#what are the four data collection methods

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: VOYAGER // S4E7 Scientific Method That's what you were trying to accomplish, wasn't it? Hmm? Pumping up my dopamine levels to push me to the edge, keeping me awake for four days straight with the constant pain of your devices drilling into my skull. Well, this is the culmination of your work, and – guess what – you're going to be right here to collect the final data.

[generic-sonic-fan]

Crybaby, crybaby

Summary: Omega and Amy have a storied tradition of destroying things together. But today, something is off. Omega helps as best he can.

1486 words

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“Hey omegaaaaaa!! I’m feeling upset 💥💥💥!!! want to meet me at the junkyard?”

Omega was no stranger to these sorts of texts- they were the primary method of communication between him and Amy Rose. They found out early on that they were quite opposite in their hobbies and preferred topics of conversation, but this one activity brought them together like no other.

Amy had previously arranged with the owner of a junkyard on the perimeter of the city for permission to demolish the ruined cars. She cared about this sort of courtesy; Omega did not, but avoiding the hassles of the meatbag legal system was something he could appreciate.

Omega eased his jet boosters and slid to a stop in front of the barbed wire fence. A loud crash told him that Amy was already inside. With a puff from his jets, he hopped the fence and kicked a nearby lump of metal into a pile of wrecked cars ahead. 

Amy leapt to the top of said pile, and with a magnificent PIKO! she flattened the stack down to his height. 

Omega walked forward and tore the flattened cars in half with a wrench of his claws. He savored the tearing of the metal and shattering of glass, taking the time to analyze the tensile strengths of different components as they broke.

Amy, meanwhile, moved onto the next stack of cars, sending the top one skipping across the broken roofs of others beyond. But when she landed, she hesitated, so Omega grabbed the next car off the stack and tried to skip it further. She had skipped hers three times, he skipped his. . . two and a half times. 2.75 times if he ‘squinted’. Which rounded up to three, which made them even.

Amy did not comment. 

Omega grabbed the next car and tried to break it over his kneecap like he’d seen in a recent human action movie. It didn’t work. He ended up dropping the car, the loose components of it clattering against all the other bits already scattered across the yard. Amy did not flinch. 

Omega scanned Amy further to find. . . moisture leaking out of her eyelids. Inconceivable. Perhaps some coolant from one of the cars had sprayed on her face? 

But then she hiccuped. And let out a sob.

“YOU ARE CRYING.” Omega stated.

She dropped her hammer and covered her eyes. “O-Oh, it's nothing! Just. . . something in my eyes, you know how it is. . .” 

She shuddered and rubbed her eyes. Then she turned to him with a smile. Her upper lip was twitching. She picked up her hammer and tapped it against the car Omega had dropped. It did not even leave a dent. 

“THAT WAS PATHETIC.” 

“I know!” She flung her hammer to the ground again. “I know I am!” 

A stream of tears poured down her cheeks and she covered her face again. She fell to her knees

For four minutes and three seconds, she sobbed and whimpered. Omega spent most of that time trying to reconcile this expression with the data he’d collected so far on her, only to find that he was unable to. 

“I-I’m sorry Omega.” She finally spoke when her whimpering was no longer quite so frequent. “I don’t mean to be- to be like every stupid person you hate. That everyone hates.” 

“IF I DESPISED YOU, I WOULD NOT HAVE COME.” Omega replied. 

“R-Really?” She looked up at him, eyes full of moisture. Like she was absolutely dependent on his next phrase not to spill anymore tears. 

He wasn’t used to this. “AFFIRMATIVE.” 

“Even when- even when I’m like this?” she pointed at the pathetic mess of snot on her face. “Everyone hates when I’m like this.”

“IT IS IRRELEVANT TO ME.” 

“You don’t h-hate it?” 

“I DO NOT.” He reaffirmed again. He didn’t know what else to say. 

“I do-don’t understand, how you of all people can stand me. I’m so- like this! Like this!” She kept pointing at her face. “Stupid and emo- emotional like a stupid little girl.” 

“YOU ARE NEITHER STUPID NOR LITTLE.” 

“How do you know?”

“YOU ARE STATISTICALLY AVERAGE IN HEIGHT FOR YOUR AGE AND GENDER.” 

“Omega, that’s not what I-”

“AND YOU ARE NOT STUPID.”

“But I am overly emotional. Over the stupidest things.”

Omega paused.

“Please don’t play dumb. I do-don’t need you to. You can say it.” She looked down.

“WHAT DO YOU DESIRE FOR ME TO SAY?”

“Stop playing dumb!” She shrieked. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m a crybaby who gets mad over every little thing and I obsess and I. . . and I. . .” 

Omega inched towards her. When she continued to sob into her hands, he knelt down beside her. She still didn’t move. 

“YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ‘GET MAD OVER EVERY LITTLE THING’?” 

“Y-yeah, because I can’t take a joke, o-or. . .’

“FALSE. THAT IS MY JOB.” 

She choked on her next sob.

“YOU ARE NOT AS WRATHFUL AS I AM.”

“I wasn’t trying to make it a competition.” 

“YOU WERE NOT. WRATH IS AN INFINITE VARIABLE. I AM STILL WINNING, OF COURSE.” 

“That’s not the point!”

“WHY ARE YOU UPSET ABOUT YOUR ADMIRABLE STOCKPILE OF WRATH?”

“Wha- what’s that supposed to mean?”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR WRATH?”

Amy stared up at him. “Because I’m only angry at the wrong things.”

“FALSE. YOU GET ANGRY WHEN PEOPLE INSULT YOU.” 

“But they don’t mean it.”

“IRRELEVANT.”

“And I get angry when people even just look at me wrong and-”

“BECAUSE THEY LOOK AT YOU AS INCOMPETENT.” 

Her mouth fell open. She looked down at her palms. “Is that why?”

Omega could only look at her palms as well. “IT IS A POTENTIAL HYPOTHESIS.” 

“If you don’t know, then why did you-” She looked at him. “Oh Omega, that’s not fair to you.”

“THAT IS NOT WHAT I WAS IMPLYING!” 

“I’ve seen how other people treat you and it’s not fair that they think you’re any different from them just because you’re a robot.”

“SILENCE!” He pounded his other fist against the ground. “IT IS NOT ABOUT THAT! IT IS ABOUT OUR RAGE!” 

She nodded for him to continue.

“THEY SEE RAGE AS JUVENILE!” Omega pounded his fist again. “THEY RIDICULE MY CRUSADE TO SLAUGHTER EGGMAN!”

“Y-yeah, it’s not something funny to you.” 

“NEITHER IS YOUR RAGE.” Omega clenched his fist beside her.

“No, I guess it’s not. But what about all the other stuff? Like being a cry baby?” 

“CRYING EXPRESSES SADNESS: CONFIRM?”

“Sometimes I cry when I’m angry, or stressed, or happy, or frustrated, or anything.”

“REVISING DEFINITION. CRYING EXPRESSES STRONG EMOTION.” 

“I think so.”

“CONCLUSION: CRYING IS NOT FUNNY.”

“Well, no, maybe it isn’t, but I cry too much-”

“CONCLUSION: CRYING IS NOT FUNNY. VERIFY?”

“I cry too much!” She pushed him away. 

“YOU DO.”

“See, now you’re getting it.”

“BUT IT IS NOT FUNNY.”

“No.” She crossed her arms. “It doesn’t feel funny to me, at least.” 

“THEN WHY ARE YOU MOCKED FOR IT?”

“Because I cry too much.” 

“CRYING TOO MUCH IS ALSO SEEN AS JUVENILE.” 

“Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

Omega hovered his hand above her shoulders. When he placed it down, she flinched, clearly not expecting it. 

“I-It’s okay Omega, you don’t have to.” She ducked out from his touch. 

He withdrew his hand. 

“Look, I,” Amy stood, “I should get home. Clean up.” 

Omega stood as well. “UNDERSTOOD.”

“Please don’t tell anyone.”

“UNDER ONE CONDITION.”

“And what’s that?”

“YOU ARE NOT INCOMPETENT. OR STUPID. AND ACCORDING TO THE DATA I POSSESS: NEITHER I, NOR ROUGE, NOR SHADOW HATE YOU.” 

“Really?”

“THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES I CAN VERIFY.” He replied. “HOWEVER: THERE IS STRONG DATA FOR TAILS AND KNUCKLES AS WELL.” 

Amy gave a half smile. “And Sonic?”

“I DO NOT POSSESS ENOUGH DATA ON SONIC.” 

“Why not?”

“HE IS A CIRCUMSTANTIAL ALLY AT BEST.”

“But you don’t dislike me?”

“AFFIRMATIVE. YOU ARE PASSIONATE AND DESTRUCTIVE.”

“Ha. ‘Passionate’. Sure.”

Omega loomed over her. “DO NOT DOUBT MY ANALYSIS.” 

“You actually mean it? Passionate?”

“AFFIRMATIVE. UNLIKE SONIC, WHO CLAIMS NOT TO ‘CARE’ ABOUT ANYTHING ASIDE FROM VAGUE MORAL IDEALS.”

“Hey, that’s not true!”

“YOU ARE PASSIONATE. HE IS NOT. THIS IS A STATISTICAL FACT.” 

“So what do you mean by ‘passionate’ then?”

Omega eyed the fence of the junkyard. He could reach it in 4.5 seconds. But instead, he looked back at her. “I AM COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS ‘PASSIONATE’.” 

Amy cracked a small smile. “Aww, Omega. That’s very sweet of you to say.”

“I AM NOT ‘SWEET’.” Omega wagged his finger at her.

She nodded. “Right.” 

“DO YOU CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE NOT INCOMPETENT OR STUPID, AND THAT SHADOW, ROUGE, AND I DO NOT HATE YOU?” 

“I do.” She said. “I mean it.”

“GOOD.” 

Amy grabbed her hammer off the ground and walked to the gate of the junkyard. Omega watched her leave, then kicked around a few more junked cars for them both. 

[numinous-archives]

The ‘Shamanic Interpretations’ of Paleolithic Parietal Art and the Contextualization of their Broader Socio-Cultural Significance

[This is an article I originally wrote for a course on academic writing. I've added a lot of changes]

Deep within the French caves in the Dordogne region, there are several archaeological sites of parietal art (paintings and engravings on cave walls and ceilings) left behind by humans from the upper paleolithic (35k-10k years ago). Alongside parietal art of handprints, human figures, and geometric shapes and patterns, the caves consist of detailed cave paintings and well carved engravings of big-game animals and fierce predators. Though many of the parietal art are fascinating, I (the author of this article, and as a student of religious studies) am mostly interested in the animal depictions and the possible religious significance it could have had for the paleolithic image-makers who created them.

This will be a literature review. Throughout the article, I will be presenting the findings and data collected by archaeologists and researchers. Then, I will discuss the possible religious significance that parietal art may have had, and their possible connection with ritual behavior. To support these interpretations, I will discuss the ideas of religious studies scholars and anthropologists on the topic of ritual behavior.

