#lots of planets have a new zealand

[timetodiverge]

Consider: a Bad Batch Christmas Special, but it's just Omega saying the boys' names in her kiwi accent for an hour

(HunTAH, Wreekah, Eekoh, Tiek, Crus-heiyah, Rix)

[astrobiscuits]

Astro obs part 9

🐌 The planets in your 12th house indicate your sleeping style:

Sun in 12th house - their sleep schedule is extremely messed up; for them, daylight hours = nighttime hours and vice versa, so they have trouble being themselves during the day; their true self comes out at night

Moon in 12th house - goes to sleep very late; full moons have a special effect on these people; their intuition is more clear at night; as kids, they probably slept a lot with their mother

Mercury in 12th house - loves texting/calling people late at night; they might journal their thoughts before sleep because they overthink a lot and it helps to clear their mind or maybe they just like to relax by reading a book at night

Venus in 12th house - cares a lot about getting their "beauty sleep"; sleeps with sleep masks on, buys expensive bed lingerie, skincare night routine might be very important; loves sleeping in general lmao

Mars in 12th house - enjoys working out before going to sleep, can go to sleep angry because they tend to get into conflict more at night than during the day

I have Uranus in 12th house and i can be both a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper, depending on where i am. For example, when i'm traveling, during the first night i wake up several times, but from the second night on i sleep like a baby lmao. Another thing would be that i can't sleep in a quiet car but i don't have any problem sleeping during a thunderstorm

🐌 Mars in fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sag) and Mars in 3rd house individuals love riding motorbikess

🐌 While Mars in 9th house peeps would probably love to go on a world tour on their motorbike. The sign ruling their 9th house represents the countries they would love to visit (i'm aware that some of these can only be visited by plane, take it with a grain of salt): 

♈ in 9th house: Ireland, Poland, Japan, Zimbabwe

♉ in 9th house: Cuba, Paraguay, South Africa, East Timor

♊ in 9th house: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Montenegro

♋ in 9th house: Canada, USA, Bahamas, Argentina, Slovenia, Madagascar

♌ in 9th house: Hawaii, France, Italy, The Netherlands, India, South Korea, Peru, Bolivia

♍ in 9th house: Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Vietnam

♎ in 9th house: Belgium, Portugal, China, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho

♏ in 9th house: Panama, Spain, Turkey, Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE), Palestine, Lebanon

♐ in 9th house: Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Tanzania, Thailand

♑ in 9th house: UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Australia, Camerun

♒ in 9th house: Greece, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka

♓ in 9th house: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritius, Saint Lucia

🐌 I have a feeling Pisces Suns like to spend their time in a garage lmao. Mostly because their opposing sign, Virgo, would hate to spend time in a garage due to how dirty it can get.

🐌As a 7th house Sun who's been in love for almost a year now (haha, are we surprised, ofcours not; i'm not even in a relationship with him but ugh we're so perfect for each other), i realised that Sun in 7th house people tend to behave differently with their partner when they're in a healthy relationship vs when they're in a toxic one

Sun in 7th house in:

♈ Aries in a healthy relationship: empowers their partner, knows how to balance me time vs us time in a healthy manner, encourages their partner to take safe risks

♈ Aries in an unhealthy relationship: impulsive, impatient, selfish, dismisses their partner's feelings, often controlled by rage, prone to abusing their partner

♉ Taurus in a healthy relationship: veryyy generous (their love language is gift giving), accommodating to their partner's wants and needs, cooks for their partner

♉ Taurus in an unhealthy relationship: stubborn af, hard to please, focused more on the material gain from their partner rather than the love they share

♊ Gemini in a healthy relationship: curious, always lightens the mood of their partner by cracking up tons of jokes or telling them funny stories, knows that communication is key to everything so they're not afraid to discuss serious topics, teaches their partner a lot of random stuff

♊ Gemini in an unhealthy relationship: superficial, doesn't have a problem moving on from their partner to another person in a matter of seconds, if they're still in school/college, then they prioritize studying over their partner

♋ Cancer in a healthy relationship: nurturing, knows how to balance babying their partner vs being babied by their partner, emotionally vulnerable, feels safe enough to present their partner to their family early on in the relationship

♋ Cancer in a unhealthy relationship: if they don't trust their partner, they tend to become emotionally closed off to hide their deep sadness; defensive, but if their partner attackes them, then they'll hide, worries excessively, avoids presenting their partner to their family

♌ Leo in a healthy relationship: treats their partner like the king/queen they are, keeps their ego in check so it doesn't interfere with the relationship, if they've got artistic talents (music, acting, art etc.), they'll show their love for their partner by performing in front of them

♌ Leo in an unhealthy relationship: egocentric, shows off their partner/relationship too much out of pride, often feels entitled in the relationship and wants to be put on a pedestal by their partner

♍ Virgo in a healthy relationship: selfless to a healthy degree, remembers every lil detail from every casual conversations with their partner just to please them, remembers every important date and plans ahead for it, takes care of their partner when they're sick

♍ Virgo in a unhealthy relationship: critical, overfixates on past hurts and mistakes that their partner made in the relationship (often times their partner doesn't even remember those things because they're usually not that serious), loves their pets more than their partner

♎ Libra in a healthy relationship: romantic, charismatic, truly values their partner and the relationship with them, acts fair in the relationship, teaches their partner lovingly about the importance of honesty, truth and a healthy give and take dynamic in a relationship

♎ Libra in an unhealthy relationship: doesn't prioritize the relationship; instead, they flirt with others despite being in a relationship, emotionally detached, cold and calculated in their current relationship

♏ Scorpio in a healthy relationship: loyal, loves their partner deeply and intensely, but without suffocating them, keeps their partner's secrets like they're a locked safe box with no public access

♏ Scorpio in an unhealthy relationship: obsessive, manipulative, seeks to dominate their partner, displays stalkish behaviour in the relationship, liar

♐ Sagittarius in a healthy relationship: exposes their partner to various cultures, belief systems and philosophies to expand their mind and form their own opinion on certain topics, loves freely but is still able to maintain a long-term relationship, improves their partner's mood, usually brings an element of surprise and excitement to the relationship

♐ Sagittarius in an unhealthy relationship: travels in order to avoid dealing with their partner, parties a bit too much, doesn't take the relationship seriously

♑ Capricorn in a healthy relationship: loves their partner in a mature, serious and secure manner, doesn't shy away from improving their partner's social status and/or career if they can, discusses plans for the future (getting married, having kids, adopting pets, buying a house) with their partner early on in the relationship, they make time for their partner, despite the fact that they're busy most of the time

♑ Capricorn in an unhealthy relationship: displays no emotions or physical affection in the relationship, has a hard time communicating their thoughts with their partner, settles in a relationship for the wrong reasons (money/kids/safety/"i'm getting old and i need to have my life established"), prioritizes work/career over their partner

♒ Aquarius in a healthy relationship: flexible, makes their partner's dreams and aspirations come true (whether they're related to the relationship or not), has got a very open-minded attitude towards their partner's opinions, lifestyle and identity, takes the time to become friends firsts with their future partner because they value a relationship built on solid foundation (often times their partner is also their best friend), knows how to balance couple time vs time with friends

♒ Aquarius in an unhealthy relationship: displays wishy-washy behaviour, emotionally detached, prioritizes their friends over their partner, seeks online validation from strangers and acquaintances to fulfill their needs

♓ Pisces in a healthy relationship: sensitive to their partner's emotions, knows how to balance wearing their heart on their sleeve vs hiding their emotions in unfavourable circumstances, always honest with their partner

♓ Pisces in an unhealthy relationship: prone to drown their relationship problems and sorrows in alcohol, drugs and meds for mental health issues, runs away from problems instead of dealing with them with their partner, displays dishonesty to a fault, prone to self-sabotage

[roxyspamcake]

Earth Patch Notes:

Added 72 new species of beetle (find them all!)

