#ik it’s not exactly a large feat

[pharmaciacatholica]

i am going to memorize the book of jonah this year

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

Hey Phoenix, idk if you'd like ever respond to this or even bat an eye at, but considering u have like the most trustworthy source of information regarding honkai lore and allat, I was wondering if you could share your opinions on the topic of either Aeons or Herrschers are stronger? Ik this have been debated many times but like Aeons could def defeat the weaker Herrschers, and that is without a doubt. Perhaps the stronger Herrschers might have a chance against themthem..

and I'm wondering wtf is the deal with the memokeeper bc with all of Kiana's feats as of late they compared her to an emanator instead of aeon, likely due to the fact that HI3's solar system is closed off from the others and despite Kiana's large surge of power it might be a wrong guess on the MK part bc they just met her and are trying to determine why Earth was isolated and without an Aeon so they likewise compared her to an emanator because they could communicate with her where with an Aeon they obviously couldn't. What do you think abt this topic?

I think power scaling is a proxy war between fans of different game trying to be cooler than the others, so I’m not a fan of this kind of question.

Now to actually try and answer it— Aeons are beings that are constrained by a Path of Imaginary Energy they create out of the Tree and make available to everyone else in the universe. When they stop being mortals they also stop having free will.

Kiana is a god, very powerful and capable of busting a planet or another god yes, but she’s constrained in space to the Solar System. That’s more of an Emanator scale (Nanook’s bust star systems right?). Thankfully she also kept her free will. So from the Garden of Recollection’s point of view, it makes sense to compare her to an Emanator!

But while Kiana is definitely not an Aeon-scale player, she isn’t an Emanator either. The Cocoon is its own thing, a different way of accessing Imaginary Energy, and she is beholden to no one with the Cocoon under her control.

Whether she could fight an Aeon off on her own turf is unknown, no one has pushed her to Finality’s limits of power— but it’s not off the table, since the Cocoon’s thing is taking control of the local tap of Imaginary Energy? Nobody knows.

As for regular non-Finality Herrschers, they’re definitely weaker than Aeons, but depending on their powers they might be comparable to Emanators as well. Welt seems to be considered pretty strong within HSR’s worldbuilding and he’s not exactly one of the strongest Herrschers from Earth.

TLDR: Think of it in terms of scale, but also it’s pretty circumstantial in the first place.

[grungegoths]

why do u think sakura is disliked so much by naruto fans?? like she isnt the only badly written female character of naruto whose abilities arent utilized for most of the series or who has to be rescued by the male characters literally every female character in naruto has that thing going for her. Why only sakura and those neverending and annoying memes about her being "weak" or "useless" or ppl just plain bashing her i just dont get it

hi anon ! im quite new to the naruto fandom so cant exactly pinpoint all of the reasons of the hate she gets (some of which might be reasonable too) but from what ive seen its mostly male fans who seem to hate her alot for which im sure is bc of the following reasons :

1. She doesnt have a character design which can be sexualized by the male audience and doesnt particularly have any “fanservice” moments/outfits in the entire series (as far as im aware). I feel like this is the main reason she is hated but most of men who hate her wont admit it lol. Im fairly certain if they made sakura’s hair longer and gave her big boobs skinny waist look with clothes showing her cleavage etc most of these male fans wouldnt be hating her this much.Theyre just unhappy that shes the main female character of the series but cant even be sexualized by them 

2. She doesnt have a personality and abilities which are appealing to most male fans .Sakura isnt a submissive, gentle, shy, quiet girl who keeps her feelings to herself unless the moment requires her to express them for a male character’s love interest.Shes open, brash, short tempered ,talkative and expresses her emotions and feelings freely no matter weather people around her are fine with them or not. If she likes someone she tells them even if she might get rejected and if she dislikes someone she isnt afraid to stand up against them which lot of male fans dont like. Also the fact that shes so physically strong that she can chuck huge boulders around and destroy iron boulders and houses by sheer force of her strength alone when other male characters like naruto need external powers like sage mode/nine tails power etc to do the same feat isnt easily acceptable by them either

okay this is getting kinda long so im putting a read more tag underneath  

3. She’s unnecessarily violent towards other male characters : Okay i myself dont like this aspect of her much either. ik female characters hitting male characters out of nowhere is a running gag in most anime and even though most of the scenes of sakura hitting naruto are actually part of naruto fillers, i still think that unless the male characters are being  very shitty/pervy towards a female characters there is no need to have the female characters being violent towards the male characters as a way to show that they are “strong”. Unnecessary violence is unnecessary violence no matter what gender does it so if anyone dislikes anime sakura bc of that i get it