To specify which caves I will be discussing, I have decided to focus on four caves located in the Dordogne region of France: Lascaux, Font-De-Gaume, Grotte de Cussac and Rouffignac.

1 | The first part of this article will focus on these caves and the parietal art found within them. Within the archaeological community, many have interpreted the parietal art as imitative representations of what the image-makers saw and witnessed in real life — an artistic method also known as Mimesis. This mimetic interpretation would explain the depictions of animals and certain hunting scenes.

2 | Unsurprisingly within religious studies, the artistic depictions of animals and predators within the various caves throughout Europe have also been associated with Hunting Magic. Magic, in the broad sense (and within the context of this article), refers to practices and rituals that aim to alter reality or bring forth physical changes in the world. This also applies to the term ‘Magico-Religious’, which additionally incorporates the belief in supernatural beings. Thus, hunting magic is often understood as rituals and practices that the paleolithic humans may have performed to ensure fortune and avoid misfortunes during hunts. This will be the focus of the second part of the article. Here, I will discuss the idea that the imitative representations of animals and hunting scenes could have been related to mythological thinking, animism, and consequently hunting magic. I present this interpretation to support my claim of hunting magic being related to animistic beliefs. Animism in this article will refer to the belief in inanimate and animate objects (mostly animate objects) possessing intellection and volition of their own free will.

3 | However, it would also be important to note other reasons (other than religious) for such art to be made. As in social and cultural reasonings. This is where my main thesis will arise and develop throughout the article. That the creation of parietal art may have also had socio-cultural factors in addition to religious and spiritual.

4 | For the fourth part, I will discuss the depictions of therianthropes (half man and half animal) and their possible relationship with shamanistic practices. Often such shamanistic practices will depend on a ritual specialist, the shaman, who will enter trance and commune with the spirits on behalf of the community.

5 | However, I will also discuss and explore the other aspects as to why the paleolithic image-makers would have decided to create such art. Additionally, I will discuss what broader significance shamanistic practices and rituals might have had for their community and culture. This will be the focus of the fifth part of this article, and essentially the main thesis of my article. That even though the parietal art found in the caves may have held a religious significance and been related to shamanistic ritual behavior, it could also have held a broader socio-cultural significance to the paleolithic community.

Literature List

Aubert, M., Lebe, R., Oktaviana, A.A. et al. (2019, 11 December). Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature 576: 442–445 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1806-y.

Dunbar, R. (2022). How Religion Evolved: And Why it Endures. Penguin Books.

Eliade, M., Trask, W. R., & Doniger, W. (2004, 08 February). Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton University Press.

Gay, I., Plassard, F., Müller, K., & Reiche, I. (2019, 16 December). Relative chronology of Palaeolithic drawings of the Great Ceiling, Rouffignac cave, by chemical, stylistic and superimposition studies. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 29: 102006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102006.

Kedar, Y., Kedar., G., & Barkai, R. (2021, 31 March). Hypoxia in Paleolithic decorated caves: the use of artificial light in deep caves reduces oxygen concentration and induces altered states of consciousness. Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture, 14(2): 181–216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2021.1903177.

Ledoux, L., Berillon, G., Fourment, N., Muth, X., & Jaubert, J. (2021). Evidence of the use of soft footwear in the Gravettian cave of Cussac (Dordogne, France). Scientific Reports 11, Article number: 22727. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02127-z.

Marquet J.-C., Freiesleben T. H., Thomsen K. J., Murray A. S., Calligaro, M., et al. (2023) The earliest unambiguous Neanderthal engravings on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley, France. PLOS ONE 18(6): e0286568. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286568

Reiche, I., Coquinot, Y., Trosseau, A., & Maigret, A. (2023). First discovery of charcoal-based prehistoric cave art in Dordogne. Scientific reports, 13(1): 22235. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47652-1.

Strathern, A. (2019). Unearthly Powers: Religious and Political Change in World History. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108753371.

Sahlins, M. (2022). The New Science of the Enchanted Universe: An Anthropology of Most of Humanity. Princeton University Press.

[hbyrde36]

Steddie | R: Explicit (for eventual smut) | WC:4541 | Ch 1/8 | AO3

Chapter 1: Ghost of Yesterday

Two days after they failed to defeat Vecna, after Max died and came back, after Eddie died—and didn’t. Two days after they were forced to leave his body behind in the Upside Down because everything had gone to shit, a bright yellow pizza delivery van that looked like it’d been through its own apocalypse pulled into the Wheeler's driveway.

Jonathan, Mike, Will, and El finally made it home to Hawkins with the help of a friend.

On day three, Max woke up. 

She’d have a long road to recovery, but the doctors seemed fairly confident she’d walk again. Though, no one could be sure how much of her eyesight would return, if any. The same day, in a twist no one saw coming, Joyce showed up, fresh off a plane from Alaska after escaping Russia—yes, Russia—with a miraculously alive and mostly well Jim Hopper. 

And four days after the world both did and then didn’t end, the ghost of Eddie Munson appeared in Steve’s living room.

The kids and older teens, including the newest member of the doomsday squad, Argyle, were having an off-the-books meeting. After everything they’d done and been through, the so-called ‘adults’ were attempting to pull their same old shit, trying to sideline the younger set for their own, supposed, safety. 

Steve sort-of agreed about Dustin and the others, they were still too young and had already lost so much, but if Hopper, Joyce, and whoever the hell else thought they were going to bench him? They had another think coming, and he was pretty sure Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan felt the same way too.

But, whether he agreed or not, what he wouldn’t do was stop the kids from helping to come up with a plan. Because damned if he knew what the hell they should do next. 

Dustin leaned forward from his spot on the couch wedged between Erica and Will, steepling his fingers together in front of him. “So let me test my understanding. You set him on fire, and shot him—multiple times. He fell out of a third story window, and he just went… poof? Vanished without a trace?”

There was a collective groan from the room, everyone except for Lucas and El who were at the hospital sitting with Max, and of course Dustin himself. 

Robin rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, yes, Dustin. How many times do we have to go over this?”

 “I’m just laying out the facts!” Dustin snapped back. “Clearly we got something wrong here. We underestimated Vecna, and by a lot.”

 “And how is repeating our obvious failure helpful?” Nancy asked, a little defensively. 

Steve understood the attitude, he'd also been wresting with his guilt since that fateful night.

“The scientific method!” Dustin answered with a bit of the same slightly forced cheerfulness he'd been displaying ever since Max woke up. He held up a hand, ticking each step off on his fingers as he spoke. “Question, research, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis, conclusion.” 

“I got a question—“ Erica pursed her lips, giving Dustin such intense side-eye Steve wondered if it was actually painful. “Why are you such a nerd?”

Dustin sighed, as though it were everyone else annoying him instead of the other way around. “The question is—if Vecna is just a guy with powers like El, how could he have survived this long in the Upside Down? What’s keeping him alive?”

Okay, fine. Attitude or not, Steve hadn’t really thought about it but maybe the kid had a point. 

“The hive mind!” Robin offered up.

“Possibly.” Dustin nodded to her. ”Probably. So, what does that tell us?”

Erica crossed her arms, leaning back heavily into the couch. “I don’t know Mr. Clarke, you wanna share your thoughts with the class?”

“I didn’t say I had all the answers.”

“That’s a first,” Robin mumbled. 

“I’m just trying to get us brainstorming here!”

A flutter of movement pulled Steve’s admittedly already drifting attention away from discussion at hand. Something in the corner, the air there shifting and bending strangely, a little like the way heat shimmers off a sun drenched black top. He watched through his periphery, not daring to actually turn his head to look as a familiar figure materialized there. 

Fuck.

Though he looked confused and disoriented at first, it wasn’t long before the long-haired apparition tried approaching one of them.

Steve swallowed hard, his throat growing painfully tight. He fought to keep his face neutral as the ghost raised a hand in front of Dustin's face, calling the boy's name loudly before moving on to Erica, then Nancy—and Steve panicked, knowing he had to do something before the figure tried the same with him. 

“Water,” he muttered, mainly to Robin as he rose and bumped her shoulder. She was the only one really paying attention to him anyway, while the others still argued the physics and limitations of the alternate dimension. 

Steve fled for the relative quiet and safety of his kitchen. He just needed a minute alone to get his shit together, but he should have expected the phantom footfalls that followed him across the tile floor to the cabinet. 

As he took out a tall glass with shaking hands, the ghost hopped up to sit on the counter just beside him and started talking to himself.

“What the hell does a guy gotta do to get a little attention, huh?” The figure held up his slightly transparent hands in front of his own face, turning them over and back again. “I-I’m kinda freaking out here.”

Under the show of irritation he sounded sad, and a little terrified.

“They can’t see you,” Steve muttered softly, regretting it the second the words passed his lips. 

He knew better than to engage with ghosts. 

Since the moment he’d first shown signs of the gift, he’d been taught by his late grandfather to leave the spirit world be, and mind his own goddamn business.

He’d only broken the rules one other time, about a month or so after they learned the full truth of what happened to Barb and he’d seen her essence lurking around his pool at night. That experience had only served to further prove the old man’s point. 

Nothing good ever came from acknowledging the dead. 

But this was Eddie. 

They’d fought together, bled together. Eddie was his–his ally, his compatriot, his friend. 

And towards the end there Steve was even starting to think that maybe… maybe one day they could be more, if he ever got up the courage to flirt back.

Not that it mattered now.

“No shit, Harrington!” Eddie spat. “I’ve been waving my hands in front of their faces, screaming Dustin's name at the top of my lungs and getting jack squat back in return. I mean what the fu—”

With a sad little smile Steve turned, finally looking straight at the other boy just in time to see his eyes go impossibly wide. 

“Wait—holy shit! Harrington, does this mean you can see me?!”

Steve winced, grimacing at the sheer volume of Eddie's voice. “And hear you, unfortunately.”

Who knew the loudest guy he’d ever met would be even louder in death. 

Actually, that tracked. 

“Steve?” Robin’s voice filtered in as she called out to him from the other room.

Steve took a deep breath, locking eyes with the adorably confused looking ghost haunting his kitchen as he shouted back to her. “Yeah?” He raised a hand to his head, rubbing at the bridge of his nose just as Robin appeared in the doorway. 

“What are you up to in here?” She asked.

“Oh, just…” Steve trailed off, trying and failing not to track Eddie’s movements as he hopped down off the counter and began to stalk towards Robin, a determined, mischievous glint in his eye. 

“ …talking to myself.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “You okay?”

“Are you okay she asks,” Eddie grumbled, tipping his head mockingly from side to side. “Pfft—I’m the one who’s invisible. Why isn’t anyone asking if I’m okay?”

“Um,” Steve fought to keep a level expression and not laugh, even as Eddie blew wet raspberries and made increasingly silly faces inches from an oblivious Robin’s nose. “No, actually. I think I might have a migraine coming on,” he lied.

“You want me to get everyone to leave?” She asked.

Yes, good plan! 

