#architectural uprising

[archuprisinglyon]

Pour préciser : 50 ans est la durée garanti des constructions en béton armé, leur durée effective dépend beaucoup de la rigueur de la construction et de l'entretien. Malgré tout, elles sont garanties de se dégrader du fait de plusieurs phénomènes chimiques et environnementaux. Même si on peut les faire tenir un ou deux siècle, ce n'est pas assez au vu de l'impact sur l'environnement et du bilan carbone.

[rojt109]

This comment deserves a highlight:

Terraced housing in Köniz, Switzerland, 1978. Photos by Hans Krebs.

(ETH Library)

[lafaiette]

Gods I feel you I'm only 10 hours in after having received the game as a gift and I REALLY try to like it but it just ... doesn't feel like Dragon Age. Characters know stuff they shouldn't know about, the game keeps talking down to me, nothing I did in the previous games mattered, the tone is completely different, the mature storytelling of the previous games seems to be missing so far & what I heard so far of how the lore and the characters from previous games have been handled is honestly the worst part and breaks my heart. idk even if i wanna finish the game at this point anymore, I'm just kinda ... sad.

I'm so sad and disappointed, too, I remember our conversations, fics, and headcanons about DA! We were so excited and happy, because Inquisition, DA2, and DAO were genuinely well-made and aimed at pleasing the fans, despite their faults.

DATV is a good action game, no doubt about that. The combat is fun, there is a lot to explore and discover, and many locations are beautiful, even though some are terrible to navigate (Dock Town's structure makes no sense). But that's it - it's a good action game with the name "Dragon Age" pasted on it. It doesn't feel like it's part of the series, it constantly treats the player like an idiot, some references to past games and characters are literally hidden in the brief descriptions of the mementos, and there is even a Glossary to make sure the new players don't get frustrated.

Everything is safe and aseptic, cleaned of every deep piece of lore that could have scared new fans into buying or continuing the game. Even the banters lack the depth of the previous games.

A good game company should lure new players in not by rejecting their past entries, but by making them look even more interesting with their sequels.

Bioware wasn't afraid of offering piece of lore after piece of lore in Inquisition - it was a game set in a precise moment, whose prologue was directly tied to the events of the previous game, and new players had to accept this if they decided to buy it and play it. If they liked that premise, all that information and those details, then they were more than welcome - they were encouraged! - to go back, try the older games, and see how it had all started. It was a game made for the fans the company had already managed to win over, not for possible fans who may or may not bring new money in.

In DATV the new players can jump right in after quickly learning who Solas is and what he's trying to do, and old fans are left with an empty shell, with minor references that are supposed to make us feel happy and accomplished peppered here and there, while all our past choices and our favorite characters are forgotten or brought back with a terrible case of amnesia. It's lazy, infuriating, and very sad, and it smells of reboot, because the new devs probably realized they couldn't keep up with the amount of lore and choices the series contain, and they needed to start anew.

[roisinatelier]

Tested Honeys face movements so far and they are coming along well! The sweetest demon is becoming more and more lively! Honeys design, art and rigging are all my own.

[sheltiechicago]

Ilinden / Makedonium – A Monument Dedicated To The Fighters And Revolutionaries Who Participated In The Ilinden Uprising Of 1903

Revitalizing The Heritage Of Socialist Modernism: BACU’s Online Initiative To Protect Central And Eastern European Architecture

Preserving the monumental yet decaying structures of central and eastern Europe erected between 1955-91 is the mission of the online initiative, Socialist Modernism, created by the Bureau for Art and Urban Research (BACU). With an aim to revitalize this heritage, BACU believes in the significance of these elements which managed to defy some of the ideological requirements of their time, giving the urban space a distinct flavor characteristic of the socialist period.

Palace Of Weddings, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Built In 1987

One Of The Two Halls Of Parting, Memory Park (Kyiv/Kiev) Ukraine. Built 1968–1981

Eastern Gate Of Belgrade, Rudo Buildings, (Istočne Kapije) Belgrade, Serbia, Built In 1976, Architect: Vera Ćirković Engineer: Milutin Jerotijević

Museum Of The Slovak National Uprising, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Built In 1969

[ottogatto]

The Revolution That Is Changing Architecture:

Although it fails to talk about implementing as many green spaces and trees as possible everywhere in cities, I believe it's a complementary solution. And I won't say that classical/traditional architecture is the only solution against "modern" buildings, but we definitely need buildings that feel more alive, not the simplist, concrete, grey, box-shaped buildings we see sprouting everywhere. It's important against the climate crisis and for our mental wellbeing.

[valkyries-things]

ALAA SALAH // ACTIVIST

“She is a Sudanese activist, who became known for a photograph of her standing on a car leading chants by a crowd of protestors went viral in April 2019 during the Sudanese Revolution. She was a 22 year old student of engineering and architecture at the time. Salah's white robe, a traditional Sudanese thoub, resembles the dress of female Sudanese protesters against previous dictatorships, as well as that of student protesters who were referred to as "Kandake" after ancient Nubian queens. Salah co-wrote the book The song of revolt - The Sudanese uprising told by its icon with Martin Roux, providing her personal account of the Sudanese revolution. As a member of MANSAM, one of the main Sudanese women's networks that signed the 1 January 2019 Forces of Freedom and Change declaration, Salah was later invited to give a speech at the 29 October 2019 meeting of the United Nations Security Council. In her speech, she insisting on equal representation of women in the Sudanese transitionary institutions.”

[alexanderlightweight]

Hello darling~

Prompt for you: Shifters!Malec going on a first date & scent marking?

— Saeth

why do my bf's prompts never let themselves be written in short doses? (because we talk about what they want and basically we both go down plotbunny shortcut and end up in a labyrinth of ideas)

ily even though this was only supposed to be like two scenes of dating and ended up so much longer and yes this will have to be added to but that's what writing wednesdays are for

<3 lumine

i hope reading this distracts you from pain for even a few minutes sweetheart and that you also enjoy it

-

in the shadow of a flame

There are few truly peaceful places in New York that Alec can find rest safely and without worry of interruption. 

The Halls of Refuge is one of the only places that is truly neutral in the entirety of New York and perhaps the whole of the East Coast.  It is an imposing building, beautiful and crafted from ancient stone steeped in magic and found in the quarries of the Spiral Labyrinth.  

Once one has passed through the entry ward you are then beholden to the rules of the Hall and therefore, fighting is not only discouraged but completely restricted.  Even the thought of violence could get you both kicked out and banned.

Alec isn’t pleased at the fact that the reasons he finds it peaceful are because most of his hunters either avoid it out of prejudice or had already been banned, but still, he finds himself also relieved to have a refuge, just as the name boldly states.

