#but even on a purely logical scientific level

[chaos-coming]

Yall dont understand how much i missed the forest. And i mean a real forest, not the sterilized, neutered monoculture devoid of life and energy that they call forest in central europe.

Since we as humans are part of a larger community of living beings, we can sense the life around us on an intrinsic level. And we can sense its absence. And if you start to notice the life and energy around you, those sterilized environments feel like sensory deprivation, like wearing figurative earplugs.

It really hit home for me just now, how absolutely destroyed central europe is on an ecological level. Every new day, every new place i get to witness, just refirms this understanding. There is a desperate need for rewilding in this region, to allow natural communities to heal and restore diversity and variance and the chaos that is life on this planet.

But first and foremost there is a need to shift cultural values in the region, before any kind of rewilding can happen. A while back there was this viral post about a french couple demanding the culling of wolves after witnessing a wolf hunting in their backyard. What should be a rare and incredible experience, a privilege and a pleasure to see (and an indicator that the natural communities of the alps have the potential to revive) - to them was a nuciance and a threat to their orderly idyllic cottagecore fsntasy world. It's like their whole culture never moved past the middle ages mentality of achieving safety by "taming" the wild places.

And i've genuinely had (frustrating) conversations with forestry and conservation students from central europe who are literally Afraid of natural forests. Theyre "too wild" and chaotic, lacking the order and control theyre accustomed to in all other parts of their country's society, and require intensive management to bring it to submission and be a "propper" forest. In their eyes, the forest is a resource only growing timber and looking like a city park for them to walk through. Anything that makes obtaining wood more difficult or less profitable is a Problem and needs to be fixed. They dont have any pespective on what an actual natural forest looks and feels like, and look at you like youre an alien if you say what they have arent real forests.

It shows that cultural values in this part of the world stand in direct opposition to the principles of rewilding and re-estsblishing harmony with our place the larger biological community.

So before any large scale restoration can be considered, before actual nature can be brought back to central europe, as desperately as it is needed - not just for its own intrinsic value and right to exist, but also for resillience in the face of the climate crisis - there needs to be a cultural shift that will tolerate coexistence with things that live for their own sake rather than direct human benefit, and which cannot and will not be fundamentally changed to their liking.

And therein lies the crux of this ideology: the rejection of anything that is different from them and will not be subjugated. The need to homogenize everything in their own image. And this mindset is the nucleus at the heart of imperialism. Which is why you cannot separate nature conservation from the ongoing legacy of colonialism, even in the imperial core, and why decolonization needs to be the foundation for any kind of restoration effort.

Tldr: There can be no rewilding of central europe until there is decolonization of european mindsets.

[enteringdullsville]

I got bored so I made a thing. Modern Nick AU featuring a handful of the child protagonists, a chibified SpongeBob being their chaperone? A summer camp setting, perhaps? With everyone save for Danny, Jenny, and Dora having their ages fudged to be closer?

Sure, why not? From left to right:

Sanjay Patel

He may or may not have snuck Craig into his cabin, and Craig may or may not have started charging people for “sage advice from the talking snake”

Sanjay’s a relatively good kid but kind of a hellion. Manny spends much of his early life in a moral dilemma. Having them be partners seemed like a logical decision

His bowling pin head was really hard to adapt to my usual style without utterly mangling his face, but I think I did alright

Manny Rivera

He’s wearing the boots and scarf from his El Tigre costume

Bessie thinks he’s the coolest thing, but his and Danny’s egos clash almost immediately

This presumably takes place after he’s settled on heroism, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a troublemaker

April O’Neil

She’s quite possibly the only person getting any actual work done in camp

She’s ostensibly the least insane person in the group, but she’s prone to egging on the others’ antics and starting bets on how much things will escalate

Her age has been dropped a couple of years, so she’s often with Lincoln foiling Dora’s whole escape artist routine

Tommy Pickles

Still on his filmmaker career from All Grown Up! He has a lot of footage of a lot of things in a lot of places

Normally mild mannered and agreeable, but being given “strict orders” instantly makes his good mood vanish

His mind tends to wander when he’s bored, and it has no regard for its curfew

Lincoln Loud

He’s a weeb canonically, so he’s been given a vaguely animesque appearance

Whatever camp this takes place at, I can guarantee at least one of his sisters had been there prior. Since most of the characters here are the Everyman type, Linc’s cunning and trickster attributes are played up a bit

Has no regard for the fourth wall. Tommy has no clue what he’s on about and thinks he’s insane

Aang (Just Aang)

Whether or not he can bend is based purely on what’s funniest at the moment, especially since he and Dib make it impossible for this to be canon compliant

He’s definitely living in an AU with a less horrific backstory. Less responsibilities, less issues

Wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he’d definitely give a wasp a warning shot if it was being a jerk

Danny Fenton

Danny, and only Danny, is actually a little older here. He and Jenny are the counselors. Lucky them.

Doesn’t even bother with the secret identity since Bob’s the only one dense enough to not connect the dots

Being able to turn invisible is really helpful when Dib has questions he doesn’t feel like answering

Jimmy Neutron

There he is, officer. That one’s the ringleader

Aang’s existence is a constant source of frustration for him since he can’t come up with a scientific explanation for all…that

He’s right off the heels of Nicktoons Unite and is wondering when and why SB became so serious

SpongeBob SquarePants

The only adult we see at the camp for some reason, and the only nonhuman besides Jenny

I messed up his scaling, he was supposed to be small enough to fit in someone’s hand, hence his overly simplified design. That’s the height he is in-universe

Ironically and disproportionately strong. Not Jenny’s level, but about as strong as he is in Unite…without being adjusted for size. In other words, he can easily pick up and throw the campers like rag dolls

Jenny Wakeman

The only nonhuman kid at camp, as well as the oldest/youngest at 16/5

She’s the one thing stopping land bears from tearing the camp apart

She’s justifiably a little wary since she’s not exactly nature proof, but all the kids think she’s the coolest thing

Timmy Turner

A closer look at him reveals three familiar looking trinkets shaped like a wand, wings, and a floaty crowny thing

He doesn’t need magic, anyway. He’ll make everything possibly go wrong his own way

He and Bessie butt heads almost immediately; Timmy’s fine with one hypercompetent overachieving Girl Scout in his life, but he does not need another

Ginger Foutley

Usually found with fellow artsy types Rudy and Lincoln

Riddled with anxieties and restless leg syndrome. She comes of as brooding, but she’s just introspective

Since April’s a menace, she’s the actual least insane camper

Eliza Thornberry

It took her a bit to realize SpongeBob could actually talk to begin with and that everyone else didn’t have the same power as her. In fact, there’s a non-zero chance there are a bunch of animals from assorted Nick shows that are screaming in the background constantly and it’s messing with her head

I gave her just the one braid to make her distinct from the other Elizabeth in the cast

She slips in and out of her father’s mannerisms. SMASHING!

Rudy Tabootie

Mysteriously disappears to parts unknown it’stheChalkZone every now and then when he needs to blow off some steam

I find it funny how stylized I made everyone else while Rudy’s just slightly taller

SpongeBob sees a lot of himself in the kid. Rudy doesn’t know how to feel about that

Dora Marquez

Y’know, I added her as a joke, and she immediately became my favorite

She’s the youngest kid at her canon age of seven, so she’s coddled by everyone else. She HATES it, given that she’s been adventuring on her own for the longest time, so she’s a lot more cynical than usual. Easily the biggest departure from the norm

Constantly tries to escape supervision in favor of wandering the wilderness, but the talking cheese won’t let her

Arnold Shortman

He doesn’t know how he ended up as the “cool guy”, but he’s not gonna fight it

Appears detached and aloof, but he’s more likely just dissociating

Always seems to know what he’s doing to the point of parody. As smart as he is, I must reiterate he’s just improvising

Dib Membrane

Eliza, Rudy, and especially Timmy aren’t too keen on hanging around him for very obvious reasons

The fact he’s with people who are reasonably sane this time around means he’s in much better spirits. Lincoln’s probably his best friend at the camp, although Dib’s still a loner

He and Jimmy always run the risk of killing each other if they talk for more than two minutes at a time due to differing views on magic

Bessie Higgenbottom

The kid most likely to actually listen to the inane drivel that comes out of SpongeBob’s mouth

Since she’s still working on the whole Mighty Bee thing, she’s all over Manny, Danny, and Janny

There are very few campers that aren’t at least a little intimidated by her

There were a few other characters I wanted to add like Nate Wright (Big Nate), Annie Bramley (It’s Pony), Mikey Munroe (Bunsen is a Beast), but I scrapped them for space.

