#bro is making a whole ecosystem

[peck2neck]

drawpile doodles

[autisticlancemcclain]

Lance never shuts the fuck up.

Keith can’t get enough of it.

It’s been like that for as long as Keith can remember. Lance was the motormouth in, like, 6 of his classes; always had his hand up with a question or answer, and comments in between. Keith had been annoyed with it, that first year.

But then he’d shared classes with Lance again.

And again.

And again.

By then, they’d had their fair share of group projects together. Keith came to know that for all he was a rambling mess, Lance was really fucking smart, and funny besides. He was also endlessly kind and supportive, at least when he wasn’t egging on their rivalry that he’d invented (and that Keith hadn’t known they’d had — not that he wasn’t an active participant, once he knew. Riling Lance up was the most fun he’d had in ages).

Keith doesn’t remember exactly when he’d started smiling whenever Lance looked at him, feeling proud whenever Lance got a question right in class. Doesn’t remember when the mild annoyance turned to genuine appreciation. He does remember looking down at his notes one day, in Algebra II, only to discover a blank page, and realising that he’d spent the whole class just watching Lance talk. (He also remembers feeling pleased instead of the disappointment he should have felt, because he figured he’d have an excuse to hear Lance talk more if he asked him to help Keith catch up. He knew he was in quite the mess, then.)

Keith knew he had a crush on Lance, after that. And Keith was never one to sit idly — he’d asked Lance on a date right then and there. Lance had, for the first time in Keith’s working memory, gone speechless. (And quite the pretty shade of red.)

The speechlessness didn’t last long, that’s for damn certain. Keith took Lance to the Applebee’s at the plaza near his house that very night, because Shiro worked there and would give him a discount. Also, Lance had once mentioned he liked the lemonade there.

Keith met Lance there because neither of them had their full license yet. He doesn’t remember what exact table they sat at, only that they must have been near a window, because Keith remembers swooning over the sunlight warming Lance’s beautiful brown eyes no less than six times. They’d ordered, Keith some sort of fried dish and Lance — Lance had ordered a four-cheese fettuccine with a garden salad and, of course, a lemonade. Keith remembers so specifically because Lance spent the next thirty minutes excitedly telling him every piece of history surrounding the dish, down to the prehistoric origins of wheat-made pasta and the disturbing account of the first pink lemonade. He’d looked sheepish after looking at his watch and realising how long he’d been talking, and Keith hadn’t known how to assure him that Lance could narrate every detail of paint drying in a wall and Keith would swallow up every word.

(Later that night, Shiro sent him a picture he took while the both of them were distracted — Lance, animatedly waving a fork in the air as he lectured, and Keith, chin in his hands, meal forgotten, looking at Lance with a face more besotted than he knew he was even capable of making.

Keith sent the photo to Lance, asking him if he’d like to go out again, confessing that he enjoyed every second of Lance’s rambling.

Lance said yes. Very quickly.)

The rest, to a degree, had been history. They’d dated for the rest of high school, staying together even as they attended university and trade school on either side of the country. It was easy, really. Lance made sure they always had something to talk about. (Lance loved university. He was enamoured with every second of it, every niche interest of his getting its fill. He switched his major fourteen separate times, chasing every one of his ambitions, and Keith loved every story he heard. He also liked becoming an expert by proxy, because that was inevitable — you could only hear about the important of spiders in the ecosystem so many dozen times before the information was reflective whenever someone brought up the subject.)

As soon as Keith got his mechanic’s certificate — and he passed his exam in the highest percentile, meaning he could practice anywhere in the country, much to his pleasure and Lance’s overwhelming pride — he took off to California, his one and only thought being that he had to get to Lance. (Not that it had been impulsive — this was planned, something they’d been waiting for. Did Keith run over as soon as he could? Yeah, kinda. So maybe it was a little impulsive. But mostly it was planned.)

Not to sound like a Disney princess, but Keith really felt like their life began once they moved in together. Keith was able to find a job at a pretty decent garage, bring in money for them immediately. Lance had his library job until he graduated, and of course then he was snatched up by the nearest ecological restoration effort — he got to spend his days crawling through the forest, fawning over every tiny bug and critter. He is so fucking cute. Keith loves him more than anything in the world.

Lance’s constant lectures never stopped, either — any interest he picked up, he told Keith about it. From his knitting club to the new beetle species he’d found at work, Keith got the pleasure of hearing about it. And it truly was a pleasure. Keith had his fair share of time being a motormouth, too — he’d bought a project bike as soon as they’d saved enough, and spent a fair chunk of free time building it back up. (Lance helped, or at least as much as he could. Mostly he sat in their garage, handing Keith tools, and talking about anything he could think of. If Keith could go back and tell his ten year old self what his future would look like… God. Sometimes he can’t even believe how lucky he got.)

Keith has it made. He comes home from work every day to Lance’s beaming smile and gentle teasing about the grease on his clothes. He’s got everything he’s ever wanted. He’s happy. So fucking happy.

Except that things have been a little different, recently. For the past few weeks, he’s been coming home to his usual smile and kiss, but the idle chattering or excited rambles — Keith feels as if they’ve become a rarity. Their home used to be filled with the sound of Lance’s voice, silent only when he’s reading or focused intently on something, eyes narrowed and tongue peeking out of his mouth.

Lance still looks happy. He still curls up with Keith on the couch after dinner, socked feet in Keith’s lap and three million blankets over his shoulders. He still sends Keith a myriad of heart emojis on his lunch break. Their sex life has not suffered.

But the lectures. The constant infodumps of whatever passing thing has grabbed Lance’s attention. They’re gone. And Keith’s devastated about it.

He misses Lance’s voice.

———

Shiro is not getting it.

“It doesn’t sound like a big deal,” he says, voice staticky because signal at the shop is ass. “I mean, maybe you two are just growing up and settling down. How long have you guys been together, now? Seven years? Eight?”

“Almost ten,” Keith says quietly.

Ten years of the same thing. This change is new. It’s strange, and Shiro isn’t getting it at all.

“Exactly! Ten years! You guys were so young when you started dating, kiddo. Hell, Lance was still wearing braces, wasn’t he? I’m not shocked that he’s mellowed out a little.” He chuckles to himself. “Hell, maybe he’s finally just learnt every bit of knowledge he finally can.”

Keith frowns. “I dunno, Shiro. Sometimes I feel like he wants to say something, but he’s holding himself back. Why would he ever hold himself back from me? I don’t — I don’t want him to hold back from me. I like it when he talks.”

“Tell him that, then. The only way you’re going to get answers is if you ask him, you dork.”

“Some brother you are,” Keith mutters, pouting. “You’re supposed to solve things for me.”

“Hm. Pretty sure you’re a grown-ass man who’s capable of solving his own problems, bud.”

“Ugh. You’re horrible. I’m changing the Netflix password to kick you off.”

Shiro laughs. “Sure! No more Costco membership for you. Password sharing goes both ways, you little snot. Now hang up and call your man. I have to leave for work soon.”

Despite his ongoing frustration, Keith can’t help a smile at the familiar banter. “Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your upcoming fourteen hour shift of hell.”

