#our universe and its components.

[nasa]

25 Years of Exploring the Universe with NASA's Chandra Xray Observatory

Illustration of the Chandra telescope in orbit around Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC & J. Vaughan

On July 23, 1999, the space shuttle Columbia launched into orbit carrying NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. August 26 marked 25 years since Chandra released its first images.

These were the first of more than 25,000 observations Chandra has taken. This year, as NASA celebrates the 25th anniversary of this telescope and the incredible data it has provided, we’re taking a peek at some of its most memorable moments.

About the Spacecraft

The Chandra telescope system uses four specialized mirrors to observe X-ray emissions across the universe. X-rays that strike a “regular” mirror head on will be absorbed, so Chandra’s mirrors are shaped like barrels and precisely constructed. The rest of the spacecraft system provides the support structure and environment necessary for the telescope and the science instruments to work as an observatory. To provide motion to the observatory, Chandra has two different sets of thrusters. To control the temperatures of critical components, Chandra's thermal control system consists of a cooling radiator, insulators, heaters, and thermostats. Chandra's electrical power comes from its solar arrays.

Learn more about the spacecraft's components that were developed and tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Fun fact: If the state of Colorado were as smooth as the surface of the Chandra X-ray Observatory mirrors, Pike's Peak would be less than an inch tall.

Engineers in the X-ray Calibration Facility at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, integrating the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s High-Resolution Camera with the mirror assembly, in this photo taken March 16, 1997. Credit: NASA

Launch

When space shuttle Columbia launched on July 23, 1999, Chandra was the heaviest and largest payload ever launched by the shuttle. Under the command of Col. Eileen Collins, Columbia lifted off the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Chandra was deployed on the mission’s first day.

Reflected in the waters, space shuttle Columbia rockets into the night sky from Launch Pad 39-B on mission STS-93 from Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA

First Light Images

Just 34 days after launch, extraordinary first images from our Chandra X-ray Observatory were released. The image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A traces the aftermath of a gigantic stellar explosion in such captivating detail that scientists can see evidence of what is likely the neutron star.

“We see the collision of the debris from the exploded star with the matter around it, we see shock waves rushing into interstellar space at millions of miles per hour,” said Harvey Tananbaum, founding Director of the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a star that exploded about 300 years ago. The X-ray image shows an expanding shell of hot gas produced by the explosion colored in bright orange and yellows. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

A New Look at the Universe

NASA released 25 never-before-seen views to celebrate the telescopes 25th anniversary. This collection contains different types of objects in space and includes a new look at Cassiopeia A. Here the supernova remnant is seen with a quarter-century worth of Chandra observations (blue) plus recent views from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (grey and gold).

This image features deep data of the Cassiopeia A supernova, an expanding ball of matter and energy ejected from an exploding star in blues, greys and golds. The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant has been observed for over 2 million seconds since the start of Chandra’s mission in 1999 and has also recently been viewed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

Can You Hear Me Now?

In 2020, experts at the Chandra X-ray Center/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and SYSTEM Sounds began the first ongoing, sustained effort at NASA to “sonify” (turn into sound) astronomical data. Data from NASA observatories such as Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope, has been translated into frequencies that can be heard by the human ear.

SAO Research shows that sonifications help many types of learners – especially those who are low-vision or blind -- engage with and enjoy astronomical data more.

Click to watch the “Listen to the Universe” documentary on NASA+ that explores our sonification work: Listen to the Universe | NASA+

An image of the striking croissant-shaped planetary nebula called the Cat’s Eye, with data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope.  NASA’s Data sonification from Chandra, Hubble and/or Webb telecopes allows us to hear data of cosmic objects. Credit: NASA/CXO/SAO

Celebrate With Us!

Dedicated teams of engineers, designers, test technicians, and analysts at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are celebrating with partners at the Chandra X-ray Center and elsewhere outside and across the agency for the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Their hard work keeps the spacecraft flying, enabling Chandra’s ongoing studies of black holes, supernovae, dark matter, and more.

Chandra will continue its mission to deepen our understanding of the origin and evolution of the cosmos, helping all of us explore the Universe.

The Chandra Xray Observatory, the longest cargo ever carried to space aboard the space shuttle, is shown in Columbia’s payload bay. This photo of the payload bay with its doors open was taken just before Chandra was tilted upward for release and deployed on July 23, 1999. Credit: NASA

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

[ghelgheli]

i would actually like to hear more of your thoughts on whipping girl, whenever you feel ready enough to talk about it. i've only ever heard positive recommendations for it. i was thinking of reading it. i've read one or two introductory 101 texts on transmisogyny as well as some medium/substack posts, and always looking to read more as a tme person. ty!

thanks for asking! I'm gonna try to be concise because I'm stuck on my phone for the month, but here are my thoughts on whipping girl:

serano is at her strongest in the book in three areas: manifestations of transmisogyny in media (e.g. how trans caricatures pervade movies), the history of medical institutions developing a pathology of transsexuality (like the diagnostics of blanchard et al. or how trans people seeking healthcare were and continue to be forced into acting out prescribed expressions and manufacturing memories), and the construction of her own transition narrative (telling the reader what it was like for her to grow up desiring femininity in a way that confused her, the experience of crossdressing, the effects of hrt for her)

whenever she's just sticking to this, I think she effectively communicates a lot that the unaware reader could benefit from—even many trans women/transfems/tma people who are otherwise in tune with the history of medicalized transsexualism and our popular depictions could probably benefit from her own personal narrative, by nature of how variegated our experiences can be.

unfortunately I think the book fails at its primary—stated—goal, which is to theorize about transmisogyny. in the big picture this is a bifurcated failure:

on one branch of her argument, she remains committed to there being something biologically essential/innate about gender. this manifests thru multiple claims: that we have "innate inclinations" toward masculinity/femininity and "subconscious sex" rather than what I believe, which is that the latter are constructed categories imposed on different matrices of behaviour/expression/desire in different cultural contexts; that there is "definitely a biological component to gender" (close paraphrase) after a discussion of how she believes E and T tend to affect people (thus equivocating gender with dominant hormones!); that we have such a thing as "physical sex" which is the composition of our culturally decided "sex characteristics" (don't ask me how the dividing line is drawn) even as she says we should stop using "biological sex" as a term; that there is "no harm" in agreeing that "sex" is largely bimodal with some exceptions; that social constructionism is necessarily erasure of transsexual experiences in early childhood... altogether she is unwilling to relinquish arguments about the partial "innateness" of femininity/masculinity and gender. this is at tension with her admission on several occasions that these are neither culturally/geographically nor temporally stable concepts! but that doesn't seem to be a line she can follow thru on.

on another, intertwining branch, she engages in what I think is a deep and widespread mistake in the theorizing of transmisogyny: reducing it (mechanistically) to what she calls effemimania* or essentially anti-femininity. it is her stated thesis at the start that masculinity is universally preferred to femininity. she doesn't offer a definition of either term until one of the final chapters, where she defines them as the behaviours and expressions associated with a particular gender. but I think this reduction just misunderstands transmisogyny. it is even in tension with an observation she makes early on, that trans women are often punished for their perceived masculinity! but again, this is a thought she seems unable or unwilling to follow thru with.

my problem with the thesis is that masculinity and femininity do not float free of gender—it is not possible to speak of their valuation in the abstract. anyone who grew up as a masculine cis girl and never "grew out" of that "phase" can attest to the violence wrought upon expressions of masculinity from women. and this applies doubly so to the subjects of transmisogyny! not only are we punished for any perceived bleed-through of masculinity from our supposed "underlying male selves", those of us who are willingly masculine and thriving as mascs are punished for our failure to conform to the rules of the normative womanhood that is imposed on us (just as we are punished for any willing femininity as "false" and predatory upon cis womanhood—observe that transmisogyny is reactive degendering in every case!).

on both branches serano makes only perfunctory remarks about the intersections with race, class, and colonialism. "sex" as such was made to only be accessible to the "civilized", most of all the white european! for a racialized person and particularly a Black person navigating gender the waters are just not the same; the signifiers of sex neither available in the same way, nor granted the same medical legitimacy. what is the "physical sex" of someone who is de-sexed altogether? how can gender have a "biologically innate" component when its expressions between the bourgeoisie and the working class are at total odds with one another? this all goes for the masculine/feminine distinctions as well. what sense is there in the claim that we have innately masculine/feminine inclinations when globally (and transmisogyny has been made global!) what is feminine and masculine can be very nearly mirrored? nor is "masculinity is always considered superior to femininity" innocent of obviating race. transmisogynoir adds yet further degendering thru the coercive masculinization of someone as a Black woman—masculinization as punishment, again!

and as a final point, the account fails to be materialist. there is no attempt to place transmisogyny in its role as an instrument of political economy or, as jules gill-peterson might say, as a tool of statecraft. it is just a psychological response to the way the world is, as far as serano has anything to say about it. but how did the world become that way, and why?? serano's solution, the abolition of what she calls gender entitlement, is naive to the fact that gender entitlement is necessary to the maintenance of the capitalist state, which is structured thru patriarchy and built on colonialism. it is not possible to reskin this into something innocuous!

this is why I cannot recommend whipping girl as a work about transmisogyny except at the most shallow level. it could be a helpful critical read, but imo, it is just wrong about transmisogyny.

[cantheykillmacbeth]

Do you think Steg (the fusion of Steven Universe and Greg Universe) could kill Macbeth? I've been going back and forth on this one for a while.

Steg is... definitely a difficult one, yeah. For most Steven Universe fusions, we can fall back on them applying for the Gender Clause, but we can't do that here, so we have to actually think about stuff now.

Fusions are defined very vaguely in SU in terms of their identity as a person- as Garnet puts it a fusion is not two people, and not one person, but an "experience," which is great for the spiritual themes of the show, but not really useful for our purposes. Our verdict is really just going to come down to whether we consider a fusion a separate person from its components.

