#ARTIFACTS OF HUMANITY

[candyredbloodshed]

UNDERTALE X HOMESTUCK , ft different weapons !

[earthsparked]

You’ve never been this sick before. You’ve had tonsillitis as a kid, typical flus and colds, a memorable bout or three with bronchitis and, of fucking course, came down with covid a couple times. None of those illnesses were like this. Something has gotten inside your head.

You make a quiet noise of complaint as what feels like cold metal surrounds you, painful against your hot skin, even through the blanket wrapped around you. You feel so cold, but you’re sweaty and dizzy. The world isn’t right. Everything’s too big and bright and moving wrong. Your head’s stuffed full of cotton and you’re not thinking right. And there’s a voice you don’t know, rich and deep, with a strange modulation to it you can’t place.

Sorry, little one, but your internal temperature is creeping past the danger zone for your species with no signs of stopping. Much higher and you’re risking processor damage. Don’t be afraid, we’re going to help you.

A machine sort of noise and rush of air, with a very quiet addition you don’t quite catch. I hope.

You are too sick to do much of anything except feel horribly confused, weak, and cold. You flinch away from the light, its brightness like ice picks into your head. There’s another voice snapping something about photosensitivity, dim the slagging lights. The brightness fades, but even in the dim twilight you don’t really want to open your eyes. Everything hurts. You just want to go home.

There’s a hushed argument, and then something very large moves over you. In your delirium it registers as if you’re swimming deep underwater, and a pod of whales has come to say hello.

‘S illegal. Getting me in trouble…caught. You’re mumbling to the whales. You’re not ever supposed to approach wildlife. Even if you always dreamed of meeting them.

That rumbling voice sounds so tired, so sad, that you feel bad for it.

Are they conscious? Are they trying to communicate with us?

A pause. The other voice speaks. There’s a sense of something big hovering directly over you. You can feel it somehow, even with your eyes closed, like feeling a current in the ocean.

No, I don’t think so. Their brain activity is alarming compared to baseline. But who in the Pit knows? Organic processors are a mess to begin with, let alone one infected with something this species has never encountered before.

A big blue whale-song, mournful. We never should have come here. What have we done, Ratchet?

The other, more gruff voice. Also sounding tired. We couldn’t have known that the debris brought a contagion planetside until it happened. Don’t panic just yet, Prime. So far, they’re the only one directly exposed. We got them in quarantine as soon as Nurse Darby realized something was wrong beyond the usual illnesses. It was just bad luck they happened to come across the contamination before we could clean it all up. There’s no reason to believe it can jump from human to human yet.

There’s a pause, and the first voice is even quieter.

Will they live?

There’s more motion. Beeping noises. You must be in a hospital. Yes, you remember that much. Going into the ER late one night after the Tylenol wouldn’t touch your fever, which had come on suddenly.

I can’t make promises, you know that. I don’t know much about this contagion. I didn’t even know it could behave this way in organics when it’s harmless to us.

He sounds frustrated.

But I was fine, the groggy thought drifts up from the depths of your mind. Everything is slow and dark and cold, a thousand fathoms deep.

I was fine, I went out doing my volunteer work. And then I got sick.

You don’t remember meeting your doctors. There might have been an ambulance…you think? Flashing lights, sirens. A woman’s worried voice, low, as she adjusted the IV in your arm. It’s what is making you feel so cold, you decide, and with all your frail strength begin trying to grab and wrench it out.

An immediate shuffle around you, and the grumpy whale reaches out and stops you. You push weakly at its rubbery flipper. It’s a whale, a humpback whale you think. You have about as much chance of moving it as you do lifting an ambulance.

Eh-eh-eh! None of that, now. You pull that out and neither of us will enjoy me trying to put it back in. Optimus, hand me the - yes, thank you.

You whimper softly and cry out as you find you can’t move. There’s things touching you - seaweed, wires, tangling you. Everything’s cold.

There. Sorry, human, but we can’t have you hurting yourself. …why am I even talking to them, they’re not going to remember any of this.

