#maya manuscripts

[thatshowthingstarted]

Page 6 of Códice Maya de México, Maya (about 1100), 

When the conquistadors arrived in the Americas, they destroyed nearly all the books and manuscripts they found that had been created by Indigenous scribes. Only four pre-Conquest Maya manuscripts are known to have survived, and the Códice Maya de México is the oldest, estimated to have been written about 900 years ago. 

Throughout 20 pages, several of which are now missing, the book carefully tracks the movement of Venus across the sky, alongside depictions of several deities. 

Rumored to have been found in a cave in Chiapas in the mid-1960s, the Códice was exhibited in New York in 1971 before being seized in 1976 by the Mexican government, citing the United States-Mexico Artifacts Treaty of 1970.

Mineral and organic pigments on bark paper prepared with gesso, 

7 1/16 × 4 15/16 inches.

Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Secretaría de Cultura-INAH-México, all rights reserved.

[max1461]

Once again I am pissed that most of the Maya manuscripts are gone. So tantalizingly close to getting a look at a culture that developed genuinely in the absence of influence from Old World civilization. A fully independent data point on the development of literary culture—the kind that we know wrote philosophy, history, mathematics! And yet we barely have any of it. Can you imagine how much we might learn about humanity, about cultural universals and cultural particularities, about the history of Mesoamerica, from being able to read that work and compare it to what we know?

But it's gone. It's gone because the Spanish burned it and made learning the Maya script illegal. And it's gone because codices rot in the tropical heat and humidity, so unless you've got a continuous scribal tradition it's all going to disappear. We can't even read Maya cursive; we know there was Maya cursive, and it's likely what most codices were composed in, but it's almost all gone!

And of course this is worst for the remaining Maya themselves, who in addition to being deprived economically and legally by Spain and its colonial legacy, have been deprived of the dignity and respect that comes (for better or worse) from being part of a cultural tradition that produced great and widely respected works.

I just, you know, I just wish it wasn't gone!

But as I always say on this topic, a point of optimism: the jungles of southern Mexico and Guatemala are barely explored, they're dense and they almost certainly hide many things yet. Maybe, one day, some hidden cache will be discovered, a scribal workshop collapsed perfectly to protect the codices within from the damp. We can only hope.

[talonabraxas]

The Secret Teachings Of All Ages PLATE 7: The Atlantean Temple

In the Critias, Plato describes in detail the divine foundation of the Atlantean Empire, originally known as Posedonis. The golden age preserved in myth and legend, when the gods walked with men, depicts the zenith of Atlantean civilization. The demigods of the ancient world were the Atlanteans, to whom every civilized nation owes an incalculable debt of gratitude. In the British Museum there is a remarkable document -- known as the Troano manuscript -- which was written over 3,500 years ago by the Mayas of Yucatan, containing an authentic account of the cataclysm which sank the continent of Atlantis. This priceless document contains the following statement according to the translation by Le Plogeon: “In the year 6 Kan, on the 11th Mulac in the month of Zac, there occurred terrible earthquakes, which continued without interruption until the 13th Chuen. The country of the hills of Mud, the land of Mu, was sacrificed; being twice upheaved it suddenly disappeared during one night, the basin being continually shaken by volcanic forces. Being confined, these caused the land to sink and to rise several times and in various places. At last the surface gave away and ten countries were torn asunder and scattered unable to stand the force of the convulsions, they sank with their 64,000,000 inhabitants.”

Before the Atlantean continent was submerged, the initiates of the Atlantean Mysteries, carrying with them the secret doctrines entrusted to their keeping, immigrated into Egypt and other parts of the earth where they would be safe from the impending catastrophe. Thus their secret teaching -- with its priceless value to subsequent ages -- was preserved. They established centers of learning and promulgated the code, clothed in the language of symbolism, to such as they deemed worthy to receive it.

[mariposahxh]

Togashi's "interview" with Jump Ryu magazine & DVD 2016

i found this information and translation from the hxh fandom site - https://hunterxhunter.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:MrGenial11/Jump_Ryu_Vol.21:_Yoshihiro_Togashi

it’s long so i’m rephrasing and only sharing the Hunter x Hunter stuff & some Togashi facts i found interesting (and y’all too probably) so :

When Togashi was in junior high school, he was fully attracted to Shōjo manga (girls manga) such as Mineo Maya's manga. (Mineo Maya is known for creating LGBT ((shōnen-ai/gay)) manga)

Togashi read manga like "Urusei Yatsura" and learned how to attract female audience.

Although Togashi’s favorite manga genre is Shōnen, he thinks he's suitable for Shōjo manga.

Togashi's first manga serialization was a romantic comedy, Ten de Shōwaru Cupid. Afterwards, he began Yu Yu Hakusho. After YYH, Togashi wanted to create manga that WOULDN'T be popular to show various aspects of his personality as mangaka to his audience. He then created Level E.

After Level E, Togashi began Hunter x Hunter. He changes his style in each arc so his audience can be surprised. Togashi loves surprising his audience.

Togashi thinks characters are sometimes more important than the story itself.

The Chimera Ant arc ended differently than Togashi first expected.

He creates simulations of the characters and how they will talk with each other and take an action in situations. This allows his audience to feel as if his characters really exist.

Togashi drew his characters acting unexpectedly in desperate situations when they encountered someone accidentally. For example, the encounter between Morel and Shaiapouf, or Killua and Meleoron.

Togashi has been attracted to the dirty side of manga rather than beautiful side ever since he was a junior high school student. (whatever that means..)

