#setting is from southeast asia

[leafmindscape]

Part 1 gojohime because ao3 is down

This is 60% based from my experience from elementary to highschool. I was thinking of how my classmates were doing then thought of this friend, "Huh we're like gojohime but I friendzoned him."

5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥5️⃣🎶♥

2nd Grade & 4th Grade

Utahime was in her 4th Grade in elementary school when her driver took a detour to pickup another kid from her old school, just a few kilometers away from her current one to save time and gas.

She hopped off the tricycle by the time the driver parked next to the fencing of her old school. Her driver told her not to wander off as he entered through the gates to collect his charge. She stood next to the fencing, she could see the students, from pre-schoolers to 6th graders, emerging out of the building to run at the campus playground or to wait for their chaperones.

She noticed there were minimal changes in her old school the last time she attend in her 2nd grade: the trees are taller, the playground has a new slide, the teachers have new uniforms and plenty of unfamiliar faces mixed into familiar ones.

Directly across where she stood is a basketball court and the one-storey building for the 1st and 2nd graders connected to the main campus one. She recalled a boy called Gojo from the pre-school rooms who used to follow her around like sneaking out of his classroom just to make faces in front of the windows while her former teacher was writing on the chalkboard or bother her for sweets from her lunchbox. The pre-schooler was quite a troublemaker who never understood bathroom privacy. She remembered his blue eye used to peak through the keyhole while she washes her hands. She shuddered at the the memory.

She observed few of the familiar ones playing at the swings trying to jump out of it. There was a quick movement in the corner of her vision originating from the 1st-2nd grade building but she choose to ignore it because she recognized a tiny girl named Shoko making a perfect landing by jumping out of the swing. Another boy with black hair cheered from another swing, his voice mixing with the ambiance of the students.

It is very noisy from her spot because of the sounds of purring engines from vehicles and the voices of laughing and screaming children. But it is not enough to drown out the high pitch voice of a certain someone...

"UTAHIME! I LOVE YOU!"

"Wha-?" Her head swiveled towards the direction of the 1st-2nd grade building. She spotted a familiar figure with white hair standing between the building and the baskteball court with legs spread out and hands cupped on either side of his grinning mouth.

"HaaAAAH?!" It's that pervert boy Gojo! Gojo's classmates that were loitering in the court laughed at him and cooed.

The grinning boy took a deep breath and shouted.

"I SAID UTAHIME! I LOVE YOU!"

Utahime didn't get a chance a reply because her driver, either was unaware of the commotion or was very good at appearing apathetic, tapped her shoulder to return to the trike. She followed him and the newly picked kid but not without looking over her shoulder and irritatingly starred at the grinning Gojo who starred back.

Good thing Utahime doesn't attend to that school anymore. Oh, the embarrassment and the teasing that she would get the next day if she does. Hopefully she would never see the kid again. She thought as she hopped back inside the trike.

Utahime saw him again in middle school.

[canisalbus]

Whenever someone says "This would kill a Victorian child." Or "This would kill a medieval peasant." I have to think about Machete. Would he... would he survive eating a Dorito?

.

[kaladinkholins]

Seeing fan discussions about Blue Eye Samurai and especially Mizu's identity is so annoying sometimes. So let me just talk about it real quick.

First off, I have to emphasise that different interpretations of the text are always important when discussing fiction. That's how the whole branch of literary studies came to be, and what literary criticism and analysis is all about: people would each have their own interpretation of what the text is saying, each person applying a different lens or theory through which to approach the text (ie. queer theory, feminist theory, reader response theory, postcolonial theory, etc) when analysing it. And while yes, you can just take everything the authors say as gospel, strictly doing so would leave little room for further analysis and subjective interpretation, and both of these are absolutely necessary when having any meaningful discussion about a piece of media.

With that being said, when discussing Blue Eye Samurai, and Mizu's character in particular, I always see people only ever interpret her through a queer lens. Because when discussing themes of identity, yes, a queer reading can definitely apply, and in Mizu's story, queer themes are definitely present. Mizu has to hide her body and do her best to pass in a cisheteronormative society; she presents as a man 99% of the time and is shown to be more comfortable in men's spaces (sword-fighting) than in female spaces (homemaking). Thus, there's nothing wrong with a queer reading at all. Hell, some queer theorists interpret Jo March from Little Women as transmasc and that's totally valid, because like all analyses, they are subjective and argumentative; you have the choice to agree with an interpretation or you can oppose it and form your own.

To that end, I know many are equally adamant that Mizu is strictly a woman, and that's also also a completely valid reading of the text, and aligns with the canon "Word of God", as the creators' intention was to make her a woman. And certainly, feminist themes in the show are undeniably present and greatly colour the narrative, and Episode 4 & 5 are the clearest demonstrations of this: Mizu's protectiveness of Madame Kaji and her girls, Mizu's trauma after killing Kinuyo, her line to Akemi about how little options women have in life, and the way her husband had scorned her for being more capable than him in battle.