You huff and decide very hard to remember this just because you were told you wouldn’t. You forget a minute later what it was you were trying to remember, and start thrashing around against the seaweed. The beeping gets louder, more painful.

Can’t ever make anything easy, can you?

What are you doing?

I’m going to use the medication June left to sedate them.

But didn’t she say that could -

Yes, but - well, look at them!

Look at who? You wonder, as you fight off the tangling seaweed. You should find the surface. You need to breathe. You’re starting to feel scared. You can’t breathe.

The humpback whale is distressed. Somehow you can feel it, you know it. If they were a mech I could put them in stasis, keep them from suffering like this. This is cruel, Optimus. I - I don’t know.

He sounds defeated, angry. So tired. You reach out past the seaweed to try and pet him, because if the whales are going to insist on hanging out, you might as well earn that huge fine for touching the wildlife. Your sensitive palm makes contact with cold, hard skin, almost like it’s absorbed all the ice in the ocean. There’s a feeling of surprise, and silence, and then something crashes like a wave in the distance. There are big booming sounds. Those waves slamming into rocky, echoing caverns.

Watch them a moment. I’m going to consult with June. Do not let them tear that IV out. Comm me if their breathing gets worse.

The big blue whale is back, filling in the absence of the humpback. It catches your hand in its massive flipper, then brushes your wet hair out of your face. You had always heard whales were impossibly gentle despite their enormous size. You hadn’t quite imagined they could be this dexterous, though.

I’m sorry this happened to you. You did nothing wrong. You and so many other innocents, harmed because of us.

You squeeze his flipper, you think, but things are getting very hazy.

Please live. There is so much more to the universe that you deserve to get to see. I don’t know if you can hear me, but don’t give up.

His voice, even full of pain deep as the bottom of the sea, is comforting. You don’t want him to be so sad. But that’s what whalesong always is, isn’t it?

The humpback comes back. He’s doing something with the IV. You had no idea whales knew how to do that. You didn’t know they could be white and red, either. Don’t tell Ahab.

June says to increase the dosage and keep giving fluids. The tests she’s running show this formulation should drive out the infection, but…

But?

…but not without…impacts.

What kind of impacts? …Ratchet?

We can’t be sure. This is all highly experimental, Prime, we’re working off of practically nothing. June thinks it’s doing something to their central nervous system. We don’t know what, yet. It’s going to be a race to see what gives in first: the infection, or their vital systems.

A rumble, contemplative. At least they seem to have calmed. Their heart rate is down to almost normal.

For now. A pause. If they recover, we can’t keep this one. Fowler can find somewhere to stash them, I’m sure.

Silence.

Oh, for - Optimus! We’re not running a xeno-zoo!

Let us wait and see if that is even a conversation we will need to have, old friend.

Disgruntled feelings like poprocks in your mind.

…fine. Oh.

Oh?

Their fever has come down two-tenths of a point. That’s a start in the right direction. Let’s get that oxygen mask on and see if it helps. Of all the gasses to breathe, they had to pick one of the most flammable. Who even designed this fragging species? I want a word with them.

The whales are singing, and you decide it’s not so scary down here, after all. It reminds you of that song. You wheeze out a few words.

Beyond th’ sea, somewhere��waiting…

Hush. Rest, now. Big blue, biggest animal ever on earth. And for some reason, it cares about you.

You fall asleep under a blanket of seaweed, and eventually the ocean doesn’t feel so cold. You’re part of a pod, swimming slowly compared to them, but swimming all the same. And at least you’re not alone down in the dark. Maybe when you wake, you’ll get to see them breach the surface, leaping into the warmth of the sun. Maybe you’ll get to leap with them.

[flamingpudding]

*hisssss* My comfort human!

Nightwing stared, he turned his head staring at Zatanna in a way that clearly spelled the question: Are you seeing what I am seeing?

Zatanna only gave him a shrug with a smile before focusing back on the meeting, leaving Nightwing to turn back and stare. He wasn't the only hero in the room with that reaction. There were a couple others too that reacted similarly. Only Batman appeared to be able to hold his pokerface.

