#vaguely alien related

[inkskinned]

you wanted to be a good friend, because you loved your friends, but the truth was that everyone else somehow had a pamphlet on being normal that you never received. most of the time you learn by trial-and-error. you are terrified of the next big mistake you make, because it seems like the rules are completely arbitrary.

you've learned to keep the prickly parts of your personality in a stormcloud under your bed - as if they're a second version of you; one that will make your friends hate you. it feels feral, burning, ugly.

instead, you have assembled habits based on the statistical likelihood of pleasing others. you're a good listener, which is to say - if you do speak up, you might end up saying the wrong thing and scaring off someone, but people tend to like someone-who-listens. or you've got no true desires or goals, because people like it when you're passive, mutable. you're "not easy to fluster" which is to say - your emotions are fundamentally uninteresting to others around you; so you've learned to control them to a degree that you can no longer really feel them happening.

you have long suspected something is wrong with you, but most of the time, googling doesn't help. you are so-used to helping-yourself, alone and with no handbook. the reek of your real self feels more like a horrible joke - you wake up, and, despite all your preparations, suddenly the whole house is full of smoke. the real you is someone waiting to ruin your other-life, the one where you're normal and happy. the real-self is unpredictable, angry.

your real self snarls when people infantilize the whole situation. because if you were really suffering, everyone seems to think you'd be completely unable to cope. but you already learned the rules, so you do know how to cope, and you have fucking been coping. it's not black-and-white. it's not that you are healed during the other times - it's just that you're able to fucking try. and honestly, whenever you show symptoms, it's a really fucking bad sign.

because the symptoms you have are ugly and unmanageable for others. your symptoms aren't waifish white girl things. they're annoying and complicated. they will be the subject of so many pretentious instagram reels. if they cared about you, they'd just show up on time. you care, a lot, so deeply it burns you. you like to picture a world where the comments read if they loved you, they'd never need glasses to see. but since that's a rule you've seen repeated - "one must never be late or you are a bad friend" - you constantly worry about being late and leave agonizingly early. there are no words for how you feel when you're still late; no matter how hard you were trying.

so you have to make up for it. you have to make up for that little horrible real you that you keep locked in a cabinet. you are bad at answering emails so every project you make has to be perfect. you are weird and sensitive so you have to learn to be funny and interesting. you are an inconvenience to others, so you become as smooth as possible, buffing out all the rough parts.

all this. all this. so people can pass their hands over you and just tell you just the once -how good you are. you're a good friend. you're loveable.

#spilled ink #woke up at 530 to write this lmafo #me in a cold sweat: #how do i be normal #edit in the tags: #hey so i've seen y'all talk about like ... wondering if ur ''allowed'' to relate #like if this is about X specific diagnosis #and when i first posted it i really almost labelled it ''please don't assume this is about a specific condition'' #because as an artist i am often walking this line of discussing a symptom or discussing my conditions etc #and sometimes yes ! i do want to talk about an experience that is specific to who i am and my condition #but sometimes the effort of the post is about the EXPERIENCE rather than the diagnosis #because yes i am not neurotypical and as a result that influences my work but it is ALSO true that there are many reasons #why someone might experience this particular vague horrible feeling that you are... almost being CHASED by what you ''really'' are. #that you're outrunning your symptoms... that you're not really normal you're just sort of a mockery of a person #.... that's a really isolating and horrible way to feel no matter why you are feeling it. and the nature of this PARTICULAR post is that #it is inherently talking ABOUT that sense of isolation & of feeling not-deserving & of minimizing your own experiences to make urself #palatable for society in a way that others find easy-to-deal-with.... #this post is about a certain experience such that my impression is there's a higher likelihood that those who relate #would have more difficulty thinking they ''deserve'' to relate - that it doesn't REALLY belong to them #bc often we are the kind of people who are SO used to being alienated and set aside and ''different'' that we AUTOMATICALLY assume #that things are not ''for'' us... they never have been why would it start now #we are the kinds of people to be ... ''too normal for X diagnosis but too symptomatic to be normal'' #[or as this post points out... so good at ''coping''/masking/hiding it that we essentially conform to whatever shape we're poured into] #but i have witnessed others already say in the tags ''thought this was about me but it's about X so it can't be'' #and im like ... of course it was about you. #art is not a resource that is diminished by greater appreciation . #you reflect in whatever mirror fits your frame. not just the ones in your bedroom. not just the ones i specifically give you. #there will be - and often are - times that i will talk about my specific conditions... but if you're reading this #regardless of why you're here... we are here together. holding hands through space and time. and i love you for carrying it #and i know you're exhausted. i am too. but i understand. and i see you.

[magic-swords-art]

About my worldbuilding: the Tega'si

The Tega’si are a species of aliens from the planet Tega. Tega is almost completely covered on water, and Tega even means “water”—“Tega’si” means “from the water.” Tega’si live both on land and underwater, and as a result have both gills and lungs and have better night vision than humans. A lot of what’s edible to Tega’si on Tega is harmful to humans, but Tega’si cannot have dairy—they’re all lactose intolerant.

Some more interesting things about them: Tega'si are born with no legs and no working lungs. Instead, they have a tail and must be kept underwater until their lungs fully develop around 1 year of age. (They can be taken out of water for short periods of time). Their legs also grow in around the same time, and their tail continues to shrink until they reach anywhere from 8-13, and it drops off. They live around the same length as humans. 

Some of them are also born with markings--like these jellyfish rings.

They also have the possibility to develop magic, either aethermancy (light magic) or umbromancy (shadow magic). Each type of magic has their own subset of abilities, which magic users can choose which ones they specialize in—or dip a little into them all! (I'd talk more about the magic system, but that would take it's own post)

#hooray ! #i am still worldbuilding on the cultures and stuff but here's a basic overview of them and how they work #fish aliens for the win #for future reference i'm going to start tagging stuff with these ocs and stuff related as “wip: cos” #this is all part of a book series i plan to write #which is why i can be vague about it and my ocs... #wip: cos #not art #okay it DOES have art but it's not an art post exactly

[the-yearning-astronaut]

As if I need something else to dwell on right now, I'm having a hard time with my orientation again. Like I just.... Idk. I feel like I don't fit in with the queer community because I'm aroace spec but I also feel alienated from the aroace community because I'm demi aroace. And it makes me feel very lost and very isolated.

