#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.

[sad-trekkie-life]

Random thoughts/analysis on Spock & Bones relationship inspired by The Immunity Syndrome (s2e18).

I love the dynamic of a whole trio because it is different.

With Kirk & Spock it’s an obvious affection and love. They both are open about them liking each other, and it is noticed multiple times by other characters, even by those who do not know them well.

Kirk & Bones — it is also an open and deep friendship, although probably not as deep as with Kirk & Spock. Or rather almost as deep. As Kirk says that he trusts Bones at the same level as Spock. Then come Spock & Bones.

Their relationship is ambiguous to say the least. They both have very different life views and beliefs, but actually are far more alike than they might think. At one moment they say very hurtful things to each other, next second they both argue that they can’t let the other die. McCoy says multiple times that he dislikes Spock, while mostly being the first one to start worrying about him or noticing any change in Spock’s behavior, and having him as a priority when it comes to saving his life or treating him (he’s a doctor, but he does have a bias) (This Side of Paradise, Amok Time, Mirror, Mirror, Metamorphosis, etc). What I also have noticed is a slight jealousy from Bones, when Kirk prefers Spock. There’s an obvious competition, and it is very understandable — you’d feel the same way is someone very close to you has a preference to someone you don’t agree with on monumental issues, which results in Bones making “racist” remarks, although I don’t believe he’s racist, he just uses every opportunity to point out the difference and Spock literally does the same (“You, humans…” Spock, do you realize you’re literally a half human what do you mean “you humans”).

Also, Bones is clearly annoyed when Spock contradicts himself, always pointing out how he’s so logical, so alien and doesn’t feel or have human emotions, while obviously having it all, and literally lies to himself, denying his human half. Bones despite his shortcomings stays true to himself, Spock doesn’t. So Bones chooses to believe.

There’s a clear competition, but it feels… One sided.

Spock likes McCoy and tries to befriend him. He trusts him with even personal worries, he asks advice, and just tries to be near him (The Conscience Of The King, Obsession, A Piece of Action, Journey To Babel, etc etc) even saying openly in Amok Time that he regards McCoy as his close friend, and also mind melds with McCoy even more often then with Kirk. In the end, Spock even gives Bones his katra years later. McCoy actually does not mind it at all, but showing Spock that he actually likes him back or agrees with him, will mean for Bones to betray his core beliefs, to admit that Spock is right. Illogical, but human.

The Immunity Syndrome showcases this dynamic beautifully as well as Spock’s “rejected” feelings.

Bones is willing to sacrifice himself, but reasons it with having pure scientific goals. Spock immediately points it out, and McCoy doesn’t even try to argue this, because it is true. Still, because they both are scientists, the curiosity plays a huge if not the main role in their motivation. So, when Kirk chooses Spock, McCoy experiences conflicting emotions.

First, McCoy is more suitable candidate for the research, and lost the opportunity of a lifetime, just because Spock is physically stronger. Spock admits it, showcasing understanding towards Bones, but McCoy is still obviously hurt by this and aims his annoyance at Spock, as if he “stole” the opportunity from him, instead of blaming Kirk.

Second, Spock is going there to die, while it was Bones who was first willing to sacrifice himself. So when McCoy doesn’t let Spock to open hangar, he says bitterly “You are determined not to let me share it, aren’t you?”. But this gesture of hesitation is also suitable for the person who doesn’t want other person to die. As the last, weak, hopeless attempt to stop the unavoidable.

The way McCoy looks at him, is anger mixed with pain and worry. But he can’t share it. He’s bitter that Spock wouldn’t let him to do this instead, because he lets the other being die. While it should be him, Bones! Vulcans do not feel such emotions, they grief differently, Spock will be fine if McCoy dies, right? Right?

And then Spock makes the situation worse. He suddenly admits that he’s scared. And that he needs comfort. From McCoy. He wouldn’t even show Kirk that he’s scared. But he trusts McCoy to see his weakness.