Fusions will usually operate with their own personalities separate from their counterparts, but under certain circumstances (usually moments of distress), specific counterparts will speak independently from each other, like in Keeping It Together, Know Your Fusion, and Malachite's entire existence. Now, we haven't seen Steg have this kind of self-interaction (he's really only shown up for one song and has never been seen or heard from again), but presumably every fusion has the capability for such a thing.

If we consider Steg to be one person: Yes, Steg Multiverse from the Steven Universe Movie could kill Macbeth. He would apply for Unconventional Birth Clause, being created due to the fusion of two other characters, as well as Birth Parent Clause, since neither of those characters are female.

If we consider Steg to be two people: No, Steg Multiverse from the Steven Universe Movie could NOT kill Macbeth. While we've determined that Steven can kill Macbeth through Unconventional Birth Clause, there's nothing to suggest that Greg isn't a man of woman born, and his status as such would override Steven's UBC verdict. To put it another way, Steg has been born twice, once conventionally and once unconventionally; in order to apply for UBC, it's not that you need to have been unconventionally born, but more specifically you need to have NOT been conventionally born. Since Steg HAS been conventionally born, through Greg, he doesn't apply for UBC, despite the fact that Steven does.

Thank you for your submission! Sorry for the confusing explanation lol

-Mod Anthem

[markrosewater]

hi Mark! i noticed in "#1202: Psychology" you didn't make any mention of the two aesthetic profiles Vorthos and Mel, and i was wondering whether any of the decisions being made specifically take them into consideration. like i ask this because one of the biggest changes to Magic this year (UB coming to standard) is something Vorthos care the most about but it seems like nothing has been done to directly address them as an audience

The aesthetic profiles aren't rooted in psychology like the psychographics, so that's why I didn't touch upon them in the psychology podcast. I'll probably do another aesthetics podcast one day (I did one as part of my "20 Lessons" series) and I'll talk about them there.

The concept of Vorthos, at its core, is about appreciating the creative elements of card design above all else. Many Vorthos adore Universes Beyond because we've done a very good job at capturing the various properties in Magic card design form.

But yes, there's a subgroup of Vorthoses that care specifically about Magic's creative world building, characters, and story. We're spending a lot of time and energy to make sure the products set in the Magic multiverse are doing a good job of representing it. 2024 had many successes (Bloomburrow, Duskmourn, and Foundations) in this area, but also some failures (Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction). The creative team is trying to learn from them and lean more towards the type of creative execution that make this group of Vorthoses happy.

As I've been saying a lot, Magic excels at being additive, but has issues with being subtractive. If you want cool Magic settings and characters and stories, we can and will continue to do that. If you want us to stop doing non-Magic settings, characters, and stories, I can't help you there. There's a big audience that enjoys that and so we're making it for them.

I do hear that there are players that are sad that non-Magic elements will mix in gameplay with Magic elements. There will be many limited formats, and a few constructed formats (like Cube or Premodern) where you can avoid that if it's important to you, but the number of players who will only play with in-Multiverse components is low enough that it's not something we're focusing on in the main sanctioned formats.

It's not that I'm not sympathetic. Go back ten years and I was one of you. I fought hard against non-Magic elements for many years. What finally swayed me was seeing how much I enjoyed it when a license that I truly loved got brought to Magic. There's something so exciting, so glee producing about combining two loves, that I became a convert. I want to make people as happy as I was made.

I know this isn't the answer you want to hear. I try to use this blog to be as honest with all of you as I can. Magic keeps changing and evolving because we try to do things that players will love, and there are a lot of players that truly love Universes Beyond.

That said, we're not abandoning in-Multiverse Magic. We're still making three sets a year (the standard for the majority of Magic's life), and we're truly taking to heart the lessons of 2024 (more worlds that are our carefully crafted take on the tropes and less just a place to show them off). Making the Magic multiverse the most compelling and exciting thing possible is still our goal, and there are a lot of people working really hard to continue to do that.

I think the future is bright for the Vorthoses, but I truly understand why some of you are sad with Universes Beyond coming to Standard.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Symbols

To describe a physical symbol, it might be easier if we first focus on its individual elements, then perhaps integrating all of these elements to create a more coherent whole. Below is an overview of elements or basic shapes that we typically find in symbols.

The Basic Shapes of Symbols

There are elemental structures that occur repeatedly, not only as component parts of more elaborate symbols, but also with rich meanings of their own.

It’s probably true to say that the simpler the symbol, the more scope there is for interpretation; ergo, the more meaningful it is and, paradoxically, the more complex it becomes.

These primary shapes transcend barriers of time, geography, and cultural context, part of a universal language that goes before, and beyond, words.

SPACE

The elements of a symbol are defined only by the space that is a part of its construction.

Like the wind, the effect of space is gauged by its effect on the things within it or surrounding it.

The concept of space, the void, is a profound part of our experience.

To reach a state of “emptiness” is, for many, the ultimate spiritual experience and a way of connecting to the Absolute.

To be aware of the possibility of space within a flat, two-dimensional representation is to give that shape substance and a new kind of reality that lifts it off the page and makes it real.

The realization that “nothing” can be “something” marked a profound leap forward in man’s development.

All creation myths begin with a Void, symbolic of potential.

Although attempts to explain the concept of space are inevitably faulty, it might help to think of a blank page.

Before a mark is made upon the paper, the potential for what might appear there is so vast as to be unimaginable, a consideration which causes consternation for some artists and writers.

Without this space, there is no arena for anything else to exist.

This absence of any thing means that no thing is the most important symbol in the World.

DOT

A dot might seem to be an unassuming little thing, the first mark on the pristine sheet of paper.

In this case, the dot is a beginning.

But see what just happened there? The dot, an essential component in the structure of the sentence, closed it, making it a symbol of ending.

Therefore, the dot is both an origination and a conclusion, encompassing all the possibilities of the Universe within it, a seed full of potential and a symbol of the Supreme Being.

The dot is the point of creation, for example the place where the arms of the cross intersect.

The dot is also called the bindhu, which means “drop.”

The bindhu is a symbol of the Absolute, marked on the forehead at the position of the third eye in the place believed to be the seat of the soul.

The presence of dots within a symbol can signify the presence of something else.

A dot in the center of the Star of David marks the quintessence, or Fifth Element.

It also acts as reminder of the concept of space.

The decorated dots that surround the doorways of Eastern temples are not merely ornamental devices but have significance relevant to the worshippers.

Dots frequently appear in this way, acting as a sort of shorthand for the tenets of a faith. Examples:

In the Jain symbol, the dots stand for the Three Jewels of Jainism.

The dots in each half of the yin-yang symbol unify the two halves: one dot is “yin,” the other “yang.” Together they demonstrate the interdependence of opposing forces.

CIRCLE

Effectively an expansion of the dot, the circle represents the spirit and the cosmos.

Further, the circle itself is constructed from “some thing” (the unbroken line) and “no thing” (the space inside and outside this line).

Therefore, the circle unifies spirit and matter.

The structure itself has great strength—think of the cylindrical shape of a lighthouse, built that way in order to withstand the fiercest attack by a stormy sea.

The physical and spiritual strength of this symbol are there because the perfect circle has no beginning and no end; it is unassailable.

This power is the reason why the circle is used in magical practices such as spell-casting.

The magic circle creates a fortress of psychic protection, a physical and spiritual safe haven where unwanted or uninvited entities cannot enter.

Hermes Trismegistus said of the circle: "God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere."

Where would ancient man have seen the most important circles? Obviously, in the Sun and the Moon.

As the Sun, the circle is masculine, but when it is the Moon, it is feminine.

Because the passage of time is marked by the journey of the Sun, Moon and stars in orbit around our Earth, the circle is a symbol of the passage of time.

In this form, it commonly appears as the wheel.

Because the circle has no divisions and no sides, it is also a symbol of equality.

Example:

King Arthur’s Round Table was the perfect piece of furniture for the fellowship of Knights who were each as important as each other.

ARC

Perhaps the most prominent arc of the natural world appears in the elusive form of the rainbow, which primitive man saw as a bridge between the Heavens and the Earth.

As a part of a circle, the arc symbolizes potential spirit.

The position of the arc is important:

Upright, shaped like a cup or chalice, it implies the feminine principle, something that can contain the spirit.

If the arc is inverted, then the opposite is true and it becomes a triumphal, victorious, masculine symbol.

As such, the arc can take the form of an archway.

The vaulted or arched shape of many holy buildings, from a great variety of different faiths, represents the vault of the Heavens.

The arc shape often appears in planetary symbols.

VERTICAL LINE

Man stands upright, so the vertical line may represent the physical symbol of the number One, man striving toward spirit.

This simple line is the basic shape of the World Tree or Axis Mundi that connects the Heavens, the Earth and the lower regions.

It is not only a basic phallic symbol but also signifies the soul that strives for union with the Divine.

The upright line tells us where we are at a precise moment; think of the big hand of the clock, vertically oriented at 12 o’clock.

HORIZONTAL LINE

Represents: matter, and

the forward and backward movement of time.

This line also signifies

the skyline or horizon and man’s place on the Earth.

CROSS

Here, the vertical and horizontal lines come together to create a new symbol—the cross.

There are countless different types of cross. Despite any embellishments or devices, however, the basic meaning of the cross stays the same.

The earliest example of the cross comes from Crete and dates back to the fifteenth century BC although the sign is much older than this, ancient beyond proper reckoning.

It is an incredibly versatile and useful sign with many interpretations.

As the convergence of the vertical and horizontal lines, it symbolizes the union of the material and the spiritual (think of the sign of the cross given by Catholic priests).

As a geometric tool, it has no equal; if you put the cross inside the circle, then you are able to divide the circle equally.

Similarly, the cross is said to “give birth to” the square.

Because of its four cardinal points, the cross represents the elements and the directions.

Examples:

In the West the cross equates with the number 4,

but in China, it is associated with the number 5 since the “dot” in the middle of the cross, where the two arms intersect, is also included.

The cross is sometimes disguised as another symbol, such as a fourpetaled flower.

All over the world, the cross is a symbol of protection.

SQUARE

Said to be the first shape invented by Man, the square represents the created Universe as opposed to the spiritual dimensions depicted by the circle.

