#tossing my thoughts into the void

[fancy-rock-dove]

Having some feelings this evening about Frodo’s reaction to people around him being corrupted by desire for the One Ring. How generally devoid it is of any blame placed on that person, and how he instead treats it as a tragedy to spare others from by distancing himself.

It’s a big deal in the latter books that Frodo wants to show Sméagol kindness if possible because things have progressed so far that Frodo can recognize his own experience in him. But what’s really making me stare at a wall right now are Frodo’s early days reactions even before the personal identification is as strong.

Basically, I can’t stop thinking about how deeply Frodo’s reaction to that last encounter with Boromir is informed by the fact that the first person to ever try and take the ring from Frodo was actually Bilbo. The fact that the first person Frodo ever saw corrupted to that point, even for a moment, was the kind, clever, caring uncle who adopted and taught him, and who Frodo thinks the world of.

Just thinking about the personal relationship Frodo had with the very first person he saw the Ring affect and how fundamentally that set the tone for his understanding of it for the entirety of the journey.

[fancy-rock-dove]

Do... do you guys know about the St. Louis City Museum?

It may not look like too much from the outside, but it's pretty much exactly the experience of that hamster city, but for adult (or child) humans, and with fascinating environments and art.

First off, actually really exploring this place does involve scampering.

These are some of the exterior tunnels, which look the most tunnel-like, but the interior is also a maze of interesting openings and things that make you go "are people supposed to go in there?" and the answer is pretty much always yes.

These are some of the more noticeable ones, including one of the openings in the cave system and one of the main tube-entrances on the ground floor. And these are just the obvious examples. This is one of the few real-life spaces I've been to in my life with easter eggs: maze-rooms or environments you can find by going through that crevice or waist-high opening you just noticed.

Basically, the City Museum is what it calls an "Architecture Playground". It's an old 10-story shoe factory that an artist and architect couple turned into their pet project. They wanted to use reclaimed materials from around the city to create whimsical and fantastical environments and used the old factory as their sandbox.

And they had fun with connecting the spaces in weird and interesting ways that make you feel like you're exploring and discovering secret areas. It's as much a massive series of works of art as an attraction, and is still run by artists and playground engineers, so there's also a rotating set of striking and architecturally interesting spaces too.

And there are also areas that are just... actual museum areas, for things like natural history info and also installed art collections. You can absolutely get to them by climbing your way through the other spaces though.

(Those last two are of resin "veneer" sculptures I really liked by an artist named Dustin Yellin who makes the figures out of insanely intricate collages that make scenes like the close-up there. Reminds me of symbolist painting but in 3D interaction with the overall figure.)

And there are also components that really do just feel like a playground's been scaled up to include adults. The airplane and giant grasshopper are fun, they have a Ferris wheel, not to mention the ball pit and he castle turret.

Anyway, yeah, if you're ever in the U.S. Midwest near St. Louis and want to experience something that actually did fantastic things for my brain chemistry I'd highly recommend it. And also kneepads, you will be glad you had those too.

[iersei]

the law of being hermie the unworthy (any iteration) is that you aren't allowed to win

[lost-but-with-coffee]

I know it’s Ark-Nights

But every once in awhile I catch myself slipping and say AR-knights

[fwuffletail]

[fancy-rock-dove]

I am so sorry, I find this post hilarious and love the joke but please excuse me while I am a massive nerd about this for a moment.

This is actually really funny, because the octopus example highlights that the entire underlying argument of the bone-debate, is really just whether or not life on land is underrated. Allow me to summarize this choice:

Keep your rock-puzzle body structure

Take your refund (the life aquatic)

Become much smaller/simpler (who needs a large central nervous system anyway)

TLDR: Octopus is actually always in a sling. It's the ocean. The ocean is the octopus sling. The grass is always greener but you must choose your support somewhere or collapse under the weight of your own complexity.

Because, see, bones are wild, is the thing. Sure they're Shaped and Breakable, but they actually have about half a dozen jobs, some of which are Probably Really Necessary for living the way we do.

Mollusks do plenty of the bone-tasks without any bones, like growing immune cells in other places besides bone marrow, and we're not even entirely sure we know all the places it happens. And crustaceans and insects get their structure from external skeletons, but for breathing and size reasons, those get pretty impractical if you want to get anywhere near the size of an octopus or human, at least if you want to live on land. But mineralized bone tissue is specifically important for maintaining large, complex life on land.