I myself personally fall into the camp of Mizu leaning towards womanhood, so i tend to prefer to use she/her pronouns for her, though I don't think she's strictly a cis woman, so I do still interpret her under the non-binary umbrella. But that's besides my point.

My gripe here, and the thing that spurred me to write this post, is that rarely does this fandom even touch upon the more predominant themes of colonialism and postcolonial identities within the story. So it definitely irks me when people say that the show presenting Mizu being cishet is "boring." While it's completely fine to have your opinion and to want queer rep, a statement like that just feels dismissive of the rest of the representation that the show has to offer. And it's frustrating because I know why this is a prevalent sentiment; because fandom culture is usually very white, so of course a majority of the fandom places greater value on a queer narrative (that aligns only with Western ideas of queerness) over a postcolonial, non-Western narrative.

And that relates to how, I feel, people tend to forget, or perhaps just downplay, that the crux of Mizu's internal conflict and her struggle to survive is due to her being mixed-race.

Because while she can blend in rather seamlessly into male society by binding and dressing in men's clothing and lowering her voice and being the best goddamn swordsman there is, she cannot hide her blue eyes. Even with her glasses, you can still see the colour of her eyes from her side profile, and her glasses are constantly thrown off her face in battle. Her blue eyes are the central point to her marginalisation and Otherness within a hegemonic society. It's why everyone calls her ugly or a monster or a demon or deformed; just because she looks different. She is both white and Japanese but accepted in neither societies. Her deepest hatred of herself stems primarily from this hybridised and alienated identity. It's the whole reason why she's so intent on revenge and started learning the way of the sword in the first place; not to fit in better as a man, but to kill the white men who made her this way. These things are intrinsic to her character and to her arc.

Thus, to refuse to engage with these themes and dismiss the importance of how the representation of her racial Otherness speaks to themes of colonialism and racial oppression just feels tone-deaf to the show's message. Because even if Mizu is a cishet woman in canon, that doesn't make her story any less important, because while you as a white queer person living in the West may feel unrepresented, it is still giving a voice to the stories of people of colour, mixed-race folks, and the myriad of marginalised racial/ethnic/cultural groups in non-Western societies.

[burst-of-iridescent]

South Asian and Hindu Influences in ATLA (Part 1)

disclaimer: i was raised culturally and religiously hindu, and though i've tried to do my research for this post and pair it with my own cultural knowledge, i'm not an expert on hinduism by any means. should i mess up, please let me know.

please also be aware that many of the concepts discussed in this post overlap heavily with religions such as buddhism and jainism, which might have different interpretations and representations. as i'm not from those religions or cultures, i don't want to speak on them, but if anyone with that knowledge wishes to add on, please feel free.

it's well-known that atla draws from indigenous, east and southeast asian influences, but something i rarely see discussed in the fandom is the influences the show takes from hinduism and south asia, and there are actually far more than i think people are aware of.

so here's a (non-exhaustive list) of the main inspirations atla drew from south asian culture and hinduism, starting with...

The Avatar

the title of the show itself is taken from the ancient language of sanskrit, often considered the sacred tongue of the hindu religion. in sanskrit, the word "avatar" means to "descend" or "alight".

the concept of the avatar is a very old one, referring to the physical incarnation of a powerful deity or spirit. the idea of the avatar is most often linked to the god Vishnu, one of three supreme hindu gods collectively called the trimurti, or trinity. the avatar is said to manifest upon earth primarily in times of great need, when balance must be maintained between the forces of good and evil.

atla borrows heavily from this idea in having aang be the incarnation of a divine spirit who returns to the world during a time of immense strife, and is tasked with defeating a great evil to bring balance back to the world. and though i don't know if it was an intentional reference, it's interesting to note that Krishna, the most famous incarnation of Vishnu was also reborn amidst a fierce storm and carried through a raging sea to a new home where he would be protected from the king who sought to kill him. sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?

Agni Kai and the Philosophy of Firebending

the word "agni" derives from the sanskrit name Agni, the god of fire, though it can also generally mean "fire".

the concepts of lightning bending and the sun being the source of firebending are likely also taken from the idea of Agni, since he's said to exist simultaneously in three different forms on three different dimensions: as fire on earth, as lightning in the atmosphere, and as the sun in the sky.

Agni is a significant aspect of many rituals, including marriage rites, death rites, and the festivals of holi and diwali. the concept of Agni is one of duality: life and death, rebirth and destruction. hindu rituals accept and celebrate both aspects, revolving around the idea that destruction is not separate from creation, but rather necessary to facilitate it. the cremation of the dead, for instance, is seen as purification, not destruction: burning away the physical form so the soul is unencumbered, set free to continue the reincarnation cycle.

this influence can be seen in the firebending masters episode, which discusses the idea of fire being vital to life. the sun warriors safeguarding the original fire and demanding that zuko and aang bring fire to the dragons as a sacrifice could also reference the ritual of Agnihotra - the ritual of keeping a fire at the home hearth and making offerings to it. the purpose of this ritual differs depending on which text you refer to, but it is generally believed to purify the person and atmosphere in which it is performed, similar to how zuko and aang must make offerings to ran and shaw and survive their fire before being deemed worthy and pure.

