#sea shell nebula

[ritsukadeb]

Sea Shell Nebula art done on Unreal Engine.

[zukriuchen]

Britt Schneider - Traveller, 2022 Oil on wood

[smallgodseries]

Albright is never more than nine years old.

Albright has been nine years old for millennia, because there’s always something new in the universe to be awed and enthralled and enchanted by, some new nebula or an aurora splashed across the midnight sky, a comet slashing through the cosmos or a meteor shower falling home to earth to rest.

Albright isn’t only in the skies, of course, although that’s the easiest symbol to summarize.  Albright is in the ocean, in the dance of the nudibranch and the arms of the octopus, in the nacreous gleaming of a pearl.  Albright is in the forest, in the flash of a woodpecker’s wings, the shine from a serpent’s scales, the soft cap of a mushroom pushing through the loam.

Albright is in the wonder of the moment, not the meat of it, and that’s what truly matters.

Some who see Albright surrounded by swarms of fireflies or dancing on the shore during algal blooms describe the small god as a little boy, hair cropped short, feet bare, pockets bulging with secret treasures, shells and stones and green glass marbles.  Others describe a little girl, hair in pigtails, skirt soaked with river water or sea spray, mud all the way up to her knees and dotting her cheeks.  Most, though, see a child.  Just a child, of indeterminate gender, because what does it matter, to a child on an adventure?  And childhood is the greatest adventure of them all.

Albright walks with all the children, and with many adults, small hand tucked into theirs, eyes fixed on the sea, or on the sky, or on the stream, or anywhere a miracle might yet be lurking.

Wherever there is wonder, Albright is there.

Albright truly hopes that you can be there too.

[legendsoffandoms]

Is it time for a Kintro?

(No real order btw)

Probably [Updated as of: ##\##\##]

Clover - The Vessel!

Any but she/her (loves neos)

Trans masc / Genderfluid

Omnisexual

Demiromantic

Polyamorous

Interests: Ninjago, Lmk, Jttw, Tmnt, Video games, Roblox, Transformers, DnD, Baking, Drawing, Writing, Undertale, OSP, Mythology, Music, Goth music and fashion, Countryhumans/Statehumans, Empires smp, Hermitcraft smp, The life series, and more (I forget)

Xiao Siye Cao

Xiǎo Sìyè Cǎo

Aka Clover

He/They/It

Trans masc

Omnisexual

Cupioromantic

Polyamorous

Interests: Messing with friends, Exploring, Swimming, Painting, Designing, Making stuff, Making clothes, Spending time with family, and The winter time

Onyx

He/They/Fallen/Dark

Male (probably)

Omnisexual

Aromantic

Interests: Gardening, Cleaning, Spending time outside, Listening to music, The gardens, meeting other fallen angels, and chilling in the gardens

Cosmo

Ally/Lolo/Apo

Nebula

Star/Starry

Orion

Comet

Space/They/Star/Planet/Void/Nebu/Solar/Orbit/He

Cosmogender

Unlabeled

Interests: Causing chaos, exploring, messing with life forms, chilling in/near black holes, chilling on/near stars, chilling on comets, destroying stuff

Sun Wukong

Sun

Wukong

Monkey King

Pilgrim

Pilgrim Sun

He/Xe/She/It

Genderfluid

AroAce

Demiromantic

Asexual

Interests: Fighting, Fashion, Hanging with friends, messing with gods, messing with mortals, causing chaos, hanging with the children (the monkeys)

[OSP]

South Carolina

SC

Palmetto State

They/Them

Nonbinary

Demiromantic

Pansexual

Interests: Pirates, The ocean, Reading, Hiking, Boating, Rafting, Outdoors, Alone time, and other things we forget

Reed

He/They/It/Siren/Deep

GenderOcean

Omnisexual

Demiromantic

Interests: Shiny objects, sea shells, swimming, the depths, messing with humans, luring humans, singing, talking with other merfolks, and nom-ing on non edible things

Ink Sans

Paint Brush

He/They/It

Demiromantic

Demisexual

Unlabeled

Interests: Painting, Drawing, Watching over the aus, Helping creators, hanging with the bad sanses, hanging with Error, messing with Error, hanging with the star sanses, and making art/stuff

Leonardo

Leo

Leon

Nardo (Donnie only)

Blue

He/They

Gay

Transgender / Trans masc

Interests: Swords, Hanging with his brothers, Sleep (insomnia is a bitch), Hanging with April, hanging with Casey jr, Medical stuff, Skateboarding, Comics, Exploring, Water activities, Swimming, and telling jokes

Enigma

He/They/It

Eldrecryptic - Gender

Interests: Playing, getting pet, getting treats, stalking humans, hanging with other cryptics, roaming houses, sleeping, getting food, finding new humans to meet, messing with humans, and playing with other cats

[equatorjournal]

Banana Leaf, 1956. "The photographs reproduced in this volume reveal strikingly the harmonious shapes and formations created by nature in crystal, stone, plants, animals, in earth, water, con- stellations, nebulae, clouds. We see the structural pattern in bone tissue and in the cross-section of the spine of a sea urchin; the design in the stripes and spots of animal fur, in the plumage of birds, in the endless variety of shells, in the skeletons of coral, and even in the feeding patterns of bugs and caterpillars. These photographs bring to light the surprising likeness between the designs we find in nature and the patterns created in human art, particularly in modern abstract and geometric design." From "Forms and patterns in nature" by Wolf Strache, 1973. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoDPwkdtB1C/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[saiyanandproud]

𝟑-𝟓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐄 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘.

