#lag is short for their scientific name

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Lags are the specialist little guys in the world and it’s a shame not many people know this.

[papillon82fluttersby]

Famous Five Art Nostalgia #08 – Part 2

Introductory post

Masterpost

In this post, you will find the set of illustrations that featured in the special “Idéal Bibliothèque” collection.

🚲🦉🚪 Five Get into Trouble – Le Club des Cinq en péril

Original publication date: 1949 (UK), 1957 (France)

(Full cover by Jeanne Hives, 1962)

Plot summary (adapted from Wikipedia):

Siblings Julian, Dick and Anne are spending the Easter school holidays at Kirrin Cottage with their cousin Georgina and her dog, Timmy. After George's parents, Quentin and Fanny, depart for some scientific conferences, the Five embark on a cycling and camping holiday.

(Uncle Quentin doesn’t always know how to deal with George’s exuberance) [Note: I love this picture of George, she looks so cute!]

(Onwards to adventure!)

(A pastoral start to the holidays)

At a lake, they encounter a boy named Richard Kent, who wants to spend the day cycling with them. He promises to stay at his aunt's house at the end of the day, if his mother gives him permission. The children agree, and Richard joins them without bothering to request parental permission.

(A refreshing bath at the lake)

(Sharing breakfast with Richard)

[Note 1: Oh jeez. I couldn’t read the caption on the previous low-quality picture, but Richard is talking with George about their respective short-tempered fathers, and Richard asks, “Does he hurt you?” The implications are bleak. 🙁]

[Note 2: On a lighter note, Richard gives Timmy a piece of bread and butter in the French version, compared to “a nice little tidbit of roll and anchovy paste” in the original text!]

(Richard joins the Five on their cycling tour)

Richard is later chased by a car driven by Rooky, one of his wealthy father's former bodyguards, who was fired because Richard had told tales about him. Rooky's associates chase Richard on foot in Middlecombe Woods, where they mistake Dick for Richard and kidnap him. Richard finds Julian and George, who berate him for his mendacity and cowardice.

(Timmy, Julian, George, and Richard, lagging behind, hurry back to Dick and Anne)

(Richard is ashamed after being berated by George and Julian for his cowardice, but kind-hearted Anne is sympathetic)

The children trace Dick to Owl's Dene, and on the way Julian observes a man changing clothes and another man throwing clothes down a well.

(Strange dealings at night)

(Owl’s Dene’s eponymous guardian)

(The children’s first sight of Owl’s Dene)

At Owl's Dene, the children sneak into the house but are caught and imprisoned, while Timmy remains outside.

(Caught!)

That night, Julian finds Dick locked in an upstairs room and discovers a secret room with a man sleeping in it.

(A happy reunion despite the tense faces)

(In the morning, Julian makes one of his many delightful quips to a disconcerted Aggie [Margot]. I love how George and Anne just seem to be enjoying the show! 🤣)

(George orders Timmy to stay down while a car enters the grounds; Timmy is Not Pleased)

The next morning, Rooky arrives and sees his associates have kidnapped the wrong boy. The Five and Richard are nearly freed, but Richard is recognised and they are imprisoned in the grounds of the house.

(Trapped on the grounds!)

(Richard is shaken after seeing Rooky again, an attitude for which George has no patience at all)

(George feeds the household’s chicken with what Hunchy [La Bosse], one of their captors, believes to be poisoned food intended for Timmy. A well-deserved payback!)

When one of the gang members leaves in their car, Richard hides in the boot, narrowly escapes being recaptured and then goes to the police.

(Richard, with some remaining traces of soot in his hair)

(Richard at the police station)

When the police arrive at Owl's Dene, Julian shows them the secret room containing an escaped convict and stolen diamonds.

(Final scuffle with the villains)

(Dick, Anne and George hide in the secret room along with the escaped convict and retrieve the stolen diamonds)

The Five later join Richard for a meal and praise his heroism.

~~~~~~

Bonus:

This text appears on the inside of the cover, and gives a teaser for the story… But you’ll see that, for such a short text, it contains a remarkable amount of nonsense:

The first sentence says that the Five are going on a cycling tour to go camping on Kirrin Island. Oh wow, does Kirrin Island have roads now (and a bridge to go there)…? 🤔

The second sentence clearly states that Richard gets kidnapped by strangers in front of Dick and Anne. Sigh… Could these people just maybe leaf through the book to check that what they’re writing is accurate? 😓

The last line indicates the targeted readership. I assume that “F. G.” stands for “filles / garçons”, or “boys and girls.” Okay, fine. What I take issue with is the age limit: “up to 14 years old.” Well, poop on you, I fully intend to read these books well into my 140s! 👻

~~~~~~

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

[pencilxpaper]

Mostly FREE Vampire Books

I am not as well-read with vampires, but I'm making up for lost time. Here are the vampire books I have read and my take on them.

In this, Carmilla, Dracula, For the Blood is the LIfe, Already Dead, I am Legned, and the first three novels of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. For all books, I will try to include a link to either a free version or to a borrowable version from the internet archive. You can make an account and check out the books legally.

Carmilla by LeFanu, Joseph Sheridan

The classic. The one, the only. It's a short read, which is disappointing. However, the ending is very gory with a scene that would have looked amazing in a modern movie. If you want a steamy reading of the novel on audio book, Audible has THIS beauty with a full cast and some heavy breathing. However, this audiobook version is provided free by the internet archive.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

I love this book. I did Dracula Daily this year, and I'll probably do it again next year. I'm going to listen to the audiobook of it for funsies. The beginning is, i think, the best part. The ending was disappointing, but the novel is still very exciting and scary.

For the Blood is the Life By F. Marion Crawford

I feel like this short story is actually a better example of a "modern" vampire story. I've read a lot of older vampire stories, and they all are a little too steeped in old lore to be really satisfying as a modern reader. However, this one has everything. A really creepy beginning. An exciting story. A romantic vampire seduction leads to potential death. The vampire is a woman and justified, so in a modern retelling, I think she would be the hero.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

I read this on audiobook at 2x speed, because the POV character is kind of a jerk. An interesting look at trying to explain vampirism from a scientific perspective. It does not have the same ending as the movie by the same name. Misogyny abounds. But a woman ends up winning in the end so... maybe? I will admit, I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it was engaging. I enjoyed the author trying to explain away the lore from a logical perspective.

Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damed

Interview with a Vampire was a fine book. I read it at the same time I was reading Dracula for the first time, and there were definitely moments where Dracula outshined it, but then others where Interview was obviously more interesting because it was more modern. The movie is more engaging and a shorter investment of time. However, Armond is different in this one, so you kind of have to read it to get the next book (OR, watch the movie and read the Wikipedia summary of the book to get the differences). Vampire Lestat is a really good book for the most part. It lags after the middle but picks back up for the ending. I could have read more about Lestat's early days, and I could care less about all the exposition. Queen of the Damned was not a fun read. I can not stress this enough. It was mostly boring. I only read it because I've been told you have to read it to enjoy the rest of the series, which gets better. Lots of exposition. Any chapter in Letsat's POV is great. Everything else is not very exciting. Overall, I don't like Anne Rice. I HATE that her vampires communicate telepathically. It's cool and all, but it makes for very boring reading. Entire chapters where the characters are standing still in a room, not saying anything, not doing anything, while one of them "talks" to the other about the past with their mind. There was real potential here to "show" us what was happening, but oh no. It's all done through exposition. It was really innovative for its time, but because so much of her lore has been incorporated into modern vampire stuff, it doesn't feel fresh anymore. Especially when we get to Queen of the Damned, Anne feels very pretentious in her writing. She includes poems from her husband that I don't feel like add anything to the text, and in fact take you right out of it because you're reminded that she's literally including her husband's poetry. ALL THAT SAID, the books provide that FEELING of wanting to read vampire fiction. They're very atmospheric, so I will continue to read them and enjoy them for that aspect.

Already Dead by Charlie Hudson

The only non-free one on the list. I included it, because I read it. Main character is a vampire detective, but he doesn't have fangs. I think vampirism is a stand-in for AIDS, but that's a guess. An interesting concept and I did sort of enjoy the read, but it lacks (for me) the classic vampire lore to make it really fun.

That's all for now. More later as I can pull them to gether.

@rinniiart, I hope this wasn't too much. I wanted to take some time and find free versions of things as I went so you and others wouldn't have to shell over a lot of money.

[ddarker-dreams]

Lock, do you listen to music while writing ? If you do, what genre of music do you usually write for HWR ? also if it's ok, can you talk about the six most wealthy family in survosia and the religion :D for oc purpose? Hope you're doing well today Lock !

the can of worms you've opened by asking this omg ... i hope you don't mind what you've gotten yourself into. AHEM . let's see if i can stop myself from rambling. i listen to the nier soundtrack when writing for HWR!! specifically nier replicant/automata's ost <3 gets me hype and in the mindset for writing the series.

okay okay so...

referring to my scuffed map, let us delve in. there are six provinces, each of which are represented by a noble family, who ultimately report to a king who sits in the capital (srosa). the only exception to this is winthros, the lil sliver, due to their main noble family starting up a rebellion and getting curb stomped by the others families. they lost lots of their land and stature in the process. i have a basic rundown of each of the areas description, i'll put it under the cut for the sake of my follower's sanity.

Ovetta

Ovetta has the most isolationist approach than the other territories. It’s a mountainous and cold region, boasting expansive forests covered in snow year-round. The people there tend to stick closely to tradition and don’t think highly of the monarchy. Soil is devoid of the necessary nutrients to sustain crops, so hunting is a common practice. The usual goods shipped out from Ovetta tend to be animal meat, prized sap from Leafus trees that are native to the region, and lumber. There is more collective civilization in the areas bordering Retheros and Evest. People further north tend to be nomadic, moving from different areas, building and abandoning settlements. The Last Keep is considered sacred ground, the area where Regalia was given to humanity. A family spanning generations — the Quin — guard and maintain this ground, where only high ranking government officials may visit. It is said that this is where the goddesses speak to their people. Ovetta is the area most associated with the goddess Veathias.

Vaxis

Vaxis is considered one of the most revered territories for their contributions to modern medicine. It is governed by the long-lasting Avalor dynasty, the current head of the family being Victor Avalor. Vaxis serves as a hotspot for the scientific field. Numerous cities boast world-renowned universities. It is the second most populated territory after Retheros and considered to hold the second most influence in government affairs. Vaxis holds a science expo every year, titled Vax Grand, where the brightest around the world are invited to display their research. It is the single event that allows foreigners to visit on special visas. Vaxis is the area most associated with the goddess of the same name, Vaxis. (She wasn’t too good with naming stuff and is thought to have named the region after herself). 

Evest

Evest falls just short of producing the highest amount of commerce, lagging behind Retheros and Vaxis. It similarly has a high place in the academic world and holds the most historic landmarks. Evest exports large amounts of prized fabrics. The plant native to the region, Wispos, can create fine threads that are largely sought after for their value. These threads can also be used to form strings of instruments, creating a unique, high pitched noise with noticeable vibrato. Evest’s capital, Villa, is an oceanside city. It holds the largest harbor in all of Survosia. Evest is the area most associated with the goddess Aovilla. 

Winthros

Winthros is a hilly district haunted by the past. The people of Winthros are openly antagonistic towards the other provinces, rooted firmly their disgraced loss in a civil war conflict nearly a century prior. The noble house at the time were forced to surrender much of their land as a consequence for their part in the war. The region has a scattered population, small towns making up for most of it rather than bustling cities. Centuries ago, it flourished under a precious gem rush, far surpassing the other territories in wealth and influence.

Now Winthros is a shadow of what it once was, placing bitterness in many of the inhabitants. 

Winthros is the area most associated with the goddess Onella. 

Camiera

Camiera has been given nicknames such as “Survosia’s Prized Gem”, and for its natural beauty. The rich culture was birthed in Camiera, a place where the arts thrive like no other. Survosia's oldest theatre can be found there, and is where countless classics are performed. Festivals and parades are common year-round, the most notable festival taking place on the last day of summer. The festival, The Mother’s Blessing, holds cultural significance for all Survosians. It is said that every Survosian, no matter their region of birth, should attend the festival at least once. The people of Camiera are described as friendly and accommodating. Waterfalls are in abundance in this region and hydropower is common as a result. Camiera is the area most associated with the goddess of the same name, Camiera. (She’s a touch vain). 

Retheros

Retheros is the bustling, industrious, and most populated of the six territories. It serves as a melting pot of sorts, creating its own unique culture from fragments of the other regions. The Royal Palace and Capital all reside inside in Retheros. It is the territory with the most developed urban life, boasting the highest population in Survosia, and putting out billions of Jenny each year. A growing criminal problem serves as a pressing problem for Retheros. Cities like Hiiro, Montel, and Feros boast the highest crime rates in Survosia. Public transportation is widespread and commonplace. Railroads connect every major area in Retheros, making it the easiest place to get around. Retheros is the area most associated with the goddess Surki.

The Religious Lore (basically the survosian's holy text but sparknotes version... yes i wrote a bible for a chrollo x reader fic don't look at me like that)

Yitrositia (Yih-troh-see-truh), an omnipotent being, was a collection of energy and emotions formed into an empathic creature. She desperately longed to fill the world with virtuous beings like herself, lonely beyond all imagining. She feared that one day, formed from her hands, might squabble against one another. So to prevent this, Yitrositia created one daughter from a fragment of her soul, or more specifically, her tears. Tears of joy over the possibility to have someone precious to share her time with. Vaxis (Vah-kshis). To make her a most perfect creation, she transferred Vaxis almost all of her wisdom, and in turn losing much of her own sensibility. Vaxis and Yitrositia were content for some centuries. Vaxis was capable of logical reasoning, and Yitrositia balanced her out with empathy.

