#Maker's Ark

[docfuture]

Does Black Swan share any code or continuity with Vizier, Flicker's stock trading AI?

Why, yes. Yes, she does. 8-) One of Doc's purposes in allowing Flicker to use that aggressive an AI persona was to field test certain details that really needed someone very fast who could say "Hey, wait a minute, that's not quite what I wanted." Flicker helps Doc a lot with safety tests where speed is handy.

[illdothehotvoice]

Replaying Mario the Music Box with my roommates and.. yeah...hm

[caktoz]

Palworld is a good example that once again, dont just believe any tweet you see, do your own research

[thedoctorwhocompanion]

The Doctor Who Companion Christmas Quiz 2024: The Answers

The #DoctorWho Companion Christmas Quiz 2024: The Answers

Cast your mind back to before the Time Hotel! You’ll recall, in those dim and distant times, we set you a series of tough Doctor Who questions for you to puzzle out over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We hope you’ve jotted down your thoughts for each question because here are… Answers to The Doctor Who Companion 2024 Christmas Quiz! How did you do? 1. Currency a. The inhabitants of Pluto…

[galleryofart]

Noah's Ark

Artist: Edward Hicks (American, 1780 -1849)

Genre: Religious Art

Date Created: 1846

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Description

The biblical story of Noah’s ark, depicted here, is found in the book of Genesis (6:9–9:28). To punish people for their wicked and violent ways, God decided to send heavy rains to earth for forty days and forty nights. First, however, he instructed Noah, a righteous man, to build an ark for his family and two of every kind of animal. After the rains stopped, a dove sent out by Noah returned to the ark with an olive branch, proof that the floodwater had receded and plants could grow again. Then God created a beautiful rainbow in the sky as a symbol of his promise to never destroy the earth again.

This painting by Edward Hicks shows a long, curving line of animals approaching Noah’s huge boat. Prancing horses and a serious-looking lion stare out at us, while pairs of elegant, black-and-white-striped zebras, giraffes, camels, tigers, and hippopotamuses stand patiently. In the distance, tiny black birds fly down from the dark, rain-filled clouds overhead.

Edward Hicks learned to paint decorative motifs when he was apprenticed to a coach maker at the age of thirteen. Later he became a successful sign painter and a devout Quaker preacher. Although his business conflicted with Quaker beliefs-that art is a distraction and a needless luxury-Hicks considered his art to be an expression of his faith and created paintings that told religious stories. This is the only painting he made of the story of Noah’s ark.

[crow-man9000]

sonic movie 3 thoughts (spoilers below for. literally everything basically + these thoughts are very sporadic)

I cannot express into a fully comprehensive english sentence how much I love this movie. I'm not even kidding, I think it's one of my favourite movies... ever! it tops raggedy ann and andy, it tops nimona, it tops deadpool and wolverine, it tops the mario movie, and dare I say my sam and max spinterest may get drowned out because of this movie... I'm never leaving this fandom tho. I am chained here LMAOOO

I absolutely ADORED all the scenes with shadow and maria! the movies highlighted their relationship perfectly, and I loved how shadow and maria looked up at the stars instead of looking down on earth on the ark because well. yknow. points to the arc-shaped hole in the movie. when she died I kinda felt like that video of that hazbin hotel fan crying over angel dust but um! we don't need to talk about that ^_^

also I fucking HATED gerald. I know we're supposed to but like I wanted to punch through the movie screen and choke him istg HE PISSES ME OFFFFF RAAAAAAAAAAAH

ok. normal now I swear. the chao garden! I loved the chao garden, and when team sonic all wears those chao mascot heads 😭😭😭 THEY LOOKED SO STUPID (SLASH POS) I LOVE THEM

also they said. a lot of things a lot of times. half of the time I was telling my mum "THE FUNNY HEDGEHOG SAID THE THING!" even though she has no idea what the fuck I'm talking about LMAOOOO. especially when sonic said "ok hot topic" I know it was in the trailers but I did not expect a snapcube reference