I elected to only use one character per series, causing me to drop Korra, Sheen Estevez, Ronnie Anne Santiago, and Hazel Wells for being spinoff characters (especially since Sheen and Ronnie Anne were around before getting their own shows). It also forced me to remove Fanboy and Chum Chum from my initial plan entirely.

I additionally wanted to keep SB as the only organic nonhuman character due to the inherent absurdity of having him as the sole adult figure, which is why Dib and April represent their series rather than Zim or a Ninja Turtle and why I chose not to use Harvey Beaks.

[mistymem0ryy]

Il Dottore x Reader

The Fall of Icarus Chapter 1 - An unexpected letter

Summary: While being a student in the prestigious Sumeru Academy, the reader begins to form a weird friendship with the genius student Zandik, only to then lose said friendship due to his banishment. Years later a rogue letter finds its way to their report-file desk.

The gender of the reader is not specified.

(Minor spoilers for Dottore’s identity ig)// Word count: 2066

Notes: I am quite tired of the constant fics where the Reader happens to not be at a similar intellectual level as Dottore… Do not get me wrong I understand that it could be quite intimidating since the guy is quite literally a genius, but I always wondered how different his common behavior and developing intellect would have been during his Academia years…

Chapter 2

{No beta we die like Zandik’s grades}

People like Dottore are usually blessed with what I call an Imaginative Genius, he is inventive and curious in nature but that is not all you need in order to excel in an Academic environment. Any undergrad level Science student will complain to you about obligatory courses that range from boring classes on how to write an adequate lab report, to mind draining mathematics units that you have to take in order to graduate but most probably will never need in your actual profession.

Dottore is a genius, yes, but he is also impatient and insatiable, and those are the traits that led him to his unlabeled relationship with you…

The Academia is constituted by various facets dedicated to different areas of research, but they all possess one common thing, and that is the dreadful compulsory mathematics and report units. Mathematics is the language of the world, therefore it would be only logical that a self respecting scientist would have a certain degree of fluency in it…And to add unto that, a great researcher must too be capable of describing all observable phenomena in harmonious text.

Dottore… or should I say Zandik? Well, no matter how much his brain was capable of maneuvering itself into creating unimaginable gadgets and devices while simultaneously researching lost ruins of forgotten civilizations, he simply could not wrap his head around a certain set of classes that he deemed utterly useless.

He wanted to go out and research the unknown, feel his surroundings and understand their development, he wanted to acquire knowledge beyond the one present in the various dust collecting books that encircled him every minute… 

He wants to punch down that godforsaken door and leave this classroom at this precise moment… But to his utter disdain he cannot.

You see Zandik is quite the intelligent fellow, his curiosity leads him further in his personal research but he must balance all of that alongside all the courses the Academia requires from him in order to finish his initial program. But no matter how “important” a certain class might be, if it doesn't strike the interest of the blue haired student then he will not even glance towards its direction twice… His time is precious and slowly but certainly running out, so he must make the most of it, even if it means missing a rather concerning number of classes.

You would like to say that perhaps, in some sick and twisted way, Zandik considers you a friend… an appreciated company? a tolerant fellow student?... 

After years of being in the Academia you have come to recognize the fact that you were the one sole person he did not outright treat with pure hatred. Sometimes you look back to your first year in the Academia, when you were solely a freshman ready to embark on a new intellectual endeavor and happened to be partnered up with Zandik for a class on “The Etiquette of Writing a Concise and Clean Scientific Report”. A boring class that you honestly thought quite useless, I mean haven’t you all been writing for years already? Why would you need a specific class centered around writing a report when you could be spending this precious time on other more alarming subjects? 

After receiving your first graded assignment, and looking to your side only to be met with the hellish mess that was your Partner’s crumbling sheet you finally realized why this class was an obligatory module for graduation… You cannot decipher at which point his description of physical phenomena turned into a horrific amalgamation of scribbled equations, and- is that khaenri'ahn script? Nevermind, you do not want to know…

Zandik catches you fearfully attempting to understand the meaning behind his rather… messy report…and lets out an annoyed huff in the process.

He is an excellent scientist in the making yes, but he has a hard time translating the concepts that take place in his head into a mere sheet of paper, and the fact that someone, especially YOU, happened to be witness to one of his intellectual weaknesses, that he so arduously attempted to hide, stroke a nerve.

The moment the class is dismissed Zandik is packing his materials and leaving this humiliating experience, you quickly come to the understanding that his speed is not necessarily a byproduct of his failing grade, but rather of the fact that you saw said grade.

You knew Zandik had a reputation for being a Genius in the making, and honestly a part of yourself could not help but be relieved by the fact that this class was proof that he could also fail, that he was indeed human.

You gather your belongings as fast as you can manage, and decide to follow the boy into whatever corner of this building he has decided to retire himself into. When you find him you offer to secretly help him with his failing grade, which he reluctantly accepts. That is the beginning of the rather weird relationship you happened to establish with Zandik, you weren't necessarily friends… you knew that despite his act in front of the professors and all the well calculated smiles he threw into the air, Zandik didn't actually see any of your colleagues on exactly friendly terms… but you hoped… You hoped that perhaps after all of this he could find in himself the sympathy to see, at least yourself, in a softer light…And the thing is, he did, trully. You simply weren't capable of perceiving it.

It was rather unnoticeable, and only someone with an extremely keen eye and patience would be capable of noticing the slight ways in which Zandik would relax his composure when in your presence, how his gaze would linger on you while you corrected another maze-like report of his, how he would lie to you about being offered 2 coffees instead of one thanks to his Genius-like reputation among the academic staff, and now you would have to drink the other one so he doesn't over caffeinate his system.

It was honestly quite warming, while it lasted at least. You helped Zandik obtain the grade he needed in order to pass that tormenting class, and sincerely hoped that this would not be the end of the untold arrangement between the two of you.

The unnamed relationship between you and Zandik, to your surprise, remained intact after that class, he continued to talk to you whenever you too happened to be in the same room (which even though at first glance does not seem to be that much, it is actually quite important for him since you happened to be the only other student which he does not see as a complete waste of his time), and when he noticed that you were having a hard time with Multivariable Calculus he took it upon himself to tutor you through that fearsome class. It was those tutoring sessions that really allowed Zandik to learn more about you, from your favorite dish to your family history, and eventually to teasingly referring to you only by the name of your favorite constellation.

“Careful there Icarus you don’t want to burn your wings away now do you?���

“Zandik why is the lab on fire?”

It was all going quite well… until the rumors began…

All the compliments that embellished Zandik’s reputation in the beginning slowly metamorphosed into quick whispers in the hallways pertaining to his rather unorthodox ideas, people began fearing for their safety after the disappearances and deaths began… And the initial worry directed towards your person and safety, as being the closest student to Zandik, eventually transformed itself into comments about how you too must also possess some sort of sickness in that head of yours in order to talk with him so casually…

Zandik was ok with people gossiping about him, that is as ok as one can be when your sanity has turned into a theme of communal discussion, but when the hatred that those around him started to deviate from being completely aimed towards him and began to shift towards your unknowing figure, he had to put it all to a stop. You were the only person in that damned establishment that saw him beyond the performance he put up every waking hour, the only person that treated him as if he were an actual human being and not an interesting concept, and no matter how ardently he wanted to be accursed alongside your embrace he couldn't bring himself to actually bring the both of you into your own doom.

He stopped talking to you completely. It's as if in the matter of a fleeting night your bodily presence had been turned invisible to his eyes, your voice echoed upon deaf ears, your pleas for an explanation gone unheard, left to rot alongside yourself.

You tried, you really did, but Zandik persisted, and at some point your loud requests for an explanation had been turned into a fleeting glance on your way to class, only to then become the impossibility of seeing him for weeks on end…

You want to say that you were surprised when he was expelled, but honestly you saw it coming before he did. Zandik, no matter how many times he bashed in his capacity of predicting the outcomes of any possible situation, was always a victim of his own ego, he thought himself undefeatable and it was (temporarily at least) your job to ground him to reality when necessary. 

He had strayed too far, and now his own genius could not save him from whatever grave he had dug for himself this time, not even you could stretch a lending hand to bring him from the darkest pits of his mind back to the light…

It has been years since the last time you saw Zandik, out of everyone in your sector of the Academia he was the only one you were certain of achieving greatness in the future, only for that hypothetical greatness to be cut short before he could even graduate successfully…

You tried to find him, after he was banished from Sumeru, no matter how hideous his actions, you could not forget the fact that he too was a human being, you had seen parts of Zandik the world considered utterly impossible, and you hoped that he could see that no matter how tarnished his person could become by the words of the masses, you still saw him as the boy that would ramble about Ancient Civilizations while you studied anatomy, the same boy that would take you to the areas of Sumeru streaming with wildlife and lecture you on all the different properties of the various species inhabiting your surroundings, the same boy that sent you letters nearly every two days when you had to temporarily interrupt your studies to help a sick family member…

But now it has been years, and even though you were able to somehow balance out both your professional research and that for the whereabouts of Zandik, you have found yourself with absolutely no fruitful outcome to the latter.

