#We can only exist together - not without them

[booksinmythorax]

Some tips from a librarian for today and the future:

Go to the library. Get a card. Borrow things. Buying books is neat, but the books the fascists want to ban are still there, on the shelf, at your local library, and if they aren't, you can request them. While book bans can happen and are happening in public libraries, the vast majority of "successful" challenges are happening in school libraries. You can still get books from your public library, and getting the books from the library tells your library they should keep them on the shelf. Borrowing anything, walking in the door, and/or attending programs all help get your library more funding. Fighting censorship in this way is effective and costs you $0.

Pay attention to local government. Read your local newspaper, or the local-est paper you can find. (You wanna know who can probably help you read your local paper for free? Your local library.) Look up your representatives in your state and local governments, not just federal. Read their biographies online. Find out what they stand for.

When something divisive is happening in your local community (a book ban, a school board ruling on bathrooms or sports, a change in curriculum), show up. No, literally. Show up to the school board meeting, the library board meeting, the county commission meeting. If you can't show up, make a phone call. If you can't make a phone call, write an email. Your voice has the most effect on the local and state level.

Now, counterintuitively, is a really good time to get to know your neighbors. Do not self isolate out of suspicion. We are stronger together. If you need suggestions for ways to get to know those neighbors, your local library probably has groups you can join, or will start them if you ask nicely and promise to show up. Hand to the gods, a once-monthly book club or gardening club or crochet circle might be your difference between total despair and feeling maybe pretty okay.

Only talk about your personal identities and experiences if you think you will be physically safe doing so. Consider limiting your social media posting. Buy a paper diary. Talk to people in person or via secure direct message if you really want to grow relationships and make an impact. Educating others is great and important. It's also most effective when you have an existing personal relationship with the person involved in the conversation with you. Consider starting new accounts without your face or name if you choose to continue using social media.

Avoid talking about others' personal identities and experiences, particularly without their consent. Your friends, family members, children, and partners are not tools you should use to win an argument. Point to the lives of writers, activists, educators, and artists who are out if you need an illustrative example in a teaching moment with someone you know. Others' religious beliefs, immigration statuses, queer identities, and pregnancy statuses are nobody's fucking business but their own, unless they choose to tell others for their own reasons.

[felassan]

Mark Darrah video: 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard Has Shipped. Now What?? #/masseffect'

Video description:

"Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shipped. What happens at BioWare now? BioWare structurally finds itself in uncharted territory as it only has a single Project (Mass Effect) active. Chapters: 0:00 Veilguard is out, now what? 0:22 BioWare Structure and History 1:57 Growth 4:45 Consumption 6:28 Sustain 7:27 Contraction 11:14 Leadership Discontinuity 1 12:48 Leadership Discontinuity 2 14:14 One Project At A Time 16:33 Mass Effect 18:50 Will The People Be There? 22:18 FOCUS"

[source]

Key notes from the vid and the comments underneath:

"Up front I should say that I have every confidence that Mass Effect [5] is in fact being worked on and that that project is going to receive all of the support from EA that it might need."

Slowly and painfully BioWare is figuring out that it simply can't do more than one project at a time anymore. It's now a single-project studio. Mark Darrah expects that both Edmonton and Austin will be working on ME5 together

ME5 effectively paused production for 15 months in order to help DA:TV ship

Right now other than some DA:TV clean up/final patches, everyone at BW is working on ME5

However ME5 isn't yet ready to suddenly have a team of 250-300 people working on it, so while some DA:TV devs moved onto it, some DA:TV devs were moved to/are moving to other parts of EA instead. The ME5 team started, but there is a long way between "start" and "ready to scale" up

The ME5 team is figuring out what ME5 is going to be & its structure, then will get ready to ramp up to a much bigger team size

"BW, for the first time really ever, is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put everything it has towards a single goal, which is making the best ME it possibly can."

But it remains to be seen whether BW will be able to get its people back when it needs them and is ready for them. There are a few reasons why this might prove difficult. Alternatively, on the flipside, this degree of focus might be exactly what BW needs to move it into the next phase of its life. "Maybe EA is going to prove to be incredibly effective at moving people around and when ME5 looks to start to grow maybe there will be no troubles".

We will probably have hints of what's going on [with ME5] within the next two years. "I have high hopes for ME. I think that once they figure out staffing, BW being focused on one game at a time is probably great for the studio" (though there may be growing pains to get there)

Does Mark Darrah foresee similar issues in the ME5 dev cycle to what DA:TV had? No, because ME5 hasn't had the same two big directional shifts, and it has had no leadership discontinuity (ME5 paused when they went to help DA:TV i.e. it didn't continue without a leader). But we should only really start counting ME5's dev cycle from today. "It really hasn't been that long with a significant team"

The ME5 teases in recent N7 Days were made by a "very small team"

There are still lots of veterans at BW

Mark Darrah doesn't expect to be involved in what BW makes next

More under cut due to length.

