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studyblr-perhaps · 1 month ago

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Misa Explains 1: Spintronics in a nutshell

A series of posts where I will explain bits and pieces of physics I have gathered throughout the my foray into this wonderful science. Warning, these will be long.

Highly inspired by @chemblrish and @minmin-vs-physics 's posts on their fields, check out their posts (linked on this post in various places!)

Wait what even is going on?

Okay, first of all, why are we even talking about spintronics, whatever that means? Now, we live in an age where we need devices, right? Phones, TVs, laptops, name it. All digital devices come under electronics, which is a cluster of what we call "logic devices" (verrry loosely speaking) with various functions, made with expert circuitry to create our sophisticated "smart" devices. Whew. That's a lot of words. But what does it mean? It means that the very device you're using to view this post is made up of very tiny mini devices, which are made to utilize electrical signals (current, flow of electrons) to make it store information, read information, or perform logic tasks ("AND", "OR" "NOT" and the rest. Let me know if you want me to explain those, but this is not the point of the post so I'm letting them hang in the air for now).

We store digital information in the form of 'bits' (I swear all of this is relevant, please be patient) which is a computer's language of storing and using information. If you've watched any show involving hacking, you'll see stacks after stacks of "1"s and "0"s on their high contrast screens in that radioactive green font (general older sister advice: don't use high contrast it hurts your eyes), these are bits and the basis on which logic devices work. Each combination of 1s and 0s makes a different information, which is the backbone of computing. Now, how these devices make 1s and 0s is again a whole course on electronics, so I will skip over it to just preface that they exist and that's how we make digital devices.

All these years, we have used semiconductors, which allow moderate amount of current flow from them (in contrast to conductors, which allow free flow of electrons, and insulators, which do not allow flow of electrons) to make transistors, which are currently the building blocks of circuit-making devices.

[here's a picture containing ICs (the bug-like looking thing covered in wires) which have tiny transistors inside them, and the LEDs, on which the lit ones are "1"s and unlit ones are "0"s. This was my project for one of my courses!]

In electronics, a very famous law called Moore's Law, states that for increase in tech and development, the amount of transistors in integrated circuits (IC) doubles every two years. This moves proportionally with the increase in use of semiconductors, because transistors are made using them.

Every device maker's main goal is to make a device faster, smoother, and more functional. Which means, more transistors, better semiconductors. Moreover, the smaller space occupied by the ICs, the better. But obviously there's a limit to how much we can decrease the size of the transistors. One is the technical issue of creating such a small object, which will require highly precise instruments which we are not in possession of/ not feasible in the long run. The second issue is the working. "Will a semiconductor keep it's properties when they layer is so small?" is a valid question to ask when we go further down in scale. In simple words: in the long run, improving semiconductors for transistors will be difficult. Moore's law plateaus, and the number of transistors doesn't double with two years. What now? We can't just stop developing better computing devices, not just smart devices, astronomy, medicine and other scientific areas also require reliable, stable and fast computing devices.

Which means we desperately need new materials (and techniques) for logic and memory devices.

Hold on, when's spintronics going to start?

Okay background information done. Now we move onto spins and why we use it. We know that atoms are made of protons, electrons and neutrons. Out of these, electrons "revolve" in "orbits" around the nucleus, which holds the protons and neutrons. I put "revolve" and "orbits" in quotes because essentially it's a cloud of probabilities and we have no clue what path it truly takes. Electrons reside in what are called 'orbitals', which are balloon-like spaces which have a high probability of the electrons being present in (@/chemblrish explains orbitals better here).

Now along with the "revolution", electrons also considered to have a "spin". We don't really know if it "spins" the way Bayblades do, but regardless, they have an angular momentum, which is classically something rotating objects possess (@/mimin-vs-physics goes more in depth on quantum mechanical fun stuff) Either way, we don't know why it has angular momentum, but we know it does (at least I have no idea if we've figured it out??). And in true human fashion, we see anything new and think "now how can I utilize this for my benefit?"

Years and years of research later, we figured out something interesting. The angular momentum which the electron spins contain, and the angular momentum of electrons in "orbits" can interact! This interaction is called Spin-Orbit Coupling (SOC) and it causes a bunch of other fascinating phenomena in quantum mechanics. One of which, is that it if we supply electricity into a metal plane, we can align the electrons and their spins in such a way that it causes a stream of current (remember: current is essentially a flow of electrons in one direction) with aligned spins to move into a different layer perpendicularly.

Okay but what does all of this have to do anything with Spintronics?

We're finally at the part where we can discuss what Spintronics is! We can use our now generated spin current to make electronic devices (hence, spintronics!). So, how do we make these tiny devices?

What we first take is a heavy metal (these are metallic elements/alloys with high atomic numbers, which have a lot of free electrons to use) and make a very thin film of it. (The procedure of making thin films is very interesting, and I will make the next post on it!) We can now pass a stream of current/electricity* parallel to the surface of the thin film, which will give us a stream of spin-aligned electrons bouncing to move into an upper layer.

For the upper layer, we add a thin layer of a ferromagnet. A ferromagnet is a type of material which readily aligns its spin on one direction when under a magnetic field (contrary to this are paramagnets which weakly align their spins, and diamagnets which weakly align their spins opposite to the applied field).

Now remember the electrons with their spin aligned which wanted to move into the upper layer? Yeah once they are given an upper layer to move into, they flow into the layer, bringing their aligned spins with them. This spin can now affect the ferromagnet's spin, and align it in either the direction of the applied electric field ( the one applied on the heavy metal layer. I'm marking it as * for you to check which electric field I mean) or directly opposite to the direction of the electric field. This alignment can be measured. The value doesn't matter, only the direction. Is it parallel to the electric field or anti-parallel? "Up" or "down"? "Left" or "right"? Or, in terms of electronics, "1" or "0".

And look! We now have a way to make a tiny device which can display values of "1" or "0"! We used an analog signal (electricity) to create a digital output (1s and 0s)! That is electronics! But because it uses spins, it is called Spintronics.

Because we use Spin-Orbit Coupling, these devices are extremely precise and fast. And the layers of heavy metal/ferromagnet will be in the ranges of nanometers (10^-9 m), so they are also extremely small. We can also choose materials with properties we like (high melting/boiling point, low reactivity) to create devices which can work in extreme conditions (high heat, pressure, reactive areas).

And here we have it! We've made spintronic devices!

End of post disclaimer: I am a Bachelors student and I will have mistakes. I also tend to exaggerate. So if I have made a mistake in this post, please inform me nicely in the comments or tags!

#this took longer than I expected but I was also thown from one deadline to another so-#studyblr #studyinspo #studyspo #physics #aesthetic #academia #studying #study aesthetic #misa's undergrad journey #misa tries #misa explains physics #stem #stemblr #women in stem #spintronics #electronics #I'll keep editing if I find mistakes #but for now this is going out into the wild (internet)

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max1461 · 5 months ago

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Here is an observation of common attitudes I see in tech-adjacent spaces (mostly online).

The thing about programming/tech is, at its base, it's historically and culturally contingent. There are of course many fundamental (physical and mathematical) limitations on what a computer can and cannot do, how fast it can do things, and so on. But at least as much of the modern tech landscape is the product of choices made by people about how these machines will work, choices that very much could have been made differently. And modern computing technology is a huge tower of these choices, each resting on and grappling with the ones below it. If you're, say, a web developer writing a web app, the sheer height of this tower of contingent human decisions that your work rests on is almost incomprehensible. And by and large, programmers know this.

I am not dispensing some secret wisdom that I think tech workers don't have. On the contrary, I think the vast contingency of it all is blindingly obvious to anyone who has tried to make a computer do anything. But tech is also, well, technical, and do you know what else is technical? Science. I think this has lead to a sort of cultural false affinity, where tech is perceived, both from within and without, as more similar to science than it is to the humanities. Certainly, there are certain kinds of intellectual labor that tech shares with the sciences. But there are also, as described above, certain kinds of intellectual labor that tech shares to a much greater degree with the humanities, namely (in the broadest terms): grappling with other people's choices.

From without, I think this misplaced affinity leads people to believe that technology is less contingent than it actually is. But I think this belief would be completely untenable from within; it just cannot contend with reality. I've never met a tech worker or enthusiast who seems to think this way. Rather, I feel there is a persistent perception among tech-inclined people that science is more contingent than it actually is. I don't think this misperception rises to the level of a belief, rather I think it is more of an intuition. I think tech people have very much trained themselves (rightly, in their native context) to look at complex systems and go "how could this be reworked, improved, done differently?" I think this impulse is very sensible in computing but very out of place in, say, biology. And I suppose my conjecture (this whole post is purely conjectural, based on a gut sense that might not be worth anything) is that this is one of the main reasons for the popularity of transhumanism in, you know, the Bay. And whatnot.