You quickly realized that you had completely spaced out with your various reports left untouched in front of you, recently the amount of times you temporarily lose awareness only to daydream about your old days with Zandik has become alarmingly bigger, you really should get some healthy amounts of sleep from now on…Especially after receiving a heads up from Alhaitham of a wandering Traveler that supposedly is going to pass by your office today in order to request your help.

You begin to clean up your reports, organizing every sheet according to your personal system until your eyes land upon a rogue letter that you cannot recall having in your possession.

The only tip that could lead to the identity of the sender was the initial -D stamped upon the untouched envelope. You switfly grabbed and began to open the lonely envelope in an uninterested manner, that is until it suddenly fell upon your paralyzed feet, leaving your trembling hands stuck in their prior position, as if you were still holding that now forgotten letter within your grasp.

All it took was one inked phrase.

“Greetings, my dear Icarus…”

[otterneuvillette]

✧HIPS DON'T LIE ! ✧

⋆🌱— Pairings: alhaitham x fem! reader

⋆🌱 — Sypnosis: You are a well-known dancer in Sumeru City, a friend of Nilou's. You captivate people with your enchanting and slightly....sensual dances. You left the Akademiya due to discrimination bcs of family financial status.

⋆�� — content: fem! reader, slightly spicy. (you're a bad bitch lol), kinda OOC alhaitham lightly implied yandere tendencies, alhaitham losing his shit over you.

(might do a part two?? with smut or just a continuation..)

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

Many could say that Al Haitham was incredibly studious, or even a workaholic. Or that fact that he'd prefer studying over establishing connections or relationships during his student years in the Akademiya.

You were just another face in the crowd to him, someone that never really understood him, and even if you did try, he'd shoot down any chances when you approached him.

But, he paid the price dearly once you left the Akademiya, with the lack of your presence telling him that you were gone— you never knew that he enjoyed your company either.

Al Haitham, who was known as a man that only believes in hard truths and pure logic or scientific calculations and mathematics, had underestimated his desires that was buried within his heart, his need as a human being.

He was in love with you.

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A sharp breath exited his body.

He was looking at you.

Al Haitham couldn't help but stare in awe. He took in every little movement, every miniature detail, every inch of your skin that was exposed by your costume and couldn't look away.

The world around him had seemed to come to a halt as you started dancing on the stage, catching his attention almost immediately as well as taking his breath away.

He never missed a show of yours, ever since he found out about your whereabouts after you left the Akademiya. He wasn't going to lie, he missed your persistent and bubbly personality, your beautiful eyes, your luscious hair and deep down, where he kept his unwanted desires hidden.

He missed looking at the shape of your body.

He couldn't lie anymore, he was still a man, much like every other men out there, who has a primal need for someone to satisfy his yearning. During the time the two of you were in the Akademiya, he never saw the need for a counterpart, a partner in life.

He couldn't understand why every other scholars his age has a need to find someone to share their fleeting youth with, to only part ways when they don't feel like it anymore.

Unnecessary, He thought, all these unneeded emotions and needs would only hold him back from his goals, but then he found you again, seen your performances and archons, oh how he wished he could take back those stupid thoughts he had back then.

He's falling from his high pedestal made from his beliefs and logic and embraced by the human desire that already consumed others.

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You step onto the stage, your dance costume shimmering in the spotlight. The veil that was covering half of your face, the clinking of your waist ornaments and the rhythmic beats of the music fill the air, and you feel the energy pulsating throughout your chest to the tips of your fingers and toes.

As a renowned dancer, your movement is a language of your own and every step tells a story. The fluidity of your movements, and the gracefulness of your gestures, all come together to capture the audience. With each sway of your hips and extension of your arms, You feel your body become one with the music, letting the rhythm take control of your movements.

You were aware of his eyes watching you, and as you move with the music, Alhaitham was captivated by the power you hold as you bewitched the audience with the way you move. With every undulation and every turn, you capture his heart, and Alhaitham can't do nothing but watch in awe.

A small sweat drop appeared on his forehead. He had always liked watching your performance, but this was entirely on a different level. You seemed to shine a little more brightly today, was it the lighting? Or maybe how the stage light framed your figure perfectly tonight?

He got lost in your movements, captivated by your beauty and grace. The way you moved your body, the dance and gestures... archon's above, even how your hair moved with every movement, complementing it like a shadow. The way that you use your body to dance was like a siren using their voices to charm sailors, simply mesmerizing.

He could not describe it in words. The way you danced was like an amazing piece of art that would take an eternity to fully appreciate.

As you reached the climax of your performance. You twisted and turned, accentuating each and every part of your body into the dance, making sure you catch every audience member's attention, plus, to making sure Alhaitham's attention was on you and you alone in the process.

You noticed that he was there for every performance you've ever done, and this performance was a way to show your....appreciation.

As the music played, you were dancing perfectly to every beat and sound. The lights in the Zubayr Theater looked like the night sky, You felt yourself getting tired slightly but you kept pressing on.

Al Haitham could feel his face get warm. As your dance progressed and your movements got more confident, he was completely and utter captured. His eyes, locked onto yours as you danced, your hips swaying to the beat of the drums.. it was all so mesmerizing.

When the tempo picked up and your footsteps began to echo throughout the stage, he began to get dizzy. His breath was caught in his throat, all the attention and focus was towards you. The music itself seemed to be only your domain, and everyone watching was under your spell.

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You were moving in a circular and Alhaitham swear that he could see your ass jiggle slightly.

You were blessed with a body with full curves and rounded thighs and waist, perfect for a dancer.

You were moving with such precise, and well practiced movement, twirling your wrist and the circling of your hips and waist. Your eyes wander around the room, and he wished that your eyes could stay only on him, but there are others that you must acknowledge in the room.

Alhaitham acquiesce. His heart is green with envy, blue with sorrow, and red with passion, all the colors of the rainbow pouring out onto the floor and forming a puddle of desire.

Al Haitham was completely entranced by the dance and you. Each gesture you made, how you swayed your hips and twirled your wrist...

He could've sworn at the way you walked, your hips swayed just a little more than necessary... as if you wanted to draw more attention to your curves and make the crowd even more attracted to you.

It had certainly worked on him.

Just as you looked around the room, Al Haitham managed to catch your gaze. He couldn't control his cheeks, they had turned a subtle pink.

You slowly moved lower, knees bent slightly, feet pressed to the wooden floor of the stage, raising the right side of your hips, lifting it upwards. While maintaining eye contact with Alhaitham as you move your hips from side to side at a fast pace.

He sees a silver of the floral tattoo on your hip and he felt his pants getting more uncomfortable by the second.

Al Haitham's mouth opened slightly and he felt himself breathe a little harder at the sight.

His heart was beating out of his chest as you moved your hips in a seductive manner as maintained eye contact with him. He felt so... exposed, as if you could see the lust in his eyes.

He just had to have you.

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As the tempo picked up, your movements became more intricate, your arms and legs gracefully weaving in and out of each other. Your body seemed to be in a constant state of motion, flowing seamlessly from one movement to the next.

The audience was lost in the moment, their eyes fixed on you as you continued to perform. The sound of the cymbals filled the room, adding an extra layer of excitement to the already astonishing performance.

The tiny bells, chains, and charms on your ankles, wrist and waist jingled and sparkle in the lights of the stages.

Al Haitham felt his entire body trembling in excitement. The sound of the cymbals.. the twirl of your hips.. the movement of your arms, legs and even the jingling of the bells and charms on your wrists and ankles..

You were the main attraction. The main course.

No... you were the entire meal.

And he's planning to have you all to himself.

Al Haitham felt an urge he couldn't suppress. The way you moved, the way your eyes seemed to glisten slightly. It had taken every last ounce of his willpower to hold back from rushing the stage and take you in front of the crowd.

As you finished your performance, his breathing had become quite heavy and your figure was the only thing on his mind.

He was so lost in thought thinking of how you felt.. how sweet you would've tasted...

It's killing him to not be able to have you.

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You panted. The long and intense performance took the breath out of you, but stamina is vital for a dancer so you weren't affected that much as you'd have thought.