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐒:

Sky-blue, the same of a bright, crisp spring morning.

Bright orange, just like the peel of the fruit when it's perfectly ripe.

Warm brown, like chestnuts shells, with their copper shades.

A vivid turquoise, like the glare of the sea on summer days.

Bright yellow, like lemons picked in the sun.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒:

The smell of the wind on a spring day, the one that gets stuck onto your hair.

Tangy shower gel, from a nice, reinvigorating morning shower.

Fresh orange juice from breakfrast.

Tasty street food, inviting one to try new flavours, juicy and slightly spicy.

Clean bed sheets, ready to welcome you after a long day.

𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐎𝐍:

Red Converse shoes.

Bright, colorful t-shirts.

Jeans. Blue, comfy, trustworthy and resistant.

A slightly oversized, comforting hoodie.

A varsity bomber with the university logo.

𝐎𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒:

A smartphone -- always connected, always up-to-date with news, ready to answer any touch, but with its colorful cover decorated with fun stickers.

An old plushie, from someone's childhood, a bit worn-out but still well kep and clearly well-loved.

Seashels and colorful pebbles found in your pocket.

Bright red autumn leaves.

A disposable camera, for nostalgic memories.

𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄:

Bright smiles and loud laughters.

Quick, intense looks, clear in their intentions -- be it angry, worried, alert, loving or cheeky.

Touches on one's shoulder -- playful smacks after a joke, a gentle bump of encouragement, a squeeze of reassurement.

Ruffling hair trying to fix it, but making it even messier.

Head resting on someone's shoulder.

𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒

Adventure-core: a light backpack full of pins, a colorful water bottle, a list of activities and things to do on your phone, a snack bar, and a passport full of prints.

Athlete-core: weights, dumbbells, ropes to jump, a treadmill, a clean towel, and a bottle of water with minerals in it, tight stretchy leggings, a tank top with a black sport bra underneath, white sneakers with a thick, cushioned sole.

Space-core: posters with planets and nebulaes, stars stuck on the wall that glow in the night, maps of the sky, a telescope with a sticker on it saying 'I believe'.

Skater-core: loose, comfortable clothes, a cap with the visor worn backwards, old sneakers, soft cargo trousers, a can of spray color.

Cyberpunk-core: many glowing screens, videogames and old consoles, headphones with cat ears on them and glowing neons decorating them, a large, comfortable computer chair.

Stolen by @viopolis

Tagging @the-demonpr0digyy @cxldtyrant @pzfr @risingsouls @synthetixflora @beforecreation @clairvoyantcubes

[katyspersonal]

10 for Edlen Rnig, 24, 28 in ask game!

(Asks from this ( x ) meme)

10. Which boss has the best design?

I am really not sure whether I am just biased towards stars when I am not too busy being biased towards marine aesthetic, but...

I looooooOOOOooove insectoid features in general, but also the colors are so fantastic? And honestly, how COOL a long ass tail made from pieces of stars is? And that fuckin nebula inside his skull.

24. What do you think about Patches?

He is the worst character ever and I always avoid interacting with him <3 ...okay okay FIIIIINE, I actually really liked him in Elden Ring xD In fact, there was a very very strange thing going on with him in my playthroughs! Both of the times I for all that's holy could not find the area I REALLY needed, it were his pranks that helped me to reach them!! I've made this weird "luck" a consistent trait of my Tarnished and I am now biased to feel thankful to Patches forever xd

But he is a good character even Soulsborne entirety aside, as Elden Ring NPC. He is sooooo fucking funny xd I've lost it completely when not only he passed his Volcano Manor mission to us, but also hoped we'd forget about reward, but ALSO his reward was some shit he stole IN this place dkjhfdhhsd His shenanigans are a very important addition to the story!!

28. You're a boss now. Choose an appropriate name!

NOOOOO DON'T FIGHT ME I'LL TOTALLY BE PATHETIC fdsjhfhds Well, fine, how about Katya the Sea Passing Investigator? Because I just know that even within the setting I'd draw the connection that there are at least three cases in the Lands Between of someone that can't truly die developing connection with the marine things (jellyfish spirits who are failed attempts at extracting soul, Godwyn's mutation and Tibia Mariners). I am going to be autistic in every universe. I'd use powers based on those xD I think one of my drops would be a shell-looking tailsman that gives the highest Frenzy and fire elemental damage resistance in the game.

Thanks for the ask!!!!!!

[mashpotatoequeen]

You know how much I love your writing, so I immediately got extremely excited and my brain generated a bunch of MashpotaoeQueen-esque titles. Feel free to ignore any/all of these :)

Kismet

Rainy Days

Sea Salt and Shells

Firefly Nights

In the Atrium

Birds of a Feather

Under a Deep Blue Sky

Purple Prose and Pink Roses

Constellation Making

Dragon Scales and Fairy Wings

As I said, I got super excited, so my apologies for being crazy. I can't title my own stuff for the life of me, but your writing is so inspiring <3

I hope you're doing well!!

Hello My Friend!

Kismet

Okay so. You know me. I love writing fics about Sticky and then labeling them with obscure or peculiar words because it just tickles me pink. So Kismet would most definitely be a Sticky fic.

