#thanks for coming to this ted talk

[nocaptainonthisship]

Now, and as always, my biggest complaint about The Rings of Power is that there aren't enough episodes to tell a truly satisfying narrative in the scope to which it's aspiring. Almost all of the problems could be solved by giving these writers more time to cook.

Not enough haladriel? Needs more episodes.

Numenorian politics got short-changed? Needs more episodes.

The Southlanders as an afterthought rather than a substantial plot point? Needs more episodes.

Narvi as a cameo not a character? Needs more episodes.

Whatever the fuck is happening in Rhûn? Needs more episodes.

Doesn't pass the bechdel test? Needs more episodes.

Fridges minor original characters(often portrayed by bipoc actors) before we get to know more than their names? ...ok, I said almost all the problems. But also: NEEDS MORE EPISODES!

[ms-scarletwings]

That Speculative Analysis About Irkens No One (Originally) Asked For: Part III

Hey! Huge thanks to everyone who took an interest in the first two parts of this fun I got into about Jhonen Vasquez’s funny green guys. I didn’t really expect to kind of rebound back into this old flame the way I have been lately and it’s actually a pleasant surprise that other fans have been getting something out of it and enabling my latest thinkworms.

Check out the part one of this extended analysis here, for broad tids and bits about Planet Irk and the mention of its inhabitants being basically cyborgs.

Part Two, takes on Irken physiology and focusing on their tissue differences from humans, here.

So alright, I’ve been holding this one in since the very start. Previously, I brushed the topic of the control brains, and I’ve sorta gestured acknowledgement toward the Irken obsession with height. Now, I’m really ready to get some thought goo flowing all over and in the crevices of the matter of Irk’s power structure, and, perhaps the one social W that this marauding pack of space imperialists get to claim.

Bearing no further ado, let’s talk about the Tallest. Can we talk about the Tallest? Please Mac, I’ve been dying to talk about the Tallest with you all day.

I’ve said once and now repeated twice that I think the canon implied that the homeworld of our favorite invaders is dummy thicc; consequentially, it’s left a lasting ripple on the evolution of their species as well.

Planetary gravity has a ton of invisible effects on the skeletons of large fauna, to the point where it’s the main thing that you, filthy Earth creature, can shake your own fist at it for taking a huge slice of the blame behind the prevalence of back pain in upright hominins. All that downward tug can really wear a spine down good over the years. In fact, would you believe that astronauts actually grow a smidge taller in Zero-G environments? Legit. So… use your brain and consider what we could have ended up looking like with our same bone structure, but many times that compression.

You take that mental path, and suddenly, height outcomes may not seem like such an arbitrary measure of general survival fitness after all. Especially in the days before the Irkens represented an intergalactic super power. It may seem counterproductive in their modern intelligent society, but no doubt this aesthetic affinity is something that runs much deeper ingrained than practical programming. Respecting tallness is something Irk takes on dogmatic intuition- to the fault of barely being able to comprehend the notion of another species being both tall AND intellectually primitive.

Nevertheless, I pose that the connection may also be more than traditionalism, and not so vestigial after all. My reasoning suggests that The Almighty Tallest are in fact, not randomly born… they’re planned and made by the real overlords sitting atop the pyramid. And even so, they have existed in the species long, LONG before the PAK even did.

• Caste Polymorphism & Bug Stuff

The insectoid inspirations of Zim’s kin are something so obvious they really need no recapping, yet, I’m pining to make a more specific comparison. Some people like to go for wasps or bees, but if you ask me, the roving militarism of the armada is begging for the ant metaphor if anything.

And I got a hell of a species to whip out that you’ve probably never heard of.

A quick context breakdown- Polymorphism is another one of those long biology terms for a pretty simple concept: when one species has different distinct forms or types of forms that appear in its population. And it’s not talking about continuous spectrum differences like height alone. It’s talking about when animals/plants can have one gene with different possible phenotypical presentations. One good example (in humans no less) is the existence of different blood type groups. One of my absolute favorite cases, by the by, is in Side-Blotched Lizards. The females are samey and look pretty generic, but the males deadass come in 3 completely differentiated color variants, all of which are playing a perpetual game of rock paper scissors with the other two for breeding success.

