#and a lot of their scientific/mathematical stuff too!

[apollos-boyfriend]

POPPING BOTTLES MATPAT OFF YOUTUBE FINALLY!!!

Maybe the channel will turn into something good, maybe the channel will completely die in 6 months.

i really do hope it turns into something good. because there’s a genuine reason why game theory was so beloved in its beginning and why so many people (myself included) have so much nostalgia towards it. and yeah, not all their old videos were great either, but they weren’t plagiarized. they weren’t directly contradicting canonical points for the sake of being “out there” and “different”. i really do hope the channel(s) can slow down and take its time to focus more on the love of theory crafting instead of the shock value of being different

[max1461]

I think in general people are too impressed by "paradoxes" and "unintuitive truths" and stuff from science and mathematics, e.g. Gödel's incompleteness theorems, the Banach-Tarski paradox, quantum mechanics...

This is part of my whole "people believe too much" thing. People commit themselves to too many strong general principles and too many implications between ideas. The average person should be more "passively skeptical". That is to say, they don't need to go out of their way to doubt or debunk things, they should just in general take a more "I dunno" stance towards the world; they should be more inclined by default to suspend judgement on things, including on the truth per se of ideas that they have decided to adopt as working best-guesses at the truth.

Coming at this the other way: in practice, life requires us to commit to all kinds of beliefs in order to figure out what to do in various circumstances. But I feel like a vastly underrated observation is that you don't have to really believe these commitments in any deep sense. You can be more casual, more willing to say "this seems like the most likely thing at the moment, so I'll go with it for now, but idk if it's really true". This is more of a posture towards ideas than a proposition in itself. Most people are willing to entertain the concept of doubt, but it's almost about... how fluidly you entertain it? Anyway, I think this posture of casual skepticism has many epistemic benefits.

The point I was making about "paradoxes" and so on, though, is like... ok, it was reasonable based on what was known about physics in the 19th century to adopt this view of the world as made up of little billiard balls with definite positions and momenta and all that, progressing according to clockwork rules. I think if I had been alive then, I too would have adopted that as my working best guess about how the world is. But I don't think I would've have been that committed to it. I mean it's purely an empirical thing, right—"huh, sure looks like the world is made up of little billiard balls progressing according to clockwork rules". And anyway, I don't really think any of the concrete claims of quantum mechanics are that unintuitive or philosophically troubling or whatever, unless you start out weirdly committed to this billiard ball idea. If you had a more casual stance towards it to begin with, I don't think QM would have been such a shock.

I mean, I guess I do think QM was (probably) justifiably surprising, but not for the reasons most people think that. Not because of its "deeper philosophical implications" or whatever, which again I think are not that big a deal. Just for the reason that the billiard ball idea worked really well for a long time and seemed to have a lot of success and (potential) explanatory power, so seeing it overturned, if you're a specialist familiar with the area, seems like very reasonable cause for a "whoa moment". But anyway, in light of this, I'm tempted to call it "surprising in a mundane way" rather than surprising in a deep way. And I guess my further feeling is that with a sufficiently causally skeptical outlook, there isn't very much that actually should be surprising in a deep way. Most surprising stuff should just be like "oh huh".

So anyway the fact that people keep getting deeply surprised at these scientific revelations suggests to me that maybe they have too many commitments.

[alpaca-clouds]

So, What's Happening In Psychology?

So, uhm. Science has a problem right now. And there is probably no area that shows this better than the psychology departments.

If you are in any way adjacent to academia, you might have already heard about the problem that sceince is in right now. Namely it is that everyone who works in science is pushed towards publishing. If you want to keep praciticing science, you gotta publish papers. But because you only get to publish those papers in journals, and those journals are run under very capitalistic principles. This means for one: Scientists often do not get shit and at times have to pay to get their papers published. But it also means that the journals prefer to publish papers that a) get a clear result, and b) get a result that will make headlines, because then they can sell the paper a lot more. This also means, that nobody is interested in replicate studies and replicate papers, meaning there is little motivation to replicate someone else's study for scientists (who need to publish, after all).

Now, this is a general problem in science. But the difference in psychology is, that other sciences have at least some clearer ways in regards to replicating studies. I am not saying it is easier - but it is clearer to control for other factors in biology, chemistry or physics than it is in psychology.

To keep standards up, it has long been standard practice to mathematically control studies, but... That is easier said than done, given that the scientist doing the study will often even through subconscious bias manipulate the study.

And then there is the general study issue that a lot of stuff has and that shows really strongly in psychology and sociology studies. I don't know whether there is a name for it, but I call it the "student bias". Basically: Often when you do a study at university where you need ask people questions and stuff, most of the people the study will be done on will be students. This will kinda presellect the kind of people you will do the study on to certain demographics.

Again, this is not only a psychology problem, but it shows so strongly in psychology, where the additional problem is that... well, at times there is moments where the scientific method was not used or is not used still.

I talked in the first entry this week about IQ tests. IQ tests are bogus. They always were bogus. But they were what was always used and nobody ever questioned that.

Same goes with other stuff. I talked a few weeks ago about Stockholm Syndrome being bullshit. It is kinda the same issue. Someone claimed it was true, nobody challenged the guy immediately, and then people just got used to it.

I am not saying that all psychologists are unscientific. Of course not. Just that some are and that right now it is at times hard - especially for people not working in the field - to actually differenciate the good from the bad. Especially when reading those papers. (I mean, I am no psychologist, but at the very least I know how to read and understand papers.)

Honestly, I personally do not even know what to do about that kinda stuff. It is probably good that right now some attention gets paid to this fact at the very least.

But really, can we stop pushing scientists to always publish stupid papers? And can we make those papers free, too? Because this stuff is bullshit right now.

[drstanfordpines]

more stanford in the portal ideas

instead of calling the dimensions he visited “dimensions”, he calls them alternate universes, because the word “dimension” in the context of the scientific/mathematical world is used to describe like. yk. xyz coordinates. length width and height. and time and whatever comes after that etcetera etcetera. like the first second and third dimensions and so on and so forth ykwim. it is also easier for him to talk about traveling the multiverse rather than traveling the dimensionverse, because. well. dimensionverse is not a word, and we all know this dude is particular with his words and grammar. so. yeah. (he tends to get hung up on semantics a lot too lol)

again, this man is autistic and has adhd. i will continue to say this for ever and ever.

when he was traveling the multiverse, he had to camp a lot. being on the run from the law (and on the run from Bill) meant he had limited options for places to spend the night. he was able to shack up in abandoned buildings sometimes, or maybe even hang out with some people in a similar running-from-the-law situation as him, but these options of course came with their own risks, so he tended to lean towards camping whenever he could swing it. the less people involved, the better.

