#social life has been decomposing for four years now

[raybug-theradfem]

CONTENT WARNING

Mentions of miscarriage, possible financial abuse, religion in places it shouldn’t be, maternal mortality.

I see the way most men parent and I think “why would you pressure your wife/girlfriend into having kids that you’re going to ignore?” The more time I’ve spent in the family dynamic of my mother’s boyfriend, it is being made very clear that in his head, women are just here to make children. He has about 6-7 children (I do not know because I have yet to meet them all) and he just gives money. His children come over and yet it is my mother, his eldest daughter or me, who is made responsible for the younger boys while he goes to work or soccer. Not only do I believe dynamics like these are because of the patriarchy/misogyny but I also believe they are a result of capitalism (in all of its stages) and affect the health and wellbeing of women negatively.

Most men see women as a vessel for children. This has been made clear by both my observations of individual heterosexual relationships and my knowledge of women’s access to contraceptives or abortion in North America. On the topic of the heterosexual relationships that I have witnessed, I will use the ones I am around most often, my grandparents and my mother and her boyfriend. My grandparents had their children in the eighties, my grandmother was a stay at home mom and my grandpa went out and made money. At the time of having her first child, she had no access to contraception (or no knowledge of it ) and no access to safe abortion. Therefore, the only answer was to get married. She had four daughters and an angel baby. After the loss, she had her tubes tied. While raising her family she had no say in where they lived or what her husband did with the money, she just had to be a homemaker. Obviously, this was normal for her culture and time but looking at it through a modern lens, it is a sad and lonely life. My mother’s boyfriend does something similar. He isolates her. They only go out with his friends or do what he wants. They live in a bachelor style basement apartment. She was on birth control that was causing major health issues and instead of him wearing a condom and her stopping it, she decided to keep it on (birth control patch) and suffer silently. She still got pregnant despite the patch and he said she had to keep it. She had no say in what to do with her own body or life. She was trapped, not having the financial resources to leave. After Christmas, she lost the babies to which he said something like: “just pray, it’s in God’s hands” because he somehow believed that would bring back the already decomposing fetuses. Not only was this a traumatic experience for my mom but around the same time her dad almost died and her boyfriend was the biggest burden in trying to go see him or do anything for my grandmother.

Parenting for a lot of men, especially in modern times involves either being the parent to punish children (the scary parent) or just giving money. There doesn’t seem to be an emotional aspect. In recent years there’s been an ever more common “baby mama” dynamic in families, it has always existed but it just seems to be more prevalent now. Men will have children with a woman, sometimes children she doesn’t even want and leave her for another woman and do the same thing repeatedly until they either kick the bucket or get married and ultimately cheat on their wife. This is incredibly toxic for everyone involved. These men then go on to have booming careers and everything they want in life while the woman is stuck taking care of his kid(s) that he sees for at most five days a month. On the days they do have their kids they will do the absolute most, post about it on social media and get praise from their friends but behind closed doors tell their children “I only have to love you every two weeks!”. I am giving this opinion from two perspectives, the child and the observer. In the position of the child, it is magical when you’re younger because you get to have a sleepover at daddy’s apartment and eat candy and go to the arcade but as you get older you hear what your parents say about each other and you feel like a burden to both. From the side of the observer, I see that the kids don’t get to actually bond with their father or have a second parental figure most of the time. He is more so viewed like how you would view an uncle or cousin than a father. There is no possible way for you to have more than 3 kids with different mothers and give them all equal opportunities and attention.

Dynamics like these are the result of the patriarchy and capitalism. “In a patriarchal society, women are excluded from fully participating in political and economic life” (simply psychology). This point is made especially true for women with children. With the baby mama dynamic, the woman is giving all her financial resources to raising the child and the man is giving a set amount per month which is barely enough to feed the child most times. Women are already paid less than men in North America and other parts of the world but now add being the sole provider for children that you originally didn’t want and were pressured into having. The average cost of raising a child up to 18 in Canada is $293,000, that is almost $300k that could have been spent on education, housing, retirement, etc. In “traditional” dynamics, the man is the breadwinner and the woman stays home to raise the children. The woman has no work experience or money of her own which in the event of an emergency gives her a huge disadvantage. Furthermore, these issues go hand in hand with capitalism because patriarchy and capitalism go hand in hand. Both are built under the traditional model of men going to work and women staying home. But what about now? Nowadays, women have to go to work and then come home to do more, now unpaid, labour. While men get to come home from work, relax, play video games and participate in other hobbies, women come home to cook dinner, help the kids with homework, clean the house, etc. In this dynamic, the woman is exploited entirely for her body and labour, by both her boss and her husband/boyfriend. Many women feel that their male partner does not equally contribute to responsibilities in the home (American Psychological Association).

Finally all of these things combined negatively affect the health of women. Women risk their health with every pregnancy and birth. Many complications can arise that are so much more common than people think. In Canada 3-20% of women develop gestational diabetes (Diabetes Canada). The USA has a scary maternal mortality of 32.5 for every 100,000 births according to the CDC (all age groups included but the older, the higher the risk). This informal essay was not meant to discourage having children but to inform anyone reading the effects of having children that aren’t always talked about.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/patriarchal-society-feminism-definition.html#:~:text=In%20a%20patriarchal%20society%2C%20women,home%20(Nash%2C%202009).

[cryptidcalling]

Bc Cosmo was inspired by a Fen AU I wanna outline some of their major differences as characters!! Cosmo's still developing so there will probably be more intricate differences later on, but for now I just wanna get the big things down on paper.

I think the biggest differences between Cosmo and Fen are how they feel about memory, shame and insecurity, and bodily comfort.

Memory

Fen has a deep emotional bond to his memories. They're all he really has left of his home, family, and culture, so he does whatever he can to treasure and preserve them. He's always telling others about where he comes from and what his culture is like, and takes great care to act in accordance with the values and traditions of his people. If he were to learn that he was actually missing a large chunk of his memory he'd be deeply devistated and would work on getting those memories back almost to the point of obsession. One of his biggest character arcs is learning to move on from his past in order to make new bonds and find a new home. There's a reason he's chosen to be a vagabond for 15 years, even when he doesn't realize it.

Cosmo has almost no memories to begin with, but he really doesn't care. His past doesn't matter to him in any deep or meaningful sense. He gets curious about it when it comes up, especially when his mushroom friends drop random ass hints to it and then don't elaborate. But his curiosity is based more on the fact that his friends clearly have information that they're not sharing with him. It could be any sort of information about him, he's equally as curious about what his favorite color used to be as who his family is or if they're even alive. He just wants to know what they know because he wants to feel included, he doesn't actually care too much about the information itself.

Shame and Insecurity

While Fen is definitely capable of being embarassed (if he goofs up something, trips as falls, has to admit some thing he kinda wants to be secret, the very standard embarassing things) he's very unashamed and secure as a person. He's always been kinda weird, playing with slugs and digging holes and definitely walking up stairs on all fours sometimes. Refuses to wear shoes (slippers or boots only), will dig in people's trash for empty glass bottles, works for free and refuses to sell his potions for money, openly eavesdrops with zero ill intent/will just blatantly stare at people, he's just kinda an oddball. And he's perfectly content with that! He's very happy with himself just as he is, and if he's not feeling embarassed naturally on his own it's very very difficult for someone else to MAKE him feel shame. He lacks any major insecurities, he does self care, and is content just being Fen.

Cosmo isn't... exactly socially insecure. But he's very aware of his abnormality. He pretends to sleep, he makes himself eat and drink, he uses cloaks and glamors, all in order to hide how he's not a regular person (using person as a stand in for terms like 'human' as well, for simplicity). But he only does all that because it makes his life easier, and because his friends encourage him to do so. Where Cosmo's real insecurities lie are how un-mushroomlike he is. He can't decompose things or absorb his own nutrients, his entire physical body is wrong, he has to speak physically rather than psychically, he can't connect to the collective mind of the mycellium without his friends linking him in, he can't even make spores. And every time his friends keep him out, keep secrets, refuse to answer his questions, it all serves to make him feel even more insecure about what he is.

Bodily comfort

As expected, Fen loves his body just how it is. He has the abiliy to change it whenever he wants to with magic, but he simply chooses not to. Everything about his body is exactly as it should be. Perfectly Firbolg like, Perfectly Fen, nothing that needs to be changed. Sometimes he even finds active comfort in how he looks, because he looks like the people he lost.

Cosmo's deepest, most character-motivating insecurity is his body. He's very unhappy that it is the way it is, because no matter how much he insists on lying to everyone else and to himself he knows deep down that its a person body. He doesn't want to HAVE a person body, he wants to have a FUNGAL body the way all of his friends do. Everything about it makes him uncomfortable, but a good example is how he feels about eating things. He doesn't really like eating, because he becomes hyper aware of the taste and texture in his mouth. A mouth he shouldn't have, getting nutrients in a way he shouldn't be getting them. It especially upsets him that if he were to try and eat something a regular fungus would eat, dead logs or old uncooked meat, he'd choke and gag on it until he threw it all back up. An unvoluntary response to the food his kind are SUPPOSED to eat. Still, he finds a lot of comfort in knowing that it's only temporary. His friends want him to be like them too, they're helping him and guiding him to that specific end. So even when he doesn't understand the means he'll obey them. He also gets comfort from decorating himself in a mushroom-like fashion. His sweater looks like a mushroom cap, the wrap around his waist somewhat resemble gills, and his friends cover half of his body. It helps with a sort of dysphoria he feels.

[lunarflux]

"i promised i'd forget, but you're all i see when i dream the night away"

bang chan x reader

genre — drama!au

suggested background music: x

note: like i said - i put a lot of my life into writing. something similar to this happened to me today, and i'd like to think that music is getting me through it. i wanted to add more of a "post credits" scene for chan and o/c, but this is how my day is going and how this situation ends.

The world never felt so heavy.

You'd never thought that scrolling through social media could create this bleeding ring in your ears, yet somehow here you are, unable to look at your phone. The photo you stumbled across had already been burned into your memory. There were times when you could forget what song you'd just listened to, and yet this one image had suddenly been burned, a permanent nightmare in your mind.

Your ex looked happy. It wasn't a bad breakup, but after a year, you couldn't expect him to stay single forever. You'd both agreed to move on, and while you swore you had, seeing the photo of him with a beautiful girl kissing his cheek made your shoulders heavy. Staring at your blacked out screen, it was like the photo was still there, and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't keep yourself from seeing it. Every time you closed your eyes, there he was.

Happy.

You fumbled with your cell phone, placing it face down on your desk before your boss could catch you. It was hard to hide the look on your face. It was pain, sadness, and confusion. How was it that after all this time, you hadn't succeeded in moving on, but he had?

Was it you? Or was this girl really so special that you were worth forgetting?

The feeling of being forgotten - it's seeing the dust gather on photos and the doorknob that he will never open again.

It's over.

"Do you have the paperwork for the meeting tomorrow?" Chan popped into your office, placing a fresh mug of coffee on your desk. You'd started here only six months ago, but he already knew that you liked your coffee light and sweet. "Jisoo wants to make sure we're not missing anything before -"

"Yeah, I have it." You said curtly, looking back at your computer, typing away at your report. "I'll bring it to you later."

"I mean, I can wait for it if you have it ready."

"Chan," you looked up at him. "I said I'll bring it to you later."

Chan looked at you with mild concern. Sure, there were a lot of women in the office, and the men had eventually learned when not to step on toes in the case of any mood swings because of work stress. You weren't one of those people though. You were the type of person who'd rid the stress with a bar of chocolate and be done with it. You'd never snapped at him before.

"Okay." Chan backed out quietly. He ducked into the next office over. Knocking on Minki's office door, he peered in.

"Hey," Minki stood up. "I gotta bring these to the fourth floor, can you watch the phone for me?"

"Yeah, no problem." Chan smiled before taking a seat.

Ping

He knew that you and Minki were office best friends ever since you got hired. While he didn't mean to see it, Minki left his messenger open and slowly your messages came flooding in.

x: he moved on x: am i supposed to be upset? x: we broke up a year ago, so why do i feel so defeated haha x: maybe i'm just decomposing. why do i feel like this x: can we get drinks later? i know you hate it when i drink to drown out my sorrows, but i just can't be here right now.

Damn.

Chan swore he didn't mean to see all that. That would explain the mood though.

x: i didn't think i'd miss him this much. i just want to forget about it.

Taking in a deep breath, Chan pulled out his phone and made a call.

**

"Chan, why did you need me for this stupid client dinner? And who the hell has dinner at 4PM?" You continuously complained as he drove you down the road into the next district.

"Just relax, it'll be fine."

You rested your head against the passenger side window. As your breath fogged up the glass, you scribbled little hearts, peppered over the skyline as Chan drove. It wasn't until you started seeing signs that you realized you were at Banpo Bridge. Chan pulled into the empty parking lot.

"The client wants to have dinner here? What are we doing - getting takeout?" You jested.

Chan opened your door. "Go sit over there, I'll be right back."

You took your seat right by the edge of the water. The weather really was perfect today. The fresh air helped clear out your thoughts. Even though the breakup was a year ago, seeing that photo really made it feel like it just happened yesterday. Your heart broke twice, and yet you couldn't bring yourself to think that you hate him now. You loved him as a memory - a beautiful, happy memory, and it was time to let go now.

Chan re-emerged next to you, a bag with four bottles of soju and piping hot ramen in his hands.

"Um -" You nearly laughed at the sight of him struggling to carry everything. "Am I missing something? Are the clients your drinking buddies?"

"Sit, sit, please." Chan arranged everything down on the ledge.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but I am confused."

"I, uh." He sat down next to you, removing his jacket. "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

Stopping halfway from opening a bottle, you looked up at him.

"y/n, Minki had me watch over his desk, and I... I'm sorry, I saw your messages."

"Chan, that was private." You looked down at your shoes, feeling the heaviness in your chest again.

"I know. And I'm sorry." He grabbed the bottle from you and opened it himself. "Minki had to run to another meeting, and I saw how sad you were. I just figured I'd help you escape for a bit. I called in a favor from the interns to watch your stuff, so we could... do this, I guess."

You'd always known Chan was a softie. He was that guy in the office who never forgot about birthdays and important events. He was never late, and he would do everything he could to help out the new people. Even to you, he was a big help whenever you needed it.

"Again, I'm sorry." He poured two shots and handed you one. "But you looked like you needed it, so - cheers."

