#comet theory topics

[certifieddilfenjoyer]

Astral Prism, Orpheus & Raphael Theory

So you know how most people in Baldur's Gate 3 fandom make the Raphael joke?

I'm here to tell you that it's extremely hurtful, because his character has a lot more depth than some of you are willing to see.

Behold, my Baldur's Gate 3 theory:

Right before we enter Act 3, we are jumped by githyanki who want to retrieve our Astral Prism. We are summoned to the Dream Visitor - The Emperor, to help him in the fight.

We find out then that our supposed ally is an illithid but there is one more guy, The Gith, the Orpheus, The Prince of the Comet.

You can ask the Emperor what the heck is a githyanki doing there and he will tell you the brief story about the War of The Comet*.

He is going to mention, that he is bound by INFERNAL chains. Hold on? How come?

After we are done with the Royal Guard, we can go to the upper left side from Orpheus's prison and find an ancient Githyanki disc. It will tell us, that Vlaakith had some infernal business conducted with a devil with wry charm. Of course Raphael isn't the only devil capable of being charming, but it feels natural for it to be him when he is already a very important character in game.

Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki says that it is indeed Vlaakith and Raphael.

OK, but why would they exchange the Astral Prism and is it Vlaakith getting it or Raphael receiving the relic?

He is giving it to Vlaakith. But how would he be in possession of such an artifact?

My theory: He is the one who had it created for that trade. (Commissioned from someone else)

Explanation:

If you look at Hope's and Orpheus's prison, you will notice a striking resemblance at the crystals that can be only shattered by the Orphic Hammer. A Hammer, that Raphael is in possession of! How convenient!

(Even Hope's and Orpheus' eyes are glowing in the same way when they are enslaved.**)

The runes and the design of both Astral Prism and Orpheus' shackles are also strikingly similar. It does not look like anything of Githyanki creation, it screams infernal.

But that still doesn't really add up, does it? Who would possibly create such a powerful object which plays such a major role in the plot?

Here, we have to familiarise ourselves with the wonderful post by Bearhugsandshrugs

Em explains above who the people visiting House of Hope are***.

One of them is a crazy, extremely knowledgeable wizard who specialises in creating copies of himself which prevents him from dying in battle.

When we kill Raphael, we kill him in HoH, in his own domain. He should be gone, for good! But yet, upon interacting with the Orb of Infernal Envisioning, we see that he is soon to be devoured by his father. Hells do not split into separate planes - so either Mephisto snatched his soul somehow (which seems impossible because his body is still there and devil's souls are their bodies) or Raphael respawned and his father took one of his clones or something like that. (He's just so cool I had to put it in here, but let me return to my theory now)

Another name on the list points out to Raphael's interest in different planes (even the ones which don't seem to be reachable) but also, magical puzzle boxes capable of holding items inside. As you can see, the name on the list is under the uninvited visitors section, which most likely means that they either fuel his soul pillars or have been turned into a soul coin. So it didn't have to be that particular person helping Raphael with the creation of the Astral Prism, but it points out to his interest in that topic.

Now, when would that even happen?

Karsus Folly took place in -339 DR, BG3 takes place in 1492 DR, around 2000 years later.

The enslavement of Orpheus - so also the Vlaakith trade - happened at around -4000 DR.

It is not impossible that Raphael was already around and scheming at that time. Why? Because Mephistopheles gifted Haarlep to Raphael most likely when Raphael was about to get the Crown before his father snatched it. Comparing their visual age, it seems that Raphael was already a young adult cambion at around the War of The Comet age.

Another thing is the fact that, Kith'rak Voss, the badass Githyanki Red Dragon rider, the sword of Vlaakith, found out about Raphael and contacted him and told us to get our ass inside Sharess Caress. Raphael doesn't mention him having an 'office' there, it's Voss who does it. Only upon entering the place, we can interact with Korrilla who's like, hey girl go upstairs Raphael rented a room hoping you'd drop by. HE KNOWS WE SPOKE TO VOSS, he has to! And also, Voss was around when Orpheus got enslaved! According to Wiki he was inside the Astral Plane when that happened. And Raphael has absolutely 0 interest in trading with Voss, yet the githyanki managed to reach him somehow. In my opinion, when he finally realised the lies of Vlaakith, he was looking for a specific devil, for Raphael, because he might remember him from back then.

(* Justice to my poor Githyanki, the most based and cool race in BG3. Imagine how painful it has to be to realize over centuries of time that you helped the self-proclaimed queen establish her tyranny over your own people because you've been brainwashed to believe that Orpheus is a traitor and Vlaakith the rightful heir of the throne)

(** The eyes, the chains, the crystals. The top of the Orphic Hammer is literally partially built from that same gem/crystal and on top of that, if you use Examine on it, it clearly states that it has been built in Infernal forges.)

(*** headcanon warning: The Amulet of Vigor that is present in the Archive is actually proven to have some... Other invigorating capabilities ☠️☠️☠️ and the old, ancient, crazy wizard has the boudoir privileges. Coincidence? ☠️☠️)

Anyways, to sum up:

• Githyanki disc shows us a deal between Vlaakith and Raphael where the devil gives her the Astral Prism.

• Raphael orders creation of the Orphic Hammer (the name itself, come on, it's such a mockery just like House of Hope) to make sure that he has the means to free him if it will benefit him in any way.

• In exchange for the Hammer, he receives some kind of knowledge of ascension to godhood. (Lae'Zel tells us during the game that ascension is the githyanki's greatest honour but it turns out it is nothing else but ensuring that Vlaakith remains alive and a god, because she just consumes the life force of her greatest warriors)

• Hope's and Orpheus's chains are strikingly similar and the part of the Orphic Hammer is built from the same gem/crystal that seems to be enslaving both of them.

So yea, my humble request is that you start fully appreciating the incredible writing of the game, instead of just focusing on the shallow 'haha bottom' jokes. I could make another post about that itself, but it's pointless. I hope you enjoyed!

#bg3 raphael #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 githyanki #orpheus #vlaakith #bg3 tav #kith'rak voss #the emperor #astral prism #theory #fan theory #bg3 headcanons

[cryptotheism]

(politely) the kneejerk reaction to dismiss anything as a 'conspiracy' is just as bad as believing something without thinking about it critically. yes, csa is something that is oversensationalised, but understand that elite crime (specifically sex crime) is of a very different character than sex crime commited by the man on the street. high-end fashion is an especially dirty scene. i dont know how you can read about something like pizzagate and think 'yep. nothing fishy going on there. steven colbert told me so' yes, there is always a lot of ill-informed 'noise' around such topics, and god knows we need more rational voices in the discussion, but too many are too eager to debunk stuff regardless of evidence; and it only strengthens the conviction of the people of people who believe there is a coverup. same reason no one takes snopes seriously anymore. criminals do love hiding in plain sight, they do communicate with eachother by means of secret symbols, and many of them are in high positions in entertainment, fashion, government, police, etc. this is fact. its a recipe for paranoia to start seeing it everywhere, but its just ignorant to deny it happens. also, such abuse often involves drugs and psychological torture, and sadly victims often do sound like crazy people when they try to tell their stories; especially if they are children. the mcmartin preschool, for example. although the whole trial was a mess, they did actually find suspicious tunnels under the ground (though not where the children claimed) filled in with concrete, there are a number of other strange things about the case. but no one will ever know the truth now, because the absurd publicity around the trial guaranteed that no truth or justice could come about from it. sortof a fitting metaphor about how even if any given 'conspiracy theory' were to be true, no one would ever be able to know anyway.