Togashi drew Yu Yu Hakusho's art style impressively and Level E realistically. In Hunter x Hunter, he avoids using screentones as much as possible.

Togashi considers the manuscripts of Hisoka and Kastro's fight as "bad quality" . He said that the internet fandom was angry and embarrassed with the chapter at that time. (so he DOES look at fanforums. that's no good)

"Togashi-sensei is very gentle. He remembers what editors said in the past" (a quote from one of his editors)

"Togashi resembles Gon/Ging Freecss in terms of personality" (another quote from his editor) (the hunterpedia page said “Gin” so idk if the translator misspelled “Gon” or forgot the last “g” in “Ging” 😺 i see both tbh)

Togashi scolded an editor only once when they slightly changed a few words in the manga without permission.

Togashi is very confident in his words being interesting. He chooses his words and sticks with them, not letting anyone change them. He is very selective and peculiar about the words he uses. (hm this makes me think of the lines “ja nakya dame nan da”/“shika inai” , “dajina”/“kichō” , “shinjū” , ect.)(dw i’m making a post explaining those lines later)

Togashi's message to mangaka beginners: "Keep in mind the audience. Make every effort to go beyond their expectations.”

[artifacts-archive]

Turkey Vessel

Veracruz

7th–10th century

In ancient Veracruz and elsewhere in Mesoamerica, turkeys were not just nutritionally important resource animals—they were also esteemed by high-ranking people for ceremonial use. For example, scholars have interpreted images in the Dresden Codex, the oldest of the few Maya manuscripts that still exist, as depicting priests offering sacrificial turkeys to deities to ensure agricultural fertility. Archaeologists have also uncovered turkey bones throughout ancient Mesoamerica in ancient high-status burials and caches as well as in domestic contexts of both elites and commoners. Even today, turkeys are widely raised in backyards in rural Mexico, their esteem maintained in some areas through ritual activities and gift exchanges that echo practices of the past.

source

[wishingicouldfly]

How Books are Published - Some Personal Insight

I have a bit of experience with how the publishing industry works, and I thought some of you might be interested in taking a peek behind the curtain. For the record, I don’t know anything about the veracity of Maya Henry’s novel (Looking Forward) or what she drew from her own life experiences, the quality of her writing, or her individual path to publication. The following is based on my personal knowledge of the industry.

Under the cut for more.

When someone (celeb or otherwise) has a manuscript, generally speaking, they are going to look for the best deal. One of the “Big 5” publishers (or their subsidiaries) are going to be able to offer the biggest advance, the best PR support, etc. While there are reputable publishers that aren’t considered “Big 5” – those smaller entities aren’t going to be able to afford a big advance on royalties. Sometimes publishers will engage in bidding wars to win the opportunity to publish a book that has wide commercial appeal. This would be known publicly, and the deal would be announced with a flourish and a press release.

Even a smaller deal without a bidding war would be announced through Publisher’s Weekly with information about the book, author, and who made the deal (agent), not announced via the authors Instagram account with no information about the publisher or a link on how to pre-order. See examples: Anne Twist’s book announcement on Publisher’s Weekly: Betty and the Mysterious Visitor (publishersweekly.com) and Lottie Tomlinson’s press release for her 7-way bidding war: The Bookseller - Rights - Blink Publishing wins Lottie Tomlinson's 'inspirational' memoir in seven-way auction

For me, it’s telling that Henry’s book appears to be published by a small press (MARS Book Publishing (marsbookspublishing.com) with little to no platform. This is not inherently bad. However, as of May 17, 2024, the website has typos, does not have links to its staff or published works, and both the Instagram and TikTok links on the website lead to accounts with no posts. If you’re a writer, this would be very concerning to say the least. Huge red flag. Even a small press should be able to promote your product. My advice to someone looking to publish a book would be to stay away from this press, as it doesn’t look to be reputable.

That said, if one was going to self-publish, they’d need to have a publisher listed for the business side of things – that’s the way Amazon publishing works. Most self-published authors create a business name for their own published works. Again, this is not inherently bad or wrong, just pulling the curtain back. If you don’t have a book deal with a reputable publisher, then this is the way you can publish your book. From the outside, it appears that there is a publisher attached to the book.

For both traditional and self-published books, authors should have readers prepared with reviews. Currently (as of 5/17/24) there are no reviews on Goodreads, which again, for me, is a flaw if the goal is a longer shelf life and a wider audience.

Ultimately, the quality of the book will be the determining factor. People who read the book will talk about it, recommend it, or not recommend it. Relying on word of mouth, a salacious story, some entertainment magazines interested in a click, and a big-name singer (albeit allegedly fictionalized) attached to the story is certainly helpful to garner interest in a novel. But even on the third day of release (5/17/24) the book isn’t hitting the top marks on Amazon in its selected categories. (Screen shot taken by me on 5/17/24 at 12:06 p.m. ET).

Note: these ratings update and change constantly, this is simply one snapshot in time.

If I were to make an educated guess, the book was shopped around and declined by reputable publishers, leading the author to decide to self-publish. The author created a publishing company name and published via Amazon KDP. In my opinion, it appears to have been done quickly and sloppily, without the amount of professional input it should have had.

Again, I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of this book’s path to publication, so these are educated guesses from personal experience, not personal knowledge of the author’s process.

Not having a deal announced in PW, not having a legitimate publisher website with links to staff and other published works, and not having an author website are all clues to someone wanting to capitalize on something quickly, not someone wanting to take the time to publish with precision.

I don’t have anything against self-publishing, I’ve done it myself. It’s a great way to get a book out if an author doesn't have a book deal and/or the book doesn’t hit traditional niches. However, I think it’s odd for a pseudo-celebrity, with a seemingly compelling story based on life events, to not have a bigger publishing deal with a wider reach.