he eventually got very, VERY good at setting up and breaking down camp. he would say he “got it down to a science”. because he’s a nerd. he also got very good at knowing when and where and how to set up camp, through a LOT of trial and error. think experienced backpacker levels of camping experience.

speaking of experience, he also got very good at finding places in cities where he could get free/cheap food/resources/etc., whether it be legally or illegally. he figured out which stores would be easier to shoplift from, what types of businesses to avoid stealing trash from, all that useful stuff. he had to get very resourceful very quickly in order to keep himself alive.

another way he kept himself alive was through work, usually through helping random people he met through his travels. oftentimes he would help people with mechanical problems, because he could get more money/resources out of that type of work, but hard manual labor wasn’t out of the ordinary either once he actually built up some muscle.

he was very meticulous about his own health while traveling, almost to an obsessive degree; he made sure he slept as much as he could, ate as well as possible, drank the cleanest water/water adjacent liquid he could find, etcetera. he did things very much by the book, and kept records of his injuries, nutrition, illnesses, and any other relevant medical info.

he at one point had a sort of space suit/armor combo type deal because he had to go into a universe that wasn’t life sustaining for him to get a material he needed for his quantum destabilizer gun thing. it actually took him a long ass time to get all the materials needed to build the suit thing, as well as the tools needed to make it in the first place, and the space needed to work on the project. i have more ideas abt this whole arc that i will probably expand upon later :)

[tufzy-baybey]

Hi hi! Welcome to my first official post on my account!

S

I only had time for a few characters this time since I just want to get as much out as fast as possible :3

ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ

This post contains:

Child! Reader x Reaper (platonic obviously)

Child! Reader x Zenyatta (platonic too)

Child! Reader x Cassidy

(All these are platonic obviously lol)

Anyways enjoy my little babies!

Something about Gabriel Reyes/Reaper makes him feel like an angsty father figure XP

Reader is a child/minor here! :3

Honestly a chill dad/father figure

Barely any patience tho :'3

If he's a father figure or adoptive father, he definitely wasn't planning on taking care of you full time, he knew his limits, after all.

Life turned out to really force you two together though, as you ended up being in his care for two years when he had the chance to find a family for you.

He decided to officially adopt you/let you stay when he had accepted to fact he had gotten attached to you (he'd never tell you though, he'd use your attachment as the excuse to keep you around)

Usually tired.

Has not patience but let's you get away with a lot more stuff than with everyone else

Of your having trouble with grades he would help to some degree, but he'd come with you to visit Moira if you need help with any scientific or mathematic subjects. (Or any, actually)

Extremely protective over you.

If he took care of you when you were younger, he'd so read you bed time stories.

Just don't tell anyone or tease him about it, or he'll give you the cold shoulder for a bit

And no bed time stories ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Sombra found out about you, she's like and older rebellious sister who tries to get you to join her in her shenanigans.

Expect sombra to get scolded by Gabriel (or yelled at by reaper, depending on the timeline) if she ever gets caught being a bad influence.

Not very physically affectionate :'3

He is verbally affectionate, but only when he thinks you are asleep or otherwise don't hear him <3

Zenyatta is so perfect for gentle parenting it's so canonnnn (includes a little of Ram, genji, kiriko and hanzo)

You were adopted by zenyatta as he took you in

You were just a baby when you were abandoned by your own kin, left in the front of the temple where zenyatta spends most of his time at.

Zenyatta was more than happy to take you in, as he's Genji's mentor, he's already experienced in some fields, but you were so young, so raising a human from practically the start of your life was a learning experience.

Ramattra didn't exactly hate you, you were just a baby after all, but he still would avoid you, he felt that deep down you were just like the others, whether or not he was mistaken or correct is up to you :3

Your abandonment is just another excuse for Ramattra to hate humanity.

When you had tantrums, Zenyatta was extremely forgiving to you, and patient, but still a little awkward having to deal with you screaming, rolling, kicking around and punching the air in the middle of meditation session with a group of omnics

This caused him to decide on meditating some place else, just you and him and who ever wanted to visit you two at the time.

He taught you how to handle your emotions better, and how to meditate without feeling weird about it.

Star gazing was definitely a #1 calming activity you two did if you had a bad day.

He is physically affectionate, always with permission though

Also verbally affectionate, honestly sounds like he's reading a poem of a loving father it probably would make any sensitive person tear up a little <3

As a kid you were pretty mischievous, but also well behaved, Ramattra was a little more comfortable with you, as when Zen was busy he'd leave you with Ramattra to keep watch on you.

The most you two do together is talk, literally about anything.

If your having a bad day and a human is making it worse, Zenyatta would advice to not tell or worry your uncle Ram, you don't know why though.

You still scare Ramattra at times, you know how kids are, sometimes they just say creepy ass shit >w<

Genji is definitely an older brother figure.

It's nice to have a sibling figure that actually has a good relationship for him :3

Kiriko and you are literally so mischievous together in the most wholesome way.

You don't know hanzo, and you hope one day you 4 can finally reunite, become siblings and live your live happily ever after :3

Yes I counted kiriko because she's so genji's sister you can't convince me otherwise.

When your a small child genji's or kiriko definitely play with you 24/7

Probably hold you up and pretend your an airplane lol

I wanna be a cowboy, bayyybeyyyyy!!!

He found you as an orphan roaming around the streets, you could barely walk, it'd haunt him forever if he just left you there to fend for yourself

He didn't know how to take care of a toddler, much less how to parent you into becoming a good child

Honestly tries to be more of a cool young uncle, kinda fails at that though.

He stopped smoking as much since you were near him most of the time, but he definitely had cigar breaks from the added stress of taking care of a child.

Definitely washing planning on keeping you around but every family open to you had.... Problems that he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving you to their care.

Not like he could give you a better life though, at least that's his insecurities talking.

Maybe he was being selfish, not leaving you at an orphanage or to foster care, maybe he was looking for excuses where you would be better off staying with him.

Not like you wanted to get adopted anyways, you felt comfortable in his care, of course you weren't spoilt, but you live a humble if not exciting childhood, you got more than you can ever ask for, even if you weren't in the safest of situations simply because of your connection with Cassidy.

Cassidy feels extremely guilty for any instance where you got hurt or in trouble because of him.

If you didn't smile at him anymore after everything you two have been through it would eat him alive.

Once you fall asleep after he had tucked you in, he's most definitely stressing about how you're both going to get by or survive.

Life's definitely a lil rough, but he's definitely a good dad, even if he doesn't agree :3

Piggy back rides! Lots of em

Loves to annoy you with physical affection.

He loves picking you up and hugging you while your kicking your feet in the air as he tickles you with his beard rubbing on your cheek!

Plays tickle monster a lot!

