#i may or may not be in crisis mode

[kasarian]

im glad to be friends with one person who at least gets me and is so very patient with me even tho we dont talk much bc of timezones because if not i wouldve been worst off. recently been reaffirmed again and again that the world will keep blaming me for things i never did and will nitpick me of my mistakes because i forgot left something a mess after my routine of cleaning consistently or something like that.

[onyxmistkes]

LITERALLY SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR THE TOP DRAWING LIKE HOW DID I EVEN DO THAT???

the second image is so messy and my hands have lost the ability to transfer my mind's image onto the canvas because I apparently used up all my skills on the illustration part but I still wanted to draw this interaction and arhgHHHGBHJBNIJNJIK

I did not expect Marvel x DC (specifically Spiderman x Batfam) crossovers to be my new obsession but here we are

If you're looking for a good read I would highly recommend Existential Crisis Mode written by @luciaintheskyainthi!!! The writing is beautiful and the character interactions are pure gold :D

[mxtxfanatic]

There’s something very tragic about the first king of Yong’an, Lang Ying that I feel both reflects Xie Lian in his almost-corruption era and also serves as a lesson for Xie Lian during his second banishment era.

Lang Ying loses his wife and young son to the drought in the city of Yong’an, only to be faced with the cruelty of the Xianle court who would rather preserve themselves and their status than help their suffering citizens. Xie Lian is the only noble to help him (by preventing Qi Rong from arresting him for stealing coins from a fountain, offering the man water, helping him bury his son, and then offering him his priceless pearl earrings that Xie Lian had used in the ill-fated Lantern Festival parade), and in return Lang Ying leads the Yong’an refugees in overthrowing the nation of Xianle and installing the nation of Yong’an over its ashes, the drought long over. In this ironic twist, Xie Lian breaking with the Xianle nobles to save Lang Ying’s life caused Xie Lian to lose his kingdom and loved ones, reversing their positions from beloved prince and impoverished commoner to beloved king and banished commoner. Now, they’ve both experienced a mirrored tragedy, though with different causes.

You’d think this would be a story of a man getting his due after experiencing injustice at the hands of the precious kingdom’s rulers, but no. Lang Ying is not satisfied with this takeover; he feels guilty. When Xie Lian goes to kill him, he still has the red pearl earring Xie Lian gave him. He tells Xie Lian that he always wanted to thank him for having given it to him, even if the help had come too late. This is also not the story of a man exacting vengeance for having his kindness repayed with “treachery.” Yes, Xie Lian in that moment was caught up in how Lang Ying seemed to have lived a “good life” and died relatively peacefully, but in later refusing to demolish the original city of Yong’an after realizing the error of following resentment, I feel like Xie Lian was at least partially influenced by Lang Ying’s death.

Lang Ying became king of a new kingdom, but he never got his wife and son back. In fact, his unwillingness to move on from the past, his regrets and fears and resentment, led to him (willingly!) being infected by the Human Face Disease. Yet on some level, he knew his thirst for vengeance—particularly in destroying the life of the one man who tried to help him—led to him being puppeteered by an even greater monster and having to forsake the part of him that wanted to repay a young man’s kindness. He didn’t die a proud king; he died a broken man filled with regrets. Xie Lian could have very well followed this same path: never releasing his regrets and resentment of what led to the fall of Xianle, always chasing those former pleasant memories by disgracing your morals in the present, and eventually being deposed by a victim of his actions. He consciously chooses not to.

Xie Lian is able to learn the lesson Lang Ying wasn’t given the chance to, and in doing so, he breaks out of the cycle of vengeance that Jun Wu was attempting to manipulate him into. I feel like his interactions and history with Lang Ying, as a result, would be good sources of heavy reflection and inspiration for his actions in his second banishment and third ascension.

[riheinorn]

botw/totk link will forever be so special to me. the dichotomy of the feral little goblin kid that eats rocks and builds hyrule's first korok roller coaster, and the incredibly scary person who can best 5 lynels at the same time in less than 30 seconds combined is just. chefs kiss. yes he's both. he can be so silly people will straight up think he's joking when he says his name is link because no one expects the hero of hyrule to look Like That and catch lizards with his mouth. But then also in the same vein when he has to get serious, he WILL become an unstoppable force that can singlehandedly fight off an entire horde of monsters, and none who see him do that will ever doubt him ever again.