I'm not saying transhumanism is actually, physically impossible. Of course it's not! The technology will, I strongly suspect, exist some day. But if you're living in 2024, I think the engineering mindset is more-or-less unambiguously the wrong one to bring to biology, at least macrobiology. This post is not about the limits of what is physically possible, it's about the attitudes that I sometimes see tech people bring to other endeavors that I think sometimes lead them to fall on their face. If you come to biology thinking about it as this contingent thing that you must grapple with, as you grapple with a novel or a codebase or anything else made by humans, I think it will make you like biology less and understand it less well.

When I was younger and a lot more naive, as a young teenager who knew a little bit about programming and nothing about linguistics, I wanted to create a "logical language" that could replace natural languages (with all their irregularities and perceived inefficiencies) for the purpose of human communication. This is part of how I initially got into conlanging. Now, with an actual linguistics background, I view this as... again, perhaps not per se impossible, but extremely unlikely to work or even to be desirable to attempt in any foreseeable future, for a whole host of rather fundamental reasons. I don't feel that this desire can survive very well upon confrontation with what we actually know (and crucially also, what we don't know) about human language.

I mean, if you want to try, you can try. I won't stop you.

Anyway, I feel that holding onto this sort of mindset too intensely does not really permit engagement with nature and the sciences. It's the same way I think a lot of per se humanities people fudge engagement with the sciences, where they insist on mounting some kind of social critique even when it is not appropriate (to be clear, I think critique of scientific practices/institutions are sometimes appropriate, but I think people whose professional training gives them an instinct to critique often take it too far).

So like, I guess that's my thesis. Coding is a humanity in disguise, and I wish that people who are used to dealing with human-made things would adopt a more native scientific or naturalist mindset when dealing with science and nature.

#navel gazing

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cursed-40k-thoughts · 7 months ago

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How can you make Cawl "better" Say another techpriest does some wacky stuff that changed the lore. How woudl you write it? sorry if i wrote it mean

If they absolutely had to have him make his primaris marines and his automatic plasma weapons and his funny AI, fine. GW wants to sell minis and those things alone place him around the intelligence level of someone like Amar fucking Astarte. That is a huge compliment. That is insanely impressive and still actively undoes like half the Imperium's tech shortcomings via a series of illogically "secret" tech advancements.

What they shouldn't have done. What they couldn't help but do, right, is have the overlong slab of plot devices show off how smart he is by diminishing other factions. Why is he able to reverse-engineer the Pharos device? Why should he know where all the blackstone is? Why should he know how to jailbreak scarabs and modify engrams, one of the single most advanced pieces of tech in the entire fucking setting?

If GW must have someone's early-era ff.net OC clogging up the setting, he would be massively improved by actively showing that he doesn't understand xenos technology, and that he realises his lack of comprehension is a frustration and a problem that cannot be brute forced. That he must further commit heresy by engaging in diplomacy with them, and he's not good at it. Give him a shred of depth. Make him a character. As it stands, he is the narrative equivalent of a person whose entire personality trait is "I need everyone to know I am smart and they are not", except he's being constantly rewarded for it.

Fabius Bile is a thousand times better than Cawl because he's limited, despite his intellect. His reincarnation process is endlessly flawed. He's only as good as he is because he had to go and learn from the Drukhari, who he still acknowledges are smarter than him. He has to fight for quality resources, for gene-seed, for access to materials, for his authority. He has to bargain and trade. He has to do things involving Eldar without understanding them, to his aggravation and intrigue. His brilliance at cloning keeps biting him in the ass. He's interesting because of that constant challenge.

#ask #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #Belisarius Cawl #Adeptus Mechanicus

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jokertrap-ran · 5 months ago

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Disney’s Twisted Wonderland: NRC Magic Assault Practice with Crowley Episode 1- Orientation Translations

“I am Night Raven College’s Headmage, so it is without a doubt that I am strong. Terribly so, in fact, so you’d best be prepared.” *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut*

Event EP 1 / Event EP 2 / SSR / Album Lines

Crowley: I see that you have all gathered. I’m happy to see that you’re all here on time.

Crowley: Now then, let’s start your practical training orientation, a compulsory subject that you are required to take… Oh, wait!

Crowley: Hear me out first. I recently went to the town at the foot of the mountain.

Crowley: I’d heard that a store specializing in gibier cuisine had opened there, and I just couldn’t sit still.

Crowley: I waited in line for three hours, and I wasn’t quite sure whether it constituted lunch or dinner by the time I got in, but… I must say, it was very delicious, indeed!

Crowley: Did you know? Gibier refers to the game meet, and as such, comes in many different varieties…

Crowley: If not properly processed, the meat will smell and be too tough. Hence, the art of processing game requires a skilled hand, honed through many years of experience.

Crowley: It also requires a lot of spontaneous decision-making on the spot, so this skill isn’t something that can be learned and attained overnight.

Crowley: What an exquisite art form! Fascinating, wouldn’t you say?

Crowley: …Excuse me, why do you all look so uninterested in what I’m saying? This has to do with all of you as well!

Crowley: It’s important to have the ability to make spontaneous decisions based on experience. This applies to mages as well.

Crowley: And the reason why practical training is a compulsory subject is because actual combat experience is what makes an excellent mage.

Crowley: Therefore, I’d like all students to participate knowing the importance of this lesson.

Crowley: “An all-out magic brawl seems fun.” You’ll be in for a hard time if you think lightly of this class!

Crowley: Ahem… And there you have it. Now then, allow me to explain the basics of this class once more.

Crowley: This practical training class is where you’ll be putting the knowledge and skills you’ve learned in practical magic to use.

Crowley: We will be moving to the Coliseum where a virtual arena has been set up. There, you will all be made to make full use of your abilities, pushing them to their limits.

Crowley: Everything that goes on in there will be monitored, and I will personally judge just how effective your day-to-day studies have been when put into practical use.

Crowley: …Hm? Is there really a need to carry this out in a virtual arena, you say?

Crowley: BUT OF COURSE!!!

Crowley: It is true that past practical training sessions have been held outside of school grounds, such as uninhabited islands or locations that the school has specially rented for the sole purpose of hosting it, but…

Crowley: There have been past incidents of students going missing and taking advantage of the teachers’ blind spots to circumvent supervision!

Crowley: Students dissatisfied with their teachers have also engaged in full-out brawls… In short, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Crowley: Huff… huff… Anyway, there’s no longer any need for us to travel that far away from school grounds now.

Crowley: Magical projector tech has greatly improved in recent years, and it has now become possible to virtually recreate areas and enemies alike.

Crowley: With this, we can now cross deserts, forest bathe, and even walk across the ocean floor in the comfort of our own homes. Canceling plans due to bad weather is now a thing of the past!

Crowley: There was many an occasion where we had to postpone it due to sudden storms and blizzards… so we should all be thankful for technological advancements!

Crowley: In any case, since this training is going to be taking place within a virtual arena, you will all be fighting a virtual enemy created by the magical projector.

Crowley: An enemy… modeled after me, Dire Crowley!

Crowley: Taking everyone’s safety into consideration, my virtual clone’s magical abilities have been limited. Although it is a far cry from my original capabilities…

Crowley: I am Night Raven College’s Headmage, so it is without a doubt that I am strong. Terribly so, in fact, so you’d best be prepared.

Crowley: …Heh. I know what everyone’s thinking. “Even with the limit, the hurdle’s still way too high!” …Right?

Crowley: That’s true. However, if you work hard to overcome this hurdle, your efforts will certainly bear fruit.

Crowley: Well then, steel yourself, for practical training is now in session!

Crowley: Now, show me how wonderfully you’ll all overcome the challenges in this special lesson from yours truly!!!