In fairness he wasn’t exactly feeling his best. He was exhausted. It had been a long few days.

A long… week and a half? 

Years. 

It had been a long few years.

And he needed some time alone with Eddie, to talk.

“That'd be great, yeah. Thanks, Rob.”

“Sure thing. Why don't you go get in bed with your eye mask on, and I'll bring water and painkillers up?”

“Oooh,” Eddie crooned. “His majesty sleeps with an eye mask? Fancy.”

Ugh, why were all of Steve’s favorite people such fucking smartasses? He glared at Eddie before he could stop himself. Which meant he was staring daggers at a blank wall right now, right in front of Robin, leaving her looking more concerned than ever. 

Shit. 

He should have known she’d wanna stay behind and take care of him. 

“I—um, t-that’s okay,” Steve stuttered out. “M-maybe you should just go on home too.”

Her face fell.

Hacking and wheezing, he forced a fake coughing fit in her direction, only barely covering his mouth with his hand.

“Very convincing,” Eddie commented with clear sarcasm.

Robin wrinkled her nose, recoiling like the germaphobe Steve knew and loved.

“Sorry, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something actually. You should get out while you still can.”

Robin bit at her lip, looking mildly dubious, but eventually she nodded. “Fine. Just promise you’ll call me if it gets any worse, or if you need anything?”

“I promise.”

While everyone cleared out, Steve hid in the kitchen, finally getting that drink of water he so desperately needed—his throat was on fire now that he thought about it—and splashed some more cold water from the sink on his face for good measure.

“You sure you’re not actually coming down with something?” Eddie asked, sitting back up on his perch on the counter. “You don’t look so hot.”

“I’m fine,” Steve said with practiced ease, though his head was beginning to throb a bit. Maybe that migraine thing wasn’t as much of a lie as he’d thought.

With the house now safely empty of prying eyes and ears, he ventured back out into the living room, with Eddie hovering along behind, and locked the deadbolt on the front door before plopping down hard on the couch, letting his head rest against the back of it.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Eddie asked, pacing back and forth along the floor in front of him.

Steve let his head loll to one side. “Plan?”

Eddie groaned, stopping in his tracks to throw his head up to the ceiling. “Why couldn’t it be Henderson who can see me.”

Okay, rude.

“A plan, y'know?” Eddie went on. “To get me back? To get me out of the Upside Down or whatever purgatory I'm currently languishing in?”

Steve could only stare at him blankly for a moment as the words sank in. “Eddie—” he began hesitantly, sitting up straight.

“What? Don't tell me you’ve all given up on me already?”

Oh.

Oh, no.

Steve had heard about this, how sometimes spirits don’t realize they’ve passed on, but surely Eddie had to know. What other possible explanation could he have for suddenly becoming invisible and incorporeal? 

“Eddie, what is it you think is happening here, exactly?” He asked, praying he was wrong but bracing himself for the worst. How on earth do you go about telling someone you care about that they’re dead?

“Well, clearly I–I'm…” Eddie sputtered haughtily for a moment before looking away. “I'm not sure. I’ve been separated from my body somehow, obviously. S-so It’s gotta be some weird Vecna shit, right? And uh, you can hear me and see me b-because… because we both got bit by the bats and it gave us, like, our own little freaky hive-mind type… thing?” 

He sounded less and less sure as he went on, and Steve’s heart ached for him. He remembered the bats attacking him part, but not the dying part. That just seemed cruel.

“Eddie, um,” Steve cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I don’t know how to tell you this but you… you died.”

“Bullshit,” Eddie snorted.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. We came back from the Creel house and you…” Steve paused, struggling for a second to force his words past the sudden lump in his throat. “Dustin was sitting there with your—”.

“No.” Eddie shook his head roughly. “No–no, because, if I'm dead… then how is it you can see me? Huh?! Explain that!” 

“It runs in my family. My dad doesn't have the gift but my grandfather was able to see ghosts, and his father before that.”

“Suuure, Harrington,” Eddie’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “So—not only am I supposed to believe that I'm dead, but also that you’re descended from some long line of ghost whisperers? Is this a joke to you?! I’m in dire need of–of fucking rescue, and you’re over here trying to fuck with me? Not cool, man. Not cool.”

Steve stood, almost reaching out as he itched to comfort the other boy in some way, but he knew well that it was pointless. “I’m not, I swear I'm not messing with you. I know it’s not what you want to hear, and I'm so sorry but I'm telling you the truth. Dustin, he—” Steve’s voice cracked. “You didn’t have a pulse, Eddie.”

“Stop it!” Eddie snapped.

“I’m sorry, really. I–”

“I said stop!” 

With a choked off sob Eddie moved to shove him away, only to stumble when his hands found nothing solid, or rather, as Eddie’s ghostly and very not solid form passed right through Steve’s body.

Steve held his breath as he waited for it, the sensation of being doused in a bucket of ice water, the spine tingling, creepy crawly thing he’d felt the only other time he’d let a ghost near enough to touch.

But this was nothing like that. 

Eddie felt… warm. And while Steve still shivered it wasn’t because the failed touch had been bad or painful. Quite the opposite, actually. He was left with a pleasant buzzing in his core, the initial warmth lingering, wrapping around him like an embrace before fading slowly.

Maybe all spirits were different. Maybe Barb had felt cold because she’d hated him, because it was his pool she died in—his fault she was out there in the first place.

But Eddie was…

Oh shit—Eddie. 

Steve spun to find him on the floor with his knees pulled up, hugging them to his chest, his huge brown eyes shining with unshed tears. 

Could ghosts cry?

Steve knelt down next to him, biting back a wince as the movement pulled at the bandages hiding beneath his shirt. He’d need to change those again tonight, they felt tacky with dried blood.

Eddie's voice shook when he finally spoke again. “I’m—dead?’

Steve bowed his head in a solemn nod. He would have given anything in that moment to be able to wrap his arms around Eddie.

“T-the bats?”

“There were just too many of them,” Steve explained. “It looked like you put up a hell of a fight, but I think you bled out.”

“My uncle, Wayne, do you know if he—” Eddie trailed off, worrying his bottom lip.

“Dustin talked to him. He couldn't risk telling him everything, but he gave him your guitar pick, and told him you were a hero. That you died a hero.”

Eddie barked a wet laugh, shaking his head.

“It’s the truth," Steve said, hoping his tone left no room for doubt. "If you hadn't distracted them we never would have made it into that attic. And If you hadn’t led them away when you did…” He didn’t need to say it, they both knew Dustin could—and likely would—have been hurt or worse, and those things would have gone through the gate and into the right side up.

It was exactly what Steve would have done too, had their roles been reversed.

“How long has it been?” Eddie asked, quietly.

“Three? No–no, four days.”

“And Vecna?”

“Down, but not out. We wounded him for sure but he got away. That's why everyone was here tonight.”

“Okay,” Eddie blew out a long breath, rubbing hard at his eyes. “What happens now? Do you like, help me find the light or something?” His eyes darted around as though some doorway or portal might appear right there in the living room. “Or maybe I'm going the other way. I can think of a few reasons the big guy might not let me upstairs, but what do I know, maybe self-sacrifice gets you a free pass?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t this your legacy or whatever?”

“I’ve never done,” Steve waved a hand, gesturing between the two of them. “This before. I was taught to ignore the dead. Pretend I can't see them just like everyone else and let them go about their business.”

“How come?”

“Grandfather said if you get too involved, if the dead find out you can see them they’ll never leave you alone. That it’s dangerous. The dead linger for a lot of reasons, but the most common are unfinished business and revenge. Lots of angry spirits out there according to the Harrington journals.”

Eddie tilted his head thoughtfully. “Am I really the first ghost you’ve ever talked to?”

Steve thought of Barb again, the way her face had morphed into a rage-filled mask when he revealed he’d been able to see her all along, but he pushed it forcefully out of his mind.

And lied.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I just told you, my grandfather—”

“No,” Eddie cut in. “I mean why, after a lifetime of ignoring ghosts, did you choose to acknowledge me?”

“B-because, you’re—“ Steve faltered, not knowing quite how to put it into words. He wasn’t sure even he totally understood. Yes he’d started developing a crush on the guy, but it was more than that. They had a connection, Steve felt it, even if Eddie didn’t. And maybe it was normal—inevitable even, when you get thrown into this shit together. But whether it was all just trauma bonding or something more, Steve couldn’t deny the pull.

“You’re—” he tried to say again as he pushed himself to his feet, only to double over, sucking air through his teeth as the dull pain in his sides turned searing and sharp.

“Steve?” Eddie shot up as he spoke, sounding worried.

“‘M fine,” Steve grit out, managing to straighten his posture without another outburst. “Jus' tired.”

Eddie raised a single eyebrow, but thankfully didn’t argue, silently following Steve as he headed for the staircase and began to climb.

Of course, this was Eddie, so he was only capable of being silent for so long.

“Hey, how come I can’t touch you, but I can walk up the stairs?” 

“I don’t know,” Steve huffed out, breath stuttering as he neared the top landing. 

Just a few more steps.

“Do you think I could, like, sit on a couch, or—or lay in a bed?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know,” Steve repeated, trying not to sound as annoyed and in pain as he felt. He just had to make it to his room, get these stupid wounds cleaned and then he could pass out for a few hours. Maybe then he’d be able to answer questions and figure out what to do about all this. 

“What if I—”

“Eddie!” Steve barked from the top step, whirling to face him. He nearly lost his balance before catching himself with a hand on the wall. His sides were screaming at him and the throbbing in his head was getting worse too. “I really don’t know any more than you do. I don’t know all the ins and outs, or why things work the way they work.  Can you please just give it a rest for a minute?”

Eddie wilted, dropping his gaze to his feet. “Sorry.”

Fuck.

“No,” Steve sighed. ”No, I'm sorry, I shouldn’t be… y’know, when you’re—”

“Dead?!” Eddie snapped, raising his head again. He looked hurt.

“Sorry.” Steve sucked his lip between his teeth.

“Whatever.”

“Eddie—”

Eddie stomped past him and into the upstairs hallway. “Spare me the pity party. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m telling you, if I was dead, I'd know it.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut again without another word. He didn’t have the energy, and If that was what Eddie needed to believe for now to get through this, then who was he to tell him what to think? It wouldn’t change the facts but if it made him feel better, what was the harm?

Somehow Eddie had guessed the right door. He waited, leaning up against the opposite wall and very deliberately didn’t look at Steve as he walked over, and pushed into his bedroom. 

Steve went right through to the bathroom to get this over with, not bothering to close the door behind him, assuming Eddie would be able to walk right through anyway if he wanted to.

Eddie did follow, still silently brooding as he found another piece of wall to hold up.

Steve ignored him for now, he felt awful but he’d try to apologize again later once the other boy had calmed down, and carefully peeled his shirt off as he stood in front of the mirror. 