“Go fuck yourself! Love you!”

“Love you too. Bye.”

It shouldn’t really surprise him that Shiro’s no help. As much as he pesters his brother as often as possible and generally finds joy in making himself into a nuisance, they haven’t seen each other face-to-face since Christmas. They’ve lived in different states for years.

But, still. There’s some part of Keith that will always think of his big brother first when he has a problem. And that part of him had the right ideas, because Shiro is unfortunately right — he really does just need to talk to Lance. There’s not much else he can do.

He spends the rest of his shift wondering how he’s going to bring it up. He has his own motormouth moments, sure, but realistically? Keith doesn’t talk all the much. He’s more of an action person. How the hell is he supposed to breach the subject? ‘Hey, Lance. I’ve noticed that you are talking less. This change has consumed my every thought. I miss the sound of your voice. How come you don’t talk to me about your life anymore?’

Yeah, no. It sounds ridiculous even in his own head. He’ll have to — plan it out, maybe. He’s not sure. He’s never had to worry about making Lance talk more before.

He’s so distracted that he nearly burns off his eyeballs, forgetting to put on his welding mask before trying to make a part he couldn’t source for an older car. His boss sends him home early, worried he might accidentally leave a blowtorch by an air compressor or something and send the whole place up in smoke. Keith tries to take it as a blessing — maybe he’ll ride around on his bike for a while and clear his head. A way to bring it up might come to him naturally.

It doesn’t. He spends the whole ride just stressing himself out. He does drive by a flower stand, and turns around to pick up some poppies and peonies — Lance’s favourite. It won’t breach the subject, or anything, but it’ll make Lance smile. Hell, maybe he’ll start talking to Keith about all the different pollinators that made this bouquet possible. That would be a dream come true.

He hasn’t come up with any new ideas by the time he makes his way home, but he’s less stressed. He sets the flowers on the counter and takes a quick shower. Maybe he’ll start some dinner? Surprise Lance, for a change. Yeah. That won’t solve the problem, but it’ll be nice anyway.

He starts making four-cheese fettuccine and pink lemonade, because he is a sappy loser.

By the time he hears Lance’s key in the lock, he’s got the table set and the food is done. He keeps it heated on the stove, ducking into the bathroom to check his reflection as Lance steps into the apartment.

No grease smudges on his face. His hair is braided, the way that always makes Lance all blushy. He’s wearing the v-neck, too-tight black sweater that Lance likes, too. He’s got this. He doesn’t have a solid plan, or anything, but he thinks maybe if he turns up the romance then Lance will just spill whatever’s wrong. That works in the movies.

“Keith, baby? You home?”

“You have leaves in your hair,” Keith says, stepping out to meet Lance by the door. Lance smiles immediately, laughing to himself as he cards his fingers through his hair in an attempt to find them. Keith takes pity on him after a few seconds of fruitless searching, reaching forward and running gentle hands through the curly mess of his boyfriend’s hair, half to get out the leaves and half just to touch.

“Yeah — climbed a tree to check out a new weaver ant colony. Watched ‘em for hours — pretty boring, I’m sure you don’t want to hear it.”

I want to hear about it, Keith thinks mournfully. Please, please tell me about it.

“I made pasta,” Keith says quietly, when it’s clear that no more details are forthcoming. “And, uh, got you some flowers.” He tugs Lance gently towards the kitchen, placing the flowers in his hands.

“Oh, Keith, they’re gorgeous! Man, I love peonies. They looks like pink cabbages, it’s the best. And poppies —”

Yes, Keith thinks. Tell me about how California poppies were traditionally used as stress-relief medicine, but not like opioid red poppies. Tell me —

“I should put these in a vase,” Lance says instead of any of that. Keith feels like he could cry, honestly. Lance leans up and presses a kiss to his cheek, patting him on the chest. “You want to set the table while I do that? Or do you want to eat on the couch and watch a movie?”

“Table sounds good,” Keith says, because if they watch a movie then there’s no chance of Keith finding out what’s wrong.

“Okay! I’m going to get changed, too, I’ll meet you in ten.” Lance kisses him again and then rushes off. Keith waits until he’s disappeared into their bedroom to cover his face in his hands and scream silently.

Fuck! He just wants his Lance back. So badly. He wants to be woken up at strange hours of the night to hear about how trees communicate. He wants to get spam-texted as he’s trying to work, phone practically buzzing out of his pocket. He wants to hear about marketing strategies when they’re grocery shopping. He wants Lance to get distracted mid-sex by reading the back of the condom box, and then remarking with vague interest that they use the same dye in some cereals.

At the very least, he wants to know why Lance is acting so strange.

“So,” Lance says, once they’ve both settled down at the table and started to eat. “How come you’re home early?”

“Boss sent me home, I was distracted. I’m not mad, honestly. It’s been a while since I’ve done something special for you, which is a travesty.”

Lance smiles. “Dork. I appreciate it, though. Very sweet of you.” He shifts in his seat, tucking his legs up under him and leaning his head on his chin to look at Keith properly. “How come you were distracted?” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Thinkin’ about this hot bod all day?”

Keith huffs a laugh. “Somethin’ like that.”

“Tell me! I’m curious now. I have to know or I’ll die.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“Mhm. That’s not even the half of it, and you know it. If you don’t tell me right now I’ll just start listing the names of royals throughout European history and how freaky it is that most of them are directly related.”

Lance is teasing. His tone is light and playful; he’s obviously trying to goad Keith into playing along and groaning theatrically. A few weeks ago, Keith might have given in easily, and started ribbing him about why on Earth he has the names memorized in the first place.

But all Keith can think about is just how badly he would love to hear that.

“Promise?”

Keith’s voice comes out embarrassingly sincere. Soft and hopeful and dead-serious.

Lance’s hand stills, mid pasta-swirl.

“You…want me to? List names of inbred royals?”

Keith swallows. It’s as good of a segue as any, he supposes.

“Yeah.”

“…Why?”

“Because I — I miss your voice, I guess.”

“Keith, I talk all the time,” Lance says, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He snorts to himself. “One might even say it’s my defining quality.”

“You haven’t been. Not recently. You used to talk all the time, but now — I dunno. The house is quiet. I miss you talking about random things. I miss hearing about your day and the million creatures you met and the people you saw on the bus home and the weirdly-shaped stone you tripped over on the sidewalk. I miss you bazillion lunch-break texts. I miss your running commentary when we watch a movie, even though you miss important dialogue and have to rewind to hear it again. I dunno. I just miss you.”

Keith keeps his eyes downcast on his plate as he speaks, and keeps it there after he finishes. He’s finished his food, already, but he can’t bring himself to look at Lance’s face.

“Keith?”

There’s a strange quality to Lance’s voice, a sort of — bewildered breathlessness. Keith risks a glance, finding his boyfriend staring at him with a dropped jaw and wide brown eyes.

“You really — you miss my motormouth?”

Keith shrugs. “I fell in love with your motormouth. Of course I miss it.”

