#recent advances

[thewitfire]

Recent Advances in Gastric Cancer Research

Recent Advances in Gastric Cancer: Gastric cancer is also known as stomach cancer, continues to be a significant health concern worldwide. Despite advancements in early detection and treatment, the disease often presents in advanced stages, making it challenging to manage. However, recent research has brought forth new insights and therapeutic approaches that are changing the landscape of gastric…

[azatas]

"we need more complex female characters" you couldn't even handle her

[nell0-0]

Um, what the heck is this??? I just wanted to read my silly fanfic, my gosh

Please tell me I ain't the only one concerned about this

[shroomerr]

Oh, help me God, this hellboy got me coming back for more

reblogs super appreciated !!! close-ups under the cut !

[cosmicdreamgrl]

pretty in pink 🩷 for @cordiallyfuturedwight [ cr: 0613data, namuspromised ]

[chidoroki]

December 19th - Happy Birthday Chifuyu - ft: his tvtropes

[wannaeatramyeon]

Meeting Seo Haesu for the First Time

Requested. G/N. Here are the the miniscule crumbs!

There's a guy sitting at your usual table.

Not that you own the table, or you were particularly fond of that spot. But routine breeds familiarity and you've been coming to this gimbap restaurant for years now; you know the owners by name, and that table is as good as reserved for you.

(Except it's a casual little hole in the wall that doesn't take reservations, and this is just you being bratty.)

Nevertheless, despite your table being taken (as is every other one) - the food is too delicious, ingredients too fresh, price too cheap, and it's too awkward to back out now that the kind ajussi behind the counter has spotted you.

With a sigh, you ask the guy if the chair opposite is taken, if he minds you sitting there and he gives you an almost imperceptible shrug.

"Thanks," you murmur, dropping into the seat.

.

.

He's really quiet and kinda rude.

You notice his overgrown bangs pricking into his eyes because he's openly staring at you. Head propped up on hand and lazily chewing, observing you with a half lidded gaze.

He doesn't even try to hide it.

"What?" you ask defensively, eyes narrowing and folding your arms.

That annoying shrug, the small lift of shoulders, comes again and you feel like hitting him.

"Creep," you mutter, pulling out your phone and keeping your eyes glued to it because at least that's something to distract you as you wait for your food.

You think you hear a huff of laughter but you don't bother to look at him.

The next time you lift your head, the seat is empty, and there's not a crumb left on his plate.

.

.

Misfortune strikes you again and again when you find the guy at your table every single time.

What's worse is all the other seats are taken. Every single damn time too.

He seems to have lost interest in you after the first meeting and instead diverts all his attention to his food.

There's a few things you notice:

1) He eats like it's his last meal. Packing away more food possible than you thought a guy of his size could on a regular basis.

2) He loves tuna gimbap. The banchan he seems to pick at and reluctantly finish, but he eats rolls and rolls of gimbap like it's going out of style.

3) You're actually impressed. As would anyone if they saw someone wolf down thirteen rolls in front of them.

He finds you staring that particular day, and his arm comes round to protectively cover his food, raising his eyebrows in challenge. As if to say 'Get your own.'

"I've got my own!" You growl, answering him out loud.

You gesture to your own gimbap, your own special that the owners know exactly how you like it and double filled at no extra cost.

His eyes zero in on your food, and he's much more interested than he was on the first day and all the other times since then. For a moment you think he's going to launch across the table and swipe it for himself.

He takes a deep breath to steady himself, then tells you, "That looks good."

It's the first time you've heard him speak. His voice is raspier than you expected. You don't bother to respond and eat your own food at record pace out of spite.

.

.

He watches your food, not you, each time afterwards. Picks at his tuna gimbap with the same bored air as the banchan and eats like it's a chore instead of the previous fervour.

"You know you can order something else, right?" You say, fed up with your involuntary companion.

He shrugs, the air of resignation around him cancelling out your urge to roll your eyes.

"Here." You slide a couple pieces over to him, surprised at yourself for your kind gesture but if it means he's going to stare less and make you feel less self-conscious, then it can only be a win.

WIth his chopsticks, he brings your gimbap to his nose, gives it a sniff and looks directly at you.

"Seo Haesu," he says, a faint smirk on his lips before popping it into his mouth.

He closes his eyes, chewing carefully and savouring the flavour.

[serpentface]

Omg, is there any more about Odonii battlefield performance?