The bandages at his sides looked gnarly and gross. He’d bled again, and it looked like there was something yellow seeping into the huge squares of gauze too. He turned his body to the side, looking over his shoulder to see how the road rash on his back was doing. It looked better than the front, but that wasn’t saying much. The skin around the wide scrapes was red and inflamed. He couldn’t cover those on his own and could really only clean them in the shower, but they were shallow at least and would eventually heal on their own, he figured. 

A quiet gasp reminded him of his audience, and a quick glance over through the mirror showed Eddie staring at his torso with wide eyes.

“It looks worse than it is,” Steve said quietly, quickly looking away. Which wasn’t exactly true but the last thing he needed right now was another person trying to force him to go to the hospital. 

He knew some first aid. 

It was fine.

Turning back to face the sink, Steve ran water over a washcloth and held it to each of his dressings to soak them off. The air stung when it finally hit the wounds, as though they'd been freshly opened, and, sure enough, there was definitely some pus seeping from the edges.

No problem. He’d just have to clean them extra thoroughly.

Gritting his teeth, Steve poured a hefty amount of peroxide on a new clean washcloth and began to gently pat his right side. 

The pain was instant and excruciating. 

Bile rose in his throat, a cold sweat breaking out across his body as the world around him swam. Steve swayed on his feet, dropping the cloth to the ground as he himself began to fall. 

A sudden warmth at his back, and strong hands wrapping around his chest were the only thing that kept him on his feet. Carefully avoiding the worst of his wounds, Eddie had caught him, holding the bulk of his weight until the spinning in his head stopped.

The moment Steve could stand on his own again Eddie jumped back as though he’d been burned.

Steve’s eyes snapped up, locking with Eddie’s in their reflections as he realized with a start what had just happened.

“How?” He whispered. He could still feel the imprint of Eddie’s hands where they had cradled him to his chest. He’d felt so… real, so solid, so—alive for that handful of seconds. 

“I-I don't know!” Eddie said, a little too loud in the small space. “I didn’t even think, or-or like, I forgot that I couldn't. I saw you about to go down and I didn't want you to hurt yourself.”

“I didn’t think it was possible." Steve took a step towards him. "You should try to do that again.”

Eddie tucked his hands behind his back, moving as far away as he could without actually leaving the room. “Don't we have more important things to worry about? Like maybe getting you to a hospital?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I told you, it looks worse than it is.”

It was abundantly clear that Eddie didn’t believe him, but something about the accidental touch had freaked him out enough that he let it go.

As quickly as he could, Steve finished cleaning the ruined expanse of his stomach and got both sides wrapped in fresh bandages, managing to do so without nearly fainting this time, and threw a clean t-shirt on to hide the evidence. Hopefully that would stop Eddie looking at him with those big brown fucking sad worried eyes of his. 

Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. 

As much as he liked Eddie’s attention on him, these weren’t exactly the circumstances he would have hoped for.

Steve shut the lights off, and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

“We should try it again,” Steve mumbled through a long drawn-out yawn.

Eddie laughed softly from his corner hiding spot. “What was that, big boy?”

Steve wished he’d try to join him on the bed, but didn’t know how to ask. He untangled one of his arms from the sheets, reaching a hand out in Eddie’s direction. “Touch me?” 

The room was dark, and it could have been that Steve was a little delirious but he was pretty sure a light blush crept over Eddie's cheeks as he took a step closer, his own ringed hand outstretched.

The sight set off butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Steve waited to feel the tips of their fingers brush, was desperate to feel Eddie’s touch again if he was honest, but it was no use, Eddie’s long digits passed right through.

“Maybe we have to–” Steve interrupted himself with another deep yawn. His body still ached but now that he was tucked in and warm in his bed, it was getting hard to fight the inevitable. 

“Just go to sleep, man,” Eddie said, his lips quirking into a small crooked smile. “It's not like I'm going anywhere.”

It should have been awkward, or weird to know someone would be there all night, lurking around while he slept, but as Steve drifted off he felt safer than he had in a long time, oddly comforted by the fact that Eddie would be there watching over him, even if he was just a ghost.

Chapter 2: This Haunted House Is Not A Home

Thanks as always to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta and an absolutely amazing cheerleader!

Permanent taglist(open): @penny00dreadful @pearynice @hitlikehammers @bookworm0690 @wonderland-girl143-blog 

@goodolefashionedloverboi @themagicalari @awkwardgravity1 @rocknrollsalad

Fic taglist (open): @sidekick-hero

[whencyclopedia]

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and author. Bacon is often considered one of the founders of modern scientific research and scientific method, even as "the father of modern science" since he proposed a new combined method of empirical experimentation and shared data collection so that humanity might finally discover all of nature's secrets and improve itself.

Political Career

Francis Bacon was born on 22 January 1561 in London. His family had powerful connections, his uncle, for example, was William Cecil, Lord Burghley (l. 1520-1598), special advisor and personal secretary to Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) from 1558 to 1572. Lord Burghley also served as Lord Treasurer from 1572 to 1598. Bacon joined the University of Cambridge in 1573. Completing his studies in law at London's Inns of Court, Bacon joined the English embassy in France, a post he held until 1584.

Returning to England, Bacon began a career in politics, which would see him reach the very top of what could be a highly dangerous tree, one particularly susceptible to brutal pruning by unpredictable absolute monarchs. Alexander Pope, known for his sharp humour, once described Bacon as "the wisest, brightest, and meanest of mankind" (Rundle, 31). Bacon was first elected a member of Parliament in 1581. His uncle's patronage failed to secure Bacon the position of Attorney-General in 1594 and 1596. Perhaps Burghley pushed too hard for his nephew since, in the end, the queen stated she would appoint anyone except Bacon to the post.

In 1596, Queen Elizabeth did appoint Bacon to the Queen's Counsel. Bacon ultimately deserted his famous uncle and sided with Burghley's great enemy, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex (1566-1601). This was an unfortunate choice of ally since Essex soon found himself in disgrace. Fortunately, Bacon redeemed himself somewhat by helping to secure Essex's execution in 1601 and then justifying his political machinations in his Apology of 1604, where he explained that his ultimate loyalties lay neither with Burghley nor Essex but belonged, rather, to his monarch.

In 1603, Bacon was knighted by the new monarch, James I of England (r. 1603-1625). More extravagant titles followed, that of 1st Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St. Albans in 1621. In 1618, the same king appointed Bacon Lord Chancellor, but he did not hold the position for long since allegations of corruption soon surfaced. Bacon admitted his guilt, was held in the Tower of London for four nights, and suffered a whopping fine of £40,000 (£8 million today). Fortunately, King James cancelled the fine, but with his political career in tatters, Bacon concentrated on his more academic pursuits. In these, he would be remarkably successful and influential, all the more surprising since he did not himself seriously practice any branch of science.

Continue reading...

[umeji-writes]

Why the manga Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is a masterpiece, part # (idk at this point)

Spoilers for the latest M!IK chapter (332) under the cut ♡

Okay, I was loving this art-focused arc already, as someone who after... several years (hi I'm old)... decided to learn illustration for good. But unholy shit I wasn't expecting an actual storytelling lesson from Nishi-sensei!!! I'm specifically referring to these two pages:

..........do you see what Nishi did????? See, I always found the characters in M!IK to be exceptionally alive, as if they had independent lives outside the pages we can read. Basically all named characters are consistent and three-dimentional, even if they appeared for a couple of chapters at most. And there are LOTS of them, I tried to compile a spreadsheet for personal use and we are well beyond 100 at this point (I'm not done yet). This is most likely Nishi's writing method. It fits: "when it comes to terror designing characters, what's important is the foundation. When, where, from whom, and from what was that terror were that character's motivations born? Without that, art doesn't live". See all the crumbs of information Nishi left along the chapters, in text or drawings, or in the Q&As. M!IK's characters are alive, like the Bowing Palome. Clearly this is not new when it comes to storytelling in general, and to manga specifically. As an example, there's a whole chapter dedicated to character design in Hirohiko Araki's Manga in Theory and Practice, The Craft of Creating Manga (most recommended read btw), that goes over the data to collect even before drawing a character. I imagine that's among a mangaka's best practices. But that's the point, Nishi actually follows the rules of the Golden Way*, and created a work which is nearly perfect from any point of view: the four fundamentals (characters, story, setting, and themes), and even rhythm, art, comedy... I'm in awe. I know I sound like a smitten fan, and I am at this point, but seriously, this manga is qualitatively great, and it's a pity it's so underrated. *The set of rules/tips Araki compiled, which if followed would lead to a manga being successful, according to him. I guess there are other sources as well out there, like illustration schools? But this what I can tell you, as an outsider :D

[the-twilight-sword]

Diluc & The Power in Nod-Krai

The Fatui's rulers, the Harbingers, monitored Diluc's progress from the shadows. The prowess with which he laid waste to numerous Fatui strongholds caught their attention and forced them to take action. Diluc narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Harbingers thanks to a third-party observer from the north, who was part of a vast underground intelligence network. The observer claimed to have been watching Diluc for some time, and approved of his methods. After his close encounter with death, Diluc took a long hard look at his past and the anger he had harbored for so long. Acknowledging his shortcomings, he decided to join the underground intelligence network. Just like when he first joined the Knights of Favonius, Diluc committed himself fully to his work. His talents and skills saw him rise steadily through the ranks into the upper echelons of the network. The network was made up of volunteers, and many of its members had willingly given up their prior positions and reputations to join. Some had even abandoned their names. Diluc - Character Story Four

I've long wondered what this third-party intelligence network in the north could be. For a while, I considered the Treasure Hoarders the most likely group, because of the way Kaeya uses them for intelligence. But after the On The Trails of Behemoths event, I'm convinced this group is one in the same as the "organization whose details may not be disclosed" the Traveler gets commissioned to collect data for in the event.

[This could be the Voynich Guild- Paimon's line about Helka's practice of note-taking certainly matches the famed Voynich Manuscript. "Speaking of, you were taking all those photos and drawing in your notebook while (Traveler) was fighting. It all looked pretty professional!" But for the sake of the post, it doesn't matter.]

Mavuika acquires 'intel' about the phenomenon in the sky seen above the Stadium of Sacred Flame.

"Such fragments are known as 'Ancient Moon's Remnants,' relics of Secret Source technology from the era of the Ancient Dragons. Coincidentally, a small squad of Fatui infiltrated our borders around the same time it appeared. Our investigation revealed them to be the subordinates of The Doctor. Their stronghold is in Nod-Krai, a land with a long history not far from Snezhnaya. The people there can use a very special power. It is said that this mysterious power predates even the seven elements of Teyvat."

Now, I want you to recall what phlogiston is. Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night says, "Phlogiston is Teyvat's primordial form of energy. The Heavenly Principles used phlogiston as a basis for the creation of Elemental energy... to develop a power to better counter the Abyss." She continues, relating to the Light Realm and Human Realm, "Light refracts into seven different colors, which we collectively refer to as a rainbow. Elemental energy is a similar concept. It's essentially the modern counterpart of Phlogiston…"

We know from the AQ that the Fatui have been covertly researching phlogiston when we raid the Phlogiston Extraction Research Center, and it doesn't seem likely to be Capitano at the head of this. It might be Pantalone- Citlali's SQ shows that Fatui under him are active in Natlan- but I think it's Dottore, matching what Mavuika mentioned regarding the Ancient Moon's Remnants.