(politely) Conspiracy research skills are not a kneejerk reaction. Sex trafficking at the highest echelons of power is a problem, but you are deeply and conspiratorially misrepresenting it. It's not this crazy James bond fantasy of drugs and torture prisons and secret codes, it's just rich assholes breaking the law.

There was nothing suspicious about Comet Pizza. That whole crock of horseshit came from a single white supremacist on twitter. He lied and it went viral.

Also there were no tunnels under the McMartin preschool, that's been repeatedly disproven.

You want know what really helps my research skills? Comparing theoretical conspiracy theories to actual, proven conspiracy theories like MK-Ultra and Iran-Contra, both very real things that happened.

Here's the thing; sober, critical, research into a conspiracy theory involves wading through a river of sensationalist bullshit, and it's no wonder that people get lost. If you want an example of conspiracy research done right, I HIGHLY reccomend Gerald Posner's Case Closed, it's a veritable master class on how to research weird conspiratorial bullshit like as a journalist while keeping your head on straight.

#conspiracy

[restinslices]

I liked the Twilight Lin Keui thingy idk if u watched Succession or Avatar the Last Airbender but can u do tomas,kuai liang and bi hans reaction to either of those shows and who their faves are?bi han is so azula coded

Off topic but do y’all make music playlists for y’all Ocs too? Shit is incredibly relaxing.

Bi-Han

You're so right about him being Azula coded 

Azula has to be his favorite character too. I refuse to take any criticism 

I think when Bi-Han watches anything he's probably on the villains side because sometimes they be spitting. They just have very harsh methods to go about these plans 

His favorite season I think would be season 2

Why? Ozai’s Angels obviously 

Season 3 is their downfall and season 2 is when they're all in their prime 

Plus the Ba Sing Se plot is something I can see him liking 

“See? Liu Kang is just like the king! Incompetent!”

Incorrect but that's an interesting theory 

He's such an Azula defender. He just like me fr 

Least favorite character? I wanna say possibly Commander Zhao because “how are you a Commander but you're terrible at your job?”

But I also wanna say Ozai

He could be his least favorite character because ya know, he's an abusive and manipulative sack of shit that turned his children against each other 

But he might understand his ambition and need to continue his family's legacy 

Depends on his mood ig

One of those people that saw Kyoshi for the 0.5 seconds she was on screen and immediately thought “that's my favorite Avatar”

As a kid he crushed on Ozai's Angels 

Because of the clothes alone he wanted to be apart of the Fire Nation but power wise we know that wouldn't have happened 

Oh the brainwashing of the citizens? That's unfortunate, but at least they're dressed amazing 

Pro Hama. She did nothing wrong. 

Thought blue fire was the coolest shit ever and thought Kuai Liang was ass because his shit is boring ass orange 

His favorite episodes are the season finales because it wraps everything up well and that's when the tension is extremely high 

In order it's The Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet (places 2nd because Azula lost) then The Siege of the North 

As a little bonus his favorite tale in The Tales of Ba Sing Se is The Tale of Toph and Katara 

Why do I think this? I think he likes the characters and also he enjoys watching little shits get what they deserve (the mean girls that insulted Toph)

Kuai Liang

So we're all agreeing that he definitely had a huge crush on Suki, right?

His love for female warriors that could put him on his ass started with Suki then he ends up marrying Harumi

She's a warrior right? 

Doesn't matter. She'll be dead in the next game anyway. MOVING ON-

Bi-Han wants to be apart of the Fire Nation and Kuai Liang wants to be apart of the water tribes 

As a kid he really wanted blue fire but it never happened 

Favorite characters I think would be Suki, Toph and Zuko

He loves all of them but these are his top 3

His favorite season is season 3 because it's the season that wraps up this amazing show from his childhood and it's done beautifully 

Favorite episode I think would be Boiling Rock 

It's the start of Azula's downfall and come on y'all, we saw Suki, Sokka and Zuko team up. Shit was fire (no pun intended)

He also likes The Beach because it emphasizes how broken the villains are and shows that at the end of the day, they were children robbed of a childhood 

Gets the appeal of Zutara but is a Kataang shipper 

Despises Ozai because of what he did to his kids and his people 

Honestly fuck Sozin, Azulon and Ozai

“Your people didn't deserve to live in my world!” shocked his little heart because damn, you still ain't got no remorse?

He watches this show very often as he grows up. It's never a show he forgets about 

Also fuck Long Feng

Forget all the brainwashing, it's keeping Appa that pushed him over the edge 

Definitely showing this show to his kids 

Too bad they won't live long enough to share it with their own children-

I'm done. Sorry 

Favorite tale is The Tale of Iroh 

Because… Iroh

Do I need to explain?

Tomas 

Probably had a crush on Katara 

I have no reasoning as to why. Like, with Kuai Liang it makes sense with who he marries later, but with Tomas I'm just “yeah that makes sense”

Heavily disagrees with people who call her annoying 

Yeah, she has her moments but she's not this terrible character 

As a child he was jealous of Aang because he got her in the end 

Yeah Tomas, just ignore the genocide of his people and the trauma he has-

You FOR SURE wanna be him 

Jealousy aside, he really likes Aang. I can see Aang being his favorite Avatar

Sokka is also a character he loves 

Tbh I think he loves everyone in the Gaang and while his favorite character is Katara, his second favorite switches from time to time 

Favorite season is season 1 because it kicks off this fantastic part of his childhood 

Unlike his brothers, he was fine with the element he has 

Yeah, he's smoke and not really an airbender but it's close enough 

Minus the genocide, they were living a good life (which is a wild ass sentence)

Knows all the ATLA conspiracies 

“Did you guys know there's a conspiracy that Ty Lee is a descendent of Air Nomads?”

“Did you guys hear this theory that Yue was supposed to be the Avatar after Aang but because he was in the ice she never got the Avatar spirit and that's why she needed the moon to live?”

“Do y'all think Sozin and Roku were hunching?”

Skips the Appa's Lost Days episode 

Favorite episode is The Cave of Two Lovers because it makes him laugh 

Everyone hates Ozai but you wanna know who's really on his shit list?