The Hall itself had been established at the end of the Uprising, something beyond mere empty words to try and seal the festering wound that has lingered in the shadowworld since before the Accords.  It’s been a place of safety for Alec since he was a boy, still training and lacking understanding of the world around him.

Alec is fairly sure that the only reason the hall exists is because its creator, Ragnor Fell had insisted on retrieving the books he’d lent the Clave before the Uprising and the Clave had refused to give them up for good.

Their own pride had played against them, the books now accessible to all and with very few nephilim actually bothered to venture out and study them.

Alec and Izzy were two of the few who did but after the last incident involving Izzy, a fey and a pile of nearly ruined books via bodily fluids — for once not blood — Alec found himself alone.

It was amazing.

The rooftop of the Hall, while developed for leisure, was rarely used during the daytime.  

Any vampires staying for the day in the Hall wouldn’t go near the sun and while the architecture was stunning, there were very few plants so the fae folk often preferred the educational greenhouses with rows of bark bound books and stone scrolls.

Alec also liked the greenhouses, but only when they were empty. Despite being a shadowhunter, once he entered the wardline, he apparently became approachable. 

Not by many, but by more than he knew how to deal with, especially when he had no idea why they were approaching him.

No one knew who he was here, names were often left unsaid or used in a carefree manner without attaching the weight of legacy and lineage. 

For someone who had lived in the shadows but often had a spotlight thrust upon him, it was familiar yet even more discomfiting when Alec couldn’t understand what was wanted from him.

Hence, while he would never take any book beyond the lilac and wisteria covered gazebos — the risk of sun damage to the books despite the spells on them kept him cautious — Alec liked napping on the sun hot stone with the heat of sol warming his fur.

His senses were finetuned enough that any disturbance or intrusion of his solitude and peace would wake him up in time to shift back without a risk of vulnerability. 

Or at least, that’s how it had been so far.

—

Magnus rarely visits Ragnor’s little library project in the daytime.  Not for any grand reason, but as a habit since he often sleeps during the day.  

Today, however, is a boring one and the night before has been uneventful, for once.  

Deciding to stretch his wings rather than portal isn’t even a conscious decision, not when Magnus aches to feel the the wind yield to the strength of his wings.

The rooftop — largely left bare by Ragnor as a courtesy for him to land — is occupied, but the presence is calm and contained and as Magnus gets closer, the scent entices him closer. 

Landing doesn’t awaken him, even as Magnus realizes that the abyssal lynx lying before him is a shadowhunter.

It’s as surprising as it is a temptation and Magnus deliberately lays near him, drawn as he is by the possibility of an unclaimed and hidden treasure now discovered.

Magnus doesn’t dare actually touch him, not yet when even in sleep he’s alert and wary.  Ears sway delicately in the breeze made from Magnus’ wings and yet, when most would startle and panic at the scent of a predator, he relaxes. 

His paws twitch in his sleep, making kneading motions in the air as his tail flicks back and forth and he remains asleep, undisturbed even in the shadow of Magnus’ presence.  

This could only happen if he found Magnus’ scent and magical aura as enthralling as Magnus finds his.

It’s easy enough to curl around Magnus’ newfound kitten, his form minute compared to Magnus’ own strength and size.  

Soon enough his kitten sleeps in the coiled embrace of a dragon.  

From nose to tail tip Magnus has formed an ouroboros, containing his treasure without disturbance, not willing to yet wake him.

It’s delightful to watch him sleep, to admire the sheen of black fur, glossy with health in the gleam of sol. Yet as the sun reaches its zenith, hot and bold in the sky without a pity for those under her piercing rays, Magnus grows concerned.

Surely a creature meant for the shadows and the dark is weaker, more sensitive to the brilliance and heat of the sun.  Without conscious thought one of his golden wings spreads out in a protective canopy, shielding his gem from the harsh rays.

It is a mistake.

—

Darkness wakes Alec up.

Despite the warmth still surrounding him, the light of the sun against his closed eyes is gone, which means it is no longer safe to rest when night is about to begin.

When he opens his eyes he finds that gold envelopes him even as darkness continues to surround him.  Not the abyss of the night, but the dark of confinement, the only light coming from what's keeping him trapped.

Alec should feel panicked, his hackles should have already been raised the moment a presence intruded on him and yet, even now, he’s surprised but unconcerned.  

The scent and power of whoever has entrapped him is equally comforting and beguiling. It’s hard to form cohesive thoughts when he wants to rub against the warmth radiating from what he can now recognize as golden scales.

Yet even as the idea crosses his mind, the scales are shifting, gold flickering as the sun is once again allowed to shine as a wing is pulled away.

Alec is still trapped in the coil of an ancient embrace and yet despite the fact that he could — and should — slip away into the shadows he finds himself shifting, despite the more vulnerable state of his bipedal form.

After all, even on two legs instead of four, Alec is a hunter.

As if waiting for him to shift, the dragon does as well and from where he’s sitting on the floor — no longer surrounded by warm, golden scales yet still feeling like he’s been caught in a snare — Alec can’t help but wonder at his own luck.  

“Was it too hot? I thought my wing might offer some relief.” 

Alec is surprised at the question, at the immediate regard for his well being and concern for his comfort despite being an unknown in a place a dragon rests.

“No,” and despite the fact that he could easily make up a reason, Alec finds himself telling the truth, “I come here for the sun and when it’s gone, I leave.”  That’s the best and safest answer he can give without lies or overexplaining.  

“A pity,” is all that’s said for a moment and then golden eyes narrow at him with a wicked gleam, “I was enjoying watching you dream, kitten.” 

Alec can’t help but glance up at the sky as he frowns, no matter that there is still time before dusk, it’s not worth it to try and sleep again for such a small period. It’s a waste but not one he can change. 

He deliberately ignores the heat on the back of his neck.

The last time he’d been called kitten was when he was a child in training, the instructor mocking him had never regained the use of his vocal cords.

Strangely, he doesn’t mind the term from the man before him.

“It’s Alec,” he finally offers, preparing to stand because while he might not mind it in feline form, it feels strange to be sitting when the dragon who watched him as he slept stands tall.

Footsteps sound; deliberate in their movement rather than soundless as Alec knows they should be. 

“And I’m Magnus, kitten.”

—

Magnus barely holds back the hungry trill that threatens to spill from his throat.  

He’s absolutely precious.

Large hands lined with callouses finally take Magnus’ own outreached hand as he pulls Alexander to his feet. 