You watched him as you threw back your soju. You stifled a smile, "Pitiful, isn't it. Still feeling like you've been dumped even after an entire year."

Chan winced as the alcohol hit the back of his throat. "Not at all. Who said that a year was the right time to get over someone? There's no rule for that."

You continued to sip slowly, watching him open up all the snacks.

"I haven't had a girlfriend in years, and I swear, after my last girlfriend and I broke up, I couldn't stop thinking about her even because of the littlest things. It wasn't a bad breakup, but when you have so many happy moments with someone, you can't help but feel sad when you see that person making new moments with someone else. It makes you wonder if that could've been me, y'know?"

It couldn't be stopped. One deep breath and suddenly all the tears started pouring out. You couldn't control your breathing, and it felt like the weight of the world finally came crashing down on your chest, reminding you of every little happy memory that had to be released into the ocean like confetti.

Chan rushed over, placing his jacket on your shoulders. He hushed you, rubbing your arms to warm you up. Crouching down in front of you, he pulled you up and brought you into his chest.

"Wait, I'll get makeup on your shirt -"

He laughed at your childish worries. "It's just a shirt. Just go ahead, it's okay. I can get it dry-cleaned, and you're worth more than some shirt."

Feeling your tears soak up in the cotton, you just cried, and Chan let you until it felt like there was nothing left. You chest was still heaving, but you felt the weight lift slowly. The sea air started filling your lungs again like an icy burn.

"I'm sorry." You finally looked up, mascara stained on your cheeks. You smeared what you could from your face before sitting.

"Stop apologizing." Chan sat down beside you again. "Do you feel better?"

"A little."

Placing his hand on yours, Chan smiled. It was a warm gentle smile. He squeezed, "It will get better. I promise."

"I just feel like everyone keeps moving on, and I'm just stuck here."

"Where is 'here' to you? 'Here' to me is existing with a good job with good friends and a good life. 'Here' is anything you're doing happily without him." He reached up to cup your cheek. "I know you feel miserable, but your body won't let you feel this way forever. And neither will I. Please don't feel as if 'here' is an awful place. 'Here', you have me, and I'll stay until you're not sad anymore."

Peering up at him with red eyes, you smiled with whatever energy you had. Sadness still sat on your shoulders, but it didn't feel so awful anymore.

Chan nodded towards you.

"Until you're not sad or until you ask me to leave - I'll be here for you."

[harths]

─────────        𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋    𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓.

cleo de nile is the youngest daughter of ramses de nile and dedyet de nile,  born around 2500 BC,  several years after her sister nefera de nile.  raised as egyptian royalty there were high standards for her to meet  -  both her father and sister seeing her as someone incapable of meeting these and fuelling her insecurities.  when ramses’ brother threatened their rule, ramses brought his family into hiding with him.  when ramses was killed,  his staff were under orders to kill his wife and daughters and mummify them alongside him,  so they could remain with him in the afterlife,  but the same brother had cursed his tomb to prevent his crossing.  the four of them were trapped until tomb raiders freed them in the late 1900s.  character wise;  she is very much the stereotypical queen bee,  rude and bossy and expectant that people want to discover the heart underneath it all.  she is a deeply insecure person and projects this onto other people instead of trying to come to terms with knowing she cannot ever go to the afterlife she was promised.  she explores both mean - girl  /  prom - queen tropes,  and ideas of decaying and being absent in your own body.

─────────        𝐌𝐀𝐉𝐎𝐑    𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒.

𝟶𝟷.    the burial was something extremely traumatic for her,  being stuck in a sort of purgatory for hundreds of years without means of escape.  her major fears after being released from the sarcophagus are the dark, confined spaces, and being alone    -    her undeath having been far from peaceful because of its circumstances.

𝟶𝟸.    cleo’s focus on appearance stems not from narcissism as she lets people believe, but from her fear of decay. maintaining her looks and fitness are something that gives her a sense of control in the matter.  the bandages she wears are for the same reasons, to help preserve her body with the fears being the mummification process was unsuccesful and she will continue to decompose even now.

𝟶𝟹.    cleo is transgender,  while not a major facet of my portrayal,  it is important to note because this was not a social issue in ancient egypt  -  meaning both that she transitioned before her death,  and that despite all the issues her family have this is not one of them.  cleo has used she/her pronouns from a young age.

𝟶𝟺.    unlike the canon presented in creeperific mummy makeover,  i do not write dedyet as a returning character,  the de nile family do not know of her whereabouts and believe her body to have been taken by tomb raiders in the 1600s.  supposedly ramses is trying to find her but cleo hasn’t seen proof of this or her being undead.

𝟶𝟻.    in modern terms,  cleo would be regarded as a witch.  when she was alive her path was going to be towards a high priestess,  she still believes in and worships her gods,  unaware of what happened she believes her eternal life to have been a blessing from those same gods,  so still considers herself to be a religious person.

─────────        𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘    𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙷𝙸𝙶𝙷.        16-18.  set within the monster high canon,  with major influences from the lisi harrison novels.  cleo has lived through an eternity and becoming the queen of her high school is the next step on her agenda.  fuelled by the pressure her father and sister are placing upon her she’s just trying to live her life.

𝙵𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚂𝚈 𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙰.        18-20.  crossover into universes such as tvd + twilight.  with her heritage becoming a closely guarded secret,  cleo uses her knowledge of curses and history to make a living.  overall characterisation is the same but her ‘monster’ status is hidden,  an attempt to live a normal life despite everything.

[etirabys]

I haven’t read my tumblr feed in about two weeks, although I’ve been posting content (and trying to make it heavy on good book excerpts, low on impulsive posts). I’m definitely using my time better – I finished four books and made ~25% progress on four more, I’m learning a new programming language – but I’m missing Being Online, and I haven’t decided yet whether that’s good or bad. I really don’t want to leave tumblr – I’ve spent years optimizing my experience here so that I’m seeing things that entertain and educate me, and not things that enrage or bore me or make me a worse person. But social media for me is a lot like weed – has major upsides, but if it stays in my life at all, it takes effort and life-organization limit how much of me it gets.

Observation: I am more capable of staying off social media now that I am not working. When I was employed, I was online sometimes during the workday because I was avoiding work, and I was online in the evening because I was so wrung out I didn’t have the energy to do anything more mentally active than scroll. My goals should be flexible, because the desirability of social media changes with how the rest of my life is going.

Decomposing what ‘being on tumblr’ consists of, to think out loud about how I can take the good and leave the bad:

- Reading my feed. Highly addictive. Can be staggered, but I’m sufficiently compulsive about reading everything that I need to make sure I can do that in the time I allot myself per week.

- Making a post. Couldn’t stop myself if I tried, I’ve written 500~2000 words a day about something (usually garbage) ever since I learned to use a keyboard, it’s got to go somewhere. I would like to decouple write-post by having some kind of buffer where I can stack up posts I’m sitting on. I could also queue posts to break the post-feedback connection.

- Checking notes on posts. Low value but very tempting. Sizzle sizzle dopamine on the degraded frying pan of my brain. I would like to cut this out entirely if I can, but – there’s no way to catch reblogs and replies if I don’t check, and I don’t dislike seeing in-feed reblogs and replies. No good solution to this one, but my favorite so far is “commit to never checking notes except once a week, when you reply to everything at once, and immediately unfocus gaze & click out if you I see the likes and reblogs list you see when no one replied/reblogged with commentary”.

[perish-the-creator]

Extinction Headcanon

So I’ve recently watched a documentary on YouTube highlighting the final days of the dinosaurs following the asteroid collision, and of course, it got me thinking about Godzilla. So I’ve formed this conclusion that makes sense (in my opinion).

Every on the Titans we see was the smallest of their kind.

Here’s my explanation. Aside from the mammal based Titans, we can safely assume than those who are reptilian-like were present sometime around the  Cretaceous period, which was when most of the iconic dinosaurs were around. Using fictional science we can estimate that the atmosphere's high oxygen count at the time help contribute to their large sizes, as well as the diverse amount of food for them since it’s safe to assume most are carnivores. Once again, bullshit science and we can say that Mothra was already around at this time.

Anywho, seeing as the extinction even is the used explanation as to why these titans are the only ones left means that somehow these ones, in particular, had managed to brave the chaos. As of now, I am still unaware of ALL the titans so my headcanon will only be based upon the ones I know. 

Rodan:

I would like to say that in comparison to the other dinosaur-like creatures, he is, in fact, the youngest. Granted, this means nothing in the vast span of millions of years. Anywho, I’d like to advocate while also paying tribute to the original Rodan film that his parents and his kind died a fiery death. Now, that doesn’t make sense because his species appears to thrive off of literal lava. But here’s what I mean. Their lungs burned up. The powerful blast and the dust that came after were composed of different particles than what would be in their familiar habitat. We can also add that perhaps the fact that it came in such a high dose that their bodies could not handle it, thus leading to them suffocating and their dead bodies starting to sircome to the effects of heat exposure as they start to decompose. Basically, Roan was born an orphan and born in a harsh landscape. He had no true recollection of life before that. He has vague memories of hearing others like him, but he hatched into a wasteland with no one who looks like him. This also explains his overly aggressive attitude. He had to fend for himself since day one and was always cautious of other titans around him. He was also small and if the chaos had never ended the world he probably would’ve either been eaten by his parents or kicked out to go his own. So, as far as keeping himself feed wasn’t an issue since his small size didn’t need much to stay energized.

Godzilla: 

Godzilla was born to a small clutch of four and was the smallest of his siblings. His kind would be social but solitary at the same time. Like alligators who swarm swamps and such. Most sea bearing creatures would’ve bested the end of the world for the most part but I want to make this tragic as hell. So, we can say that he was born to a breeding pair but both died from venturing up on land at the time and, like Rodan’s folks, had their lungs burned. That would leave Godzilla with his siblings who eventually die of either by picking fights or starving because they couldn’t live off a small diet like Godzilla could. In fact, we can add in that Godzilla was born with a minor defect that had him be drawn towards those toxic little volcanos near the bottom of the ocean. But he truly survives by, waits for it, eating his siblings' corpses. Yes, you read that right, Godzilla was a cannibal. But I’d imagine this isn’t a taboo practice for their species at all. 

Mothra:

Mothra was already apart of a vanishing species long before the asteroid hit the earth. Despite their size, they were often the target of ambushes and found it difficult to combat the other flying individuals that evolved. (Rodan and Mothra’s species were actually enemies and would kill young on both sides. As to why his kind began evolving to handle the heat while Mothra’s started to grow sharper and more poisonous stingers.). We will assume only about 40 were around when the comet hit the earth. Mostly, they died together as a swarm in the blink of an eye. Mothra, however, was an outcast for her size and the fact she lacked the correct social status of her swarm to be included. Her exclusion was what ultimately kept her alive as when the asteroid hit she was already deep within a cavern drinking on stalagmites and underground rivers. 

Anguirus:

Anguirus is plain and simple. He was a runt who was cut off by his clan. He had already sheltered up in a deep cavern and ate on minerals and the soil after the disaster happened. He is also an omnivore and ate on a few small mammals here and there along with whatever vegetation he could find. 

So why did they live for so long? What’s their secret to basically being immortal? (Aside from Anguirus rest in peace bby). Well, let’s just say they age very slowly and know how to balance out life. The more active they are the faster the body has to keep producing new cells and whatnot. Basic laws of existence. Therefore, as if they all had the same idea, it was soon known that if one slept, they could technically live forever as their bodies momentarily pause its function and or slows them down. Now this isn’t a perfect headcanon, and I’m sure there are soooo many loopholes that are involved, but it was just fun to try and write it out and actually see what I was thinking. If you have anything to add, please do, because honestly, this stuff is fun to talk about. (I’m a biology nerd. Fiction or not I love explaining how lifeforms work.)

[jo-shaneparis18]

Musée d'Orsay & Musée de l'Orangerie

26/04/2018: Toast, coffee and tea for breakfast this morning. To avoid the old French woman, who didn't appear again, we quickly and quietly exited the building and headed to the corner. Today we were looking to visiting the Musée d'Orsay, across the Seine and Musée de l'Orangerie, at the end of Jardins Tuileries. The easiest way to get there was to cross the road at Rue de Castiglione, down the stairs protected by the beasts, and across the gardens along Allée de Castiglione. The footbridge, Léopold Sedar Senghor got us just about to the front door. The Orsay didn't open until nine thirty so we didn't leave the apartment until nine and after advice from the security dudes out front, queued towards the back of the forecourt.

Rhinocéros attaqué par un tigre. One of the beasts

Once the site of the Orsay Railway Station, built for the Universal Exposition of 1900, the building was saved from the wrecking ball by a revival of nineteenth century architecture during the seventies. The station and its hotel's usefulness diminished after the Second World War as the platforms became too short as modern trains become longer. Electrification didn't help neither. It subsequently serviced the shorter suburban trains until its final demise.

An itch in its daddy's pants during the early seventies, Direction des Musées de France officially hatched the museum idea and listed the building on the Supplementary Inventory of Historical Monuments not long after.  Musée d'Orsay was officially given the go ahead in 1977 and classified a Historical Monument the following year. The new museum was inaugurated by François Mitterrand at the end of 1986 and is now dedicated to displaying collections of art from the period 1848 to 1914.

Musée d'Orsay

Studying the gallery map from the concierge, we looked for the lifts that would take us straight to the top and the temporary exhibition of the Neo-Impressionists. The boys took the stairs while the girls took the elevator. Since we were not keeping in contact at that point the girls went on their own tour of the gallery. They saw pretty much what the boys saw but in a different order. The following is how the boys tour of the gallery panned out.

Studying the gallery map from the concierge, we looked for the lifts that would take us straight to the top and the temporary exhibition of the Neo-Impressionists. The lift serviced several floors above the entrance which opened up to the intermediate floors along the main concourse's flanks. That’s where we separated. Being at the top gave us a good perspective of what was ahead. Looking through the braced iron frame and down the length of the building where the platforms and railway tracks once stood. Now covered by great works of art from the more recent periods of history.

Looking down the old concourse

Interesting first impressions. We were on Level 5 and the paintings in the first Temporary Exhibition, in Salle 36, were just dots of colour, but very good. The founders of the Neo-Impressionist movement, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac were a part of a new generation of creative artists who, during the eighties, championed the scientific art form born from the triumph of Positivism. Furthermore, they developed a technique of painting in very small dots, not unlike our indigenous Aussies back home. But these guys decomposed the work and managed to make the colours vibrate, by juxtaposing complimentary shades and modulating colours to achieve a particular luminosity.  It's true, it worked. When we stood back to admire the painting, the orientation of the lines and the spatial arrangement of the planes contributed to the overall harmony and we could recompose the picture. Just as the sign said. The Neo-Impressionists were very impressive.