That makes Lance’s cheeks heat, and he glances down at his plate like they’re teenagers again and Keith told him he was cute for the first time.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Keith’s not sure what else to say. He doesn’t know how to express that there’s nothing that Lance does that he dislikes, not truly. Sure, it’s annoying when Lance leaves a million half-full cups of water around the apartment, and Keith is regularly tripping over the shoes that he never puts away for some reason, but there’s nothing — every part of him is precious to Keith. Everything he does and everything he is, Keith knows he can’t live without.

“I know you love me,” Lance whispers. He looks pointedly away from Keith, pushing a couple wayward noodles around on his plate. “I’ve never — I’ve never needed to doubt that.”

Keith swallows. “Good.”

“I — yeah. You show me all the time. And, I mean, look at today! You brought me flowers home just because. You do things like that for me regularly; I never forget that you care about me. But —”

One word. Three measly letters. But it’s enough to feel like a stone is dropping on Keith’s chest.

“— sometimes I feel like I’m too much? Like, I’m kind of intense. I know that. And I can’t always tell when I’m being weird or annoying. And you’d never — you’d never string me along, I know that. If you stopped loving me you’d tell me.”

“I would never stop loving you.” Keith can’t say the words fast enough. He wants to print them out and — tattoo them on his forehead. Melt them into gold and press them into Lance’s hands. Smash them to dust and sprinkle them in the air. Whatever — whatever it takes to prove to Lance that they’re true.

Lance bites his lip. His eyes are wet. “I — I don’t want us to —”

Keith doesn’t wait for the tears to fall. He stands and hurries the two feet over to Lance’s chair, carefully pulling him up and wrapping tight arms around his waist. Lance falls into him willingly, resting his forehead on Keith’s shoulder and leaning into him.

“Three of my coworkers think I’m annoying,” he whispers, long after the food’s gone cold and the light from the window has begun to dim. After Keith’s arms have gone a little numb and a wet spot has grown where Lance’s face is pressed into his shirt. “I just thought — I thought we were friends, but I heard them talking about how exhausting I am to be around. I don’t want — I don’t want you to get tired of me, too.”

Keith closes his eyes as he exhales in a shudder, firmly reminding himself that unfortunately, being a two-faced asshole is not illegal, and Keith has no defense for hunting those shitheads down and murdering them a little.

“They are not worth the ground you walk on,” Keith whispers, pressing a firm kiss to Lance’s hair. “You have more value in your toenail clippings than they do in their entire bodies.”

Lance giggles wetly. “Gross.”

”I mean it,” Keith says, smiling. “I love you, Lance. All of you. I never get tired of listening to you talk. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

———

It takes a while. Those asshole coworkers did a number on Lance’s self-esteem, because they’re horrible, and they deserve every horrible thing that happens to them. Honestly, Keith kind of hopes their cars break down and they have to spend ridiculous amounts of money getting them fixed by idiots, because Keith has quietly blacklisted them to every good mechanic in town. (Not that Lance knows. Lance is too nice to ask for something like that. Keith, however, is a bitch, and has no problem doing shady things to appease his own sense of justice.)

Eventually, though, the apartment stops being so silent. It starts with a shark documentary that takes them three hours to watch because Lance keeps pausing it to point out specific behaviours to Keith. And then they get kicked out of a casino they go to for shits and giggles, because Lance can’t contain himself and points out how the house is strategically winning all the card games they’re calling ‘luck-based’. And then grocery store trips start taking too long again, and Lance gets distracted mid-shower comparing the ingredients of shampoo and conditioner, and then they start a small fire in the apartment because he was explaining how broccoli evolved from mustard seed and burnt a whole pan of stir-fry to a crisp.

One day, seemingly out of the blue, Shiro sends him a picture of him and Lance, fifteen years old, at the shitty town Applebee’s.

I was looking at old pictures, the text reads. And you were right. It is strange that Lance was so quiet. I can’t imagine how that would feel. I’m glad you two worked things out.

Keith looks over at Lance, who’s singing a the periodic table song to himself as he washes the dishes for Keith to dry, and smiles.

He’s glad they worked it out, too.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

how each driver would respond to “would you love me if i was a worm” 🪱

(and you actually get turned into a worm)

charles leclerc: gets the whole ferrari team to take turns looking after the worm. there’s a care roster and a motivational talk and everything. you become not charles’s worm but the ferrari worm. he posts a really cool social media story about “my journey looking after the worm.” you are loved, if a bit haphazardly.

max verstappen: “do i have time to keep a worm? probably not. but i will get someone to get you a decent box i guess. sorry if my cats eat you.”

oscar piastri: “no. you’re a worm.”

lando norris: professes his love and says “of course i would, babe”. only to be away so much on holiday or busy on track that you eventually perish in your enclosure

lewis hamilton: yes and will get you the most beautiful box with all sorts of fronds and ferns. he will build you the cutest little jungle gym of mind-enriching worm activities. you will see him about once a year but he will make sure you’re always fed and happy. he will help raise awareness of worms in their ecosystems all over the planet

carlos sainz: actually is very good at keeping the worm/you alive but is thrown for a loop because charles and lewis are all doing exceptionally with their worms. he flushes you down the toilet in a moment of emotional distress

alex albon: doesn’t tell anybody about the worm but will eventually have the longest living worm although everyone will forget this fact.

george russell: holds a drivers meeting about whether it is ethical to keep worms and should they in fact be considered emotional support animals. the vote is split and the outcome is undecided

fernando alonso: makes a tiktok with you “day in a life with my worm”. then leaves you on the side of the road and you roast to death under the sun

lance stroll: begrudgingly looks after you for about a week after which he pawns you off to his sister who is now stuck with his random worm

kevin magnussen: gives the worm to his daughter who uses it for a school project. it’s very cute

nico hulkenburg: people forgot about him so he didn’t even get a worm. he’s not that sad about it.

zhou guanyu: would seem totally neutral about it but end up incorporating a worm design into his track fits and his helmets. his worm helmet goes super viral on weibo.

valtteri bottas: will use you for fishing bait and might be a bit sorry about it.

pierre gasly and esteban ocon: constantly fighting over the same worm. nobody knows that the other has the exact same one. it ends with the alpine TP stepping in and confiscating the worm. the worm somehow gets acquired by mclaren.

yuki tsunoda: he keeps you in a box that is structurally very questionable but yuki somehow finds time on the road to get you the highest quality worm feed and vegetables. you thrive under his gourmand care although he shakes the box way too hard sometimes

daniel ricciardo: changes you immediately for a caterpillar and hopes nobody notices. the caterpillar takes ages to turn into a butterfly and then people are asking bro i thought you got a worm. he gets a caterpillar tattoo.

sergio perez: couldn’t care less. thought you were roadkill stuck on his windshield and squishes you with the windscreen wiper by accident

logan sargeant: WHAT DA FUK IS A WORMMMMM? your worm life ends prematurely when logan accidentally drops your box on the floor. james vowles gets him a new worm and it remains to be seen whether the second worm is better (hopefully it is).