Yitrositia, now lacking the same wisdom that she had before, would often entertain the idea of producing more daughters from her soul. Vaxis would remind her of why she had only created one daughter in the first place, saying that should her mother create more, it’s destined for failure. Yitrositia eventually went behind her daughter’s back and created two more children. Camiera (Cah-mee-ah-rah), imbued with Yitrositia’s playfulness. Aovilla (Ah-oh-vee-luh), imbued with Yitrositia’s love. Vaxis expressed the betrayal she felt for her mother going against her wishes, but slowly eased up as she began to appreciate her new siblings.

The three siblings seemed to be in relative harmony, but they began to ask for more from their mother, who was easily swayed by them. She asked each daughter what they wanted their next sibling to be like. Vaxis wanted another reasonable voice, and thus, Onella (Oh-nell-uh) was imbued with logic. Camiera asked for Surki (Sur-kee), imbued with joy. Finally, Aovilla asked for Veathias (Vee-ah-thee-us), imbued with curiosity.

Yitrositia loved her children dearly but had been reduced to a shell of her former self to maintain them. As she had feared initially, the siblings began to bicker amongst one another. They wanted creations of their own to watch over, but could not decide how. Vaxis and Onella believed an iron fist to be the best method of ruling, Aovilla and Surki believed this approach was harsh. They wanted to be friends with their subjects and allow them to prosper on their own. Camiera and Veathias expressed sentiments on both sides. Yitrositia was pained by the sight of her beloved children growing further apart from one another.

The goddesses used the technique in secret that their mother had utilized for their creation. Their abilities were no where near as potent as Yitrositia’s in her prime, and as such, the resulting creations were far more fragile than the goddesses. These creations became known as “improper vessels” or “humans”. Even with their many imperfections in comparison to the divine, the goddesses took to them, and sought to prove their methods of ruling to be superior over the others.

Clashes of opinion and territory became inevitable. Although the goddesses all took their people to different corners of the continent, their self-isolationist approach were not shared by the free willed people. Miniature skirmishes became commonplace. Eventually, human blood was spilled and sunk into the soil, angering the goddesses into action. Thus began a time of war. All the while, Yitrositia remained abandoned and forgotten by the six children she poured everything into creating. With her power too diminished to interfere herself, she instead sought out the sixth strongest families. She offered them a deal — something akin to the power of the gods themselves, but in a way mortals could digest and utilize.

She instructed them to cannibalize her prodigal children’s hearts, which were formed by her tears; the sole source of the god’s miraculous power. They gathered their forces and led a charge against the divine. Overwhelmed, the wayward gods fell victim to their people. Each member of the six families ate the hearts as instructed. Power scourged through their veins, molten as magma, a rush that heightened their abilities and reaction time. As revenge for their people’s betrayal, the gods cursed anyone who would use this ability to experience excruciating pain and disfigurement.

This would be where some branch off in their beliefs — some people think that the goddesses weren’t actually killed, but that the humans who consumed their hearts absorbed the evil brewing within them which came as a result of their amassed power. Then there are those who argue that goddesses went into a long slumber and by the time they awoke, they mellowed out, and decided to peacefully guide the descendants of their original people as reparation for the trouble they caused. Others think that the goddesses permanently perished after having their hearts consumed. Their stories still continue to live on and influence the lives of many believers to this day regardless. 

Six Major Families

House Quin of Ovetta. Their single child: Blase Quin.

House Avalor of Vaxis. Led by Lord Victor Avalor and Lady Dinara Avalor before her death. Their three children, from eldest to youngest: Estella Avalor, [First] Avalor, and Violetta/Ash Avalor.

House Linarie of Evest. Their two children, from eldest to youngest: Lyra Linarie and Mina Linarie.

House Colevine of Winthros. Their single child: Yavatta Colevine. (HWR Reader killed her dad and Estella killed her mom WHOOOOPS)

House Brelanno of Camiera. Their single child: Calder Brelanno.

House Othena of Retheros. Their three children, from eldest to youngest: Zohar Othena, Adar Othena (he got a special mention in the story because the lore of him running off and starting a motorcycle gang made me laugh, and yes, i wrote a short story of HWR Reader talking to him), and Marianna Othena.

to give a basic rundown of these mfs, they all really hate each other, but don't have to interact that often. colevine is a rare case since they're figureheads more than anything, thus they're relatively disposable. hence why HWR Reader was fine with killer lord colevine in the first chapter and her suspicion over him having enough money to host a grand party.

if you managed to get through this ... i applaud you. thank you for giving me an excuse to ramble about my worldbuilding.

[demenior]

Dem’s Big Post About The Spn Fics Part 1/2

aka The Wrap Up to celebrate To Exist Again and To Become a Man now being finished!

(This will be a long post. This is your only warning.)

Admittedly this is a bit of a weird thing to be doing, but I wanted to try it out for 3 reasons: 

I love talking about my own work and 

It functions really well as a self-reflective tool for me to improve on, and 

I can answer some big questions people might have because there was a LOT of worldbuilding in these stories. 

We’ll start off with reflective stuff, and move into the juicier world-building focused stuff later into the post. There will be major spoilers for both fics to come!

To begin with a funny anecdote, Why Did I Write These Stories?

I was beginning to write and work out the story that I wanted to write for Spn (what will now be To Destroy a Man. As I was writing the scene, I realized I had a LOT of ideas and while I was trying to avoid as much exposition as I could, it became quickly apparent that I was needing to create my own au (this scene eventually became chapter 34 of To Become a Man). A short prequel seemed like a good idea, to quickly hash out the ‘prior’ events that I needed to go through so all the readers could be on the same page. While plotting out prequel points, I realized Sam and Dean were going to have drastically different experiences during the same time period, and I was trying to figure out who’s pov would be better for which scenes, and how to keep momentum when they’re going through such radically different types of changes. Ultimately I decided to split their povs, which I also thought would be a fun project! And I naively assumed each pov would take about 2 chapters each, rounding out to maybe 15k total.

I had my ending points: Dean n Cas soul-merged and (basically) married, Cas on the lam from heaven and a complete anomaly, and Sam juiced up full of powers and a weird mix of archangel and antichrist but still 100% human and ready to fight God. 

Now I needed to add weight to these changes, so I wrote 200k of build-up.

Am I proud of these fics?

OF COURSE I AM!!! These are the longest fics I’ve ever written AND finished AND in the fastest freakin turnaround ever (both were finished writing, barring edits, in like 6 months holy shit)

I didn’t write a single scene that I “didn’t” want to write. If I had trouble writing it, as in it was fighting me, I scrapped it. Most obviously was the scene in Dean’s pov where he and Sam were intended to meet some other hunters and Dean declines working with them because he’s nervous about being outed as queer. It was meant to be a good scene! I wanted to introduce some new characters! But it just wasn’t working so I said ‘thank you, next!’. 

But it means this story was an absolute joy to write. Because for a while all I was doing was ‘if I wanted to write one scene into supernatural, what would I write?’ and then just DID that!! It’s why there’s a lot of ‘Salmondean do dumb shit or have really dumb heartfelt conversations’ scenes.

Would I change anything?

If I’d been less eager to start sharing, I might have planned out the story beats a little tighter so there were less ‘soft’ chapters and a draw/pull for people to come back and keep reading. I felt Dean’s story specifically lagged at points and could have used some tighter editing (there was a noticeable lull in directed movement between Dean n Cas getting together, until Sam corrupts Amy).

I also probably would have held Sam’s story until I’d finished Dean’s so I could make the two line up better! Probably could have inserted more scenes into Sam’s fic that way, and made sure things were a little more consistent. In an ideal world one concept I had was to release 1 chapter from each pov every week that would correspond to the same time frame so we’d be getting real-time SalmonDean pov narrative. Unfortunately that didn’t work!

The biggest takeaway overall is for me to focus more on what moves the plot, and to make my scenes do more than 1 thing so I can cut down on wordcount and increase my efficiency. 

Of course every writer will find things they want to fix in anything they’ve ever written, so these are minor “mistakes” at best. I’m so dang proud of these fics. 

Onto more interesting things!

How Did I Put These Fics Together (because it’s different than anything I’ve ever done before)

Normally when I write a story, I plan out the beats I need to hit, see where I need to insert any kind of foreshadowing/buildup, and then write from A to B to C and so on and so forth. Hence, this is why I can normally post things as I complete chapters, because it’s all a linear progression. 

For these two stories, rather than linear plot/a normal story structure, I just sat and free-wrote any and every scene that came to mind and then pieced them into a kinda-linear form like putting a quilt together. You’ll note that this is why there’s not a lot of internal callback or a feeling of sense of time flowing within the fic (save for points where I went back and specifically edited it in). How long does the story take place over? Hard to say! Your author has the barest grasp on linear time even on a good day (how many times did I say ‘see you on [wrong day]’ at the end of chapters lmaaoooo)

This also meant EXTENSIVE editing on the back end once I decided in what order I wanted my ‘quilt pieces’ to be. Hard to say if this is a bonus or a negative!

But I did want to try and capture the vibe of the lives they lead, as a bit of a ‘slice of life’-style story, when the slice of life is the profound weirdness of the Winchester roaming life, and how things are status quo- until everyone almost dies oh shit!! And then they have to keep living because no therapy we die/undie like Winchesters. Do I think I captured this effectively? Hmm. Good question. 

Dem where the FUCK did the inspiration for a lot of the magic and creature weirdness even come from?

Honestly? Music, primarily. And completely mishearing lyrics!

Nightwish ‘Ever Dream’: the line is ‘my song can but borrow you grace’ and because my brain is scrambled eggs on a good day, I heard ‘grace’ ‘song’ and ‘borrow’ in that order and have had, for YEARS, the mental image of Cas borrowing Dean’s soul to power himself up for battle.

From there I’ve always been enamored with the ‘wavelength of celestial intent’ descriptor that Cas drops in s6 for “what he is”. 

I also really like ocean metaphors mostly because I’ve been obsessed with the ocean and things in it since I was like… 5??? So really this was me just rolling with what I know lmao. I love using (somewhat) accurate scientific metaphors for very intangible things!

I was also finishing my degree in biology/ecology while writing these fics and I think it shows

Stars ‘The Night Starts Here’ gives us the series title and the fic titles. Except for ‘To Exist Again’. TEA was almost titled ‘The Upwards Fall’ because I wanted all 3 of the Main Stories to have titles from this song, but I couldn’t make anything else work in tandem with the series name ‘The Love It Takes’ while also working for Sam’s personal story. So Sam, as always, is the rebel <3

Stars ‘Up In Our Bedroom, After The War’ is basically the vibes of the whole story. TFW has been, literally, to hell and back!!! There’s a bit of melancholy and sadness, a lingering dark, but the chance of a bright new tomorrow and a soft start.

Let’s Talk About Themes in The Story! What were you looking to accomplish? 

My earliest notes for TFW are, as follows:

Dean’s journey of self-discovery (who am I when I’m not trying to be Dad?)

Dean wants to settle down! He wants a big family! He wants to be domestic!

Basically: Dean doesn’t want to have a short life of hunting. He wants to live!

Dean’s journey of realizing he’s bi, and him accepting that

Dean’s relationship to Sam is both older brother/parent 

And continuing Dean balancing these roles while also letting Sam be an adult 

Dean’s Big Issues/Fears about never being good enough for people to want to stay with him (these are effectively highlighted in that Cas thinks he’s not useful enough to be wanted)

Sub Plot:

Castiel’s autonomy

Cas’ fall from grace, to trying to restore Heaven, to wrecking it further

He’s majorly depressed by the end of s7 (before purgatory)

Wants to stay in Purgatory but doesn’t tell Dean

Remains depressed after leaving, but resolved to keep living on because he’s clearly meant for something

After the seraphim reveal: does he have free will?! How does he grapple with this? How does he live in a way he can be proud of?

And lastly

Sam gets his powers back CAUSE THATS HOT

where tf did they go????

he got them from Lucifer?????

sleeper agent??????

Sam is The Chosen One

Accepts that he is More Than Human and to celebrate all parts of him

Lucifer and Sam friends?? Work together????

Sam needs autonomy in his choices/his life

If you compare these to the overall arc of TFW within the two stories, I think I got a lot of them! But you’ll also note a lot of these things aren’t concrete goals that are easily measurable (ex: Dean wants to learn to bake pie. In chapter 1 he starts a fire in the kitchen. By the end of the story he finally makes A Good Pie.) part of the lack of concrete milestones was why I felt it was important to tell Dean (and Cas’) story by going back to the point they meet, in s4! Dean’s gradual change towards his feelings for Cas, his relationship to Sam (heavily influenced by the s7 events of this fic) and then his own relationship with himself were such slow burns that I felt it would be a disservice to try and cram a change like that into a timeline like “1 year”.

I felt like these subtle changes and adjustments actually felt a lot truer to life-- people often change in very small, gradual ways over time, even without realizing it and often times not consistently! If only we could all gain skills like the sims, where we can easily level up and remain at that high level of performance! 

So the Guy Who Ate Satan, A Celestial Nuke that Developed Sentience, and Dean walk into a bar…

Sam’s story in Spn The Show has always been a ‘chosen one’ kind of narrative. Sam is living with one foot in the realm of the monsters, and I wanted to bring that back full force! It really makes sense for him that he should only continue to grow in power, might, and magic!! As the story progresses.