L'Air du soir, 1893 (The evening air). Henri-Edmond Cross

L'homme a la barre, 1892 (Man at the Helm). Théo van Rysselberghe

Moving through the corridors led us to the next section, Salles 35 down to 29 with the first room mostly dedicated to Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters respectively. Renoir, apparently from the school of those who painted beauty and feminine sensuality, had plenty on nakedness in his pictures, and few men. Cézanne on the other hand, except for his Bathers series, painted mostly landscapes and clothed people in social gatherings. Salle 34 was full of Monet. Women in boats, plenty of flowers and a few goes at the Cathedral of Rouen filled this room, and of course one of his many paintings of haystacks. We guessed that each haystack gave him a different perspective than the last. Then a small room for Degas. Salle 33 had not much more than a half dozen bronze statues of horses and women. 

Stacks and stacks of Haystacks

The next room was quite large and was shared with some well known artists. Quite a few Pissaro, the odd Sisley and more Renoir and Monet. Degas and Renoir appeared in Salle 31 with plenty of Degas' ballet and dancing pictures and figures. The rest of Level 5 was more of the same, they all shared the remaining rooms but it was mostly the Monet and Manet show.

Petite danseuse de quatorze ans. Edgar Degas

Dropping down three floors to Level 2, Levels 4 and 5 were off limits for some reason, administration maybe, the Salles were in their sixties. A large mezzanine floor overlooking the concourse or le Allée centrale des sculptures was full of sculptures and linked the rooms that held a mixture of vases, goblets and more antique like stuff with the most magnificent collection of Art Nouveau Decorative Arts, or what you and we would call furniture. This area was great. The style of the beds, dressing tables, benches, entrances and so on were out there for the age but soon adopted by the French. Designers of today could take a leaf out of the Art Nouveau movement’s book. Maybe we're too conservative. 

Nénuphars, Louis Majorelle

Banquette de fumoir (Bench for a Smoking Parlour), 1897. Hector Guimard

Le jour et la nuit, ~1900 (Day and Night). Georges Rey (apparently). Also "apparently" owned by Sarah Bernhardt

As we weaved in out of the rooms and Terrasse Seine, we moved from furniture that we would love to have in our house, some Salvador Dali type of stuff and a mixture of statues and sculptures from Rodin and other well known artists as well as plenty of little known ones. 

Vir temporis acti, Adolfo Wildt

We were finally finished on the northern side, moved across the way and immediately walked amongst the statues on the opposite mezzanine, Galerie Françoise Cachin. Entering into Salle seventy something containing the works of Van Gogh (Dutch post-impressionist psychotic from the late 19th century) and Paul Gauguin, who lived to just after the turn of the twentieth century (French post-impressionist spent last few years of his life in French Polynesia with the locals), we encountered a smorgasbord of two of the greats. The precursor to Starry Night, Starry Night on the Rhone, a Van Gogh self portrait and some lovely paintings of Polynesian locals.

Portrait de l'artiste, Vincent Van Gogh 

Femmes de Tahiti ou Sur la plage, Paul Gauguin

To the eastern end of the building was Terrasse Rodin, displaying some of his works, and the stairs down to the ground floor. Terrasse Rodin along with the mezzanines held over sixty of his works, some excellent, some good, some not so good. The stairs to the floor below dropped us straight into a great display of drawings of the opera house and a cut away scale model of the stage and the complicated workings that made the whole operatic experience work.

Torchère au tambourin & Torchère à la couronne. Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

To finish the morning, we headed towards the exit by way of the Allée centrale des sculptures, straight up the centre towards where we came in earlier. Several statues caught our eye, in particular three statues of African dudes in alabaster (we think). The contrast in colours made the depictions very dramatic and very life like. They were impressive to say the least.

Nègre du Soudan, Charles Henri Joseph Cordier

Upon leaving the Orsay we didn't have to travel far for some tucker. In the laneway next to where we entered, on Rue de Lille, was the Royal Orsay Café. We first had a look at the menu and was going to walk away, probably because of the cost, but quickly about faced and went in for a quick refreshment.  Next, we headed back across the Seine and into Jardin des Tuileries, turned left and headed down to the Musée de l'Orangerie via Allée Centrale, the wide central path through the gardens.

Resting at Bassin Octogonal. Looking towards Jeu de Paume

Built in 1852 to house the orange trees of the Tuileries Palace during winter, the Orangerie, along with Jeu de Paume, was assigned to the Under-Secretariat of State for Fine Arts after World War I, with the intention of housing an exhibition of living artists. It was at this point, although with one foot in the grave that Claud Monet got a guernsey. Offered to the French State at the conclusion of the war as a symbol of peace. His overly large set of Water Lilies has hung there ever since. This artwork is what greeted visitors, laid out in a circular room with bench seats in the middle facing each of the four separate panels. Each panel showed the changing seasons of the water lily pond at the bottom of Monet’s large garden. He sat down by the pond and worked on the pieces. It took 30 years for him to complete and has been on display in this gallery since 1927

Giving the "illusion of an endless whole, of a wave with no horizon and no shore". Monet's words, not ours

Another impressive display in the Orangerie was an exhibition that was acquired by the French State in the late fifties. It was called the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection and belonged to their surviving wife, Domenica. Paul was a young and very successful French art dealer who prematurely met his demise, according to some at the hands of his unscrupulous wife, dying of an ulcer in his early forties. Apparently, she was nursing him and done a less than successful job. Her next husband, Jean, was a successful architect, not through being good at his trade but by detecting a lode of lead and zinc in Morocco in 1925. Ten years later he founded Société des mines de Zellidja which made him richer. Domenica married Jean in 1941, and he too died suspiciously after being run down by a car. This, with the fact that she hired a hitman to kill her step son led to the scuttlebutt that the State done a deal with her to bequeath her collection or face gaol. Good story, true or untrue. The collection currently comprises of works from Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, Monet and Sisley as well as Picasso and Matisse, amongst others.

Maurice Utrillo, La Maison Bernot. 1924

This was an interesting display but it was time to move on, walking back through the gardens to the apartment for an hour. Once rested, we found ourselves looking to some old territory for dinner. Back across Jardin des Tuileries to Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel where the Africans were at it. Shane and Jo walked past and ignored them but they got Thomas with the string around the finger trick. They tie a colourful piece of string around the finger as a trick and when it cannot be removed, they hassle for money as it is "yours". It didn't work though as Jo intervened and hunted them away. As they retreated they yelled out that they were escaping from the "Australian Mumma". Over Pont des Arts, past Cathare, the Treasury building and up Rue de Seine to Bar du Marché for a beer and a feed. As it was, they had no food so after a couple we went shopping around the corner for some food and Jo and Cec taxied it back to the apartment with the groceries while Shane and the boys returned home the long way.

Enjoying Bar du Marché with its wall clad peeling mirrors

The Treasury Building

Entertainment below Quai de Conti

What a great day, a home cooked meal and tomorrow, Versailles.

[okayto]

Alex Awards

Alex Awards are given each year to 10 books written for adults, but which have special appeal to young adults. I often recommend them to students who are getting a bit tired of the YA collection*. The award’s homepage has lists of the awarded books each year, but here are a few of my favorites from its 20-year history:

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (2001 award)

The true story that inspired Moby Dick, in 1820 the whaleship Essex was sunk by the sperm whale it was attempting to kill. The survivors piled into lifeboats and attempted a 3000-mile journey to land as their numbers dwindled. Once a well-known tale during the days of whaling, the story is now presented as an absolute page-turner.

 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (2003)

In an alternate universe 1985, literature is the pinnacle of entertainment and pop culture. Literary detective Thursday Next investigates Shakespeare forgeries and book thefts before the hunt for a terrorist leads her to a device that can allow people to enter works of fiction, and her actions inadvertently change the outcome of Jane Eyre.

Fast-paced, quick-witted and tightly-plotted, this book (and everything else by author Jasper Fforde) is amazing, difficult to sum up, and absolutely no prior knowledge of any other books are necessary.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (2004)

What actually happens when you “donate your body to science”? Well, it could be used in crash tests…or as practice for plastic surgeons, or decomposed in various conditions so forensics people can do that “well at the rate of decomposition here in Kansas in July she’s been dead for three weeks” thing but in real life. Author-journalist Mary Roach is one of the funniest, most engaging nonfiction writers I’ve come across, and her abundant curiosity and willingness to ask lots of weird questions make the book fabulous.

Soulless by Gail Carriger (2010)

In an AU steampunkish Victorian London, Alexia Tarabotti has several problems. One: she has no soul. Two: she’s a spinster. Three: a vampire just attacked her without so much as an introduction, breaking all rules of social etiquette. And four: she just killed said vampire and is being pulled in to more supernatural shenanigans, which is not ideal during the London Season.

Fun with excellent doses of sarcasm and several other books and series subsequently written in the same universe.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2012)

Yes, yes, I know the movie just came out. I haven’t seen it. But the book is an interesting thriller—in a world where almost everything in is facilitated or done online through virtual reality (OASIS), a [generic teenage] boy races an evil corporation to unlock the puzzles of OASIS’s 80s-obsessed creator, in order to claim the OASIS for the common people and not require loads of money like Evil ComcastWarnerCorp will.

Lock In by John Scalzi (2015)

In the near future, a highly contagious virus leaves some victims “locked in” to their bodies: aware, awake, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. FBI agent Chris, locked in since toddlerhood and using an android body, teams up with a veteran agent to investigate a series of murders and finds that the real mystery goes much deeper.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (2017)

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children hosts those who have returned, from those worlds found at the bottom of a rabbit hole, in old wells, in the back of a wardrobe. However, not all children wanted to return, and their confused parents are eager to send them to a therapeutic school. When Nancy returns from an underworld and is packed off to the Home, her arrival coincides with a dark tragedy that threatens the Home’s existence.

Of note: Nancy is asexual and it’s not the point of her character, it’s just mentioned. (!!!!) A sequel-ish (same world, focusing on a different character), Down Among the Sticks and Bones, also was an Alex Award winner for 2018.

Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure by Ryan North (2017)

Did you ever read Romeo and Juliet and wished Romeo never met Juliet? Or thought it might be better if they teamed up to take over Verona with robot suits? Or just wished those Choose Your Own Adventure books from childhood came in adult size? Good news! All of that is here!

  *(This does not, of course, mean that you can’t find well-written YA books, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to start with “adult fiction” if one wants to explore past YA.)

[orbemnews]

