#this is why I will never be a paleontologist like I want to be

[uhhhyaenbyjade]

I'm so mad.

I was looking into tyrannosaur family trees, as one does, and was all like, hey, Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus are considered sister taxons despite being on opposite sides of the world, what gives? How have we all missed this crucial fact!

I was thinking about it the past few days, and decided to make a passion project where I remade the tyrannosaur family tree with more intake from geography and what biology we had. Today I started it and was looking into papers, and then I remembered something. Beringia. The landmass that was once in place of the Bering Strait. It wasn't just open for migrations during the human migrations, but also in the Cretaceous period.

My passion project was ruined because I forgot about thE BERING STRAIT HBJGVHJHGVFHJHKCS

[unopenablebox]

i made a longer more irritating post about this that i deleted but ive been getting intensely sleepy between 6 and ~10pm lately so i decided to try actually going to bed around 8:30, since 🌸 is out of town and i'm often up until 2 bc im staying kind of synced to their schedule and am usually very sleepy

entirely predictably the result of this was that i fell asleep instantly, woke up at like midnight, and now it's 3:20 and i am simply not going back to sleep

[neolithicsheep]

I've been meaning to write this down for some time because there are some fundamental errors that people keep making in crowdfunding/sales that shoot their campaigns in the foot. So here's a list of easy principles.

Who am I and why should you listen to me? I am a freelance chaos marketer who has raised well over $100,000 when totaling up various crowdfunding campaigns, mostly for aid to Afghanistan. In addition I've managed to successfully market everything from stuffed plush koalas to hydration salts. Why am I putting this out here for free? Because despite a years long track record of success in social media marketing no one will hire me because I don't have a college degree, so I might as well help people out who can't afford to hire full time marketing. 

If you'd like to hire me to help you evaluate your marketing and sales and teach you better skills on a 1 to 1 basis then hit me up, I am often willing to barter, esp with artists in a variety of mediums! 

Anyway on to HOW TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO GIVE YOU MONEY:

TL;DR: use positive messaging that humanizes everyone involved and make it as easy as possible for people to give you money.

1. Shame and guilt are demotivators. They will not inspire people to give you money. “Why aren't people helping” “I guess people don't care” “This isn't getting enough shares/donations” etc etc. Online fundraising is often frustrating, heartbreaking, and will make you angry, especially when there's a humanitarian crisis involved. It is critical that if you are raising funds for someone else that you have a place to vent that is not the audience you would like to donate to the cause. 

2. Use motivating messages instead! “You can help!” “Even a small donation is important because it tells Recipient they're not alone, and people care” “We can't fix the whole world, but we can make this one thing right, and that means something”. Emphasize that this is a problem that the reader can help fix with even a small effort. With items for sale, tell a story. "I drew this thinking about how safe I always felt under a tree in my childhood backyard". "I chose the colors in this shawl to remind me of sagebrush and piñon pine in my favorite place."

3. Make it easy for people to give you money. Never talk about your product or cause without a link that leads directly to where people can give you money. They should be able to click one link on your post and land at the fundraiser or your shop. Every required click is going to lose people, so minimize the number of them required. This also means if you have a list of fundraisers for people to choose from the ones at the bottom will be neglected - people will hit the ones at the top. Be sure to take those off when they're met or periodically shuffle the list around to make sure everyone gets a chance to be in the first 5 spots. In online stores people will often only look at the first page or two of items so be sure to shuffle things around and remove out of stock items that are taking up prime real estate.

4. Humanize the recipient - this can be tricksy when raising charitable aid because you don't want to be exploitative. But to use my last Afghan campaign as an example, “We need to raise $500 for an Afghan family” is less effective than “This Afghan family's home was damaged in heavy rains that caused extensive flooding. They only need $500 to repair and rebuild so they can stay in their home and not become displaced.”  If possible, tell as much of the recipient's story as they consent to. Eg “Fred is seven and loves dinosaurs. His favorite is brontosaurus, and he carries a stuffed one with him everywhere. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up and discover a complete brontosaurus skeleton that he can give the same name as his stuffed friend. Unfortunately he's also a trans boy living in Texas and his family needs $1500 to rent a Uhaul and get to Colorado so he can grow up in safety and do that.”

5. If you're not the recipient, humanize yourself while you're at it! “I'd be really grateful if you all could share or donate” “This fundraiser really means a lot to me because…” “Thank you so much for any help, whether sharing or donating” 

6. Treat the audience like humans. Speak to them like they are people you're having a conversation with, not ATMs. This ultimately is the goal of not using shame/guilt and humanizing yourself and the recipient. 

7. Set low goals and bump them up when met. One of the weird things about people is they prefer to give to successful fundraisers. Yeah I don't know either. So you're more likely to get the full amount you need if you set a partial goal initially and then raise it when that's met. Raise it in small increments and raise it repeatedly as those goals are hit to keep momentum going. You can't always control this so if you're boosting someone else's fundraiser you can do it artificially via asks like “Hey y'all can we get together and put $500 on this?”

[strange-creature-222]

OUUGHHH THIS IS MAKING ME THINK SO MANY THINGS OH MY GOD/POS

@lilywithcatears you should read this pls pls pls

I found myself thinking of Jekyll today and wondering if it causes him physical pain to have to fake a smile. To what extent is Henry Jekyll, pleasant doctor and sophisticated upperclass gentleman a painful mask he has to wear and does the discomfort ever feel physical?

I was at the local aquarium today (this is the perfect time of year to go because it's open but there are no tourists so it's never crowded and admission is cheap) hanging out and doodling on one of the benches while I watched the fish. I had on headphones to listen to an audio book and to provide a buffer between myself and anyone who might try to talk to me and I had been looking forward to relaxing for a couple of hours when a family walked up and the father waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention. The minute they started asking me questions about what I was drawing I was filled with what I can only describe as intense dismay.

Obviously the family being present isn't in of itself an issue, it's a public aquarium, it's aimed at families and parts of the aquarium are geared specifically at children, but the family noticed me drawing and stopped to talk to me.

I reiterate that this was not something they did wrong, they were just being friendly, but I was really not prepared to have a conversation and I found the whole ordeal to be...well an ordeal. They were interested in what I was drawing (a sketch of Henry Jekyll because he's been on my mind off and on) and just the thought of having to explain who this character was, hoping they got it, and having to potentially explain why I was drawing him felt overwhelming.

And it was, they did not know who Henry Jekyll was, they were vaguely aware of Jekyll and Hyde but weren't the type of people to read classic literature and had never heard of the musical or actually seen for themselves any movies featuring the character. The mom commented that he looks like "a Disney villain from back in the 90s" which...fair assessment, I can't pretend I don't see why she would have thought that. The older kid was probably the most interested and wanted to see more of my drawings which made me really uncomfortable but I let him look through my sketchbook anyway because his parents kept saying he was interested in drawing and he loves art and I felt too anxious to say no.

I made small talk with the parents for a while, all the usual, "what's your name, where you from, what's your job?" (I hate those questions, they are usually the least interesting things about any people, myself included) and I wondered if this is what Henry does on a regular day. Has ordinary conversations with reasonably nice people and feel completely like a fish out of water the whole time. I felt pretty terrible about it too, I didn't have any hard feelings or resentment but the whole time I was thinking "Stop touching my things, go away, please fucking leave so I can get back to my audio book and my drawing. I just wanted to sit with the fish for a few hours because it's supposed to be quiet here this time of year."

No one ever seems to catch on that physically talking to people is an effort for me. I've gone my whole life and no one has ever noticed that I'm anxious or uncomfortable in situations where I have to speak out loud because I've gotten good at faking small talk and I know how to make my voice sound pleasant.

It's strange because I express myself easily enough in writing and I like messaging with people over text but the minute I have to be verbal with people I don't know I feel like I'm putting on an immense effort. I have to consciously choose a tone, figure out what words I want to say, be ready with an explanation in case I'm asked questions and I have to do all of it in real time on the spot. It feels like improve, like I'm constantly doing an improve routine and I know most people would say "Just be yourself!" But myself doesn't want to be doing this at all. Myself wants to be drawing and looking at fish. Even as a child I was never very social, I liked to doodle or daydream or build with my lego sets. I got reprimanded a lot for being too quiet. So I made myself more talkative and learned how to hold conversations. I learned to blend in but it's so tiring at times and I can swear when it's at its worst it feels almost physical. The discomfort becomes a suffocating "texture" on my skin and in my brain and I have to keep pretending like I don't notice it because every time I try to articulate how I feel people don't understand it. It's just not a thing they experience.