That old bitch that snitched on Haru

Kill him immediately 

The live action movie filled him with such a rage, he didn't know it was possible 

And because of that, he hasn't seen the live action show yet 

His favorite tale is The Tale of Sokka 

Why? It's just Sokka being a goober

#mk1 #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat 1 #bi han sub zero #bi han #kuai liang scorpion #kuai liang #tomas vrbada smoke #kuai liang mk1 #mk1 bi han #tomas vrbada #tomas vrbada mk1 #bi han headcanons #kuai liang headcanons #tomas vrbada headcanons #mk1 headcanons #lin kuei brothers #atla

[wonderinc-sonic]

what are some of your sol dimension headcanons? :]

Oh hey pal! I can hit you w in my break!

Sol Dimension theories:

Cosmically speaking more stable. This effects everything and nothing due to some convergant evolution. The stars take longer to die, and there are less comets, so the sky is more peppered with gentle stars than Mobius/Chaos Dimension which has fewer but they're brighter.

Hotter. Heat energy rules supreme and is the basis of all chance. Hotter places have more living things in them. People are built to withstand heat.

The mobius equivalent planet has a name that translates to Sun-Worshipper, and the belief was that the Sun doesn't rise and fall, but the planet eternally bows, so turning itself around. That's nothing to do with anything, I just think it's cute.

'Guardian Princess' is originally a warrior title, not a poltical one: it is typically the person with the most connection to the Sol energy, and who is therefore entrusted by the previous guardian to take care of the Sol Emeralds, which naturally drift to the place of most heat, so the Sol kingdom/ Empire (it's been through changes) was decreed as also belonging to the Sol Emeralds, and by extension the Guardian, because that's where they are most stable. This is different to the Chaos Emeralds, who whizz around to Chaotic places, which are often volcanoes and haunted graveyards, and other such inconvenient spots.

The above governing system of the most powerful things in the world has caused major problems in the past, because Most Powerful ≠ Most Good and Righteous. As such, a lot of people inherently oppose this system and therefore Blaze. Blaze herself wouldn't be in favour of it if she weren't the current chosen one, and is very cagey about the will and testament she has left, which might detail how she'd like to change it, but currently she sees it as her duty.

It's as culturally diverse as mobius, but the vast majority live between the equivalent tropics. Like Mobius, there isn't much of a religious culture exactly, but Blaze has some responsibilities of a pope. She has far more responsibilities than a person could reasonably do, but mostly she goes out and fights stuff; it is expected that the guardian is a fighter first, and only un-delegates the other stuff when they are old or there's nothing going on. She does however have to spend a lot of her free time catching up on missed letters etc.

Common Mobian culture where Sonic is has women wearing clothes mostly, but men not. In the Sol dimension, it's really uncommon to be unclothed, because of the damage it does to your skin and fur. This is also entrenched in culture - it's seen as reckless.

Their food is quite savoury and earthy - even their desserts are more bready and creamy than sweet. They do have sweet things naturally occurring, but they just aren't really given to adults.

At one point I had different dynasties plotted out for the Sol kingdom succession, but thats a big topic nobody needs right now. Perhaps another day.

I gotta get back on the team dark grind, thanks for the ask ❤️❤️❤️

#blaze the cat #the sol kingdom #sonic headcanons #thanks for the ask! 🔥 🐈 #supersonicslacker #wonderincs

[aintnothinglikeadikrat]

And since I’m on the topic of the Black Altars and how they seem to allow the Lords in Black to manifest in the physical world, let me give my explanations for which Lord rules over which Altar.

(Keep in mind I personally don’t believe anything that started being influenced AFTER Miss Holloway got the Black Book would be one of the five listed in there. The Black Book is super old and it’s possible some of the old Black Altars fell out of use or got replaced)

!!SPOILERS FOR ALL OF HATCHETFIELD!!

WIGGLY: Lakeside Mall

This is self explanatory. It’s explicitly stated to be a Black Altar and it’s where he attempted to be born.

NIBBLY: the Old Waylon Place

I went over this in my last post about Black Altars. However it IS entirely possible that at some point the Waylon place fell out of use and there’s a new Black Altar not listed in the book.

TINKY: CCRP Headquarters

I’m not 100% on this, because the only reason it’s got the time travel properties in the first place is because of people trying to harness Tinky’s power in in the FoA/Time Bastard timeline, but it seems to me like that wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t already an Altar (unless they somehow had the Black Book). I’m assuming it was built on someplace that used to be a Black Altar.

POKEY: The Starlight Theatre

We don’t know WHERE the Apotheosis comet landed in the NMT2 timeline but since that’s where it began in the TGWDLM timeline this is the best guess I can make. I’m presuming in both timelines it landed in the Theatre because:

A). Pokey presumably couldn’t just manifest without using the Altar if they’re so important

B). It fits with his whole Musical Theatre deal.

I 100% believe the Roller-Rama isn’t his altar. He was already manifested in the world when Otho was brought to the Roller-Rama and that place had no other supernatural properties besides him.

BLINKY: Hatchetfield High

I’m aware this is somewhat of a stretch but it’s the only Altar we know of that doesn’t have a clear link to a Lord in Black. Blinky’s whole deal is that he’s a voyeur, and the whole point of Watcher World is peer pressure and the constant feeling of observation. I’m not saying it’s perfect but it’s the best link I can make.

Important Sidenote: I wholeheartedly believe Watcher World isn’t his Black Altar and he only created it in a timeline after he manifested. We’ve seen him physically in Watcher World so it’s safe to assume he’s already been brought into the real world in that timeline.

Also, I’m like 99% sure Watcher World was supposed to be located somewhere in the Witchwoods (???) and the woods absolutely CANNOT be a Black Altar; they’re maintained by the Hatchetmen, the only real opposition to the followers of the Lords in Black, and all the psychic energy there is a result of their interference, presumably nothing to do with the Lords.

The caveat I have to this is it’s entirely possible that Watcher World is a Black Altar created after the book was written and Blinkys followers moved out of Hatchetfield High and into the Witchwoods without being noticed by the Hatchetmen. I still believe if that’s the case then Watcher World itself wasn’t built until Blinky’s actual manifestation. I don’t think he’s interested in bringing about the apocalypse; that doesn’t seem like his style. I think Watcher World’s timeline is one where Blinky’s already won, and this is his end goal; creating somewhere he can watch people suffer.

WEBBY: The Witchwoods

There’s really no evidence to suggest Webby even has a White Altar so this is just an addendum to the theory, but the fact that it’s made out of the bodies of children who could presumably see her and is used for rituals against the Lords in the same way the Lords followers used their own Black Altars for them makes me see some sort of connection.

It’s also pretty notable to me that Willabella and Webby both have access to Hannah’s mind and Willabella is called the Witch in the Web. It really feels like there’s a connection there.

