#unifying theory

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Unifying Theory

Scribbles of a lunatic and formulas of a genius are often indistinguishable.

Artist: Ron Spears TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[underworlddreams]

Unifying Theory

Artist: Ron Spears Set: Odyssey

Scribbles of a lunatic and formulas of a genius are often indistinguishable.

[wayti-blog]

"New observations from the National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NSF NRAO) Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (NSF VLA) provide compelling evidence supporting a universal mechanism for the collimation of astrophysical jets, regardless of their origin.  A new study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, reveals the presence of a helical magnetic field within the HH 80-81 protostellar jet, a finding that mirrors similar structures observed in jets emanating from supermassive black holes."

"“This is the first solid evidence that helical magnetic fields can explain astrophysical jets at different scales, supporting universality of the collimation mechanism” (...)."

"These findings provide robust support for the hypothesis that helical magnetic fields are a universal mechanism for collimating astrophysical jets, regardless of the scale or origin of the jet. This unifying theory helps unravel the complex physics governing the launch and evolution of these important cosmic structures. "

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[whos-the-seme]

Shen Qingqiu was doomed.

He stood still, fluttering his fan nervously and trying to avoid catching his counterpart's, the real Shen Qingqiu, glaring eyes from across the room. Instead, he idly observed the other Cang Qiong Mountain Peak Lords, trying to spot the differences between the ones he knew and their alternates.

Liu Qingge had brought back a strange artifact from one of his hunts to the monthly Peak Lord meeting. It was a mirror, rimmed an ugly tarnished gold, topped with a decoration that was shaped into an unidentifiable creature with ruby red eyes.

[Important Artifact Detected: Red-Eyed Sphinx's Mirror! Quest starting...]

Shen Qingqiu had been trying to remember where it might have appeared in PIDW when the surface of the mirror suddenly began to glow a dull yellow. It quickly brightened until it obscured everyone's vision.

And then, there stood another set of peak lords across the room, facing them down.

System, what on earth is going on???

[Quest started: Lost Long Spirit in My Reflection! Other characters have been transported to this universe. Host must find a way to send them back without revealing his identity as a transmigrator.]

WTF? I didn't agree to this!

[Good luck!]

System??? Get back here!

While the two Yue Qingyuans and Xu Qinglis conversed together to try to understand what had happened, the other peak lords had begun to mingle with each other, curious about their counterparts.

Shen Qingqiu tried to suppress his panic, sticking close to Shang Qinghua. His Yue Qingyuan occasionally flicked his softened gaze towards the alternate Shen Qingqiu, likely noticing that the other still acted as he used to before his qi deviation. In fact, several of the peak lords he had gotten to know over the years were sending some looks at the other Shen Qingqiu.

With the original goods right there, how long would it be before something exposed him as a fraud?? What if he was confronted about why he acted so differently?

[Host must avoid having his identity exposed. Being revealed as a transmigrator will result in Host being immediately sent back to his old body.]

Yeah, yeah, same shit as always!

Looking to his side, Shang Qinghua seemed to be experiencing the same threats, desperately looking away from the more dead-eyed Shang Qinghua across the room who, luckily, was barely paying him any attention.

Fuck, what do we do?

---

Shen Qingqiu continued to glare at the Other Shen Qingqiu in the room. The other Shen Qingqiu was so obviously a fraud, he could tell within minutes of being here. While his alternate seemed somewhat familiar, he didn't act like him at all, his mannerisms were all off, and despite the attempt at keeping a poker face, Shen Qingqiu could tell that he was nervous. Probably at being caught out.

His alternate self had likely been replaced with a bodysnatcher or some sort of spirt, if they truly were supposed to be the same person. Was everyone else stupid, or had they had their brains sucked out by a Heart Mouthed Lobster-Squid?

Or maybe they simply like the bodysnatcher better and didn't bother to investigate.

Shen Qingqiu's face became stormier, turning his glare to the Other Yue Qingyuan, wondering if he had felt happier once his precious Xiao-Jiu had vanished. The other Yue Qingyuan's face grew even more pathetic. Tch. Typical.

"That stupid System--" Shen Qingqiu nearly snapped his neck in looking at the bodysnatcher upon hearing his murmur. The fraud, upon noticing his sudden attention, clammed back up and looked away. But Shen Qingqiu knew what he heard.

Xi Tong.

He hadn't heard those words in years, not since--

He stepped forward, scanning the other once more. Upon a second, more thorough look, Shen Qingqiu realized that he grew more familiar. He wore his hair in the way that Shen Qingqiu wore it, but looser and less severe. His eyes were clearer and lighter, with hints of a smile, despite his nerves. He occasionally quickly glanced up and to his left, as if seeing something there, before bringing his attention back to the room at large.