Loves playing pretend whenever you two can, that's actually how he gets you to stay happy and calm or quiet when you two are in danger :')

Let's you wear his hat for fun.

Definitely stole a horse plushie just for you.

You two have a specific diner you two go to, as it's hard to find on maps and lowkey in general, you guys can go there and order food when ever needed.

The owner is also in hiding so he's no snitch :3

When you were a toddler, you would hold on to his index finger since your hand was so small, it honestly made his heart melt.<3

[occultboyscout]

What does it mean to be a Hermeticist for you personally? I’m curious about the core beliefs and practices you follow, I don’t know much about hermeticism

Feel free to ignore this if you don’t feel like answering :)

Hey! This is a great question!

It's harder to answer than it probably should be lol, but I will do my absolute best.

Ultimately Hermeticism is a lot of things to a lot of different people. That can come down to how hard or soft you are on its use and definition. I'm *somewhere* in the middle between a couple extremes.

For me, Hermeticism means that -I believe in a single divine entity I call God. Although their being a single divinity does not preclude them from having aspects or segments which are derived from them (the Nous or the word being one example). -I believe that the natural world is a reflection of that divinity, and that divinity is not created by the natural world -I believe that closeness to that divinity, and the freedom there, is found through knowledge, through noesis. -I believe that the natural world, even if it is derived from demiurgic forces (I frame this in my own way, but the Poimandres cites a fiery demiurge) is wholly good, and that the act of love and the will to propagate is wholly good. -I believe that there is value in autonomy and that autonomy is claimed through knowledge. -I believe the universe is describable, and that scientific and mathematic achievement do not distract from the divine but describe it directly.

Most of those things are pulled from the most firmly Hermetic documents we have access to, the Corpus Hermeticum. I'll include a link to the Salaman Clement translation of the Corpus below.

I also draw from the Emerald Tablets, another foundational and notably Hermetic document.

There's a Hermetic interpretation that discredits the holiness with which I treat the material world. It's a pretty valid interpretation and the ideas were certainly present (at the time of main body hermetic texts creation) that the material world is dirty and flawed, and the holy act is to transcend to achieve closeness with the divine.

I don't like that take quite as much, and there is textual evidence contradicting it. But you can find a summary of that mainline interpretation here:

My Hermeticism is not the *only* Hermeticism, of course. The Hermetica saw a reawakening in the Renaissance along with the advent of a Christianized form of Hermetic thought. I do describe myself as a Christian Hermeticist, primarily because I am culturally Christian, and because my primary magical work comes from Christian sources (like the majority of the Grimoires). But my Hermetica differs a little from how the Renaissance thinkers incorporated it. We saw another reawakening of the Hermetica with Newton and his translation, which I love (well, I love that it's a thing we know exists. There's less available about Newton's occultism than I would like). I'm obsessed with Newton and I think his use of the Hermetica is one the best in modern times. I mean, it gave us Calculus guys. Like, come on. (Special shoutout to Gottfried Leibniz who also invented Calculus you deserve the credit too dude but you didn't do a translation of the Hermetica so bummer for you no wizard points.) And Newton's Hermetica and mine might look a little more similar.

My Hermetica has nothing at all to do with modern texts like the Kybalion, which I strongly dislike (it's a baby of the New Thought movement and is essentially pulling the title of Hermetic for clout, which doesn't necessarily discredit it as a text but hard to approach in good faith). And especially nothing to do with texts spouting that Thoth the Atlantean stuff. I really hope people aren't reading that shit with any seriousness it's so... fanfiction-y.

"What if Thoth was an Atlantean God King and he wrote the Emerald Tablets and..." fuck off dude.

Ultimately I call myself a Hermeticist to place me in a tradition stemming from the man turned syncretic "god", Hermes Trismegistus. We are called to follow, like the initiatory structure of the Poimandres, to seek knowledge and to find the Divine there.

I place myself in the tradition of people like Newton, Boyle, Yates, Ficino, Paracelsus...

And no I'm not an egoist why do you ask?

I mean I inform what I do by the things these people wrote and thought and created. And I strive to be a little better, a little closer to divinity, every single day.

That's my Hermetica I suppose.

That was a really really long answer and I apologize for inflicting it upon you lol. I truly appreciate being able to talk about this sort of thing long form. I hope some of this was helpful, or at least passing interesting.

[writinandcrying]

Can I get a matchup for one of the rottmnt turtles, please? I’m 5’5, long dirty blonde hair with a buzz cut, and glasses. I’m very anxious, and tend to feel like I’m always doing something wrong, so I apologize quite a bit..even if I didn’t do anything. I’m very shy, sensitive, and quiet around strangers. I’m a straight A student, but I kind of tend to base my self worth on my grades. I never feel like I’m good enough. I try to be nice to everyone I meet, but I can definitely be socially awkward. My pronouns are she/they. Main interests are science, mainly biology and astronomy, animals, literature, games, and music.

Of course! You didn’t specify which version, and my mind has been consumed with rottmnt lately, so I hope you don’t mind getting a rottmnt match up :)

I match you with…

Mikey!

I love this gif so much nfnfjdkdososos

Do you know the meme “my partner SAID they wanted PICKLES ON THEIR SANDWICH” as someone standing up for their loved one? Basically that’s mikey towards you, there’s even a scene from rottmnt he says “if someone hurts something he loves he will hurt back” (or smth like that, I actually love that scene cuz it truly shows off his chaotic side bdbfjdksks dr. Delicate touch scenes also have my heart)

Basically, no one hurts his boo, he will “correct” you when you over apologize as well, he knows it’s a trauma response so he will be incredibly thought and sweet about it: “it’s alright! don’t worry about it!” Or “why are you apologizing? *peck* I’m doing this because I like you :)” all those statements are usually followed by affectionate gestures, hugs, caressing your hands, cuddles, pecks, kisses; he’s very affectionate and isn’t afraid to show it, being with actions or words

He will think you are a bit uptight regarding grades at first glance, but mikey will understand how important that is with you if you ever break down in front of him bc of it, the youngest turtle will remind your worth goes way beyond your grades, you are so special and deserves to see the light you shine through (which he will remind you and try to show it to you often through his art work) during study sections, he will help you with anything you want, preparing study snacks, steering up a makeshift comfy and quiet place (besides the lab) just for you, and will actually study with you, surprisingly- he has vast knowledge in History, Geography, English and obviously arts, and if he doesn’t understands something more specific on the scientific/mathematics field, he will pester Donnie (use his youngest sibiling supper power) to persuade him into helping you with any subject you are struggling with it

Him and Leo loves astrology (way too much, specially zoadiac stuff) so they might ask you a lot about it, you will def lose Leo interest when you explain astrology and astronomy are two different things lol, but mikey still finds it fascinating! Will often ask about new NASA reports, and matches your energy if you get super excited about a new discovery that has been released by space institutes

