#because the search engine most certainly will not

[offonaherosjourney]

Yet another PSA for Reddit Refugees

How to use the Search bar to find old Tumblr posts

HAHAHAHAHA YOU DON'T

Ok, but really, how can I track that one post that a friend showed me seven years ago?

By being VERY LUCKY and willing to invest A LOT OF TIME. If there's something you really want to find, here are your best bets, in no particular order:

If you remember specific keywords, try a google search. However, even if you get a hit, the link won't take you to the post, it will take you to the main page of the blog. Have fun dumpster diving (affectionate) in their Archive tab.

If the post belonged to a specific fandom, try finding blogs that only reblog stuff about that fandom and have fun dumpster diving (affectionate) in their Archive tab.

Plead to the void and hope the void answers. Make a post giving as much info as you can about the post you are trying to find and hope someone else remembers it and knows where to find it or has better luck than you tracking it down.

Go to r/tumblr or r/curatedtumblr while you still can and try asking there if anyone remembers the post and has a link.

Learn how to code. Get hired by Tumblr. Fix the Search engine. Submit your resignation.

[exhaled-spirals]

« To mention the global loss of biodiversity, that is to say, the disappearance of life on our planet, as one of our problems, along with air pollution or ocean acidification, is absurd—like a doctor listing the death of his patient as one symptom among others.

The ecological catastrophe cannot be reduced to the climate crisis. We must think about the disappearance of life in a global way. About two-thirds of insects, wild mammals and trees disappeared in a few years, a few decades and a few millennia, respectively. This mass extinction is not mainly caused by rising temperatures, but by the devastation of natural habitats.

Suppose we managed to invent clean and unlimited energy. This technological feat would be feted by the vast majority of scientists, synonymous in their eyes with a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions. In my opinion, it would lead to an even worse disaster. I am deeply convinced that, given the current state of our appetites and values, this energy would be used to intensify our gigantic project of systemic destruction of planetary life. Isn't that what we've set out to do—replace forests with supermarket parking lots, turn the planet into a landfill? What if, to cap it all, energy was free?

[...C]limate change has emerged as our most important ecological battle [...] because it is one that can perpetuate the delusional idea that we are faced with an engineering problem, in need of technological solutions. At the heart of current political and economic thought lies the idea that an ideal world would be a world in which we could continue to live in the same way, with fewer negative externalities. This is insane on several levels. Firstly because it is impossible. We can't have infinite growth in a finite world. We won't. But also, and more importantly, it is not desirable. Even if it were sustainable, the reality we construct is hell. [...]

It is often said that our Western world is desacralised. In reality, our civilisation treats the technosphere with almost devout reverence. And that's worse. We perceive the totality of reality through the prism of a hegemonic science, convinced that it “says” the only truth.

The problem is that technology is based on a very strange principle, so deeply ingrained in us that it remains unexpressed: no brakes are acceptable, what can be done must be done. We don't even bother to seriously and collectively debate the advisability of such "advances". We are under a spell. And we are avoiding the essential question: is this world in the making, standardised and computed, overbuilt and predictable, stripped of stars and birds, desirable?

To confine science to the search for "solutions" so we can continue down the same path is to lack both imagination and ambition. Because the “problem” we face doesn't seem to me, at this point, to be understood. No hope is possible if we don't start by questioning our assumptions, our values, our appetites, our symbols... [...] Let's stop pretending that the numerous and diverse human societies that have populated this planet did not exist. Certainly, some of them have taken the wrong route. But ours is the first to forge ahead towards guaranteed failure. »

— Aurélien Barrau, particle physicist and philosopher, in an interview in Télérama about his book L'Hypothèse K

[sparrowlucero]

So what do we think Beebe's fish were then? I heard tell that the sailfin might have been a squid and that the angelfish was probably a comb jelly, but what about the giant dragonfish or the rainbow gar?

For those not in the know, in the 1930s, biologist William Beebe (who you (read: I) might know as the guy who predicted microraptor) and engineer Otis Barton (hollywood actor?? and designer of fucked up submarines and "jungle spaceships", ok otis) got into a fucked up submarine and went to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of bermuda (in what, iirc, was the first study of deep sea fish in their natural habitat), where he described several fish unknown to science. None of these fish have been identified since. (Side Note: to continue off of "audubon was unfamiliar with the bald eagle" in my last post, this one also has a theory I find a bit silly in "perhaps they just hallucinated fake fish from oxygen deprivation" despite both witnessing the same fish and a lot of his scary book about the dive that you can read here including many lucid observations of known species. It wasn't like he got down there and only saw weird fish and nothing else) The fish in order: Three-starred anglerfish, Abyssal Rainbow Gar, Pallid sailfin, Five-lined Constellation Fish

and yeah I do see why people think these might have been invertebrates mistakenly identified as fish. In his book, Beebe holds off on describing unfamiliar fish if he didn't see them well, but, you know, those little gars really do look like squid. I personally think the most likely one to be a real fish is the angler, since he saw it closely and was able to note several physiological differences in jaw structure that distinguished it from other angler fish.

The most notable one is the "Untouchable Bathysphere Fish", a giant 6 foot long dragonfish (largest known dragonfish is about 2 feet long):

Several minutes later, at 2100 feet, I had the most exciting experience of the whole dive. Two fish went very slowly by, not more than six or eight feet away, each of which was at least six feet in length. They were of the general shape of large barracudas, but with shorter jaws which were kept wide open all the time I watched them. A single line of strong lights, pale bluish, was strung down the body. The usual second line was quite absent. The eyes were very large, even for the great length of the fish. The undershot jaw was armed with numerous fangs which were illumined either by mucus or indirect internal lights. Vertical fins well back were one of the characters which placed it among the sea-dragons, Melanostomiatids, and were clearly seen when the fish passed through the beam. There were two long tentacles, hanging down from the body, each tipped with a pair of separate, luminous bodies, the upper reddish, the lower one blue. These twitched and jerked along beneath the fish, one undoubtedly arising from the chin, and the other far back near the tail. I could see neither the stem of the tentacles nor any paired fins, although both were certainly present. This is the fish I subsequently named Bathysphera intacta, the Untouchable Bathysphere Fish.

I believe this solely because it's really cool Though I want posit a theory I've never heard before: it's almost never remarked upon that he discovered these weird fish over a live (now lost media that no one is searching for, get on that) NBC radio broadcast. Maybe he just made up some cool sea monsters with a big climactic sea serpent for said broadcast, both because I would totally do that if it were me and also so he had a good excuse to sign off and get the fuck out of this situation:

[certifiedsexed]

You know what genital condition hurts worse than anything else I've ever experienced, and I'd never encountered at all before I developed one?

A Bartholin abscess. I feel like it's important for people to know about them; they're painful, debilitating, misunderstood, and often dismissed by non-specialist doctors as 'going away by themselves'. The gynecologist I saw with my most recent one said she treats 20+ of them a week, but nobody talks about them. There certainly weren't any clinic posters talking about them. Plenty about STIs and pap smears, but no Bartholin awareness.

I would encourage anyone who's factory plumbing came with a vagina, or who cares about someone with that plumbing, to put Safesearch or the search engine equivalent on (because the images that pop up are the worst case scenario, and also NSFW if you're at school/in the office) and look into Bartholin cysts and the abscesses that come from them. The wiki page is a good starting point.

If you notice a lump near the opening of your vagina, get medical help. Don't wait and see if it goes away. My first one I was so depressed that I just pretended it wasn't there, and it went from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a peach in under a week. Imagine something the size of a peach under the skin of your inner labia.

These abscesses do eventually rupture and drain, which stops them hurting somewhat though they still have to heal, but until then the sheer size and painfulness impedes walking, sitting, using the toilet, cleaning after using the toilet, and just about everything else. The pain I had was extraordinary and entirely debilitating, I can't understate that. It's an area with a lot of nerve endings and very good blood flow, you know?

The second one I had I started treatment with Flucloxacillin on day two and it didn't get anywhere near as big or as painful. It still hurt a little, got to about the size of a grape, and still popped after about ten days, but I was able to continue working and mostly get along as normal.

I've been told that once you've had one they're likely to come back unless you get medical intervention so it really is key to not ignore them.

Sorry to be hijacking, I know this isn't entirely about sex ed as such, but like... I went to a school in a liberal area with fairly comprehensive sex ed which included frank and open discussions around health and diseases, and I've been around on the internet for a decade since as well, and had never heard of these until I developed one. I'm still recovering from the most recent episode, and really do not want anyone else to sprout one of these and have no idea what's happening or be dismissed by a doctor and not have the knowledge to advocate for themselves.

I don't think this is hijacking at all. I think this' great information to share, thank you! [This is an article about Bartholin cysts/abscesses, for anyone interested.]

[factcheckingmclennon]

harry nilsson quotes double feature: fact or fiction?

"Someone told me a few minutes ago they saw John walking on the street [once] wearing a sign saying – a button, rather, saying 'I Love Paul'. And this girl who told me that said she asked him, 'Why are you wearing the button that says ‘I Love Paul’?' He said, 'Because I love Paul.'" -Harry Nilsson

"I'm just like everybody else, Harry, I fell for Paul's looks." Harry Nilsson (on John)

these quotes get passed around unsourced, or wrongly sourced, constantly. so...

are these harry nilsson quotes about john lennon real?

shockingly, after getting an anon correction on the first one and then discovering myself on the second one through the world's most random search engine imaginable bc SOMETHING felt unfinished...... the final verdict for both?

...ish? the second one is sort of neutral bc it's taken a bit out of context but i'll get to that

let's get into it, because this one took me on a journey!

