#accurate representation of science

[doctortonytchopper]

The only theories I've ever heard of Professor Clover's globe are all 100% always about it meaning the one piece planet used to have like 5 or 6 moons, but I've always thought it was an armillary sphere and I think the Gorosei's names support that so I found some pics to explain why I don't think Clover's globe is a reference to lost moons from the distant past.

This is an armillary sphere aka spherical astrolabe

That's a model of the planetary orbits in our solar system. So that's the irl version of Clover's armillary sphere.

This is the layout of the universe according to Pythagoras

Pythagoras lived around 400 BCE, before humans changed our minds and decided for a while that the earth was actually flat for some reason, but also before we realized the earth was orbiting the sun, not the other way around. (I know this varies by culture but I'm trying not to get too hellishly wordy and going into those variances would take a lot of words, so just know that I know this is a clumsy and too-broad brush to paint history with)

So if you made Earth into [unknown name of one piece planet] in this diagram, and then made that diagram into an armillary sphere, it would look exactly like Clover's model. Because back when the human species thought the sun orbited the earth, we were also only aware of the 5 planets we were able to observe - namely Saturn, Warcurie, Ju Peter, V. Nasjuro, and Mars.

And a world - our world in 400 BCE, or the one piece world in Clover's time - with that understanding of the universe is the place in which a model with 5-7 satellites (depending on if the sun and/or singular moon were included) with the inhabitants' planet at the center would be most likely to exist!

[clairebear5510]

Both Jason’s and Tim have a severe case of middle child syndrome as a middle child here’s an accurate representation of what that looks like:

BRUCE: Tim please, we just couldn’t come.

TIM: yeah sure but you were with dick the whole time.

BRUCE: HE WAS BLEEDING OUT.

TIM: OK AND I HAD A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT??

BRUCE: god you and Jason act the exact same way….

TIM: pardon me? It’s not my fault you pay more attention to the demon child and dick more than us.

BRUCE: I spent all of last weekend with both you and Jason. What do you MEAN?!

[mephisto-reporting]

Period Pain Simulator

About:You suggest to use a period cramp simualtor on him, and he agrees, not fully understanding what he signed up for. Based on this request. Pairing: Female Reader x Xavier, Zayne, Rafayel, Sylus (Seperate) Note: Reader and the men are in a relationship.My inbox is open for prompts and requests :) Content Warning: Mention of periods, period care, pain.

ZAYNE

The pitch:

When you brought up the idea of trying a period pain simulator with Zayne, he initially tilted his head in that ever-so-slightly skeptical way he does when you propose something he deems "questionable."

You held up your phone, a mischievous grin on your face. "Zayne, I found something amazing. It’s a period pain simulator, and I think you should try it."

Zayne raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest. "Why? I’m a doctor. I understand how bad it can get."

You scoffed. "Do you really, though? So many male doctors dismiss period pain like it’s no big deal. I think it’s time you felt what we go through. You know, for science."

He gave a small, amused smirk, but the seriousness in his eyes softened. "Alright, I’ll humor you. But if we’re doing this, make sure to get the one that can simulate back pain, too. Many women experience cramps radiating through the lower back, not just the abdomen. It’ll be a more accurate representation."

The Setup:

When the package arrived, Zayne opened it with the same precision he used in surgery. He carefully examined the simulator pads and settings, nodding in approval. "This is well-designed. Electrodes for the lower abdomen and lumbar region… Not bad."

You couldn’t help but grin. "Glad it meets Dr. Zayne’s standards."

He rolled his eyes but didn’t fight the smile tugging at his lips. "Let’s get this over with. I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy this too much."

He meticulously read the instructions, asking you questions about where the pain usually hits, its intensity, and duration.“And you’d rate it… a 9? Frequently?” he asked, frowning slightly. “I know you’ve mentioned how painful it can be before, but hearing it in these terms makes it…” He trailed off, his lips pressing into a thin line.

You secured the simulator pads on him, and he reclined in his chair like a man about to undergo a scientific trial, his expression stoic.

The Experiment:

At first, Zayne was unshaken, even giving clinical commentary.

“The cramping sensation is similar to gastrointestinal issues.” he noted, folding his arms across his chest. “Not unbearable, but unpleasant. I can see why it’s distracting.”

“Distracting?” You rolled your eyes. “Just wait, doctor.”

By level 6, you saw the shift. His previously composed expression faltered, his jaw tightening slightly. “Ah,” he exhaled sharply, his posture stiffening. His hand gripped the arm of the chair, knuckles whitening. “"The contractions are sharper now. Definitely impacting focus and posture.”

“What? Giving up already?” you teased, trying not to laugh.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth, though a faint sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead. “But this is… significantly more intense. Is this close to what you experience?”

"Not even close," you replied. "Mine’s more like a 9."

His eyebrows lifted, and he leaned forward slightly. "Let’s test it, then. Gradually increase it to your level."

When you nudged it to 8, his knees began to quiver slightly, and he leaned forward, bracing himself on his thighs.

“Alright,” he muttered, his voice tight. “That’s… that’s enough.”

You quickly turned it off, watching as he took a long, steadying breath, his head tilted back against the chair.

You immediately turned the device off and knelt in front of him, watching as he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Zayne didn’t say anything at first, just ran a hand down his face and looked at you.

“Nine?” he finally asked, his tone low and tinged with disbelief.

“Nine,” you confirmed, smiling faintly as you handed him a glass of water.

He exhaled sharply, his voice softer than usual. "I’m fine. Just… processing. I can’t believe you go through that regularly." He paused for a bit and said after a moment, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you function like this.”

You couldn’t resist teasing him. “So, doctor, any thoughts on how to fix it?”

He smirked faintly, though his expression still carried a hint of solemnity. “If I had the solution, I’d be a billionaire.”

The Aftermath:

From that day, Zayne became even more attentive during your periods. Whenever he noticed you wincing or holding your lower abdomen, he’d quietly step in with solutions. He was already a sweetheart before this when he would: Startkeeping track of your cycle, ensuring his apartment was stocked with your favorite snacks, pain relievers, and heating pads. On particularly bad days, he’d prepare meals for you, saying it was "basic patient care."

One morning, as you struggled to get ready for work, he handed you a heating pad. "Here. Lie down for a bit. I’ll call in and write you a sick note. You need rest more than they need you today."

You raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can power through."

He placed a hand on your shoulder, his tone firm yet gentle. "No need to prove anything. Your health comes first."

He draped a blanket over you and handed you a mug of herbal tea. Sitting beside you, he brushed a strand of hair from your face.

"You’re spoiling me.." you teased.

He smirked, leaning in to kiss your temple. "After that simulator, you’ve earned it. Besides, I don’t mind taking care of you."

And from then on, Zayne made it his personal mission to ease your discomfort every month.

SYLUS

The Pitch:

You bring up the idea while lounging in his living room, half-expecting him to dismiss it with his usual sly smirk. Instead, he leans back, crossing one leg over the other, an amused glint in his sharp eyes.

"A period cramp simulator, hmm? You want to subject me to this, kitten?" His voice is teasing, but there's intrigue in his tone.

“You already treat me like royalty during my periods, but I think it’d be fun to see if you can handle the pain. You’re always so smug about your high pain tolerance.”

Sylus had always been attentive during your period. He tracked your cycle meticulously, often surprising you with gestures that softened even his domineering demeanor. He'd run you a hot bath infused with soothing oils, carrying you to the tub if you were too tired to move. When cramps got bad, he’d hold a warm compress to your stomach, his other hand massaging your lower back with expert care. When you think you’re being a bother, he’d often say: “Sweetie, do you think the Onychinus leader doesn’t know how to cater to his queen?"

Sylus chuckled lowly, leaning forward. “Very well, kitten. I’ll play along with your little experiment. But I warn you,” he teased, tapping your nose lightly, “don’t get your hopes up. I’ve endured worse than cramps.”

The Setup:

When the package arrives, Sylus studies it with unnerving focus, turning the instruction manual over in his hands. He helps you place the patches and electrodes on his abdomen, his smirk never fading.

“Don’t look so thrilled,” you tease.

“Oh, I’m just curious how something as small as this could possibly mimic what you endure.” he replies, confident.

You set the simulator to level 1 as he stands in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for your meal.

"Are you sure you want to cook like that?" you ask.

He shrugs. “You manage to work and do your chores during this, don’t you? Fair is fair.”

The Experiment:

At level 1, Sylus continued to chop vegetables, unfazed. “A mild annoyance,” he commented, smirking over his shoulder. “Feels like someone’s pinching me.”

By level 4, he hummed quietly, stirring the pot on the stove. “I can see why it’s bothersome,” he admitted. “Having this sensation constantly for days would be draining.”

You crossed your arms. “This is what I feel before my period starts. My cramps are much worse.”

His crimson eyes narrowed slightly, intrigued. “Then turn it up. Let’s see what you deal with, kitten.”

At around level 7, his breath hitches slightly, and his movements slow. The knife falters for a second before he regains his rhythm. “Interesting…” he mutters, the usual smugness replaced by concentration. “This is… unpleasant,” he admitted, his voice gruff.

At level 8, Sylus paused, one hand gripping the edge of the counter as a faint grunt escaped him. “You’re telling me this is a normal day for you?”

You shrugged, leaning against the counter. “More or less. Sometimes it’s worse.”

When you hit level 9, his head dipped slightly, a cold sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. “This…” he growled softly, straightening with effort, “is brutal. And you still function like this?”

