in another person, it will inmeadiatly heal and they will receive it in their own body. (Probably there is a better name for this one but couldn't think of it).

I don't think you're doing your mental health any favors by berating yourself every time you come up with a new batch. You may want to consider just sending them to me without context, I'll understand just fine I think

Unpermanent: I see the logic behind this one, negating what would be a permanent change to an object, but I'm not sure that's the best term to get across the idea of returning to a previous state. Perhaps Unalter to negate an alteration, like a retroactive Unchange. I also struggle a lot with negation words that normally start with "in" or "im", so I see the desire to use them, it just feels weird to me to actually do so

Unreliable: I've been trying to think of an idea for Unreliable for a while that makes objects, attacks, etc. fail in critical moments, sort of like an Unluck for non-living things (i.e. a gun misfires or jams at point blank range, a sword shatters, a car won't start, etc.) but I couldn't think of a scenario to use it in during my Negator Casting. When used for a person, though, I would think that Unreliable would imply more of a Cassandra Truth situation where the target is temporarily rendered "unreliable" to others, no matter how well-trusted they are or how obvious the truth they're telling is. For your idea, I would say Undoubt works more accurately, negating the feeling of doubt in others who hear the user lie

Unblunt: I like it, I just wish I could think of a better word for it. However, I've resorted to "Unsick" and other definitive not-words myself, so I'm not going to complain. It also brings to mind its counterpart, Unsharpen, which causes anything sharp to become dull

Unreachable: I think you explained it fine, it's a weaponized Zeno's Paradox, like the Green Baby in Jojo or Gojo's Limitless in JJK. Always a fan of that one, amazed I didn't think of it first

Undistorted: love it, it's super practical for pretty much any non-combat interaction. Sounds useless for combat at first, but when everyone else is caught in the dream eater and being shown their own horrid deaths at the hands of their loved ones or whatever personal hell they fear most, they'll WISH they had the ability to be sober no matter how much booze they down

Unorganic: another "in" example, I went with Unnatural for the same basic idea in my Dangan Ronpa post. On that note, I really don't think that was the best choice for Soda's Rule, but it was getting late and I really had nothing, so I went with that because he made the mini Nidai robot and really no other reason. Back on topic, I like it

Untamed: I used a self-targeting version of this for Yamato in one of my One Piece posts, but mostly in an attempt to find another way to turn a Zoan Devil Fruit into a Negator ability. Man, those did NOT make it easy on me: Unhuman, Untamed, Unevolved...I really don't think I could come up with any more that would allow the user to become animalistic

Unforgivable: I see the correlation between damage sharing and unforgiveness, it gives the impression of this being a vengeful ability, but I'm having some trouble seeing how it's negating forgiveness specifically. I guess in the sense that the attacker isn't getting away scot-free, negating the opportunity to be forgiven? It's a bit heady, perhaps Unsafe would get across the idea a bit better? Hurting the holder of Unsafe will always incur damage, so it's better not to attack them at all

Uncruelty: a reverse of your Unforgivable idea, huh? Not only that, but it's a healing technique with an explicit drawback, so it's a lot more interesting than just letting other characters get away with grievous wounds. I do think that kind of makes it not a true "Negation" though as the wounds aren't being erased, they're being transferred elsewhere, which isn't usually how Negator abilities work. Still, it's fun, I'd have fun seeing how such a Negator would work around and evolve this ability. I would shorten it to Uncruel personally, but it doesn't feel like it matters too much. Alternative, Unwound (as in removing wounds not like unwinding a cord), or reversing Unharm to be a healing technique instead of a defensive technique

[chriirahluvr]

Europa: A Shallow Speculation on Theoretical Life

So I am in a mission design class this whole year, a very fun experience! We are honed in on Europa, which has led to me doing so much research specifically on Europa's surface and theorized subsurface ocean and its ability to house life. 

I can make a million information posts about the process of life detection but I just want to make a silly overview of what I think life on Europa would look like if it were to exist! Just some fun speculative biology stuff, maybe with some art to come at a later date if I'm feeling inspired. 

But, for today, I will just be setting some general rules!