The reliance on entertainment news outlets for publicity can temporarily raise the interest level; but, not having a book tour, not having books available in bookstores, not having any sort of commercial push for sales will have a detrimental effect on how this book does in the long run, regardless of how many print interviews the author does about her former relationship. Of course, the author could do all of these things at their own expense, so perhaps this is on the horizon.

One last thing to add, a self-published author, with no publishing contract or commitment to a company, has the absolute final decision about everything to do with the book from the content, the packaging, and edits, and the PR.

Self-published books can do quite well in the market, when well written and promoted. I'll be curious to see how this one does.

(For reference, I have professional insight into publishing with Big 5 publishers, smaller independent publishers, educational publishers, and with self-publishing through an independent press).

[namor-the-submariner-dot-net]

Monday MCU

by graphic artist Kelsey Brennan

Namor's cenote mural of the establishment of Talokan

by Tim Croshaw

Visitor's quarters cenote, plans and elevations.

by Tim Croshaw

Namor's cenote plan

by Peter Rubin

Namor's throne room backdrop, digital model.

"Memory as form is in essence the translation of emotions. Talokan is Namor’s memorial of the world he once knew at the end of its reign. The greatness he knew of Maya was from oral stories and written records and manuscripts such as the Codices and the Popol Vuh. Through Namor’s quest in memorializing Maya, the originality of Talokan became material. The architecture of Talokan is the physicality of memory, which lies in the gestures the structures adopted, while also managing the provocation of thought about the life and purpose of the structure itself, and care over the architectural spectacle. Spaces appear detached from both structural soundness and reality. Beyond merely shape and color, this world had to embrace the lack of a sense of direction and gravity. It encapsulated the illusion of suspension, a connection to environment, contemplation over stability and symmetry. For some, the more separated in time you are from a memory, the more subjective it becomes, and so the creative team followed this in form and structure." -- Hannah Beachler

This is all from a great article by the art director for Wakanda Forever, Hannah Beachler, for PERSPECTIVE The Journal of the Art Director's Guild.

Source

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Round four: Rub'eyna'oj vs многоꙮчитїй, mnogoočitii

(poll at the end)

Rub'eyna'oj (Kaqchikel)

[ɾuɓejnaʔox]

Translation: cognition (lit. "your internal wisdom")

Kaqchikel or Caqchikel Maya is a Mayan language spoken by 411 000 people in Guatemala. It is a threatened language and one reason is that some parents choose to speak Spanish in the home so that their children can start school with Spanish as a first language, which means that the language doesn’t get passed down to the next generation in all families. This is a common reason languages become endangered. Kaqchikel uses many glottalised sounds, which means that some sounds are partly articulated with the vocal folds. This sounds a bit like a pop of air. English only has the glottal stop [ʔ], which is the sound of the little pause in the middle of uh-oh, when the vocal folds close entirely and cuts off air. Kaqchikel on the other hand, also has sounds like glottalised k or glottalised ts.

Motivation: This word did not exist in historical Kaqchikel but was created as an intentional neologism (among many others) in order to prevent the necessity of Spanish in Maya communities. "Your internal wisdom" is a beautiful way to think about cognition and thoughts in general.

многоꙮчитїй, mnogoočitii (Old Church Slavonic)

IPA not found

Translation: many-eyed

Old Church Slavonic is an extinct language that belonged to the Slavic branch of Indo-European languages. It’s closest related to today’s Macedonian and Bulgarian, but was standardised based on the dialect of Slavs living near 9th century Thessaloniki in today’s Greece by missionaries, who translated Christian literature so they could convert people easier. Old Church Slavonic was then used as the liturgical language of various Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. A later version of the language called Church Slavonic is still in use in churches today.

Motivation: This particular instance of the word appears once in a manuscript from around 1429. It is the book of psalms, and the word is used in the phrase "серафими многоꙮчитїй," to mean "many-eyed seraphim," as in an angel. the "ꙮ", or multiocular o, is one of my favorite Unicode symbols and also symbols in general. In the next version of Unicode it's going to be updated, because it doesn't even have enough eyes as the original manuscript gave it! Looking past the ꙮ fixation, though, I'm a fan of angels and angelic imagery, as well as eye imagery. A single word for "many-eyed" is really cool to me, since I don't recall there being one in English. It's a useful phrase for more than just angels, like spiders, molluscs...

[esa-marie]

I like making spotify playlists so heres a masterlist.

I'm still updating a ton of these and if you have any suggestions for characters/ prompts i would love to hear it

Fandom:

Shirt music with success of upon people || Flesh Cousin || Regretevator

Mostly compiled of songs that are utter nonsense, or fit the idea of a disconnect between your mind and your body.

Toxic construction Yaoi || Mannequin mark and Wallter || Regretevator

Songs that are pining, but also sad. bc divorce.

I just love to dance || Big Mama || ROTTMNT

Big Mama talks about dancing a lot in rottmnt. I threw in lots of girl disco and some more evil-vibed songs, ofc. (I love her sm im a #1 big mama defender)

FUCK YES! || Karlach || BG3

Karlach's story means so much to me. lots of songs to do with fire/ inevitability/ general badassery.

Fate spins along as it should || Withers || BG3

This one is the most WIP bc im sourcing a lot of the songs from old 13th century manuscripts, which is harder than it sounds.

Various White Knight Chronicles Playlists ( Cisna , Ceasar , Eldore , Yulie , Leonard , Kara , Setti/Grazel ). Since the fandom is actually incredibly small I might make a separate post for their playlists.