And this kind of phenomenon of course gets way less subtle in the insect world. Everyone here probably knows the simplified version of what a colony critter’s caste system looks like, with sterile female workers, breeding done males, and one big fat queen at the top, pumping out replacements for the other two. This is the part where I tell you it’s a hell of a lot more complicated, weird, and varied than that, actually.

Consider army ants, as I see them, the most Irk-ish of real world animals. Some fun facts on the most notorious handful of species below:

+ Nomadic by nature, they do not build any form of permanent hill or nest, and instead make temporary pit stops inbetween periods where the entire colony swarms along the forest floor in search of resources.

+ Army ants are aggressively predatory and forage in the style of legion-like “raids” that overwhelm their prey with sheer numbers and speed.

+ These raids often take shape by way of linear traffic columns that guide the direction of the swarm. This is because the ants have poor vision, relying on following the paths of the scent trails of the workers that are spearheading the legion.

+ Eciton burchellii, in particular, demonstrates a stark example of polymorphism by way of a rigid caste hierarchy. I.e., The non-reproductive colony members are divided into 4 sized tiers of worker. From smallest to largest there are minors, medias, porters (sub-majors), and soldiers (majors).

And let me tell you… the difference between the Soldier (major) caste and the rest of that batch is a pretty surprising gap.

This is what ONE major-type ant looks like hanging out with colony mates from the lower worker castes.

Oh wait, getting ahead of myself. Ahem… sorry, I meant THIS is the image I was referring to:

Not only is that obviously the bossiest bitch of the bunch, but she has some pretty cool features unique to her status… The more spidery looking body shape and those absolutely wicked mandibles being a standout.

You know what drop I already had coming, so I’ll cut to the chase.

It’s clear that the Almighty Tallest are NOT the Irken equivalent of a hive queen. They are not drones, either. Besides the glaring fact that they are non-reproductive individuals, the role they serve in Irken society has very little if anything to do with running the day-to-day lives and functions of the larger population.

Instead, we have always seen them (and would have seen them more in the unmade episodes such as The Trial) involved more with the military front of the empire. Tallest Miyuki’s one known planned appearance would have featured her overseeing the military research happening on the Vortian base. Tallest Spork’s brief entrance (and exit) was planned to take place on Devastis, where he addressed those who were being evaluated to join the elite ranks of the armada. And our very own iconic duo have,

also,

never even once been seen on their home planet since their introduction. Their first appearance? Conventia. Ever since? Aboard the Massive, where they directly command and supervise the operations of the active invasions.

Why, the Almighty Tallest in all cases… these aren’t emperors at all, they’re generals! Sure, they have power, they have reverence, but even they must obey the final judgement of a Control brain at the end of the day. The same brains that grant them their status in the first place. Note, in real ants, the mechanics of how exactly any one egg is differentiated into its decided caste, from worker to queen, and all between, is… to say the very least, really fucking complicated. And all over the place. Broadly speaking, it’s a mix between genetic potential and nutrition during development. In some species this determination is near entirely up to the whims of DNA, and in others, it does come heavily down to how many protein shakes the colony decided to give their brood that day.

For the purposes of this hypothetical, I’m going to assume the people of Irk fall somewhere in between those two polar options. Now, being a futuristic network of coordinated supercomputers using cloning tech, the control brains have a more precise handle on the gene pool/diversity of their underlings than anything possible with natural breeding.

Let’s also assume they record and monitor the current population of each potential class of irken (they literally assign and code the PAKs’ occupational roles themselves). With each batch of smeets, they can predetermine certain percentages aside with the potential to fill whatever roles need replacing and expansion… keeping the genetic height markers attached for those downline to understand who should be looking down on who. Ergo, not ANY Irken can one day become the almighty tallest, but within each generation of smeets produced, there are potential candidates hidden among the upper ranks of would-be soldiers.

This way, the sudden death of the current armada commander would not disable current operations or throw the offensive lines into utter chaos for years on end. The Control brains need only select out the cream of the crop from their “proto-Tallest” and then cue their body (via diet or hormones) to switch the proper genes on, get a new growth spurt going, and complete the metamorphosis into their true potential.