☪⋆ ────── ⋆⋅☆ 𝔗𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔢𝔡 ☆⋅⋆ ────── ☪⋆

#twisted wonderland #twst translations #Dire Crowley #Night Raven College #translations #Disney #ツイステッドワンダーランド #ツイステ #NRC Magic Assault Practice #NRC魔法実戦授業

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drifloonz · 9 days ago

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Haiiii, can you write a little one-shot or smth about Steven meeting someone online while playing video games and he maybe just starts to get attached to this online persona and then he finds out they're going to his town for vacation and he just

loses his mind

hi guys im actually replying to age old asks for once Can YOU BELIEVE IT !?!? [ i cant either ]

i got inspiration to write although probably temporary so YAYYY

anyways remember that one persona 3 social link . What if it was good and also not weird and groom-y and also Steven Was There. thats basically the gist of it

steven x reader ( meeting via online games )

_____

♡ steven wasn't one to go outside much. especially nowadays. this is something he knew intimately- mostly because he lives in his own body, as much as he wished he didn't on most days.

♡ so, when he isn't rotting in bed, and on the rare days he has energy to actually do anything, an old tucked away hobby slowly emerges in his long self-isolation.

♡ the computer still works. it's honestly a surprise, he hasn't checked the thing probably... since then. he was on it just before it happened. arceus. it was so long ago now.

♡ either way, with a bit of frustration he gets it set back up again. he played more on consoles, but... pcs have less limits. he could at least distract himself from his endless self-induced misery.

♡ and for some reason, his internets still running. he doesn't pay the bill - that was usually what [̸̻̂ ̸̻̿Ṁ̶̢̈ Į̵̼͊͒ Ḳ̸̛̀ È̶̖̋ ̸̡͊ͅ]̷͍̠͊̔ did. he doesn't pay much attention to why though- just assumes nobody ever wants to even slightly touch anything related to him. some part of him takes a pride in being feared by most of kanto. an old part of him, seated deep in his mind feels awful about it. absolutely awful.

♡ anyways, these are headcanons about steven and you meeting eachother through some online games remember when it was about that. yea . anyways.

♡ it's all he does nowaday if he ever has energy to do literally anything. his computer - a clunky desktop - is a real outdated model. but how would he even get a new one? so, he sticks to what he has. one day if he ever finds a way to, having a much more modern sort of laptop would be nice. a good distraction.

♡ whatever he's playing is probably outdated, old, for lack of a better term archaic. he honestly prefers it that way- leaves him room to breath, able to be not overwhelmed by swarms of people who could possibly find him, talk to him - talking to people scares him. he'd have to process... a lot of things if he did. smaller communities to deal with. more homey. he can interact whenever he wishes. people aren't in his face unless he wants them to be. it's nice.

♡ plus, it's a little nostalgic. he used to mess around lightly with these sorts of games. internet isnt a common thing to have, especially not in pallet of all places- but, as time passed, the tech improved. not that he has any of it other than an outdated pc model. hell, he might still have to use some AOL type of thing.

♡ it's nice. he misses playing them, so he tries to make it a thing he does on some sort of schedule, when he doesn't feel miserable. when he wants to award himself for not giving up entirely on his life yet. despite basically already doing that given the isolation, but ... it's a slow step forward either way.

♡ he only talks in the chat to ask questions. mostly because the internet is serviceable, but slow and inconsistent- googling things is not a learned skill of his. asking help isnt something he likes to do ( hell, look at him after he lost miki - although it's a bit different when everyone looks at you like a miserable stray animal ), especially given he doesnt like talking ever, but its kind of his only option that makes sense. plus, people don't actually know him... that's a plus.

♡ and, there's a specific player that talks to him a lot. helps him through things. is overly helpful. it's almost annoying. ... well, moreso overwhelming. it's hard to know what he properly feels when he hasn't been socialized in a while- everythings like that, especially with this person.

♡ he warms up to it slowly though. they are pretty helpful. it's nice. sometimes they'll give him free weapons or armor too. not extraordinarily overpowered, but enough to let him drift by the earlier game, which he appreciates. he says he'll find a way to pay them back someday.

♡ weeks into months into more months of keeping up a schedule. part of him barely cares about the game anymore. he's gotten a lot of progress, not much to do other than grind in these old games at this point.

♡ he knows a lot of things about you at this point. favorite color, your pokemon, what you like to do, your hobbies... he didn't offer much in ways of conversation, but he's always been a very good listener, according to people who he used to know back then.

♡ you're a very passionate person. it kind of draws him in. he tries to be more open with himself in turn, although still being very closed off and secretive due to just the nature of. well. everything about his situation. he doesn't lie about basically only sleeping and doing this all day though.

♡ they said that it sounded sad, but they knew how it felt, being in a similar ( although not nearly as extreme ) situation. he simply agreed.

♡ part of him knows he comes back not for the game, but just to see you. this part of him will never be willingly acknowledged by him.

♡ ... that is until during one of their talks about real life ( more often once steven had stopped being able to really engage with the game in any interesting way, usually he'd just lend an ear and maybe reply a few times in between... small, but short conversations. they had heart to them, able to talk about their life, interests, and struggles passionately. he admired that. ) they mentioned going to kanto.

♡ this makes him go insane even though he knows it really, really shouldn't. they would never even see him. nobody even knows he exists, practically. nobody even remembers he exists either. but.. part of him wants to see someone. someone he kind of knows, even if not all too deeply, it's still some form of personal connection. more than he's had in ages, and genuine, too.

♡ but the idea of seeing someone he met on the internet scares him far more than it has any right to. and also saying that he also lives there and wants to see them would be weird. extraordinarily weird. stranger danger.

♡ still, he has to mention it right ... ?

♡ blankly, he just replies something along the lines of "oh. i live there."

♡ the conversation coasts by pretty quickly from there, steven just kind of dissociating the way through as the person on the other side of the screen says they didnt know he was kantonian, getting excited themselves seemingly about the prospect of 'maybe seeing him in passing at the shop' as a joke. that sentence terrifies him and also makes him feel other things he doesn't want to process.

♡ he does not have the heart to tell them he would never be seen dead in public nowadays. outside of a few... rare, specific instances. when he was younger after everything, mostly. everything he did back then was for her. it isn't now because he gave up. he knows she isn't really there, won't really be back properly ever.

♡ good fucking god this is depressing just thinking about it. why does this person like him so much? he's just... sad.

♡ in his dissociative haze, he blinks 3 times. looks back at the screen. something along the lines of "well, if you wanted to see me you could've just said so ;P" . it's very cute. and also terrifying to his very unsocialized mind.

♡ oh my god. he scrolls up the messagelog just a bit. did he reply "that'd be nice" to the shop thing???? what the fuck is wrong with him. he must've been on autopilot. it's. .. not a lie, but, this is a lot for him.

♡ still he answers truthfully.

♡ and here he is. a week or so later awkwardly lying in bed, knowing this- stranger feels both right AND wrong to call them. he does like them, but, he doesn't... know them. not in real life. he knows what goes on in their real life, but is that enough?

♡ they did tell him pretty personal things. he listened to them when no one else seemingly would. fuck. he doesn't want to let them down. but also maybe it'd be better if they didn't meet? he's not a good rolemodel. not anymore. very unkempt as a person too. he did at least try to clean himself up a bit before this. he looks the same as usual, just a bit .. more organized.

♡ is it clear he barely has any experience with talking to other people online because he was raised in a very small town and had a lot of people around him, because. Yea.

♡ what if he ruins everything. what if he ruins another thing he had because of how he is. what if they immediately get scared and run off? he is abnormally tall, and, last he checked most normal people get scared of him immediately.

♡ this anxiety is not helping him. it's... one person. he doesn't want to ruin it. but if he keeps his cool, maybe it'll be fine? he's trying really really hard to be composed about all of it on the surface.

♡ they agreed to meet. not at his house. although it's where he lives ( or moreso rots away ) and does anything, forcing himself to go outside to at least meet them at a route or a street or on some... bench, would probably be preferable. plus, not that many people. ( 'never seen dead in public', huh steven? it's funny now. this person does things to him. it's... honestly nice. to want to see someone so badly. even if it doesn't go well, it's more of an experience then the mindnumbing isolation. )

♡ he gets on his usual attire, despite the odd looks from others he might get for it,

♡ and so, he goes.

____

thank you for requesting ^_^ enjoy the cliffhanger and Imagine whatever u want in ur hearts desire . the rare inspo to write hit me ig lol - wispy

#wispy writes #steven strangled red #strangled red x reader #steven strangled red x reader #writing this after watching wayneradiotv play like. fucking meridian 59 or whatever makes me think steven would be playing some shit like #that bc its OOOOOLD . I joke ab him playing league but he literally has an old clunky desktop pc that is not made for games.#that or some runescape-esque game. old mmos either way #this is not very personal or x readery and more of an introspective type of hc post more in stevens perspective #so . Oops! Its all Stevens Thoughts !