So I just keep "acting normal," and wonder if there's something wrong with me, like I'm operating on a different frequency from the people around me and I'm the only one on that frequency so other people don't even know it exists. It's...incredibly isolating at times. Even my partner doesn't seem to hear the world as loud as I do or experience the "texture" it's just a strange THING that I'm stuck with by myself. I wonder if it was the same for Henry Jekyll? Except instead being of too quiet he was too loud, too boisterous, threw tantrums, didn't know when to stop rambling about anatomy and weird gross medical facts. So he learned how to cover it and move through life pretending to be interested in everyone else but keenly aware they could never share his interests because his favorite subjects were too grisly and if he started talking about diseases he'd put everyone off. I head-canon Jekyll loves what he does, but he doesn't love it for reasons a doctor should, he doesn't care that much about healing the sick, he cares about conquering illnesses, he likes to learn about symptoms, he enjoys the disgusting viscera of his work. But he can't let on that this is what he enjoys about his work because that's not noble or heroic, it's something most people would find creepy of him. So he buries it and pretends he cares about curing the sick. He pretends he enjoys talking to people who don't know anything about who he is or what he does but they think they do because they are aware of doctors and understand that medicine exists. All the time he loathes it, it exhausts him and he can't even indulge in activities he enjoys to blow of steam because he enjoys things like brawling, doing drugs, and fucking. All things a man of his status shouldn't be seen doing. There's an image people associate with Henry Jekyll and it's an image he can't afford to tarnish...

but it's not really HIS image, it's just a buffer he keeps up to make himself more palatable. I wonder if that ever hurts him physically, if the mask ever feels like a "texture" muffling him.

there are times when I feel like it's no wonder he wasn't repulsed by Hyde when he first saw his reflection. Because I can only imagine by the time Hyde showed up he was already completely burnt out on being Jekyll.

[smallmartiniolive]

Thinking abt how Jurassic Park is like obviously abt chaos and the evils of mindless capitalism that destroys what it touches for a profit but also it’s abt the people you know? This is coming from the movie standpoint bc the book didn’t really check off the right boxes for me but the movies are just so inherently abt people and connection! To me

I’m gonna just give my thoughts abt mainly dinot3 bc they are something. So special. To me.

Imagine you’re Alan Grant, in love w dinosaurs and being in the field, ur at the top of your game and it doesn’t even matter as long as you get to study what you love. Then, unexpectedly! You get to share this passion and love w another person and part of you doesn’t understand why it works but that’s ok as long you get to dig up dinosaurs and be with her, Dr. Sattler (understandable

Imagine being Dr. Sattler and always chasing after something and wanting more. You find the love of your life and he doesn’t hold you back at all, he’s perfect! You both thrive in your own lanes! You get on a helicopter to who knows where and you meet this exciting new guy, you don’t love him, not like Grant but he’s exciting and new and you feel like he sees you for something you’re not even sure you see yourself

Imagine you’re Ian Malcolm and you’re made aware of people trying to remake dinosaurs and you know it’s impossible but you also know that life finds a way so you go along. You flirt w some paleontologists, have fun, berate the senselessness of the actions around you. I mean what else is there to do. Then, you get a life altering injury that’s gonna bug you forever and the last person you see is a person you hoped you got to save, who is risking his life to save children (I.e. Grant) and then suddenly you’re waking up to the face that saves you (I.e. Sattler).

And through that all, nobody comes out ok! There’s nightmares and injuries and assumedly they’re quarantined in a Costan Rican hospital till everything’s sorted and people are good to go. Alan and Ellie always find each other, planets in orbit etc, and of course Lex and Tim are connected to Alan after everything. The kids cling to them and they protect them, but also they at least have each other and are stronger for it, but it also makes them aware of how awful it would be to be alone right now- Ian Malcolm. So they all spend time together drifting in and out of hospital rooms (most commonly Ian’s bc he can’t move around much) and after all that they’re connected by shared experiences and the knowledge they can’t share. Pandora’s box and all that but they all end up woven together.

They separate but I’m sure it’s apparent that Malcolm ends up alone, not wanting to rely on anyone, especially not his ex-wives and kids cause that would be unfair and even in pain he’s still trying to protect other people. So they end up together again, how could they not? Malcolm needs help, they all do but that’s a touchy topic and it’s easier to focus on what they can see. Alan and Ellie and Ian finish up at the dig and Alan just wants everything to be the same so he can forget and Ian needs the change, but Ellie? She’s not really sure and it leaves her unsteady.

All at the same time you have Malcolm writing his book bc the truth was always what was most important to him, like Alan to dinosaurs. Alan doesn’t want him to ruin his life, and Ellie wants to support him but doesn’t know how but they coexist.

Ian gets better. He leaves w/ Sara a woman he met shortly after the hospital and whom he seems inexplicably fond of having witty banter with. He leaves so that when he publishes his book it doesn’t come down on them, he leaves because Ian Malcolm has never been one to want to settle down and he’s afraid of becoming complacent, that if he stops moving he’ll lose something critical (he’s shark-like, Ian).

And then the digs over and Alan’s ready to throw himself back into another, but Ellie simply isn’t. She gets a teaching position in another state, and Alan doesn’t ask her to stay but by god he wants to (just like he wanted to w Ian although he never had the chance bc he was gone so much quicker) and it’s the biggest mistake he ever makes.

Ellie leaves. Ian reconnects w his kids, reminded by Alan and Ellie how important family is and that hiding only does them a disservice. Alan digs.

They still stay relatively close, stuck in orbit even though they’re separated, they message and mail and spontaneously stop by when they’re in town (Ian). There’s distance but it’s not uncrossable, they’re still there for each other. They still call and those calls never go unanswered, no matter how late.

Ian goes to Isla Sorna and it’s shoved in his face that he’s changed, whether he wanted to or not. He wants something more stable, of course he still wants independence but he also wants to come home to *something* (he misses what he had w Alan and Ellie but he’s trying to avoid that iceberg). Alan and Ellie find out and it’s the beginning of an end, they fly out immediately and check in w him, and stay a few days. But. But Ian didn’t tell them, didn’t tell them abt something so critical to the three of them.

They grow a lil farther apart.

Alan goes back to work. Ian mutually splits w Sara (word is she and Nick have something weird going on when they aren’t traveling the world for respective careers)

Ellie marries Mark, the guy she met while teaching. He made her laugh and was a lil plain but she liked it (reminded her of Alan). Although Mark is different, he brings up kids on the third date and he’s everything she needs right now, he’s stable and kind and his job travels w him so she never has to worry which would take precedence (her or the job). He loves her for her or what she is right now and there’s something in the back of her mind but she loves him and they build a life together.

Ian meets a woman he can settle down with, an intellectual and a perfect mix of Ellie and Alan (although he doesn’t know it) and he settles down too, finally ready for that build-a-family lifestyle that he’s started to want. They have two kids (canon compliant due to the five kids comment in Dominion) probably around Ellie’s kids age, they probably have play dates. Alan doesn’t come around too much but he mails occasionally or helps set up furniture, but he’s undeniably pulling away.

Alan who couldn’t just ask people to stay, is alone and he’s become increasingly aware because of his new grad student. Billy Brennan is a mirror, he’s everything Alan was (admittedly more flirtatious tho) and Alan can’t do anything but nurture it because he wouldn’t even know how to change (because god knows he wants to). So he pulls away and focuses on work and at least w Billy he’s not alone and maybe maybe he can help him get on a better track (his version of accepting defeat)

Of course he doesn’t stop seeing Ellie or visiting w Ian over mail or the occasional spontaneous visit (couldn’t bring himself to) but he pulls away still. During play dates, Ian sneaks looks at Ellie’s calendar and will conveniently tell Alan when Marks out on business ( bc I refuse to believe Alan didn’t visit Ellie even tho Mark first meets him when Charlie is 2 so I believe he snuck on in cus it makes sense you know). Alan loves Ellie’s kids more than himself and probably bought Charlie his dinosaur toys (Ellie groans abt his taste but she knew it would happen and loves him anyway).

