#build a second brain

[thefinemen]

Feed the Monster: High-Speed Knowledge Absorption for Ruthless Growth

Feed the Monster: High-Speed Knowledge Absorption for Ruthless Growth Tagline: In a world drowning in distraction, the most dangerous man is the one who learns faster than the rest. Acharya Chanakya didn’t conquer with weapons. He conquered with intelligence. In today’s world, the battlefield has shifted from the ground to the mind. The men who outlearn their enemies, outlead the market.…

[kit-screams-into-the-future]

another post for @bttfjanaury! this one's @itsthemorph's mermarty au and very predictably i got carried away with it LMAO.

yap session and bonus stuff below the cut:

once again i came up with an entire backstory for this au, and if i were a fanfiction writer i would genuinely consider writing it since it's a lot less visually comedic than the weredoc au (and comedic in general, it's played a little straighter than "man turns into dog and is thoroughly inconvenienced by it") (unfortunate [in reference to visuals] bc i enjoy drawing mermarty a great deal more than weredoc GBJKGJ) bc i really like the premise but i'm pretty bad at fleshing out a narrative in enough detail to last the whole story so bullet points it is:

doc has decided to take a break from his time-travel-related research and go on vacation! the fresh coastal air might jostle a couple ideas into place, and while he is a nuclear physicist and not a marine biologist he wouldn't mind checking out some of the local aquatic life

and by local aquatic life he meant like normal fish and stuff. a nice mollusk or two even. so when he ends up fishing an entire boy out of the water instead he's understandably very shocked

before doc can move past the "where did he come from??" thought to register his more fish-like qualities, the boy makes a run (a swim?) for it. fortunately or unfortunately for doc, he ends up being able to register the fish-like qualities after all since he gets dragged into the water along with him. the moment doesn't last too long, though, and the fish-boy is gone as soon as doc realizes the guy has a fish tail instead of legs

doc gets back on the dock (haha), thinks about the whole ordeal for a bit, and decides that the best course of action is just to assume he hallucinated the whole thing in a fit of heatstroke or something like that. he's here to relax and get his thoughts in order so he can continue working on his time machine! there's no time to investigate fairy-tale creatures or whatever supposedly living off the coast of california!

it's not shown in the comic but i imagine doc has a little portable radio next to him as he was fishing, so some time passes before he catches a glimpse of something shining in the water underneath the dock

he looks through the cracks in the dock and lo and behold, it's the same boy from earlier! doc greets him, and the boy immediately disappears under the water. doc thinks he's scared him off until a few minutes later where he pokes his head out and says hi back

they get to chatting and doc learns a couple things:

1. his name is marty!

2. he was trying to get doc to realize that he forgot to put bait on his hook but got his hand caught on it, and was trying to get his hand unstuck from the hook without ripping it open before doc ever had the chance to see him, which he obviously failed at

3. both the being seen and ripping his hand open, because in his haste to get away after being seen by doc he ended up doing that anyways. so there's like a lot of blood coming out of his hand now? but like don't worry about it. it'll be fine. he thinks.

4. he really likes whatever it is that's playing on the radio

doc insists on patching up his hand and initially marty refuses but lets him do it eventually, and marty tells doc that for a land dweller he's actually surprisingly nice. doc says nah anyone would want to help out someone hurt, especially if they're the one's who caused it. and marty's kind of confused by that because his family's always warned him of how dangerous humans are, which he kind of never thought too hard about until now where his time off this particular coast has really proven them correct, because he's encountered a bunch of humans over the past couple weeks and they've all tried to kill him or catch him. doc's the only one who's actually bothered to say hi!