“Let me make it up to you?” Magnus asks, a thrill in his veins as Alexander’s expression turns contemplative.  The pink creeping up his neck extends to his cheeks even as his ears twitch in interest.

“I can’t return the sun to its peak,” well he could, but that wouldn’t exactly get him what he wants, now would it. “But I can take you somewhere the sun is just beginning her reign?”

“Really?” There’s no shock or disbelief in Alexander’s voice, simply confusion. “ Just to make up for something that happened out of kindness?”  

If Alexander wants to think that Magnus’ mistake was out of kindness instead of greed, then all the better.  A small smirk forms on Magnus’ face and his eyes gleam even as he softens his voice.

“Well, I’m not being entirely selfless,” he lets himself admit and as much as he’d love to brush his fingers over Alexander’s cheek and let his scent linger there, he can be patient. 

When the prize is worth it.

“I quite like the idea of spending more time with you, Alexander. As lovely as you were to watch sleeping—” and Alexander’s ears fluff even as a scowl crosses his face at the reminder. “It would be even lovelier to get to know you.”

“There’s no guarantee you’ll like what you learn.”

“Well then, perhaps you’ll just have to let me watch you nap again, hmm kitten?”

—

Aoreatera is perhaps the only place Magnus can think of where the sun is newly risen yet still growing towards its peak this late in New York.  The beaches there are lovely and there are more than enough secluded coves that are warded away from mundanes because of the magical specimens found there. 

The warlocks born and raised in the cultures of their homeland are the ones to tend to and maintain these places, but entry is allowed when respectful.  Especially in Magnus’ case, when his mere presence often brings a new vitality. 

The balcony they arrive at is carved into the rock of the cliff itself, nothing but nature and magick were used to make and maintain this place.

Salt is thick in the air and perhaps so sandy a place isn’t the best choice when Alexander’s fur is so thick, yet Magnus has no regrets as Alexander’s eyes widen in delight and his face turns up to welcome the bright sun.

The food available here will be simple and must be self-foraged with a wild but thriving garden and a cove full of fat, healthy fish, most of them of magical varieties. It’s been a while since Magnus’ has refreshed himself like this, actually taking time away from the cloying and seeping feel of mundane cities.

Here, engulfed by wild and pure magick, entranced by natural beauty, Magnus is too tempted to deny himself and so he doesn’t.  

—

Alec isn’t sure what he expected when he let himself be guided through a portal, a balcony made of stone overlooking a cove full of rich and thriving tidepools isn’t it.  It’s real in a way that Alec hasn’t experienced since his last venture to the snow covered peaks of Idris.

He should be thanking Magnus, or asking what he wants in return and yet Alec has barely taken a few deep gulps of air and then he’s shifting.  It’s so much easier to enjoy the warm wind tugging on his fur, his tail coiling in the playful breeze, here than in New York.  The sun is glorious and the cliff without threat of shade except beneath the boughs of the large, lush trees and the air clean without the need of magical filtration.

He’s barely shifted before Magnus follows, a large, hot golden muzzle pressing against his side as if in comfort.  Alec’s allowance is taken as permission to an unasked question because a moment later, Alec finds himself being groomed.

Magnus' tongue is slick in a way his own rough one isn’t and yet heat presses down, smoothing his fur and permeating his muscles until he feels loose and languid.  Magnus’ scent is hot, less fire and brimstone and instead like the fierce heat of sunbaked stone. 

It’s not pure destruction but also the creation of new life, of ashes and then rebirth and it’s an intoxicating mix.  

He’s saturated in Magnus’ scent by the time the dragon is done and his fur is damp despite how hot Magnus’ breath is.  It’s without thought that Alec transforms, relaxed and with slowly blinking eyes he lets himself indulge in comfort so often denied. 

Magnus doesn’t stop, his tongue passing over the curve of Alec’s neck and lingering on the arch of his cheek. It’s unexpected but all Magnus does is chuckle, a deep rasping noise like the rumbling of an earthquake before his nose nudges Alec’s side and he inhales.

There’s a deep pause as nature itself seems to hold its breath and then hot — as scorching as a brand — skin presses against his own and arms wrap tightly around his waist. 

“Cold?” Magnus teases, the question a whisper of lips on the shell of Alec’s ear.  They flutter involuntarily, one brushing back up against Magnus’ mouth as if begging for more.  

It should be a hopelessly embarrassing display — Alec hasn’t let himself be so controlled by instincts since he was a child — and yet Alec finds himself desperately wishing that Magnus isn’t offended, but pleased.

Teeth tug playfully at the ear pressed against Magnus’ mouth and then nip, fangs teasing at the tender skin under his fur before retreating.  A warm mouth presses against his jaw before Magnus’ forked tongue tickles the swell of his lips.

Magnus keeps going, his nose tucking behind Alec’s ear as he inhales before his cheek presses deliberately to Alec’s neck and he nuzzles.  

Alec is going to smell like Magnus, for days.

The only way to erase this kind of marking is with magical tonics and despite how practical that would be, Alec can’t imagine wanting to erase Magnus’ scent when he already mourns that it will naturally fade.

—

Alexander presses back, head tilting in an unconscious submission as he offers more skin for Magnus to scent.

It’s not a sly, careful maneuver but one that means he’s just as entranced as Magnus himself is and it’s as irresistible as it is delightful.

Magnus takes advantage, pressing himself closer and letting his hands finally wander, tucking his fingers under Alexander’s shirt until he can press his hands flush against warm skin.  

Every place Magnus touches he made sure to leave evidence of his claim.  When Alexander returns to the institute — which Magnus will allow despite his instincts demanding he hide his treasure away — it will be with Magnus’ claim lingering on him.

— 

A harsh ring interrupts the gentle symphony of nature as they sit next to each other, watching the tide and Magnus resists the urge to flick his tongue and let his flames consume Alec’s phone.

Even Alexander seems irritated, his face going from soft wonder and serenity to a cold, solemn mask that turns his vibrant eyes dark and serious.

It’s a change that Magnus watches with careful intensity, all of his senses focused on Alexander in earnest. 

“Summoned by duty?” Magnus asks, keeping his voice wistful and pushing down the possessive anger that emerges at the thought of Alexander being taken away by another's command.

“For once, duty can wait.” It’s said with a casual carefulness, a deliberate nonchalance even as Magnus can smell Alexander’s emotions warring, as if this is the first he’s ever allowed such a thing.

Yet he did, to stay longer with Magnus.