And then Alan, who has never really been alone but has isolated himself to that point, gets a chance to see dinosaurs again (he says it’s for the money but dinosaurs are what’s always made sense to him). He gets lost. He’s got no way out. He calls Ellie bc she’s always been his beacon of light, saving grace, Hail Mary etc etc. (Also him bringing Ian up to Eric bc that man has never been normal about *either* of them).

Ellie meets him at the hospital (maybe w Ian who knows) and Alan is made increasingly aware (between yelling and crying and thank gods) that he’s not alone he’ll never be alone as long as they’re around.

And after that they’re sort of ok. They have regular visits and there’s distance but they settle, they try. They bitch abt Jurassic World together and how all the kids they’ve collected are doing. One of Ian’s eldest going into paleontology bc she met Alan Grant at the age of 15 and it altered how she thought academically and Ian is exhausted. Ian and Ellie’s partners don’t really understand it but they also know not to interfere (even if sometimes frantic calls wake them up in the middle of the night).

Alan stays in his ways (hoping for a change but not seeking one).

Ian and his wife have a tiff bc she accused him of loving her bc he loves Alan and Ellie at least at first (still does in a different and perhaps more powerful way than her?) and he can’t lie bc it’s all the truth with him. He says it’s not fair to her to not know that Alan and Ellie are just his people, you get it. She doesn’t, not really, it only ever made sense to the three of them. They divorce but it’s amicable.

Ellie and Mark have been on the rocks for a little, they’re relationship has always been a bit boring but that was never a real problem. However, she wants to go out and do more field work (writing books was great but she’s ready for a change bc the world turns quick but she’s always moved faster). He wants to have an at home life and one thing spirals to another. She chose him bc he’d never need to choose between anything and she wouldn’t either, they could both have everything and he’s a great guy, but. But now she needs a change and once again she’s left in a situation where someone can’t bend for her, so she breaks it. They divorce and it’s heartbreaking, they love each other, but Ellie has always needed some flexibility (she calls Alan and Ian later on and they drop plans to have dinner together, she doesn’t bring up the break up but she does note how they changed things for *her*, it’s nice maybe they changed)

Maybe they’ve all changed a lil you know? Ian travels, lectures, makes connections, and visits w the people he loves. Ellie writes paper after amazing paper after amazing book between field work. Alan digs. They communicate in academic papers and books that they send each other, their love notes are annotations that feel a lil too raw so they’re kept private. Every new paper and book and interview fuels the three of them forward and keeps them in orbit. Despite everything.

Then, Ian is hired by Biosyn (Ellie encourages it a bit bc she doesn’t trust them, Alan discourages it for the same reason). And then they’re back, they are SO back. They come together to fight against what they’ve always had to fight against, it’s a lil exhausting but they have each other. Through it all it’s always them. Every single time. Alan and Ellie meet and see each other like they don’t see anyone else. It’s a little unfair to Ian because they’re prepared and his entire world gets flipped for a second when he sees them (it’s ok he recovers pretty quick). They fall in step, into old conversations and patterns.

And between taking down Biosyn and avoiding dinosaurs they all kind of fall in love, not again bc it’s always been that way for them but it’s just so so apparent. They can’t give each other up and everytime they look at each other there’s comfort and understanding without words. It was easier to deny a part but now they are here and it’s just so. Perfect

Ellie tells Alan she needs to go, she’s always been too fast for this world, Alan tells her he’ll stay which is the best love declaration she could have asked for.

Ian says he needs to tell the truth, he’s always had to, and they say “we’ll be with the you, we will tell the truth with you.” You know and that’s their love declaration, Thats them asking him to stay, to be with them.

And at the end of it all, Alan says in the end he’d just rather not be lonely again, and Ian and Ellie look at him like he’s absurd bc of course he’s stuck w them now. It’s always been them even if they didn’t realize it

OH MY GOD LOOOOONG POST IM SORRY IM NOT NORMAL AT ALL HAHA. Dinot3 is something I’m not normal about because look at their stories!! Look at how through everything they fit together!! They are in Montana somewhere rn having a beer and laughing abt something silly one of them did and talking abt their collective kiddos.

TLDR; just my thoughts on DINOT3 and just their canon timeline and how it’s always been those three.

[whowantslovergirl]

Two nerds in a pod

Ross Geller x reader (reader is female with she/her pronouns)

warnings: just pure fluff, y/n is a doctor yall aka paleontologist, but that’s it 🥳 friends masterlist

Summary: The one where Ross met someone just like him and fell in love

posted: May 10, 2024

“And that’s why the Salin theory is pure bullshit!” Ross was going on and on about some paleontology theory. You overheard and walked over to the couch in the coffee shop. “Hi sorry I couldn’t help but over hear but are you a paleontologist by any chance?”

“Yes, yes I am.” You immediately got happy and squealed and his two friends jumped. “I am too!”

“Oh my god?! You are?!” You nodded. “Yes I love dinosaurs.”

“Oh my god there’s two of them.” His friend said you didn’t say anything cause you can tell he was joking. “Sorry for him that’s Chandler.”

“I’m Y/n. But ima go but here’s my number you should call me sometime and we can talk about how the Salin theory is indeed not bullshit.” You left your money at the coffee table and left. Ross had a dreamy look on his face.

“Wow! I never met another paleontologist?!” Ross said while looking at the card. They all just looked at him. “She’s just like you Ross.”

“I know!”

______

Ross never called. But that didn’t matter because you called him.

“Um hello.” He tried to sound cool. You laughed. “Hey mystery man. You know I never got your name.”

“Oh it’s Ross, Dr.Geller.”

“Oh we’re being formal? Well I’m Dr. L/n”

You guys got to talking and you kept trying to hint that you wanted to go on a date but he just wouldn’t get it.

“So what’s your dream date Ross?”

“Um probably something with astrology.”

“Oh my god! Ross I’m asking you on a date wanna go?” You took his silence as a yes. “Ok pick me up at 7:30.”

Oh he’s in for it.

______

You guys went on exactly ten dates. You were finally going to meet his friends and sister. You were nervous but excited. He just walked in and everything looked at you. That made you even more nervous.

“Everyone this is Y/n. Y/n this is Joey, Chandler, Phoebe, Rachel, and Monica.”

“Hi Y//n.” They all said. You just waved then the questions started. “So what do you do?” The blonde one with the unique style said.

“Oh I am a paleontologist.” They all groaned and you instantly felt insecure.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t be rude.” Ross said and they all fixed their attitude. He turned to you. “They’re just scared they’re going to hear about dinosaurs.”

“Oh I try not to bore people with my job.” They all smiled and went to hug you.

“We love Y/n!”

______

You guys were all at the coffee shop just talking. Then you found out something that you didn’t know about Ross.

“You were married three times?!” He looked at Joey who brought it up.

“Thank you Joe.”

“You only told me about the lesbian.” You turned to Ross in amusement. “What’s the story with the other two?” At the mention of the other two divorces everyone just walked away but stayed close. He grabbed your hands. “Well the second time I kinda said the wrong name.”

“Whose name did you say?”

“Yea Ross whose name did you say?” Phoebe added.

“Um well it was Rachel’s and before you say anything that was when I was in love with her.” You just nodded.

“And the third time?”

“Married Rachel is Vegas.”

“Wait after you said her name at the last wedding?!” Is he still in love her? Are you just a rebound? All the thoughts running through your mind. I mean you can be that girlfriend that completely takes him away for his friends.

“Well are you still in love with Rachel?”

“No no no. I don’t think about her anymore. Like ew Rachel.” He chuckled nervously.

“I’m right here Ross.” Rachel said.

“Rachel not the time!” Ross exclaimed. You are a little suspicious. I mean who wouldn’t be?!

“I promise Y/n. I am not in love with Rachel.” You just nodded.

Let’s hope this wasn’t a mistake.

______

“Come in!” I walked into Ross’s apartment. “Hey babe.” You gave him a peck on the lips. You came over so he can show you his fossil collection. You already showed yours and he swears he has a batter collection.

“These are 58 fossils ok?”