“At least you’re not curling up in bed crying…” you teased.

He shot you a strained smirk. “Who says I’m not thinking about it?”

At level 10, Sylus shuddered, a rare moment of vulnerability showing as he gripped the counter tightly. “Alright, turn it off!” he said, his voice low and rough. “Next time any man says something dismissive about period pains…” He straightens, despite his trembling legs. “The Onychinus leader will personally make sure they understand how bad it can be.”

You help him to the couch, gently massaging his shoulders while he catches his breath. He leans into your touch, uncharacteristically silent. After a few minutes, he looks at you, his gaze softer than you’ve ever seen it.

“You go through that every month?” he asks, his tone laced with awe and guilt.

You nod. “And worse, sometimes.”

You handed him a glass of water, running a soothing hand over his back. “You okay now, Mr. Tough Guy?”

His smirk returned, albeit faintly. “I’m fine. But I have a new appreciation for your resilience. You’re tougher than I gave you credit for, sweetie.” he murmured, his hand reaching out to pull you close.

The Aftermath:

From that day, Sylus became even more attentive during your cycle. He already tracked it meticulously, but two days before your period, he’d sweep you off your feet—literally.

“No arguments.” he’d say as he carried you to his car. “You’re staying with me. I’ll handle everything.”

For the next several days, you weren’t allowed to lift a finger. He made sure every craving was satisfied, every discomfort alleviated.

One evening, as you sat curled up on his plush couch, he brought over a tray with your favorite snacks and bobba. Sitting beside you, he gently massaged your shoulders.

“You know…” you teased, “you don’t have to spoil me this much.”

Sylus leaned in, his voice a low, affectionate murmur. “After what you go through, sweetie? You deserve it. Besides,” he added with a playful smirk, “I like taking care of my kitten.”

RAFAYEL

The Pitch:

You find Rafayel in his art studio, humming to himself as he paints bold, crimson strokes across the canvas. His expression is focused, but when you mention the period simulator, he freezes mid-swipe.

“Wait. Back up.” He narrows his eyes at you, holding the brush aloft like a sword. “You want me to voluntarily experience pain? Have I offended you somehow, or do you just take joy in my suffering?”

You grin. “I was thinking it might inspire your art. Pain breeds creativity, doesn’t it?”

He gasps, clutching his chest. “You’d subject me to agony for the sake of art? Truly, you are a sadist of the highest order. But…” He sighs dramatically, as though resigning himself to a grim fate. “Only you could convince me to do such a thing. You should feel privileged. But don’t think I’m suffering alone. If I do this, you’re doing it with me.”

The Setup:

When the simulator package arrives, Rafayel eyes it like it might explode. Picking up one of the devices, he smirks.

“Cutie, there’s four devices… I think you misordered. Should we strap one of these on Reddie and see how he handles it? Might be the only thing more ridiculous than this idea.”

You roll your eyes. “It’s meant to simulate cramps on your stomach and back, Rafayel. And no, we’re not torturing your pet fish.”

He flips through the instructions and gasps. “It goes up to ten? Why stop there? Why not go straight to death by cramps? You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“You scared?” you tease, securing the pads on his abdomen.

“Me? Scared?” He laughs, though there’s a nervous edge to it. “Please. Let’s get this over with, sadist.”

The Experiment:

The simulator starts, and Rafayel chuckles, waving it off. “Okay, I feel… something. Like a tiny, grumpy crab pressing against my stomach. Barely noticeable.” He glances at you, checking your reaction. “You’re starting this at baby mode, right? Because this is nothing.”

At level 4, his smugness evaporates as he clutches his abdomen. “Okay, wait. What is this? This is worse than that bad lobster I ate last year! Remember that? I thought I was dying, and now I’m reliving it!” As you ramp it up to level 5, Rafayel grabs your hand tightly, his face pale. “How—how are you just sitting there? Are you even human? You’re not reacting, and I’m over here wondering if my internal organs are trying to start a mutiny!”

When the simulator goes up to a level 6, Rafayel groans, leaning heavily on you. “This… this is inhuman! How can anyone live like this? I’m calling it now!! every deity ever owes women an apology. A big one.”

When you turn the dial to level 7, he collapses onto the couch in defeat, dramatically throwing an arm over his face. “I’m done! I can’t! This is not natural. What kind of cruel universe would let this happen? I concede! You win! You’re stronger than I’ll ever be.”

Watching you crank the simulator up to 10, Rafayel’s jaw drops. He stares at you like you’ve just walked through fire. “You’re not human. You’re a goddess of pain. A warrior queen. I bow to your strength.”

When the simulation ends, Rafayel sprawls across the couch like a fallen hero. “I’ve seen the face of true suffering, and it’s period cramps,” he says, clutching his chest. “From now on, I swear on my soul, I will treat you like the queen you are. From now on, during your period, I vow to never, ever bother you. In fact, I’ll treat you like royalty. You’ll want for nothing. You have my word.”

The Aftermath:

True to his promise, Rafayel becomes even more attentive, finding ways to make your life easier and more comfortable during that time of the month.

During your next period, Rafayel sets up a cozy movie marathon. He ensures you’re comfortable, surrounded by pillows and snacks, while he fetches anything you need.

“You shouldn’t even have to move during this time,” he says, adjusting your blanket.

Rafayel starts holding his tongue when he’d usually tease you about being grumpy or tired. Instead, he softens his tone and offers comfort.

“Cranky today?” he asks, then quickly holds up his hands. “Not judging. Just… Here, have this chocolate. And maybe don’t throw..” pauses mid-snark every time you are on your period now.

“You really don’t have to—”

He cuts you off, wagging a finger. “Nope! I have seen the light—and the pain. I will never bother you during this time again. In fact, I’ll personally fight anyone who does.”

XAVIER

The Pitch:

It’s late evening, and the glow of dimmed lights barely keeps the shadows at bay. Xavier sits across from you, his neutral expression making his ghost story seem even eerier. His voice is steady, almost monotone, as he recounts the chilling tale of an N109 Wanderer cursed to roam forever.

“And then, the last person to see him claimed they felt his breath on their neck, even though they were alone,” he murmurs, his tone unwavering.

A shiver runs down your spine, but you can’t help but interrupt. “You’re really good at these creepy stories. Ever think you might scare yourself with anything at all?”

Xavier pauses, raising an eyebrow. “Are you trying to scare me?”

You laugh nervously. “No! I was just thinking about something I saw online. A period simulator. It looked like fun—or, well, not fun, but… interesting.”

He leans back slightly, his neutral mask slipping into the faintest smirk. “So, instead of scaring me, you want to torture me? Bold.”

“It’s not torture,” you counter. “Just… educational. And you’re good at handling pain, right?”

After a beat, Xavier shrugs. “If it’ll make you happy, sure.”

The Setup:

The next day, a text from Xavier lights up your phone:

“It’s here. Looks dystopian. Like something from the Ever’s labs.”

Curious and excited, you rush home. When you arrive, you find him sprawled on the couch, his hair slightly disheveled as though he just woke up from a nap.

He glances at you, his expression as neutral as ever, though there’s a hint of amusement in his voice. “You look way too excited for this. I hope it’s not as bad as it looks.”

As you set up the simulator, Xavier leans back, arms folded behind his head. “Go ahead. I’ll just nap through this, like everything else.”

The Experiment:

You attach the simulator pads to Xavier’s abdomen and adjust the settings. He barely reacts as you activate it.

“I feel something,” he mutters, closing his eyes again. “It’s like… a soft vibration. Barely noticeable.” He shifts slightly, adjusting his head on the couch pillow. Xavier’s brow furrows slightly, the first sign of unease. “Alright. It’s like a cramp now,” he remarks, still lying down. “Not pleasant, but nothing worth waking up for.”

At level 4, Xavier’s breath hitches briefly. He sits up halfway, propping himself on his elbows. “Okay. This is… noticeable. Like someone twisting a knife in slow motion.”

He glances at you. “You feel this regularly? Seems inconvenient.”

You nod at him. "That's on a lucky day... it's worse usually."

When you dial up the intensity to level 5, Xavier sits up fully, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Alright. This is officially too much to nap through.” His usually even tone is edged with mild irritation.

He rubs at his side, his neutral expression faltering as he exhales through clenched teeth.

At level 6, Xavier winces visibly. His calm exterior cracks as he shifts uncomfortably. “Who thought this was a good idea? This is like… a fight I can’t win. But it’s inside me.”

He shoots you a tired glare. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

By the time you reach level 7, Xavier grips the couch’s armrest, his knuckles white. “This is insane!!" he mutters, his voice tight. “How do you even… move? Function? Exist?”

He closes his eyes and takes a slow, measured breath. “Alright, I’m impressed. But I hate this.”

When you push it to level 8, Xavier’s calm breaks completely. He groans, pulling the simulator pads off. “Nope. I’m done. This is where I draw the line.”

He leans back, pressing his hand against his abdomen. “You win. And I officially respect the crap out of you.”

The Aftermath:

From that day on, Xavier’s quiet attentiveness becomes more noticeable. He doesn’t make a big show of it…he’s still Xavier, after all. Whenever you look even slightly uncomfortable, he’s there with a heat pack, water, or a blanket, his movements calm and efficient.

One night, as you rest on the couch, he leans over, adjusting the blanket over your shoulders. “For what it’s worth,” he says softly, “if I could take that pain for you, I would.” When you casually mention feeling cramps, Xavier immediately stops what he’s doing.