Cas also got a power up! I do desperately love in the show that he was kind of a grunt/nothing angel, and so even when he defected to TFW he was a huge help for them, but in the scale of things he was an annoying fly to most other angels. It really worked for the underdog story of s4/5. In this I wanted to give him a power up, and originally it was actually going to be close contact with Sam that eventually changed Cas into something unknown (you can still see traces of this in ch34 of TBAM, where Death remarks ‘Castiel could be [Sam’s] first creation’. But for a combo of reasons: how Sam’s magic needed to have intent, the entire concept of free will and consent, and how much I wanted Dean and Cas to have their effect on each other, I decided to go with the route that Cas has actually always been something angel-adjacent rather than becoming something new. TFW/Supernatural has always been about free will and making your own story, so I amplified that with Cas.

Dean has always been A Normal Guy, which is part of the appeal of him and Sam (2 normal dudes!) taking on the Very Not Normal. As explained above, Sam’s story is ‘normal guy finds out he’s the chosen one’ and so, in a story about very large concepts and huge monsters and acts of magic, I felt it was very important to keep Dean as normal as possible. To the point it became a running gag to me, personally, in that ‘no matter what cool shit happens around him, Dean has to stay as Just A Guy’. And it’s a very humanizing role that allows the story to have the scale it does!

What were the most important themes in your story?

Sam’s Autonomy

I wasn’t even going to include the plot about Lucifer’s death in this story— that was going to come up in a later story, actually! And rather than Sam having ate Lucifer, the original idea was that they’d become a SamandLucifer entity (this harkens back to a concept I wanted to write when Swan Song first aired). 

That storyline would have involved a lot of mental ‘Sam and Lucifer discuss what it means to live, which one of them is more worthy of life and if they do deserve to destroy the world for the pain they’ve been forced to go through, just to create the dichotomy of good and evil for everyone else’ discussions. There would be a lot of talk about how Sam hates and fears Lucifer for the pain Lucifer put on Sam, how Lucifer hates Sam because he and Sam are the same but Sam’s brother loves him anyways, etc. 

Ultimately that was scrapped because Sam’s entire story in the show is always about how the world and everyone around him manipulates him and that he never actually gets to make choices about his own life or body that aren’t influenced or part of someone elses’ design. And that always bothered me that Sam was never allowed to be himself without having to be ashamed of it, and I wanted to make sure that Sam’s triumph of being proud of himself/proudly choosing to exist (again) was evident in his story

In the end I needed Sam to have this visceral win over his tormentor. As the story shows, in this case Lucifer was abused and put into a position where he was incapable of empathy and could only express himself in violence. Sam even understands this! But it doesn’t change the fact that Lucifer tortured Sam in unimaginable ways for thousands of years. 

With that in mind I didn’t like the idea of Lucifer and Sam having “co-ownership” of their new identity, so I made the choice that Sam had to be the survivor. This tied in well with Sam’s new crusade to restore free will to the universe, because he’s breaking the narrative of his own story!

While Castiel wasn’t a pov character, his own autonomy and free will was equally as important. You’ll note that many, many paragraphs and conversations revolved around that theme and that in the end Cas followed himself (and love!) which ensured his freedom of self <3

The Brothers are WEIRD PEOPLE!!!! And Codependent to a Worrying Degree, but It’s Also How They Survive

It’s very hard to show “unusual” relationships when you’re writing from the pov of the two people who don’t think there’s anything weird about their relationship. Sure, they say ‘yeah it’s probably weird that we still share a bed’ but that’s kinda more in line with ‘I had a nightmare and I want to be close to the person who makes me feel safe’. Hashtag normalize co-sleeping when you need it!!!

From there I did try to point out how the boys have a weird perception of lifestyle in the little things they did. 

From thrifting everything from clothes to appliances to books (thrifting is a valid lifestyle! It’s incredibly handy when you’re on a budget.) 

To never actually having condiments or knowing how to use a dishwasher cause they’ve lived in a car, a motel room, or squatted in old houses their whole life.

I tried to have them wear each others’ clothes or casually swap things as much as possible. They live out of each others’ pockets!

Also the brothers are just weird people!! It’s hard to show from their pov, cause they don’t know how far off from normal they are, but like…

Everything about Sam and Amelia was NOT right like holy shit those two were wilding in their grief. They are very lucky things worked out for them and that they got to be hashtag Weird Girls together

Dean explicitly, in the story, gets horny after killing stuff!! Violence has done a number on his psyche and he’s gotten some wires crossed that maybe shouldn’t have been, or maybe could be worked out in a safe space but… uh… how likely do we think Dean is gonna go find a safe space to deal with any of his shit???

LOVE!!! Love is truly what this whole story is all about

If you’ve read the stories, you know how much emphasis I put on love. Love is the strongest force in the Spn Universe! It’s what averted the apocalypse and saved the world (Swan Song), it’s what created free will (Cas’ entire arc!) I love love!!!!

I went out of my way to not put any definitions on platonic love vs romantic love because I think love is love is love and how you express that is the difference. Neither is more powerful than the other because LOVE is powerful!! Sam and Cas are the most important people in Dean’s life and he loves them equally! He shows this by giving Cas kisses and stealing Sam’s socks.

It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when I have to hear explanations like ‘I love you, like a brother�� or ‘I love you, but like, as a friend because I’m a lesbian and you’re a man’ etc etc in media. If you have to continuously define how your characters love each other, then I don’t think you’re doing a good job of portraying their relationship. So you’ll see that I never put those parameters in any conversation. Dean DOES muse that he loves Cas differently than he loves Sam or Bobby, specifically because there is a romantic and sexual tone that his feelings for Cas takes, but not because he loves Cas more or less than he loves Sam or Bobby.

Which means, if you haven’t realized it yet, the Series + Fic Titles are meant to be a complete sentence because the power of love IS the thesis of this series:

The Love It Takes To Exist Again (Sam’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Become a Man (Dean’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Destroy a Man (TBA)

And now for fun stuff. Behind the scenes!!

What’s Something People Probably Don’t Know?

The demonic fungal/hydrothermal vent growth on Sam’s arm was thrown in literally as I was posting the chapter because I had just finished a 48 hour cram session of writing a report on tube worms for an ecology class (I was chanting my tube worm song as I wrote it) and it ended up being a HUGE hit with both readers and myself. But it was so last minute I had trouble fitting it in more throughout the rest of Sam’s story!

Cas’ orders? That may or may not have bound him to Dean and removed his free will? Were written into Sam’s story and I went ‘oh SHIT that’s compelling’ and then left them there as a ‘guess I’ll figure that out when I get to Dean’s story lol’

Originally Dean and Cas were supposed to get together after having their souls bonded, and have been in a UST limbo the entire time before that. Mostly because I think the entire concept of ‘we just got married of the soul I guess we should try dating?’ is very funny. CLEARLY the two of them were way more eager to fall in love than I anticipated (thank you Cas for your honesty) but you can still see shades of this original idea here and there (especially in ch35 of TBAM)

I never intended Dean and Benny to connect so well!! Benny was going to reunite with Andrea, she was going to live, and they were going to go off into the world and leave the story. And, uh, here we are. I’m still debating if I need to adjust the relationship tag or not haha. Polyamory is fun, especially when I was planning for Sam to be the polyamorous brother...

Speaking of, I can’t believe I forgot about Sam and his sexuality! If I rewrote TEA I would have had Sam contemplate more on his lack of sexual appetite due to trauma, up until he meets Benny and he gets to rediscover how he wants to be a sexual person

Many of Sam and Dean’s absolutely stupid sibling conversations were lifted near-verbatim from conversations I’ve had with my siblings

And lastly...

Dem where’s Kevin????????????? Where is our sweet baby boy????????

He’s SAFE!! He’s in the Hunter pipeline somewhere cause Sam handed him off to Bobby’s people. He and his mom are safe and at some point they probably got rib sigils like SalmonDean did against angels, but for demons. I didn’t have room in this story for him!!! But my baby boy is SAFE and I want to get him back to university because it’s WHAT HE DESERVES!!!!

To that point: god there were/are SO many characters that I just didn’t include in the story so far because I didn’t feel comfortable including them without stalling the story for them. To that point: pretty much everyone who is alive/dead in s8 is that way in this story, except Bobby who gets to live.

[Check Out Part 2 for reader questions!]

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #82

Brought to you by a marine biologist invading your dashboard...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Okay, not really. Honestly, I’m not sure how many people actually see these, but I’m not one to leave project incomplete, so I guess we’re still going all the way. Today we cover the Giant Snakehead because I find I’m still lagging behind on these freshwater guys:

You have T-minus 4 days left to get this fish before you gotta wait until next June to get it. So, get on it. And I know...it’s rare and it only appears for a tiny bit of the day, but try. I don’t think we’ll still be talking about AC next year like this (which makes me sad).

Anyway, Animal Crossing messed up on this one’s name. There is actually a species of snakehead commonly called the “Giant Snakehead” - Channa micropeltes. It really is giant, growing to almost 5 feet (1.5m) in length. But, upon closer inspection, I just don’t think that’s actually what this is. Here’s what a real Giant Snakehead looks like:

Pattern is all off, right? Now, every biologist knows that color and patterns can be different between individuals, but since that’s all we have to go on when we ID fish in a video game that doesn’t specify scientific names, we gotta make due. However, we can also safely assume that Animal Crossing takes fish that are native around Japan’s neck of the woods or are well-known worldwide. In that case, there’s a snakehead that fits the bill on all of that more than the Giant Snakehead, and that’s the Northern Snakehead, Channa argus:

Much better fit, right? Pattern is exactly what we see in Animal Crossing, not to mention, the Northern is native to eastern China and is an invasive species in many parts of the world, including Japan. Both species, the Giant and Northern, have the ability to be potent invasives because they are voracious predators, they get large, they can breathe air, and can travel across short distances over land (as young)! However, whereas the Giant is strictly tropical and cannot survive winter, the Northern can, and that’s led to environmental concerns where it’s been spotted (as well as the ridiculous movie “Frankenfish”...and I say ridiculous because full-grown adults can’t move over land, so no need to hide your kids or your teacup dog). 

Now, if you’ve been following my AC Fish Explained for a while, or you’re a fish nerd like me, you know that fish breathing air isn’t really weird at all. We all know about lungfish, but there are a number of species who have adapted to low-oxygen conditions by evolving this ability. Low oxygen happens for a number of different reasons in freshwater habitats and sometimes, when you’re a fish in freshwater, you find your whole house has dried up. What are ya gonna do? Die? Hell no! Snakeheads are members of the Anabantiformes, an Order of fish also called “labyrinth fish” because they have what’s called a “labyrinth organ” that works like a lung. Snakeheads in particular have a more primitive version of this, called a suprabranchial organ. Does the same thing. And because of this lineage, the Snakehead’s closest relative in AC is actually the Betta, a labyrinth fish that has a fully-formed labyrinth organ. 

And there you have it! Fascinating stuff, no? 

[miran-native]

About Mimeosomes

Everyone who’s played through the main story knows the basics: Mimeosomes were designed to bridge the unknown amount of time it would take humanity to find a new habitable planet. This way, people wouldn’t grow old and be able to maintain the White Whale and protect the Lifehold. We know that they are artificial in nature and that they are controlled from the consciousness stored within the Lifehold.

Elma mentions in one of the chapters (l can’t remember which one rn, but if someone requests it I will look it up) that the Lifehold cannot be too far, since they would otherwise feel the lag. Considering how the player can move freely all around Mira it is suffice to say that while the Lifeholds transmission range is limited, it is nonetheless still huge. Like, encompassing a whole planet huge. 

(Though, this observation might be futile since the endgame reveals that humanity would have been dead all along, so Mira Magic prevents us from making a sensible estimate as to how far this range could have been.)

What the main story chapters don’t tell us are the little details: can mimeosomes get sick, do they need food, etc.

So here is what I found:

Right off the bat: Mimeosomes have organic components. It is why in the sidequest “Lakeside Getaway” the cantors are able to exterminate the workers there, as they had laid eggs inside their bodies. We also see symptoms of sickness in Ajoa (the NPC who either dies or survives depending on your choices) because of that.

Despite that, other NPCs tell us that a mimesome doesn’t experience allergies and that they keep the humans safe from germs and contaminations which means they can’t get sick.

I’ve seen other speech bubble dialogue pop up when you walk past NPCs, talking about the ration bars BLADE use when they are out in the field (unfortunately I didn’t take screenshots at the time because I didn’t think I’d make a blog with all that neat trivia. They didn’t say anything important, just talked about the taste of these things).

If they didn’t need to eat at all, I figure they’d just pass on eating while they are on a mission since it’s just additional hassle – which is why I believe that (part, if not all) those organic components make up the digestive system. A lot of parasites do settle in the intestines, so I feel this is most likely the case.

 Other neat things I found:

We know that mimeosomes are supposed to mimic the actual human as close as possible when it comes to looks, but there are a few NPCs that tell us that there is a bit of leeway included when it comes to outer appearance.

 Hair, for example, can be easily swapped out (or in Felice’s case replaced), so there don’t seem to be any restrictions on hairstyle and color. Used to have straight hair and want curls now? Apparently no problem.

In the same dialogue Dorothy tells us that ‘bells and whistles’ is stuff like less weight, get rid of scars, beer bellies, etc. (I really wish I had screenshotted that latter part too, but again, I didn’t think I’d make a blog with this. I tried talking to her again, but I had cleared a chapter or the main story even and the dialogue didn’t pop up again.)

So from how I understand it: As long as it doesn’t concern one’s facial features (you know, that thing that makes a person actually recognizable, like eyes, nose, mouth, jawline, etc. you are good to go. Height, I assume, is one of them. Not sure on eye color, since technically there do exist contact lenses that change eye color) one is free to do whatever they want. Make oneself skinnier, get rid of wrinkles, whatever comes to mind.