BW has existed in different ways/structures through its history. We're currently entering into an "unprecedented time" for BW

The purchase of BW by Elevation Partners, the purchase of BW by EA, when Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk left BW, and the year 2017 in general are the 4 most important events (not including shipping games) that Mark Darrah feels have affected BW the most in its history

BW's strategy over time could be seen as having had 4 different phases: grow, consume, sustain, contract. In the contract phase, though BW maybe didn't realize it yet, the number of projects it was capable of running simultaneously was decreasing slowly/gradually. Why? Projects were getting more expensive, requiring more people/resources/time, and by this point BW had essentially burned off all its 'reserves' from the growth phase i.e. there was no longer any fat left to burn off

After DA:I shipped, Mark Darrah experienced that it was very difficult to find resources if your project wasn't the next project that was due out the door

DLC is a safety valve for processes and staff; a place for devs to work when other projects aren't quite ready for them yet; a place for the next gen of leaders to be grown. These things disappear as DLC does. Mark Darrah is pretty sure that the move away from DLC is coming from EA

In the contract phase, in 2013-14 Anthem was starved out by DA & ME:A. ME:A was also somewhat starved out by DA. Then when ME:A was in the driver's seat, it consumed most of the resources

In late 2016/early 2017 during the push to ship ME:A, as part of that BW began to experience leadership discontinuity. As the DA leader, Mark Darrah led a team of DA people onto ME:A to help it ship (the Dragon Age Finaling Team) for a few months. this sort of thing had happened at BW before but this was the first time when senior leadership moved off the projects they led to do this. this caused a change in philosophy in terms of the way that projects were run

When ME:A shipped and Casey Hudson came back to lead BW, there was then a much much larger leadership discontinuity with Anthem. The Montreal studio was supposed to move over onto Joplin to help kickstart it but it ended up getting taken away and given to the leadership in Montreal. but even if this had happened as it was supposed to, BW may not have been able to be in a place where it was going to be able to ship Anthem and Joplin simultaneously

Three quarters of the senior leadership on Joplin moved to Anthem or left BW. DA continued and became Morrison. The discontinuity had massive consequences for DA4

In 2021/22, this happened again in the opposite direction. The leadership team moved onto DA to help it ship, though rather than leaving some of the team in place, everyone moved. The other project (next Mass Effect) effectively ceased to exist for 15 months in order to help DA4 ship. In 2023 for the first time since 1995 BW was only working on 1 project (DA:TV) & there was nobody working on ME5 or remasters or side projects at that time. Now that DA:TV has shipped, apart from some people on cleanup and final patches, there is no plans for DA:TV DLC and "there is only Mass Effect". "Everyone at BW will be working on Mass Effect."

DA:TV being a 'direct sequel' would have been an unlikely path

With BW now focusing on a single project, Mark Darrah does worry that EA will get "itchy"

It'll be a [long] while to DA5 [hypothetically speaking, if it gets made]

MELE involved a lot of external devs

Shadow Realms was BioWare Austin and was due to: "partially places for people, partially a desire for Austin to get something new."

Mark Darrah expects that the devs are hearing everything being said about DA:TV

BW focuses more on consoles because of sales numbers

Unreal Engine 5 (which ME5 is on) is moving onto other EA projects as well, which may help

There are reasons why DA:TV is the way it is

BW has had external consultants on leadership and structure over the years

Mark Darrah expects that the next Dragon Age will once again be pretty different to the last iteration

BW Austin were brought in to help make Anthem. "What didn't happen (that should have) is that they should have had more directional control over the live service direction."

BW has had difficulty learning from previous games because at least one title was too far along TO learn. but a single game leads to staffing issues

Mark Darrah pitched a dev structure back in 2016/17 which would have had "3 fast follow games then a period of retooling"

EA doesn't really sell IPs

Chance of DA:TV DLC? "That's an EA question. And I expect EA's answer to be no". "I don't think we will see DLC. A new DA would be in the future."

"DA has been looking for larger audiences in every iteration. EA has never understood the franchise"

Remake DA:O or ME1? "While I think it would do well, I don't expect it to happen at any time soon. Also the skillsets required don't really over lap"

"The 3 previous games DAVe was are leaking through in places"

Diagram from the video which shows the flow of people throughout BW's history, made by a member of Mark Darrah's community.

[source]

[tinfoil-jones]

Gravity Falls: What Did You Do? Ch. 1

Summary: “Nine Lives Lee”, a rare Stanley Pines who ended up on the other side of the portal instead of his brother, literally falls into the “Better World” that one dimension that most of the alternate versions of Stanford Pines tend to be jealous of and hold over Lee’s head as ‘proof’ that everyone would have been better off if he’d just done what his brother asked him. The Ford of this dimension, however, isn’t quite what he seems. And neither is his version of Stanley.

Rating: T+

Warnings:  Language, violence, medical related gore, and mentions of graphic violence. Cross-Posted on AO3 Here.

Disclaimer: Reverse Portal Stan "Nine Lives Lee" is owned by @urdadsceilingfan

This version of the Better World AU is owned by @mother-ofthe-universedraws

Ch.1

This isn’t the first time Lee’s stood at the ledge on the roof of a tall building, looking down, and contemplating his life and what it’s worth. How he got here. What he’s done so far. What his next move is. 

“Halt! You’re at the end of the line, old man.”

This isn’t the first time he’s been cornered by cops of a different dimension, either. He never bothered to learn what this particular organization liked to call themselves. Eventually, all of the acronyms and titles ran together, and it’d still be some echelon of police at the end of the day. After all, if it sounds like a pig, walks like a pig, and rolls around in shit like a pig, it’s a pig. Especially since some of the cops in this world were literal humanoid pigs; this version of Earth was half populated by regular humans, and the other half populated by anthropomorphic animals. 