The square represents the Earth and the four elements.

Plato described the square, like the circle, as being “absolutely beautiful in itself.”

Like the cross, the square is associated with the number 4.

A square has four corners; to speak of the “four corners of the Earth” is something of an anomaly since the Earth is round, without corners.

All the symbolism of the number 4 is encompassed within the square, and it is interesting to note that, just as the square represents the created Universe, in the Hebrew faith the Holy Name of the Creator is comprised of four letters.

The square gives man a safe, static reference point, and a stable, unmoving shape as opposed to the continual motion of the circle.

Temples and holy buildings are often built in the form of a square, solidly designed to align with the four points of the compass.

Examples: The Ka’aba at Mecca; the base of the Buddhist Stupa; altars.

Square shapes define limits and create boundaries.

To speak of someone as being “square” means that they are fixed and unchangeable.

LOZENGE

A diamond shape often with rounded (rather than pointed) ends, the lozenge is often overlooked, but is actually a representation of the female genitalia.

As such, its most popular appearance is probably as the vesica piscis, the sacred doorway through which spirit enters the world of matter.

In heraldry, for example, the lozenge is used in place of the masculine shield, to denote a coat of arms belonging to a woman or a noncombative male, such as a member of the clergy.

TRIANGLE

The triangle shares all the symbolic significance of the number 3, as a shape, and therefore represents the many things that come in groups of three, from the Holy Trinity to the triple aspect of the Goddess.

Triangles appear in lots of different signs and symbols.

In ancient times, the triangle was considered synonymous with light, and the meanings of the triangle vary according to which way up it is:

When it sits firmly on its base, then it is a masculine, virile symbol, representing fire.

The other way up it becomes the water element, a chalice shape, emblematic of the feminine powers.

Balanced on its point in this way the triangle also represents the yoni, further underpinning the Goddess aspect.

The equilateral triangle is a harmonious form, used to indicate the Higher Powers, providing a framework, for example, for the All Seeing Eye of God.

As a symbol of strength, the triangle reinforces the corners of the square, both physically and meta-physically.

The solid shape of the triangle also makes its appearance in yogic positions, for example in the Trikona Asana or Triangle Posture.

DIAGONAL

The square can be divided into two diagonal triangles.

Because the length of these shapes has no simple relationship to its sides, the Greeks concluded that the diagonal must be a symbol of the irrational.

Therefore, the diagonal, or oblique, has come to be associated with the incomprehensible, occult world.

ZIG-ZAG

However it is interpreted, the jagged shape of the zig-zag carries with it the idea of heat, energy, vitality, and movement, the archetypal sign for lightning or electricity.

The double zig-zag that makes the astrological glyph for Aquarius could be water or it could be the life-force itself.

The serpent that spirals up the Caduceus is a softened zig-zag shape.

There is an inherent danger in the zig-zag, and the deities that carry it in their hands do so as a sign of their own authority and power.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes: Symbolism ⚜ Writing Notes & References

Hope this helps. Do share with me your writing if it does. I'd love to read your work!

[zosan-secondchances]

The Pirate King of the North: Part 10

Main Themes: Villain Sanji, Alternate Universe, Zosan Ship

Warning: Long post ahead with One Piece spoilers. Contains strong language and explicit content.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

It was an early morning start for everyone aboard the Polar Tang.

Zoro and Sanji had spent the night together in the bubble ship parked on deck for a much needed quality time, much to Niji's dismay. The helmeted blue-haired commander found them ass naked in their hiding place at first light and woke them up. He was finally able to finish Sanji's claw gauntlet fitting which took no time at all. While he was there, he saw an opportunity to improve the ship's primitive maneuvering system to ensure that the bulky vessel has the capability to take sharper, faster turns in case of any events of unexpected knock up streams.

After getting kicked out of the bubble ship by the demanding Niji, Zoro ran back to their room to dress up and finish packing for the trip. He had nothing but his underwear on him after getting his clothes torn up during his crazy night of passion with the blonde. He received a lot of stares and some light-hearted teasing from the crew during his walk of shame but he wore it with a shameless smirk. In his mind, it was all worth it. Though he makes it a point to try and patch up the garment that his friends worked so hard to make for him later.

Sanji stayed in the ship, also naked after having his clothes somehow lost in the process. He has entrusted the swordsman to fetch him his travel pack that he'd prepared the night before so he sat waiting on one of the passenger seats, snuggling himself in Niji's long cloak to keep warm. As much as he appreciates his brother's thoughtfulness by offering him his cape, and the extra effort he's putting in to improving the ship, he still holds a grudge on him for picking on his beloved Marimo, especially after last night's progression in their relationship. He glares down at the blue-haired commander who is currently in deep concentration, fine-tuning the steering wheel from the pilot seat.

Zoro returns wearing fresh new robes and holding two travel packs over his shoulders. He begins hauling them into the ship while standing outside by the door to respectfully keep his distance from the blonde's brother who is hard at work. He starts arranging bags under the side consoles to ensure that their possessions are secured and out of the way. Sanji gratefully grabs spare clothes from his own bag from where he sat.

Before dressing up, the blonde suddenly realises the perfect opportunity for revenge–in front of the very man his brother had picked on. He leans back against his seat, hugs his knees up to his chest, and strokes a lock of hair, trying to play it casual.

Sanji

So Niji, how's our chef Cosette doing?

Caught completely off guard, Niji yanks the steering wheel off its panel, tearing wires and other components that he'd meticulously been working on for the last hour. His face had suddenly gone scarlet red and blood trickled down his nose.

Sanji smirks at his brother's reaction. He leans his cheek against the palm of his hand and tilts his head innocently, watching the man practically start hyperventilating. He could have sworn he saw tiny sparks of electricity emit at the tip of his blue hair.

Zoro looks shocked and pissed at the commander for breaking Nami's old bubble ship.

Niji

I–hah–why would I…she's a servant. Loyal and… dedicated and… talented and…. How… why would you–hah–what possessed you to think that I would know–?

Niji looks down at the panel where he'd ripped out the steering wheel and then at his hand where he's gripping it. His tight hold around the handles had contorted its shape. Slowly, he realises what he'd done. He drops to his knees and starts repeatedly banging his head against it in frustration.

Sanji

So…I take it she's well then?

Niji pauses his movements to shoot him a furious glare behind his goggles, his cheeks still reddened.

Sanji hears a faint sound of their host captain from a distance talking to his crew while approaching the ship. He sounded excited for a change as they're finally lifting off to Skypiea. When Law hopped up onboard, he froze at the sight of seeing the Pirate King practically naked in his seat and the commander holding onto the broken steering wheel.

Law

What the hell is this? Why are you tearing apart my bubble ship?

I don't even know what's going on with you, Mr. Prince-ya.

Niji

I can explain–!

Zoro and Sanji 

Niji broke the ship.

Law practically had smoke coming out of his ears. He rolls up his sleeves.

—

Sanji

That's not… where I thought that was going to go….

Niji

Really now?

Zoro, Sanji and Niji all had bumps on their heads from the fuming captain. They all stood in pain behind Law who is making a final speech to the Heart Pirates crew before separating from them until they return from Skypiea. He wanted to make sure that everyone is fully aware of their plan to meet back near Jaya, and told them to stay under the radar by not staying in one place too long. They're to keep a constant eye on their long distant transponder snail in case there are any emergencies.

Niji had repaired the damage he’d done and replaced the disfigured steering wheel for a makeshift one. He still managed to do the maneuver upgrade that he wanted right on schedule so Law's punishment on him wasn't as harsh.

Sanji soothes his painful bump with a hand, wondering if he should have done his act of revenge another day. At least he has clothes now and his claw gauntlet fitted properly with its blades retracted.

Zoro had no idea what exactly just happened but given how much he'd been getting punished by Law recently, he just accepted his fate.

They sail the Polar Tang until it reaches a good distance away from Jaya to avoid any unwanted attention during take off. Niji launches himself in the air to scout ahead, hoping to travel high enough to potentially find the floating island by eye and watch out for any unwelcoming shifts in weather. They're to keep tabs with him through transponder snails. Bepo reported that there may be a storm later in the day but if they reach the sky island before late afternoon, they should be safe.

Zoro, Sanji and Law follow by bubble ship shortly, waving farewell to the rest of the Heart Pirates from inside as they lift off. The blonde volunteered to pilot as he claimed to have done it before. This proved evident when he started up the engines, inflated the float bubble and launched the vessel without a fuss. Before they know it, they reach their desired altitude just under the stratosphere where they reconvened with the commander as planned.

Zoro and Law watched the two siblings, surprised at how quickly their dynamic switched as they expertly navigated the skies together. Past all their snide jabbing and teasing, Sanji and Niji operated like two veteran mercenaries who clearly had years of experience in their arsenal. Niji flew ahead and continuously sent advice through his den-den mushi, and Sanji made executive decisions based on his brother's reports and piloted the ship expertly. They managed to avoid troublesome cloud formations without a navigator, thanks to their collaborative teamwork.

Law

How do you know how to fly so well, Mr. Prince-ya?

Sanji

Err…I'm the only one who doesn't fly in the family so I tend to take a bubble ship for myself when I need to.

Niji interrupts through the transponder snail.

Niji 

Correction–he chooses not to. He can, if he just wears his–

Sanji

Commander, we talked about this.

Niji

Tch.

Zoro was looking at Sanji curiously, clearly wanting to hear more about the whole subject of flying but the blonde wants to avoid the uncomfortable topic so he quickly shifts the conversation. He clears his throat.

Sanji

Marimo-kun, can you please remind us what we're on a lookout for?

Zoro

We're trying to find South Birds or one of its variants. They're native to Skypiea and a lot bigger up here. They should help us find the island.

Otherwise we should see thick solid clouds with houses or a jungle on them. It's pretty big so it's hard to miss.

Sanji

Did you get that, Commander?

Niji

Got it.