And it kinda makes sense, really. The higher-ups would know that people would never get their old bodies back and start over with newly created ones, so things like scars or overweight and other stuff one did to their body (surgeries and tattoos included) wouldn’t carry over anyway. The new body would be a blank slate in regards to that.

Other bits of trivia:

Another NPC says that one can regulate the growth of their hair and nails, even shut it off completely if they so wish.

 (Unfortunately I do not have a screenshot and I don’t remember which NPC that was, so until I go through the game again and actually find it, take this one with a grain of salt.)

One of the NPCs in front of the mimeosome maintenance center (Kent D. Carr) says that sensory impressions like taste are just data that one could easily recreate by uploading them in the mimeosome maintenance center. Which means that any kind of sensation can be recreated as long as it is in the database. (I assume this doesn’t only apply to the taste of say, chocolate cake, but also touch or maybe even visual recreation of something.)

I find it very interesting that this is even possible to do, since mimeosomes can eat and taste well enough to differentiate tastes (if they didn’t why would fellow BLADEs gush about Lin’s food or complain about the taste of the ration bars. And Lin has this whole thing in one of the official short stories where she complains about the canteen food on the White Whale). I guess it is still different from the real thing. Or maybe this is to preserve the taste of food one can’t get on Mira anymore. All human food is synthesized after all and in no way ‘natural’, so it wouldn’t possibly taste the same.

(I actually do have a screenshot of this buuuuuut it’s in German and I took it with my phone because I couldn’t connect the Wii U with the internet at the time. If anyone wishes to see it, I will gladly upload it though.)

The blood substitute is called “biocirculatory plasma”

This is said by Lin in Ch. 5 after Cross gets their arm blown off (screenshot available, but I didn’t deem it necessary to add as it’s a mainstory cutscene). Not exactly missable, but thought I’d throw it in here in case someone needs it for fanfiction or anything. The plasma is also blue, not red, as implicated by the following things:

a.) Mimeosomes are called Blue Bloods in Japanese

b.) After the attack on NLA (Ch. 8) there are NPC who do express their surprise at the humans being blue blooded/mimeosomes.

c.) This picture:

The plasma also has to circulate somehow inside the body so it’s not a stretch to assume that mimeosomes have an artificial heart that acts as pump.

 Ch. 5 also shows that mimeosomes can be shut down to prevent pain or further plasma loss. It is also possible to just turn off the pain response and stay conscious (I think this was said in the Sylvalum mission “Predator and Prey”).

 Mimeosomes are able to feel some sort of “reverse phantom pain”, i.e. feeling the (partial) lack of a body part even though it’s connected and up and running. This is also part of Ch. 5 after the player awakens in the maintenance center and is asked if they feel okay. One of the options leads to this bit of trivia.  

 Okay, I think that was all I had for now. Thanks for reading :D

 If anyone can provide missing screenshots or has found other bits of trivia regarding mimesomes do tell – or even better, submit!

 An extra bonus:

The name mimeosome may come from the Greek μνήμη (mnimi, pronounced as mnee-mee)) and σώμα (soma). Minimi means memory and soma body so the word would basically translate to memory body. And that’s kina dope.

  Not sure if this is right, obviously, the “mimeo” might be latin or some shit (or ancient Greek which is NOT the same, lemme tell you, as a native Greek speaker) and just mean mimic (as in mimic the human body), but, oh well.

Edit:

So, someone in the tags said that “Blue Bloods” is a term used in Japan to describe the rich and exempt (makes sense, here in Germany the nobility used to be referred to as such as well because the veins look blueish against pale skin. And back then pale skin meant you didn’t bust your ass open working in the fields), so basically sth among the lines of “rich and lucky ones” which is a neat bit of foreshadowing that got lost in translation. (I know who you are but since this was just tag-rambling I figured you might wanna keep your name outta this - if not, I can edit your name into the post.)

They also wondered how tf this mix of organic and mechanic components would even work; now, I don’t think the game is ever going to give us an actually coherent and scientifically sound explanation for that - I think they most likely settled on bullet points of what mims can/can’t do to keep things consistent (bc one would need not only a medical, but also a scientific and engineering degree to have a good grasp of everything and I’m sure af the developers didn’t study up THAT meticulously on this), but I was thinking about it, bc ya know, I studied biophysics and find this kinda stuff interesting af.

And then I remembered that one of the research groups at my university studies the interaction between organic molecules and solid surfaces.

This kind of research can be used to get new insights on how those molecules function, and also helps developing better prostheses (in regards to biocompatibility) - obviously they aren’t trying to make artificial organs or anything related to mimeosomes, but it IS a pretty big field afaik. 

Organic molecules can be viruses or bacteria for examples - and bacteria are a very important part of our intestinal flora.

So, what if a mimeosome’s intestinal tract is made out of a material that those kinda bacteria can thrive on? (It can’t be cells imo, bc human cells have to replace themselves very regulary. Intestinal cells get replaced every 2 - 4 days for example - and making use of life cells that need renewal seems to defeat the purpose of almost-immortal machines since the point was to live in and with them as long as possible as it was unclear when they’d find a new planet to settle on.) Gut flora can digest carbohydrates and certain sugars, so there is a starting point as to how mims could digest food. These bacteria can’t break down everything, but it is common practice in life sciences to use bacteria as hosts to express certain enzymes (even though they weren’t native in that bacterium before), so engineering bacteria that could digest all kinds of food doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to me.

[meditativeyoga]

5-Minute Workout: Yoga for Better Sleep

Yoga is among the oldest techniques on the planet, with many incredible advantages to supply relating to basic health. Inning accordance with a national study, undertaken at the degree of the United States, the routine practice of yoga exercise can assist individuals appreciate a much better top quality of rest. Actually, over 55% of the yoga exercise customers reported enhanced rest, which goes to verify exactly how useful this method is. If you have an interest in yoga and stretching, all you need to do is go on reading, find yoga exercise poses that just calls for a few minutes of your time, permitting you to extend fully of your body. Make sure to notify yourself on other essential topics as well, analysis, for example, concerning the health and wellness advantages of drinking water.

These are several of the most effective yoga exercise extends suggested for those that are planning to sleep better at evening:

Active pigeon

This yoga exercise stretch targets the piriformis muscle mass in certain, which lies at the level of the hip (deep muscular tissue). You could start this yoga stretch by thinking the very same position when it comes to a push-up. The left knee should be brought near the shoulder, as much it is possible. The other leg needs to be totally extended, while the weight of the body is supported on the forearms and also the toes. Contract the gluteal muscular tissues as well as feel a tightening feeling at the level of the pelvis. Maintain the yoga exercise stretch for a brief period, after that return as well as repeat. Switch sides and repeat.

C-curve

This yoga exercise stretch targets the muscles of the lower back specifically (lumbar region). You can begin by resting on the floor, with the knees flexed and the feet on the flooring. As you round your back, really feel the pelvic flooring tightening up and attempt to pull your navel to the spine. Take a breath in as well as out, pushing with the heels in the direction of the flooring. The hands ought to be maintained behind the knees. Preserve the yoga stretch for a bit, after that return as well as repeat.

Modified cobra

This is an excellent yoga exercise stretch for the abdominal muscles, appropriating for those who struggle with inflammatory conditions also. Begin by pushing the floor, in pronation. Agreement your gluteal muscles, tighten the pelvic floor and also increase your arms, until the arm joints are a little prolonged. Preserve the yoga stretch for a little bit, then return as well as repeat. Remember that yoga positions, such as this, can effectively change the anxiety treatment (as they stimulate the launch of happiness hormones, such as dopamine and also serotonin at the level of the brain).

Hamstring stretch

As the name mentions, this yoga stretch targets the hamstring muscles (which are often tight). Begin by depending on supine, with a towel under your head. Raise one leg, with the knee completely prolonged, as well as the hands maintaineded at the degree of the upper leg (embracing the leg). The various other leg is expanded as well as well as on the flooring. Keep the yoga exercise stretch for a little, after that return as well as repeat. Switch over sides and also repeat.

Split squat

This certain yoga exercise stretch is exceptional for tight quads and also calf bone muscles. You could begin this stretch by presuming a standing position. Maintain your abdominal muscles limited and your hands resting on the abdominal area. Bring one foot forward, with the knee slightly bent. The various other leg lags, a little flexed and also with the heel increased. Maintain the yoga stretch for a little bit, then return and also repeat. Change sides as well as repeat.

Quadruped stretch

The quadruped yoga exercise stretch is recommended for those that wish to increase adaptability at the level of the shoulder muscular tissues. Begin by kneeling on all fours, with the toes touching the floor. The forehead must be brought in the direction of the flooring, while one hand is extended onward and the various other hinges on the floor (elbow bent at an appropriate angle). The shoulders ought to be pressed down, while the gluteal muscle mass are acquired. Preserve the yoga go for a little bit, after that return as well as repeat. Switch sides and also repeat.

Yoga as well as rest, a connection validated by research studies

According to a doctoral thesis released by Jonathan S. Halpern, the technique of yoga exercise can be utilized to boost rest quality as well as the overall lifestyle in grownups of older age. Yoga exercise is thought about an efficient alternative to medication typically suggested for insomnia as well as sleep apnea, which provides a high danger of side-effects and allergic reactions. As opposed to medical therapies, yoga exercise can be exercised with absolute safety and security as well as with no extra risks to one's wellness.

A research study released in Rest Science and Practice showed that yoga can be used as a reliable method of managing persistent sleeplessness. The study attracted attention to the reality that chronic insomnia is frequently connected with increased death and morbidity, yoga exists as an alternative to existing forms of treatment, with countless advantages to provide to individuals suffering from sleep problems.

Yoga can be an excellent option for both females and guys that experience sleeplessness and various other rest conditions. According to a study released in Sleep Medication, ladies that struggle with osteo arthritis and sleep disturbances could benefit greatly from the technique of mild yoga exercise. The same benefits have actually been found for the male population struggling with persistent sleeplessness, as it is displayed in a study published in the Journal of Scientific and Diagnostic Research study.

Final word

If you are struggling with insomnia and also various other sleep disturbances, you should attempt the yoga stretches included in this short article. As you will certainly see on your own, these stretches do not require greater than a few mins of your time, and also they have plenty of benefits to provide in return.

[mysticsparklewings]

Blue Java Bananya

Well here's something I wasn't planning on making at all! This year certainly started off with a bang!, and not a good one, what with my drawing tablet going kaput on me. But at the very least, thanks to my brother I have a temporary solution. He was able to get his hands on a Surface Pro 3 through work, and after acquiring a stylus I've been working on adapting to it for the time being. It's taking a lot of getting used to, but I'd rather have to get used to this than have nothing at all until next century when I can afford a more proper replacement. Anyway. That whole fiasco just depressed and stressed me out to no end, among other life things. For my birthday, I was gifted a DVD of Bananya, a show about, you guessed it--banana cats like the one I've drawn here. I watched the whole thing (about 40 minutes, the episodes are pretty short) in one sitting, and for that time I was able to forget about everything that was worrying me and just enjoy some cute fruit kitties and simple fun. No over-the-top, save-the-world plot, no complicated character dynamics, no overcoming past trauma, just fun and cute. I knew about Bananya for a while, as a couple of years ago I got my hands on a couple of plushies before I even knew the show existed; I just thought the concept of cat-bananas with velcro peels was adorable. It was only later when I was wondering where they originated from that I found out there was a show, and subsequently that the only way to watch the English dub was on the DVD. (No offense to anyone that prefers subs over dubs; I just have a really hard time splitting my attention between what's happening and who's saying what and trying to read the text. Plus I have a hard time sitting down and just watching a show and doing nothing else; dubbed makes it possible for me to do other things and not have to stare at the screen and hope I can read fast enough.) Since I had bananas on the brain after that and it's a really simple and cute art style, I decided to test out getting accustomed to the Surface Pro that I'd draw a little Bananya OC of sorts. In the show, the bananyas are named more so for the cat part of their appearance, usually, but I wanted mine to stand out a bit more and I'm pretty sure that if they aren't already that eventually, all the default cat-pattern names are going to be canonically taken. So I went and I looked up strange/different types of bananas and discovered the blue java or "ice cream" banana, which has a bluish tint to the peel when it's young, and because of it's vanilla taste and creamy texture, it's actually offered as a healthier alternative to ice cream in areas where it's more commonly found (hence the nickname). And now I really want to try one but I haven't the foggiest idea where I'd find them here in the states. My other option was a red/pink variety and the show already has at least 2 bananyas with pink peels and one with pink on her head, so I took the blue banana and ran with it. (Although upon further inspection, I think the newer bananya episodes they're currently working on that haven't been dubbed yet feature one with a blue banana peel so I may still not be completely unique here despite my efforts.) I went with more of a teal/greenish-blue as opposed to a more "true" blue, since even in pictures while the blue java is definitely blue compared to the average banana, it's not blue like a blue raspberry candy is blue. They're actually a pretty pastel kind of almost mint color-- And suddenly, as I'm typing this I think I better understand why vanilla Tootsie Rolls come in a blue wrapper...are they based on these bananas?? Does anybody know?? --*ahem* As I was saying... The bananas, from what I understand, also lose/fade that blue color as they mature. Which would explain why I couldn't seem to find a picture of a peeled Blue Java banana that had that same pastel-colored peel. But I went with it anyway. (This is a show about banana cats, I don't think we have to be 100% scientifically accurate here.) I also added some black spots to the cat part of my bananya, as I haven't seen a white-with-black-spots one in canon material and I have a bit of soft spot for black-and-white kitties in particular. And while I have had second thoughts that maybe her name should be "ice cream bananya" instead (for the reasons I went over earlier about the real bananas), I ultimately when with Blue Java Bannaya, as it very on-the-nose like the other bananya names, and in a way I think the "java" part fits with the black spots. But that's mostly just because java makes me think of "java chip frappucino" from Starbucks, which makes me think of chocolate chips, which are usually dark spots in cookies...see where I'm going with this? Though on the other hand, the black and white also kinda makes me think of Oreos, which would tie-in with the ice cream thing because usually Cookies n Cream ice cream is made with Oreos or knock-off Oreos, so I suppose it would've been equally fair to name her "Cookie Bananya" or something... Eh, for now, she stays as Blue Java. Or just "Java" for short. It was pretty straight forward to draw her, as I mentioned that the bananya style is pretty simple. Dare I say minimal? The main struggles I had boiled down to the learning curve with the Surface Pro and the new stylus. The pen pressure, maybe obviously, isn't as good as I'm used to, and the disparity between the tip of the pen and where the cursor actually is is different, and I think there's a little bit of lag when I'm drawing but that might be more to do with me having the stabilizer turned up a bit higher than normal in trying to compensate for the other issues. Still, I was at least able to manage for something as simple as this. I am admittedly horrified at the prospect of one of my usual, more complex digital drawings though...learning curves and baby steps... I'm not happy about the tablet situation, but at least the bananya is cute so I can focus on that instead. I do sincerely hope I'm very wrong about how long I'm going to be using this new set-up for though, because the way things are going it's going to be a very long time before I have the option of a better alternative... ____ Artwork/Character © me, MysticSparkleWings I do not own Bananya ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[virmillion]