4.She gets in the way of their ship/doesnt end up with the person they wanted her to end up with. Alot of fans who wanted naruto to end up with sakura hate her for choosing sasuke over naruto since naruto was the main hero and he was in love with her for the majority of the series so according to their mentality its the hero would should have “won” the main female character in the end and not the rival .Of course some of them just wanted them to end up together bc naruto was nicer towards her but the former ones hate her more bc of this.Some people who ship sasuke and naruto together hate her bc of the traditional “female character gets in the way of their m/m ship” misogyny since she ended up with sasuke but its not a large number since most of the sns fandom recognizes that it was the fault of heteronormativity not the female character for the endgame pairings. Alot of naruto and hinata shippers hate her bc naruto had more moments and chemistry with sakura than he did with hinata .

5.That fake confession during the 5 kage summit : Idk why people hate her bc of this but alot of people do for some reason bc “she played with naruto’s feelings” etc etc when she was literally guilt tripped into thinking that SHE and naruto’s promise to her was the reason why naruto was making himself suffer bc of sasuke (which wasnt true) and she wanted to stop naruto from endangering himself while running around looking for sasuke.Was her decision stupid?yes was it deserving of hate and as bad as people act like it is?no lol

6.She is underutilized af  : I wont say she’s useless but aside from the sasori fight she really does not get to showcase her fighting abilities throughout the rest of the series even when the moment required it or she COULD showcase them.In part one she didnt have much abilities so had to constantly rely on naruto and sasuke to get herself out of danger and in part 2 despite being strong af there still are moments where she could at least attempt to fight back a little but had to again rely on naruto and sasuke again to save her .But that isnt exactly her fault the author just didnt let the female characters shine alot in the series and its more apparent in case of sakura since shes the main female character 

I feel like thats pretty much it?i dont agree with 90% of sakura hate tbh it comes from a place of misogyny and bias but some people also just dont like her bc she simply isnt written in a good way and thats fair.

[adifferentworldfromyesterdays]

TW: Gaslighting (just incase)

 I’m going to talk about “Mother Knows Best” 母親はあなたの味方 hahaoya ha anata no mikata* in one post (bc ik how it can get uncomfortable to talk about) feat. cultural differences.

*mikata means ally, but when translating I’m using surrounding context which is why it’s not outright translated to “ally”. 

Unless marked otherwise, MG for Gothel and R for Rapunzel, it is Gothel.

MG: You want to go outside? Ugh, why, Rapunzel! -> 外に出たいって言うの？はぁ、やめてラプンツェル  soto ni detaitte iu no? haa*, yamete rapuntsueru -> You’re saying you want to go out? Why, stop (this nonsense)  Rapunzel.

* はぁ is technically a sigh in this case, but it can be as an alternative expression for “what?” and others depending on translative context. 

Look at you, as fragile as a flower -> あなたったら本当お花みたい anatattara honto ohana* mitai -> You’re really like a flower

*adding お o to some words makes it sound higher than it should be. Here it works because -> Sundrop is the flower of higher status in this case. 