Link woke up with nothing after resting for a long time (TWICE EVEN), disoriented, immediately used some random sticks he found somewhere and in his hands, they turned into the deadliest sticks in the continent. He dives off cliffs and opens the paragilder 0.005 seconds away from landing head first on the ground. He (kinda) brushes off [the beginning of totk], multiple assassination attempts and Ganon's special troops meant to destroy him specifically. The Yiga clan are so bad at even getting a dent into him they look like comedic relief, while to the regular people in Hyrule they're deadly and terrifying, especially to the Sheikah. He won't die. He is Hylia's specialest little cockroach.

he's also absolutely shredding it on a shield like crazy. the people at the stables have an internal bet going on what type of definitely-not-horse Link will try to register next. last week it was a bear. next week it's the satori he "just found somewhere". someone once saw him fall out of a tree and he immediately tried to stuff 5 apples into his mouth. he jumps into every well he finds.

[age-of-moonknight]

“Soldier,” Vengeance of the Moon Knight (Vol. 2/2024), #3.

Writer: Jed MacKay; Penciler and Inker: Alessandro Cappuccio; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[quasieli]

I feel a little more alive today. I reached out to a crisis text line last night (just for any sort of guidance) and it did actually help a bit. I got some resources for job search and low cost therapy, and funny enough, the person I was talking to was also named Elijah. They were nice and I'm glad I spoke to them. It felt weird at first but talking did at least help distract me enough for my brain to settle down a bit. So thanks from one Elijah to another.

[indiegame]

i was supposed to move shit and do plant things but honestly i'm just drained

[highwayphantoms]

well

everything's gone to shit, as usual

happy fucking birthday to me.

[mesetacadre]

(sorry in advance for the more personal ask, you're the most intelligent person i know of when it comes to these things)

genuinely, how are we supposed to find the strength to go on? it feels like capitalism has won. only a few decades ago my country was openly and proudly socialist, and now we're nothing but an american military base with an economy. everything's been privatised, the unions are broken, the people are starving, and we keep voting for more of this! people are gleefully begging for yet more exploitation! sometimes it feels there's not a drop of class consciousness to be found in the entire country, and that it's pointless to even hope for change. how can i stay sane?

The class struggle is not a team sport which either side can win or lose. It is a historical and economic process, one that's inevitable. As long as capitalism exists, there will be a social majority of workers it must exploit, alienation will still happen, and a portion of these workers will be aware of this fact. The class struggle is also a long process, one that, most of the time, is imperceptible to the individual in physical and time scale. Only sometimes, it accelerates to dizzying speeds and the conditions necessary for taking power are met. We can talk about victories and defeats, but we can't lose sight of the fact that those "only" are points in time, momentaneous advances or retreats in the process that is the class struggle, but they never mean the paralization of this process.

We can only really talk about the bourgeoisie taking power and creating the first properly capitalist states in the late 18th century and early 19th, but the bourgeoisie had lead or taken part in attempts at or glimpes of revolution as far back as the early 16th century. The bourgeoisie never really had an unifying theory of the class struggle, most were never really fully conscious of it. But they still eventually took power, once the development of the national economies advanced so far that it forced the replacement of the feudal mode of production, the bourgeois revolutions became inevitable. Marx and Engels only ever saw one real attempt at the proletariat taking power, in the Paris Commune of 1871, but it only ever lasted a few months. They both were long dead when the first actually (relatively) long-lasting instance of the proletariat in power broke the oppressor classes' veneer of invincibility.

When Marxists talk of inevitability it is not in a conspiratorial manner, or an expression of satisfied optimism, we never mean that "one day the capitalists will get what's coming to them", in a vague way. We mean that, only if communists continue to work towards the revolutionary organization of our class, is a complete overthrow of capitalism inevitable. We should all do an exercise is historical perspective when it comes to analyzing progress, take the Marx and Engels example from the previous paragraph, they never got to see an effective application of their theories. Class consciousness will fluctuate continuously, it always has. The bolshevik party in 1913 had nothing to do with the party that lead the October Revolution, and 8 years after the defeat of the 1905 revolution, I bet many felt like their work was hopeless. My point is that, while the borders of the Communist Party may shrink, grow, or even disappear, and while we might be savagely oppressed, no system of oppression has ever lasted forever.