Right before them was Constantine trying to explain to them all how their goverment basically fucked them over, while a 'ghost' teen was clinging to the man's shoulders glaring and hissing at them all. Worst of all Constantine was acting like the kid wasn't even there. Like there was no a white haired, black and white dressed teen hugging the man around his shoulders while glaring at them with glowing Lazarus green eyes.

"Uhm John? What's with the kid?" Green Lantern finally asked interrupting another one of the magicans rants about how screwed they were to which the Brite only glared at the hero.

"Ignore him."

"But..."

"IGNORE him."

"Maybe we should remove the child from this meeting before we continue?" Superman offered good naturally and Constantine looked pretty much done with them all, Nightwing noted. The blond waved with his hand as if telling them to 'go on try it'.

The heroes exchanged glances. Before Superman moved forward reaching out to remove the teen....

...and promptly got bitten. Nightwings eyes widened as he noticed the teen actually broke kryptonian skin!

The teen then proceeded to hiss at them while clutching onto Constantine protectively. The magican only let out a suffering sigh and muttered something about never touching a core again.

"My comfort human! Get your own!"

[kan-be]

so I’ve had this fantasy AU in the back of my mind since 2021 and I finally decided to draw some stuff on it

[cloysterbell]

Most people do not smell the apples. The Warehouse likes you.

[theofficialuriel]

more on the parent trap au:

It’s not an purposeful parent trap on Tim’s part. He’s just pissed he can’t be Robin anymore and thinks it’s because his dad just doesn’t like Bruce (ignoring Jack’s totally normal concern for his safety). So what else would convince his dad other than the power of friendship?

Tim starts planning hangouts with them. Jack’s thrilled because his son is trying to bond! Bruce is less thrilled because he doesn’t want to make Jack any more mad, but he doesn’t miss Tim. Only… the hangouts are always at the same time and same place.

The first time, Tim plays it off as an accident. It’s a baseball game and they all just stand there awkwardly.

The second time happens a while later; he doesn’t want the men to get suspicious. It’s a school event of some sort— photography exhibitions or a spelling bee where he ensures they’re seated next to each other.

The third time is an amusement park field trip. Tim told them both that there’s a shortage of chaperones (he gave the usual volunteers a healthy dose of poison), so they naturally volunteered. School policy (Gotham) states that at least two chaperones have to be with a group at all times. Tim, Darla, and Bernard straight up ignore the chaperones the whole time. The kids give Jack and Bruce gray hairs. (They have to ride rollercoasters too. Jack is doing everything in his power to not scream lest he be bested by Wayne).

By this point, the two tolerate each other. Jack is assured Bruce isn’t a pedo and Bruce comes to understand that Jack is just a worried parent. They still “secretly” compete for Tim’s attention, but it’s like 20% less hostile.

Everything changes with the fourth time.

This time, it’s at an international history museum or something. Tim “won” three tickets and invited the both of them, saying they’d both be interested in it and he’d hate to have to choose who to make happy. They’re starting to get suspicious but they let it slide. Tim stays until the tail end of the museum tour before excusing himself to the bathroom. He asks them to tell him the rest when he’s back.

Well. The last portion of the tour had to do with cultural artifacts from around the world. Jack starts getting into heated debates/arguments because the museum worker is getting things wrong— like three of the artifacts were his findings too and some were Janet’s (“are you trying to discredit me AND my dead wife?”).

Bruce is holding him back from punching this college kid in the face.

But then the kid says something wrong about… idk like Tibetan monks(?) and now Bruce is the one yelling about stereotypes and misinformation while Jack is “trying” to hold him back.

They get kicked out.

Tim gets back from the bathroom, hears about this, and fears for the worst. Jack and Bruce are just ranting in the parking lot about the idiocy of the museum. Jack and Bruce continue to rant the whole car ride over (Tim had convinced Jack to uber in the hopes that his plan would rise above expectations).

Tim has the vague feeling he might have made a mistake, but hopes to continue his plans…

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

48,000-Year-Old Cave Painting from Indonesia: this painting shows several animals being hunted by tiny figures that are part-human and part-animal (known as therianthropes); researchers believe that this may be the earliest known depiction of mythical beings

This painting was found at Leang Bulu' Sipong 4, which is a limestone cave located on the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia.