OC and others under cut!

OC

'What is it?' 'Home.' || Zael Stormveil || BG3 tav

Zael is my first tav when I started playing BG3. Im developing her more as I play, and started a tag for her on this blog

Was I sweet once? || Anatasios || BG3 Durge

Even though I havent finished my Zael run, I started a Durge run. Still more WIP than other playlists, and is about resist!Durge

Comin' atcha live from Avalonia! :3 || Elliot || LBP OC

Elliot, also known as console kitty, is a tv celebrity in avalonia! Ill spare you the rest of their lore for now, but their playlist is full of silly goofy songs, and songs about not feeling good enough, for whatever reason :)

Spidersona [Spider: Null] || Eve || Project Eden

My spidersona universe (Project:Eden) uses a different titling scheme than my other playlists. Anyway, Eve was a computer program who was ejected into reality. She now has to figure out how to be a human, and what being a human really is.

The Lizard || Lilith || Project Eden

Eve's best friend, who knew her when she was just a program on a laboratory computer. She has a corruption arc :3 (dw she gets better. Kinda.) gentle songs, and some not-so gentle songs

Doc Ock || 'Ock || Project Eden

A scientist who was employed at the same facility Eve was created. calculating, colhearted, cynical. at least for now (enemies to lovers??? P). Science songs and love songs, ofc

The Goblin || Goby || Project Eden

His tagline is "Imitations Limitations"-- a fish man cyborg amalgamation that was trying desperately to mimic the structures of pre-awakened Eve. But, that didn't go well, for him or the scientists. Not nonsense, but definitely songs that teeter on insane.

You said you know a guy? || Vance || Rottmnt OC

Vance is a scavenger, they go above the hidden city and 'scavenge' for things to sell below. Energy is his name, an he lives up to it.

You dont know me. || The Ghosts Official Playlist

I have several WIP projects, and Pastries and a Poltergeist is one of them. The ghost inhabits this old, run down, 70s house and is trying to get Maya to move out. but she wont. Melancholy 70s

I need this. || Maya Dufour's Official Playlist

Recent college graduate, she's about to find out why this house was insanely cheap. Stubborn. WIP.

This is a story about beginnings || The Librarian's Official playlist.

Ill spare the story for The Dead World for now, but The librarians playlist is a lot of epic orchestral and some medival songs sprinkled in.

Squash and Stretch || Cross || AVA/AVM OC

Living in-between a sketched figure and a stick figure, Cross is ever stuck in limbo. lots of video game songs/ songs to pick them up.

GameDev!Donnie || TMNT SONA Official Playlist

Gamedev is stuck in the world of video games for now. He doesnt mind a ton, although he misses his brothers sometimes. Filled with upbeat/happy video game songs

Monsters? That's Outrageous! || Gwen || Doors OC

WIP, but songs relating to the timeloop shes stuck in or the game itself.

Got it!! || Tracey || White Knight Chronicles OC

Songs for when your not the main character but still trying to be useful.

Technically I have more OC playlists but I think that's good for now ahjhkdbSAhkadk

Other

GET SHIT DONE (via killer video game soundtracks)

Over 40 hours of video game music (as soon as i finish a game it gets shoved into this playlist. I might reduce it in the future but I like the absurdity of how big it is)

She blinded me... WITH SCIENCE!!! || Silly songs about science

Specifically songs referring to science. This started as a Donatello playlist but then i fully committed to the bit. This is also technically my most popular playlist for some reason lmao.

A New Ghost Town

WIP playlist for a fanfic I may never make (each song is supposed to be representative of a chapter/ the chapter titles) (if you wanna know its dp and Gravity falls crossover)

Again, you'll see more playlists than this on my account (shared) But heres the tip of the iceberg :)

[crodur]

Ancient and distant dragons (part II)

Last time we saw what the Chinese, Sumerian and Slavic civilizations understood by ''dragon'', along with other groups related to those. So, let's see other examples of this idea, close coincidences and divergences!

I would talk in depth about the European dragon itself. However, and oddly enough, such mythical being is not entirely original, like the examples we're trying to gather, more like a very baroque conglomerate of influences that eventually came to be the winged lizard we all know. So let's talk, instead, about the roots behind it.

However, it's inspirations are quite curious. The European or Conventional Dragon, is a mixture of two different ''dragonlike beings'', both unaware of each other, as far as we know!

The first influence is, surprisingly the Sumerian Mušḫuššu we previously looked at. Told you that the idea of an animal with reptilian traits would stick around!

Second one is more obscure. It is believed the Dacian Drakon could be a major player. This creature has a very confusing genealogy, being on it's own the result of a lot of artistic depictions of beasts, streetching as far as the 8th century BCE, and for over a thousand years it suffered a great amount of changes, being consistently depicted as a mixture of a snake and another, different animal.

By the time the Roman Empire assimilated the Dacians (located where modern Romania is) at 2th c. AD and incorporated the creature into their own mythos, it was mostly a wolf headed, thick snake. It was quite important for the native Dacians, represented as a protecting spirit in both millitary vexilloids and wind instruments such as horns.

A ferocious Dacian Drako, engraved in the Roman Tracian column.

Those two creatures (Drakon and Mušḫuššu) loosely permeated, along with other influences such as local, folklore beasts of many sorts, and depictions of snakes as the root of evil (a consistent avatar of the Christian Devil, as soon as in the Genesis book of the Bible, but in many other occasions, such as Isaiah book [14:29]).