What a precious and delicious treasure that Magnus has found at last.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Received this question just now. Posting my response sans askers' username per their request:

Hi, as you are a holocaust historian, and as you mentioned in a recent post, words mean things, I was sort of wondering what you thought about people saying that what’s happening in Palestine isn’t genocide because the holocaust was genocide/6 million Jews was genocide. I’ve seen a couple people saying stuff along the lines of ‘if what’s happening in Palestine is genocide, we need another word for the holocaust’. I’m not worried about you knowing it’s me asking (like asking on anon) because I think you talk to people pretty reasonably but if you could answer it in private or without my name on the ask I would appreciate it, people seeing it could get… unpleasant, talking about this stuff and I try to stay out of the line of fire to the best of my ability. Totally fine if you don’t want to answer, I don’t want you hounded about Palestine either, it just seemed like you might have an interesting take with your studies

Anyone is capable of genocide, of following orders to commit human rights abuses, of attacking civilians, etc. No identity groups’ past—however violent and traumatic—makes them incapable of committing war crimes. Referring to what’s happening in Gaza as genocide doesn’t invalidate Jewish communal thought regarding the Holocaust. Moreover, the fact that the State of Israel has built Holocaust memory into its nation-building doesn’t mean that that country is inherently incapable of crimes against humanity. There is a cohort of primarily 65+ Jews who hold a trauma-induced belief that Israel could never be capable of these crimes because everything Israel does is in the interest of protecting the Jewish people. It’s a pretty thought, and one I used to hold, but it’s not reality. Many as well would argue that, because the October 7 attack was inherently genocidal, Israel was moral and just doing what it needed to do to bring the hostages home and stamp out Hamas cells. Indeed, these hypothetical individuals would continue, the fact that Hamas has built itself into the civilian architecture of Gaza means that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields; not that Israel is committing genocide. I personally think that’s wishful thinking. Hamas 800% bases itself near structures like hospitals and kindergartens so Israel will look bad when it attacks those places,* thus willfully allowing the people it governs to exist as human shields. HOWEVER, I don’t believe for one minute that the Israeli military doesn’t have the technology needed to seek out evidence of heat, heartbeats, etc, in hidden subterranean areas. Their counter-attack was always going to happen, but the way it’s been fought? Naw man it’s indefensible.

You know I don't do comparisons or Holocaust inversion, but I do have feelings and emotional responses which don't care about my Serious Intellectual Historian views on comparisons and Holocaust inversion. And, there's a very disturbing moment in one of my primary sources for my book where a woman describes a Nazi attack on a hospital in the Warsaw Ghetto. She describes the screaming and the panic and the civilians begging to be euthanized. Similar readings and sources exist for hospitals in Warsaw during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising when the Germans were destroying the city. I suspect similar descriptions exist of any hospital of a densely populated civilian area under siege. And, even if I was still bullheadedly in my Zionist era, I wouldn't have been able to simultaneously do the work I do, watch Israeli soldiers attacking hospitals, and emerge completely fine with everything. All of that doesn’t erase the simultaneous facts that: 1) the Holocaust happened and was a traumatic moment in Jewish History, the memory of which will endure throughout the millennia; and 2) the October 7 attacks were carried out by Hamas with genocidal intent.

What you’re seeing is people within our community dealing with cognitive dissonance. And honestly the experience of watching people lash out is stage 1 of that process (or as I call it, the Cognitive Dissonance Temper Tantrum). It’s no fun to witness, but can be positive if the person doing the temper tantrum chooses to learn from it. 

ETA: When I discuss things I felt/believed in my "Zionist Era," I'm discussing stuff from when I was like, under 21 years old. For reference I am currently 35.

No one has my permission to use my words to silence other Jewish people. You have no obligation to stick around for people having cognitive dissonance freakouts or saying shitty things about Palestinians, but I see part of my...duty as being available to work with Jewish individuals who want to deal productively with their cognitive dissonance once the freakout period dies down, if they want help.

*Here my Unnamed I/P Reader notes that it’s quite a bit more complicated than stated here in part due to Gaza’s pre-Oct. 7 2023 population density.

[polish-art-tournament]

paintings round 2 poll 55

Night in Ukraine by Stanisław Witkiewicz, 1895:

propaganda: dynamic and peaceful at the same time, you can really get lost in it

about the artist: He was kind of a snack, google him. Also, he was an architect and created the characteristic Zakopane art style by combining the traditional architecture of the region with art nouveau style.

submitted by @slaviclore :)

Italian cemetery at dusk by Adam Chmielowski, 1880:

propaganda: You need to see it live to really grasp the vibrancy of the colors and the deep, deep contrast. The clean line. And that luscious orange in GRAVEYARD LANDSCAPE. Like, if the dude haven't decided to drop out of Art University to become a saint his painting career future was BRIGHT.

about the artist: Adam Chmielewski (also known as Saint Brother Albert) - a guy who went to Art University, but after loosing leg in January Uprising and painting Jesus dedicated his life to charity, and was later announced saint.

submitted by @deesbullshitbonanza

[archuprisinglyon]

Qu’est-ce que l’architecture vernaculaire ? (et pourquoi elle devrait faire son retour)

[vague-humanoid]

Even in my own mind, I can feel cultural contours blurring as physical architecture disappears. And with it, so many other things are being erased – a sense of rootedness, of continuity, of a future. I look at my children and am chilled by the realisation that the very topography of Sudan, and the Arab world as I experienced it through literature, art and travel, is something they will never know. For them, the ties that bind them to their parents, as they bound me to mine, are being severed.

I sound like an old nostalgic woman now, I know. Singing the blues of exile, idealising a past that was always far from ideal, ready to annoy a new generation and tell them that it wasn’t always like this. Because I was once that new generation, listening to elders smoking Marlboro Reds and drinking tea and telling me it’s a shame you never experienced the heyday, when we used to study medicine in Baghdad for free, go to the theatre in Damascus, host Malcolm X in Omdurman. When we had behemoth publishing houses and a pan-Arab solidarity. I used to think, well, isn’t that failure yours as well? Because your class didn’t manage to translate that into a political project that wasn’t constantly hijacked by military men and dictators.

As the centre of political and economic power in the region shifts to the oil-rich Gulf states, which are becoming concentrated expressions of hyperconsumerism and modernity, I can hear myself also saying: “It wasn’t always like this.” It wasn’t always fashion shows, such as the one the Lebanese designer Elie Saab held in Riyadh last month, which dominated social media with videos of J-Lo and Céline Dion belting out their hits to domestic and global influencers. Or high-octane sports events and extravaganzas of glamour, as orgies of violence unfold elsewhere. It wasn’t always this urge to define our status according to how closely we aligned with superpowers, or this thirst to demonstrate our global tastes.