Agnihotra is said to serve as a symbolic reminder of the vitality and importance of fire as the driving force of life, a lesson that zuko and aang also internalize from their encounter with the dragons.

Bumi

bumi's name is taken from the sanskrit word "bhumi", which means "earth". it's also the name of the hindu goddess of the earth, bumi or bhudevi.

one of the things the original animation didn't do and which i really enjoyed about the live action was that they made bumi indian and added desi inspiration to omashu. it makes perfect sense for a king whose name is as hindu-inspired as they come.

NWT Royal Palace

chief arnook's palace in the northern water tribe takes inspiration from the gopurams of hindu temples, massive pyramidal structures that served as entrance towers to the temple.

gopurams were built tall enough to be seen for miles around, beacons to signal tired or weary travellers who wished for a place to rest that a temple was nearby. it's a nice touch that the chief's palace is located in front of the spirit oasis, a similarly symbolic entryway to a sanctuary housing otherworldly deities.

Betrothal Necklaces

to preface: i doubt this was an intentional reference, and this great post talks about other cultures that could have inspired the water tribe betrothal necklaces. given the desi influence in the nwt architecture however, i figured it was worth mentioning.

the idea of betrothal necklaces being given to women by their male partners is similar to the thaali, a necklace given to hindu wives by their husbands. during hindu weddings, grooms tie the thaali around their brides' necks to symbolize their marriage. once given, wives are expected to wear their thaali till the day they die, as doing so is believed to bring good luck, health and prosperity to their husbands.

Chi-Blocking

though chi-blocking takes primary inspiration from the art of Dim Mak, it is also influenced by the south indian martial arts forms of adimurai and kalaripayattu, both of which include techniques of striking vital points in the body to disable or kill an opponent.

kalaripayattu also shares parallels with firebending, being a very physically demanding, aggressive martial art that emphasises the importance of discipline and mental fortitude. control of the mind is essential to control of the body, a philosophy similar to that espoused by iroh across the show.

Wan Shi Tong's Library

the library draws inspiration partly from the taj mahal, the famous mausoleum constructed by shah jahan during the mughal empire as a monument to his beloved wife, mumtaz mahal.

i'll end this post here since it's getting too long as it is, and the following section will be even longer. for while atla treated the concepts in this post with respect, the same unfortunately cannot be said for its depiction of guru pathik and combustion man - both of which we'll be discussing next.

[makapatag]

🪷PEACE AND LOVE USED LIKE A BLADE WILL CONQUER⚔️

If you haven't yet, you can try out the Martial Epic Fantasy Tabletop RPG skewered through by Southeast Asian story and lore GUBAT BANWA for free with the quickstart! A fantasy take on what a Southeast Asia looked like before the rise of modern borders and categorization!

GUBAT BANWA'S FREE QUICKSTART and MUSANGHARI, a GUBAT BANWA MODULE have both been updated. Want easy ways to get into Gubat Banwa's system and setting? Check them out!

Quickstart:

Musanghari on Itch

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Additionally the game has been given a Patch 1

I always say that I can only personally reckon with these things, Southeast Asian past, directly through Fantasy because so much of is it lost to us and it is a false venture to found a National Consciousness from Pre-colonial Cultural Artifact so Gubat Banwa is a violent revelry of the things we've lost and the things we know we've lost, the connections removed to us, the similarities severed through borderline and empire. Everyone is welcome to join the feast! Also we should be having our Backerkit set up pretty soon!

[cryptotheism]

Third shelf, median book

Get Secret Doctrine'd lol.

This is my copy of Mme. Helena Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine. This particular version is a two-volume 1977 reprint. This is the first of the two volumes.

A cornerstone of western Esotericism. Blavatsky lays out a sweeping, evocative pseudohistory in an attempt to syncretize and unify all human spirituality. Everything from holy texts to archeological evidence to folk tales are treated as evidence of a hidden true religion from which all spirituality branched.

It is difficult to describe the impact this text had on the English speaking world. In 1888, this was many readers first and only exposure to Buddhism and Hinduism. The theory that all religions shared a common "true" ancestor was not a new idea. What made Balavatsky unique was that she had actually been to southeast Asia, and she made clever use of ideas from popular contemporary novels to help sell her ideas. This text was an absolute bombshell for a certain type of guy in 1888.

It's influence on western history is bizarre and --in my opinion-- under-discussed. It's shadow can be seen in everything from authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, and Lovecraft, to painters like Kandinsky and Mondrian, to the early Nazi party.

The text did not spark interest in eastern religion, but it was gasoline for the fire. It set up Theosophy to be an umbrella mythology, which combined several disparate popular myths and ideas into a single, cohesive system.