[henrysglock]

High Existence and ZeroSpace: The First Shadow and NINA May Be Massive, Immersive Drug Trips

The blurb in last Friday's video from TFS sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I found a lot of sites quoting The Alchemist about the universe conspiring to give you what you truly want (which is similar and it's probably what I was thinking of when this blurb registered as familiar), but I couldn't find this exact quote:

Well...not at first, anyway. I decided to stick every word I could make out here ^ into my search bar...and I found where the blurb comes from:

This blog post is quite literally the only source I could find for it, and the whole damn thing is directly lifted.

Right off the bat, the site fucking jump-scared me:

And it doesn't end there. Let's dive in, because this rabbit hole is a trip unto itself...no MDMA​ ​required.

1. The Fucking Website...#1 (HighExistence.com)

High Existence is a sort of drug-induced-spiritual-trip centered self-help site.

It's got blog posts and podcasts and all that jazz. Here are some of the highlights:

Wow! That was...a lot. A lot of words from the word show, too:

Wholeness, heroes, ancient aliens, prisons of politeness, and the fucking Shire, too, I guess. Why not?

(An Aside: I've included the VR in here too because of the sheer similarities between Henry's experience with the Shadow in VR, El's experience in NINA, and The First Shadow in general.)

Like fuck it, why not keep going, these posts date back to at least 2017:

And don't let me start in on that Creel boy and Faust...

[Jason voice] "[Eddie] made a deal with the devil and now he has his powers!" (Also we get it, one of them is neurotic and the other is psychotic. I've been saying this since like...forever)

Of course, all that insanity aside, the Russian base arc has just...an insane amount of ST4 and TFS stuff packed into it in general:

(And this isn't even all of it. I know others [cough] Stav Heroesbyler [cough] have covered it even more...but bro it is THERE)

But most importantly for the NINA arc:

Three things: Dialogue doubling (there's the one I showed, plus a) Robin yelling "Wipeout!" at Steve which has the pipeline -> "Wipeout!" at Rink-O-Mania -> 002-005 bullying El in a very similar manner and b) Steve's "that's amazing" line about the water fountain -> "This is amazing!" not only from Alice irt the Creel house but also from Mike irt Will's painting on their way to save El from NINA. Again, these are just a few of MANY instances), makeup doubling with the bloodshot eyes, and my beloved: set/prop doubling.

I love that beautiful framing on the nearly-identical square clocks. I have so much to say about that clock, but specifically:

The clocks being set 9 minutes apart, which happens to be the exact length of time from the end of Vecna's voiceover in 4.07 to the start of the fight sequence in 4.07 (aka the length of One's frozen-clock monologue).

Not only that, but the clock isn't even right. It says it's 3:55, but it's definitely not 3:55 AM (see: movie theater scene) but it's also not 3:55 PM:

(And why do we have a clock in an elevator anyway? That's the real question. That thang only exists to deliver subtext, baby! It exists to connect the two scenes further!)

Anyway, as you all likely noticed, this site mostly deals in psychedelics, stimulants, and empathogens.

link

Hell, you could even pull One's bit on the ecosystem into it, since he's describing connections between beings that are being disturbed/destroyed by humanity.

Anyway, the site tends to center specifically on DMT and MDMA...so let's talk about those:

MDMA & DMT An aside: Interesting to me that psychosis here can be counteracted with sedatives. Makes me wonder if whatever happened in 1979 could have been halted if they'd just tranq'd One. Hm.

First off: Did I read that right? Piggy-backing? Damn, son. 4.09, The Piggyback, is pictured in that paragraph. So is Brenner's candy bit with the children -> "candy flipping" vs LSD use in Brenner's lab.

Second: Ah, how nice. Intravenous/injectable. Just like how El is constantly being shot up with...something...to enter NINA.

Now, nearly all psychedelics can induce psychosis, but especially so if they're combined with other psychoactive substances and/or if the user has a history of psychosis (either themselves or in their family).

However, MDMA specifically has been posited as a treatment for PTSD and retrograde/traumagenic amnesia:

link Like...wow. Okay, I guess!

tl;dr: One seems to have been tripping fucking balls during the monologue. Literally every fucking version of him. El likely is as well. Funny how that works. Was any of that real? [smash cut to the way blood pours down the walls and the dead children dance around in the VR version of NINA] And either way, Henry in TFS isn't far behind with his hallucinogenic moments.

The connection? Whatever the hell is going on in Hawkins Labs...and symptoms of drug use.

I was not expecting to get this much out of a single rabbit hole. But...that's life with this show, isn't it? And this is only Part 1.

2. The Fucking Website...#2 (Futurism.com)

The guy who made that original post that TFS lifted the blurb from (Jordan Lejuwaan) runs a couple different websites. The most interesting one is Futurism, which is basically an online version of the Weekly Watcher:

It won't let me filter by date, but it seems to have been founded in 2017, stemming from an infographic subreddit. (Now, it says it's a trustworthy news source, and maybe it is, but... Do your own assessment of that. I'm not your mother, yknow?)

Jordan Lejuwaan was also involved in something far more interesting irt Stranger Things...

3. Zero Space

Jordan co-founded an immersive, interactive theater experience called ZeroSpace back in 2018. As we all know, TFS was just in the beginning phase of its creation around this time.

So...This was like a brick to the skull:

"Alice in Wonderland" (don't get me started: rabbit fuckery, DRUGS!!!!!, clocks/being later, Alice Creel, Fringe connections (Through The Looking Glass and What Walter Found There being the episode about the pocket universe where 20 years passed in 5 days...and also wherein we find out about him hiding away an Observer child that he will later time travel with to save the world from the Observer takeover...erasing himself from time/the timeline by doing so...there is SO much) not to mention the "one pill makes you larger/smaller" vs teen El and baby El...it's too much to try and fit in this post), "ALIENS AND LASERS", "stretch the perceived reality of the sense", "art, actors and your own mind converge to prompt MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS" (which was a common complaint about TFS: it leaves people with more questions than answers).

("See you on the other side" being an in-show line from Henry in the lab to Patty in the void, but this image is ripped directly from the same promo video that the High Existence blurb appears in.)

Here's a little taste of what ZeroSpace is like, but I suggest going to the actual page to see it in action:

It's heavily heavily reminiscent of TFS, even just in the content warnings...

Not to mention the actual show content SFX:

However, the goal of TFS isn't to stretch our senses. We're just watching. We are not the volunteer seeing the other side.

For most of the show, that person is Henry (except the first 5 mins, when it's Cptn. Brenner and his crew literally experiencing the other side). Henry is doing the experiencing. He's the one breaking the fourth wall by picking at/breaking the sets, the one running through the audience and leaving out the theater doors (only to end up right back on stage just like El in the Rainbow Room in 4.05).

With each bit of info I find out adjacent to the play, the more convinced I am that this is some secret third boy's experience in a NINA-like simulation.