#like i needed to feel even more like a broken thing... #negativity #demisexual #demiromantic #demi aroace #and not to go all vague blogging in the tags but #its really... [insert big complicated emotion here] to find a character you relate to on such a deep level #and then stumble across some... very strongly worded posts about the Right Way to interpret the character #and that supposed Right Way happens to invalidate your own experiences #specifically the ones that draw you to the character in the first place #and i know everyone's interpretations are (mostly) valid and we all have a right to play in the sandbox #but i can't help but feel a bit of shame alongside that alienation now because i happen enjoy an interpretation of the character #that fans seem to like being very vocally against #and im gonna try to not let it get to me and im gonna put the thoughts aside #knowing ive been up for just shy of 24hrs now and little sleep messes with the brain #but its just... its all too much rn and i feel too broken in too many ways #fox thoughts #tbd

[celestefem]

oh, also, i applied for a position as a pharmacy tech at a hospital today

#personal #it’s at least vaguely related to my degree so that’s kinda cool #the reviews on indeed are kinda bad but honestly i think just every job is the world is shit and there’s nothing you can do about it… #seemed like the sort of thing a lot of people would apply for though so it’s not very likely i’d be picked #like i’ve got savings and everything’s fine on that front #i just feel like i’m rotting as i am #*insert marx quote about the greater your stored capital the greater your alienated being*

[timeisacephalopod]

I saw a post the other day that kinda pushed back on the way all coming of age movies are about sexuality and all high school stories basically center around who wants to fuck who and how that's like. Not really all coming of age and high school stories should offer since you know. Youth isn't about who you have a crush on and probably coming of age stories in particular should be far more diverse in subject matter than they are.

Honestly as someone who, when I was 'coming of age' age, hated coming of age stories and still do for the exact reason listed above (see the weird scene in It where we all sexualize a 13 year old girl because boys have crushes and surely there's no other way to portray this than feeling a child up with a camera to demonstrate boys have ~feelings~ Bev gets no equivalent scene because she's the object of affection rather than the subject feeling desire) I also wish there was diversity in those stories. And coming of age stories about adults- we don't stop going through huge life moments that change everything forever, but back to kids. When I was a kid I could have desperately used a coming of age story where the character has a sick and dying parent who does die by the end of the story and what happens after that. Granted I did just fine without it, but even without being asexual it's always irked me that coming of age stories don't seem to appreciate that kids have way larger problems and way better stories to tell then first crushes and first kisses for shit sake give kids who went through what I did as a kid some kind of story about what happens when your parent gets cancer and how complicated that is and stop assuming the biggest thing that happens around puberty is discovering sexuality that, if you were queer, you probably already noticed what you felt wasn't in a coming of age story anyway.

#winters ramblings #id actually LOVE to see a coming of age story about an immigrant child moving to a new country #and have the coming of age center around THAT instead of these bizarre vaguely adult explorations of sexuality #that honestly ive never related to anyway like maybe the allos get it but even THEY deserve more diversity in stories #SURELY even your local allos have a dad dying of cancer they desperately need to know what to do with #like deadass a therapist told me at 26 i was robbed as a child because of what i went through and i STILL cry when i think of that #but no coming of age is all sex shit because children according to adults dont have real issues #which tells me adukts writing the stories are MASSIVELY privileged or stunted by execs or straight up assune kids wont watch #a REAL coming of age story. also i want a coming of age story about a 40 year old who is going through a career change #and the struggles that come with late career change. the benefits of a late career change. all the complicated family goo around all this #just give me decent stories that arent too focused on fycking RELATIONSHIPS for once. have them there sure i dont care #but for FUCK sakes can we stop pretending a 13 year olds biggest concern us who they have a crush on?? #my dad was DEAD and i knew only one other person who lost her mom way younger than me at 8 #we did not understand each other and how could we when our situations were so different. BOTH of us were so highly alienated #because NO ONE not even each other could relate to a lot if the people around us. the only thing we DID have in common #was the sick feeling we got when someone would bitch about their parents having fair expectations or not giving them literally everything #we both had an 'at least you HAVE parents to hokd you to reasonable standards and all you do is SQUANDER it' even if our feelings werent #faur to our peers anymore than their feelings were fair to us. wheres the coming of age story about THAT #tell me a story about a 16 year old whos mom has been dead HALF her life already like my friend. i was lucky enough not to deal with that #until i was 24. she deserved better out if high school and coming of age stories too. believe it or not kids have REAL lives and problems #and im SO tired of no one writing anything but some sad kids books about it even if the books are SOMETHING to start with #like for shit sakes must NICEthat the worst thing YOU went through was realizing you had a sexuality but my queer ass #ALWAYS knew i was different and highschool highlighted that a BUNCH so unless we're exploring aroace teens that doesnt appeal either #great yet ANOTHER story about straight teenagers because THEYRE the ones who need guidance on how to express themselves #like they dont see strsight people storoes and sexuality EVERYWHERE plus the ACTUAL opportunity to date in high school #that most queer kids dont get or dont get in the same way. why is THAT the only story being told when its the most saturated and BORING #and also ignores that kids have REAL issues and NO angency. explore THAT. do ANYTHING but yet another fucking coming of age story #about straight kids having crushes on each other and thats IT like come on SERIOUSLY

[meerkatsparrow]

what i did yesterday now constitutes officially as an 'epic' fuckup, not just a normal one. i hate e-mails.

#it may or may not torpedo my relationships with a lot of my peers at one of my hobbies and i am not here for it #can currently not even cry about it because i am all dried up and had a murderous headache after bawling my eyes out yesterday #ngl i suddenly relate to miles 'chooses death' edgeworth a lot more because i too feel the urge to fake my death and leave the country over #an apparently minor thing #but alas i am going to have to face the music #there's going to be a buckload of drama and i am centerstage due to my own rashness and ignorance #and i AM going to get through it. somehow. #mostly because about two thirds of my regular social interactions stem from this hobby and i cannot afford to lose these friendships #and/or acquaintances when my mh has already taken a nosedive #plus my home city is not that big so i could always meet them while doing something else which would be mortifying #and i have alienated enough people aready for a lifetime i am over 20 i AM going to get through this #one of the few good things to come out of this is that probably nobody at my hobby is going to ask me to take on a #role with responsibility anymore. which is good because as time shows again and again i am not at a point to act responsibly for #anyone other than myself (and even that's a stretch at times) #okay #i THINK i have calmed down a tad so i am going to post this on my zero(0) follower blog as a lil vent and then am going to try #my best to get through this. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh #okay maybe not my best but i am going to try #vaguing with a vent-geance #<-- new tag for myself in case i need to type some more frustration out and/or on the offchance that this all blow over in the near future #and i can read it and hopefully have a laugh over my catastrophizing here.

