Mean Free Paths @instrumented-and-controlled - Tumblr Blog

neko-mancy

just saw a "only one bed" fic with the major character death warning

dontbreakthechain

#i guess that's one way to solve that problem

idabbleincrazy

“This bed ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

xueyangapologist

smetankaart

Despite everything, it's still you

bluemoonscribbler

>_< atla rare pair month is over but hnnrggh *throws these into the tumblr void*

coruscantknight

Bruce Wayne/Diana Prince - Looking Beyond

This one I could not get out of my own head. Bruce and Diana standing on the Southern grounds of Themyscira after putting behind their roles as superheroes. It's set after the prologue of the Batman Beyond episode "Rebirth" and before the main events of the actual series itself.

Batman did have health issues obviously and he went against his morals pointing a gun at some punk, leading to his abandonment in crime fighting in Batman Beyond "Rebirth." Not to mention losing Wayne Enterprises to Derek powers...yeah that greedy ass boss.

In Wonder Woman's case, her mission as ambassador of Themyscira ended after the World Assembly and United Nations couldn't see eye-to-eye with the Amazons. And Diana and Hippolyta hid their island from the entire world as a result...save for a few friends and family.

One year later, Bruce Wayne gazes and broods at the horizon, knowing that Gotham is calling for Batman to come out...despite the fact he cannot help without risking his health or crossing a line. Diana noticed this and probably knows one day somebody might seek the cave and the cowl. To which Bruce says, "My subconscious will disagree."

And in Diana's arms? Is their baby girl. Yeah, I did carry the idea of the two settling down and raising a family together on both Themyscira and in the Manor. I'll cover who the child is later.

escuerzoresucitado

polarity-disturbed

You know what Artemis Fowl doesn’t get enough credit for? Seamlessly blending fantasy and science fiction without one eating the other alive.

Most media picks a lane. You’re either in a world of dragons and spells, or you’re riding a spaceship powered by neon blue lights. And when stories do try to blend both, it usually comes off like one genre is just cosplaying as the other. “Oh, it’s not magic, it’s just tech so advanced it looks like magic.” Cool. Sure. But that’s not a blend. That’s sci-fi wearing a glittery hat and calling itself a wizard.

But Artemis Fowl? Artemis Fowl gave us elves flying with mechanical wings, centaurs programming surveillance satellites, and also dwarves unhinging their jaws and eating through solid rock. It didn’t strip the fantasy creatures of their mythic weirdness to make them technologically advanced, and it didn’t simplify the tech to keep the magic pure.

And what makes it work is that both sides of the worldbuilding—the magic and the machinery—are treated with equal weight, equal logic, and equal absurdity. There’s internal consistency. There are rules. There's friction. The LEP doesn’t just use magic to solve every problem—they rely on tactics, training, strategy, and yes, a whole lot of gadgets.

The fantasy elements don’t feel like a storytelling shortcut, and the science doesn’t feel like cold technobabble.

escapedaudios

When I was a little kid, I really liked the Artemis Fowl books because Artemis was the only preteen/teen action-adventure protagonist that wasn't the chosen one or somehow the figurehead of a political conflict that adults would realistically never want a child to lead. No one gave him the quest. He simply chose to be the main character, through action. This blew my little eight year old mind and still impresses me as an adult.

His villain journey subverts the moment in the hero's journey where the hero refuses the call to adventure. He was proactively digging deeper into the magical and mysterious and forbidden. Everyone in their right mind wanted him not to go on his quest. He did it anyway. He discovered supernatural beings were real and immediately robbed them, and used that as a springboard to rob them a second time. Incredible.

Harry Potter was like "nooo I don't want to be the chosen one" and Artemis Fowl was like "I want to be the one who choses". Powerful. Potent. Electrifying to my brain that had accepted the powerless lack of agency that comes with childhood. The mere suggestion that I could be the main character without being chosen by and cosigned by adults was inspirational, villainy be damned. I think he was the first Nietzschean YA protagonist. To this day he might be all alone in that category.

deadagaindaniel

Daniel 'fun fact' Jackson + Merriam-Webster social media posts

deadagaindaniel

Bonus:

drbigsadbabymd-blog

I love how when you first peek into Warhammer and catch a glimpse of Roboute Guilliman (who will likely be the first Primarch you see) you think ok well this is some boring staid stiff-upper lip male fantasy. I bet he's never cried in his life and grouses about ~honor~ all the time. He's just some ultra-masc roman empire (pejorative) jerkbait. Get the fuck outta here, cardboard ass character.

And then you get into it and yeah he is staid and uptight as hell, but he's also a nerd none of the Primarchs particularly like? People in the books are like "shut up, Roboute, don't you have some homework to do somewhere" and he goes "Actually yes thank you for reminding me".

He'll try to be funny but then it doesn't land.

When Ferrus Manus, one of the only guys MORE staid and stoic than him, finds out from Fulgrim that Guilliman admires him greatly, he responds "It is not reciprocated"

They think he's a lame annoying doopfuck. I don't think he has a single friend amongst his brothers beyond Sanguinius and that's because Sanguinius is your default friend. He comes included when you're born as a Primarch.

With the Lion, he's agonizing over how perfectly organized his legion is, it makes him insecure. It's like watching the straight A+ honor roll student find out his classmate got an A++ and then laying his head down on his desk in class to hide the fact he's trying not to cry.

He's a dork. It's kind of great. To have this guy who looks like a male power fantasy, but he's the least fuckable man in the galaxy. If you tried to seduce him, he'd go "The color of your hair reminds me of a wheat field on a warm summer day. I need to configurate grain transport logistics. I have to go"

It's actually quite endearing, as far as fascist bureaucrats go

unhappytogekiss

a new reality tv show called So you think you can write Doctor Who

twelve episodes, twelve contestants - a mix of annoying middle aged sci fi authors, fan fic authors and random people off the street

a variety of against the clock writing tasks, big finish scripts, ability to interact with actors without shouting at them and challenges where you have no budget or doctor for an episode

judged by solely by christopher eccleston

this is how you find the new doctor who showrunner