#curious and curiouser

[amistyshadow]

I’m really curious about something like this. Would you choose where you are now, especially since you don’t really know this “true love” of yours like you know your current partner, and that wouldn’t be fair to them. Or are you the type to not question faith and go with this “true love”?

My friends and I would play this game back in middle school and we would choose to win the lottery or true love, one of my friends already had a partner and someone else asked; but what if when you pick true love it’s not them? I think about that moment a lot (mostly because it sounds like it would make a good fairytale spin off story)

[thesargasmicgoddess]

In today's edition of "Truth is Stranger Than Fiction"...😂😂

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/09/13/van-gogh-stolen-ikea-bag/

Poor Van Gogh just attracts the crazies...😂*

*Does this pass for postmodern art now?😂

[fideidefenswhore]

The Dean said the King would not insist on this point of free consent, and he confessed that the King frequented the society of a lady of a noble house, whom it was reported the King intended to marry, if he obtained a divorce. Mentioned a report that the King wished to marry this lady to legitimate by subsequent marriage a son whom he had by her; but the Dean said that this son was by another lady, who was already married. Said he had never heard of this, and he thought that the King's love for another than his wife must be for the mother of his son. Remarked also on the suspicious nature of the King's intimacy with the lady in question; but the Dean said he had never heard anything of it. Asked him if he knew these two ladies, and whether they were beautiful, worth leaving his wife for. He said he knew them both, and the mother of his son was eloquent, gracious, and beautiful, but the other lady was more beautiful still. Suggested that the King must have been charmed by potions, or otherwise; but the Dean said he had not heard of anything of the kind.

"Rapport de M. Loys Helwighen touchant l'home de Louvain." Loys de Heylwigen, of the Emperor's council in Brabant, was supping with the porter of the castle of Louvain on 22 June 1532 [...]

add to tags: elizabeth blount's preeminent biographer agrees that this is indeed the correct translation....

When Heylwigen pressed the dean on the two ladies, Barlow [conceded] that Bessie was indeed beautiful, eloquent, and gracious, although [commented] that Anne Boleyn was also a beauty.

...except somehow, also, doesn't?

In contemporary sources Bessie was commonly referred to as a beauty with the Dean of Westbury stating, when she was aged around thirty, that she was more beautiful than the king's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

so. if i wasn't confused before...

[nfasth]

[ride-thedragon]

Hey. This sounds racist. There isn't a quota for the number of black people that are allowed to be on television. Nettles is a necessary book character and would still be the most prominent black character because the Velaryons are Valyrian and not black. It's like how white people can play Lannisters and Targaryens but still be Valyrian and Andals (different in world races)

I'm not going to police anyone but saying that a 30 year age gap is the moral line but shipping an uncle with his niece who he watched grow up and grooms from the time she's very young is wild. Throwing stones in glass houses.

Nettles is Daemons redemption because he isn't self-interested when he saves her. He does it to his own detriment. He sacrifices himself by letting her go and still going off to fight Aemond. He saves her in the first place by being as close as he is with her.

It's also not the same plot if Rhaenyra thinks Daemon is self-interested and unloyal and then thinks he's under a spell and orders the witch who she thinks keeps him under to be killed.

Nettles and Sheepstealer also have a really unique bond, because she's a Daenerys parallel.

You can ship what you want, but the reasons you list don't really make sense. I'm gonna make the offer again and expand by saying look to any of the blogs that post content about her. You don't need to like her, but she is important to both their narratives while existing in her own.

you’re a daemyra ofc you don’t care about the only canonically black character in F&B getting cut if it means your ship can sail free