Maybe it goes like this: Sticky is able to see the strings of fate that tie people together. Like when you meet someone and you're talking and you realise, with all the strength of a sledgehammer to the face, that you're gonna be best friends. Like the ties that keep siblings who are at each other's throats every single day still completely and utterly do or die for each other. The little connection that keeps you calling your best friend even if you haven't seen each other in months. The ties that bind lovers and family and companions and all of it. All of them.

Sticky can see all of them, except for his own.

He gets used to watching them. These little strings of fate wrapped around people's fingers; some of them vibrant and hard as steel and some of them frayed around all their edges. Different colors, different sizes, different woven patterns. The string binding his parents together is a soft orange, almost amber. The threads are fuzzy with age but no less strong for it.

(He realises young that no one else can see them. He keeps his mouth shut. His own fingers are bare. )

Sticky wants to be wanted so damn badly, is the thing. Sticky is surrounded by the way people love other people, and sure in the knowledge that he's destined to have no one.

He's wrong, of course. It just takes new friends and saving the world to figure it out.

Constellation Making

This one immediately brings to mind an AU where Nicholas Benedict (and friends!) are literally in the business of the making of stars. They've got a workshop just south of the Pillars of Creation and a deadline for a new constellation every millennia or so.

Mr. Benedict is a being of magic. One of the Old Ones. He's got stardust in his hair and nebulas swirling in his eyes. He keeps getting chunks of meteors and comets stuck under his fingernails after gently guiding them on course. He sings lullabies to baby stars that are little more than superheated gas and has tea with old white dwarfs every Wednesday.

And then constellations start to go missing. One by one by one.

And that's where our adventure begins.

Bird of a Feather

This is DEFINITELY that wing fic I've talked about before. These winged humans, finding each other and finding a flock with one another, a family the can depend on.

Maybe this would be a one shot set in that universe, where all the Mysterious Benedict Society kids have odd conflated feelings about preening each other's wings. Maybe one of the Executives told them their wings looked messy and that's one of those rules that Are Not A Rule at the Institute- your wings can be however ruffled as you like, as long as the feathers are neatly groomed and in place. There's nothing for it. It's hard to groom your own wings, especially towards the back. They will have to help each other, even though preening someone else's wings is usually really intimate and reserved for close family and friends.

Reynie's never done it- and has never had it done to him. He's so so worried that he's going to do it badly, that he's going to mess it up. Sticky keeps remembering his parents grooming his own wings and feeling a mess of nostalgia and hurt and bone deep sadness. Kate's touchy about her wings, about trusting people with them- she can do everything by herself, she doesn't need anyone- and Constance doesn't even know how to start doing it. Because she is two. And her wings are almost entirely soft baby down feathers anyway.

(They all have soft baby down. They're fledglings at best. They are BABIES and it's very important to me that you know this.)

So anyway. It's a Mysterious Benedict Society Meeting. They are all so nervous. None of them know how to start. It's awful and tense in a way that their gatherings almost never are. But finally Reynie settles himself nervously by Sticky and asks for some help, his cheeks BRIGHT red. Sticky's hands are sort of shaking. He reaches up and starts gently shifting through Reynie's feathers anyway.

And it's- it's nice. It's really nice.

(They are all, coincidentally, also sort of touch starved.)

So it becomes A Thing. At Mysterious Benedict Society meetings, they sit and they talk, and they preen each other's wings. They don't mention it to the grownups, or make a huge deal out of it, but every last one of them definitely rank it as some of the best parts of their day.)

Sea Salt and Shells

I feel like a lot of the kids have never been to the beach. Like- yes. They've been to Stonetown harbour. But a harbour next to a rocky patch of grey city water is not a beach experience.

So I'd like to imagine that, after the events of the third book, the kids and their families go on a proper beach day. They load of the vans with towels and swimsuits and packed lunches stacked neatly into three separate coolers. They have to drive a solid three hours and Constance sings I Found a Peanut at the top of her lungs until Kate gets dangerously close to shoving a towel in her face for the sake of her sanity.

They arrive at the beach sometime around ten in the morning. The sky is clear and blue and the sun is shining and the seagulls are doing their best approximation of singing. It's a gorgeous sort of day that almost feels too picturesque- like it's something from a dream or memory.

But it's right here and right now.

The kids splash around in the water, wading deeper and deeper until their feet don't quite touch the ground and their past the point where the surf breaks. (Constance has a floaty, and a death grip on Reynie's arm. It took her approximately fifteen steps for her emerging doggy paddle to become a necessity.) They bob in the waves like little corks, laughing whenever one of their heads go under. Milligan floats a little ways a way with a set of sunglasses on, eyes closed. It's possible he's taking a nap.

They don't have any paddle boards, but they learn soon enough that you can catch a wave on your belly. Rhonda shows them how to dive under the bigger tumults of water so they don't get swept under, and Number Two hides under the largest sun hat known to man. Mr. Benedict's swim shorts are green plaid, and he's not much better at swimming than Constance - narcolepsy and big bodies of water don't tend to bode well- but he is having a grand time of it.

Reynie and Sticky make elaborate sand castles and Kate works on digging the deepest hole she physically can with a tiny plastic seahorse shovel. Constance, at one point, allows herself to be buried in it until only her head is visible. The others feed her chips one at a time and pour water into her mouth with a seriousness and dedication that defied the silliness of the situation.