[sysig]

Okay but like

Can I just say how mixed I feel about Ax being Tobias’s uncle

#Animorphs spoilers #Animorphs #Spoilers under the cut #And in the tags but y'know lol #I dunno it's just really weird to me lol - and not just because before I knew I was lowkey shipping them #Which now I take back I guess lol #'Cause I mean first of all - the likelihood of an alien and a human being related At All and then them also meeting and they're the same age #That's a lot of coincidences that I could not have predicted #But then the clusterfuck of how they went about being related - I guess it wouldn't technically be by blood?? #And they weren't raised together and they still don't know so they're Basically strangers but it's still weird lol #I'm not trying to justify anything it just really threw me for a loop I was like ''No they're not gonna- they did. They did do that'' #It's very Space Opera + Soap Opera lol Space Soap Opera #Idkkkkkk like - younger me would've been all over that shit if I had read it at demographic age lol #Nowadays I'm just like okay...I guess.....If you really wanted to......... lol #I do think it's sweet that they've tied it into Tobias's motivations and backstory and all that I like clean tied ends but like #I dunno there was something kind of fun about keeping him a vague sadboi? That's probably just personal preference tho lol #Also something something aliens = ND blah blah blah those are all Definitely my own headcanons AND it's not just him so fjkdsklfjd #I'm currently working my way through the Hork Bajir Chronicles so hopefully it will be a little more narratively satisfying for me haha #I am still enjoying it! But I feel like I could've done without that one just as a me thing lol #At least I'll be able to return to the main series soon

[evilminji]

Gold can be exchanged for goods and services (o.o )

Pariah's Keep probably has a shit ton of Precious Goods from various places.

Danny is become King?

If Danny becomes King... then the Zone will somewhat obey him. The Crown and Ring could EASILY tell him where the next natural portal is, where it opens up, and for how long. How many there are. Could probably make a few.

Probably WAS supposed to be making them. Consciously. But, well, Coma(tm).

Would probably count as Kingly Duty to filter and collect. Clean Ecto goes out for souls that remain, a Gateway home for those that wish to LEAVE, so forth and so on.

Effectively, being The Grim Reaper. You don't CAUSE Death. You just guide the way home. If folks so choose.

And that's neat! Horrifying, but neat! And Danny can TOTALLY see how it would eventually drive him completely breakfast cereal fruity nuggets! LUCKILY, he's got a vaguely bro's/Mentor thing going with the ghost who has ALL OF POSSIBLE TIME flowing through HIS head! So Danny should be Gucci!

The headaches suck though.

But WHAT... to do with all this Gold and valuable Space Goods? Most of these aren't even recognized currency on earth! Like the Shells. You could buy a mansion with one of those... on the right planet. On Earth? Pretty paperweight. Hmmmm >.>

Wait.

WAIT!

<o> *points to top of head!* CROWN! It can? Predict and make PORTALS!

Portals lead any WHERE and any WHEN!

:O

Gold... can be exchanged for goods and services. He remembers, holding a gold brick, about to eat so, SO much pizza.

But WAIT! I hear you wondering! Surely, you mean? Within his past? The history and region of space he knows, right? Ha ha :) Nope! Cowards.

Danny is on the alien otter's planet, trading those sweet, sweet Shells for some snacks no human could eat and a shawl for his sister! He's hiding, badly, behind a food stall in the Martian market place. Hoping future hero J'onn Johnes doesn't notice him.

Lying to the Space Cops, bout where his untraceable Space Money came from, on an alien trading satellite. The Green Lantern's not buying it. Oh noooo >.> sudden Fright Knight. Looming Menacingly by the loading doooocks. Everyone's upset! Definitely not related to him! Better go check on that! :) *gets the heck out of dodge* (my king. Please stop using me as a distraction.) (No promises)

But! It's all fun and games? Until your human friends get sick. Like... REALLY sick.

And then you suddenly remember time and space mean nothing to you. One 15 minute flight that way, two doors, a quick flight of stairs, and a literal child's play place slide? You could be in the 32nd century.

That disease is AT BEST, an unpleasant afternoon, there.

Here, your friend could die.

You trade a student two Spanish dubloons. They have no idea what they are. Just like the look of them and know they're real metal. They walk into the pharmacy for you. Don't question your "social experiment paper" lie.

You're back in less then an hour.

The screaming argument about ethics and mortality lasts hours.

She still takes the medicine. Gets better. Won't talk to you for months. Because why does HER life matter more? Why bend the rules for HER? And you can't bring yourself to say what pulses as Truth from both Crown and Ring.

You could because she didn't Matter. Time... would not notice, nor change. She was in no way pivotal to the flow of history, must one more ant beneath its unrelenting march. Mattering only because those who love her CARE. Because one or two little things might change for the better.

But it takes the shine off of it, a little.

Being able to go to the FUTURE. Watch movies and see aliens and humans alike in the crowd. Read books and dance to songs from people who won't be born for hundreds of years. Eat snacks from the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Or the early BCs!

And that's BEFORE other time travelers clock him as That Shopping Guy. The one who keeps popping up... buying things. For what? Unknown. Probably dinner. Half the time it's food. Trinkets. Once it was a really, REALLY nice goat. (His aunt was THRILLED.)

It probably drives Bart crazy. Because NO ONE knows anything about the guy? Everyone just universally goes "oooh yeah! HIM! Yeah, he sure does Exsist(tm). Very... present and exsistant." Like that's not CRAZY! He has so many question. So Many! What is he even BUYING!? Why? Is there an order? Or is he winging it?!

*pulls out list* he needs ANSWERS!

@hypewinter @hdgnj @ailithnight

#dpxdc #dc x dp #dc x dp prompt #danny phantom #thinking with Portals AU

[suzukiblu]

5 headcanons meta for Plot Bunny, who wanted to know what Ma and Pa are currently thinking in the one where Kara gets to Earth on time and the Kents get a two-for-one special on free kids. 

Ma and Pa aren't sure if their new kids are alien shapeshifters or bodysnatchers or just weird government experiments or whatever, but they're not really worried about it. Worst-case scenario, they'll be raising terrifying goop-kids, they figure. Or maybe crab-kids or something, after the possible larval stage. Lots of things end up crabs, right?? Crabs make sense. It’s whatever, the kiddos both still like pie and Kara is adorably helpful around the farm and Kal is just adorably ADORABLE. 