Ibytm - T minus 58 seconds

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter - ao3

Words: 2,594

Aside from the one confrontation post-petticoat ukulele conspiracy, Logan still hasn’t talked with Cadmium. Really, truly talked to the guy. Tagging along on his tours doesn’t count. Granted, a fair amount of his Tuesdays and Thursdays are occupied with thoughts of Cadmium, but Logan does still have a life outside of him. It comes with no small amount of annoyance that this other life involves dealing with unsolvable problems at his internship.

“I heard there’s no real answer,” Cassidy says. She stabs her pen in the air, writing imaginary equations and scowling at the empty space.

“I heard they had this problem, like, years ago,” Joy says. Logan steeples his fingers under his chin with his elbows propped on his knees, watching Joy spin circles on her chair with her nose pointed at the ceiling. “I bet they already know the answer, and any intern that can’t crack it gets kicked to the curb.”

“Somehow, I feel like excessive alliteration isn’t the answer, Joy,” Micah calls from the water jug. His perspective might seem more valuable if his cheek weren’t flattened against the top of the machine in an utterly pitiful display of boredom.

“Oh, and I bet you already figured it out, huh, smart guy?” Joy’s retort also seems less valuable, as it comes at the same moment that she smacks her ankle into the leg of her desk, her spinning cut short. Logan is getting the sinking feeling that he chose the wrong scientific field.

“Maybe we’re looking at it from the wrong angle. Does someone want to read it again, and we all think of it with clean slates?” Logan glances around the room, hoping that his non-contribution will be sufficient. “Or, hey, Alex, have you got an idea? You haven’t said too much yet.”

Alex’s shock of dyed yellow hair jolts as they lift their eyes to peer over the top of the computer. “Can I get you a handkerchief, or did you dodge the splashback when you threw me under the bus just now?”

“ I’ll read it, you bunch of babies,” Cassidy sighs. “Okay. Riddle me this, folks. Thought experiments for the modern era.”

“Lay off the Mcelroy references and finish the question,” Micah grumbles.

Cassidy wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue before continuing. “The ship of Theseus proposes that a ship leaves a location and has every single part of itself periodically replaced before reaching a second location. The question is whether the ship to arrive is a different ship than the one to depart. Bear this in mind while assuming all cultural divides and disparities—cultural, political, scientific, or otherwise—are held in an impenetrable stasis that has no effect on the contents of the riddle, and conclusively solve the following. Jeez, talk about a run-on sentence.

“NASA launches a rocket to Neptune, and the only passenger is the child of a Russian and an American, where the parents were born on Earth and the child on Mars. The inhabited rocket was built half of parts from NASA and half of parts from Roscosmos. It contains enough parts to make an entirely new rocket, all of which were created on the moon. Allowing adequate suspensions of disbelief in favor of the passenger’s ability to build the new rocket and touch down on Neptune alive, which flag should be placed on Neptune as the first to arrive: That of Mars, the Moon, Earth, America, or Russia?”

“Does the moon even have its own flag?” Micah muses.

Joy slams the side of her fist on her desk hard enough to rattle the pens scattered across the floor. “This is such a stupid question. It barely even has anything to do with space!”

“It is about non-mathematical rocket science,” Alex points out.

“You could take the exact same problem and change a few key words to make it about a fish being flushed down a toilet,” Logan counters, “and nothing would change.”

“Is the fish dead?” Micah asks. “Because now you’re introducing aquatic zombies to the equation.”

“No aquatic zombies!” Joy and Alex shout in unison. Logan joins in the cry with a muttered mimic of his own, and even Cassidy looks quite done with Micah, who traces his finger along the side of the water tank before patting the top.

“Aquatic zombies,” he whispers forlornly. Logan isn’t entirely sure how Micah managed to weasel his way into an internship here, but he stopped questioning it a long time ago.

“It’s the moon, isn’t it?” Cassidy tries. This brings about a chaotic storm of argued disagreements through which Logan couldn’t possibly begin to sort.

“But the passenger was born on Mars, so it’s the Martian flag.”

“But their parents were of Earth, do we know where the passenger was conceived? Earthling parents mean it can’t be Mars’ flag.”

“Oh, like the Opportunity rover would plant a flag on Neptune.”

“Rip in pieces, Oppy.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be the country of origin of the mom, since she’s the one that had to carry the passenger to term?”

“That’s sexist, and we don’t know which parent is which.”

“It’s heretonormative, anyway.”

“You mean cisnormative.”

“I know what I meant to mean.”

“Unless you meant both. Trans father for the win.”

“Trans father, transformer, illuminati?”

“Does Earth even have a flag?”

“Where was the passenger raised? That might change the answer.”

The door opposite the stairs slams open as another intern with dirty blond hair and a beanie stumbles in looking particularly disheveled—well, more so than usual, at least.

“The passenger opened a wormhole immediately after being born, and raised themself on Neptune,” Logan deadpans. “Roman, if you haven’t got any good news, I swear to—”

“They cancelled the level eight project,” the man at the door says. Were it not for the bright gold name embroidered along the breast pocket of his shirt—Roman—Logan might believe him to be a random guy from off the street. “They figured out the missing sections—without our input, obviously—and decided the clearance rate was excessive. Basically, they said a toddler with a functioning search engine could crack it, so we should stop wasting our time.”

“Has the toddler ever been to Neptune?” Logan asks dryly. A hollow chorus of laughs ricochets around the room, quieted only by the click of the hour hand on the only analog clock hung on the wall. It must’ve been ages since Logan souped up the old thing to announce clockins, breaks, and clockouts.

“For the next hour,” Joy declares, “Neptune does not exist.”

“Seconded,” the other interns agree, putting their respective monitors to sleep and shuffling for the break room.

Roman lags behind to enter after Logan, prodding the small of his back and tilting his head toward the computers. He clears his throat meaningfully. Logan sighs, casting one last doleful look into the breakroom before joining Roman out on the floor again.

“They did want me to give you this,” Roman murmurs, “but keep it cazh.”

“Nothing is less ‘cazh’ than you shortening the word ‘casual’ like that,” Logan says, nonchalantly stretching an arm over his head. On the downswing, he takes the item from Roman’s hand and threads it between his fingers.

“I think I got the same deal, but don’t mention it, yeah?” Roman steps into the breakroom first, allowing Logan a moment to dawdle and inspect his acquisition. A flat disc, about the size of a well-used roll of scotch tape, with the NASA logo on both sides. Logan pinches the edges beside the first and last letter experimentally, and a USB plug pops out from the bottom of the logo. He pinches again, and it slides away. It looks for all the world like an overly expensive keychain one might find in a cheap museum. Logan shrugs, pockets it, and joins the others in the breakroom.

Only Roman appears to be in any semblance of a good mood—then again, he got clearance to visit the upper offices while everyone else pondered that stupid riddle. After teasing Roman about how he was probably about to get The Talk (the firing talk, that is) from the higher ups, it only took the rest of the floor about five minutes to give up on individual glory and try to solve the problem together. Obviously, it didn’t help.

“We could send someone for coffee,” Cassidy says. At least, Logan thinks that’s what she said. Her voice is a little muffled, what with how her face is pressed against the table.

“And get yelled at for prioritizing caffeine over the crappy cloud juice we’ve already got here?” Alex replies, tracing their finger over the glass front of the vending machine. Its only products are bottled water and expired heath candy bars. Four bucks a pop. “I’d rather dehydrate than take that kind of reprimanding.”

“I am literally going to commit multiple federal and moral crimes if I don’t get some real bean juice in my system in the next hour,” Joy grumbles. A true testament to her name.

Micah, apparently having moved on from the destruction of his aquatic zombie idea, springs to his feet from where he was sprawled across the floor. “We could use Logan’s app!”

This might be a good time to mention that, in padding his resume to apply for this extended internship, Logan made a brief foray into coding, which resulted in an app he dubbed ‘fetch quest.’ Basically a personalized coffee order service, more specialized than door dash, where instead of ordering food straight to your location, you put out a request for coffees—usually from Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Biggby, the like—to be delivered by the colloquially nicknamed fetch kids. Upon getting their coffee, the buyer reimburses the fetch kid for the coffee, as well as an obligatory tip so the fetch kid can turn a quick buck.

To tell the truth, Logan was genuinely too lazy to walk to the campus cafeteria for a coffee while working on homework, and paid his roommate five dollars to do it for him. (He paid in nickels, by the way.) So lazy was Logan, in fact, that he made an app to avoid ever dealing with the inconvenience again.

“I’m down for that,” Cassidy mumbles. “Who’s got the app? Seems kinda rude to do six separate orders, y’know, like ordering a different personal pizza from different locations and having them arrive at the same time, then fight to the death for the right to deliver their pizza first, so they miss the thirty minute limit and no one gets paid.”

“Okay, so Cassidy gets a decaf,” Alex says, swiping around on their phone. “Everyone just getting their usuals? Same as the last fetch quest?” Grunts of agreement are their only answer—aside from Roman, who peers over Alex’s shoulder to design an obscenely personalized drink.

“Pitch in a five dollar tip for the barista,” Logan calls. “I’ll cover it.” Roman perks up at that as Alex taps the appropriate button on their phone. Before he can ask, Logan nods, saying, “I’ll spot you the six dollars.”

“It’s actually closer to seven,” Roman admits, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I got a dairy substitute, don’t sue me. I’m broke, anyway, so it wouldn’t help if you won the suit.”

“This is a paid internship,” Joy points out.

Roman looks aghast. “You guys are getting paid?” It’s unclear whether he’s kidding.

“Order placed and transaction pending,” Alex announces, “so start up the charitable donation pool to my wallet.” Roman initiates the process, pulling the beanie off his head and carrying it around the room for everyone to toss their bills in. He can only manage a weak smile when Logan tosses in double what he ought to.

“Wait, Logan,” Micah says, “you didn’t get anything last time.”

“Shoot, yeah, what can I get you? No one’s picked it up yet,” Alex says, pulling the wads of bills from Roman’s hat.

“Just do a fetch kid’s delight, I guess. Price limit five.” Roman darts across the room to grab the proffered bill from Logan, attempting (and spectacularly failing) to parkour over the chair on his way back. The rickety plastic flies out from underneath him and his chin smacks the carpet as he goes down. Before anyone thinks about moving to help, he jumps to his feet and dusts off his knees, pretending as if nothing happened.

“It’s been accepted,” Alex announces.

“Maybe the trick is to work out whether the rocket, being from the moon, is the first to land, or if it has to be a life form in order to count for reaching Neptune first,” Joy suggests. Cassidy lifts her head to respond, thinks better of it, and drops her face back onto the table.

“That’s only assuming you give the rocket living rights to plant the flag,” Micah says.

“Did you guys consider the ramifications of the nationalities of each parent?” Roman asks.

“Yes,” everyone else groans in unison. Even Logan says it, now thoroughly annoyed by how much inconvenience Roman was able to skip in favor of retrieving a little flashdrive.

“Do we need to take into account the heritage of the parents?” Cassidy tries.

“It wasn’t included in the information backing up the question, and we’re only supposed to get an answer based on what we concretely know already,” Alex replies.

“We don’t concretely know already which flag they plant,” Logan offers, “so maybe the answer is that we aren’t supposed to have one.”

“That’s exactly what someone who knows the answer would say,” Joy mutters. This manner of conversation continues for another fifteen minutes or so, until someone knocks on the door at the top of the stairs.

“Liquid inspiration!” Roman shouts, vaulting over the empty chairs on his sprint for the door. As he swings it open to reveal a very familiar silhouette, Alex clicks a few times on their phone, finalizing the transaction upon receival.

Apart from the grey and red plaid scarf wrapped around his neck, Cadmium looks like he walked straight out of one of his own tours, down to the maroon cardigan and black skinny jeans. “Fetch quest fulfillment for Ally-oopsy-olly—”

“Yep, yes, that’s me,” Alex interrupts quickly, not letting him finish saying the username. They take a couple of the cups from Cadmium, stepping aside to let Joy and Micah help with the rest. Cadmium makes eye contact with Logan for a split second, inclines his chin, and turns to leave. He pulls out his phone, the screen angled enough for Logan to see the fetch quest home screen loading in more requests.