All those influences, after centuries of obscurity, were gradually sewn together during the Middle Ages (remember, most classical knowledge and folklore was reduced to residual traces during this historial period) into the big, bad dragon that the forces of good must defeat.

A winged snake, a somewhat popular heraldic symbol (this one in particular is from 17th century, though). A possible additional influence in this dense melting pot?

The slavic dragons we saw in the previous post most likely were a direct influence of this trend, one of the many types created by mixing chimeras and local beasts alike.

What we can safely say, is that the european dragons are a byproduct of many ideas of different ages and places colliding together. We all influence each other through the time!

Of course, there were many differing interpretations under the umbrella of dragonhood, here's a french one that incorporates particular body proportions, and devilish goat horns (from the 1410 manuscript The Crucifixion by a follower of Egerton Master). What an awe inspiring fiend!

But let's put the european ones aside, and take another loooong leap. How about... you guessed it...

Mesoamerica!

Mayas, Toltecs, and others do have, too, a remote tradition of dragonlike monsters who weren't mere beasts, but even reached the status of godhood!

The cosmology of many different groups in upper central america has in common the reverence of a being called ''the feathered snake'', adored since XV century BCE, and until the arrival of the Castillian crown, some 3000 years later. Wow!

The first peoples that depicted such a being were the Olmecs, considered as one of the first greater cultural identities in the Americas. Here's the first known feathered snake, in La Venta settlement:

A feather crested, giant snake with a man (who wears a fanged helmet), considered by some as his alter-ego. The bag the man holds appears to represent a ritual of sorts, and his earpiece implies high ranking status.

The Olmecs left, as we said, a long lasting legacy that affected cultures far away from their territories.

The serpent would later be adopted into the maya God Kꞌuꞌukꞌul Kaan (lit. Feathered Snake), represented in many royal steels (as we saw here) as the being that allows an ajaw (lord) to see his ancestors, and win their favor to be crowned. In the case of the Toltecs, it was named Quetzacoatl (both names sound vaguely similar)

A feathered serpent, found among the ruins of the maya Poqomam kingdom, with a human head pecking out, as per usual with maya iconography.

The Toltec, and later on Aztec Quetzacoatl, God of light, life, civilization and knowledge. Notice how this version was more birdlike, totally covered by feathers, but also with a mouth whose jaw contracted into a spiral, almost resembling a pair of twirled whiskers (not intended, but still curious).

That's some long lasting impression, to say the least!

In the following post, we'll see some more dragonlikes, also created fortuitously and with no connection with the rest of this really extended family. Remember that I only write small pieces of info, and usually I do skim over a lot when covering these topics, so if you want to know more, I encourage you to keep researching on ANYTHING that has caught your attention. (Or, well, ask me for an indepth post apart, which I would gladly investigate and redact).

Until next time!

[anyaexe]

charanya.delaney@MacBook-Pro ~ % cd /Users/charanya.delaney/Projects/music_recommendation_algorithm.py

These are the outputs of a (very lazy) machine learning model that set out to predict what songs a listener would enjoy based on their input. Partly inspired by (x), using the songs from the discord server for funsies. Made my computer freeze like three times. Have I listened to all of these songs? Absolutely not

Nat:

Already Over - Sabrina Carpenter

The Manuscript - Taylor Swift

I know it won't work - Gracie Abrams

i wish i hated you - Ariana Grande

Anya:

Now U Do - DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man

Sober Feels - Nia Archives

I can be your future - Mozey & Shady Novelle

Sunshine Riddim - Bandit & Disrupta

Ollie:

Never Need Me - Rachel Chinouriri

breaking news - flowerovlove

Talk Talk - Charli XCX

Strangers - Ethel Cain

Lola:

Unwritten - Natasha Beddingfield

How will I know - Whitney Houston

Say my name - Destiny's Child

Jealous - Nick Jonas & Tinashe

Eddie:

Savior Complex - Phoebe Bridgers

Futile Devices - Sufjan Stevens

Kokomo, IN - Japanese Breakfast

Everything is Embarrassing - Sky Ferreira

Heni:

Homesick - Noah Kahan & Sam Fender

Creatures in Heaven - Glass Animals

Tiny Moves - Bleachers

Nonsense - Sabrina Carpenter

Parker:

The Feminine Urge - The Last Dinner Party

Cool About It - boygenius

why did you invite me to your wedding - Kevin Atwater

tolerate it - Taylor Swift

Rhia:

Back to the Old House - The Smiths

Sunday - The Cranberries

When the Sun Hits - Slowdive

Cherry Waves - Deftones

Logan:

Silk Chiffon - MUNA & Phoebe Bridgers

Crying Over U - Medium Build

Deeper Vell - Kacey Musgraves

Time Shrinks - Arcy Drive

Jesse:

Highway Tune - Greta van Fleet

Killing in the Name - Rage against the Machine

Run - Foo Fighters

Californication - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Monty:

Not - Big Thief

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space - Spiritualized

Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth

I Don't Belong - Fontaines DC

Gen:

Apple - Charli XCX

Too Sweet - Hozier

get him back! - Olivia Rodrigo

Style (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

Freddie:

Whatta Man - Salt-N-Pepa & En Vogue

Party Up (Up In Here) - DMX

Da' Dip - Freak Nasty

Dream Job - Yard Act

Charlie:

Mean Girls - Charli XCX

Tears - Perrie

ART - Tyla

French Exit - Dua Lipa

Silja:

Starburned And Unkissed - Caroline Polachek

Hater's Anthem - Infinity Song

Crushcrushcrush - paramore

Missing Out - Maya Hawke

[madamlaydebug]

Books Destroyed to Control Knowledge......