“Yeah Ross I can count.” He just shushed me dramatically and you giggled. You really like how funny he is especially when he doesn’t try. He began to show all them off and explain as if you guys aren’t in the same career path. But you let him geek out anyway. You got a little turned on by how excited he was and one thing led to another.

He should talk about fossils more often.

_____

You and Ross were at the coffee house with all his friends and you guys were talking about the Salin Theory. He said it doesn’t make sense and you say that it was a groundbreaking discovery. Obviously his friends were not fond of this conversation.

Chandler groaned. “I cant take it anymore!” You both just look at him. “Leave them alone Chandler I think it’s cute.” Phoebe said.

“Thanks Phoebe.” You and Ross said.

“Yea they’re like two nerds in a pod.” At this you both made a face and left. Now that you think about they’re really not all that different.

And you love that.

An: hope you enjoy my lovers 🤍🤍🤍

[b0g-b0y]

König x m reader Requested @imcoughing

———————————————————————

Y/n was known for being social. It didn't matter who it was or what someone looked like y/n loved a good conversation.

And recently he found himself talking to König well, König was listening.” And then she told me that if she was a sunflower she would face me and not the sun. However, did you know that sunflowers die if they don’t face the sun? She was upset when I told her that. Anyway, do you have a favorite plant?” Y/n asked König, waiting for a response.” I like snapdragons.” König spoke. Y/n smiled at König before talking again. “My favorite is Venus Flytrap. There are different types of Venus flytrap, there so pretty for being something so corniverus. Did you know that they are mostly extinct in the USA they can be found in North and South Carolina. Sorry I’m rambling.” Y/n spoke. König slowly walked away waving a small bye.

Time after time y/n would come back to König. “König! Have you seen the news on the spinosaurus?” Y/n didn’t really get a reply but he continued.” Some paleontologists or something like that can make up their minds about if it’s aquatic or not, and they keep arguing about it. It’s literally a big crocodile. They also have similar skulls. Anyway I think it’s just stupid.”y/n said, his voice getting quite near the end. He��d noticed that König didn’t say anything back, he never really did. Was he bothered König, maybe König is too annoyed to utter a word back. This started to become a common thought to y/n. Eventually convincing himself that König didn’t want him around. So he stopped talking to the tall man.

König also started to notice that y/n would talk less and less to him. And he started to miss hearing y/n ramble about the things he liked or just the news. König loved listening to him and he missed it. The best he could do was push down all his anxiety’s and just ask what he did wrong, why did you stop talking to him, was it his fault? Königs brain couldn’t stop racing with thoughts as his feet carried him to find the man he was after, and eventually he did find him. König taped y/n's shoulder to get his attention. When y/n turned around to face König he had to take a deep breath before he could speak.”König”. Y/n said beating König before he could speak. It was now or never. “ y/n did I do something wrong?” Köing spoke. His eyes didn’t meet yours.” No you haven’t done anything wrong, why do you ask?” Y/n responded.Königs eyes finally met yours.” You stopped talking to me.” König said. “ I thought I annoyed you, you would never respond, it was me just talking though you didn’t like it, so I stopped.”y/n spoke. König couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief he didn’t do anything wrong, it was just a misunderstanding.” I actually love listening to what you have to say, I just don’t know what to say back.” König looked at y/n as he gave a small smile to him.

After their little talk things began to go back to normal. Y/n would continue to go to König to ramble about everything and anything. This time König would give his input into the conversation. But this time it was different. König found himself looking at y/n with love, he loved that man that stood in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it. He was scared y/n wouldn’t feel the same he was scared to lose what he had. However y/n started to feel the same way, he’d noticed that König looked at him with his eyes filled with love. But he couldn’t help but ponder on it for a few weeks, what if he was reading it the wrong way, then that would fuck every thing up. But hey you only live once.

Once again y/n and König found each other going for a walk. It was quite the birds and a small breeze could be heard before y/n decided to speak but not before letting out a small sigh.”König do you like men?” Y/n said, getting straight to the point.” Bitte? Ja I do what does that have to do wit-“ Before König could finish you spoke.” Good, go out with me?” Y/n spoke confidently. This stopped König in his tracks, he wasn’t expecting this to happen, especially not for this to go down in this way. König swallowed before letting out a small laugh that sounded similar to the crackling of hyenas. “ ja I would like that, want to go out for drinks y/n” Königs spoke. All you did was give a small hum as a yes as you grabbed his hand and continued your walk.

[zzcrypticcoyotezz]

Read your Ian Malcom Nonbinary/genderfluid and now I can't get it out of my head. IT'S SUCH A COOL HEADCANNON THAT I SEE HAPPENING. Can you rant more about it, please? give more scenarios of what your take is LITERALLY ANYTHING GO FERAL. That is all thank you. Also Trans Alan?! yoooooooooo. Love the concept of Ian helping him come out more too. Just GRAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

aaaaaa thank you so much!!! AND YES i would be happy to! you're the first person to ever send me a question, i'm so excited my posts are starting to pick up and people like the dumb things i write haha. i've had this rotating in my brain like a microwave for a while so enjoy! doesn't make much sense with my headcanon being that malcolm messes with his gender after the events of JP, but i've been really wanting to reimagine the first scene of them together in the plane and make it extra fruity.

- - - -

"So... Are you a man, or a woman, then?" Alan asks, his eyes studying the mathematician carefully. He'd heard of Dr. Ian Malcolm and his work on chaos theory, sure. But he had no idea who the man himself (person?) was. He had absolutely no idea what to expect when he and Ellie boarded the plane, and he still doesn't know.

Ellie, gentle but still firmly elbowed Grant, giving him a glare. "Alan, you can't ask somebody you just met that question!" She whispered, sounding like a mother upset with her unruly son interrupting Sunday school.

Ian laughed, his sharp features curling into a smirk. He loved toying with the paleontologists, supposed men and women of science yet they couldn't wrap their head around someone defying societal gender norms. He leaned forward, his voice smooth, his long fingers gently pushing down the rim of his dark sunglasses revealing his big brown eyes, the windows to the soul some might say, and the makeup he had done that morning. Just something simple and easy to miss, just like his nails painted black or shoes secretly bought from the women's section, but undeniably himself, his style, his expression. He responded, his voice smooth with a hint of flirtation.

"I'm whatever you want me to be."

Alan sputtered. "I- uh, wh... What? What do you mean? That doesn't make any sense!" And Ellie couldn't help but laugh at his confusion. His voice grew quieter. "Pardon me if my wording isn't right, this isn't my expertise, but are you gay? One of those... Uh... Queers? I have no problem with any of it, I'm just looking for clarification."

Dr. Malcolm laughed. "Uhh... I, Well, uh, you could- you could say that, I suppose." The two still looked bewildered. "Here, uh, how about we look at it this way. Gender is.... Hmm... Something, uh, humans made up. A social construct. It doesn't truly matter what clothes we wear or what we put on our skin or how we style our hair. Life's too short to worry about that kind of thing. I'm just me. I'm not a man, or-or a woman, I'm a human being. And we're living things, we can't be put in- organized into a box. Life will always find a way to defy expectations."

Ellie's brows rose. "I actually think I understand. I've never really thought about any of this before, but it makes sense to me." She looked over at Alan. His face wrinkled in deep concentration, grappling with some kind of debate going on inside his head. After a moment, he finally responded.

"I'm sorry- but I'm still confused. How can you not be a man or a woman? The clothes thing, sure, okay, I get it." Before Dr. Malcolm had a chance to answer, Ellie spoke up.

"Just look at nature, Alan. There are definitely more than two genders or sexes. For fungi, there can be tens of thousands! And many animals can even change their gender or sex by themselves. Humans, we aren't separate from nature, we're a part of it. If Dr. Malcolm doesn't fit with either box then I don't see why they can't go past the binary."

Alan was starting to understand, but was still wrestling with a lot of concepts in his head. Things in his life he'd never told anyone before, things Ellie has no idea of. Alan Grant was not born as Alan Grant. Alan Grant wasn't born a man. He knew from the beginning that he wasn't a woman and he could never feel comfortable as one, and he was now dead to his family as they couldn't accept that. They'd rather have a "normal daughter" over a "transsexual for a son". He would lose his career if this came to light. He hasn't spoken to his parents since the day he left home at 18. They returned every letter he wrote.