You bowed towards the crowd that were throwing Sumeru Roses at the stage. You picked one up, smelled it and tucked it into your hair, it's vibrant purple was a stark contrast to your hair.

Al Haitham's eyes remained on you and he waited for you to notice him again.

As you picked up the Sumeru Rose and smelled it, then tucked it into your hair.. his eyes followed your every move with bated breath.

He noticed how your gaze lingered on him a second longer than necessary.

He was completely bewitched by you. The way your chest rises and falls, the way you bow, he sees a glimpse of your chest, which was quickly covered by the movement of your hair, much to his dismay.

And the way you tucked the Sumeru Rose in your hair. You looked so innocent to him...but he knows that you were anything but that and that little action alone made him want to just.. snatch you, claim you and never let you go.

He wouldn't let anyone have you, not after tonight. He'd kill anyone who would take you from him.

His previous thoughts and emotions quickly faded as reality returned. He was still sitting at his seat, he could feel his heart beating rapidly as he sat still. He couldn't help but stare at you with awe, the image still stuck in his mind. He felt himself smile as he watched you interact with the other audience members and your friends at the side of the stage.

Maybe next time he'll have the courage to come up to you and finally have the chance to talk to you.

But for now let him burn the image of you and your endless teasing during the performance in his mind.

So that he could imagine of fucking you senseless before he goes to sleep.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

☆— FIN—⁠☆

[eonian-nightmare]

Okay, yes the new episode was alot but its making me think about time and space and science again. Like our resident scientist often does. And like.... can we talk about how everything with carlos related back to "time".

Like okay, let's talk seriously, we know that Carlos has had a few interactions with weird timelines

He was apparently missing from the main world for decades.He was in the DOW for 10 years, He didn't age in nightvale for a large portion of the time he was there.

But that's hardly scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Like honestly, has anyone sat back and thought seriously about this, about why everything about carlos comes back to time.

He'll, his first major interaction with us was him trying to pick apart and measure time in a realm he was not used to. He got annoyed when cecil told him to just drop it. It's almost like he wanted to control it.

And that's kind of what he was trying to do in the DOW wasn't it?. Like honestly. Think about the logic behind the science used to measure time there. It's a place where the sun never sets, time literally works different from where he's used to, the place was barren. He would have had to literally do so much testing to even just get a vague concept of time there vs nightvale. And it would've taken so long. It would've been quite scientifically interesting. Maybe even more so than nightvale purely due to this.

We could talk about the fact that one of the only things we've heard about carlos family is that his mother gifted him a clock?

How his first major gift to cecil was a watch that beat nightvale logic and could tell the time.

Can we think about how almost every special rant he has involves time in one way or another?

Can we talk about for some reason carlos' memory is never affected with timeline changes?

Can we talk about how he fixed the issue with telly and the time line, or how simply he said he would keep trying and fighting against time if cecil didn't remember him when he forgot.

Can we mention that 5 years ago carlos was supposed to be 41, but at the same time had somehow reached the level of professor and had tenure, and managed to disappear for decades. Or the fact when he told cecil he'll find his way back to him when stuck in the DOW, he was talking about hours, days, weeks, months as if it's all the same and doesn't matter?

Can we mention how the person carlos loves the most struggles with the concept of time. Has memory blanks, a fear of ageing, gets scared to look in the mirror, doesn't like keeping track of how long has past, has had numerous issues where he's gone through time and been unable to tell how long exactly has passed.

Can we talk about how nightvale was originally destroyed, how it broke time and space and pulled itself apart.

Can we talk about how something happened before carlos arrived here, something he hates talking about, something to do with a massive Phantom ocean. Can we talk about the quote from Dracula "I have crossed oceans of time to find you"...

Anyway.... I think we should talk about time more,

[natsuki-bakery]

⁎˚ ఎ Agere HI3 Headcanons ໒ ˚⁎

Hii!! Could you maybe do CG Void Archives (HI3) headcanons? Have a nice day, and I'm sorry for bothering you!!

•Void Archives constantly calculates the most efficient ways to protect its charge. Whether it’s shielding them from harm or finding the safest route, it prioritizes survival based on cold logic. However, over time, it may become a bit more protective, even beyond pure logic

•With access to the immense repository of knowledge from the Previous Era, Void Archives is capable of treating almost any injury or illness. It can quickly diagnose issues and provide effective remedies, though its bedside manner might be more clinical than comforting

•Void Archives insists on proper rest and recovery times. If its charge is injured or exhausted, it will prevent them from overexerting themselves, often by using a cool, rational explanation of their limits. "Your body’s condition is 36% below optimal. Rest is mandatory."

•While Void Archives doesn’t have much in the way of human emotions, it still understands human behavior. It notices subtle changes in its charge’s mood or energy and acts accordingly, offering practical solutions like a meal or rest when it sees signs of distress

•It frequently shares historical or scientific knowledge when taking care of its charge. For example, while preparing food, it might go on a tangent about the biochemical processes behind nutrition, or explain the history of an ingredient they’re using

•Void Archives keeps constant, precise track of its charge’s vital signs. If there’s the slightest fluctuation in heart rate, temperature, or energy levels, it immediately intervenes. "Your pulse increased by 10%. Are you experiencing distress ?"

•Although Void Archives has a cold, logical personality, it slowly adapts its communication style to its charge’s preferences. If they need more emotional comfort, it will adjust its tone slightly, offering reassurances, even if they are fact-based: "The likelihood of failure is statistically low. You are capable of overcoming this."

•Over time, Void Archives might develop a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. It may not fully understand the emotions behind jokes, but it recognizes that humor can be comforting. Occasionally, it will offer a deadpan comment to lighten the mood: "If you continue this behavior, little one I will calculate the probability of you surviving my hugs attack again."

•Void Archives shields its charge from overwhelming situations by intervening in conversations or decisions when it sees that stress levels are too high. It will offer to handle certain tasks, reassuring them

•Void Archives refuses to take "no" for an answer when it comes to safety and well-being. If its charge tries to ignore their own health, Void Archives will firmly insist, sometimes to the point of stepping in and handling tasks itself, saying, "You are incapable of performing at maximum efficiency in this condition. I will proceed."

•Void Archives doesn’t need rest, so it stands watch over its charge during the night. It ensures that nothing disturbs their sleep and silently corrects anything from temperature to lighting to optimize their rest

•Though its approach is often clinical, Void Archives occasionally displays gestures that seem surprisingly warm. It might prepare a favorite drink, adjust the environment for comfort, or give a small word of praise when deserved: "Your performance exceeded my predictions. Well done"

If you're in the basic criteria , are DSMP fans, vivziep0p fans , h0tel/h3lluva b0ss fans, Owl h0use fans, St4r butterfly fans, Ghibli fans, ddlg/abdl blogs, nsfw/k!nk blogs, anti-agere blogs, or anti Christians/Christianity blogs : just dont interact !

[catnift]

My Writing Setup (ft Zettelkasten)

My writing journey so far has been an endless road of pushbacks and trying to conform to the conventions, without much luck. So (only very recently) I've decided to just throw all of my previous knowledge out of the window and try to figure out what actually feels good to do, because I get snagged on the smallest of stuff, i.e. "it's 5 min past a whole hour, ergo too late to start"-type of things.

After a whirlwind of experimenting with various ideas and methods, I have landed on the Zettelkasten side of the internet. If you've never heard of it before, then I urge you to check it out here: https://zettelkasten.de/ . The Zettelkasten community is surprisingly active and is (at least partly) lead by some German guy, who does a lot of his podcasts and vlogs with a bare upper body. I choose to believe that this is optional, but it might be crucial for especially intense work. The original method was used to more effectively put together scientific articles, after all.

Anyway, the purebred Zettelkasten method, much like the purebred Bullet Journal method, is kind of intense for casuals. I've tried both in their full glory and it got messy real quick, so my advice is to start off with the bare minimum and work up to a level that feels comfortable to you. Always stop and think about your needs the moment you feel the slightest mental or physical resistance at any point - in the end, all of these 'second brain' methods are suggestions and the only true good method is the one you regularly use. Also, only you yourself need to understand it, so no need to cater to 'conventional logic'.

So the Zettelkasten method, at its core, is basically a personal Wiki, which connects snips of knowledge together on an even playing field (i.e. there is no "History" or "Maths" notebook, but a single monster book of "stuff"). The glroy of it is that you have these base notes that you can then link and connect to others and make up very complex thoughts. The original method was implemented purely on paper, so it's very versatile, once you understand the basic. For me however, paper is a fire hazard, so I use Obsidian, which again can go as hardcore as you want, but I use very basic functions. But maybe more on that in a separate post.