(None of the grownups can look at her without laughing.)

They eat lunch on the picnic blankets. Sand gets everywhere, despite their best efforts. Sticky's father has to carry his mother into the surf, but she floats along quite happily once she's there. When Reynie next goes in, it's Miss Perumal who has a death grip on his hand while Constance clings to Kate's next as she cuts through the water like a knife. Sticky sits at the shore and starts identifying different types of seashells, happily mumbling to himself. He'll keep the best ones to be put on display in his room.

They go home wet and exhausted sometime around four, sand hiding in their swimsuits and salt drying on their skin. Most of them slip into sleep the minute the engine starts running, and wake up bleary eyed and starving some hours later. They eat leftovers for dinner in the front yard of Mr. Benedict's house, still in their swimsuits, and talk about going back sometime soon.

The evening sun dips low. The whole horizon is painted golden, and the family watching from below laughs and laughs and laughs.

[tilthedayidice]

Can I request Rhys for the name palette? Thank you!

Rhys is of Welsh origins meaning "Ardent; Fire" (passionate i think):

Chessex Supernova Nebula

Chessex Speckled Lotus

Chessex Gold Glitter

Dice Envy Cher-restricted

Dice Chaoos Theory

Dice Envy Fire Season

WOTC Wild Beyond Witchlight

HD Dice Milky Red

Wiz Dice Forge Embers

T&G Orange/White blend

Cat in the Dice Bag Valentine Day

My color associations:

Dice Envy Necromancer Barbie

Dice Envy Witch Bolt

Wiz Dice Argon Ocean

Wiz Dice Lucid Dreams

HD Dice Milky Purple

Finnick and Finch Sea Foam

Chessex Lustrous Shell

Doug Out Crafts Divination Dice Black/Teal

Little Dragon Corp Ether Elemental

Everything Dice Royal Pastels

[unclaimedoranges]

Wrathful

Considering your truth,

Emptying a person till they are-

Shell.

Completely blank open nebula of-

Suffering.

Nothing left to appeal from.

Raging island of madness is almost more appealing,

I would rather throw myself into the sea of death.

Loneliness and isolation than deal with a mad man.

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #234

Brought to you by a marine biologist who hopes you're not sick of sea stars yet...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp sure does feature a lot of sea stars, and I guess I can't blame them. It seems that with each iteration, they are simply recoloring an old one. But here at AC Fish Explained, we're not about to count them all as just one species - oh no! Each one is a great opportunity to talk about these weird little monsters. So, today's star is the Purple Starfish:

The purple star, along with two others (Gold & Nebula), appeared during Fishing Tourney 43, Star Signs, in October of 2021. It was a related Halloween event that featured the pumpkin-headed Jack. Maybe someday it will make a comeback...maybe it won't.

By now you are all sea star experts, right? We call them "sea stars" and not "starfish" because they aren't actually fish, but are part of a group of animals called the Echinoderms, which include all the sea - stars, urchins, cucumbers, lilies, sand dollars, and brittle stars. Animal Crossing's diving activity and certainly Pocket Camp do a pretty great job representing this group (except I'd love to see a Brittle Star or Sea Lily in the game someday, just so I can really tell you more about them!). Today's star is quite the interesting little guy, with even more super powers than stars already have. It is actually called the Purple Sea Star, but also the Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus).

By D. Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6434467

This species is native to the west coast of North America where it lives in the inter-tidal zone munching on bivalves, like the California Mussel. Just like other stars, they use their tube feet, controlled by their water-vascular system, to pull the shells apart and insert their stomach to digest their prey. Sounds weird, right? Well, that's just a Tuesday for sea stars. The Purple Star has a few other tricks up its sleeve to become perfectly at home to the inter-tidal zone, where a vibrant, underwater community finds itself above-water everyday when the tide goes out.

This star is an apex predator of the inter-tidal zone, possessing the amazing ability to survive being out of the water for an extended period of time. Even under conditions where the Purple Star has lost 30% of its bodily fluid (which is critical for an animal that relies on water to get around), it can tough it out.

By D. Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6434470

Ocean acidification also doesn't bother this guy, despite the fact that, like other echinoderms, its skeleton is made of calcium carbonate, a substance that is dissolved pretty readily in acid. This super power is thanks to a skeleton formed from nodules and the reliance of soft tissue, allowing it to adapt.

All of these super powers allow it to be the apex predator it is in the inter-tidal zone. Despite what that sounds like, the Purple Star's rule over the rocks is very important to the ecosystem. It's considered a Keystone Species, meaning its presence has a disproportional effect on its own habitat. Removing the Purple Star from a swath of shoreline for an experiment showed a marked decrease in biodiversity of the shore, which became inundated by California Mussels. When Purple Stars are present, the shoreline's biodiversity increases, as the star's appetite for mussels leaves open space for other organisms, like barnacles, to attach. Lots of sea stars that call inter-tidal zones home end up becoming a keystone species there, and can be used to gauge the health of the habitat. Who knew being a little voracious monster could reap so many benefits!

And there you have it! Fascinating stuff, no?