(and btw the sources on these were SUCH a pain in the ass to find due to lack of sourcing & wrong sourcing so i am on my hands and knees for these to get passed around w the proper sources now that they're in one place bc they're so good)

first of all, these quotes keep getting mixed up and messed around with different wording. which was my first road block on finding a proper source. second of all, they have been wrongly attributed to a) one single interview together and/or b) a rolling stone interview with nilsson. this made things aggravating. but in the end, an anon sent me the audio for the first quote and for the second one i FINALLY found someone a looong while back actually naming the book it's in & successfully found it!

made a post earlier concluding both were fake, but we just had to go a little deeper folks.

anyway, onto the good shit

who was harry nilsson? he was a friend of john's, specifically during his 1974 lost weekend era. they lived together for a while (along with others, including ringo!) and were pretty close.

"because i love paul"

this one gets misquoted the Most honestly like you'll find a bunch of different variations of it, but you can find it in a 1984 interview with geoffrey giuliano as such:

GIULIANO: Did he miss the Beatles? Was he mournful about what happened, over the, you know—? HARRY: Someone told me a few minutes ago they saw John walking on the street [once] wearing a sign saying – a button, rather, saying ‘I Love Paul’. And this girl who told me that said she asked him, “Why are you wearing the button that says ‘I Love Paul’?” He said, “Because I love Paul.” [laughs]  

(source) (and again, it's a tumblr blog, but given that it's audio, i'm marking it trustworthy. i just uploaded it to archive.org in case it ever gets deleted)

"i fell for paul's looks"

this one. this one was a goddamn journey and a half. this sent me on several rabbit holes and dead ends. the author of the last source said "nope it's definitely not from the tapes i found this audio from or i would've posted it too" and couldn't find the source either. no one had a source. until finally i found someone on a forum saying it was in the ballad of john and yoko published by rolling stone in 1984, in an essay titled "harry remembers" and thank christ it was on archive.org

so here's the full quote, found on page 236

"He spoke the way James Joyce wrote. And to me he was the Beatles. He was always the spark. In a late wee-hours-of-the-morning talk, he once told me: 'I'm just like everybody else, Harry. I fell for Paul's looks. George knew more chords, so he was in. And Ringo, he's just Ringo.'"

(source)

so this one gets a... true/neutral rating from me. why neutral? well, the "i fell for paul's looks" part is certainly there. but in the full context, he's talking about why he wanted each member in the beatles. basically, paul was the pretty face. however, he did say that verbatim and it is incredibly fucking gay imo. like specifically the "i fell for" wording is craaaaazy to me. but i do think the full context should be included if we're talking about it, as well as the actual source.

so no, they were not indeed both from the same interview. one isn't even FROM an interview. but they are both true! which is great bc i love both of these quotes and truly thought they were fake! pleasantly surprised on this one

now, take these with a grain of salt. the first quote is a third-hand source. it's nilsson recounting what some random fan told him john had done YEARS prior. the second one is a second-hand source and nilsson and john were like pretty infamous for getting drunk/high together. but the quotes themselves? certainly exist from harry nilsson, and that's the question. believe them if you want to, or leave them! i'm certainly taking them lmao

[academicfever]

This is a good starting point but its not exhaustive by any means...

#Research 101: Part 1

##    How to find a good research topic?

It’s best to familiarize yourself with a discipline or topic as broadly as possible by looking beyond academia

Tips:

Be enthusiastic, but not unrealistic. For example, you might be tempted to throw yourself into finding out to what extent an entire economy has become circular, but it may already be challenging and tricky enough to find out which building materials are being recycled in the construction sector, and in what ways.

Be open-minded but beware of cul-de-sacs. You should always find out first whether enough is known about a topic already, or you might find yourself wasting a lot of time on it.

Be creative but stay close to the assignment. This starts with the topic itself; if one learning objective of the assignment is to carry out a survey, it isn’t helpful to choose a topic for which you need to find respondents on the other side of the world. One place where you can look for inspiration is current events. 

Although professors and lecturers tend to be extremely busy, they are often enthusiastic about motivated and smart students who are interested in their research field. You do need to approach them with focused questions, though, and not just general talk such as: ‘Do you know of a good topic for me?’ In many cases, a good starting point is the scholar themselves. Do a search on them in a search engine, take a look at their university web page, read recent publications,

In most university towns, you’ll come across organizations that hold regular lectures, debates, and thematic evenings, often in partnership with or organized by university lecturers and professors. If you’re interested in transdisciplinary research where academic knowledge and practical knowledge come together, this is certainly a useful place to start your search.

If you want to do interdisciplinary research, it is essential to understand and work with concepts and theories from different research fields, so that you are able to draw links between them (see Menken and Keestra (2016) on why theory is important for this). With an eye to your ‘interdisciplinary’ academic training, it is therefore a good idea to start your first steps in research with concepts and theories.

##How to do Lit Review:

Although texts in different academic disciplines can differ significantly in terms of structure, form, and length, almost all academic articles (research articles and literature reports) share a number of characteristics:

They are published in scholarly journals with expert editorial boards

These journals are peer-reviewed

These articles are written by authors who have no direct commercial or political interest in the topic on which they are writing

There are also non-academic research reports such as UN reports, data from statistics institutes, and government reports. Although these are not, strictly speaking, peer-reviewed, the reliability of these sources means that their contents can be assumed to be valid

You can usually include grey literature in your research bibliography, but if you’re not sure, you can ask your lecturer or supervisor whether the source you’ve found meets the requirements.

Google and Wikipedia are unreliable: the former due to its commercial interests, the latter because anyone, in principle, can adjust the information and few checks are made on the content.

disciplinary and interdisciplinary search machines with extensive search functions for specialized databases, such as the Web of Science, Pubmed, Science Direct, and Scopus

Search methods All of these search engines allow you to search for scholarly sources in different ways. You can search by topic, author, year of publication, and journal name. Some tips for searching for literature: 1. Use a combination of search terms that accurately describes your topic. 2. You should use mainly English search terms, given that English is the main language of communication in academia. 3. Try multiple search terms to unearth the sources you need. a. Ensure that you know a number of synonyms for your main topic b. Use the search engine’s thesaurus function (if available) to map out related concepts.

During your search, it is advisable to keep track of the keywords and search combinations you use. This will allow you to check for blind spots in your search strategy, and you can get feedback on improving the search combinations. Some search engines automatically keep a record of this.

Exploratory reading How do you make a selection from the enormous number of articles that are often available on a topic? Keep the following four questions in mind, and use them to guide your literature review: ■■ What is already known about my topic and in which discipline is the topic discussed? ■■ Which theories and concepts are used and discussed within the scope of my topic, and how are they defined? ■■ How is my topic researched and what different research methods are there? ■■ Which questions remain unanswered and what has yet to be researched?

$$ Speed reading:

Run through the titles, abstracts, and keywords of the articles at the top of your list and work out which ideas (concepts) keep coming back.

Next, use the abstract to figure out what these concepts mean, and also try to see whether they are connected and whether this differs for each study.

If you are unable to work out what the concepts mean, based on the context, don’t hesitate to use dictionaries or search engines.

Make a list of the concepts that occur most frequently in these texts and try to draw links between them.

A good way to do this is to use a concept map, which sets out the links between the concepts in a visual way.

All being well, by now you will have found a list of articles and used them to identify several concepts and theories. From these, try to select the theories and concepts that you want to explore further. Selecting at this stage will help you to frame and focus your research. The next step is to discover to what extent these articles deal with these concepts and theories in similar or different ways, and how combining these concepts and theories leads to different outcomes. In order to do this, you will need to read more thoroughly and make a detailed record of what you’ve learned.

next: part 2

part 3

part 4

last part

[toa-archive]

Alfonso Blaas colour keys - Part 1

For reasons most mysterious, one search engine has been picking up colour keys on Alfonso Blaas' website. This wouldn't be that big a deal because a chunk of them are viewable except unlike the format below, it's been picking up other keys that were previously only shown in the image on the left hand side. The running theory is they must still exist somewhere from site updates and somehow the engine is picking them up? Either way it certainly adds to the ones already uncovered on The Concept Art Blog!

Because tumblr has a bigger image limit I've combined both the CAB and search engine induced website keys in the order shown above. These will be uploaded in batches so I don't have to number all of them in one go. Enjoy!

Do not recommend zooming in on a tiny image to number things when tired. Things start getting weird. There are 86 images in this folder all told assuming nothing else appears.

[deadlysoupy]

DATV banter if my Rook (Urchin) was a companion >> 1 << / >> 2 << / 3 / ?

took a little break for the holidays, want to get back into this bc it was fun!

Neve: Rook. You started wearing more Tevinter clothes. Is it because you’re away from the Lords? Rook: Maybe? I just wanted a change of style. I’m used to running in ruins, barely any clothes on. I should cover at least something. For the public. Neve: (laughs) Right. Don’t want anyone staring at you. Rook: Oh. (coughs) I guess.

~~

Neve: Rook, have you been in Minrathous before? Rook: I… have, yes. Neve: Would you look at that. Rook: What? Neve: I’m surprised you answered, to be honest. But that wasn’t why I asked. Truth is, the word of a very peculiar person spread all over the Shadow Dragons a couple of years ago. Wondering if you’ve had anything to do with it. Rook: Oh? Why’d you think I would? Neve: The rumour mostly included a hooded figure. Rivaini clothes, loud giggles, the jiggle of gold… Just asking if you know someone who matches that description. Rook: Hm. Can’t say I do. You have a lead? Neve: Maybe. It went dead more than a year ago, unfortunately. Rook: Well, keep me updated on that mysterious person. I’m curious, myself. Neve: Sure thing.