When it comes to revolutions, there are objective and subjective conditions. The objective we can never control; it's the stability of capitalism, the characteristics of its suprastructure, if there is a crisis or not. The subjective is what's under our control; our own work as communists, the state of the revolutionary party, the degree of influence of communists at the core of the working class. These two sets of conditions interact with one another, with the objective conditions influencing the possibility of development of the subjective conditions much more than the reverse. What makes you hopeless is in part the objective conditions. Capitalism is quite stable right now (though not as much as it ever seems), and, for now, we can't do much about it, because the subjective conditions, the other part of your homelessness, are also very delayed. But these we do have control over, at first very little, but as they improve, the control we have over them also increases. Essentially, friend, all we can do is prepare our class, do our best to gain more workers to our cause, bit by bit, so that once capitalism shows one of its cracks, we can be ready to pry those cracks open and bust the whole system. The Russian soldiers in WW1 were already discontent when the bolsheviks began to agitate up to the trenches, Mao's guerrillas grew to an army taking advantage of the deep fragmentation China suffered throughout the first half of the century, etc.

Once again, class struggle is not a straight line that we move in two directions. It is a complex space. The overthrow of the USSR was a very profound blow to revolutionary organizations all around the world, of course, but the state of communism in general in 1995 was still in a much better position than it was merely 90 years prior. Every defeat also sharpens the tactics and strategies we use. Eastern Europe (where I assume you're from) did use to be socialist, and those worker's states were overthrown. But you are still in a better position than a communist in the interwar period, facing borderline fascistic dictatorship and a future of Nazi-Fascist occupation. They did not have any precedent or much practical experience to learn from, but you do. Every day that we delay work, even in the most hopeless of contexts, is a day more that our grandchildren will have to bear in capitalism, and a day more they're deprived of true freedom and self-government

[luludeluluramblings]

Hiii! Sorry to bother you, but I just had an idea I wanted to share

Idk if you have a name picked out for the baby yet, but imagine if pregnant reader (assuming she has the same, or at least similar backstory to small town reader) named her son Samuel, after her stepfather?(i think that’s his name?) Can you imagine the angst?

(I’m imagining reader doesn’t mention that they picked a name already while pregnant)

Reader has finally started to get closer to the Batfam, things are finally looking up, and sure it may take a while to fully patch the relationship, but things are better. They have a friendly relationship with all the siblings, they called Jason ‘bro’ a week ago (it was sarcastically, but we can skip over that part), reader has even started hugging Bruce recently! (It was one time, and was incredibly uncomfortable)

Reader gave birth, and after an excruciating stay in the waiting room (reader didn’t want any of them in the room until it was over) they are finally able to see her and the new baby boy. Bruce gets to meet his first grandbaby! And it might be the best moment of his life. The little darling in laying on his mamas chest, looking around with big curious eyes, is the cutest thing in the world!

Reader smiles the biggest, proudest smile Bruce has ever seen, and he thinks it’s the prettiest thing in the world. His baby girl and her baby boy. He’s so happy he can feel tears welling up in his eyes!

“What’s his name?” One of the boys asks

“Samuel!”

And suddenly Bruce’s whole world feels like it’s crumbling down around him

That’s his grandbaby. That’s his daughter. Why does some child stealing, no good, piece of crap get the honor of sharing a name with his grandson. How did he manage to wrangle his way into your son’s life, even after dying so. Many. Years. Ago.

Doesn’t reader care about their family, his family? How could they do this to them, to Bruce? Sure their relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was getting better! How could she just spit on that? After everything he has done and is doing for her benefit and safety!