Lowered deepest depth of ocean by 3 feet

Added new Great Lake to North America: Lake Inferior

Fixed strange glitch that formed "Rocky Mountain" range in western North America, and relocated them to where they should be

Axolotls have guns now

Implemented XP system dependant on environmental niche and added level-up perks

Increased global temperatures (again) (thanks a lot)

Located missing invasive moose in New Zealand, and relocated them to Ontario, Canada

Due to all octopuses returning to their home planet, their empty niche has been filled with more crabs

Removed Herobrine

[corvidaemnit]

let’s talk about the kiwi!!

(an info-dump about one of the weirdest, most scientifically interesting birds we know of today!)

so, we’ve all heard about ratites, right?

well, maybe you don’t know them by name, but you’ve most certainly either heard about them or seen them at some point.

some commonly known members of the ratite group are species like ostriches, emus, and cassowaries— as shown below:

ratites are all flightless birds within the infraclass palaeognathae— the infraclass that none other than the (now extinct) moa and elephant bird belong to!

now, these birds all share very similar characteristics; they’re large, long-necked, and long-legged with big clawed feet. all of these birds are also diurnal— which means they’re primarily active during the day time, just like us!

however, there is one species in this infraclass that is not quite like the others..

the kiwi.

not only are kiwi significantly smaller than their fellow ratites, but they also happen to be nocturnal.

and despite being small, their eggs are incredibly large, taking up to around 20% of the kiwi’s body weight, which has caused a lot of rigorous debate between scientists on exactly why.

one outdated theory suggested that perhaps the kiwi had shrunk over time from previously being very large like its ratite relatives, while its egg remained big…. but this has been debunked in recent years.

the current consensus, while still a theory, is that the egg size has to do more with precocity than anything else;

kiwis are born precocial, which makes them pretty much immediately independent upon hatching, with the ability to run and feed themselves without the help of their parents.

modern DNA analysis suggests that the size of kiwi eggs is not just a left-over trait from ‘incomplete’ evolution, but instead the exact opposite— an evolved adaptation to ensure better chances of survival.

due to their sheer size, kiwi eggs house more yolk than average, which ends up keeping newly hatched kiwis nice and fed until they learn to forage food for themselves.

when mammals began to spread in new zealand, kiwis had way more predators to worry about, and it’s theorized that they were previously unequipped to deal with this startling introduction of land-predators, such as stoats and rats, that started feeding on their eggs.

this could explain why kiwi eggs have developed to be so large over time— they give the chicks plentiful nutrients and thicker shells to ensure a better chance of survival against predation.

so… yeah. kiwis produce monster eggs and no one fully knows why just yet. neat, huh?

and that’s not even where the weirdness ends, my friends!

on top of all of this, it’s been a running joke in the bird world that kiwis are ‘honorary mammals,’ not only because of their weirdly mammalian appearance, but also because of some of their atypical biological traits.

for instance, kiwis have an average body temperature of around 38 degrees celsius .. aka, 100 degrees fahrenheit.

while this is not typical at all for birds, this is very typical for mammals, which has stumped a lot of researchers over the years.

similarly, kiwis are also the only bird in the world with exposed nostrils at the end of their beak, which can help them detect prey by using scent instead of their vision, which is very poor.

so… yeah. kiwis are the nocturnal, freakish little cousins of some of the biggest, most dangerous birds on the planet, and scientists are, quite frankly, still a little weirded out by them.

[ofmdrecaps]

08/05-06/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Vico Ortiz; Samson Kayo; Kristian Nairn; Ruibo Qian; David Fane; Rachel House; Minnie Driver; Dominic Burgess; Aug 7 WBD Q2 Earnings Call: Fuckery; Articles; National Maritime Museum in Cornwall; Fan Spotlight: Cast Cards; Never Left Podcast; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika;

Well, best intentions and all that-- another two dayer because that's just how this month has been. Lots and Lots going on with our cast & crew, friends <3

= David Jenkins =

Well David tried to give us all heart attacks yesterday.

And then today he sent some love after Astroglide brought tears to our eyes on twitter.

Source: David Jenkins Twitter

= Rhys Darby =

Lots of Cryptid Factor sightings! Reminder! Cryptid Factor is in London this Friday!

Video of a sighting of Indiana Buttons

Also! Dan and Stede The Nessiehunter gave us some quick live videos of their trip to Lochness!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dan Schreiber (@schreiberland)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dan Schreiber (@schreiberland)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve Feltham (@steve_the_nessiehunter)

= Taika Waititi =

Another AppleTV spotlight of Time Bandits! Reminder, new episodes out tomorrow, Aug 7!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Apple TV (@appletv)

Then Rita pulled Taika into another Tiktok trend.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RitaBot | UK Owen (@ritabotowen)

= Samson Kayo =

Samson out with Yvonne Orji <3

Source: Yvonne Orji's Instagram

= Kristian Nairn =

Kristian is reminiscing about Game Of Thrones- his book is coming out on September 24th, 2024-- you can still preorder it online!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico asked what quite a lot of us have wondered about before. IYKYK.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vico Ortiz (@puertoricaninja)

Source: Vico Ortiz Instagram

And some more photos of Vico with their loves.

Source: Vico Ortiz Instagram

= Ruibo Qian =

Ruibo is inviting everyone to join her on Aug 8, at 12am PST for a meditation. You can access it on Ruibo Qian's Youtube!

Source: Ruibo Qian's Instagram

= David Fane =

Some of you may remember that our dear Fang, David Fane, was awarded the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer's Residency! Now, I'm not 100% sure, but I know that Fulbright partners with the Kennedy Center, and so I'm thinking that's what David's referring to in his most recent instagram story. Good luck David! We are rooting for you!

Source: David Fane's Instagram Stories

= Rachel House =

Rachel's movie, The Mountain (Temaunga) has been officially selected for the Toronto International Film Festival! Congrats Rachel and everyone involved in the film! Learn more on TIFF's website!

Source: Rachel House's Instagram

= Minnie Driver =

Minnie was featured in Rose & Ivy!

Source: Rose and Ivy Journal Instagram

= Dominic Burgess =

Everything about this photo makes me smile.

Source: Dominic's Twitter

== #DontStreamOnMax: Fuckery Reminder ==

Our friends over at @adoptourcrew are calling on everyone to help with the fuckery tomorrow during the Q2 Earnings Call. Remember to flood social media with #DontStreamOnMax and #FireDavidZaslav!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Articles ==

Thank you to Meowzawowza_ on twitter for sharing the contents of this article!

https://if.com.au/allen-marshall-palmer-on-the-benefits-of-shooting-in-new-zealand/

Source: Meowzawowza_ Twitter

= National Maritime Museum Cornwall =

A HUGE thanks to @merryfinches for sharing this absolutely awesome find with us-- and thank you for bringing letting me share it in the recap Kylie! You continue to be one of the sweetest, kindest, most amazing folks on the planet <3 Please visit Kylie's blog here for more info! Here's a quick excerpt! "The exhibit is running until early 2025, so if you’re in Cornwall before it closes then you should go down and stare at a go at floating cardboard cutout of Ed for a bit 🥰💕"

Source: @merryfinches Tumblr

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

Thank you so much to @melvisik for keeping these up! It's still so amazing to think of just how many people made our show happen! First up is Bradley Rubin, another one of our Production Designers! Second up is Brigid M. who is apparently unspecified (according to https://ofmd-crew.com/)! Mel thinks she may be an action talent!