The Ocean’s Youngest Monsters Are Ready for Glamour Shots For most scuba divers, few places underwater match the visual thrill of a kaleidoscopic coral reef teeming with colorful fish. For Jeff Milisen, a marine biologist and photographer in Kona, Hawaii, there is no better place to dive than an open stretch of deep ocean. At night. “There’s a whole lot of nothing,” he said. “There’s no bottom, no walls, just this space that goes to infinity. And one thing you realize is there are a lot of sea monsters there, but they’re tiny.” Of course, there are big monsters, too, like sharks. But the creatures Mr. Milisen is referring to are part of a daily movement of larval fish and invertebrates, which rise from the depths to the surface each evening as part of one of the largest migrations of organisms on the planet. The emerging hobby of taking pictures of them is known as blackwater photography. Most of the larvae are no bigger than a fingernail; others are even smaller. And they can easily be mistaken for bits of seaweed or drifting detritus. But up close, when captured with a camera using a special lens called a macro, the animals can appear to loom as large as wild animals on a safari — a safari on another planet. Five years ago, Mr. Milisen began sharing his photos in a Facebook group, and there he discovered a community of passionate nighttime adventurers who were capturing images of living things rarely seen before. Perplexed and astonished by what they were photographing, Mr. Milisen and others in the community, called the Blackwater Photo Group, began contacting fish scientists, asking for help in identifying what they were seeing. Even the most seasoned specialists responded with incredulity. “The No. 1 thing people, even scientists, ask is: ‘What the hell is that?’” said Ned DeLoach, an experienced underwater photographer, who, with his wife, Anna, and the writer Paul Humann, has published eight books on marine fishes. “Why these images are so spectacular and so popular is they’re so otherworldly. People have never imagined that creatures like this exist, and that has attracted photographers.” David G. Johnson, curator of fishes at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, was one of the first scientists to be contacted by members of the Facebook group. He said he was immediately smitten by the images. “You have behavior, colors,” he said. “It really is a great advance in terms of what we can learn about the early life history of fishes.” As the blackwater hobby has taken off, gaining adherents around the globe, more and more photographers have captured stunning images and videos that reveal a secret world of bizarre, tiny animals that scientists have struggled for decades to better understand. Many of the images have gone viral on social media, and some recently won major underwater photography awards. Now, scientists like Dr. Johnson want to formalize the collaboration with blackwater photographers. In a paper published on Tuesday in the journal Ichthyology & Herpetology, scientists from Hawaii, along with Dr. Johnson and others at the Smithsonian, have outlined how they hope to enlist more nighttime underwater photographers, most of whom have no scientific background, to participate in marine research. If the photographers could collect specimens of the tiny animals they photograph, DNA could be extracted and analyzed. So far, the scientists leading the effort have recruited about a dozen divers, who have collected more than 60 specimens for analysis. More are in the pipeline. “We’re building a collection that for the first time has a live image,” Dr. Johnson said. “We get the specimen and create a DNA record tied to it.” He expects scientists with a knack for underwater photography to join the effort as well. Marine researchers hope that examining images of animals photographed in their natural surroundings and pairing those images with data drawn from techniques such as dissection and DNA barcoding will significantly expand the knowledge of how these animals change over time and why they behave as they do. Ideally, the work will also shed light on the mysterious daily migration of creatures, called the diurnal vertical migration, that takes place every night in every ocean around the globe. The diurnal vertical migration includes trillions of tiny animals, many in the larval stage, that rise from great depths of 1,000 feet or more to just beneath the surface to feed. The journey takes place at night, scientists believe, because it allows the animals to avoid predation by larger fish that locate their prey visually. The baby fish return to the lightless deep before sunrise. Like many insect species and frogs, most marine fishes and invertebrates look and behave vastly different in their larval stages than they do as adults. The fish larvae are often festooned with flamboyant, streaming appendages to help them navigate the currents or imitate other species such as poisonous jellyfish. Some have enormous eyes and broadcast a rainbow iridescence that would not look out of place beneath a glass counter at Tiffany’s. Most marine fishes and some ocean invertebrates go through this two-stage life cycle. Scientists believe that the drastic shift in form is a product of evolution and natural selection. “Larvae and adults are each living in a completely different evolutionary arena,” Dr. Johnson said. “The larvae make their living in the open ocean currents, which is such a different place than where they’re going to settle out, like the sandy bottom, a coral reef or the deep sea.” The larval stage of many sea creatures transpires in the open ocean, which is difficult to study, and little is known. Almost all of the previous understanding of what these animals look like comes from expeditions that collected them in large conical devices called plankton nets, which are dragged behind research vessels. The technique began over 150 years ago, gaining prominence with the Challenger expedition from 1872 to 1876, organized by the British government. There have since been some major advances in the technology, but the basic technique is largely unchanged. Plankton nets draw the animals into a large open ring and funnel them into a jarlike device called a cod end. As water is forced into the jar, the animals are easily crushed and usually die before reaching the surface. Many creatures, such as jellyfish, salps and glittery, orb-shaped animals called ctenophores, are so delicate that they are mushed into a gelatinous goo that researchers on boats pull from the jars by the handful. The animals that remain intact are fixed in an alcohol solution, which prevents them from decomposing, but which turns them ghostly white. Often the delicate filaments and fins break off, making it impossible to know how the animals looked and behaved while alive. “Those filament appendages are extremely important,” said Luiz A. Rocha, a marine biologist and curator of fishes at the California Academy of Sciences who is not involved in the project. He said that they can be used for mimicry, movement or camouflage. “Because all that information is lost when collected in the nets, the photographs can open up an entirely new research area to understand why they have these features and what they use them for,” he said. Open water observation of fish larvae is not new, but it was mostly practiced during the day. The technique, called blue water diving, began in the 1980s when a group of California scientists, hoping to overcome the problems with plankton nets, began taking boats out while the sun blazed overhead. William M. Hamner, a retired ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, was a pioneer of blue water diving and developed many techniques to drift and dive in the open ocean that are used today by blackwater divers. “The fact that we started blue water is simply because no one cared enough about plankton at the time to go to all the effort to observe them in the wild, and I did,” Dr. Hamner said. In both blue and blackwater diving, scuba divers usually travel far offshore, often 10 miles or more, where the seafloor may lie several thousand feet below. They descend 50 to 100 feet beneath the ocean while clinging to a tether that hangs from a boat or from a buoy on the surface. In blackwater diving, however, powerful underwater lights are attached to a tether to illuminate the water, often attracting animals, including sharks. The avocation is not for everyone. “There’s a whole new sensory experience when there’s no top or bottom,” said Ms. DeLoach, one of the photographers. “It’s the closest I think I’ve come to being in outer space.” For the photographers, capturing an image of something never observed, let alone photographed, before becomes almost an addiction. “What’s really fascinating is when you send the scientists something and they have no idea what it is,” said Steven Kovacs, a dentist in Palm Beach, Fla., and a frequent contributor to the Facebook group, who has been blackwater diving for five years. “Or it’s the first time being seen. That’s one of the greatest thrills of all.” The photographers have reason to gloat. Some scientists say the images, paired with DNA from collected larvae, have the potential to revolutionize the study of larval fishes. “We believe this approach opens a new window for our understanding of these larvae and raises exciting questions for future research,” said Ai Nonaka, a researcher at the Smithsonian and the lead author on the paper. Dr. Johnson hopes that the project will inspire a new generation of underwater photographers to become citizen scientists and participate in research. “We’ve been doing this for four to five years, but it’s still new,” said Mr. DeLoach, who began collecting specimens for the Smithsonian with his wife in 2019. “There’s so much that hasn’t been discovered yet. It’s a pretty handy thing to have a specimen in the Smithsonian collection with your name on it.” Other scientists who study larval fishes are happy to give the photographers their due credit. “I think that this is one of those special cases in which the underwater photography people actually realized something quite valuable and cool before science did,” said Tom Shlesinger, a marine biologist based in Florida who is a convert to blackwater photography. “It really opened my eyes and mind to the fact that we actually know very little about what’s going on in the sea at night.” Source link Orbem News #glamour #Monsters #Oceans #Ready #shots #youngest

[deddyinfo]

7 Things You Can BURY in the GARDEN to Improve the Soil

7 Things You Can BURY in the GARDEN to Improve the Soil

Janay i’m mark from social eyesight me and i love to bury things in the garden it not only cures the environment by reducing waste and landfill it saves on buying fertilizer and other expensive additives to improve your soil so here are seven of the main things i like to bury in the garden

let’s get into it[ Music] number 1 swine as an animal carcass decomposes in the garden it turns into a rich fertilizer that can be utilized by your weeds the beginning system of your weeds in this case banana trees will literally “re going through” and suck out the nutrients it needs I’ve submerge my bazaar share of animals in the plot such as chickens doves toads fish heads

and now even a kangaroo at the end of last year Nina my wife was driving to work early in the morning went out of nowhere hop-skip a kangaroo right in front of a automobile she did everything she could to avoid it but unfortunately just like numerous Australians knowledge at least once in their life she concealed the kangaroo and it couldn’t be revitalized of course Nina rang me and she was a bit shaken so I drove out to check that she was okay and instead of leaving the animal on the road I took it back home and the one thing I had at the time which was a reusable supermarket pocket which I never reused after that I might supplement then I submerge the kangaroo in the pet cemetery and it came back to life no that fraction isn’t true I lay the kangaroo right here underneath the banana trees and since

then we’ve had a banana boom simply a few points to note when you do this make sure you dig a penetrating enough hole and treat with enough clay relevant to the size of the animal to prevent any bad fragrances and I recommend flooding further with a roadblock such as ball rock-and-rolls to stop wild puppies or other animals trying to dig it up also for gigantic animals this method works best with result trees or large flowers like bananas and of course I’m not saying you should fling off a perfectly health animal exactly to use it in the garden-variety but if the circumstances grow such as an age-old chicken stops off the perch well you might as well get

that one last-place employ out of it yes it is sad when swine get ill or come to a premature intention like young Skippy the kangaroo now but on a positive mention he did make good bananas number two is eggs as we know eggs are so versatile they can be used to establish mayonnaise cakes pasta hashed out to move more fowls or simply gobbled as is in many different ways but did you know that eggs likewise make an excellent

fertilizer for plants it’s true eggs contain calcium phosphorus magnesium nitrogen zinc copper and many other nutrients beneficial to plant growth you’ve probably heard about the benefits of eggshells in the plot but entire eggs are even better except who wants to waste whole eggs in the garden-variety well firstly you might find using eggs in this way cheaper then buying commercial fertilizer pound-for-pound however we tend to use eggs that have been soiled cracked or age-old I’ll take up and testify you a really good example real experience I left out duck to collect her eggs in the hope that she might be participating in them and hatch out some ducklings for us but she’s a little bit young and instead she’s compiled some of them but the majority of members of them ought to have sowed around by the chickens and she’s not sitting on them so instead what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna collect them all they’re all around the place one there three here one over there one

near where you are I’m gonna collect them up and use them in the garden-variety and the last one check them out look at how unclean some of these are just rolling around on the poop storey gardeners will often dig a excavation like this you know about 30 centimeters deep like a few eggs in interrupt them and then cover that fault over delightful and good pat it down then use a affix so they can identify where that defect is for later then come back in about several weeks maybe a month or two and then they know that they can plant a tomato capsicum or any vegetable certainly over the priorities in that and they don’t even need to use fertilizer personally I simply drivel them anywhere in the plot excavate a opening at random don’t even bother marking them and often I will only plant tomatoes straight

immediately over freshly seeded eggs into the garden and I’ve had good results with that number three animal trash or dungs one of the most common and natural ways to fertilize the plot is by using animal manures that have been left to break down and compost and get really old in a neat cool smudge like this under some Hessian for several months until they’ve broken down and then they can be applied into the garden you are eligible to submerge fresh manure in the garden you just can’t originate anything in that place for several weeks maybe months until it breaks down if you get managed business dung fertilizer it’s usually scattered on the surface around flowers but when we collect

our own excrements from animals the material is larger and less center often these kinds of excrement is best dug into the garden and combined with the clay basically buried into the garden berthed so that it does not clog burn or crust up meeting it better overall for the seeds my favorite manures are cow horse poultry but other shoot swine like sheep and even rabbits etc are good to cat and pup poop can be composted down but not embed instantly into the garden on purpose regardles I’m not a big love either way of feline and puppy debris it’s too close to human waste for me to use in the garden and I’d be worried about spreading nasty pathogens throughout the veggie patch but that’s just my view whereas farm animals have a enormously different compost compatibility because they eat little protein and have a more plant-based diet number four is kitchen scraps you may remember my video what happens when you submerge kitchen scraps in the plot well in this spot here is where the beginning of that video was and where I moved a batch of kitchen scraps in a gutter here and that awfully season I ripened a bumper cultivate of tomatoes so what we should do is dig this up and see if there’s anything left of those scraps that I put in there get in there I can start accompanying some eggshell that’s probably the last thing that would ever break down not basically nothing except for a few eggshells

but you have to remember this was buried a good 12 months ago and it’s not surprising to me that you won’t discovery any real fragments of anything except for a few calcium segments of eggshell which are a lot harder to break down but it gets still utilized by flowers believe it or not and they only need a little bit micronutrients to boost their own immune system and change better yes we also compost kitchen scraps in the usual way in a compost pile ora tumbler but this reductions out the middleman and I calculate is a marvelous practice to do it number five is coffee and

tea debris both coffee and tea are good to use in a plot either dug in sprinkled around or implanted altogether into the garden bed most people know about the benefits of used coffee feet and whether “youre using” your or get them from a neighbourhood cafe it’s all good honestly we use chocolate pods and precisely can’t chuck them into the garden however we do use two tea leaves have about twice as much nitrogen phosphorus and potassium than coffee grinds all these elements are key fertilizer parts for bushes tea also contains calcium magnesium cast-iron and zinc which all are good for seeds and help them to absorb nutrients they’re for submerge coffee and tea

trashes in the garden is worth the effort but do go easy on the beverage in the garden-variety because a little bit is good but too much in one spot might up the asipi of the grime and if that happens that can make it difficult for bushes to actually assimilate the nutrients so it has the opposite effect so I would recommend if you are going to add coffee anchors and tea leaves into the garden spread them around a bit number 6 is garden squander the first instinct of most gardeners is to compost this down and that is a top route to recycle but light-green litter like this can also be hid directly

into the garden berthed old floras and even weeds that have not gone to seed can be dug into the ground as a light-green excrement to rich the clay I even go one further and very larger green litter such as adheres and logs to create Hugo culture style grew beds that help to retain moisture and create a healthy environment for beneficial animals microbes and fungu digging in certain floras can even help to eradicate pests for example excavating in agricultural crops of marigolds to further reduce nematodes in the grime list seven are lice yes I know that insects are technically service animals I could have clothed them in number one nonetheless when I applied these lice into the garden they’re alive so I think it’s different

I also wanted lice to be last-place to make this one particularly important point one of the main reasons I embed all this stuff in our menu garden-variety is to feed our lice I analyse our entire garden-variety like it’s one big worm farm and now I’m gonna leant these foals back in so I don’t stress them out too much how do I use these insects in the plot well whenever I find a worm outside of the garden such as digging around the property I’ll collect them and inter them into the veggie patch but I’ve also found another way to grow and lent snakes and that’s through inoculation I buy some worm eggs and seed them into a collection of dung for them to hatch out and have a worm party this does two things it breaks down and directs the manure over to become better plant food and then when

I go to use it in the garden it populates the bunks with extra lice now I’m not independent experts on insects thankfully and I do know that composting worms are often different to the insects that you get in the regular garden but there is a common belief out there that compost lice won’t survive into the regular garden-variety and that is simply wrong there are many different types of insects including different types of composting worms composting snakes will merrily live in the regular garden-variety as long as they have food and lay things in the garden

variety gives your snakes all the food they need for them to turn those pieces into better soil structure and nutrients for your seeds you don’t have to buy insects most of the time if you have a dung pile that’s open or a compost locality that’s open to the field you will attract snakes from around your belonging and they’ll multiply in those areas although if you do want to head start or if insects are scarce in your arena buying some lice or worm eggs and computing them to your compost compost pile

or garden bed could be worthwhile time remember to feed them one final point about embed things in the garden don’t overdo it don’t turn your plot berthed into a minefield of crumbling material because that won’t do your embeds better now as that cloth breaks down in mass generates gases and heat and that’s not helpful for your embeds swelling so hurl all your excess waste in here besides my top seven do you hide other things in the garden to reach your plants develop better if you do whack them down in the comments segment below so we can all read

and learn from them and don’t say your grandparents I’ve heard that one before if you liked this article

  Read More: Planting& Growing Flower Bulbs: How to Dig Store Tuberous Begonias

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[cosimaballettithomas-blog]

Blog No. 2

The topic of this week’s readings has to do with sustainability and the causes of environmental problems. The PowerPoint explores how environmental problems are not restricted to the natural world but can and do threaten civilization (Prof’s Powerpoint). In fact, capitalist societies, powerful as they may appear are actually only made possible by continuous natural capital, such as timber and wildlife, as well as non-market resources such as climate regulation, biodiversity, and natural pest control (Slide 5). Sustainabilityin the context of the environment is the use of natural resources at a rate that they can be renewed and replenished (Slide 5). An unsustainableuse of resources can lead to devastating repercussions such as ecosystem collapse which involves a depletion of natural capital; ergo, resources that capitalist societies rely on heavily for trade and commerce (Slide 4).

To demonstrate how truly dependent we are on the environment, the United Nations’ “List of Ecosystem Goods and Services” explains the four categories of services vital to society that are naturally occurring in the environment. The first service is provisioningwhich describes “the material outputs from ecosystems” including food, raw materials, fresh water, and medicinal resources. The second service is regulatingwhich regulates “the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.” For example, climate and air quality regulation involves trees that “provide shade and remove pollutants from the atmosphere.” Another example is wastewater treatment though “microorganisms in soil and in wetlands [that] decompose human and animal waste, as well as many pollutants” (UN). The third service is habitatthat “underpin[s] almost all other services” and provide[s] shelter for life thus preserving and protecting genetic and biodiversity. The last service is cultural which describes “non-material benefits people obtain from contact with ecosystems [including] aesthetic, spiritual, and psychological benefits.” For example, tourism involves not only recreation for tourists but revenue for countries.