[dromaeo-sauridae]

big cave post

you like caves? no? im showing you anyway. you hear cave and probably think of like, a video game cave. maybe a minecraft cave with axolotls? while i have my gripes with axolotls in caves, this is about the caves themselves. so here, lets get started:

number 1, lod cave in thailand. now, i could do a whole posts about JUST caves in thailand, but here's your first taste of caves from this area. this is a karst cave, formed by water trickling through soluble rock like limestone. it's what most of the caves on this list are going to be. it's one of the most common types of caves. if you've been inside a cave, it was probably a karst. very cool! i particularly enjoy the man shaped stalagmite in the middle (joke, thats just a real guy)

number 2, ellison's cave in georgia, usa. featuring a drop over a thousand feet deep, this one is pretty high on my bucket list. this is what's called a chute, formed by waterfalls cascading downwards. not recommended for people with a fear of heights! if you watch jacon geller, youve probably heard of this type of formation when he talked about krubera (not on this list, sadly)

number 3, mammoth cave in kentucky, usa. one i've been to! mammoth is the longest cave system in the ENTIRE world, that we know of. another one the jacob geller fans are familiar with. i would love to go back someday, pictures dont convey the magnitude of this place. they also used to host church services in here. well worth the visit

number 4, han son doong in vietnam. the LARGEST cave in the world! wait, didnt i already list that? nope, while mammoth is the longest and is massive in its own right, son doong trumps it by having a ceiling 660 feet (200 meters) high. it has stalagmites the size of skyscrapers. its one of the many caves in southeast asia to have its own rainforest system. a bit of a hike to get there, but another i desperately want to visit someday.

number 5, fingal's cave in scotland. though not record setting, its one youve probably seen before. or, maybe my perspective has been skewed as someone who looks at a LOT of caves. ive seen this exact picture more times than i can count. its a sea cave formed from our good friend columnar basalt. upon further research, apparently its also known for its natural acoustics. the more you know!

number 6, grotta azurra in capri. that photo isnt edited! only accessible by boat (and laying flat on your back to get through the entrance) this place looks ridiculously magical. i dont really have much to say about this one, i just think its really cool.

number 7, domica cave in slovakia. this one was brought to my attention by an anonymous asker (if youre still here hi) and i am in love with it. just an absolutely gorgeous cave with some of the most beautiful formations ive ever seen. just look at it! augh! the tiered pools arent something ive seen in any of the caves ive been to and theyre captivating. i love caves.

number 8, ending it off with a bang. here's the gloup.

[maquet591]

We need to talk about the Watcher "fans".

These are the top comments on Shane’s IG post. Just look at the number of likes.

“Steven Lim is a greedy, manipulative evil CEO that twists his white co-founder's hands and forces the said co-founder into his will!!!” – this narrative is being prevalent in this fandom since April 19. People harassed him all across social media on every platform. People wrote nasty comments not only to his social media accounts but also to his wife and friends.

People made a Change.org hilariously dumb petitions to have him leave the CEO post.

People gleefully demonize and tear down his reputation. Twist his words out of context in to something vile. Weaponize the years old inside jokes his friends made on camera.

“This is not racism!!!” they say. “These are just the facts!!!”

No they aren’t. And here’s why:

because this

is the same as this:

Covert racism in language, or coded racism, is the deployment of common stereotypes or tropes to elucidate a racially charged idea. Rather than expressly perpetuating racist tropes, covert linguistic racism is seen as rational or "common sense", and many are not aware of its impact.

Racial stereotypes. Racial or cultural stereotyping refers to generalizing a group based on a simplified set of norms, behaviors, or characteristics.

The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror, the Yellow Menace and the Yellow Specter) is a racist color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia[a] as an existential danger to the Western world.

Fu Manchu is a fictional character created by Arthur Ward, a music hall writer and journalist in London in the early 1900s. Writing under the pseudonym Sax Rohmer, Ward had absolutely no knowledge of Chinese culture or Chinese people – but his invention of a Chinese supervillain struck a chord in Victorian Britain and became a smash hit.

Fu Manchu was the original fictional Asian villain, a trope which became embedded in popular culture and Western psyche spawning spin-offs, spoofs, pop songs, video games and even consumer goods. But how damaging is Fu Manchu and how much can he tell us about modern Asian racism?

Ward wrote Fu Manchu as the personification of the so-called Yellow Peril threat: exotic, alien and inhuman, a mastermind boasting degrees from top universities. Using sinister powers to control minds, he aimed to undermine Western civilisation.

"This led to the idea that the Chinese were deceiving – they weren't being honest, they weren't revealing who they really are as people. This spawned into stories of Chinese as cheats and liars and deceitful – never giving you the truth, always fabricating."

Seven Lim being labeled as “greedy” “evil” and “manipulative” (of his white co-founder) is rooted in Anti-Asian racism. Whether people admit it or not.

Racism is not always derogatory slurs or white hoods. Racism is also casual micro-aggressions and putting people of color in the metaphorical boxes of harmful stereotypes. Racism is twisting the narrative and shaping it into a vile stereotype straight from the 19th century.

Also, let's not forget that people are happy to jump on Ryan in the similar way for the same reasons.

[abbyfmc]

Yandere Emperor! x Opera artist! reader Headcanons:

Warning: I will use the Chinese imperial harem system, plus it will be set in a kind of forbidden city (yes, I have seen Chinese palace dramas, XD). Topics to talk about: Mention of kidnapping, abuse, possible manipulation and murder. Although I use elements of ancient China or imperial Asia, I am not describing any emperor in particular; instead, I'm making up my own.