Still a little sapling, just a sprout -> そう、とてもかよわいの sou, totemo kayowai no -> Indeed, like something that is very fragile

You know why we stay up in this tower -> ねぇ、わかるでしょ なぜ外に出さないか nee wakaru desho naze soto ni dasanai ka -> You know exactly why you can’t go out 

R: I know but- -> 分かるけど wakaru kedo -> same

It’s to keep you safe and sound, dear -> それはね、あなたを守ためなのよ sore ha ne anata wo mamoru tame nano yo -> It’s to protect you, is the reason why,

Guess I always knew this day was coming -> ええ、そうね　いつかあなたがこの塔を ee, sou ne, itsuka anata ga kono tou wo -> Well, I suppose, that you and this tower;

Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest -> 出てゆく日が来るよね dete yuku hi ga kuru yo ne -> the day you’d want to leave it would arrive

R: But- ->でも demo -> same

Soon, but not yet -> まだよ　mada yo -> Not yet

Shh! Trust me, pet -> 信じて shinjite -> But trust me that

Mother knows best -> あなたのためよ anata no tame yo -> This is for your sake/safety

Mother knows best -> 信じなさい  shinjinasai -> Trust my words, 

Listen to your mother -> お母様を okaasama wo -> When Mother tells you

It's a scary world out there -> 外は危ない soto ha abunai -> The outside is a dangerous world/place  Mother knows best -> 信じなさい　shinjinasai -> Trust my words,

One way or another -> 危険なものが kikenna mono ga -> There are scary things 

Something will go wrong, I swear -> ウヨウヨしてる urouro shiteru -> Crawling about out there Ruffian, thugs  -> 強盗　ギャング goutou  gyanngu -> Robberies, gangs, 

Poison ivy, quicksand -> ウルシに　台風 urushi ni taifuu -> lacquer trees** and typhoons

Cannibals and snakes -> 食中毒 shyokuchuudou -> food poisoning

The plague! -> オバケ obake -> And ghosts

R: No! ->  嘘 uso -> No way 

MG: Yes! -> 本当よ honto yo -> It’s true

R: But -> でも demo -> same 

Also large bugs -> 毒虫や dokumushi* ya -> Poisonous bugs and 

Men with pointy teeth -> 牙のある男  kiba no aru otoko -> Men with fangs

And stop, no more, you'll just upset me! -> おお怖いわ、心配なの oo kowai wa, shinpai nano -> All so scary, that they make me worry/worried. 

*In English we see “Ruffian, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals, snakes, the plague, large bugs and men with pointy teeth”, but some don’t translate well to Asian audiences, hence the changes to “Thefts/robberies, gangs(thugs), typhoons, food poisoning, lacquer plants, ghosts, and poisonous bugs***. 

**I had to google this but, lacquer trees are called Urushi in Japanese and are used for Urushioil + its found in poison ivy. 

***Bug catching was (and possibly still is?) a popular past time in Japan. Which is also how Pokemon came to be iirc.

Mother's right here -> ここにいれば koko ni ireba -> If you stay here

Mother will protect you -> 守ってあげる mamotte ageru  -> I’ll be here to protect you 

Darling, here's what I suggest -> 何があろうと nani ga arou to -> No matter what may happen

Skip the drama -> すべて subete  -> Everything (is),

Stay with Mama -> わかるのよ wakaru no yo ->  As you should know,

Mother knows best -> 母親は hahaoya ha -> As your Mother says. Mother knows best -> あなたはね anata ha ne -> You, see you, 

Take it from your mumsy -> まだ赤ちゃん mada akachan  -> are still but a baby

On your own, you won't survive -> 大人じゃないんだからね otona jyanain dakara ne  -> Not at all an adult 

Sloppy, under-dressed -> 泣き虫　裸足 nakimushi hadashi -> a crybaby,  barefoot

Immature, clumsy -> 幼稚でドジ youji de doji -> childish and clumsy

Please, they'll eat you up alive! -> 餌食になるわ ejiki ni naru wa -> You’ll only become their prey Gullible, naive -> 世間知らず seiken shirazu -> No experience whatsoever,

Positively grubby -> すぐ騙される sugu damasareru -> easily deceivable,

Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm vague -> 常識なんか、（うーん）ゼロ jyoushiki nanka, (uun) zero  -> and knowledge is, well, a zero at most.