There is a painful stretch of silence as the ship floats aimlessly in the sky. This part of the troposphere should be thinning out of clouds but today seems to be an odd exception as it's more fogged up than usual. Zoro notices Sanji gradually getting worried after an hour with no news. He starts impatiently tapping his fingers on the steering wheel while his feet twitch restlessly, his hand almost reaching out for the den-den mushi several times but ultimately acts against it.

Zoro

Hey…is everything okay?

Sanji

Y–yeah…. I just… don't worry about it.

Law

If you’re that concerned, we should call him.

Sanji

Maybe…. Give him more time. He might be in the middle of something.

After several more tense minutes, they hear a long squawk from a distance behind them. Zoro, Sanji and Law turn their heads to find a large bird, more than twice the size of their bubble ship, writhing mid-air. Around its body, a familiar blue-haired man gripped around its neck, trying to force its wings closed with his legs. He carries it with difficulty towards the bubble ship, his boots kicking off pulses in different directions to try and gain some semblance of stability.

Law

What the hell–?

Sanji starts laughing out loud as the bird throws its head wildly in every which way. It relentlessly flaps its wings and kicks its sharp talons out madly, desperate to free itself from the commander's death grip.

Niji stops just in front of the ship while still wrestling with the bird.

Niji

Is this–?? OWW!!!

The commander only just manages to dodge the bird’s attempt to eat his face, but the side of his face gets whacked with its powerful beak with a loud crack.

Niji

IS THIS IT, SWORDSMAN?!?

Zoro

Err…

Zoro looks back and forth between Niji and the giant bird dumbfoundedly, still trying to take in the comical scene before them.

The blonde shuffles through his pack calmly.

Sanji

Does anyone else have a camera?

Niji

Fuck–! Answer already!! Is this a South Bird or what?!

Zoro

Yes…?

Niji

Why do you sound so unsure?!

Zoro

It's been a while, okay?! And I can't see the crest properly! Can’t you hold it still?

Niji

FUCK YOU, YOU BROCCOLI HEAD! You come out here and do it then!

Zoro

It's MARIMO!!!

Sanji

Yonji’s going to love this.

Sanji finally pulls out a photo camera and snaps a couple of shots of the action, cheerfully kicking his legs from his seat in delight.

Sanji

And for the fridge….

He turns his seat around and takes a nice photo of Zoro laughing at Niji. He also manages to catch one of Law who can't help but bear a small entertained smile on his face under the shade of his cap.

Law

Oi! Watch the talons! Back off, Commander or it will pop the bubble!

Niji briefly dips out of sight but manages to recover. Zoro takes his time thinking, his hand massaging his jaw as he digs through his memory banks while watching the commander wrestle the giant bird.

Sanji

You know, I've seen them in a book.

Niji

So what?! Is this it??

Sanji

…It was a black and white print. I don't know if the colour matters.

Niji

Oh, for fuck's sake! Don't give me useless information!

Law

Zoro-ya, just say something already!

Zoro

Curls made a good point…. Was it more blue or more pink…? Is the face really that long? I can't remember.

Law slowly pulls out the feather from his pocket that Corazon had left behind for him, very carefully taking his time to avoid damaging it. He holds it up in his hand for everyone to look at.

Sanji

It's a little more pale than the one Niji’s holding.

Law

Maybe it was younger?

Niji

I hate all of you.

Zoro

I think… I think it is a South Bird.

Niji finally releases the furious bird from his grip. He dodges its angry pecks and swooping before it flies away from them. His clothing had suffered huge scratches throughout his body.

Sanji

Great job, Commander! Need a break?

The blue-haired man flops over the side of the ship, half hanging off the edge as he catches his breath.

Sanji turns the vessel to follow the bird. Thanks to his brother's earlier modifications, they're able to keep up with it without an issue.

After a few moments, Niji pulls himself up to sit on the side of the ship with his feet dangling over the edge, all the while keeping a close eye at the pursuit. He clenches his fist over his chest, still feeling breathless and the altitude isn’t doing him any favours.

Sanji notices the commander’s state and he narrows his eyes at his damaged helmet. A large piece at the front is cracked so badly that it’s just about ready to fall off at any moment.

Zoro offers the blue-haired man his flask of water. Reluctantly, Niji accepts and drinks from it, too tired to say no.

Sanji

I need you to go home, Commander.

Niji

No, I can make it. I promised I'd get you to Skypiea–

Sanji

No, Niji. Not this time.

After another swill, the commander wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and glares at Sanji.

Sanji

We'll be fine, alright?

And…you still have that other mission. You can't dally.

Niji doesn't turn his head but behind his goggles, Zoro notices that he shifts his eyes between him and the blonde. Ultimately, the blue-haired man sighs exasperatedly and throws the half empty flask back to him.

Niji

Fine. But I'm not happy about it.

Sanji gives him a weak smile to try and reassure him.

Sanji

I know.

The blonde turns his attention back towards the South Bird. When he notices that Law gazes away from him as well, Niji takes the opportunity to quickly grab Zoro's arm and shoves something metallic and cold in his robe’s long sleeve, out of everyone else's sight.

The swordsman was initially freaked out but picked up on his discretion. He raises a brow curiously at him.

Niji releases him and gives a thankful nod. He turns his attention back to the blonde.

Niji

Later, Your Highness.

Sanji

Thank you for all your assistance, Commander.

And…get home safe. That's an order.

Niji

Ugh… don't be gross.

He angles himself on the bubble ship, facing the opposite direction where the group is heading. With a kick of his Raid Boots, he sends a strong pulse of force against the surface of the vessel, giving them a rapid boost forward towards the bird. The passengers onboard see him take off into the distance the other way.

Sanji melts in his seat from relief.

Law

What was that other mission, Mr. Prince-ya? …Or is this one of those on the “need-to-know basis” things that you mentioned?

Sanji purses his lips, seriously considering Law's question. After a while, he answers.

Sanji

I sent him to infiltrate Doffy’s ranks…discreetly.

I don't know if I should have done it earlier but…Doffy’s just been too quiet and I don't like it.

Law has a surprised look on his face but decides against arguing about it, detecting the man's genuine concern about the situation and risking his own brother to investigate. In his head, he weighs all the things that the blonde had done to help him during their quest so far. He hated him a little for not following through on any one of his plans, but he can't ignore the fact how effective Sanji has been. He decides to do the unthinkable and put his faith on him.

Law

Do you think there's a possibility that we're in danger?

Sanji

I always think that we’re in danger. How much exactly…is hard to say…. I don't like working blind, doctor. That's why I'm taking the risk. But this means that I have to trust my brother to do the right thing. You've seen him prove himself in the short time he's with us. I hope that's enough to give you comfort.

The doctor eyes the man up and down, considering his words and trying to get a better read on him. He crosses his arms and looks away silently. To him, it sounded like the blonde was trying to convince himself more than anything that he's made the right call.

Zoro felt that cold texture in his sleeve. When he peeks under his robe, he sees a dark canister with the number “3” on it. Confused but thinking it might be important for later, he shifts it somewhere more securely in his haramaki.

—

As they travel, the sky becomes too hazy to see through. After what seemed like hours of obscured vision similar to that of a whiteout during a blizzard, the South Bird descends just as the passengers in the bubble ship start to lose their patience. The fog parts before them and, up ahead, they see a vast sea of clouds stretching far beyond what the eye could see. 

Zoro

THERE! The White Sea!

Sanji

Holy shit.

Law

How is this possible…?

The South Bird that they’ve been following disappears somewhere in the horizon as Skypiea finally comes to their full view. As they near, they see a small settlement that consists of tented dwellings, various totems of cultural significance and a tall structure that looks like a wooden watchtower poking out near the edge of the dense jungle.

Zoro 

Odd…we should have seen someone by now. The last time I was here, someone was collecting tolls.

Sanji

Hmm…what do you think, doctor? Where should we land?

Law lays the map on the console in front of the blonde and points near the edge of the island.

Law

Let's dock at this shoreline near that village. If that's what I think it is, they would have seen us by now from that watchtower. I want to make sure that we’re not intruding on anyone's territory before we can properly introduce ourselves. I don't know what they're like but I'd like to avoid any political dramas if we can help it.

Also, we need to check our fuel before we get too far. We need to have enough to go back with.

Sanji follows his direction, and lands the ship near a sturdy tree, not bothering to deflate the bubble in case they need to take off soon again.

When they disembark, Zoro immediately secures the bubble boat using its mooring line, then sets to work to check on the state of the ship while Law walks off to investigate the nearby houses for any locals. 

—

After a loo break and doing some warm up exercises, Sanji is feeling excited for the new adventure. All his worrying about his brother had overshadowed the fact that he hadn't gone out to properly stretch his legs in a mission for a long time. But now, after seeing a few of the local flora and fauna that he'd never seen before, the blonde is positively enthusiastic for whatever is in store ahead. He approaches the tired-looking captain who is hunched over with the swordsman on the side of the bubble ship, trying to read the map in their possession.

Sanji

Alright, Traffy!

The blonde claps and rubs his hands together in excitement, practically bouncing on his step as he closes in on his companions.

Sanji

I am at your disposal, ready for anything! Just say the word! So what's the plan? I'm assuming you have a well thought through plan? Let's hear it!

Zoro walks to stand behind Sanji with a bright smile on his face, supporting the blonde's statement. He puts his hands on his hips, looking like he's also ready for anything the doctor throws at them.

Law kept still, remaining hunched over the piece of paper, his expression hidden behind the shade of his cap.

Zoro

I uh… feel bad for pretty much wrecking every part of your plans leading up to today so…I'm with Curls. We'll do everything you say. By the book.

Without moving his body, Law turns his head slightly towards them, still hesitating to show his face.

Sanji

Traffy? You okay?

Law

I…

Law finally straightens up to look at his companions eye to eye. He has a morbid look on his face.

Law

I…I don't have any plans.

Zoro and Sanji's jaws drop in disbelief as the doctor rubs the back of his neck shyly. They see his ears redden from embarrassment.

Law

I usually just…wing this part somehow. But I'm stuck without my guys…. I don't actually know how we've come this far….