Yet here now, in front of him, was someone who completely defied expectations. Someone who didn't care what others think. Someone who actively broke the rules. And this wasn't just anyone, but a world renowned mathematician! If a man, no, person of science can feel so comfortable with this part of themself... Then maybe he wasn't some freak of nature or mentally ill. That this is actually a normal human experience, that he wasn't alone or some kind of outlier. His expression softened.

"You're right, Ellie. I... I think I understand now. I apologize, Dr. Malcolm." His voice had a slight shake. Memories were flooding to his mind, memories he didn't want to remember, memories of his youth, and after he was kicked out of his parents' life. How much he'd fought to become the man he is today. How alone he felt, throughout so much of his life. He took in a deep breath, rubbed his temples and wiped his eyes, then cleared his throat, he held out his hand in a greeting. "I'd like to start over."

Ian smiled warmly, reciprocating the handshake. He felt like they have more in common than Grant would like to admit, and things were going to be alright.

-

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Man somehow I never realized you were a full on paleontologist, that’s really fucking cool! Have you been on any digs/plan to go on any? What kind of paleo-work do you want to do, I’m pretty sure there’s like, a bunch of different things paleontologists do besides dog haha! (P.S. this is the runner of battle of the birds, p.p.s. Here is a picture of my pet parrot, Oliver!)

Haha I haven't been on digs because of my physical disability (I still want to do one, but its just not a priority), I do more work on the museum and lab side of things! I study the birds that survived the end-Cretaceous extinction - those birds that we see on the other side of that boundary, the only dinosaurs to survive. Specifically, I study how birds diversified during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a period of rapid global warming similar to today! What's weird is it seems like every major group of birds actually originated during this event! I want to find out how, and why.

I've only published one paper because my scientific career has been an adventure, but earlier this year I actually helped to describe a few new species of bird from this time period! Anachronornis and Danielsavis are two new birds from the PETM that show how ducks and screamers evolved during this time!

Most of my work involves prepping fossils - cleaning them, removing them from the rock, preserving them - and studying the traits they have. I also do a lot of database research to look into paleoenvironments and the ecological context for different sites from the time I'm interested in. I also run phylogenies - so computer programs that show how these animals are related to one another based on the total evidence - and think a lot about the best way to figure out evolutionary relationships.

So I'm part paleo-ornithologist, part paleo-ecologist, part paleo-behaviorist. I tend to wear a lot of different hats.

My goal is to someday run my own museum. Or make educational video games. Or both. Provided the world doesn't end.

Oliver is such a handsome lad!!! Such a good bird!!!! thank you for sharing him with me :D

[kiefbowl]

I live in Seattle and wanna move back to Chicago one day. Your blog is cool, mine ain't and that's why I'm anon. Serious question here: my family is pressuring me to have kids (I'm a lady) and I don't want to do that. I'm 31 and hetero-married. I wonder about if it'd even matter if I regretted my decision to not have kids. Is this potential regret going to shatter me emotionally? I don't think so. Has anyone ever pressured you to have children? I wonder if I'd be ready to have kids if I was not expected to. Does that make sense? Anyway love your blog because you're real and super relatable.

Yeah, I feel a little pressure. I think when compared to other women, it's really not so bad. I think my mom feels like she can't talk to me at all about children (which isn't true...she's just unwilling to have the conversation on my terms), so she has made some off handed comments to people who aren't me within my earshot, things like "well I'll never have a grandchild at this rate" and other nonsense. The thing is I actually haven't decided yet, and I am leaning towards yes as long as certain things happen in the next couple years financially. I also feel the "biological clock" as it where in the fact that it would be nice to have a baby by a certain age if I'm going to have any, and that age gets closer. However, I'm not overly concerned about that either. It weighs on me but ultimately I want to make this choice intelligently, because I'm not interested in bringing a child into the world without it being the best situation possible for that child, so if I haven't reach certain goals by 35, I'm not going to say fuck it let's get pregnant just so I'm having a baby by 35.

I'm quite satisfied with what my life is and could become without kids, so I don't think I'll regret it if it never happens. I think I could feel sad though, only because if it doesn't happen, it feels like a choice I didn't get to make freely, and I can see myself lamenting never meeting the child I could have love. That being said, my life won't be over! I'll have freedom, youth, money. I'll lament it in the same way I didn't try to become a paleontologist or travel vlogger now knowing with hindsight I could have with the right guidance and knowledge. You can't be everything, and if I don't become a mom, I'll be the other things I'll be.

All that's to say, if you don't feel like me right now, you're probably right that you won't regret it. And if you start feeling like me in a couple years, that's fine because you still have time. And if you do end up feeling shattered with regret...you know, you just can't avoid grief and pain, so why try to hedge your bets on this one when it involves brining another person in the world? Maybe you will feel sad later, but I think you'll have the wherewithal to shoulder it, because you've probably already lived through many sad things and disappointments and jealousy and anger, why would this be something so uniquely different?

In the end, you can't live your life for others. You have to make your life your own, and every choice you make will have detractors. Ultimately, you have to say "well fuck off lol" even if it's your own family.

Good luck sis!

[scolop98]

VOTE JAKAPIL FOR DINOSAUR MARCH MADNESS

@a-dinosaur-a-day

No other contestant in the final four is such A Creature™️ the way that Jakapil is. Jakapil is simultaneously the ultimate being to exist from the perspective of a dinosaur-obsessed child and a fascinating, paradigm-shifting paleontological enigma. Literally the perfect dinosaur, what more could you want

Why vote for Jakapil?

the most likely scenario here is that this guy represents a hundred million year old ghost lineage of basal thyreophorans that we’ve never discovered before. The less likely scenarios are bipedal armored ceratopsian or a completely new kind of ornithsician, both of which have been genuinely considered by some paleontologists! Whatever the case, Jakapil represents a brand new, never-before seen lineage of dinosaurs unlike anything we’ve ever known before, and that’s SO COOL

Aesthetically, this is a bipedal armored dinosaur with tiny abelisaur-grade arms, estimated to be less than 5 ft long and 15 lb (or 1.5 m and 7 kg max). Literally perfect. I’m really bad at visualizing measurements but I’m pretty sure you could pick it up and hold it in your arms if you tried. Sure you could do that with Heracles or Caihong, but you don’t need a Time Machine to pick up parrots and shiny bird things - there’s nothing like Jakapil for you to hold and snuggle today

They’re so friggin weird. It’s got jaws like a ceratopsian or a heterodontosaur, a jaw bone that no other basal thyreophorans have, arm anatomy shockingly similar to abelisaurs, and THEY CAN CHEW. I know that chewing seems really normal to us humans but it’s so weird to see outside of mammals. Practically the only other dinosaurs that chew are ornithopods. Jakapil seems like it’s trying to be as many kinds of dinosaur as possible, which further supports my statement that it is the Ultimate Dinosaur

It’s armored and covered in spikes. ‘Nuff said

Also a friendly reminder that the only other known bipedal thyreophoran is Scutellosaurus, which was from Early Jurassic Europe. Jakapil is from late Cretaceous South America, so this guy just popped up across the world a hundred million years later with practically no trace of its ancestors. How did this happen? What the fuck were its ancestors doing in that time? Heracles may have given us neat answers to New Zealand-y questions, but Jakapil gave us questions we didn’t even know needed to be asked

I’ve said it once and I’ve said it again, South America’s fauna has been friggin' amazing since the Cretaceous and never stopped. Automatic points for being a South American dinosaur. This guy lived alongside Giganotosaurus and Buitreraptor!!

What about the other contestants, you may ask? Kholumolumo is only here for the meme. Outside of the funny name and it’s absurdly convoluted history to getting formally named, what do you actually know about it? How much does it contribute to our understanding of dinosaurs compared to the other contestants?

Caihong is basic. I’m sorry but I won’t back down from this (for another few months at least). I love dromaeosaurs as much as the next person, but literally all that Caihong has going for it is it’s ultra-inridescence. Any other Chinese dromaeosaur could provide the rest. Look past your instinctual love of shiny things and vote for something that breaks away from everything we thought we knew to become something truly unique!