Overall—

a) TFS most likely isn't wholly real, and it seems very likely that it's the same kind of simulation as NINA.

b) El was probably drugged up with some kind of empathogenic psychedelic going into NINA, likely with the goal of setting her up to form emotional connections quickly and deeply only to rip that deep connection away in order to bolster her abilities.

c) NINA is not, then, wholly based in truth. Parts of NINA (staring at the bullying from 002-005) may have been generated from El's memories of the outside world.

d) With NINA and TFS seeming so similar, I wouldn't be shocked if parts of it are just one massive empathogen trip (staring at how quickly Henry and Patty bond, similarly to how quickly Henry and El bond in NINA).

e) Whoever is in NINA with teen El is also tripping balls, most likely, and may have gone off the rails in that regard. However, that's in a simulation...hard to assign guilt or blame for things done in a fictional/unreal world.

f) Whoever was with baby El in 1979 may have been in a similar situation "moving chess pieces"-style instead. Read: drugged in order to put him in a situation where he would bolster El's latent abilities...and it went wrong (see also: Walter Bishop's orchestrated/fake massacre meant to bolster Olivia's latent abilities.)

g) Richard Brenner having been the head of narcotics makes me question which Brenner we're seeing at any given time: Martin, or Richard?

[sepublic]

What if we reimagined all of the other non-Teridax Makuta as eldritch horrors, just as Teridax was initially presented in the early years of Bionicle? What if we used each Makuta as a prompt of sorts; What if THEY were the big villain terrorizing an island, their individual name unknown so they’re just THE Makuta to the local Toa and Matoran? Make each one feel worthy of the title of Makuta, with their depictions in Karda Nui being akin to physical, humanoid avatars meant to interact with others, just as the scheming Teridax is like for the vortex from MNOG?

Like for example, Chirox! You have this swarm of spiders known as the Visorak, led by one massive spider, known as Makuta. The Visorak mutate their victims, before dragging them back to their master.

Makuta is a spider-like entity that emerges from a cave, using his spindly limbs to grapple with and analyze his victims... Potentially drawing upon them for inspiration, before tearing and prying them apart into their base pieces, adding them to his massive collection. From these recycled parts, Makuta creates more Visorak, or dreaded Rahi creatures that wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Like Makuta, they are poison, destruction incarnate; They always inherit his twisted spirit that destroys.

That’s all Makuta does, even when he does create; He inevitably just destroys. Instead of coming up with new things on his own, he relies on Fate to mutate the living into something random, hoping chance will eventually grant him a working design for Makuta to copy. You could say Makuta has no real ideas of his own, and is a gambler, a parasite, betting something will come along for him to take. 

But isn’t destruction the same as creation, isn’t destroying his victims necessary to make things? That’s where the imagery of the spider comes into play; Its long, spindly limbs? They’re fingers. Makuta is not just a spider, he is a hand; The same hand that reaches into the parts bin to make new creations, plays with MoCs before tearing them apart to make something new. Just as Teridax represents the parts bin, Chirox is the builder’s hand, like in the Lego Movie, or Super Smash Bros. 

Each Visorak is like a hand of its own, grabbing victims, reassembling them randomly with mutation. Dragging them back to Chirox, whose hand motif is also inspired from the fact that he is the only Makuta who can fully control his Shadow Hand. And Makuta’s spider-like form? It’s attached to something much, MUCH bigger... It is not just a hand metaphorically, it is a literal hand and when Makuta’s lair collapses around him, it reveals the massive figure he is attached to; His whole, true self, a titan more resembling the Chirox we are familiar with.

The others are different angles and facets to approach the myth, the legend of the Makuta; Different re-imaginings, just as people came up with their own G3 and their own take on Makuta. Just like the Makuta contest we had for G2. Vamprah can represent the animalistic side of Makuta; The raging, kicking, screaming beast he was once described as by Vakama. The apex predator, for if his minions are the Rahi beasts, he is the greatest of them all.

Or Bitil! A temporal entity, haunted by his past selves, constantly summoned by his future self. Always going through different iterations, just as a MoC is frequently edited, redone, rebuilt; You can track his transformation, his evolution across his many selves; Makuta represents the existential horror of the timeline, of the way things change. A ghost of the past, and also a vision of the future. If the Vahi is central to the tale of Bionicle as the Mask of Time, what about Makuta as someone who constantly exploits and distorts this force?

Those are some of my initial ideas. Makuta needn’t always be this faceless force of nature, they can be a humanized figure, like Krika, who can be a sympathetic, tragic villain doomed by the narrative, consigned to his role and aware of it as part of a meta discussion; Miserix is the mighty dragon our knights must slay; The Makuta of Stelt, a land of merchants and commerce, the all-consuming force of corporatism that stifles creativity, or a bargaining devil. Gorast is a fanatical priestess hoping to bring in a new age, Mutran the quintessential mad scientist who played god and flew too close to the sun in his obsession.

Spiriah is a corrupt lord seething over his failures, who transformed and resents his people the Skakdi and must be rebelled against; Tridax is a multiversal collector providing commentary on adaptations; The Vortixx hope to harness the ultimate weapon that is Antroz; Kojol is the arcane keeper of knowledge like Lucifer, who stole the Light of enlightenment from the land of thinkers and is burned for it; And Icarax? A completely straightforward dark lord to conquer, as he always intended to be. Each plays the role of Makuta, as the final villain, the ultimate evil who started this conflict, whom our protagonists must rise to eventually vanquish.

[stargazer0001]

After coloring I realized that I made a walking (not talking) bisexual flag. So I decided to roll with it.

A bit more info under the cut

So! My first iterator OC. ESN!

Pronouns: they/he/she/it

Sexuality: Sigh. Bisexual asexual. Bro likes all women and one very specific kind of man.

He is the youngest of his local group, only created shortly before the mass ascension event. So, she never exactly grew close with the ancients. Not really caring for their whole ascension ordeal either. It was never really even one to connect with other iterators. Instead, it created friends. Or well, purposed organisms. With the purpose to just exist and live happily. They created animals, and life. They loved life, and still do. Though he particularly loves vultures, those beautiful winged beasts, soaring in the sky. She loves the sky in general, finding it beautiful. The different colors, the clouds, the sun, the moon, the animals that can glide and soar in it. Sadly, as they are stuck in that sad little puppet chamber, he can never be outside. Oh how she longs to feel the grass, to smell the flowers, to play in the rain, to climb in the trees. To feel truly alive. So, instead of wallowing in self pity, she brought the life to her can. An entire ecosystem is found in her structure. Though this does make it quite hard to traverse, it doesn't really matter to ESN. He is stuck in his chamber after all. They have an entire collection of animals that it has made. Yeah, one ripped off his leg but thats okay! I would of drawn some of the animals, but just know that he has made different kinds of lizards, vultures, plants, slugcats, the whole thing. Maybe I'll draw some tomorrow.

Also, its mute! She used to be able to speak, but moss and algae grew in their voicebox, making in incredibly hard and painful to talk. Though I mean.... it doesn't really have friends to talk to anyway. They barely interact with other iterators. The few times they've interacted with their local group was strained and awkward, so they don't see a point in it anymore. Why have friends when you can have pets? Right?

oh yeah I gotta @ some people

@rustylorde-comix

@cookieeevee

the two people who wanted to see the ref I think. If you want, I can always un@ you. Wait is it untag... or unping.... idk.