[davepetillo]

I went on a great adventure with my good friend Ronnie Czajkowski, master carpenter for Bruce Springsteen, who has also worked with Dead & Company and Billy Joel. Ronnie, after many phone calls, got me an audience with Johnny Depp. As I worked in my shop and watched his defamation lawsuit I really felt a deep sadness for all Johnny has been through. When I first made this guitar, I had Pirates of the Caribbean in mind during its construction. I named this guitar "Shipwreck" which I first completed for my good friend Will Joseph, musician and Jersey Shore connoisseur of music and all things guitars. Will and I were the only ones to test out the guitar in detail before Johnny got it. I do a lot of collaboration builds with crazy ideas and designs Will commissions me to create. The first neck I made for it was constructed of Red Box alder and mahogany but the alder wood was too soft and the neck wouldn't stay straight. I later got the guitar back from Will and started a new neck for it made of American flame maple grain and South American Ziricote fingerboard. Throughout the summer I worked on it on and off. When I found out Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp were coming to the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank New Jersey I got the idea to give the guitar to Johnny as a gift. I then went on a maddening rush dedicating day and night to get it done for the show. When Ronnie and I got backstage I had a chance to meet and bond with Johnny's awesome tech David "Fozzy" Fozbinder and Jeff's crew. After explaining the guitar to everyone David plugged it in and was happy the new Seymour Duncan custom "Buell Bucker" pickups didn't hum and were quiet with lots of tonal clarity power. David then showed me Johnny's vintage Fender Esquire with a broken cell phone glued to the top behind the bridge. I commented, "How do you adjust the intonation when the cell phone is blocking the intonation saddle screws?" He said the guitar is dead on with intonation but the Low E string is a little sharp. I then suggested to lower the bridge pickup down on the Low E side a little and see if the magnetic field influence would give you that clean note as an option to get the Low E string intonated, and the suggestion was appreciated as a solution to the Low E string intonation, but to say the least, the guitar was so cool and unique! Soon after that David took me to the stage again to meet his new friend Eric Collier who was in the audience and I said to David, "Of course I know Eric, he techs at Russo's in Asbury Park and makes pickups."

After all the excitement backstage David took us to meet Johnny. At first I thought I wouldn't have enough time to explain everything about the guitar to Johnny but when I met him he wanted to know everything. I explained all the symbolism for him and his children, construction methods, staining processes and how my Dad (Dr. Phil Petillo) taught me as a child to inlay sea shell, metal engrave, cast metal, lacquering and the Italian style of guitar making we learned from the D'Angelico family. Johnny kissed me on the cheek, hugged me and thanked me from the bottom of his heart. He took a photo with me and Ronnie and asked if we'd hang out after the show. Also, during the meeting with Johnny I showed him the Brazilian rosewood/American flame maple box I made for Jeff Beck to hold his guitar slides. I engraved a doorway to the Universe with a Nebula-colored heat treated metal inlay in the keyhole. Underneath the brass doorway is a neodymium magnet to hold the meteorite that crashed in Algeria. The meteorite had iron deposits in it to make it stick to the magnet. I choose to give Jeff a meteor theme box because of his love of space and his galactic guitar playing. My good friend slide guitarist Oliver Kostrinsky acquired the meteorite for me from a dealer of Smithsonian level artifacts. When I told Johnny that it was a real meteorite and my Geiger Counter didn't detect any radiation he said jokingly, "Don't worry I've put far worse in my body and laughed!" It was such a blast to bond with Johnny and talk about life and death, art, friendship and music. When we left his dressing room it was a relief to get the guitar in his hands, mission accomplished. When the show started Jeff stepped on stage and played a couple sets and then I saw Johnny come up with the guitar strapped on from the dressing room. I was so excited to see him playing it for the first song and the "Buell Bucker" pickups really cut through the mix. After the show Johnny hugged me and told me stories about the first time he met Bruce and his Mom at Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday party. Bruce came up to Johnny at the party and said he took his mom to the movies to see "Don Juan DeMarco" (the 1995 romantic comedy) for Mother's Day starring Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp, and said he loved the movie. Johnny never forgot that Bruce encounter to this day.

It was a great ending to a beautiful night and I made new friends. Johnny said those pickups are fire and he would be calling soon for more projects and really enjoyed our talk. Take a look at the videos, pics and description of the guitar details below!

PETILLO "Shipwreck" Tele Detailed Description

Body: 209 year old one-piece American Basswood

Body Stain Color: To mimic an old ship that was at sea and distressed by the sun. I used black, brown and orange Sharpie markers sealed with amber shellac.

Neck: American Flame Grain Maple with a Sunset yellow/orange stain to make the grain have a 3d effect.

Fingerboard Scale: 25.5"

Frets: 22

Fingerboard Radius: 12"

Fingerboard: South American Ziricote

Fingerboard Inlays:

First Fret - Deep Sea Diver made of brass, sterling silver and copper with an abalone name plate. Below the helmet is clam with a pearl inside, starfish, coral and sea anemone.

Twelfth Fret - Real silver for the silver doubloons in the treasure chest. The skull sockets have a 3D effect with Tahitian grey pearl against the white mother of pearl; this technique is the only way to give depth to the skull. The colonial hat made of petrified wood with abalone feathers is based on the time period of pirates on the sea. The copper outlines the treasure chest framing the old rosewood planked chest.

Nut: Black graphite

Back Headstock Overlay: African Wenge filed into the contour of the neck flush with Paua abalone KRAKEN squid inlay.

Front Headstock Oval Name Plate: Black Phenolic with Pirate ship inlay made of abalone sea shell sails, engraved skull and crossbones in red, petrified walnut boat and sterling silver Petillo logo.