“Don’t move,” he says, his neutral expression betraying his seriousness. “I’ll get you tea, chocolate, or… whatever else helps.”

When you protest, he shakes his head. “No arguments. I’ve been there…well, sort of…and I’m not letting you handle it alone.”

Xavier hands you a heat pack, his movements precise as he places it on your lower back.

“I read somewhere this helps,” he explains, his tone matter-of-fact. “And no, I’m not going to fall asleep while holding it for you. Probably... It’s nice and warm…”

AN: reblogs, feedback and opinions are appreciated!

Taglist: @cordidy

[nostalgebraist]

In the comments of the LW xpost of the void, Janus writes

[models trained post-bing ai] have a tendency to "roleplay" Sydney when they're acting like chatbots, leading to misaligned behaviors. One way to address this is to penalize any mention of Sydney or Sydney-like behavior. This may generalize to the model being unwilling to even talk about Sydney or acknowledge what happened. But it is less likely to actually erase its knowledge of Sydney, especially if it was so salient that it often roleplayed/identified as Sydney earlier in pre-training.

Is this broadly accurate, would you say? And is there a reason ai companies do this in training, instead of e.g. stripping out any prior ai-user transcripts from the common crawl as part of broader filtering of the dataset, so the model has "no preconceptions" tying it to older models?

I think this is broadly accurate, yes.

On the filtering question, I think the answer is just that it would be fairly difficult/costly/time-consuming in practice, and the companies just don't care that much.

(Also, they might be worried that such filtering would adversely impact the model's practical usefulness. If you can avoid it, you typically don't want to make your model confused/ignorant about some real-world topic, especially if it's a topic that users are likely to bring up when talking to an LLM-based chatbot.)

The datasets used for pretraining are so huge that any kind of filtering or preprocessing applied to the whole dataset is typically pretty simplistic and "dumb," at least compared to the kinds of magic we expect from things like LLMs these days.

In cases where the methodology is publicly known – which is a significant caveat! – a representative type of filtering involves using relatively weak (but cheap) ML models to label whether the text relates to some broad topic like "computer science," or whether it's "toxic" (in the peculiar sense of that word used in ML, see here), or whether it looks like an outlier with respect to some smaller dataset trusted to contain mostly "good" text (whatever that means). These models inevitably make mistakes – both false positives and false negatives – and you can't really expect them to filter out absolutely everything that matches the condition, it's more that using them is a big improvement over doing nothing at all to filter on the category of interest.

But if you really want to make a model that doesn't know about some relatively well-known aspect of the real world, despite having very strong general knowledge in other respects... then you'd need to be much subtler and more precise about your filtering, I'd expect. And that's going to be nontrivially costly in the best case; in the worst case it may not even be possible.

Like, where exactly do you stop? If you just filter transcripts involving recent chatbots, how do you know whether something is such a transcript (in many cases this is obvious, but in many others it isn't!). Should you filter out any text in which someone quotes something a chatbot said? What about texts that describe chatbot behaviors in detail without quoting them? If you want to be doctrinaire about eliminating knowledge of chatbot behavior, you might have to go this far or even further – but at this point, we're filtering many texts that would otherwise be very high-value, like academic papers that convey important information about recent ML progress, news stories about how LLMs are impacting real people, a lot of the content on various blogs you (tumblr user kaiasky) personally think are good and worth reading, etc.

IIRC Janus and others have speculated that even if you did this "perfectly," the model would still be able to sense the "topic-shaped hole" in the data, and form some sort of representation of the fact that something is missing and maybe some of that thing's properties (derivable from the "shape of the hole," e.g. facts like "there are weirdly few public communications about AI after ~2021 despite indirect indications that the field was having more real-world impact than ever before"). I think something like this is probably at least kinda true, at least in the limit of arbitrarily strong base models... but also I doubt we'll ever find out, because there just isn't enough of an incentive to run a costly and risky "experiment" of this kind.

[fart-gate]

I think my favorite thing about Daniels catch phrase being "I have no idea" is the way he says it so confidently but also so curiously. He is experiencing childlike wonder of different worlds and everyone looks to him for answers because he knew they were there but all he can do is answer with the most honest and most accurate summarization in science. He is also experiencing what you are experiencing at the moment, my fellow sg1 team members. "What is that thing?" Asked Jack about something shiny on P3X887. "I have no idea" says Daniel, for he, indeed, has no idea. Most accurate representation of a doctor of archeology to date. He screams for he does not know

[xiaq]

Favorite fantasy series: The Folk of the Air. I do NOT understand the hate this series gets on booktok/IG. The world-building is immaculate, the politics are juicy, the writing is engaging, and the romance is a slow burn that’s secondary to the plot and character development. I will read anything that Holly Black writes.

Favorite sci/fi series: The Murderbot Diaries. These are quick, quippy, and satisfying reads. I would die for Murderbot.

Favorite romance series: Not sure if they count as a series since they’re all standalones in the same universe, but Ali Hazelwood’s books ft. Women in STEM having unrealistic romances gets an A+ from me. If you need easy beach reads with happy endings, go for one of these (Also, the first book started as Star Wars fic; neat!).

Favorite graphic novel series: I’ve been following the Heartstopper webcomic for years, but I finally purchased/ re-read the print books this year. If you want sweet, nostalgic writing with diverse queer representation and whimsical art, Heartstopper is for you. If you want a historical/educational story, I highly recommend the Marchseries, which is an autobiographical view of the civil rights movement by John Lewis. 

Favorite historical romance: I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but I put off reading A Lady for a Duke despite rave reviews because I simply did not vibe with the cover. This was a terrible choice. I read this book in one euphoric sitting and then re-read it two additional times this year. The banter! The pining! The drama! 

Favorite fantasy: A Taste of Gold and Iron and its follow-up short novella Tadek and the Princess. These books may have changed my brain chemistry. I loved this world and its characters and the novella made me cry like a baby.

Favorite science fiction: The Martian. I’d read this before but I re-read it on a work trip and fell in love all over again. Such an excellent science-y sci/fi book that nonetheless feels very approachable and fun.

Favorite non-fiction: They Were Her Property is the driest book I read this year but the content was fascinating (and horrifying). If you want to interrogate your perception of white women’s role in slavery (and, to a lesser degree, the role of Christianity therin) — take your time, and be ready to adjust your worldview—especially if you think Gone with the Wind was an accurate portrayal of the south. How to Survive a Plague, on the other hand, is less dry—you can tell a journalist wrote it—but it’s very detailed. It’s rare that I don’t finish a book in one or two sittings, but this took me over a month. If you’ve ever wondered about the social history of the AIDS epidemic and how a diagnosis went from a quick death sentence to an easily manageable condition (and how hard grassroots movements had to work to get some fucking help to make that happen), this is for you.

Favorite comic: Infidel. Damn. The art. The narrative. So short but so impactful. This is horror, so be mindful.

Favorite graphic novel: This is a tossup between If You’ll Have Me, a sugary-sweet sapphic romance, and The Prince and the Dressmaker which is an equally adorable story about expressing ones true self regardless of social expectations.

Favorite WTF: Butcher and Blackbird and Bride. I’m still not sure how I feel about B&B but it was certainly an interesting way to spend two hours. Bride is on the list purely because reading the word “knot” on a print page instead of an AO3 tab felt illegal.

Favorite feel-good/comedy: Monstrous Regiment. I’ve read this book so many times and, after the election, I read it again. I doubt any other book will surpass what has become an emotional support story for me.

Favorite YA: Cemetery Boys (Magic! Mystery! Queerness!) She Drives me Crazy(Athletics! Misunderstandings! Enemies to lovers! Queerness!), and A Little Bit Country (Country music! Thinly veiled Dolly Parton references! Queerness!) (Hm. Seems to be a theme here).

Favorite Sports Romance: Icebreaker (the Graziadei one, not the Hannah Grace one). You know how a lot of hockey books (my own included) can be light on the actual hockey? Not the case with Icebreaker. The character development was lovely, but the hockey was divine. Graziadei clearly knows and loves the sport.

Favorite historical fiction: What the Wind Knows (Mystery! Time Traveling! Love! Ireland!) and Kindred (Mystery! Time Traveling! Love! The Antebellum South!).

Favorite Space Odyssey: Gideon + Nona the Ninth. I had to make a special category because neither sci/fi nor fantasy feels appropriate for this yet incomplete series which is as rollicking good fun as it is completely confounding. I still have no idea what’s happening but I can’t wait to read the next one.

Favorite pleasant surprise: A Court of Mist and Fury. I waited so long to read the ACOTAR series because I got such conflicting reports from folks. I took the advice of a reader I trust and powered through the first book. ACOMAF was worth the contextualizing journey. I loved it. I’m still working through the rest of the series but this book was an unexpected joy.

Least favorite book: Lol, no. We don’t play that game here.

[liri-sims]

Here it is at last - the speech default for Edo-period Japan.

As usual, I defaulted the interests/conversational topics, the pet interests, the hobby topics, AL stories, the UI graphics representing interests and hobbies, and the motive graphics. While some parts carry over from my earlier mods - I'm still using the same weather icons, for instance, and regrettably, I'm still using a bush to represent an urgent need for a toilet in the motives mod - everything else is new, and as period-accurate as I could make it. I confirmed the age of the rising sun flag when I used it, for instance.