after learning that particular not-at-all-concerning tidbit, doc asks him to elaborate because there's a lot to unpack over there, but someone else walks onto the dock before marty can get a word in and he takes off

marty does not return, even once the other guy leaves, and when doc packs it up to return to the place he rented out for the vacation he overhears a conversation among a group of men about spotting something weird in the water earlier and that it kind of looked like a mermaid? and that if any of them manage to catch it they'll all be rich as thieves. and another guy in the convo goes no you're thinking of rich as kings, you're mixing it up with a different analogy. and the first guy goes no i'm not i said what i said

so now this vacation is doing anything but clearing doc's mind. he's really worried about that little fish guy

there's a couple more ideas i had but halfway through writing out this bullet list i've realized that if i were to actually write this as a fanfiction, i'd probably want to keep those a surprise. so what i just wrote out is kind of the equivalent of one chapter

edit after thinking about it a bit more: since most humans have been trying to kill him, marty really has no incentive to let a guy know that he's wasting his time fishing with a baitless hook. so a. he's still pretty optimistic that most humans aren't out to get him, even if his experience off this particular coast says otherwise, so he was trying to be nice anyway or b. (which i think is a lot funnier) he has started to pull on people's lines as a way to fuck with them. i think if i wrote this i'd change it to this one

i based mermarty off of a guppy fish! specifically this kind of guppy fish:

i was searching up kinds of fish and he just had the vibe of this thing. although now i think i should've made him a flying fish instead. for the pun

alternate ending to the mini comic:

the other one makes a little more sense since just approaching a guy whose species doesn't know about your existence unprompted is pretty stupid even for marty (and also i thought it was funny that the hook didn't have anything but doc ends up catching something anyways) but i still think this one's funny too

[bananafire11]

I kinda sorta wanna make a Little Nightmares TADC au

[wildechildwrites]

Looney Tunes

König/reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: N/A

No use of Y/N

Summary: You keep running into König in the elevator at your apartment building. He'd be incredibly intimidating, but he kind of reminds you of a cartoon character.

A/N: König is so serious with all his war crimes and intensity, and you are... not serious

AO3 Link: Looney Tunes

The man who steps on the elevator is giant, bigger than anyone you've ever seen in real life, and you can't help looking up at him, craning your neck. He's wearing a sweatshirt, the hood up and cloaking most of his face, disguising his eyes, but you see his nose point down at you, and you know he’s staring back at you.

"How tall are you?" You ask, before cringing at your own social awkwardness. It's silent for a moment, and you wonder if he heard you at all. The elevator dings for your floor and as you step off, a quiet, accented voice calls out.

“Two hundred centimeters.”

You whip your phone out, googling the conversion almost immediately as the doors shut behind you. He’s huge, with shoulders so widely set it's almost comical. You marvel at it briefly, then he slips your mind.

The next time you see the man, he’s got his hood off, his long hair pulled back into a bun. He’s older than you’d thought he’d be, strands of gray catching the light, standing out against the auburn. You step into the elevator with a greeting he doesn’t acknowledge. You both stand in silence, listening to the quiet ding as you pass the floors.

You've developed a quiet rhythm with the elevator man, leaving in the mornings at the same time, your greetings always met by a silence that should probably deter you but doesn't. You're staring at his reflection in the elevator doors, noting the way he seems to slightly slouch into himself, when your unbidden thoughts cause you to giggle. His eyes shoot up instantly to meet yours.

“You remind me of the looney tunes monster,” you blurt suddenly, the aimless rambling of your inner monologue spilling out before you can stop yourself. The man beside you stiffens, before turning his body fully to look down at you. You try not to cower, unable to meet his eye.

“The… um… the orange one? Have you ever seen looney tunes?” you push on moronically. He’s glaring down at you, and you wonder if getting murdered in an elevator is really the way to go.

“What is ‘looney’ tunes?” He finally asks, his voice low and hoarse, as if he's not used to speaking.

"It's a children's show… there's a bunch of little characters and they have their own personalities…" You know your face is bright red, and you thank whatever deity is involved when the elevator chimes and you can step off, too embarrassed to say goodbye.