~~

Rook: About you being a cat. Lucanis: I’m listening. Rook: You’re hard to get close to, you need space, you slink, you purr, you’re quiet… Lucanis: What was the one before that? Rook: You slink? Lucanis: No, after… (sighs) Forget it. But… you aren’t wrong. Rook: Aw! Well, good. Lucanis: If I’m a cat, you’re a magpie. Rook: (laughs) Can’t deny that! I do love shiny trinkets. Lucanis: And you’re loud. Rook: Wow. Ouch. Lucanis: Don’t worry. It’s not a bad quality.

~~

Lucanis: Watch your step. Rook: Aw-w, are you worried about me? Lucanis: It’s basic safety. You get distracted easily. Don’t trip. Rook: I won’t trip if you hold my hand. Lucanis: (laughs) You won’t, but you’ll never learn to look where you’re going. Rook: You’re a spoilsport.

~~

Bellara: You know a lot about magic and engineering! I didn’t expect that. Rook: I’m sorry? Bellara: Oh, I meant that you don’t really know any terms or technicalities, it’s almost like you’re going by your gut. You helped me a lot, Rook, I hope you know that. Rook: Aw, it’s nothing, I’m glad it worked out. Truth is, I’ve had experience in fixing things, like you, I guess. Mine just wasn’t… voluntary. Bellara: I… see what you mean. At least it turned out to be useful! Rook: (chuckles) I guess so, yeah.

~~

Rook: Bel, what was the relationship with your Dalish clan like? Bellara: Oh, we got along great! Well, mostly. I wouldn’t say Cyrian and I were the “outcasts”, but our studies certainly met some resistance. But our clan still supported us — we just wanted what was best for the elves, after all. Rook: And… after? Bellara: After? I didn’t care. Cyrian was gone, and I had no reason to stay. The Veiljumpers took up most of my time, and the search for the Nadas Dirthalen, of course. Rook: Hm. Okay.

~~

Davrin: Rook. The thing I wanted to talk about earlier. Rook: M-hm? Davrin: You don’t have a vallaslin. You come from an alienage? Rook: (grunts) Great topic to talk about, Davrin. No, I’m not from an alienage. Davrin: Hey, I just asked. What’s got your tunic in a twist? Rook: It’s nothing. Not a pleasant topic to talk about. Why do you want to know? Davrin: Simple curiosity. Allies, as well as enemies, need to be studied. Rook: O-okay, that’s definitely not creepy.

~~

Davrin: Where are you from, then? Rook: Davrin. My sweet, brick-headed Davrin. Why would you want to know that? Davrin: Specifically because you don’t want to talk about it. Besides, you know where I’m from. It’s only fair I get to know, too. Rook: Now’s really not the time, Hero. Ask me tomorrow at lunch. Davrin: Will you actually answer? Rook: Let’s find out.

~~

Harding: I’ve noticed you don’t ask me much about the Inquisition. Rook: I don’t. Harding: Why? It’s the thing most people know me for. Rook: I don’t like judging people by their past. Who they worked for, what they did. The present to me matters more than anything. And I’ve known you as an excellent scout, friend, and a sucker for gross taste combos. Ham and jam? Really? Harding: You’re lucky I don’t get offended much. But you aren’t interested in the Inquisition in the slightest? Rook: Nope. Too many important people in one place. Trevelyan seems… intense. I have problems with an authority like her. Harding: Inquisitor Trevelyan was intense, alright. We didn’t have a pleasant interaction that wasn’t about “The Cause” even once. Rook: See? That’s what I mean. So, no. To me, you’re Lace, not “the Inquisition’s famous scout”. Harding: Huh. Thanks. Rook: For what? Harding: For seeing me as me.

~~

Harding: You remind me of someone from the Inquisition, actually. Rook: Ugh. I hope not Solas. Harding: (laughs) No, not at all! Sera, actually. Rook: Sera? The Red Jenny girl? Harding: And you said you weren’t interested. Rook: What comes around goes around. The Lords worked with them once. Rumours there spread like wildfire, so. Harding: Oh, wow! Didn’t know they weren’t really a secret. But, yeah, you remind me of her in many ways. You’re both elves, both aren’t very elf-y, take almost nothing seriously, interrupt others, have a shaky moral compass, hate the rich, love pranks… Rook: Okay, I get it! Fasta vass. Just say I’m annoying, at this point. Harding: Woah, I never meant it like that. Sera was a shining light in many people’s eyes. To some allies, she was inspiring, to others she was a nuisance to watch out for. But to our enemies — she was an unpredictable force to be reckoned with. Rook: “Unpredictable force”, huh? I can work with that. Harding: And inattentive, too. Rook: Ps-sh.

[cosyvelvetorchid]

I finally finished it!

15k+ word, Buck 2.0, Tommy 1.5, smutty with a bit of fluff fic.

To be completely honest, I’m not entirely happy with it—I’ve certainly written better fics. But if I didn’t get it finished and up it would never be posted.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and soothes your little bucktommy broken hearts 🩶

**********

Word count: 15,537

Rated: E

Excerpt:

Buck wasn’t exactly sure of his sexuality. For most of his life he was straight—women were what he wanted. And he wanted them. A lot of them. There was a time where he actually considered that he might be a sex addict.

Really, he was just searching for something. He didn’t know what, or where he would find it, just knew that there was a hole somewhere inside of him that something was supposed to fit within.

And then he met up with some old buddies he’d met in Peru, went to a bar, had way too many drinks, and before he knew it he was in a dark corner with a guys tongue down his throat. It was sloppy and wet and didn’t lead to anything more but suddenly, that thing that Buck had been searching for his whole life; the illusive unknown and unidentifiable something that was missing, was clear as day.

That was three months ago. He hadn’t said a word about it to anybody—not his sister, defiantly not his parents and not the 118 either. He wasn’t ashamed of what had happened, but he needed time to for some introspection—to figure out what it really meant for him; what he wanted. Plus, at the time it happened he was a month shy of finishing his probationary year at the 118 and though he’d come along way from stealing engines to hook up, he still wanted to prove that he was worthy of becoming a fully fledged member of the LAFD and that was his primary focus and what he wanted everyone else to see and not his sexuality.

Thankfully he passed his probation and welcomed into the 118 permanently.

*****

Buck couldn't deny that he found Tommy gorgeous. That is, he couldn't deny it now. Tommy had piqued an interest within him when he'd first joined the 118 fourteen months ago, only he was oblivious as to what it was. For a while he'd thought it was jealousy—Tommy was built a little bigger than himself, and just seemed so effortlessly cool.

It was after his drunken kiss with the guy from the bar that he noticed Tommy. His beautiful big blue eyes, those huge biceps, and yeah that ass that you could sink your teeth into. He wasn't exactly crushing on the guy, but he could admire the beauty.

But his personality was an entirely different matter. Everyone gravitated towards Tommy; wanting his approval, inviting him to games or hang outs. Which buck for the life of him couldn’t figure out why. For as excellent as he was at his job, he was also an asshole. At least to Buck. No matter what Buck did it was never right—Tommy always found some way to criticise him. Hen had told him to give Tommy time to warm up to him; that deep down he was a good guy. Must have be really fucking deep because at Buck could not seem to find that good side no matter how hard he tried to find it.

Buck had assumed once he'd passed his probation the attitude would let up. It did not. He was professional when it came to work matters, but beyond that he either sniped at Buck or ignored him entirely. Buck wasn't sure which he'd prefer.

*

Tommy walked into work in a particularly bad mood. He was short with Buck as usual, but he was also equally hot-tempered with everyone. Sal, his partner, had left a few days prior to take up the Captains spot at the 122, and Tommy was clearly not handling it very well.

He'd snapped at Hen for offering to help him clean the engine, he'd sworn at Chimney for dropping a knife near his foot—which didn't even touch him—in the kitchen. And then Buck made the egregious mistake of turning a corner without looking and bumping into Tommy which send his mug of coffee all down Tommy's shirt.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Buckley?! Are those eyes on your face there for just fucking decoration?!" He shoulder barged Buck as he walked past, aggressively stomping towards the bathroom. Buck followed him into the room, despite that voice in the back of his mind telling him it was a bad idea. Tommy was leaning over the sink, running a wet paper towel over the wet stain on his shirt.

"I-I'm really sorry, Tommy. I wasn’t-"

"You weren't what?!" Tommy interrupted curtly. "You weren't paying attention? Surprise surprise the 118 puppy can't pay attention." He snarled.

Buck had been called a few names during his probie year, but none bothered him like "puppy" did. It was just so fucking infantilising.

"Im not a puppy." Buck told him through gritted teeth. He had been slowly growing tired of Tommy's behaviour towards him. He'd put up with it while he was on probation because he understood that you have to earn the trust of firefighters; prove you're not just capable of the job, but that they can safely put their lives in your hands. That trust takes time, and Buck put in a tremendous amount of effort to prove himself.

Everyone else had accepted him. Everyone else had welcomed him into the family. But not Tommy. Tommy had continued to keep him at arms length and it had began pissing Buck off.

Tommy rolled his eyes and scoffed, something he'd done a thousand times, but this time Buck bit back.

"What the hell is your problem with me, Kinard?" He stepped forward; his pulse beginning to rise.

"Do you want a list?" He replied, continuing to rub at his shirt pointlessly as the stain was not going anywhere. He didn't bother looking at Buck.

Actually, a list would be helpful.

"Seriously, what the hell have I done to you?! A little hazing while I was a probie I get but I passed my probation period two fucking months ago! So why are you still acting like a colossal douchebag?!"

Tommy turned his head quickly and his eyes finally met Bucks. His jaw was tense and lips tightly curled. For a moment Buck thought Tommy was about to hit him.