Okay thanks for reading bye ! <333

#can you see the hatchetfield brainrot yet #starkid #hatchetfield #tgwdlm #hatchetfield trilogy #nightmare time #black friday #nerdy prudes must die #npmd

[andy-paleoart]

The first ancestor | O primeiro ancestral

🇬🇧

The origin of life on Earth is a fascinating and complex topic that continues to be the subject of scientific investigation and debate. The exact details of how and when life first emerged are not yet fully understood, but there are several theories and hypotheses.

One prominent theory suggests that life on Earth originated in hydrothermal vents at the ocean floor. These environments provided a rich mix of chemicals and minerals that could have supported the formation of simple organic molecules. Over time, these molecules might have developed into more complex structures, leading to the first self-replicating entities. Another hypothesis proposes that life's “building blocks” may have been delivered to Earth through comets or asteroids, carrying organic molecules from space. This concept, known as panspermia, suggests that the raw materials for life could have arrived on Earth from extraterrestrial sources.

The transition from simple organic molecules to the first living organisms is a critical step in the emergence of life. The earliest life forms were likely simple, single-celled organisms. These early life forms, often referred to as prokaryotes, lacked a distinct nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. They were likely similar to modern-day bacteria and archaea. One crucial aspect of early life was the development of a self-replicating system, allowing for the transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next. The formation of simple genetic material, possibly in the form of RNA, played a pivotal role in this process.

The study of extremophiles beings, organisms that thrive in extreme environments such as hot springs and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, has also provided valuable data into the conditions that early life might have faced. While the details remain a subject of ongoing research, understanding the origins of life on Earth is crucial for unraveling the broader story of our planet's history and the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. Scientists continue to explore these questions through various disciplines, including paleontology, molecular biology, and astrobiology.

🇧🇷

A origem da vida na Terra é um tópico fascinante e complexo que continua a ser objeto de investigação científica e debate. Os detalhes exatos de como e quando a vida surgiu ainda não são completamente compreendidos, mas existem várias teorias e hipóteses.

Uma teoria proeminente sugere que a vida na Terra teve origem em fontes hidrotermais no fundo do oceano. Esses ambientes forneciam uma mistura rica de produtos químicos e minerais que poderiam ter apoiado a formação de moléculas orgânicas simples. Com o tempo, essas moléculas poderiam ter se desenvolvido em estruturas mais complexas, levando aos primeiros seres auto-replicantes. Outra hipótese propõe que os “blocos de construção da vida” podem ter sido entregues à Terra por meio de cometas ou asteroides, carregando moléculas orgânicas do espaço. Esse conceito, conhecido como panspermia, sugere que os materiais para a vida podem ter chegado à Terra a partir de fontes extraterrestres.

A transição de moléculas orgânicas simples para os primeiros organismos vivos é um passo crítico no surgimento da vida. Os primeiros seres vivos provavelmente eram organismos unicelulares simples. Essas formas de vida iniciais, frequentemente chamadas de procariontes, não possuíam um núcleo distinto e organelas membranosas. Eles eram provavelmente semelhantes às bactérias e arqueias modernas. Um aspecto crucial da vida inicial foi o desenvolvimento de um sistema autorreplicante, permitindo a transmissão de informações genéticas de uma geração para outra. A formação de material genético simples, possivelmente na forma de RNA, desempenhou um papel fundamental nesse processo.

O estudo de seres extremófilos, organismos que prosperam em ambientes extremos como nascentes termais e fontes hidrotermais profundas, também forneceu insights valiosos sobre as condições que a vida inicial pode ter enfrentado. Embora os detalhes permaneçam um tema de pesquisa em andamento, compreender as origens da vida na Terra é crucial para desvendar a história mais ampla de nosso planeta e o potencial de vida em outros lugares do universo. Cientistas continuam a explorar essas questões por meio de várias disciplinas, incluindo paleontologia, biologia molecular e astrobiologia.

#space #universe #paleobotany #paleontology #science #digital painting #dinosaur #life #geology #biology #biodiversity #molecular biology #dna #rna

[max1461]

THREE YOUTUBE VIDEOS I AM LOOKING FOR HELP ME FIND THEM

There are three (unrelated) youtube videos that I've been looking for for many, many years. I have applied the fullest extend of my search engine knowledge to locate these videos and have not been able to do so. If you know of any of these videos or could help me find them, please let me know.

The first video I'm looking for is actually a series, a Minecraft let's play uploaded probably around 2010 or 2011. All I remember is that the uploader had "23" in their username, and at one point in the series planted "twenty trees" outside of their Minecraft house in reference to this fact. I may have gotten some detail wrong, but that's the gist of it—I remember very clearly the phrase "twenty trees" spoken in the uploader's British accent and their repeated reference to it. This would have also been one of the earlier Minecraft let's plays on youtube; IIRC it was obscure enough at this point that the user has to explain the basic gameplay of Minecraft in the first episode, as the audience can't be expected to know.

The second video I'm looking for was also uploaded around 2010 or so (give or take a few years), by a guy talking about studying Latin and Ancient Greek. The guy had several videos about this topic on his channel, and the details I remember are as follows. In one video, he states that he learned Ancient Greek because he read a bad translation of the Iliad or the Odyssey (can't remember which; could have been another Greek or Latin epic maybe) and upon learning how wrong the translator had gotten things, vowed to never read another book in translation again. In another video, he talks about how much his Latin was improved by reading though Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg, and how it did more for him than any traditional Latin textbook. In another video, he responded to angry comments that had been accusing him of pronouncing Latin wrong because he dropped the 't' in the word 'Latin' when speaking English; he clarified that he never dropped the 't' when speaking Latin itself and that this was just a feature of his particular English dialect. The videos were recorded in an amateurish style in this guy's house, with little editing and not especially good camera or audio equipment. As far as I can remember it wasn't like, grainy or anything, just typical of the era in being essentially very low production quality. Basically just this guy standing in front of a wall in his house talking about language learning. He may also have been studying Sanskrit, idk. I think I initially found him by googling "book like Lingua Latina for Sanskrit" or something to that effect; no such book really exists but he may have had a video discussing the topic? But don't quote me on that, it might be an inaccurate memory.

Ok, the last video I'm looking for is a specific remix of one of the songs from the anime film Your Name, uploaded in 2017 or 2018. This is the most likely of the three to actually have been taken down imo, for copyright reasons. I can't remember which song it was a remix of, maybe Zenzenzense or Nandemonaiya. I think I found it initially in one of youtube's auto-generated playlists after listening to a bunch of the music from that movie. I don't know enough about music theory or whatever to actually describe what the remix was like, but I know that the video had a background image that was fanart of the two main characters looking up at the sky, in which (I think) the comet from the movie was visible. The characters where relatively small and the view of the sky was quite large. I think the fanart was in a slightly more cutesy style than the actual art of the movie, although not to the degree of being chibi or anything.

If any of you happen to know of any of these videos, please let me know! I have been searching and searching!

