#they are by their nature technological creatures and that's VERY COOL ACTUALLY

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

On the subject of Dinosaur Documentaries...

So Life On Our Planet dropped a few days ago, another installment of this seeming boom of these kind of shows since Prehistoric Planet last year, and it got me thinking about this whole little niche genre.

The very first "Paleodoc" was released in 1922, made by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to educate museum goers on how the fossils they saw were collected and prepared. This began the format I like to call the "Talking Heads" Paleodoc which is mainly in the form of interviews or narration over actual footage of Paleontologists at work with the occasional "Live" Dinosaur for visual aid. These are by far the most common form of dinosaur documentary you'll find, even today, mainly because they're cheap to produce and fit in the general style of most science documentaries.

For many decades throughout the 20th century, Paleodocs were pretty rare. They would pop up time to time, and with the sudden influx of attention they got after Jurassic Park, we got some really good ones. Yet they were all the same Talking Head types. What really changed the game was the good ol Magnum Opus of the field: Walking With Dinosaurs.

WWD pioneered the second type of Paleodoc I believe to exist, which are the "In Their World" Paleodocs. These are different in the fact they focus almost entirely on the live visual aids, with the human presence being limited to narration or brief pauses for context. They're meant to simulate the modern nature documentary, like Planet Earth, that focus more on showcasing animal behavior with state of the art filming techniques than being a source of in-depth science.

The success of WWD cannot be overstated, and I have to say I do find the In Their World format a lot more engaging and easier to connect with. They portray the wonder of prehistory spectacularly, letting audiences get emotionally connected in the animal characters the story creates, even if this has lead to criticisms of anthropomorphism. These programs also almost always use real footage of modern day earth for their prehistoric creatures to roam on, which I'm sure is very sad for the people who want to see their favorite dead plants on screen.

The Walking With... series would expand into sequels and spin-offs and Nigel Marven, and other companies like Discovery would jump on the bandwagon and release their own takes on the concept, but by the mid 2010s the format had basically died out. We'd get one or In Their World style doc every few years until we just didn't get anything. Outside of the occasional TV special that reused When Dinosaurs Roamed America footage, it was empty.

It took until Disney's Live Action remake of The Lion King of all things for that pendulum to start swinging again. Seeing those expressionless CGI cats got Jon Favreau thinking about how he could use this technology and the talented people behind it to make something really cool, and we got Prehistoric Planet.

And, in a repeat of Walking With Dinosaurs, we're seeing more of these In Their World type shows. The original guys behind WWD are even making a comeback with their own series, Surviving Earth. Plus even more little hints and rumors of massive incoming projects from overexcited paleontologists trying not to break their embargo.

It looks like the 2020s will be another resurgence in these types of spectacle Paleodocs, and while a good ol Talking Head will always be there, I can't help but get excited for these animated spectacles and all the weird and wonderful ways they flash those visual aids across our TV screens.

[starwrighter]

I am not a baby!! (Yes you are,)

(Prompt) (Previous part) (Next) (Masterpost) (Ao3)

(Part four peoples!!!)

Either something went wrong with that transmission or he was going to be stuck on this planet for 99,999 hours. Both options didn't bode well for him but one was clearly better than the other.

Ancient's how long was 99,999 hours? With a number that big he was looking at spending around ten years waiting for a rescue team to show up and help them. If everyone wasn't dead by that point they'd probably have built a super cool society with Deepsea bases and nuclear power that they'd have to give up. In ten years he would've figured out what the heck was going on with him and brought them home himself. Though, ten years would give him an excuse for why he was still around the same age he was when he left. Wipe the PDA's data beyond recovery, blame the most annoying creature or plant as what shrank him, and refuse to elaborate any further.

A transmission error was more likely than his brilliant hypothetical scenario. When a spaceship as big as the aurora crashed there was bound to be some interference. Whether that interference be artificial or not was still unclear much to his dismay.

At least he had a scanner, that was a big step for him in his progression. A lot of the actually helpful blueprints were corrupted in the crash and supposedly the scanner could help recover them. Scanning fragments of salvaged tech would be the quickest way of recovery all things considered. Destroyed beacons, singed seaglides, and trashcans were scattered all throughout the shallows, pollution likely reaching farther than what he'd explored. With a crash, this big damage likely extended much farther than what was visible to him.

Not only did their ship crush who knows how many creatures and plants, the regular and radioactive pollution would screw over future generations of fish! It was the intergalactic equivalent of a catastrophic oil spill and he was an unwilling participant in it. Something deep inside him ached at the thought of him being a participant in a planet's destruction.

Chunks of broken spaceship were bad enough for the environment on its own. Batteries, trash, fuel, and hundreds of pounds of manmade resources that'd take hundreds if not thousands of years to decompose. Every scrap of metal, every piece of plastic trash no matter the size was something to poison, choke or kill the local wildlife. Sam would be furious, this wasn't a case of natural food shortages or extreme weather, this could very well be an extinction event! Nuclear power was the default for Alterra's larger ships, and if it wasn't already, the aurora was soon to start leaking radiation all over the place!

This was one of the few life-bearing planets humanity discovered! Hundreds upon hundreds of planets have been discovered within humanity's years of space exploration but life existing without human intervention was still rare. Metal, rock, and gas were what were all that were usually brought back in the beginning. As humanity's technology advanced, they went farther into space, with more habitable planets being discovered and an uptick in thriving alien life. There was always a continuous stream of new discoveries in their universe, alien floras and fauna being discovered as often as they went extinct. Even so, it'd be a cold day in hell before he shared responsibility for any aliens going extinct.

Genetic mutations, Birth defects, and massive amounts of death were the first things that came to mind when radiation was brought into the picture. Radiation was the biggest issue so far, the melted spaceship could be recycled, no matter what Alterra's stupid rules told him he could and couldn't do. Trusting a corporation to clean up their own messes was like asking a toddler to clean up their toys; it would only lead to a conniption fit and a half-assed job. It was unclear how long he was going to be here and if when he met up with the other survivors, the need for materials would only increase as time went on.

Scanning and salvaging would have to wait until the next morning. Darkness shrouded the ocean outside his life pod, making it twice as dangerous to be out there tearing wrecks apart. Bioluminescence wasn't a skill he could put on his resume just yet nor was any kind of night vision. It would be both dangerous and annoying to swim around aimlessly in the dark when he had a perfectly good life pod he could relax in.

Standing in the safety of his lifepod, Danny ran the scanner up and down his body, the tech lighting him up a brilliant blue.

"Performing self-scan. Vital signs follow continuous pattern; no adverse effects identified. Detecting tracing amounts of foreign bacteria. Continuing to monitor,"

The PDA chimed and if Danny were an actual infant like the stupid tablet insisted he was he wouldn't have understood a word of those sentences. But since he wasn't a baby he could properly understand that there were alien germs in his body that really shouldn't be there.

Yeah, That seemed like a problem but it wasn't the reason his powers were short-circuiting. Before they even entered the atmosphere his powers were going wonky. Everything felt the same as it did before he came in contact with this "Foreign bacteria" There were no physical symptoms to complain about so maybe it was just his PDA's way of warning him he was coming down with an alien cold?

Whatever it was, Danny bet fifty bucks the metal muncher was what gave it to him. The creature had a face that screamed "Hey! look at me, I have all the diseases!" Now he was no marine biologist but scrap metal and electrical wire didn't exactly seem like the healthiest snack to chew on. Although, with the resemblance it had to crocodiles back home, one could only wonder if it swallowed metal to help with digestion?

Jagged teeth like the ones on the metal muncher weren't exactly suitable for grinding up food. Finding out the Metal muncher's stomach was full of rocks would be the least surprising thing that's happened today. Metal salvage from the Aurora was way too big to work as a stomach stone so it was more likely the creature just liked chewing on metal. It seemed just as interested in the titanium deposits as it was with the salvage so maybe it was a natural way to file down or sharpen their teeth? Hopefully, the metal munchers were smart enough to avoid chewing on wires that were actively sparking.

Opening a note function on his PDA, Danny began scribbling down everything he'd learned from his encounter with the metal muncher. Easily distracted, aggressive, territorial? Deciding everything he’d seen today was their normal everyday behavior would be stupid. There were new variables in the creature’s environment that could impact its behavior. Continued observation would be helpful as would scanning the animal in the morning. If Danny was going to be stranded on an alien planet you bet your ass he’s going to be studying the local wildlife while he’s here.

“A proper sleep schedule is imperative to the physical and phycological development of young children, " A chime played on his PDA closing the notes app without any warning. A repetitive string of Z’s overtook his screen making it impossible for him to navigate through the applications. Cheeks burning Danny turned the thing off and on again stomping with a huff when the same thing happened when it booted up again.

Taking a deep breath Danny sulked over to the storage unit. It was the only flat surface in this Lifepod he could lay down on and one could only pray to the ancients that the lid wouldn’t cave underneath him. Sleeping on the floor was out of the question. biohazardous goo coated the floor, still liquid enough to slosh around with the erythematic motion of the sea. Naturally, due to preferences, Danny decided to curl up on a surface that didn't have his melted organs on it.

________

Slithering through a barren seabed that once flourished as well as one could in a dying ocean. Mourning the lives that were lost today, he'd failed all over again. His youngest had been the one to see the precursors building raise into the sky this time. A blast strong enough to shake the island that it was built on shot out into the sky. They'd expected something to crash into the water soon after but what they hadn't expected was the size of what hit the waters.

Miles of the seafloor was torn up, and thousands of animals were dead. Jason said it was ironic, even after the precursors wiped themselves out they still found ways to destroy the planet. Bruce thought it was just cruel. It was by sheer stroke of luck that none of his kids had been close to the reaper's breeding ground at the time of impact. All of them managed to remain relatively unharmed when flames and giant pieces of rubble fell from the sky.