What's the primordial sea then? The Lethe to our Phlegesthon? The "cosmic ocean" mythological motif is known to frequently feature the struggle between fire and water, so primordial seawater may only be half-made of our water equivalent. In the "Diary of a Soldier Abroad" we find in the Phlogiston Extraction Research Center, we see our soldier contrast boring phlogiston with Fire-Water; clearly, this is meant to be vodka, but it might make an interesting allusion.

Dottore & Phlogiston are connected. Dottore & Nod Krai are connected. Diluc and Nod Krai are connected. Before I string these all together, let's talk about Divine Nails.

Divine Nails are dropped by Celestia to purify Abyssal corruption, as evidenced in the lore of the Staff of the Scarlet Sands, the Amethyst Crown, and in Nahida's SQ. She says they have "the ability to purify and stabilize powers that shouldn't exist in Teyvat." and speaking on the Oozing Filth, says "Forbidden knowledge that its light has shone upon is kept here forever in a different form…"

Let's keep track of our motifs here- this is Dvalin's tear before and after the Traveler purifies it.

There's the Statue of the Seven before and after activation

We have Deshret's Primal Embers and Primal Torches

Then there's the Lumenstone, and the Oozing Concretion.

"What flows within this nameless, voiceless azure crystal? The secrets of the heavens? Or the whispers of the abyss?" - Lumens: Stone of Light

The Chinese name for the Lumenstone shares the name of Pyroxene, a real-life groups of minerals whose name means "fire-stranger", named for their tendency to appear as impurities within lava.

When it comes to the Canned Knowledge Capsules, which vary in colour based on their amount of elemental energy, the purple ones give off no such elemental signature. We also see that the Court of Desolation contains the same mud as the Chasm.

"The Abyss manifests its power in a manner that is most devastating to the place in question. In Sumeru, it was forbidden knowledge. In Natlan, it was monstrous creatures." —Nahida: About Haborym

I believe that there exists a delicate balance of the "red" substance, phlogiston, and the "blue" substance we see in Divine Nails. When they're out of balance, the "red" and "blue" give us a corrupted "purple". Think the defiled statue, or the tainted blood on Dvalin's back.

And then think of Elynas' heart; Elynas' brother, Durin, also has a warm, red heart, and it's possible that other corrupted, Abyssal-adjacent dragons like Ursa the Drake have it too.

Dottore and the Delusion

Krupp, adjutant of Dottore in his posthumous robot form

Il Dottore has two major motifs; the plague doctor's mask, and the vial.

I would focus on the blue vials, which are present in both the manga and the current game. I contrast them with the red eyes he and Krupp share.

His goal in Mondstadt at the time of the manga is still being theorised on. On the surface, he seems to be only vaguely interested in using Mondstadt as a source of human test subjects, before turning his attention to the strange power displayed by Diluc. He has his subordinates attempt to capture Diluc, but they fail, and that's that.

The subtext is deeper.

He's likely the one who orchestrated the death of Crepus Ragnvindr, using his birdlike devices to draw the ire of Ursa the Drake, forcing Crepus to use his Delusion (which then backfired on him). He may have made one of his segments take the place of Eroch at the Knights of Favonius, a traitorous figure who contributed to Diluc's radicalisation against the knights. (We know Il Dottore can change his appearance from The Night-Bird Falls at the Curtain's Call)

[I think it's possible that Il Dottore is using Ursa the commit the sin of influencing human evolution, just as Jakob Ingold and Rene de Petrichor used Elynas.]

Now let's talk about Crepus' Delusion

It's different from every Delusion seen thus far. The case is unique- perhaps being the Nod-Krai-specific case- and the symbol it shows is not the Fatui insignia. In fact, it resembles the alchemy crafting bench's possible representation of the planet Teyvat lies on and its three moons.

Alice even uses a red version

And it doesn't seem to utilise the elements, but a purple-black fire reminiscent of the Oozing Mud.

This power could relate to the Frostmoon Scions of Nod-Krai

The inspirations are important here- Genshin's phlogiston is based on the real-life theory of phlogiston developed by 18th-century scientist Georg Ernst Stahl to explain combustion. In his time, oxidization were not understood and chemistry operated on an alchemical model. Similar to Genshin's phlogiston, Stahl's theory gives a solid and liquid form to the earthy substance phlogiston is paired with- terra lapidea (stony / rocky earth) and terra fluida (liquid earth), with terra pinguis (oily / fatty earth) being the combustible fire element that escapes into the air, visible to us as flame.

But as chemistry advanced, this theory was supplanted by oxygen theory.

In 1766, Englishman Henry Cavendish isolated a gas that he called "inflammable air" because it burned readily. Priestley noted that when inflammable air and common air were ignited with a spark in a closed vessel, a small amount of "dew" formed on the glass walls. When Cavendish repeated the experiment, he found that the dew was actually water. Cavendish explained the results in terms of phlogiston and assumed the water was present in each of the two airs before ignition. For Lavoisier, combustion meant combining with oxygen; however, until he could explain the combustion of inflammable air, some would still doubt his new chemistry. In June 1783, Lavoisier reacted oxygen with inflammable air, obtaining "water in a very pure state." He correctly concluded that water was not an element but a compound of oxygen and inflammable air, or hydrogen as it is now known. To support his claim, Lavoisier decomposed water into oxygen and inflammable air. Now that the composition of water was known, the last objection to discarding phlogiston could be eliminated. - The Chemical Revolution of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier

The disproving of phlogiston theory is tied directly to the discovery of the composition of water; of oxygen, and hydrogen. The fiery, reactive element and the watery, inert element. In fact, our real-world understanding of hydrogen as the "first" of the elements mirrors Genshin's phlogiston which refracts into the seven elements of Teyvat. The simple structure of the hydrogen atom and the spectrum of light produced from it or absorbed by it helped us understand the atomic structure of our world's elements.

I think the blue substance that constitutes the Lumenstone and the Divine Nails are a sort of opposite to phlogiston, and that these two substances balance and neutralise one another, coming together to form the water of the primordial sea.

[rin-and-jade]

A Cup, and A Thread: A Post About System Communication

Hey, you know classic string telephone? The one made with two plastic cups and a piece of yarn, i suppose you recognize that old-school science toy? It's one of the simplest inventions that showcases how messages are sent from one place to another!

This little invention is very fitting to explain how inner communication works, so i hope today's theme of analogy will help you understand all of my messages im about to share, with a twist of a fiber.

There's a lot of things i want to address on this topic, thanks to all my 8 great friends who had helped me gather a variety of insights on what seems to be the problem, i have the answers right here that will be shared to the community, because of them!

You know what communication is?

I sure do, but let's both revise on what it means, according to Merriam-Webster, it's defined as..

"a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior."

It also means "a technique for expressing ideas effectively."

..Alright, we should be in the same page now, but, do we actually know what counts as 'good' communication in system context? After some examination from the given data, it was a resounding "No." This can also mean many may not have a clear idea on it, which will also be addressed.

Okay, tell me please?

Before i do tell, remember that communication is diverse, with no perfect or right way to do so. Just like animals, where different species use unique methods to pull it off, means can systems have their own unique styles too.

There are a few examples we see in animals; like how some use pheromones to talk to its own kind, while some read off from their signature body languages, and some use tones or cues that is meant to be recognized specifically, to each their own meanings.

So, good communication means ensuring that everyone in the system can understand and receive messages effectively which eases functioning and cooperation, regardless of how frequent or indirect the communication may be.

For us, systems have unique internal methods of communication that are based on how our brains function, not having any unique features in animals. These methods are very personal, so find what works best for you.

Here are the common styles so far:

Verbal: Where you talk aloud, or in a media like notes.

Abstract vibes: Where you speak no words, which encompasses feelings, or concepts, or ideas, that can be "felt" instead of heard or seen.

Images: Where the share of messages are conveyed through memories, expressive actions or symbols that are projected in the mind.

Direct thoughts: Where an internal dialogue is present, parts communicate using this inner voice, that can vary in different accents and intonations.

The media represents a lot of the stereotypical kind, direct thoughts, while the rest are less recognized. These four kinds are not limited to, but are the ones often represented, they are equally as important and real.

It's important to note that alters within a system can have different communication styles, or the collective may share the same style. You can't force yourself to use a particular kind, so focus on practicing and mastering your style.

..But there's many problems!

Which is why it's a good idea to educate yourself and find proper solutions in order to resolve them. I know some of them at best, as there might be issues i have not heard of, though will still be shared.

Consider a clear communication between two alters with an example of both cups, connected to the string with no obstructive noise at the background while exchanging messages, one conveys the content clearly, and the other hears and received with maximum clarity/understanding. This will be our main example that will be used to compare with the problems that usually arise in this topic.

The problem with multi-talking

Now, to explain interruptions from another part would be like having an extra string-attached cup tied to the middle of the initial cup, now with two inputs and one receiver, the messages will overlap each other and become obscured.

This can be resolved by being aware, then slowing down when talking and take turns between each other to avoid clashes which can easily overwhelm or confuse the receiver, or even the sender itself since losing track of thought or words can happen.

The problem with worser performance from stress

When stress happens, this can sometimes mess up your state to receive messages, imagine that outwards stressors had pulled and tugged your thread, now a bit twisted out and weak, which still can be used to communicate and hear, but now in a weaker clarity.

Because parts communicate mostly from internal ways, our brain networks are responsible to allow when activities inside (that doesn't necessarily involve system things) can happen. Just like how imagination runs in a mind that's wandering off, stress alerts you instead, snapping off from any safe or calm activities until the 'threat' is resolved.

You can gain temporary clarity by calming yourself down and bring all your focus to send your messages if any responds, if it doesn't happen, it would be best to wait it out until you naturally feel at ease once more, or solve the issue at hand and try again afterwards.

This may not work when you are in a fight or flight response, if you do got cutted off and need to contact anyone from inside, try using strong triggers to probe a response.

The problem with ineffective communication

It is like talking to a part who uses a rubber strand instead of cotton string as its mediator. Threads can conduct finer vibrations that can preserve the original verbal message, while rubber can represent for those who use vibes, as they're more broad and less specific. So if they attempt to talk to you with rubber, you might not receive it's message well,

This can be solved with having another part that are flexible or able to decipher, or find the middle ground where both can exchange better. (e.g. texts)

The problem of talking outside your subgroup

This is where it gets tricky, because there is a notable difference in communication where it's easier to converse inside your group while it's harder to converse outside of your group. What i mean by group is they are the people you meet and talk the most and have easy time communicating.

Imagine that the same group has the same length of the thread, the shorter, the better it retains or transfers message with no effort. Talking outside of your group would require you an extra pair of string telephone, but this time the thread is long as you're talking to another neighboring group, who isn't directly related with you.