(Meanwhile reader is completely oblivious to his crisis. Sure, reader’s on better terms with the Batfam than before, but they are at best friendly roommates. Reader fully intends to move out as soon as they physically can, and has no issues with the idea of going no contact with all of them (minus Alfred) if necessary)

(Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes! It’s the middle of the night and I’m about to go to sleep) hope you’re doing well 🩷

Yooooooooooo! Lois’s dad was apparently named Samuel, plus that sounds like it could be a Kryptonian name (Sam of House El).

The plastic smile on Bruce’s face when he hears his grandchild’s damn name. If the kid doesn’t get a middle name he is so calling the kid Sammy or Sam, ain’t no way he is calling him by the other man’s name.

Or, he could delude himself into thinking it was after Lois father. Just to cope. Like, no it wasn’t named after your step-daddy. It was just Conner wanting to feel included in the Kent family. (The mental gymnastics are Olympic level here.)

Edit: Wait! It’s Jon’s middle name too. Starting to think we can’t use it. Damn, I should’ve double check. Currently in research mode and fact checking things!

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Spoiler: We might wanna name the kid Samuel because Bruce is going to fuck up really bad and piss everyone off in Part Four. I just gotta get the balls to write it.

[live-laugh-legolas]

FOR UR FELLOWSHIP REQUEST THING maybe the fellowship with an depressed reader? like how each of them would treat the reader (i wanted to go for su1c1d@l but idk if ur chill with it(ONLY IF U WANNA))

Remember that you are not alone so please reach out for help. There are hotlines to call/text if you are struggling, suicidal, or in a crisis

My messages are always open if you want to talk but I am no replacement for professional help and support of your loved ones

The fellowship x depressed!reader

Aragorn:

-He recognizes the signs quickly

-I imagine he’s had his bouts of depression

-He definitely takes a very gentle approach

-Offering a shoulder and an ear

-He’s kinda an unpaid and unlicensed therapist

-He gives lots of tips on how to keep going in your daily life

-For some people depression is kind of a way of life; you have to learn to live with it

Legolas:

-He doesn’t fully understand at first

-To elves, depression is really only experienced after loss

-So to have it chronically is a new concept to him

-He’s remorseful that you feel so low and he knows there isn’t much he can do

-But he will try

-He will force you to get up and out of bed, even if he has to throw you over his shoulder to get you some fresh air

-He will constantly point out little beautiful things to be grateful for; little joys

-Maybe it’s the smell of dawn or crunchy fall leaves

-Or maybe it’s him; he is very insistent that you would miss him most

Gimli:

-I literally love this dwarf so much; he would be such a cutie that you can’t help but smile at him

-Like he is so gentle and patient with you; which is saying something because dwarves are not patient beings

-He isn’t someone who will beat around the bush though; he will very bluntly tell you your worth and why he and everyone else needs and wants you around

-He gets you involved in anything he can

-Is it against your will? Maybe

-But I’ve found I sometimes end up feeling a little better and enjoy the time out even after I’ve bitched about it and my friend had to drag me out of the house by my hair

Boromir:

-Big brother mode is always active so he picks up on your subtle changes very fast

-Maybe even before you do

-He will tell you stuff like “even if you can’t, you must”

-Wether or not you find that helpful or not; just know he’s trying

-His experience with depression is seeing it with his soldiers

-And that’s the sort of thing he tells them so he just kinda hopes can be applied to you

-He is very action oriented; I think he may have a difficult time sympathizing with not feeling able to get up and do anything

-But damnit if he doesn’t try; he wants you to tell him everything so he can learn and be of better support

-He also gives the best hugs

Frodo:

-He is a very steady friend

-Like he’s not going anywhere; no matter how dark things look he’s still there with a torch

-He makes you go on walks like clockwork to give you some feeling of routine

-He always invites you over because if he can’t help he’s sure Bilbo can

-How can you be sad when talking to Bilbo?

-Well actually he talks a lot so maybe it’s a bit exhausting; but it’s a kind thought

Sam:

-So Sam wants to help so bad; the idea that he can’t fix it doesn’t sit well with him so he will keep trying

-He will help with tasks obviously because acts of service is his love language

-But I also imagine him trying to give comfort but not in the “let me hug you and you can cry on my shoulder way”

-More so in the “look at this photo of a piglet in rain-boots! You can’t be sad while looking at that!”

