#i want to study the patterns from the region

[jorrated]

guy who wants to be regional accurate with fictional costume designs but chooses very specific things in languages they cant read

[beloveds-embrace]

Dukedom au masterlist (yes i need to update it ik) and we will not talk abt the abrupt ending 😭

The grand ballroom of glittered with the light of a thousand candles, their flames dancing across marble floors and golden fixtures hung from the ceilings. A symphony played softly in the background, a perfect complement to the hum of ongoing conversation and chatter. You stood at the center of it all, draped in a gown of midnight blue silk, embroidered with silver thread that mirrored the stars. A gift from Simon, one that had you staring at the beautiful dress in awe.

Tonight, you were the very image of grace and poise.

Your face and movements are calm and collected, hiding what you truly feel beneath. Lately, whispers of dishonor had begun circulating; rumors that your husband had fled a border skirmish back when he’d been deployed, abandoning his men, yet had paid for the matter to be buried. Vile lies, born of cowardice and malice. John’s name, his reputation, and the honor of your house were at stake; disloyalty towards the empire was seen as treason, and that was unforgivable.

You would not allow it.

The first spark of rage had ignited the moment you’d overheard the vile accusations from another lady, one of your more arrogant rivals who had laughed snidely. From there, the rumors spread like wildfire, poisoning the halls of the court and society.

But you were no stranger to such games like these. Tonight, after much planning, you’ll put an end to this farce.

You began with your loyal ladies-in-waiting. Each one owed their position to you, and in return, they offered their unwavering loyalty. “Listen carefully,” you instructed them during a private meeting in your sitting room, the door locked behind you. “Go into the court, the markets, the salons- anywhere whispers thrive. I want names, places, and patterns. Who speaks these lies, and who listens too closely?”

They curtsied and departed without hesitation, melting into the bustling world outside of the manor. Meanwhile, you turned your attention to your maids and house staff. Servants were the lifeblood of any noble house, privy to secrets thought hidden.

You met with them personally with Kyle’s help, ensuring they understood the stakes. “Speak subtly,” you said, your voice calm but firm. “Let it slip that those who spread these rumors do so for their own gain, that there’s no substance to the rumors. Plant doubt. Create cracks.”

“As you wish, my lady.” Kyle nods his head, hands on your waist. He leans down, and kisses your forehead, and you smile all sweet and pretty at him. “Whatever you want.”

While you wove your network of spies, John watched quietly from the shadows of the manor. Though he trusted you implicitly, he couldn’t help but feel a mixture of awe and unease. He didn’t want to doubt you, but he worried nonetheless for you.

In his study, he sat with Kyle.

“How’s she faring?” John asked, puffing a cigar as he leaned back in his chair. Papers were scattered on his desk, though they didn’t require immediate attention or replies. Pressed close to Kyle, bodies warm, he didn’t want to go back to working for now.

Kyle hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “She’s… efficient, John. The staff is utterly devoted to her even without my help. I’ve seen no signs of hesitation in her plans.”

John chuckled dryly, though there was a flicker of appreciation in his eyes. “I am not surprised. She’s scarier than any battlefield, Kyle. And they love her.”

With the groundwork laid, you began preparing to host a big gala at the manor. Invitations were sent far and wide, carrying the promise of exquisite dining, captivating entertainment, and the opportunity to curry favor with one of the most powerful families in the region.

None dared refuse.

Johnny worked tirelessly to ensure every detail of the menu was flawless, and though he would have helped anyways, he still enjoyed all the kisses he got as reward from yoh. “You’re pilin’ it on thick, Duchess,” he remarked one evening, wiping his brow as he inspected a rack of lamb. “Even for you.”

“This isn’t just a party, Johnny,” you replied, humming. “This is war.”

“War it is, then. Anything for you, bonnie.” he muttered, diving back into his work with renewed determination. After a very heated look from you that had him preening, though; he looked handsome in his element. And you’ll make sure to really show him your appreciation for all his hard work later, in the privacy of your rooms.

At every other gala and gathering, you moved through the crowd like a dancer with a purpose. You guided conversations subtly, planting seeds of doubt and faltering those who tried to be a bit too brave- and your reputation as a “people’s princess” helped so greatly. Your allies- the few you trusted among the nobility-played their roles perfectly.

Simon, especially. You had specifically asked for his help, curled warm and cozy on his lap one night. He’d kissed you breathless and told you he would always be there for you.

“Lord Marcan, was it?” Simon mused during one party, his glass of whiskey balanced effortlessly in his hand. The others immediately listen to him; though he isn’t the most talkative noble, his words carry weight. “I’ve heard some interesting things about him. Did you know he’s deeply in debt? I wonder how far a man would go to escape ruin.”

The other nobles exchanged glances, uncertainty flickering across their faces. You watched from a distance, satisfied as Simon delivered the blow with effortless charm.

Your web was nearly complete, each thread pulling tighter around Lord Marcan- the instigator of the rumors- until he had no room to maneuver. At the final ball of the season, the one hosted by you and John, you made your final move.

You descended the grand staircase as the guests gathered, your presence commanding attention. At your signal, the servants unveiled a surprise: a performance of actors reenacting a scene from an old skirmish. But this was no ordinary play; it was a dramatized retelling of that battle, one that highlighted John’s bravery and leadership even when Lord Marcan had tried to say John had fled that day.

The crowd was entranced, all earlier doubts finally wavering and shattering. You saw Marcan shift uncomfortably, his face pale as his lies unraveled before him and eyes turned towards him in disgust.

From the balcony above, John watched with Simon and Kyle at his side. “She’s terrifying.” he murmured, though his voice carried a note of awe.

Simon smirked. “You married a bloody tactician.”

Kyle simply nodded. “She fights for you, for us, John. And she wins.”

By the end of the evening, Lord Marcan was a broken man and his wife, Lady Marcan who had laughed at you by the rumor, was seething. Their allies abandoned them, their name tarnished by his cowardice and deceit and her aftions.

And the rumors about John’s supposed abandonment of his men? Gone.

That night, as you removed your jewelry in the quiet of your chambers, John approached you. His hands rested on your bare shoulders, his touch warm and grounding.

“You’ve been busy, beloved.” he said, his voice soft but laced with admiration.

“I did what needed to be done.” you replied, meeting his gaze in the mirror. “I know you could have simply challenged him to a duel… but we didn’t have full confirmation it was him who started. I had to do it this way.”

He leaned down, pressing a kiss to your temple. “You’re terrifying, love. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

From the shadows of the room, Simon leaned casually against the doorframe. “She’s not wrong, John. Best keep on her good side.”

Johnny’s voice echoed from the hallway as he came by with a tray of food. Kyle comes as well, carrying glasses of wine. “Aye, and keep feeding her. Keeps her from plotting.”

Kyle sighs, though he has a smile on his face as he sets the glasses down and instead comes to help you. “…he isn’t exactly wrong. You were incredible…. And scary.”

“Perfect, in other words.” John hums, an eyebrow raising. You do not have enough time to ask anything before he and Kyle are gently turning you around on the seat, face to face with John who kneels down. “You’ve worked so hard for me, for us, my Duchess. Let me take care of you now, hm?”

“John…“

“No more words, my love,” he shakes his head, Kyle’s hands reaching to unlace your dress, your corset, until your breasts spill out. John doesn’t even seem mildly bothered by the layers of your skirt, flipping them up until you are indecent in front of your men and he is face to face with your panties. The way they look at you, so much want…

You don’t mind. The slick spot forming speaks more than enough anyways.

“Tonight,” John murmurs, kissing your inner thighs. “Will be all about spoiling you, wife.”

[pokemonshelterstories]

Hello! I’m a researcher from Galar and always enjoyed your blog and shelter when I stayed in Paldea for the first half of my Masters.

What’s your experience with the Paldean Rookidee line? I always wanted to see if there’s differences between Galarian and Paldean Rookidee and its evolution. Have there been any in your shelter?