And McCoy can’t bring himself to do this. A lot is happening there. Spock is literally being more noble then McCoy, sharing something even not every non-Vulcan would admit, and McCoy has to be faced with his own cruelty, that he was so busy with his own feelings, that he didn’t even think how Spock actually feels, choosing to believe Spock is heartless at the moment so Bones would feel right about himself. While he’s a doctor, and he’s the one with a savior complex. Spock doesn’t know if he’s going to die there or not, and so he wants to let Bones know that he actually wants Bones to show warmth to him, he gives Bones a chance to put the facade aside, as he, Spock does it. Spock asks Bones for comfort, while doing something Bones was willing to do - sacrificing himself in the name of science and to save people. And here’s the fact Bones has to face: Spock actually can die.

To show Spock that he cares, is admitting the danger. Not hiding behind scientific motivations. It means that there is a possibility that this is the last time Spock and Bones see each other.

McCoy can’t do this. So he does not. He does not want to believe that Spock won their self-sacrifice competition once again, and that he, Bones, is realizing the sincerity of Spock. It goes against everything he believed in. Spock doesn’t like McCoy, because McCoy doesn’t like Spock… It’s easier to believe this then to let the truth be out that they are the same. He’s mad that Spock is right once again and angrily pushes the button himself.

But there’s guilt and pain. Spock showed his vulnerability. Spock literally admitted his warm feelings towards McCoy. Bones can not do this in return. He does not let himself do this. So he’s there in his pain, alone. Does not want to lose his face as it means admitting the truth. So he only wishes luck to Spock when he leaves, showing he cares not in Spock’s face, keeping his memo. Before this he can’t turn away and watches Spock go, probably for the last time. Maybe he wanted more? Maybe he wished Spock to pressure him more to finally say the truth? Maybe he just wanted Spock to say it even more openly…

When Spock thinks he is dying, the last thing he does is again admitting his feelings towards McCoy. “He should have wished me luck”. The last thing McCoy hears from Spock is that he, McCoy was valuable to him, and Spock is deeply hurt that Bones did not break his shell. And Spock wants McCoy to feel guilty about it. And McCoy does.

He even admits to Jim that he’s sentimental about Spock, doesn’t believe he’s dead. To face the truth means to face his own cruelty once again.

In the end, everything turns out fine and Bones even can feel good about himself because after all, he did not face his own egoism and self deception.

He is angry at Spock that Spock isn’t true to himself. Because he, Bones, isn’t true to himself either. And unfortunately he will continue lying to himself until it’s too late.

[rustedleopard]

"What if Chujin's Boss Monster Serum worked when Ceroba used Clover's 'pure' SOUL to make it?"

First of all, I very seriously doubt the serum would have worked. SOUL science isn't as straightforward as it seems. Alphys injected Fallen Down monsters with Determination in the hopes that it would make their SOULs persist after death because Determination is what allows human SOULs to linger after the body dies. The logic was sound. But instead the monsters woke up then fused together into Amalgamates. The devs said that Chujin's logic for a "pure" SOUL being needed was because the "impurities" of the Integrity SOUL he used wouldn't mix with a monster SOUL, which is made of love, hope, and compassion--like oil and water. A human SOUL "uncorrupted by violence," meanwhile, shouldn't have the Level Of ViolencE and hate and emotional distance in it that would cause the monster SOUL to reject it. But, again, SOUL science isn't as straightforward as it seems, so there's a good chance that that wasn't all that was needed/if the serum is even possible in the first place. Maybe Ceroba screwed up extracting the impurities from the leftover Integrity SOUL extract she had (pretty likely considering she doesn't have a scientific background). But if she didn't mess up and the serum used "purified" SOUL extract, then it still made Kanako Fall Down from one dose alone. If that's the case, then that would prove that there's more to using human SOULs to make this serum than just "purity."

BUT! Let's throw all of that out the window for a second! Let's say that Chujin had it all figured out and all that was needed was a "pure" human SOUL. Who's going to accept it? The premise of a super serum that can turn ordinary monsters into powerful Boss Monsters sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi story. Most monsters would rightfully have reservations about injecting stuff into their SOULs (which, for monsters, are the center of their being since they're composed of magic and dust)* to make them stronger. "What if something goes wrong and I end up dead or changed forever in some terrible way?" Y'know. Normal things to be worried about when someone tries to offer you something that seems too good to be true.

