#colonial nj

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Statement regarding zionist violence at stolen Palestinian land sales across the U.S.

PAL-Awda NY/NJ

[anthonis-van-dyck]

(F)artwork of Lewis Morris

Regarding your commission, Your Highness, as described here:

I've decided to portray your adversary as an old fart …

I hope Your Highness, @lady-lord-cornbury, will be exhilarated by this.

Yours Sincerely, Anthonis van Dyck

Original Source

[aisling-saoirse]

Open Montane Oak-Hickory Forest, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024

[upthespiralstaircase]

*** by Justin Wolfe Via Flickr: New Jersey Minolta X-700 Fujifilm Superia x-tra 400 www.justin-wolfe.com Instagram: @_JustinWolfe_

[salem-house-press]

Troll House in Trollheim deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

[lady-lord-cornbury]

Indeed, they are, but I thought, in your artistic studies, you might appreciate these.

I do have a task for you! Would you take this portrait of my nemesis, Lewis Morris, and deface it in a way that might please me?

Portrait of a Young Woman, Jean-Etienne Liotard 

Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer 

[maguro13-2]

Happy B-Day to the third of the original 13th!

The Garden State NJ!

Despite being called Jersey, this is the one of the third states that gained independence from Britain serving the American revolution.

Delaware : Congratulations!

Pennsylvania : Happy B-Day!

New Jersey : Kudos, fellas!

[karlhess]

Traditional Exterior - Vinyl An illustration of a medium-sized traditional brown, two-story vinyl gable roof design

[pouchie153]

the indoor pool 😏

[shyniisparkles]

New York Fiberboard An enormous traditional beige two-story concrete fiberboard exterior design example

[burstfoot]

It mentions in her archive file that she was in her 20's directly, and her race is directly listed as 'Elf' in her operator file as well, so she has nothing to hide regarding her race - so I assume this is the most accurate information on her age? I guess that the DV quote is referring to Elf species slowly dying out as the environment is becoming destroyed rather than Muelsyse specifically living through that? (Sort of a metaphorical heritage thing) The mention of her mother doesn't really make any sense with her being an orphan in Lone Trail, though. Weird!

One thing I'm perplexed on when it comes to Lone Trail, and can only conclude is a retcon or a continuity error, is Muelsyse's age.

Dorothy's Vision:

They have seen too many mountains fall and too many rivers dry up over the centuries. They have seen too many loved ones die.

It's pretty clearly stated that Muelsyse's age is in the centuries as she's trapped inside the power armor, unable to even force herself to cry because of how long she's had to try and stifle her emotions to survive.

But then in Lone Trail, you learn Muelsyse's backstory, with her adoption, and how she went to university with Saria and Kirsten. The tweet with the Rhine Lab timeline and brief in-universe newspaper clippings outright states that Muelsyse was "still underage" when Rhine was founded. So which is it?

Is Muelsyse a centuries old elf who has watched those she cares about die over time as she outlives them all, who has watched as nature is desecrated and destroyed by industrialization and catastrophe over decades? Did she have parents knowledgeable about her abilities, "Mother always said tears were powerful weapons"? Or is Muelsyse even younger than Saria and Kirsten, who didn't know her elf parents and was adopted by other Columbians, and is young to the point of being "underage" when Rhine Lab was founded?

It's possible I guess that those in-universe newspaper articles are incorrect about her age, but I don't see why Muelsyse would lie on an official government application and act as though she was underage at Rhine's founding if she wasn't. It seems like Lone Trail is just saying that she's actually that young.

Frankly, I'm just going to continue to headcanon based off the Dorothy's Vision information that came first. It feels, to me at least, more consistent with her characterization through Mansfield Break and the Manhua, and honestly having her be centuries old makes her desire in Lone Trail for exploring the possibility of Elves finding a safe land outside Terra without Originium's influence much more impactful than if she was only like 36 (16 years between founding of Rhine Lab and the events of Lone Trail, and assuming "underage" means below drinking age in the U.S. and not outright being a minor the most generous possible age assessment under Lone Trail's assertions is 20 years old at the time of Rhine's founding).