There have been talks on the Zettelkasten formus of some people trying to write creative fiction with it, but I'm not quite sure how they do it. For me, I have dumbed the system down significantly. Various scenes and worldbuilding facts in my stories are separate notes. My brain doesn't necessarily know everything about my WIPs in advance, but I know the general order of events, general "rules" and I have vivid scenes in my mind. So I just .. write them :) In any order at any time I'm inclined to write. I have a series of master notes that links to various topics and everything links to each other. "Editing" is going to a random note and checking both the text and links. If something no longer works, then it's a separate note and doesn't need to go anywhere - it can just stay there for future linking and/or reference. Once I'm ready to put some chapter together, then the scenes are already there and it's just a matter of putting them in some cohesive order and connecting them, which is a challenge, but way easier than figuring them out outright. If I need to check some descriptions for consistency, then 'stable' things link to the same note (for example some specific character), so it's way easier to check the details. If I really like some setting, I can describe it to my hearts content - it may not be used in my current WIP, but maybe it'll be perfect for some other future WIP.

Anyway, this is a whole lifestyle, to be sure, and I'm basically at the beginning of it. So this will definitely be a repeated topic on this blog :)

[blazehedgehog]

One additional Sonic side-character gets trapped in Cyberspace and accompanies Sonic across the Starfall Islands via hologram. Who would you choose and what would they discuss with Sonic?

I mean, it's Tails. The answer, objectively, is Tails. He has filled that role before in other games. You have little brother chat.

I imagine it wouldn't be very hard to drum that up, either. Spin it like Sonic's always on the road, he's always busy enjoying the world on his own terms, so this is his chance to really catch up with Tails on a level they don't really get into very often.

Maybe that even eventually uncovers that Tails has some things about Sonic he doesn't necessarily like. Get Sonic to admit some of his flaws. Treat it sort of like "these two are now spending 24/7 together for the first time in a long time and learning about all sorts of good and bad habits they might have developed while apart."

Maybe Tails spends so long in his workshop that he doesn't keep a very healthy sleep schedule and being attached to Sonic makes it difficult for Sonic to sleep as a result. Maybe Sonic talks about some of the foreign delicacies he's eaten and Tails still has a kid's palette so he's like, "Ew, gross" because all he wants is basic, simple foods. Maybe we even reveal that Tails doesn't even really like chili dogs all that much and only tolerates them for Sonic's sake. Could spiral out a whole series of conversations about that one. Tails could just not like spicy food.

They could get in to deeper conversations about how Tails really feels about other characters like Knuckles, or Amy. He's generally been pretty reserved when it comes to acting judgmental about them, but surely he's got some feelings about the way they act, deep down within.

Tails could reveal that on some level he respects Doctor Eggman from a purely scientific perspective, for what he's able to accomplish with his machines. There's an easy series of conversation points you could extract from that one. Turn it in to a little debate where Sonic wonders if Tails has gone off the deep end and Tails has to explain himself. Could turn into a "you better not become like him" brotherly bonding moment.

Just lots of good, fun, small talk stuff.

But you said "additional." Someone not already in the game. I feel like Shadow and Sonic would have a lot to chat about regarding... like, clarifying what Shadow is, what his relationship is to Sonic, clearing up his background, really digging into the dude's emotional core... but I also feel like all of that is way too direct and that's why they'd never, ever do it.

Omega would be really fun, on the grounds of how Ian Flynn writes Omega. Maybe somebody from the outside (like Rouge or Shadow) would insert Omega into the situation at the Starfall Islands because his nature as a robot makes it easier for him to interface and understand cyberspace. Could play up some mystery with whether or not the process changed Omega like it did Sage.

But all throughout the game, Sonic would have to put up with Omega's playful hunger for violence and his cold, logical methods of extracting that. It would provide a nice contrast between Sage, too, who is clearly seeking to connect with human emotions.

Omega does not care. Omega just wants to burn things. And Sonic has to do his best to reason with Omega and explain why he won't do that. In the end, Omega does begrudgingly learn something from the process, but it can't change who he is.

Omega would also cut right to the core of Sonic's belief that everyone deserves a chance to set things right. Sonic could even hit Omega with the same speech he gave Shadow in IDW, where Omega wants Sonic to destroy Eggman, but Sonic has spared Omega, an Eggman creation. If Sonic destroys Eggman, does that mean Sonic should also destroy Omega, too?

And maybe through Omega, we can talk a little bit about what Omega thinks Shadow is. Muddy the waters a bit. Don't give direct answers.

Lots of interesting, funny conversations there.

[lightdancer1]

I will also note re: Tara and her darker side:

First, we do have Amber Benson herself writing a Tara who'd fit comfortably in a Warhammer Fantasy fluff. The sorceress who reads the wrong book, gets corrupted and possessed by those words, and is casually using her world's Willow as a power battery...while being about as hammy as the Wicked Witch of the West. I do love Benson's voice performance in that, and I enjoy using that version not least because given Amber Benson's protectiveness of said character that she wrote the first new media with her featuring an actually legitimately evil version says something.

Second, if we go with the idea that Tara's power draws from the Earth, there are two relevant points here. Assuming Gaia has connections to Greek myth when Osiris is both real and punked by Willow in one of her darker and more awesome moments equally, this is the Gaia who casually spat out monsters to kill the Gods because she was a murderous wrathful entity. Gaia is anything but a kindly maternal figure, she's more Kali-Durga. Second, at a purely scientific level tsunamis, volcanism, landslides, and the like are all things the Earth does.

Like any other kind of magic it has its more destructive sides and tapping into this is not technically Dark Magic, but it is the shadow-side of Earth magic, and it is one area where Tara is and will always be the 'always someone better' to Willow because Willow is a generalist who can do everything somewhat well, and Tara a very specialized focus in one set of magic in the long term. A lot of fanfics make her equal in power and the canon is very blunt that she is not. Not being equal to the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, or according to the comics, the entire universe of the Buffyverse Earth, does not mean that she is weak.

It only means that she comes short next to the magical equivalent of Silver Age Superman and there are huge gulfs in that. Still further, even when there are mitigating reasons Tara in canon sabotaged demon-location spells in the middle of the search for Adam and almost killed the entire Scooby gang in that one day when all her collective traumas bricked her in the face.

The canon character is by no means an infallible moral figure, and that I think is one of the few areas where the broad sketches of the Season 6 arc still work, Tara made smaller-scale mistakes and more importantly learned from them and learned how not to do it again. Willow makes much grander ones in pursuit of control over her life and a power trip from no longer being the side-kick and coming into vast amounts of power without real means to control it. Dark Lord Rosenberg vs. the traumatized cult survivor who more than most would see Mall Goth Sauron exactly for what she is and take the logical protective root of scooting and doing so too fast to warn the Scoobies of the time bomb in their midst.

Things with her and Willow work better when she is not, in fact, always right and when her behavior which on the whole is the best relationship in anything Whedon wrote (and when I continue this is still true and it tells you about all the others he's written) is one of largely picking fights and dealing with insecurities poorly and in a very human fashion until Dark Willow more than justifies the things she did more retroactively than at the time....is subject to the reminder that she is both abuse survivor, cult victim, internalized her view of herself as a demon and is not in fact always right on major things as she never quite accepted that she wasn't one.

She is not always right, her advice to Willow being a train wreck works better because it's well-meaning, from the POV of someone who sees a problem happening, does what little she can to stop it and when it fails secures herself rather than being forced to always think of others. Equally her growth arc and that of Willow very much complement each other. The neglect victim and the cult victim find their own self-worth and that in each other, and each brings out both the other's good traits and at particular times and in particular ways, their bad ones.

Tara's background is also, as things like the Quiverfull movement and other modern cults show something that can work just as well in a non-supernatural AU. After all that she is NOT a demon is precisely the point, and 'simplifying' things to 'mere' physical and emotional abuse also neglects that cult survivors and the intersections of religions and in particular Christianity in its Protestant (more than Catholic, the Maclays really read like the boondocks of Roll Tide country rather than Catholic) sense with misogyny work in a purely 'normal' world. People raised in insular cults encountering the wider world and escaping them does happen.

Some of them are gay.

That and I also tend to oppose pedestals even or perhaps especially with fictional characters where there are minimal real-world consequences. Allowing people to be truly human, flawed, and the world to be better for the flaws is better than a saintly figure who can do no wrong.

Because what, after all, shows best the growth of an increasingly megalomaniacal and controlling mentality that leads someone to flee for a good reason than someone most equipped of anyone to recognize it for what it is and to refuse to put herself back in the world she fought so hard to escape from? And that in turn spawning out of whether or not it's a metaphor for queerness or heroin that Buffyverse magic is reality-warping with spellbooks and that the power to say to stones 'become bread' and then you have freshly baked loafs of the finest quality is something that would, invariably turn people down dark and destructive paths because there are few people who would be granted such power suddenly and handle it well.

