#just plankton that is frequently referred to with she/her

[rmbunnie]

read from the end of the Sports Maxx fight to the very start of the Jailhouse Lock arc and my GOD do i have thoughts. Mostly about FF, but some not! I would usually put them in the tags, but i have so many i’ll probably just elaborate in the tags.

So, Stone Ocean thoughts AND SPOILERS (up until the jailhouse lock arc) below! (have not done this before, hope it works)

- First of all apparently people hate the Dragon’s Dream fight?? Which I do not get at all. I mean it wasn’t an intense and extremely-well-fought battle or anything but come on the dragon was really really good. Absolutely loved him. I DID hate the Westwood fight, as well as the very end of the Dragon’s Dream fight, but not because it was bad, but because it was SO VERY GROSS. Westwood is officially my least favorite JoJo character just because every new panel he was in made me physically cringe in disgust.

- On the topic of Dragon’s Dream, I got the whole Feng Shui set up pretty fine but i do NOT get that thing they did with the water and FF opening her mouth being a bad thing, whatever was going on just did not convey to me. It kinda reminded me of that scene with the ghosts in Rohan at the Louvre? Props to FF for fucking BITING Kenzou though, I laughed out loud (and the “attack and defense” comment? again, that dragon was GOOD)

- Also, the appeal of Pucci hasn’t really connected with me yet but him putting a CD IN GUCCIO TO PLAY HIS FAVORITE SONG WHEN SOMETHING GOES WELL FOR HIM?? That GOT ME. God that was so so funny of him. Speaking of Guccio i honestly think Survivor was a pretty cool stand ability, it did remind me of that stupid joke from here about the “bazinga frenzy shout” thing though so there’s that.

- So Anasui’s here now! Not going to lie I dislike him by default, mainly because he and Jolyne just don’t work as a ship for me, but everything else about him is actually pretty great. His discussions with FF were stupid funny, overall he was just pretty good for comedy, and his “disassembly” thing was REALLY interesting to me. Sometimes I don’t like the way he looks in the pngs and such, but I think Diver Down looks SUPER complementary color-wise with him, to the point where it improves his overall appearance when he has his stand out. The anime choice to make his hair more purple toned is a downgrade to a ridiculous extent though. Also, although i don’t like them together, his crush on Jolyne made for some jokes that really landed for me, with him going in for romantic moments OVER AND OVER in the Yo-Yo Ma scenes (constantly getting absolutely nothing of what Jolyne was actually trying to communicate) and asking FF to trip her so he can make sure he rescues her dramatically. Also worth noting, his crush on Jolyne itself doesn’t bug me, he’s actually more respectful about it then i thought he’d be (to her) and some of his lines, like “i can see hope for myself through you” (paraphrased) were kinda interesting, I just don’t really see her reciprocating.

- I kinda skipped over this, but Ermes in the Sports Maxx fight was so so good. I love her automatically, I think KISS is a really neat stand ability and overall she’s just my favorite Stone Ocean character (although that’s heavily contested by FF as of now.) I think the way they introduced her backstory and vendetta against him was really good, with the combination of Jolyne just happening to not know this important information about a close friend and the implied conversations that FF is having with Ermes and other people between events, I just liked it really well. The “when i peel this sticker off, it’ll come back together. And this next one is also for Gloria, the next one, and the one after that.” was a VERY good moment for me, and the way Ermes uses her stickers really showed her creativity and intelligence, which overall made her a more serious and well-rounded character to me considering most of her other moments up to that point were either displays of knowledge or comedic. Overall, Ermes was super likable in this fight! (also, iirc she said something like “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life forcing myself to forget that my sister was thrown away in the gutter” which was a RIDICULOUSLY good line and overall reminded me heavily of early SDC Polnareff. Ermes’s dedication to putting Sports Maxx in a grave to the point where she went to jail on purpose just to get at him is SUCH a interesting and cool trait for her to have, it’s pretty much impossible for me to dislike her when she has that amount of drive and love for her sister)

- Also the line “I really, at your side, want to cry as hard as i can, but i don’t think i have time to cry right now” was so sweet and also kinda uh loving to be saying to your bestie

- Lastly, Foo Fighters. My GOD was that sad. Bucciarati is still at the top for “deaths that made me the saddest” but christ alive is FF a close second. I could pretty much tell from the moment they separated that FF wasn’t gonna be part of the story much longer but the DETAILS as fate kinda just slowly closed in on them ruined me. The fact that even after Atroe’s body is destroyed FF shapes her plankton into the shape of her down to the hat because that’s the body that she got to have an identity and self in, the way i was so hopeful when Weather Report came through with the rain and when “Weather Report” showed up through the mist, the “this was my intellect, I was alive,” the “I was so scared i would forget to say goodbye, but at the end i remembered i have to say it” ESPECIALLY with that line kind of doubling in meaning because FF only learned norms like “you say goodbye after a conversation” so recently, it was all SO mean! I really really liked it though! I’m sure it was the intention, but I was so so worried that FF wouldn’t be allowed a soul like all the other deaths because they’re just a stand/plankton, it would be way too mean if that had happened. It’s a bit sad to think that FF won’t be able to come back if they use the stand disk again, but also kind, because the impermanence of FF means they got to really be an person, and as such are treated as a stand user would be. If they could come back when the disk is used again, it would be invalidating to their choice to become something other than a stand and have an personhood that is shaped by experiences because it would mean “really, FF is only a stand, and like an object that can be replaced, instead of a being with a life.” It would be a lot sadder if everything FF worked to be was destroyed just so they could exist in a lesser way again.

