#favorite place on the planet

[humblegeniusinboxfive]

In celebration of the birthday of this most-beautiful building (a few days late, I know), I upload these photos I took on my recent visit to its majestic halls. Nowhere else have I seen such beauty nor felt such awe; it is a sanctuary for divine art and a fitting home for the Angel of Music.

Words cannot express my love for it, so I won’t even try.

Let me only say: Gaston Leroux NAILED its description in that book, both visually and atmospherically. That building IS Erik.

[wormsical]

long-term nuclear waste warning messages/subnautica

[lame-cameoliob]

The Narritive Potential of lower level! Kallus

Alright literally nobody asked and this is totally just me thinking way too much, but I NEEEEEEDDD to talk about the Kallus from the lower levels headcanon and just how much narrative potential it has

(also If you see anything spelled wrong or phrased weirdly NO YOU DIDN’T)

To be completely frank I think that Kallus’ character is almost out of place in a children's TV show– DO NOT GET ME WRONG, he is a fantastic character that is integral to the Rebels plot, but many implications made by his character are much more fitting in shows with higher ratings– that’s why he comes of so fucking ridiculous half of the time, he is a character with massive implications, but he has to be readable to a younger audience. PLUSSS Rebels was made on a tiny budget compared to other Star Wars animated projects, so the producers could not put time or money into further delving into his arc because they needed to focus on the main cast. They couldn’t afford to go into smaller character-centric arcs like in the clone wars. Now, taking that into account, it is no doubt that Kallus has an incredible character arc (tbh I’d say the best in Star Wars, but i might be glazing idk) but there are aspects of that arc that could not be explored more due to the aforementioned restrictions on the production side.

Thing is, Star Wars is all about making connections to the real world (ex. Return of the Jedi was an allegory for the vietnam war– or also THE ENTIRETY OF ANDOR) And although Kallus’ arc already does that on a baseline level, its potential for drawing these connections was for sure not explored to its fullest. 

Now, I know you didn’t sign up for a lesson in world history and politics when you started reading this but you’re gonna have to stick with me to see where I’m coming from; 

It is no secret that the greatest defense against propaganda is education. That’s why maps that show which states have less extensive education and maps that show which states are conservative look nearly identical. That’s why conservative states are far more likely to pass legislation that bans books with political content; they need people to continue to be uneducated in order to keep the state conservative. Even if we omit nefarious political intent, in order for educational institutions to truly thrive they need funding (which tends to be severely lacking in conservative communities) State legislation aside, some school systems literally cannot afford to give their students an all encompassing education. And next to that, in many impoverished rural communities, you end up having kids that need to start working early on in order to make money to support themselves and their families OR they start working early just cause they want to (bootstraps mentally and all that); these kids do not have a reason to set aside their time to sit down and think about the politics of the world around them, which is why a lot of people end up just falling in line with the conservative mindset that surrounds them. 

“What about the people who aren’t conservative / patriotic? How do they play into this?” You may ask– AND LET ME TELL YOU– it’s not really a huge secret that the United States Military does this quirky little thing where they pay for your college and give you financial benefits while you’re an active service member. That’s actually a MASSIVE recruitment tactic that they use in schools! IN FACT, (as someone who grew up in a blue state) wherever military recruiters would come to my school to yk…recruit people, they would almost ALWAYS stress the financial benefits more than promoting the whole “SERVE YOUR COUNTRY RAHHH AMERICA” thing . 

So basically it’s a system that sets children up for failure by leaving them broke and struggling, and some of those children grow up in areas where they are funneled into having certain political beliefs without the resources needed to form their own opinion, OR you have kids that just want to reap financial benefits because living is too damn expensive. (And of course there are people who fit into BOTH or neither of the categories; I’m generalizing a little bit for the sake of keeping this post shorter than it could be) (This is a very nuanced subject and I know that, I just don't want to make you all read an entire essay)

The issue comes when these misinformed children grow into adults, and those adults become dangerous. 

BACK TO STAR WARS

So there’s not really a whole lot of extensive canon lore (at least that I’ve seen) about how the Coruscant economic system works, but I think it's fairly obvious that it is operating on a capitalistic system not unlike the united states, where the richest of the rich own most of the wealth, and the rest of the population are left living paycheck to paycheck; it’s just that some paychecks are bigger than others. 

It is this system that allows for the lower levels to fall into complete poverty. None of the wealth from the top is trickling down (literally) and the people in the lower levels are left fighting for scraps. 

Most areas in the lower levels are controlled by money hungry gangs, and corrupt law enforcement does what these gangs want just because they’re paid to. The further down you go the less control The Republic has; at some point you reach a depth where the Republic has zero influence. And even if they did, at this point in history, most of the senate no longer represents the people.