As for Heracles... I actually have nothing bad to say about Heracles, I love New Zealand's fauna and giant flightless birds (especially on islands). But while I love Heracles for everything it stands for, I feel like Jakapil stands for so much more. Heracles is a wonderful addition to our knowledge of it's lineage and environment, but also... is it really that surprising to find a giant flightless bird in New Zealand that belongs to that a family endemic to New Zealand? Jakapil is just such a bizarre, fascinating, unexpected discovery from so many perspectives. It is truly the ultimate dinosaur, and we should honor it as such

As of the time of writing there's still four days left at the polls and Jakapil is a steady second place in all three of them. We still have time to win this for Jakapil and dethrone Caihong!

[c-t-r-l14]

I think enough time has passed for me to talk about this. Keep in mind that this is just MY personal opinion.

……

First of all, I just want to say that Saku is an absolute BEAST at writing—whether that be at writing scripts or his characters. His voice acting is incredible—he puts so much emotion into ALL of his work—and voice acts like rent is due—and this audio was no different. I have such a tremendous amount of respect for him and his work, always and forever.

That being said: This audio annoyed me to NO END.

Specifically, ALEX’S behavior annoyed me.

THERE IS AN EGREGIOUSLY LONG RANT ABOUT IT UNDER THE CUT‼️

Now, before any of ya’ll get all up in arms, I fully agree with everyone when I say that listener was most certainly in the wrong for how they acted in part 4. Not only did they accuse their boyfriend of four years of cheating on them with absolutely no proof, but they also invaded his privacy by going though his phone. I cannot imagine coming home from a long day of work and wanting to cuddle up with your partner, only for them to accuse of you something that you’d never do with no evidence to back it up. That must hurt, and I completely understand why Alex was so distraught by the way listener was acting.

HOWEVER, this whole incident only happened ONE TIME. ONE TIME over the course of FOUR YEARS of this relationship. Now, it’d be different if listener accused him of cheating many times. It’d be different if listener regularly invaded his privacy; it be different if situations like these were something normal in this relationship—but its obvious that it’s not. Alex mentioned many times in the breakup audio that listener usually isn’t like this—that they’re usually a calm and rational individual—which leads me to believe that them accusing Alex was a lapse in judgement on their part. A moment of weakness that stemmed from the trauma they had to endure by their last partner who also cheated on them. I am not at all saying that their actions are suddenly wiped clean from the face of the Earth because they have trauma—hell no. However, context in many situations is important—and this case is no different. If this was something that happened again and again over the course of four years, Alex would’ve left way sooner than this—this was the one and only time they’ve done this, and normally, people who usually have such a calm temperament don’t switch up very easily—which means there must’ve been a reason WHY they’re acting like this in the first place.

This brings me to my next point: Alex actively acknowledges the fact that this behavior was new for listener—so, if this is the case, why hasn’t he tried to get to the bottom of it yet? I’m not saying that he suddenly needs to morph into a Paleontologist—trying to dig up ancient artifacts to discover the secrets of the world or some shit—but I’m saying, if you KNOW that this isn’t normal behavior, why haven’t you at least TRIED to ASK what’s wrong them? You’d think that if someone you loved started acting differently from their usual temperament, it’d be a cause for a little concern, and would prompt you to ask them what’s the matter, but even in THIS AUDIO, it’s still very apparent that Alex still doesn’t know the reason why listener acted the way they did—because he is STILL SPECULATING on why what happened, happened! And yes, although he TECHNICALLY asked them, “What has been going on with you lately?” He said this as a response to listener catching onto the fact that he just told them that they weren’t the right person to be in a long distance relationship to their FACE. He said this in an accusatory tone, and I really don’t think he was actually asking for the ACTUAL reason why in that very moment. It’s just so very odd to me that he makes absolutely no attempt to try and figure out what happened to them—especially if this behavior is recent. Kayson is a really good example of this. In the New Years audio, he noticed that his listener wasn’t acting like their usual self—and he asked them what was the matter because he loves and cares about them. What ensued was a healthy conversation, where his listener was able to explain what was going on with them—and they were both able to come to a solution. Now, was Kayson’s and Alex’s situation the same? No, but the point is that Kayson recognized that there was something wrong his partner and actually made an attempt to get to the bottom of it because he CARED. Alex never did this, despite him saying how much he loves his partner.

But more than anything, one of biggest things that bothers me the most about Alex’s dialogue to the listener was his excuses for why they shouldn’t stay together. The way he broke things off with them is really sickening, to be honest.

When listener (rightfully) gets upset that they were the last to know about Alex’s job offer in NYC, a big life event that affects them both, he tells them, “I thought I knew you”. Which is odd. So—what you’re saying here is: because your partner acts out of their usual temperament this ONE TIME, you suddenly you don’t know them after FOUR YEARS together? I understand that them snapping at him was very jarring and surprising, given their usual temperament—however, just because they did it one time doesn’t mean that they suddenly morphed into a person who acts purely off of emotion. They are still the same person! Why is he acting like they’ve suddenly switched personalities because of the one time they let their emotions get the best of them??

Then when listener presents the idea of long distance, he tells them:

“Long distance? I mean, I think I could do it…if I was with the right person….”

…

What the hell is THAT supposed to mean? Is this NOT an out of pocket thing to say to the person you’ve been with for four years??

And when listener asks him something along the lines of, “So, we’re breaking up?” Or “So, am I not the right person?” This man had the actual AUDACITY to snap at them and accuse them of jumping to conclusions and even go so far as to denying that he was even alluding to it in the first place! If you weren’t alluding to it, what was the point of saying it AT ALL? And how the hell else was listener supposed to interpret that? This part really pissed me off because he was straight up gaslighting listener into thinking that they were in the wrong and that they were “jumping to conclusions”, when they had every right to react the way they did! And I find it absolutely insane that he scolds listener for jumping to conclusions when he is doing the same thing a well. He jumped to the conclusion that he doesn’t know the person he loved for four years because they let their emotions get the better of them. He jumped to the conclusion that listener would react terribly to the news of getting that job offer in NYC, and therefore, he waited who KNOWS how long to tell them about it. And, most importantly, he jumped to the conclusion that this relationship wasn’t worth saving because of just ONE SINGULAR ARGUEMENT. He cries and cries, saying how he loves them so much and how he doesn’t want to loose them, and yet does absolutely nothing to keep them around. He sobs and tries to comfort them, but also puts all the blame on them as well. Instead of trying to solve things with the person who he claims to be the love of his life, he instead makes flimsy ass excuses and tries to find all the reasons he could think of to leave. And for someone who claims to love them so much, he certainly gave up way too damn easily.

Look, it is very apparent that Alex’s passion is his first love—period. And I really do think that listener should do their best support him in his endeavors, but his dialogue in his audio was just full of excuses to make the breakup easier on himself, which is not only selfish, but a little cruel, too. He never tried to make things work.

If he would’ve told listener about the job offer in NYC sooner, there would’ve been a different outcome. If he would’ve told them that he was still feeling terrible after the whole argument, there would’ve been a different outcome. If Alex had actually made the effort to see what was the matter with listener, there would’ve been a different outcome. If listener would’ve handled their emotions in a calmer manner, there would’ve been a different outcome. Alex has a really big problem with keeping things to himself. It seems like he doesn’t communicate how he feels until it all bubbles over and he jumps to his own conclusions instead of actually talking it out.

It would’ve been a whole different story if listener refused to admit that they have trust issues, and refused to seek help, but that is not the case here. They were willing to work on themselves; they were willing do better. The only person who wasn’t willing to try was Alex. Listener did everything they could to get Alex to stay. Hell, they even proposed to go to NYC with him—just so they could stay by his side, and Alex couldn’t even find it in himself to even ATTEMPT to work things out with them. That’s what made this whole break up so goddamn sickening.

He made such a big point about “being honest ourselves” and “to not say things we don’t mean”, and yet the most dishonest person in the room is him. He makes such a big point about trust being one of the most important parts of a relationship, and although he is not wrong, EFFORT is was keeps the relationship going, and that is something that he clearly lacks. And in all honesty, if THIS is how he is going to act when he runs into problems and gets into quarrels with his future partners, then good luck on trying to maintain a long term relationship. Four perfect years, and all it took was ONE argument to make him leave. He just didn’t want to be tied down, thats it, and thats all. It pisses me off that he even tried to tell listener that this will benefit them both because “they will be with someone else who they could fully trust”, as if it’ll be different with anyone else. Trust issues won’t poof into thin air because you are with another person. He got cheated on himself and his ass STILL doesn’t know how trust issues work.