You consider taking the stairs when you see him again the next day. You give a quiet greeting that he doesn't acknowledge, so you hope you're forgiven for yesterday. You're scrolling through your phone when he speaks, startling you.

"You are der hase?" He asks.

"What?" You respond, looking up with wide eyes, off guard.

He huffs, looking at the ceiling.

"The— rabbit. That is you?"

You scrunch your nose in momentary confusion, then the realization hits you.

"Oh. Bugs Bunny, you mean?" You laugh. "I guess I could be him."

You two stand in silence for the rest of the elevator ride.

You forgot you could be this drunk, staring at the elevator buttons in a daze. You couldn’t quite remember which one you were supposed to press, only knew for sure this was your building because your friend had put your address into the uber. You don’t even hear the footsteps behind you, the irritated sigh as König watches you sway slightly. It’s only when he reaches around you, pressing the up button, that you startle.

“Jesus Christ!” you say, jumping back. An impossibly large hand grabs your arm, steading you. You tilt your head back, and the elevator man is towering over you. He’s in army fatigues, and as your inebriated mind processes that information, the door to the elevator chimes open.

He doesn’t wait for you to move, just picks you up like you weigh nothing before stepping inside. You blink upwards at him in a daze, and he glares down at you. He’s chastising you in his low voice, and it takes you a moment to realize the reason you can’t understand him is because he’s not speaking English.

“You can let me down now,” you interrupt, your voice quiet and slightly slurred. He somehow manages to look even more pissed, staring down at you, incensed, and you’re sorry for saying anything. He fumbles in his other language before finding the words.

“You can— You can not stand.” He says with finality. You relax against him, lapsing into familiar silence as the elevator shoots upwards. This close to him, you can hear his heart beating, and you wonder why it's thumping so fast.

He carries you to your door, and you're too distracted to think about how he knows which apartment is yours. He sets you down, plucking the keys out of your hand with ease when you fumble with them, watching as you sway slightly.

"I keep thinking about the cartoon." He says suddenly, abandoning the key in the lock. He’s leaning over you, shadowing you in the small doorway as you look up at him, your expression confused. His face holds a neutral expression, but his eyes seem to glint in an odd way.

“The monster, he wants to eat the rabbit.” He states, taking a step towards you, crowding you against your door. The wood is cool against your back, and you’re blinking up at him through your drunken haze, trying to figure out what he’s talking about.

"Looney Tunes?" You finally respond, remembering your last conversation. He nods and reaches out one large hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Your heart skips, and you wonder if he can hear it as he drags his fingertips along your jaw, cupping your chin softly.

“Does the rabbit want to be eaten?” He asks, his head cocked. His eyes are like molten steel, his voice so soft and deep it’s practically a purr. It feels like the oxygen has been sucked out of the hallway, leaving you lightheaded.

“Oh,” you breathe, your lips parting softly, what little mental clarity you had abandoning you. There’s a scar that runs up from the man’s chin, stopping just below his bottom lip, and you’re staring at the scar, staring at his mouth, when he bends down, guiding your chin up as you raise yourself unsteadily on your tiptoes.

His lips are warm, scorching against yours, and you open your mouth, letting him deepen the kiss, whimpering when he presses his hard body against yours. His hand slides into your hair, his palm curling around the back of your neck, holding you steady. You shudder at the contact, and he breaks the kiss, pulling away, leaving you dazed and breathless. Everything is spinning, and you can’t tell if it’s because of the alcohol still coursing through your veins, or the fact that he’s still leaning over you, caging you in.

His pupils are blown wide, and you watch his chest rise and fall. He’s monstrous like this, a man at the brink of self control, his hands trembling at the effort to not touch you. He pushes away, creating distance, and you stare at him, stunned and confused. He’s muttering to himself again, and it finally cuts through your stupid, intoxicated brain that he’s speaking German.

He’s looking at you like he’d like to devour you. Instead he breathes, slow and deep, and takes another step back from you.