No, I simply see the book as something I didn't quite like while I absolutely adore the tv show. Therefore, I'm all for these changes that made me like the adaption so much more than the original story. And in the tv show we have plenty black characters so that can't be the reason why we need Nettles in the tv show. And of course I also want my ship to sail free, we are already having an entire season of them having issues, do we need the same plot over and over? That's not good character development. Also, what I asked in my post was reasons why Nettles is important for the plot if we remove her as a love interest for Daemon. And I got people saying that Daemon's redemption cannot exist without her. I'm sorry but redemption? Cheating on his wife is redemption? A wife he chose, a wife he bonded his soul to within a ritual tradition that means everything to him! I see it as pedo instincts that, if anything, show that he has learned nothing! Treating Nettles as a Rhaenyra 2.0, gifting her expensive things, teaching her, and spending time with her while she is a teenager probably even younger than his own daughters while he is almost 50 years old is utterly disgusting to me. I'm sorry, but that is not redemption. Or is it because she is a black character who comes from humble origins and the idea of a proud Targaryen prince falling for her is oh so beautiful. There's nothing beautiful in a 30 year old gap I would say. A 16 year old gap with Rhaenyra and 18 years with Laena was already hard for me to digest. But that's just me. Then Nettles being the only black character in the book (I respect that, but again in the show we already have Laena, Rhaena and Baela) and then the original way in which she bonded with Sheepstealer (it's a good point but if Rhaena takes that plot we will have the same). The fact that GRMM loves Nettles and wishes to write a novella about her, why not? I have nothing against it. He can write 30 books about her, maybe I will even love them but this is House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood, it's not Nettles novella. And GRMM also said very recently that one of the aspects he loves so much about Daemon, apart from his grey personality, is his relationship with Rhaenyra.

[dasketcherz]

okay, fiiine... your sister's not so bad, goggles.

[amphibianaday]

day 1421

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, I want to congratulate for gaining such big audience on this blog. Also wanted to say thank you for all your hard work. You are one of the blogs that made me come to this fandom in 2020-2021.And thanks for all emotions that you're precious writtings gave me.

As for headcanons, can you please write another "How it to be friends with... " but with Leona, Sebek, Jamil, Ortho and Deuce? The first one was cute and funny

Have a nice day and stay hydrated 💐💐

Thank you for your support!!

It’s been so long, I forgot I had written friend headcanons in the past 😅 (They’re here if you’re interested! Featuring Idia, Riddle, Ruggie, Floyd, and Kalim~)

Curiouser and Curiouser...

You do many of the typical things that friendly schoolmates do together: walking to class, collaborating on assignments, eating lunch in the cafeteria, studying, etc. You even get into trouble together, though Deuce attempts to be the "honors student" that keeps you two out of it. (He just ends up getting dragged into the situation with you anyway.)

He’s pretty low on pocket money, but if he notices that you don’t have much to eat yourself or you’ve forgotten or skipped over a meal, Deuce offers whatever he has on him. A protein bar, a juice box, whatever! You can always share, right?

The first to throw a punch in your honor! … Okay, maybe that’s not something to be so proud of, but he’ll still do it if someone’s really rude to you. Deuce will at least try to get them to apologize. If they put hands on you though, all bets are off.

Eager to help! Is your phone busted? Hand it to Deuce, he’ll try tinkering with it until it’s operational again. The snack you paid for isn’t falling out of the vending machine? He’ll kick the crap out of it until your chosen snack falls out (along with about 10 other items).

His mom knows all about you because Deuce is constantly telling her about his cool new buddy. Sometimes you’ll walk in on him on the phone and he’ll put his mom on speaker so you can say hi to her. She often thanks you for “looking out” for Deuce while she’s not there—he needs more people like you to support him!

Being friends with Leona grants you a number of "privileges" (which is what he calls them). These so-called "privileges" include: entry to Savanaclaw and/or the Botanical Gardens (without risking the threat of being wailed on to get out), slightly more patience when you call out to him in public, and the random chance for him to chuck his credit card at you and command you to run an errand for him. ("While you're at it, buy yourself something nice for the trouble," he adds.) How... kind (?) of him, right?

He's the kind of friend you have to practically harass to convince him to get out and do something with you. Leona would rather snooze or hang out indoors reading or playing chess or logic games. Sometimes you have no choice but to bend to his whims because otherwise you're not seeing him at all. It's his way or the highway!

If he's in the mood, he'll play a little rough. Leona's not exactly super affectionate (like, he's not going to hug you), but he'll occasionally ruffle your hair or get you in a headlook and noogie you. It's his way of greeting you or saying, "job well done".