Plus, I believe -> そう　おまけに sou omake ni  -> Plus, furthermore, 

Gettin' kinda chubby -> ぽちゃぽちゃしてる pochapocha shiteru  -> You seem to be putting on,  

I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you! -> 言うことを聞くのよ iu koto wo kiku no yo  -> So just listen to what I tell you,

Mother understands -> わかってね wakatte ne  -> I want  you to understand, 

Mother's here to help you -> 母親はいつでも hahaoya* ha itsudemo  -> that Mother’s always here

All I have is one request -> あなたの味方 anata no mikata  -> as someone you can trust MG: Rapunzel?  -> ラプンツェル rapuntsueeru  -> same R: Yes? -> 何？nani -> What? MG: Don't ever ask to leave this tower again -> 塔の外に出たいなんでも言わないで、二度と tou no soto ni detai nandemo iwanaide, nidouto -> I don’t want to say that you want to leave the tower ever again. R: Yes, Mother.  -> はい　お母様 hai okaasama*  -> same 

* Hahaoya and okaasama are on the same level of formality for mother but the difference here is hahaoya is usually used when talking about one’s mother. But hahaoya can also mean parent and usually goes into 父親　chichioya and collectively 両親 ryoushin.  MG: I love you very much, dear. -> あなたのこと、大好きなんだから anata no koto, daisuki nanda kara -> You know how much I love you  R: I love you more. -> 私も大好き watashi mo daisuki -> I love you too MG: I love you most -> 誰よりも一番好きよ dare yori mo ichiban suki yo -> I love you more than anyone in the world Don't forget it -> 信じて shinjite  -> So believe me 

You'll regret it -> すべては subete ha  -> when (I say) everything 

Mother knows best! -> あなたのためよ anata no tame yo -> was/is for your sake

This is for fun so in no way are my translations “official”.

[troutpopulation]

It Becomes A Chain (Sigma x reader) pt.4

A/N: feat. more google translate dutch I'll probably have future conversations written in english i will sacrifice authenticity to save myself the embarrassment of crappy dutch

Were you seriously doing this? Sure, Dr. de Kuiper was handsome. He was your type, literally. But you spent the last week thinking he was annoying as all hell, and then he watched you have a breakdown. Where did he honestly expect this to go? Say you guys hit it off. Then what? You go back to America and he stays in The Hague. There is literally no way for this to work. The dude is fucking delusional. But, despite that, you checked yourself out in the mirror for anything to fix. You looked great, and even if this turns out to be disastrous, at least you had an excuse to dress nicely. That always felt good, right?

You stared at yourself.

You were halfway across the world about to get tested on by scientists and then go out to a cafe at night with a man who worked there. This was a fantastic idea and you were amazing at making decisions. Sighing, you looked at your phone. Your ride was here.

  ----------------

  Siebren held his head in his hands. He had made a terrible mistake.

He asked (y/n) a forward question during a moment of weakness. He couldn't believe himself! Why had he said that!? How could he have taken advantage of his state like that!? He felt disgusted with himself. He had to talk to him. Apologize and tell him he'd thought it over and wanted to reconsider, or at the very least, ask him if he was sure or still up for it or... The knock at his door wrenched him from his thoughts.

"Yes?" He called. His coffee was here. The intern, Mag, stepped in. They frowned as they saw the distraught professor muttering to himself.

"Gaat het, professor?" They approached him, setting down his beverage. Are you alright, professor? "Ik denk dat ik een fout heb gemaakt." He mused, shaking his head. I feel I've made a mistake. "Hoezo?" Mag tilted their head. Dr. de Kuiper wasn't one to feel bad about making mistakes. He usually saw them as a normal part of the learning process. Whatever he did, it must have been a grievous error. How so? The scientist wrung his hands together, looking askance as he hesistated. This rose more red flags in the young intern. They repeated their question and it all came flooding out in one of his more characteristic rant. Dr. de Kuiper had asked Mr. (l/n) on a date, but he felt bad, because he didn't think Mr. (l/n) was in the right state of mind to answer. Mag asked if he was drunk, and quickly Dr. de Kuiper denied it.