Suggestions varies from trying different medias to contact with and see what works best, or rely on someone who have direct relations with the group you mean to interact with, acting as a bridge. Lowering barriers by consenting to get closer in co-conscious might do the trick too. Long term solution would be building ties to strengthen communication. (can also work with layers, better if you can 'travel' there to get direct interactions)

The problem with front and innerworld disconnection

It is normal to be out of contact from the inside when you're fronting, since this would mean you put down the cup to focus doing task or role job. To remedy this, try finding a moment to sit down or close your eyes, and feel yourself going back to your mind, since in order to contact those inside, you must lightly disconnect from the real world to focus better inwards.

The problem with having aphantasia

As if you heard the noise from the cup, but you're not sure where that sound is coming from nor aware of your surroundings as this condition blinds you visually (can vary from mild to severe, blurry/vague mental images to blank respectively).

Your innerworld is still there, using visualization is one way to immerse in, start relying on your tactile awareness, or your 'radar' that is, since it is possible to detect parts in your proximity. Rely on tangible medias such as texting or notes to keep track of things.

The problem with external noise

Having a comorbid of something, such as ADHD, autism, or OCD can create a mental chatter that exists in the background constantly.. if not most of the time, imagine that the location of the telephone is somewhere bustling, now it is harder to tell which one is intrusive, random chatters, or an alter's voice.

There is not a lot to say except learning how to separate those noises from your people, it is done best by slowing down and voice your messages wide and clear to create a distinction from such background chatter, making it easier to differentiate.

Other conditions like depression and anxiety can also affect the clarity and ease of communicating.

The problem with distinguishing others

For those with comorbids and aphantasia, this can make it much harder, though still possible! One last problem with communication is sometimes not knowing who is who, which creates obstacles in different ways. Imagine that there are multiple cups lined up to you as the receiver, this creates difficulty on pinpointing whose speaking. Thus, having problems on replying back or made sure if the first sentence relate to the second one, or it belonged to someone else.

The only solution there is, has to be a long term one. As you're suggested to slowly collect and recognize different speech pattern, assigned vibes of other parts, when they usually reply or what topics/mentions brings them up, and different accents or tone if any.

It is not required to 'know' physical attributes or what they look like, but this one will help a ton and usually the easiest way in distinguishing who is who. The solution is to go through a trial and error (arrange all the attributes you like/feel connected to, and see what sticks) and document all the findings somewhere, incase you're forgetful/difficulty memorizing.

Special mentions

It is worth knowing that communication is greatly affected by your state of mind + physical health, the conditions you have, the maturity of the alter in communicating skills, and the style you or the collective dominantly have.

That being said, having the same role, or source, or how old or new an alter is doesn't generally affect the ease of exchanging messages.

Lastly, inner communication also obeys similar rules to how conversation works in real life, this can be taken from examples:

The proximity of the talker you're with affects how much you can understand what is being said. It makes sense that you need to focus harder to hear what the mumbles meant when they're further away from you.

Being with people you can vibe along always results in a better and more effective exchange, as you don't have to explain twice for them to get the message. (mutual understanding)

How loud the environment is also affects how focused/undisturbed you are within a conversation, and it takes effort to separate the background noise to catch what they're saying.

People also have their own ways of expressing their message, some are more dominant in body language or etc. This is why it is important to recognize and understand what it means. You will always have your own dominant way of socializing, but this doesn't mean you can't learn other ways, partially.

Now comprehending the concept of system communication does become easier, right? This should serve as a good framework to start building and understanding connections.

One last phone call

I hope everything i have said here has been loud and clear, if there is a problem that has not been mentioned that needs fixing, give this string telephone a tug and i'd answer your call alright?

May this post address all the things you need more than a hotline help centre and leave with full satisfaction.

If you please, i will now indulge in the whole history of telephone strings, join me if you wish! Did you know it's originally made of tin can instead of a plastic cup?

-- The next post that will be out: all about introjection. Stay tuned!

- j

[materialsscienceandengineering]

2025 Monthly Topic Poll

As mentioned previously, 2024 is rapidly coming to an end - and that means the end of the 2024 daily posts! Next year, every three months (March, June, Sept, and Dec) I’ll be posting about an MSE topic at least every other day - and it's time to vote on topics! Top four topics will win, unless it's ambiguous, in which case I'll run another poll (or if there's no interest in any of them!)

More explanation for each topic is under the cut:

Acoustics and sound: All about acoustics in materials science, and also the materials science of acoustics, anything from ultrasonic testing to the science of musical instruments.

Atoms: The science of things at the atomic level; electron energy levels, protons, neutrons, isotopes, etc.

*Careers: This one would require input from followers, but would include posting on what kind of careers exist that involve materials science, however directly.

Color: The sources of color in the world around us. Incandescence, color centers, structural color, etc.

Computational materials science: Different techniques and methods of computational materials science

Data: Presenting data, managing data, collecting data, etc.

Elemental groupings: What are the halogens? The refractory elements? Noble metals?

Energy sources: Where are we drawing energy from? What types of solar power exist? What's the status of tidal energy generation?

Integrated circuit (IC) failure analysis: Exactly what it says on the tin, failure analysis of integrated circuits.

Materials maturity levels: Also manufacturing readiness levels; how do we go from testing a new material in the lab to mass production?

Property prefixes and suffixes: Is piezoelectricity the only piezo- property there is? What is the prefix tribo-? How many types of magnetism are there?

Transmission electron microscopy: All about the ins and outs of how transmission electron microscopy works and the different varieties and forms of it.

[mariacallous]

If you still hold any notion that Google Chrome’s “Incognito mode” is a good way to protect your privacy online, now’s a good time to stop.

Google has agreed to delete “billions of data records” the company collected while users browsed the web using Incognito mode, according to documents filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday. The agreement, part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit filed in 2020, caps off years of disclosures about Google’s practices that shed light on how much data the tech giant siphons from its users—even when they’re in private-browsing mode.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google must further update the Incognito mode “splash page” that appears anytime you open an Incognito mode Chrome window after previously updating it in January. The Incognito splash page will explicitly state that Google collects data from third-party websites “regardless of which browsing or browser mode you use,” and stipulate that “third-party sites and apps that integrate our services may still share information with Google,” among other changes. Details about Google’s private-browsing data collection must also appear in the company’s privacy policy.

Additionally, some of the data that Google previously collected on Incognito users will be deleted. This includes “private-browsing data” that is “older than nine months” from the date that Google signed the term sheet of the settlement last December, as well as private-browsing data collected throughout December 2023. Certain documents in the case referring to Google's data collection methods remain sealed, however, making it difficult to assess how thorough the deletion process will be.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda says in a statement that the company “is happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.” Castaneda also noted that the company will now pay “zero” dollars as part of the settlement after earlier facing a $5 billion penalty.

Other steps Google must take will include continuing to “block third-party cookies within Incognito mode for five years,” partially redacting IP addresses to prevent re-identification of anonymized user data, and removing certain header information that can currently be used to identify users with Incognito mode active.

The data-deletion portion of the settlement agreement follows preemptive changes to Google’s Incognito mode data collection and the ways it describes what Incognito mode does. For nearly four years, Google has been phasing out third-party cookies, which the company says it plans to completely block by the end of 2024. Google also updated Chrome’s Incognito mode “splash page” in January with weaker language to signify that using Incognito is not “private,” but merely “more private” than not using it.

The settlement's relief is strictly “injunctive,” meaning its central purpose is to put an end to Google activities that the plaintiffs claim are unlawful. The settlement does not rule out any future claims—The Wall Street Journal reports that the plaintiffs’ attorneys had filed at least 50 such lawsuits in California on Monday—though the plaintiffs note that monetary relief in privacy cases is far more difficult to obtain. The important thing, the plaintiffs’ lawyers argue, is effecting changes at Google now that will provide the greatest, immediate benefit to the largest number of users.

Critics of Incognito, a staple of the Chrome browser since 2008, say that, at best, the protections it offers fall flat in the face of the sophisticated commercial surveillance bearing down on most users today; at worst, they say, the feature fills people with a false sense of security, helping companies like Google passively monitor millions of users who've been duped into thinking they're browsing alone.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Reference archived on our website (click to see this and more than a thousand other open-access scientific studies on covid)

Study shows blatant underdiagnosing of PACS (i.e. Long Covid)

Abstract Objectives

The objectives of this study were to examine post COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in England and explore risk factors for the condition.

Methods

Data were collected by National Health Service (NHS) CHECK, a longitudinal study exploring HCWs’ mental and physical well-being during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS CHECK collected data at four timepoints: the baseline survey between April 2020 and January 2021, and then three follow-up surveys at approximately 6, 12 and 32 months post baseline. PCS data were collected at 12 and 32 months, while risk factor data were from baseline. HCWs were asked what COVID-19 symptoms they experienced and for how long and were classified as having PCS if they had any symptom for ≥12 weeks. Multilevel regressions were used to examine risk factors for PCS.

Results

This study included 5248 HCWs. While 33.6% (n=1730) reported prolonged COVID-19 symptoms consistent with PCS, only 7.4% (n=385) reported a formal diagnosis of PCS. Fatigue, difficult concentrating, insomnia and anxiety or depression were the most common PCS symptoms. Baseline risk factors for reporting PCS included screening for common mental disorders, direct contact with COVID-19 patients, pre-existing respiratory illnesses, female sex and older age.

Conclusions

While a third of HCWs reported prolonged COVID-19 symptoms consistent with PCS, a smaller percentage reported a formal diagnosis of the condition. We replicate findings that direct contact with COVID-19 patients, older age, female sex, pre-existing respiratory illness and symptoms of common mental disorders are associated with increased risk of PCS.