At least they spoke his first language, English. He’s gotten better at learning languages over the years, having a sharper echoic memory than anyone would assume just by looking at him, but it was still annoying when he would go long stretches not able to understand anything because he didn’t know the local language. He really should get a universal translator one of these days. 

“Hands where we can see them!” He heard a multitude and clicks and the distinctive bzzt of electricity. Lee knew they were pulling out weapons on him, most likely handguns, tasers, and good ol’ fashioned nightsticks. He was pretty familiar with all of those, having been at the sending and receiving ends of them all. This version of Earth wasn’t advanced enough for energy based weaponry.

Lee slipped his portal gun into his jacket quickly and quietly, turning around as he did so. He slowly put his hands up in front of himself, in a defensive, if somewhat relaxed, guard.

“Up in the air, dirtbag!” The cop barked at him - quite literally, this particular officer is some humanoid dog. He noticed some of them had their eyes drawn to his right arm; his robotic one. He couldn’t blame them for being distracted, considering the tech here couldn’t have been advanced enough for a prosthetic like his.

Slowly Lee started to raise his hands.

And then he flipped them around with his middle fingers up, and did a free-fall backwards off of the ledge.

This isn’t the first time Lee’s known the view from halfway down.

But they didn’t call him Nine Lives Lee for nothing; because this also isn’t the first time Lee had opened a portal without the cops noticing until he’d already jumped.

“GET BACK HERE LEE!” One of the cops shouted at him as soon as they were able to sprint over to the ledge and look down at him, expecting a suicide attempt, only to be baffled by a swirling electric-blue vortex floating there, right in the path of Lee’s descent.

“See ya later sucker!” He called back, still keeping both middle fingers up even as bullets whizzed right past him but failed to quite make the mark. One lucky shot got him in in his robotic arm, but like most parallel Earth bullets, it just clinked right off.

The portal swallowed him up, and collapsed in on itself, winking right out of existence from Dimension-BoJ6

---

Lee had complicated feelings for Rick Sanchez. They were friends, rivals,  begrudging allies, enemies, lovers - sometimes all of those things at once. It’s a long story, a few decades of a long story in fact. But he never underestimated Rick’s brilliance. At one point in his travels, Rick had approached him; he needed some parts from a heavily guarded facility, and told Lee if he could get them without dying he would build him his own portal gun. Rift-Hunting was long and exhausting and he could go months to years stuck in a dimension before finding one, so of course Lee took the job. He’d had his trusty portal gun ever since.

However, for all of Rick’s undeniable genius, for the life of him Lee could not figure out why that dumbass never made portals that you could clearly see through. The guy had an entire civilization of alternate versions of himself, there was no way they couldn’t have cobbled their big brains and even bigger egos together and figured it out. Lee was still convinced they were just that dedicated to their sci-fi aesthetic.

Most of the time, both sides of the portal created by the gun were oriented the same - if you generated a portal two feet off of the ground and vertically upright, it’d be the same when you went through it. If you made a portal into the ground, usually you would fall through a floor and/or ceiling. This wasn’t always the case, however.

By making a portal horizontal, and mid-air up forty floors, Lee had expected to continue to free fall; he would still have plenty of time between falling through the portal and hitting the ground to get himself properly oriented and get his emergency landing gear in time.

This time, the ground was less than five feet below him.

“Ough!” Lee grunted, the wind knocked out of him as he landed on his back onto a concrete floor, he also felt a sharp burst of pain in the back of his head when that also smacked against the dusty concrete, the blow slightly softened by his beanie. “...Ouch.”

Sweet Moses, he knew he was up there in years but did he really need to get humbled by a lower back pain flare? The impact has caused the muscles there to start spasming, and he knew it’d take hours to stop on its own if he didn’t do something about it.

Lee grimaced as he sat up, and took in his darkened surroundings as he reached down to his utility belt, feeling around for the right compartment. Appeared to be some kind of basement, with abandoned shelves, desks, and tables. It was dusty down here, but not a thick blanket, so it was not abandoned, just seldom visited. It looked like the room was slightly in ruins, because there were loose pieces of the concrete wall and floor scattered around. There was a peculiar structure behind him, where his portal had spat him out; some inverted triangle with a hole in the center-.

Lee's entire body froze for a split second; it wasn’t like him to let himself get caught off guard, but he knew exactly what he was looking at. After all, it was the very same structure he’d been sucked into almost thirty years ago, jettisoning him from his original dimension, and his twin brother who he’d just been fighting with-.

All of these years later and the sizzle from the structure he’d kicked Ford into, and the horrific, pained scream from his brother that followed still haunted him when he thought about it.

Rising slowly due to his flaring pain, Lee’s flesh hand pulled a syringe from his medical pouch, and his prosthetic hand brought his portal gun close to his face so he could read the console home screen for the information it’d gathered as soon as he fell into this dimension:

[€ΔŘŦĦ ¥€ΔŘ: 2010

₣Ř€Ω ΜΔŦĆĦ: Ň€ǤΔŦƗV€

Đ€ŞƗǤŇΔŦƗØŇ: Ǥβ-1100

₣Ř€€ ŴƗ₣Ɨ? ŇØ]

Damn. The negative frequency match told him what didn’t surprise him, but still disappointed him; this wasn’t his dimension. Well, you could only get so lucky when you set the destination to ‘random’ and ‘habitable atmosphere’. Although, hasn’t he heard of Dimension BG-1100 before? He had an inkling he’d at least heard that designation before.