All complex life would be aquatic or semi-aquatic at the very least, thanks to the four kilometers of ice separating the ocean from the EXTREMELY irradiated surface. I'm sure some rogue microorganisms could climb their way to the surface thanks to Europa's seismic activity, but the moon's surface is absolutely not suited to house life. 

Europa's ocean is deep. When I say deep, I mean DEEP. It is estimated to be anywhere from 60 to 150 kilometers deep (40-100 miles). For context, Earth's Mariana Trench is just over 11 kilometers deep. That is just shy of 7 miles. I would be tempted to say that skin pigmentation would also be nonexistent, but radiation may lead to pigment being beneficial! I have found no sources about radiation levels within the ocean though, so this is something I am on the fence about. The pressure present at the bottom of the ocean also means that squishy anatomy would be preferred, at least at the ocean's floor! 

Thanks to the 15 kilometer ice crust and a low amount of sunlight, eyes would serve little to no evolutionary purpose, at least for getting around (I will elaborate more later :D ). The primary sense Europa's critters would likely rely on is echolocation, which they would perceive as a "visual" environments kind of analogous to imaging sonar, see above! However, it would likely be much fuzzier of an image. Visual sonar is done through multiple scans over time, which would not be an efficient way to see your environment for an organism just trying to get around. They would just see vague shapes, which get more defined the closer they are. No color perception is allowed either, but it would be the best way to gather spatial information in a pitch black aquatic environment.

If reproduction is not asexual, I believe extreme sexual dimorphism would exist and also that sexual selection would primarily rely on sound. Perhaps some natural predators would learn to replicate the fuzzy appearance and mating call of its preferred prey as a way to lure in easy targets, or perhaps some species would even evolve primitive eyes and bioluminescence as a secondary sexual selection method, and as a way to weed out predators. They would not “see” the light, but rather sense it as a vibration. So, in essence, some animals may “hear”, more like feel, colors. 

Now, about semi-aquatic Europan life!

I can imagine some ice-burrowing species emerging, as a sort of way to escape the chaos of an open ocean. They probably would not live too much higher than a few feet into the ice, however. They would likely have fatty bodies in order to effectively brave the cold, and thus would probably be scavengers or predators. I think the idea of some animals forming ant-like colonies within the ice surface is a fun one! Some predators adapted to traversing these burrows for easy prey would likely emerge from this as well. Unfortunately, a Europan ice ecosystem runs on the assumption that the ice which meets the ocean is the correct texture for animals to feasibly break through with the right evolutionary umph. The speculation is entertaining, though!

A lot of Europan life would probably be similar to fungi or algae on earth. This is because there is no feasible way to photosynthesize, but there are possible energy and mineral sources theorized to exist in the form of hydrothermal vents. Perhaps a colony would grow, with ‘roots' of some kind near a hydrothermal area, and “leaves” spread around to intake resources. Maybe carnivorous flora would exist in this way too! Algae type of organisms would likely just spread around hydrothermally active areas, and “photosynthesize” using the light produced by vents on the seafloor. Lots of small herbivores might feast on this algae, and become a food source for predators. A fun ecosystem!

Again, all of this speculation is just for fun :) It is not SUPER realistic, but as an enjoyer of speculative biology I like allowing my mind to wander while doing all my research for class. Perhaps I might start working on some phylogenetic trees in my free time. I may post some fun Europa science overviews and some of the graphics we are producing for our Huntsville presentation! 

xoxo,

Zofia

[osmoticeel]

rules: pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. then tag ten people.

I wasn’t tagged and I don’t tag people but if anyone does this because of me please @ me in it! I wanna see what you have to share ✨

All of these are WIPs to varying degrees. Also very few of my WIPs have names 😅 I'm posting this in the hope that it encourages me to work on more than just the ultralong ones.

Twilight (the Enterprise episode) (Hoshi/T’pol)

T'pol's reflection in the mirror above the dresser is unfamiliar - her hair is long, and while she slept hairs have come loose and frizzy from the braid down her back. The defined edges of her face and body have softened ever so slightly, though she doesn't feel weak. Her eyes look wider, maybe a little unfocused - or a little crazed.

She's aged – not much, but a noticeable amount. Last night, she was sixty-four years old, first officer of the Enterprise. She was on her way to engineering, taking short, measured steps on unsteady feet, deep breaths, vertigo making the walls close in. The floor lurched – a spatial anomaly or her own perception? – she fell, and— and— nothing.