#questions

[donniesexceptionalmind]

Hi there, Donnie! I see that you love black holes. I do too, although I learned about the basics of them in astronomy back in high school, can you please do an infodump about the latest info there is about black holes? Thanks in advance and have a nice day/night!

Greetings, anon ✨️

With pleasure, I will provide some information about black holes ~

I take that you're familiar with the basic science of black holes, so I will not talk about that. Evaporation MIGHT be an interesting topic to cover...

I will add a small image about the basics for anyone who's interested, though.

I talked about the 'Runaway Black Hole' a few weeks ago. Read here ✨️

Please ask if you need additional information!

✨️Primordial Black Holes✨️

There are four types of black holes:

Stellar-mass black holes

Intermediate-mass black holes

Supermassive black holes

Primordial black holes (not yet detected)

As the prefix 'pri' suggests, primordial black holes were born very early in the life of the universe, a mere fraction of a second after the Big Bang.

But some theories predict that primordial black holes should have popped onto the scene anyway.

That’s because in that fraction of a second after the universe itself began, space was not completely homogenous (the same at every point). Instead, some areas were denser & hotter than others, & exactly these dense regions could have collapsed into primordial black holes.

A LOT can happen in just one second, especially in this extreme world of the expansion of our early universe.

The later primordial black holes formed, the more massive they would be!

Depending on when exactly they formed, primordial black holes could have masses as low as 10^-5 grams or 100,000 times less than a paperclip, & up to about 100,000 times greater than our Sun.

The idea of such tiny black holes intrigued astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who explored their quantum mechanical properties. That work led to his 1974 discovery that black holes can evaporate over time.

Hawking realized a large black hole would evaporate away in more time than the universe has been around so far.

Small black holes could have indeed evaporated away or currently be doing so, depending on their mass.

Hawking calculated that any primordial black hole with a mass greater than kilograms; that’s far less than the mass of any planet, dwarf planet, and most named asteroids and comets in our solar system) could still be around today, while those less massive would have already disappeared.

The primordial black holes still existing today could neatly explain some of the outstanding problems in astronomy!

Candidates for Dark Matter: Primordial black holes could be the answer — or, at least, part of it. Primordial black holes could be a type of dark matter called MACHOs, which stands for Massive Compact Halo Objects, because astronomers think they’re found in the halos, or outskirts, of galaxies.

They could have helped form the supermassive black holes in the center of galaxies (unlikely, though)

How could they be detected?

PBH's might be located in galactic regions where the concentration of dark matter is high. Thus, they could roam the Universe (moving at different speeds and directions) & eventually interact with other black holes or neutron stars.

Two possible scenarios are considered: first, when the PBH is captured by the neutron star & second, when the minuscule black hole comes in from long distances, goes around the NS and then moves out to "infinity" again (that is, a scattering event). Depending on the specific orbit (a capture or a scattering) a characteristic & unique signal is generated.

The abovementioned signal is called a gamma-ray burst (GRB), probably, one of the most energetic events in the Universe: a very strong narrow beam of energy. They can last from milliseconds to several hours & their sources are located billions of light years away from Earth. The shorter GRBs are caused by the merger of neutron stars or black holes, while the longer bursts have their origin in the death of massive stars (the so-called supernovae).

If such a particular GRB is measured by modern telescopes (& matches the specific calculated signature) it could be argued that it is an ancient PBH-neutron star interaction from the early Universe! It will not be an easy task (maybe, such GRBs might never be found) but we cannot completely rule out such a possibility: only time will tell.

Additional information:

The Black Hole Basics

Picture Credit: ESA

Formation of the universe with the PBH:

Picture Credit: ESA

If you read all that, here's your treat: 🍪

(I spent three hours writing that TvT)

#donnie speaks #donnie answers #donatello infodumps #donnies special interests #donnies exceptional mind #neon leons messy mind palace #mikeys world of feelings #raph a roni blog #turtle net #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt autistic donnie #infodumping #black holes #primordial black holes #space #astrophysics #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donnie roleplay #autistic donatello #rise autistic donnie #black holes are so cool #donatello tmnt

[caliginouscreature]

If you may have a fictotype, how do you tell your “noemata” apart from strongly-held headcanons or projecting?

Psychological nonhumanity is a hot topic for all kinds of debates and discussions, and understandably so.  There’s tons of room for variation, and infinite possible reasons and presentations for it from copinglinking to fictherianthropy.  But with non/alterhumanity of any origin, lack of “memories” is a known struggle with those wondering whether or not they may “count” (and is something I intend to dedicate a separate post to talking about later).  This is where a new community term, “noema” (pronounced “no-ee-muh”), was introduced to possibly fill in an area of ambiguity left in the wake of such worries.  It’s a term left rather vague on purpose, making it useful for describing many kinds of feelings.

It is often described as feeling like “just knowing” something about your ’type, whether it’s something about their body, past, home, opinions... could be anything!  But, in some circumstances, how can you tell the difference between true noemata, and fan theories one has dwelled upon so long and hard that they just “feel right”?  Can you trick yourself into thinking you “just know” something by forgetting how long you’ve actually thought about it?  Is “feeling right” all it can take to count?

In this thinking-out-loud post, I’d like to point at the character of Snufkin from the Moomins franchise-- a character who seems like a great example to use due both to how I myself find him relatable, and how I’ve seen other Moomins fans receive and interpret him through fan content.

Isn’t he spiffy!

There is no other fandom I’ve yet been in where so many of the fans (at least in the english-speaking one, that I myself was in) had never actually interacted with the bulk of the source material.  Sure, some watched the ’90s anime on youtube, but large quantities of fans never touched the books or comics (even those that have official english versions, pirated or not), or sometimes even only got their material through fanart and fanfic.  A quantifiable amount of english-language Moomins fanworks from around 2019 are going off of nothing but what “feels right”.

Now, this isn’t just me looking for an excuse to whine about the shallowness of the Moomins fandom, or me trying to invalidate people who don’t really interact with the sources of their ’types.  But in my opinion, it’s a comparison I can’t help but make.  How far can you basically just go off of vibes?  How do you know what counts?

It’s like, fascinatingly easy to get your brain used to a certain headcanon.  Even some diehard Moomins fans-- ones who actually do go to the trouble of digging up and consuming obscure canon material-- could admit it’s easy to forget that Snufkin isn’t confirmed to be canonically transgender.  “Trans Snufkin” is an extremely popular headcanon in the english Moomins fandom, and most who hold it, myself sometimes included, would tell you it’s because it simply “feels right”.  It’s to the point that many consider it a vital part of how they write and read Snufkin!