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inventors-fair · 25 days ago

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Rooms of Improvement: Commentary

Whuh... Where am I? I stumbled through so many rooms with no exit, ran out of time, ran into even more time, ran up and down the staircases until I didn't know whether I was going up OR down... I closed doors to rooms I know I'd never been inside, and found myself on the other side of doors I never remembered closing...

Well, might as well talk about some of those rooms. Overall, I'd say that I'm pleased as punch with how everyone did in the end. Imaginative rooms were combined with new/old/relevant tech and everything felt pretty damn fresh! Enchantments and rooms almost feel incongruous, but what else would they be, artifacts? It's interesting to think about their role in the game and how they are on Duskmourn as a plane; they're essentially nightmarish visions of the residents. But not everything has to be intangible, right? Enchantments as representations are super weird. I feel that rooms are the type that really speaks to how much you have to suspend your disbelief about what a room "is" in order to fully immerse yourself.

This is all preamble, though, and there ain't much we can do about it now except talk about the cards on a card-by-card basis. If you see something marked JUDGE PICK, it means that the card is notable in a way I wanted to point out to commentary readers and/or it was really close to the podium but we only have so many slots. Let's run through all these rooms right back the way we came...

@cthulhusaurusrex — Abandoned Queue / House of Mirrors

I'm struggling a little bit to find the flavor connection between the queue and the deathtouch counters. The carnival aspect is quite interesting, though, and I like the nuanced link with the carnival theme, e.g. the sameness of a queue's monotony and turning everything into an assembly line vs. the reflections of a house of mirrors that trap a victim in its sameness. And I also understand the deathtouch-to-pinging part of it that's supposed to be a cute connection with the destruction. Is it worth it to put the counters on your opponent's things, though? I'd argue not, not in the long term.

Still, the concept of getting the two-in-one that could potentially kill your opponent's board is respectable in concept. Where I feel this card misses the mark is the drawback between intent and execution. Putting deathtouch counters on your own creatures is an excellent way of getting aggression in. If you've already put the counters on and your opponent has no creatures, though, the House (if unlocked) will kill your own board. The choice of the Queue either fails to account for the House or asks that the House do more than the drawback of putting counters on your opponent's creatures will allow. Selective targeting could make for strong strategy, but it's not the kind of effect that can be utilized without a lot of agonizing over choices that are ultimately not worth the risk.

@helloijustreadyourpost — Casino Floor / Manager's Vault

I think that some of the single notes got cleared at time of writing, so I'm gonna go off of vibes and say that this is a New Capenna-based card? The final verdict is that this card's really sweet with a whole lot of power on the Casino Floor side that makes me want to up the cost of it for sure. Looting every turn—especially optional looting—is far more powerful in some decks than others, and if you can get it off then you're in for a wild ride. Getting your worst cards swept away as early as turn two (and then on and on) in limited? Hoo boy. It's not advantage strictly speaking, I'll give you that, but it's definitely more than I'd be comfortable with at limited for that cost.

Turn two, drop the Floor, turn three, unlock the Vault and maybe play another card, or you can save your mana for the next turn having discarded a card to the Floor to get a seven-drop that you looted into on turn four. That's kinda nuts. REALLY nuts. Consistent for sure. And I don't think that I hate that play pattern in general but I feel like we should just up the cost of the Floor or change SOMEthing about it to balance this out. Again, I like it a lot, I know that it's good—I have also been burned many a time by early consistency enough that I know when to pump the brakes. Quick note on the flavor, though: I love it, and I like the "two sides of the city's underbelly" vibes that you're going for. Great precedent, great feeling of exploration.

@hypexion — Plague Vats / Necrogen Silo

I'm not sure exactly what format you'd be designing for, but I don't envision any standard set that would have the Room type, proliferate, wither, and Phyrexian mana all on the same card. There are a lot of decent ideas that are going into this card, sure—wither with the Silo before a strategic unlocking of the Vats, and you're good to go. I'm not strictly opposed to the one-off of old mechanics that they've added before, like having wither appear on cards like Massacre Girl from MKM. You're asking a lot more with this mashup than I think would ever be reasonable for a premier set.

I get the gist of the flavor, though, so I'll extend the play feelings to say that it's totally fine for a Phyrexian room choice to have these both in the, uh... Whatever the black sphere was, the Dross Pits? It's been a while since I've really gone into Phyrexian lore again. The Vats are what create the poison, sure, and your creatures use the Silo's feeding tube things to go ham on the counters. As for why the wither part has the Phyrexian mana, that part also confuses me a little, but maybe we don't really need an excuse for cost reductions, I dunno. Still, we've yet to hit the middle ground of appropriate mechanics to premier guidelines. What would be the main ones that would belong in this set, anyway? Curious what you had in mind.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Dressing Room / Center Stage (JUDGE PICK)

"I'M GETTING READY," screams the Questing Beast from the dressing room, hurriedly finding six matching pairs of earrings before you send it out to the spotlight for our opening number of Spamalot! or whatever. Let's be real, this one is just plain fun to get together, and I don't think there was a plane attached but I could see this card on multiple fronts. Bloomburrow could be a funky little community to see squirrels in drag, or maybe it's still Duskmourn where someone is forced into being puppeteered in the spotlight. Eldraine and its players would be just fine, or the glamor of New Capenna, etc. Lots of ways for this card to really shine.

The comparison to Innkeeper's Talent is where we're at right now, of course, but that hardly matters because this card's going a completely different direction. Lure effects aren't the strongest, or at least they don't seem to be against more removal-based strategies. I personally love them, though, and they can really clump a board together to swing in for lethal when you have the opportunity. Having a creature with deathtouch is the funniest option, of course, but after a few turns of getting dressed up, you're good to swing. Maybe this was intended to be more serious. I don't read it that way! I'm getting into the levity of this card and the power that beefing up creatures in both limited and constructed can offer you.

@levelzeo — Forgotten Observatory / Mad-Man's Study

I've been thoroughly impressed with how folks have chosen to expand upon how Rooms can be designed for this contest. Like with this card, having two full-unlock triggers changes how you'd want to use these rooms, the order, what would benefit you, etc. And it makes me want to see what the rest of the room cycle would look like, and it makes me want to design some in this vein myself! And looking at how the Observatory would flow into the Study, how the two doors would answer one or another depending on what you choose to explore first in terms of knowledge... Really neat stuff.

I think there's a small issue in that once they unlock, there's no static ability or reason to keep these rooms around. It turns room functionality into more sorcery-like cards than enchantments in my opinion? I mean that in the sense that once you unlock the rooms, they become permanents with no board functionality, and that's kind of a mechanical feelbad. But there are workarounds, probably. Not sure what they would be but there are potential workarounds. The only other wording tweaks would be with how replacement effects are worded. It can be interpreted in the first room that if it's fully unlocked, you wouldn't surveil because the "instead" would replace it all. The wording could be: "When you unlock this door, surveil 2. Then if this room is fully unlocked, draw two cards. Otherwise, draw a card." (Little clunky, but it's clearer.) For the Study, the only change would be "...create two of those tokens instead."

@melancholia-ennui — Karok Pen / Mulch Heap

I think I like what you've done with the costs here. From RNA and GRN, I was a huge fan of the hybrid-and-multi variable costs, and it works well with targeted destruction vs. life-draw. I guess the fact that the Heap isn't actually hybrid is throwing me off a little bit? Maybe it's supposed to be splashier, but this card can't actually go into just black or just green or those colors; it's a false hybrid. With the complications of the effects themselves, I'm not sure if that was the best choice for how to cost this card. Why limit the perceived variability?

As for the Karok pen, there are a few weird cost-oriented ideas getting thrown around this contest, and while I grok it I don't think that's the way to go. "Unlocking this room costs {2} more unless you've sacrificed a creature or gained life this turn" could've been fine, or you could've just had a sacrifice, or just the life benefit—one of the things instead of both with all that text. Additionally, on the Heap side of things, you really wanna watch out for multiple card draw effects in these colors. Morbid Opportunist is good enough as it is. While this is a five-mana enchantment, landing this card in even a marginally good deck can lead to a massive uptick in card advantage that's hard to come back from. Maybe narrow that down a bit. I feel that this card's a great Witherbloom case, but could be simplified for sure for ease of access.