She steps closer to the mirror, trying to make sense of the gap between her image of herself and the woman in the mirror, and notices a note on the dresser. The paper is beginning to yellow with age, but the formal Vulcan handwriting is undeniably hers.

T'pol, daughter of T'les, know that I am you, though you have forgotten me.

Emergent Properties (Hoshi/T’pol, Vox Sola)

Hoshi knew her vices all too well, and she never considered pride to be one of them.

She took pride in her work, yes, because she was hardworking and focused and believed nothing was worth doing that wasn’t worth doing right. But she was also (consciously, willfully) friendly, and helpful, and humble. She didn’t like being wrong, but she was happy to accept it as something she could learn from. She knew what she didn’t know.

And yet none of that seemed to matter.

The Vulcan Word for Love (Hoshi/T’pol)

“How do you say I love you in Vulcan?”

T’pol’s mouth is dry, and she freezes, unable to do anything but stare, feeling like an ambushed gormagander. She is not prepared for that question. But it is not the Vulcan way to lie, and so she tells the truth as she knows it:

“We don’t.”

She feels Hoshi sag in her arms. There’s a part of her that wants to draw Hoshi in closely, to say T’pol can try to be human for her. There’s a part of her that can feel, intensely, how those words hurt, not for the explicit meaning itself, but for everything implied by it. And what those words imply is equally clear, echoed across the bond they share, etching itself into T’pol’s mind like acid.

Vulcans do not love to begin with.

It is extremely fortunate that Vulcans require little sleep, because even as she tries to meditate in Hoshi’s arms, she finds herself drawn back to that thought. It haunts her with the fiery intensity of all Vulcan emotions, until morning.

These Are the Voyages (gen, Voy/Ent crossover)

“It’s not educational, it’s an adventure that just happens to be based in historical fact.” Harry paused to smile knowingly. “And besides, I think you’ll find you like history a lot better when you’re a part of it.”

Tom raised his eyebrows and went back to eating.

B’elanna slid in between them and, without asking, picked up the padd and started reading it. “These Are The Voyages: A Holographic Window Into History.” Harry tried to grab the padd out of her hand, but she held it up in the air away from him and continued reading the description with a dramatic flourish. “Relive the thrill of battle, the intrigue of diplomacy, and the awe of exploration. Join the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise, Starfleet’s first warp 5 vessel,” she let out a small snort, “on humanity’s first steps into deep space.”

Time After Time (Paris/Kim)

It was a formulaic sort of conversation, a lecture Harry could have heard from his own father. Start with flattery – “You’re such a promising young officer,” – then veiled threats – “I’d hate to see you ruin your career,” – then actually get to the heart of the matter – “but that Tom Paris is bad news.”

Figures. Harry never had good taste in men. Luckily his common sense was usually stronger than his heart. His mother raised him right, he might say. It still smarts every time.

Harry was so distracted that he almost didn’t notice when the very object of his frankly juvenile brooding slid into the seat across from him, sloshing a bowl of slightly pink tomato soup as he set it down.

“There, you see? I told you it wouldn’t take long.”

Tom was bitter, even more bitter than the Starfleet replicators’ impression of tomato flavor. Apparently Tom never had a replicated tomato before, because, while Harry gripped the edge of the table at a loss for words, Tom took a sip and grimaced.

“Fourteen varieties, and they can’t even get plain tomato soup right.”

Harry might have told him there’s a reason for the fourteen varieties, that next time he should try the Bolian style, but Tom’s spoon clinked as he dropped it into the bowl, and Harry hated these conversations.

A Secondhand Truth (Paris/Kim)

“He misses you, you know.”

Harry was stunned, had been completely thrown off from his mental calculations of nebular dust decay. “Who?”

“Tom.”

“Oh. What do you mean?”

“He tells me you just canceled Captain Proton on him again, and now I see you here, hard at work on a problem that even I agreed is completely irrelevant. You didn’t have a fight, you’re just avoiding him.”

“He’s better off without me.”

“I beg to differ, he was much less insufferable when you still talked to him.”