THIS IS WHERE KALLUS COMES IN 

I want you to imagine being a kid in the lower levels. You’re fighting for your next paycheck so that you can help pay rent, you’re shoplifting and picking pockets just so that you can eat. You cannot afford to live. And not only that; you’re suffering from intense vitamin deficiencies, the air is undoubtedly toxic, the water probably isn’t good to drink. You are exhausted. Physically, mentally, even subconsciously, you are a kind of bone-deep tired that nobody– ESPECIALLY A KID– should ever have to feel. If you can even afford to go to school you’re not leaving with a better understanding of the galaxy, because all you’re worried about is finding something to eat and going the fuck to sleep. But that's your normal, you’ve never known anything different. 

You’re not thinking of ways to question the system, you’re too tired to. 

And you don’t care about The Republic because The Republic doesn’t care about you. 

But then The Empire rolls around. And the Republic didn’t give a fuck about you, but maybe the Empire will– besides you don’t really care about the politics of it all, because you see that they offer free room and board to those who enlist, and that is your one way ticket out of the fucking hell hole that you’ve had to endure for your entire life. 

And so you enlist. And even if you didn’t care about politics before, the people around you do, and they are telling you exactly what to think without giving you the resources to form an opinion of your own. 

If Kallus grew up in the lower levels, that would have been his reality. He would have been the perfect person to indoctrinate because he came from a system that wouldn’t have allowed him to know any better.

This is especially palpable when we think about why he became Fulcrum in the first place;

He educated himself in ways that the empire did not allow him to be educated before. He asked questions and he did not like the answers that he got. 

He realizes that he’s been fed lies and propaganda that have made him complacent in a system that had done immeasurable evil, and he HATES that. He realizes that he does NOT believe what the empire believes and that he has to align his actions with HIS opinions, not the empires.

He realizes that harm that his ignorance has done and he takes it upon himself to lock THE FUCK IN in an attempt to help and rebalance the scales. 

(And this bit is kind of a side note, but idk where else to put this:if Kallus comes from a background like the one listed above where he is constantly fighting for survival, he becomes a narrative foil of EZRA!!! They become two sides of the same coin; a kid whos impoverished because of the Empires cruelty, only looking out for himself until his worldview is changed for the better by the kindness of the people around him VERSUS a kid whos impoverished because of the Republics failures, only looking out for himself and CONTINUing TO DO SO as his worldview is changed for the worse by the greed of the people around him.) (DO YALL GET WHAT IM SAYING??? I FEEL LIKE IM ONTO SOMETHING THERE??)(I MIGHT BE CRAZY BUT LIKE I FEEL LIKE THATS ⁉️⁉️)

All of this is really just to say that Kallus is the perfect example of the dangers of complacency. He is the bystander effect at its worst. He admits that he “never asked questions,” simply because the empire told him not to, and he becomes dangerous because of it. He does evil shit just ‘cause he’s told to. The empire says that a certain number of civilian deaths fall within an “acceptable margin” and he just shrugs his shoulders and goes “yeah, okay, if you say so.” 

Already in canon, he is an example of what people can become if they refuse to question the systems in power, but when you take into account the possibility that he’s from the lower levels, he also becomes an example of how people end up in a system where they are set up for failure so that they don’t end up questioning those systems in the first place. He’s an example of how the Empire benefits from systematic suffering because the people who suffer without even realizing it are the people most easily shaped into pawns. 

End of rant

[mohntilyet]

despite not feeling like illario should be a parent or mentor figure to absolutely anyone at all. and of course lots of media has done "unhappy mentor to a young child that ends up getting attached". but have we all considered the idea of illario finding a fledgling that's been tossed aside or had their house stripped from them, sees his failure reflected back at him . right . and before he knows what he's doing and against his better judgement and his arrogance and his pride, illario brings them into house dellamorte. to start it's just to piss off caterina. give it about a month and he'll start projecting his own desire to succeed and since he can't rise above his own humiliation then this fledgling HAS to. and then he gets attached. and then during particularly gruelling and horrible crow training, illario reminds himself of caterina. right then and there he would have to decide if he can stomach turning into her, or if he can finally begin to understand the unconditional love that lucanis has always felt towards him

[bittersweetresilience]

for strange and unknowable reasons i have spent the past seven and a half hours making this emotional catharsis amv instead of sleeping. my personal love letter to the art that has changed me over the years.