In conclusion, this whole audio was just Alex blaming listener for their breakup, him crying, making flimsy ass excuses on why the relationship will not work—giving up on the relationship before even trying to make things work, and him gaslighting them, too. And out of ALL the audios I’ve watched from Saku, Alex’s character was the FIRST one to actually give me the ick.

Listener needed reassurance and love, and they executed their feelings horribly. Alex has problems with communication, and maybe even honesty. He put all the blame on listener and made it seem like they were the one who made the relationship fail, all the while trying his best to not pass as the bad guy; but in reality, it was both of them who made this relationship end.

….

WHEW! That was A LOT!

If you made it all the way down here, I thank you so much, and I apologize for it being so damn long. I’ve been sitting on these feelings for a long time now, and I just needed to get them out.

Thank you so much for reading! ❤️

[vikingsong]

WIP Wednesday (6/5/24)

Reforged (excerpt)

Merlin Bingo 2024 adopted prompt: “science fiction/fantasy”

Context:

When Albion’s greatest need arrives in the form of an alien invasion, the reincarnated figures of legend must deal with the consequences of their shared past even as they fight for humanity’s future.

Arthur ascends to the British throne after the invasion begins, and he works closely with the team of experts who are trying to determine why the only offensive weapons that have been effective so far against the reptilian aliens are medieval swords. Gwen is a museum curator specializing in medieval weaponry, and Merlin is a paleontologist at the same eclectic museum. Elyan studies materials science and has been called in to assist Gwen and Merlin with their research. They have a status update for Arthur…

“There’s something strange about these swords,” Gwen said, glancing at Elyan. “We’d never noticed it before, but once we started looking…”

Elyan picked up the story. “At first, we thought it was something in the iron itself—like an unusual isotope or something—so we ran a spectrometer analysis on a sample.”

Gwen nodded. “We were half-right. Turns out there is something in the chemical composition of the metal in swords forged in the late 5th to early 13th centuries that isn’t in any of our swords from other eras.”

“Or anywhere else on earth, as far as cutting edge chemists know,” Elyan added.

“So, for those of us who didn’t do A-level chemistry…?” Arthur prompted.

“It means,” Elyan said, grinning like a kid at Christmas, “that we found another element in there—an element that was previously undiscovered.”

Gwen nodded eagerly. “And it’s in all of our swords from that era, or nearly all. There are only a few that don’t have it, but they’re fragmented and terribly deteriorated, far more so than the rest. Interestingly, it doesn’t matter whether they’re katanas or arming swords; if they’re from that era and in even half-decent condition, then they all have that same element, no matter where in the world they were forged.”

“A new element?” Arthur repeated slowly, trying and failing to dig out a mental image of the periodic table from the recesses of his Year 9 memories.

“Yep! Element 120,” Elyan said. “We might even get to name it!”

Gwen’s eyes crinkled at her brother’s exuberance as she turned her attention back to Arthur. “Want to know what the best part is?”

“Uh, sure.”

“They found the same element in the bio samples from the aliens you killed.”

“What?”

Elyan nodded. “I swear, we’re not making this up.”

Arthur glanced between them. “You’re sure it’s not just, I don’t know, residue from the sword?”

“They tested samples from parts that were nowhere near where your sword struck,” Elyan said.

Gwen elaborated. “They tested samples from the teeth, the wing membranes, and a variety of organs and other tissues. Interestingly, the element was most prevalent in the lungs, followed by the mouth and teeth.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I think they mean dragonfire,” Merlin said, strolling into the lab.

“Exactly!” Elyan agreed. “The thing is, scientists haven’t been able to produce element 120—not even in particle colliders—because it’s too unstable. It would go through radioactive decay before the collider sensors could register that it had existed.”

Arthur glanced at the swords on the lab table—with no lead shielding in sight—and took a tiny step back.

“But the swords aren’t radioactive,” Gwen added quickly.

Arthur chose to ignore Merlin’s snickering, looking instead to Elyan for an explanation.

Elyan shrugged. “Even if that element theoretically existed outside of particle colliders, it would take an incredible amount of energy to get it to forge stable molecular bonds—like these—to prevent its radioactive decay.”

Gwen gestured to the sword. “Medieval forges definitely didn’t have the ability to heat steel that hot.” She tapped her gloved fingers against the nearest sword’s pommel. “So what could have forged these, then?”

“Dragonfire,” Merlin repeated with a grin. “When they told me what they’d found, I ran some tests on a couple of the fossilized pterosaur teeth in our collection. Same element.” He shook his head. “Just when I thought pterosaurs couldn’t get any cooler.”

Arthur looked from Merlin to Gwen to Elyan as the pieces clicked. “You mean to tell me that…that those aliens are pterosaurs and real medieval dragons?”

“Or something very, very similar,” Elyan confirmed.

“And that all of them breathed fire?”

“Yes!” Merlin exclaimed.

Arthur decided that Merlin was probably the most radioactive thing in the room; he was vibrating with enthusiasm.

“And, apparently,” Gwen said, leaning a hip against the table, “their dragonfire, this element, is their own kryptonite…or bane, to go a bit more medieval.”

Arthur chewed his lip. “Explains why none of the modern weapons will hurt them.”

“Exactly,” Elyan said. “And why replica swords—”

“Or swords from other eras,” Gwen interjected.

“—don’t have the same effect.”

Arthur couldn’t decide whether to fist-pump or head-desk. “We finally understand what material will work against them,” he summarized, “but we can’t make any more of it.”

“That is the one downside,” Merlin agreed.

“The one downside? You did see the alien invasion up there, right?”

“Yeah, but consider: dragons were real and they breathed fire.”

“The ones burning my kingdom look pretty real, too.”

(Note: I don’t know what source content was used in that gif, but I’m 99% sure it’s supposed to be a nyctosaurus…)

[autumn-warrior]

I haven’t gotten one of these in a hot minute! I was tagged by @whosyourheda (thankyou!)

Name: Emmalyne (m-ah-line)

Nickname: Emm

Star sign: Libra

Height: 5’6”

Sexual Orientation: Lesbian

Hogwarts House: I have no idea. The last time I was “sorted” I was put in Hufflepuff, which makes sense.

Favorite Color: forest green

Current time: 8:26pm

Average Hours of Sleep: hmm, maybe 5-9? Some days I have to wake-up at 3am, and i’ll be in bed by 8pm. Some days I can sleep in a little later till maybe 6am, 7am, or 8am. Just depends.

Lucky Number: I like the number 3.

Last thing I googled: I think it was a cake for me to look up for a customer? But aside from work it was my favorite Saberiri fanfic called Against the Cold on AO3.

Favorite Fictional Character: Artoria Pendragon from Fate Zero and Stay Night💕💕💕

Number of Blankets I Sleep Under: 3 right now, but when winter comes it will go up to 5.

Favorite Artist/Band: hmm, I love the soundtrack from The Witch from Mercury. Makes me feel some type of way.

Dream Trip: I would love to visit Japan and Scotland.

Dream Job: when I was little I wanted to be a Paleontologist, but now I just want to enjoy what I do.

What am I Wearing Right Now: just some shorts. I just got out of the shower😂

When Did I Create This Blog: shoowee, maybe 2010?

Current Amount of Followers: 2,917 amazing people and probably some bots😂😂

What Made Me Decide to Get a Tumblr: I was obsessed with Paramore in 2010 and I wanted to be around likeminded people so I found this place and i’ve been here since.

Do I get Asks on a Daily Basis: nope lol i’ve never really gotten a lot of asks. It’s maybe one every few months.

Why Did I Choose my URL: Autumn is my favorite season and I used to love this quote “a warriors mentality with a poets soul” so I took the warrior part.

Tagging: i’ll tag @sselroloc, @catrakomtrikru, @rogue9cg, @sugargalaxies, @conscriptthefelines, @flustersluts, @fluent-in-lesbianism, and @strifer1der. No pressure to do this! Just something fun.