Lee rose fully to his feet, grimacing as the sharp pain shooting up from his lower back, he uncapped his syringe and, clenched in fist, he brought it under his coat and shifted his belt line low enough to expose the skin underneath, and using that same fist as a landmark to measure below his hip. He didn’t bother to count down this time, he just gave himself the injection.

“⋔⍜⏁⊑⟒⍀⎎⎍☊☍⟒⍀!” Lee hissed harshly under his breath; he even didn’t remember exactly what that language was called, because he’d learned it five or so dimensions ago, but he was very familiar with that specific phrase because of how frequently he’d used it when he was frustrated, angry, in pain, or really didn’t like the person he was talking to. As soon as the syringe was completely out of the cocktail of ketorolac and cyclobenzaprine, the needle automatically retracted, and he sighed in relief as his pain started to dissipate. He put the spent syringe into a different pouch; he used to not be opposed to just tossing these where he was, until some people started using those to get his DNA to track him.

Speaking of tracking-

There was a glowing red dot in the corner of the massive room. Lee halted all movement, and strained to see what the source was, which wasn’t easy given the room being dark. Whether it was a camera, a drone, or some other kind of sci-fi security device, he knew when something was recording him. 

The sci-fi adventuring badass in him wanted to destroy it with his blaster, quick and easy. But Lee wouldn’t have gotten this far if he wasn’t practical; his blaster had limited charges, and he didn’t need to run out mid-fight just because he’d decided to be extra. There wasn’t just one type of quick and easy, after all. 

He did a precursory scan of his surroundings and- aha! He knelt over and picked up a loose chunk of concrete- good thing this place didn’t seem to ever get cleaned or fixed up. Straining slightly, he held the chunk in his robotic hand, focused on the red dot in the corner, and chucked the piece of concrete at it as hard as his prosthetic arm would let him - which was a lot harder than his flesh arm could manage.

The red dot went out as the chunk made contact, and the piece of technology that emitted it in the corner fell to the ground in pieces. Quick and easy, and he didn’t have to use any of his stuff. Still, he’d already been recorded, he needed to make himself scarce before trouble came looking for him.

He slid his gaze to the side and up when he heard the distinct sound of locks and chains being messed with. 

Great.

He looked around for something to crouch behind.

From upstairs, he could hear the rusty squeak from a door opening, and sliding across the floor, followed by semi-sharp footsteps descending down the stairs, picking up in sound enough Lee could assess what he was hearing.

‘Dress shoes’ He deduced - not boots or sneakers, so whoever this was at a disadvantage for running and fighting. So fight and flight were both still on the table. Good, he liked having options.

The distinct shape of a human took the last step from the stairs into the basement, and for a moment just stood there. Lee could see that their gaze was fixed onto the inverted triangle of the portal.

Tall. Thin- a variant of McGucket, perhaps? If this was his brothers basement on another parallel Earth, Fiddleford McGucket was a constant in his life. Most of the time he was batshit crazy, but in some dimensions he’d retained his sanity. 

But every time he was a genius, and every time he had some gadget on him with the word ‘Death’ in it and there were only so many chances Lee was willing to take.

The figures back was turned to him as they walked forward and felt around the walls, likely looking for a lightswitch. They had still, jerky movements; joint pain. Yeah, if this was McGucket he’d be getting up there in years just like him.

Lee slid along the opposite side of the room, slinking around the shadows and willing his steps to be as silent as possible.

He’d made it all the way to the base of the stairs when he’d misjudged a turn and his prosthetic arm smacked clanked against the metal banister of the stairs. He inwardly cursed; on if the things they don’t tell you about prosthetics is that is can sometimes mess up your spacial awareness, something you’d really need in the dark.

“Who’s there?” The figure asked and Lee didn’t have time to take in the details of their voice because he saw them point something long and cylindrical at him-

Like a shotgun.

In an instant he’d run over and tackled the figure, and they both tumbled to the floor, knocking the rifle out of the figure's hand, while the other hand flipped on the switch on the wall during the initial tackle.

The lights in the basement flicked in slowly, but that was enough time for Lee to straddle the figure and reach for his-

“St-.... Stanley?” The voice below him quivered, like a choked up whisper of surprise and awe, making Lee freeze up right before his hand could grasp his knife. 

That was a name he never used anymore.

And that was a voice he’d heard before, it was rusty and heavy but-

Lee dares to look up from his side - and he saw that the object he’d knocked out of the mans hand was not a rifle but a cane - and to the face of the man he’d knocked down. A prominent nose and cleft chin, gray hair streaked in silver, and, most importantly, it was almost exactly the same as his own face.

He’d met many variants of this man throughout the multiverse, and it was never a warm reception; there was always hostility and resentment from the other end. But this man looked at him like he was seeing something that amazed but terrified him.

“Ford?”