Faiza giving a full battlefield performance, which includes grimacing, sinister looks, letting out terrifying war cries, and banging on her shield with her dagger's pommel. She's wearing a full set of armor, which is functional but highly decorative. A squire will be present somewhere nearby to carry the rest of her weaponry.

As mentioned in the other post, Odonii generally do not actually Participate in fighting. Their perpetual armament and training to correctly Use this armament has predominantly symbolic functions, with their bodies as vessels for state and military empowerment and integrity.

Their normal role on the battlefield is:

a) Spiritual protection for their associated warriors and intimidation of enemies.

Their role is partially to be the ‘guardian lion’ figure in human form, their presence and performance in of itself is considered metaphysically protective. This guardian lion nature is played up and reinforced with their dress and behavior- they wear lion skins over their armor, paint their faces red to obscure human features, perform war cries tailored to sound inhuman (not like lions, just a very shrill and frightening sound). They perform ‘frenzied’ movements that intend to evoke an enraged animal- pacing, banging on their shields, biting their weapons/shields, baring teeth, exaggerated glances that emphasize the whites of their eyes, etc. This can be a disturbing sight- reassuring to their allies who know a frightening spiritual guardian figure is on their side, and demoralizing to an enemy (the latter especially in conjunction with common beliefs that Odonii are witches/shapeshifters)

b) A motivating factor to get the men to fight more bravely.

This is partly out of religious belief (you will probably be a little bolder if you feel reassurance that God is very much present and on your side, via Its priestesses), partly out of esteem for the order (you are highly motivated to perform for their recognition and protect them from harm). In a way, their role on the battlefield is the Least masculinized aspect of their performance- they are in part there to remind men of their mothers, wives, and daughters, who they are supposed to be the protectors of and whose benefit they are ultimately (at least deemed to be) fighting for.

In some cases, this is taken to a (cultural relative) extreme wherein they will expose their breasts towards their own men as a part of battlefield performance, in the form of a supplicatory gesture (bearing the breasts and thumping on the chest with a fist). (The Odomache’s nude body should never be publicly seen under any circumstances, limited and controlled exposure by Odonii Can be appropriate). Breasts are not sexualized in this cultural sphere, but are not treated as neutral body parts either, instead having values of motherly nurturing and feminine vulnerability projected onto them. Odonii showing tits will be a DISTINCT reminder of the ‘vulnerable female’ elements that the men should be protecting, and can be highly motivating (especially in the context of a figure who is otherwise behaviorally ‘masculinized’, it’s jarring and can have useful emotional impact).

c) General spiritual leadership (in connection to a & b).

Weapons dances are an aspect of military training and the kagnoma odo dance is always performed prior to conventional battles, Odonii lead these dances. This has multifacted functions- it is believed to spiritually bless the troops, it is a means of practicing with weaponry/limbering up, it is a psychological rallying point and good for morale, and it may intimidate your enemy who can see it happening from a distance (by displaying readiness/eagerness to battle, good discipline, unity, and physical might). Odonii also perform personalized blessings of soldiers, weapons, and armor.

c) Filling gaps in the command structure or acting as commanders

Odonii are involved in strategic meetings, and ones who receive battlefield roles are very well studied in military tactics. As a matter of technicality, their commands to the body of Imperial Wardi troops do not override those of generals or other ranking soldiers (though they will often be deferred to regardless), but they can fill in gaps in the command structure in case of death of high ranking soldiers or if lines become scattered and communication breaks down.

Additionally, there are two elite warrior orders presided over by the Odonii priesthood (the rest answer directly to the Usoma's court appointed general), with senior Odonii as their commanders and the Odomache as their general. (This is one of many political tension points between the priesthood and monarchy, given that the Odonii have managed to get themselves about 200 high skill, firearm'ed warriors that are separate from the normal military structure, only as loyal to the Usoma as their current general is, and Very beloved among the public so you can't just like, outright kill or disarm this very obvious threat.)

d) A strategic flexing of eastern seaway honorable combat norms

Conventions of honorable warfare have broad commonalities across the eastern seaway peoples, one of which is that noncombatants (by default- women, girls, prepubsecent boys, unarmed elderly men) are not legitimate targets in the normal process of open war (but are fair game in contexts like sieges when a foe has refused to surrender on behalf of their population). Odonii being armed throws a wrinkle into this - they are still effectively ‘noncombatants’ by virtue of being women, but if they actually Engage in fighting they do present a threat that could be justifiably neutralized.