The whole dang town thinks Kara is Kal's mom, and Ma and Pa don't know either way and so have been politely vague about answering everyone’s questions in case they're actually siblings or something. Those El eyes are VERY distinctive, though, especially on a planet without any other Kryptonians on it, so they’re pretty positive they’re related. They just don’t know how to ask a kid they’ve just met if she’s a teen mom or not with an intergalactic language barrier in the way. She’s just their foster child! Their totally legal foster child from . . . Norway?? Maybe???? Sure, Norway. They’ll go with Norway. 

Martha is zero-reservations delighted to have a free baby (grandbaby??) AND a free daughter. She has been rewarded for her patience in life, and it is a DELIGHT. She wants to buy Kara all the pretty dresses and cute jewelry and braid her hair and teach her how to make every single baked good in the entire Midwest, but she’s doing her best to not be overwhelming. She is very easily destroyed by both Kara getting excited to learn new things and Kal’s giggles. 

Jonathan is a little more uncertain about how to bond with a daughter and a maybe-grandbaby for about five seconds before deciding, actually it’s fine, he’ll just treat Kara like he would’ve treated a son and . . . well, he’ll follow her and Martha’s lead on how babies work, he supposes. Then he takes Kara out back to play catch while Martha watches Kal on the porch. They lose several baseballs in the back field just IMMEDIATELY and he wonders if suggesting his new kid join the baseball team once they get her in school is, like, a normal parental thing to do? Maybe?? He might just MENTION the idea if it comes up, he decides privately, and then buys a few more baseballs. 

Martha and Jonathan are regularly comparing notes on how “human” their new kids are (or their new kid and grandkid; they’re not gonna be picky). They are increasingly convinced they’re going to have crab-kids sooner or later, but it’s whatever. As long as Kara doesn’t jump that high or pick up anything that heavy or make any of those incredibly weird noises she keeps making in front of any of the town busybodies, anyway. Also, why does Kal sound like a melodious car engine whenever he’s happy? Is that a weird thing? Is that a thing they should be concerned about? Well, it’s fine, as long as he’s happy.

#plot bunny #meta ecetera #wip: kara gets to earth on time

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Things I think would happen if Jeeves and Wooster were on DS9

Bertie is the only person on the station who has not yet clocked Garak as a spy. He spends a lot of time in Garak's shop either ordering the gaudiest clothes imaginable or asking Garak to back him up in whatever fashion argument he's having with Jeeves (which Garak is only too happy to do).

Jeeves fantasizes about murdering Garak a thousand times a day. This goddamn lizard man is his white whale. Any attempt to find blackmail material on him takes him down a hundred different rabbit holes leading to dead ends. He's met his match. There are flames. Flames on the side of his face.

He can't even take Garak to task for his garbage opinions on Earth literature because he knows full well how that would be taken.

Garak actually quite likes Jeeves, because game recognizes game and he respects a fellow manipulative bastard when he sees one. However, since he is, at the end of the day, a little shit, he takes great pleasure in dressing Bertie in louder and louder outfits just to watch Jeeves grind his teeth.

(He's also admittedly fond of Bertie, who's too nice and trusting to treat him with the same suspicion and contempt that nearly every other person on the station does. And if Bertie vaguely reminds him of a certain doctor, what of it?)

Quark quickly figures out that Bertie is absurdly easy to scam. Jeeves spends so much time foiling him that he's practically an informal member of the station security team. Odo drops by his table at the replimat every morning to swap Quark-related intel.

Jeeves also won't stop winning at the Dabo table, infuriating Quark even further. There's an ongoing arms race between Quark trying to find excuses to ban Jeeves from the bar and Jeeves finding ways to blackmail Quark into letting him back in.

Jadzia is the first person to notice the weird requited-unrequited thing J&W have going on and finds it endlessly entertaining. She makes a game of chatting to Bertie about Jeeves as if they're already an established couple (I hear it's Valentine's Day on Earth, are you and Jeeves doing anything special? Worf and I had an amazing romantic date last week at that new Bolian place, you should try it!) Her amusement gradually fades into astonishment the longer Bertie doesn't get it.

Jeeves sees Jadzia's increasingly unsubtle encouraging glances and wishes he could incinerate her with his mind.

Worf knows Jeeves does illegal shit in the course of protecting Bertie or extricating him from accidental alien wedding rituals. He knows it. He just can't prove it. And Odo is no help, because Jeeves keeps himself too unobtrusive and is too invaluable to the cause of keeping Quark in check for Odo to want to look into him that closely.

In the absence of hard evidence to pin him down, Worf's relationship with Jeeves remains tersely cordial. He grudgingly supposes that nobody who has such an amazing depth of knowledge about Klingon opera and poetry could be that bad.

You can't let Bertie and Morn in a room together. Once they get going they NEVER shut up.

Part 1.5 Part 2

#star trek: deep space nine #deep space 9 #ds9 #jeeves and wooster #jooster #bertie wooster #reginald jeeves #j&w #j&w star trek au

[rickfucker]

SFW Rick Headcanons (GN!)

BC why not. This season is literally so good so I’m celebrating with this nonsense >:)

I am of the belief that Rick is huge on PDA. If you asked him, though, he’d deny it vehemently.

Arm around your shoulder on the couch, around your waist out in public, hand on your thigh when he’s driving. If there’s the chance to make someone else uncomfortable for his own personal enjoyment, he will take it. He doesn’t like it when people so much as look at you wrong. He will let them know you’re taken in the most obnoxious way possible.

He also loves PDA for the sake of embarrassing you. Getting to see his SO blush/get flustered makes life worth living.

He’s tall as all hell so: resting his chin on top of your head and top of the head kisses!!

Comparing hand sizes because yes.

Obviously, he’s a hard man to get close to. I imagine he does a good job at making you feel like you know him/relate to him one moment, but when he realizes he’s shown any vulnerability, he locks back up and gets pissy about it for a few days. Absolute King of mixed signals.

When he picks up on things that interest you, he finds things on his adventures to bring you, whether it's snowglobes of alien planets or potions or geodes or whatever. He’ll never directly give you a gift, though, he’ll just leave it somewhere inconspicuous like next to where you keep your other trinkets in your home.

(The first time you try to thank him for a gift, he acts like he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. It’s never brought up again, but your collection mysteriously keeps growing.)

If you’re significantly shorter than him (or just shorter than him at all), he will tease you for it. If you’re stubborn about reaching all the shit on high shelves yourself, he’ll just stand there watching you amusedly instead of helping. Glaring at him will only entertain him further.