Without warning he stepped forward, grabbed Buck by the scruff of his shirt and pushed forward, slamming Buck into the wall behind. Between the shock of being pushed and the minor winding of being slammed into the wall, Buck lost his ability to speak.

Tommys face was inches from his. His big blue eyes staring hard into Bucks and his hot and rapid breaths fanning his face. Buck immediately felt his pants tightening. It was so fucking ridiculous that this was what turned him on and yet there was his dick pushing against his zipper.

He knew needed to push him off and get out of the bathroom before Tommy noticed how hard he was and used it as more ammunition to treat him like shit. But before the thought had even finished in his mind, Tommy's hand was on Buck belt unbuckling it. His other hand still had hold of Bucks shirt while he pulled down the zipper.

His eyes didn't leave Bucks as his hand reached into his boxers and oh god!

**********

[alovesongtheywrote]

Nightmare Academia P.5 | Spencer Reid x Reader

♥ Summary:  the prank war continues- you steal spencer's mugs, he uses one of your worst fears against you, and you're both dicks to each other [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: reader makes a mean comment about spencer being fatherless, spencer picks at the reader's insecurities- y'know, normal fare. also, spiders. ALSO, MENTIONS OF THAT RABIES EPISODE FROM SEASON 9.

♥ A/N: i know this has been mindless shenanigans so far, but the next few chapters will contain hints of plot, i promise

♥ Word Count: 1525

Series Masterlist

You didn’t have to send the typewriter in again.  For the most part, this was a good thing- it meant that Reid was no longer torturing his students by making them write their notes and assignments by hand.  It meant that your students were no longer lingering on the edge of collapse.  It meant that the student body was dealing with healthy levels of stress.

It also meant you’d lost your main method for bothering Reid.

While you wouldn’t complain about Reid going pro-tech (or at least tech-neutral) it did mean that you couldn’t send the typewriter to Reid’s classes without being a massive bitch.  Before, when he had been tormenting his students, the annoying click of the typewriter had been a punishment.  It was all fair game.  

Now, you would have to find something more creative.  You would have to get crafty- punishing Reid for his various slights against you whilst being annoying, but not disruptive.  

So.  You decided to steal his mugs.

The idea crept over you like a bug, wiggling into you until you just had to do it.  So, you did.  You waited until he was teaching, and you snuck into his office.  The lock on the door was university regulation- and therefore, it was easy enough to bypass with a lockpick and the tiniest bit of skill.

Like that, you were in- and you were overcome with the realization that this was the first time you had ever really been in Reid’s office.  He’d been to yours plenty of times, he was the one who dropped off the typewriter after every class, but you never had a reason to come to his office.

At least, you hadn’t had a reason until now.

You were surprised by how familiar the space was.  It was warmly lit, filled with books and various trinkets.  The walls were covered with his doctorates and degrees.  Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, Psychology, Sociology- fuck that guy for being smarter than you.

You didn’t have time to dwell on that, though.  You were on a mission.  A mug-related mission.  

You searched the office, looking through drawers and swinging open cabinets until you found what you were looking for.  Behind Spencer’s desk inside a small cabinet, they sat- mugs.  Honestly, the sheer number of mugs tucked into such a small space was kind of impressive.  You certainly had options.

Eventually, you selected a dark blue mug designed to look like the TARDIS.  That was cute.  You did your best not to find it too endearing.  You promised yourself that you wouldn’t find anything in that office endearing.

And then, upon standing, you immediately broke that promise.

On top of the cabinet that stored all his mugs was a copy of Pride and Prejudice.  Your fingers brushed across the cover.  That alone was enough to charm you, but then you noticed, beneath the book- an article.  An analysis of Pride and Prejudice.  You would know the words on those pages anywhere.  You wrote that article.  

You felt heat building beneath your skin as a blush crawled up to your face.  You pulled away from the book as if it had burned you.  Kicking the cabinet door closed, you collected the mug in your hands, and you raced from the room as fast as you possibly could.

-

Reid enacted his vengeance swiftly.

Clearly, he was still in contact with that FBI tech girl of his- and CLEARLY, she was less of a tech girl and more of a mind reader, because she somehow found out about your phobia of spiders, and then she told Reid about it.

You knew all of this because one morning, you walked into your office to find a mug sitting innocently on your desk.  Inside of it, a rubber spider.  You, however, didn’t know it was rubber.  

You had spent the night before grading assignments, helping your GED students edit their papers, and crying over a really cute baby goat.  Needless to say, you were sleep-deprived- and it was in this sleep-deprived state that you flung the mug at the wall on instinct because you thought there was a spider inside of it.

Luckily, Reid, in his infinite wisdom, had predicted that this would be a possibility- or you assumed he had.  The mug was a tough thing, and flinging it at the wall hadn’t even put a chip in it.  The fake spider was also fine (which was good, because if it had been alive, and you had killed it, you probably would’ve cried again).

Once your racing heartbeat had returned to normal, you tried to calm down by grabbing one of your actual mugs from its actual place in a large drawer beneath your desk.

A fake spider sprung out at you the second you opened the thing.

You screamed, slapping the fake creature right off of its mechanism and across the room.  Once you were done having a teeny tiny panic attack over that, you took a closer look at your mug drawer.  Reid had put his engineering degree to good use, rigging up a mechanism that would let the fake arachnid jump at you once you’d triggered it by opening the door.  You were pissed- and a little bit impressed- but mostly pissed.

The last straw was the actual spider on your ceiling.  It wasn’t put there by Reid, but you still blamed him for it.  Once the little critter was gently placed outside, you stormed off to Reid’s office.  You didn’t care that it was the first thing in the morning, nor did you care that you had a class starting in a few minutes.  The only thing on your mind was Spencer Reid, and the many ways you could insult him.

You practically kicked open his office door, hitting maximum rage as you stormed inside “You DEEPLy UNFABULOUS POOL NOODLE.”

“Good morning, Dr. (L/N).  Sleep well?”

“No.  Fuck you for asking.  Fuck you even more for the SPIDER in the MUG.”

Spencer didn’t even look up from the paperwork on his desk, “At least it was fake.  The bacteria colonies that are currently gathering in my mug are very real.”

“Oh, come on, Reid.  I’m not using it.  I have some decorum.”

He flipped a page, “I find that hard to believe.  So, what kept you up, (L/N)?  Crippling self-doubt?  The crushing weight of reality and your inability to find a place in it?”

You brushed off the self-doubt comment.  He couldn’t know that was half of what kept you up grading papers so late.  

“Oh, baby, I know my place in it- it’s twofold.  I’m here to be dumb and annoy your terrible self,” you walked over and pushed all his papers to the side just enough for you to take a seat, “And I’m all out of dumb to be.”

Finally, Spencer looked up at you, “So here you are.  Y’know, insecurity doesn’t look good on you.”

“And fatherless behaviour doesn’t look good on you, yet here we are.  ANYWAY, my special little science boy, I am here to inform you that you’re gonna need to get more mugs.  Why?  Because I’m going to take everything you have, and I will leave you with nothing.  It won’t be today, nor will it be tomorrow, but one day you’ll come into work to face the most terrifying of all the Earth’s horrors- a lack of mugs.”

He paused, lips parted slightly as his eyes danced up and down your face.  Honestly, he probably would’ve been more upset about the fatherless comment if you hadn’t followed it up with such a monologue.  Now he just felt the need to one-up you.

He’d heard somewhere that less is more.

“Actually, the most terrifying of all Earth’s horrors is probably rabies.  Y’know, the BAU once had a case where a serial killer forcibly infected his victims with the disease in order to kill them.”

“Excuse me?”

The pure horror in your voice was delightful.  Spencer looked down to his wrist where his watch lay over his cardigan.  Of course, he already knew the time- he just didn’t want you to see the massive grin on his face, “Oh, shoot.  I have a class to teach.  Help yourself to the mugs, Doctor.  I hope you like arachnids in yours.”  

You sat in shock as Spencer grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

“Wait, Reid, I’m still on the rabies thing-”

“Bye, (Y/N).”

“‘Bye?’  The fuck do you mean ‘bye?’  Get back here and explain the rabies thing!”

He did not get back there and explain the rabies thing.  He just left you in his office with the terror of rabies hanging over your head.  Moving quickly, you stole your mug of the day and left.  That evening, while Reid was revelling in his temporary victory, you made a call that you never thought you would make.

“Hi, is this Derek Morgan?  Yeah, I’m a criminal justice student,” you lied, “I just had some questions about a case of yours involving rabies?”

Reid would rue the day he brought up the rabies thing- on that, you and SSA Morgan agreed.

♥ Tags: @icarusignite

[discworld-heritage-posts]

What do you think you add? Do you think you make a poignant post better when after scrolling down through it we see someone saying it's "official"?

I'm choosing to interpret this ask as a genuine question (albeit one that's been worded a bit rudely) instead of a hate anon, because I wouldn't want to tarnish people's dashboards with hate anons.

Now, to answer your genuine question... The "Discworld Heritage Post" tagline I add to the end of posts has as much validity as I have authority to bestow it: none. Do I think my tagline makes posts better? Of course not! And I certainly don't think I make them official, (and neither my url or my pinned post claim that I do so).

I don't know what reasons other people had to start their own Heritage Posts blogs for other fandoms, but I will gladly tell you mine: I got into Discworld. I discovered the Discworld fandom in Tumblr. And, one day, while scrolling down some Discworld related tags, the idea just popped into my head. After checking that there wasn't a Discworld Heritage Posts blog already, I decided to make one.