Surviving reapers flocked to the sight of the impact, shielded, unseen through the cloud of upturned sand and rubble. It wasn't until they caught a reaper with a familiar-looking creature locked in its mandibles, red blood spilling into the waters as it once had a decade ago that they realized it was happening again.

Nearly all who they'd found near the impact site had been unresponsive, charred, or mangled with their organs strewn out through the sea. In the clutches of the predators now circling the site dying in their arms no matter how quickly or carefully they managed to pry them from the brutal maw of the reapers. Within minutes of the impact, they'd already had a death count in the dozens. It was horrific, little bodies so much like his and his children's more vulnerable forms, dulled claws of younglings that had not yet grown old enough to hunt for themselves. Worst of all was looking into their dying eyes and seeing the agony and confusion of a sentient creature facing a brutal death just as their lives had begun. But that was the death count before the others landed.

Eggs with metallic shells and odd patterning landed all throughout the crater some even landing in the cold darkness of the void where they couldn't be retrieved. Their landings had been much gentler than the initial impact. Immediately the little ones began crawling out of their shells, confused and scared, physically weak. It wasn't uncommon for the precursors to deform the unborn, kidnaping and experimenting on children who lived and died in agony. Malformities ran rampant in this batch of younglings. Instead of soft faces and the vibrant, expressive eyes, they'd come to associate with these children, there were pitch-black, featureless heads smoother than sandstone but solid as titanium. There were points when a child that looked perfectly healthy would go limp for seemingly no reason and never move again. A sped-up gestation period was known to cause problems, let alone a hatching that was induced by precursor technology. As much as it killed him to admit, these younglings, while more abundant were sicklier than the small batch of three that'd fallen years ago.

Most if not all the healthier young ones died from the elements before they could reach them. It was devastating for Dick to find the youngling he'd been guarding in his territory, covered in the luminescent cysts that foreshadowed a certain death. The children got scared when they tried to protect them and when these children got scared they had a tendency to die from it.

Every single death felt like a personal failure. It's like nothing they could do would ever stop the hurt that the precursors continued to cause a thousand years after their extinction.

"Hey... B?" Dick's voice echoed in his mind a reassuring reminder that his son was safe and close enough to contact them. However, the emotions that came in with his son's words were anything but reassuring. Stomach filling with dread he settled on the sea bed just preparing himself for devastating news.

"We've searched the entire crater- none of them survived," A wave of grief hit him like a tsunami when Dicks words sunk in.

"Not the entire crater, there's still the one that landed in the shallows," Tim chimed in.

"We watched that egg for three hours and nothing crawled out of it," Steph groaned and Bruce could almost hear the dramatic way his daughter threw herself into the sand.

"Plus it was smoking and smelled of rot," Duke added somberly, slowly gliding through the impact site by his side.

"Geez, none of them even survived long enough to start building this time!" Dick exclaimed a mournful edge to his usual cheerful tone.

"Tch, pitiful," Damian finally decided to chime in, disappointment clear in the juveniles voice

" Who's pitiful? The babies who died today or the precursors who set them up for death?" Jason questioned, a dangerous edge seeping into the bond.

"I think it's obvious who I was talking about Todd," Damian spat.

"Considering how obsessed you are with what the last group created no, it's not obvious demon spawn," Jason sneered.

"Guys!" Dick snapped. "Arguing with each other isn't help and it sure as the lava zone is hot isn't going to make you feel better for long," Murmurs of agreement rang throughout the bond.

" One of us should still keep an eye on the egg in the shallows," Bruce clutched a piece of metal in pitch-black claws, gills flaring as he swam underneath an egg floating upside-down on the ocean's surface. "Maybe they're just late bloomers?"

"...Maybe?"

"I guess it's possible,"

"Not likely,"

"Tch, if it's already rotten getting our hopes up is pointless," Damian added to the chorus of replies.

"Try saying that when we have new baby siblings swimming around," Dick beamed.

"I will not because it isn't going to happen," His youngest argued pointedly.

"Awwwww, someone's worried they won't be the guppy of the family anymore!" Dick cooed much to Damian's dismay and everyone else's entertainment.

"I am not!" Damian snapped his voice louder than Dick's despite him being the farthest from the impact zone. "If anything I'd be glad someone else would be the victim of you people's constant smothering!" Damian spat, his words lacking any true venom.

"Whatever you say kiddo,"

"Shut up Grayson!" Laughter rang out through the bond followed by teasing and cooing. A reminder that despite everything Bruce still had living children and he hoped it would stay that way long after he passed.

( @avelnfear @meira-3919 @thought-u-said-dragon-queen @hugsandchaos @blep-23 @zeldomnyo @bytheoldwillowtree @justwannabecat @shepherdsheart @starlightcat04 @stargazing-bookwyrm @pupstim )

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: great, unique and creative worldbuilding in fantasy books

A note: this is very much a subjective list. I typically do not care much for historical medieval-esque settings (though seeing as I'm a big critical role fan, obviously there are exceptions), but rather prefer settings that mix up historical and modern, fantastical and scientific, and make up entirely new things and societal structures not based on our world.

Other book rec posts:

Really cool sci-fi worldbuilding

Mermaid books

Dark sapphic romances

Vampire books

Without further ado, let’s go!

The Unspoken name by A.K. Larkwood

Honestly there's so much going on in this one worldbuilding-wise that it's kind of hard to explain. Portals, flying ships, orcs, elves, creepy snake gods, cults, immortal evil mages who traumatize teens as their hobby. It's also very queer!

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark

Set in an alternate 1910's steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures (among other things, creepy steampunk angels) live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Urban fantasy on a level of its own, where dangerous magic exists alongside humans. It keeps you guessing and much is left unexplained; if you want clear answers and explanations to everything you might be disappointed, but if you want a world that feels mysterious and dangerous and lived in you'll probably like it. It follows a baker who, after getting kidnapped by vampires, gets embroiled in a dangerous struggle.

Radiant (Towers Trilogy) by Karina Sumner-Smith

A strange mix of fantasy, sci-fi and post apocalyptic, Radiant follows a girl without magic in a world where magic is currency. Those with much of it live in magically floating towers, while everyone else scrambles to survive in the ruins of an old city left devastated from an unknown cataclysm. The setting is creepy and mysterious and leaves me itching as I want to dig for more. Also there are ghosts.

Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence) by Max Gladstone

This is one of those books where you just kind of have to let go and go along as it throws you all over the place. I started reading it expecting an urban fantasy, but it is much more and wholly unique. It features a world where gods and magic are deeply enmeshed with society at large, and a base of much of its technology and progress. It doesn't quite feel historical, but also not modern, but rather like you took a fantastical world and let it develop naturally into its own contemporary era.

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer duology) by Laini Taylor

One of my favorite things is when the mysteries of the world and how it works become part of the plot, with characters trying to figure out their own world. Strange the Dreamer is beautiful and complex and will hurt your heart. Personally I didn't care much for the central romance, but the wonderful characters, themes, mysteries and world make up for it.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

Like Three Parts Dead, The Dawnhounds is a book where you just kind of have to let the story and the world wash over you. It skirts the line of scifi and fantasy, with a futuristic world of environmentally friendly mushroom houses and deadly fungi bio weapons next to literally god-given superpowers and near-immortality. It's really cool and unlike anything else I've ever read. Bonus: it’s also sapphic!

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Another example of a world that feels wholly like its own organically developed thing, with societal structures developed around the magical aspects and a presence of gods and demi-gods, many of whom walk the streets and will smite you if you piss them off.

Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows series) by Kim Harrison

Okay, here we have an actual urban fantasy. While I got a bit worn out by the many, many love interests throughout the series, the worldbuilding is simply phenomenal and relies heavily on a well-developed alternate history. Basically, magical beings such as vampires, werewolves, elves, fairies, witches, etc, used to exist secretly alongside us, but when humanity delved into genetic research instead of the space race during the cold war, an engineered virus ended up wiping a good chunk of us out and the magical beings stepped in to stop us from going extinct. Now in the modern day, we co-exist but tensions remain. Our main character is a witch who, alongside her roommates (a vampire and a fairy) solve mysteries and crime and end up unveiling secrets about their world centuries in the making.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Another urban fantasy, this one aimed at young adults and featuring indigenous mythology alongside creatures such as vampires and ghosts. We follow a young apache girl with the ability to raise ghosts as she works to solve the murder of her cousin.

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor trilogy) by Mark Lawrence

Honestly, most of what I've read by Mark Lawrence so far could be featured on this list (special shoutout to his Broken Empire trilogy!). We follow a young girl training to become an assassin in a slowly dying world, where ice is overtaking the land and only a small band along its middle is habitable, kept alive by a mirror in the sky sharpening the dying sun's light. Question is, how long will this machine last, and what even is it? Very dark but very good.

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Listen, N.K. Jemisin gets to have two books on this list, okay, she is very good at what she does. In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It's hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Bonus: gay romance!

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Master of slightly fucked up romance, Octavia Butler knocks it out of the park in this story featuring two immortals struggling throughout the centuries. What do you do when there is only one other person remotely like you, and you simultaneously can't stand them and can't live without them? Apparently, you turn yourself into a dolphin for a while.

Birth of the Fire Bringer by Meredith Ann Pierce

Cards on the table, it has been a great many years since I actually read this, and just as many years spent meaning to read the sequels (I have a lot of stuff on my tbr okay, don’t judge me), but I do remember it making a great impact on me back in the day. Our main character is a unicorn! Fighting wyverns and gryphons! How cool is that!

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

From Goodreads: This Hindu philosophy-inspired debut science fantasy follows a husband and wife racing to save their living city—and their troubled marriage—high above a jungle world besieged by cataclysmic storms.

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below.

