#RBP arc

[mewo-cressei]

[[ hey Everest? Hon? ]]

N-NO! LEA-LEA-LEAVE!

[electric-alt-cookie]

LOG 3202:11;62

In the midst of the commotion, Cyborg and Lemon had to watch the royal crowning that took place on Planet Bluestar, albeit from different angles. Cyborg was tapping their feet on the ground and looking around anxiously for something to happen. They couldn't bear to see their Knighty in such a position. After all, Knight had confided in them previously about his past, something that he never opened up about to other people.

Cyborg remembered his words. He had been a runaway child with his sister, White Choco, after their original kingdom had been attacked after they both refused an arranged marriage. Oh, how it made Cy's blood boil. Knight was being forced into the thing that he fled from, only this time it was an intergalactic space cookie that had no respect for him as a person.

Cyborg tried kicking the soldiers who were watching them diligently so they could get closer to Knight. Just so they could do something to get him out of this situation, but they couldn't. They weren't strong enough by themself. Of course, Lemon was a goody-goody when it came to Aloe, so Cy couldn't ask him to help. What happened in the time between Aloe trying to take over the kingdom and now? It just confused them to no end.

On the other side, Lemon had been watching with his arms crossed. His poker-face was unwavering as he was scoping out all the different types of characters that were here. He took a couple of glances towards Aloe before looking away.

Later, he was going to investigate the city. With Aloe's permission, he was given free reign to explore what the planet had to offer, as well as the various commodities that V-classes were given, which extended to him as a guest of Aloe. He wondered why Aloe wasn't changing into their NeoAzullian appearance. Doesn't that make them stand out? Lemon already stood out as much as he did. His yellow hair wasn't exactly camouflage against a planet that was mostly a monochromatic blue.

Starflower had dismissed the group and took a breath. Lemon had noticed he had looked a bit tense earlier. Something to him didn't seem right to him.

Aloe tapped Lemon's shoulder gently in order to not startle him.

“Why don't you head into town for a while? I know you're not very fond of large crowds such as this one.”

The android perked up. He had been waiting to leave this place as fast as he could.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure Cyborg doesn't get into trouble. I have matters I need to discuss with the king.”

“I wasn't even worried about them,” Lemon silently scoffed. Cyborg was the least of his concerns, but Aloe just chuckled at him amusedly.

Aloe pat Lemon on the shoulder pad before walking away, “If I need you, I'll send you a transmission. Shouldn't be too hard to pinpoint you in a crowd.”

Cyborg could be heard in the distance from all the way where Lemon was standing. They were struggling and cussing out the soldiers who were taking them back to a cell. Presumably, the prison was near the palace since Aloe had been walking in that direction.

The crowd dispersed, along with Cyborg being put away, leaving Lemon alone in the middle of a quiet plaza with a clear view of Z.Starflower's palace.

It felt weird to him.

[leafiion]

the league has free healthcare. i think

bad idea. horrible idea. WHY would you do that ever. just invite radomus next time.

........ cough. i do. WHO SAID THAT

easy solution: DON'T DYE IT THEN. ma'am im sorry but it looks horrible.

[venus-says]

Aikatsu Stars! Episodes 67-75

Am I watching the right season here? XD 

Yes, I'm a mad man and I really watched 9 episodes in such a short time. Now, I had to watch some episodes at double speed since I didn't have all the time of the world to it, but I think I have chosen well in which episodes to speed up so I think I didn't lose anything special. In any case, there's a lot to go through so let's get right into it.

Starting off in episode 67. This is a beach episode, y'all know how I feel about those but aikatsu summer episodes usually don't get under my skin as much as other shows do. In fact, this episode was very fun to watch, the setting Yuzu came up with for her premiere was actually pretty interesting and seeing the girls trying to find the treasure was very enjoyable. Seeing the old S4 together again was also another plus, and Yuzu's performance was a perfect crowning for this entire experience. We also got the first mention to the real goal of the season that is getting the sun dresses, which is something I have a problem with but I'll talk when it's the time for it.

The next is a filler episode about the girls studying and doing proficiency exams for Venus Ark and I don't really have anything to say about it, it was fun but there wasn't anything special to it. Though it was quite weird to see Yume referencing the pen pineapple apple pen song in her interview and I feel like that is something worthy of notice. XD Also, did they changed the CG for Forever Dream once again or it was just my eyes fooling me? 