The panel shown here is just one part of a much larger painting that measures nearly 4.5 meters (about 15 feet) long, and it decorates the wall of a hidden chamber that was discovered back in 2017. The full-length painting portrays six animals, including two wild pigs and four anoas (which are small, buffalo-like creatures that are endemic to Indonesia). All of the animals are shown being captured, hunted, and/or pursued by tiny figures that appear to be part-human and part-animal; their vaguely human-like bodies are depicted with animalistic features such as tails, beaks, muzzles/snouts, lizard-like torsos, and horns.

Above: a digital tracing of the full-sized painting, with one of the anoas and several human-like figures magnified

It's possible that some of these animal-like traits represent masks, headdresses, or costumes, but several of the figures also exhibit more extreme features that cannot be produced by simple costumes. Researchers argue that the animal-like costumes would also be useless and impractical as hunting props, given that they mostly seem to mimic small animals like birds and lizards.

Above: two of the figures that are described as therianthropes, both of which seem to be using spears or ropes to subdue the much larger anoa

The original analysis of this painting in 2019 indicated that it was created over 43,900 years ago, but further testing in 2024 revealed that it was created even earlier, dating back to at least 48,000 years ago -- which makes this the world's second-oldest example of figurative art (i.e. artwork that depicts real or recognizable subjects, such as humans or animals).

It's unclear whether or not the animal-like figures actually represent therianthropes, but if they are therianthropic, as archaeologists speculate, then this painting would be the world's oldest known depiction of mythical beings, and it would constitute the earliest known evidence of spiritual or supernatural thinking. It is more than 8,000 years older than the famous Löwenmensch ("lion-man") carving from Germany, which has long been recognized as the world's oldest depiction of a therianthrope.

According to this article:

For whoever painted these figures, they represented much more than ordinary human hunters. One appears to have a large beak while another has an appendage resembling a tail. In the language of archaeology, these are therianthropes, or characters that embody a mix of human and animal characteristics.

"The images of therianthropes may also represent the earliest evidence for our capacity to conceive of things that do not exist in the natural world, a basic concept that underpins modern religion,” said Adam Brumm, study co-author and associate professor at the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution. “Therianthropes occur in the folklore or narrative fiction of almost every modern society, and they are perceived as gods, spirits or ancestral beings in many religions worldwide.”

These interpretations are speculative, however, and the inspiration for the painting, as well as its significance to the humans who created it, is likely to remain a mystery.

Archaeologists have been aware of Sulawesi's abundant cave art since the 1950's, but dating techniques were not used on the paintings until 2014. For decades, it was assumed that the artwork was less than 10,000 years old, but when animal paintings and hand stencils from seven different caves were finally analyzed in 2014, researchers were shocked to discover that some of the artwork was created more than 39,900 years ago -- predating most of the world's earliest known cave paintings. Since then, archaeologists have discovered and/or dated many other cave paintings from Sulawesi that date back to more than 40,000 to 51,200 years ago.

These discoveries firmly contradict the traditional (and deeply eurocentric) assumptions that had previously been made about the origins of artistic expression, as this article explains:

Previously, the oldest known cave art was thought to have first appeared in Europe 40,000 years ago, showcasing abstract symbols. By 35,000 years ago, the art became more sophisticated, showing horses and other animals.

These latest finds in Indonesia have challenged a long-standing belief that artistic expression – and the cognitive leap that may have accompanied it – began in Europe.

It’s now thought that the capability to create figurative art either emerged before Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa and headed for Europe and Asia more than 60,000 years ago, or that it emerged more than once as humans spread around the globe.  

Unfortunately, many of the cave paintings in Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia are now rapidly crumbling away as a result of climate change. The limestone surfaces of the cave walls are peeling away at an alarming rate, erasing large sections of the paintings in the process; in some caves, patches of artwork measuring 2-3cm wide are vanishing every few months.

Sources & More Info:

The Guardian: Earliest Known Cave Art by Modern Humans Found in Indonesia

Scientific American: Is This Indonesian Cave Painting the Earliest Portrayal of a Mythical Story?