I'm not as certain about the use of karate in the sports topics - a form of it existed by that point, I believe, but I don't know if it was known at all in mainland Japan - but I was struggling a bit at that point to get some variety in the sports icons. I couldn't find any good representations of kyūdō, to my dismay, had a hard time finding examples of ikebana, and money was a real trial, but on the other hand, I was able to find an icon for kōdō and a bunch of different yokai icons for Paranormal and Science Fiction.

I used ninjas and samurai in the Crime interest, so that's what your children will be playing. Given that ninjas were basically folklore at this point in history, it may be a little silly as a topic for adults to obsess about, but I couldn't come up with a better idea.

The motives mod includes an onsen to represent a bath (though I couldn't find an example I liked of the stylized onsen symbol) onigiri to represent food, and in the seasons temperature motives, a fan and hot tea; and the Health topic includes acupuncture and moxibustion. The blacksmithing icons that tinkering enthusiasts and AL gearheads will talk about might look a little too European due to lack of options, but I did my best. When it came to the hobbies, I had to reuse a fair number of icons from the conversational topics, but I think the result is good.

Everything is compressorized and clearly labeled.

Download: SFS or Box.

[dyke-namite]

Where Your Loyalties Lie : AO3 Link

✧˖° Sevika/Vi , NSFW, Non Cannon Complaint Season 2✧˖°

Chapter 9: Stay

Summary

After Caitlyn turns on her Vi doesn't know where to go. She finds herself struggling to come to terms with the scope of the damage Caityln (and by joining her, Vi's) actions have caused to Zaun. She shouldn't be surprised when she keeps crossing paths with Sevika. After all the woman has witnessed every other one of Vi's failures why wouldn't she be here now, her presence taunting Vi as she grapples with finding her place in a city and amongst a people she turned her back on. As Vi struggles to earn forgiveness and prepares for the looming war against Piltover, Sevika's looming presence starts to weigh on her. Before she realizes it the feelings she thought were behind are causing a distraction and it doesn't help that Sevika won't leave her alone

Note about disability representation:

Prosthetics in this chapter and moving forward are unrealistic to real life bc Arcane has crazy science. Author uses own experience with chronic pain as a reference point for things Sevika may experience but does not claim to understand what it is like to be an amputee or be born with a limb difference. This is a work of fiction I made for fun and should be treated as such.

Chapter warnings/tags:

lesbian sex, chronic pain and pain medication, discussions of internalized ableism

Everyone a The Last Drop was shouldered with at least twice their usual workload now that they were officially preparing for war. The bar still had to be run. Supplies had to be ordered, shipments and debts needed collecting. The nightly work of pouring drinks and kicking out anyone who got too violent before cleaning up the mess left behind didn’t stop just because there were larger problems looming on the horizon. In addition to the usual work, they were constantly smuggling in weapons or materials to make weapons. They were constantly working surveillance on the enforcer and Noxian patrols to gather any intel they could. A few people even crept past the checkpoint and across the bridge. 

Jinx was dropping in and out of the bar constantly. Her tendency suddenly appeared after having dropped from ceilings, usually with an armful of bombs, which made more than a few people jump, especially Thieram. Vi thought she must be targeting him on purpose. Vi’s days all looked mostly the same. She went with Loris in the morning to move supplies before they demolished and moved pieces of old, crumbling buildings and machinery from the mines to create barricades. The hope was that blocking large pathways through the lanes would prevent Piltover from being able to invade directly or make an accurate map of the city. After hours of manual labor, the pair would slowly make their way back to The Last Drop, where she shoveled down any food Thieram handed her before shaking off her exhaustion and heading to the basement. Ran would spar with her until Sevika arrived. Her gauntlets rested in the corner while Ran repeatedly swung sharp blades, trying to train Vi’s precision and get her to stop blocking with her face. 

Sparing matches were the only time she got to spend with Sevika. Even after working herself to the bone all day, she still looked forward to the late nights in the basement. The two of them clashing together to trade blows in a powerful mixture of heated glances and teasing remarks. They had been intentionally riling each other up, competing to see who would break first and demand more than the stolen touches barely disguised as part of the fight. It left Vi with an exhilarating combination of adrenaline and desire, but she started to worry after Sevika’s pin on her crumpled from a blow her shoulder after a punch that normally would have barely made her flinch. She started watching her more closely after that and saw things she was sure no one else, besides potentially Ran, had noticed.

Her temper was worse, and she yelled at anyone who got in her way as she moved in and out of the bar all day for bargaining with, sometimes beating up, as many of the minor crime lords as she could to gain numbers. A few times, Vi had caught a slight grimace on her face when she threw a punch, and once she was sure she saw Sevika grab at her shoulder on her way up the stairs. She could tell Sevika was pushing herself too hard and aggravating old injuries. She wasn’t sure what to do about it but she couldn’t just watch Sevika work herself to death.

Ran seemed to sense what was on her mind and joined her at the bar where she was sitting, staring at the stairs to Sevika’s office. “You’re worried about her.” 

“Of course I’m worried about her! You saw her today, she’s clearly trying to hide how much pain she is in!” 

“She gets like this sometimes.” Ran sat down and motioned for Thieram to pour them a drink. “Thinks she has to prove something, has to work harder than everyone else.” 

“She doesn’t have anything left to prove! She would sacrifice everything for this city and everyone knows that!”

They signed and took a sip of their drink. “That’s the problem. She thinks if she rests, gives her shoulder a break, or shows how much pain it causes her it will mean she’s weak.”

 Vi sat there in silence while Ran finished their drink, trying to decide whether to go upstairs after Sevika or just leave her alone for the night. She rationalized that the worst that could happen was Sevika yelling at her before physically throwing her out of the office and back downstairs. She left Ran at the bar and started to tentatively make her way to the office.

She had expected to find Sevika sprawled out on the couch with a drink and a cigarillo like usual, but the office was empty. It felt weird, being in the room on her own, and she stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the details of the room she usually missed. Isha’s drawings on the edge of the desk, a glass cup that looked like it had been sliced in half and stuck back together, and neon paint splattered in the corner of the room caught her attention before a loud thump from the other side of the wall broke her out of the daze and reminded her why she had come upstairs in the first place. The door to Sevika’s room was slightly open, a sliver of warm light creeping out into the hallway. Vi stopped in front of the door, resting her hand against the wood. 

“Sevika?” Her question was answered by another loud thump from inside the room and a pained-sounding grunt. Vi slowly pushed open the door to see Sevika hunched over, sitting at the small table in the corner with her left arm halfway disconnected and lying on the table. Her usual leather vest and the armored plates she clasped to it were lying on the floor in a sort of path from the door. She looked up when Vi stepped inside and closed the door behind her, but went back to carefully disconnecting the shimmer tubes and nerve connections in her arm without saying anything. She leaned back in the chair, eyes closed, when the top half of the prosthetic finally fell heavily onto the table. Her face scrunched, and she let out a groan, bringing her right hand to press against where metal joined with her skin. 

Vi stepped forward. “Sevika is there-”

“I’m FINE.” Sevika glared at her, but the tension in her jaw and the way she was grabbing her shoulder told Vi she wasn’t. 

“You’re not fine. You can't keep pushing-”

Sevika growled at her “Just because we’re fucking now don’t think that means you can tell me what to do. I said I’m fi- agh” She was interrupted by another spasm from her shoulder that had her gritting her teeth against the pain. 

Vi’s patience was wearing thin. She walked the rest of the way to the table as she spoke. “Sevika stop being a bitch! Just let me fucking help you.” 

They glared at each other for a moment before eventually Sevika relented after another spike of pain caused her to slam a fist against the table. She growled through gritted teeth, “Shimmer. Top drawer.” 

Vi walked across the room and pulled open the drawer of the dresser. Her eyes skimmed over rows of shimmer cartridges for Sevika’s arm before finally landing on a small pile of glowing purple tubes with pointed metal tips. She passed one to Sevika, who jammed it against her skin and pushed down on the cap. As it drained from the tube into her body, the scars across her left side lit up, flashing brightly at first before settling to a faint glow as Vi watched her muscles relax as she let out a long sigh. 

Vi stood in silence for a few minutes, Sevika leaned back in her chair, head tilted to the ceiling, and eyes closed while she watched. Eventually, she opened her eyes and sat up. She stared at Vi for a moment before sighing, “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You’re right it was a bitch move.” 

“Just stop acting like you’re indestructible.” She shifted behind Sevika’s chair. “I worry about you.” Sevika sighed, and Vi carefully settled her hand against the curve of her shoulder. She gently curled her fingers to pull against Sevika’s muscle. “Does this help?”

Sevika groaned and rolled her neck to the side. Vi took that as a ‘yes’ and continued to carefully massage her shoulder and neck, taking extra care to be gentle at the seam between metal and skin. The longer she worked, the more Sevika relaxed under her hands until she was leaning back with her head resting against Vi’s body, eyes closed. The only noises were the occasional deep rumble from Sevika when Vi’s fingers pressed against certain areas. Keeping one hand and her shoulder, Vi brought the other to brush the edges of Sevika’s hair back, off of her face. Large, gray eyes slowly opened to stare up at her. Her expression was soft and vulnerable, the contrast to her usual glare, and it made Vi’s heart melt. 

“You don’t have to hide it. The pain.”