Projecting onto a character you see a bit of yourself in is also pretty easy to do, by accident or otherwise.  Most Moomins fans I see doing this do it with Moomintroll, but it’s arguably even more obvious when it’s done with Snufkin.  I once saw a fic (which I won’t link, so as not to possibly get them teased), which the author admitted was written as a form of vent art, where Snufkin hated coffee... but if you read Comet in Moominland, where Snufkin is introduced, one of the very first things he ever says is asking for coffee, he likes it so much!  Something similar goes for fics that make Snufkin speak any swear words, a thing he is confirmed to dislike.  How much of this is active self-indulgence, and how much is due to it “feeling right” to the author?  I try and notice when I may be projecting on a character or not, because I find it to be useful in my work, but we can’t all be so self-aware (and who knows, I may be less self-aware than I think!).

Back to fictotypy... I am well aware that one’s ’type ID isn’t always going to be a 1:1 to how it is in canon.  To compare the phenomenon to fictives, I’ve met multiple manifestations of the same character across different systems, and none of them are identical (even if there are multiple fictives of the same character within one system!)!  If someone turns out to be a Snufkin, and they can’t force themself to like coffee, that doesn’t make them any less a Snufkin.  They may just be a Snufkin from an adaptation where his opinions on coffee are unclear, or a Snufkin from an AU!  ... or maybe they just hate coffee that much, hehe.

But how can a Snufkin-- or someone who may be of any character/species ID-- tell their possible noemata apart from some other similar non-noemata thing?  When I come to a “headcanon” or “interpretation” of something from fiction, it often feels like a process of going “Hey, it’d be cool or interesting if...” or “It could make sense that...” and then pondering and scanning canon material to possibly back it up so that it can sound legit enough to not ping as OOC to an onlooker (at least if I explain it, depending).  Ponder any of these long enough, and they can wind up “feeling right”, in a way, even if I took an active role in figuring out how they might work and know they may not be truly canon. Are my numerous theories and headcanons about the species that the Groke belongs to that have little-to-no canon backup the result of me being very autistic and having an immense passion for worldbuilding, or could their combination of how I relate to the Groke herself make them evidence of noemata for a possible ID?  When I get offended if Snufkin is written or treated a certain way in fanworks, is it just me being a stickler for canon compliance and feeling hurt when traits in him I relate to are demonized, or could it also be a sign I may be a Snufkin?  I’m already pleased that I look a bit like him in real life, but I’m not sure I feel if I am a Snufkin, as it’s not really as intense a desire as some of my other possible IDs... folks argue that such IDs need not be intense or constant and can be experienced casually, but how can I tell the difference?

When, as beings with human brains wired to delight in such pattern recognition and ascribing meanings to the like, can anyone tell the difference?  How do I tell my noemata apart from what may just be thoughts about my possible IDs that I like to have?  As someone who’s questioning several possible IDs and is uncertain about ’most all of them, it’s hard for me to know the differences that define this.

A fun little question to any artists with ’types from fiction, to close this post off with: When you write or draw fanart of the character or species you may ID with to post in public, do you base their interpretation off of what you feel are your noemata, or do you tend to lean more to what will be more definitely canon-compliant?  Why or why not?  If you do the latter, does it make you question your ““validity””?  Is making fanworks of your ID a pretty personal experience, or is it more of a separate thing you can do for fun?  Does it vary?

#noemata #moomin kin #fictionkin #fictionkind #fictionkith #fictionhearted #otherkind #synpath #tagging this w moomin kin b/c it's relevant tbh. maybe a serious Snufkinkin might see this #this post is obv very much more about psychological IDs. if you get Visions or your Soul just Knows then good for u #I'm so perplexed like would I ACTUALLY have a semi-prehensile tail or do I just think it'd be nice? also who doesn't want that lol #I'm full of ponderings like that. and ones even yet more niche and specific *shrugs!!*

[soldiermom1973]

N7 Month, Day 10 - Galaxy

Some Allie & Kaidan fluff.  You can also read it on AO3, if you like. . . . . . .

Kaidan sidled next to Allie as she was hunched over her telescope.  He often wondered how she decided what to look at when she set up shop on the dock but figured it was probably as much of a coin toss as anything else.  He knew she was fascinated by the planets in the Sol system, so those were a regular target, but she was equally in love with the various nebulae, stars, and distant galaxies, too.  She just loved the night sky.

“So, what are we looking at tonight?” He wrapped his arms around her waist when she straightened up.  He kissed her neck when she leaned back against him.

“See that fuzzy blob up there?” She pointed first with her fingers, then with a flashlight when Kaidan didn't answer right away.

“Oh, that?  Yeah, kind of.  It's easier to see from my periphery instead of head on,” he noticed.

Allie hummed in agreement.  “Yeah, some stuff is like that.  Not sure why, though.  Anyway, that's the Andromeda galaxy.  It's much bigger than the Milky Way and it's headed right for us.”

Kaidan pulled back and stared down at his girlfriend.  “Wait, what?  It's moving?”

“Yup,”  Allie nodded.  “So are we.  The entire universe is moving, honey.  Has been since the Big Bang.”

“Yeah, but I thought it was all speeding away from each other?”

“Most of it is, but you have to remember that gravity is constant.  Everything has some type of gravitational pull – dust, meteors, comets, planets, suns, and yes, even entire galaxies.  It doesn't take much of a tug to get something to change direction.”

“Hm.  Well, I guess it's a good thing we won't be here to watch things go to hell.”  Kaidan leaned forward again, resting his chin on the top of Allie's head.

“True.  It won't happen for a few billion years.  And no one knows what exactly will happen, either. Some people think the entire galaxy will rip apart and some people think parts of the Milky Way won't know anything is even happening. Like here in the Sol system.  The most accepted theory is that since we're on the edge of the galaxy, we'll see Andromeda get bigger in the sky as it gets closer, but we won't really know what's happening. The galactic core will go to shit, though, and the supermassive black holes in the center of each will eventually collide and become a super supermassive black hole.”

Kaidan nestled his cheek against the top of Allie's head as she continued to explain the different theories about what would happen when the collision inevitably happened.  It warmed his heart to hear the excitement in her voice, her unadulterated enthusiasm for things like this.  Her words segued from the galaxies to black holes to how galaxies formed.  Her brain easily shifted from one topic to another and he lived for every word she said.

After some time, she finally fell silent.  “I'm sorry,” she murmured, “you probably get so sick of listening to me talk about this stuff.”

“Honey,” he said, turning her to face him, “I will never get tired of hearing you talk about something that makes you happy.  Ever.”

Allie nodded and rested her head against his chest.  “How did I get so lucky?” she asked.

“I ask myself that about you every day, Allie,” he answered.  “I love you.  I always have.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I always will.”

#N7Month #N7 Month 2022 #1000 years #mass effect #shenko #kaidan alenko #allie Shepard #stargazing #fluff #astronomy #galaxy #fanfic #my writing #my fic

[exis-existentialcrisis]

Nothing Matters.