To be continued…

---

NOTES

-“View From Halfway Down” is a reference to Bojack Horseman. And yes, the world Lee was in initially was the Bojack Horseman universe. The name of the dimension, BoJ6 comes from “BoJack”, and 6 from the number of seasons.

-The scene where Lee escapes is a direct rederence to this art of him

-The Portal Guns text is from the Delta font from https://pixelied.com/font-generator/discord if you have trouble reading it, here’s what it said:

[Earth Year: 2010

FREQ MATCH: NEGATIVE

Designation: GB1100

Free WiFi? No]

-Dimension-GB1100 is the designation for the “Better World” AU because in Caesar Cipher with shift 5, GB = BW or "Better World". "1100" is for "IIOO" or the initials in "International Institute of Oddology".

-The language used by Lee in the beginning is from Alien Speech Translator

-Ketorolac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce inflammation and pain and often used for acute back pain, and Cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxer that can treat pain and muscle spasms. Stan probably carries like a dozen vials of a personalized mix that he acquires through stealing various means.

-I thought it’d be interesting if compared to Stanford’s photographic memory (having a highly detailed memory of things you see), Lee had echoic memory (highly detailed memory of things you hear), which is what helped him learn to pick up languages easily, and take in his surroundings when his vision was impaired (and considering he went through the portal without glasses, he needed that skill). It’s also ironic, considering that canon Stan uses a hearing aid.

[mysticstronomy]

DOES DARK MATTER REALLY EXIST??

Blog#473

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025.

Welcome back,

In April 2023, scientists from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration created a map of the universe showing the detailed distribution of dark matter, a mysterious form of matter that makes up around 85% of the total matter in the universe.

While creating any accurate map of matter distribution across the cosmos is an impressive feat, it is particularly extraordinary for dark matter, which does not interact with light and thus cannot be seen directly with telescopes or other instruments.

So, if dark matter is effectively "invisible," how can scientists map it? And how do we even know dark matter exists? Put simply, to detect dark matter, astronomers look at its indirect effects on gravity and how it impacts other objects with mass and light.

All galaxies are believed to be wrapped in an invisible halo of dark matter, and this envelope is vitally important; galaxies are rotating so rapidly, that without dark matter, they would have been torn apart long ago if they were held together only by the influence of their stars, gas, dust and planets, according to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

As such, this mysterious substance must have played an important role in the evolution of the universe.

Everything we see around us on a day-to-day basis is made up of "ordinary" matter, known as baryonic matter, meaning it's composed of baryons (such as protons and neutrons). According to the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, cosmic objects made of baryonic matter include clouds of cold gas, planets, comets and asteroids, stars, neutron stars and even black holes.

Most of these cosmic objects (as well as Earthbound objects, such as tables, cars and cats) can be seen because baryons interact with the electromagnetic force, one of the universe's four fundamental forces. When electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, falls on baryonic objects, they absorb photons and reemit them, or simply reflect them, so these objects can be seen. Even dark clouds of cosmic gas that do not shine brightly absorb photons of light at certain wavelengths, so they can be seen by their interaction with light.

Scientists know that dark matter is distinct from ordinary baryonic matter because whatever particles dark matter comprises either don't reflect, absorb or emit electromagnetic radiation or if they do interact with light, they do so incredibly weakly. This means dark matter can't be seen in traditional ways that rely on electromagnetic radiation.

Although dark matter does not interact strongly via electromagnetism, it does interact with another fundamental force: gravity. It is through the interaction with gravity that astronomers were first able to discover dark matter and, later, accurately map it.

The first hints of dark matter were observed in 1933 when California Institute of Technology astronomer Fritz Zwicky used the Mount Wilson Observatory to measure the visible mass of the Coma Cluster of galaxies. Zwicky, later dubbed "the father of dark matter," found that single galaxies in this cluster were moving too fast for the cluster to remain together based on the gravity of the visible matter alone.

Zwicky suggested that an as-yet-unobserved type of mass — "dunkle Materie," or "dark matter" — might explain this disparity, but the concept wouldn't be widely accepted for decades to come, until after his death in 1974.

While studying the rotational dynamics of galaxies, Carnegie Institution astronomer Vera Rubin became the next scientist to infer the presence of dark matter with observations that helped to cement it as an accepted element of the universe. Rubin saw that the stars at the edge of spiral galaxies far from their dense centers were moving as fast as stars closer to the galactic heart, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

Originally published on https://www.space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, January 25th, 2025)

"WHAT ARE DARK STARS??"

[save-the-data]

Love how they are both each couple's rock and protector, both physically and mentally. The way they look at each other is pure love, like no one else exists in the world and they never want to let go.

And we are 100% going to see that play out in the next episode. Bison and Fadel are going to be like "we need to go separate ways to protect our men whilst we finish the last job" only to realize they can't live without them; a thought that is mutual as Style and Kant are going to be like "we can't let our men face this by themselves". Both will crack, and bam, they will team up and take on the challenge together as a foursome, protecting each other's back, whether that is helpful or detrimental is to be decided.

It's a stupid idea anyway to split up, cause all of them now have skin in the game and frankly can be used as leverage, granted they don't know they are being hunted by their third brother or that their relationships are exposed. Do then think it's going to be Fadel and Bison that crack first, going back to their men. Whilst Kant might be more level headed, Style is 💯 jumping at the opportunity to play undercover and dress up to help the cause.