According to the Miller textbook, there are three principles of sustainability that are found in the natural world. The first principle is nutrient cycling, which would likely fall under the regulating service and is responsible for supporting the entire food network, beginning with microorganisms and plants which are then taken up by animals. The second principle is natural capital which pertains to the provisioning service. The third principle is solutions which assigns responsibility to scientists in finding “scientific solutions” and to politicians in finding political solutions (Miller 2012, 10). This draws on the disparity between the scientists and politicians who are trying to uphold this principle in a time of climate emergency and the politicians dismiss it as unfounded and unnecessary. It also presents further insight into the phenomenon that isclimate change skepticism and the relatively recent partisanization of environmental issues within the U.S. government.

The purpose of the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessmentas stated in its “Summary Assessment” is to “establish the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their contributions to human-wellbeing” (UN 2005, V). This kind of resource is especially essential today given the many political leaders under the Trump Administration, including Trump himself, who, despite the obvious warning signs such as more frequent, deadly, and destructive natural disasters, visible sea level rise, and diminishing coral reefs, of which, according to the “Summary for Decision Makers” “20% were lost and an additional 20% degraded in the last several decades” continue to dismiss and disbelieve the existence and urgency of climate change (UN 2005, 2). If they won’t respond to hard-core facts, such as “the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by about 32%, primarily due to the combustion of fossil fuels and land use changes,” what will they respond to (UN 2005, 4)?

Back in 1992 a team of scientists released their “Warning to Humanity” in which they presented a cautionary message about the state of the environment at the time such as stratospheric ozone depletion which “threatens us with enhanced ultraviolet radiation at the earth’s surface, which can be damaging or lethal” (UCS 1992). As demonstrated by the Alliance of World Scientists’ “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” what used to be a serious warning is now harsh reality, so what is it going to take for people to come to terms with what is going on? It is my personal opinion that the state of the environment is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Cynical? Yes. But perhaps the best way to persuade people is through fear. I think it’s going to take even more national/local disasters to convince people who may not be too concerned with the distant tsunami in Indonesia or the air pollution crisis in China that climate change is real. The warning states that in addition to promoting more sustainable resource management, other changes that must happen include population stabilization, sexual equality, and in general improving the “social and economic conditions” of developing countries (UCS). In a sense, it is on the part of developed countries to not only reduce consumption but “provide aid and support to developing nations, because only the developed nations have the financial resources and the technical skills for these tasks” (UCS). By helping other nations, we are actually acting out of self-interest to ourselves because we all share the same planet and as more and more regions become uninhabitable due to lack of resources, disasters, polluted water/air, congestion, dangerous temperatures, etc., we will have more displaced people in need of relocation which will only exacerbate the environmental crisis. I think that in addition to everything that has already been mentioned, we need more organizations like New Dream working towards countering climate change through concrete and effective strategies such as policy and environmental education (Center for a New American Dream).

A shocking development reported by the University of Barcelona in an Environmental News Network article titled, “A Study Shows an Increase of Permafrost Temperature at a Global Scale” discusses permafrost (pictured below), which is a greenhouse gas sequestering element found in the cryosphere at the earth’s poles and defined as “the ground below the freezing point of water 0 º for two or more years” (ENN 2019). The element’s name suggests that it’s permanent; however, recent studies are showing that it’s actually thawing, which means that climate change is affecting one of the earth’s most seemingly impenetrable characteristics. This could lead to even more GHG emissions as the carbon and methane that was sequestered in the ice often from decomposed plants and animals is released as the ice melts. One study shows that “as much as 92 billion tons of carbon could be emitted between now and 2100. For perspective, that’s equal to nearly 20 percent of all global carbon emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution” which began in the 18th century (Denchak 2018).

                                                                                                        (Cosmos 2015)

           According to the “Ecological Footprint Quiz” my ecological footprint 3.7 global hectares and my carbon footprint is 6.8 tonnes/year. Moreover, my earth overshoot day is June 17th compared to the global overshoot day for 2018 which was August 1st. Secondly, if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.2 earths compared to the national average of 5. I am not too surprised by my results given that I live alone, am vegetarian and am likely more conscious of my energy use and waste disposal than most people; however, I would argue that although I am doing relatively better than the average American, what I consume and waste is nonetheless incomparable to the average human being. There are a multitude of things I could and should be doing to reduce my carbon footprint such as walking more, unplugging devices, and conducting more meticulous recycling and trash disposal, and I attribute my failure to do these things at all times to pure laziness, which I truly believe is a national pandemic. I think that films like “No Impact Man” and “Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home” are really important and effective visual representations of how much waste we produce in this country in that they are shocking and disquieting and make most of us want to change the way we live. Now, whether or not we follow through with our desire to change is another story.

According to the ecological footprint analysis in the Miller textbook, the United States has an ecological deficit/debit of -5.1 hectares/person which means that, compared to the world’s deficit of -0.4, the average American has a relatively high ecological footprint in contrast to the country’s biological capacity to “replenish its renewable resources and absorb the resulting waste products and pollution” which means that we are using resources at a highly unsustainable rate (Miller 2012, 30). Another example is Canada, which actually as an ecological credit/reserve of +6.9 which means that Canada, compared to the United States and world has a smaller ecological footprint than its biological capacity to replenish its resources; thus, the average Canadian is using resources relatively more sustainably than the other countries listed, the same goes for Brazil. I am not at all shocked that the average American has such a colossal ecological footprint and deficit considering that most people use far more resources and energy than they need.

In response to the Critical Thinking Question #2 of Miller, I try really hard to be optimistic about the future of our planet; however, I think it's important to recognize that the Miller textbook, at least this edition, is already outdated (Miller 2012, 29). We are now living under a government administration run by climate change skeptics and the IPCC just released its latest report last year informing us that things are far worse than we originally thought, and what we originally thought was already pretty devastating. Even if the entire world were to become carbon neutral tomorrow it still would not help to reverse global warming, at least in the present given that even this massive hypothetical change would still take years to gain momentum and have any lasting or evident effect. This doesn't mean that we shouldn’t work towards carbon neutrality however; in fact, we really have no choice but to fundamentally change the way we have been doing things for the last few centuries. My vision of 2060 follows as such: we are going to see a planet-wide shift towards renewable energy and a massive decrease in carbon emissions; however, we are also going to see far more displaced people and endangered/extinct species, and ultimately, a colossal disappearance in natural habitat and species biodiversity. Things are going to get far worse before they get better, especially if we continue to elect people into office that reject basic science. That said, I do think that we are capable of effecting widespread change, I just fear that it's too late for it to have the impact that we want and need in order to not see the aforementioned effects.

Word Count: 1814

Discussion Question: Is it the responsibility of relatively more developed countries to aid less developed countries for the sake of the environment, considering that we consume/pollute/emit more and are generally more responsible for the climate crisis?

Work Cited

Van Buren, Edward. “Prof’s PowerPoint Notes.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RMjVGYUwwZlBXa28/view

“List of Ecosystem Goods & Services” UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. United Nations. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RNE1rUktmMGJ5Wmc/view

The Video Project. Accessed March 03, 2019. https://www.videoproject.com/Garbage-The-Revolution-Starts-at-Home.html.

"No Impact Man." Wikipedia. February 20, 2018. Accessed March 03, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Impact_Man.

“Ecosystems and Human Well-Being” 2005. UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. United Nations. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RdjJJVzQ3Ymszczg/view

"What Is Your Ecological Footprint?" Global Footprint Network. Accessed March 04, 2019. https://www.footprintnetwork.org/resources/footprint-calculator/.

Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. "Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability." Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.

"1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity." Union of Concerned Scientists. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.ucsusa.org/about/1992-world-scientists.html#.XECOzy2ZPOQ.

"World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice." Home Page | World Scientists' Warning to Humanity. Accessed January 22, 2019. http://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/.

Center for a New American Dream. "Our Mission." New Dream. October 04, 2018. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://newdream.org/about-us.

University of Barcelona. "A Study Shows an Increase of Permafrost Temperature at a Global Scale." Environmental News Network. January 17, 2019. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://www.enn.com/articles/56445-a-study-shows-an-increase-of-permafrost-temperature-at-a-global-scale.

Denchak, Melissa. "Permafrost: Everything You Need to Know." NRDC. June 29, 2018. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/permafrost-everything-you-need-know.

Smith, Belinda. "What Happens If the Permafrost Disappears?" Cosmos. December 14, 2015. https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/what-happens-if-permafrost-disappears.

[trenttrendspotter]

The Fashion Industry Decides to Wear its Values at ReMode

Anyone in the fashion and retail industries in the last five to 10 years will admit it’s been turned on its head with the emergence of fast fashion and e-commerce. The combustion of the two led fashion event veteran Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel to launch the inaugural industry trade show, ReMode, held in Los Angeles this past November. The show itself was designed to inspire change across all aspects of the business of fashion. And it did just that... you could feel the excitement in the air.  

While California fires were raging less than an hour away, giving the show heightened relevance, thought leaders gathered to discuss mainly, disrupting the industry and producing more sustainable fashion with heightened transparency from vendors, and more cooperation from retailers. Research shows consumers are buying differently because their priorities are different. While it was once believed it was enough to do no harm, now the earth is screaming for fashion that improves the environment.   

The show featured four pillars of concepts to think about – Remake, Rethink, Reinvest and Remarket. The top take away from ReMode turned out to be “reformation.”

The reformation is related to the waste produced by the industry that accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions. That is more than the international aviation and maritime shipping industries combined. Much of that is due to 20 percent global wastewater that comes from the production of the garments, while cotton farming is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s insecticides. The textile industry has been identified as major contributor to plastics in our oceans as well.   

These staggering statistics were included in an X-Ray Fashion Tool Kit created by Vulcan Productions that was brought to life in a virtual reality experience directed to alarm the industry about the condition it’s leaving people and the planet.    

Fashion has become an environmental and social emergency. The good news is the biggest players in fashion are doing something about it as evident at ReMode. “X-Ray Fashion was truly game changing for me,” said Danielle Licata, women’s fashion director/VP brand director, Coterie. “Not only was it a fully immersive experience- complete with wet feet, it was thought provoking and struck a chord that will be long lasting. I left thinking about the clothing I consume in a different way. Asking questions like where does this garment come from, how are the workers who made it treated and how did the production of this piece possibly harm the world? It’s not necessarily about consuming less but being aware of the issues, consuming much smarter and recycling or upcycling to not create as much waste.”

The Show Itself 

The event had keynotes from celebrity Rosario Dawson and Amber Valetti, designers Rebecca Minkoff, Nicole Miller, AllBirds founder Joey Zwillinger and top executives from Target, H&M, Hanes, Levi Strauss, heritage brands such as Lacoste and KSwiss and dozens of other thoughts leaders. 

The concept of luxury fashion will continue to evolve. According to Nina Farran, founder of FASHIONKIND, where ethics and sustainability meet luxury style, there is no greater luxury than knowing the story behind a piece  who made it, where it was made, what materials were used – and knowing that you can have it for years to come.   

“We need to stop looking at clothing as something that is disposable,” said Farran. “Instead, we need to look at each purchase as an investment – something that will be cherished and kept for years to come. While fast fashion may seem cheaper at face-value, it perpetuates a cycle of wearing an item once, throwing it out, replacing it with another, and so on, which can be quite expensive in the long run. Investing in pieces that are well-made, can be worn many different ways and will last for years can be more cost-effective and better for our planet and the people on it.”   

The next ReMode will be held October 29-30, 2019 at the LA Convention Center.

Top Talking Points From the Conference

Circularity: Swiftly becoming the holy grail of the fashion industry, “circularity” is a relatively new way of thinking for this industry that’s being adopted. Visions, strategies, supply chains, and practical procedures need to be assessed, new materials invented and tested, dangers banned and new suppliers and partnerships initiated.

Inventing materials: Reducing is not enough. Materials need to change and they are. New formulas are replacing naturals fibers. Designers are considering the longevity of textiles when selecting them. Our grandchildren should be able to wear the clothes we buy today. Fabrics are being created knowing that they will be discarded. Concepts include fibers that start decomposing as you wear them. Experiments are being done on fibers created from banking human hair and skin cells. Fabric from used surfboards is also now available.  

Retail disconnect: Consumers want quality first and price second. They are turning to retail for experience not convenience. Retailers need to hold their inventory to a higher standard and find a way to connect with what consumers want. Fifty-three percent of retailers say mobile is most important. Just 2 percent use smart speakers as a strategy, whle 43 percent of consumers use smart speakers such as Alexa to shop. 

Community building: Marketing has gone from traffic generation to community building. 

Winning with wholesale: Henry Ford said if you gave people what they wanted we would still be seeking faster horse buggies. Retail isn’t dying. Mediocre retail is. 

Holding suppliers to your principles: Almost every speaker encouraged the audience to hold suppliers to their principles and show retailers that consumers buy principles and stories more than low price.

As seen on Textile Insight ~ January/February 2019

[andrewmoocow]

Fooly Falls 2 Ride on Shooting Star chapter 1: Here We Go Again (originally posted on January 23, 2019)

AN: Greetings everyone! While I continue to work hard on the climax for Gravity Soul, I'm just gonna throw this into the ring. Ladies and germs, behold the long-awaited sequel to Fooly Falls! Before we begin, I just want to say that this takes place 20 years after the first story and centers on the twin children of Dipper and Mabel's own son that mainly takes from FLCL Progressive with elements of Alternative and some rewrites I found across the Internet. Now that we got all of this outta the way, let's finally return to the falls.

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"The world must be destroyed before it can become beautiful. This is the world I envisioned." a young girl narrated to herself in the middle of a destroyed town. "This is what I fear the world will become."

The girl strolled through the wreckage in a grey beanie cap on top of her brownhaired head. The rest of her body made it look like she came back from a great battle that she barely survived, rotting & almost falling apart, and out of her forehead was a large horn poking out. "But in this world, only my body is rotting. Becoming decayed. Yes, decayed. Maybe this is what my body could become."

As she continued her march, a collection of giant irons moved towards her from the distance held by equally large hands. "Maybe this is my true self." The girl soon turned and ran away. "But then finally I remembered. I'm still only a twelve-year old girl, not thinking about anything."

The girl continued running as her form slowly began to decompose. "Nothing normal ever happens around these parts. And it can only get weirder from here."