If they do not actually Use their arms they are not legitimate targets, and an enemy concerned with honorable combat will have to work around their presence (or risk social/retaliatory consequences if he does not). They are thus effectively human shields- at the very least introducing an additional layer of difficulties for an opponent to navigate, and sometimes actively putting their bodies between their men and their opponents.

e) as a factor of D, potential mediator figures.

When in conventional battles, Odonii on losing sides are usually expected to allow themselves to be captured without resistance. They stand a very high chance of being taken alive and remaining unharmed due to a combination of factors- baseline honorable warfare practices (which are ABSOLUTELY not always followed, but at least Influence behavior), fears of material consequences in retribution for harming the priestess, fears of spiritual consequences for harming a potentially powerful witch, knowledge that releasing an Odonii unscathed may give the captors a better negotiating position down the line, or knowledge that an Odonii is a very valuable hostage and can make for a good bargaining chip.

Because of this element, captured Odonii are expected to perform mediation roles, negotiate the release of hostages, carry messages from their captors, or bravely tolerate hostage conditions (ideally while gaining intelligence on their captors)

---

Odonii very, very rarely actually participate in combat (and are in fact not Supposed To in the vast majority of circumstances).

They are, however, fairly well equipped for it. Their perpetual armament is symbolic in nature, but its intended function of empowering their bodies and the state by proxy additionally requires them to know how to Use It. They are trained and regularly drill and engage in mock battles in each of their key weapons/defensive combinations (sword, sword and shield, spear, spear and shield, longgun, handgun) and are expected to be adept at their use. Odonii who attend battlefields, while not being directly engaged, are still in very high-stress and dangerous environments and will have to learn to stay calm and collected under duress. All this doesn't mean every Odonii would be a skilled warrior in an actual combat situation (given that most will have no experience fighting someone who is actually trying to Kill Them), but it does mean they have enough technical skill and mental fortitude to stand a decent chance.

The only times where they are SUPPOSED to actively engage is when a battle is deemed as an existential struggle and is being lost (in practice, the main context for this is a siege), or losing against a foe deemed so thoroughly depraved that they won’t even slightly follow wartime conventions. The idea in these situations is that they are most likely already doomed, and that they should die protecting their people in battle.

Wardi history is filled with stories of Odonii fighting and dying in desperate conflicts (particularly against Imperial Bur), but this is at least Partly historical revisionism (there WERE some women in proto-Odonii roles involved in these conflicts, but these retellings project the modern Odonii order onto its multiple progenitor practices).

Odonii are frequently present on battlefields, but there are only two major instances of modern era Odonii participating in battle as full combatants, both involving conflict with Finnerich

---

The fully modern incarnation of the order can be defined as starting in the late period of Burri occupation, in which multiple Wardi city-states and kingdoms allied against a common foe, and the separate progenitors of the Odonii tradition began to coelesce into a single practice. These alliances were mostly dropped after Burri withdrawal, and the immediate post-withdrawal period was a chaotic scrambling to politically stabilize and assert old territorial claims- thus most Wardi states resumed hostile or indifferent relations with one another. (The one exception is that Wardin and Ephennos remained allied, which shortly would become a Big Deal). Forms of early Odonii now existed throughout most of these states, just not united under a single banner.

The city of Godsmouth was blockaded and besieged by Finnerich during this period (taking advantage of its historical rival’s weakness in the political chaos of de-occupation and hoping to capture or at least maim the city), and some of these early Odonii were involved in this conflict and are known to have engaged.

Godsmouth was a rival to its neighboring states more than anything else- there was little reason for others to send aid in the conflict, and it was left to fend for itself. It was and is a heavily fortified city, and thus the siege lasted for months, with the strategy turning to starving the population out rather than the risky maneuver of throwing troops at well-defended gates to force entry. The Finn forces never managed to breach the inner walls, but were very successful at starving the city's population, raiding its farmlands and villages, and destroying its ports and capturing or burning its ships, all with minimal casualties on their side.

The strategy of the siege finally turned to a risky push to breach and capture the city (due to Finnerich’s own dwindling resources and logistical difficulties in restocking due to storms at sea, and news that an allied Wardin and Ephennos had, in an unprecedented move, been persuaded to send reinforcements (in return for Godsmouth's sworn fealty and absorption into their alliance)), and Finn forces succeeded in breaking through the outer walls. This developed into a very dramatic standoff in which the remaining warriors and/or civilians of Godsmouth attempted to fend off the attack long enough for reinforcements to arrive (which would take days by sea).