THE MOON SCENE. I AM NOT KIDDING I HAD MY JAW WIDE OPEN. AND THEY ADDED LIVE AND LEARN??? YOU PESKY FILM MAKERS I THOUGHT THEY WEREN'T GONNA BE IN THE MOVIE BUT YOU GOT MEEE YOU GOT ME GOOOOOOD. that scene was genuinely majestic, when the sun rises over the two of them and then shadow grabs his hand and they go super??? hello??? do you want me to go crazy??? (spoiler alert: I went crazy)

eggman and shadows sacrifices did make me a little upset not gonna lie... stone didn't even get to say goodbye properly :(( please let stone enter his villian arc next movie I think he deserves one... at least we know shadows coming back!

speaking of the next movie, AMY AND METAL!!!! I was straight TWEAKING when amy revealed herself. movie amy looks so fucking awesome GRAAAAAAAAAAAH I WILL GO INSANE!!!!! who do you guys think is gonna voice her? for some reason I can't stop thinking of movie amy as british? london being in this movie has corrupted me.... the british are invading yet another territory: my mind.

overall, this movie was so so good and I absolutely cannot wait for the next one! sonic 4 here we come!!!

no, not you episode 3

[churino]

Design for Spice Whirl ( latte spice whirl )

A whirl where everything went right for her in life, she actually gets to be a watch maker and cares for another whirl as a sister. The first ever bit of misfortune in her life was the xantium incident, but that only ever led to greater things

Spice is an autobot wrecker from the ark. Cheerful and energetic Spice loves to be helpful and care for others, but having lived a life of relative luxury compared to the other autobots, she grew fascinated with people from an outsiders point of view, not quite a psychologist, Spice Whirl likes to entertain herself by purposely acting strange to see people's reaction to certain things. Enjoying being the center of attention and pushing her friends to confront things about themselves and become better than they were before

Recently however she has picked up an violent knee biting chaos gremlin otherwise known as her sister, the other Whirl. Enthusiastic to a fault, Spice wants to temper Whirl's enthusiasm in the life of a wrecker, reasoning manufacturing and invention can give her the action she craves without putting her in too much danger, but Whirl dreams of breaking noses, (likely because she doesn't have one)

On earth Spice consistently works with her fellow wrecker Leadfoot as the autobot rotorforce sub team standing out as anti chemical weapon specialists, the two couldn't be more different, a literal ray of sunshine that hasn't suffered a day in her life and the world's most tormented rudest man, but unlikely as it seems the two have a really good friendship and work together like a well oiled machine. the world leadfoot wants to create is one where everyone can live Spice's life, and the world Spice wants to create is one where everyone can grow and improve like leadfoot.

[tyrantisterror]

A couple months ago, one of the kids at the daycare brought in a D&D starter set and asked me to DM a game for him and some of the other kids in my class. Now, I had considered doing this in the past, but written it off for a variety of reasons, mainly asusming it'd be a couple days of chaos before the kids get sick of all the math involved and lose interest. But if a kid broaches an idea and others seem on board, I feel it's kind of my duty to at least try it.

So far my assumptions have been... mostly correct? Like, 70% of my predictions have come true, it is chaos, ten-years olds are the most murder-happy murder hobo PCs you could possibly imagine, and they've really been pushing my improv skills to their absolute limits with the choices they've made (and the constrictions I have on me as a daycare teacher). But they haven't gotten bored with the math, and they absolutely love playing the game still, which is nice. I like it when my students are passionate about something.

Anyway, I bring this up because seeing how children play with D&D canon has made me realize one critical fact:

D&D needs a Mons Game spinoff.

Kids love monsters. This is not my bias, it is something that has been categorically proven to me in my four years of working at a daycare. Every kid loves the idea of weird, impossible creatures, and they love the idea of befriending a whole horde of those creatures even more so. One of my kids in the daycare D&D campaign is making it his goal to find and tame every monster he can find in the kid-friendly monster manuals I bought for the class. He wants a Tarasque and a Bullete and an Owlbear and on and on and on, and keeps proposing tactics for capturing them based on his time playing Ark: Survival Evolved, a game where you can tame dinosaurs and mythic beasts while trying to survive a wild world full of danger and obstacles.

And it turns out that, while the mechanics of D&D don't support this, the philosophy of how its settings are structured according to those mechanics does. D&D is filled with hundreds of wild and imaginative monsters, all with distinct appearances, habits, adaptations, and environmental needs. The need to make the "dungeons" part of D&D interesting has required it to build really interesting monster ecosystems, and, much like mons games, the need to keep players buying new content has resulted in them building a vast library of creatures, because selling $50 books containing a slew of new monsters is a pretty guaranteed way to get money. D&D may not be a mons game, but it's accidentally made its setting perfectly suited to be one.