“Wait, we didn’t tip you,” Logan calls, surging past the other interns to catch up.

“Yeah, we did,” Alex says, “I put in your five, and I have my account set for an auto-gratuity of twenty—”

“Shut up , Alex,” Logan hisses over his shoulder. He turns to Cadmium, who looks somewhere between amused and bewildered. If he landed on Neptune, which emotion would touch down first? “Here y’are. Thanks.” Logan allows the last word to linger in the air, implying an unvoiced request for a name as he passes Cadmium a ten.

Cadmium glances from his phone—now proudly displaying a cheerful reimbursement and tip breakdown message—to the bill and back to his phone. He nods slowly, taking the ten and heading down the stairs. Logan blinks, watching him go.

“Wow,” Roman says, coming closer to rest his elbow on Logan’s shoulder. “You’ve got it bad, my guy.”

“Oh, shove off.”

[ajourneythroughtime]

Stories also display repeating patterns because, when expertly made, they reflect the same ideas, themes and events. But because the patterns in story are far more abstract than the visual patterns of a fractal, to see them you have to take a deep dive into the core techniqes of the storytelller. The best storytelling has a unique quality.

The stories we love almost always share this quality.

They are fractal.

Fractals are one of the wonders of mathematics. 

When you chart certain equations they produce beatiful patterns. And a quality of those patterns is that they have infinite dimensions.

You keep zooming in and in and in to a fractal, and find the same patterns repeating again and again and again.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” - William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell:

The fractal displays this pattern because it is generated from basic rules.

Stories also display repeating patterns because, when expertly made, they reflect the same ideas, themes and events. But because the patterns in story are far more abstract than the visual patterns of a fractal, to see them you have to take a deep dive into the core techniqes of the storyteller.

Creators of all kinds have a love / hate relationship with structure. Some equate structure with formula and reject it. Others see structure as the shortcut to success and let it overwhelm them. The truth, as with most things, is likely somewhere in between.

“Burn me with Fire. Drown Me In Rain.”

I use this basic principle to measure structure. STRUCTURE IS BIGGER THAN WE ARE. If I set out to make a car, or a cathedral, or an iPhone app, or a novel, or a movie, these things all have a structure. A structure that has been evolved over time, by creators far wiser and more skilled than I.

In martial arts there is a maxim: Learn the form. Master the form. Break the form. Untrained writers often rush to break the form. They see the work of a master, like Ray Bradbury perhaps, who broke the short story form in many marvelous ways, and assume the key to success is the act of breaking. But they ignore the years of hard work Bradbury first put into learning and mastering the form.

Stories seem to exist in a bewildering variety of forms. The 3 Act structure defined by Aristotle is arguably the most widely known.

Modern stageplays often adopt a 4 act structure, while Oscar winning movies like The Godfather spread over five acts. Short stories are commonly based on an Epiphany structure.

But all of these structures share that same single quality.

They are fractal.

Infinite Crisis

Stories within stories.

Here’s another way into the fractal nature of story. All stories are made of stories, and are part of bigger stories. If you pick up an issue of Wonder Woman, or watch the Gal Gadot fronted movie, you’re seeing just one story within that character’s overarching story. If you watch Lawrence of Arabia, and know a little history, you realise you’re watching just one small part of the story of World War One.

(Side Note Link: The Machine At Play - Blade Runner - Sword & The Stone - Lion & The Lamb - Dare we Continue?) History Repeating Itself

As storytellers, we make decisions about the boundaries of the story we’re going to tell. Game of Thrones is the story of one power struggle for Westeros. But it’s the beautiful weaving of the history that came before, and the smaller stories within the grand struggle, that make George R R Martin’s epic so intriguing to so many.

Whether you call them acts, scenes, sequences and beats…

…or parts, chapters, paragraps and sentences…

…or story arcs, issues, pages and frames…

…all stories exist are within other stories, and hold other stories within them.

“To see a world in a grain of sand. And a heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand. And eternity in an hour.”

Can you see an epic tale in every single sentence of your story? Here is one of the single best questions you can ask to raise your storytelling to a higher level. How does this single scene, or chapter, or frame, or sentence, reflect the whole of the story? And how does this trilogy of novels, or 10 hour television series, or epic poem, relate to the smallest story it contains?

The Supercomputer That Could Map the Human Brain

Bobby Kasthuri has a problem.

In an effort to understand, on the finest level, what makes us human, he’s set out to create a complete map of the human brain : to chart where every neuron connects to every other neuron. The problem is, the brain has more connections than the Milky Way has stars. Just one millionth of the organ contains more information than all the written works in the Library of Congress. A map of the brain would represent the single largest dataset ever collected about anything in the history of the world.

Making that map seems like a task that could consume not just one lifetime , but dozens. Yet in just three years, it might just be possible.

Kasthuri, a neuroscientist at Argonne National Laboratory, is one of many scientists whose research will use a new supercomputer the lab is building, which is scheduled to be deployed by 2021. The computer, called Aurora 21 , will run one quintillion operations in parallel—a billion billion calculations—putting it on par with the processing power of the human brain. For the U.S., which has lagged behind China in an intensifying supercomputing race since 2013, this milestone—exascale computing power—is both a national status symbol and a scientific game-changer.

Agent "one who acts," "effective, powerful," "to set in motion, drive forward; to do, perform; keep in movement" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move") "deputy, representative" "spy, secret agent"

discern "perceive or recognize the difference or distinction between (two or more things);" "distinguish (an object) with the eyes, see distinctly, behold;" also "perceive rationally, understand;" "to separate, set apart, divide, distribute; distinguish, perceive," from dis- "off, away"

The name Aurora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn". Aurora, the poetic name of the Roman goddess of sunrise whose tears turned into the morning dew, and of (Disney's) Sleeping Beauty, would be sure to make any little girl feel like a princess.

a natural electrical phenomenon

Plasma "form, shape" (earlier plasm) Greek plasma "something molded or created," hence "image, figure; counterfeit, forgery; formed style, affectation," from root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread." "liquid part of blood"

(Click here to see the list of *pele- root forms. Much time is recommended in this open field of potential and connectivity)

Plasm "mold or matrix, cast;" see plasma. Meaning "living matter of a cell"

Aurora has two siblings, a brother (Sol, the sun) and a sister (Luna, the moon)

Gen(isis) Pact

Orion & The Magi

So, this is what it means to be a-live!

True-Man

VR Minecraft is more Real than Real Life

AI will be as biased as the humans that programmed it

Confirmed: We Really are ‘Star Stuff’

It might be that we are afraid of opening ourSelves to Our infinitely contradicting nature and essence of Infinite Chaos. Fear not, the Journey leads you Home.

Enter The Cave

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” - William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell:

[2000daysprekindergarten]

The Easiest Way to Prepare Your Child for a Bright Future: Pre-Kindergarten

Every parent wants to give their child the skills to succeed. For most, these tools include enrolling their children in school around the age of five, helping them with their homework, and emphasizing the importance of academics. However, some parents may be surprised to learn that one of the most proven ways to help their child find future academic success is an early-stage tool: prekindergarten.

Setting a Precedent

A vast and growing body of scientific research shows that enrolling in prekindergarten yields both short and long-term benefits for children and their communities. Preschool exposes young ones to numbers, letters, and shapes during a critical cognitive development stage. Preparing them to understand the concept of counting, giving them a sharper grasp of time, and engaging in fantasy play or storytelling. States that have invested in offering public education pre-k programs for all children have reported significant academic improvements across the board, for all income levels and racial groups. These educational improvements include letter identification, word identification, applied problem solving and spelling. All of which are crucial tools for students to master at a young age in order to stay abreast of their future education. Furthermore, studies that followed subjects for longer periods of time found impressive long-term results concerning educational progress, lowered delinquency, and post-high school earning power. More and more kindergarten teachers are expecting their pupils to already have a basic knowledge of the ABCs, 123s, and the primary colors. However, they now also want them to know how to spell and recognize their name, know the alphabet, name letters, count one to ten, and recognize most of the basic colors and shapes. A pupil entering kindergarten without these skills in hand may struggle to catch up or stay on the same pace as the class. Thus risking a larger and larger academic lag as their education continues.

Increase in Skills

In addition to scholastic improvement, children enrolled in school programs prior to kindergarten have greater opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor skills as well as their social and life skills. At ages 3-4, one should be able to use scissors, copy shapes, negotiate solutions to conflicts with peers, and show interest in spending time with other children. According to research, kids who have positive developmental experiences go on to have a higher vocabulary, are more apt to follow directions, and are more socially confident in their teenage years. Scientific studies show that these earlier educated children also have decreased chances of needing special education services later on in life. Not only does this obviously benefit the child and the family, but it also reduces the financial drain on schools and communities, freeing up extra dollars to be reinvested into improving and expanding other school activities and programs. Cities that invest in early public education see their dollars returned with a closing of their achievement gap, an increase in their graduation rate, and the creation of productive citizens.

Read more on... The Easiest Way to Prepare Your Child for a Bright Future: Pre-Kindergarten

Author: Aaliyah Arthur

[jayraephoenix]