National Geographic: Ancient Cave Art May Depict the World's Oldest Hunting Scene

The Leakey Foundation: Indonesian Cave Paintings Show the Dawn of Imaginative Art

Nature: Earliest Hunting Scene in Prehistoric Art

Nature: Narrative Cave Art in Indonesia by 51,200 Years Ago

The New York Times: Mythical Beings May be Earliest Imaginative Cave Art by Humans

Science: World's Oldest Hunting Scene Shows Half-Human, Half-Animal Figures -- and a Sophisticated Imagination

Smithsonian Magazine: A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World

Art Net: Some of the Oldest and Most Revered Cave Paintings in the World Are Under Extreme Threat Due to Climate Change

Nature: Humanity's Oldest Art is Flaking Away

[maybevarric]

at the end of tresspasser we see many of the elves mysteriously disappear across thedas correct? honestly this should have been the origin story for the veil jumpers: they get recruited by solas under the guise of restoring the ways of the elvhen.

initially these recruited elves would have been generally supportive across the board because finally there’s some kind of reclamation of their history and their past. finally there is an explanation and some kind of hint of a future as a whole. things are looking up under the protection and guidance of the dreadwolf.

but as solas’ plan would progress we’d start to see a divide amongst his followers, and i reckon this is where the veil jumpers would begin. as a pushback to this. as an act of defiance against what was coming. learning what solas’ plans are for the future of thedas and tearing down the veil and all that. the veil jumpers choose not to reclaim their history and past through these kinds of designs, but instead to learn for themselves because they are owed it. they deserve it. but not at the cost of the world ending.

idk i think the worldbuilding and the lore could have been SO much better. and i think it’s really strange that solas had agents in tresspasser and then suddenly had nothing come the start of datv.

[transingthoseformers]

Crack idea: After TFP there still are Shenanigans going on earth that the kids want to take on involving leftover Cybertronian artifacts/Cons/etc. They end up finding a brooding Megatron and Miko is bullying him back to base because come on you gotta do Something with your life now old man!

Fowler is NOT keen on having him around. The GOVERNMENT is aware of his crimes after all.

Miko: Ah, but this isn't Megatron! It's his twin brother, Galvatron!

Fowler: . . . [Throws hands up]

SDFSFSFA I KNEW HE EXILED HIMSELF BUT IT'D BE HILARIOUS IF HE EXILED HIMSELF *BACK* TO EARTH

That had to be such a moment when they first round him after he came back

This could be so funny😭😭😭

Fowler is right

twin brother Galvatron gsdggsgs

[blueiscoool]

New Mexico Footprints are Oldest Sign of Humans in Americas

Fossil footprints date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, upending previous theory that humans reached continent later.

New research confirms that fossil human footprints in New Mexico are probably the oldest direct evidence of human presence in the Americas, a finding that upends what many archaeologists thought they knew.

The footprints were discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in White Sands national park and date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to research published on Thursday in the journal Science.

The estimated age of the footprints was first reported in Science in 2021, but some researchers raised concerns about the dates. Questions focused on whether seeds of aquatic plants used for the original dating may have absorbed ancient carbon from the lake – which could, in theory, throw off radiocarbon dating by thousands of years.

The new study presents two additional lines of evidence for the older date range. It uses two entirely different materials found at the site, ancient conifer pollen and quartz grains.

The reported age of the footprints challenges the once conventional wisdom that humans did not reach the Americas until a few thousand years before rising sea levels covered the Bering land bridge between Russia and Alaska, perhaps about 15,000 years ago.

“This is a subject that’s always been controversial because it’s so significant – it’s about how we understand the last chapter of the peopling of the world,” said Thomas Urban, an archaeological scientist at Cornell University, who was involved in the 2021 study but not the new one.

Thomas Stafford, an independent archaeological geologist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was not involved in the study, said he “was a bit skeptical before” but now is convinced.

The new study isolated about 75,000 grains of pure pollen from the same sedimentary layer that contained the footprints.