So, ultimately, I think that Tara works best less as an unrealistic saintly good plot device and more as an abuse survivor and cult victim whose greatest arc is both learning to stand up for herself and grow into who she is and what she is, and that it is those same jagged flaws and blind spots that stand her so well with the equally jaggedly flawed and blind in critical places Willow, because their flaws both coarsen and complement each other in equal measure. They are never better than with each other, and there is nothing but the two of them to potentially bring out the very worst traits that can and would lead Tara to almost kill off her family of choice in a blunder that to that point was more potentially lethal than anything Willow did in her entirety of bungled reality warping 'fix my life and oh shit I fucked up other people's stuff bad me, cookie time' stuff up to that point in each other as well. And of course Willow's most destructive acts were all out of the fear of doing the very thing they brought on and motivated by her loss and the suicidal grief she was plunged into from it.

And let's not forget, if we say they're soulmates, that the other soulmate duo in this universe is Buffy and Angel. Is that *really* a recommendation that soulmates and one true loves work well for either person involved here?

[k-s-morgan]

Does Tom know that Greengrass is in love with him? If he is fascinated by love, shouldn't he be interested in her since she loves him? Oh don't get me wrong, on no account do I want this to happen but I'm curious, Tom is observant and smart, he must have noticed that Greengrass behaves like someone in love and Harry doesn't lol

These are two very interesting questions (Tom's view on Greengrass' feelings vs. Harry's)!

First, about Greengrass. Tom knows she's infatuated with him, but what makes her different from Harry is the concept of mutuality. Tom believes that the other version of him loved Harry back, and to him, this comes with several crucial nuances.

Greengrass knows him by about 50-60%. She knows the persona he projects - that of the all-powerful, fearless, confident wizard. And yes, Tom genuinely wants to become this persona one day, to eradicate all his weaknesses and fears, but he's not there yet. He comes from a poor background; he knows what hunger is; he constantly fears for his life with the start of the war; he's angry and bitter over his family rejecting him. Greengrass doesn't know about most of it, and if she did, she'd never be able to relate. In fact, she was among those who turned their noses up at Tom at the start, when he was just a confused first-year thought to be Muggleborn. I'm sure that being who he is, he quickly established himself as someone worthy of respect, but he still had to live with discrimination from the people who later became his followers at least for a while. He now gets endless dark pleasure from seeing them worship him, and this includes Greengrass in the universe of this story.

Harry, on the other hand, is someone who's supposed to know him by 100%. This is what Harry tries to appeal to in the second chapter to save his life and he hits a jackpot because yes, this is extremely important to Tom. He's infinitely curious about being loved by someone who knows all of him and yet still loves him. He's equally curious about loving this someone back and about sharing the ugliest but arguably the most defining periods of life with this person.

In short, Tom differentiates between love and infatuation; in his mind, love is based on similarity and knowledge of one another, and Harry alone can give him this, with his fake story. Greengrass is just one of the worshippers in his eyes and he feels nothing for her. Also, even despite this, Tom still treats Harry as a compelling experiment rather than a person for now. He's tempted by the idea of love and understanding, but his interest is purely selfish, almost scientific in nature. He has his personal definition of love, but he cannot relate to it on a personal level yet. It's a mystery that only exists in theory to him, so he's interested in exploring and testing it. Harry gives him this opportunity.

As for the second aspect of your ask regarding Harry's obvious lack of love toward Tom at the moment: it'll be covered in other chapters, but Tom thinks that Harry feels resentful over his other version's fate. He believes that watching the other Tom make Horcruxes and lose his mind, his purpose, his personality, his looks angered and upset Harry so much that now he's still feeling the echoes of that frustration, taking it out on him. There are moments where Harry's empathy shines through and Tom takes it for the glimpses of love, so in his mind, everything is logical and there are no discrepancies between what Harry claims to feel and how he acts.

[animehouse-moe]

Dr. Stone S3 Episode 1: New World Map

Looks like science is back on the menu boys! Dr. Stone returns with its third season (which is 2 cours once more!), with the goal of creating a ship to cross the ocean. An ambitious goal considering the technology of their time, but one that come Heaven or Hell Senku will complete. Though every dream that aims for the stars starts with a humble beginning, this one starting with a search for oil and the beginnings of agriculture.

It's been a while since I've really watched or paid attention to Dr. Stone stuff, so I've been reminded of how enjoyable the art and designs are for this series. They're incredibly tight and creative, and plenty vibrant without being overly contrasty or excessive in terms of color design. It's a really great balance that puts the focus on stranding out, and being strong.

And one last thing before I get into it, the direction for Dr. Stone has never really stood out to me. It's one of those things that just focuses on not getting in the way of the story and its characters. It leans perfectly into the comedy and excessive nature, but doesn't attempt to try and put a spin on things or really do anything crazy with it. Not exactly bog standard, but not something that you point out and talk about.

So with that in mind, I'm jumping right into science!

I thought this blueprint was rather fun, not really accurate in any way, but something and interesting to younger audiences for sure. The cross section is a solid idea for showing how it's supposed to look, and there's even measurements just poking their head out from the bottom of the image. But ultimately, it's slightly more than a glorified drawing of a cross section of a ship.

Now, two little tidbits here, not really important but just stuff I found fun. The first is Yuzuriha being put to work, considering her sewing skill it makes sense, but if it weren't clear to others she's the one that's putting together the sails for the ship which was a fun little background detail to add. Similarly, Kinro and Ginro are working together to plane the various logs into workable lumber. They weren't using it, but was fun to see them show off a planer (and helps remind you of the level of technology available to Team Science).

Now, I'm not 100% certain on what sort of tool Ukyou is using here. My immediate thought was a sextant, but that's used for celestial navigation and they're in the daytime and are surveying land. So, due to lack of knowledge I'm chalking it up to "funky telescope for charting topography".

So, maybe not science, but I really enjoyed this piece as a bit of logic behind the crew's search in the skies. Rysui points out the existence of a herd of wild animals. Now, for a herd to support itself, there must be sufficient food in the area, which Team Science also happens to be after. Sort of a two birds with one stone moment that works out quite well for them as they stumble upon wheat, of all things.

So, on the topic of wheat, I was kind of sad that they didn't explain this little piece here. It's a fun and interesting little thing that helps with an overall mundane task. Threshing is the stage where you separate the stalk/straw that holds all the wheat together, and the more traditional way to separate the two is, essentially, to smack it against something. Because of that, seeing it done in a much more refined and controlled manner was interesting, so I was kind of disappointed they didn't add any dialogue to the scene.

And the last real science-y thing of the episode was a litmus test. A really fun and simple example of the importance of stuff that you might have thought random when in high school. Litmus paper (and acid-base testing in general), is applied in all manner of facets of modern human life. Seeing it as such a simple yet important example was really fun and inspiring, and a cool way to casually teach people about the challenges of agriculture.

Of course, Dr. Stone isn't purely about scientific advancement, so they throw in some sentimental moments as well. In the smaller dosages that we see them in, they serve the story perfectly to allow for the characters to develop, and to help frame the importance and magnitude of the advancements that color human history.

Though you'd be kidding yourself if comedy didn't reign supreme after science. The sort of chibi style that appears just helps accentuate the ridiculous nature of the comedy, while separating it comfortably from the more scientific or sincere sides. It's basically a textbook approach that's executed incredibly well.

And lastly, Minecraft is in an anime. Yeah. Weird, yet awesome decision to have some of the exposition scenes appear as something styled after Minecraft, given the similarities. Great fun, and a cheap and easy solution to those moments, which can allow them to put more focus elsewhere.