By Moe Bedard and William Blades - Since man could write, books have been some of the most Burning books prized possessions in all the world. Men would travel the globe, and spend vast fortunes in order to acquire the knowledge written on pages to fill their massive libraries.

Just as fast as they could build their limestone storehouses of wisdom, they were destroyed. There are many forces of nature that have caused the destruction of millions of original one of a kind books over the course of the last few thousands years. But no force has been so destructive as that of man.

Almost every race, country, religion, king and dictator has the ash of burnt books on their hands.

There are many stories over the last few thousand-years about the destruction of these libraries, and books being lost forever. There was the Library of the Serapeum in ancient Egypt that was set ablaze by the orders of Theophilus of Alexandria, who was so ordered by Theodosius I. There was the burning of the Great Library at Alexandria in 391 AD, and the Maya codices of the Yucatán were tossed to the flames by the Spanish conquistadors and Catholic monks.

The burning of the Imperial Library of Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire by the Templar Crusaders in 1204 AD. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad Iraq was destroyed in 1258 AD by the Mongol Invaders. The destruction of the United States Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. by Troops of the British Army in 1814 AD.

This list of destroyed books, and libraries can go on and on.

Book-Burning-Christian THE HISTORY OF DESTROYED LIBRARIES AND BOOKS

One of the earliest records of the destruction of books is told to us by St. Luke, when, after the preaching of Paul, many of the Ephesians "which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it 50,000 pieces of silver" (Acts xix, 19).

There were books and what they called little scrolls that were said to be based on gnosis, alchemy, and magic. The little scrolls had short magic sentences on them and were in high demand. They had written on them various prayers and spells as protection against such things as the "evil eye," and evil demons.

One of the greatest ancient libraries mentioned above was built by the dynasty of the Greco-burning library Alexandria Egyptian Ptolemies who had built two in Alexandria. These ancient books of early ages were written on sheets of parchment, having a wooden roller at each end so that the reader needed only to unroll a portion at a time. The libraries were burnt to the ground on multiple occasions; once during Caesar's Alexandrian War in 48 BC, and again in 640 AD when it was burnt by the Saracens.

The great Phoenician city of antiquity, Carthage fell to the Romans in 146 B.C. during the final Punic Wars, and approximately a half a million volumes of one of a kind Phoenician books and manuscripts were burnt.

The followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Mohammedans reason for destroying books were said;"If they contain what is in the Koran they are superfluous, and if they contain anything opposed to it they are immoral." In the 15th century the great library of the Emperor Constantine, containing 120,000 Manuscripts, and all the Christian churches were looted of their books and thrown into the sea upon the orders of Mohammed II.

At Cremona, in 1569, 12,000 books printed in Hebrew were publicly burnt as heretical, simply on account of their language; and Cardinal Ximenes, at the capture of Granada, treated 5,000 copies of the Koran in the same way.

At the time of the Reformation in England a great destruction of books took place. The antiquarian Bale, writing in 1587, thus speaks of the shameful fate of the Monastic libraries:

At the Great Fire of London in 1666, the number of books burnt was enormous. Not only in private houses and Corporate and Church libraries were priceless collections reduced to cinders, but an immense stock of books removed from Paternoster Row by the Stationers for safety was burnt to ashes in the vaults of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Friars, an Order which was at constant war with the illiterate secular Clergy. It runs thus:—" In the year 1439, two Minorite friars who had all their lives collected books, died. In accordance with popular belief, they were at once conducted before the heavenly tribunal to hear their doom, taking with them two asses laden with books.

At Heaven's gate the porter demanded, 'Whence came ye?'

The Minorities replied 'From a monastery of St. Francis.' 'Oh!' said the porter, 'then St. Francis shall be your judge.' So that saint was summoned, and at sight of the friars and their burden demanded who they were, and why they had brought so many books with them. 'We are Minorities,' they humbly replied, 'and we have brought these few books with us as a solatium in the new Jerusalem.' 'And you, when on earth, practised the good they teach?' sternly demanded the saint, who read their characters at a glance.

Their faltering reply was sufficient, and the blessed saint at once passed judgment as follows:—' Insomuch as, seduced by a foolish vanity, and against your vows of poverty, you have amassed this multitude of books and thereby and therefore have neglected the duties and broken the rules of your Order, you are now sentenced to read your books for ever and ever in the fires of Hell.' Immediately, a roaring noise filled the air, and a flaming chasm opened in which friars, and asses and books were suddenly engulfed."

"Their pages mangled, burnt and torn,

The loss was his alone;

But ages yet to come shall mourn

The burning of his own."

The second poem commences with the following doggerel:—

"When Wit and Genius meet their doom

In all-devouring Flame,

They tell us of the Fate of Rome

And bid us fear the same."

SOURCES: The Enemies of Books By William Blades

[tcvsfiredemon]

Narumayo Week Day 2: Investigations/Caretaking

When Phoenix sneezed it sounded like his entire life force was escaping his body. Maya had learned over the past couple days to get out of his way when he drew in a long, ragged breath, because what came next was a gale force wind of hot air and snot that would inevitably end up in her hair. Luckily he’d graciously waited until they were off the bike to really let loose. A sneeze like that, Maya could understand why medieval people thought demons were responsible.

“Nick, are you sure you wanna do this investigation today? You should probably be sleeping the cold away.”

“It’s fine, Maya. I’ve worked sicker than this before.”

“Have you?”