Not drunk, he said, just upset. The facility was stressing him out. Mag reasoned with him that Mr. (l/n) probably appreciated it. After all, offering to be a friend when someone is stressed can be very helpful. As long as he emphasized he wasn't coming onto him, he should be fine. Mag didn't understand what the big deal was. Suddenly Siebren realized there was another big deal. Oh dammit, he hadn't even thought about it! He didn't know if you even liked men! Or men his age! He had no idea how old you were, but you must have been at the very least over a decade younger than him, hell, even two! Now it was his turn to have a breakdown. Bewildered, Mag backed out of the room and quietly shut the door.

  -----------------

  You discarded the hospital robe and stepped into your slacks. You scratched your chest, yawning. You could really use that coffee right about now. The tests today were demanding. After your outburst last night, though, you got the best sleep you had all week. Better yet, they were sparse in the questions they asked you. They simply took you to a large room and tested how big of a tomato you could produce. It was about a half meter in circumference, and immediately you were exhausted. This time, however, you voiced it. You told them that they tests they were running were a deep honor, but were taxing on your mental health. They apologized and you negotiated a break. You could leave early today, and have Tuesday off. You thanked them, and paused.

"How long exactly was my stay scheduled for?" You frowned. "Three weeks." Dr. Visser concluded. That was odd, you could have sworn the last time you asked it was only two. You shrugged it off as your poor memory and accepted it, thanking them again for their flexibility. You were not designed for this type of environment.

You stepped out of the small changing room and were greeted by an intern. Mag, you remembered was their name. They were flanked by two young colleagues. You figured they were probably students at the university run by the facility. "Hello, Mr. (l/n)." Mag chirped. You waved back to them as the gaggle looked you up and down. "You look very nice today, is there an occasion?" You shrugged. "Oh, uh- Thank you! Someone asked me out for coffee." You rubbed the back of your neck. The compliment took you by surprise, though not unwelcome. "Is it a date?" "Lara don't ask him that-"

"I'm not sure, actually." You shrugged. "Probably not, but if it is, I wouldn't mind." The girls were delighted, but Mag looked a little taken aback. "A date already! You must be very popular, who's the lucky lady?" Lara asked. You chuckled. Okay. You saw what was happening here. They probably had a hunch someone had asked you in a date, and were wondering if you'd let it slip who it was. Hell, they probably had made bets on who it was if the glances at the scientists walking briskly around the lab were anything to go off of.

"I believe his name is Dr. de Kuiper," You raised your eyebrows, checking the time on your phone. "Actually, I should be on my way to see him now. Ciao, friends." There was no response, but you didn't glance back to read their faces or their silence. They all began to talk over each other as you left the room. You walked out of the lobby to see Dr. de Kuiper standing there. He lit up as he saw you. Your face stayed quite the same. "Mr. (l/n)! I'm glad you're here. I was... well," He cleared his throat. "I realized that when I asked if you'd like to go to the cafe you um... You were preoccupied." He looked away, gripping his forearm and drumming his fingers along it. You raised an eyebrow. "I just want you to know if you've changed your mind, you're in no obligation to-" He went on for an obnoxiously long time. He went on some more and then he- What's this? Kept going on. You were tempted to check the time.

"Would you feel better if I asked you out?" You interjected. He paused, blinking rapidly. "Huh...?" "Dr. de Kuiper, would you like to go out to the cafe with me?" You folded your hands. His face went red and he smiled. "Why yes, I'd love to." You felt a tug at the corner of your mouth. You knew you were being a little too hard on him. He was astoundingly cute, even if he did go on rants at every given chance.

Honestly, admit it (y/n), if you weren't stressed out, exhausted and hungry as all fuck, you'd be all doe eyes and sappy over this man.

You talked as you walked to his car. It was much lighter in humor than it was the last time you had. In fact, by the time you two had sat down in the cafe, you'd officially began to give him a chance.