I do imagine he does best with a SO equally as insufferable as him. Nice people will never break past his hard exterior. But someone just as stubborn? Someone he can intellectually spar with? Someone with just as much baggage to be bitter about? That, he can work with.

He loves introducing you to new alien drugs, honestly. If not just for the fun of it, he probably already finds you fascinating, so he’d be studying your reactions when not partaking in it himself.

Rick talks during movies. Shocker; the man never shuts up. You have weekly movie nights with the family, but Rick just mercilessly makes fun of whatever you’re watching for its entirety. It could literally be Shawshank Redemption, he doesn’t care. Every Earth-made movie can and will be mocked in his household.

I’m not under the impression he wouldn’t say The Love Word. Give him enough time and he will get there. He gets so annoyed with his own hubris that he makes a point of saying it first. He knows what love feels like and he knows he’s in love with you, and being in love pisses him off just as much as denying it to protect his pride does.

He barely sleeps, and when he does it’s only for a few hours. When he wakes in the early hours of the morning, he’ll watch you sleep for a while before tucking you in and heading to his work space.

He loves just making out; it makes him feel young.

Learns how you like your coffee (or tea!), and it’s always sitting there when you get up for the day, regardless of if you’re at his house or not.

Seeing you get along with the kids makes his self-proclaimed frozen heart melt a little. His only way of showing this is vague annoyance, mostly because they’re taking your attention away from him. 

What can I say? He’s the biggest baby in the universe.

Bonus: 

He dresses up as Slutty Santa to disturb his family. Makes you sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas later that night.

#rick sanchez #rick sanchez headcanons #rick and morty headcanons #rick sanchez x reader #rick sanchez fanfic #rick and morty #mesa writes

[your-local-grubdog]

Pikmin 4: Heritage Theory

Warning for MAJOR Pikmin 4 spoilers, including: various end of day conversations, post-credit events, late game piklopedia and treasure hoard entries, and also the final boss.

As a sort of re-boot of the franchise, Pikmin 4 introduces a lot of new ideas to the series. Among them is the idea that the various alien species in the game are much more closely related than we first realized - and perhaps more connected to PNF-404 than we would have ever thought in the other three games. I wanted to go over the various texts in the game that touch on this idea and talk about them a little because, hoo boy, the IMPLICATIONS. I call it a theory in the title for a lack of better wording but it honestly just feels like a canon fact that's never directly stated. There's just that much evidence, much of which all but outright says what happened.

Apologies if the images are a little low quality, Tumblr crunched them up badly. I provide image descriptions so hopefully that makes up for it.

As this has many end game spoilers (which, final warning for those), I'm going to assume that anyone reading beyond this point knows the basics of the game's story, world, and characters. Thus I won't be explaining every last little thing.

Somewhat early on, Olimar makes the following observation in his Voyage Log:

[ALT ID: Olimar's Voyage Log, entry 60, "Lost Civilization": Some of the objects I call treasure seem to be more complex than they initially appear. It makes me wonder... who made these? And where are they? I don't sense their presence here at all, but I suppose they could be hiding in the shadows, secretly watching me. END ID]

This vaguely threatening entry does confirm that the characters, or at least Olimar, are aware that there was indeed a civilization on PNF-404 at some point. It should also be noted that the Japanese website includes notes from another character who is also aware of the ancient civilization, though the canonicity of it is debatable. I'll get back to that "they're in the shadows, watching" line in another post, as it presents its own can of worms. For now, what matters is that the characters are aware that this planet was once inhabited and Nintendo is drawing attention towards that.

Where this starts to get weird and interesting is with Olimar's Treasure Hoard entries on the Heroic Shield, Memory Fragment (Center Right), and Buddy Display. I can't show all of their text in just one screenshot and the pikipedia hasn't added every treasure note to the Pikmin 4 treasures as of writing, so I'll only be including the segments most related to this conversation.

[ALT ID 1: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Heroic Shield (segment): That would mean these living beings must have looked something like us... I wonder who they were and what their faces looked like. Could they have been our ancestors who migrated through space to our planet long ago? (the treasure is a pin showing the helmet of a human-style spacesuit) END ID 1]

[ALT ID 2: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Memory Fragment (Center Right) (segment): I'm amazed that such a similar species could exist in the far reaches of outer space. I've heard that organic components can travel through space on meteorites and comets. Could there be a connection between my planet and this one? (treasure is of a puzzle piece with part of a dog's face on it) END ID 2]

[ALT ID 3: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Buddy Display (segment): I can't find any evidence of them in any of the existing creature databases. But there's something familiar about them. It's almost as if I've met them before... I guess I'll chalk it up to an ancient memory that's been imprinted on my genome. (treasure is a photograph of two earth dogs) END ID 3]

There is so much to unpack here alone. Olimar straight up theorizes that there may be a connection between PNF-404 and Hocotate, even going to far as to propose if maybe the people of PNF-404 (or at least the people who made the Heroic Shield) may be his ancient ancestors. He does also theorize that a meteorite may have carried "organic components", which is technically possible, but I'm not sure how that would occur in a way that carries said components from one non-destroyed planet to another and leading to creatures evolving in eerily similar ways. Honestly, I'll chalk that one up to an early theory of his, a red herring on Nintendo's part, and thus not something to think about too much. Especially sense, in the Buddy Display, he considers his ability to somewhat recognize Earth dogs as an "ancient memory... imprinted on my genome". While I'm not sure of the science behind such a claim, we also have to take this from a story telling perspective - which is that Nintendo is all but screaming "there is a connection here". Not just in relation to the aliens and the planets, but also in relation to the dogs.

Speaking of the dogs, Olimar's notes on the final boss of the game presents yet more evidence to a connection - this time focusing more on the connection between Earth dogs and space dogs.

[ALT ID 1: Piklopedia, Olimar's notes, Ancient Sirehound (segment): These results would indicate that 99.9 percent of the canine creature's DNA matches Oatchi's, and that the only difference between Oatchi and Moss may be the natural presence or absence of a leaf tail. END ID 1]

[ALT IDs 2 and 3, as one naturally leads into the other: Piklopedia, Olimar's notes, Ancient Sirehound (segment): If these two theories prove to be true, it would suggest the possibility that this ancient creature is a common ancestor to two canine species from vastly remote star systems. And that, perhaps, there are even more hidden secrets out there that could hint at a fascinating yet inconceivable truth the universe has yet to reveal... END IDs 2 AND 3]

I'm not sure what else to say here; the evidence speaks for itself. The Ancient Sirehound and Moss - both from PNF-404 - closely match the genetics of Oatchi, who is from an entirely different part of the universe. For the Sirehound to be genetically related to Oatchi, then members of the Sirehound's species would have had to leave PNF-404 and migrate to other planets. Their care takers - humans - would have had to go with them.