There was an awkward pause then Sanji suddenly bursts into a fit of laughter and Zoro grins widely at the doctor. Between difficult breaths, the blonde speaks.

Sanji

I was–so, so prepared to do everything right by you!!!

I thought–the doctor is alright–he's great–he saved my life. I need to make up for it–show how much I appreciate him–

He falls to his knees, tears flowing freely from his face. His laughter has become so unhinged that even Zoro's shoulders start twitching from the contagion.

Sanji

And now–now we ask for it and you DON'T have anything?! BWAHAHAHA–!!

Law’s expression darkens just as gradually as Sanji's laughter gets more out of hand. When the doctor finally snaps, Sanji receives well-deserved smacks on his head and the bumps that come with them.

—

After Law tells him that the settlement is weirdly deserted, Zoro suggests that they make their way to Upper Yard, remembering the treaty between Skypiea’s citizens and the tribe of Shandia. They had the joint intention of reclaiming the land that the former God, Enel, once took control of. He thinks that maybe they had all moved there as their new home.

Law supported this as they simply just need more information at this point to see if anyone remembers any Marines or someone of Corazon’s description visiting. He makes an executive decision that they walk to the place, not wanting to miss out on any opportunities that might come their way and use up any more fuel than they already have.

They each carry their own packs and walk towards the general direction where the swordsman pointed to on the map, though Law doesn't have high hopes given the man's directional skills. The bubble ship was left behind after being relocated in the jungle, covered in leaves and other floor debris to keep it out of sight.

Eventually, they come across their first obstacle–a wide river of clouds that separates their side of the land and where they need to be. The moving puffs of cloud before them makes it look like water flowing between solid ground.

Zoro

You can swim in it but from what I remember, there are these things called err… hmm….

Law kicks a pebble into the river. It creates a ripple that spreads right through to the middle, causing a disturbance under the surface. A giant length of scales erupt through the puffs of white then the creature slithers away as quickly as it came.

Sanji

Woah! It's like…what–a Seaking in the sky or something?

Zoro

Sort of. There’s a lot of Sky Fishes. But there’s also Sky Sharks and these giant worms with teeth.

Law

So…no swimming then. That's not a problem.

Zoro

We passed by a big tree with vines. We can swing across–

Law

Don't bother.

The doctor brings up his hand and conjures his Room ability. With a couple of flicks, he teleports Zoro and Sanji to the other side, swapping places with jungle debris in the area. He follows them himself shortly after.

Sanji

Give us a warning next time!

The swordsman and the blonde struggle to stand from the ground, feeling woozy from the sudden vertigo.

They continue their journey forward, stopping often whenever they find an interesting specimen that they each want to look at. They felt like children with short attention spans, getting distracted at everything new everywhere they go. Sanji having a camera also meant more delays whenever he wanted to stop and take pictures. When Law told him to put it away, the blonde snarled and said it was the gift from his Heart Pirates crew. They had made him promise to snap shots of their adventure on their behalf. Law didn't bother him about it since then.

They come across two more gaps to hurdle. Each time, Zoro insists that they swing on a vine but they get teleported before they could say anything about it. Sanji's starting to get sick of being moved from one place to the next so carelessly. After the third time, he finally snaps.

He grabs Law's wrist just as he was about to use his Shambles ability again. The doctor glares at him angrily for the interruption.

Sanji

NO! NO MORE. I'M SICK OF THIS! I almost threw up last time!

Law

What the hell, Mr. Prince-ya?! Get your hands off me!

Sanji pushes Law on the chest childishly.

Sanji

You're taking the fun out of it!!!

Law

The…fun?

Sanji

We're adventuring pirates! We're supposed to go through struggles and find ways to overcome them! Not just…whatever the hell you're doing!

Law

You're complaining about…lack of struggle.

Sanji

You're making it too easy!

Zoro

Traffy, I know I said I'd do everything you say but…I kinda agree with Curly.

Law

…You just want to swing.

Sanji

Let the man swing!

Zoro crosses his arms and nods his head in agreement. Law slaps his forehead in frustration at the whole notion.

Law

It would be faster if–

Zoro and Sanji 

NO!!!

Law

Oh, for the love of–FINE!!! How do you propose we cross–

Flailing his arms forwards, Law gestures at the wide river separating them from the next piece of land. The distance is almost twice as long as the length of the Polar Tang.

Law

This?!

Sanji places his arms on his own hips and smirks.

Sanji

I propose a game.

Law

A game?

Sanji

Something that I like to play with my siblings when we're out on joint ventures. It'll be fun, I promise!

Slightly intrigued, Law crosses his arms and listens intently.

Law

Alright…. Let's hear it.

Happy with Law's willingness to listen, Sanji claps his hands together enthusiastically and begins to make hand gestures as he talks.

Sanji

We each hurdle obstacles however we want BUT we have to make it as cool as possible!

Law

…“As cool as possible”.

Sanji

Yes!

Law rolls his eyes looking unimpressed but the blonde continues.

Sanji

There's three of us, so we'll each take a turn playing judge on who gets from point A to point B the coolest way possible. When we reach our final destination, the one with the most points wins!

I’m talking flair–the badassery–even the underappreciated, underrated skills–the whole thing! It's the time to show off what you got and be creative!!!

There's about a million things Law wants to say about the silly game–how unnecessary it is and how many faults there are in the rules. Before he can say anything, the swordsman interrupts.

Zoro

Do I get to swing?

Sanji gives him a wink.

Sanji

To your heart’s content, baby.

Zoro

Let's do it.

Sanji

YES!

Law

Seriously, Zoro-ya?!

Zoro

It sounds more interesting than… “shambles” all day.

Uhm…no offense.

Law groans but waves his hand in dismissal.

Law

Do whatever you want.

Sanji squeals in excitement.

Sanji

That’s the whole point of it!

Zoro

So what’s the prize?

Sanji plays with his goatee thoughtfully. Then his expression darkens as his lips thin into a devilish smile.

Sanji

How about…a favour?

Zoro furrows his brow at that.

Law tips his head at the idea. He takes a step forward towards the blonde.

Law

Go on…

Sanji

Any time, anywhere in the world, no questions asked. The winner gains the favour from the other two contenders so that he may call on them at a time of his choosing–together or separately.

Zoro

Oh… Curls… I don't know…

The doctor unexpectedly chuckles, his tone just as dark as the blonde’s smile. He holds out a hand, which Sanji takes without hesitation. The swordsman looks between the two of them nervously.

Law

You’re on, Pirate King.

[valuentumbrian]

How Does 37% Sound?

Image: The Schwab U.S. Large Cap Growth ETF (SCHG) is up more than 37% so far in 2024.

By Brian Nelson, CFA

How does 37% sound? That was the price-only performance of the Schwab U.S. Large Cap Growth ETF (SCHG) thus far in 2024. Over the preceding 5-year period, the SCHG is up over 140%.

For years, I have pounded the table on the theory that there are not value or growth stocks, but rather undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued stocks. It’s why many growth stocks can be undervalued. It’s the Theory of Universal Valuation found in Value Trap that ties myriad areas of finance to the well-known discounted cash-flow [DCF] model. Growth is a component of value. Hook, line, and sinker.

For years, I have been pounding the table on large cap growth as my favorite area for idea generation (given its Valuentum stock tendencies), and I have put my money where my mouth is, too, with a meaningful portion of my net worth in SCHG. You’ll find that a lot of the top holdings in SCHG are top considerations in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, too, so there’s some good overlap between what I consider Valuentum stocks and where I’m putting my money.

But why don’t I actually own all the stocks I like? It’s the question I have been asked for more than a decade. Here’s what I wrote back in September 2023. I’m an old school analyst that cut my teeth in this business following the Global Analyst Settlement, meaning I believe that writers should generally not be taking stakes in the individual stocks they write about. Writers with positions in the stocks they write about can lead to biased research, or worse, terrible outcomes.

So what’s the playbook for 2025? You can probably guess that I think large cap growth and big cap tech will continue to lead the markets to new heights. 2024 was a boring year, if a 37% return can be considered boring for large cap growth. Frankly, with the market focusing on macro data and the Fed during 2024, there wasn’t much material to write about. We all already know the story: Inflation is under control, the job market remains healthy, the Fed is cutting, and artificial intelligence will be the name of the game this decade.

I think it’s worth clarifying some of our offerings every now and then, as each one focuses on a unique vertical. For those seeking capital appreciation, the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio may be of interest. For those seeking dividend growth, the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio includes our favorite ideas, while for those seeking high yield, the High Yield Dividend Newsletter may be your cup of tea. Dividend growth focuses on dividend growth potential; high yield focuses on current high yield, and so on and so forth.

The Exclusive publication is one of my favorite publications, where we highlight an income idea, a capital appreciation idea and a short idea consideration each month. You can read more about the Exclusive publication here. As of the date of the release of the December edition of the Exclusive publication, success rates for Capital Appreciation Ideas were 90.1%, while success rates for Short Idea Considerations were 88.1%. If you haven’t yet tried out the Exclusive, please do so.

Okay – so what about dividends? Unfortunately, I think we’re in for another difficult year for dividend growth investing. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) is only up 6% year-to-date, trailing both the equal-weight and market-cap weighted S&P 500 indices by sizable margins. With the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.6% and certificate-of-deposit rates still elevated, dividend-only-focused investors will likely continue to trail the broader markets. Remember: dividends are capital appreciation that otherwise would have been achieved, so don’t let the dividend tail wag the total return dog.

What about Bitcoin? I really don’t know. It’s definitely a greater fool asset like gold, but I have totally underestimated the number of fools there are these days. Haha. Just kidding, but seriously, with the regulatory environment easing with respect to crypto and with President-elect Donald Trump supporting crypto assets, who really knows how high Bitcoin can get or just how volatile the asset may become as institutional money ebbs and flows.