Coming up next are the Aikatsu crossover episodes! Episode 69 had focus in connecting with Akari's gen while 70 focused on Ichigo's crew. And I've gotta say I was kinda disappointed? Like, not that the episodes were bad but I expected more from it. I always had in mind that this would be a bigger deal, that it would be more impactful, but that wasn't the case. Yes, the interactions between the girls were pretty fun and all, but outside of the old S4 and Soleil's performances, there wasn't anything that I would call "special". I think it just goes to show how both series are still very similar despite the HUGE differences between them. I really expected to have more to say about these episodes but that's actually just it. (Venus from the future here. I forgot to say that I also don’t like how they don’t know of each other’s existence when this episode takes place at least after the ending of season 3 and Ichigo has become a top idol. Also, how does Aoi, the idol professor, don’t know who Yume, Rola, and Koharu are? there’s a lot of things in these episodes that don’t make sense and made me feel kinda iffy about them too)

Episode 71 marks Venus Ark's momentarily departure and Koharu's comeback to Four Stars. And once again, I expected this to be a bigger event and everything, but everything was actually pretty simple and kinda underwhelming. This episode had a side plot with Kirara being left behind, but I really couldn't care for it. The repeated performance here also didn't help this episode and made me enjoy it a little less. But seeing Koharu and Yozora together again was good enough for me. XD We also have more goals being set here and these seem more interesting to me rather than the sun dress thing so I can say I'm pumped.

We get another mini-arc with episodes 72 and 73 as we follow Rainbow Berry Parfait's creation. Which to me was kinda weird? Like, the part of Koharu wanting to design for Yume is something very easy to understand and all, in fact, episode 72 does a very good build-up to this moment, despite using the very old trope of not letting a character finish want they want to say and all. But why did they had to change the name of the brand? And why did they chose such a ridiculously long name for it? Idk, maybe I'm just salty because I like regular Berry Parfait better than RBP, but the whole episode 73 bugged me and it seemed like they were using a very cheap way to make the plot move on. Regardless, it's a step towards Koharu's dream, and if Koharu is happy then I'm also happy. 

Episode 74 is the one that sets up both Ako and Kirara as FuwaFuwa Dream muses. This was a very simple episode, but very effective at that, they sold very well the idea of Ako and Kirara being a team and they worked very well despite Ako being difficult to work with at first. The duet version of Onegai Merry is the inferior version, but it was nice to watch. I don't really get why they didn't give Ako a PR since now she's a muse too, but I guess this is what happens when you set up your world so tightly that you end up being bound by your own established rules. Oh well, this was still pretty good regardless. ^^ 

And to wrap up we have episode 75. I expected this episode to explore the Kasumi family, but instead, we got another look at Mahiru's loneliness. And it was a good episode, it had those moments that made me feel warm and everything, but I can't deny that I wish this episode was focused only on Mahiru and her family and that the development of the episode had happened only with them and not dependant of the other girls appearing here. But that's just me, and, in the end, this episode was pretty soothing. I don't know if it was enough as closing for the first half of the season, but it was good and I can't deny that. 

I'VE DONE IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I REALLY DONE IT! I'm really an insane bitch. XD Well it's already way too late so I won't give a huge closing statement. See you guys tomorrow~

[oneinuniverse]

Civilizations Out of Nowhere

Graham Hancock, in his famous work “The Fingerprints of The Gods” argues that certain civilizations around the globe showed these signs of unusual intelligence in their architecture, science and writing systems. Intelligent human civilization extends much farther than we originally believed. The following is a presentation of some of the strange aspects of humanity that have been long forgotten, while remembering that our ancestors left us artifacts in the form of incredible structures and monuments that we are meant to decode and decipher. If the human story is a work in progress, let these monuments serve as important points to consider in the revision of this story. The monuments left behind by our ancestors would have had to coincide with their level of development given the time period; which calls for a revision of the human timeline. These historical anomalies raise questions about our collective history, and indicate how much remains to be discovered.

Human prehistory marks a time before records were kept, a time when, for several thousands of years, Cro-Magnons roamed across the planet, possibly forming small groups and living in primitive societies. The context of this strange condition changed again, approximately 15,000 years ago. When we compare the crudeness and primitive nature of Cro-Magnon side by side with the achievement of humans in the last 15,000 years, the gulf between the two widens considerably. We maintain the belief that human advancement and achievement follows a linear path upwards; each new civilization being more advanced and intelligent than the last. Just as we see jumps in advancement from one species to another.

From Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon, we see entire civilizations emerge out of nowhere with advancements in the sciences that have only recently been discovered. Several ancient civilizations across the world show an advanced level of astronomy and mathematics. As the Babylonian empire began to emerge 2500 years ago, one of their chief astronomers, Kidinnu, was able to map the annual movement of the sun and the moon that remained unchallenged until 1857, when astronomer Peter Andreas Hansen charted the arc of these celestial bodies to an error margin of only nine seconds.