“Dating pollen is arduous and nail-biting,” said Kathleen Springer, a research geologist at the US Geological Survey and a co-author of the new paper.

Ancient footprints of any kind can provide archaeologists with a snapshot of a moment in time. While other archeological sites in the Americas point to similar date ranges – including pendants carved from giant ground sloth remains in Brazil – scientists still question whether such materials really indicate human presence.

“White Sands is unique because there’s no question these footprints were left by people, it’s not ambiguous,” said Jennifer Raff, an anthropological geneticist at the University of Kansas, who was not involved in the study.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Early 18th century book for learning arithmetic and other topics related to science and mathematics, including military engineering and astronomy. Handwritten in the Catalan language in Barcelona (Catalonia's capital city).

The title means "Speculation and theorems of arithmetic", and what's written below it in the cover means "for teaching and doctrine. By Joseph Bolló junior, young grocery shop keeper, who starts this book today the 7th of January of the year 1714".

The book includes mathematical problems related to the job of a grocery shop keeper, but also observations that he saw. A curious page is the one where he draws the meteorite that fell in Southern France on Christmas day of 1704 (the penultimate image in this post). This meteorite was so bright that it was seen from Barcelona, and many texts and drawings from the time describe how people were horrified at seeing this huge ball of fire fall to the Earth. Here is the translation of how Josep Bolló describes it in this page: "Sign of Heaven which, with a great uproar, appeared above on the 25th, Christmas Day, of the year 1705* at 5 in the afternoon. It was a very horrifying thing because the sky was very clear and calm, as well as for the huge noise and shining that it did", and he goes on to explain how it was interpreted as an omen for the bad times that were to come: the War of Spanish Succession, that would end with the terribly cruel Siege of Barcelona that lasted between July 1713 and the 11th of September of 1714 , with Catalonia's defeat and the subsequent military occupation of Catalonia by Castilla/Spain.

*Note: Josep Bolló and many other sources of the time said this meteorite was seen in 1705 instead of 1704 because back then Christmas Day was considered the 1st day of the next year. But, if we call by with our modern calendar, it was the 25th of December of 1704.

The young shop keeper survived both the siege and the horrible political persecution of Catalans that followed it, and he continued writing his book. Some pages show his observations of it, related to mathematics. For example, the last image in this post is a drawing of what a part of Barcelona's wall looked like before the siege and how it looked like after the attack, before being destroyed to build the Citadel, as he wrote in the page.

Source: Manuscripts collection of the University of Barcelona.

[freakdroids]

Data winking at Picard and scanning him w his eyes. last gif is a slowed down version so u can more easily see it

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Breya, Etherium Shaper

Artist: Jack Hughes TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[damnflirtyape]

Saddle Details

[wandering-cemeteries]

Finger of a saint.

San Lorenzo

Florence, Tuscany

March 2024

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Prehistoric Mirrors from Turkey, c.6400 BCE: these are the oldest manufactured mirrors in the world, dating back to more than 8,000 years ago, and they were meticulously crafted from pieces of obsidian

Above: two obsidian mirrors that were found buried together at Catalhoyuk, in Turkey, back in 2012

At least eight of these obsidian mirrors have been discovered at a Neolithic site known as Çatalhöyük, in modern-day Turkey, and they date back to about 6400-6200 BCE. Each mirror was crafted from a chunk of obsidian (volcanic glass) that was knapped into the shape of a disc and then meticulously polished with progressively finer abrasives until a smooth, slightly convex surface had been developed.

Some of these mirrors can still produce remarkably clear reflections even after more than 8,000 years.

Sources & More Info:

The Archaeologist: World's Oldest Mirrors Found at Neolithic Çatalhöyük Site

Çatalhöyük Research Project: Archive Report from 2012 (PDF)

Journal of Archaeological Science: Neolithic Obsidian Mirrors from Southwest Asia: a Reflection on their Diffusion and Manufacture

Çatalhöyük Research Project: Main Website

Journal of Modern Optics: Archaeological Optics: the Very First Known Mirrors and Lenses

The Past: Cyber Archaeology, How 3D Modeling is Unpeeling the Neolithic at Çatalhöyük