@misterstingyjack — Explorer's Memorial / Hall of Expeditions (JUDGE PICK)

The ambition is excellent and the card groks to me. I'm seriously torn with the Hall of Expeditions side in a way that I want to talk about first, because I honestly can't think of any other card that's worded like this. And it makes sense to me! I think that ultimately it would flow better if it just triggered without the cost, but like, having that option to pay {3} is a unique and fascinating option to get around the potential for splashing the Hall of Expeditions in other decks. The only other question becomes: is there a cleaner way to word this? And I don't know if there is, or at least I can't think of one off the top of my head. It's honestly fascinating, and a great addition both to Lorehord's ambitions and to a wording arsenal.

And of course, the Memorial is great as well, both for the ability to get things back and trigger various Lorehold things, and just as a limited white card. What was the other one, Silverquill? Silverquill was one of the schools that I liked playing a lot, honestly, but I might've splashed for the Hall if I'd opened this. There's a lot to love about how these ones play together. Impulsive draws are pretty strong and recursion is as well. I think that if we really got back to Strixhaven, rooms would be a good fit. This was a solid choice of card for sure!

@real-aspen-hours — Faulty Airlock / Relic Storage

There is a LOT of text on this card, and as a text submission I can see where things might've gone awry... Both sides would be totally fine as their own enchantments, and together they would be a fine combination. You can already see where the text issues come into play. I don't think I have to speak to the synergy because, as a room, I like both of these. Exiling cards from someone's hand is very fun, and impulsive drawing is fun, and getting to ping from exile-casting is fun as well. Relic Storage especially makes me love playing cards like Bonehoard Dracosaur et. al. because of my main red strategies.

The flavor of the Airlock and Storage together as a sci-fi theme/homage, like the other airlock card in general, hasn't won me over in terms of vibes. At a certain point I actually thought that this was more of a Lorehold card. Frankly, I would've been far more friendly towards it had it been Lorehold-oriented. That doesn't stop this card from being so text-filled that it makes it difficult to defend, though. Each half of this card groks fine by itself, I want to emphasize that. When making Room considerations, the complexity that you put into it (especially if you were looking for two triggers—like, that's asking a lot...) is going to add up to the point where it's best to go back to the drawing board and consider the simplest way to make these interactions viable.

@sparkyyoungupstart — Orchestra Pit / Center Stage

I will give you this: the left side of this card made me giggle aloud and say "alright then." Imagine the kind of power you have to make another person genuinely smile, and then I'll use a similar power to tap the sign that says "Designing For Standard" on it. Goad has, to the best of my knowledge, never appeared in a standard-legal set, because it's an ability designed for multiplayer formats. And I don't think that it's a poorly designed card by any means—in fact, my gut says that this would be an immaculate signpost for a D&D-world-themed draftable Commander Legends kind of set. WR bards as an archetype? Yes, 100%, maybe even Jeskai bards.

Gameplay-wise, I'm a huge exalted fan, of course. Stacking exalted triggers is a joy to behold and adding them up for a big swing is pretty awesome when the bards' power supports one big maestro. The actors all rushing to center stage feel great as a swell in the music compels a group to magically attack, even if they don't have the power of the bards on their side. That's just what being an actor is like, right? Powerful one-use unlocks are a great design choice. If this wasn't a standard contest, then yeah, I'd be more than happy to put you in first chair. I've said my peace about the rest of this card, so let's just stick with the good notes.

@tanknspank — Empty Kennels / Grooming Parlour

I love this silly little implication that Gremlins are more dog-like than anything. I'm also going to assume that this is a common or uncommon room? I'll go with common, honestly. Sorry about not editing in the room rarities there, but that would've been way too much to do with the limited time that I had. I shouldn't even be writing this now, I have to go to work soon! All the same, though, I think this is a perfectly fine multicolored common. Ultimately, I'm glad that Duskmourn didn't go in that direction, because I like the rooms as they are, but if this space was explored, this would probably be the way to do it.

Getting the small tokens to get bigger is just what the RW archetype wants to do, and making some tokens is probably more limited but I'mma go with red aggro variants (sacrifice, maybe?) as the next best place for it. White's been astonishingly powerful this set, and adding some counters has proven to be quite strong. Hasn't this effect on the right been done in another common white room? I'm remembering something similar, but regardless. Flavorfully, of course, this is a really lighthearted card, and I like the fact that unlocking the kennels releases the "hounds." Overall, I think this card is as solid as it needs to be for the archetype, even if it's not the most exciting; I feel that this kind of mechanical space has been explored well enough with rooms, honestly. Still, I'd play it in the multicolor archetypes as they would show up.

@wildcardgamez — Music Classroom / Art Classroom

Look me in the eyes and tell me what the heck is happening here. And, well—I'll be honest, I'm just impressed with how well-formatted this looks for a card that's an absolute menace to get through. Gameplay-wise, this is honestly pretty perfect for spellslinging decks. You get bodies, you get advantage, you can play the long game, it rewards a pure spell-oriented build without taking up space, etc. That part is pretty amazing. Also keep in mind you have a card with three different activated abilities and also three triggers, two of which you have to stack when you Magecraftify them. Do you see where things would get complicated?

I want to emphasize that I want to love this card. I also want to emphasize that it's a card that would probably never be printed because of the thousand things that it does. Like, I'd play this in one of my Pioneer decks immediately, slot it in, 100%. I'd first-pick it in a limited pool. But it's far too complex for isolated design. I don't think there would necessarily be a way that I'd want to change it, too, and that's another issue that affects me personally! Well—no, okay, there are a few wording things on the right side. For one, you can just say that the Elemental token is "with haste" instead of giving it temporarily. For two, the second activation should be "until end of turn," which is...a lot of text, yeah, but it's necessary. The last thing that I'll be a grump about is the fact that the names are not very interesting at all. Yeah, the "class room" pun is very funny, but c'mon, they deserve better than just "Music Classroom" and "Art Classroom." How could you jazz those up without painting broad strokes?

@xenobladexfan — Expansive Library / Secret Bunker

We're in a little bit of a pickle here. I like the flavor of the Library, but don't see its mechanical applications on Duskmourn for the survivors there. I also like the mechanics of the Bunker, but want to tweak them a little to be slightly more useful. And together, I don't think these halves necessarily feel cohesive. What does one side do for the other necessarily? Not every room has to go hand-in-hand, of course, so I'll give you card advantage as a good enough reason for the Library to have its tutelage. Turn three, you can do whatever you need, maybe cast an Eerie survivor of sorts.

The Bunker makes me want to tweak it a lot by itself. Having creatures be hexproof and indestructible upon entering only matters if your opponent has instant-speed removal that they want to fire off on the turn that something enters, and that's not strong enough of a delay to justify that. Maybe it also works with haste creatures, whatever—that's not relevant here. I think one option could be: "As long as it's not your turn, tapped creatures you control have hexproof and indestructible." It plays into the Bunker theme of hidden creatures staying hidden. Maybe it doesn't even need to grant indestructible? I think that it might unfortunately get too much into the Wandering Rescuer's space, but that's just one option. Either way, I wish there was an elegant marriage of these rooms. Making me think and tinker, though—that's still signs of strength!

@yd12k — Hidden Grave / Compost Bin (JUDGE PICK)

This card is garbage. Yummy! There's some world with Saprolings, of course, but which world would have one that's also got... In the middle of this sentence I remembered the Golgari. Right! So that's settled, maybe, unless you had something else in mind. I think that if we do go that route, I like the dial flavoring wherein you could have a Hidden Grave that belongs to the Dimir and a compost bin that belongs to the good old Selesnya, but the combination results in a Golgari-themed card that plays into multiple strategies across the guilds. That kind of smoothness is super cool to me.

Sometimes the text variability is a little jarring, but edict effects plus self-mill effects that could trigger off of the sacrifice work so well together. I feel that the "If you do" could've been replaced with an "and" and a continuation of the sentence, with the milling just contingent upon whether or not you exiled something, an "if you can't" down there instead of "Otherwise." Maybe that would be a little more complicated, I'd have to ask players who are less grokable-oriented. This still groks, FWIW, in a fantastic way, and I think that this is an overall smooth-as-granite card. It feels cohesive, fantastical, centered, and you love to see how it works together. Great job overall!

@yourrightfulking — Singing Chapel / Echoing Mausoleum

I think that I like this card overall, kind of. The symmetry is reasonable, if a little bit predictable. The adjective "Singing" is throwing me off. The ability, though, is really great for a rare, and these abilities are pushed without being too crazy. A 2/2 every turn can be awesome for sacrifice effects, and the two of these abilities feed into each other in ways that are absolutely nasty. Is it too much? Unlocking the Mausoleum first then getting into the Chapel is the right strategy for sure—so much so that I think the black side should be on the left, honestly.