- @galarian-ecologist

funny you ask that- i was actually an undergrad research assistant on a study of "dialects" of rookidee vocalization, and a paper i wrote about corviknight behavior in the great crater of paldea versus corviknight outside of the crater was just published in the paldean pokemon behavioral study society's summer volume journal.

the most notable difference is in the ratio of rookidee and corvisquire to corviknight. in galar, corviknight are fairly widespread and can be found throughout the region. but in paldea, outside of the great crater (and the occasional tera den), there's really only one small territory that you'll ever see wild corviknight. corvisquire in paldea exhibit noticeably delayed evolution in the wild as a result of predation from tinkaton; corvisquire that did not evolve survived longer to pass on their genes than those that evolved into corviknight.

i don't want to republish my whole paper here, but one other really neat behavioral difference that i noticed between corviknight in and out of the crater is that the small number of corviknight in north province area two exhibited a lower flight pattern than the corviknight within the crater. they had adapted to flying normal than lower to avoid becoming easy targets for tinkaton!

[room-surprise]

I understand if this is outside your field of expertise, but do you think if the ornamentation of the clothing that (some of) the kobolds drawn by Kui wear is inspired by anything?

Actually this is exactly my field of expertise! I studied costume design for about two years in university before switching to something else :) So clothing is something I love looking at and talking about, and fashion history is one of my favorite elements of history in general!

HOWEVER, though I have some experience with subject, I'm not a fully trained expert in the field, and I know that I may not have all the answers, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. This is only my educated guess.

I'm assuming that you're talking about this page from the Daydream Hour book:

To start with, the caption says: "Kobolds that appear in foreign games and fantasy often have a reptilian appearance, but we chose an appearance that is more familiar in Japan." This doesn't tell us anything about their clothing, but I wanted to translate it to make sure it didn't say anything about their culture.

(You can read more about why the Dungeon Meshi kobolds are dogs in the Half-foot chapter of my Dungeon Meshi research project)

Kobolds likely live all over the world, but their large population centers are all located in the Western Continent, so that is probably the region they consider home.

So those two kobolds on the bottom left of the chart, who appear to be wearing European-inspired clothing, are probably living somewhere in the Eastern hemisphere, where Northern/Western/Central/Eastern European clothing is the norm, while the rest are likely from the West. So we can discard the European-looking clothes, since that's probably not a part of the kobold's traditional culture.

We have very limited information about the Western Continent, but these images plus what we know about Kabru (His name and Utaya's name are both South Asian, the dessert that comes from Utaya is South Asian) and the elves (several of them have South Asian names, some elves wear South Asian clothing and bindis) makes me think there's probably a strong Indian/South Asian influence in the Western Continent. It's a large land mass, so I don't think it's all South Asian, but South Asian culture is the only thing we have conclusive evidence of so far.

The majority of the kobolds are wearing brightly colored tunics with patterns on the hems, or what seems to be dresses/tunics made of draped fabric, also with hem decoration.

It IS worth noting that Kui avoids drawing elaborate patterns, even when it would make sense for her to do so. She does it only a couple of times in the manga and uses screentones instead whenever possible. So the simple hem decoration and single color fabric may just be an artistic choice that doesn't mean anything other than "I didn't want to draw a pattern." However, it's all we have to work with, so I'm going to assume it's intentional.

The repeated over-the-shoulder draped fabric the kobolds are wearing seems like it could only be a Greco-Roman style toga, palla, or cloak, or a South Asian saree. We have seen Western elves wearing garments similar to all of these on occasion, though obviously Kui has made some changes. As I say in my essay, I don't think any of the cultures in Dungeon Meshi is an exact copy of a real-world culture, Kui is remixing things together.

(Except for the Island of Wa, which seems to be entirely based on Sengoku-era Japan.)

Roman togas were just large pieces of cloth that they draped around their bodies, and they were usually white, with brown or black reserved for the lower-classes or for use during mourning, and purple or red reserved for extremely important people. Embroidery and trim, if they had it, was usually either very simple (plain colored stripes) or very elaborate (images of people, animals, or things).

So I think that rules out the toga as a possibility.

On the other hand, the saree and dupatta are also large pieces of cloth draped either around the body and over the shoulder (and sometimes the head), and usually they are either a single plain color, a plain color with a decorative trim, or an all-over pattern. This is a lot closer to what Kui draws the kobolds wearing.

(Pictures and more text after the cut)

Toga:

Saree:

The tunics the kobolds are wearing could be many things, as what's visible is not an uncommon neck shape. They could be something like a kurta, kaftan, or abaya (tunic/robe)... And there's probably a dozen other similar garments that I'm neglecting to name.

There are a million variations on the kurta, but these neck styles looks like what Kui is drawing on a couple of those kobolds.

However, some of the tunics COULD also just be a depiction of what is often called a "Viking tunic" or kyrtill (Nordic name for a kirtle or tunic).

However in Dungeon Meshi, the kyrtill is extensively worn in the Eastern hemisphere, primarily by dwarves, tall-men and half-foots. So I don't think the Western hemisphere kobolds are wearing them, and the style of trim looks different to me than what Kui drew.

Kobold fashion could also be influenced by any culture from North Africa, West Asia, or the Middle East, as these are also cultures that appear to dominate the Western hemisphere of Dungeon Meshi, and that have similar fashion cultures involving patterned textiles and draping cloth/veils/head coverings...

However, because of what seems like a large draping cloth over the shoulder, and the combination of trim with a solid color, I think the primary influence is South Asian rather than these other cultures.

I hope that helps! And keep in mind that Kui loves to remix things, so I'm sure there's elements from other cultures that would fit right in with what she's shown us of the kobolds, if you want to get creative with your fan works!

[racefortheironthrone]

Now you mentioned i, I am a bit surprised Smallville is prominently and consistently in Kansas? It's Smallville, Kansas. There might be others and certainly cities located vaguely within a real region, but it's definitely the first fictional town or city of D.C. in a real-world American state to come to mind.

So this gets to the weirdness of D.C geography. When Superman was first established, there was much less of a cohesive "universe," so if Siegel and Shuster wanted Superman to specifically be raised in Kansas, that's where he was from and the rest of the geography would have to work itself out.

IMO, this early slapdash approach to world-building has (over time) led to some things that just don't make sense to me as a student of urban history and urban studies:

Metropolis shouldn't be in Delaware. It doesn't make sense in terms of urbanization, given the context of an already-crowded Northeastern Corridor - Delaware simply does not have the capacity to sustain a city of 11 million people, and you wouldn't get a municipality of that size right next door to New York City (as well as D.C's other fictional cities in the area). The whole idea of Metropolis and Gotham being across the river/bay from each other has never really worked for me; you can still do Superman/Batman team-up stories no matter where they are, because Superman can fly and Batman has his own personal fighter jets.

More importantly, it doesn't make sense in terms of historic patterns of urban migration. Moving to the big city in search of the American Dream is a big part of the Clark Kent story, but historically people moving from rural to urban areas overwhelmingly go to the nearest large city, depending on how transportation networks are arranged, whether we're talking about train lines or direct flights or highways or bus routes. There is a reason we can track regional movements of black communities during the Great Migration, because who went where depended on which train lines ran through which states:

This is why I've always felt that, while Metropolis has aesthetically been associated with New York City, it logically should be Chicago. It is the biggest city in the Midwest, one very much associated with robber baron industrialists and corruption at the highest levels, and absolutely stuffed with art deco architecture for Superman to pose on top of. Up until the Tribune Company began to strip it for parts, it's also been a major newspaper town with a long tradition of muck-raking investigative journalism that would inspire a starry-eyed cub reporter like Clark. As one of the original transit hubs and the U.S' own "nature's metropolis," it is precisely the place that a Kansas farm boy would hop a train to, because all trains go to Chicago. Also, culturally I like it better that Clark Kent represents the City of Wide Shoulders whereas Bruce Wayne is the typical Tri-State Area Type-A personality.