homestuck / avatar: the last airbender / everything everywhere all at once / soul / homestuck / infinity train / koe no katachi / gravity falls / up / frozen / blue planet / the prince of egypt / night in the woods / the good place / everything everywhere all at once / blue planet / wonders of the universe / night in the woods / monument valley / monument valley / homestuck / journey / the good place / infinity train / homestuck / koe no katachi / gravity falls / infinity train / omori / avatar: the last airbender / everything everywhere all at once / blue planet / the prince of egypt / homestuck / spider-verse / monument valley / journey / homestuck / frozen / moana / mulan / avatar: the last airbender / kung fu panda / frozen / avatar: the last airbender / omori / everything everywhere all at once / gravity falls / kung fu panda / my little pony / infinity train / omori / how to train your dragon / soul / frozen / up / journey / koe no katachi / omori / undertale / infinity train / gravity falls / monument valley / àiqíng gōngyù / soul / the good place

[yellllowstar]

slowly I'm recovering the beauty of discovery

(creature by half•alive)

(textless + timelapse below cut)

[hi-im-elli]

“fake it till you make it” but it’s the trope where an antagonist is pretending to “be good”/“do good” to gain the trust of the protagonist but eventually the antagonist starts to actually like the protagonist as a person & adopt the good traits that they see in them

even better, when the antagonist has to admit that they were just trying to befriend/be nice to/help the protagonist for their own selfish gain, the antagonist tries to convince them that the protagonist changed them and that “they aren’t like that anymore” but the trust that the protagonist had in the antagonist has evidently been destroyed

[cluelessrebel1988]

My favorite movies of 2024 (so far)

10) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

9) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

8) Lisa Frankenstien

7) A Quiet Place: Day One

6) Inside Out 2

5) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

4) Abigail

3) Civil War

2) The Fall Guy

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

[anti-gravity-insanity]

:):):):):) At the DMV!!!!!!! 🩷🩷🩷❤️❤️❤️🩷❤️🧡❤️💜💜💜💜❤️🩷🩷💜💜💜💜💜💜🩷💜❤️💜🩷

[cassnottiel]

oh no the character who was comedic relief and silly has transformed in my mind into the most nuanced and mentally ill wet cat in all the land

[thecurioustale]

Neptune BLUE!

I spent a day-and-a-half on Friday and Saturday researching the planet Neptune in order be able to write a scene in Galaxy Federal about a Neptunian planet.

All my fiction entails a high degree of research, since I am an expert in nothing other than writing itself yet I seek to convey great verisimilitude and accuracy in my work. One of my greatest hopes for my fiction is that people will be able to read it and, when my prose touches on their areas of expertise, they'll be able to nod in satisfaction and say "That's how it really is." And, so, I am ever researching things as I write.

But most of this stuff is just flesh for the background. When, in contrast, a scene comes around where I have to research literally every part of it, it becomes a much more demanding exercise! In this case I wanted to be able to describe Cherry standing on a platform at the top of a Neptunian world, and, while this may sound like a simple ask—"It's blue, right? And cloudy?"—it's definitely not.

What is the composition of the atmosphere? What color is the sky above? What color are the clouds? Are there different types of clouds? Are they above or below? What are their shapes? What are the wind conditions? Relative to what? What are the temperature conditions? At different altitudes? What are the pressure conditions? What consequences of extremely low-pressure environments should I be aware of? Where do all the different sky and cloud colors come from? How do the colors compare to one another? What do the near-infrared and near-UV look like? Might there precipitation? What would it be like? What would the air smell like? How would sunset affect the colors of whatever happens to be visible? Is there any relevant photochemistry affecting atmospheric conditions, and if so what is it? Can the planet's rings be inclined outside the equatorial plane? What is its gravity? How bright is its sun?

Most of these questions need to be answered not in order to literally convey the information in prose, but simply to make sure that I don't accidentally get the narrative details wrong. There are resources that describe Neptune's highest clouds as reddish; others say white; others still say bluish—and all of them are referring to those clouds as seen from above, not below.

I do have some control over the variables. A question like "How windy is it?" can be answered "Right now, it's whatever you need for it to be." But that's sloppy, and I like to minimize my slop. So, for precision, someone like me would have to go and learn a little bit about the Neptunian winds—all while taking care not to overgeneralize Neptune's specific example. (Thankfully we have Uranus for a comparison, but unfortunately Uranus isn't always so helpful, as it basically looks like a sleeping kitten.)

Another confounding factor is that the Internet seems to be becoming a worse and worse medium for doing this kind of esoteric fact-based research. Many resources are simply not reliable (being little more than unaudited discussions on message forums), and the search results are forever clogged with irrelevant or insufficiently detailed results. ("Hey, kids! Did you know that Neptune is a PLANET and that it is BLUE?!") At one point I thought about just buying a whole book on Neptune, but I discounted that because, for one thing, scope creep, and, for another thing, Neptunian planetary science is a surprisingly active area of research and we are still learning fundamentally new things about Neptune's atmosphere even today. Lots of books about it are already outdated!