  ------------------------------

  This was hopeless. He tried to initiate so many intelligent conversations with him, but (y/n) was about dense as a rock. Basic physics were lost on him. When he said he "thought you couldn't see anything in space because there wasn't any oxygen", Siebren died a little inside. This man was not nearly as intelligent as he'd thought. It was incredibly disappointing. Perhaps that was on him though, for making such a quick judgement, but could he really blame himself? It wasn't unreasonable for him to speculate that (y/n) had been a man of science; that he somehow made the discovery of the ability of botanical replication through years of research and dedication. But no, he was just a gardener who got into a bit of an accident. Siebren couldn't help but let his mind wander as the man babbled on about the mundane uses of his power. Now he's talking about his hometown. Still talking about his hometown. Oh, this was tedious.

(y/n) then asked him about his hometown. Christ, wasn't he at ALL curious about his work? "I grew up in Dokkum, Friesland." He gave a tight smile. He watched (y/n) perk up. "I've never heard athat name before." Of course not. "What was it like?" "Oh, rural, full of waterways," He picked at the tart he'd ordered. "I prefer Den Haag. I had my sights set on it for as long as I can remember. I worked towards a VWO specifically to be at the facility here."

"Wow," (Y/n) perked up. "That's impressive." He gave an amused smile. Honestly he could tell this guy anything and he'd be impressed. It was kind of disappointing. Siebren was really looking forward to finding an equal to his intelligence, to his repute. (Y/n) was far from either. This was beginning to be incredibly disappointing.

 "That's something I respect about you, Dr. de Kuiper," (Y/n) nodded as he took a sip of his latte. "You worked towards where you are. You found what you liked and you stuck with it." Siebren raised an eyebrow. What would he know about hard work? He got to where he was by sheer happenstance. He won some sort of universal lottery to get to where he is. "What have you worked towards, Mr. (l/n)?" He sat back in his seat. "Oh, well," (Y/n) hesitated. Of course. "A lot of things, really. My job, mostly. I always wanted to do something in the arts, but I never wanted to fall into the 'starving artist' stereotype. I wanted to have a foundation. I grew up seeing people fail, and I don't know if that made me more determined to succeed or just more scared to fail. But, I made it. I teach classes and I now have another skill set to use." "And is that your struggle, Mr. (l/n)?" Siebren sipped his coffee. So he was some artist. Every city has some starry eyed artist who thinks he can make it big, and ends up working in a restaurant for the rest of his life.

(Y/n) drummed his fingers on the table. "A lot of my struggles have been, well, really personal. But I know what it's like to want to get out of somewhere, so I really respect your hustle." "Really? I thought you said you loved your hometown." "I do, I do. Not all places you want to outgrow are physical." "I see."

There was a silence that followed, that grew more and more uncomfortable. What made it worse is that it didn't seem to bother (y/n) as much as it did Siebren. The professor wasn't used to this kind of stillness. Conferences were debates with him. His seminars were long winded and interspersed with questions. They were fire and lightning and the power of the universe. They were not this. He watched (y/n). He was admiring the coffee shop, the gentle plays of a smile on his lips. He was... comfortable. "This is a really nice place." (Y/n) murmured. "The people here are so polite, and this coffee is delicious."

The damn silence continued until it forced Siebren to accept it. His racing mind calmed, even if just for a moment.

 It was out of the ordinary for him, alarmingly so, to have nothing to talk about. His go-to subject would be his work, but he feared it was lost on (y/n). He'd spent his life denying his rural upbringing, so anything personal was out of the question and... And he didn't have a life. The though dawned on him, dreadfully so. He did not have a life outside of work. He took an interest in music, he attended symphonies, went to soirees, but the reason was always work related. He frequented social gatherings, but the focal point was always meet and greets with other minds in his field. He thought that's what this was going to be.

"You're an interesting person, Mr. (l/n)." Siebren broke the insufferable quiet. The man blinked his curious doe eyes and tilted his head. "Really?" He said. "Thank you." "You are far more... down to earth than I initially thought. Not that I expected you to be arrogant, of course." There was a thinly veiled insult, but it seemed to fly right over (y/n)'s head. "Thank you Dr. de Kuiper. I appreciate that." He grinned. "Same to you. I'm sorry I misjudged you earlier." Siebren thanked him with a dry chuckle. He suddenly felt hyper aware of (y/n)'s eyes on him. "Y'know, Dr. de Kuiper? You and me, we're the same." Siebren's eyes widened. What could be possibly have in common with him but a lobby door? "I can tell you're the type of guy who wants to help people. When you gave me a ride home-" He was trying to charm a fellow scientist... "That was kindness. Now, I might not be educated into astrophysics or... or anything that needs math really, but I do know when people could use a hand. And I really respect people like you who give that hand." Siebren's face heated up.