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Urban fantasy but the vampires are aliens? Sign me the fuck up

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

From Goodreads: At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

I probably wouldn’t do a hazbin au if it were me, or maybe not call it ‘the hazbin’ au since the fandom has a lot of toxic fans and stuff who could bother you. But if you want to I think it could be cool!!!

just concerned cause I know sadly hazbin fans like to bully people :(

Okay. Thank you for your thoughts on it. Okay. Okay. Here's what I going to do. It's not a Hazbin or Helluva AU. I've mentioned it's not. This AU is an angel and sinner AU, where the platonic yan adults are angels, or the Divine, and so are a few of the teens. The Earth, or Terra, went through an apocalyptic scenario, so now everyone is in the afterlife and the renewing Earth. Angels, or the Divine, are supernatural beings who come in many forms and shapes, some human, some animal-ish, but they tend to have at least two or three pairs of wings, the ability to appear as a sinner or in their full Divine form (which is very bright and burning and terrifying for enemies), and can control the universe and create stuff. Sinners are the people who didn't end up in the Divine Realm, and who take on un-human forms most of the time, appearing as anthropomorphic animals or technology or weird people, and most if them are not nice, but some of them, the teens who aren't angels, are actually nice, or are capable of love, which other sinners are not. Love is the ultimate good, there are no gods or demons or other supernatural beings, Love is the deciding factor of who won't be able to die by divine flame, or stardust.

There is another afterlife besides the Divine Realm, but it's a hodge-podge of buildings and creatures, mostly a wreck, so Reader and their friends tend to try and stay on Terra, where at least it's semi-peaceful and quiet. Terra is being regrown by the Divine, who are low in numbers (there may be a few dozen or hundreds or something, just not as many as they wanted), so they try to scout for sinners who could be redeemed or made into angels.

They find Reader and the others, and after disguising themselves, get to know them... And slowly realize these kids are perfect. They should have never been sinners, they should have been with them, in the Divine Realm, all along...

Cue them revealing their true selves and nature, and scaring the kids off. The adults hunt them down, drag them back with them into the Divine Realm, and go about the process of turning their new children into Divines, too, which is a hidden, dark process...

(This has: body horror, platonic yandere themes, some fluffy moments, and death. Viewer discretion is advised. Get out if this isn't for you, and stay out if you want to drag drama into this AU. I will NOT accept any drama or toxicity, okay? So don't do that, or you're getting blocked, and will never see my works again...)

This is an Angek and Demon AU, or y'know, Angels-Kidnap-Kids-From-Heck-And-Turn-Them-Into-Angels-Too AU...

[musewrangler]

Could you do a ghostbusters au for the five facts game

Oho. I love the original film. Let's see, I had to brush off my knowledge here. ;D Thank you friend!

Venkman opens a portal which takes the Ghostbusters team to Stargate Atlantis. He was just messing around you know, seeing what the streams could actually do. He didn't actually CROSS the streams Egon, so shut up, but he MAY have run them through the city's main power generator just to see how much juice those babies could bring. Turns out---a lot.

Egon naturally jumps right into trying to figure out a way home and because his personality is so focused on time/space/engineering details, he's not offended by Rodney McKay in the least and just sees him as a resource to help him with Atlantean technology. Rodney----after numerous gibes seem to go pinging off of whatever emotional forcefield Egon has going on---decides he likes being very needed and is then doubly insufferable to everyone else. John Shepperd and Peter Venkman discover they can roll their eyes nearly simultaneously.

Ernie is just thrilled to see such an amazing new place and it's a nice break from dealing with Slimer as well as Venkman. He and Doctor Beckett get along famously as the 'normal' ones in each of their respective teams, and Ernie sees this as the vacation he never got to take to the Bahamas---ocean views, cool plant life in the botany lab, and some great sun.

Venkman flirts with anything female on the station and is universally shot down. Undeterred, he makes it his personal mission to try everything weird and alien in the cafeteria while Egon figures things out. C'mon, Egon always figures things out. He'd just be in the way if he had to come and try to help and fine, fine, he's coming, geez, how hard is a little time/space jump.

Ray, having had a negative experience recently with the StayPuff Marshmallow Man, is quite happy to just do as he's told. In this case, Weir figures out that Sheppard [very bored because he's on medical leave from the last mission] is keen to know all about 1980s New York so she ensures that the two of them get to have plenty of time to discuss this and allow Ray to try and recreate various foods and items in their labs. Mostly harmless right? [It turns out the TV dinner from hell was not a good idea and numerous station personnel still have nightmares about the Philly steak creatures.]

[twinsoftriumph]

vedesa and lalut! the slightly awkward buddy duo ESPECIALLY now that lalut is hiding the presence of a certain someone who has history with vedesa... who might need their own post because i think 3 in one post might be too much.

vedesa wears air prophet hair (modified), scolding student mask, to the love outfit, moments guide ult camera, and saluting protector cape. yes none of these are vault cosmetics. she's actually a sky version of an oc i made almost a decade ago so if i slip up and call her by her other name just ignore it

lalut was literally based off of my sky kid. moth height so i consider them the baseline. maskless, chill sunbather glasses, reassuring ranger hat, gloat hair, nightbird whisperer outfit, lively navigator cape, pleaful parent guitar

vedesa has existed for a Long Time. she's my beautiful princess with a disorder(s)

the most obvious one being narcolepsy which i initially made a thing just because i was leaving rps frequently and figured id give a character reason for but now it's a legit trait

she works as a messenger and does photography as a hobby so she is trying her darndest to appreciate life and keep that joie de vivre kindled by Touching Grass

it's not like a super serious job though she operates on her own terms and limits. she's unemployed at heart

also neurotic as hell. this was me projecting as a kid and it still is now.

probably susceptible to Toxic Yuri (shes bi but for the sake of the joke.) because she is a little too interested in the dangerous. megabird's weakest yuri warrior

she originally lived near wind paths but lives in vault now since it deals with memory lantern and darkstone technology shit

vedesa met lalut through her travels, and they basically encountered each other enough times that they started talking casually

lalut invited her to prairie peaks and it was basically heaven. she really appreciated the gesture and now they're friends :) the awkwardness is mostly just because of their personalities

SPEAKING of lalut. they're a prairie guide and they love hanging out and showing moths around. they call themself a moth wrangler which makes it sound 10x more intense than any of it actually is

they want moths to think they're cool so badly. they will pull out the guitar unprompted and be like WELL if you INSIST

they're actually very good-natured. they are trying so so hard. they want to also be a Cool Smooth Flyer. results vary

they know a bunch of weird light creature facts because they love ecology shit which is what they bonded over with vedesa initially. they bring these up unprompted as well but not to be cool it just Comes Out

vedesa invited lalut to vault. lalut keeps meaning to go but also vault gives them major heebie jeebies. vedesa is too awkward to invite them again

lalut has currently taken in ames. vedesa has History with ames and lalut figured this out and is trying to basically keep that whole living situation under wraps for now. more details will come in ames' post which ill do another time bc i need to SLEEP

[honourablejester]

Okay. So this is the result of a combination of thoughts. I’ve been reading/watching Pathfinder lore lately, and the idea of the dwarven Sky Citadels fascinates me. I will admit, though, that when I first heard them referenced, in a discussion on Adventure Paths and in particular Dongun Hold in Alkenstar, I thought they were sky citadels. As in dwarven flying cities. Which, let’s not lie, would be boss. Though the mythology of the actual Sky Citadels, that they’re where the dwarves emerged onto the surface during the Quest for the Sky, is also very cool. But. Dwarven flying cities.

This idle thought merged with a thought I had a while back regarding one of D&D 5e’s trinkets from the PHB. No. 37: a small, weightless stone block. Because I thought, even at the time, with just that, I thought: put a piece of stone that weighs nothing in a dwarf’s hand, and let them imagine what and where they could build. Because, again, I’ve wanted flying dwarves for a while.

And then I added in some other things. The concept of a space elevator, and how compression-based ones aren’t possible, because of weight. The biblical Tower of Babel. And, a little bit, the Islamic version of the building of the Temple of Solomon.

So we get this. A piece of worldbuilding, a setting element. Something to put in a fantasy world that’s heading for steampunk levels of technology, possibly beyond.

The Legend of the Compact Tower

A lot of people think the name is ironic, calling the tallest thing in the world compact, or perhaps that it’s a joke, a reference to its builders’ shorter stature. But the name doesn’t mean compact as in small, it means compact as in agreement. Pact, covenant. The Compact Tower was named for the holy agreement that enabled its construction.

There are different versions of the story, depending on the teller, but in the dwarven one, it happened like this.

Dwarves are creatures of the earth. Of the stone, of the depths. They are called to delve, not to fly, and it is a holy calling. The gods of earth and the gods of dwarves look kindly upon it. But from the moment dwarves first stepped out onto the surface of the world, from the moment a dwarf first looked up and saw the raw splendour of the sky, there have been dwarves who hear a different calling. One, perhaps, less favourably looked upon once, but no less real.

And, though many still deny it, no less holy.

Much as there are gods of earth, there are gods of sky. They are not dwarven gods, but they are gods nonetheless. Dwarves can hear their call. And even pulled by this foreign thread, dwarves are precious to the gods of dwarves. They are creatures of the earth. They are rooted, not only in the stone, but as a people, and their gods no less than them. These ties do not break for a foreign calling. A dwarf, no matter where their heart leads, is still a dwarf.

And so the gods of dwarves spoke to the gods of sky, on behalf of their children. And those dwarves who had felt the longing for the sky spoke also to its gods, on their own behalf. They spoke of their awe, their appreciation, their longing. They spoke of their nature, of earth and stone and roots. And they spoke of a joining between them, the earth and the sky, the root and the longing. They spoke of a construction, for dwarves are builders before all things, that would honour both.

A tower, built by dwarves, and allowed by the compact of gods, that would reach from the stone roots of the world to the top of the sky, where all was weightless, and even the concept of falling was lost. A vast pillar, miles in diameter, visible for untold miles around, that stretched upwards as far as the eye could see. A tower built of stone, in its lower reaches, and then of something else, as it reached higher. A gift, a blessing, from the gods of dwarves and the gods of sky.

Skystone. That which has no weight.