Loves to play games with you, create new playlists based on you, your relationship, the mood for each date, he likes it doing it with you, so you both can set up mood playlists? He just loves doing it and doing specific artwork for each one of them, oh! And he loves that you are into animals, usually him and Raph stop to pet any kitten on the street, Raph doesn’t want to stay as much as he wants tho, his brothers have to drag him out of sight of street animals so he can focus on the mission, so you being into animals makes him extremely happy! He can take his sweet sweet time to pet any baby he sees on the street (and eventually adopt all of them, that’s his mater plan)

Lastly, I usually don’t comment much on someone’s appearance, I just ask for it so I can visualize the ship / matchup happening, but in this case: he absolutely LOVES your hair, he wants to do every single hairstyle, braiding technique he has ever seen online and he always manage to make your hair look amazing, he also loves the texture of your buzz cut? Sometimes he just hugs you from behind and nuzzles ur buzzed side with his cheek, he cannot deal with how soft it is and he gets really calm doing that (I know it’s canon that Donnie has autism but if Mikey isn’t neurodivergent then idk I’m a mermaid)

This one was fun to do! Hope you liked it! Match ups are closed for now

[besinger]

Gonna quit academia once my PhD is done. Quitting beforehand would not make a lot of sense given all the countless hours of work I already put in, but after it's done, I am done. Maybe I will go into industry R&D, maybe into consulting, maybe into some other bullshit field. I don’t know. But my current job definitely feels like a bullshit job.

I work in Computer Science research at the intersection of Learning Analytics and Natural Language Processing. It is nothing I am super excited about, and it was more or less random that I ended up there, but yeah. In a nutshell, Learning Analytics is just computer scientists rediscovering Educational Psychology with less theoretical rigour but more powerful quantitative methods (like, why is Psychology still stuck with stupid Linear Regression given the plethora of powerful modelling methods available??? The real world is far too complex to be explained in terms of simple regression models...). And Natural Language Processing… yeah. It was fun until all those generative models came along. When you had to do actual feature engineering, you had to read into linguistic and mathematical theory to make your systems work better. Now, it is just brute force evaluating stupid prompts until your model reliably gives you the desired output. I did not study CS and Linguistics to become a fucking prompt engineer. And I mean, building a generative model from scratch by yourself is fun, but what is the point when there are companies with much more money and computing power that can just beat your own systems with sheer scale?

Also, I am getting paid significantly less than people with a similar skillset working in the industry. And yeah, you might think that, in academia, you are not just working to make some capitalist pigs even richer but for a greater goal. But is this really the case in our current academic system? I doubt it. You are not exploited for money but for pushing the scientometric stats of yourself and your professor. That is the greater goal you are effectively working towards. And your working conditions are significantly worse than in the industry (at least in Computer Science). Everything is organized into small little projects, which hinders real progress because before your project can even make significant progress, it is already over. If you do good work, you are assigned even more work because, yay, you get stuff done, unlike half of your colleagues. But you don’t get any real compensation for this. You cannot negotiate for a salary increase because a collective agreement is in place. You are given the vague promise that, if you are lucky and exploit yourself just enough, you might get a faculty position. Which still pays less than an industry position for the same money. Yes, you can become a civil servant with lovely financial conditions, like a free pension. But guess what, only if you don’t have psychological problems and diagnoses (yep, this means you have to choose between working on your issues and financial stability).

And then, what is it even like being faculty? I always had these idealistic ideas. Teaching and inspiring students. Pushing scientific progress. Developing cutting-edge technology. But in reality, you just write project proposal after project proposal because acceptance rates are low, and you don’t get enough essential funding to build a team. You sit in meetings with other faculty all day. And then, a lot of faculties at our unis are textbook narcissists and psychopaths behind the scenes who, for some reason, behave as if they were investment bankers at Wall Street. And in CS, you know that industry R&D is always a couple of steps ahead of you because they have better funding.

[literaticat]

Piggybacking on the sci-fi vs spec fic question, could you explain what is meant by light SFF? I see this on MSWLs all the time I don’t know what it encompasses. Magical realism, maybe?

I'm not like AN EXPERT about the nuances here, there are actual SCHOLARS of this stuff who might quibble with my interpretations of these terms, it's all up to your own interpretation ANYWAY -- but maybe this can help you just sort of "get it"?

IMO, people asking for "light" SF or Fantasy are just saying they want accessible and fun SF / F. It's really that simple.

If you want to get a little deeper:

Hard Science Fiction is SF that is concerned with the mathematical or technological realities and possibilities. Like, they are actually thinking about SCIENCE. Additionally, these books may feel sort of ... inaccessible... to people who aren't already fans of the genre. I feel like people who would self-label their books as "hard SF" are serious about it.

What I'd call "light" SF is something that is more about the FUN of it, and IS accessible to people who might not be conversant with all kinds of technical or Mathematical or scientific stuff. You know? Like, I'd call Doctor Who "light" SF -- there are a lot of points of entry, you could be in it for the banter or the relationships, nobody is suggesting that the Tardis really works on anything more than *vibes* and it's full of, as the Doctor himself might say, "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff". (Other people might disagree! But hey.)

On the fantasy side, I'd say that "High Fantasy" (aka "Epic Fantasy") is what you think of when you think of like -- Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc. . . The author has invented languages and species and there's an entire world of mythology and there are quests and realms people with lots of apostrophes in their names and whatever. (To somebody who is not familiar, it probably seems quite daunting -- like I have never watched Game of Thrones and I never will, because I KNOW that it's too complicated for me and I don't have the bandwidth to get into it!)

Whereas what I'd call "light fantasy" (sometimes called "low fantasy" but I hate that) is probably much more grounded in our world, with more human characters, and is much more about those characters and their interactions with one another, relationships, etc, rather than The Deep Lore. So like, Harry Potter, while it has for sure got "epic" things about it, is light/"low" fantasy. The kids, magic or not, are KIDS IN SCHOOL, with all the friendship/bullying/classroom antics, etc, that goes along with that, and while by the end of the series the magic stuff gets a little complicated, for the most part it's easy enough for anyone to follow.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

got any book recommendations?

You mean nonfiction books? (My About page is here if you're interested in nonfiction books in general.)

My recommendations will be of the form "X said such-and-such, and it sounds really interesting, and Y recommended this book, which is also pretty cool."