A Babylonian almanac, mentioning future positions of the planets (British Museum)

During the Shang Dynasty of China, spanning between 1700-1100 B.C, a solar calendar known as the Ssu-Ten contained months that carried a precise length of 29.53055106 days, meaning leap years were taken into consideration and accounted for. An even earlier Chinese text, known as the Huang Ti-Ping King Su documented the Earth as a body which floated in space. Similarly, Greek scholars Permenides and Empedocles were quoted separately, stating “the moon illuminates the nights with borrowed light”. Over the last 10,000 years or so, modern humans were in possession of knowledge that suggests extraordinary intelligence [i]. What pushed early human societies over the edge, leading them to acquire such incredible knowledge at such an early stage? From the examples noted above, this was not an isolated incident, causing only one part of the globe to develop these skills. This level of “pre-advancement” was widespread, slowly changing the context of human history.

Two oracle bones from the Shang Dynasty in China (c. 1800 - 1200 BCE). Evidence from the Shang oracle bone inscriptions shows that at least by the 14th century BC the Shang Chinese had established the solar year at 365¼ days and lunation at 29½ days. ( CalendarsThroughTheAges)

Sumer is recognized as the cradle of man’s modern origins; the world’s first advanced civilization. Out of this region sprung an incredibly advanced high culture at approximately 3800 B.C. Located in the southern region of what is present day Iraq, the Sumerian civilization literally “exploded” with cultural firsts and incredible human achievements. Sumer was also known as Shinar, and was situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This region came to be called Mesopotamia, from the Greek word meso meaning ‘middle’, and potamia meaning ‘rivers’. The two rivers would be instrumental in allowing this early civilization to flourish, making commerce and trade possible.

A great city of Sumer ( thecultureconcept.com)

Mesopotamia was situated within the Fertile Crescent, where the geography, climate and presence of water encouraged the growth of agriculture. The Sumerian civilization was preceded by an earlier culture known as the Ubaid. The Ubaid were of an unknown origin, most likely comprised of the scattered tribes surrounding the two great rivers. Culture branched out into several disciplines with surprising levels of advancement. Astrology, botany, zoology, mathematics, and law would make up some of Sumer’s greatest achievements. Medicine and pharmacology were widely practiced. The first houses made out of bricks were found in this region. Sumer even had a working system of mythology, and a fully developed history of its own culture [ii]. At a time when hunter-gatherer societies were prevalent across the globe, the Sumerians were developing advanced legal codes and calculating astronomy at an intermediate level. One of the world’s first written forms sprung out of this region.

Sumerian civilization recorded their knowledge in a language known as cuneiform, consisting of narrow triangular shaped lines arranged in various patterns. The Sumerian alphabet contained pictograms – symbols that conveyed ideas and concepts in a way similar to oriental languages. This differed from phonetic values that are strung together to form words, like English. Writings were engraved on wet clay tablets which were baked and preserved. Over 500,000 of these clay tablets have been discovered, highlighting the breadth of knowledge this civilization possessed and the lengths to which they attempted to preserve it.

One of thousands of cuneiform tablets found in Iraq ( Wikipedia)

Sumerian civilization also developed unique landmark structures called ziggurats. These were pyramid shaped structures, hundreds of feet high; this method would predate the Gutenberg printing press by 2500 years. This high culture spanned a total of three separate dynasties, with the last one beginning at approximately 2100 B.C. This civilization brought forth two of the world’s first cities; Uruk, followed by Eridu. Both cities would act as blueprints for the new concept of the city, which would act as concentrations of skilled trades and arts. In these cities, craftsmen, writers, doctors, mathematicians and lawyers would for the first time in history, be able to exchange their services. The smaller city states of Sumer eventually underwent unification, becoming part of the Babylonian civilization that would span across the entire Mesopotamian region.

3D reconstruction of the Ziggarut of Ur ( Wikipedia)

Aside from agriculture, medicine and commerce, the Babylonians had an impressive understanding of astronomy. Their knowledge of the stars and celestial bodies were compiled into clay tablets, which would indicate the movement of constellations and the behavior of the sun in relation to the moon. Important events such as equinoxes and eclipses were also accounted for. A collection of Babylonian scientists compiled their knowledge of the movement of the stars, their movements and constellations into a work known as the MUL.APIN, meaning “the plough”, which was the name given to the document’s first constellation. The origin of the document dates back to 1370 B.C.

