1994 Was When The "incident" With Leitner Books Occurred, According To MAG 4. Perhaps There's A Link

The Fourth Crusade, 2002 (Michael Whelan)

All your ships are boring, check this shit out

Strange Bedfellows: these unprecedented photos show a leafcutter bee sharing its nest with a wolfspider

I stumbled across these photos while I was looking up information on leafcutter bees, and I just thought that this was too cool not to share. Captured by an amateur photographer named Laurence Sanders, the photos were taken in Queensland, Australia several years ago, and they quickly garnered the attention of both entomologists and arachnologists.

The leafcutter bee (Megachile macularis) can be seen fetching freshly-cut leaves, which she uses to line the inner walls of her nest. The wolfspider moves aside as the bee approaches, allowing her to enter the nest, and then she simply watches as the leaf is positioned along the inner wall.

Once the leaf is in position, they seem to inspect the nest together, sitting side-by-side in the entryway; the bee eventually flies off again to gather more leaves, while the wolfspider climbs back into the burrow.

The leafcutter bee seems completely at ease in the presence of the wolfspider, which is normally a voracious predator, and the wolfspider is equally unfazed by the fact that it shares its burrow with an enormous bee.

The photographer encountered this bizarre scene by accident, and he then captured a series of images over the course of about 2 days (these are just a few of the photos that were taken). During that 2-day period, the bee was seen entering the nest with pieces of foliage dozens of times, gradually constructing the walls and brood chambers of its nest, and the spider was clearly occupying the same burrow, but they did not exhibit any signs of aggression toward one another.

The photos have been examined by various entomologists and arachnologists, and those experts seem ubiquitously surprised by the behavior that the images depict. The curator of entomology at Victoria Museum, Dr. Ken Walker, noted that this may be the very first time that this behavior has ever been documented, while Dr. Robert Raven, an arachnid expert at the Queensland Museum, described it as a "bizarre" situation.

This arrangement is completely unheard of, and the images are a fascinating sight to behold.

Sources & More Info:

Brisbane Times: The Odd Couple: keen eye spies bee and spider bedfellows in 'world-first'

iNaturalist: Megachile macularis

I like to imagine TMAGP'S Gerry is just as goth, but covered in paint (and hair dye)

MGP 1 "First Shift": a critical role reference? In my good Magnus? Delightful!

Also love how the voices transition from very computerized into very human, great performances.

Ironic bc I'm autistic and wondered if Data was in there. I am more world weary than my beloved Data, however.

Ohhhhh good take. I have this sinking feeling that Alice is the meta canary overall, and when she stops fucking around the plot will go full dark mode. Or she'll go batshit for real.

I'm a bit late but I love how Alice was Sam's canary in the latest episode. She acted as a constant reminder of the danger present and reigned him in when things were getting too dangerous. But she also didn't fully squash his hopes.

I wonder if/when she's gonna completely stop singing. (Or Sam stops listening)

In s5 of TMA Jon mentioned kids have more basic fears, like the Dark. What if they were building a whole other fear? Or trying to unite them into one power, alchemy style?

Hey Jonah. Jonah Magnus. Jimmy Magma. Why did you, the head of an institute dedicated to worshipping and feeding the fear god of knowledge, need a bunch of young, gifted children who would probably know more than other children their age?? Be honest with me Jonah. Did you need them for an attempt at a ritual?? You can be honest

he paints in both universes,,,,I am going to explode

TMAGP 8 NOTES

SPOILERS BELOW

SERIOUSLY THESE ARE HOT FRESH SPOILERS

Statement:

Felt like a classic MAG episode. Reminiscent of the lonely, but felt more like a hunger for company that was reflected and warped.

Also, liminal spaces. Lots of em.

The thin people are reminiscent of MAG 156 Reflection.

Characters!

ALSO WHAT THE FUCK "GIGI???"

GIGI AND GERRY

Bruh

I'm delighted

I'm horrified

I'm so scared

"my grandson?"

Looks like he dodged the brain cancer bullet this time. Gigi dodged the... literal bullet.

Maybe Gertrude gets a cackle this time?

Also, if Gerry doesn't remember anything, maybe they brain wiped him and that's why he's like that. Or, the change of personality is irrelevant.

Sam

Investigating the Magnus Institute still, and confirming that he participated in their "gifted kids programs."

Celia

Celia??? Weird physics???? Time travel?? Oh my holy fuck

Georgie's podcast too. Could it be crossing the gap btwn worlds?

Alice & Gwen

Obvious tension on the job change. Alice seems like she wants to leave, but also like she's morose over Sam leaving with Celia. I really feel like she's hyper jealous, hope she doesn't get chopped up or something for leaving. Bc who's heard from Teddy?

Note: Colin's on mental health leave. Doesn't sound like he hurt Sam? Just the phone.

Feb. 5. 2024

why did Lena even hire Gwen??

Lena seems to like Alice supposedly cause she (seemingly) doesn't care whatsoever about the horrific stuff going on, and likes her enough to pretty much ignore her and consider Sam based on Alice's recommendation. Even if Sam was just hired because they were scrambling for a replacement and needed someone traumatized by The Horrors, Lena likes Alice enough to not be immediately worried about the possibility that Sam may end up being Alice#2.

Sam, Alice, and Colin don't at all seem like they may one day want her position, and all are not particularly interested in challenging Lena (directly at least. Sam's snooping and Colin's IT rage aside).

Gwen on the other hand has so far presented herself as nothing but focused and uptight. She's always been gunning for the top and to have that respect. Why would Lena hire anyone that might threaten her position? Maybe Gwen just changed a lot (like people being surprised that Elias became head of the institute lol) and she just wasn't like that before.

Running theory though is nepotism (as per ep. 1) and Lena didn't have much of a choice. In which case, who has the connections to be overriding Lena, how does it connect to the horrible stuff going on, and why this job specifically? (I'm sure if Gwen has those sorts of connections she could get a more "respectable" job elsewhere) What stakes does Gwen (and supposed nepotism connection) have in all of this.

I guess we'll get some more insight on their dynamic when we find out what Gwen does with her young lena blackmail. Will be interesting to see if Gwen can actually force something from Lena using the video and/or potential connections