Enjoy it!

1. Yan Li was about 29 years old when he became emperor, and at that time he had an empress whom he loved very much, but she died in childbirth with the first prince due to her poor health, and from then on he became very sad and depressed.

2. You were a beautiful street opera artist who sang and danced at different events. You ran away from home after your noble parents planned to marry you to a man of not very good intentions.

3. You suffered a lot the first few years, but slowly you gained a group of artist friends, and among them is this girl from a humble class named Lili.

4. On the other hand, you had met a young blacksmith named Zhou, with whom you had a secret romance, which only Lili knew about. You and Lili had become confidants.

5. Due to your escape from home, you were also able to avoid the mandatory imperial selection for a long time. In this selection, girls from certain clans were taken to the palace to be selected to be consorts or concubines of the emperor or princes present.

6. You had lived happy and free, without problems until that fateful day…

7. Yan Li's mother, the Empress Dowager, saw how depressed her son was, so she convinced him to organize a trip to the southeast of the country to distract himself, and after a while, Yan Li agreed. After this, the townspeople and ministers organized all kinds of spectacles for Yan Li's arrival.

8. You and your group of artists were hired for those shows, and you were the main actress, not knowing that that would put you in hell.

9. When he arrived at the town where you were, everything started well until the show started and you started acting, dancing and singing. He was captivated by your beauty and your voice, a quality that his wife also had.

10. For him, it was like seeing his wife back. He watched you do similar dance moves, and he remembered his wife doing these same dances for him in the past.

11. He was very impressed with you, which made him come to the conclusion that he wanted to have you.

12. After the performance, you sensed that something was wrong, so you told Lili and your group, and then fled through the darkness of the night to a neighboring town.

13. Yan Li finally set out to find out about you and your whereabouts, and was not at all amused to find out that you were gone.

14. You began to flee with your group of friends from Yan Li's clutches, and you even met with your beloved Zhou and told him about your situation. Yan Li on the other hand, was already getting impatient for not finding you, so he gave the following order:

--Look everywhere for her, and if anyone is hiding, kill them and bring her to me!-- 15. The guards questioned each villager to find out about you, and thanks to that you were located and caught trying to escape with your friends at night.

16. Yan Li walked up to the scene, walking with a smile as his men captured you and your friends. You were very scared; Yan Li holds your face lightly by your chin, making you look at his face. Seeing the situation you put your friends in, you began to beg for their lives.

17. --I…I will surrender to you, but please let them live, your majesty-- You begged Yan Li. He was surprised that you didn't resist him, so he just ordered them to put you in his carriage. Lili tried to do or say something, but Yan Li told her to stay out of all this.

18. Yan Li had you put into his carriage and tied your wrists and ankles and then Yan Li got in, sitting next to you and that's how he ended up taking you to the palace.

19. He talked to you the whole way and although he seemed kind, it didn't take away your fear of what he might do to you. Basically when you arrived at the palace he locked you in a palace that he had prepared just for you.

20. After investigating your past, he discovered your bad relationship with your parents and what you did after running away from home. You seemed magnificent to him and in a way… bold and brave.

21. When he let your parents know that you would be his consort from now on, they agreed. You weren't expecting anything good from them, but this last one definitely hurt you, since they sold you to him just like that.

22. The wedding took place, and Yan Li conferred on you the imperial title of "Noble Lady", and immediately had your green label prepared. The green labels are labels that contained the names or imperial titles of an emperor's consorts, which turned the label of the concubine with whom he wished to sleep.

23. Yan Li spent his free time with you and explained to you personally what things were like in the palace, something he had not done with any other woman, in addition to emphasizing that he would take care of you and love you.

24. When your green tag was ready, Yan Li immediately turned it over and sent word that you would sleep with him that same night. He sent for you with eunuchs and everything. When you were locked in his room, you were wearing fine silk pajamas that Yan Li loved. It was a beautiful dream to see you like this; you wanted to run, but he held your hand tightly, reminding you of what he was capable of doing to your friends, innocent people, and possibly your loved one, so you ended up submitting to him.

25. He did this every time he wanted to get you pregnant, which is why you ended up having six children with him; four princes and two princesses, while your first son, the "third prince" was the eldest of all the princes. You had to rise through the ranks and use Yan Li's hands to protect yourself and your children from palace intrigues.

26. Thanks to Yan Li, you have gone through the following ranks: Noble Lady, Imperial Concubine, Consort, Noble Consort and so on until you reach the empress.

-End of part 1. Have a good night :3

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Let's Hear it for the Humphead Wrasse

The humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus, is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, or the blue- tooth grouper. They can usually be found around coral reefs and steep rocky cliffs in the Indo-Pacific, particularly on the east coast of Africa, the west coast of India, and the tropical waters of southeast Asia and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Māori wrasse gets its name from the distinctive markings that adults carry. Males are blue-green or purple, while females are more often red or orange. Both have unique patterns of lines and dots covering their heads, and stripes running down the rest of their body; early researchers compared the patterns on their heads to the tattoos traditionally used by the Māori people. In addition to its striking coloration, C. undulatus is also known for being the largest member of the wrasse family. Males can reach up to 2 m (6.5 ft) long and weigh up to 180 kg (396 lbs), while females tend to be smaller. Males also have a large 'hump' on their foreheads, hence the name humphead wrasse.