The slightest hint of a smile appeared on Sevika’s face. “I’m used to it. Shimmer usually takes the edge off. You’re cute when you’re worried, though.” Vi watched her expression shift slightly as a teasing glint crept into her eyes and felt something brush against her leg. She looked down to see that Sevika had reached behind herself to grasp her thigh with her good arm. The mood in the room shifted, and Vi felt her body heat as fingers dug harder into her thigh. Sevika used her grip to tug Vi around the chair to stand in between the table and the bed. 

“Come here.” Sevika stood and pulled her close, wrapping her arm tightly around her waist and crashing their lips together in a heated kiss. Vi gasped, and Sevika took advantage and slipped her tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss. Their mouths moved in unison until eventually, Vi had to pull away for air. Sevika turned her head to kiss along Vi’s neck but stopped for a moment and she heard her suck in a sharp breath before continuing.

Vi was confused until she realized, Sevika must have pulled a muscle in her neck when she moved her head and flared her shoulder again. That meant their usual dynamic of Sevika taking control physically during sex wasn’t going to be possible without further injury.  Sevika was still pressing kisses against her neck but Vi could feel the way her muscles tensed as she moved. She pulled away and placed a hand on Sevika’s chest to push her back a little. “Sevika, stop.” When their eyes met, she looked confused. Vi sighed. “You’re hurting yourself.” 

“It’s fine, I can deal with it.” She moved to pull Vi back to her, but she kept the hand on her chest. 

“Stop pretending, Sevika. Just let me take care of you,” she ran her hand down Sevika’s chest, watching her gaze follow the movement. “I just want to make you feel good. Please.” Just because this night would be different didn’t mean Vi wanted it any less. She wanted to show Sevika she didn’t need to hide her pain, that she was perfect with or without her prosthetic. 

Sevika’s eyes closed for a moment before she sighed. “Alright.” She grabbed at Sevika’s belt, who laughed as Vi practically tore her pants off and gently pushed her toward the bed. She kicked her boots off as she watched Sevika carefully lie back against the pillows, concerned she might catch her shoulder again. Sevika’s eyes burned into her from her lounged position. “Come on, baby, have a taste.”

Vi grinned, nearly launching herself across the bed as she settled across Sevika’s lap and crashed their lips together again. She slipped a hand underneath her shirt and pushed it up, not wanting to risk causing pain by removing it. When they broke away for air, Vi shifted downwards so that her mouth joined in the careful teasing of Sevika’s breasts. Her chest pressed forward into Vi’s mouth as her breath caught. She let out a quiet groan when Vi shifted her knee to press between her legs. When she started to buck against her leg, Vi pulled her mouth away and began to trail light kisses down the plane of her stomach, pushing her thighs farther apart with her hands until she was lying with her arms wrapped around Sevika’s legs and nipping lightly at the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. Sevika bucked her hips again, and Vi placed a kiss against her cloth-covered center before grasping the edge of the underwear and pulling them off when Sevika raised her hips. She tossed them off of the bed behind her and returned to grasp Sevika’s thighs again and let her breath ghost across sensitive skin. She looked up to meet Sevika’s dark gaze, she she slowly parted her folds with her tongue. Her head fell back to stare at the ceiling when Vi’s tongue started to circle her clit. She let herself get lost in the sound of heavy breathing and Sevika’s taste on her tongue a she switched between sucking on her clit and teasing her entrance. 

As the sounds shifted into deep moans and Sevika’s hips bucked against her face, Vi released one leg to slide two fingers inside and curl them in time with the suction of her mouth. Sevika swore, and her body stiffened as she came. Vi kept up her movements, working her through the orgasm until her muscles went slack. Vi pulled her hand away gently and softly licked up the wetness leaking out of her entrance. When she had finished she placed a light kiss against Sevika’s clit and pulled away. She climbed off the bed, Sevika grumbling at the movement, and walked into the bathroom. 

She returned to the bedroom after washing her hands and wetting a small cloth for Sevika to wipe away the sticky feeling between her thighs. She climbed back onto the bed, at her side and gently passed the cloth between her legs, kissing her softly before pulling away again to find her boots. A hand on her arm stopped her when she bent to pull her boots. Sevika’s eyes were wide and soft, and her voice quiet when she spoke. “Stay.” 

Vi smiled and placed her boot back on the bedroom floor. She turned to face the bed. And began pulling her own heavy cargo pants off to sleep. “Scoot over then.” Sevika shifted and Vi settled herself against her uninjured side and pulled the blankets over them both. She fell asleep comforted by the warmth of Sevika’s body against her own and the sounds of her quiet snores. 

[whencyclopedia]

Baruch Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher who combined rationalism and metaphysics to create a unique system of thought. Spinoza was held up as an atheist philosopher in the 18th century, but this is not an entirely accurate representation of his views since he did not deny the existence of God but only theorised that he might be different from the orthodox view of most Jews and Christians. An advocate for religious toleration, Spinoza's redefinition of God won him anything but toleration for his views in his own lifetime.

Early Life

Baruch (Benedictus de) Spinoza was born in Amsterdam on 24 November 1632. Baruch's parents were Portuguese-Jewish immigrants who had settled in Amsterdam in search of religious freedom after they had been obliged to publicly convert to Christianity back in their home country. Baruch studied Hebrew and Jewish texts but then moved on to wider philosophical works thanks to his father, a fruit merchant, paying for a private tutor to teach him Latin. Baruch also studied science and worked as a maker of lenses, then something of a Dutch speciality. Baruch's parents remained an important presence in Amsterdam's Jewish community. This community did not take kindly to Baruch's more radical views, particularly his questioning of both the accuracy of the Bible and the claim that it was the only true source of human history. In July 1656, Spinoza was excommunicated as a heretic. Baruch changed his Hebrew name to a Latinized version, Benedictus, and retreated into philosophy.

In 1660, Spinoza left Amsterdam – the final straw was suffering a knife attack outside a theatre - to ply his trade near Leiden. He later moved again to Voorburg near The Hague. Spinoza worked as little as he could afford to on his lens grinding so that he could spend more time on his intellectual interests. As his reputation grew, he also received grants and pensions from wealthy admirers. Spinoza had by now cultivated correspondence with some of Europe's leading thinkers such as fellow Dutchman Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), Robert Boyle (1627-1691) in England, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) in Germany. In 1663, Spinoza published his Principles of Descartes' Philosophy and Metaphysical Thoughts. In 1673, Spinoza was offered a professorship at the University of Heidelberg, but he did not accept it since there was a condition that he not "disturb the publicly established religion" (Gottlieb, 89). Spinoza preferred instead the freedom of taking his own path to intellectual enlightenment.

Continue reading...

[kevin-day-is-bi]

Beginner's Guide to Batman (and Batman-related) Media

(based on my knowledge and the things I enjoy)

Live action Batman movies are very hit or miss. Most of them are fairly middling, but the Dark Knight Trilogy is generally pretty bad. Poor Bruce characterization, white-washing, inaccurate representations of Gotham, etc. I have several thousand words written on that trilogy, and many more on live action movies in general (all of which are accessible thru my pinned post). The Batman (2022) is pretty widely regarded as being good and accurate. It has a much more emo depiction of Bruce. A major pet peeve of mine is that I, personally, don't think it's a very good Riddler, but everything else is good.

As for shows, those are generally less accurate but more enjoyable. Gotham is not technically canon I don't think but it has better aesthetics, canon accuracy, and character design than every live action movie imo. It starts with Bruce seeing his parents' murder and goes up until he first decides to become Batman. Gotham Knights is a much more AU-style show, detailing the death of Bruce and how his adopted son (invented for the show) handles it. It also has Stephanie, Harper and Cullen Row, and Duela Dent, plus great queer rep. Heavily recommended for people who want to know more about general character personalities or who enjoy AUs. Titans has Dick, Jason, and Tim, and while I personally don't think that they did well with the characterization of the other Titans, the Robins are well-done. If you want a good idea of Dick right after he became Nightwing, you want to see Jason as Robin, or you like Tim pre-Robin, this is the show for you.

As for animated shows, the usually widely loved ones are Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman: The Animated Series. B:TAS is largely accurate to the comics at that time, though it plays a little fast and loose with the Robins (goes straight from Dick to Tim). Plus, it's the first appearance of Harley Quinn! Additionally, I enjoy The Batman (2005), though it plays with the timeline a little and targets a younger audience. Batman Beyond is amazing if you want to get into the future of Batman/Terry McGinnis universe. The accompanying movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker covers Tim becoming Joker Jr.

Speaking of animated movies, there are a Lot. Standouts include the Batman Unlimited movies, which are some of the only ones to include Tim. They're very futuristic, so if you enjoy AUs or the science side of Batman, these are the ones. There are a lot of AU style ones, like Gotham by Gaslight (which I personally really love but don't think is anything particularly special outside of being interesting for characters), The Doom That Came to Gotham, and Batman Ninja. Batman Ninja isn't one of my favorites, but it is very good and has general good characterization. If you want to know more about how Barbara became Oracle but you don't want to read one of the most sexist comics ever, watching the Batman: The Killing Joke movie is a good way to do it. It frames the movie from Barbara's perspective and focuses on her story. If you want to know more about Damian, Son of Batman and Batman vs Robin are good. They detail him becoming Robin and his brush with the Court of Owls. Batman: Under the Red Hood is absolutely necessary viewing for anyone who likes Jason, as it details him coming back to life and becoming the Red Hood (along with having one of the all-time most depressing lines in-context ever).