I don't know if I can give you the impression that I have any real taste in nonfiction books, but if I'm being honest I tend to have a very positive opinion of most books I read for school, so they're pretty much my favorites

Here's a partial list (I would add other recommendations but there are simply too many books!) -- just some stuff I've read recently (and/or stuff that sounds really interesting):

Structure & Interpretation of Computer Programs: this is an interesting "introduction to computer science"/engineering/programming book that might not sound very exciting but is in fact pretty cool from an academic perspective. E.g. the "sequences" are pretty much a bunch of sequences (lists of functions written by the author with no guarantees of uniqueness, with no explanation of why they're a good choice) that happen to have interesting properties -- see the nice properties section, with many examples of these lists -- and that makes it feel like computer programming and related disciplines are very cool.

Chapters 11-12 of Gödel Escher Bach: "beauty is truth, truth beauty" is one of those statements that's pretty much meaningless unless you already have some background in "Gödel, Escher, Bach" as a joke (which you probably do). Anyway, Gödel, Escher, Bach is amazing, and there's a lot of good stuff in the first half. Chapters 11 and 12 might not be good for newbies, but they're very amusing.

On the Exact Sciences by Ian Stewart: just a good general physics book! There's nothing particularly deep here, but it covers the standard topics and treats them very well, and presents them in an engaging way.

A New Kind of Science: In the last decade or so we've seen a rise of "Big Data" and algorithms that can process millions or billions of data points at once. The results can be very exciting, especially when they're surprising. This book is about the field of Big Data -- it discusses how data science works and why it's exciting, and it also gives an overview of other parts of data science, including text processing and statistics -- and it's written in a very clear, readable way that doesn't make you feel hopelessly out of your depth or like you're reading something written by a computer program. Also, it's funny, it's not too depressing (except in some places), and it's really short (280 pages, as I type this, after the preview chapters)

The Algebraic Structure of Differentiable Curves and Surfaces: a more technical but also very interesting book. This is a math book for mathematicians with no prior formal training in the subject, and as such it's interesting to see how much math is really just a matter of "looking at a bunch of examples, and saying things about them, and seeing what it means, and going back to the examples again, and again," and about the sheer extent to which the "formula" part of mathematics is just "a procedure for drawing pictures."

Minding the Gap: this is a history of mathematics and science over the past 2,000 years. It's divided into three parts, which cover the ancient world, the medieval world (including the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, and the Enlightenment), and the "modern" world, the era we live in right now. It has lots of interesting material. Some highlights:

The Ancient Greeks were really cool, actually! In particular, ancient Greek mathematics was awesome. Pythagoras was a cult leader who believed in reincarnation, but also he was a smart dude who was probably into some serious mathematics. The Greeks invented trigonometry (although probably not as we know it today, using the Pythagorean Theorem), and they probably had calculus by the time it appeared in the West!

Ptolemy, the "Father of Algebra," was a mathematical genius who figured out geometry using just ruler and compass (i.e. you construct a geometric figure with a ruler and a compass -- Ptolemy wasn't doing symbolic manipulations like "expanding the binomial theorem" or whatever). He also used geometry to "calculate" distances to the Sun and Moon in order to determine the calendar, which was an impressive feat for his time. For reference, there are still Ptolemaic epicycles in the orbit of Mercury!

This is probably my favorite fact about Ptolemy, from the book itself: "Ptolemy thought of himself as an engineer rather than a mathematician. He believed that the natural world behaved with mathematical regularity, but he saw his job as building a model of the way this regularity worked, which would allow anyone to make sound engineering decisions."

(All of the above except for the last one is a direct quote from this book. I have never read the book itself, just excerpts -- if you want to know what it's like, try a pdf)

You can also read about a bunch of cool mathematical topics in Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. In particular, he says some nice things about the importance of the Pythagorean Theorem and of "symmetry" generally. The book is about 1,000 pages long and gets quite involved but it's very, very good.

I think all the books I'm giving you are a little bit out of date. I started reading A New Kind of Science last spring and it's very good. I started reading On the Exact Sciences at the end of last semester and it's also really good. Anyway, good luck with your reading!

(I realize I just gave you a lot of nonfiction books, so here are some more recs for fiction)

For a more general "nonfiction" type recommendation, you might read the essays that are collected in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest -- they are, generally speaking, hilarious, though possibly not to the person who is in fact me. I wouldn't suggest this unless you have experience with DFW, because in general he can be kind of long-winded, and the IJ essays are (as they say) long-winded (they are 955 pages long, after all). That said, even if you hate DFW (or even if you just don't like him, which I don't, at least not personally) you should at least give them a try. They are very, very funny.

I also read Infinite Jest for school, and it does have a lot of (relatively)

[purplesurveys]

1598

What was the last book you read? Midnight Sun, haha. The writing is atrocious, but it’s a guilty pleasure. 

Have you ever had a friend named Mary? I used to be friends with a Maryrose but people liked calling her Mary.

What does the name "Ada" make you think of? A high school batchmate. Also Ada Wong from Resident Evil. Have you ever had a friend named Ada? ^ Yeah, I was civil with that batchmate and we continue to follow each other on social media.

Do you live in England? 🏴 Nope.

Have you ever been to England? 🏴 I have.

Are you English? Not in the slightest. Do you speak English? Yeah. Thanks colonization!

If you could build a robot to perform one chore for you, which chore would you have it perform? Cleaning up after the dogs. That would be such a big relief for my back, lmao.

...and what do you think you would name the robot? 🤖 Hal? Hahahaha just kidding. Maybe Will, from Good Will Hunting.

Did you get into trouble a lot when you were a kid? Not even close. I didn’t want to go beyond the rules for fear of pissing somebody off.

Have you ever been to London? ☕️🇬🇧💂‍♀️ I have not.

Did you know that England's flag and the United Kingdom's flag are different? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 Well, yes.

Do you know which four countries make up the United Kingdom? 🇬🇧 England, Wales(?????), Scotland, Ireland.

How many sisters do you have? One.

Do you have a wicked stepmother? Continued from yesterday morning. No, I don’t even have a stepmother. Would you rather be a scientific and mathematical genius or an artistic genius with a huge imagination? I’d take science and math. I love looking at art from afar and I don’t want to turn it into a job.

What is your favorite type of tea? ☕️ I don’t like tea.

Where was the last place you traveled? Not counting trips I take within the city/region, Zambales. Have you ever ridden in a horse-drawn carriage? Not a carriage, no. But I have been on a horse.

Have you ever met anyone with the last name Byron? Not at all. Idk where you can find anyone with that surname here.

When was the last time you were in a bookshop? Yesterday evening when Angela, Reena, and I went gift shopping. Angela needed a children’s book and crayons for her nephew; Reena needed notecards for her gifts.

Do you enjoy reading historical fiction? If I come across a piece I like, then I could enjoy it. I don’t seek it out though; I never do so for fiction.

What is your favorite work of historical fiction? Without Seeing the Dawn.