As for why they seemed to break a historical precedent and jump for a two-for-one special in Zim’s generation… yeah, I’m not sure about that really. There could be a link between that and the very sudden death of the two previous tallests in a row, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It could just be a remarkable coincidence that Red and Purple were decided to be equally viable successors. Or, Operation Impending Doom could have been deemed an ambitious enough endeavor to warrant the appointing of two regents at once, given the scale of Irk’s expanded army for the purpose.

So, that’s it, then? The Irken species became so reliant of their technological advancement that they have casted aside and replaced every bit of their natural life cycle and order some

computer deemed inefficient? Substituted the seat of their leadership and even their ability to procreate with the soulless calculations of their AI programs?

:y Well, yes, but actually no.

• Long Live the Cyberocracy!

When I said in part one that Irk was on track to eventually make the jump from cyborg citizens to an entirely mechanical or digitized lifeform, I was doing a ponderous thinking thing. I was supposed to just be speculating, and then I find out the most mind blowing revelation while doing the research for this bad boy- those alien bastards already did it. The madlads/madlasses… So, living Irkens DO actually run the show around here, hiding in plain sight this whole time.

I am still desperately searching for confirmation of the rumors I heard that Vasquez himself has said what I’m about to share, and I deeply appreciate anyone who can give me that as well. Even if this turns out to only be fanon, I’m still in love with this interpretation anyway: Within the Control Brains are the preserved consciousness of Irkens who have achieved this evolutionary end stage. WHO are they exactly is… honestly anyone’s guess. The important part being that they no longer have need of their meat suits to survive any longer and now exist as these hulks of nerve and metal.

Be this what it looks like to me, and it would be certain that this is actually the most coveted and honorary fate of any single Irken- immortalized and given a status on par with deification over the most powerful imperium the cosmos has ever known. Perhaps this was the path of particularly accomplished Tallests of the past, who had their paks integrated into the core of a fledgeling new control interface. What better way to commemorate those who have fallen in the highest level of glory? A single “brain” could in fact even be the summation of multiple beings, making example of the greatest the species has to offer and what all should be striving for. Conversely, the greatest punishment of their kind is the opposite- to be forever deceased, forever forgotten, forever excluded from this collective transcendence:

Damnatio Memoriae.

(But like… in a kids’ show)

There’s no clear estimate on how many control brains exist in the franchise, there are at least four that we have seen on screen, one on Devastis and the others within Judgementia. Probs safe to assume there’s at least one permanently built into the infrastructure of any planet of key enough importance to the Empire. Interestingly, lost scripts and show canon make numerous references to them still having gendered pronouns and voices when addressed individually.

Though, now that I think of it, that’s also really interesting that the same is true for the worker castes, too.

• Putting the “Trans” in Transirkenism 👉😎👉

When a worldbuild goes so far as to explicitly confirm a completely sexless, alien race of neuter cyborgs, the existence of a human-like gender binary starts to beg for some kind of explanation. You can’t just “suspension of disbelief” it aside the same as you can the fact that English is the most popular first language across the Galaxy.

Oh, lookie, it’s one of my favorite things to think about when toying around with postbiological concepts/philosophy. I knew there were even more reasons transhumanism always seemed like such a cool sci-fi trope, from the endless possibilities in imagining the badass super powers, to the worlds of knowledge, and to the absolute social equalization that would all be unlocked in a cybernetic future. Well, that future is already comfortably in the hands of Irk, and whether intentionally or not, it has apparently brought them to the threshold of not just a postorganic, but also a post-gender society too.

A feminine and masculine variation does still exist in the form of small aesthetic differences- voice, antennae shape, pronoun usage, and eyelashes- but is now so far disconnected from the original associated sex roles that the distinction might as well be no more than a cosmetic preference. While “female” irkens are seen much, much more rarely than their counterparts, neither gender is treated differently from the other, and both have been spotted in occupations all the way up to invader elite and the Almighty Tallest.

This is a blending, of course, far beyond the insect-like caste system that itself did survive to the modern day, and that shows some truly impressive progress from what I imagine they were doing before.

Army ants, like all eusocial insects, are matriarchal; as in, where the females run the colony from top to bottom, while the males lead short runs of being mutilated by the workers, mating with the queen, and then dying shortly after.