[writing-nothing-but-spilled-ink]

Anyways this thought came to my head now I'm obligated to share

This is an au where Selina Kyle and Bruce actually get married and are in the process of like sharing a life together

Anyways this is a thing I think would be funny if it happened

Bruce is just excited to tell his friend the good news but his friend isn't exactly thrilled it's 2 am and while Gotham never sleeps Harvey dent aka two face is fucking horrified by the. Text he just received from fucking Bruce Wayne, how he got his number he doesn't fucking know the text in question

JUST GOT MARRIED!!!! 🥳🍾🍻🎉 Also totally off topic but I did not sign a prenup btw any idea of what my shares are Selina is asked for some so I gave her some but I don't actually know what they are

Two face just immediately starts blowing up Bruce's phone trying to get that man to answer is a fucking nightmare especially whenever he gets a new partner to spend time with it's like he can't see behind the pretty girl in front of him, he may be the world's greatest detective but when it comes to romantic partners he's the world's biggest idiot especially when he's in love

Finally two face starts falling Bruce and when he finally does answer he's on speaker with Selina in the room

"Bruce for the love of God tell me you had her sign a goddamn prenup, did you even discuss custody arrangements, HOW AND WHY ARE YOU GIVING HER YOUR SHARES WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT IS THAT YOU HAVE TELL ME THAT THIS IS A JOKE".

Bruce: I think your jealous of what I have with Selina, I trust her completely there's no need for a prenup, as for the kids they won't be a problem, and that's precisely why I texted you afterall you were one of my closest advisors for years also I thought you'd be happy for me, ya know it's not my fault yo-"

Two face: BRUCE I AM NOT JEALOUS I AM CONCERNED SELINA IS INFAMOUS FOR BEING INTERESTED IN HER OWN POCKETS AND ANYTHING SHINY, AND NEED I REMIND YOU THAT WE AREN'T FRIENDS WE HAVENT BEEN FRIENDS FOR YEARS IDK IF YOUR DRUNK OR STUPID BUT KNOWING YOU ITS PROBABLY BOTH, YOU NEED TO SEND ME ALL THE PAPERWORK REGARDING YOUR NEW MARRIAGE IMMEDIATELY SO I CAN FIX THIS GODDAMN MESS CAUSE I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOU CRY AND WHINE WHEN THIS BLOWS UP IN YOUR STUPID ASS FACE DOES ALFRED EVEN ONOW OF YOUR STUPIDITY BECAUSE THIS IS A NEW KIND OF STUPID EVEN FOR YOU WORLDS GREATEST DETECTIVE MY ASS

Bruce merely smiles and says you wouldn't be nearly this worked up if you didn't care I knew you were still in there harv I just wanted the proof that my friend still exists I'd like for you to be my second best man at my wedding also you should come to dinner some time the kids they all miss you, and some of them have started to take an interest in the law you were at the top of your field maybe you could point them in the right direction, as for me and Selina while we did elope it has not get been made official so if you really want me to do all this paperwork you must come over for a family meal Bruce then promptly hangs up leaving Harvey absolutely flabbergasted because wtf just happened and how the fuck, wait did he just get fucking adopted by Bruce Wayne, he's a fucking supervillain and he got roped into attending a family dinner..

A moment later his phone dings and he opens it to see a big list of various foods drinks appetizers and deserts with a text at the bottom that says choose three of your favorites from each category and just dress casual or whatever's most comfortable to you it's only a small family dinner please email Alfred a list of any diet restrictions or food allergies you may have it'll be nice to have you over and don't worry Selina has agreed to play nice I know the two of you haven't always gotten along, his phone lights up again with a Gmail account to Alfred pennyworth two face can't argue so he just sighs exasperated and just RSVPs everything and goes in to see the gotham seamstress for something a bit more fancy for this get together and one extra nice suit for the wedding

[realscreaminggoat]

my rough draft for the song analysis essay is done! it took me forever but i would appreciate feedback if you have any 💜💚

(spoiler warning)

The Ballad of the Witches Road Analysis

Marvel is gay now, that is pretty exciting. Now that the hook is done, it is time to get into the essay. Agatha All Along is a show about Agatha Harkness, a 350 year old witch, and how she, her ex, her found coven, and their gay adopted teenager trek down the Witches Road (which does not exist), to get what they want most. It is a long and dangerous journey, but worth it in the end. They sing a song/protection spell, and if listened to closely, it foreshadows a lot of Agatha’s past, and the terrible event of her son’s death, all to an exciting and upbeat tune.