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

Past!New York drawing cuz why not 🤷🏽

Headcanons about the silly under the cut! (CW/TW: England being a bitch as per usual)

An absolute sweetheart

Loves making flower crowns for the other colonies

Though as he got older he slowly stopped making them cuz England would always tell him to "man up!" or "grow up!" and tell him "how stupid it was for a man to love flowers"

didn't speak fluent English until he was around 10 years old.

basically glued to Mass and Connecticut

would sometimes get into trouble with NJ (like they would trip a soldier or do the usual kids messing around stuff)

(creds to @stawpny for this hc !!): lil York would often "collectsteal" random things and objects to show Mass and the others at the end of the day.

genuinely thought (still sometimes thinks) that everything that England did to him was okay. He didn't like it, but he thought that that's just how it was supposed to be and England definitely took advantage of that knowledge.

[upthespiralstaircase]

*** by Justin Wolfe Via Flickr: New Jersey Minolta X-700 Fujifilm Superia x-tra 400 Instagram: @_JustinWolfe_

[aisling-saoirse]

Quaking Aspen - Populus tremuloides

Today I want to bring up a charismatic favorite: the Quaking Aspen. Like all populus species, it's a fast growing, clonal colony forming, northern extreme and mountain loving tree (just like its Eurasian sister species: A. tremula) with an incredibly wide range of distribution. In addition to all those interesting qualities, the oldest known organism is presumed to be a Quaking Aspen colony (Pando, in Utah)

General identification before I can talk about the more interesting bits, Aspens are best known for their yellow autumn leaves and smooth white bark with dark knots, they can grow as large as 60' but depending on their environment can be stunted to around 5-20' (think of krummholz). Leaves of this species appear slightly heart shaped and retain the same sheen on both sides (image 1). Plants are unisexual meaning individuals either have male or female flowers, interestingly enough this is a good method to distinguish where one colony begins and ends by looking at the color of the branches in spring (see image from Colorado below, note trees with light green and those without). Emerging catkins are white at first which become green and longer as the season changes, male catkins having slightly longer stamen but female fruiting catkins ultimately growing longest at 10 cm. Seeds are small capsules with silky hairs to assist in wind dispersion, these trees are ruderal so they produce around 1.6 Million a season with many unable to germinate. Seedlings often need consistent moisture and full sun to even germinate, most of the seeds growth goes to root structure the first year.

The name Quaking Aspen (or trembling per the Latin) refers to the extremely mobile habit of the leaf. Leaves are connected to flexible petioles (stems) which flip around in the slightest breeze. Environmentally speaking, I was once told that leaves have chlorophyll on both sides however this stem could also be a biological strategy to cope with harsh wind conditions in mountainous environments, I didn't encounter any recent research verifying this though. Interestingly enough, given the harsh nature of which this tree thrives, apparently, there is chlorophyll in its trunk, allowing extra energy to enter the tree when it's leaves are gone.

Quaking Aspen is an early succession species, able to reestablish/colonize a site after a fire or other major disturbance. Many of Upstate New York's famous Aspen forests are actually a result of logging and fires in the early 1900s rather than a typical forest compostion. Establishment is different depending on opportunity, in the west its often long lived clonal roots systems, in the high arctic its often through wind blown seed, in the east its generally short lived clones out-competed by hardwood/conifer forest after a century, and in its furthest southeastern range I typically only encounter individuals on rocky outcrops or former fields.

Above ground trees usually live less than a century, in the east maybe 50-80 years given our moisture, out west individual trunks can live two centuries. It's common to find dense forests with even-age trees since clonal root structures re-emerge together (Image above from Bluebell Knoll Mountain in Utah). Its also thought that the root system can live for two millenia or longer, Pando being an example of extreme longevity (I mean 40,000 years would survive an ice age, even in Utah there would be mountain glaciation, thats quite spectacular if true). Ironically, one of the best survival tools in the Aspen's playback is fire recovery, otherwise it will get out-competed/shaded pretty fast (see the context in image 2, that NJ forest used to have lots of aspen).