The dwarves say that skystone was a gift, given by the gods so that the Compact Tower could be built. But others say it had other origins.

Among the surface peoples of the world, the primary claim is that skystone was born of magic, a creation of dwarven arcanists, and that it was far from holy. It was mundane, created by mortal ingenuity. And, thus, it may be created again, if one could only find the formula. Perhaps even some dwarves believe this, that skystone was a thing they made with their own hands, that no gods were necessary, and that if they only searched hard enough, they could find the means to make it again. In the aeons since the breaking of the Compact Tower, many, many people have sought the secrets of skystone, both dwarves and otherwise, among the peoples of the earth.

But among the peoples of the sky …

Here is the other legend, the darker legend. For the elementals of the sky, the creatures of air and lightning, claim that the Compact Tower was not built by a compact of equals, but by a compact of slaves. That they were bound, against their will, to imbue stone with the essence of air, their own essence, and create skystone so that the tower of dwarves could be built. The gods of sky, they claim, did not look kindly on the pleas of dwarves, and so the gods of dwarves took matters into their own hands, on behalf of their children, and granted them the power and magic to enslave the creatures of the sky.

And for this reason, millennia ago, the children of the sky attacked the Compact Tower, and severed it in two. Sundered it, in a great surge of rage and lightning, and tore free the upper half of the tower, the skystone half, and claimed it for their own. It was born of their suffering, their magic, their essence, and thus it belonged to them, or so they claimed. They tore it loose, and have ever since sailed the skies with it, a vast, trailing shape, the massive cylinder of the skystone tower looming distantly above the world beneath. And the dwarves which had inhabited it were bound as slaves to their elemental masters, as recompense for the slavery that wrought the tower.

The dwarves refute this, with all their soul and ardour and honour. Their stories tell of treachery, of a holy compact broken out of greed, and a tower and a people stolen by their enemies. Dwarves do not deal in slavery, nor the binding of free creatures. Their ancestors would not have done what the elementals accuse them of, nor would their gods have permitted it. They do not know the source of the legend, but they refute it, down to the stone.

And the gods, of dwarves or earth or sky … are curiously silent on the matter. As if the truth is obscured to them, perhaps. Or as if they cannot speak it. And that … is a source of legend and of terror in and of itself.

Whatever the truth of the matter, however the Compact Tower was built, whatever created skystone, and whatever happened when the Compact Tower was shattered, these are the truths that remain:

A vast stone pillar stands upon the stone, still reaching brokenly skywards, yearning for its other half. The dwarven half of the Compact Tower, now known as the Broken Tower, remains a dwarven citadel, and has thrived across the centuries. For the dwarves of the Broken Tower have not lost the sky-yearning of their ancestors. When the Compact Tower was shattered, shards of skystone were flung and scattered from the tearing, and the dwarves have gathered it jealously. These shards have become the hearts of engines, as skydocks sprouted from the miles-high flanks of the Broken Tower and skyships sprang from dwarven ingenuity to scour the skies for the Skystone Tower and their long-lost, enslaved brethren. The Broken Tower now stands at the heart of a dwarven empire of artifice, magic and construction, reaching from the depths of the stone towards the lost reaches of the sky.

The Skystone Tower, inhabited now by djinn and other elementals, soars miles above the earth, where the sky kisses the great beyond where perhaps the gods dwell, a vast, weightless edifice that drifts horizontally across the sky, trailing its broken end where once it was torn free. In its depths, it is said, live another people too, a blue-grey people who bear a remarkable resemblance to dwarves. Whether these people are servants, slaves, or equals among the elementals of the Skystone Tower is difficult for outsiders, what few have ever gained access, to ascertain. Perhaps their status has changed, in the millennia since the sundering of the Compact Tower, or perhaps it is the same as it ever was. Slaves, or equals … or something else.

The gods of earth and sky remain silent on the questions of the Compact Tower, no matter how their children plead for the truth. If skystone was a gift of the gods, it hasn’t been given again. If skystone was an offense against the gods, it hasn’t been struck down. The gods of the sky do not disdain to grant their gifts to faithful dwarves, and the gods of dwarves do not offer the secrets of binding elementals to their children. Those secrets remain the preserve of arcanists.

And arcanists and artificers the world over search for the secrets of skystone, not least to challenge the might of the dwarven sky empire. Adventurers, thieves and secret operatives seek to find and smuggle fragments from the sundering, or to sail the skies, even as the dwarves do, in pursuit of the Skystone Tower. Elementals are bound, in search of the secrets of how they were once forced to create the material. Arcanists and alchemists seek to recreate it with naught but their own genius. The world of the Compact Tower claws its way ever skywards, seeking what once was theirs. The gift, or secret, that they were once given, and that so many wish to discover anew. A means to travel from the very root of the world, to the very top of the sky.

And, perhaps, beyond.

Perhaps this is why the gods are silent. To prevent mortals from going where they have no right to go. Or to protect them, to keep them from going where they cannot survive going. But the gift was given once, and the knowledge of it not rescinded. The world yearns skyward. And the gods have not explicitly forbidden it. Perhaps there is something with the power to command gods, a sinister force behind the sundering of the Compact Tower, that forces them not to. Or perhaps the gods, of earth and sky alike, wish to see what their mortal children might accomplish, when given only the thought and the proof, and the ingenuity of their own minds and hands.

And if that is so, say the dwarves of the Broken Tower, then they shall be the first to build again. Their tower shall be whole, and reach once more from the heart of the stone to the edge of the sky.

Further Thoughts

Whether or not dwarven inventors and magic users pioneered skystone itself, they definitely did pioneer a lot of the magic and technology that made living inside the Compact Tower possible. The Tower covered miles of vertical and horizontal space, and while it was, initially, basically an upwards extrusion of subterranean living, adjustments were made. So things like teleportation magic, mechanical and magical elevator systems, massive water transportation systems, hydroponics, fungal gardens, how to build with weightless materials, how to build and function in low orbit, magic items and technology to work around lowered gravity and thinner air, etc.

Now, large chunks of those latter ones in particular may have been lost when the Skystone Tower was ripped away, and are now (potentially) the sole preserve of the Sky Dwarves of the Skystone Tower, but not everybody who knew how the systems worked was in the upper reaches when the Sundering happened. So fragments of those technologies remained behind, and the dwarves have had millennia to capitalise on them.

The legacy of the Compact Tower and the magic/technology it left behind have had a massive warping effect on the politics, magic and technology of the world since. Particularly since the Broken Tower dwarves absolutely did not give up on their lost technology and dreams, and have built a skyfaring technological empire in the aftermath. Skyships build around shards of skystone, and the quest by other peoples and empires to gain or recreate skystone for themselves in order to match them, are a huge element of the world’s politics. Piracy, espionage, secret experiments, ground to air defenses, all of that will be in play.

There’ll also be a divide between Broken Tower dwarves and fully subterranean dwarves who never heard the sky’s call, and who are not only perfectly happy building in the stone as the gods originally intended, but possibly view the Sundering as proof that the gods did, in fact, never intend dwarves to go skywards, and hold that Broken Tower dwarves are heretics who’ve made all other dwarves enemies of the surface world, so thanks for that, buckos, real nice of you.

(Just because the gods are real, physical presences on your world, doesn’t mean you can’t have religious schisms and different interpretations, especially if the gods in question, for whatever reason, choose to keep or are forced to keep quite on the religious issue in question. Or it had nothing to do with them, and they’ve been watching the fallout in bemusement ever since)

The Skystone Tower itself has been pursued relentlessly ever since it was Sundered from the Broken Tower. Whatever the truth of the relationship between the sky dwarves and the elementals that fly it, the Skystone Tower these days is extremely reclusive and inclined to be very hostile towards intruders. The Tower haunts the far upper reaches of the sky/atmosphere, basically as close as it can get to low orbit, and even Broken Tower skyships struggle to get that far up. Magical storms and elemental force protect the Tower and its secrets, as well as raw height and speed. And, again, it’s huge. A vast mobile city-tower in the upper atmosphere that’s visible to everything below it.

Possibly the Skystone Tower casts a mobile shadow that’s a factor in the magic of the world. Tidal pull could also be a factor. The Broken Tower could also be an issue when it comes to shadow, warping the natural plant and animal life in the area, as well as being a massive weight on a single location on the world. Skystone is weightless, but the Broken Tower was built of normal stone, slowly merging into skystone in the upper reaches, some of which might be left (probably as the basis for the skyship factories). So the Broken Tower may well have a physical warping effect on the world round it too.

And then … Space travel could so very easily be a thing. It could be a thing the Skystone Tower dwarves and elementals are working on. It could be a thing the surface mortals invent in the course of pursuing them. It could be achieved by diplomacy and a reunification of the Towers, creating an actual space elevator that would allow colonisation up into whatever lies beyond the sky.

What does lie beyond the sky? Are the gods there? Is something else there? Is it survivable? Don’t you want to find out?

I just. I want fantasy science fiction. And sky dwarves and/or space dwarves. Apparently. Heh.

So. The Legend of the Compact Tower.

[lotus-mirage]

Trigun Stampede episode 4 liveblog!

I had a bit of a double take at “plant-based meat”.  Come to think of it, are there any actual plants on this planet? Or are they talking about eating the irreplaceable technology that sustains them...?

Welp, there’s Wolfwood.  Wearing that big old gun cross.  Thing.

lmao that’s not a very dignified first look at the guy

Interesting that there’s only seven cities when they seem to be named after calendar months.

Actually huh. I wonder how big this world is anyway.  It feels like it should be pretty small, especially with the number of cities, but I have no idea how big those cities could be.

Those are worms?????

Also another kinda bacteria-looking thing after the bombs, huh.

NEVERMIND WHAT I SAID ABOUT THAT BEING AN UNDIGNIFIED FIRST LOOK. guy just went flying :0c

and now he’s just flopping around in the backseat.  fantastic. no notes.

Plant... outpost? wonder what this is.