An equally impressive document named the Enuma Anu Enlil is a number of astrological tables that not only accounted for eclipses and celestial events, but was also used as a system of prophecy. Though their methods may have involved some elements of superstition, their methods of calculation were far from primitive. Babylonian astronomy and mathematics utilized a unique system of calculation based on multiples of the number 60 known as the sexagesimal system. Babylonian scientists were able to calculate measurements as precise as one sixtieth of one degree, otherwise known as one arc minute [iii].

The Babylonian civilization is distinct in that it set two very distinct precedents in our collective human history. Firstly, it set the standard for what constitutes a modern civilization, and its pursuit of astronomy would mark the first known instance that humans would actively observe and collect data on phenomena outside of their immediate physical surroundings. In essence, this was a coming of age for our species. But there is a broader question at hand. What are the prerequisites for civilization? Do they simply appear out of nowhere, the way that the Cambrian Explosion produced new lifeforms? Also, what does early civilization tell us about our relationship to other humans and our relationship to ourselves?

The above article is an extract from “ The Human Anomaly ”, and has been republished with permission. For more information, click here.

RBP

Featured image: Artist’s reconstruction of the Sumerian city of Ur. ( Kings Academy )

By Tashi Javed

References:

[i] Steiger, Brad. Worlds Before Our Own.pg,134. London: W.H. Allen, 1980. Print.

[ii] Sitchin, Zecharia, Divine Encounters, 7

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-opinion/civilizations-out-nowhere-002248

[rnomics]

IJMS, Vol. 19, Pages 1082: Loss of ISWI Function in Drosophila Nuclear Bodies Drives Cytoplasmic Redistribution of Drosophila TDP-43

Over the past decade, evidence has identified a link between protein aggregation, #RNA biology, and a subset of degenerative diseases. An important feature of these disorders is the cytoplasmic or nuclear aggregation of #RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Redistribution of RBPs, such as the human TAR DNA-binding 43 protein (TDP-43) from the nucleus to cytoplasmic inclusions is a pathological feature of several diseases. Indeed, sporadic and familial forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal lobar degeneration share as hallmarks ubiquitin-positive inclusions. Recently, the wide spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by RBPs functions’ alteration and loss was collectively named proteinopathies. Here, we show that TBPH (TAR DNA-binding protein-43 homolog), the Drosophila ortholog of human TDP-43 TAR DNA-binding protein-43, interacts with the arc#RNA hsrω and with hsrω-associated hn#RNPs. Additionally, we found that the loss of the omega speckles remodeler ISWI (Imitation SWI) changes the TBPH sub-cellular localization to drive a TBPH cytoplasmic accumulation. Our results, hence, identify TBPH as a new component of omega speckles and highlight a role of chromatin remodelers in hn#RNPs nuclear compartmentalization. http://bit.ly/2Eju1Dc #MDPI

[mewo-cressei]

You good?

Better now! Just.. different.

[mewo-cressei]

-no just normal morning grog-

-takes a minute-

Al-alright, want mo-more headpa-pats?

[mewo-cressei]

oh HELL YEAH!!! WE'RE SO BACK!!!! CHANGE ACCEPTED!!

[mewo-cressei]

I CAST SPELL OF firefox

Du-dude, this is-is-isnt gonna go awa-away.

[mewo-cressei]

i cast spell of PAINKILLERS

I-I'm not in pa-pain thou-ough? No-no-not anymore any-any-anyway.

[mewo-cressei]