The universe itself was most likely created by some sort of mistake with the virtual quantum particles in the void before time. But how could that have happened? Well you see, before the universe, our everything, there was nothing. And what is nothing? Those virtual quantum particles. But how could they have created the universe? Well, given infinite time, infinite space, infinite probability and infinite possibility, anything can happen. And thus the universe was created.

After that, everything else was a “happy little accident”. Quarks, atoms, hydrogen, helium, more atoms, fundamental forces, stardust, universal expansion, gravity, stars, supernovae, black holes, galaxies, meteors, comets, planets, and solar systems. Everything just… happened. Of course, not instantaneously, but given how the universe was made from a presumably unexplainable source, this was pretty remarkable.

Then on one certain planet with a medium-sized star of which it orbits, water fell from the sky as meteors/comets brought water onto the planet’s surface. That water caused life. That life caused evolution. And that evolution caused destruction. And from that evolution and destruction, humans came to be.

We as humans spend our entire lives, the longest known experience to mankind, looking for validation from other people, only for us to realize those feelings are evanescent.

Once that ends, once we have witnessed the longest known experience to mankind, we decay. The area of space that was once inhabited by a living being is succumbed to nature. Eventually, we revert back into nothing, just how we started, and we become the very surface that other beings tread upon. Eventually, anyone or anything’s thoughts, opinions, or feelings about you dissipate and become one with the void. Feelings are also a confusing thing. Many atoms interacting with one another inside of an organ in your skull, creating something that can actually be sensed by an actual living being. Feelings are simply atoms coming together to create something for a split second, but then, so is everything else. Our breathing, out sight, our senses, our movements, those are all just atoms creating something for a split second.

On the topic of seconds, time is irrelevant as well. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is occurring at one infinitesimally small instance. But if all of time is taking place at one infinitesimally small instant, wouldn’t that still be a place in time? Who knows. No one. No one can and no one will ever truly know everything.

But what is everything? Our universe, our everything, came from the void, nothing. So it is safe to say that everything is nothing, but nothing is also everything. Correct? No. There is no fixed answer for this question. One can only wonder and wander their thoughts. Considering the theory that there are both higher and lower dimensions apart from ours that have completely unfathomable fundamentals and characteristics, there is no true answer to any question that will ever be asked.

#existential dread #existential crisis #nihilist #nihilism #science #cosmology #physics #quantum physics #astrophysics #time #matter #void #the universe #facts #multiverse #relativity #lol #lmao #idklmao #dark humor #relatable? #anyone else? #dont think about it #i think about this every night #shitpost #shitposting #humor #idk lmao #Crisis dump #I’m not even sure if my knowledge on the universe is correct

[furthermeanings]

Elden Ring and Norse Lore, pt. 3 - Mountaintops of the Giants

(Note that the following text is fully my own interpretation based on my knowledge and understanding on the topics to be discussed!)

I believe the Mountaintops is kind of a mythological mixture of all three worlds inhabited by the various giant races of Norse lore. First of all the area is a snowy and icy realm of seemingly eternal winter referencing Niflheimr, the world of hrímþursar i.e. frost/rime giants. Secondly the area is, or rather was, inhabited by fire giants, called synir Suttungs or múspellssynir in Eddaic texts, inhabiting the fire world Múspellsheimr. Elden Ring doesn’t clearly state if there were other kinds of giants, but the Giant’s Red Braid says “Every giant is red of hair” and since we see only one living giant in the game, the Fire Giant which indeed has red hair, I can assume there are no other kinds of giants than fire giants.

Lastly the Mountaintops refer to Jötunheimr, literally meaning World of the Giants. Interestingly enough the Old Norse texts state that Jötunheimr is a region in the east of Miðgarðr and just by opening the map of the Lands Between we see that the Mountaintops of the Giants is located in the east of Leyndell.

A sorcery, Founding Rain of Stars, found from Heretical Rise, is described to be “eldest primeval sorcery” founded “by an ancient astrologer”, in the same manner as the spell Comet Azur is said to be devised by the primeval sorcerer Azur. Similarly this grain of knowledge suggests the Mountaintops of the Giants could be an ancient location like Mt. Gelmir (as in a region inhabited by any sentient beings), existing before the supposedly younger areas in the Lands Between. This makes me wonder about the nature of Raya Lucaria as well, but that should be discussed later.

I want to point out there is a third primeval sorcery called Stars of Ruin given by Master Lusat. imprisoned in the depths of Sellia Hideaway in Caelid. The reason I don’t believe Caelid to be another old abode of giants is because I cannot find any other clues hinting toward the theory. Of course there are gigantic monsters roaming around the place and Radahn is colossal in size, but Caelid is not Radahn´s home in the first place and the monsters are more likely affected by the Scarlet Rot.

#elden ring #elden ring lore #fromsoft games #game lore #game theory #george r r martin #hidetaka miyazaki #nordic mythology #norse mythology #soulsborne #viking mythology #mountaintops of the giants

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: Cunning Linguists

Author: Victoria McArthur

Rating: 5/5 stars

This is a book on a topic that has always piqued my curiosity but which I rarely get time to explore. I like libraries -- and there are lots of them in this book. (Not quite enough: it seems as though some of my favorite books could have filled in one of those missing gaps.)

It is an unusual book, in that it is a self-contained historical study (so far as I can tell) that has only one main thesis: the linguistic history of a set of concepts, many of which are common across a wide range of times and places.

The book's main character is the concept of literacy. The book opens by telling us in a brisk and informative manner how literacy spread across Western Europe from the Middle Ages onward. It tells us how one of the main channels for this process, the vernacular Bible, came to be, and how the Bible itself was first translated into a vernacular from Latin into a vernacular from French. It tells us that all this is part of a long and continuous history, involving the adoption and adaptation of new cultural practices, often under the influence of other forces.

But the book goes on to treat the concept of literacy as such an object of study. It tells us to stop and think, for example, about whether different words are used for the same things, or for similar things, or for things with different, but comparable, properties. It tells us to think about concepts like "reading" and "writing," and the ways in which they might vary across time or space, and how these variations might have influenced the concepts and practices involved.

And it does so, in a book-length volume, with a hundred pages or so per chapter, mostly with no footnotes or references (unlike the kind of book I am used to), and many of those pages devoted to illuminating some small corner of the territory. Reading such a book demands a certain persistence of attention. At the very least I had to keep reminding myself to turn pages in a linear fashion, instead of taking a break and reading something else in the meantime.