-Yes you can because that’s not how depression works but still; you put on a smile anyway because he’s just so adorable and he’s trying his best

-This may turn into a sort of “fake it till you make it” situation where eventually you may feel better from his antics

Merry:

-We know this hobbit likes to plan things and is always up for adventure with his friends

-And he’s basically Sherlock of the hobbits so you don’t have to say anything for him to read you like an open book

-He will set you a schedule and will hold you to it by joining you

-He’s not going to go easy on you ngl

-Not in a mean way; but he won’t give you a day to take a break and stay in bed

-Even if you have to half ass everything; you will be doing something

-“you don’t need to wash your hair but you do need to sit in this tub for at least 10 minutes”

-This can feel exhausting at the time and may make you snap at him sometimes but he’s determined because he loves you

-And sometimes tough love is the most helpful

Pippin:

-Can’t get out of bed?

-Don’t worry! Pippin won’t let you be lonely

-He won’t always drag you out of bed. Instead he will join you and talk your ear off

-He brings the “fun” to you

-With the hope that he will either annoy you so much you get up

-Or that his stories give you some level of intrigue to want to go out and see whatever it was he is talking about

Gandalf:

-This is a very old man, he’s seen depression in all states and forms

-He’s a quiet type of comfort

-He definitely says some vague poetic shit that isn’t necessarily helpful but it does have a meaningful lesson

-Offers his pipe

-He is also sort of they type that you are a little afraid to disobey

-Like if he tells you to get outside more; even if you don’t see him, he knows if you have or haven’t

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Idk how good this is. I personally do have depression so I know my own experiences with how it affects me, but it shows in different ways for everyone. In terms of comfort and support I’m not fully sure this does any justice, hopefully it’s a little comforting. I have a great support system but I’m notorious for being too stubborn to accept help. Don’t do that by the way, because eventually it will likely stop coming. Let your friends and family support you; it’s not out of pity; it’s because they care and want to help in anyway they can even if that just means checking to make sure you are alive each morning to let you know they are there.

Anyone can message me if they need someone to talk to. I’m no therapist or expert in any sense but I can be a friend :)

[ryker-writes]

How about ‘forgetting’ to say ‘I love you’ back to Ace and anyone else?

ooo the betrayal! The drama! I can see it now

I added Leona, Idia, and Malleus

Request rules and Masterlists

Ace:

oh no you don't

if you don't say it back he will repeat himself getting louder each time until you hear him

if for some reason you still don't say it back or hear him, he's following you and shouting "I LOVE YOU"

and if you still don't say it back for some reason? well two can play that game

he'll walk away but next time you say I love you to him, he's not going to say it back

he'll either respond with a "yeah" or "same"

Leona:

how dare you.

forgetting to say I love you back to Leona is a serious offence

you may think you're safe but he's following you

and when he gets close enough he is flopping on top of you

doesn't matter if you're standing or sitting or laying down

all of his body weight is going on top of you

all he says is that he's not going to move until you say it back

you'll basically be forced to say it back

Leona is heavy and doesn't move easily

if somehow you can move him, he'll just move back on top of you

once you finally say it back he's content

...doesn't mean he'll move tho since he's gotten comfortable....

Idia:

it always takes Idia a lot of courage to say I love you in the first place

but when he said it and you didn't say it back, he's gone into panic mode

he's not going to say it again

he'll just accept the pain of you not saying it back

Idia's brain is in overdrive

oh god you didn't say I love you back so clearly you've realized what a weirdo he is and you want nothing to do with him anymore because why would anyone want to be with him-

please come back and say I love you

the longer it takes you to say it again the further his thoughts go

one "i love you" after that will reset his brain

crisis averted

Malleus:

instant heartbreak

he's so upset

why did you not say it back?

perhaps you didn't hear him

Malleus will move closer to you and say it again

if you still don't say it, his soul is crushed

he's thinking of all the reasons you might not be saying it back

there's no way you don't love him anymore, he simply refuses to believe it

eventually settles on the conclusion that you must be upset with him

so now he's doing everything he can to fix whatever mistake he made

when you see him again he's sitting there with a bunch of gifts and he's showering you in affection

[birdsong-warriors]

I don't want to talk about this much, but it may affect page uploads.