I am more forgiving now of those elders, and also want to tell them: you didn’t know how good you had it. I can see now that what I thought of as their failure was something far bigger, far more related to global alliances and domestic ones that prevented the emergence of popular uprising, or crushed it when it did rise up. Every protest was pitted against proxies.

[tagamantra]

Infraperegrination of the Utter Islands

Want to make or run something in Hingsajagra? Check this out.

First order of business, the state of affairs for Hingsajagra.

The year 11664 is largely parallel to our world's 20th Century, but without the huge advancements into machinery (while industry being important). More importantly, the world is an industrialistic world but industry is forwarded by magick and war. Industrialized magick. The end of the world that follows after World War I vibes.

The world is mostly split into five eras, as reckoned by Shennin scholarship. The modern year is 11,664 of the Lotus Calendar. This puts it at the 243rd Cycle of History.

1 - Burgeoning Era (1000s to 7000s.) The Agricultural Revolution. The time of Chiefdoms, Warbands, roving eras, Naka Kingdoms, Yakka Kingdoms, Siyukuy Kingdoms, etc. This era ended during The Ultimate Cleave. The great apocalypse that split the Great Southern Continent from the Dakmalan Continent and turned it into a fractured archipelago.

2 - The Ancient Era (8000s-9000s). The time of Ancient Shen, Ancient Metoma, and Ancient Razru cultures. Widely accepted that the end of this era was during the Black Meteor Cataclysm, an ancient Metoman prophecy that came true. A meteor slammed into the earth and shattered the Utter Islands even more, into its modern geography.

3 - The Classical Era (9000s-10,000s). A time of great upheaval, but also the rise of classical cultures. The influential Old Razru Empires, the Asitowan Principalities, the Lotus States (filled with the Jing, Rak, Sanun, Si, and Yun ethnic groups, which would eventually coalesce under the Meteorite Emperor to become the Shen people), Utrang kingdoms, the Yagan Kingdom, the Meshiri Kingdom, the Yeung Kingdom, the Natara Kingdom, the Kamitan Communes, the Dakai Tribes, the first few Raga tribes, the Tawun Chiefdoms, and more. It is widely accepted that this time only ended after the victory of Shen and the World Collective against the Devil King Roghan.

4 - The Rebirth Era (10,000s to 11000). The Industrial Revolution. The Smith-Kings and the Merchant Princes created textile factories, weapon factories, and machine tools. Most significant was the invention of the Karma Engine. Surplus yields across all industries, creating industry, as well as machineway of engineering and architecture. This era is said to have ended with the first Uprisings against Kings, spearheaded by humanitarian sages that arose during the time of increasing industry.

5 - The Modern Era (11000s to 11500s). The Bourgeois Revolution. The merchant princes and machine-capitalists seized the means of production and operated from there, hiring and putting laborers to work them. The power of these engines and the strength of free market trade caused even gods (see: Hri Vaizzan the God of Merchantry), spirits, and monsters (yakshas, anjuras, uki, etc.) to be subsumed into the labor force. It is widely believed that this era ended with the overthrow of the monarchies that ruled for 2500 years, represented the most with the First Apocalypse with the consummation of the Heavenly Shennin Kingdom spearheaded by the Invincible Blade Princess the Empress of the Universe. On the Fire Dog Year 11512 Kafeng Masagwa and the Knights of the World set to motion the First World Revolution that shattered all bourgeois and aristocrat rule. It was not to last.

6 - The Revolutionary Era (11500s to 11607s). The Hundred Revolutions Era. With the power of factories, the proletariat of the world fought to consolidate power, but with Kafeng Masagwa's death and growing distrust in the Knights, the world alliance shattered into nation-states. The nation states fought separately for national liberation, explosive uprisings filled the 100 Year Revolution. This caused unprecedented global bloodshed and violence. Wars that ended all wars. Separated into nations, they were easily cowed and beaten into "Peace" through the concerted efforts of the International Bourgeoisie, headed by the Universal Capitalists and the Trillionaires of the Trichiliocosm, which would quickly vanish as they appealed to the people. In the guise of a successful revolution, the revolutionary efforts were cowed. This era ended with the rising of the efforts of the Second World Knights Coalition who tried and failed to bind the people together in the face of unprecedented genocide. This was the Second World Revolution, which failed.

7 - The End Of The World (11608 to modern day). The End of the World. The bloodshed of the revolutionary era ended the world. The international bourgeoisie, headed now by the Central Yavinian Guild of the Ressen-Nalenji Empire, penetrates the world and seeks to join it together under the guise of "After The End" where the world must rise. The revolutionaries have been defeated and stamped down, the majority of the people, tired of war, do not want any more revolutions. Communism and Revolution is seen with contempt, as "mountaineers" and "foresters." As banditry and piracy. As detrimental to human progress. Will you prove them wrong? Or finish the job? You know it deep in your heart that there's only one way for the new world to be born.

The Karma Engine

The most important invention of the Revolutionary Era. It resembles a giant spirit house but with the offering platform replaced with a closed in sacrificial furnace. There, little gods, weaponsouls, ghosts, sacrificial people, and mantra-mandalas are burned upon samadhi fires. Karma Engines are therefore a joint machinist-monk invention (and indeed, the patenter of the technology is widely agreed to have been Vajra Monk Rakan Jesung, who grew up in a working-class machinist family).

In doing their karma is converted into usable energy, often electrical energy or mechanical energy. The study of karma is known as Karmalogy in the world. In Karmalogy, karma is seen as the potential energy of existence and being itself, and many Karmologists posit that the entire current world of Hingsajagra exists because of the Karma of the past world. When sentient beings are sacrificed to the Karma Engine, this is seen as a painful but purificatory ritual, and is deemed ethical by many world faiths as the being that dies from the Karma Engine's samadhi fires is almost always reborn as a human due to the neutralizing of their karma. Many who have surplus good karma do not go through this, and so the majority of criminals and harmful animals are given to the Karma Engine.

Infrakarmalogists, however, put forth that there are abundant amounts of ambient karma that arises from the world itself, surplus karma that emanates from the deeds of the past world, and this can be used to power karma engines without voluntary suicide.

Magnetitologists have been creating Magnetite Engines, which seek to replace Karma Engines. Magnetite is widely believed to be the infrasubstance, the aggregates of atoms. A level above the smallest quantum, where the material dissolves from perception. Magnetite arises from places of intense emotion and thoughts, and so it can be mined from worship, war, joy, and other such sites of powerful explosive emotion. Currently magnetite is being used in socialist Hokou and in Selorong. The bourgeoisie that own Karma Engines (many of them non-religious themselves) have become ardent anti-magnetitians, and have begun slander campaigns against them.