Besides having reservations about the outcome though, who's going to be happy with what had to be done in order to achieve it? Ceroba had already committed herself to fulfilling Chujin's legacy so she wouldn't (and didn't try to) stop just because she doesn't like the idea of taking Clover's SOUL and using it in a science experiment. But what about all the friends Clover made along the way? All the common enemy monsters that they befriended wouldn't like the idea of their SOUL being experimented on and used for these means because Clover was nice to them, why do they deserve their fate? Dalv would be saddened to hear that the person who was so kind and got him to come out of his shell was killed explicitly because they were so kind. Starlo would be heartbroken to know that his deputy was killed by his best friend to be used for her husband's twisted science project. Axis would be upset to hear that the Hatted Human was terminated (though considering his speech when he meets Clover in the No Mercy Route, perhaps not surprised). And Martlet would be both deeply saddened at the idea of losing her friend and outraged to know that it was their innocence that had painted a target on their back, that choosing to be a good person despite all the pain they were put through made them worthy of death.

But there are more monsters in the Underground than just the ones that Clover met. Surely one of them would see the sense in Chujin's serum? Well, for starters, Asgore and Toriel would flat out reject it and would also be disgusted by it. Toriel loves and tries her hardest to protect the human children that fall into the Underground, entirely innocent or not. Asgore may have killed the fallen humans, but that's because he's too much of a coward to go back on his war declaration. In canon Undertale, he hates the position that he backed himself into. Despite having a staggering 80 ATK and 80 DEF, Frisk can easily take hits from him (even at LV 1) and dish out attacks that can do over 100 points of damage because the strength of a monster is heavily tied to their state of mind. He doesn't want to hurt humans, he just does because he feels like he has to for monsterkind. For god's sake they both raised a human child! Do you think either of them would be happy to know that someone made a serum by targeting, killing, and experimenting on an innocent human child?!!

What about Alphys? Well, I doubt she'd want much to do with SOUL experiments after what happened with her Amalgamates and, again, the serum requires experimenting on an explicitly innocent human to make it. Even Undyne, Número Uno human hater (that Frisk meets in the Underground), would have reservations because 1.) She wouldn't feel like she needs some damn serum to make her stronger when she's plenty capable of kicking a human's ass on her own and 2.) She doesn't hurt the innocent. Monster Kid outright states this. The only reason why Frisk is able to date and befriend Undyne is because they gained no EXP or LOVE up until that point. She has a soft spot for the innocent. Just look at the end of her date with Frisk when she challenges them to hit her and when she realizes that they don't want to hurt her, she comes around to liking them. No matter how much she might tout about how humans suck, the premise of a serum made by harvesting the SOUL of an explicitly innocent, non-hostile, "pure" human would make her skin crawl. Maybe a few monsters here and there would be willing to get behind the serum, but most wouldn't.

The problem with the Boss Monster Serum** is that it's antithetical to what monsterkind stands for. Monsters are supposed to be made of love, hope, and compassion. Targeting and killing innocent humans because they're innocent and extracting power from their SOULs and using it to engineer super soldiers crosses the moral event horizon. If it were used, it would turn monsterkind into actual monsters. And because of that, it never would've caught on.

*Minor Tangent: I'm not certain if this is an appropriate comparison, but if monster SOULs are the scaffolding that the rest of the monster's physical being is built on, wouldn't that make Chujin injecting himself with the Integrity SOUL extract several times the equivalent of performing multiple surgeries on his own vital organs? I'm already aware that Chujin was stupid for doing that to himself, but thinking of it that way makes it sound straight up moronic! Chujin Ketsukane, you're not Leonid Rogozov, why the hell did you do that to yourself?!