The first verse is sung entirely by Agatha, so of course it would relate solely to her. She sings, “I have learned the lesson/Of all that’s foul and fair”. This is referencing her son Nicky, who was destined to die at birth. She begged Lady Death, otherwise known as Rio, to help him live, and Rio agreed to break the rules and give them more time together because she loved Agatha. Nicky was alive for six more years before Rio had to take him. Nicky’s death was her lesson on all that foul and fair, because although it hurt and she was angry with Rio for years, she eventually learned that it had to happen, and Rio was just doing her job. The verse then goes on to discuss Agatha’s present time, as well as the Road. She sings, “The road is there/And so I dare/To risk this heart of mine”. Rio was on the Road, and Agatha was stuck with her while still angry over Nicky’s death. She remembered how much she loved Rio during her time on the Road, and that she was just doing her job by taking Nicky. The song transitions of a chorus which most states “Down down down the road/Down the witches road” many times over again, before moving to the second verse (also sung by Agatha)

Verse two references both the present and Agatha’s past with Rio. The verse begins with the lines “I have known the power/Of midnights in the wood/”. This, of course, is about the night that Nicky died. He died during the night. Rio came to take him without waking Agatha, most likely because she knew that Agatha would protest. That was a very powerful time in Agatha’s life, and the grief of losing her son also helped her to become more powerful by fueling her rage to kill other witches. Next the song references Agatha and Rio’s relationship with “I’ve danced inside the circle/Of all that bad and good”. Rio is seen as both bad and good by Agatha because her job is necessary for life and must be done, but it also causes her massive amounts of grief over the loss of Nicky. Now, back to the present with the lines, “Tame your fears/A door appears/To love that never dies”. They are on the road now, and forced to be together after everything that has happened, and Agatha is reminded of her love for Rio. Even after everything that happened between them over the centuries her love for Rio never died. The song goes back to the past with the next part, the bridge.

The bridge is arguably the most important part of the song, with multiple meanings and interpretations. The bridge seems very straightforward at first, reminding the audience that the song was written as a love song, and it can be connected to Agatha’s situation very closely. The bridge goes as follows, “If I can’t reach you/Let my song teach you/All you need to keep our love alive/If I can’t hold you/Remember what I told you/It’s the only way we survive/We survive”. This is going all the way back to Nicky, Agatha’s son. He was the one who made the first ballad, and although it did not include these lyrics, the song itself was a way of putting a name on what he and his mother did to stay alive. They travelled and tricked other witches into attacking Agatha, and then she stole their power and killed them. This helped Agatha to become more powerful, but it also kept Rio busy, and stopped her from being able to come and collect Nicky, who was supposed to die at birth. Rio gave them extra time together, but Agatha still tried to prolong that time as much as possible. Eventually Rio did have to take Nicky, and after word Agatha turned the song into a ballad and used it to trick witches into believing in the Road, and that singing it would open the Road. When the road did not open they attacked her and she stole their power in hopes of gaining enough to bring her son back. The song taught them that their Road (travelling and killing witches) was a way to stay alive, and that it was the only way to stay alive. The audience is then transported back to the present with the next verse (after a brief guitar solo), that has lyrics relating to each witch on the Road.

Verse three, if listened to closely, references each of the main characters in the show. The verse begins by stating “The Road is wild and wicked” to state that now it is talking about the present. The next line states, “Winding out of time”. This line references Lilia, because her time on the road led to her doing what other Marvel characters have called “time slipping”. She began to experience her life out of order, and had moments of saying something random that confused the people around her. She was living outside of normal time. Billy is referenced next. One of his reasons for going on the Road was that he wanted to find his brother, thus the lyric “What’s lost is found” was added to this verse, because he ended up finding his brother in the end. “What fierce is bound” is in reference to Jen, who was bound of her power over a century ago, and all she wants is to get it back. She gets her power back when she reaches the end of the Road, unlike Alice and Sharon, who do not reach the end. Alice and Sharon die before the end, which explains the line “We’re broken and we’re burned”. Although one could argue that they both got what they wanted. Sharon wanted to leave, and her death certainly got her off the Road, while Alice wanted to find out what happened to her dead mother. Following her into death most likely means they got to meet and she could ask her mother what happened to her. Last but not least the line “But take a breath/And dance with death/My love cannot be turned” is a direct reference to Agatha and Rio. She avoided Rio for centuries, and she hated her for what she did. The Road forced them to be together (thus the “dance with death” line), and Agatha cannot deny her love for Rio. The ultimate point of the show is that Agatha loves Rio, and Rio loves Agatha. It is fitting that they be the last reference made in the song, as they loved each other until the end.

Each verse delves into Agatha’s trauma, and the life changing event of her son's death, while also discussing the present experience of the Road, and how those two experiences relate. It also discusses Rio, and how Agatha cannot stop loving her, and how she came to understand that Rio loves her and did not want to have to take Nicky from her. The song is one of the most powerful parts of the show, littered with foreshadowing and tragedy disguised as an upbeat tune.

(im tagging people who interacted with the og post if you want removed just message me

@sweetestberryofthebunch @silentwordsmyth @kissing-chefs @jade-lopez-maximoff @fakeagatha @babyqueenfangirl @popcorn-plots @milli-moi @clericallyinsane @lesbiifem @nevergraciee @diescrydarm @piinek @sp00kyb4be

[crookedfivefingers]

3.13 | ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʟᴏʀᴅꜱ

link to the post I accidentally wound up prattling endlessly about in the tags 💀

[girlfishes]

@jollykoalabarbarian here is a comparison I have found helpful.

I have celiac disease, and this is a biological fact about myself that I cannot alter. Going through life with this condition has exposed me to specific social experiences which people without celiac disease generally do not experience in the same way. When I tell someone I have celiac, I am literally telling them that I have an autoimmune response to gluten, and from that information they can infer that I have experienced certain things in my life.

Not all people with celiac have the experiences typical for those with celiac, and some people have the same experiences I do without having celiac. Having the same social experience as a person with celiac disease does not mean you have the disease. Not having these social experiences does not cure someone’s celiac.