[weirdmarioenemies]

gName: Pokeyplant

Debut: Super Mario Galaxy

Ah! It is Pokeyplant. Pokeyplant is a Pokey that is a plant, and this does not make it special, because they are all plants by default. But I have to admire how proud it is of being a plant! It takes this seemingly mundane aspect of itself, and really owns it. I think that is great! You should love something about yourself that you take for granted RIGHT NOW!!! Punk

You may notice that Pokeyplant is not particularly pokey. It is not pokey at all, in fact. Someone shaved this cactus! Evidently to gather enough cactus spines to fashion them into a very painful sweater. Why is that so obvious? Well, there are no sheep in Dusty Dune Galaxy, are there? No WOOL for sweaters. Gotta use cactus spines! Unfortunately!

There is only one Pokeyplant in the entire galaxy. In the entire game. In the entire franchise! And while the Prickly Piranha Plant from Galaxy 2 is just as rare, it at least gets to have a pretty significant role as Piranha Plant’s side smash attack in Super Smash Bros. Imagine if Pokey was a playable fighter that also took aspects from its variants in its moveset! It could have a move where it turns into Pokeyplant, removing its spines and making it more vulnerable to attacks!

Pokeyplant’s whole gimmick is sort of being a Pokey that is more vulnerable to attacks, but like, in a fun way. With no spikes, it can be Spin Attacked, and its segments will go flying! Alternatively, its head can just be jumped upon to defeat the whole thing at once. That is really it. Its being a unique entity is certainly more fun than its behavior!

However, Pokeyplant is not the first full-length Pokey who could be jumped upon! In fact, in their very first appearance, Pokeys- who were green- could be stood upon just fine!

And then, in Sticker Star, they decided to just bring those back! As of Color Splash they are known as Green Pokeys, and their whole thing is being the Pokey that can be jumped upon. Mario does not punch in this game, but I’m sure they could theoretically be punched safely as well!

Pokeyplant is a delightful little tidbit in the ongoing development of Pokeys! Really, I mostly like it because its name is funny. If you take one thing from this post, I hope it’s that Pokeyplant has an amusing name. But I also think it is just fascinating that a separate modern spineless Pokey was established with Green Pokey, perhaps even entirely independently! Mario’s world is a whole ecosystem of fun little pretend creatures!

[cicadaland]

bro it's like this whole website exists just to make people mad. like its whole user ecosystem is built around that. I am going to take another break maybe I will come back Tuesday?? I also want to be on tumblr less because I really have to lock in academically

[elbiotipo]

the 'why do they have potatoes' thing is a generally good worldbuilding question though. like if you wanna say your fantasy world is at all realistic you SHOULD be thinking about what kinds of flora/fauna are native to the ecosystem youre writing in and if there are non-native plants and animals, how did they get there? like its JUST either being too lazy to think about """boring""" worldbuilding questions or being too lazy to care about implying that your fantasy europe colonized fantasy south america bc corn is not native to medieval france. equivalent of that post thats like "people will spend 30 years designing elf lingerie but if you ask them why their orcs have monolids suddenly research is impossible"

FGJKLSDJGFKJDSKJGSDK GOD THAT LAST PART

Yeah, I've seen that a lot, let's try to fix it and make literal races with fixed traits in the original material (the literal Monster Manual) more diverse. bro. just ditch the whole thing. I promise you don't need to cling to Tolkien's stereotypes or put stat numbers into races to make fantasy.

Leaving aside this, yes, it is because I'm an ethnobotanist, but asking "where the food comes from" is perhaps the single most important question you can ask in any kind of worldbuilding, at any scale. It defines everything: social organization (that alone determines a lot), the technology, the culture, economics, population, down from history and social changes to whatever fun quirk you want like "hey, isn't that funny that in this world they use magic to make coffee ice cream?"

You don't necessarily have to have an equivalent to every world culture -though I insist in a fantasy South America to make people realize just how much this continent contributed to the history of the world, and how much of what we consider "European" actually comes from other cultures-, you can have magical or fantasy or more wacky explanations. Maybe bears domesticated them, maybe they actually ARE a different plant and you notice that they're cooked just a little different, whatever. Just why, in a world of fantasy, you limit yourself to the exact same setting and things that are established? I don't particulary care if they are grounding or relatable or whatever, I do't read fantasy or play fantasy to be "grounded", it's to immerse myself in a world and story and say "damn, that's creative". Even the best characters are completely interchangable and generic if they don't come from a living world (and if you set it on Earth, I personally demand even more care to your research)

And also it's just plain fun to answer, you learn a lot about the world, and get more creative ideas for your story! Also, I won't shoot you.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

People: corporations are bad and evil and blinded by greed!

Corporations: *Dangles AI in front of them*

People: Fuck artists, this is the way of the future! What's that you say? These things worsen climate change because they suck up tons of fresh water and cause shortages? Who cares! I can stick it to the greedy artists and make millions! Money money money!

No wonder we keep getting fucked; it's all too easy for people to point fingers at the greed of others, but they always make excuses for their own greed.

As far as I can tell, it's training AI models in general that takes a lot of water for cooling, not AI art in specific, and it hasn't caused any shortages yet. Servers in general require a lot more water than you think and while they're working on solutions to try and offset the water footprint by using non-potable water, there's not enough transparency in how much is being actually being used by data centers and in tech firms' promises to be "water positive" by "replenishing watersheds" (which sounds suspiciously like the whole 'we plant two trees for each we use.....in a massive tree farm that is in no way a good replacement for the ecosystem we destroyed!' deal).

Yes, AI sucks up way more water than your average data center and that's another mark against it, but it's part of a much bigger problem. Getting rid of it won't save us and blaming it all on tech bros and AI art just distracts from the real, systemic problem we all have to deal with.

[blazehedgehog]

Given they’re soft rebooting again… what’s your Jurassic world 4/jurassic park 7/ Jurassic animals and also Triassic and Cretaceous animals make life difficult: the movie pitch? I feel like, as fun as the sequels can be, they’ve lost the science parable and horror/thriller elements of the classic - for all its faults; at least lost world has that.

Hmm... I'm gonna think like a movie executive. What's hot right now? AI's hot, right? It's the buzz. I propose a hard reboot.

Crichton's original novel opens with this big screed about a near future where we have "designer genetics." Genetic manipulation gets easier and easier and I think it's said Jurassic Park takes place in a world where it's getting to the point that parents can custom-order what kind of kids they'll have by selecting specific genetic traits. (It's been a while since I've read it)

Jurassic Park the movie shows human beings physically modifying genetic code by hand using VR displays, but Mr. DNA also admits that "a full DNA sequence contains 3 billion genetic codes." So it's ridiculous to assume that a human being could edit the genetic code by hand. One sequence would take years to get right, maybe even a lifetime.

So our story is that we have some 20 something silicon valley tech bro. He got outrageously rich off of crypto and NFTs and was smart enough to cash out early. We frame him as altruistic but around the edges we can see maybe he's not the greatest person. It's suggested he knew crypto was kind of a scam, which is why he got out early, but obviously he was in crypto at all to begin with, which does not bode well. But he's supposedly "one of the smart ones." Now he's rich! And cool! And using his powers for "good." He's beloved in pop culture.