“Have a good night, häschen” He says, and then he turns, heading towards the elevator, away from you.

Part Two

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[OLD ART ALERT] A COLLECTION OF SCENES FROM THE GILLIONS CATSCRATCH ARC THAT BROUGHT ME GREAT JOY. i love fishy chips especially when its just gillion being delirious and violent and hostile

[rollermonster]

COURIER JOEY !!

made this ref for artfight (first time!) .. haven't drawn digitally in ages and my art isn't where i want it to be rn but i am still learning.

the 889437587th courier oc on tumblr. he was a gunsmith with the gun runners for a few years in between the mojave express. warning extreme yap below:

a bleeding heart radical optimist; deeply empathetic and a great listener (average speech 100 courier). truly truly just wants the best for the people of vegas and does his best to give it to them. unfortunately his best is kiiinda shit sometimes.

he's all-in with the followers of the apocalypse, though he ends up helping the ncr a fair bit—he's sympathetic to their struggles but resents the way they treat the mojave.

he is an expert marksman with rifles and loooves big guns. he "hates killing" (doubtful lol keep telling yourself that), so doing it from very, very far away makes it easiest to justify to himself. 0 hand-to-hand ability (gets absolutely destroyed in dead money).

he is a he/him butch! :) he was married but believes his wife died years ago. he hasn’t seen her since, but she is alive and very deliberately avoiding him LMAO (it's only partly his fault). permanent tinnitus and partial deafness in one ear due to the gunshots.

he has a negative and deeply personal history with house (he was born and raised on the pre-house strip....) he’s terrified of and hates him and all his securitrons. revenge on house is a much more driving motivation than revenge on benny ever was.

despite this, joey very nearly allies with house for the greater good of vegas, but in the end he betrays and eliminates him. he'll doubt this decision for the rest of his life.

some perks: hand loader, cowboy, jury rigging, rapid reload, sniper, cherchez la femme + confirmed bachelor (console commands!)

traits: small frame 🥀, trigger discipline

he had a mule called daylily but benny shot her :(

[clumsypuppy]

doodles of my fav sillies

anton belongs to @poicyss

[xavathun]

hi chat. people liked my mossy titan so i’ve come with my hoard of warlock outfits :]

[kacchanot-fucking-deal-with-this]

...dropping the fic links here to spread the good word of dabihawks/coldflash solidarity

By Any Other Name by SatelliteBlue (dabihawks)

By Any Other Name by cardinalstar (coldflash)

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[lamb-slaughterer]

Jeremy Fitzgerald's a really funny character actually. The man got a job at the restaurant where FIVE CHILDREN went missing like two days ago and there was an ACTIVE POLICE INVESTIGATION going on and had no idea about it until Phone Guy told him several days later. He came in on the 6th night because he legitimately didn't know the building was on lockdown. This man does not pay attention to the plot.

[skeletalheartattack]

for the past couple of days, i've been working on Boe's house in limbo and getting it to look close to how i've been picturing it in my head - here's a couple of shots so far showing off the exterior and interior, with the top screenshot being further along in progress than the other exterior shots.

[beastking-golion]

Saw a fic about vastaya Viktor and if you ask me he’s definitely a bird (or salamander if you wanna super angstify him- cough cough Rio cough).

[koachdal]

what it means

The many emotions of Virat Kohli as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the 2025 Indian Premier League

[ispridestillasin]

thinking about writing an possible au scene of my poly meljayskyvik Sky-centric canon divergent fic that I'm writing after rewatching the last episode of act 1 of s2 and now I'm in the trenches outlining a scene where Jayce & co. see Sky after Heimerdinger touches the thing when they're in the Hex Vault and she manages to pull herself out faster than I'm going to in the actual canon fic timeline after whatever the fuck Jayce & co. go through (i need act 2 Right Now for Sky-centric Fic Reasons)

[chemicahs]

What a time to be alive