I personally follow a few Heritage Posts blogs, and my reason to do so is probably the same as to why many people follow this blog: I wanted to see that kind of content. Tracking tags and being up to date on the most popular posts of a fandom is doable, but doing so for the dozens upon dozens of media I'm into is impossible, so I like to follow some Heritage Posts blogs to get some of those posts directly into my dashboard (it's also worth mentioning that sometimes, some iconic posts are made when people comment stuff on them, and those don't appear in the search tags, so following blogs that post about a certain fandom is the best way to come across some of those collaborative posts, because otherwise you'd rarely get to see them). So yes, I created a blog that, had it already existed, I would have liked to follow. Also, while other blogs with this gimmick usually limit themselves to reblogging, let's call them the "greatest hits", I've said since the beginning that I didn't care about how many notes something had. Be it cool art or a funny or insightful post, if I like it, I send it to my drafts.

However, none of those reasons are the main reason why I made this blog. The main reason is that I did it for myself. After exhausting all the content that showed up in the Popular Posts tab, I couldn't help but think of all the gold and treasure that wasn't there, buried and hidden due to the way Tumblr's search engine works. If you're familiar with the Discworld concept of "lies-to-children", that's what the "top posts of all time" is in Tumblr. A 20k post from 2016 will not be there, but a six month old post with 400 notes will show up. Surely there had been amazing Discworld posts and art posted in 2015 and 2013, but I wasn't going to find most of them unless I expressly went looking for them. And this blog was the perfect excuse to do so. As of replying to this ask, there's nearly 600 posts sitting in my drafts, and if I didn't have this blog I would have never discovered 90% of them. And those are the ones I've seen. I still have dozens of places I haven't searched.

I know that if I reblog a month old post with over 2k notes, a lot of people in the fandom will have already seen it. However, a 2k notes post from 2014, or a drawing with 40 notes from 2012 is something that is less likely to have hit people's dashes recently, or at all. When you come across the "Discworld Heritage Post" tagline in a post, please don't picture me as an uppity monarch performing the Tumblr equivalent of a knighting ceremony, or a stuffy museum curator deigning a piece worthy of being included in an exhibition. Picture me as a kid enthusiastically jumping and flailing my arms around while yelling "holy shit guys check out what I just found!!", because that's how I feel running this blog.

Ultimately, whether one of my posts does better or worse is indifferent to me, because they aren't my posts, or memes, or drawings. I'm just the intermediary. That being said, of course it's not indifferent to me, because more engagement means that was a post many people hadn't seen before, or had forgotten about, and one of my goals was to run a blog that would allow people to find those hidden or long forgotten gems.

When all is said and done, Heritage Post blogs are just another one of Tumblr's gimmicks. If we're not your cup of tea, you're free to ignore or block us. If you want to reblog something and don't want the tagline, you can reblog it directly from OP (or from another reblog if OP has deactivated their account).

[strawbubbysugar]

Coming off anon for this one cuz oh boy it’s theory time and I’m feeling very silly

(I just woke up at the time of writing so sorry for any typos, rambling, or confusion lol)

Alright! So, I’ve been thinking a lot about the existence of Eclipse and the theories popping up about them lately mainly: that Clipsey is a recycle of Moon’s broken body. Which I’ll touch up on first.

The issue that was presented with Moon by this definitely-not-at-all-suspicious engineer was that his processing unit was smashed and ‘unsalvageable’ (which we know to not be true), and aside from the obvious injuries cause by Trap, no major problems with Moon’s case are brought up. His *internals* were destroyed, aside from his battery which was reused.

Continuing forward, the SOMA comparisons. Reading through a plot synopsis of the game, I can’t help but link the destruction of Moon-man’s processing unit and Simon’s brain injury together a bit. Considering that that is the partial cause for Sun and Moon combining and the reason for Simon getting his brain scan copy. Both undergoing heavy ‘brain’ damaging and being brought to very odd circumstances because of it.

With the assumption that this is *actually* Moon’s body, “Uploaded into a modified corpse” is a *very* apt description for what Eclipse is. They’re a copy of someone (two people technically) inhabiting the dead body of the original, almost like Pry/ncess in a weird way.

That’s where the comparisons for the game and Bethroned end to my knowledge however, so time to move onto the more ‘looking too far into things’ section of my theory,

The design and color scheme!

Starting off, I noticed that the coloring of the Sun side on their face was reused from *post incident* which makes sense, that’s how Sun would’ve been seen last before running away with Pry/ncess, the eyes obviously match up as well.

Though the tops of the rays have noticeably sharper points to them if that’s anything at all, it’s impossible to draw the something the same way every single time after all so that can be easily written off.

The same can be said for Moon as well, the coloring of his face matches up with theirs, however his other features are… very much not intact. Very close but not quite.

The coloring and patterning of the hat is entirely different, the cape maintains the same coloring but the stars on Eclipse’s are much smaller and more faded than Moon’s as well.

What’s throwing me off though is the eyes, for both post incident and for Eclipse the right eye gained a black sclera, Moon’s pupil turned white, but Eclipse’s stayed red.

If Eclipses body was Moon’s then this could’ve happened naturally, the eye could’ve simply underwent the same damage/change as it did with Moon’s form in Sun’s body. Though do to this being his actual form the pupil could’ve kept its regular eye color.

Their lack of a mouth could also mean that they can’t speak, another drastic contrast in characterization to our boys. From the artwork we’ve been shone of them they see, cunning, clever, but very, VERY distressed. (Be a bit weird to consciously design eye-bags on your new king after all, right? That’s their own fault.)

And for my last point, their crown and the Opal.

This is the most obvious ‘combination’ in their design, it gets the rounded bottom of Sun’s and the gem formation and top shape of Moon’s. When overlayed on top of each other you also get similar colors to Eclipse’s crown, though more cleaned up and appealing on the eyes.

The gem in this crown has been confirmed to be an opal (if my memory serves me right I can’t find the post anywhere to confirm, tumblr search engine is bleh)

There were a few pieces of folklore and symbolism relating to the opal that I found particularly interesting with what little we know about Eclipse.

Mainly, it representing loyalty and goodluck as well as royalty. A lot of other interpretations I found pointed to it granting foresight and being responsible for prophecy, something you’d certainly want your king to have after the huge string of ‘bad luck’ that befell both of them.

Loyalty to prevent another incident like Sun choosing Pry/ncess over his kingdom and trusting them first, foresight and prophecy so that they can avoid incident like King Freddy dying and, well, Sun and Moon’s incident. and royalty is obvious.

Though the loyalty interpretation and foresight/intelligence can vary widely in intention depending on if Chica or PeePaw (maybe both, stares at Trap) is responsible for their existence. Cant speak that much on it before they’ve even appeared in the story.

Alright so what am I getting at with all this? Well, put simply, Eclipse’s design and name are very very intentional and combining the Princes was clearly in mind when they were (re)built by whoever their creator is. I believe that they attempted to program, be it from scratch with parts of Moon’s processor or with some kind of backup of Sun *somehow*, Sun into Moon’s body and combine their ai together in order to make a new heir.

Again, can’t find the message, but Eclipse’s existence was described as ‘decidedly uncomfortable’ which is very understandable if this were true, having you and your brother’s brain and memories COMPLETELY sewn together, not even with semi separate minds or personalities like with the actual Sun and Moon, would be very, VERY lacking in the ‘good for your mental health’ department, especially if you knew you aren’t the original ‘you’, just a clone, a do-over, a combination of two other failures that you need to clean the mess from up.

Put simply, I believe Eclipse is a combination of Sun and Moon, but not THE combination of Sun and Moon. If that makes any sense. They’re a replication of both placed inside Moon’s old body and used to fill the empty spot on the throne and potentially-maybe-hopefully-not help Afton.

Hands down my favourite ask ever. Like oh my god you did it. You got everything. You caught all the little secrets I put in and I’m flabbergasted. WOW. I AM. SO HAPPY HSFSG

THANK YOU FOR PUTTING SO SO SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT AND ENERGY INTO THIS ANALYSIS BECAUSE I JUST. I MIGHT CRY. THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME SOBS :;;

[lesbianshepard]

Cornelia:

Mother of the Gracchi brothers! Highly intelligent and influential woman who educated her sons and helped shape their political careers. OG Roman MILF

Clodia

Catullus' "Lesbia" Wealthy and highly educated woman who had a talent for poetry (none survives :( ) Cicero hated her and called her "the Medea of the Palatine" (huge W for Clodia) Known for taking many lovers and accused of incest with her own brother (Catullus did not take the breakup well)

Fulvia

The first (real) woman to appear on Roman coinage. Married to Marc Antony (her third husband) and very involved in politics. Cassius Dio wrote "the following year Publius Servilius and Lucius Antonius nominally became consuls, but in reality it was Antonius and Fulvia. She, the mother-in‑law of Octavian and wife of Antony, had no respect for Lepidus because of his slothfulness, and managed affairs herself, so that neither the senate nor the people transacted any business contrary to her pleasure." Plutarch wrote "Fulvia wished to rule a ruler and command a commander and she schooled Antony to obey women." (marc antony is into femdom he's just like me fr fr) Acted as both a political and military leader.

Agrippina the Younger:

One of the most powerful of the Julio-Claudian women and a big influence on behind the scenes politics. Mother of Nero by her first husband. Was exiled for a conspiracy to assassinate her brother Caligula, but later returned. May have poisoned her second husband in order to marry the Emperor Claudius. She was the one to convince Claudius to name Nero heir, instead of Claudius' own son. May have poisoned Claudius in order to make Nero emperor. Ruthless, ambitious, and domineering #girlboss. Fave moment was when Nero engineered a boat designed to sink specifically to assassinate her. She swam to shore, realized her shitty son had tried to kill her (again), and wrote a letter to him letting him know that she had survived a terrible accident by divine fortune.