Important Bans

No default fantasy. The major cultural power of this world is China, Thailand, and Indonesia. Use their medieval aesthetics to fluence and inform your End of the World depictions.

No "races." Elves, dwarves, etc. aren't demihuman races, they're completely different magickal beings and spirits. Lean on the folklore.

No automatic rifles. The extent of guns is matchlocks. The chemistry of the world does not allow for automatic weapons. Armamental Technology therefore is focused on blade-and-bow-technologies. Sappers are important industrialists. There are Sword Factories, Bow Factories. Cannons exist but these are few and far between.

No automatic vehicles. Keep the cavalry, the chariot, the dragonriders and the phoenix knights. But no cars. Keep the carriages and the boats.

No tanks. Tanks are replaced by magick mechs called Yakshamachines.

No Latin. If you want to look for a lingua franca that performs the duty of Latin, use either Sanskrit, Old Chinese, or Old Javanese. In the World, they're Ancient Razrunan languages or Ancient Rakeen languages [Rak is where the Meteorite Emperor arose from and he turned it into the Court Language for the First Dynasty]) Yes, you can in fact translate Latin phrases into one of those languages. Such as Shantim Krute, Yuddhaya Sajjah for If you want peace, para bellum. Or bajingan perang for casus belli. Ignore this for prefixes and suffixes (e.g., -istry, -ology, -onomy). Keep it for proper nouns that must come from an in-world language.

Everything else we can justify into a 20th century analog. A kind of perfect ideal is Late Medieval Warfare.

Features

Non-exhaustible list.

Buildings. Large rectangular buildings are a feature of only one world place. Tall multiple-roofed places are still built with either wood or skystone (a stone of colder make) that creates a facsimile of our world.

Expressways. Don't exist. The world is connected together by railways and riverways. Riverboats are cheaper to make and use than karmaboats.

Industry. Industry hinges on the karma engine rather than the steam engine.

High-rises. High-rises are crafted by ancient building-wizards. The majority of high-rises in the world are giant yaksha statues hollowed out and repurposed.

Automata exist but are rare. It requires decades of study for a wizard to reach automata level construction. Automaton wizards are known as automatists.

Industry. Almost everyone has swords, but these swords come not from the artisan but from the worker working the weapon-machines. Wagons and horse bridles, tiger-bridles, clothing... all the mass-produced clothing arise from a Manufactory. The machines here are often created by either wizards, machinists, or gods and made to be owned by capitalists and merchants.

Inspirations and Approximations

Each major region is inspired by the following regions, though they're not exactly those regions. It would be impossible to fully map any of the regions accurately to a real world culture because of the difference in material conditions, but you can use the following for aesthetic, cultural, and religious inspirations.

Temog Ra-Om, the Charnel Isles, Pemi, and the Heavenshards are inspired by Maritime Asian cultures, Southeast Asian cultures, and Pacific cultures. This includes coastal Vietnam and Thailand.

Hiraga Ra-Om's southern coast inspired by inland Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Further up north it is inspired by China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Tibet, and other Central Asian cultures.

Jagged Swordfields people are inspired by Russo-Siberian people.

North Wadzara is inspired by Japan and West Coast America.

South and Eastern Wadzara is inspired by mixing Arabia and Central America.

Southern Nilatpa is inspired by the Indianic cultures.

Western Nilatpa is inspired by Spain, Germany, and France.

Central and Northern Nilatpa is inspired by Italy, England, and Danish cultures.

[blueiscoool]

The Roman Republic Crushed a Rebellion So Completely That This City Became a Landfill

Researchers studying the ancient site of Fregellae reveal the consequences of challenging the Roman army

Archaeologists have just uncovered an ancient city that the Roman army so thoroughly besieged that it was left uninhabited for nearly 200 years.

Researchers from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA), have long believed that the ancient city, Fregellae , was once allied with Rome, until residents rebelled against the republic around 125 B.C.E. But historical records from the time of the siege are quite sparse, and the center has been engaging in archaeological research to learn more about the rebellion.

"It is only mentioned in two or three sources," Dominik Maschek, an archaeologist with LEIZA, tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe. "We hear about the siege, they tell us these people rebelled against the Romans, but we don't know why."

Fregellae sat about 60 miles outside of Rome and was established as a Roman colony. Scholars hold a few theories as to what could have caused the uprising, including the desire for expanding human rights like land ownership and full citizenship.

The conflict took place while Rome’s consuls were waging a military campaign elsewhere. This timing could have been strategic, as the residents of Fregellae may have believed the government lacked the resources to dispatch another army.

Unfortunately for them, the empire was more than prepared. Archaeologists discovered a Roman military camp outside of the city, surrounded by a ditch and rampart. They believe that the camp was created for the siege.

“The violent destruction caused lasting damage to the entire economy of the region,” Maschek says in a LEIZA statement. “The landscape remained uninhabited for over 170 years until the area was finally used as a rubbish dump.” (Small pottery shards at the site discarded years after the siege, reavealed that the area became a landfill.)

In addition to the smaller fragments, researchers also found larger pottery pieces that were part of large vessels that stored produce. Ancient seeds at the site indicate that they were housed in a villa used to cultivate fruit, grain and wine. “The wine was probably not only produced for the local market,” says Mascheck via Google Translate in the statement. “It is quite possible that it was traded within Mediterranean exchange networks as far as Spain and France.”

The villa, the oldest in the city that archaeologists have found, was built 80 years before Fregellae’s siege. A layer of fire damage points to the fact that the Romans attacked the building and its crops at the same time as the city.

“It’s fascinating that we were able to uncover the architectural structure of such an early production site,” Maschek adds. “Despite traces of fire and the almost complete removal of the building materials, the finds offer valuable insights into the rural life and economic activities of the inhabitants at the time.”

By Julia Binswanger.

[persefolie]

I've   decided   to   expand   Persie's   world   by   creating   a   multi-muse   space   where   many   of   her   characters   will   be  together.   Yes,   I’ve   tried   this   before   but   this   time   feels   different.   I   truly   love   these   muses,   and   I’m   excited   to   stand   by   them.   If   you're   looking   for   platonic   connections,   trainee   dynamics,   or   romantic   plots,   there   will   be   plenty   of   muses   &   many   of   them   brand   new   to   explore   and   write   with.

That   said,   I   want   to   give   a   gentle   heads-up:   I'll   be   retiring   @wickedpills   and   @ir1na.   They’ve   meant   a   lot   to   me   over   the   years,   but   after   a   decade,   I   no   longer   feel   I   can   develop   them   the   way   they   deserve.   So,   with   love,   I'm   laying   them   to   rest.

if you're interested in plotting just comment a 🔎 and I'll message you!