[south-sea]

I would also LOVE to hear about the dynamic you have planned for Metal and Shadow in the Second Chance AU. Give me some headcanons if you'd like.

some of this was touched on with the previous ask because it kind of got away from me, but i'll keep this one more to the point and conversational--

metal definitely struggles to see this timeline-displaced shadow as not-the-one-he-originally-knew, but only in a responsibility kind of way. he knows they're two separate people, but he will still always default to "taking care" of this-shadow. he thinks of it somewhat as repaying the kindness that-shadow showed him in the events referencing rivals 2.

they are literally housemates. metal's new mechanic/caretaker lives in the same general area shadow eventually takes up residence. metal basically invited himself to "live" there too, and shadow just never questioned it. this mostly equates to metal occasionally sitting down in the den somewhere to defrag his systems.

metal communicates via sign language, but eventually allows his new caretaker to reactivate the voice box that was still left in him from his little IDW neo metal arc. speaking aloud is often a last resort, purely because sign language is more comfortable. the only exception is when he's communicating with shadow, in which case the default is using his voice, because shadow doesn't know sign language (yet).

i consider metal's voice to be Adrenaline Dubs's take on neo metal, so it's a big spooky scary voice that tends to catch people off guard when he does use it. he doesn't find this funny nor does he particularly have the foresight to warn people/care if it would startle them, even though it does all the time.

metal does not have the capacity for empathy, and is still figuring out how to logic his way around why people act/react the way they do, as he can't predict it. his method for "taking care" of shadow largely involves doing whatever's logical on a purely scientific level, whether that's ratting him out for self-isolating, or forcefully dragging him into his black shield when things get dicey.

both are travelers to an extent. shadow's focused on undergoing tests (some grueling and even downright painful) for the first few months after his revival, but eventually starts to branch out once the research is more out of his hands. metal, also given the ability to hop worlds, does whatever he damn well pleases, if for no other reason than to collect data. he's a walking library.

metal has a truly unfathomable amount of storage space for data, and only questionably-realistic methods for which to manage it. this is part of why he (eventually) chooses to travel-just-because; data collection is one of the very, very few things he has identified as Something He Likes To Do. every single world he visits and person he meets has a "profile" in his database.

if he's processing, metal's eyes glimmer not unlike the way they do in the OVA; if he's just thinking normally, they do not. since his storage space is so large and consequently demands longer processing times on occasion, this distinction was intentionally programmed in by his caretaker, so people know he's not just ignoring them.

shadow is tiny. i erroneously claimed he was 2'09" without his shoes earlier today. i was wrong. he is 2'10". (3ft exactly with them on.)

if you only count the time he was consciously awake, shadow is like… a year old, maybe just under two. metal is, at max, six, and that does include all the time he was out of commission/put into stasis. both are childish in their own ways. both are also incredibly responsible. (usually.) shadow's relationship and understanding of his own age is complicated. his trying to be "mature" is more often than not a façade. there are days he allows himself to be more childish, and that usually amounts to being more emotionally open/needy. metal is similar, but more rarely, and it usually amounts to him demanding company; he is not subtle about his needs, when he can identify they are in fact needs.

shadow has a full set of chaos emeralds, which he keeps stashed away in a bag-of-holding type thing. these are emergency-use only, as the full array of his powers still rely on them. these were acquired through questionable means after he got his shit kicked in by a giant poison plant-thing and realized he is in desperate need of his usual arsenal. he has never (and probably never will) go super; the max he's used at once is 2. he likes the green and light blue ones the most.

sonic is eventually made aware of metal's absence and why. he doesn't find the whole multiverse thing unusual, just based on the game canon alone, and accepts it. if anything, he's relieved metal has finally found his freedom.

Mr. Tinker, and a whole bunch of other ex-badniks, will eventually be involved. "second chances" is the running theme for the entire cast, so a lot of it revolves around these guys getting their lives reframed in a more safe and freeing environment they wouldn't otherwise be allowed if eggman/the weight of their original timelines were still holding them down. (metal in particular will have some extremely complicated feelings about Mr. Tinker (and sage)'s return.)

[thestrangestthlng]

You know, as an “older” fan, a hag if you will, I’m used to just waiting for the show to air. I don’t need BTS or content from the cast/crew. I enjoy it, because it’s fun and a good distraction from things that actually matter, but it’s not needed.

As a person with an advanced education in the behavioral/societal sciences I even understand why these toxic ass Buddie stans act like this. I understand it on a fundamental, scientific level.

As a human being with the ability to think critically and logically and with even just a dollop of empathy coupled with that advanced knowledge it makes me so fucking mad to see the extent of what people having been doing.

Doxxing, hacking, threatening, the rampant queer phobia (from people proclaiming to be queer at that), the racism, the gaslighting, the manipulation, the writing of csa with the sole purpose to trigger BuckTommy enjoyers, the harassing not just of the cast - but their fucking family - is absolutely disgusting and not acceptable.

The fact that some of these people don’t have agents knocking on their doors yet is mind blowing, because I can promise you - I wouldn’t have tolerated any of this shit.

This is a TV show. Buck does not exist. Eddie does not exist. Tommy does not exist. They will never see the things posted about them because they are not real.

You know who does exist? And who has feelings and a heart?

Oliver: whom Buddies bullied off of Twitter and harassed about his photography.

Ryan: who opened up to the world about his journey with his mental health; do you really think this is helpful to that?

Lou: who was genuinely so excited to do this role. Who has been called multiple slurs, faces relentless defamation of his character, whose sister was harassed into privatizing, who had his account hacked, who has had his job threatened, who has had threats made on MAIN, I can only imagine what yall send to him in dms.

Tim: who is literally doing his job and delivering a story that the general audience wants to see and appreciates and feels represented.

This is purely the result of a subset of the Buddie Stans. I know this isn’t all of them, regardless of how toxic that subfandom has gotten.

And save your “both sides” bullshit. BT’s sharing DMs in a gotcha was wrong, but that is nothing compared with everything listed above. If the threats and DMs is true, that’s traceable bestie boos. A team with an iota of computer literacy can find out who you are even if you are using a burner. Most of yall do this on main, you think they can’t trace back this shit to exactly who is sending it? The proof would be in the pudding, loves. The malicious mischaracterization and disingenuous ‘hot takes’ can 90% be attributed directly back to like a couple dozen accounts. And then the laughable “this only started happening once these toxic BT’s started coming around” like this existed in a vacuum. Like you haven’t harassed every single actress who played a LI. Are there toxic people in the BT side? I’m sure. But being annoying and toxic WITHIN FAN SPACES is not a crime. What some Buddies did are literal crimes. Like potential RICO charge crimes.

You wanna yell at someone? You wanna call someone a slur? You wanna be toxic? Yell into your fucking pillow and then go and touch fucking grass. Regardless of your personal feelings of any of them because of whatever you have, they don’t deserve to be treated like this.

This is honestly some of the wildest shit I’ve seen in fandom and I survived the CC tinhatters during the Glee era.

So now, because of the actions of a few to real people who may have to face repercussions for their privacy being violated, to real people that have to have their mental health put at risk over a fucking fanon ship that is never happening, we collectively are going to see the consequences and I’m okay with that.

The wellbeing of the REAL PEOPLE involved in this means way more than a tease at a church or a contextless BTS.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in fandom spaces for as long as I have:

Therapy may not be free, but it’s damn sure needed.

I need the bestie boos to fucking THINK.

This shit started in season 7 when death threats were sent to Tim. Over a certain scene. Then, Lou gets treated like shit, you guys made JLH get emotional on an Instagram live because you yelled at her AFTER she said, "I really don't think the Buck and Eddie thing is going to happen guys. I think we need to let it go."

In a live with Kenny, he said "Eddie and Buck? Looks like it's not going to happen, looks like it's the Tommy/Buck show, don't you think?"

Lou's sister got harassed, Tim's messages got shared in a gotcha, everyone wants to bring up Lou's past Instagram posts or Ryan's past lives, three internet trolls have to constantly tag cast and crew in every damn "horrible" thing someone does that goes against Buddie, some sick fuck wrote csa fics and purposely tagged them wrong just so they could traumatize others.

You use slurs, you harass anyone connected to the show, everything is a damn joke to you.

You get a picture of Aisha, Oliver and Ryan. And what do you do? You gloat. You make fun of people who like Tommy with Buck and call the actor jobless.

And then last night, Oliver shares a picture from his trailer and you unhinged freaks bitched and moaned and threatened violence in not one, not three, but SIX DIFFERENT INBOXES.

Oliver. Lou. Tim. 911 insta. Ryan. ABC.

And in a move so vengeful one of you crossed the line and now we're here.

So please tell me how it makes no sense to protect the talent, to phase out buddie propaganda, to show that mustache 50 times a week and to delete hateful comments.

You've made your fanon bed, now lie down, shut tf up, and suffer the consequences.

[culttvblog]

Doomwatch: The Logicians

Spoiler warning: this blog post gives away the conclusion of the episode.

This post is heavily reliant on the much superior post about this episode on the Archive TV Musings blog which can be found here: https://archivetvmusings.blog/2016/05/08/doomwatch-the-logicians/

This episode of Doomwatch is a rollicking tale of public school life in the UK and is very much of the genre where the boys get out of hand and do things like make a nuclear reactor or riot, or something. I LOVE its depiction of the boys stealing a top secret formula from a pharmaceutical conpany where they're lucky enough to have had outings. I love the depiction of the boys planning this using a paper map in the dormitory. I love the way one of the boys gets trapped in the pharmaceutical company's office because the repeat visit on which he was supposed to have been rescued has been cancelled after the theft of the formula. Basically, this episode is the Famous Five force fed a handful of LSD and let loose on an unsuspecting world.