Another feature of note in C. undulatus is the set of large teeth fused into a parrot-like beak. They use this beak to predate upon hard-shelled animals like mollusks, urchins, sea stars, and crustaceans. On occasion, they also feed on smaller fish and moray eels. Due to their size, adults have very few natural predators aside from sharks, but larvae and small juveniles are more often opportunistically hunted by other fish.

Like many coral reef fish, the humphead wrasse is a protogynous hermaphrodite. This means that most individuals begin life as a female, and become male later in life-- known as 'super males', they are larger than males who did not transition. Individuals first become sexually mature at 5-7 years old, and females begin transitioning to male at 9-12 years old. Spawning occurs a few times a year, and during this period over a hundred adults can congregate in an area. The female releases about 20 eggs into the water column, where they are fertilized by her chosen partner. Three to four weeks later, the eggs hatch and the larvae migrate to the nearby reef.

Conservation status: C. undulatus is considered Endangered by the IUCN. Populations have declined due to overfishing and by-catch mortalities, loss of their food sources, habitat destruction, and capture of juveniles for the aquarium trade.

If you send me proof that you’ve made a donation to UNRWA or another organization benefiting Palestinians– including esim donations– I’ll make art of any animal of your choosing.

Photos

Andrew J. Green

Lluís Masuet

George Ryschkewitsch

[kathanglangit]

Gubat Banwa is FULLY FUNDED!

In less than A DAY, we've hit our goal of $40,000! Thank you all so much! Your continued support made this massive achievement for SEA representation in TTRPGs possible. 🔥🔥

Revel in glory, Kadungganan! This victory belongs to us all!

The campaign will continue to run for the next 29 days. There are a few stretch goals still waiting up ahead, so if any of these catch your interest, do continue to spread the word about the project.

The Gubat Banwa Kickstarter was fully funded in 1 day! (But we've still got some neat surprises in the stretch goals...) Check them out here:

We cannot overstate how deeply we appreciate your support, it truly means the world to this small team from the Philippines. Now, let us see this campaign through to the end of the far horizons, shields abreast and blades gleaming and heads held high with pride.

Until glory!

[makapatag]

non-traditional fantasy, high flying high stakes dramatic combat, and a flair for tactical grid-based violence: if you're looking to sail the far shores, brave the SEAsia inspired Sword Isles!! please consider checking out GUBAT BANWA!! made by an all PH team from the PH!

We're trying to drum up interest so please follow the Prelaunch and sign up for the mailing list if you want physical copies of this along with beautiful new layout and professional editing from pammu!

[ask-the-crusaders-of-stardust]

Hello and welcome, trainees and newcomers to the foundation!

It's time to put on your training wheels and get on the wagon, as we speed through Southeast Asia and the Middle East with our dear friends, the Joestars and co.

- The Speedwagon Foundation

Read the introduction comic here.

Keep reading for info and TOS down below (Do not interact with the blog if you have not read the TOS! It's at the very end.)

This is Project Ask the Crusaders of Stardust! An ask blog dedicated to the main cast of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. What can you and can you not expect from this blog? For one we will not have a set schedule for posting. "We" is right, we're two people running this blog. Namely @starplatimoon (Mod Moon) and @kuttblueberry (Mod Blueberry). We're very passionate about these guys and the story of part 3, and we have our own AU and RP we will pull inspiration from when it comes to moving the story forward on this ask blog. So expect the unexpected when it comes to what may happen... We will both be drawing and writing for this blog, but one of us may have more responsibility for writing certain characters than the other. Specifically, Mod Blueberry writes more for Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin while Mod Moon writes more for Jotaro and Polnareff. It's just the way we like to do it. This blog is fully a collaboration! We'll be putting credit where credit is due at the end of posts, we may forget sometimes or simply choose not to, however. There may be room for ships such as Avpol and Noritaro to develop down the line. And while that may be the case, we don't want this blog to revolve around ships, but the character's general dynamics and story! And to just goof off and have fun. That too. While the blog is "sponsored by the SPWF" and you're welcome to commit to the bit, you really don't have to pretend to be a newbie SPWF employee. Treat this like you would any other ask blog, there are no rules in that regard. But we will be touching on actual rules for a TOS at the end of this post that we implore you to check out before interacting with this blog or sending asks! And lastly, roleplay-themed asks and magic anons (AKA stand users) are allowed but we might not indulge in it regularly. But there may be events in the future that touch on more fun ways to interact with us, whether that be "a sudden influx of stand users!" or whatever. We do what we want.

!!!TOS BELOW PLEASE READ BEFORE SENDING ASKS/INTERACTING!!!