Going back to D.C's bizarro Northeast geography, I likewise have an issue with Gotham being in New Jersey...if New York City is also supposed to be a major metropolitan area in the D.C universe. Just as Delaware would struggle to support a city of 11 million people, it would be very difficult to grow Gotham into a city of 10 million people so close to the gravity well of the Greater New York Metro Area. New Jersey is a pretty urbanized state, but its biggest cities tend to range in population from 300,000 to 100,000 - which works very well for a place like Blüdhaven, which is supposed to have something of an inferiority complex vis-a-vis Gotham - because a lot of the population tends to gravitate to NYC for work and eventually housing as well.

I've already said my piece about the lack of cultural specificity of D.C's Midwest.

As far as the West Coast goes, I've always found it a bit odd that Star City isn't where Seattle is supposed to be. Let's face it, the only place where Oliver Queen's facial hair would go unnoticed is Seattle. Also, Coast City is often depicted too far north on the map - if it's supposed to be a half-hour away from Edwards Air Force Base, it should be significantly more southern, down by Kern County and San Bernadino County, not practically up in San Francisco.

[bahnloopi]

[OC] **Long post ahead

Meet Orran (Orang "yeti, ape man"). The Legendary Saiyan of the Sento Saiyans. Though he looks poofy and harmless, he's pretty violent. An anarchist against the peaceful society the Sentos try to uphold. The Elders elected to banish him to the arctic regions of Planet Sento.

He believes the ancestor Saiyans of the mother race (U7 Saiyans of Planet Vegeta) were right to use their Oozaru powers to destroy and roam free. That's true freedom to him. He doesn't think his people should be pacified and laxxed to their chaotic nature.

The problem is that if the Sentos were all allowed to collectively transform into Oozarus en mass, they could destroy the planet. He doesn't care if it'll kill him too in the process. He deems that as his ideal "freedom of identity" or "to be oneself in their purest state".

He's deemed as a danger to their society so he's kept subdued to a massive boulder in a cave underground. His hands and feet are bound by the ankles to wrists, arms to rock. His tail is clamped under the rock to keep him weak enough so he won't break the bonds unattended.

There are some troopers stationed around to watch him and unbound him for daily breaks but they keep a restraining pressure on his tail at all times while roaming at a short-distance.

He'll always ask the Transporters that come to bring him food and resources when he can "come home". They don't want him to return to the tribes since he'll end up offing the Elders and inciting riots and cause them to shift into Oozarus from under stress. He's very manipulative.

When a trooper steps away, he'll constantly bang the back of his head against the boulder to try and soften the pressure on his tail to gain his strength back while he plans his escape. The troopers will see the dents and have the boulders changed out.

He has cataracts in his eyes so his vision is slightly blurred. His other senses are heightened. He'll occasionally use the beads on his drapes for echo location of the trooper's positions to study their patterns.

He is the ONLY exception to my "no transforming into a super forms (recolor)" rule since he is a legendary. He transforms into a Golden-Legendary Oozaru as natural but I'm looking to put a spin on the super form I'm deciding to give him. I'm still developing in that aspect. He himself does not know he is a legendary yet.

The Therapies have tried to help him but he scares them too bad. He'll constantly ask them aggressively when he can come home or tells them to stop pacifying the people who turn into Oozarus and let them run free.

It got to the point the Therapies refused the call to do wellness checks on him because he stresses them out and they themselves may turn and they have to make the extra effort to keep themselves in check.

**He's 6'4. His proportions and body shape are intentional. I want him to stay wide, poofy, and elongated.**

(He hates to be touched)

[charlottesbookclub]

should we talk about the interlace on gwayne's horse's armor?

since I spend altogether too much time looking at stills and gifs of gwayne anyway, I figured I might as well share some observations I have about the really interesting visuals that are happening with his horse's armor

this is part art historical analysis, part gwayne meta, and part "let's look at some gorgeous images under the guise of doing visual analysis" so if that's your thing, please read on! if not, that's also totally fine – I get that this is hyperspecific and also a symptom of my very serious gwayne brainrot, so I'm putting everything else below the cut! 💚💚 (also it's quite long – sorry! 😅)

okay I want to be upfront about my qualifications and my shortfalls here: I'm an art history phd student and so basically all I do is visual analysis of objects. I've studied a number of medieval manuscripts that feature interlace (which is where I'm going to draw most of my knowledge from here), and I've taken a seminar (an advanced graduate course) specifically on medieval manuscripts, for which I wrote a research paper entitled "From Kells to Celtic: The Aesthetics of the Book of Kells Illuminations as a Marker of Irish Identity." HOWEVER I am NOT a historian of armor, so I will be taking my knowledge of interlace on other objects and applying it to the armor we see in the show

a short intro

so, the first thing that struck me about gwayne's horse's armor is that it's really different than the other equestrian armor we see, even amongst the other men who came with him from oldtown. to be honest, my guess is that this was likely done in the show to help him stand out and also show that he is a special and precious princess (which he is btw 😌😌) who needs fancy armor for his horse. I'm not sure if further thought went into it than that (but maybe it did! I'm happy to stand corrected here!)

however, the catastrophic levels of brainrot I've developed over this man have compelled me to read much further into it than that, which I shall now proceed to do with great enthusiasm! ☺️

first, let's look at the armor:

it's hard to find really detailed close-ups, but it's clear that the armor is incredibly intricate. not only do we have this very complex interlacing, but certain designs are marked out with different colors and internal patterning, making the whole thing even more visually interesting and complex

while interlacing is used across a vast range of time, cultures, geographical regions, and artistic mediums, given both the visuality of this armor in particular and knowing that westeros is based on medieval europe, seeing this interlace instantly called to mind a style that we today call "insular fusion" (I'm not going to go into all the specifics of it here because that's a post all its own lol 😅). it's a style perhaps most famously exemplified by The Book of Kells, but it is found throughout many different objects of the same period (ca. 700-900 CE)

now let's look at some fucking interlace hell yeah!!!!!!

from The Book of Kells (ca. 750-810 CE)

from The Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 698-721 CE)

and two non-manuscript examples:

Animal Head Post from a Viking Ship Burial (ca. 825 CE)

and a later example, but one of my favorites:

Wooden Portal of the Urnes Stave Church (ca. 1050-1070 CE)

do we see the vision??? are y'all picking up what I'm putting down???

"okay, charlotte, I see the similarities, but why does this matter?" you may be asking yourself (or maybe you aren't idk), and the answer is: this type of interlacing had some super fascinating meanings and uses, some of which I think we can apply to gwayne! 💚💚

let me break it down from least to most potentially related to gwayne:

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

use of interlace in a religious context

interlace as a status symbol

the protective potential of interlace

and now let's go into detailllllllll!!!!!

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

I bring this one up because it's what I focused on in my personal research on the topic of interlace, but I also think it's the least relevant to gwayne. my argument in my paper was that the aesthetics of the interlace in the Book of Kells have been thoughtfully and intentionally re-used throughout history and into the present as a clear visual marker of identity that draws a narrative back to the production of the Book of Kells. however, in terms of the show, we have very little indication that the particular style of interlacing we see on gwayne's horse is associated with any larger identity concepts. it doesn't seem to be associated with house hightower, as none of the other men with gwayne seem to borrow this motif, nor do we see it associated with alicent (as far as I can tell from the little looking I've done, but I'm more than happy to revise this!). for it to make sense as some form of identity marker, it would have to be clear what identity he's visually referencing, and since his use of interlace seems unique, I think it's doubtful that it's part of a larger visual invocation of identity

use of interlace in a religious context

part of what makes insular fusion so interesting as a style is that it is indeed a fusion of a number of different regional styles, including vine scrolls from the mediterranean, triskeles from the northern british isles, and zoomorphic (meaning "in the form of animals") interlace from northwestern mainland europe. although insular fusion is used to decorate christian objects (like gospel books and churches), its component parts are much much older and have connections to various pagan religions that significantly pre-date christianity. obviously it's impossible to be 100% certain of the exact significance of interlace in any of these religious contexts (there are no written records explaining it), but scholars have a few guesses

one suggestion is that interlace in some way represented the spirit world/the world of the gods, or perhaps even a point of connection between the human world and the world beyond. although the religion of westeros is obviously different than any of the real-world religions that used interlace in this manner, I do still wonder if there could be a religious connection here. it's pretty clear that gwayne's mother was quite religious, and alicent is as well. although we don't totally know gwayne's relationship with religion, we could certainly guess that it's at least a little bit important to him, given the beliefs of the women in his life. I know that the most common religious symbol in westeros tends to be the seven-pointed star, which is not something I see on the interlace on the armor, so I'm not sure how far I would want to take this hypothesis, but I did want to put it out there for anyone who might have further thoughts!