And what a money-maker that would be! Skew it more towards a child audience in tone, use simpler mechanics so kids can hop into it without spending, say, three solid weeks of afterschool daycare time crafting character sheets more or less one on one, and you'd have a game that would easily hook a younger audience while planting seeds of interest into the bigger game.

Of course, there are already indie TTRPG mons games, and I imagine some of them are actually good, but unfortunately they're not exactly easily obtainable on a daycare teacher's budget. And, you know, they wouldn't let you make a team of a bulette, an otyugh, a gray render, and an owlbear.

But then again, Wizards of the Coast continues to be absolute bastards, so maybe this idea is too good for them. Which makes it a good thing they're never going to read this blog post.

[pinkanonwrites]

Been thinking way too hard about Earthspark's world implications again...

Do the Transformers get royalties for all their merchandise? The toys, the comics, the collectibles? There's no way people can just use their likenesses for walkie-talkies and coffee makers without permission, unless all the merch Alex owns are knockoffs. Does it go to the government? GHOST?

Bumblebee can't be accepting royalties for his merch when he's on the run. Does it go to Optimus? Does Optimus have a bank account? Can he list The Ark as his place of residence? Who balances the Autobot's books? Lord knows Optimus, Megatron, and Elita are far too busy to do it. Hopefully Prowl. I don't think Wheeljack is responsible enough to not be funneling money into his pet projects.

Does the Transformer themselves have to be there to approve each merchandising deal, or do they send a representative? There's no way they weren't making toys of the Decepticons to go against the Autobots, where did that money go?

I have a lot of thoughts about this. Probably too many.

[goodboyaudios]

Hi welcome!

Questions feel free to ignore any

Do only a select group of people gave ¿ark? angels or was The Querian saga listener just very die-able

Archives calls the zodiac signs gods. Is that just a pun at crazy astrology nerds or the signs association with greek and or other gods?

Is the Bastards make branded or tattooed

Is Taurus capable of communicating or is he just existing. In fact can all ¿Arc? Angels speak or is it a matter of the maker deciding if they do or do not.

I have others but they're just basically asking for spoilers so that'll just stay on the theory board.

Hope you have a good day or night!

1. I think you mean guardian angels, right? Yeah, other people get them, too. They get picked through the decisions of the ArchAngel Council.

2. Actually it was me showing how much of earth's history is skewed from how it used to be.

3. It's a brand.

4. They have a slight telepathic link to their respective star captains, but they aren't fully alive, no.

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 54: Ancient World and Earlier

If you could travel through time, but only to see something for Research or for Fun, not to change anything, what would you pick? Yes, you may have a Babel Fish in your ear to translate.

These Questions are the result of suggestions a the previous iteration. This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct earlier time grouping. In some cases a culture lasted a really long time and I grouped them by whether it was likely the later or earlier grouping made the most sense with the information I had.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

[writingtraumaforever]

Something I’m Made For: An Uncontrolled Chaos Prequel

Notes: Hope you enjoyed this! Was listening to this song and INSTANTLY thought of these two. <3 I wanted to provide some further background for their story in that universe without giving away too much detail, and figured this was a good way to do it. Check out the Uncontrolled Chaos series for more of their story!

Summary: A song fic prequel of sorts to the Uncontrolled Chaos Series. This takes place with Alternate Universe’s Shadow and Sonic, jumping through events like when Shadow fell from the ARK to after Sonic found him alive and more..

UC Series Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

I use to float 

Now I just fall down

I use to know

But I’m not sure now

What I was made for

What was I made for

It was all so surreal in the moment.. so rushed, so sudden. Never had he stopped to think that perhaps he had been manipulated. Confused. Used. Never had he stopped to think his maker, a man he considered his father at one point, Gerald Robotnik, would ever do something as heartless and cruel as to take Shadow’s mind and reprogram it to misremember everything he once had with his granddaughter. With his family. 

But Shadow supposes one will do crazy things for revenge. His own actions leading up to this moment are proof enough of that..

If not for that pink hedgehog, he would’ve watched the world burn with nothing but pure contentment. Contentment that he had fulfilled his promise to his sister. Contentment that he had fulfilled a promise that was never real. A promise that had been instilled and installed into his head as though he were a simple machine. A weapon. A means to a brutal and vengeful end. Merciless.