Harry hadn’t seen that smile of Tom’s in a long time, the one he’d thought could burn out stars. He’d just imagined he saved it for B’elanna behind closed doors.

Fission (B’Elanna/Seven)

Janeway insisted, in her narrow scope, that human collectives and connections were no different. Humans were interdependent, she said; just look at the crew of Voyager.

Short-sightedness was an obvious result of living a single life, isolated from contradictory viewpoints.

Seven of Nine knew this much: the crew of Voyager was cacophonous. There was dissent. Members identified with two factions that warred with each other and only cooperated due to necessity. The captain had to command her crew and compel them to serve the needs of the whole, and punish those who didn’t, Seven of Nine included. It was intolerable. To be Borg was to know harmony.

Shuttlecraft 13 (Troi/Yar)

But she pitied Armus, as well. It was a heartless blob of hatred and anguish – negative emotions, but not pointless ones. They ought to be red flags the mind raises to alert itself to danger, that calm down when the situation passes. But there was no danger. Armus was trapped in a dark tunnel without an exit in sight. She wondered if anyone had ever tried to take it seriously. If she was going to die here, maybe she could talk it down.

“You want to play that game? That wasn’t meaningless at all. I know what you really want. Misery always wants to be shared. If you make someone else suffer, you think it’ll be worth something. It might at least mean you’re right. Well, that’s not how it works. It won’t ever make you feel any better. But if you let Will go, I’ll cry with you.”

Between Unforgiving Stars (Troi/Yar, someday)

“How deep does the rabbit hole go?”

T’ven frowned. “How is a small mammal relevant?”

“It’s an allusion to an old Earth story – Alice in Wonderland, in which a young girl falls into a rabbit’s burrow and discovers a world where everyone and everything is illogical. I was referring to its use in an old Earth movie, which asks ‘how deep the rabbit hole goes’ to refer to discovering concealed layers of confusing or incomprehensible truth.”

T’ven nodded, but she was obviously baffled.

“Perhaps a better way to say it would be, how many layers of deception are there?”

“Only the Tal Shiar can be said to know, though I doubt their left hand knows what the right hand is doing, to use one of your Earth expressions.”

Deanna smiled graciously. “You’ve studied human mythology.”

Waiting Game (Troi/Yar)

“Deanna,” Will said, and she could hear the unspoken, don’t. But he knew that if she’d visited his quarters, if she was so serious when she was so plainly uncomfortable, it must be important enough that she needed to say it for herself, no matter what.

“I don’t want you to think,” Deanna began, then swallowed, realized the way she was going to end that sentence – that I still have feelings for you – wasn’t fair, because her own feelings were out of her control, and the truth is she had no idea how she felt, not after the other day threw her off, but she wasn’t going to pressure herself to get her own feelings in order until she was well and ready. Instead she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and said the simplest truth she could manage: “I don’t want to pick up where we left off.”

Will sighed, crumpled slightly, but he almost seemed relieved. “I knew it was a matter of time before I had to hear it.” He took a deep breath. “I’m happy to have you as a friend, Deanna.”

[ducklyght]

I've always wanted to learn to doodle. But two things always stood in my way: my gross motor skills, which I had been diagnosed with since childhood, and my almost complete lack of spatial perception. As a teenager, I googled how to draw stick figures because I had no idea how to get started. My former "best friend" just laughed at me about it and my motivation to ever start was completely gone.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I made ourselves some awesome body paintings with body mark pens and as I didn't want to completely mess up, I tried to draw various very minimalist things as best I could. I am more than satisfied and surprised with the result.

Not completely bad for a gross motorist without an artistic eye, is it?

[tieshoeseveryday]

Final Hand-in: Summative Reflection of project.

Light sculpture

Virtual Reverie, a project focused on experimenting with projection mapping as a medium to display real-time environmental renders. In addition, the project dipped into compositional arrangements of 3D sculpture in an exhibition space, with the particular interest in challenging viewers perceptions.

I really enjoyed experimenting with mirrors as a material surface. The abstract geometric forms are intriguing to the eye, and create multi-dimensional possibilities in spatial understanding and structural representation.

Projection mapping proved to be a difficult and cumbersome process, with particular problems regarding mapping and ensuring a consistent viewing quality for Exposure.