**(besides if it's even possible/if monsters would want to risk their SOUL on it)

[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.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

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.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

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.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

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.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

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,

[hplovecraftmuseum]

Many persons who have taken more than a passing interest in H. P. Lovecraft as both a writer and a man are aware that he claimed to be an atheist. Well, in this modern world where the various manifestations of technology are racing ahead of most people's ability to comprehend them and where the theories of evolution, the study of astronomy, DNA research, and the devastating threat of nuclear weapons, linger in our psyches, it's difficult to give much credence to traditional religious beliefs. Certainly that situation is even more predominant today than it was in Lovecraft's time. Still there is a deepseated yearnings in many humans to find meaning beyond the mundane and base-level existence. For most people in the world athiesm probably seems all too obvious a belief-system. "God" does not answer our prayers, science explains far too many things that were mysterious to our 'primative' ancestors. For Lovecraft, coming to athiesm at age 8 was not a casual determination. Lovecraft's disbelief was a studied one. Not only did the boy Lovecraft evaluate the Christianity of his ancestors, finding it aesthetically unsatisfying rather quickly, but at age 6 he passed through a stage of allegiance to the Olympians of Ancient Greece and Rome. Though the boy HPL claimed that he made altars to Zeus and the rest and even experienced an hallucination of seeing satyrs dancing in the woods near his home, we can't say for certain how serious he was in his religious convictions purely from what he relates in his letters. HPL DID claim that he went through a period where he studied nearly all the religions known in his time "pretending" to believe in each one. Regardless, by age 8 as he told the story, he was pretty much a confirmed atheist/agnostic. He occasionally added the term 'agnostic' when defining his personal evaluation of reality. This he said was to clarify that IF some reasonable shred of evidence for belief in a higher power or for ANY supernatural phenomenon were to present itself he would not remain a non-believer out of spite. Though Lovecraft declared himself an atheist by age 8 he never stopped testing that philosophy. His fiction presented a plethora of supernatural concepts that stood in utter contrast to his rational overview. We might even say that his fiction writing concepts were perhaps a means to assure himself that he was not ignoring some hidden truth, some secret doorway to wonders hidden in the void? Lovecraft's athiesm was a studied one and not some casual conclusion accepted lightly. Lovecraft to the end stated that he was a seeker of "Absolute Truth". That truth, however, was never for him a very satisfying one. By that I mean that HPL did not glory in his rationality. He did not believe himself " superior" because of his logic and "scientific methodology". For HPL we are all victims of a cold and purposeless cosmos without plan, destiny, or reason, a dusty accident of existence, mindless, aimless, and racing toward nothing. (Exhibit 586)

[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?

[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.

[funkervogt]

Commie yap sesh under the cut

I think one of the reasons i feel so unequipped to state points especially when talking out loud is that my brain literally makes connections so quickly that i cannot even remember what the hell points it made to arrive to the conclusion that it did or what receipts i need to provide to prove my point. Im still very much a perceiver rather than a debater but luckily the scientific method starts with perception and then experimentation So the world needs people like me to function basically. But i do like proving to people I was right the whole time. Even if i already know who will trust me blindly and who will reject me outright. Because even in debate there is inherent bias, there is a personal motive behind everyone's convictions, which will not be fixed with a quick "you're stupid," or any kind of accusation really, even a true one such as "you are so entrenched in your own reality that you cannot see the reality of others beyond surface level and your own perceptions, prejudices, and projections" which is why it was so effective to me when a black politician confronted one of the project 2025 writers* and did not attempt to debate him, rather expose that he was indeed on the team and force him to admit it with pride, and then saying "I look forward to exposing you to the American people" as she carefully outlined every little way it was blatantly racist. She knows we know that, she knows he wouldn't back down. It's been clear, generationally, steeped in defensiveness and head-in-the-sand blah blah blah, we're a capitalist country, malcom X was promoting violence so he's a bad guy (even though his violence was that of a victim biting back against the capitalist, white-majority defensive racist system that subjugated its black communities in the first place), and defensiveness plus generations of being the oppresser and being asked for reparations and retorting "But it wasn't me who did that! We provide you jobs and homes!" Exploitation. All of it systemic exploitation and we've known this and it is time for our country's own domestic abuse and capitalist homes-as-sellable-property bullshit to come to an end, it has been time, and if the time is not now, the awakening of class consciousness and anti-imperialism combined with the immediate and obvious capitalist unmasking of fascism acceptable to a degree to the general liberal public, then when?