All covered in blood, the girl reached a half-submerged monster who's eye quickly burst open, causing her horn to react.

The girl screamed in terror as her body fell apart more and more, flesh and blood being replaced with metal until she emerged as a white robot with a bright blue visor. And just as the irons moved closer, the robot prepared for battle by sending one of the irons flying-

Gwen Pines suddenly burst from her sleep. Her normally straight brown hair was a mess from tossing and turning in her sleep while her younger brother Tyrone passionately sang along to the song that served as her alarm.

When the song ended, Tyrone looked at his sister with a smile. "Aah! After ten hours of sleep, you are free!" he exclaimed joyously. "It's time to conquer breakfast!"

"Good morning Tyrone." Gwen yawned rubbing her eyes. "Morning sis!" Tyrone exclaimed giving her a good morning hug before he noticed her messy hair. "Hey, what's up with your hair? Did you have that weird zombie robot dream again?"

"Pretty much." Gwen moaned picking up a brush to straighten her chocolate locks. "You ever wonder about the future Ty? You ever fear that you'll lose everything, and then yourself as well?"

"Nope! You're just thinking too far into the future." Tyrone assured her with a playful knock on her head. "Now come on, don't wanna keep Mommy waiting!"

Tyrone grabbed his older sister by the arm and dragged her downstairs to the kitchen, where their mother was already preparing breakfast. "Morning guys!" Wendy greeted them giving Tyrone a hug. "Morning Mommy! Where's Daddy at?" Tyrone asked squeezing his beloved mom tight before he let go. "Dipper's off at the Shack helping Stan again." Wendy answered serving the kids some scrambled eggs. "You wanna go deliver some coffee to him, Aunt Mabel and Aunt Pacifica?"

"Of course." Gwen quietly replied spotting three thermoses on the counter while finishing her scrambled eggs. "You must be as excited to go there today and see our friends as much as I am, right?" Tyrone added shoveling the remains of his serving down the hatch. "There's Ian, Leia, Juan & Jorge, Imelda, Abby, Mr. Soos, Melody and of course, Arnold!"

"Let's just go. I'll carry Dad's and Aunt Mabel's, you get Aunt Pacifica's." Gwen deadpanned preparing to leve their home for the Mystery Shack. The siblings picked up the thermoses of coffee and began heading out the door. "See you later Mommy!" Tyrone called running farther away. "See ya little dude!" Wendy hollered back before she stopped her elder daughter with her old axe. "And you too Gwen!"

"I'm way too old for that. Plus you're basically threatening me into saying bye." Gwen stated. "Okay, you're right on the whole threatening thing, but still!" Wendy exclaimed putting her axe away as Gwen sighed and finally said "Goodbye Mommy."

As a white haired woman in a blue Chevrolet Bel-Air watched through a pair of binoculars from a distance, the twins finally made it to the Mystery Shack where a peculiar yellow Vespa scooter was parked outside. The tourist trap itself looked nicer than it did twenty years ago, albeit the biggest change was the loose S on the sign now hastily nailed into place.

Stepping inside and switching the sign from closed to open, the kids were greeted with a few familiar sights.

Ian Ramirez, a broad-shouldered 17-year old young man with brown hair spiking back downward, a small goatee and a black leather jacket over a Mystery Shack employee T-shirt, was hard at work on getting everything ready.

Ian's sister Leia, an attractive 15-year old girl with her brown hair in a ponytail, an orange question mark symboled tanktop, denim shorts and hiking boots, manned the cash register like their mother before her, texting on her phone with a can of soda beside her.

And finally three boys sat down having a conversation. The first boy with dirty blonde hair was Arnold; age 10, the adopted son of their aunts Mabel & Pacifica clad in a purple sweatervest, black trousers with brown shoes, braces and a gold Northwest ring. The other ridiculously dressed two he was telling a story to were 11-year old twins Juan and Joseph, or Jorge as he preferred to be called.

"So then what did she do?" Juan asked getting more invested in Arnold's story. "Well, then she tried to pull a giant robot out of my forehead!" Arnold skittishly answered. "I had no idea I had those inside me, especially the one she found which then ran off into the night!"

"That is so awesome!" Jorge roared in excitement. "What was she like?! How hard did she hit you, what did she say, what were her measurements?!"

"Guys, you two are getting weird!" Arnold exclaimed. "Though not as weird as that skirt you're wearing Juan." He then brought attention to Juan's current fashion choices. "It's not a skirt, they call it a kilt in Scotland! Tons of men wore it, especially back in the old days!"

"Thanks for the history lesson Juan, but I'm asking you to please cover up underneath there!" Arnold added. "At least Jorge's wearing pants along with the sunglasses, fedora and clogs!"

"Morning you guys!" Tyrone interrupted their discussion. "Yo, Ty-die! Good to see you bro!" the brothers greeted him loudly followed by the three performing their secret handshake. "Let me guess, the joe's for your old man? He should be downstairs working with Ford." Juan stated pointing to the vending machine that served as a secret entrance to a hidden laboratory under the Shack.

"Morning little dudes!" Leia said getting up from behind the counter to tousle Tyrone's fluffy red hair. "Oh, greetings twins." Ian added wildly gesturing to the two. "You need any help with that coffee?"

"Sure, you know where Aunt Mabel is?" Tyrone replied handing of the thermoses to Ian. "Yes, she and Pacifica are upstairs with Dad helping Stan start his day." Suddenly there was a creaking noise followed by a yell. "Hey Ian, can you be a good dude and come upstairs please? Mr. Pines fell down again!"

"I'll be sure to bring it up to her." Ian declared taking two of the thermoses away and leaving the room. "Coming Dad!"

"So what's on your minds today guys? Other than tastes in fashion." Gwen asked the three boys. "We were just discussing some strange woman that attacked Arnold last night and tried to pull something out of his head." Juan answered just as the door opened. "What strange woman?"

A blonde woman with eyes completely hidden behind a pair of glasses stepped into the gift shop. "Excuse me, may I speak to one of the employees?" she asked monotonously. "I'm an employee here!" Leia answered. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack miss, how may I help you?"

"I am in town today to conduct a social experiment on the local youth." the woman explained. "Tell me your age young lady, along with the four young ones with you."

"Name's Leia Ramirez, age 15." Leia introduced herself shaking her hand. "This little gentleman Tyrone is nine years old, his sister Gwen is twelve, their cousin Arnold is ten and my little bros Juan & Joseph are eleven."

"Marvelous." the researcher said in dull excitement, drawing scribbles on a clipboard. "Now before my experiment can proceed, I'd like to ask you, as a selection of children part of our modern youth, a question. What in your estimation is the most important thing to you? Yes you, the weakest links in our society." she surveyed while Gwen quietly examined the text messages on her phone. "Yes, you over there with the pompadour?"

"I don't know." Juan answered showing how he was just as confused as everybody else in the room by adjusting his sweatband.

"Correct answer." the woman declared. "Not having clear or distinct answers for any question and feeling fulfilled through triggered animalistic sexual urges, that is the only life you know as youth with absolutely no skill to convince us otherwise."

"What is she on about?" Arnold asked arching an eyebrow. "I don't know, some philosophical crap." Jorge answered as the researcher went on. "It has been exactly one week to the day that I have first arrived in this small Oregon town and I must say, you are all eligible." Soon she opened a laptop that she pulled out. "Now, let the exam begin."

Gwen stared blankly at the laptop showing her some rather obscene activity between a teacher and his student while the other kids formed a line behind her. "So this is her idea of research, basically showing us porn?" Arnold whimpered while Tyrone snacked on some popcorn behind him. "I may not see it from here, but at least I can still hear and enjoy."

"Uh Ian, Leia? What's going on up here?" Mason Pines, better known to everyone as Dipper, asked returning from his studies behind the vending machine to catch everyone in the act of the woman's experiment. "Hey lady, she's only twelve!" he shouted taking the laptop away. "You shouldn't be showing her that!"

"And why do you object? Do you plan on looking at this yourself?" the woman asked snatching the laptop back from an embarrassed Dipper while his bearded face turned crimson and the other kids resisted the urge to laugh.

"What in the name of Sam Hill is all this about Dipper looking at porn?!" an aged Stanley Pines roared as Ian, Mabel Pines and Soos & Melody Ramirez wheeled him into the gift shop.

"Hi Greatkle Stan! This science lady is showing us this stuff for some reason. She said it's to make us react or something." Tyrone chirped handing Dipper his coffee. Gwen then switched to another video, again eliciting no reaction. "Would it kill you to have even the tiniest reaction to this?" the scientist asked just as emotionless as her test subject. "You don't want to wait until you're over the hill to this adolescence, do you?"

Gwen soon began to get up. "Fine, I've seen all I need to." the mystery visitor snarked. "Which one of you is next?"

"He volunteers as tribute!" Tyrone shouted raising Arnold's arm for him. "Eh, I don't need to test you Arnold." the woman shrugged. "Now hold on lady! If you want to test on any more of these impressionable youths, you'll have to buy something first!" Stan declared as Gwen went downstairs to the elevator behind the vending machine and went down to the third floor.

She entered the lab that her great-granduncle Stanford Pines once used to conduct his research on the odd town of Gravity Falls, now covered in dust & cobwebs with the portal he had created still dismantled and rusting. "Uh, Great-Grunkle Stanford?"

"Oh hello there Gwendolyn! How do you do?" her genius great-granduncle exclaimed shaking his great-grandniece's hand. "Never thought you would come down here all by yourself. Usually someone like Tyrone, Arnold, Ian, your father or your aunt would accompany you. So what brings you to my lab?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a nightmare I had." Gwen answered. "What do you know about giant clothes irons?" she asked, sending chills down Ford's crooked back. "G-giant clothes irons?!" the elderly author shivered racing to fish out a copy of the Gravity Falls Gossiper dating back two decades ago. "Never thought I would pull this out, but here goes."

Ford then began to read. "Gravity Falls Gossiper, date August 2012. 'Aftermath of the Oregon Fooly Cooly of 2012.' Town recovers from mass havoc caused by crazed motorist and her robot companion. According to Commander Amarao of the Department of Interstellar Immigration, this young lady broke into the home of local con-artist Stan Pines and declared herself his maid. In the chaos that ensued, space birds, bass guitars, alternative rock, robots, all-powerful time-stopping megalomaniacs, sexual innuendos and reversal of gravity were involved."

"Did that actually happen Stanford?" Gwen asked. "As much as I hate to say it, but yes." Ford answered resignedly. "We all thought we either decided to forget it ever happened or maybe it didn't occur at all, but your visions of clothes irons in your dreams now leads me to fear the worst. Medical Mechanica is at it again."

Far across town, the Medical Mechanica plant stood idly as always, in the process of reconstruction as it groaned, letting off steam.

When Gwen returned to the surface after her conversation with Ford, she began helping out the Ramirez family with the tourists alongside Tyrone and Arnold. However two in particular stood out, one was a red-haired man in a ballcap while the other was an old man with an eye-patch.

"Hey princess, can I get any idea on the next tour?" the one-eyed senior asked. "'Scuse me miss, but do you have any of those fur-covered trouts in stock." the other man added. "Can you help me choose what to but Gwennie?" another tourist said.

"Old tourists, am I right?" Imelda Ramirez, the second daughter of Soos & Melody wearing a purple dress, flower barrette and a worn-out expression, groaned. "It's so glad that out of everyone in our little circle, I relate to you the most." she complimented. "Only replace the nihilism with being overworked from being the Shack's financial advisor, watching over my baby sister Abby when my parents are too busy and having to deal with my eldest siblings."

"I love it when Gwen has that attitude around us." the eyepatched elder remarked serenely. "I just adore it when we're looked down upon by her judging expression." the third tourist added. "Same here." Suddenly the eyepatch man received a list of future tour times from Imelda before she returned to Gwen's side. "And the little one is pretty fiery too. So much pressure on her shoulders and keeps a cool head no matter what."

"I guess it's a hardknock life for someone like me who has to deal with Mr. Overdramatic, the party-girl and those two." Imelda snarked before her baby sister Abby pulled on her skirt with a finger painting in hand. "Hold on one second my friend, I must give a thorough analysis on a finger painting." she added speedwalking away like Marvin the Martian.

"Thank you so much for the help you guys. Maybe someday you can get your own jobs." Melody thanked the three Pines kids while patting her pregnant stomach. "Perhaps your first can be watching over our expected newborn. Still in the dark on whether it'll be a boy or a girl."

"If it does turn out to be a boy, it should have a cool name like Darkside or Steppenwolf!" Tyrone exclaimed just as the twins' mother pulled up to the Shack in a logging truck. "That must be Aunt Wendy. See you guys tomorrow." Arnold said opening the door for his aunt while his cousins walked outside. "But maybe you won't need us to watch over your baby. You ever thought of hiring a nanny?"

"Would really love to, but Soos and the kids aren't too big on all the choices since they're not practically perfect in every way." Melody answered stepping outside as well before the plant began to wheeze. "Still don't know what gave Stan the idea to turn that old place into a tourist attraction." Wendy commented. "Even makes the same sound, which always meant something crazy was going to happen."

Indeed something insane was on the horizon as Gwen's grey beanie began vibrating atop her head. "Uh hey Gwen, you okay?" Arnold asked before the bobble on top of it began glowing red as a car approached.

A blue Chevrolet Bel-Air came zooming towards them, and in the backseat sat a dark-skinned woman with white hair in a ponytail wearing a green tube top with a short lavender jacket, a strange orange-rimmed visor covering up a pair of red stripes vertically crossing over her eyes, a white belt with a silver heart buckle, a pair of black leggings underneath a matching skirt and white boots. By her side was a Fender Jazzmaster guitar as she got closer to Gwen specifically.

"KYAAAAAAH, EVERYBODY RUUUUN!" Arnold screamed at the top of his lungs shoving everybody except his cousin out of the way, and as a result she was hit by the Bel-Air & sent flying, her beanie coming loose from her head as well.

"Gwen!" Wendy shouted rushing to her daughter's side while Tyrone & Arnold gaped in awe of what just happened. "That was a close one. My apologies." the woman stated hopping out of her car. "A little bit more and she would've overflowed."

"Overflowed?" Melody wondered as the mystery car driver inspected Gwen. "That's strange. I'm sure it was a fatal hit." she examined. "Unfortunately to all of you, this young girl is going to be fine."

"The only thing that's more unfortunate is how you nearly killed her!" Wendy shouted angrily. "Can you do that on me too?" Tyrone squealed in excitement as his sister got back up. "Oh hey sis, you were victim to a hit and run!"