Messelina

Third wife of Claudius and hugely influential, directly responsible for the execution of several people and tried to get young Nero assassinated so that her own son would have the throne. Hated Agrippina for obvious reasons. Executed for a conspiracy to assassinate Claudius. Pliny wrote a famous (and certainly fake) story of her challenging a famous prostitute to see who could sleep with the most men in one night. (Messalina won at 25)

Julia the Elder:

Augustus once famously remarked that he had two difficult daughters: Rome and Julia. Married off by her father several times, all for political reasons. Clashed with her controlling father on many occasions about her spending, behavior, etc. Augustus passed laws making adultery a crime and then had to exile her for adultery (after killing and exiling her lovers) She was popular with the Roman people, who petitioned for her recall from exile, and was known for her kindness, intelligence, and wit. She never returned to Rome, and died in exile.

Livia:

Wife of Augustus and first Roman empress. One of, if not the, the most powerful and influential women in the early Roman Empire. iirc she was the first woman to be deified. Cassius Dio wrote "Livia was destined to hold in her lap even Caesar's power and to dominate him in everything."

Hortensia

A skilled orator, best known for her public speech given in the forum in protest of a tax put on women to fund the civil war after the assassination of Caesar. She was successful, reducing the number of women taxed down to 400, with new taxes on men being levied to make up the difference. (Using this image of a fresco from Pompeii because there's, surprisingly, no art I can find of her from a google search)

Empress Theodora

Byzantine empress. She was the daughter of a bear trainer and an actress, and worked as an actress and prostitute in her youth. Married the Emperor Justinian and became his advisor, preforming jobs that were usually only done by the emperor (receiving envoys and corresponding with foreign rulers) and helped pass laws for women's rights.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Why We Need to Care About Insects

Originally posted on my website at https://rebeccalexa.com/why-we-need-to-care-about-insects/

Some months back a study was released that demonstrates just how damaging climate change is to insects, particularly those in tropical areas. Warming temperatures cause insects to die from overheating and dehydration, kills off their food sources, and lowers their fertility rates to dangerous levels. Moreover, changes in climate affect insect phenology, the timing of when they hatch, migrate, breed, and so forth.

And because insects are so small, they’re often disproportionately affected by many of these problems. As ectotherms, they rely on the air around them to regulate their body temperatures; their small mass means they lose heat faster than larger animals, and can be overloaded with heat much more quickly. Tropical insects are especially at risk from major fluctuations in temperature because they are adapted to a relatively narrow temperature range.

Gray spruce looper moth (Caripeta divisata)

But the problem goes far beyond the tropics, and we are in the middle of an insect apocalypse. This problem often flies under the radar of those who are not already aware of invertebrate conservation. While a few insects, such as monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and domestic honey bees (Apis mellifera), find themselves in the press on a regular basis, most species don’t have large fan clubs. Some of my favorite insects include the white-tipped ctenucha moth (Ctenucha rubroscapus), the velvet snail-eating beetle (Scaphinotus velutinus), and the black-tailed bumblebee (Bombus melanopygus), none of which are insects you’re likely to find making the headlines.

To be fair, there are a lot of insect species out there, so it would be hard to feature every single one individually. But we already face the problem that many people simply just don’t see why we need to worry about fewer bugs around. Last year I wrote an article about how search engines tend to produce exterminator sites at the top of results for various insects, and while some of that is no doubt due to advertising-oriented algorithms, they do reflect a widespread demand for extermination services that isn’t matched by more positive attention to these little animals.

Much has been said among entomologists, ecologists, and other professionals about why we need to be concerned about the drastic drop in the numbers of many insect species, and I’ve written about it as well. I could reiterate what would happen if we lost our pollinators (and also how to save them!) or the crucial role insect detritivores play in reducing diseases and keeping the food web cycling along. And I am still a champion for mosquitoes and other unpopular insects.

Green stink bug (Chinavia hilaris)

But these things always bear repeating. It may be that nine out of every ten organisms on this planet is an insect. Insects play an incredible number of ecological roles, from ecosystem engineers to pollinators to food sources and much more. Without them, ecosystems around the planet would collapse entirely.

I could certainly take the self-interested route and emphasize that fully one-third of our food relies on insects and other pollinators. I might also point out that insect detritivores help nourish the soil needed for everything from food crops to timber. While terrestrial insects and other arthropods only make up about a fifth of the amount of global biomass as their marine counterparts, they still represent a natural sink that holds about 200 million tons of carbon at any given time.

But our anthropocentric worldview rarely considers the intrinsic value of insects simply for existing. We’re constantly weighing and measuring their worth based on our biases and values. We divide them into “good” or “bad” insects: good insects are those that do things we like, like pollination or looking pretty, while bad insects are the ones that chew on our homes and plants or which bite or sting us when threatened or seeking food. For a lot of people, any insect beyond maybe a butterfly is a reason to say “Ewww, gross!” I’ve even seen this widespread among self-professed nature lovers, whether they have a true entemophobia or not, though there may be an evolutionary reason for this seemingly disproportionate reaction.

So consider this yet another attempt to change opinions about insects. I can’t cure entemophobia, but I can at least get people thinking more critically about personal and societal attitudes toward insects. I hope to get people to realize that widespread use of pesticides and other garden/agricultural chemicals–which has increased fifty-fold in twenty-five years–is driving the loss of so many insects. I’ve mentioned before that habitat loss is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction, and that goes for insects, too. And, of course, the study mentioned at the start of this article is just one highlighting the increasing impact climate change has on insects worldwide.

Metric Paper Wasp (Polistes metricus)

Let me wrap this up on a bright note: word is getting out. There is a lot more awareness than there was twenty years ago, and there’s more nuance than we had in the early “save the (domesticated European honey) bees” campaigns. More people are ditching pesticides and other garden chemicals unless absolutely needed, and regenerative agricultural practices that use fewer chemicals overall are gaining ground. And while numerous organizations are increasing awareness of insect conservation, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation–the oldest organization dedicated solely to invertebrates–is still going strong.

And you can help spread the word, too. Share this article with others, and some of the resources and organizations linked throughout. Consider your own relationship to the native insects in the world around you, and whether you might make their lives a little easier. And remember that sometimes it is the smallest of things that have the greatest importance in such a massive system as an entire living planet.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[frogwithgun]

Guyssssssssss the demons are possessing me againnnnnnnn

So that means more modern satosugu!

Enjoyyyyy

-----------------

When we last left off Geto and Gojo seemed to have gotten into an altercation. And it was a big one.

"You stupid prick! How could you?!" Geto slams his hands down onto the desk and stands up. His body shaking with barely controlled anger. Gojo, in his defense, tried to desclate the situation as much as he could.

And it didn't exactly work.

"No I just meant that I could never because they're a waste of time!" Just what are they talking about? To answer that we'll have to go back a couple of hours.

-------------------

Gojo rushed around the building. Geto was coming over because he so nicely, demanded, asked that Nanami bring him over to 'introduce him to the company'.

If you ask me that's a load of shit.

"Ijichi! Everything is perfect right?" The man nodded. Gojo, seeming pleased, stopped fussing over all his workers so much. "Now everyone," he said in a booming voice, "do not fuck this up for me!"

He'd do that on his own anyways.

When Geto finally did arrive Gojo swears he could hear wedding bells. He put on his most charming smile and walked over to Geto with a confident stride. "Finally made it. Get lost Nanamin?" The blondes eye twitched and so did his hand.

Ah how Gojo loved to piss him off. "Just teasing!" He slung an arm around Geto. "Suguru gets it, don't you?" God how was he so handsome? And how did he pull off all those piercings?

Geto chuckled and nodded. "I guess so Satoru." Gojo made a noise somewhere in the back of his throat and Geto laughed fully. And he thinks that if he were to die right then and there, he could die happy. Because he heard an angel laugh.

He clears his throat and offers his arm to Geto. Who looks confused for a moment before holding onto it. To lead him around the building of course. Not so that he could show off his biceps. Certainly not.

Geto looks around the building in awe. The entire place looks like how he imagined it would. But somehow even more lavish. The idea of eyes were incorporated into as many things as they could be. He found it odd but it was Six Eyes Inc..

They were known for, unusual, business practices.

"Like it here?" Geto snaps out of his daze and nods. "Yes. It's a very beautiful building." And the lobby is the size of my apartment. Though he kept that last thought to himself.

Gojo smiled. His signature sunglasses were not on. For once it seemed he had decided not to wear them. "Well thank you. My father owned it. And his father before that. You get it, right?" Geto nodded.

It was only one of the most famous company's in the world. It's not like all information, and scandals, could be found just by typing 'Six' into a search engine. Definitely not.

They moved through the floors. Touring break rooms, offices, lunch rooms, meeting rooms, bathrooms, and even his office. Which no one was allowed in. To say that it was a shock to everyone working there would be an understatement.

And honestly Geto was over the moon. He never thought he'd get an opportunity like this. But now that he had, he was definitely going to make the most of it.

Gojo on the other hand was hoping, praying, everything went well. He couldn't mess this up now! Not after he spent so long dreaming about Geto. He couldn't mess this up.

Unfortunately, he did.

"Wait, you have daughters?" Gojo asked with a raise of his brow. Geto nodded happily. "Yes. Twins actually. Nanako and Mimiko. They are my entire world." Gojo snorted and Geto furrowed his brows. What is he laughing at?

Gojo shook his head and held his hand up. "You're hilarious! God you really are patient." Look, Gojo has been known to be arrogant. But never, and I mean never, has Geto ever heard him this arrogant.