Does it rain a lot where you live? Between July to October, yes. Flooding is a common occurrence and a very big problem in certain areas; and with the government never doing anything about it I imagine it will continue to be an issue.

When was the last time you got caught in a thunderstorm while out walking? Fortunately not. 

Have you ever built a zipline? Nah.

When was the last time you rode on a zipline? I think as a kid when my parents used to take me to indoor playgrounds? My stomach doesn’t fare well with motion/suspension stuff so I’ve never taken any adult-level ziplines.

Did you ever sneak out of your house when you were younger? No, it’s useless to lie to my parents because they find out one way or another. It was always a lot easier to just let them know where I planned to be; it was for safety reasons, too. If I found myself injured in a car crash and was 4798234 km away from where I said I was supposed to be, what else was I gonna tell them? Thoughts like that kept me from lying.

...and if yes, where did you go? - ....and did you get in trouble? I never got in trouble for things like that.

Do you own a horse? 🐎 Nope.

What is your best friend's name? Angela, Andi, Reena. Is anyone in your family an author or poet? My great-grandfather’s cousin is an established author in the history scene. His works continue to be a part of syllabi in universities today.

Is anyone in your family a scientist or mathematician? I feel like this is giving away too much at this point, but the same ^ relative was accorded as a National Scientist of the Philippines. 

What was the name of your first crush? The first irl crush I had had been Andi. Not the same Andi who’s my best friend today, but it was a girl from grade school that I had become good friends with.

Have you ever dated a guy with a girl's name? I’ve never dated a guy.

Have you ever kissed someone in a graveyard? 🪦 Uh, I don’t think so.

What is the most scandalous thing you've ever done? Idk man. Even if I knew, idk if I’d feel like sharing right now.

What do you think of the name Fanny? I don’t like it. Do you believe in fairies? No.

Do you believe in vampires. No.

Would you rather be named Fanny or Faye? I hate both of them but I guess Faye.

Do you have a godmother? Well, yes, in the Christian sense. As far as I know having godparents is a requirement when getting baptized. Since I’m the eldest, my godparents are my mom’s and dad’s siblings; my sister’s godparents are my mom’s first cousins. I think my brother’s are my dad’s college friends.

Are you someone's godmother? To one of my cousins, yes. I imagine I’d be a godparent to more once my friends and cousins start having kids of their own, too.

How many doors are there in your home? 🚪 Too many.

What color is your closet door? Brown. Have you ever snuck out a window onto a rooftop? Never done that.

Have you ever snuck out of your house to go meet up with a guy somewhere? No.

....that your parents didn't know you were dating? No.

Would you rather travel to Paris or London? London.

Would you rather travel to France or Switzerland? 🇫🇷🇨🇭 Switzerland.

Are your parents divorced? They are not. If they wanted to, their best resort is an annulment because we don’t have divorce here.

What is one thing that you hope to accomplish before you die? Continued (again) from Christmas Eve, lol. Can I finally finish this survey now that most of the family reunions and socializing are over? Let’s find outtt. Travel to a different continent.

Have you ever built a robot? 🤖 I have not and haven’t been interested in making one myself.

Have you ever been to a magic show? 🪄🎩 Yes, magic shows are practically a staple in children’s parties here. I’ve seen a bunch and they’ve all always been very entertaining.

When was the last time you saw a frog? 🐸 Last Saturday when there were a couple of frogs hopping around our villa.

Have you ever been struck by lightning? ⚡️ Oh, wow. No. Wouldn’t I have been killed if this happened?

Have you ever received an electrical zap? ⚡️🔌 Yes. Looking back it was an incredibly dumb fault of mine, but I was 11 and didn’t know any better. Anyway, it’s also the reason why I’m still scared to plug anything and usually ask for help to do so to this day. Have you ever ran away from home? I considered it a handful of times in the past but it never materialized. Cutting off ties with everybody in your family was a big risk/jump to take.

When was the last time you wrote a poem? Years ago.

Who is your favorite poet? I don’t have one.

Do you enjoy writing poetry? I never liked it. Whenever we had to write poems in school, it was never more than homework to me; I was never good at them and I never liked the read-between-the-line-ness of poems either.

Would you rather write a novel or a book of poems? When it comes to me writing I’ve always enjoyed doing long-form pieces more, so a novel is more likely to happen.

Have you ever been to a poetry reading? Nope.

Do you believe that it's possible for someone to be resurrected from the dead? No. Well I believe those accounts of people who’ve flatlined but were able to be brought back to life, but that’s it. 

When was the last time you felt like you were being followed? It was in like September when I was picking up my mom from work and I decided to take a little walk in the area while waiting. I happened to be at a poorly-lit area when suddenly I get the feeling this dude behind had his sight on me, so I changed my walking from Pleasant Stroll to Survival Mode and just went to the nearby Starbucks to be safe. I’m sure the dude was just a normal pedestrian, but I needed to be safe because the moment something happened and I started screaming, I doubt people would stop and help.

Have you ever felt like you were being followed by someone? As far as I know it has only been that ^ one incident. 

Have you ever idolized someone (or just really looked up to someone) and then found out they were selfish? I feel this way about Kristen Stewart with regard to her cheating.

Do you have a cousin named Peter? I do not.

How far away do you live from Switzerland? A Google search tells me it is a quick 10,472 km away.

What are three things you think of when you hear the word "Switzerland"? Mountains, chocolate, neutrality.

Have you ever been to Switzerland? I have not.

Would you rather meet Peter Pan or the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz? I haven’t watched either movie so idk which one I’d like more.

Are you afraid of thunderstorms? ⛈ I love them when I’m indoors. But the last thing I want is to be stuck outside when a thunderstorm starts.

Do you wish you had a fairy godmother? Well, no. Cosmo and Wanda had me imagining how cool it would be to get everything you want, but I knew they weren’t real anyway so it wasn’t like I was the kind of kid who was convinced fairy godparents could come to life if I believed in them hard enough.

Which name do you like better for a girl: Jane or Claire? I really love both. But I think I like Jane just a teeny teeny tiny bit more.

Do you have a common first name? I wouldn’t call it common. It’s familiar to people, but it’s never been a Top 10, 20, 50, 100 name.

Is your first name old-fashioned? It comes off as one, at least to me. Idk what others think though!

What color hair does your current crush (or boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, whatever) have? I don’t have one of those.

Have you ever been to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris? No.

Do you like kale? I’ve never had it.

What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you in a theater? It was more embarrassing for my siblings than it was for me, but the 3 of us once watched the last full screening of a Spongebob movie and I fell asleep halfway through. I woke up with the credits nearly ending, nobody but us left in the theater, and the crew coming in to start cleaning up trash.

In my defense(?), I have no idea why neither of them just shook me awake. They literally just stared at me until I woke up on my own??????? Like what would they have done if my brain decided to sleep through the night? LOL

Have you ever gone out with a guy and then later found out that he was married? No.