A lot of your conversations with Leona are essentially extended exchanging of quips. He’s still every bit as sarcastic and snarky as he is with his enemies, perhaps even moreso with you. It’s not done out of animosity, but rather because Leona wants to keep you on your toes. After all, he let you into his pack—so you can keep up with him, can’t you?

In spite of how lackadaisical he may appear, Leona's the first person you know you can go to if you ever need help. A school assignment, physical training, life advice, whatever. He has this way of saying what you need to hear (even if it isn’t pleasant; he's a realist, not an optimist, and he's not going to sugarcoat it for you) and kicks your ass into high gear.

Definitely the “mom friend”, though out of habit and not because he wants to or actively tries to be. The kind of guy to fuss over whether you’re eating enough or sleeping at an appropriate time.

He often looks frazzled when you greet him in the halls or hang out after classes (which he so rarely does anyway because he’s usually for his hands full and with some Kalim-related task). Jamil vents to you later about what he has to put up with. You’ve never heard him use such colorful language and creative phrases outside of these vents. (He makes you swear to secrecy.)

On hangouts, Jamil comes overprepared. Even if it’s not raining, he brings an umbrella. Even if it’s not sunny, he brings sunscreen and bug spray. In fact, Jamil always shows up with this massive bag of what he calls “essentials”. First aid kit, water bottles, hand sanitizer, hand cream, portable battery, snacks, lip balm, sewing kit, travel toiletries, pens, spare eating utensils, a flashlight, a multitool, sunglasses, a notebook, a mirror, tissues—

His homemade lunches look so good; you tend to stare with quiet longing until Jamil sighs and asks if you would care for some. He acts like it’s a slight inconvenience to him (to salvage his pride and to come off as humble), but really he’s fishing for an excuse to share his food and get a compliment from you. In exchange for feeding you, you feed his ego.

Jamil insists he doesn’t need you to come to his basketball games, he can play just fine without you there. Well, that doesn’t stop you from showing up with a homemade poster to wave around and shouting his name. He acts embarrassed about it and scolds you afterwards, but he’s secretly pleased to have your support.

Ortho's the friend you feel the instinctive need to protect (on account of his small, boyish stature)--but don't be fooled! It's him who's jumping to shoot a laser beam at people who pick on you and you having to hold him back from firing.

He's cute and he knows it. Whenever he wants to get his way (like, say he wants to pick what you do today), he'll put his acting chops to use and pretend to get all sad or claim that you're bullying some innocent little kid to win the disagreement.

You play a lot of video games and board games together but you can never quite win most of the time. Ortho's advanced learning algorithms allow him to learn your playstyles and adapt on the fly, leading to him cinching victory after victory. He takes it easy on you once in a while though, just because it wouldn't be fun to go entirely unbeaten! More recently, you've been really into this racing game called Sugar Rush--and Ortho likes to play dirty and targets you with all the traps he can get his hands on.

You have movie nights too! Sometimes it's mainstream productions but sometimes Ortho shows you sneak peeks of the Film Research Club's latest projects (where he stars). He doesn't eat or drink, so you can monopolize all the snacks and chill as Ortho gets the film rolling... from himself! He has a built-in projector which makes it possible to watch movies on any wall.

Being besties with a supercomputer has its perks. Ortho can fact check you on the spot and provide any and all information you might be looking for in the blink of an eye.

Sebek is one of those friends who speaks callously even to his own friends. He does this with Silver, and he does this with you as well. Every nice thing he says is phrased like an insult (not necessarily aimed at you; it’s usually condescending others when comparing them to you), and it takes some time getting used to his… unique way of communicating.

Big golden retriever energy. He gets so excited when he sees you and practically charges over to give a greeting in the mornings. Same goes for him catching you in the halls--he'll shout from the other end and wave excitedly.

He's in the habit of making book recommendations to you, even if you're not a reader. Each book is selected with the utmost consideration for your interests and reading level; Sebek has oftentimes already gone to the trouble of reading these books and now is waiting on you to give them a shot so the two of you and talk over it and share your thoughts.