Everything Shadow had done up to that moment was nothing. He was a failure. Built only with the purpose to cure and save, and he had done neither.

But he could do this.

He could save this.

With a newfound purpose, Shadow rushed to the aid of the blue hedgehog— the one he had learned and accepted he had been created to mimic. His creation’s inspiration. His reason of being made. His prophecy. His predecessor that somehow came after.

Space was cold. But they burned gold with the stars, fighting off absolute destruction to the best of their abilities. It was exhausting. It was taxing. But it was the most sure Shadow had felt of any of his actions since waking up from that tube. He had to save this world. He had to fulfill his true promise..

Sonic fought with determination, fueled by power and the need to protect those he loved. Shadow lacked where he didn’t. Shadow wasn’t made for this. He was a copy of what Sonic naturally possessed.

But the thing that held Shadow back the most was simply his will to live slipping slowly from him…

Sonic repeatedly warned him through the battle.

“Get back to the ARK! Your powers are weakening!”

“Don’t push yourself too far!”

Shadow ignored this and pressed on.

He’d give his all to make up for all he’s done. All the pain he’s caused. 

He’ll destroy the monstrosity the doctor created.

Nothing came after this. This was it for him.

The final blow was given and gloved, golden hands rise above their heads with a final and definitely “CHAOS CONTROL!”

The Biolizard was gone.

ARK was once again put into a steady orbit of the planet.

And Shadow could rest..

He had fulfilled his purpose.

He had no reason to be anymore..

He couldn’t save Maria.

But he could save her home.

And that’s all he had left.

Maybe he could be with her now.. wherever she was..

He found comfort in this as he plummeted through space, pulled by the earth’s atmosphere to its surface.

The last thing he remembers seeing was a shooting star reaching out to him, desperate to catch him…

He never reached back.

Then there was nothing.

Taking a drive

I was an ideal

Looked so alive

Turns out I’m not real

Just something you paid for

What was I made for

Shadow stood quietly as they stared at the broken robot before them, a shamble of a battle they just portook in. 

Sonic walked up beside him, a knot in his brow and and frown on his muzzle.

Shadow’s arms were crossed, looking the scraps over that resembled himself.

It’s funny, in a way. How this broken thing was a perfect simulation of how Shadow felt. Shattered pieces torn apart. Detached. Lifeless.

A hand rests on his shoulder,

“..Shadow..?” 

Shadow’s head turns ever so slightly in acknowledgment, his crimson eyes never leaving the crumbled Shadow-bot before him.

“…That’s not you,” the hero’s voice sounds firm, definite. Far more confident than Shadow is feeling in that moment.

He had been found months ago by the blue blur.. apparently being stashed underground in a base of the professor’s grandson. 

He didn’t remember much of anything back then, but he remembers some now.

And when they had received a worrisome invitation from Eggman himself, they had leapt into action. Never would Shadow have guessed the doctor had managed to acquire enough information on him to begin cloning him..

And yet here they were. Horrified at the sudden existential crisis before him.

Was he just one of them??

“You’re you,” Sonic insists as though reading Shadow’s mind, squeezing his shoulder a bit tighter.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Shadow hisses out, voice barely a mumble but bitter and confused. 

Sonic’s hand on his shoulder eases, feeling the hero step up beside him now and slide his palm up to cup the side of Shadow’s neck, “Hey..”

Shadow doesn’t move, still looking at the clone.

“Look at me,” Sonic instructs gently, the palm on Shadow’s neck pulling just enough to make the hybrid finally look at him. 

Emerald and ruby.

“…It doesn’t have to mean anything right now. You’ve got time to figure that out.. but you’re real. You’re alive. You’re you.”

Shadow looks at the hero who says these things with such conviction, such earnesty.

He looks back to the clone.

“…We should go.”

He needs answers.

They have a date with Eggman.

And it’ll be one to die for.

Cus I don’t know how to feel

“Stop it, just— stop!”

“Why??? What are you so afraid of, Shadow?! Why do you always pull away from me?!”

“I don’t need your saving, hedgehog!”

“That’s not— I don’t want to save you, I just want you!”

They had been on a run. Typical for the pair on late nights where neither could sleep. They’d inform Tails, who was usually working on something in his shop or nodding off at his workbench, that they’d be back in a bit and they’d go out for a run. Which would inevitably turn into a race. The two playfully jeering their other on, mocking and coaxing reactions out of the other with rival banter. 