[spacenutspod]

Space might seem calm when gazing up at the night sky, but invisible waves ripple continuously through the universe, bending space and time. These waves, known as gravitational waves, carry crucial clues about cosmic events. Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder are taking a fresh approach to detecting these elusive signals. Their method uses the subtle wiggles of distant celestial objects known as quasars. Astrophysicist Jeremy Darling and his team recently used new data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. Gaia has observed the precise movements of over a million quasars. Darling examined the data from Gaia to understand how gravitational waves might be shifting these quasars’ positions. How Cosmic Waves Move Quasars Quasars, incredibly bright black holes at the center of distant galaxies, appear stationary. Yet, gravitational waves traveling through space gently deflect the path of quasar light reaching Earth, creating tiny movements in their apparent positions. Detecting these subtle movements requires exceptional precision. Darling describes it as needing to spot the growth of a human fingernail from Earth to the Moon—a seemingly impossible task. Generalized HD curves showing the predicted pairwise correlations of radial and angular motions produced by transverse traceless stochastic gravitational waves as a function of angular separation. (CREDIT: The Astrophysical Journal Letters) “If you lived for millions of years, and you could actually observe these incredibly tiny motions, you’d see these quasars wiggling back and forth,” Darling explained. Currently, researchers use radio signals from pulsars—rapidly spinning stars—to detect gravitational waves. In 2023, the NANOGrav collaboration found evidence of gravitational waves by observing how pulsars’ signals changed as space-time stretched and compressed. But this method only detects gravitational waves moving in one direction—like waves crashing toward a shoreline. Darling’s method, on the other hand, could detect gravitational waves moving in multiple directions. “Gravitational waves operate in three dimensions,” he said. “They stretch and squeeze spacetime along our line of sight, but they also cause objects to appear to move back and forth in the sky.” Related Stories New quantum gravity discovery could unite quantum mechanics and relativity New unified gravity theory could finally bridge Einstein and quantum physics Groundbreaking hypergravity facility could revolutionize our understanding of time and space Measuring Gravitational Waves with Precision To find these cosmic signals, Darling paired up over two billion measurements from quasars collected by Gaia. He studied how each pair of quasars moved relative to one another, creating what astronomers call an “astrometric Hellings–Downs curve.” This curve measures how gravitational waves shift quasars based on their positions in the sky. Darling’s team found no definite signal of gravitational waves yet. However, they set the tightest limit ever on how strong these gravitational waves might be. They established that these waves are incredibly subtle, no stronger than a characteristic strain of just 2.7 × 10⁻¹² at frequencies around one cycle per year. This limit surpasses earlier results achieved through radio-wave observations. Gaia’s precision allowed the researchers to set this new boundary. But the Gaia data did reveal some quirks—unexpected motions in quasars possibly caused by small measurement errors. Such errors create difficulties in clearly identifying gravitational waves but did not entirely overshadow the results. Proper motion power in the four correlations (Equations (16)–(19)) vs. the angular separation of quasar pairs for a sample of 67,917 quasars. (CREDIT: The Astrophysical Journal Letters) Why These Waves Matter Why go through so much effort to detect gravitational waves? Darling emphasized that these waves provide invaluable insights into fundamental physics. When massive black holes spiral and collide, they unleash gravitational waves powerful enough to ripple throughout space. “There is a lot we can learn from getting these precise measurements of gravitational waves,” Darling said. “Different flavors of gravity could lead to lots of different kinds of gravitational waves.” Observing these subtle movements could help scientists distinguish between gravitational waves originating from massive black holes and other sources, such as cosmic events that happened just after the Big Bang. Understanding these differences would significantly enhance scientists’ knowledge of galaxy formation and evolution. Angular correlations of quasar proper motions show significant excess power when the E- and B-mode dipoles are not removed. Top: aligned parallel and perpendicular modes (blue) and mixed modes (orange) vs. the angular separation of quasar pairs for 64,879 quasars selected for proper motion amplitude <100 μas yr−1. (CREDIT: The Astrophysical Journal Letters) Scientists already know gravitational waves exist. The LIGO observatory famously detected waves from black hole mergers at frequencies between 35 and 250 Hz. Pulsar observations have also spotted a background of gravitational waves at much lower frequencies, between 2 and 28 billionths of a Hertz (nHz). But identifying gravitational waves at the intermediate frequencies accessible by Gaia could solve critical mysteries about cosmic history. Challenges and Future Prospects Detecting gravitational waves through quasar motions is tough. Earth’s constant movement through space complicates measurements. Our planet orbits the sun at roughly 67,000 miles per hour, and the sun itself speeds through the galaxy at about 850,000 miles per hour. Researchers must filter out these motions to spot the extremely delicate signals caused by gravitational waves. Despite these challenges, Gaia will soon deliver even more extensive data. In 2026, scientists will gain access to over five additional years of quasar measurements. Darling remains optimistic that future data could reveal the elusive gravitational waves. Proper motion power in parallel and perpendicular modes (blue) and mixed modes (orange) vs. the angular separation of quasar pairs for 64,879 quasars selected based on their proper motion amplitude <100 μas yr−1. (CREDIT: The Astrophysical Journal Letters) “If we can see millions of quasars, then maybe we can find these signals buried in that very large dataset,” he said. Darling’s method marks a promising step in astrophysics, potentially revealing more about gravity, galaxy evolution, and even the universe’s earliest moments. While the signals are faint, the importance of these cosmic whispers is profound, providing hints about the nature of reality itself. Research findings are available online in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Note: The article above provided above by The Brighter Side of News. Like these kind of feel good stories? Get The Brighter Side of News’ newsletter. The post Astrophysicists use quasars to detect invisible gravitational waves appeared first on The Brighter Side of News.

[herohimbowhore]

An Analysis Through Color of the 2023 Driver Helmets

During a Grand Prix weekend, drivers are often fitted in team kits when not in the car and when they are in the car they wear the race suits. The one big method of showing creativity and expressing one's personal beliefs is the helmets that they wear.

Typically designed by the driver based on things that are important to them or they like, the helmets allow us to visualize driver personalities and differentiate them from their teammate. Every driver has one "normal" helmet that is run for almost every Grand Prix, but they can also decide to have "special" helmets for some races.

While the design of the helmets tells us many things about a driver, the colors that are used also hold significance.

Data Collection

The analysis is based on the most common colors used on the "normal" helmets. "Normal" is characterized as the regular helmet that a driver is using and has no track-specific features. Some key points to take into consideration were:

The helmets analyzed included Nyck De Vries, Daniel Ricciardo, and Liam Lawson since all three have raced in the AlphaTauri for more multiple races -> therefore had a "normal" helmet they ran

George Russell's green helmet from testing and the Bahrain Grand Prix was not used as he has primarily used the blue version of it for most of the season

With Daniel Ricciardo's helmets, he has variations of the honey badger on the back that are track specific, however, the rest of the helmet is typically the normal white/beige/dark blue scheme so colors for the honey badger were not included

Valtteri Bottas has had many, many helmet designs this season, almost one for every race, but there is a helmet that he's used without any track-specific imagery that was used for this

After looking at the 22 "normal" helmets run by the drivers, I compiled a list of every color that was used. The colors compiled in the list had to either:

Appear in a decently sized section on the helmet - so it couldn't be a color that just appeared in a sponsor logo

Stand out in the helmet design - so a light gray on a white background wouldn't count, but the colors of the Ferrari logo against a red background would count

In the case of lights or darks, it needed to significantly different from a normal shade of the color - so blue and dark blue (which was significantly darker) would count as separate colors or yellow and neon yellow would be two different colors

Results

Based on these two requirements, there were 16 distinct colors found on the 22 helmets.

White

Red

Black

Yellow

Blue

Orange

Light Blue

Dark Blue

Neon Yellow

Purple

Pink

Green

Rainbow

Gold

Dark Green

Beige

Of the 78 values collected for this, the most common colors to appear on the helmets are white (15 or 19.2%), red (12 or 15.4%), and black (9 or 11.5%).

Furthermore, after this, the colors were divided into one of four categories:

Warm

Cool

Neutral

Mixed

31 of the values were warm colors (red, orange, yellow, etc). 25 of the values were neutral (black, white, and beige). 21 of the values were cool colors (blue, green, purple, etc.) The rainbow was defined as a mixed color.

So what does this all mean?

It could mean nothing and I'm just overanalyzing, but that explanation isn't as fun.

Drivers generally implemented their team colors in their helmets - for 8 out of 10 teams, at least one driver had colors (non-neutrals such as black or white) in their helmet design.

All four AlphaTauri drivers used the same dark blue on the sides of the helmet and had the team logo. With the exception of Nyck De Vries, the dark blue for the AlphaTauri was not used in the other design elements of the helmets.

Both Red Bull drivers had the Red Bull logo in the team colors on the sides of their helmets and the team colors could be seen in other parts of the helmet designs as well

Mercedes is one of two teams to not have at least one driver with the team colors implemented (with the exception of the silver Mercedes logo). Neither driver had the Petronas green implemented in their helmet design. However, it is noteworthy that the colors of the driver helmets are implemented into the cars through the colors for driver numbers and the halo stripe.

The other team with neither driver implementing the main team colors in their helmets is Alpine. Neither driver has blue or pink in their helmet design, but they do both have red, which is featured in the French flag.

Lance Stroll's helmet is just the Aston Martin colors. As the team owner's son, it makes sense.

White and black on the helmets tended to be used as lines to make different designs or as negative space. Across the board, white and black are not the main for driver helmets. They're just the only two colors that will easily go along with every other color used.

Unsurprisingly, both Ferrari drivers wear helmets that heavily feature the color red. They drive the red car and the flags they drive under feature red. So where red is meant to draw attention, the red in their helmets doesn't. Instead, their red helmets blend them into the cars they drive, taking away the thing that is supposed to separate them from the car. Furthering the idea that with Ferrari it is the team above the individual. When you drive for Ferrari, that is your whole brand, you don't distract or take away from that.

Additionally, drivers mainly used primary colors for their helmets this year. There's very little foraying into secondary or tertiary colors. Which continues to be one of my aesthetic qualms with Formula 1 in general. We see so many of the same colors (especially red, blue, and black) so things kind of just blend together instead of standing out.

[jaw-writes]

I Despise You Darling

I despise everything about you. Your endless void eyes, freakishly long legs, ever smug smile, deceptively soft touch, strangely floral scent. All of it. You attack each of my senses every time you come near me. To think that we were once best friends, I had more faith in you than anyone, whenever I needed advice or a shoulder to cry on, I went to you first. You meant the world to me; it makes me feel sick whenever I remember how the girl I loved was a lie 

You betrayed me, your best friend, in the name of a grotesque experiment where I’m the lab rat. There’s no doubt that you started the fire that continues to burn my life, but I can’t deny that I’ve enjoyed pouring the gasoline. At first, I did my best to avoid becoming obsessed with you, constantly holding myself back knowing it was wrong, but you made it impossible. Your mind is a carefully curated garden brimming with all sorts of life. As each day went by, I wanted to pick another flower from it, feel another blade of grass, and bask in its intrigue. 

I learned so much about you through observation, that I never could as your friend. Last year when I found out that you’d been stalking me, I had no idea why you’d do such a thing, now I understand. If watching me gave you a quarter of the feelings I get from watching you, then I’d almost forgive your actions. Gazing at your life through an analytical lens elicits feelings in me I didn’t know existed. It’s almost impossible to describe the manic rush of joy and power I get. 

Although, I think we enjoy it in different ways based on how we view each other. To you I’m your favorite seed in your garden, you want to watch me grow into your ideal tree. So, you take what you know about how I function, and combine it with your understanding of the world to make a compost for me. As brutal as the water you drown me in and the harsh sun you scorch me with is, it’s all part of your method to make me grow. I am a creation you live to see reach its full potential.  

To me, you’re the opposite, a malicious computer program that I enjoy watching destroy itself. You have never felt an ounce of empathy and have always needed to control any device you encounter. Once you find a target, you infect them with your virus, mining every piece of their data, and adding them to your collection of stolen lives. You successfully did it to me, but unlike the others, you kept going. Focusing on my activity far after you were done stealing from me, constantly coming back to see how I’d adapt to a new trojan horse you threw.  