If I make the clear statement that only people with celiac disease have an autoimmune response from eating gluten which attacks the villi in their small intestine, I am not reducing a person with celiac to this autoimmune reaction. A person with celiac disease can do and become anything they want. I am just saying that the autoimmune response is a necessary and sufficient condition to having celiac. The only thing people with celiac disease necessarily have in common is this autoimmune reaction.

To tie the analogy together, when I say that a woman is an adult human with a female body, I am not reducing her to this body but saying that having a female body is a necessary condition for being a woman. When you know that someone has a female body, you can infer about certain experiences she may have had or other nonbiological facts about her, but not all women experience these facts and not experiencing these facts does not make someone not a woman.

Having celiac disease is a complex social and lived reality. And so is being a woman. Both of these physiological states of being have physical and social ramifications that need to be understood, and defining these states of being by the biology does not erase these social experiences.

These “systems of control” you accuse us of perpetuating by acknowledging female humans as a class are based on the biological reality of being female. Pretending that such a biological reality does not exists does not solve the problem.

To quote Andrea Dworkin, “In analyzing the sex-class system, feminists are accused of inventing or perpetuating it. Calling attention to it, we are told, insults women by suggesting that they are victims, stupid enough to allow themselves to be victimized. Feminists are accused of being the agents of degradation by postulation that such degradation exists.”

@fairymischief

Equating 'woman' solely with biological traits reduces a complex social and lived reality to mere anatomy, perpetuating systems of control over female and marginalized bodies. Such rigid essentialism contradicts radical feminism's call to challenge oppressive binaries and hierarchies, including those enforcing patriarcal norms.

[vaguely-concerned]

I've been trying to figure out a dynamic between neve and rye that I find more compelling, because right now there's not much of anything there for me to sink my little teeth into. but I think I've landed on something delicious with the idea that especially after minrathous gets fucked, rye looks at neve and sees myrna -- someone he feels he keeps letting down horribly no matter how hard he tries not to and can't quite achieve the approval of/connection with that he wishes so it's better to just pull away completely and disengage rather than stay in that unshifting shame. neve is (very understandably) measured and distant with him after what happened, and he's flashing back to his student days of myrna gazing at the perpetually hungover heartbroken heap of a person of him on the other side of her desk every time he missed the deadline of a paper or project like '...can we at least both agree that this is. a bit disappointing. especially considering your potential.' (and him all smudged black eyeshadow and numb ruefulness being like 'sure that's a very kind way to put it myrna thank you'.)

aside from the 'if I let him get too deeply into this he'll go the way of brom and it'll be all my fault (again)' element, neve thinks rye is dismissing her and her city/being a bit callous in the same way he was after varric's death (listen. how fucking wild must rook's reaction to losing a beloved mentor seem to the rest of the crew who aren't seeing the blood magic paper doll ghost varric the whole time, especially those who got to see them interact. you WOULD think 'there's something wrong with this guy. putting the job first is one thing just not seeming to react at all is another this is fucking freaky', wouldn't you, especially after seeing the warmth in that dynamic in action beforehand.) perfect storm of two people who grit their teeth and turn inwards in pain deciding that not talking about it is their best bet (NEWSFLASH: IT ISN'T) lmao

(rye spent his last year of watcher training on a mostly joyless bender and then got it together enough to finish the eternal orb project last moment in a fevered near-sleepless week instead of the half a year that was intended. emmrich is both astounded and distressed to hear this. "a week? but -- but that is an astounding accomplishment rook!! and also why in the maker's good light would you ever do that to yourself?" ("well you see there was no one to stop me from doing it like that but me. and under those conditions these things tend to happen".) rye was working through/looking up stuff around transitioning and doing every kind of OTHER high level watcher research through that whole time, but ultimately he's an excellent watcher and a terrible student, at least under traditional methods. adhd from here to the fucking moon. touched by something akin to divine inspiration in moments of high tension that pulls all the threads into one coherent unbreakable cord, a bit of a frayed mess in most other settings. in our world he'd be dropping out of a masters program at the very last hurdle in this moment maker bless and protect him)

[helmetjellyfish]

realized i've somehow never made a minato & asumi post despite them being some of the characters i think about the most in the story. i want them to be friends who get lunch together every other saturday

[exopelagic]

i said i wouldn’t do it this time but it’s 3am and mods asleep. boy

[jikigo]

you ever just see a post and just

. 😭

.⬅️🫀⬅️

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

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Out of everything that happened and I have seen last night. This was mesmerizing! This video is captivating and downright beautiful that little Peanut can make such a change and bring people together. He deserves his voice to say how unfair this was and how he was treated. Those two little ones did not deserve this at all in the slightest because some people decided that it was against the rules for them to be happy and live with their loved ones. Honestly, who are we to decide? Everyone please go Support @peanut_the_squirrel12 @pnuts_freedom_farm Let’s all give Mark the support he needs and get laws in place that protect the innocent little ones for generations to come so this type of tragedy and misuse of government funds does not happen again to slaughter little ones. #squirrell #justiceforpeanut #justiceforpeanutandfred #justiceforfred

[kkoct-ik]

i miss my wife

[iniziare]

Tag drop: Kafka