String Trees: Black graphite

Hardware Solid Brass: Pickguard, Bridge, Control Plate, Porthole Window, Compass, Volume Knob, Switch Knob, String Ball Anchor and Tuning Keys

Pickguard Engraving: Never Fear Truth logo, Grim Reaper holding the sands of time with Victorian style scrollwork borders. The Reaper engraving is a reminder that life is short and should be cherished.

Pickguard Holographic Moving Pictures:

First Pic: Ship at storming seas fighting for survival against the tempest.

Second Pic: Lighthouse always guiding you home.

Third Pic: The eyes of the soul with flowers symbolizing a new beginning and you and your new love walking into eternity together.

Porthole Window Cameo: Hand-carved portrait of LilyRose Depp made of Tahitian grey pearl with pink and purple abalone background. The screw in the center of the lily flower holds the cameo together and the Phillips head screw shape is mimicking the pollen in the center of the flower.

Side Edge Design: Brass henge with threaded stainless steel screw with casted double edge skull heads.

Neck Plate: Solid Brass plate with metal casted Solar System navigation map and Sun at the center. Beneath the Swarovski crystals is threaded screws to hold the map to the plate.

Pickups: Buell Buckers! Kevin Buell is Bruce Springsteen's longtime guitar tech and has done over 1000 shows with Bruce. Kevin designed new pickups from his years of experience in the studio and on the road. Our friends at Seymour Duncan made the Buell Buckers to our drawings. These pickups are limited edition; they're one of a few left from the batch we made. The set is a blade neck pickup and adjustable pole pieces bridge. If you would like to hear what the pickups sound like they were used exclusively on Bruce's record "Letter To You!"

Tone Knob: Deep Sea Diver made of steel and plated copper then painted a brass patina. The next step was to hand sand the helmet to show the three layers of copper, steel and brass. In the hose valve is a paua abalone dot inlay.

Volume Knob: Solid brass base with sterling silver Wave engraving with abalone seashell sky.

Switch Tip: Solid brass with allan screw holding it to the switch. The motif inlaid inside is white crystal April birthstone for Jack Depp's birthday.

Captain's Door Locket: Steel painted brass with a white rose inside. White roses mean love, affection, purity, innocence, spirituality, and loyalty.

Compass: Brass made in 1899 and is fully functional.

Neck Plate: Solid Brass plate with brass solar system with the Sun at the center with rhinestones.

Anchor String Ball Holder: Solid Brass with black phenolic with inlaid pink and purple seashell and a brass leaf motif to symbolize change.

Strap Locks: Dunlop black

Guitar Strap: Brown leather shoulder cushion with engraved copper compass held with a lock washer/nut.

Case: Coffin style with plush pinkish red interior. The coffin case was used because it was deep enough to fit the taller Deep Sea Diver tone knob.

[funkylildragonfella]

My hoards of names & pronouns!