But this time had ended differently.

This time when Sonic pulled ahead of Shadow at the end, he turned around rather than skidding to stop and spread his arms just in time to catch Shadow as they tumbled onto the ground. They rolled down a small cliff side that dipped into a valley of lavender and forget-me-nots. A place they had found a few weeks ago that they now cherished as a secret place for them.

They laughed, at first. Shadow pinned under Sonic and Sonic cackling over him as Shadow’s chest rumbled with a low chuckle.

Sonic’s smile was brighter than all the stars in the sky. His laugh was better than any wish any of said stars could ever grant..

They ended up becoming entranced with one another’s smiles. Enthralled by one another’s gaze. Laughs faded and left them in a compromising position, tension filling the minimal space between them..

And then Sonic’s eyes had dipped down to Shadow’s mouth.

And Shadow’s breath hitched.

And Sonic leaned down.

And that’s when everything went wrong.

Shadow had shoved Sonic off, immediately defensive and panicky and scared. But he hid all this under a mask of anger and disgust, one he often used as a defense mechanism..

But Sonic had learned to see through it, much to his dismay.

And here they were.

“You can’t want me!” Shadow shouts back, his eyes angry and stern on Sonic’s. The person who found him, the person who never gave up on him.

He couldn’t ruin him, too.

“Could’ve sworn I could do whatever I want!” Sonic huffs in disbelief, looking at Shadow like he’s crazy. Like he’s making no sense. Shadow knows he’s making no sense, but it all makes sense to him.

“No, Sonic, not this time!”

“Why?! What is it, huh?? I know it’s not that you don’t feel the same!”

Sonic’s voice cracks, but it still holds confidence in his works. Shadow doesn’t know how to respond to that. Doesn’t know how to even begin to deny it.

“I-.. I don’t,” Shadow insists. But even he knows his attempt to sound as sure of himself as Sonic does is absolutely pitiful. Pathetic, really.

Sonic scoffs, a humorless chuckle escaping him as he shakes his head and looks away, “Unbelievable.. Shadow, you can’t keep lying to yourself—“

“So what if I do?!” Shadow caves, diverting to a different tactic, “So what if I do, then?! It doesn’t change the fact that you can’t—“

Sonic opens his mouth to protest, but Shadow cuts him off by correcting himself.

“—shouldn’t want me!! You don’t need me!”

“Shadow— you’re everything I’ve ever needed!” Sonic argues, snapping his head back to Shadow now with a desperate need to make Shadow understand in his gaze, “Everything! No one meets me like you do in every way! No one challenges me! No one makes want to be the best version of myself I can be like you! No one!”

“You don’t understand—“

“Then make me understand!” Sonic demands desperately, his anger subsiding now for just pure desperation, “I want to understand! Why can’t you let yourself be happy?!”

“Because I don’t deserve it!” Shadow snaps out through gritted teeth, growling it out and making Sonic’s eyes widen as he takes a small step back.

Shadow breathes heavy as the steam in him slowly subsides into nothing, leaving him to deflate with a sighed, “I don’t deserve you, Sonic.. that’s what you don’t get..”

Sonic doesn’t speak, but his eyes look heartbroken. Not at the rejection, but at the fact Shadow really thinks that..

Shadow continues anyway, determined to make Sonic see. 

“I have done.. terrible things. Things I can never atone for. Things-.. things I’d do all over again if it was you..”

Sonic’s lips part with a shaky gasp.

“I’m not— I’m not strong enough to go through that again.. I can’t lose everything again. If I do, I-.. I don’t know what I’d do.. what I’d become..”

Shadow lives his hands shakily, looking at them as though they’ve slaughtered millions when in reality, he simply blames them for the death of one.

Maria. 

“You can’t want me, Sonic.. because I want you,”  he whispers as he lifts watery crimson eyes to find glossy emerald ones, “…and that’s too dangerous.”

Shadow is shaking now. Trembling as thoughts of bloody carcasses scattered throughout ARK flash through his mind. The echoes of screams and gunshots. Maria’s light fading as she sacrifices herself for him..

Whatever Maria was made of, Sonic is made of the same thing. Pure hearted selflessness.

Shadow isn’t made of that. 