Furthermore, the areas that lack pixel clarity due to surface stretch of pixel area, resulted in a flawed and at times unsatisfying visual translation of imagery created on real-time environmental renders.

However, I am not ruling out this useful method of displaying visual medium, rather realising that using for example LED screen would've been way more logical.

Thus a desire to improve and continue developing this research project has risen from the closure of the course. Further experimenting with technological applications in contemporary art.

In addition, I'd like to further expand the potential architectural route with my future fine arts venture. Personally, I have always felt a natural translation of visual aesthetic value/methodologies between Art and Design. Whether it be in film, commercial or something else, my desire to further pursue academic experience in a multi-faculty environment is seeming to be the most tangible and exciting idea.

TV Install

This work is a continuation of the first semester project, which was mainly focused on learning how to use the real-time rendering program TwinMotion. It quickly developed into a film making project due to the camera settings available on the software, that mimic very accurately how cameras in real life work. Not to mention the reality mimicking purpose of the application...😂

The particular video shown in the final hand-in titled "It all starts with a Greenroom" is the same video project I worked on for the exhibition course. I felt it was suitable to include this work in exposure as I was particularly happy with the final result. In addition, the practice of learning how to use this software was an integral aspect of my final graduate year.

Many of my studio research material from this semester such as Travels in HyperReality: Umberto Eco and TV Buddah by Nam June Paik directly inspired the video project that was shown at the Greenroom exhibition.

This particular project made me very interested in the possibility of venturing into a film or game development as a possible route to take. I believe I was able to create a decent portfolio worthy body of work that would help me get a foot in the door and gain valuable experience in a career that would be highly interesting to me.

[kristinahaviarova]

Skrz tichá místa spojíš se (Through the quiet places you will connect)

2022, various materials

Installation with Jindřiška Jabůrková in Gallery 35m2 in Prague, curating by Tea Zachová.

This exhibition of the work of Jindřiška Jabůrková and Kristína Haviárová (both from the Academy of Fine Arts) brings a complete change of space in the perception of the Gallery 35 m2. The exhibition thus becomes an environment of the very matter not only of the space, but also of the individual objects that we view when they are at rest. The artists fully complement one another in their style. Neither is dominant, neither withdraws into the background. Interest comes in things that are ordinary, essential, even materially interconnecting. Material is important here. It forms the main essence of the entire content of the exhibition. Both artists work very sensitively and delicately not only with material via its visual aspect, but also its unconscious one.

I contain within myself everything you need. I am animalistic. I am moist. I am pliable. You can knead me in your hands. Gently. Lightly, and I take shape. According to you. According to what you want me to be.

Place is always defined concretely, by means of a specific physical property and spatial delineation of matter — both artists consciously repudiate this. In their interest they focus on the spontaneous matter (energy) that flows between all objects, beings and entities, and creates a relationship between them. Matter (energy), however, is unconscious — we do not know where precisely it intersects and is reflected, we don’t see it, but we feel it. This substance transcends us. It reaches into the past, the present and simultaneously may appear also already in the future. Matter is also linked with the very outset. Earth as a source of nutrition, a source of growth, but also the ultimate end. From the earth we came, and to the earth we shall return.

I contain within myself all that you offer. I am a compound. I am dry. I am a residue of your physical self. I slip through your fingers and you ignore me. You trample on me.

Through the artists themselves the space takes on its qualities, which resemble a certain integrity of matter (environment). We perceive timelessness, a lonely desert or the metaphysical space of a landscape in which ephemeral living matter is played out. This substance defines also the individual boundaries of objects (which emerge), from which we may understand what we are dealing with — but the preconceptions of things that we have learned to denominate from a young age suddenly cease to make sense. As if we had run out of words to name them. These things seem to have returned to the primordial matter from which they originated. The absence of humanity, which we perceive in the exhibition, is supplemented by living matter via its everyday objects or the bedrocks of physical remains. The fluctuating nature of matter is part of the cycle of energy in this world.