Wait Wolfwood is like. actually religious? I kinda thought it was just symbolism.  I can’t believe he’s actually religious and lugging around a big cross on his back.  I can’t tell if that’s delusions of self-importance or just... dweebery.

...drinking from what may or may not be holy water.  My guy. I understand resources are low.

Oh it keeps going.

...I do not believe this man is ordained.

Okay “undertaker”... may check out more?? I have no idea what they might be expected to know in a historical or modern day setting, let alone space-fantasy. I wouldn’t expect them to have access to holy water though?

Actually wait I need to google the difference between undertaker and gravedigger.

Nevermind, they probably do! Alright then. 

okay all that aside - what is happening with the background music here??? It’s unexpectedly unsettling, kind of.

Okay I switched audio languages briefly to see if the additional religious allusions in like every line from Wolfwood was also reflected in the Eng dub (even more blatant actually) and got hit with “You did get hit by big-ass truck, after all,” which was unexpected enough to make me stop and laugh out loud.

Speaking of which I was kind of expecting them to gloss over that given the cartoony nature of that whole sequence, but huh.

ah jeez what now

...we’re going Dune now?? Alright, okay.

the bug things are also Worms?

“detached electrons” I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. That sounds like it’d cause chemical reactions, which doesn’t look to be the case?

“tool of the trade” as a gun or as a reusable grave marker?

oookay eating the weird glowy bug alive and raw. I mean I guess if they’re Worms, we know they’re edible like that, but uh.  yikes.

assassins that control Worms, huh. that sounds like a lost technology thing, presumably

“I can see it in his eyes” yeah yeah okay lay it on a little thicker oh my god

Roberto vanished while they were having a moment! I’m honestly sure if that was an intentional comedy moment lol

okay my prediction is either another bug or a more worm-looking Worm

there is also like barely any liquid, there is no way digestion is happening that fast

OH LMAO is that what’s been happening!? They’ve just been getting launched??

Okay nvm that doesn’t make much sense and also they’d be less likely to survive it than these two I guess

Ooh I really want to see the Worm’s whole design

I guess that makes sense that is an incredibly acrobatic child.

okay yeah that looks like it’d cause rapid digestion

oh yuck the floor

the cross gun has a fucking skull on it. I don’t have words.

it’s a machine gun

oooh that is a really cool creature design!

so like.  is the kid also a Worm or do they just have some sort of power/technological control over them?

it’s a machine gun that also shoots lazers

it also decently high-tech, but still not entirely sure where it falls in terms of technology type

side note, the consistent mild back-and-forth between Meryl and Wolfwood is great

and now the thing about deserving to eat is linked back to the deserving to cry thing from last episode. great. fantastic. ow.

come to think of it, why are they still travelling with Vash?  just cause they got lumped with him after the last episode, or after more info...?

okay I honestly expected the kid and Wolfwood to actually be two different factions. It makes sense but now I want to know if there are more groups out there.

hold up. narration??

okay. red glowing tubes with characters I can’t read.  that’s not an aesthetic that we’ve seen in this show yet I think?

“the gate that allows access to the higher dimension.” the WHAT

I guess this has to be the ‘Gate’ Knives mentioned last episode, but also higher dimension, what

“his morality and ethics are acting as a defensive measure” ???

oh wait no it is Knives’ group. huh.

those look like plants in the background, but all of them are red.  was it the blue one that was having trouble, then? I assumed blue = alive and red = dead, but that may not be the case.  they’re also markedly smaller than the ones in the town.

“more human than anyone” uhhhhhh not sure I agree with that on principle, but I get what they’re saying. sure, I guess.

lmao wolverine claws

End notes:

Hmm, not sure where to start! First off, I think pacing/tonal issues were more or less entirely absent from this episode! nice.

I think that’s our entire party assembled, aside from Millie, who as I understand it is less of a key figure in TriStamp so far, but not so in other versions?? Anyway.  Nice!  I think they did a good job of establishing the dynamics between the different characters.

I guess the main thing to really speculate on is the Gate thing.  So far seems like simultaneously a physiological thing and a psychological thing. He’s had it for a while, but can’t control it (isn’t aware of it?), but it’s a way to access a higher dimension, but it’s also affected by his state of mind.

Not much by way of explaining the key antagonists or their goals, other than now we have... I guess half a goal? Maybe a step in the process.

Step 1: Collect Plants

Step 2: Utilize Vash’s Gate, allowing access to a higher dimension

Step 3: ???

Step 4: Profit      

[boundlss]

currently failing to write, so I am going to trick other people into writing instead. Do you have any cool bits of muse lore and/or headcanons that you've always wanted to mention in a plot but just never had an opportunity?

hahaha it took me a few days to get to this because i've been off doing things that AREN'T tumblr rp related, but i'm here now and happy to answer this question (thank you, by the way, i really appreciate you taking the time to send it presumably knowing how much i LOOOVE talking about my muses).

when it comes to this particular blog the natural answer is "um, yes, i don't ever REALLY get the chance to talk about 99 percent of my muses" but that has the potential to be both a very short and very LONG answer so i'll probably just leave you with some stuff for muses that are my personal favorites.

to start off with this is about shiroe log horizon; i don't really know how cool i would call this lore but one of the things i am OBSESSED with about him that i don't always get to discuss is his pre-show activity related to elder tale. he's a dedicated forum user who i hc as having moderated or run the popular discussion sites---in a way not too dissimilar to rev when it comes to baccano!---and who put a lot of his time into dissecting the best and most efficient ways to level in the game, beat raids, etc... it's pretty lame all things considered when it comes to "things about shiroe log horizon" but i've always LOVED the detail that was put into him being a superfan of the game and how that didn't JUST reflect in his activities within the game! i love that he has a sort of canonical "fandom notoriety" because of not only his past involvement with a notorious party but also his own individual out-of-game actions relating to it!

onto another muse; one thing i don't get to discuss with kaito a lot is my actual "mainverse" for him. on my list i have him versed in project sekai for sorting convenience (and for that matter the same is true with longya) but i've actually designed a pretty complex mainverse for him where he's a technological creature created from the thoughts and feelings that listen to the music he's featured in and the songs themselves. because the sense of identity of a vocaloid is pretty nebulous, he was never really much of a consistent being at all, but having gained recent trends in his characterization he's started to take on an actual life and have a real desire to experience existence outside of technology and hologram performances. this verse originated from miku, when i wrote her, but now kaito is in his own unique situation with it and i don't get to use it very often. i think it has a lot of potential in both the wholesome and horror directions.

and fiiiiiinally, i have one of my ocs to talk about, number 44! there are a lot of interesting things i could say about him as he relates to twain over on antisatiric but i don't often get the chance to discuss him from a non twain-centric perspective. i think the thing about him i like the most is that he is both an eternal presence and also the longest in a very long line, and while he has access to and can draw stories from the multiverse, his presence is inherently connected to the "main universe" i have set twain's story in due to twain's universe being a hub of stories where every piece of fiction is real in another world. before he was the archivist, there was a different world considered the "hub world" which had to die in order for the previous archivist to die and 44 to take over the position---so the "hub world" only becomes the hub world BECAUSE the eternal archivist is tied to it. if 44 and the current hub world die, twain will take his place as 45 and a new nascent universe will be created as the new hub world. his lore can get a little complex sometimes.

well anyway, thank you a lot for the ask. i really do like talking like this and it's good to put SOMETHING out on the blog even if that something isn't a reply. ur a real one sawagi :D.

unprompted. / always accepting.

[rockysingh]

Consider the NPC might actually be alive

This is thought experiment that doesn't hold much weight currently, as generative AI and language models have not reached any sentience yet. But it's an interesting proposition regardless

Take the worm, with recent development scientist have been able to (more or so) replicate its brain onto a machine.

Now, as smart as a worm is, it's still a very basic creature, not dense of complex. But we consider it to be "alive". Is this new, digital worm also alive? The answer that comes to mind is 'no'.

There can be several reasons why we believe the digital worm, is not alive. It can't reproduce, it is not made of biological matter, it does not conduct any homeostasis within itself (any bodily process) therefore it isn't alive.

All of these are valid in a normal world view, but if you want to waste more of your time

then Is a sterile human not alive, because it cannot reproduce?

With the second argument, we can bring in the ship of Theseus, is a half man, half machine not alive, if half and half can be considered alive, then is a man, completely imported into a machine who is still capable of rational thoughts and feelings, is that man not alive?

Alright, so we say the digital worm is "alive", its alive, and being alive has nothing to do with your bodily material. Then, what happens if say I give this worm the controls in a video game. Its still the worm, and this has been done before, not exactly with a worm, rather braincells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w41gH6x_30&ab_channel=bostonkid9096

And a favourite channel of mine, Thought Emporium

Say these digital worms are, trained to respond like NPCs in a video game, like a villager. If we agree, that the worm is alive in its biological body, and it is still alive if its brain is successfully imprinted onto a digital medium, then, what happens if its transferred to a video game?

Now, this is all thought experiment land, bringing "common sense" logic and appealing to previously agreed terms will shut this down easily. How silly, a worm? It gets sillier, what stops our already existing NPCs from being considered "alive", they're not humans, they're not smart, but what stops the villager from Minecraft being considered "alive". It reacts to stimuli, it has "homeostasis" (trades? and they do maintain things) they "reproduce".

Of course, the villager is not alive, it is preprogramed to behave in a certain way, but then again.

Isn't the worm also preprogramed? It sure as hell doesn't attend school, I know, lazy bastards.

The worm is programmed by "Nature" or by the world and time itself, life, as it has begun from the single cells organisms in primordial pools of life material, its all just a stumble and tumble experiment, whatever survives is what goes on. There's no intelligent design process here (depends if you believe in god). I don't claim to believe NPC's are actually alive, but as technology will progress, the existential question of what being "alive" means will be asked more and more.