I'm not a huge fan of the double mana symbols on both of these cards. You want them to be able to trigger together, and they're not so highly costed that it's okay to be stuck on one for a while. Having the more powerful Mausoleum be BB and the Chapel being, like, 3W could be reasonable to me? I want to play both halves of these cards together in my Innistrad limited Aristocrats deck. I want the ability to do that smoothly. This card currently makes me unable (most likely) to do that with a one-two turn basis despite the low costs. Argh! But that's an easy fix by getting the costs evened out to what they need to be, and then you're in for a massive rare clock, which is exactly what this card wants to be. I think I'm giving this card a tentative thumbs-up because it's so close to being exactly how I'd want it to work on-board.

There we go! Have fun revealing this week. @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #commentary #room contest

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jillianfahey · 6 months ago

Text

Bad Batch Crosshair - Modern AU (Realization)

I was at work today thinking what would Crosshairs reaction be to realizing that he was in love with Lyni. Thinking of with their friendship he has stopped sleeping around, quit smoking and has a few drinks to unwind one of those would go insane again. In a nutshell, he gets drunk out of his mind.

************************************************************************

Looking at the six cups in front of him Crosshair motioned for another. Someone beside him was feeling his chest and shoulders murmuring about having fun, but he shook them off. It wasn't Lyni.

****

FIve more drinks in and the people around him finally realized that he did not want company. So when someone sat down beside him he turned to glare at them. Only to see, "Tech?"

His twin brother was merely looking at the collection of glasses critically, "You have gone over your usual limit." Looking him in the eye, "What is wrong?"

Crosshair whispered the answer but saw that Tech couldn't hear him. Then he spoke louder, "I'm in love with Lyni."

To his surprise Tech answered, "Yes, that was obvious." Motioning to the drinks and the bar around them, "How this was going to help is not."

Groaning into his hands, "I don't know either." Then feeling talkative because of the alcohol, "I guess i'm just doing what I always do when someone can understand me well." Swirling his latest drink in hand, "Run away from the connection."

Looking over he saw that Tech was typing on his phone before hearing a ping in his pocket, "I have sent you a list of ways knowing Lyni has improved your life." Moving on to the next thing, "I believe that they should be considered before abandoning your friendship with her."

Smiling at how his brother showed him support, "Thanks Tech." Setting down the unfinished drink, "I'll pay up and we'll head home."

"That is not necessary," Tech answered without looking up from his phone. As Crosshair tuned to him, "I have already paid and am merely waiting for you to be finished." With an almost amused chuckle Crosshair tapped his twins arm and they left the bar.

*****

The next morning Crosshair groaned as he woke up. Pain from his hangover was lancing though him as he turned from the light that found ways to poke though the window. His eyes fell on a bottle of water and a note in unfamiliar handwriting.

Picking it up he squinted to read, I came by to see how you were but Tech said you had a rough night. I hope you didn't get sick because of me. I hope that you feel better soon. - Lyni

Then there was an additional note at the bottom, P.S. I brought some croissants from the cafe. I told Wrecker to leave some for you, hopefully he listened. Either way please eat something. -L

A smile broke over Crosshair's face as he gently touched her name on the note. As well as the request that he eat something. Drinking the water he knew he couldn't just walk away from his friend. He would be there for her and the twins until the day he died.

************************************************************************

So, there you have it. Cross would go on a bender before Tech, his twin would pull him out of it.

#the bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb #the bad batch crosshair #crosshair x oc #crosshair the bad batch #the clone wars #tbb tech #the bad batch tech #tech bad batch #tech the bad batch #Crosshair x Lyni #tech and crosshair #tech and cross are twins

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bonesandthebees · 3 months ago

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Hey! Trying to get better at writing and honestly I thought World Forgetting was great! You dont have to answer this but what were some of the things you thought didn't work structurally?

aw thank you I'm so glad you enjoyed!

(first, this is not me asking for anyone to send me a ton of reassurance or fishing for compliments. these are just problems I have with my story from a writer's POV. don't worry about me, I know there's a lot of good stuff in the story. I just try to analyze my own writing objectively when I can to try and improve my skills)

now it's kind of hard to put all of my thoughts about my issues with WF into words, but I'm going to try so prepare for a lot of rambling under the cut

I think the most glaring structural issue is pretty much the entirety of the third act. it feels very rushed for everything that gets introduced in such a short span of time (for the record, when I refer to the third act I mostly mean all the plot events that follow after ch 12, when wilbur brings tommy to las nevadas and he nearly escapes only to choose to willingly stay)

everything past this just feels very... messy to me. we get introduced to the rest of the syndicate—Minos (Sam), Rhadamanthus (Puffy), and Aeacus (Ponk) and also get confirmation that Lethe and Styx are Ranboo and Tubbo respectively. then the only time Sam, Puffy, and Ponk feel even somewhat plot relevant again is when Hannah shows up at the sbi house and the syndicate has a whole meeting discussing wtf to do now. after that those three sort of just... disappear.

I was so caught up in trying to finish the story at the time that I didn't really care too much about it, but in retrospect that's always bothered me. why did I introduce Sam, Puffy, and Ponk in such a cool dramatic way if I was barely going to use them? Ponk at least has a function for being present in the story—they are the Syndicate's healer, which is undeniable proof to Tommy that the Syndicate didn't kidnap him for his healing abilities because they already had a healer. I mean, of course it's obvious why I threw them all in, it's a fanfic and sometimes you want to include every character you can even if they're not really serving much of a purpose. which is totally fine and there's nothing wrong with that, but for my longer stories that's not a crutch I personally like to fall back on. if I introduce characters in a way that makes them feel like they'll be important, I want to pull through on that.

at the same time, there's not really a place for those three in the finale. I needed to limit the amount of heroes and villains involved in the big final roof battle because if not I'd drive myself insane trying to write that many characters in a single scene at once. if I really wanted to fix that, the easiest and probably best way to be killing my darlings a bit. cut puffy out entirely (sorry puffy), mention that Sam is Minos solely because his tech manipulation power is necessary for tommy to get kidnapped in the first place but specify he's mostly retired, and probably mention Ponk in a similar position as not really being part of the syndicate but acting as their healer anyway.

also, I was in a tricky spot where I feel like there should've been more at least a bit more downtime between the syndicate meeting -> tommy confessing to wilbur he actually does have his memories -> hannah showing up and telling them about dream's plan -> tommy letting himself get taken by punz so he can confront dream. it feels very rushed to me, but at the same time the fic was already so long and there wasn't a need to drag it out even more, so that's why it's tricky for me to parse.

oh, and there are still issues before ch 12. one of my biggest weak points in world forgetting is how much time we spend with tommy just being trapped in the house/in his room. of course it makes sense, he's kidnapped. but it makes the story feel very stagnant that we don't get to see virtually anywhere else for such a huge chunk of the story as tommy works out his memories. tbh a lack of location variation is a weak spot in a lot of my fics. world forgetting isn't the worst example though. that award would probably go to stars, as much as I love the story I can recognize that it's pretty dumb that they virtually never leave phil's palace for the entire fic. but that's a ramble for another day. basically, even though there was a lot of emotional development going on for that chunk of WF, there's basically no real plot development. so that bothers me too.

also, while I really like the first act of world forgetting when tommy is still with dream and think it's the most solid, I do think it drags on for a few too many chapters. probably could've cut it down a bit.