All this in mind its good to point out that Aspen's early successional habit makes it great for ecological restoration. It's common to find them as the first pioneers on former mines or superfund sites (aspen grove below from Palmerton gap, Pennsylvania). Unfortunately one of the negative side affects is that populus species often bring up a lot of heavy metals in their leaves and wood meaning they can re-contaminate through their own biological accumulation. Which is good for extracting small scale contaiminants...very bad for large sites where you need to trap metal under soil to prevent toxins from eroding offsite

All this being said Quaking Aspen's large geographic range mirrors that of the last glacial maximum, implying a rapid spread onto retreating glaciers. This also suggests a growth habit requiring wet or moist soil conditions. This range is North West to Alaska nearly touching the Arctic Ocean at its Northern-most range in the Yukon, then east to Newfoundland; south west to Mexico (usually restricted to high mountains) and east from Iowa to New Jersey (with scattered populations in West Virginia).

Since Aspen often colonizes sites of former glaciation, with climate change it's predicted there will be a northward and uphill progression of populations. Aspen isn't really in intense danger of dissappearing but studies have shown major stressors (draught, extreme heat, over-grazing) cause higher mass-mortality events from minor stressors (typically disease and insect herbivorey). Given the fact that many forests are clonal there was a question of low genetic diversity amoung populations, yet interestingly, individuals undergo somatic mutations (DNA alterations after conception) and are extremely variable, so different individuals often place different energies into different defense tactics.

In addition to all of this information Aspens are primarily used today to make paper pulp. Historically settlers used aspen to derive quinine (think gin and tonic), and indigenous tribes have a history of using big trunks to create dug out canoes.

So please go out to your nearest mountain/boreal forest to enjoy the Quaking Aspen's lovely smooth bark and haunting shaking in the wind!

[lil-tachyon]

Noticed that you take socialist banners as inspiration on your art and that made me curious about your political views, Are you a socialist or Marxist? Os just kinda left leaning?

I really enjoy your blog btw

I’m glad you’re into what I do! I appreciate the very direct question so I’ll try to give a very direct answer.

I would consider myself an anarcho-communist. At least, that’s the kind of society I’d like to live in. I genuinely believe the abolition of private property, states, and hierarchies is a real (if very difficult) possibility and is in the best interest of the vast majority of people. That said, I’m an anticapitalist and a socialist first and I’m broadly (if critically) supportive of most movements that have had any success fending off capital. I’m not so naïve that I ignore the real historical failures of anarchism to create alternatives to capitalism on the scale of the USSR,PRC, Cuba, etc.

My politics are still evolving and I only really became radicalized in the last couple years. But anarchism still makes the most sense to me.

That’s what I’ll say for now. I try to be transparent about the things I believe but also I’m literally a guy who draws robots on the internet. Nobody who follows this blog needs me to lecture them on politics lol. If anybody reading this wants more detail about my views you can send me an ask but depending on the question I may not answer it publicly. An email (tachyonart@gmail.com) may be better.

To keep this somewhat relevant to what I normally post about, here’s the New Jersey ancom flag I drew a little while back:

And some articles about socialist experiments in the Garden State:

-“The Anarchists Who Took the Commuter Train” about the Stelton Colony in what is now Piscataway.

-“Uncle Sam’s House: Anarchy in Piscataway” same topic but more focused specifically on the Goldman House (no, not that Goldman although I believe she visited the colony at some point), one of the last-standing and most distinctive structures from the Stelton Colony. Plus I’ll take any opportunity to plug Weird NJ.

-“Jersey Roots: Looking for Utopia in Colt’s Neck” on the Fourierest North American Phalanx Community.

-“All About the Utopia That Was Once in Perth Amboy, NJ” about the Raritan Bay Union, founded by dissatisfied former members of the North American Phalanx.

Also if anybody has the original newspaper article that talks about Peter Kropotkin visiting Jersey City, please send it my way. I’ve seen it referenced in a few places but I can’t track it down.

Peace,

Logan