interlace as a status symbol

as I mentioned to in the beginning, I do think it's likely that this particular type of armor was chosen for gwayne's horse because it does come off as a bit ostentatious. the manuscripts with interlace that I mentioned above were hugely expensive and time-consuming projects, and only the most affluent religious communities could afford such luxurious gospel books. given the level of detail on the armor, I have to imagine that the same is true in the world of the show. in some ways, it's a mode of conspicuous consumption; a demonstration of the hightowers' wealth and influence. there's a reason gwayne's horse's armor stands out: because it's meant to. it's meant to set him apart, even from the other soldiers who came with him from oldtown

now this next part is just my own conjecture, but I also wonder if the armor is meant to speak to a more artistic sensibility on gwayne's part. after all, equestrian armor is a very functional object with a very clear goal: to protect the horse. from a purely functional standpoint, the interlace does nothing to serve this purpose (and may actually hinder it a little??), it simply adds a complex visuality to the armor. aside from just flaunting the wealth that must have been expended to commission such a piece, it also suggests that it was crafted by artisans who had both functional and aesthetic goals in mind while creating it. whether it was gwayne himself who directed the commission or not, it seems significant that he chose to use this armor that doubles as a kind of art piece. he does seem to be someone who enjoys the finer things in life, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had an artistic appreciation too, and was using this armor as a way to demonstrate that (or perhaps even just as a way to show his own personal artistic taste/preferences)

the protective potential of interlace

technically, I think "interlace as a status symbol" is the most likely reason for the armor being the way it is, but this one is my favorite theory, so I'm putting it at the top. circling back to the religious uses of interlace, another theory of its religious significance is as a mode of protection. some scholars think that its creators believed that the weaving, intertwined lines of the interlace would confuse and trap evil spirits. building on this theory is the fact that complex interlacing was often used at transitional or liminal points, such as the beginning pages of a gospel book or on the doors of churches. the idea here is that the interlace wields its protective powers at these key entry points against any evil entities that might try to enter sacred or protected spaces

interlace as apotropaic (a fancy technical term meaning "protective," often used in reference to magic or magical practices) seems particularly poignant for an object that was literally going to be worn into battle. now, I admit once again that there is little canon evidence to suggest that interlace is thought of in this way in the world of the show, so I'm running with this theory more because I like it rather than because I think it's legitimately based in canon. but I just think it's very sweet that gwayne's horse would be adorned with this complex interlace that seems to be woven with protective powers. even if gwayne (or others) didn't literally believe that interlace had those kind of powers, the fact that he still made the choice to invoke the idea of protection against harm and evil is a lovely thought. (it makes me think of how people today still might carry a rabbit's foot or have charms against the evil eye, even if they don't actually place stock in the beliefs surrounding those objects. I just think it's cool that generations of cultural belief still imbue these objects with a kind of magical aura). I just like the idea that he (or someone else?? otto? alicent? his mother?) chose armor that might have been associated with protection against harm

and now I'll finally wrap up!!

whew that was a lot! if you've read this far – thank you so much!! I'm honestly not even sure if these thoughts were coherent, but I kept thinking about this when I looked at that interlaced armor, and I just had to get the ideas out of my head lol

but I'd love to hear what others think about this topic! I'm certainly not an expert on the matter, and I'd be super open to hearing if others have different interpretations!

if nothing else, I hope you learned something cool about interlace! (and also just how far I have descended into madness over this man that I am writing pages-long analyses of his horse's armor 😅🤪)

[haru-dipthong]

I'm learning more about "localisation discourse" in the anime fan community and my god it is so stupid. The arguments are so incestuous, like people in these discussions (both sides!) haven't ever considered what translation or localisation is outside of the context of anime and manga. Like lots of anime fans say they "hate localisation and want accurate translation" - and then the translators are like "localisation is accurate translation". Both sides are just talking past each other.

I believe that the translators are doing nothing wrong - if a translation reads naturally and conveys essentially the same meaning as the original, that’s a good and accurate translation. The “anti-localisation” crowd are abusive and awful. But both sides of the discourse are terrible at communicating.

First of all, the word “localisation”, as it is understood outside the weeb community, means “adapting a work or product for use by a different population than the original (usually a population of a different geographical region)”. As a programmer, I deal with localised text in our product - for example we have different localisations for Australian english text (en-AU) vs British english text (en-GB) vs US english text (en-US). Yet, many anime/manga/etc translators call themselves localisers - what variety of english are they supposedly localising the content into? Probably US english, but it’s certainly not specifically americanised a lot of the time (e.g. Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t being americanised in any translations I’m aware of), and the days of jelly donuts are far, far behind us. Erasing japanese cultural references is no longer "more marketable", and hasn't been for a long time. Most anime translations (including the ones that the “anti-localisation” crowd complain about) are simply translations into an international variety of english, and decidedly NOT localisations.

So if the “anti-localisation” crowd aren’t complaining about localisation, what are they complaining about? They often say they want “accurate translations”, but this isn’t true either. An “accurate translation” is a translation that simply conveys all the information from the original. おはよ！→ “Sup bro” can be an accurate translation, but I’m sure the anti-localisers wouldn’t agree (おはよ and sup bro are both just phatic greetings, we don’t need to specify morning unless it’s not obvious from the visuals that it’s morning). What they actually want is a translation that “sounds right”. This may seem impossible to deliver since it is so unspecific, but I think it’s actually quite simple - in short, overly-weeby translations have become their own variety of english, which I’ll call en-WB. Often fan translations are in this specific dialect because the fan translators haven’t studied actual translation and simply know what “sounds right” in en-WB.

For example, these anti-localisers often say they are annoyed that honorifics are removed. To a regular old translator with no knowledge of the anime discourse, this is very silly because -chan and -kun are not present in any common variety of english, so why would they appear in the translation? To divorce this discussion from anime briefly, a very good translator who is translating a full length Japanese novel would adapt the relationship/hierarchy dynamic via speech patterns and phrasing, rather than using the honorifics directly. But the anti-localisers don’t want a brilliant translation into international english, they want a passable translation into en-WB.

Both sides of the discourse are misunderstanding each other, using dumb arguments that completely miss the point. Anti-localisers are saying shit like ”fan translations are better!!” which really means “fan translations sound like how I expect the translation to sound, and pro translations do not sound like that” which means “fan translations are translating into the english dialect I expect and pro translations do not”.

Meanwhile pro translators are saying “pro translators are fans too!! And how could an amateur be better? We studied to do this professionally!”. But this is flawed logic - the lack of formal training in translation is ironically what enables fan translators to translate into en-WB correctly. Pro translators of course could translate into en-WB if they wanted to/were told to, but they don’t - they want to make the translation as accessible as possible to all viewers, meaning that making the language natural and internationalised is the correct course of action.

To me as a half-japanese person who has grown up with smatterings of anime from an early age, anime is just cartoons to me. It's just another tv show, there's nothing special about it. So when I talked about translation as I have in previous posts, I was basically unaware of this stupid discourse and was simply discussing translation as it exists outside of the anime/manga industry - rewriting a work as if it were originally written in the target language. In principle I don't believe anime should be treated any different to other tv shows when being translated, and I personally hate en-WB, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. But that's what a bunch of anime fans want, and that's fine. They can have their (in my eyes) terrible translations, and I can have my (in their eyes) terrible translations.

If we were talking about translating literature or live action tv or news articles instead of anime we wouldn't be getting any of this discussion. I think it's almost entirely the fault of anime's history with fan translations and heavy handed cultural erasure by 4kids etc that's led to the current state of things. And unfortunately those things still influence how people think about anime translations now. I just want to approach anime translations like I would any other translation - but the existence of this discourse adds an annoying layer over it all.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Final data and undiscovered images from NASA’s NEOWISE

While NASA’s NEOWISE telescope ended its journey through space on Nov. 1, 2024, the team at IPAC, a science center at Caltech, was working on one further gift from the prolific mission. 