And last but not least - Stephen Dudro is one of the art directors for the show!

Source: @melvisik's Twitter

== Never Left Podcast ==

Episode 29 is out, and Never Left is continuing with their discussion on flowers! You may remember last weeks episode sparked the butterfly realization to many of the fans! Always great stuff coming out of our friends over at Never Left Podcast! Check them out on your favorite listening platforms here!

Source: Never Left Podcast Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies! How's your week going? Are you feeling the buzz? There's been lots of news all over the world, some good, some bad, but it feels like a lot of stuff is starting to upturn, even if it's just a little. I've had a few things on my mind the last couple days and I wanted to get them out and send some love. This is a bit of a long one and it's gonna get a bit heavy, so please skip to below the === if you don't feel up for it.

CW: Intrusive Thoughts Sometimes your brain likes to tell you things that you don't really believe (or shouldn't) when things are hard. Sometimes it tells you, you're not good enough, or capable enough, or smart enough, or skilled enough, or you don't deserve good things. Sometimes it tells you things would be better for other people if you weren't around, if you quit your job, or ran away. Sometimes it tells you you don't belong where you are, for any array of reasons. Sometimes it tells you you're unforgivable, or incapable of change.

It's wrong, dearies. It's so very wrong. Your brain sometimes lies to you because it's been trained to do so. By society, by leaders, by people trying to shape you into their worldview. There's nothing wrong with you if it does, it's actually pretty darn normal to feel those things. We deal with so much anxiety in our day to day lives, and our bodies are still stuck on thousands of years of defence mechanisms, and it doesn't know how to cope with the constant micro-stressors we deal with in modern times.

So it learns and adapts to your environment. Your brain is so damn smart-- that it takes what it hears over and over and it turns that inward because it thinks that's what you need. What it doesn't know is that when life is crazy, and the world continues to be this chaotic black hole of unending bad news, it'll adapt and turn things more and more negative. That's why so many people do daily affirmations-- because you can train your brain to do AMAZING things. It takes a long time, and constant reminders, but eventually it gets easier. Toxic positivity isn't helpful, but when you have unending darkness coming in waves around you, sometimes even just a little candle of hope can keep that at bay, and eventually help break up the darkness itself.

============================= So today, I'm gonna push a couple affirmations... and they kinda show up already in my love notes here and there-- but I'd like you take a moment to say them out loud if you can, and take a deep breath in between them --Give yourself a little support for today.

I found some that speak to me here, but you can find them all over the place on the web if they don't speak to you.

----------------

I am still learning so it’s okay to make mistakes.

I am loved and worthy.

I alone hold the truth of who I am.

I belong here, and I deserve to take up space.

I am allowed to feel good.

---------------- You are all of those things Lovelies. You truly are. Do you know why I call you all "Lovelies" so often? Because that's the word that encompasses so much of the good in the world to me-- and that's what you are.

You are lovely, just the way you are.

You are wonderful just the way you are.

You are worthy, and you are loved, and I know sometimes it's so hard to remember that, but keep telling yourself that, and one day it'll come a lot easier. Sending so much love. You deserve so many good things lovelies, please remember that.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

No theme tonight, just them <3 Gif courtesy of our friend @captain-flint!

[harrisonarchive]

‪Photos: David Matheson; excerpts from an Architectural Digest article by Paul Theroux, published in 2007:‬

"[George and Olivia Harrison] planted the property [on Hamilton Island] with dense tropical vegetation. 'George always had a major conflict between the trees and the views,' says Olivia Harrison. 'Every few years I would persuade him to cut back some foliage to reclaim the views.' [...] 'George sketched his ideas for Roger Parkin, the architect, and together they designed the house,' says Harrison. Waterfalls feed into the organically shaped pool. 'We swam a lot in the natural ponds in Hawaii and tried to create that feeling.' [...] The musician worked closely with landscape designer Malcolm Hunt on the gardens and pool area. 'George handpicked the big boulders from around the island,' says Harrison. [...] In the master suite, a low, curving stone wall separates the sleeping and meditation areas, which look east toward the Coral Sea. [...] A place for family getaways and for welcoming friends, it was called 'Letsbeavenue,' a pun on a line by British comedian Tommy Cooper, 'Let’s be having you.' [...] 'George was always on a quest to get as far away as he could,' Harrison says. 'We found Hawaii and built a house there. But he wanted to keep going. We went to Tasmania, New Zealand, Australia. I had the feeling that he maxed the planet out, looking for solitude. It was about "How far away can I get?"' [...] 'Our final visit to Letsbeavenue was in the year 2000,' Olivia Harrison says. 'It was the last of our big journeys together, before an even bigger journey for George.'" (x)

[when-the-elevator-regrets]

HERE'S AN OFFICIAL DISCORD SERVER!

Not necessary but appreciated robux donation.-Scott_screech

Hello welcome this is short information for now what is happening around in the au and how it looks like and the sexualities,heights,age of each characters+ships and friendships,feel free to ask for the further information,yes here will be more stuff when I will get time to write all...for now answering questions will be easier to me so go ahead! Feel free to ask anything you want or need to know!!-little reminder here,this account is made by only one person so the updates might be more rare cuz I don't have so much time on daily..I still will try do as much as I can

Ships:

Infectedparty-infected x poob

Partybeetle-pest x poob

Wallmark-wallter x mark

Spive-split x bive

Friendships:

Birthday duo-poob and fleshy

Weird trio-pest,inf and poob

Family-lampert,wallter and mark

Scapro duo-prototype and scag

Apartament time-infected and unpleasant

Ball duo-poob and gregoriah

Light wall-lampert and wallter

Wooden light-lampert and mark

Scenelight-lampert and inf

Wood bros-mark and jim

Fun trio- split,poob and inf AND A LOT MORE!

If anyone have ocs ship also welcome then it will change.

Sexualities+genders,heights and age(reminder some are canon and some not):

🎁Poob-asexual,pansexual(non-binary)|5'6 with hat 5'9+at his early 20's| {Polish}

🪲Pest-gay and demisexual(male)|6 feet +at his mid 20's| {Japanese}

💡Lampert-asexual and omnisexual(male)|5'8+19| {Swedish}

🪵Mark-gay(male)|5'9(6'1 with robotic legs instead stand)+at his mid 40's| {Texan}

🪻Jimmy/Jim-bisexual(male)|5'9+at his early 40's| {texan and From Finland}

🧱Wallter-bisexual(genderfluid)|10 feet+at his mid 40's| {British(england) and Greek}

🍌Split-lesbian(female)|5'8 all fours, 7feet normally+early 30's| {Spanish}

☎️Bive-lesbian and asexual(female)|5'9+early 30's| {Austrian}

🟢Gregoriah-gay(trans man)|5'7+early 20's| {Australian}

💉Drretro-pansexual+demiromantic(female)|normal form 5'7 other form 6 feet+at her mid 40's| {Brazilian}

🎂Fleshcousin-questionable+aroace(no identify gender but goes by he/it)|5'8+no age(adult tho)|{no country-depends who he copies}

🛸Gnarpy-straight+aroace(male)|5'7+18| {Gnarpian(planet Gars)}

👾Infected-bisexual(male)|5'9+at his early 20's| {American,New Yorker}

🤖Prototype-pansexual(male)|6'1 feet+no age|{no country}

🐱Jermbo-straight(male)|5'8+21| {meow meow}

🪨Mr-straight+asexual(rock. He/it)|rock form 3 feet,other form 6'3feet+at his mid 40's|{French}