In this headcannon narrative, it was almost certainly the male-associated gender Irkens who were liberated by the technological jump.

And that’s all sum purdy neat food for thought, huh ! ?

[kazu-naito]

astaroth is such an interesting character - hear me out:

once the ban was lifted and he finally could roam around freely he felt like a bug, like he would always be one step down from everyone - he felt it was unfair that mc came from nothing and gained power but the same could not happen to him. he thought she looked arrogant, as if she would always be one step higher and he'd be lost in the crowd. so when the horsemen came and he was thinking about which side he'd take he realized it was easier to become a villain than a hero, it was easier to kill for revenge. the oppressed becomes the oppressor.

in a way the horsemen saved him and for that he'll always be grateful to them, no matter how despicable they are - they still made him feel more valid than those who were supposed to do so from the get go and didn't

he wanted mc to despise him because she was finally the 'bug' he felt like he was when she was a councilor, because even still he wanted her but had no hopes of getting anything positive from her - so it was easier to make her hate him

but as the time went by he realized he didn't want revenge anymore. according to him when you fight only for revenge and influence you're bound to have a meaningless existence - ''skulking around catacombs like a rat" - when you fight for something you believe in then your immortality makes sense

on top of that, christopher escaped alone after fulfilling his part as he was also done with everything and he started developing feelings past hate for mc - realizing she was not what he thought she was. he started caring for her: not telling on her, asking hunger nonstop about her, hesitating when they were on opposite sides. and of course all of his desire to have her in every way possible

"don't you want to burn to ashes along with all this madness with me?"

all of this culminated into him betraying the horsemen by taking a blow from plague that was directed at winchesto and officially becoming part of the resistance

after that the arrogance is gone, he says he wants her favor, her respect and her love, and he doesn't want to hide that anymore. his disdain towards her before was precisely because he thought he could never have any of that, he wanted her so he could stop feeling inferior, and now he wants her for her and proves he's by her side and won't budge

i feel like most of hs1 characters are very linear, he was a breath of fresh air truly - he's interesting and complex, unpredictable even. in my opinion he's one of the true gray characters that rc got right and i am loving his path

[ladybird-with-a-pen]

The Tragedy of the Clones

I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic recently as I’ve gotten into the Star Wars fandom and the thing I keep on getting stuck on and grieving - like legitimately grieving - is the inherent tragedy of the clones and their circumstances.

A lot of fics explore the what-ifs and emotional spectrum that the clones feel about their existence and its horrific because while some fics explore the inherent slavery of it all, some explore the idea of what the clones could have done or been after the war.

What good they could have brought or adventures they could have seen or relationships they could have been in.

And they’re snippets - something which makes it even WORSE because you KNOW that they’ll never have that and despite all hopes and dreams, all acts of compassion and loyalty, they never get that, along with the Jedi.

And they never had the option in the first place.

They were just created as a pawn on a board, a tool in a chest to be used once and discarded.

And it’s horrible.

[prick-love-for-arting]

Okay I will draw them as soon as I get real time but for now, enjoy some ramblings about ShibaLevTsukki in attempt to convince you to vote for them in the @hqrarepairtournament

- Lev knowing he has feelings for both of them and talking to Yaku and Kuroo about it and getting "You can date more than one person, Lev" "yeah, as long as they're both cool with it" in response and getting so excited.

- Shibayama and Tsukishima take longer to warm up to each other but during that phase Lev really bridges the gap. They both went into it with the mindset of Lev being their boyfriend but not them also dating, that changes. Later on they bond over the process of getting onto their professional teams.

- let me reiterate the Tsukishima being very quiet about his relationship status in his second\third year and majorly surprising the new team members when he accepts affection from Lev

- Speaking of Professional teams, Lev tries to be at every single game of theirs he can be. When the Frogs play Esperanza he has a hard time figuring out which side to sit on but Alisa helps him make a half and half Tshirt for it.

- Lev talks and talks and talks about his partners at photoshoots, he's very open about himself to the public, but for as much as he talks he's never really clear about who he's talking about so people get really confused because this week he says his boyfriend is tall and had curly hair but last week he said his boyfriend was short with straight hair.