Gwen shook her head before she turned to find the woman trying on her hat. "Hey, that's mine!" she shouted. "Why would you wear something like this in the summer?" the woman pondered when Gwen demanded it back. "Just hand it over and leave us alone!"

"Where did you get this hat?" the woman asked her. "It looks like something you get out of a store, but it seems bizarre in origin." Gwen then took her beanie back and put it back on. "I just found it one day, when I was like seven."

"I don't think you should wear that, it doesn't suit you." the woman commented. "Shielding your thoughts from the future like that, must be your thing. When you hit pause on the world like that, your body slowly begins to rot away. Is that what you want to happen to you?"

Gwen suddenly began having flashbacks to her earlier nightmare while the woman returned to her car. "Sorry for being so out of the loop, but what's this about pausing the world and bodies rotting away?" Melody wondered. "Just so you know, I take full responsibility for your daughter hanging on by her life." the woman said before she turned to Gwen while putting on her shades. "Oh and by the way, careful of the woman on the Vespa. For your own good."

As the mystery woman drove off into the sunset, Arnold suddenly raced to his cousin's side. "The nerve of that crazy lady! Why does she think running people over will save their lives?! And what is she on about a woman on a Vespa?!"

"Who was she? And what's with her?" Gwen added morosely. "Even if she's kinda like a criminal, you have to admit she's got a cool car." Melody stated trying to look on the bright side. "Maybe I should have a word with the rest of the fam about her."

Later that night, Gwen sat in her bed gazing at her computer while Tyrone slept like a baby in his. "There's nothing I want to be. There's nothing I want to do." she silently monologued to herself. "I don't even have an image of what I want to be. I have nothing. All that exists is zero."

Suddenly she saw more flashbacks to her nightmare which caused her to quietly freak out and smack her keyboard. "Mmm, I am wood. Stupid." Tyrone mumbled in his sleep while snuggling his plush pig Waddles II. Suddenly the sirens of Medical Mechanica began blaring leading Gwen to gaze out the window. The girl saw nothing, except for a robot that burst through it and searched for her.

"S-sis? What's going o-" Tyrone yawned spotting just what was going on. "Don't worry, I'll save you!" he cried grabbing onto his sister's leg as the robot tossed them outside.

"Gwen, is everything alright sweetheart?" Wendy called turning on her & Dipper's bedroom light. "Mom! Dad!" Gwen cried for her parents before she and Tyrone made a run for it.

Meanwhile Dipper looked out the window to see what was going on until he spotted the cybernetic creature running amok and the spotlights on Medical Mechanica. "Oh God, here we go again!" he fretted rushing to the phone to call his beloved sister. "You reach Mabel Pines! Can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message-"

"Mabel, this is no time for your fake voicemail messages! My children are in danger!" Dipper shouted frantically on the other end. "Also, were you camping out by the phone just for that?"

"Yeah pretty much." Mabel replied earnestly. "Can you please go back to bed Mabel?" the Pines sister's wife Pacifica yawned grumpily. "Can't talk babe, gonna save my niece and nephew!" Mabel stated. "Good, and bring the scrapbook too!" Dipper ordered. "I think it's finally time we talked."

Later, Dipper pushed open the garage door to find a familiar Vespa resting near his car. "Been working on fixing this old thing for ages. Never took it for a spin until now." he muttered pulling out an Oxton brand cigarette to light up. "She left us one like her own when she left twenty years back; in case we changed our minds, until Stan broke it trying to escape some former old friends. Guess now must be a good time."

"Hey bro-bro, I made it!" Mabel cried hugging her brother from behind. "And I brought the scrapbook, just like you wanted!"

"Good, now let's save my kids." Dipper declared before the two hopped on the Vespa and sped off, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke behind them.

Meanwhile, Gwen and Tyrone continued running from the giant robot that was continuing to pursue them, tearing up various cars in its path until one made Arnold fly off its back and into Gwen's arms. "Gwen, Tyrone?! What are you doing so late?"

"We're just running from that thing!" Tyrone exclaimed pointing to the machine. "Could it be the same one the lady got outta you?"

"I have no idea either!" Arnold replied just as they passed the junkyard. "Wait, I got an idea! We can hide in here!" he said jumping out of her cousin's arms and climbing over the fence. "Come on!"

The three of them rushed to the nearest ramshackle hut that seemed like it hasn't been inhabited in years and hid indoors. Meanwhile the Bel-Air owner drove around town in search of the robot. "It's started to move, but which is it?"

"Didn't some crazy guy use to live here?" Tyrone asked quietly knocking on the metal wall. "Yeah, Professor McGucket! He's still living in the old Northwest Mansion, right?" Arnold followed up when Gwen shushed them both. The tentacled machine continued lumbering about searching for the three kids.

"Much like you guys, I have no idea what that thing is. I was only walking home and then it just showed up." Arnold said hyperventilating. "You were out this late too?" Gwen asked. "I had things to do!" the anxious cousin replied. "Though I feel like that thing came from my head."

The outside noises soon stopped, followed by the trio exiting the hut. "I think we may've lost him." Tyrone panted, glad that they were still alive. Gwen on the other hand got another flashback to her nightmare as the robot suddenly reappeared to attack once more. "Dangit, spoke too soon!"

"Oh good grief, what the hell's going on?!" Arnold screamed before the robot extended an arm in an attempt to grab Gwen, but her cousin took her place and tossed around the air before being smacked to the ground. "Hey robotman, you got the wrong Ahnold!" Tyrone challenged in a thick Austrian accent while picking up a nearby fencepost to fight with, but Gwen received more visions of a potentially grisly fate in the cards for the two boys.

Terrified, Gwen began groaning in pain as something acted up in her head while her beaning began glowing. Nearby, an orange-haired woman watched through some binoculars with a grin but then took notice of the Bel-Air and Dipper & Mabel speeding toward the junkyard.

In the nick of time, the mystery woman from earlier crashed her vehicle into the robot and revved her bass up like a chainsaw before giving it one fatal smack. The car skidded back onto the ground and the woman touched down with it. "I see now, that's how it is huh?"

"Don't worry sweetheart, we're coming!" Dipper cried as he and Mabel arrived too late, finding the robot already taken out and an unconscious Arnold being interrogated by a strange lady. "Aw man, we missed it! I was so ready to give that thing tetanus!" Mabel groaned in disappointment. "And who's she?"

"Hey, where is she? The one who pulled that out of you?!" the woman shouted shaking Arnold's body. "Is that you Great-Grandpa Auldman? I can see a light." Arnold groaned. "DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT ARNIE, YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!" Tyrone screamed just as Dipper grabbed his arm. "Answer me! You were hit, weren't you?" the woman continued. "Was it a woman on a Vespa?"

"V-Vespa?" Mabel stuttered turning to her brother, who just nodded and pointed at the scrapbook still on the seat of his motorbike, while the woman picked Arnold up. "Uh, hey." Dipper piped up. "Who are you? And is Arnold going to be okay?"

"I'm going to do what I can for his wounds." the woman said. "Now you two get the kids home safe." She began to walk away with Arnold over her shoulder when Gwen stopped her. "Wait a minute!"

"Oh by the way." the woman smiled taking off her shades to gaze at the other Pines with her red eyes. "That thing does look good on you. Nice."

As the woman drove off with Arnold by her side, Gwen looked at herself in a broken piece of glass to discover a red horn growing on her head. "Kinda reminds me of when I was your age." her father calmly declared putting a hand on her head. "Mabel, scrapbook."

"You got it Dips!" Mabel exclaimed handing Dipper an old scrapbook of summer memories from when they were Gwen's age. Blowing some dust off the cover as he sat down on the ground, he opened it and flipped to a section marked with an old photo of them with their great-uncles, Soos, a pink-haired young lady and a robot with a TV for a head. "Kids, we'd like you to meet Haruko Haruhara."

"What a funny name!" Tyrone commented sitting down on his aunt's lap. "I still remember when we first met her. We were searching for the grave of some ancient evil when she popped outta nowhere and beat Dipper with her guitar!" Mabel explained. "Then she decided to move in with us and become our live-in maid, though she barely did any maid work."

"What did she do instead?" Gwen asked. "She took our on all kinds of crazy adventures, like when we found a robot named Canti being worshipped as a god by Wendy & her friends, or the revenge trip she went on with Stan!" Dipper said flipping to photos of those times. "And let's not forget baseball!"

"But then we would learn about a Pirate King Haruko was searching for from this guy with big eyebrows. She wanted to find him to become super-powerful and also had a crush on the guy." Dipper added. "It turned out this weird dog thing Ford found played an important part in helping these Medical Mechanica guys smooth out everything, turning everyone into mindless zombies."

"You mean like in the movies" Yeah, definitely wouldn't be pretty!" Tyrone remarked. "So who was this Pirate King? Is it anything like that old pirate show Mr. Soos sings about?"

"Nope, this guy was far different!" Mabel answered. "He was a big space bird that had the power to steal entire solar systems! But Dipper, with help from Canti, was able to control his awesomeness which got Haruko super mad."

"But when all was said and done, she decided to ditch Earth to continue searching for him and even offered to bring us along." Dipper narrated flipping to one last page of a picture of him as a boy holding a bass guitar and gazing into the sky. "We declined so she left us her guitar and a Vespa in case we changed our minds. We thought that would be the last we would hear of her, until one day when we were just 18."

"Can you believe that we're literally adults now Dipper?!" an 18-year old Mabel exclaimed to Dipper as they rested on the rooftop of their Piedmont home. "The world around us has been changing so much! We have our own loves now, Soos & Melody have their first kids and the Stans are still out at sea."

"It's pretty scary, isn't it? To think that it seemed like yesterday when we first arrived in Gravity Falls." Dipper replied. "And all the summer adventures we had there too like fighting Bill, meeting the 8 1/2th president, that merman guy, the Society of the Blind Eye," Suddenly Dipper spotted something glowing red in the night sky. "Is that an Aurora Borealis?"

"Aurora Borealis in this part of the country at this time of day?" his sister skeptically responded. "It might as well be fireworks, or some other natural sky thing or-"

"Or she finally did it." Dipper declared standing up. "Who finally did it?" Mabel wondered before she finally realized what he was talking about. "Oh. Gotta say, for a complete maniac, she sure was determined. I'll give her that."

Meanwhile far above the Earth, Haruko had finally found the fearsome Pirate King Atomsk. She reached her hand out and at last absorbed him into her being. The Vespa Woman began shining a bright red just like the solar system thief before her body started acting up and the power of Atomsk split her in two.

Back on Earth in Gravity Falls, the Stan twins looked to the stars at the event taking place before their sixty-four year old eyes while the other Vespa Haruko had left behind rested on the side of the Mystery Shack.

"Whoa." the kids gasped in unison. "I really hope we can meet that Haruko! She sounds really cool!" Tyrone cheered bouncing up and down before Dipper stopped him. "I admire your enthusiasm son, but I suggest you stay far away from her if she has come back her." he cautioned. "Beneath her wily personality is a sociopath who can manipulate anyone to get her way. It happened to us, and we don't want it to happen to you."

"But what about that other lady with the glasses that took Arnold away? Could she be connected to Haruko as well?" Gwen wondered. "Maybe. She does use a guitar as a weapon like her." her aunt answered just as the twins began dozing off. "Aw, looks like you're both tuckered out."

"I'll take them both home." Dipper stated picking them both up and walking to the Vespa. "Same time tomorrow at the Mystery Shack?"

"You bet broseph." Mabel agreed. "See you in the morning light." With that, the twins parted ways back to their homes, Mabel to break the news about Arnold to Pacifica and Dipper to put his own children back to sleep.

The next day at the Mystery Shack, it was business as usual. However the robot from last night was still fresh in the minds of Gwen, Tyrone, Dipper & Mabel, especially the latter two who were being chewed out by Pacifica in regards to Arnold. "So you're telling me some psycho woman in a Bel-Air just kidnapped him, in the middle of the night?!"

"I'm so sorry this happened honey, but that lady did say she would take care of him." Mabel defended themselves. "But hopefully he can come back."

"Was that robot the same one she got outta Arnold's head earlier?" Juan asked Tyrone across the room. "I have no idea. But then just as my dad and aunt came to save us, this lady with the guitar beat it up all Quick Draw McGraw-like!" Tyrone explained. "And then Gwen got this horn on her head that Daddy said was like one that he got when he was her age."

"Wait, a horn? Is she turning into a rhino or a unicorn?" Jorge wondered. "Is your dad part unicorn too?!"

"Pretty sure he's not, but he and Aunt Mabel did talk to us about some lady they met who's connected to her horn." Tyrone said. "And she may or may not be connected to that lady who brained Arnold."

"That's good to know, but who is she?" Jorge asked, just as curious as his brother. "Where did she come from, why is she here?"

"No one knows for sure," Dipper suddenly butted into the children's discussion. "But Ford and I intend to find out!"

Just then Melody and Soos stepped into the gift shop. "Morning everyone!" the current proprietor of the tourist trap exclaimed. "Hey, can we pull Gwen and Tyrone aside for a bit? There's someone who wants to see them."

"Sure, you can take 'em. Just bring them back in time for the tourist rush!" Dipper accepted before Pacifica pulled on his jacket collar. "Oh no you don't Dipper, I still have some choice words for you about Arnold!"

As the former heiress let loose on the author's apprentice, Soos & Melody took the twins into the kitchen where a familiar face wearing a maid outfit was doing the dishes while breaking them. "Remember her? She decided to work for us as a way to say sorry for running you over Gwen!" Melody said. "Now say hi Jinyu."

The maid turned to the twins with a plate in her hands. "I'm Jinyu." Julia Jinyu stoically introduced herself. Despite the collected vibe she gave off, she then immediately snapped the plate in two.

"Morning everyone." Arnold sheepishly greeted while his face was covered in bandages, causing the Ramirez brothers to show concern. "What happened to you Arnold?!" Ian cried whirling his arms about. "You look like you've gotten into a freak accident!" Juan exclaimed. "Give us all the details."

"Well it all started last night when I was taken by a giant robot that was also chasing Gwen & Tyrone." Arnold explained. "We then hid in the junkyard where we were saved by this lady in a car who ran Gwen over earlier that day. After all that everything was kind of a blur, but I can tell you it was insane."