I also find it worth pointing out that the Sirehound's arena is filled with various human items, such as shoes and toys. It's honestly a little haunting to find them so deep in a dark cave, unused by humans for who knows how long. The ruined toys in particular really get to me. We don't know how old the Ancient Sirehound in particular is, but the idea that humans once hid in this cave from something or that their dog brought the items here for comfort is really depressing.

[ALT IDs: various hard-to-see images of the human items in question, including: pillows, pipes. gardening tools, a fork, adult sized shoes, baby sized shoes, various children's toys, and other objects I couldn't quite make out. All of them are either partly submerged in water or at the very edge of water, leaving them covered in mud. END IDs]

I think by now it's safe to say that, yes, humans left Earth with their dogs at some point in time. Yet there are still MORE pieces of evidence to suggest this idea, this time coming from Shepherd's family history. Because we really needed to be beat over the head with evidence, I suppose. All are presented in numerical order as shown in-game.

[ALT ID 1: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 1: Thanks to the technology that has come from space exploration, our lives have grown much easier and far safer, and on-planet rescue requests have decreased dramatically. But as migration into space continues to grow, our services continue to be needed. So I'm happy to announce we are extending our rescue services to the frontiers of space! Signed, Paniya Shepherd, 82nd Captain. END ID 1]

[ALT ID 2: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 2: We've done it at last! We have flown to space! Out in this great, limitless expanse, not a sound can be heard. And yet, I can still clearly hear the pounding of my own heartbeat. Space--how it overflows with possibilities! There can be no doubt. This is one giant leap forward for our kind. Signed, Ed Shepherd, 65th Captain. END ID 2]

[ALT ID 3: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 6: The Shepherd family has lived with dogs from the very beginning. We understand that if we love and respect these creatures as we do our own--if we pay attention and observe their behavior closely--then we can break down the walls between our species and truly understand one another. Signed, Kain Shepherd, 16th Captain. END ID 3]

[ALT ID 4: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 7: "Beyond the sky itself there lies a beautiful blue planet." Those words have been passed down from captain to captain, calling to each of us. I can't imagine what sort of place this blue planet might be, but it's said to be home to even more dogs and folks that we have here. One day, I hope to fly beyond the sky...and into space. Signed, Maris Shepherd, 7th Captain. END ID 4]

[ALT ID 5: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 8: Many years have passed since we first began to make this land our new home. Still, we need more time to complete our environmental adaptations. In the meantime, we must survive so that, one day, we can pass down this new history to our children, and pass down the ways we've learned to rescue and protect everyone. One day we will live here in peace. Signed, Mark Shepherd, 2nd Captain. END ID 5]

[ALT ID 6: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 9: The surface! We made it at last! Finally, we can begin making a fresh start here on this planet. Of course, it will take many long months and years before what we've built here will be anything like what we once had. But we won't be alone. Our beloved dogs will be by our side as we walk this long, difficult road. Signed, Aral Shepherd, 1st Captain. END ID 6]

There is so much here, all confirming that ancient Giyans (and Captain Shephard's direct ancestors) 1) migrated to this new planet in search of a "fresh start" and 2) proceeded to migrate to other parts of space many generations latter. It also hints that they know of a "blue planet" - a common nickname for Earth - which is home to more people and dogs. Most certainly, it is the planet they came from - making Giyans human, or at least an evolution of humanity, and perhaps all other alien races in Pikmin 4 (from Hocotations to Koppaites to Ohrians to Conohanins to anyone else from the twenty one named planets (excluding PNF-404) in the series) are also descendent from Giyans. It would explain why they all look so similar in game - though we can safely assume that Hocotations are at least descendent from Giyans based on Olimar's notes. Further more, the leafling cure requires cells from a non-leafified individual who is genetically similar to the individual in question. We're never told how Yonny gets these cells (and, given we're talking about Yonny, I'm too afraid to even ask) but the fact that the medicine works for anyone regardless of what their home planet is suggests that they are, in fact, more or less the same species.

How different the various aliens look from Humans is easily chalked up to evolution. We know minor changes in height could, theoretically, happen within just one or two generations spent on a planet with different gravity than Earth's. It would make sense that this would be exacerbated over many many more generations, especially if the gravity is much stronger. Which, to quote the Pikipedia, "According to Brittany, the gravity on Koppai is roughly ten times stronger than on PNF-404." Given their matching heights, it's probably safe to assume similar applies to the other planets, and thus over the generations the people shrunk. Again, the exact scientific validity of this is questionable, but given the semi-fantastical nature of Pikmin I believe we can suspend our disbelief enough to let this story work. We already have to do that for how the Pikmin as a species function, after all. As for oxygen becoming toxic in the 8th history entry Mark Shephard does state that "we need more time to complete our environmental adaptations". Be these natural or artificially induced (as he is only of the second generation), it is again safe to suspend our disbelief to say that humans just adapted to these new worlds. Besides, Koppaites at the very least retained (or possibly gained back?) the ability to tolerate at least low amounts of oxygen.

The real problems come in the time frame and the loss of history. It's never stated one way or the other if people are aware of their ultimate connections back to Giya, so I won't discuss that, but it is very obvious they have forgotten their connection to Earth/PNF-404. Furthermore, it's made clear that the Giyans lost the ability to travel through space by the 7th generation and only regained it by the 65th. If they had access to space flight, they would certainly have archives of their heritage - and they do indeed seem to have some idea of what it is, given how Earth has become a legend. Yet, the Shephard family history as far back as the migration to Giya was preserved - why not anything else? The inconsistencies and questions make this part of the tale hard for me to ignore, yet we have no answers. This is pure speculation, but if I had to provide an answer I think a solar flare hit Giya and destroyed their technology, making them start over. Perhaps these early Giyain-Humans were so reliant on technology at this point that there were no books or oral traditions to preserve this heritage lost when the tech was destroyed? Though, somehow, the Shephard family would have to be one of if not the exception to this. Again, the previous is pure speculation, but it's the best we can do for the time being.

There's also the question of when and how Earth dogs changed to look like the Sirehound, which would of had to happen before the migration to space given that Oatchi has the same body plan. And then why did Moss's species become so much smaller?