Where Sonic would go on to be the hero he truly is if Shadow were to be gone one day, Shadow would burn the world and then himself after.

Sonic approaches him with a quiet, “oh Shadow..,” undeserved sympathy drenching his voice.

Shadow doesn’t realize it when his body collapses, knees giving in as he falls to the ground with a sob. He never feels the sting of his knees hitting the earth, though. Sonic is right there in a flash to catch him, gently lowering him to the ground to cradle and hold. Rocking back and forth as he pets his head slowly. Shadow cries against his chest, feeling pathetic and weak and absolutely disgusted by how much he hasn’t earned Sonic’s affections and receives them nonetheless.

He feels like an imposter. A fake. 

He is a fake, really.

But I wanna try

Sonic’s hand rubs down Shadow’s quills, shushing him as he cries and comforting him with gentle touches.

“…Danger has never stopped me,” Sonic mutters against Shadow’s ear, his lips pressing to the hybrid’s temple as he holds him.

Shadow just cries harder and selfishly soaks in all Sonic can offer.

When did it end

All the enjoyment

I’m sad again

Don’t tell my boyfriend

That’s not what he’s made for

What was I made for

“And you’ve felt better this week?”

The room is bland. Warm in tone but very much not stimulating to those who are easily overstimulated. This is a good and bad thing, but currently bad since Shadow can’t distract his gaze with something other than the therapist siting on the seat across from him. Her legs are crossed with a notebook on her lap, her eyes forever attentive to only him. It’s unsettling to have so much attention, sometimes. Especially from a stranger who is being paid for said attention.

He grunts, a small shrug as he averts his eyes to the corner of the room. If he stares at the line long enough, sometimes it’ll disappear.

He wants to disappear.

“It comes and goes..,” he eventually answers.

It took several sessions for him to even speak to her in general, the first three consisting of them each staring at each other:Shadow with his arms crossed stubbornly and skeptically and the therapist with a soft smile that encouraged him to take his time.

The only reason he ever spoke is because he had come home to a very distressed boyfriend who had gotten a call from his therapist saying Shadow wouldn’t talk.

‘For me, Shadow.. just try.’

And who was Shadow to ever deny Sonic anything??

“I saw on the news that you defeated another scheme of Eggman’s,” she prompts, head tilting with a small smile, “Surely you felt good after that?”

“You mean after foiling the plans of a man who only lives in my head as a reminder of all the failures my creator made?? Sure. Absolutely,” he replies sarcastically with an eyeroll.

“But you’re different, remember?” the therapist reminds, “You have to separate yourself from that. You’re not just his creation, you’re your own person—“

“I know, I know,” he sighs, shrugging as he looks back to her, “..I’m not a failure. I’m a person.”

“Good,” the therapist nods, sighing as she leans back in her seat, “..how are you and Sonic?”

“Good,” he says quietly, some of the tension leaving him at the mention of his boyfriend, “We.. saw a movie Thursday.”

“That’s good, I’m sure that was fun! What movie?”

“‘Chaos In Space’. It was terrible, but he loves the franchise.”

“That’s sweet of you to watch it with him despite not being interested in it yourself.”

“It’s bare minimum, doc,” Shadow remarks with a huff, “he’s done much more for me.”

“And that’s okay,” she reminds, “He doesn’t want you around because you owe him anything..”

“I know..,” he agrees a bit reluctantly. It had been a hard realization to convince himself of. “…Sometimes he looks at me though and I can tell he worries.”

“Well, he loves you.”

“Yes, but.. I don’t want to worry him. I don’t want him sad because I’m sad.”

“That’s why you’re here, right??” she asks with a little smile, “It’s okay to need a reason that isn’t yourself. And if getting better so you can be better for Sonic is your reason, then it’s a good one.”

Shadow nods at this, sighing as he leans back on the couch he’s sitting on, “..He’s a very good reason.”

Think I forgot

How to be happy

Something I’m not

But something I can be

“You should just live here.”

Sonic’s hand halts in the mirror, wide emerald green eyes meeting Shadow’s from where he stands behind him leaning against the doorframe looking at him through the reflection. Slowly, Sonic puts his toothbrush down, wiping his mouth and never breaking eye contact with Shadow.

“What??”

“You should move in,” Shadow reiterates with a small and hesitant smile, “You’re here all the time since I moved out of Tails’ workshop. You sleep here most nights. I don’t sleep well anymore when you don’t… you should live with me.”