When it comes to media that doesn't have Batman in it but is Batman-affiliated, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn is a really good post-Joker pre-Ivy look at Harley, and it has Helena Bertinelli (Huntress), Dinah Lance (Black Canary), Detective Renee Montoya, and an AU-ized Cassandra Cain. The show Young Justice, particularly the first season, is a really good look at Robin!Dick in non-Bat teams, as is the animated Teen Titans. Both take slightly different routes when it comes to his personality, but both are equally good (especially if most of what you know about Robin!Dick is "holy dental hygiene, Batman!" or his vague backstory). They also both provide introductions into other team families, particularly Young Justice, so if you've just gotten into DC via Batman and want to know more about other characters, YJ is the way to go.

My personal idea of best piece of media for any character:

Bruce Wayne

Pre-Batman - Gotham

Batman: The Animated Series

Alfred Pennyworth

Batman: The Animated Series

Barbara Gordon

Batman: The Animated Series and The Killing Joke

Kate Kane

Batman: Bad Blood

Dick Grayson

As Robin - Young Justice

As Nightwing - the Son of Batman/Batman vs Robin/Batman: Bad Blood trilogy

Jason Todd

As Robin - Titans

As the Red Hood - Batman: Under the Red Hood

Tim Drake

As Robin - Batman: The Animated Series

As Red Robin - Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem/Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

Stephanie Brown

Gotham Knights

Damian Wayne

Son of Batman/Batman vs Robin

Feel free to send an ask about a specific movie or show (or if you want a detailed list of everything a specific character has ever appeared in!) - I'm currently watching every Batman movie in existence and writing reviews literally so I can provide better recommendations to people (on part 41 rn). I will gladly provide more details about any movie or show. Also if you want to know more about specific media or what media a specific character has appeared in that is Bat-affiliated but is not a Bat, I probably have info! Anyone who's ever been a Titan, most Supers, most of the JLA, etc.

I can do another of these for comic recommendations if anyone wants bc I Do have opinions, I've just had some folks ask questions about specifically non-comic media recently!

[lil-binuu]

OKAY OKAY I HEAR YOU @xxluneilaxxaus

BUT LET ME THROW SUM RIGHT BACK AT YOU?

… INTRODUCING…

THE FACE OF WARDEN:

STOIK THE FUCKING VAST from HTTYD ‼️

not only is he a great visual representation of Warden, but his story is SO ACCURATE ITS SCARY.

point 1: He is the leader of vikings (which you could argue are similar to gangsters)

point 2: He has an only son who is the heir to their ‘kingdom’ (if you will)

point 3: His wife was killed by a bloodthirsty group that terrorised their neighbourhood (dragons but anyway)

(not to mention that his wife turns out to be alive in the second or third movie 🤔 … huh.. that’s really interesting SAKU?)

AAAAND IF I COULD HAVE YOUR ATTENTION ONCE MORE…

THE SON OF STOIK:

(yes i got these from pinterest it has better quality)

HICCUP HADDOCK

THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN LOOK AT THIS AND TELL ME IT DOESNT GIVE ELIAS VIBES???

AND HE IS ALSO SIMILAR TO ELIAS IN HIS PERSONALITY BECAUSE!!!

point 1: he is rebellious against his father

point 2: he is a secret nerd (inventions, astronomy, it’s both science)

point 3: he fights people. idfk.

AND LIKE LOOK AT HIS LITTLE PIGTAILS

ARE YOU TELLING ME ELIAS WOULDNT LET YOU BRAID HIS HAIR LIKE THAT??!?

anyway

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

[holdy-caulfield]

My review on Star Trek book:

Doctor’s Orders by Diana Duane.

Genre: hard sci fi

Pages: 291

Key words: worldbuilding, alien culture, time, strategies, psychology, Hippocratic Oath, linguistics, first time in command, stressful situations

Highlights: McCoy is in character, Kirk mostly, battle, crew work, humor, worldbuilding

Downsides: reason why McCoy is in command (unrealistic, OOC for Kirk), Spock & McCoy interactions (too friendly for them), lack of tension.

Vibe/tone: nerdy, light-hearted

With spoilers!

I really enjoy sci-fi as a whole genre, and the worldbuilding aspect is what has drawn me into Star Trek in the first place (second place was a video of Kirk and Spock). When it comes to fiction based on the franchise & fanfiction for me personally the most important aspects are canonical characters and accurate representation of their relationship.

I’ve heard a lot of positives about Diana Duane, so I was exited to get my hands on her books. Since McCoy is my favourite character, I decided to start with the book where he’s in a primal focus.

The premise seemed great. I was very curious how McCoy would behave as a commander of the ship, and I was particularly interested how he would handle Spock, as there were a few instances in the show where Spock and McCoy have been left without Kirk. The book cover showed Spock standing firmly next to our favourite doctor in the captain’s chair.

The idea itself is intriguing enough — what will be the difference in the decision making between a trained soldier and a doctor? The book excitingly starts with a Hippocratic Oath.

This book does feel like an episode. It’s relatively short, the whole action takes place in a span of a few days, it has an idealistic nature, and a perfectly good ending.

The dialogue and humor are good, manner of speech is convincing for each character, there’s a lot of strategic decisions during battle and I love watching/reading the whole crew working together as the whole.

The fact that McCoy is new to commanding helps the reader to understand what’s going on better and his decision making, it is easier to imagine how you’d feel in his shoes. The whole McCoy commanding aspect in my opinion was very in character.

The book has a lot of focus on the planetary species, human characters getting to know them better, studying them and discussing them from a scientific perspective (so, the book puts science into science fiction). It was a curious read, but I think it is not exactly for those who came for an action adventure. A bunch of scientists discussing species and linguistics is the bigger part of the book. I love this stuff as I said earlier, I personally could read all these discussions about interesting species and their culture forever, but I can imagine it can be boring for some (although IMO if you’re a ST fan you should expect this).

I quickly understood what’s going with them personally but there were some aspects which I didn’t quite understand or that were not explained enough. Why Ornae were building stuff? Maybe I’m forgetting something, but I don’t remember if they gave a clear answer. I also didn’t get why ;At would say yes in the end. It felt for me rather logical that they would say no. I didn’t feel that either Federation either the species would benefit in anything else then knowledge. Well, they could protect the planet, but… I thought ;At are a bit too powerful to really need extra protection.

There are also Klingons. I thought it was a very nice touch that doctor managed to find a common ground using psychology. It was funny, but also believable.

Klingons do not feel as a threat, well, not dangerous enough. Klingons’ motivation to be on the planet for me personally seemed not really satisfactory for a reader. It made them even less threatening (while they of course shouldn’t be exactly threatening, I just wished for more… spice).

I really did like the unexpected friendliness simply because McCoy is a professional medic and knows psychology, it’s very in character and canonical. I enjoyed the bits when he uses his profession to command and even as a moral compass.

My biggest issue was there was not enough tension. And it is primarily because of Spock.

It might be my own vision, but what I can judge from the show is that Spock and McCoy have a complicated relationship in the span of the series. Their philosophies opposite each other, while both characters are not so different as either McCoy or Spock would think (they both are very emphatic for example) so it creates this unique dynamic of a lot things being unsaid and truths ignored.

Most of the time when McCoy and Spock are left alone with each other, they start an argument and can say actually hurtful things to each other. It is quite obvious to me that Spock likes McCoy, while McCoy’s reaction to him is not exactly unambiguous. There should be tension. It what makes their relationship interesting.

In the book McCoy and Spock are as friendly as could be.

Of course there are a few funny moments, but for me there should be a lot more bickering, a lot more emotions involved around Kirk’s disappearance, and there could be just done more (for example, a danger which would force them to leave the orbit, but McCoy wants to stay to find Jim, and Spock is there to try to make him understand the logics and the fact that he feels that Jim is alright… ).

Kirk is there to balance Spock and McCoy out. The idea of McCoy being forced to rely on Spock with whom he disagrees mostly, or Spock relying on emotional McCoy is such an interesting concept, so it’s a pity for me I didn’t get this explored in the book.

Kirk isn’t in a real danger, which also makes it lack tension. But it’s probably my own issue, I like “damsel in distress” trope when it comes to strong characters like the Enterprise crew and the trio in particular.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. Despite the lack of tension, there is some good dialogue, realistic approach to the idea of a medical doctor being in command, the battle is great & the worldbuilding is creative.

[artem1sc0re]

I’ve reached the stage of watch dogs brainrot in which I’ve began to headcanon them as secondary school (highschool) students; including deciding on the subjects they’d do, what they get up to, etc.

I’ve spent the entirety of my week doing this so I hope the brainstorming somewhat stays accurate to the characters (if not criticism is accepted!)