The next wave is here. Neural network LLM Artificial Intelligence. He's all in. It's the next crypto. And he starts a company that uses LLM AI to "solve the genetic algorithm." He spins this out into a financial empire where people can custom-order pets with specific traits. But obviously people with a lot of money start wondering if maybe they can get more... exotic products.

With the realm of cats, dogs and parrots conquered, our techbro begins phase 2: recreating extinct animals. This is a guy who thinks he's going to save the world by restoring lost links in the food chain (without doing enough research to see how that would change our existing ecosystem, since he could be resurrecting an invasive species).

He's going to debut the first of his phase 2 work at an event he's calling Jurassic Park, because he's going to demonstrate the first living dinosaurs in 65 million years. Jurassic Park will continue to operate as a massive nature reserve; a symbol of his control of life itself.

Obviously: everything goes wrong. The AI has never had to change this much genetic code before. It has to make up whole entire sections of DNA. The end result is unpredictable, but techbro is confident that if the AI sequenced things well enough that something could actually hatch from the egg, then it's safe.

It is not safe.

Not only do we not understand anything about dinosaur behavior, these technically aren't even dinosaurs. They're genetic mutants. The on-site dinosaur expert brought in with the press to verify Jurassic Park's claims quickly realizes that while some of these dinosaurs are accurate in some ways, a lot of them have hard deviations away from known science. Muscles that aren't quite right, appendages that aren't the right size, things like that. Maybe their brains and brain chemistry are slightly different.

The question remains whether known science was wrong or whether the AI made something up that was never true.

The question is brought up again when we learn a technician within Jurassic Park sabotaged everything intending to steal the genetic learning data from techbro's servers. Techbro says the thief poisoned the data and that's gotta be why there's mutations.

The security systems fail. The thief has left them to their creations. Jurassic Park as we know it happens.

Since a lot of movies have to deal with this, all throughout this, nobody has phones. To prevent leaks, all of their phones were confiscated before they entered Jurassic Park and locked in a security checkpoint. Our techbro, maybe as a sign of solidarity, even gives his phone to the security guy. We could even say maybe they've been having security issues beforehand, to set up the thief hacking everything before he actually does it.

Anyway, since our thief sabotaged the park's own communication channels, a lot of the movie is about getting back to that security checkpoint, breaking in, and getting their phones so they can call for help.

Oh, and also: all of Jurassic Park's vehicles are electric, too, and tied into the security mainframe. Since the park's whole security system was hacked and disabled, none of the vehicles can be operated. The only thing that works are these little golf carts, but they're small, can't go very fast, and offer little protection. Maybe our survivors try one, it gets smashed by a triceratops, and they're too far away from the depot to go back for a new one. So a lot of the movie is them traversing the park on foot.

As they're being chased by dinosaurs through the park itself, they end up deep in the core of a genetics lab. And it's here we learn the dark truth: there is a wide margin of failure. The recently deceased specimens are all kept for study and learning and there's a lot because the AI fails often, and it has to be taught not to do that. We see dozens of disfigured animals. Bits and pieces of dinosaurs, pets, and even, in one tank... human parts. These tanks are labeled "phase 3."

Not only are the mutated dinosaurs not the work of sabotage, this guy's been trying to create genetically modified people. We have our big "what have you done?" moment of horror. One of the last surviving members of the press is going to blow the whistle on this place. It's over. Maybe it's someone we build up as the techbro's new friend discovering that their hero wasn't who he said he was.

Just then, a dinosaur bursts in and kills that person. Drama! Tragedy!

Obviously, the survivors find a way out. Techbro has to live with his own conscious. Multiple people died at his hands on this day and he had a hand in creating some of the worst sins against nature mankind has ever seen.

(Or maybe we stick to the original Jurassic Park book and he dies just before getting on the escape chopper.)

[nerdydowntherabbithole]

Hey lemme. Lemme slide my calculator at you,,, I would put a read more on this but tumblr appears to have taken away the option after I added the picture? Sorry for length!

This is Sings in Silence!!! Way back when the ancients were still around, she had a civil war break out atop her can that lead to both sides sabotaging her by literally setting off bombs in her systems to keep her from interfering. She went mostly nonverbal from the whole experience and now uses sign language to communicate in person, along with more animalistic mimicry she picked up from her scugs :)

She refused to work on the great problem anymore after the conflict, which lead to her population becoming convinced she was irreversibly broken, and that she may also start refusing to help them. She never did end up refusing, but she had to watch as they all slowly migrated to other iterators' cities instead, despite her best efforts to prove she was still good for something. She wasn't scrapped due to the effort involved, but all repair work on nonessential systems also stopped at this point, leaving her with a number of them that either don't work or are extremely temperamental. Also her inspectors are literally mad ALL THE TIME.

Silence ended up adopting an entire scug colony as citizens and creating a whole overgrown (unstable) ecosystem for them atop her can! She even picked up the hobby of studying and researching the natural world around her, just to learn how to better provide for them without most of the facilities intended to let her do that. She would give the world for them. In fact, she even lets them in to eat her neurons in times of food scarcity due to the unstable environment :) she has the facilities to make more, but it still sucks.

She tends to be sweet and patient, but void help you if you even think about hurting one of her precious citizens. The scugs trust her so much that they even leave their pups for her to babysit! Despite this, she's also prone to anxiety and overreactions, often making extremely poor decisions when finally riled up. I imagine that she could be persuaded to Go On A Walk if it was for the good of her colony-- she would rather let herself decay and her corpse serve as a shelter for them than leave them alone without a caretaker for no reason, in full honesty.

OAAAHHHH OH MY GAAAWWD I LOVE HER SO SO MUCH SHE IS SO GOOD. BUT ALSO OWIE THAT STORY. Yet another iterator punished for the problems the ancients made. AUUGGHH SHE IS JUST SO GOOD BRO. 10/10 Should be allowed to touch grass instead of having to let guys eat her neurons when times are tough

[bondsmagii]

Micéal please 😭😭 Like I understand your point, you're right, fresh veggies need to be washed and finding a bug shouldn't stop you but!!! That spider isn't a tiny itsy bitsy spider it's a Lady Spider. It could eat my whole hand if it wanted 😭😭

I have a deep arachnophobia (and fear of bugs as well) and. I would drop. I would die. It's not even disgust, I know these all contribute to the ecosystem and I make it a point to never kill any if I can help it, and just cry-puke my panic response as I get them out while shaking, but I would fuckint pass out if I find that in my cauliflower 😭😭😭

bro if that thing could eat your hand that must be the world's biggest cauliflower!! looking at it, it seems like average florets to me, and I am very familiar with cauliflower, and have seen a few in my time. fair enough if you have arachnophobia, but this person does not. they are literally just disgusted to find a spider in their vegetables, which grow outside, you know, where spiders live. if a person gets put off because something triggers their literal phobia, that's a completely different thing -- but getting disgusted because the fresh food you purchase from the out of doors isn't beautifully clean and sanitised? that's just a disconnect with the natural world that my country-living ass cannot understand. I fish bigger spiders out of my bathtub every day!! and they are not supposed to be there. I am like mister you need to go back outside. scram.