...and would you be upset if this happened? Duh. Upset, infuriated, and grossed out would be an accurate summary.

What was the name of the main character in the last book you read? Edward.

...and what was the name of the villain? James.

What do you think would be a good name for a villain? I feel like many of the exceptional TV/movie assholes actually have mundane, office-ass names. Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Gus from Breaking Bad...

Have you ever had someone ask you if you had magic powers? No.

...and do you have magic powers? No. Wishing we could stop with the fantasy questions at this point, too.

Are you a fan of Frankenstein? No.

What are three things that the word "Frankenstein" makes you think of? The character, the character’s hair, and the wrestling move Frankensteiner.

Do you try to make the most of every day? Well, not literally every day on the calendar. Some days I just want to take it easy.

What was the last valuable life lesson you learned? Take chances, especially those where you’d have nothing to lose. What was your favorite teacher's name? Ettie. Have you ever had someone copy you or steal your ideas for something? Probably.

Have you ever dated someone behind your parents' back? For six years.

[moonssugar]

thinking about the term "experimental theology"

very mid

implied that its called that because its a way scientists can keep doing research without facing persecution and make discoveries while squaring them with accepted theocratic ideologies. at least thats what the narrative wants you to get from it and also the idea that science and religion can't coexist, are completely separate but one can consume or oppress the other usually with religion eclipsing science. its a place where the narrative talks at you instead of to you (this happens alot) (because its never written from the perspective of someone religious doing science its written from an outsider pov on a subject the narrative wants to be wrong: religious people, religious practice, religious belief)

but it really downplays the idea that science came from religion, from people making observations, wanting to figure stuff out to further their religious practices etc. humanity had religion way before it had science. with the emergence of more 'refined' [what we can recognize as] science the boundary between where spirituality stops and science begins can't be drawn bc a lot of the discoveries are motivated by religion. all the religious scholars and devoted that made so many discoveries didnt see their discoveries as separate from their theology, a lot of them thought they really complimented each other and became a part of their faith. its a modern idea that they're separate at all. its a modern idea that 'religion' is something silly people do and that we need to put it on the shelf to make room for 'science'. instead of the more plausible idea that religion is something we keep creating throughout human history and have never stopped. as a human inclination. i can't not mention islamic scholars and mathematics and also indigenous americans and environmental science as just the tip of the iceberg. its a huge secret that they blend together so much in most cultures (its not a secret. lmao).

thats more of what the phrase 'experimental theology' could express as a way of saying 'science' by acknowledging their relationship instead of "we have to hide our noble cutting edge science from the religious freaks right under their noses bc theyre too stupid to notice what we're doing but also bc theyre totally separate things that can never exist in the same room or we'll all explode" type of insecurity. i know the story is about christofascists but even they love science they can use to their advantage. you'd think someone would research this. tell me again how the folks in these novels who have weird atomic bombs don't have radios?

completely missed opportunity to do more theological worldbuilding too btw. oh so your version of science is deeply embedded in your theology? and scientific practice as religious calling? that your findings brings you closer to understanding your own faith and own god(s)? tell me more! :3

except it never told me more it just hamfisted a incomplete understanding of religion and science as fact

[bazmichaels]

College - Part Two

My sophomore year of college was, in some ways, unlike any year of school I’d ever had. I was not playing any school sports, and I had so much time on my hands, it was amazing. I suppose my first semester in Ohio was like that, but I had the broken arm and the weird pubescent hormones and the sinus infections, and all that stuff back then. I’m pretty sure I took Modern Physics that year, and it blew my mind, in a rigorous, mathematical way. It was taught by a professor who was one of the two Astronomy/Astrophysics professors at the school, and I would take all the classes they offered. The other professor was his wife. Modern Physics encompassed special relativity, general relativity, and quantum physics. Some of my favorite class discussions in all of college were in this class. Some of the other ones were in the Introduction to Philosophy class that I took that year. It included a section on logic that has proved invaluable throughout my life and career. Another mind-expanding class that was a critical step in my scientific education was Calculus 1. Well, this one was not all rainbows and unicorns. The professor was the Mathematics Department Head. He knew Calculus so well he was terrible at introducing the ingenious concepts behind Calculus and teaching new students how to learn it. I was good at math. That’s why I was in that class. So was pretty much everyone else in the class. But every time I took a test for this guy, I got a crappy grade. Soon I noticed that everyone else was also getting crappy grades. I wound up getting a D in his class. That was no bueno. I couldn’t take a bunch of classes for my major with a D in this class. I re-took the class the next semester with a different professor and got a B+ and I actually enjoyed it. Almost half of the students in the re-take class were in my previous class. And now for something completely different. Perhaps my favorite ‘class’ I took that year was Racquetball. You heard me. I took a college class in racquetball. It was graded such that the more matches you won, the better your grade was. I got all the points. I won all my matches. Well, I lost one mixed doubles match. I was paired with one of the worst players in the class, a girl that I happened to have a huge crush on, and who was crushing on me, too. There was one big problem, though. She had a boyfriend that she refused to dump. He must have had money or something. She told me she was thinking about dumping him for me, but I was never a big fan of that move. If she could dump someone for me, what’s to say she wouldn’t later dump me for someone else?  It was a love story that was never to be.

I did play a lot of tennis my sophomore year. I found a few guys that could hit the ball solidly and were willing to play a lot. One guy was from Pakistan. He was a real nice guy – even seemed sweet and a bit effeminate. After a bunch of times just playing tennis, we got to talking, and I asked him about what it was like for him back home. He said he was from a rich family, and he lived in a compound, complete with machine gun turrets around the outside walls. When I saw the Bin Laden raid, it reminded me of how he described where he lived. I also remember sitting around in the hallways of my dorm in a group discussion that included a guy from Israel and a guy from Lebanon (I think?). They were each very deliberate and intelligent discussing all the problems in the middle east. They had become friends at WKU. Somebody asked them each if they would have any problem killing the other one in the event of a conflict when they went back home. They each said they wouldn’t hesitate. That was chilling.

I wound up hanging out both on and off the court with a guy named Eddie. We played a similar style of game and had some epic rallies on court. He was a little older than most of us – he came back to WKU to get a degree in Photography (photojournalism?). I helped him with a couple of his photography projects. He had an extensive rock album collection, so it was cool hanging out at his place listening to some good music. We found out that students got a big discount at the local tennis club, which had indoor courts, so we both joined, and we were able to play over the winter. I could also play with some of the locals in town there.

[approximately20blorbos]

hi egg!! how does the magic system work in ur world?