Don't spam the same question/message, we will get to you. And if we don't, it's probably because you broke one of the other rules OR it's already been answered in one form or another. (Although we may revisit similar themes, time will tell).

No s*xually explicit questions (Or the ghost of Erina Joestar will come back from the afterlife to whack you across the head with her ghostly cane).

No proshippers or proship themed asks. (For you who don't know what that means: Proshipping includes ships that have inc*stial/p*dophilic/abusive themes. This also includes aiming suggestive comments or asks towards Kakyoin and Jotaro, do not do that)

Related to the above, do not send in asks if you indulge in proshipping, in fact, do not interact with this blog.

We are not looking for more mods. Just the two of us, we can make it. If we try <3

Do not repost our art without credit (this does not include reblogs here on Tumblr). But if you want to use our art as say a profile picture or header, you can WITH credit. This also goes for if anyone wants to dub over our comics or such, that is allowed too, with credit.

Do not badger us if we decide to take breaks or go on a hiatus, we have our own lives. This goes for literally any ask blogs out there, do not stress the mods out!!!

If you break any of these rules, you may earn a block, be mindful of that.

On a happier note, aside from abiding by our rules, have fun! This blog was made for fun and we hope you will have fun, we sure will. (If we don't, read bullet point 7.... just kidding.... or am I.....)

Thank you for reading all the way to the end!

Credits:

Blog header by mod Moon and mod Blueberry. Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin were drawn by mod Blueberry. Jotaro, Polnareff, and the background was drawn by mod Moon.

Profile picture by mod Moon.

Crusader chibis by mod Moon and mod Blueberry. Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin were drawn by mod Blueberry. Jotaro and Polnareff were drawn by mod Moon.

[myemuisemo]

In approaching the first chapter of The Hound of the Baskervilles in this week's Letters from Watson, I initially felt that I was sort of cheating as I know I've read this more recently than middle childhood. Then I read the first chapter and realized my memory of the story consists of a vague impression that it has a moor and a dog. Oh well.

Mortimer's staff being referred to as a "Penang lawyer" reminds us that when you live in a colonialist society, the mindset is everywhere. The staff is presumably made from Licuala acutifida, a sort of cane native to China, southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands. By 1889, when the novel is set (five years after the date on the walking stick), British Malaya had been under direct crown rule for a couple decades. The Brits had owned Penang since at least the secret Burney Treaty of 1826.

Dr. Watson's initial wrong guesses provide a window into his world and preconceptions. My first reaction was "how did he think hunt rather than hospital when he himself has medical training?"

Growing up in the genteel countryside would explain "hunt." But Charing Cross Hospital, then located just off the Strand, would have been only about two miles from Baker Street. How do you miss a large hospital?

There might be a titch of snobbery in play, as Watson did his residency at much, much older Barts (St. Bartholomew's). Barts dates from the 12th century, while Charing Cross Hospital was an early 19th century upstart. Watson also went for additional training at the military hospital at Netley.

Watson really puts up with a lot, though.

James Mortimers' publications focus on the idea that illness stems from throwbacks to a more primitive state, an idea also applied to criminology of the day. Through 2024 eyes, this is unlikely to be a good thing, but let's see where Doyle goes with it. I have faith in Holmes due to his love of that book that attributes much of human civilization to non-white world cultures. (Coveting Holmes' skull reeks of phrenology, but I can't believe this was meant as an appealing trait.)

After being informed that Sholto was based on Oscar Wilde, I'm wondering which of Doyle's acquaintances was the pattern for James Mortimer (who is not addressed as "doctor" because he's a surgeon; it's a British thing).

While Holmes describes Mortimer as "amiable" before meeting him, he does not find being described as "the second highest expert in Europe" all that simpatico. There's some impatience in Holmes' chapter-ending request that Mortimer explain why he's there.

At this early stage, I dislike James Mortimer. It's partly the nature of his publications, but also the false humility of calling himself a "dabbler in science" when he in fact has publications, an award, and a degree. It's dabbling to collect bones or bugs or whatever and be perpetually working on a treatise that never gets finished or published. It's not dabbling when you have official recognition within your chosen career for your research.

So what is Mortimer here about?

[worldhistoryfacts]

During the early Ming Dynasty, about 75 years before Christopher Columbus sailed the Atlantic, China set out to explore the Indian Ocean, putting an admiral named Zheng He in command of a massive fleet of ships much bigger than Columbus’ to visit southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and east Africa. He brought back lavish tribute from the kingdoms he visited, some of which were living, breathing creatures.

The animal that seemed to fascinate Chinese people the most during this period was the giraffe. This is probably because it resembled a mythical creature, the qilin, that was supposed to be a good omen for China and its rulers.

The Yongle Emperor, who ruled from 1402–1424, ended up in possession of two giraffes. The first was a gift from the ruler of Bengal, whose giraffe had attracted the notice of Chinese visitors. This poor giraffe was been shipped across the ocean twice, once from East Africa, and then again from Bengal to Beijing. The second giraffe was a direct gift to Zheng He from the ruler of Malindi in East Africa.

Here are some images of one of the giraffes -- these were widely copied, often with variations in the patterns on the animals' fur.