Getos hands balled into fists and he willed himself not to leap across the table. Oh how he wanted to. But he stopped himself. Barely. "What do you mean by that?" Gojo smiled and shrugged. "They're a waste." Oh. Oh hell no.

And that is how we got here!

Geto gets up and leaves the office in a huff. Slamming the door shut behind him so hard it made everyone jump. Even Gojo jumped. Ijichi walked to Geto. Trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "S-sir? Where are you going? Did something happen?" Geto turns to look at him.

"Something happened alright. Your boss is a stupid prick. I am never coming back here again. He said my daughters were a waste! Can you believe it?" He tossed a hand up and sighs. "Have a good day."

Nanami nods and then looks to Gojo. "Of all things you could have said, really?" Gojo on the other hand sat at his desk with the most confused look on his face. "What just happened?" Nanami took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need a drink."

-------------------

Geto tried to be polite to everyone else he saw. He really did. But there was only so much he could do. "Fuck off. I don't want to join your fucking cult. Yeah I know its a cult." He slammed the door to his apartment shut again and sighed.

That went just amazingly.

I should have know he would be an arrogant dick. Geto thought to himself as he settled into the couch. But why does he have to be so damn good looking? Can't he just be ugly? Like his dad?

The thought was enough to take his mind off things. For the time being anyways. It wasn't like they actually knew each other that well.

So why did he still feel like this was a betrayal? "Dad?" Called Mimiko. Nanako following closely behind. "How was work?" Geto grumbled and flopped face first onto the couch. "That bad?" Nanako asked. Geto nodded. "What happened?"

Geto sighed. "Don't worry about it." The girls couldn't help but feel like maybe they should worry about it. But they decided not to press on. Instead they sat in front of the couch with their dad.

--------------------

"You called them a waste!" Nanami said. His head in his hands. "Why would you do that?! You were laughing and talking together. He even seemed to like you for some reason! But you had to mess it up!"

Gojo had his arms crossed. A pout on his lips. "I didn't think he would be so mad." "Of course he would be mad!" Nanamis voice was booming and angry. "I'd be mad! You know I have my sons!"

How could Gojo forget? It was the only thing Nanami seemed to smiled about. "Well what was I supposed to say? Congrats on being a single father?" Nanamis eye twitched and he sighed.

"You are unbelievable." He mutters. "Do I still have a chance though?" Nanami sighs.

"It's not very likely."

----------------------------

Part three is finally out! I don't know how long this will go on but I do think that it will take a while lol.

In between parts I will still post my smaller SatoSugu stories.

Thank you so much for reading. Take care of yourself and as always love you! 💚

[stupendousfoxthing]

The way you shippers get defensive when someone points out the inconsistencies in your logic and narratives should be studied because why are you getting so defensive? I didn’t send you an ask in bad faith and I certainly wasn’t trying to save you from shipping either but as a blogger when you put out certain information and open your inbox for people to send asks, shouldn’t you be ready to get asks that disagree with some things you say? I was honestly just trying to hear what you thought about the ever changing narratives because i noticed that you are one of the more non delulu tkk blogs on tumblr but you got so defensive and even a little insulting for what? Is your ego so big that you can’t handle people challenging your beliefs or questioning your logic? I wasn’t planning on dragging this topic because I honestly just wanted to get your take on one thing but let me see how many things you can disagree on or how many more insults you have in you. Ofcourse you can choose not to post it, it all up to you.

“I've been in the fandom for almost a decade, and a Taekooker since 2016, I promise you they did not just become a thing in 2023”

Ofcourse taekook didn’t just become a thing in chap 2 and neither did all the other numerous ships we have in BTS. They all didn’t start now but the fact that a ship has always existed and seems to get more attention at a certain time doesn’t mean that ship is real. I have seen tkkrs argue that taekook is one of the OG ships so that means something. Yes, it means that people were able to spot their closeness and bond very easily because of how obvious it was but that doesn’t mean that bond and closeness remained exactly the same through out the span of 10 years and that certainly doesn’t mean the ship is real. How long a ship has existed doesn’t determine if the ship is real or not.

“Meanwhile, despite that previous anon going ass over tit trying to make it look like it was Taekookers narrative that changed, it didn't. At all”

Tkkrs, or most tkkrs narratives changed and it will continue to change. If you don’t know that it did you are either not very aware of what most tkkrs say or you are lying. Are you trying to tell me that tkkrs didn’t go back to, “the company is separating them and forcing Jk not to mention Tae” after the Taennie incident? Before this, tkkrs said taekook were finally free and they could be themselves but after taennie what did tkkrs say? I have literally seen tkkrs send asks to tk blogs commenting abt the increase in tk content. What were the narratives when most tkkrs felt like they didn’t get enough tk content? It is beyond ridiculous to claim that tkkrs narratives didn’t change when all you need to do to know that this isn’t true is to visit some of the biggest tkkr accts on twitter and search their tweets from the era before chapter two. I am aware that tkkrs are not monolith but you can get an idea of how much a narrative is accepted within a fandom by how most of them react to it can’t you? Ofcourse there will always be those who don’t agree with the narratives but from my observation, majority of tkkrs did. I have noticed that the tkk community on tumblr is a non toxic one but don’t think that just because few of you on tumblr aren’t negative, the rest of the tkkr community isn’t because you need to visit twitter, instagram, tiktok and facebook to see what tkkrs there do and say.

“For people who thought Taekook weren't close until they were very close in 2023, the cognitive dissonance has got to be louder than a jet engine. “

Are you trying to say that after all the years of BTS being together you don’t think some of their dynamics changed over time? You don’t think some members at certain points grew closer while others grew more distant? Just because taekook seemed visibly closer in chapter two doesn’t mean they didn’t go through periods where they grew a little distant. That is perfectly normal in every relationship whether you like to accept it or not and maybe if some of you took off your shipping lenses for a moment, you would be able to see things a little more clearly. People didn’t just start thinking Taekook weren’t close out of thin air. People started thinking they weren’t close because they gave people the impression that they had grown a little distant and this impression was further strengthened by them barely been seen together and a very visible shift in their dynamic which even taekookers noticed at the time and complained about or are you also about to tell me that tkkrs didn’t complain about something feeling off with taekook and then convinced themselves that the reason for that was because the company was keeping them apart? Will you say this didn’t happen too?

“But the truth is that when the group was given the freedom to go their separate ways after a decade, freedom to pursue their lives and goals as individuals, Taekook remained at each other's side. In the way we always believed them to be.”

This is where you lose me because there was never a time when members were required to spend time with each other except when working and if you believe anything contrary to this, you are too far gone. Even while living together in the dorm, they were not required to spend off time with each other if they didn’t want to were they? Have there not been a few instances where Tae mentioned that he didn’t know Jungkook’s rooms while they were on tour? Would you say the company also forced them apart them or hid them? We are also talking about members who moved out of the dorm in 2019 and were free to spend time with who they chose outside of work because they weren’t bound together by the same living area again but taekook still didn’t seem to spend time together did they? They had a break in 2019 but taekook didn’t see each other at all did they? I mentioned other moments like on birthdays where they also mentioned not seeing each other to celebrate with each other and you said it is jkkrs narrative, well I don’t know what jkkrs say about that, I am speaking based on the information we all got from the members themselves or are you saying that if we search we wouldn’t be able to find things like that which they said? The only difference btwn chap 1 and chap 2 is that they didn’t have to do group activities anymore and see each other frequently at work. They temporarily dispersed but only as a group at that time because they had already dispersed individually way before chapter two as they didn’t live together anymore. It’s not like they were given any extra freedom they weren’t allowed before. It is beyond ridiculous that these are the narratives you have to cling to inorder for things to make sense. Do you think that before chap 2 the boys were held prisoner and forced to only spend time with certain members? So what do you mean they were given freedom as if they were all locked up together before? Yes they had freedom to do solo activities for the first time and not only work as a group but this freedom had nothing to do with who they choose to spend their time outside of work with. If your narratives were true, then yes we probably wouldn’t have seen much of taekook on official content since some tkkrs claim they were edited out of official content but we would have seen or heard about them hanging out in their free time like we did in chap two wouldn’t we? Instead didn’t we constantly hear of or see them both choosing to constantly spend time with other people? Tae mostly with wooga squad, Bogum and some other friends and Jk with members like Hobi, Jm and his 97 line friends and then taekook confirming themselves that they didn’t see each other or spend time together? During their break didn’t Tae choose to travel with his wooga squad and didn’t see any of the other members for the entire break, while Jk hung out with his friends (wasn’t that when we got the mijoo scandal?) and also with members like jihope? When they had some time off in 2017 didn’t Tae travel with his family and Bogum and Jk with Jimin? After PTD in LA didn’t Tae travel with his family and Hobi’s to Hawaii to vacation there while Jk went back to korea? These are instances where they had free time and choose to be with other people instead of each other over the years but you say they prioritized each other in chapter two? You keep saying taekook spent time together but then you show a twitter post from the time when all members were still living together and the other proof you have are noises in the background of lives or sightings with no proof whatsoever. Didn’t taekook themselves make it clear that they weren’t involved in each other’s lives as much? Is this a lie too?