So what about small cap value? Well, year-to-date, the iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) is up a meager 6%, and it is up just 28% over the past 5 years, trailing large cap growth considerably. With a near 30% weighting in financials and 10% weighting in real estate in the IWN, for me, it’s a no-brainer to avoid. The only way I believe the gap between large cap growth and small cap value narrows is if large cap growth falls on difficult times, which can never be ruled out. But that said, there’s no reason to believe in the IWN, no matter what the statisticians say about quantitative value. I tackle the issue of the pitfalls of falling in love with historical data in Value Trap, too.

All things considered, 2024 was an absolutely amazing year for our core research exposure (i.e. large cap growth). Do I think the SCHG will repeat its dazzling performance in 2025? Probably not to the same extent, but it’s hard to bet against some of the strongest net-cash-rich, free-cash-flow generating powerhouses on the market today. Give me Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG) any day of the week, especially over any financials-heavy index. Enjoy the rest of 2024 folks!

Leave a comment >>

----------

The High Yield Dividend Newsletter, Best Ideas Newsletter, Dividend Growth Newsletter, Valuentum Exclusive publication, ESG Newsletter, and any reports, data and content found on this website are for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Valuentum is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of its newsletters, reports, commentary, data or publications and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Valuentum is not a money manager, is not a registered investment advisor, and does not offer brokerage or investment banking services. The sources of the data used on this website and reports are believed by Valuentum to be reliable, but the data’s accuracy, completeness or interpretation cannot be guaranteed. Valuentum, its employees, and independent contractors may have long, short or derivative positions in the securities mentioned on this website. The High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, ESG Newsletter portfolio, Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio are not real money portfolios. Performance, including that in the Valuentum Exclusive publication and additional options commentary feature, is hypothetical and does not represent actual trading. Actual results may differ from simulated information, results, or performance being presented. For more information about Valuentum and the products and services it offers, please contact us at info@valuentum.com.

[blueikeproductions]

So an interesting detail was revealed about the TFONE Quintessons.

It would appear, according to staff on the movie, that the ships are actually living, organic creatures.

By extension, going by their design similarities, the TFONE Quintessons are likely fully organic themselves.

Prior to the Quintus Prime origin, it was never clear where the Quintessons came from but their designs are clearly mechanical.

Japanese media would offer an explanation of sorts, in the Controverse manga.

In this story Primacron, the ancient sea monkey alien that created Unicron and later Tornedron in the G1 cartoon, would stake the claim that he created ALL mechanical life. When the Quintesson Judge calls this out, Primacron calmly responds that he created mechanical bacterial life once and surmises those creatures became the Quintesson race.

Further manga would reveal this is true, and go the extra mile by revealing Primus and Primacron were ancient beings that existed in the universe prior to the Big Bang (mirroring a similar idea in the Marvel comics).

Primacron was originally Primus’ pet, but as his intellect grew, and so did his ambitions, and once the old universe died and ours was born, Primacron would enslave his former master in what would become The Matrix of Leadership, and it would grant life to his mechanical creations, the Beast Mode Primitives, the Quintessons and Unicron.

It would appear most modern media opts go instead cast the Quintessons as organic creatures, created by Quintus Prime’s Emberstone, that pilot mechanical suits.

Cyberverse’s take on the Judges also goes an extra mile, similar to Primacron, revealing that these Quintessons are born by fusing five distinct lifeforms together, all chosen to judge a universe accordingly. This is depicted by using Starscream as the dominant component….

But unlike the wholly mechanical Judge seen before, Starscream’s Judge form has organic components, with other organic races in the Greys and Velgrox.

While there’s an argument the G1 Quints might be biomechanical, it’s never been clearly defined with Cyberverse Quint Starscream more plainly leaning in that direction.

As for the organic technology present among the TFONE Quints, that potentially has two origins.

The more famous one are the Trans-Organics, the prototype race the Quintessons developed before making the Consumer Goods and Military Hardware robots that would become The Transformers.

A cyborg like race of primitive animals, they were unable to accomplish basic tasks, and gave into their beast like savagery, destroying several Quints before they were sealed away deep within Cybertron.

In the modern era, a group of Quintessons opted to free their ancient beasts of burden, tricking Galvatron into unleashing them so that the Trans-Organics may destroy the Transformers, allowing the Quints to reclaim Cybertron. Inevitability this fails, with the Quints done in by the Dweller beast, an energy vampire worm Trans-Organic.

The Dweller is the most famous one, and spawned other counterparts seen in Cyberverse and EarthSpark, with the EarthSpark versions being a race native to Quintessa, typing it back to its origins.

The second inspiration, if potentially coincidental, could be GI Joe’s Cobra-La.

The GI Joe movie would reveal Cobra had its origins in Cobra-La, an ancient race of snake people that were the original dominant species of Earth before us mammalian humans evolved.

Cobra Commander is native to Cobra-La, originally being a snake man scientist who became mutated in a lab accident before becoming leader of the snake themed terrorist organization that’d slither into America.

He’s further mutated as punishment for his failure in taking over the world in Cobra-La’s name, slow mutating into a cobra.

While the DiC sequel series would see him restored, albeit still as a mutant snake man.

Presumably CC’s still a snake dude when he briefly menaces in the G1 Movie era Autobots as Old Snake.

Anyhow, the relevance to the Cobra-Laians and Quintessons, is the former use organic based technology. Basically, this means they create specially developed animals to use in place of tools, bridges & vehicles.

@bogleech’s own post on Cobra-La discusses other examples of their technology: https://bogleech.com/cobrala

In the GI Joe film, the Cobra-La people are disgusted by humanity’s use of inorganic machinery, and opt to eradicate humans and reclaim the land that was theirs prior to the Ice Age.

In the Energon Universe, this prejudice exists still for humans, as Cobra Commander is instead a human that lives in their ranks, but they’re more offended by the existence of the Transformers after CC’s science team dug out a frozen Megatron to study him.

Aghast at a cold, mechanical planet populated by giant metallic robots, Cobra-La sends Pythona aboard a space fairing … whatever this fella is…

… to Cybertron to nip this so called invasion in the bud.

It would appear she takes a semi unintentional detour, dealing with matters in the Void Rivals series first, where she’s set to battle the Skuxxoid in particular. (I’d laugh if she became the wife he constantly talks about.)

The Quints and Cobra-La sharing the concept of organic technology is honestly very interesting, and while I do think it was created independently of GI Joe, should more TFONE content be made and the Transformers and Quintessons go to Earth, a further connection to Cobra-La would be really cool.

It’s theorized in the Energon Universe that the Quintessons could’ve created or at least influenced the Cobra-La people, and such an idea isn’t unheard of, as the Zertonians and Agorrians of Void Rivals are revealed to be descendants of Transformers via a new character called Zerta Trion. It’s implied but not yet totally confirmed the Quintessons created the Transformers also via the G1 cartoon as well, and I just think it’d be hilarious if the proud, organic Cobra-La people would discover they’re related to the fully mechanical Transformers via the Quintessons and be utterly mortified. (I don’t think they’d like their Zertonian/Agorrian cousins much either since, despite being organic they have technology based Energon ports on their heads.)

Incidentally it feeds into a personal headcanon regarding EarthSpark, since MARS Industries exists here, that Quintus Prime used the Emberstone to seed life on Earth that would one day evolve into Cobra-La, making them relatives to the Terrans, Quintessons, and Lithonians (the later because Quintus reminds me of Kranix for some reason).

[solarpunkbusiness]

Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin's company 'Bio Reform' uses innovative biotechnology processes to manufacture eco-friendly, biodegradable, and compostable bags that decompose within 180 days.

Mohiuddin is using sugar, cellulose, and corn fibers to make a plastic-like carrier bag for small Indian businesses. Bio Reform has already replaced 6 million plastic bags in the checkout counters of stores all over India.

Mohiuddin saw the largest brands substituting plastic ones for those made of paper or even jute, but for medium and small businesses that power the majority of the Indian economy, the small increase in costs from using biodegradable bags was too prohibitive.

“One of the major reasons behind the extensive use of plastic bags are its properties. It is water resistant, thermal, durable, light-weight, and has good tensile strength. I wanted to find a solution that could mirror the properties of plastic while being eco-friendly and cheaper than paper, cloth, and jute alternatives,” he says.

This quest led him to launch ‘Bio Reform’, a Hyderabad-based startup that manufactures compostable bags using corn waste, sugars, cellulose, and other natural components into sustainable biopolymers.

“Issues related to plastic pollution are not limited to affecting aquatic life and animals anymore. Today, microplastic has reached our bloodstream. Bottled water contains microplastics. Addressing this is an important and urgent problem,”

[dwellordream]

Parents Should Ignore Their Children More Often

By Darby Saxbe, clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Southern California

I recently spoke with an anthropologist named Barry Hewlett who studies child-rearing in hunter-gatherer societies in Central Africa. He explained to me that children in those societies spend lots of time with their parents — they tag along throughout the day and often help with tasks like foraging — but they are rarely the main object of their parents’ attention. Sometimes bored, sometimes engaged, these kids spend much of their time observing adults doing adult things.

Parents in contemporary industrialized societies often take the opposite approach. In the precious time when we’re not working, we place our children at the center of our attention, consciously engaging and entertaining them. We drive them around to sports practice and music lessons, where they are observed and monitored by adults, rather than the other way around. We value “quality time” over quantity of time. We feel guilty when we have to drag our children along with us to take care of boring adult business.

This intensive, often frantic style of parenting requires a lot more effort than the style Professor Hewlett described. I found myself thinking about those hunter-gatherers last month when I read the advisory from the surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, warning that many parents are stressed to their breaking point. There are plenty of reasons for this worrisome state of affairs. One is that we don’t ignore our children often enough.

The modern style of parenting is not just exhausting for adults; it is also based on assumptions about what children need to thrive that are not supported by evidence from our evolutionary past. For most of human history, people had lots of kids, and children hung out in intergenerational social groups in which they were not heavily supervised. Your average benign-neglect day care is probably closer to the historical experience of child care than that of a kid who spends the day alone with a doting parent.

Of course, just because a parenting style is ancient doesn’t make it good. But human beings have spent about 90 percent of our collective time on Earth as hunter-gatherers, and our brains and bodies evolved and adapted to suit that lifestyle. Hunter-gatherer cultures tell us something important about how children are primed to learn.