He strives for self-improvement and encourages you to do the very same. Sometimes he invites you to join him and Silver for a workout, but if that's too much for you then he can recommend some simple weight-lifting, stretches, or a brief jog.

If you're feeling down, he'll give you a thunderous pep talk that'll get you right back up on your feet! It's like being hit with a jolt of lightning--you're revitalized and ready to tackle the world again.

[herringstrait]

JAS WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGG

What do you MEAN Sakamoto could just be a hallucination. After the sheer relief of this chapter. Planting that in the brain? A theory parasite is making its home down there in the neurons already.

Delicious delicious angst possibilities...

skdy 194: tachypsychia

Basically being "in the zone" in terms of sports - or that spurt of adrenaline or fear that causes things to slow down. Research suggests it's induced by a combination of high levels of dopamine (mood/movement/learning/focus/attention) and norepinephrine (adrenaline). That could lead to heart, blood vessel, and kidney damage - explaining Shin's nosebleed.

We all know pushing your body to its limits is a no-no, but using your brain to do it? A BIG no-no. Shin gained a new power but at a huge cost.

Suzuki through Nagumo did warn us - he's always saying things and showing up when they need it lmao. The ultimate plot device / foreshadower. So this isn't the last time Shin will be driven into a corner. Physically, we know he's at his limit (as confirmed by Kindaka), so all he has left is a gambit move that kills him.

But anywho, too much tachypsychia can probably lead to a mental and physical breakdown. Mental first most likely (seeing how Shin is already in such a fragile state).

This post by @uzurions is highly possible because high d&n can cause hallucinations and psychosis.

Either or is hella emotional.

If Sakamoto is actually there, Shin will be left with so much guilt. He totally could've killed Tenkyu, a literal innocent (in the head), but Sakamoto would be there to tell him he did it for their family (it'd still haunt Shin forever though).

But if it was all in his head? Sakamoto acting like a conscience would be beautiful too. Shin does have it in him to stop himself, but the fact that he went that far...

Either way, I assume tachypsychia can also numb someone. Major flight or fight kinda thing. So it's not Shin's natural affinity to be a cold ruthless killer, but every time he forces that switch in his brain, the easier it'll get.

So basically NO SHIN BABY BOY IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!

///

Like I just wrote on Twitter under ordertrio and spondaick's tweets, I gotta suspend disbelief lmao. The only guarantee in SKDY's is that Suzuki will pull another fast one on us next week.

Remember, Jas. Remember how Kindaka just woke up and sonic’ed outta bed after 8 years with no physio?

Don't forget that. Just kick back and have fun.

[academ1aonmars]

So tired. Studying Java concepts right now - have only studied an hour and a half so far…. final is tomorrow noon. Sigh, wish me luck everyone!

[vickysaurus]

Happy New Year!

Let's imagine it was the Earth itself that was going into its 2024th year. That is to say, we're compressing the entire history of the Earth into just the past 2023 years. What events would have happened when?

Well, not too much is certain about the first couple decades after our planet formed, until around 50 CE when we were hit by another proto-planet, Theia, and the debris formed the Moon. After a couple years of the planet cooling down again, the oceans formed out of boiling rain. The timing of the origin of life is very uncertain, but there are chemical signs it may very well have happened as early as the second century. Around 200 CE, the gas giants did a big funky orbit-swapping dance, and in the process inflicted the Late Heavy Bombardment on the rest of the solar system, meaning the Earth was suffering a ton of meteorite strikes for the entire third century.

The first indisputable evidence of life is from around 330, and the first stromatolites appear around 470. Those are basically the first fossils, stones created by layer upon layer of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria living and dying on top of one another. But even with oxygen producers evolving, it would take many centuries before oxygen became a major part of the atmosphere: not until the Great Oxygenation Event, which happened during the ninth and tenth centuries. That's also about the time the first complex, eukaryotic cells evolved through a symbiosis between an anaerobic archaean and an oxygen-breathing bacterium. The bacterium became more and more focused on just the oxygen-breathing task inside the larger cell, until its descendants were mitochondria, which as you all know are the powerhouse of the cell. The next seven centuries passed by with only slow, gradual changes, and life continuing to be unicellular and difficult to find in the fossil record.