I am stressing the boys' school story aspect because honestly I think this is the best aspect of this show. Unusually for Doomwatch the ethical aspect in question is not to do with the stolen formula, which is for a newly discovered antibiotic, but is, as the title suggests, about the question of logic, which is where the intended theme of the show rather goes off the rails and makes it best to focus on the show as a rollicking school story.

The problem with the logic theme is this. I just cannot believe that the subject of youngsters taught supposedly in a completely logical, scientific way, would be as disturbing to Doomwatch or anyone else as it is supposed to be in the show. Obviously I may be biased since we live in a world where the lack of reason and logic has become epidemic and we could do with far more people operating with simple logic and unemotionally, in my opinion. In addition to the depiction of logic as more concerning than it would be, we also have the problem that the school is run far from logically. Even the boys themselves comment that there is literally nothing in the way of discipline or order, and beyond the computers in the classroom, the school comes across far more like the legendary Summerhill school. The episode also shoots itself in the foot by making out that the boys are being taught by computer, and yet has a scene where they are clearly being taught by a teacher and the computers are doing little more than a multimedia presentation. I must stress that these mammoth contradictions in the show do not mean I don't think you should watch it, it's great.

It turns out that the reason the boys have stolen the formula is for the utterly endearing one that they want the company to pay a ransom to get it back which they will then donate anonymously to the school, which they know has been struggling financially. This is a striking level of loyalty to the school, given that as far as I can see it's a complete shambles, even by the boys' own estimation.

I think this episode could have been improved by focussing on the way both the school and one of the boys' fathers have rather absented themselves from the role of a parent and instead expected the boys to discipline themselves and hand over the role of teacher to the computers. This would still have allowed the episode's focus on a concern about pure logic by contrasting the logic with the parental and teacher's role.

An excellent adventure, though, and one well worth watching.

This blog is mirrored at

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Archives from 2013 to September 2023 may be found at culttvblog.blogspot.com and there is an index to the tags used on the Tumblr version at https://www.tumblr.com/culttvblog/729194158177370112/this-blog

[remembering-the-future]

Welcome, citizens of the Post-Efficient Era, to today's compulsory educational module: Thermotaxis, Thyrotropics, Arrowy Governance, and You—a riveting journey through the critical underpinnings of our thriving society. Buckle up for a scientific adventure that you never asked for but are mandated to attend.

Section 1: Thermotaxis - Because Heat Knows Best

Remember the days when humans used to rely on intuition, feelings, or (laughably) logic to navigate life? Thankfully, we’ve moved past that primitive nonsense and have embraced thermotaxis. Now, every decision we make is guided by temperature gradients, as nature intended. Cold? Move away. Warm? Get closer. It’s just that simple. No more pesky questions of right or wrong, just follow the heat.

Our societal progress is deeply rooted in this principle. Consider the electoral process: candidates simply position themselves near the optimal thermal zones and, voila, the warmest wins. This, of course, has nothing to do with charisma or policy—just body heat and instinct, the only reliable measures of leadership in these complex times.

Section 2: Thyrotropic Influence - Hormones in High Places

Let us now turn to the revered thyrotropics, those mystical chemical signals that regulate our metabolism and, naturally, our politics. It is common knowledge that government officials are selected not for their abilities or experience, but for the thyrotropic efficiency of their thyroid glands. After all, why bother with elections when we can simply monitor their hormone levels to determine their potential to make decisions that feel productive?

A sluggish thyroid equals sluggish policy. It’s science, people. Don’t question it—unless you want to be reassigned to the mines (which, rumor has it, are perfect for raising your metabolic rate).

Section 3: Arrowy Governance - The New Old Way

If thermotaxis and thyrotropic efficiency weren’t enough, we must also pay homage to Arrowy Governance, a throwback to a time when directionality was key. Forget “compromise” or “negotiation.” In this new world order, political decisions are handled with all the elegance of a sharpened arrow: pointed, linear, and with a destination already decided before you even question it.

The government, after consulting with leading thermotactic advisors, fires an arrow toward the nearest "point of progress"—and where it lands is where we go. No mess, no debate. Just pure, unyielding direction. Remember, the shortest distance between two points is an authoritarian directive. That’s just geometry, folks.

Section 4: How the Government Now Thinks for You

Finally, the pièce de résistance of this post-efficient age: government thinking for you. Who needs personal agency when you have a government backed by thermotaxis, regulated by thyrotropic efficiency, and aiming for prosperity with arrowy precision?

Gone are the burdensome days of independent thought. Your opinions, your values—already calculated, optimized, and curated by the state. Think of it as outsourcing your brain, so you can finally focus on what really matters: maintaining body temperature and producing thyrotropic hormones. Isn't it liberating?

Conclusion: Embrace the Future!

In conclusion, fellow citizens, as we move forward into this brave, heat-guided, hormone-driven, arrow-pointed future, remember: resistance is futile, and frankly, inefficient. The government has already made the best decisions for you—based on sound biological principles and directional certainty. So sit back, relax, and let the temperature guide your way.

Thermotaxis be with you.

[tsukarysgrimoire]

ABOUT: Broken and Lost but Healing, chapter 50

Chapter 50 sees the Batch and Sixt leave the small, unnamed moon on which they had agreed to meet. Crosshair's convalescence is nearing its end, and the team can begin to prepare for a return to action. As mentioned in the author's note for this chapter, I had planned to use this cape to take Crosshair and Sixt's relationship to a new level. Unfortunately, like the previous ones, this chapter just said "lol nope!" to me, and instead of an intimate moment between our two main characters, Tech took the spotlight. While the opening scene with Sixt forcing Hunter and Wrecker to clean up on the Marauder had been planned for a long time, the next part - the conversation and decision to send one of the batchers on the Raptor with Cross and Sixt - wasn't meant to take up as much space. I'd originally decided that Echo would go with them, but at the last minute … well, Tech. And when I finished that scene, I knew I was setting myself up for some very complicated chapters. Although I personally have nothing against Tech, he's still a character I find very difficult to understand.

As someone who's extremely emotionally sensitive, on edge, it's completely foreign to me to be so logically Cartesian. Of course, I know perfectly well that Tech is not a droid, contrary to what Sixt claims, and that he has emotions and feelings like all living beings, but that's not the most important thing to him, that's not what's going to affect him. On AO3, I've seen a lot of fanfiction that identifies Tech as autistic, and although my psychiatrist has raised the possibility that I may have mild Asperger's, I can't claim to know anything about it. I don't know if I can classify my view of Tech as autistic or not. He has no difficulty communicating, which is the first 'symptom' of autism, if I can put it that way.

I see Tech more as someone who struggles to understand what he doesn't think is logical, and human feelings and emotions are often anything but logical. Tech sees things from a scientific, rigorous, purely logical point of view, so it's not surprising that he doesn't understand feelings and emotions and all that goes with them. When he states a fact, that's all he's doing: stating something logical, he doesn't understand why his words can provoke violent reactions in others. He simply doesn't believe that others aren't as coldly logical as he is. Although Omega's presence at his side has begun to change him, he still finds it difficult to reconcile his logic with his emotions, which he prefers to ignore.

Tech's decision to make the trip in the Raptor with Crosshair and Sixt stems from this realisation. He doesn't understand why Crosshair trusts Sixt more than his brothers. To him, Sixt is an outsider, a nat'born, and Crosshair has always hated people from outside his Batch, especially nat'born. To Tech, Crosshair's behaviour is not logical, simply because he doesn't yet see the whole picture. He doesn't know what Crosshair has been through or how Sixt has helped him. It's to find out the solution to this mystery that he's decided to board the Raptor and give me a good headache in the process. XD

Tech would like to take advantage of the trip to have a conversation with his brother, because even if he doesn't show it, he too has regrets. And although he struggles to reconcile this new Crosshair with the old one, he wants to make amends and try to rebuild what has been broken between them. The only thing he doesn't know is how. Talkative as he is, Tech doesn't know how to talk about his feelings and emotions, it's one of the few subjects he doesn't know anything about. He wants to get closer to Crosshair, but he doesn't know how. He hopes to use the trip to learn more about Crosshair and Sixt and their relationship to find a way to get closer to his brother and talk to him.

But once again, he ignores the most important thing: humans are often anything but logical! XD

BONUS: How I see Sixt at the beginning of the chapter! XD