A parenting style that took its cue from those hunter-gatherers would insist that one of the best things parents can do — for ourselves as well as for our children — is to go about our own lives and tote our children along. You might call it mindful underparenting.

Children learn not only from direct instruction, but also from watching and modeling what other people around them do, whether it’s foraging for berries, changing a tire or unwinding with friends after a long day of work. From a young age, that kind of observation begins to equip children for adulthood.

More important, following adults around gives children the tremendous gift of learning to tolerate boredom, which fosters patience, resourcefulness and creativity. There is evidence from neuroscience that a resting brain is not an idle one. The research tells us that the mind gets busy when it is left alone to do its own thing — in particular, it tends to think about other people’s minds. If you want to raise empathetic, imaginative children who can figure out how to entertain themselves, don’t keep their brains too occupied.

An excellent way to bore children is to take them to an older relative’s house and force them to listen to a long adult conversation about family members they don’t know. Quotidian excursions to the post office or the bank can create valuable opportunities for boredom, too.

Leaving kids’ screens at home on such trips can deepen the useful tedium. It also forces parents to build up their tolerance to their child’s fussiness, an essential component of underparenting. Parents too often feel the need to engage their children in “fun” activities to tempt them away from screens. But by teaching children to crave constant external stimulation and entertainment, intensive parenting can actually worsen screen dependence.

To be sure, when kids are upset, in danger or require guidance, parents can and should swoop in to help. But that is precisely the point: It is only by ignoring our children much of the time that we conserve the energy necessary to give them our full attention when they actually need it.

In recent years there has been a lot of hand-wringing about so-called helicopter parents and their hopelessly coddled children. But we rarely talk about what parents ought to do instead. In an ideal world, we would set children loose to roam free outdoors, unsupervised. As a small-town Ohio kid in the 1990s, I spent hours with my brothers playing in the creek behind our house, with plenty of time to get good and bored. When that sort of “free range” experience is not an option, however, mindful underparenting is the next best thing.

This approach can take the form of bringing children with you not just on boring errands, but also when you work, socialize or exercise. I was at my gym the other day when a father came in with his 4-year-old son. The two of them took turns working out with a trainer teaching them martial arts moves. When it wasn’t his turn, the 4-year-old scrambled around the gym and, when he got tired, lay on his belly on the mat and watched his father practice kicks. Observing the boy, his big eyes taking in a ton of social information, I thought about all the parents who say that they have no time to exercise because they’re too busy with their kids.

At the same time, I thought about all the gyms that bar small children. Even as parenting has gotten more intensive, public spaces, especially in the United States, seem to have become more hostile to the presence of children. I wrote most of my Ph.D. dissertation alongside my toddler in a coffee shop in my neighborhood that had a mini play area with stacking toys, board books and room to park a stroller. That coffee shop is gone now, replaced by a sleeker cafe where it’s hard to picture a stray plastic toy, let alone a rambunctious 2-year-old.

Parents have it easier in countries such as Germany and Spain, where you can find beer gardens and tapas bars situated right next to playgrounds, or in Denmark, where parents routinely park their infants in strollers outside cafes while they socialize. In such places you can relax and catch up with friends while children romp around — a reminder of how much easier parenting gets when we enjoy the social trust born from shared investment in care.

In other words, underparenting requires structural change, and not just the obvious changes that we think of as parental stress-relievers, such as family leave and paid child care. It also requires that as a society, we build back our tolerance for children in public spaces, as annoying and distracting as they can be, and create safe environments where lightly supervised kids can roam freely. In a society that treated children as a public good, we would keep a collective eye on all our kids — which would free us of the need to hover over our own

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Nicole Karlis

A disease that's prevalent in women highlights the female sex bias in medicine

In modern-day culture, it’s common to complain about being tired. But for some people, being extremely tired is just one symptom of a disease that’s increased in awareness since the COVID-19 pandemic that can severely impact everyday activities: myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Though the condition has existed for a long time, it can often manifest after a COVID infection, especially as an aspect of long COVID, in which symptoms linger for months or even years.

As research has shown, many long COVID patients either have symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome or have been diagnosed with the disease. But just as long COVID remains a complex mystery, so does it’s so-called sister disease, chronic fatigue syndrome. Similarly, it’s a disease that researchers feel hasn’t been taken seriously in the scientific community. Not because it’s new, but because part of its female bias, coupled with its association with extremely debilitating fatigue, which is only one aspect of the condition. Even the term CFS can be misleading.

“The name chronic fatigue syndrome does not reflect people's symptoms as chronic fatigue is not the main feature of this disease, and for anyone to think that it is would diminish people's experiences,” Chris Ponting, a professor at the University of Edinburgh to co-lead of the DecodeME study, which is the largest ME/CFS study in the world, told Salon. “It’s also female dominant, there are five times more people within ME who are female than are male, also more people are more likely to have ME if they're older.”

That means, Ponting elaborated, that the typical ME/CFS patient is an older woman. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), having ME/CFS makes both physical and mental exertion difficult. Symptoms can include extreme fatigue, but also trouble thinking, severe tiredness and an inability to do activities, like shower or cook themselves a meal. There is no cure or treatment, and no official diagnosis process.

“Policymakers in this world are more often going to be younger males who have very little risk for this disease, and are perhaps completely unaware of the devastation that it has wrought across our population and still does through its sort of sister disease, long COVID,” Ponting said. “And without that understanding, without perhaps that personal knowledge, it flies under the radar despite affecting one in 200 people.”

One of the most peculiar aspects of chronic fatigue syndrome is its underlying biological mechanisms. In the world of health, people are frequently told that physical exercise is good. It’s an idea that has pervaded all of society around the world and for good reason. Scientific research has found that regular physical exercise reduces the risk of many types of cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But for ME/CFS patients, exercise is not usually recommended as a remedy — and can actually be harmful.

“We've been told from birth, if you're feeling out of sorts, go out outside and exercise, and we're told even in our last decades that exercise is good for us,” Ponting said. “But it is absolutely not true for this disease. It is actually reducing people's health, quality of life, and reduces their ability to move.”

As to why that’s the case, Ponting said the answer remains to be discovered, as the biological mechanisms of the disease are not entirely known. What is known, Ponting said, is that a majority of people come down with the disease after an infection. This could indicate that it’s the result of a problem with the immune system. There also appears to be a genetic component to the disease. In the DecodeME study, researchers are focused on studying the DNA of people with ME/CFS because they suspect some differences could reflect the biological causes of the disease.

Dr. Charles Shepherd, a medical advisor to the ME Association in the United Kingdom, was diagnosed with ME/CFS after he contracted chickenpox from a patient.

“I had a pretty nasty dose of chicken pox. All the sort of symptoms of chicken pox went away, but I just continued to feel unwell — not just a bit unwell, but quite unwell,” he told Salon. As a doctor, it was puzzling to him. He had debilitating fatigue that was exacerbated by physical and mental activity. Resting, he said, also didn’t help. He also had post-exertional malaise, which is a worsening of symptoms after minimal activity, which is a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS.

“It took me two years to get a diagnosis because I didn't know what was going wrong,” he said. “I wasn't taught about this illness when I was at medical school, and so again, very common still today, and I did all the all the wrong things from the point of view of management.”

Shepherd has been living with the disease for nearly 40 years. Yet he describes himself as one of the “lucky” ones who has found ways to manage his symptoms.

“The output of the prognosis is not good,” Shepherd said. “Probably only around about five to 10 percent of people make a full and sustained total recovery.”

Ponting said the fact that it occurs after an illness could mean that “the battery of the cell the mitochondrion has gone wrong in some way,” Ponting said. “But the shocking thing for me is that we don't know, and that's why we're doing the research.”

Shepherd has been able to find relief through “pacing,” which is energy and activity management. Currently, treatment usually also includes cognitive behavioral therapy to manage peoples’ symptoms. Graded exercise therapy, Ponting said, used to be recommended as part of the UK’s guidance, but isn’t anymore. The therapy included increasing a person’s level of activity, but it proved to be too harmful to people.

Through Ponting’s study, potential breakthroughs could be on the horizon.

“We'll show or shine a light down onto what exactly should be studied next,” Ponting said. “But what we're not going to do, unfortunately, is discover a drug that will help people manage their disease over the next few years.”

[nasa]

Our Roman Space Telescope’s Dish is Complete!

NASA engineers recently completed tests of the high-gain antenna for our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This observatory has some truly stellar plans once it launches by May 2027. Roman will help unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter – two invisible components that helped shape our universe and may determine its ultimate fate. The mission will also search for and image planets outside our solar system and explore all kinds of other cosmic topics.

However, it wouldn’t be able to send any of the data it will gather back to Earth without its antenna. Pictured above in a test chamber, this dish will provide the primary communication link between the Roman spacecraft and the ground. It will downlink the highest data volume of any NASA astrophysics mission so far.

The antenna reflector is made of a carbon composite material that weighs very little but will still withstand wide temperature fluctuations. It’s very hot and cold in space – Roman will experience a temperature range of minus 26 to 284 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 to 140 degrees Celsius)!

The dish spans 5.6 feet (1.7 meters) in diameter, standing about as tall as a refrigerator, yet only weighs 24 pounds (10.9 kilograms) – about as much as a dachshund. Its large size will help Roman send radio signals across a million miles of intervening space to Earth.

At one frequency, the dual-band antenna will receive commands and send back information about the spacecraft’s health and location. It will use another frequency to transmit a flood of data at up to 500 megabits per second to ground stations on Earth. The dish is designed to point extremely accurately at Earth, all while both Earth and the spacecraft are moving through space.

Engineers tested the antenna to make sure it will withstand the spacecraft’s launch and operate as expected in the extreme environment of space. The team also measured the antenna’s performance in a radio-frequency anechoic test chamber. Every surface in the test chamber is covered in pyramidal foam pieces that minimize interfering reflections during testing. Next, the team will attach the antenna to the articulating boom assembly, and then electrically integrate it with Roman’s Radio Frequency Communications System.