This is one of those "Rokos basilisk" type shit, where yes, you might just be doomed for eternity just by knowing something, but you know in all honestly that its just a shit post. (Check out Roko's Basilisk, its very cool)

And, please don't argue about this, I know an npc isn't actually alive. This post is a human written shitpost

[zepandovski]

You said to send asks but i had no clue what to send so here's some excerpts of lore from my Sonic AU's google doc I guess !

The Chronophage ”Chrono” or Time Eater : Beast that controls the passing of time. Born of people’s hearts, there’s a piece of it inside every person. Its form changes as understanding of time in humanity evolves, though it is formless originally. In Sonic’s era, it features mechanical clock patterns, like gears and clock hands, and notably, a grasshopper mechanism. In Silver’s Era, it’s a really weak entity, as most ways to tell precise time have been destroyed, and current technology is focused on survival purposes. In that time, it appears as a dark void and features patterns reminiscent of code and bells.

Rumor has it that if you see a grasshopper in your garden, it’s a sign you should do something you’ve been putting off. In Silver’s future where nature is extremely rare, grasshoppers are a legendary animal and a superstition goes that seeing a grasshopper in your dreams or waking hours means the end of your time. Because of this legendary status, grasshoppers are a popular image to tag for survivors to signify their presence.

This is a recent addition because I learned recently that the Time Eater looks reminiscent of an actual clock ! And the mechanism it uses looks like a monstrous grasshopper, it's pretty cool !

My AU's not about it in particular ( it's a reimagining of the whole canon ), but it's apart of it so I thought it was interesting to share.

What's a Sonic creature or boss fight you find interesting ?

YES YES YES YES TY FOR THE LORE MEAL!! I'll gladly accept any lore snippet from your au! Im still very curious about it :D

Thats a pretty interesting interpretation of the time eater, even more the grasshopper symbolism, i loved how different it is on silver's era and it makes sense!

Now for the lil question, hm, for the creature..ngl the black arms still gives me interest, like we dont have much information about them besides of wat we have in Shadow's game [and thanks to him we will never fucking know more about them TY SHADOW FOR MAKING THEM EXTINCT/sarcastic]

I haven't played much sonic games so for me to remember some creatures and boss fights will be difficult KWBDKEND

Another one that i find interesting is just, all of the unleashed dark gaia creatures, dark gaia itself and our boy the werehog! I wished we could have got more about them just like the black arms..

For the boss fight, i'll just grab frontiers and well TMoSTH if that counts, i found the think levels so cool and interesting but also irritating OWNDLEND

[beansthough]

I posted 148 times in 2022

That's 24 more posts than 2021!

56 posts created (38%)

92 posts reblogged (62%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@beansthough

@brick-a-doodle-do

@oh-i-need-a-name

@x-pair-o-dice-x

@aslitheryprinx

I tagged 132 of my posts in 2022

Only 11% of my posts had no tags

#mcyt g/t - 89 posts

#mcyt gt - 78 posts

#the snake charmer au - 41 posts

#g/t - 40 posts

#asks - 34 posts

#giant/tiny - 32 posts

#giant!tommy - 31 posts

#dreamsmp g/t - 29 posts

#tiny!wilbur - 27 posts

#sfw g/t - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#also yes i now all these animals are lime from different part of the world but it’s my fantasy world so i get to choose the animals

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

-They are friends :’)

Anyways I drew Ranboo and Tubbo from @x-pair-o-dice-x’s By Nature au! I love it so much and can’t wait for the fic!

82 notes - Posted May 24, 2022

#4

naga Tommy and mouse Wilbur you say 👀👀

i’m very invested, please speak more on it, i would love know more >:)

I’m gonna call this au The Snake Charmer lol

But basically it goes like this:

-Tommy is a naga who has just recently found a new territory to call his own. With this territory he gets the responsibility to protect it from other creatures that might threaten it. It’s his new home after all.

-In this territory is a village of tiny hybrids that found a safe haven from predators that once devastated their old home. It has thrived through many generations, and prides it’s self on the colonies safety first. The village leader Philza has kept them safe for many years. His son Technoblade is the official leader of his protectors and hunters, and Philza himself usually takes down the biggest threats.

-And then there’s Wilbur. Who would much rather spend his days exploring the woods and inventing new musical techniques and technologies. He could also care less than to join his brothers hunters team. He would much rather do what actually interests him. Phil would rather him do something that, “better supports the village and it’s people.”

-Tommy hunts in his newly acquired territory and explores and discovers all the wonders of his new home. One of these wonders being Wilbur and the rest of the people in the village.

-Tommy has no idea that these small hybrids even existed. He is very excited to learn about them, but keeps on the down low, watching from afar because he knows how the tiny people might react to him.

-He’s lonley being on his own, but he keeps his distance. Because if all of the hybrids his size react with fear and anger when seeing him, how are these tiny people going to react?

- Tommy’s not stupid. He knows what he is and the reputation that his kind has built up for themselves. He even has the various instincts (hehehe>;)he has to push down to keep his existence hidden from the mice hybrids. Buts some times even he can’t stop them from happening...

-Tommy watches all the tiny hybrids go about their days. Is it a little creepy? Yes , but tommy likes to think of it as watching to protect them from harm. Definitely not because he’s lonely and this is the only interaction he gets. Yep, definitely not.

-He has his favorites to watch. The pink haired hybrid with the cool weapons and teeth that point out from his bottom lip. He had seen him take down a rabbit with one shot of his bow. He also quite enjoyed watching the black and white haired mouse wrote on his book or make flower crowns after his chores were done.

-But his absolute favorite to watch was the charmer. He would sing and play songs with tiny instruments of his own making. Tommy could be with him all day and never get tiered of the brown haired man. He would joke to himself as he worked and was always humming a tune to fill the quiet.

-Tommy just hopes he can keep up his stealth around these hybrids or risk the consequences of being known.

(Basically c!tommy meeting shroud for the first time, but make it with mice people who don’t know that this giant monster from their worst nightmares has taken interest in them)

88 notes - Posted September 21, 2022

#3

Ch. 4 {Rising Suspicions, Instincts, and Fishing}

Cw: mild fear, intrusive thoughts, vore mention, animal death, slight angst but not really, unintentional fearplay, fear of death.

Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 5

The cool crisp air of the morning filled Techno’s lungs. He exhailed long and slow. His warm breath clouding the air around him.

He let out a long questioning hum as he squatted down to inspect the damage to the forest floor. It was strange. No simple bobcat could make this much damage.

He looked up to the surrounding trees and their broken branches scattered on the ground. His neutral face turned into a deep frown.

“No, it had to of been something really big to have caused this damage.”

With a grunt he stood back up and started his way back to the village. He would need to inform Phil as soon as possible.

Whatever caused this damage couldn’t be good. His suspension was already high do to his brother acting more strange than usual yesterday morning and night.

He had come home in a more cheerful mood, but he had still did his best to avoid Techno and any of his questions as to where he went off to all day long.

Techno was worried, and he knew one thing was for sure. The safety of his brother and his home was above all else.

He just had to find out what had Wilbur acting so out of the ordinary. Hopefully it was nothing the blade couldn’t handle.

———————————————————————

Wilbur was on a mission. Today he would put down the ground rules for Tommy to follow. He also needed to get more information about the giant child himself.

He was more worried about the second part than anything else.

He had woken up after everyone in the house had left. Before he left he cleaned the dishes and swept the floor. He was thankful that he hadn’t run into Techno when leaving the village.

Techno was on him the second he got home yesterday. He tactically avoided his brother’s questioning by saying he was tired and running to his room and jumping in his bed.

Wilbur found himself in the clearing. It seemed as though it was empty except for himself Ann’s a couple of mushrooms and flowers.

“Tom-” Wilbur was cut off as pair of claws wrapped around him and pulled in quickly into the air. “AHHHHHHHHH!” When the world stopped rushing around him and his vision steadied, he was met with a giant grin and childish laughing.

His heart was racing and he trembled from the unexpected scare. “TOMMY!” Wilbur shrieked with rage. “You can’t just scoop someone up without warning!”

He was met with more laughter and he was raised higher to meet the naga’s red eyes. “Wilbur!” The child’s pupils rounded at the sight of him. Wilbur was then squished against the warm baby fat that still resided on Tommy’s scaled cheeks. “You came back!”

Wilbur was pulled back to meet the child’s eyes again and he took a moment to catch his breath. He didn’t remember Techno being this difficult to take care of. Perhaps that was because his beloved twin acted older than Wilbur was, or maybe it was the fact that Techno wasn’t a giant.

“Of cause I came back.” Wilbur wheezed out. “Someone’s got to teach you some manners and some boundaries.”

“Oh...” The snake paused and dropped out of the tree. “Sorry bout that.” Tommy’s cheeks burned red as he sat Wilbur down atop a rock in the grass below.

“It’s just I get excited, and you’re just so small. I can’t help but to scoop you up.” Tommy figited with his hands and kept sneaking glances at Wilbur.

That caught Wilbur’s attention. He supposed now was a good time to ask. “Do you have strong instincts?”

Tommy’s eyes widened and a nervous look settled over his face. “Uh yeah... I have some...sometimes.”

Wilbur let out a short hum at that. “Well can you try to explain what some of those are?” Wilbur tried again, his voice laced with a little impatience.

Tommy gave Wilbur a worried look and remained silent. Wilbur let out a long sigh and climbed down the rock and made his was to the child’s hand. He reached out and placed his own hand on one of the large fingers resting in the grass.

He looked up to meet Tommy’s nervous gaze. “Tommy,” Wilbur started, “Every hybrid has some kind of instincts that they half to deal with every day.” Tommy nodded his head in response.

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89 notes - Posted November 1, 2022

#2

Ch.3 {Confessions of Loneliness}

Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|

Cw: fear, fear of death, vore mention, fatal vore mention, misunderstandings, manipulation, angst but it’s hurt/comfort, unintentional fearplay.