Now you say that in the one moment where they were free to do their own things they choose each other. This would have made sense if all the members were deep in schedules or free at the same time but taekook still made time exclusively for each other but this wasn’t the case was it? You cannot say people choose each other or made time only for each other when everyone else pretty much wasn’t available because of work and they were the only ones who had some free time to hang. Isn’t it instead an issue that at the moment when all the members schedule aligned and they were still together as a group but living separately Taekook didn’t spend time together but only did when only their schedules kind of aligned out of everyone else’s? It’s just like saying that two people made time to be together just because they were the only two left at home while everyone else had to go out to work. If we saw other members constantly hanging out in different pairs and taekook with each other then ok, that would have made sense but other members didn’t do that and we know for a fact that all of them were busy. Taekook are friends so they can hang out when they want to and also in their free time but your narrative that they prioritized each other over anyone else just because they hung out the most just isn’t true. This narrative would have also made more sense if taekook kept up with the constant hang outs even after they both got busy with their own individual stuff and Jk stopped being a couch potato but they didn’t did they? When taekook hung out alot we could tell because of the knowledge they both had of each other and also the fact that Jk shared 7 first with Tae but it was obvious to anyone who isn’t biased that it wasn’t the same after they both got busy with their own stuff. When Jk made 3D, RM and Yoongi heard it first, Jk didn’t know if Tae’s album had been announced already, Tae didn’t know about the process of Jk’s album and Jk himself said he didn’t know where Tae was and that he didn’t keep up with the members all the time. This was very different from taekook at the beginning of the year who had alot of knowledge about each other because they hung out alot in their free time don’t you think? If all the members were extremely busy at the same time including taekook and they both still made time to be with each other, then I would have seen your point but right now, you are the one not looking at things from every angle. You are only paying attention to the angle that favors your argument.

“ It was not work, it was not any other obligation that kept them together during that time. _Their_ time.”

Someone hearing you say this will think that taekook both did everything in their power amidst busy schedules and loads of work, jumped through hoops to make sure they spent time together. They wouldn’t believe this happened when Jungkook had nothing doing and used to spend 6 days in a row at home doing nothing. Ofcourse it wasn’t work or any other obligation that kept them together at that time, it was their friendship and the fact that they had time on their hands to spend with each other like normal friends do. None of the other members need work or any other obligation to be with each other. They spend time with each other when they can and when they want and other times they spend time with other people in their lives and as Jk said, don’t keep up with each other all the time. Just because it is in the past you are trying to act like taekook have always spent time together when there is more than enough evidence showing that they didn’t at some point and not only because we didn’t see it but because they said so themselves but I guess we should continue arguing with them about things they said while continuing to believe that the sounds in the back of their livestreams or made up sightings with no proof are proof enough that they spent time together.

The way you shippers get defensive when someone points out the inconsistencies in your logic and narratives should be studied because why are you getting so defensive?

You asking the questions and me answering puts me in the defensive position by default. This is just another example of how all of your asks have been in bad faith. You send me something you want a response to, and when I respond I'm "defensive". In the most literal sense I am in the defensive position here. Do you see how that works? You didn't point out inconsistencies in my logic and narratives, because the logic and narratives you asked about aren't even mine.

I didn’t send you an ask in bad faith and I certainly wasn’t trying to save you from shipping either but as a blogger when you put out certain information and open your inbox for people to send asks, shouldn’t you be ready to get asks that disagree with some things you say?

So you do know how this works. You did send me three asks in bad faith. I explained why. There's multiple reasons these arguments you brought here are bad faith ones. If you weren't trying to save me, you were trying to save other "delulu" Taekookers and you can start your own blog for that if you want.

I was honestly just trying to hear what you thought about the ever changing narratives because i noticed that you are one of the more non delulu tkk blogs on tumblr but you got so defensive and even a little insulting for what? Is your ego so big that you can’t handle people challenging your beliefs or questioning your logic?

And the "changing narratives" you asked about were things that you had twisted them into yourself. Narratives that were never mine, that had no logic, and that I'd never seen anywhere. Narratives like "Taekook are real because they're never seen together". You even had to backtrack because you know that was absolute bullshit that no one had ever argued.

Ofcourse taekook didn’t just become a thing in chap 2 and neither did all the other numerous ships we have in BTS. They all didn’t start now but the fact that a ship has always existed and seems to get more attention at a certain time doesn’t mean that ship is real. I have seen tkkrs argue that taekook is one of the OG ships so that means something. Yes, it means that people were able to spot their closeness and bond very easily because of how obvious it was but that doesn’t mean that bond and closeness remained exactly the same through out the span of 10 years and that certainly doesn’t mean the ship is real. How long a ship has existed doesn’t determine if the ship is real or not.

🤦‍♀️

I had to post your starting "point" in its entirety because oh my god, we have gotten nowhere. No one said, and I certainly didn't, that how long a ship has existed or how much attention it gets is what makes it real. You're starting off again with some twisted logic that makes no sense and trying to act like that's my or other Taekookers' position. This is crazy. I talked about the fact that I've been a Taekooker since 2016 to establish that I've been here for a while and my narratives haven't changed, and that specifically the Jokers' new fave talking point that Taekook weren't close until 2023 is false. You want to talk about changing narratives but I can't say "I've been here since 2016 and my narrative hasn't changed?" I'm not saying that to argue for the validity of the ship itself. You seem to have some sort of reading comprehension issue and it's tiresome to have to answer to absolute bullshit like this.

Tkkrs, or most tkkrs narratives changed and it will continue to change. If you don’t know that it did you are either not very aware of what most tkkrs say or you are lying. Are you trying to tell me that tkkrs didn’t go back to, “the company is separating them and forcing Jk not to mention Tae” after the Taennie incident?

No they didn't. So I either agree with you or I'm a liar now? 😂 The only "narratives" I had during this time period is that Tae got way bolder in his queer expression, and that they were busy as hell and had very successful solo debuts, but that Taekook stayed Taekooking. Jungkook talked about Tae before and after the "Taennie incident". How would the company even separate them in solo era? They clearly didn't. After the "Taennie incident" we saw them at Yoongi's concert and they arrived, watched, and left together. They wore the matching Sweetheart shirts, Tae supported JK at Inkigayo. 😭 Whatever narrative switch you're talking about once again was not mine.

Before this, tkkrs said taekook were finally free and they could be themselves but after taennie what did tkkrs say?

Free to what? Come out? You use these no nuance set-ups to try to make everything a gotcha and you fail miserably. No one expected them to be free to come out or that risks didn't continue even after the group went on hiatus. Taekook were exactly as free to be themselves as far as their relationship is concerned before and after, which is what you're talking about.

I have literally seen tkkrs send asks to tk blogs commenting abt the increase in tk content. What were the narratives when most tkkrs felt like they didn’t get enough tk content?

What. What Taekook content? Do you consider all of the solo era outings and moments as...content? I don't know about you, but "content" to me is official releases from the company. There was no marked increase in Taekook "content", and if you want to argue with me about my position on that go read my first response to you and the "drought" I called overexaggerated. I'm done with you after this, but it would have been great if you had considered even a single thing I actually said before coming into my inbox with your third essay.

I have noticed that the tkk community on tumblr is a non toxic one but don’t think that just because few of you on tumblr aren’t negative, the rest of the tkkr community isn’t because you need to visit twitter, instagram, tiktok and facebook to see what tkkrs there do and say

Do you think I live here? 😂 I'm well aware of the toxic mess on Twitter where I have over 100k accounts blocked. Instagram is a cesspool. I don't know why you think I'm interested in answering for the positions of some of the worst and dumbest people in the community when I place no value on what they have to say myself. Go ask them. If you're trying to use that to point out inconsistencies in MY narratives and logic, you can understand why we have a problem here.

Are you trying to say that after all the years of BTS being together you don’t think some of their dynamics changed over time? You don’t think some members at certain points grew closer while others grew more distant? Just because taekook seemed visibly closer in chapter two doesn’t mean they didn’t go through periods where they grew a little distant. That is perfectly normal in every relationship whether you like to accept it or not and maybe if some of you took off your shipping lenses for a moment, you would be able to see things a little more clearly.

Where did I say that. I'm 42 years old, I'm well aware of how things change. That's not what you asked me about and you kind of just shot your own argument in the foot here. People changing over time, circumstances changing, is not the "narrative" changing. Do you know what a narrative is. It's a story of connected events. Over time. Through changes in people and circumstances. Do you get how those changes can happen within the narrative? If you can't grasp that that might be the core problem here.

People didn’t just start thinking Taekook weren’t close out of thin air. People started thinking they weren’t close because they gave people the impression that they had grown a little distant and this impression was further strengthened by them barely been seen together and a very visible shift in their dynamic which even taekookers noticed at the time and complained about or are you also about to tell me that tkkrs didn’t complain about something feeling off with taekook and then convinced themselves that the reason for that was because the company was keeping them apart?

Once again, I do not care what other Taekookers complain about. I have zero complaints. A Taekooker who is "complaining" about Taekook is the kind of person that would get an instant block from me and over 100k people on Twitter have.

This is where you lose me because there was never a time when members were required to spend time with each other except when working and if you believe anything contrary to this, you are too far gone. Even while living together in the dorm, they were not required to spend off time with each other if they didn’t want to were they?

I didn't lose you, we were never on the same page. And you did not get the point I was making about them working and living together. They were required to spend time together working, nowhere did I say that working and living together forces a relationship to happen. You came at me with, the point you backtracked on, that Taekook were never seen together. I was saying there is no point in trying to argue that Taekook did not spend enough time together in chapter 1. You can try to break it down and say "But they didn't spend THIS day together", but as I also said that is not what I do. I don't know their day-to-day and I don't need to. There is a ton of their time unaccounted for. What I believe is the narrative that has emerged for me when looking at all of the connected events over the years. That's it.

The rest of your essay goes on the exact same way and I'm tired, but I'll post with my added notes. I don't think responding to all of this will accomplish much, because I can see that you are going in circles with the same "logic" while missing the basic point of these three attempts I've given to answering. I'm not blocking right now but if I find myself in the mood to answer you again I'm doing it with this essay. This is plenty. You send me more of the same, I'm deleting it.