Agent   Solace   —   Daniel   Kaluuya   —   Crew:   SAINTHOOD   —   Field   Strategy,   Tactical   Recovery,   Moral   Override

Agent   Nova   —   Keke   Palmer   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   Drone   Ops,   Cyber   Engineering,   Communications   Intercept

Agent   Vale   —   Gugu   Mbatha-Raw   —   Crew:   FOUR   HUNDRED   —   Bioethics,   Ancient   Pathogens,   Sacred   Text   Translation

Agent   Sable   —   Sandra   Oh   —   Crew:   BLACK   DIAMOND   —   Combat   Command,   Interrogation,   Battlefield   Leadership

Agent   Revenant   —   Lewis   Tan   —   Crew:   BLACK   DIAMOND   —   Close   Quarters   Combat,   Stealth   Kill   Operations,   Shadow   Entry

Agent   Warden   —   Lars   Mikkelsen   —   Crew:   PALEOSOI   παλαιός   —   Containment   Logistics,   Intel   Blackmail,   Interrogative   Strategy

Agent   Orion   —   Michael   B.   Jordan   —   Crew:   SAINTHOOD   —   Charisma-Driven   Uprisings,   Tactical   Leadership,   Urban   Warfare

Agent   Lux   —   Nathalie   Emmanuel   —   Crew:   FOUR   HUNDRED   —   Ancient   Codebreaking,   Prophecy   Analysis,   Linguistic   Encryption

Agent   Vesper   —   Hunter   Schafer   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   Neural   Mapping,   Sensory   Ghosting,   Dreamstate   Syncing

Agent   Rhee   —   Sendhil   Ramamurthy   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   AI   Counterprogramming,   Surveillance   Systems,   Neural   Warfare

Agent   Eidolon   —   Susan   Sarandon   —   Crew:   FOUR   HUNDRED   —   Sanctuary   Coordination,   Spiritual   Defense,   Divine   History

Agent   Echo   —   Mark   Ruffalo   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   Media   Hijacking,   Satellite   Broadcasting,   Disinformation   Warfare

Agent   Ashir   —   Riz   Ahmed   —   Crew:   SAINTHOOD   —   Ethical   Sniping,   Dual   Loyalties,   Cross-Faction   Intel

Agent   Silva   —   Bella   Hadid   —   Crew:   PALEOSOI   παλαιός   —   Infiltration,   Identity   Crafting,   Silent   Recon

Agent   Paragon   —   Mahershala   Ali   —   Crew:   FOUR   HUNDRED   —   Sacred   Accord   Management,   Diplomacy,   Blade   Memory

Agent   Valkra   —   Tessa   Thompson   —   Crew:   BLACK   DIAMOND   —   Mission   Orchestration,   No-Hesitation   Kills,   Team   Sacrifice   Ops

Agent   Ramiat   —   Laith   Nakli   —   Crew:   PALEOSOI   παλαιός   —   Ex-Torture   Intel,   Inner   System   Penetration,   Silent   Meditation   Warfare

Agent   Juniper   —   Yara   Shahidi   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   Civil   Uprising   Strategy,   Youth   Ops,   Symbolic   Disruption

Agent   Thorne   —   Gael   García   Bernal   —   Crew:   PALEOSOI   παλαιός   —   Social   Manipulation,   False   Flag   Design,   Chaos   Architecture

Agent   Clove   —   Alia   Shawkat   —   Crew:   GODSEND   신의   선물   —   Street-Level   Intel,   Emergency   Extraction,   Codebreaking

[kaijuposting]

Jaegers of Pacific Rim: What do we know about them?

There's actually a fair amount of lore about Pacific Rim's jaegers, though most of it isn't actually in the movie itself. A lot of it has been scattered in places like Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters, Tales From Year Zero, Travis Beacham's blog, and the Pacific Rim novelization.

Note that I will not be including information from either Pacific Rim: Uprising or Pacific Rim: The Black. Uprising didn't really add anything, and The Black's take on jaegers can easily be summed up as "simplified the concept to make a cartoon for children."

So what is there to know about jaegers, besides the fact that they're piloted by two people with their brains connected via computer?

Here's a fun fact: underneath the hull (which may or may not be pure iron), jaegers have "muscle strands" and liquid data transfer technology. Tendo Choi refers to them in the film when describing Lady Danger's repairs and upgrades:

Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty engine blocks per muscle strand. Hyper-torque driver for every limb and a new fluid synapse system.

The novelization by Alex Irvine makes frequent references to this liquid data transfer tech. For example:

The Jaeger’s joints squealed and began to freeze up from loss of lubricant through the holes Knifehead had torn in it. Its liquid-circuit neural architecture was misfiring like crazy. (Page 29.)

He had enough fiber-optic and fluid-core cabling to get the bandwidth he needed. (Page 94.)

Newt soldered together a series of leads using the copper contact pins and short fluid-core cables. (Page 96.)

Unfortunately I haven't found anything more about the "muscle strands" and what they might be made of, but I do find it interesting that jaegers apparently have some sort of artificial muscle system going on, especially considering Newt's personnel dossier in the novel mentioned him pioneering research in artificial tissue replication at MIT.

The novelization also mentions that the pilots' drivesuits have a kind of recording device for their experiences while drifting:

This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions. (Page 16.)

It was connected through a silver half-torus that looked like a travel pillow but was in fact a four-dimensional quantum recorder that would provide a full record of the Drift. (Page 96.)

This is certainly... quite the concept. Perhaps the PPDC has legitimate reasons for looking through the memories and feelings of their pilots, but let's not pretend this doesn't enable horrific levels of privacy invasion.

I must note, though, I haven't seen mention of a recording system anywhere outside of the novel. Travis Beacham doesn't mention it on his blog, and it never comes up in either Tales From Year Zero or Tales From The Drift, both written by him. Whether there just wasn't any occasion to mention it or whether this piece of worldbuilding fell by the wayside in Beacham's mind is currently impossible to determine.

Speaking of the drivesuits, let's talk about those more. The novelization includes a few paragraphs outlining how the pilots' drivesuits work. It's a two-layer deal:

The first layer, the circuity suit, was like a wetsuit threaded with a mesh of synaptic processors. The pattern of processor relays looked like circuitry on the outside of the suit, gleaming gold against its smooth black polymer material. These artificial synapses transmitted commands to the Jaeger’s motor systems as fast as the pilot’s brain could generate them, with lag times close to zero. The synaptic processor array also transmitted pain signals to the pilots when their Jaeger was damaged.