🐛pilby-pansexual(non-binary)|4'2+at their late 50's|(I want to keep that they are old. I like the old fashioned thingy with pilby){Dane(Denmark)}

🔴Reddy-straight(male)|7'6+no age| {no country}

🪣Spud-asexual+bisexual(male)|5'10 at his late 30's|{Norwegian}

🦠Unpleasant-straight(male)|5'10+at his mid 30's|{American, Alaskan)

☂️Mach-lesbian(female)|6'10 no hat,with hat 9'5(canon)+at her late 30's|{Canadian}

Folly-aroace(female)|9'5+at her late 40's|{Russian}

(bonus cuz why not)

🍦Crem-pansexual(demiboy)|5'11+at his late 20's|{Italian}

🙂Enphoso-aroace+bisexual(trans man)|6'5+at his early 40's|{German}

📌Emerson-omnisexual+asexual(male)|5'10+at his early 30's|{Kiwi(New Zealand}

👑Jeremy-bisexual(male)|normal form 12 feet,other form 7'3+at his mid 30's|{British}

🏕️Sarah-straight(female)|5'9+at her late 30's|{Australian}

🧽Swibbledib-pansexual(gender fluid)|5'10+at his mid 20's|{Portuguese}

📼Scag-bisexual(trans woman)|5'5+at her early 50's|{no country}

💻Williamplayz57/william-straight(male)|normal form 3'2,other form 6 feet+no age|{American, Floridian}

🦉Sab-straight(male)|5'11 feet+at his early 40's|{Greek}

🕳️Scary mike/mike-questionable(non binary)|6'2+no age|{Nepali}

🪓Glevil-asexual+bisexual(male)|5'10+at his late 40's|{American,New Mexico}

clover-gay(demiboy)|6'3 feet normal form,other form 7 feet+at his late 30's|{Scottish}

Döug-straight(intersex)|14 feet normal form,5 feet other form+at it's mid 50's|{German}

OCS.

Tag-no comfirmed Sexuality|5'3 feet+no age information and country|

zAyee-Lesbian|10'5 feet+no age or country information| !both belong to @b4nd4g3-d0ct0r !

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW...IT TOOK ME ALMOST 2 HOURS. THANKS FOR READIN(still editing)

THANKS FOR SUPPORT

!!SOON COMING MORE STUFF(WILL COME/SHOW UP IN LATER STUFF OR WILL BE WRITTEN HERE)!!⬇️

1.Okay for sure here will be a lot of happy wallmark posts,so if here any wallmark happiness needers,enjoy!they are switches and wallter is the malewife...wallter really likes cooking and taking care of others

Mark tries to be as helpful as he can but mark is a clumsy type of guy but very nice,tho sometimes stubborn so is wallter!enjoy-they did have a divorce before but they decided to give it another try and then remarried so yeah,they are a happy married gay couple!!!.

2.Yes the au have a story,kind of a lore and all but I just want to say that in this au most of things are happy(maybe.) and here are not a lot problems(no promises)...except with Mr and unpleasant still is unpleasant,I will write the story one day eventually when I will get time-each cast member of wter have their own backstories and secrets.

3.|pest doesn't really like infected In fact,poob is dating infected and pest but pest and infected are not dating cuz they quite hate each other but after all everything is fine in their relationships,they all agreed on this and are fine with it|,|spive,it just split x bive,bive is still very paranoid but with split she calms down a bit and split tries to help her out with stuff and they love each other very much|,|wallmark,as I said they had a divorce but they remarried,for Lampert and themselves and now they are happy with each other,they still prefer their building materials but they realized it's not such a big of a deal so they ignore what they prefer here|

4. Mark and Jim are siblings,glevil is their cousin|Mark and Jim are very close to each other and would die for one another,Jim really helped mark after divorce and with the remarry plan which worked out|

5.Ocs are still welcomed!Just tell me information about them and if I have rights to add them to the au,I will let on your own answer questions for your oc since I don't want to be rude here and say something incorrect

6.some npcs Live together and here I will give some

Wallter+Mark+jimmy

Poob+pest

Infected+unpleasant+Lampert(tho lampert spends most of his time in rokea)

split+bive

Mach+pilby

Mike+glevil

Mr+enphoso

Crem+Emerson+gregoriah

Jeremy+clover+döug

7.not everything is here from canon and it's more fanon...I try to keep each npcs personalities but also a bit changes,I made this au to a bit make it up to me but I also made this like that to keep important details and not change too much!

8(out of info) you can use my designs for anything you want,ship art and etc but I would be grateful if you tag me when u do

[aro-sp-ace-force]

*New* info post. (Will update.)

Old post. We were created by @official-denmark to defeat @/actual-aspec-military, but we betrayed Denmark and joined the a-spec military as their space force branch instead. When we were created, our name was danish-aspec-forces.

These are our current members who agreed to be on this list and their roles:

[REDACTED] - Founder, leader, general, soldier, and blog manager of the branch.

@r0nin-sleeps - Scout, garlic bread baker, engineer, messenger.

@kingdom-of-asgardia-real - Scout.

@ciliomv - Researcher, engineer, soldier.

You can join by sending an ask.

People that are associated with us but aren't part of our military:

@the-official-goose-god agreed to help us take over the universe after we help them win a war against waste management.

@/actual-aspec-military we're a branch of their military.

@officially-new-zealand agreed to help us take over the universe, because we agreed to help them defeat Australia, but then they decided to defeat England instead.

@the-missiles-guy agreed to give us a ton of bombs weekly and gave us a lot immediately to blow up the Kuiper belt.

@the-nose-god agreed to help us take over the universe.

@communist-usa-real will help defend us and our conquered planets, and will help conquer more if we need it.

@the-aspec-country agreed to help us search for new planets that we can conquer.

(Also, sorry if you didn't want to get tagged.)

Roles:

Founder - The person who started the military. Exclusive to [redacted].

Leader - The person who commands everyone else in the military. Only one person can have this role at a time, but who that person is can change.

Generals - The people who think of a strategy on how to conquer/defend a planet, and then command the soldiers.

Soldiers - The people who fight to conquer/defend planets.

Scouts - The people who search for new planets to conquer.

Researchers - The people who research new technology that can help conquer and defend planets.

Garlic bread baker - Bakes garlic bread. The most important role in the entire military.

Engineers - People who design devices using the technology discovered by researchers.

Messengers - People who send messages between conquered planets. Created by @/r0nin-sleeps.

In this post is our profile picture at a higher resolution.

[doomedandstoned]

New Zealand’s SIDEWINDER Reveal 2nd Single “Prisoner” from upcoming ‘Talons’ LP

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

It's been just a minute since we released our compilation Doomed and Stoned in New Zealand, which we were honored to have preserved by The National Library of New Zealand. The current of underground heavy rock and metal is still strong in The Land of the Long White Cloud (or if you prefer, Middle Earth).

Our latest discovery is Wellington five-piece heavy rock beast SIDEWINDER, who today air their latest single "Prisoner" from the upcoming LP 'Talons' (2024), an album that has some monumentally heavy moments (wait'll you hear "The Depths"). We've already gotten a taste of the band's bouncy heavy psychedelic groove with the first single "Disarm The King," and the second showcases their swagger even further with soaring melodic lines, crunchy southern sludge riffage, chugging bass, and workhorse drumming.

Jem Tupe is a powerful vocalist, on the order of Laura Donnelly from King Witch. She can really belt it out with ferocity and it meshes really well with the swampy might of the band's hefty, hefty low-end. Sidewinder is taking no prisoners with this one -- a big sound through and through.