*Saw it in a quick video, gonna try to find it again so I can remember what the hell I'm talking about

Anyway this post has no objective purpose other than maybe look into what ideologies minority revolutionaries are steeped in, and apply your own abuse narratives to a wider scale, if you're looking for a reason to give a fuck. But mostly i just wanted to fucking yap about my train of thought. I believe if I am open about the way I think it will inspire others to do the same and start speaking up, both about themselves and about others. If you claim to give a fuck about others you are required to give a fuck about yourself. Or something. (Life gets so fun when you look at things with pure logic before feelings and defensiveness BTW although your feelings are just beacons to unmet needs and therefore you are required to ask for or take what you need etc etc Anyway i think maybe the intersection of personal conviction/mental health/emotional maturity and widespread geopolitics is becoming a deeply entrenched special interest slash obsession for me which is why i talk like a fucking maniac and it ultimately led me to becoming a commie rather than just an unlabeled leftist. Like i am literally thinking about it from when i wake up to when i go to bed)

[thedandelionresistance]

So uhhhhh someone's trying to argue that psychiatric disorders can exist on an entirely non-physical level

1. This is from a sociopolitical analysis of the institution of psychiatry, and I suspect is therefore taken wildly out of context at best and is irrelevant to actual neurology at worst.

2. It claims that psychiatric conditions have not (yet) been convincingly SHOWN to arise from physical conditions, directly contradicting the claim that humans are embodied and therefore all human activity is biology-dependent.

3. Unless the claims of genetics being largely unrelated to mental health is about a very specific topic, that's just science denial. The MTHFR gene has been heavily implicated in multiple commonly comorbid conditions that are also suspected to be post-viral in a large percentage of cases, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, POTS, and mast cell diseases. Multiple conditions, from diabetes to bipolar to autism to again, mast cell diseases, are known to be highly genetic, despite the exact genetic cause often still being unclear.

4. The sources used to back up the prior point are: an article in "Independent Science News for food and agriculture", which also platformed multiple articles and even a Twitter thread about the conspiracy theory of covid being leaked from a chinese lab; and an article about how the diagnostic criteria of bipolar was changed and is now overdiagnosed to sell more drugs.

5. The supposedly "suppressed" "negative" articles are potentially out of date (I've had a harder time accessing them). From what I can find, though, the former is a book largely considered more political than scientific, which was criticizing overly reductionist perspectives on genes as related to systemic social inequality. The latter appears to be about personality and "neuroticism" primarily, with little said about genetic roles in psychiatric health. It seems that they do not actually contradict the possibility of even some genetic influence on psychiatric health, let alone physical influence.

6. The whole argument is a logical fallacy, arguing that because we've ruled out some of the few biochemical and structural/physiological characteristics that could cause mental illness, we've ruled physical causes out entirely. It uses two highly specific discrete claims about two disorders in the vast spectrum of mental health, claiming that brain sizes affected in part by antipsychotic use do not seem to cause schizophrenia and that all other differences in neurobiology are likely due to "intellectual ability" and the conveniently vague "other uncontrolled factors". They further use depression and schizophrenia again to talk about how two specific neurotransmitters had not been proven to cause the illnesses - specifically, ones which have evidence supporting their role in other disorders, such as ADHD. While some of the theories of chemical imbalances causing mental illnesses have since been more conclusively disproven, others have had more evidence emerge supporting them having some role in multiple psychiatric diagnoses.

7. That whole paragraph actually only focuses on whether or not there are neurobiological causes for mental illness. Even purely sociogenic mental illnesses, such as certain cases of PTSD, still have been shown to have effects on the brain at a physiological level, while others show up in studies as changes in patterns of bioelectrical brain activity or changes in chemical production or reuptake efficiency. Proving or disproving origin does not actually provide evidence for mechanism. However, in case I am misinterpreting the word "cause" here and it is actually meant as "mechanism", disproving mechanisms is quite literally part of the process to find the true mechanism, and does not actually support that psychiatric conditions occur entirely separately from the physical brain.

Essentially, even aside from the irreputable and irrelevant sources cited, the lack of scientific consistency and sociopolitical focus of the excerpt; the author's repeated self-citations; the failure of insufficient, unreliable, and outdated evidence to support the claims they make; the fact that their actual argument that mental health problems are not "equivalent" to other health issues; amd that psychiatric conditions have not yet been observed as arising from a direct proven neurological source, while actively admitting that humanity is stored in the body, so to speak...