A̸̧̛̪͕͉̼͓̼̓͐͜Å̵̠̮̦̺͕͍͚̽̆̌̒̍̑ͅA̸̟̺̫͜͠A̶̛͎͓̍͑͝-̶̧̳̤̱̃̓̈́̀̐͋̔Ȁ̶̺͖͇̍͑̋͒̎̀A̶̛͈̦͑̀̿Ą̴̭̠͎̭̗̖͒̈͛͂͋̈̏̕-À̵̗̤̍ͅĂ̷̠̺͈̈́͂́͗́͝ͅA̶̧̨͈͓̲̖̠͌͒͠Ą̷̢̯̲̺͕̣̅̋͗͠ ̴̦̪͕̠̀͌̃̀F̸̳͒́̔̀̈́̎͊͂͜Ư̴͓̺̣̱̈́̾͊̈́̈́͝-̶̧̼̮̭̬̭̹̑͂̀̽́̔F̸̨̨̛̛̜̦̰̭̥́͗̎̕͜͠U̵��̳͈̤̽͐͝C̴͕̏̎̐̈͐̄́̕K̸̬̩̥̗̘̝̪͑́͋̄̐IN̷̨̖̹̝͕͉̆̈́̅̈́͒̍̕͠G̸̮̱͘ͅ ̸̜̺̻͊͗͑̂̀̚H̴̨̼̰͎͎̅́̉͗͑͐͑͘Ë̴̗̬̦͙̘̘̬̝͗̔͒͐̈́̚Ļ̸͈͎̬͝Ḷ̶̖̱͒̑̌͒͜͠ ̶͖͎͚̖̰͖̲̰́̏̐́͒̈̚Ḯ̷͎̪̰̘̼̗̼̬͂͆̾̔̈͝T̷̫͕̜̝̈̌́ ̴͖̜̞͚̮̟̱̏͐̿͋̑F̷̢̢̟̒E̴̟̗̭͌̄́̓́̌E̷̡̛̫̐̄̔̌̈́͂̑-̸̨̺̆́̆F̷̜͔͉͍̼̭̦̀̿̆͗EE̶̡̢̠̯̫̩̎̅̊͗̇L̴̞̫̫͍͊̆̋͂̏͆͂Ş̴̨̩̳̥̣̼̍͜͝ ̴͓̏̅Ĺ̵̮͔̎̔̓̆͝I̵̥͓̟̾̏K̷͊͐̈́È̶̻�� ̸̥̬̻̗̜̂͋̄͜͠S̸̡̩͛̇̍O̵̰͖̊̆̍͘͘M̸̺̈́̄͐̀͌̋̚͘ͅE̴̹̥̗̮͂́͊̒̽̇́͜-̴͇͇͚̬̞͍͔̯͒S̷̥̿́͛͗͂́͘O̵̘͍̥̰͕̻̦̐͑̏̒͒M̷̛̯͖̺̯̆͒͑̈́͠Ẹ̶̡̝͉̌̓͊̓̿T̴̵̡̨̛̲͇͖̺̻̠̑̍̋̀̇͂͐̆̂͘HI̸̛̟̪̐̂͐̉́̚N̶̜͌̆͗́G̴̗͎͔̖̞̹͖̪̐́̕ ̸̘́̏̑̿̅Ḭ̴̪̼͓͚͙̮̑̅͌̂̀̀S̵͈̥̮̮̫̺̗͆͗̃̐̏̂͆̕-̴̘̞̙͓͛̂̚͝͝ͅI̸̜̓̈́͆̄̚͠S̴̻̦̮̣͋̚ ̴̭̋̄T̴̯̘͑̃R̶͎̝̰̯̜͈͕̐̆̎̾̾Y̵͆́̾̾̿-̷̢̳̖̭͈̤̭̈́̐̎̑̅̋̚Ţ̷̺̹͉̀̔R̶̢͇̰̯̤̯͇̅̿̿͝Y̷̳̭̞̲͍͎̾͑́̓̇͘-̷̣̀̏̍͂͑̍͋̓TR̷͙͚̖̬̖̣͍͊͊̀̈͋̈́̅̕Y̷̰̭̼͈̼͐̑͘I̵͚̳̰̹͊Ņ̷̤̘͍̜̪̉̿͐̇̍̍̑͜G̴̜͎̻̫̺͎̫̐͂̈́̄͑ ̵̳̫͌͌̈́̀͊̈̂͜T̴͈̤̮̝̞̲͓̎͐̂͠O̶̬̹̖̜͋̇͒͗ ̷͇̆̎̀̐͌͊͘͝C̵̟̲̞̎͊L̴̢̟͍͛A̸͔̲̪̓̏͘W̴͎̒͌͛́̉ ̶͉̩̠̝̲̲̝̬͛̽̍͝Ờ̴̖̺͎̈̐̆͝Ụ̶̪̬̙̥̳̒̄-̴̧̳̜̠̦̖͔͐̓͗̽͘O̴͖̩̘̣̯̙̬̝̽̇̀͂̓̍̅̚Ŭ̶̩̠̙͔͘-̸̧̖̜̐́̂́͗͗͝O̵̓̓̋U̸̗͈̙̫͊͒̍̈̎͠T̴̥͎̘̱̄ ̷̻͚͝Ǫ̸̲͓̪̺͓͚̈́͜͝F̶͍͓͉̦̄͋̆͂͝ͅ ̸̧̱͉̺͔̥̒̀̒͘͝͠Ṁ̵̢̗̻̙E̷͊

[mewo-cressei]

You good? You seem... Off

I-I-I don't know...

[mewo-cressei]

go to sleep idk. become the eeper

I-I-I don't th-th-think that would do a-anything.

[mewo-cressei]

*they just relax into it even further

*more pat pats!! And some soft, glitchy humming*

[mewo-cressei]

-im just exhausted-

Al-alright