As Arnold finished, Gwen & Tyrone, Stan & Ford and the researcher from yesterday all entered the shop. "Well this is just one big coinky-dink." Stan commented. "We all managed to enter the room at the same time."

"And there's also something up with both that woman over there and the maid Soos hired." Ford added. "Both of them seem so familiar."

"Today, as you start on your understandably disastrous day as modern-day youth, I as someone who is the clear winner in life structurally, would like to present to you something very important." the female scientist declared grabbing everyone's attention, even other tourists getting an early start.

Gwen on the other hand paid no attention to anything except her text messages, which started as one person claiming he should have his chance at a girl now. "The this and that on how to live in the universe. All of you already know about it, as all days of your lives are like a test. Yes, you over there?"

"Uh..." Juan stammered puzzled. "Wrong answer." the woman continued. "I figured something out recently. Instead of preparing a concrete answer to random questions, I have come to the conclusion that there is no real way to live. Not for those of you who exist contently by only jerking your animalistic sexual urges to fulfillment, and you who have absolutely no skill to convince us otherwise."

Soon the messages started a stream of spelling errors that turned into a bizarre message of "FLCL." Gwen just muttered "fooly, cooly." as the scientist went on. "I gave so much, but there is very little output. I have no use for the tiny pieces of scumbags that have been toyed with. Listen to a genius: I have no desire for you all to wind up as nonexistent youth."

"What is she on about?" Stanley whispered. "I have no idea to be honest, but can you notice the subtle change in her voice?" Stanford answered. "Familiar, ain't it?"

"What I want is for all of you to become adults on a cosmological scale!" the scientist suddenly exclaimed, her change in tone startling everyone. "You don't need wings to go venture out into the universe. Who would ride a four-wheeled car with wings anyway? You must not be that kind of adult."

The other pairs of Pines twins became even more suspicious as she continued. "Do you hear me?!" the woman shouted as her pitch became more recognizable. "YOU DON'T NEED FOUR WHEELS! YOU ONLY NEED TWO! Like a bottom-feeding fish in a pond, gathering underneath a weeping willow tree! There's a lot of gravity underneath ALL OF YOU!"

Soon the messages turned into an endless stream of people saying FLCL despite Gwen not realizing what it meant. The woman started rambling in gibberish and made her declaration. "SO STAND UP! BE AS ADEQUATE AS YOU CAN!" A COMPLETE MESS!" She grabbed at her own face and tore it off like a mask, revealing the face of the Vespa Woman Haruko Haruhara underneath. "BORN TO BE MILD!"

The crowd started roaring, though emotions were mixed. The vast hypnotized majority were elated to see her, but the Pines were less than thrilled. Arnold, Gwen and Tyrone were stunned to finally meet that feared Vespa Woman, especially the latter two after their discussion with Dipper & Mabel last night, but the older twins were full on terrified.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Dipper and Mabel screamed with their eyes widening, jaws dropped and snot dribbling from their noses. "OOOOOOH MY GOOOOOOOD!" Stan exclaimed pressing his hands to his face. Ford on the other hand didn't scream at the top of his lungs, but rather stuttering at the sight of that girl back in Gravity Falls before collapsing in shock.

"That's right, the real one's finally appearing." Haruko announced with a sly wink and a grin.

And that is the first chapter of Fooly Falls 2! I hope you all enjoyed how I've adapted FLCL Progressive with my own flair to it along with the new major characters I created. Speaking of which, I've also got my imaginary list of voice actors for them.

Gwen Pines: Stephanie Sheh (Mamini Samejima, Orihime Inoue)

Tyrone Pines: Barbara Goodson (Naota Nandaba, Rita Repulsa)

Arnold Pines: Justin Briner (Izuku Midoriya, abridged Cloud Strife)

Ian Ramirez: Doug Erholtz (Jean-Pierre Polnareff, Squall Leonhart)

Leia Ramirez: Barbara Dunkelman (Yang Xiao Long)

Juan Ramirez: Danny Pudi (Huey Duck, Brainy Smurf)

Jorge Ramirez: Bobby Moynihan (Louie Duck, Panda)

Imelda Ramirez: Monica Rial (Tsuyu Asui, Bulma Briefs, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa)

Abby Ramirez: Grey DeLisle (Lily Loud)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to work on the next chapter of this, start thinking up the finale of Gravity Soul and hide from some particularly vitriolic shippers. See you all again!

[newscheckz]

Did you know that......

New Post has been published on https://newscheckz.com/did-you-know-that-2/

Did you know that......

Your brain makes decisions seconds before you become aware of the fact that you’ve made a decision.

Humans feel safe when they are in places that are not complex, which is why the beach is so relaxing, we can see for miles in any direction.

If you sleep an average eight hours a day, by the time you turn 99 you will have spent 33 Years of your life sleeping.

Iceland is so safe that parents routinely leave their babies alone to nap outside in their strollers while they run errands.

Humans are the only mammals that willingly delay sleep.

Some people are actually afraid of being too happy because they think something tragic is going to happen soon. This is known as Cherophobia…

school buses are yellow because you see yellow faster than any other color, 1.24 times faster than red in fact.

The healthiness of the foods we eat decreases by 1.7% for every hour that passes in the day.

The Eiffel Tower “grows” in the summer. Due to the heat expansion of the tower’s iron in the summer sun, the Eiffel Tower’s height can grow by up to 6 inches!

Bees can fly higher than Mount Everest! Bees can fly at levels up to 29,525 feet above sea level – higher than the planet’s tallest Mountain!

Scientists genetically modified goats to spin spider silk from their udders.

In 1997 a cargo ship lost 4.8 million Lego bits in a storm. They are still washing up today.

If you need to fill up a bucket that won’t fit under your sink’s faucet, bust out a pool noodle. Set the bucket on the floor, slip the pool noodle over the faucet and run it down to the bucket. 

#lifehack

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Jackie Chan sung the theme songs for all his films in the 1980s.

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Benjamin Franklin only received two years of formal education.

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People who speak two languages, may unconsciously change their personality when they switch languages.

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There are no muscles in human fingers. All movement is controlled by muscles in the forearm and palm. 

We close our eyes when we kiss because shutting out the visual input leaves more mental resources to focus on other senses, like touch.

An orgasm can help a man’s body recover from illness.

Some people have a fourth cone in their eyes, allowing them to see 100 million more shades of color than the average person.

Chewing gum can cause you to fart more because you end up swallowing more air than usual.

In France, it was legal for a husband to murder his wife if he caught her in the act of adultery up until 1975.

A study found that straight women tend to get louder during sex as a way to hasten the man’s orgasm. In most women, the left breast is usually slightly larger than the right.

Today, you are the oldest you’ve ever been and the youngest you’ll ever be.

Wild marijuana grows all over Northern Japan, but they don’t smoke it.

The Japanese government actually sends out survey and destruction teams every year to destroy the new growths of marijuana because it’s so hard to get rid of.

Exercising while high can make you higher.

Shaving your pubes makes you more likely to spread a sexually transmitted infection.

There are points in the Pacific Ocean where, if you dug a hole to the opposite point on Earth, you would still be in the Pacific Ocean.

A study found that men think women with make-up on are more “prestigious,” while women think women who wear makeup are more “dominant.”

Camels are very social and like to greet each other by blowing in each other’s faces.

Paying attention makes your brain grow.

Women rate men with facial scars as more desirable for a short term relationship than men without scars.

If you put your foot in a bag with a bunch of raw garlic and rub it along the bottom of your foot, you’ll be able to taste it in your mouth.

The pulsations a woman feels during orgasm are actually her uterus trying to gather sperm.

The biggest cities on Earth are largely in the northern hemisphere because the largest empires were located in Asia and Europe.

The average human fart is only 7% methane.

Pornhub displayed a message that said it automatically shared the video you were watching on social media for April Fools day in 2017.

A man robbed a bank by pretending to be a public health official and giving cyanide to every bank employee as a “dysentery inoculation.”

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.

People with a dark sense of humor may be more intelligent and emotionally stable.

Vasocongestion is the medical term for “blue balls.”

Michael B. Jordan’s father is named Michael A. Jordan.

The United Nations declared the Internet a basic human right in 2011.

Hackers stole about $81 million from Bangladesh Bank due to the bank’s use of $10 computer network switches and no firewalls.

Elephants can be lulled to sleep by a lullaby sung by a human.

Crying is actually very healthy – Tears lubricate your eyes, remove irritants and reduce stress, making you feel better.

Every two minutes, we take more pictures than all of humanity in the 19th century.

It’s healthiest to poop in the morning since your small intestine and colon process the food you ate the day before while you sleep.

Cryptotora thamicola, waterfall climbing cave fish a cavefish in Thailand, walks and climbs waterfalls like a four-footed creature, the first living specimen to do so.

A cat has 244 bones in its entire body, more than a human.

At least now you know. Enjoy your moments.

[gibsongirlselections]

2020: The Year We Confronted Decline

“Certainly I must not forget that I am writing for posterity,” says the narrator in Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus. And certainly right now a lot of us feel the same way.

That isn’t to say the world is going to remember what we write here, much less care. But our children just might. We are, after all, living through a year that future students will study in high school history classes. It’s too easy to say that 2020 is the new 1968—history doesn’t copycat itself quite so neatly. But certainly those four numerals will one day come to connote tension, strife, even transformation. A below-average miniseries will be made, probably called Corona, with episode titles like “I Can’t Breathe” and “Captain Crozier.” Decomposing bourgeoisie radicals will stroll around robot-dusted sociology departments invoking the “spirit of ’20.”

As for those of us still living through this pyromaniacal year, we can only wish we had the blessing of hindsight, the ability to know how it will all end—and how long it will take. The most terrifying thing about 2020 is that it may outlast 2020. The challenges we face—a coronavirus pandemic, social unrest—are so extensive and stubborn that they could easily wear on past December. On top of that are other problems that have been brewing for decades, which have now either come to a head or been dangerously exacerbated. This year has felt like a perfect storm, and it’s left an almost foreign word on the national tongue: decline. Polls find that Americans, ever a sunny bunch, still hold out some hope for the future, but they’re anxious, unsure. They worry life may never return to the way it used to be.

It isn’t that America is declining in the rankings. We’re still number one in many respects: biggest economy, most powerful military, largest immigrant population. It’s that for once the sheer heft of the challenges ahead seems to outweigh our ability to shoulder them. America’s ethos has always been that of a striving innovator. We don’t simply accept circumstances as they come, as, say, some Europeans tend to do; we seek to shape them and change them. Our civic religion tells us there’s no problem we can’t solve, be it the commies or stagflation or terrorism. Yet today we face so many hurdles, some of them deeply rooted in our own soil, that getting over all of them can seem impossible. That cheerful manifest destiny, that complacent “end of history” attitude that many of us grew up with during the 1990s, now seems like a relic of a distant time.

Let’s take stock. The United States is now an empire, no more pretending or posturing, ludicrously overextended across the globe. American troops are stationed in 177 countries, including places like Germany where they’re no longer needed yet can’t ever seem to leave. Their presence in the Middle East has not saved that region from chaos. Their presence in East Asia has not prevented a rising China. Yet on they linger, running up a ruinous national debt that recently reached an eye-watering $26.5 trillion, with more on the way as Congress mulls another round of coronavirus relief. The interest on that debt is chewing into the national budget. And China is targeting our ability to borrow as it seeks to displace the dollar as the global reserve currency.

Those two issues—empire and fiscal incontinence—would themselves be enough to draw nervous comparisons to late-stage Rome. Yet on the list goes. We are riven by inequality, both cultural and economic. The ghost of our racist past still clanks around in our attic, as George Floyd is killed by police and we approach the three-year anniversary of the violence in Charlottesville. Yet the enforced solution, critical race theory, is no solution at all, but a doctrine of surrender that cedes our essential equality. We are transitioning away from Christianity, undergoing the West’s most significant creedal shift since Constantine, yet we sleepwalk into it, oblivious to the void it leaves behind. Another world power is rising across the ocean, proudly anti-liberal and blatantly authoritarian, an ideological competitor to what we’ve long called “the American dream.” And while China has (allegedly) kicked the coronavirus, we can’t seem to, drawing pity from a world we once inspired.

That’s one portrait of America anyway. And while it’s hardly wrong, it’s also happily incomplete. As Steven Pinker or the website HumanProgress.org will readily tell you, no account of our present times should omit all the good. To take just one example, in spite of the pandemic, the world is currently producing more grain, an essential food staple, than ever before, with consumption expected to follow suit. Against a history rife with hunger and privation, that’s something to celebrate. There are always upsides, which is why people generally don’t trust those who preach decline. The modern-day Millerites have very often been proven wrong.

So it’s important that we don’t exaggerate how bleak our situation is. History isn’t deterministic; there isn’t some ticking time bomb beneath our country that we’re powerless to defuse. Good decision making has averted decline before and may yet do so again. But it’s going to take serious and committed leadership, men and women willing to make tough decisions sans the usual partisanship and desire to please. Irving Babbitt, discussing the French Revolution, wrote, “It is all a question of leadership; and the one serious doubt about democracy is whether it can show sufficient critical discrimination in the choice of its leaders.” Yet America today is led by a most unworthy man, a president who conflates sharp tweets with national stewardship. His Democratic opponent seems little better, at best willing to bend to left-wing hate mobs and at worst mentally unfit to lead.

If we’re going to arrest our decline, we need a new system of incentives for leadership, one that doesn’t just prize social media preening and winning the news cycle. We also need to admit we have a problem in the first place, which, given the swagger of that civic religion, can be difficult to do. The last time we talked seriously about decline was during the late 1970s, when the economy was a mess, the Soviet Union seemed coated in Teflon, lines snaked around gas stations, and the hostages were stuck in Iran. Back then, President Jimmy Carter warned, accurately but suicidally, that we were in “a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.”

Fortunately from there came a turnaround that was almost out of a conservative storybook. The U.S. hockey team beat the Soviet Union. A beaming Ronald Reagan was elected president. The hostages came home. Tax cuts and Paul Volcker juiced the economy. The Berlin Wall fell. The country swelled with pride.

Yet for all he got wrong, Carter was right that the “malaise” he confronted was in part a crisis of the soul, a listlessness and bewilderment after the revolts of the ’60s and the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate. And therein a final lesson for us today. Our national condition, as Babbitt would remind us, is an outgrowth of our hearts. Before we can restore our greatness, before we throw the bums out, we need to rediscover those qualities that can counter malaise—charity, restraint, liberality, good humor. To stop decline, we first have to fix our dispositions.

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