Odonii are very famously known to have fully engaged in this stretch of the conflict on the front lines, as it represented an existential threat to the city-state (it’s a fortified settlement, if it was captured, reinforcements would not matter). Some of the recountings are distinctly fanciful (describing Odonii and noblemen leading Siege Of Helms Deep style khaitback charges into masses of enemies, or SWEARING that one of them actually did turn into a lion and ripped apart a hundred Finns before she succumbed to her wounds). An At Least Partially True Story With Exaggerated Elements of the final days of the siege describes the Odonii priestess Hibrides Odiboe rallying a group of elderly men into battle by baring her breasts and scratching deep, bleeding wounds into her chest, declaring herself as 'your mothers, your wives, your daughters, and look how I bleed while you hide behind your walls and wait to die.' While accounts have fantastical elements, it is factual that Odonii priestesses fought and died defending the city's inner walls, notably filling command positions left vacant by slain or starved leaders and rallying citizens to the front lines.

The end of the siege was ultimately a pyrrhic victory for Godsmouth- the city was never actually taken but its population was starved and riddled with disease, its farmlands were burned, and its ports were destroyed. Finnerich forces retreated before reinforcements arrived after failing to break through the inner walls in time, but had succeeded in most objectives of severely wounding their historical enemy. It has been a source of collective trauma in Godsmouth since that point (it is now out of living memory, but vivid stories remain of seeing the dead eaten by dogs and the starving eating the dogs that ate the dead, watching family members succumb to disease and starvation, all while hearing the sounds of fighting draw closer and closer with no reason to believe that any help would ever come), but ultimately recontextualized as a victory, a turning point in the arc of modern history. (The Wardin-Ephennos-Godsmouth alliance, which formed in full as a result of this conflict, would become the triple state that conquered the rest of the region and formed Imperial Wardin).

The direct participation of Odonii in this conflict is heavily played up in the narrative as the order in its purest form as sovereignty incarnate, the priestesses bravely fighting for (what would turn out to be) the beginnings of the Imperial Wardi state. The 11 Odonii who died fighting in the siege have been bestowed sainthood and are memorialized in a series of guardian lion statue-shrines overlooking Godsmouth’s ports (in which their ashes and bones are stored).

---

The other instance of modern era Odonii engaging in conflict is significantly less romantic, occurring in the context of the Extremely failed second invasion of Finnerich.

During and after the rout that resulted in the Odomache's capture and killing, it became exceptionally clear to the Imperial Wardi forces that They Were Fucked. The conflict veered with REMARKABLE speed from being an attempt end the state's civil war between the Imperial Wardi-loyalist provincial puppet government and its rebelling northwest population, to a desperate struggle for Wardi forces to get out of Finnerich Alive. At this point it was assumed (fairly accurately) that any defeated party would be summarily executed, so most Odonii present ended up directly engaging in battle. Two are known to have died leading soldiers in a bid to retrieve the Odomache's body, others fought and/or died while defending the retreat.

A few Finn Odonii (women appointed as a local sect of the priesthood after the initial takeover) remained in the capital after the Wardi forces fucked off overseas, and were executed along with the rest of the installed loyalist government and priests (though it's unlikely that they were involved in any fighting, as the provincial government surrendered after the withdrawal).

Odonii veterans of the invading force have not fared well in the aftermath. Most of those who survived the ambush in which the Odomache was captured have ended up committing honorable suicide due to breaking vows in abandoning their leader in retreat, failing to retrieve her body, and/or being assaulted in capture. More have committed (ostensibly ritual, probably emotionally driven) suicide in the years that followed, with the knowledge that their leader's death and defilement and this severing of God's spirit has brought doom upon their land in the form of an unbroken drought and famine, and that they failed to prevent this. The priestess who was captured alive to witness the Odomache's death and released unharmed to report it was the first.

All this has opened some vacancies in the order's leadership, and given things a very somber tone. It is currently in debate as to whether the ones who died on Finn soil (particularly those who died attempting to retrieve their leader's body) should be canonized as saints or if it's a little too soon for all that.