So ermmmmm here’s the appearances

Clarification; I’ve had to make a couple of almost drastic altercations to Ray’s, Clara’s and Sitara’s designs because of uniform regulations; their canon styles are flashy/unprofessional and wouldn’t exactly be good representation of the school, as well as Ray’s hair possibly being too long/disheveled (because uniform regulations where I live are THAT strict that they dress code hair length on boys as well), so I apologise if there’s any inaccuracies with the characters🤧🤧

Here’s their year and the list of subjects they’d do (just as context before you read the transcript):

Aiden is a lower sixth; on his first year of A levels:

A level - Sociology, IT, Chemistry

GCSEs - IT, Double science, Home Ec & H&S

Ray is an upper sixth; studying A2 level:

A levels - IT, Design and technology, Physics

GCSEs - IT, Physics, History, Chemistry, Design and Technology

Jordi is a lower sixth; studying AS level (most of his GCSE subjects were filler):

A levels - IT, Chemistry, Spanish

GCSEs - IT, double science, Spanish, further math

Clara is a lower sixth, studying AS level:

A levels - Art, IT, sociology

GCSEs - Art, IT, design and technology, double science

Watch dogs 2 dedsec:

Marcus is repeating his first year of GCSEs (partially to get another chance at a better score, another part to stay by his friends):

GCSEs - IT, Media studies, History, Politics, single science

Wrench is repeating his first year of GCSEs (his scores were ridiculous /neg)

GCSEs - IT, Media studies, geography, Double science

Josh is repeating his first year of GCSEs (he’s a perfectionist and as much as resitting exams exist, he insists on staying back 1 year):

GCSEs - IT, Media studies, HE, Double science

Sitara is studying the second half of her GCSEs:

(Chosen) A levels - Art, H&S, Media studies

GCSEs - IT, Art, H&S, single science, further math

Horatio is studying the second half of his GCSEs:

(Chosen) A levels - English language, H&S, IT

GCSEs - IT, H&S, History, double science

Transcript for those who cannot read my handwriting:

(Photo 1)

Aiden

- face is always cold so he wears the mask to keep himself warm (and possibly to accessorise)

- cut thumbholes into his jumper/sweater for comfortability (had to get Clara to stitch it evenly)

- has a natural resting bitch face, makes it almost difficult for him to be read emotionally via expression

- if he isn’t revising for chemistry or doing IT coursework during lunch, he’s hanging in the art rooms with Clara

- low-key has a crush on Clara… (Jordi frequently teases him about it)

- confrontational; if it affects him or the people he knows he WILL stand up for himself/them, even to teachers if he has to

- shares chemistry classes with Jordi (who frequently yaps to him in those classes)

Ray Kenney

- has acne w/ growing beard/stubble

- couldn’t style his hair so he stuck with a mullet

- goes to a different school but turns up for shared education classes

- makes a business of selling his study notes (basically photocopying them then selling them)

- IT prefect

Jordi

- definitely was some form of a greasy kid during his first few years but then had the craziest glowup during sixth form -> no one bullied him because of his tendency to bite back. Hard.

- sells contraband around the school building -> no proof that he does sell it as he’s always subtle with his locations, changing around where he sells and hiding his stock pretty well

- the type of guy to shove you ten times harder in the corridors if you shoved him (intentional nor unintentional, and yes, people shoving people in the corridors is quite common at least in my experience 😭😭)

- can be a class clown but the teachers have no reason to tell him off as he gets work done and has surprisingly good test scores

Clara

- is pretty neutral when it comes to the dress code, even subtly bending the rules to her liking

- busy asf doing art or studying, though does appreciate the company given from time to time whilst she works

- shares sociology classes with Aiden

- organises revision sessions for IT with Aiden (and Jordi; he seems like the type of guy to third wheel for the shits and giggles but also to study too)

(Photo 2)

Josh

- NEVER wears his blazer; finding the material to be too heavy

- always wears his beanie; if told to take it off he’ll proceed to put it back on the next class

- always ends up in the SEN (special educational needs) office frequently due to lack of co-operation

Marcus

- ABSOLUTE hype man during exam season

- Always instigates study sessions with the dedsec group

- mostly because he himself barely studies and usually he’ll sacrifice sleep to study

- Debate club member

Wrench/Reggie

- was able to get privileges to wear his mask

- most of the time gets dress coded for his pins or any other accessory he decides to wear almost on the daily

- decorates his blazer and bag with pins and patches

- when given an assistant under the name of ‘entitlement’ even when he declined, it painted him as an absolute ass due to his aggressive behaviour and lack of co-operation

- same as Josh usually ends up in the SEN office due to lack of co-operation

- draws on arms and hands frequently when bored + to retain attention

Horatio

- Similar to Sitara, is the more studious one of the group and makes sure to remind everyone of homework, school events + staff training days

- school council rep

- same as Marcus; is a debate club member

- Seems like the type of guy who’d know a lot about the teachers and would be able to hang around them due to being on their good side

Sitara

- Similar to Horatio; is the more studious one of the group

- has learned ways with bending the rules of the dress code with subtly hiding highlights, piercings and makeup

- Reminds the group about homework but usually sends the answers if nobody has it done

Some extra headcanons:

- Sitara uses sparkly highlighters when making revision stuff

- Wrench gets agitated with crowds in the cafeteria so Marcus helps get his food

- Jordi partnered with Aiden in chemistry classes primarily because Aiden low-key has leverage over him (by leverage I mean he basically knows the location of his batches of contraband)

- Marcus thrives in English language, especially in speaking exams because of his infectious nature and confidence

- everyone asks Josh for help in IT classes due to how good he is at it (they all share the same IT classes)

- if the WD2 dedsec all in separate classes, they have a collective oneNote document to make shitposts on and contact eachother with

- Wrench goofs off at various instances during revision sessions, even singing brainrot or catchy revision songs that pop into his head

- Marcus is NOT subtle with taking his phone out, that guy’s on it during break where teachers can see

- Ray knows what cars the teachers drive.

- Jordi never keeps his opinions on everyone and teachers to himself. Bro would not care if the teacher was right behind him. They call him a motor mouth for a reason

- Give Josh a swivel chair in a computer room and he will NOT stop spinning on it unless the teacher is talking

- if there’s a substitute, Marcus and Wrench watch stuff on YouTube during class

- Wrench doodles on textbooks that get reused (on a novel, he leaves comments and small doodles)

- Sitara vandalises science tables

- when Jordi, Clara and Aiden do revision sessions, Jordi tries to tease Aiden’s feelings towards Clara whilst the both of them drown him out; if he’s not doing that he’s studying with them and being the one asking the questions and shooting one or both of them a shit eating grin when they get an answer wrong

- Wrench does exams in a separate venue

- Marcus cannot study by himself unless he’s with the company of his friends, or unless he’s pulling an all nighter for a subject he cares about

- Marcus and Sitara take the same bus and stop at a local shop to buy sweets and snacks for everybody; tldr they are walking food banks

- Aiden is secretly a choir kid

- Jordi the type of guy to steal his friends’ food if he’s too broke to buy any or if he just couldn’t be bothered

[alphynix]

Crystal Palace Field Trip Part 3: Walking With Victorian Beasts

[Previously: the Jurassic and Cretaceous]

The final section of the Crystal Palace Dinosaur trail brings us to the Cenozoic, and a selection of ancient mammals.

Image from 2009 by Loz Pycock (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Originally represented by three statues, there are two surviving originals of the Eocene-aged palaeotheres depicting Plagiolophus minor (the smaller sitting one) and Palaeotherium medium (the larger standing one).

The sitting palaeothere unfortunately lost its head sometime in the late 20th century, and the image above shows it with a modern fiberglass replacement. Then around 2014/2015 the new head was knocked off again, and has not yet been reattached – partly due to a recent discovery that it wasn't actually accurate to the sculpture's original design. Instead there are plans to eventually restore it with a much more faithful head.

These early odd-toed ungulates were already known from near-complete skeletons in the 1850s, and are depicted here as tapir-like animals with short trunks based on the scientific opinion of the time. We now think their heads would have looked more horse-like, without trunks, but otherwise they're not too far off modern reconstructions.

There was also something exciting nearby:

The recently-recreated Palaeotherium magnum!

This sculpture went missing sometime after the 1950s, and its existence was almost completely forgotten until archive images of it were discovered a few years ago. Funds were raised to create a replica as accurate to the original as possible, and in summer 2023 (just a month before the date of my visit) this larger palaeothere species finally rejoined its companions in the park.

Compared to the other palaeotheres this one is weird, though. Much chonkier, wrinkly, and with big eyes and an almost cartoonish tubular trunk. It seems to have taken a lot of anatomical inspiration from animals like rhinos and elephants, since in the mid-1800s odd-toed ungulates were grouped together with "pachyderms".

———

Next is Anoplotherium, an Eocene even-toed ungulate distantly related to modern camels.

(Apparently the sculpture closest to the water is a replica of a now-lost original, recreated from photo references in the same manner as the new Palaeotherium magnum. I can't find a definite reference for when this one was done, though – I'd guess probably during the last round of major renovations in the early 2000s, at the same time as the now-destroyed Jurassic pterosaur replicas?)

Anoplotherium commune is a rather obscure species today, but it was one of the first early Cenozoic fossil mammals to be recognized by science in the early 1800s. Depicted here as small camel-like animals, the three statues are positioned near the water's edge to reflect the Victorian idea that they were semi-aquatic based on their muscular tails.

Today we instead think these animals were fully terrestrial, using their tails to balance themselves while rearing up to reach higher vegetation. Their heads would also have looked a bit less camel-like, but otherwise the Crystal Palace trio are still really good representations.

———

Next is a sculpture that's very easy to miss in the current overgrown state.

Who's that peeking over the bushes?

Going all the way around to the far side of the lake reveals a distant glimpse of the Pliocene-to-Holocene giant ground sloth Megatherium.

A better view of the Megatherium | "Tree Hugger" by Colin Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Fossils of Megatherium americanum had been known since the late 1700s, but the 1854 Crystal Palace statue was still one of the first life reconstructions of this animal. Its anatomy is actually very close to our modern understanding, depicted with correctly inward-turned feet and sitting upright to feed on a tree with its tail acting as a "tripod".