(1735's Snowball Earth, by me)

From 1704 to 1730, the entire planet froze over. After merely two years of thaw, it happened again, this time lasting from 1732 to 1742. But these snowball Earth episodes set the stage for the evolution of animals that began right after. Across the mid-18th century, the bizarre Ediacaran biota, with its strange symmetries, fronds, and fractal-like pattern filled the oceans. In the early 1780s they went extinct, possibly due to a temporary drop in oxygen-levels, only to be replaced by a great variety of quite different creatures in the Cambrian Explosion.

(Class of 1799, by me)

Starting in 1784 and running for a few decades, the Cambrian period saw the origin of most of the modern animal phyla, reaching its most famous form in the Burgess Shale fauna of 1799. During this time, most animals still lived on the sea floor, either attached or crawling, with relatively few actually swimming creatures. Plants started tentatively moving onto land around 1817, and in 1825, the rising of the great Appalachian mountains caused a severe drop in global CO2 and thus temperatures, leading to the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

(Horseshoe crabs and sea scorpions on a beach in 1834, by me)

Bony fish first showed up during the 1830s, and around the same time plants were getting serious about inhabiting the land, evolving roots and vascular tissues so they could properly grow there. Millipedes and the ancestors of spiders were the first animals to follow them onto land. Our own fishy ancestors did not take their first step until 1857, by which point the arthropods were well established there and the plants had figured out how to become trees. The Late Devonian extinction, partially caused by the evolution of said trees and partially by the south pole freezing, played out in two pulses over the late 1850s and early 1860s.

(Swamp prominently featuring Meganeura and Mazothairos in 1889, by me)

Arthropods and vertebrates continued to gain adaptations to life on land. The insects became the first creatures ever to fly in 1878, and the high-oxygen atmosphere of the time would be especially good to them. Around 1884, a group of vertebrates called the amniotes, after the membrane that kept water inside their eggs so they could lay them on land without them drying out, split into two groups: the reptiles and the synapsids (which we mammals descend from). The next few decades would see the synapsids in particular being extremely successful as the supercontinent Pangaea formed. Until 1912, when a massive episode of volcanism caused the worst mass extinction of all time, the Great Dying, scouring the Earth of a huge portion of its life.

(A 1930 scene featuring the three branches of archosaur: dinosaur, pterosaur, and pseudosuchian, by me)

The 1910s were a period of slow recovery during which strange new forms of animal evolved. Many different, unrelated reptiles, such as the ichtyosaurs and plesiosaurs, went to sea, where they would continue to provide some of the most impressive creatures for most of the 20th century. On land, the dinosaurs first appeared in 1920, though for the next decade or so they'd live in the shadow of their pseudosuchian (crocodile-line) cousins. In 1934, Pangaea began to break up, resulting in another terrible pulse of volcanism that caused a lot of extinctions and left particularly the feathered and furry survivors with a lot of empty niches to fill, allowing the dinosaurs and mammals to diversify greatly. The last common ancestor of all modern mammals lived in the early 1940s, and by 1957 the dinosaurs had figured out flight, with Archaeopteryx usually being considered the first bird. Other dinosaurs took on an incredible variety of sizes, shapes, and forms. Some of the most famous ones include Dilophosaurus (1942), Diplodocus and Stegosaurus (1955), Iguanodon (1969), Velociraptor (1991), and Tyrannosaurus rex (1994).

(A tropical lakeside in the year 2000, by me)

In 1995, the world was struck by a meteorite, wiping out many groups, including the marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and ammonites. The surviving mammals and dinosaurs went on to diversify across the next couple of years and had formed thriving new ecosystems in the tropical world of the turn of the millennium. The first known bat lived in 2001, and the whales returned to the oceans next year. Around 2009, the world's climates turned colder and dryer. Antarctica froze over and grasslands spread widely. Our last common ancestor with the chimpanzees and bonobos lived in 2021, and by new year 2023, our ancestors were getting brainier and more proficient with tools. That's also when the north pole froze and the Quaternary ice age cycle began. The first known members of Homo sapiens lived on 10 November 2023. The latest ice age started on 14 December, and ended at 2 AM on 30 December. The great pyramid of Giza was built at 6 AM on 31 December and On The Origin Of Species was published at 23:22 PM.