Names

Doctor/Doc

Lu/Lucifer

Void

Eleven/11

Ouroboros/Ouri

Nemo/Nem/Nemmy

Ophion/Ophis

Mnemosyne/Mneme

Jinx

Dot

Solace

Clover

Nexus

Vortex

Limbo

Nova

Veil

Ghost

Echo

Sirpa

Sephtis

Achlys

Reeva

Ness

Glitch

Cian

Teal

Calypso

Trinket

Fidget

Cavity

Doll

Static

Scythe

Abyss

Crow

Kelpie

Wisp

Vig

Onyx

Opal

Thistle

Diamont

Nettle

Oran

Obsidian

Palloc

Juniper

Solace

Alden

Kay

Key

Lock

Puppet

Echo

Birdie

Ash

Shep

Nydia

Shadow

Fenn

Gill

Canto

Coral

Linu

Scar

pronouns

abyss/abyss

algae/algaes

antique/antiques

babble/babbles

bat/bats

beep/beeps

bite/bites

bizarre/bizarres

blendy/blendys

blob/blobs

blub/blubs

blue/blues

blur/blurs

boing/boings

bouncy/bouncys

bow/tie

bubble/bubbles

bug/bugs

bun/buns

cae/caer

cat/cats

chain/chains

chameo/chameos

chaos/chaoss

chomp/chomps

chord/chords

claw/claws

clock/clocks

cloud/clouds

clover/clovers

coin/coins

comet/comets

confusy/confusys

cool/cools

coral/coral

crab/crabs

creature/creatures

crow/crows

cry/crys

crypt/crypts

cub/cubs

cuddle/cuddles

cyan/cyans

cy/cyber

dark/darks

deep/deeps

deer/deers

depth/depths

dino/dinos

dipper/dippers

dive/dives

doc/docs

doll/dolls

dragon/dragons

drake/drakes

dream/dreams

drift/drifts

drizz/drizzles

drop/drops

dust/dusts

eclipse/eclipses

eerie/eeries

end/ends

eon/eons

eternity/eternitys

explodey/explodeys

ey/em

fade/fades

fall/fallen

fang/fangs

fawn/fawns

feather/feathers

fez/fezzes

fin/fins

fish/fishes

fizz/fizz

flame/flames

flap/flaps

flare/flares

flick/flicks

flight/flights

flinch/flinchs

float/floats

flock/flocks

fluff/fluffs

fog/fogs

fractal/fractals

frill/frills

frisk/frisks

fur/furs

fuzzy/fuzzys

gill/gills

glacier/glaciers

glide/glides

glimmer/glimmers

glitch/glitch's

gloom/glooms

glow/glows

gravity/gravity's

grawr/grawrs

growl/growls

gull/gulls

gup/gups

harmony/harmonys

haunt/haunts

he/him

hiss/hiss

hoard/hoards

hour/glass

howl/howls

hug/hugs

hum/hums

hydra/hydras

ice/ices

it/its

ix/ixs

jam/jams

jelly/jellys

jelly/fish

jinx/jinxs

jump/jumps

kelpie/kelpies

key/keys

leviathan/leviathans

liminal/liminals

lock/locks

loop/loops

lu/lu's

lumi/lumis

lyric/lyrics

mar/mars

mavity/mavity's

meep/meeps

meow/meows

mer/mers

mix/mex

moon/light

moon/moons

moss/mosses

mud/muds

myst/mysts

myth/myths

nap/naps

ne/nym

nebula/nebulas

nem/nems

nest/nests

night/light

night/mare

nix/nix

nom/noms

nova/novas

oak/oaks

ocean/oceans

odd/odds

orb/orbs

orbit/orbits

other/others

paint/paints

past/pasts

pastel/pastels

paw/paws

pebble/pebbles

per/pers

phantom/phantoms

pin/pins

pit/pits

planet/planets

play/plays

plushie/plushies

pond/ponds

puff/puffs

punk/punks

pup/pups

purr/purrs

quail/quails

quest/quests

rai/rais

rain/rains

rarity/raritys

rat/rats

rattle/rattles

rawr/rawrs

ray/rays

reef/reef

ribbon/ribbons

ripple/ripples

river/rivers

rock/rocks

rot/rots

ruffle/ruffles

rumble/rumbles

rune/runes

sand/sands

scale/scales

scratch/scratches

sea/seas

seal/seals

serpent/serpents

shadow/shadows

shark/sharks

sharp/sharps

shed/sheds

shell/shells

shore/shores

silly/sillys

silk/silks

sing/sings

siren/sirens

sleep/sleeps

slither/slithers

sly/slys

smol/smols

snap/snaps

soft/softs

sol/solar

song/songs

soul/souls

space/spaces

spacey/wacey

spark/sparks

spike/spike

spin/spins

spirit/spirits

splash/splashes

squeak/squeaks

squeal/squeals

squid/squids

star/stars

static/statics

steam/punk

stellar/stellars

stim/stims

sting/stings

stream/streams

stuffie/stuffies

swamp/swamps

tail/tails

thalassa/thalassas

they/them

thing/things

thorn/thorns

tide/tides

tilt/tilts

time/times

timey/wimey

tiredy/tiredys

torn/torns

toy/toys

travel/travels

trinket/trinkets

tune/tunes

twirl/twirls

uh/uhm

uncanny/uncannys

unknown/unknowns

vast/vasts

void/voids

water/waters

wave/waves

weep/weeps

whale/whales

whisp/whisp

who/whom

wibbly/wobbly

wolf/wolfs

worm/worms

wyrm/wyrms

zey/zem

[shinxeysartgallery]

OC MASTERPOST PART 3

Added too many characters and hit a character limit on part 2, so uh, yeah.

(Part 1) (Part 2)

Martha Bellamy Martini the Dolphin Matilda the Scorpion Mecha Cynthia Mei the Otter Melinda the Pegasus Metal Sabrina Miko the Bunny Miles Atwood Mint Mitch Mancini Mochi the Lunar Moth Molly the Greyhound Moonstone the Dragon Mousse Nami Nebula the Snake Niamh the Unicorn Nightshade Noel the Reindeer Nova Noxie Nutmeg the Squirrel Obsidian Saber Olly Ouranos Ombré Onyx Oreo the Dog Papaya Paris the Poodle Peach Fizz Pearl the Mernicorn Penelope the Cow Peter Dactyl Percy the Bunny Petunia Phantom Pierre Pike the Lobster Pinchy the Scorpion Pitaya Poppy the Lionfish Presto Princess Olivia Princess Tohru Prism Proto Pyrite Quark Klein QU4R7Z Queen Argenta Queen Gylda Quid Pro Quill the Hedgehog Quiver the Wasp Ramona the Chinchilla Raspberry Chardonnay Raven Thornton Rémy Rhynchus Riptide Rococo Rose the Skunk Roulette Roxanne the Wolf Rudy the Clown Fish Ruby Ruger the German Shepard Rune the Perentie Rusty the Scorpion Sable the Wolf Sabrina the Wolf Sakura Sammy the Shark Sandy Seal Sangria Sarah Melodie Scallywag Scampi Scar the Utahraptor Sea Queen Serial Designation B Serial Designation C [Corazón] Serial Designation K [Kaizen] Serial Designation R [Raj] Serial Designation W [Winona] Shade Shadow Shadow King Shana the Shanshanosaurus Shelby the Snail Shell the Mer-Wolf Shelly Sherbet Shirley the Pegasus

(Part 4)

[salisburyhare]

GOD OF THE SEA

Longlisted in the Page & Blackmore Competition, 2021

“September 6th—We have seen the sea in its calmest and in its fury, and we must acknowledge the wonderful works of God, for what man can set a boundary to this expanse of water?”