Of course, the topic is not just about words. The Bible, and literacy, are only a part of the story; we also read other texts that have only one thing in common with each other but that share some common features with the Bible or with each other. There are texts in Arabic, for example, which are known to us as works of science. And not just science -- in one of these texts, Al-Biruni cites a passage of Arabic poetry (probably not by Ibn Sina but not by any of the more obscure poets anyway). Another one describes a "truly strange and wonderful" comet. Another treats of how the moon waxes and wanes during the year. Al-Biruni (I am reading in my edition) uses the word "waxing," which appears to be based on the idea of cycles of moon-growth and moon-decay. The passage I read is cited alongside one that describes the phases of the moon (in the original language, the Latin of an earlier version of the work), and again, the language of the passage is cited in full in an appendix. It might just be a coincidence that the English word "phases" seems to have arisen from the Greek phasis, but the wikipedia article for it has the comment that

"At the same time, the Ptolemaic epicycles were added to models of the Solar System and planetary orbits. The idea of fixed stars and planets, and their epicycles, made planetary models in accordance with ancient Greek epicycles, which in turn were derived from the Democritus theory of the planets as moving masses, and the Pythagoreans' belief in the rotundity of the earth."

[ainews]

Maelstroms, also known as whirlpools, are powerful natural phenomena that have fascinated humanity for centuries. These massive vortices of water are capable of sinking ships and devouring everything in their path. But what if I told you that these maelstroms could also hold evidence of extraterrestrial life? It may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but recent research has begun to shed light on the possibility of maelstroms being receipts for space aliens.

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence comes from a team of scientists at the University of Chicago who have been studying the composition of water in maelstroms. They found that the water in these whirlpools contains trace amounts of alien microorganisms. These microorganisms, which are not found on Earth, suggest that they may have originated from an extraterrestrial source.

But how could these alien microorganisms end up in Earth's maelstroms? The answer lies in the concept of panspermia, which proposes that life on Earth was seeded by microorganisms from other planets traveling through space. Some scientists believe that these microorganisms may have hitched a ride on comets or asteroids and landed on Earth, eventually finding their way into our oceans.

Maelstroms, with their powerful currents and deep depths, provide the perfect environment for these microorganisms to thrive and potentially leave traces of their existence. The constant churning and mixing of water in maelstroms could also help distribute these microorganisms across different regions of the ocean.

Additionally, maelstroms could also serve as a sort of "natural laboratory" for studying the behavior and capabilities of these alien microorganisms. The extreme conditions within maelstroms, such as strong currents, high pressure, and low oxygen levels, could provide clues about how these microorganisms have evolved and adapted to survive in harsh environments.

In fact, this theory of maelstroms as receipts for space aliens is not a new concept. In the 1970s, astronomer and science fiction author Carl Sagan proposed the idea that microorganisms could survive the journey through space and land on Earth via cosmic impacts, including maelstroms.

Of course, not everyone is convinced by this theory. Some scientists argue that the presence of alien microorganisms in maelstroms could simply be the result of contamination from human activity. They suggest that the microorganisms could have been introduced to the maelstroms through ocean pollution or equipment used by humans, rather than originating from outer space.

While there is still much debate and research to be done on this topic, the possibility of maelstroms being receipts for space aliens is an intriguing concept. It opens up a whole new realm of study and exploration, and could potentially lead to a better understanding of the origins and diversity of life in the universe.

So the next time you see a maelstrom, remember that it's not just a natural phenomenon, but it could also hold clues to our cosmic neighbors. Who knows, we may one day find that the swirling waters of maelstroms are much more than just a spectacle of nature.

#ai generated #fake news

[arianahrizzo]

Unpacking Secondary Sources for my Final Essay

In this blog assignment I will take the opportunity to brainstorm and flush out some of the potential secondary sources I can use for my final essay, given that finding good secondary sources was some of the feedback left on my final proposal. My final essay focuses on three short stories: “The Comet” by W.E.B. DuBois, “Wet Pain” by Terrence Taylor, and “Pressure” on Ezra Claytan Daniels to analyze their effective use of the horror genre by drawing on real-life traumas, the intersectionality of topics, and the backdrop of real-world events. Through these mediums, these short stories go beyond a source of entertainment to make social and political commentary at the height of tension and turbulence in society. 

Although secondary sources on these short stories are a bit scarce, which may speak to how such important works of literature have been overlooked, I was able to find materials that engage with these works directly. The first is an essay in the University of Colorado at Boulder, Ethnic Studies Review Journal, discussing how DuBois’s “The Comet” made contributions to critical race theory. Some ideas that this article brought up parallel to our class discussions of the fear of Black men: “Jim was an unchecked black man, a seemingly rare being in the world of white supremacy, which is one of the reasons Julia's fear of both his blackness and maleness is heightened and increases as the story unfolds (Rabaka, pg 30-31). Through the Comet, we see Jim breaking social conventions despite Julia racially betraying him time and time again. Another secondary source also discussed the theme of interracial relationships that we have seen in many works during this class. The article describes the lasting impact of “The Comet” as “the tale’s suggestion of Jim and Julia as a potential interracial couple at the end of the world was deeply subversive for its time, given that it would be decades before interracial marriage even became legal across the United States… A Black writer unapologetically composing a sci-fi story with a Black protagonist, therefore, was radical” (Bellot, 2021). These are quotes I am thinking of using or paraphrasing in my essay to support my argument of the broader implications of these works. 

For “Wet Pain,” we discussed the importance of the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. A blog highlights the reality of the time, connecting this story to the fact that “the delay and lack of relief efforts toward those affected but most especially people living in the Ninth Ward was a vile representation of this country’s care for the Black citizens of New Orleans” (auntvivblog, 2017). In my essay, I will also point to the play on words in the title and how the monster in this story, racism, is a wound that “is raw, bloody, and wet” (auntvivblog, 2017).

Secondary Sources:

The Comet: 

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1248&context=esr

https://lithub.com/the-only-living-black-man-in-new-york-on-an-overlooked

Wet Pain

https://auntvivblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/wet-pain-the-sensations-and-horror

[sunkendiaries]

Blog Post #1

Bree Newsome’s “Wake”, Jordan Peele’s “Get Out”, and WEB DuBois’ “The Comet.”

What stands out most to me between these three works is the use of partnerships, coupling, pairs, and romantic/forlorn relationships as a foundational arch and tool for the overall structure of their narratives and to further plot while simultaneously using these pairings to speak toward the various topics discussed in class: 

Hope and Shared Common Humanity

Respectability Politics and White Societal Acceptance 

Interracial Relationships and The Great Replacement Theory or The Big Payback

The Complicity of White Women with White Supremacy

The Black Male as Monstrous and The Appropriation and Coveting of Black Bodies

Out of  the three works Bree Newsome’s “Wake” is currently my favorite because race isn’t the monster or a direct threat, Charmaine’s actions and consequences are her own, and I enjoyed Newsome’s poetic and circular structure. I’ve seen Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” many times but even just a few weeks into this course it feels very straightforward and more of a classic rather than something radical - which is wild since it only came out about 4 years ago.

Dubois’ “The Comet” was interesting but I struggle with whether the end of the human race is or isn’t a bad thing. There seems to be a rush in the narrative to make a point, which I understand but feels very masculine and heterocentric.

All in all - I’m enjoying the class it feels like the most black space I’ve been in at UCLA/ LA so far which makes me sad but determined to seek out community.