None of this proves that there is not a biochemical or physiological mechanism and/or origin for psychiatric illnesses that, in our search closed eyes in the dark for understanding of the human brain, we are fumbling for. Neurology is a science in its infancy compared to most other medical fields, still stumbling its way through "four humours" levels of rudimentary understanding of the highly complex processing and control unit that is the 86 billion neurons of the human brain. This is even more true when we soften the science of neurology into neuropsychiatry, practically poking experiences of the conscious mind with a caveman-stick. This is not to disparage the sciences, but rather, to point out that we understand so little that we can't even recognize the full scope of our ignorance, that 600 years from now may earn us the same ridicule as blood-letting leeches and cocaine soda for head colds.

More to the point, anything we process - sensory input, emotion, thought, pain, dissociation even, oppression, poverty, trauma - it all goes through the brain. Our entire understanding, self-conception, and consciousness arise from biochemical, physiological, and bioelectric actions and reactions. The "self" is essentially a simulation run by a fleshy machine as it responds to stimuli and generates aspects of identity from desires to beliefs.

While the point that the excerpt is likely building to in a larger context, that many mental illnesses may originate in part of in whole from factors like systemic injustice and external conditions to the body, that doesn't make the illness itself occur outside of the physical human bodymind. Even experiences like religion and "communing" with a higher power, astral projecting, and so on, require your brain to perceive them as occurring, which means that extremely complex series of chemical production and absorption and electrical signals and activity traversing specific paths in specific regions of the brain are occurring.

The same is true of mental-illness-as-reaction-to-conditions.

To argue otherwise is to argue that some metaphysical conscious separate from the physical human body exists. This is just cartesian dualism, and falls entirely outside the realm of science and well into philosophy. If a "soul" of the self exists that can suffer an "illness" or other "corruption" causing severe distress and dysfunction within the physical world, it is outside of the realm of science to even examine, let alone make claims about. Furthermore, even then in order to be perceived within our physical reality, the brain must process and/or create that perception of said "soul" and "illness".

This is far more into the realm of philosophy than is comfortable, considering that philosophy claiming to be science is just pseudoscience in a stick-on mustache. (I respect philosophy in its own right - love it, actually - but when it plays at being a rational and empirical science, I draw the line. It has its own internal logic systems and reasoning which has little overlap with or application to scientific methodology.)

But, returning firmly to science, the irony is that it's entirely possible that some psychiatric conditions may not be entirely or even primarily neurological. The gastrointestinal, endocrine, lymphatic, and immune system have all been implicated to some degree in having varying degrees of impact on mental health. Some conditions we call mental health may originate in dysfunction of other systems, which may also in turn be driven by external factors. The brain is the control center of the body, and the body processed all consumed materials into needed resources for the brain and body alike.

Some primarily physical disabilities even have significant neurocognitive symptoms, such as brain fog/cognitive impairment and strong mood swings. Some symptoms themselves may straddle the line, such as seizures and sleep disorders/disturbances. Some physical symptoms, such as dysautonomia, have been reported to cause symptom sets highly similar to neuropsychiatric conditions like ADHD, traumatic brain injuries have been observed to sometimes replicate symptoms of dissociative disorders, and Chiari malformations have been noted to sometimes cause anxiety.

Mast cell disorders have overactive release of neurotransmitters as part of the process which drives symptoms, and those neurotransmitters can affect the brain strongly, to the point of causing an array of mental symptoms - some of which even drive further degranulation in a vicious cycle.

In any case, mental illnesses may not all be neurogenic or even primarily neurological. But they are still, in fact, physical. Everything we perceive or imagine must be processed by the brain. Only the imperceptible does not cause any sort of brain action or reaction, and if we are not aware of it or affected by it on any level, it's outside of the realm of science, let alone medicine.

Now, if you wanna talk philosophy, we can argue whether something must be perceived to exist. That's a really fun philosophical topic, one which I contradict myself on, even.

But from a medical perspective? Medicine, including psychiatry and the classification and treatment of mental illness, does require a perceived experience which affects you, which results squarely into some kind of physical process in the brain. That's science, babeyyyyy!

[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.

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[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.