"Prisoner has been a staple for us with our live shows for years," says guitarist Ben Sargent. "It was our opener for a while and quickly became a crowd favourite. We did a few things we hadn't tried before with the recording: like the whisper track through the verses. A lot of the lyrical content refers to Tartarus too which tied in with overall themes of the album. Big riffs, dissonant verses, lead breaks and heavy bridge sections – Prisoner's got it all."

"Prisoner was one of those songs that came together naturally and without too much difficulty," adds guitarist Thomas Rousell (yes, we've got two axemen at the ready with Sidewinder). "Ben had a banging riff, we threw in some rolling verses and great melodies, it all came together to make a killer track. The crowd have been hearing this one for quite some time now, but there's some special bits added to the recording that really lift the track to new heights."

Sidewinder's Talons strikes on August 23rd c/o Wyrmwood Records (pre-order here).

Give ear...

Talons by Sidewinder

SOME BUZZ

Since their formation in Wellington back in 2021, NZ heavyweights Sidewinder have always summoned the biggest riffs and most monumental of grooves possible to carve their own path out from the underground.

In a short space of time, they’ve proven themselves to be an integral part of the burgeoning NZ hard rock/stoner scene and this summer they return to the fray with their eagerly anticipated follow-up to their 2022 debut, Vines.

Due for release this August, new studio album Talons is a breathtaking byproduct of their tight, high-energy performances and sold out shows with bands like Orange Goblin and Sasquatch. A swirling tempest of bluesy southern rock and grunge in keeping with the quintet’s heavyset approach to sonic exploration, it draws on influences that span decades, from the hard-driven strut of Kyuss to the spirited sensibilities of Church of Misery.

"We’re really excited for this album,” explains guitarist Ben Sargent. “It’s a lot darker and heavier than our last. There are some monster riffs throughout, some great psych and doom sections and plenty of that eerie, swampy blues thing we do too."

Featuring new vocalist Jem Tupe; guitarists Ben Sargent and Thomas Rousell, bassist Sean Fitzpatrick and drummer Grant Lister, Sidewinder is primed and ready to bring it all home in the most spectacular of fashions, with their, “wall of riff-heavy psych, with lashings of delta-blues.”

Produced by James Goldsmith (Beastwars, End Boss, Planet of the Dead) and mastered by Will Borza (Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins), just one listen to "Prisoner" showcases just how heavier, darker, and more powerful they’ve become.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[crabussy]

Hola Robin!!

I read all your pinned n bio hoping to find how you felt about sharing donation posts, but found no sign, so I'm giving it a try.

I usually just ask on don blogs but things got a bit harder, so I'm just asking around just this time (I hope, if I asked before I'm sorry, I have memory issues)

Just a RB on our pinned post could help us get seen.

Also... I used to be an animal planet fan :) love nature documentaries, can I get some recs?

I don't know much but can I ask for a bit of cool crabs? I have a soft spot the tiny guys, It's been a hard year and I just want to forget about it with cook creatures, anything you want to share honestly.

Sorry for rambling, but thanks for your time and patience if you read all of it :)

Hope you have a great week!!

I've reblogged it once already but here's the post again so that its easy to find!! I really hope you guys can get what you need to make your situation much better.

as for documentaries, surprisingly I don't watch that many!! but I watched this one and REALLY enjoyed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOn1zALv9qw

it's about nz!! conservation, culture, people and places. there's lots of animal action as well as many other interesting things!!

and I LOVE crabs I am so happy to share some images with you....

this is the new zealand half crab! also known as kokoriki in te reo māori. I love their mottled blues and greens and funny shape! they're actually not true crabs as they have only 3 pairs of walking legs but I love them anyway.

and this is the sally lightfoot crab! I just love them for their crazy colouration (blue underbelly?? so cooool) and interesting name!

[yuck-pfaugh]

Insomniac thoughts about consistency of characterisation pre- and post-Resurrection, surfacing mid-morning because I couldn’t cope with the post editor in the iOS app at a quarter to three… *ahem*

My impression is that Jod and most of his OG duplicitous sluts were in their thirties, up to fortyish, at the time it was all going down. Old enough for some of them to have multiple tertiary degrees and be leaders in their fields; not quite older adults yet. In HtN Augustine tells us Pyrrha (the “stone-cold fox”) was ten years his senior, so probably in her late forties or fiftyish. In NtN:

I didn't have to worry about the public or the media — we had a pet cop, P—. She'd made detective by that point; was going on to big things in the MoD. Knew G— from way back, and G– and I were both hometown boys, so P– kept the heat down for us.

Later on Jod reiterates that he and G— grew up on the same street.

We also hear that P— “adored being a cop”.

This is of course off-putting for a lot of readers. But I understand that the New Zealand police, while by no means a squad of saints, are not abusive and murderous on the same level as the American kind we may be more familiar with (e.g. they don’t normally carry guns). So I’m fairly sure what we’ve got here is a character who might actually have been a good cop, in a country in which that concept is not implausible beyond belief — who then, crucially, turns her back on the law (and on her own successful career) to protect the kids from her neighbourhood. Because that was what it was about for her all along.

I don’t think the Dad Pyrrha we love to see is separable from Cop Pyrrha. I think in each life she lives her priority is to look after and protect her people, and she does that in specifically masculine-coded, paternal-coded ways. The Pyrrha we get in NtN is — as with the other Lyctors we know, charming Augustine becoming a man of plex, reproductive justice advocate Mercymorn stealing semen, dutiful Gideon obeying even the command to launch multiple violent murder attempts against a tiny traumatised teenager — someone whose best qualities have been worn out and warped by too many centuries of Jod’s unliving, undying empire. But, perhaps because Pyrrha was awake and aware for less time than the rest, that kind of love does palpably linger on in her.

Pyrrha practically stumbled away — she dropped to her knees before the chair and Palamedes — she reached out and took Palamedes's hand, and then Camilla's. Her face and hands showed only dumb despair. "I've loved you two," she said. "Not well. Not even wholesomely. I don't have it in me. But I've loved you — in a better world I'd be able to say, 'Like you were my own,' but I don't know what that would even mean anymore. You've been my agents ... you've been stand-ins for something I haven't had for longer than either of you can understand."

You can feel it every time she bribes Nona into eating, or carries her when her legs fail, or buys a birthday present and hides it away under the sink for the big day. (And when she looks at her lover's daughter with that mute hunger to have been a parent to her, too.) It’s a feature of the system Jod designed, that Lyctors don’t get much of a chance to love anyone but him. His hands, his gestures… raised by him, bound to him, renamed by him… God must be able to touch all of creation... He’s the epitome of the kind of parent who can’t imagine or allow their child to have an existence apart from their own, who’d rather stunt them than let them grow. He claimed Kiriona as his child, but he also made her his construct. And we know what he did to Alecto. But six months with Pyrrha (and the Sixth, likewise good at modeling love) and Nona just blossoms. The betrayed soul of a murdered planet has learnt anger management techniques — and now she’s learning to dance.

It seems as though at every step of Pyrrha’s story (and, just to confirm, I shall be going on a bloody rampage if we don't get the missing pieces in AtN) she knows she can’t save everyone and get everything right. Sometimes she can't save anyone at all. She has often been a casualty of her devotion. But she keeps on and on still trying, also like the Sixth, to make the best and kindest and truest choices she can in this myriadic shit sandwich. And she never stops loving the people she loves. Wouldn't know how to.