#ask #anon #world forgetting

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qilingxiong · 1 year ago

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hi ash, i think i may have asked this before, but from one asian diaspora to another, i was wondering how, if you're able to, you keep up with your chinese practice in a country that's dominated by english (and/or french canadian since ik you live in canada). bc i know a lot of suggestions are like turning your tech to the language you want to learn, put sticky notes on objects with the name in the language you want to learn, etc. but like. i feel like it doesn't matter how much i try and practice bc i'm not in a class, so i don't get it consistently enough, and the rest of my day is filled with english bc, well, that's my first language, and what is needed for my job and every day living. do you have any recs, strategies, or tips? i'm getting desperate; i used to be so much better than i am now. thanks!

hi! honestly, most of my chinese upkeep since i stopped taking mandarin classes (which tbh was relatively recent; this april, and then i'll be taking a cantonese class next term so i can learn to read it) has been a lot less I Need To Practice My Chinese through exercises or dedicated study time, and more just making sure i have frequent exposure to the language that i'm also engaged in. which is a long way to say that basically c-media is how i'm maintaining my proficiency.

i listen to music, i watch dramas and variety shows, look up other vids on bilibili that catch my interest, sometimes read articles, and (very slowly) read fanfic, with pleco open to note new words. just generally scrolling through chinese social media has helped too. having that environment i can immerse myself in helps me learn new vocabulary and practice using what i already know + listening skills, but it also doesn't feel like work or study, just dealing with things i like and am interested in. (this is important for me because i'm so exhausted when i get home every day lmao, if language upkeep outside of class felt like additional Student Time i might have tapped out on attempting it. this way turning on a c-drama at the end of the day just seems like relaxation first and then chinese exposure on top of it).

just by poking through c-drama or fandom things, i know my vocabulary has definitely expanded since i finished my last class, instead of shrunk. even though i watch c-dramas with english subtitles (or chinese and english depending on the platform), i've still picked up stuff from them, and when it comes to things like variety shows i don't rely on subtitles anymore/make myself not. you absorb a lot more of a language than you think just through exposure, imo. although as a caveat for reading specifically, picking up new characters, recognizing them, and reading has been one of the easier parts of learning chinese for me, when it's probably the inverse for a lot of people. i don't know how well just casually reading things will work as a method for others, ymmv.

the thing that i struggle with is getting opportunities to practice speaking, because it's english in my classes and usually with my friends, and either english or cantonese with my family (and i'm not living with them right now). however, i do have a lot of diaspora friends given that i'm in vancouver, and we occasionally dip into speaking mandarin or cantonese. this isn't perfect, but hopefully in future i'll be able to get more speaking experience somehow. what's also helped me with keeping up pronunciation despite these limits is learning to sing chinese songs. singing is one of my hobbies anyway, so i'll use pinyin or jyutping as a guide (getting better at sightreading characters for singing though!) and it's helped me work on certain sounds i had trouble with, and improved my accent. (watching c-dramas even if i don't speak as often has also aided on that front tbh; i listened to recordings of myself from last year and i sound less canto when i speak mandarin now compared to back then, or even earlier this year).

if you want a place to start that i personally think has helped me maintain chinese proficiency, i would choose a variety show you're interested in and try watching it without english subtitles, when you've got free time and want to do something fun. most will have chinese ones you can use to practice reading along with listening, and people usually speak at a conversational enough level that it shouldn't be too difficult to follow along (for ref, after a year and a half of heritage learner mandarin classes at uni i could watch 《我们的歌》/Our Song without english subtitles and understand most of it). variety shows are also really accessible lmao, so many have full seasons on youtube.

tl;dr it's been media exposure for me all the way down since i left classes, wherever i can get it.

not sure how actually helpful all this rambling might be, but this is what i do to keep up my chinese proficiency and keep learning in daily life nowadays! hopefully maybe you or someone else will be able to get something out of it :)

#sorry anon i hope this all connects i'm answering this late at night oop #you can ask me clarifying stuff if you want tho!#also for those of you who see this and are still building up a basic vocabulary and language foundation/grammar #please do not feel bad or kick yourself that you can't just throw yourself into the deep end on bilibili and learn chinese that way #all this was targeted to answer a specific question and assumes some kind of existing proficiency #i believe in y'all to get there one day tho!!! 努力学习加油吧 #languages #mandarin #chinese #ashton answers #anon

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blindtaleteller · 1 year ago

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Question about medical care in Asgard… I'm talking about a case of Odinsleep/coma. How different do you think caring for a person in a coma would be on Asgard than on Midgard?

Gonna assume you're asking about the MCU as I answer this! 💚

With a Coma/Odinsleep .. Probably not too terribly different in act for the most part IF it's being treated like a regular coma; but incredibly different in aesthetic, and well.. it does get a little more iffy when you're talking about 'Odinsleep' in particular, even with what little we do know from what's shown and said about it on screen which I say by means of examples given, both canon and deleted from it.

Some things definitely do change if you take deleted scenes from Thor 2011 into account in particular though: as one of the things they removed entirely from existence in the cutting room in that movie, was something called 'healing stones.' They actually had two portions of scenes that they shot (one in the hospital after Jane ran him over, and one just prior to the final portion of the fight with the 'Destroyer' in New Mexico.) I'll slap them in here if I can find them out of my giant clips playlist of doom.

Sticking with just the canon though; and specifically with the regular coma treatment first? The first thing you have to take into account is that there are lots of different kinds of comas, and that even Earth-tech wise, some of them are going to be treated a little differently (short, long term, caused by external injury, caused by internal injury, trauma induced are a thing too.)

That said, the first thing we have on display as far as Asgard's medical goes, is something that unsurprisingly is a repeated major portion of their basic lore in the MCU: that they aren't gods; they're an elder race who have been themselves reaching into the cosmos for eons of generations even stretching back to at least near enough to the beginning of their universe well established enough then, to take note of the fact that the Infinity Stones made at the birth of that universe, were not made by either them, or by the other elder races like the Dark Elves, or the even older Tivan brothers: with single generations lasting as long as five thousand years.

Related to that is also the fact that they by the time in their universal timeline we do catch up with them: they are very clearly a warmongering/imperial colonialist society. Even before and likely during them, Odin made a generation of wars horrible enough to be called 'The Great Wars' among the lot that he and apparently Hela (who was clearly full grown --meaning she was anywhere between 20ish and 1000 years herself-- even in her mural depictions,) to spread his version of 'peace' through the removal of what other species he percieved as threats and competition (see Muspelheim, Jotunheim) going so far as to make certain they couldn't rebuild even their capitals.

Why is that important in this conversation? Because that also means including Bor and Asgard's previous generation five thousand years prior to 2013's invasion of the elves; they had been dealing with injury, illness and more among their own resulting from those battles: and yes during those thousands of years of conflict between Bor's crusade, and Odin's: they had lots and lots of extra time to improve both their tech, and any magic along those lines.

Which yes are actually two very different things, though from the looks of it are often interconnected in Asgardian society in particular, unlike on Earth; where medical technology is foremost, and sorcery/magic has been forced basically into hiding by centuries of the many different flavors (both in religion base and name) of Inquisitions on Earth over the course of over a millennia by the time the twenty tens roll around. We also know that they do posses some limited means through technology, of suppressing some magic; but whether or not Asgard in particular has evolved their understanding of sorcery in particular to do so on a magical level is questionable at best given what we've seen between the first two films alone.

Given the blatantly similar societal distaste for most non-combative magic, and even a good portion of combative magic for that matter that's pretty likely not the case: even Thor refers to his mother's skills and knowledge as "tricks." However, that doesn't seem to apply where the "Healer's Hall" inhabitants and actual healers are involved.

Most obvious example of technological vs magic, and those limitations I mentioned above that we have is a pair of scenes in TDW: the Soul Forge in the Healer's Hall vs. Loki's full-room illusions.

Soul Forge (aka Quantum Field Generator:)

youtube

This is also, one of the scenes that continues to show rather than tell, the MCU established facts of their advancement.. and their arrogance around it when dealing with what Asgardians otherwise clearly still consider 'lesser' races under their protection. Quite a contrast to Loki's interactions with Selvig and Barton delivering those two a great deal more dignity and trust in A1 too, while they're building the portal device ...but that's a whole other set of attached social observations and comparisons I'm not gonna get into here. The point of this one is: if there's magic there; they're making it very clear there isn't much of it, and doubling down on that whole 'not gods, only mistaken for them' far more interesting take, on which MCU Asgard was built since the very first movie. (again though, it also displays their arrogance in that direction, as Eir not only treats Jane's inquiry very dismissively; but gets flustered and gap-mouthed [literally] when she positively identifies the diagnostic technology being used. It also is one of the many displays of how differing etymology between cultures in the MCU [yes there are a few, including the Dr. Strange film as another major example of that in particular] is a purposely crafted thing.)

ANYWAY!

Compare that technological, with the feats of sorcery Loki manages in that same film. Not only does he not use tech to manage his magic/sorcery (or 'tricks' as Thor calls it lol).. but he does so behind the locked door of, that same level of technology, in his own prison cell.. and beyond it. While some of the deleted scenes show this too? The final cut certainly wasn't lacking either.

youtube

So, all that said..? And without dipping into the whole discarded-from-canon 'Healing Stone' facet: it's very likely with a normal (or normal-ish lol) coma, that it wouldn't really be that different: just easier to some extent and probably a lot faster to correct any issues with those caused by injury in particular.

However! And most important:

Odinsleep, is something else entirely.