[mireyadc]

The Octopus

Dr. Octopus sona

"Mo" Octavius - The Octopus - Hero - Earth 9639

In the end I decided to make a Dr Octopus instead of Spider-man and the result turned out to be the winner, she is incredible and at the same time she is very me, she is what I would like to be in a few years, but with superpowers and she is perfect. I even encouraged myself to make a reference to her actuators.

The how I came to try a Doctor Octopus sona is very really long story, so if you want to read it or read some headcanon about Mo, click on "keep reading".

I will also answer questions about her

Feel free to ask!

Where did the "Octopus" idea come from?

My dream in life was to become a paleontologist, but unfortunately where I live that is not possible, geologically speaking, my land is very young and there are no fossil remains, so I could not study here and the truth is that I love more my family and my land than my dream of studying extinct creatures, I will not go study far away.

I was talking with an old classmate about what other specialty I could choose and she told me that she had always believed that I would end up as a marine biologist, I asked her why and she told me that it was the impression she got on the visit to the "oceanographic".

Apparently, on a trip we made to the Oceanographic Institute, she heard me giving fun facts about octopus, squid and cuttlefish; I have always been fascinated by cephalopods and since at that very moment they were studying the life cycle of octopuses in the laboratories that they showed us, I was a little excited; and then there was an incident with an octopus… What a day... really, but when I remembered it, I kept thinking.

Two days later there was the first Spider-man film from 2002 on TV and I saw the beginning, when they arrived at the laboratory where the spiders were and it reminded me so much of the excursion I had been talking about the other day with my partner, so much, that I couldn't avoid thinking:

“Radioactive spider + nerd = Spider-man

Radioactive octopus + nerd = Octopus-woman?”

And then I remembered Dr. Octopus and thought "Why not?"

It started as a bit of a joke, as if on that excursion I had been bitten by a radioactive octopus and had become a superhero with octopus powers. I took all my knowledge about cephalopods, I designed the outfit inspired by my own clothes, I thought about what things I could make a superhero where I live and when I wanted to realize it, I had created Mo Octavius, my Dr. Octopus sona, one of the characters I've created that I like the most, even though I hate drawing humans.

It has undergone some modifications since the beginning, especially in its background and powers, but it is now ready to go out into the world.

Headcanon:

No, she actially wasn't bitten by a radioactive octopus. Instead, some chemicals fell on her, mutagenic risk products containing DNA fragments from cephalopod for hybridization, belonging to a project to create transgenic octopuses for commercial purposes. (I hope I can elaborate on this a bit more, I find it very interesting)

Her mother and sister are alive, but they live very far from where she studies, so she stays with her uncles, Otto and Rossy. Her uncle, Otto Octavius, is the true inventor of the actuators she uses.

She has two names, Micaela Ophelia, but she doesn't like either of them, so she prefers to be called Mo, after the initials, M.O.

In Spanish, two surnames are used, the father's first and the mother's second, but since Mo never met his father, she usually uses only her mother's surname, Octavius. (She lives in a part of Spain)

She is the superhero in charge of protecting the city where she lives, and why not Spider-man? Because the Peter Parker of her dimension purposely modified a spider, imitating what happened with Mo, to also obtain powers, but it went wrong, the spider's venom altered his brain chemistry and turned him evil and monstrous, a mutant spider-man who almost destroy the city. The biggest enemy of The Octopus.

Unlike most superheroes, especially Spider-man, for whom all the mutations they underwent were beneficial, she has also undergone some harmful changes, even for her health. (I will elaborate on this a bit more, later)

[kornstreifs-storys]

Tales of Origin, Mewtwo

To whoever finds this letter. I write these words not as an apology, but so that I may never forget what we, humanity has done in the name of progress. If you think you can’t handle staring into the abyss of human greed, don’t read any further.

I should have known that this project was screwed up from the beginning. The amount of funding and quality of equipment was beyond suspicious for a small team trying to research a long extinct Pokemon. No one pays a bunch of Paleontologists that well without ulterior motives. Yet when your a young Collage graduate, being offered a job at the pay level of a senior researcher you don’t just decline.

Log entry xx1: Nothing we tried so far is working. The fossils are just to fragmented, we will never be able to reconstruct the genome at this rate. Darn it all! This is my only chance, my only chance to see her again.

Well, things got even more suspicious when I learned that the team had actual knowledge of a living specimen of the Pokemon we were supposed to research. I mean why spend billions of Poké-dollars on DNA splicers and gene sequencing, in order to reconstruct the genome from fossil records if a living one is out there still. And don’t get me started on the cloning equipment.

Yet, whenever I asked, I was told not to worry about it and that the goal of our research was to maybe repopulate this species as only this one seemed to have remained and we couldn’t risk loosing this last specimen while trying to get the DNA needed. Turned out that was a bigger lie then when my teacher in school tired to convince us that Mega Stones had come from outer space, but I digress.

Log entry: xx3: Mew gave birth, we named the offspring Mewtwo. I was quite surprised when these Rocket guys managed to catch Mew in the wild and even more so when it turned out that it was pregnant. I would almost call it a turn of fate. A Mew embryo is all we could ever need, finally Team Rocket can have it’s biological weapon and I’m one step closer to bringing her back.

When I found out that they had actually captured Mew and experimented on it while it was pregnant I was furious, but the others didn’t seem to see any problem with it. They had simply discarded the Mew after they were done leaving it heavily injured. They never cared for it, they only wanted it’s DNA, getting an Embryo was like hitting the jackpot for them.

I recovered the Mew and nursed it back to health in secret, but it wasn’t looking to good. Obviously I didn’t want to take it to a Pokemon center, there was no telling what could happen if they discovered me. So I went out and hunted for Pokemon that knew healing moves and told my colleges that it was just my new hobby so they didn’t pry. I can only pray to Gaia that this works, I can’t let them get away with this, I will put an end to this madness. But I’ll need Mews help for that.

Log Entry xx5: Everything is going fine so far. Mewtwo is growing well, we haven’t run into any of the complications we had with the previous attempts. I’m starting to think we might really do it this time. Giovanni was beyond pleased as well, he even provided us with more funding. We can do this!

Log Entry xx6: Some of the researchers are growing suspicious. I might have to cut them loose, I won’t let them ruin this. Were already in to deep, I won’t back out now. This Mewtwo will grow, I will perfect the cloning technology. Then I will get her back. No one will stop me!

Dr. Fuji is seriously off the deep end, sometimes I think at this point he might be more dangerous than the Team Rocket guys backing him. He has locked out most of the researches, works almost on his own most of the time. I don’t think he cares much for this Mewtwo they’re creating, he has other stakes in this. And I’m somewhat scared to find out what they are.

Mew is recovering well. Tomorrow we plan to attack the research center and put an end to this project. Mew also wants to free it’s child. I trained up many strong Pokemon these last few months. Between my new team and Mew, Fuji and his team don’t stand a chance of stopping us. I can only hope we’ll be able to hide from team Rocket afterwords, they won’t be trilled at us stealing their “new weapon”, but I’m tired of just being a bystander.

I don’t plan to return here after words, so I’ll leave this letter behind. If you read this far, wish us luck. We’re probably going to need it.

Log Entry x10: It’s over. I failed. … A researcher secretly saved Mew and somehow trained up a Champion level Pokemon team. He stormed the facility yesterday with Mew and they destroyed everything in their path. The fossils, the cloning lab, all the collected data …, even Mewtwo, they’re all gone.

The other scientist all quit after that, I’m all alone now. Giovanni is furious at the loss of his weapon, but I honestly couldn’t care less. I never intended for the project to turn out like this, all I wanted was to research cloning technology, to find a way to bring back Amber. But I failed even that and now she’s really gone for good.

I wish I could have seen what this one researcher saw, then maybe all this tragedy could have been prevented. … Now I can only hope that he and Mew are safe out there. In the end, my wife was right. I really am a horrible person. Signed Dr. Fuji.

================================================

Index (Tales of Origin)

Well, the Tales of Origin page I worked on last week was a dead end. So instead I decided to write my take on the creation of Mewtwo and tell how this Pokemon came to be in the Universe of Ages of Ruin.

This time i also chose to write in the first person as opposed to the third person view I usually use for my other updates. I'll probably continue to experiment like that in future updates for Tales of Origin, so I hope you liked it.