The final data release from NEOWISE was released to the astronomy community just two weeks later, on Nov. 14, encompassing over 26 million images and nearly 200 billion sources detected by the telescope. And today, IPAC is releasing six new images from the mission’s archival data as a tribute to this landmark project, available here: https://www.astropix.org/link/3b2x 

NEOWISE was launched as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2009 and then reactivated in 2013 as NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting phase of the mission. The infrared space telescope studied the entire night sky and conducted 21 complete sky surveys during more than a decade of operation. The mission focused on identifying and studying small objects in our solar system like asteroids and comets, also known as near-Earth objects (NEOs), but the infrared data collected by the telescope has proven to have countless applications throughout the field of astronomy. 

The mission concluded operations in July 2024, and during its 15 years in space, scientists have been able to revisit the same areas of the sky again and again, with most being observed by NEOWISE at least 220 times. This repeated observation helps astronomers search for and study objects that change in brightness or location. 

“Being able to watch the changing sky for nearly 15 years has opened a new avenue for time-domain science, for everything from the closest asteroids to the most distant quasars,” said Joe Masiero, Research Scientist at IPAC and the Deputy Principal Investigator of the mission. 

In recent years, NEOWISE has enabled scientists to study curious objects like brown dwarfs and discover patterns in large populations of comets. Over its mission lifetime, NEOWISE has characterized over 3000 NEOs—approximately 10% of the known population, and something that was only possible due to its long tenure scanning the sky.

The final NEO observed by NEOWISE, known as 2007 LV8, was seen over 100 times in the closing days of the survey since it closely followed the telescope’s scan pattern.  

“Because of NEOWISE’s extensive view of the sky, we get a more complete picture of the asteroids and comets in Earth’s orbital neighborhood. The data provide a unique way of understanding factors like the size and rotation period of these NEOs,” said Roc Cutri, NEOWISE Task Lead and Project Scientist at IPAC.

The team at IPAC was responsible for the ingestion and processing of raw data, production of final data products, and archiving mission science and engineering data. IPAC also distributes WISE/NEOWISE data to the community through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) and provides services such as powerful analysis and visualization tools. The IPAC Communications & Education team prepares mission images for public release in the AstroPix image gallery. 

Never-before-seen images from NEOWISE

During the original WISE mission, over 100 areas of the sky were highlighted in public image releases, but they revealed only a tiny fraction of the full-sky coverage of the survey.

“The WISE and NEOWISE data releases are built for researchers, but they also embody some of the most amazing images of our infrared sky,” said Robert Hurt, IPAC Visualization Scientist. “They are so easy to work with it's almost too easy to make a beautiful image from them! That's why I wanted to revisit the archive to locate some hidden gems we missed before.”

To find new interesting areas of the sky, the positions of the previous images were overlaid onto maps of the sky using data from WISE and other missions. The new map revealed many zones that have not been highlighted for the public but contain fascinating regions of cosmic dust where stars are born. Six spots were selected, with many of them spanning large areas of the sky—a distinct advantage of an all-sky survey such as NEOWISE. 

One image stands out as particularly meaningful to the IPAC community: NEOWISE’s view of the California Nebula. 

Named after the dust cloud’s resemblance to the California coastline, Masiero says it commemorates the years of hard work and dedication of the NEOWISE data processing team at IPAC, located in Pasadena, California.

“I’m really grateful for all of the people at IPAC who have put so much effort into making this the best dataset possible, for today and for future generations,” said Masiero.

The California Nebula is located in the Milky Way, about 1000 light-years away, in the Perseus constellation. It is a dusty region illuminated by the nearby massive star Menkib, born just a few million years ago. The entire California Nebula stretches across 100 light-years and is fully captured in this wide-field view. The dust clouds glow brightly in longer wavelengths of infrared light, displayed here in green and red.

The new images pulled from the archives represent the billions of sources detected by NEOWISE waiting to be studied by future researchers. 

“We know there are more things to discover in the NEOWISE data that we just haven’t noticed yet,” said Masiero. “As astronomers develop new tools and techniques and as new surveys are conducted, we can be sure the NEOWISE archive will be one of the first places we look for the data needed to better understand our universe.”

NEOWISE’s legacy is only just beginning

As astronomers continue to mine the NEOWISE archive at IRSA, there are many untold stories of comets, asteroids, nebulae, and more waiting in the data. 

Yuna Kwon, a solar system astronomer and IPAC archive scientist, first joined as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023. Even though the NEOWISE mission ended not long after, her work with its data is only just beginning. 

Along with Masiero, Kwon is leading a project called COSINE, Cometary Object Study Investigating their Nature and Evolution, cataloging and analyzing comets observed by NEOWISE. 

“Together with my amazing colleagues at IPAC, we now have the largest-ever consistently analyzed comet database and are preparing publications based on our findings,” said Kwon. 

Kwon studies comets because they are some of the oldest and most primitive objects in our solar system. Their physical properties could tell us about the conditions during the solar system’s formation. 

“Comets are like cats — they have tails and do precisely what they want,” said Kwon. “Thankfully, NEOWISE has a treasure trove of data to study these idiosyncratic objects.”

Before working with NEOWISE data, Kwon said that it was hard to decipher large-scale trends from only a small number of comets. But now with COSINE and NEOWISE data, she is able to understand the big picture. 

“I'm truly enjoying this exploration,” said Kwon. “My experience with NEOWISE data has broadened my perspective and deepened my understanding of the comet population itself, putting the observations in a broader context of the formation and evolution of the solar system.”

Going forward, Kwon hopes to combine the knowledge gained from NEOWISE with new data from upcoming observatories including NEO Surveyor and SPHEREx. 

TOP IMAGE: The California Nebula is seen in its entirety in this image from NASA’s WISE mission, covering over 25 square degrees of sky. In this infrared view, the dust clouds underlying the nebula glimmer in greens and reds. Also known as NGC 1499, it derives its common name from its similarity to the dramatic coastline of the U.S. state of California.

The California Nebula extends 100 light years through space, and it is illuminated by one of the hottest stars visible in the night sky, known as Menkib. Its surface temperature is about 37,000 degrees, and its total energy output is over 300,000 times more than that of our own Sun. It belongs to an association of very hot stars that were born from the California Nebula only a few million years ago.

The stellar winds blowing out from the fast-moving Menkib pile up as they impact interstellar gas and dust to create a shock wave. Known a “bow shock,” as an analogy to the waves that pile up at the bow of a sailing ship, it heats up the ambient dust clouds through which it is passing, seen here in red.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

CENTRE IMAGE: Skygazers have dubbed this region the “Gecko Nebula” for its resemblance to a downturned head with a pointed snout, though astronomers refer to the area as LBN 437. This cloud of dust and gas is a region of star formation, which is revealed clearly in infrared light by NASA’s WISE mission.

Near the “snout” of the gecko you can see a blazing star with a strong red tint, due to its brightness at longer wavelengths of infrared light. This baby star is in its final stages of formation, and while it gobbles up the last of its fuel, some is ejected away in jets of gas that are carving cavities through the surrounding dust clouds. These structures are known as “Herbig Haro” objects to astronomers, and the most prominent around this young star is called HH 398.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

LOWER IMAGE: This tadpole-shaped nebula is known as CG12. It is an example of a “cometary globule,” where a denser region of dust trails off into thread-like strands. While challenging to see in visible light images, WISE easily shows the full extent of the globule’s tail as it lights up at longer wavelengths of infrared light.