Saturday night, I was assaulted and strangled by my brother. This is not the first time he's done this, but it was severely excalated this time. I deserved it. Honestly, I wish he'd succeeded so nobody would have to deal with my shit anymore. I'm still very much in crisis mode, and I'm so sorry if I disappear. I'm praying I can continue working despite the situation, but this may warrant a short break.

I'm so sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, and I'm even more sorry I'm bringing this up at all. I need to stop talking from now on, honestly. I just wanted to communicate why I may poof. I don't know. I'm scared, and I can't do this. But I have to keep going.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[saphronethaleph]

Counting Noses

“This is an interesting document,” Palpatine said, looking up from it at Senator Amidala. “But you must understand… at this critical time in the war, to change the means by which it is being waged would be a terrible mistake.”

“I must understand no such thing, Chancellor,” Padme replied. “The argument for your emergency powers was that they were necessary to cut through the gridlock of Senatorial factions. No such gridlock now exists. The Grand Army of the Republic exists and has been winning victories. The powers you have are emergency powers, and it is no longer an emergency.”

Palpatine gave her an odd look. “I was kidnapped yesterday, Senator.”

“We are quite aware,” Bail Organa agreed. “However, a move like that is…”

“Similar to what I did, during the Naboo crisis,” Padme said. “A desperation move – and one that failed. The Confederation would not have launched an attack of that nature if they were confident in bringing about a successful conclusion to the war.”

She clasped her hands. “Chancellor – this is a request, out of friendship, that you give back your emergency powers before it becomes necessary to force the issue.”

“Are you threatening me?” Palpatine asked. “Senator, I realize that your past may have given you an exaggerated view of how easy it is to replace a Chancellor, but this is a time of crisis.”

“I think our views on the crisis are different to yours, Chancellor,” Mon Mothma stated.

“Chancellor, you don’t appear to remember one of the core principles of the Republic,” Sweitt Concorkill added. “That principle is democracy. You have been taking all kinds of actions based on a single vote from the start of the war, and you are refusing the clearly expressed will of the Senate.”

“What?” Palpatine snapped. “I am doing no such thing! You don’t speak for the Senate!”

“Read the title of the document,” Padme said. “None of us would have come here to make empty threats, Chancellor. We represent two thousand Senators who are of like minds on this matter.”

“That’s eighty percent of the Senate,” Mon Mothma provided, helpfully. “Indeed, this is the most unified that the Senate has ever been on anything.”

Palpatine scowled.

“I disagree with your assessment,” he said, shortly. “And you will not use weight of numbers to bully me into doing the wrong thing.”

“Isn’t that literally the definition of democracy?” Meena Tills asked, quietly.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Bail muttered, as they left the Supreme Chancellor’s office.

“I know,” Padme replied, already on her comlink. “Hey, Ani! Just to tell you, we met with the Chancellor…”

There was a pause, during which Bail Organa leaned in to Mon Mothma.

“You know it’s not quite eighty percent?” he asked. “Thirty-six columns, seventy-two rows, it’s actually seventy-seven percent. Seventy-three if you account for junior reps.”

“I was accounting for the Senators and Representatives who’ve left their positions during the war,” Mon replied. “It’s actually eighty point five if you do that. Does Padme really think she’s being subtle?”

“All I know indicates that she’s the subtle one of their relationship,” Bail shrugged. “Maybe she should have had some body doubles pretend to be in a relationship instead.”

Padme shook her head. “...yeah, he refused because he didn’t believe he should give up the powers, like the war might still go the wrong way,” she said. “Like you guys would just stop fighting if he lost emergency powers! It’s weird… yeah, I’ll probably have to no-confidence him… I know, I know, but it’s the principle of the thing, he could get voted back in again but that would reset the emergency powers and that’s what actually matters… love you too!”

She turned the comlink off. “I intend to call a vote of no confidence in the next session tomorrow morning.”

“Wow,” Chi said, blinking. “Padme, do… do you understand that people can overhear com calls?”

“No, I’m not using speaker mode,” Padme replied, with a shrug.