Sonic turns to face him now, Shadow recognizing that look on his face as one that wants to be excited but is holding back for caution’s sake.

“Shadow, I—“

“I’ve thought about it,” Shadow interrupts, “I know this seems sudden and random, but I’ve thought this through. It’s all I’ve thought about for weeks. And.. I want this.”

Sonic slowly smiles, his eyes holding so much proudness in them that Shadow nearly melts on the spot,

It’s a big deal for Shadow to voice things he wants so clearly without guilt or shame. To voice them without feeling as though he doesn’t deserve them.

He wants this.

And that’s okay.

“.. I want that, too,” Sonic answers finally, his tail wagging rapidly behind him as he steps closer to Shadow.

Shadow’s own smile grows at this, reaching a hand out to take Sonic’s and gently pull him in, “So that’s a yes?”

“It’s a heck yes,” Sonic giggles, their noses brushing as their foreheads gently bumping as they wrap their arms around one another.

Shadow’s own tail waves back and forth in a slow wag, eyes half-lidded as he reaches a hand up to cup Sonic’s cheek. Holding him like the treasure he is, he tilts his head to press their lips together.

Something I wait for

His person. His purpose. His happiness.

Something I’m made for

[merakisphere]

Honestly, when I was a kid I had no idea what those transforming silvery-things were for. All I knew was that delicious tamales came out of them. Fast forward 30 years later and a customer unlocked my memory, just as I unlocked hers with my wire mandalas. Who else remembers either of these curious contraptions?

I don't make the tamale maker, but I do make the moveable wire thingamajig. You can visit my shop and my handmade products here:

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Can I ask for a quick run down on what damage ark has done?

ark: survival evolved has countless prehistoric creatures inside of it that are not particularly well known. when people search for information on said critters, ark results are often the first to come up. the way the animals are portrayed in the game, in terms of physical appearance, are extremely inaccurate. designs from the game have been replicated and used by many people, including professionals (such as documentary makers), for their own designs, perpetuating that inaccurate idea. Heck, the Stephen Fry documentary has Ark dinos.

the inaccuracies aren't trivial, when we're depicting prehistoric animals people do not have a frame of reference to compare them to to understand what they were like. If you draw an elephant wrong, people can look up what an elephant looks like, or see one at the zoo. we don't have that for the dead.

Instead, you look up an image, and you see what's on google, which is often yet more inaccurate images. And suddenly, someone has a very skewed and incorrect view of prehistoric life

then on top of that, because the critters ark has aren't well known, sometimes ALL the results on google are just inaccurate depictions from ark

this has real consequences. as a docent, I had just as many people become extremely disappointed when I told them that ARK had it wrong as I did Jurassic World.

why does reality and accuracy matter? well

reality isn't going away, and we have to acknowledge that. you can't just create a new one. we have the one and only reality and its consequences to deal with. see: global warming happening literally right now

the idea that reality can be whatever you want it to be or that opinions matter when it comes to facts is exactly how politicians and other people who desire control manipulate people. see the "fake news" phenomenon

people ignoring reality and how it functions leads to a variety of extremely bad things, including cults, hate groups, and - once again - global fucking warming

as such, anything that makes it seem like reality is more murky than we know - such as filling a google images result section with inaccurate portrayals - makes people question the fact that reality is, actually, unmoveable

in this case, birds being living dinosaurs and dinosaurs being portrayed accurately is extremely important for people to know because it demonstrates that humans are not actually the "main character" of planet earth, and we have to stop acting like it (there is no main character)

why do we have to stop acting like it? well, for one, the extreme amounts of destruction we've caused on this planet. for two, because we can go extinct, we operate under the same rules as all life (one such rule is more diversity = more chances for survival), and we have to stop clowning around and arguing about shit that doesn't matter and actually focus on repairing the harm that we have done to the planet and to each other

so yeah. that's why accuracy in paleomedia matters.

because reality matters.

and reality isn't up for debate.

p. s. I don't care that it's a fictional game that says its fictional, if people are coming to me with misconceptions from a thing and thinking they're real, then that thing has fucked up. end of story. and I had *so many* ark fans come to me at the Field Museum. so many.