tl;dr it was really good and i love Ermes and FF but i’m so very sad

[dailynewswebsite]

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Getting the job achieved. A feminine Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) with out the help of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s Nationwide Zoo

An Asian water dragon hatched from an egg on the Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo, and her keepers have been shocked. Why? Her mom had by no means been with a male water dragon. By means of genetic testing, zoo scientists found the newly hatched feminine, born on Aug. 24, 2016, had been produced by means of a reproductive mode known as parthenogenesis.

Parthenogenesis is a Greek phrase that means “virgin creation,” however particularly refers to feminine asexual replica. Whereas many individuals could assume this conduct is the area of science fiction or non secular texts, parthenogenesis is surprisingly frequent all through the tree of life and is present in a wide range of organisms, together with crops, bugs, fish, reptiles and even birds. As a result of mammals, together with human beings, require sure genes to return from sperm, mammals are incapable of parthenogenesis.

Creating offspring with out sperm

Sexual replica includes a feminine and a male, every contributing genetic materials within the type of eggs or sperm, to create a singular offspring. The overwhelming majority of animal species reproduce sexually, however females of some species are in a position to produce eggs containing all of the genetic materials required for replica.

A feminine freshwater water flea (Daphnia magna) carrying parthenogenetic eggs. buccaneership/iStock by way of Getty Photos Plus

Females of those species, which embrace some wasps, crustaceans and lizards, reproduce solely by means of parthenogenesis and are known as obligate parthenogens.

A bigger variety of species expertise spontaneous parthenogenesis, finest documented in animals saved in zoo settings, just like the Asian water dragon on the Nationwide Zoo or a blacktip shark on the Virginia Aquarium. Spontaneous parthenogens sometimes reproduce sexually, however could have occasional cycles that produce developmentally prepared eggs.

Scientists have discovered spontaneous parthenogenesis could also be a heritable trait, that means females that abruptly expertise parthenogenesis could be extra more likely to have daughters that may do the identical.

How can females fertilize their very own eggs?

For parthenogenesis to occur, a series of mobile occasions should efficiently unfold. First, females should be capable of create egg cells (oogenesis) with out stimulation from sperm or mating. Second, the eggs produced by females want to start to develop on their very own, forming an early stage embryo. Lastly, the eggs should efficiently hatch.

Every step of this course of can simply fail, notably step two, which requires the chromosomes of DNA contained in the egg to double, making certain a full complement of genes for the creating offspring. Alternatively, the egg may be “fake fertilized” by leftover cells from the egg manufacturing course of often called polar our bodies. Whichever technique kicks off the event of the embryo will in the end decide the extent of genetic similarity between the mom and her offspring.

The occasions that set off parthenogenesis should not absolutely understood, however seem to incorporate environmental change. In species which can be able to each sexual replica and parthenogenesis, comparable to aphids, stressors like crowding and predation could trigger females to change from parthenogenesis to sexual replica, however not the opposite means round. In a minimum of one sort of freshwater plankton, excessive salinity seems to trigger the swap.

Benefits of self-reproduction

Although spontaneous parthenogenesis seems to be uncommon, it does present some advantages to the feminine who can obtain it. In some instances, it will possibly permit females to generate their very own mating companions.

The intercourse of parthenogenetic offspring is decided by the identical technique intercourse is decided within the species itself. For organisms the place intercourse is decided by chromosomes, just like the XX feminine and XY male chromosomes in some bugs, fish and reptiles, a parthenogenetic feminine can produce offspring solely with the intercourse chromosomes she has at hand – which suggests she is going to all the time produce XX feminine offspring. However for organisms the place females have ZW intercourse chromosomes (comparable to in snakes and birds), all dwelling offspring produced will both be ZZ, and subsequently male, or way more not often, WW, and feminine.

Between 1997 and 1999, a checkered gartersnake saved on the Phoenix Zoo gave delivery to 2 male offspring that in the end survived to maturity. If a feminine mated along with her parthenogenetically produced son, it might represent inbreeding. Whereas inbreeding may end up in a number of genetic issues, from an evolutionary perspective it’s higher than having no offspring in any respect. The flexibility of females to supply male offspring by means of parthenogenesis additionally means that asexual replica in nature could also be extra frequent than scientists ever realized earlier than.

Biologists have noticed, over lengthy intervals of time, that species which can be obligate parthenogens continuously die out from illness, parasitism or modifications in habitat. The inbreeding inherent in parthenogenetic species seems to contribute to their quick evolutionary timelines.

Present analysis on parthenogenesis seeks to grasp why some species are able to each intercourse and parthenogenesis, and whether or not occasional sexual replica could be sufficient for a species to outlive.

Mercedes Burns has beforehand acquired funding from the Nationwide Science Basis.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/virgin-births-from-parthenogenesis-how-females-from-some-species-can-reproduce-without-males/ via https://growthnews.in