“Just let it go,” Bail advised the Pantoran senator.

[mysticstronomy]

DOES TIME STOP IN A BLACK HOLE??

Blog#427

Wednesday, August 14th, 2024.

Welcome back,

Theoretical physics went into crisis mode in 1974, when ­Stephen Hawking first argued that black holes destroy information. Hawking showed that a black hole can evaporate, gradually transforming itself and anything it consumes into a featureless cloud of radiation. During the process, information about what fell into the black hole is apparently lost, violating a sacred principle of physics.

This remained an open problem for almost 50 years, but the pieces started falling into place in 2019 through research that I was involved in. The resolution is based on a new understanding of spacetime and how it can be rewired through quantum entanglement, which leads to the idea that part of the inside of a black hole, the so-called island, is secretly on the outside.

To understand how we arrived at these new ideas, we must begin with the inescapable nature of black holes.

Nothing seems more hopeless than trying to get out of a black hole—in fact, this impossibility is what defines black holes. They are formed when enough matter is confined within a small enough region that spacetime collapses in on itself in a violent feedback loop of squeezing and stretching that fuels more squeezing and stretching. These tidal forces run to infinity in finite time, marking the abrupt end of an entire region of spacetime at the so-called black hole singularity—the place where time stops and space ceases to make sense.

There is a fine line within the collapsing region that divides the area where escape is possible from the point of no return. This line is called the event horizon. It is the outermost point from which light barely avoids falling into the singularity. Unless a thing travels faster than light—a physical impossibility—it cannot escape from behind the event horizon; it is irretrievably stuck inside the black hole.

The one-way nature of this boundary is not immediately problematic. In fact, it is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity. The danger starts when this theory interacts with the wild world of quantum mechanics.

Quantum theory redeems black holes from being the greedy monsters they are made out to be. Every calorie of energy they consume they eventually give back in the form of Hawking radiation—energy squeezed out of the vacuum near the event horizon.

The idea of getting something out of nothing may sound absurd, but absurdity is not the worst allegation made against quantum mechanics. The emptiness of the vacuum in quantum theory belies a sea of particles—photons, electrons, gravitons, and more—that conspire to make empty space feel empty. These particles come in carefully arranged pairs, acting hand in hand as the glue that holds spacetime together.

Originally published on https://www.scientificamerican.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, August 17th, 2024)

"DID MARS EVER CONTAIN WATER??"

[ariiadnes]

ㅤ╭ ⿻ ･ CAMPUS ENCOUNTERS ( part iii. )

ଓ.° ・ kaeya ･ diluc ･ dainsleif. genshin impact. uni!au. repost! ・ ・ ・ pt i. pt ii.

❀ ﾟ. ༄ kaeya

no, you're not particularly interested in college parties-- or fraternity boys for that matter. you're not sure why your friend dragged you here or why you're still here, actually. this must be what suffering is : sitting in the corner of a frat house, surrounded by complete strangers, and coming to the realization that there is not, in fact, a cute dog here to keep you company during these trying times.

you think it's unfair to make assumptions based on ridiculous stereotypes, so you try to keep an open mind. you really do. not all frat boys are arrogant jerks or playboys, or whatever it is that people say. you almost forget that until you realize it might be true.

"i can tell you're enjoying yourself."

kaeya sits next to you, offers a playful smile that you can't quite decipher. you don't mind him too much-- not to say you dislike him, but you're not sure what to make of him aside from the fact that one: he's incredibly popular and two: he actively makes an effort to talk to you.

"you can tell by my face, huh?" you murmur, hiding your wary expression by taking a sip of horrendously made drink.

"everything about it."

you take another sip, indulge in what little peace you can find with kaeya in this rambunctious group. it's when you realize he's staring hard at you that you grow uncertain, glancing at him questioningly before he speaks.

"you know," he swirls the cup in hand, "this isn't really my crowd."

"this is your fraternity. you are literally in this fraternity."

"and do you know why that is?"

you both stare at each other, silent.

"for the brotherly bonds that will last you a lifetime?"