The tip of CG12 is also known as NGC 5367 in the Centaurus constellation. This region is easier to see as a “reflection nebula” as the light of the bright stars scatters off of the enveloping dust clouds, showing up in visible light images as a blue haze.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

BOTTOM IMAGE: These ghostly pillars span a large swath of sky about half the width of your outstretched hand held at arm’s length, falling along the boundary between the constellations of Vela and Centaurus. However, they have no common name and are not identified in historic catalogs like Messier or NGC for the simple reason they cannot be seen in visible light. This region falls behind a veil of dust in the spaces between stars and can only be seen at longer wavelengths of infrared light, as seen here in data from NASA’s WISE mission. At wavelengths of 12 and 22 microns, displayed here in green and red, respectively, the obscuring dust becomes more transparent, and denser clouds of dust begin to glow clearly under the light of neighboring stars.

Pillars such as these are found in regions where there are clumpy, denser clouds of gas and dust falling under the illumination of nearby hot, bright stars. The dust particles are slowly destroyed by the stars’ ultraviolet light, but denser regions erode more slowly than their surroundings, and even shield material behind them. This creates striking pillar-shaped structures like these.

The tips of these pillars often serve as stellar nurseries, as the denser gas and dust collapse over time to form and nurture new stars. These can be seen as red-tinted spots of light in the two largest pillars in this image, glowing brightly at the longest wavelengths of infrared light.

This image uses data from the original cryogenic phase of the WISE mission. Infrared wavelengths of 3.4 & 4.6 microns are displayed in blue and cyan, respectively, and are dominated by the glow of stars. Light with a wavelength of 12 microns is displayed in green and traces the presence of carbon-rich dust known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The 22 micron light is rendered in red and is dominated by the thermal glow of warm dust.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC

[littlehungrywarriorcats]

since white-spotting can sometimes get silly with it; could white spotting (theoretically) make a cat just LOOK like a colourpoint? like, the placement of the white go in the same warm places that the "white" in siameses is?

(im the person who asked about darker red colourpoints recently, im trying to find a genetically-accurate excuse for my flame point firestar to have stark colouration and orange eyes lmao)

ohi welcome back!

I mean in the grand scheme of all possibilities ever, you could hypothetically flip a coin 10,000 times and get 9,999 heads in a row and have only the final coin be heads. but despite such thing being completely within the realm of possibility, if it happened in a movie, people would call it "unrealistic." it's hypothetically possible, but so ridiculously improbable that no one would ever buy it.

I don't know if it's entirely 100% possible or not. I haven't - and no one has - studied every single combination of white-controlling polygenes, much less all the developmental factors that could ever happen. but I do know that, even if it is possible, no one will buy it.

(that doesn't mean you can't do it if you want to just bc it's cool, but it'd be for the style crowd, not the realism crowd)

if you want to go for that angle anyway but have it seem more plausible, I recommend going for more of a "van" look mixed with some weird brockling, mimicking the general pattern of point, instead of just drawing a siamese and saying "no that's white spotting"

This guy has a white stripe dividing the face region from the ear/forehead region. With that stripe altered slightly to go up the middle of the forehead, it could have a similar layout to point.

This guy's nose has a black spot in the shape that a lot of high-temp points end up with.

this guy too!

Pigmented feet on a white cat are MUCH harder to find; you'll basically never find a high-white cat with fully-pigmented feet, as at least a few toes will be white. but sometimes that white is broken up by big patches of pigment!

I would go for something more like this in your position

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

do you have anything about autism and memory? i feel like i have object permanence problems but with memory. like i can’t remember anything until something very specific triggers it and i can only then access it. but in general i feel very “no thoughts head empty”

Hi there,

I found this information from the American Psychological Association. The excerpt is a bit long, so I apologize in advance:

Researchers including neurologist Nancy Minshew, MD, studied 76 children from ages 8 to 16. Half were verbal individuals with autism, half were normal controls matched for age, IQ and gender. The diagnosis of autism reflected social and communication impairments of the autistic type along with restricted interests and patterns of behavior.

First, the children with autism, compared to the matched controls, had poorer memory for complex information (many individual elements or one complicated element) in both word and picture form. In essence, the children with autism found it hard to remember information if they needed a cognitive organizing strategy to aid recall or if they had to detect such an organizing element in the information itself.

The authors speculate that, "People with autism don't have the automatic cross talk between brain systems -- the reasoning and the memory systems -- that tells their brain what is most important to notice or how to organize it thematically."

Second, children with autism also had poor working memory for spatial information, or remembering over time where something was located once it was out of sight. Although working memory for verbal information was fine, a "Finger Windows" subtest of recall of a spatial sequence easily distinguished between children with and without autism. Spatial working memory depends on a specific region of the frontal cortex that is known to be dysfunctional in autism.

Despite these two impairments, the children with autism did not have global memory problems. They showed good associative learning ability, verbal working memory and recognition memory. Because their memories differed in only two specific ways, memory in autism appears to be organized differently than in normal individuals -- reflecting differences in the development of brain connections with the frontal cortex.

The link to the article will be down below if you want to read more.

Link to Article

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ❤️

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Address by Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the Independence Day of Ukraine

Dear people!

Ukrainians always pay back their debts. And whoever wished misery upon our land shall find it in their own home. With interest. Whoever seeks to sow evil on our land will reap its fruits on their own territory.

This is not a prophecy, not gloating, not blind revenge; it is a pattern. It is justice. A boomerang for evil. And its launch began not far from the place where I am recording this address. The Sumy region. Mohrytsya. The river of Psel. A few kilometers from our border.

The border between Ukraine and oppression, between life and death. The border between an independent European state and the number one terrorist organization in the world.

913 days ago, Russia unleashed war against us, including through the Sumy region. It violated not only our sovereign borders, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense. It was endlessly striving for one thing: to destroy us. Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And whatever the enemy was bringing to our land has now returned to their home. And the one who wanted to turn our land into a buffer zone should think about preventing his country from becoming a buffer federation. This is how independence responds. It retaliates for our civilians, who are targeted by guided aerial bombs and Kinzhals, for our parents who have turned gray, for our children who are forced to study underground. For all our people who would prefer never to know the names of these cursed places in their lives: “Savasleika”, “Olenya”, “Engels”. But unfortunately, Ukrainians know them. That is why, our enemy will also know what the Ukrainian-way retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged. They will know that sooner or later a Ukrainian response will reach any point in the Russian Federation that is a source of danger to the life of our state and our people.

The faded eyes of their chief perceive the whole world as a gray zone. But we will not allow to turn into a gray zone our lands, where the blue and yellow flag rightly belongs. A sick old man from the Red Square, who constantly threatens everyone with the red button, will not dictate any of his red lines to us. Only Ukraine and Ukrainians will determine how to live, what path to take, and what choice to make. Because this is how independence works.

Ukraine astonishes once again. Russia reverts once again to its repertoire. This is how the world media generally portray the events in the Kursk region. They show how Russia treats its citizens, whom it calls “the population.” How Russia “does not abandon” their own. How their soldiers loot their local shops. This is what Putin's Russia looks like in the eyes of the world. And in the same way, the entire world sees how our warriors provide water, food, and medicine to the local people, who say: “It's good that you are here now, not the Kadyrovites.” This is what Ukraine's dignity looks like. Civility. The virtue of our independence.

33 years ago, Ukraine was reborn on the maps of the world, and today Ukraine wins the hearts of the entire world. It inspires with courage. It serves as an example of how not to be afraid of Putin. And it unites the world around its Ukrainian worldview: in the 21st century, terrorists should find their reckoning in The Hague, not comfort in Valday. And no one else in the world will say: “Where is Ukraine?” Because every continent now says: “Ukraine must win”. This fuels our independence. Our Ukraine. It has no lack of foreign regions. We need peace and tranquility on our lands. Along our entire 6,992-kilometer border. On land, at sea, in the air, inside the country – wherever we stand guard for our values.