{WHF} {Ko-Fi} {Medium}

[zedecksiew]

WHO GETS TO BE A PERSON?

The opening of my soon-to-be-real Cairn RPG adventure, The Tide Returning, is a crime scene.

The king of Zum and his sceptre has gone missing in the night. Hired to find him, you are allowed a tour of the royal bedchambers, to find clues to where he's gone.

Design objectives for this opening:

Give players an idea of who and where their quarry is. Who did the king prefer spending time with? Why did he write a letter to the governor of a nearby town? Why was he swimming the span of the canal?

Allude to the faction politics of the adventure. These are mainly embodied in the characters present in the intro, and their relationships with each other. What is the culture of Zum like? How do they treat the indigenous witch-folk culture? Do the witch-folk resist? Do the witch-folk disagree on how to resist?

Present complex setting detail in an evocative, gameable way. The fact that the Zum-folk practice slavery, and how that slavery functions, isn't just set dressing, and shouldn't be conveyed via lore dump. Players should be engaged, alarmed, invested.

+

Particular to culture of Zum is canny-ware: human servants permanently bonded to heirloom objects or furnishings.

This is what the adventure text says about it:

CANNY-WARE To the priests of Bowed God Market bring 500gp, a thrall you own, and the inanimate object you wish to make canny. There will be one night of fearful rites. In the morning: your thrall is permanently joined to this object—if physically separated from it, they are wracked with agony; harm done to it transfers to their flesh, instead. Henceforth your thrall is no longer a person. They are called by the canny object’s name. Their own is expunged from all record. War galleys and weapons are never made canny. The priests insist murder is the province of actual people, not mere things.

+

The idea that things have their own spirit is pretty common, ya? You beg your computer not to crash; you plead to your car to go just one more kilometre on an empty tank.

Plus: the baseline animism of Southeast Asia.

Plus: the fantasy trope of the sassy talking sword, the whispering One Ring.

So: if things have spirits and personalities, worthy of respect and consideration; if we already treat our possessions as characters in their own right---

Could the things we own be people?

Why not?

Considering we own animals which we believe have rich interior lives. Considering our history of owning actual humans; our ongoing objectification of whole genders; our industrial extraction and toolification of whole classes, cultures.

+

In Zum a magical self-propelled cart is not powered by magitek nor combustion engine. It is pulled by a person whose personhood has been erased.

Canny-ware expands on an idea I used in (of all places) a personal essay on language and being a bilingual writer from the third world:

A prisoner of war is given to the sultan---"At the palace she was called Dagger. Because that was her function: to bear the royal dagger." Because the magic dagger is, in her cultural context, considered more worthy of personhood than she is.

+

Who gets to be a person?

What degrees of personhood are they allowed? How are these various degrees of personhood changed, or challenged?

I've fixated on this question for most of the time I've been thinking about and making art.

A perennial, perhaps now-overplayed question in science fiction: "OMG are robots / AI human???" "Do you lose your humanity the more cyborg you are???!!!" etc.

I like the question better in fantasy, though.

Asking whether a robot is a person gives the question a "Is this where we are headed?" speculative frame. Asking whether an ancient tree is a person lends the question a mythic "Maybe this has always been an issue?" air.

Its proper register, I think! Contained within the question is---everything, honestly? Everything in history, everything happening now. Colonialism, imperialism. Race, sex, gender, class. The webs of relation / power / violence in all these subjects.

+

Anyway, back to the intro for The Tide Returning.

The royal chambers are full of precious heirloom canny-ware. They include:

The front doors---a pair who can tell you who came in and out of the rooms that night. The chamberpot---a blind fogy who's kept the king's hygiene and confidence since boyhood. The pillow---a jealous girl who was the king's lover, before he started favouring the sceptre instead. The writing desk---a prim woman who scoffs at indigenous traditions. She is indigenous, herself, but has grown accustomed to present luxuries.

The peacock fan---an agent working with local rebels, trying to maintain her cover. The silk parasol---who bristles at their bondage, the only one who will tell you their own name (Kanan) and that of the missing sceptre (Shiri).

+

Essentially: looking through the king's room is a series of interviews.

Less CSI, more Murder On The Orient Express. Clues aren't facts passively waiting to be discovered, but NPCs with personalities you have to roleplay with.

Having play-tested this introduction with my home group I am pleased to say it is a fun time, and works as intended!

My players came away with the facts they needed; a better idea of what to expect in the hexcrawl ahead; and a deeper understanding of the stakes.

Playtest highlight:

"Wait wait, how does this canny-ware thing work, actually? Is it Beauty And The Beast? Because if it's like Beauty And The Beast, then the chamberpot---" (cue horrified faces)

+++

( Image sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canopy_Bed_of_the_King_at_the_Chakraphat_Phiman_Hall.jpg https://yayahkiki.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/cari-keris-berdiri-berani-harga-tinggi/ https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/1725 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China;_a_woman_carrying_buckets_of_night-soil._Wellcome_L0056427.jpg https://www.theatreco.com/galleries/beauty-and-the-beast/ )