"frat boys talk too much." kaeya explains, staring at the others with an unreadable expression. "you learn all kinds of things about them." his gaze shifts towards you, and you see the faintest curl of the lips as he taps his head with his index finger. "makes for good blackmail."

you look at him, deadpan, but inside, you think that maybe you are hallucinating and dying.

"some would say i'm not like other frat boys." he continues on, and you can tell he's trying to contain his laughter at your countenance.

"you...you're actually much worse, i think."

kaeya laughs. he won't deny that you're right.

❀ ﾟ. ༄ diluc

group projects are infuriating. group projects with diluc, however-- well-- they're still infuriating, but for different reasons.

one being that it's a collaboration research paper that needs to be ten to twelve pages ( or something like that ), two being that it's due in a few days and you've got an amazing amount of tests that are scheduled in said days.

it's fine. everything is fine.

except that it's hitting 1am soon and your brain is fried, and so is diluc's. you've been resilient in working together and it's going well-- you like diluc-- a lot, actually, and you're more than lucky to have him as a partner. but you've hit a wall and you've only got seven pages. you wonder if you can make up three pages of utter bullshit. you also wonder if your professor will actually read this paper.

after weeks and weeks of meeting up and working closely together, diluc expects what may happen next. he guesses correctly.

"i'm a biology major." you mumble, resting your forehead on the table that's scattered with mostly legible notes and research articles. "why am i writing a paper on sigmund freud and capitalism? i hate both of them. i hate them, diluc."

there's your crisis mode. diluc smiles faintly, pats your back in weary attempt to console you. that's simply the joy in taking general education classes, comes the dry reminder, and then he questions why he has to do this, too.

"let's take a break for now." he tells you, and his hand lingers on your back for a few seconds longer than he intends; it does not go unnoticed by either of you.

you nod when he tells you he'll be back, and it only takes a few minutes before he returns with drinks. you clink glasses, drinking in silence as you find invigoration in the refreshing taste that lingers on your tongue.

"do you feel better?"

you smile, slightly embarrassed at your distress, but diluc only looks at you with warmth, and maybe that embarrasses you all the more. you have a feeling it's the present company that brings relief more than anything, really-- ah, but that's another thought for another time.

"enough to make up a bunch of nonsense and finish this, yeah."

he laughs at your surge of determination, and perhaps he feels it, too.

"let's finish, then."

❀ ﾟ. ༄ dainsleif

campus life is not as fun or glamorous as one would think, especially if one ( most definitely not you, by the way ) has no sense of direction. you imagined it wouldn't be that crowded outside, but somehow, you're stuck in the midst of a body of students moving here and there. you've got about five minutes to make it to your class, which miraculously, is fifteen minutes away.

you blindly rush through the crowd, try your hardest not to shove anyone-- and as expected, you bump into someone.

the immediate thoughts are: what else could have happened? are you going to fall flat on your face? oh god. what if your laptop breaks? the last time you backed up your files was two years ago.

you have come to the conclusion that you do not enjoy campus life.

-- until someone breaks your fall, catches you in their arms, and oh, suddenly you are greeted by a wondrous blue. you recognize this person immediately-- what was his name-- dainsleif?

"you would be wise to be more cautious."

his voice breaks the trance; you register the little distance shared between you two and the embarrassment seeps in all too quickly. you straighten yourself up, regain composure, and he lets go of you.

"did you injure yourself?"

"no, i--" you clear your throat and wipe off the imaginary dust on your jacket. "i'm not hurt. thanks for catching me."

he nods, silent, and the students continue to move around you both. time stills in this moment-- then you are reminded that you're probably late for your class. you glance at your phone, panic decorating your features, and dainsleif seems to understand instantly.

"where is your class?"

you tell him, stress evident in your voice. you can only guess with the foot traffic that it'll take at least twenty minutes if you're lucky.

"i will accompany you. i know of a shortcut."

"no, that's okay! you don't have to do th--"

he gently takes hold of your arm and pulls you towards him, preventing yet another person from bumping into you.

"i insist. i have a feeling you will not make it to class given your clumsy nature."

you give him a sheepish smile of thanks, and if you looked closely, you think you might have seen his lips twitch ever so slightly.

"you're probably right."