Just like our warriors do. In all directions of the frontline and the state border, which is symbolized by the border pillars. And our will and struggle are symbolized by our people – our defenders, our pillars. Those on whose shoulders Ukraine stands strong. It stands strong in Kharkiv, in Kupyansk, in Zaporizhzhia region, it stands strong in Kherson region. In Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Chasiv Yar. On the Lyman, Siversk, Kramatorsk, Kurakhove, Vremivka, Huliaipilske, and Orikhiv directions. This is how independence fights. And I want to say to all our warriors today: I wish you a strong one! And thank you, guys! When the need to defend Ukraine arose, you shortly said: plus. Since then, for 913 days in a row, you have been applying a "minus" to the occupiers. Only you know how much effort, sweat, blood and your extremely hard work is really hidden behind the dry statistics of enemy losses. Only you know what it really means to hold a position. What it means to be “pinned down by enemy artillery and aircraft all day long”. What it means to stand firm when “the orcs are pushing.” You have preserved and are preserving our independence.

I thank everyone who helps our warriors and our state, all those who live and work to keep our independence working and living. Our medical workers, our rescuers, our firefighters, power engineers, our volunteers and entrepreneurs, police officers and farmers, railroad workers, teachers and students. All of them. Ukrainians here, Ukrainians abroad, who help, find, send the necessary supplies, tell the world about Ukraine. And everyone who stays with Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories. All Ukrainians whose strength has no borders, whose will is boundless. All those to whom I am immensely grateful. And today. And for each of the 913 days of this war. For the cause of each of you. For proving that independence is a cause for everyone. And it has many dimensions. Each of which must be gained to secure comprehensive independence. This is economic, this is energy independence. This is the spiritual independence of the Ukrainian people. And Ukrainian Orthodoxy today is taking a step toward liberation from the devils of Moscow. This is also the realization of justice for the awards of an independent Ukraine, which will never again be worn by those who betrayed it. This is the realization of justice for foreign heroes who defend Ukraine on the frontline and deserve Ukrainian honor – our citizenship. These are inevitable processes that have been launched by us today. This is how independence is strengthened.

And there should be a solid border between us and the enemy, and there will be no walls between Ukrainians. Because Ukraine is in each one of us. Independence is in each one of us. And united, we are able to win. It was proven by February 24. It was proven by 2022 and 2023. This year is proving it as well. We have withstood, restrained and repelled the enemy, and now we continue to do so in their swamps.

We know what independence is. How difficult it is to revive it. How difficult it is to defend it. But we know: everything depends on us.

We know what independence looks like. On the morning of February 24, it was in our eyes. Today, independence is in the trenches in all directions. It is in our cities and villages: in each episode when we find the best in ourselves, find Ukraine in ourselves, and fight for it. Independence today has tired eyes that have seen it all. Independence smiles when Ukrainians succeed. Independence is silence when we lose our people. Independence is the oath to never forget the fallen heroes. Independence tastes of smoke and dust on the battlefield and in civilian life. Independence descends into the shelter during an air raid alert to survive and to rise again to tell the enemy again: you will not succeed. You will fail. You will not prevail. And you will be held accountable for everything.

This is how we feel freedom. This is what Ukraine looks like. This is what independence looks like. And this is what it sounds like:

Happy Independence Day, Ukrainians!

Glory to Ukraine!

[mk-writes-stuff]

WIP Trailer

Rules: design a movie trailer for one of your WIPs

Thanks @illarian-rambling and @willtheweaver for the tags! I tried to think of how this would work for either of my main WIPs and I couldn’t seem to get anything so let’s do this one for the Seven Stations prequel!

CW for mild gore

A panoramic shot pans over what is clearly Earth but more urbanized, surrounded by seven floating space stations.

Voiceover (if you follow the main series, you’d recognize it as being Stellaris): The Old World. Known to the inhabitants as Terra, it was once ringed by seven space stations providing support and resources to its inhabitants. The station leaders moved freely between the stations and the land below, able to view its splendor and-

Around the Earth, a flickering purple aura wraps around the stations and they vanish into a flash of light. The scene cuts to an empty region of space with a new pattern of stars, which lights up with the same aura before the space stations are dropped in a circle into the void of space.

Voiceover (Errant): And then, all of a sudden, things were different.

A few rapid-fire shots show cut-off communication and resources and people descending into mass panic.

Voiceover, starts as voiceover and fades into Errant, a Black woman with braided hair, on screen with a clear camera effect around her, showing that this is clearly being filmed in-universe: But we are strong, and together we will rise to the challenge! The First Station is already pioneering measures-

The video abruptly gets paused. The trailer zooms out to show Kintarō, a man with shoulder-length dark hair and narrow red eyes wearing a hoodie glaring at the screen as he adjusts the editing. The messy room is clearly visible behind him.

Voiceover (Dom): We’re all going to die.

Errant and Dom are in a room together with a stack of post-it notes. Most of the wall is covered in a massive list of problems they need to solve.

Errant, fading into voiceover: We’re not going to die! We just need to figure out food…

Camellia, a Black woman with albinism, runs her fingers over a plant in a dimly-lit room and adjusts its watering meter slightly.

Voiceover: …technology…

Dom and Andromedus, a white man with brown hair and purple eyes, yell at each other in a room, but the sound is cut out. There’s a hickey visible on Dom’s neck.

Voiceover: …this whole magic thing…

Castor, a brown-skinned man with short black hair and grey eyes, studies a form below him. His hands are covered in blood.

Voiceover: …and how to keep people from panicking.

Jael, a woman with blonde and black hair and brown eyes, preaches at a pulpit. The sound is again cut out.

Errant and Dom are once again in the same room. This time, the lights are dim and flickering, Dom has bags under his eyes, and Errant’s hair is in twists instead of braids. Some of the post-its are no longer on the wall, but new ones have taken their place.

Dom: We’re going to die.

Errant, exhausted but firmly: We’re not going to die. One step at a time.

Title screen splash, dark gold lettering on a starry background: Seven Stations: The Jump

This was fun! Thanks for the tag :)

@kaylinalexanderbooks @writingsfromspace @wyked-ao3 want to play?

[professors-polycule]

Volcarona Variants

I have been closely working with a PHD student who has been raising a Volcarona for the last few years. Finally, his studies on this particular specimen are coming to an end, and we are preparing for the final steps.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about Volcarona Variants for a bit (for additional reading, i can provide a few papers if someone should be interested)

//obviously headcanon territory below

Standard Breed or Sun Breed: The variant that is probably most well-known and has been categorized as “standard” by the Unova Pokémon Activities Committee (Unova PAC). To avoid confusion, it’s usually also called that in scientific publications, because the International Pokédex decided for some reason to classify Volcarona as the “Sun Pokémon”. Actually, it is just this “standard breed” that is called the “sun variant”. All this is a little bit confusing.

The reason is that in times past, Volcarona tended to be larger and stronger than they are today, like many Bug Types in general. Because of their size, abilities and body shape, individual Volcarona were sometimes worshipped as deities of Sun, Light, Fire and similar concepts all over the world. The most notable case might be the ancient civilization of Unova. There are multiple archaeological findings from the region that support this theory, one of them being the Relic Castle near Nimbasa City, Unova.

Now, for actual information about the Pokémon: Sun-Volcarona are, as mentioned above, the most common type of Volcarona, even though the Pokémon themselves are quite rare all over the world. While most will probably know what they look like, a want to give a little description: Sun- or Standard-Breed Volcarona are a bug-pokémon that is easily recognizable by their six large, orange wings and the big abdomen which is often black with light blue or white accents. Volcarona are around 1.5-1.7m tall, though the wings often make it appear larger. The upper body is covered in a white fur while its black head is framed by two orange or red horns. Its legs are positioned within the fur of the upper body and most of the time, only the feet are visible sticking out. It rarely uses them to walk, it prefers to fly or hold on to walls.

Well, i could go on about Volcarona in general, but the international Pokédex should be a sufficient resource and i want to highlight a few Variants.

White Dwarf Breed: The white dwarf breed is a very fitting name for this variant of Volcarona and is also the reason why modern science has decided to name most Volcarona breeds after stellar objects. The white dwarf Volcarona is usually a lot smaller than the standard breed, about 2/3 the size. In addition, it’s body accents and fur are a lot darker. While the abdomen of standard breed volcarona has highlights in light blue and white, the white dwarf shows a reddish-brown colour. The fur is often gray, sometimes it can become almost black. Then, the most notable difference are its wings. They are white or just barely yellow and somewhat dull in the white dwarf breed as opposed to the vibrant orange of the sun variant. Another notable difference is that the horns that frame a Volcaronas head have a slightly different shape, they are more round, almost like a crescent moon. They are also white, just like the wings. One more notable difference between the standard breed and the white dwarf variant is, that the latter usually have much weaker fire type moves.