One of the things that's significantly different about bones from, say, insect carapace, is that they're full of cells. Like, really, they're a living tissue, a community of cells that just happens to build really strong mineralized walls around themselves and each other, and then reshape it constantly as they need to. Some of those cells are with you your whole entire life, and have insane half lives of like 25 years. Your bones are alive and they are constantly moving around in there (just a tiny bit).

But the important thing about this is that, because there are cells in there, they can use your bones for more than just structural support. Some cool materials science research actually supports a longstanding theory that from their earliest evolution, one of the important roles of bones was as a storage area or "battery" for the minerals that make muscles and nerves work. If you run out of those things in your blood, the cells could pull more out of your bones for you. Basically, mineralized bones let vertebrates travel long distances from mineral-rich food/sources without losing the ability to think or move, and even help provide materials for important processes like laying eggs. It's entirely possible that they're one of the things that made it possible for larger, more complex animals to travel away from the oceans.

On top of that, bones are also really important for our ability to be as big as we are and still move around on land. Octopuses are squishy, adaptable, powerful, and definitely mobile by means of a hydrostatic skeleton, which basically means that because water doesn't compress very much, it can provide solid-like support when it's trapped in a certain area. Say, inside an octopus arm. The problem with this system on land is that it has its limitations outside a fluid environment. Imagine your muscles had to constantly maintain the shape of your bones (because they will become formless otherwise) and then also use them to move around at the same time. Without the support of water around you, this becomes deeply impractical really fast. One example of an animal that makes it work anyway is an earthworm. That's about as complicated as these get on land without also including some other kind of skeletal structure in there somewhere.

And the thing is, despite the fact that we only have a vague idea how or why complex nervous systems or intelligence develops, and it's hard to measure by any consistent metric (birds can be crazy smart, but have relatively low brain-to-body size), it seems to be at least partially linked to the need to navigate more complexity in everyday life, whether that's wrangling eight limbs or navigating more complex social structures. Which is why I uphold that unless you want to go for options 1 or 2 above, you're probably not going to attain the size and complexity required for much outside of option 3. Hydrostatic skeletons or exoskeletons without some bones just aren't going to cut it.

So, long story short, you could definitely be out there, living the boneless life, but if you do demand a refund, be prepared for the genie to stick you in the ocean. It's slings or surf, I'm afraid.

people love extolling the virtues of ball-and-socket joints and how it makes us more advanced and all that but I don't see any fucking octopuses in slings now do I. Bones are overrated and I want a refund.

[astromechs]

man, you ever get tired of ship-based fandoms?

[psychicthepsychic-daily]

brainrotting over a purpleswap au where Psychic and Void switch roles but not personalities

Psychic is a rising singer and musician who joined the Dearests' record label way back in its early days, as an expression of loyalty after DD freed him from hell. they were planning on just using his talent to their advantage, probably to advance GF's career, and tossing him aside when they were done with him...but that never happened. DD ended up getting attached to him and keeping him around, and he's become a star in his own right. he's the longest-lasting singer to work with the Dearests, and the oldest.

he knows about the Dearests' corruption and is a willing participant in it all. like his classic counterpart, he's serious and quiet, and has a sarcastic sense of humor. he values loyalty and competence, and has no problem with getting his hands dirty so the Dearests come out on top. he's a bit more outwardly arrogant than classic!Psychic, even condescending to some people, but he genuinely cares for the Dearests and has become close coworkers and friends with Girlfriend. he's still got his mouse companion Jen, but she's probably a brown mouse whereas the original is a very pale grey. just for the heck of it lol

Void is a begrudging servant of the Dearests, along with the Accretions, although they have different roles and Void is still their superior. He hates his job. He still needs an ego check and is fully convinced he's meant to be so much greater. The only reason he's still working under the Dearests is because he's waiting to save up enough that he can leave and start his own career as a singer. He's even willing to take the Accretions along, if they agree to work for him. none of them are as close to the Dearests as classic!Psychic, they're just there. Void's just as egotistical and prone to anger as his original counterpart, but he doesn't have as much of the luxury to show it. he usually ends up taking his frustrations out on the Accretions, when the Dearests aren't around.