"Oh... Thank you." "I don't mean to embarrass you-" "No, no, it's quite alright." He cleared his throat, aware his cheeks and ears were probably red. "I'm just surprised, is all. That's very insightful, thank you." "No problem, Dr. de Kuiper." (Y/n) nursed his latte. "I was really rude before. You should know that I really think highly of you. You're humble." He'd never been called that before. "What makes you think that?" "I can tell you see there's more to people than a degree."

Siebren was silent for many moments. He thought about that for many hours after parting ways.

[tlatollotl]

To say that UC San Diego archaeologist Geoffrey Braswell was surprised to discover a precious jewel in Nim Li Punit in southern Belize is something of an understatement.

"It was like finding the Hope Diamond in Peoria instead of New York," said Braswell, who led the dig that uncovered a large piece of carved jade once belonging to an ancient Maya king. "We would expect something like it in one of the big cities of the Maya world. Instead, here it was, far from the center," he said.

The jewel—a jade pendant worn on a king's chest during key religious ceremonies—was first unearthed in 2015. It is now housed at the Central Bank of Belize, along with other national treasures. Braswell recently published a paper in the Cambridge University journal Ancient Mesoamerica detailing the jewel's significance. A second paper, in the Journal of Field Archaeology, describes the excavations.

The pendant is remarkable for being the second largest Maya jade found in Belize to date, said Braswell, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at UC San Diego. The pendant measures 7.4 inches wide, 4.1 inches high and just 0.3 inches thick. Sawing it into this thin, flat form with string, fat and jade dust would have been a technical feat. But what makes the pendant even more remarkable, Braswell said, is that it's the only one known to be inscribed with a historical text. Carved into the pendant's back are 30 hieroglyphs about its first owner.

"It literally speaks to us," Braswell said. "The story it tells is a short but important one." He believes it may even change what we know about the Maya.

Also important: The pendant was "not torn out of history by looters," said Braswell. "To find it on a legal expedition, in context, gives us information about the site and the jewel that we couldn't have otherwise had or maybe even imagined."

Three of the objects buried together by the Maya around A.D. 800. Why were they entombed? Field and artifact photos courtesy Braswell.

Where the jewel was found

Nim Li Punit is a small site in the Toledo District of Belize. It sits on a ridge in the Maya Mountains, near the contemporary village of Indian Creek. Eight different types of parrot fly overhead. It rains nine months of the year.

On the southeastern edge of the ancient Maya zone (more than 250 miles south of Chichen Itza in Mexico, where similar but smaller breast pieces have been found), Nim Li Punit is estimated to have been inhabited between A.D. 150 and 850. The site's name means "big hat." It was dubbed that, after its rediscovery in 1976, for the elaborate headdress sported by one of its stone figures. Its ancient name might be Wakam or Kawam, but this is not certain.

Braswell, UC San Diego graduate students Maya Azarova and Mario Borrero, along with a crew of local people, were excavating a palace built around the year 400 when they found a collapsed, but intact, tomb. Inside the tomb, which dates to about A.D. 800, were 25 pottery vessels, a large stone that had been flaked into the shape of a deity and the precious jade pectoral. Except for a couple of teeth, there were no human remains.

What was it doing there?

The pendant is in the shape of a T. Its front is carved with a T also. This is the Mayan glyph "ik'," which stands for "wind and breath." It was buried, Braswell said, in a curious, T-shaped platform. And one of the pots discovered with it, a vessel with a beaked face, probably depicts a Maya god of wind.

Nim Li Punit was abandoned within a generation of the construction of the tomb that held the jade pendant.