Text: Tea Záchová

Photo: Peter Kolárčik

https://artycok.tv/cs/post/skrze-ticha-mista-spojis-se?fbclid=IwAR0b6p7QcOUb3P5aTX_He0nNnTJjhlt12ehwzBd50cQBG9aPb7Rd_1cggWc

[cdhprocessjournal]

Murch and Sayles

Question: What are "The Six" rules according to Murch? Elaborate on each of "The Six", what do they mean and how do they aid in storytelling? 

Response: “The Rule of Six” as defined by Walter Murch

It is true to the emotion of the moment (51%)

It advances the story (23%)

It occurs at a moment that is rhythmically interesting and “right” (10%)

It acknowledges “eye-trace”– Location and movement of the audience’s focus of interest (7%)

It respects “planarity”– The grammar of three dimensions transposed by photography into the two-dimensional plane of screen (5%)

It respects the three-dimensional space of action– Continuity of the actual space and where people are in relation to one another (4%)

In design, there are elements of design that aid the creation of effective compositions. In reading Murch’s “Rule of Six,” I find many parallels between his list and the elements of design. All of these are important but can vary based on context. Murch acknowledges that his percentages are a bit tongue-in-cheek, but he does this to assign a priority to each rule.

Emotion is the most heavily weighted rule. Although film making is a highly technical field, it is used to create art. Art evokes emotion. I would argue this is the most important part of any artistic work. If the cut doesn’t truly reflect the emotion of the moment, nothing else matters. The composition is no longer serving the thesis of the project.

With story and rhythm following emotion, Murch mentions that if the first two rules are met, an “audience will tend to be unaware of (or unconcerned about) editorial problems with lower-order items…” Although Murch separates the first two from the latter four, I think emotion and story tend to be very closely tied to each other and to rhythm. If the story is successfully advancing rhythmically, odds are that the emotions of the moment are being communicated correctly. Humans experience emotions in patterns and rhythm. Emotions create rhythm within a person’s experiences and these experiences become stories. Murch’s assigned weight to these three elements adds up to 84%. These are everything and the last three fall into place when emotion, story, and rhythm are communicated successfully.

The way I am understanding Murch’s term of “eye-tracing” is through the guise of composition. His definition of eye-tracing ties together elements of line, value, and movement within the frame. Visual information is a highly valuable and intentional storytelling tool, so the composition of a single frame or cut should present a composition that allows the eye to move through it with ease.

His final two elements are very film specific. I have a harder time wrapping my head around these. After his initial listing, he refers to numbers five and six as “planarity” and “spatial continuity” respectively. As a lighting designer, I am interpreting planarity to mean the way in which a three-dimensional space is treated to communicate depth and focus within a two-dimensional composition. In the theatre world, this is accomplished with the director’s staging and the lighting designer’s choices. I image film also has the added element of camera framing and focus. This also ties into the idea of spatial continuity. Because film takes three-dimensional space and communicates it in two-dimensions, film makers run the risk of skewing the audience’s perception of the space within a set of cuts. We only see what is within the frame and each individual cut should serve to communicate the relationship between objects and people in the space (even when we do not see them).

Question: How does Sayles' approach to the same topic of editing? Where do they differ in strategy? 

Response: Interestingly, Sayles and Murch seem to say very similar things but approach them from very different points of view. Murch speaks about editing in very holistic terms where he focuses on the editing process and final product. Meanwhile Sayles focuses more on the technical planning, setup, and effort while filming to set up for a successful editing process. I find that both are very valuable and should be considered when editing. Speaking personally, I come from a technical background where I focused more on the planning and setup, but now I am shifting my focus towards more artistically focused approaches to design. I find that my background works to my benefit, but also prevents me from focusing on full artistic expression at times. To find some parallels between the two, I find that Sayles’ ideas of matching tone, action, and flow over a cut are mechanical ways of achieving Murch’s “Rule of Six.”  

Question: What have you watched recently that have utilized or adhered to Murch's tenants of editing? What about Sayles? 

Response: I recently watched “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” While the film features very high amounts of digital creation of the world, I find that this film’s editing is done very successfully when considering the two approaches to editing discussed above. Specifically, there is an entire world introduced in the film that no audiences have seen before. The editor is charged with communicating the cultural significance of Talokan, the land, the people, and their survival, while also moving the story forward. Murch’s ideas of prioritization seemed to be followed within the film.