HIHI GOOD QUESTION sorry for caps I got excited lol

SO there are perceived to be two parts. this is false. it is a single magic system that has suffered immensely from being pried apart into two studies but for the sake of discussion there is the mathematical half and the artistic half

the mathematical half is a lot like programming for the universe, but there are other applications too, like in alchemy, which is also a mathematically based practice! enchanting objects also typically involves inscribing the surface with the formulas that give the desired effect, or writing scripts that cause magic to stick to objects in the area. this magic can be perfectly replicated again and again by anyone who knows how to do it, like a scientific experiment

then there's the art side! this primarily works by tugging on emotions, both that of the caster and those around them. this magic is far less predictable and is almost subjective in nature, but it can accomplish things formulas cant and can be cast in the moment instead of going through the whole process of writing out a script or making a potion or enchanting an item. a lot of training bards do is less about achieving powerful effects and more about achieving consistent effects

one little detail that kind of foreshadows that the two systems are more connected than they seem (read: the same fucking system /lh) is that it is much MUCH easier to enchant an object that has artistic or creative worth than one that is purely practical! that's why almost all magic items, at least the ones worth their salt, are all fancy and gorgeous like that, it's not just for fun there's a functional purpose for getting the magic to stick and amplifying its effects

there are also crystals that are basically pure, concentrated magical energy, and they are both indestructible and incredibly powerful spellcasting foci. knowledge of how to make the stuff has been completely lost to time, because it requires application of the whole magic system and not just a part of it to make, and it would take a powerful caster as well. the entire Crystalline Capital (at least, the part on the lake) is made of this stuff, which is what makes it so awe-inspiring. it's inconceivable that one day casters existed that were so powerful as to make a whole city out of this shit. and in a similar vein, you'll find shattered pieces of these crystals in the northern parts of the shining forest in the ruins of Old Hafalia (placeholder name), which was a city also made largely out of this stuff. no one knows what happened to make the crystals break, or what kind of immense power it would take to do that, only that you'd better watch your step in those parts bc the shards of crystal jutting out of the ground will go through your foot in an instant if you step on them.

this all isn't quite so fleshed out as I'd like it to be BUT! it's getting there and I had a lot of fun answering this question anyway, so, ty very very much for the ask :)

[koalbent]

im obsessed so heres a bit from.. uhh doctor who book(lots of words ahead)

this one

(good picture i know) its rlly good a nd it has academy era stuff so like…. koschei ….

anyways heres tegan describing the doctor, nyssa, and adric in the book bc its really funny

And it certainly wasn't her fault that she was living with three aliens from alarmingly different backgrounds, none of whom she understood. She was, if she was brutally honest, rather frightened of her companions. They were all basket cases and she was locked up with them!

Take the Doctor, for instance. When she first met him, he was about fifteen years older than he was now, with curly brown hair and a commanding personality that everyone was in awe of, including her. Then, after an accident he changed, literally before her eyes, into a younger, blond man who liked cricket and looked only five or six years older than she was.

Then there was Nyssa. Hey, there was a classic example of damage. She was what, seventeen? Eighteen maybe? Her parents were dead. Her stepmother was dead. Her entire world had been consumed, obliterated and she was the only survivor, anywhere. And what did she do? Shrug it off, wallow in scientific books to learn more about something called 'telebiogenesis' which she claimed to be ignorant of. Hardly what most teenaged girls did. When Tegan had been eighteen, it was music, R-rated movies and boys - poor Nyssa should be dreaming of movie stars, calling friends, going to the clubs. Hell, grieving wouldn't be a bad thing either. It couldn't be that healthy hiding away her emotions after all that had happened.

Then there was Adric. King-size brat and arrogant adolescent, with his posturing and posing. Oh yes, mathematical genius he might be, but here's another teenaged boy with too much brain and not enough exercise. So what does he do? He masters the art of the sarcastic, but unfunny retort, is lazy and workshy and, above all, forgets to bathe regularly. Both she and Nyssa had suggested that the Doctor should have a man-to-man chat with him about how his body was changing as he went through his teenage years, and should offer to give him some deodorant, but the Doctor had suddenly mumbled something like 'been there, done that centuries ago, no thanks' and headed off somewhere else. As far as Tegan's sense of smell could tell even the TARDIS automatic-cleaning atmosphere couldn't stop Adric's armpits ponging.

so basically, doctor weird, worried abt nyssa, adric needs to shower. Adric stinky fr.

also earlier in the book it says the doctor has pyjamas with question marks on them and i LOVE the question marks so much so thats like… the best. get me some of those. Also mickey mouse coat hangar.

Also Koschei says something along the lines of “He just says something, snaps his fingers, or whatever, and we follow. I must figure out how to do that someday.” and liek….

anyways. this book real cool if you find it anywhere or get a chance to read it i fully recommend you do. i got it by pure chance(looking for doctor who books at thrift stores & secondhand book store. Got a buncha cool books)

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Happy STS! Are your OCs good at thinking on their feet? Do they adapt quickly when things go wrong, or do they break down?

Happy STS! Let's do The City is Ours mcs for this question...

Nickelle: She's pretty quick to think of a solution, but jumps into the deep end a little too much sometimes instead of waiting for a safe or opportune moment. She's not prone to breaking down under high stress or when plans change, which makes her a good, natural leader.

Asher: He's very cautious, and doesn't think of stuff very quickly. But he doesn't crack under pressure and is actually fairly calm under stress.

Gabby: very chill and goes with the flow when things go wrong, adapts very easily. pretty quick thinker in a lot of situations.

Kylee: can't handle change or stress very well at all, especially during fights. when things don't go as she expected, they starts freaking out and will need to sit down and take a breather once the coast is clear. When Gabby noticed this, she told Kylee to just expect that things will go wrong and.... it's kind of working? a little bit? When they can think creatively in a situation, they are very quick and she can easily think outside of the box.

Bryson: after a while of being the medic, he's used to chaos and things going wrong at this point. he's the calmest person in the room under pressure, and adapts very quickly when things go wrong. when it comes to medical things and getting people to safety, he somehow always comes up with a solution and quick.

V: V is the chaos and the change that makes things go wrong. They can adapt very fast and thrives on chaos, so yeah... (which honestly tracks because they're a soccer goalie). Very impulsive, so they are a quick thinker, yes

Jason: when things don't go his way he throws a hissy fit and blows up- literally- , so.... no, not at all. He's dumb as rocks, though and a slow thinker, so there's that at least.

Chase: he's very anxious all the time, but anxiety is so constant for him he's gotten used to it at this point and just rolls with the punches while screaming internally. when it comes to technical and scientific/mathematical logic, he is a very quick thinker. when it comes to common sense and street smarts on the other hand? dude can't even follow the instructions on the box of a microwave dinner.

Thanks for the ask @emelkae !