[rustbeltjessie]

Heyyy y’all I’m in kind of a minor emergency situation right now. We haven’t gotten food money this month due to a bunch of weird shit going on with the organization that deals with it (long story short: I have been trying to complete our renewal for over a month—since well before it was due—but every time I think it’s finally done, five days later I get a notification saying nope! You gotta send in yet another form!). I have $31 dollars in my bank account, which would be doable for a few more days, except for the fact that tomorrow I have to pay $25 (the minimum payment amount) on my credit card, cuz otherwise I’ll get late fees on that! So basically I have $6. All other bills are paid for the month, and I have a new freelance gig starting soon that should cover my bills for next month, and hopefully I’ll get food money back before then, but yeah. I desperately need $$$ so my family can eat and cover whatever other necessities come up for the rest of August.

Full disclosure: I just got back from vacation. The vacation was basically free, though—we had a free place to stay and it was a vacation with extended family who know we are broke and covered basically all our other travel expenses so that we could be there. Which was great, but a. means I can’t ask family for financial help right now because they’ve already provided it, and b. means I was not in fact recklessly spending my own money on frivolous things. (I am mentioning this because I’ll be posting photos and I don’t want anyone being like “why did you go on vacation if you were broke?”)

So yeah. If anyone can help out, I would be very grateful. I know times are tight for everyone right now, but if a number of people sent even $5, that would add up! And as always, keeping this post circulating helps, whether you can give or not.

PayPal: coeur.de.fantome@gmail.com

Venmo: @ JessieLynnMcMains

And if you’d like to get something in return: ko-fi.com/rustbeltjessie

Thanks in advance. 🖤

[verdemoth]

Woah hey hey. Yeah it’s me, Tala, it’s been a while, huh? Like legitimately a year whoops. Hey mutuals sorry about that, i’m totally still kicking and you guys are super cool and i hope we can still vibe 👉👈 there’s a lot of very awesome people i’ve missed interacting with

To cut a long story short: i had really bad art block for almost a full year and fell out of practice further, and that put me in a bad place generally because without my main creative outlet it’s hard for me to regulate and deal with other problems. And hard for me to be creative in other ways when i was still stuck on all the ideas i wanted to do but couldn’t. For the past 5-6 months it’s been better though! Not at the same output i used to have but i think i’ll just have to be content with that; at the very least, drawing is usually fun again :)! Speaking of other problems though, my health’s been a struggle, not in a scary life threatening way but VERY fatiguing. And i think that’s just something i have to be content with too. Took me this long to get around to updating my tumblr account in part because of this fatigue and in part because it had been so long i got anxious

But i want to get back to posting! i do have artwork i’ve done in this time that i’ll start uploading soon :] and being able to draw again means i can be more creative in general, and some of my ocs have seen more development 👀 i hope to talk about them more later!

[ravenlexis]

i don't mind genderbend fic or art. usually if i don't feel it, i just scroll past and ignore (my policy on headcanons/fanon content that i don't personally agree with).

what i do mind is when an author/artist takes a same-sex couple (usually mlm with one of them somewhat more androgynous or even with a bit of feminine silhouette), make one of them into the opposite sex, and only write/draw them like that.

like, genderbend one of them if you want but if that's the only way you portray them then that's sus to me.

it's like internalised homophobia, imo.

make them both genderbend! make mlm into wlw, make wlw into mlm, make it straight once in a while, spice it up! just don't take a queer ship and make it straight just to justify shipping them.

[fluxedbuds]

the experimental mspaint palette version of this art- kinda has its own charm to it so im posting it too

[cringefaecompilation]

at least when cr has an npc with a dopey voice meant to make the cast/viewers laugh matt has his moment and then drops the npc unless they've got immediate plot relevancy but with d20 there's a wacky npc with a dopey voice called roy shringlemunt and he has 10 minutes dedicated to him being annoying in almost every episode after he's introduced and then a month later there's roy shringlemunt pins in the dropout store

[theinfinitedivides]

recently every time i read an Aldis Hodge interview and he's geeking out like 'i got married!!!!! i have a kid!!!!! i'm going to be in [insert title of next coolest project here]!!!!!' my thought process is just 1. congratulations, ofc you're geeking out (as you should) and 2. do you need a third

[arty-e]

So should have been promoting this more but I’ve got a new Patreon page! It would be wonderful if y’all could drop a penny or two but no pressure if that is not in your monthly budget!

[happydragon]

How we feeling everybody?

Alternatively, because it's also tomorrow