Learn more about the exciting science this mission will investigate on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[apod]

2024 September 11

A Night Sky over the Tatra Mountains Image Credit: Marcin Rosadziński; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

Explanation: A natural border between Slovakia and Poland is the Tatra Mountains. A prominent destination for astrophotographers, the Tatras are the highest mountain range in the Carpathians. In the featured image taken in May, one can see the center of our Milky Way galaxy with two of its famous stellar nurseries, the Lagoon and Omega Nebula, just over the top of the Tatras. Stellar nurseries are full of ionized hydrogen, a fundamental component for the formation of Earth-abundant water. As a fundamental ingredient in all known forms of life, water is a crucial element in the Universe. Such water can be seen in the foreground in the form of the Bialka River.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240911.html

[talonabraxas]

“The whole creation is the dance of one consciousness.” — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Dance of Shiva and Kali Talon Abraxas

Kali and Shiva: The Divine Dance of Creation and Destruction

Two of the strongest figures from Hindu mythology are Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva. They all represent a different dimension of God, yet their story and symbols intertwine. The bond between Kali and Shiva is unique and perplexing depicting the incessant cycle of birth and death. Vedas and Puranas also have tried to explain the intricate dynamics between Mahakali Rudraani and Mahakal Shiva Rudra. Despite appearing as two distinct entities, they embody a unified essence, a concept both simple and profoundly complex. The Vedas, with their illustrative examples, approach this relationship with reverence, acknowledging the limitations of language in fully capturing their essence.

Goddess Kali: The Fierce Mother

The goddess, which represents the chaotic, fierce aspects of life, is referred to as Kali. The depiction of this image frequently includes her form coloured in dark tones; has unruly, tousled hair, and an amulet consisting of severed demon skulls that adorns her neck. One of her hands is holding a sword while the other holds a separate demon’s head. Kali’s ferocious appearance stands for the destruction of evilness, selfishness, and inadequacy.

Kali is most commonly perceived to be all-conquering. She is called upon for protection and courage in face of tribulations to protect her worshippers from harm. Nevertheless, her destructive side should be looked at without fear and understood as an essential item in the cyclic scheme according to which the old forms should make room for the new ones.

Shiva: The Supreme Ascetic

One of the main god in hindu gods worshipped as a demolisher as well as a transfigurer Shiva. Ash covered body, snake encircling on his body while he mediates in the Himalayans mountain can easily define him. Shiva symbolises the formlessness side of God, the supreme being that exists beyond matter. Destruction by Shiva represents an inseparable component of Cosmic cycles. This symbolises the saying whereby destruction is preceded by new creation of something or someone. Therefore, he dissolves the universe so as to pave way for its rebirth and re-creation. Within the cosmic dance of Shiva, the position of Kali emerges.

Relationship between Shiva and Kali

The relationship between Shiva and Kali is one of divine union and cosmic balance. This is epitomized in the “half-feminine Goddess” form, where Shiva and Kali merge into an androgynous deity. Shiva appears on the right side, and Kali on the left, symbolizing the inseparable bond between the masculine and feminine cosmic forces. Their union is further illustrated in the cosmic dance of “Tandava,” where Kali’s dance of destruction is halted only by Shiva, highlighting their dynamic interplay of creation and destruction.

This divine union teaches profound lessons about the cyclical nature of life, urging us to embrace both creation and destruction for balance and growth. The stories of Kali and Shiva inspire us to face challenges with courage, seeing destruction as a path to renewal. This relationship emphasizes the importance of balance, understanding, and connection in our spiritual journey, encouraging us to seek wisdom and courage in our lives.

The stories of Kali and Shiva hold profound lessons. They highlight the cycle of creation and destruction of life and urge us to embrace it all for balance and growth. We learn to face challenges with courage and see destruction as a path to renewal. This divine union encompasses two aspects of life, emphasises the importance of balance, understanding and connection in our spiritual journey, and encourages wisdom and courage in our lives.

[crooked-wasteland]

I'm very much looking forward to your Stolitz/HB is a bad musical essay. I've had my own thoughts on HH being subpar as far as a musical goes but never really felt like I had the knowledge on musicals as a narrative style nor as a music genre to do it much justice; excited to see you tackle the topic in regards to HB! 🫡

I absolutely understand the hesitation. It isn't like I personally have a masters in Musical Theory, but I think we as a generation have had musical theories subliminally inculcated into our psyche from the sheer amount of exposure that we can understand what makes a good musical and recognize when those qualities are simply not there. No one has reservations talking about how bad Wish was as a musical, and what I am finding in my own deep-dive for this essay is that Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel suffer the same issues as Wish. The lead in music being Sam Haft who is not a musical theatre composer and frankly doesn't understand how musical theatre functions on a fundamental level.

For a small preview of a major point in my essay that I plan on expanding much more, Helluva and Hazbin completely lack an understanding of musical diegesis. This may be a new term for some. Diegesis is most often referenced in how music interplays within a movie or film.

Most of the time the music is not diegetic to the story. When we have big moments in our media with that swelling emotional music, we don't think that there is an orchestra just off screen playing this music for these characters. We are aware the music is an external component to the story. In this way, the music is most often not diegetic to the narrative.

Of course that isn't always the case. Take for example Guardians of the Galaxy and how the films utilize their soundtrack. Starting the movie off, we hear Come and Get Your Love as we would hear any other soundtrack, only for Peter Quill to remove his headphones and the music can be heard playing faintly over them. That makes the song Diegetic.

Another example is Shrek. All of the pop songs in the films are non-diegetic, but there are diegetic songs in, say, Shrek 2 with the Fairy Godmother singing Holding Out for a Hero.

To pull back to more direct inspiration, Happy Day in Hell is nothing more than an embarrassing parody of Beauty and the Beast's opening number Belle. However, Belle is non-diegetic. The Townspeople are singing their thoughts and feelings, but that is not what literally is happening. And Belle turning at the end isn't supposed to be taken as literally the town coming to a halt just to follow her and talk about how weird she is, but that the town as a collective sees her as an outsider and she gets that sixth sense sort of feeling of people judging her. Because they are, they just don't say anything. That is a key crux for the film.

Every single song in Helluva Boss and Hazbin are diegetic. We know this because Vaggie tells Charlie not to sing and we are told by Angel Dust explicitly that Charlie is, in fact, physically singing. Stolas' song ends with Stella telling Stolas to stop singing. Striker, Verosika, Moxxie, Stolas, Fizzarolli, Glitz & Glam, and Asmodeus all sing as a part of a literal performance.

In fact, Hazbin goes out of its way to shoehorn in-universe reasons to have a song rather than just allowing the world to exist in that heightened reality. Additionally, by having the songs explicitly being legitimate songs in the world, we actually face more issues with the world building because on one hand Vaggie is begging Charlie to not sing and is struggling with the secondhand embarrassment, only for the denizens of Hell to join in? Except the world has established that singing is not something people just do. It is the one time the criticism of "Why is everyone singing" and "How do you all know the words?" Are legitimately valid questions.

This all screams insecure and shows a clear discomfort with the genre of musical theatre as a whole. There is no depth of understanding how music in musicals function, just like Wish.

That isn't even touching on how San Haft's lyricism is identical to Wish's worst numbers with how he just borks the internal structure and meter of his songs.

[shmowder]

In case you missed it, Game Rant did an interview with Nikolay Dybowski about Pathologic 3. Here is the link for it.

And here are the bits that stood out the most to me:

Q: The non-linearity of time and how it will be related to the nature of the Town are also core story components. How did this affect design and direction?

A: Connecting non-linear time with a long, narrative-heavy story that involves many characters and cause-and-effect chains would be extremely difficult. We focused on what the player feels in the moment rather than on gathering information in the right order. The latter approach works well in shorter formats like Her Story or 12 Minutes, but in Pathologic, it would be overwhelming.

We wanted players to feel like “everything, everywhere, all at once”—similar to Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five. Different versions of reality coexist simultaneously, creating a “quantum” feeling for the player. Look at the time travel mechanic as an opportunity to correct mistakes, or even to make deliberate mistakes in order to unlock new paths and ideas. It is like a "sanctioned save scum."

-

Q: Conversely, how will it (Pathologic 3) connect to and consider the events and characters in Pathologic 2?

A: Consider it as two subjective retellings of the same events. This is the same Town, the same twelve days, the same participants and events that occurred in the Haruspex’s story. But this is a different perspective. Like two witnesses recounting the same event in Rashomon, the stories vary greatly, each focusing on different details. Finally, we always give our heroes the right to make honest mistakes, forget, and even lie. Every narrator is an unreliable narrator.

-

Q: How did Pathologic’s previous philosophical explorations help inform or play into the narrative and themes here?

A: Everything we now see as true and valuable, we’ve kept. Everything we’ve outgrown, like childhood clothes, we either reimagined and reinterpreted to give these ideas new meaning, or let go of them. After all, we’ve grown a lot (hopefully, along with the industry). When I first conceived Pathologic, I was 21 and completely alone. Now I’m 47, surrounded by incredibly talented people who enrich this universe as much as I do, and that makes a difference.

We’ve kept the idea of the tragedy of utopian projects. We kept the idea that the plague is a voice of the natural order—one that the thinking human mind cannot accept—and that it has its own truth. We retained the belief that evil cannot be defeated with its own tools or outplayed on its field; yet it can be defeated realistically in a different, orthogonal way. In another dimension.

-

Q: It’s mentioned that the Bachelor is searching for an immortal man in Pathologic 3. Can you say if this is in reference to Mark Immortell?

A: No, there’s no connection between Simon Kain (one of the town’s rulers) and Mark Immortell (the director of the town theater). Mark is a clown. He awkwardly mimics Simon, parodying him, which is why he takes on this pseudonym. He's fully aware that he’s a jester, and the gesture itself is ironic.

-

Q: What do you hope players will take away most from Pathologic 3?

A: The hope that humanity remains a promising and capable species.

-

Also, new game pictures and screenshots dropped:

(some are old ones I forgot to post)