Wind was seen as vital by the Maya. It brought annual monsoon rains that made the crops grow. And Maya kings—as divine rulers responsible for the weather—performed rituals according to their sacred calendar, burning and scattering incense to bring on the wind and life-giving rains. According to the inscription on its back, Braswell said, the pendant was first used in A.D. 672 in just such a ritual.

Two relief sculptures on large rock slabs at Nim Li Punit also corroborate that use. In both sculptures, a king is shown wearing the T-shaped pendant while scattering incense, in A.D. 721 and 731, some 50 and 60 years after the pendant was first worn.

By the year A.D. 800, the pendant was buried, not with its human owner, it seems, but just with other objects. Why? The pendant wasn't a bauble, Braswell said, "it had immense power and magic." Could it have been buried as a dedication to the wind god? That's Braswell's educated hunch.

Maya kingdoms were collapsing throughout Belize and Guatemala around A.D. 800, Braswell said. Population levels plummeted. Within a generation of the construction of the tomb, Nim Li Punit itself was abandoned.

"A recent theory is that climate change caused droughts that led to the widespread failure of agriculture and the collapse of Maya civilization," Braswell said. "The dedication of this tomb at that time of crisis to the wind god who brings the annual rains lends support to this theory, and should remind us all about the danger of climate change."

The most important aspect of the jewel, Braswell says, is a historical text of 30 hieroglyphs on its back, a private message seen mostly by the king who wore it.

Still and again: What was it doing there?

The inscription on the back of the pendant is perhaps the most intriguing thing about it, Braswell said. The text is still being analyzed by Braswell's coauthor on the Ancient Mesoamerica paper, Christian Prager of the University of Bonn. And Mayan script itself is not yet fully deciphered or agreed upon.

But Prager and Braswell's interpretation of the text so far is this: The jewel was made for the king Janaab' Ohl K'inich. In addition to noting the pendant's first use in A.D. 672 for an incense-scattering ceremony, the hieroglyphs describe the king's parentage. His mother, the text implies, was from Cahal Pech, a distant site in western Belize. The king's father died before aged 20 and may have come from somewhere in Guatemala.

It also describes the accession rites of the king in A.D. 647, Braswell said, and ends with a passage that possibly links the king to the powerful and immense Maya city of Caracol, located in modern-day Belize.

"It tells a political story far from Nim Li Punit," Braswell said. He notes that Cahal Pech, the mother's birthplace, for example, is 60 miles away. That's a five-hour bus ride today, and back then would have been many days' walk—through rainforest and across mountains. How did the pendant come to this outpost?

While it's possible it had been stolen from an important place and whisked away to the provinces, Braswell doesn't think so. He believes the pendant is telling us about the arrival of royalty at Nim Li Punit, the founding of a new dynasty. The writing on the pendant is not particularly old by Maya standards, but it's the oldest found at Nim Li Punit so far, Braswell said. It's also only after the pendant's arrival that other hieroglyphs and images of royalty begin to show up on the site's stelae, or sculptured stone slabs.

Graduate student Mario Borrero excavates the substructure of the palace building which held the tomb.

It could be that king Janaab' Ohl K'inich himself moved to Nim Li Punit, Braswell said. Or it could be that a great Maya state was trying to ally with the provinces, expand its power or curry favor by presenting a local king with the jewel. Either way, Braswell believes, the writing on the pendant indicates ties that had been previously unknown.

"We didn't think we'd find royal, political connections to the north and the west of Nim Li Punit," said Braswell, who has been excavating in Belize since 2001 and at Nim Li Punit since 2010. "We thought if there were any at all that they'd be to the south and east."

Even if you ignore the writing and its apparent royal provenance, the jade stone itself is from the mountains of Guatemala, southwest of Belize. There are few earlier indications of trade in that direction either, Braswell said.

We may never know exactly why the pendant came to Nim Li Punit or why it was buried as it was, but Braswell's project to understand the site continues. He plans to return in the spring of 2017. This time, he also wants to see if he might discover a tie to the Caribbean Sea. After all, that's a mere 12 miles downriver, a four-hour trip by canoe.