In the three years she’d spent as Phoenix’s assistant she’d never seen him with so much as a sore throat. Sure he was a major klutz and had been nearly hit by cars on four separate occasions, but for all intents and purposes Phoenix’s body was a temple. The universe must have finally decided to exact its karmic revenge by unleashing the cold to end all colds just days before their latest case.

Really, Maya had hoped this would be a breather for Phoenix, a nice simple robbery case after the whole Xin Eohp saga and all that crazy stuff in England before that. Then Phoenix woke up yesterday with a fever of 102, a splitting headache, and enough congestion to choke an elephant. He had insisted even then that he could work that day, but she’d forced him to stay in bed while she ran around town getting interviews and taking notes, desperately hoping she wasn’t botching the whole thing.

He was feeling better today, but not by much, and while she couldn’t argue that he wasn’t usually better at scoping out the crime scene than she was, the way he was hobbling around with a zombie and making a visible effort to avoid sneezing wasn’t making her very optimistic.

“Just don’t push yourself as hard as usual, okay?”

“I don’t push myself that hard.”

“Nick, have you actually met yourself before?”

They were standing at the door to the upscale apartment of Cynthia Aster, self-help author and (at least until recently) owner of the rare Aster Ruby. She and the defendant, Patrick Xi, were in some weird secret society together, and Aster had let it slip to him that she kept the ruby sealed in a can of diced tomatoes in her pantry. Within days the pantry had been ransacked, the ruby had been stolen, and several perfectly good cans of tomatoes had gone to waste.

As Maya and Phoenix crossed the threshold into the apartment, the first thing she deduced was that this woman was pretty loaded. The place was spacious, all laid out in a weird modern architectural style with no walls and every room at a different height. The stairs that separated them had no railings, which struck Maya as a pretty serious design flaw, but then she wasn’t an architect or anything. There was also a distinct theme to the decor.

All around the place were paintings, photos, statues of hands. Left hands specifically. Words of inspiration were scattered all over the wall, all specifically about being left handed. Maya wasn’t sure what was on the bookshelves, but she wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Aster carefully vetted them to make sure the authors wrote the manuscripts with their left hand.

“Talk about making one trait your whole personality, huh?”

“Remember, Ms. Aster and Mr. Xi met in a club for left-handed people. You don’t join a club like that unless you’re really committed.”

“Maybe you should join a club for people with spiky hair, Nick. You’re definitely committed to that look.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Maya frowned a bit. Usually Phoenix would have snapped back with some comment about her joining a topknot club or something (which would have obviously been inaccurate, because she had a super cute hair bun, not a topknot). He was clearly off his game.

“So, where to first? We can see it all from right here.”

Phoenix seemed to snap out of a daze. Again, not a great sign. He was often the inattentive type, but never during an investigation.

“I guess we should start with the pantry, where the crime took place.”

“Great, let’s go!”

The pantry, much to Maya’s delight, was an actual room, with walls and a door and everything. It was filled wall to wall with cans of everything that could possibly be canned. Soup, beans, fruit, vegetables, pie fillings, even a few stray cans of bread(ew). You could totally build a fort out of all this. In the corner 

“Wow, this is a room a doomsday prepper would have.”

Phoenix rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Yeah, I think a lot of these cans might have been decoys to keep people from finding the one with the ruby in it.”

“Such a weird plan to hide a gem in a tomato can, huh? Seems pretty out of left field to me!”

She turned to give him a silly look, but he didn’t react at all. She would’ve expected at least a groan in response to such an egregious pun.

“Yeah, I guess…I guess…”

Phoenix took in a big gasp of air and Maya ducked for cover as another massive sneeze erupted out of her friend’s mouth. She looked at him, still dazed, and put her hands on her hips.

“All right, that’s it. We’re taking a break.”

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna make you some soup.”

“Soup? What?”

She was already hard at work digging through the wall of cans to find something good. Some of the soups had sell-by dates of over five years ago, so Phoenix’s assumption that they might be decoys was probably correct. Eventually, she found something that looked good.

“Here! Cream of mushroom!”

“Maya! You can’t just make soup at a crime scene!”

“Who’s gonna stop us? We know the chief of police.”

“Okay, but–”

She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up to the kitchen. No way in hell was she going to let Phoenix make himself sicker over some lame jewel thief. She sat him down at the kitchen table and ran over to search for a pot and a can opener.

“Just sit there and rest for a bit, Nick. I’m gonna help you feel better.”

“Maya, everything in this apartment is evidence. We’re tampering with evidence”

“And I’m about to serve you up some fresh, hot, savory evidence in just a second!”

Luckily there was a can opener right on the counter, which she put to quick work. She found a saucepan pretty quickly as well, and after futzing around with the high-tech stove for a bit, she had a good pot of soup on the boil. Over at the kitchen table, Phoenix was sneezing up a storm.

“That’s good, Nick, let it all out.”

“You sound like my mom,” Phoenix groaned

“No talking back, young man,” Maya chirped back, tapping the wooden spoon against her hand in a mock-stern way, “close your eyes and the soup will come to you.”

In a few minutes, she’d prepared a nice hot bowl of soup, served in a beautiful china dish that they definitely weren’t supposed to be touching. Holding the bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, she straddled Phoenix and brought the warm liquid toward his mouth.

“Here comes the airplane.”

Phoenix’s head bolted up. “Nope, you’re not baby birding me. That’s where I’m drawing the line.”

Maya jumped off him, her face heating up. Yeah, that was maybe a bit too much. She carefully set the bowl down and handed him the spoon. He took a spoonful and let out the most satisfying sigh she’d heard from him all day.

“Okay, that’s really good.”