Supergiant Breed: The Supergiant breed is a human made breeding line and does not occur in the wild. These Volcarona are, like the name suggests, very large. They are often more than 2m tall and their wings are much larger in comparison to their body than in the standard breed. They sport a variety of vibrant colours, especially in their wings, but most common are a light blue or green. In addition, their fur is much longer and often covers their whole body, while their abdomen can sport a variety of patterns that are uncommon in the wild. This is of course done through selective breeding. Their horns are also often larger and elongated compared to the standard breed. These Volcarona often struggle with health issues, which includes a tendency to overheat. Their large bodies and long fur often make it difficult to expel excess heat through their wings. A majority of Supergiant Volcarona is also unable to properly stand on their feet due to their large size.

Black Hole Breed: The black hole breed is honestly just a very fancy name for a very trivial form of melanism in Volcarona. They are quite similar to the standard breed in size and ability, but as expected, they are entirely black in colour. The only exception is possibly its fur that is more “dark gray” than completely black.

Quasar Breed: While the most notable feature of the Quasar breed is, similarly to the Black Hole variant, their pigmentation, the Quasar breed is not just albinistic, though that is how their colour differs from the standard breed. Of course the Quasar Volcarona is almost completely white but can sometimes be a very light pink. A notable feature is that their eyes are black and their horns are vibrantly pink. In addition to the albinism, they are often larger than the average Volcarona (up to 2.2m body length) and have shorter fur. Very interesting is that these Volcarona are often stronger than the standard breed and can produce hotter fire and often have more power overall.

🍌

[gremnaghi]

i want that ramble about your spec bio creatures so bad theyre such neat lil dudes

OH DUDE, TYSM!!

i have some quick facts about all 3 so far! i'll post that novel below ^^

...

a few notes -

I am TOTALLY up for criticism on this project. It's my first serious spec bio thingy and I am still very green to the subject lol

The planet they inhabit is called Ieyora (eye-yore-uh) IV. It's the fourth planet from the sun in its solar system, and the flora is autumn-coloured all year around, which is why the animals have yellow, orange, and red camouflage.

Ieyora IV has quite a bit of volcanic activity. Animals living in arctic environments sometimes use heat vents formed in mountain ranges to keep their eggs warm during nesting seasons.

I call the extra limbs palps, like on a spider. Some are fully functional like on the Soffbeast, and some are mostly vestigial or nearly undetectable like on the Ieyotitan and Ieyorapteryx. No Ieyoran animal has more than 6 limbs.

All three species I've worked the most on are all related by a common ancestor, they're like cousins.

The planet doesn't have a resident dominant species, such as humans on Earth.

Species Quick Facts

Ieyorapteryx

- Semi aquatic (akin to an otter)

- Especially strong lower body

- Peculiar beak-like mouth (similar to a pufferfish)

- Palps no longer visible

- Strong climbers

- Forelimbs similar to those of a raccoon or rodent

- Webbed toes, except for "thumb"

- Reproductive and maturation system similar to that of a frog, needs water in order to lay eggs and has a fully aquatic first few weeks of life

- Adults as large as a whitetail deer

- Patterning appears to vary due to location of the ecosystem they inhabit (camouflage)

- Found in sparsely forested temperate/cold regions

- Highly social, docile creatures

- Waterproof feathers, similar method to that of a duck

- Nostrils and ears close comparably to a seal when diving or staying underwater for long periods of time

- Can spend approximately 2 hours submerged

- Feathers thicker on upper body and back than lower body

- Rears up on back legs when sprinting

- Feathers on the back of its head act similarly to a cockatiel

- Produces a wide range of clicking noises with its beak and tongue, sometimes also screeching, among many other sounds

Ieyotitan

- Fully terrestrial

- Males have a toucan-like pattern on their snout

- Found in mountain ranges and arctic regions

- Builds nests out of its own fur and plant matter, using sticky saliva to ensure structural integrity

- Lives in same sex pairs, only mixing if closely related or during mating season

- Short yet thick feathering

- Beak similar to Ieyorapteryx

- Technically omnivorous in their youth, sometimes digging for roots

- Fairly territorial

- Bonded pairs show high amounts of physical affection for one another, grooming and playful behaviour is often observed

- Males show perceived homosexual behaviour to ensure loyalty to each other and often act as wingmen

- Pursuit predators

- Females tend to be more aggressive

- Produces squeaking, mewing, and a low rumbling sound in their throat, referred to as "trilling", sometimes strong enough to shake the ground

- Observed quietly purring to themselves

- Makes an ear-shattering hissing/shrieking noise when threatened

- Scrapes the ground with scent glands on their palps to mark their territory

- Also have scent glands under their chin

- Extremely hygienic animals

- Split tongue to aid in tracking

- Small ridge on back for temperature regulation

- Padded back feet

Soffbeast (Sophbeast)

"Soffbeast" is an affectionate name for these creatures, being a play on softbeast. The "t" is dropped because their fur is so soft, the letter makes too harsh of a sound to describe it. The first part of their original common name, Sophbeast, was the surname of the scientist who first studied them.

- Second largest Ieyoran carnivore

- Lives in arctic and tundra regions

- Produces low throat vibration noises and growls

- Horrifyingly loud shriek

- Notable sexual dimorphism

- Tunnels underground to make a safe den for their offspring

- Scent glands under chin and on palps

- Mate for life

- Very, very quick on their feet

- Seasonal migration

- Often completely silent

- Padded feet

- Dozens of specialized teeth within their beaks for tearing flesh and grinding bones

- Completely terrestrial

- Known to stash food in their dens

- Territory can overlap with Ieyotitans, causing some tension

- Crazy strong jaws

- Tail is used for self defense and most likely temperature regulation

- Uncommonly observed in the wild, though assumed to be of low concern

- Sometimes utilizes heat vents for a warm spot to nap or build a den near

i have a bit more, tryna spread out the info dumps though lol

looking to post more art soon >:D

[burymeinmelodies]

A while back I read every Magic Tree House fic on AO3 and you know that's a weird thing to fandom spiral about when you are over the age of nine but the time travel mechanics are sort of interesting. This is my favorite one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735669

Because they return to the present at the same moment they leave so they are experiencing more time than they should be and therefore aging faster. This is negligible at first, since they don't go on adventures more than a couple times a week and aren't gone more than a couple hours, but you can imagine that the adventures get longer and more complicated as they get older (and at the very least that's gonna mess up their sleep schedules). This fic that I linked also kind of acknowledges the weirdness of how the tree house's magic changes their clothes and translates all the languages and makes the people they encounter not question why these two European looking children are in medieval Japan.

So that's touched on but never really explained and I started writing a fic to work through the math of their aging but I wanted to explore the magic too and I think how I'm gonna handle it is that over time the magic does less and less work. They're getting towards the end of elementary school and they realize the people they talk to in other times are becoming less intelligible -- thicker accents, more words that don't get translated to modern English. Well, okay, Jack's good with words, he can study that. Some languages are of course easier since there are more resources in the modern day but he figures stuff out by listening and finding patterns.

Huh, their outfits aren't changing as completely anymore. Time to get into historical costuming?? The kids in Annie's fifth grade class don't know what flax is and she's been going out to this guy's hobby farm outside of town on the weekends to learn how to process and spin it. Jack can you make a diagram of this loom before the 1100s weavers return to the mill, I want to compare it to the one Grandma has.

This is all time consuming, of course. They do their homework at lunch so that when they get home they can try to replicate different methods of quill making from various regions. Some of it they do because Morgan asks but mostly it's because they want to. By high school they've compiled essentially a Rosetta Stone for six dead languages and they just,,, can't tell anyone??

I'm not actively working on this fic right now but I want to come back to it someday because I think it's fascinating.