Seeing as Blizzard hasn't given exact dates for everything, I've tried my best with all of the dates below. For Alchemist, I am assuming that the current game takes place in 2076. For references to where I've gotten my dates, just ask. Also, feel free to message me asking general questions on Willow, or if you'd like to roleplay with her.

~~~

Fandom: Overwatch.

Name: Willow "Alchemist" Moore.

Species: Human.

Gender: Female.

Age: 34, Born in the year 2042

Sexuality: Bisexual. Prefers men over women, but won't turn down a female's advances.

Team: Talon.

Class: Offense.

Personality: The Alchemist is incredibly motivated, and once she has her mind set on something, she will work tirelessly towards. Sometimes that something is a new formula for her chemicals, sometimes it's a conundrum created by Talon for her to solve, but more often than not, it's an objective placed before her in the form of a mission.

One of her strengths is her intelligence, but at the same time, it's a weakness; she has a quick tongue, and her obsessive nature combined with her IQ has meant that she can get into situations which are hard to escape from without getting injured. It's not uncommon for her to attempt something on the field without telling her teammates, so those working with her need to be prepared for a sudden push, or to defend her back if she miscalculated.

Surprisingly, seeing as she's on Talon's side, Willow wants to help the world become a better place in the long run. Much like Widowmaker, her mind has slowly warped the longer she stayed with Talon, however unlike the spider, it wasn't a typical brain-washing. She still has emotions, and though she lacks in empathy for her enemies, she can be reasoned with, so trying to connect with a common interest is the best way to avoid getting scorched.

Appearance: Standing at 5" 8, she's just above the average for a woman. Her natural hair colour is a light blonde, on the edge of being platinum, but it's usual to see multi-coloured streaks decorating it (the same colours as the different toxins she uses; more on those later). She has pale skin, which isn't surprising considering she's from England. Her eyes are brown, dark enough that in certain lights they look black. There are no scars marking her face, but she has a very noticeable feature (if her hair wasn't memorable enough). Her entire right arm is bionic, thanks to an accident with her work.

Usual outfit: Her normal outfit consists of a dark boiler suit, with flame-retardant gloves and pipes snaking around her right wrist, up into her bionic arm, which then attaches to the tank on her back. This holds three different chemical creations. Each has a specific colour and ability. The pipes are connected to a gun, similar to a flamethrower. She wears a double filter gas mask and goggles, to protect herself from the noxious gases she uses.

Weapons: The three different chemical mixes in the tank are purple, blue and green. Respectively, purple is a blend of oils, that will light an enemy on fire if the flame on the front is lit. It is her main attack.

Blue is an hallucinogenic, causing whoever inhales it to begin attacking their teammates, as their vision becomes warped. This is her second attack. It isn't effective against those with a face mask or filter. This includes characters like Soldier 76, but it all depends on the skin/outfit they are wearing. For example, if D.Va is in her mech, it doesn't affect her, and if Tracer is in her T.Racer skin, the gas is blocked.

Green is an acid, and can melt armour and plating. This is her ultimate, and can only target those close to her.

As well as having the hallucinogenic as a secondary attack, she can sprint like Soldier 76 can.

Specifics: All of her chemicals are completely safe to handle, even with bare skin; they only become reactive upon hitting a flame. This means that against Mei, Willow will become ineffective, and have to run away to reignite the flame on the front of her weapon.

Her arm is one of the improvements that she has gotten whilst working in Talon. She gained it via an accident with her green, acidic chemical; it didn't react in the way she'd expected during the early stages, and exploded while she was holding it. It caught her right arm, eating away the muscle there, and effectively crippling the entire limb. She wanted to be on the field, but with such a disability, doing so would be dangerous, therefore she had it replaced. Not only did it make her more effective in the long run, but it also meant that Moira had another guinea pig for a short period of time.

Background: Hailing from Britain, Willow used to work as a chemist, creating different medicines to treat the sick. After the attack at King's Row, when the Null Sector bots came and destroyed her business (Willow was aged 27 at the time, 2069), she promptly decided that she could do more than just heal the wounded caused by such fights. Instead, she could prevent the illness before it even started to spread.

With these goals in mind, she began to train, using her knowledge to create chemical weapons with the ability to burn her enemies. She started from scratch, but her persistence and perseverance meant that she put on muscle mass quickly, and learnt endurance and developed stamina. However, instead of going to Overwatch, she strayed to the side of Talon; she was no hero, and had always leaned towards the darker parts of life in her past. Not only that, but with Overwatch being illegal through the Petras Act, there was no way she could have joined them anyway.

For the first few missions she was a part of, they weren't interupted in any way; that was good, considering she was still getting used to everything. However, the first agent who tried to intercept her had no idea of what he was getting into. Soldier 76 had stopped their delivery in Dorado, and Alchemist had become obsessed from the moment she saw him. This was the start of a long journey between them, one involving both successful and failed attempts to woo/kidnap the older man.

Relationships: As previously stated, Willow wants a relationship with Overwatch's Soldier 76. However, any interaction must be left on the field, or if she were to kidnap him, because a Talon soldier in the clutches of Overwatch would be a recipe for disaster. The older man always tries to shut down her advances, but she isn't easily deterred.

The person she's closest to on her own team is probably the Reaper, because they share a lot of traits and morals which the others don't have. Not only that, but he was the first person she met in Talon, as he was technically the one who recruited her. Plus, she can pick his brains about the infamous Jack Morrison, the Golden Boy of the old Overwatch.

Apart from him, she gets on fairly well with Moira, only because of their smarts and common interest in science.

Extras: She has a tattoo on the lower half of her back, one which, if you were to ask, she'd explain was a complex alchemy table, based more on the philosophical, rather than scientific, side of alchemy. She got it when she was younger, around her mid-twenties.

Ever since her attention got directed towards the Soldier, Alchemist has been working on a new formula to try and mimic that of the super soldier serum. It's pink in colour, and while it certainly improves stamina for a short period of time, it isn't long-term like what she is hoping for. Not only that, but it has an unwanted affect of increased libido. Further tests are required on that one before it's used on the field, or that'd be a nightmare. She's also working on a way to adapt her suit so that if she's lagging or injured in any way, it'll administer a shot of Moira's healing juice; again, this is still a work in progress.

[mst3kproject]

The Beach Girls and the Monster

This movie stars Sue Casey from Catalina Caper and Elaine DuPont from I was a Teenage Werewolf, but I really don’t think I have to justify reviewing a movie called The Beach Girls and the Monster on an MST3K blog.  The only people who are going to want a movie called The Beach Girls and the Monster are people who are fascinated by godawful movies. Let us proceed.

A beach party is interrupted when one of its choreographically-challenged bikini babes is strangled by a seaweed-draped fish monster that even the Horror of Party Beach would laugh at.  The cops find mysterious footprints, which local scientist Dr. Lindsay declares belong to the South American Fantigua fish, a known man-eater!  Dr. Lindsay also takes the opportunity to rant about how the killer was doubtless one of those good-for-nothing surfer kids his son Rich hangs around with. Then we take a right turn from The Horror of Party Beach into General Hospital as we get a taste of life in the Lindsay household.  Not only are Rich and his father at odds over whether surfing is a worthwhile hobby, Rich’s stepmother Vicki is playing the two against each other while cheating on her husband at every turn, including with Rich’s friend Mark, a struggling artist who rents their spare room.

I’m going to stop there, because your brain is probably lagging behind as it tries to process the ‘fish footprints’ plot point. Yeah, no kidding, that’s in the movie – the footprints of a fish!  Is Fantigua supposed to be the scientific name of the Creature from the Black Lagoon?  I mean, yeah, there are fish that can crawl across land for short distances, but they still don’t have feet.

That’s not even the weirdest thing in the movie, either. The first victim, a girl called Bunny, had at one point posed for a sculpture Mark was working on.  After she dies, he gives the piece to her parents as a gift… which is nice enough, except that the sculpture is of Bunny as a sexy mermaid! What the fuck, dude?

At one of the beach party scenes, we have to listen to Rich sing an uninspired and unmemorable ballad called More than Wanting You.  The nicest thing I can say about this song is that it’s still better than the music in Wild Guitar.  Immediately afterwards, however, we’re treated to a much more entertaining nonsense song called There’s a Monster in the Surf, which is sung by Rich’s girlfriend and a lion hand puppet wielded by a guy in a fake beard.  I have no explanation for that.  None.

There’s the bit where Mark’s walking on the beach and comes across a group of girls wiggling their butts at the camera in time to music.  There’s nobody else around, they never notice him watching them, and they’re totally separate from the party he arrives at later in the evening.  They’re just there, in a way that suggests they’re like the rocks and the waves – they’ve been on this beach since the beginning of time and will be until the mountains crumble.  I wonder if they’re a PokeStop.

There’s the jazz interlude when Vicki comes home drunk and staggers around the house for a while before being attacked by the monster, which was lying in wait for her at the top of the stairs (again – yes, this happens). The music suggests we’re supposed to be watching a strip show or something but all we’re doing is sitting there looking at Vicki’s ass as she pours herself a drink and reads a love letter. I can tell it’s supposed to be sexy but the only reaction it actually gets out of me is huh?

Huh? is my major reaction to Vicki as a character, actually.  The first time we meet her, she’s trying to cozy up to Rich, who tells her to get lost.  Then she accuses Dr. Lindsay of loving Rich more than he loves her, and tries to turn him against Rich’s friend Mark.  Then she goes to pose for Mark, who really just seems to want to get on with the sculpture he’s making of her, but she comes on to him, kisses him, and then rejects him and calls him names.  She cheats on her husband and tells him its too late to save their relationship – and throughout all of this, there’s never any sense that she has a goal.  The only thing I can imagine all this behaviour leading up to is becoming a rich divorcee, but the idea of a divorce is never even brought up.  As far as I can tell, she just likes messing with people’s emotions.

With all this interpersonal drama going on throughout the movie, it’s actually easy to forget about the monster.  After its first murder it vanishes into the woodwork and never makes another appearance until almost the end of the movie – and the end of this movie is a letdown on almost more levels than I can actually count.  In order to discuss this I’m obviously going to have to spoil it, but I have a hard time believing anybody cares about spoiling themselves for The Beach Girls and the Monster.

All right, so the monster kills a guy on the beach and Mark helpfully frames himself by being present, stealing a police car, and driving home, because he suspects that Dr. Lindsay has something to do with the monster – after all, we’ve heard Rich talk about his father’s papers on mutations in sea life!  The monster kills Vicki, then goes after Mark, who stabs it with a kitchen knife and rips its head off, revealing… Dr. Lindsay in a stupid monster costume!  Dr. Lindsay then steals Rich’s girlfriends car and drives off in pain, and the police chase him until he goes over a cliff and explodes.  Roll credits.

There is almost more disappointment here than I think I can encompass in my remaining review space.  First of all, we were told about the man-eating fish and then about science experiments that can mutate animals to several times their normal size. I don’t know about anybody else, but I was expecting that Dr. Lindsay had either created a fish monster or else had temporarily turned himself into one.  Nope, he’s just a dude in a monster suit.  I guess this was an attempt at a misdirection?  Okay, sure, but if you’re going to misdirect your audience, it should go without saying that the real answer needs to be cooler than the fake one!  Shriek of the Mutilated also had its monster turn out to be a guy in a costume, but that was a cover for a cult of cannibals!

Then there’s the explanation of why Dr. Lindsay did this.  It’s never spelled out for us explicitly, but it seems like his motive was to scare Rich away from hanging out with the beach crowd so that the two of them could spend more time doing science together!

And there’s the car crash ending.  Car crashes are like house fires in Frankenstein movies… they’re a way of ending the story without anybody actually having to do anything.  The entire ending is calculated to avoid anybody suffering any consequences or Rich, who is technically our protagonist, actually having to behave like a hero.  Mark stabs his attacker, but dies immediately afterwards so that he can’t be held responsible for a murder, even one committed in self-defense.  His death also means that Rich no longer needs to look after his struggling friend.  Dr. Lindsay runs away so that Rich cannot confront him or ask why he has done these things.  The car crash finishes him off so that there’ll be no need to bother with an arrest or a trial or anything, and Vicki’s death means that Rich will inherit everything.  Everybody who was making Rich’s life complicated is dead and now he gets all his daddy’s money and can do whatever he likes.

This is not what the audience wants at the end of this story.  The middle of this story wasn’t what we wanted from this movie anyway – we wanted a story about a seaweed-covered fish monster killing people in swimsuits.  If the reason we’ve spent so much time with the Lindsay family instead is because the monster is actually Rich’s dad in a costume, we need to deal with that.  Having him drive over a cliff is a way of not dealing with it.  The cop telling Rich ‘he thought he was doing it for you’ isn’t anything like the same as having Dr. Lindsay himself say, ‘I was doing it for you!’.  Closing on a shot of Rich staring at the burning car doesn’t tell us what effect all this is going to have on him.  It’s all a giant cop-out!

There are a million other little weird things here.  There’s the movie’s insistence on calling Dr. Lindsay an oceanographer when everything we’re told about his research clearly makes him a marine biologist.  The photograph of Rich that sits on his father’s desk is clearly one of actor Arnold Lessing’s headshots.  There’s the wallpaper that from a distance looks like it’s covered in emojis.  There’s surfing footage that serves the exact same non-purpose as the wrestling in Samson vs the Vampire Women.  It all sucks.

Is there anything nice I can say about The Beach Girls and the Monster?  Well… there is one thing.  This is the only movie I can think of where the monster has a perfectly gender-neutral body count.  Dr. Lindsay kills exactly four people: Mark, Vicki, and surfer kids Bunny and Tom. Two men, two women, and like Bunny, Tom was killed in his swimsuit with the only visible injuries being some scratches to his face.  Is this an intentional statement on how women are treated in monster movies?  I fucking doubt it.  Not in a film with this many jiggling ass shots.

[annieboltonworld]

Juniper Publishers-Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources

Some Peculiarities in Studying Fast Developed hydrogeodeformation Conditions During Strong Earthquake’s Preparatory Period (Exemplified by the Spitak Earthquake in Armenia)

Authored by E Zaltsberg

Abstract

Hydrogeodeformation field changes during the strong earthquake’s preparatory period are considered. These changes are the result of combined impacts of various endogenous and exogenous factors. Fast changes in the deformation field cause displacements of blocks within the geological massifs which could result in catastrophic processes in the lithosphere. Based on principles and methodology of regional hydrogeodeformatics, fine deformation changes were identified and monitored for the Caucasus region for the period August 1988 – December 1990 which includes the December 7, 1988 Spitak earthquake. Considering velocity and acceleration of deformation changes in various blocks of the region, schemes of displacement potentials during the Spitak earthquake were compiled and directions of block displacement caused the quake were identified. Based on hydrogeodeformation (HGD) monitoring data, several indicators of the forthcoming dangerous seismic event were described. The global hydrogeodeformation monitoring system is proposed as a tool providing warnings on potentially dangerous seismic events in various seismically active regions of the planet.

Keywords: Regional Hydrogeodeformatics; The Hydrogeodeformation Field; Deformation structures; The Spitak earthquake

Theoretical Basis and Methodology

An evolutionary change of Earth’s volume is the main factor of the lithosphere transformation. Based on this concept, the model of the global endodrainage system (GEDS) was developed. The GEDS consists of deep «canals» penetrating into the astenosphere and probably even deeper and connects the highly heated deep zones of the Earth with its geological crust. This megastructure includes rifts, mid-ocean ridges and linear continental mountain folded areas surrounded by seismically stable regions. Accumulation and upward transport of heat, deep liquid and volatile products occur through this system. To compensate this upward movement of liquid matter, the equal mass of geological material moves downward. This global heat-mass circulation is developing in real time and is accompanied with variations of all components of Earth’s geophysical field including its seismicity.

The GEDS is the main growing megastructure which manifests the Earth’s volume increase [1-10]. Fast changes in pressure within aquifers due to changing stresses in geological massifs are important indicators of geodynamic catastrophes. Fundamental theoretical works on the influence of changing pressure to the water-rock system were conducted [11-15]. Numerous studies conducted in 1970s-1990s by various geological and seismological agencies in the former USSR, the USA, Japan and Denmark were focused on finding the hydrogeological features that could be used for earthquake prediction. These studies confirmed the high sensitivity of the lithosphere matrix to changing geodynamic pressure.