No. It couldn't be. He was long dead, despite Shen Qingqiu's best efforts. Even if the fake had some similar things about him, that doesn't mean--

Shen Jiu had once had a brother, besides Qi-ge. Slightly smaller than him, despite the fact that Shen Jiu passed him along as much food as he could when on the streets. He smiled so much despite their circumstances, and was so kind despite Shen Jiu constantly telling him that he was making himself a target. But he looked so, so similar to Shen Jiu himself. They could have switched their clothes and looked exactly the same, if one didn't notice the difference in their demeanors.

His brother has also always been a little odd, talking to himself and arguing with an imaginary friend that only he could see named Xi Tong. One of the reasons that they survived as long as they did on the streets was due to the inexplicable knowledge that his brother seemed to have. Somehow, his brother knew about the various plants or small animals that they could hunt and sell for a pretty coin in the markets. Shen Jiu never asked, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

But his brother was dead. He had died years ago, in the time during when they were in Qiu's manor. During a punishment for Shen Jiu's attempt to get them both to join Wu Yanzi; he had switched their clothes and taken Shen Jiu's place and died for it. That had been the final catalyst that made him set the manor ablaze and escape, mourning his brother's death as his fault for daring to be free. Cursing Qi-ge for not coming back for them.

Dazed and his vision dim, Shen Jiu took another step forward, and another. Hope, something he thought he had killed off long ago, slowly rose in his chest.

Had his brother survived in this world? Had he managed to escape alongside Shen Jiu? Or had Shen Jiu died in his place? Dimly, he can't help but think that the world would be far kinder if that were the case. If his brother had made it to Cang Qiong Mountain and became a peak lord all on his own and still managed to keep his smile. If he didn't have Shen Jiu dragging him down with him.

The other Shen Qingqiu, not having noticed his approach, laughed at something the other Shang Qinghua said ("Wonder if Shang Qinghua is a traitor here, too," Shen Jiu thought dimly). His laugh was the same. He rose his fan to hide his face, but Shen Jiu noticed how his nose crinkled, and his eyes nearly closed in delight, exactly like--

"A-Yuan?"

[backofthebookshelf]

I know I'm a week late but I do think people are misunderstanding the point of the Anthony Bourdain quote about Kissinger

The point was never "Anthony Bourdain has good politics and is an unproblematic fave," the point is that even someone with mainstream liberalish politics who goes to Cambodia for a food tour - a, let's be honest, very bougie type of trip to be part of your job - and has a basic understanding of history and a bare minimum of human decency can come away from that bougie food tour wanting to murder Henry Kissinger with their bare hands. The point is that Henry Kissinger fucked up this country so bad the only reason he wasn't lynched decades ago is because it's on the opposite side of the world and the people who were in proximity to him never really saw what it was. The point is that if we could see firsthand what our First World politics do to the Third World we would understand that monsters walk among us and it's a cultural failing that we let them die at home at 100 years old surrounded by their friends and family.

[sharksfrommars]

Have an idea for a fic that I’m definitely not going to write.

essentially, ford hits a roadblock in his research, but doesn’t summon Bill. He’s just burned out from all that gifted kid syndrome, trying to power through it. His mother recommended he take a break, and the perfect opportunity for that arrived when Fiddleford calls, asking Ford to be his Best Man, and inviting him to his bachelor party.

in Vegas.

so Ford reluctantly goes with Fiddleford and two of his other friends to the city of sin, and Ford completely DESTROYS the casinos. He’s counting cards, he’s worked out the algorithm for when the slot machines hit a jackpot, and he gets SUPER drunk. Ford is having the time of his life cus he gets to use maths to flex on people. And he’s NOT SUBTLE.

so at the end of the night, the casino take Ford out back, and send a goon to beat him up.

and you’ll never guess who the goon is!

so now Stan and Ford have to work together and try to escape the gangs and crime lords that run 1970s Las Vegas.

I call it Gifted Kid Syndrome.

again, not doing anything with it, feel free to do anything with the idea, up to and including wiping your butt with it. Just like, tag me or whatever.