[raccoonzinspace]

"Humans are space orcs."

Nah, I would say humans are like space cats/kittens in a way because we're so curious and have to explore everything. But that curiosity might get us in trouble and we just don't know. Also we're territorial as hell, so...

This isn't pro or anti-human, btw. It's not saying humans are good or bad. This is just a neutral simile comparing the curious nature of humans and cats. And can you even argue that both species aren't similar in their exploratory and territorial tendencies?

[backjustforberena]

When the season opens, [Rhaenys] is the queen's most trusted advisor, though not officially her Hand - two women in power would simply be too much for the men on the Council, Hess notes. "Obviously, Rhaenyra can't have a lady Hand, because that would be crazy," she says with a sarcastic laugh.

Okay, okay, good stuff. The idea of a lady Hand not being tolerated is a logical conclusion except... except... the show does absolutely bugger all with it. Whilst we have Rhaenys functioning as Hand pretty plainly, and, indeed, it's only after her loss that Rhaenyra actually officially appoints a Hand, the actual politics of the position and, specifically, this idea that it is not done because Rhaenyra recognises the gender issues associated isn't there.

The subject of making Rhaenys Hand, even to dismiss or explain, is never brought up within the show. The idea of the men being unable to stomach Rhaenys as a Hand isn't ever illustrated beyond generalised feelings of sexism within those council scenes. Rhaenys never has to explain, defend or prove her position on the council. She is very rarely interacted with, during those scenes because she is not particularly vocal. There is displeasure shown at her, but nothing loud or targeted - not like we see with Rhaenyra.

The one concrete moment we have, actually, of Rhaenys having to defend her power comes in Episode 04 and, ironically, it is because she has NOT been named Hand that Alfred Broome can call her out and attempt to dismiss her in front of everyone:

"Why should your voice be any louder than ours, Princess? The queen did not name you Hand."

Rhaenys is trying to lead, but it's not her sex that he finds fault with (though no doubt that comes into it - given she is able to maintain control due to Corlys's intervention) but her lack of official authority. Something that being Hand would have given her. So, he can challenge her. She is no higher than he is. And she has no rebuttal because Rhaenyra has not empowered her.

If they had wanted to pull this off, they needed to consolidate Rhaenys's role on the council and the limitations of it and why there were limitations on it. Have patronising language levelled at her, not just Rhaenyra or Baela. Have her offer advice only to be spoken over. Have Rhaenyra even speak to her on the matter. Let them talk about the position of Hand. Or have Rhaenys raise the matter with Corlys. Something. As it is, the role is never floated or mentioned until after Rhaenys's death. A lady Hand is not an idea presented in that narrative.

That's largely why I always attributed the lack of Hand not to a recognition of politics, but as a symptom of an ad-hoc war council and the infancy of Rhaenyra's rule - an unorganised collection due to the war, without the formal roles of a Small Council. And then the appointment of a Hand indicates Rhaenyra's commitment to the war as it is now and her engagement going forward (even if, again, the role in all it's uses isn't fully illustrated as we pretty much lose the council scenes following the initial Dragonseed idea and Corlys has little to do in any of them).

(quote from the new HOTD BTS book, with many thanks to @noheteroexplanation)

[nfasth]

[reallyhardy]

i was thinking that pasnerv must be so over after they released that TS4 pack with the re-worked/alt timeline lore and their nervous/nyon character was a teenager but i've just been looking and... pasnerv can still win?

(apparently this is some text from a new 'rumours' feature in the pack) pasnerv teenage bestieism turned crushing abandonement/first heartbreak canon??? or idk???

[lavendorii]

curious because from ive gathered it's kind of polarizing