In 1980s-90s extensive studies on hydrogeological features associated with regional changes in dynamic pressure were conducted in the All-Union Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology (VSEGINGEO) in Moscow. These studies were based on several Russian patents and the scientific discovery which described the new type of the geophysical field, i.e. the hydrogeodeformation (HGD) field of the Earth Vartanyan and Kulikov [16]. Based on this discovery, the new discipline namely regional hydrogeodeformatics was developed. It deals with assessment of the current Earth’s geodynamic activity which manifests itself in the changing HGD field. Starting from 1985 and under scientific guidance of VSEGINGEO, the regional hydrogeodeformation monitoring network was developed in seismically active regions of the former USSR. They included the Russian Federation, Caucasus and Middle Asia Republics, Ukraine, Moldavia and Khazackstan. This network provided highly accurate information on water level fluctuations which was transformed into the rock stress condition parameters. Investigations conducted in various countries allowed comparing the deformation changes and transformations occurring in distant regions of the Earth with different tectonic conditions [17-22].

These investigations confirmed that the HGD field changes within huge massifs occur in real time and very fast (in a matter of hours or days). These changes are caused by a combined influence of cosmic and endogenous factors that define displacement of the lithosphere blocks. The nature and intensity of HGD field pulsations depend on different velocity and direction of vertical displacement of geological blocks. Upward displacement causes expansion of geological blocks while downward displacement causes compaction within the blocks. Downward displacement could be caused not only by direct sinking but also by the different velocities of upward displacement within the neighboring blocks.

The methodology of regional hydrogeodeformatics is focused on solving the following problems:

a) Assessment of elevations and volume changes within geological massifs;

b) Assessment of deformation process intensity within specific blocks of the geological massif and defining potentially dangerous short-living deformation structures;

c) Compiling velocity/acceleration curves of deformation structures; and

d) Calculating and mapping geological massif displacement potentials which indicate the mostly stressed blocks during the earthquake preparatory period and dangerous stages of massif displacements.

Investigations of hydrogeodynamic conditions include computerized compilation of HGD field map(s) at any specified time ti. The next step is computerized compilation of deformograms De(t) which show changes occurring with expansion-compaction structures for the specified monitoring period T=tn-t0. Each deformogram De (t) is the imprint of the strong geodynamic event which includes its preparation, occurrence and post history. This imprint allows identifying event in various distant areas on the planet. The imprint’s clarity depends on the power of the initial impulse and the distance between the monitoring location and the active region.

Displacement potentials could be calculated as

Pv= ΔV(t)/ΔL

Pa= Δа(t)/ΔL

where ΔV(t) is the difference between the areas of short-lived expansion/compaction structures (in km2) during the specific time period Δt (in hours);

Pv is the displacement velocity potential;

Δa(t) is the difference between acceleration of short-lived expansion/compaction structures development (mm2/sec2) during the specific time period Δt (in hours);

Pa is the displacement acceleration potential (mm/sec2) and

ΔL is the distance between central points of blocks compared.

Analysis of the Results and Discussion

The study area of about 400,000 km2 was located in the former Soviet Republics of Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaydzhan and included the Greater and Lesser Caucasus regions. At different time the monitoring network consisted of 12 to 16 HGD monitoring wells and deep oil exploration wells (Figure 1). The average depth of wells was 250 m. Each well was completed in the waterbearing bedrocks and equipped with the automatic gauge providing water level and temperature data on the hourly basis. The well’s depth and construction were such that the influence of meteorological and technogenic factors on the groundwater regime was eliminated. The results of the regional HGD monitoring were applied to the analysis of the Spitak earthquake. The Spitak area is located at the crossing of the North Anatolyan fault and several sublatitudinal and meridional structural dislocations which define configuration of the deformation field in the area. Analysis of the HGD field development indicates that during the preparatory period of the Spitak earthquake fast changes from expansion to compaction and vice versa ocurred within large areas in the short time period (Figure 2).

The deformogram De(t) for the entire study area shows the influence of local and distant seismic events on fast changing expansion-compaction conditions in rock massifs. As a rule, most of the extreme values on the De(t) curves for the Caucasus region coincide with preparatory periods or occurrences of strong earthquakes in various distant areas on the planet (Figure 3).

The similar analysis was conducted for the separate geological blocks and indicated significant differences in deformation evolution of each block (Figure 4). They were defined by different velocities and directions of blocks vertical displacements which occurred constantly but intensified significantly at the final stage of earthquake preparation. Block’s deformograms for the Caucasus region also indicated high sensitivity to powerful distant seismic events such as earthquakes in the Tasman Sea (May 23, 1989. М8.2), Loma Prieta (October 18,1989, M7.1), Solomon Islands (October 27, 1989, M7.1), and the Honshu Island (November 1, 1989, M7.4). These quakes manifested themselves on the De(t) curves as distinctive signals with lag time of several days after the seismic event. This lag time was due to the relatively low velocity of the initial impulse migration which is usually less than 100 km/ hour. The impulse migrates from the west to the east in direction of Earth’s rotation [9,10]. A few hours prior the main shock of the Spitak earthquake the differences in velocity and directions of vertical massifs displacement were most evident.

At the earthquake’s epicenter the upward displacement was maximum: from August to December 1988 the increase of ground surface elevations at the well № 0304 was 247cm. The similar results were obtained by N. Shebalin. This significant rise within the epicentral area was associated with development of main expansion structures. For example, at the well № 0304 expansion was 20600cm3/m3, or +2.06% compared to the initial state in August 1988. At the distance of 140-160 km from the epicenter the expansion values were much lower (6400cm3/m3, 1500cm3/m3, 860cm3/m3 at wells №№ 0301, 0308 and 1001 correspondingly). Due to different intensity of blocks vertical displacement, the regional HGD field demonstrated significant heterogeneity which indicated the role of particular faults in preparation of the Spitak earthquake.

In August-September 1988 large expansion structures were observed in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus regions (Figure 5). By early December the Z-shaped compaction structure was formed in the region. Its northern part coincided with the Rioni valley while its southern part was controlled by the Ararat hollow. Both parts were connected by 100-110km long, 10-15km wide isthmus. This part of Z-shape structure was squeezed between two strong expansion areas which played important role in preparation and occurrence of the Spitak earthquake. The new fault which was formed immediately after the earthquake, was located at the above mentioned isthmus (Figure 5).

For defining areas with most active kinetics of the HGD field hodographs V(t) and accelerograms a(t) were compiled for some specific blocks. Their analysis allows defining the periods of regular fluctuations caused by the gravity forces variations and periods when gravity related fluctuations were disturbed and muffled. The latter indicated the presence of activated endogenous processes which could cause dangerous seismic events. For example, the hodograph for the block 10 (the epicenter of the future Spitak earthquake) is characterized by the low amplitude and the irregular cyclicity caused by activated endogenous processes (Figure 6). The gravity related cyclicity with the amplitude much higher than those in the block 10, was presented on hodographs for blocks 1, 2, 3 and 12 before November 23, 1988. After this date and prior to the quake’s occurrence (December 7, 1988) the gravity related cyclicity became very irregular and practically disappeared. This godograph feature could be used as short-term indicator of the forthcoming seismic event. Analysis of the regional HGD field development and hodographs shows that the Greater Caucasus structures play significant role in the deformation field kinetics. Blocks 1 and 2 were characterized by the strongest and fastest changes in deformation conditions and, therefore, could be considered as generators of deformation changes in the whole study area.

The stagnation period (from 23:00 December 6 to 01:00 December 7, 1988) was observed on all block’s accelerograms and could be considered as the important prognostic feature. During this time preceding the Spitak earthquake, the a(t) curves were completely still. In the northern blocks (for instance, in the block 2) the stagnation period was preceded by sharp decline of the deformation process and coincided with the lowest a(t) values. In the southern blocks (the block 12) it was preceded by sharp acceleration of the deformation process and coincided with the highest a(t) values (Figure 7).

Fast changes of HGD field in the whole region could cause significant displacements of geological massifs. They occur under the influence of the displacement potential from the area with high expansion acceleration to the area with high compaction acceleration. Based on the a(t) data the displacement potentials were calculated and the scheme of potentials was compiled (Figure 8). By 10:00 December 7, 1988 the area with the high displacement potential was formed in the northern part of the study area. The block №5 was characterized by the maximum displacement potential. There is a connection between vertical and lateral displacements of geological massifs. Apparently, the heterogeneity in vertical displacements defines the deformation field and lateral movements of massifs.

At the final stage of the Spitak earthquake preparatory period geological massifs changed direction of their displacements within the short period of time. By 11:00 December 7, 1988 displacement potentials were maximal and direction of block’s displacement was mainly northward following the Transcaucasus structural dislocation system (Figure 9). According to reconstruction conducted, the HGD field in the Caucasus region experienced several fast intensive changes associated with preparations of both local and distant earthquakes. These modifications reflected the global kinetic process of Earth’s shape evolution and the adjustment of regional structures to the globally changed deformation field.

Large geological structures including regional fault systems also made their «input» into formation of regional stressstrain field. Therefore, the regional deformation field could be considered as self-organized system within the global Earth’s lithosphere. During the final stage of the Spitak earthquake’s preparatory period, fast changes of lithospheric block boundaries were observed. They were due to uneven vertical displacements of geological massifs which caused fast changes of the deformation field in the region.

The short-lived Z-shaped structure (Figure 5) along with the Tshinvali-Kazbeksky fault divided the region into three large subsystems with different intensity of deformation processes (Figure 9). They were as follows:

a) The central part of the Greater Caucasus (blocks 1, 2 and 3) was characterized by the most intensive deformation activity that strongly influenced deformation processes in the entire region;

b) The Lesser Caucasus (the Dzavahet highland, blocks 9 and 12) was characterized by the elevated deformation activity which was, however, less than those in the central part of the Greater Caucasus area; and

c) The eastern part of the Greater Caucasus and the Kura valley (blocks 6, 11and 13) with low deformation activity.

These three kinetic systems along with the sublatitudinal faults created prerequisites for the massif displacement along the Transcaucasus dislocation system. Prior to this catastrophic displacement, the two hour period of stagnation was observed in all blocks followed by rapid development of geodynamic processes in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus. The rapid expansion processes were observed in the Greater Caucasus while the strong compaction processes occurred in the Lesser Caucasus.

As a result of these oppositely directed developments, the rupture of the geological massif occurred approximately 11 hours after the stagnation period. Therefore, the Spitak earthquake was the result of the fast and intensive changes in the deformation fields which occurred within the huge area and were observed at the HGD monitoring network.

Conclusion

a) The HGD field demonstrates deformation changes within the geological matrix. These changes are caused by combined impacts of variable endogenic and exogenic factors on the lithosphere;

b) Based on the principles and methodology of regional hydrogeodeformatics, several indicators of dangerous seismic situations were identified. They allowed defining blocks with the disturbed gravity related cyclicity and activated endogenous processes;

c) Different fine movements were observed within blocks using velocity and acceleration curves. They made possible defining the short-lived deformation structures which were responsible for development of dangerous processes within the blocks. Such structures could not be identified by any other means;

d) Changes in the deformation field occur more intensively within the global endodrainage system (GEDS) presented by mountain folded structures, mid-ocean ridges and rifts. The Greater and Lesser Caucasus system is one of the components of the GEDS.

e) Distant seismically active areas are interconnected through the GEDS. The initial impulse migrates through the GEDS from the west to the east, i.e. its migration coincides with Earth’s rotation.

f) Fast changes in the deformation field cause subhorizontal displacements of huge geological massifs. These displacements could cause catastrophic processes in the lithosphere.

g) The global HGD monitoring network is proposed as the tool to follow the seismic preparatory processes. It will consist of several (5-8) monitoring stations located within the GEDS system (the Italian peninsula, the Japanise Islands, Caucasus, Cordilleras, Pyrenees regions). Each station will provide assessment of the HGD field and the possibility of dangerous development in geodynamic conditions in the specific region. This information will be forwarded to the International Centre for further processing and issuing warnings on potential dangerous seismic events.

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[siglerprescriptiondrugcards]

Melatonin

Scientific Names: N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine Other Common Names: Pineal hormone, MLT Overall Safety: 😊  

Therapeutic Efficacy and Considerations:

Insomnia: 😊 Results of melatonin studies for insomnia have had inconsistent results, often with benefit to only some of the measured parameters. More research is needed to clarify the extent of effectiveness and determine an optimum dose. However, current evidence does support use of melatonin for sleep in both adults and children. Patients should be counseled that melatonin does not cause drowsiness like prescription sleep agents, and that some patients may not respond to treatment. Patients with sleep disorders may benefit more than patients with an occasional sleepless night. The usual dose for this indication is 0.3-5 mg at bedtime as needed.

Shift Adjustment: 🙁 Several trials have examined melatonin for adjustment to shift work and all have had negative or mixed results with only slight improvements in a few measured parameters. Evidence does not support the use of melatonin for shift adjustment. Usual dose is 1-5 mg at desired bedtime.

Jet Lag: 😊 A meta-analysis of 9 trials concluded that melatonin is effective in preventing or reducing symptoms of jet lag. Three additional trials have had negative or mixed results. More research is needed to be able to make a definitive recommendation regarding efficacy and optimum dosage. Current evidence, though moderate, considered in light of a generally favorable safety profile, is sufficient to support use of melatonin for jet lag. Patients choosing to try melatonin should be counseled that it may not be as effective as appropriate use of short-acting sleep agents. Take 0.5-5 mg at bedtime on arrival date; continue for 2-5 days.

Tardive Dyskinesia: 😐 Two small trials, using widely varying doses, have examined use of melatonin for tardive dyskinesia with conflicting results. More research is warranted to determine true effects and an appropriate dose. Current evidence does not support use for this indication. Usual dose is 10 mg of a controlled release form once daily.

Chemistry/Pharmacology: Melatonin is an endogenous hormone synthesized from tryptophan by the pineal gland. Its primary role is regulation of circadian rhythm and sleep patterns. Formation and release are stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. The lack of light signal in blind persons leads to various unusual free-running melatonin secretory patterns and sleep patterns and sleep problems and melatonin levels are generally low in most persons with sleep disorders and chronic insomnia. Nocturnal onset of melatonin secretion strongly correlates with a steep rise in sleep propensity and precedes it by about two hours; however, it does not seem that melatonin actually induces sleep. Melatonin is also involved in control of other endocrine functions such as secretions of growth hormone and stimulation of sexual maturation. It is a very powerful antioxidant and effects on cancer cells are being researched. Exogenously administered melatonin does result in higher blood levels, despite low bioavailability (15%) and a significant first pass effect.

Drug Interactions: May decrease prothrombin time; use with caution in patients taking anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents. Increased anxiolytic action may occur with benzodiazepines. Possibly impaired glucose utilization and increased insulin resistance in patients taking diabetes medications. Fluvoxamine may significantly increase levels via inhibition of CYP450 1A2. Beta blockers may decrease nocturnal production of endogenous melatonin.

Contraindications/Precautions: In depression, melatonin can worsen dysphoria. In diabetes, melatonin can decrease glucose utilization and increase insulin resistance. Blood pressure may become uncontrolled in patients taking antihypertensives. Use in pregnancy/lactation is not recommended due to the lack of safety data at any dose. Exogenous melatonin may increase the incidence of seizures.

Adverse Effects: May cause fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, vomiting, mood changes, hypotension, confusion, and headache.