[caffeineandsociety]

All the bullshit queer infighting about queer subgroup a refusing to be normal about queer subgroup b, or no it's b that can't be normal about a, or no it's both of them refusing to be normal about subgroup c-

And I feel it's time to recognize that the problem has less to do with specific identities and more to do with people refusing to be normal about queer people other than themselves

Yes someone who's like this will usually be slightly more normal about someone whose queer identity is more similar to their own than not, but I have never seen, for example, an explicitly transmisogynistic trans man who wouldn't jump to throw another trans man under the bus for "making us all look bad" at the first viable excuse, and we all know how big overt exclusionist movements like terfism end up just aggressively policing the ingroup to make sure they never, ever, ever deviate from a perfect True Scotsman

It's self-centered bullshit is what it all is and I think it deserves to be seen for that

[showyoumyfavoriteobsession]

Got a light? TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (2017)

[clonehighdoublehelix]

[nastya-steel]

Nastya's One Million Fandoms: today is Scum Villain's Self Saving System. I am once again rereading Grand Unified Theory of Shen Qingqiu because in my humble opinion it's better than canon. Anyway. Got to the beginning of part 2 and I am losing my shit

SQQ: ah yes I am doing a Good Job acting like my past cold self

Meanwhile, YQX: am I dreaming??? Did we just have an actual conversation???? WHAT JUST HAPPENED IS HE POSSESSED

Like. Shen Jiu. Boy. You are fooling nobody EVERYONE is going "what the Fuck Just Happened" upon meeting you. EVERY CHARACTER. Don't get me wrong, it's fucking incredible and I am laughing my ass off

[illwynd]

Eternally confused by assertions that Thor and Loki don't like each other.

They love each other, obviously. And sometimes they fuckin hate each other (well, Loki sometimes hates Thor. And Thor is sometimes at least very goddamn righteously pissed off at Loki, whether he'd call it "hate" or not.)

But they do also like each other.

Thor clearly likes Loki. Enjoys and appreciates his company and admires many things about him, despite their many conflicts. And although that's a comics reference, consider Thor's "well of course I want to have my brother come with me on an adventure!" attitude when he's trying to convince his friends to go to Jotunheim with him at the beginning of Thor 2011, and it seems like it's pretty applicable to the MCU as well, at least before TR's moronic retcons.

Is it mutual, though?

... is that a real question?

Loki idolizes him, wishes he could measure up to him, thinks the sun goddamn rises and sets on Thor. "Loki felt no rancor [...] -- his stepbrother was perfect: beautiful, powerful, golden. He adored him. And if Thor repaid that adoration with little slights and humiliations, it was a price Loki was only too willing to pay for his company" (R. Rodi, Loki: Blood Brothers). Yes, another comics reference, but doesn't that also jibe with the movie depiction of Loki who clearly has a less than ideal relationship with the rest of Thor's crew but hangs out with them nonetheless because that's the only way to spend time with Thor?

Genuinely, I can't think of a better metric for liking someone than wanting to hang out with them even when the circumstances make that less than fun for other reasons. Seeing their company as satisfying even if you're both just sitting there doing something that would otherwise suck. And they both seem to have each other as first choice for that, with everyone else a very distant second if they rank at all.

So I just don't get how anyone can try to slot them into some cliche of "siblings who love each other i guess but also can't stand each other at all." These dumb bastards would spend their lives in each other's pockets if they could. They probably had their own secret language as kids, like figured out a way to get around the Allspeak to invent one no one else could understand. Anyone else that either of them dates had better be ready to have the other brother as a constant topic of conversation, because the moment you express annoyance at that they're going to be shoving breadsticks into their bag and making excuses to gtfo. "they don't like each other" what the fuck are y'all talking about.

[bellshazes]

Taxonomy, like adultery, is a sin - but since it doesn't stop the Bdubs Patented Third Wheel Effect, we won't let it stop our categorizing its manifestations either.

The Third Wheel Effect

Bdubs has been engineering partnership and love triangles since his first SMP over a decade ago. In fact it's the consistency across such a long time that obscures the pattern's specifics: it's easy to tell he likes to play on jealousy and cast himself as a villain, but harder to look past the variations of who is pulled into what role obscures the fact that there's truly a small group of overlapping tropes where the players of each role may change, but fundamentally, it's the Third Wheel Effect all the way down.

The Tropes

WELCOME HOME, CHEATER: The earliest, but also the most flexible, as Bdubs is just as happy to have the B-Team in jeopardy because Genny caught him shacked up with Etho as he is to confront Doc for making out with Ren in his absence. As long as someone's mad with cause, it's good fun.

I NEVER LIKED HIM ANYWAY: In contrast to Welcome Home, Cheater, in this subset it's revealed the presumed original pair was a lie, and the third person has had his heart all along. The willingness of the surprised third party is mostly irrelevant to the high drama unfolding, probably under duress in a death game. In a certain light, the crumbling of Team BEST is not not this.

iS THIS A HAPPY COUPLE?: If you read the last description and thought it was missing handcuffs, you know where this is going. For some reason, partners are shaken up and new ones are established on the threat of death if they don't work together. Whether there's still lingering longing for the new third wheel is an open question. Oddly, tends to backfire with a karmic kind of irony, like Impulse and Bdubs' death in Double Life, or dying to your own bear trap anyway in Survival of the Fittest.