Still, even with all these plot holes, I think it's pretty damn clear that Nintendo intended for our favorite little aliens to be the evolutionary decedents of humans. How and if they'll use this plot point remains to be seen, but it does open up a whole bag of opportunities for the universe of Pikmin. One that, frankly, deserves to be explored.

#pikmin #pikmin 4 #pikmin theory #borb screams #THIS TOOK SO LONG TO MAKE AAAA #I am open to discussions and questions btw

[drdemonprince]

It's been interesting watching this conversation about cultural alienation play out, people have made some good contributions.

One small thing that I can put on the table as an offering, before scuttling away again, is that in Australia, we talk a lot about "cultural cringe" as a specific type of colonial cultural alienation, where there's a pattern of assimilated white Australians talking about how Australian culture is empty and meaningless and there's nothing of value here - before whirling around and putting another culture on a pedestal as being more "valuable" or "authentic."

This is a simplification ofc, but that's the general kind of dynamic. The wikipedia page for "cultural cringe" is actually pretty good, too, if anyone's interested in a lengthier description. Historically, this was often a "the colony is inferior compared to Britannia The Colonial Motherland" flavour of bullshit. But the prevalence of that concept in conversations about "Australian culture" means that there's an existing vocabulary to make it more normal to talk about how White Australian culture is affected by colonial alienation and shame.

Like, an example would be conversations among leftists about grasping onto a recently invented neopagan cultural practice that claims to be descended from some pre-Christian European tradition but which actually has blatant appropriation and eclecticism. It seems like US conversations about that would often jump straight to talking about cultural appropriation and the ways in which that is racialised and fetishised. But here, there tends to be an earlier stage where someone asks "well are you doing this because of cultural cringe?" And these conversations can obviously still be very crude and muddling and unhelpful, but it's... I don't know, I guess there's just more of a commonly accepted expectation that the assimilated white population need to talk about cultural alienation and disconnection and shame, in order to make sense of their own relationships with cultural practices, and interrogate the idea of "authenticity" and why some things are seen as "culturally authentic" and others aren't etc etc.

I don't know, I don't have a specific point to make by raising this, but I just think it's interesting. It sounds like maybe the concept of cultural cringe isn't talked about as much in the US, which would make sense if a culture around American exceptionalism creates an expectation that assimilated white US stuff would be put on a pedestal in the first place. But it's just kind of vaguely interesting, watching US people talk about white supremacy and colonial cultural alienation in ways that have clear parallels with the way that the conversation happens here, but without the same vocabulary of concepts to refer to.

It's impossible to have a conversation about whiteness, colonialism, cultural connection, and the way that assimilation into the value systems of white supremacy affects the way that you emotionally relate to cultural practices, without going "where is the shame and emptiness actually coming from and in what ways is it warping our analysis of this culture?"

And the historical "inferiority compared to the colonisers" is being followed by a present wave of "inferiority compared to the colonised." But it doesn't matter what superficial cultural practices you grasp onto, if the same underlying value system and shame and insecurity gets swept along and projected onto whatever you interact with, you know? The problem isn't just about "not having" culture, it's about the emotional tone of how you relate to the culture that you do interact with.

So it's useful having a way of referring to the mess created by cultural cringe, it can help make these conversations a bit less about immediate accusations of appropriation and a bit more about helping each other explore the roots of shame and alienation that might be driving someone to grasp for something else.

I don't know, just thought I'd throw that out there in case anyone wants to mull it over.

Yo this is SO helpful. Bc it has occured to me in a lot of these conversations that so much of what get critiqued as appropriation on the micro level is really just someone at worst being wack and annoying and oblivious and entitled -- cringe. Not the same thing as colonization writ large. Thank you for sharing!

[nestofstraightlines]

I saw a post noting the Hitchhiker's Guide vibes in Wild Blue Yonder, and noticed the replies were full of Doctor Who fans to whom the references were news - fair enough, obviously, Tumblr has a young and international population.

Most Who fans probably know the name Douglas Adams if only vaguely - that this independently successful author was also at once stage in the late 70s Script Editor for Doctor Who and himself wrote three very well-regarded serials for the show.

They may also be aware that he's a particular influence on New Who partly because of that direct connection, and partly because he's kind of to British and/or comedic science fiction what was Tolkein is to fantasy.

So the suggestion you try some Adams if you're a Doctor Who fan is probably not a new idea. But for many, diving into fairly tangentially related fiction from 40+ years ago might not seem very tempting on those grounds alone.

But just in case no one's told you, what Hitchhiker's Guide can offer you as a New Who fan is kind of more New Who.

As I say, though Adams was only briefly (though significantly) in charge of Who itself, his influence on modern Who writing is almost as big on its own as the rest of Classic Who combined.

And it's not just the voice and humour that will ring a bell.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is what happens when you tell the Doctor Who story but take away the Tardis from the Doctor figure. It's a twist on the Doctor Who format where an alien grabs a human away from Earth to travel through a mad galaxy with them, but this alien has no transport of his own and must thumb a ride, and instead of a Littlest Hobo urge to fix every bad situation he stumbles into wishes only to have a good time (bit of a Hartnell touch there I guess).

Crucially I'm not describing a parody of Doctor Who. I don't now that Adams was even super conscious of this read of his most famous tale. But he had certain archetypes in his brain and the comedy writer's habit of wondering 'what if X but Y' and what you get from it could absolutely be described as the Doctor Who show of a different timeline. Something which offers all the pleasures of Doctor Who approached from a different angle.

Finally, in terms of what format to seek out (because Hitchhiker's exists as a radio serial, a set of novels, a TV series and a much later film adaptation) I'd strongly recommend the radio series. In general, and specifically as having the most of offer Doctor Who fans.

The books have become often regarded as somehow the central 'canon' because people assume as books they must have come first. In fact the radio series came first.

I also think it couldn't be more perfect for Doctor Who fans because like that show it's got all the pleasures of great performances as well as the great writing (there is a Hitchhiker's TV series but trust me when I say this is tale built for audio). It's not just full of great performances delivering Adams' comedy perfectly, it also feels huge; the music and sound design evoking such an existentially big, grand, weird, thrilling universe. So especially if you already like Big Finish stories but haven't listened to Hitchhiker's Guide before, you've got such a Who-ish treat awaiting you.

(Toppodcast dot com has it all available.)

#the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #doctor who #douglas adams #cw warning naturally for the occassional piece of language or framing #nothing egregious that I remember but it's an older text now

[phoenixyfriend]

I’m actually interested on your thoughts on stewjon-or any other sci-fi or fantasy land- being “space!scotland”.