...

The second layer was a sealed polycarbonate shell with full life support and magnetic interfaces at spine, feet, and all major limb joints. It relayed neural signals both incoming and outgoing. This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions.

...

The outer armored layer of the drivesuit also kept pilots locked into the Conn-Pod’s Pilot Motion Rig, a command platform with geared locks for the Rangers’ boots, cabled extensors that attached to each suit gauntlet, and a full-spectrum neural transference plate, called the feedback cradle, that locked from the Motion Rig to the spine of each Ranger’s suit. At the front of the motion rig stood a command console, but most of a Ranger’s commands were issued either by voice or through interaction with the holographic heads-up display projected into the space in front of the pilots’ faces. (Page 16.)

Now let's talk about the pons system. According to the novelization:

The basics of the Pons were simple. You needed an interface on each end, so neuro signals from the two brains could reach the central bridge. You needed a processor capable of organizing and merging the two sets of signals. You needed an output so the data generated by the Drift could be recorded, monitored, and analyzed. That was it. (Page 96.)

This is pretty consistent with other depictions of the drift, recording device aside. (Again, the 4D quantum recorder never comes up anywhere outside of the novel.)

The development of the pons system as we know it is depicted in Tales From Year Zero, which goes into further detail on what happened after Trespasser's attack on San Francisco. In this comic, a jaeger can be difficult to move if improbably calibrated. Stacker Pentecost testing out a single arm describes the experience as feeling like his hand is stuck in wet concrete; Doctor Caitlin Lightcap explains that it's resistance from the datastream because the interface isn't calibrated to Pentecost's neural profile. (I'm guessing that this is the kind of calibration the film refers to when Tendo Choi calls out Lady Danger's left and right hemispheres being calibrated.)

According to Travis Beacham's blog, solo piloting a jaeger for a short time is possible, though highly risky. While it won't cause lasting damage if the pilot survives the encounter, the neural overload that accumulates the longer a pilot goes on can be deadly. In this post he says:

It won't kill you right away. May take five minutes. May take twenty. No telling. But it gets more difficult the longer you try. And at some point it catches up with you. You won't last a whole fight start-to-finish. Stacker and Raleigh managed to get it done and unplug before hitting that wall.

In this post he says:

It starts off fine, but it's a steep curve from fine to dead. Most people can last five minutes. Far fewer can last thirty. Nobody can last a whole fight.

Next, let's talk about the size and weight of jaegers. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters lists off the sizes and weights of various jaegers. The heights of the jaegers it lists (which, to be clear, are not all of them) range from 224 feet to 280 feet. Their weights range from 1850 tons to 7890 tons. Worth noting, the heaviest jaegers (Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave) were among the Mark-1s, and it seems that these heavy builds didn't last long given that another Mark-1, Coyote Tango, weighed 2312 tons.

And on the topic of jaeger specs, each jaeger in Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters is listed with a (fictional) power core and operating system. For example, Crimson Typhoon is powered by the Midnight Orb 9 power core, and runs on the Tri-Sun Plasma Gate OS.

Where the novelization's combat asset dossiers covers the same jaegers, this information lines up - with the exception of Lady Danger. PR:MMM says that Lady Danger's OS is Blue Spark 4.1; the novelization's dossier says it's BLPK 4.1.

PR:MMM also seems to have an incomplete list of the jaegers' armaments; for example, it lists the I-22 Plasmacaster under Weaponry, and "jet kick" under Power Moves. Meanwhile, the novelization presents its armaments thus:

I-22 Plasmacaster Twin Fist gripping claws, left arm only Enhanced balance systems and leg-integral Thrust Kickers Enhanced combat-strike armature on all limbs

The novel's dossiers list between 2-4 features in the jaegers' armaments sections.

Now let's move on to jaeger power cores. As many of you probably already know, Mark-1-3 jaegers were outfitted with nuclear power cores. However, this posed a risk of cancer for pilots, especially during the early days. To combat this, pilots were given the (fictional) anti-radiation drug, Metharocin. (We see Stacker Pentecost take Metharocin in the film.)

The Mark-4s and beyond were fitted with alternative fuel sources, although their exact nature isn't always clear. Striker Eureka's XIG supercell chamber implies some sort of giant cell batteries, but it's a little harder to guess what Crimson Typhoon's Midnight Orb 9 might be, aside from round.

Back on the topic of nuclear cores, though, the novelization contains a little paragraph about the inventor of Lady Danger's power core, which I found entertaining:

The old nuclear vortex turbine lifted away from the reactor housing. The reactor itself was a proprietary design, brainchild of an engineer who left Westinghouse when they wouldn’t let him use his lab to explore portable nuclear miniaturization tech. He’d landed with one of the contractors the PPDC brought in at its founding, and his small reactors powered many of the first three generations of Jaegers. (Page 182.)

Like... I have literally just met this character, and I love him. I want him to meet Newt Geiszler, you know? >:3

Apparently, escape pods were a new feature to Mark-3 jaegers. Text in the novelization says, "New to the Mark III is an automated escape-pod system capable of ejecting each Ranger individually." (Page 240.)

Finally, jaegers were always meant to be more than just machines. Their designs and movements were meant to convey personality and character. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters says:

Del Toro insisted the Jaegers be characters in and of themselves, not simply giant versions of their pilots. Del Toro told his designers, "It should be as painful for you to see a Jaeger get injured as it is for you to see the pilot [get hurt.]" (Page 56.)

Their weathered skins are inspired by combat-worn vehicles from the Iraq War and World War II battleships and bombers. They look believable and their design echoes human anatomy, but only to a point. "At the end of the day, what you want is for them to look cool," says Francisco Ruiz Velasco. "It's a summer movie, so you want to see some eye candy." Del Toro replies, "I, however, believe in 'eye protein,' which is high-end design with a high narrative content." (Page 57.)

THE JAEGER FROM DOWN UNDER is the only Mark 5, the most modern and best all-around athlete of the Jaegers. He's also the most brutal of the Jaeger force. Del Toro calls him "sort of brawler, like a bar fighter." (Page 64.)

And that is about all the info I could scrounge up and summarize in a post. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff here - like, I feel that the liquid circuit and muscle tissue stuff gives jaegers an eerily organic quality that could be played for some pretty interesting angles. And I also find it interesting that jaegers were meant to embody their own sort of character and personality, rather than just being simple combat machines or extensions of their pilots - it's a great example of a piece of media choosing thematic correctness over technical correctness, which when you get right down to it, is sort of what Pacific Rim is really all about.