She sat down next to him and happily watched him eat. He looked so cute shoveling the soup down with the dainty little spoon she’d found. When he was done he leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

“Feel better?”

“So much.”

Suddenly, Phoenix’s eyes opened wide. “Maya, how did you open the soup can?”

“What? Uh, there was a can opener on the counter.”

“Was it hard to use or anything?”

“Not really? I’ve used can openers before, you know.”

He rushed over to inspect the utensil, then quickly started searching through all the drawers in the kitchen until he found what he was looking for and held it up for her to see.

“Another can opener?”

“A left handed can opener! The one you used was a regular one. Which means…”

“It doesn’t actually belong to Ms. Aster,” Maya gasped, “The thief must have brought his own to get the ruby!”

“And since Mr. Xi is left handed as well…”

“The thief couldn’t have been him! Nick, you figured it out!”

Phoenix blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, we’ll probably need to find a bit more evidence to get the full picture, but it’s a start.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Maya exclaimed, fists pumping and stars in her eyes.

“Okay, but first I have to…have to…”

Phoenix took in a long, ragged breath and Maya jumped for cover.

[morbsxadorbs]

okay, so!

I know I’ve been talking about a @morvantmortuary ita bag for ages now, but I haven’t posted any photos! this is bc I kept having to migrate it between base bags due to my own indecisiveness/occasional misfortune - I’d find one that I really liked and wear it for a while, but then before long I’d spot another base come down into my price range, but then not long after the zipper would come undone and be nonfunctional, etc. it really felt like I was maybe cursed there for a hot minute :’D

but so today, I finally got a pretty solid-feeling nylon coffin base I ordered not long ago, and it was actually cheaper than the previous coffin-shaped base I’d ordered!!

so I decided I would just go ahead and take photos now, before anything happens to it when I wear it out tonight lmao

Ta-da! here it is, in all its glory. it’s a little lumpy bc I’ve already got all my stuff in there, but I think it works for a more ‘casual outing’ bag.

more photos below to save space 🖤

here’s a tour of the pins in the insert:

so of course as I’m tallying these up, I’m realizing just how many of them are pieces I’ve collected like a magpie over the years :’D but I did go back and find sources for the ones I could!!

I got the Cafe du Monde button and the embalming machine on two separate trips to NOLA, one before I started grad school and one after.

I’m pretty sure I got the hearse and the scythe at an Oddities show in Austin after COVID wound down a bit (but I know the artist for the scythe is BatsintheBelfry on etsy, and I love a lot of their stuff!).

the MCR pin is from a hipdot preorder years ago, the knife was from a kickstarter preorder around the same time, and the love letter (which has more to do with the manuscript version) was a birthday present before I started grad school. (I think it might have come from Maya Kern’s store??? I’m not sure.)

the Horror heart was also I think a lucky freebie in an order for a little outfit for chibi!Maxi.

the death’s head is from VeronaBlack on etsy

the Maggie skele-kitty is from queerwatercolors on etsy

the Eat Racists alligator is from lostlustsupply on etsy

and the bi bracelet I turned into a zipper pull is from FlorenceMaeHandmade, also on etsy

and then we had a lot of room on the side hinge, so I added some pinback buttons that didn’t work on the insert:

the bi heart was I’m pretty sure a xmas present from my favorite ex

the Final Survivor pin is from BearBonesArt on etsy, who does a lot of really cute slasher-related stuff. (it’s more mint-colored than it looks in the photo, my house lighting is just odd.)

and the reassuring reaper pin is from DanyelleOrwickArt on etsy. it’s probably one of my favorites, and she has a whole collection of them that I want to buy the rest of when I have the cash 🖤 maybe at my next job lmao

we did try putting all the tiny!Morvants in the display window! but, uh. :’D

it’s maybe. a little cramped in there. (they did used to call these kinds of coffins toe-pinchers, after all!)

so we might go with something like this for our Outing this evening:

(at least until we’re seated and the lights go down lol.)

while I’m mentioning artists, just a reminder that I got the tiny!Morvants (and stunt!Maxi, who is still undergoing a repair spa stay) from NoizFoxy on etsy! they were a joy to work with each and every time, they were super thoughtful when it came to details, and they always kept me updated in the process, so if you ever decide you want a small friend of your own (be it OC or blorbo), I would recommend them when they have an open listing 🥰

okay! thanks for letting me babble about this, I know it’s super niche but I’m just happy it got put together!! I’m looking forward to wearing it out later 👻🖤

[fibula-rasa]

Favorite New-to-Me Films

April 2023

(in order of the image gallery above)

Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press / Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse (1984) [letterboxd | imdb]

The Heroic Trio / 東方三俠 (1993) [letterboxd | imdb]

Lokis, a Manuscript of Professor Wittembach / Lokis: Rękopis profesora Wittembacha (1970) [letterboxd | imdb]

California or Bust (1923) [letterboxd | imdb]

Crusher Joe / クラッシャージョウ (1983) [letterboxd | imdb]

Smith’s Baby (1926) [letterboxd | imdb]

Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil / Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico (1986) [letterboxd | imdb]

A Daughter of Destiny / Alraune (1928) [letterboxd | imdb]

---

Honorable Mention:

In the Mirror of Maya Deren / Im Spiegel der Maya Deren (2002) [letterboxd | imdb]

From Death to Life (1911) [letterboxd | imdb]

Kings and Desperate Men (1981) [letterboxd | imdb]

[barbariankingdom]

The Dresden Codex is one of the oldest and most complete pre-Columbian Maya manuscripts known. This 78-page book, written over 1000 years ago, includes information on lunar and solar cycles, astrology and human sacrifice.