Wilbur sat in the dark of his bed room trembling. Moonlight traveled from his window to rest at the foot of his bed. A soft breeze danced softly with the curtains, and crickets could be heard making music in the night.

The events that happened earlier that day played on loop in his mind. The naga-

Tommy had let him go.

It was strange to think a beast of his worst nightmares could have a name.

Wilbur glances to the right of his bed where a basket of berries now sat. He was confused when the snake had pulled the basket from behind his back.

He thought it was all a sick trick at first. A false sense of hope that he would be let go and that his family and friends would be safe.

He was sure that as soon he would start to run back to his village, he would feel the coils of the snake around him again.

But as he ran, the only thing that pulled him down was the weight of the basket on his back.

He should probably take the berries to the kitchen, but he knew he wasn’t composed enough to see his family.

He felt sick just thinking about what would happen if he let anything slip about Tommy and their deal.

He was still struggling to even fathom why the naga would let him go. Why even make the deal? He could’ve ended Wilbur and the village right then and there, so why bother to wait and compromise? Wilbur shuddered.

“Probably playing with his food.”

A new wave of fear washed over Wilbur and he felt tears come to his eyes. He couldn’t escape this. All he could do was buy the village more time by complying with the snake’s wishes. He would visit him and do what the beast asked. Maybe he could get the naga to show a smidge of mercy.

Wilbur felt totally and utterly helpless. Even while he was safe at home, tucked away in his room, he was still caught in the middle of the snakes coils. His teeth glinting with a wicked grin.

Wilbur didn’t know how he was going make himself go back to that dreadful clearing. He grew sick at the thought.

For now he would close his eyes and tremble through the night.

———————————————————————

Wilbur didn’t sleep.

He waited until the sun peaked through his curtains to get out of bed and to make his way to the kitchen. He was met with his father and brother in the kitchen.

He was greeted with a good morning from his father, and a snicker from his twin brother.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Techno drawled out in his monotone voice.

His dad gave Techno a lighthearted scolding.

“Now Tech, you know your brother worked hard yesterday. It hard for even me to make the flight to Berry Creek.” He father chuckled.

“Anything’s hard for you old man.” Techno fired back.

The old bird let out an offended squawk and playfully swatted at his brother.

He sat at their old wooden table as stared down at the homemade biscuits and berries on his plate. He took a bite of the honey covered biscuit, but despite the sweetness, he still had a bitter taste in his mouth.

If he couldn’t warn them about Tommy, maybe he could warn them about something else.....

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118 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Ch.1 {Chores, Tunes, and a Snake in the Grass}

Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|

a/n: (Quotations that are all italicized mean thought , quotations that are not are regular speaking. If it’s just a word that’s italicized it’s emphasis.)

cw: fear, fear of death (none happens), implied vore (none happens), implied fatal vore (none happens), violence, fear of discovery, cursing (come on guys it’s tommy), dehumanization

Wilbur stormed off into the surrounding forest, grumbling all the way. The sun shined through the gaps in the leaves and onto the soft leafy underbrush that Wilbur was currently traversing through.

He pushed through hanging ferns and small bushes, smacking at leaves in his path with the flimsy bucket they supplied him, all the while his beloved lute stayed strapped protectively to his back.

He had skipped out on all of his chores for the week that of the village and his procrastination had finally caught up with him. As punishment, his father assigned him to one of the farthest away chores.

He was to travel to southern creek to pick from the nearby berry bushes. He would admit the task might have been easier if most of the berries were in his reach to pick, but alas he is only two and a-half inches tall. Not to mention that the berries were almost the size of his head.

But he’d have to make do with his large bucket and minimal body strength. Lest his father become even more angry with him.

His brother Techno was much more suited for the heavy lifting tasks, but Wilbur had to once again remind himself that he only got this chore as a punishment for not doing the easy ones in the first place.

So here he was at the berry bush, wacking away at the branches above with a small stick he found, the small stream of the creek trickling behind him.

As three berries gave way, Wilbur hunched forward and took in deep breaths. “This is exhausting. Why must I suffer this way?”

*SNAP*

Wilbur jumped up and quickly became alert. He carefully watched the surrounding tree line for any sign of danger.

But there was no movement. Not even a sound.

An uneasy feeling crept up Wilbur’s spine and sat in his lungs.

He had been taught how to avoid predators such as owls and foxes, and in such cases he even knew how to defend himself.

But even so, he would very much like to avoid any situation were he had to deal with a creature larger than himself. He could hide, yes, but as mentioned before he is quite lacking in the athletic ability department.

He waited a couple more minutes scanning the surrounding brush, but then decided to get back to work. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

He turned back to the berries and found that more had fallen to the ground by his bucket. He let out a happy exclamation at the sight. It seemed he was stronger than he first thought. Just enough berries had fallen to fill up his bucket.

Wilbur gave a cheeky grin and let out a laugh as he realized that now he can have even more free time.

He pulled his lute from his back and swung his strap around so it was now in playing position.

He had hand crafted it himself with half of a walnut shell, some dried wood bark, and the finest strings he could come across. He would admit it was a little out of tune, but his creation was yet to be mastered.

He sat down in a comfortable position next to a nearby toadstool. He let out a laugh has he strummed his favorite creation.

He decide to play a simple, happy, calming toon to relax his mood.

And so Wilbur played, blissfully unaware of the snake hiding in the grass.

———————————————————————

First off, Tommy was not hiding in the grass. He was up in the trees looking down on and listening to his own personal musician.

Tommy always thought that trees were much more comfortable than the rocky ground anyway.

He had already took it upon himself to help his favorite little guy with his chores. He always playes one of his little instruments when he’s done.

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120 notes - Posted September 24, 2022

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[mysticonsheadcanons]

A Vexicon For Sharise

I've been wanting to do a post for my OC fifth Mysticon, Sharise, for a while. And while I have a bit of writer's block for a fan episode involving her (the idea I had would take too long for the actual problem to come), I realized that Sharise doesn't have a Vexicon. So, I will be at designing one for her, with the added challenge that I will design her as I go (i.e. I didn't plan any of who she is ahead of time).

First, I'd have to address where the fifth Vexicon was, which is pretty simple. Proxima only created/summoned the Vexicons that she knew about, and as she didn't know of the fifth Mysticon, she wouldn't know of the fifth Vexicon. This would make the fifth Vexicon feel abandoned, which I'll discuss more later in the post.

As the Vexicons are evil versions of the Mysticons, the fifth Vexicon would be the evil version of Sharise. I imagine Sharise to be cold and aloof, especially in unfamiliar situations, so that could be the basis of the fifth Vexicon. I imagine the fifth Vexicon has very few emotions, only knowing anger, but keeping it controlled, so it fuels her motives without overtaking her. She would be cold and blunt, not caring who she hurts in order to achieve her goals. Because of her uncaring and almost emotionless nature, a sentient robot would be perfect for her. I would say she's a silver/grey colour. I thought about making her name an aconym, as many robots go by that, but I have a better idea. As she is a straightforward person who cares only for her goals, using that as an inspiration for her name may be good. The top things she wants to do is succeed (in her goal), avenge (anyone who hurt her), and hunt (anyone in her way). For this, I'll call her SAH. I know it may not be the best name, but there's so much to think about with Sharise's Vexicon, so I'll keep her name as-is.

As a Vexicon, SAH would have powers. Arm canons would be really cool, but so would being able to manipulate technology. If I had to give her one, I'd choose arm canons. Not only are arm canons cool, but during a fight, someone using an arm canon may be more interesting than modifying technology to use as a weapon. She would also need an animal for her bracer attackes. While they don't have to match the Mysticons' so as long as it wasn't already taken, any animal could work. Since the Mysticon she's based on is half elf half human, maybe I could give her a creature made of many animals (I know it's not needed, but there's a lot of options, so I have to go with something to narrow it down). A chimera would work. Her attacks would be a greyish colour, inspired by metal.

Now for her backstory, which is the most interesting part. For a while, SAH had absolutely no emotions. When she was left behind while her sisters were plucked away, she experienced her first emotion: anger. That emotion stays with her, and helped her escape from where the Vexicons were. She wants revenge on Proxima for leaving her alone, and as the Vexicons would be against Proxima as well, would rejoin with them.

So, to summarize, Sharise's Vexicon would be a greycoloured robot named SAH, who is very ambitions and only knows anger as an emotion, but keeps her anger hidden. Her powers are an arm canon and her vexicon animal is a chimera, and her main colour would be grey. She felt abandoned when she was left behind, and now wants revenge.

[ms-scarletwings]

Nothing messes me up like knowing that magic absolutely exists in invader Zim and the only beings to capitalize on its potential are like a tiny handful of sapient primates on Earth. Demonic entities exist and sometimes pay visit to this plane… but only on Earth, as far as we know.?

But then, again, maybe I’m wrong and aliens absolutely do take use of magical forces, and just don’t make the categorical differentiation between the two concepts like we do. Kind of like how Star Wars is literally a high fantasy setting but it has the outward aesthetics of a futuristic sci-fi. Kind of also like how humans are comparatively primitive and ignorant compared to sum of their society’s knowledge. Maybe part of the difference was that they cracked powerful “natural” forces we aren’t even aware of yet. Vortian tech is not only hyper advanced, but actually does things technology should not ever be capable of under the limits of basic physics and universal laws, unless the “infinite power generating thingy” is not a literal concept and is more like a very efficient fusion reactor. The meekrob are still beings of pure unspecified energy, and the standard voot cruiser’s capabilities are far beyond what even Professor Membrane calculates should be possible for interstellar travel.

Spelldrives are fascinating to me in particular

In effect, there’s no practical difference between them and a dnd wizard’s scroll. They’re digitized magical tomes. I never thought about how cool of a concept that was until these babies came along. It’s good proof of concept regarding integrating advanced technology with what is absolutely and without question straight up sorcery. It also applies heavily that warlocks or mages or whatever they would call spell casters in IZ have persisted into the modern world, and have adapted to the current standards of media storage. But that also makes Dib’s collection and use of them extremely reckless because the show clearly conveys he has no idea how they actually work, he understands their powers about as well as I understand Minecraft enchantment tables, and he’s never gotten a moment to speak with one of their intended users. (Plot hook where a very pissed off technomancer finds the twerp who’s been playing with his dangerous af tools like they’re toys when?????)