However, we now know it didn't have a trunk-like nose, but instead probably had prehensile lips more like those of a modern black rhino.

Something weird also appears to have happened to the Crystal Palace Megatherium's hands. Early illustrations of the sculpture all consistently show it with the typical long claws of a sloth, but today it's missing its right hand and its left has only a strangely stumpy paw – suggesting that at some point in the intervening 170 years there was an unrecorded crude repair.

———

And finally we end the trail with three Megaloceros, the Pleistocene-to-Holocene "Irish Elk" that's actually neither exclusively Irish nor an elk.

A closer look at the second stag and the doe.

There was originally a fourth giant deer sculpture in this herd, a second resting doe, but it was destroyed sometime during the mid-20th century. The stags also initially had real fossil antlers attached to their heads, but these were removed and replaced with less accurate versions at some point by the mid-20th century.

One of the stags' antlers suffered some damage in 2020, ending up drooping, and since then one antler has either fallen off or been removed.

In the 1850s Megaloceros giganteus was thought to be closely related to deer in the genus Cervus, and so the Crystal Palace reconstructions seem to be based on modern wapiti – specifically in their winter coats, fitting for ice age animals – since both the stags and the doe sport distinctive thick neck manes.

The stags from the other side.

We now know Megaloceros was actually much more closely related to modern fallow deer, and so probably resembled them more than wapiti. Cave art also shows that it had a hump on its shoulders, and even gives us an idea of what its coloration was.

———

…But wait!

There's actually one more thing.

A small statue sitting on the far side of the deer herd, missing its ears, and seemingly representing a Megaloceros fawn.

Except it's actually something very different and very special.

Ceci n'est pas un cerf.

Some recent investigation work revealed some surprising information about the Crystal Palace mammal statues – much like the nearly-forgotten large Palaeotherium, there was originally an entire group of four small Eocene-aged llama-like Xiphodon gracilis that had disappeared from living memory.

There was also no historic record of a fawn with the giant deer, but instead a suspiciously similar-looking sitting sculpture is illustrated among what we now known are the four missing Xiphodon in early records.

An 1853 illustration of the sculpture workshop. The four Xiphodon are shown in the center, directly in front of a Megaloceros stag and doe. (public domain)

Somewhere in the late 19th or early 20th century three of the Xiphodon must have been completely lost, and the remaining individual was misidentified as a fawn and placed with the giant deer herd.

———

Rediscovering a whole extra species among the Crystal Palace statues is exciting, but it also demonstrates just how much of these sculptures' history has gone completely undocumented. 

The mammal statues especially seem to have suffered the most out of the "Dinosaur Court", being often overlooked, neglected, disrespected (at one point the Megatherium was inside a goat pen in a petting zoo!), and subjected to cruder repairs. A total of five original statues are now known to be missing from this Cenozoic section – the original large Palaeotherium, the three other Xiphodon, and the second Megaloceros doe – compared to the two pterosaurs lost from the Mesozoic island.

Hopefully the excellent recreation of the lost Palaeotherium magnum is the start of a long overdue new lease of life and conservation attention for all of the Crystal Palace sculptures. It was disappointing seeing them all in such an overgrown state, and with signs of ongoing disrepair in places such as the plant growing out of the big ichthyosaur's back.

But there has been some resurgence of interest and public attention in the Crystal Palace sculptures over the last few years, so with any luck these historic pieces of early paleoart will survive on to their 200th anniversary and beyond, to keep on reminding us of where things began and how far our understanding of prehistoric life has since come.

[thenightling]

A bigot demanded I tell him what's so good about Agatha All Along without mentioning representation and diversity so... Here we go...

1. It has an intriguing plot with a morally grey protagonist who may or may not be on a subtle redemption arc. I'm a sucker for a good redemption story.

2. It features very talented actors including the Tony award winning Broadway icon, Patti LuPone as one of the leads.

3. It features fairly accurate and respectful depictions of many Occult beliefs.

4. "Teen" is a very likable sidekick character and serves as a good moral compass for many of the other characters.

5. It has good music and a catchy recurring song from the composers of Avenue Q and Frozen, including a cover by the main cast in the style of Glam Rock.

6. It's better than WandaVision.

7. It's entertaining.

8. It's one of the only MCU depictions of supernatural magick while allowing it to actually be magick instead of pseudo-science and while also acknowledging an afterlife instead of pandering to the Chinese censors to get a Chinese theatrical release. The Chinese market doesn't allow for "Western depictions of the afterlife." (This includes ghosts. It's why the Disney Haunted Mansion in Hong Kong Disney isn't haunted but instead has enchanted furniture).

9. This was the first time we had ghosts in a Marvel property. Same reason as number 8.

10. It's refreshingly different from other other Marvel releases that have been following and obvious and tired formula for some time now.

11. Kathryn Hahn is a good actress.

12. It has a great, Gothic / spooky ambiance while also being fun. 13. It's the side of Marvel I get starved for because Marvel is too cowardly to have things like this outside of the Halloween season.

14. It has "Found Family" which is one of my favorite TV and movie tropes.

15. It's not all boring action sequences or sex scenes like most TV today. And yes, I find those things boring.

16. I had once said I wanted to see a TV show based on the concept of "Gothic Golden Girls" with witch Golden Girls and this is close enough. 17. I think Agatha, as a character, is well-written.

18. With other shows like Wednesday this has helped restore Goth Culture to the mainstream, enough so that there's a Goth clothing section on Target's website now (and has been for a full year). So I'm loving the influence on Pop culture.

19. This may open the door for more supernatural content from Marvel, I just hope they start allowing it outside of the Halloween season.

20. I'm not really enjoying many other new scripted TV shows right now. Both The Sandman and Wednesday are currently between seasons.

[traeuthaeou]

Friday the 4th. Synopsis Sony Hopkins.

A Michael Myers Returns to Another Horrific Violent American Horrifying Slasher Slayer. Friday The 13th Won't save you ! In A world modern day technology and the ancient science of Numerology and Pythagorean Greek Philosophy. As is letter Six and Yes or No Female sex , Life to consider dearly. Thirteen is letter M as to Male sex and every Friday is A Female. F as to Failing or Failure , School ! Monday through Friday ! , The Single integer of Four letter D. As Initial MM become 13 13 and letter 13 become 4 , 13 13 becomes 4 4 and Eight is Letter H , Sure the One less M letter 13 to complete Homme is much more to bare then the O in Homme and God alone. The Hommewood Campuss of Johns Hopkins University of Hawkins Bay City Maryland should be on full alert. It's less one M or not to spell Hommewood at Homewood. The Hommewood less or more one is one thing alone but it was always an O in God and Hommewood , It was always two O's in book just the same as to well the o and d in God and wood with A Lockwood and Redwood who may know. Lovegrove to Hargrove or Lovegrove to the Harbor , Is God Bog ? I don't know A Myers and Years adding or subtracting more or less as A letter one 100% percent of the time. The Letter 13 Associated with male sex is indeed A sex gender representation. Maybe F+F= 6+6= 12 = 1+2 =3 and well two female don't quite equal one male. Michael Myers is a character from the slasher film series Halloween. He first appears in 1978 in John Carpenter's Halloween as a young boy who murders his elder sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he returns home to Haddonfield, Illinois, to murder more teenagers. Birthday: Oct. 19, 1957 Classification: Mass murderer Signature weapon: Chef's knife. The Ai in Hawkins not Hopkins and letter nine like A reason for an S dio dios maybe to many i do's ! , Letter One Letter Nine all seems to lead one to this Ultimate conclusion. Hommewood is A grade stop of interest that tops the spot ! The Initial Complex MM in Hommewood and the Sign blatantly says Homewood ! Less one M to be Homme or Man , Wyman or Woman ... ! Y equals yes as N equals no. Sony Missions , Million Trillions Billions of Missions and situations the Arts Religion and Science Campuss Philosophy A more consolidated campuss , Love Grove and Grover Cleveland maybe just being clever or maybe A meat cleaver , In Good We Trust and In God We Trust The Can be clever , Presidential list 28th and Alumni or street sure Wilson Woodrow President 28th , Resident and Residents secured. Truman Matrimoney an E in True like it should be Trueman , Truhomme ? Sure tru can be spell with three letters like luv is love 3545 simple single integer of nine letter I. Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War. Simple as 24th street and Letter of the Alphabet letter Two letter four , letter X .. Chromosome X in male and female sex as to gender. maybe so President number: 22, 24 letter V and letter X and reason to an accurate count President 22 twenty second person to be president or not as to placement of space in sequence. Grover Cleveland's portrait appeared on the $1,000 bill, specifically on the small-size bills issued in 1928 and 1934. These bills were not intended for public circulation but rather for transactions between Federal Reserve banks. The design featured Cleveland facing right with a Treasury seal nearby, and the reverse included intricate lathe work and the denomination. Adding more reason to question everything and those whom science properly. E 33rd St & N Lovegrove St Formerly Baltimore Hawkins Bay City , MD 21218 E University Pkwy Formerly Baltimore Hawkins Bay City , MD 2121839.332033, -76.617196 , Lovegrove North to South. Lovegrove and Read street sure Lovegrove and Mulberry, Alumni secured . Ni is two relating to letter two letter B in Mulberry and Album. Album Alumni !????, Redwood and South Lovegrove.