Soon, I became the only user you engaged with, no other piece of tech mattered unless it was connected to me, and God, did seeing you like that feed my ego. A smile forces its way to my face at your meticulous plans growing in detail and intensity as you can’t focus on anything else. I, a random individual with nothing but a hint of illness to him, is who you put all your resources into. I’m unable to fear you anymore, while I gaze at you practically living for me. In your efforts to crumble and rebuild my life. You’ve made yourself incapable of having your own.  

Both of us have embraced the worst aspects of ourselves through the sick experiments we’ve been running on each other. You may be the greater evil between us, but I’m no longer afraid to admit that I’ve become a devil myself. I mean, I lured you into an abandoned warehouse, called upon one of my allies to help me fight you, and then shot you ceaselessly, making sure it was in areas that would maim, but not kill you. Now why would I do that? To make you paralyzed, of course. I was incredibly particular about where I aimed.  

You’ll be unable to move your limbs for at least four months, which invigorates me. I’ve been watching you and your caretaker. It’s great seeing both your arms and legs in casts. You had already been losing your strength to your fixation on me, but now you’ll be incapable of running away. If you find yourself fearing me right now, know that whatever happens next is your fault. I’m not the Anti-Christ, so I’ll simply enjoy observing your lack of mobility, with no further harm, but prepare yourself because the moment you can walk, I’ll be waiting.  

Unless I’m lying like you always lied to me, and I’ll strike once one of your limbs heal. Maybe I’ll be tracking you even more and will be able to tell if you’re pretending that you haven’t healed so I don’t hurt you sooner. Maybe I won’t even wait for when your body starts recovering, and you’ll wake up to me standing over your bed with my hands on your neck. I know how much you like analyzing and picking out patterns with me, so I’ll make sure you never know what to expect. I could be bluffing, and this is all to scare you off, so I’ll be done with you, you’ll never know. 

Are you starting to regret choosing me for this? Does the thought that you’ve grown a deadly poison plant out of your control kill you? Or are you loving this as much as I am, and you want to rub yourself all over me to get a blistering rash? I think it’s a mix of both for you, but who am I to say, it’s not like I’ve been watching your every move, right? No matter what you feel, just remember, I despise you, darling. 

[beardedmrbean]

If you use Google’s Chrome browser regularly, you’ve likely seen a new privacy-related screen in recent weeks.

With a combination of soothing rainbow colors and language that sounds very pro-privacy, the page announces "Enhanced ad privacy in Chrome." You have two options: Settings and Got It.

It's easier to hit Got It, but if you're concerned about your data and privacy, take a moment to learn more about what's happening and which settings you should change. Google isn't necessarily going to default you into the settings that best protect your privacy.

This is a new way Google is trying to track what you do on the web to help advertisers target you. Google says this is better for your privacy than older tracking methods. But it’s still tracking — and people who care about their privacy may want to shut it off. It’s all part of Google’s promise to phase out the use of cookies for tracking in Chrome.

What settings do I change?

From your Chrome browser, go to Settings → Privacy and Security → Ad Privacy. You can also try this link in Chrome: chrome://settings/adPrivacy.

You'll see three options and for maximum privacy, can turn them off, one by one. If the toggle is gray, it's off, and if it's blue, it's still on.

Ad topics is a feature that uses your recent browsing history to detect what topics you're into and show you personalized ads. If you spent the week looking at dog sites, maybe you'll get an ad for a dog bed. Google says these topics are deleted after four weeks and if you keep it turned on, you can see the list yourself. Turn this off.

Site-suggested ads is an option that lets individual sites you've visited make similar conclusions about what you might be into (dog sweaters? hammocks?) and show you ads for that on other sites. If you keep this on, you can later manually block individual sites from the same screen. But it's easier to just, yes, turn this off.

Ad measurement lets different sites and advertisers share information about you to try to figure out how well their ads are doing. Turn this off.

What else can I do?

Google's Chrome isn't the only browser option you have. If you're on a Mac you can use the Safari browser, or Firefox, which works across operating systems. You can also experiment with different settings and third-party tools to minimize the data Chrome (and other browsers) collect. If you want to go the extra mile, you could try a VPN, but make sure you choose a trustworthy provider.

This isn’t the only new setting Chrome users have seen as of late. Google recently added an ‘Enhanced Safe Browsing’ mode for Chrome and Gmail users, to warn them about suspicious sites. The setting, according to our Tech Friend newsletter writer, Shira Ovide, is worth turning on to protect yourself even though there are some trade offs.

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Mega Drive - Sonic & Knuckles

Title: Sonic & Knuckles / ソニック＆ナックルズ

Developer: Sega / Sonic Team

Release date: 18 October 1994

Catalogue No.: G-4124

Genre: Action / Lock-On

The 4th and final Mega Drive Sonic game [in Japan at least] is quite a special one. For a start, the packing is nothing like all the other Japanese Mega Drive games. This comes in a card box quite similar to those used for Sega 32X games. The cartridge that you can see below is also completely different as well. This is the only Mega Drive cartridge to feature a "lock on" option. What this does is allow you to add other cartridges to Sonic & Knuckles to enhance the gameplay and unlock extras or at least that's how Sega put it. The lock-on feature only works with Sonic 2 and 3, however. What this does is allow you to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 or 3 even though he wasn't originally available in those games.

This time the game focuses on Sonic as well as Knuckles, who was not yet playable in Sonic 3. Instead, however, Tails has now been removed from play. Essentially there are two separate games to tackle, depending on which character is selected at the start of the game. Although the appearance of the zones is the same for either character, their layout and some of the bosses' tricks differ noticeably at several points in the game, increasing from the Lava Reef Zone onwards. However, the style of play does not differ significantly from one character to the next as it does, for example, in Sonic Adventure.

The next bit of information is taken from Wikipedia, which I admit is not the best method of research since the site can be easily manipulated.

Chapter 1: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

In "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles" also known as 'Sonic 3 & Knuckles' (often referred to as the "complete" version of Sonic 3 by Sonic fans). There are four immediate differences: The player can play as Knuckles in the Sonic 3 levels. After the levels of Sonic 3 are finished, play continues straight to the levels of Sonic & Knuckles.  The player can play as Tails in the Sonic & Knuckles levels. Game progress can be saved in Sonic & Knuckles using Sonic 3's save feature (there are now 8 rather than 6 save slots). 

Once the player picks a character and starts playing, more differences become apparent. Passing a star post can now open up 3 bonus games, including the slot machine stage (20 rings required) and the magnetic orbs stage (35–49 rings required) from Sonic & Knuckles as well as the gumball machine (50–65 rings required) from Sonic 3. Knuckles' levels are divergent from Sonic's and Tails' in most cases, with new areas and bosses.

Sonic and Tails skip the final boss of Launch Base while Knuckles still has to do it although he skips the first true boss of Launch Base. The Sonic & Knuckles levels are the same, except that Mushroom Hill now has an intro. Sonic 3 & Knuckles save files conserve lives and continues, as well. In addition, Knuckles' theme music has also changed as well as that of the mid-level bosses. Other tunes such as the 1-Up fanfare and title screen have also been changed to the S&K version. Monitor (power up) placement and type change when the games are combined. Also, an extra Chaos Emerald bonus stage has been added to the linked game—it is not present in either of the two separately.

This stage and its Super Emerald counterpart give a Golden (Seriously) Emerald that acts as an emerald of that kind but is not recorded in the save data nor does it appear with the Chaos or Super Emeralds.

Super Tails in Mushroom Hill Zone. Collecting all the Chaos Emeralds in the levels of Sonic 3 will turn Sonic or Knuckles into Super Sonic or Super Knuckles. However, once the player enters their first Special level in Mushroom Hill Zone (which is almost impossible to miss with Knuckles since it's in his way), they teleport to Hidden Palace where the emeralds are transformed into gray "Super Emeralds", thus beginning the Super Emerald quest. Super Emeralds can only be collected if the player has collected all of the Chaos Emeralds prior to reaching Mushroom Hill Zone. (Nothing happens in Hidden Palace otherwise.) In addition, both Knuckles and Sonic can now power-up and go "hyper" once they have obtained both the Chaos Emeralds and the Super Emeralds.

Tails cannot normally gain emerald powers but do so when he collects all Super Emeralds, taking on the form of Super Tails. He has no "hyper" form but simply remains "super" with some extra powers. Taking care to avoid all the Special levels (the one after the cut-scene in particular), it is possible to finish the game with only the 7 Chaos Emeralds, retaining their "super" powers until the very end of the game. In this case, the game endings will resemble the "good" endings from Sonic & Knuckles. This allows for a total of nine different endings—each character (Sonic and Tails together have the same as Sonic alone) has one with 0–6 Chaos Emeralds, one with all 7 Chaos emeralds, and the third with all 14 Chaos and Super Emeralds. If the Super Emeralds have been attempted, but not found, the game will revert to the "bad" (0–6 Chaos) ending.

Chapter 2: Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic 2 & Knuckles also known as "Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2", this game is identical to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (aside from a few changes to make it more playable with Knuckles) but with Knuckles now playable instead of Sonic or Tails. The title screen features Knuckles, and the only option is "start" (Options or versus mode have been disabled). There are no new zones. The only difference in gameplay is that Knuckles can explore once inaccessible areas (where secrets such as 1-ups have been added for Knuckles), some areas are harder because Knuckles can't jump very high and accelerates slowly (in particular, the final boss is regarded as being much more difficult to beat while playing as Knuckles), and Knuckles retains his rings after a Special Stage, making it much easier to obtain Chaos Emeralds. Getting the Emeralds is easier too, for the Special Stages have reduced Ring quotas for Knuckles to achieve.

Chapter 3: Blue Sphere

Opening of the Blue Sphere mini-game. By placing the first Sonic game, or most other Sega games inside, a "No way? No way!" screen will pop up with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Robotnik making odd faces, telling you the cartridge is supposedly incompatible. But, by pressing the A, B, and C buttons together, a mini-game based on the Chaos Emerald bonus levels is unlocked, called Blue Sphere. There are 134,217,728 of these levels. Only by locking the original Sonic the Hedgehog game (the Sonic Compilation works as well) in the Sonic & Knuckles cart, one can play through *all* the stages. The other Genesis games will only play one level each, which will infinitely repeat. Despite being nearly randomly generated, the levels are playable for the most part, even if many bits and pieces of levels get recycled.

In Sonic Jam and Sonic Mega Collection, Blue Sphere is playable as a separate game. Sonic Jam allows you to play it by choosing to play Sonic & Knuckles and then choosing to "lock it on" with Sonic 1. In Mega Collection, the game has to be unlocked separately.

On September 11, 2005, a Sonic game modifier named Stealth created a hack that allowed you to play Knuckles in Sonic 1 called Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog, with all of Knuckles' unique abilities intact. Playing these levels via a game with battery backup erases saved games. Additionally, games made after Sonic & Knuckles was released will not work with its lock-on feature. There are only a few games made before Sonic & Knuckles that do not work, such as Phantasy Star IV.