[girlactionfigure]

🔘THE PENTAGON SAYS, GOOD MORNING FROM HEZBOLLAH - Real time from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

✡️Shabbat Parshat Noach (Torah Portion “Noah”) - Genesis 6:9 - G‑d instructs Noah—the only righteous man in a world consumed by violence and corruption—to build a large wooden teivah (“ark”), coated within and without with pitch. A great deluge, says G‑d, will wipe out all life from the face of the earth.

( VIDEO - IDF demolishing Hezbollah town used to launch extensive attacks on Israel - Kfar Kila, street by street. )

💧RAIN tomorrow with strong wind in most of the country.  Prepare for the first rain on Shabbat.  ( For those overseas, Israel receives seasonal rains, for most of the country there has been no rain since last winter - people store things outside that can be water damaged until rainy season. )

▪️NEWSPAPER CEO SEMI-APOLOGIZES.. (Amit Segal) Owner Shoken made a reserved apology. He did not retract his call for sanctions on the State of Israel, does not say to whom did he meant are freedom fighters? Hamas in Judea-Samaria? Islamic Jihad? Shoken read his words from the script. Suddenly he "reconsiders" his words. Amazing what an advertiser and subscriber boycott can do.

▪️NATIONAL BUDGET.. The Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar decided to vote against the state budget: "The treasury decided to delete the cultural bodies and sports support in Israel." ( The budgetary battles over must-have vs. nice-to-have vs. ministers defending their area will go on through the end of the year, due to war finance pressures. )

🔹PENTAGON SAYS.. The Pentagon: American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin talked tonight with Defense Minister Yoav Galant about "opportunities to reduce regional escalation". In a telephone conversation, the two discussed the demand of senior American officials to reach a solution to the situation in Gaza and Lebanon and to prepare for an Iranian response to Israeli attacks in Tehran.

♦️The IDF in an unusual official announcement: "Hezbollah rockets killed 7 civilians yesterday, Hezbollah attacks cannot go unanswered.”

♦️LEBANON - widespread wave of attacks overnight in Beirut, and Nabatia after evacuation warning.

♦️LEBANON - IDF airstrikes and artillery and the firing of more than 20 phosphorus shells in the area of ​​the Al Khayyam village detention center. A Lebanese source explained that the area of ​​the detention center is at a high point that allows fire control in the area.

♦️SYRIA - Syrian report, IDF forces attacked about half an hour ago Iranian militia sites in Kusayr in the western countryside of Homs.

⭕Overnight 2 INTERCEPTIONS OVER EILAT, suicide drones from Shia Militias Iraq.

⭕DRONE FROM IRAQ Shia Militias intercepted over Syria.

⭕HEZBOLLAH says good morning with a ROCKET BARRAGE (at least 20 rockets) at Upper Galilee towns.

⭕JUDEA-SAMARA.. 3 armed terrorist groups claim to have carried out 3 shooting attacks in the last few days in northern Samaria and in the northern Jordan Valley.  

.. IDF operating in Kalkilya and Shechem overnight - firefights!

🔸CEASEFIRE NEWS.. Lebanese origin: Great anger at the US envoy Amos Hochstein who did not even contact the decision makers in Lebanon before leaving the region yesterday and returning to the US.

[eleventhhourfactor]

I don't have much to add to the Sonic 3 trailer discourse that many have no doubt already said.

But I do have one thing.

Maria's look has been updated to fit the 70s.

Look at that hair. Look at that fabric. Look at her! It's like some Partridge Family shit up in here, and I'm all for it!

Goodbye 50s, hello 70s. That's the new 50 years ago, and I'm glad the makers of this movie were sharp enough to make note of it.

Also, did she break her arm?? What the hell, y'all. I need to know why she's in a sling.

Well, since you ventured under the cut...

I have music to share.

Here's some playlists I made of various tracks from the 60s-70s, because Maria's Mixtapes would totally encompass whatever the crew brought on board, from the hits to the more obscure.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5lErY9CO6FsbCaxI2Wkg6n?si=whZ1pD2zRcyAoM_AsAZAAg&pi=wzwNglFnT4yLM

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7G9Ksa5dZSggj72JEcJfoq?si=fn7I_fW-RFi4t8eBEHCUhQ&pi=5yFhN6RfS-CtW

If you don't believe she'd be spinning around the ARK listening to these with Shadow, then what are you doing here?

Anyway, I'm hopping around like crazy. I made these playlists months ago. I had no idea if they'd actually be relevant.