Your last paragraph I believe encapsulates exactly what I think has been happening to Dib’s perception of magic, this sort of expectation and outcome conflict. The “spiritual” kind of paranormal is an especially difficult beast for him to try to tackle and tame, because by definition, magic does not follow conventional scientific understanding of the world. Aliens and Bigfoot and lake monsters are some things that mostly do. They’re material and grounded, just really damn good at hiding from average humans. Irken technology is something that operates in ways predictable and usable to anyone who can get a firm grasp on its machinations and counter its protections.

And I think Dib runs into a wall when he tries to deal with magic the same exact way. A wall that especially loves to burn him for his naivety and shows how sometimes he can be a lot like his father when it behaves as though it doesn’t want to be conveniently figured out. His disappointment with magic being a very unreliable and high-risk tool, and how it reflects his broader frustration with his whole hobby was the straw that broke the camel’s back in “Mopiness of Doom”, after all.

He also read a freaking pamphlet about Mortos and showed up entitled to a boon without much real respect for the entity, just “Now that I think I know the rules I can command this creature as a weapon that makes me look very badass, like it’s a freaking genie”. Turns out mystical stuff not only takes great offense at his abuse of it, but it’s way more capable of retaliating against an unworthy user than the Takship is. So, he’s probably going to still passively study it where-ever he can, but as far as what to bring to the field and gamble his life on, I wouldn’t blame him for sticking with more reliable methods and gizmos in the meanwhile.

New headcanon, in fact: A lot of Dib’s general misfortune and random events of the universe screwing over victory every time he’s in arm’s reach of it is all actually a karmic result of how thoroughly he’s attracted the spiteful attention of very annoyed higher beings.

Something I wish they did more was having Dib try to combat Zim using magic instead of science. He did try summoning a demon to steal his soul in Mortos and in Mopiness of Doom he attempts to use a talisman from a wizard store in the mall, (which led to him giving up on trying to defeat Zim altogether). But we never really got to see Zim actually try to grapple with magic being used against him.

Normally Zim's knowledge and resources dwarf's Dib's when it's a battle of science vs science, perhaps no better illustrated than in The Wettening. But Zim doesn't know dick about magic or the supernatural, so he'd be way out of his depth trying to combat Dib if he ever found something actually effective he could use against him. You could have Dib use a protection spell that prevents Zim from harming him, or a curse that makes Zim unable to lie, recruit a ghost to harass him in his own home, take control of him with a voodoo doll, or magically summon fire and shoot it out of his hands. Lots of possibilities to keep him on even footing with Zim as their conflicts escalate.

I kinda like the idea of Dib becoming a super powerful warlock who still somehow can't get anything done because of how overwhelmingly corrupt and ineffectual the world around him is and who's also still desperate for approval that he never receives despite how outrageously accomplished and OP he gets. In a way, becoming even more like Zim, who absolutely has the resources to destroy the world, but has no idea how to use them effectively and constantly wastes them on petty skoolyard bullshit.

Either that or everything Dib finds that he thinks he can weaponize against Zim always comes with a serious design flaw or drawback that makes it functionally as useless as the Megadoomer's cloaking device. He studies mystic lore, learns spells, and collects ancient relics, building up this huge knowledge base and arsenal that's almost entirely useless bullshit. Over time he becomes super jaded about magic not living up to the hype. Like, not so jaded he loses the curiosity and enchantment that keeps him pursuing paranormal investigation, but he definitely stops getting excited about the latest source of "untold power" he hears about and approaches the legends with a lot more skepticism about what it can actually do.

[syncrovoid-presents]

ooo I just saw the formatting on your blog, and it looks so cool!!! My ask: since you say you know random knowledge, what is a fun fact you could share? :D

Aa thanks!! I caught myself some HTML and CSS for the formatting of my desktop blog. I still need to update it but there's a few hidden secrets @:o)

HMM I have so many I would like to share! It depends on what sort of knowledge you seek and how much detail you want! Like how butterfly wings have scales or how mummies are rare because they were used in paints and consumed.

BUT because it is something I have been thinking about, I shall tell you some funny coincidences and the cycle of time (it is fun and curious! I find it very fascinating)

There is something quite interesting about how centuries ago and ranging to thousands of years (depending on the culture and how well it was documented) there were many mentions of not-quite-human people. Like for instance (I shall talk about Scottish folk lore here, for it is one I am familiar with) there are the Fae folk.

The seelies and unseelies and how there were ways of telling disguised Fae apart from regular old humans (count the teeth, check the fingers. Are the ears unusual? Is the voice unusual?) If I'm not mistaken, there's also a form of this with some Japanese Yokai too? I am not 100% sure. There are similarities too with certain Slavic and Native Americans beliefs too, and African if I'm not mistaken. But regardless, this is something that exists in all sorts of folk lore from all around the world.

(I will briefly mention that some of this could stem from when certain illnesses were a lot more serious (consider rabies for instance) or from ableism. So it isn't all fun and interesting, but I thought I should add that!)

It is interesting how as society (mostly western for I am not 100% knowledgeable about how other societies have evolved over the centuries) has evolved towards a greater understanding of the world through hard sciences and generally separated from folk-belief how this has transitioned into aliens.

Aliens that could walk among us but act a little funny, or their smiles don't look right (count the teeth, check the fingers), how they come at night and leave mysteriously, with lights and colours and technology like magick.

(Again, I shall mention that sometimes these beliefs are used to defend various types of bigotry. I do not support that and find it quite gross)

And then now, another hundred or so years after the rise of aliens (there is still more people are finding! More mysteries, more unexplained phenomenons!) those same rules now have transitioned into AI artwork.

Have you seen some realistic AI artworks of humans? You must count the teeth, check the gands. Are the joints all wrong, bending too far or there are too many? How many fingers are there? You must count them! Check the ears, check the faces. Are they humans or something just pretending?

Of course it isn't quite the same, it never is and never will be, but I can't help but find it fascinating that certain beliefs from centuries or decades ago can now transition into practical advice for something that absolutely would have been considered magick to those folks. How science and folklore beliefs don't have to be pitted against each other, and how time can be quite cyclical in nature.

Plus not to mention the similarities between the "Hitchhiker Effect" and the curses of various folklore creatures of millennias past, both coming from worlds beyond our own but in different ways, both explanations of the impossible through the lens of current knowledge.

And who can say how this could change when AI develops further? Though AI isn't truly intelligence, the name is actually quite misleading, when programmed right and given the correct uses it can be a wonderful mimicry of such. Imagine AI generated realistic 3d models, using generated voices and generated dialogue. Would you count the teeth? Check the hands? Would there ever be a point in our lifetimes where that would even be possible?

Regardless, I find this all quite interesting!! I can talk further but I shall limit myself to this. I don't quite know if my ramblings about the roundabout nature of time and humanity and the development of belief falls into a fun fact or not, but it was very fun to answer this ask!!

[halt-kun]

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 189 - Infiltration

Thank god the hunter license is so useful

Of course we don’t have anything like that in the country, as if anyone would believe you

They are soooo ridiculous, glass and dental fillings ???? Like how is this a problem, you’re more addicted to the idea of being “natural” than actually living in a mutual and two way relationship with their environment 

THE BEST Gon and Killua FITS here

Killua really knows his stuff, high waisted pants, black long sleeves and turtleneck top. I’m pretty sure he advised Gon on the high waisted pants and tank top. We can learn Gon is the most likely to feel hot of the two, even in cold weather from this outfit too. 

Stick and Podungo look good too

Kite is the only one who didn’t change his clothes

WAIT does it mean Gon’s clothes were polyester ? Oh my god, well anyway I’m glad he finally wears something different for more than a few chapters.

So you arrive in a rocky valley ? 

Killua’s infamous riding skills !!!!!!

They were real !!!

He likes to be dramatic a lot

I love this kid

This map is not very detailed, couldn’t you buy a better map at the embassy ?

I suppose the coconut as gourds were sold there too?

Kite is RIGHT

now time for cool Koala killing humans

SEE

How would a human whop chose to live in a “natural country free of technology” think in such an anthropocentric way ?

I’m still always so confused how he does that, it seems he floods the oponents’ head with water.

This feels a bit weird, the body proportions I mean

Meleoron has freckles at least, it makes him look a bit cuter than in the anime

I agree with Koala this dude was probably an asshole, anyway, he still didn’t deserve to die like all the poor people of NGL

Please get along, you’re both cool ants compared to some

WELL LOOK WHO IT IS ?

the army of builder ants who all look identical that I LOATH

NEXT PANEL

Kurt looks too much like Vegeta there

Cheetu looks good though

Yep the other got his head blown

OOOH so it seems some ants are blind and can only use touch and smells ? Or is he talking about sensing or seeing aura already ? No there’s no way he would know projectiles can be made of aura 

Knowledge is strength, you are quick to reproduce and acquire stuff, it doesn’t mean you can acquire it fast enough to thrive of it

And it’s here we know he’s actually Kurt reincarnated as Colt, this arc really loves to deal with reincarnation, life and death

Identity and change too

Kurt is quite smart

Well we met another high ranking ants, not a squadron leader though since it’s part of Zazan’s squad, it’s an officer

I don’t know what mix of creatures is in this ant though, looks like some kind of crustacean or fish ? Maybe a crab ? Some kind of moray or piranha too maybe ?

AND Ponzu and Pokkle are back toooo

They also were wearing natural clothes back in the hunter exam

Ponzu was injured though so I hope they’re going to be okay

We know she was able to use nen too and she’s a manipulator thanks to Togashi’s nen chart

Well we continue into the CA arc with a nice pace