I enjoy research, thankfully, and I certainly put in a tour-de-force for this one, reading dozens of webpages and watching hours of videos. I dodged a lot of bullets because of my research, like not accidentally having my characters' blood boil by setting the air pressure below the Armstrong Limit. And in the end, I wrote a good, solid, 2,500-word scene. It's beautiful, and, I hope, it's breathtaking.

But even so, for all my research I was aware that I am still not actually any closer to being an expert on Neptunian worlds, and I knew that my research was very thin by this measure, and that my depth of understanding remains poor. And so I knew the likelihood for mistakes was high—and that's not even counting the areas where I decided to give up and let slop win. (In the end I just made up an answer for the question of what the air smells like.)

Sure enough, a few hours after I had finished writing the scene on Saturday night, it occurred to me: "Wait a minute, J! What would it sound like to talk in that air, if one were to breathe it in? It's almost entirely hydrogen and helium!"

I rushed back and did a bit of emergency research, and discovered the answer that I had feared, and had to revise the scene accordingly to ensure that anyone inhaling that air speaks in a high pitched-voice. And that, my friends, is why some scenes are better in writing than in movies!

^ _ ^

[skitskatdacat63]

Bwoahh thank you for the lore. It’s really interesting to see the spectrum of views towards humans. Their feelings are so different yet they’re so similar (like night and day lmao) . Rip Goddess of Earth for having to deal with those two for a millennia. Love to hear more about these two <3

— Penalanon

Aaaaaahh yes!!! That's my main intention with my god ocs tbh. Two things: what is their view towards humans(A), and what governing style do they believe is most effective(B)? And I guess also to an extent, how do they feel about interplanetary relations, but that's a bit too meta 😭 I just think Luna and Sola are an interesting case study because they're so uninvolved compared to all the others. But yeah 😭 they are so similar, but ofc they'll never see it. I like to think they're both fascinated but one is like this 😍 and the other is like this 😟

But here I will give you the thoughts of some other gods regarding the two things I mentioned earlier, bcs I think it's a fun thing to play with. At some point I'll have to make a chart like the political compass one about this lol.

Earth(Eden)

A: They're creatures of the land with their own autonomy and goals

B: I will not interfere, it is also my duty to observe and come in only when really, truly needed(read: never.)

Saturn(Sabah):

A: They're like toys I can play with and manipulate.

B: Proxy wars are fun! I love anarchy and chaos! I will play to each side at will, and switch whenever it gets boring.

Neptune(Nikola):

A: They're my citizens whom I govern and watch over. I love to see their creations, its interesting to see what they come up with!

B: I am like a monarch, I can carry out my will through the people if need be but I don't micromanage them.

Uranus(Ustinya)

A: They are like my children, even if I don't understand them all the time, I still care for them and watch over them.

B: I am like a figurehead and advisor. I won't get involved too much unnecessarily, but I am honored they look to me for guidance, advice and encouragement.

There's others but these are the ones that came to mind first so :D I feel like most of them are pretty rational...and then there's Sabah 😭 I need to make more of them a bit evil I think

[luxurybrownbarbie]

Do you like NYC or London more?

At the moment, NYC. As soon as the proper British springtime hits? London.

[boookends]

anyways here’s pics to describe my day

1. my brother’s kitty (his name is markiplier)

2. my work started selling chili!

3. photo of me Yearning at work today because my favorite coworker didn’t come in

4. i played the fuck out of some dominoes

[serotoninnt]

vinyl videos are my new favorite form of stim videos and my hands seem to really like doing the "blobs of colors" style rn

[cinemaocd]

Fast fashion that has survived the Shart zone and made it to cockroach Valhalla will also still be around until the heat death of the universe. I also have a ton of vintage, and a small collection of antique clothing, but the one piece of clothing that has been in my wardrobe continuously since the 1980s is a tank top I bought at Target. Now it is true that the quality of materials and workmanship on fast fashion has declined, particularly in the last 10 years as trend cycles shorten, but I have a clear memory of my mom standing in Target rejecting almost every item of clothing I picked up because of some sewing flaw or another or because the quality of the material wasn't up to her standards. I highly encourage you to opt, when possible for buying clothes that you can try on and touch in person over things that look ok online. After a while you will gain the knowledge to pick up a t-shirt and know whether it's one of the ones that will make it cockroach land or not...

As someone who buys a shit tonne of vintage and retro items all the time I need to tell you about the "shart zone" and "prime nuclear cockroach material"

when buying used items i will do anything in my power to avoid the shart zone, which is in the range of 5-10 years old, this is a short enough amount of time for especially electronic items to have not found a way to fall apart horribly but have become out dated enough to have no support and likely will not retain any value. I do however LOVE the nuclear cockroach material zone which is anything 20+ years old. If it still works after 20 years it is going to work forever. A great example of this is my pc which exists in the shart zone and has to be revved up to turn on lawnmower style, but my N64 works fine.