I’m Scottish, and it actually kinda turns me off of a fic? Like, it gives me an uncanny valley feeling?

Part of it is due to it, most of the time at least, leaning heavily on the English stereotypes of Scotland? Like. We’re not people who think and feel and integrate people from other cultures, we’re not our better social support and services than england, we’re not people who can enjoy the land *and* be modern people, no.

We’re tartan wearing redheads speaking in a “terrible accent” that can’t be understood, whispering about fae stories and superstition, simultaneously getting in fights in Glasgow and carving Glasgow grins, and huddling in stone huts playing bagpipes and carding wool.

It’s uh, dehumanising a bit. And I didn’t realise I had that big of a rant, feel free to ignore this I was just curious from how you were talking about the Moses!obiwan thing.

Context

That tracks! It's a wider problem that incidentally managed to get picked up and spread in a really unfortunate way by fandom, presumably in large part by Americans who Don't Know What They're Doing when they just want to, idk, fantasize about Ewan McGregor speaking in his natural voice.

I think a weird but important note is that, regardless of the Space Scotland thing, I don't usually see Stewjon portrayed, like... positively? It's a shitty background element (infanticide backstory with the barest explanation), a fantasy misogyny place (a lot of the royalty AUs, especially the omegaverse ones, and especially smut), or a general underdeveloped, low-tech, backwater nightmare (also usually used for the smut). I've seen combinations of all three, and it's a toss of the coin if the author includes the Space Scotland element in addition to the above.

(I've seen one or two that seem to take way more inspo from a mix of Imperial China and 17th century France, for instance, or just keep it vaguely European.)

Even the ones that I think try to do the Space Scotland thing respectfully, I can't really comment on because, uh, I'm not Scottish by any stretch and don't know what degree of what element is reasonable.

(I think I can sort of relate in terms of Serbian representation in Western media? Such as it is. Generally we get to be gangsters, sad orphans, an evil priest selling babies to aliens, vampire-inspired cannibals, or Belgrade gets to be a setting where there is literally not a single Serbian character. Not the same thing but I wanted to give some examples to explain why I feel I can relate when people talk about this sort of thing.)

#lightsaberwieldingdalek #star wars #phoenix answers asks #obi wan kenobi #stewjon #stewjon is space scotland

[headspace-hotel]

update on Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves: I looked up reviews for the book on Goodreads and uhh. Uhhhhhhh.

????????????????????????????????...

I'm taking the word "worldbuilding" away from y'all. Please stop. This book barely even has worldbuilding. It's an alien planet and all the animals are the same as Earth animals, except with weird made-up words attached, and the book has yet to explain or describe how they're even different from regular bears, foxes and rabbits.

The politics and culture are vague and developed using preachy infodumping. The planet is controlled by a corporation, and there are "scavvers" which live away from corporate control, and most inhabitants of the planet are prejudiced toward "scavvers." That's it! That's all there is!!

There seems to be a city and there's a forest, but the setting is not described well enough for me to tell how these things are spatially related to each other.

Also can we talk about how the planet is named "Tundar?"

...

Anyway. These reviewers in many cases seem to be confusing "worldbuilding" with "how vividly the setting is evoked/described," which, okay fine, but...this book's descriptions are the absolute opposite of evocative. They are so ambiguous and non-specific.

Here i've got the book I'll give examples

The protagonist's cloak, which has important sentimental value to her, has strands of "silvery-black" in it, which is important because it's connected to the scavver culture. What material? Why is it significant? How does it connect to her culture? What is it even called?? We don't know!

"She'd sing songs the scavvers passed down for generations, not the corpo-produced ones they play in bars around the Ket...those same melodies haunt my darkest dreams." Okay?? Maybe give more details so I'll care, maybe?

"The ion storms mess with most tech, especially things that send signals." (page 116) I have so many questions about this. It's repeatedly emphasized that Technology Doesn't Work on Tundar...except when it does. The wolves can be tracked down using microchips that transmit signals. The wolf races are televised using drones. All the "technology" (what that means isn't consistent) shown in the story is supposed to be constantly broken down and nonfunctional, but no one has thought to USE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY in the "hundreds of years" the planet has been colonized.

"Something messed up when the corporations tried to calm Tundar's environment hundreds of years ago...the terraforming attempt that was supposed to stop the ice just made it worse, along with making all the species bigger and more aggressive." ????? (page 23)

And then there's the "splinter woods." There are "splinter trees" that are constantly trying to take the city back. What do they look like? What are they? Is that the only plant in the "splinter woods?"

The main glaring problem, though, is that the "splinter woods" cover the whole area of the world we're shown...which is constantly and repeatedly referred to as a "tundra."

Did the author not google "tundra???" Did she somehow miss, when researching for this book, that a forest is definitionally not a tundra?

Like???? SGSGVVFGVFGBHFFGfsafghjbfbcv

"I say one of the few scavver phrases that has been adopted into everyday speech." Do scavvers speak a different language?? Are there different languages?? We don't know!!!

Because nothing is ever described specifically or clarified!! The dialogue is both unnaturally infodumpy and so vague. Like, the protagonist says "I can show you guys how to strip some bark from the splinter trees and mix it with a few different herbs." (page 119). I've never read anything like this before. "I tell them which animals most likely make which noises." What do you mean, most likely????

We spend a lot of time with a team of scientists, but it's not actually clarified what their actual fields are. Pana is an "expert in many scientific fields, including medicine. The main scientist says he's "not an animal expert" as if "zoologist" is too difficult to say.

The whole book is like this, whatever "Like This" is.

Let's not forget the "slightly scientific-looking junk."

Like, all the reviewers claim the world is so "vivid" and evocative and when you read the book, literally every description is like, "It looks almost like some sort of thingy."

Oh, on the subject of the cold: In the beginning, the protagonist says something about frostbite scars being distinctive of people that have lived on the planet for a while, and then...any sort of behavioral or technological adaptation to cold is Never Mentioned Again.

Like, I don't get the sense that it is cold. The way the main character dresses, acts, prepares for travel, does not suggest that she's going somewhere dangerously cold. Her cloak gets taken away from her and this is important because she's sad about it, not because the planet is deadly cold like the author tells us. The scientists don't have to wear gear or special clothing to protect themselves from cold.

It's so frustrating to hear this being called good worldbuilding I can't take it

#books #negativity #bitching about ya #young adult books #reading #young adult literature #ya books