- Shibayama doesn't talk about the relationship without being asked, his teammates probably know, but it's not like common knowledge

- Tsukishima says fuck all about it to anyone other than his friends, maybe, MAYBE, Kyoutani and Koganegawa know, but he isn't telling the rest of the Frogs. That's for him, Lev, and Shibayama to know, he doesn't need everyone in his business.

- Lev is heavy on the PDA sometimes, but he knows when it's inappropriate. Shibayama is okay with it, Tsukishima acts annoyed but enjoys it. In private Tsukishima likes to just lean against either of them in a "hey I want attention" gesture. Shibayama is more of an acts of service type, he doesn't really think about it but ends up doing things for them to show affection, learns their little preferences and accommodates.

- Chaotic group chat, Lev sends a lot of photos and loves using emojis, Shibayama uses the (\^-^/) faces because they're cute, and Tsukishima doesn't use any, he sends a lot on no caps, no punctuation, straight to the point messages. Lev is totally a "this is us" and a picture of 2 cats and a crow person or "hey I found Tsukki!!!" with a picture of a frog.

That's what I've got right now, have fun, vote for ShibaLevTsukki pls!!!

[calamitoustide]

does anyone know that one good mythical morning clip where Link says he'll give something to "one of his significant others" making everyone go quiet before he says he means his daughter. yeah that's james btw

[shtuff-hello]

A little doodle from this morning our favorite boom boom boi. Kinda a riff on my usual style, but I like it <3

[obscureoperations]

This just in…

I want Abe to spit in my mouth.

[redpandarambles]

Oh that character hasn't show any attraction to anyone and so you are defaulting to calling them straight?

I think you'll find there hasn't been any proof of heterosexuality/heteroromanticism and therefore that character shall now be claimed as unorientated aroace until proven otherwise.

[kirbyzworld]

I love love love just saying random things

[eureka-its-zico]

Hi, hello!! I just wanted to pop in to tell you that I am obsessed with “Chaos in Their Bones” and I am excitedly waiting for the next part which I plan to consume as if I have not been fed for a week whenever it comes out 😂 Also, absolutely no rush!! Take your time because I really do not aim nor want to come across like I am rushing you!

I really enjoyed the few interactions between Doc and Zoro and the parts where Doc pushed Zoro into the room and got blamed for groping him lol and then the end of the chapter where Doc took his drink as well 😂 Ah, it made me feel all giddy and I am curious to see how their relationship will progress going forward!!

Thank you so much for sharing this and I am so excited for the next part!

Sending you all the love ❤️

- Gouda 🧀 (because I will be back in your inbox to scream about Doc and Zoro in the future 😂)

Oh my gosh my Gouda Nonnie lol I LOVE IT! Please feel free to come and scream/talk at me anytime!

Thank YOU so much for stopping by to be the absolute sweetest and say nice things about Chaos in Their Bones and the little world Doc gets to join. I’ve been writing when I should be doing essays for class lol but here I am 7.5k words deep in chapter 3 and nowhere near finishing it 😩

7.5k is already long, but I’m so determined to finish the 1.03-1.04 episode arc that I most likely will finish this at 10k or more 😬 I hope you all like reading big beefy chapters. Zoro and Doc will most definitely have more interactions with each other because once she’s on the ship, they can’t avoid each other [insert maniacal laughter here].

Thank you again for being so sweet and sharing your thoughts and some love. It is appreciated more than you know 🖤 I hope you have a wonderful week! Much love.

[orgasming-caterpillar]

"fuck it we ball" is for stress about the future "it is what it is" is for stress about the past and "this too shall pass" is for stress about the present thank you for coming to my TED talk

[ink-ghoul]

There's two genres of Minecraft roleplay

- Gay

- Criticism to capitalism

[teacupbug]

My controversial opinion is that I think chronically ill people should be able to fight one doctor a year

[shtuff-hello]

I—fuck—so I may have fallen into another fandom… Good Omens has corrupted my brain and now it’s all I think about. So I was listening to music today and I heard the song

And since I had the ineffable husbands on the brain, all I can think of is Crowley listening to it over and over after Aziraphale rejects him… I’m sorry I’m crying help

[renni-yu]

you've all seen vi in a vest--may i get you to consider: cait in a vest + cravat + violet embroidered pants??