Excerpt from the 1809 diary of John King, one of the first Christian missionaries to New Zealand.

You come from over the waters like a new and living promise. You are the word made flesh—you are the mouth made man. Gulls squall their rubbery language and the ocean glitters like rippling scales. You think back to being five, acting out Moses parting the waters to a cohort of ruddy relatives. Your mother, buckled and bristling in her new sage-green dress, pulling out a swathe of blue silk and billowing it in the air, letting it catch and bulge like liquid. This will do for the water, she had said. This will part nicely.

A silver fish flickers beneath the waves and you picture it multiplying, becoming a school, a bestiary—a moving feast. You will feed every strange mouth in this new land, you think—you will bring the words that will make them clean: Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

This will do for his staff, said your Mother, and dislodged an axe from the shed. She put it into your hands and your memory is faulty, it was so long ago, but you swear the wood writhed, serpentine, between your palms.

On the tenth day at sea the cook dies and is given a water burial: we therefore commit his body to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body. Your voice wraps around the deck like a thick black snake and the cook drops like a stone or a man in a noose. The sky overhead is blue and heavy with charging lightening, backlight-glowing. In your diary you have started counting the numbers of dead among the sheep and pigs. On the back page now you make a slow, black mark for the numbers of dead men. You could hope that the mark remains solitary. You could hope that no one else will die. You could.

You stay awake long after the others have retreated into the darkness below deck. You watch the sky shake out like shining foil, glittering like the sea if all the salt turned into light. If the cook is resurrected in his body you picture him shaking back to life like some pale deep-sea creature, blind-eyed and albino from the darkness, lungs full of salt so he glows from within.

On the twenty-seventh day a plague of locusts descends upon the ship. They are thick-bodied, thudding into the wooden mast like a head beaten again and again upon dry earth. A day of clouds and blackness, you think. There is a crack in the boards above you—you look up and the sky is bristling with bodies like shrunken angels. They are four-winged—shelled and skeletal, terrible with eyes. In the heat’s delirium you hear them saying in their voice of many voices a mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. 

Someone brings a dead locust below deck and its iridescence seems to take light like a black nebula, like a hole or a pit in the sky. You hold out your hand for it. You are struck by the sickening thought that you could touch it to your lips like a burning ember, leave your mouth a nest of singing scabs, melodising repentance. The thought makes you laugh. The laugh makes you hurt.

These will do for the Egyptians, says the voice of your Mother, and in your mind she raises her arms to the sky as above her it blackens with thousands of shivering bodies.

Some weeks after this you cross the line of the equator, and one of the sailors dresses up as Old Neptune, the God of the sea. He glints in the sunlight, and in the years to come your memory will colour him in swathes of cardinal and purple, whirling around the passengers like a frenzied dervish. He laughs belly-deep and the long shadows of seabirds flicker his face in and out of sunlight.

The sailors he heals with his hands. The emigrants—dirty, weary, teeth aching—he christens with salt water. He glitters in the sun like Egyptian chariots swallowed by the Red Sea, still drifting in the black deep in all their finery, bejewelled and perfectly preserved. You wonder if their white eyes look up to the shapes of circling sharks and mistake them for descending angels. 

Later that night you stand in the darkness watching Saint Elmo’s Fire flicker in the sky above you. You are an educated man—you know that colour and glory are themselves children of science, which is a creation of God. You know something explicable happens in the air above; something measurable.

But still—you feel salt crusting dry on your forehead like a mirror of the stars overhead, and you think what man, small as a toy on black water and dwarfed infinitely, would not look to the cosmic brain above and forget where it ends and he begins? 

You are nearing the end of your journey. You know this means you are nearing the beginning of your journey. A great white cloud like a cotton curtain coils along the skin of the sea, Mount Egmont tipping above it like a crystalline promise. You are put in mind of speaking pillars, rippling columns, impossible vastness. From this cloud comes not a sublime voice, but the rubbery twanging of new birds: a Babel of their songs.

You are standing at the prow and you feel the insistent press of children at the backs of your knees as they flock to see their new land. You rest your hands on their heads and see again your mother, smiling down at you from her green height, a yellow bowl like a concave sun held between her hands.

This will do for God, she had said, balancing it on the windowsill where it pooled with sunlight like a bowl full of fire. 

[violettesiren]

Murmurs from the earth of this land, from the caves and craters, from the bowl of darkness. Down watercourses of our dragon childhood, where we ran barefoot. We stand as growing women and men. Murmurs come down where water has not run for sixty years. Murmurs from the tulip tree and the catalpa, from the ax of the stars, from the house on fire, ringing of glass; from the abandoned iron-black mill. Stars with voices crying like mountain lions over forgotten colors. Blue directions and a horizon, milky around the cities where the murmurs are deep enough to penetrate deep rock. Trapping the lightning-bird, trapping the red central roots. You know the murmurs. They come from your own throat. You are the bridges to the city and the blazing food-plant green; The sun of plants speaks in your voice, and the infinite shells of accretions A beach of dream before the smoking mirror. You are close to that surf, and the leaves heated by noon, and the star-ax, the miner’s glitter walls. The crests of the sea Are the same strength you wake with, the darkness is the eyes of children forming for a blaze of sight and soon, soon, Everywhere your own silence, who drink from the crater, the nebula, one another, the changes of the soul.

Murmurs from the earth of this land by Muriel Rukeyser