Jet is a stray cat that Void found and took in without the Dearests' knowledge. DD hates animals, and GF loves cats. Void doesn't want them to take Jet for any reason, so he makes sure Jet doesn't come by when they can find out. unbeknownst to Void, Psychic knows about the cat that's been coming by to see him but he hasn't bothered to say anything about it.

of course, each knows that the other exists. they don't like each other. lmao

Void resents Psychic for what he sees as having it all, and thinks he could far outdo Psychic in the music industry if he only had the resources. Psychic doesn't care for Void's better-than-you attitude and finds it ill-fitting on a lowly servant. he usually ignores Void, but dislikes the lack of respect V has for the Dearests.

however, everything changes when Boyfriend enters the picture.

Psychic's a little protective of GF, and although he respects her and wants her to make her own choices, he still doesn't like BF. he finds the boy's lack of tact a little reminiscent of Void. Void resents BF for much the same reasons as he does Psychic, but BF is annoying to boot, making him worse in V's opinion. it's at this point that they have a common ground where they can start building their halfhearted friendship.

[fancy-rock-dove]

Hua Cheng and He Xuan are both assholes, obvs. But one of the things that will pull me right out of my immersion is any take on either of them that turns them into classist assholes. I just absolutely cannot see it.

Hua Cheng is wealthy because that’s one of the ways he decided to make himself powerful, but it’s pretty central to the way both ghost kings view power and the system that they were both deeply impoverished in life. They respect the common worker and are fully ready to eat the rich.

Admittedly they also both fell in love with spoiled rich kids, but only the ones who are unflappable defenders of justice in spite of the circumstances of their birth and defy social convention and the advice of the people around them to be so.

[fancy-rock-dove]

Saw this cross my dash and went to reblog this version with these tags and then realized they’re literally my tags from *checks notes* …March.

Glad I amuse myself.

xie lian: mu qing, are you still undressed? you've been in your room for hours now.

mu qing: *breathless* I just... I just can't find any nice clothing... to wear.

xie lian: what do you mean? your closet has a lot of nice things.

*xie lian opens up the door to the closet*

xie lian: see? shirts, pants, hi fengxin, shoes...

[tossed-bricks]

Been having a particularly fun time lately with people telling me rlly conflicting things they thought or assumed about me since they met me in September. All my uni friends keep telling me rlly weird conflicting opinions. I’ve had ppl tell me they thought I hated them bcs I’m hard to read w/ scary vibes, someone else was FLOORED and said I was so happy and welcoming they couldn’t believe it. Got told today several ppl thought I enjoyed being teased or lightly bullied/made fun of and had to be like well. No. I’m usually actually panicking or in a mild fight or flight when you tease me. I’ve heard that I’m scary more times than I can count but I get that bcs I have a lot of eyeliner and a miserable resting face. I’m just so confused on who people think I am because I think I’m as clear and open and honest about myself as I can be and I just don’t get where the confusion comes from

[rararasputins-dick-mind-control]

i had a dream that i was the Onceler and i was just wandering around in the fucking backrooms until Cyrus from pokemon came sprinting towards me, stopped in front of me, and was very out if breath for a few seconds before he offered to help me out. and he smelled like raw meat i guess. However, not only was I the Onceler, but I was also disguised as an old lady, which meant that Cyrus did not recognize me as the Onceler, which was good because I, as the Onceler, for some (likely malicious) reason, summoned Cyrus to the backrooms and if he knew that I was the Onceler he would likely attack me. Then I woke up

[picayunepuma]

Just saw the phrase “hung like a horse” and for a second I lived in a world where horses were regularly hung for their crimes and I was deeply concerned for their wellbeing

[fancy-rock-dove]

I have no idea what about this was recommended to me based on my likes because there is no way Tumblr knows why I find this funny.

I appreciate your comics, but do you appreciate life? Join my puzzle club and find out.

hello someone who is definitely not jigsaw. i lov puzzols

[black7river]

just realized my dad is my wire mother and my mom is my cloth mother

[iersei]

Hot Glenn Holidays / @hot-glenn-holidays-2023

The Beach

~

happy wet beast wednesday to the monsterfuckers out there <3