In conclusion… since I should probably conclude something… let's see. Whatever she thinks of herself, Pyrrha’s a good dad. Her accidental agents are lucky to have had those six months with her. It's not ‘playing’ house if the love there is real. And you can’t take ‘loved’ away.

[cleverthylacine]

Netflix's bastardisation of Three-Body

Oh yeah. I haven't said anything about this. Probably because I've been screaming at people on reddit about it for weeks.

Extensive spoilers below of why you don't want to watch this show if you like the books and should watch the C-drama by Tencent Pictures instead. If you like both you can have fun screaming at this show except that after about 4 episodes even that stops being fun.

The first problem with this show is that they decided to set it in mostly England instead of mostly China, and then cleverly made most of the main characters nonwhite as well as non-Chinese, so that they could point at that as evidence that they're not racist for turning a book set in China with mostly Chinese characters into a show set in England with mostly characters who grew up in the global west (even Cheng Jin/Xin has been raised in New Zealand).

The second problem with this show is that they're adapting a trilogy of 500+ page books and they shoved the first book into 5 episodes and the first part of the second book into 3 episodes. A lot of important and interesting material got cut.

The third problem with this show is that the main character of the novel and the C-Drama is Wang Miao, who is a very sensitive, nonjudgemental and caring male character, the kind of male MC we rarely get. He's also a good husband and father and he's adorable with his daughter. Wang Miao is able to make many connections between people and information because he is able to listen to people, even when he knows they're dangerous, with empathy and refrain from judging them at least until they've finished telling him the stuff that he actually wanted and needed to know.

The character they replaced him with is argumentative, judgemental, and angry. Auggie frequently storms out of conversations with key people in the story in high moral dudgeon without having learned a thing.

Cleverly, they made her female, so that anyone who dares criticise her for being generally terrible is hit with accusations of Skylar White syndrome and being unable to handle angry WOC.

The fourth problem is that they changed the relationship between Mike Evans and Ye Wenjie and in so doing obliterated the internal conflict within the Earth-Trisolaran organisation.

Ye Wenjie is significantly older than Mike Evans and serves as a mentor and sympathetic ear to him while he's in China. She already has had her daughter by her late husband.

in the English show she's his lover and it's gross. I am not even someone who generally objects to age gaps in fiction or even reality as long as everyone's an adult, but this is gross. For one thing, Evans is obviously mentally ill and vulnerable. He becomes the father of her daughter. They then obliterate the faction war that started between Wenjie and Evans. This is important and awful because Wenjie's faction wants aliens to come to Earth and save us from our own idiocy. Evans' faction is anti-human and wants the aliens to come to Earth and save the planet from humans. (Why he thinks they will preserve the animals he values more than people, I don't know. These aliens are fucking ruthless.)

The result of this is that they portray the secretive and malevolent eco-terrorist Evans as a cute elderly space-obsessed grandpa surrounded by little kids that his antinatalist ass would have never supported his followers having (and that anyone who followed him would never have.)

The upshot of this is that we get to see dead children's severed limbs after Our Heroes retrieve crucial information. And we don't know that it is crucial information because they have Wenjie in custody and it is therefore not clear that Evans has been talking to the aliens, they no longer talk to Wenjie, and what they're trying to take is the records of all the conversations Evans had with the aliens, which could maybe be important if you wanted to know in advance how bad the aliens are and what they are planning to do.

I don't want to see murdered children. There is enough of that on the news, thanks. It's an emotionally manipulative choice on the part of the writers. It does make Auggie's worst temper tantrum understandable, but if they had made her the kind of character Wang Miao was, that wouldn't have been necessary. Wang Miao did object to all the adults-only carnage, but he also was able to understand that there were plot-related reasons all those grown-ass ecoterrorist assholes had to die.

So now everyone who thinks Auggie is a rotten replacement for Wang Miao is not only a misogynist but pro-murdered children. And the neckbeards who actually haven't studied cults are all like "of course they put kids on the boat! a cult should have kids!" because they're not aware that there are cults other than the FLDS and the Branch Davidians. Aside from the ecoterrorism aspect, the recent cult that Evans' group is most like is Heaven's Gate, who were so anti-sex and anti-breeding that some of them castrated themselves.

They also added a white male character who was rich. Sadly, he was hilarious and entertaining in a very Seth Rogan/James Franco kinda way, so of course he was one of the first main characters to die.

The usual suspects are claiming that the adaptation was fucked up by "wokeness". I don't believe that, but I do wonder exactly why the extreme environmentalist/animal rights/super vegan/anti-natalist/anti-human bad guys were written out of the story.

Because climate change is important and the environment is important and we really have to fix it. We really do. We have to save our planet, we're the people who live here!

But all good movements have their dangerous fringe people, and people who would do what Mike Evans did in the books exist. For instance, there were animal liberationists who let prion infected squirrels loose 20 years ago and suddenly now in Appalachia, where poor people hunt squirrel, we have an epidemic of prion-related dementia.

(And those of you who read me regularly and know that I've worked in medical research schools most of my life know that I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate these kinds of "environmentalists" so yeah I'm a little bit mad that I didn't get to see Evans die horribly lmao.)

In other words: this show is so bad that it actually makes me contemplate right-wing Hollywood conspiracy theories for a hot second before dismissing them.

They also added a lot more explosions and a lot more interpersonal drama, because that's what Americans like. Yeah fuck you Netflix.

[litcityblues]

Farscape, Season 1: Very Late To This Party

Farscape is one of those shows that has floated in and out of my general consciousness over the years, but I've never actually sat down and watched it. I've started it a couple of times, but like a few shows out there (Parks & Rec, and The Office both fit this category for me) it took me a few tries to actually dig into the show and really get a season under my belt.

Having finished the first season, let me just say this: I get it. I get it now.

My first impressions of this show, were sort of so-so, to me. The first couple of episodes are pretty good. Human, experimental spacecraft, gets sucked through a wormhole into another galaxy. He gets picked up by a crew of escaped prisoners and joins them on the lam after he accidentally kills one of the local law enforcers (the Peacekeepers, as we come to find out.)

As a basic premise, it's pretty good. Sort of Quantum Leap meets Star Trek with a touch of Doctor Who and a few other sci-fi shows thrown in for good measure. The early delivery, however... Maybe it's because I watched too many episodes of Andromeda when I was younger but this feels a lot like that show blended with Stargate SG-1 (in their 'planet/monster of the week' type of episode- not the longer arcs, which are genuinely good.) So I wasn't sure if I was going to really dig in on this show. It was okay.

But then, episode ten comes along. 'They've Got A Secret' turns out to be a game-changer for this first season, because when their ship, Moya seemingly turns against them, the crew has to spend most of the episode figuring out why, and then they do: she's pregnant.

That got my attention. A sentient ship is an interesting enough idea, but one that can get pregnant? I'm in.

The rest of the season gets much stronger from there as we learn more and more about the characters on the ship what got them put in prison in the first place and what they're doing to escape their pasts. Zhaan (Virginia Hey) gets a nice moment with 'Rhapsody In Blue', 'Durka Returns' and sees Rygel (voiced by Jonathan Hardy) confront his interrogator/torturer, and a new shipmate named Chiana comes aboard. We learn more about D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) and the quest to reunite with his son in ''Til The Blood Runs Clear' and 'The Flax'. (The ship, Moya is piloted by a creature known, funnily enough as Pilot (voiced by Lani Tupu)-- who is grafted into the ship's nervous system and essentially the voice of Moya to the rest of the crew.)

Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), the ex-Peacekeeper forced to join the crew, and Crichton (Ben Browder), the astronaut sucked through the wormhole are sort of the core characters- so their arcs sort of run on and off throughout the first season. I do like that they're not in any hurry to put Aeryn and Crichton together- even though there's some romantic tension between them that's pretty obvious. (Even though I haven't seen the show, I've read enough about pop culture/sci-fi shows over the years to have learned that they do, in fact, end up together.)

The first season ends on a nice cliffhanger with a new big bad established- Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) and the old one, Crais (Lani Tupu), actually defecting to their side- even if does wind up double-crossing them and forcing Moya to flee, while D'Argo and Crichton are left floating in space with only Aeryn Sun to save them.

If you dig a little bit into this show, there are a lot of interesting things that jump out at you. First, Wikipedia calls it 'an Australian-American science fiction television series' which was originally produced for Australian TV before it was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel to be part of their Sci-Fi Friday lineup (hey, does everyone remember when the Sci-Fi Channel used to have sci-fi shows on it? It's almost like remembering when MTV used to show actual music videos and not 1,345,344 episodes of Ridiculousness over and over again.) As a result of this, the majority of the cast is either Australian or New Zealander with Ben Browder being the sole American amongst the cast- so that kind of makes it unusual.

The second thing is that The Jim Henson Company is one of the producers-- so they're responsible for the various alien make-up and prosthetics you see, but two of the main characters- Rygel and Pilot are animatronic puppets that are entirely Creature Shop creations. I'm sure it was a minor deal at the time because animatronic anything is cool-- but these days, when even Yoda has become CGI, I really appreciate practical effects and both Rygel (who farts helium when he gets nervous) and Pilot are great additions to the show. Rygel is more mobile than Pilot, but you also don't see many moments of weirdness/fourth wall breaking like you do with Muppets who have to suddenly jump up or show all of their limbs or something like that. It's really well done.

Overall: I am very, very late to this particular party and I have to acknowledge the slow start, but by season's end, Farscape had convinced me: I'm on board for the rest of this ride. My Grade: *** out of ****.

[preservationofnormalcy]

Freezer leading to Antarctica guy here. I did what you said and opened my freezer again (for longer than a second this time), and I have a few things that I think I should add.

All the moons are completely identical in appearance, and despite the fact I know this I have no idea what they actually look like (except that they look like moons). Looking at them too long gives me a bad headache, but also seems to directly send information into my brain. Eventually I stopped because I think my eyes started bleeding a bit and I noticed I was screaming, but here's what I learned before then (I'm interpreting things a bit, and trying to piece things together. The information I was given was not structured and was very hard to understand). The God-King of Antarctica is actually the name of the country, not the leader. They don't have a leader, and they are a direct democracy where everyone votes on every policy, using the moons to send the information and calculate the votes. The original treaty with the moons mentioned the leader of their country being the God-King, because it was made back when they were an absolute monarchy, and to keep the agreement valid when they no longer had leaders they had to rename their country to that. They thought that our planet was called New Zealand for some reason, which explains my title. Also they have apparently been at war with two alternate universe versions of "The Dominion of Antarctica" at points in their history, neither from our universe. I'm also pretty sure they consider themselves another alternate universe version of this dominion, since their method of finding other universes might involve finding universes with other versions of them in it? That part was hard to understand. My hands started typing the first part of this before I started thinking about it, I think my senses of smell and hearing have stopped working for a bit, and I just noticed I am lying on the floor for some reason, so I'm going to try and sleep now. Also I have no idea how to transfer ambassadorship sorry.

Take a nap, friend.

This is a weird one. We definitely have records of the Dominion of Antarctica, but not any alternates. Definitely concerning. Alternate realities work a little differently than a lot of people think. There's potential every time a decision is made for an alternate to split off, but it very rarely does. There's a quantum moment of potentiality where an alternate can become what we call "Stable" - this is pretty rare in the grand scheme of things, but since we're talking about infinite numbers of potentials, there's a few dozen Stables we know of for sure, and probably a few hundred we don't.

A handful in one area or connected to one locality is something we need to watch. We'll see if we can send someone to your, uh. Fridge. Look for a big repair van with "I-Shield Appliance Repair" on the side.

[superbeans89]

It’s RWC eve, and with kickoff tomorrow at 8:15 PM UK time, some speculation is in order for the 9 people on tumblr who follow it.

For those who don’t know, rugby union is a sport not far removed from American football, based more on evasion than contact however. There are 15 players on each team, and the ultimate goal is to get the ball grounded in the other team’s try area - comparable to the end zone in NFL. Unlike NFL though, the ball can only be passed backwards in rugby (unless you’re kicking it), turning it into a whole different ball game, so to speak.

Should a team achieve this, they score 5 points, and can attempt a conversion - that’s kicking the ball from a tee between the upright posts - for an extra 2. Penalties can also be kicked for 3 points outside of try scoring situations, making for a strategic and slightly complicated scoring system, though yet again NFL fans won’t be unfamiliar with it. It’s worth noting that games have been won solely on penalty points though, so don’t underestimate them.

Now, for the teams:

As it’s still a developing sport, not even competing with the likes of soccer or cricket, there are only 20 participating teams in the RWC. There are several countries that have adopted it as their national sport however, including Wales, New Zealand, and many of the pacific islands.

Of the four pools, only two from each will advance to the quarter finals, while third placed in the pool will automatically qualify for the next tournament, giving teams plenty to play for, even if they aren’t going to win every game.

With that said, there are favourites and no hopers among those that have qualified;

The Favourites

🇫🇷 - France. As this year’s hosts, France are currently ranked 3rd in the world, and are notoriously unpredictable. Able to beat - or lose to - just about anyone, France have been the bridesmaids of the Rugby World Cup three times now. With flair, team depth and a home field advantage, they’re expected to go far, and should be guaranteed a place in the semifinals or better.

Which French team shows up may be revealed when they play New Zealand in the opening match.

🇮🇪 - Ireland. Ranked number one in the world, but with a poor record at World Cups, never getting past the quarterfinals, Ireland don’t thrive under the pressure of expectation, preferring to act as the underdog and surprise people instead.

Nevertheless, with a dedicated following, solid recent form, and trailblazing coach Andy Farrell, this could be the year they break that curse, though they’ll have to escape the Pool of Death first.

🇳🇿 - New Zealand. Historically the best rugby nation on the planet, New Zealand were near unmatched in this sport until recently, remaining at the top of the rankings for almost ten consecutive years. Their form has taken a dip recently, particularly after a record breaking loss to South Africa, but only time will tell whether the infamous All Blacks can bounce back, or if they were just hustling.

🇿🇦 - South Africa. As the current champs, alongside terrific form and team depth, the Springboks are expected to go far this year. While they are also stuck in the Pool of Death with Ireland and Scotland, they have a tremendous pedigree in the sport, matching New Zealand’s record three victories, despite featuring in two less World Cups. Thriving under pressure, the Springboks combine esteem and unconventional playstyles - you’ll hear the phrase ‘bomb squad’ used a lot when they’re playing - a lot of fans will see this World Cup as South Africa’s to lose.

The Dark Horses

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Scotland. Currently ranked 5th in the world, Scotland are in strong form and have surprising team depth for such a small rugby nation. Unpredictable and world beating on a good day (yet still waiting on that historic victory against the All Blacks), Scotland would be expected to do well this year… if they weren’t in the Group of Death alongside Ireland and South Africa. These are both teams Scotland can beat, but will they remain consistent for a full eighty minutes of play? That’s the main concern.

🇦🇷 - Argentina. Often forgotten as a rugby nation due to their soccer pedigree, Argentina are one of this tournament’s secret weapons. With solid form, growing momentum and a lucky placement in the pools however, los Pumas can probably reach the semifinals.