[tobiasdrake]

Mewtwo Strikes Back - VI. Everyone Must Die Because Giovanni Sucks

Team Rocket finds their way into Mewtwo's cloning chambers. They aren't sure what to make of it, but Jessie sits down on the control console like an asshole and accidentally turns on Exposition Mode. The computer thoroughly explains the entire concept, while also cloning Meowth as a demonstration.

As secret organization computers go, this one is super helpful for anyone looking to plunder their secrets. It even goes on to explain the creation of Mewtwo for the Rockets' (and Mew's) benefit!

Mewtwo, meanwhile, releases Joy from his control. He needed her previously for her medical knowledge, but her purpose has been served.

He goes on to explain his motivation: He knew this guy once, and that guy sucked so bad. And because he's like four months old, he assumes this one bad experience is indicative of all people everywhere. Blaming everybody everywhere because exploitative capitalists exist.

It's the "All humans are monsters because colonizers keep destroying ecosystems, even though the humans they slaughtered to get to those ecosystems were coexisting with their ecosystem just fine for thousands of years, so maybe the problem isn't actually something innate to humanity as a whole," argument. Mewtwo thinks all humans are wicked because Giovanni sucks.

Pikachu interrupts with the Pika Pika equivalent of "Fuck are you smoking?" and Mewtwo flings him across the room. Ash immediately dives to catch his BFF and takes the force of impact upon himself out of love and loyalty, immediately disproving everything Mewtwo just said. But Mewtwo doesn't notice because you can't logic someone out of a position they didn't logic themselves into. Bro's just mad.

I guess Pidgeot Guy was taking a piss when Gyarados Guy attacked Mewtwo, because he decides now is a good time to do the same. It goes exactly as well for him.

Ash decides he wants to fight Mewtwo too, but he's not reckless enough to simply attack. Mewtwo takes his challenge as an opportunity to segue into the next stage of this... Whatever this is.

Mewtwo brings out clones of Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise. Inexplicably, they bear the same unusual markings as his friends from the extra prologue. Does Mewtwo remember them? Because if so then he should remember Aitwo, which would completely destroy his whole motivation. Weird.

He also reveals a battlefield hidden behind a... Wall that just sort of shimmers and melts away. Was he sustaining an illusion of that wall this whole time? In any case, it's time for battle, Pokemon vs. Copy Pokemon.

[spitblaze]

I feel like comparing AI Art to NFTs is always going to come up a little bit flat because the hobby aspect of NFTs always had a very big money element to it since all you could really do is trade, buy, and sell them. If the money dries up, and the hobby stops, as well as the obvious nonsensical element of it (screenshotting, which in hindsight seems ironic).

The issue with the comparison comes up when you realize that for a similar thing to happen, all AI art generators would need to be removed or near removed from the internet to destroy the hobbyists. Now from a company/large entity standpoint, I think it IS a little early to tell whether or not AI art is going to chug along or just be another fad.

In terms of AI art generators that people just run on their personal computers? Yeah those are here to stay.

Uh. I guess I should've clarified, I think that the doomsaying about art as a PROFESSION is overblown, one of the big problems with AI art is that it iterates off of things that already exist, and if the trends change with nothing to copy from it'll just spin it's wheels, and that's assuming companies that DO use it in the long run don't turn to the model of 'give an AI drawing to an actual artist to make it look like something presentable' that book publishers using AI art for covers are.

And I gotta say, I feel like the concern over hobbyist AI art is also overblown. Literally who cares if some dude is typing 'huge boobs waifu kyoani style big honkers hands that are drawn well' into midjourney. who cares if someone thinks its funny to AI generate muppets that dont exist. It's a matter of ecosystem- as long as these people are 1) HONEST that it's AI art and they didn't make it, no giving it prompts doesn't count, you don't go to subway and order a sandwich and claim you made that either, and 2) are not out-competing or being antagonistic towards 'traditional' artists...who give a fuck.

I'm still not happy about the jobs it claims to replace, but really my biggest concern with the whole ordeal really is the learnset and sampling issues, the ethics of it are absolutely fucked and I think the panic about it 'stealing jobs' can come when, like...that actually seems like a genuine possibility in the minds of anyone other than Tech Bros.

[scattered-winter]

BOOK ASKS!!!! 1, 4, 7, 11, 17, 20 <3333

book you’ve reread the most times?

ooh...probably either the six of crows duology by leigh bardugo (I have the whole thing practically memorized at this point...) or pjo/hoo.....theyre sooo <33

4. what sections of a bookstore do you browse?

YA, usually, just because that's generally where the authors I like are, but I'm SUPER picky about which YA books I actually read because well. *gestures at most of them*

7. is there a series/book that got you into reading?

I've been an eager reader for LITERALLY as long as I can remember (the way my mom tells it, I literally taught myself to read which tbh I don't remember enough to dispute that fact and it makes me sound cool so I'll take it) HOWEVER as a kid I was a huge fan of the magic treehouse and bailey school kids series. idk if they were the first ones I ever read tho

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

oooh ok ok so when I was a kid my parents had a whole STACK of these nonfiction books for kids called "I wonder why" and each one had like. a different theme. my favorite one was "I wonder why triceratops had horns (and other questions about dinosaurs)" and the whole book was about dinosaurs and answering different "questions" that kids might ask about them. and bro I ate that shit UP. I think my family had about 15 to 20 of these books, in a range of topics from extinct animals to ancient egypt to reptiles to plants, and I used to stack them all in a big pile on my bedroom floor and just read each one, cover to cover, one by one. I must've read those books at LEAST 7 times each, and I loved them soooo much. a lot of the topics are STILL interesting to me (like dinosaurs and extinct animals and ecosystems) and it was so funny because the other day my mom was talking about all the old books the family used to have and she offhandedly mentioned those ones and said something like "yeah none of the kids liked them so they just sat on the shelf :(" and I had to tell her that I actually had them mostly memorized at one point lmao

the series had a revamp pretty recently so most of the search results are the new covers but here's one of the old ones that I used to have :]

17. top 5 children’s books?

the "I wonder why" series (as seen above, because autistic kids deserve a fun little treat :]), magic treehouse (fun historic adventures !!! ALSO a fun lil autistic treat :]), the bailey school kids (THEE OG DETECTIVE GANG), animorphs (war crimes <3), and warriors (more war crimes <3)

20. what are things you look for in a book?

mostly I just look for a good time !!! I loooove complicated/fascinating worldbuilding, like with six of crows, and I also want to be reading about characters who I like/connect with !! if the book is romance-centric I'm less inclined to want to read it UNLESS it's very well written (six of crows is largely about romance but they're all sooooo well crafted that I just ??? love them all ???? and it's also balanced out by the platonic dynamics and overall worldbuilding and plot so they're very enjoyable to me even though the romance plays a big part in it) BUT OVERALL I just wanna have a good time yknow

book asks!!