From the first film, we know through dialogue that not only is 'Odinsleep' not a normal coma by any means: it's one that can, has, and with the way they talk about it: SHOULD be induced every so often in order to maintain his health.

Where do we get that and why do I say 'his' in particular?

Because..

1. It is called Odinsleep, which says outright that in the MCU either Odin is a common enough name among Asgardian elder generations to be named as such OR, that it's a practice that belongs solely to Odin in particular.

2. The conversation between Loki and Frigga tell us as much, in their conversation over Odin's bed. (PS I couldn't find the full clip immediately, so I am posting the full uncut scene [with deleted parts] instead. The part that I've marked it to (timestamp 1:06 in the video below if that doesn't work for you) is what you need to listen to most, and was part of the final cut in Thor 2011.

Though the way they cut and rearranged this scene has some of that conversation out of sequence, the information given about Odinsleep remains the same in the much shorter canon conversation.

youtube

Their conversation tells the viewer outright, that not only is that a thing he does regularly, but that it can be planned out and planned for: as they make a point of stating that it's only this time, the Odinsleep was unprepared for.. and, they have seen it enough for Loki's first words to be stating the fact he 'never gets used to seeing him like this' .. meaning? He has seen it enough times that he thinks he probably should be: but also that it's upsetting enough an experience to him, that he isn't.

You'll note that they also briefly discuss the fact that Odin had been putting the Odinsleep off. It was coming anyway and regardless .. and should have happened far sooner.

While it's not technically counted as canon on screen, there's a little more information given directly about Odinsleep in the parts cut out too, if you choose to observe and use them: as well as a more direct showing of what we already know even without that scene of how Frigga chooses to pass the throne to the only heir not currently being guilty of and banished for several counts of treason including restarting the war and disobeying the king in that bed, with Thor's invasion of Jotunheim landing him firmly on Earth with the very obviously earned traitor title.

I'll leave it up to you if you want to watch and or use any of that, and you definitely could; since it's -again- just dialogue telling the viewer what's already known simply by watching the other scenes around it in the canon cut, including and especially the throne room scene where Sif & the Warriors Three request Thor's return, regardless of not only knowing he was banished for treason.. but also having been the others to try to remind and convince him alongside Loki; to NOT commit that treason, prior to him doing it and dragging them along anyway.

All in all, through those scenes; we are given a very clear set of rules and information about Odinsleep either way. Which includes the fact that it can be a form of coma that probably should not be randomly interrupted or the subject brought out of it, where it's apparently necessary for the individual's overall health: but can also be a state in which they might spend the last of their lives.

In that, this also tells us that; there isn't a whole lot that even Asgard's greater technology, or even magic can or should do, to bring someone out of it at all.

And, from the way they do deal with their King going through it even by surprise: we know that there isn't much they can do at all beyond keeping him comfortable and as healthy as possible until the Odinsleep finishes it's course naturally... whether that results in the subject waking up, or possibly, dying.

There's no mention of anyone else going through Odinsleep.. but there's also no mention of whether or not anyone else HASN'T, either.

Either way, that scene alone does show and tell a lot more about Asgard's medical capabilities and some of their limitations too, even as a society that's been at war since before Moses (lol but true, especially counting Odin's dad before him fought the elves for what Odin himself identified as 'Eternities of bloodshed' that didn't end until almost 5k years prior,) even, when cut down to the re-arranged version put down in the film's final cut.

Ultimately, and that said?

I don't think caring for a person in Odinsleep would be different from what we see on screen.

A whole lot of trying to keep them comfortable, undisturbed, and healthy; while wondering and worrying when and especially -if- they'll even wake up.

--Post Script, and a more direct personal example: Incidentally, and if you're curious: I have written Loki as having gone through his own "Odinsleep" in twenty thirteen, in Book Two (Vestibule 1, Universe 8) of my Lokiverse project: GROUNDED. Yes, that underlined bit is both the title and a link directly to where that long fic is posted on AO3, if you're curious how I handled it there. I suggest reading the chapters leading into that segment to understand how that portion of their multiverse got there, but if you want to skip a bit, the Odinsleep sequence itself starts in Chapter Four and ends in chapter Five, and is ultimately among the last of events before a time skip all the way into Civil War's era. It's not the only time the muses use it, but it is currently the only instance I have published.

#Odin #Odinsleep #Asgardian Lore #technology vs magic #medical #medical limitations #the very odd king-coma #Loki #Frigga #Thor 2011 #GROUNDED #Lokiverse references #Vestibule 1 : Universe 8 #post script fic link #MCU #there is the non-canon confirmed bit where: Odin likely konked out on those steps on purpose to avoid further questioning #while it's not technically canon?#I do definitely think that part is HIGHLY and incredibly likely

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script-a-world · 7 months ago

Text

Submitted via Google Form:

For a backstory, I have a group of people were stranded on an deserted island on a unknown planet. From there, over the course of thousand years, they built up their own advanced society.. But the thing is, if it was a deserted island.. and that does mean no trade, no nothing. They have ventured off to explore nearby places but found nothing but the same - deserted islands. They have met no one else until now, and now is where my story begins - finding out there actually aren't alone and there are people who just found them. But exactly how would they become an advanced society if there isn't much on the islands. The only thing they brought with them was a broken down spaceship they took apart - which is a limited supply of advanced tech to repurpose.

Tex: I suppose it’s a fine line between what constitutes an island and what constitutes a continent, but a lack of land-based resources (trees, agriculture, mining) would probably be a good dividing line. If the people on your island are not able to mine, then consequently they will have a finite amount of mined resources such as metals, silicon, etc. Because of that, their ability to institute an industry based upon these materials (smithing, etc) will be inherently stunted and requiring trading of either raw or finished materials in order to have something to work with. Provided your definition of an advanced society is a technological society, then yes, they would need the materials for developing electronics in order to be technological. If they cannot have the copper for wiring, the silicon for chips, and the plastic for motherboards and housing units, then they will not be able to construct computers, much less anything else that would create a technological framework (i.e. internet).

So either your proverbial garden of Eden has enough built-in materials to be repurposed to last for several generations, or there are an unknown amount of people that know about this island’s existence where rapport and trade can be established. Otherwise, an advanced society is not possible.

Wootzel: For your people in your story, “advanced” might look a little different compared to people who have access to all of the resources that Tex mentioned. I’m building off of the assumption that they do not.

I think that maintaining knowledge would be the key factor. If these people don’t have any way to communicate with other societies, but they do have some form of knowledge base at their disposal, they can still benefit from a lot of scientific advances even if their ability to create technology is limited. If there are some components of their spaceship’s computer system that still function, and they are able to maintain power to the computer system, it’s totally reasonable to expect them to have access to a massive amount of information. Just as an example, all of the text of all of the articles in the English Language Wikipedia, compressed, is less than 23 GB. Most cell phones could store that nowadays, so as long as they have access to SOME kind of computer system, it’s reasonable to think they could maintain some kind of digital encyclopedia. As of 2023, all of Wikimedia Commons (which stores all images, video, sounds, etc used by wikipedia) takes up about 428 terabyes. That’s an absolutely massive amount of storage by today’s standards, but if a spaceship’s encyclopedia was curated much more carefully, it’s reasonable to expect the amount of storage needed for reference images and sounds to be much lower. Even if it wasn’t reduced at all… I wouldn’t personally bat an eye about a large spaceship having that much storage in its systems.

For the matter of keeping computer systems functional for a thousand years, without losing everything to the electronics degrading, see Addy’s first suggestion…

As for why the knowledge is so important, think about how many life-improving scientific advancements we benefit from that weren’t known just 200 years ago. Even without any special technology, public knowledge of germ theory is such a massive boon to public health. Having information on hand about engineering, biology, etc, would mean that even if there isn’t anyone in the initial group who has that knowledge and skill, there’s greater opportunity for people to learn later on without having to start from scratch. This has the potential to make their advancement faster, if and when they get access to more materials.

Addy: Maybe they could have some kind of mine or matter rescrambler? It's a spaceship, so there's sci-fi. There could be limitations to the complexity of the things that the matter rescrambler could make, but it could be plenty to get them some equipment for deep-sea underwater mining going, plus maybe some machinery for textiles, factories, etc.

Also, there's a huge difference between an archipelago and a series of desert islands. Do you have plants and wildlife, or is it just sand upon sand? Sand isn't much of a resource for making advanced materials. There's deep-sea mining, but that requires its own level of tech to actually get to (plus matters of ceramics, polymers, etc, and then also issues with wildlife).

#google submitted #technology #planets

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