🇦🇺 - Australia. Famous rivals to the All Blacks, Australia’s form has fallen in recent years, but not to the point where they should be counted out. Almost causing a massive upset against New Zealand, leading them for most of the game on their own turf, when the Wallabies get it right they can be deadly, and they’ve won this tournament twice as well, so don’t write them off just yet.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 - England. Having won the RWC in 2003, not to mention inventing the sport, England have a rugby pedigree that can’t be denied. Their recent form has been poor however, recording several record losses, as well as a first ever loss to Fiji. While they should make it out of their pool - though this is largely because it’s the easiest pool by far - England won’t be expected to go much further, maybe scraping past the quarterfinals if they’re lucky.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - Wales. Between funding issues and player retirement, Wales are a depleted side this World Cup. While inconsistent across previous tournaments, they have notched up some remarkable results in the past, and could do so again under legendary coach Warren Gatland. It’s far more likely that they’ll struggle however, and may not even make it out of the pool this year, with Fiji and Georgia looking strong.

The No Hopers

🇮🇹 - Italy. While their form has been good, and they’ve made great strides in recent years, Italy are grouped in with France and New Zealand, the latter of which they’ve never beaten. Short of a miracle, Italy won’t be making it out of their pool.

🇫🇯 - Fiji. Recording a famous win in Twickenham on their last warmup match, Fiji have form and momentum on their side, and will be aiming for the quarterfinals. They likely won’t get any further, but for a tiny island nation, Fiji punch well above their weight.

🇼🇸 - Samoa. Having upset traditionally stronger nations at previous World Cups, Samoa could surprise a few opponents this year too. Beating either England or Argentina for a qualifying place will be a tough ask, but never say never.

🇹🇴 - Tonga. Also in the Group of Death with Scotland, Ireland and South Africa, Tonga will be gunning for an upset. Their form has been strong, and they perform immensely well for an island of 100,000 people, but escaping the pool will probably be too much of an ask.

🇬🇪 - Georgia. Europe’s ‘other’ rugby nation dominates in the second tier of competitive play, and will hope to upset Wales in this World Cup, just like they did in Cardiff last year. With Fiji also vying for the same spot though, their rough and tumble playstyle may work against them in the long run, as fitness is definitely an issue for bulkier players.

🇯🇵 - Japan. After stunning South Africa 34-32 at RWC2015, and graduating from their pool by beating both Ireland and Scotland at RWC2019, Japan will hope to take advantage of their reputation as the wild card, and escape pools a second time. With England looking vulnerable it’s not impossible, but poor form and and equally hungry Samoa may hold them back.

‘We’re just happy to be here!’

🇺🇾 - Uruguay. South America’s second best rugby nation has grown massively in recent years. Ousting Canada from the qualification rounds, they’ve featured at plenty of World Cups, and even got a surprise win over Fiji last tournament. In a strong pool with France, New Zealand and Italy however, they’ll be fighting with Namibia for what will likely be their sole victory of the tournament.

🇳🇦 - Namibia. Similarly to Uruguay in many ways, Namibia are also the second best in their continent, behind the mighty Springboks. Also in the same group as Uruguay, they’ll be aiming for a single win, with no real hope of graduating from their pool.

🇷🇴 - Romania. A World Cup mainstay, The Oaks have been to all but one tournament, and even that absence was mired in controversy. Between lacklustre recent form and rampant funding issues however, Romania will be lucky to get a win in what’s by far the toughest pool.

🇵🇹 - Portugal. Another nation known more for their soccer, Portugal won’t be expecting much from their pool. If they get a win, they’ll be ecstatic. They qualified by the skin of their teeth, but they made it here. That’s reason enough to celebrate, and it’s only a short plane trip home.

🇨🇱 - Chile. Debuting at RWC2023, Chile qualified with a last gasp victory over the USA, and will likely end up bottom of their pool. Still, qualifying at all is a massive achievement for a nation with such a small following.

…and that’s everything. RWC2023 is considered the most open World Cup in the sport’s history, with as many as six or seven viable contenders. Whoever holds the Webb Ellis Cup aloft in a few weeks is up to debate, but it should be entertaining nonetheless. Game on!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA Mission Gets Its First Snapshot of Polar Heat Emissions

The PREFIRE mission will help develop a more detailed understanding of how much heat the Arctic and Antarctica radiate into space and how this influences global climate.

NASA’s newest climate mission has started collecting data on the amount of heat in the form of far-infrared radiation that the Arctic and Antarctic environments emit to space. These measurements by the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) are key to better predicting how climate change will affect Earth’s ice, seas, and weather — information that will help humanity better prepare for a changing world.

One of PREFIRE’s two shoebox-size cube satellites, or CubeSats, launched on May 25 from New Zealand, followed by its twin on June 5. The first CubeSat started sending back science data on July 1. The second CubeSat began collecting science data on July 25, and the mission will release the data after an issue with the GPS system on this CubeSat is resolved.

The PREFIRE mission will help researchers gain a clearer understanding of when and where the Arctic and Antarctica emit far-infrared radiation (wavelengths greater than 15 micrometers) to space. This includes how atmospheric water vapor and clouds influence the amount of heat that escapes Earth. Since clouds and water vapor can trap far-infrared radiation near Earth’s surface, they can increase global temperatures as part of a process known as the greenhouse effect. This is where gases in Earth’s atmosphere — such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor — act as insulators, preventing heat emitted by the planet from escaping to space.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to observe the planet and fill in critical gaps in our knowledge. With CubeSats like PREFIRE, we are doing both,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The mission, part of our competitively-selected Earth Venture program, is a great example of the innovative science we can achieve through collaboration with university and industry partners.”

Earth absorbs much of the Sun’s energy in the tropics; weather and ocean currents transport that heat toward the Arctic and Antarctica, which receive much less sunlight. The polar environment — including ice, snow, and clouds — emits a lot of that heat into space, much of which is in the form of far-infrared radiation. But those emissions have never been systematically measured, which is where PREFIRE comes in.

“It’s so exciting to see the data coming in,” said Tristan L’Ecuyer, PREFIRE’s principal investigator and a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “With the addition of the far-infrared measurements from PREFIRE, we’re seeing for the first time the full energy spectrum that Earth radiates into space, which is critical to understanding climate change.”

This visualization of PREFIRE data (above) shows brightness temperatures — or the intensity of radiation emitted from Earth at several wavelengths, including the far-infrared. Yellow and red indicate more intense emissions originating from Earth’s surface, while blue and green represent lower emission intensities coinciding with colder areas on the surface or in the atmosphere.

The visualization starts by showing data on mid-infrared emissions (wavelengths between 4 to 15 micrometers) taken in early July during several polar orbits by the first CubeSat to launch. It then zooms in on two passes over Greenland. The orbital tracks expand vertically to show how far-infrared emissions vary through the atmosphere. The visualization ends by focusing on an area where the two passes intersect, showing how the intensity of far-infrared emissions changed over the nine hours between these two orbits.

The two PREFIRE CubeSats are in asynchronous, near-polar orbits, which means they pass over the same spots in the Arctic and Antarctic within hours of each other, collecting the same kind of data. This gives researchers a time series of measurements that they can use to study relatively short-lived phenomena like ice sheet melting or cloud formation and how they affect far-infrared emissions over time.

More About PREFIRE

The PREFIRE mission was jointly developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and provided the spectrometers. Blue Canyon Technologies built and now operates the CubeSats, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison is processing and analyzing the data collected by the instruments.