POWER STRUGGLE: Bdubs has a habit of appointing heads of state and then somehow acting affronted when he transitions from election champion to one of many civic advisors. Suddenly the subtext turns sharply toward not just governance but government affairs. The threatening third(s) may be or act oblivious to their alleged love triangle, like Cub's nonchalance at Bdubs' rage while they both worked for Mayor Scar.

THEY DON'T LOVE YOU LIKE I DO: Most often instigated directly by Bdubs, the triangle becomes a game of tug-o-war - or at least Bdubs sees it that way. This is especially likely as a result of a Power Struggle, although Etho gets a less angry, more angsty flavor of this in some Life seasons. Also plays very well with Welcome Home Cheater.

Conclusion

Although Etho is a focal point of many past and present love triangles, sometimes even instigating conflict related to them himself, Bdubs' pattern of needing a third wheel to flesh out relationship dynamics is both broader and more predictable than it might appear. Any combination of players who will yes-and him and let him be a little stupidly vindictive or encourage interpersonal drama is a valid combination. It's Etho happily playing into Bdubs' natural wheelhouse and drawing it out of him pre-emptively that adds to them being a pair with no set configuration but that is more enduring than any other alliances they've made over the years.

[dullahandyke]

Hm I think I will read some of my modern art book before dinner

When babies first look in a mirror, they encounter something that looks like a discrete and unified whole, and from this misperception conclude that the reflection is who they are.

Oh alright I guess I should shove myself in the woodchipper then

[marlenacantswim]

guy very into musical theatre who mistakingly thinks they're connecting with me over a shared interest: yeah, weber is foundational and all, but i've always felt more of a connection with what starkid's got going on, y'know?

me, who's only ever listened to tracks from the musical episode of Psych: uhhhhhhhhh... hello my name is shawn spencer? this is my partner, lil' wayne? the evidence is underwhelming? but my intuition is insane?

[oacest]

Neil Young is another of your heroes. You both possess the ability to take four chords and create a memorable song. Noel: I learnt so much by playing along to The Beatles and The Smiths. And I learnt it all on acoustic guitar - I didn't get an electric until I was 21. So my style is built around strumming and not really knowing what the chords are. Liam does that now. Is he a decent player? Noel: No, he's fucking rubbish. And the longer he remains rubbish the better he'll be. I think the less you know the more effective you are. You've got to work it all out for yourself. I was never taught a note by anybody. It was just me sitting down and working at it. That chord from Wonderwall, I don't know where it came from. I don't actually want to know what a suspended, augmented ninth is. I remember having an argument with Aimee Mann once. The bridge chord going into the chorus of Supersonic (C#7 - Ed); she said, You must have studied music to come up with that. I was like, What are you talking about? I was on the dole six months ago. Where am I going to get music theory lessons in Burnage?

Noel in Guitarist Magazine, June 2002

[quotablefanfiction]

Qi Qingqi strong-armed Shen Qingqiu away from the VIPs, as Yue Qingyuan was called away. “I wasn’t going to try to talk to them,” Shen Qingqiu said irritably. “But they might spot you and come over. Better not to take the chance.” “I’m just as glad to be spared their superficial observations on poetry.” “Yes, see, that’s why.”

Shen Qingqiu cannot be trusted with polite conversation (chp. 176)

The Grand Unified Theory of Shěn Qīngqiū: Qi Refining by 00janeblonde (AO3) The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System – Teen #Canon Divergence #Fluff #Slice of Life #Time Travel Fix-It #New Game Plus #Canon Temporary Character Death #Character Development #Good Teacher!Shen Qingqiu #What if…Shen Yuan WAS Shen Jiu #Epic Length #World Building #Slow Burn

Shěn Qīngqiū new game pluses himself into a happy ending and unlocks some premium content along the way.

This fic is endgame Shěn Qīngqiū/Liǔ Qīnggē/Yuè Qīngyuán.

It takes time for the characters to get together, but there is zero partner infidelity and very little angst. There’s lots of pining, but it’s happy pining. This is fluff. Everyone is happy and loving and supportive.

Part 1 of the The Grand Unified Theory of Shěn Qīngqiū series (AO3)

Note: This story is complete but it goes directly into Part 2 of the series which is incomplete, so if you are looking for a complete story arc you might want to wait